X-Patrol (ES) Vol 3 14

A new mutant arrives in New York City, calling himself the Banshee and he has the powers to go with the name. Flying to an expensive art gallery, the sonic powered mutant uses his powerful scream to knock out the populous and to smash through the glass to get at an expensive painting of a beautiful landscape before fleeing the scene.

As this is going on, the X-Men are testing the range of Mimic's power-copying abilities and seeing if the Professor's mental powers can help boost the range. Mimic only gets so far before the powers he's copied from the X-Men begin to fade away and he is forced to land. However, Mimic is not worried about this because he believes that with his combined abilities he'll be the most superior member of the group. This leads to an argument between him and Cyclops over Mimic's risk taking, with Cyclops believing that Mimic is looking toward a big fall.

While back in the city, the Banshee has returned to a preset hideout where he is reunited with his colleague, a simplistic man named the Ogre, who has just learned the secret location of the X-Men's headquarters. When the Ogre realizes that Banshee had gone out and stolen a painting, he attempts to scold him for jeopardizing their mission. Banshee tries to downplay it but then realizes that he is running low on tobacco for his pipe. He goes back out into the city where he once more uses his powers to steal; this time tobacco from a closed up tobacco shop. The attack attracts the attention of the X-Men who begin to mobilize a mission to investigate. While in Manhattan, Jean Grey is in Central Park with Ted Roberts who is brooding over a letter from home. He tells her about his successful brother when they are interrupted by a radio report about Banshee's most recent attack.

Banshee has meanwhile returned to his hideout and he and the Ogre prepare to strike at the X-Men's base. They use a pyro-projector to cause a fire nearby to distract people from witnessing their ship's departure from the base. They travel to the X-Mansion, where the Professor, knowing that the attackers are coming to the mansion, has his X-Men prepared to counterattack. The X-Men are all knocked out by the Banshee's sonic scream, allowing the Ogre to kidnap the Professor and attempt to flee the scene. He is tripped up by the timely arrival of Marvel Girl who uses her telekinetic powers to keep the Ogre busy until the rest of the X-Men revive themselves and attempt to capture the Ogre instead.

The Ogre calls Banshee to attack the X-Men once more but is forced to flee when they overpower him, leaving the Professor behind. Returning to the ship, he finds that Banshee has returned as well and the mutant is hardly impressed that Ogre has returned empty handed, causing him to go back after the X-Men to try and recollect Xavier.

This time, the Professor has read the Ogre's mind and knows how he buffers against the Banshee's sonic scream and creates ear buffers for the X-Men to wear to protect their ears from his debilitating power. When the Banshee attacks, the X-Men are ready and they subdue him and seal him in a pressurized suit and vacuum chamber that prevent him from using his powers. While getting an extra oxygen tank in the cellar, Cyclops notices a giant locked door in the basement of the Mansion that he had not seen previously.

Mimic is sent out to search for the Ogre, but he sneaks into the mansion and attacks the X-Men. Cyclops uses his optic blast and causes him to retreat outside where he is attacked by the Mimic. Mimic smashes his mechanical costume, defeating him and destroying all of his controls. Xavier then allows banshee to free himself. Banshee then removes the headdress that he's been forced to wear, telling the X-Men that the Ogre and an organization called Factor Three had forced him to work with them by planting a bomb in the headdress. Banshee leaves the X-Men with some ominous words, that Factor Three intends to take over the world.

All the X-Men have gone out in their civilian guises to go skating on a nearby pond. When Warren manages to capitalize on Jean's attention, Scott slinks away and declines Jean's offer for him to join them, telling her he forgot his skates at home. Wandering into the woods, Scott broods over how he loves Jean but cannot bring himself to express his emotions because he has yet to learn how to control his optic blasts. Making an attempt to try, Scott removes his ruby quartz glasses and tries to control the destructive force of his blasts. However, Scott fails, and is even more disappointed to find that they are stronger than ever. In a fit of rage, he unleashes them at full strength against the side of a mountain causing a rock fall. Realizing what he has done, Scott flees the scene before he can get caught in the falling rocks.

Scott's blast also manages to revive the Super-Adaptoid, still inert following his last battle against Captain America. The Adaptoid decides to go out into the world once more and see what force awoke him. Meanwhile, the X-Men decide to return to the mansion, except for Bobby, who has had almost no luck skating. Left alone, he changes into his Iceman form and finds that skating is much easier. Witnessing this, the Super-Adaptoid realizes that there are other super-powered beings on Earth other than the Avengers and attempts to approach the young X-Man to duplicate his powers. Approaching the boy quietly, the Adaptoid gives himself away when his heavy body breaks through the ice. Startled by the Super-Adaptoid, Iceman learns of its true nature and freezes it in a block of ice and flees the scene to get the others. Realizing that the boy can lead it to more super-powered beings, the Super-Adaptoid breaks free and begins following Iceman's path.

Iceman rushes to the X-Men’s base where he finds Marvel Girl, Angel, and Beast and tries to warn them of the Adaptoid. The group thinks that Bobby is joking. Then, Scott shows up from the pond with Bobby's clothing, he tells the others that he saw no robot either, satisfying in the other X-Men's minds that this is simply another one of Bobby's pranks.

The X-Men are called by the Professor to begin a training session. However, Mimic refuses to participate in "hoop-jumping" for the Professor. When Cyclops demands that Mimic show respect, the two come to blows which leads to a fight between Mimic and the other X-Men. The Professor breaks up the fight and decides that with the looming threat of Factor Three coming, he has no time for fighting within the X-Men and orders Mimic to leave the school as soon as possible. With the Professor and Mimic's departure, Scott thinks about the worries the Professor has and how his fears over control of his powers are selfish in comparison. Meanwhile, Xavier begins a new experiment in his lab near the locked door that contains his greatest failure.

The X-Men have decided to practice outside by playing football with each other. The game is cut short when the Super-Adaptoid has finally caught up with Iceman and attempts to examine the X-Men. Going for Jean first, the creature is fought off by Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, and Angel. The Adaptoid, with its copies of the Avenger's powers, manages to stave off the attacks. He then uses a gas-filled arrow to fell the X-Men. Mimic comes back to the mansion to tell off the X-Men and decides to get into the middle of things with the Adaptoid.

When the Adaptoid realizes that Mimic has similar powers to it, the robot offers to turn to Mimic into another Adaptoid like him, the second in a new species of Super-Adaptoids that will take over the world and destroy humans and mutants alike. Cyclops begins to revive from the gas just as Mimic agrees to allow the Super-Adaptoid to change him into an Adaptoid as well. Scott warns Mimic that the Super-Adaptoid only intends on using him as a slave. That causes Mimic to realize how foolish his decision is and he breaks free from the beam that would have turned him into an Adaptoid. Mimic then begins to fight the Super-Adaptoid.

The two fight each other but the two super-beings find themselves to be an equal match. Deciding that he can gain the upper hand by copying Mimic's duplication of all the X-Men's powers, the Super-Adaptoid attempts to copy Mimic's abilities. This causes an energy backlash that sends both of them crashing to the ground, with both of their powers becoming nullified. While the now human Calvin Rankin is saved by the Angel, the now powerless Adaptoid smashes into the water, vowing that mankind has not seen the last of it.

With the battle over, Mimic tells the rest of the group that he is sorry for how he's acted in the past and that he has realized the true value of friendship.