This issue opens with Magneto invading an Australian
Research Facility, easily taking care of his opposition. Overlaid with the news
report of the situation hours later, it is reported that Magneto has been
frequenting research complexes across Australia and New Zealand, though what he
has stolen remains a mystery. Magneto remains unopposed in his pursuits as many
of the major supergroups have either been disbanded or forced to remain on
American soil, such as the case with the Avengers, and no one knows what has
become of the X-Men. We then take a quick interlude over to Kirinos, an island
off southern Greece, where Lilandra is vacationing with her lover,
Charles Xavier. She considers staying with Charles forever, but knows she’ll have to
take up the Shi’ar throne at some point, and wonders what Charles will do in
that situation. Charles, meanwhile, feels increasingly stressed, as he has lost
his telepathic rapport with his X-Men and has no idea what has befallen them.
The X-Men, of course, remain prisoners at Magneto’s
Antarctica base, trapped in prison chairs that prevent their powers or speech,
and keep their motor functions at the level of six-month-old infants. They are
watched over by Nanny, the robot Magneto left to attend to them, much to their
chagrin, unable to do anything but take her humiliating coddling. Storm, having
built up her strength and control over the past few days, then enacts her plan
when Nanny leaves. She whips her head forward repeatedly, until she knocks her
headdress onto the tray space in front of her. She then uses her teeth to grab
at the lockpicks hidden within and uses it to try and pick the locks while
remembering her training from when she was a street thief back in Cairo. She
almost has herself freed, when the lockpick falls to the floor. Nanny returns
and Storm tries to make Nanny focus on her, so as not to see the lockpick, and
Nanny places her headdress back on her head. After Nanny leaves once more,
Storm lets a rare tear fall, overwhelmed by her failure.
Some time later at Asteroid M, Magneto’s space lair,
he receives a notification of a malfunction at the Antarctica base. Magneto
returns to the base in his unique manner, dropping through the ceiling beneath
the volcano, to find Nanny spinning uncontrollably, while the base is in total
darkness. Knowing the X-Men must have done something, he waits for them to make
the next move, when he is suddenly blasted on all sides by the X-Men’s various
long-range attacks, stunned despite being braced for it. Phoenix creates a
mind-link between all of the X-Men, so that Cyclops can transmit orders
instantly, without alerting Magneto. Storm uses her powers to draw the humidity
out of the air around Magneto, while noting how repeating her ploy with
her lockpicks has severely weakened her. Banshee swoops in and blasts Magneto,
before Wolverine runs up and slashes at Magneto’s back, tagging him this time
and not just his cape. Magneto flings Wolverine away and the X-Men continue
their hit and run tactics, as Phoenix blasts Magneto right into the control
console for the base.
With Magneto still off balance and feeling the effects
of Storm decreasing the humidity, Colossus runs up and lays into Magneto, not
giving him a chance to retaliate, knowing it will not end well for him if he
gives Magneto a chance to breathe. Finally, Beast throws Nightcrawler, who
teleports right next to Magneto, grabbing his helmet right off his head,
allowing Colossus to continue his furious assault. It is then that Nightcrawler
notices that the lava from the volcano is leaking through the roof and Magneto
reveals that Phoenix’s attack damaged the control console. Magneto escapes
while the X-Men try to avoid getting burned alive by the lava filling the base.
Magneto finally makes it out of the base entirely, just before the entire place
explodes, apparently killing the X-Men! Magneto, alive but very injured, goes
off to recuperate. Some time later, after many still moments, Phoenix bursts
through to the surface with Beast, apparently the only survivors, before
collapsing from overexertion. Beast tries to get himself and Phoenix to safety
but is quickly overcome by the intense cold himself and the two are left lying
in the snow, with all hope seemingly lost! To be continued?