Overview:

“PRIMARY INFECTION” Part 1 (of 3)!
Having barely survived their first mission as a team, Rogue’s squad immediately find themselves up against another new
mysterious threat! What does the man called Pan want with the X-Men, and what is he willing to do to get it?!

Issue Summary:

Inside a dimly lit office in a high-rise building, a man stands in the shadows and remarks that he was beginning to think that they have over estimated “them”. ‘Pan! You startled me!’ exclaims a woman as she turns to the man called Pan. Pan remarks that at last they are moving, to which the woman tells Pan that they shouldn’t get their hopes up, as it has been a week since they raided the hospital. The woman adds that the X-Men are chasing something, ‘But it might not be you’ she tells Pan.

Pan addresses the woman as Turlow and mutters ‘Nonsense’ before asking her if she has backtracked their computer searches. Turlow replies that she has and that they cracked the discs very quickly, but that they are assuming a lot here. Pan replies that they are assuming that one of their American associates - Goynes, or Stuart - will crack. ‘That’s a near certainty’. Turlow asks what would happen if it isn’t “her” that comes - what if it is one of the other teams? ‘We break them down for parts. And throw out another hook!’ Pan exclaims.

Elsewhere, another dimly lit place, this time a bar, where a busty blonde woman is having a drinking competition with a man, while a dozen or so others watch and egg them on. The woman exclaims that she beat him by a nose. ‘That was incredible’ mumbles the slurring man. The blonde woman tells the bar tender to set up another round, this one’s on her. A friend of the man called “Stag” exclaims ‘You got beat by a girl! Her liver’s what, half the size of yours?’

The woman exclaims that, truth of the matter is, there was only ever one man who could beat her at this game - Calvin Goynes. ‘A hell of a drinker and a hell of a lover!’ some people in the bar turn to a handsome blond man and one of them shouts ‘Hey, Calvin! You never told us you was a love machine!’ Confused, Calvin exclaims that he doesn’t know - until he realizes what is going on. ‘Oh no…’ he utters, before rushing away.

The blonde woman leaps over the table, ‘Thanks, boys. It’s been fun!’ she exclaims before revealing her true identity as she calls out and asks if Karima is listening, that she has found Calvin and gives Karima the directions Calvin is heading in. Stag mumbles ‘Wait a second, you made us finger a friend?’ and angrily calls Lady Mastermind “Baby doll” and tells her that she is going to bleed. With her illusion gone, Regan Wyngarde stands before them in her X-Men costume and asks the men how they are at jungle warfare, and using her powers, makes the men believe that they are in a jungle with a tiger in front of them.

Regan begins attacking the men as she explains to them that that it is just an illusion - like the illusion that she drank all that liquor and that she paid for it with real money. ‘But hey, whatever gets the job done, right?’. After disposing of the men, Lady Mastermind rushes from the bar, using the X-Men’s communication devices to contact her teammate Karima Shapandar, who is flying overhead, Regan informs Karima that she ran into a little trouble and lost the rabbit. Regan calls Karima “Cybergirl” and gives her the location of Goynes.

‘Mastermind, my name is Karima Shapandar or Omega Sentinel. Not Cybergirl!’ Karima replies, before announcing that Goynes is in her sights, and radioing to Rogue, informing her that Goynes is crossing the lot up ahead of she and Iceman. Karima informs Rogue of where the gate is and advises her to take a right turn. Rogue runs along, with Bobby “Iceman” Drake following her on an ice-sled, and tells Karima not to worry, as the gate is right here - well, it is after she uses her flame powers to rip through the fence.

The four X-Men converge in the lot and Rogue grabs Calvin Goynes, telling him that they would like to talk about his last job at the Fordyce Clinic. ‘I sure hope you’re in a chatty mood!’ she exclaims.

Meanwhile, on the Conquistador, Westchester County, at an elevation of 800 Feet, high above the Xavier Institute. Nathan Summers a.k.a. Cable tells the X-Men’s leader Scott “Cyclops” Summers that he will be down in time for Beast’s meeting, as he and Cannonball are just finishing up here. Scott tells his sort-of-son that he is doing an amazing job here, as the last time he looked, the Conquistador was a burned out hulk. ‘With the combined resources of the X-Men, anything is possible’ Cable replies.

Scott remarks that, to be honest, he is amazed that the Office of National emergency are letting Rogue’s squad take the Conquistador. Cable explains that Mystique still has some contacts in the Federal Government and she called in a favor or two, adding that the O*N*E* are happy so long as they disarm the Conquistador and keep it out of U.S. airspace. Scott admits that is where he no longer understands, and asks why Rogue feels the need to take her squad away from the Xavier Institute. ‘It doesn’t make any sense. Now, of all times, we need to stick together!’

Cable assures Scott that it is not his decision, nor his team, and adds that he is only visiting, before pointing out that Rogue feels with the Sentinels here that there isn’t much freedom of action. Scott assures Cable that they will deal with the Sentinels when the time comes, to which Cable points out that, until then, the O*N*E* are monitoring the X-Men’s every move, so Rogue feels she will be more useful to the X-Men as a whole as a free agent.

Scott decides that perhaps it is for the best and points out that Sabretooth can stay here in their custody, which means he will not pose a risk to the students. Scott then turns to Sam “Cannonball” Guthrie and asks him if he is going along with this. Sam tells Scott that, honestly, it will be a relief for him, as since his brother died, this place has got too many memories for him. ‘Every time I walk through the door it’s like stepping on his grave’.

Scott tells Cannonball that Jay’s death took a piece out of them all. ‘Kind of you to say so’ Sam replies, to which Scott remarks that it makes it more important to keep faith with what Icarus died for. Sam tells Scott that each of them has their own way of doing that. ‘And Rogues, well, let’s just say it’s different from yours’.

‘Yeah! Do it! Scorch the scumbag! It’s five past payback time!’ Regan exclaims to Rogue who holds Calvin by the shirt and threatens him with a flame-ball in her hand. Iceman and Karima stand nearby also as Rogue informs Calvin that the natives are getting restless, and that they pulled his name and part of his address off a database that they found at the Fordyce Clinic, reminding him that the Fordyce Clinic was dissecting mutants on behalf of someone known as Pan. ‘I’d sure love for you to tell us why!’

Wide-eyed, Calvin replies that he can’t, ‘You don’t know what he’s like!’ Calvin exclaims before informing the X-Men that they closed up shop after M-Day. Calvin claims that he never did any of the cutting, just gene splicing from prepared samples. Karima takes hold of Calvin while Rogue removes on of her gloves, warning Calvin that the trail is going cold and as they are in kind of a hurry, this is his last chance. Calvin shouts that they can’t let her touch him. ‘You’re super heroes! You have to play by the rules or you’ll lose your licenses!’ ‘There are rules? Shoot. I wish somebody had told me that!’ Rogue touches Calvin Goynes, and his memories become hers.

In Flashback / Calvin Goyne’s memory:
‘No, wait, I’m still missing something. You’d infect the mutants - the subjects - with this virus?’ Calvin asks a man sitting before him. The man replies that he actually intends to infect himself with Strain 87, which is the whole point, and asks Calvin if he has heard of Mary Mallon. Calvin replies that he hasn’t, to which the other man informs him that Mary Mallon is the original Typhoid Mary. He explains that Typhoid Mary was a carrier of the S. Typhi virus and gave it to everyone that she touched. The man explains that he plans to be Typhoid Mary in reverse, and if the treatment works, he will give it to Calvin also.

‘So will I need a VISA?’ Calvin asks. The other man replies that he can come and go by Sea Eagle, so it will be an easy commute. Calvin calls the other man Doctor Palance, and tells him that he can’t wait, as what he is doing here is incredible and totally unique. Dr. Palance replies ‘Not totally’, and that inspiration comes from the strangest sources. ‘Remind me to tell you about it someday!’ he adds.

Present / Reality:
‘Well that’s a hell of a coincidence’ Rogue mutters as Goynes falls to the ground. ‘Anything useful?’ Iceman asks his team-leader. Rogue announces that she has found out who Pan is - ‘He’s Richard Palance!’ Bobby asks Rogue if she means the geneticist who used to be a friend of Professor Xavier’s. Rogue replies that Palance was more like a colleague of Xavier’s and reveals that she has met him once, way back, Professor X consulted with him on her “condition” when she first joined the X-Men. ‘Anything else?’ Bobby asks.

Rogue puts her gloves back on and informs her team that Goynes has got holes in his memory - big, ragged-edged ones, but that there is something called Sea Eagle. She repeats what she heard in her head - “You’ll come and go via Sea Eagle”. Rogue informs her team that she has a location over the East River and suggests they go take a look. As the team begins to take their leave, Karima asks Regan what she is doing. Kneeling beside Goynes, Lady Mastermind replies ‘Nothing’ before remarking that she is placing a few nasties way down in Goynes’ brain stem, reminding Karima that he cut pieces out of both of them. ‘Sweet dreams, Calvin. Like, never’ Lady Mastermind remarks to the unconscious Calvin as she walks away from him.

Back at the Xavier Institute, Cable, Cannonball, Cyclops, Emma “the White Queen” Frost and Dr. Henry McCoy a.k.a. the Beast have all gathered, and Henry informs his teammates that he has collated all the evidence they have managed to scrape together. ‘I’m hoping maybe one of you can tell me whether it adds up to a threat or a bad joke!’ Beast continues, remarking that a man walks two hundred miles to visit them and falls down right outside the front gates, dead. Beast reveals that after examining the man, he discovers eight days worth of organic decay. ‘He was dead when he started walking. That’s the punch line’.

Sam asks if they know who the man is, to which Beast replies that, the short answer is, he was nobody. ‘Name: Paul Brunner, profession: civil engineer’. Beast adds that Brunner lived in Hagerstown, where he was hit by a truck last Saturday and pronounced dead - ‘Then he got up and walked away!’ Cable remarks that this is very Twilight Zone before asking why it is the X-Men’s problem. Hank tells Cable that he is glad he asked, before turning to Emma and asking for a virtual environment, ‘You never know who’s listening in these days!’

Thanks to Emma’s powers, the quintet appear to be standing in Brunner’s brain, as Hank points out the interiors. ‘Nice. Roomy’. Emma jokes. ‘And recently redecorated!’ Hank points out, motioning to where some structures have no counterparts in the normal human nervous system. Beast motions to the ventromedial lobe, explaining that it controls emotion and reveals that Brunner’s had swollen to four times its normal size. Cable asks if they are talking about a mutation, to which Beast replies that Brunner’s DNA was homo-sapien, but his educated guess is that something hitched a ride in Brunner’s brain and moved all the “furniture” around until it felt comfortable.

Beast reiterates that Brunner walked here, the “parasite” got out and Brunner’s body fell down. ‘So ideally, I’d like to know two things. Where did this thing come from in the first place? And where is it now?’

Elsewhere, a warehouse behind a wire fence with a dirty old sign that says “Sea Eagle East” on it. A man in a lab coat carries some computer equipment and remarks that this is absurd leaving all this equipment behind. Several henchmen-like men are pouring oil everywhere, while another tells the man in the lab coat, Doctor Stuart, that he has to do what he is told, they all do. ‘But the waste! It’s criminal!’ the doctor exclaims. ‘Pan says what goes. Pan says what stays!’ the man exclaims, before ordering everyone to back off, as when he drops the match, this place is going to go up like - ‘Wait!’ someone shouts, interrupting the other man.

‘Wait for what, Kochanski?’ the senior henchman asks, pointing out that the place is all primed and ready. ‘I know!’ Kochanski replies, before putting out the match that the commanding officer lit. ‘Change of plan!’ Kochanski exclaims, to which the other man asks him what he thinks he is doing. ’Change of name, too!’ Kochanski exclaims as he kicks the other man in the stomach, before slamming his head to the ground. ’Mine’s Mystique!’ “Kochanski” announces, revealing herself as the shape shifting X-Woman.

The other henchmen race to attack Mystique, when Iceman arrives on an ice-sled. ‘This looks like a job for the X-Men!’ he shouts. ‘Cue music and titles! He jokes as he goes about covering the men in ice. Mystique returns to her default blue-skinned, red-haired form as she tells Iceman that one of the first-year students could have taken this opposition. ‘Whoever Pan is, he can afford better help!’

Rogue, Lady Mastermind and Karima join the “party” and Rogue exclaims that back at the Fordyce Clinic, the henchmen fought the X-Men almost to a standstill, so she doesn’t mind if it goes down a little easier this time. Iceman asks Rogue what it is they are looking for, to which Rogue replies that they are looking for locations, for if Pan is holding other mutants, they have to find out where, and if they can find out where he is operating out of, then that’s a bonus.

Lady Mastermind suddenly kicks one of the henchmen hard in the face, so hard that blood pours from his mouth. ‘What? He moved!’ Regan exclaims. Rogue tells the rest of the team to go inside, as she wants to have a little talk with Lady Mastermind. Mystique, Iceman and Karima walk away as Rogue asked them to, and Rogue turns to Regan, ‘I’m giving you the benefit of a whole lot of doubts’ she tells her. ‘So? You looking for gratitude?’ Regan replies. ‘Not hardly’ Rogue snaps back, before telling the daughter of one of the X-Men’s deceased enemies that she just wants to get a couple of things straight.

Firstly, Rogue reminds Lady Mastermind that she is only here because of her personal stake in this, and secondly, she is only wearing that uniform because her wardrobe amounted to one white sheet. Lady Mastermind stands her ground and doesn’t look at Rogue while she is being told that while wearing the uniform, she must behave like an X-Man. ‘Or so help me I will rip it off your back and you’ll walk home naked!’ ‘Like to see you try, girl!’ Regan mutters as Rogue goes to join the others.

After a moment, Lady Mastermind joins them too, and Rogue orders everyone to spread out, as they have a lot of ground to cover. Iceman suggests that they don’t turn the lights on, as this whole place stinks of kerosene. ‘You look better in subdued lighting, anyway’ Mystique tells him. ‘Yeah, I get that a lot!’ Iceman mumbles. Raven picks up a file containing a bill of landing and some customs dockets. ‘They had their cover nailed down tight!’ she points out.

Rogue and Karima approach some strange machinery or equipment and Rogue asks Karima if she has any guesses as to what this might be. Karima replies that she is reading higher temperature and humidity on the far side of the arch, ‘It’s almost certainly a teleport gate!’ Suddenly, Rogue exclaims that they have been suckered. ‘What do you mean? Karima asks. Rogue points out that if they had a teleportation device, why would they be leaving in a truck? She quickly asks Karima to shut it down, but it’s too late, as several deformed creatures appear.

‘Plague dogs…you’re off the leash!’ one of the fleshy creatures exclaims. Another of the creatures warns Rogue that she cannot use her fire powers unless she wants to burn her friends. ‘You think I’m gonna be needing them sugah? Seriously?’ Rogue asks as she punches the creature, only to her horror, she finds herself caught in its fleshy being. ‘Seriously - we had you from the moment you walked in here!’ the creature exclaims.

‘X-Men! We need support! This is an ambush!’ Karima shouts as she unleashes her powers on more of the creatures, only to get taken down herself. The creature, who is addressed as Lupus tells Rogue that her powers wont work on them because they are too far from the human template now. Another of the creatures informs Lupus that more of the X-Men are coming, to which Lupus remarks that they will come too late, as they have got who they need now. He orders the beacon to be triggered, and the other three race onto the scene, Lupus and the other creatures teleport away with Rogue and Karima.

Elsewhere, Rogue lies on the floor and regains consciousness when a voice above her exclaims ‘Such a pleasure to see you again, Rogue - although much has changed since we last met!’ Rogue sits up and sees Dr. Palance standing before her, remarking that a pandemic is a disease that wipes out civilizations. ‘My aims are modest - but for you, the end will be the same result!’

Overview:

"PRIMARY INFECTION"  Part 2 (of 3)
While the X-Men follow her trail to India, Rogue is at the mercy of the man known as Pandemic! What is his fascinating connection with Rogue? What has he done to Lady Mastermind? Why is he called Pandemic? All good questions. Read the issue and find out!


Issue Summary:

‘Cable, if you’re receiving this transmission, now would be a good time to show up!’ Karima Shapandar, recent recruit to the X-Men exclaims, transmitting through her advanced technological attributes she possess thanks to being on Omega Sentinel. Karima announces that it has gone very bad here, that they have found Rogue, but they could not free her. ‘This will be my last sit-rep’ Karima adds. From the X-Jet, Nathan “Cable” Summers replies, informing Karima that they have some problems of their own here. Sam “Cannonball” Guthrie is at the controls of the jet as Cable asks Karima what is happening and whether or not she and the others can fall back and regroup.

‘That’s a negative’ Karima replies, adding that she will keep broadcasting for as long as she can…’We’re not going anywhere!’ Indeed, they aren’t, for she lies broken on the ground, her robotic body crushed. Bobby “Iceman” Drake is trapped, unmoving nearby, and Regan Wyngarde a.k.a. Lady Mastermind lies slumped in a corner. With little else to do, Karima starts to recall the events that led the X-Men into their current predicament….

Karima remembers Sea Eagle, and how it was a trap - nothing more than a teleport gate with a roof over it. Rogue was pulled through and the rest of the team was left standing. ‘It makes sense now, that she was all they wanted right from the start.

(Flashback)
Raven “Mystique” Darkholme tells Karima to get the coordinates from the core processor. ‘You’re a machine, aren’t you? You speak its language?’ Karima sarcastically thanks Mystique, remarking that her tact is appreciated. Karima stands at a computer and explains that it will not be that easy, as the I/O system melted down after the teleport, presumably to stop them reading anything from it. Mystique mutters that her daughter Rogue could be half a world away by now, to which Karima replies that, judging by the scale of the power surge, Rogue is half a world away.

‘And you’re telling me that there’s nothing we can do?’ Raven asks. ‘I didn’t say that’ Karima mutters in reply, before announcing that she is going to try to replace the damaged components with her Sentinel-technology, as it may be possible to work backwards from electron traces and recreate the precise signal sequence. Karima explains that if it works, she will send the three of them to wherever Rogue is, then she will follow, leaving as little of her components behind as possible.

Bobby notices Regan holding a hand to her head and asks her if she is okay. Regan replies that she is fine, just has a headache. Bobby asks her if she wants to drop out, to which she exclaims ‘Get real. I owe this Pan guy blood and tears!’ Tinkering with the device, Karima announces that she is synched, and tells everyone to get ready, warning them that this is going to be rough! Suddenly, a blinding blue light flashes, and the X-Men are teleported away.

An instant later, ‘…oh great! X-Men! RESCUE!’ screams Lady Mastermind as she materializes high in the air and begins plummeting to the city below.

Iceman is unable to help, as he has materialized in the middle of a small building, his upper body on the outside of the building, the rest of him not. According to Karima, it is a fundamental physical law that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time - if they try, there are consequences.

The consequences for Iceman are severe, as his body combusts, shattering in front of a dozen or so civilian onlookers. But Iceman learned a very important thing after his run-in with the Beaubier twins Northstar and Aurora - that ice is not flesh. It’s actually crystal, and every part of a crystal contains enough information to re-create the whole. Reforming his body, Bobby mutters that it was like pulling himself up by his boot-straps - after knotting the boots out of his own guts that is!

Bobby looks to the sky and remarks that there is no rest for the wicked, seeing his sultry teammate plummeting to her doom, he creates an ice-sled and races to her rescue. ‘Well, you took your sweet time’ Regan mutters. ‘You’re welcome!’ Bobby replies, before asking her how her head is. ‘Worse’ Regan replies. ‘I think it’s stress!’ Bobby motions nearby and tells Regan that if that is Mystique down there, then Regan should count her blessings.

Iceman and Lady Mastermind stop near Mystique, who seems to be stuck, half of her body in this location, the other half not. ‘Wow. She always seemed so together!’ Regan jokes.

Back at Sea Eagle, Karima is busy tending to the gate, which had been triggered to scatter the signal. She tries one last time to patch it together, then she teleports out also, moments later, reappearing next to Bobby and Regan. Bobby asks Karima where Mystique went, to which Karima replies that she doesn’t know, and explains that she was trying to re-create the original vector, the locus where Rogue was sent. ‘Yeah, you did great. I always wanted to see the butt end of nowhere’ Lady Mastermind mutters.

Karima looks at her surroundings and realizes that they are in Calcutta, Krishna Nagar Road to be precise. Karima tells her teammates that she can translate the signal and get bearing and distance. Bobby announces that there are some cops nearby and asks Karima if they are going to explain to the cops what they are doing here. Regan mutters that life is short and tells Karima, calling her “Cybergirl” to lead the way, while she handles their wardrobe. Using her illusion powers, Regan causes passers by and the police to see she, Bobby and Karima as civilians in traditional clothing. ‘Couldn’t you have at least made me a guy?’ Bobby mumbles. ‘If God couldn’t do it, Drake, how’d you expect me to?’ Lady Mastermind replies.

Karima sent out a data squirt to Cable as she left Sea Eagle, her tracking systems placed Cable in the Conquistador, the headquarters to Rogue’s squad of X-Men. Victor Creed a.k.a. Sabretooth tells Cable and Cannonball that they did the place up nice. ‘It’s the little details that turn a house into a home’ Creed exclaims, before remarking that it still smells of blood though. ‘Or did you lay that on just for me?’ he asks.

Cable tells Creed to understand one thing: ‘You’re up here because here’s where you can do the least harm’. Creed asks Cable if he doesn’t like the idea of him sitting in class with all the little X-kiddies. ‘Shame, I like making new friends!’ Creed snickers. Cable warns Creed that if he gives him an excuse, even half an excuse, and he will activate those Nano-Sentinels in his blood. Cable begins to tells Creed that he would as soon have him dead, when he receives a vision of Rogue and the others and walks away from Creed.

Cannonball asks his former X-Force and New Mutant leader what the deal is, to which Nathan replies that it was an upload from Karima, and tells Cannonball to show Creed to his quarters, as they have to go. ‘Hope you picked out some place nice for me, Hayseed’ Creed snarls. ‘It’s kind of a fixer-upper. But I think you’re gonna like it’ Sam replies.

Two minutes later, Creed is in darkness. ‘Nice. How about a few throw cushions?’ he snarls. ‘Hey, we made an effort! We gave you airholes!’ Sam replies, before slamming the door to the vault as the Conquistador leaves the Xavier Institute grounds.

Back in Calcutta, the trio of X-Men, now disguised as city police, stroll up to the Goloka Gardens Terrace Apartments. They pass the doorman, informing him that they have come to interview one of the residents. The doorman offers to contact the resident, but one of the “police” tells him not to, as they will find the resident their own way.

Gazing around the luxurious complex, Iceman asks his female companions if they “zigged” when they should have “zagged”. Karima replies that the vector and distance correlate exactly, but points out that it is hard to image Pandemic operating in a place that is so very public. ‘Well, duh. If you’ve got a teleport gate, you don’t need to come and go by the front door!’ Regan mumbles, before informing her teammates that they are being scanned, as she is getting the same kind of tingle she gets when using her own powers.

Regan declares that some of what they are seeing is not real, but if it is an illusion, she can hack into Bobby and Karima’s minds and tell them not to see it, like hitting reverse. ‘Feast your eyes!’ Lady Mastermind exclaims as she uses her powers to reveal not the fancy complex that they had been seeing, but a simple tower. ‘Target acquired!’ Karima announces as she takes flight. ‘Yeah, but think about what it’s gonna do to resale values!’ Iceman jokes as he creates an ice-sled to carry him up towards the tower, leaving Regan behind. ‘Hey, is someone gonna let me hitch a ride?’ she cries.

Regan decides that the building’s structure is still hard to get a lock on, but as she knew it was there, she can use infra-red to pick up the people inside. And as stealth is not an option, Karima goes for the thickest cluster she picks up, bursting straight through the wall. Examining her surroundings, Karima appears to be in some sort of laboratory, where thousands of gene and tissue samples are sealed behind glass like some sort of shrine.

Karima remarks that this seems like a level of security beyond paranoid, nearly berserker, but glancing at Lady Mastermind, decides that, given some of the personalities on the X-Men’s roster, perhaps she is in no position to comment.

Iceman has collected Regan, and as they arrive through Karima’s make-shift door, she tells Bobby to let her off the sled at the corner, as she has got some work to do. Regan rushes past dozens of workers, giving each of them an unpleasant illusion: ‘Nightmares! Infantile regression! Catatonia!’ Chasing after some others, she tells them not to go away, as she is just getting warmed up here!

Regan does something to one of the men, and Bobby asks her how she did it. ‘I didn’t do anything!’ Regan replies. Bobby blasts his opponents with freezing ice and tells Regan that it came out of the back of her head. ‘You’ve got a tail-gunner!’ he exclaims. ‘You’re dreaming, Drake!’ Regan replies.

A scientist calls out to Doctor Palance, informing him that they have a breach and all the samples are at risk. The scientist requests antibodies at locus fifteen, to which Doctor Palance replies ‘The gene bank? No need for antibodies, sub controller’, then suddenly he teleports into the lab, declaring that matter of this importance he prefers to handle himself!

The three X-Men stop fighting and turn to Pan, who addresses Karima and Regan and tells them that it is good to see them again, however they must stop fighting and they must stop right now. Pan informs them that these gene samples are irreplaceable, to which Regan tells him ‘Yeah? No problem, scumbag. I’m only after your cerebellum and your medulla!’ Pan remarks that Regan’s illusions seem less focused than they used to be and suggests that it is possibly a function of her coma. ‘Let me show you how it should be done!’ Pan exclaims, before knocking Regan unconscious.

Karima and Bobby look at their fallen teammate, before each saying ‘Pincers’ and Bobby telling Karima that he is ready when she is. Iceman creates a spear of ice and Karima readies her powers, but Pan exclaims that he has important work and they are merely disturbing him. He claims that he takes no pleasure in this, but that it must be done, and renders Karima unconscious while Iceman continues to encase him in ice.

Pan turns to Iceman and tells him that when a priest gives a benediction, he lays his hands on one’s head. Pan remarks that he was never a priest, but as a doctor the principle was the same. He reveals that two hundred and ninety-seven mutants were given into his hands, and he lad his hands on all of them, giving them his blessing and took what he needed in return. ‘Rogue was the most important of course, the inspiration. She made me possible. She was the seed from which I was born!’

Fire begins to surround Pan, and as a shocked Bobby watches him, Pan declares that if Rogue could exist, then everything else followed. Pan breaks out of the ice-cage he was trapped him, and asks Bobby if he sees what he has become, before telling him that his only options are to yield or to die. ‘So what have you to say to me?’ Bobby looks at the tank full of gene samples and replies ‘How about…low temperature transition fracture?’ The tank then explodes at Bobby’s touch, and Pan screams. ‘Gaaah! My life!’ Various powers begin emanating from Pan as he shouts ‘You end NOW!’

Nearby, in the Conquistador, Cable asks what their E.T.A. is. Sam replies that it is two or three minutes, and while he knows it makes sense to have the ship there, he can handle it himself, so he suggests Cable “body slides” in to help the others, and he can follow later. Cable is adjusting some equipment and explains that he has already tried, but there is a psionic scrambler covering the whole of Calcutta - someone is stopping him from teleporting in.

Pan holds Bobby by his neck, when Karima comes up behind him and unleashes a burst of power on him. Pan drops Bobby and turns to Karima. ‘Thomas Jones - Number 30. Shiro Yashida - never formerly referred to me - but I shook his hand once, and an embassy banquet’. Pan remarks that Paige Guthrie was his 126th patient, such a sweet girl, steel sheathed in velvet. He blasts Iceman, but Karima jumps in between.

Pan tells her that he has had enough, as he knows what she is trying to do, spinning out the agony, hoping that reinforcements will arrive. Pan tells the X-Men to trust him when he says that it is not going to happen. He then reveals that, for a brief but memorable time, Jean Grey was also on his books. ‘The second skin contact I had with her, when I took her pulse, almost burned out my nervous system! But the power opening before me like an endless, fractal landscape, it was worth it. Oh, it was worth it!’

Pan begins demonstrating Jean Grey’s power by causing the Conquistador to be knocked off its flight plan. Cannonball announces that the controls are frozen, to which Cable informs him that Karima is still transmitting, but they are outgunned and going down fast. Cable tells Sam that if they cannot help themselves, then they have to send Karima something they can use. ‘Like what? Sam asks, reminding Cable that the O*N*E* made them strip every last weapon out of this ship. Cable replies that he managed to hold onto one, and pressing a button, Sabretooth is ejected from his cell and plummets towards Pan’s laboratory….