The X-Men zoom toward Muri Island, after being made
aware of possible danger last issue. The blackbird passes over the lab and
Colossus drops in first to scan for trouble. Storm then flies Wolverine down,
before Cyclops lands the blackbird. Nightcrawler teleports into Moira’s house
to search for anyone there, quickly notifying Cyclops and Banshee that he
discovered something. The two join Nightcrawler to find an unconscious Polaris
and the mummified husk of who they recognize as Angus MacWhirter. Banshee stays
with Polaris while Cyclops orders Nightcrawler to teleport into the lab to
continue his search. Cyclops then runs outside and has Storm pick him up, while
worrying about Banshee and contemplating what they’ll do if his powers never
return. Storm reveals that her aerial search of the island yielded no results
as Cyclops tells her to take them to the lab.
Meanwhile, in said lab, Nightcrawler makes his way
through the darkness, noting how all of the fuse boxes have been blown out.
He’s then stopped in his tracks by a warning shot from Havok. Nightcrawler
tries to explain but Havok still thinks the X-Men are dead and can’t see Kurt
clearly in the dark. Havok is suddenly grabbed from behind and unleashes an
omni-directional blast, only for his target to be revealed to be an unharmed
Colossus, revealing to Havok that the X-Men are indeed alive. Meanwhile, Cyclops
and Storm make their way through, noticing someone around the corner. Storm
generates a wind, blowing the individual right into their arms, revealing them
to be Moira MacTaggert, who is shocked and elated to see them alive. Cyclops
orders Storm and Moira to gather everyone at the house while he goes to search
for Phoenix. He finds Jean in a semi-conscious state and as she awakens, she
hallucinates Scott as Jason Wyndgarde and addresses him as such, utterly
confusing Scott before Jean passes out once more.
Later, everyone meets at Moira’s house, after a
continued search reveals that Mutant X is no longer on the island. Multiple Man
tells of how he made a bunch of duplicates to better search the island, before
Mutant X possessed one of the dupes, allowing himself to escape. Cyclops
questions Moira, who eventually reveals that Mutant X is her son! He’s an
energy being that needs to possess other bodies, moving from body to body as he
burns through them. Mutant X makes his way to Stornoway, where he tries to possess
a passing Jason Wyngarde, but finds that Wyngarde has a psychic shield impeding
him! He moves on to another target, continuing his trail of bodies.
The next day, the X-Men head out to mainland Scotland
to continue their search, deciding to break off into separate search teams to
cover more ground. Moira reveals to Cyclops that Mutant X has two main
weaknesses, his need for host bodies, and metal, which can imprison or kill
him! Meanwhile, Jason Wyngarde continues to watch Jean from afar and Jean
suddenly finds herself once again seemingly thrust back into the 18th
century! This time, she’s a rich woman hunting men for sport with her lover
Jason! She snaps out of it and comes across another husk, implying that Mutant
X has moved on to another body. Elsewhere, Wolverine and Nightcrawler track
Mutant X via Wolverine’s senses and find that he’s now taken the form of a
police officer. He attempts to possess Wolverine, but screams in pain,
discovering that Wolverine’s entire skeleton is laced with metal, making
Wolverine deadly to him!
Mutant X then adopts the name Proteus and manipulates
reality around the two heroes, causing the world and their perceptions to turn
inside out! Storm arrives and attacks, distracting Proteus and causing
everything to return to normal. Storm destroys Proteus’ car, and he turns
everything topsy-turvy once more, causing Storm to lose her sense of direction
and slam into the ground. She generates a powerful wind to try and hold Proteus
back, with her being his new target for a host body. Nightcrawler wants to help
Storm, but Wolverine admits that there’s nothing they can do, except anchor
themselves in the strong wind, unable to help as Proteus closes in on Storm! To
be continued!