The Uncanny X-Men (1981)

SECRET WARS 2

The Phoenix must kill...the Beyonder?!

The X-Men wake up to find that Phoenix has gone off to battle the Beyonder alone.

She finds him on Alcatraz, she attacks him with everything she's got, but nothing happens.

Then the Beyonder gives her the power to destroy him, but at the same time he creates Omega series Sentinels and unleashes them on the X-Men.

He gives her the choice "Slay me or save your fellow X-Men ".

The X-Men defeat the Sentinels, but with considerable damage to San Francisco.

*Spoilers & Details*

Rogue finds a hologram of Rachel as she tells the X-men she has gone to Kill the beyonder. Rogue is terrified and rushes to storm room and tells her leader what has transpired. Storm gather all the x-men and takes them to Magneto in an attempt to locate her before she is annihilated by the Beyonder. Magneto and Wolverien get into verbal spats throughout the whole thing. Finally they locate Rachel and are shocked to discover her power levels rivaling that of the phoenix.

Meanwhile on Alkatraz the beyonder waxes philosophical about his seeming omnipotence and what he plans to do with it. Rachel locates him and using all ehr might she unleashes a nova powered blast that has no effect on her surroundings or the Beyonder. She is understandably shocked at this but decides to not give up and unleashes even more power against him but to no avail. The beyonder is amused by her and her existence so he takes her to a trip down memory lane as he transports her to her own time and has her witness the deaths of those close to her. Even Katherine prude of her time who perished after helping to transport her to this time line.

To prove his point the beyonder enhances her powers and give her a choice destroy him with what power he has given her or save her friends. All her firneds are then scattered across the city and sentinels from her time set upon them. If Ray destroys him they die and if she saves them he will surely escape. Going against her instincts she saves her friends/surrogate family. With her power spent but her friends safe she confronts the beyonder again.

He claims that this situation was to give her direction in her life so she could let go of her pain and rage and accept a new lease on life, she is furious and this time instead of attacking she slaps his face and warns him that his intentions may be good but he treat people as disposable pawns only fit to do his biding as eh places them in dangerous situation he himself has caused.

The beyonder is left to consider all that has happened.

SECRET WARS 2

To destroy the Beyonder, Rachel Summers must also take the lives of many others. Will she finally eliminate the Beyonder or let him live?

While on the Golden Gate Bridge, Rogue remembers when she permanently absorbs Carol Danvers' powers and memories.

The Beyonder has made everyone but Kitty Pryde forget about the existence of the New Mutants. Rachel Summers decides she has to absorb the life force of her friends to beat the Beyonder.She fails because she would have to kill countless souls to achieve her goal.The Beyonder leaves the X-Men saying he is envious of their humanity.

*Spoilers and Details*

The mutant X-Man known as Rogue is having a flashback as she stands on the Brooklyn Bridge, sight of her fateful battle not so long ago. She remembers her finale fateful battle with the hero Ms. Marvel and how much it took out of both of them. She also remembers the ultimate outcome. The absorption of the hero’s mind and essence leaving her an amalgam of the two women not sure if her thoughts are truly her own or those of her enemy.

After reminiscing and being brought to tears she returns to San Francisco where she sees shadow cat deep in meditation. The young woman reveals her friend Illyana’s soul sword and Eldritch armor which has bonded to her after her friends death. Rogue, however, does not remember Ilyana or the New Mutants, as they were all uncreated by the Beyonder. Kitty laments that they have no hope as no one remembers nor believes her. Grief stricken she collapses to the floor. Phoenix walks in and explains that she has a plan to stop the Beyonder. She also reveals that the power he gave her last issue is still in her possession. All she has to do is destroy all of creation and hope that by doing so the Beyonder will cease as well. Kitty quickly agrees to give her life force for this cause. Rogue is hesitant but still does her part. A de-powered Jessica Drew overhears the exchange and gives her life force willingly as well.

Entering the mansion, Ray takes the essence of all her X-Men teammates and even forcefully takes Storm's despite her protests. With the power she desires in her possession, she takes off from Earth setting a course for the planet where the M’kraan Crystal is located. The Watcher laments that he will not interfere just watch. Ray eventually reaches Shi'ar space, takes the essence of all the streamers, and enters the Crystal ready to unleash its neutron galaxy and wipe out all creation. Storm makes a final plea to Ray but the young woman is adamant that this is the best thing to do. She unleashes her powers connecting with every sentient life form in the known galaxies. Their individuality, their uniqueness, their very lives and the endless possibilities there coupled with Storm pleading to Ray is too much. She returns all of her friends to where they were originally and laments that she could not destroy them all after experiencing all of that.

The Beyonder arrives and vows to finish what she started. Ray comes to realize that she was his unwitting pawn to destroy everything since he knew what she was thinking and feeling and he gave her the power to do it. He decides he will destroy it all now and Phoenix unleashes his power that he gave to her along with the experience that she had before with connecting to all life. It proves overwhelming to the Beyonder who finally understands mortally and individuality. He thanks the X-Men for this experience and confesses he envies them. He then departs without remaking the New Mutants much to Kitty’s chagrin.

Nightcrawler gets caught up in Arcade's machinations. Is this a new swashbuckling adventure for the teleporting mutant? Or a one-way ticket to his doom?

While the rest of the team is in San Francisco, Nightcrawler is in New York. He finds himself in Arcades Murderworld trying to save Judith Rassendyll.

*Spoilers and details*

Nightcrawler is struggling with the existence of the be yonder. It has shaken his faith to its very foundations. Is the beyonder the anitchrist or God himself. He spends the whole night on the balcony during the falling rain. When Amanda is about to leave for work Kurt starts drinking and lashes out verbally at her. Hurt she decides to give him his space and goes off to work despite her feelings. A young woman is out jogging and a van approaches, she’s snatched up and night crawler comes to investigate what happened. He recognizes the driver as one of arcade’s me and follows.

The woman is dumped into murder world where she must survive Arcade’s games. Lucky for her night crawler arrives and assist her despite her apprehension because of his appearance. They escape after setting up arcade own robot x-men to attack him. Arcade is impressed by this turn of events and looks forward to playing another game with night crawler soon.

Back at her apartment Nightcrawler accompanies the women inside her apartment and there they meet two men proclaiming her their queen. Both are shocked at this outcome.

Yuriko Oyama has just completed being transformed by Spiral into a cyborg. Her mind is in shambles as she is reborn. She tests out her new cyborg body and asks Spiral if she can still reverse the process made to herself and the other Reavers. Spiral doesn’t give the team a definitive answer. Spiral thinks to herself about how one can think that their souls will remain untouched when they broker a deal with the devil.

Katie Power hides her powers as she departs from a store. She runs into Wolverine who is being chased down by the Reavers and Lady Deathstrike. She assists Logan in fleeing from them as she remembers him despite him not remembering her. When the Reavers start attacking, he has no choice but to save her and continues to flee. Once he has his strength back, he takes down each Reaver one by one and faces off with Lady Deathstrike. The battle is long and arduous but in the end Logan goes slightly feral and takes her down. Logan finally realizes who she is and laments that she has become just like him but of her own volition. She begs him to kill her but he refuses. He retrieves Katie and carries her home.

When Kitty Pryde is ambushed by the Freedom Force, the X-Men intervene to save their young teammate!

Freedom Force attack the X-Men. They didn't have the papers to legally arrest them so they were released.

*Spoilers and details*

A empowered storm faces a gang in an alley, they underestimate her and end up having their assess handed to them. After wrapping up the criminals she is greeted by detective Morrel who welcomes her to san Francisco and hope that she and her team will stay and help clean up the streets. Storm considers it after shaking hands with the detective.

At home Kitty is dressed as a rocker chick as she and David Ishima are bout to have a date. Storm objects though David promises to be a gentleman and bring her home at a reasonable hour. Storm then shares with her friends the prospect of making san Francisco their home since they all seem to have a whole new ease on life simply by being her. Rachel walks in telekinetically lifting the dishes right as rogue comments on receiving a card from the summers family. When rogue suggests they visit Rachel freaks out and lose control of her powers. They tell she needs to tell Scott who she really is so she can be at peace in her heart. She still insist its not time yet.

High in the sky, Amanda cant reach Kurt on the phone after their fight right before she left. She wonders if this is the end of her relationship and if Kurt no longer wishes to speak with her. Its been a whole week since they last spoke. Her friend comes in right as she is crying and comforts her.

On their way home from the date David tries to scare kitty with a ghost story when the ground itself sweeps them up and carries them in the direction of the house. The X-men see what is happening and try to come to their aid. They are ensnared by the psi-webs of spider woman who is accompanied by Spiral. The X-men break free and a fight ensues. Rachel gets taken out by Spiral as pyro and avalanche arrive.

Pyro creates a huge firebird daring storm to use her powers against him. She is lifted by Rachel telekinesis as rain begins to pour making Pyro and avalanche wonder if it was such a good idea to tangle with her. Rogue gets squashed by Blob and Spiral realizes the trick. She knocks ray unconscious and storm falls from the sky to certain death. Kitty reaches her in time and saves her . Avalanche and pyro tag team colossus before him and rogue get rid of blob. Jessica drew confronts the new Spiderwoman about her identity when the woman reprimands her for stopping federal agents sent to subdue the outlaw criminals known as the x-men.

Rogue tries to end the fight by absorbing spiral but spiral takes control of her body and beats the x-men senseless. By the time it wears off spiral is back on her feet. Both teams in a stalemate are stopped by agent Drew who tells freedom force that without proper documentation they cant reprimand the x-men. In defeat they teleport away.

Storm and team decide it best to leave the city before freedom force returns, they apologize for the inconvenience and depart. Ray decides it is best to confront her fears if she is ever to have a normal life.

Nightcrawler wishes his new queen friend goodbye, his lease on life renewed after the swashbuckling adventure.

The fight between the X-Men and the Hellfire Club over the fate of Rachel Summers is interrupted when Nimrod descends upon them!

The X-Men and the Hellfire Club momentarily team up to defeat Nimrod.

As the X-Men and the Morlocks face off against the Hellfire Club over Rachel Summers, Nimrod appears over them in Central Park. In the previous issue, Nimrod stated that their mutant powers make them felons--and that their punishment is death. Meanwhile, Rachel Summers lies elsewhere in Central Park, broken physically and mentally. Her previous attempt on Selene’s life and subsequent fight with Wolverine have left her drained. She senses Nimrod’s presence but is unsure if the X-Men want her help.

Rogue bursts out from under ground, having absorbed Colossus’s powers after Harry Leland used his powers to pull him under in the previous issue. Leland is stunned in Rogue’s surprise attack, giving Kitty the opportunity to rescue Peter. The Hellfire Soldiers attempt to shoot Storm, but Callisto knocks her out of the line of fire. Nightcrawler and Wolverine teleport behind the Hellfire Soldiers, who immediately retreat. Rogue fights Sebastian Shaw. As he absorbs kinetic energy, her physical attacks are pointless. She launches him into Nimrod who reverses gravimetric polarity and blasts him into space. Friedrich von Roehm attacks Storm but is disintegrated by Nimrod. Storm convinces the Hellfire Club to join forces with them to fight Nimrod. Meanwhile, Kitty has finally found Colossus, whose powers have begun to revert back from Rogue. Rogue is flying interference around Nimrod and is now more vulnerable. Nimrod casts a shockweb around Rogue and she falls to the ground.

Rachel sees Rogue fall from a distance. She hears music coming from the Delacorte Theater and breaks in to investigate. Rachel finds herself in the Body Shoppe where Spiral tempts her with the promise of a new body.

Harry Leland is using his powers to increase Nimrod’s mass and slow him down. Nightcrawler attempts to teleport a piece of Nimrod away from his body, despite Storm’s protestations. Nimrod attacks with a flash of flame. Kurt screams and seems to disappear. The strain on Leland becomes too much and he has a heart attack. Before Nimrod can gather his strength, Colossus bursts from underground and grabs him. Kitty phases through Peter’s body and into Nimrod to disrupt his systems. Colossus uses the disruption to smash Nimrod into the ground. Selene binds Nimrod using her powers. Leland uses the last of his strength to bring Shaw back to Earth with the mass of a small meteor. Shaw crashes into the immobile Nimrod and Leland dies. Nimrod teleports away before Wolverine can use his claws to destroy him. With the police on their way, Sage offers the protection of the Hellfire Club and Storm accepts.

In the Body Shoppe, Rachel dances into a portal at Spiral’s urging. Spiral boasts that Rachel will never see her world again and that her life is now Spiral’s to decide.

In Los Angeles, a Morlock (Tommy) is fleeing the Marauders. Her companion, a Hellfire thug named Richard, is gunned down, but Tommy escapes back to the NYC. When she gets to the Morlock tunnels, the Marauders who have been tracking her, kill her.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco Dazzler (Allison Blaire) is playing in Lila Cheney's band, but she can't use her mutant powers when she's performing anymore because of the mutant hysteria. After a show, she appears to be attacked by someone named Malice who looks like her. Alison fires a light blast and passes out, coming to alone, but wearing the choker Malice had been wearing.

Rogue is flying through NYC looking for Phoenix. She can't find her, but does save some window washers whose scaffold had collapsed. Afterwards she decides to go shopping for some new clothes. While in a department store the crowd recognizes her from saving the men and attempts to attack her, but is stopped by one of the window washers who defends her before Rogue disappears.

At the mansion, Kitty has updated Cerebro so that any X-Man can use it to find mutants. She sets it to look for the missing X-Men. Soon it goes off and she, Cyclops and Illyana teleport the location in time to rescue a badly injured Nightcrawler from a vicious mob.

In downtown, Magneto arrives at the Hellfire club and spots X-Factor across the street (as seen in X-Factor #9). He meets with the Lords Cardinal and Sebatian Shaw who offers him the position of White King and an alliance with the Hellfire Club to combat the mutant hunting X-Factor and Nimrod. Magneto says he'll consider it.

Note: The regular cover is a homage to (New) Defenders Vol.1 issue 128 (or at least it was used as an inspiration).

We finally get an introduction to some of the Marauders, and they're a batch of serious kilers - Scalphunter, Riptide, Scrambler, Harpoon, Vertigo, and Arclight. They're really doing a number on the Morlocks, slaughtering tons of them! Back at the X-mansion, a dying Morlock shows up and manages to tell the X-Men about the massacre, before it too dies. A new student at the school, Betsy Braddock (Psylocke), a telepath, fills in the details for the X-Men, based on the Morlock's dying memory. All of the X-Men (except Magento) head to the tunnels, and start battling the Marauders right away. Nightcrawler gets hurt right away, and Illyana (Magik) uses one of her teleport discs to take him home. The X-Men rescue Annalee and some of her children (it was the Marauders who killed four of her children in issue #193). Kitty (Shadowcat) takes one of Harpoon's energy spears in the back (trying to protect Rogue) - this causes Kitty to get stuck out of phase. When Colossus hears Kitty's scream, he goes berserk and "kills" his opponent - Riptide.

In the Mansions infirmary Nightcrawler is in a deep coma, Colossus is frozen in his organic steel form, totally paralyzed, and Shadowcat is trapped in her phasing state, practically a ghost.

Elsewhere, in the Morlock tunnels, Magneto, Storm, Wolverine and Callisto examine the damage done recently by the Marauders as they search for the New Mutants, unsure if they are alive or not. Psylocke, who wants to prove her worth to the X-Men, offers to use her powers to aid the search, but Storm, fearing for Elizabeth’s safety, refuses.

In an interlude we see Alison Blaire walking the streets of Los Angeles. Malice appears in her reflection and convinces her to become Dazzler again.

Back at the Mansion, Sabretooth attacks Rogue who is patrolling the area. Psylocke is next to be attacked, and proceeds to lead him away from the patients in the infirmary. She fights valiantly until Storm and Wolverine rescue her. Wolverine then battles Sabretooth, whilst Psylocke scans his mind to find information on the Marauders. Sabretooth and Wolverine fall off a cliff into the water below; Wolverine is rescued by Rogue, but Sabretooth vanishes.

The X-Men accept Psylocke as a fully-fledged member of the team.

Storm battles against the likes of Stonewall, Super Sabre, and Crimson Commando!

The Marauders attack Madelyne Pryor.

Storm and Wolverine take a trip to Sarah Grey's house, only to find it recently attacked.

Wolverine checked the house for clues, then he smells Jean Greys scent and goes berserk.

He knocks out Storm and runs into the woods leaving her unconscious.

Meanwhile the X-Men are heading to Muir Island to see if Moira Mactaggart can help them with their injured teammates, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Kitty Pryde.

Storm wakes up in chains, being powerless at the time she uses her lock-picking skills learned as a childhood thief to free herself.

She finds her way out of the basement and into what seems to be a hunting lodge.

She looks out the window and spots three men walking to the building.

Jumping upstairs, Storm thinks she has not been seen but suddenly Orroro is confronted by Super Sabre, Stonewall, and the Crimson Commando.

Storm is being hunted by the old World War 2 heroes she encountered in the last issue. In open combat, she has no chance. To defeat them she will have to outsmart them.

Wolverine is tracking what he thought was Jean Greys scent, when he is suddenly hit by a passing car.

He jumps up after the car hits him and runs into the forest, while the man and woman in the car get out to investigate.

They see that the front end appears to have been cut by something,

and the hear howling off in the distance.

Meanwhile Storm and Priscilla are trying to escape from a super powered vigilante group.

When they are confronted by Super Sabre Priscilla betrays storm and causes an avalance of stone to crash down on her.

Elsewhere the X-Men arrive at Muir island to seek Moira Mactaggartrs help.

Wolverine meets up with Storm and they defeat Super Sabre, Stonewall and the Crimson Commando.

Dazzler versus the Juggernaut! Plus, a train session with the X-Men and Callisto!

On Muir Island Dazzler, Longshot, Psylocke, and Rogue train.

Dazzler and Callisto get into an arguement and Allison decides to take off and go into town. She goes to Black Neds Pub on the Northwest coast of Scotland.

Outside the pub she is about to leave and suddenly a speeding car almost hits Allison, she see's who is driving the car, it's Cain Mariko (The Juggernaut). She decides to take him on by herself, big mistake. After the battle The Juggernaut thinks he had killed his Idol, The Dazzler.

Dazzler: BURIED ALIVE! Plus, another round with Juggernaut. Only this time, Dazzler's got backup!

The Rio Diablo Mountains of Northern New Mexico, Alex Summers and Lorna Dane are on a dirt track headed home. Out of nowhere a VW Bus speeds around a blind corner and Alex Veer's off a Cliff. Lucky for them the Roll Bar and Seat belts saved them.

Note: who drove Alex and Lorna of a cliff? Find out in The Uncanny X-Men issue 232.

Elsewhere on Muir Island, Dazzler wakes up buried alive, the Juggernaut buired her thinking he had killed her. She sends up a light flare hoping her friend will find her, They find her and learn that the Juggernaut is in town, so they set out after him. Longshot, Dazzler, Psylocke, and Rogue battle the Juggernaut only to realize it was a distraction.

Black Tom Cassidy was looting the Bank of Scotland. Elsewhere Alex Summers and Lorna Dane are looking for the people in the VW who ran them off the road only to find a Starshark, the living attack craft used by the Brood.

Having been left out of the loop for some time, Alex Summers finds out that he has a lot to catching up to do, especially when it comes to the Hellfire Club and the Morlocks!

Havok is having nightmares about the X-Men every night, so he decides to travel to New York to see if something’s wrong. The Mansion is empty, but he finds Magneto’s diary which leads him to the Hellfire Club. There Havok talks to Magneto and Emma Frost, the White Queen. Magneto tells him that the X-Men have formed an alliance with the Hellfire Club, but Havok doesn’t trust him and leaves.

He then secretly follows Magneto down into the Morlock tunnels where he spies on a meeting between the X-Men. In this meeting Storm suggests to the team that their enemies must think that the X-Men are dead to stop the attacks on their loved ones.

Whilst spying, Havok realises that Rogue is coming up behind him, so he attacks her and then runs away. After a small fight with Dazzler, Havok stops running and they all talk.

Psylocke suggests that they kill Havok since he knows too much about their plans, but Storm refuses. The X-Men instead tell him about the Marauders, and about Malice, and he is then accepted into the team.

Meanwhile in New Mexico, Lorna Dane, Polaris, is targeted by the deadly group of assassins, the Marauders. She fights Sabretooth, Arclight and Scalphunter, and gains the upper hand on them.

It is then revealed that Polaris is now under the control of Malice.

The first appearance of the infamous Mr. Sinister.

The issue begins with Mr. Sinister berating his Marauders. The Marauders had failed to assassinate Madelyne Pryor. Sabretooth (a Marauder) refuses to be treated as inferior, proceeding to attack Mr. Sinister. Mr. Sinister fends off Sabretooth and then assigns his Marauders to San Francisco to finish off Pryor in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Dazzler practices her skills in the Danger Room on a hologram of Rogue. The two then have a tremendous falling out and begin to despise each other even more.

Later, the X-Men arrive at Mercy Hospital in San Francisco. The inevitable battle takes place, destroying much of the hospital. Rogue is instructed to take Madelyn Pryor away to safety. However, Rogue is suddenly attacked by Polaris, the former X-Man. Polaris uses her powers to throw Rogue into the Bay. Pryor then swims to safety, with the help of Dazzler. Rogue then instructs Dazzler to leave her behind to die, but Dazzler refuses. Dazzler then risks her life to save Rogue's life, proving that their grudge had been lifted. Finally, Polaris arrives to make sure she kills them both this time. The story continues in the next issue...

Colossus is in Scotland (flown there after the Mutant Massacre in issue #216), and is no longer stuck in his armored form. However, he apparently doesn't have much control over it, and it pops out while he's talking to some kids, scaring them half to death. He gets a visit by a girl (a projection of Roma?), who convinces him that the X-Men need him. After she leaves, his sister, Illyana, transports in, and agrees to take him to the X-Men. Meanwhile, the Adversary has captured Roma and taken over her Starlight Citadel. In Dallas, the X-Men arrive at Eagle Plaza to find an empty building. Wolverine enters and is cut down by lasers. The team rescue him and are ambushed by Freedom Force outside! A big fight starts, Colossus teleports in, and then a huge hole in the sky appears over their heads.

After the Reavers run a murderous bank robbery, the X-Men ambush them to put a stop to their criminal ways.

The Reavers use Gateway's teleporting power to travel to Singapore to raid a bank. On their return to their Australian Outback hideout, the X-Men show up in town and fight and defeat them. Skullbuster, Bonebreaker and Pretty Boy manage to escape, but the other Reavers are captured. Roma reveals that she must now leave the X-Men to themselves and gives them the Siege Perilous - a gateway to a new beginning and a new life should they choose it. They send the captured Reavers through, who are only too happy to avoid death or prison, and set themselves up in their new home.

Deep beneath the X-Men's Australian base, Longshot is beset by mysterious phantoms.

The X-Men explore their hide-out. It's got a great computer system, and a dragon's lair of stolen loot. The spirits of the original owners and makers contained within the jewelry overload Longshot's psychometric powers, and the X-Men decide it's best to return it all to their rightful owners. Did I mention it's Christmas Eve? They use Gateway's teleportation ability to travel round the world all in one night, rather like the big ol' SC...

Colossus has been having visions of his sister in terrible danger. The metal mutant heads to limbo to check up on her.

Peter has nightmares about Illyana. The X-Men decide it's okay for him to go to her, even though it may blow their cover. He appears right before she completes a necromantic spell that would have totally corrupted her. He decides to pretend to be the summoned shade of himself. It seems that a demon posing as Baba Yaga has the New Mutants and is going to eat them. Colossus, being cold iron, has little trouble kicking the snot out of her, and S'ym as well. He goes home, but not before reassuring Illyana that it's her actions that define her as good and not her evil nature as the Darkchilde.

Synopsis

Colossus's dream: Magik dresses for the biggest night of her life. She looks royal. An apple is placed in her mouth and she is gleefully shoved into a large stove.

Colossus pummels the Australian desert in frustration. Rogue tries to cheer him up but he prefers to be alone. She touches him and is nearly burned, as the Australian sun has heated Colossus's metal body. She leaves and Colossus picks up a picture of Magik, which is soon engulfed in fire from the heat from his body. He laments the cruel fate that has made him a metal man but is soon cooled off with a rain storm curtesy of Storm. She approaches her friend and confronts him about his troubles. He admits that Magik is on his mind and he fears she may be in danger. Storm is sympathetic, but also must prevent Colossus from acting on his brotherly urges since the X-Men are supposed to be dead.

At the house, Wolverine tries to help Colossus adapt to his metal body while doing dishes. It does not go well. The rest of the team senses Colossus's turmoil and Storm finally admits that he should be allowed to leave. Gateway enters the house and beckons Colossus to follow him. Colossus steps through a portal.

Colossus steps through and finds that he has entered Limbo at the exact moment that Magik summons him. (She thinks he is dead and able to be summoned.) Colossus sees that S'ym, a demon looking to rule Limbo, is close to making his own magic mountain. Colossus rushes in and pummels S'ym into many bits, being impervious to S'ym's techno-organic virus.

Magik admits that her "summoning" of Colossus is to help her save the New Mutants. The school has been overrun by demons looking like Russian folk figures and she had just escaped the dreaded Baba Yaga. Colossus agrees to help. He arrives to find that the school is ghastly different. Baba Yaga sends some demons to deal with Colossus and runs to the kitchen with the very fattened and very cookable New Mutants. Colossus deals with the brutes and follows Baba Yaga. A doorway blocks his hulking frame and he exerts himself to return to human form. He engages Baba Yaga and gets the upper-hand by turning back to metal, becoming immune to magical effects. Baba Yaga is soon destroyed.

Magik teleports her New Mutant friends to Limbo and performs a spell to heal their bloated bodies. She then confides in her supposedly dead brother that she fears that she is a bad person. He tells her that as long as she tries to do good then she is good. She is comforted and Colossus returns to Australia. Magik returns with her friends to their school.

S'ym re-assimilates and bashes an upstart demon to pieces. He had hoped that Magik's summoning of a dead person would condemn her and destroy her. S'ym doesn't realize that Colossus wasn't dead so the spell could not be completed, saving Magik's soul. He knows, however, that Magik's inability to keep herself together is weakening the wall between Limbo and Earth and that it won't be too long before he can get revenge on Colossus.