Ultimate X-Men #17

Issue Date: 
June 2002
Story Title: 
World Tour - part 2
Staff: 

Mark Millar (story), Adam Kubert (pencils), Danny Miki (inks), J.D Smith (colors), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), C.B. Cebulski (associate editor), Brian Smith (associate editor),
Ralf Macchio (editor), Joe Quesada (editor in chief), Bill Jemas (president)

Brief Description: 

Xavier and the X-Men arrive at Muir Island, where the X-Men are made privy to some facts about Xavier, that they weren't aware of before – such as him having an ex-wife, a mutant son, a second school for less lucky mutants and mysterious sponsors.

Moira and the two STRIKE agents – Braddock and Thomas – accompanying her explain about her and Charles´ son: He has limited reality-warping powers, but those take a heavy toll on his body. Last night he jumped into another body and escaped.

The X-Men find David in a restaurant in Aberdeen. An attempt at talking him into giving up backfires and results in Wolverine being possessed by him. The X-Men manage to fight him to a standstill, but David uses a chance to create some chaos, jumps bodies again and leaves Wolverine badly injured in the process.

In the meantime, Marvel Girl and Cyclops are looking for Colossus in St. Petersburg. They are relieved to find he's ok, but he surprises them by telling them he's quit the X-Men.

Full Summary: 

Iceman, Storm, Wolverine and Beast accompany Prof Xavier to Muir Island, where Dr. Moira MacTaggert and STRIKE (the British division of SHIELD) agents Braddock and Thomas greet them.

Moira asks about the rest of them. Beast explains that Colossus has disappeared and Jean and Scott are following him to Russia. Moira wonders, why Xavier seems to be in a trance. Beast explains that he is conducting a psychic search for their son, David. Moira snorts and comments caustically that this is more concern than he hadever showed in David, when he and Moira were still married.

The X-Men are still rather surprised that Xavier has a family, let alone another secret school. Moira answers that despite their 15-year marriage she never knew, what Xavier was thinking either. The hospital is older than the Westchester school and Xavier's sponsors are hoping that some of the mutants will eventually be able to graduate to the other school. As the others wonder, that they though Xavier paid everything with his inheritance, Moira points out how ridiculous that is, since you'd have to be a billionaire to fund an operation of that magnitude.

Getting serious, Moira explains about David's condition: During their marriage David seemed to be a perfectly ordinary boy, until his father left them. The he started convulsing violently. His powers manifested as limited control over the matter around him. The drawback being, the slightest use of that power has disastrous effect on his body. David was kept sedated for years.

Last night he started convulsing again – something connected with the arrival of Xavier and “his little surrogate family” in Britain, Moira assumes. The convulsion would have resulted in David's death, had he not jumped into the body of one of the attending nurses.
Agent Betsy Braddock of STRIKE´s PSI division and Dai Thomas, another STRIKE agent, chime in. As far as they can ascertain, David has switched bodies three times since then.
Xavier snaps out of his trance. He's located David in Aberdeen. Cooly, he and Moira greet each other.

A little later in a Burger King restaurant in Aberdeen, the employees are listening to the news, describing a submarine disaster in Russia, when suddenly David enters the restaurant in the burn-out body of the policeman he took over. David orders a huge amount of food, but staggers suddenly. He surmises that someone is influencing his mind- correctly, as outside Xavier and the X-Men are waiting and order him to stay calm and give up.

Wolverine enters the restaurant, appealing to David's good side and trying to establish a connection with him. David reciprocates by mentally knocking Xavier out of his wheelchair and telling Wolverine that he enjoys hurting people and proves this, by killing everybody in the restaurant except for Wolverine. Logan attacks him. David reads his mind and makes fun of him having written poems for Jean, then possesses him. Jumping out of the restaurant, David exclaims, that he has found the perfect body in Wolverine.

With Xavier unconscious, Beast assumes leadership, quickly jumping at David/Wolverine trying to keep him off-balance. David creates illusions of Beasts´ old schoolmates, who made fun of him and plays on Beast's insecurities.

Iceman tries to help his friend by attacking David with an iceblast. David isn't fazed and reveals Iceman's shameful secrets: that he knows that Iceman lusts after Storm – Beast's girlfriend and that he still wets his bed, when he has nightmares about their fight with Magneto. While he is occupied with mocking Iceman and attacking him with illusions of Magneto, Storm hits him with a lightning bolt and Betsy follows suit by tossing a “psychic grenade” at him, hurting David/Wolverine badly. As reinforcements are arriving via helicopters, David jumps in front of a heavy truck and possesses the truck driver, leaving Wolverine to be run over.
Meanwhile, Cyclops and Marvel Girl are in St. Petersburg in search of Colossus. Scott wonders, if leaving the others was such a good idea. Jean replies that they’ll be able to handle everything and besides both she and the professor have the gut feeling that they'll need Colossus soon. Scott hopes, that Piotr has nothing to do with the sunken submarine. As Jean senses Colossus nearby, they park the car and the conversation turns towards Wolverine and why he didn't accompany Jean.

Jean hints heavily that she is single these days, but Scott apparently doesn't get, what Jean is driving at. They find Piotr and Jean hugs him, relieved. Piotr though, is less than happy to see them and tells them he quit the X-Men, as he is tired of Xavier´s nonsense pacifist ideas.

Aberdeen

David drove the truck off the bridge creating a huge pile-up and escaped in the melee. Wolverine's healing factor in the meantime is working overdrive, healing him from the awful injuries he sustained. Wolverine tells the professor that David hates Xavier so badly, it scares even him.

Characters Involved: 

Prof. X, Beast, Storm, Iceman, Wolverine, Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Colossus (all X-men)

Moira MacTaggert

Colonel Betsy Braddock/Psylocke, Agent Dai Thomas (both agents of STRIKE)

David Xavier/Proteus

Story Notes: 

The ultimate version of Betsy Braddock/ Psylocke is a black-haired Asian woman, who apparently has telepathic powers and the ability to create “psychic grenades”.

Issue Information: 
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