Wolverine, still brooding over Cyclops’ murder of Professor X, is at the site of the crazed Avalanche’s rampage (last issue) where the Avengers are aiding in rescue and clean-up. He speaks with Captain America and Thor about Avalanche, who had been rehabilitated—so what caused him to go berserk? The Thunder God vows vengeance against whoever is inciting this human-mutant strife. Cap mentions his plan to create a mutant-centered Avengers unit led by Havok; Logan thinks this is a bad idea which could only lead to more anti-mutant sentiment. As they bicker, an elderly man hugs Havok and thanks him for saving his and his wife’s lives….
Meanwhile, throughout the city, ordinary citizens are watching the TV broadcast of an advocate for tougher security measures on mutants; each one sees this man as their ideal leader—and viewers suddenly start attacking and killing the nearest mutants, be they friends, lovers, or even family. The speaker is Honest John a/k/a the Living Propaganda, a minion of the Red Skull, who is able to bend minds to his influence. Elsewhere in the facility, Rogue awakens, shackled fast to a wall on a platform over a deep pit (similar to Cerebro in the X-Men movies). She is visited by two of the Red Skull’s S-Men, Dancing Water (a liquid woman who can teleport/daughter of Avalanche) and Mzee (a huge turtle man) who have come to feed her. Rogue takes a drink of water—and spits it in the woman’s face, absorbing her liquid powers and flowing out of the restraints. She takes out Mzee and Dancing Water responds with deadly force, revealing that Rogue is expendable; Scarlet Witch was the real target. Rogue then teleports away in search of her companion.
Elsewhere, the Red Skull takes Wanda on a tour of his "school for gifted humans" and its multiregional training facility. He reveals that he is a clone of the original Red Skull, created by Arnim Zola and recently revived to resume his sinister plans, choosing mutants as a natural enemy. Using his psychic powers, he persuades Wanda that eliminating mutants is her goal as well (suggested by the House of M debacle) and she gladly consents to join his crusade against her kind. The Skull is informed by a minion that Rogue has escaped and he excuses himself—and the fugitive X-Man appears on the scene, attacking Wanda as a villain and attempting to steal her abilities. But it takes more than hex power to be the Scarlet Witch and Wanda responds with a blast that knocks Rogue through the floor. Down below, the two discover the corpse of Charles Xavier, his head cut open and the brain missing. This shocks Wanda out of her trance and leads Rogue—who recalls Professor X as her chief protector—to vow revenge against the Red Skull. The Nazi villain arrives at this point, explaining that he has fused Xavier’s brain with his own—and attacks with the full force of the Professor’s mental powers….