First Story :
This main story reprints X-Men (1st series) #99, however there are three additional pages :
One page shows the X-Men and Dr. Corbeau secretly arriving at Cape Canaveral, disguised with trenchcoats and protected by Storm’s fog. Corbeau tells them to quickly change into the pressure suits, as the staff should not see them in costume. Ororo does not like to have to hide herself as if she were a villain, but Cyclops points out that their friends need them and they can’t waste time with explanations.
Also we see Steven Lang in contact with the Hellfire Club via video screen. Lang tells the Inner Circle that the X-Men are the perfecet subjects for his experiments; they are very powerful, yet considered oiutcasts and won’t be missed. Lang goes on that he will isolate theirt genetic X-Factor and once they can reproduce it they’ll have an army of super powered operatives. Sebastian Shaw voices concern, so far they have only captured three X-Men and surely the others will try to free them. Later when the conference is over, the White King Ned Buckman reminds Shaw that he is only a probitionary member. Secretly he thinks to himself that Lang’s goal is not the reproduction of mutant powers, but the elimination of the mutant race, he is fully aware that Shaw is a mutant too.
The third page shows how Storm, Colossus and Nightcrawler rescue Wolverine and Banshee.
Second Story :
Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the Hellfire Club presents ist annual gala. Sebastian Shaw attends with his lover Lourdes Chantel; she is concerened as she doesn’t think that Buckman is trustworthy. In fact they both are mutants and the White King of the Club hates them. Right then, Buckman approaches them and introduces them to his White Queen, Paris Seville. Buckman says Project Armageddon seems to be a complete success and that they couldn’t have achieve it so fast without Shaw’s funding. He then excuses himself.
Lourdes again tries to convince Shaw that Buckman knows more than he lets on, but he doesn’t listen. He still believes that Project Armageddon is about isolating the genetic X-factor and not about killing mutants. They walk to a quieter area and Sebastian asks Tessa for an analysis. She say that she has not yet enough data to determine wether Buckman is genuine or only pretending to be his friend.
Shaw steps out on a balkony and establsihes mental contact with Emma Frost, who is in their secret hideout near East Hampton. There she is watching over Colonel Mike Rossi, who has barely survived the plane crash that Lang arranged for him. From his mind, Emma pulls the truth about Project Armageddon. Shaw gets angry, Buckamn really lied to him and was using his money against him. Right then, a Sentinel attacks Emma Frost.
Sebastian knows that Emma and Harry Leland won’t be able to overcome the robot themselves, so he orders Lourdes to teleport them and Tessa to their location. Lourdes says that she has never transported so many people over such a distance, but he grabs her by the neck and commands her to follow his orders. They arrive at the battle, Emma has already been knocked out. Shaw starts to beat up the Sentinel, while Leland backs away, fearing that he could get huirt or worse. The Sentinel uses nerve gas on Shaw and then wraps him in steel cables. Lourdes sees her lover in distress and runs to him to teleport him to safety; yet she is too drained from the excessive use of her powers and she only manages to teleport to the other side of the room. The Sentinel harpoons her from behind.
Leland is shocked and starts to use his power of gravimetric control on the robot. It gets heavier and crashes into the floor, Shaw now can reach his head where it is more vulnerable, and beats and puznches it till the robot is destroyed. Sebastian then tends to his fallen lover, who forgive him : “Anything. Always.“ Tessa comments on how much Lourdes loves him, and how little Shaw realizes it. Emma eases her pain, as Lourdes passes on, wishing she could have seen her native Barcelona once more.
At Midnight, Buckman and and Seville attend a meeting of the Inner Circle, of course without Shaw. All of a sudden Buckman grabs a gun and shoots the others including Seville. He then points the gun to himself. Emma Frost has taken control of his actions. Sebastian takes the gun from him and then lifts him by his neck, and breaks it. With the Inner Circle dead, they now will become the leaders of the Hellfire Club, to honor Lourdes memory and to make sure that mutants will no longer be the victims.
