too dangerous for Theresa, Black Tom exonerated her of responsibility for the theft, and wrote a letter to Sean explaining who she was. Juggernaut broke him out of prison the same day. Tom next sent the Juggernaut to abduct Madame Web, observing Juggernaut's battle with Spider-Man from afar. Black Tom was briefly endowed with half the powers of Juggernaut by the Ruby of Cyttorak, and then teamed with Juggernaut against Spider-Man and the X-Men. Black Tom next took Gideon and Sunspot hostage on behalf of Arianna Jankos. He used an interdimensional teleporter to return the Juggernaut to Earth. He then battled Siryn and her teammates in X-Force. Cable shot Tom, and Deadpool took Tom to Mr. Tolliver. Transformation After being shot by Cable, Tom was taken to France, where doctors grafted a wood-like substance onto his wounds, healing him and allowing him to channel his bio-blasts directly through his fists. Unfortunately, due to a genetic virus the substance spread over Tom's body, and only the mutated cells of the mercenary Deadpool (due to his healing factor) were able to help Tom stop the spread of the plant growth. Although the original plan was to capture Deadpool and copy his cells, one of Black Tom's minions managed to sever Deadpool's hand. Its attachment to the stump of Tom's intentionally severed hand was enough to save him. The effect of Deadpool's cells did not last for long. The spreading began again, to the point where Tom was completely composed of plant matter. As a result, his powers included control and manipulation of all manner of plant life, to the point where he could make plant doppelgangers of himself, or anyone else. He was completely insane as a result. During this time, Black Tom resurfaced as a member of the latest incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Earlier, Juggernaut had infiltrated the X-Men for him as part of the Brotherhood's plan, though Juggernaut slowly changed during his time with the X-Men, mostly due to the positive influence of the young boy Sammy Paré. Juggernaut rejoined the Brotherhood, secretly planning on turning them when the time was right. Sammy stumbled upon the group, and assuming that Juggernaut was betraying the X-Men, started lashing out. In retaliation Tom brutally murdered the boy, causing Juggernaut to attack Cassidy, dismembering him. Due to Tom's new plantlike physiology, this did not hurt him. Juggernaut managed to escape and