Cable (1st series) #76

Issue Date: 
February 2000
Story Title: 
In My Eyes
Staff: 

Joe Pruett (writer), Bernard Chang (penciler) Jon Holdredge (inker), RS & Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte (letterer), Brian Miller & Hi-Fi Design (colors), Mark Powers (editor), Bob Harras (editor in chief)

Brief Description: 

Cable’s girlfriend is worried about him. He’s disappeared and she doesn’t know where. Irene Merryweather has no idea either, but she has a feeling it has something to do with the end of the world. In Egypt, the Twelve are all assembled in the null orbs. Cable gets the low down from everyone there. Suddenly, him and Cyclops are transported to the psionic plane. They find themselves in the future, Cable’s future. They’re in a graveyard filled with people who died fighting to stop Apocalypse. Nathan talks about his past with Aliya and what it was like growing up after him and Jean left to go back to the present. Cable thinks he’s failed everyone. Scott tells him it’ s not true. They hug and the snow starts falling. Scott disappears and Cable finds himself in Alaska where he lived as an infant. Madelyne Pryor is there and he finds out she’s responsible for pulling him and Scott to the psionic plane. She knows what’s going on and wants him to stay there with him in safety. He tells her that’s not going to happen. He realizes as long as he’s still alive he has a chance of stopping Apocalypse. She reluctantly sends them back to their bodies. They find themselves back in the chamber. Apocalypse is there and tells them the chamber is almost ready for his needs. He will soon rise to ultimate power.

Full Summary: 

The issue starts off in a city park. Cable’s girlfriend Stacey is sitting on a bench feeding breadcrumbs to some pigeons. Nearby, her little brother Kenny chases some pigeons away. Stacey is worried because she hasn’t heard from Cable in a while. Cable’s chronicler Irene, who happens to be an ex-reporter, is with her as well. She knows why Cable came to this time and is afraid that’s why he’s gone missing. Stacey doesn’t want to hear it. She just wants to know where he is. Irene tells her she can’t get any information. She tells Stacey not to worry because Cable always comes back. Although this time she feels something different. He might not after all.
We’re sent over to Egypt. The Twelve are still contained in their null orbs. Cable is just waking up. He yells out for Apocalypse, but he’s not around. Phoenix tells him he’s not there and that they figured out he was behind everything that had happened recently. Somehow the twelve of them play a critical part in his plans. Cable wants to know if they can break free. Storm tells him it’s impossible due to the orbs’ power-dampening field. Mikhail starts to tear up. He doesn’t want to be responsible for killing many innocents again.
Seeing as how Cable spent a lot of time in the future, Professor wants to know if he has any recollection of the Twelve in any history lessons. Cable tells him that most of the history of this time doesn’t exist in the future. He only has heard a verbal account, thought to be a legend. The Twelve were the failed saviors of mutant and humankind. They were a group that fought Apocalypse and lost. Suddenly a blue rift in the ceiling appears. Nathan and Scott cry out and go unconscious in their orbs.
(psionic plane)

Cyclops comes to and finds himself in a giant graveyard. His head is pounding. He looks off in the distance and sees Cable kneeling at a gravestone. He heads over and asks Cable where they are. He tells him they’re in the future where he lived. This is the graveyard where the honored dead were buried. Cable is upset because he thinks he failed them all. Cyclops tells him he hasn’t failed anyone. Cable replies that it’s not true because Apocalypse still lives.
Cyke tells Cable that he’s not to blame. Everybody that died trying to stop Apocalypse died for what they believed in. He shouldn’t feel responsible. Cable is still upset. He came here to stop everything that happened from happening. Now he’s failed himself and everyone he cared for in the future. Scott is worried. He’s never seen Cable this upset. Suddenly, Cable’s form changes to when he was a young adult. In his arms he holds Aliya, his past wife. She died on the battlefield. Even these days he sometimes wakes up and thinks she’s there and then he realizes where he is and he senses her no more. He tells Scott she was a lot like Jean, full of life.
Then Cable reverts to child form. He recalls how after Scott and Jean left, he used to look for an away place and look up at the stars. He would light a candle to honor them. He was alone after they were pulled back to the present and he used to think they were still with them. Scott assures him they were with him and that he was with them every day of their lives. At this point Cable turns back to normal. He tells Scott he doesn’t want to dwell in the past anymore. Scott tells his son that he’s content to be with him right here and now. Cable has one request for Cyclops; that he remember him as the man he hoped he would become. Scott tells him that he is the man he would have liked him to become. They embrace and it starts snowing. The storm picks up in intensity and Cable can’t see Cyclops anymore. He yells out for his father, but he’s not there anymore. The snow stops and over in the distance he sees a cabin.
He enters the cabin to find it empty. From the steps above he hears a voice. It turns out to be Madelyne Pryor, his mother. Scott is hovering above her in a frozen state. She explains that she pulled them both into the psionic plane. She wants to spend some time with him. Cable tells her it’s not the right time. He tells her the situation at hand. He wants her to help. She ignores his question and reminisces about the past. She wants to know if he remembers the place they’re in. It’s where they lived in Alaska when he was a baby. It was the best time of her life. She sensed him in need and reached out to him. That’s why she brought him here. Even though she despises Scott she wanted her son to be happy so she brought them both over.
Madelyne tries to convince Cable to stay in the psionic plane. They can make it whatever and however he wants. They can be happy and together again. Cable tells her no. He has friends and family and he’s not alone anymore. Maddie doesn’t understand. He will die if he fights Apocalypse. She tells him she needs him. He’s all she has left. Cable reminds her they’ve been through this before. The answer is still no. He asks her to release Cyclops and she does. A picture frame falls to the ground along with Scott. Cable kneels over and helps him up.
Cable now realizes that he still has a mission to do. As long as he is alive he still has a chance. He is an X-Man after all and they don’t give up. She understands and she tells him that she’ll always remember him. Scott speaks up and asks for her help. She tells him she can’t. She’s only a ghost on the psionic plane. She only wanted to help Nathan out. Scott picks up the cracked picture frame and sees it’s a picture of him, Madelyne and the baby together. She tells Nathan goodbye and they find themselves back in the chamber of the Twelve.
(present)

Cable calls out to his father and Cyke tells him he’s there. From above Apocalypse bellows out that they will remain there as well. His plan has almost come to fruition. His ascension is near. All of their power will help him achieve his destiny. He has to remake the chamber and then he will commence with his plan.

Characters Involved: 

Cable

Irene Merryweather

Stacey Kramer, Cable’s girlfriend

Kenny Kramer, brother of Stacey

Bishop, Cyclops, Iceman, Phoenix IV, Storm, Professor Charles Xavier (all X-Men)

Polaris, Sunfire (former X-Men)

Mikhail Rasputin

Magneto

The Living Monolith

Apocalypse
Psionic Plane :

Cable

Cyclops

Madelyne Pryor

Aliya Jenskot, Cable’s dead wife from the future

Slym and Redd Dayspring, aliases of Jean and Scott when they raised Nathan in the future

Story Notes: 

This issue is part of The Twelve Crossover.
Scott and Jean were transported to the future on their honeymoon. Their adventures can be found in the “Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix” limited series.
Mikhail was in an alternate dimension for a long time, during which he killed many people when he used his power. Also, Mikhail supposedly killed himself and all the Morlocks by flooding their tunnels. Much later we find out that he teleported them away before they were drowned.

Issue Information: 
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