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Appearing in "...And None Shall Survive!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
X-Men #17

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "...And None Shall Survive!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
X-Men #17

Continued from last issue....

Following their battle against Master Mold and the Sentinels, the X-Men are given medical attention by the military, who commend the Professor and the X-Men for their assistance in destroying the menace. With Cyclops, Beast, and Iceman injured, the Professor allows them to be taken by the military paramedics to the hospital, but mentally cautions his students to protect their secret identities.

At the hospital, the doctors are unsure how to treat Iceman, who is in an unconscious delirium, prompting Professor to worry about this potentially being his first failure. Checking on the other X-Men under the pretext as a casual friend instead of their leader, the Professor overhears a doctor commenting on the fact that they could learn so much more if they knew who the young Mutant's parents are. Finding the Angel flying over a crowd of nurses checking the answering service with the mansion, the Professor is informed by Warren that his parents are coming to visit because they hadn't hear from their son in a while. The Professor calls the Worthingtons and tells them that he's on a "field trip" with his students for materials for a coming research paper. Although the Worthingtons are relieved, they insist on stopping by for a visit for only a few minutes. Concerned, not only over this, but his sense of dread, the Professor sends Warren back to the mansion to scout around.

Warren arrives at the mansion to find no trouble on the grounds, however, upon walking inside he is almost smashed by an axe which suddenly levitates out of the hand of a decorative suit of armor and smashes into the wall. Flying through the mansion, the Angel accidentally flies into a mirror and knocks himself out. His strange attacker watches, lurking in the shadows, boasting that this is the first of the X-Men he will defeat.

Back at the hospital, a doctor is almost done his examination of Cyclops, wanting to finish up by examining his eyes. Cyclops gives him a demonstration of his powerful optic blasts, explaining that he cannot control them. Finding no other problems with the young mutant, the doctor dismisses Cyclops into the Professor's care and the two walk the grounds discussing the state of the other X-Men. The Professor has lost mental contact with Angel and decides that Beast and Marvel Girl should remain at the hospital to watch over Iceman, who is still too injured to move. The Professor and Cyclops agree to return to the Mansion.

There they find no sign of Warren, and are suddenly startled when Cerebro's mutant alarm goes off. Going to investigate, the Professor examines his computer and learns that there is a super-powerful evil mutant on the premises. Before Cyclops can warn him, the Professor is suddenly wrapped up in the coils of a mental-wave distorter and sealed behind a transparent shield. Cyclops attempts to blast through it with his optic blast, but finds it redirected against him.

The lights then go out and Cyclops is attacked by their foe in the darkness. Unable to see his foe, Cyclops is easily felled in hand-to-hand combat against their unknown attacker. Back at the hospital, Beast has totally recovered from his injuries, which he shows off for Marvel Girl. Jean is concerned about the Professor and also decides to check on Bobby. When they find that Iceman is still in a coma, the two decide to venture to the mansion to see what's happened to the Professor and the others.

Arriving at the mansion, they rush into the front door and are shocked to find that the entire inside hallway has been coated with a friction-less surface. Beast suddenly slides across the room and into a specially prepared room. Jean manages to avoid the same fate by using her telekinetic powers. She is then confronted by their mystery foe, whom she recognizes immediately. Trying to keep him back with her telekinetic powers, she passes out after inhaling odorless sleep gas. Back at the hospital, the doctor caring for Iceman is called into the mutant's room because his pulse is getting weaker and he's becoming more delirious. With no other choice, the doctor decides to try a new experimental sulfa drug on Iceman and sends the nurse to go and get it.

Back at the mansion, the X-Men's mysterious attacker seals them in an enclosure of a high altitude balloon and sets it loose with the hopes that they will perish in the sky when they float up to 100,000 feet into the air. Releasing the X-Men into the air, the villain is satisfied that he has finally destroyed the X-Men. Shortly after, the Worthingtons arrive to visit their son; however, when they knock at the door they are greeted by the man who attacked the X-Men; none other than Magneto!

This story is continued next issue....

Appearing in "If Iceman Should Fail..!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
X-Men #18

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Unnamed nurse
  • Unnamed mutant clone slaves

Races and Species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Magneto's metal gondola and balloon
  • Laser-induced hypodermic
  • Magna-Car

Synopsis for "If Iceman Should Fail..!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
X-Men #18

Continued from last issue....

Professor X, Angel, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl have all been defeated by Magneto, who put the team into a high altitude hot-air balloon, hoping that his hated foes would perish once it reaches its destination of 100,000 feet. Magneto revels over the victory, magnetically lifting the mansion out of its foundation. He then decides to use the mansion as his own base of power then sets the house back down to the ground. Entering the residence of his hated foes, he then uses his magnetic powers to destroy Cerebro. However, his destruction is interrupted when the Worthingtons -- Warren's parents -- arrive for a visit. Magneto confronts them at the front door and uses magnetic hypnotism to put them under his thrall, ordering them to go sleep upstairs in the upper bedrooms. Magneto then comes to realize that one of the X-Men -- Iceman -- is missing, and waits for him to return to the mansion so that his revenge can be complete. Magneto boasts how Iceman is the weakest of all the X-Men.

Meanwhile, Iceman is still recovering from injuries sustained battling the Sentinels. His doctor injects the unconscious mutant with a new medicine with a special device. It stops the boy's delirious rantings; however, if he will awaken remains to be seen. Meanwhile, high above in the weather balloon that might mean their doom, Professor X exerts all his mental power to try and overload the mental-wave disruptor that has been attached to his head. His ploy succeeds and he revives the rest of the X-Men. They begin to assess their abysmal situation and wonder how Magneto could have returned, after being taken from Earth by the Stranger.

Back at the X-Mansion, Magneto uses his magnetic powers to assist him in constructing a device that can duplicate body cells and create an army of mutant clones, using the Worthingtons as the source material. Probing the situation mentally, the Professor learns of Magneto's plans and tries to revive Iceman, who awakens from his coma and agrees to go out and try and stop Magneto. Marvel Girl is then instructed to use her telekinetic powers as an anchor, preventing their balloon from floating up any higher. The Professor then probes Magneto's mind so that he and the X-Men can learn how Magneto managed to return to Earth:

They discover that shortly after Magneto and Toad were taken to the Stranger's homeworld, Magneto began plotting his escape. One day, they were left to their own devices and Magneto -- taking advantage of the fact that the Stranger allowed them to roam his planet freely -- brought Toad to a location where a number of rocket ships had been collected by the Stranger and put on display in a museum. Magneto then used his magnetic powers to gain access to one of the rockets and after kicking Toad off the entrance ladder, Magneto flew the rocket back to Earth.

Bobby arrives at the mansion and spies on Magneto to learn what his plan is. Seeing Magneto creating Mutant clones from the Worthingtons DNA, Iceman sneaks into the room where they are sleeping and uses his ice powers to stop the flow of information, leaving the clones inert. Furious that his creations have not come to life, Magneto enters the room and attacks Iceman. Magneto underestimates Iceman's ability and Bobby manages to fight off Magneto's attacks, creating an ice slide to send the two of them out of the mansion.

Meanwhile aboard the balloon, the Professor comes up with a solution to get them back on the ground. He orders Cyclops to use his optic blast to poke a pinpoint hole in the balloon so that the helium inside slowly leaks out and they can then safely descend to the ground below. The X-Men safely land on the ground and attack Magneto together, however the Master of Magnetism manages to fight them off. Before they can renew their attack, Magneto magnetically traps Iceman and threatens to kill him if the X-Men don't cease their fighting. Iceman tells the others not to surrender for him, however Angel flies in and manages to pull him free from Magneto's grasp.

The X-Men and Magneto resume their battle until Professor X tells them all to stop fighting and surrender. The X-Men are shocked at this order and Magneto gloats over his "superiority" over the X-Men. However, this only proves to be a delaying tactic on the Professor's part as he has delivered a mental summons to the stars, calling the Stranger back to Earth to collect Magneto. Magneto flees the scene, with the Stranger trailing behind him.

The X-Men then rush inside to stop the machine (which has now begun to operate since Iceman's ice has thawed) before it can bring Magneto's slave Mutants to life. With the machine deactivated, the clones disintegrate and the X-Men destroy the machine.

The next day the Worthingtons awaken from their sleep with absolutely no memory of their encounter with Magneto, and join the X-Men (now in their civilian guises and with their secret identities protected) for breakfast.

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