After having apparently been killed in a psychic duel
with Mastermind last issue, Cyclops raises to his feet, his physical body
feeling the effects of his astral form’s “death.” The rest of the X-Men remain
trapped, and the Hellfire Club continue to revel in their victory as the
thunderstorm outside rages, the water levels rising. Just then, Wolverine
bursts through the doors, dragging some guards in tow. Mastermind commands
Jean Grey, as the Black Queen, to take care of Wolverine. However, unbeknownst to him,
while all eyes are on Wolverine, Jean sneakily undoes the latch on Cyclops’
restrictive helmet, allowing him to blast it right off his head! He uses the
suddenness to throw the Hellfire Club off-balance, freeing the others and
hitting them hard and fast, before they can react, just as the Hellfire Club
did to them a couple of issues ago. Cyclops blasts Harry Leland down to the
lower level and blasts the floor underneath Sebastian Shaw, dropping him to the
floor below as well.
Mastermind decides to hang back and see how everything
unfolds, projecting an illusion that he’s part of the background. Wolverine
jumps down at Leland who instinctively uses his power to increase Wolverine’s
mass as he falls. Wrong move, as it only serves for Wolverine to slam into him
even harder. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler and Storm ambush a fleeing Shaw, with
Nightcrawler keeping him off-balance while Storm starts freezing the air around
him. We then cut to Avengers Mansion, where Beast receives an alert of the
X-Men apparently on a rampage. Beast ultimately decides not to alert his other
Avengers and leaves to check things out himself. Back at the Hellfire Club,
Colossus grapples with Donald Pierce, even ripping off one of his metal arms!
Pierce temporarily blinds Colossus with the exposed live wires in the arm and
escapes. Sebastian Shaw manages to escape Storm and Nightcrawler as well,
ducking into a secret passageway, where he runs into Pierce, promising that
next time they cross paths with the X-Men, things will be different.
Meanwhile, Cyclops tries to corral the crowd, not
knowing that Mastermind is creating an illusion that he’s trying to attack
them. Just then, Wolverine’s ploy from two issues ago works, the rising water
in the sewers reaching the exposed power lines, causing the entire building to
suffer a blackout! Wolverine startles Cyclops in the dark and he sends
Wolverine to find the others, deciding that now would be the best time to get
out of there. One last order of business, however. Jean finds Mastermind in the
dark and she attacks him, as she can feel her control slipping with each
passing second. She reveals that Cyclops’ astral “death” snapped her out of
Mastermind’s control and discovers that he was even able to control her due to
a mindtap mechanism, designed by Emma Frost. Jean’s power and fury grow ever
stronger, and she lashes out, giving Mastermind the power he so desperately
craved. She makes him experience godhood, stretching his mind across infinity
in the blink of an eye. The experience overwhelms his mind, leaving him
drooling and broken, while the quickly worsening Jean enjoys every second.
Jean feels the power growing, the song within her
reaching untapped levels, no longer being able to deny her destiny. Cyclops and
the others find her, and they make to escape, all the while Scott worried about
how Jean is purposely damping down their psychic rapport, wondering what she’s
trying to hide from him. Shaw witnesses the X-Men flee and promises that he’ll
make sure they’re known across the world as public enemy number one! The X-Men
board the blackbird, Cyclops moving with haste and desperation, aiming to get
Jean to Professor X as fast as he can. Jean, however, can sense his thoughts
and knows that it’s too late, for them and for everything! The X-Men speed
away, just as the police arrive. However, it’s then that Jean loses all
control, her powers overtaking her, transforming her into the Dark Phoenix and
with a thought, she explodes the plane! To be continued!