I swear this cover copies another one–like from the 1960s. I think it was Amazing Spider-Man. Anyone know?
Anyway, there’s some down-time check-ins with the team in this issue. A local kid knows Paige is a mutant and says he’ll “out” her unless she dates him. Colossus gives a guest lecture on art. The kids learn better mastery over their powers. Artie and Leech play a prank with hologram projectors…
PIC
…It’s a nice issue. But at the end, Paladin shows up at the school badly beaten and asking to see Adrienne Frost.
Paladin was attacked by Madripoor mercenaries after being hired by Adrienne to retrieve a magical sword. The team decides to help him go back and get it. Once there, we get to see that the mercenaries who defeated Paladin are pretty silly…
…I love that he got beat up by a teen on rollerskates.
Then there’s a big fight against the super-powered mercs.
The punchline is that the sword is NOT magical, just sentimental. Adrienne used it to kill her own husband.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Viper is tracking the team’s experiences.