Mojo Rising!

• Writer - Chris Claremont
• Penciler - Tom Raney
• Inker - Scott Hanna
• Colorist - Gina Going
• Lettering - Virtual Calligraphy
• Lettering - Rus Wooton
• Ass't Editor - Sean Ryan
• Associated Editor - Nick Lowe
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  The X-Men immediately attack Mojo; he's glad they remember him and has Spiral do all his fighting while he appraises each of the X-Men. Spiral considers letting the X-Men win but then creates a dummy of Jean Grey, which launches at them, saying "I'm back!", and explodes.

  The X-Men find themselves reduced to childhood, too young for superpowers, except for Betsy. Kurt pushes the remote control and restarts the Danger Room simulation of Sabretooth, causing a distraction, while Betsy forms a TK wave and tries to escape with everyone. Spiral lashes out, destroying the remote and stunning Betsy, and the X-Babies tumble through the door. Betsy yells for them to go get help; they squabble, but then Ororo takes charge, and they go.

  Mojo examines Betsy and realizes someone removed her bionic eyes (X-Men II:31-32); he flings a large scroll of paper and yells that it's a breach of contract. Betsy is unimpressed, so he calls in his Exile Legal Eagles, versions of the Exiles. He sends them after the X-Babies, and they march robotically through the door. He then gives Spiral a suggestion, and she's quick to pick up on it: the surrounds the mansion with a force field in the shape of Mojo's flabby head. The X-Babies, trying to get out the front door, bounce off it, and the X-Men outside immediately realize what's going on.

  The X-Babies stretch a cord across a hallway, trying to trip the Legal Eagles, and Nocturne and Kurt drop a cloth over their heads. Cain, still strong since he's not a mutant, uses the cord to toss them, and melee ensues. Sasquatch tosses Ororo, so Cain punches her, but she lands on Nocturne, injuring her. Cain is overwhelmed with visions of Squidboy, whose death he caused (X-Men II:162), and he runs away. Nocturne, meanwhile, bounces up, ready for the fight.

  Mojo watches eagerly, munching popcorn, while Spiral calls him "Screwloose" and thinks they're going to get their butts kicked.

  The X-Babies ambush the Legal Eagles one by one; Kurt and Nocturne freeze the floor in the chem lab while they hang onto the ceiling, and Blink, Sunfire, and Mimic go sliding. Lucas and Rachel turn a fire hose on Nocturne and Sasquatch, long enough to wrap them in inflatable "Panic Packs," ordinarily used to neutralize out-of-control students.

  Ororo ignores her claustrophobia and crawls through the ductwork toward the control room. She finds Cain, who has removed his armor and cowers. He's not sure he wants to win, to be a grown up again, and feels terrible that Squidboy thought he betrayed them. Ororo knows the truth: Cain was pretending, to save lives, and she says life is the journey, not the destination. Second chances are earned, and you have to take responsibility for what you've done.

  She lets him stay there while she takes care of the rest, and she realizes it's the first time she's seen past Juggernaut's armor to the boy inside. In the control room, she's ambushed by Spiral, who puts her in a mechanical walker like Mojo; it seems every villain wants her as his paramour; the transformation will be permanent when Spiral removes her spine. Cain, back in armor, drops onto Spiral from the vent and punches her out. He high-fives Ororo, and Mojo senses something's wrong, just as the Danger Room walls close on him, a giant-sized Panic Pack.

  The force field drops; the X-Men take charge, and Kitty threatens Mojo into returning the X-Babies to normal. He wonders, though, if Cain wouldn't rather stay a child and offers to give him a new start and make him a star. Cain turns him down, surprising him, and saying the memory of what he's done keeps him honest.

  Emma darkly promises to ensure Mojo never bothers them again.