Fallout!

• Writer - Chris Claremont
• Penciler - Jim Lee
• Inker - Scott Williams
• Lettering - Tom Orzechowski
• Colorist - Joe Rosas
• Editor - Bob Harras
• Editor in Chief - Tom Defalco

Summary

  Forge has rigged an invisible, non-metallic glider to let the X-Men approach Asteroid M without being detected. Ororo uses her power to draw wind high into space. Meanwhile, the UN positions its plasma cannon. Magneto must be destroyed at all costs.

  Fury warns Jean, saying humanity is scared of all the super-beings that have popped up. Through her psi-link with Scott, Jean knows his conversion is genuine. Cortez suggests the same for Xavier, but Magneto wants him broken, not turned. When Moira protests, he covers her mouth with metal, then yells at her for manipulating him. He falters, ill, pushes Moira away, and lets Cortez reenergize him.

  Scott's team relaxes on the asteroid; Remy wants to risk touching Rogue, but she flies off. Logan sneaks away, and only Hank notices.

  Jean exhausts herself, telekinetically pulling the glider to the asteroid. Logan reaches Moira, says he knows the glider is coming, and unsheathes his claws. Bobby super-freezes the wall of the asteroid, and Piotr punches through it. Xavier meets them. His and Jean's telepathy is being inhibited, so Scott sneaks up, kisses Jean, and then blasts her.

  X-Men fight X-Men and Acolytes: Delgado smashes Piotr; Hank rejoins the good guys and stomps Delgado. Remy whups Sean; Forge shoots him, but he deflects the shots; Bobby gets Remy, then Betsy stabs his brain. That was a mistake: he uncontrollably blasts ice and gets her. Jean's psi-link to Scott lets her anticipate his blasts, but she is tiring. Rogue, also reconverted, blocks one for her.

  Magneto arrives, saying he should have known nothing could make the X-Men his allies. Scott blasts him, angry at having been manipulated. An Acolyte shoots him, then Magneto stops the battle.

  Xavier tells Magneto his way will always be tainted with blood and rage; Magneto chokes him, then collapses. Logan stands ready to finish him, but he's no murderer. Moira says her process failed when the X-Men used their mutant powers and reverted to their natural state; therefore Magneto had never been under her control. She warns him that Cortez's treatments are harming him.

  Cortez escapes in a pod, takes control of the plasma cannon, and fires. Magneto puts up a shield; Xavier says he should evacuate with the X-Men, but he stands with his Acolytes and pushes Xavier into the glider, mentally saying he is saving the X-Men because his mission is to protect mutants. He has no quarrel with them, as long as they don't oppose him. Explosions engulf the asteroid, and the X-Men return home.