Villain: Moses Magnum, Mandroids

Guest Appearance: Mr. Osama, Sunfire, Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, Moira MacTaggart, Havok, Polaris, Angus McWhirter

Cameo: Proteus (off panel)

Innovations: Banshee loses powers

Letters Page: Page One

Storm and Nightcrawler scout Moses Magnum’s island stronghold off the coast of Japan. She tosses Nightcrawler into the air and he teleports inside the base. He scales the interior walls and knocks out the guards, in a notably more humane way than Wolverine! He recalls being debriefed by Mr. Osama on Moses Magnum’s plans to put great tectonic pressure on critical fault lines and destroy the island of Japan. Colleen Wing and Misty Knight have found Magnum’s fortress sealed up inside a volcano and now it’s up to the X-Men to stop him. Nightcrawler gives the "all clear" signal to Misty Knight, who signals to Storm and Banshee to begin their part of the mission.

Banshee scrambles Magnum’s systems with his sonic scream. Storm sweeps the guards aside while Cyclops and Sunfire tunnel underneath the ocean floor with Colossus and Wolverine, trying to locate the point at which they are to tunnel upwards inside the volcano hideout. Once they receive the signal from Nightcrawler, Cyclops bursts through the floor and when Colossus looks around, Moses Magnum is there waiting to catch him off guard. He lifts Colossus into the air and smashes him through the wall. After once again being embarrassed in battle, Peter thinks to himself how sick he is of being used as a punching bag, and goes back to battle with a new resolve.

Moses knocks Wolverine down with one punch and Cyclops orders Sunfire out to get help from Banshee and Storm, which means he’s left alone when the Mandroids arrive. Colossus runs back into the fight and takes out the Mandroids single-handed. Magnum interprets the X-Men’s interference as an act of war and vows to sink Japan immediately. Banshee realizes he will use a beam of energy and he can combat it with his sonic scream. Banshee issues an urgent command to Cyclops for the team to evacuate the island.

Magnum reaches his control center and briefly recalls how his power increased after falling into the center of the earth. When Moses fires his energy beam, Banshee counters it at the exact frequency with a massively powerful sonic scream. He strains to his breaking point but holds Magnum’s energy in check. The overload destroys Magnum’s entire island base. The X-men manage to get outside where Sunfire flags down Misty Knight’s plane.

Ten days later, Banshee is released form the hospital. He still can’t speak and his power may be gone forever. Glum as he may be, a surprise Christmas party thrown by the other X-Men does a lot to cheer his spirits. Storm realizes now that the action has subsided the team has really grown into a family. She kisses Nightcrawler on the cheek and cheers Peter, who misses his family over the holidays.

Jean Grey arrives in Scotland to meet her friends Alex Summers, Lorna Dane, Jamie Madrox and Moria MacTaggart. They plan to spend the holidays in Edinburgh then head up to Muir Isle. Little do they know, at Muir Island, a strange creature is at that moment attacking Angus McWhirter.

- -synopsis by Jonathan Clarke, aka doesitmatter, and Gormuu

- - panel scans provided by Jonathan Clarke, aka doesitmatter