Uncanny X-Men #374

Publisher
Marvel
Year
1999
Month
11
LastChanged
1/26/2024 9:44:51 PM
You Can’t Go Home Again

Beauty and the Beast
Summary

  Mikhail retells his story: a cosmonaut who turned out to be a mutant, the Russian government faked his death and put him on a secret project to explore a portal found on Sakhalin Island. His teammates were killed, and he was trapped for years. The X-Men rescued him (iss. 285-286), and he joined the Morlocks and then ported them away during a flood (iss. 293). When he closed the portal, the backlash killed the natives. Mikhail raised the Morlocks as warriors until they rebelled and returned to earth (Gene Nation, iss. 324). Meanwhile, Mikhail evolved into a god. He demonstrates his power by transforming a chair into a dinosaur.

  Marrow has gone after Callisto and finds her cradling a younger version of Marrow, whose mutant power just manifested, so she is thrust out to the badlands.

  Mikhail feels guilty about the deaths he caused and has reanimated the Morlocks. Tapping Piotr's memories as well as his own, he projects Illyana, but Piotr says it's not real: it's just like art or sculpture. So Mikhail attacks him.

  Marrow watches herself become a vicious fighter, earning her way back in. She realizes she was feral and perpetuating Mikhail's insane system.

  Mikhail encases his brother in stone; Marrow arrives and attacks him. He doesn't recognize her at first; she bursts his messianic bubble, pointing out he's a mass-murderer. He goes berserk with guilt, energies fly out of him and form an entity, which has been empowering him but making him insane. Mikhail uses his own power to open a portal, fights the symbiotic connection to the entity, and escapes with Piotr and Marrow to Boston. The portrait of Illyana has been destroyed, but Piotr says it's only a reproduction, and it's better to have his brother back.

  In Egypt, Deathbird has delivered the Monolith and demands payment. Instead, she gets zapped and prepared for conversion (by Apocalypse).