Flashback:
It is hot as hell in Hollywood. The city burns with an eruption of missing person cases. Civilians line the streets, looking at boards with photos of missing people. Candles and flowers placed beneath the boards. One such interested person is the six-armed woman known as Spiral. She realizes there are too many to solve, and people are giving up hope - but not she, as she places a poster announcing that Ginny Guzman is missing. Her six hands pat it down against the board. She has to find the girl who saved her life. ‘That is some kind of costume, girl. With those arms?’ a woman calls out, pointing at Spiral. ‘Who -?’ Spiral thinks to herself, while telling herself not to get twitchy, as this woman is not a threat. ‘Don’t grab your sword. Make eye contact’ she tells herself. The woman leans against the board and tells Spiral that she could make a killing out here, working the tourists, and introduces herself as Summer.
Spiral thanks Summer, and realizes that she is no threat. ‘Looking for someone missing? You and everyone else in this damn town’ Summer remarks, adding that she thinks it is those sketchy white robes who are responsible for everyone disappearing. ‘Make eye contact’ Spiral tells herself, before turning to Summer and asking ‘White robes?’ Spiral admits to herself that she has never been good at talking to people that she is not trying to kill. Summer claims that she doesn’t know nothing about them, and doesn’t want to, but tells Spiral that they have been terrorizing Hollywood, bullying everyone into their creepy cult. ‘My friend Lacey - she got involved with them, straight up vanished. Saw her only once after that. Girl was not looking good’ Summer reveals.
Spiral recalls that Ginny’s mutant ability was the power to psychically induce a feeling of belonging. ‘Maybe…’ she thinks to herself, before asking Summer where she can find this cult. ‘Girl, you do not want to mess wit them. They do whatever they want, and there is a reason for that’ Summer replies. Suddenly, a overweight shirtless man approaches Summer, ‘Hey, baby - some like it hot!’ he calls out as he touches her rear. ‘This one is a threat’ Spiral thinks to herself. Spiral remembers how she was once enslaved as a multi-dimensional assassin, and decides that if this cult is enslaving Ginny and her mutant power to expand their membership, then she will crush them. She quickly grabs one of her swords, and swipes it towards the overweight man, who suddenly drops to his knees and screams ‘Oh - oh #$%&! You &%$& %^$# $$%^! You cut off my thumb!’ Spiral and Summer turn away from him as he clutches his wound, as Summer remarks ‘Then again, I guess you can take care of yourself’. Summer adds that the white robes are catch as catch can, that they come and go like ghosts. She then suggests to Spiral that she best get out of here before the cops show up.
Shortly, Spiral materializes on a hillside overlooking Hollywood, the sun pours down in an orange-drenched sky. She decides that Hollywood can be a small town, but too big to search for ghosts on her own. She needs help to track down these white robes. Spiral whistles, and picks a small bird up. She places a device on the bird’s head, and then releases it into the air, telling it to stalk. The device is leftover Body Shoppe technology, and thanks to it, she can see through the bird. Spiral views a city on fire, people attacking each other, police beating up a man, and people in white robes entering a donut shop.
Spiral teleports to the donut shop. She realizes that she no longer understands this world, now that she is no longer human. Human is something she used to be - before she got these arms, and the word and became a cosmic ninja. Spiral enters the donut shop and decides that it is easier for her to think of “people” as something separate from her - so she doesn’t have to lay claim to the ugly things they do to each other. She sees a woman slumped against the wall, a knife in her chest. Donuts scattered on the floor. Suddenly, Spiral’s arms start to weave and dance about. It has been a long time since she has cast a spell, and knows that she is a shade of what she once was, so she needs to be stingy with her magic. ‘Reanimate’ Spiral exclaims as pink energy glows around her.
‘Who killed you?’ Spiral enquires. The woman looks up over her glasses and coughs, ‘God that hurts’ she mutters, before revealing that those white robes kidnapped her daughter. ‘They couldn’t even finish the job right. Stabbed me, poured gasoline all over my donuts - but forgot to light a match’ she explains. Spiral realizes that is two girls missing now, and asks the woman why she would do this. Blade still stuck in her chest, the woman pulls out a cigarette and a lighter and replies ‘A cult. That’s a joke, yeah? They’re a front. Murdering, kidnapping, who knows’. She adds that she told the cops where to find them - in the old, shut-down wig shop on Cahuenga, which is where they take new recruits. ‘Stupid. The cops are in on it too. Corrupt. Told the white robes. Then they came for me. Blah blah blah and that’s the whole story. So may I die now, please?’ the woman asks, before adding that she is freezing and wants to find her grandfather.
‘You may’ Spiral replies, as she waves her sword across the woman. She thinks to herself that the woman’s soul was tired, and deserved a clean death. The cigarette falls to the floor, and the woman collapses beside it. The flickering cigarette ignites against the petrol, and Spiral hopes that the flames of these souls will light her way. She walks out of the donut shop as it bursts into flames, ‘Let the fire burn us until we are pure’ Spiral thinks to herself.
Shortly, Spiral arrives at the old wig shop. She keeps watch, and sees a white robe enter. Spiral decides that they stay one step ahead of their enemies, but she has snuck up close enough for the stench to scorch her eyes. Spiral recalls that she has sliced a thousand warriors on the outer nebula, killed a thousand suns in the tenth dimension. ‘They have no idea who they’re missing with’ she boasts, as she kicks down a window to the wig shop, ‘By the stars -’ Spiral gasps, as she sees some sort of horrid beast, blue skinned with long hair, and huge claws, covered in a white robe, looking over a woman in between two rows lined with wigs. The creature roars, before Spiral moves towards it, sword ready, ‘Finally, something I can slice’ she thinks to herself, but as she brings her sword towards the creature, it turns to her and blocks her attack. ‘You!’ the creature gasps, while Spiral readies another weapon, and thinks to herself: ‘When an opponent comes forward, move in and greet her - if she wants to pull back, send her on her way’.
Spiral pushes an axe-like weapon towards her Revenant foe, and cuts off its long hair. She grabs a packet of matches, and pushes the Revenant’s head back against some of the shelves holding the wigs. ‘I’ll eat your heart -’ the Revenant calls out, ‘Not %&#$ likely’ Spiral replies, holding her blade to the Revenant, she asks it where the prisoners are being kept. ‘$%&* you! I’ll never betray the Owl Queen to you! She warned us Revenants to watch out for your octopus ass!’ the Revenant declares. Spiral realizes that they are expecting her, and decides that means she is on the right path. Spiral then demands to know what a Revenant is. ‘You stupid $%&*! There’s Revenants in all of us. You have no idea what you are dealing with!’ the large creature snarls back. ‘I know enough’ Spiral replies, holding up the matchbook.
There is fire at the edge of Spiral’s blade - and as she swipes it against the Revenant, the creature screams, before falling backwards, blood trickling from its body. ‘I’ll burn this whole world if I must’ Spiral decides, holding up the matchbook again, it has an advert on it - “When in LA… disappear to the Magic Mansion” with a woman holding a white rabbit in a hat.
Shortly, Spiral hides in some bushes, and peers through the leaves, looking up at a large mansion, she knows that the Magic Mansion was a club for magicians, but it has been shut down for over a year. Tonight, it is definitely open for business, the lights are all on inside and she watches a hundred white robes stream into its doors. Something big is going on - but Spiral doesn’t care, she has only one goal - to get Ginny. Green energy bursts forth from the rooftop, and Spiral realizes she has to get inside. She looks at the monstrous guards and thinks that they look like some gruesome things Mojo dreamed up. But, thanks to Mojo, Spiral has never needed doors, and with ease, she teleports into the Magic Mansion, right into a room where hideous Revenants are gathered. People are bound with cloths over their faces, and the Revenant Queen, the White Owl, stands in the center of the room. Thanks to Mojo, Spiral is also at home with gruesome sights.
‘Welcome Spiral, please come in. Would you like to join our family?’ the Revenant Queen asks. The Revenants turn to Spiral, who reaches for her weapons and replies ’You’re no family. You’re not even a cult. You’re some sick horde of monsters terrorizing this town’. Calmly, the Revenant Queen replies ‘Not monsters, Revenants. Or as the Shi’ar call us, Mummudrai’. The Revenants start to take possession of the prisoners, and they move to Spiral, who holds her weapons out, and replies ‘Whatever. You’re responsible for all the missing people. Summer’s friend. The donut lady’s daughter. Ginny. Ginny’s here and she’s leaving with me’ Spiral declares. The Revenant Queen puts her hands to the hood covering her face, ‘Very good, Spiral. You’re not a bad detective. Although there’s one twist you didn’t figure out’ she calls out. ‘No’ Spiral utters, and as the Revenant Queen removes her mask, she sees her dear friend Ginny.
The Revenant Queen announces that she quite likes this body, adding that there are so many new mutants to possess, and her brother, Charles, is very much deceased. ‘Did you see the light show outside? I’ve locked up Los Angeles in a psychic prison. And soon my children will assemble for the big ceremony. Why wait a thousand years when you can wipe out humanity today?’ the Revenant Queen asks. ‘It can’t be. The Owl Queen is Ginny’ Spiral thinks to herself, when suddenly, the Revenant - actually, Cassandra Nova, floats out of Ginny’s body, ‘Surprised, Spiral? I’m a four-thousand year old immortal evil twin from the future. I am Cassandra Nova, and this is my time’ Cassandra boasts. The prisoners all take on the horrid, monstrous appearances of the Revenants, and they swarm towards Spiral, ‘You have no hope of stopping me. Join us. Let me summon your Revenant. Aren’t you even a teensy bit curious what your dark side looks like?’ Cassandra Nova asks.
‘I face my dark side every day, in the reflection of my blade. You’re about to feel how dark it gets’ Spiral snarls. She realizes that she should have let her sword do the talking from the start, and decides that this Cassandra made Ginny worse than a slave. Spiral shoves her sword through the first Revenant, and as more swarm over her, she reacts, attacking them, too, while thinking that Cassandra reduced Ginny to an instrument, without even the honor of a sword. Spiral’s axe slices open the head of one Revenant, as she recalls that Ginny was the only human who saw her as more than a monster. Spiral leaps into the air, and the axe swings, slicing open more heads. ‘The only one to ever show me kindness’. She lets her rage sing, she lets the infernal bloodlust of a thousand supernovas take control, and for the first time in months, Spiral’s lets go. None of the Revenants escape her wrath - they are hacked to pieces, and Spiral grins. However, the one she really wanted escapes. And by the time Spiral pulls herself together, the Revenant Queen - Ginny - has vanished.
Now:
Spiral stands before Betsy “Psylocke” Braddock, Ororo “Storm” Munro, Eugene Judd a.k.a. Puck and Lucas Bishop, and, as she concludes her story, explains that when the sun came up, she was in a daze. Spiral tells them that Ginny is out there, somewhere, and she doesn’t care if she is a psychic demon. ‘I’ll make her cry for mercy’ she boasts, adding that she knows this is too big to handle by herself. Storm announces that Cassandra Nova is an extremely dangerous adversary, while Betsy adds ‘The Revenants were Mummudrai this whole time! Son of a gun’, and Storm tells Spiral that she did the right thing to come to them. Looking confused, Puck asks ‘Hang on - the Revenant Queen is Professor X’s sister?’, to which Storm explains that she is his evil sister. ‘Well, I didn’t think she was Mother Teresa’ Puck replies, while Bishop tells the others that they have been so stupid, and wonders why he didn’t see this.
Energy glows around Bishop’s fist, and he tells his companions that, right now, Cassandra Nova’s power is growing and her Revenants are assembling. ‘She aims to trigger the Great Corruption…the destruction of the veil that separates our world from the Underworld’ He adds that a Revenant invasion will destroy all of humanity - Cassandra Nova is going to trigger the end of the world a thousand years early.
And, in Hollywood, over the famous hillside sign, fire burns, and on the streets of the city, Revenants take control of more civilians, and the city starts to burn around them….
