Meltdown

• Writer - Steve Seagle
• Penciler - Chris Bachalo
• Inker - Thibert
• Inker - Tim Townsend
• Lettering - Richard Starkings
• Lettering - Comicraft
• Colorist - Liquid!
• Editor - Mark Powers
• Editor in Chief - Bob Harras

The Hunt for Xavier

Summary

  Note: this occurs after X-Men II:81.

  In Nebraska, a farmer's fields burn, and a SHIELD agent says it is a government matter. Pyro is at the center of the blaze, demanding to see Xavier. He has the full-blown Legacy Virus.

  Fury has risked treason to summon the X-Men, trying to avoid another public "mutant terrorist action" (see X-Men II:80). Pyro has been moving east; Remy says he must be running from something, and Logan wonders what he could want with Xavier.

  Xavier sees his dream come true: humans and mutants in harmony, even Magneto. But it's just a dream. He is awakened and must keep running.

  Cecelia receives a large crate from Moira, for the Xavier Institute.

  The X-Men get Pyro and his fire away from town and save the bystanders. Logan goes off to cut a firebreak and tells the others to flush Pyro toward him. Rogue tosses Kurt into the church tower to rescue a priest; he ports out with him into mid-air, for Rogue to catch. Marrow slices open a school bus to save the kids; she doesn't believe in Xavier, since he never helped the Morlocks, but the rest of the team agree he is a good man. Ororo makes rain.

  Pyro makes fiery monsters; he appears to be deranged and to think Xavier wants to kill him. Piotr and Remy get singed until Ororo deprives the fire of oxygen.

  Kitty douses Pyro with a fire extinguisher, but it doesn't work. They realize there's something metal in the fire, which Pyro is fleeing, and he wants Xavier's help. Logan hits Pyro, but the metal thing approaches. Pyro blasts it into systems failure, then collapses. Fury takes over.

  Back at the mansion, Kitty uncrates Moira's Cerebro. Cecelia asks them for a little warning, next time, and tells Remy to stop smoking. Kitty hooks it up and finds Xavier's mutant signature twice: in San Francisco and in Tajikistan. Then Cerebro overloads, Kitty thinks from an outside source. Ororo splits the team to follow both leads.

  Two metal things (Cerebrites) drop like meteors into San Francisco and Tajikistan, seeking Xavier.

  Note: continued in X-Men II:82