Benjamin Deeds and
Mindee (nee
Irma, 1 of the
Stepford Cuckoos) are waiting for
Iron Man. They're wearing
SWORD uniforms, sitting in a SWORD spacecraft inside the SWORD HQ, the
Peak satellite. They're hoping to persuade him that they're SWORD troopers on SWORD business - instead of trainee
X-Men trying to find
Cyclops. In
Uncanny X-Men Special #1 Scott Summers was kidnapped by the alien bounty-hunting robot
Death's Head. Iron Man has had recent dealings with Death's Head. So he invited himself to the party.
Mindee could telepathically find out how to fly the craft, but once they got out of range of the Peak she'd lose access to the knowledge. So they'd better wait for
IM to fly it - he probably designed the thing anyway.
Down on Earth in the new X-school in the old
Weapon X site, other members of the school are waiting to join the hunt for their headmaster. Once Mindee lets them know the spacecraft is on the way,
Magik will magic herself and
Goldballs (
Fabio Medina),
Tempus (
Eva Bell) and
Triage (
Chris Muse) on board.
Emma Frost will stay behind (because
Tony Stark would recognise her) with the other 2 Stepford Cuckoos (
Celeste and
Phoebe) (because she wouldn't trust womaniser Tony with 3 young triplets [who are also her clone-daughters]).
When
Shellhead arrives chameleon Ben morphs to look like Tony. (I think his power is somewhat involuntary - but it has the side effect of making Stark trust him, so it's good.) Both youngsters seem to be infatuated with the charismatic playboy.
Tony takes the helm, and heads out to where he thinks Death's Head might be. Mindee telepathically contacts Magik, who beams her team aboard.
Illyana Rasputin stays hidden (because Stark would recognise
her too) while the other 3 don SWORD uniforms and enter the pilot cabin. Tony marvels at how young SWORD agents seem these days.
Then Stark tells them they're heading for the planet
Calculex, 1 of Death's Head's 2 known hangouts. (
Recorder 451 destroyed the other 1 -
Hope's Pustule - in
#14.) When they get there the
Golden Avenger leads them into Death's Head's haunt - a 'gentlemen's' club called
Flamers.
Almost immediately Iron Man is accosted by a diminutive blue alien named
Neut who claims the
Avengers ruined his life. He used to be an
Anachronaut, a time-travelling warrior. But ever since he tangled with the Avengers he's been left here to rot. But in the meantime he's made some friends (a bunch of bigger aliens with big guns), and now's his chance for payback.
Cut to a cell where Cyclops is captive with a helmet restraining his dangerous eyes. In the room with him is
Monark Starstalker, a cosmic adventurer who's fallen on hard times. He hired himself out to a galactic arms dealer who wanted revenge on Cyclops' brother
Havok for a deal he and the
Starjammers broke up. Monark didn't want to take on the X-Men himself (and if he'd known Havok was now with the (
Uncanny)
Avengers that wouldn't have helped) so he sold his pet robot bird
Ulysses and hired Death's Head to do the kidnapping. (He expected to make enough money to buy the bird back.) But Death's Head kidnapped the wrong brother, Starstalker won't get paid, and the arms dealer will probably kill him.
But Scott says surely Starstalker has someone he could call on for help...
Back at the club a fight has broken out, but the X-kids don't want Iron Man to know they have powers. Mindee can use her mind powers without making it
too obvious, until Benjamin has to knock her out of the way of a blast. Triage's healing skills aren't useful until the fight is over, and Tempus has to time-freeze an alien to stop him from shooting the other kid. Goldballs' power of firing golden balls
would be too conspicuous.
I'm not sure why they're concerned about that, because
Shellhead has already taken his part of the action to another room chasing Neut. He now takes the fight outside on the roof, but gives the little guy an AA-type lecture about taking responsibility for his own situation. Before shooting him with a
repulsor.
Meanwhile Goldballs is being chased by 1 gunman, and abandons the earlier tactic and fires balls back at him. While he's looking over his shoulder he runs (literally) into Death's Head. Luckily the robot takes his side and swats the gun-toting alien.
Fabio mentally shouts for Mindee, who brings IM and the others. Death's Head has gone, but Medina explains
DH told him where Cyclops is - Goldballs paid him in gold balls. Tony Stark is confused by their conversation, and his confusion is increased when Mindee calls in Magik who whisks all the kids away.
The last scene is on Earth where Monark Starstalker has come to find
Nova for help. But it's not the Nova he knows, it's
Sam Alexander.
This story will end in
NOVA SPECIAL #1.
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