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Strike-Back! Love—and Loss: Part 4 of 5
Prologue:
Prompted by the biosignature of the mutant phasing through the wall of the Danger Room, the three shadowy figures of the Consortium examine their file on Katheryne Pryde—also known as the X-Man Shadowcat—whom they believe attacked their agent. One of the silhouetted men seems surprised; he did not believe Shadowcat had any offensive capabilities. The silhouetted woman assures him they have none listed on file. However, their long distance spectrometry overlaid with body-heat telemetry and combined with an intercepted S.H.I.E.L.D. transmission suggests a new theory: Shadowcat somehow now possesses Wolverine’s missing claw, making her possibly one of the most dangerous X-Men. The Consortium realizes letting Storm clean up her own mess may no longer be an option; it may be time to bring her in from the cold. They recommend having two teams stay in Manhattan. If “Storm” has outlived her usefulness and become a liability, then perhaps it’s time for the Consortium to cut its losses.
The Underground X-Complex, beneath Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters…
“You wretched creature,” Storm yells at Kitty, “you cut me!”
Shadowcat is just as surprised as Storm. She had no idea one of Wolverine’s adamantium claws would protrude from her hand! The claw, she realizes, is a part of her now, just like it once was with Wolverine. What has he done to her? She remembers asking Logan once if it hurt when he popped his claws. He told her it did—every time. While her vision of what that must have felt like was awful, the reality of it, which she experiences now, is so much worse.
Deciding to worry about that later, Shadowcat thrusts her single, adamantium claw under Storm’s chin. This is as far as she goes, Kitty commands. If Storm doesn’t give up, she vows to cut her again. Storm, bearing a diagonal gash across her face, looks at her in total disbelief. “What are you?” she asks Kitty. Still holding Storm at claw-point, Kitty says she intends to find out who made Storm turn against the X-Men—so she can make them pay. Storm sneers at her former protégé. Does she really think she’s a match for her? Kitty believes so. Storm, however, declares that next time they meet, it will be Kitty who bleeds.
Amidst a sudden influx of fog, Storm slips away, eluding Shadowcat’s grasp. Shadowcat follows. She notes Storm is heading deeper into the complex—a move she finds bizarre, considering Storm’s claustrophobia. She figured Storm would have rather taken her chances with Kitty, at which point Kitty planned to phase her back into the Danger Room so the team could have apprehended her together. Nevertheless, she pursues Storm, pondering the absurdity of the situation as she goes. Storm and Logan were like her godparents! How could this happen? The only way to know for certain is to capture Storm. As Kitty rounds a corner, however, she realizes that may be more difficult than anticipated. She notices a recently opened access hatch leading to the Morlock Tunnels. If Storm went entered, she’ll have a straight shot to Manhattan, although she won’t get to exit until the end. Plus, in addition to its length, the passage is also deep and tight. Storm won’t have much room to maneuver or generate speed. If they move quickly, they can catch her either along the way or at the other end. For that, however, Kitty will need the help of the X-Men.
The Danger Room…
Nightcrawler assesses the locks and reports they cannot open the door. In a way, Cyclops admires this move of Storm’s: the Danger Room is the one place in the entire complex designed to resist their powers. Rogue decides to keep pounding on the door, hoping something will give. Her efforts have made several significant dents in the door already. Sabretooth, bound and blindfolded, laughs at the futility of Rogue’s plight. What’s the matter? Her stolen strength isn’t cutting it?
The X-Men and Sabretooth suddenly feel the presence of Charles Xavier in their minds. “Xavier! Get the hell out of my head!” Sabretooth shouts. Xavier reports that because Storm has interdicted both the locking network and Cerebro, he and Beast can neither set the X-Men free nor track Storm as she escapes. Gambit mentions that Kitty could phase them free, and although Nightcrawler agrees, he reminds Gambit Kitty is nowhere to be seen. Rogue asks Kurt why he doesn’t just teleport them out of the Danger Room. Storm activated the power dampeners, he informs her; he’s stuck there with the rest of them. If that’s the case, Rogue asks, then how did Kitty manage to get free? Kurt tells here that’s merely a difference between phasing and teleporting. Kitty’s powers aren’t affected.
Just as Rogue begins to complain about their current embarrassment, the team hears something slicing through the electric circuitry in the wall. They turn to see a single claw cutting through the wires, emitting loud noises and sparks. After the door slides open, Kitty, now sporting an adamantium claw on her left hand, enters. She tells the X-Men Storm escaped into the Morlock tunnels. Although she can’t fly at jet-speed down there, they still won’t be able to catch her unless they hurry. Nightcrawler, meanwhile, as the most obvious question: what happened to Kitty’s hand?
Observing through the computer monitor, an astonished Nick Fury wonders the same thing. He asks Hank McCoy if that’s even possible. It must be, Hank says. He wishes he could perform a remote scan on her, but her intangibility would make that difficult. Plus, she doesn’t appear to be in the mood for a thorough examination. The answers will have to wait.
Professor X, sitting behind them in his wheelchair, informs them Kitty is in considerable pain. Logan was too, Fury says—but he had a healing factor to help strike a balance. He asks how this could have possibly happened. Beast informs reminds them that during the fight with Fabian Cortez, Kitty attempted to phase Logan free of the villain’s grasp. Obviously, something went wrong. The combination of their powers, in addition to Cortez’s amplifications, must have caused an overload of the physiologic and mutagenic processes. In short, the whole mix went crazy. He posits that pieces of the mutants must have been left behind after Jean broke them free. Xavier asks Hank if he thinks they can remove the claw, but Hank has no idea—especially if the claw integrated itself into Kitty’s skeletal structure as well as it did Logan’s.
Meanwhile, back in the Danger Room, Sabretooth breaks free of his shackles and slaps aside the X-Men. After thanking Kitty for opening the door, he says his goodbyes. Cyclops, however, gets in his way and tells him he is not going anywhere. “I got no beef with you, boy—today—so I’ll explain myself, just this once. I’ll even talk slow, so you’ll understand,” Sabretooth says, clenching his teeth. “Storm killed my boy. I aim to kill her. End of story. Anybody here got a problem with that?”
Cyclops does. Sabretooth tells him not to push his luck. “You going to make me—old man?” Cyclops challenges. Although Sabretooth says he will, he won’t today. He tells Cyclops he admires his brass; he sees now why Logan respected him. For now, he will do the same. He asks Cyclops to make his case. “This isn’t about revenge. What we need are answers,” Cyclops says now that he has everyone’s attention. Either Storm conned them from the beginning, or something happened to her along the way. They need to find out what happened, and why—unless Sabretooth is the type who’s satisfied believing Storm accomplished this all on her own. Sabretooth sneers at him, surprised Cyclops isn’t satisfied with that answer. Scott says he wants answers, and he doesn’t intend to stop until he gets them—until he’s satisfied. If Sabretooth wants to take part, he has to follow Scott’s lead and play by the X-Men’s rules. Sabretooth asks what happens if he refuses. That’s his choice, Rogue says. Although having that fight would be fun, Sabretooth admits the teamwork option sounds better. If Cyclops maintains this style of leadership, Sabretooth might actually be impressed.
With that conversation out of the way, Sabretooth asks what they do next. Cyclops decides to split into two teams: one airborne unit to cut ahead of Storm, and a ground unit to confront her in the tunnels. Shadowcat informs them she cut Storm’s face earlier, which must be impeding her progress. After ordering Rogue, Gambit and Nightcrawler to take the high road, Cyclops tells the rest of them to follow him into the sewers. If they make noise as they go, they might attract Storm’s attention and slow her down even more.
“How about having someone along to increase your speed?” someone asks. “Not to mention, improve the odds.” Cyclops turns and is taken aback when he sees Jean Grey, now wearing a sleek new costume, enter the Danger Room. She is accompanied by Beast, Professor X and Nick Fury. Cyclops runs to Jean right away, embraces her, and asks if she is okay. She says she’s fine. Logan said the same thing, Cyclops reminds her—and they both knew he was lying. Jean reminds him she isn’t Logan. Professor X, meanwhile, informs Jean he is very much against the decision to send her into the field. Just thirty minutes earlier, she was in a coma. Cyclops reminds him that miracles are no stranger to the X-Men. Besides, they can use her help.
Before they depart, Beast sheepishly asks Kitty if he can examine her new caw. She reluctantly agrees. While taking a swab of blood from the claw, Beast explains that a sample of Storm’s blood might provide insight into the day’s events. He asks Kitty if the claw hurts. “That’s what I asked Logan the first time I saw his claws,” Kitty says. “You haveno idea.”
“He survived, kid,” Sabretooth chimes in and says. “So will you.”
“Like I should care what you think?” Kitty asks.
“You will,” Sabretooth says.
Meanwhile, Fury suggests to Xavier they let S.H.I.E.L.D. handle the situation. Responding via telepathy, Xavier tells him the X-Men need to handle this one. They need to learn if the woman they thought of as a friend deceived them. That kind of thing happens far too often in Fury’s world, the jaded S.H.I.E.L.D. Director says. Xavier had hoped they would build something better with the X-Men.
As the X-Men begin their pursuit, Jean begins to have the conversation about Logan with Scott. They will talk later, he tells her. Sabretooth remarks that they don’t seem too happy. Kitty, on the other hand, doubts she’ll ever be happy again.
Beast remains behind with Xavier and Fury, although he wishes he had gone with his teammates. Xavier reminds him they all have their responsibilities. Beast concedes that’s totally rational, but unfortunately, his feelings at the moment are anything but. “He was our friend too, McCoy,” Fury says, referring to himself and Xavier. “We both owe Logan our lives.” Over the years, Fury came to believe Logan would survive anything. Xavier recalls how Logan once told Jean he would be there to keep her company until the very end of time itself. He doesn’t think it was hyperbole, either; Logan really meant it. Xavier can’t stop hoping Logan might somehow emerge intact.
Ever the rational thinker, Beast tells Xavier hope is for dreamers. They need answers, and as a scientist, he plans on getting them. Xavier, however, has been to the stars, and the woman he loves comes from another galaxy. Dreams are part and parcel of their very lives, Xavier says. Hank reminds his headmaster that Logan’s life is over, and the woman who killed him was someone they trusted. Presenting the vial of Storm’s tissue sample for emphasis, he says he intends to find out why that happened. Xavier asks what he intends to do once he discovers why. “Then, Charles—that woman I called my friend, and anyone connected with her,” Hank says as he bounds out of the room, “—is going to learn why I’m called the Beast!”
Hank gets to work rewiring the mansion’s power grid. Fiddling with the wiring beneath the monitor using his feet while he simultaneously enters commands into the keyboard, Hank begins to envy Kurt’s prehensile tail. Professor X admits he cannot help in that regard, but he can help in other ways—like by providing Hank with an extra set of eyes. Beast gleefully accepts the offer; there’s nothing better than an external sense of perspective.
Curious, Professor X asks exactly what it is Beast is doing. He informs him he’s completing the work Kitty started and hot-wiring the power grid, which will give them full access to the orbital scanner grid. With this upgrade, the scan should provide enough focus to allow them to slip through the weather patterns behind which Storm is hiding. Nick Fury looks at the live map on the monitor and—if he’s reading it correctly—thinks he can see Storm’s location. He points at another marker on the map. “But if that blip over Harlem is her, Charles,” Fury asks, “…who’s this?”
Charles sends out a telepathic message to Rogue, Gambit and Nightcrawler, reaching them as Rogue carries them through the air over New York City. Kurt admits that feeling Xavier’s voice inside his head always makes him feel nervous. Surprisingly, Rogue admits it feels kind of nice at the moment because she doesn’t have a crowd of personas bouncing around inside her head. She can actually hear Xavier! Gambit asks what she means by “crowd”. Rogue explains that when she absorbs someone’s powers and memories, she retains little fragments of that person after the link ends. When Cortez zapped her, however, he wiped away a lot of that clutter. All of a sudden, Rogue feels like she has room to breathe. Kurt asks if she doesn’t miss the abilities. In response, Rogue asks if he’s kidding. It’s her head, after all; it’s not a place for crowds.
Getting back on track, Gambit asks what Professor X wants. Fury speaks up and tells them they detected an anomalous contact they want them to investigate. They ask about their pursuit of Storm, but Fury informs them the other team is closing in on her. They have no one else who can check out this other anomalous reading, though.
After the connection ends, Gambit remarks that it didn’t take long for Fury to become the boss. “You don’t trust him, Remy?” Kurt asks. Remy turns this question back on Kurt: does he? “I—don’t know,” Nightcrawler answers. “Everything about the X-Men’s world seems suddenly to be changing.”
Meanwhile, Jean telekinetically ferries Cyclops’s squad through the sewers while they all discuss the news of the two separate Storm readings on the map. Sabretooth wonders what it means. Kitty is surprised he even cares. Sabretooth admits he doesn’t like mysteries. If that’s the case, then he came to the wrong place, Cyclops tells him; the X-Men seem to be nothing but mysteries at the moment.
Sabretooth remarks to Kitty that he thinks he detects a little bit of an edge to her leader’s voice. Does she think he maybe has something on his mind? If there is, it has nothing to do with him—unless it is him, Kitty tells Sabretooth. Turning to Kitty, Jean says she can mute the pain her arm. Kitty insists she needs no one’s help; she’ll be fine. Jean points out that Kitty is obviously angry. Kitty responds by telling her she’s intruding, and asks her to go away.
Moving near Cyclops, Jean tells him Kitty is not in good shape. What did she expect? The kid has a claw in her arm, Scott says to Jean. Jean asks how he’s doing. Although he doesn’t say it aloud, Scott feels like he has a claw in his heart. He tells Jean to quit worrying about everyone and keep her telepathy alert for any signs of Storm.
Cyclops’s warning comes just a moment too late: the team is struck down by an immense bolt of lighting. Fortunately, Jean’s telekinetic shield absorbs the brunt of the blast. While alerting Xavier that they made contact with Storm, Jean cushions Scott’s descent to the ground. Annoyed, he tells Jean that a little warning on Storm’s attack would have been nice. Although she doesn’t quite take offense to Scott’s comment, she claims he must have forgotten the degree of Storm’s power.
The lightning blast scatters both Kitty and Sabretooth as well. Kitty’s body instinctively goes intangible and her momentum carries her through one of the sewer walls. She scolds herself for speeding right into that trap. However, she intends to return the favor.
Sabretooth, meanwhile, crashes into the dirty water in the center of the sewer. If Storm’s attack hadn’t caught him by surprise as well, he would have raked the X-Men over the coals for their ineptitude. Storm’s that good. Hooray for her, Sabretooth says as he finds his footing in the running water of the sewers. I’m the best.
He stands up and, despite being blind, turns to face the airborne Storm. He notes that Storm tries to manipulate the weather into cloaking her scent and sound. However, Sabretooth has tracking skills she could never even fathom. Attacking with confidence, Storm’s hands crackle with electricity as she vows to ends Sabretooth’s life—just like she ended Logan’s.
“Blah blah blah!” Shadowcat says as she descends from the ceiling and clutches onto Storm. “Don’t you get it? You’re done!” In a panic, Storm flings Kitty away with an electricity-laden jet-stream. The electrical surge wreaks havoc on Kitty’s control of her mutant powers; she worries she may be solid when she collides with the wall. She braces for impact. To her surprise, she lands safely and softly in the arms of Sabretooth, who tells her to relax. He does add that she owes him for the rescue, though. “I do not!” Kitty shouts.
Meanwhile, Jean and Cyclops recover and charge at Storm. Jean hits her with a powerful telepathic attack. Storm clutches the sides of her head in agony and begs Jean to get out of her head. With pleasure, Jean does as Storm commands. She didn’t intend to stay in her mind anyway—as she cannot stand the stench. Besides, she would much prefer to finish with fists and blood, as Logan would have done.
Storm tells Jean that if she fights like Logan, she will die like Logan! All the X-Men will, for that matter! Do they think her vulnerable merely because she’s underground? If so, they should think again! She summons a vortex of water that envelopes the X-Men.
Shadowcat, Sabretooth, Cyclops and Jean Grey all anchor themselves until the water surge passes. Once it ends, Kitty remarks that buried streams—some natural, some from ruptured water pipes—line the walls of the Morlock catacombs. Storm must have blown them in the direction of the X-Men, which is why the flood was so short-lived. Even so, it gave Storm time to escape. Cyclops turns to Jean and asks if she’s all right; she tells him she isn’t even close. Inside her head, she’s screaming. Sabretooth, meanwhile, remarks that he still has Storm’s scent, and intends to continue his pursuit. Kitty tells him she’s going to follow him wherever she goes. Sabretooth welcomes her to try.
As Storm puts distance between herself and the drenched X-Men, she wishes she could have drowned them, but there was not enough water; she only delayed them at best. A delay, however, is all she needs. Finally arriving at an exit hatch, Storm reprimands herself for not keeping mum. Her terror of confined spaces almost led to her undoing. It doesn’t matter now, though; the X-Men will never catch her. She climbs the access ladder leading to the street and emerges in a rain-soaked Manhattan alleyway. Immediately upon arriving on the surface, she finds herself in the company of three armored Consortium agents. They call out her name; they’ve been looking for her! Storm asks if they were sent to retrieve her. “Not quite,” one of the agents says. He pulls out his pistol and aims it at Storm’s head. “We’re here to kill you.”
The Brooklyn Bridge…
Gambit, Rogue and Nightcrawler arrive at their destination, without knowing why Fury sent them there. As Gambit and Rogue bicker about what they’re supposed to do next, Nightcrawler teleports down to the bridge to get a closer look. He asks them to calm down and argue later when things aren’t so serious. While abruptly dropping Gambit off on a ledge, Rogue tells Nightcrawler she’s plenty calm already. If she weren’t, Gambit still wouldn’t be in once piece.
“The lady sounds—upset,” Gambit says as Rogue flies back into the sky. “I seem to have struck a nerve.”
“So what else is new?” someone asks from around the corner of the bridge’s support tower. Gambit perks up; he knows that voice! “I would hope so, Remy,” the speaker says, “—considering all we’ve been through together!” The hidden speaker—a dark-skinned little girl with snow-white hair—emerges from around the corner.
As he beholds little Ororo, Gambit can barely speak. Is it truly her? How can that be? He takes ‘Ro in his arms and gives her a hug. ‘Ro says Wolverine found her and helped her escape, but then something awful happened to him. “You jus’ hold me tight, chere—no need t’ cry,” Gambit says as he embraces the preteen Storm, “—you be safe now.” Unbeknownst to both of them, someone observes this joyous reunion through the infrared scope of a sniper rifle.


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Bury My Heart! Love—and Loss: Part 5 of 5
Midtown Manhattan...
Storm doesn't understand why the Consortium agents are behaving that way and makes her confusion very clear. She reminds them she serves the same agency they do. What do they mean they intend to kill her?!
The Brooklyn Bridge...
Gambit holds the preteen Ororo Monroe close to his chest, partly to shield her from the rain and partly because the two have not seen each other in a while. He tells L'il 'Ro to relax; the hard times are over. Now that she's with him, she's safe. Little do they know, someone else watches their joyous reunion through the scope of a sniper rifle.
Gambit pulls away for a second and instantly realizes they are not yet safe. Looks like he spoke too soon, he tells 'Ro. When she asks what he's talking about, Gambit points out the red laser point of a sniper rifle centered on her forehead. Somebody wants her dead! 'Ro assumes it's the men who held her hostage. Not waiting to find out, Gambit pushes her off the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge and toward the river, leaving just himself to evade the barrage of sniper rifle fire. 'Ro screams at him as she tumbles toward the water; she can't fly! Fortunately for her, Rogue arrives in time to catch her by the arms and fly her to safety. She tells the frightened kid to relax her body. They have a wild ride ahead, but if she can trust Rogue, she'll keep her safe. 'Ro seems less concerned about her own safety, however, than she seems exhilarated by the experience of flying.
Meanwhile, on a nearby rooftop, a quartet of Consortium agents stand in the rain, leveling their sniper rifles at the Brooklyn Bridge. They lost contact both with the target and her Cajun partner. Worse, their visibility deteriorates by the minute. One of the agents supposes the target could have fallen into the river. His more prudent colleague reminds him they must not assume anything: either they find her, or they find her body.
Suddenly, Nightcrawler appears in a cloud of purple smoke over the head of one of the agents. He says he has a far better option for them: surrender. He hurls the agent at another one of his Consortium colleagues. As Nightcrawler begins his attack on the other two soldiers, Gambit arrives and asks if he needs a hand. "Feel free to take them prisoner," Nightcrawler says, "...once I'm done."
Midtown...
The armored soldiers point their assault rifles at the helpless Storm. The Consortium considers her a liability and wants her eliminated. Deciding they've had enough talk, the squad leader gives his men the order to kill.
Just then, a high-powered optic blast strikes one of the Consortium agents in the back, thus heralding the arrival of the X-Men. Backed by Jean Grey, Shadowcat and Sabretooth, Cyclops apologizes and tells the agents it isn't Storm they need to worry about. He gives them one warning to lay down their weapons. The blindfolded Sabretooth suggests they stop talking and just kill the guys.
The Consortium squad leader tells his subordinate Barrassa to deal with Storm while the others deal with the X-Men. Before they can ready themselves, however, Sabretooth leaps into action. With his claws outstretched, he descends on one of the soldiers, begrudgingly remembering his orders not to kill anyone. Just this once, he'll listen to Cyclops, he says. However, that doesn't mean he won't make his victims scream. Jean, protected by a telekinetic shield, approaches another of the assault rifle-wielding agents. The man fires at her frantically, but her shield stops all the bullets. Did he really believe his weapon was a match for her TK—or his so-called armor any real defense against telepathy? Jean commands him to sleep, and while he sleeps, to tell her everything she wants to know. The X-Men surround the only Consortium agent left standing, who holds Storm hostage. Kitty urges him to call it quits. Cyclops agrees. He suggests the agent put his gun down before he gets hurt.
Storm watches the X-Men approach in humiliated frustration. The Consortium will pay for this, she tells herself. At that moment, she summons a lightning bolt from the heavens, which hits—and fries—her captor. The X-Men watch Barrassa's electrocution in horror. Once the lightning dies down, they behold the smoldering skeleton of the former soldier. She killed him, Kitty cries! Sabretooth asks if that surprises her. He leaps at Storm without hesitation. However, the weather witch repels him with a cyclone of wind. Admittedly, she respects his claws, but wonders what makes him think she would ever let him get close enough to use them. She then flies away on the wind current before the rest of the X-Men have time to react.
As Storm flies away, she realizes Shadowcat cut her deeper than she previously thought. Essentially, she's running on adrenaline at the moment; she cannot afford to face all the X-Men at once. Deciding to leave the X-Men with some ominous parting words, she tells them they will face each other again, and when that time comes, it will be their bones that smolder—none among them more than her beloved Kitten.
Kitty hears this threat and knows Storm means it. Jean swears they'll protect her. They would have said the same thing about Logan, Kitty retorts. Sabretooth, meanwhile, reports that the wind scrambled Storm's scent trail. He doubts even he could track her. Woman's good—he'll give her that much. To their surprise, Cyclops decides to put Storm on hold for the moment. What concerns him more are her associates, the Consortium.
Meanwhile, the other X-Men—Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler and 'Ro—watch as a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents escorts the defeated Consortium agents onto its transport ship. They sure didn't waste any time taking these prisoners into custody, Rogue observes. Gambit bemoans the fact they didn't even get a chance to question them. S.H.I.E.L.D. has its own methods, Nightcrawler says in its defense. Gambit supposes they just want all the secrets for themselves; he doesn't trust them. "Well, likely they don't trust us either," Kurt replies. "As Fury says, we X-Men have lived perhaps too long in the shadows."
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent walks over to the X-Men and tells them Colonel Fury requests them back at the mansion. The X-Men object to being given orders by S.H.I.E.L.D., especially when their friends are still missing. They've already been taken care of, the officer says. 'Ro doesn't like the sound of the orders; she asks Remy if they have to comply. They will for now, Gambit says; before they make any bold decisions, he wants to ensure 'Ro's health and safety.
Meanwhile, the other team of X-Men stands by while Jean probes the minds of their captives for information. What she retrieves is of minimal use. Someone thoroughly scrubbed their memories; they know their mission, but little else. They have virtually zero long-term recall.
While Jean searches the captives, Sabretooth, picking up residual scents all over the place, follows his nose through the warehouse. Cyclops asks what he intends to find. The Consortium has been coming through these tunnels for quite some time, Sabretooth tells him. Cyclops doubts it. The building doesn't look like much; it's just a warehouse. As he slaps away a stack of wooden crates, revealing a hidden doorway, Sabretooth tells Cyclops his problem is that he only uses his eyes. Sabretooth, on the other hand, can feel the vibrations of an energy shield behind the metal door. Since Kitty has the adamantium claw, he tells her to cut the lock.
Sabretooth, Shadowcat, Cyclops and Jean walk through the door and into a secret docking area between two piers. Cyclops remarks that they're far enough over on the west side of Manhattan that this slip probably gives the Consortium a clean tunnel straight out to the Hudson River. How convenient, Sabretooth says; no one checks their cargo entering or exiting the city. Kitty wonders what they keep inside all the crates. "Feelin' curious, kid?" Sabretooth asks. "Be worth a look."
"Stop calling me 'kid'," Shadowcat responds. Cyclops admits their accomplice has a point. Jean throws out the possibility the crates are booby-trapped. Considering what they learned about Storm that evening, can they afford to take anything for granted?
Jean senses they have company mere moments before a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrives in the slip. They order the X-Men to stand down and declare the area under jurisdiction. Cyclops reminds them the X-Men were attacked, but the agents insist they will deal with it. The X-Men no longer have authority. Suddenly, Cyclops gets an incoming transmission from Hank McCoy, who asks him to return to the mansion right away. He doesn't waste time answering questions; he assures Cyclops it is serious.
The School for Gifted Youngsters—Salem Center, New York...
As he marches across the lawn of the Xavier Institute amidst a frenzy of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Nick Fury instructs his men to keep a low profile. His assistant Roy asks about the sudden flurry of activity; who are these people he’s summoning? Fury insists they’re people he recruited—people he trusts. Roy asks if he’s missing something. At the moment, Fury has nothing to tell him, but reminds him he has his orders.
Agent Dugan, an attractive woman with short red hair, approaches Fury with some bad news: they lost contact with the transport carrying Fabian Cortez. Fury asks how they possibly lost contact, a question to which doesn’t have a suitable answer. They were flying transatlantic westbound through a storm when, after a few scrambled radio bursts, they disappeared. The transport won’t respond to any means of communication—not even from the guaranteed auto-mayday systems. It’s like the ship simply vanished, she says. Fury asks if she has any theories. Other than believing a 20-ton aerial transport doesn’t just disappear, she has nothing. Fury scowls and orders her to find the plane.
Somewhere in Northern Africa…
The missing S.H.I.E.L.D. transport ship lands on a rocky plain under the night sky of Africa and opens up its loading bay. Out walks Fabian Cortez in shackles, who asks his captors what they’re doing and why they’re releasing him. The S.H.I.E.L.D. double-agent just tells him to keep walking; he’ll find his answers soon enough. The transport ship closes its door and departs, kicking up a thick cloud of dust as it begins its vertical ascent.
Cortez screams at is as it leaves, but before long, three Consortium agents emerge from the dust and tell Cortez not to worry. After introducing themselves as agents of the Consortium, they inform Cortez he now belongs to them.
Xavier’s Mansion. Beast’s lab…
“I’ve spent all night trolling the archives,” Beast says to the gathered X-Men. “In terms of Storm, she’s been with the X-Men for years.” He explains to Rogue, Gambit, Shadowcat, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Professor X, ‘Ro and even Sabretooth that the Storm they just fought was definitely the one recruited by Charles. She and Jean were even best friends. That Storm also interacted with some of the most powerful telepaths they know—yet apparently, she managed to fool them all. Adding to the mystery is the fact there also exists a barely adolescent iteration of her in young ‘Ro—an iteration they thought they cured. The obvious first question: is one of them a fake? If so, which?
He brings up Storm’s profile on the lab’s computer monitor. Storm is a perfect match for the data they have on file, Hank says. According to every record they possess, every physical and genetic scan they can make, she was the real deal. The problem is—so is ‘Ro. The X-Men, including ‘Ro, are surprised to hear this.
Cyclops points out that this analysis may cover their bodies. What about their minds? Remy reminds him Storm fooled their telepaths at lease once. Scott doesn’t think that matters; over the years, Storm’s control over the weather has created an impenetrable shield of static around her brain. She can hear a psychic yell, but they could not get inside her thoughts. Professor X points out a similar effect surrounds young ‘Ro’s mind as well. Therefore, for the time being, they need to take things at face value—and keep their fingers crossed.
Beast wishes that were their only concern. Cyclops asks what else he discovered, while Jean tells Hank she’s never sensed such angry emotions coming from him. She has no idea, Hank says. He explains that while he was searching, he happened to find his way into Xavier’s original data cache, which contained notes dating back to before he first became paralyzed. Have any of them ever wondered why there are so few mutants much older than they are? While non-mutant variants come in all ages, but mutants always seems to be younger. Nightcrawler, growing anxious, asks what point he’s driving at. Hank continues; he’s been crunching the numbers. Most of the known active mutants are in their twenties or younger, while many are barely in their teens. Only a comparative handful of mutants are what one might call ‘mature’. In all their records, in the whole world, Hank can’t find any over the age of 60. He now posits the X-gene comes with a price: it kills them young. Worse, he believes Charles Xavier has always known this.
Cyclops turns to his leader and asks if this is true. Is that what happened to Magneto near the end? Was he literally burning out? Xavier insists that was the fault of Fabian Cortez. Cyclops disagrees; the deterioration began much earlier, when he was with Rogue in the Savage Land. In fact, Cyclops remembers that all along, Magneto seemed to be regressing without even realizing what was happening. Cortez merely expedited the process. Jean questions Xavier as well. Six weeks ago, he could walk, but now, he’s back in his wheelchair. Is something similar happening to him?
“I—don’t know,” Professor X sighs. He recalls how he would listen to Magnus speak of mutant ascendancy and how it sounded so fantastic. He used to imagine the human race filled with people who could do the most wondrous things, actually accomplishing with the power of their minds and bodies what they can barely attempt to do now through technology. After a while, though, Xavier began to wonder why it hadn’t happened yet. At that point, he began searching for answers. This quest led to his first encounter with the Shadow King and then the incident that crippled him in the Himalayas. His search led him to found the X-Men. “What I discovered broke my heart,” Xavier tells his X-Men. “Magneto’s dream was just that—a dream.”
Continuing, Xavier reveals that mutants are not the next glorious advancement in evolution. In fact, they’re quite the opposite. He fears they may very well be doomed by the same powers that make them unique. “Our bodies are finite vessels, you see. The more power we use, the less is left to sustain our very lives,” Xavier says. While young and in their prime, the output is less noticeable, but as they age and mature, everything becomes noticeably finite. Eventually, they all reach their limit: the well of power comes to its end, and with it, their very lives. Xavier admits he has searched for a solution for years. It was not simply for love that he stayed across the universe with Lilandra. While there, he hoped to find mutant salvation between the knowledge of the Shi’ar, the Kree and the Skrulls. However, he failed.
Although the X-Men react in various ways, they all feel some degree of shock. It is Cyclops who speaks first. Xavier never thought to tell them? The professor admits he decided not to. “Because if you couldn’t find the answer, how could we?” Cyclops presumes. That’s not how it is, Xavier tells him. He assures Cyclops he understands his anger. Scott tells him he isn’t even close.
Rogue suddenly realizes this explains so much about Genosha. That’s their secret, isn’t it? The Genoshans know the truth. She deduces they got away with making mutant slaves because they knew the harder they used them, the faster they would die. Xavier confirms her deduction. Gambit now wonders what they’re even doing there. “Why for Logan, he throw away his life, huh? For nothin’?” Gambit asks. “These folks, they tell me ‘X-Man’ stands for somethin’. Seems to me, hom, that all that be a lie.” Charles Xavier cannot bring himself to respond to this. He merely shuts his eyes and lowers his head.
Nick Fury unexpectedly marches into the lab and tells the X-Men to get used to the real world. Sometimes, he says, even the most honorable of men have to make a truly awful choice for the common good. They hate what Xavier did, and Fury empathizes with them—but he also understands why Xavier made that choice. He asks them to consider all the X-Men have accomplished because of their leader. They’ve even saved the universe—twice! Were Xavier’s actions shameful? Yes—and he will have to live with that. However, that was his decision. Theirs comes next. If they want to walk away, Fury will not stop them. The reality, though, is that the X-Men are needed, plain and simple. If they condemn Xavier, they’ll also have to condemn Logan, who also knew the truth but chose not to walk out the door. “The man who had the dream is flawed,” Fury concludes. “The dream itself—of a future full of hope for all of humanity—that’s still good.”
Sunrise…
Atop the onshore peak, midway along the Xavier estate, overlooking the mansion and Breakstone Lake, the X-Men build a memorial to their fallen comrade, Wolverine. They lay his samurai sword, his cowboy hat, a framed photograph, some roses and their letters inside a circle of candles. ‘Ro kneels before this monument and expresses regret for not ever knowing the man. Nightcrawler assures her she Logan would have liked her, and vice-versa. He lowers a six-pack of beer cans onto the memorial. “Here you are, mein freund—a little something to tide you over,” Kurt says, “…until we meet again.”
Nearby, Scott asks Jean if what she said earlier about her love for Logan was true. With her back turned to him, Jean admits it is. “You love him,” Scott states.
“Yes. The joke’s on me. I live, he dies,” Jean says, her back still turned. She walks away. “All our hearts are broken. I’m sorry.” As she leaves, Scott tells himself one thing will never change: he will always be there for Jean is she ever needs a friend.
Kurt asks Scott what they do next. As much as he hates to admit it, Scott says Fury was right. Charles blazed a path for them. They may hate the choices he made, but this isn’t about him. The X-Men are no longer fighting for equality, or even understanding; they’re fighting for survival now. Cyclops has made his choice, and he asks the others to join him. The time has come for them to pick up the torch—and set things right.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Play Day!
Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters...
Little Ororo peers into the Danger Room, which, in her words, is totally a mess. Her accomplice Lockheed enthusiastically agrees. Storm really did a number on it, she tells the little, purple dragon. Again, Lockheed agrees. 'Ro mentions that Gambit, Kitty and Kurt are supposed to start cleaning up the room; she figures they must have something better to do. "Yah!" Lockheed squawks once again.
Little do they realize that "something better" for Kitty, Kurt and Gambit actually means an impromptu game of Danger Room debris baseball. Kitty takes the pitcher's mound. She hurls a balled-up heap of scrap metal toward the batter, Gambit. Nightcrawler, the catcher, tries to taunt Gambit into striking out. Gambit takes his advice and swings. However, the metal pole he uses for a bat connects with the projectile and sends it soaring across the vast expanse of the Danger Room. Kurt teleports out to the mid-field, grabs the ball and throws it back to Kitty. He urges her to catch Remy, but she has trouble with the mess lying around the room.
Kurt pitches next. He teleports into the air and lobs the ball at Gambit. Meanwhile, at that very moment, Scott Summers arrives at the Danger Room to check in on Nightcrawler's cleaning team. Inside the Danger Room, Gambit connects with the pitch once again. Did he mention he's a switch-hitter? His jovial demeanor ends when the metal ball flies directly at Cyclops's face just as he opens the door to the Danger Room. Only because of his quick reaction time does he survive by obliterating the ball with his optic blast.
Angered, he addresses Kurt, Kitty and Remy and asks what they're doing. They're supposed to be working, he reminds them. Which of them is responsible for their misbehavior? Kurt, Kitty and Remy all point at each other. Cyclops approaches Kitty first. He expected a lot better out of her, he says. Kitty asks him to cut them some slack. They've been working hard; they were just taking a break. They were talking and getting to know each other when Remy—
"Remy," Cyclops says, letting the name linger. "Why am I not surprised?" He tells Gambit it's his turn to explain. Gambit asks if he has a choice. "Nope," Scott says.
Up above, 'Ro—who wears one of the black and gold training uniforms given to students of Xavier's—watches with Lockheed from the control room. She asks what it is about that Scott guy; he actually made Remy look nervous. Lockheed squawks.
Down in the room, Kurt tries to explain to Scott that the mess in the Danger Room is little more than junk. Storm fried all the circuitry with her lightning bolts; internal fires and power flashes took care of the rest. They'll have to recycle everything and start over again from scratch, Kurt says. He also reminds Scott that Kitty and Hank are working on the core network, with new firewalls and safeguards. It will take them some time to get the room back online. Scott asks if he means in-between games of 'Batter Up'.  Of course, Kurt answers. He asks Scott if he wants to participate.
'Ro, meanwhile, urges Lockheed to keep quiet. They're not supposed to be near the Danger Room, she tells the little dragon. She takes a moment to revel in the fact that she's talking to a real, live dragon. It's totally crazy, she says. Sometimes, she swears Lockheed can even understand her. Does that make her any less crazy, though? After all, she can create weather, and sometimes, if she focuses really hard, she can fly! She stands on one leg and spreads her arms out in flying position. Nothing happens. "Uh-oh," Lockheed says. 'Ro sighs. Maybe she can't fly after all. Cursing her mutant powers, she asks why they don't ever work. After all, everything works perfectly for Storm; how come it always has to be so hard for 'Ro? Lockheed yawns.
Confused, 'Ro scratches her head. She imagines what Remy would say to her: "'Chère, you're just a kid.’” “‘You just have to wait, 'Ro—til you grow up a little more.'" That's easy for him to say, 'Ro says; he's there already. To her surprise, she hears a noise coming from somewhere in the room that sounds like a scaled-down version of a lightning bolt. Although she cannot it see because of an obstruction in her line of sight, a small thundercloud forms nearby. 'Ro has only a moment to ponder the source of the noise when a strong gust of wind whips through the control room and nearly carries her out the window. Lockheed bites onto her belt to stop her, but ends up getting pulled along for the ride.
The gust of wind forces them out of the control room and into the Danger Room, where it transforms into a localized tornado—with 'Ro and Lockheed caught in its center. The X-Men look up, more surprised than anything. Kurt teleports toward the wind funnel but, try as he might, can't seem to reach 'Ro; the devil wind has a mind of its own. Gambit, meanwhile, advises his teammates to beware of the airborne debris, which has effectively turned into shrapnel. Kitty looks up at the tornado in horror; what happened to her dragon? The wind-battered 'Ro apologizes and swears it was an accident. She can't make it stop!
For some reason, the tornado dissipates at that moment, and Ororo falls toward Cyclops. They collide and Scott falls backward into the scrap heap. The rest of the X-Men rush over to help them. Is 'Ro all right? Nightcrawler jokes that, yet again, the Danger Room lives up to its name. Kitty is in no mood for joking; Lockheed had better not be hurt, she says. "Temper, katzchen, temper," Nightcrawler says. "Your first encounters with this room were just as memorable."
'Ro apologizes profusely to Cyclops. He smiles and tells her not to mention it; around the X-mansion, accidents have been known to happen. She helps him off the ground. When he asks if she is okay, 'Ro reminds him that he is the one who got slammed. After assuring her he is just fine, he asks the X-Men to get back to work.
Meanwhile, upstairs, the blind X-Mansion guest Sabretooth wanders around in his casual attire. He hears the noises coming from the basement with his heightened senses and wonders if it's some kind of localized 'boomer'. That aside, the mansion is virtually empty. He detects a lot of residual scents. He can smell Rogue in her room. Jean and Hank are down in his lab. Only one other X-guy is active topside, he realizes.
As Sabretooth wanders into the kitchen to grab some grub, he wonders if Logan is laughing at him from wherever he is. Is it funny to see Sabretooth without his eyes? He grabs a box of Wheaty O's, pours them into a bowl and douses it with a can of beer. My healin's stronger'n yours, Logan, Sabretooth thinks. Who knows, my sight may actually grow back. All it'll take is time. An' that, I've always had to spare, he thinks. "Ain't that right, Chucky?"
He is speaking, of course, to Charles Xavier, who is sitting across the kitchen in his wheelchair and watching Sabretooth eat. Xavier reminds Sabretooth that he accepted such familiarity from Logan because Logan was his friend. Sabretooth, however, has no such privileges. As he consumes a ladleful of beer and cereal, Sabretooth asks Xavier why he thinks he would care. Xavier tells Sabes he cares nothing for the people around him. "Care is something you earn," Sabretooth replies. "Among the lot of you, there's only one even comes close to makin' that cut." How dare he! Xavier snaps. "Blood speaks to blood, Charley," Sabretooth replies. "She got more than a claw from the boy—she became a part of me, same as him." Professor X reminds him the girl is but a child. It's a little too late for that, Sabretooth says. The X-Men are all pretty much children; the time to worry about them was before Xavier knocked on their doors. After all, he was the one who set this car in motion, Sabretooth says. He reminds the professor that the kids trust him; they believe in him. Xavier is the one who has to face the consequences of that.
Changing the subject, Professor X asks Sabretooth what he wants and why he is still hanging around the mansion. Sabretooth explains that because Storm killed Logan, he must kill her. However, like Cyclops said, that won't be the end of it. Someone set Storm in motion, which automatically puts them on Sabretooth's list. He will stop when those people are gone. He explains to Xavier that, unlike Logan, he knows who he is and what he does. Logan thought what he did best wasn't very nice. Sabretooth, however, thinks what he does best is glorious; he's never hidden that. Professor X, on the other hand, hides everything. He wonders, at the end of the day, which of them has the better way. As Professor X wheels out of the room, Sabretooth advises him to be careful; folks may be scared of Sabretooth, but liars, they tend to hate.
Beast's lab...
"How do you feel, Jean?" Hank asks. Jean asks how many times he's going to ask. As many times as it takes him to get a straight answer, Beast says. Jean refuses to believe Logan is dead. She can't bear the hurt she has caused Scott. She's terrified of the feelings she senses inside of Kitty; she's never felt passions so raw. Kitty senses Sabretooth stalking her, and she's terrified of that confrontation—and yet, she hungers for it. That's how she feels, Jean tells Hank. Isn't he glad he asked? "Aren't you glad you answered?" Hank responds. Actually, she is, Jean sighs. Hank reminds her he is her friend; he listens without judging.
Jean turns to the myriad computer monitors in Hank's lab and asks what he's researching. He encourages her to see for herself and points her toward the list of contacts on the screen. Jean immediately understands. The list extends back several years; Charles has been tracking mutants as far back as he can find records. These are private files, she reminds Hank. Hank admits he doesn't care; the more he discovers about Xavier, the less he feels obliged to follow his rules. Although he is loathe to admit it's true, he can't argue with the empirical evidence. He turns to face Jean. They lock eyes for a moment, their faces dangerously close to each other. "And... as much as it pains me to say, Jean, I think we both know now the horrible secret of being a mutant," Hank says. "We all of us seem to die young."
The Danger Room...
As the X-Men continue to clear out the Danger Room, Nightcrawler remarks that Jean's telekinesis could certainly help with the heavy lifting. Scott informs him Jean is working with Hank. Kurt doesn't think Hank's strength would hurt, either. As he blasts a pile of debris, Scott reminds Kurt that they do the best with that they have. He then asks Kitty to phase some raw pieces down to the recycling bay. She tells him she's already on it.
Elsewhere in the room, 'Ro approaches Remy and asks if they're going to stay. When he asks what she means, she clarifies that this isn't really their life. Do they belong with the X-Men? Remy asks if she wants to go back to New Orleans and pick up where they left off. She does. It makes sense to Gambit, but 'Ro senses he has a better idea.
Before she can learn just what this idea is, however, the doors to the Danger Room slam shut. Nightcrawler advises his allies to be wary; the room has gone active! He thought Kitty shut everything down. She did, except for the lights, Kitty says. A stream of fire suddenly engulfs her body, but Kitty phases through it. She doesn't understand how this is happening. Cyclops had better not be playing games!
'Ro asks Cyclops what Kitty means by that. As they evade a large robot forming from the scrap metal, Cyclops informs Ororo that, back in the day, he would occasionally arrange for surprise scenarios in the Danger Room to keep everyone on their toes. This is not one of them. He calls out to Gambit and makes him aware of the wreckage robot. Gambit, meanwhile, remarks that the room must have its own recycling program.
Lockheed flies over to Kitty, bites down on the back of her baseball T-shirt and tries to pull her to safety. Nearby, Cyclops sends 'Ro for cover while he fends off the approaching scrap monster with his optic blasts. Nightcrawler swings in on a loose cable and carries 'Ro to safety. She asks what will happen to Cyclops, but Kurt tells her Scott can take care of himself.
Nightcrawler continues his arc across the room when a set of spiked platforms thrust toward him from both sides. He teleports both himself and 'Ro around the deadly obtrusions, but the effect makes 'Ro queasy. Kurt apologizes; teleporting has that effect on people sometimes. Regardless, he tells her to hang tight, as he's afraid the worst is yet to come. Once more, he and 'Ro disappear with a BAMF! This time, they rematerialize outside the sealed Danger Room doors. She says she's going to be sick. Although Kurt tells her she will get used to it with time, 'Ro swears she'll never let him do that to her again.
Lockheed and Kitty Pryde phase through the door right behind Kurt and 'Ro. Things are getting really nasty in there, she says to Kurt. She asks if he noticed the systems adapting to their powers. She doubts the network will let them back inside using either her phase power or his teleportation power. This horrifies 'Ro, who suddenly realizes Cyclops and Gambit are still inside. Kurt asks if there is anything else they can do, but Kitty doesn't think so. They already disconnected the power and cybernetic mains. With the way the system is consuming its energy, it should burn through the reserves in no time at all. Until then, though, Scott and Remy are on their own.
Inside the Danger Room, Gambit focuses on dodging missiles while Cyclops holds the robot at bay with his mutant power. Remy notices he doesn't look too worried; Scott chalks it up to his basic arrogance. He refuses to let the room—or the network running it—get the better of him. Gambit asks him if he's really that good. In response, Scott points out that Gambit is keeping pace; he's certainly not bad himself.
Scott turns Remy's attention to the big, red, circular module by the door. He tells him that it's a power vent, and if he punches it, the system will crash. It can't be as easy as just pressing a button, Remy sighs as he approaches the door. He tells Cyclops the deed is as good as done. However, before he can reach the button, a set of robotic tentacles reach out and ensnare him. Clearly, stopping the Danger Room won't be as easy as he assumed. He asks Scott for some assistance. Scott, however, is too busy splitting his optic blast to fend off a flurry of approaching attacks to help; Gambit is on his own. Now held upside-down, Gambit charges up a playing card.
Outside the door, Kurt says to Kitty that because of Storm's attack, there is no way of knowing how dangerous the room might be for Scott and Remy. He begins suggesting they teleport to the auxiliary grid out back to put a stop to it. Just as he says this, however, Gambit hurls his charged card at the module by the door and blows it to pieces. The door to the Danger Room jerks open, and Cyclops leaps out, pushing 'Ro out of the way of a set of escaping missiles. The weapons explode harmlessly.
Cyclops helps 'Ro up off the ground and comments that collisions between them seem to be becoming a habit. He asks if she is okay. "I'm kind'a squished," she says. "But no more 'young lady', okay? I'm 'Ro," she says. She asks about Remy's whereabouts; is he all right?
Kitty peers into the open Danger Room door and gasps. Nightcrawler, meanwhile, teleports right next to her and begins explaining what happened, but the sight Kitty sees also catches his eye and makes him gasp as well. Inside the Danger Room, Gambit still hangs suspended—harmlessly—by the robotic coils. Smirking at his teammates, he tells them not to mind him; he's just hanging around until one of them can figure out how to cut him down. "By the way, that was fun!" Remy adds. "Anyone interested in settin' things up for Round 2?"
A while later...
In the rec room, Cyclops commends Gambit's performance inside the Danger Room earlier and thanks him for his help. No problem, Remy tells him. Cyclops continues; according to 'Ro, she and Remy have plans. Remy thanks Scott for everything they've done, but admits the X-Men is not where he and 'Ro belong. He doesn't mean any offense, but they have their own lives to live. They're not superheroes. Cyclops asks 'Ro how about this, and she admits she feels the same way. This isn't her place, she says, and it isn't her life.
Scott reminds them a whole lot has changed in the past few days: the solid rock beneath them has turned to sand. Although he understands their feelings, he thinks they all need to stay together. Too many of their lives are in the wind. If they go their separate ways, they'll end up getting lost. Besides, if they go solo, they're just easy targets. Gambit begs to differ; he can take care of himself. Cyclops asks if he feels the same way about 'Ro. She's just a girl, after all; doesn't she deserve the chance to grow up to become a woman?
Gambit asks Scott if he truly thinks the Xavier Institute is the place for that. It might be the place to start, Scott suggests. Gambit asks 'Ro what she thinks. Does she have anything to add? They're talking about her life, after all.
'Ro turns away from them and lowers her head. "What if Storm's the truth, Remy, an' I'm the lie?" she asks. Gambit tells her that truth is truth, but life is what you make of it. Where she came from doesn't matter; where she chooses to go, and how she chooses to get there, do. 'Ro admits she's scared, but Gambit asks if she intends to face her fear, or run.
Elsewhere, Nightcrawler repairs a motherboard in the Danger Room while Kitty assists. He comments on how quiet she's been. She's just been thinking, she says. Kurt asks about what. Everything that's happened, she says. "I miss him too, katzchen," Kurt says.
"Yeah—but you don't have pieces of him inside you, Kurt, body and soul! You don't have his dad scoping you out as his next prey," Kitty says. "I feel—like I don't know who I am anymore. I don't like what I've become." Nightcrawler brusquely tells her to deal with it. She should know by now how he would reply to a problem like this. He reminds her she cannot change the fundamental nature of her existence. She must learn to adapt and cope and overcome—or accept that she will be forever overwhelmed. Given who they are and what they have accomplished, he finds it quite impossible to believe she would do that. "Not showing any mercy tonight, are you, Elf?" Kitty asks.
He tells her he is bound by faith: faith in God, and faith in her. She was given these gifts of hers for a reason. Admittedly, Kurt does not yet understand that reason, and he confesses part of him feels concern. What he knows above all else, though, is Kitty. He can't say where her path will lead. He suspects it will be hard, but, in the end, he knows it will be good. Kitty hopes he's right.
And so...
Outside Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, a S.H.I.E.L.D. carrier sits parked on the lawn while two soldiers stand guard. Inside, Nick Fury takes a phone call from his colleague Daisy. He can't believe it; he's been gone less than a day and they're still setting up shop at Xavier's, and she's already calling in an emergency? On the other end of the line, Daisy Dugan explains that they lost contact with a foreign dispatch investigating suspicious activity in South America. They were only two days into the Amazon when they fell off the grid—until now. Fury asks what happened; did they get lost in the woods. Nope, Daisy says; it appears as if they lost them. She sends Fury some visuals.
Xavier's eyes widen as he looks at the incoming images. Fury furrows his brow; he asks Daisy from where the image came. She explains it was pirated off a keyhole surveillance grid established by the C.I.A. during a routine orbital surveillance of South America. In fact, she doubts the Pentagon has even noticed the anomaly. Understandable, Xavier says. This wouldn't register as one of the Pentagon's defined threats. He turns to Fury and asks him if he's observing the image correctly; are those tanks?
Sure enough, on the computer monitor, an image of a vegetation-filled crater with abrupt side and flattened tanks on the bottom fills the screen. It almost resembles a footprint…


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Past is Prologue
Deep in the Andes Mountains, rain falls on two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents standing guard over a massive hole in the ground. This weather bites, one of the cloaked agents says. On the man's radio, his colleague Tommy Juniper reminds him they're S.H.I.E.L.D. agents; what would it look like if the post office can handle the weather better than them? After telling the men he has their boss, Nick Fury, on the line, Tommy asks for a sit-rep. First, they explain there is no sign of the tanks that called for help. Second, they explain that they see before them a really big hole—or a small lake, if interpreted that way. As he stares into the hole rapidly filling with rainwater, the agent swears it resembles a footprint.
Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter, Nick Fury further questions Agent Juniper via satellite. He's not sure how to say this to Fury, but the hole almost looks like a footprint. However, with its dimensions, it must come from some sort of giant, and with all the rain they're getting it may not remain for much longer.
His transmission travels all the way back to Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Salem Center, New York, where Nick Fury monitors the situation in the Andes with the help of Professor X, the X-Men and a staff of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Agent Juniper tells Fury they're still looking for signs of other prints. Fury wonders why they're depending on three guys on the ground; S.H.I.E.L.D. has more hardware than Home Depot, after all. What is the hardware telling them? Not much, according to one of his colleagues. The weather and topography in that particular region make it hard to get effective intel both from the air and orbit. They're lucky to even have a radio signal; remote data streams are rough and virtually useless.
Because of the technological blind spot, Fury asks Professor X and Jean Grey if they can detect anything telepathically. "Goodness me, is the colonel actually asking us for help?" Beast asks. Jean tells him not to be mean. Beast claims he would perish at the thought. However, he believes it would have been wiser to send the X-Men to investigate. They have stronger psi-links in Jean and the Professor, after all, not to mention the fact they're better equipped to deal with any threats. Could the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at least send a decent picture of the supposed footprint?
Agent Juniper interrupts from the Andes and says he sees something approaching—something cloaked. That must be why they didn't detect it earlier, Juniper says. He suddenly grows very alarmed as the approaching object nears. It's huge! Fury urges him to get out of there right away, but Juniper insists on realigning his camera so Fury can see. The act proves fatal, as the approaching object incinerates the helicopter mere moments later.
The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at the footprint site look up in horror as both their colleague and their ride explode. With few options, they turn their assault rifles skyward and fire at the impending threat. It makes short work of one of them. The other, Agent Wallace, fires his rifle desperately at the menace. In his last moments, Wallace reports back that the explosive-tipped rounds he's firing have no effect on the hostile, and the excessive rain make it hard to see what it is for sure. All he knows is that it's huge—and deadly.
A moment later, Agent Wallace is gone, dead like his teammates. A crumpled photo from the wreckage of the helicopter burns on the ground. The heavy rain continues to fall over the smoking wreckage of the helicopter and the lifeless bodies of the three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Five minutes earlier, back in New York...
While Fury commands his men to get out of the area right away, Jean and Xavier merge together their telepathy in an attempt to penetrate the natural defenses surrounding the Andes Mountains. Successful, Xavier establishes a firm mental link with one of the young men. As he prepares to transfer the image to Jean's psyche, however, something catastrophic strikes his mind, causing him to shriek.
Fury, meanwhile, loses the feed. Not another Juniper, he thinks. Not again! He orders his men to create a full-spectrum ground surveillance for a hundred kliks around the location; he wants to know about everything that moves down there. The X-Men, he instructs to take care of their fallen teacher. If Xavier was in contact with Fury's people, then Fury needs to know what he saw.
Returning to the monitor, Fury asks his assistant Ruben why the screen remains blank. Ruben claims it’s the location; this stretch of the Andes has always been a surveillance dead zone. The storm is only making it worse.
Meanwhile, Jean asks Professor X if he’s okay. He felt the young man die, he tells her. In moments like these, he truly loathes his ability to reach into the minds of others and to see so bright a light suddenly extinguished. He couldn’t help or save the young man—he could only watch.
Fury tells Xavier he’s lost contact with his team. He asks if there’s any hope they’re still alive. Regrettably, Xavier informs him of what he knows: young Tommy Juniper is dead. As for the others, his instincts lead him to presume the worst. Fury grumbles; do they have any information? All his men know for sure is that the culprit is big and nasty.
Using her telepathy, Jean asks Beast for his take on the situation. He does not know what to make of it yet. However, he has a really bad feeling, and wants to find some fast answers.
Moments later, Rogue, Cyclops, Gambit and Nightcrawler, having felt Xavier’s telepathic outcry, burst into the room ask what happened. Wasting no time, Beast asks Cyclops what he recalls about Larry Trask. Cyke immediately recalls Larry was the mutant son of Bolivar, who in turn created the Sentinels. As Hank surely remembers, those same Sentinels were immolated on the surface of the sun. He asks Hank why he mentioned them. Hank claims that, as a scientist, he dislikes loose ends. They can’t ignore the possibility they may be dealing with Sentinels.
Fury asks Beast if he’s considering getting involved. “If your guys were still alive, colonel, we wouldn’t even be asking,” Beast replies. “There are threats on this world that we X-Men know better than anyone. And we’re the best people to deal with them.” He turns to Cyclops, who has yet to say a word, and asks if he has anything to add. Cyke doesn’t see why he would; Hank is doing just fine.
Ignoring them, Fury turns back to the monitor and resumes issuing orders to S.H.I.E.L.D. He wants a strike team on standby, air-cap units over their last team’s position and clearances from all relevant governments—and he wants them immediately. Rogue interrupts. Fury tells her and the X-Men to stay out of it, but Rogue tells him that is just plain dumb. This is what they do, she says. They fight bad guys and save the world—and they’re quite good at it. Cyclops reminds Fury that his team obviously ran into something outside its capabilities; what makes him think sending in another unit will yield a different result? The X-Men are willing to take the necessary risk, and they can be on-site within the hour. Shadowcat adds that they’re not exactly new to this. Xavier concurs; being in the field might do them some good.
Cyclops begins issuing orders. He appoints Nightcrawler team leader, based on his term of leadership with Excalibur. Plus, his teleportation might prove essential for this job. Next, Scott assigns Jean Grey to serve as the team’s telepath, and to maintain constant contact with Xavier. Rogue, he assigns to the team to be its muscle. Lastly, he adds Shadowcat to the roster as the team sneak. Fury adds himself to the lineup; whatever killed his men, he wants to see for himself.
Smirking, Xavier tells Fury via telepathy that he told him the X-Men were good. Fury doesn’t disagree. However, Tommy Juniper was good too, but in the end it didn’t make much of a difference.
Gambit, meanwhile, speaks up and requests to sit this mission out so he can look after ‘Ro at the mansion. Cyclops was thinking the same thing. He, too, wants to stay behind, only to monitor Sabretooth, not ‘Ro. No matter what Sabes says, Scott doesn’t trust him. Beast, the only X-Man to not receive an assignment, asks what he is supposed to do. Although Cyke assumed he would remain behind to assist with intel and strategy, Hank informs him he assumed wrong. It’s a communications dead-zone at the attack site. What if something happens to Jean or Xavier? Without that psi-link, the team would have no means of communication. They need someone working with them as they go, processing the data and developing answers—not to mention someone who’s also good in a fight. Jokingly, Cyke asks who that might be, but puts Beast on the team nevertheless. That’s their team, Scott says. With that, Fury tells his men to get the show on the road.
Later, as they fly to South America, Rogue remarks that she liked their old Blackbird better. Then they probably shouldn’t have let it get blown up, Jean replies. “Fair point,” Rogue says. “I noticed you an’ Scott—I mean, I can see things have, y’know, changed—I mean, I’m really sorry ‘bout Logan. I still can’t believe it, that he’s really—y’know,” Rogue says, trailing off. Jean knows what she means; she can’t believe it either. She assumed Logan would live forever. However, they were all wrong.
Fury, overhearing their conversation, jumps in and adds that it’s hard losing a friend like that. Jean assumes he’s seen his fair share. However, she gets the feeling that Fury is taking this loss personally. While Fury acknowledges they’re all personal, Jean’s right, in a way; Tommy Juniper was special because his father’s uncle was Junior Juniper. He was the youngest member of the Howling Commandos back during World War 2. He was a great kid—and their first casualty.
Hard to realize that if Junior had survived the war, he’d be in his 80’s by now, Fury thinks. I don’t like going there, because then I have to think about my own age—but sometimes memory makes its own rules. Try as I might to turn away from the past, I find myself back in the Big One, aboard a C-47, snakin’ our way eastbound over Nazi territory. That was night, an’ the mission where Logan an’ I first met.
Flashback…
In the hull of a cramped C-47 military transport craft, Sgt. Fury tells his Howling Commandoes the sparse details he has about their current mission. “Somethin’ secret, somethin’ serious, fate o’ the world, yadda-yadda blah-blah—you guys know the drill,” Nick says. Dugan, Fury’s mustachioed corporal, asks why they’re bringing Limeys with them. Fury tells Dugan to behave; they’re on the same side. Maybe Ike just figured they could use the help. Who is he to argue with a four-star general? Dugan concedes, adding that he tries not to argue even with Fury. “Smart man,” Fury says. “Must be why you made corporal.”
Fury relays to his men that finding out about their target was supposedly a fluke. Chances are their enemies don’t even know they’re coming. Their orders are total destruction—no prisoners. Dugan doesn’t think that’s very nice, but Fury reminds him that it’s war, and nice has nothing to do with it. He orders his men to check their gear while he checks in on their British allies.
Moving to the back of the plane, Sgt. Fury asks which of the Brits is top dog. “I guess that’d be me,” one of the men says. “And I’m Canadian.” Fury asks if there’s a difference; the hirsute Canadian asks if he wants to find out the hard way. Grinning, Fury introduces himself to the man and says he can call him ‘Nick’. “Logan,” the grizzled Canadian says. “These guys mainly call me ‘Captain’.” Fury pauses noticeably, but Logan advises him not to worry. He knows his orders, and on this mission, Fury is boss. Nick asks if he knows anything about their target. Just that it’s one of Hitler’s special projects, Logan answers. He adds that they tested it against the Russians not much earlier, at which point Stalin called Churchill and FDR personally, screaming for help. Fury supposes they’re that help.
The target—and thus, their drop zone—approaches. Fury orders his men to ready themselves. The cabin shakes violently as both teams take their positions. The C-47, dubbed the Dakota, flies straight and level as the paratroopers it carries dive out of the door. It manages to avoid the Nazi anti-aircraft artillery that tries to bring it out of the sky.
Perhaps because of the fabled luck of the Howlers, all of the soldiers on the plane land safely. However, the battle begins once they hit the ground and it quickly turns bloody. Their objective: an old industrial complex of impressive size. Fury supposes Hitler wanted to make a statement about Germany beating out the Depression. Its size, however, makes it difficult for the Nazis to defend it. Perhaps with the demands of the war, the Nazis gambled they could leave the plant with minimal defense, as it is so far from the front lines. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos prove them wrong.
As the Allied soldiers approach the base, Logan tells the mustached American to lob a grenade into the opposing machinegun nest. Dugan does so, but only after reminding Logan of his name. The grenade, meanwhile, detonates in the nest, removing the primary obstacle barring the progress of the Americans and Brits. Fury instructs the Brits to secure the perimeter and grab them a set of wheels while they’re at it; they’re going to need some transport home once they finish. He and the Howlers will secure the interior. Logan, however, asks if he can come with the Howlers and enter the facility first. He has a knack for things like this, he says.
Inside the facility, an SS officer, his pistol aloft, commands his men to establish a defensive perimeter at all costs. The scientists, he says, must be protected.
An explosion from his rear side knocks him off his feet. After the smoke clears, Logan enters, machine gun blazing, and eliminates all the remaining officers. It is not long before he runs out of ammunition. “Mags are empty,” he says as he examines the vast interior of the lab. “Looks like Raven’s intel was right on the money. One crazy factory,” he says, “—complete with mad scientist. Time to put you out of business, bub.”
Across the room, the man in the white lab coat cowers in fear.
Outside, Fury’s men talk about Logan’s prowess in battle. He really knows his business, they say as they observe the entire company of slaughtered SS. One soldier admits outright that Logan scares him. Another soldier is more preoccupied with the eerie machinery on the grounds to give Logan much bother. He scratches his head as he examines a saucer-shaped aircraft with a swastika painted on its side. Fury, however, neither knows nor cares about this stuff. Their orders are to destroy everything, he reminds his men. He instructs them to spread the charges while he finds Logan.
It doesn’t take Fury long to fulfill his end of the task, however, as Logan soon approaches, hauling the lifeless body of the mad scientist with him. “You have your orders, Sergeant,” Logan says. “I have mine.” He drops the dead scientist to the ground. Fury cranes his neck and looks around the laboratory. What is all this stuff? Logan tells him he has no idea, but he does know building all these gadgets cost a lot of lives. It’s the kind of stuff one sees in “Buck Rogers”, only it’s real. Hitler’s goons, he explains, have been scouring the world for years for stuff like this. They strip-mine the components of gizmos for working pieces, then reassemble them to make something better—something that could kills millions. Logan doesn’t think that’s something any person or government should have. However, thanks to him, the Nazis no longer have an inventor, and once they blow the factory, they’ll have no hardware, either.
Junior Juniper reports he set the charges. However, he asks if they’re doing the right thing. What if the Allies could use this stuff? Fury reminds him it’s a war. He may argue with Logan’s style, but he has no problem whatsoever with his results. They turn and leave the room, leaving behind the lifeless body of the mad scientist—Dietrich Trask.
End flashback…
“I’m sorry, Johnny,” Nick Fury says as he comes across the dead body of Tommy Juniper. This is the second time Fury has had to write a letter of condolence to the Juniper family. Twice they trusted him, and twice he let them down.
Jean, meanwhile, reports that she senses nothing in the vicinity except for the X-Men. She doesn’t even sense any animals. Beast notices something else odd: all of equipment from the slaughtered S.H.I.E.L.D. brigade is gone. Their bodies and weapons remain, but their helicopter, computers and communicators have vanished. It’s like the area has been selectively strip-mined, he conjectures. Nightcrawler looks around for the fabled footprint, but can’t find that either. Rogue asks if she should scout from the air, but Kurt doesn’t want her to worry about that yet. For now, he wants her to stay with the rest of the team, in case they need her muscle.
Jumping on his communicator, Nick Fury calls for a dust-off to come collect his people. He tells them to wait until they secure the area, though. After swearing to make whoever did this to Tommy pay, Fury orders the X-Men to spread out and search for their target’s trail. If it was as big as his men said, it couldn’t have just vanished.
The X-Men begin their search. Opting to take point because of his speed and stealth, Nightcrawler teleports ahead. Beast, meanwhile, ponders the larger questions of the situation. After the attacker destroyed the helicopter, it apparently took it and all of its electronic components. Why? If it’s so huge, how did it cover its tracks and leave no evidence of its passage through the jungle? Those actions suggest both significant purpose and intelligence. He finds it troubling. He advises Rogue and Shadowcat to stay frosty; their aircraft may prove tempting for their target. That works for Rogue—as she’ll enjoy taking the menace apart.
Up ahead, Nightcrawler searches for a trail in vain. He finds nothing—but then again, the trees in the jungle are so tall and verdant that it might not be that hard for the culprit to hide. He suddenly sees something up ahead, lets out a horrified scream and teleports back to the rest of the X-Men. He immediately urges them to take cover—right away. Beast asks what he saw, but before Kurt can answer, a high-powered energy beam impacts the ground near their feet and propels them through the air.
Beast hits the ground and turns over to face their attacker. He should have known; he should have said something. All the pieces were right in front of him, yet he kept hoping and praying he was wrong. Now, it’s too late. Looming overhead is one of the X-Men’s oldest foes, a Sentinel of gargantuan proportions. “MULTIPLE CONTACTS, PROBABILITY HOSTILE,” the Sentinel Master Mold declares as it locks its sights on the X-Men. “X-GENE DETECTED IN 5 OF 6 ORGANICS—6TH CONTACT HUMAN BUT ANOMALOUS. PRIMARY SENTINEL DIRECTIVE APPLIES: TERMINATE ALL MUTANTS.”