| Beast, Marvel Girl, Ororo, and the unconscious Cyclops are tied to stakes in a dry river bed that is rapidly flooding thanks to Deluge taking over the storm that Ororo created. As the water goes over their heads, Deluge taunts Ororo about the irony of their situation before flying off, leaving them to die. As the four mutants are submerged, Jean knows she is the only one who can save them using her powers. She telekinetically lifts Cyclops' head and opens his ruby quartz visor, but realizes then that as he's unconscious, his eyes are closed and so his optic blasts will not happen. She considers using her telekinesis to open his eyelids, but is scared to tear their delicate flesh. She then has an idea, and suddenly an optic blast bursts out of Cyclops' eyes, destroying the dam that is keeping the water in the riverbed. As the waters subside, Beast recovers from the electrical blast Deluge had earlier incapacitated him with, and uses his strength to free himself and the others from their bonds. When Ororo asks how Cyclops' blast freed them when he was insensate, Jean reveals that she used her telepathy to take control of Cyclops' motor functions, even though she disliked such an invasive use of her power. As the storm rages into a frenzy at Deluge's doing, the mutants muse over what his motivation is. Meanwhile, in the Savage Land, Iceman regains consciousness as Karl Lykos looks on, in a hut left behind by a dead German expeditionary team. Elsewhere in the Savage Land, Ka-Zar recovers from having had a rock thrown at him by one of the refugee natives he, Havok and Lorna Dane have discovered, all refugees from the Nhu-Gari. With the natives intimidated by one of Havok's concussive force blasts, one of the native women reveals to them that many of them are hundreds of years old. Beast, Jean and Storm talk about Deluge's power, and deduce that he draws energy from his surroundings and amplifies it, and Beast says that Jean's earlier trick may have given him an idea about how to beat Deluge. But first they have to find him. Deluge, glorying in the storm he is amplifying, muses about his origins. He was born in a tribal village, but was cast out because of his unusual skin pigmentation. Running away, he happened upon a Western expedition, and after being captured by them, they decided they had to keep him with them, for fear he'd reveal their presence to the villagers. Staying with the expedition, he learned Englis. When he came down with appendicitis, he was taken to the Western world, where he was treated and found out the man behind the expedition came from a similar village to his. Arguing with the man about the ethics of his work, Deluge's mutant power manifested for the first time, killing the man. Running away, Deluge practiced with his powers in the wild, before coming across Ororo and hijacking the storm she created. As Deluge gloats about his eventual triumph, he is confronted by Ororo, who tells him all the wrongs he has suffered are his own fault. While Ororo distracts Deluge, Beast and Jean carry Cyclops into position, and Jean expresses her distaste with using Cyclops as a tool and wonders if Ororo has sufficient control to enact their plan. Jean telepathically cues Ororo, who strikes at Deluge with her power, stunning him. Linked to her telepathically, Beast tells Ororo to shape the water droplets in the air into the shape he is thinking of, and a concentrated shaft of sunlight from above the storm focuses on them through the droplets. Jean opens Cyclops' eyes so that a solar-powered optic blast hits Deluge, who gleefully soaks up its power. Drunk on the power, Deluge realizes too late that he is overloaded, and apparently explodes. Ororo dissipates the storm with her power, while Beast explains that the water droplets worked as a lens, so that Cyclops would be recharged. Wondering whether Deluge is gone for good, Ororo says they must be vigilant for his return before flying away. Cyclops regains consciousness, asking who Ororo is, and Beast says she's a mutant who they should tell Professor X about, but Jean tells them the professor already knows about Ororo. The three of them prepare to travel home, while wondering what happened to Angel. Out at sea on the trawler Sigurd Jarlson, the crew wonder what to do with the unconscious Angel and Avia, who they fished out of the sea. One of the men says he knows a circus that would pay a fortune for them. After a long journey, Cyclops, Beast, and Jean return to the School For Gifted Youngsters, only to find it dark with no power and the front door open. Seeing a female figure, Cyclops attacks, causing her to defend herself, and when Beast enters the fray, a rocky figure punches him. Before the fight can escalate, the room is lit with a flame and a man calls a halt to the hostilities, revealing that the figures are Mister Fantastic, the Human Torch, the Thing and Crystal - the Fantastic Four... |
