History of the X-Men, 1992 (Earth-92131)

The following is a history of the X-Men for the year 1992, in which Professor X's heroic mutants faced off with the iconoclastic Magneto.

History

Jubilee's perilous matriculation

By late 1992, the X-Men consisted of Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Storm, Beast, Rogue, Gambit, and Morph. Cyclops was effectively the team leader, coordinating them under Xavier's orders, though the willful Wolverine frequently resented him. Jean Grey largely served as right hand to Professor X himself, telepathically overseeing the team's missions from afar. One day, Storm, Rogue, and Gambit went to the mall, where they found a young mutant named Jubilee being attacked by a Sentinel, a massive robot built by Henry Gyrich's Mutant Control Agency (MCA) to neutralize mutants. The three X-Men fought the Sentinel, but it managed to knock out Jubilee with a gas grenade before Cyclops arrived and decapitated it with a laser blast. The X-Men took Jubilee and the Sentinel head back to the School. Jubilee soon awoke and tried to flee in panic, running awkwardly into a number of X-Men. Storm took Jubilee around the property and explained to her the nature of the X-Men and the School. Later, Professor X briefed the team on a mission to infiltrate the MCA headquarters and destroy their records on mutants who had been "innocently duped into revealing their identities." Storm, Wolverine, Beast, and Morph were tasked with the infiltration, while Jean Grey would stay at the School with Xavier and the others would keep watch outside the target. Cyclops was worried that attacking a human facility could put the secretive X-Men at risk, but Xavier insisted that there was no other way.

Meanwhile, Jubilee snuck out of the school and tried to return home to check on her parents, but she was confronted by a pair of Sentinels, again knocked out by noxious gas, and kidnapped by Henry Gyrich. Jean Grey noticed that she was gone, and Wolverine took off to look for her, in spite of Cyclops's protests. He was unable to track her past the point of her kidnapping however, and caught up with the team as they arrived via the Blackbird outside the MCA headquarters, a large building conspicuously located in the middle of a forest. The infiltration team used their combined powers to stealthily enter the building, but soon found armed resistance further inside. Reinforcements arrived outside as well, and Cyclops, Rogue, and Gambit set about keeping them away without seriously harming them. The infiltrators found the archives room, and Beast hacked into the computer there while the others destroyed the hard files. The team escaped as MCA guards and soldiers closed in, but a group of Sentinels arrived and attacked. Morph threw himself in front of one of their energy blasts to protect Wolverine, and he was apparently killed instantly. Jean and Charles telepathically perceived that he was no longer living. Beast and Rogue were also hit, but survived. The team was quickly overwhelmed, and the uninjured among them retreated, with Gambit carrying Rogue. Cyclops made the order to flee in the Blackbird, but Wolverine said he wouldn't leave them behind. Rogue sapped his energy, leaving him helpless while the team carried him back. Upon returning to the School, Wolverine confronted Cyclops and punched him in the stomach. Jean broke them up before a full-fledged fight broke out, and Wolverine left the School in his car, perching on a nearby cliff and vowing to avenge Morph's death.

Meanwhile, Jubilee was taken to another MCA base in Detroit, a factory constructing Sentinels. She was interrogated regarding the X-Men, but didn't give up any information. Beast was captured by the Sentinels and taken to a federal prison. Wolverine went to blow off some steam in a dive bar, but Cyclops came to him and asked him for help in assaulting the Sentinels' home base. Eager for revenge, Wolverine quickly accepted. Cyclops went to the home of Jubilee's foster parents, who had been in contact with the MCA. He spoke to them graciously and openly, but Jubilee's father called Gyrich to tell him that a mutant asking about her was there. Cyclops explained that the MCA had actually kidnapped Jubilee, and her father regretted his actions, but Cyclops comforted him. He knew a Sentinel would come, and when it did, he used an optic blast to knock its arm off, forcing it to retreat for repairs. Storm tracked the Sentinel on the Blackbird radar, and the team trailed it in the jet. The Sentinel crashed into the Detroit factory as it ran out of power overhead, knocking out an important piece of equipment and releasing Jubilee's electronic bonds. The X-Men destroyed the remaining Sentinels while Gyrich and lead scientist Bolivar Trask escaped. Wolverine dedicated the destruction of one particular Sentinel to Morph. The team returned to New York safely, and Jubilee made peace with her parents before officially moving into the School and joining the X-Men.

Magneto's emergence

Xavier and Beast agreed that he should peacefully await trial and defend himself in a public forum to demonstrate mutantkind's willingness to cooperate peacefully with humanity. However, on the night before his bail hearing, the federal prison where Beast was being held was attacked by Magneto, a zealot for mutant supremacy and friend-turned-enemy of Xavier. Magneto used his incredible magnetic powers to easily break into the cell, attempting to free Beast. But Beast refused, citing Xavier's plan—the mention of Xavier caught Magneto's ear, and he thought it strange that Charles was responsible for the attack on the MCA. Magneto left after failing to convince Beast to join him and fight back against humanity. The next day, Cyclops and Wolverine attended Beast's hearing, where he passionately pled for understanding and tried in vain to explain that the MCA had been gathering mutant data with malicious intent. Nonetheless, the prosecutor convinced the judge that Beast was a sufficient threat to deny him bail. As Beast attempted to leave the courtroom, a bailiff deliberately knocked him to the ground, prompting Wolverine to stand and prepare to attack. Before he could however, a large, bestial mutant named Sabretooth burst in and began to attack the guards. They knocked him out with special laser guns, and Cyclops ordered Wolverine to help him defend the mutant. Wolverine already knew who Sabretooth was, and was adamant that leaving him for dead was the better option. He stood back casually as Cyclops fought off the guards and returned the unconscious Sabretooth to the School.

Sabretooth was placed in the infirmary, but Wolverine insisted that it wasn't safe to keep him there. He even attempted to wheel Sabretooth's bed out of the building, but was confronted by several of his teammates, including Professor X. Suddenly, an alert from a nearby missile base warned of Magneto's arrival there, and Xavier sent Wolverine, Cyclops, and Storm to confront him. Wolverine was frustrated at Xavier's perceived hypocrisy in attacking his own nemesis, but protecting Wolverine's. The three X-Men arrived at the base, where he had quickly done severe damage and had started the launch timers of the base's missiles. Even together, the X-Men were no match for Magneto's immense power, and he easily held them off as he made his escape, telling them to warn Xavier that he and his followers were traitors to mutantkind. The missiles launched, but Storm followed them into the air. With help from Xavier transmitting Cerebro's electronic knowledge to Storm's mind, she short-circuited the missiles' control systems and landed them safely in the ocean. She passed out from exhaustion, but the team returned safely to the School.

Sabretooth's deception

Xavier probed Sabretooth's mind and found memories of a life of torment and anguish. He was determined to discover what was at the root of Sabretooth's rage, much as he had done for Wolverine in the past. Wolverine himself remained furious that Sabretooth was allowed to stay in the mansion, even restrained as he was. Meanwhile, Cerebro detected an attack by Magneto on the Metro Chemical building. Professor X left Jubilee to look after Sabretooth while he, Cyclops, Storm, and Rogue went to Metro Chemical. Xavier himself stayed in the Blackbird while the others confronted Magneto. Magneto wished to see Xavier in person, and easily fought off the X-Men in hopes of garnering his attention. As the stone walls of the building collapsed under his attack, Storm suffered a traumatic flashback to a similar event in her childhood. She and Cyclops were incapacitated in the building's gradual collapse. In resuscitating Cyclops, Rogue accidentally took his power and caused additional damage to the building with her uncontrolled eye blasts.

Xavier and Magneto had an intense debate about the nature of the mutant-human conflict. Magneto said that he refused to let mutants be destroyed as his people were in his youth, and that violent action trumped diplomacy and philosophy. He attacked Xavier with a magnetic blast, but Professor X brought to the fore of his mind traumatic memories of the conflicts in his youth, forcing him to flee in terror. He recovered and escaped as Rogue, forced to keep her eyes closed, carried Cyclops and Storm out after him. The workers at the chemical plant had escaped during the attack. Meanwhile at the school, Jubilee watched Senator Robert Kelly, a virulent anti-mutant activist, announce his candidacy for United States President: as president, he intended to "relocate" all mutants into military internment camps. Sabretooth tricked Jubilee into freeing him from his restraints and grabbed her to keep her from using her powers. He had been faking any progress shown in Xavier's treatments: his presence at the school was a plot by Magneto to infiltrate the X-Men's hideout. Wolverine arrived and attacked Sabretooth, saving Jubilee. The others returned from the plant and Xavier initially chastised Wolverine, but Jubilee explained the situation. Sabretooth injured the distracted Wolverine with a large slash across his chest and fled. Wolverine was severely injured and taken to the infirmary, and Xavier blamed himself for being blinded by the ideal of mutant partnership.

Attack of the Morlocks

During exercises in the Danger Room, Storm suffered another bout of post-traumatic claustrophobia and reacted with uncontrolled meteorological chaos. She worried that her fear would jeopardize the team in a critical moment, but Professor X advised her that she would likely be forced into such perilous situations anyway. Meanwhile, Jean observed Wolverine training when he should have been resting. As he winced in pain, she grabbed him, and the two shared a moment of romantic tension. Later, after attending the theater in New York City, Jean and Cyclops witnessed a small, green mutant being chased into the subway by angry citizens. The mutant ran for protection from a group of particularly striking mutants calling themselves the Morlocks. An elderly woman mutant named Annalee used her powers to put the humans in the area as well as Jean and Scott to sleep.

Cyclops awoke in a cell underground. The green mutant, Leech, temporarily suppressed his powers such that his eyes worked as a normal human's: Leech saw this as a genuine thanks for the X-Men helping him. A large mutant named Sunder brought Cyclops to a central chamber where Jean was held bound and captive. The Morlocks' leader Callisto explained their raison d'être: the Morlocks were a group of mutants whose mutations precluded them from passing in human society, and who were thus forced to live underground. Callisto had been watching Cyclops for some time, and wished for him to lead the Morlocks alongside her: the incident with Leech had in fact been a ploy to get his attention. Scott flatly refused her offer, and she ordered Sunder to "destroy" Jean, but she escaped her bonds and defended herself from the Morlocks gathered around. She tried to contact Professor X, but was ultimately overpowered by the Morlocks, as was Cyclops.

Xavier managed to pin down Jean and Scott's location, and sent Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, and Gambit to find them. They too were ambushed by Morlocks, but managed to fend them off. They found Jean being hypnotized by Annalee, but Wolverine scared her off. Callisto and the Morlocks confronted the X-Men and presented what they claimed to be Cyclops's dead body, offering a peaceful resolution in light of his death. Wolverine recognized that it was a ruse, and chased off the shapeshifting mutant mimicking Cyclops. A full-blown battle between Morlocks and X-Men broke out. Wolverine slipped away and grabbed the real, unconscious Cyclops. Annalee used her hypnosis to incapacitate Wolverine, and the X-Men found themselves at a serious disadvantage. Storm challenged Callisto to a duel for the life of Cyclops and leadership of the Morlocks—challenging her honor in the process. In single combat using special energy sticks and no mutant powers, Storm defeated Callisto and ruled that the Morlocks would have safe haven at the X-Mansion. They refused, declaring that their place would be underground until they could be accepted in human society. Storm left Callisto to lead in her place until such time arose. During the battle, Annalee convinced Gambit that he had been afflicted with "plague," and he was brought back to the X-Mansion infirmary. Wolverine left the mansion in the dead of night, frustrated over his unrequited love for Jean.