The tension is fraught in the Blackbird as Cyclops,
Storm, and Corsair make their way to meet up with the other X-Men. Storm
attempts to console an angry Cyclops, who lashes out at Corsair, asking why he
never tried to return to Earth in the twenty years since they were separated.
Corsair admits that he thought Scott and Alex died, and then when his wife was
killed, he thought he had no reason to return. Cyclops isn’t satisfied, but
before he can retaliate, the entire Blackbird is suddenly beamed aboard a Shi’ar
Dreadnought. The rest of the X-Men are beamed aboard as well, and they’re
greeted, with mixed feelings, by Gladiator and the Shi’ar council. They inform
the X-Men of Lilandra’s capture, having tracked the kidnappers to Earth.
Professor X confers with the council, and they agree to give the X-Men one day
to rescue Lilandra, before they take matters into their own hands, regardless
of the risk to human life and property. Two of the X-Men are to stay behind as
prisoners, to ensure the X-Men’s cooperation, and Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde
are chosen to stay behind. Under the guise of a farewell, Xavier psychically
transfers all of his knowledge of the Shi’ar to Kitty, leaving things to her
and Nightcrawler on this end.
With the mansion destroyed, the X-Men head to Avengers
Mansion for help, but find only Tigra and Jarvis there. Xavier attempts track
Lilandra via their psychic rapport but finds it to be more difficult than
usual. Back on the Shi’ar ship, Kitty fiddles around with a Shi’ar machine that
generates clothes and reveals to Kurt that she’s been using it to try and tap
into the main computer, hopefully giving them full access to the ship, in
conjunction with their powers. Meanwhile, Storm and Corsair take a stroll
outside, with Corsair noting how much the world has changed since he’s been
gone. Storm tells Corsair of Jean’s passing, showing that Scott will understand
Corsair’s grief if he tries to reach out. The two are suddenly attacked by
Deathbird, working with a number of the Brood, who zap Storm and Corsair with a
beam that makes them see their worst fears!
The other X-Men show up to help, joined by Tigra. They
engage in a long-range battle, forcing Deathbird to duck into the nearby
building construction site. Professor X frees Storm and Corsair from their
illusions, and Corsair reveals that Deathbird is the one leading the rebellion
that kidnapped Lilandra! While the others take a more direct approach,
Wolverine sneaks into the construction site to deal with the Brood snipers in a
more permanent way. Colossus is hit with an acid bomb while protecting Professor
X, which starts to eat away at his metal form! Storm uses some generated
weather to vaporize the acid, leaving Colossus alive but deeply injured.
The X-Men leave Colossus to watch over the Professor
while they continue to make their way into their enemies’ fortress. Cyclops and
Corsair come to a bit of an understanding and they and the other X-Men take
care of the rest of the Brood. However, when they blast through to the inside,
they find that Deathbird has Xavier hostage! Deathbird takes off with Xavier in
her ship, hidden within all the construction, knocking it all on top of the
X-Men. They blast their way out and find Colossus stabbed through the chest,
having apparently been killed by Deathbird! And then, at the worst possible
time, the police show up to put the X-Men under arrest! To be continued!