Cardinal Law

• Writer - Chris Claremont
• Penciler - Andy Park
• Colorist - Morry Hollowell
• Lettering - Virtual Calligraphy
• Lettering - Chris Eliopoulos
• Ass't Editor - Stephannie Moore
• Ass't Editor - Sean Ryan
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Chasing Hellfire

Summary

  Ororo reaches for her headdress and tries to use it to slice apart the webbing binding her; too slow, she decides, so she quick-freezes the webbing and bursts it apart. She overdoes it, however, and the balcony beneath her crumbles, as well. Pierce hates mutants so much he's made himself a cyborg to combat them, but mostly he hires help, and now he orders the Cleaning Crew to attack. Ororo uses lightning and hand-to-hand to defeat some; Pierce monitors and congratulates her, but he knows his men won't give up unless she kills them, and that's not the X-Men's style. He has the others captive and gloats over them.

  Hong Kong: Rachel thinks Red Lotus is crazy for allying with Ross and Viper; he says none of them are angels, but they all want to rescue the enslaved mutants. Suddenly, Selene approaches as tendrils and engulfs Lotus, feeding on him. She's happy to see Rachel remembers her, and when Rachel zaps her, she kicks and hits. She's seen Rachel's soul and says she's not innocent or pure, and they are fated to be one. Rachel cries, "Never!", but Selene says she's immortal, so that word has no meaning. Selene says she made a deal to get out of the New York Hellfire Club (iss. 452), but she won't say with whom. She says nobody will rescue Rachel; they won't be able to help themselves. Emma observes telepathically, and she warns Ross and Viper that their cover is blown. Gunmen approach.

  Paris: Kurt is horrified that Logan killed their attackers; he notes they had military gear, and guns powerful enough to make the whole block a crater. "There wasn't time to do anything less." They see dark skies and know Ororo's still in trouble; they hear sirens, so Kurt bamfs them away.

  Logan directs Kurt to Ororo, while he lunges at Pierce, who says he's been upgraded, pushes him off, and shoots projectiles with nanites specially designed to combat him. They eat his eyes and then follow the optic nerves to his brain, and the, and they overpower his healing factor. Pierce eagerly watches the battle of nature and technology, and he has claws on his fingertips to match Logan's; he guts him with them.

  Hong Kong: Selene has both Rachel and Lotus, and they're about to kiss when Rachel manifests the Phoenix and bursts her apart. "Impossible!" she cries; Rachel replies "My very existence defines the term." She keeps kissing Lotus.

  Paris: Kurt fights the Cleaning Crew, trying to get to Ororo. Pierce continues clawing at Logan and asks if Weapon X ever found a limit to his healing factor. Sunspot pleads with him, saying there's no need for butchery; Sage knows there is: Logan's won't quit.

  Ororo warns Kurt to jaunt away, and she electrocutes the Cleaning Crew. She knows Pierce is the real threat, but he has defenses against her powers, so she tries the unexpected: she flies up and throws her headdress at him, but gets zapped for her efforts, and Kurt catches her. Logan bats the headdress aside, knowing Ororo isn't strong enough to carry out her idea (note: eh? UXM 212, 325). He spars with Pierce, but he's a distraction, while Sage uses the headdress to free herself and Shaw.

  Hong Kong: Rachel runs to warn Emma, but she's already subdued the gunmen, by threatening to give them to Viper. Rachel is shocked to learn she knew about Selene, but Emma didn't think she needed any help. Rachel wonders why Sage sent them there; Emma supposes she wanted to make sure this mission was accomplished, no matter what else happened. Happy ending all around.

  Paris: Shaw lunges at Pierce, who hits him, but that only makes him stronger. Pierce knows his abilities and limits, and he powers up his claws and slashes him. He says his reign as Lord Imperial is over before it's begun; Shaw says he doesn't go down without a fight, and he fights to win. He punches him hard, taking off his head, which goes skittering across the ground, cybernetics attached.

  Ororo and Kurt tend to Logan, who's still blind. They wonder how much of this Sage expected: Pierce's attack on Shaw, and the other way around. Ororo says they survive because of trust, based on working toward a common goal; now she doesn't trust Sage.

  Shaw is badly wounded; he's angry Sage didn't warn him about Pierce and says it's another betrayal. She says he was worth saving once, when he was Xavier's friend, but no longer. He warns her this isn't over, as he's loaded into an ambulance. Sunspot will take over the Hellfire Club now; Lucas asks if that was Sage's plan; she says it was one scenario. Shaw thought the boy was corruptible, but Sage knew better, and she'll stay by his side to make sure he isn't seduced by the power, like Shaw was. She doesn't hope, she assesses, plans, and acts.