Appearing in "X-Cutioner's Song part 12: Ghosts in the Machine"
Featured Characters:
- X-Force
Cable (Apparent Death)- Cannonball
Supporting Characters:
Adversaries:
- Stryfe (Apparent Death)
- Mr. Sinister
Other Characters:
- Gordon Lefferts (First appearance)
- Ahab (Hologram)
- Askani (Hologram)
- Blob (Hologram)
- Crule (Hologram)
- Goblin Queen (Hologram)
- Cameron Hodge (Hologram)
- Magneto (Hologram)
- Mojo (Hologram)
- N'astirh (Hologram)
- Sauron (Hologram)
- Sentinels Mk VI (Hologram)
- Dark Riders (Mentioned)
- Shiva (Mentioned)
- Mariko Yashida (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
Items:
- X-Uniforms
- Cyclops' Visor
- Wolverine's Suit
- Stryfe's time vortex field
- Legacy Virus (First appearance)
Vehicles:
- Space shuttle
Synopsis for "X-Cutioner's Song part 12: Ghosts in the Machine"
Stryfe's Moonbase
Cable confronts Stryfe. Above them both, Jean and Scott are tied in to a time vortex machine that shows images of all their pasts. Stryfe tells Cable that he is a clone of him and not a person at all. Cable does not believe him and they battle on the surface of the moon.
Inside, The X-Men search for the Dark Riders and see that they have just escaped. While Iceman and Bishop go to join the others, Archangel goes off in search of a dying Apocalypse. Iceman tries to stop him but Bishop tells him to let him go.
Outside, Cannonball and Polaris see that Havok has made it through Stryfe's shield and they recover from the pain it brought them by trying to enter. They cannot do anything but watch as inside Cable and Stryfe fight to the death.
X-Mansion
Jubilee and Beast try to get Professor X to calm down as he has just awakened and is screaming. He tells them that he saw a vision on the moon and was telepathically linked in to each of them. He fears for the lives of Jean and Scott and realizes that they are the cause of some of this madness.
Stryfe's Moonbase
Archangel finds the dying Apocalypse barely holding onto life. Apocalypse is expecting him to kill him since he is now unfit to live, according to his own beliefs. Archangel tells him that he will not kill him and that his living is suffering enough for him.
Outside, Cable continues to fight Stryfe. Havok steps in and blasts Stryfe, burning his skin. Jean and Scott have enough distraction to free themselves and Jean forms a shield around the group. The machine begins to break up around them and Cable races to build a self-destruct unit. He throws the switch to Cyclops and tells him to press the button. Cyclops hesitates and the counter runs to zero. He yells at Cyclops to press the switch, and he does. There is a tremendous explosion and Cable and Stryfe disappear. Cyclops is left regretting what he has had to do again and wondering if he will learn the truth about Cable and Stryfe and which was his son.
Epilogue
In Nebraska, Gordon Lefferts opens the cylinder that Stryfe gave to Mr. Sinister. There is a whoosh of gas and air, but the contents of the tube are missing. Mr. Sinister is upset that Stryfe has tricked him and did not give him the Summers' DNA that he had bargained for. Gordon begins coughing and Mr. Sinister tells him to look after that as he leaves the building.
Notes
- This issue is part 12 of the 12-part "X-Cutioner's Song" crossover with Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and X-Men. The story continues from X-Men Vol 2 #16.
- This issue is reprinted in:
- X-Men: X-Cutioner's Song trade paperback (1994);
- X-Men: X-Cutioner's Song hardcover (2011);
- X-Men Milestones: X-Cutioner's Song trade paperback (2019);
- X-Force Epic Collection vol. 2: X-Cutioner's Song trade paperback (2020);
- X-Men Epic Collection vol. 21: The X-Cutioner's Song trade paperback (2022).
- This issue came polybagged with a X-Cutioner's Song trading card featuring Stryfe drawn by Greg Capullo and Al Milgrom:
Trivia
- The genetic matrix canister Sinister's scientist opens isn't empty; it contains the Legacy Virus, and he just released it.
- Cable's story continues in Cable #1. Stryfe's fate is revealed in Cable #6. The nature of their relationship to Cyclops, Jean Grey, and each other is revealed in Cable #6-8.