Exiles #1 (2001)

Blink finds herself transported to a strange desert following the her ordeal in Apocalypse's castle. She meets a group of mutants whom she has never met before, except for Morph, who doesn't seem to recognize her. They find a full kitchen and a strange short man tending it not far from where they all arrived. The man introduces himself as the Timebroker, and says that each mutant in the group has become unstuck in time. He introduces each character: Talia Josephine Wagner (Nocturne): In her reality, Talia Josephine Wagner is the daughter of Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch. She is a member of the X-Men, which is under the leadership of Wolverine, who has been in charge since Xavier retired. John Proudstar (Earth-1100) (T-Bird): In his own reality, he was one of Xavier's picks for his second generation of X-Men. Shortly after, he was captured by Apocalypse and went under a series as enhancements to be one of his servants. However, Proudstar managed to free himself of Apocalypse's control and rejoin the X-Men. Magnus Lensherr (Earth-27) (Magnus): He is the son of Magneto and Rogue in his native reality. His magnetic powers would eventually rival those of his father's. However, another mutation emerged later in life that was not unlike his mother's: whenever he made skin-to-skin contact with another human being they would be turned into lifeless metal. Since then he's had to wear a special suit and subsequently become a very distant and withdrawn person. Kevin Sydney (Earth-1081) (Morph): Coming from a reality where he was a member of Professor X's New Mutants, the wise-cracking shape-shifter later joined the X-Men and even had a tenure as an Avenger before returning to the X-Men. Calvin Rankin (Earth-12) (Mimic): He began his career as a villian in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but, after his arrest, was given a second chance by Charles Xavier and joined the X-Men. In time, Mimic grew to be one of his world's greatest champions. Clarice Ferguson (Earth-295) (Blink): Clarice was born in a reality dubbed "The Age of Apocalypse", where she was taken away from her parents at a young age and put into Sinister's breeding pens to be experimented on. Eventually she was rescued by Sabretooth and eventually grew to fight along side him and the X-Men against the evil Apocalypse. The group killed Apocalypse and before her reality was destroyed, Blink fell through the cracks. After introducing the group, the Timebroker explains that he has recruited them all because he needs people to correct realities that have gone wrong, that the problems in other realities will effect other realities causing a domino effect that will eventually cause the entire Multiverse to destroy itself. Each mutant he has gathered has had their lives effect in one way or another from these problems: For Magnus, his powers would manifest at age 13 turning his mother Rogue into steel, which would lead Magneto to go mad and once again start his war on humanity. For Mimic, he'll be sitting on death row for the murder of Senator Robert Kelly and 47 innocent bystanders during a mission with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. For Morph, during a battle against the Morlocks his physical form is disrupted and he is stuck in a liquid state in the Beast's lab. For Nocturne, her father is killed by her grandmother, Mystique, during a battle against the Hellfire Club. Thunderbird will still be under Apocalypse's control. Blink will never be born. The Timebroker then tells these mutants that if they correct the realities that they are sent to, eventually their fates will be altered and they will be returned home to the moment they left. They can be injured, killed, or fail on their missions, which would lead to being sent home with their fates left unchanged. To aid them on their mission, the Timebroker gives Blink the Tallus, a device that will explain what their missions are and transport them to the next reality by utilizing Blink's teleportation abilities. After the Timebroker divulges that he is the construct of the group's collective unconsciousness, he disappears, leaving the newly formed Exiles to be transported to their first mission. They find themselves in an alternate Phoenix, Arizona, with the Tallus saying that their mission is to find "The one who will lead [them]". They decide they need clothes and information, and break into a mall nearby to get them. They learn from the internet that this reality has a "Zero Tolerance" act that has been in effect for 50 years, and every super being during that time has either been imprisoned or killed. They all, with the exception of Blink (who never met the man in her reality because he was murdered before she was born, though she agrees with the group), decide that "The one who will lead [them]" must be Charles Xavier. Magnus then creates a Cerebro machine and Nocturne and Mimic use their limited telepathic abilities to search for Xavier. They eventually find out that Xavier is being held at a maximum security holding facility in Nevada. While Mimic, Morph, Thunderbird, and Nocturne hold back the soldiers that were defending the prison, Blink and Magnus travel deep inside and free Xavier. After they succeed, Blink teleports everyone back out into the Arizona Desert where Magnus dissolves Charles' mental implants that were inhibiting his mental powers. As the Exiles explain who they are and what they are doing, Xavier's powers reassert themselves and he knocks the team out with a force blot, revealing that he is not the one they hoped he would be. He states that he plans on exterminating the human race so that mutants can rule the world.