Uncanny X-Men, The (1981 series) #266

In the mansion on the outskirts of Cairo, Illinois that Storm was led to last issue, Shadow King sends his hounds after Storm. They quickly catch her, leaving Shadow King disappointed, until she musters the energy to produce of flash of lightning to blind them. She runs into an enormous bathroom and uses whatever resources she can find to hold off her attackers. She’s able to maneuver one of the hounds into slamming into Shadow King as she escapes from the bathroom. However, she doesn’t get far as Shadow King has tired of their game and is able to dig his mental claws into her mind. As she struggles against his psychic onslaught, he taunts her, until she’s able to use her anger to fire back with a lightning bolt! The recoil ends up knocking her over a railing and she falls several floors into a pool waiting below. She crawls from the pool, hoping that Shadow King is dead, and hears the footsteps of someone approaching her! Up on the top floor, Shadow King heals himself from the damage Storm’s lightning did, and sends his hounds to track her down again!

Meanwhile, somewhere not too far away, Nanny scolds Orphan-Maker for not hearing all of the alarms going off alerting them to Storm’s location. Nanny loses Storm’s signal but does learn that Shadow King is there, which fills her with dread! She shows Orphan-Maker a holographic projection of just what Shadow King will do to Storm, or any other mutant he catches, unless they can save them first! Back at the mansion, Storm regards the mysterious man called Gambit that pulled her from the pool and determines he must be a thief like her. With Gambit seemingly distracted stealing the paintings there, Storm tries to run for it, but gets caught by a hound at the door, despite Gambit’s warning. Gambit tells the hound to back away and charges up a throwing spike with energy, throwing it at the hound where it explodes! The explosion knocks Storm into Gambit’s arms and he decides to leave his loot in order to look after her, despite her protests. They quickly run into the possessed Dr. Shen and the hounds, and Gambit turns on the charm, claiming to know when he’s outmatched and bluffing that they can have Storm. Storm notes that they seem almost hypnotized by his words, even the hounds.

Gambit’s efforts are cut short, however, when Shadow King appears at the top level and strikes at Gambit psychically. Storm tries to fire back with another lightning bolt but finds it’s not working again, allowing Shadow King to mind-blast her as well. With the momentary reprieve, Gambit charges a plate and throws it at Shadow King, destroying much of the upper level. However, the effects of Shadow King’s assault have left Gambit weak, leaving him at the mercy of Dr. Shen and the hounds. He’s saved once again by Storm, who uses her winds to blow the soot from the chimney around into a makeshift smokescreen. He jokes that he’s lost count of who saves who next, and blindly throws another throwing spike into the dust cloud, hoping to hit someone. As Storm and Gambit make their way up to the roof, Gambit stops to call the police and alert them to the location of the stolen paintings, hoping to slow down their pursuers even more. On the roof, Storm pulls out a parachute and commands the wind to have it pull them far away from the mansion.

Awhile later, Storm and Gambit finally land at the old plane dump that Storm has made her home. Storm proposes the two part ways from here but Gambit can’t help asking what the deal with Shadow King is. Storm tells him that Shadow King has a special hatred for her and won’t rest until he’s tracked her down, harming anyone who stands by her side! Finally, in Washington D.C., the Shadow King-possessed Val Cooper uses her credentials to enter Freedom Force’s headquarters. As she readies her weapon, Mystique looks at a picture of Destiny with sadness, transforming to look like her momentarily. Once Val arrives at her room, Mystique tells her that she’s right on time, just as expected! Mystique explains that before her death, Destiny warned her that this was coming, just before the trigger is pulled and a shot rings out! To be continued!