Title Page
"Wolverine - Alone!"
Synopsis: As soldiers of the Hellfire Club search the sewers below the club for the body of Wolverine, who was apparently killed by Harry Leland, the very-much alive mutant gets the drop on them and in a berzerker rage, slices many of them down. Giving one surrendering soldier mercy, Wolverine demands to know everything about the Hellfire Club, who clobbered the X-Men.
In the Hellfire Club's library, the Inner Circle is celebrating their victory, while the X-Men are bound and secured with inhibitor collars that prevent the usage of their powers. Phoenix, still under the control of Mastermind, and believing she is in the 18th century, taunts the captured team, leaving them feeling betrayed and wondering why she became the Black Queen. Cyclops knows the answer, but is stuck behind a ruby quartz helmet, preventing not only his optic blasts but his speech. He remembers back to the time he and Jean spent in New Mexico, where she asked to establish a psychic rapport with him, as a sign of their love, to which he agreed. The rapport still exists and, Cyclops hopes, will be the key to their escape. Nightcrawler asks why they are still alive, to which Sebastian Shaw responds that they will be used as guinea pigs to isolate the mutant gene, in an effort to further genetic engineering.
On Muir Island, Moira MacTaggert tells Banshee of her worries of Jean's continuously increasing powers as Phoenix. Moira has noticed that Jean has broken all the mental breakers limiting her powers, and she is nearing the power levels she had when she saved the universe from D'Ken and the M'Krann crystal...and there's nothing that can be done. In New Mexico, Professor X relates to Angel his feeling of helplessness as he still cannot reestablish his psychic rapport with the team. He sees that Cyclops has taken leadership of the X-Men, as he trained him to do, but found himself resenting Scott for it, which caused him to make mistakes, which he fears will cause suffering.
Wolverine continues to move through the house, taking out every guard he comes across. He ends up in the exclusive party, still going on, where he continues his assault towards freeing his teammates. Back in the library, as the Inner Circle interacts with the new Black Queen, Cyclops tries to reach her through their psychic rapport, which he succeeds in getting to her mind. However, he finds himself in her 18th century fantasy, and her "husband," Jason Wyngarde challenges him to a sword fight in her mind. Cyclops is baffled by this, for Mastermind has no psi-powers, but realizes he must fight on his terms. The mental strain on him is intense, and Mastermind takes advantage, knocking the sword from his hand, then running him through. With the "death" of his astral image, Cyclops' body collapses to the floor.