X-Men Vol. 2 #079

Mastermind tricks the X-Men into believing the Dark Phoenix has arisen once more!

In New York’s Wall Street Financial district, two cops, Aguinal and Cleveland, walk their beat when they hear a woman scream.

The source of the scream is a couple being terrorized by Marrow who took offense at something the woman said. Marrow threatens them, the leaps away. She is being tracked by Storm and Callisto, who want to calm her down after Callisto told her she wants her to live with the X-Men. Distraught and feeling betrayed, Marrow ran from the subterranean quarters where Callisto had been recovering from recent injuries.

Meanwhile, a shadowy figure approaches Callisto’s sickbed intent on injecting her with a serum. He becomes angry upon finding her gone, and speaks as if to tell the absent Morlock that her recovery better not interfere with his plans for Marrow.

Back at the mansion, tensions rise as Dr. Cecelia Reyes is angry at Maggott for letting his slugs destroy her belongings. To alleviate the situation, Beast suggests that Maggott look into furthering his education at the Massachusetts Academy with Generation X.

In Central Park, Marrow frightens a pair of joggers, and then is confronted by Cannonball. She evades him and he tries to follow, while Storm and Callisto close in. Marrow ambushes Cannonball, and she pins him down with a blade-edged bone held to his throat. Officers Aguinal and Cleveland arrive and hold Marrow at gunpoint. She easily disarms them and is about to stab Cleveland, but between having thoughts of her crush on Cannonball and the officer’s pleas, she relents. Cannonball talks her down, getting her to see her would-be victims as people with problems just like herself, and asks her if she wants to be the monster normal people see her as. Storm and Callisto arrive as Marrow declares she is not a monster.

While Storm assures the officers everything is under control, Callisto explains to Sarah (Marrow) her reasons for sending her to the X-Men: they can provide a life and opportunities she cannot find in the Morlock tunnels. Sarah acquiesces. They return to the mansion, Marrow happily accepting a ride from Cannonball.

Meanwhile, the shadowy figure has been observing from within the nearby shrubbery.