He should be dead, Kurt Wagner realizes. The demonically possessed Wolverine and Colossus attacked him, after all. And the fact he is not dead leads him to believe that Witchfire’s control over his teammates is far from complete. He somersaults over them towards Illyana and draws the Souldagger out of her. Following the dagger, attached to it, is her Soulsword. Brandishing both weapons, he ask if total exhaustion excuses a lack of clever one-liners…
The two hesitate. Kurt jumps toward them and strikes at them with the magical blades, returning them to normal.
Not far away, Pixie screams, becoming demonically transformed, as Witchfire draws the bloodstone from her. At long last! she triumphs when she holds it in her hand.
Mein Gott, Nightcrawler mutters when he sees what’s going on. He teleports to Witchfire and severs her arm (holding the bloodstone) with the Soulsword. She fires a magical blast at him, vowing he will not stop her. He too falls to the ground. He turns to Pixie who looks almost normal again, while Witchfire re-grows her arm, this one more demonical-looking than the one she lost. “Is she all right?” he asks Megan. She stole more of her soul, she replies. Made the last stone. They are all… all dead. So… no, she’s not all right.
Her training did not include quitting, he tells her strictly. There’s still a chance… What can he do? she asks. It’s what she has to do, Kurt tells her and hands Pixie her Souldagger. She must free Illyana. The connection they share… only she can do it. Pixie refuses. Kurt reminds her of their earlier discussion. This isn’t just about her!
Witchfire triumphs that today she accomplishes what her father, what no demon, ever could. She finishes the bloodstone pentagram. The Elder Gods have now been summoned, she shouts as a doorway arises. The fate of their worlds is sealed!
The Doorway opens, releasing different gods. Witchfire shouts at them to join her. The council will have no choice but to bow before them.
An energy blast hits her from behind. She turns around to find Magik, covered from head to toe in armor, accompanied by Colossus, Wolverine and Rockslide. And here she though she’d made her suffer enough, Witchfire threatens. Now the Elder Gods will have a turn.
Not every day you get to kick in a god’s teeth in, Logan decides and attacks one of them. The other X-Men join him in fighting while the two sorceresses battle. Witchfire unleashes a magical blast at her foe and stands surprised to see Magik unharmed. How is that possible with her power?
Illyana begins to strike with her Sousword. Witchfire is powerful, but not omniscient. Her armor shows itself to be Mercury, who, having gotten close enough, stabs Witchfire through the gut.
Magik praises her. Still doesn’t make them even, Cessily replies curtly. Illyana severs the amulet from the chain with a swordstroke. She takes the amulet up and calls Pixie, telling her she needs her and her dagger.
Pixie is about to give a rude reply. Silence, child! Illyana orders her. They can’t stop the Elder Gods if the amulet has all of the bloodstones. She puts the amulet down on an altar. They have to break the spell, she explains… get the last bloodstone out of there. But that’s impossible, Pixie protests. Once a stone is emplaced… The bond may not be permanent yet. Like the bloodstones, their weapons were forged from pieces of their souls. By combining their powers, maybe they can get them back!
Magik strikes into the center of the last stone with her Soulsword and orders Pixie to do the same. She does… and they mange to pry the last stone loose.
There’s an energy backlash, the evil Elder Gods are sucked back and the X-Men have to hold on to whatever they can find not to get sucked in as well.
Megan tries to get the amulet, but Witchfire grabs it before she can. With a smirk, she tells Pixie that part of her still belongs to her, … apprentice. She too disappears behind the gateway, which closes, leaving a desolate Pixie.
Kurt tells her he is sorry. She shoves him away, shouting she came to get the missing piece of her soul back, not lose another part of it. She points her dagger at Illyana. This is all her fault! she accuses her. Everything that happened to her is… She breaks off, noticing that the bloodstone is part of the dagger’s blade. It’s the part of her soul that Witchfire stole, Illyana explains. Refusing to accept that, Pixie flies off. Illyana tells Kurt to let her go.
He asks her if she is okay. No she is not okay, she replies simply. She’s a soulless beast, a monster. And after all of this, her soul is further than ever. Kurt reminds her he’s been called a monster. He’s been hunted. Hell, he’s the son of a demon. Does this mean that he has no soul? He doesn’t know for sure. It isn’t something he can touch, something he can control. All he can control is what he does. He decided that he has a soul. He asks her to come back with them, with her friends, and prove to the world that she does have a soul.
Colossus too addresses her. Turning back to his human shape, he begs her not to run again. She doesn’t know how he’s missed her. She is at a loss for words. He tells her to hush, there is no need for words. Not after all this time.
He touches her head and her horns begin to appear again. Panicked, she shouts she is not herself and teleports them all. They end up in the Danger Room where there is an exercise, among others with the original New Mutants. Dani, Shan, Sam and Roberto react with surprise and happiness to see her.
Illyana begins to teleport away. Colossus shouts after her not leave him again. Don’t leave us Cyclops adds. This is her home. He asks her to stay with her family.
She hesitates. After all that’s happened, after what she done to them, how can they…? How can they not? Scott retorts. She’s been gone a long time. A lot has changed. There aren’t a lot left of them. They need her back. Peter needs her back. No matter what happened, she’s still one of them and they never leave their own behind.
Peter asks her not to make him suffer any further. Taking his hands, she promises she’ll try.
