X-Man #3

Domino, Grizzly, and Caliban have arrived to either offer Nate a job with Apocalypse or to kill him, and they don't have a problem with killing the other heroes who stand in their way.  Forge drops a flash grenade to buy them some time.  He realizes that they don't yet realize what Nate looks like, and so he sets it up to make Domino think that Mastermind is their telepath.



He summons up an image of an angry Apocalypse to face her, but she quickly sees the ruse and disintegrates him.  Meanwhile Caliban and Toad fight, and while Toad is able to kill Caliban, Grizzly takes advantage of the moment and slaughters him.  Domino goes to attack Forge next, but Nate arrives just in time to stop her, and she realizes who he is.  The two of them fight, and while she offers him a job, he refuses.  He instead reaches inside her mind, torturing her with visions of all the people she has ever killed before.  It drops her, leaving her in a form of shock.

This melting effect is a neat idea, but I think it would have made more sense to do it with her instead of Apocalypse's head.

Nate and Forge embrace, and Nate apologizes for his recent brash behavior, realizing he's been going too far.  Forge tells him that he's learned a lot, and he's proud of him for it.  The band pauses to bury their dead, and when Forge goes looking for Brute, he realizes they have one more person to bury.  Essex is waiting there for him as well, and he attacks him.  Nate feels Forge's pain through the psychic link they share, and rushes to his side, but he's too late.  Forge tells him to find Magneto for help, and Nate sees Forge's life pass before his eyes, including the fact that it was Essex who killed him.

It's nice to see that Forge and Storm apparently did have a relationship in this reality as well.

Nate attacks Essex with all his might, but if you're familiar with Mr. Sinister you know he can't be killed that easily.  He reforms in his true form, and tells Nate that if he had known Forge meant that much to him, he would have killed him a lot sooner.  He then promises Nate answers, though from experience I would say he shouldn't really trust him.