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Factor-X #1
Synopsis by Jeff Harris:In the ruins of the island of Manhattan, beneath the shadow of Apocalypse's citadel, a small ragtag band of mutants works to escape from the dark lord's prison. The group is made up of Artemis, a mutant with a camouflage ability and formidable fighting skills, the Australian Pyro, Phantazia, Newt (who more than likely may be our reality's Toad rather than the swordsman in the X-Man series), and Avalanche. Unfortunately they are caught up to by half of Sinister's Elite Mutant Force (Prelate Cyclops, Havok, and the twins Northstar and Aurora. Avalanche creates a series of seismic shocks, allowing the group to split up, but he is easily taken down by Cyclops' optic blast. Pyro then blows up Havok's motorcycle, burning himself in the process, but is subsequently blasted away by the younger Summers brother. Elsewhere in the ruins, Northstar and Aurora take care of Newt and Phantazia respectively, and Artemis takes her chances against Cyclops alone, nearly succeeding in overwhelming him, when Havok kills her with a concussive plasma blast. Scott chides his brother for the murder, but Alex is unaffected and blows off his concern, thinking Cyclops has gone a bit soft. Meanwhile, in the massive monument of Apocalypse that has replaced Lady Liberty, Sinister looks out over the land and muses over his decision to leave, claiming that he "finally [has] the resources to engineer the evolution of mutantkind to [his] design" (see X-Man series). So he plans on leaving his Elite Mutant Force to their own devices. Down in genetic stockpile of mutants and humans known as the "pens", Cannonball and his sister Amazon (Elizabeth Guthrie with size and strength enhancing capabilities) squelch a revolt of the prisoners, but the pair are far superior to the mob's uncoordinated attack, and once again Cyclops intercedes on behalf of the humans, pulling rank on Sam. Later, the Beast is working in his lab on another of his horrible atrocies he refers to as genetic experiments, this time doing his work on the remaining prisoners that had escaped earlier in the issue. Havok visits him as the Beast pretty much turns his the hopeless prisoners into little more than genetic stew in his attempts to create better Infinites, and Alex confers with him about the odd changes he's observing in his brother and the possibility of a fratricide. Cyclops himself is walking the halls of the citadel complex when he runs into the wrestling Bedlam Brothers, Terrence and Jesse. The latter two decide to visit the Heaven night club while Scott puzzles over the mysterious absence of Sinister. At Heaven, Angel and Havok have a bit of friendly banter while the lovely Scarlett McKenzie sings for the crowd. Suddenly, the terrorist Henry Peter Gyrich appears, spouting more anti-mutant lingo at the crowd and wielding a high-powered weapon. But the Bedlam Brothers take him down without difficulty and he is taken into custody, as Havok and Scarlett have a bit of a late night meeting. Later that evening, the Bedlam Brothers and Alex return to find Scott up waiting for them, but when they go to try to meet with Sinister again in his private chambers, they find the place in shambles, and Cyclops decides he must take charge as Apocalypse's monument blows up due to Sinister engaging his Auto-Destruct Sequence.
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