As the Reavers trek across Muir Isle to continue their
assault on the island, Banshee swoops down on them, stunning them with his
sonic scream. His scream ends up destroying Bonebreaker’s chassis, keeping the
Reavers on the ropes. Skullbuster takes aim at Banshee but he’s grabbed by
Polaris, who’s joined the fray. Polaris ends up getting surprised by Pretty Boy
as he wraps her up in his tendrils and attempts to rewrite her mind with his
fiber-optic filaments. Unable to get free, she’s saved by Banshee cutting the
connection, as he scoops her up to fly away. However, the two don’t get far
before they fly right into what seems to be an invisible wall! The other
arriving Reavers commend their comrades on taking out the two X-Men but they
admit that it wasn’t them, utterly confused about who did! Elsewhere, at Cairo
Memorial Hospital, Jacob Reisz of the F.B.I arrives to collect the child Storm.
He and Dr. Shen discover that her room is empty and she’s fled, while Dr. Shen
can see on the monitor that Reisz smiles almost inhumanly and wonders what he
really wants from the girl!
Back on Muir Isle, the Reavers are surprised by the
arrival of Freedom Force, as Blob and Avalanche literally drop out of the sky
right on top of them! Avalanche gets to attacking the Reavers as the rest of
Freedom Force observes from their plane above. Mystique orders them to land as
soon as possible and tells Forge to be ready with the weapon he’s building when
they do. Mystique senses something is wrong with Destiny by her tone, just as
more trouble strikes. Lady Deathstrike jumps from a cliff and lands right on
the nose of the plane, swiftly killing the two pilots, sending the plane
crashing to the ground! Taking a quick detour to an island in the South China
Sea, the Hand are currently in the process of making it their new base. Their
current leader Matsuo Tsurayaba arrives to inspect their progress and to check
out someone who the Hand found washed upon the shore with no memory. They tell
him that they think she’s a telepath and as soon as he lays eyes on her he
recognizes her as Psylocke, and knows exactly what the Hand should do with her!
On Muir Isle, Forge carries Mystique from the flaming
wreckage of the plane, as Stonewall grabs Destiny. The plane explodes before
they’ve gotten clear, but Pyro keeps the fire from spreading and harming them.
Mystique orders Forge to take Destiny to the complex and watch over her there,
as Pyro sends the fire he corralled right at the Reavers! Nearby, Blob and
Avalanche continue to fight as well. Lady Deathstrike jumps right over
Avalanche’s attack and slashes at him, severely wounding him, while the other
Reavers use a weapon to turn the ground beneath Blob into quicksand! At the
complex, Destiny urges Forge to go back and help. He argues that Mystique left
her in his care, but she tells him that if he doesn’t go back, that Mystique
will die! She tells him to love Mystique with everything he has, confusing him
as he says his heart’s spoken for. She ushers him off and turns to greet
Legion, who she foresaw having a fateful encounter with at this very moment!
Back at the fight, Lady Deathstrike suddenly seems to
shoot at the Reavers, only to get grabbed by Donald Pierce, revealing that it
was really Mystique in disguise! Mystique then gets bombarded with psychic
images of Destiny’s death as Stonewall tackles Pierce off of her. Pyro tries to
attack the Reavers but finds his flame snuffed out by Legion watching from a
hill, at the same time that Pierce kills Stonewall! Skullbuster takes aim at
Mystique and Pyro, resigned to their fates, when suddenly he’s sniped from afar
and killed by Forge! Forge pins down the rest of Reavers with further fire who
decide it may be time to quit while they’re ahead. The Reavers teleport away
just before Forge can line up a shot on Pierce and with the battle over,
Freedom Force inspect the casualties. Moira approaches with Destiny’s dead
body, having been killed by Legion, for which Mystique blames Forge, swearing
that she’ll repay him in full! After Freedom Force departs, Forge sits blaming
himself, when he’s approached by Banshee with an offer. First, Moira would like
Forge to modify their security systems, but second, now that they know the
X-Men are alive, Banshee wants Forge to accompany him in searching for them,
which Forge agrees to.
Finally, at Cairo Memorial Hospital, the child Storm
runs through the basement of the place, as she’s pursued by Reisz , Dr. Chen,
and her nurse. After the nurse questions Reisz’s involvement, Reisz, suddenly
much more demonic, kills the nurse and plans to blame Storm for it, so that she
can be his, forever!
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