Well, Link, if AJ80 is gonna come looking to kick my keister come Saturday afternoon, all I can say is, "Get in line! You and a lot of other pissed off people, bub!"

Hmm. It's after midnight PST here in Cali. Hmm. That means it is technically Saturday, and I swore to myself I wouldn't reveal the end of "Ascenion" till Saturday. And the only people up and at their computers at this time of night in North America are either filthy perverts or diehard Jean Grey fans.

Not that those 2 are mutually exclusive, mind y'all.

2, huh? Only 2.

Suppose folks might check their computer before watching the show tomorrow morning. Possible.

"All things are possible, child."

Including what I'm doing right now.

The last 2 minutes of "Ascension, Part 2" are revealed below.






























-- Xavier removes the deactivated control collar of Apocalypse from around his neck. His is free again, crippled again. Jean levitates him. Charles thanks Jean for saving him. They embrace.

-- Instead of relief flooding his features, Charles Xaviers face darkens. He looks at Jean with great worry and fear. Then closing his eyes, he tries to find contentment in their victory.

-- We cut to the grounds of the X-mansion. It is a beautiful day and nearly everyone who's anyone in the mutant world has gathered on the lawn to listen to Professor Xavier. Within this group there are groupings--Jean and Scott...Ororo and Evan...Magneto, Wanda, Pietro, and the Brotherhood...the New Mutants...Lance and Kitty...Tabitha and Amara...Kurt and Rogue...The professor moves to speak.

--"Thanks to you all, we have averted catastrophe. It was not without it's price, however. But steel is forged through fire, and like it we have become mighty. We are preapred for what the future brings. I know this because I have glimpsed it in the mind of Apocalypse."

--We are treated to a montage of the future possibilities Xavier mentions to the X-men but does not actually share with them. Only we see what he has seen.

--"However, there are still many challenges to come." (A group of angry anti-mutant protestors demonstrate outside the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.)

--"I saw enemies become friends." (Magneto, a smile on his face, helps the New Mutants train/play in the Danger Room.)

--"And with a heavy heart, I saw freinds become the most terrible of enemies. (Jean, wearing a new uniform, unleashes a TK blast which rips apart the vessel surrounding her, leaving her exposed to the dark void of space. In agony she pulls into herself...glowing...burning...unleashing an inhuman scream that builds and builds as the flames pouring from within her create THE PHOENIX EFFECT IN ALL IT'S TERRIFFYINGLY BEAUTIFUL GLORY.)

-- "I saw my X-men grow and change." (The X-men, slightly older, appear in jazzy new costumes, most of which are all black with yellow highlights. This future team consists of Cyclops, Shadowcat, Colossus, Iceman, Beast, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Storm...and Wolverine's "daughter" X23.)

-- "And, of course, I saw that some people never change." (In a SHIELD facility, perhaps the Helicarrier itself, the adult Brotherhood members gather, including the bearded Blob, a wicked Scarlet Witch, the ever-grinning Pyro, the super mullet wearing Toad, the handsome but hard Avalanche, and the smirking Quicksilver. Are they working for SHIELD? Or there to destroy it?)

-- "But one thing was clear, no matter what awaits us...terrible or wondrous..." (The sky is blotted out with hundreds of Sentinels, both of the original design and of a new sleeker, deadlier looking style.)

--"The X-men will always be there, ready. And of that I am proud!" (The final image is a class photo collecting the X-men, New Mutants, Colossus, Gambit, Spyke, Angel, and Boom Boom together...not only a team of heroes, a group of students and teachers...but as a family.)


And that is the end result of Evolution. Honest.

:s1

For those outside of North America, some who won't get to see this episode for quite some time, I hope you'll be able to enjoy it when it comes to you.

Here's to the future.