Paris, France
Then

The young Algerian woman seated at an outside café in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower seemed entirely detached from the outside world. Keeping her emotions hidden was something Monet St. Croix had grown quite accomplished in over the years. None would know of the burden she carried, with her younger, twin sisters missing. The last time she felt their psychic presence, she only caught glimpses—fragments, really—that she pieced together as Paris. But she knew that this wasn’t something she could do on her own.

“Geez, a Paris café beneath the Eiffel Tower?” At the sound of the familiar voice, Monet couldn’t help her slight smile. “Any way you could be more of a cliché, M?”

“This coming from a California mall rat?” asked Monet as she stood to greet the young Chinese woman who stood with her arms crossed, and clad in a waist-length, mustard-colored leather jacket with red-tinted sunglasses. “I see your fashion sense hasn’t improved much since last we saw each other.”

“I see you’re still a bitch,” said Jubilee with a smirk.

Monet shook her head, still smiling. “Oh, I’ve missed you, Lee.”

Jubilee sat at the table. “So what’s this all about? Figured it was something more important than just sipping espresso.”

“It is, but let’s wait until the others arrive,” said Monet. “I can sense Clarice and Paige nearby.”

Jubilee looked over her shoulder and saw that Monet, as always, was right. Clarice Ferguson and Paige Guthrie had just turned the corner and were walking towards them. Jubilee glanced over at Monet and frowned.

“Don’t you ever get sick of bein’ right all the time?”

“That depends, do you ever get sick of being irritating?” asked Monet.

“I missed you, too, M.”

Jubilee stood just as Clarice arrived and embraced her. “I heard about ESU. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” said Clarice. Until a few months ago, she’d been enrolled as a student at Empire State University, while moonlighting as a member of the New Warriors. ESU had been one of the first schools in the country to ban discrimination against mutants. But that ended when a troubled young student used his mutant powers in an attack on the student union. In response, ESU mandated that mutants only be enrolled in correspondence courses. With nowhere else to go, Clarice planned to take a sabbatical from the Warriors and went to Genosha where Paige was working with mutant refugees. As a result, her teammate, Joystick, ended their relationship and then after her own expulsion, returned to her criminal ways. The Warriors stopped her and shortly after, the team dissolved completely.

“Been seein’ you a lot on TV,” said Paige. “Running with the Champions out in LA.”

“Yeah, it’s been an…interesting mix,” said Jubilee.

“Sure is great to see you all again,” said Paige. “Well…almost all of us…”

The women grew silent, thinking of their missing former teammates. Angelo Espinosa’s last interaction with the group was not pleasant—he’d felt betrayed by Paige and had no desire to be anywhere near her. Alex Roberts and Jonothon Starsmore had both been seen with Havok’s terrorist organization of self-proclaimed X-Men. And in order to allow his friends to return from the mutant afterlife called Wonderland, Everett Thomas sacrificed himself.

“But what I’m really wondering is why M asked us all the way out here?” asked Jubilee, finally changing the subject.

“Ah’ll second that,” said Paige. “What’s the deal, M? Your message sounded real important.”

“When we returned, my first order of business was to see my father and my sisters. But what I found instead was that Nicole and Claudette were missing. And my father had been committed to a psychiatric hospital. The doctors informed me that my father had become despondent following my supposed death. And when the twins went missing, they believed it triggered a psychotic break.” Monet’s voice remained even as she regaled the tale of the past few months. They way she spoke so dispassionately about what had happened to her father was slightly unnerving. “They permitted me to speak with him. When he looked at me, he did so with abject fear in his eyes, and said only one word—Emplate.”

Monet paused in the story to nonchalantly sip her espresso. Jubilee, Paige, and Clarice, however, were absolutely shocked. And it was Jubilee who broke the silence. “How can it be Emplate? I thought you broke him free of Satannish’s curse or whatever.”

She set the now-empty cup on its accompanying dish. “After we returned, it was as if a fog had been lifted from my head. Everything I’d told you about my brother summoning Satannish, becoming his pawn…I believed that to be the truth, believed it to be my actual memory. But as time passed, the memory faded. It was as if I’d been mistaking the memory of a dream for a memory I’d experienced.”

“But Satannish was at the school,” said Paige. “We went up against him. An’ we all saw Emplate change back into Marius.”

Monet shook her head. “I have no answers for you, Paige. Only questions. Such as why would I have two completely different memories, one in which Marius was a thrall of Satannish and one in which he was not? Why would Satannish release Marius? We all know Frost had been manipulating us towards the end of our tenure at her school, but when did that manipulation start? What I know for certain is that my brother’s powers came not from the machinations of a demonic entity, but from the x-gene we all possess. And now, he has surfaced once more and once more, has gone after his own family. I tracked them here, but then I realized I might…”

Her voice trailed off. Jubilee rolled her eyes and began snickering. “I don’t believe it. After all this time, you still can’t just come out an’ admit that you need help.”

Monet sighed. “Very well…some assistance would be appreciated.”

Jubilee threw her head back and groaned. “Oh come on!”

Clarice stepped forward. “What Jubilee means is that of course we’ll help.”

“Can y’ lock onto their telepathic signature? ” asked Paige. “Both you an’ them were trapped in the Penance form, so you must have some sort of connection to them.”

“As you are all aware, my telepathic abilities are somewhat limited. All I know is that the trail ends here. Specifically, at this very point,” said Monet. “So we are awaiting the arrival of another old friend whose telepathic abilities are more powerful than mine.”

Jubilee frowned. “No way. Do not tell me you called who I think you called!”

Clarice looked around, her eyes starting to widen. “Umm guys? Does anyone else think it’s real foggy all of a sudden…?”

“Now that you mention it…” Jubilee started looking around as well, and then began coughing. “It’s—*koff*—little hard t-to breathe…”

Monet started coughing, too. “Paige—*koffkoff*—husk!”

Paige was on her knees, succumbing as well, as were all the other people lining the streets of Paris. She tried to concentrate and her skin began flaking off. She tore at it, shedding her outer layer and revealing beneath it a form that was sleek and silver. In the center of her torso was a giant fan that began spinning, blowing the thick smog away from the area.

The gas began to take on a solid, humanoid form, one of a man with purple skin and blank eyes. His hands reached for the street, bonding with it and allowing him to stand firm against Husk’s attempts to blow away his gaseous form. “Is that any way to greet an old friend?” he asked.

“Vincente…” muttered M, now able to stand once more. Blink and Jubilee stood too, both of them preparing to use their powers on the young mutant.

“If he’s here, means Emplate ain’t too far behind,” said Husk.

“The boss said we should play with you,” said Vincente. “And by ‘we’, I think you know who I mean.”

A teleportation field appeared and once the light cleared, the former members of Generation X were standing off against Vincente as well as his companions—a red-haired, burly man with red straps around his body, the mass-shifting Bulwark. The man who was wrapped from head to toe in bandages was Murmur, he possessed superhuman strength and was the source of the teleportation and the girl with the pale skin was Nocturne, capable of unleashing powerful psionic blasts.

“So, my brother sends his hellions after us instead of turning up himself.” M wasted no further words, taking to the sky and immediately crashing down upon Bulwark. The largest of Emplate’s followers increased his body mass, now several times larger than his opponent and the two began exchanging blows.

Blink went into action against Murmur, each of them trying to sense the others teleportation fields and predict where they would end up next to deliver a strike. Jubilee unleashed her colorful plasma bursts on Nocturne, but the young woman was able to dodge and counter with her own psionic blasts. And Husk found herself up against Vincente, the two metamorphs shifting between various forms to get the edge on the other.

Husk had to literally shed her previous form in order to shift into a new one, and though her powers were more versatile in that sense, it meant Vincente had a slight edge in timing. His body shifted into a glop that held her in place and his body slithered around her, shifting from the murky substance into a gaseous form that flowed into her mouth.

Just as quickly as it started, though, Vincente found himself forced out. He freed Husk from the prison he’d created for her and now he returned to his solid, humanoid form. “What is this? What’s happening?”

{What the bloody hell do you think is happening, you stupid git?} The telepathic voice was in Vincente’s head, and then it was followed by a powerful burst of psionic energy. Vincente was thrown back, temporarily stunned. His attacker went over to Husk, offering a hand to help her up. She glanced up at him, seeing a young man with shaggy, brown hair and wearing a black trench coat over black jeans. But the strangest thing about him was that his mouth and chest were gone, and in their place was a burning furnace of psionic energy.

{Hullo, Paige,} said Jonothon Starsmore. {Been awhile.}

BLACK MAGIK

Part II

By Gavin McMahon, Hunter Lambright, and Dino Pollard

With a plot assist from Chris Munn

“Jono…?” asked Paige, staring at him. She’d seen him, of course, on TV as one of the terrorist X-Men. “But you…you’re…”

{There’ll be time for explanations later, gel,} said Chamber.

“Damn right,” said Paige, her tone growing decidedly dark. She ignored Chamber’s hand and stood on her own, tearing off her skin and revealing a shimmering diamond. Husk jumped, clearing the distance between her and Bulwark, slamming into him.

“When exactly were you gonna tell us yah invited him?” asked Husk as she and M struck at Bulwark from both sides.

“The appropriate moment hadn’t presented itself,” said M.

“Oh that is such bull!”

Jubilee was stunned as one of Nocturne’s blasts struck her, disrupting her nervous system and dropping her to her knees. Blink watched as it happened and cried out, “Jubilee!”

The brief distraction enabled Murmur to get the drop on her, teleporting behind her and elbowing her in the back. Blink gasped and then Murmur teleported in front of her and kicked her in the chest. The pink-skinned woman had trouble breathing now and Murmur appeared above her, ready to deliver a killing strike.

Before he did, Chamber intervened, an onslaught of psionic energy erupting from his chest and engulfing Murmur in it. He was thrown past the Eiffel Tower from the sheer force and Chamber went over to Blink’s side, checking to see how she was doing.

He could sense something else, however, and he turned but found himself paralyzed by one of Nocturne’s energy blasts. The pale woman grinned, holding up her hands, the ebon energy crackling in her palms. She was prepared now to kill all three at once.

But before she could manage another blast, her teammate, Bulwark, fell on top of her, burying her beneath his massive body. M hovered above and then lowered herself to the ground. Husk had already returned to her human form and after a few moments, their friends recovered from the attacks.

“Okay, now both of you got some explaining to do!” said Jubilee, then pointed at Chamber. “First off, what the hell is up with you? Joinin’ Havok’s group of terrorist X-Men? What the hell did you think you were doing?”

{Long story short, it’s not what you think,} said Chamber. {Suppose I should thank M for calling me when she did. Otherwise I might’ve been captured with me teammates. S’pose it’s for the best, though. Was gettin’ a bit worrisome with that lot.}

“And you!” Jubilee now pointed at M. “Why didn’t you tell us you called Jono? Hell, why would you call him in the first place? Don’t tell me they don’t have TV in Algeria!”

“Naturally I was aware of Jono’s current…activities,” said M. “But I needed someone whose psionic powers could aid mine in order to locate my sisters.”

“Ever hear of a little group called the X-Men?” asked Jubilee. “An’ I mean the real X-Men! Not those posers Jono’s been runnin’ with! You tellin’ me there’s not a single telepath in the mansion these days?”

“None that I trust,” said M.

Jubilee blinked. “So…you’re telling me…you don’t trust any of the X-Men who are above-board, but you do trust one one of their terrorist knock-offs?”

{Standin’ right here, Lee. Mouth may be gone, but me ears work just fine.}

“Ask me if I care, Starsmore.”

“You’ll just have to trust me on this, Lee,” said M.

“You mean like when you told us that bullshit story about Emplate and Satannish?” asked Jubilee. “Or how about the way none of you have come clean about where you went after I thought you were all dead?”

“Hate t’ say it, but she’s got a point, M,” said Husk. “Yah ain’t exactly been upfront with us.”

“And it was your idea not to talk about what happened to us,” said Blink.

“Perhaps you are correct,” said M. “Jono and I will continue alone. You three may return home. I apologize for wasting your time.”

M turned away from the girls and began walking. Jono gave one last look at her before he followed. Jubilee grit her teeth and stamped her foot once before saying, “oh fer the luvva—! You’re not gettin’ off that easy!”

M paused and faced her. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not goin’ anywhere. You’ve screwed this up enough, you’ll need me to make sure you don’t screw things up even further.”

M couldn’t help but smirk. “If you insist. Paige? Clarice?”

Husk tried not to look at Chamber as she said, “Yeah, I’ll stay.”

“Me too,” said Blink. “So what now?”

{Been tryin’ to lock onto Nicole and Claudette since the fight ended, but haven’t had much luck.}

“I think I’ve got a theory,” said Blink. “Murmur’s a teleporter, right? Well, I can where spaces in reality have been sheared. And if Emplate’s hiding between the folds of space and time, it could be why you can’t get a read on him.”

{An’ you sense that now?} asked Chamber.

Blink nodded. “It’s faint, but it’s there. If I just concentrate…”

She held out her hands, her eyes beginning to glow. Clarice Ferguson grimaced, trying to reach through the dimensions. Finally, she found the location and a portal opened before them. The quintet entered the portal and they found themselves transported to the inside of a church. Except it was completely populated by demons.

“What the hell’s goin’ on here, M?” asked Jubilee. “Thought you said the whole Satannish thing didn’t make much sense?”

M was silent. She didn’t know what to make of the scene before her. But the demons quickly noticed the former members of Generation X and began to advance on them. The team slipped right back into fighting positions.

{M, I’m picking up the twins,} said Chamber. {Can you feel ‘em?}

M nodded. “They’re here. So is Emplate.”

Husk tore her skin from her face, revealing a fiery form beneath. “Go on, we’ll cover yah.”

M didn’t wait for any further confirmation from the others and launched herself into the air as the demons and Generation X began exchanging blows. M pushed through any demons that came towards her, moving closer to the altar, where her brother stood on the dais. Spread out on the table were both Claudette and Nicole, and Emplate was doing…something. What it was, she couldn’t tell, but she had a feeling it was nothing good.

She barreled down, prepared to slam right into her brother. Before she reached him, something else came out of nowhere and struck her down. M slammed against the wall, sinking slightly into the plaster. She pulled herself free, brushing the debris from her body. And standing over her was a large, purple demon with a cigar in his mouth.

“Not so fast, girlie,” he said. “Not when S’ym is here.”

M’s eyes were wide in horror. S’ym, she knew that name from the X-Men’s files. Strongman of Belasco, the ruler of Limbo. But what did any of that have to do with her brother? Why would he ally himself with Belasco?

“Thank you, S’ym,” said Emplate. “We are almost done here, aren’t why, girls?”

Emplate held out his arms and threw back his head, energy coalescing around his hands. It flowed into the twin girls and they rose from the table under Emplate’s power. They moved back-to-back, and M’s expression became even more horrified.

“No! Not again!”

The twins merged together into one body, taller and wrapped in bandages. Their combined skin reddened and hardened, their fingers and toes growing into claws, and their hair turning into red spikes. Now as one, the eyes of this new figure opened, and were vacant and blue.

“Penance…” muttered M, memories flooding her mind of the torture she underwent while she was trapped in that prison that her sisters were now once more trapped in. Am amulet Emplate wore had two stones that now began glowing.

The church rumbled, and Emplate’s amulet began glowing ever brighter, its power sending a wave across. As Generation X battled the demons, Husk knew things were about to get much worse. “Jono! We’re gonna need back-up! Send a message to the X-Men—the realones, that is!”

Chamber ignored Husk’s barb, but indeed did try to reach out, sending a psychic SOS across the Atlantic to New York. He managed to send the message, right before a wave of magical energy washed all across Paris, and the gates to Limbo opened.

“Now comes the fun part!” laughed S’ym.

The Xavier Institute
Westchester, New York
Now

“Snowflake…?” Peter Rasputin opened the door to his sister’s room. The lights were off, but she sat at a vanity, staring at her reflection in the mirror. “We are making preparations. Are you certain you’re ready for this?”

Illyana looked over from her vanity mirror and nodded. “Yes, Piotr. I’ll be right down.”

“I will tell the others,” said Peter. He paused before closing the door. “Is everything okay? I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

Illyana smiled. “Of course not, silly. The attack must have made you paranoid.”

Peter grinned. “I suppose so. I will see you downstairs, Snowflake.”

He closed the door, and Illyana looked into the mirror. And a yellow gleam appeared in her eyes, her smile broadening. “Bye.”

To be continued…