Following their departure from the Savage Land, the X-Men find themselves caught in the middle of a terrible storm at sea - and also find a Professor X in deadly danger! Can the mutant team save their beloved leader and mentor?
Reprint of and retroactive backup story to The X-Men #117 - Psi-War! (January, 1979)
Backup story summary:
Nightcrawler's High Adventure!
Waking up covered in bruises and beached alone on a tropical island, Nightcrawler mentally recounts how he arrived in such a dire situation.
The night before he had been aboard a Japanese freighter with the other X-men; the weather they found themselves in so bad that even Storm could barely keep it from capsizing the ship. As he tried to sleep through it in his cabin, he saw someone fall overboard from his window. Instinctively teleporting outside the ship to rescue the woman, Eiko Shimura, he's hit with a giant wave before he can teleport back, and loses sight of the ship.
Thinking that since Eiko was with him until he blacked out, and may now be on the island, he goes to look for her, concerned for her safety. After hours of searching the beach he sees something shining distinctively in the mountains above the jungle, figuring that if Eiko had seen it as well, she may have already gone to do the same. Swinging through the jungle on vines, he eventually comes to the abandoned wreck of an old freight plane and decides to investigate. Inside the wreck he finds a waterproof chest that he figures has been sealed since the 40's; in it he finds some clothes that almost fit, a pistol, a flare gun, and a telescope. As he gets dressed and inspects himself in the mirror, he catches a glimpse of a grim sight behind him: a human skull mounted on a spear!
Outside the wreck, he considers the owner of the skull most likely did not die of natural causes, and that the fetish may be a sign that he and Eiko are not alone on the island after all. Then, as if on cue, he's attacked by an ape-like creature with a sword; he tries to scare it away with the pistol, but it's too old and doesn't fire. So he teleports behind him and kicks it into the trunk of a tree, knocking it unconscious.
Inspecting the creature, he sees that it's wearing Eiko's life preserver under a metal girdle. He also notices that the girdle itself is emblazoned with an image of the island's mountain peak, and decides that's a good place to look for Eiko.
Investigating the mountains, Nightcrawler finds that one of them is an active volcano with a temple built into the side. He finds that Eiko has been taken to use as a human sacrifice. She struggles against the beast-men, but becomes complacent under the hypnotic gaze of their high priest. Nightcrawler teleports down to the alter to rescue her, punching the priest in the face and using the beast-men's strength against each other to knock them out; but he becomes hypnotized by the priest as well, and is laid down on the alter with Eiko.
The priest then continues with the ceremony, but just as he's bringing a crystal blade down on the pair, Nightcrawler teleports away to the outside of the mountain.
Now with Eiko out of harm's way, Nightcrawler fires the flare gun he prayed would work and waits for the two of them to be rescued. As they wait, Eiko hugs Nightcrawler, saying that he is her handsome hero, and asks how could she ever repay him. Nightcrawler slyly replies, "oh, I'm sure we'll think of something.."
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