Warning: minor spoilers for Marauders #20
Emma Frost has just reminded Marvel fans that the best X-Men hero is one that they forgot all about—Kate "Kitty" Pryde, AKA Shadowcat—because of that time she sacrificed everything in order to save the entire planet. In order to honor her once bitter rival, Emma Frost has a custom brooch made for Kate, commemorating her selfless act, and once and for all proving that Emma has a respect for Kitty and just how far she is willing to go for the team.
Emma's gift is described in the opening pages of Marauders #20 by writer Gerry Duggan, artist Stefano Caselli, color artists Edgar Delgado and Chris Sotomayor, and letterer VC's Cory Petit, in a letter she writes to Kate. The brooch features a diamond inside of a silver bullet—the diamond represents Kitty, and the silver bullet represents the home she knew for years. The bullet is placed in the center of an X, for X-Men, and to remind Kitty that she is a valuable part of the X-Men team.
In the letter that Emma writes, she explains that she had Jumbo Carnation and Proteus create the piece of jewelry just for Kate, and that should she be overwhelmed at the Hellfire Gala to recall that every person on the planet owes Kate their very life. She admits that Kate is far too polite to bring this up, but she hopes she will wear the brooch as reminder to all she speaks with. This is especially meaningful as Emma and Kate have had a long rivalry, and made up shortly before Kate left on a mission they both knew she might not come back from. Not to mention, Emma herself is extremely selfish, and this is something she would never have risked or committed to doing. She does add in a joke as a P.S.—that if Kate decides to gift the brooch to an urchin, just don't tell her.
For those readers who are unfamiliar with this story, it can be found in Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run, and it features Kitty attempting to phase through and destroy what she thought was a missile. It turns out it was a giant space bullet that was fired from the planet known as Breakworld—one she had to remain inside, keeping it phased out of sync with Earth, as it hurtled endlessly through space. Kitty was eventually rescued by Magneto, but only after spending two years trapped inside the bullet, making sure to phase through any incoming objects, showing just how much of a will to live she has.
Cyclops is a great leader, Wolverine is really cool, Storm is a literal Goddess, but despite the bitter past that Emma Frost and Kate Pryde share, she knows just how valuable she is to the team, because of what she was willing to give up for not only them, but the entire planet. This selfless act of Kate Pryde's solidifies that she is indeed the best member of the X-Men—and Emma Frost has no problem recognizing she is the real MVP. Marauders #20 is available in stores and online now.