| Synopsis
| - Continued from last issue...
While searching for young mutant Thomas Jones, X-Factor would find the boy the prisoner of a band of Trolls seeking to use his ability to transmute matter into any element in the Periodic Table to turn the island of Britain into gold in the hopes of driving out humans so that the Trolls and other mystical creatures can reclaim their homeland. With X-Factor their captives, Phee, Phay, and Phee take the boy to use his powers leaving Phough and Phumm behind to guard their prisoners. When Phumm notices baby Christopher loose in the tunnels he attempts to crush the boy, however the Summers child manages to erect a telekinetic shield to protect himself. When Marvel Girl revives and sees her lovers son in trouble she uses her telekinetic powers to stop the two Trolls from harming him.
X-Factor them frees themselves and easily knocks out Phough, however Phumm manages to flee by shape shifting into a gold couch to evade capture. Meanwhile, the Trolls have taken young Thomas to the White Tower -- one of the oldest buildings in London -- and order him to transform it into gold. When he hesitates, they mortally wound a stray dog, seeing the dog suffering Thomas uses his powers to transform the dog into gold, however finds the sensation terrible and vows never to use his powers on a living creature. Seeing that the boys power works on living things, the Trolls have an even better idea. They take him to Buckingham Palace where they hope to force the boy to transform the royal family into gold statues.
When the palace guards tell them that the family is away on business, the Trolls then decide to try and force the boy to transform the guards instead. The Trolls are paused by the arrival of police cars, who's spinning headlights reveal that they have a weakness to light. X-Factor arrives on the scene just as the Trolls are fleeing on a magic carpet and continue to pursue them. Battling in the air, X-Factor manages to knock the Trolls to the ground, however they smash through to the ground below and flee down the subway tunnels. With X-Factor in pursuit, Thomas attempts to tell them about the Trolls weakness to sunlight, but is gagged by the Trolls. As X-Factor follows after them, Thomas considers the idea of using his powers to transform the Trolls into gold, but decides against it. X-Factor meanwhile dares not to blast the roof of the tunnel to reveal sunlight for fear of harming innocents above them.
The Trolls are soon reunited with their comrades PHough and Phumm and decide to fight back against X-Factor. When the mutants catch up, Thomas tells them that they are near a construction site close to his home and that there is nothing above them. Cyclops uses his optic blast to blast a hole to the surface, however much to their rotten luck it is a rainy morning and the battle rages on. Phee and Phay decide the best way to force the boy to do their bidding would be to threaten his mother and smash into the Jones house and take Thomas's mother hostage. As X-Factor sends the other Trolls fleeing, they come to the surface and find that they are unable to do anything while Thomas's mother is prisoner.
Finally, Thomas decides to do what's best and use his powers to turn Phee and Phay into gold statues. He realizes that with his current knowledge, he couldn't possible change them back into flesh and blood. He decides to adopt the name they gave him: Alchemy, and go to school to study and become the best biochemist in the world in order to apply his knowledge to his mutant abilities and free Phee and Phay from their prisons. Until that day, X-Factor helps Thomas move the Trolls to Hyde Park where Thomas transforms them into lead statues. After saying goodbye, X-Factor returns to their ship and begins flying back to headquarters. Along the way, Beast considers the fact that the Trolls did not have a full grasp of what they were doing, and that their plot would have not only ruined the British economy, but the economy of the entire world with the influx of gold.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)