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Unforgiven
Winzeldorf, Germany. A circus, deep within the backwoods. A little known language, Ancient-Germanic Tribal Dialect is being spoken, an incantation to be precise. Within the circus tent, a body lies on the ground, engulfed in flame. Another is twisted around one of the poles holding the tent up, and one more is crushed beneath a ten-ton weight. In the middle of the circus ring, candles surround a pentagram, illuminating it from the darkness which engulfs the rest of the tent. Within the pentagram, a two-headed man, one of the circus performers lay bound, while a cloaked figure that has been chanting the spell kneels before the performer, holding a two-bladed dagger over his chest. The performer cries out, asking what makes them so special? The mysterious figure tells them that their souls are what she needs, as her own power fades, and their sacrifices restore her powers. She proceeds to tell them that their sacrifice is not in vain, as her mission is one of mercy…and absolution!
(another day)
Muir Island Research Center, off the coast of Cape Wrath, Scotland. Home to world-renowned scientist, Dr. Moira MacTaggert, and her friends and teammates, Excalibur. Today, Nightcrawler, the leader of the super team composed of mutants and superhumans, is taking a well-deserved break…enjoying time off. The mutant is in a computer-generated simulation, of the circus he once performed in with his adoptive family, in Germany. Kurt Wagner was raised swinging from one trapeze to the next, and has an excellent sense of spatial judgment. However something has gone wrong this time – and the trapeze he was about to swing to dematerialized as he grabbed it, and he plunges to the circus tent floor, while crowds of viewers watch in horror, and shriek that there is no net.
Kurt Wagner, is a mutant though, and has more than just keen acrobatic skill, he has the mutant power to teleport. Before he hits the ground, he disappears with a “BAMF” and a smell of brimstone, before landing on his feet in front of the amazed viewers, and replying to someone’s how does he do it, with “it’s a trade secret”. Suddenly, someone says to Nightcrawler, that secrets have ever been the Szardos family’s stock-in-trade yes? Kurt is puzzled, but when he turns around, he sees Sabu, his old acrobatic mentor. Confused, as he was not supposed to be part of this scenario, Nightcrawler tells the computer to terminate the holo-program.
The computer replies that there is too much extranormal interference and the sequence can’t be shut off. Nightcrawler thinks that the villain Nightmare may have something to do with this, as he only recently attacked Excalibur. Kurt talks to his mentor as if he was the demon Nightmare, saying he dare threaten them again? The mentor replies back, that he does dare, though he is not the demon Nightcrawler thought him to be, though Nightmare played a part in gathering the intelligence need for this encounter. The figure of Nightcrawler’s mentor suddenly returns to its true form –that of Belasco! Belasco makes a comment about Nightmare having a very interesting method of interrogation, but is insulted for being mistaken for someone as lowly as he. Holding a sword up to Nightcrawler’s throat, Kurt is rather taken aback, and asks the demon what he is doing here.
The powerful and cunning ruler of Limbo tells Nightcrawler he is here to make a deal. In exchange for permanent custody of the powerful Winding Way, he will give Kurt his mother, Margali who is ruler of the Winding Way. An image appears out of thin air, and Nightcrawler sees Margali caged and in pain held captive in Limbo. Kurt attempts to challenge Belasco, who tells him to save it, his words mean nothing. Belasco tells him that Margali has perverted the sacred path to mystical empowerment from which her sorcery is drawn. Belasco shows Kurt images of the tortured circus performers from Winzeldorf, the legacy of Margali Szardos; murder, deception and manipulation. Margali breeds a legacy of corruption, desecrating the Winding Way, and handed down from mother – to daughter!
Nightcrawler is stunned. Amanda did this? Kurt does not believe the demon, and tells him that his mother’s employment of the dark arts has always been for helping people not harm, as has Amanda’s. He tells Belasco to show his illusions elsewhere, as he is not buying. With an evil grin, Belasco tells the mutant to suit himself – but does he still not wonder where – and why – Amanda disappeared to after quitting Excalibur? Belasco tells him the answer awaits at “home” before vanishing.
In the shower Nightcrawler thinks that this may be a trap. Belasco is after all the Prince of lies, and though Margali raised him as if he were her own, she has often given him reason to doubt her good intentions. Last time they crossed paths she was destroying London, and was the Red Queen of the London Inner Circle. Kurt realizes that the mystical forces Margali and Amanda control can become dangerous for the undisciplined, but Amanda succumbing to the dark side? Kurt never thought it possible of her. If Daytripper did have anything to do with this, then it accounts for her mysterious resignation from Excalibur and why she had not contacted him.
Kurt wishes it was some other demon that was involved, one that Kurt and his friends did not have such a history with, as in Limbo awaits the soul of Illyana Rasputin, Colossus’ sister and Kitty’s best friend. Thinking it best not to ask his friends to accompany him to Limbo, he decides he should go alone. He tells the computer to activate the Midnight Runner’s auto navigation, heading for Winzeldorf, Germany, before bamfing out of the changing rooms.
At the Midnight Runners hangar, Nightcrawler’s teammates, and perhaps his best friends, Shadowcat and Colossus approach the flight vessel, while contemplating what Kurt is about to do. Kitty tells Colossus that it is ludicrous, after all who better to go with him than the two of them? They have been to Limbo before, and have faced Belasco. Not to mention Illyana…why is this even an issue? Ever the voice of reason, Colossus tells his companion that however illogical Kurt’s decision may seem to them, he has his reasons.
While Kurt is attempting to take off, Shadowcat uses her mutant power of intangibility to phase through the computer system, knowing that her powers disrupt technology. Kurt seems mildly annoyed, and just asks her why she couldn’t have used the door. Kitty tells him she thinks he would have taken off without her. Colossus enters, and tells Kurt that they are here for him and that he shouldn’t have to do this by himself. Nightcrawler tells Piotr that he should – as it is a family matter and he doesn’t want to involve strangers. Understandably Kitty is hurt; she tells Nightcrawler that what he said really hurts – after all they have been through, as X-Men, Excalibur, friends, she would have thought they were family too. Kitty and Colossus walk out before Kurt tries to apologize, and he takes off in the Midnight Runner.
In Limbo, on his throne, Belasco watches Nightcrawler leave Muir Island, and tells the captive Margali who is naked, and cramped in a small cage hung above a pit of fire, that Nightcrawler is going to be heartbroken when he discovers the ‘sinfully delicious’ evil that his sister is up to. And as if mocking Margali the demon asks her what kind of stress will that put on her little family? Resting on a ledge above Belasco’s throne, an imp, who resembles Nightcrawler, tells his master, it would put a great deal of stress on. Belasco snaps back, telling the imp if he wanted his opinion he would give it to him, the imp bamfs away just before Belasco strikes him.
Now turning to Margali, Belasco asks her why she is so quiet? He makes a joke about Cat being here, but no, she couldn’t be, as he would know if she were sniffing around. So Belasco concludes that Margali is silent because she has finally accepted the fact with the Soulsword in his possession, he has usurped Margali’s position as ruler of the Winding Way. He continues to taunt the powerful sorceress. Telling her she is a sight, what with her body filthy, covered in sweat and grime, and her powers must be depleted for her to look such a sight, what with Margali Szardos being so image conscious and all! ‘Must hurt like the Dickens’ Belasco says. The sorceress thinks to herself, not as much as he is going to hurt when she breaks free – as he has no idea of just who he is messing with!
Having arrived at the real Jahrmarkt circus in Winzeldorf. Kurt thinks it ironic, how he began his career in the circus and cannot bring himself to enter. He truly believes Amanda is innocent – so then why is he so nervous about confronting her? The circus tent is pitch black when he enters, then suddenly there is a candlelight – and with unbelievable style and poise the mysterious cloaked figure now stands illuminated by it. Ever so slowly the hood his dropped, revealing Amanda Sefton aka Daytripper, Kurt’s foster sister, and off-and-on again girlfriend, as well as former Excalibur member, long serving ally to the X-Men, senior-in-house flight attendant, and sorceress of considerable power who represents the X-Men's dream - humans and mutants working together…however Amanda was the last person Kurt expected to see under that hood.
Amanda says to Kurt that she knew he would come, however Kurt’s feelings of concern over the recent events subside when he sees her – its Amanda! Overjoyed he teleports over to her, telling her he has been so worried, and all this time without contacting him. He reminds Amanda of how she only told Colossus she was departing, as she wasn’t feeling herself and that just up and leaving was so unlike her. Amanda sticks her hand up to his face and looks away, telling him now is not the time for celebration. Kurt thinks otherwise, as they are together again, after all he has missed her, and she missed him – didn’t she?
Nightcrawler thinks something is wrong, and asks Daytripper if there is something she is not telling him. With good reason, she answers him, and instantly the circus big top tent lights up, and Kurt sees the circus performers, tortured around him. He remembers the words that Belasco said to him: “She breeds a legacy of corruption, handed down from mother to daughter”. With fear in his eyes, he says that this cannot be happening, but his sister tells him that it is. Belasco has thrown the gauntlet, and it is time for his blood to be spilled – the last blood spilled will be theirs, and they will make Belasco pay. To ensure victory, Amanda tells Kurt that familial blood must be let, and hands him a dagger, asking for him to do for her what he did for their brother Stefan many years ago. As Amanda says ‘Swear the Vengeance Oath, give me your blood’, Kurt remembers the pact he made with Stefan Szardos.
Standing inside a pentagram, Amanda tells her foster brother that the portal to Limbo is open, and he must make his choice. For with the Soulsword in his position, Amanda chooses her word carefully now, their - "mother‘s" position on the Winding Way can be usurped, leading to many kinds of disasters. In a very unusual trait for Amanda she puts the guilt trip on Nightcrawler – if he can forgive himself the guilt of not helping the woman who saved him as a child, then he should leave, and she will rescue Margali alone. Kurt takes the dagger, and draws blood, though he is still very wary – the last time he did this he was forced to take Stefan’s life. He prays that Amanda will be spared the same fate.
Amanda tells him to drop blood in each point of the pentagram, as it will safeguard their passage to Limbo. As Daytripper opens the gateway to Limbo, Nightcrawler asks her why she has become involved in black magic as before she always only practiced white magic. His foster sister tells him that she has done whatever necessary to defeat a nether-lord like Belasco. To defeat a demon…one must become a demon…and with that the siblings enter the gateway to Limbo.
Upon arriving in Limbo, Nightcrawler comments on how Amanda’s teleportational abilities, even the trans-dimensional ones she used to get to Limbo, were no more disorientating than his own teleportational powers, and asks her if she had been practicing. All she tells him is that all of his interdimensional traveling has reinforced his tolerance, and that he is lucky. Kurt tells Amanda that he is just lucky being here with her, when she says nothing he tells her that was a pass. As if uninterested she just tells him they have arrived – at Belasco’s enormous palace!
Watching the heroes from his throne, through a viewing cloud, Belasco torments Margali more, by telling her how proud she must be to see her children coming to her rescue, and concerned about her welfare. Though only if they arrived sooner… However, in the cage, while it is Margali Szardos’ body, it is, in fact, the mind and soul of her daughter! Disgusted, Amanda thinks to herself awful this is – her own mother switching bodies with her, and leaving her to suffer at the one remaining hand of Belasco the gimp. Wait till she gets out of here, then her mother will have a lot to answer for (as always). As she attempts to pick the lock with a perfectly manicured fingernail, she is suddenly stabbed in the hand!
It is the imp who looks like Nightcrawler. With a sword in one hand, he hangs to the side of Amanda’s prison, and asks her why she is leaving the “party” so soon? It is just starting! He tells her he doesn’t know why, but he has come to be fond of her. Very fond of her - and he knows she has too. Aghast, Amanda asks him what he is talking about. With his face pressed up to hers, the imp tells Daytripper not to be so surprised. He is on to her. While she may have fooled the power hungry Belasco, did she really think he wouldn’t recognize Amanda Sefton’s mind trapped inside Margali Szardos’ body? That was mistake number one. Mistake number two, is that he will tell Belasco what is going on when she makes another attempt to escape – unless she is willing to help him.
Daytripper asks the imp what he wants from her, and after he whispers it into her ear she cries out, in the absurdity of the idea, telling him he is insane, wanting to steal the Soulsword (with her help). She is cut off when the imp wraps his tail around her mouth, telling her to be quiet or Belasco will hear her. When they look over at Belasco, he is still watching Nightcrawler and Amanda/Margali at the palace gates. The imp tells Amanda – her liberty for the sword. And she mumbles ‘deal’ from under his tail. He tells her that was a wise decision and kisses her on the lips, before remarking that Belasco’s rule over Limbo ends – and his begins! He teleports away, leaving Amanda covered in the filthy brimstone smell, coughing and spluttering. Belasco tells her to settle down – as their guests have arrived!
Staring up at the huge palace gates, covered with skeletons, strung by spikes, Nightcrawler makes a joke about how this just screams “Willkommen”, and Amanda/Margali tells him this is no joking matter, as once inside the gruesome gates, the only way out is victory – or death! Taken aback at being called ‘child’, Kurt tells Amanda/Margali that she is only a couple of years older than he, when he is cut off by a rumbling – and S’ym bursts up through the ground. Nightcrawler is a little surprised to see him, and the demon makes a joke about Kurt recognizing him even now that he has the Transmode Virus. With that he grabs Amanda/Margali and says that some people are recognizable no matter what – especially those belonging to double-dealing sorceress’ with too much attitude. S’ym says that he’d always recognize that streak of wicked witch, and magically transforms the face of “Amanda“ to that of Margali.
Nightcrawler is stunned, and demands to be told what is going on. While Margali (still in Amanda’s body, though she now wearing a magical aura surrounding her face, showing her true face) attacks S’ym with magic, S’ym tells Kurt he is breaking and entering, and he is here to make sure things stay broken. Teleporting out of the way of S’ym’s powerful fist before it hits him. Kurt is now beside Margali, and tells her that as much as he is inclined to leave her here to S’ym’s mercies, he will have to call her and do it some other time, and teleports his mother out of S’ym’s fist. Turning towards Kurt and Margali, S’ym tells Nightcrawler not too look so surprised, after all, it is old news that Margali is a backstabbing, two-timing woman. In her usual authoritative tone of voice Margali cries enough, and tells S’ym to go back to the damnable pit that spawned him, and using her powers, she opens up a pit and the over-grown demon falls into it.
Fearing that if S’ym could see through her disguise then Belasco could do the same, Margali tells her son they must act quickly. Extremely angry, Kurt yells at Margali, asking her what she has done. Margali tells him to walk the Winding Way in her shoes before judging her. She reveals to him that her failure in London left her extremely weak and vulnerable. Belasco exploited that weakness, and captured her. Her options were very limited. She could either die as his prisoner, therefore forfeiting custody of the Winding Way, which is the Szardos’ family’s charge to defend, or she could escape – by any means necessary, however diabolical.
Though she did not want to do what she did, as it went against all of her maternal instincts, she chose the later. Margali assumed control of her daughter Jimaine, and switched their bodies. Amanda’s life essence was drawn into Margali’s caged form while hers was liberated into her daughter‘s – a body charged with power – enough power to confront Belasco as an equal again.
Looking somewhat forlorn, Margali fears it may have cost her her soul. She asks her loving son to forgive his old mother, and to help her reclaim what is left of her ailing soul. Nightcrawler tells Margali that it is one thing to have used him, who his kin solely by the goodness of her heart, however departed it, may be. But to ask him to call her “mother” after the way she has treated Jimaine - her own flesh and blood, and so callously and selfishly as well. Kurt tells Margali he is not sure he can call her mother ever again, and looks away from her in disgust. Margali looks at him, somewhat broken, before turning away and breathing out an ‘I see’.
Suddenly, a giant hand breaks through the soil – it is S’ym! The demon grabs Margali and tells her she could use a taste of her own medicine – instead of her breaking apart the family, he will break her apart. In vain, Nightcrawler tells S’ym to release her, to no avail. Though as she is sucked beneath Limbo’s soil she tells Kurt to leave her to her fate, and rescue his sister. They must stop Belasco, as they are her only hope.
Now alone, Nightcrawler considers his options. He is a man with no mystical abilities, trapped in a timeless Hell where today is yesterday, and tomorrow may never be, desperately trying to save a damsel in distress from a demon lord, and his minions. He wonders what his idol Errol Flynn would do in this situation…with that Kurt teleports into Belasco’s throne room, telling the demon to surrender.
Armed with the all-powerful Soulsword, Belasco comments to his slave the imp on how his good self has arrived, and how he actually believes he has a chance of rescuing his mother. The imp realizes this is the chance he was waiting for, and tells Belasco that the only fool here, is Belasco himself. He throws Nightcrawler his sword and tells him to slay Belasco while he rescues Amanda. Kurt is a little astonished, and asks him what he is doing. Handing Daytripper a cloak as he frees her from the cage, the imp tells Nightcrawler he is keeping a promise… before he is slain by Belasco, who mutters good help is hard to find these days.
Belasco now points the Soulsword at Daytripper, still thinking she is Margali. Unable to gather herself, it looks like Amanda’s time is up – until Nightcrawler teleports to the cage, grabs his sister and they jump out of harms way. Amanda begins the attacks on Belasco. The demon puts two and two together – ‘”Amanda” – you mean you’re not--?’ Right body. Wrong soul. Amanda tells him. Amused Belasco thinks Margali had a very clever ruse going on, using her own daughter as a “human shield” while she recovered from her injuries, and let her powers rejuvenate. How clever. Still casting a spell against Belasco, Daytripper comments on how sinking to an all-time low impresses ghouls. She rhetorically asks Belasco if he finds her spell impressive. Belasco does not seem to be amused and, calling her ‘little girl’, tells Jimaine that her mother is only half the mystic he is - so Daytripper is way out of his league.
As if on-cue, Nightcrawler teleports beside Belasco and tells him that what his sister lacks in sorcery, he makes up for in swordsmanship, and asks the one-armed Belasco how he fares. Belasco tells the mutant that he astounds him far more than he insults him, and the two begin a sword fight. As the battle leaves the throne room, and enters the balcony Kurt asks Belasco why he astounds him more than he insults him. The demon tells him it is because even after he Kurt saw what his mother did to his friends and her own daughter, which should certainly should cause an uproar, what with Kurt’s religious beliefs. Yet he is here, in a corner of Hell, sacrificing himself to save the sacrilegious Margali Szardos. While Kurt is distracted, Belasco strikes him with the Soulsword, and asks him how he reconciles it.
Kurt tells him it is a matter of faith, something that he would not understand. Suddenly the Soulsword is flung out of Belasco’s hand, and tumbles over the balcony, far down to the ground before the castle, while the demon cries out in shock. Suddenly, Daytripper appears, and says ‘Oh. I’m sorry. Did you need that?’ Belasco is furious. Calling Amanda an impudent wench he asks her if she realizes what she has just thrown away – power beyond reckoning, power destined to be his.
‘Or so you dream’ says Margali as she flings S’ym’s broken body onto the balcony. S’ym apologizes to his master, only saying that she got to him. The witch asks Belasco if he feels it. Feels the tingle running down his spine, the numbing chill crippling his fingertips. For they are they last of his power flowing out of his body into hers. Margali continues, saying that all who invoke the sacred mysteries of the Winding Way must suffer a time of weakness, where the scales may be balanced. Her time has ended, and Belasco’s has only begun. Belasco lunges at Margali who is standing on the ledge of the balcony, telling her that the power he has waited eons to claim is at last his, and she will give him his due. And as the once powerful Belasco plunges into a pit after Margali made her body intangible, he falls into a very large black hole in the ground, which closes up behind him.
Margali apologizes to her daughter, telling Jimaine that she never meant to hurt her. Weary, Amanda tells her mother to give her body back, promise she will never pull a stunt like this again, and she may consider it. Margali obliges, and no longer in the filth covered body, she is once the beautiful Amanda Sefton again. Margali calls Kurt her son, but tells him she knows not what to say. He tells her to say nothing, though her actions have violated every belief he holds dear, she is still his mother, if not in blood but by spirit, and that perhaps he will be able to forgive her, one day. Margali tells him she looks forward to that day, whole-heartedly. And with that, the powerful sorceress becomes a green glow, and wishes her children well, wherever their ways my wind, before disappearing.
Kurt is stunned – that’s it? And she’s gone? Holding each other closely, Amanda reminds him this is their mother, you know her, and she will be back when they least expect it. And after all, someone has to watch over Limbo – but she is interrupted, as several little goblins who had been watching the drama unfold from a safe distance, approach Daytripper and ask her if she is their mistress now. Amanda does not seem very impressed. First her mother steals her body, and now leaves her with the responsibility of cleaning up her mess. She doesn’t know about Kurt, but she says she will never forgive her mother for this, before sighing and bringing back to life all circus performers from Winzeldorf. The performers seem rather pleased, pleased to be back in their own bodies, and pleased that Margali’s ruse was a success. That by getting Belasco to believe they were dead, when in truth their souls lived on, giving her strength.
Daytripper asks her foster brother if he forgives their mother, and Kurt tells her that seeing Amanda alive and safe, and their friends the performers returned to life makes him feel better, though he is still chilled by the measures which he knows were taken to achieve it all. So he thinks it best he reserve judgment for now. Amanda thinks that is fair enough. But she tells her brother there is only one loose end to contend with. Kurt tells her that she used a very curious choice of words, and asks if that is all he has become to her over the last few months. A loose end? Something to be cut? But Amanda tells him not to be silly – he is something to be held onto, and as the two share a passionate kiss and embrace, he agrees.
Afterwards Nightcrawler and the circus performers depart from Limbo in the Midnight Runner. Kurt thinks to himself he imagines this is just as hard for Amanda as it is for him. At first, she was never comfortable with the mystical “manifest destiny” which Margali fostered upon her as a child. And now she is forced to temporarily assume not only the Guardian of Limbo, but the Custodian of the Winding Way too, neither of which she would have chosen for herself. Though it breaks his heart to leave the now tear-stricken Amanda, Kurt has responsibilities to attend to himself – to Excalibur, the X-Men and the missing Professor Xavier, and also to himself. However he knows their paths will cross again one day, they seem to be luck that way. He hopes to himself that Daytripper will be able to forgive him for his ambivalence towards their mother, and that she will forgive him for it – after all, if you cant forgive the ones you love, who can you forgive?
An unknown amount of time after portal closed behind the Midnight Runner, an armored hand strikes through the ground – holding the Soulsword…


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Where the Wild Things Were
Berkshire Mountains, Massachusetts
Deep within the forest, Nettles, an Asgardian troll, lies on his back and stares up at the night sky. Hands interlaced behind his neck he asks his compatriot, Chambliss, where he thinks it is. Chambliss, cooking something on a stick over an open fire, asks what he’s talking about. Up there, Nettles responds, still staring at the sky. Chambliss pulls his grub off the stick and shoves it in his mouth, still not sure what his friend is talking about. “Asgard. Home” Nettles replies.
In between bites Chambliss points out the facts that Asgard is no more, that home is where they are now. Nettles says he knows, still staring upward. A yell from a little girl calling out “Maxieee..!” bolts him upright. Chambliss tells him to hurry and put out the fire so they’re not seen.
The two trolls hide and spy on the little girl walking along the nature trail path. With flashlight in hand the little girl continues to call out for Maxie. Chambliss chuckles as to why Maxie isn’t answering, still chewing on his food. Nettles tells him to be quiet.
They continue to watch until the little girl disappears down the path. Chambliss thinks she would make a lovely dessert, then burps and apologizes to Maxie. As he looks down on the ground he spies the ripped apart collar belonging to the girl’s dog.
Nettles thinks he hears something and tells his buddy to quiet down. Chambliss isn’t scared, threatening to grind the bones of whoever it is. There won’t be any bone-crunching this time, though, as it’s their third ally, Munson, with a large sack slung over his shoulder.
They both ask what’s in the bag, Chambliss wondering if it’s food. Munson tells him quite the contrary. He thinks he’s found a way off Midgard and back to their home in Asgard. He dumps the contents of his bag, the young mutant Paige Guthrie, onto the ground. Chambliss licks his lips hungrily.
Later, the trolls have set up shop in a small cave. Munson explains to his cohorts he saw the girl do magic, but when prodded Paige doesn’t do anything. Munson thinks she can probably fix the Rainbow Bridge so they can go home. Munson laughs greedily just thinking about the riches and the power they’ll have if they can get back to Asgard while it’s still unoccupied.
Munson moves over to the fire and ignites one end of a log. He then brings the burning piece over to Paige’s face and tells her to show them her magic tricks. He burns her and Paige in turn rips off her face. Munson gets upset and says that’s only half of what she can do. Munson sticks his gnarled finger in Paige’s face and angrily tells her to show them what she can do.
Paige looks back at him with a sour look and says she’s not “magic.” Munson points out she had friends. He then tells Chambliss to use his sniffer to find her associates and orders Nettles to stay in the cave and watch over the girl.
earlier that day
Snow Valley Harvest Festival
The Generation X crew came to the festival for a day of relaxation and fun. Skin makes an attempt to knock over three stacked milk bottles, but the baseball he throws bounces off to the left. Synch says he throws like a girl. Jubilee takes umbrage with that quip, picks up a baseball and knocks all three down with one swift throw. Holding her newly won teddy bear she tells Synch girls can do better.
Everett picks up a baseball and synchs up with Jubilee throwing the ball and causing the bottles to explode. He gets a ginormous teddy bear for his feat and tells Jubilee he envies her because hers is so much easier to carry around. That wipes the smile off Jubilee’s face.
Everett and Angelo rejoin Jono, Monet and Paige as they wait in line for bumper cars. It’s at this point Munson takes to spying on the group from a nearby bush. A trio of teenagers come through the exit and start a discussion on whether or not they think they’re real. Everett comes to the realization they’re actually in the line for the freak show exhibit. Jono checks with Paige to make sure she still wants to stay in line. Not seeming too certain Paige says she will.
Meanwhile, the little girl, Hannah, takes a tight hold of her dog’s leash for little ol’ Maxie is sure excited about something. He sniffs his way over to the bushes and Hannah gets a whiff of something awful. Munson starts backing away, afraid of getting caught.
Over on the Ferris wheel Jubilee finds herself stuck at the top with hers and Everett’s teddy bears on either side of her. Jubes isn’t too comfortable up their and accuses her stuffed friends of rocking the cart.
Back at the freak show, Jono tells Paige he doesn’t think the freaks are actual mutants. “I guess…” she responds. Everett tells her he checked, and they’re definitely not mutants. Another group of kids exit the attraction and make more comments about the freaks. Paige asks Everett if it’s really “Okay.”
Nearby, Hannah is still struggling with Maxie. Pull as she might the dog won’t give up on the scent. Then Munson stands up finally revealing himself. Maxie runs away yipping the entire time. Hannah starts stuttering, not sure what to say. Munson takes off running through the festival grounds, knocking over any kids standing in his path.
Hannah screams and Jubilee, still stuck up top, asks what’s going on. The Ferris wheel operator is fast asleep at the controls and it doesn’t look like she’s going to get any answers. But then Munson runs by and wakes the operator. He starts to fall over and grabs onto the wheel’s lever to catch himself. Unfortunately, it snaps at the base and Jubilee suddenly finds herself moving forward very fast.
The Gen X’ers look up at the Ferris wheel as it suddenly comes off its hinges. Everett swears it was Angelo’s idea to leave her alone on that thing. Jubilee screams for help as she leaps from one cart to the next.
M takes to the air and questions the value of saving her. Everyone ignores the sarcasm and Paige tells Skin to get his hands on that thing. Skin takes off and extends his fingers to wrap around Jubilee’s cart, but that doesn’t help in the least and Angelo finds himself dragged along for the ride.
Paige rethinks her plan telling Everett to Synch up with Jubilee. Everett tries knocking it off course with his pyro-kinetics, but it won’t stray from its path.
Paige decides to take matters into her own hands. “It’s clobberin’ time!” she yells, finding it hard to believe she just said that, as she transforms her skin into a rocky exterior. She dives in front of the wheel’s path, but after running her over it just keeps on going.
Jubilee finally slips off, but M is there to catch her. Jubilee asks why she didn’t just do that from the beginning. Monet smiles and supposes she could have. Jubes looks at her with a fire in her eyes and tells M to just put her down already. Monet lets her go and she falls to the ground with an unsuspecting Chamber reacting quickly to catch her.
Paige wanders off from the rest of her team back to the festival to contemplate what started the whole mess. Munson, who chose to hide in a nearby animal tent, spied on the Gen X kids and witnessed all they did. He takes a feed sack and empties it chanting the words “magic” and “home” over and over again. Munson sneaks up from behind and snatches her, stuffing Paige into his sack.
Back at the lake, Jubilee complains to Angelo that it’s his fault for what happened to her. Everett notices Paige missing from the group and asks Jono if he knows what’s up. They stare at the now deserted carnival grounds and wonder.
present
Paige and Nettles are in a rousing game of tic-tac-toe, with Paige already having won both games so far. She’s about to win again with X’s across the top and the not-so-bright Nettles chooses to put his circle in the bottom left corner. Paige asks him if he’s sure he wants to go there. “uh… Yes?” Nettles replies. Paige sighs, and rests her hand on her chin. With the other hand she takes her stick, draws her ‘X’ and puts a line through the row announcing yet another win. Nettles wants to play again, but Paige says no.
Nettles takes the opportunity to ask Paige if she’s really magic. Paige tells him once again that she’s not and asks why they want her to be magic so badly. Nettles tells her if she was magic then she could fix the Rainbow Bridge that leads to their home in Asgard, where they used to live and work in the mines. He asks Paige again if she’s sure she’s not magic. Paige seems to empathize with him at this point and says she’s sorry.
Off in the distance the sounds of dogs and the bright shine of flashlights fill the emptiness that once was the forest. A group of angry townsmen have formed together thanks to the intel received from Hannah about monsters in the area. With dogs in the lead they continue their search for Maxie and for the mysterious monsters.
Paige takes a peek outside the cave entrance and sees the angry mob making their way to them. Nettles asks what’s going on. Paige tells him there are men and dogs searching for something and she doesn’t think they’re looking for her. “D- - dogs...?” Nettles asks looking worried.
Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters
Chamber stares out the window of the estate looking amongst the shadows. He tells his teammates he’s going out to look for her even if he has to do it by himself. Jubilee asks where he plans on going since they checked everywhere with Everett using his aura to track her. Skin tells her to calm down. Jubes yells at him for telling her what to do and that she’s as concerned as anybody. Outside, Chambliss laughs as he and Munson stand near the window eavesdropping on the conversation.
Jubilee storms out into the kitchen to cool off. She takes a carton of milk out of the fridge and starts chugging. Jubes tries convincing herself Paige will show up as soon as things look their worst. She then notices a window left open and a horrid smell. That’s when she’s grabbed and silenced by the two trolls.
Meanwhile, the men are still searching in the woods for the “monsters”, but Paige has guided Nettles to her school. She bursts through the door and hastily introduces Nettles and explains the situation. Needless to say her teammates are shocked. Then they hear a scream coming from the kitchen.
Sure enough, Jubilee’s broken loose and is stomping and exploding her way to freedom. The two trolls ask Nettles for help, but he doesn’t budge. They ask him what’s wrong and he tells them Paige is his friend.
Meanwhile, outside, Hannah and the angry mob continue their trek through the woods. They make their way closer to Xavier’s school.
While inside, Munson chastises Nettles for being soft. He asks if Nettles can’t hear the angry townfolk outside, driving home the fact the three of them are all they’ve got. Nettles hesitates before answering, but Munson and Chambliss take the opportunity to make a run for it, but they’re definitely not going outside so they run upstairs and duck inside a closet.
The two trolls believe themselves safe, sitting there in the darkness. Then Munson feels a sharp pain digging into him and yells at Chambliss. Chambliss says it wasn’t him. They both burst through the closet and head back down the stairs. Penance peeks out of the closet and watches them go.
At the bottom of the stairs Munson smells something very familiar and turns to find Husk standing there, her body currently composed of every troll’s dream, gold. Munson stares at her in awe and tells Chambliss he was right about her magic. Husk tells him not to touch her or she’ll make it go away and there’ll be no magic for anyone. They both agree and Husk offers to make a deal.
Moments later, Paige goes over the details of their agreement. The trolls are to go back to the woods and stay way back in there where they can’t bother people or eat dogs or anything like that and as long as Paige and her friends never find them on their doorstep or looking through their garbage for food they won’t tell anyone about them and on top of that she will give them her gold skin shedding.
Munson and Chambliss are all too happy to accept and take off through the back of the school with the golden skin in tow, arguing over who gets to hold it along the way. Skin calls Husk’s attention back to the front door where the angry mob stands outside.
Skin asks what they’re going to do with “what’s his name” because those people outside don’t look too patient. Paige reminds him his name is Nettles. Jubes, arms folded in impatience, offers her unsolicited opinion that they should have kicked Nettles out with the other two, but now she reconsiders with that angry mob out there. Nettles, who’s standing nearby, says he doesn’t want to go outside. Jubes says she doesn’t blame him.
Husk comes up with a bright idea and gets on the phone. Minutes pass and outside Hannah starts regretting ever getting this crowd together. Then a police car arrives and Chief Authier steps out and makes his way to the front door. Paige tells everyone of her brilliant plan to call the police, but Jubilee doesn’t think it’s such a good idea.
Chief Authier knocks on the front door. Paige answers and asks what’s going on. Authier tells her the crowd is looking for a monster in their school. Paige tells him that’s ridiculous. Authier says he was thinking the same thing. The police chief turns around and asks if anyone knows what the monster looks like. They all look at him dumbfounded until someone remembers that Hannah saw it.
Authier makes his way over to Hannah and asks what the monster looked like. She looks a bit nervous as she describes the big, smelly creature that scared her doggie away.  Authier asks if the monster was ugly too. Hannah agrees. The “interrogation” is cut short as Hannah’s mother arrives on scene. She tells Hannah to get home right away and no more monster movies for her. “But- -?!” she responds, but her mother’s not going to take it and tells her Maxie came home hours ago and that she’s been worried sick.
Chief Authier tells the crowd to go home and to think about how they acted. He then waves to Paige and jokingly tells them to keep those monsters inside. Paige laughs awkwardly and then closes the door. Skin looks at her and asks what they’re going to do about her friend. Paige turns to Nettles and offers him a chance to stay with them for a little while. Nettles thanks her, but says his place is with Munson and Chambliss. Paige watches him leave and wonders if it’s finally over. She cries for a bit, but for mixed reasons.
nighttime
Deep in the woods the three trolls are back to where they were mere hours ago, Nettles resting on his back and looking up at the sky and Munson and Chambliss fighting over the gold skin.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Devil’s Haircut
Satan, the fiery Overlord of Hell, stands above his followers atop a cragged cliff and lifts one mighty arm into the air. Mystic flames spill from his eyes while the roaring inferno of the underworld blazes on in the background.
“That’s what I want to be,” says video-store clerk Melvin J. Weals as he points at this comic book illustration of the Devil. Standing in the garbage-strewn basement apartment of his mother’s house, wannabe-warlock Melvin declares that once he has the power of the Devil, his life will change. No longer will he have to tolerate the petty excuses of his customers! No longer will he endure complaints about the store lacking the newest releases! No longer will he need to tell customers to rewind their tapes! No longer will he have to suffer the pretentious snobs who condescend to him while checking out the latest Merchant-Ivory film! As the balding Melvin makes these declarations he lifts his hand into the air and grasps at this power. His massive beer belly spills out from under his greasy tank-top and lops over his polka-dotted boxer shorts. Obviously, Melvin has issues.
Regardless, he continues his maniacal rant. When he becomes the new Devil, his demons will do his bidding and he will finally get the respect he deserves! With the agents of Hades at his disposal, he will have the power to do anything! This includes making Helen, his unrequited love who is set to be married soon, love him in return. She will make a most fitting Queen of Hades. All he needs to do to make her his queen is sabotage her travesty of a wedding. With the help of a couple powerful magical objects, he intends to accomplish this feat.
Melvin walks over to his Grimoire of Incantations. He recently discovered an elaborate ritual within its dusty pages he can use to assume control over the denizens of darkness. Coupled with a talisman in his possession that can open a rift between Hell and Earth, Melvin’s plan will be unstoppable. He hoists the talisman above his shoulders and stands atop a pile of old comic books and porno magazines. Soon, he will have the power to make Helen his! He quickly loses his footing, however, and tumbles to the ground. What he really needs is to clean up his apartment. That, and find a more-constructive hobby.
Meanwhile, several million light years away on the planet R-Syn, Lila Cheney and her intergalactic rock band break for their show’s brief intermission. In two minutes, when Lila’s next instrument is tuned and ready, her band will retake the stage. During this intermission, however, Lila’s bodyguard and number-one groupie Guido Carosella skids over and begs for her attention. Their sound technician Rabo just received a sub-space transmission saying Earth has been invaded by aliens! She needs to teleport him back to Earth immediately, Strong Guy says. Lila refuses. She cannot simply leave during what is possibly her greatest performance of her career. Guido persists, but Lila refuses to budge. The crowd is already shouting for her return. It will only take a second, Guido begs! As she begins to refuse once more, he lifts off his red goggles and looks at her with his big, blue eyes. “Lila…please?”
As tough as Lila Cheney is, she cannot say no to Guido’s puppy-dog face. Okay, she says. Where does he want to go? In the blink of an eye, she transports both Guido and herself to X-Factor’s former headquarters in Eagle Ridge, West Virginia. “Have fun with your friends. Be careful. I love you,” she says to Guido while kissing him on the cheek. In the next moment she teleports back to R-Syn, leaving Guido stranded outside the old base. As soon as he looks at the facility, however, he realizes it has clearly been abandoned. With no one home, he starts walking toward civilization.
After arriving at a gas station forty-five minutes later, Strong Guy, having left his Earth-money with Lila, has to beg for change to make a phone call. The guy with whom he barters forces Guido to trade for his shirt. He reluctantly removes his black “LILA” tank-top in exchange for the piddling fare. Good thing the guy was a fan of Lila Cheney and not Elvis, Guido thinks. With X-Factor apparently disbanded, and no one answering at the mansion in Westchester, Guido places a call to the last place he can think of: Moira MacTaggert’s research facility on Muir Island.
Meanwhile, on Muir Island, Beast toils over a sample of the Legacy Virus in search of a cure while Wolfsbane and Multiple Man hang around in the lab. The phone rings. Moira answers. “Is me refrigerator runnin’? I dinnae understand,” she says to the caller. Despite only hearing Moira’s end of the conversation, Rahne and Madrox immediately recognize the caller as their old X-Factor teammate Guido. They perk up and rush to the phone. Apparently they understand, Hank says to Moira when she returns to the research bench. Madrox, mere moments into the phone conversation, shouts at the news Guido has to share: the Earth is being invaded by aliens! Hank grumbles skeptically. That probably isn’t true, he whispers to Moira, but at least it will get Rahne and Madrox out of their hair for a while.
However, Beast somehow ends up on the plane back to the States with Rahne and Madrox. “Tell me once again how I became involved in this,” he requests as he pilots the Midnight Runner. Rahne reminds him of all the people remaining at Muir Isle, only he can fly the jet. Besides, Rahne says, Moira has Douglock to keep her company.
Meanwhile, in Rutland, Vermont, Melvin Weals arrives at the exclusive Donnybrook Country Club in his beat-up old Volkswagen Beetle. He curses his ‘Buffy’ alarm clock for not waking him in time; his beloved Helen has surely already married her fiancé. However, not all is lost. The country club has plenty of space in which he can begin enacting his incantation. The Donnybrook reception hall will serve as the perfect gateway to Hell, he laughs!
Soon after walking inside, Melvin realizes the clubhouse is host to two separate events. One room hosts the wedding reception, the other, a Halloween party. Very well then, he says. He will simply perform his spell in the basement instead. Besides, the additional party guests will merely serve as extra fodder for the army of demons he intends to summon. After drawing his magic circle on the floor and surrounding it with candles, Melvin begins the incantation, chanting in a mixture of gibberish and Latin. When finishes the spell, an eruption of fiery energy bursts forth from the center of the magic circle, engulfing Melvin in its malicious light. He revels in its power. Soon all the vile creatures of the pit will do his bidding, he declares as his talisman begins to open.
Back in West Virginia, Excalibur’s jet descends into the 7-11 parking lot to pick up Strong Guy. As soon as its door opens, Rahne Sinclaire leaps out and hugs her gargantuan friend around the neck. He is excited to see her too. After boarding the jet, Hank offers him the standard welcome, and asks how he has liked living in the depths of space with the intoxicating Lila Cheney. “And where is your shirt…?!” he adds. Guido explains how he ended up topless and penniless, but then abruptly changes the subject: Earth is being invaded by aliens! They have to do something.
Hank regrets to inform him that the computer detects no sign of an alien invasion anywhere on the planet. Just to ease Guido’s fears, he proceeds to perform a scan of inter-dimensional anomalies as well. However, this search scores a hit in central Vermont, of all places. It’s no alien armada, Strong Guy says, but it will have to do. Hank steers the jet in that direction, commenting that nothing is so vibrant as a New England autumn.
To kill time on the flight, Madrox suggests they find Guido a change of clothes. He saw something in the back of the jet that may be of help. Apparently, the Shi’ar bestowed upon the Midnight Runner one of their Wardrobe Transmogrifiers, an advanced piece of machinery they intended to be delivered to the X-Men. The machine’s user can instruct it to synthesize any garment imaginable; it is limited only by the imagination of its operator. Unfortunately, Guido has a virtually inexhaustible imagination.
He emerges from the machine and asks Rahne and Madrox for their opinions on his first outfit. Jamie gives this bland, steel piece of armor a thumbs-down; besides, isn’t it the outfit Shaq wore in some lame movie? Rahne agrees with this assertion. Guido gives it another try, this time emerging in a black and orange bodysuit designed to resemble a Jack O’Lantern. Jamie likes it and commends its seasonal appropriateness. Rahne, however, despises it. Who is he supposed to be? Captain Halloween? Next, she says. Strong Guy tries another design. This garish green suit boasts an impossibly large yellow color, matching gloves and sash, and a black eye-mask. It looks remarkably similar to the outfit worn by Iron Fist. Rahne likes this look and calls it fetching, but Jamie hates it and says he looks like a deranged pirate. Guido finally chooses a costume everyone can agree on: a simple blue and gold body-suit with an open collar and the initials “SG” embroidered over his heart. Madrox likes it; Rahne goes a step further and tells Guido that if she didn’t think of him as a brother, she would date him herself! The three friends share a laugh at Rahne’s compliment, as well as the idea that she would ever go on a date. Guido suddenly grows solemn and tells them how much he has missed moments like this. It is good to be with friends again.
As much as Beast hates to interrupt this sentimental reunion, he feels the need to inform them they have arrived at their destination, the Donnybrook Country Club. He begins the jet’s vertical landing. The passengers notice the building seems to be hosting two separate events: a wedding reception and a Halloween party. Hank directs their attention instead to the anomalous vortex forming above the building. Something inside is hosting some powerful forces, he says. Wasting no time, the gang of mutants rushes to the plane’s exit, only to be stopped at the door by Wolfsbane. How do they intend to get into the event dressed as they are, she asks? They need either Halloween costumes of proper wedding attire. Aside from Jamie, they could probably attend a Halloween party without costumes, but she nevertheless thinks they should touch themselves up a bit.
Using the Shi’ar Wardrobe Transmogrifier, the four heroes soon outfit themselves in the finest Halloween attire. Strong Guy dresses as Frankenstein’s monster, Hank as a mummy, Rahne as a ragged werewolf, and Madrox as the elegant Count Dracula. Guido accidentally wraps the bandages around Hank’s head too tightly, and he has trouble breathing. Madrox scolds him for possibly harming the brain of one of the smartest men on the planet. Rahne shrugs as the boys argue and leads the way to the clubhouse.
Meanwhile, beneath the reception hall, Melvin Weals sits in his circle of magic and continues the incantation. The basement grows increasingly cavernous, as its form shifts to more closely resemble Hell. Melvin rejoices in the transformation. Soon, the entire building will be in synch with the fiery pits of the underworld, and once he dons the talisman and assumes control over his legions of demons, the feast will begin. They will devour not only the wedding party and wedding guests, but the Halloween party guests as well. His dear Helen will finally be his. Melvin reaches into his pocket and produces a scrap of newspaper containing Helen’s wedding announcement and stares longingly into her reprinted face.
At that same moment, the newly married Helen arrives at the country club with her husband, Andy. He helps his elated bride out of the limousine and wraps his arm around her shoulder. She tells Andy how perfect everything feels. The ceremony was perfect, she loves her dress and her flowers, and she even loves that there is a Halloween party taking place in the same building as the reception. However, she looks up and notices the swirling storm clouds. The weather may not cooperate, she tells her husband. He tells her to relax; he will not let anything ruin this special day.
A short while later, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, Beast, and Multiple Man arrive at the party. They have the rotten luck to first enter the wedding reception, however. After being politely escorted out, they make their way to the Halloween party and find it absolutely hopping. The skeletal band onstage plays their rendition of “It’s a Dead Man’s Party.” Hank, still mummified, shouts a muffled “Moingo Bfoingo” through his gauze.
Meanwhile, directly beneath the parties, Melvin Weals finishes opening the portal between the dimensions and unleashes his demons. They begin pouring through the basement floor.
Up above, Strong Guy apologizes to his peers for dragging them on a pointless alien hunt. Clearly nothing devious is happening at this party. The ever-observative Hank disagrees. While he sees no obvious signs of any inter-dimensional tomfoolery, the malevolent, swirling vortex over the building guarantees something wicked is afoot. He hypothesizes the one who summoned the vortex is somewhere on the premises. Suddenly, a drunk man in a Green Lantern costume rushes over to Hank and compliments him on his costume. Moving along, Hank foresees a problem: with everyone in the building dressed up and acting strangely, the culpable party could, in fact, be anyone at the party. Once again, the man dressed like the Green Lantern approaches Hank and drunkenly compliments his costume. Well, the culprit is probably anyone but that guy, Hank says.
Rahne decides the best course of action would be to split up and search individually. Hank agrees, adding his time would best be spent at the jet’s computer, screening the building for dimensional transgressions. He leaves, and the rest of the team begins scouring the party, but find it fruitless. Rahne considers her choice of words earlier too vague. Everyone at the party looks suspicious! Elsewhere, Madrox adds to her thought. How are they supposed to find anyone who looks suspicious…
“…in this crowd of wingnuts!” Guido says, unintentionally finishing the thought out loud. While Rahne investigates the live band, and Madrox investigates a sexy kitty, Guido spies an eerie light seeping through a nearby door. It could just be more atmospheric party lighting, but he chooses to investigate anyway. “Whoa! Looks like I’ve hit paydirt!” he says as he pulls open the door.
Outside at the Midnight Runner, Hank uses some of the jet’s extra parts to construct a device capable of pinpointing the exact source of the dimensional anomaly. Looking at the spiraling of energy overhead, though, he wonders if he will even have the time.
Still in the basement, which now resembles a spiky cavern, Melvin lifts his arms in triumph as his portal opens and demons begin climbing through the floor. The time to claim his destiny has come. He can finally embrace the eldritch powers contained in his talisman. He opens its carrying box, reaches in, and places the relic on his head. The power to control the evil army is now his, now that he dons the Hell Toupee! He laughs maniacally as the arcane wig blazes on top of his head.
The walls upstairs in the reception hall begin to bleed. The wedding guests panic as an eerie rumbling emanates from the floor. Before they know it, a swarm of bats fill the room, the ceiling drips blood, and the dinner tables begin to decompose. While the image of Melvin’s arcane symbol appears in the middle of the room, Helen runs to her newlywed husband and asks what is going on. He doesn’t know, but he intends to beat the snot out of whoever is responsible.
Madrox finally meets up with Guido inside the Halloween party. Guido shows him what he found behind the mysterious glowing door, and Madrox gasps. What’s that, he asks? Guido doesn’t know for sure, but he thinks it qualifies as “suspicious.” Suddenly they hear a loud cracking noise from the other room and decide to investigate. Strong Guy slaps Madrox on the back, spurring the creation of a dupe, whom he sends to retrieve Beast and Wolfsbane. They are to evacuate the building as soon as possible, he orders. With the evacuation started, Strong Guy and Guido are free to focus on finding the source of the mystery. “Just because we’re best pals doesn’t mean you can just knock duplicates out of me anytime you need one,” Madrox says as they walk down the hall. Strong Guy apologizes; he will be sure to ask permission next time.
Rahne finds Beast outside and asks for an update on his progress. Will he be able to pinpoint the source of the dimensional anomaly, she asks? Hank, quoting the magic eight-ball, tells her all signs point to yes. Thanks to a very recent discovery, he has even deduced a method of shutting down the vortex. If Rahne could inform their associates they have found a solution to the problem, and advise them to evacuate the building post haste, he would much appreciate it.
Wolfsbane, hurrying into the building and tearing down the hallways, possesses several heightened characteristics while in her transitional, lupine form: speed, agility, hearing, and vision, for example. None of these, however, alert her of the presence of another mutant running through the same hallway. As she turns the corner, she collides with Jamie Madrox, inadvertently creating yet another dupe. Sorry, she says, but Dr. McCoy told her to get everyone out of the building in the precious little time they have left!
In the wedding reception hall, Melvin J. Weals, now adorned with his fiery toupee, stands atop a rocky abutment and orders the frightened crowd to cower before his magnificent power. Dude, the Halloween party is next door, says the groom. Melvin shouts for him to be silent. It is him Melvin has come to destroy! He intends to condemn his joke of a marriage and feed him to his goblins before taking his wife, Helen, as his queen. Helen, meanwhile, suddenly recognizes their maniacal captor. Melvin, she asks? Andy asks his wife how she knows this clown. He’s the guy from the video store, she answers, completely bewildered. The short, pot-bellied Melvin steps down from his precipice, shoves the groom out of the way, and grabs Helen by the waist. Of course she knows him, he says. Soon, she will come to love him as much as he loves her. As for Andy, he will soon be nothing more than some minor indigestion for some demon!
Strong Guy and Madrox both observe this scene from the open doorway linking the two reception halls. What a nut-job, Guido says. Madrox agrees, calling him a loon. Strong Guy, taking the initiative, orders Madrox to find Rahne and focus on evacuating the building, while he deals with the hot-head in the wedding hall. He knocks away the stalactites barring the exit. While Melvin holds Helen at his side and basks in his power, most of the hostages manage to sneak out of the newly fashioned exit.
Outside, Hank has created a cannon capable of bombarding the dimensional rift with opposing frequencies, thereby negating the rift’s existence. Unfortunately, the Midnight Runner serves as the cannon’s power supply, and its reserves run short. If he doesn’t fire it soon, it will be too late. Luckily, Rahne and Jamie’s dupe emerge from the building as he finishes this thought and inform him of the developments. Can he wait just a few moments for Guido and Madrox to finish? He doesn’t know, but errs on the side of caution. After all, anyone caught in the vortex when it closes may be drawn in with the backlash.
Meanwhile, in the hellish reception hall, Melvin stands atop a giant wedding cake with Helen at his side. Andy attempts scaling the cake to rescue his bride, but a set of arms protruding from the ground pull him down. Melvin declares himself lord of the demons and pumps a fist in victory. “Actually, pal,” says a voice from below, “I think you’d have a better chance becomin’ Lord of the Dance!” Melvin asks this defiant speaker to name himself. It is none other than Guido Carosella. He orders Melvin to step down from the cake, clean the place up, and take off that ridiculous toupee; the show is over.
Melvin refuses. It’s too late to stop. His army of demons will arrive soon, and they must be greeted with the feast he has prepared. What feast, Guido asks? He looks around the room and notices all the entrees have taken themselves off the menu! What, Melvin asks? He indeed notices everyone has fled. Hopping down off the cake, he chases after the runaway wedding guests. In his absence, Guido helps Helen down from the giant cake and, with his other hand, carries Andy over to her. Strong Guy jokes they look like they just came off a wedding cake. “You’re so cute..!” he adds.
All seems well, until Guido looks over his shoulder and sees Melvin has found a room full of people. He turns and scolds Madrox; he was supposed to get everyone out of the building! Madrox tells him to calm down. He knows what he is doing, after all.
Indeed, Melvin Weals swings open the door, delighted to see a room full of bodies. He refers to them as his offering, but people in the room, all duplicates of Jamie Madrox dressed as Dracula, answer back that they beg to differ. Melvin screams. His demons must have a feast. If not, they will be unruly! He turns and runs to the basement hoping to reverse the spell before it reaches a point of no return. As he runs down the stairs, however, he trips over a wayward goblin, rolls down the rest of the steps, and lands with a thud. The Hell Toupee falls off his head.
Strong Guy walks over to the fallen Melvin and hoists him off the ground. Melvin continues ranting about the danger the demons pose. Without a sacrificial feast, and without someone wielding the power of the Hell Toupee, the demons will ravage the Earth and eat everyone in their pathology. Everyone is going to die, he screams! Guido picks up the fiery hairpiece with his free hand and holds it contemplatively. If he is going to do something, he better do it now, Madrox suggests. Maybe not, Strong Guy answers, still holding Melvin helpless in front of the horde of hungry demons.
Outside, Beast reluctantly fires the jerry-rigged cannon at the vortex. To everyone’s collective relief, it works.
Back in the basement, Strong Guy, now bearing the Hell Toupee, orders the demons to return from whence they came. They discuss the order for a moment. He is wearing the wig, one of them shrugs. Agreeing to return to the underworld, they depart immediately. With the rift closed, and the portal following close behind, Guido removes the Hell Toupee from his head and tosses it in the hole just as it vanishes. He turns to Melvin, his towering figure imposing over the squat little video-store clerk. “If I ever hear that some little moogy-faced geek is playin’ with magic, I’m gonna--” Before he can finish the thought, however, Melvin runs out the door, begging for mercy in the process.
With the day saved, the team reunites outside, along with Lila Cheney, who arrived just moments earlier. While Rahne and Jamie squabble over who exactly averted the crisis, Hank and Guido compliment each other on a job well done. Lila interrupts this touching moment; she doesn’t mean to rush him, but she has equipment to unload and break down, and they really have to get going. Guido however, isn’t ready to leave yet. While he is on Earth, he wants to see the rest of the old gang, like Lorna and Alex.
The expressions on everyone’s faces abruptly change from jubilance to solemnness. What is wrong, Guido asks? Regrettably, they inform him that Alex Summers is dead. They assumed he knew. Guido lowers his head. He struggles to find the appropriate words. Lila walks over, gives the big guy a hug, and tells him they need to leave. In a flash of bright light, they both vanish, just as Guido is telling his old friends he loves them.
Hours later, back on the planet R-Syn, Strong Guy storms into the sound room in a fury and shouts at Rabo, the dwarfish alien sound technician. Next time he better get his information right. He just traveled all the way to Earth and made a fool of himself raving about an invasion that never happened! “Bot, Guido-mon, ‘tis still happ’nin’!” the dread-locked alien says. “I’m hearin’ reports on it right now…listen…”
Rabo turns up the volume. What Guido hears, however, enrages him even further: …flying saucer has landed here in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey! The craft is enormous. Guido has heard enough. He immediately recognizes the broadcast as Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds.” Rabo sent him all the way to Earth because of an ancient, fictional radio broadcast?! As he chases after the diminutive alien, Rabo pleads for forgiveness.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Cat & Mouse
Kitty Pryde is sound asleep clutching her teddy bear, a photograph of some of her friends sitting beside her on her bedside table. Watching her is Marrow. She remembers the first time she saw what a human looked like, when a paperback romantic novel with a lurid painted cover floated into the sewers where she lived. Kitty reminds her of the people in the picture; so beautiful. She notices her chestnut hair, as always falling perfectly over her flawless complexion. She thinks about her hazel eyes which she can never hide for long and sees her supple red lips which stay open just a little as she sleeps. There is no question, Marrow thinks, she deserves what comes next.
A dead rat lands with a ‘thwap’ on the teddy’s face. Kitty hazily hears the noise and opens her sleepy eyes, only to realize that a dead, bloody rat is only centimeters from her face. She yells Marrow’s name furiously as Marrow, crouching on her dressing table, tells her it is a gift as she looks like she’s put on weight recently and thought she might be fattening herself up for the winter. Wearing S.H.I.E.L.D. boxer shorts and a Dazzler world tour ’87 T-shirt, Kitty switches on her lamp and tells Marrow that today is the day she dies.
Crossing the room, Kitty phases her hand into Marrow’s head and says that assuming she has one, she’s going to phase her brain right out of her thick skull and eat it for breakfast. Marrow is unimpressed, telling her she doesn’t have the guts, and in any case, if she wants something to eat there are plenty more where this came from, waving the dead rat by its tail at Kitty. Kitty retreats, disgusted and stands at her window saying that if she’s that desperate for attention why doesn’t she go and show her pets to Gambit. There are also Steak-Ums in the fridge, as Earthlings get their supper from places other than sewers. Picking something from her teeth with a small bone, Marrow replies that these aren’t sewer rats, they’re subway rats. She also mentions that plenty of people hang out in the tunnels at night; “Homeless guys, construction workers, terrorists planting explosives…” Kitty turns and looks at Marrow inquisitively upon hearing the latter.
Shortly after, the X-Men are gathered in the mansion’s kitchen. Colossus, Rogue and Storm are still in casual or night clothes whilst Nightcrawler and Gambit are both already in uniform. Marrow is seated at the table, hands propping up her chin as her team-mates question her about what she said to Kitty. Marrow thinks about when she used to live in the tunnels underneath New York. Now that she lives in the mansion above it, she misses the sewers. Everybody always overreacts in this house. “What’s the big deal?” Marrow asks. She explains to them that while she was shopping for groceries, she watched a guy in a cape and a bunch of goons in ugly berets loading something like a bomb onto a train. They were going on about “uniting the globe” or something but took off before they spotted her.  “Who cares?” she asks again, “This isn’t a problem for us.”
Kurt says it sounds far-fetched and asks why they should believe any of it. Colossus agrees, and adds that the little one might just be crying wolf for attention. Storm defends her though and points out that as Marrow is an X-Man, they should trust that what she says is the truth. As they speak, Marrow provides a mental rundown of what she thinks about her new cohorts. She thinks Nightcrawler is obnoxious; his power being teleporting and stinking. She calls Colossus a big hunk of communism, a leftover from a Euro team of rejects called Excalibur. She doesn’t know what to make of Gambit just yet but knows Storm all too well as she once had her heart ripped out by her. She’s gotten over it. Rogue she calls Miss Georgia.
Standing in the doorway sipping a hot drink, Rogue says that guys in berets don’t sound like anyone she remembers tangling with in the past. She asks where Logan is as he is the shadowy government type. Assuming what Marrow’s telling them is true, maybe he would know which bunch of terrorists this could be. As she speaks, a cigar is lit in the darkness behind her and just as she takes another sip, Logan says, “Sounds like a group named Ultimatum to me.” Rogue splutters her drink out, more than surprised at Logan’s sudden appearance.
Logan continues that they’re a troop of hate-mongers led by a cape wearing lug named Flag-Smasher. He thought they’d been shut down but he’s been out of the international espionage scene for a spell. He adds that if Marrow really did see a bomb, he can guarantee that they plan on using it and unfortunately he thinks she’s telling the truth. Marrow thinks how smug Wolverine is, and wishes she was lying just so she could prove him wrong for once.
Kitty agrees with Marrow that this does seem a little out of their jurisdiction and wonders if they should maybe call the Avengers or at least, the transit cops. Logan reminds her that they’re outlaws and whatever standing they had with the Avengers was lost when Beast took off for the hills. He suspects the law will have more trouble believing Marrow than they did. Storm agrees with Wolverine and says they have a responsibility to protect all life, and thinks that maybe they have become too reactive lately. Marrow taunts her, telling her that she hopes she doesn’t get lost in the 237 miles of Manhattan subway tracks, and wonders how her claustrophobia will cope when the tunnels shrink to just three-feet. Kitty turns to her and is about to launch a verbal attack but Ororo stops her and says they need a united team for this. She adds that Marrow knows the tunnels better than anyone. She will lead a team on board the subways themselves and Kurt will take the others through the actual tunnels. Marrow however will coordinate their movements. Surprised at the suggestion, and Storm’s faith in her she asks, “I will?”
Before long, as the full moon lights up the city streets, the X-Men make their way to the subway. Storm splits them into teams; she and Rogue will fly Piotr and Remy ahead to the subways while Kurt takes Wolverine, Marrow and Kitty to the underground. Marrow slings an arm round Kitty’s shoulders and says, “Hey, can we be buddies!” Kitty looks to the floor in mock desperation and asks if she can be on the other team. Hanging from a leafless tree, Kurt tells Ororo that he trusts her judgement but how does she propose they keep in touch with each other. Didn’t Bastion steal their communication equipment? Marrow had thought this through, and shows them a few walkie-talkies she had boosted from some maintenance guys in the tunnels. “Boosted?” asks Storm; “You stole radios?” adds Gambit. Marrow replies, “Gimme a break, I’m gonna get lectured on taking things that aren’t mine by a pickpocket and a member of the Thieves Guild?” Neither Ororo nor Remy have any kind of coherent response for that.
Fifteen minutes later and Marrow is finally home, wading through the tunnels carrying a flaming torch to light the way with Kurt, Kitty and Logan following her. Logan asks how it is that she gets back and forth between Westchester and Manhattan so quickly and Marrow says she’s glad he asked. The short cuts she learned with the Morlocks are some help but if you really want to move down there, you need a train. Her torch lights up an old garbage sweeper train. She tells them it isn’t too fast but it’ll get them into the city quicker than, “the elf’s puke-coaster.” Kurt is mildly offended by the description of his teleporting prowess. Kitty looks at the rusting, dilapidated train carriage and says that a few years ago, they traveled the globe in the finest sonic jets and now they creep around in a stolen trash train. She appreciates the irony. Marrow plays driver, holding a lever as she says, “All aboard the X-Press train kiddies!”
Nightcrawler radios Storm and informs her that the tunnel team is on the move and asks her if she’s reached her destination yet. She replies that she can barely hear her but copies. Her team has arrived at the station closest to where Marrow saw Flag-Smasher and his men. Colossus (not currently armored up) opens a large street map and Rogue tells him it’s nice; if the terrorists don’t kill them the locals probably will. Storm tells Kurt that as per Marrow’s suggestion, they’ll split up at Times Square and inspect the interiors of as many cars as they can and then ends the call. Rogue asks Gambit why he has a long face. He tells her that he hates these tunnels. He didn’t know the Marauders would massacre the Morlocks when he led them down there but that’s no break for his conscience. He adds that he’d rather be anywhere in the world right now but this is the least he owes Marrow. He helped take away the girl’s family and he’ll never forgive himself for it.
They get through the barriers using Metrocards, something Colossus has never used before, having lived in Scotland for a while. Marrow then calls them back and tells them to turn off their radio (accidentally left on) and get to work on the trains. Kurt adds that is all from his team and wishes them luck finding the explosives, adding that they’ll sweep the tunnels for the men who planted it. Kitty wonders what they hope to gain from blowing up a subway car anyway, and Wolverine replies that he suspects that it’s not the trains they wish to blow up, but what’s above them. Flag-Smasher and his Ultimatum boys don’t take too kindly to any symbol of national pride and unfortunately, New York has its fair share of those.
Marrow is disparaging of the human race in general, asking why should they care what they blow up? For once this isn’t a mutant problem, it’s just between humans and they should let the meatbags thin their herd out a little. Kurt is amazed, and asks her if she actually believes what comes out of her mouth. He cannot accept that she’s learned so little after all her time with the X-Men. Kitty is about to question Marrow’s idiosyncrasies before the train screeches to a halt and Marrow says, “Last stop, Terroristville. Everybody off.”
Lights arc around the tunnel ahead of them as Marrow explains that this is where she saw them load the bomb onto the train and they must have taken it from there down the two or five line. After that they could have gone anywhere. Now prepared for action, Wolverine replies that whichever tunnel they find with berets keeping guard in will at least point them in the right direction of where the bomb went. Kurt agrees and splits the four into two pairs; he and Marrow taking the five line and Wolverine accompanying Shadowcat in the other. Kitty, to Marrow’s surprise, asks if she can join Marrow instead, as she hates to split up him and his drinking buddy. Kurt is okay with this and tells her to stay in touch via radio and call him the moment they see anything. As the two teams head off down adjoining tunnels, they are watched from the shadows by the masked Flag-Smasher.
After splitting up at Times Square, Storm and Gambit checked three trains and apart from an adolescent who tried appropriating Gambit’s wallet, they’d found nothing out of the ordinary. Gambit stands near her, holding said adolescent who is now unconscious having learned a valuable lesson. She asks Colossus by radio what their status is. He replies that he and Rogue are with a large group of men who boarded a seven train. There was nothing going on but it seems suspicious to them at this late hour. Kurt uses his radio to tell Piotr to stay on it while he and Wolverine work their way down the two line and see if there are any undesirables on their tracks. Wolverine meanwhile smells M1 grease, the kind they use on machine guns.
Marrow and Kitty by this point have checked much of track five and found nothing. She informs her team-mates by radio that she and Kitty will meet them at Grand Central. Kitty appears impressed that Marrow finally seems to be learning how to play with the rest of the boys and girls. They continue their journey. Marrow says she doesn’t know what Kitty is trying to prove by coming with her but it’s not going to work. She replies that she’s not trying to prove anything. She tells Marrow that she isn’t the first new girl in this club. Jubilee filled the role before her and she herself was around before Jubilee. She adds, “Maybe she and I were young and naïve, but the X-Men helped them believe that humans and mutants could live together. I know you’re not convinced and I’m wondering why..why I can’t give you what they gave to me. I’m just trying to understand you.” Marrow, with a small bone protruding from her nose replies that a beautiful girl like her would never understand. Kitty’s eyes flick towards Marrow and she says, “What did you say?”
Meanwhile, Wolverine spots about a dozen Ultimatum troops, holding heavy duty weapons and all dressed in a similar fashion; berets, sunglasses, big boots. He shushes Nightcrawler, points them out and he realizes what the hats mean. They now know Marrow was telling the truth and Kurt is telling Wolverine that there might be more close by and it’s probably better if they handle this subtly. Unfortunately, Colossus takes this inopportune moment to contact them and his voice comes over the radio, telling them they may have trouble back there. Before they have time to worry about Piotr’s plight, they decide to attack before they are attacked themselves. Wolverine, in his traditional yellow and blue outfit and Nightcrawler, teleporting effortlessly through the tunnels wade into the troops, Wolverine slashing the chest of one as Kurt cartwheels between bullets. “So much for subtlety,” cries Nightcrawler.
Kitty and Marrow are still wandering through their tunnel, continuing their conversation. Marrow tells her that she heard her. She can’t understand the way she sees humans because she’s so pretty herself. She grew up with them and thinks like them, she even looks like them. She adds that she fits in with the beautiful fleshbags and they’ve blinded her to what they truly are. Kitty becomes angry at the accusation and shoves Marrow against the concrete wall, breaking a few splinters from the bones protruding from her back. “How dare you?” she cries, “You think I had it easy just because I look human? I’ve watched my friends die at their hands you presumptuous little Morlock.” She continues to say that she should get over her obsession with beauty and despite thinking that because she doesn’t look like the humans, it gives her the right to hate them, she isn’t as ugly as she thinks. Before she actually says Marrow is beautiful, she is pushed away as Marrow tells her not to say it, not another syllable and to save her hollow words for the next girl.
Breaking the tension temporarily, the radio crackles into life and Kurt’s voice is heard amidst a barrage of gunfire noise telling them they have a situation there. He continues to say that the Ultimatum troops have found them and there are at least ten of them on the track around the corner. He and Wolverine took on as many as they could but Wolverine is injured so they retreated onto to line seven. As he speaks, hiding in the shadows, Logan holds onto Kurt, arm around the shoulder as his other hand stems the bleeding coming from his stomach. His healing factor will take care of that but for the time being he is too weak to fight.
More radio communication comes from Ororo who tells Kurt her radio is dying on her and asks again if it was line seven they are on. She gets no reply but Gambit mentions that didn’t somebody say there were trains running on that line? Colossus, as mentioned earlier, does indeed have trouble there as he and Rogue have a gun pointed at them by an Ultimatum goon. He tells him to put the radio down if he wants to live, but calls him civilian as Piotr isn’t armored up at the moment. Before he does, Piotr manages to tell his team-mates that they are on the Brooklyn-bound seven. Kitty and Marrow hear this message and Kitty says that sounds like their bomb train, and they should head off. “What about the German?” Marrow asks.
Kurt and Logan are walking down track seven, Logan still holding on for support. He replies to Marrow’s query, telling her they’ll be fine as Ultimatum appear to have backed away from their tracks for some reason. “Uh…elf?” Wolverine says as their backs begin to light up. Kurt turns and sees the problem; a train is heading straight for them. Logan tells him they’d better teleport out of there but Kurt, a little panic setting in now tells him he cannot teleport blindly as they might materialize within a brick foundation. Logan says that he should teleport past the train then but Kurt replies by asking, “How long is it? If I undershoot we’re dead, but if I overshoot I may put us right in front of another train!” As the train lights become so bright that they just become silhouettes, Logan tries to work out how long each carriage is providing there are nine cars to a train. Kurt flicks on the radio and asks if anyone knows how long “Ein verdammter train ist?” but Wolverine realizes the futility in this and is about to tell him to just jump before we cut back to Storm and Gambit who has his ear to the failing radio. “Well?” asks Storm. “I don’t know, all I heard was a bamf” replies Remy.
Back with the two youngsters, Marrow thinks that Flag-Smasher would be flying at half-mast by now if she weren’t weighed down with pathetic amateurs. Kitty makes her as uncomfortable in her own tunnels as she usually does upworld. Kitty asks how long it will take to reach line seven and Marrow tells her too long, about an hour and a half. Kitty asks, what if they go through the lines. Marrow knows the inevitable phase is about to happen and covers her face in dread. Kitty radios Storm and informs her that if she can hear her, she and Marrow will be phasing through the tunnels and won’t be able to make radio contact. If she can make out this message she should go to the seven line immediately. She then holds her hand out to Marrow, asking her to take it.
Apparently Colossus didn’t take kindly to having a gun aimed at his face and is now armored up and standing alongside Rogue, routing the assailants who were unfortunate enough to pick on them. Holding one in each arm as bullets bounce off his steely hide, often through the train’s windows, Rogue who is also pretty much bulletproof holds a couple more and tells him there’s something happening on the tracks. She looks outside and notices Nightcrawler and Wolverine appear in a swirl of smoke, Kurt unable to believe they made it. Wolverine says they could have cut it closer but is distracted by bullets flying past them via the train they just avoided. They turn to see an Ultimatum troop hanging from the back window and Logan says that’s their train and asks Kurt, even though he knows it’s a strain to get them on board.
Kitty and Marrow are making their way quickly between tunnels, through train carriages (which surprises the commuters on board) and despite Marrow’s objections that she can’t take any more, they end up on a train on the seven line. Marrow tells her it’s going in the wrong direction but Kitty says, “I know. Ever seen the movie Ghost?” Marrow replies that romances make her want to kill herself before they jumps between that train and the one travelling in the opposite direction, arriving on the train carrying the bomb with a bump. Unfortunately, several Ultimatum troops, again with berets, shades and big guns are guarding it and aim their weapons at the two X-Men. The bomb itself is of the peculiar hi-tech variety, complete with twin chambers filled with a green liquid and a computer keyboard. Any second now, Marrow thinks, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and the rest will come smashing through the door…..any second now. With no rescue forthcoming, the pair of them raise their hands in surrender.
Kurt meanwhile is outstretched on the floor of the carriage Rogue and Colossus made their battleground. He is winded from teleporting himself and Wolverine on board and Rogue asks him what happened. Logan tells her he is fine as his healing factor has already taken care of his gut wound but the elf is hurting from the stress of the jump and rhetorically asks whether they practiced teleporting whilst with Excalibur across the pond. Piotr is about to argue with this statement but they are interrupted by the radio which crackles into life as they are told that the bomb is on the front car of the train. Colossus says there are hundreds of armed men between their car and the bomb to which Logan replies, “Only hundreds?” He pops his claws as Colossus readies his steel fists. “Let’s get to work,” says Rogue.
Marrow meanwhile is still hoping for a rescue from the front of the train but is pleasantly surprised when Storm and Gambit come tearing through the rear. Storm hurls a couple of troops away with her wind blast thanking Shadowcat for her message and apologizing for their lateness. Gambit notices an attacker about to strike and calls for Marrow but she is already on the case and tosses one of her bone daggers clean through their opponent’s hand, making him drop the knife he is carrying. Remy reaches to his inside jacket pocket, only to realize that his pack of cards has been stolen by the pickpocket he dealt with earlier. Thinking quickly though, he grabs the Metrocard he used earlier and charges is up, destroying another attacker’s machine gun upon impact. Marrow smiles and says she owes him, but Gambit, feeling guilty about his actions in the Morlock Massacre says, “Chere, you don’t owe me a thing.”
Suddenly, from the opposite side of the carriage, Colossus tears a new doorway and he, Rogue and the two less healthy members of the team enter, ready for action. They find however, that their work has already been done, as the other four stand around several unconscious Ultimatum troops, some discarded weaponry and a whole lot of debris. Rogue asks if they are late but Ororo says it isn’t over yet; they still have a bomb to take care of and Ultimatum’s conductor is out cold. She trusts no-one there is qualified to drive a subway train. Marrow points out that the plantation princess (Rogue) can simply pluck out the instructions from the driver’s memories and learn how to stop it, right? Rogue replies that is only a last resort, and they still have one more resort to visit. She flies out of the train and puts herself on the track, bringing the entire train to halt using her strength. Show off, thinks Marrow.
Rogue doesn’t take all the credit for stopping the train as it was already slowing after hitting a red switch. She says the Ultimatum boys wanted it to stop there. Piotr wonders why and asks where they are. Marrow tells him that they are towards the end of the underground sections of the seven, just shy of the East River, 42nd and 1st Avenue she guesses. She reckons it looks like they plan on taking out a few city blocks with the bomb and asks if there’s anything there worth blowing up. “Aw nuts,” says Wolverine, “The U.N. building.” Standing around the bomb, Ororo looks contemplative as Marrow leans against a pole thinking something isn’t quite right here. The others discuss their options; getting the bomb away from there, defusing it, asking each other whether it is nuclear or chemical when Marrow leaps from the train and says, “Nuts to this. You guys are just doing what the meatbags want you to do.” Kitty thinks she’s gone crazy and tells the team she will follow and ensure she doesn’t get herself killed and shouts to Marrow to wait up.
Phasing through a wall to cut Marrow off, she asks her what she’s afraid of. Marrow sprints towards her and straight through her without a thought, replying that she’s not afraid of anything; she’s just playing hero like everyone wants her to and she is going to find the real bomb. “The real bomb?” Kitty says. Marrow stops running and turns to Kitty. She says she has read a few books, and isn’t as stupid as Kitty would like to think. She asks her why would a guy who wants one united world blow up a place that’s trying to do the same thing. She then says, “Come on girlie, you know what all flatscans are really interested in.” Kitty asks her what that is and she replies, “Money!”
Beginning her sprint again and using her bones to help propel her along the tunnels by digging them into the side of the train, Marrow is convinced she is right. They discuss their ideas about humans. Kitty questions her, asking if she thinks she understands humans better that the other X-Men who’ve been surrounded by them their whole lives. Marrow replies that it is because she hasn’t spent her whole life around them that she does. Kitty sarcastically says ‘that’ makes sense. Marrow tells her it does, as she can’t see the forest for the trees. When you live your whole life apart from something like she did, you get perspective. She got to see humans for what they really are. “Whatever,” replies Kitty, “So what are we doing now, o judge of humanity?” Following the money she tells Kitty, and adds that they are underneath the place where all the suits buy and sell stuff all day. “You mean Wall Street?” asks Kitty. Marrow places her finger to her own lips and tells her to shush, and to take a good look at human nature.
Sure enough, Marrow is bang on the money, as they peer from the shadows to see Flag-Smasher, resplendent in mask, costume and flowing red cape with his hands on a different bomb altogether. Kitty thinks he looks like Space Ghost. “Enter: Our reclusive criminal mastermind,” says Marrow. Before Shadowcat can stop her impetuous team-mate, Marrow is leaping forward toward their foe, saying that he’s a typical human; unable to trust his goons to do the job and having to do it himself. Confidently, Marrow flips herself high into the air, a bone dagger poised to strike in each hand as she shouts, “Hey, Flag-Smasher, meet Face-Smasher!” Instinctively, Flag-Smasher whips around and catches Marrow full in the mouth with his club, sending blood and bone splattering into the air. “A pleasure,” he replies.
He recognizes her as being one of the mutant ‘heroes’ he saw earlier and thought his decoy bomb would keep her occupied, commending her on finding him whilst raising his club for a killing blow but sadly he says, her kind are not welcome in his united globe and brings his club down with all his force. Marrow cringes but doesn’t feel a thing, raising her arms in case of a follow-up attack. She needn’t worry however, as Kitty has phased him, making them both intangible. Flag-Smasher turns to see the much smaller woman behind him, just in time to see her deliver a fantastically punishing heel-kick into his smug, deluded face. He is knocked clear off the ground and comes to a rest against his bomb which is a little different to the decoy. Marrow asks Kitty if old man Logan taught her that move as her follow through was weak. Kitty tells her, “Right, wish I could fight like you kid.”
Kitty taunts Flag-Smasher, telling him he is bush-league and she took care of tougher Joes when she was thirteen. She adds her congratulations on being a part of the shortest X-Men fight ever. Flag-Smasher wipes a river of blood coming from his mask-covered nose and tells them that he’s already won; there’s no way to deactivate his real weapon. In ten minutes, the stock exchange will be ashes and the American dollar will be crippled. He’ll bring the world one step closer to adopting a single, global currency. “Money, what I tell ya!” Marrow says to Kitty and pointing her bone dagger at Flag-Smasher’s face, she tells him to defuse it now or she’ll start carving out his organs in alphabetical order. Kitty is more concerned though and says he’s serious, and that psychos like him are always willing to die for their stupid beliefs. She says there’s only one chance, and unless she does something, thousands of men and women could die.
Marrow doesn’t care. She replies that this guy can deactivate it. Flatscans are selfish and won’t give their lives for anything. Kitty is thinking about how to save the day and says that if she phases part of the bomb it may set it off. She’ll have to phase the whole thing and wait for it to explode. She doesn’t know what will happen, she doesn’t know if it’ll even work. She says she’d better phase it as far underground as she can and either way, she’s punching out today. Marrow however isn’t going to see her new friend sacrifice herself needlessly and before Kitty can touch the bomb she whacks her over the head with one of her bones, knocking Kitty unconscious.
Flag-Smasher is horrified. Marrow stands before him as he asks her what she’s doing. He knows by the look in her eye that he’s in trouble now as Marrow tells him she thought they needed time alone. She sits on him and slips her bone dagger underneath his mask, telling him it looks stupid; he’s a child. He tells her through gritted teeth, “You don’t scare me. You filthy mutant. You’re just…” Before he finishes his sentence, his mask is torn away from his face and Marrow holds him by the neck, telling him she thought so. This is why he hides his face. He has a chiseled beauty and he knows he doesn’t deserve it. Nervously, the young man says, “Aren’t you, aren’t you going to get us out of here; the bomb?” She stands before him and tells him he isn’t going anywhere and quickly brings her dagger down on him with a sickening ‘shunk’ as it pierces his shoulder, deep, which causes blood to flow freely from it. “Ouch,” she says, “That’s in deep. Looks like you’re staying here with your toy, pal. You can defuse the bomb if you know how. I don’t care. Kill as many fleshbags as you want, I won’t lose my sleep.” Struggling to remove the dagger, he replies that she’s supposed to be a hero. She tells him, “Says who human? I’m just another ugly mutant looking out for my own. Later pretty boy.” Flag-Smasher cries out as she fades away into the darkness, carrying Kitty.
Five minutes later, according to Marrow, Kitty is thanking her profusely for saving her life. “You self-centered moron!” Kitty says as she wakes up, holding her aching skull as she lies between a set of tracks, “You just left him there! Innocent people are going to die because of you. We have to go back and…” Marrow cuts in telling her there’s no time as the bomb’s set to go off in thirty seconds. She is confident he‘ll defuse it but Kitty says he won’t. She doesn’t know a thing about humans. Marrow counts down from five and the detonation time passes without incident. Marrow is fairly smug but Kitty just tells her she is a stupid, lucky sewer-rat before suddenly having some sort of seizure and passing out. Marrow looks more than concerned as her face is lit up by an approaching train. They are in the middle of the track and she shakes Kitty to try and wake her, telling her they have to go untouchable. She pleads for her to wake as the lights get closer and closer, and as the lights are within a few yards, she tells Kitty she’s sorry, so sorry. As the train’s brakes slam on and the wheels screech along the tracks, Wolverine’s hand is offered from trackside and he says, “Come on girl, let’s go home.”
With the trouble over, the eight X-Men sit atop the garbage sweeper train, silent and thoughtful. Marrow sits apart from them with Kitty asleep on her lap, her bones arcing from her back and others protruding through several parts of her body and thinks, ‘Look at all the pretty people. They played at being heroes today; did everything they could until the decoy bomb harmlessly fizzled out. I used to live with ugly people in the tunnels but that was a long time ago. Kitty still looks beautiful; her chestnut hair, those hazel eyes. ‘Me? In the end, I guess we all get what we deserve.’