Hell to Pay

• Writer - Chris Claremont
• Penciler - Salvador Larroca
• Colorist - Liquid!
• Lettering - Tom Orzechowski
• Ass't Editor - Frank Dunkerley
• Editor - Matt Hicks
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  The team gathers around Betsy's corpse, and Hank quotes Lear: "I know when one is dead, and when one lives—and she is dead as earth." The Guardia Civil arrests them, and Ororo gathers stormclouds; Lucas and Cortes call a truce, so they can find those responsible. Medics check Hank, who is in shock.

  Rogue says Vargas was gunning for an X-Man and was going to kill her, till Betsy intervened. Neal is distressed by the body bag, and he kisses Betsy goodbye. Lucas scans her fingernails and finds tissue; he thinks Vargas is taunting them. Sage says he isn't a mutant but something new.

  Betsy was a model and a British secret agent. She infiltrated the Hellfire Club's master house, getting close to Philips and Shaw. Sage, Xavier's mole, warned her off before she was corrupted (as Phoenix would be).

  They track Vargas and attack under cover of fog, capturing his gang, but he's not there: it's a red herring. Rogue uses altitude and claws to scare information from a thug.

  Rogue and Neal remember working out with Betsy in the Danger Room. She defeated them both, and Neal fell for her.

  Sage visits Hank in the hospital, finally able to be a hero. She uses her power to perceive and enhance his mutation, and he begins a metamorphosis (see X-Men II:114). She collapses into Ororo's arms, renouncing the name Tessa. Hank wakes.

  Sage says they can't defeat or even detect Vargas, who wants to hunt them. She suggests he is the Xavier Protocols incarnate (see Excalibur 100), and Xavier may have sent him to stop them getting Destiny's diaries.

  Brian and Meggan pick up Betsy's body, and Ororo sends Hank home to recuperate, saying she regrets not spending more time with him. Vargas observes and promises more deaths.