Nightcrawler’s mindscape:
Marvel Girl and Storm find themselves in a small, German town. Storm commends Jean’s costume, a modernized version of the green and yellow miniskirt outfit her future self would have worn at one point. Jean thought this would be a good opportunity to try the design out and asks if Storm knows the place. Winzeldorf, Germany, Storm replies. This is where Professor Xavier first found Kurt.
Jean telepathically scans for him. A moment later, he teleports between them then flees, not from them it turns out, but from a torch-wielding mob. Soon they have trapped him on a roof and demand he come down. Nightcrawler shouts down that he has done nothing.
Storm tries to sweep away the mob with a gust of wind, only to find she can’t. Jean reminds her that her powers don’t work like in the real world. Jean is going to have to do the heavy lifting. She levitates the mob away. The two heroines try to reach Kurt but he teleports way again.
Suddenly, a hole in the ground opens that swallows the whole place. Storm, her flight power working again, grabs Jean before she falls.
Reality:
Both unconscious women suffer and Forge, who monitors them angrily, wonders what Nightcrawler is doing to them. Kurt, who crouches in the corner, doesn’t reply.
Weirdworld:
Colossus helps up Sunfire, who is grateful as he couldn’t have kept those flames up any longer. Magik angrily asks how he and the other refugees ended up here of all places. Shiro explains that the anti-mutant rallies were sweeping through Japan, all of Asia. He was trying to protect them but there were too many. He gathered up as many mutants as he could and headed to America… to X-Haven. They encountered a strange turbulence over the Atlantic. Next thing they knew, they were here. It’s been weeks! He’s been able to keep up the defenses, but…
Bobby asks if he has been generating that wall of fire all that time. Shiro replies they have no idea of the horrors in this place. Getting ready to attack him with her Soulsword, Magik vows to show him horrors… and calls him “traitor.”
Iceman protects Sunfire with an icewall and Colossus holds his sister back. Illyana spits that, if Sunfire and Cyclops hadn’t acted the way they did, there wouldn’t be any anti-mutant riots.
Suddenly, one of the mutants is kidnapped from above by an armored flying attacker, who is quickly joined by more. Please tell him those aren’t ghosts, Logan demands. Those are definitely ghosts, Magik retorts. He is too old for this #&%*, he swears. One of the ghost attacks Colossus.
In X-Haven, Storm and Jean have calmed down.
Nightcrawler’s mindscape:
Having entered the hole, Jean and Storm suddenly find themselves upside down with an ocean and a pirate ship above them. They land on the ship, only to be attacked by Bamfs. Pirate Nightcrawler informs them that this is dangerous territory, then jumps into the water. Storm hesitates but Jean urges her on and they follow.
They are surrounded by nothingness, below them the huge head of Cyclops. Storm’s powers vanish again, as they land on the head and Jean has to grab Storm’s arm.
Weirdworld:
Magik chases off one ghost who attacked her brother with her Soulsword, then helps Colossus up. Those little ghosts reek of weak magic, she explains, and the source is close.
She teleports away and reappears near a cave entrance. Some mutant refugees ask her for help. She promises help and asks them to stay. There is evil in there. She enters.
Inside, she finds a heap of bodies identical to those of the ghosts and an old man sitting at a fire. He sees her, he announces. She sees him, too, Illyana retorts unimpressed, and warns him to stop his cheap conjuring or she will run him through. With a grin, he announces she doesn’t belong here. This is not her domain, nor her affair to meddle in. He tells her to return to Limbo. Illyana snaps those are mutants his ghosts have taken. They are her business!
The man takes a dagger out of his cane and attacks, shrieking he sees her. He sees what she is and what she will be. Illyana impales him with her Soulsword.
The war is coming, he moans. Lattices will break and her arrogance will be the end of her. What is he talking about? she demands. He dissolves into energy. His last words are: the fall of the kingdoms. Not even the little girl will be able to save her when it’s begun.
The energy flows into a pool. Magik looks into it to see Sapna’s face.
Magik teleports herself and the mutants she found back to the others, who inform her the ghosts disappeared. Colossus notices Magik seems disturbed but she brushes him off and suggests they return to X-Haven. Cerebra agrees. There are too many for her to teleport. She suggests taking the refugees while Illyana teleports the X-Men. Illyana agrees but Logan insists Sunfire come with them. Nice to see him too, Sunfire mocks, though he must say he’s looked better. Right back at him! Logan snarls
They return to X-Haven, to be welcomed by a relieved Anole, Ernst and Glob Herman, who are worried about Jean and Storm, lost in Nightcrawler’s head.
Nightcrawler’s mindscape:
With Sentinels closing in, Jean and Storm have no choice but to climb inside Cyclops’ visor. Jean decides they have to keep moving. Whatever hurt Nightcrawer is trying to push them away but they need to help him face it.
They find themselves in Winzeldorf again, now a modern town in the present. They witness three armed thugs lead away two mutant prisoners. They mutter about them probably having the M-Pox.
Storm figures this must have been weeks ago when the M-Pox hit Europe. They follow them into the woods.
One of the two mutants pleads for their lives. They aren’t sick! He promises they’ll leave Germany. The other tells him not to beg those scum. One man is about to hit her when Nightcrawler teleports in. He quickly takes the thugs out.
He assures the young mutants they are safe now but they reply there are more men like those; there is nowhere left to hide. Does he not know what this place is?
Nightcrawler’s defenses try to push Jean away.
This is where they brought them, the kids continue. Kurt doesn’t understand until he finds a huge, mass grave, full of murdered mutants.
Reality:
Screaming, Storm and Jean awake. The others stand around them worry. Storm asks if Jean is all right. Jean gets up and walks toward Nightcrawler, who still crouches in the corner. She is not alright, she announces and kneels down next to him. Crying, Kurt asks why the Lord made him see these things. Jean admits she doesn’t know, but she does know the X-Men are back and they are not going to let it happen anymore. He is with them now. She hugs him. He is here and he is not alone.
