The X-Men arrive as well prepared as possible.  Dumpster in hand and a shiny new ordinary day for some insurance.  Well, not as well prepared as possible, since Rogue and Havok are wounded from a moment of weakness in the previous foray.

Then the onslaught begins.  The JLA place Doomed on Storm and bring their own treacherous Disbanded. Predictable.  The Marvel knights bring...Disbanded!  The double Treachery is duly noted.  (Note to self: mention how disbanded disproportionately penalizes themes next season...if it comes across as whining, who cares?)

The dungeon is quirky, but balanced.  The X-Men come in to lowly Skrulls...and more skrulls.  Rogue attempts to regenerate but with limited success. As the X-men Conga line into the dungeon trying to recover, the skrulls are making rolls to the point where the x-men irrationally question their validity.  (4 out of 6 rolls!!)  I mean, who would write a story where there are a bunch of skrulls everywhere to the point where you are not sure who is who?  It’s crazy.  Meanwhile, Rogue is healing too slowly, there is nothing to hit, and the clock is ticking...frustration sets in.

the JLA and Marvel kNights enter the dungeon like old friends.  Not a surprise, but the Knights seem to disregard their surroundings a little more than usual. WHy?!

The X-Men are isolated for the moment, so they try to prepare for the inevitable by stocking up on points. Nightcrawler phases into the next room, opens the crystal and reveals...a trap! 10 Attack with 4 damage, which needs a 9 to hit...it hits!  (The X-Men had wasted their rerolls at this point due to poor luck, so there was nothing to be done.)  The INternal monologue sounded like: “NOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRGGHHWHATTHEFUDGEWAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Overreacting, you say?  Here’s the situation:

The plan was to divide and conquer. The Knights were all alone and recklessly bearing down, which actually meant they were sitting ducks. The moment was right...but Nightcrawler is on the wrong side of the doorway and lost phasing!  Meanwhile, the JLA are two turns away from a pincer move. Grrr! Retreat is the only option, in the hopes of buying time.

Rogue Regenerates to her first click, hands off the gem to Nightcrawler, and gains back invulnerability. Nightcrawler Regenerates and rolls..........a 6!!!! First click we love you!  now it’s on!

At this point, X-Men are falling left and right. Like we said, we played this out in our heads and the time was right (and there really was no option), so Nightcrawler bamfs next to the scantily clad amazon...and steals the gem! He quickly distances himself as much as possible, Which wasn’t much. three gems! As far as hope goes, it wasn’t much but you have to take what you can get.

Remember how the Marvel knights were making a bee line for the X-Men without regard for anything or anyone? The madness comes to fruition as the X-Men have barely left their starting area, have a whole dungeon after them (and by “them”, I mean nightcrawler since he’s the only one standing), and three crystals spread out across the entire dungeon. No Doubt about it, nightcrawler is in trouble, even with a 12 attack, a 19 defense, 4 range, poison, Super SEnses, Outwit and phasing. (THe power!... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

Then the retaliation begins. Wave after wave.

Superman....miSS! Knights reroll...Miss!

Wonder Woman flies in (NO, You can’t carry batman!!) and misses, Fate token, and hits! Super SEnses says...Miss!

Batman follows...and hits!  Super senses says...Miss! Nightcrawler smacks him around for the fun of it.

Run, kurt, run!

Alas, although they could not catch up to nightcrawler, the crystals were too distant, the time was too short and the dangers were too great.

Time runs out and the gems fall to the floor, leaving only a sad echo in the air.

It was a good run while it lasted and at least batman bit the dust.

Now the X-Men have nothing left to lose...who’s next?!