Riot at Xavier's

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Riot at Xavier's was the fourth story arc from Grant Morrison's run on the Marvel Comics title New X-Men, running from issues #134-138. As the prominence of mutants in world culture has grown, the X-Men's involvement in emergencies away from the Xavier Institute has left their student body disrespectful to their authority and questioning of their philosophy of human/mutant harmony. This story furthered several important relationships, most notably Scott Summers and Emma Frost (and Jean Grey by proxy), as well as Angel Salvadore and Beak. It also introduced the drug Hypercortisone D aka "Kick". This was the last story arc to feature art by Frank Quitely.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

After mutant designer Jumbo Carnation is assaulted and later found dead in New York City, the student body at the Xavier Institute is abuzz with rumors and ideas, most notably from Quentin Quire, a gifted but unpopular young man who is re-exploring the mutant empowerment ideals of the first mutants to premiere publicly.

At the scene of Carnation's death, Beast and Cyclops suspect a grenade was shoved down the mutant's throat, detonated and cooked his organs from the inside (held in by Jumbo's teflon skin). Beast takes a used inhaler that carried the steroid Hypercortisone D. At the mansion, Quentin unveils a glory-seeking classmate as a physically deformed imp that used charisma to shield his freakish appearance. In Professor Xavier's office, the headmaster and Beast discuss Quentin's recent behavior, and Quentin reveals his recent discovery of being adopted, and how is beginning to disagree with Xavier's dream of a "brave new world" and its merits. Dr. McCoy reveals that Quentin might be undergoing a secondary mutation, causing his increased creativity. Visiting the sight where Jumbo Carnation died, Quentin laments that everyone is a liar, and takes a hit of "Kick" (the same drug Beast found on Jumbo Carnation) and goes to a barber to have his hair styled like the mutants in the propaganda photos he's been studying.

Meanwhile, Xorn has taken over teaching the "special class" at Xavier's Institute, including students Angel and Beak, taking them on a wilderness excursion. The class seems to have little interest in Xorn's poetic eastern wisdom, however.

At the school, Quentin Quire assumes a uniform mode of dress and recruits several peers to dress in kind, inhale Kick, and murder wandering humans in Mutant Town, New York City. The next day, Professor Xavier issues a public message against the attacks, but again, Quentin Quire challenges his barring of certain clothes from student dress code. In a faculty meeting, Xavier warns of Quentin's burgeoning influence and potential latent telepathy endangering the student body. Emma Frost offers a discarded Kick inhaler as the source of the dissent and rebellion in school, having charted the drug's effects as euphoric and also dangerously psychotic.

The "Omega Gang," as Quentin dubs his gang, track down and attack a group of U-Men in the midst of dissecting a partner dead of mutant lung failure. Another U-Men detachment, meanwhile, has come upon the special class camping in the woods, interrupting an "intimate moment" between Angel and Beak (much to Beak's relief). Xorn advises the students to flee and seek safety, while he deals with the U-Men. As the small group struggles to attend to a classmate's injuries and protect themselves from a straggling U-Man, Angel flies off for help. She comes upon the flaming wreckage of the U-Men's equipment and several corpses. Xorn's helmet is steaming, and he binds Angel to secrecy. As the special class returns to school, Xavier bids everyone a found evening. In his office, he is assaulted by Quentin's gang, and bound in a thought-proof helmet. The next morning, when the institute opens its doors to the public, Quentin declares through a bullhorn that Xavier is his prisoner, the school is under his control, and that the entire student body should riot and kill every human on the grounds.

After causing some general property destruction, Quentin and his followers are met by Cyclops, Beast and Xorn at the school gates. While Quentin's lieutenants argue that humans should be tried for crimes like Jumbo Carnation's murder, Beast informs them that the designer died of a Kick overdose. This does not dissuade the rioters, however, and Beast and Xorn must stop a student from chasing a bus full of human tourists, while the Stepford Cuckoos organize a counter-maneuver to Quentin's madness. Sophie Cuckoo inhales a dose of Kick and leaps into Cerebra. The empowered five-in-one confront Quentin on the steps of the school, striking him mentally and disabling his control. Sophie, however, dies from the exertion.

In the aftermath of the riot, the remaining Stepford Cuckoos claim they will no longer be attending the Xavier Institute, because Ms. Frost's influence is "a danger to impressionable children," citing how many of her past students have died. Quentin Quire's brain cells convert to "faster-than-light energy" and he transcends to a higher state of being. Emma Frost taps Angel Salvadore as her next pet project. Angel reveals her pregnancy to the father, Beak. The Cuckoos telepathically contact Jean Grey, and she invades Emma and Cyclops' thoughts, finding them in the midst of mental sex.