* This was Chris Claremont's final comic with Marvel until 1998, when he returned to Marvel as editorial director and the regular writer of Fantastic Four.

The Gold Team of the X-Men travels to Asteroid M in an undetectable space ship, desperately trying to save their teammates before the Russians destroy Magneto’s base with a plasma cannon. Aboard the Asteroid, Xavier helplessly sees his Blue Team brainwashed by Moira into following Magneto, though some of them seem to realize that something is wrong. Magneto, still suffering from injuries received by Wolverine, grows more and more dependent on Fabian Cortez's cures. When the Gold Team arrives, they have to fight both their teammates and the Acolytes, but soon the X-Men remember themselves. Magneto stops the battle, wanting only Xavier, but then he collapses. Moira understands that Cortez has only boosted his powers to make him feel better. In the meantime, Cortez has escaped, and intends to turn Magneto into a martyr and inspire mutants all around the world to follow him. As the plasma cannon is fired, the X-Men hurry to their spaceship. They want to rescue Magneto and the remaining Acolytes as well, but they prefer to stay aboard Asteroid M and die as it goes down.

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