At the decommissioned Summerfield Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in central California, the members of X-Force, under control of the techno-organic being called Paradigm, set into place the radiation containment unit housing the Armageddon Man. The Armageddon Man, one of the earliest known mutants of the Atomic Age, has been kept in suspended animation since being struck down by an Army airstrike shortly after the emergence of his devastating powers, which uncontrollably generated massive natural disasters. Now, King Bedlam, after stealing the container and taking it to the plant, intends to reactivate the facility to generate the power necessary to revive the immensely destructive mutant.
Bedlam's younger brother, Jesse Aaronson, recently accepted by X-Force, expresses mixed emotions about the situation: shame for betraying his new friends, disappointment that his long-lost brother is far different than what he'd hoped he'd be, loyalty to his brother and horror at the imminent disasters to come if the Armageddon Man is awoken.
Bedlam dispatches Feral and Switch to abduct Senator Owen Danville, who in 1959 had commanded the troop-s that took down the Armageddon Man. At the Senator's home, Feral kills his bodyguard, and then Switch takes over his body.
While X-Force move the comatose mutant's body from its contaiher to the cooling chamber, Danielle Moonstar has unconsciously established a mind-link with paradigm, recalling his memories as if they were her own. As a child in Hong Kong, he had been held in a lab where researchers studied his talent of 'technokinesis', the ability to mentally manipulate machinery and electronics. In the last of their torturous experiments on the boy, they introduced a sample of an alien techno-organic virus into his system. His power and the virus clashed for dominance until, he mutated into an alien/human hybrid. With his new mutation, he killed his captors and escaped.
Upon the arrival of Feral, Switch and Danville at the plant, Bedlam's plan becomes clearer as he threatens to unleash the Armageddon Man unless the Senator can convince Congress to meet his demands for one billion dollars. Knowing what the entity is capable of, the Senator acquiesces to the blackmail.
After taking more of his anti-anxiety medicine, Jesse decides to leave, offering to let Tarot join him. Committed to Bedlam and resigned to the fate she's seen in her cards, she declines. Bedlam makes an attempt of stop Jesse, emphasizing their kinship, and Jesse lingers.
Not wanting the deaths of millions on her conscience, Tarot enters the reactor room to stop Paradigm, but, as she expected, he binds her with his techno-organic tendrils, allowing her to project her power through him. He becomes confused as phantasms based on various tarot cards spring from his form. Trying to purge himself, he releases his X-Force thralls, giving Moonstar the opportunity to use her newfound cosmic powers against him. Overwhelmed, he retreats, encasing himself in an egg-like shell.
Bedlam turns on Tarot for her interference, and Jesse comes to her defense. As they brawl, X-Force burst in, and Jesse unable to choose a side, stands idle. Suddenly, there is a tremendous rumble, as the gathered combatants realize the Armageddon Man has awakened.
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