Rain beats down on the mountain known as Wundagore. The being climbing the snow-covered mountain is dressed as white as the snow, and for now, shall be known as “The White Pilgrim”. The night has been given over to the elements, and for hours the swirling snow has obscured the steep slopes of Wundagore, reducing visibility to practically zero - making this normally treacherous passage well-nigh impossible to follow. However, the elements do not seem to trouble the White Pilgrim as he knocks on the door of a lone cabin.
Shadows flicker across frozen windowpanes as the inhabitants of the cottage move to answer the Pilgrim’s urgent knocking. Oddly - though perhaps not for this mountain - a cow, standing up on two legs - opens the door. ‘Who -?’ she exclaims. The White Pilgrim explains that he comes as a humble supplicant seeking shelter from the storm, before declaring ‘Spawn of the atom! What manner of creature are you?’ The cow-woman introduces herself as Bova, the midwife of Wundagore and explains that she is a new woman evolved from a cow by the Lord High Evolutionary.
Bova allows the White Pilgrim to enter, and remarks that caring for wayward travelers is both her duty, and her pleasure. The Pilgrim keeps his cloak and hood on and slumps into a seat, noticing at his feet a drooling man-child playing with a doll. Bova hands the White Pilgrim something to drink and tells him not to pay any attention to Modred, for he is harmless, but his quest for the forbidden has left him quite mad.
Bova informs the stranger that she senses he too has undertaken a quest and asks what it is that could bring a man forth on a night such as this. The Pilgrim doesn’t look at Bova as he replies that he is seeking something he lost a long, long time ago. ‘I seek…my past!’ Bova is rather happy to have someone to talk to and taking some fruit and beginning to peel it, she deems the stranger to be harmless, so she tells him of a night in her past too. In fact, it was a night such as this, ‘Many years past, that another came, seeking shelter from the storm’.
Bova informs her guest that her visitor of long past was young and beautiful, and terrified of something she refused to speak about - something which threatened the children she was carrying. The stranger asks of the woman’s name, and when Bova reveals that her name was Magda, the Pilgrim’s eyes blaze beneath his cowl. Bova remarks that it has been so long since the night she came, but that she remembers it as if it were just last evening.
(Flashback)
‘Please! Take me in! You must help!’ exclaimed Magda. ‘Help? Of course I’ll help you, child’ Bova replied.
(Present)
Bova informs her guest that Magda told her of a husband she loved more than life itself - but who was possessed of strange and frightening powers and had become as alien to her affections as the state whose prosecution of the couple had led to her husband unleashing his power. Bova adds that soon after the birth of her children, Magda fled into the night. The White Pilgrim supposes that the children - bereft of their mother - died soon after.
‘Died? Mercy’s sakes, no!’ exclaims Bova, revealing that she nursed them and they grew into two healthy, wondrous children -each possessed of truly tremendous powers! The White Pilgrim suddenly gets to his feet - ‘The children…lived?’ he exclaims. ‘Yes, as I said…’ begins Bova, when the mystery man interrupts her, demanding to know their names. Bova suddenly realizes there is a tone of command in the stranger’s voice - and suddenly he seems not so harmless. Bova’s mind travels through time once more, as she remembers Magda’s desperate admonition. ‘Please…keep my children from their father!’ the young woman pleaded.
Bova realizes that this stranger is Magda’s husband, and pulls Modred close to her. ‘And the children’s father - yes!’ exclaims the White Pilgrim, displaying some of his power as he orders Bova to tell him the children’s names, or else he will flay her flesh and nail it steaming to what is left of this pathetic little hovel. Bova cowers and Modred mewls louder. The White Pilgrim uses his abilities to destroy Bova’s home, and she is shocked. The stranger remarks that if he can do that, then how can she possibly think there is any way she can prevent herself from telling him what he wishes to know?
The White Pilgrim places his gloved hand over Bova’s mouth and the cow woman feels her blood flow against her own internal tides. Ears roaring, her brain on fire, she realizes that she no more gainsay the Pilgrim than stop her heart beating. The White Pilgrim explains to Bova that by controlling the iron content of her blood, he can control her mind as well, therefore she has no choice but to speak the truth, and once more asks for the children’s names. ‘W-Wanda and Pietro!’ Bova utters.
‘Wanda and Pietro?! Of course!’ shouts the White Pilgrim, dropping Bova, her releases the power, which long ago made Magda so rightly feared. What remains of Bova’s cottage is left asunder, as its remaining metal swirls to join the elemental frenzy. The Pilgrim takes to the sky and reminds Bova that he came to Wundagore in search of his past, and tells her that thanks to she, he has found it. He fares them well, then like some lord of the air, he steps upwards into the sky and is gone.
Bova calls to Modred, reminding him that he was a mage - ‘A mystic before sampling sorcerous fruits whose nectar robbed you of your senses!’ Bova pleads with Modred that if any of his arcane might remains within the reaches of his brain, she needs him to use it now and warn the children! Modred cries like a child confused, but does as his surrogate mother bids him - without knowing how or why he does it, and a spell arcs heavenward….
…to where, far above the Earthly storm, the moon shimmers like a pale pearl in the star-filled sky. It is to there that a certain silver spacecraft comes - it is an Avengers Quinjet, and it sets down on the Blue Area of the Moon - site of the fabled citadel called Attilan and home of the Uncanny Inhumans! As the Quinjet lands, a very special group of the Inhumans go out to greet the arrivals - they are the Royal Family of the Inhumans: Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak and Gorgon, as well as the mutant Pietro Maximoff, husband of the Inhuman Crystal.
Two more very special beings emerge from the Quinjet - Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch and her husband, fellow Avenger known only as Vision. ‘Welcome Scarlet Witch and Vision!’ exclaims Queen Medusa as Quicksilver greets his sister, telling her that all of Attilan rejoices at her arrival. Wanda expresses how much she has missed her brother. The Vision remains silent, for he is a synthezoid with a reputation for aloofness, and no one seems to notice that he stands somewhat apart from the group - no one except the mute Black Bolt.
Medusa of the flowing tresses remarks that she assumes they have come to see their infant niece, Luna, before informing her that they also sensed a certain urgency in the communication, and asks if this is more than a mere familial visit. Quicksilver reminds his sister that they were supposed to bring Nuklo so that the Inhuman scientist might be able to cure him, but Wanda announces that Nuklo has been cured, but that their need for Attilan doctors is as urgent as ever. Wanda explains that if the Inhumans’ advanced surgical science cannot aid her husband, then she fears that nothing in the universe will be able to. The Inhumans all gasp as for the first time since his arrival, the Vision lets slip aside his cape, revealing the melted stump that was once his arm.
The Next day…’My arm - it is whole again!’ exclaims the Vision, holding it up for everyone to see. One of the Inhuman scientists declares that it was a simple operation, once they deduced how to synthesize the Vision’s android cells, before telling him test his new arm to see whether it is every bit as good as the old. The Vision places his arm through a solid gate and sees that it turns intangible as he commands, and as Karnak comes up behind him ready to attack, the Vision holds up his new hand, it is able to stop Karnak’s crushing blow.
Gorgon turns to Karnak and asks him if he has hurt his hand, to which Karnak replies that the pain is mitigated by the joy the Vision feels. The Vision and Wanda embrace, and the Vision exclaims that he is well again. ‘In body and soul, my love? Oh, Vision, I’m so happy I could cry!’ Wanda exclaims, before turning to her brother and remarking that she cannot think of anything they more they would like to see than her niece. Wanda, Vision and Quicksilver depart from the Royal Family, and Pietro reveals that he explained to his wife why they had postponed their visit to see Luna, and Crystal understood the concern for the Vision, before telling Wanda that he feels something else is troubling her.
Wanda tells her brother that he knows her better than she knows herself, and confirms that she has been troubled, for last night as the Doctor’s operated on the Vision, she had the strangest dream - yet it was so real. Opening the door to his home, Pietro asks his sister if she took it to be a premonition of danger, and wants everyone to be on their guard. Wanda exclaims ‘Yes! How -?’ to which Pietro reveals that he too had a similar dream before pointing out that they are in Attilan now, surrounded by friends and family possessed of power enough to meet any threat.
As they approach Crystal, Quicksilver hushes his sister, as he doesn’t want his wife troubled with talk of disturbances in the night. Pietro calls to his wife and tells her that his sister and her husband have come to bestow their love upon their daughter. Wanda and Crystal hug as Crystal welcomes her to her home. ‘To one who has never known a true home of her own, Crystal, such a greeting means more than words can say!’ Wanda replies, before taking hold of Luna and remarking that she is so beautiful.
‘Like the world where she was born, from which she took her name!’ exclaims Crystal, before the Vision asks Crystal if his android arms may cradle her daughter. There is a moment of silence and sudden tension, and Wanda looks at her brother longingly, for although Pietro is a mutant himself, he once had an all-abiding hatred for the love between his sister and the Vision. But that hatred had eased once Pietro was made to see the roots of his prejudice. Pietro takes his daughter and hands her to the Vision. ‘She is truly blessed to have such an uncle!’ he remarks.
For such moments, there are no words. Luna gurgles. The Vision coos. Pietro and Crystal laugh. But Wanda remembers her dream of the night before, and turns from her family, wondering at the voice which seemed to keep on crying “Warn the Children!” ‘Warn the children…of what?’ Wanda wonders to herself.
Outside, enshrouded in an energy corona that has enabled him to traverse vast distances of airless space, the White Pilgrim arrives on the Moon! With the same energies wrapped around him like some cloak of invisibility, he is able to enter the Blue Area of the Moon unseen - an undetected, he walks the very streets of Attilan. Even in the royal palace, his tread goes unheard - his power prevents the ordinarily energy-acute senses of Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans from noting his presence - nor does Lockjaw, the Inhumans’ dog who can track a spoor across the cosmos, scent the stranger - everything is going as the White Pilgrim wanted it to.
The White Pilgrim has a visitation to make - and he must not be interrupted. ‘Now let this edifice and all herein by sealed away from those without!’ he shouts, casting his powers around one building in Attilan and sealing it off from the rest of the city. The Royal Family sees this happen, and hastily approach that building. Medusa exclaims that a figure has appeared on the balcony belonging to Quicksilver and Crystal, and Gorgon announces that some manner of invisible field is sealing away their tower from the rest of the city.
Medusa exclaims that they must gain entry, for anyone who so powerful who chooses to appear like a spy in their midst can only have come on a mission of harm. Karnak boasts that his hammering hands are able to find the weakest spot in anything that exists - but can detect no flaw in this energy field. Gorgon tells Karnak to stand aside and let his thundering hooves smash that which keeps imprisoned their cousin Crystal - but once again, the barrier resists. Medusa remarks that it is not unlike the barrier that once encased all of Attilan - severing them from contact with all. Karnak reminds his fellows that it was Black Bolt’s voice which freed them at that time - but if he should speak now, ‘What havoc would his power wreck on newly-rebuilt Attilan?’ asks Medusa. Mindful of the carnage his slightest utterance might cause, Black Bolt holds his tongue, waiting to see what will transpire.
Meanwhile, within the captive tower…Pietro remarks that they can see, but not hear those on the other side of the force field. Wanda exclaims that her probability-altering hex-spheres seem to have no effects, and the Vision declares that he cannot pass through it, even intangible. Suddenly, a figure shouts ‘That is because I have matters I wish to discuss with those within this tower…matters I wish disclosed to no other ears!’ Quicksilver, startled, exclaims that though years have passed since he last heard that voice - it is one he would never forget!
Suddenly, the White Pilgrim comes into view and addressing Pietro by name, he remarks that it is natural he should recognize the voice of he who saved he and his sister from so long ago from perishing at the hands of prejudiced homo sapiens. The White Pilgrim reminds Quicksilver that for that act, he swore fealty to him. ‘But time, and your allegiances, changed’. The White Pilgrim remarks that since they know who he is, there is no need for further disguise. Ripping away his white cloak, he exclaims ‘And so the disguise is case aside…that MAGNETO, Master of Magnetism, might stand revealed!’
‘Oh ! Not here! Not now!’ exclaims Wanda as Quicksilver races towards Magneto, telling him that any debt he and Wanda owed him was long since paid, and reminds him that since then, they have been sworn foes. Pietro warns Magneto that he will not brook his threats against his family or himself in his own home. Magneto exclaims that he has not come to fight as Wanda tells her brother to have a care, pointing out that Magneto weaves some form of energy field made out of magnetic particles.
Casting a hex, Wanda thinks to herself that Pietro’s rage propels him on too fast to avoid Magneto’s field, so she is hoping that her hex will undo the field, but Wanda admits that she always feared Magneto - his power and the strange hold he has over she and Pietro, and wonders if she will be able to summon enough strength of spirit to overcome him now. Wanda’s worries are overcome, for she does have the power to and her hex sphere touch the magnetic particles, transforming the force field which protects Magneto into a hardly formidable sweet-smelling field of flowers. ‘Magneto! I have you now!’ exclaims Quicksilver as he races through the flowers and holds Magneto up against a wall.
Pietro is one of the fastest men alive thanks to his mutant power, and though he is slighter in build than the Master of Magnetism, his speed enables him to strike with enormous force. Magneto remarks that both Wanda and Pietro have come a tremendous distance in both confidence and mastery of their powers since the day when he rescued them from the mob and raised them to greatness as members of his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and he exclaims that with the two of them at his side again, there is no task he could not undertake.
The Vision approaches Magneto and tells them that he forfeited whatever fealty Wanda and her brother owed to him when he used them in his war against humankind. ‘Ah, the crimson android speaks!’ Magneto remarks, before pointing out that he warred against homo sapiens because he felt them inherently inferior to mutant kind, and asks him if mankind is inferior, ‘What does that, then, make you?’ The Vision replies that he is no less a man for his synthetic flesh. ‘And the Scarlet witch has chosen to call you husband…thus I will go easy with you!’ Magneto exclaims, before encasing the Vision in the magnetized metal of the floor.
Wanda calls to her husband, who tells her not to worry as Magneto has apparently forgotten that he is in truth, a “vision”, able to alter his molecular density to become intangible at will. Thus, the Vision frees himself from the metal prison and as he engages Magneto in physical combat, remarks that there is a mystery here - for why would the fact he is Wanda’s husband cause the Master of Magnetism to spare one he has often before tried to slay? The Vision places his intangible hand into Magneto’s body, before letting it become solid and causing Magneto great pain. Magneto curses the Vision’s logic and his ability to cause him pain, before declaring once again that he did not come to clash with them, but now they have left him no choice.
Magneto attacks the Vision and Crystal exclaims that the Vision is screaming in agony, for Magneto has seized control of the ferrous material in his android blood - and is dispersing the Vision into the winds. Wanda points out that the Vision is reconstituting himself, but that he is too weak to rejoin the fight. Angrily, Wanda exclaims ‘Now let he who hurt my husband answer to the wrath of the Scarlet Witch!’ Hex spheres form from the Scarlet Witch’s gloved hands, and are cast by one who has grown to full command of her mutant mysticism.
Wanda is joined by another, as the power of the elemental Inhuman Crystal enters the fray. ‘I am beset by women!’ Magneto exclaims furiously as he tries to block the power of the two powerful young women. ‘And sore beset, Magneto! On your knees, boaster! Kneel as you would have humanity kneel before you!’ exclaims Wanda.
Quicksilver sees that his wife and sister have driven Magneto down, but notices as Magneto begins to rise and worries that he might lash out at them while Crystal holds onto Luna. Knowing great harm might befall the three he loves more than life itself, therefore Magneto must be prevented from striking, Pietro hurls the flagpole which holds the Inhumans’ lunar standards at his foe, and it strikes him in the shoulder.
Magneto screams, and turning to Quicksilver, declares ‘You…have hurt me…boy!’ Quicksilver replies by telling Magneto that would his aim had been truer, then the staff would have penetrated his evil heart! Magneto tells Quicksilver that he is bluffing, for like all his ilk, he is averse to ever taking a life. ‘I, on the other hand, once had no such compunctions!’ Magneto exclaims, striking Quicksilver with the pole, which sets off Luna crying.
‘But not now, not now!’ Magneto exclaims, when suddenly Crystal rushes over and tells everyone to stop fighting. ‘Can’t you see you’re scaring my child?’ Quicksilver and Wanda turn to the baby, as does Magneto. Wanda goes and tends to the Vision while Magneto approaches Crystal and Luna and declares that the fighting, born out of past animosities, shall cease. Wanda and the Vision stand behind Magneto as he declares that such enmities are ancient history, and the child - Luna - represents the new order of things.
Wanda readies a hex and tells Magneto to harm her not. Magneto opens his arms to take the child. ‘Harm her? Harm this swaddled innocent - this harbinger of hope?’ he asks as he takes the child from her mother, before claiming that the Master of Magnetism would sooner embrace the eternal unknown than allow a moment’s grief to cross the life of this - ‘His grand daughter!’ ‘What?’ exclaims everyone in unison. ‘Could it be?’ asks the Vision, to which an angry Quicksilver exclaims that it could not be - that it is a lie from the mouth of a villain.
Suddenly, a worried Wanda asks her brother if he has never noticed how much he looks like Magneto. Magneto places a hand on Wanda’s shoulder and tells her that she is very much like her mother, Magda. ‘How lovely you have grown, my Wanda!’ The Vision turns to Magneto and remarks that he has heard the tale of the monster who drove Wanda and Pietro’s mother forth into the storm. ‘Monster? No. Mutant? Yes’ replies Magneto, before informing the Vision that he was born into a time and place where both man and mutant were persecuted for being…different.
He remarks that unlike other victims, he possessed the power to fight back, but that power frightened Magda, and drove her to flee from him. ‘I grieved…but I survived’. As Wanda, Pietro, the Vision and Crystal listen and watch Magneto intently, Magneto exclaims that his life has been a hard one, and he has become a hard man in order to accommodate it. With Luna still in his arms, Magneto informs the heroes that as of late, he has been reassessing his values and has come to the conclusion that his past must not rule his precedent. ‘As there are good and bad mutants, there are good and bad humans’ he says, before admitting that he blamed the former for the latter’s cruelty.
Magneto exclaims that he had already begun to temper his hatred for homo sapiens, when he learned that his mutant son had sired a normal human child, and that he was not tied by blood to the human race. Crystal places a comforting hand on her husband’s shoulder as Quicksilver keeps a watchful eye on his daughter. Magneto tells his family that he doesn’t not expect, nor does he ask, acceptance of mankind at large. ‘I only as it, Wanda and Pietro…of you!’ Tears in her eyes, Wanda places a hand on Magneto’s cheek and exclaims ‘If you really are our father…what in heaven’s name do we do now!?’
