Later, the mutants drive back to the school, and Cycops is uncomfortable with Wolverine's actions. Wolverine sees it as taking care of their own, which Scott can't really fault, as the problem Peter was too scared to talk about will now be sending his mother a fruit basket every week. Wolverine mentions that he's going back on the road, and Scott wonders if it's because of Xavier's rules. Wolverine says he actually gets along great with the Prof, and he believes in the school's premise, but it's the way the others are ncomfortable around him that's keeping him on the road. Cyclops makes an offer of help whenever needed, as a grudging respect grows between the two men.

In Westchester, the people of Salem Center gape at a girl flying overhead in the distance. It's Storm, who finally comes down with a crash-landing in the lake, laughing with glee at this new use of her powers, and thankful to Xavier for giving her the confidence to explore such uses. Beast comes to get her, and to start their math lesson, but Storm would rather kiss and cuddle. Hank is somewhat taken aback, and asks if her feelings for him are real, or something the others put her up to, which he explains has happened to him before. He can't believe she wants to "date the fat guy." Storm chucks the books as they sit down and leans in for a kiss, telling Beast beign with him is the most (legal) fun she's ever had.:

Outside the Mansion, Iceman's parents drop him off with a hug and teary farewell. Inside, Xavier senses a big problem: Iceman has revealed everything about the school to his old girlfriend. Charles communicates with Jean about the ethics of earasing their memories versus the necessity of maintaining the school's safety. Jean concurs with the former, and Xavier goes ahead and telepathically wipes Bobby's mind of the event. Jean pulls a note from her back pocket and reads it, wondering if she was too harsh on Wolverine.

Later, Iceman chats with Colossus while the big Russian bench presses what looks like at least a ton. Bobby's caught up in the whole "coolness" of Wolverine. Meanwhile, helicopters fly over the Mansion and release armed men, who set up nearby. Col. Wraith directs his Weapon X team to take out the psychics first. Inside, Cyclops barely has time to notice the laser sights on Jean and Xavier and yell "Get down!" before the room explodes. Wraith sends in the Juggernaut, and the entire Mansion seems to burst with energy. Juggernaut ends up amid the rubble in the middle of town, holding the unconscious Colossus. Sabretooth leads the next assault team through the Mansion's walls, and whacks Storm with a wood beam, then knocks Beast out when he charges to her defense. Cyclops is giving the men trouble with his optic blasts until Nightcrawler teleports behind him and grabs his visor with his tail. Scott covers his eyes and Nightcrawler clocks him with a frying pan. Sabretooth advances, but there's no sign of Wolverine, Wraith's primary target.

Suddenly, the Sabretooth notices a major temperature shift, courtesy of Iceman, who puts up a brave front, and would have done some major damage if not for Rogue, who touches Jean and uses the telepathy she absorbs to make Bobby relive his appendectomy from the year before, distracting him long enough for the soldiers to sedate him. Sabretooth promises he'll find Wolverine, and Wraith tells him he'd better. The grunts drag Xavier out, and Wraith notices a figure 8 inside a circle on the telepath's head, and figures his men were having a little fun with the "cueball." Wraith says there's a war going on, and for all Xavier's fancy talk, he and his charges have just joined the competition.

Review: Not a bad issue, though not a very fulfilling one. I did like seeing the character development through the first half of the issue. The interactions between Beast and Storm, Cyclops and Wolverine and even Xavier, Jean and Iceman, were really solid, and help to round out the characters a lot. I'm still a little skeptical about Wolverine's "falling" for the dream. I would expect him to be much more cynical and have a real mad-on for humans, especially Weapon X. I can't see Jean "turning" him as much as I could see him playing them all for fools, just as Magneto said in issue 5, waiting until after he bags Jean to finish his mission. I thought once that if Logan would get angry at Magneto for using him the way Weapon X did, his defection would make sense, but that was never played out, so his reasons for staying with the team are still questionableto me. On the other hand, Xavier's been inside his head, and trusts him, so maybe it's a non-issue. If so, it's a little sloppy writing.

I also thought the team went down a little easy. On reflection, though, Weapon X had the element of surprise, their own mutants, and have probably had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. The question is, wouldn't Xavier have defenses in place against this sort of thing? Or were they able to neutralize those systems thanks to the info Rogue siphoned off Peter? Speaking of, the opening scene was pretty cool, if a little cliched. Could Wolvie be starting to care, or is he just trying to rack up points with Jean?

Anyway, the Weapon X team was cool. Juggy looked great, and seemed to have an awesome amount of power. Rumor is he will be a true mutant, not a mystically-power mutate. Whether he will be Xavier's step-brother is still unknown. I hope he gets some more screen time. Sabretooth was eerily calm and militaristic, and it's always disturbing when Creed isn't wild and feral, so that worked well. I would have liked to see more of Rogue and Nightcrawler, but they were still used well.

So the major question is, was Xavier faking? Was the 8-ball on his head a telepathic cue, or have they all really been captured? The latter seems likely, as next issue Wolverine is supposed to begin a rescue attempt with an old friend with the insider track (no spoilers). Still, you never know.

As always, the art is phenomenal, and truthfully, the story's really pretty good too. This book is still definitely a good buy, and the next few issues will probably be an even wilder ride that the last, so hang on tight!