Chapter Summaries

Alex discovered that the Savage Land’s Vibranium mine lay in territory held by the Descendants of Atlantis, who were preparing to attack. After Emma warned him that their sudden aggression was suspicious, Alex set out to find their leader and uncover the reason for the invasion.

• Alex returned to the Floating Temple archives, where Emma introduced him to Cooper, who could connect to electronic devices and locate Vibranium records.
• Alex found that the Savage Land had substantial Vibranium reserves on the plains occupied by the Descendants of Atlantis.
• Emma told Alex that the Descendants of Atlantis were already preparing to attack, despite usually avoiding conflict with the other inhabitants of the Savage Land.
• Emma said she wanted to avoid another war and found the Descendants’ sudden aggression suspicious, so Alex proposed finding their leader and searching his mind.
• Emma left Cooper to organize the records, and Alex teleported to the Descendants of Atlantis’ territory.

Alex and Emma prepared to defend the Floating Temple from Hydra, while Alex sought news from Howard and S.H.I.E.L.D. He learned that the Hellfire Club had changed hands and that anti-mutant extremist Edward Backman had risen to power.

• Emma insisted that they defend the Floating Temple and said mutants could help defeat Hydra without revealing themselves.
• Alex kissed Emma, then left her to arrange the coming battle.
• Howard told Alex that people had visited him and were extremely angry, but refused to explain why.
• Alex found Nick Fury absent from the S.H.I.E.L.D. office and traveled to Japan to ask Strucker about recent developments.
• Strucker told Alex that the Hellfire Club had survived Sebastian Shaw's disappearance and that Edward Backman had taken control.

Alex learned that Edward Backman planned to wipe out mutants, leaving him uncertain how to respond, but he set aside his worries to help Emma prepare for battle. Emma assembled an army of ten thousand savages and dinosaurs under mutant control, and the force marched out as battle began.

• Alex confronted Sebastian Shaw, who argued that humans and mutants could never coexist as equals and urged mutants to overthrow humanity.
• Emma brought Alex to help her recruit telepaths to control savages and dinosaurs, explaining that she had gathered around ten thousand.
• With Alex's Psionic Power, Emma altered the Sage's will and made her an assistant, though the effect would last only briefly.
• Emma used Erik to control people wearing metal armor, supplementing the small number of telepaths.
• Emma's mixed army of savages, dinosaurs, and mutants assembled, and the horn of battle sounded.

Emma led her army against the Descendants of Atlantis, but they fled after a single Ape-man charged, leaving the fake general behind. Emma captured the Hydra agent and followed the fleeing army to their city, where she and Alex discovered the Descendants were far less capable than she had expected.

• Emma sent an Ape-man to demand that the Descendants of Atlantis explain themselves, and their fake general claimed they had come to reclaim the temple.
• The Descendants of Atlantis fled when the Ape-man charged, and their fake general collapsed after realizing his army had abandoned him.
• Emma's forces won without losing a soldier, and the Hydra agent later woke bound beside the temple as savages worshipped nearby.
• Emma followed Alex in pursuit of the fleeing army and reached its walled city.
• Emma and Alex explored the city, then emerged laughing at how inept the Descendants of Atlantis were.

Emma discussed the reappearance of the Hellfire Club under Edward Backman and laid out the choices facing the mutants: fight humanity, hide from it, or seek a difficult symbiosis. She left Alex with two blunt options for dealing with Backman: kill him or do nothing.

• Emma told Alex that the Hydra agent had escaped as planned, then asked him about his trouble.
• Alex told Emma that the Hellfire Club had returned under Edward Backman, an anti-mutant extremist.
• Emma said mutants could fight humans, avoid them by hiding or leaving Earth, or attempt to turn their rivalry into a symbiotic relationship.
• Emma argued that fear and hatred made peaceful human-mutant coexistence nearly impossible, frustrating Alex with theories but no workable plan.
• When Alex asked what to do about Edward Backman, Emma said they could either kill him or do nothing.

Alex decided to stay out of the conflict over mutant persecution, but a nightmare about Sentinels killing mutants made him reconsider. Remembering how Mystique changed the future in X-Men: Days of Future Past, he proposed making a movie as a way to improve how the world viewed mutants.

• Emma urged Alex to avoid confronting their enemies and let mutants remain hidden, and Alex agreed to do nothing.
• With little else to occupy him, Alex wandered the postwar world and fell asleep atop the Sphinx.
• Alex dreamed of Sentinels slaughtering mutants, then woke and remembered the changed future at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Alex concluded that Mystique's public choice to save the President and abandon her revenge had changed human perceptions of mutants.
• Alex interrupted Emma's work at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and announced that making a movie could turn competition between humans and mutants into cooperation.

Alex chose Tarzan as X-Film Company's first movie, planning to film it in the Savage Land and staff the production with mutants. He put Emma in charge of the company, and she accused him of trying to avoid his responsibilities again.

• Alex rejected Vivien Leigh's suggestion to adapt one of his existing scripts because he wanted the first film to support his goals for X-Film Company.
• Audrey proposed Tarzan, and Alex decided it was a safe, popular choice that could reflect the mutants' situation.
• Alex teleported Audrey, Monroe, and Vivien Leigh to the Savage Land, then back to the Floating Temple, and explained that the jungle would serve as their filming location.
• Audrey and Monroe argued over who should play Jane, while Alex said he would find a mutant to play Tarzan instead.
• Emma agreed that Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters could supply a mutant production team, and Alex named her chairman and president of X-Film Company.
• Emma jumped away and accused Alex of wanting to be a hands-off boss again.

Alex established X-Film Company with Vivien Leigh as its chairman and president, then returned to the Floating Temple with filming equipment to prepare for Tarzan. The group began searching for an actor to play Tarzan, while Alex remained wary of the four women’s intentions.

• Alex and Emma argued over who would manage X-Film Company until Vivien Leigh volunteered to take charge.
• Alex visited Howard and arranged for Vivien Leigh to become the company's chairman and president while he focused on making films.
• Alex chose Tarzan as the company's first film and asked Howard to supply a complete set of filmmaking equipment for a mutant crew.
• Howard delivered the equipment, and Alex returned to the Floating Temple, where Emma said she had selected potential crew members with Vivien Leigh.
• Alex insisted they find a star-quality actor to play Tarzan, and the four women agreed to keep looking.

Alex cast Remy LeBeau as Tarzan and wrote a story script, then worked with Emma and the others to address the challenges of filming the animal-filled tale. As Alex sketched difficult scenes, Emma and Vivien Leigh agreed to manage the film company well and support him.

• Alex cast Remy LeBeau as Tarzan after Vivien Leigh approved him.
• Alex wrote the story of Tarzan, who grew up among apes, fell in love with Jane, and defended the ape family from greedy humans.
• Vivien Leigh warned that the story's many animals would make a live-action film difficult, but Emma said she could handle the animals.
• Alex asked Remy to imitate an ape and learned that Remy could charge objects with energy and control their explosions.
• Alex drew sketches of difficult scenes while the cast and crew gathered to discuss them.
• Emma and Vivien Leigh resolved to manage the company properly so they would not let Alex down.

Alex struggled to film Tarzan’s baboon chase and went to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters for a distraction, where Nick Fury updated him on Hellfire and Hydra. Carter arrived just as Fury was about to reveal news about Bucky, leaving Alex waiting for the rest of the report.

• Alex rejected Little Pete as not cute enough for the opening scene, so Emma began searching for another child while the crew filmed Tarzan’s adult storyline.
• Alex spent two months directing Tarzan and grew frustrated after repeated attempts to film ten thousand baboons chasing Tarzan and Jane.
• Alex teleported to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, where Nick Fury said Edward Backman was trying to rally countries against mutants, but most had ignored him.
• Nick Fury told Alex that a fake Red Skull had taken control of Hydra and that Strucker’s technology division was preparing to break away.
• Nick Fury reported that Logan was in the Arctic and began to share news about Bucky, but Carter hurried into the room before he could finish.

Alex and Carter searched a Norwegian museum for Steve but found an ancient warrior instead, leaving Carter afraid she would not live long enough to find him. Concerned by her limited time, Alex asked Emma about immortality, and they discussed a mutant research laboratory that might help slow aging.

• Carter told Alex that an ice coffin salvaged from the North Sea might contain Steve, and they traveled to a museum in Norway to inspect it.
• Alex and Carter found an ancient warrior inside the coffin rather than Steve, and Carter later admitted she feared she could not wait any longer for him.
• After returning Carter to S.H.I.E.L.D., Alex reflected on her distress and asked Emma whether immortality was possible.
• Emma proposed building a laboratory at the academy to study mutant origins and abilities, potentially finding ways to slow aging, and Alex approved while warning her to protect mutants from exploitation.
• Emma told Alex that Vivien Leigh had asked her to comfort him, and Alex thanked them both.

Alex finished filming and post-production on "Tarzan" while turning his attention to developing a serum to slow aging. Vivien Leigh promoted the completed movie, and its posters caused a sensation across the United States.

• Alex completed the demanding jungle scene with Remy and Vivien Leigh, then finished filming the rest of "Tarzan" a month later.
• Alex told Emma he wanted to research the Super Soldier Serum using his blood, but Emma warned him that development could take decades and forbade him from risking his life with blood transfusions.
• Alex left more than a dozen blood samples at the laboratory before departing, and the mutants completed editing, music, and dubbing for "Tarzan".
• Alex attended the film's first screening at the Floating Temple and believed its detailed jungle visuals would draw large audiences.
• Vivien Leigh took over X-Film Company and launched a campaign using posters featuring scenes from "Tarzan," which shook the United States.

After Tarzan’s record-setting release brought X-Film Company fame and a flood of recruits, Vivien Leigh urged Alex to make another film, but he refused. Alex took Howard to the Savage Land, where Howard saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex and decided to move his laboratory to the Floating Temple.

• After Tarzan’s premiere, Alex encouraged mutants to join X-Film Company, and more than a thousand people passed its initial recruitment screening in one day.
• Emma complained that Alex was drawing students away from the academy and insisted he give a speech there, while Vivien Leigh said Tarzan would open nationwide in a week.
• Tarzan opened to packed theaters and continued drawing huge crowds for a week, making X-Film Company and Vivien Leigh famous.
• Vivien Leigh celebrated the box office report by kissing Alex, then asked him what the company should film next, but he refused to make another movie.
• Alex teleported Howard to the Savage Land, where Howard saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex and then learned the secret of the place.
• Howard declared that he would move his laboratory to the Floating Temple and asked Alex whether the Savage Land was safe.

Alex arranged for Howard to build a laboratory at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in exchange for teaching, then sought information about Bucky from Nick Fury. When Alex tried to teleport to Strucker, he found himself over the sea instead and realized Strucker had countered his ability, leaving Alex determined to grow stronger.

• Alex offered Howard a private laboratory at the school and access to the Floating Temple in exchange for teaching students and sharing research results.
• Alex transported Howard's equipment from New York and reminded him to keep his promise to teach two classes each week.
• Alex asked Nick Fury about Bucky and learned that AIM, led by Strucker, had split from Hydra and held Bucky frozen, though his location was unknown.
• Nick Fury warned Alex that Strucker and other leaders were wary of mutants, but Alex used his Mind Mark to teleport toward Strucker anyway.
• Alex arrived over a vast sea instead of beside Strucker, concluded that Strucker had countered his Teleportation, and resolved to strengthen his Teleportation and Replication Ability.

Alex sought Emma’s advice on improving Teleportation, but her suggestions led him to consider learning at the school and developing new uses for his Psionic Power. After failing to strengthen Teleportation, he turned to Replication Ability and began investigating its limits.

• Alex asked Emma how to improve Teleportation, and she suggested increasing his Psionic Power’s intensity or developing new ways to use it.
• Emma urged Alex to study at the school, but he resisted and asked her to teach him instead.
• Alex tried unsuccessfully to increase his Psionic Power’s intensity, then focused on extending Replication Ability’s duration and copying abilities from a distance.
• Alex went to the observation room, increased the anesthetic, and touched three unconscious captives before he could no longer copy another ability.
• Alex reflected on how his body limited the number of abilities he could copy and began forming an idea about what might be stopping him.

After a painful failure while copying another mutant’s ability, Alex met Tessa, who begged him to free her, but he refused. He went to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters expecting to enroll as a student, only to learn Emma had arranged for him to teach combat training while attending other classes himself.

• Alex copied a fourth mutant’s ability, endured an agonizing reaction, and eventually recovered after passing out in the observation room corridor.
• Tessa recognized Alex and asked him to release her, offering to join his side, but he refused and left.
• Alex went to Emma’s office after deciding to attend Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and Emma revealed she expected him to work as a teacher.
• Emma explained that Alex would teach combat skills and martial arts, then attend other teachers’ classes to continue learning.

Alex discovered that he could sense students’ Mutant Abilities and began his first combat training class at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. He left the students sparring without their abilities while Emma watched without concern.

• Emma brought Alex to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters to begin his new teaching assignment.
• Alex sensed several students’ Mutant Abilities before Emma identified them, and he realized his own ability had broken through.
• Emma hurried Alex to the training room, where she introduced him to more than a thousand students as their combat training teacher.
• Alex asked the students what combat meant, then invited volunteers to fight on the platform.
• A tall student challenged another student, and Alex instructed them to spar without using their Mutant Abilities.
• Other teachers voiced concern as the students fought, but Emma dismissed their worries.

Alex taught combat at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, emphasizing technique, physical stamina, and the deadly consequences of losing. Afterward, he sat in on classes and discovered how useful the school's lessons were, agreeing that Emma was the good fortune of his life.

• Alex stopped two students from fighting in earnest, then criticized their crude technique and demonstrated more skillful combat with another pair.
• Alex warned the students that losing could cost them their lives and urged them to train their bodies until opponents collapsed from exhaustion.
• Howard praised Alex's teaching and told him that having Emma was the good fortune of his life, then left without explaining his praise of the school.
• Alex secretly sat in on a history class and became engrossed when the teacher discussed mutant history.
• Alex spent the rest of the day visiting classes at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and found lessons such as Mutant Abilities application and development useful.

After five months of training students at Xavier's School, Alex took a dozen promising students into the primeval forest for practical combat training. They defeated a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, but Alex left them to face its approaching parents on their own.

• Alex agreed to take the students into the forest after they secured their parents' permission and Emma's approval.
• Alex teleported the students to the primeval forest and watched over them as they explored.
• Alex warned the students that an enemy was approaching, then told them to handle a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex without his help.
• The students recovered from their shock and defeated the Tyrannosaurus Rex with their combat skills and Mutant Abilities.
• Alex concealed himself and told the students that the Tyrannosaurus Rex's parents were coming, leaving them to continue training without his help.

Alex watched his students fight Ape-men in the forest and began planning to establish the X-Men. Gunshots led him to the shore, where he discovered Hydra agents disguised as Descendants of Atlantis and learned that Strucker had come to the area.

• Alex meditated with his refined Psionic Power technique until a group of Ape-men surrounded his students.
• The students fought back without killing the Ape-men, gradually gained the advantage, and earned Alex's approval.
• Alex decided to establish the X-Men and recruit promising students to train as its first members.
• Gunshots drew Alex toward the shore, where he found a ship and a group of Descendants of Atlantis.
• Alex used telepathy to identify a disguised Hydra agent and discovered that Strucker had come to provoke him.