X-Men 190: Savage Magik

Pages 1-2 (Ariel and Colossus)

The splash page is Colossus and Ariel standing inside a primeval forest. Rays of sunlight are lancing through holes in the tree canopy providing illumination enough to show the odd plants and the scuttle of hand high raptors through the underbrush. Floating in the air above them is a translucent telepathic Xavier head.

Ariel definitely looks older, in a lean and muscular ballet-dancer way, and her hair is back to its pre-mishap length. She's wearing the new costume she's designed in her head but not yet fabricated: dark blue bodysuit, light tunic with magenta-and-gray swirls.

The X-Men travel into the heart of darkness
Written by Myles "Nightcrawler" Corcoran
Penciled by Rebecca "Wolverine" Stevenson
Inked by Lisa "Colossus" Padol
Colored by Kris ”Ariel”" Keegan
Lettered by Joshua "Phoenix" Kronengold
Edited by Brian Rogers
Rachel Rogers, Editor in Chief

Colossus, Ariel, remember that while you are residing in a mental construct in Magik’s psyche any damage you take here will have physical repercussions, albeit in a lessened amount. Such landscapes operate under serendipitous rules: we would not have been able to insert you had Ilyana not wanted her brother and best friend’s presence, so if you trust your instincts you will be able to locate her.

Understood. Peter looks locate around, trying to figure out what his instincts are telling him. Moving to his forward left feels correct. There's nothing that supports that, but that's how he feels.

Or, whichever direction we pick will turn out to be the right one, Ariel comments, staring around. She winds up right looking forward and a little to the left, just like Peter.

Let's go, she says, and starts walking - literally - through the undergrowth.

Ariel slides ghostlike through the undergrowth, with Colossus moving behind her with a stealth that belies his size. It's moving not moving long before the pair spy activity in a clearing ahead of them: before three creatures - a human sized dinosaur of the raptor variety incongruously sporting curled horns flanked by a loincloth wearing man with an eyeless face who stands at about Colossus height and a more normally statured but heavily muscled and wielding a weapon in each of his four arms - are menacing someone they cannot see - the wide trunked tree that Ilyana is backed up against is blocking her from their vision. If they were to charge the clearing from here our heroes would emerge from behind the menaced figure and facing her attackers.

Colossus recognizes the two men as Gaza and Barbarus, two of the Savage Land Mutates. During the X-Men's last trip to the the Savage Land* the real forms of these individuals were returned to their pre-mutated Neanderthal states. Both men have been somehow restored in Ilyana's psyche, however, but both seem tainted, somehow twisted from their previous selves.

[*ED: see Marvel Fanfare 2-3; or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_(comics) ]

How about I distract them, you try to surprise them, and then I take Ilyana out of immediate danger? Ariel says, peering around some large leaves.

Colossus nods.

Ariel gestures to Colossus to circle around toward the right. She herself circles around to the left at her best walking pace, picking up a large fallen branch along the way.

Ready? Ariel asks Colossus. Here goes! And she flies through the air at the group, cocking the branch menacingly. "YAAAAAAAAH!!"

Two of the three figures turn in surprise at her appearance, while the third - Gaza - spins madly looking for the source of the sound. Apparently his psionic senses don't let him detect her while she's phased. In any event they are thoroughly distracted, with Barbarus stepping forward preparing to reduce her makeshift club to splinters with his own weapons.

Peter charges Gaza, expecting Kitty to phase.

The confused giant spins to face Colossus but overbalances in doing so - Ariel's presence/non-presence seems to be innately disorienting - and falls to the ground just as Peter takes his swing. While he didn't land a punch Colossus still has an opponent on the ground.

Ariel swings her stick toward Barbarus and lets it go. It becomes solid again and retains all her momentum, spinning towards him.

Ariel herself, however, changes direction on a dime, ignoring the effect of her attack (if any) and moving straight toward Ilyana instead.

The branch files at him and he easily bats it aside with one weapon and prepares to gut her when she gets closer, only to see that she has no intention of doing so. He recovers well enough to throw a morning star at her. It passes through her harmlessly.

Ariel gets her first look at Ilyana and her friend looks very different - an age between when she was taken to limbo and when she was recovered. She looks childlike and very scared.

If Colossus is up, he hits his downed foe, hard.

Gaza is recovering from his confusion but not fast enough - Colossus blow lands and Peter feels ribs crack under his fist. Gaza tries to entangle Colossus legs with his own to knock him down but his opponent is too agile and the best the giant can manage is rolling out of Colossus' immediate reach.

The demonic raptor charges after Ariel, and therefore towards Ilyana as well, its claws tearing up divots of earth as it thunders towards the tree. Ariel is the faster however, grabbing Ilyana and bring both of them directly through the primeval bole. The raptor slams headfirst into the tree with a loud, shuddering crack.

Gaza struggles to his feet and adopts a wrestler's stance to face Colossus. Peter can see that he's badly wounded and knows that he seriously outclasses the giant. Gaza makes a cautious charge, clearly trying to lift and throw his opponent but again Colossus is the more canny of the two, easily evading the attack.

Ariel and Ilyana swoop upward through the tree's branches. I've got her, Colossus!

She stops about thirty feet above the action, with the tree hiding them from those on the ground, and curls her arm around her friend. "Hello, Ilyana," she says quietly and reassuringly. "Looks like we've got another fight on our hands."

Ilyana looks at her wide eyed, "Kitty? How did you?" she spies over her friend's shoulder, "Peter? Peter watch out!"

As Ilyana speaks Ariel can see her age shifting, becoming more mature.

"Last time we met I didn't get a chance to challenge myself against you, Colossus!" the four-armed mutate declares before leaping in.

"No, wait!" Gaza yells, but it's too late. Barbarus’ heavily muscled arms deliver a devastating combination of punches, sword and morning star blows. His attack is strong, efficient, experienced and ultimately futile - not a single one of his five strikes did so much as nick Colossus' osmium steel skin.

Colossus lashes out at Gaza with surprising speed, grabbing the giant's arm and using his super strength to ignore Gaza's attempt to bat the attack away. Once has a hold Colossus pivots, swinging his oversized foe by the arm into Barbarus, whose attempt to leap clear is hindered by his teammate's improbable height. The pair collapse in a heap. After a second a highly injured barbarous climbs to his feet while Gaza remains down.

"Colossus is tough," Ariel reminds Ilyana, but also swings around so that she's blocking Ilyana's view of events down below. "Listen, you want to know what's going on, right?"

Ilyana nods

"Okay, it's not good, but we've all got your back, Ilyana, including the Professor." She peers into Ilyana's face, looking for signs of willingness to come to grips with the situation.

She sees them. The girl is more confident, more mature, but still not her contemporary self. “How are you here? I thought it was Limbo, but…what’s that?”

She points towards the horizon where Ariel can see a huge, metallic hemispherical construction – gauging for range it probably covers a space about equal to Manhattan Some parts of it are heavily damaged but others are being repaired by swarms of creatures who are replacing the damaged or missing metal parts with granite and obsidian. Those parts shift under her sight, making them hard to look at.

“That was never in Limbo,” Ilyana states firmly, “So where are we?”

"Uh ..." Kitty says, taken off guard by the sight. Professor, are you getting this?

But she also has to answer Ilyana's question. Collecting herself, she says, "We're inside your head - you're under psychic attack. I'm thinking that Belas - umm, you know - trying to re-build the Death Star in here is probably a bad thing."

"We're in my head?" Ilyana says quietly, and Ariel can make out the early formations of a very nasty grin.

I recognize the structure from the X-men's description - it's an ancient city inside the Savage land used as a base for Garokk and later the Mutates, the Professor informs her. But based on Ilayna's reaction this was never part of her awareness of the Savage Land's geography. This is strong evidence that this is a current, external assault rather than a pre-programmed event.

The four-armed fighter looks alarmed by how quickly Colossus is disassembling his team but is unwilling to surrender. He staggers back several steps getting his own back against the tree that once sheltered Illyana. In a flash however, his fright turns to a look of triumph as Peter hears someone approach him from behind. "I thought I told you idjits to being me the girl for punishment..." says a gravelly voice from the brush.

"Oh. G'day, loser," Peter hears before he can turn around. The demon's fist slams into the small of Colossus back. It ranks up with one of the hardest times Colossus has been struck, and it sends him hurtling forward, directly into the tree, and Barbarus, whose look changes back to abject fear as he sees Colossus metal bulk hurtling towards him. Peter fees the impact with both his brutish opponent and then the ancient wood but neither pains him like the original punch. The tree feels the impact as well, with the trunk shattering before the whole creaks, moans and falls across the landscape.

"Peter!" screams Ilyana from above.

Peter picks up the tree's remains and hurls them at Sym.

The enormous tree flies through the air but S'ym doubtless saw the move coming, and swings his fist to counter it. The tree's explosion sends splinters the size of baseball bats flying everywhere, but while S'ym is still standing in the same spot with his cocky grin Peter can see that he hurt him at least a little.

"That all?" S'ym responds, and closes in on his foe with determined steps.

Peppered with splinters, the Raptor flees, dragging Gaza with him.

"Shhh!" Ariel says, wrapping her arms around Ilyana and starting them moving hastily toward new cover, while talking fast. "Really tough, remember? Now listen, what we want to do is --"

"No! No! Put me down! Let me go!" Ilyana pleads, while knowing enough not to struggle free from the flying person's arms. "Kitty, Please!"

Uh-oh. Reluctantly, Ariel slows, turning a wary eye toward S'ym's last known direction. "Inside your head, remember? You don't want Peter to be hurt; therefore, he won't be hurt. Just stay calm." After a moment, she adds, "You haven't seen him fight much, have you."

Ilyana frees her hands and uses one to grab the back of Kitty's head, forcing eye contact, "I'm not afraid for Peter. I'm going to kill S'ym. Now GET. ME. DOWN. THERE."

The other hand is now holding a length of concentrated magical killing device.

Kitty eyes her measuringly. "Okay," she says, "but I don't think this is the best idea. Be careful."

She reaches up and grabs the hand buried in her hair, so that a moment later they're hovering hand-in-hand. She looks for S'ym, and then cheers up a bit. "What if he can't hit *us,* but you can still hit *him* with that?"

S'ym continues to stride forward until he's just a few feet away from Colossus. He eyes the Russian up and down and then throws another blindingly fast punch. Colossus is braced for it, however, and while it hurts a lot he keeps is feet. S'ym standing there clearly and expects either a return punch or a wrestling grapple.

The fighters square off for a moment, and Colossus can see S'ym sizing him up and, more like than not, finding him wanting, not realizing what's going on between Colossus and his comrades.

Ready?

"Ooh, even better," Ariel says, spotting S'ym and then swinging around so that they'll be coming at him out of the sun.

As in the fight with Gaza Colossus lashes out for a grab. S'ym lets it happen, ready to step in and try to control the grapple only to find himself yanked fully off of his feet and into the air as Colossus spins. The demon flails as he tries to get a grip on Colossus arms to prevent the throw. He is too slow, too disoriented and Colossus is able to give him a good upward arc at the end of the spin, sending S'ym flying into the air.

"Don't you Daaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrre!" the S'ym shouts.

This shout is cut short as his upward arc meets Ariel's downward charge and the demon is pierced full through by Magik's soulsword - Ariel's gamble that the sword's strange enchantment letting it effect magical creatures even when phased having been borne out. Ilyana's sense of self at this point is as fully adult as Kitty's, and she's dressed in her New Mutants uniform.

"You never get to threaten me or mine again," Ilyana states flatly to the demon, who is unable to even gurgle in response with the sword through his lung. "And tell your master that we're... I'm, not afraid of him, either."

With a flick of her hand she lowers the blade. S'ym slides off of it, descending into the forest canopy and vanishing from sight.

Once the three of them are together in the light it's impossible to miss how clearly Ilyana has come into her own. Peter can see that she's taller, more adult, more confident - certainly much more confident than she's been of late, if ever - and he can see the image of their mother in her, but one without the heartbreak of lost children and the toil of the farm.

Floating next to her is Ariel...Kitty... who is displaying a heartbreaking beauty, both ethereal and athletic.

Ilyana is glancing between the two of them, as if expecting something.

"Okay," Ariel says cheerfully. "That *was* a good idea, Ilyana. What's next?"

Ilyana looks again at Peter, making eye contact before glancing over again to Kitty, as if trying to get a point across.

After another awkward moment, Ariel goes tangible again and lands lightly on the grass. Smiling a little sadly, she catches one of Ilyana's hands and reaches her other hand towards Peter. "Come on, click your heels together three times, and say ..."

Peter takes her hand with a grateful look (which Ilyana can feel free to misunderstand or not).

The psychic landscape dissolves around them.

Pages 3 (Phoenix)

Phoenix is inside a shadowy, vast, hot plane of existence, providing a distraction to Ilyana’s mental wards and allowing the Professor, Ariel and Colossus an opening.

In the distance she can see shadowy shapes beginning to move towards her. Whatever the forces are that defend this magical ward have noticed her, and they’re approaching.

Phoenix's spirit self wears, as her waking self did not, her gold and green costume. "I'm here, and not going anywhere," she shouts, hoving above the surface of the plain and waiting for their attack.

She sees the mass pick up speed - a half dozen crouched, crabbed figures loping towards her. As they get closer she gets a look at them - lupine legs, humanoid torso, long arms with long fingers sporting long claws, long whip like thrashing tails, vaguely triangular heads with extended brow ridges, ribcage and skeletal structure visible under taught, leathery skin - and she has a few moments to steel herself to their approach.

"Are those real demons? No time for asking now, I guess." Rachel flares to her full display, with nothing to pick up other than the demons themselves, hits the group with a wave of raw telekinetic force.

The force wave rolls across the featureless plain and slams into the creatures when they're about 60 feet from her. The creatures are taken more or less by surprise by the attack - one of them is thrown back a sizable distance, four more are scattered and only the last manages to gain any traction and continues to approach.

Phoenix concentrates and lifts the remaining creature -- then sends it hard and fast at one of the others.

Her concentration is good here - nothing to distract her, and she snags the beast just as it prepares to leap at her. She has a moment to savor the look of surprise before she slams it back into one of the others. There's a satisfactory thump and she has a few more moments to act before any of the other three can reach her.

"You'd think you guys would think twice after they saw how I dealt with your friends," Rachel says. "Still." She begins to levitate quickly, trying to get out of reach, and the three are sufficiently clustered, a firey talon stretches from her firey form and attempts to swat them

She's so focused on keeping track of the creatures that she fails to get off the ground, but her concentration is good enough to for her wave of force to strike t hem. At closer range it has a spectacular effect on the rightmost two, sending them flying back towards their scattered brethren, but the remaining one ducks around the blast, closing quickly.

It falls on her with claws extended and while her shields hold it is a very near thing. It's right on top of her, hammering away with claws and taking up all of her concentration to keep from being sliced to ribbons.

Phoenix shifts slightly, getting the thing over her shields, and then takes off straight up, her corona outstretched, just as the creature pulls an arm back to attack her again. Before it can take advantage of the weakness in her shields she blasts it off of the with a wave of telekinetic force. The last time she sees it is when it passes over the horizon.

Rachel takes pleasure for a few moments in not having something scary trying to eat her face. "All right, that was... something." she thinks, looking down. "Any more of you out there?"

There are three of them that have clustered around her shadow. Of the other two there is no sign.

The ones on the ground pacing around her shadow in a circle, clearly frustrated by their inability to reach her, but after a second Phoenix realizes that with each circuit the featureless plain underneath them is rising - or she is falling - and the gap between her and the creatures is diminishing.

"Too good to be true, I suppose," Rachel says, as geometry changes to endanger her. "But, there are only two of you." She sends her mind at one of the creatures, trying to do as much damage as she can before she is forced into contact with them.

She has time to concentrate and snags one of the creatures, first by its arm and then as it struggles for a second around its whole body. There’s a strange resistance to the thing – like it’s not really flesh but a solidified concept - before her relentless pressure tears it to pieces. The pieces turn into smoke and vanishes even as the other two get closer.

Rather than wait passively to be roped in, Rachel flies directly towards the demons, extending psychokinetic fiery claws to strike at them.

She swoops down and slams into the beasts with her fiery claws extended, rocking the things backward. She feels the impact shudder up the telekinetic arms and through her shields, but everything holds and she drops to the ground with considerable grace. The two creatures, however, are driven into the landscape by the combined forces and discorporate.

Unfortunately the wards are still in place, and Phoenix can feel some other resistance building....

Page 4 (Nightcrawler and Wolverine)

Finally, inside Ilyana’s room Nightcralwer and Wolverine are watching over the inert bodies of Ilyana, the Professor, Ariel, Colossus and Phoenix as the others initiate their daring mental intervention. The atmosphere of the room is charged – Wolverine’s senses are on high alert and Nightcrawler’s fur is standing on end.

Around the edges of the room Ilyana’s posters are fluttering and flapping against the wall, driven by a non-existent breeze. That breeze carries with it a scent of loam and blood.

Wolverine positions himself between the bed and the window, with enough room to move should it be necessary.

Kurt sniffs the air. "Wolverine, what is that?" he asks.

"It's something that doesn't belong to this world."

[BR: take a karma point]

"Is there anything outside?" He moves to the door and 'ports to the hallway to scan up and down, while listening hard for any tell-tale sound of approaching intruders.

There's no sign of any intruders, though the New Mutants do start when Nightcralwer appears in their line of sight.

Inside the room the wind is increasing, developing a widdershins pattern. After a few seconds there's a flare of light when all of Ilyana's myriad candles light simultaneously. It takes Wolverine a second to realize what looks truly wrong - the flames are all dancing in opposite direction to the spectral wind.

Kurt reappears in Ilyana's bedroom, the wind whipping at his fur. He moves over to the bed to check on his companions there.

"Ach, I do not like this, Wolverine." He begins to recite a decade of the rosary quietly to himself.

"Me either." He does his best to ignore the special effects and concentrate on any hint of a physical presence forming.

As Kurt begins his silent recitation his fur settles back down. Both men can feel the wind calm slightly.

After a few more seconds Ilyana's eyes snap open, and, impossibly, something starts to crawl out from them. They're immeasurably small at the start, but grow rapidly as they enter the physical world. Both bear a resemblance to the creature Kitty described as attacking her in the house years ago.

At this disconcerting sight, Kurt's prayers become louder and more insistent. Chief among his prayers is for something large and pointy to skewer a demon with.

"We've got to get them away from the Professor and the others, Logan!"

The two creatures solidify, stepping onto the ground with heavy treads. One of them lunges at Nightcrawler, but the X-Man is nimble enough to get out of the way, bounding into the hall and towards his room.

The creature follows him, shredding part of the doorframe, before Kurt realizes that he's drawn the creature into the area where the New Mutants are standing guard. All but the team leaders are in a momentary shock at the sight of the beast; Cannonball is clearly about to launch himself at it but Mirage lays a hand on his arm, waiting for some sign from Nightcrawler as to whether they should engage or not.

Nightcrawler grimaces at the situation he's unwittingly place the youngsters in. "Mirage, ready your team!" he calls out as he leaps forward towards the demon, planning to plant a kick in its chest and drive it back long enough to allow him to 'port, grab his weapons and return.

Creature is surprised by Nightcrawler's sudden change in direction - his run turning into a leap and swing around the foyer chandelier sending him directly back into the demon feet first. The kick is sound, striking it hard in the solar plexus, and before it can respond Nightcralwer is gone in a puff of smoke and with aching feet.

Mirage sees the beast reel under the attack but it doesn't look so much stunned as confused. She also sees the malevolent intelligence in its eyes as it looks down at the New Mutants. "Wolfsbane, scoot for cover, hold off until you can interrupt one of its attacks. Magma, get outside - we'll join you shortly. Cannonball, under the stairs, wait for it to come after Sunspot and I, then get it out of the building. We're playing target."

The team scatters under her command but before the creature can act Nightcrawler reappears bearing 9 feet of sharpened steel.

Nightcrawler brandishes his blades and tries to keep the creatures attention on him. "Mirage, it's vulnerable to fire. Keep Magma ready and I'll try to get it outside."

He dances in to drive the point of his blade into the demon's flesh, taking care to avoid its claws.

There's a flashing display of bladework as Nightcrawler dodges two claw slashes and parries a tail strike with his sinister blade. The blade in his right hand is driven home with all of his strength only to see it skitter off of the creatures hard thick skin.

I've got to get it downstairs and out of the building he thinks as he flips neatly along the corridor to the top of the stairs down to the foyer. He takes up position on the banister or railing, hoping to attract the demon to charge.

Instead of a charge the creature rips off the steel reinforced door and a swath of the surrounding wall and hurls it at his strange blue adversary. It watches with satisfaction as the missile flies true, shattering against the roof and scattering the other mammals to escape the debris.

Nightcrawler pops his head round the wall at the top of the stairs.Nyay-nyah.

"C'mon, you fiend, you'll have to do better than that."

Despite the bravado, Kurt keeps reciting the Lord's Prayer in his head as he bounces forward up the stairs and off the far wall to rebound and land at the top step, pausing if needs be to draw the demon forward.

Kurt calls to Cannonball. "Cannonball! Get ready to take out the trash! Via the front door, if you please."

He tosses his sword in the air with a flip long enough to gesture a 'come hither' with his tail.

If the damn beast won't take the hint, Kurt's going to have to try for the 'port and grab to get the bugger outside.

The creature leaps down, landing in the middle of the foyer, but is still watching Nightcrawler warily - having fallen for the teleportation stunt twice he's unwilling to commit again - it takes a single slow step forward and Kurt can see its muscles tense. The realization that it's about to go after Dani and 'Berto is blood chilling, but that's when Cannonball rockets across the room, slamming into the creatures back at full speed and carrying both of them directly towards Kurt.

Nightcrawler teleports outside, judging Cannonball's momentum and trying to arrive nearby but off to one side of his trajectory. He quickly takes in the positions of the landing point of N'Garai, Sam Guthrie, and Magma, trying to work the angles so that the Nova Roman girl has the best shot at the target.

Cannonball never gets much height, arcing down for a shallow landing that half buries he and the demon in a shallow trench across the front yard. Kurt can see Sam scrambling to get free of the dirt, and away from the creature, but fortunately it by far took the brunt of the impact. Still, it's a losing race....

"Mirage! Try facing it with its fear. I need to hold it in position for Magma. Cannonball, get clear!"

The air next to the creature shimmers as a large flaming figure possessed of three sets of wings and a flaming sword materializes over the demon. It screams in panic before snatching for Cannonball to use as a shield, but the delay bought Sam precious seconds to clear his head and he ignites, causing the creature's claws to skitter off of his force field as he rockets away.

"He's too alien! I can't keep it up!" Mirage yells from the steps as the image fades. Nightcrawler can see that Sunspot has moved a splintered, 8 inch thick, 6 foot long crossbeam from the debris and has it ready to hurl at the creature.

He waves his swords in the direction of the N'Garai, trying to keep its attention on him. A clear raspberry is heard in the night air.

The demon turns and a looks at him with undisguised hatred.

Hoping that he's got the timing right, he calls on his big gun. "Magma, hit it with all you've got!"

The girl steps from behind a tree where she was awaiting the order to act. She's has a dull, yellow red glow and rather than directly blasting it raises her arms, causing lava to erupt up from the ground under its feet. The creature screams as a pit of magma forms underneath it, sucking it down. Its claws dig into the soft earth desperate for purchase as it tries to pull itself clear, and might even make it.

"Sunspot! Whack it!"

Whack it? Kurt, you've got to practice your commanding vocabulary.

The air around the Brazilian boy darkens again as he uses up some of his precious energy reserves to lift and hurl the crossbeam. The length of wood flies true, smacking the creature square in the face. Even though its armor is enough to blunt much of the damage he impact slams it backwards, its claws slip in the mud and it tumbles back into the lava pit.

Magma brings her arms down, burying the thing in the earth.

Kurt bounds over to the buried demon and gingerly tests the surface (not the lava if it's still exposed) trying to get a sense of any vibration that might suggest the beast is still moving down there.

If reassured he springs up and assesses the condition of the New Mutants, corralling them as he does so and moving them away from the site of the buried N'Garai.

"Everyone uninjured? Please, return to the mansion. The Professor and the others still need our assistance."

He puts a hand lightly on Dani's arm to hold her back for a moment as the young mutants file back into the building through the once-again ruined entrance.

"Mirage..., Dani, I wanted to say well done. You kept your team together and focused. Nice work." He smiles broadly at the girl. "C'mon, let's get back to Ilyana."

She smiles back, "Thanks. That means a lot."

'

Inside the room the other one faces off against Wolverine, eyeing the little nearly naked man and emitting a brief chuckle as it brandishes its huge claws

_Snikt_

"Ha, ha." Lunge. Slash.

The smaller man is inside the demon's range before it has time to react, and his claws slam through its ribcage. Suddenly possessing a sucking chest wound it staggers back to get out of Wolverine's reach.

He follows up that cut with another, not giving it a moment or an inch.

The second attack lays open part of the things abdomen - Wolverine can feel that the demon's skin is naturally hard, just not tough enough to stop his claws. It staggers backward, still trying to open up some space, still bewildered by why the small mammal didn't run in fear like it was supposed to, but the space of the room works against it, giving it nowhere to go. It would have to get through Wolverine to get out the door, lunge past him to reach either the window or the figures on the bed or ignore him for a moment to tear open the wall and escape that way. None of them really look like good options, and an initial lunge is met with a gash on its arm.

Seeing no other path it counter-attacks, raking Wolverine's back with its own claws - he's just too close for it to hit anywhere else - and finds that the attack has disturbingly little effect on his small assailant.

If it’s close enough to rake him, means that he's close enough to drive both sets of claws straight into its now-leaking guts.

The claws dig deep into the creature, and everyone in the house can hear the mingled primal roars of both mutant and demon.

Wolverine leaves one set of claws where it is, pinning the demon-creature in place, and delivers an uppercut -- ha, ha -- with the other.

For the first time Wolverine fails to deliver a clean below, his claws not getting traction with the uppercut. The creature pushes itself off of Wolverines claws by breaking through the wall into the adjoining room by the brute strength of its legs shoving itself backwards. For a second it is confined in the hole and there’s no way Wolverine can let that pass. There’s a slash and heavy thud as the creature’s right arm hits the floor.

The creature spins madly and scrambles to put some distance between himself and his assailant.

The creature feels a weight land on its back and for a moment tries to flail it off with its right arm before realizing that it now lacks that appendage.

It dives across Guthrie's room and with a shattering crash goes out the window with equal success in dislodging his assailant. The pair are tumbling to the ground.

He flings himself free of it--no sense letting it land on him--and tries to land on his feet himself.

He lands well, absorbing the impact across his adamantium skeleton and taking no damage. The demon has also landed well, and is clearly preparing to bolt for the road.

It sees a clear path away, somewhere that its longer legs can open up some distance, and leaps towards them, but it's too late. The small mammal is on it again! Why won't it give up? Why won't it run away?

'cause if there's one thing wolverines are known for, it's giving up.

He starts counting backwards. Four, three, two....

He leaps a fraction of a second before it does.

The creature's spasmodic final retributive action - diving forward claws outstretched to slaughter its killer - is met before it is even truly begun, and in a flash of metal it is permanently finished.

Alas, the comics code doesn't let us show that.

page 5 (everyone)

The Professor opens his eyes, with Peter, Kitty and Ilyana opening theirs at the exact same time. Charles looks around the room to see damage and sighs. “Looks like we need to repair again. How bad is the damage elsewhere?”

"Herr Professor, I am afraid we'll have to call the landscape gardeners again." Kurt look ruefully out the window at the grounds. "But no one is hurt, and the N'Garai are defeated."

Rachel looks around at the destruction. She can ask for details later. "Your mind, girl," she says, "is a scary place at the moment."

Ilyana sits up and looks...well. She's still a slightly redder tone than she ought to be, and a careful look at her smile shows the elongated canines haven't receded, but her eyes and expression are bright and clear. "Thank you! Thank you all so much!"

Kurt smiles delightedly at the young woman's words, much relieved. At the expressions on his teammates faces, he pauses and waits for Peter or Kitty to speak.

Kitty leans over to hug her friend. "I'd say 'any time,' but I really hope we can figure out how to stop this thing!" "I think we are getting closer to that, Ariel," the professor says, "But for now I'd like Ilyana and the X-Men to get dressed and join me in the infirmary."

He stands u, keeping his dignity in his thick terrycloth bathrobe and fuzzy slippers that look like little Shi'ar pets, and moves to exit the room. Along the way he stops in front of the New Mutants. "I have a very favorable report on your actions," he tells them. "Expect that we'll have a full debriefing on recent events and their ramifications tomorrow morning. For now please patch the holes in Cannonball's room and get what sleep you can."

The kids are glowing with pride at this praise - even Dani seems satisfied, though it's clear she really wants to be in the upcoming conference.

Kurt swiftly dresses in his costume. The New Mutants really worked as a team against the N'Garai. I only hope I can lead the X-Men as effectively.

He disappears in a cloud of foul-smelling smoke and reappears outside the infirmary, mindful not to get the stench of sulphur in the clean, white room beyond.

Logan is pleased with the evening's activity. Nothing but respect for the Professor and his long-term strategies, but a problem that can be cut in half is the best kind. Suspecting (or perhaps hoping) that whatever Xavier learned is going to mean more action, he too dresses in costume.

"Maybe when we've dealt with...whatever this is," Rachel thinks, "I can visit the FF again. Susan, Reed--they're -nice-. It's a wierd situation, but..."

Opening shot of the infirmary is from an upper corner, being sure to capture Rogue still lying insensate on one of the beds. A few beds down Ilyana is lying down under one of the advanced scanning tools dressed in a johnny gown while the Professor, now in slacks, shirt and sport coat (having loosed up for the late hour by not wearing a tie), examines the readouts.

Once everyone is there he pushes the scanner aside so Ilyana has room to sit up. He looks over the group before beginning.

"Good morning. I've completed a baseline physiological scan of Ilyana and it is clear that she's undergoing a metamorphosis. His is unconnected with her mutation, and is not the result of a parasite or biological invasion. Given our own experiences I expect all of us can empathize with her position*. Based on the information I received from Peter earlier this evening I can approximate the speed of the change, which is just rapid enough to not be noticed in everyday interaction. All of us have seen signs of it but it's too gradual for it to register."

[*Ed: he's of course referring to the metamorphic effect of the Brood embryos]

"Having ruled out biological factors, and given her particular history, I'm comfortable with the hypothesis that this is a magically generated effect. The steps that she has taken recently to ward off the psychological aspects of the change have triggered an external response. Based on what we witnessed inside her psyche I am convinced that this was a current, reactive response: Belasco sensed what she was doing and took active steps to stop it. In doing so he has inadvertently revealed his location: there were elements of the Savage Land landscape her projected into her psyche of which Ilyana was unaware, and some - including some of the scenery around Garrok's city - that post-date her experiences in Limbo but not the memory of your last actions there."

[ED: again, Marvel Fanfare #3-4]

He pauses, "It is therefore logical to deduce that Ilyana's banishing him from Limbo let him escape to the Savage Land, an environment Ilyana informs me he encountered in his past, having been defeated by Ka-Zar on one occasion. Now that he's there he's likely set up camp at Garrok's city and is rebuilding it."

"I'm curious as to your thoughts in next actions."

"I don't want to speak out of turn here, or anything," Logan says when the room is silent for a long moment, "but it sounds to me like we'd better get down there and explain to him that this ain't considered polite behavior." He has, admittedly, not been paying much attention to the ongoing business with Ilyana, but he takes the whole un-requested metamorphosis thing very much to heart.

Kurt fidgets on the top of the high-backed chair he's settled on, clearly nervous about what he wants to say. "I suggest we need to move against Belasco before he has the chance to consolidate his holdings in the Savage Land. Given the lush jungle and nature of the place I wish we had more in the way of air support. With both Rogue and Storm away..." He refuses to say 'gone'.

"With them away we're short flyers and the view of the battlefield they provide. No offense intended, Rachel and Kitty, but you're not quite in the same league."

"We work with what we've got," Rachel says. "The future I came from wasn't a good place to practice lifting myself into view, but it was very good for staying hidden."

"Ach, of course Rachel. I didn't mean.... I'm sorry, fraulein," Kurt backpedals swiftly.

Kitty stops trying to finger-comb her hair into better order and says, "And I'm really getting the hang of flying. It's not spectacular, but it works." Then she grins. "And heavy tree cover doesn't mean a thing to me."

"Play to your team's strengths, Nightcrawler," The Professor reminds him. "I suspected that you would wish for immediate action, and I concur. There's a chance that Belasco might not realize the depth of his error and you might be able to surprise him. If he is aware of it rapid action should still cut into his time to set up defenses. I recommend you be ready to leave as soon as possible."

"Ariel, once you're in uniform I recommend you gain access to the UN Antarctic Preserve computer systems*. We don't want to trip their security in case Belasco is monitoring it, and copies of their cartographic data, while incomplete, will be helpful."

"I'll do that, Professor," Ariel replies.

[*ED: Yes, the Savage Land is protected by a UN treaty; the organization has monitoring stations set up around the perimeter of the known area. Again, this is touched on in Marvel Fanfare 1-4]

"Professor," Ilyana asks, "What if this actually is a trap? That he attacked me to get us to respond just like this?"

Nightcrawler smiles. "Well it wouldn't be the first time we've walked into a trap. Just knowing that it's a possibility gives us some defense, and I doubt Belasco has factored the new Phoenix into his preparations. We'll manage, Ilyana. We always have."

"So," he continues as he turns to the senior team. "Who's up for a holiday in the South?"

Page 6-7 (Storm)

Of our artists beloved triptychs, this time with a serious Dave Gibbons/Alan Moore influence. We have a single image of a long street on the Cairo docks with a ship at the far end, at the edge of our vision. In the first panel we see Ororo getting off the ship, carrying her duffel bag and getting her bearings. In the second she’s closer, interacting with a street vendor, buying some Fuul (if you’re not familiar with it, its spices mashed fava beans served in a pita). In the third no longer distant and the reader can make out a clear smile on her face as she returns to the city of her youth.

The next three panels are a similar design of her on the street but clearly a different day as she’s in different clothes and has stowed her bag somewhere. In the first panel the reader can discern a pickpocket dipping an American tourist further up the street as she walks past him. In the second Ororo is dipping the pickpocket as the girl’s motion down the street causes the two of them to pass. In the third Ororo slips the wallet back into the pocket of the still unwitting tourist.

During this she’s thinking “It’s been so long. A lot has changed, but much of Cairo is eternal. This, I think, is why Logan keeps going back to the Rockies. And why Peter still misses Russia. The price of the Professor’s gift of the world is that it’s too easy to lose track of where you’re from.”

She stops, looking at the building that was built to replace the one destroyed 28 years earlier, the one that killed her parents and left her orphaned, afraid and alone. She lays her hand on the building. It’s still an apartment complex, and she steels herself before slipping inside. Once in the lobby we see her breathing heavily, her hands shaking, but she forces herself up the stairs until she reaches her family’s floor. She looks down the hall for just a moment before reaching the roof. Once outside she looks across as much of the city as she can see from this vantage point.

“Mother. Father. I hope that you’re proud of me. I love you. I miss you,” she says to the open air.

We have another shot of her in the same position hours later, night falling across the city.

Then another triptych of her on a boat again, her position at the rail more or less unchanging as the scenery of the Nile passes her. In the first we see Cairo in the distance; in the second Luxor, in the third the Aswan dam.

“It is not safe for Americans in Sudan right now, Miss Munroe,” the official informs her at the border crossing, “especially if you intend to stay on the White Nile through the country. The south is functionally in a civil war against the government.”

“I have a native boat captain and guide,” Ororo informs him calmly, “and it is my intent to reach Kenya. I will be careful.”

“You are taking your life in your hands, Miss, but I admire your courage.” She smiles at her. “Sudan is under Sharia law, so I recommend that you wear a Hijab… out of courtesy of for your hosts, of course.”

“Of course,” Ororo smiles back at his concern and diplomacy. She dons the scarf, thinking “so much has changed. Of course, as a child I made this walk with the powers of a young goddess. Now…”

“Fi Amanillah, Miss Munroe,” the official says as she leaves.

“Fi Amanillah” she responds, and is gone.

There is a final triptych of her on a different boat, the crew a four man mix of Arab, African and European – at first distant from her, then one talking to her, and in the last she is pitching in with the work. The landscape of the Sudan passes by in the background, showing the beauty and devastation of the country.

Page 8-11 (Everyone)

Everything that’s going has been stowed inside the SR-51 Blackbird [which amazingly is making its first appearance since the start of play!] and is ready to head down to the South Pole. The Professor is talking to Kurt, with Mirage and Cannonball also in attendance.

“I’d like to be able to join you, Kurt, but a telepath needs to stay here to maintain the wards lest Karma make a second attempt,” Xavier says. “I will remind you to trust your instincts and play to your strengths. I find it unlikely that your team and your approach will be anything like what Belasco expects.”

"Thank you, Herr Professor. We'll hit him hard and without warning. I pray that will be sufficient."

Cannonball holds out his hand, “Good luck, sir. Since Magik is one of ours I’ll ask you to give this Belasco fella a good whack for me.”

“Don’t worry,” Mirage adds, “We’ll hold down the fort here. And if you need backup I’ll move heaven and earth to get us down there.”

Kurt smiles at the serious-faced teen mutants. "I have no worries, Dani. I'm sure you and your team would go to great lengths to aid us. Just don't go stealing any Avengers' Quinjets, ok?"

The next panel is the jet taking off in the pre-dawn light, and then an interior shot of the Blackbird as it soars southward.

Ariel, studying something on her small computer, apparently found the time somehow to fabricate her planned new costume. It doesn't have quite the same effect on her nearly-sixteen-year-old self as it might later.

As the aircraft arrows southwards Kurt holds a strategy meeting.

"When we land we'll need to scout the situation and terrain as quickly as possible. Wolverine, you're our eyes and ears, not to mention nose, on the ground. I want you to scout ahead and determine the disposition of the enemy and relay it back to the rest of us via telepathic link. Ra... I mean Phoenix, a telepathic communications link will be crucial to coordinating our actions, that's clear, but I'm also worried about the possible involvement of the mutates. We must be prepared if Brainchild and the others may have fallen under Belasco's sway, or have their own plans."

"Works for me." Wolverine sits easy in the chair, hands behind his head, thinking about what lies ahead. "What kind of range are we working with?"

"Of course," Rachel says. "I've been reading up, on the Savage Land, just in case (*). When you get a chance, you might want to check the Blackbird's closet, by the way."

Kurt's eyes linger on the closet. "If it's a jack-in-the-box, Rachel, you will live to regret it," Kurt grins. "Ah, I seem to have my hands full flying a state-of-the-art multi-million dollar aircraft."

"All right, make the women do the fetch and carry, then," Rachel smiles, and pulls a familiar-looking flight jacket from the aircraft's closet, draping it over Kurt's shoulders. "Good as old."

Kurt beams with undisguised pleasure. "Rachel, it's perfect. Thank you." He grins at the other passengers. "Out of respect for your sensibilities I'll refrain from executing a loop-the-loop."

He grows serious again as he returns to the mission ahead.

"I'm hoping to get us as close as possible, though I'm fully aware that the Blackbird, miracle of Shi'ar technology that she is, might not be quite so invisible to a demonic sorcerer. Phoenix's telepathic scans will have to inform our approach." Kurt knots his eyebrows, trying to put all the variables together into something that gives them the best chance of success.

"I'll do what I can," Rachel says. "Tell me when we're close enough to start looking."

Kurt's gaze strays to Ilyana. "Magick, you and Kitty may simultaneously be the most vulnerable and the most dangerous to Belasco. I want the two of you to stick together. If you see an opportunity to strike at Belasco, take it, but don't expose yourselves too soon."

Ariel nods.

Peter holds Ilyana's hand for reassurance.

After a harrowing flight through the storms that perpetually surround the Savage Land - and through the UN security web left their presence spark an international incident - Nightcrawler brings the Blackbird to a landing in a small clearing amidst the vast jungle. The need for secrecy meant landing further away from the city then ideal, but Ariel's topographic maps let them set down within a half-day's journey without being spotted by hiding their landing in one of the city's blind spots in the rough terrain.

Immediately upon landing Wolverine disappears into the brush, moving with speed, silence and surety though the primeval setting to scout out the opposition. The rest of the team has a few hours to prepare.

After several hours of hard travel Wolverine reaches the a point where he can see the city from an elevated position. It's pretty much identical to what Chuck projected from Ilyana's mindscape - the domed edifice being repaired with quarried blocks rather than steel - but even from this distance the whole of it sets his instincts on edge. It's as if the angles don't connect properly and his mind keeps trying to shy away from it.

Fortunately there's no sign of the pteradon cavalry that Garokk and Sauron had both used to patrol the valley. Instead he can make out plentiful small black shapes moving on the ground and handling the repairs - a far larger population then he had seen in and around the city in their previous encounters, and something clearly not the human worshipers of the Petrified Man or the cultists of Zaladane.

He keeps to cover, moving carefully and taking every opportunity to fill his senses with the immediacy of the jungle. He doesn't trust magic, but this particular task is the oldest of games, hunting hunters. What has Belasco found, or made, in the old city -- that is what they need to know. With any luck, something that bleeds.

The climb down is easy enough to manage, and after another set of painstaking hours he has moved through the tall grasslands of the plain from one copse to the next. The route is a little indirect but eventually takes him close enough to the city to gather some real information. He is able to get a good look at the creatures doing the actual work on the structure and none of them are human, or even Swamp Men. Instead they stand slightly more than a meter tall, wiry in build, rangy of limb. ebony in skin tone and with a heads that flatten above the forehead into near horns. The physical resemblance to the N'garai is distinct but these creatures are much smaller, tailless and - to Wolverine's instinct - don't vibe as being nearly as dangerous. Based on what they're carrying they are stronger than they appear.

Wolverine is also able to spot Gaza, Barbarus and Lupo acting as overseers to the workers. All share the slightly twisted quality that Kitty and Peter mentioned. Since the last time Wolverine had seen any of these individuals they had been de-evolved back to their Neanderthal-like Swamp Man forms, stripping them of their higher sentience and powers, and the technology needed to restore them destroyed it's clear that Belasco somehow magically changed them back into mutates. The question is whether he restored all the others, including the truly dangerous Vertigo, or went solely with the ones who would make good physical enforcers.

The scent of sweat, brimstone and stale cigar smoke that signifies S'ym's presence is also wafting faintly in the air. He's here, but not outside. For some reason Wolverine can't remember Belasco's scent. Did he even have one? Or is the city messing with his memory?

Also present is a large, nearly transparent crystal monolith set on a platform attached to the city. Said platform is part of the unsettling new construction. Based on the detritus around it the monolith was carted from somewhere using wooden cart or some such that was disassembled as it was put into place. When he squints just right Wolverine thinks he can make out a translucent figure inside the crystal.

There are a few paths into the city - the main gate (heavily guarded), circling back around to the sewer entrances (likely safe but long and out of the way) and through gaps in the construction (not as heavily guarded but highly timing dependent).

Phoenix? He's not nearly so used to her as to Chuck's telepathic presence. Better get so, and quickly.

I'm here Rachel's voice comes back along with an undertone of warmth.

He passes along the information about the number and apparent nature of the enemy.

Got it Rachel forwards the information along to the rest of the team. The crystal is interesting. No idea who could be in there?

I'm going to go ahead into the city. See what the heck they're building over there.

Sounds good. Shall I try to share your eyes?

Okay. He can let her know if her presence turns out to be distracting.

The combination of range, Wolverine's natural mental defenses and some sort of static interference keeps her from locking onto his senses as he moves onward.

Nightcrawler listens intently to Rachel's report from Wolverine, his usually cheerful face frowning in concentration.

"I think we have to assume that our opponent has N'Garai demons to hand, seeing as those workers are similar. That emphasizes our aerial capability, as the demons are ground-bound. The mutates likewise, though I like to avoid tangling with them if possible. They're more victims than opponents."

"That monolith is intriguing. Clearly important to Belasco, and so potentially distracting to him if we can endanger it at the right moment. That's likely a job for you, Peter, or Phoenix."

"If Wolverine can find us an unobserved spot I can can teleport us close to the city one at time, though I'm wary about being discovered mid-way through the process. Kitty, how do you feel about phasing us through the city's outer wall? You'd have to scout ahead to pick a secluded spot."

"I am open to suggestions," he finishes. This is a proper test of your leadership, Kurt. Please God that I don't muck it up.

Ariel, with Lockheed perched on her shoulder, says, "I should be able to fly all of us there pretty quick, Nightcrawler. I've got the hang of it now. But, do all of you think you can deal with flying through the jungle at speed?"

"We'll manage.”

"I recommend we move on with Kitty ferrying team mates forward, leapfrogging as needed. Everyone tries their best to keep out of sight and Phoenix keeps everyone in telepathic contact. C'mon, we need to get moving."

"Okay," Ariel says. "Lockheed will scout ahead." The miniature dragon takes off from her shoulder and circles upward. "Everybody hold hands, and whatever you do, *don't let go*, okay?" She herself takes Ilyana's hand and then Nightcrawler's, leaving Colossus and Phoenix to choose their places.

A moment later they're all intangible, then lifting gently off from the ground. Without air resistance, there is little feeling of acceleration as they level off near the tops of the trees and then speed up to a respectable rate. Occasionally they pass *through* some of the taller jungle growth. Ariel sends, *Sing out if you need me to avoid the treetops!*

Watching the landscape fly under and through him, Nightcrawler says “Phoenix, anything new from Wolverine? Tell him we need a recommendation of a way into the city."

'''

We have a one image across 5 panel shot covering the width of the page where we just see Wolverine in his current hiding place to the far left. In each panel the parest edge of him is visible amongst the grass, rocks, mining equipment and whatnot until finally we see his shadow as he slips inside the city through one of the gaps in the construction.

Once inside he's able to make a quick climb up an isolated patch of wall to get a better vantage point and stay well out of sight. The scent of S'ym is closer, and he can also pick up the edge of Amphibius' wet, slimy aroma somewhere inside, but still no trace of Brainchild or Vertigo. There are also at least a dozen great wolves around, doubtless under Lupo's control.

From this angle he can see that the stone masonry is all etched with runes and intricate designs which do nothing to dispel the sense of intrinsic wrongness gripping the city. He can also make out a stairway that likely leads up to the platform holding the recently transplanted crystal monolith, but can't see the monolith itself.

A little more scouting reveals a good spot for Nightcrawler or Ariel to insert the others.

He passes all of this along to the others, and gets comfortable for the wait until everyone else can get there, keeping his eyes on the activity.]

After 13 minutes of flying across the jungle landscape Ariel dips down through the trees to make the last few minutes of flight completely under cover. Her landing spot is not far from where Wolverine made his first contact with Phoenix. The team can see the city and its population much as Wolverine described - little has changed in the last fifteen minutes save that Wolverine is now hidden somewhere in the city, and risk that if Belasco can sense Kitty or Illyana's presence the clock is now ticking.

"I could shift all of us over to him?" Magik suggests with a strong hint of question in her voice. The detection risk of her using her Limbo-related mutation are not lost on her.

Nightcrawler nixes this. "We can't run the risk of Belasco detecting your power signature. If there's anything likely to draw his attention that would be it."

"Phoenix, have we got a fix on Wolverine's position?"

"Of course."

He scans the structures of the city, looking for shadowed spaces he could reach by teleporting that would be secluded and not easily overlooked.

"Ariel," Phoenix says, "If you'll trust me, I think I can guide you in without having to look."

"That'll be helpful," the girl replies.

Nightcrawler considers this and decides. "Right, Aerial you have Colossus and Phoenix to phase underground into the building. Phoenix, once you're inside give me a telepathic fix for a landing site and I'll teleport inside. Failing that I'll can port to the top of the wall into shadow and spy an open space to get inside."

He takes a deep breath. "Right, alert Wolverine to our approach, and start hyperventilating..."

Ariel stares up at Lockheed, who is presently stretched lazily along a branch above their heads. After a moment he launches himself into the air and disappears into the canopy.

"Okay," she says next. "For this part, Ilyana - I mean Magick - put your hands on my shoulders, Phoenix behind Magick, and Colussus behind Phoenix. Remember that letting go could really be fatal on this route, so *don't.*"

With the quartet arranged to her liking, she takes deep breaths while waiting for Phoenix's "fix." Then she sends, *Ready? Here we go,* and drops them into the earth.

The trip through the ground is unnerving but quick. Phoenix's fix on Wolverine's location lets Ariel bring the quartet up out of the ground right near him and she's able to float them up to his perch. Nightcralwer follows a few seconds later. So far the infiltration has gone off without a hitch.

I could try to find him with a detection spell... Magik transmits, knowing that this too will be stifled as being too risky.

"Right people, we have to locate Belasco. Wolverine and Phoenix are our best spotters, so they should keep to the front. Colossus, you're the shield for Magik and Aerial. We can't assume that Kitty's phasing is going to work against any magic the demon might throw at us. I'm going to stick to the shadows and the ceiling to try and keep an eye on things and have a trick in reserve."

Nightcrawler looks around to orient himself and gestures along one of the corridors.

"There's a big auditorium at the centre of this place. Belasco's ego would love it. Let's get going."

The group makes it way down the passages towards the center of the structure as Nightcrawler indicated. Colossus, Magik and Ariel follow in Wolverine and Phoenix tracks, discovering that their newest teammate has a lot of expertise in moving through ruined urban environments and avoiding detection. To the eyes of the rest of the group Nightcrawler is just gone, but reassuringly present in the telepathic link Phoenix maintains throughout the group.

After some cautious movement they approach where the more experienced team members know the central auditorium to be. As they do so their point people have a series of interesting observations:

Wolverine is able to pick up the scent of S'ym more strongly - he's just passed this way moving away from the central auditorium down one the city's branching paths. He also picks up a familiar pair of scents, feline and human, mixed with blood and sweat that had passed through here - Ka-Zar and his companion saber-tooth Zabu are both up ahead somewhere. The air flow is coming from the auditorium space and it's carrying their fresh scent, but not it's strangely intermingled.

Phoenix can make out three minds up ahead, but none of them are fully sentient. At three are in some sort of mental distress, as if their thoughts are being suppressed somehow. There's also a curious null spot up ahead. She might be able to find out more if she pushes through with more force but she's pushing her limits with maintaining a 6 person link combined with general scanning and trying to move quietly.

Nightcrawler, further ahead of the others, is able to move into an air duct to get a view of the auditorium. His guess was correct - Belasco's ego would not let him avoid such a place, and he is sitting at a stone table in the center of the room. It's a bit far away from him to make out too much about Belasco's actions or the things surrounding him or strewn on the table, but there is a sword in an elaborate stand within Belasco's easy reach. There are also three humanoid figures in crystalline cages just off the central dais. Two have the physical chunkiness of the Neanderthal 'Swamp People' while the third is covered heavily muscled and covered with thick fur.

Everyone else is hiding in a shadowed nook about 100 feet down the corridor from the central auditorium, listening to people's descriptions of what their scouts can detect. Well away from the entrance they're comfortably safe from detection from anyone outside - who are now about a half a mile distant - but also have no way of knowing what might be happening outside.

Nightcrawler broadcasts via Rachel's link. "Wolverine, you're the expert here. It looks like we've got a chance to strike at Belasco with S'ym out of the picture, at least initially. I suggest we give the purple horror another few minutes to distance himself from the auditorium and then strike. I'll go for Belasco's sword, which I suspect has something to do with Ilyana's soul sword, and is a weapon to deprive the demon of anyway. Can you get the group into position to make our first hit count, and count hard?"

Nightcrawler, Phoenix sends, I'm guessing those figures are the nonsentients I sensed earlier. Shall I try to break through before we attack?

Wolverine thoroughly approves of this plan…but This could be a very weirdly baited trap?

Ariel sends, If you can't find a scent ... it might be. How do we check?

Kurt sends back I can't see any other figures, but then what I see as Belasco could be an illusion. If it's a trap, he's expecting us, and knows we're here. I don't see him keeping this all set up on the off chance we'll drop by.

Rachel, can you get anything from the three caged figures? Memories, visual impressions? Maybe they saw Belasco's preparations. If nothing comes of that, I think we're going to have to risk a peek inside that odd null field you've reported.

Nightcrawler scans the upper parts of the chamber intently, looking for possible vantage points the villain Belasco might be observing from or that may serve as a hiding place for himself if needed.

Phoenix tries to probe the three figures, trying to get a better idea of what is happening through their sub-sentient minds.

With the two Neanderthals their minds are confused spaces - not quite animal, not quite human, but each has a core set of clear, active memories that were clearly made by more sentient creatures. The male's memories are cunning, sharp, overflowing with technical precision and indicate that he was once human...no, mutate...having been restored to his full self by Belasco. Playing for advantage being his nature he tried a coup only to learn that Belasco had predicted this, was playing him, and reverted him back to his Neanderthal state via the same magic that restored him to his mutate form, to act as Belasco's loving defender, but with this set of pure memories to remind him of everything he had lost. There's nothing in the upper mind other than a need to serve and protect Belasco - backed up by the realization that a failure to do this would mean never escaping this punishment.

The female Neanderthal has the same sort of structure, save that her mind lacks the other's brilliance. She had been convinced to join in the failed coup and therefore suffered the same fate. She is more resigned to it, and therefore in less mental anguish.

The third figure isn't like the other two save for the construction of punishment: there's a human mind merged within and subsumed under a feline one, all instinct, confusion and pain. Phoenix can feel a collar under the merged creature's fur attached to a leash holding him in place, but any mental compulsions that Belasco might have placed on this creature are long since in tatters - the inherent nobility and strength of will of the two merged entities make sure they can never be so effectively bound. It will strike out at whomever comes near it, but it would just as willingly slaughter Belasco as anyone else.

Nightcrawler absorbs the information passed along by Phoenix and draws his own conclusions about the prisoners in the crystal cages. Ok, gang, this is it. Phoenix, see if you can't help that last prisoner - the one with the human and animal minds combined must be Ka-Zar and Zabu - regain control of themselves. Colossus, you're our best bet to get that cage open, so move quickly. Everyone else, wait for Phoenix's signal once she's got somewhere with Ka-Zar, and then we go with the plan.

Phoenix makes her way back into the twisted, conjoined psyche of the man-cat creature. There are waves of feral feline pain and anger perpetually washing over the psyche but she is able to see clusters of individual human consciousness. Taking her cue from the work she saw Professor Xavier do inside Rogues mind to reintegrate and strengthen a broken psyche she is able to gather together several of these pieces, watching them knit themselves together into the astral form of an athletic figure with flowing blond locks and an innate, if savage nobility.

I...am.... I am Ka-Zar. I am Kevin Plunder. I am the ruler of the Savage Land. He turns and looks at Phoenix. and who are you?

I am Phoenix, of the X-Men. We've travelled here to confront and defeat Belsaco.

Ah. Cyclops thought you dead. Zabu and I are pleased to see that he was wrong.

My mother. But I am proud to carry her name. What happened?

Belasco surprised us. I thought him long dead after I threw his bloodstone locket into the volcano.

[*ED: Ka-Zar's been fighting Belasco since issue 11 of his own mag!]

When he first captured Zabu and me we were still separated. I managed to break free and attack him but he has some enchantment around himself that disrupts the senses - hearing and sight are shifted slightly to the right, is scent is eliminated, even the sense of touch is dulled so you cannot feel the breeze or be sure that you struck him squarely.

That must be the null field I sensed earlier!

I can feel the remnants of his domination in my psyche, but Zabu and I have been slowly destroying it. I'm not sure he realizes that.

Then perhaps we can catch him by surprise!

I would like that very much, is the growled response.

Phoenix relays Ka-Zar's info to the rest of the group. A straightforward attack is going to get foiled by Belasco's illusion. But the sword seems to be real, and maybe I can pierce the illusion if I can get past the null shield

Magik chimes in He never used to maintain that, and those sorts of enchantments are difficult to keep constant. Easier if he's got a focus, though. Something he cast it on. He never had that sword before....

Nor when I fought him last, Ka-Zar responds, But he has had it with him since his return to the Savage Land, for all that I have never seen him wield it.

Page 12 (At the Mansion)

It’s evening at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youth. The Professor is reading a treatise on biochemical origins of consciousness and watching a light December snow fall outside when something catches his attention. He looks up, one eyebrow raised, and thinks “Curious. A highly disciplined mind just _appeared_ on the grounds.”

New Mutants, I’ll be heading outside to see to a visitor. Could one of you please get some water brewing for tea?

Anyone dangerous, Professor? Dani immediately responds.

I’d be very surprised if he were, Danielle, but based on some the X-Men’s original encounters with him a suppose a little caution is warranted, Xavier responds as he pulls on an overcoat before heading out the front door and walking into the snow. He pulls up the collar against the cold.

A short distance away from the house there’s a figure in the shadows and snow – moderate height, moderate build, male, long straight black hair being blown in the wind.

“Good evening, Professor. I hope I’m not intruding,” the figure says, “I’m here to talk to Logan.”

“Not at all, Shaman, but I’m afraid Wolverine isn’t here.”

The two men are close enough now to see Shaman clearly – he’s in his uniform and the cold doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest, but his face looks a little haggard, as if he’s been bearing burdens he never intended to bear. .

“Please come in. My students are making us some tea.”

“Thank you,” Shaman extends his hand. Xavier grasps it, the two men immediately taking one another’s measure and deciding that they will be friends. Xavier turns and the two walk back into the mansion.

“What brings you down here, Shaman?”

“Call me Michael, please. I wanted to give Logan an update on how Mrs. Hudson was faring, and felt it best that since I had the time to do it in person.”

“Please call me Charles, Michael,” He closes the door to the manor behind them and takes a few moments to stomp his feet on the floor to clear off the snow before continuing. Shaman is untouched by the cold or snow. “Unfortunately the X-Men are on a mission right now, about as far away as they can be while still being on Earth.”

Doctor Twoyoungman raises an eyebrow and Xavier clarifies, “Antarctica. The Savage Land.”

“Serious?”

Xavier’s eyes flick to the New Mutants, who are hovering to see who their visitor is, before answering. “Nothing they can’t handle. Allow me to introduce my current students – this are Mirage, Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane and Magma of the New Mutants. Students, this is Shaman of Alpha Flight.”

“Is there some sort of emergency?” ‘Berto asks.

“Just a social call,” Shaman replies with a smile.

“The tea is almost ready, honored professor,” Amara says.

“Thank you. We’ll take it in my study.”

The men retire to Xavier’s study, “Now, what can I do for you, Michael?”

There’s a period where the men talk, Doctor Twoyoungman sharing everything he ethically can about the state of the recently widowed Heather MacNeil Hudson, and Xavier nodding and agreeing with Shaman’s handling of her case so far in a psychological sense. Xavier then intimates that Logan had taken it upon himself to deliver some measure of vengeance on the people who authorized and funded Guardian’s death.

“I doubt it gave him any measure of comfort,” Michael responds, “but knowing it’s been done might keep Heather from trying any such foolishness herself. She’s a strong woman and is working through it as best she can, but she’s taking risks. I think she’s past the worst of the survivor’s guilt, but it would do her no good to turn to vengeance.”

“If I can ask, Charles, I can’t help but notice a palpable psionic pressure around the manor grounds. Are you in some danger?”

“It’s a trifle complicated, but several of the New Mutants are at risk of being controlled by a psionicist of some power. I’ve taken to maintaining a ward around the grounds to both detect and fight off any future incursions,” Xavier responds with a grimace. “Unfortunately that limits my time and concentration to developing a more permanent solution.”

“I should be able to help there,” Shaman says. “I have a magical warding that prevents just that sort of outside control. Would you like me to apply it to the grounds?”

Xavier smiles, “Very much so, yes.”

We see the two men walking the edge of the lake – Shaman has a handful of green-blue powder that he’s sprinkling in a trail beside him. The powder ears through the snow and into the ground, where it vanishes. “This will last a season, so you should be safe until the vernal equinox.”

“I am in your debt, Michael.” Xavier says, his forehead having lost an almost imperceptible crease that he has held for weeks.

“Not at all, Charles – the least Alpha Flight can do for you after our first two encounters. Just please tell Logan that I was here and that Heather is improving. Enjoy your rest.”

“Farewell, Michael.”

Shaman spreads a circle of dust in the air around him and, as it settles to the ground, he vanishes.

Xavier heads back into his study and, after taking off his coat, opens up a closed bulletin board. Inside it are photographs – Frost, Shaw, Leland, Coy Mahn, Gyrich, Trask - notecards, timetables and strings connecting related data points. “Now then,” Xavier says, “Let’s begin.”

Page 13-16 (Everyone)

Nightcrawler sends to Phoenix. I'm going to go for the sword, from above. Once I've got it I'll get rid of the sword and you and the rest of the team act. I'll return once I've dealt with the sword. Understood?

As per the plan Wolverine leads Colossus and Ariel (Magik) forward to the edge of the coliseum. Once they're in position to begin their charges - Colossus towards the cages to free Ka-Zar and, if need be, incapacitate Vertigo and Brainchild, Wolverine and Ariel (Magik) to make an assault on Belasco - Nightcrawler steels himself for the sensory shift and prepares to teleport.

In the second before he vanishes he sees Belasco gather up a handful of small items from the table. Then he disappears and reappears in the air about midway between Belasco and the sword. The shift is more wrenching than usual as he breaches the sensory field and there's a brief flare of fear that he could easily have materialized inside something, but Ka-Zar's advanced warning and his midair materialization prevented that - never mind a decade or more of experience of having his own sensory location shift rapidly!

He sees Belasco holding the handful of items he had just collected, his expression the superior smirk of someone who thinks he holds the upper hand, as he spins to confront the charging X-Men. Kurt's not even sure that Belasco has registered his presence, so set he is about his moment of gloating.

"X-Men, Ilyana, how nice of you to visit!" Belasco intones as he spins and strews the collected objects onto the ground between himself and the X-Men.

Kurt's tail flails out as he lands noiselessly on the table, wrapping around the sword just a few inches away from where he expected it. As per the plan he eschews any other attack against or theft from Belasco and disappears.

The strewn objects instantly grow into five demonic forms: roughly Wolverine's height and build with variegated skin-tones of green red and purple, whose thickly built arms terminate in nasty looking claws or blunt malformed bony clubs.

Before Belasco can make any move to direct his defenders the bamf of imploding air behind him alerts him to Nightcrawler's presence - or more precisely, his absence - and he sees that his sword is missing. "What?!?"

Left undirected for a moment the slavering horde follows Belasco's immediate instruction, which was to stop the X-men from approaching him. Wolverine dives into them, taking three down with an open-armed tackle. His claws bite deep into one, dropping it instantly while the other two are tangled on the ground. He frees himself and rolls up to engage the others, which are menacing he and Ariel (Magik)

Ariel (Magik) ducks to the left of one of the demons, sliding through his grip like smoke before leaping an impossible distance. She makes a clumsy if effective swing of her sword towards Belasco before landing next to the stone table. Pure instinct lets the demon-sorcerer project a protective shield to ward off the blow only to find it almost wholly ineffective, leaving him with a gash along his side.

Colossus avoids Belasco's defenders entirely by the simple expedient of not aiming for him. Powering across the space he makes a running leap to the cages. The three figures are screaming, howling and banging at the cage walls as he approaches, and there's no difference in behavior between the Neanderthals and the merged man-cat that is Ka-Zar. Belasco sees this and yells "Fools!" reaching an arm out, but whatever enchantment he's preparing will likely come too late.

Colossus raises his arms and smashes them downward as his quarter-ton body slams into the crystalline cage. Magic or no the structure doesn't stand a chance, and heavy shards of crystal shrapnel fly around the room, forcing everyone to duck for cover for a second. The only one who lacks that opportunity is the merged Ka-Zar/Zabu entity, who suffers several cuts and gashes.

Inside that being's mind a read haze of battle lust starts to descend from the pain, and would engulf the figure completely save for Phoenix' telepathic bolstering of Kevin Plunder's core self. As it stands the creature is still a snarling mass of primeval rage and muscle, but it's a directed one.

"Ha!" Belasco yells into the sudden silence after the cage's explosion "And you have sealed your own doom! For weeks I have conditioned my pet to do my bidding, laying enchantments upon it to make it an unstoppable killing machine! Surrender now, X-men, and I might let you..."

The Man-Cat's leap is as impressive as Ariel's, propelled by muscle and rage, and Belasco's triumphant rant turns into a shriek as the furred, clawed mass slams into him.

"Ka-Zar...Is...No...Man's...Pet!" The words are tortured and raw coming from the twisted and misshapen larynx.

Belasco has no time to realize the depth of his error as, his shields already down from the Soulsword's strike, he strikes the stone table, is knocked onto it, scattering his magical supplies and books across the dais. The pair roll once, twice, and fall off the far side of the table out of sight of the X-Men.

Meanwhile, back in a hiding place above the coliseum, Nightcralwer reappears with the sword. It takes a quick flailing flip for his foot to grab purchase on the ceiling, since the sensory disruption field has followed him, but he safely ensconced with a good view of the fight. That's when the sword starts to twitch in his tail, swinging of its own accord to sever the appendage and free itself.... And he can't call for help because his telepathic link to the team is gone.

Wolverine snarls and picks out a new target, slides in low and punches up, under the demon's guard.

The creature scurries madly away, far enough back for the blow to not be fatal, and then leaps at Wolverine, sending the small mutant to the ground.

There is a loud scuffle going on just out of a sight, a roar, a blood curdling shriek of magical words and flare of eldritch light on the far side of the table. The X-Men see two figures struggle up to a standing position, still wrestling with each other. Belasco is, amazingly, getting the better of the engagement, his arm around the beast's waist preparing to snap him in half, his fangs drenched in blood, while Ka-zar/Zabu has his front paws on Belasco's shoulders, trying to push him away.

Ariel/Ilyana leaps atop the table and darts across it, kicking objects out of the way and leading with the soul-sword towards the clinched pair.

Given her angle of attack she lunges the soulsword through the side of the merged Man-Cat's head and directly into Belasco's forehead. The results are...unexpected. The Man-Cat screams as blood fountains from the side of his head, the image-swapping illusion vanishing a second later so Ariel can see that she's nearly severed Belasco's left ear. The figure she _thought_ was Belasco, struck clean through the skull, also loses the illusion spell but the merged Man-Cat is nothing more than a flickering after image before two stunned figures - one large man, one a six-hundred pound smilodon - collapse over the red skinned man they were just trying to break in half.

The tumble of bodies drops under the table and Belasco is out of her sight for a moment.

Stay with me, Ka-Zar, Zabu Phoenix tries to help them stay together despite the shock to his/their systems [but not physically together--that's ended]

She feels Ka-Zar's body black out for a second to two - his limbs slack, his senses non-functional - even as his mind struggles to remain conscious. She adds her psychic strength to his own, letting him push aside the shock and pain and his personal control returns. She feels his whole self, physical and mental, recover to an active state and his astral presence on his psychic plane fades as he accepts a more normal reality. She can still hear his thoughts, however.

No! Trapdoor under the table! His mind yells even as his body screams "No! You will not escape!"

There's a trap door! Phoenix’s telepathic announcement lets everyone save Nightcrawler know that their quarry is on the edge of escaping.

"Zum teufel!" Nightcrawler utters as he wrestles with the sword. He tries desperately to control the bloodthirsty blade.

Kurt grits his teeth and wrestles the sword out in front of him. With a brief prayer he teleports dangerously close to the nearest big structural lump of stone, hoping to embed the wilful sword irrevocably within.

The materialization is wrenching - far worse than even his initial attempts to teleport with someone else - as his body's mutant safety mechanism fight against what he's ordering them to do. The result is gratifying, however. There's a brief, loud, high pitched piercing sound and the sword is embedded two feet into the side of the wall. Any animation it once possessed is gone.

Holy Mother Kurt thinks as he sags against the wall. Well, that was foolish, but at least the damned sword is out of action.

After a moment's pause to centre himself and catch his breath, Nightcrawler teleports back to the chamber and the excitement.

Galvanized by Phoenix’s warning Peter sprints up to the dais. He casually tosses the stone table aside with one hand (forcing Ariel/Magik to drop gracefully to the ground) and slamming his other fist through the trapdoor, which is visible from where Belasco’s cloak – Which Ka-Zar managed to grab – still protrudes

The foot thick stone shatters, chunks of rock falling the fifteen or so feet to the floor below. The only light is from the puddles of Belasco’s blood, which has caught fire. Even in that dim light Colossus can tell that Belasco is no longer immediately visible, but he couldn’t have gotten very far, and he’s leaving a trail of blood from his various wounds.

The three remaining demons leap onto Wolverine. He takes a gash from the first one across the torso and responds with a backhanded cut that leaves the demon with an obviously much deeper gash.

Before he can regain his feet he is hit from the side, opening a second wound and throwing him partially off balance, Logan responds by hooking his leg through the demons to bring both down in a controlled fall. The demon lands on the bottom seconds before Wolverine’s elbow crushes its trachea against the stone floor.

The third leaps directly towards the embattled mutant, impaling itself on adamantium claws even as its own talons bite deep into Wolverine’s forearm. With a forward heave Logan frees himself by tossing the demon to the ground and stands up, a little shaky but far better off than his opponents.

Nightcrawler's back--but in pain! Kurt, are you all right? Phoenix sends

Through the pain, Kurt smiles at the concern in Phoenix's voice So like her mother he thinks privately.

Sending, he replies I'm ok, Phoenix. The sword's dealt with; I'm on my way back.

BAMF!

Nightcrawler reappears over one of the two remaining demons, grabbing its horns with his feet and sending the creature chin down into the stone with a loud crack. The last demon has a moment of hesitation, looking at Wolverine, who is roughly 10 feet away, over to Nightcralwer balancing on his friend’s skull, and then back to Wolverine who is RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM, and the fight is over.

Ka-Zar, Colossus and Ariel/Magik are on the dais, looking down into the passage that was Belasco’s escape route. With the sword destroyed Wolverine can now clearly make out Belasco’s scent. Given the nature of the airflow out of the coliseum everywhere is downwind from here so Belasco is the only opponent he can really pinpoint.

Phoenix/Magik, some distance away, can feel the stony will that is Belasco’s mind rapidly approaching her through the city’s catacombs. Magik/Phoenix grabs her arm and sends I can feel him, and I think he knows I’m over here.

Aware of his presence Phoenix/Magik can just barely spot Belasco slipping out through a secret door – he is clearly the worse for wear but is no longer actively bleeding. Rachel is much too skilled a subversive to let this awareness show at all in her face or stance, leaving Belasco to think that he has them by surprise.

Page 17-18 (Storm)

Ororo is on board the ship, talking to the ship’s captain, Chike Okello (who is unashamedly modeled on Captain Katanga from Raiders of the Lost Arc) in his cabin.

“How much farther, Captain?”

“We’ve just passed Kosti and Rabak, which means both that we’re making good time and we need to be making better time. From here on in the conflict between the rebels and the government only gets worse, and there are spillover effects from the famine in Gojjam,” he tells her. “I’ll tell you again, you picked a strange time and path for a vacation, Ororo.”

She smiles back “It is more of a pilgrimage Chike. And I’ve lived through too many other things to be afraid now.”

Chike gives her an appraising glance, “Yes, I can see that. I’ve lived through a war and more firefights than I can count, but I get the sense that if I were to engage in a bragging contest with you I’d lose. “

He pours her some coffee “I’d try to get you drunk and wheedle some stories out of you, but Allah forbids it.”

“Alcohol?”

“Wheedling,” he smiles. “Well, alcohol too, but I only take stock in that when there are people around who would kill us for it as a show of their own piety. Odds are small I’d run into them, but I hate taking risks. “

“Yet you bring me here.”

He shrugs philosophically, “It’s my country. I take the risks I need to and avoid the ones I don’t.”

Chike raises his mug and she clinks hers against it. Before they can talk any more the Egyptian first officer sticks his head in. “Captain, there’s a firefight up ahead.”

Captain Okello puts his mug down and heads up to the deck, grabbing the first officer’s binoculars as he goes. Ororo follows. Her senses are still sharp, mutant or no, and she can clearly make out the echoing sounds of shots and the muzzle flashes across the river ahead of them.

“Oh, that’s just stupid,” Chike says as he looks through the binoculars. “Idiot potshots across the river in the dark. Wasting ammo and my time….”

He chews his lip for a second as Ororo glances around the banks of the river. At the same instant both say “Something’s not right.”

“What?” the first officer says.

“They’re too far apart for that to be any sort of meaningful exchange,” Chike tells him, “The goal is to block the river. Slow down traffic. Probably got word of our passage through Kosti and think we’re carrying something valuable”

Ororo lays her hand on his shoulder and points with her head to port. There’s a small reed filled tributary flanked by trees with low hanging branches. Very low hanging branches. He nods.

“Abdul, open the box. Ororo, I’ll ask you to go below….”

“I’m not a fan of guns, Captain Okello, but I am checked out on a .45 caliber ACP and an M-16,” She informs him.

“Why am I not surprised?” he says, handing her a pistol butt first. “But you are my passenger and you will do what I say. Stay low on the deck, with cover, and do not fire until you have both a clear shot and no other choice. Do you understand?”

She nods. “Rebels?”

“Pirates, profiting on the war. Vultures.” He takes one of the rifles. “I can’t reason with them, so I’ll have to outrun them. Now get down.”

We have a set of soundless panels of the ship picking up speed before racing through the firefight ahead of them – while the shooters are too far apart for their shots to matter to each other both are in range of Okello’s ship. Behind them the trees branches spring up, the weights holding them cut, and a motorboat pulls out of the tributary, shining a spotlight on Okello’s ship

Gunfire rakes the ship from both sides, before Chike’s men can lay down some cover fire, but the greater damage is from the speedboat, which has a mounted 50 caliber machine gun. Abdul is hit and falls over, his body lying next to Ororo’s. Chike returns fire, forcing the motorboat off line for a moment or two while the ship clears the crossfire.

“Once…” Ororo thinks, pressing herself fiercely against the deck “Once I could have ended this with a wave of my hand.”

The first part of their trap blow the motorboat, rather than giving up, speeds towards them again. The 50 cal shatters windows, tears holes in walls and kills another crewman.

Ororo grabs Abdul’s abandoned rifle, takes careful aim through the glare of the spotlight, targeting a spot slightly up and to the right of the 50 cal’s muzzle flares and pulls the trigger. There is a loud curse from the speedboat, the 50 cal stops and the pursuing boat loses speed.

“Go, go, go!” Chike yells to his crew and the boat, already near its top speed, continues to accelerate, leaving the trap behind.

He walks over to Ororo. “You… don’t listen worth a damn.” He holds down a hand to help her up.

“Yes, I do. I had a clear shot and no other choice. How bad is the damage?”

“Bad enough. Two men dead, one wounded, holes in the ship, damage to one of the engines based on the whining I’m hearing below, didn’t do the other much good with this sprint. We can move at good speed for a little while yet, limp until morning so we can make repairs and hope that your shot didn’t just piss them off so they chase us.”

She looks back down river, “Is that likely?”

“No. They’re vultures. Their fights are about profit, not honor. If you’d been standing up firing on them in all your womanly glory then perhaps it would be a matter of saving face, but as it is we’re just not worth the chase.”

We get a panel of the sun rising with Chike’s ship, with Chike coming up to Ororo at the bow. Careful readers can see that she still has the pistol in her belt. “I need to find somewhere to put in so we can stop and repair the engines. I’m not comfortable on the main river.”

“How about that tributary,” Ororo points to a small inflow to port.

“What are you talking about?”

“That, there,” she says. “Next to the metal box.” There is indeed a metal box, looking almost like an upright coffin, next to the tributary.

“There’s no…wait. It’s shimmering. What is that?”

Chike heads to the wheel and steers the boat towards the inflow.

“Captain, what are you doing?” One of the crew asks.

“Measuring risks.”

“But you’re steering into the riverban….” The sailor says, panic turning to awe in his voice at the riverbank turns out not to be a riverbank.

Ororo sees the metal box pass by them. Up close its edges are curved and the whole is incredibly smooth, looking almost molded. “That looks so familiar.” She thinks. “But from where?”

Chike moves the boat up the now visible river, but clearly with some difficulty, until he pulls alongside the riverbank. “Right. Far enough.” He’s sweating now from the strain of navigating on the hazy, indistinct waterway.

To Ororo’s eyes, however, everything is perfectly clear.

“Let’s get the engines fixed and get out of here,” he tells his crew.

The wounded crewman – a short, broadly built Arab with an all but flat nose and his arm in a sling – Grabs Chike’s arm. “Captain, we can’t stay here. Not here.”

“Why not?” Chike asks, “What do you know of this place?”

“My brother-in-law told me of it,” the man babbles, “It is cursed by Allah. A cage for a man cursed by Allah. We are not meant to see it. Those who stumble in here he drives mad, turns their guns against them, freezes their blood in their veins.”

”Who does this?” Chike asks, his eyes betraying just a hint of nervousness as he struggles to scan the hazy terrain.

“The white haired demon!”

Page 19-21 (Everyone)

[BR: I am writing this from the audience’s perspective.]

Phoenix, some distance away, can feel the stony will that is Belasco's mind rapidly approaching her through the city's catacombs. Magik grabs her arm and sends I can feel him, and I think he knows I'm over here.

Aware of his presence Phoenix can just barely spot Belasco slipping out through a secret door - he is clearly the worse for wear but is no longer actively bleeding. Rachel is much too skilled a subversive to let this awareness show at all in her face or stance, leaving Belasco to think that he has them by surprise.

"Ah, my daughter, here you are. With one of your new defenders...." Phoenix feels Belasco's first attack through her telepathic link with Ilyana even has she hears the demon-sorcerer speaking. Some sort of standing enchantment inside Ilyana's mind dropped her will to resist to nothing the second he called her 'Daughter'. She raises her arms in to telekentically blast Belasco….

"Ah, ah, ah..." Belasco says, motioning with his hand. Reddish bands of force materialize around Phoenix, snapping her arms down to her sides. "No last minute heroics. Your allies are far away and well engaged, miss whoever-you-are, and the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak will make sure that you don't interfere with our little reunion."

Phoenix's face is curiously slack – perhaps marshaling her resources - Rachel can only hope Belasco doesn't notice. The sorcerer turns back to Ilyana

"You have become quite confident in yourself, my apprentice." He fingers his ear, which, while reattached is still coated in blood. "I think it's definitely time for us to take the next step in your training. Come with me."

Phoenix does get a moment of shock with S'ym all but materializes out of the shadows near her. "Bring the new chippie, boss?"

"By all means," Belasco says as he strides away, trusting Ilyana to follow. "We certainly don't want Ilyana to be separated from her friends now that she has brought them back to us."

Ilyana, now under Belasco's thrall, follows in his wake, while Phoenix, seemingly helpless against the magic that entraps her, is carried along in her wake. But Phoenix's mind cannot be entrapped by mere physical bonds, and she probes at the enchantment now controlling Magik's mind. "That enchantment has her locked up -- but maybe I can find a key!"

S’ym is dragging the floating, magically bound Phoenix over his shoulder, her body stiffened by the spell to a statue-like consistency. “So where’s Storm, chippie? I ain’t seen her yet and we got something special ready for her.”

Phoenix remains mute. An astute reader, looking over S’ym’s shoulder, will be able to see a pair of white eyes barely visible in the shadows of the corridor behind them.

_Over a darkened featureless plain Phoenix races, searching with the light of her own aura for some sign of weakness in the space blocking her from her target_

Belasco starts to talk at Magik as they travel through the labyrinthine structure, “I cannot thank you enough, my daughter, for your help. When you exiled me from Limbo you allowed me to return to this wonderful place and seek reparations from those who have wronged me in the past. And then, right on schedule, your demonic soul started to slip its bonds, letting me know that you were primed and ready for the next stage in your development, the next step into your life as my Darkchylde.”

He fingers his ear again, “Of course I knew you were coming, but I have to admit that your means of approach caught me off guard. Something must have happened to Storm – something painful, one hopes – and someone else must be leading the X-Men. Not little Kitty, certainly, nor this slip of a girl. Wolverine then, or Nightcrawler. It is of no matter. Unexpected or not my defenses thwarted your one chance at me, and now, once again, you are all just rats in my maze.”

_She spots something, an infinitesimal crack, a slight wavering of the ground under her, and wasting no time she arcs upward, flips over mid air and descends with terminal speed into that space. The ground approaches faster and faster until blackness envelops her_

The wish swishes his cloak in a particularly arrogant fashion as he opens another concealed door to the outside. The quartet steps out onto the platform holding the crystal monolith. S’ym tosses Phoenix casually aside on the platform. She lands with a clattering thud.

“Look carefully, my Darkchylde princess: look inside the crystal.” The shape that Wolverine thought he might have discerned earlier is now clearly visible, if still translucent. A middle aged to elderly black woman with flowing white hair. “Recognize her? Storm, of course. It was trivial for me to capture her soul when you killed her body. I transferred her to this more spacious abode once you returned me to the Savage Land. I assure you that she’s quite content in there, and will remain that way as long as you continue your apprenticeship.”

He steps forward, taking her chin in his hand, “You’ve grown strong and beautiful, but you are still not in your maturity. Still not ready for your glorious destiny. Every three years of your life since we’ve met you’ve freely given me a piece of your soul. The Elder Gods are waiting for your worship, the N'garai are waiting for your rule. So much hinges on you, I almost feel guilt about laying these burdens on your young shoulders.”

_There is a shattering light and Phoenix is standing alongside the young Magik, now roughly ten years of age, inside her rooms in Belasco’s Limbo castle. The girl looks at her, pleading, and silently motions to the chains binding her to her books, the table, the chair, her life as Belasco’s thrall._

He turns to S’ym, “Call them to attention. Let them see their new princess.” Astute readers might see, at an angle under Belasco’s cape, a pair of hands emerging from the floor to turn the still frozen Phoenix towards the action.

“Eh! Listen Up!” S’ym booms from the platform, likely lacking the majesty Belasco was hoping for but certainly attracting the attention of everyone in the plain. Astute readers will just be able to make out a pair of shapes deep in the shadows under the platform, one human, one feline.

_Sound doesn’t seem to exist in this place. Phoenix steps forward, taking the girl in her arms, and reaches deep into herself, extracting every piece of psionic potential she has now, or ever will, possess. Each link of the chains dances with St. Elmo’s fire, each strains against the inexorable strength of Phoenix’s will._

In the plain there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of the small demonic shapes, along with the three mutates. A fourth – Amphibius – leaps from a space nearby and lands on the platform near Belasco.

Belasco smiles, looking over the plain. We see a long shot of the platform from the view of the woods, over the heads of the worshipers demonic and mutate filling the plain, the city repaired with non-Euclidian blocks that twist reality around them as the seat of his power. An astute reader might notice a steel humanoid shape, akin to an avenging gargoyle, far overhead, perched on part of the city’s remaining original structure.

_An exterior shot of Ilyana’s tower in Limbo. In the blink of an eye, from one panel to the next, the tower is consumed by the fiery form of a bird of prey rising into the air, rending the very atmosphere around it into non-existence_

“No, wait… something is wrong,” Belasco mutters, “Something…primal.” He spins to face Magik and the still bound Phoenix. He waves his hand and an eldritch fire begins to dance around both women….

Rachel sends Ilyana, you've got the soulsword -- can you deal with the bands of cyttorak?

That's supposed to be a powerful spell, but I should be, she responds. Nightcrawler, should I go now?

Meanwhile, Magik drops to her knees. "Please, Belasco, don't hurt her; she's my friend!"

"I won't hurt her, my apprentice," he takes her chin in his hand with a foul smile. Flickering lights from his hand wash over Magik and Phoenix. Phoenix feels a not-unfamiliar tingling sensation on her skin as her clothes are reconfigured. By the time the light dims Phoenix' green/gold garb and Magik's New Mutants uniform have been transfigured into more fantastical clothing. Magik is now dressed in a white floor length dress with slits up both sides of the skirt up to just below her hips and a neckline that plunges to her navel. Phoenix is dressed in a black leather gladiator's costume that starts with her knee high, high-heeled boots that transform into straps wrapping comics code strategically around the rest of her body.

“It's just important that at a coronation everyone look their part.

S'ym glances from one woman to another, suddenly looking suspicious "hey Boss..."

"Quiet. Not at my moment of triumph," Belasco scolds him.

The demon sorcerer takes two strides towards the edge of the platform and raises his arm, "My subhuman followers, Behold! The girl who had been my apprentice, returning to us during her Journeyman's voyage! Now witness as she makes the penultimate sacrifice of her soul to the great old ones, that they might someday walk the Earth again!"

He pulls out a wicked looking knife and gestures for Magik to approach. We can see the phantom aged Storm railing and crying inside the crystal, looking as if she is trying to shatter her way from imprisonment to stop this blasphemy.

"Witness... our triumph!"

Magik approaches Belasco, her eyes glowing oddly orange against her pale skin and blond hair. "Belasco," she says, giving him a moment to turn, before...

"Go to hell!" Magik is surrounded by the phoenix aura, as she blasts Belasco at point blank with a huge wave of telekinetic force.

Belasco has a split second to respond, quickly erecting a magical shield with energy from his eyes that holds off Phoenix’s original attack.

Kurt gives the signal to go. Ilyana, cut those crimson bindings! Wolverine, Colossus, take Belasco down! I'll distract S'ym.

Nightcrawler ports onto the platform trying to distract S'ym from protecting Belasco long enough to let Colossus close. He knows he can hardly damage the demon; he's running interference.

Phoenix, keep the pressure on Belasco. We need him down and out.

Belasco smiles, “I expected no less, my apprentice. Indeed, I am counting on my followers seeing me put you in your place here before we move forward. A quick spell to suppress your magical potential…”

His hand makes an arcane gesture and a tendril of greenish energy wraps around his shield and engulfs Magik. Her form flickers for a moment and she changes, shifting in height, hair color and clothing, melting upward into that of Phoenix. There’s a look of clear panic on his face since he obviously expected this to end her assault on his shields.

Instead Phoenix’s body explodes with her distinctive bird of prey effect, redoubling her assault on his shields, which crumble completely.

Ilyana generates her soulsword and, with an awkward twist of her wrist, slaps it against the crimson bands holding her prisoner. There's a tense second when it looks like the sword will be unable to pierce the spell but then the bands shatter and disappear. Magik lands on her feet and turns to face Belasco, only to find S'ym stepping towards her.

Nightcrawler ports onto the platform trying to distract S'ym from protecting Belasco long enough to let Colossus close. He knows he can hardly damage the demon; he's running interference.

The furry blue mutant materializes over S'ym's head, his fists immediately boxing the demon's ears. Before S'ym can react Nightcrawler is gone, reappearing in front of him and poking his thickened fingers into the demons eyes. It's like poking stones. Again Nightcrawler is gone, reappearing clinging to the wall near S'ym, swinging his whole body into a double handed punch against the demon's head. This blow too doesn't appear to phase S'ym, but Kurt certainly has his attention. The demon counter-punches at where Nightcrawler is clinging to the wall and there's a sickening wet sound as the blow connects.

"Gotcha, ya furry blue pain the butt," S'ym exults. "Now I'll pop yer head off!"

Ilyana has taken advantage of Kurt's distraction to get past S'ym, and is moving towards Belasco.

A small winged shape appears from somewhere inside the building. Lockheed flits across the length of the platform, laying down a stream of fire that starts with Amphibiius, who screams and leaps away, and terminates with Belasco. The demon sorcerer, already pummeled by Phoenix's telekinetic fire, is engulfed in actual flames. His cloak catches fire.

"I spent centuries entombed in a volcano," Belasco yells at the dragon. "You've irritated me, insect. Nothing more. But see what my Bolt of Bedevilment does to you!" a twitch from his hand sends a snaking energy bolt twisting through the air at the dragon as it continues its fly-by. There are a few seconds where it looks like Lockheed might outmaneuver the thing before it strikes him. The dragon plummets like a stone into the field below.

"Get the creature!" Lupo yells, running towards where Lockheed fell. His dire wolves likewise converge on the spot. The Last of the Long-tooths gets there first, and the wolves arrive to find Zabu standing protectively over the wounded dragon, snarling fiercely. The canines can sense that the first of them, likely the first two, perhaps the first three, who charge will surely die, and the scene is, for the moment a stand-off.

All of the pent-up tension of the deception and waiting explodes from Wolverine's compact form. His claws emerge and he lunges upward--hamstringing is no more than the fellow deserves.

The adamantium blades scythe through the wooden platform and imbed themselves into Belasco's lower legs. The demon sorcerer bellows in pain. He struggles to get away but between the blades in his legs and the telekinetic assault he cannot move.

"No, Ilyana, my daughter, please..." His wheedling stops as he sees the stony look on Ilyana's face - applying for her mercy clearly won't help this time, and his face contorts into anger. "You don't understand - Storm's spirit will suffer the torments of the damned unless you submit to my will! Your beloved teacher and mentor will face pain that you cannot imagine unless you embrace your destiny!"

"No." Ilyana says flatly, the soulsword heavy in her hand "she won't."

"Peter?" she asks to the sky.

Colossus hurls himself down, eschewing finesse in favor of just hitting Belasco as hard as he can.

Colossus doesn't hit him square on - instead he flies just to the side, his arm cocked backward to deliver a blow that adds his strength to his weight and momentum. His fist strikes Belasco square in the chest and the sorcerer drops to one knee. He might only be upright because his feet are pinned by Wolverine's claws, especially since he's sagging at the chest from the blow - Colossus liked collapsed his ribcage.

The wooden platform only marginally impedes Colossus downward momentum. He flies past Wolverine in a blur strikes the ground like small meteorite. The explosion from this impact heaves the platform up and down and leaves the whole significantly less stable than it was.

Ilyana is still staring stone faced at Belasco, sword in her hand. Impossibly Belasco's arm comes up, either in supplication or preparation for a defense.

Ariel flies up from below the platform, between Ilyana and Belasco, her extendable baton in her hands. You're not alone any more, Ilyana, she says over the telepathic link. We'll take care of this one; you watch out for S'ym!

Ilyana vacillates for a moment, and Kitty can see the hard decision she's making flash through her eyes.

Turning solid again in mid-air, Kitty swats at Belasco's extended arm with the baton.

The baton lands with a hard crack on his hand, and the first crackles of magical energy around his digits disappear. He gives Kitty a look of pure hatred. There's nothing human in that look. He's a monster.

And Ilyana is not. She spins and with one brutally fast overhand strike slashes her sword into S'ym, just as the demon is reaching for Nightcrawler's head.

S'ym's left arm falls to the platform with a resounding thud.

A split second later Belasco, abandoned by whatever malefic will was driving him past death, collapses.

For a second there is no sound save that of the cracking flames from Belasco's still-lit cloak.

Then S'ym howls in pain. Everyone notices a distinct and disquieting absence of spurting blood from the wound. The assembled crowd also howls.

As S'ym is beginning to recover himself after his partial dismemberment we see Wolverine's claws pop up through the platform behind him. They sketch a quick oval around him and then S'ym drops as the floor under him collapses.

The demon falls hard, bouncing once off of one of the platform supports before landing with some grace in the soft, shadowed earth. In the darkness he hears a faint 'skritch' then sees a flare of light as the match catches. Wolverine draws once on a cigar so it will light then flicks the still burning match in S'ym's direction. "Rematch."

"Don't mind if I do," S'ym says, clearly recovered from the loss of his limb. "I don't need two arms to kill a shrimp like you." The demon takes a half step forward.

"Didn't mean with me," Wolverine says with a smile.

In the shadows behind S'ym the reader can see light glint against one of the parts of Colossus' body not covered with the mud and earth that had shielded him from S'ym sight.

Colossus steps up into S'ym peripheral vision on his right side. The demon's head snaps over to see what's there and Colossus' left jab him square in the face. S'ym takes a staggering step backwards, but before he can do anything else Peter follows up with a right to S'ym's midsection, doubling the demon over.

These aren't the most powerful blows Colossus has ever laid on an opponent, but he can't afford that. He can't risk too strong a hit that would send S'ym flying, that might knock him towards potential hostages or somewhere that he might escape. So he lays a third blow into the back of the demon's head as he's doubled over, dropping the creature to one knee.

Now. He launches a roundhouse to end it but S'ym gets his arm up in time, blocking Colossus' attack. The demon steps up inside Peter's guard and rams his left shoulder into Colossus' throat. It hurts, and it knocks the Russian back a step, but as Colossus Peter doesn't need to breathe. S'ym gets another punch in, putting his whole weight behind a strike clearly designed to open up some space for him but Colossus digs his feet into the earth and moves back only a few yards. He then takes three running steps and catches S'ym with his shoulder on the Demon's midsection, lifting him and picking up speed until slamming him full length into the side of the city dome. He then punches the pinned demon once. Again.

Again.

Colossus hears Wolverine behind him. "Petey, it's over."

And it's true. The strange, vicious purple demon that spent years brutalizing his sister lies still, more dead than alive.

IN THE VALLEY

The moment of hushed silence extends when S'ym disappears from sight. None of the forces quite know what to do until Barbarus yells "Belasco's death means nothing! You're still surrounded, X-Men! You have nowhere to hide from MY forces! The odds are a hundred to one against you, with no allies, no escape. Surrender now and I will be merciful!"

"If not you will join the Last of the Long Tooths in death!" With that Brabarus waves one of his arms and Lupo orders his wolves to attack.

The first wolf, under orders, jumps in, and it swatted down immediately with a bloody thump. The second reaches Zabu but his attempt to harry is met with a counter bite and a shake of the sabertooth's powerful head, snapping the wolf's neck. But there is another wolf, and another....

ON THE PLATFORM

Ariel joins Magik in peering down through the hold S'ym fell through. Then she yelps, "Lockheed!" and vanishes through the platform herself.

Seconds later Ariel flies up through the pile of wolves, and as she passes through them she grabs Lockheed and Zabu, pulling them weightlessly up into the air with her away from the Lupine horde. Lockheed is limp in her hand, but he's still warm and she can feel his strange alien tripartite pulse. Zabu, on the other hand, is moderately cut up and very confused.

Phoenix turns her mind towards the monolith, trying to sense what, if anything, is inside it.

There is a moment of difficulty when she makes contact with it, the mental contact with something ancient and vast, and an instant when she realizes that her own mental shields have been effortlessly circumvented: whatever this thing is it now knows more about her than she could ever know about it. There's no apology for that invasion in the intelligence, but also no sense of guilt: it happens, it always happens, this is just how the intelligence sees things. It would be like Rachel apologizing to a flower for the way light bounces from it into her eyes.

The intelligence mentally breathes in and out, rhythmic, cycling, spring becoming summer becoming autumn becoming winter over and over again, tilting one part to the sun and then another, one part to the galactic center and then another. It encompasses her, cradles her, protects her.

After a moment she has the sense that this thing is also a guardian. It is on a vigil. Endless, unknown to those it protects, but not unappreciated by its every renewing mother.

Ilyana sees her brother land the first punch against S'ym and is preparing to jump down to help him when she sees Phoenix, somewhat glassy eyed, take a step towards the monolith, and then another, walking across the empty space where S'ym was standing without even noticing it.

Fearing that her friend is possessed Ilyana raises her sword to drive it into the crystal.

Clutching his ribs, Nighcrawler stares through the painful haze at the approaching stampede. "Was? Ach, es ist schön! Beautiful!"

Everyone can feel the rumbling through the earth as if the Savage Land is shaking itself apart. Suddenly the distant tree line explodes as a mass of more than a hundred triceratops bursts through it, heading with inexorable fury into the demon-filled valley. At the rear of the stampede is the cause - a Tyrannosaurus Rex with vines lashes around its neck and head serving as reins for the Savage Ka-Zar. His mouth is open in a roar, but the tyrannosaur is roaring at the same time, so it's hard to distinguish one primal scream from the others.

The valley descends into panic, with the Mutates doing their level bests to flee away from the incoming tide.

[Back to Ilyana and Rachel]

Rachel, with effort, pulls herself out of communion with the being. "No, don't!" she shouts, "It's good!"

Ilyana stops, confused "But it's a prison! Where's Storm?"

Rachel shakes her head. "It's not a prison, and there's nothing human inside there. Belasco lied."

"He does that," Illyana says bitterly, lowering the weapon.

Kurt sees a blur of motion coming from off the side of the platform and Ampibius returns, still damaged from the singing he took earlier. The green mutate lands in a couch next to Belasco's body and is obviously moving to scoop it up.

Nightcrawler grits his teeth and multi-ports around Amphibius, rapidly but methodically hammering him. "This ends now, mutate. Now!"

The already burned and dehydrated creature collapses under the rain of blows.

Panting and still clutching at his middle, Nightcrawler lingers over the sight of the defeated Belasco for a moment before turning to Magik.

"Ilyana, are you all right? How do you feel?"

“Confused. Tired,” she looks up at Kurt, and then around to the others, “But freed.”

She gestures with her hand and underneath the platform Wolverine and Colossus see Syms body disappear in a stepping disk. “I’m not sure I want him dead, but I damn well want him somewhere that I put him,” she tells the X-Men.

Ka-Zar leaps down from the Tyrannosaurus as it rampages by, landing gracefully next to Nightcralwer, Ariel and Zabu. “Thank you again, friends. But I think here is becoming a little too dangerous a place for us to be.”

Nightcrawler signals to Wolverine. "Time we were moving. Find us the quickest way back to the Blackbird, Wolverine, if you please."

“No need,” Magik tells him. “The Blackbird is well within my chronologically safe range.”

Page 22 (Everyone)

The group reappears via Magik’s stepping disks next to the blackbird. Lockheed, recovered from being stunned, takes wing as soon as they appear, circling the clearing and dipping in and out of the trees.

Ka-Zar shakes Nightcrawler’s hand while Zabu nuzzles up against Wolverine. “I am sure that Barbarus and the other Mutates will cause some problems, but without Brainchild or a more cunning leader he is not a threat to the balance of power in the Savage Land.”

Nightcrawler returns Ka-Zar's handshake with as much strength as he can muster. "Thank you, Ka-Zar, and Zabu too. Your timing was impeccable."

“Have a safe journey home, my friends,” Ka Zar says.

As everyone gets on the plane Kitty has a moment of concern when she can’t find Lockheed. After a few seconds the dragon flies back out of the jungle, landing on her arm and staring at her. Through the strange almost empathic link the two share Kitty gets the sense that the strange alien creature doesn’t intend to return with her. The hot, humid, primordial jungle filled with strange prey is the closest things they’ve encountered to the interior of the Brood’s Acanti corpse-city where Kitty first met the dragon.

"What?" Kitty says, putting on a smile with an effort. "You don't want to experience the rest of our Northeastern winter?"

The dragonlike alien sticks out his tongue and gives a creditable Bronx cheer.

Kitty giggles. "Lockheed! Who's been teaching you rude gestures? - Never mind, I can guess."

She scratches under his chin, and he stretches up and nuzzles her cheek. "Well, it's not like I own you," Kitty says. "And I do want you to be happy. Thank you for coming to tell me. Oh, wait --"

She turns to Ka-Zar. "Ka-Zar, this is my friend Lockheed. He wants to stay here where it's warm. He doesn't need looking after - he's pretty tough and smart."

Ka-Zar looks at the small dragon, "He certainly appears as such," he tells her. "But I will try to keep an eye on him."

The dragon gives him a "I'd like to see you try" look and then gives Kitty a very feline head-butt of affection before taking wing.

Hurrying to the plane, Kitty wipes away a tear, but thinks, "It really is best - he'll fit in so much better here ..."

We track the Blackbird as it exits the Savage Land, dipping low over one of the area’s many active volcanos. A battered reddish body falls out, landing with a spurt of smoke and flame in the exposed lava, before the plane rises and accelerates back to North America, New York and Salem Center.

Tracking back to the lava for a moment we see some of Belasco’s magical accoutrements float on the surface for a moment before being consumed. Narration blocks of red, nasty looking letters against a black background provide the following detail.

“Shall we revive him?”

“No, he is a failed servant. Nine years he has forged that weapon, and to mis-wield it, to lose control of it so completely when we were so very close is inexcusable.”

“What now?”

“We wait, and plot, and plan. And we remember those who thwarted our servant. We remember the X-Men. And we will have our vengeance! ”

[end of issue]

THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES OK, so a little explanation is needed here. Belasco’s full master plan, from issue 160 to now, was to drive Ilyana into a very specific sort of spellcaster, one who would develop the Soulsword or some other similar anti-magical weapon, while at the same time corrupting her so that she could take his place as the focus of the bloodstone amulet – Belasco had possessed one of those previously as a mechanism for releasing Chthon, Set and the other elder gods Gaia barred from this reality, but he lost it in his fight with Ka-Zar.

Ilyana was meant to a) use her soulsword to destroy one of Gaia’s wards (the crystal monolith), b) having had her will shattered by that malefic action she would take the next step of the bloodstone ritual, c) become his apprentice again for another 3-years before completing the bloodstone ritual to open the door to Chthon and then c) once she’s a demon-sorcerer like him become the mother of a race of new demons, the fate he had originally intended for Dante’s Beatrice and then Ka-Zar’s mate Shannah,

Hence the need to keep her alive (with the pre-set healing spell that Karma’s assault activated and the hostage situation with Kitty to prevent a suicide), and the clumsy psionic assault that led off this adventure: he needed you to bring her down here because it’s been three years and time for the next bloodstone to go into place. He was waiting for you, had his defenses in place and had everything set up to get Ilyana to drive her sword into the monolith to “free Storm”.

Everything started going pear shaped for him when Storm wasn’t there, Phoenix was and Nightcrawler was in charge. Storm never would have made that direct assault on his position, especially with removing the sword that was laden with defensive enchantments. Without Phoenix the merged Zabu/Ka-Zar would have done a lot more damage and kept you occupied longer. His standing mental controls in Ilyana would have prevented her from using the soulsword against him so openly – problems that Kitty didn’t have, but since Belasco thought Kitty was Ilyana in that first assault he wasn’t ready for that.

He did manage an escape and thought he’d recovered things when he captured Ilyana and neutralized Phoenix, again not seeing the swap. He then dithered, monologued and delayed because he _needed_ you guys to attack (Hell I almost gave him thought balloons wondering what was taking you so long), for Ilyana to free herself and for someone to use the soulsword to free “Storm”, who was actually just an illusion, and thereby destroy the ward. If Storm had been here she would have sensed the nature elemental presence in the monolith which would have reinforced the idea that her elder self’s spirit was in there.

Belasco had given S’ym orders to keep Colossus at bay and protected himself with a shield that would block teleportation, hold off Incredible level physical attacks and Amazing level energy ones: none of the X-Men he knew had a means to break that, and the one wild card, Phoenix, was safely in Cyttorak’s bands. But then Phoenix hit his force field with Incredible strength TK, which brought the shield down even if it didn’t hurt him, opening him up to Wolverine and Colossus’ attacks.

Holding off death his last spell would have been something to strengthen and continue the Storm illusion so that he might win even if Ilyana killed him, but Ariel disrupted that. Without that extra boost the Storm illusion faded with his death (as did the “make Kitty’s bones blow up” spell you’ll be happy to know), which gave plenty of room for your PCs to realize that stabbing the big Gaia warding stone would be a bad idea.

Yes, dropping him into the volcano is classic, but I really don’t like Belasco as a villain so he won’t be coming back. He’s so evil that he has crimson skin, horns and a tail. All he needs is a snidely whiplash moustache to twirl. Bleah. I’m a little more partial to S’ym so he might turn up again later either as a new vehicle for the elder gods or some other villain’s muscle. But by securing so unambiguous a win – really you scored on every available point – you’ve derailed my plot for issues 242-250. I’m sure I have time to think of something new to fill them, however.