Appearing in "The Ghost of Braddock Manor"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Merlyn (Mentioned)
- X-Men (Mentioned)
- Wolverine (Logan) (Mentioned)
- Rachel Summers (Mentioned)
- Sa'tneen (Mentioned)
- S.H.I.E.L.D. (Mentioned)
- Nick Fury (Mentioned)
- Phoenix Force (Referenced)
- Reavers (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- Europe
- United Kingdom
- Germany (Mentioned)
- Europe
- Otherworld (Mentioned)
Items:
Vehicles:
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "The Ghost of Braddock Manor"
In the grounds of Braddock Manor, Brian Braddock fights his sister Betsy. As they trade blows, it soon becomes apparent they are evenly matched. As they fight, Betsy tells him to give up, as she can use her telepathy to anticipate his every move. As she looks into his mind, she finds his thought. K=R/NA 1.380658(12) x 10-23 JK-1. In her confusion, Brian takes advantage, grabbing her head as he tells her that the equation is the SI unit value for the Boltzmann Constant. As she draws a psychic blade, they collapse into laughter. As they talk, they realise just how much they’ve both changed. Betsy especially notices that Brian has become much tougher mentally. Brian feels he is too quick to violence, but Betsy comforts him, telling him that it is in their blood, being descended from warriors. As they continue to talk, they start to walk through the meadows to the manor.
Back at the manor, on the veranda, Kurt attacks piles of planks and bricks as he trains. Kitty, returning from a trip, questions why he has begun training in destructive martial arts rather than his normal passive ones. Kurt responds, telling her he has to be prepared if he leads Excalibur. Kitty reminds him that they are a team, and questions him over his recent events in Germany, yet he remains silent.
In the forest to the west of the manor, Cerise looks on as Kylun kneels by the grave of Princess Sa’tneen. She tries to understand his grief, as Kylun tells her he wants to visit his family, who live in Scotland. She asks him to stay for the party, but he tells her that he isn’t in the mood for fun. As he slinks into the forest, he bids Cerise farewell.
Later, Miss Witherspoon and Dai Thomas arrive, closely followed by Alysdane Stuart. With Kylun visiting his family and Feron deep in meditation, the party is nearly ready to begin. As Alistaire escorts his sister upstairs, she tells him that she is being court-martialled, apparently for leaking state secrets to S.H.I.E.L.D. She knows she’s being framed, and intends to find out by whom. As she disappears into her room to change, Courtney Ross arrives, closely followed by Nigel Frobisher. Nigel’s entrance causes a stir, as Brian grows angry over Courtney giving away their secret identities. Courtney kisses Brian, and as Kitty quickly guides her away, Meggan kisses him to show her up. As Cerise watches, she asks Kurt if lip massage is an important ceremony, to which he agrees. She grabs him, kissing him until he swoons into her arms; the whole room watching.
Outside, in the rain, Feron floats alone in the forest, contemplating his life without being the Phoenix host. From behind him, he hears faint laughter, before someone punches him, and he drops to the ground unconscious.
In the manor, Alistaire tells Kurt and Kitty about Alysdane’s court martial while upstairs, she finishes putting on her makeup. In the mirror, she catches a glimpse of someone creeping up behind her. She turns, catching her assailant in the face with a foot. The assailant reacts angrily, and there is a crack as her body warps.
Downstairs, Emilia Witherspoon cries out as she glimpses the future. At the same time, Betsy senses that something has happened to Alysdane. As the lights go dead, Cerise lights up the room as Brian and Kurt burst into her room. Kurt goes to her aid, and finds she is dead, her neck broken. Brian and Kitty hold Alistaire back as he tries to get to his dead twin. As Betsy senses Emilia is in trouble, Kurt teleports downstairs, to find Lockheed, Emilia and Dai all unconscious. He feels movement from behind, and dives towards the attacker, who opens fire. He drops unconscious to the floor. As the rest of the party rush downstairs, Cerise is taken out, as is Alistaire. The killer tries to grab Kitty, but she slips through his grasp and through the floor.
As Meggan, Brian and Betsy dash down another flight of stairs, Widget materialises, warning them of something unintelligible. As he vanishes, a rocket strikes Brian, and Meggan is incapacitated. Betsy draws a psychic blade as she goes after the attacker, before being frozen in mid air, and hearing a voice that is all too familiar. Brian manages to crawl away, towards the only room still lit. Inside, he sees Courtney, before realising it is Saturnyne from Otherworld. But he is still wrong, and instead, Sat-yr-9, another of Courtney and Saturnyne’s versions from across the multiverse stands before him. He asks her what she has done with Courtney. She replies, telling him that she has filled in for her for a while, having killed the real Courtney Ross long ago. As the drug coated on the missile begins to sap his strength, Alysdane’s killer enters the room, dragging Betsy. Jamie Braddock has returned to the ancestral home.