issue summaries

X-Treme X-Men 43 Prisoner of Fire Part 4 Writer: Chris Claremont Penciler: Igor Kordey Inkers: Adams, Pepoy, Rapmund & Florea Colorist: Liquid! Letterer: Rus Wooton Assistant Editor: Stephanie Moore & Cory Sedlmeier Editor: Mike Marts Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Date: May 2004

Continuing from the previous issue, Sage shows Magma (Amara Aquilla) all the information she had on the ground under Valle Soleada and ask her to fill in the details. Elias Bogan has turned Valle Soleada into his own personal hunting grounds and no one has ever tried to find him - until now.

Meanwhile, Rogue and Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde) get caught up. Kitty had left the X-Men following the death of Colossus (Peter Rasputin), enrolled at the University of Chicago and decided to help mutants by getting involved in politics. Rogue tells Kitty that she is sorry to hear about Kitty's father being killed in Genosha. Kitty replies that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They wonder about what Sage has planned. Kitty comments that Sage has adopted Xavier's management philosophy.

Rogue and Kitty discuss Elias Bogan and the upcoming mission.

Sage calls to them that they are ready to go. Rogue asks Kitty if she trusts Sage. Kitty replies that if Storm trusts Sage, she will too, and reminds Rogue about how they all had to trust Xavier's judgment about Rogue when she first joined the X-Men.

The four (Sage, Shadowcat, Rogue and Magma) hold hands. Kitty phases all of them and they travel down into the Earth until they reach lava. Then Magma takes over and they travel down the lava current. Magma causes an Earthquake that knocks out power an communications in Valle Soleada. They are all carried up to a cavern by the lava, but Magma doesn't join them. Sage explains that Amara's mind doesn't have any defenses against Bogan and she would be an liability.

Sage explains that they are in catacombs underneath X-Corps Headquarters, which is where the Hellfire Club's Los Angeles branch was, which was built by Bogan. Rogue says that Bogan would have to be over 100 years so. Kitty speculates that his age might be why he has to work through puppets and his pet telepath (a captive Rachel Summers).

Rogue and Shadowcat are immediately attacked by two of Bogan's henchmen - Manacle and Revenant and Sage has disappeared. Rogue and Shadowcat manage to take both of them out, but are confronted by Bogan's shadowy telepath and their teammates (Bishop, Gambit, Sunspot, Skids and Cannonball) who are all under the telepath's control.

The telepath tells the captive to bring her Rogue and Shadowcat. But Gambit attacks Bogan's minions instead. He was just playing along and wasn't under Bogan's control. Bogan is furious.

Bishop tells Bogan that all he needs to do is make one mistake, and Bishop grabs the telepath.

As Sage goes through Bogan's catacombs, she assumes Gambit and Bishop have made their moves by now, which has opened a small window of opportunity for her. She finds a glowing skull-like orb.

But Magma (being controlled by Bogan) comes up behind her. Bogan tells her that his power is far greater than she can possibly imagine. He says that Magma was Sage's backup plan. If the others failed, Magma was to destroy the entire complex with lava, sacrificing all of them. He decides that he will let Sage suffer the fate she intended for him. Magma is glowing red and Bogan tells Sage that she will burn.