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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Fallout
San Francisco, specifically the Golden Gate Bridge, where Theresa Rourke a.k.a. Siryn, leader of the teenage mutant heroes known  as X-Force, thinks to herself that people travel from all over to stand on the Golden Gate Bridge and take in one of the most beautiful breathtaking views on the planet. To the south is the city of San Francisco itself, while to the north, the Marin Headlands, where you can watch the sun rise over the Oakland Hills or watch it set over the Pacific. ‘I can’t think of a better place to say goodbye to a world full of troubles’ Siryn tells herself as she climbs over the railings on the Golden Gate Bridge.
‘Oh, my dear Lord, that girl’s climbing over the railing!’ someone shouts. ‘She’s going to jump!’ another exclaims. ‘Somebody stop her!’ someone else calls out, but it’s too late. However, Siryn doesn’t jump or leap off the railing, she simply steps. The worst moment is the first fraction of a second when Theresa realizes there is a huge expanse of nothing beneath her feet. In that instant she understands how the coyote feels in the cartoon - suspended in midair, holding up a sign that says “oops”. It is a seven hundred and forty-six foot drop into the water below her - and she has nowhere to go but down, while various onlookers stare in shock.
There was a time when Siryn leapt off buildings without a second thought - secure in the knowledge that she could ride the wind and soar with the eagles. Now though, Siryn is just dead weight - falling - and falling - until she reaches the inevitable conclusion - landing with a mighty splash on the water, before the waves role in.
‘Excuse me, miss. You shouldn’t lean over the railing like that. The winds are pretty strong today, and I’d hate to see you get knocked over the side. You probably noticed it’s a long way down’ Siryn turns to the ranger, she notices that he has pitched his voice soft and low, trying to be reassuring and caring in a hotline kind of way. Theresa is sure the ranger has pegged her as a potential jumper, and is following park service procedure. Truth is, Siryn bets everyone who stands here thinks about what it would be like to take the plunge. From under her hooded coat, Theresa gives the ranger a half smile to make him believe that she is all right. She would tell him she is depressed, not suicidal, but she can’t - she cannot speak anymore since a psychopath sliced her throat open, shredding her larynx and severing her vocal cords. ‘And what’s a siren without her song? Lost’ Siryn tells herself.
Meanwhile, the home of X-Force, where most of the rest of the team are gathered in the living room watching the news, where a reporter, Serena Ruiz, announces that last week’s state-wide outages are being attributed to a mutant terrorist group’s attempt to restart the reactor at the Summerfield Canyon nuclear power facility. She adds that, in related news, at a press conference today, Nevada Senator Owen Danville announced that he will head a new Government task force on domestic mutant activity. ‘Given the recent UN decision ceding sovereignty of Genosha to Magneto, it’s clear that the mutant population in this country poses the greatest threat to national security since the Soviet Union. We must determined to whom that small but unquestionably dangerous minority pledges their allegiance’ the Senator declares.
‘Can you believe that?’ Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith exclaims as she throws one of her pink bunny slippers at the television. ‘The Senator knows that we stopped the Armageddon Man from destroying the West Coast. He was there!’ Tabitha exclaims, wondering how he can go on national television and make it sound like every mutant is Magneto’s stooge. Domino remarks that the Senator is a politician, and that they aren’t concerned with the truth, all the care about is getting a sound-bite on the evening news. Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta tells his friends to face it: ‘We’re never going to be handed the key to the city’.
Danielle Moonstar tells Bobby that they know, but what makes it so infuriating is that they get no credit for their actions and sacrifices. ‘Nobody knows that Theresa got her throat cut saving the world’ James Proudstar, Siryn’s best friend, remarks, looking away from his teammates. Meltdown asks James where Theresa is, as she hasn’t seen her all day. James announces that he took her to the throat specialist this morning, but the prognosis was not good, as apparently Feral’s claws did a lot of damage to her voice box, and the doctor said that while her larynx will heal, the scar tissue will probably be so widespread that she may never regain the use of her voice. James announces that Siryn took the news pretty hard and while he offered to keep her company, she made it clear she wanted to be alone.
Suddenly, the television goes on the fritz, ‘Hey’s what’s with the TV?’ someone calls out, while someone else remarks that static like that can only mean one thing - Jesse Bedlam is in the house. ‘Somebody call my name?’ Jesse “Bedlam” Aaronson asks as he stands in the kitchen, holding a few bags of groceries. Someone tells Jesse that he is interfering with their reception again, to which Jesse tells his teammates that he is sorry, he got distracted, and when he does, he loses control of the bio-electrical field that he generates. ‘Let me tell you, it’s a drag to have a power that’s always on’ Jesse tells his teammates as they all gather around the kitchen, with Bobby remarking that he was getting sick of the news anyway, while Domino asks Jesse if he is cooking again.
Bedlam replies that he thought he would grill some tuna up on the roof later, as he found a lemon aioli recipe he wants to try out. Proudstar tells Jesse that he doesn’t have to cook every night, to which Tabitha tells James to shut up, as they haven’t eaten this well since they were living in the Mansion and the Beast was doing the cooking. Aaronson tells his teammates that he doesn’t mind, reminding them that they have him a second chance after he stood by and let his brother and the Hellions turn them into techno-organic zombie slaves. ‘I’m just trying to pull my own weight around here’ he adds, while Proudstar tells Dani that it is too bad Cannonball is back in Kentucky visiting his mother, as he would be surprised at the change in Jesse.
Meltdown exclaims ‘Who knew such an annoying guy could be such an amazing cook?’ while Danielle asks Jesse if there are any more groceries in the car. Jesse replies that there is, but he met some old guy outside who is bringing them in. ‘He says he’s Theresa’s pop’ Jesse adds, when someone exclaims ‘He wasn’t lying. That’s Sean Cassidy, the Banshee!’. Sean smiles as he enters the kitchen, ‘Hello kids. Where do I put these?’ he asks, before James takes them from the former X-Man, who thanks James for calling him. He explains that when he got the message he took the next plane out of Logan International. James tells Banshee that he is glad he came, adding that he understands a lot has changed at the Massachusetts Academy since it began accepting non-mutant students.
‘Do you know everybody here?’ James asks. Sean looks around, ‘Aye, how could I forget a rogues gallery such as this one. Although Bobby, Tabitha and Danielle have grown since I first met them back when they were New Mutants’ Banshee exclaims. ‘Aren’t you forgetting someone, Sean?’ Domino asks. Banshee turns to her, and calling her Beatrice, tells her that she is as impatient as ever, but he is pleased to see she is keeping better company than when they first met. ‘I was just a naïve little girl then. I didn’t know any better’ Domino replies, to which Sean tells her that she was lots of things, but naïve was never one of them. ‘As I recall, ye put the fear of God in half the mercenaries in Madripoor’ Sean exclaims.
Banshee tells everyone that he would love to reminisce all night, but he did come to see how his daughter is holding up, and asks if she is around. As James and Jesse put away the groceries, James announces that she has been out all day, and that he is getting worried about her. He adds that he thought he would go check out some of her usual haunts, and tells Banshee that he is welcome to come.
Meanwhile, on Irving Street and 9th Avenue, after heading south through the Presidio and then through the park hoping the walk would clear her head, Siryn is now sitting in a café. The walk didn’t clear her head and she still feels lousy. Sipping a hot drink, Siryn decides that she cannot go back to the warehouse, for although everyone means well, and she knows the genuinely care, she is feeling sorry enough for herself as it is, and doesn’t need anyone else’s pity. Siryn’s mind wanders back to how everything has changed so much from the day Cable asked her to join X-Force - Shatterstar was still with the team, James was still Warpath, Tabitha was still Boomer and Sam insisted on wearing those silly aviator goggles. Siryn recalls that everyone was angrier then, everyone had a chip on her shoulder, and she knew she would have to prove herself to them.
But she never expected to find friends in the team - or someone who cared about her. Siryn recalls how she and James grew closer, behind the anger at his family’s death, she found a sensitive and passionate soul, who any girl would be crazy for, except when Siryn as when she saw him falling for her, she pushed him away, afraid that if she let him get closer, he would see through her façade and learn who messed up she really was.
Siryn looks around the café and thinks to herself that when she was younger she thought a normal life was the last thing she wanted, for school was too much work, she hungered to be free of the responsibility, and yet, somehow, she never chose the easy path, remembering how Cable informed her that Cannonball was joining the X-Men, and Cable asked her to take Cannonball’s place as deputy leader of X-Force, explaining to her that she would have to work twice as hard as the others because she is the one they will be depending on. ‘I am honored’ is what Siryn told Cable.
Siryn looks around and sees two people embrace: ‘Hannah, sweetie! When did you get back into town? I thought you moved to NYC?’ one asks. Hannah replies that it didn’t work out and that it is great to be back, as she has run into all her old friends today. Siryn then wonders if she worked harder at being a leader than she did at being a friend, for it was easier to have other people depend on her than to let herself depend on them. ‘And I liked the action’ she tells herself, thinking that Theresa Rourke was a scared little girl full of insecurities and nueroses, but as Siryn, she could shatter concrete and meet the Juggernaut head on. ‘In uniform, nothing frightened me’. Siryn covers her face, wondering what she is supposed to do without her voice. ‘What good am I to anyone?’ she asks herself.
‘Hi, how’s everybody doing tonight?’ someone asks as they take the microphone on the nearby stage. ‘Get off the stage, loser!’ someone calls out. ‘Love you too, Mom’ the person on the stage replies, before telling everyone in the café that, as they know, Monday is acoustic night at Killer Coffee, and asks them all to put their hands together for Eurydice. ‘Great. That’s all I need. Coffee house folk music’ Siryn tells herself, as Eurydice thanks everyone for coming. ‘And for those of you who just came in for a cup of joe thanks for staying’ she adds, before introducing herself as Eurydice and telling everyone that if they like what they hear, she has got CD’s for sale after her set. ‘I’d like to start out with an old one by Van Morrison’ she announces as she launches into song. Siryn watches, thinking that Eurydice has a voice like a vagabond angel, knowing and joyous at the same time. It’s so beautiful that it cuts Siryn like a knife. Theresa used to be able to sing like that, and unable to bear listening further, she rushes out of the café.
Meanwhile, on Van Ness Avenue and California Street, ‘Oh, man, look at the pinstripes out that suit. That’s got to be vintage 1940’s. I gotta try it on!’ Sunspot exclaims as he and Meltdown pass a shop window. Tabitha tells Bobby that they are looking for Theresa, and that she is not the shop-till-you-drop kind of girl, but the two of them found a bunch of cool clothes here when they first moved to the city. Bobby tells Tabitha that this is pointless, for if Siryn wanted to be found, she would have called, or in her case left a note. ‘Anyway, she’s a big girl. If she wants to deal with her injury in solitude, we should let her’ he exclaims. ‘Earth to Bobby. She got her throat sliced open in battle. She’s still in shock. Anyone with half an ounce of empathy would know she shouldn’t be alone right now’ Tabitha snaps back.
‘Are you saying I don’t have any empathy? That’s harsh!’ Sunspot exclaims, to which Meltdown pulls away from him, telling him to forget she said anything, as she doesn’t want another fight. ‘What do you want from me, Tabitha? I certainly don’t know anymore’ Sunspot exclaims, to which Meltdown points out that they are grinding gears trying to be a couple, and suggests they end if now before they completely destroy their friendship. ‘You’re breaking up with me? Are you seeing someone else?’ Sunspot asks. ‘How can you even ask me that? You really don’t get it, do you?’ Tabitha exclaims, before telling Bobby that she will see him back at the warehouse as she storms away from him.
‘Fine’ Bobby mutters as he watches Tabitha leave. ‘Fine. Whatever’ he shouts, unaware that he is being watched by two men in suits, one of whom remarks that it looks like DaCosta has hit some turbulence with his lady friend. ‘C’mon, remember how you were at his age. Young, dumb and -’ one of the men tells the other, who replies that nothing changed when it comes to women, before asking if they are going to pick up the girl. ‘No, we don’t have jurisdiction. It’s the kid we want. Let’s go’ the first replies, before they approach Sunspot, ‘Roberto DaCosta?’ one of them asks. ‘I don’t have any change’ Bobby calls back, ‘Funny’ one of the men remarks, introducing himself as Agent Sanchez, and motions to his colleague, Agent Fulton, announcing that they are from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Agent Sanchez remarks that Bobby is a Brazilian national in this country illegally. ‘You’re going to have to come with us’ he tells him. ‘Immigration? This is a joke’ Sunspot exclaims, asking the agents if they have any idea who they are missing with. ‘Do you know what I could do to you?’ he asks, thinking of using his powers on them. ‘You don’t want to threaten us, Sir’ Agent Fulton warns Bobby, who declares that they aren’t worth it, and announces he will go freely, confident his lawyers will have him out in a couple of hours. ‘Too bad Tab isn’t here to see my remarkable display of restraint’ Bobby tells himself.
Meanwhile, at Fort Funston, Danielle and James stand with Banshee, while James announces that he and Theresa came out here a lot, as she said it reminded her of the Irish coastline, which is why he thought she might be here, as it is a good place to think. ‘Her mother always loved the ocean’ Banshee reveals. Dani remarks that it is hard for her to imagine what Theresa is going through. DanI adds that her powers have gone though a lot of changes in the last few years - from being able to create illusions, to tapping into some strange quantum energy as she does now, for even though the changes have been rough, the thought of losing her powers completely is far more frightening. Banshee reveals that hr lost his voice once, when he was first with the X-Men. ‘It was hard to swallow. It took me a few rough months, until I made peace with me loss’ Sean explains.
‘But your power returned eventually?’ James remarks, but Sean replies that he didn’t know that back then, and adds that he wouldn’t have survived without the support of Moira MacTaggert and the other X-Men. ‘I’m so glad Theresa has all of ye’ Sean exclaims. ‘She’s lucky she has you too’ DanI tells him, but Sean replies that he wishes that were true, however he doesn’t expect that he will be the one she turns too, ‘I’ve not exactly been there for her’ he reveals, as he launches into a brief history:
Illustrative flashbacks, narrated by Banshee
Sean reveals that he met Siryn’s mother shortly after he begun working as an undercover agent for Interpol. ‘I loved Maeve fiercely, but I loved the excitement  of my job too, and spent far too much time on assignment, away from her’. Banshee remarks that he was too young to know then how precious every moment you have with your loved ones is, because you never know when they’ll be gone. ‘Maeve died on summer in an IRA bomb blast that took out a street in Dublin’ Sean reveals, adding that after her death, he threw himself into his work, playing the villain as part of his undercover role, which years later led him to take on the X-Men as foes. ‘They were younger than you are now then’.
Sean continues, revealing that what he didn’t know was that when he last saw Maeve, she was pregnant, and had given birth to a beautiful daughter while he was away, and somehow Theresa just an infant, survived the blast, and was found in the rubble by Sean’s cousin Tom - Black Tom - who hated Sean for taking Maeve from him, even though his love for her was never reciprocated. Black Tom then raised Siryn on his own in Cassidy Keep, letting both the young Theresa and Sean believe that Theresa was his own daughter, so the years went by and he never knew the girl he thought was Tom’s daughter was his own. And when the truth finally came out, as all secrets do, it was hard for both of them, so their relationship is built on unsteady ground. Sean explains that he thinks a lot of Siryn’s troubles stem from him not being there for her, and he thinks that contributed heavily to her drinking problem.
Present:
‘I can’t imagine what it would be like to discover that your real father never knew you existed for years’ James or Dani exclaims after listening to Banshee’s story, while the former X-Man looks on, deep in thought.
Shortly, at Twenty Fourth and Mission, Siryn enters a liquor store, though she knows it is a bad idea. ‘I don’t know why I’m doing this’ she tells herself as she puts a bottle of alcohol on the counter. The clerk asks her if that is all for her, and remarks that she looks pretty young, so wants to see her driver’s license. Siryn hands over her license and thinks that she was never this nervous back when her ID was as fake as the wrestling matches on cable, while the store clerk tells her that she is legal, barely, but that means they can do business. ‘That’ll be eight fifty’ he tells her.
Siryn leaves the store, her hands shaking, her throat hurting like Hades, all she wants is something to calm her nerves, vowing not to let it get out of control this time, before her mind wanders back to when she started drinking in boarding school, acting out the hurt and anger she felt at being sent away by Black Tom, who felt having a teenage daughter would be a liability to his career as an international jewel thief. It wasn’t until her mutant power manifested that Black Tom realizes how valuable his adopted daughter could be, and together they stole from some of the finest houses in Europe. At first, Siryn loved the excitement and the danger. And felt closer to Tom than she ever had.
Siryn remembers one occasion where Tom told her to come down out of the sky, as they nicked a fortune and deserve to celebrate. He always drank after a successful heist, and insisted that Theresa join him, unaware that she had graduated to hard liquor during her time at Catholic school. ‘May ye get to Heaven before the Devil knows you’re dead’ Black Tom exclaimed as he and Theresa klinked their glasses together. In her heart, Siryn had doubts about the criminal life she was leading, but the drinking helped silence her conscience. ‘Ahhh, this is the life, ennit?’ Tom remarked, and Siryn knows now she was foolish enough to think that it was.
Meanwhile, on the corner of Kearny & Columbus, Domino enters a store with a photo of Siryn and a man tells her that she has come into the shop many times, and as he recalls she was interested in books on military strategy. ‘Well, a girl’s gotta be prepared for anything’ Domino remarks, before asking if she has been in today. The man replies that she hasn’t, as it has been a slow day and he would remember if she had. Domino thanks the man, before leaving, although the man calls out to her that he likes her tattoo. ‘It’s very striking in its simplicity’ he remarks. ‘That’s what I was going for’ Domino replies.
Walking along the street, Domino realizes a man in a suit is following her, and that it is the one she caught trailing her earlier this afternoon. ‘Looks like he’s making his play’ she tells herself as the man reaches out to put a hand on her arm, ‘Mrs Winters? Tamara Winters?’ he calls out. ‘You’ve mistaken me for someone else’ Domino remarks, turning around. ‘I know you go by a lot of different names’ the man tells her, asking if she would prefer he calls her Domino. Suddenly, Domino slams him up against a wall, ‘You’re awfully familiar for a guy I don’t know’ she exclaims, demanding to know who he is.
After recovering from the shock, the man introduces himself as Napoleon Sanders, a special crimes Detective out of Washington DC. ‘I’m going to reach into my pocket very slowly and pull out my identification’ he tells Domino,  before holding it up in front of her. ‘You’re a long way from Washington, Detective. What do you want from me?’ Domino asks. The Detective reminds Domino that she took out three armed bank robbers in DC a couple of months ago, and then disappeared. ‘I don’t like loose ends. The bank manager said he knew you as Tamara Winter, but when I ran the background check - the only Tamara Winter I found was an eighty-seven year old retiree living in Florida’ the Detective exclaims.
Domino drops him to the ground as he reveals that he showed the robbery tape to an FBI agent who identified her Domino. ‘Look, I stopped a bunch of trigger-happy goons before they got some people hurt. Is that a crime?’ Domino asks. ‘Someone with a number of different names is usually hiding something. I got curious…’ Detective Sanders explains, but Domino tells him that she likes her privacy, and suggests he goes back to Washington. ‘Domino…’ the Detective begins. ‘Why are you looking at me like that -?’ Domino asks as she is engulfed by a blinding flash of light, and vanishes. ‘Dear Lord…’ Detective Sanders remarks.
On the corner of Guerro and 16th, Siryn sits in a bus stop. ‘One drink. Just for tonight’ she tells herself. ‘Just to ease the pain. So I don’t have to think anymore. Just to make the hurt go away’ she tells herself as she puts her hand to the bottle lid.
Back at X-Force’s warehouse, James, Dani, Tabitha, Jesse and Sean stand on the roof, with Jesse tending to a barbeque, he asks if they didn’t find Theresa. ‘No luck. I hope she’s all right’ James replies. Danielle tells Sean that she is sorry they couldn’t find Theresa for him, but Sean replies that he has a couple of days before he has to be back at the Academy, and asks them to call him at his hotel when Siryn gets back. ‘I’m telling you, Jimmy, you go through something like that, you just need time alone’ Jesse tells James, who remarks that Jesse doesn’t know Theresa very well. ‘Theresa’s never been good at being alone’ he remarks.
‘And tell her that I love her’ Banshee exclaims, before leaping off the warehouse roof and flying off into the night. Tabitha remarks that she wishes her father was that cool, before asking her friends if she told them that her father has joined that nutty Triune movement. ‘Can’t see a guy like Sean Cassidy getting into some flaky new age cult like that’ Tabitha adds as she watches Sean fly away. James tells Dani that he cannot shake a feeling that Theresa is in trouble, to which Dani tells him that if she is, they have to trust she will be able to get out of it.
Jesse tells the others that their midnight barbeque feast is officially ready to begin. ‘We know Theresa’s out, but what about Bobby and Dom? Don’t tell me they’ve bailed on dinner, too’ Jesse remarks. Meltdown replies that she isn’t sure about Domino, but that Bobby is not coming back for a while. ‘I kinda…um…broke up with him earlier. I don’t think he took it too well’ Tabitha announces.
Meanwhile, on Market and Van Ness, ‘What am I doing here?’ Theresa wonders as she enters a building and walks up a spiral staircase. ‘I can’t tell anybody what I’m going through. And I don’t expect anyone to understand’ she thinks to herself, before opening the door to a room, ‘No, that’s not true. I don’t have any place to turn. If I don’t reach out tonight…I might as well have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge’. Standing at the back of a group of people, Siryn watches as one of the exclaims ‘Hi, glad you all could make it for this after hours gathering. My name’s Gavin, and I’m an alcoholic…’. Siryn watches, ‘My name’s Theresa…’ she thinks to herself.
Later, everyone is asleep when Theresa finally comes back to the warehouse. Everyone except James that is. Theresa is certain he woke up the moment she put her key in the front door lock. ‘Theresa?’ James calls out as Siryn enters his bedroom. James sits up in bed while Siryn stands before him, ‘Hey, I was worried about you. Everybody was’ James exclaims, adding that everybody was worried about her, and informing her that her Dad was here too. ‘Are you okay?’ he asks. Theresa has so much to say to James, but with no way to say it, she hands him a letter that she had hastily scrawled. It’s the best she can give him.
I almost made a fatal mistake this evening.
Almost being the operative word.
When I started drinking it was because I felt alone and unloved…and the alcohol filled that void in my life.
But I’m stronger because of that. I need some time to figure out what I’m going to do now that my voice is gone.
I have a distant aunt who has a ranch out in the high desert. She told me to look her up when I got settled, which is what I think I’m going to do.
I’ll write you when I get there.
Tonight, I was lost in a fog of despair, dangerously close to throwing two years of sobriety away…but then in a moment of clarity, I remembered that I have friends who love me, and who I know will stand by me.
Don’t worry about me. I’m going to get through this. I love you all.
Theresa.
Siryn stands at Proudstar’s side as he reads the letter closely. ‘I wish you’d reconsider. At least wait until the morning’ James tells Theresa as he walks her outside. They embrace as a cab pulls up. Siryn looks back at her best friend, before the cab drives off in the dead of the night, and James hangs his head as his best friend leaves….


[User]
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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Strange Interlude
Domino, member of X-Force, stands in a seemingly endless white nothingness. Someone is watching her. His scratchy voice exclaims that at last his guest from San Francisco has arrived. ‘Like Alice after tumbling down the rabbit hole, she has been transported to a strange and disturbing new world’ he exclaims. He knows that Domino is a little disorientated, dismayed and perhaps even a tad nauseous, as the sub-atomic shock of teleportation can make even the heartiest traveler queasy. He is sure that Domino is asking herself the most obvious questions: ‘Where am I? What’s going on? Do I look fat in this outfit?’. The mysterious observer remarks that these and many other questions will be answered when they finally stand face to face, for there is no hurry, as Domino will not be leaving any time soon.
Domino sees a gray door up ahead, and walks towards it, while the unknown being watching her comments that he considered constructing some sort of convoluted death trap for her - spikes, poison gas, razor wheels, the whole nine yards - but physical challenges bore him. Psychological intrigue is so much more satisfying. ‘Don’t be afraid of the dark, my dear. Your destination lies ahead of you’ the strange voice calls out as Domino opens the door and steps into the pitch-black area. ‘Who are you? what do you want from me?’ a slightly perplexed Domino asks, looking around.
‘Think of my as your guardian angel’ the voice calls out. ‘Funny. I never imagined my guardian would sound like Tom Waits’ Domino replies, while thinking to herself that it is too bad the acoustics in here are so distorted, for there is no way she can locate the source of the strange voice. ‘Should’ve expected something like this to happen. I gave up my chance for a normal life long ago’ Domino tells herself, while recalling that an hour ago she was in North Beach, reading the riot act to an overzealous East Coast detective named Sanders, who had tracked her down after she foiled a bank robbery last time she was in Washington DC. ‘I was handing the Detective his walking papers when someone teleported me to this well-lit locale’ Domino recalls.
‘And when I meet that someone, I’m going to make him regret it’ Domino thinks to herself, approaching a set of French doors, while the strange voices tells her to enter freely and of her own will. ‘Uh huh…free will doesn’t seem to be an option today’ Domino replies. The unknown being thinks to himself that Domino is understandably suspicious, but that she will soon realize that resistance will only bring herself misery. ‘She needs to accept that she’s no longer in control - and that this is her new home’ he tells himself as Domino passes through the doors, and finds herself in a nicely decorated living room.
‘Interesting. Most of the prisons I’ve done time in weren’t furnished like a suite at the Ritz-Carlton’ Domino exclaims, when suddenly, a voice declares ‘Is everything to your liking, Madam?’ As Domino spins around and shoves a middle-aged man into the wall, the observer remarks that she is a joy to behold in motion. ‘All right, pal. I don’t know what’s going on, but if I don’t find out, somebody’s getting hurt!’ Domino exclaims. With Domino’s hand around his neck, the man tells her that there is no need for violence, before introducing himself as Quentin, and explaining that he is here to assist her in anyway he can. ‘I don’t need a butler, Jeeves. I need answers’ Domino exclaims. ‘Who’s behind this. Arcade? The Gamesmaster?’ she calls out.
Quentin adjusts his collar when Domino releases him and he replies that he is unacquainted with those gentleman. ‘The master of the house is no one you have met’ he reveals, adding that she can be assured that the master of the house will explain his motives when he meets her. ‘Let’s go. I’m dying to meet your…master’ Domino tells him. Quentin tells Domino that the master is present indisposed, but she is expected to dine with him in two hours. He motions to a wardrobe and suggests she may care to change. ‘We’ve tried to provide a suitable wardrobe for your stay’ he tells her.
Opening the wardrobe, Domino discovers that the only clothes in there are copies of all her old costumes. ‘Where did you -’ she begins, but turning around sees that Quentin has vanished. ‘You can’t get good help these days’ Domino mutters, while the strange being watching her decides that Quentin has served his purpose, and Domino’s curiosity is piqued. After donning one of her costumes, Domino thinks to herself that none of this makes sense. ‘Whoever brought me here has to realize four-star accommodations won’t make up for kidnapping me’ Domino thinks to herself, deciding that there is no way she is going to wait for her kidnapper to call her to dinner. ‘I need to find a way out of here’ she tells herself, before looking out a window to establish her location.
Judging by the view, Domino tells herself that she must be somewhere outside of Firenze, Italy, recalling how she can Cable crossed paths here a few years ago when they were both tracking an international arms dealer, but that dealer is now dead, so Domino does not believe this to be related. Deciding that it is time she got some fresh air, Domino struggles to open the windows, ’Looks like I’m not going to be dining al fresco tonight’ she tells herself, before the scenic view vanishes, and crawling through the window Domino finds herself in a service tunnel, with the view outside her window nothing more than a flat panel holographic display. ’That explains how Quentin made his mysterious exit’ Domino  decides as she continues on through the tunnel, telling herself that this place goes on forever.
Domino’s mysterious observer continues to watch her as Domino makes her way down a flight of concrete stairs, and he remarks to himself that what the intrepid young lady does not realize is that the interior of his citadel is malleable and can be changed to suit his needs, and that he arranged the runnels and stairwells to lead her where he wants her to go. He watches as Domino reaches what he calls the Chaos Engine, his grandest creation, and the heart of his happy little home. He knows that Boone will be there, though Boone will have no interest in their guest, for all he cares about is system maintenance. He tells himself that Boone is a genius, but that he is so unbearably tedious that he cannot stand being around him anymore. He adds that Domino will know immediately that Boone is no threat to her.
‘You’re not supposed to be here’ Boone calls out from where he is working with the strange machine in the room. ‘Believe me, I didn’t ask to be here’ Domino replies, before asking what the machine is. Without turning around to look at her, Boone replies that it Is the Chaos Engine, a Tran dimensional reality interface. ‘You wouldn’t understand’ he tells Domino, who asks if that is how she was brought here. Boone lifts up his goggles and tells Domino not to be absurd. ‘You were grabbed using a conventional teleportation signal. I told him it would be a mistake bringing you here, but he never listens to me anymore.
‘Who? The butler was very vague about the man behind the curtain’ Domino remarks, to which Boone tells her not to worry, as she will meet Jack sooner than she would like. ‘You’re all he’s been talking about for weeks’ Boone reveals. Domino looks around and remarks that, if it is all the same, she would rather go home, or anywhere else for that matter. ’Can you help me get out of here?’ she asks.  Boone returns to his tinkering as he tells Domino that she can’t leave, none of them can, they are all prisoners of Jack’s dementia. ‘You’d be surprised what I’m capable of’ Domino replies. ‘That’s what they all say’ Boone exclaims, before telling Domino that this is Jack’s world. His rules. His reality. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do’ he exclaims.
Making her way a long a corridor, Domino thinks to herself that Mr Personality was no help, and that if she is getting out of here she is going to have to do it on her own. Domino tells herself that this place is a maze, but is thankful that her “guardian angel” has been silent, before coming to some sort of door. ‘This look’s promising’ Domino tells herself as she presses a button beside the door. There is a KLIK, before a voice exclaims ‘Warning. Citadel seal breached’. ‘Uh-oh’ Domino exclaims, while the mysterious Jack tells himself that his citadel is surrounded by a field of pure chaos which keeps its location hidden and deters all uninvited guests, and direct contact with that reality-bending energy is unpleasant to say the least.
Domino finds out first hand as her body begins to warm, her arms extend, her head grows, and the reality around her spins into red, orange and yellow shades. Domino, for all her strength and skill, has no defense against the subatomic fluctuations that bend and twist her mind and body. The mysterious Jack states that prolonged exposure will drive a person mad first, and then leave her body an ever-changing mass of once human protoplasm. But he has no intention of leaving such a magnificent woman to such a cruel fate. ‘I was simply making a point’ he tells himself, while Domino clutches her head in shock at the transformation. A green-skinned hand suddenly turns the switch by the door down, and the scratchy voice tells Domino that she cannot leave yet, as the fun hasn’t even started.
Domino drops to the ground, as the green-skinned man stands before her, his strange black costume flowing around him as he declares that it breaks his heart to think Domino would try to sneak out the back door after all the trouble he went through to get her here. ‘Do you know how difficult it was to track you down, let alone complete a teleportational transfer?’ he asks. ‘You must be Jack’ Domino remarks. ‘Halloween Jack, master of mayhem and mirth at your service!’ Jack pronounces, before exclaiming ‘May I say that you are even more beautiful in pers-’, but he doesn’t get to finish his sentence, as Domino smacks him the face. ‘I don’t take kindly to being kidnapped’ she tells him.
Halloween Jack grins wickedly as he exclaims ’Mmm…that hurt…excellent...I like a girl who’s not afraid to get physical…and I can tell from the look in your eyes that you find my very attractive, too’ he exclaims. Domino folds her arms and tells Jack that she doesn’t want any part of whatever game he is playing. ‘I want out. Now’ she declares. Jack begins walking away from her as he tells her that the only way out of here is through the chaos field that surrounds his humble abode. He tells her that prolonged exposure would only turn that devastating body of hers into nothing but a mass of quivering protoplasm. ‘What do you want from me?’ Domino asks him. ‘Your company at dinner. I promise you, I’ll explain everything then’ Halloween Jack exclaims.
‘Ah, sweet Domino, I hope you appreciate everything I’ve done to make you feel at home’ Halloween Jack remarks to himself as Domino returns to her room, wondering to herself when it was she became a magnet for psychopaths. Domino wishes that she knew more about Jack, as she doesn’t like dealing with an opponent who knows more about her than she does about him, before deciding that she is going to play along with the Tex Avery reject until she can figure out how to disable the chaos field.
Looking at the bookcase, Domino decides that this is very creepy, for not only has Jack duplicated her wardrobe, but he has got her favourite books and CD’s - everything from Ayub Ogada to Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. ‘How can he possibly know so much about my tastes?’ she wonders, before noticing a book on a table, with DOMINO printed on the cover. Halloween Jack continues to observe, telling himself that vanity and curiosity are a hard combination to resist, and that the album’s content will prove that his interest in her is not superficial. A shocked Domino flicks through the book, which is filled with past photos of her. ‘I’m in more trouble than I thought. Halloween Jack’s obsessed with me’ Domino realizes. ‘What can I say, I’m an old-fashioned romantic’ Halloween Jack says to himself.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, ‘You’re treating me like a criminal!’ Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta of X-Force exclaims, slamming his hand down on a table, he shouts ‘You have no right to do this to me!’. One of the INS Agents tells Bobby that he came to this country on a student Visa, and that he is no longer in school, nor does he have a job or a Green Card. ‘Here at the INS, that makes you an illegal alien’. ‘This is harassment! You’re going to regret this!’ Sunspot shouts, but a man in a gray suit tells him to calm down, before introducing himself to the INS Agents as Hiram Fogelstrom, explaining that he represents Mr DaCosta. Hiram declares that he is not denying his client overstayed his Visa, adding that lots of kids his age do, but that there is no need to press charges.
Hiram announces that beginning tomorrow, his client will begin work at the San Francisco office of DaCosta International, and that he has spoken to Judge Woo about expediting his Green Card. But one of the INS Agents holds up a photograph and tells Mr Fogelstrom that he is sorry, but this is one rich kid neither he nor the Judge can get out of jail free. ‘Take a look at this photo taken on the Colorado University campus a few months ago. Your client is in the company of Reignfire, a mutant terrorist wanted in connection with the destruction of a Las Vegas casino’ the Agent declares.
‘You’ve got it all wrong! Reignfire was -’ Sunspot begins, before stopping mid-sentence, wondering why he is saying that, as he cannot explain it without revealing that he is Sunspot, which would expose everyone in X-Force. One of the Agents tells Bobby that he has two choices - one, he can stay and face criminal conspiracy charges, or two, he can leave the country voluntarily.
Back in the other dimension, Halloween Jack tells himself that he knows a woman like Domino is not easily won, but that he will not be deterred. ‘I will break her defenses down’ he boasts, before Domino enters the space where he is playing on a piano. ‘Ain’t misbehaving - saving my love for you -’ he sings, before smiling at Domino as she approaches him. Halloween Jack tells Domino that it is a song by the great Fats Waller. ‘Thank you, I’ll be here all week’ he jokes, before announcing that the next song is a special number going out to a very special lady, but Domino tells him to lose the lounge act. ‘It doesn’t - whoa -’ Domino exclaims as she suddenly finds herself floating.
Jack is also floating, and remarks to Domino that he forgot to warn her that he designed this room with specific gravity fields. ‘A great space saving device’ he remarks, while Domino narrows her eyes, ‘You said you’d explain why I’m here’ she reminds him. Halloween Jack tells Domino that he brought her here so that she might enjoy the finer things in life - good food, luxurious surroundings, fascinating company. ‘A woman like you deserves only the best!’ Halloween Jack declares, before motioning to the table, covered with food, and asking Domino if she wants a canapé. ‘I’m not going to be part of
your twisted fantasy!’ Domino shouts, kicking the table over.
Domino orders Halloween Jack to send her back to San Francisco, otherwise she will tear him and this place apart. Halloween Jack frowns and tells Domino that he cannot do that, and that he does not want her death on his conscience. ‘You’re safe here’ he tells her. ‘Safe from what?’ Domino retorts. ‘Why your death wish, of course’ Jack explains. Images of Domino and her teammates facing a variety of foes flash past as Halloween Jack tells Domino that she is on a deadly path that will only end in self-destruction. ‘Your life has been filled with nothing but bone-breaking battle and life-threatening danger. Since childhood you’ve sought out others who life in dangerous circumstances. First street gangs, then mercenary outfits, and now the mutants in X-Force’ Jack exclaims. He continues, telling Domino that she keeps pushing herself closer to the edge, waiting to see how long her luck will last. ‘Don’t you want something more from life than unending struggle? Don’t you think it’s time you had a little fun?’.
‘And you’re going to provide me the life I’ve denied myself. That’s pretty damn generous of you’ Domino remarks, standing before Halloween Jack. ‘Aww…I’m a generous guy’ Jack exclaims. ‘That was sarcasm, Jack. I don’t need your two-bit psyche evaluation. You don’t know anything about me!’ Domino exclaims. But Jack tells her that on the contrary, he knows more about her than Domino knows about herself. ‘I am privy to the most intimate details of your tumultuous life-’ he declares, before Domino asks who he knows all this. Handing over a diary, Halloween Jack replies ‘Research, my dear. I don’t let my devil-may-care demeanor fool you, I am nothing if not thorough’.
Domino looks at the diary and exclaims ‘My journal?’, adding that she put this in a safe deposit box in Prague. ‘How did you get this?’ she asks, to which Halloween Jack reveals  that he liberated it, but that is not important. ‘I want you to hear about my dream. You and I are lying on a beach in Cancun -’ he begins, before Domino interrupts, ‘Wait a minute, are you telling me you’re from the future?’ she exclaims. ‘Did I forget to mention that?’ Halloween Jack asks, adding that he is no an official card-carrying time traveler.
Jack tells Domino that life was great until the polar ice caps melted and the fun quotient dropped to zero. ‘I had to do something before my desert hacienda became an aquarium’ he reveals, adding that off world colonization held no appeal, so he created a limited chronal anomaly to take him and his desert digs to an earlier era. He explains that before he went forward in the past, he had to learn all he could about the opposition he might encounter, and while watching through the historical documentation on the age of heroes, he became distracted by the face of an angel. ‘From the first moment I saw your distinctive look, I knew that we were meant to be together’ Jack tells Domino, adding that it is not just because he knew that all her previous boyfriends would pale in comparison, but he knew that he could rescue her from the tragic fate that lies ahead if she continues her inexplicable alliance with X-Force.
‘You mean you traveled back in time to stalk me?’ Domino asks. ‘No, to save your life!’ Jack tells her. ‘Assuming I buy your story, what is this terrible fate I’ll avoid by being here?’ Domino asks. ‘I’ll show you’ Jack tells Domino, motioning to a ball glowing energy behind him, he explains that it is a liquid date archive containing historical information stored electronically in solution. ‘Access X-Force oblivion confrontation’ Jack orders, and images flash before Domino, of some unidentified beings hovering in the background, while her teammates Cannonball, Moonstar, Proudstar, Sunspot, Meltdown and Siryn fall before them. Halloween Jack tells Domino that in the near future, Domino and her mutant entourage will encounter a pantheon of destructive beings intent on reshaping the world to their whim. ’X-Force will attempt to stop them. They will fail miserably’ Jack announces, adding that most tragically, Domino will make a mistake and be the first to fall against this threat - and her sacrifice will be in vain.
‘I’ve escaped death before. I’ll do it again’ Domino declares. But Halloween Jack tells her not this time, and that it is not only her own life at stake here, but those of her friends. ‘Your overconfidence will lead not only to your death, but to those of your teammates as well’ he explains, telling Domino that is always true for her, as she is a lightning rod for disaster, and it is the people closest to her who get hurt the most. ‘Your sister. Your ex-husband Miles. Grizzly. Victor Lomenzo. It’s a wonder he’s still alive’ Halloween Jack exclaims. Domino looks nervous, to which Jack asks her if he ha touched a nerve.
‘This conversation is over, Jack!’ Domino exclaims, walking away, but Jack’s body stretches so that he moves in front of her, telling her not to turn his back on him. ‘Don’t you see I’m doing this all for you. For us’ he tells her as he puts his hands on her shoulders. Domino warns him to get his hands off her, but Jack tells her he won’t, and that she leaves when he says so. ‘This is my world. My rules. My reality’ he declares. Domino tells Jack that she has been restraining herself because she thinks he is mentally ill, but that she can only be so charitable. With that, Domino hits Jack, although it feels like a kiss to him, and she runs away, though she doesn’t expect Jack to be down too long, as he is stronger than he looks. ‘I hope I remember the layout of this place’ Domino thinks to herself as she runs down one of the corridors, before finally coming across what she was looking for: the Chaos Engine.
Domino sees that Boone is nowhere to be found, which she decides is not surprising, as she has a nagging suspicion that Jack’s retinue is a lot smaller than she first assumed. Domino looks at the Chaos Engine and remembers that Jack said the citadel was protected by a field of chaos energy. She tells herself that all she has to do is figure out how to shut the generator off and then get as far away from here as possible. ‘And no matter where this place is, being outside has got to beat being inside’ Domino decides, wishing that she had watched Boone closer as she looks at the console, seeing so many switches, with none of them labeled.
‘The question is: do I feel lucky?’ Domino wonders, before telling herself to go with her instincts. ‘That’s the one’ she tells herself as she presses a large orange button. Suddenly, ‘Don’t touch that!’ a voice shouts. Domino spins around and sees Cable standing in front of her. Cable warns Domino that the entire system is rigged to explode without the correct password. ‘Cable! How did you get here?’ Domino asks. Cable hugs Domino and explains to her that X-Force contacted him when she disappeared, and remarks that it was lucky he was able to trace the teleportation field’s energy signal here. ‘Thank the Bright Lady you’re all right!’
Domino pulls away and asks Cable if he has a way to get through the chaos field. ‘Absolutely!’ Cable exclaims, to which Domino tells him it is a good thing he arrived when he did. ‘You know that I’d follow you to the ends of the Earth, my love’ Cable replies. ‘Forgive me if I doubt your sincerity -’ Domino exclaims as she kicks Cable hard in the chest, causing Halloween Jack to drop his disguise, reverting back to his true form. Domino tells Jack that he overplayed his hand. ‘Hard to maintain a different shape when you’re in pain, eh?’ she asks, while Jack asks Domino how she knew, explaining that he studied all the available records of Cable - his swagger, his hairline.
‘For one thing, you didn’t quite nail my relationship with Cable. And secondly, I pegged you for a shape-shifter after you repeated Boone’s line about your world, rules and reality’ Domino declares, adding that she supposes Jack was the butler as well, before telling him that it doesn’t matter what form he takes, as he is still disturbed. ‘You can’t reject me. You will fall in love with me and we will be happy!’ Jack shouts as he holds up a staff with some sort of electrical charge at one end, telling Domino that he has read her diary, that he knows her. ‘You need me. I can be the family you never had!’ he tells her.
Domino leaps onto Jack’s back, telling him that he just doesn’t get it. ‘I found my family in X-Force. And if any of what you told me is true, I’m not going to run out on them when there’s a storm on the horizon’ she exclaims. Halloween Jack grins and tells Domino that she doesn’t need them when she can have him. ‘I can be all of whoever you want me to be…the redhead - the Indian - the other Indian - the rich kid - the hothead - the hick - even the new one!’ Jack exclaims as he morphs into Siryn, Moonstar, Proudstar, Sunspot, Meltdown and Cannonball respectively, though he doesn’t take the form of Bedlam because Domino kicks Jack in the face, telling him that it doesn’t matter what he looks like. ‘Ever hear the phrase “Not in a million years”?’ she asks him, grabbing the staff.
Jack wipes his face, telling Domino that she is lucky she caught him mid transformation, as he is vulnerable then. ‘I can be vulnerable if that’s what you want’ he tells her. ‘Nah, the sensitive schtick doesn’t play with me. Oh, by the way, you dropped your…um…cattle prod’ Domino exclaims. ‘Let me give it back to you’ she offers as she shoves it into Halloween Jack, causing him to  scream in agony as the electrical charge runs through him. Suddenly, the Chaos Engine turns gray, and makes strange sounds. Domino looks at it, concerned, and wonders if she didn’t hit the right button.
Jack reminds Domino that he told her not to touch anything. ‘Why didn’t you listen to me?’ he asks as he explains that the Chaos Engine is overloading. He exclaims that if he doesn’t make repairs immediately then it will reach critical mass and explode - at which point both of them will be consumed and his citadel destroyed. ‘Gee, that sounds bad, Jack’ Domino mocks, telling him that his survival must depend on whether she lets him get up or not. ‘Yes, damn you!’ Jack exclaims. Domino suggests to him that they make a deal, asking him how badly he wants to get out of here. ‘There’s a matter transporter on the fifth level. I’ll give you the codes and coordinates. Just let me repair the engine!’ Jack exclaims.
Domino grabs Jack by his shirt, ‘Not good enough’ she tells him, declaring that she doesn’t want him pulling the same stunt again. ‘You and I are both going to leave’ she tells him. But Jack exclaims that all his work and all his resources will be destroyed. ‘I’ll be left with nothing!’ he exclaims, but Domino tells him that he doesn’t have a choice. Jack programs the transporter while Domino holds the taser to his neck, and all Jack could think was how Domino was warming to his charm.
In the end, Jack did everything Domino asked. ‘Compromise is very important in a relationship’ he told himself, deciding that all he needed to win her over was a romantic locale, and moments later they materialize in Las Vegas. ‘Jack, this isn’t San Francisco’ Domino tells him. Jack replies that Vegas is much more his style, before asking whether he mentioned that he was lord and master of this town in another hundred years. Jack tells Domino that he thinks they will be very happy here. ‘With my brains and your luck, we’ll have this town in its knees in days’ he exclaims.
Domino tells Jack that he has to drop the whole “we” delusion. ‘But my citadel’s been destroyed. I have nowhere to go now’ he exclaims, telling Domino that she is stuck with him. ‘I don’t think so’ Domino declares before smacking Jack over the head with the staff. ‘But I lo-’ Jack exclaims, unable to complete his sentence as he falls to the ground. Domino walks away and tosses the staff down to Jack, thinking to herself that she should call SHIELD and have him locked up before he hurts anyone. ‘But I think I have a more important call to make. Jack brought up a part of my past I’m not proud of’ Domino tells herself, before finding a payphone, deciding that it is time to make amends. The number Domino calls goes to answer phone, so she leaves a message: ‘Victor, it’s Domino. I know it’s been a long time, but I think it’s time we talk…Victor?’.
Meanwhile, on the Marina Green in San Francisco, the remaining five members of X-Force - Danielle Moonstar, Sam “Cannonball” Guthrie, James Proudstar, Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith and Jesse “Bedlam” Aaronson - try their best to enjoy an unseasonably sunny day - but the notable absence of three of their companions casts a shadow over their attempt. Sitting on a slope, James tells Tabitha that he knew Siryn was having a tough time adjusting to the loss of her voice, but that he never thought she would leave. He remarks that he wished he could have convinced her to stay, that he wishes he could do something to help her.
Tabitha tells James that sometimes you have to give people their space, especially the people you love. ‘Geez will you listen to me. Like I know anything about relationships. Bobby must be really angry at me for breaking up with me. He didn’t come home last night’ Tabitha exclaims. Sam is playing Frisbee with Dani and Jesse and exclaims that he doesn’t think Bobby has been with anyone as long as Tabitha since his first girlfriend back in Brazil. Sam adds that Bobby is probably still reeling from the shock of getting dumped, but is sure he will be back soon. ‘Hey, Dani, this one’s coming your way!’ Sam shouts as he throws the Frisbee towards Dani, when suddenly, a bolt of energy shatters the Frisbee, and a voice exclaims ‘Dani Moonstar, we have need of your power. The world depends on you!’, and Dani turns around in horror….


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Temple of the Dying Sun
In a subterranean chamber on an unnamed island in the Pacific, a warrior king waits out eternity in darkness. Sitting on a stone throne, the gray-skinned warrior, clad in golden bone-like armor, he has been called “Destroyer” in the native languages of many worlds he conquered and then razed. Only on this tiny planet did he meet with a brutal and soul-crushing defeat. Now what was once his throne room has served as his prison for over a thousand years. He has not thought of the outside world in centuries. That is, until today…. ‘We are no longer alone, Kodo’ he remarks to his pet Komodo Dragon at his feet, while skeleton bones are littered around them. He declares that, once again, some foolish travelers dare trespass on the island of his interment. ‘The will die like the others before them. Mortals are such a frail and vulnerable species’ he exclaims.
Somewhere above, five notably less frail and vulnerable mortals fight their way through the tropical jungle exterior - Sam “Cannonball” Guthrie, Danielle Moonstar, James Proudstar, Tabitha “Meltdown” Smith, Jesse “Bedlam” Aaronson - they are five members of the mutant heroes known as X-Force, and are currently engaged in battle with some giant insects. ‘Ah’m beginning to think this whole island’s against us. First the exploding fire pits, then those monstrous rodents, and now this!’ Sam exclaims, while Moonstar, in her quantum form, unleashes a blast of quantum energy at one of the insects and exclaims that nobody said this was going to be an island resort.
James smacks one of the creatures away with his enhanced strength, while Jesse struggles to grab the legs of one of them, and Meltdown reminds her friends that the last time they were this close to the Equator they were fighting Lava Men in an active volcano. ‘How about we book our next vacation less tropical - like the Arctic Circle!’ she exclaims, adding that with their luck they will probably end up face to face with a bunch of killer polar bears. Bedlam kicks one of the insects, asking his teammates how they can talk with the creatures coming at them from every direction, to which Meltdown throws her plasma time-bombs about, declaring that they have to do something to relieve the tension. ‘And if you think we’re chatty, you should meet Spider-Man. That guy never shuts up!’ Meltdown exclaims.
Proudstar rips a tree from its roots and smacks several of the insects with it, declaring that he personally thinks it is better to avoid unnecessary conversation in battle and try to stay focused on the task at hand. Jesse declares that right now he doesn’t have anything clever to say except “Help”, remarking that his power works great against anything mechanical or electronic, but out here in the wild kingdom, it is useless. ‘I’d rather face a Sentinel than any more of these Jurassic Park rejects!’ Jesse declares as he tries to hold one at bay, before Moonstar blasts it with her quantum beam. ‘Thanks, Dani, owe you!’ Jesse calls out.
Moonstar tells Cannonball that they are barely keeping the swarm at bay, and that every time she takes one out, another takes its place. ‘At this rate, we’re going to wear out before they do!’ she exclaims. Sam blasts away from more of the creatures and exclaims that he is already tired of dodging them, before announcing that he thinks he has a way of getting rid of them all, before telling his teammates that they all need to hold onto something. Sam begins blasting around and around in a circle as he explains that when he was eight, he watched a tornado pick up and throw his uncle’s combine halfway across Cameron County, so if he can create his own little twister, the updraft should suck the entire swarm into the funnel and out of their way. ‘Sounds like the best plan I’ve heard all day’ Dani exclaims as she holds onto a palm tree.
Sam looks worried as he thinks to himself that he can move like a rocket flying in a straight line, but he cannot get close to his top speed flying in this tight circle, and realizes that some of the bigger insects are strong enough to resist the pull of the whirlwind. Nearby, a voice remarks ‘The boy requires assistance’. ‘If you insist…’ another voice complies, when Sam suddenly flies upwards and out of the funnel, thinking to himself that it feels like someone just jump-started his motor. ‘Think Ah’ve got the power to finish off the whole swarm’ he tells himself, continuing to spin around and around, he sees that he has the entire swarm half a mile above the island, plus a few trees and ferns. ‘Now Ah need to figure out how to stop them from following me back down’ Sam tells himself, before there is a massive beam of energy directed at the swarm, disabling them.
‘Then again, maybe that’s not my problem anymore’ Sam tells himself, before seeing two figures, ‘Ah suppose you tow are responsible for that boost Ah got there’ Sam asks. The male clad in purple and gold tells Cannonball that his gratitude belongs to Astarte, for it was she who augmented his ballistic abilities. ‘I merely disposed of the annoying apocrita with an ionic charge from my mace’ he declares. ‘And here Ah thought Thor had the patent on those kind of hammers’ Sam jokes, while Electryon explains that his mace is but one of the many tools he has created over the centuries. The scantily-clad female Astarte suggests they rejoin Cannonball’s comrades, as they have wasted enough time with the trivial distractions.
As the three fly to the rest of X-Force, Astarte reveals that everything on this island is undergoing an unnatural metamorphosis and unless they reach the source of these abominable changes soon, the effect will soon spread across the globe. ’You know, you two seem more hand equipped to handle yourselves’ Dani declares, asking why it is they need any help at all. Electryon explains that they of the Eternals are neither immortal nor invincible, and though their lifespan is longer and technology superior, they are equally threatened by the chaotic transformations that plague this island.  ‘And you think I’m the only person on this planet - human, mutant or Eternal - who can stop it? You know, I barely understand my new power as it is!’ Moonstar exclaims.
Astarte suggests that Moonstar consider this a trial by fire. ‘A warrior can only be truly tested when the stakes are life and death’ she exclaims, adding that she has confidence in Moonstar and her companions. ‘Ah. Shucks’ Cannonball exclaims. ‘We’ll do our best!’ Proudstar declares. ‘For you, anything!’ Bedlam remarks. ‘Is it just me, or do our boys turn into idiots around Astarte?’ Meltdown asks Moonstar, adding that she doesn’t like Astarte or Electryon, and asks Dani if she thinks they did they right thing coming here. ‘If I didn’t think the threat was real I never would have let them bring us here’ Moonstar replies, adding that she didn’t have much choice….
Flashback, four hours earlier:
‘DanI Moonstar, you will accompany us now. The fate of the planet depends on you!’ Electryon declares as he and Astarte hover above X-Force in San Francisco. ‘Do you know these guys, Dani?’ Jesse asks. Moonstar replies that she has never seen them before. ‘Did they have to fry our Frisbee to get our attention?’ Meltdown mutters. Dani asks them where they are from and what they want from her. Astarte introduces herself and Electryon, explaining that they are Eternals, while Electryon tells Moonstar that she has the power needed to combat a threat that if left unchecked will soon endanger all life on this planet.
Bedlam asks Moonstar if she buys any of this, to which Danielle replies that she cannot read minds, explaining that her telepathic powers have always been more empathetic, before announcing that the Eternals seem to be telling the truth. ‘Okay, I’m will to take a chance and go with you both’ Dani announces. Sam tells Dani that she is not going alone, reminding her that they have already lost Siryn, while Sunspot and Domino are who knows where. ‘I don’t want to risk fragmenting the team any further’ he exclaims, while Proudstar suggests that it wouldn’t hurt to have someone watching her back. ‘This kind of thing happens to you guys all the time, doesn’t it?’ Bedlam remarks to Meltdown, who raises her hand, asking if they have time to change before they go.
Two hours later, several hundred miles Southeast of Tahiti, on the Tropic of Capricorn, the five young mutants are inside the Eternals’ vessel, and Jesse exclaims that it is an amazing ride, but one thing bothers him: ‘In case of a water landing, where are the flotation devices?’ he asks. Electryon replies that he doesn’t not understand the question. ‘It was a joke. If I explain it, it’s not…never mind’ Jesse mutters, to which Astarte declares that humor is inappropriate, as they are approaching an island undergoing violent environmental mutations. She tells DanI that as they draw closer, she should be able to sense the quantum disruptions occurring more and more frequently.
Dani’s appearance turns blue, and she sparkles as she announces that she is getting shivers, like someone is running their fingernails slowly down a chalkboard. ‘How did you know I could sense that? You seem to know more about me than I do about myself’ Dani asks. Electryon replies that he spent his life attempting to understand and harness energy in all its myriad forms. ‘When you use your power you give off a quantum energy signature I traced’ he explains, while Astarte reveals that they monitored DanI’s activity in secret until they became certain she could do what they wanted. She holds up a small device, explaining that it is a communicating transceiver and that it fits behind the ear. ‘Each of you will wear one so that we may remain in constant communication with one another’ she announces.
Suddenly, they arrive at the island, while Electryon announces that they unfortunately cannot reach the source of the disturbance by air, and they will have to go on foot. ‘And if we fail, Zuras help us all!’ he exclaims.
(Present)
The enigmatic Domino has never stayed anywhere long enough to consider it home. These days however, the closest thing is X-Force’s warehouse in China Basin, San Francisco. And after her exasperating encounter with the psychopathic stalker from the future, Halloween Jack, she is very happy to return to a familiar place - only to discover it is a very empty one. ‘Jesse?’ Domino calls out as she enters Bedlam’s messy room - a mattress on the floor, a television on one side of the room, a stereo on the other, with papers, rubbish and clothes scattered everywhere. ‘James?’ Domino asks as she enters Proudstar’s very tidy room - nearly made bed, plant in one corner and a tidy desk in the other, only he is nowhere to be seen. ‘Tab?’ Domino calls out as she tries Meltdown’s room. Tabitha is not in her surprisingly tidy room - bed along one wall, couch on the other with a desk in between, and posters on the wall.  ‘Bobby? Finally! I was beginning to think we’d been evicted!’ Domino exclaims as she enters Sunspot’s room, where she discovers Bobby “Sunspot” DaCosta packing a suitcase, she asks him if he is going somewhere. Bobby reveals that he has to be at the airport in an hour, otherwise the INS is going to throw him in jail. ‘Immigration? You’re kidding?!’ Domino exclaims, but Sunspot reveals that he has been labelled a terrorist based on photos of Reignfire and him when Reignfire ambushed him in Colorado. Bobby explains that he cannot tell INS the truth without revealing that he is a mutant and exposing everyone in X-Force. ‘So I have a choice. Get out of the country or stand trial. That’s why I’m going back to Brazil!’.
At that moment, the ground begins to shake on the small island where X-Force are currently investigating. ‘Earthquake!’ Meltdown shouts, but Proudstar tells her that the ground is transforming below their feet, turning into razor-sharp crystals. ‘Can’t keep my balance!’ Meltdown calls out, so Cannonball blasts across and picks her up, taking them both into the air as the large crystals begin to form around them. Sam tells Tabitha that she can relax now. ‘This is some roller-coaster, huh?’ he exclaims. Meltdown replies that she would rather be spending her day at Wonder World. ‘At least, you don’t risk getting impaled on any of their rides’ she declares.
Suddenly, a large tentacle reaches around and grabs Proudstar. ‘Dani, look out! The vegetation’s turned lethal!’ James exclaims. Moonstar tells everyone that that they have to push on, as they are close to the source of the transmutation. ‘I can feel it!’ she declares. Proudstar rips the tentacle off him while exclaiming that he hopes so, because it is pretty obvious that every time they finish dealing with one threat, another equally deadly one is right there to take its place. James adds that what bothers him the most is the feeling that they are doing someone else’s grunt work. ‘Where are Eelctryon and Astarte anyway? They seem to be keeping their distance during all of this’ he points out.
Suddenly, Electryon and Astarte appear overhead, with Electryon apologizing to Proudstar and claiming that they were on a mission of reconnaissance. ‘Our destination lies just beyond that ravine!’ he exclaims, motioning forwards. ‘Behold the temple of the Dying Sun!’ Electryon declares as X-Force arrive at the temple. Electryon tells them that they will find the alien engine wrecking havoc with the island within the temple. ‘That place must be thousands of years old!’ Cannonball exclaims as he and the other stand outside, before James suggests that they head inside, and he will lead the way. ‘Such reckless children, charging headlong into the unknown. I almost feel sorry that their loyalty to their friend has doomed them’ Electryon remarks as he and Astarte watch X-Force enter the temple. ‘Once we’ve finished with Moonstar, their fate no longer concerns us’ Astarte declares.
Inside, X-Force stand before a large glowing sphere. ‘Will ya look at this!’ Cannonball exclaims. Proudstar reminds everyone that Electryon called the engine alien. ‘So who built it? The Kree? The Shi’ar? The Skrulls?’ he asks. ‘You got me, James. All I can tell you is we’re only look at the tip of the iceberg. This thing extends farther down than I can see!’ Sam exclaims. Jesse moves closer to the strange device, exclaiming that if it is a machine he can shut it down, and then they can leave the schizoid island and be back in civilization in time for “Win Ben Stein’s Money”. But suddenly, the machine makes a noise, and sends out some sort of shockwave. ‘Uh-oh. My bad!’ Jesse mumbles.
‘What did you do?’ Meltdown calls out as the wave ripples across them. Jesse exclaims that he doesn’t know, and says he is sorry. This is the first time I’ve ever used my power against alien tech’ Jesse explains, before suggesting that perhaps it has some kind of defense mechanism. Moonstar announces that the device is generating ten times as much energy as it was when they entered, and suggests they get out of here now. But her teammates all begin to transform: ‘I’d like to. DanI, I really would, but my legs aren’t moving. What’s happening to me?’ Jesse asks as his entire body is covered in black lines. ‘Not just to you, Jesse. To all of us!’ Cannonball exclaims as his form turns seemingly to gold, exclaiming that he cannot stay aloft.
Meltdown seems to be covered in some sort of liquid flame, exclaiming that it is burning. ‘Make it stop. Make it stop!’ she calls out, while Proudstar’s body turns green, he exclaims that they appear to be under some kind of elemental transformation, except for Dani. Her form blue and sparkling, Dani exclaims that her body seems to be reacting defensively against the transmutational energy. ‘Help…’ James calls out. Dani looks at her friends, concerned, she swears to them that she will do everything she can. She adds that Electryon and Astarte told her over and over, she is the only one who can counter this machine’s energy.
‘Since I don’t know how to turn it off, I’m going to have to destroy it!’ Dani declares, unleashing her powers on the device, Dani soon realizes that her power is fading. ‘Now it’s gone completely!’ she exclaims, declaring that this has never happened before. ‘How is this possible?’ she asks as the quantum beam disappears. Suddenly, Astarte and Electryon appear, and Electryon reveals to Dani that they are responsible for her loss of power, adding that the transceiver she was given is actually an energy transmitter, which allowed them to leech her body’s unique energies for their own use.
Astarte tells Moonstar that they brought her here knowing that this island’s unusually dangerous nature would force her to use her power continually, and provide enough distraction to keep her from realizing their true intent. ‘You lied to me!’ Moonstar shouts as she runs towards the Eternals. ‘We are done here’ Electryon retorts as he blasts Dani, now returned to her regular form, back against the machine with a blast of energy, before Dani falls through a gap in the floor.
Back in San Francisco, Domino walks with Sunspot outside, where Agents Sanchez and Fulton are waiting to drive him to the airport. ’This really bites. I’m leaving the country and no one else even knows about it’ Bobby mutters, adding that he hopes the others are having fun, before looking at the INS agents and remarking that he supposes they will miss harassing him. Domino tells Bobby that something seems wrong with the whole deportation thing, and suggests he may like to talk to another lawyer, before telling him to forget the lawyers, that he can go underground. ’I can get you a new identity with a phone call’ she declares.
‘Believe me, I’ve thought about it, but if I turn fugitive, the Feds would just put all my friends under surveillance - and considering we’re all wanted, that would not be a good thing’ Bobby declares, before telling Domino that his lawyer told him he will be back in the states, free and clear, in six months tops. ‘This isn’t about Tabitha, is it? You’re not being a martyr because she broke up with you?’ Domino asks. Bobby hangs his head, ‘No…I don’t think so…I don’t know’ he replies, before one of the agents tells him to come along, as he has a plane to catch. ‘Tell everyone this is only temporary’ Sunspot asks Domino, who tells him not to give up, before the agents drive away with Sunspot.
Suddenly, a courier vehicle pulls up nearby, and as Domino thinks to herself that Sunspot’s deportation doesn’t seem right at all, she decides to investigate, while the courier calls out to her, asking her if she lives here. ‘What’s it to you?’ Domino asks suspiciously. ‘Got a package for Sam Guthrie. It kinda got misrouted all over the place. Sorry’ he tells Domino as he hands her the package, which has stickers via Paris, via New York, via Johannesburg and others on it. ‘You don’t see many packages from Genosha’ the courier exclaims.
Back on the mysterious island, a groggy DanI slowly wakes, and wonders how far she fell. She doesn’t think anything is broken, but knows she will be black and blue tomorrow. ‘I feel so incredibly stupid letting myself get played like that. Should’ve known Electryon and Astarte weren’t telling me ev-’ Dani begins, before seeing a large lizard poke it’s head out of the darkness, and flick its tongue at her. Dani screams, ‘Back off!’ she shouts and kicks the Komodo Dragon, knocking it backwards. Moonstar wonders what she is doing, telling herself that the lizard was probably just as startled as she was. ‘After all, I’m the one invading its turf’ she tells herself.
Moonstar exclaims that she has got to find a way out of here so she can reverse what that machine did to the rest of X-Force. ‘And how am I going to do that - now that those lying Eternals robbed me of me quantum power’ she wonders, before noticing a large figure approach her from out of the darkness. ‘Who dares disturb my solitude? You cannot hide the truth from me!’ the one known as the Destroyer exclaims as he picks Moonstar up be her wrists. ‘No. No. No. No. No’ Dani repeats over and over, as years of learning to guard her mind against telepathic intrusion crumble…as the alien warlord psychically devours the whole of Danielle Moonstar’s life in vivid sensory and emotional detail.
(Illustrative images of Moonstar over the years)
The alien experiences the events of Danielle’s childhood in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Colorado - the disappearance of her parents and the death of her grandfather - the alien understands the fear and elation that Moonstar felt the first time her mutant powers manifested - and she made another’s deepest fears appear before him in a telepathically projected illusion. The alien knows the joy Danielle felt upon learning that she was not alone, that there were others as unusually gifted as she - some of whom learned to control their mutant gifts alongside her as members of the New Mutants.
The alien learns of Dani’s bittersweet burden she took on when she became the only human Valkyrie and as one of the choosers of the slain, she learned the true nature of death and dying. Her time as a Valkyrie distanced her from her childhood friends, and she drifted for a time - until agreeing to go undercover in the Mutant Liberation Front for SHIELD, where she abandoned psionic illusions for psionic arrows that pierced her victim’s psyche. The alien experiences the relief that Dani felt once the deception ended, and she rejoined some of her friends in X-Force, only to have the core of her being altered once again by Arcadia DeVille’s reality altering touch - which opened up a world of power and perception she does not fully understand.
(Present)
‘None of your race possessed such power when I first came to this planet. Still, you pose no threat to me’ the alien exclaims as he lets Danielle down. Rubbing her wrists, Dani asks ‘You speak English?’, to which he reveals that his race developed the powers of the mind long before hers crawled out of the mud. ‘I became fluent the instant my mind touched yours’ he reveals. ‘Who are you?’ Danielle asks, to which he reaches for her head, ‘Open your mind to me once more, and you shall learn’ he tells her, although Dani looks concerned.
(Flashback, narrated by Ry’lor)
The alien introduces himself as Ry’lor, revealing that he is the last of the Vyr’lgm’sh Dynasty, and that he was a warrior, a king and a tyrant. He explains that for far too long he glorified in war and destruction until the thrill of conquest became empty and meaningless to him. But fate intervened when his spacecraft’s warp engine malfunctioned and stranded him halfway across the galaxy, on this primitive planet. It was here that he discovered two tribes warring on this island, and in a surprising revelation, understood for the first time the folly of such conflict.
He abandoned his role as conqueror and chose to become a peacemaker, assuming a human form to end the war of stones and spears. Instead of destroying their primitive culture, he set out to uplift it, and used the technology from his downed ship to create a utopian city. He did not want to be worshipped like a god, but his vanity was greater than his reason, and, for a time, he reveled in their adulation, as they worshipped him. Blinded by his own ego, he failed to see their reverence turn to resentment. He shared with them the secrets of his science, and then, believing they no longer needed him, they turned on him, attempting to kill him with a radioactive ore from his home-world.
In his rage at their betrayal, Ry’lor lost control, the Destroyer returned, as he laid waste to everything he had given them, and then killed every last man, woman and child. He had hoped to help these poor souls transcend their baser nature, and instead he succumbed to his own.
(Present)
Ry’lor has his back turned to Moonstar as he explains that when his rage finally subsided and he looked upon the atrocity he had committed, he swore he would spend the rest of his life in penance. He explains that he reprogrammed the subatomic transformer of his ship’s warp engine to make this island inhospitable to any future visitors. He commends Moonstar for getting this far, before asking her to leave. ‘No. I can’t. Your warp engine is doing more than keeping people away. It’s transmutational properties are killing my friends’ Dani explains, telling Ry’lor that he has to shut it down.
But Ry’lor reveals that age and despair prevent him from doing that, as they have damaged the engine’s control mechanism. He motions to the control and tells Moonstar that he cannot repair it in time to save her friends. He tells Moonstar that she however possess the necessary energy to neutralize the core power. Danielle tells him that is impossible though, as Electryon and Astarte stole her quantum power, and her psionic arrows only affect people. Ry’lor raises his hands above his head, ‘So much power, Danielle Moonstar, and so little understanding’ he declares. Ry’lor remarks that the quantum energy that she wields is infinite, for it is primal force that binds all things together in this universe. He explains that the girl Arcadia made Moonstar a conduit for that energy. ‘You need only open yourself up to it and it will flow through you like a mighty river!’ he exclaims.
‘Mighty river, uh-huh, sure’ Dani exclaims, closing her eyes, she exclaims that she feels silly, as nothing is happening. Ry’lor tells Moonstar to stop thinking of herself as separate from the universe around her. ‘Let yourself go’ he tells her. ‘Wow’ Danielle exclaims as she opens her eyes, her skin turns blue, and quantum energy flows around her. She smiles as she exclaims that for the first time she feels like she might actually have more than a little control of this. Ry’lor tells Moonstar that the warp engine’s power core bends time and space to make interstellar travel possible. ‘Here on Earth, it is restructuring the biology and geology of all within its range. You will need only match his quantum frequency so that the core will believe it is experiencing feedback and shut down’ Ry’lor explains.
The quantum energy flows from Danielle into the machine, and Dani exclaims that she is getting a lot of resistance, so has to match everything that is coming at her. ‘Can’t let my friends down’ she declares, before announcing that she thinks it is working. Ry’lor tells Moonstar that once the core powers down, all that it has changed will return to its original state.
Up above them, that is exactly what happens, as Proudstar, Meltdown, Cannonball and Bedlam all return to normal. ‘I seem to be back to normal…is everyone else okay?’ James asks. ‘…I think…no burns, anyway…’ Tabitha replies. ‘Ungh - what happened to us?’ Sam asks. ‘Next time, I’m staying at home’ Jesse mutters.
Down below, Ry’lor motions to a staircase and tells Danielle that she can return to her friends now. He suggests that they find their way off the island as soon as possible, as he intends to repair the engine so that he is not disturbed again. Moonstar tells Ry’lor that if he really wants to atone for his past, then he shouldn’t be spending the rest of eternity in the dark. ‘Maybe you can find something more constructive to do than brooding’ she tells him. ‘You can’t change the past, but you can learn from it and move forward…something to think about. For both of us’ Dani declares as she makes her way up the stairs. Ry’lor sits back down on his throne, and appears to smile.
Elsewhere on the island, Electryon and Astarte are in their vessel, speaking to someone over a monitor. Electryon declares that they have done as requested, that all the energy siphoned from Danielle Moonstar is now theirs to study. Astarte remarks that she doesn’t understand why these mutants have been a problem for the organization, as they were easily manipulated. Electryon reveals that they shall remain on the island, as he is interested in the alien transmutation technology in the temple.
The being that the Eternals are communicating with is revealed to be Odysseus Indigo of the Damocles Foundation. The Deviant exclaims ‘Later, E. Right now, the only thing I care about is using Moonstar’s power to capture Arcadia DeVille. She and my half-brother Ulysses continue to evade capture. Curse the day he betrayed the Damocles -’ suddenly, the transmission ends, and Indigo is cut off. ‘By the Celestial host, we’ve lost power. All systems are down - even the backup. How is this possible?’ Electryon wonders. ‘Outside’ Astarte declares, and the two Eternals exit their vessel, to find X-Force standing outside. ‘For such beautiful people, your hearts are as twisted as this island!’ Moonstar declares.
‘Moonstar! You did this!’ Elecrtyon exclaims. ‘Actually, I pulled the plug on your ship, but it was Dani’s idea’ Jesse announces, while Cannonball declares that they do not take kindly to being played for fools. ‘Pathetic children, do you think yourself a match for an Eternal?’ Electryon asks as he unleashes a blast of energy from his hammer. ‘As a matter of fact, yes!’ Moonstar declares as she blocks the power with her own, telling him that he made a big mistake thinking her quantum energy was limited. ‘I have a universe of power to draw upon - and it’s more than enough to render your ionic charge harmless’ she exclaims, telling Electryon to be thankful she has switched gears to take him out with a psionic arrow, instead of tearing him apart at a sub-atomic level. Electryon slams into the vessel and falls to the ground.
‘Are you willing to fight your own teammates, Moonstar? I assure you, they’ll kill you if you don’t. They’re so impressionable’ Astarte declares as she puts Sam, James and Jesse under a spell. ‘Must protect Astarte…’ they all utter in a trance. ‘Sorry, grandma, you don’t get to use my friends as your pawns’ Meltdown exclaims as she throws a plasma time-bomb at Astarte, who complains that she has broken her hold on the men. ‘Tough break’ Dani exclaims as she punches Astarte, knocking her over. ‘You under-estimated us. With or without powers, we keep fighting. See, we don’t have your centuries long lifespan. Our time is short. So we intend to make it count!’ Moonstar declares.
‘What are we supposed to do with them now?’ Bedlam asks. ‘I think the question that we need to ask is who’s driving us home? Anyone know how to pilot an Eternals airship?’ Meltdown asks. James points out that the ground is starting to shake again, before remarking that he thought Dani took out the warp engine. ‘Something else is happening. Look’ Dani declares, motioning to where the citadel of Ry’lor has risen above the trees. Moonstar explains that the temple was built on top of Ry’lor’s downed spacecraft, and it dint take him long to repair the engine.
Ry’lor and his Komodo Dragon, both glowing brightly, loom over X-Force as they stand on the temple edge. Ry’lor tells Moonstar that he has considered her words, and has decided that she is correct. ‘I must atone for my past with action not isolation. It is time I returned to the worlds I once ravaged and find a way to make amends’ he announces, before wishing Moonstar good fortune in her struggles, and bidding her farewell. DanI watches him leave and calls out ‘Hey, wait a second! Look, I don’t know which way you’re headed, but do you think you can give us a list to San Francisco?’….