X-amining X-Man #-1

"Breeding Ground"

July 1997

In a Nutshell

In the Age of Apocalypse, Mister Sinister performs a status check on his pet project, Nate Grey.

Writer: Terry Kavanagh
Penciler: Roger Cruz 
Inker: Bud LaRosa & Wellington Diaz
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Mike Thomas
Editor: Bob Harras

Plot

Safely ensconced in his secret lab inside an abandoned orphanage in Nebraska, Mister Sinister checks on his pet project, the creation of a supremely powerful mutant named Nate Grey. Removing the prepubescent Nate from his nutrient bath, Sinister is pleased with the boy's development. When an incoming call from Beast distracts Sinister, Nate slips away, experiencing psionic echoes of his genetic father's, Scott Summers, experiences as a child in the orphanage. Angry, Sinister gives Nate a glimpse of life outside the orphanage, of Apocalypse's Infinites rounding up humans. Nate instinctively uses his power to try and stop the Infinites psionically, prompting Sinister to trigger a failsafe to cut off Nate's powers. As the young Nate grows angry, Sinister placates him with a teddy bear, then leads him back to his nutrient bath. The experience has made Sinister realize that, when fully grown, the boy will be too powerful, and he must develop a stronger failsafe to keep him in check.

X-amining X-Men 2099 #3

"Viva Las Vegas"
December 1993

In a Nutshell
One of the X-Men dies as the rest rescue Xi'an from Junkpile & Lytton Synge.
Writer: John Francis Moore
Penciler: Ron Lim
Inkers: Adam Kubert , Chris Ivy, Jim Sanders III, Cam SMith & Gary Martin
Letterers: Ken Lopez & Jon Babcock
Colorist: Tom Smith
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
Bloodhawk attacks the Vegas strip outside Synge's casino, creating a distraction which allows Cerebra, Tim a& Tina to sneak inside. and free the captive Meanstreak & Metalhead. Meanwhile, Krystalin learns Lytton Synge killed his father & framed Xi'an. She tries to kill Lytton, but is stopped by Junkpile. Elsewhere, the reunited X-Men are confronted by the Rat Pack, but Cerebra is able to activate Tim's power to blast them aside. As they close in on Xi'an's location, they are confronted by Junkpile, who kills Tina and shatters one of Bloodhawk's wings before he's stopped by a newly-revived Xi'an. He easily dispatches Junkpile, but refuses to kill him, then reveals that the cocoon he was in both healed his injury and activated a new power, giving him the ability to heal others with one of his hands. He is able to repair Bloodhawk's wing, but is unable to bring Tina back from the dead. Just then, Desdemona appears. She tells the X-Men they are free to go, as she knows her brother killed their father. The X-Men return to the desert where they bury Tina, while elsewhere, Brimstone Love has a woman named Luna dispatched to investigate the new mutant phenomenon in that area.

X-amining Uncanny X-Men #-1

"The Boy Who Saw Tomorrow!"

July 1997

In a Nutshell

Rachel Summers tracks Sanctity to the early days of the Sentinels creation.

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Penciler: Bryan Hitch
Inker: Paul Neary
Letters: Richard Starkings
Colors: Steve Buccellato

Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot

Following her disciple Sanctity into the past, Rachel Summers arrives in South Dakota, near where Bolivar Trask is close to completing the first Master Mold. Bolivar is tending to his son, Larry, a mutant with hidden precognitive abilities. Just then, Sanctity attacks Rachel, and the two argue over the merits of trying to change the past, something with which Rachel is all too familiar. But Rachel quickly realizes she's only fighting a psionic projection of Sanctity. The real Sanctity is confronting Bolivar, revealing herself to him as his daughter, Tanya. She explains how her powers caused her to be lost in time, but that she was saved by Rachel. She wants Bolivar to give up the Sentinel project, but Rachel intervenes, erasing Bolivar's memory of the encounter in an effort to preserve the timeline. The two women return to the future, but Sanctity manages to secretly upload a file on the Twelve into Master Mold's programming before she goes. 

X-amining X-Men 2099 #2

"Synge City Blues"
November 1993

In a Nutshell
Xi'an's condition worsens as the X-Men search for evidence he was framed for Synge's death.

Writer: John Francis Moore
Penciler: Ron Lim
Inkers: Adam Kubert & Mike Sellers
Letterer: Tom Smith
Colorist: Ken Lopez
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
Xi'an's X-Men race away from Nuevo Sol, pursued by the Synge Casino enforcers. They receive an unexpected assist from Bloodhawk, who helps fight off the enforcers and takes the X-Men to a secure location, saying his debt to Xi'an for freeing him from Synge is complete. Back at Nuevo Sol, Lytton Synge admonishes Junkpile for the botched assassination of Xi'an, ordering him to finish the job. Later, a drunk Desdemona crashes her father's memorial service, reminding Lytton she now owns equal shares in the casino. Elsewhere, with the injured Xi'an mysteriously being covered by a cocoon-like red carapace, the X-Men split up, with Meanstreak, Krystalin & Metalhead heading to Synge's casino in order to find evidence that Xi'an was framed for Synge's murder. After they leave, Junkpile tracks down the remaining X-Men guard Xi'an. At the casino, Meanstreak & Metalhead are captured by the Rat Pack, while Junkpile makes short work of Cerebra, Tim and Tina, only to discover Xi'an fully encased in his cocoon.