MAGIK I

Publication Date: 1st Mar 2018
Written By: Peter Luzifer, Ruth and Gremlin.
Image Work: Peter Luzifer and Gremlin.
Alternate Versions

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

In the timeline depicted in What If (2nd series) #12, several members of the X-Men and New Mutants chose to accept Loki’s offer and stay in Asgard,  among them Illyana, who replaced the Enchantress for good, this time without being turned evil by her magics. When Hela and the Norn Queen Karnilla formed a pact meaning to depose Storm as potential ruler of Asgard, Magik sensed this and alerted her comrades to help, leading to a war between all rivaling factions of Asgard. Later, Illyana attacked Karnilla herself, though she couldn’t best the Norn Queen. Luckily, Karnilla’s longtime elusive love, Balder, offered himself to her, should she let Illyana go and recall her warriors. Once the war was ended by Hela’s death and Danielle Moonstar had to take her place as the Goddess of Death, Illyana became the official emissary between Asgard and Hel, the realm of the dead.


During their journey across several alternate realities, the so called “Cross-Time Caper”, Excalibur was pulled to Earth-23238, home  to Captain Britain Corps member Justicer Bull by that reality’s version of Illyana Rasputin. Magik had risen to be that reality’s Sorceress Supreme and wore a costume similar to Dr. Strange’s. She worked for Kit Pryde, that reality’s most notorious crime boss. But Magik had grown jealous of Kit’s claiming the top spot in their criminal empire and tried to recruit Excalibur to aid her plot to overthrow Pryde. Magik’s plan was discovered, she was defeated by Phoenix and then arrested for her crimes by Justicer Bull.


Though she too had been de-aged to a child, Illyana did not die of the Legacy Virus in some off-shoot alternate reality. In time, she grew up to be a teenage mutant witch once more. Her maturing at a natural stage, Illyana was in full control of her abilities, both mutant and magical. Illyana joined the X-Force of that era, several of her old teammates like Cannonball and Sunspot among the group’s members. Of course they had aged 10-15 years as well and, while they remembered Illyana as their equal, she herself considered them her “uncles” and “aunts.” Strangely, despite her apparently not having to struggle with some inner demon, Illyana adopted the codename Darkchild. This potential future was shown during the Shattershot crossover.


In the Age of Apocalypse, with the X-Men being led by Magneto and not using the Bermuda Island headquarters, Illyana was never kidnapped by Belasco or became a sorceress, hence she grew up naturally. At first, she was believed to have died during the genetic  purges in Russia but, instead, she was sent to the Sugar Man’s mines to work there, like many other children. When the X-Men learned that she was still alive and that her latent teleportation abilities would be crucial to correcting the timeline, her brother, Colossus, was notified of her survival. Colossus, his wife, Shadowcat, and their team of young students of Generation Next were sent to save her. Thinking only of his sister’s safety, Colossus didn’t bother much when his students died one by one. Happily reunited, Colossus brought his sister back to the X-Men and, indeed, by combining her power with Destiny’s, she could open a portal to send Bishop back in time to undo what had caused the Age of Apocalypse in the first place. However, she also learned that, in the restored reality, she was no longer alive. As this was for a greater good, Illyana could accept this, though Colossus went mad over this revelation.


Yet another alternate version of Magik grew up into full womanhood and she even had a son named Hutch. Unfortunately, as he had been born between dimensions, they all had equal claim on the child and he was  part of all of them, without ever having a true body. A rather desperate mother, Magik struck a deal with Mephisto, who would ensure that Hutch would get a body, the cost would be the deaths of mutants of all dimensions, as all of them were drawn to the dimension where Hutch was. The boy was happy to finally have a body and see his mother but, when he learned what a huge sacrifice this would entail, he sacrificed himself and returned to being non-corporeal. Illyana was sad but, at the same time, proud that her son found the strength to do what she could not. [X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #37]


The version of Magik that became part of the dimension-hopping Exiles for some time was obsessed with the thought of returning home and willing to kill in order to accomplish her goals. In fact, as the other Exiles observed, Illyana was brutal, possibly mentally unstable, and always eager to take the most expedient – and often most violent route. For example, during her first mission with the Exiles, she murdered the Avengers – an alternate version of her brother, Colossus, among them – against express orders. As a result, the rest of the team disliked her. Only during their last mission together did she reach out to Morph, explaining she was afraid to fail, as that’d mean she’d kill her family in her own, warped reality. It is unclear though whether she actually sincere, in light of her later actions, as she just might have trying to lure Morph to her side. Eventually, she was killed by Hyperion of Weapon X, right after she betrayed the rest of the team to him. This Illyana seemed to have been a more accomplished sorceress outside Limbo than the version from the main Marvel universe ever was, as she was able to fetch herself a second Soulsword when she lost the first one to Archangel of the X-Men.


In another timeline, Illyana was given a second chance and returned to being an innocent girl, living in Russia with her parents, while her brother Colossus became a member of Russia’s heroes, the Winterguard. Her happiness didn’t last “Forever”, though, as Illyana was kidnapped by the Russian sorcerer calling himself Cossack who had apparently known Belasco and of her history with him. Cossack had the power to turn people evil, bringing out their “true nature”. He returned Illyana to being the teenage Darkchild – now calling herself “Black Magik”. Together they tried to “convert” Kitty Pryde whom Illyana desired at her side and young ‘Ro (a child version of Storm). When Cossack was killed, Kitty and ‘Ro reverted to their true forms, but Magik didn’t. While as a child she had been very much against Cossack, she now insisted that this was her true being and escaped via her stepping disks.


On the Battleworld, the domain of Inferno was a reality in which the X-Men had lost the fight against the armies of Limbo and Manhattan was shielded off to prevent the demonic energies spreading. Magik was unable to be saved and she completely gave herself to her Darkchild persona, becoming leader to the demons. Every year that passed, Colossus would enter Manhattan in a bid to try to save his sister, but every year he failed. His final attempt was equally as disastrous, as Magik managed to corrupt Nightcrawler and turn him into a demon, allowing her to teleport out of Manhattan. With the quarantine broken, Magik set about bringing her demon armies to the rest of New York and easily beat the remaining X-Men. After realizing that Illyana could never be saved, Colossus managed to kill her with her own soul sword.