X-Men: Beauty & the Beast #[nn]

In "Beauty and the Beast Part 1," Beast takes a break from the Defenders to reconnect with Wonder Man in Hollywood, but their laid-back time takes a dark turn when Dazzler—struggling with her fading fame and mutant identity—enters a dangerous deal with the enigmatic Hugo Longride. As her powers spiral out of control at a high-stakes party, Beast steps in to protect her, uncovering a web of deception tied to Alexander Flynn and a sinister underground theater. The story unfolds with a mix of tension and emotional weight, as old alliances are tested and the line between performance and peril blurs.

In the secluded Heartbreak Hotel, where displaced mutants find refuge, Beast and Dazzler grow close as she recovers from a dangerous surge of power. When Alexander Flynn offers to help Dazzler control her abilities in exchange for a performance at Hugo Longride’s underground theater, Beast reluctantly agrees—only to discover the venue is a brutal arena where mutants fight to the death. Despite his warnings, Dazzler stays, drawn to the promise of control, while Beast battles his own dread in the shadows.

Beast and Dazzler navigate the strain of their relationship as she performs in a dangerous underground mutant arena, their romance fraying under the weight of his disapproval. When Beast uncovers a lab where Dazzler has been dosed with a power-altering serum, he’s captured and injected too—only to face her in the ring as a feral, uncontrollable beast. The battle that follows is raw and desperate, a clash of love and instinct under the roar of a bloodthirsty crowd.

In "Checkmate," Beast and Dazzler find themselves trapped in a brutal underground mutant arena, where the twisted legacy of Dr. Doom collides with the desperate ambitions of Alexander Flynn—claiming to be Doom’s son. With the arena’s dead owner and a rogue robot named Hugo Longride at the center of the mystery, the truth behind Flynn’s rise begins to unravel. As Max and the others confront the deception, old alliances fracture and the line between loyalty and betrayal blurs.