In his citadel, Belasco, flanked by the N’Garai-possessed X-Men, Storm; Colossus; Nightcrawler; Banshee and Sunfire, holds up the five Bloodstones, the souls of five past and present X-Men. With fire surrounding the unearthly demon, he announces that the circle of the abyss is complete, and that at long last for his masters, and himself, they can claim victory!
In another part of Limbo, a pan-dimensional realm that has access to every point in space and time in the cosmos…two armies assemble. The first, being an infinite amount of N’Garai demons, ready to swarm and destroy those who stand in their way of conquering all. The other team…what they lack in numbers, they make up for in sheer will power. Four super beings who pretty much the only thing standing between the demons and their goal. Logan, a.k.a. the savage resilient and intense Wolverine. Jean “Phoenix” Grey, the heart and soul of the X-Men who even without her powerful telekinesis, is still a force to be reckoned with. The newest X-Man, Neal Shaara, latest to take the code-name Thunderbird. What he lacks in training, he makes up for in attitude. Finally, Magik. The young woman, who is a longtime ally of the X-Men, though her true identity remains known only to Jean and Logan. She is powerful, stunning and the key to the survival of Earth.
As the N’Garai approach the powerful X-Men, Magik reminds her allies that Belasco, with possession of the Bloodstones, will open a multitude of transmat gates between the N’Garai hone dimension and Limbo, then between Limbo and Earth, and all before the world has time to realize it is under attack, it will be overwhelmed. Gritting her teeth, the sorceress adds that even for all their awesome power, the heroes on Earth will not be able to withstand such an onslaught, and with control of Limbo, the N’Garai can easily spread to every world, in every dimension along the Sidereal String. She says ‘Our only hope is to stop them here.’
Magik reminds her friends that their job is to stop the demons’ advance, while she goes and shatters the spell that bought them here. Thunderbird looks at the sorceress with a degree of speculation when he asks her if she intends to stop Belasco all on her own. Magik tells him that she still has some aces up her sleeve, and that it is time Belasco was reminded he is the usurper her, and that in Limbo, it is Magik who makes the rules, and Magik who has the power to break them! With that the powerful sorceress disappears amongst the glimmering light that is a Stepping Disk, teleporting her to Belasco.
Wolverine says that Magik can certainly talk the talk, and asks Jean if she has any suggestions as to their next move. Phoenix tells him that she was thinking about what makes the best defense. Taking to the air, Thunderbird asks her if it would be a good offense, and that if he may have the honor. Wolverine tells Neal to go, as he cannot wait to see what he has planned.
Thunderbird does not have to worry about his powers harming an innocent in Limbo, for the N’Garai are anything but innocent, and while releasing his solar beams of raw plasma, he does not hold back at all. Neal is amazed at what he just did for in the last blast he unleashed, he stroked the land with a fire so intense, that it fused the ground to glass! Neal asks his god Vishnu to forgive him, as he could easily do something similar back home before noticing a second movement of N’Garai around the cairn.
Wolverine and Jean Grey see them too, and Logan, in his usual cynical tone, says he guesses the N’Garai don’t know when or how to quit, before adding neither does he, and plunging head first into the oncoming demons. Wolverine’s mutant power is that of a healing factor which enables him to cope with any wound or disease, making it impossible to kill him. What makes Logan as deadly as his reputation, is a skeleton laced with adamantium, which makes it unbreakable, and claws covered with the same metal, enabling him to cut through anything.
Adding to all of that, is Wolverine’s berserker rage, which transforms him into the ultimate fighting machine. From this point, he will fight until the enemy is no more, or he is – there is no other option. As the N’Garai are taken back by such primal ferocity, it is a side of himself he rarely shows, especially to the other X-Men. He continues to shred the N’Garai with his claws, to rip them up and pound them to death. He is like a man possessed, embracing the mortal combat without regret or hesitation, to the fullest of his capabilities. Though he will never admit it, not even to himself, but this is the closest he will come to what a major part of his soul considers heaven.
Suddenly, N’Garai all around scream in horror and keel over dead. Light radiates from Jean Grey – it is her turn to play, and she can play without lifting a finger. Telepathically, she tells her teammates that while they are alien and foul beyond imagining, the N’Garai still have minds, which makes them vulnerable to her telepathy. She adds that if one finds the right psychic key, they will be too busy dealing with the oncoming chaos within their own heads to worry about anything else. At the same time, Jean can super-charge her teammates, allowing them to sustain maximum effort almost indefinitely.
The psychic link works as a two-way street, and in Wolverine’s head, Jean appears, as a compliment to him, Jean Grey is emotion personified and she overflows inside Logan, with a passion as bloody as he. As Thunderbird beholds Kali, the giver and taker of life, Jean herself finds resonance in her soul to both perceptions. Jean Grey feels the beginnings of a great and terrible joy that carries with it a hunger for more. It is a temptation she has felt before, with consequences she knows only too well – which is why she is determined to deny it…
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Limbo, the young woman known as Magik stands before Belasco’s ominous citadel, ready to make her next move. She looks up at the castle, the dirty red cloud unmoving beside it, and eyes narrowed she comments sarcastically on how impressive Belasco’s plan has been. But after etching a pentagram into the rock she stands on she proclaims that she is impressive too.
Magik stands at the tip of the pentagram and speaks ancient words known to few. Eldritch energies obediently leap from her Soulsword to the pentagram, and her spell reaches its zenith. Magik raises the Soulsword, which contains the souls of five heroes, and as she cracks the middle of the pentagram with the Soulsword, using the full force of her might, the reality around her seems to shatter, and four heroes are released – Beast, Archangel, Iceman and Polaris.
The four heroes look to Magik slightly bewildered at what is going on, and Warren questions her, asking her if they aren’t dead. Magik tells him that on Earth they are, but in Limbo, only when she allows them to be. Whether the mutants recognize her for who she truly is or not, Magik introduces herself to them as Magik, and gives them the briefest version of the story thus far. That Belasco is responsible for what is happening, and that he is using their souls to allow his masters to conquer both Limbo and Earth.
Magik proclaims that to stop Belasco and save themselves, they have to get their souls back, though he has other X-Men acting as bodyguards, and to reach the souls, they will have to defeat them. She asks the others if they have any ideas. Beast reminds everyone that as they know who attacked them on Earth, they know who they are up against here – first generation X-Men against second generation X-Men. He tells Lorna that he knows she can sense magnetic lines of force on Earth, and asks her if she can do the same in Limbo. He adds that by scrambling the lines, she would be able to inhibit Nightcrawler’s teleportation. Standing away from the others, and arms folded, Lorna tells him she can try.
Bobby suggests that he can freeze the other X-Men, putting them in an instant cryogenic suspended animation. Magik begins to disappear in the glowing light that is her Stepping Disk, and tells them all that whatever they decide the key is keeping Belasco’s possessed X-Men busy, leaving her a clear run at Belasco himself. With the sorceress gone, Archangel flies his friend Iceman up towards the citadel, and asks him nicely how often they have tried this, and it actually working. Bobby tells Warren that they are demons from the infernal regions, and asks what they know of the cold, he adds that with any luck, they won’t know how to cope. Bobby Drake, a.k.a. Iceman, the youngest member of the original X-Men succeeds in freezing all of Belasco’s castle, though within moments, they five possessed X-Men, all now bearing their N’Garai faces, break from the ice, and leap forward to the free X-Men.
Sunfire fires a beam of solar energy at Archangel and Iceman, who narrowly dodge it, as Iceman reminds his friends that the people they are up against are not evil. On the ground, Hank tells Lorna to use her magnetic powers to turn Storm’s lightning against her. Polaris warns Hank to look out, and he dodges just in time, before Colossus plunges to the ground where he was standing. Kurt bamfs in and punches Beast, adding that he should have stayed within the Witch-Child’s sword. The possessed Banshee nears the ground and using his sonic powers against Beast, reminds the free X-Men that they are only body without souls, which makes them easy prey for the N’Garai.
Beast leaps up before Colossus’ hands smash him in, and pardons the other X-Men and himself for having other ideas. He thinks himself lucky that his helmet muted Banshee’s sonic scream. Hank then notices that Polaris managed to take down Nightcrawler during the confusion, leaving four to fight – plus Belasco. Looking a little worried, Beast adds that if they can trust Magik at all.
Meanwhile, back at the Limbo version of the X-Mansion, the N’Garai body count has long since become functionally numberless, but it doesn’t matter, Wolverine, Phoenix and Thunderbird all fight all on. Jean notes how the demons just keep coming, luckily though, she is having no problems maintaining power levels, and can keep Logan and Neal at their peaks. Jean worries however, as fatigue is their main danger now. To help the other two fight, Jean has been absorbing the brunt of their mental and physical exhaustion, but that will eventually start to take its toll on her.
Standing near the “mansion” Jean turns around to face it suddenly, as the parlor doors slam open and a demon step out of them. Surprised at how it got into the house, Jean mistakenly calls it N’Garai and she is more concerned with the fact that it has got Psylocke. The demon is highly offended by Phoenix and cries ‘Profanity! This one is Pilgrimm!’ Jean says ‘Like I care’ and drawing on Wolverine’s abilities which she can tap into telepathically, psychic claws pop from Jean’s knuckles, and trained in hand-to-hand combat by Wolverine himself, Jean doesn’t need to use her current connection with Logan as she strikes Pilgrimm in the gut, telling him for attacking the X-Men he now pays the ultimate price.
Jean brings the Ru’tai onto the Psychic Plane and in her shadow-form stands before him, and says ‘You felt my anger. Now prepare for the wrath!’ With his mouthful of teeth, it is hard to tell whether or not Pilgrimm is smiling, either way, he tells Jean that she can try, but may discover that he is not so easily killed. Jean secretly worries, and wonders if Pilgrimm knows she is bluffing, that she is only using her telepathy to make him believe she possesses Wolverine’s claws and Thunderbird’s plasma. Suddenly, after reading the demons mind, Jean realizes that he is not N’Garai.
Pilgrimm looks at his wounds, and is surprised that they are gone. He turns back to Phoenix and says she is some devious meat, using its thoughts to create illusions. He says to her that he ‘traffics solely in reality’. Lunging forward to Phoenix he demonstrates, by smacking her in the face. On the ground, Jean apologizes for calling him N’Garai and adds that she sees in his memories a hatred for the N’Garai. The demon picks Jean Grey up by her hair and looks at her face to face. Pilgrimm announces that as he deals with Jean, he will deal with the N’Garai – in blood and screams.
Jean informs him that if the N’Garai conquer Limbo, he wont be doing anything. She tells him to look outside and asks him how long his own people will last against the demons. She adds that this time, the X-Men are not his enemies, but his possible salvation, and that his fight should not be with them, but with the man responsible for this – Belasco!
The large demon notes the truth and passion in Phoenix’s words, and tells her that he has only ever heard this from one other of her kind. He adds that Jean transcends Wolverine in every way, and Jean tells proclaims she will take it as a compliment. Tossing Jean to the floor, Pilgrimm says that the soul of the Phoenix, is the Ru’tai soul, though Jean begs to differ. Turning his back on Jean, and fading away in his green teleport mist, Pilgrimm reveals that it would be an honor to consume such a creature, but that the price of honor may mean the sacrifice of the Ru’tai. As he fades from view, he promises Jean that when he has dealt with Belasco, they shall meet again. Jean runs out the door and shouts back ‘Not if I can help it, Pilgrimm. Not now, not ever!’.
Back at Belasco’s castle, the battle continues to rage on. Archangel dodges Sunfire’s flames, while Banshee is caught in a mound of ice by Iceman. Polaris deals with Colossus by trapping him in a metal rope, and Beast deals with Storm. Jokingly Iceman tells his friends that experience must count for something, as they have the others ‘on the ropes’. As Warren shoves Shiro back, he agrees, and as he brings the fallen Sunfire to the ground, with the other possessed and now captured X-Men, he wonders why he doesn’t feel more like cheering.
Beast reminds his side that their enemies did give a decent account of themselves, though the battle was almost in doubt to its own end. The crackling voice of the N’Garai possessed Storm speaks up, and announces that Beast is wrong, as the outcome of the battle was never ‘in doubt’, that his defeat, and the defeat of the other three was foreordained before the battle even began! Beasts team turn in surprise, and the five N’Garai possessed demons shatter their shackles.
Storm proclaims to Hank, Warren, Bobby and Lorna, that as they are possessed, so shall they be, all the while, those behind her were being mauled down, and she too is stuck by the powerful might of Pilgrimm! Standing above all nine heroes, Pilgrimm announces that the N’Garai are nothing, and Ru’tai are all, and adds that the human world will never be theirs to claim – but belong to his kind!
Meanwhile, in Belasco’s throne room, Magik teleports in. She managed to slip past all of his defense to reach the throne room, and sees the five Bloodstones aligned by the pentagram. As the young sorceress walks towards the pentagram, Belasco steps up behind her and knocks her from behind. Addressing her as his apprentice, Belasco tells her this will be as close as she gets.
Belasco holds his sword above the fallen sorceress and decides to strike her would be a waste, as of all his apprentices, she showed the most promise, and adds that there was a shadow on her soul that rivaled his own. Without warning, the form of Kitty Pryde materializes and recounts to Belasco that the shadow is there, only because he put it there. Shadowcat asks the demon lord if he never thought that her best friend would have someone watching her back – or that if the opportunity arose, she wouldn’t be ready for payback?
In armor of her own the soulless form of Kitty Pryde strides towards Belasco and she remembers how she suffered because of him, and how he made her his own puppet. Kitty swipes at Belasco, but misses. In a mocking tone, Belasco asks Kitty what makes her think that that role has changed, and as he shatters her sword, tells her that her power is nothing, and Magik’s even less!
Belasco grabs Kitty by the neck, shattering her armor, and revealing an unknown costume, Belasco proclaiming her the way she was always meant to be, adding that no one knows her as intimately as he does, and announces that it will only take the smallest of his own black and twisted soul, to make the vision a reality!
Kitty narrows her eyes and mockingly says ‘Blah blah blah blah blah…’ and that is the Belasco she knows – too much of a motormouth and too arrogant for his own good – that he would never realize they have worked all of this out on their own – and planned accordingly! Belasco is puzzled and starts to ask Shadowcat what she means before crying in horror and looking over to the pentagram with the Bloodstones – Magik!
With the pentagram glowing, Belasco realizes Magik was faking, and she smiles ‘Wellll – duh!’ And as the powerful sorceress strikes her Soulsword through the Bloodstones, releasing the souls of the X-Men from them, and tells Belasco he should have paid more attention to his business – as it ‘just cost you everything!’ Kitty Pryde falls over, and cries out that her soul has returned, and she is returning to herself again.
Belasco approaches Magik and tells her she is still too late, as the Bloodstones were only the catalyst, and that the spell is self-perpetuating. ‘Unless it is actively disrupted’ Magik reveals. Belasco proclaims he will not allow that, and Magik tells him he is silly for even thinking he could prevent it. She asks him to think about what just happened, to think about who just got their souls back, and to think about how they feel about that – and about him!
Outside Belasco’s citadel, the original X-Men have their souls back, and the second generation X-Men are no longer possessed by the N’Garai and under Belasco’s control. Colossus tells his companions that the Ru’tai does nothing but watch them, and Iceman says that that is fine with him. Beast asks the others to consider Belasco’s castle like an engine, an engine that generates the energies needed to sustain the transmat spell. He tells the others that wrecking the palace will not work, as they have to shatter the dynamic force matrices of the master spell itself. Hank continues his theory, adding that like disrupting the chain reaction by derailing the smooth flow of the nuclear cascade, patterns run through, which will end up doing the work for them. He asks Iceman to first re-freeze the citadel, to as close to absolute zero as he can manage, and Bobby Drake complies by traveling on an ice sled to the castle.
Inside his throne room, Belasco notices the growing ice around him, and curses the X-Men, wondering if he will ever be rid of their interference. Kitty Pryde jokingly tells Belasco to perish the thought, as they live to ruin his day, and she lunges through him using her phasing power, and knocks his sword out of his hand. She tells him that if he thinks about making a quick exit, it won’t work as she is keeping him intangible, so his spells wont have anything to latch onto. Belasco asks Kitty if she wants to die for this, and she tells him that to see him nailed, she would take the risk with a smile. She tells Magik that she is ready when she is, and the sorceress announces that the elements are in alignment – so when the X-Men strike, so shall she!
Outside, Hank tells Lorna it is her turn, as they have turned the castle into the ultimate super-conductor, and now all she needs to do is saturate its power with energy. The young woman, former member of the X-Men and sometimes known as Polaris says nothing, but unleashes her raw power against the crystalline castle. McCoy suggests everyone else find cover and put down their heads, as if this works, the result will be spectacular, and if it doesn’t…he tells Sunfire to vaporize the ice, Pilgrimm asks what that will do, and Beast says it will overload the system.
Inside the citadel, Magik gets her cue to do the same to the magical power grid, and drawing on the power within her soul, she strikes the Soulsword down in the pentagram, and everything explodes, shattering the castle, and the surrounding area. It turns out that Beast understated those results, and of Belasco’s castle, nothing remains but dust. The same for the N’Garai cairn, and the N’Garai warriors that sprung from it. Untouched in Limbo, is the Magik-created representation of the X-Men’s home, the X-Mansion.
As for the X-Men themselves…their effect is quiet and subdued. Archangel comforts Psylocke, while Banshee and Sunfire introduce themselves to Thunderbird. Beast stands with Iceman and Polaris, while Phoenix and Storm discuss the event. Colossus sits on his own on the step and Nightcrawler alone on a ledge. Wolverine walks over to Colossus. The battle and foes have left, and the bodies of the X-Men remain unscathed, but not their hearts, nor their souls. The X-Men are resilient, recovery is a given, but it will take time.
Ororo tells Jean that Pilgrimm is watching them. ‘Watching me’ Jean corrects her best friend in her mind. She tells Ororo that she can sense the demon on the periphery of her thoughts, like a telepathic shadow she will never be rid of. Ororo asks Jean if she would like her to deal with him, and Jean declines the offer, as without Pilgrimm’s help, they would have lost.
The glow of a familiar teleport signal announces the arrival of Magik and Kitty from what was left of the citadel. Magik tells Kitty that she is home and safe, as promised, and Kitty just makes a joke about how it is the last of a never-ending battle of hairbreadth escapes. Kitty tells the sorceress that it can be her home too if she likes. Magik says that once upon a time it may have been, but she is Magik now.
Colossus looks up from his step confused and bewildered at the site before him. He asks his friends if it is his sister, if she has found a way to cheat death and come back to them. Slightly away from the others, Kitty tells the sorceress that she could at least tell the others who don’t know the truth, as it isn’t fair. Magik asks Kitty to say no names, especially here, and to let Magik suffice. Beneath her cowl, Magik’s eyes narrow and she proclaims that names have power, that spells are specific things, enchantments that work against one, are useless against another.
Magik reveals that Belasco learned this when he cast his death spell against her. It may be a small advantage, but against the likes of he and the N’Garai it is a crucial one she adds.
On the doorstep to the fake mansion, Logan tells Piotr that Magik will not be coming with them. The Russian mutant is shocked and asks Logan what he means. Knowing who Magik really is, Logan tells Colossus that Limbo is too important to be left unguarded, and it is she alone who has the power – with the power comes the responsibility.
Colossus stands up and asks why it has to be her. Nightcrawler tries to console his best friend and tells him it is because she is Magik. Colossus asks Kurt what kind of answer that is. Kurt proclaims that fate gave them the mutant abilities, and Charles Xavier gave them the choice of how to use them -by joining the X-Men. The other heroes assemble around Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler, and Kurt continues; reminding the others that they embraced Xavier’s dream of a better tomorrow, and the responsibility to help that tomorrow come to pass. Solemnly, Kurt Wagner adds that with that dream comes a price. Colossus asks if that is fair, and Kurt asks him to look about and consider what might have been, if there were no X-Men.
Kitty and Magik hug, and Kitty asks Magik if there is ever anything she needs – Magik cuts her off and asks for shrimp salad from Zabar’s, a bagel and some lox. Shadowcat walks over to rejoin her fellow X-Men and tells them that Magik says she will be in touch, and that they did good. A smiling, Nightcrawler says ‘Amen to that Amanda! And to you best of all. Our mother would have been proud’. Kitty asks Kurt how he knew. He reminds Kitty that he and Amanda were in love, that some things you can never forget. As the glistening teleportation circle of Magik’s Stepping Disk appears, and the X-Men fade from Limbo, and enter Earth, Kurt shouts out to Amanda, calling her Magik and telling her he will remember her in his prayers always.
With the X-Men gone from site, Magik removes her cowl…and out loud to anyone that will hear, Amanda Sefton concurs with her foster brother, and is glad he approves. She believes that this is as right for her, as the priesthood is for him, and while he battle evil with his faith, she uses her sorcery, strength and sword.
Amanda raises the Soulsword and magicks swirl around her as she cries ‘I was never an X-Man, but through the man I loved, I’m as much a product of Charles Xavier’s dream as any of you! And what after all is a dream, but another word for…Magik!
