"The Gift Part 1"
by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith
High above Alaska. A plane is caught in a heavy thunderstorm. Cyclops is on board and goes to the passengers and tries to comfort them. Cyclops hears two men talking about mutants and their possible threat and wonders what to do about it. He then goes over to the cockpit and talks then to the man there. He is then summoned by Madelyne, who's piloting the plane. She asks if he ever saw such a thing, Scott says he did once when he was on the team fighting Alpha Flight's Shaman and he created a storm like this to distract them but he doubts if Shaman is behind this one as well, why would he be? Then, a bright light appears, and the plane gets caught into it! Meanwhile in a bar in Westchester, Cypher fools around with Illyana and makes it too bold. A punk from the bar wants to put up a fight with Cyper, but Illyana uses her powers to scare the punk off and they both take off and teleport back to the mansion, where the X-Men are training in the Danger Room.
Then something happens with Rachel who gets a headache. She creates the illusion of her homeworld future and are attacked by Sentinels who can really hurt them! The team notices her as a Hound and how Rachel was forced to hunt down mutants in her timeline. The X-Men try to defeat the Sentinels but it's harder then they think. Kitty warns Xavier who calms Rachel down and shuts the "simulation" down. Rachel then shows why she got confused, she got somesort of telepathic call from someone. She shows how the plane got caught in the bright light and heard how Cyclops talked about Shaman and then Scott is hit by the light and Rachel thinks the worse.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Shaman is researching Sasquatch who is currently experiencing some difficulties when transforming into his Sasquatchform. Shaman wonders what it might be and goes to see Heather, while Aurora and Sasquatch make out in the office. Arrived with Heather, there's a knock on the door and a heavily injured Snowbird is seen and she collapses! Then an outraged Rachel shows up and immediately starts to fight with Shaman. The rest of the team hears it too, and outside the other X-Men arrive as well in the Blackbird. Rogue knocks out Northstar by kissing him on the mouth and absorbing his powers. Rachel then notices Aurora's splitten personality and brings her back to her scared Jeanne-Marie form. Inside, Xavier and the X-Men show up and calm Rachel down. Xavier apologizes and explains the situation to the team, brings Aurora back to herself and Alpha Flight is glad to offer their assist as there were also Canadians on that plane. Puck says he'll pilot them to their destination. Meanwhile, at the Realm of the Gods, Loki approaches Those Who Sit Above in Shadow and the Gods say that Loki must perform one good deed on Midgard to get a reward out of them. Loki claims that he is reformed now and will do whatever it takes, and thinks to himself to bring peace on Earth.
On the plane with Alpha Flight and the X-Men, there's a lot of hatred between the teammates but they put their feelings aside for a while to complete their mission. Wolverine tries to calm Heather down, saying she's doing a great job now that James dead and out of the picture. Outside, Rogue and Northstar are obviously bonding. They've got a lot in common and then Northstar notices a grassarea, wich is rare in Canada and then flies back to the others and orders Rogue to stay back. The team lands and find a great palace! They are greeted by Cyclops and Madelyne and the other plane passengers, who have all seemingly changed. Scott meets with Rachel but Rachel hesitates to explain the deal between them. As they proceed, Madelyne (calling herelf Anodyne now) notices Puck and gives him back his real hight, making him bigger. Madelyne explains they've all gotten super powers now. Madelyne also heals Aurora and Sasquatch they are happy to be. Shaman says Snowbird has gone missing and takes off with Wolverine and Rodriguez to follow.
The rest of the group deside to party and Madelyne also heals Rogue from her powers and she kisses Northstar! Madelyne says she knows Charles doesn't trust it and says to enter her mind then. Xavier then notices two minds inside Madelyne, wich means that she is pregnant of Scott! He can't believe it and Rachel realizes the child must be her, but then Madelyne says it's a boy and Rachel can't take it and goes away. Kitty goes after her and Shaman says to Talisman to go to and check the place out. The team then follows and enters a place wich only conceils wisdom and they are all surprised. Then however something weird happens with Shaman and he fights monsters and gets hurt. Northstar and Aurora distract the monsters and chase them away, but Madelyne explains that Shaman is now dying!
Review: The story had great characterizations in it. The big thing that I really loved in this issue was the relationship between Northstar and Rogue. The way they acted here was great and I'm dying to find out if they're gonna start a relationship or not. Rachel's personage is also great and how things got messed up again, she's even never going to be born in this reality, as it seems. Shaman's getting winy here, but he always has been kinda. He obviously suspects something otherwise he won't be the one to die. I wonder how Talisman will react to this. I'm glad that they've made this LS and with AF in it, it's even better and one of the best Limited Series I've ever read.