This issue starts off with the X-Men playing a
friendly game of baseball. After a bit of shenanigans, everyone decides to take
a break and Moira MacTaggert goes to check on the phone repairman they’re
expecting. She answers the door and is shocked by the man’s unusual appearance
but chalks it up to plastic surgery. When her back is turned, the man shoots
Moira with a tranquilizer dart and goes to access the school’s computer system.
The man, called Warhawk, then receives a mental message from his mysterious
master, telling him that he is indebted to them and that he best not fail, lest
he suffer the consequences. Warhawk is none too pleased at being used as a
servant but gets to work on his task anyway.
After their game, Cyclops tells the other X-Men that
they’ve got a workout in the Danger Room scheduled, and for everyone to
prepare. Meanwhile, Jean Grey wheels Professor X back inside, while worrying
about her recently obtained Phoenix power, feeling she can’t really talk to
anyone about it all, and worrying that her power may be corrupting her. Just
then, Warhawk appears and tranqs both Xavier and Jean, as Jean notes that she
couldn’t respond for some reason. In the Danger Room, the X-Men are about to start
their session, when Cyclops receives a telepathic burst of pain from Jean,
signaling that she and the Professor are in danger! The door to the Danger Room
then slams shut, locking them inside, and flinging Colossus back when he tries
to break the door down. Cyclops realizes that the safety locks have been
disengaged, causing the Danger Room to attack them with everything it’s got!
Nightcrawler gets stunned by a battering ram and is
saved by Storm before he can be crushed against the wall. However, the two of
them are then captured in a strong net where they’ll quickly run out of air.
Colossus throws Wolverine up to the trapped heroes, allowing him to cut the net
perfectly so as to free Storm and Nightcrawler without hurting them. On the way
down, Wolverine also pushes Cyclops out of the way of an attack, as even their
shared affection for Jean won’t let Wolverine just let Cyclops die. Cyclops hit
the panic button, to no effect, and realizes they’ll have to access the control
panel directly. Cyclops orders Nightcrawler to teleport with Wolverine, to
access the controls from outside, while Nightcrawler worries what the strain
may do to them. Nightcrawler takes the leap anyway, and the strain of the
shared teleport indeed ends up leaving both heroes unconscious, right outside
the Danger Room entrance.
Back in the Danger Room, Storm gets trapped within a
metal box and Banshee warns Cyclops that they have to get her out, as her
claustrophobia may cause her to crack. Things continue to go poorly for the
X-Men, as sound dampeners nullify Banshee’s powers, causing him to fall to the
ground hard, and Colossus gets covered in a sticky substance that starts
restricting his movements. Outside the Danger Room, Wolverine has regained
consciousness and slashes across the controls, shorting the whole thing out. However,
he’s then attacked by Warhawk and the two engage in an epic fight, in which
Wolverine cuts a tranq dart in half in midair. The fight goes on until the
other X-Men bust out of the Danger Room. Warhawk makes to escape using a gas
bomb he prepared, but it turns out that Nightcrawler sneakily grabbed it during
the confusion, before throwing Warhawk over to Colossus to finish off.
Afterward, Warhawk is picked up by the police and the X-Men are left wondering
who could have sent him and why, determined to be prepared for whatever may
come!