BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
Months later, on Kurt's twenty-first birthday, he received a surprise package from an unknown sender. Inside was a beautiful crystalline statue of Nightcrawler, but when he touched it the figurine exploded and Kurt's soul was spirited away. With the help of Dr. Strange, the X-Men followed and found themselves in a simulacrum of Dante's Inferno. In the last of nine circles, which is supposed to be the final punishment for traitors, the team faced Margali Szardos, who held Kurt responsible for the death of Stefan. It turned out that the statue had been sent by Jimaine to arrange this confrontation, for she could not let her mother punish the man she loved in a magical hell of her own creation.
When Nightcrawler explained that Stefan had gone insane and Margali was convinced of the truth of his words through Dr. Strange's Eye of Agamotto, she forgave her adoptive son and departed. Jimaine, on the other hand, revealed that she had been at Nightcrawler's side over the last months in the form of his girlfriend, Amanda Sefton, having magically disguised her appearance. [Uncanny X-Men Annual (1st series) #4]
When the neo-mutant Kitty Pryde met and later joined the X-Men, she was put off by Nightcrawler's demonic visage and tended to stay clear of him. Still, 
Kurt did everything he could to win her over and they eventually became the best of friends. When the X-Men learned of an imminent assassination attempt on Senator Kelly's life by Mystique and her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the team went to Kelly's hearing in Washington. During the resulting battle, Nightcrawler was shocked to discover how similar his appearance was to Mystique's true form. She neither confirmed nor denied any of his suspicions at the time, but told him to ask his foster mother Margali Szardos about it, leaving Nightcrawler confused. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #141-142]
During the X-Men's battle with Dracula, the extent of Nightcrawler's religious faith became apparent. When Logan tried to use the symbol of the cross against their opponent, the Lord of the Vampires taunted the X-Men that it only worked for those who truly believe. Hearing this, Kurt formed a cross of two wooden stakes, causing Dracula incredible pain. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #159]
Only a few days later, the X-Men were abducted to space by the alien Brood. Although they managed to escape from the Brood's planet, the team eventually discovered that they had been infected with Brood eggs and were slowly but surely being taken over by the alien embryo inside them. While most of the others gave in to despair, Kurt found inner strength in his faith. Fortunately, the X-Men were all cured from the Brood egg
infections by the Acanti, an alien race they freed from the Brood's enslavement. During the journey back to Earth, the X-Men happened upon a damaged craft of the interstellar bounty hunters called Sidri. Naturally, the X-Men wanted to help, but them being only guests on the Starjammer, they had no choice but to accept Corsair's judgment of the situation, and he considered the Sidri too dangerous. Still, feeling rather strongly about it, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde snuck into the ship's medical bay and secretly launched a capsule containing what they believed to be a revitalization serum. Actually, though, it was a mutagenic virus, and the incident would backfire on Kurt years later. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #164-166, Excalibur (1st series) #116]
Back on Earth, Kurt's relationship with Amanda got more intense. He would often visit her in her apartment, or go out on dates with her. Eventually, Kurt confided in his girlfriend that he was troubled by the fact that he didn't know anything about his biological parents. These feelings had reemerged with Cyclops being reunited with his father, Corsair, and Nightcrawler would have given anything to be that lucky too. Amanda told him what little she knew, which was actually only what Margali had told her about finding Kurt as a baby. When Kurt revealed that Mystique of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had been hinting at Margali knowing more than she let on, Amanda was puzzled just the same as Kurt. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #177]
A few months later, Mystique's foster daughter, Rogue, would come to Xavier for help with her powers and joined the X-Men, despite objections by nearly all the standing team about letting an "Evil Mutant" become one of them. Nightcrawler was one of the first X-Men to warm towards Rogue, tending to her illness as the team's doctor after a battle in Japan. Shortly after Storm was blasted by a Neutralizer gun that negated her powers, seemingly forever, she left the team to cope with this loss and leadership of the X-Men fell into Nightcrawler's hands. Kurt saw it as one of his tasks to help explore the limits of the abilities Rogue had stolen from Ms. Marvel. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #192]
Although Kurt performed well in this capacity, he was plagued by insecurities and self-doubts. Additionally, the Beyonder, whom the X-Men had encountered during the Secret Wars had come to Earth and the presence of a being powerful enough to create and destroy entire universes with the blink of an eye managed to shake Kurt's faith in God. He confessed to his friend, Father Bowen, that he even feared the Beyonder might be God and, if he was, how he could continue to believe? [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #196]
When both Cyclops and Storm returned to the team, Kurt was more than willing to step down and let them sort out leadership of the X-Men themselves via a duel. Storm won the duel, leading to Cyclops's departure. Only a few days later, the X-Men again met the Beyonder, who was curious about the Phoenix Force within Rachel Summers. The alien summoned the team away to test them, 
but, sensing Nightcrawler's inner trouble, he left him behind to sort it out. Kurt later learned that the others were in San Francisco and he could have followed, but decided against it. Part of him was happy to not have to face the almighty opponent again. Thinking that his entire life was controlled by outside forces, Nightcrawler lashed out at Amanda in his confusion and even voiced concern that his love for her could only be the result of her magical manipulations. Amanda angrily left, ending their long-term relationship with a few hurtful words. The same day, Kurt recognized a young female in distress, as she was targeted by Arcade. Kurt followed them to Murderworld and, rescuing her, he found a purpose in life once more, by concentrating more on his swashbuckling, adventure-loving side. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #204]