X-Men and Alpha Flight #2, JAN 86, (w) Chris Claremont (a) Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek
Talisman opens up this issue following Kitty Pryde in search of Rachel. She's a budding archaeology student and her father Shaman feels she may be able to figure out some of the reasons as to why things are going down. As a nice aside, some of her first words are a cranky repartee as to the practicality of her outfit. She finds a sketchpad which was referenced last issue by a guy who has been blessed with powers and now goes by the moniker of Master Builder. The sketches at the beginning of the book are beautiful, but towards the back, they're nothing but childish scrawlings.
The thought plickens.
They find Rachel quickly enough, and this time she's not swinging. They find her in a forgotten city and a runestone that hails some ancient god. A bit here is revealed about Talisman being angry at her father, reflecting on the relation forming between Rachel and Cyclops. Though tectonically stable, the cavern begins to collapse...by magic.
Talisman accidentally touches this Firefountain and it disappears, as if her magic is interrupting the magic of, well, the magic. They head back to the rest of the group where Kitty Pryde spies Madelyne Pryor bathing Wolverine in her magical white light. Kitty confides this in Wolverine where he's been "healed" of his berserker rage. He's forgotten about hunting down Snowbird, however, somehow duped by the two other humans who had been leading him to find her.
Turns out those of magical abilities are going to be left to die. There's a big existential moment where they realize to heal the world of hunger, poverty and the like, lies in the deaths of those who wield magic. In the meantime, there's some obligatory fighting that takes place here among those ideals which they'll uphold.
The Master Builder is confronted with his sketchbook and we find that though he can create wonderful things, he no longer has the creativity to do so. THEN the mutants realize that even though humans gain power, mutants will STILL be higher on the evolutionary ladder. Quite the conundrum.
Loki comes down off his throne, completely upset that these folks will give up free will just to gain some superpowers. As everyone is looking a gift horse in the mouth, Loki takes away everyone's suped-up powers and THEN lets them try to beat him up.
The good guys win. That's how it is. Loki takes the city in the snow away and our heroes need to leave. Before they do, however, Cyclops needs to go find Rachel in the ruins. She's choosing not to tell Cyclops that this version of him was once married to Jean Grey...and she's the culmination of the two of them.
Old wounds need to be healed, and Rachel's chooses to let hers open and go gangrene.
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