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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
For the one I Love
Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde is no stranger to commitment. A member of the X-Men’s extended family, and a founder of their European counterpart, Excalibur, she is entrusted with responsibilities most people her age won’t know till they have their own families, if ever. While her peers will likely graduate college, marry their sweethearts and raise their requisite 2.2 children, Kitty will likely be championing the cause of mutants everywhere, fighting to protect a planet that hates and fears them - side by side with the people whose lives she holds dearer than her own. Including Lockheed the dragon, whom she is currently searching for as she phases into one of the tunnels at the sprawling Muir Island genetic research center.
‘Darn it dragon, where are you?’ Kitty calls out to her dragon who has been missing for some time now. Kitty thinks that she has searched the dormitory, the labs and even the kitchen fridge, but there is still no sign of him! Unaware that dozens of pairs of yellow eyes are watching her from the shadows, Kitty notices some burn marks on the side of the tunnel and supposes that Lockheed did them, but wonders why, as there is no discernable pattern, the blasts are random - almost as if he was strafing on all sides Kitty decides.
Suddenly, Kitty’s lamp cuts out. ‘Are you kidding? Some wonder if “alien technology” this is!’ she mutters as she tries to fix it, while exclaiming ‘Holographic imagers in the Danger Room, universe hopping star gates. Even part of our mutant-detector, Cerebro - all benefits of Shi’ar science - but when it comes to common flashlight batteries?’ Suddenly, ‘Perhaps I can be of service?’ a voice asks, as someone approaches Kitty from behind and puts their hand on her shoulder.
Kitty screams, and spins around, only to see Douglock, and asks him what he is doing down here sneaking around like that. The techno-organic member of Excalibur smiles as he tells Kitty that Moira mentioned she was down here, and explains that Moira pretty much kicked him out of her lab so she could prepare the next phase of her Legacy Virus research, so he figured that he would give her a hand - if that’s how humans phrase it, “cool”. Kitty frowns and tells Douglock that if he wants to help her, that is fine, but that it is not “cool” to sneak up on someone when they are obviously totally concentrating on something else. ‘Especially when that someone has studied ninjitsu with the likes of Wolverine!’ Kitty boasts.
Kitty warns Douglock that if she had reacted on instinct alone, then he would be in traction by now. Douglock just smiles and replies ‘Then I take it you are handling your stress better than is expected…no?’ Kitty looks away and sighs. ‘I wish’ she replies, before revealing that she is worried sick, as she has not seen Lockheed in weeks. Kitty explains that she thought Douglock might be down here, as she knows how much he loves dark places, but that she cannot find him anywhere.
Douglock fixes Kitty’s lamp and exclaims that they should flush him out of the darkness. Kitty looks around at the re-lit tunnel as Douglock calls Lockheed Kitty’s pet and remarks that he sure means a lot to her, more than almost anyone. Kitty replies that Lockheed is not a “pet”, and remarks that their relationship is so much more than that. Kitty explains to Douglock that Lockheed is a confidant when she has got a secret to hide, and a partner-in-crime when she is feeling mischievous, and of course a shoulder to cry on when she is feeling blue. ‘He’s my best bud!’ she exclaims.
Douglock asks if this is what humans do when something - someone - they care deeply about leaves them, ‘You go after them, right?’ Kitty replies that of course you do, as that is what you do for the ones you love, before remarking that Douglock is really trying to tackle some serious human emotion issues, and exclaims that she is impressed, as she knows he has trying to figure out human behavior and all, before asking him why the sudden interest in human emotions, ‘Unless…you like someone!’ Kitty exclaims, before smiling and turning to Douglock, asks him who he likes, ‘Come on, fess up!’ she tells him.
‘No one!’ Douglock replies, claiming that he was merely trying to correlate Kitty’s obsessive behavior with feelings for her girlfriend - ‘I…I mean you “best friend”!’ Douglock stammers. Kitty tells Douglock that he is ‘So busted’ and remarks that he has got a crush on someone, and that if her women’s intuition serves her as well as it has all these years, then she bets she knows who it is. Douglock replies that if he does have a “crush”, is it such a bad thing? Walking down the tunnel, Kitty replies ‘Not at all’ and tells Douglock that as a matter of fact, she thinks this certain someone feels the same way, even if that someone has not admitted it to themselves yet.
Douglock is surprised, and asks Kitty why she thinks so. Kitty replies that it is a girl thing and tells Douglock that he wouldn’t understand, so should just roll with it. Douglock pauses before exclaiming that he has got to run. Kitty asks him where he is going, to which Douglock exclaims that he has got a plane to catch, as he is going to New York! Kitty tells Douglock to send her love to Wolfsbane and the rest of “the old gang”, before phasing up out of the tunnel and thinking to herself that Douglock is sweet, and wishes that her git of a boyfriend Pete Wisdom would rush home to see her again. Kitty tells herself to keep wishing, as she is no Cinderella, and Wisdom is certainly no Prince Charming! Kitty admits that her and Pete’s love is not a “story book romance”, but that she would have thought he would have called her from Germany, before wondering what happens if he doesn’t call her - or if there is someone else in his life. ‘Naaahh, he wouldn’t…would he?’ she asks herself.
However, in Germany, Pete is indeed involved with someone else, a woman called Sari St. Hubbins, and he is currently her prisoner. Chained to a pillar inside a museum and with neural inhibitor on his neck, Wisdom asks St. Hubbins what is going on, and remarks that he cannot believe she is mixed up with Black Air, reminding her that when they were together, she hated Black Air. St. Hubbins agrees, before declaring that she hates Pete more. She smiles and reveals that seeing as how Black Air is giving her all the gear she needs to get her revenge on him, like the neural inhibitor, she is letting bygones be bygones and getting on with it.
St. Hubbins tells Wisdom that seeing him bound like that sure brings back memories, and strokes his face, to which an angry Pete tells her to get her paws off him. ‘Why, Peter - I thought you liked being tied up!’ St. Hubbins exclaims, before asking him if he is ashamed of their sordid past now that he is seeing a “pimple-faced colonist”. Wisdom just replies that, as usual, St. Hubbins is pushing all the wrong buttons. ‘Oh, I see. The poor girl’ Sari replies, remarking that Kitty must have no idea what a two-faced creep she is dating. ‘Then again, she’s got no clue what she’s about to lose either’, St. Hubbins adds.
Wisdom tells St. Hubbins to cut to the chase and reminds her that idle threats do not scare him. ‘I don’t make “idle threats”!’ St. Hubbins screams as she punches Wisdom in the face, before declaring that she will tell him the truth, that it is karmic payback, that all of Wisdom’s past betrayals are catching up with him. St. Hubbins tells Wisdom that for “selling her down the river” all those years ago, she gets the privilege of killing him herself. St. Hubbins then informs Wisdom that for resigning his post as an intelligence agent and what he and his “yank tart” did at Dream Nails, Black Air is now attacking all of his mates in Excalibur!
St. Hubbins boasts that a suicide bomber took out Colossus and Meggan, and she remarks that Nightcrawler is on the way to meet his maker, ‘Lord only knows where’. She grins that rumor has it, Black Air has dreamed up something especially nasty for his precious Shadowcat. Wisdom tells St. Hubbins that it is funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same, ‘You’re still as delusional as ever!’ he exclaims, while thinking to himself that he has to get Sari all riled up, as she is about to make a mistake sooner or later, and when she does, perhaps she will not notice what he is “cooking” behind his back.
Wisdom knows that this inhibitor collar St. Hubbins has him wearing was only designed to keep the most violent of mutants under wraps, preventing the nervous system from sending out the more powerful signals that activate one’s powers, as it works perfectly with the real aggressive types that think raw power can overload the collar’s microcircuits. Wisdom returns to jibing St. Hubbins, by telling her ‘Only a bird as crackers as you would hold a grudge for this long, sunshine!’ St. Hubbins points a weapon towards Wisdom and tells Wisdom that a girl has to hold onto to something while she is wasting away in a government lock-up. ‘Believe me, it’s not your ugly mug that got me through!’ she remarks. ‘Oh? Do tell’ Wisdom replies, when suddenly a small hot knife becomes ignited behind the pillar where his hands are tied.
Wisdom thinks to himself that it seems subtlety is still lost on these inhibitors, while St. Hubbins holds the gun to his head and exclaims that day after day she would dream of the moment when she would step up to Wisdom, piece in hand, and put him down like the mangy dog that he is. St. Hubbins remarks that she supposes what they say is true: “Good things do come to those who wait”. Wisdom grins as he thinks to himself ‘Girl, you don’t know the half of it!’
Meanwhile, back on Muir Island, a lone trawler braves an unseasonably harsh storm, ferrying a unique pair of passengers to the tiny land mass of Scotland’s inhospitable Northern Coast. Meggan holds onto a stuffed dragon and wears a dragon-shaped cap as she tells Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin that it is wonderful to be back home. Colossus agrees, ‘Especially after all that craziness in Paris!’ he remarks, before telling Meggan that even though he has only been here a short time, he is very much getting used to calling Muir Island “home”.
Colossus helps Meggan from the boat to the dock as the rain beats down on them, while Piotr remarks that in many ways, Muir Island reminds him of his native Siberia, and Excalibur, as the X-Men once were, is as much a family to him now as his own ever was. Meggan tells Colossus that she hopes the rest of the “family” got home safely and that Black Air didn’t get them. Colossus agrees, before pointing out that all seems quiet enough here, when suddenly, ‘Hold that boat!’ Douglock shouts as he rushes along the dock. ‘You were saying…?’ Meggan whispers jokingly to Colossus.
Douglock calls out to his teammates, telling them that he has got to get to the airport tonight, but that no other ships are willing to dock here until this storm blows over, so that boat that dropped them off is his last chance to get off this island. ‘Somebody, anybody, stop that ship!’ Douglock cries. Colossus shifts into his steel form, telling Douglock that there is no need to panic, and grabs a thick rope that is hanging off the side of the boat which is several feet out on the water, and uses his incredible strength to pull it back into the dock.
Inside the small boat, one of the crewmen informs the Captain that there is a man holding onto the boat, to which the Captain, with an exasperated look on his face replies ‘Let me guess - a big steely man, aye?’ ‘Aye, sir!’ the crew member replies. ‘Not again!’ the Captain mutters, before telling his crew to cut the engines and wait until he lets do. ‘Bleedin’ super heroes!’
Colossus informs Douglock that he has detained the boat like he asked, before asking Douglock where exactly he is so desperate to go. Douglock replies that, to be perfectly honest, he would rather not say. ‘It’s kinda personal!’ he remarks as he boards the boat, before turning and waving goodbye as Colossus lets the boat go.
Colossus turns to Meggan and asks her what she thinks that was all about. Meggan replies that she isn’t sure, but remarks that the empathetic resonances she sensed emanating from Douglock were unusually strong, that something very powerful is going on inside him - something which she fears Douglock may now yet be prepared for. Colossus tells Meggan that she makes it sound like something terrible is about to happen to Douglock, to which Meggan replies that she knows, and prays she is wrong, before telling Colossus that she is off now. Colossus smiles and asks Meggan where she is flying away to, to which Meggan replies that she is going to the hangar, to see something very special to her.
Moments later, after flying though the rain, Meggan arrives at the hangar and recalls that Piotr was so nervous to do this for her when she asked, and remembers what he said to her: “After all I’ve been through, I am not sure the heart of an artist still beats within this armored chest”. ‘Oh, what a big silly he is!’ Meggan exclaims, before thinking that the moment Piotr got beyond his insecurities, putting all the sins of the past behind him, and finally laying brush to canvas, that artists heart of his bled right out onto the canvas as if his very life depended on it!
Inside the hangar, Meggan hovers before a large mural painting of her. ’Wow. I’m sure glad I could help Piotr open himself up like that again’ Meggan thinks to herself, adding that Colossus has given her such a wonderful gift, and not just this beautiful painting, but an invaluable gift of friendship during one of the loneliest times of her life. Meggan wishes that she knew how much longer she was going to be alone for, before smiling and declaring that she misses Brian so much. ’Wherever you are, my beloved Captain Britain, please come home soon, I’m waiting for you. The one I love…’.
Meanwhile, in the lab of world renowned geneticist, the Nobel Prize winning Dr. Moira MacTaggert. This lab has, for far too long, seen the good Doctor beleaguered by the puzzling viral problem posed by the seemingly incurable Legacy Virus. This is a puzzle that Moira, the sole non-mutant afflicted by the fatal mutant-specific disease, is determined to solve - even if it means cutting herself off from the people she loves most. Napping across her desk, Moira prays that no one will begrudge her these few restful moments. But she prays, and sleeps, in vain, as her computer announces that she has mail.
Sitting up, Moira mutters something half-asleep, before turning to her computer and noting that the email is not for her, but Shadowcat. Moira remarks that this ISDN is password-protected and wonders who could have bypassed her security system and hacked into it - ‘Oh…them…!’ she exclaims as she looks at the S.H.I.E.L.D. logos on the mail.
While Moira fumbles for the comm-system above, below,  Kitty’s search for her little lost dragon continues without incident, until suddenly, there is a giggle heard in the darkness. Kitty turns her flashlight, but sees nothing, though she calls out to Lockheed, asking him if he is there, while thinking that she swears she heard some kind of giggle. The dozens of pairs of eyes in the darkness giggle again, and Kitty turns, hearing it again. Assuming it to be Lockheed, she tells him to quit messing around and come out of the shadows. ‘Oooh! When I get my hands on that naughty dragon!’ Kitty thinks to herself, before calling to him, promising not to punish him for hiding from her all these weeks.
The giggling is heard again, louder this time, but still Kitty doesn’t see anyone, turning her light too late. Kitty wonders why it sounds like there is an echo down here, like there is something else down here with her. Kitty remarks that this reminds her of the night she got chased all over the X-Mansion and nearly killed by the N’Gari demon. ‘Ick! Now I’m starting to creep myself out!’ she exclaims, before telling herself that perhaps her imagination - and ears - are playing tricks on her, before wondering if Lockheed is not down here, then where in the world is he?
Suddenly, Moira’s voice is heard over the inter-comm, telling Kitty to get up to the main part of the complex, as something important has come up. Kitty replies that she will be up in a minute, as she still hasn’t found Lockheed. ‘Very, very important!’ Moira snaps back through the inter-comm, ‘We’re talking national security crisis here!’ she exclaims. ‘Oh. I see. I’ll phase right up!’ Kitty calls back as she becomes intangible and floats up through the floor boards, while a forlorn Lockheed, held prisoner by several small beings in the darkness watches her go.
‘Aww, don’t pretty-Kitty love ya no more?’ one of the creatures exclaims, before telling Lockheed that he is theirs now, and warning him to come along quietly and he won’t get hurt. ‘Much!’ another of the creatures exclaims. Suddenly, Lockheed opens his mouth and roars, unleashing a burst of flame upon his captors, before taking flight. ‘You can run dragon, but ya can never hide from all of us!’ one of the creatures exclaims. ‘Hear that, punk?’ another calls out. ‘NEVER!’
Back in Germany, St. Hubbins turns from Pete and tells him that this is goodbye, adding ‘Good riddance too, if you ask me’. Wisdom calls out that he never betrayed her, and that it is too bad she could not see that, while his small hot knife has nearly cut through the ropes. St. Hubbins replies that what she “saw” was him throwing everything they had away without a second thought for her.
(Shown with flashback illustrations)
St. Hubbins exclaims that she remembers a couple with a hopeful future together, a couple so very much in love. ‘I remember a young man full of promise - the pride of MI-6 - ascending the ranks of the intelligence community like a spitfire!’ St. Hubbins exclaims that this man, Wisdom, promised the her that his work would never get in the way of the happiness. ‘Swore this up and down, he did’, and like a fool, she bought it - hook, line and sinker. St. Hubbins remarks that when everything seemed “wine and roses”, that same upstanding man she trusted, she loved, turned on her and handed her over to his bosses like an obedient little lapdog.
(Present)
‘And for what?’ St. Hubbins asks, ‘A minor assassination attempt!’ she exclaims, answering her own question. St. Hubbins reminds Wisdom that he knew what she did for a living, that she was a contract killer, and was good, until he ruined her career. ‘Minor? MINOR?’ Wisdom shouts, ‘You looney bird - you tried to assassinate Queen Elizabeth! What did you expect me to do? Ley you blow her royal head off?’ Wisdom asks, before telling St. Hubbins that he did it because he loved her, because he thought she would get well in rehab. While Wisdom’s hot knife has almost cut through his shackles, St. Hubbins shoves her gun in Wisdom’s mouth as he remarks that he can see she is still ill. ‘The heck I am!’ St. Hubbins snaps back.
St. Hubbins boasts that she is in the drivers seat, back on the road again, and tells Wisdom that she is going to ride it all the way till he is nothing but a stain in the pavement beneath her spinning wheels. Suddenly, St. Hubbins notices smoke coming from behind Wisdom, but before she can react, Wisdom kicks her hard in the face, ‘Mind the street signs, ducky, ya might miss the next exit back to the nuthouse!’ he exclaims. ‘You’re free!’ St. Hubbins mutters. ‘As the proverbial bird!’ Wisdom replies as his shackles crumble to the ground. ‘So much for your neural inhibitor’ Wisdom declares as he shatters it, before giving St. Hubbins some advice from one agent to the next - ‘Never try to wow the kid who’s met the “man behind the curtain”. Little bugger will ruin your show every time - especially when it comes to that “dog and pony” act, Black Air’.
Wisdom tells St. Hubbins the oldest tricks in the book are Black Air’s stock and trade, but when it comes to him, he has been there, done that. ‘Shows over!’ Wisdom shouts as he unleashes numerous hot knives. St. Hubbins fires several blasts from her gun telling Wisdom that she doesn’t need any gear to take him down, before asking him if he has forgotten that she was the best there is at what she does before he threw her away like some broken toy. Wisdom drops to the ground, dodging the blasts, before exclaiming ‘”Best there is…?” Hey, ain’t that a trademark infringement or something?’
Wisdom thinks that he might joke himself into an early grave if he doesn’t stay a step ahead of St Hubbins’ 9mm’s, as she is a sharper shot than ever. ‘But then again…so am I!’ Wisdom exclaims before telling St. Hubbins to “Eat hot knives” and blasts her weapon right out of her hand. ‘Stab your eyes Wisdom! And your bloody mutie power!’ St. Hubbins shouts. Wisdom tells St. Hubbins that she has thrown herself in with the wrong lot, as once she is done with him, Black Air will just cut her loose, ‘And guess who their next target will be?’ he warns her. St. Hubbins ignores Wisdom’s warning, instead she tells him that he has to catch her to kill her, but that he cannot catch what he cannot see, and swings her legs around hard so that she trips him up.
Wisdom mutters that he hates playing “hiding in plain sight” before deciding that whoever taught St. Hubbins that disappearing act sure knew camouflage technique, and wonders who it was, before catching a glimpse of St. Hubbins in front of him, he manages to grab her ankle and forces her to the ground. ’Running off on me, Sari? And just when it was starting to seem like old times! Oh well’. Wisdom remarks, before telling Sari that she has come to a dead end in the road and that it is time to step away from the car. Wisdom suggests to St. Hubbins that she takes this chance to get out whatever is eating her up inside like a normal human being, to take advantage of it while he is all ears.
There is silence, so Pete asks again if there is something Sari wants to say to him. St. Hubbins just spits in Wisdom’s eye and tells him to ’Go scratch ya bloody prat!’ Furious, Wisdom raises a hand to slap Sari across the face, ‘Why I oughtta -’ he exclaims, before exclaiming that he wont, and tells St. Hubbins that he wants her back in London, keeping her bosses in Black Air away from his friends in Excalibur, warning her that if any of his teammates go down, then Black Air will be next. Wisdom takes a cigarette from his pocket and strikes it across Sari’s head, telling her that he knows he hurt her all those years ago, but that he did it for the girl he loved. Walking away, Pete remarks that he sorry, but not that sorry.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Missionaries
Above Cape Wraith, the northernmost coast of Scotland…flies a man on a mission! The mission though, is nether a top secret, classified mission, nor one upon which the fate of humanity depends. His name is Sean Cassidy a.k.a. Banshee, and although he has seen plenty of those kinds of missions in his career, first as an Interpol agent, then as a member of the outlaw band of mutant heroes known as the X-Men. On this particular night, Banshee has undertaken the kind of mission by which the truest heroes are judged. A mission of mercy.
Flying high above the icy waters in the pouring rain, Banshee was bound for his new home at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters in Snow Valley, Massachusetts. A suitcase full of fond memories and a weekend well-spent with the woman he loves by his side…Banshee left the world-renowned genetic research center at Muir Island, relaxed, rejuvenated, and ready to resume his role as mentor to Generation X, the next generation of mutants on the other side of the Atlantic. But that was before the call.
‘Faster, man! Faster!’ Sean tells himself. ‘Times a wastin’!’ His sonic scream resonates through the stormy zone as he screeches his way back to Muir Island, thinking to himself that he has never heard Wolfsbane so frightened, so absolutely terrified in all his life, and recalls that he could hardly get Rahne to calm down and explain what was happening, and even then he is still not quite sure what she meant.
Down on the water, a small boat is tossed around by the waves, and a crewman covers his ears while calling out to his captain, asking what that noise is, exclaiming that it isn’t human. ‘Sure it ain’t!’ the captain replies as he thrusts an arm in the air angrily, ‘It’s another one of them bleeding super heroes! One of those muties no doubt!’
Banshee approaches the dock and recalls how Wolfsbane kept repeating “Moira’s killing herself” over and over. ‘But how?’ Sean wonders - not to mention why. Down on the dock, Rahne “Wolfsbane” Sinclair clasps her hands together as she sees Banshee and exclaims that he made it, while Banshee’s former fellow X-Man, Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin greets his friend, pointing out that it has been a long time since they have seen each other. Banshee greets them and asks if one of them would please explain to him what is going on around here.
Rahne rushes over and hugs Banshee when he lands, and teary-eyed, she exclaims that she is so glad he is here, as he has got to talk Lady Moira out of this. ‘Its…suicide!’ she exclaims. Sean tells Rahne to take it easy, that no one is going to do anything stupid like that, not so long as they are here. ’Right, Rasputin?’ he asks Colossus. Colossus shifts into his metal form and shakes Banshee’s hand as he agrees. ’Ouch! Still got that iron grip, eh, Colossus?’ Sean jokes. Piotr laughs, before asking Banshee how he is, and if his powers are holding up as well. ’Providing a fine example for your students?’ he asks.
Banshee replies that, considering what his charges - Jubilee, M, Husk, Synch, Chamber and Skin - have just lived through, it is hard to tell if he and the White Queen are making a difference in their lives, explaining that he and Emma tried to hide their students from the black-guard Bastion’s “Zero Tolerance”, but that it was only a matter of time before their cover was blown.
(Shown with flashback illustrations)
Banshee reveals that Bastion kidnapped Jubilee, and no one knows what kind of atrocities he subjected her to, but somehow she managed to escape, while the rest of the kids fled West to Los Angeles - but that didn’t stop the Prime Sentinels from hunting them clear across the country. Banshee exclaims that he is relieved they all survived relatively intact, before remarking that those few days he spent fretting over his charges really reminded him of how important their extended family is - not just the world, when times are tough for homo sapiens and homo superior, but to each other - like his recent weekend with Moira.
(Present)
The rain still continues to beat down, and a disheveled Sean remarks that he thought his and Moira’s little picnic had knocked a modicum of sense into her head, that she finally understood it is okay to get away from the lab, away from her Legacy Virus research so that her mind could heal, even though her body cannot. Colossus tells Banshee that it was a valiant attempt, albeit futile, pointing out that he, of all people, should know how Moira gets. ‘Obsessive. Fanatical. Driven’. Rahne then adds ‘To the edge of a deep, dark hole from which there is no return, we fear’, before Colossus remarks that if there is anyone in the world who can bring Moira back from that brink…’It’s the man she loves!’ Rahne concludes as the trio head towards the research center.
Deep within the halls of Excalibur’s home and headquarters, Douglock, the techno-organic being, sits slumped in a corridor, where doors closed hours ago - ten hours to be precise, and counting. Six hundred minutes, more precisely, and counting - thirty-six thousand seconds, still even more precisely, and counting. To an impatient human, ten hours, no matter how it is sliced, can seem like a mighty long time. But to a being whose temporal sensors are exponentially more acute than even the finest Swiss chronographs…ten hours is an eternity.
Douglock’s waiting is soon interrupted by the return of Wolfsbane, Colossus and Banshee. Rahne asks her friend how the vigil is going. ‘Slowly and without incident’ Douglock replies, remarking that Dr. MacTaggert is deadly serious about going through with this. ‘Going through with what?’ Banshee asks, remarking that they are all sounding like Moira has just signed her last will and testament. Rahne hangs her head as she tells Banshee that to be precise, Moira has done just that. Rahne explains that Moira has decided the next step for her to take to fight that sickness which is eating her up inside, the best way to study the progression of her infection - is to place herself under quarantine - Indefinitely. ‘Saints preserve me…’ Sean whispers.
Behind the door, sits a woman with a mission. Sitting at a sprawling computer system, her fingers dance across the keys of the complex network with the deftness of a concert pianist. The inside of this lab has been the whole of her world every day for what seems like countless months. But so much more than just the future of mutant kind hangs in the balance now - so much more than even her own life…for Nobel-prize winning Dr. Moira MacTaggert is on a mission of hope. ‘Life support…? Check. Food supplies…? Check. Temporary vaccines…? Check’ Moira announces. The good Doctor also knows that, if she fails to find a cure for the deadly Legacy Virus…all humanity may likely be doomed.
Moira smiles as she looks at a photograph of Sean while remarking that everything checks out, so all that is left to do is seal the door and get on with it. She admits that she is going to miss everyone, and is therefore glad that she and Sean had one last moment together. ‘And who said it has to be the last?’ Banshee exclaims as he enters the lab. ‘Who the bloody - Sean!’ Moira exclaims with shock as she puts on her quarantine suit. Sean approaches Moira and tells her that he thinks she is making a big mistake. Wide-eyed, Moira asks Sean what he is talking about, remarking that it is just another day of research for her.
‘You call a bloody quarantine “research?”!’ Sean exclaims, before asking Moira to listen to reason for once. ‘You don’t have to do this!’ he tells her. Moira holds out an arm to keep Sean at bay as she replies ‘But don’t you understand, Sean? I do have to!’ Banshee looks at a screen which depicts images of other Legacy Virus victims and asks Moira why she has to do this alone, suggesting that the Beast could help her.
Moira adjusts her equipment before remarking that Meggan drew her attention to this when she called the Legacy Virus a “designer gene”, adding that Meggan’s insight lead her to discover a crucial detail about the virus’ nature, so if she doesn’t do something about it immediately. ‘May God have mercy on all our souls…the human race is going to be extinct!’ Moira shouts. Moira tells Sean to look at the following people - all victims of the Legacy Virus - some have died, some are living with the sickness, and while there seems to be no over correlation from one victim to the next, she believes that they all share one very common - and terrifying threat.
Moira asks what link could exist between Mastermind, an illusionist…Infectia, a biohazardist…Illyana, a teleporter…Revanche, a telepath…Multiple Man, a geneto-multiplier…Pyro, a pyrotechnic…Maverick, a kinetic energy absorber…Chris Bradley, an electro-generator… ‘And last but not least, me - a non-mutant host for a mutant-specific disease? None right? Wrong!’ Moira exclaims that this seemingly random dispersal proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the “natural” pattern of the Legacy Virus is one of chaos - a genetic anarchy fomented by the ultimate “chaos-bringer”…Stryfe!
Banshee asks Moira what it is she is saying - that Stryfe was an “equal opportunity executioner?” that there is nether reason nor rhyme to this, that it is just dumb luck that certain people got sick while others haven’t - and that anyone, at any time, could be infected too? ‘Homo sapiens or homo superior?’ Moira hangs her head as she replies ‘Aye. Legacy’s as unpredictable as it is airborne, Sean’. Moira goes on to say that she has a bad feeling that any moment now, people - regardless of their genetic predisposition - are going to start falling like dominoes, which is why she has got to do something to give them a fighting chance at life. ‘To keep their hope alive!’
‘But at the risk of your own?’ Sean asks. ‘Comes with the territory - you know that!’ Moira replies as she places a hand on Sean’s face. ‘Aye, it’s just…no. You’re right’ he remarks. ‘As always’ Moira exclaims taking her seat again, while Sean thinks to himself that he should tell Moira he is worried sick. That he should tell Moira she is as stubborn as old Ahab himself, chasing a “white whale” that could be the death of her!’ Walking back towards the entrance to the lab, Sean thinks that, better yet, he could not tell Moira anything. Support her decision and encourage her to do what she must - ‘And pray that her daughter ever forgives you!’
Back outside the lab, the tension between Wolfsbane and Douglock is palpable. She feels like she is losing her heart, while he wants to give his to her. ‘Rahne…about what happened last week…’ Douglock begins, until Rahne, who is pacing about interrupts, telling him that now is not the time. But Douglock asks Rahne to let him finish, remarking that she knows how much he values their friendship, and pointing out that she has been so sweet and kind to him ever since they met, which he is eternally grateful for.
Rahne and Douglock get close, and Douglock announces that his feelings for her are much stronger, much deeper, than just the human definition of friendship. ‘You might call it a “Phalanx thing”, we are a collective consciousness’ Douglock remarks, before explaining that when separated from the collective for extended periods of time, it is their bio-technological imperative to reach out to someone special so that they might form a gestalt…a link. ‘Without such a connection we are lost. I am lost’.
Douglock informs Rahne that, as she is his closest friend on this planet, he would like her to be that link - someday, when she is ready. Rahne tells Douglock that he is so sweet, when suddenly, with a silence that speaks louder than words, Banshee emerges from the lab…and all the walls Rahne erected to dam the inevitable tide of tragedy she feared would wash over her…crumble…as she asks Sean if he got Moira to change her mind. ‘Didn’t you?’ Banshee puts a hand on Rahne’s shoulder and tells her that they need to talk, and begins to lead her down the corridor away from the lab, with Douglock following, thinking to himself that it kills him to see Rahne like this, that he wants to reach out, to join with her, so that his inner strength might revitalize her and eradicate her pain. ‘After all, that’s what my people do in times of internal systems crisis…alas, that is not the way of the humans. They must find other ways to mend their wounds. Somehow - some way - I will help men Rahne’s’.
Meanwhile, Pete Wisdom is a man who hates missions. Missions remind him of Black Air. Black Air reminds him of his past. A past that has, despite his best efforts, come back to haunt him and his newfound associates with a vengeance. Most specifically, Excalibur’s leader - Nightcrawler. Wisdom taps away at Excalibur’s semi-functional mutant tracking system, Cerebro as he smokes a cigarette and searches for his missing colleague. ‘Come on you blasted machine, do what you’re built for!’ Wisdom exclaims with his thick accent. ‘Lock on to Wagner’s metagenetic signature…and find him!’
The Cerebro unit begins to scan, then suddenly shorts out. Wisdom yanks the cybernetic helmet off his head and tosses it in the air, ‘That’s it!’ he exclaims, declaring that he and Shadowcat, his girlfriend, are going to have words when she gets back here. ‘”Cerebro is so simple” she says!’ Pete mocks as he unleashes a hot knife from his finger. ‘”Any moron born with half a brain can learn how to use it” she says!’ he mocks again as his hot knife courses through the helmet, destroying it. ‘Stupid bloody computers’ Wisdom, grunts as he stomps his way out of the communications room. Pete does not like missions at all - especially not the kinds for which he is directly responsible. But with Pete out of the room, the computer lights up, as it has located a teleporter signature in Italy. And little does Wisdom realize, that his mission has just begun.
Elsewhere within the Muir Island Research Center, the powerful elemental Meggan sits alone in her room as she reads a letter she has received from her fiancée, Brian Braddock a.k.a. Captain Britain.
Dearest Meggan, I know it’s been a while since my last letter, and I’m awfully sorry, but things have taken a turn for the weird here in Darkmoor, and I’m afraid my little mission to “find myself” has yielded some rather surprising and unexpected results. Suffice to say, by the time I return to Excalibur, the Brian Braddock you first fell in love with shall be back in your arms…Captain Britain will ascend to his former glory, befitting a true protector of the realm…and we shall at last become the people we have tried so hard, for so long, to be...husband and wife.
From my heart to yours, Brian.
Meggan leaps into the air, and screams, ‘YAAAAYYY!’ as she holds the letter close to her heart. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door, Colossus enters, ‘Uh, Meggan…? I heard a scream! Is…er…everything all right?’ he asks. Meggan smiles as she replies that everything is just perfect, and sings ‘Brian’s coming home!’ before asking Colossus ‘Isn’t that just wonderful?’. Piotr agrees, and tells Meggan that he is very happy for her. ‘For both of you’ he adds. Meggan’s expression turns from glee to concern as her intuitive abilities detect that Colossus doesn’t sound so happy for her, and asks if something is wrong.
Colossus takes Meggan’s hand and pulls her down out of the air and replies that nothing is wrong…except that Dr. MacTaggert is about to begin her quarantine and she wanted them all to be there. ‘Oh, right. How insensitive of me!’ Meggan remarks, before walking alongside Colossus as they head for Moira’s lab, and Meggan thinks that Piotr is holding back, that something else is bothering him. ‘I can sense it…gosh, I hope it’s not what I think it is…’.
Meanwhile, in another comm-room, ‘She’s really gonna do it, huh? Too little, too late if you  ask me!’ the sultry White Queen exclaims to Banshee via holographic imagery. ‘Which I didn’t, Emma!’ Sean replies, remarking that he just called for a bit of emotional support. ‘It’s the least you can give me after all the malarkey you pulled the past few weeks!’ Sean adds. ‘Mistake number one, Sean my boy’ Emma replies. ‘You want my shoulder to cry on…? Expect a cold one’.
‘Begorrah, Frost - have you not a caring bone in your body!?’ Banshee asks. Emma smirks and tells Sean to relax, calling him “Mr. Hypersensitive”, she admits that whether he believes it or not, she does not want Moira locked in her lab anymore than he does. ‘I mean, someone has to play the “fall guy” when this plague starts spreading…ta ta!’ and with that, Emma is gone. ‘That insensitive…self-centered…GRRR!’ Sean thinks to himself, clenching his fists and wondering why he even bothers.
Back at the lab, Rahne enters, and calls out to her mother. Moira looks longingly towards Rahne from within her quarantine suit. They both begin to cry, then embrace each other closely. Rahne asks her mother to please not lock herself away like this, and asks if she cannot just wear the environ-suit out here instead. Moira replies that she wishes it were that simple, before exclaiming that Stryfe engineered the Legacy Virus to be the deadliest plague this world has ever seen, and adds that, for all they know, this suit she is now wearing is no protection against the virus’ constant mutations.
Moira adds that she needs to now examine the effects of this virus on someone totally isolated from anyone or anything. Moira exclaims that this is her life’s mission, the very reason she became a scientist in the first place - to solve the problems that no one else could…regardless of the cost. Moira smiles as she tells Rahne that she knows she is asking a lot, but that she wants her to be strong. ‘For me’. Still crying, Rahne replies that she will, and that she loves her. ‘And I you, Rahne. So much’ Moira replies.
Suddenly, Colossus enters, apologizing for the interruption. Moira and Rahne exit the lab to find Banshee, Meggan, Wisdom and Douglock. Wisdom tells Moira that she can still back out of this, to which Moira replies that she appreciates the sentiment, but that she cannot. ‘I’m going in!’ she declares, before hugging Wisdom, who whispers that he snuck a few kilos of real coffee into the freezer for her. ‘Drinking that swill you brew is bound to ruin your concentration!’ Wisdom remarks. Moira smiles and tells Pete that he is all heart, before turning to Meggan and asking her to tell that rich boyfriend of hers that when he gets back she wants a grant for her next research project. ‘He owes me for what he did to my medical transport!’ she exclaims. Meggan sniffs and replies that she will.
Douglock tells Moira that it has been an honor working with her, to which Moira hugs him and replies that the honor is all hers, as he is the best assistant a scientist could ask for. Moira turns to Colossus and hands him a disk, informing him that it is for Charles and remarking that she would be most grateful if he would give it to Charles - if anything goes wrong, ‘God forbid’. Colossus takes the disk and replies that he will deliver it personally.
‘So’. Moira remarks as she turns to Banshee and takes his hand. ‘So’. Banshee replies, before reminding Moira that there is no turning back once the door seals magnetically shut. ‘No one gets in or out until you’ve found a cure for that damnable disease…’. Moira thanks Sean for not trying to stop her. ‘Would it have done any good if I had?’ Sean asks. ‘Nope’ Moira replies. ‘Thought so’ Sean points out, before declaring ‘You’re the bravest woman I know, Moira MacTaggert’ and placing a kiss on the glass covering her face, before asking her to come back alive. ‘I will love. I promise…’ Moira replies as she waves goodbye from the lab entrance, the doors slowly closing as she enters.
A sobbing Rahne watches. Watches the woman who has been many things to her. ‘Mummy…NO!’ she cries. Moira has been a heroine who rescued her from certain death at the hands of a howling mob. A mother who loved and raised her as if she were her own. A missionary whose charity knew no bounds - even when the sole coin she could offer was her life. But that’s not a donation Wolfsbane is willing to accept, and she suddenly, in lupine form, leaps towards the closing lab doors. ‘Rahne?’ shouts Banshee, ‘Are you crazy lass? The door is on an automated timing sequence!’ But Wolfsbane isn’t interested. ‘Once it closes it can’t be opened - even from the inside!’ Sean adds, while Wisdom calls out for someone to grab her - but it’s too late, and the door slams closed.
A panic-stricken Douglock thinks that there is only one containment suit in there, so Rahne will constantly be exposed to the disease on a concentrated level. ‘NO!’ he shouts as his hands scramble across the door, thinking to himself that he must interface with the mechanism to stop the door - but it’s too late as the lock is in place, and a gutted Douglock slumps to the ground. ‘Too late…’.


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

[Assistant]
Death in Venice
Kurt Wagner knows the Reaper’s eyes. He knows…for once he stared deeply into them on a night such as this, many years ago. A night when - if not for the air of a single Samaritan - he would have become kin to Death itself…the victim of a bigoted bloodthirsty mob. ‘Our Father who are in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…’ the leader of Excalibur code-named Nightcrawler whispers in the darkness as blood trickles from his nose, mouth and various cuts on his face. Indeed, he knows the Reaper’s eyes. They are hollow…cold and blacker than darkest midnight. And just like this subterranean labyrinth where the former X-Man now finds himself trapped, the Reaper’s eyes are an impenetrable pitch from which neither light nor life dares hope to escape!
‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death, I will fear no evil…’ Kurt whispers as he clings to the side of the chamber, while thinking to himself that blending into the shadows is the only defensive option getting him through the verdammt “valley”, for as he doesn’t know where he is, it is too risky to teleport. ’Materializing inside a wall would put a serious damper on my weekend plans’ Kurt jokes silently to himself, deciding that it is best to stick to the darkness and the walls - though he prays that the creatures do not catch him first.
Suddenly, a chilling voice echoes through the chamber, as one of the apparent creatures warns Kurt, calling him “Earthling” that he can skitter the corridors all he wants, but must know that his only salvation…is death - and fires some sort of substance at Kurt, who leaps out of its way, thinking ’So much for plan “A”’ only to find himself stuck in some kind of gunk. The creature remarks that although Kurt is fleet and nimble, once ensnared, his dexterity is no protection from their gelatinet’s sting.  Kurt cries out in pain, before weakly asking the creatures what they want from him and why they are doing this. Three large purple and yellow creatures step into the light. ‘Who - who are you?’ the defenseless Kurt gasps. Yes, Kurt Wagner knows the Reaper’s eyes. They are hollow…cold…blacker than the void of space…and alien!
Meanwhile, at the Muir Island Genetic Research Center, off the coast of Northern Scotland…a place upon which the voracious eyes of Death have glared for far too long. Pete Wisdom knows the Reaper’s eyes. Violently ravenous they are. Insatiable. And the moment a man peers into them, he realizes not so much that Death comes to us all…but rather it is sometimes we who are its harbingers. Indeed, better believe Pete Wisdom knows the Reaper’s eyes. He is the reason why Black Air seeks revenge on his newfound friends. He is the reason why Nightcrawler has gone missing and is now presumed dead.
Although Wisdom is unaware that his teammate still lives, he feels the Reaper’s eyes as if they were his own. He sits slumped in his untidy quarters, lights another cigarette with his mutant power hot-knives, while a large half-drunk bottle of alcohol sits in his hands, and Wisdom thinks to himself ‘Had to go and grow yourself a conscience, didn’t ya?!’ He reminds himself that he was not born with a conscience, and nor did he learn it in “spook school”. Not until he joined up with this “heroes” lot. ‘Not until you met…Pryde’, he thinks, referring to his lover and teammate Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde.
Wisdom tosses his cigarette butt out the window and reaches for another, telling himself to face facts - that “little Yank” did something to him - something good. ‘Helped you reclaim your soul she did. Should be grateful!’ he tells himself, before deciding that the question is, what good has he ever done for her? ‘Better yet, what good have you done for anyone on this team - except nearly getting them all bloody killed!’ Angry, Wisdom screws up the empty cigarette packet and tosses it out the window while asking himself if he has to self-pity now. ‘Unbelievable what being a part of a family can to ya - even a dysfunctional one like this’.
Wisdom is about to take another sip of his drink when suddenly the cigarette packet somehow bounces back in through the open window and lands on his head. ‘Stupid wind’ Pete grunts as he tosses it out the window, when an instant later, it returns, smacking him on the head again. ‘What the sod…?’ Wisdom mutters, before getting up and lumbering over to the window, he shouts out ‘Who’s got a death wish?’ he calls out. But when he gets no response, he warns whoever is out there to quit throwing his rubbish back in here before he shoves his hot knives up their - ‘But Mr. Wisdom…don’t you know it’s rude to litter?’ exclaims the elemental Meggan as she flies up to the window and into Wisdom’s room, startling Wisdom and causing him to stumble back, spilling his drink.
Wisdom informs Meggan that she scared the “bejeebees” out of him, before asking her if she cannot use the door like normal people. ‘Oops’ Meggan whispers. ‘”Oops”? “OOOPS”?’ Wisdom mocks as he lies slumped on the floor. Meggan hovers above Peter before asking him if he was the last person using Cerebro to find a mutant’s bio-signature. ‘What of it?’ Wisdom replies. Meggan drops to the floor and starts walking out of Wisdom’s room as she remarks ‘Oh, no biggie. Just thought you’d like to know…it found one!’
Someone else who knows the Reaper’s eyes is Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin. To the former Siberian farm boy, they are they eyes of the dispassionate harvester, hacking away at people’s souls like fields of grain…incrementally cutting a swath through their lives until there is nothing - and no one - left to hack. Yes, he knows the Reaper’s eyes too well, which is why he stares defiantly in its face by continuing the search for his missing friend, with the aid of Excalibur’s resident extra-terrestrial Douglock. Colossus notes that the Cerebro unit has located a teleporter in Italy, and asks Douglock if he can get it to be more specific. Douglock replies that he is trying, ‘If only this mutant tracking machine of yours wasn’t so crotchety!’ he remarks, adding that he may be able to coax it into helping them.
Small wires extend from Douglock’s form, hacking into the Cerebro unit and giving it a techno-organic upgrade. Suddenly, Wisdom, huffing and puffing, rushes into the communications room, ‘Where…is…he?’ Wisdom manages to utter. Colossus tells his teammate that he sincerely hopes that is the timbre of genuine concern in his voice and now just the wheezing of his corroded lungs. ‘If Nightcrawler is the victim of any senseless tragedy, it will be on your conscience’ Colossus warns Wisdom, who replies ‘Spare me the “holier than thou” riot act, Rasputin! Wagner nearly got whacked helping me in Germany, I know I owe this to him!’
Wisdom then narrows his eyes as he pushes the hand that Colossus placed on his shoulder away, ‘I don’t need you to remind me!’ he snarls, just before Douglock announces that he has found Nightcrawler’s bio-signature, ‘Good news, gentlemen. Nightcrawler’s alive…and in Venice!’ This surprises Wisdom, who asks what Kurt would be doing there, as Black Air has no safe house in Italy. Colossus suggests that perhaps someone else has taken Kurt, before pointing out that, regardless, Kurt has been one of his closest friends for years, that he is like a brother to him, which is why they will go to Venice to rescue him…or avenge him!
At that moment somewhere in Venice, the aliens that have imprisoned Kurt in the sticky substance tell Kurt to gaze into their eyes. ‘Can you see the hate?’ the aliens ask. Exhausted, Kurt replies that he does not understand why they hate him so. ‘I don’t even know you!’ Kurt exclaims. ‘Of course you don’t…you left us for dead!’ one of the aliens reveals. Kurt claims that he has never seen them before. One of the aliens asks Kurt if his mammalian brain is so inchoate that he has no recollection of a certain journey aboard the intercalative vessel…the Starjammer! Suddenly,  long-forgotten memories flash into Kurt’s mind as he remembers the alien ship the X-Men encountered en route to Earth during their battle with the Brood once adrift in space. ‘I remember debating about a rescue mission…’.
(Flashback, takes place between Uncanny X-Men #166 and #167)
Aboard the versatile space craft are the members of both the Uncanny X-Men - Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Kitty Pryde, and the intergalactic “pirates” known as the Starjammers - Corsair, Binary, Hepzibah, Ch’od, Sikorsky and Raza Longknife, along with the Shi’ar royal Lilandra Neramani. Storm turns to Cyclops and remarks that it is a Sidri ship, a bounty hunter. Cyclops points out that it is just like the one that attacked them a couple of months ago.
Lilandra remarks that the Sidri ship appears to be in trouble, to which Wolverine points out that so is Xavier if they don’t get back to Earth, pronto, adding that if the Brood have implanted one of their eggs inside him, then there is no telling when he will turn into one of those sleazoids. Colossus asks if the X-Men are now in the business of doling out death sentences - whether it be to their own, or strangers such as these creatures. Binary tells her dear friend Wolverine that Colossus has a point, and reminds everyone how her newfound powers helped cure them when they were all infected, so perhaps she can do the same for Charles.
Storm declares that all life is sacred, and something to be cherished. ‘Charles’…the Sidri’s…even the Brood’s’. Storm goes on to declares that she believes they can, and must, aid both the ailing aliens and their mentor. Cyclops tells Storm that they would be cutting it awfully close if they did, and admits that he is not personally inclined to risk the Professor’s life for the sake of this clearly hostile race, before pointing out that it is not their decision to make, as they are just passengers in this ride. Cyclops then motions to the Captain of this vessel, the leader of the Starjammers and his father. Corsair. ‘what so you say…Dad?’.
Corsair ponders for a moment, before turning to Hepzibah and announcing ‘Steady as she goes’. Hepzibah follows her lovers command, to the protest of the pink-clad Kitty Pryde, ‘Are you kidding me? You’re just gonna let them die!?’ she exclaims, while Nightcrawler tries to step in front of her and shush her, Kitty just phases through, telling Kurt that she will not “shush”. ‘Not when someone you guys tell me I can trust is willing to be a party to murder!’ Kitty marches right up to Corsair, who snarls ‘Watch me, little girl!’ before informing her that those “poor creatures” are some of the deadliest predators this galaxy has ever seen, and that when he, the Captain of this ship, gives an order, he expects everyone - ‘Especially a snot-nosed Earther punk like you - to step to…that is unless you fancy a quick trip through the airlock without a spacesuit!’
Kitty angrily calls Corsair “Mr. High and Mighty” and tells him that the Sidri’s deaths will be on his conscience. ‘See if I care!’ she snaps, before beginning ‘And another thing -’ until Nightcrawler suddenly wraps his tail around Kitty’s mouth, preventing her from speaking and smiling at Corsair, asks him to excuse Kitty. ‘She’s new here’ he adds, before pulling Kitty away. Kitty asks Kurt what he thinks he is doing and exclaims that Corsair is wrong to just let those aliens die out there - ‘You know I’m right!’ she exclaims. Kurt whispers that he does, before telling her that arguing with the Captain in front of his crew is not going to make Corsair change his mind, as there are rules of decorum by which they must all abide, certain laws by which their conduct as guests is governed. ‘Of course some laws…’ Kurt begins. ‘…Are meant to be broken!’ Kitty grins, before Nightcrawler suddenly teleports them both away.
A fraction of a second later, and several decks below, in the Starjammer’s “sick bay”. Kitty remarks that it is a good thing Sikorsky is up on the bridge with the others, or else he would have their heads for messing with his lab. Kurt agrees and points out that they must hurry, as they will likely be going through warp soon enough, and once they do, he is afraid they will be too late to save the Sidri. The duo begin searching through the computer system, and Kitty remarks that her Shi’ar is a little rusty, but that she thinks she has found something that may help, something which looks like a revitalization serum. Moments later, a capsule is ejected from the Starjammer, and Kitty explains that once the capsule containing the formula has punctured the Sidri ship’s outer “hull” it will insinuate itself into their genetic codes, completely repairing and rewriting any damaged material.
Kitty adds that if it works as well as she expects, then this treatment should have all the Sidri linked within that gestalt back up to speed in no time. Suddenly, Kurt detects someone approaching and teleports himself an Kitty away quickly. But, the moment they vanish from the scene of their altruistic action, Sikorsky flies into his lab, and sees that a mutation virus has just been jettisoned. Sikorsky assumes that it was just a malfunction though, and mutters that he told Corsair he needs new medical systems, as they loosen from this system at the slightest impact. Sikorsky wonders when Corsair will start listening to him.
Colossus looks out towards the Sidri ship, shown on the monitor, unaware that while he and his friends watch, the Sidri are suffering. Colossus thinks that no matter how many times he may journey into the great beyond, he doesn’t think he will ever acclimate to space’s breathtaking panoramas. Colossus smiles as he understands now, why his brother, Mikhail, left for the stars, and wishes that he could have gone with his brother, when suddenly Kurt and Kitty arrive back on the bridge laughing.
Colossus turns to his friends and asks them what is so funny. Kitty grins and exclaims quietly that, she showed “big bad Captain Corsair” who is really the boss around here, and gave the Sidri a little “chicken soup”. Colossus grins and takes Kitty in his arms, exclaiming that he is so proud of her, that she is truly amazing. ‘And don’t you forget it, mister!’ Kitty grins back. Colossus remarks that all which is left now is to return to Earth and save the Professor. Nightcrawler agrees, and asks Colossus if he thinks they will make it. Piotr replies that he hopes so, for there is not a thing he wouldn’t do to protect the lives of all of them, his closest friends, his family. ‘Amen, brother!’ Nightcrawler exclaims, the three friends embracing.
(Present)
In the chamber still, one of the Sidri asks Nightcrawler if now he recalls the event that made them abominations in the eyes of their own people. The alien reveals that they returned to their home world, seeking succor, but were greeted with scorn, hatred and ultimately exile. ‘I - we - had no idea…’ Kurt whispers. The Sidri replies ‘Of course you didn’t - how could a species such as yours - a species of self-important, self-serving individuals - understand what it means to be an outcast…a pariah…for no other reason than that you simply exist!’
‘More than you can imagine!’ Kurt replies. ‘Look at me! My face…my body. Do I represent the typical human? I am as scorned by my own people as you were by yours!’ Kurt exclaims. One of the Sidri’s remarks that would explain why the mammals calling themselves “Black Air” so eagerly forfeited Nightcrawler to them. ‘No matter. He will soon be dead…and so shall his friends!’ another of the Sidri exclaims, revealing in a holographic illusion Excalibur arriving in Venice.
At that very moment, indeed, the remaining members of Excalibur - Meggan, Colossus, Wisdom and Douglock - arrive in Venice. Colossus asks Douglock if he has locked on to Nightcrawler’s bio-signature yet, but Douglock doesn’t hear him, until Colossus shouts his name. Douglock apologizes and replies that his CPU was momentarily “elsewhere”. Wisdom scowls and calling Douglock “Gameboy” warns him not to go crashing on them, as they are coming up to Venice. Douglock thinks to himself that he misses Wolfsbane so much, that there is nothing he can do to stop thinking about her, before announcing that Nightcrawler’s bio-signature has been detected in the Grand Canal, right below them.
Wisdom informs his teammates that he is switching to amphibious mode, and remarks that it is too bad Captain Britain programmed this aircraft to operate only one function at a time, pointing out that without a cloak to cover their landing, not only are they sitting ducks, but are going to make a rather big spectacle of themselves during “splashdown”. On the Grand Canal, a group of tourists are being taken for a ride on one of the gondolas, when they see the Midnight Runner approaching, ‘Look at that! It’s an invasion! Quick - where’s the camera?!’ one of the tourists asks.
Suddenly, Excalibur splashes down into the Grand Canal, diving deep below into the murky canal, navigating slowly, unsteadily - as if in anticipation of impending tragedy. Excalibur pass beneath the infamous “Bridge of Sighs” - the romanticized site that was once the final path of condemned men, sentenced to death - a chilling silence descends upon the anxious heroes who fear a similar fate has befallen their missing friend. Only then, at the bottom of the canal, does Excalibur realize how prophetic their fears were. ‘Holy mother of mercy! What in God’s name is that!’ Wisdom asks, gazing out the window at the Sidri vessel sitting on the bottom of the canal.
Colossus replies that all sensors indicate it to be their target, but he is not so sure, and turns to Douglock, who replies that despite the obvious variations to the outer dimensional hull, which he suspects might be a mutation of some sort, that vessel before them is definitely a Sidri ship. This shocks Colossus, ‘Bozhe moi, nyet!’ he exclaims before ordering Wisdom to take evasive maneuvers. Wisdom urgently replies that he is trying, but that the Midnight Runner has been jammed. ‘Let’s see you pilot this bird without helm control!’ Wisdom mutters, when suddenly the alarm goes off and Wisdom warns everyone to brace themselves for impact, as they have got incoming.
Indeed, the Sidri vessel fires some shots at the Runner, and Colossus asks Meggan if she can reroute the blasts. Meggan replies that she will try, when suddenly water breaks into the Runner and, taken by surprise, Meggan is overcome. Colossus tells Wisdom to attend to Meggan and informs Douglock that they need a confirmed location for Nightcrawler, immediately. Douglock replies that Nightcrawler is inside the ship, when suddenly an electro-pulse short circuits his mainframe, and his systems begin to crash. Tossed about the in the water which is rapidly filling the Midnight Runner, Colossus knows that with Meggan down, there is no way to stop this tide, and therefore the cabin will soon be completely flooded. He thinks that his teammates will surely drown, before calling to Wisdom and asking him if he has enough oxygen to make it to the surface carrying Meggan and Douglock.
Reaching for Meggan, Wisdom gurgles a reply, so Colossus uses his incredible strength to burst a hole in the side of the Midnight Runner, providing an exit for his friends, while hoping that fortune is kind enough to let them swim to safety. Colossus tells himself that his conscience would crack if his sole accomplishment on this mission was to lead his friends to a watery grave, and as a blast almost reaches Piotr, the former X-Man thinks it lucky that the Sidri seem content to make him their lone target, which he decides is good, as they have come too far to forsake this quest now.
Swimming towards the Sidri ship, Colossus thinks that if Nightcrawler does live, trapped somewhere within the belly of that alien beast, then he swears to free his friend - his brother. Colossus then punches the side of the Sidri ship and rips an entrance for himself. ‘So much for the “subtle” approach Colossus tells himself, before calling out to Nightcrawler, asking if he can hear him, when suddenly, the chilling voice of the Sidri can be heard, as one of the aliens approaches Colossus and exclaims ‘The dead are not renowned for their hearing, terran!’. Colossus calls out to the Sidri, warning it to show itself, if it dares.
‘Aren’t you the proud one, metal man?’ the Sidri replies as it strikes Piotr from behind. ‘You wish to challenge us for your friend’s life…? Very well, Terran, we accept!’ the Sidri exclaims, remarking that they have nothing left to lose, before firing that sticky goo at Colossus, asking him if he can say the same while he is knocked across the water-filled chamber. Looking around, Colossus thinks to himself that he never realized there were three of them, before reminding himself that it doesn’t matter, as his friends life is at stake. Piotr uses his powerful body to rip the goo from his form, thinking that although it may be the death of him, he will not fail to rescue his friend.
Colossus tells the aliens that they are mistaken if they believe his concern for his friend is a weakness, revealing the contrary - that it is the very engine which drives him to defeat them. ‘So I shall be driven until he is safely at my side!’ Colossus admits that it sickens to the core, but that if they have harmed Nightcrawler, then he shall not rest until all the Sidri lie broken and bleeding at his feet. Suddenly, Colossus loses sight of the Sidri, who have darted around the chamber, which suddenly darkens.
The Sidri make a strange noise, before dropping down from above, informing Colossus that they also posses and armored defense, explaining that it is what allows them to survive for extended periods within the darkest depths of intergalactic space. The Sidri add that the pounding of asteroids and radiation of the very sun itself cannot penetrate their hides in this state, before smacking Colossus to the floor. Colossus tells himself to resist the pain, to fight on. The Sidri smack him over again, telling Colossus that it is arrogant of him to think that his puny metallic fists could fare any better, before the Sidri’s form shifts again and looming over the weakened Colossus, tell him that he will now discover why the Sidri are the most feared hunters in all the known galaxies…and die!


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Amendments
Venice, where Pete Wisdom is making amends. If not for Wisdom, his teammates Meggan and Douglock would not be seconds away from drowning at the bottom of a canal. If not for Wisdom, Excalibur’s team leader Nightcrawler would not be hostage to a trio of inter-galactic bounty hunters demanding vengeance. Then again, if not for Wisdom…none of them would stand a remote chance of survival. ‘Must…keep…going’ Wisdom thinks to himself as he desperately swims to the top of the canal while holding onto the unconscious Meggan and Douglock, until finally, he makes it. Barely.
Tossing Meggan and Douglock onto a dock, Wisdom thinks that his black lungs ain’t what they used to be, before telling himself that he could use a cigarette right now, though he knows that is going to have to wait until he gets his teammates on their feet again. ‘Come on ya bloody elf, don’t die on me now!’ Wisdom tells Meggan while he gives her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. ‘Breathe!’ he exclaims, and finally, Meggan splutters up some water, before sitting up and clutching her head, she asks Wisdom what happened, as the last thing she remembers was the Midnight Runner being blasted by some alien, and they were taking in water.
‘Yeah, yeah, you’re fine’ Wisdom retorts, ignoring Meggan’s question, before dragging her over to Douglock, explaining that he needs her to “hotwire” Douglock so he can get a bearing on Nightcrawler’s position underwater. Meggan uses her elemental abilities to examine her techno-organic teammate and explains to Wisdom that the electro-fire has left Douglock’s body, but that she thinks she can tease it back in. Elemental energy flows at Meggan’s beckoning, leaping from its universal playground, and lands in the inert Douglock’s body - but to no avail.
Meggan wipes a tear from her eyes and Wisdom hangs his head as Meggan tells the unmoving Douglock that she tried to mend the damage, but that it was too severe. ‘Please forgive me’ she whispers. ‘Sure…for what?’ Douglock asks as he sits up, surprising both Meggan and Wisdom. Meggan hugs Douglock, thankful that he is alive, while Wisdom secretly smiles. Yes, Pete Wisdom is making amendments, one life at a time.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the canal, inside the Sidri vessel. ‘We beat you down…yet you stand up. We smash you…yet you fight back’ the Sidri remarks to Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin as the powerful Russian mutant is forced into the murky water again. ‘We vow to kill you…yet you cling to the hope that you will survive to rescue you misshapen comrade. What sort of creature are you to risk your life for a being with which you share no discernable connection?’ the alien asks.
Suddenly, Nightcrawler bamfs onto the scene, his costume in tatters, blood dripping from his face and two angry swords held ready to do battle, Kurt Wagner exclaims ‘No “discernable connection” monster…? Perhaps you should open your eyes - or whatever it is you Sidri bounty hunters see through - Piotr Rasputin and I share the most unique bond any two beings can possibly share!’ Teleporting again on top of the Sidri, Nightcrawler adds that this bond he and Colossus share is something for which they would both gladly sacrifice their lives - ‘Something a murderous schweinehund like you and your symbiotic brethren would never begin to fathom - a little thing called friendship!’ Kurt exclaims as his sword meets with the Sidri’s form.
Colossus looks up, and shocked, sees that Kurt is alive. ‘In the fuzzy blue flesh, Colossus!’ Kurt replies, adding  that he cannot deny that it is a miracle, before suggesting they take this “auslander” down old-school “X-Men style”. Colossus gets to his feet and agrees, remarking that after the beating he has just suffered at the creatures…hands…it would be a pleasure. Nightcrawler and Colossus strike as if they were one being, the result of years of rigorous training as members of the mutant outlaw X-Men, fighting for their inalienable right to simply exist.
For Kurt Wagner and Piotr Rasputin though, they are much more than fellow heroes on a common quest to improve their station in life - they are brothers-in-arms. United, nothing can stand against them. However, despite the duo’s battle tactics, the Sidri seems intent on arguing that point vehemently, and tosses the former X-Men aside with ease. Landing in the water, Kurt tells Piotr that he is glad he came, ‘But sorry you came all this way simply to die’. Colossus just asks what else friends are for, before the pair attack the Sidri once more. The unimpressed Sidri calls them fools for jesting even though death stares them in the face.
Nightcrawler tells the alien to consider it a human “glitch”, and making another joke, remarks that his and Colossus’ overriding optimism makes them all the more lovable, before asking ‘Besides…who said anything about dying?’. Kurt tosses one of his swords to Piotr, shouting ‘Now, as we practiced…block! Parry! Thrust!’ Colossus does as Kurt exclaims, until the Sidri shouts ‘Away!’ and fires a beam from its eyes, sending Colossus careening back across the chamber. Piotr lands hard and realizes that his attack with the sword hurt the Sidri, and wonders if perhaps their armor is not as resilient as they boasted.
Nightcrawler goes over to his friend as the Sidri begins to convulse, and the three Sidri are forced to separate from their form as one, returning to their individual forms. Kurt congratulates Colossus on breaking the link, to which Colossus replies that they should pray it stays broken. The Sidri flit about in the chamber, making strange noises which only they understand, before reforming into a different attack form. ’Hmph’ Colossus mutters. ’You were saying?’ Kurt sighs.
Meanwhile, on Muir Island, home to Excalibur, another desperate hero rages against cruel fate in the name of survival - specifically, her own. Clad in her quarantine suit while locked in her laboratory, Moira MacTaggert continues working at her computer station, while her foster daughter Rahne “Wolfsbane” Sinclair stands behind her and asks her mother if she cannot just accept her being in here and get on with it. ‘I’m doing this to help you, so you don’t have to face your illness alone’ Rahne explains. Moira doesn’t look at Rahne as she replies that in all the years she has been he legal guardian, she cannot for the life of her remember ever being as furious with her as she is now.
Moira reminds Rahne that this was supposed to be a one-woman quarantine, and points out that as long as Rahne is in here, she is going to be exposed to the Legacy Virus. ‘It can kill you, girl!’ Moira shouts, before deciding that she is going to call the whole experiment off and get Rahne out of here. Moira goes over to the door and tries to open it, exclaiming that she doesn’t care if the door is programmed to stay magnetically sealed until her job is done. ‘Open, blast ye!’ she shouts, to no avail, as the door remains sealed.
Rahne goes over, smiling, she places her arms around her mother and tells her to let it go, ‘If you do open the door. I’m not leaving you’ Rahne asserts. ‘Aye, but you are - as soon as I get this lock decrypted’ the world-renowned scientist replies. Wolfsbane points out that if the door is opened, then the whole experiment will be ruined, and this would all have been for nothing. Rahne switches into her half-wolf-half-girl form and hugs Moira while reminding her that she needs a test subject that has been exposed to the virus, but is not infected.
Moira replies that if she is wrong about the effects of long-term close-quartered exposure can have a non-infected person, and it is equally fatal “second hand”, ‘I do not want you to be the one who suffers’ Moira exclaims. ‘Better it should be me!’ But Rahne exclaims ‘Nonsense’ and says to her mother ‘If your life is worth sacrificing to win the war against this bloody plague…so is mine!’. The two women continue to hug for some time.
Back in Venice, Wisdom asks Douglock if he has had any luck locating Colossus and Nightcrawler yet. Douglock replies that he is searching, while thinking to himself that it is hard to concentrate, but he is unsure if it is because the Sidri zapped him, or because he is so concerned about Rahne. But he knows regardless, he has got to focus, as his friends are depending on him. Shortly, Douglock announces that he has found them, but that their life signs are weak.
This upsets Meggan, who asks Douglock if he is sure, before suggesting that he might be suffering some kind of malfunction that is dampening his signal strength. Douglock is about to reply that he is fully functioning, until Wisdom clamps a hand over Douglock’s mouth and whispers to him that Meggan needs good news about her two closest friends now, not bad. Wisdom grins as he turns to Meggan and tells her that Douglock is still buggered, and asks Meggan to clear them a path so that they can get a better look down below. Meggan takes to the air and hovers over the crash site beneath the water, she then literally pulls the water away, revealing the alien ship beneath, she exclaims that Kurt and Piotr must be inside, and asks Wisdom and Douglock what they are waiting for, before she flies down to the Sidri ship exclaiming that they have to rescue their friends.
Douglock turns to Wisdom and remarks that he is the last person in the world he would ever expect compassion from, before informing him that his sensors painted an accurately bleak portrait of their friends’ status, but Wisdom deliberately deceived Meggan, as if concerned the truth might harm her. ‘Query: Why?’ Douglock exclaims. Wisdom replies that it needed doing, and tells Douglock to shut his trap and jump. They do, and land in the canal, where moments later, while the duo swim towards the Sidri ship, Meggan releases the parted waters to cushion her teammates descent, and allow life along the grand canal to resume its usual, placid pace - well, for the most part, except for the civilians in their gondolas who are tossed about.
Back inside the Sidri ship, the battle continues to rage, as the Sidri tell Nightcrawler and Colossus that their courage is wasted, ‘Today out years-old score shall finally be settled!’ Kurt jokes that he didn’t realize they were keeping score, while Colossus, who is pulling at the massive Sidri, remarks that this sounds a lot like one of the Danger Room exercises at the old School for Gifted Youngsters! Colossus adds that the program featuring the Juggernaut comes to mind, as the Sidri are nearly immovable as he. ‘Except ol’ Juggy on a bad never as foul as these beasts!’ Kurt exclaims.
‘Your scurrilous insults are as harmful as your pitiful swords, misfit!’ the Sidri exclaims, before warning Nightcrawler to mind his wagging tongue, or else they may slice it off as recompense for the hideous metamorphosis which he afflicted upon them. Kurt is backed into a corner, with the Sidri holding his own sword up to his throat, and Kurt admits to himself that he is too weak to teleport. He wonders if this is the end, when suddenly, the Sidri is hit in the back by a small burst of flame, and the alien knocks Kurt aside, unwittingly freeing him.
The Sidri is furious, ’Who dares deny a Sidri hunter his rightful kill?’ the alien snarls. ‘We do, you big dumb…crab!’ Meggan exclaims, with Wisdom and Douglock at her side. ‘Right, well said there, luv!’ Wisdom tells Meggan, while Douglock warns the Sidri to get away from his friends, ‘And perhaps we’ll allow you to leave the planet…intact!’ The Sidri realizes that Douglock is a Phalanx and remarks that perhaps his mind’s collective consciousness can be of some use to them - after they have scrapped his body for spare parts that is!’ The Sidri proceeds to attack Douglock, while remarking that although Douglock is distinct from his race’s gestalt, he still possess the means for the Sidri to be whole again.
‘Once we are brothers, we can finally return to our home world and our people and this infernal exile will at last be over!’ Kurt watches in horror as the Sidri begins its assault on Douglock, before calling out to Meggan and Wisdom, informing them that intense heat is the Sidri’s greatest weakness, and asks them to generate enough heat and they should be able to break the trio’s meld, before urging them to do it quickly, before it attacks Douglock again. Meggan, taking a leaf out of Wisdom’s book, asks him if he is ready to show these “gits” what a cricket-style “fastball special” feels like.
Wisdom understands what Meggan means and informs her that he is sparking up his best Sunday “heater”, while Meggan uses her elemental abilities to increase the temperature a thousand-fold. Wisdom extends his hands, readying his hot knives while informing Meggan that they will let it go on three. ‘One!’ exclaims Meggan as she hovers above Wisdom, adding fuel to his fire. ‘Two!’ declares Wisdom as his mutant power is released. ‘Three!’ shouts Meggan as she turns up the tempo. The Sidri turns to watch the intense flames approaching itself, ‘No! Not now!’ After all these years of isolation from our people, we were so…’. The Sidri doesn’t get to say “close” like it wanted to, as Meggan and Wisdom’s combo smacks into it, before a massive explosion ensues.
The five heroes are tossed about in the water, but eventually, with Colossus helping the injured Douglock, they all make their way to the surface, and gasp for air. Kurt tells everyone to keep on their toes, as this is far from over. When everyone is safely on the dock, Kurt announces that he is going to go back down to look for survivors, when suddenly, the transformed Sidri rises from the water, shocking Excalibur. The Sidri declares that they desire to slay Excalibur for the tragedy they visited upon them, their wrathful fires are extinguished on this day. The Sidri explains that the artificial mutation that made them an abomination in the sight of their fellow hunters is as last beginning to heal - thanks to the technical elements extracted from the Phalanx “anomaly”.
The Sidri announce that in exchange for the means to rejoin their people, they grant Excalibur the boon of continued life. ‘Use this gift wisely and tamper not with the unknown…lest the unknown tamper with you!’ the Sidri exclaim, before taking off into space. ‘Amen!’ Douglock exclaims as he regains consciousness. Douglock tells his friends not to worry too much about him, as his internal systems are already compensating for damaged techno-organics, so he should be fully functional in approximately 28.6 hours. ‘Give or take a year!’ Douglock adds.
Colossus asks his teammate what of the Sidri and how he was able to help them. Douglock explains that, like his own people, the Sidri are a techno-organic collective, and require certain components to maintain the link to their race. Douglock reveals that when those three Sidri were mutated, they lost those components, and their connection to the other Sidri, and since he is no longer “using” the ones bred within him, he simply donated them. Douglock adds that not only has he made amends for the accidental wrong done to the Sidri in the past, but he is now, more than ever, free of the Phalanx collective. ‘I am truly an individual!’ he exclaims, to which Excalibur congratulate him.
Meanwhile, on Muir Island, a high-tech ship arrives belonging to SHIELD. The captain of the ship asks his crew which one of them is going to escort the lady and her pet outside, to which Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde replies that there is no need, as she can let herself out. Kitty waves goodbye to her associates and tells them that helping SHIELD save the world has been oodles of fun. ‘Not!’ she adds. Her alien dragon Lockheed flies alongside her and Kitty exclaims that it is great to be home, and that she cannot wait to snuggle up on her own bed again. Lockheed makes a noise, to which Kitty tells him he can snuggle too, provided he doesn’t fight with Pete.
Kitty then uses her mutant power to phase from the roof of the Research Center down into her quarters, remarking that it is bad enough Wisdom is going to want to kill her after she tells him what happened with Rigby Fallon, so she doesn’t want the two of them fighting also. ‘Ahh! Room sweet room!’ Kitty exclaims as she grabs Lockheed and flops down on her bed. Lockheed starts squirming, and Kitty remarks that she thought he would be psyched to be home, but Lockheed breaks free of Kitty’s grasp and flies away.
Kitty tells herself that this is weird, and recalls how Lockheed went missing for weeks, and is now freaking out for no reason. She wonders if it was something she did, and turns to her stuffed Bamf doll sitting on her bedside table. Picking the doll up, she exclaims ‘Maybe you can tell me, Bamf’ and asks it what has got her best bud so spooked. ‘Oh, why am I asking you? You’re just a stuffed toy…’ Kitty mutters, before putting the doll down, unaware that its eyes have just lit up, and its placid smile has just grown wicked, as a pair of sharp teeth jut up between its lips….