Colossus

Dr. Valerie Cooper

Forge

Mystique

Naze

Nightcrawler

Professor X

Rogue

Selene

Storm

Rachel Summers

Uncanny X-Men 184

The Past...Of Future Days

Creators -
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Dan Green
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Ann Nocenti
Editor-in-chief: Jim Shooter

Date Published -
August 1984

Cover -
Professor X vs. Selene for the life of Rachel Summers!
By: John Romita Jr.

Plot -
At Eagle Plaza, in Dallas, Texas, Raven Darkholme and Valerie Cooper, two of the government's defense specialists, walk into Forge's hologram apartment. Dr. Cooper is stunned, never having seen the hologram area before. Above them, they can hear arguing. Moments later, an old man runs by. Another man appears before them, naming himself as Forge and the old man as Naze. Raven introduces Forge to Valerie and the three get down to business. Forge gives Dr. Cooper a new device, one made to neutralize any super-human powers, whether mutant or alien. He also shows them a new location device, with the ability to detect other lifeforms. Forge tells that there's a mutant in that very room, and Raven tenses up. For in reality, she is Mystique, the mutant terrorist and leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But Forge laughs, revealing himself to be the mutant. Across the country, in New York City, the lonely young time-traveler named Rachel Summers watches a television screen as images of the X-Men appear. She remembers how she tried to go to the mansion after coming to this era, but found something she didn't expect: a teenaged Illyana Rasputin. Walking the dark streets, Rachel gets a case of intuition. Suddenly, out of the alley, springs a darkly-clad woman. Rachel fires off a psi-bolt and runs away. She runs into a nearby club, but the bouncer nearly drags her outside when the owner tells him to stop. He takes Rachel back to his place to clean up, but while she's taking a bath, she suddenly realizes that she can not sense his thoughts anymore. Leaving the bath, she finds the young man dead. The witch appears again, calling herself Selene and telling Rachel that she will be her heir. The two struggle, and Rachel causes the apartment building's electric system to go haywire, starting a fire. Selene easily pushes away the fire and begins to enter into Rachel's mind. But Professor X, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Rogue appear, quickly getting Rachel, someone unknown to them, out of Selene's path. Rogue tries to confront the witch, but when they touch, Selene begins to absorb Rogue's life essence. Professor X mindblasts her and staggered, Selene escapes into the flames. The X-Men race back outside, and Storm uses her powers to put out the fire. But when Rachel sees Professor X walking and Storm's mohawk, she suddenly realizes that jumped into the wrong reality!