| Synopsis
| - Continued from last issue....
Professor X witnesses his X-Men fail to stop El Tigre from obtaining the second part of a mystical amulet that transforms him into the mortal personification of the Mayan god Kukulcán. Held back by a security guard under Kukulcán's control, Cyclops is forced to use his optic blasts to destroy the guards gun and push him aside in order to engage his enemy. Cyclops attempts to blast Kukulcán, however it is redirected back at him and is knocked out.
Kukulcán's hired mercenaries, Toloc and Ramon enter the room and attempt to take the amulet from Kukulcán's chest so that they might sell it on the black market. The pathetic attempt is easily stopped by Kukulcán and forces them to flee by the very power of the sun itself. With his new powers, Kukulcán decides that he must return back to Central America where he may resume the glorious destiny of the Mayan gods. Traveling to the roof of the museum, he creates an energy sphere around himself and uses it to fly back to Central America. Having witnessed the whole ordeal, the Professor uses his mental powers to revive Angel, Beast, Iceman and Cyclops and orders them to go after Kukulcán, leaving Ramon and Toloc behind for the police to deal with.
Meanwhile at Metro College, the Professor calls Jean to tell her what's happening with the X-Men, Jean is concerned that the Professor chose to call her on the telephone instead of contacting her telepathically, leaving her to wonder if she is still considered part of the X-Men. Her thoughts are interrupted when Ted Roberts enters the room and introduces her to another student, Calvin Rankin. Jean remembers Rankin during her encounter with him when he became the costumed criminal Mimic. When Rankin inquires if they had met before Jean keeps up the ruse, however Calvin secretly begins to doubt the girls claim that they have never met.
Jean soon travels to the X-Mansion where the group is briefed on the legends of Kukulcán by the Professor. Xavier tells them that in the past when the Mayan's abused the power of Kukulcán's amulet it caused a gigantic volcanic eruption that filled their city of molten lava. With the briefing over, Xavier orders the X-Men to travel to San Rico to stop Kukulcán. Jean expresses concern to Scott when she hears that he was injured in battle, however Cyclops has managed to shake off the injuries he sustained battling Kukulcán.
As the X-Men race to San Rico in their jet, Kukulcán has returned to the region and uses his vast powers to raise a gigantic plumed serpent with a gigantic sun stone to further increase his powers. Unearthing the long lost Mayan kingdom, Kukulcán then sits upon the pyramids throne and uses his powers to enslave the people of San Rico.
The X-Men arrive in San Rico and begin traveling through the thick rain forest between them and Kukulcán's kingdom. Along the way the X-Men use their powers to avoid attacks from the various wild animals in the region. Their arrival does not go unnoticed, as a mystical warning signal alerts Kukulcán of the X-Men's arrival. The group then falls through a pit and are kept at bay by an army of spear wielding natives. However, this proves to only be a minor setback as Cyclops uses his optic blast to dig them a tunnel out of danger, they then knock the natives into their own trap.
Getting past Kukulcán's armed guards, the X-Men try to attack the powerful demi-god but find his powers are too great for them to face. When the group notice that the sun stone is the source of their power, Iceman uses his ice powers to coat it with a thick layer of ice, blocking the stone from the suns rays. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Angel try to keep Kukulcán busy. During the attack, Cyclops accidentally strikes Angel with his optic beams, shaking the groups leader because his worst nightmare has come true: He's harmed one of his friends with his optic blast. Kukulcán then simply blasts Cyclops aside and attempts to stop Iceman and Beast from further effecting his powers by stopping the sun stone.
However this proves to be Kukulcán's undoing as he blasts the base of the plumed serpent causing an underground fault line to quake. The ground then cracks open and swallows up the gigantic statue, cutting off the sun's rays from the crystal and reverting Kukulcán back to the ordinary man that he is. With the temple crumbling around them, the X-Men tie up El Tigre, and flee with Cyclops carrying the injured Angel. When the others see that Angel is injured, Warren briefly comes around and in a state of delirium accuses Cyclops of blasting him on purpose because he is jealous of Warren's mutual love of Jean before passing out again.
Cyclops knows that this is not true and that Angel is delirious and would like to believe that both Beast and Iceman know this also, however as they walk silently away from the ruins the X-Men's brooding leader cannot help but doubt.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)