| Synopsis | - Continued from last issue...
Archangel, believed to be one of this alien world's Rejects, has been forced to enter an arena where the Chosen force Rejects to engage in gladiatorial combat and place bets. Archangel is the "property" of Lord Rask, a Chosen nobleman who stands to gain great wealth from the coming battle should Archangel win. Warren refuses to fight, however his opponent the Reject named Agrom has no such compunctions as he only wishes to survive. He attacks Warren savagely, however the winged mutant only defends himself. When Warren refuses to fight, the Chosen unleash a swarm of devices called Goads -- devices that when attached to a being, ramps up their aggressions -- this force Warren to fight and easily defeat Agrom in combat. During the fight, some of the Goads get knocked off Warren and when the audience cheers for him to kill Agrom, Warren refuses to do so. When he attempts to escape by flying out of the arena, a forcefield prevents him from doing so. Witnessing the fights are Princess Seera who becomes even more confused over her feelings for the Archangel -- finding him noble and majestic which goes against the Chosen's contempt for the Rejects. Rask makes a killing in the bets, and when he sneers at Lev and Bobby, Iceman becomes angry for being treated as a second class citizen due to the fact that he is thought to be a Dueler, and is determine to get into a fight with Rask until Lev calms him down enough. Witnessing this, Seera notes that she has never seen Bobby before and wonders if Archangels claims of being from another world is where this "Dueler" and the strange baby that she now has in her possession came from. In wondering about the baby, she wonders where it's mother might be.
Jean Grey is a prisoner of the Rejects, who since being attacked from a Jammer has been in a catatonic state, when the guards go in to check on her, they doubt much success in her being able to recover from the attack. Elsewhere in the Reject village, Beast -- unaware that Jean is the captive of the Rejects -- helps Zharkah go through scavenged supplies and find items that they can use for Whilge's coming baby. They are soon alerted that Whilge is giving birth at that moment and go to her side to witness the moment. When Hank refers to child birth as a miracle, Zharkah corrects him that on this bleak world a birth is more of a tragedy as if the newborn child even manages to live, it will live in a world of constant war and strife. Almost in response to this Whilge's horrified when her newborn child dies suddenly. Soon a funeral service is quickly organized and performed for the late Zheopah, and her body is put ablaze on a funeral pyre. When Beast suggests that they use technology to try and improve the genetic defects in the Rejects, Zharkah becomes suspicious of the Beast and tells him that such uses of technology is forbidden as it is what the Chosen use to reproduce.
While at the citadel of the Chosen, PRincess Seera breaks into the breeding labs, using her Jamming powers to mask her presence so that she can steal formula to take back to young Christopher Summers. Along the way through the sewers she runs into a guard who has come to investigate the "blankness" surrounding the area. Not wishing to get caught, she attacks him with her Jamming ability by fears she has used them too strongly and alerted others of her presence. As she flees the scene to avoid capture she wonders why the Chosen have not trained themselves to use their powers for anything other than combat. She returns to her quarters to find that young Christopher is crying, however the child's tears subside when she feeds him the formula. She has decided that at the first opportunity she must move the child out of the city. With the little boy in her arms, Seera marvels at the possibility that this is a child from another world and wonders that if she were ever to meet the boys parents, would she be able to give the child back.
Cyclops meanwhile exits the cave of the Beginagains with Dykon where Gammenon is once more on the planets surface outside their cave. As they watch the giant Celestial, Scott reiterates his need to find his missing friends, and Dykon reminds Scott of the conflict between the Rejects and Chosen and the Beginagains' desire to reunite both peoples to save their planet. Dykon, suggests that with Cyclops's help, they may be able to do just that. While back at the home of the Rejects, Zharkah announces that young Nikoh has developed his Reject born abilities, the power to light things on fire. When word about the "Reject" Archangel's victory in the arena Beast tells the gathered Rejects that Archangel is a member of his "tribe", X-Factor and rallies them to plan an attack on the Chosen's city. As Beast and the others rush off to make plans, Zharkah watches the scene with increasing suspicion.
Back in the Chosen's citadel, Iceman and Lev pit their powers together and Bobby gloats that the only way Lev was able to "defeat" him in battle previously was due to the fact he was caught off guard from a supposed Jammer attack. When he traps her in a block of ice, he gets her to yield, however she still believes that she can beat him in combat. When Lord Rask enters the room and mocks them for being Duelers, Bobby stands up to this and challenges Rask to a duel. In a one-on-one fight, Iceman manages to defeat Rask by knocking the lord down and pinning his arms down with ice. With the victory, Lev wins a hardy wager and Rask then challenges Iceman to go up against the "Reject" champion, Archangel. Bobby accepts this challenge, however he feels uneasy when he learns that Lev bet money that she doesn't have on the fight.
While in the dungeons Archangle revives to find that Agrom is still alive and is surprised. He begins to tell Agrom about how he was transformed into the Archangel and manipulated by someone and that his wings have a mind of their own. He also tells the Reject that he has made a vow never to be controlled by anyone ever again and swears that once he is freed himself he will destroy all the Chosen. Unknown to Warren his words are being monitored by Seera who has used her jamming powers to sneak into the monitoring room. She is worried that Archangel is poised to fight his friend from another world, and wonders what she can do to help him, and considers that if she does anything to free him, he might destroy her entire kingdom.
This story is continued next issue...
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