Having witnessed her get captured last issue, Forge
and Banshee track Jean Grey to the catacombs near the Xavier Institute, where
they find her in the clutches of strange creatures. Banshee lets loose his
sonic scream, deafening all of the creatures. Forge follows up with a stun
grenade, and though it hits, the creatures all suddenly teleport away! The two
of them check on Jean and take her back to the mansion’s underground complex.
She comments on the new X-Men uniform she’s been given and Banshee admits he’s
a bit embarrassed by them himself. Jean mentions how she spoke with Moira
lately and she didn’t seem herself, and Banshee admits his worries regarding
her. When they tell her they’re looking for the X-Men who might be alive, Jean
confirms that they are, and said they had her promise not to tell anyone, which
doesn’t sit right with Banshee. They then show Jean a picture of Donald Pierce,
and explain how he and his Reavers are after the X-Men, and they aim to reach
them before they really do end up dead! Meanwhile, in California, the Reavers
attack one of Emma Frost’s facilities and threaten a guard to tell her that
they’ll keep attacking such places until they get her attention!
Back at the X-Men’s complex, Forge and Banshee tell
Jean about the Reavers’ attack on Muir Isle. Jean suggests evacuating everyone
to X-Factor’s ship until the danger has passed, but they feel they should focus
for the time being on the creatures that attacked her, fearing they might have
gotten Callisto as well. Jean tries calling X-Factor to come help but is unable
to reach anyone, meaning they’re on their own. Just to be sure, Forge injects
Jean and Banshee both with broad-spectrum antibiotics, to counteract anything
the creatures might have done to them. As the three begin to walk back out,
Jean and Banshee suddenly get teleported away, just as the creatures had and
Forge realizes the interior of the complex must have been shielding them!
Elsewhere, in Washington DC, Val Cooper and the Chief of Staff wait as Pipeline
transmits the Foreign Minister over from Genosha for a top secret meeting. Val
expresses disdain at Genosha’s use of mutant slaves, while the Foreign Minister
requests the government’s aid in locating and retrieving Jenny Ransom and
Phillip Moreau to be taken back to Genosha, threatening to rescind their
nation’s economic assistance if refused. Later, the Chief of Staff is outraged
at the indignation, and Val reveals that they also plan to hunt down the X-Men,
regardless of what the U.S. says, potentially igniting a war!
Back with Forge, he moves through the catacombs,
tracking Jean and Banshee while reminiscing about his time in the military. He
thinks about how he wanted to prove himself a warrior by joining the army, as
his search takes him down into the former Morlock tunnels. Having placed
trackers in Jean and Banshee when he gave them the antibiotic, Forge heads
further down. He thinks about his first ambush, and how all he could see of the
enemy was a kid his own age. He’s changed since then. Meanwhile, in Soho, Colossus
is making quite a name for himself as an artist under his new name of Peter
Nicholas. At a gallery displaying his art, he suddenly spots the woman from the
billboard he’s been obsessed with and chases her outside. She jumps into a limo
and it drives off, only to get stopped in its tracks by Jenny. She rips the
roof off, to Phillip’s chagrin, and they discover that the limo’s occupants
have vanished! Later, Peter is still obsessing at his apartment when the woman
shows up at his door! Speaking cryptically, the two are then grabbed by Masque
and teleported away just as the strange creatures had been!
Back in the tunnels, Forge thinks about an offer he
got to join SHIELD and wonders if he should have taken it. He’s broken from his
thoughts when he’s grabbed and attacked by strange tentacles and notes his
tracker indicates Jean and Banshee are nearby! Forge lights up the whole area
with a flash grenade and sees the place full of the strange monsters, all
bearing the X-Men’s faces! He contends with a couple that look like Beast and
Angel, when Banshee jumps to his assistance! Forge notes that Banshee isn’t
using his scream and ends up shooting and killing a creature that looks like
Storm. The creatures scatter and flee, and Forge flashes back to other times he
was forced to kill in the army. Jean and Banshee then reveal themselves to
Forge, and the fact that they’ve both become horribly mutated! To be continued!
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