Prisoner of Fire

Shadow of the Soul

Summary

  Bogan has defeated Lucas's strike force; Sage readies her force, getting Magma's help to analyze every inch of ground beneath Valle Soleada. Kitty and Rogue chat nearby, catching up. Rogue gives her condolences for Kitty's father (X-Men Unlimited I:36) and reaches out to her; Kitty draws away, forgetting that Rogue's lost her powers. Rogue is happy about that: excited and scared.

  They wonder about Sage's plan and agree she's secretive, like Xavier who taught her. Surrounded by telepaths, secrecy becomes second-nature. They wonder about Bogan, whom even Sage is scared of. Rogue says there are different kinds of bad in the world, but evil must be stopped; Kitty sees it differently: the struggle for co-existence is what's really important. Xavier taught her, too.

  Sage is ready to move. Rogue doesn't trust her, but Kitty trusts Ororo, who brought her in, and reminds Rogue that the team put their faith in her (X-Men I:171), and they need to show their commitment to each other. She hugs Rogue, which Sage sneers at.

  They all hold hands; Kitty phases them into the ground, which excites Rogue as it scares Sage. They drop into lava, and Magma uses her power to coat the others in cool rock; unphased, they're carried by the river of lava. Seismographs record the disturbance as a minor earthquake which knocks out power in the area: all part of the plan. They reach Bogan's lair under the X-Corp building. Kitty phases the others out of their rock cocoons, and they're happy to breathe free. Sage has sent Magma away because she has no immunity to telepaths; this angers Rogue.

  Bogan is rumored to have founded the Hellfire Club in the 1780s, and the oldest mutants are usually the most formidable. He's a monster who works through puppets, and nobody even knows if he's a man or woman.

  Manacle attacks, wrapping Kitty in chains and slamming her against the walls of the cavern, gloating he can do this despite her usual intangibility. Rogue is next, but she unwraps herself and slams into him feet first. They fight.

  Revenant approaches Kitty, planning to torture her, but she unwraps herself from the chain and attacks, felling her. Rogue's won also, and they high-five each other, but then turn to realize all their friends are under Bogan's control and about to attack.

  Remy trips them up, though: he's not really under control, and he dips Rolling Thunder, smooth-talking her; Bogan is angry at having been fooled. Lucas extends a hand, phasing through the head of Bogan's pet telepath, and she screams.

  Sage has snuck off and found Bogan's crystal skull, the real target, but she is interrupted by Magma, under Bogan's control. Bogan knows Sage planned to use her as a failsafe, to destroy the building if the first plan failed, but now he uses her to burn Sage.