"Not A Cloud In The Sky"
In a Nutshell
The Gamesmaster traps the X-Men in a world that seems too good to be true!
Plot
Writer: John Francis Moore
Pencils: Steve Epting
Inks: Dan Green
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft/KF
Colorist: Brad Vancata
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Pencils: Steve Epting
Inks: Dan Green
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft/KF
Colorist: Brad Vancata
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras
Plot
Life is good for the X-Men: they are treated like celebrities, chased through the streets of Salem Center by autograph seekers. Rogue and Gambit are happily dating, Beast has cured the Legacy Virus, and Cyclops can control his optic blasts. The government has shut down the Friends of Humanity, and Bastion has been arrested. But something doesn't feel right to Joseph. Looking at old photos of the X-Men, he realizes what it is: Jean Grey is missing, and none of the other X-Men seem to have any idea who she is. Worried about his sanity, Rogue and a reluctant Gambit humor Joseph as he uses Cerebro to track down Jean, discovering she is a captive of the omnipathic Gamesmaster. He explains that he's given the X-Men a perfect world in exchange for Jean — the one member of the X-Men whose psychic abilities could pierce the illusion. If they give her up— or sacrifice one of the other X-Men in her place — they can live in a paradise. If they refuse, he'll revert reality, but they'll always remember what they lost. Joseph manages to distract the Gamesmaster long enough for Jean to escape and attack him on the Astral Plane. She tries to learn as much as she can about him, but he escapes, leaving behind only an address of his possible location. The X-Men investigate it, but find the house abandoned, save for a TV playing a news report about crimes against mutants, making it clear the Gamesmaster's perfect reality has crumbled.
