Uncanny X-Men, The (1981 series) #260

In his mansion in Los Angeles, Eric Beale shoots apart a whole room full of Dazzler mannequins, just itching to do the same to the real thing! He blows apart the rest with a grenade and cuts the head off the last mannequin, swearing that he’ll have payback for her rejecting him! In Malibu, Freddie shows the rough cut of the Dazzler movie to Dazzler herself and Guido. She then goes out surfing in the coast, wondering if maybe Freddie should just let it be, feeling that, without her memories, that was another woman entirely. As Dazzler surfs, Beale perches on a hill with a sniper rifle and lines up a shot on her. Dazzler ends up moving just as he pulls the trigger, causing him to miss but alerting Guido to his presence. Guido tries to warn Dazzler but she can’t hear him over the waves and Beale’s next shot destroys her surfboard. As he prepares to shoot at her again, Dazzler fires back in midair with her laser bolt, landing a remarkable shot that blows up his rifle before she lands hard in the water! Freddie and Guido pull her out and get her back to the house, where the computer system running the place informs them that the sniper fled. Reasoning he’ll try again, Dazzler plans to draw him out by promoting her movie after all, and tells Freddie to make her a star!

In Manhattan, Colossus continues to obsess over the beautiful woman he ran into last issue, when he sees her being attacked by a gang down on the street! He comes to her aid with a baseball bat and is shocked to see the gang is wearing cheap Halloween masks of the X-Men! Peter ends up getting sucker punched, only to get saved when Jenny arrives and drives the gang off. Phillip arrives as well and Peter realizes that the woman has fled again, and wonders why the gang used the X-Men as their disguises. Back in Hollywood, Dazzler and Freddie meet with some studio executives about the movie. As they walk around the studio, Beale once more tries to shoot Dazzler from the shadows but ends up mistaken for a stuntman and hastily changed into a cowboy outfit for a scene, before getting punched! Dazzler is then taken to try and find the perfect look for her, and Beale ends up getting forced into getting a makeover as well in a nearby chair! Dazzler is made to model several different looks before they find the one they’re pleased with. Beale’s makeover ends as well, just in time for him to frustratedly learn that Dazzler left ages ago!

Elsewhere, on the island of Kyrinos, Forge and Banshee prepare to board a plane to Cairo, their only clue to any of the X-Men’s location. Banshee continues to worry about Moira and everyone else on Muir Isle who’ve been acting strange, hence the relative secrecy of their trip. Just before they board, the two learn about Dazzler’s return in a magazine, and decide to instead pick her up first, telling the plane to head out without them. This ends up saving their lives, when the plane they would have been on is shot down from afar by the Fenris twins, after a tip from a mysterious informant! With everyone in the area now thinking they’re dead, Forge and Banshee decide to use that to their advantage to lay low until they can reach Dazzler!

On a Malibu beach, Dazzler procrastinates in heading to her movie premiere, still unsure who she really is or wants to be, when Beale comes riding up disguised as a cop and knocks her out! While countless big names gather for the premiere, Beale takes Dazzler back to his mansion where he dresses her in her original costume and ties her up. She blasts him with her eye beams, tearing holes the bag he put over her head, giving her a sense of her bearings. She tries to blind and hold off Beale, but with her energy reserves low, doesn’t have much success. As he moves in for the kill, she tries a different tactic, using her light to hypnotize him, calming him down and altering his mood. He drops to his knees, lost in awe at the glory and Dazzler wonders if this is her answer? To use her powers to help people, and to bring them joy, both in big ways and small!