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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
All Saints’ Day
Transylvania, Rumania, All Saints’ Day
Nate Grey is in a train that crosses this infamous area. He asks himself what he is doing in that train, the day after Halloween, bound for that notorious place where guys like Vlad the Impaler make even Apocalypse look like a humanitarian in comparison. The reason behind this is a sick boy back in New York. Nate is the only one willing to help him. Nate himself feels like a child at heart, not unlike the boy whose life hangs in the balance. He recalls how it all began on a dark and spooky Halloween night on Greenwich Village.
(flashback)
Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Nate plies his trade as telepath in Washington Square Park, predicting people’s “fortunes” in exchange for spare change. Nate is always exhilarated by the look on people’s faces when he tells them something they thought nobody could ever know. Surrounded as he is by countless children wearing Halloween costumes, he is asked by one of them, a kid dressed as a clown, what he is thinking right now. Nate replies that he is thinking the money he stole from his mom to buy that ridiculous get-up!
Suddenly, Nate spots a sad little boy, dressed in Captain America’s outfit and confined in a wheelchair. Nate jokingly asks him whether the rest of the Avengers are off saving the world. The boy introduces himself as Jerome and adds he has to be careful saving the world, on account of his being sick. He was born premature, with complications; he could “go” at any time. Nate adds that he could also “go” at any time. As he touches the boy, he senses he’s in a bad shape, probably some sort of leukemia. He probably has only six, seven more months to live. As Nate warns the boy to head back to “Avengers mansion,” since the night becomes stormier, he realizes the boy reminds him a lot of himself.
Nate contemplates on his own condition: as rapid as his psionic power burns itself out – and his body along the way – he could also die at any time. He was born with more power that a person can handle and that’s killing him. “Too bad the only person who can do anything about it is a total madman” Nate thinks. Apparently, both he and the boy have one thing in common: no future.
Suddenly, a strange old gypsy lady approaches Nate, informing him that there is only one hope for the boy, though she is most likely dead by now. Nate tells the lady she makes absolutely no sense. The woman explains that in her homeland, Transylvania, there was once a woman, a countess by the name of Absynthia von Mort, who went into great pains to cheat death itself – and eventually succeeded! If she is still alive, she should be almost two centuries old. Even though the woman insists that Nate is the boy’s sole salvation and he should seek Countess von Mort, Nate thinks she is just crazy and leaves.
However, the old woman’s words haunt Nate for the rest of the night. He wonders whether she was right about that countess. After all, it isn’t the first time someone has been able to cheat death; Apocalypse did it. This countess could help Jerome beat his illness and have a long life. Maybe she could even help Nate himself.
In the news, Trish Tilby reports that a fifth renowned socialite, Ms. Lydia Lumet, has been officially declared missing. International authorities have no comment on this, except to say that the last recorded rash of disappearances like these was at Rumania at the turn of the century, when noted alchemist and recluse Esteban Di…
Uninterested in the news, Nate turns off the TV. He can’t help but think about what the old lady told him: he’s the boy’s sole hope. He can’t ignore that; just like the heroes of this world, this “saints” of this world have taught him he has to do something useful with what little time he may have. He decides to travel to Transylvania.
(present)
Nate is sitting in a train wagon. His thoughts are interrupted by a woman with a staff asking him in German whether the seat’s taken. Her companion, a man who wears a glove in his left hand says “hello” in English. The woman tells her companion that the boy doesn’t speak German. Nate instantly learns German by reading their minds and assures them the seat’s not taken; he was just not expecting any company. The couple assures Nate they have no problem to talk in English with him. They introduce themselves as Sebastian and Teresa. Nate notices they are having in difficulty in stowing their gear but they refuse Nate’s offer to help them.
When Nate asks them what brings them there, Teresa shows him a ring on her left hand; they are newlyweds. He remarks it’s a strange place for a honeymoon. Sebastian states they always wanted to go somewhere different. As Sebastian and Teresa look each other in the eyes, deeply in love, a bag above Sebastian is about to fall on his head! Hoping they won’t notice it, Nate uses a little telekinetic nudge to put the bag back at its place.
Nate jokingly asks them if their travel agent is the Bride of Frankenstein. Sebastian remarks that his and Teresa’s journey is as much an exploratory journey to mystery as were Dr. Frankenstein’s experiments in Mary Shelley’s novel. Both he and Teresa are victims of tragic accidents, accidents that have claimed parts of them both. He informs Nate that there’s a physician in Transylvania, a woman named Dr. Cindy von Mort, who allegedly specializes in regenerative therapy among other experimental practices. If this Dr. von Mort can do what she claims, then Sebastian will regain his lost hand and Teresa will be able to walk on her two legs again without using her staff as prosthesis. They both pray von Mort isn’t a charlatan so they can start their life on a happy note. Nate wonders whether this von Mort is the same woman that old lady told him about.
At that moment, the train reaches a deserted station. Nate carries their bags outside, although he remarks they weigh a ton. Sebastian apologizes: apparently, his wife has yet to learn the art of traveling light. Teresa claims she was expecting someone could be at the station to carry their things. Nate was also expecting that. Quite strangely, he can’t sense any psi-signatures from scanning the station.
Suddenly, a strange man in brown hat and coat appears amidst the shadows, in front of a car. He assumes they must be seeking Dr. von Mort; none dare to come all the way here unless they seek they doctor. The man steps forward and introduces himself as “M’sieur Boniface.”
Everybody is appalled by his ghoulish appearance: his eyes are black with no whites whereas his skin is deathly white. Nate has an extra reason to be freaked out: he can’t read Boniface’s mind, as if he is not there or as if he’s undead! He tries to calm himself down and not let his imagination run wild. He is not in some late night horror flick. He is probably just too exhausted from making a transatlantic telekinetic journey to think straight. The man may be creepy but he is perfectly harmless.
Belying Nate’s theory, Boniface pulls a pistol and points it at him. He tells him the doctor was expecting only two guests and he is not one of them. Nate considers telekinetically crushing his pistol but can’t risk revealing his powers yet. He can’t screw this up, both for Jerome’s and his own sake. Thus, he apologizes, admitting that he should have called ahead. He explains that a buddy of his is dying and only Dr. von Mort can save him. He hopes that the doctor won’t leave a boy to die just because he didn’t book an appointment. Boniface assures him that nobody knows the mysteries of existence as intimately as Dr. von Mort; if someone can prolong the boy’s life, it’s her.
They all enter the car and Boniface starts driving through some spooky countryside. It reminds Nate of his homeworld: it is so dark and desolate, so devoid of life and light. Boniface draws their attention to the sanatorium ahead: actually it’s a creepy-looking castle. “Sanatorium?” Nate asks in amazement. “Looks more like a mortuary to…”
Suddenly, Nate screams. Worried, Teresa and Sebastian ask him if he’s okay. Nate assures them he’s alright: it was just a minor bout of jet lag. Actually, Nate thinks that if his power surges keep intensifying, then his days may be up a lot sooner than he expected. He hopes this von Mort is as legit as Boniface described her to be.
The car passes through a gate above a moat, the gate being raised by a chain-like device handled by a being even more monstrous-looking than Boniface: a man with deathly white skin and the upper part of his body horribly disproportional to the lower. Boniface informs them his name is Augustine. He had lung cancer until he came here and now sports the strength of ten men! Like Boniface himself, he is yet another living testament to Dr. von Mort’s genius. “It’s unreal!” Teresa remarks. Boniface assures them that “reality” is of no importance here: only life and death matter.
They all enter the house. Nate notices some digs on the wall and jokingly asks whether their decorator is Satan. Boniface tells them to wait for Dr. von Mort in the hall. He pleads them not to mention her condition as she’s very sensitive about it and wishes them a pleasant stay before he leaves.
Nate, Teresa and Sebastian note the portrait of a beautiful young woman, obviously centuries old. The portrait reads “Great Grandmother von Mort.” Teresa deduces she must be the original matriarch of this household. Nate wonders if this original von Mort was the one the gypsy was talking about when suddenly a voice is heard commenting on the woman of the portrait: “Stunning, isn’t she? So soulfully entrancing in her beauty… yet so very tortured.”
The voice comes from a woman who stands in the shadows in the landing of the stairs. As she starts descending the stairs, she confesses that all von Mort women have one thing in common: their passions, their almost morbid fascination for the gruesome and grotesque; the meaning of life, death and what lies beyond the void of existence. She finally introduces herself as Dr. von Mort and welcomes them to Castle Absinthe.
Everyone is a little bit shocked by her green skin. Dr. von Mort ironically notes that she must have an uncanny resemblance with her ancestress, otherwise Nate wouldn’t stare at her so much, would he? Nate tries to keep himself from mentioning her green skin. He remarks that Granny von Mort lives on her descendants. “In more ways than you can imagine” von Mort replies. She asks him who he is. She was only expecting two guests. Nate again apologizes for crashing her party but he says he did it on behalf of a friend of his who needs her help. Von Mort gladly invites him in the festivities. She remarks that, as the spider said to the fly, there is always room for one more in the belly of the beast! Nate thanks her, even though her response leaves him uneasy.
Von Mort escorts her guests to their rooms. As she leaves Nate in his room, she tells him that dinner is in an hour and he shouldn’t be late. As Nate stays alone, he realizes the situation is given him the creeps which is only natural after his encounter with the two horribly deformed men and a woman with a snot-colored skin! Feeling exhausted, Nate decides to close his eyes for a second but quickly falls asleep.
In an adjacent chamber, Sebastian and Teresa can hear Nate snoring and realize the boy sleeps the slumber of the just. Sebastian feels sorry for the boy as he has no idea what awaits him. As Teresa pulls a pistol concealed in an ankle holster, she asks him whether they should warn him. Sebastian is negative; their mission takes precedence. They have to stop this murdering charlatan, von Mort, before she has her claws on Nate like she did with her previous victims!
Teresa wonders if there’s a chance von Mort really is a miracle worker. She tells Sebastian he fought tooth and nail to get this assignment to prove his worth in the field again, despite his lost hand but, for her, he’s already a saint. He doesn’t also have to become a martyr. She asks him whether he would like to put this dangerous life behind them and finally marry for real instead of posing as “crippled” newlyweds while secretly conducting an Interpol investigation to corral an alleged mass murderer. Sebastian says he would like that and they will do that after the “doctor” is brought to justice.
Sebastian and Teresa kiss and he urges her to be careful. She replies that she always is, unlike him. Teresa slides out of the bedroom window and finds herself standing on the ledge, between two gargoyle statues. She thinks that ten years on the force – twice decorated for service “above and beyond” the call – Sebastian still can’t overcome his insecurities about being wounded in the field. Mission after mission, Teresa keeps thinking each time that she will finally have him free of all his emotional baggage. However, she has a feeling this is going to be their last mission.
Hiding behind one gargoyle, Teresa spots Augustine on the ground, pulling the mechanism that opens the gate above the moat. A truck drives in and Boniface is there to welcome it. Teresa assumes it must be tonight’s groceries or something. She keeps thinking that maybe Sebastian isn’t right and they are following the wrong trail. Maybe nothing bad takes place here. However, she decides to follow his instincts this one last time. Suddenly, though, she is shocked by what she sees.
The driver uncovers the coach-work of his truck, revealing an unconscious, bloody woman under the blanket. Teresa recognizes her as Lydia Lumet, the missing socialite. The driver informs Boniface that he got her after some fancy wingding. He tells him he that that’s one blueblood less and reminds Boniface that he has kept his end of the bargain and now wants what they promised him. Boniface is impressed by the driver’s work on Lydia: there are no bruises or missing limbs. The driver is “rewarded” by having his face crushed by Augustine’s superhuman fist, thus silencing his involvement in Lumet’s abduction. Teresa realizes Sebastian was right: the abductees are here somewhere!
Suddenly, though, she gasps as Boniface and Augustine seem to have spotted her. Boniface asks Augustine to show the lady the way down; Augustine hurls a brick to her, making Teresa lose her balance and crash on the ground. Teresa Gregor, Sebastian Kraus’ fiancé and widely considered one of the best Interpol agents is dead.
As Augustine drags Teresa’s lifeless body from the scene of her gruesome death, Nate wakes up abruptly, screaming her name. He just sensed Teresa’s death in his mind. With his fierce telekinesis, Nate blasts his way into the adjacent room of Sebastian and Teresa, screaming to Sebastian that something has gone horribly wrong. However, Sebastian is not in the room. Nate wonders how he’s going to tell him the awful news about Teresa. Suddenly, though, he spots Teresa’s ankle holster on the floor. Nate realizes that the prosthetic shtick was a fake and wonders what is going on in here.
In the dining-room, sitting in a long table, von Mort tells Sebastian his wife is late. Sebastian nervously agrees, telling her she knows how women are. Pointing a gun at von Mort under the table, Sebastian wonders where Teresa is and prays that nothing has gone wrong.
Boniface approaches von Mort and whispers something in her ear. She remarks that that’s excellent news and congratulates him on his good work. As she stands up, she tells Sebastian to excuse her as there is something that needs her immediate attention. However, Sebastian points his gun at her, ordering her to stay where she is and put her hands where he can see them as she is now under arrest. Hardly upset and grinning mockingly, she asks him what the charges are. Sebastian tells her to stop being coy with him: five people have gone missing and all the trails lead to her. She asks him whether he thinks she abducted them, brought them in this nightmarish keep and has since been experimenting with them. “How droll” she says, “yet, so very true”.
As she approaches him, she admits being guilty of charge. Why shouldn’t she? There’s no one who can stop her. After all, she possesses the greatest gift of all, a gift she will soon share with the world. The gift of everlasting life! As she says this, her eyes are glowing and she is about to put some sort of green substance in Sebastian’s mouth.
In Sebastian and Teresa’s room, Nate realizes his “honeymooning” traveling companions are actually undercover international cops. By reading their reports of “abductees” and “experiments” he realizes the evil of von Mort. Her operation sounds like what Nate and others went through in Sinister’s labs. He will never be able to purge those images from his mind but there’s no need others have to endure what he went through, especially if he’s around to stop it. He decides to take von Mort down, even if this means he’s ruining his chances at a future. However, he can’t let Jerome down. He decides that he will have to think of a way to save him later. For now, though, he has to tell Sebastian of what happened.
Nate telekinetically rushes to the dining-room where he comes face to face with von Mort, Boniface, Augustine and Sebastian. Von Mort is delighted to see that Interpol now recruits super-powered beings to do their dirty work. She informs Nate their “sting” operation has failed: one agent is dead; the other under her control and both shall serve her forevermore! She orders her three minions to attack, as she can see Nate’s great power and wants to add him to her collection.
Augustine fiercely punches Nate, sending him in the other edge of the room. Nate deduces that his superhuman strength must be von Mort’s doing. Nate’s priority is to break Sebastian out of the spell she put him. Nate rises and punches Augustine with all of his concentrated strength. Boniface approaches and his eyes start glowing; Nate’s skin starts boiling! Boniface tells him this must hurt but is but a fraction of the inferno he survived the night a pack of hoodlums set his house ablaze for their sport, dooming his family trapped inside and leaving Boniface a quivering, barely alive mass of flayed flesh. Fortunately, Dr. von Mort took him in that fateful day, restored him to health and through a marriage of sorcery and science, granted him the power to inflict his pain upon those foolish enough to threaten his benefactress.
Nate screams that this can’t be real; it’s an illusion. He is not really burning. Von Mort assures him they are all “burning.” None of them is a saint; they’re all engaged in a losing game of war, a war she intends to win now that she has him! Trapped in an excruciating agony, Nate can’t focus his mind enough to psionically combat his pain. His skin bubbles as he burns; blisters rise and burst. Nate begs Sebastian to help just before he loses consciousness. Von Mort is exhilarated that they will have Nate’s power as their ultimate weapon against the hordes of Hell; against Devil himself who dared to trifle with her, the infamous Countess Absynthia von Mort!
A little bit later, Nate wakes up, tied up in a seat in Absynthia’s lab. He addresses her with her real title: Countess. She apologizes for her “professional” ruse but one must maintain appearances in order to successfully deceive the masses. She tells him he must be proud: he was the first of all the poor unfortunates who faced Boniface’s burning gaze to survive.
Nate realizes he is too weak to free himself from these straps. He has to bide his time until his strength returns. He uses some subconscious psionic suggestion, hoping to turn Absynthia’s goons against her, to no result. Boniface even warns him to stop “tickling” his head otherwise he’ll perforate his with his gun. Nate realizes that, whatever Absynthia has done with these two, it’s preventing him from assuming control of their minds. There is still Sebastian, though. He telepathically pleads him to listen to him. He urges Sebastian to remember the day he lost his hand; Sebastian hadn’t let that experience to stop him from living. Nate urges Sebastian to not give in to Absynthia so easily and fight for himself or at least fight for Teresa.
Absynthia somehow intervenes in Nate’s telepathic tête-à-tête. She apologizes for interrupting but has much to discuss. She explains this ability of hers is but one of the side-effects of her strange genesis. She starts narrating her story.
(flashback)
The year was 1810. The day after All Hallow’s Eve; the day her husband, Count von Mort, died. He was the world to her. They thought love and marriage was an ecstasy that nobody could take away from them. The day she buried him she realized they thought wrong. She decided to spend the ensuing decades looking for an answer to the question this tragedy had raised in her mind: if death could cheat on her happiness, could she not cheat on death?
So determined she was to deny her God-given soul to the reaper, that she forsook the traditional teachings of Eastern and Western philosophy and started dabbling in the Dark Arts, the providence of Satan himself. She even auctioned herself for the chance to resurrect her lost love, at no avail.
Then, one day, she was approached by the mysterious Esteban Diablo. He was dashing and debonair and offered her her fondest wish and the means to achieve it. She used all the tools he provided, yet the sole outcome was failure. Then, one day, she realized she had naively deceived herself all those lonely years. The only place she and Victor could reunite was in afterlife. Diablo concocted a liquid that he claimed would provide a quick and painless passing. Anticipating death, she drunk it, but soon realized Diablo had lied. Days, months, years, a century passed and yet death never knocked on her door. As she watched people around her die and time ignoring her much-transformed body, she realized Diablo had granted her her wish to cheat death, by cursing her with eternal life.
(present)
So here she is today, almost two hundred years old, looking barely thirty, a fountain of eternal youth whose powers transform others into subservient, undying slaves, slaves that will march against her arch-nemesis, Diablo, when he reappears. Nate will also be a soldier in her army. She studied him when he was unconscious; she knows he is dying but can fix that.
As she is about to put some of the putrid elixir she secretes inside his mouth, Nate telepathically urges Sebastian to do something, telling him he has good reason to live. Absynthia maliciously declares he’s lost that reason and presents them with Teresa’s corpse. Sebastian says nothing; he has been feigning submission ever since he pretended swallowing Absynthia’s putrid elixir. Something breaks into his heart, though, as he looks at Teresa’s lifeless body. He grabs Boniface’s pistol and tells Absynthia that, unlike her and Victor, there still is a place he and Teresa can be reunited at – death! Upon saying this, he shoots himself.
Using every last ounce of his strength, Nate breaks out of his constraints, screaming “No!” He is bombarded by psionic waves of guilt and despair roiling outward from Sebastian’s mind, considering himself responsible for Teresa’s untimely death. Lashing out with a desperate telekinetic blast, he attempts to stop that bullet from rocketing out of the gun barrel and slam into Sebastian’s skull. He fails, however. As he holds Sebastian’s body, he tries his best to keep his mind alive, even with a bullet lodged in his head but even with his powers, he can’t raise the dead. It’s over.
Burning with fury, Nate cries Absynthia’s name. She orders her underlings to kill him. Nate tells her she’s not going anywhere and telekinetically constrains her, assuring her she’ll pay for all the lives she’s destroyed, particularly Sebastian and Teresa’s. Absynthia tells him she’s already paid with her mortal soul. Diablo claimed that soul when he started his sick war and now she claims his. Upon saying this, she excretes the same greens slime from her fingers and against Nate’s face, temporarily blinding him as she flees. As he regains vision, he is attacked by Boniface and Augustine but takes them both down with his psionic powers fully returned. He wonders where the prisoners are kept.
On the top of the castle, Absynthia thinks how many times she has considered throwing herself over that rampart into the rocky moat below, fully aware it would be an empty gesture. Nate appears and tells her he feels no sympathy for her and her inability to commit suicide. He knows immortality feels like a curse for her but there is a boy in New York that would give just about anything to be cursed. Absynthia claims she envies that boy’s mortality. There is no deathly peace for her.
Augustine and Boniface reappear and they grab Nate, all three of them falling over the battlement. Augustine strangles Nate as they fall but he breaks free with his telekinesis as they fall into the water. Nate again flies upwards, surprising Absynthia with the fact he just can’t seem to die! Nate demands to know where the prisoners are. He reads her mind and realizes they are in the cadaver lockers of the lab. As he picks their thoughts, he realizes they are terrified because the lab’s on fire. Nate moves them out of there in a telekinetic protective bubble until a powder keg explodes, wrecking Absynthia’s lab. Everyone’s unharmed, however – protected inside Nate’s bubble and proclaiming him a “saint.”
The local constabulary comes in time to fish Boniface and Augustine out of the moat. They will likely be extradited to their native countries to be tried and convicted for aiding a known felon. As Absynthia is arrested, she shouts Nate will pay this. Without her there to stop him, Diablo will rise again and destroy him just like he destroyed her. Nate thinks that, ironically enough, she will probably get a life sentence.
Washington Square Park, 2nd November
Nate is sitting in the square, thinking about a life overflowing with power and vitality but destined to be cut short at any given moment: his life. He never wanted immortality, especially now. He’s seen the price of immortality and doesn’t want to pay it. But he’d like to grow old with the few friends he has. He wonders how much that would cost, both for Jerome and himself. He has failed the kid and he knows it – and because of that, Jerome’s going to die a lot sooner than he’s supposed to. He doesn’t have the heart to tell him that.
As Jerome approaches in his wheelchair and carrying a ball, Nate asks him if it’s okay for him to be messing around like this on account of his condition. Jerome replies he’s spent most of his life in this chair and will probably die in it. But that doesn’t mean he can’t live a little before that happens. As his momma says, it isn’t the amount the time people spend on Earth that matters but what they do with it. Nate says that his mom sounds like a real saint. “Amen to that” Jerome replies.


[User]
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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Dreams of Darkest Destiny
Xavier’s memory:
A younger Charles Xavier enters the entrance of a cave, his sleep cut short by a telepathic scream. In front of him is a tunnel of impenetrable darkness, from which the scream emanates still. It calls him like a siren song of raw psychic power, indecipherable. Anonymous, alien. Curiosity is fired, caution ignored, as he presses onwards, even when recently sundered rock opens onto a deeper gloom.
There, he finds hieroglyphs etched in ancient darkness, recording an ancient history or, more terrifying still, a prophecy: the murals show humans in defensive or terrified positions, attacked by a shapeless tentacled horror… And yet Xavier walks on.
At the tunnel’s end, undulating shadow dissolves in an unnatural luminescence and a putrid stench gust, hot like the breath of the charnel house, yet sharp as the coldest arctic blast. And in the chamber beyond – madness! The entity depicted on the murals is now writhing in a tear in the very fabric of reality between here and beyond. It defies human logic but its nature is clear. It radiates evil. Cosmically ancient evil.
Primal fear flares up. The instinct to run is almost unbearable. But all that stands between the demon and the horror it would unleash upon mankind are two unique women, one of them looking like a tall native American beauty, whereas the other is elderly, small and rather plain. Both wield formidable psychic powers, but the fight has lasted for almost a day without respite. They grow weak while the demonic entity’s power increases as it gains terrestrial cohesion. If it isn’t stopped there and now it never will be.
The elderly woman telepathically addresses Xavier by his name, introducing herself as Gracie Gamble (which, Xavier realizes, is an alias) and as Cuckoo. Gracie orders him to focus his mindblast as she directs. With that, the deadlock is broken and the demon falls back into its own realm as the dimensional tears collapses.
Is it over? Xavier inquires. Yes, until the next dimensional alignment, Cuckoo explains Xavier wants to know more about the creature. Cuckoo calls it Synraith and is about to give a more detailed explanation but Gracie asks her not to. Their friend already knows more than any mortal man should. He will never be able to feel safe again. It would be better if he could just forget… forget.
(the present)
Xavier wakens from his trance-like state, roused by the voice of a worried Jean Grey, kneeling beside him. Xavier recalls where he is and his sad state of being paralysed. He apologizes to Jean and explains he was distracted by a flash of memory. The sensation was so intense it made him forget the present. Yet, until this moment, he had no knowledge of the event he recalled. Jean doesn’t understand. Nor does he, Xavier admits and decides to explore the matter in silent meditation.
Now she was telling him that she and Scott are about to leave for the city with Hank, Warren and Bobby. Jean offers to stay, even as the other original X-Men join them. Xavier declines her offer. Too often they reel from one crisis to another. It’s important to relax when they can.
Scott agrees, when suddenly they are joined by an enthusiastic Sam Guthrie. He hears they were heading for the Village for a one-night comeback of Bernard the Poet. Do they mind if he tags along? Beast slyly suggests that, as an X-Man, Sam might need practice. Sam doesn’t get the hint until Archangel drags him up in the air, while informing Hank that this is A101. A101? Sam repeats dumbly, as Warren flies them out of the building and higher and higher. Aerodynamics 101, he explains, better known as “pass the pupil.” With that, he tosses Sam at Beast, who is jumping up high, and informs Sam of a lesson in centrifugal force.
Standing on his hand, Hank whirls Sam around with his feet to prevent him from using his blasting power. Then, he passes him towards Iceman. Using an iceslide, he makes Sam fly up again. Sam falls with Cyclops’s optic blast slowing his descent.
Hank helpfully points out that the optic blast could cut him in two, so Sam should appreciate the control Scott learned in long hours of training. Sam falls to finally be caught by a telekinetic cushion. Would he like to go round again, Hank inquires and Sam admits that he has gotten the message. He is off to the Danger Room….
Hank and Warren use their image inducers to appear normal, while Bobby worries that they might have been a bit hard on Sam. Cyclops informs him sternly that Sam must learn that being an X-Man isn’t a game, it’s a way of life. Bobby agrees, but remembers too well when he was the youngest and the butt of everyone’s jokes. He can sympathize with Sam; he will never be able to feel safe again.
Xavier watches the car leaving. Bobby’s words have him recall the same words spoken years ago by one of the mysterious two women.
Venezuela, an archeological dig in the remote Guyana highlands:
Two younger members of the expedition excitedly return to the camp in search of Professor Gracie Gamble, informing her that they’ve found something amazing in the forest.
Gracie is an eccentric appearance, Hollywood glasses, Hawaii shirt, a pearl necklace and a cigar. She is also the smaller of the women Xavier remembers. What were the two of them doing in the forest? she jokes, before asking them to not tell her. She has a weak heart. She follows the pair who tell her it is only half a mile. Half a mile in this terrain could kill someone in her frail condition, Gracie protests. Nick remarks he thinks she is amazing for her age. What does he mean her age? asks Gracie. She’s only 30. She’s had a hard life.
They arrive at the ruins of a temple uncovered by the recent rainstorms. Even with heavy equipment, it’s going to take years to excavate, fears Nick. She can’t wait for that, Gracie decides. She gestures and the temple is laid free. She has superpowers? a shocked Lisa asks. Gracie manipulates their minds to forget the display of power. A moment later, a smiling Nick remarks there must have been another landslide. What a piece of luck, Gracie remarks wryly and turns to the hieroglyphs. What do they say, Nick asks “Kney phey Pau” answers Gracie. “The end of the world is nigh.”
Ravenscroft, a very ordinary, English village with a few extraordinary inhabitants. Two of them are teenage twins Rory and Pandora Destine just on their way back home from school. Rory pouts that they are superheroes and as such shouldn’t have to go to school and pretend to be normal kids. It could be worse, his sister Pandora says as she tries to play the peacemaker as usual. Rory interrupts her, recalling a weird dream about their family. They were all acting out of character. William came back from Australia and told them their eldest sister, Kay, wasn’t actually their sister, and then their brother Vincent came back to life.
Pandora tells him that’s stupid. Their lives are already complicated enough. They’ve just discovered that all their relatives are really their brothers and sisters, all with superpowers. Kay even has a new body. Their dad is an eight hundred year old immortal and their mother is a genie.
Their home comes into sight and Rory addresses their current problem: namely their elder siblings and father deciding whether or not Rory and Pandora are allowed to fight crime. They see the others having a discussion in the winter garden. Rory wants to find out what they are saying and uses his gravity powers to fly them both closer, over Pandora’s protest. He apologizes but reminds her that they have to be in close proximity to each other for their powers to work.
Inside the winter garden, Walter, the twins’ guardian, addresses their father, Adam. He reminds Adam that over the centuries he witnessed the futility of their family’s attempt to aid humankind. Adam agrees, but also adds that each of his children must follow their own conscience. Samantha, the second youngest, agrees with Adam and points out that, in a few years, the twins will be old enough to do as they please anyway. But until then, their inexperience represents a threat to their family, insists Walter. Running around in silly costumes is bound to draw attention to their existence.
The sensitive Dominic, with a grin, informs the eccentric telepath Kay aka Cuckoo that, thanks to his super-senses, he can hear Pandora and Rory spying on them. Kay scares the kids off with her astral form. The kids fly away, much to Dominic’s amusement.
Walter again is angry, fearing someone might see them fly. Dominic suggests the kids be allowed to use their powers in controlled circumstances. They manifested their powers before adulthood – unlike the rest of the family – because they are twins. Their abilities stimulate each other when in close proximity. So their choice is simple: Split them up… or allow them occasional crime patrols with one of the others chaperoning.
Clearly uncomfortable, Walter refuses to chaperone them. With a smirk Kay calls him “Wally” and tells him to lighten up. It will be fun. Walter reminds Kay that this may be easy for her as her powers are psychic. Same goes for Sam whose organic metal projections don’t affect her appearance. You couldn’t change Adam’s appearance and Dom – he looks at his green-skinned brother – well, Dom has his own problems. But Walter has to change shape to gain his strength and it takes a long time for him to revert back. Last time his ears stayed pointed for days. This time it’s his feet (which at the moment are disproportionately large and bluish).
Adam decides then they shall cover Walter’s obligations. Dom and Sam agree. They don’t mind. But she minds, their eldest sister interjects. Pouring herself another glass of champagne, Kay continues that Walter is always reminding everyone that he is the twin’s primary guardian. He had to be, Walter snarls. Adam was in outer space and the rest of the family pursued their own interests around the world. The only time they saw Kay was when her hedonistic lifestyle allowed.
Angrily, Kay warns him not to push her. Or what? She’ll leave? In response, Kay telekinetically activates Walter’s metamorphosis. As Walter begins to change into his hulkish form, Adam angrily chides Kay. Emotionally unstable, as Walter usually is during his transformation, he threatens to kill his sister and tries to attack her.
Sam shoves Cuckoo out of the way and uses her power to create a metal shield. Undeterred by the fact that he is also endangering Sam, Walter begins pounding the shield. Adam tries to get him to calm down, asking him to cease this senseless violence. He never gets to finish his sentence, as Walter tosses his invulnerable father out of the winter garden.
That’s no way to treat their father, Kay chides as she attacks him telepathically. Sam reminds her that Walter can’t help it. The surge of power from the metamorphosis can make Walter go crazy and she’s beginning to doubt Kay’s sanity too, so she’d better try to keep them apart. She drags Kay outside. Walter gets ready to toss a large piece of the floor after them.
Dominic moans that this is Bangkok all over again. He uses a nerve jab on Walt, causing him to fall down unconscious. As the other gather an angry Rory and Pandora join them. You hypocrites, Rory announces self-righteously. Telling them they can’t use their powers and then go and have a training session without them!
At the Xavier Institute, co-leader Storm has volunteered to help Cannonball with his training. As they enter the Danger Room, an almost feral Wolverine jumps at them. Storm demands to know what he is playing at. Wolverine apologizes and admits they caught him by surprise. Storm didn’t believe that was possible. Wolverine is still clearly bothered by something and asks if he can hang around while the others do their training session. Cannonball is unhappy about an audience but begins manoeuvring thought the aerial maze while Storm coaches him, advising him to limit the force of his blast.
Suddenly, there is a flash of lightning before Sam. He protests; Storm promised no tricks. Storm retorts this is none of her doing. A hole in the air has appeared and it is slowly sucking Sam in despite his blasting at full power. Suddenly, the hole is gone and Sam almost collides with Storm.
Sam stops blasting to be caught by Wolverine. Logan realizes that Sam stopped blasting and risked a fall rather than risk ricocheting into Storm again and hurting her. Lucky Wolverine was there, Sam adds sheepishly. Was it luck? asks Storm. Why was Logan there? Did he know something would happen? Logan admits that he had a real bad feeling and, whatever the cause, it is still there.
Ravenscroft, a short distance from the Destine cottage, stand the overgrown ruins of a once proud manor house. Samantha and Cuckoo walk through the ruins. Kay tells her younger sister that knowing family history is one thing, but having lived though it as she has is another. She met Adam’s parents, her grandparents here in 1209 when this was a Saxon village. The land had been in their family ever since, but when their rogue brother Vincent destroyed the mansion and the family scattered around the globe Walter stayed to raise the twins, Sam continues. What does she know? Kay retorts Sam was still a youngster then, whereas Kay was in her forty-third host body.
As they make their way through the ruins Sam asks so what? Okay, Kay is eight hundred years old. How does that excuse her treatment of Walter? It doesn’t, Kay admits. That’s why they are going to see Dominic. They come to a round more modern structure hidden within the ruins, the anechoic chamber their genius brother Newton built to insulate Dominic from sensory overload. It’s the only place he can get any peace, Sam reminds her older sister. She knows that, retorts Kay. Then why are they disturbing him? comes an annoyed voice from inside the chamber. Dom asks them to go away. Kay tells him she is desperate and pleads for help. The door opens. Two minutes, Dom announces, but only because he has never heard Kay admits to needing anyone before.
What is he looking for, asks Dom, as he walks around her. Some sort of organic imbalance, explains Kay. To justify her behaviour towards Walter? Dom ventures. Kay admits to having lost a degree of control since transferring to this host body. She can’t expect to feel herself in another’s body, Dom lectures her, before adding that she looks healthy on every visual wavelength he can scan.
Suddenly, the twins burst in, demanding to know what’s going on. They saw Sam and Kay coming down there. They thought Dominic was having a nap. He hoped to, replies Dom with a smile. His nerve ends are raw.
In struts, a still-altered Walter demands to know why Pandora and Rory came there. They know the building is off limits. He is accompanied by Adam, who tells him to calm own.
The next moment, Kay is in Walter’s face, shouting at him not to take things out on the kids. After all, he is angry with her. Angry doesn’t cover it begins Walter and gets ready to attack Kay again, over the protests of the twins, and Sam and Adam trying to hold the two of them back.
Dom gives up. He shouts at them to kill each other. He is going somewhere more peaceful, like a railway terminus at rush hour!
Venezuela, the recently unearthed ruins. Gracie Gamble walks down there alone singing: whenever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect and whistle a happy tune… well, she would if she still had her own teeth. This is crazy, she admits, but it’s not like she has any choice. The hieroglyphs say that alignment with Synraith’s dimension is imminent.
She steps on the bones of the human sacrifices the ancient priests prepared the way with. The air itself is stained with sacrificial blood. This is an evil place. She shines her flashlight into the dark, already seeing the portal forming. Gracie wishes she could whistle.
Getting to work, she draws a pentacle, adds some mystical crystals and decides to pull the spell through, stepping into the centre of the pentacle. She was there in the beginning after all. She concentrates to channel the forces and begins: In the name of the one whose name must never be spoken seal this rift. Deny entry to the evil that is Synraith.
Something goes wrong with her spell and Gracie realizes she’s been tricked. Her spell is feeding the portal, not closing it.
In the Danger Room’s observation booth sit Storm and Xavier, watching the proceeding below them. They borrowed Forge and Colossus from X-Factor and Excalibur respectively. Forge is examining the Danger Room’s core terminal, while Colossus is helping carry the core with the hydraulics off. Wolverine also crouches in the Danger Room, apparently sill sensing something. So far, the record analysis shows nothing. A complete whiteout. Forge adds that, if it weren’t for a discrepancy between the control booth chronometer and this unit, he’d suspect a redundant program had been activated by a power surge.
It wasn’t any hologram, Logan insists. Forge asks how he can be so sure, considering how sophisticated and lifelike the virtual reality scenarios are. At times, even his acute senses can’t separate illusion from reality. Logan agrees but insists this was something else. Not a scent, more a sense of something at the fringe of his perceptions. Something evil? asks Xavier. Yeah, Logan agrees. Inhuman evil… cold and ancient, Charles muses, cosmically ancient. That’s it exactly, Logan shouts. Was Xavier reading his mind? No, Xavier moans, reaching for his head with a contorted face. It’s in his memory, like icy tendrils piercing his brain. It’s inside his head, he shouts in pain.
Energy engulfs both him and Storm. The men below notice something is wrong. Suddenly, a dimensional rift appears before them, stinking of evil, as Wolverine puts it. Tendrils come from it, reaching for the unconscious Xavier in the control booth. Storm tries to defend him by firing lightning. But her powers frizzle out.
Wolverine cuts through the tentacles holding her and Xavier. Colossus takes his mentor’s form, trying to get him away, while Wolverine keeps the tentacles busy, but more and more are coming from the rift. The tentacles grab them all and even Logan finds he can’t free himself with his arms pinned. The tentacles focus on the professor still held by Colossus and draws them to the portal.
Forge shouts that Colossus’s armoured form is anathema to mystical entities and urges him to pull free. Colossus tries but they won’t let go of the professor. If he uses his full strength, Xavier may be torn apart. While he cannot pull Xavier free, he refuses to let got of him and both men are drawn in the rift.
Back at the Destines’ cottage, Kay screams out and then seems to be in a trance as she only repeats the words  kneo phey pau. Sam and Walter are the only witnesses. While Sam worries, Walter suggests Kay is putting some curse on some poor soul. Or there could really be a problem with her new body, Dom admits, appearing costumed up.
What’s with the costume? Walter asks and Dom reminds him that it is his turn to take the twins on crime patrol. As if on cue, the costumed Crimson Crusader and Imp fly in. Adam joins them. He recalls seeing Kay like this once before. 1526 in Peru. The phrase she recites is in a Mayan dialect. Taking Kay’s face in his hands he adds that it refers to a demonic Armageddon. What dark deeds has she involved herself in this time? he demands.
It has Gracie, Kay replies and now it reaches out to her! An energy rifts appears there as well, felling all the family members save for Adam who reminds standing. While Walter is checking on the kids and Dom on the unconscious Kay again tentacles emerge from the rift.
Unmoved, Adam remarks they seem to be ectoplasmic and Dom realizes they are after Kay. Sam manifests some weapons, remarking they will see how they fare against her metallic ectoplasm, the razor-sharp kind. As she attacks, Adam marvels at how ferocious she has become in the time he was away. Not really she corrects him, as she keeps on slicing. She simply discovered that she hates squirmy slimy things.
Seeing more tentacles emerging Rory gets into hero pose, announcing that this is a job for…
The grown-ups! Walter finishes his sentence, as he grabs the kids and sets them down in the hallway.
In the meantime, the tentacles have grabbed Kay and Dom can’t pull her free. Some superhero he is, Walter scoffs, adding he is just a liability in a crisis. With that, he grabs Kay with one arm and tosses Dom out in the hallway to the twins with the other. But yet more tentacles appear.
Adam tells Walter to protect Kay. The tentacles are only interested in her while they are content with immobilizing Sam and him. Sam warns Walter that the floorboards are splintering and he is slipping. Walter is aware of that but he can’t pry the tentacles off without hurting Kay and his fingers are too big to get under the tentacles.
Rory decides to help. Using his gravity power, he begins to disintegrate the tentacles’ molecular cohesion. However, the tentacles are retaliating and are now focussing on him. Faced with that choice, Walter lets go of Kay to save Rory. As Kay is pulled in, Adam grabs her ankle and doesn’t let go. Both of them are dragged into the rift. With a noise and a flash the rift closes.
A little later Dominic gets a grip. His hypersenses were momentarily overloaded. Cradling Rory, Walter – who has grown to monstrous height (with equally monstrous features) – orders him to stop whining. You’d think he was the only Destine whose power was a curse. Dom notices Walter’s height, and Walter admits it didn’t achieve anything. Rory is okay but he couldn’t help Kay and Adam. He didn’t want to let go of Kay, but he had to choose. Dom tells him it’s no time for recriminations. Kay and Adam need them, so they need a teleporter and a lot of brainpower. Sounds like a job for Newton. Dom uses his signal watch to call their genius brother, warning the others to cover their eyes. He likes to make a dramatic entrance.
Back at the X-Men’s Danger Room, Wolverine, Storm and Forge get their bearings. With the portal still open, Wolverine intends to step through. Storm tries to hold him back, remarking how foolish this is. Logan snarls at her, almost about to attack. He apologizes but, when she grabbed him, it felt wrong. He didn’t know it was her. This thing is messing with his senses. It’s hiding something. Only one way to find out.
He turns to the portal, to be stopped by an optic blast. The original five enter. Cyclops tells him to cool it. Wolverine knows the procedure during a security breach. Wolverine points out there is no time with Peter and Xavier in danger. Jean explains that they know, which is why they came back She sensed the professor’s psychic distress, and he wouldn’t want them to follow without taking every precaution.
Logan protests. He ain’t gonna wait. He must! Cyclops retorts. They don’t know how stable the portal is or where it leads. Going through now could endanger the professor and Colossus. They must analyse it and call for more assistance. Logan grudgingly agrees, but he warns Cyclops that, if anything goes wrong, it’ll be the last mistake he ever makes.
Back at Ravenscroft, Walter is reading Rory the riot act for his irresponsible behaviour. Pandora defends her twin. If Walter hadn’t grown, he’d never have broken free and disappeared as well. Rory saved Walter’s life. Samantha backs her up. Before the argument continues, there’s a flash and noise. Newton has arrived.
Dom greets the Woody Allan lookalike in armour, who asks who has been kidnapped by the bad guys this time. Kay and Adam, Dom replies. Really? Newton exclaims He was joking. They all lead such exciting lives for folks who claim to avoid conflict.
Newton builds together his machinery. Impatiently, Walter asks whether it was Lenz or the Omegans who attacked them. Neither, Newton replies. It was something mystical. There’s residual eldritch force. Newton manages to use the portal’s unique signature to trace its point of origin.
Rory exults that they’ll have them rescued in no time. He catches Walter’s glare and ventures that the kids won’t be allowed to go. Walter admits that he’d prefer Rory and Pandora to stay behind, but he doesn’t trust them to stay out of trouble… and there is always the chance their foe might attack again, so he guesses they’ll have to come along. And if things go badly, he may need them to save this life again. It’d be their pleasure, the kids enthuse and Walter warns them not to push their luck.
Elsewhere, Xavier awakes, Colossus at his side, in a bone yard as far as the eye stretches. Looking up at the sky, Xavier judges by the constellations that they are far beyond any galaxy he has ever visited. He tries to telepathically scan the area. At first, he senses nothing, then suddenly he screams in pain. Colossus asks what happened. Groggy, Xavier explains that he barely managed to pull himself back from the brink of a void of infinite nothingness. Cold dead emptiness… but it was alive! It was a consciousness he touched. Something vast and evil. They must get away from here.
Wondering where they can go, Peter lifts him up. Some distance away, they see another portal flaring up and two people tumbling down from it. The decides to go look them.
Outside Ravenscroft, Newton has finally gotten a fix on the others’ location. Some sort of dimensional intersection is distorting the probe. So they’ll be teleporting blind again, Sam remarks. Last time, they were nearly killed because of their softly softly approach. This time, they should be prepared, ready for a fight. She uses her power to create a suit of armour for herself, with very long knife-style claws.
In the X-Men’s Danger Room, others like Bishop and Cannonball have come to set up the equipment. Storm admonishes Wolverine to say calm. They will soon know what they are up against. Soon may be too late, he predicts. They are being played for fools. He asks her to think about it. Why is the portal still open if they can’t go through? Unless maybe something is coming from the other side to here.
Forge announces to the Beast that he’s registering a teleportation exit prove. Beast replies that he must be mistaken. His instrumentation doesn’t detect any dimensional flux. Forge insists that the teleport signal is locked and building to functional coalescence. Wolverine unsheathes his claws. He knew it. Another sneak attack. But this time they ain’t takin’ any prisoners. An’ neither is he…
The X-Men get ready for battle, as Forge announces that the materialization will occur two meters ahead of their position while on the other side of the world the equally battle-ready Clan Destine are getting ready to teleport into the unknown.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Destine’s Darkest Dreams
Stop! the Crimson Crusader and Imp aka Rory and Pandora Destine, youngest members of their odd family shout, as around them their older siblings and the members of the X-Men are embroiled in a bloody battle. However, it’s is no good. None of the others seem to be able to hear them above the din. Rory decides they need a big enough noise.
He directs a focused anti-gravity field at the feet of their guardian, the Hulk-like Walter. Walter floats and then falls down with a big thud. Rory flies up and asks for a time-out, a truce. What the devil is he doing? an ill-tempered Walter asks. Rory explains that their foes aren’t enemies. They are the X-Men. OK, so he knows them, Cyclops remarks. Who are they?
Rory introduces them as the Clan Destine. Good guys like the X-Men . This is one of those clichéd mistaken identity hero vs. hero mix-ups. They teleported here to rescue their father and sister, who were kidnapped a few hours ago. As were two of their number, Cyclops replies. They look towards the still open portal, into which a few hours ago Colossus and Profess Xavier were drawn.
Hex aka Dom slowly gets up, feeling disoriented and trying to refocus his vision while Cyclops suggests they all work together. While Cyclops makes suppositions about their opponents, a still groggy Dom becomes interested in a snarly Wolverine. It’s only light but it can talk, he marvels as he touches Wolverine’s face. The other man becomes irritated and Dom starts to laugh. Rainbows with attitude. He begins to poke around Wolverine’s face. The mutant goes ballistic and guts Dom, shouting he is trying to take over his mind.
His temper is matched by Walter’s, who grows to immense height and strength as he pounds Wolverine into the floor, shouting that Dom couldn’t hurt him, he was delirious.
Rory reminds Newton in his Iron Man suit that only a pointed nerve jab can stop Walter now. Newton disagrees. His hide is too thick. They need something as accurate but with much more punch. He fires a rocket-like syringe at Walter and within moments Walt falls down.
While Argent takes care of Dom Newton turns to the X-Men, explaining they don’t want a fight. This was a mistake or more manipulation by their enemy. Cyclops agrees and suggests they stay cool. First priority is getting the injured to the infirmary and to take Walter to the containment facility in case he is about to run amok again. He then orders Shadowcat and Cannonball to take Rory and Pandora somewhere safer and the younger X-Men promise they will give the youngest Destines the VIP tour. Now the rest of them can go back to the business of analysing the portal, so they can rescue their friends and family from wherever they are.
Elsewhere, Kay awakes in Adam’s arms in a bone yard. Adam observes that they appear to be very far from Earth and totally alone. Not quite, comes another voice as they are joined by Colossus, who is carrying Professor Xavier.
Making introductions, Xavier asks if they have any idea why they have been brought there. Adam introduces them as well, but Kay interrupts that there is no need for introductions. Charles and she are old friends. Xavier doesn’t recall. That’s because the packaging is a little different, Kay remarks and mentally reaches for him. Xavier telepathically fends her off and snarls that her clumsy telepathic violation is immoral and offensive and betrays the true nature of her fractured psyche. But yes, he recognizes Cuckoo. He neither likes nor trusts her. He warns her that he is not the novice she manipulated so many years ago. Another voice chimes in that, actually, that was her doing.
Gracie comes stumbling down from another hill of bones. She informs them that Synraith suckered her into assisting with this little reunion. This is the cosmic demon’s homeworld. What a hole! Wiping off her behind, she mutters that she doesn’t know what she sat in back there, but it really stinks.
She continues that Synraith marked the three of them during their last encounter, so he could reach them without a dimensional interface. Xavier asks if she believed the psychic block she placed on him would protect him from Synraith. Ain’t that the most ridiculous thing y’ever heard! Gracie quotes before apologizing. Why has Synraith brought them here? Charles asks. Because the three of them foiled its last attempt to reach Earth. By bringing them here, it ensures that its next transition will be unimpeded.
But if the demon is still there, they can stop it, Adam points out. They barely defeated it last time when it was in a weakened state between dimensions, Gracie replies. What chance would they have here on its homeground? No matter how slim a chance they must try, Xavier decides, and Colossus agrees. Cuckoo points out an energy flare some distance away and suggests they hurry up. Synraith is preparing to leave.
Meanwhile, Wolverine and Dominic have been brought to the infirmary where Moira MacTaggert is treating them. Storm assures Newton that there is no better equipped infirmary on Earth and no more skilled physician than Moira. Newton replies that he is familiar with Moira’s published work. He is a physician then? Moira asks. Getting out of his suit, he replies chemist, doctor and surgeon among many other pursuits. He likes to think his intellect compensates for his lack of physical statures. And his battle suit? Ororo asks. He got the idea from an old comic books, he admits.
Storm explains about the Shi’ar technology used to treat the patients by speeding up their natural healing and Newton quickly grasps matters. He checks Dominic’s condition and finds it stable. He is redundant here. He decides to return to the Danger Room and help with the portal analysis. Suddenly, there is an alert and Moira announces that Logan’s life signs are dropping rapidly. Newton announces that the Shi’ar healer can’t cope. Wolverine requires immediate surgical intervention. Moira shouts that his mutant haling factor is failing… he’s flatlining!
Meanwhile in the Danger Room, Forge and some of the others are working on checking the portal. Gambit asks Argent if this waiting doesn’t bother her. Not at all, she replies. Gambit remarks that he noted her costume has changed since before. Samantha explains that the metallic ectoplasm reacts to her thoughts. She isn’t into observation much, he observes. He thinks she’s a loner. Not looking at him, Sam explains that her powers made her grow away from ordinary people. Does she prefer metal to flesh? he asks. It has a pure strength and beauty that can make flesh seem repulsive, Sam muses. Sure, some folks are ugly, but only reason his armour’s so beautiful is because it’s wrapped around her. He strokes her arm. It’s cold and hard, he presses. It stops her feeling. Maybe she doesn’t hate flesh. Maybe she just needs the right touch. Argent suggests they take a walk together. His pleasure, he grins.
Meanwhile, Kitty and Sam are giving Rory and Pandora tour of the sprawling underground complex. Pandora is enthusiastic, Rory less so. He admits this is a dream come true, but every time there is some action, they get sent somewhere safe while the grown-ups have all the fun. Cannonball points out that he is the newest X-Man so he can remember how frustrating that is. But it’s only because his folks worry about them.
Rory boasts that he can look after himself. He controls gravity. He lifts himself up and Sam as well. Rory continues that he can fly, lift large weights and generates forecfields. Okay, okay, Sam laughs. He’s impressed.
Rory suggests they go back. The others might need them. Kitty retorts that they’d call them. And Rory doesn’t want to disobey Cyclops if he hopes to join the X-Men. He? An X-Man? Rory s awestruck. Yeehaa! he shouts and does a victory dance while thinking about his new codename and costume. Pandora carefully reminds him that Walter might have to say a word or two about that… When he hears that he’ll blow his top.
The shackled Walter is in fact very close to doing just that. He demands to know where the twins are. The X-Men try to calm him down. Instead, he grows again, overloading the restraints and finally tearing them out.
Back on Synraith’s world, Gracie admits that she is to blame for all this. Cuckoo has helped her bear the burden of her folly, but she alone is responsible.
Gracie’s story:
It began more than four hundred years ago. 1519 to be precise. The newly discovered land now known as Mexico was being explored by Cortez’s conquistadors. Cuckoo, then inhabiting the body of a Spanish nobleman, was eager to join the adventure. She smuggled Gracie along as his valet. Barely sixteen and plain, Gracie easily passed for a boy.
However, while they both longed to study the alien wonders of the Aztec culture, their leader Cortez craved only their gold. The Aztec army consisted of foot soldiers armed with wooden swords, shields and spears. They were no match for Spaniard steel, cavalry and muskets. Thousands were massacred.
Gracie became separated from Cuckoo, so she led with the Aztecs they had befriended. At that time, her newly emerging psychic gifts were too immature to be effective weapons, but she’d seen Cuckoo channel eldritch forces to enhance her prowess. So, in the ruins of an ancient temple, Gracie sought out a nexus of cosmic power. An old priest warned of demons and evil prophecies, she ignored him. She knew Cortez’s insatiable greed would result in the extinction of the Aztec culture, so she felt justified in using any means to stop him. What a naïve fool she was! She believed she had tapped into a latent energy field, until it reached out for her. It was Synraith. She had bonded herself to a demon!
Cuckoo, alerted to Gracie’s location by the mystical activity, arrived in time to seal the rift before it coalesced. But Gracie had shown the demon how to get to Earth and she knew it would return. So she’s spent her life since trying to find some way to stop it.
Present:
Time for one last chance, Gracie, Cuckoo remarks. She sees Synraith up in the glare ahead. Then it can see them, Colossus adds horrified. They couldn’t hope to surprise it, Xavier surmises, It brought them here, after all. But why so close, Gracie wonders. To increase their torment, Cuckoo supposes. If they see Synraith win, they’ll live out their final days in this graveyard, knowing that the demon will wreak hell on Earth.
Back on Earth, Walter, looking more like a fiery demon than anything else, attacks Bishop, Beast and Sunspot, running into them and bowling them over. They can’t stop him, he boasts. They fear violence too much to be truly violent. He smashes Nightcrawler into the ground and tears off Angel’s wings as he shouts that pure aggression is devoid of conscience or remorse. It is brutal, cruel and exhilarating. He screams in triumph over his fallen foes, Guess he owes him for disrupting the power to his restraints, comes a new voice. Walter warns him to leave or die. A sign for the Juggernaut to attack.
Back at the medlab, Moira agrees that Logan’s lifesigns are stable and strong. He’s going to pull through thanks to the most amazing surgical skill she’s ever witnessed, she praises Newton. He’s had centuries to hone his technique, he replies modestly. Logan is safe, Dom is improving. They don’t need him here. He plans to return to the Danger Room to help with the dimensional interface analysis.
Storm quickly grabs his arm, reminding him of how much he worked during surgery. He must be tired. They have a lounge on the next level. Accompanying him there, she asks how he managed the operation so quickly. All part of his enhanced intellect, Newton replies. Clear, quick thinking equals precision without hesitation. Not as obviously exciting as height and pumped up muscles but it has its compensations. Why does he ridicule himself? Ororo asks. He admits that she’s so tall and he feels a little intimidated. Physical appearance is unimportant, she assures him. Spirit is all. His is bright and beautiful and quite irresistible. She kisses him passionately.
Elsewhere, Rory is modelling a classic New Mutants uniform and looks forward to being part of the X-Men. He asks Pandora why she doesn’t try on her uniform. She always wanted to get rid of the Peg Bundy hair and silly pink costume Cuckoo made. She does, but she doesn’t feel his is right. Maybe she’d prefer a different style, Shadowcat offers and shows her a modern X-Men uniform and the Generation X style.
It’s not about the costumes, Imp explains. Everyone thinks she wants the same as Rory because they are twins, but she only agreed to fight crime because their powers only work when they are together. And she doesn’t think it’s right to be doing this while their family is in danger. Rory apologizes, Kitty interrupts, telling Imp than men can be really insensitive. What say they leave the guys here and go have a little girl talk?
In Synraith’s dimension, the stranded heroes watch how Synraith, who ignores them, has almost finished passing the gate to Earth. It will be leaving soon, Gracie fears. Xavier asks how they can stop it. By anchoring the demon to this place, Gracie place as she lights up another cigar, until the dimensional convergence passes. Won’t it simply kill them, Xavier wonders. Under normal circumstances, yes. Gracie explains that, ironically, they are protected by Synraith’s desire to reach Earth. The demon’s power, stolen lifeforce, must be channelled in harmony with the cosmic balance. Which is why it requires a dimensional alignment to open a portal and any release of raw lifeforce will instantly destabilize it.
So it can’t kill them, Xavier understands. Not unless they succeed in holding it here, Gracie agrees. In which case they are guaranteed a slow painful death, Cuckoo adds unnecessarily. Gracie asks Charles to ignore Cuckoo’s juvenile quips. She is best qualified to direct their combined attack. “An amoral fractured psyche” has its uses, eh Chuck, Cuckoo goads. Only in empathizing with a demon, he retorts weakly. Quite witty… for a bald guy, Cuckoo snaps back. They synchronize their mind and Cuckoo channels the energy at the demon.
At Xavier’s, Gambit has led Argent to a dark corner. Still flirting, he remarks that he knew she was no icemaiden. He sees fire in her eyes. And he thinks maybe it burns a little brighter when she looks at him. Oh please, she replies disgusted and smashes him against the wall. His phoney Cajun charm is making her sick, Sam exclaims. Now, unless he wants an impromptu facelift, she threatens with newly-created claws, he’d better tell her what’s going on. His mistake was in thinking her armour stops her feeling. It’s like a second skin and when he touched it she felt the resonance of metal alloy, not flesh. He isn’t human. Course not, he grins. He’s a mutant. She calls him a liar. Dom sensed something was wrong too. That’s why Wolverine attacked Dom to silence him.
Should have figured a girl like her couldn’t be charmed, comes a new voice from the shadows. It’s Wolverine, now in his tan and brown uniform. She thought he was in the infirmary, Sam inquires. He unsheathes his claws. He got better…
Walter receives another blow by the Juggernaut, who asks him how it feels to be on the receiving end. It merely inflames his desire to rend him asunder, comes the reply and a blow from Walter. He sure talks nice for an ape with a serious overbite. He prefers to let his fists do the talking. Juggernaut hits him again, spectacularly. Fine with Walter, who slugs right back.
Elsewhere, Storm and Newton are kissing passionately. Having heard the battle noise, Newton asks Ororo if she heard that. Heard what? she asks. Well, unless it’s the pounding of his giddy heart, it sounds like a fight nearby, he explains. Ororo replies that if there were a crisis they would be alerted. Not that he’s complaining, Newton ventures, he means she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, let alone, well… But isn’t her attitude a little … irresponsible?
Practically wrapped around him, Ororo retorts that she is being practical. This complex has an efficient intercom. But can this be right? he wonders. Could their foe be manipulating their emotions? Or, she challenges is his super-intellect so prone to over-analyzing that he cannot live for the moment? He doesn’t think so, but he is confused and finally agrees to go somewhere more comfortable.
Rory and Pandora also worry about the noise. Cannonball and Kitty, about to split the twins up, assure them that there is no fight, the noises are coming from the automatic hydraulic systems, nothing to worry about. Kitty adds that Cyclops says an X-Man always obey orders. Then she doesn’t want to be an X-Man, Pandora shouts and runs toward her brother. Rory does the same. Rory points out that Imp is right, plus if they split up they lose their powers. That’d be exactly what their enemy would want. Cannonball’s face turns nasty as he mockingly calls Rory a smart kid. But he needn’t worry. They’ll be joining their family real soon…
And still Juggernaut and Walter are exchanging blows. Argent too heard the sounds of a fight. She demands Wolverine tell her what’s going on or she’s going to skewer that phoney gigolo (referring to Gambit). Wolverine challenges her to go ahead. Au revoir, m’chere, Gambit states mockingly and dissolves. She knew it, Sam exclaims. This is an illusion. When Gambit failed to charm her, Wolverine was sent to frighten her.
She creates claws from her armour. He ain’t there to frighten her, he smirks. It’s almost time for her to die and her ectoplasmic armor and blades aren’t going to save her. His adamantium claws easily cut through her ectoplasmic ones.
On Synraith’s world, Adam and Colossus, who cannot help in the psychic battle, also hear strange noises growing louder. They seem to be originating from the air behind them, Adam points out, yet there is nothing there. Some peculiarity of this world’s atmosphere perhaps, Colossus ventures. He apologizes to Adam, but he does not have his clinical detachment. The professor and Adam’s daughters are locked in battle to save Earth and they stand idly by. He can bear it no longer. Their lives are already lost. But if he is to die, he will die fighting.
He runs towards Synraith and begins to pummel the demon with his fists. Synraith lets loose an energy discharge against him. Colossus is thrown back still alive but melted. He achieved nothing, Piotr moans. Adam tells him he is wrong. He inflicted a wound on the demon. And, though he lacks Colossus massive strength, Adam possesses absolute invulnerability or at least it has proved so far. If he could reach the demon’s head and strike some weak spot, he might continue what Colossus began. Colossus points out he could get him there with a fastball special. Despite the agony, Piotr throws Adam at the demon’s head and prays Adam is as indestructible as he believes.
Adam strikes Synraith as hard as he can. He flies through the demon, through the portal. The sight he beholds makes him believe he is dreaming. First, he sees Dominic lying in the med-unit, then Walter battling Juggernaut, next Newton in an embarrassing position, then Pandora and Rory being threatened by Cannonball and Shadowcat, then Argent fighting Wolverine, finally he lands hard.
Wolverine shouts at the other X-Men to get ready. Something’s coming though the dimensional interface. They’re under attack! Wolverine immediately jumps at the enemy, but manages to hold his claws back as he recognizes the newcomer. Adam is equally surprised. He thought Logan was dead. Chen Yu’s bomb devastated the entire mountain fortress. Yeah, that was a close one, Wolverine reminisces. What’s Adam doing here?
Good question, Cyclops interjects sharply. Forge warned them to prepare for an attack almost an hour ago. Nothing materialized. Now, when someone finally does appear, it’s an old friend of Wolverine’s whom none of them know. It can’t be a coincidence. It’s not, Adam agrees. They all face the same foe. Synraith.
They only have Adam’s word for that. Cyclops insists. Good enough for him, Wolverine shoots back. Cyclops reminds him that his instincts haven’t been reliable since the portal appeared. Why? Logan shouts back. Because he wants to take the fight to the enemy instead of overanalyzing? He said something was messing with his senses, Scott reminds him.
Adam interrupts. This is not time for bickering. All mankind is in imminent danger. He must return to Synraith’s world. Cyclops fires an optic blast at him. He can’t allow that!
Is he crazy? Wolverine protests and shoves Cyclops away. Adam states that he is unharmed. Wolverine retorts that he knows Adam is indestructible but Cyclops didn’t. That blast would have vaporized an ordinary man. Then he must be in the thrall of Synraith, Adam suggests, only to be frozen from head to foot by Iceman.
Cannonball shouts that Adam is trying to run them against each other. Storm shouts at Iceman to let Adam speak. Beast steps in her way, telling Ororo not to be deceived. Adam’s an agent of Synraith. How can he be so sure? Forge asks. Only Ororo, he and Logan were in the Danger Room when the thing attacked. Then all three of them could be under the demon’s influence, Cyclops concludes. He’s right, Wolverine admits. Something is making him crazy. Him! He guts Cyclops.
As Storm screams, Logan tells her not to worry. He ain’t mad. That’s what they wanted them to think. He believed it too. Until Cyclops started actin’ crazy and when Forge recalled only the three of them being in the Danger Room when it started he knew.
Cyclops falls and as he falls changes into a generic Danger Room dummy. The demon Synraith has infiltrated the Danger Rooms system and programmed training drones to stop them going through the portal. The other drones in X-Men shape surround them quietly, menacingly.
And Wolverine’s friend, Adam, knows what’s on the portal’s other side? Storm inquires. Fer sure, comes the reply. Then he shall be free, she announces, and she, Forge and Wolverine begin to fight the drones. Wolverine shouts at Storm not to be subtle. Just blast Adam free. Storm complies. Adam manages a “thank you” before shouting a warning at her as a Sabretooth drone attacks her. Wolverine is on him quick as lightning.
They realize Synraith cannot risk killing anyone. “Rogue” attacks Wolverine, announcing not yet, but soon. Until then, there are some old friends to keep them all entertained. More drones in the shapes of all X-Men and X-Men foes imaginable come at them. Adam shouts that they haven’t got he time. They must get through the portal. Not while Synraith controls the virtual reality systems, Storm shouts back. They might leap through an illusory portal into a holographic scenario. Nothing is certain in the Danger Room. Forge corrects her. One thing is certain - the floor. Some of the circuitry beneath could be disrupted by a heavily focused lightning bolt. Storm complies.
Elsewhere. Cuckoo, Gracie and Xavier are still battling Synraith, but Cuckoo notices something feels wrong. Synraith is holding back. Because it’s frightened of killing them, Gracie suggests. So why hasn’t it disabled them, Cuckoo retorts. It blasted Adam through the portal after Adam hurt it and it melted Colossus. Gracie begins to understand. This is all too neat. Synraith suckered her into casting a spell, used it to bring them here… knowing they’d try to foil its plan. Why would the demon want them to pull it back to its own dead world? Because they’re not on Synraith’s world, Xavier realizes as Storm’s bolt strikes and the illusion begins to fade. They’re in the Danger Room. They’ve been pulling the demon towards Earth!
The illusion is fading and they now see the truth… Synraith wedged in the spatial rift. Xavier suggests they push it back before it pulls free. Gracie disagrees. It would survive to return in the future. They can end it here. The demon was too eager to reach Earth and gambled on them to assist it through a small and unstable portal. It didn’t wait for a major dimensional alignment. Cuckoo adds that if they can hold Synraith in the rift, once the rift collapses the demon will be destroyed. Xavier tells them not to celebrate prematurely. Synraith knows what they plan to do. It won’t be pretending to resist them this time.
Titanic psychic forced boil in a frenzied equilibrium. Their fury escalates with desperate haste. The combatants know their fate and the fate of all humanity may not be decided by combat but by time. Time and the blind intercession of cosmic order that causes the dimensional rift to suddenly shrink and implode. And Synraith with it.
For an instant, there is nothingness. It is as if reality blinks to wipe away the jumbled blur of cosmic chaos and electronic illusion so that the truth is revealed. All of them are in different sections of the Danger Room.
Colossus happily realizes he’s normal again. The pain is gone. How could illusory injuries have felt so real? Synraith must have reinforced the projected hologram with psychic paralysis.
Not far away Pandora gets a giggle as they find that Rory’s X-Man uniform was a hologram as well. Now he is merely dressed in his underpants. Adam introduces Pandora and Rory to Logan s his youngest children while Rory begs for someone to shoot him.
Samantha is shocked to find Newton in a compromising position with what used to be the hologram of Storm.
Dominic awakes with a cry that they are not real. It’s a trap! Has he missed something? Oh no, he recalls he was stabbed. He gingerly touches where his injury should be. Newton quickly explains that it was all an illusion and starts a longer explanation. Before Dom could refocus his broad-band vision… after Walter fell on him…  He saw through the holographic construction and, in layman’s terms, he was intoxicated by the photo-elastic polarization of sculpted light… Dom groans and buries his head in his hands. He has a headache. Not getting the hint, Newton continues that this is no doubt due to the synaptic fugue that maintained his coma. Dom falls back.
Samantha goes to check on Walter. Is he all right? Actually, Walter while still in his monstrous form is smaller and looks very relaxed. He’s shrunk, Sam realizes. But how? Usually it takes days… weeks. He’s always feared his power and tried to deny it, Walter speculates. In doing so he let it bottle up and… well this fight drained the accumulation and he feels as if something nasty has been purged from his psyche. Bully for him, Kay states coolly. Walter apologizes that he felt terrible, letting her go. He had to make a choice between her and Rory. No need to explain, Wally, comes the retort. She’ll do the same for him sometimes, she adds with an unpleasant smirk.
Draped in his Crimson Crusader cape, Rory tells Forge who is examining some of the Danger Room drones that he felt like he was wearing a real costume. Solid light holograms have tactile integrity and texture, Forge explains. The drones supply physical effects. From mutant power to voice, scent… and a sophisticated database duplicates characteristic behaviour. Having caught the last part, Newton asks whether that includes emotional response. Under normal operational parameters, yes, comes the reply. Newton ogles Storm with a thoughtful look.
Somewhere aside, Gracie sits next to the Professor. She doesn’t know how to thank him, she admits. It isn’t necessary, he replies. This is what he does. But what about her? After almost five hundred years, her quest is at an end. What will she do now? Lighting a cigar, Gracie muses she’ll either do something fulfilling like psychoanalysis or stand-up comedy. In the background, Newton approaches Storm with a suggestion. Moments later, there is the sound of a slap and Newton walks away dejected. Gracie continues that she could combine the two. She’d have all the patients she’d ever need in her own family and their sessions are guaranteed to supply some great material for her act.
Some time later, it’s time for goodbyes. Rory and Pandora have been decked out with all the X-Men memorabilia they could get. Will they see them again? Logan asks as he shakes Adam’s hand. His family and he are no longer a part of the world Logan inhabits, Adam muses. They linger like a shadowy relic of a forgotten era. It may be that they had their time. Newton phases them out in a flash of light. The X-Men leave the Danger Room. Only Logan looks back with a thoughtful look: He hopes Adam’s wrong.