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

[Assistant]
The Sisterhood
Warren Worthington III, the mutant and former X-Man known as Angel, recently came to New York City to court Alison Blaire, the mutant singer known as the Dazzler. Alison is all he thinks about these days. On his current flight through the skies of New York, however, thinking about Alison is a luxury he cannot afford. He instead focuses his attention entirely on the savage flock of raptors viciously clawing at his body and pecking at his face.
While struggling to break free of their attacks, Warren wonders where these hawks came from, and why they are after him. They have clearly been trained to kill; regular hawks never behave this way. Who might have sent them? he wonders. An enemy he made during his days with the X-Men, or the Champions? Shaking free, he decides to worry about that point later. For now, he intends to focus only on getting to safety, but he wonders how. The hawks fly as adeptly as he does; they can even predict his moves based on his body language. He realizes he must act as quickly as he thinks.
With the hawks on his tail, Warren cuts to the right moments before colliding with a building. One unfortunate hawk fails to copy his maneuver in time and smashes into the window. Next, Angel dive-bombs toward the street, but pulls up at the last second, reversing his trajectory. Another hawk falls victim to his trick and slams into the sidewalk. While soaring upward, Warren crashes through the window of an empty office building, hoping to confine the birds in close quarters. Another one of the hawks follows. Warren abruptly opens a set of filing cabinet drawers in its face, putting a decisive end to its pursuit.
Only one hawk remains. Warren berates himself for recklessly breaking through the window; he tore his wings in the process. Before he starts tending to his wounds, however, he needs to shake the last hawk off his tail. He soars out of the high-rise office and flies toward the ground with the raptor following closely behind. He realizes he could probably take the bird in a one-on-one fight, but would prefer not to. After landing in a garbage-strewn alley, he grabs a trashcan lid and spins around, just in time to use it as a shield against the dive-bombing bird. It flops to the ground, possibly dead. Warren laments; it gives him the creeps to see another winged creature go down like that. However, they would have done much worse to him. A bruised, bloody mess, Angel shakes it off and heads back to his hotel, intending to figure out who exactly wants him dead this time.
Meanwhile, not too far away, Dazzler rides with her band's assistant manager Lance to a recording session. She can barely believe she gets to cut her own record today! Lance reminds his elated client it's only a demo; it doesn't qualify as a record until the music executives say so. Lighten up, Alison tells him; this might be her big break! Lance just doesn’t want her to get her hopes up. He turns his attention back to the bustling, gridlocked traffic of New York City.
Lance is so focused on his driving, actually, that he neglects to notice a traffic-accident-in-progress ahead in the road. Dazzler sees it as it happens. A roller-skating woman wearing headphones uses the crosswalk up ahead, failing to notice an out-of-control car barreling in her direction. Dazzler realizes she can save her, if she acts quickly. She turns up the car radio and transduces the sound into a laser. She uses the laser beam to destroy the roller-skating woman's pocket radio. With her blaring music interrupted, the woman finally hears the car's horn honking and skates out of its way just before it would have creamed her. Lucky for her she's a better skater than a street-crosser, the relieved Alison grumbles. Also lucky for her that I'm a mutant.
Lance asks Alison why she turned up the radio so loud. She lies and tells him she confused the dials. Lance, after all, still does not know about her mutant powers. The fewer people know, the better, Alison thinks to herself. She notices traffic slowing to a halt and realizes why: the out-of-control driver finally stopped his car. The police have arrived as well, causing a huge traffic jam. The irate Lance begins honking his horn; they're already running behind schedule, he shouts! Alison asks him to take it easy, but before she can finish her sentence, a police officer pops his head in the window. If Lance has a problem, the cop says, a judge downtown will gladly help him solve it! Lance, suddenly bumbling, ekes out an apology. The officer stops listening to Lance as soon as he spots his passenger. Isn't she the Dazzler, the cop asks? Alison answers yes and formally introduces herself. The star-struck officer compliments her on her singing, and asks when he can expect her to finally put out an album. Funny thing, she says; she and Lance are en route to the recording studio right now! The police officer tells her she need not say any more; he can get her there in style. Moments later, Lance and Alison continue on their way to the recording studio, with one of New York's finest as their escort.
A short while later, at a state-of-the-art recording facility called Electronic Oz, Alison Blaire prepares to record her first album. While she and her band tune their respective musical instruments, Alison cannot help but ponder her boyfriend Ken's absence. Maybe he will show up later, she tells herself. After a few encouraging words from the band's manager Harry S. Osgood, as well as a supportive exchange between Alison and her guitarist Marx, the red light in the recording room flashes and the session begins.
Dazzler cannot help but feel awe-struck in the presence of the studio's sound technician and unparalleled electronics-genius L.B. Holman. Today, the living legend’s experience and knowledge are neither questioned nor contradicted. The recording begins. Alison starts in with one of her songs, but before she gets past the opening verse, L.B. calls for a cut. "Ms. Blaire, you were a little behind the beat. And, Marx, I don't remember that chord in the sheet music," L.B. says. "If you're going to improvise, make it better than what's written, okay?" Somewhat stunned, Alison asks her manager if this guy is too much of a perfectionist. That’s why they’re paying him so much, Osgood says, smiling.
The recording session quickly turns frustrating, as L.B.'s continual criticisms grow on everyone's nerves. He calls Alison out for singing half a note flat. He corrects her for holding the microphone too close to her face. The guitarist, he criticizes for playing half a note sharp. Everyone will hear these blunders on an album, L.B. insists. The session proceeds slowly and tensely, inciting anger, fear, and hostility in the process, but in the end, produces some wonderful music. As the session continues, Alison and her band tighten up their act, creeping ever closer toward the elusive goal of "quality". Behind the recording window, L.B.'s assistant remarks on how good the band sounds. L.B. knows; Alison Blaire has more potential than any singer he has heard in years. Why else would he push her so hard?
After singing countless takes of one of her songs, Alison delivers her best performance yet. L.B. congratulates everyone once the song ends. They laid down so much great material today that they will surely have the guys at the record company drooling in their annual reports! Osgood pops a bottle of champagne in celebration. Alison, however, feels no compulsion to celebrate. Ken Barnett never showed up to support her; with him around, the session would have gone much more smoothly. She tries not to let his absence upset her too much.
Meanwhile, Ken sits in his apartment, poring over legal journals in a desperate attempt to find a way to defend his latest client, just as he has been doing for the past fourteen hours. Work is the only thing on his mind.
Nearby, at a fashionable apartment in Sutton Place, Mystique, Rogue, and Destiny sit around discussing recent events. The experimental anti-personnel hawks Mystique stole from the Pentagon have failed in their mission against the Angel, Mystique explains. However, she expected no other outcome. If that's the case, Rogue asks, then why did she send them? Mystique explains that she merely wanted to scare the Angel. This way, he will already feel frightened and confused when she and her Sisterhood make their move, and through him, they can exact revenge against all of the X-Men. Sounds good, Rogue says; she has wanted revenge against the X-Men since their last fight at the Pentagon, and she can hardly wait to have another shot at the big guns like Wolverine and Colossus. Do not be so over-eager, Destiny advises. Although the futures she sees are by no means certain, she can plainly see the Angel is not as helpless as he seems. They must form a definite strategy before proceeding. Mystique agrees. Rogue still just wants to rush in and bust some heads.
Meanwhile, at his home in Long Island, Carter Blaire toils in the attic, boxing up the old possessions of his ex-wife, Katherine. He writes her new name — Barbara London — and address on the box. All these years, he could never bear to get rid of these items go, in a way hoping they would lure her back to his side. Now that they have reconciled, the least he can do is return to her stuff, finally letting go of the ghosts of their old love. Carter removes his glasses, sensing the onset of tears. The tears somehow make him smile; it has been years since he allowed himself to feel enough to cry.
The next day, at Barbara London’s place on the Upper West Side, the former Katherine Blaire anxiously prepares a fancy dinner for her daughter Lois, who returns home from college that night. Lois always knew of her mother's obsession with Dazzler, but never suspected that Dazzler is her mother's daughter... or her own half-sister. Tonight, Barbara plans to tell her. She regrets not revealing it earlier, but could not do so without admitting to her shameful, sordid past. This dishonesty created an emotional distance between Lois and Barbara. Lois deserves better, Barbara says. She stares longingly at a picture of Alison Blaire, the Dazzler, in the newspaper. She knows Alison wants to get to know her better, to form a real relationship to make up for lost time, but Barbara cannot do it just yet. She needs time. Suddenly, the doorbell buzzes, causing the nervous Barbara to drop her eyeglasses. She hopes the shattering of the glass does not portend anything ominous.
Later that night, Alison enjoys her date with Ken Barnett. "Gee, Ken, that movie was fun! Decapitation, disembowelment, and death-dealing," she jokes as the happy couple exits the movie theater showing Conan the Barbarian. After sitting in a movie theater for two hours, Alison feels unusually fidgety, and asks Ken to take her dancing. He claims he would love to, but needs to get back to his work. Alison groans. Can't he ever let his work go for a night and spend some time with her? After all, he did miss her important recording session, when she needed his support more than ever. Isn't he taking his dedication to his job a bit too far? Ken recalls it was precisely that dedication that kept Alison from spending the rest of her life in jail! Other people need his help too! "Look, I know better than to try and argue with a lawyer. I'll never convince you I'm right," Alison says, "—but I am!" She gets in a cab and tells Ken she might talk to him later.
Alison plops down onto her comfy living-room chair immediately after returning home. She instantly regrets the way she behaved with Ken. Why did she have to blow up at him like that? It isn't his fault requires so much dedication and overtime. "Maybe he's right. Maybe I am too self-centered, too narcissistic," Alison thinks. "But, to be a performer you have to be that way, don't you?" As she continues to second-guess herself, Alison realizes maybe her pursuit of fame and stardom is a waste of time after all. Maybe she should think about using her powers to help the world. She needs to talk to someone about this, and she knows just the man.
Alison heads straight to the Plaza Hotel's presidential suite to find her friend Warren Worthington III. She knocks on the door a few times, but gets no response, even after calling out his name. On a hunch, she tries the handle, and surprisingly finds the door unlocked. No one leaves their door unlocked in New York, Alison says to herself as she creeps into the darkened hotel room. Something must be wrong.
Suddenly, a man reaches out from the shadows and grabs Dazzler by the neck. She screams. The man hits the light and sees his supposed attacker is Alison Blaire. She shouts at the man, whom she now recognizes as Warren, for scaring her like that. Why would he do that to her? Warren apologizes. He thought Alison was an attacker. He tells her about the hawk attack, shows her his injuries, and explains that someone out there means to kill him. After the attack, he returned to his room and must have passed out before locking the door. Again, he apologizes. Alison accepts and jokingly tells him self-preservation is a healthy instinct.
Warren asks why she decided to visit. Alison confides in him about her fight with Ken, which got her thinking about all of her inner conflicts, leading to yet another one of her perennial identity crises. What should she do with her mutant powers, she asks? She wants to limit their use to sprucing up her musical act, but sometimes she wonders if there truly is a responsibility that comes with great power. Warren tells her she came to the right guy to talk about mutant-hood. The two friends converse long into the night. After the sun comes up the next morning, Warren apologizes for rambling, but Alison thanks him for his input. Her situation remains as confusing as ever, though. Warren stands up and begins putting on his Angel costume. He has helped all he can, but now, for the best answers, she needs to talk to the world's leading expert on mutant issues — Professor X. If anyone can offer Alison guidance, he can! Smiling, Alison doubts she and Angel will be taking the train to Westchester.
As the sun rises over New York City, the airborne Angel carries Alison safely in his arms, not noticing the two objects discretely tailing them: Rogue, who flies using the superpowers she absorbed from Ms. Marvel, and a helicopter that carries Mystique and Destiny. Using the chopper’s radio, Destiny asks Rogue for a recon update. Rogue reports that Angel is heading northwest, most likely to Xavier's. Then prepare to attack, Destiny tells her. They want to confront him before he reunites with the X-Men. "No problem, ladies," Rogue says. "And speaking of ladies, he's got one with him!" Destiny tells her this other woman's presence matters little to them. If she must die along with Angel, then so be it.
Rogue dive-bombs toward the woods below and grabs hold of a tree. Using her super-strength, she effortlessly uproots the thick oak, and takes a swing at the airborne mutants. Angel gasps at the sight of Rogue, whom he immediately recognizes as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. With Alison in his arms, he doesn't stand a chance against the powerhouse. He has no choice but to land.
Angel lands on a bluff overlooking a roaring waterfall with Alison safely in his arms. Rogue, Mystique and Destiny show up shortly thereafter. Alison asks what they want; Warren tells her he does not know, but if they wanted them dead, they would be already. It's been a long time, X-Man, Mystique says as she steps out of the helicopter. The way she sees it, she and her Sisterhood owe Angel and his fellow X-Men big time for botching their plan to assassinate Senator Kelly. Now, she intends to use Angel's knowledge of the X-Men's weaknesses to destroy his precious teammates, once and for all! Angel insists he would never betray them. Of course not, Destiny says; not willingly.
Rogue suddenly recognizes Angel's passenger and interrupts. That's the Dazzler, she announces, pointing at Alison! She may be a good singer, but Rogue instantly dislikes her for associating with Angel. Destiny admits she does not know the girl, but senses a great tragedy in her future involving loved ones. Alison asks how she could possibly know that. Enough, Mystique says. The girl may not even have a future.
Warren steps forward and asks Mystique to leave Alison out of it. She has nothing to do with their conflict, he says. "Did anybahdy ask you, wings?” Rogue asks. She takes a swing at him, leveling him with one of her powerhouse blows. "You're lucky ah'm pullin' my punches, wings! If I wasn't, you'd be gettin' more than this little massage I'm givin' you!" She hits him again in the stomach, and he collapses, winded. Rogue towers over his body and tells him that maybe now he will tell the ladies what they want to know. Warren can barely remain conscious, let alone reveal valuable strategic secrets.
"Stop! Don't hurt him anymore!" a woman's voice cries. Angel lifts his head and sees his old lover, Candy Southern, reaching out a hand of support. He asks how she made it all the way here from her home in Colorado. Candy tells him she came to stand by his side and help him fight these witches. Drawing on the last reserves of his strength, Warren lifts his head toward the beautiful woman, allowing her to caress his cheek. He gets to his feet and takes her in a warm embrace. She asks him to hold her, kiss her, and trust her. Then she brings up her knee and hits him in the crotch. Fool, Candy shouts! She laughs riotously as she slowly transforms back into her true form: Mystique. The Sisterhood laughs; to them, it’s all a big joke.
Rogue now offers Dazzler a choice: stand by her friend and get the same treatment he gets, or join the Sisterhood and live the good life. Which side is she on? Although this question reverberates in Alison's skull, her choice is simple: she chooses the side of good. The sound from a nearby waterfall provides all the energy she will need to save both Warren and herself. She unleashes a blinding flash of light, and in the time it takes her foes to recover, slips on her magnetic roller-skates. She flips around and hits Mystique in the face with a blast of light. Destiny tries to warn her teammates of Dazzler's next attack, but Dazzler, acting too fast even for Destiny's precognition, kicks her in the face with a cartwheel and hits Rogue with a forceful eruption of energy.
With the three mutant women temporarily neutralized, Warren, having sensed Dazzler's attack beforehand, now opens his eyes and gets up off the ground. He is still too winded from Rogue's assault to fly very far with Alison. She tells him to go by himself; she can run into the nearby woods and escape that way. Angel begins his predictable refusal, but Alison tells him to shut up and go. He complies. Meanwhile, Alison takes off running for the thick cover of the woods. Before she can get very far, however, Rogue reaches out and grabs her by the ankle. "Did y'all think your pretty lights could keep me down long, little girl? I'm Rogue. Y'all don't mess with me. Understand?" she says, slapping Dazzler across the face. Rogue then picks her up off the ground and hoists her high overhead. She knows Dazzler isn't very dangerous, which is why, instead of killing her, she only intends to place her out of the Sisterhood's hair for a while. She throws the mutant starlet over the edge of the bluff. Dazzler screams as she plummets toward the roaring rapids below.
Rogue returns to check on Destiny and Mystique. Since they seem fine, she flies after Angel. He doesn't make it very far before Rogue gets in his face and knocks him out with an uppercut. Somewhat graciously, Rogue catches the unconscious hero and carries him to the ground. All the information the Sisterhood needs resides in his mind; it is Rogue's job to extract it through skin-to-skin contact. She leans in to give him a kiss, her method of choice when she must siphon someone’s memories and abilities. At the last second, however, she pulls away; she has never before absorbed the psyche of someone with a physical mutation like wings. What will it do to her? Turn her into some kind of freak? Angered, Mystique tells her she cannot falter now, when they are so close! Rogue adamantly refuses. She'd rather kill the man than risk absorbing his physical mutation. Mystique yields, but refuses to waste this opportunity. She orders Rogue to carry the man back to the helicopter. They can use another, albeit messier, method to extract the information they need.
As the trio walks back to the helicopter, Destiny senses something is amiss. She warns her teammates to stay cautious, as they might still face another attack from Dazzler. Rogue tells them not to worry about a one-trick pony like Dazzler! "Make sure you truss that turkey up good," she tells her companions as she loads Angel into the helicopter. Mystique asks her not to worry; when the Angel finally comes around, he will not be able to move.
Destiny's prediction proves accurate, however, when Dazzler pulls herself back up over the ridge. The ladies are not going anywhere, Alison says. Using the overbearing noise from the waterfall and the helicopter, Dazzler stuns both Rogue and Mystique with a single, blinding flash of light. Destiny proves to be more of a challenge, however, as she is already blind. Alison wastes no time in taking care of her. Before the precog can draw her gun, Dazzler lurches forward and punches her across the face. Next, she kicks the unconscious women out of the helicopter and shakes Warren awake. She doesn't know how to fly a chopper, but hopefully Warren does. Sure enough, after he regains consciousness, he wrests control of the helicopter and lifts off into the air. Mystique, Destiny, and Rogue all regain their senses and try to stop them from escaping. Alison stops them before they get a chance by hitting them with a barrage of lights and lasers. With their opposition neutralized, she and Warren finally make their escape.
A short while later, Alison and Warren decompress in Ali's apartment. Warren doubts the Sisterhood has finished hounding him yet. Alison assumes she made their hate-list as well. Probably, Warren says, considering their obsession with vengeance. Alison leans her head back in the chair and sighs. She's not a hero; this isn't what she wanted. What should she do? Warren decides he needs to check out of the Plaza Hotel and go underground for a while. He suggests Alison do the same, but she refuses. She has a career to consider, and besides, it isn't her style. Warren suggests she at least hire bodyguards and suggests Power Man and Iron Fist. Alison, having met both men at her recent Carnegie Hall concert, takes to the idea instantly.
Someone rings Alison's buzzer. She springs to her feet. What if the Sisterhood found her already, she asks? Warren doubts they would be so polite as to ring her doorbell. Throwing on a jacket to cover her tattered clothing, Alison walks to the door, peers through the peephole, and sees a young, familiar-looking woman. What does she want, Alison asks? “Are you Alison Blaire?” the girl asks. Alison asks who wants to know. “Er... I do,” the girl says. “My name's Lois London. I'm your... er... sister.” Alison gasps. She opens the door and, for the first time in her life, stands face to face with the sister she never knew.


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

[Assistant]
Fire in the Night!
Alison Blaire wakes up to find her apartment filled with smoke. Immediately, she suspects foul play on part of the Sisterhood, a conclusion fueled more by her own paranoia than any evidence. She leaps to the window and checks outside, but sees no signs of the fire department; this fire must have just started. Thinking there might be time to quell the blaze, Alison darts across the living room, leaps over her sleeping half-sister Lois London, and checks the hallway. It too is filled with smoke. Alison takes her chances in the inferno and feels her way to the fire alarm box in the hallway. Surprisingly, she finds it broken, in a clear act of sabotage.
Inside Alison’s apartment, Lois finally wakes up and, in a state of confusion, evaluates her unfamiliar surroundings. The last thing she remembers was talking with Alison late into the night. She assumes Alison put her to bed after she fell asleep.
After coming to her senses, she sees the smoke filling the apartment, and her frantic half-sister fiddling with the phone. Lois remains silent while she watches Alison move from the phone, which is broken, to the radio, where she cranks the volume to its highest levels. Lois watches her lean out the open window and begin glowing inexplicably. She has seen this effect during Alison’s shows, but she always assumed it was a special effect. She never imagined Alison produced the lights from her own body! To think, she only came over to meet her newfound half-sister, whom she admired as a singer and performer. She never imagined the reunion would go so well—or that her half-sister possessed superpowers.
In the streets below, a pair of police officers sees the vibrant light emanating from Dazzler’s window and proceeds to investigate. Alison informs them of the fire and of the technical malfunctions. Stay calm, the officers tell her; they summon help immediately! To their surprise, they discover that neither the nearby alarm box nor the emergency police phone works. The officers swear both devices worked earlier that day during their patrol. Regardless, they have a radio in the car.
Dazzler, meanwhile, continues her light signal in hopes of attracting other help. She happens to illuminate a darkened corner of an alley across the street and sees a familiar figure darting for cover. That looks like Rogue, she thinks, assuming the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants must have come for her. She cannot believe their audacity at torching a building full of innocent bystanders simply to get to her!
The building's other tenants finally wake up and begin evacuating. Alison and Lois put some extra preparation into their own escape. Lois douses some thick blankets in the bathtub, while Alison stuffs some belongings into a tote-bag. Finally prepped, the two sisters cover themselves with the wet blankets and proceed into the inferno.
They only make it a few steps before Alison someone in need. Mrs. Shaugnessy, her elderly neighbor, carrying her caged pet-bird in her hand, stands trapped behind a fallen, burning timber. Alison moves to save her, but Lois implores her to reconsider; they cannot do anything on their own! They need to escape so they can send for help. Alison refuses to leave the innocent woman behind. She reaches into her bag, powers up her radio, and transduces the noise into a laser beam, which she uses to cleave the downed beam in two. It falls away from the frightened Mrs. Shaugnessy. Alison approaches her elderly neighbor, wraps her in an extra wet blanket, and escorts both her and her birdie out of the burning building. Lois watches in awe. Not only does her big sister pal around with heroes, she apparently is one herself. Alison, Lois, and Mrs. Shaugnessy get free of the building right as the fire department arrives.
Once things settle down, Lois takes her sister aside and asks her the burning question: is she a mutant? "Yes, Lois, I am," Alison says, her gaze averted to the side. "Now are you going to call me a freak?" Of course not, Lois says. She only wondered because her mother never mentioned anything about it. She calls Alison special. She has power, and the heart to use it. She thinks Alison is wonderful. "Yeah. Wonderful," Dazzler responds. "They can carve that on my tombstone."
Meanwhile, in a nearby alleyway, the mysterious arsonist starts his silent-running motorcycle and high-tails it out of there. He finally stops at a phone booth, well out of the radius of suspicious activity, and makes a phone call to his employer. He reports that some woman created a light beacon and summoned help, botching his arson job. However, he intends to take care of her as soon as he can. He gently hangs up the phone. His calm demeanor completely belies the furious rage burning inside of him. He is Flame, an arsonist for hire. His bright-red, flame-decaled suit insulates him from the scorching heat of his work. Similarly, he insulates his own conscience from the guilt a normal man would feel after committing such atrocities. Now he is angry. He will get revenge.
Back at the burning apartments, after the firefighters finally get the blaze under control, the building owner, Crowley, arrives just in time to scold his tenants. What have they done to his building now, he asks? A feisty tenant tells the owner to blow it out of his ear; they nearly died in his death-trap of a building! Crowley, chomping on a cigar, sighs. Of course they would blame him, he says. He reminds them he offered them the opportunity to purchase co-op shares in the building so they can take part in financing its upkeep. Without their financial support, he can only afford to meet the absolute minimum fire standards, and he intends to do just that! He walks away, once again reminding them to buy shares in his co-op offering as he goes. Alison cannot help but note the callousness in his voice. He would probably like nothing better than to get rid of the entire apartment building, including its tenants! But even he wouldn't stoop so low as to set fire to his own building, would he?
Elsewhere, Mystique addresses her Sisterhood, Destiny and Rogue, about their upcoming plans. She decides to refrain from attacking Angel for now. Instead, the Sisterhood will let him stew in his own fears while they wait for the perfect chance to strike at the X-Men. Mystique also declares they will not worry about exacting revenge on the Dazzler. She is just a foolish bystander who defeated them by luck alone. To retaliate against her would be pointless. Rogue disagrees; there is more to Dazzler than meets the eye. Doesn't Mystique remember the "great tragedy" Destiny saw in Dazzler's future? Mystique asks why that matters. She understands Rogue feels a certain infatuation for the singer she once admired, but the best interests of the Sisterhood lie elsewhere, in more productive ends. Rogue feigns agreement. Destiny, however, sees right through the charade. She knows Rogue will try something, but she also realizes Rogue is young, and must be allowed to make her own mistakes.
The following day, Dazzler and her band undergo a dress rehearsal at one of New York City's many cable TV studios. The recording crew and camera men give Alison tips and ask her to relax a bit. Alison worries more about how her band sounds. Her manager, Harry S. Osgood, tells her she sounds wonderful, and since his opinion is the only one that matters, she need not worry.
Two men suddenly barge onto the set right as the techs begin preparing for Dazzler's light show. Who are these clowns, the technician asks? The two men, Iron Fist and Luke Cage the Power Man, insist they are not clowns, but heroes for hire, responding to Dazzler's request for protection. Sorry everyone, Alison says, but this is important! She steps off the stage for a moment to converse with her potential bodyguards.
In private, she tells the two men her story. Just a few days earlier, she thwarted the scheme of three mutant women, and suspects they now want revenge! She thinks they may have torched her apartment building. Her good friend, Warren Worthington III, suggested she hire protection, and referred her to Luke Cage and Iron Fist. She remembers meeting them at her Carnegie Hall after-party, and feels like she can trust them. She explains she has other hero friends, like the Avengers and the X-Men, but she would feel strange asking either for help. She wants Iron Fist and Power Man to find out if the Sisterhood is after her, and if so, do something about it. These heroes for hire gladly accept Alison's case, and even offer her a discount rate of one-hundred dollars per day. Thanks, Alison says. She can probably get an advance from her manager to get the payments started.
Somewhat abruptly, Power Man asks if the room seems unusually smoky. Iron Fist concurs; it's almost as if the studio is on fire. Sure enough, the three heroes turn around and discover flames quickly spreading through the room. Alison screams; the Sisterhood must be after her again! Somebody do something, she shouts! Unfortunately, there is little the captive musicians and sound technicians can do. Someone emptied the fire extinguishers, destroyed the fire alarm, and cut the phone line. This fire is no accident.
Power Man asks everyone to calm down, but as he speaks, the ceiling rumbles and falls toward the floor. Before it can crush everyone, however, he reaches up and stops it using his super strength. Everyone out of here, Luke commands! While he holds up the ceiling, Iron Fist, Dazzler, and everyone else rush toward the emergency exit. Iron Fist reaches out to open the door. The handle breaks off in his grip; someone has tampered with the exit.
Iron Fist looks back toward the smoky room full of frightened people. He realizes that the people cannot survive much longer in such dense smoke. Likewise, his friend Power Man can only hold up the ceiling for so long. He realizes he is the only one who can save them all. Drawing on his martial arts training, as well as his deep reserves of Chi energy, Daniel Rand powers up his hand, making it as strong and forceful as iron, and punches a hole in the side of the building. Suddenly they have an escape route. Everyone clears out of the room, except Luke Cage, who still bears the weight of the ceiling on his shoulders. Once everyone clears, he heaves the ceiling upward, darts for the exit, and leaps through the hole just as the thick beams come crashing down behind him.
Power Man, Iron Fist, Dazzler and her band all watch solemnly as the building burns to the ground. Thankfully, the building sits on a largely uninhabited city block, making it the only casualty. That doesn't ease Iron Fist and Power Man's certainty that someone is after their target. It also doesn't ease the fear Alison now has for her own life. "Oh Beefer, what am I gonna do?" she asks her rotund drummer. He tells her everything will be okay; she's safe. "Beefer, I'd be safer eating plutonium!" she says.
On a rooftop across the street, Flame admires his latest work. However, the sight of his intended target escaping with her life amplifies his rage. He repels off the rooftop, mounts his motorcycle, and flees the scene of the crime. Revenge will have to wait.
The next day, Barbara London and her daughter Lois partake in some bargain shopping at Gimbels. Lois recounts to her mother how much fun she had with Alison. She always admired the Dazzler as a singer; to learn she is her blood relative is exciting beyond belief! Lois does refrain from revealing the secret of Alison's mutant nature to her mother, though. She does not want to be the one to give Barbara that news. Barbara smiles at her daughter's jubilation. She would have told her earlier, but had to keep it a secret because of her own distance with Alison.
Lois suddenly grows light-headed and collapses. The department store staff revives her a few minutes later using some smelling salts. When Lois comes to, she blames her faint on the smoke she inhaled in the apartment fire, and tells her mom she wishes to continue shopping. She would hate to go back to college out of fashion! Her cheery demeanor hides some deep fears, however. She didn't want to worry her mother, but she has felt this sharp pain in her head — and fainted — several times before. She naively hopes whatever ailment she has goes away with time. It has to, right?
Later that day, an uncharacteristically ragged-looking Warren Worthington III sits at the counter of a greasy diner and broods over a bitter cup of coffee. Dressed in a trench-coat, with his unshaven face obscured by a wide-brimmed fedora hat, Warren contemplates the gravity of his situation. The Sisterhood is gunning for him, surely with the intent to kill. He and Alison barely escaped the other day. He would seek help from Professor X, but due to the apparent loss of his dear X-Men, the professor is far too depressed to do anything. Warren realizes he must fight the Sisterhood on his own. He strolls over to the diner's arcade machine and, while playing a game of "Space Invaders", begins formulating a plan.
The next night, at Ken Barnett's apartment, Alison mopes over the home-cooked meal he prepared. She apologizes; the food is delicious, but she is too anxious to eat another bite. The Sisterhood has her afraid to return home. They even have her afraid to go near any of her loved ones, lest they end up as collateral damage. Ken tells her she doesn't need to worry. Admittedly, he may not have any superpowers, but he promises to protect her, and even offers her a place to stay. Alison thanks him, but tells him neither one of them would be safe in Ken's apartment were she to reside there. Ken tries to convince her otherwise, but with her mind made up, Alison soon leaves. She gives Ken a goodbye hug and sets out on her own. At first, she decides to meet up with her bodyguards, but a brilliant idea sends her in another direction. Maybe Crowley, her landlord, has another place she can rent while she hides. She proceeds to his office immediately.
Meanwhile, over on 42nd Street, Luke Cage and Danny Rand grab some dinner from a pizza cart. Luke enthusiastically offers to treat Daniel to dinner. "Wow! And after you spent seventy-five cents on that pizza for yourself," Iron Fist jokes. Switching topics, Daniel admits the Dazzler case bothers him. After all, why would three heavy-hitting mutant baddies waste their time with two-bit arson jobs if they wanted to assassinate Dazzler? Luke Cage agrees; they would surely employ more direct, reliable methods. It doesn't figure. Iron Fist suggests they drop the hunt for the Sisterhood, and instead investigate possible other perpetrators in Dazzler's case.
Alison, meanwhile, arrives at her landlord's building and heads toward his office. She can hear his blaring voice all the way down the lengthy corridor; it sounds like he is busy chewing someone out. She hesitates a moment before opening the door. This reticence gives her a moment to absorb some of the high-octane conversation. She hears Crowley scolding someone for torching a music studio; that job was not part of the deal! It was sloppy and dangerous for both of them! Intrigued, Alison opens the door a crack to get a look at the other party. She sees Flame, wearing his insulated red suit, barking back at Crowley across his desk. Flame tells Crowley he had to get rid of the Dazzler. She thwarted his first fire; she has to die! "Bull!" Crowley shouts. "You were hired to burn my building — a standard insurance number. When you start pursuing personal vendettas, you jeopardize me — and I don't need that!" Flame tells him if he wanted to hire cheap hoods, he should have hired someone else.
Unfortunately, Alison leans into the door, a move that elicits a loud creaking noise. Flame lunges toward the door and grabs the eavesdropper by the arm. Look who it is, he says; the Dazzler! He quickly ties her up, but Crowley orders his goon to let the woman go. Flame refuses. He is on his own time, and therefore can do whatever he wants. "You're sick, Flame," Crowley says. Flame reminds his employer he didn't think that when he first hired him. He calls Crowley a hypocrite and a coward and leaves with the bound Alison slumped over his shoulder like a roll of carpet.
Flame secures his prisoner on the back of his motorcycle and rides into the night. Along the way, Flame boasts about the amazing technology that allows his bike to operate without producing any noise. He went to the best mechanics on the East Coast and had them produce a muffling system that ran quiet. He wanted a bike as elegant and efficient as he is. Alison's heart sinks when she realizes the bike runs silently; it won't provide any sound for her counterattack.
They finally arrive at an abandoned warehouse by the river. Flame takes his prisoner into an old storage bay and throws her against the wall. Someone paid him to torch this building tonight; he intends to give Alison front-row seats to the fire. She shouldn't have messed with his plans, he says. Unfortunately for her, she won't meddle with anyone else's plans, ever again. He leaves her bound and gagged on the floor while he goes to prepare the blaze.
With Flame away, Alison has plenty of time to contemplate the hopelessness of her situation, as well as any possible means of escape. She thinks of one way out, one shot to escape with her life, and proceeds to set her plan in motion. Slowly, she squirms her way across the floor and over to Flame's motorcycle. She miraculously manages to start its engine. With the easy part out of the way, she begins on the hard part: removing the muffler. Alison wriggles into a position where she can grip the motorcycle's chrome addition, gets her fingers around it, and pulls, slowly working the muffler out of its mounts. With a loud KRAK!, it comes loose, unleashing the loud roar of the bike's engine. Alison transduces the noise into a concentrated laser beams and cuts her bindings.
Flame returns just as Alison slips on her magnetic roller skates. Don't even think about stealing that bike, he threatens as he storms into the garage. He produces a pair of fireballs from his gloves and hurls them at Dazzler. "Like your fellow singer Jerry Lee Lewis might say, 'Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire'! Some joke, huh?" Flame asks. Dazzler skates toward her captor, deftly dodging his fireballs along the way. He continues to taunt her. She tells him that for a guy who claims to like silence, he certainly talks a lot! She unleashes a dazzler-burst and puts Flame down for the count.
Flame goes down, but his threat is not yet extinguished. His wayward fires ignite the fuel he spread around the building. Dazzler prepares to escape, but Flame recovers his senses and challenges her yet again. He calls her a freak because of her mutant powers, which, by the way, pose little threat to him because of his tinted goggles. Dazzler ignores his taunts and charges at him on her skates. Moments before impact, she unexpectedly somersaults, a move that allows her to rip the fire-producing gloves from his hands. That should even things up a bit, she says! Flame tells her the fight is far from over. Not only does he have his sight back, but he also has his flame sword! He draws the fiery saber out of its scabbard and presents it to the frightened Dazzler.
Far from defenseless, and still fueled by the noise from Flame's motorcycle, Dazzler produces a weapon of her own: a laser-sword, stemming from her index finger. She threatens to cut him into pieces for fondue. Flame gasps. Dazzler strikes at him. Although Flame admittedly finds her weapon impressive, he intends to use his superior fencing skills to prevent her from properly using it. He's right! I'm no Luke Skywalker when it comes to dueling, Alison tells herself, but then, he's no Darth Vader!
She scores a hit on his sword hand, causing him to drop his weapon. Still far from powerless, however, Flame lunges at Dazzler and knocks her to the ground. He doesn't need anything other than his bare hands to kill her, he says! The Dazzler refuses to die like this. Flame has tried to kill her three times, and has probably caused the deaths of a lot of innocent people. He's slime, she tells him, and he's also close enough for her to dazzle him senseless! Using all the energy she can muster, she unleashes a dazzle-burst so bright, and so drawn-out, it finally knocks Flame unconscious.
Mere moments after her victory, Iron Fist and Power Man come to the rescue. Dazzler asks how they found her. While scooping up the dazzled Flame in his arms, Power Man explains they interrogated Crowley and learned everything, including the location of Flame's next job. They figured they might find Alison there. Soon, the emergency vehicles arrive to put out the blaze, and the police finally arrest Flame, putting a stop to the arsonist's long string of crimes. Power Man congratulates his partner on a job well done; they did their good deed for the day. Even more importantly, Iron Fist says, is that they ensured the life of Alison Blaire is no longer in danger! Dazzler angrily asks if they can be so sure about that. Her query hangs in the air, heavier and far more unpleasant than the thick clouds of smoke that fill the night sky.
Meanwhile, Rogue examines a picture of the Dazzler she tore out of the newspaper. "Mystique may think you're no threat... but ah'm not convinced," the Sisterhood's most spiteful member says as she crushes the paper in her fist. "So look out, honey — ah'm comin' for ya!"


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

[Assistant]
A Rogue in the House
“Dazzler!” Rogue shouts as she kicks in the door to Alison Blaire’s apartment. “Ah’ve come for ya!” She tells her prey to come out from her hiding spot and face her predator. However, it quickly becomes clear that Dazzler is not even home. She groans; she went through a lot of trouble to find where Alison lived.
Rogue seeks to exploit Dazzler’s connection to Angel, through whom she and her Sisterhood can exact revenge on the X-Men. With them out of the way, evil mutants will finally have free reign to ride roughshod over the entire world! Rogue declares. Besides, she and the Sisterhood owe Dazzler in kind for foiling their earlier attempt to kidnap the Angel. In Rogue’s mind, that alone is justification enough for her to disobey Mystique and seek out the meddlesome Alison Blaire.
Although disappointed by Dazzler’s absence, Rogue decides to make the most of her trip. She trashes her apartment instead, a job that only takes a moment thanks to her super-strength. As she prepares to leave, however, she has an idea; why not wait in hiding for Alison to return home? Rogue finds this plan palatable. She reattaches the door to its frame, turns off all the lights, and finds a spot in the kitchen to wait, right beside a pile of walnuts. “Ah love walnuts,” Rogue says to no one in particular while cracking a pair of the tough shells in her hand.
Rogue’s vigil of vengeance nears its end shortly after it begins. While approaching her scorched residence, Alison Blaire thinks back on the day’s tough rehearsal, and how much progress her band has made under the direction of recording-technician extraordinaire L.B. Holman. Her daydreaming is interrupted by one of her worried neighbors. What is it? Alison asks. Frank, her neighbor, informs her he saw a woman break into Alison's apartment right as he left for his jog. The culprit trashed the place and is still inside! he says. Alison’s heart sinks; she asks if the intruder has red hair with two white streaks. Yep, that's her, Frank says. Alison gasps. If Rogue has found her, Destiny and Mystique cannot be far behind. Instead of investigating on her own, she decides to call her bodyguards, Power Man and Iron Fist.
At that same time, these two heroes-for-hire sit idly in their office, frustrated by their failure to solve Dazzler’s case. Iron Fist assumes finding the flamboyant women of the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants would have been easy. Instead, the two stumped heroes have been reduced to goofing around with office supplies. An unexpected phone call changes all that. Power Man answers it and speaks to their client, Alison Blaire, who reports the break-in at her apartment. The two men depart immediately.
A short while later, Power Man and Iron Fist meet up with Alison a few blocks from her building. She informs them Rogue still hasn’t left the apartment. Luke and Daniel tell Alison not to worry; she hired them to do exactly this kind of work. After asking her to remain behind – an order to which she gladly agrees – Iron Fist and Power Man head upstairs and approach Alison’s front door. Power Man asks Iron Fist if he thinks this Rogue person is as tough as everyone claims. Danny tells him he’ll let him know the answer to that question in just a few minutes. He kicks down the door.
They find Rogue waiting eagerly in the living room. “Wha—?” she gasps. “You're not the Dazzler!” Of course not, Iron Fist says, but he adds they are cute in their own way. Rogue hurls a couch at them in anger. “Moron! You think you're funny? Ah think you're pathetic,” she says. The couch knocks the two bodyguards to the ground. Rogue arbitrarily chooses to attack Iron Fist first. Normally, Iron Fist would attack a foe as deadly as Rogue without restraint, but his internal code of conduct causes him to hesitate before attacking a woman. Rogue takes full advantage of this reticence. Reduced to using only evasive and defensive moves, Iron Fist can do nothing but leap around the apartment in an attempt to outmaneuver his super-powered foe. Rogue eventually snags him by the ankle and crushes his chest with a powerful bear-hug. “Sleep well, darlin’,” she says as he falls unconscious, “and be thankful I didn't end yoah irritatin’ life—”
Actually, Power Man says, it is Rogue who should be thankful she didn’t end Iron Fist’s life. If she had, Power Man would be much angrier than he is right now! He catches her off-guard and punches her across the face. She stumbles backward, but to his surprise, remains standing. How can that be, he asks? Rogue, rubbing her jaw, tells Power Man her mutant ability allows her to absorb the abilities of others. She stole Ms. Marvel’s powers permanently, and since Ms. Marvel was one tough lady, so now is Rogue! She springs forward and cracks Luke Cage across the face. He counter-attacks with a double-fisted uppercut, propelling Rogue upward, toward the ceiling. She recovers and retaliates with a torpedo attack concentrated on Power Man’s neck. She tells him to stay out of her quarrel with the Dazzler; it’s none of his business! Power Man thinks otherwise. Dazzler hired them to protect her, and besides, they consider her a friend. Well, Rogue says, it looks like he just let his friend down. She strikes Power Man, harder than before, and sends him soaring through the exterior wall of Alison’s sixth-story apartment.
During his long fall to the street, Power Man desperately tries to clutch onto any available surface, but fails. He hits the ground hard. Alison runs over to check on him, and he unconvincingly claims to be alright. However, he adds that he left Iron Fist alone and unconscious with Rogue. Alison resigns herself to the inevitable confrontation and rushes up the stairs to her apartment. She cannot in good conscience leave the man to die at the hands of her enemy. As she tears down the hallway on her magnetic skates, her body glowing with energy transduced from her pocket radio, she laments her unfortunate backslide into heroism. She only wants to use her powers to entertain, and yet, she cannot go for a few days without having to use them to save someone’s life. It’s not fair, but life, she realizes, rarely is.
Dazzler arrives in her busted-up apartment, ready for a fight. To her surprise, Rogue slips through the hole in the wall and flies away. Dazzler can’t say she cares. She kneels down and tends to the battered Iron Fist. He asks if Power Man survived the fall. Of course, Alison says. It takes more than crashing through a wall and falling six stories to put Power Man out for long. She completely loses herself as she tends to Iron Fist's wounds, forgetting not only the malicious intent of her nemesis Rogue, but also the plainly visible note pinned to her bulletin board reminding her to meet her sister Lois on campus at three o'clock on Tuesday… a note Rogue did not fail to read.
She may have had to flee before things got too out of hand, but Rogue now knows when and where to best strike at the Dazzler.
The next day, Alison, garbed in her incognito-best, takes a cab to Electronic Oz recording studios. She tips her cabbie well, a gesture that practically makes his day. Alison wishes something as trivial as a nice tip could cheer her up. Instead, she will have to settle with enjoying every moment in which Rogue doesn’t beat her to a bloody pulp.
She walks inside the studio and meets with L.B. Holman, her recording technician. Today, he wants to lay down some vocal tracks, so he has Alison sing over some songs prerecorded by her band. Although she finds L.B.’s methodology foreign, she admits it produces some quality music. After the session ends she thanks L.B. for his time. He tells her not to worry about it, but cannot refrain from commenting on her apparent anxiety –or her ridiculous outfit, for that matter. Is she hiding from somebody, he asks? Alison admits someone has been harassing her. The person is quite nasty, but she doesn't care to say anymore. L.B. tells her that anyone who would hassle her must be a real villain! He doesn't know the half of it, Alison replies.
L.B. abruptly changes subjects and asks Alison out on a date. Without skipping a beat, Alison advises him that at this point in her life, he would be better off not hanging around her very much. However, if he gives her his number, she can call him later when things settle down a bit. Sure, L.B. says, perplexed. He gives Alison his card and watches her leave. She’s quite a woman, he thinks to himself while scratching his head.
Later that night, in the home of her lawyer boyfriend Ken Barnett, Alison enjoys some good food, good wine, and good company. Ken, speaking in a campy French accent, proposes a toast to Alison, whom he dubs the most wonderful woman in all of New York. She thanks him for both the kind gesture and the wonderful night. However, she admits she has a hard time living like she has lately, in perpetual fear of the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants. At any moment, Rogue and her cronies could strike at her and destroy everything – and everyone – she loves! Ken tells his anxiety-stricken girlfriend she can hide out at his place; he can protect her. How? Alison asks. Could he defeat the Sisterhood if they attacked? Ken answers her unanswerable question with a warm embrace and a soft kiss. She loosens up in his arms and asks him to hold her, and help her pretend, just for one night, that everything is okay. “Everything is okay,” Ken promises.
The two lovers embrace and lie down on Ken’s couch, wrapped in each other’s arms. After some time passes, Ken asks Alison to swallow her pride and ask the Fantastic Four or the Avengers for help. Ali doesn’t respond; Ken realizes she fell asleep. He gets up and covers her with a blanket. She deserves a night of rest, away from her worries, Ken thinks. He walks over to his window and looks out over the city. He vows to protect her, no matter what.
The next day, at the Washington Heights Athletic Club, Warren Worthington III, also dressed in a trench-coat and wide-brimmed fedora hat, hands a thousand dollars cash over to the club’s owner. This payment reserves the club’s interior basketball arena for Warren's use for one afternoon. Curious, the club owner asks when Warren expects the rest of his scrimmage team to arrive. They should be arriving soon, Warren nervously tells him! The club owner leaves, not quite believing his answer.
As soon as he shuts the door, Warren throws off his sunglasses, removes his disguise, and unleashes his expansive wings. The Angel flies around the empty arena, stretching his cramped wings for the first time in what feels like an eternity. He cannot afford to be seen flying in public while the Sisterhood pursues him. As the heir to a sizable fortune, however, he has no compunction about dropping a few hundred bucks for one afternoon of relief. He does wonder how Dazzler is doing, though.
Across town, Luke Cage and Iron Fist ponder their next move. Iron Fist reports Dazzler’s plans for the day: she intends to visit her half-sister, Lois London, on campus at State University at three o’clock. The college is quiet, secluded, and forty-five minutes outside of town. In other words, it’s a perfect place for the Sisterhood to strike! Power Man suggests they head there immediately.
Alison Blaire arrives at the State U campus right as the clock strikes three. The cab ride to the campus costs her a small fortune, but she didn’t dare allow the Sisterhood to catch her riding public transportation. She proceeds immediately to Durbach Dorm, her sister’s hall. She fails to notice the woman wearing preppie clothes and a red scarf who waits near the dormitory’s entrance. There she goes, Rogue says to herself as Alison climbs the stairs. She vows to get reacquainted with Alison very soon.
Inside, Dazzler knocks on Lois’s door. She hears no answer and begins to worry. She decides to open the door, and when she does, finds her sister lying unconscious in the center of the dorm room. “Lois!!” she shouts. Lois slowly stirs to consciousness and lifts herself up off the floor. What’s wrong, Alison asks? Although Lois claims to be okay, she admits to experiencing several strange symptoms lately: fainting, light-headedness, strange headaches... could this all mean she is a mutant, like Alison? That’s unlikely, Alison says. If anything, it probably means Lois has anemia.
Their tender heart-to-heart is interrupted by Rogue, who kicks down the door and announces her arrival. Time to take care of business, she says! She demands Dazzler reveal where she can find the Angel. If she complies, Rogue promises to only rough her up a little bit. Alison, with total sincerity, tells Rogue she does not know where the Angel is hiding. Lois, meanwhile, asks for the intruder’s name. “Why ah’m Rogue, honey,” Rogue says, “—ah’m a mutant like ol’ Alison here — one a’ those evil kind ya read about — and ah know how to have a good time!” She slaps Alison, and the slight gesture sends the singer flailing across the dorm room.
Alison hits the wall, bounces off the couch, and lands on the floor in a heap. She slowly picks herself up, and surprisingly, admits defeat. She cannot bring herself to fight back today. However, she has no information to share with Rogue. She can go ahead and kill her if she wants, Alison says, but asks her to leave Lois alone. Rogue lifts her by the collar and raises her fist in preparation for a punch. Dazzler is in no position to demand anything, Rogue says.
Lois, still lying on the floor, watches the evil mutant wail on her sister. She feels terrible for thinking this way, but she thinks if she were a mutant, she would much rather be like Rogue than a patsy like Alison. At least Rogue seems to enjoy herself.
Rogue suddenly looks at Lois and realizes she is wasting her time torturing Dazzler. Maybe if Rogue threatens her little sister, Dazzler will finally talk! She hoists Lois off the ground, slaps her across the face, and effortlessly flips her across the room and onto the couch. If Dazzler gives up Angel’s location, however, she promises to stop. Dazzler’s morose resignation quickly turns to furious anger at the sight of her sister’s mistreatment. After snapping on her roller-skates, she calls Rogue an animal and asks if she is woman enough to face her in a fair fight!
Surprisingly, Dazzler lunges not at Rogue, but at the dorm window. She crashes through the glass and plummets to the sidewalk. Thanks to her acrobatic training, however, she transfers her momentum into forward motion once she hits the ground and begins roller-skating to safety. Her body hurts from the maneuver, but it buys her some time to decide how to deal with Rogue.
Inside the dorm room, Rogue steps up to the windowsill and glares at the escaping starlet. She shoots a menacing glance at Lois, but ultimately decides to leave her alone in favor of Dazzler. Rogue quickly catches up with her on the university library's stone steps. In her panic to escape, Dazzler stumbles, and her pocket radio unnoticeably slips out of her purse. Rogue stops to pick up the device. To her, it looks like an ordinary radio, but she supposes it might be some super-weapon one of Dazzler’s hero friends built. She intends to ask her about it... right before she breaks her neck.
Dazzler, meanwhile, skates into the crowded library and maneuvers her way through the hordes of frightened university students. She curses her poor judgment at skating into the quietest place on campus. However, she mistakenly believes she still has her radio to protect her. Rogue swoops into the library and blocks Dazzler’s path. Dazzler throws her coat in the mutants face and changes direction. She skates down a narrow book aisle, leaping over an oblivious student as she goes, with Rogue following closely behind. The aisle ends, and Alison finds herself in the card catalog section. She deftly hurdles over each hefty set of cabinets while ignoring Rogue’s cruel taunts. Once she puts some distance between them, she reaches into her purse, now intending to power up her radio, and indirectly, her powers. Her stomach drops when she learns it is missing.
Alison refuses to give up just yet. She spies the library’s listening room nearby and realizes it might be her last chance. She skates inside, but to her dismay, finds it somehow even quieter than the rest of the library! She sees the problem: the room’s occupants are listening to their audio through headphones. Before she can escape the silent chamber, however, Rogue appears in the doorway. For a moment, Alison contemplates surrender; she would hate to see any innocent civilians hurt. Her mindset changes after she spots the room’s audio control panel. Before Rogue can stop her, Alison switches the output from the headphones to the library's public address system and cranks the volume as high as she can, instantly filling the entire library with the sounds of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”.
Rogue commends her rival on this clever move. Admittedly, she was growing bored with the fight. Why do they even have to fight? Dazzler asks. Can't they just talk things over? Rogue tells her to forget that notion; there’s nothing to talk about anymore! Fine, Dazzler says. She decides to hit Rogue with everything she has. She releases a blindingly bright pulse of light, but even at its peak, it does nothing to abate Rogue’s approach. Then, she concentrates her energy into a pair of high-intensity lasers. Rogue easily dodges these. In fact, she laughs at Dazzler’s attempts to defeat her, and reminds her to exercise caution with her powers. If one of those laser beams accidentally hit some students in the library, it would blast them into smithereens! Rogue claims she wouldn’t care, personally, but she knows Dazzler is one of those bleeding-heart Homo superiors who concerns herself with the plight of the regular humans. Could Alison live with herself if she accidentally killed one of these kids? Rogue asks.
She’s absolutely right, Dazzler realizes. She decides to focus all of her remaining energy into one final, non-lethal attack. She releases a burst of light and color. Rogue continues to approach unperturbed. She rips off her gloves, lunges at Dazzler, and grabs her by the wrists. “Ah’ve got ya, Dazzler! And now, with skin-to-skin contact,” Rogue says, “…ah can absorb your mutant abilities!” Alison feels the power flowing out of her body and into Rogue’s. Despite the intense pain in her wrists from Rogue’s grip, she goes limp, and nearly falls unconscious. “On yoah knees, honey! Ah’m the winner of this tussle, and the only one a-dazzlin’!” Rogue finally lets her victim go and steps back, lifting her arms in victory. “It’s grand to be able to shine like this! Ah’ll tell ya a secret — ah’ve been itchin’ to do this since I first found out yoah light was biologically generated, and now that ah’m doin’ it—” Rogue admits, “—honey, it’s a blast!”
Out of nowhere, Iron Fist sneaks up on the radiant Rogue from behind and kicks her in the back. Rogue falls forward, right into the path of the blindfold-wearing Power Man, who knocks her back toward his partner. The combination of the two attacks finally puts an end to Rogue’s tirade. She collapses on the floor.
Alison thanks her two bodyguards for saving her life. No sweat, Iron Fist tells her. While they still have the opportunity, he tells Power Man they should take a few more shots at the stunned Rogue, just to be sure of their victory. No! Alison shouts. She believes she can talk some sense into her! Power Man doubts that will happen, but Alison insists he at least let her try. The heroes-for-hire agree, but stand over Rogue watchfully as she wakes up, in case she tries anything funny.
Rogue lifts her head, her body language conveying the shame she feels, and acknowledges Dazzler’s kindness. Power Man and Iron Fist could have thrashed her — even killed her — but Alison stopped them. Alison tells her there is a reason for that; she isn’t like Rogue and the rest of the Sisterhood. However, now that she has her attention, she delivers her a message. “You want the Angel so he can lead you to the X-Men. Well, now that I’ve finally got a chance to speak, I’ve got news for you: the X-Men are dead!” Alison says. Rogue gasps; she finds this hard to believe. “Dead,” Alison continues. “In space. A zillion miles away. The Angel told me someone else did your dirty work for you. Now why don’t you leave the Angel — and me — alone?”
The puzzled Rogue turns away. Maybe Mystique was right after all, she thinks. Maybe this isn’t the best time to strike at the X-Men. She decides to return to her Sisterhood so they can plan their next move. To do that, however, she needs to break free of her captors, and she knows just the way. Realizing she still has Dazzler’s abilities, she discretely switches on the pocket radio she recovered from Dazzler’s purse and prepares to make her escape. Oblivious, Dazzler asks if she has something to say. Rogue flares up, temporarily blinding everyone present including the powerless Alison, and vaults toward the library’s ceiling. “So long, suckers!” she says. Dazzler she can rest easy, Rogue says; she and Angel are off the hook — for now.
Power Man admits he is glad to be rid of Rogue. Dazzler concurs; she will not miss her either. However, she turns to Lois and notices a less-than-jubilant expression on her face. What’s the matter, she asks? Lois admits she feels apprehensive about her chronic fainting, her strange headaches, and what these entail for her future. Alison tells her kid sister not to worry; they will take her to the doctor and get her some vitamins right away! Lois feigns relief, but genuinely feels none. She feels something churning inside of her body and inside of her soul. She has no idea what it is. She only knows it terrifies her beyond any fear she has ever known.


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

[Assistant]
The Jagged Edge
Alison Blaire, the struggling rock singer called the Dazzler, innocently steps into her manager’s office and is greeted by an explosion of light. She tells her manager Harry S. Osgood that she thinks this is his silliest idea ever for a photo session, directing his attention to her ridiculous pirate outfit as evidence. Surprisingly, Osgood concurs; he blames the whole ordeal on Dazzler’s field manager, Lance Steele. Lance asks her to give it a chance. He insists the buccaneer look is popular at the moment, citing the band Adam and the Ants as an example. “If Ali had that image, she’d be famous overnight!” Lance says.
“Yeah,” Dazzler says as she marches out of the room. “Everyone would know how ridiculous I’d look!” She heads to her dressing room and casts off her pirate clothes, all the while mentally scolding Lance for his incompetence. He may be a great field manager, but when it comes to anything else in the business, he’s clueless.
After Alison changes into some comfortable civilian clothes, Lance knocks on the door. “What’s on your mind this time? An Andrews Sisters revival?” Alison snippily asks as she opens the door. Lance, bearing a box of roses, asks her to go easy on him; it’s bad enough he has to serve as her delivery boy without the added bonus of her insults. Once again, he tells her if she listened to his ideas, her career would be over the top! “Over the hill is more like it,” Alison says. She asks what is in the box. Lance claims not to know, so Alison places it on her desk and opens the lid. Inside, she sees a beautiful bouquet of roses. What a sweet apology, she says! Surprisingly, Lance informs her he did not send for them. Alison notices a small note tucked away in the box and read sit aloud. “I’ve watched you with great joy, and I hope these roses bring you joy in return. May I visit you backstage after tonight’s show? – an admirer,” she reads. “How lovely!”
Lance folds his arm and groans. He explains to Alison that because she is now famous, she needs to watch out for certain types of fans. Dazzler seems confused. Fortunately, her manager Harry interjects and reinforces Lance’s point. Celebrity serves as a magnet for all sorts of fans – especially the crass and the crazy, Osgood says. He implores Dazzler to be extra careful about the company she keeps in the future. Alison tells her manager she swore she would never let celebrity change her. She likes herself the way she is, and refuses to start acting like some swell-headed rock star! She instructs Osgood to put her mysterious admirer on her next show’s guest list. Osgood complies, but fears Alison is about to learn her lesson the hard way.
Unbeknownst to Alison, Harry and Lance, a man named Karl spies on their conversation from a roof across the street using a pair of binoculars. This relatively normal-looking man perks up when he sees Alison walking out of her dressing room. He dashes toward the building’s elevator in an attempt to get down to the street in time. If he did his recon work right, he should have five minutes before Dazzler reaches the street, he thinks. He darts out of the elevator when it reaches the lobby, knocks a man out of the way, sprints across the street in the middle of traffic and runs into his place of employment inside the mall, eliciting several annoyed comments along the way. Why do they call me names? Can’t they see I have important things to do, Karl wonders? They’ll pay for that when I’m a big man! When I have the Dazzler!
Karl makes it back to work at the key-making shop with two minutes to spare. His manager, however, is not pleased. Several customers have complained about his performance and his chronic tardiness has become an issue. Karl claims he had an errand to run for his mother and promises it will not happen again. Nevertheless, his manager threatens to fire him if he makes any more mistakes. Karl acknowledges this, takes his seat at the sales counter and stares longingly out the window, just in time to see Alison Blaire walk by.
Later that afternoon, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Karl returns home to his mother’s apartment with an armful of groceries – including a box of her favorite cookies. His worried mother is in no mood for sweets. She tells her son the Veterans Hospital just called and said he missed yet another appointment. As Karl puts away the groceries, he tells his mother the doctors took their best shot, but blew it. He doesn’t need their help anymore! Besides, after tonight, he will have everything he needs in life.
Karl wanders into his bedroom. Two decorative themes stand out in this room: lots of guns, and lots of pictures of the Dazzler. While whistling a merry tune, he proceeds to his closet to pick out an outfit for the concert and, much to his dismay, notices his old military uniform hanging in his closet. “Maaa!” he shouts. He storms into the kitchen with the newly pressed military garb in his hand. “Why do you keep doing this to me? I never want to see this lousy uniform again!” His intimidated mother tells him she did it because he looks so handsome in his uniform. Enraged, Karl throws the uniform in her face, telling her he never wants to be reminded of the war again. She defends herself, but he turns his back on her and walks to the door. “Don’t forget who takes care of you, old lady! You’d starve without me,” he says. “Watch your step – or maybe I’ll walk out on you like dad did!”
That night, at a Soho night club, the very air in the venue throbs to the beat of Dazzler’s music. The captivated crowd watches her accompanying lightshow without realizing its source is Alison herself. After all, no one knows she is a mutant. After closing her set with a cover of “Psycho Killer”, Dazzler thanks the crowd, reminds them she plans on returning the next night and heads to her changing room. Karl, her stalker, tries to follow her backstage. The venue’s security guards stop him at the door. Karl explains to the bouncer that he sent roses in advance; Dazzler is expecting to see him! The bouncer asks Dazzler’s manager Lance if he knows anything about this. Lance, sizing up Dazzler’s secret admirer, begrudgingly admits the man has permission to go backstage. He makes a point of mentioning that Alison is new at having fans, though. The bouncer steps aside and lets Karl through, but reminds him to be cool – or else. Karl ignores him. You’re on my list, creep, he grumbles as he walks to Dazzler’s dressing room.
Karl raps on the door and asks for Dazzler. At first, she has no idea who he is, but after he introduces himself, Dazzler greets him with enthusiasm. Karl asks if he can take her to dinner sometime. Dazzler accepts. She asks for five minutes to change into her street clothes. She knows Lance will hate her for accepting this stranger’s offer, but chalks it up to asserting her independence.
A few minutes later, Dazzler, wearing her hair down and dressed in a pink dress, meets Karl Fredericks in the hallway. She asks where they are getting dinner. Honestly, Karl did not expect her to want to get dinner tonight, but after Dazzler tells him how hungry she feels, he tells her he knows of a great place nearby. The two acquaintances march out of the venue and hail a cab. Lance tries to stop Alison at the door so they can review some notes from the night’s performance, but Alison tells him it can wait. “Remember what I warned you about!” Lance says as she climbs into the cab with the total stranger. Karl ignores Lance’s comment, but inside, he glows with glee. The way he sees things, Dazzler is his now… and Lance Steele has lost her forever.
Alison and Karl share dinner together at a hip restaurant in the Tribeca district called Club 10’. Over the course of the meal, Karl spills his life story, which culminates with his father leaving the family because Karl decided to join the military. Apparently, Mr. Fredericks did not want his kid to become a soldier. Alison can totally relate; her father rejected her for a long time because of her career path. When Alison gets to the point in the story about her father’s eventual change of heart, however, the waiter interrupts with a bottle of champagne. That’s expensive stuff, Alison exclaims! She asks what Karl does for a living. He nervously tells her he deals in securities. “Hmm…sounds interesting, that’s really great,” she says. Lifting his glass, Karl tells Alison she is the great one and proposes a toast in honor of her career… on the surface, that is. Secretly, he toasts to their life together.
After their meal, Alison and Karl walk outside, arm in arm. Ali thanks him for the wonderful meal, even calling it the best one she has eaten in months. Karl asks what she wants to do next. She reminds him it is three o’clock in the morning. She has to get home; she has rehearsal early the next day. After thanking him for the wonderful evening and hailing a cab, Karl grabs onto her arm. “Everything’s going so well! You – can’t go,” he states. “I won’t let you go, ever!” He twirls her around and pulls her close to his body. Alison asks him to stop making a scene, but Karl has clearly moved beyond caring. “Don’t fight it! I love you and you love me, too!” he says. He tries to press their lips together. Alison gasps. She pushes him away, noting both his antiquated manner of speaking and his powerful grip. Karl persists. Only he can truly appreciate her, he says. Why waste her talents on creeps?
Fortunately for Alison, nearby, someone flips on a radio, providing her with an instant source of energy. She transduces it into light and dazzles her attacker. He falls to the ground, screaming for her to stop. Alison dashes toward a passing cab, hails it and climbs inside before Karl can grab her. As she slams the door in his face, she tells him she thought he was a neat guy at first, but clearly she was wrong. She tells him to stay out of her life as the cab pulls away. Karl watches longingly as the love of his life leaves him forever. Like the flip of a switch, his mood changes from solemn to vengeful. He calls Alison a witch and vows to make her his own. “I’ll get you yet, Dazzler!” he shouts.
The next morning, after catching a few hours of sleep, Alison wearily trudges into her manager’s office. Walking past the mall’s key shop, with her mind already having moved on from the previous night’s unpleasantness, she braces herself for the assuredly busy day Lance has planned. Unbeknownst to her, the day holds some unscheduled surprises – deadly surprises. Inside the key shop, Karl stares out the window at Alison as she walks by. His emotionless eyes don’t even flinch.
Dazzler steps into Osgood’s office thirty-nine floors up and freezes in shock. She looks around the room and sees total chaos: papers strewn about, furniture tipped over, possessions broken, etc. She asks Harry if he started signing hurricanes as clients. “A deliciously droll jest! But the dismal damage isn’t as bad as it might seem! Nothing is missing,” Osgood says, “except all my promotional pictures of you!” Alison’s jaw drops; why her? Osgood has no answer, but raises another curious point. Their thief managed to not trip any alarms or even break the locks on the door. Harry asks if anyone has been haphazardly handing out keys to the office.
The phone suddenly rings and Cassandra answers it. She hands the phone to Alison as per the caller’s request. Alison wonders who could possibly know she is already in Harry Osgood’s office. “Probably a fan magazine – like Jack and Jill!” Cassandra jokes. Alison asks her to cut it out; she just isn’t in the mood today. Unfortunately, the phone call only exacerbates Alison’s already foul demeanor. It’s her stalker Karl. He tells her to quiet down and let him speak. After apologizing for what he did to her manager’s office – an act he blames on his vicious temper – he asks her to give him one more chance to prove himself. Maybe they can still be together, he says!
Suddenly, the call goes dead. Karl turns and sees his manager has unplugged the phone from the wall. His angry boss tells him making personal calls on company time is a violation and grounds for termination – a course of action he finally decides to take with Karl. He tells him to never show his face around the key shop again. Karl, calling his boss a fat imbecile, blames him for ruining his chances with Alison. He vows to get even.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the line, Alison calls out Karl’s name after the line goes dead. He hung up, she mutters. Cassandra chalks this up to Alison’s inability to hang on to a man. Ignoring her cruel joke, Alison tells Osgood that it was Karl, her personal stalker, who ransacked the office. Osgood notices Alison trembling and asks her to take the day off; they can easily reschedule her rehearsal. As he walks her out the door, he asks for her stalker’s name so he can report the man to the police. Surprisingly, Alison refuses. Although she struggles to explain why, she believes if she can just sit down with her obsessed fan and talk, she can remedy the situation. Osgood shrugs. He asks her to call if she changes her mind.
Alison finally makes it home to her apartment hours later after a dreadfully long bus ride. Fighting exhaustion, she fits her keys in the door, anxiously awaiting the comfort of her bed. She opens the door and gasps. Someone has been in her apartment and left a box of roses on her couch. Clearly, Karl has broken into her apartment as well, once again without breaking the lock. She nervously approaches the box of flowers and spies a small, hand-written note nestled amongst the stems. Hoping it will provide some insight into her stalker’s madness Alison opens it up and reads it. “The Roses don’t excuse my behavior. But soon I’ll destroy the creep who hurt you the most – and that will prove I’m worthy of your love,” it reads. Alison drops the note to the ground and buries her face in her hands. Who could he possibly mean? Lance? Cassandra? As far as Alison can remember, no one has truly hurt her!
Dazzler realizes she must do something before someone gets hurt. Scrambling to find Karl’s note, she puts on her jacket and heads for the door, intent on going straight to the police. If only she had spoken to Karl and calmed him down when she had the chance, she thinks. Now, she has to get the authorities involved – as well as getting new locks for her door. At this thought, Alison freezes in her tracks. The locks are the answer! She realizes she actually knows Karl Fredericks and knows exactly where to find him.
Alison heads straight to the mall key shop. Unfortunately, she finds it empty, except for the bleeding, barely conscious body of the shop’s manager lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Dazzler screams and frantically runs into the mall, shouting for someone to call an ambulance. She returns to the manager and comforts him while they wait. He mutters a few harsh words about his jaded employee before passing out from blood loss. At least he is still alive, Dazzler notes. While she waits, she obtains Karl’s address from the office rolodex and bolts as soon as the paramedics arrive.
Later, while wandering the garbage-strewn streets of Karl’s neighborhood, Alison second-guesses her decision to flee the scene of the shooting so quickly. The cops probably put out an APB for her arrest, she thinks. However, she could not afford to waste any time. Only she can stop Karl. She just prays he is at home.
She knocks on the door. An older lady with curls in her hair answers. The old lady’s face lights up after Alison introduces herself. “Karl’s fiancée? I’m so happy to meet you!” the lady says. Even after the weirdness of the past day, this comment still surprises Alison. She enters the apartment. Karl’s mom tells her how happy she is her son has finally connected with someone. He hasn’t socialized much since his father died, she says. Confused, Alison confesses she thought Karl’s father left the family when Karl went to Vietnam. Miss Fredericks has no idea what she means; Karl never went to Vietnam. The army discharged him shortly after his father died, she says. She calls for Karl name, but hears no answer; Karl must have just left.
The two women decide to check and see if he is in his room. Alison enters and is stunned to see a shrine on the wall in her honor. She turns away from the creepy collage of photos, but her eyes fall on an equally disturbing site: Karl’s gun rack. Alison notices one of the guns has clearly been removed recently. Feeling faint, she rests on the corner of Karl’s bed. Someone she knows is going to die and she is powerless to stop it! Alison then notices a file folder resting on the mattress. She flips it open and, to her absolute horror, finds it filled with newspaper clippings about her father, Carter Blaire. Karl has even scrawled “MUST DIE!” across some of them in thick black letters. Realizing Karl has no idea she and her father made amends, Alison darts out the door. Miss Fredericks says goodbye and promises to let her son know she visited. “Thanks,” Alison says, secretly hoping Miss Fredericks doesn’t get the chance.
After a quick stop at her manager’s office, Alison cruises down the Long Island Express in Lance’s bright-red sports car, which she only barely convinced him to let her borrow. After creeping along amidst the frustratingly slow rush-hour traffic, Alison finally arrives at Carter Blaire’s courthouse. Although it took her a while to get there, she assumes she beat Karl, who probably had to take the bus. Alison parks the car on the curb in front of the steps, ignoring both the no-parking sign and the parking attendant and rushes up the stairs. As she runs down the hallway, she flips on her pocket radio in advance, fully expecting a confrontation. She enters the courtroom but finds it empty. Her father must be in his chambers, she thinks.
Sure enough, at that very moment, Judge Carter Blaire swings open the door to his private chambers and looks at his calendar. A stranger approaches him from behind. “Hello, creep,” the gun-wielding Karl Fredericks says. Carter spins around and gasps. How did this man enter his chamber, he asks? Karl tells him to shut up. “You’re accused of arrogance, and I find you guilty!” he shouts as he points the gun at Judge Blaire. At that moment, Dazzler bursts in the door with her radio blaring and unleashes a surge of blindingly bright light. Both Karl and Carter scream and avert their eyes. With both men dazzled, Alison fires a high-intensity laser at Karl’s handgun, obliterating it in his hand. As the guards arrive, Alison darts out the room’s side door, just before her father sees her, and assumes the guards will arrest Karl. Unfortunately, Karl leaps out Carter’s window before anyone can apprehend him.
Relieved, Alison returns to her illegally parked car. No one got hurt, and she hopes Karl can finally receive some professional help. Her heart sinks when she notices a parking ticket tucked under her windshield wiper. No way can she afford a ticket for fifty dollars, she says!
Meanwhile, the police question Carter Blaire about the attack. He tells them everything he recalls: there was a man with a gun, some music, and a flash of light. He even thinks he heard his daughter’s voice. Other than that, he has no idea what happened.
Unbeknownst to him, Karl Fredericks eavesdrops on this conversation from outside Carter’s window. He secretly curses Alison’s name, figuring she played him for a fool all along. Karl vows to get revenge.
That night, Dazzler plays another energetic show at the same venue. As she graces the audience with a cover of the Boomtown Rats song “I Don’t Like Mondays”, the embittered Karl Fredericks watches, stewing in his premeditated vengeance. He looks at the rest of the audience with scorn. What fools! Eating up her act like she was real! They don’t know it’s just an act, he thinks. She’s just using them to feed her bloated ego! I’ll soon put a stop to that! He walks over to the bouncer and asks for permission to go backstage. Remembering him from the night before, the bouncer gives him the go-ahead. Creep! The only reason he thinks I’m worth dealing with is because I know that witch, Karl grumbles as he heads down the hall. He lurks outside of Dazzler’s dressing room amid a mass of admiring fans. Right after finishing her set, Dazzler returns to her room, but not before taking the time to sign a few autographs. Karl finds fault even with this act. Look at her – soaking up the praise like a vampire. She doesn’t even notice me, he thinks. She’ll regret that!
Karl slips into her dressing room and waits on the inside of the door. As it swings open, he levels his gun, ready to fire – and ready to make all the creeps in the world pay for how they treated him. Dazzler is just about to enter when Lance catches her in the hallway and compliments her on the night’s performance. “Nice of you to say so, Lance,” Dazzler says. “The way you’ve been pushing me, I thought I’d never do well enough to suit you!” She turns back to the open door. Through the narrow band of empty space between the door and its jamb, however, Alison can see Karl waiting inside, his angry face clearly filled with malicious intent. She also sees the gun in his hand. Fortunately, Karl doesn’t see her. Dazzler realizes she has just one chance to stop this madness before Karl kills someone.
Dazzler throws her shoulder into the door, pinning Karl to the wall. In the confusion, Karl fires his gun, sending the bullet sailing through the door and just over the top of Dazzler’s head. She then strikes at his forearm and knocks the pistol out of his hand. Karl pushes off the wall and throws open the door, sending Dazzler soaring across the room. “I loved you and you spat on me,” he says, “and you’ll never do that again!” From across the room, Alison assesses her opponent. Karl is far stronger than she anticipated. Deciding she has had enough with random assailants, Alison decides to drop her nice-girl act and attack with everything she has. She swings her feet under Karl’s legs and knocks him to the ground. Regrettably, her acrobatic maneuver places him near his gun, as well as between her and her pocket radio.
Karl points the gun at Dazzler for the final time. She begs him not to kill her, but finds him beyond mercy. He tells her it is too late for begging; he isn’t a softie like all the other creeps. Alison stares at her attacker and realizes this is it – she is about to die. She backs away from him and bumps into the dressing room’s mirror. Deciding to give it one final shot, she strikes at the mirror with her hand, completely shattering it. The sound of the breaking glass provides her with the energy she needs. Dazzler thrusts her bloody hand forward and unleashes a beam of blinding light, which, thankfully, puts Karl down for the count.
All the shouting alerts Dazzler’s managers and bouncers to the attack. Later, while the police lead the deranged Karl Fredericks away, Lance asks Alison why she didn’t just scream; they would have come running immediately. She admits she thought she could handle this situation on her own. “Sorry,” she says. “Poor Karl.”
Karl wants none of her sympathy and continues shouting obscenities and curses as the police lead him away. He warns Dazzler to watch her back, because he promises to return and finish what he started. At a loss, Alison turns to Lance. “I couldn’t have put him further over the edge if I got behind him and shoved,” she says. Lance urges her not to blame herself; if Karl had not obsessed over her, he would have gone crazy obsessing over something else. Alison mustn’t blame herself. However, he advises her to be a bit more selective about the company she keeps. “Is – is that the way it’s going to be from now on?” she asks. “Watching every step, looking over my shoulder at everyone? Is it?”
Taking her in his arms, Lance tells Alison there are no easy answers to her questions. She’ll just have to figure it out as she goes.