issue summaries

X-Treme X-Men 44 Prisoner of Fire Part 5 Writer: Chris Claremont Penciler: Igor Kordey Inkers: Adams, Rapmund & Florea Colorist: Liquid! Letterer: Rus Wooton Assistant Editor: Stephanie Moore & Cory Sedlmeier Editor: Mike Marts Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Date: June 2004

Picking up from the last issue, Sage has led a group of X-Men to rescue a captive telepath (who later revealed to be Rachel Summers) into Bogan’s catacombs.

Sage has gone off on her own and is being attacked by mutant predator Elias Bogan, using Magma (Amara Aquilla) as his puppet. Bogan tells Sage that he wants to claim her for his own.

Bogan asks why she is so loyal to Charles Xavier, and Sage wonders that herself.

Flashback to about twenty years ago, Sage (Tessa) was a teenager in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, armed with machine guns. Government army helicopters fly over her and fire on insurgents nearby. Sage senses someone nearby and finds Xavier trapped in a cave.

Elsewhere in the catacombs, Bishop has "grabbed" the telepath. Bogan says he isn't fooled very often, and the telepath is able to throw Bishop over her.

Kitty charges at the shadowy telepath, trying to disrupt her nervous system, but the telepath cross-polarizes its' physical presence and instead causes Kitty intense pain. Kitty realizes that she knows the telepath.

Gambit distracts the telepath before she can take out Kitty.

Continuing the flashback to Sage's past, a young Sage helps Xavier, who's legs have been injured. She asks why he is there since there are demons in these caves, but he replies that the demons are gone. He explains to her that he is a mutant and he thinks she is as well. Sage refused to believe him. She helps him down the mountain, but Bogan interrupts her memory and taunts her. She was one of the first mutants that Xavier found, yet she turned down his offer to attend the school. Bogan thinks the reason why is that the X-Men are heroes and Sage is a monster, and she is too weak to ask for help.

Sage finds the truck convey that was fired on by the helicopters and kills the insurgents who survived the initial attack.

Returning to the present, Bogan asks the X-Men what they think of Sage now that they know what a monster she is. Bishop, Gambit, Cannonball and Rogue all try to convince Sage that they still support her. Kitty tells Sage that she doesn't have to fight Bogan alone and that is what makes them better than him. They draw on each other’s strength. They urge Sage is stand up to Bogan and the shadowy telepath disappears. The rest of the X-Men come out of the trances and are no longer being controlled by Bogan.

They hear Amara screaming, and find her yelling that she killed Sage and Sage covered in hardened molten lava. Gambit, Bishop, and Cannonball are able to break Sage free and she is fine.

Holding the crystal orb, Sage says that they remain in mortal peril as long as Bogan controls the telepath. She thought she could deal with this alone, but she needs their help.

Sage has a plan. Kitty and Rogue phase inside of the orb. Rogue has to keep Bogan busy while Kitty frees the telepath. Inside the orb is a bizarre world. Rogue is immediately threatened by Bogan and he attacks her by hurling objects at her.

Meanwhile, Kitty phases into a strange castle like place and finds the telepath, who remains in the shadows, chained to a wall. Kitty cautiously approaches her and touches the telepath’s head.

Outside of the orb, Sage tells Bishop to channel all of his energy into her and she blasts the orb. Rogue is used as the targeting lens for the energy.

Chains have bound Kitty to the wall to prevent her from freeing the telepath. The chains that hold her and the telepath are psychic and it is up to Sage to sever them.

Rogue realizes that Sage intends to sacrifice herself, but tells her that there won't be any martyrs on her watch. Energy streams out of Rogue’s eyes, surrounding them. The orb shatters. Sage, Rogue, Kitty and the telepath fall out of the orb and are surrounded by their teammates.

Kitty, holding the telepath (who’s naked) says she was sure when they cut the telepath loose, she would be herself again.

Crying, Rachel Summers turns and says to Kitty that she is herself, just a little bit different. She knew if she held on long enough, Kitty would find her.

Kitty gasps that it’s Rachel and hugs her, as both of them cry.

Notes:

- Rachel was last seen in Cable 95 where she had left the college she was attending to help Cable defeat a group called the Dark Sisterhood.

- Kitty had last seen Rachel in Excalibur 75 when Rachel had sacrificed herself for Captain Britain, who has trapped in the time stream. She traded places with him (in part because she believed Jean would be giving birth to her Earth-616 counterpart) and was sent 2000 years into the future where she formed the Clan Askani.

- When Apocalypse was defeated, the Askani future was destroyed, and Rachel was sent back into the time stream. The Phoenix Force left her and she was held hostage by a tyrant named Gaunt. Cable was able to rescue her in Cable 85-86.

- After going through such a traumatic experience and then learning about everything that had changed on Earth, Rachel wanted a normal life. She and Nathan decided not tell anyone she was back and she attended college.

- It has not been revealed what happened to Rachel between Cable 95 and when she was captured by Bogan (prior to X-Treme X-Men 22). Rachel had convinced her friends at college that she was an FBI agent investigating an anti-mutant group, so might not have gone back to that school. What's also unclear is why Nathan didn't notice that Rachel was missing.