Cable #29

Cable prepares for his inevitable showdown with the enigmatic Nate Grey! But there's only one problem -- he'll have to face him ALONE!

Cable and the X-Men learn of the existence of his Age of Apocalypse counterpart X-Man. Blaquesmith wipes the minds of the X-Men and Cable sets off to confront Nate Grey on his own.

Synopsis

As X-Force runs through training out on the Xavier Institute grounds, Cable muses over a puzzle brought to his attention by the Sugarman and Mr. Sinister - just who is this other being like Cable, but not Cable? Blaquesmith arrives in his ship and disturbs the training session, but then telepathically tells X-Force to forget about him, which they do. Except for Sunspot, who speaks to Blaquesmith in Askani. Cable intercepts Blaquesmith before he can delve into Sunspot's ability to know anything about the Askani.

Cable and Blaquesmith join Professor Xavier, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Moira MacTaggart in for a meeting about a being named Nate Grey, an individual with unlimited psionic powers with a genetic signature identical to Cable's. Xavier and Moira had both encountered Nate Grey and know him to be incredibly powerful. Moira also notes that Nate Grey's powers may be too much for his young body, which may ultimately kill him. Some muse that Cable may have this same potential if the techno-organic virus did not need to be constantly put into check.

Noting the extreme danger in the X-Men contacting Nate Grey, Blaquesmith unilaterally decides to change the present by altering the minds of the X-Men into thinking they were just having a meeting on the Legacy Virus while he and Cable slip out. Cable hates that Blaquesmith has done this yet prepares for a solo mission nonetheless. Cable leaves everyone behind.