Complete listed story — includes the ending
Uncanny X-Men #101
Jean Grey is at the helm of the space shuttle transporting the X-Men back to Earth in the midst of a solar flare with lethal amounts of radiation. She attempts to make an emergency landing at JFK Airport. But the out-of-control spacecraft skids off the runway and crashes into Jamaica Bay, practically disintegrating into pieces. The X-Men and Peter Corbeau all rise to the surface and Scott immediately begins looking for signs of Jean. Everyone is shocked, however, when Jean suddenly flies out of the water in a new costume, proclaiming herself to be power incarnate and calling herself “Phoenix.” But no sooner does she majestically rise into the air, she faints and plunges back into the water below her. Cyclops pulls Jean to shore. Everyone tries to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible before the authorities arrive on the scene. It’s unnecessary, however, as the Professor uses his mental powers to erase everyone’s minds so that no-one recalls the X-Men being there.
Sometime later, Wolverine admits to himself that he has feelings for Jean and purchases flowers to bring to her in the hospital. When he arrives, however, he surreptitiously discards them before the other X-Men (whom he's surprised to find in the waiting room) can see. As the group awaits news of Jean, Scott fears the worst, wondering what he will do if she doesn't pull through. His fears are allayed though when Jean's doctors enter the room and inform them that she will make a full recovery. The news elates the X-Men, none more so than Scott, who slips away to an unoccupied room and privately breaks down in tears.
Professor X decides that the X-Men have earned a much-needed vacation (despite Wolverine's protests to the contrary). Sean then pipes up with just a suggestion: He has received a letter from Ireland from his solicitor, Mr. Flaherty, who has informed Sean that he’s inherited the Cassidy ancestral home. Sean invites the team to visit it with him. The Professor thinks this a great idea, so Sean, Kurt, Peter, Ororo, and Wolverine travel to Sean's new castle, Cassidy Keep. (Cyclops remains behind to be near Jean.)
Arriving in Ireland, the X-Men are unaware that they are being watched by Sean's evil cousin, Black Tom, who is also a mutant. He tells the groundskeeper, Eamon O'Donnell, to prepare “cousin Sean” and his friends for the trap he has set for them. When Eamon refuses, Tom reminds him that he has hostages he won’t hesitate to kill if he dares defy him. Eamon has no choice but to comply.
Reluctantly, Eamon welcomes the X-Men are welcomed into the Keep and are escorts them to their rooms. Nobody is aware that small creatures watch them from the shadows. Sometime later, just as they are all heading down to the dining hall for dinner, a trap door opens beneath them. They fall into an enclosed chamber before Black Tom and his partner, the Juggernaut. Before anyone can react, Storm suddenly breaks down in a panic and screams, having succumbed to a crippling bout of claustrophobia.
Uncanny X-Men #102
The X-Men (minus Cyclops) have fallen into a trap set by Banshee’s villainous cousin Black Tom and his ally, the Juggernaut. Banshee launches into a fight with his cousin and Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Colossus take on the Juggernaut, all while Storm is paralyzed by a claustrophobic episode. The leaderless group are at a loss with how to deal with the two villains. When Wolverine and Colossus are knocked away, Nightcrawler tries to lure their massive foe away from a powerless Storm.
During the melee, Storm’s mind reels back to her childhood: how her parents moved out of their home in Harlem in 1951 to return to her mother’s native country and how, while fleeing the first air raid strikes of the Suez War of 1956, Ororo's parents were killed by falling debris and Ororo was being buried alive -- a trauma that would scar her forever. Orphaned on the streets of Cairo, Ororo would become a street thief to survive until her 12th birthday when she felt the call to her mother’s homeland, Kenya. It was there that her mutant powers manifested and she lived in relative peace, being worshipped as a goddess until the day Professor X came to recruit her into the X-Men.
Storm's recollection and anguish reaches Professor Xavier, whose telepathic powers alert him to the X-Men's plight even though he is half a world away in New York, visiting with the recovering Jean Grey. He excuses himself from the room and calls Scott aside.
After Xavier leaves, Jean and her roommate Misty Knight discuss Jean's near brush with death.
Charles tells Scott to go to Ireland to help the X-Men, but he refuses to leave Jean's side. The Professor argues with him when he's suddenly struck with another vision from space. This time, he sees the face of the alien that has been trying to contact him… It is a woman’s face.
In Ireland, the X-Men battle as best they can, even though the Juggernaut is too powerful for them. Wolverine is the first to be knocked out. Nightcrawler is swatted aside and knocked out. Curiously, the portion of his body that lands in the shadows of the castle suddenly become invisible.
Just then, a secret panel in the wall slides open and a bunch of little people are amazed by Nightcrawler's unique ability. They drag him away, closing the secret passage behind them.
Even though their powers are ineffective against each other, Black Tom manages to overpower Banshee, knocking the wind out of him. Meanwhile, when Colossus engages Juggernaut one-on-one, he is brought down when his foe causes the roof to cave in on both of them. Upon seeing this, Storm snaps out of her episode and attempts to strike the Juggernaut down with a lightning bolt, however Cain only redirects it back at her knocking her out as well. The X-Men have all been defeated. Juggernaut and Black Tom plan to hold them hostage in order to lure Charles Xavier into a trap.
Uncanny X-Men #103
At Cassidy Keep in Ireland (Banshee’s ancestral home), the Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy have defeated the X-Men, save for the absent Cyclops. During the skirmish, a group of leprechauns (!) took an unconscious Nightcrawler away through a secret passage.
Nightcrawler revives and is shocked to find himself surrounded by what he thought were mythical creatures. Eamon O'Donnell is there as well and explains that the little people have been under the care of the Cassidy family for generations. Eamon explains further that Juggernaut and Black Tom had only come to the castle just recently. They had been hired by Erik the Red to lure the X-Men into a trap, and their ultimate goal (as per Erik’s orders) is to kill Professor X. To this end, they forced Eamon into servitude by taking the leprechauns hostage.
The little people relate how when they found Nightcrawler partially in shadow, his body was nigh invisible. Nightcrawler is surprised himself by this previously unknown ability of his and hopes he can use it to his advantage. Just then, another leprechaun warns him that Black Tom and Juggernaut have the other X-Men prisoner in a laboratory. Nightcrawler asks the leprechauns to lead him there.
In the lab, Juggernaut and Black Tom have the defeated X-Men contained in specially prepared shackles to neutralize their mutant abilities. Black Tom is just about to torture Storm with his neuronic tangler glove. Nightcrawler teleports into the room and uses his image inducer to make himself appear like Charles Xavier. Juggernaut charges at what he believes to be his step-brother, but finds him nimbler than he remembered. Black Tom sees through the ruse, however, and attacks Nightcrawler as well, subduing him. One of Juggernaut's punches accidentally smashed a hole in the castle wall to the outside, however, and Storm (who has a connection to the natural world) summons the willpower to break her inhibitor device and create a tornado to suck herself, Wolverine and Colossus out into the open air. Banshee, muzzled to prevent him from screaming, remains a prisoner, however.
Colossus frees Wolverine from his bonds and the leprechauns quietly remove Nightcrawler from the rubble. Black Tom and Juggernaut take Banshee to one of the castle towers and threaten to kill him if the other X-Men don't try to rescue him.
Aided by the leprechauns, Storm, Wolverine and Colossus each fight their way up the ramparts from a different direction, but the tower is rigged with many weapons to keep them at bay. In the middle of this, while separated from his teammates, Wolverine is surprised when a leprechaun calls him by his real name, Logan. The little person will not explain how he knows it, save to say that “We little people know a LOT o’ things!”
While Tom and Juggernaut are distracted by the frontal assault, Nightcrawler sneaks up his own way and frees Banshee from his bonds, including the muzzle. Banshee cuts loose on the two villains with a powerful sonic scream. Black Tom lunges at his cousin, but Banshee flips him and sends him careening off the tower and down into the ocean below. Concerned for his friend, the Juggernaut abruptly abandons his fight and dives in after him, vowing that if Tom dies he will come after the X-Men and finish them.
Later and elsewhere, Erik the Red reports back to his master concerning his minion’s failure to defeat the X-Men. The shadowy master expresses his disappointment with Erik. But Erik vows that his next scheme will not fail. He intends to use unleash the X-Men's most deadly foe of all upon them: Magneto!
Uncanny X-Men #104
Moira MacTaggert has sent a message directing the X-Men to go to Muir Island off the coast of Scotland. In order to get there, the team must first persuade a reluctant local fisherman, Angus MacWhirter, to rent them his hovercraft. Their mission is to find out why Moira's assistant, Jamie Madrox, has been out of contact for several days. Before they can dock on the island, however, the hovercraft is disassembled by a massive bolt of magnetic energy, sending them all tumbling into the ocean. They all swim ashore but find that the island is surrounded by a magnetic force field.
Before they can figure out what to do next, the ground beneath them is pulled up into the sky and they are levitated into view of Moira's Mutant Research Center. The X-Men are amazed at the enormity of the facility located there and they wonder aloud just who Moira MacTaggert really is. They are almost crushed against a wall, but launch a quick defensive attack in order to pummel through it. As they recover from a crash landing, the doorway ahead of them bursts open, revealing the X-Men's oldest enemy: Magneto, no longer a child.
Elsewhere in the complex, the X-Men's Blackbird lands, and Moira and Cyclops emerge. Cyclops is disgruntled that, as an original X-Man, the existence of this facility and Moira’s work hadn’t been shared with him. They find Jamie Madrox, who is just reviving after having been knocked out. He explains how he was attacked and immobilized by Havok, Polaris and Erik the Red. While Jamie was kept in stasis, they went to Magneto’s containment cell, where he had been kept since he was transformed into a small child. Erik then restored Magneto to his prime and tried to enlist him in his cause of destroying the X-Men. Magneto refused to be subservient to anyone else, but did vow that he would destroy the X-Men anyway.
Cyclops rushes off to join the rest of the X-Men, who are not faring well in battle against Magneto. His magnetic powers give him an advantage against both Wolverine's adamantium claws and Colossus's metal body. Storm’s lightning bolts have no effect on him either. Magneto covers Nightcrawler in debris and seals Banshee in a cocoon of metal particles. Fortunately, Cyclops arrives and manages to stun Magneto with the full power of his optic blast. Seeing as the group is clearly unprepared to battle Magneto, Cyclops orders them to retreat, much to Wolverine's chagrin. As they are leaving, Wolverine notes a monitor indicating that Dragonfly of the Ani-Men has escape from her containment cell.
While fleeing the scene in the Blackbird, Cyclops informs his team that the recent attacks on the X-Men orchestrated by Erik the Red are a diversion. Erik (who must be an alien, given the technology at his disposal) is really targeting Professor X because of his recent psychic rapport with an alien being. Cyclops says it’s imperative they return to Xavier immediately. Unconvinced, Wolverine dismisses Cyclops as a coward.
Back on Muir Island, Magneto gloats about his victory over the X-Men and leaves to plot anew. He passes by a door labeled "Mutant X", which begins to glow.
Meanwhile in deep space aboard a starship known as the “Starjammer”, the space pirate Corsair tells his shipmate Ch'Od that nine stars are moving into the correct alignment, and so the “Emperor” must be planning to open a stargate. The Emperor’s sister Lilandra (the woman that has been haunting Xavier's dreams) is rushing toward the Earth in the hope that Charles and his X-Men might be able to help stop her brother. Before she can get to Earth, however, she is attacked by an Imperial cruiser.
In New York City, Jean Grey is reunited with her parents in the company of the Professor and her roommate, Misty Knight. They are unaware that their reunion is about to be cut short by an attack about to be launched by Erik the Red, Havok and Polaris.
Uncanny X-Men #105
The X-Men return to Xavier’s school and discover Erik the Red lurking in their headquarters. They attack him with their full fury only to be struck from behind by Firelord, the former herald of Galactus. Despite the X-Men's best efforts to defend themselves, they are no match for one who wields the power cosmic; he easily knocks them all out.
Erik the Red has duped Firelord into helping him by having had Havok and Polaris pretend to attack him earlier (in an “offscreen” incident) in order to convince the former herald that the X-Men were evil. Erik claims to be a benign alien explorer who stumbled upon a plot by the X-Men to take over the world. Having successfully tricked Firelord, he urges him to seek out and destroy their leader, Charles Xavier.
At that same moment in outer space, a Shi'Ar imperial cruiser piloted by Captain K'rk is attempting to stop another starship from carrying the dethroned empress (and current rebel) Lilandra to Earth. Before K’rk can destroy the ship, Lilandra locates Charles Xavier and teleports to his location on the planet’s surface. The Professor is just then visiting Jean (the Phoenix) and Misty Knight at their shared apartment. Jean’s parents are visiting as well and Lilandra materializes before all of them.
The Professor uses telepathy to instantaneously teach Lilandra English. She exclaims the fate of the universe is in jeopardy, but before she can explain further Firelord bursts through the wall to confront them. Jean transforms her clothing into her Phoenix costume and is able to hold her own against Firelord in combat, surprising everyone witnessing it, even Firelord himself.
Erik the Red arrives and attempts to abduct Lilandra, but the X-Men have followed him and try to fend him off. Phoenix is able to blast Firelord away, hurling him as far as the New Jersey Meadowlands. The X-Men, however, fail to stop Erik the Red from taking Lilandra.
On the roof of the apartment building, Erik constructs a warp gate and uses it to depart Earth with Lilandra as his captive. The portal closes behind him, preventing the X-Men from following. Phoenix then uses her immense powers to activate the warp gate long enough for all the X-Men to travel through it, Phoenix jumping in last.
As the portal closes, Professor X, Misty, and Jean’s parents are left behind to wonder if they will make it back alive. Firelord returns and demands to know where the Phoenix has gone. Charles tells him that she is at the other end of the universe trying to save all of creation from destruction.
Uncanny X-Men #106
Professor X placates Firelord by explaining the true facts concerning Erik the Red. Xavier explains that the X-Men have pursued him to another galaxy. Then the Professor reels from another mental attack, similar to those he had when Lilandra was approaching Earth. As he collapses, Xavier's mind returns to a moment long ago when a similar attack brought Moira MacTaggert to his side...
The X-Mansion, shortly after the new team has been assembled: Xavier calls to Moira, asking for her help; she gives him a sedative to help him sleep. Meanwhile down below, the newly formed X-Men are in a training session in the Danger Room. In the scenario, Colossus shoves Wolverine out of the way of danger, irking the feral mutant. He almost attacks Peter, but Cyclops and the others break up the fight. Wolverine does not appreciate being ordered around and reminds Cyclops that he holds him personally responsible for Thunderbird's death.
Cyclops tries to smooth things over and stresses the importance of teamwork and training. Just then, they are suddenly interrupted by the original X-Men: Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman and the Beast. They mock the new team for not having what it takes and pick a fight. Right off the bat, the new team notices some differences between this group of attackers and the former X-Men they met previously: all are wearing their original costumes and the Beast is not covered in blue fur, as he was when they met him last.
Storm battles Marvel Girl, Wolverine tackles Iceman, Nightcrawler and Colossus take on the Beast, and Cyclops and Banshee square off against the Angel. Each of the original X-Men seem to be immune to the new team’s powers. Angel grabs Cyclops from behind and lifts his visor, forcing the full fury of his optic blast upon his teammates.
Before any serious harm can happen, Professor X crawls into the room and uses his mental powers to dispel the original X-Men. Afterwards, he tells his new students that they were only fighting mental constructs of the original team. When they ask who was responsible for the attack, they get the answer by way of a direct assault from Professor X… or rather his unleashed dark side. The evil Xavier, otherwise known as “the Entity”, unleashes his full mental powers on the X-Men. He is soon defeated, however, when the real Professor summons constructs of the original team to beat the evil entity into submission, thereby ending the threat. With the battle over, Xavier remarks that he must always keep his darker emotions in check, lest he harm those he cares about the most.
Xavier regains consciousness and notices that Firelord is gone. His thoughts then turn to his students who are in a galaxy far, far away and hopes that they survive the experience...
Uncanny X-Men #107
Transported to another galaxy via stargate, the X-Men (including the Phoenix) find themselves on the ancient and mostly barren planet in the heart of the Shi'Ar Empire. They are in pursuit of their enemy, Erik the Red, who has abducted the alien, Lilandra Neramani.
The Shi'Ar Empire spans its entire home galaxy. Currently, it is ruled over by the insane Emperor D'Ken (Lilandra's brother). Erik the Red is revealed to be Davan Shakari, a high-ranking Shi'Ar official loyal to D'Ken. Although mostly barren, this world does contain the M'Kraan Crystal, a mammoth and legendary jewel that contains unimaginable power. D'Ken has come here with an entourage of about twenty members of the empire's Imperial Guard in order to access the power of the Crystal. Legend states that when the stars are aligned in a particular way (as they have just recently done), then the Crystal can be penetrated and its power unleashed.
Shakari has brought Lilandra to be an offering to the demonic “Soul Drinker” beast which lurks upon this world. Cyclops demands that D'Ken hand over Lilandra to the X-Men. D'Ken dismisses him and orders his Imperial Guard to kill the X-Men. A ferocious battle commences. The X-Men hold their own against the Guard, despite the latter team's much larger number of combatants.
Emperor D'Ken unleashes the Soul Drinker on Lilandra, but Nightcrawler teleports to her rescue and spirits her away to the X-Men's side of the battlefield. The Soul Drinker therefore takes an unnamed member of the Imperial Guard in her place as its sacrifice. Elsewhere in the war zone, Wolverine's uniform gets shredded. He finds an Imperial Guardsman named Fang with a similar build to his, knocks him out, and takes his uniform.
Lilandra reveals that D'Ken intends to use the M'Kraan Crystal to gain absolute power. She opposed him and became his enemy and a fugitive of the empire. She explains further that she was first psychically connected to Professor Xavier when he used his mental powers to thwart an alien invasion by the Z'Nox; she journeyed to Earth to seek his aid in the hope that he could aid her resistance efforts.
Inexorably, the X-Men are being overwhelmed by the sheer number of their opponents. But the tide of the battle is turned by the arrival of the Starjammers, a group of interstellar pirates who join the X-Men in battle against the Guard. Phoenix mind-probes their leader Corsair and is shocked by what his thoughts reveal.
Suddenly the M'Kraan Crystal pulsates… and for a fraction of a second, reality ceases to exist! Back on Earth, Peter Corbeau warns the Fantastic Four that should reality suffer more cosmic “blinks”, the universe will be destroyed.
Uncanny X-Men #108
Emperor D'Ken threatens to destroy the universe by utilizing the power of the M'kraan Crystal. The X-Men and the Starjammers hurriedly compare notes and determine that when specific stars (actually distant galaxies that appear to be single points of light from the planet's surface) come into alignment, the crystal can be penetrated. D'Ken intends to enter it so as to access its full power.
On Earth, Peter Corbeau teleconferences with President Jimmy Carter, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. He relates some grim news: a strange force in another galaxy is threatening to destroy the universe. The Wasp remarks on how helpless she feels when faced with a crisis even Earth's mightiest heroes cannot stop.
On the M'Kraan world, the X-Men approach the crystal and are confronted by its defender, a small android named Jahf, who tells them that, as long as the gate is open, no one may approach the crystal and live. Wolverine mocks the small android, but one punch from Jahf launches him into orbit! Only quick thinking by the Starjammers' robot pilot Waldo saves him. He teleports Wolverine aboard the ship and into the medical bay.
Jahf battles both the X-Men and the Starjammers, easily thrashing them with his superior strength. Brute force doesn't work, so the X-Men pool their abilities to fight the creature. Storm clouds Jahf in a pea-soup fog, allowing Banshee to get close enough to unleash the full fury of his sonic scream. While he manages to destroy Jahf, he strains his vocal chords to such an extent that he can barely talk.
The two teams are immediately attacked by a second guardian of the crystal, a giant robot named Modt, who states that his power is a thousand times greater than Jahf's and that, if he falls, the intruders will face a guardian whose power is a thousand times his. During the fight, the Starjammer Raza finds Emperor D'Ken and assaults him. He inadvertently tosses the despot into the M'kraan Crystal, causing both groups to be transported within.
Inside the crystal, everyone find themselves in a large vacant city. At its center is a sphere of pure light that Phoenix finds herself drawn to. Upon touching it, everyone present is struck by a bolt of energy that awakens in their mind their greatest fears. Phoenix manages to shake off the effect and when Cyclops goes berserk as a result of his hallucinations, she renders him unconscious. The sphere begins to crack, so she channels the full extent of the Phoenix force into it and learns that it is keeping the birth of a neutron galaxy at bay. Should that barrier break, the galaxy will collapse into a black hole large enough to consume the whole of this universe (including the 616 reality and all other timelines and dimensions), destroying it utterly to make way for a new universe.
Phoenix attempts to repair the damage, but even her power is not enough; she needs additional life force energy to help repair the damage. Aside from Phoenix, only Storm and Corsair have been able to fight off the sphere's hallucinatory influence. She convinces them both to give her a portion of their life forces. Phoenix also reveals to Corsair that she knows he is Christopher Summers, the presumed-dead father of Scott (Cyclops), a revelation Storm overhears.
Phoenix uses the full extent of her powers to repair the damage. As she works, Corsair approaches an unconscious Cyclops and is shocked to realize he is his son. Slowly, Cyclops is coming round and vaguely hears his words, but doesn't consciously register them.
With the repairs completed, Phoenix instantly transports all the X-Men back home to Earth via the stargate. Professor X, Misty Knight and the Greys are still there waiting for them. They are also confronted by Firelord, but he explains that he has no quarrel with them anymore after Xavier explained how he was manipulated by Erik the Red. Everyone is surprised, however, when Empress Lilandra comes through the gate as well. The stargate then burns out entirely, ensuring that Lilandra must remain on Earth. She explains to Charles and the X-Men that her brother was consumed by the M'kraan Crystal, and she is now the ruler of the Shi'Ar Empire. However there will be bureaucratic matters to sort out before she can ascend to the throne. Until then, she wants to spend time with Charles on Earth.
Uncanny X-Men #109
The X-Men at last return home after their adventure in the Shi’Ar galaxy. Wolverine is in a hurry to shed Fang’s uniform as he finds the alien fabric distinctly uncomfortable. They are accompanied by Lilandra, who is shown around the school. Phoenix reminisces about a moment that occurred just prior to returning to Earth: a brief conversation with Corsair in which he asked her to never tell Cyclops that he is his father. Phoenix agreed but stated that she feels she is betraying Scott by keeping such a secret from him. Storm, who overheard their conversation, warns Jean about keeping such vital information from the man she loves.
In the present however, Phoenix has a heart-to-heart with her parents. She reveals to them her recent experiences and her new identity as the Phoenix. From a distance, Scott observes them and thinks to himself that Jean now seems like an entirely different person. Nightcrawler sees Scott and tries to break him out of his funk, but Scott snaps at him angrily. Nightcrawler then retorts at how difficult it is being born blue and furry.
The X-Men take a well-deserved day off. Moira tells them of a lake in upstate New York where Charles and she once visited during their courtship. Moira, Sean, Ororo and Peter prepare for an outing. Misanthropic Wolverine elects to tag along in order to do some hunting. Storm is appalled and criticizes him for wishing to kill defenseless animals. Wolverine responds sharply that it "takes no skill to kill..." and that he does not intend to use lethal measures. Storm apologizes, but Wolverine couldn’t care less.
Meanwhile in Canada, James-MacDonald Hudson, an agent of a Canadian government-sponsored defense program (Department H) dons a high-tech battlesuit and becomes Weapon Alpha. He flies to the United States on a mission to capture and retrieve a rogue agent: Wolverine. James and Wolverine have a long history together, and he knows that he will be in for the fight of his life.
At the lake, Storm and Colossus relax on the shore, taking in the sun, while Banshee and Moira play around in the water. Wolverine skulks about the surrounding area, tracking a small deer. Just as he comes in close enough to touch it, Weapon Alpha appears before him. Hudson refers to Wolverine as "Weapon X" and states that he is still the property of the Canadian government. Wolverine has no intention of returning to his former employers. He lunges at Weapon Alpha, slashing at him with his claws. The electromagnetic fields of Hudson's battlesuit protects him, however. He blasts the feisty mutant away with his repulsor weapons, sending him flying through the trees.
Wolverine lands close to the lake and the other X-Men snap to attention. Weapon Alpha engages Peter, who transforms into Colossus and punches him back through the trees. Regaining control of his suit's flight systems, he turns back and unleashes a volley of electro-blasts against Colossus. One of his shots ricochets off the hero's steel frame and hits Moira. Banshee goes berserk and pummels Weapon Alpha with a concentrated sonic scream. Hudson realizes that he cannot take on Wolverine AND his teammates by himself. Promising a rematch, he flies off and returns to Canada.
Uncanny X-Men #110
The story opens with the X-Men enjoying a casual game of baseball on the school lawn. They are expecting a telephone repairman to stop by, so when they take a break from the game Moira returns to the X-Mansion to await the doorbell. But the “repairman” whom she opens the door for is really the mercenary Warhawk. He takes Moira down with a tranquilizer dart and immediately heads for the Danger Room. Once there, he rigs a device into the circuitry of the control console. As he does this, He receives a telepathic command from an unidentified person who reminds him that he will only be allowed to retain his sanity if he succeeds in his mission.
The X-Men finish up their game and Cyclops instructs them all to head to the Danger Room for a training session. As the rest of the team depart, Jean makes an excuse to Professor X, saying she isn’t sure if she wants to officially rejoin the X-Men. In her private thoughts, however, she admits to herself that her newly expanded power levels unnerve her, especially the fact that using them seems to act as an opiate: she craves the good feeling from using them. As Jean and the Professor are talking, Warhawk gets the drop on them, knocking them both out with gas.
Downstairs in the Danger Room, the X-Men are alarmed to discover that they are now locked inside with the various traps running wild and the safety measures apparently disengaged. The team is forced to fight for their lives. Cyclops flips the emergency shutoff switch but it has been deactivated. Pressed for options, he orders Nightcrawler to teleport himself and Wolverine outside and shut off the Danger Room in the control room. Nightcrawler complies, but he still lack of experience teleporting with “passengers.” The strain causes both of them to black out momentarily in the outer hallway.
Cyclops, Storm, Banshee and Colossus fight for their lives against training programs that gradually escalate in complexity, becoming more difficult to fight off the more they fight. Wolverine revives and kills the master power to the Danger Room. He’s attacked by Warhawk. Although caught off guard, his claws are able cut through Warhawk's steel skin. Cyclops’ optic beams blow open the Danger Room doors and the trapped X-Men emerge. Warhawk attempts to use his gas bombs on them, but he discovers too late that they have been stealthily confiscated by Nightcrawler. He is then knocked out by Colossus.
Soon afterward, the police come to take Warhawk away. The X-Men have changed into their civilian clothes and Captain Delaney asks how a group of school kids were able to capture a powerful super-villain? Scott remarks that they just got lucky. Jean realizes she will need the Professor’s help to rein in her new powers and announces her decision to officially rejoin the X-Men. When Scott wonders aloud who sent Warhawk after them, the Professor tells his students that he was unable to pull that information from Warhawk's mind (He succumbed to insanity after his defeat, much like his paymaster told him he would.) Xavier cautions the X-Men there may be new threats coming their way. But Wolverine boasts that they aren't pushovers and that they will be ready to face anyone who messes with them. This gets an approving cheer from his fellow X-Men.
Uncanny X-Men #111
Donning a trenchcoat and fedora to disguise himself, former X-Man-turned-Avenger the Beast has travelled to Dallas, Texas in search of the X-Men. Arriving at Mr. Mike's One-Ring Traveling Tent Show, he’s incredulous at what he finds: Banshee has become a carnival barker and is exhorting circus-goers to come see a freak show.
The Beast has still never met the new team in person and therefore can’t be entirely sure if the “freaks” he’s looking at are in fact the X-Men. They certainly appear to be them, but they do not act like the heroes he’s heard about: A demonic-looking freak (Nightcrawler) gnashes his teeth and growls at the audience. A half-naked savage (Wolverine) is chained in imposing shackles and appears doped up. An “African goddess” (Storm) endures sexist catcalls as she poses in a mini-thong. A steel man (Colossus) is a weight-lifter.
In a flashback sequence, the Beast reflects on the chain of events that brought him there. (See the Notes section below for a full explanation.) Upon finding Xavier’s school deserted, apparently in a hurry, he used Cerebro to track them, which led him to the circus.
Next, Beast observes an acrobatic show under the big top. A trapeze artist billed as “Miz Destiny” performs without a safety net and misses a connection with her fellow performer, thereby plunging toward the floor below. Beast is about to leap to her rescue, but there’s no need: Miz Destiny’s fall slows and she appears to somersault her way to the floor. While the audience believes it’s a remarkable display of gymnastics, the Beast recognizes it as Marvel Girl’s telekinetic abilities. Miz Destiny is Jean Grey.
Following her to her trailer, Hank is flummoxed to find that her personality has been drastically changed to a trashy vamp. A carny names “Slim” enters and Hank realizes it is Scott (Cyclops). Scott knocks the Beast’s hat off and Jean is horrified by his appearance, neither one recognizes their former teammate. Beast knocks “Slim” out of the trailer, prompting him to call out to more carnies for help.
The Beast ducks into the freak show tent to try and figure out what's going on, but gets punched by a hypnotized Colossus. He's dragged off to trailer of “the boss" -- the X-Men’s old foe Mesmero, who gloats how he used his mutant hypnosis ability to enthrall the new X-Men. Now as two of his men pin the him down, Mesmero turns his powers on the Beast, who does his best to resist.
Having seen the Beast get captured, Wolverine begins to react to his situation and he musters the strength to break free of his chains and shake off the effects of the hypnosis he’s been under. He snatches a carny and threatens to pop his claws into him unless he tells him what’s going on. It doesn’t take much convincing to get the carny to talk.
Meanwhile Wolverine has changed into his costume and bursts into Jean's trailer. He decks “Slim” and confronts "Miz Destiny", slapping her repeatedly in an effort to snap her out of Mesmero’s spell. He almost regrets it, as Jean reacts violently, pummeling him with the force of the Phoenix. It works though and she remembers who she is.
In his trailer, Mesmero is perplexed at the Beast’s mental stamina. The Beast glibly cracks jokes, but actually feels his resolve crumbling. At that moment, however, a carny bursts in and alerts him that all hell is breaking loose. The disruption enables the Beast to knock out the carnys holding him down. He’s about to attack Mesmero, but instead he’s laid low from an attack coming from behind him. As the former X-Man slumps to the floor, Mesmero reacts in horror when he see who’s responsible.
The X-Men have all been restored to normal thanks to Phoenix and are in their usual costumes. They are also furious as they battle the carnies. Storm even remarks that she is tempted to set aside her vow never to kill another person. In short order, the whole team convenes on Mesmero’s trailer. Upon entering it, they find the Beast slumped on the floor with Mesmero standing over him. Cyclops confronts Mesmero, who keels over as well. The X-Men become aware that another person is in the room, someone seated in the high-back swivel chair behind Mesmero’s desk. As the chair spins round, the X-Men all gape in horror as they come face to face with...Magneto!
Uncanny X-Men #112
After freeing themselves from the control of Mesmero, the X-Men have stormed the villain’s carnival trailer, expecting to confront him and rescue the Beast. Instead, they discover Mesmero has already been defeated by Magneto, who has hijacked the hypnotist's revenge plot.
Wolverine is all ready to lunge to at the master of magnetism (something that doesn’t rattle Magneto at all), but Cyclops holds him back. Convinced that the new team are not ready to take him on, Cyclops orders everyone out of the trailer. Nightcrawler teleports outside and his teammates hear him cry out in fright. Colossus almost bursts out the door to discover that Magneto has already encased the trailer in a magnetic bubble and they are all several miles up in the air and flying at a fast clip. Nightcrawler was just barely able to grab ahold of the trailer step in time. Colossus pulls him inside.
The Beast revives. With no other choice, the X-Men listen as Magneto relates details of his latest plot against them. Following his battle with them on Muir Island, he had conflicts with Captain America and Dr. Doom before resolving to take out the X-Men at their own home base. Upon arriving at Xavier’s school however, he was perplexed to find it empty. He was still there when the Beast arrived to search for the team though and followed him to Dallas.
Cyclops questions why Magneto would strike out at Mesmero, who was his former ally. Magneto reveals that he’s never even met him and that the “master of magnetism” that schemed with him against the original X-Men was a robot imposter. As the trailer flies over South America, he magnetically hurls Mesmero away to the Earth. Storm is indignant at what looks like a casual murder, but Magneto assures her that Mesmero will be deposited safely, if not gently, in the Andes. Meanwhile, a fighter jets approaches and its pilot and co-pilot observe the flying circus trailer, as well as Mesmero being jettisoned from it, and are baffled.
The trailer is taken to a volcano in Antarctica where it lowers into the lava, protected by Magneto's powers until it reaches his secret base within it. Once inside he shatters the trailer, sending the X-Men sprawling. Wolverine is knocked out in the fall. The X-Men launch individual attacks on their opponent, however they are all easily overpowered: Cyclops strikes first and lands a blow. Magneto tosses Colossus's metal body aside easily. Beast is shocked into unconsciousness. Storm, recalling her last encounter with Magneto and how he overcame her, deliberately switches tactics. She gains a brief advantage over him, but ultimately Magneto fires back and subdues her. Nightcrawler is magnetically hurled at Colossus, who fears Kurt will not survive barreling into his metallic form at such a rate of speed. For his comrade’s sake, Colossus reverts to flesh and blood; Nightcrawler survives but both heroes are knocked out. As Storm did, Banshee recalls the last battle on Muir Isle and tries varying his method of attack, but he discovers (painfully) that Magneto has anticipated and prepared for that. As Cyclops then pummels Magneto’s force field with his optic beams, he laments how the team’s disorganized, scattered attacks were as much to blame for their defeat as Magneto’s power. Then, Cyclops is taken out.
Magneto is openly dismissive of “Marvel Girl’, but is taken aback by the Phoenix’s savage and powerful psychic assault. She very nearly overcomes him, thinking to herself that he actually looks frightened. But she suddenly reaches an upper limit to the Phoenix force power, one she didn’t have before. Rattled, Phoenix loses her advantage of surprise and is knocked out.
While Magneto is distracted by Phoenix, Wolverine revives and manages to sneak up close enough to to slash at Magneto from behind with his claws, injuring him. Angered by the feral mutant, Magneto uses his powers to try and make Wolverine stab himself in the face. In order to save himself, Wolverine sheaths his claws and ends up landing a knockout punch on himself instead.
The entire team has been taken out. Magneto takes a moment to gloat over his victory. Some time later, the members of the X-Men revive only to find themselves all strapped into restraining chairs. Magneto then introduces Nanny, their robotic “governess.” The chairs, Magneto explains, are locked into their neural systems. It not only prevents them from using their powers, it renders them immobile and unable to coherently speak. Magneto’s revenge is to leave them in a similar state he found himself: still possessing his adult mind and memories but as helpless as a pre-verbal child.
Uncanny X-Men #113
Magneto attacks a research facility in Australia while a news camera team attempts to film it. He turns his wrath on them and brings the filming to an abrupt end. Six hours later, BBC news reporter John Cheever reports that the base has been utterly destroyed. Cheever laments that Magneto’s longtime enemies the X-Men seem to have vanished off the face of the Earth.
On the Greek isle of Kirinos, Lilandra muses that she’s enjoyed the “primitive” world called Earth, mainly because of Charles. However Professor Xavier is disturbed that he has lost his telepathic rapport with the X-Men for over a week. He is unable to contact or locate them. Lilandra tries to reassure him, but Xavier remains pensive.
In Magneto's Antarctic base, the X-Men are still locked in the restraint chairs that reduce their motor functions to be those of small children. Magneto's robot Nanny dotes over them in a patronizing manner, feeding them as they were infants. Storm, however, has been keeping track of Nanny’s movements and her scheduled routine and enacts an escape plan. Shaking off her headdress, she exposes a set of lockpicks she keeps within it. Grasping one with her teeth, she sets to work unlocking the chair.
As she works, she recalls how, after her parents were killed, a near-infant Ororo was brought before the master thief of Cairo, who trained her to be an expert thief even as a child (and hence, she is able to circumvent some of the inhibitions Magneto’s chair places on her.) But Storm gets so caught up in her reveries, she accidentally drops her pick. Nanny returns and Storm fears she’ll discover the lockpicks. She convinces the robot that she’s just upset that her headdress fell off and so Nanny puts it back in place. Although she’s successfully fooled Nanny, Storm is reduced to tears of frustration by the wasted exertion and the prospect of starting all over.
Time passes. Magneto is in his rebuilt Asteroid M base and busy at evil schemes when he receives an alert of a minor malfunction at his Antarctic base. He goes to investigate. When he arrives, he finds the lights out and Nanny malfunctioning. Of course he’s aware that it’s a trap, but steps into it anyway, supremely confident that will once again easily crush the X-Men.
This time, however, Phoenix has telepathically linked the X-Men which allows Cyclops to issue orders to them without speaking. They work as a team and are able to gain and keep the upper hand. Using hit and run tactics, they quickly have Magneto on the ropes, pummelling him relentlessly. Phoenix hurls him into a control console and Colossus brutally pounds away at him.
Nightcrawler is the first to realize that lava is leaking into the base. Magneto hurriedly explains that Phoenix hurled him into the controls for the protective dome, which has now begun to open and is allowing lava to flood in. The fight breaks up as the situation becomes more dire. Nightcrawler tells Magneto to take them out the same way he got them in -- in a magnetic force bubble. He refuses, though. Taking advantage of their momentary alarm, Magneto hurls Colossus away from him, snatch his helmet back and abandon the X-Men to their fate.
Lava spills in, threatening to bury the whole complex. The Beast pushes Phoenix out of the way of falling debris, but separates them from the rest of the team. The X-Men are cut off.
A gravely injured Magneto makes a supreme effort to escape just before the volcano erupts. The plans he’d been working on are now ruined, as the vital data he’d kept in that base is gone, and he has been so badly injured by Colossus, he will need months to recover. He does grudgingly admit to himself his admiration that, once Cyclops got the X-Men to fight as a team, they proved to be a formidable force. As he flies away, he consoles himself with the knowledge that there was no way they could have escaped; they must be dead.
After he’s gone, Phoenix bursts out of the ruins of the base with the Beast, but the strain causes her to faint. Trapped in the harsh Antarctic environment, the Beast attempts to carry Jean to safety but soon the elements begin taking their toll on him and he collapses as well.
Uncanny X-Men #114
Continued from last issue..
Lost in Antarctica and despite seemingly hopeless odds, the Beast has forced himself to his feet and is carrying an unconscious Phoenix through a snowstorm. In the distance, he spots a helicopter from a research base, although they are definitely too far away to see the two heroes. The Beast revives Phoenix, hoping she can generate a lightshow to attract them. Rattled, she recalls that Scott and the rest of the X-Men were buried and she desperately blasts away at the ground in an effort to dig them out. The helicopter pilot sees her flamebird effect and comes to their rescue but the Beast insists that rescuing the other X-Men is a hopeless cause; they are certainly dead.
The Beast is wrong, however. The other X-Men are still alive, having tunneled through bedrock beneath them to escape from the engulfing lava. They’ve tunneled all the way to the Savage Land. Recognizing that Storm (who is claustrophobic) has been particularly rattled by their near entombment, Banshee suggests they take flight for a while. But in the air, Banshee is attacked by a pterodactyl, prompting Wolverine and Colossus to perform a “fastball special.” Wolverine hacks the prehistoric creature to death with his adamantium claws, bringing it down to earth. While Banshee is saved, Cyclops berates Wolverine for his reckless action.
Banshee reports sighting a village and the group heads there. They are unaware of being watched by Dr. Karl Lykos who recognizes Cyclops, despite the change in his costume, as one of the X-Men.
A week later, Jean and Hank have returned to the school. Beast meets Lilandra while Jean has the unfortunate task of telling Professor Xavier that the other X-Men are dead.
As guests of the Savage Land’s Fall People, the very-much-alive X-Men spend the same week recovering from their ordeal with Magneto. Cyclops is by himself shaving and looking at his reflection in a pond when he notices his striking resemblance to the Starjammer known as Corsair, triggering a flood of half-buried memories of himself and Alex being pushed out of an airplane while Corsair and an unidentified woman look on. However, Storm’s untimely interruption disturbs his memory. Scott confesses that while he mourns for Hank, he feels no loss over Jean’s seeming demise. Storm is angered by Scott’s seeming indifference and suggest that Scott never truly loved Jean before stalking away. Elsewhere, Colossus takes up the hospitality of the native women while Wolverine quietly grieves over Jean's supposed death.
Having gone for a swim, Storm lies on the beach, resting in the sun. She does not notice Karl Lykos approaching her. Lykos absorbs some of her mutant life energies but he takes too much, prompting a transformation to begin. Hearing Storm’s scream and seeing a lightning flash, the other X-Men rush to her side. They find Sauron standing over her inert form, pledging to kill her and the rest of the X-Men.
This story is continued next issue...
Uncanny X-Men #115
Continued from last issue...
Sauron has left Storm unconscious as he confronts the X-Men. Wolverine acts first, lunging at their foe with claws ready only to be struck by the creatures hypnotic powers. Sauron makes Wolverine see the other X-Men as demons and he attacks his team mates Cyclops knocks Wolverine out with an optic blast so that they can concentrate on stopping Sauron.
As Cyclops and Banshee fight the mutate, while Colossus tends to Storm and Nightcrawler revives Wolverine. But Wolverine is still under the influence of Sauron's hypnosis, however, and strikes down Nightcrawler. Seeing Cyclops blasting Sauron, Wolverine's warped perceptions cause him to interpret it as Cyclops attacking Phoenix and he tries to stop him, only for Cyclops to blast him again. Caught between Cyclops' optic blast and Banshee's sonic scream, Sauron is weakened almost to the point where he is about to transform into Lykos again.
Attempting to prevent this, Sauron returns to where he attacked Storm. He targets Colossus, who has reverted to flesh form while helping Storm. Under Cyclops's orders, Colossus transforms into his organic steel mode, causing feedback that throws Sauron aside. Sauron then reverts back to Karl Lykos once more. Before Wolverine can slay him, he is stopped by Ka-Zar and Zabu who have just arrived and consider Lykos a friend. Cyclops, remembering Ka-Zar from their previous encounters, orders Wolverine to stand down. Ka-Zar explains that he heard rumors among the Savage Land’s tribes of a team of superhumans and guessed it must be the X-Men.
Returning to the Fall People's village, Lykos explains that following his previous encounter with the X-Men, where he unsuccessfully attempted to commit suicide in Tierra Del Fuego, he followed a system of caverns to the Savage Land. Once there, he witnessed strange rites performed by a cult led by a woman named Zaladane. The cult worshipped a deity called Garrok the Petrified man. He watched as Zaladane conducted a ceremony, transforming an ordinary man into a vessel for Garrok's essence and making him the living embodiment of the godly (actually demonic) entity. Ka-Zar recounts his own battles with the invading Sheenars from the Savage Land and Lykos tells how Garrok repelled the dimensional invaders. But afterwards, Garrok and his cult began building their own city using slave labor and installed themselves as rulers of the region. Lykos and Ka-Zar have been working together in combating the cult as it constructed a giant citadel that would threaten the stability of the Savage Land’s environment.
Ka-Zar asks for the X-Men's help. Wolverine and Banshee are both willing to fight but Cyclops declines Ka-Zar's request for assistance. He states that they need to get back to America and let the Professor know that they are still alive. Wolverine accuses Cyclops of cowardice.
Ka-Zar agrees to show them the way out of the Savage Land. But as they approach the waters leading to the outside world they find it frozen over. Snow begins falling, which at first the X-Men seem delighted by. But Ka-Zar points out to the team that snow in the Savage Land will spell out doom for the entire region.
This story is continued next issue...
Uncanny X-Men #116
Continued from last issue...
The construction of a massive citadel by the Sun People, the cult of Garrok the Petrified Man, has severely threatened the ecosystem of the Savage Land and the X-Men have agreed to help Ka-Zar prevent its destruction. As they approach the citadel, they are ambushed by a squad of Pterodactyl riders loyal to Garrok. During the fight, Cyclops, Colossus, Banshee and Ka-Zar are taken prisoner and carried away.
Wolverine assumes a leadership role and convinces Zabu to return to the Fall People’s village while he, Storm and Nightcrawler to the citadel’s gates. They find a sentry on lookout duty, but Wolverine sneaks up to him and “deals” with him. The confrontation takes place off-panel while Nightcrawler and Wolverine look appalled.
Sneaking inside, Wolverine deduces it’s the waste removal area for the city. While pointing out the route to their teammates, Wolverine is attacked by a small carnivorous dinosaur that chomps down on his arm. By unsheathing his claws, he easily waylays it. Storm remarks how he’s injured, but Wolverine states that he heals “real fast.” More dinosaurs attack, but Storm sweeps them away with a flash flood.
Eventually, the trio make their way to a vast arena, in the middle of which Garrok and Zaladane have the captured X-Men and Ka-Zar tied to posts. They are attempting to execute Colossus (held fast to a pyre by vibranium bands) by immolating him. As his organic metal body becomes red hot, Colossus wonders how much heat his body can withstand or if his skin can melt. Nightcrawler makes the longest single teleport leap of his life and removes the blindfold from Cyclops’ visor. Cyclops then uses an optic blast to free Colossus and Banshee while Storm (carrying Wolverine) swoops in to attack. As the team engages Zaladene’s troops in combat, Storm frees Cyclops and Ka-zar.
Garrok has exhausted too much energy building the citadel and needs to recharge his power. In the middle of the skirmish, he flees the scene but Cyclops sees him and takes pursuit. The chase leads him all the way to the top of the citadel. Cyclops realizes that the citadel is situated on top of the geothermal fissure that has heated the Savage Land since prehistoric times. Garrok attempts to access its power to recharge himself and the two men wage an “optic-beam duel”.
As he battles Cyclops, Garrok derives too much power from the citadel, de-stabilizing it. The combat below comes to an abrupt halt as the citadel begins collapsing. The X-Men begin rushing the Sun God’s people out of the city before it fully caves in. The citadel collapses and Cyclops and Garrok begin plunging down a shaft leading to the center of the Earth. Cyclops is rescued by Banshee while Storm races after Garrok. She withstands the extreme heat as well as her own claustrophobia, almost succeeding in rescuing Garrok. At the very last moment, though, she’s struck by debris. Succumbing to panic, she flies to safety while Garrok seemingly falls to his death.
The last of a the fortress caves in just as the X-Men escape. Storm emerges from the carnage but land far away from them. Banshee is about to fly to her location, but Wolverine stops Banshee him. He realizes that she wants to be alone to process what just happened.
Two weeks later, after the weather in the Savage Land has returned to normal, the X-Men bid farewell to Ka-Zar and Karl Lykos. They take a boat through the Drake passage leading to the ocean on their trek back to the civilized world. But as soon as they travel through the tunnel out of the Savage Land, they find themselves in the middle of a powerful and raging storm.
This story is continued next issue...
Uncanny X-Men #117
Continued from last issue...
The X-Men find themselves caught in the middle of a terrible storm at sea. Storm attempts to control the raging weather but it’s beyond even her abilities. They are rescued by a Japanese ship out on a government mission. The captain of the ship welcomes the X-Men aboard but tells the group that they are unable to make radio contact until the ship returns to Japan.
While at the school, Jean - who believes the X-Men are dead - is leaving for a vacation. As she departs, Lilandra considers how someone so young can go through so much grief. She then checks in on Charles, who is still reeling over the (supposed) deaths of his students. He tells her how he keeps on thinking of the beginning, when he decided to dedicate his life to peace between humans and mutants.
Many years earlier, when he and Moira MacTaggert (then Moira Kinross) were in love, he was drafted into the military. She promised to wait for him, but after being injured in combat and while recovering in the hospital, Moira would send him a “dear John” letter explaining that she had married someone else. Upon his release from the hospital, Charles spent time wandering the globe in bohemian fashion until he found his way to Cairo.
One day, he was robbed by a young female pickpocket -- a girl that Charles would later recognize as his future student Ororo (Storm) -- and chase after her. He would easily stop her with his mental powers, but sensing latent mutant abilities within her, he opened his mind to probe further, and was then struck down by an unexpected psychic attack. Frightened, young Ororo fled.
Upon recovering from the attack, Xavier tracked it to a nearby cafe where he would encounter a rival telepath named Amahl Farouk. Farouk used his own abilities to take control of the local thieves cartel and proposed an alliance with Xavier. Recognizing the man as evil, Charles refused and so Farouk engaged him in a psychic duel. Farouk transported their psyches to the astral plane where they would combat each other. His own power was great enough that when he landed a blow on Xavier’s psychic avatar, a wound manifested on his physical body.
Realizing he could not win against Farouk in a direct assault, Xavier held back. Farouk assumed Xavier was ceding defeat and gloated that while his physical form would experience an instantaneous death, his psyche would suffer eternal torment. As Farouk closed in, Xavier concentrated all his might into one explosive assault.
In the material world, Farouk (at least his physical form) keels over and drops dead. As attendants surround him to see what happened, Xavier casually sauntered away. Xavier finishes his recollection by telling Lilandra that afterwards he devoted his life to combating evil mutants but was shortly thereafter crippled by the alien Lucifer[1].
With the X-Men seemingly dead, Xavier does not know what to do next. Lilandra invites him to join her when she returns to the Shi'ar empire, and he accepts.
Later at JFK Airport, Jean Grey runs into her “erstwhile” roommate Misty Knight. Jean tells her she’s heading for the Greek Islands for a vacation while Misty relates that she and her colleague Colleen Wing are heading off to Japan on a mission. Misty's flight is about to depart, so she quickly bids Jean farewell, telling her to give Scott a kiss for her the next time they see each other. With Misty hurrying away, Jean doesn’t have time to explain that (as far as she knows) Scott and the X-Men are dead.
Uncanny X-Men #118
Continue from last issue...
The X-Men arrive in Japan aboard the ship Jinguchi Maru, where they find that the city Agarashima is ablaze with a great firestorm. The ship cannot dock at port due to the disruption, so the X-Men transport themselves to land. Wolverine reads a local newspaper and relates that most of the city was evacuated in advance of a strange and unnatural earthquake. Cyclops suggests they find their old ally Sunfire and see what they can do to help while at the same time contacting Professor X and letting him know that they are alive.
At that very moment, however, the Professor is aboard a starship en route to the Shi’ar galaxy headed to Lilandra's world, having decided to leave Earth because he believes the X-Men to be dead[2].
In Japan, Storm creates a mist to enable the X-Men to sneak into the Yashida estate. But they are exposed when Sunfire creates a flare. The team is surrounded by soldiers and Sunfire orders them to surrender. There is a short but tense confrontation, which is halted when Misty Knight shows up and tells Sunfire that the Prime Minister wants the X-Men's help.
Meanwhile, a freight truck pulls up near to the Yoshida estate. The driver alerts his partner that they strike at Midnight.
In a conference with Cyclops, the Prime Minister and Colleen Wing, Sunfire demands (in Japanese) that the Prime Minister allow him to deal with the crisis alone and not allow Misty, Colleen or the X-Men to interfere. Despite his angry demands, the Prime Minister does not change his decision much to Sunfire’s chagrin. Unable to follow the conversation, Cyclops searches for a phone to can call Professor, so he can relate that they're still alive and that (as far as he knows) Jean and Hank are dead. Lost in thought about Jean, Cyclops is unaware of Colleen eyeing him while thinking how attractive he is.
Cyclops finds Misty on the phone (to her boyfriend Iron Fist). When Misty is done, Cyclops calls the school and is surprised to find that the phone has been disconnected. When Cyclops tells Banshee that they need to check back on the mansion, he's told that Colleen is looking for him.
Outside the estate, the two truckers unlock their hauler, revealing armored suits.
In the estate’s gardens, Wolverine comes across young Mariko Yashida. The gentle woman is at first frightened by Wolverine's sudden appearance, but she’s made easy by the fact he is able to speak fluent Japanese and knows much about their culture. The two begin to bond when suddenly the palace is struck by another earthquake.
Wolverine takes Mariko to safety as the other X-Men and residents run out of the house. In reality, the house is being attacked by a platoon of soldiers dressed in Mandroid armor. Sunfire leaps to the P.M.’s defense, but is easily knocked out. The X-Men, however, take them out with relative ease, smashing their armor and preventing their escape. Colossus prevents the driver and his partner from escaping in their truck.
In the aftermath of the battle, a hologram of the Mandroid's leader appears, he introduces himself as Moses Magnum and demand that the government of Japan name him the ruler of the country in the next 24 hours or he will use his “magnum force” to sink the island of Japan.
This story is continued next issue...
Uncanny X-Men #119
Continued from last issue...
The Kurii islands off the coast of Japan: with Nightcrawler in tow, Storm flies to an especially remote island. When they are in close enough proximity, Nightcrawler teleports to a secret base upon it. After subduing a guard, he enters the base. While penetrating within, he reflects back on the start of the mission.
In a flashback, he recalls how Moses Magnum issued an ultimatum to the government of Japan: Turn the country over to him, or he will use his magnum force to sink the entire country. With the 24-hour deadline quickly approaching, the Prime Minister of Japan has asked the visiting X-Men to help stop him from destroying the country. After getting a briefing on the likelihood of Moses Magnum’s ability to actually do it, the X-Men and Sunfire set out to oppose him. The whereabouts of his secret base having been rooted out by Misty Knight and Colleen Wing.
The group has split into two teams to try and stop Magnum's operation that is located within the Kuril Islands. While Storm and Banshee have approached from the air (with Nightcrawler teleporting into the base solo), Cyclops leads Colossus, Wolverine and Sunfire in burrowing their way underground to the island. Meanwhile, all parties remain in radio contact with Misty and Colleen.
Storm relates to Banshee a message from Misty that they are to begin the assault. Banshee uses his sonic scream to disrupt the base’s scanners. This prompts the island’s defense soldiers to rush outside where Storm attacks them, leaving the base free for Nightcrawler to move around in. Nightcrawler’s specific mission is to operate a homing beacon in order to guide Cyclops’ team to the correct point at which to tunnel their way in. Having found a decent spot, he activates his homing beacon but reacts to a noise he hears elsewhere in the chamber.
Cyclops and Sunfire punch a hole through the floor. But upon entering it, Colossus is ambushed by Magnum who surprises them with his newly acquired super-human strength. Magnum punches Colossus with enough force to send him rocketing out of the base. Colossus barely manages to anchor himself before plunging off the island. After saving himself, he laments just how ineffectual he feels he’s been in battles lately.
Back inside, Cyclops, Wolverine and Sunfire rush Moses Magnum. The villain takes out Wolverine with a single punch. Cyclops orders Sunfire to get backup from Storm and Banshee. While Cyclops is alone against him, Magnum introduces two new soup-up Mandroids and sets them on Cyclops. Just then, Colossus returns and easily pummels the two Mandroids by himself.
Furious, Magnum runs from the room, promising to carry out his threat after all. Banshee attempts to follow, but a door slams shut between them. Acting on a hunch, Banshee tells Cyclops to get everyone clear from the island and flies off.
While Moses concentrates his newfound energy abilities, Banshee creates a solid wall of sonic screams across the island, exerting his mutant ability to its fullest extent. The rest of the team are deafened by Banshee’s assault, but he is successful as the entire island explodes.
A day later, Misty and Colleen are aboard a small prop plane scanning the island’s surroundings for survivors. They spot Sunfire in the air, who leads them to a small rocky outpost where the X-Men are stranded, including a gravely injured Banshee.
Ten days later, a cab drops Banshee off at the Yashida estate. Banshee ponders to himself that for the days immediately following the mission, he apparently lay comatose in the hospital and his teammates remained vigilantly by his side. Yet now on the day of his release, none of them came to the hospital. He enters the estate to find that they’ve arranged a surprise party for him and he realizes that it is Christmas Day.
Storm notices Wolverine sneaking out of the party to spend some quiet time with Mariko. Ororo thinks to herself how much gentler Wolverine seems in the young woman’s presence, something she appreciates. Ororo gives kurt a peck on the cheek for Christmas and then commiserates with Peter, who laments being away from his family on Christmas.
In Scotland, Jean arrives in Edinburgh and meets up with Moira, Alex (Havok), Lorna (Polaris) and Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man). Their plan is to celebrate Christmas together before traveling to Muir Island.
At that same time, ON Muir Island, the disgruntled Angus MacWhirter (who rented the X-Men a boat which was destroyed back in issue Vol 1 104) has broke into Moira’s facilities. He plans to rig charges and destroy the complex. As he skulks around, he passes by a door ID-ed as the holding cell for Mutant X. Alone in the corridors, Angus encounters a being that refers to him as “human” before attacking... and killing him.
Uncanny X-Men #120
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: the superhero known as Vindicator (formerly Weapon Alpha) meets with the Canadian Prime Minister to review footage of the X-Men’s battle with the Mandroids in Japan. The P.M. demands that Wolverine be captured and forced back into service for the Canadian government. Vindicator promises he won’t let him down as he did after his first failed attempt to capture him. Vindicator sends an alert out to five “very special people”, the members of a new, Canadian-based super-team called Alpha Flight: Jean-Paul Beaubier (Northstar), Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen (Shaman), RCMP corporal Anne McKenzie (Snowbird), Dr. Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch), and Jean-Paul's twin sister Jeanne-Marier (Aurora).
Meanwhile in Japan, the X-Men bid farewell to their ally Sunfire who is thankful for the groups aid in stopping Moses Magnum. Before leaving, Wolverine says goodbye to Mariko by presenting her with a white chrysanthemum and telling her his real name: Logan.
The X-Men take a private DC-10 plane back to the States with Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, but as it passes by Alaska, the plane run into turbulent weather all along the west coast. The pilot alerts Scott (noticing that he and Colleen have been together for the whole duration of the trip, and that they’ve fallen asleep in each other’s arms). Ororo awakens and senses something wrong about the storm. She tries to use her weather-control ability to rectify it but can’t. She realizes some intelligent force is directing the storm, resisting her. Meanwhile, Wolverine also awakens and becomes aware of the situation.
The pilot is forced to set the plane down in Calgary. Those onboard the plane are unaware that its “emergency” landing is anticipated there and a that a special operations team awaits them. They’re surprised to see a man on the runway, awaiting them. It’s Vindicator, demanding to see Wolverine. Cyclops tells the pilot to take off immediately. She wants to comply, but the plane is standing still at full throttle.
By now, the rest of the X-Men are awake and suiting up. Nightcrawler peers out the window and through the heavy snowfall he sees the outline of a large hairy man gripping the hull of the plane, holding it in place! That same hairy creature hoists the plane in the air and hurls it the length of the runway into an empty hangar. Vindicator chews out his teammate Sasquatch, who apologizes and states he doesn’t know his own strength. Vindicator flies toward the plane but finds it has already been abandoned. The blizzard picks up in ferocity and Vindicator questions Shaman. He replies that one of the X-Men must have elemental powers like him.
Under cover of the storm, the X-Men & co. sneak away and blend in with the crowd at the airport. Wolverine reluctantly explains that their main opponent is James-MacDonald Hudson, a.k.a. “Major Maple Leaf”, was in charge of putting together a team of Canadian superheroes and his earliest recruit was Wolverine. He was out in the field while the rest of the team was being assembled and doesn’t know (apart from Hudson) who they are or what their abilities are. Cyclops splits the team up and rendezvous downtown.
In a shopping mall, Banshee, Storm, and Colleen have stopped so that Storm can buy some clothes better suited to a low profile than her X-Man costume. While she’s changing, Vindicator tracks them down. Banshee recognizes him as the man who injured Moira (#109) and attempts to sonic scream at him, only to keel over in pain. Genuinely concerned, Vindicator is about to call a doctor, but Storm instead attacks him. Wary of a combat situation in such close quarters with civilians, he retreats.
Cyclops and Colossus see him speeding away. Cyclops realizes that, since many of Vindicator’s teammates are mutants, then it stands to reason he has technology similar to Cerebro, able to detect and track mutants. That means while the X-Men thought they were giving Alpha Flight the slip by splitting up, they only made themselves more vulnerable targets.
Elsewhere, Wolverine is lost in thought about Mariko and an old flame “Cracklin’ Rosa” when Sasquatch gets the jump on him, knocking him out and carrying him away.
The remaining X-Men regroup. Misty and Colleen have left to get in touch with their lawyer boss Jeryn Hogarth for legal advice. Cyclops tells his team that the X-Men didn’t start the fight, but will finish it…even if it’s over Alpha-Flight’s dead bodies.
This story is continued next issue...
Uncanny X-Men #121
Continued from last issue...
Cyclops, Colossus and Storm burst down the barriers to the exhibition grounds for the Calgary Stampede. After they’ve entered, a shadowy figure (Shaman) sprinkles magic dust from his pouch (medicine bag) along the entrance, sealing it off from any more outsiders.
As the X-Men search for their missing teammates, Cyclops reflects on the events of last issue, leading up to a moment in which Storm relates how she can trace Vindicator’s energy trail by following disruptions in the air, which led them to the stampede grounds.
Flying ahead, Storm locates Wolverine and Nightcrawler. As they close in on their subdued friends, the X-Men come face to face with Alpha Flight.
At the main gate, Banshee, Misty and Colleen arrive but a force field covers the gates where Shaman sprinkled his magic dust. They cannot enter.
Inside, Cyclops argues with Vindicator. Colossus gets skittish and kicks at the ground, sending out a shock wave that knocks the Flight members off their feet. Fighting breaks out and Nightcrawler and Wolverine (both of whom were just playing possum) leap to their feet.
The teams are evenly matched, but Alpha Flight gains the upper-hand through team-work. Shaman creates a blizzard to keep the X-Men off guard, but it quickly engulfs the entire city. Atop the Calgary Tower, restaurant patrons John and Darice find their pleasant dinner disrupted when the windows burst inwards.
The battle wages on until everyone is distracted by the blizzard, which is growing more intense by the moment. Even Shaman is overwhelmed by it. Sensing the dangerous forces Shaman has unleashed, Storm subdues Snowbird and diverts all her energy towards putting an end to the ferocious gale. She manages to dispel it, but as soon as she glides back to the ground, a devious Northstar punches her from behind.
Furious, Cyclops kayos Northstar and is ready to pummel him. But then Wolverine intervenes, calling a truce and stating that he’ll surrender so long as the rest of the X-Men are allowed to leave. Vindicator agrees.
The barrier across the gate fades away just as an armored car pulls up. Wolverine climbs in, ignoring insults hurled at him by Garson, a Department H functionary.
The next morning, a new jet is carrying the X-Men & co. homeward. It’s flanked by Canadian Air Force fighters until they reach U.S. airspace, at which point the fighters peel off. Cyclops polls the team about returning to rescue Wolverine, to which everyone agrees. But as he enters the cockpit to tell the pilot to turn around, he’s amazed to see Wolverine sitting in the co-pilot’s chair! He suggests they celebrate, because at long last the X-Men are going home.
Uncanny X-Men #122
The X-Men are once again back at the X-Mansion after their long sojourn. As the story opens, Colossus is in the middle of a Danger Room test and fairing poorly. His goal is to prevent a pair of crushing walls from pulverizing him, but he pleads that he cannot do it. In the monitor room overlooking the testing floor, Cyclops expresses concern that the Russian mutant’s lack of self-confidence is preventing him from exerting his full strength.
Wolverine has been observing the test and sneakily sabotages the controls in the monitor room, before entering the Danger Room. He climbs into the crushing unit and refuses to leave, thus putting his own life at risk as well as Colossus’s. Over the intercom, Cyclops relates that the safety parameters have been disabled and that Colossus must either defeat the test or he and Wolverine will be crushed. Colossus then rises to the challenge and saves them both. He thanks Wolverine for his “encouragement”, but Cyclops tasks Wolverine with repairing the controls he damaged.
Leaving the room, Cyclops runs into Colleen Wing who asks him out on a date. Glad to have a day off after their battle with the Living Monolith, he agrees to go. But first, he checks in with Sean and Kurt who have been in the hanger working to get the Blackbird back in operational order. Sean is puzzled as to why the Blackbird has been “mothballed” (taken out of commission and put into long-term storage), as much of the rest of the school has been. Scott wonders where Professor Xavier could have gone to while the X-Men were missing in action.
At that moment in deep space, Charles Xavier, consort to the galactic Empress Lilandra is being introduced to life on the Shi'ar throne world. Celebrations of Lilandra's ascension to the throne are met with much fanfare and Xavier is overwhelmed by the alien culture.
Meanwhile in Scotland, Jean has been out shopping and is carrying quite a load of packages on her way to meet with Moira, Alex, Lorna and Jamie Madrox. She quite literally runs into a man and spills her bundle. The man helps her pick up the packages and introduces himself as Jason Wyngarde before seeing her on her way.
When Jean meets up with Moira and the others at the dock, they pay no attention to a pair of local sailors who are looking for boat-renter Angus MacWhirter, who has gone missing since Christmas. As Moira’s boat carries her small group to Muir Isle, Jean does notice Wyngarde observing her from the shore. As he watches her, Wyngarde confidently muses to himself that he will make Jean fall in love with him. Standing under a street lamp, his shadow appears to be quite different than his body.
In New York, Cyclops and Colleen go on their date and Scott talk about their developing relationship. Elsewhere, Wolverine drops Storm off in the Harlem neighborhood where she was born. Driving back through the city, Logan sees Mariko Yashida entering the Japanese embassy and stops to gain admittance to see her but is refused at the door.
Ororo meanwhile is walking through her old neighborhood and is dismayed to see it has become a slum. Several local people she passes notice how very different she appears to most residents, including her white hair and tonier clothing.
Entering an old apartment building where her parents used to live, Storm is surprised to find that it is now an abandoned tenement and a junkie shooting gallery. When the junkies squatting there assault her, she uses her weather powers to fight back. One of them sneaks behind her and is ready to stab her but is subdued by Luke Cage, who is accompanied by Misty Knight. The pair explain they heard talk on the street about a woman who fit her description in the area and then saw lightning bolts emitted from the tenement window so they came to investigate. Ororo wants to help the junkies but the jaded Cage says the youths have made their choices and won’t take their help. He remarks “We’re superheroes, not gods...” Disillusioned, Storm departs with Cage and Knight.
Colleen takes the train back to the city, and Scott sees her off. As she leaves, Colleen gives Scott a farewell gift: the key to her apartment and an invitation to come by anytime.
Meanwhile aboard a private aircraft, Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy are seeking to hire an assassin to take care of the X-Men for them. They meet the lunatic hitman known as Arcade. Loving the possible challenge, Arcade tells the two men that he will take the job and that the X-Men are as good as dead.
Uncanny X-Men #123
The Amazing Spider-Man is swinging through New York's Greenwich Village when he recognizes Colleen Wing and Scott Summers and briefly stops in to say hello before swinging away again. Scott and Colleen are unaware that they are being watched by one of Arcade's minions, Mr. Chambers, who uses a specially rigged garbage truck to capture them. Overhearing this, Spider-Man recognizes the noise (he has dealt with Arcade before in Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 66). Arriving too late to stop the kidnapping, Spider-Man finds Colleen's scarf and concludes that Arcade is after Cyclops and the X-Men or Colleen's friends from Heroes for Hire.
Nightcrawler, Colossus, and their dates Amanda Sefton and Betsy Wilford are all gassed and taken prisoner by Miss Locke. Wolverine has been having dinner with Mariko. When he leaves, he too is captured by Mr. Chambers. Arcade personally takes care of Banshee and Storm by breaking into the X-Mansion and taking them out with tranquilizer darts. When Spider-Man calls the school, Arcade answers the phone and tells him that he's too late to warn his friends. He then somehow causes Spider-Man's phone booth to explode from a distance.
When the X-Men come around, they find themselves in uniform and placed in giant glass pinballs. Arcade introduces himself and sends them off through his gigantic pinball machine. After bouncing off a number of electrified bumpers, each ball goes down a separate slot, sending each X-Man into a different room.
Cyclops lands in a room where he has to make a choice between three doors, with only one leading to safety. In order to force him to make a decision, a moving wall threatens to crush him. Colossus ends up in a room where he is confronted by an android disguised as a KGB agent named Alexi Vazhin who begins interrogating him over his loyalty to Russia while powerful hypnotic lights confuse him. Wolverine ends up in a hall of mirrors that create distorted robotic duplicates of him to battle.
Somewhere else in the Murderworld, Nightcrawler is trapped in a room where remote control cars chase after him with cutting buzz saws. Banshee (who is still unable to use his mutant powers) has to make it through a holographic simulation of a World War II battle, where some of the model jets are real. And lastly, Storm finds herself trapped in a dark room that is filling with water. As her claustrophobia sets in, she tries to blast her way through the roof with a lightning bolt onto to have it reflected back at her.
Cyclops decides not to choose any of the doors and instead blasts through one of the walls with his optic blast. This clears a passage into the hall of mirrors and damages the replicating mirrors. After helping Wolverine dispatch of the last of them, the two X-Men head for the exit door only to be attacked by Colossus who has been brainwashed into thinking that he is a Russian loyalist called the Proletarian.
In Arcade's control room, Colleen, Amanda, and Betsy are being restrained in present-shaped harnesses and can only watch helplessly from the control monitor. Arcade howls with laughter, exclaiming that with Colossus under his control, the X-Men are finished.
This story is continued next issue.
Uncanny X-Men #124
Continued from last issue...
Captured by Arcade, the X-Men are being subjected to a variety of death traps in his lethal amusement park, Murderworld. Cyclops and Wolverine are currently facing off against Colossus, who has been brainwashed into thinking he is a "Proletarian", a Soviet loyalist.
Meanwhile, Arcade cackles with glee in his control room. With him are prisoners Colleen Wing, Amanda Sefton and Betsy Willford. When Colleen demands to know who he is, Arcade relates his origin story: he was an idle rich kid of Beverly Hills until his father cut off his money, prompting him to murder his father. Realizing that he had (in his words) “a knack for killing”, he then used his family fortune to construct Murderworld and hire himself out as an assassin. He recounts how he was previously hired by the Maggia to try and eliminate Spider-Man and Captain Britain, although the two heroes survived his traps.
Meanwhile, the battle between “Proletarian” and Wolverine and Cyclops continues. The brainwashed Colossus manages to knock both of his comrades through different revolving doors. Elsewhere, Storm tries desperately to get out of a room that is rapidly filling with water while struggling to keep her claustrophobia in check. Cyclops ends up landing in the room where Nightcrawler struggles to avoid being cut by a number of bumper cars lined with razor blades. When Cyclops arrives, all the cars pop out at once to strike.
Wolverine ends up in the holographic simulation alongside Banshee. Wolverine's senses allow him to find a wall and he attempts to cut through it. But Arcade, having already anticipated this, has a surprise waiting for the two mutants: robot duplicates of the Hulk and Magneto.
Storm attempts to find an escape underwater. Discarding her cape and boots, she swims down and finds a gated grate that might lead to a way out. Desperately hoping to be able to escape through it before her air runs out, she attempts to overload the room’s circuitry with a torrent of lightning bolts.
Cyclops dispatches the razor-cars with a trick shot and blasts a hole in the wall that leads to an access tunnel. He sends Nightcrawler off on his own to find the control room while he blasts his way into another room, the same room where Wolverine and Banshee are fighting the Hulk and Magneto robots.
Nightcrawler gets the drop on Arcade, Miss Locke and Mr. Chambers. Taking Miss Locke's machine gun, Nightcrawler blasts the controls to Murderworld before being brought down by knockout gas.
Cyclops, Wolverine and Banshee finish off the robots just as a panel in the wall opens, dumping out a flood of water into the room, as well as an unconscious Storm. Cyclops revives Storm just as Colossus enters the room. Still under the influence of his brainwashing, Colossus knocks out Wolverine and Banshee and begins to strangle both Storm and Cyclops. Storm, however, appeals to Colossus’s true nature, making him snap out of his brainwashing.
With the battle lost, Arcade decides to let the X-Men live and pushes a button that ejects the X-Men and their friends out of Murderworld into an abandoned amusement park. Moments later, Nightcrawler, Colleen, Amanda and Betsy are similarly ejected from the deadly theme park. Cyclops finds a note from Arcade pinned to Nightcrawler’s costume, telling the X-Men that they won the first round but he'll get them next time.
Although Wolverine wants to go back, Cyclops advises against it and the team decides to return home to recuperate from their battle.
Uncanny X-Men #125
On Muir Island, Moira MacTaggert is testing out Jean/Phoenix’s abilities to learn the upper limits of her expanded powers. Moira is disturbed at the seemingly limitless amount of energy the Phoenix can generate. After correlating some data, Moira hypothesizes that, after saving the universe from the effects of the M'kraan Crystal, Jean had subconsciously created her own mental barriers to keep her powers at a manageable level. Now, however, they seem to be returning to their cosmic level and Moira would like to know why. Moira’s theorizing prompts Jean to recall the events that transformed her into the Phoenix and then the events that brought her to Muir Island following the supposed deaths of the X-Men. (Unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure is spying on them.)
The X-Men are alive and well, however, and believe that Jean is the one who died (as well as the Beast). At that same time, they are undertaking a training session in the Danger Room. Wolverine attempts to help Colossus but is neutralized while an overconfident Nightcrawler is taken down by a sonic attack. After it’s over, Cyclops chews them out for their poor performance until Wolverine loses his temper over “playing games" and storms off. Cyclops laments to Storm that he’s uncertain the new X-Men, who still don’t function as a cohesive unit, will ever work as well together as the original team did because the disparate members were all brought together as adults rather than as teenagers as the original team were, and are each so strong-willed in their own ways that it’s hard for them to truly cooperate.
In orbit around Earth is Asteroid M, Magneto’s secret hideout. He is still recovering from injuries sustained in his last battle with the X-Men. While reviewing his computer records of his previous battles with the original team, he accidentally accesses an old data file on his late wife Magda. Seeing her face causes him to recall the painful memory of the death of their child child at the hands of bigoted peasants, as well as how Magda fled from him in fear when he used his powers to avenge their daughter. He deletes the file so that he does not have to relive the memories again.
Meanwhile, the mysterious man named Jason Wyngarde, a mutant himself, has been slowly molding the mind of Jean Grey since he first met her. He has been stalking her throughout her extended stay in Europe, taking on different guises and accessing her mind in order to plant the seeds for his plans to transform her into the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.
On Muir Isle, Jean seems to briefly fall into a trance while Jason is thinking of her. Lorna snaps her out of it however and Jean uses her powers to instantaneously transform her clothes several times as she pirouettes around the room.
In Moira's lab, Moira pores over the data and ponders the fact that Jean has been granted powers akin to a god. Profoundly disturbed, she wonders where Charles Xavier may be and wishes he would come back.
Xavier is in the Shi'ar galaxy as Lilandra's consort. While she is attending to matters of the imperial court, Xavier (who, by Shi’ar standards, is like “the village idiot”) checks out holographic records of the X-Men’s previous adventures in this galaxy. Xavier had never been fully briefed on the events and only just realizes how much power that Jean/Phoenix wielded during the adventure with the M’Kraan Crystal. As Moira already has, Xavier realizes that Jean’s new powers are likely far too vast for her to control for long. He prepares to return to Earth immediately.
Back on Muir Island, Moira steps on a gold tooth. Examining it, she becomes alarmed and rushes to Mutant X’s containment chamber. She reacts in horror at what she finds there.
Elsewhere on the island, Jean - using her powers to shield her from the cold of Muir Isle - passes by Jamie and Alex. While Jamie remarks on how well Jean in a light summer dress is withstanding the bracing cold of Muir Isle, Alex thinks to himself that it is not like Jean to show off her powers, or use them in such a casual manner. Jean telepathically “hears” Alex’s concern but dismisses it.
Upon entering Moira’s research facility, Jean detects an intruder in the vicinity. Changing into her costume, she begins searching for the intruder when suddenly she finds herself seemingly transported back in time to the Victorian era for a brief moment. She snaps back to reality when someone jumps her from behind. Looking into her attacker’s face, she screams in terror. Alex and Madrox hear her and run to investigate.
Back at the X-Mansion, the Beast drops by to check out the school. He’d left sensors in place to alert him of any possible intruders, which have gone off since the X-Men returned. He is stunned to find the X-Men (whom he’d believed were dead) very much alive - and vice versa. Explanations are made all around and he informs them that Jean is alive as well and visiting Muir Isle. While Cyclops places a call to Muir Isle, Beast departs to check in at Avengers Mansion and inform them he’ll be traveling with the X-Men to Scotland as well. (He doesn’t want to miss out on the reunion.)
Lorna answers Scott’s call and tells him there is a security situation going on at the island. However, before she can explain further, Lorna is attacked by some strange being that has a need for her. The last thing Cyclops hears before the line goes dead is Lorna's screams.
This story is continued next issue.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history · Exact listed stories combined in catalog order. Sources retain their stated license; formatting and headings adjusted. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 101. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 102. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 103. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 104. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 105. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 106. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 107. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 108. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 109. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 110. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 111. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 112. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 113. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 114. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 115. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 116. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 117. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 118. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 119. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 120. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 121. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 122. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 123. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 124. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. Adapted from Marvel Database contributors, X-Men Vol 1 125. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. · Content license