Old Wounds, New Battles

• Writer - Judd Winick
• Penciler - Mike McKone
• Inker - Mark McKenna
• Inker - Jimmy Palmiotti
• Colorist - Transparency Digital
• Lettering - Paul Tutrone
• Ass't Editor - Mike Raicht
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  Nightcrawler and Xavier check Wolverine in the med lab; they guess a faction of the Imperial Guard want him out of the way so he can't defend Phoenix.

  When it's all clear, T.J. emerges from Wolverine: one of her powers is to physically possess people, putting their minds into coma. Her other is to open small portals to her father's dimension, releasing bursts of energy. Since her mother was the Scarlet Witch (Kurt and she were both mutants raised by gypsies), she calls them "hex bolts," but they aren't, really.

  Calvin is in metal form till his healing factor puts him back together. Clarice goes over the plan with the team one more time, and they are all ported to the Blue Area of the Moon.

  John knocks out the Kree and Skrull observers, and the team helps the Imperial Guard knock out the X-Men. T.J. even goes up against her own father, who was unable to disorient her by porting.

  The Phoenix roars to life, and she kills Cyclops. Jean is really gone, and she next blasts Storm. Calvin mimics her power, getting half, and keeps her busy awhile. Wolverine is awake earlier than expected and makes Kevin sing like a canary. When he sees Mariko, he believes the story.

  Clarice, T.J., and Calvin fight Phoenix with dimensional shards, bamf blasts, and steel fists. Clarice tries to sneak up on her, but she's a telepath and grabs her by the neck. Turns out Clarice was just distracting her so John could get close enough to smack her. Battle continues, and Phoenix grows ever stronger, feeding on their disgust and disappointment.

  Wolverine gets Angel to fly him at Phoenix; just as she blasts them, Clarice teleports them behind her, and adamantium claws do what nothing else could. Phoenix explodes, and all the X-Men are unconscious or dead.

  The Tallus activates, and the Exiles are glad to put this one behind them.