Xavier Institute

Jean Grey-Summers sat in the massive, round chamber, the massive helmet covering all but her mouth and chin. Cables were connected from it, leading up to the ceiling. Cerebra worked to enhance her already-powerful telepathic abilities, giving her the ability to link with every single mutant mind on the planet.

But she was only interested in five. Five mutants she could find no trace of on the planet.

Jean sighed. Her telekinesis raised the helmet from her head and the chamber did the rest, the cables retracting slightly and leaving the helmet suspended. She wore a white uniform with gold gloves, belt and boots and emblazoned over her chest was a gold silhouette of her namesake—the Phoenix. Her telekinesis took hold of her body and she hovered from the chamber. The X-engraved doors closed shut behind her, locking the chamber from all but senior staff and faculty.

The door to the War Room at the end of the metal corridor opened on her approach and she set her feet down, approaching the circular table with an X across the surface. Her teammates were already seated at the table. Hank McCoy, formerly the Beast and current Headmaster of the Xavier Institute, stood and looked at Jean through small glasses. His yellow, catlike eyes were practically pleading for good news and she didn’t need telepathy to know what he hoped to hear.

All she could do was frown and shake her head. “There’s no trace of them. Monet, Jubilee, Jono, Clarice, or…” She paused as she looked into the eyes of Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, who patiently awaited news of his sister. “…Or Paige. It’s like they’ve vanished from the face of the planet. I’m sorry, Sam.”

Sam sighed. Kitty Pryde sat beside him and gently patted his shoulder. “We’ll find them.”

“Here’s what we know so far,” said Hank. He activated the War Room’s holographic projectors from the tablet he held in his paws. Over the table appeared a three-dimensional image of the former members of Generation X battling mutants in Paris. “The team had apparently reunited in Paris and were in a battle with these mutants.”

“Aye, I recognize ‘em.” Sean Cassidy was the one who spoke. As Banshee, he not only served as the X-Men’s current field leader, but he was also Headmaster of the Massachusetts Academy, where the children of Generation X were his students. “They work for Emplate.”

Hank nodded. “All of Paris was apparently caught in some sort of interdimensional convergence and it’s now…well…missing.”

“Could it be Clarice?” asked Sean. “Her powers out of control perhaps?”

“This level of power is far beyond Clarice’s abilities. I consulted with Reed Richards and he confirmed what I feared,” said Hank. “The signature is—”

“They’re in Limbo.”

Heads in the room all turned to the source of the voice. Illyana Rasputin stood in the doorway of the War Room. Her brother, Peter, stood behind her, his towering form casting a shadow over his younger sister.

“That’s precisely correct,” said Hank. “How did you—?”

“I sensed the portal,” said Illyana. She took her seat at the table beside Kitty. Peter remained standing. “I know I’ve led you to believe that I’m in control of Limbo, but the truth is I lied. Every time I teleport through that dimension, I run the risk of being caught by Belasco.”

“Why didn’t you tell us any of this?” asked Kitty.

Illyana lowered her head. “I’m sorry. I thought it was something I could handle myself. There’s a group of the demon population, led by N’astirh, who have remained loyal to me.”

“N’astirh?” asked Scott Summers, now rising from his chair. The man called Cyclops had remained silent. Since the revelation that he was responsible for his brother forming a terrorist organization calling themselves the X-Men, his teammates had little reason to trust him. But at hearing the name of the demon who almost killed his son years ago, he could remain silent no longer. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Scott, please,” said Jean, reaching for her husband’s arm.

Scott remained defiant, his lips curled into a snarl. “What were you thinking, Illyana?”

“You’re right, Cyclops. I compromised everything I believed in because I felt the ends would justify the means. That in pursuing such a course of action, I would achieve a greater good.” Illyana narrowed her eyes. “I’m sure you know nothing of that, do you?”

“She’s gotcha there, Cyke,” said Rogue. As one of the X-Men who had gone to battle Havok’s team in Genosha, she held a particularly strong grudge against Cyclops for his role in this charade.

“Now’s not the time for—” said Hank, raising his hands to try and calm the rising tempers.

Scott pointed an accusatory finger at Illyana. “This is nothing like my situation. Alex is someone who can be trusted, but N’astirh? What made you think he could ever be—”

“Summers, you will put that finger down or I will break it off,” said Peter, folding his arms across his chest.

“We’re wastin’ time here! We gotta go into Limbo, get them back!” said Sam.

Forge sighed and leaned his head back. “Ahh, the X-Men…”

A loud, high-pitched scream caused everyone to shut their mouths and cover their ears as they cringed in pain. Sean was standing now and he closed his mouth once he was satisfied he had everyone’s attention.

“That’s better,” he said. “We’ve all issues with each other, that much is clear. But now’s not the time. We’ve two problems that I can see. One, we have Generation X and all of Paris trapped in Limbo. An’ two, Pixie and Wither are captives of the N’Garai. Which means our only option is to split into two groups.” Sean focused sympathetic eyes on Sam. “Lad, yeh’ve split priorities here, I know. Your sister’s in Limbo, but your students are with the N’Garai. I’ll leave it to yeh to decide which team you go with.”

Sam gave a slow nod. “Ah’m worried ‘bout Paige, but Kevin an’ Megan are my responsibility.”

“Something else to consider,” said Forge. “I’m not a big believer in coincidences. Even those we’re talking about two different demonic races, the timing is pretty suspect. I think they might be related.”

“Understood,” said Sean. “I’ll lead a team into Limbo. Magik, Colossus an’ Shadowcat will come with us. Cannonball, you take Forge, Rogue, Phoenix, an’ Cyclops into the N’Garai dimension.”

“Shall we begin?” asked Magik, standing as her eyes began to glow with the interdimensional energies she commanded.

BLACK MAGIK

Part III

By Hunter Lambright and Dino Pollard

With a plot assist from Chris Munn and Gavin McMahon

Limbo

Jubilee held up her arm, sunglasses over her eyes. Within the palm of her hand, she continued to generate a constant burst of plasmoids, using them to light the path through the catacombs.

Time moved differently in Limbo. As far as Earth was concerned, Paris had only gone missing a few hours ago. But for those in Limbo, weeks had passed. As soon as they arrived in Limbo, they immediately began fighting off the demons who tried to attack the Parisians. Most had been enslaved or worse, transformed into demons themselves. The team that had once been Generation X had become the leaders of a kind of human resistance out here. They rescued what civilians they could, got them into safety.

M scouted ahead from the sky, maintaining a telepathic link with Jubilee and Husk, who had transformed herself into a pure diamond form, giving her the strength to crush any demons who dared cross them. Following close behind them was a small group of about half a dozen Parisians they’d just rescued from some demon slavers.

Jubilee closed her fist, extinguishing the light as she approached the mouth of the cave. She held up a hand, signaling for the rest of the group to stop. “Chill for a minute,” she said in a whisper. “Once we get M’s signal, we’ll move out.”

“What’s happening?” asked one of the Parisians.

“It’s Hell,” said another. “We’re in Hell.”

“This ain’t Hell,” said Husk. “It’s a demonic dimension that—”

“Hey Paige, c’mere for a sec,” said Jubilee.

Husk gave a smile to the civilians and stepped closer to her old friend. “What’s up, Lee?”

“These peeps are pretty spooked, so mebbe lay off the convoluted explanations, okay?”

“Ah was just tryin’—”

“I know. But trust me, confusin’ ‘em ain’t gonna help ‘em.”

Husk sighed. “Guess yer right.”

Jubilee perked up. “You feel that?”

“M?” asked Husk.

Jubilee nodded and turned to the group. “Let’s roll!”

She ran out first with the people following. Husk gestured for the people to follow and she took up the rear, ready to face any resistance that might try and attack them from behind. Husk looked ahead, running behind the rest of the group. Jubilee was ahead of the rest of them, but stopped when something jumped down in front of her, a demon towering at about twenty feet.

Jubilee didn’t waste any time. Her hands crackled with her pyrotechnic abilities and she unleashed a stream of the brightly-colored orbs at the demon’s face. Husk was both somewhat impressed and disturbed by her friend’s ruthlessness. Jubilee had evidently grown up a lot since the death of Bobby Drake, and Husk wasn’t sure it was for the best.

But even with her newfound anger, Jubilee still found the demon resisting her attacks. He raised a flaming sword and brought it down. Jubilee jumped away, and the demon jammed it into the ground.

He struggled to pull it free, but something came from above. The demon looked up just as lithe yet powerful fists slammed into him. He staggered and the figure flew at him, a beautiful Algerian girl whose fists were like jackhammers. Another few strikes and the demon toppled, falling to the ground with a massive tremor.

M landed on the ground and dusted off her hands. She glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the group. Jubilee smirked. “Show-off. What kept you?”

“Sorry, had to clear out another group of slavers ahead,” said M. “We should be okay from here.”

M took off and monitored the group from the air. Jubilee and Husk resumed their posts between the Parisians. M had been proven correct, as usual. They met no resistance from the catacombs until they returned to the large church that had become their home since Paris was sucked into Limbo.

Husk changed her form, pulling away the diamond body and revealing the face of Paige Guthrie beneath. She and Jubilee helped the newcomers settle in while M retreated to a small room in the church. It had once been an office for the priest, but had since become their unofficial war room.

In the center of the room, Jonothon Starsmore and Clarice Ferguson sat facing each other, cross-legged, hands resting on their knees and their eyes shut tightly. M could feel the psychic energy connecting the pair of them, courtesy of Chamber’s power no doubt.

They both opened their eyes and stood, turning to face the newcomer. M folded her arms and leaned against the wall. “Any progress?”

{Nothing to report, I’m afraid,} said Chamber. His jaw was gone, replaced by a burning furnace of psionic energy. The result was he could only communicate via telepathic means. {If we could find a psychic foothold in Earth, maybe Blink can open a portal back there. But so far, we can’t seem to pierce through the dimensional barriers.}

“I’m sorry, guess I’m not really ready for this yet,” said Blink.

“Just keep trying,” said M.

{No, let’s take a break,} said Chamber. {You go get some rest, Clarice.}

“We need her to keep trying,” said M.

{Clarice, go.}

“But—”

{Go, now. Monet and I need to have a word.}

Blink was uncertain as she looked at the eyes of her friends, both of whom looked pretty angry with each other. She decided to follow the advice and left the office, leaving the two in there alone.

{What’s your problem?}

“My problem is Blink is our only hope of escaping this place.”

{An’ we wouldn’t even be in this situation if you didn’t drag us all the way to Paris in the first place.}

M narrowed her eyes. “I apologize for asking people I thought were my friends for aid. People I thought I could trust. Maybe Lee was right about you.” She turned to the door, but Chamber grabbed her hand before she could open it.

{Wait.}

She rested her hand on the door and sighed. “What?”

{I’m sorry,} he said. {This is…stressful for all of us. A lot’s happened since we were students. Psionex, Wonderland, and everything that’s happened since we got back. But if we’re going to get through this, we’re going to have to start trusting each other again. Work together.}

M turned and gave a nod. “Yes, you’re ri—”

Both of their eyes suddenly widened as images flashed across their mind. When it was over, they both exchanged knowing glances.

“You felt that, too?” asked M.

Chamber nodded. {We have to get the others.}

“You’re sure about this?” asked Jubilee as she scanned the desolate wasteland that was Limbo.

“Positive,” said M. “It was a distress call. From Pixie.”

“There!” said Blink, pointing off into the distance.

Down the ridge from where they stood, they saw two mutants fighting off demons who looked different from the rest of the denizens of Limbo. One of the mutants was a teenage girl had fairy-like wings and pink hair. The other was a teen boy with short, brown hair. His very touch caused the demons to crumble to dust.

“That’s them alright,” said Husk. “Pixie an’ Wither. Both students.”

“Well let’s get goin’ an’ give ‘em a hand!” said Jubilee. “If X-students are here, you better believe the X-Men are on their way!”

*

In another part of Limbo, a portal opened and the X-Men entered. Banshee did a search of the area, seeing nothing but desolation. Shadowcat came up behind him, checking a wrist-mounted Cerebra unit she brought with her. Although not as powerful as the real thing when linked with a telepath, it could at the very least detect mutant signatures in the area.

“Nothing,” she said. “Not picking up anything.”

“It’s quiet,” said Colossus.

“Aye, an’ I don’t like it,” said Banshee.

“That’s because we are among friends,” said Magik.

There was a gust of wind and a noise from above. The X-Men looked up and instantly fell into battle stances. Colossus’ body transformed from flesh and blood to organic steel, Shadowcat’s artificial claws extended from the housings in her gauntlets, and Banshee emitted a frequency that allowed him to levitate. Only Magik remained calm as the demon landed before them.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Hello, N’astirh.”

“My Queen,” said N’astirh, bowing his head to her. “Come, we have much to discuss.”

N’astirh led the group through a series of tunnels that linked the realms of Limbo. Magik followed behind him without hesitation and Colossus, although somewhat worried, also walked behind his sister.

Shadowcat and Banshee lingered in the rear, whispering to each other in voices low enough so no one else could hear them. “I don’t like this,” said Banshee. “An alliance with N’astirh? Even if he opposes Belasco…”

“Let’s just see how this plays out,” said Shadowcat. “But keep a close eye on him.”

They continued moving through the tunnels for what felt like hours. Magik’s former confidence appeared to fade with each step they took until they finally stopped in a massive chamber.

“Something’s wrong,” she said. “Things have changed.”

“Indeed they have, mistress,” said N’astirh.

Magik drew the Soulsword from her body. The ethereal glow of the blade illuminated the chamber and the X-Men realized they were completely surrounded by the N’Garai. The ground rumbled and the massive figure of Kierrok, ruler of the N’Garai, came from the shadows and moved beside N’astirh.

“The biggest change of all?” asked N’astirh. “We no longer heed your call, Illyana Rasputin!”

Cannonball was the first to step through the portal and as soon as he did, he was grabbed by a massive hand that threw him a good distance. He activated his blast field on instinct and protected himself from any further damage, moving into a hover.

“It’s an ambush!” said Cyclops, unleashing his optic blasts on their attackers. “Get back through the—”

But when he turned to retreat back through the portal, it had already closed.

“Looks like we’re stuck here,” said Rogue.

“And we’re not alone,” said Phoenix.

N’Garai were all around them. But the surprising addition was the one who had grabbed Cannonball. Who now smiled a twisted smile at the former New Mutant.

“Ahh boy,” he said. “S’ym has owed you this beating for a long, long time!”

To be continued…