Jean has been searching for the source of the psychic interference; the reason she and Cyclops were sent here. Searching for clues pertaining to the missing mutants she's learned of, and of course, searching for Cyclops, who can be counted among them. She's found nothing.
'. . . .Jean'
The voice is so faint. Is she hearing it for real? 'Scott!' She thinks back immediately -- his signal is weak; Dampeners? Distance? Distress? But it's him.
'Scott, where are you?. . .' It's a struggle to hold the connection. Is she missing what he's saying or is he unable to say more? '. . .You don't need to use words, just focus your mind on what you're sensing. How you got there.'
Intense discomfort flickers through Jean's mind, as though Scott focused on reflex how his body is feeling before actively focusing his mind as instructed.
Jean strains to keep grip of the signal as she processes and probes the transmission.
By one way or the other, she finds herself hearing the sound of an aircraft.
The Blackbird? No, this one's different.
'Scott? Scott!' Signal lost.
A settling breath, Jean starts thinking on what she's learned.
Our scene changes as we once more tune into the news.
Newscaster #1: "...both times issuing a speech, followed by mass destruction of city property. Just what is this 'Magneto' trying to prove?"
Newscaster #2: "Well it sounds like he's trying to rule the world! That's what it sounds like."
Next channel.
Newscaster #3: "With an election year on the horizon, could we be looking at the first Mutant candidate? And what would the public have to say about that?"
We hear a few such public being interviewed. Youth: "Like, he's got some good stuff to say, about the environment and greed. I mean would we really have a choice in voting for him, though? He could just throw a car on us."
Senior Gentleman: "I think all kinds should be given a chance. Who knows? Maybe a mutant's just what this country needs! Couldn't be any worse than the last guy."
Next Channel.
Newscaster #4: "...though the recent stand-off did not directly involve the Department of Mutant Affairs, the X-Men, who just last year revealed themselves to be our protectors against adversarial mutants and who were involved in the Department's transfer of criminal mutants earlier this week, failed to keep the so-called Brotherhood from escaping for a second time. Are they truly our protectors, or will mutants stand by mutants every time? Was last year's statement merely a ruse for some, ulterior purpose?"
Newscaster #5: "Leaving in a shroud of fog before police could question or detain them makes you question everything."
Pulling back, we see not the X-Men taking in this news cast, this time, but Pyro and a few of the new recruits, in the Brotherhood's base.
Cut-to another room, where Magneto is using his powers to do some kind of redesigning of a Blackhawk helicopter. "Excellent. Our message will not be diluted by any counterpoints from the X-Men if the humans believe we're 'all in this together'." He shakes his head. "To think that's what Xavier still works towards with them."
Pyro, who it's clear must've come in and informed Magneto of the latest televised news, smirks. "Doesn't look like the X-Men even have any counters."
"Though it's always wise to think moves ahead. Remember that one." He continues his adjustments on the Blackhawk.
And our scene transitions to a small airport hanger for cargo planes.
Jean's search has lead her here.
She distantly observes the loading of a plane due to take off. Concentrating her powers, she tries to sense if there's any mutant cargo, but finds something's preventing her powers from reaching that far. She eyes the cargo loaders and other personnel and finds she can't tap their minds, either.
She has to get on that plane.
Stealthily she proceeds towards it, and as she passes under the navigational tower, suddenly it's as though her psychic area has done a complete swap. Now, she can hear the thoughts of those milling about, and quickly uses her powers to conceal herself from their conscious minds as one starts her way.
Their coming this way was coincidental.
As they pass under the navigational tower as she just had, however, Jean finds she has difficulty perceiving their mind again.
Her attention shifts to the small satellite dishes on top of the tower.
Using her powers to rise herself up to their height, she finds there's a strange device attached to one. Jean inspects it a moment where it is before removing and disengaging it. No longer is there a pocket of space she can't psychically reach.
The sound of propellers brings Jean's focus back to the ground, where she returns, to quickly get into the back of the cargo plane before it takes off.
Inside, she secures herself and waits for the plane to level off before she makes another psychic pass at the cargo, just in case. Still nothing, or rather no one.
She concentrates beyond the plane, first to the minds in the town below, then the surrounding areas -- she no longer feels any interference or places that abruptly cut off. But neither too, does she sense any minds of the missing.
Her concentration goes even further beyond the transport vessel. .
. .and we join Professor Xavier teaching a class when suddenly he receives a psychic sense.
"You must excuse me, that will be all for today. There is something else that requires my attention."
The students exchange looks. When your teacher is a telepath, such things aren't too peculiar. Perhaps ending class in the middle of the day, but then again, who's complaining? A few, actually. They had been really into the lesson.
Xavier swiftly wheels down the halls towards the elevator that will take him to the X-Men's base of operations beneath the school, and once there, heads directly to Cerebro.
'Jean, I have you securely now. Go on.'
'I found the source of the interference. A device had been placed on a satellite dish. I still need to find Scott.'
'You two split up?'
'No. Some technical interference caused the Blackbird to go down. We managed to evacuate but were knocked unconscious. Scott wasn't there when I awoke. I've been unable to perceive him until just an hour ago. . .I think both the signal and Scott were weak.'
It's clear Xavier is disconcerted by this. 'I can tell you're rapidly covering ground. And who else is with you?'
'I've stowed away in a cargo plane. From what I was able to glean from Scott's transmission, I'm sure he was taken in one.'
'This is unsettling- Jean? Jean I'm losing you.'
'I thin. . . other. . . .rles. .?'
Xavier concentrates through Cerebro minutes more, then abandons the effort. There is, once again, no use.
Soon after, the pilot of the cargo plane communicates to their co-pilot they'll begin their descent.
Co-pilot: "Wait, what? This place isn't on any flight path."
"It was a last minute directive."
"What cargo's for it?"
We see in the back, Jean is concentrating towards the cockpit; psychic suggestion.
While she wasn't able to maintain connection with Xavier, the interference, like before, seems only to restrict outside of its radius of influence, not within.
Upon landing, Jean waits behind some cargo for the back of the plane to be opened. She uses her powers again to mask her herself from conscious perception and goes skillfully by the pilots. On the other side of them, outside of the plan, Jean uses her powers of psychic suggestion once again.
Pilot: "Well that's it. Back up in the air." They close the plane having never actually unloaded anything. The two pilots return to the cockpit and take off.
Sure Cyclops is somewhere in this general vicinity but with no more to go on, Jean makes her way into town.
It's not very long before she notices a couple missing people posters.
Neither depict the obvious mutants that were among the missing in the previous town, and they don't detail if these individuals are also mutants. However, the posters look fresh and respected where they've been displayed, in contrast to the ones of the other town, found weather worn or covered by something else.
Either mutants are responded to better here, or these two aren't mutants.
Reading the details that are provided, it seems the two are believed to be together, having been friends who were reported missing a day from each other.
A voice draws Jean's attention away: "They're probably runaways, but you can never be sure here."
"What do you mean?"
They take in the look of her. "Yeah you're not from around here, are you?" It's rhetorical. "This town's known for eerie stuff going on. If you ask me, they went to check things out in that freaky forest just beyond. Probably making some independent fright film."
Two other passers-by join the conversation: "That's where you can go to get lost, for sure. Whether you want to or not."
"No, the forest has already been searched through. Twice."
"Yeah, but can it really be searched well? All that fog."
"It was actually pretty clear those days."
Their partner shrugs.
Jean: "Have you noticed anything..more unusual in the last few days? Maybe someone else obviously not from here?'
Collectively now, the three think this over.
Local #1: "No."
Passer-by #1: "A plane looked like it landed around here earlier. That's unusual."
Passer-by #2: "Yeah but then it went right back up again. I think they realized their mistake or something."
Jean latches onto this: "There have been no other planes?"
Passer-by #2: "No, not at all. Why?"
Local #1 is catching onto something: "If you got them to drop you off here, they should've told you you won't be getting back that way."
Passer-by #1: "It's a nice place if you don't mind the eerie. I can show you some haunts."
They exchange a grin with their partner.
Jean: "Are there any buildings that generally keep people away, like the forest?"
"No. The forest is it for that kind of stuff."
"And that's just outside the town?"
Passer-by #2: "Yeah, pretty much. It's in the valley beneath the bridge."
Passer-by #1 looks closer at Jean's attire. "You lookin' to be some ghost hunter, or something?"
Jean smiles noncommittally. "Thanks for your time. I'll just make my own way around."
All the locals continue on their way.
Jean's of the mind to hit this foggy forest though not with a local escort. While she didn't ask for directions to the bridge, you could say she downloaded them to her mind. She backtracks so as to avoid any more notice by proceeding along the fringes of the town.
Night is falling....
Jean uses the cover of the darkening sky to obscure her as she levitates for a view on how much further it is to go. She spots the bridge, but something else further on and between it and the valley proper, catches her eye. It appears to be a satellite dish, though it's hard to---
"-aaAAAaahHH!!!!!"
Suddenly Jean's reacting to some pain --and falling as her concentration breaks,
--she just manages to snap out of it in time to slow her descent, hitting the ground little stronger than if she'd simply fallen over, yet onto her previously injured arm.
None of that matters --Jean dials back in to the cause of the psychic pain: 'Scott! Please, say something!'
Nothing.
Jean squeezes her eyes shut --and it's as if she's seeing through his; she has to look beyond the "tunnel" of his optic blast; ignore the strange details of his environment in order to take in the facts about it --anything she can use.
All she can see is the very lowest portion of a shadowed figure, silhouetted against a doorway.
That's it. It's done.
Everything's gone black.
Jean opens her eyes, breathing heavier.