Mystique walks alone in an abandoned circus, when
she’s attacked from behind by Wolverine! Both draw blood, until Mystique
catches Wolverine off guard, slashing his throat and causing him to bleed out
before he can fully heal. Mystique then kills Kitty Pryde in the same way, by
pretending to be the dead Wolverine and stabbing her when she gets close. An
enraged Colossus then appears, and Mystique temporarily blinds him, before
getting blasted from behind by Cyclops! Mystique escapes into a funhouse of mirrors
and the others follow. Cyclops tries blasting Mystique once again, only for his
beam to be reflected off the mirrors and through a few carefully placed
amplifier modules, increasing the power of his beam exponentially, enough to
cut straight through the unsuspecting Colossus! Stunned by his accidental
murder of his teammate, Cyclops doesn’t notice Mystique sneaking up behind him
and she strangles him to death!
Mystique dons a specially designed combat suit before
getting caught unawares by Storm. However, Mystique’s suit is able to absorb
Storm’s lightning, letting Mystique fire back at an oil tanker behind Storm,
killing her as well in the explosion. Mystique then falls into the big top
where she encounters an angry Rogue. Though it pains her, Mystique blasts Rogue
with an energy weapon, utterly incinerating her! Mystique is then suddenly
grabbed by the last of the X-Men, Nightcrawler! He teleports rapidly with her,
meant to leave her weak and disoriented. Mystique is unaffected however, but
she hesitates in killing Nightcrawler, allowing him to knock her out! Mystique
awakens some time later by Destiny’s side, the entire thing having been a
deadly test set up by Arcade in his newest version of Murderworld! Mystique
asks Arcade to train the Brotherhood in the same way, so that they can become
used to the X-Men’s tricks. Mystique bemoans her inability to kill
Nightcrawler, even a simulacrum of him, but reinforces her ultimate goal, to
get her adopted daughter Rogue back, no matter the cost!
Elsewhere, after her dance practice, Kitty Pryde asks
Stevie Hunter for advice concerning a friend who’s changed. Stevie realizes
Kitty’s worries are about Storm and Kitty claims that it’s more than just a
haircut and a change of wardrobe. Storm arrives at that moment and Kitty
excuses herself, when Storm confides in Stevie that she fears Kitty is right to
be worried. Meanwhile, on the Starjammers’ ship, many goodbyes are had.
Lilandra and Charles Xavier say their goodbyes, as the time has come for Lilandra
and the Starjammers to head out to try and reclaim the Shi’ar throne. Corsair
likewise says his farewells to his two sons, Cyclops and Havok, ultimately glad
that they aren’t coming with him, allowing them to live more normal lives.
That night, Nightcrawler and Amanda Sefton, along with
Colossus and Kitty, arrive at Lincoln Center for a double date. Kurt and Amanda
elect to walk to the center while Peter and Kitty park the car. On the way,
Nightcrawler expresses his concerns and frustration regarding who he really is
and where he ultimately comes from. He confides in Amanda his concerns about
the visual similarities between he and Mystique, and Mystique telling him to
ask Amanda’s mother, Margali Szardos. Meanwhile, Colossus and Kitty have just
parked the car when an explosion rings out in a nearby building! Colossus tells
Kitty to phone firefighters while he runs in to check for people. Instead,
Colossus finds a trap set by the Brotherhood of Mutants, as Blob throws him out
of the building. He’s caught by a giant fire-bird, courtesy of Pyro, which
heats him white hot! Colossus is then dropped to the ground where Avalanche
uses his powers to douse Colossus with several tankers of liquid nitrogen!
Kitty hears a scream ring out and runs back to Colossus to find him frozen,
like a molten statue, in utter agony! To be continued!