X-amining X-Factor Annual #6

"King of Pain - Kings of Pain Part 4" / "Sacrificial Lamb - The Killing Stroke Part 3"
1991

In a Nutshell 
X-Factor enters the fight against Proteus, while Freedom Force's mission ends badly. 

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Terry Shoemaker, Steven Butler (2nd Story)
Inker: Al Milgrom, Joe Rubinstein (2nd Story)
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Brad Vancata, Mike Thomas (2nd Story)
Assistant Editor: Suzanne Gaffney
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
1st Story: X-Factor arrives in Edinburgh, recognizing the disruption of reality being caused by Proteus and vowing to stop him. Fighting their way through the warped reality, they find Proteus holding both his mothers, Harness and Moira, captive. X-Factor attacks, but Proteus proves to now be immune to metal. He teleports X-Factor into his mind, where the combined New Warriors, X-Men and X-Force are waiting. Realizing that the emptiness inside his mind is what Proteus defines as happiness, Cyclops argues that they should give it to him, by convincing Proteus to kill himself. The group is divided, with Jean and Cable leading the argument to try and help Proteus instead of leading him to his own death. Ultimately, Proteus retrieves the heroes from his mind, and they offer him an alternative, to use the synthetic bodies created by AIM to house his form. But Proteus says this would mark him as a freak, and unwilling to live like that, chooses to leave the flawed world and go somewhere better, ending his life. In the aftermath, reality returns to normal, and the shadowy figures behind Proteus' resurrection, Gideon and Toad, call the entire affair a draw.

X-amining New Mutants Annual #7

"Kings of Pain Part 1: Pawns of Senescence" / "The Killing Stroke - part 1: The First Cut"
1991

In a Nutshell
The New Mutants battle the Alliance of Evil. 

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Guan Yap, Kirk Jarvinin (2nd Story)
Inker: Dan Panosian, Joe Rubinstein (2nd Story)
Colorist: Brad Vancata, Mike Thomas (2nd Story)
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Assistant Editor: Suzanne Gaffney
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
First Story: The Alliance of Evil attacks St. Simon Academy, the school attended by former X-Factor wards Artie, Leech and Taki. With the rest of the team running interference, Harness forces a young boy named Piecemeal to absorb some ambient energy lingering at the school. Artie, Leech and Taki try to stop the Alliance, but are easily overpowered. Taki wakes up to find the New Mutants waiting for him. After meeting their new members, he tells them what he knows, and Cable proceeds to devise a plan to find out why the Alliance has been attacking sites up and down the East Coast. Meanwhile, the IDIC Corporation, which hired the Alliance, is overseeing an energy absorption process that could have ramifications for both AIM and Genetech, and the whole situation is being monitored by two shadowy figures. Eventually, the New Mutants track the Alliance to Niagra Falls, where Piecemeal absorbs more energy. He and Harness escape, but the New Mutants defeat the rest of the Alliance, and using information given by them, proceed to infiltrate the headquarters of Genetech, where they find the New Warriors waiting for them.