God Loves, Man Kills II

• Writer - Chris Claremont
• Penciler - Igor Kordey
• Inker - Scott Hanna
• Colorist - Liquid!
• Lettering - Tom Orzechowski
• Cover Art - Salvador Larroca
• Ass't Editor - Mike Raicht
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  In Cumberland Co., Kentucky, Sage tracks Stryker's movements: he was on the coast to minister to death row inmate Aaron Pankow and is flying back east. Lucas asks about him; he's an old enemy (Marvel Graphic Novel 5, 1982) who came closer than most to making mutant-kind extinct.

  SeaTac airport in Seattle: guards apologize for chaining Stryker; some think he was railroaded, but the black pilot notes he attempted genocide. Flying over the Rockies, the crew is slaughtered by Deathstrike, disguised as the co-pilot; she radios a mayday, claiming the X-Men are attacking, walks back to Stryker's cage, says she's on a mission from God, guts the guards, and approaches Stryker, who starts repeating the 23rd Psalm. She's not there to kill him but to free him; she notes he left out "goodness" and "mercy"; Stryker says this is war; they embrace.

  One wounded guard raises a shotgun; Deathstrike tosses a throwing star into his head; he fires wildly, shooting out a window, and the air rushes out. Deathstrike tells Stryker to hold onto her; corpses and debris are sucked out and damage the left engine; the plane lurches; Stryke assumes Deathstrike has a contingency plan, as they jump out, and the plane explodes.

  Sam and Ororo practice over the hills of Kentucky, while the others observe and admire the scenery. Sam knows the terrain and flies between the trees, but still can't shake Ororo. He turns off his blast and falls into a gorge, narrowly missing the bottom; Ororo loses his wake, and Sam is able to blast up and grab her. Ororo congratulates him but then grabs him, turning him upside down, while Logan watches and laughs. Sage says playtime is over: Stryker's plane crashed, and the X-Men are implicated.

  Chicago: Kitty talks to Lyszinski, her shrink, about Stryker's attempt to kill all mutants, calling them an abomination in the sight of God, and many people think he's a martyr set up by Xavier. He tried to kill her; Lyszinski pointedly says he's dead now; Kitty wishes she'd never been born; Lyszinski asks how that squares with her being a super-hero; Kitty says they never thought of themselves that way, but just learned to use their powers ethically and occasionally saved the world. She was just 13 and thought it was a great adventure. Her first love was Piotr, and her best friend Illyana, and they're both dead. She wants to kill people like Stryker; she did kill once (Excalibur 16, I'm told), and hate is easy, but she wants to find a better way.

  On the Idaho-Montana border, the X-Men search for plane wreckage, mostly buried under an avalanche, and find bodies. Sage watches Wetherell's report of protests at the mansion; Xavier has refused comment, and strange weather patterns in the Rockies have stymied investigators: mutants are suspected.

  Logan recognizes the wounds on a dead guard: he's had some himself. A grenades is thrown; Logan has Sam blast away with Sage; it explodes, spraying shrapnel everywhere; the blast knocks Sam down the mountainside; he gets up to find Sage but is caught in a net, and Purifiers surround him. Logan rises, studded with shrapnel, and confronts them, but they shoot balls of tar at him, trapping him. Sage analyzes their capabilities and sees they're professionals; a Purifier hits her from behind; the team leader draws his finger across his throat, indicating they should kill the prisoners.

  Kitty tends bar in the Belles of Hell and locks up for the night. Someone enters while she's mopping up and blasts her: it's Deathstrike, collecting her for Stryker, who says "God hath remembered her iniquities" (Rev. 18:4-8).