| Synopsis
| - Continued from last issue...
Mastermold continues on it's path to track down Cyclops whom it has detected in Anchorage, Alaska, and identifies him as one of the "Twelve", twelve powerful mutants that will shape the way of things to come in the future. Mastermold has programmed itself to destroy everything that gets into it's path, including a hapless truck driver carrying a load of gasoline, which Mastermold destroys with a single laser blast.
Meanwhile, the home that Scott Summers lived in with his wife Madelyne has been reduced to rubble thanks to Scott's raging delusions of his wife. His fractured mind is visited by a hallucination of Professor Xavier who makes Scott realize what a mess he's made of his life and tells him to sort himself out. When the police arrive, they decide to take him into custody and Scott allows them to cuff him. Searching his pockets they find pictures of both Jean and Madelyne in the photographs, and are surprised when Scott tells them that they are two different people. When they remark on how hard it is to tell, Scott agrees before bursting into tears.
Back at the X-Factor Compound, Boom Boom tells Rusty and Skids that she is going to skip out on her training session because she thinks she doesn't need any help controlling her powers, however she changes her tune when she hears that Iceman is the one who going to be doing the training session. Out in the hallway they see that Jean has returned and told the bad news about Warren's condition to Bobby. This prompts a discussion among X-Factor's young charges about Scott's complicated marriage to Madelyne and his feelings for Jean. Boom Boom insists that Warren and Jean are in love, or at least Warren loves Jean at least when she notices that Bobby is leaving the room with Jean. When she tries to go down to remind him that they have a training session, Hank butts in and tells Boom Boom that he will be filling in for him, much to Tabitha's dismay. However, Hank manages to convince her to come along.
In Alaska, Scott is being taken away by police when the squad car is suddenly attacked by Mastermold. The crash causes Scott's glasses to get knocked off and when one of the officers tries to shoot at Mastermold, the robot kills him. Scott tries one uncontrolled blast from his optic blast and succeeds in severing one of Mastermold's hands. Scott asks the surviving officer to give him the visor he confiscated from Scott earlier, however the officer refuses to give them up since Scott is under arrest for destroying the house. When Scott tries another uncontrolled blast to try and help them, it bounces off Mastermold and almost strikes some by-standards. Scott insists that the officer give him his visor because it allows him to control his powers. Seeing no other choice in face of the menace of Mastermold, the officer undoes Scott's handcuffs and gives him his visor. However, as soon as Scott gets into action, Mastermold manages to blast him.
Back in New York, at St. Vincent hospital, Bobby and Jean are visiting with Hank when suddenly Trish Tibly bursts into the room demanding an interview with Warren regarding his involvement with X-Factor, the subpoena to face a federal court on fraud charges, the fact that his wings are getting gangrene and a court order that is currently in motion when Jean gets in the way. They demand Trish and her camera crew to leave, but when they refuse Jean secretly uses her telekinetic powers to disable the camera and hospital security then escourts them out. Warren begins to fear that this is just the beginning of bad times for him and X-Factor when he suddenly collapses on them, prompting Jean to call for the doctor.
In Alaska, Scott survived Mastermold's initial blast, and when the office comes to his aid, Scott manages to recover and uses his optic blast to destroy totally incapacitate Mastermold's body. However, to their shock, Mastermold reconfigures his body so that his head can move independently of it's body and chases them into an oil refinery. When the officer refuses to leave Scott's side, Cyclops knocks him out and drags him off to safety while he goes to deal with Matsermold. Mastermold grabs Scott with it's one remaining hand however Scott manages to blast free, boasting that he has disarmed Mastermold's last weapon. This proves to be wrong as Mastermold opens his mouth revealing a blaster in his mouth. Pinned under Mastermold's severed arm, Cyclops can do nothing as Mastermold fires a blast from it. It hits an oil tank that causes a massive explosion and while Mastermold is destroyed, Scott survives -- ironically thanks to the arm that he is pinned under.
Scott mutters to himself that he is worthy of being an X-Men, having proved the hallucination of Xavier wrong. He is pulled free by the officer who now believes that Scott's house was destroyed by Mastermold and won't be arresting him anymore. When Scott mentions resuming the search for his wife, the officer tells him that he has something at the police station that he has to see.
While back in New York, Warren is being carted away by a team of surgeons. When Jean and Bobby ask the doctor what's going on, he hands them a court order that has ruled Warren as incompetent, and that the government is forcing the hospital to amputate his wings so that he can survive to stand trail.
This story is continued next issue...
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