X-Men: The Hidden Years #12: And Death Alone Shall Know My Name

Magneto, alive and well, crafts a make-shift helmet out of raw materials and plans his next course of action.

Back on the Savage Land, Bobby asks Sauron (in his human form) for his name. Sauron tells Bobby he can call him “Joe Smith”. Bobby tells Sauron that the name sounds “fake” and Sauron gets a little worked up, afraid that his real identity might stir up some memories in Bobby. Bobby pushes the subject no further. Not far away, Havok and Magnetrix home in on Bobby with the help of Cerebro built into their ship.

Meanwhile in Illinois, Professor Xavier tries to calm an angry Ashley down. Xavier suspects that Ashley’s power is “psychokinetic bonding”, giving her the ability to “project her own life force into unliving matter”. Ashley attacks Xavier with her powers, and Hank jumps in in time to save Xavier.

On the freight ship, a conscious Candy knocks out the crew who’s guarding her and tries to find the rest of the X-Men. In the meantime, Kruger prepares to make the transaction with Blob. Candy, out of sight on the upper deck, takes out Kruger by hitting him with a piece of equipment, but is promptly taken out by Mastermind. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel and Candy are now captives of the Blob.

Magneto makes his way deep under the island. He finds some shafts constructed by others before him to tap into the “potent geothermal energy”. He uses his power to make the lava rise and waits for the right moment to carry out his plans.






Bobby gets suspicious of “Joe Smith” and follows him into the jungle when he goes off alone to meditate. Bobby watches as he hunts down a baby dinosaur. As Bobby approaches “Joe”, Magneto attacks the two of them to take them out because they were in the way of his plans. The name Magneto sounded familiar to Bobby, but he just couldn’t remember why, and he feels that he “should be able to do more to fight back”. Bobby finds Sauron in the chaos, and Sauron is unable to resist the temptation and absorbs Bobby’s energy reserves, turning himself into Sauron.

As Havok and Magnetrix speed towards Bobby, Magnetrix starts to feel “woozy”. Following that, all the controls on the ship goes out of control and the ship crashes.

Sauron in his true form attacks Magneto. With his hypnotic power, Sauron makes Magneto think he’s fighting the X-Men. Bobby rushes to the crash site. Sauron’s real name, Karl Lykos, sets “all kinds of bells ringing in [his] head”. Upon seeing Lorna, all of Bobby’s memories come flooding back. While Sauron and Magneto are engaged in a mind battle, Havok, Magnetrix and Iceman plan their own attack. Havok fights Magneto, but the latter is unaffected and summons the nickel-iron rich magma from beneath the island. Magnetrix starts to feel woozy again as Iceman supports her. She thinks that her powers are somehow connected to Magneto’s.

Iceman destroys the broadcast power antennae Magneto’s minion Amphibius was using to amplify Magneto’s powers. Magneto falls into the boiling lava. Magneto tries to make a deal with Sauron, but Sauron refuses to help him. Iceman tries to freeze the lava but is unable to save Magneto. Sauron sneaks up on Havok and Magnetrix and Iceman stuns Sauron from behind. Sauron flees and Iceman, Havok and Magnetrix make their way home.

With Magneto gone, Amphibius is free. He resumes his original form as he removes the body amour that “kept [him] in [his] mutate form”.

Three days later, Magneto emerges from beneath the hardened lava, barely alive. A couple of days later, Namor, the Submariner finds Magneto and takes him back to Atlantis.


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