At Camp Verde, Zero is repeating himself--if Scott and Jean want to bring peace to the future, they have to kill Stryfe, even if he is in Cable's body. He tells them that Cable can do nothing to stop what Stryfe plans to do--when they disappeared on the moon, they were whisked away into the future, where Cable's body was fixed, but their minds got meshed together. Stryfe can take over completely when specific frequencies are in tune. Sinister has helped Tyler to get this done. But there's a catch--if they wait too long to help Cable, it may be too late, and Stryfe will take over forever. But Jean points out that the only way Scott can learn the truth about everything that's happened is for Stryfe to stay in control. Zero counters that they already know that what they heard on the moon was a lie. Domino told them--Cable really is the true son of Scott and Maddie. They know Stryfe wants revenge on Scott and Jean for his crappy childhood, and Xavier asks why he hasn't come to kill them yet. Zero tells him two other time-travellers were more important to Stryfe at the moment. Jean figures one must be Tyler, and Zero points out the other--Askani. He teleports Scott, Jean, Domino and Xavier away so they can help.

At Tyler's place, Stryfe is still attacking Tyler, who's showing him what Askani revealed to him earlier, and more. After they cloned the baby, the Clan was attacked. While Nathan was spirited away, Apocalypse's men stormed their lair and slaughtered everyone, with the clone being stolen by a none-the-wiser Apocalypse. Stryfe figures this is still destiny--born or created, he was meant to rule--but not today. The X-Men arrive and blast him. Scott rushes to help his son, but Stryfe fires a psi-bolt back, and starts to attack Zero for betraying him. Zero responds by channeling Askani's energy, and Xavier takes the opportunity to psi-link with Jean and Scott and try to push Stryfe out of Cable's body. They see Stryfe's terrible life laid out before them, as Askani is showing Stryfe his 'dad' and brother's own sad pasts. She begs him to end the cycle of fathers hurting sons by letting go of Nathan's body and letting the family heal itself. He finally agrees, relinquishing his hold on Nate, but not before cryptically promising that even after he's gone, he can still influence the future.

When Cable comes to, he sees his father bending over him in anguish, and they embrace. But it's not an entirely happy moment. Tyler escaped during the confusion, denying Cable the chance for reconciliation. Xavier, setting eyes on Cable for the first time, swears he's familiar, and Cable allows that he's been working for Xavier's goals for a long time. He turns to leave with Domino, but Scott calls after him, begging for the chance to talk just a little more. After a moment, Nathan asks about his mother.

Review: This was a great comic! Even if you don't like sentimentalism, I think the story, while ending on a high note, managed to avoid a gushy conclusion. Finally, the truth is out and everyone has sorted out their place in the world. But that doesn't necessarily mean Nate and Scott will start playing catch. After all this time, it would be hard for two old soldiers to let down their guard, father and son or not. It'll be quite a sight to see how these two mange to work themselves back into each other's lives. One mistake I picked up on was the sudden reappearance of Askani. At the end of the last issue, she had disappeared, leaving behind a green fog. But here she is back at the beginning of this one, only to die again! On a higher note, the artwork in this issue was a lot better. While it still had eight inkers, it wasn't nearly so sloppy, and so didn't take away from such an important issue. Hopefully they'll settle on a permanent one soon.