Last Updated:
30th October 2003
Note: Every time Illyana Rasputin teleported, she was crossing through Limbo, however listed here are only the issues where the place was actually shown, or those where characters from Limbo were doing something important.
Before
Belasco nearly succeeded in bringing the mysterious Elder Gods he was working for to Earth but before the enchantment was finished, Ka-Zar ripped the Beatrice amulet from his beloved Shanna’s neck and as it snapped open, the bloodstones fell out into the pit of a raging volcano. Not pleased by Belasco’s performance, the Elder God punished him sent him after the locket into the fiery pit. [Ka-Zar (3rd series) #11-12] Belasco was banished to Limbo, and while others could travel to and from the strange dimension, Belasco was held there by certain binds.
Chronology
| off panel: | Belasco was banished to Limbo until he could find a way out, and while others could travel to and from the strange dimension, Belasco was held there by certain binds. In time he overpowered the demons living there and became Limbo’s ruler, with S‘ym being a loyal servant to him, and while he could magically control the teleportation stepping disks, he still could not use them to leave. To that end he planned on using Illyana Rasputin’s mutant power, and therefore abducted the girl (actually an alternate reality version of her) to Limbo. The X-Men of her Earth followed, and while they managed to rescue the little girl and sent her home safely, the mutants themselves got trapped. In time, Wolverine and Colossus were killed in battle with Limbo’s many demons, and Nightcrawler became another loyal servant of Belasco. Kitty Pryde was changed by the sorcerer, her features now being that of a mix between cat and human. Only Storm remained free, though as she grew older her powers began to fade which is why she turned to sorcery instead. |
| Magik #3: | At one point Ororo was so powerful that she defeated Belasco, attacking him with both mutant and magical powers. He begged to her for his life, but she showed no mercy and killed him with a lighting bolt or though she believed. The enchantment holding him in Limbo also prevented Belasco’s death, but by trying to kill a helpless opponent, Ororo had no become as corrupt as him. She even grew horns and fangs. |
| off panel: | Somehow Ororo escaped from Belasco and could shake off her demonic transformation, but her essence remained tainted. She created herself a shelter with a beautiful garden. |
| Uncanny X-Men #160: | Belasco tried his plan once more, this time luring the Main Marvel Universe’s Illyana Rasputin into a certain temple on the X-Men’s temporary Bermuda Island base, which somehow was connected to Limbo. The X-Men followed and found themselves in Limbo too, separated from each other. Kitty was captured by Belasco and encased in a crystal. Nightcrawler confronted his evil counterpart, and the other X-Men opposed S‘ym and other demons. The elderly Storm helped them with her magical powers, and together they managed to get Illyana back, but right as Ororo cast the spell that would send the team home and seal off the exit to the temple, Belasco managed to wrest little Illyana from Kitty’s arms. |
| Magik #1: | Belasco brought the little girl to an altar where he used a piece of Illyana’s soul to create a bloodstone out of it. The stone was placed in the Beatrice medallion, which had places for five of them. His intention was over time to create five bloodstones, by corrupting Illyana step by step consecrating her to evil and making her the instrument of the Elder Gods – his masters’ return to Earth. Afterwards Belasco left her alone and she was taken in by the old Storm and Cat, who came too late to stop Belasco’s spell. Illyana‘s essence now corrupted as well, Ororo did not dare to return her to Earth without teaching her how to battle the evil inside her. For the next year, she tutored Illyana about life, white magic and creation, though Cat disagreed with this decision. Believing that essentially Ororo was doing Belasco’s dirty work for him, she one night broke into Ororo’s garden and took Illyana with her. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #71, Magik #2: | While trying to make their way through Limbo, Cat and Illyana got in several fights with demons. Separated, from her guardian, the girl ran into S’ym who repeatedly beat her up and nearly killed her if nor for another powerful demon (N’astirh) who stopped him. Cat also was not willing to give up, and phasing through Limbo’s walls she and Illyana arrived in a desert which they had to cross to reach Belasco’s citadel, from where Cat wanted to send Illyana home. While walking through the desert Cat trained the little girl in fighting and survival skills, and after two long years they finally arrived at the castle only to be confronted by the evil Nightcrawler. Cat quickly phased his foot into the ground and killed him with her sword, before trying to phase herself and Illyana through the dimensional walls to Earth, but they were misled by one of Belasco’s illusions and ended up caught. To replace his dead servant, Belasco bound Cat to his will transforming her into an even more catlike creature and Illyana was taken in as his pupil, her first lesson being to create a second bloodstone for the amulet. From afar Storm witnessed but had no way to intervene. |
| Magik #3: | In Belasco’s palace Illyana was trained in black magic for years, but even though she learned creation spells, she was not able to create anything untainted the way the older Ororo could. One day while she was thinking of a way to get out, Illyana’s mutant ability to control Limbo’s stepping disks manifested. Practicing this newfound ability Illyana ran into the New Mutants (who years later would be sent there by her older self) and also she witnessed the past battle between Belasco and the young Ororo, and its consequences. Returning to the present Illyana found the old Storm fighting Belasco for a second time, this time over her fate. Illyana tried to help the old woman but she was kept busy fighting S’ym, whom she got rid of by teleporting him away, and Cat. Illyana tried to reason with her friend, but Belasco’s hold over Cat was too strong, and it ended in Illyana breaking Cat’s neck. It was too late however as Cat had already dealt Ororo a mortal wound. |
| Magik #4: | As she realized that Belasco wanted to make the third bloodstone out of the dying woman’s soul, Illyana mercy-killed her, before Belasco could begin the ritual. Belasco was furious with her, and Illyana fled with her stepping discs, suddenly finding herself in front of her parents’ home in Russia. Happily, she realized that she could use Limbo’s teleportation circles to teleport her out of Limbo. Her happiness quickly turned sour when she greeted her parents, who didn’t recognize the teenager in the feral outfit – as far as they were concerned their daughter was a six-year-old living in the USA. Under Belasco’s control the corpses of the older X-Men took her back to Limbo, where he created the third stone again of Illyana’s soul and exiled her without any powers to Ororo’s garden. Alone in the winter cold of the garden Illyana practiced her magical skills, but she failed time and again in copying Storm’s creation spell. At last Illyana realized that she failed in it because she was not Storm and had other motives, namely revenge; modifying the spell she created a weapon out of a tiny part of her soul – the Soulsword. With this powerful weapon Illyana battled and defeated Belasco, but right before delivering the killing stroke, she remembered the past battle of the young Storm she had witnessed. She decided to release him, and as in the Belasco had discovered a way to breach the spell that held him in Limbo, he teleported away, giving up rulership of the place. Illyana called up a stepping disk that brought her back to Earth and she emerged in the middle of the X-Men, for whom only seconds had passed, but Illyana was now seven years older than the little girl they remembered. |
In between
Chronology continued
| New Mutants (1st series) #14: | Still acting on Belasco’s orders, one night S’ym appeared at the mansion to retrieve Illyana. To buy herself time she teleported the New Mutants through Limbo (this is the scene that Illyana witnessed years earlier) back into the house to help her fight the demon. Even though the New Mutants did their best, in the end it was Illyana who defeated S’ym using her Soulsword. For sparing his life he accepted her as Limbo’s new ruler, after all she had beat Belasco in a fair battle, and swore to serve her before she sent him back to Limbo. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #17: | To escape from an attack of the White Queen, Illyana teleports herself and Mirage to Limbo, before passing out. Acting true to his word, S’ym saved her from some of Limbo’s lower demons, put her in a bed and watched over her till she came around. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #24-25: | When the powers of Cloak and Dagger had been transferred to Sunspot and Wolfsbane, Illyana took her teammates to Limbo to exorcise them, but failed. A second attempt including Rogue’s absorption power, supervised by Xavier was successful though. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #29: | At one point Magma and Sunspot were abducted by the Gladiators. Magik caught one of the kidnappers and handed him over to S’ym for torture until he was very willing to give away where the two mutants had been taken. |
| Secret Wars II #1, New Mutants (1st series) #30: | Encountering the Beyonder in L.A., the alien curiously reached into Illyana’s core and brought forth her Darkchylde persona. In utter shock, almost madness, Illyana teleported herself and those standing next to her to Limbo, but the place being an echo of its rules, it too was mad - landmasses floating in the sky, and everything about to be destroyed. Illyana’s best friend Kitty Pryde wrested the Soulsword from her and used it on magic, disrupting her state of turmoil, and everything returned to normal. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #32-34: | Fighting the Shadow King possessed Karma, Illyana teleports herself and Mirage to Limbo, and later returns with a small squad of demons. However they are outnumbered by Illyana’s teammates, so she dumps Mirage right next to Karma, pretending to ally up with her. Later in Limbo, it takes her some time to convince Warlock, the only other one unaffected, of her true intentions, and in the end they are able to free their friends. |
| New Mutants Special Edition #1: | While in Asgard, Illyana defeats the Enchantress and imprisons her in Limbo, to S’ym’s liking. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #43: | To take revenge on Empath for what he did to mansion staff Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander, Magik teleports him to Limbo, threatened him with torture and struck him with her sword. The Hellion was pretty scared. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #44: | Visiting Muir Island, the New Mutants happened to confront an out of control Legion. A brief exposure to Limbo and Illyana’s magical might snapped him out of his deranged state. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #46: | During the Mutant Massacre many injured Morlocks were taken to the mansion. In need of a doctor, Illyana teleported Moira MacTaggert away from Muir Island where she was just taking a shower. In Limbo she conjured up some new clothes for her, though they came with a demonic twist and were far from Moira’s regular style. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #47: | On the run from Warlock’s father, the Magus, Magik teleported the New Mutants to Limbo where they all passed out. Once Sunspot came around he witnessed a group of demons ready to use a sword on Illyana who was placed on an altar. He tried to intervene but was stopped by S’ym who explained that it was just a magical spell of restoration. Indeed Illyana came out fully healed and vital. Afterwards she tried to conjure up a familiar surrounding for her friends, but her version of Xavier’s mansion was again tainted by her black magic, represented in several demonic ornamentals. Unfortunately the Magus tracked them down, and Illyana had no choice but to teleport her friends into the past. Later on they tried to return home, but of course had to cross Limbo once more. The teleportation backfired, and the team got stranded in several alternate futures. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #50: | Turned out that S’ym had allied up with the Magus, letting himself deliberately be infected with the transmode virus. Now able to turn others into techno-organic demons as well, S‘ym intended to rule Limbo himself. While her teammates were lost in time, Illyana was busy fighting S‘ym for control over Limbo. Finally she channeled all her magical might into her Soulsword and rammed it into the ground, thus cleansing Limbo of everything tainted and it turned into a nice garden like place. She herself teleported away, ending up with Professor Xavier and the Starjammers in outer space. Together the returned to Limbo where they were met by S‘ym and to defend her mentor, Illyana had to draw the sword again, instantly transforming Limbo back to what it was. After Xavier helped her to pinpoint the missing New Mutants and get them back, Magik once more left the sword in Limbo to ensure that there remained a spot untouched by S‘ym and his growing army. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #51: | Illyana was willing to never go to Limbo again, as without the sword, she was also free of her dark side, but unfortunately the New Mutants were stranded in outer space with the Starjammers, so Xavier ordered Karma to possess Illyana and take them home. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #52: | Naturally Illyana was furious of her being used against her will, and without the professor she feared not being strong enough to withstand Limbo. Indeed she entered the dimension time and again to oppose S’ym, neither one winning, though it slowly corrupted Illyana further. Whenever she pulled the sword she manifested horns, furred hooves and a tail. She confined in the school’s headmaster, Magneto, about her problems and took him to Limbo to show him the place. He was willing to battle the techno-organic S‘ym with his magnetic powers in her stead, but Illyana said that this was her own responsibility. Still he managed to restore her faith in the teachings of the school. |
| Marvel Super-Heroes (2nd series) #1: | Shortly afterwards a woman named Maire O’Connel came to the school, claiming to be over 500 years old. She was a former apprentice of Belasco, but at one point he punished her for being too arrogant and after cursing her with eternal life, robbed her of all her magical powers and banished her from Limbo. She asked Magik to take her to Belasco’s library in Limbo, so that they could uncover and reverse Belasco’s spell. Illyana agreed to help and teleported the two of them to Belasco’s tower, only to be opposed by demons. They made it to the library and just as they managed to undo the spell, they were once more attacked by several demons led by S’ym, who remembered Maire from her time under Belasco’s training. In the battle, she was impaled by a spear and after Illyana had taken her back to Earth she could finally rest in peace. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #60-61: | After the New Mutants‘ battle against the Ani-Mator and soldiers of the Right (Cameron Hodge’s mutant hating group), during which Cypher died, Illyana angrily teleports some of the soldiers and the Ani-Mator to Limbo as punishment. While there she witnesses that S’ym again took advantage of her being busy otherwise and that he extended his influence. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #65-66: | Wanting revenge for the X-Men’s apparent death in Dallas, Magik attacked Forge (the New Mutants in tow), but Freedom Force intervened, since Destiny was able to predict the plot. During the fight Destiny foretold Inferno and that Magik would have to “leave and learn“ or Earth would never be the same. Illyana did not care much, instead she took Forge, whom she was unable to beat on Earth, to Limbo, but as she was about to kill him, Mirage pulled the vision from Magik’s mind she was most afraid of - a completely demonic version of herself. Seeing how close to that image she already was, Illyana spared Forge’s life. S‘ym found it rather funny that Illyana wanted to kill Forge for the „little portal“ his spell created when he accidentally released the Adversary, as he was going to make Illyana open a much bigger portal from Limbo to Earth. Also, in the meantime he had added the Ani-Mator and the Right soldiers to his techno-organic army of demons. |
| Uncanny X-Men #231: | Soon after, S‘ym arranged for the New Mutants to be captured by Baba Yaga, the witch crone from Russian fairy tales. The only way to beat her was with iron, and as steel is a form of iron, Illyana thought of her brother Colossus and decided to use a necromancy spell, to summon him back to life. However before she completed it the true Colossus appeared through one of Gateway’s teleportation portals. The fight went on and was quickly ended when Colossus punched Baba Yaga who screamed in agony. The siblings comforted each other, realizing how much they missed each other and Colossus assured her that she was a good person despite everything as long as she tried to be good. Still Illyana believed him to be a ghost and sent him back to where he came from. Left alone, Magik thought about casting again the necromancy spell to have Colossus around for ever, but she realized that this spell would turn her eternally into a demon, wondering why she got off lucky the one time she used it. S’ym’s ploy to make her cast the necromancy spell had failed, so he decided to wait, because each time Illyana used her sorcery he knew the walls between Limbo and Earth would weaken more. |
| Power Pack #40, 42: | Shortly after, the New Mutants helped Power Pack to defeat their enemy the Bogey Man. When Mirage summoned a vision of Carmody’s greatest desire - mutant graves buried under piles of money – Illyana got mad again and banished him to Limbo. His arrival was noticed by the demon N’astirh, who decided to turn him into a demonic creature of his liking by "chewing away anything human". Carmody was sent back to Earth where he killed several people and began stalking Power Pack (though not much later he killed himself). |
| X-Terminators #1: | S‘ym summoned N’astirh and those demons loyal to him from Limbo’s stygian depths, and showed him Illyana’s sword, saying how it prevented him from fully ruling the dimension. He then battled N’astirh, who was magically protected from the transmode virus, and being more powerful he forced N’astirh into his service. S’ym ordered him to go to Earth and steal thirteen power-filled babies for a certain enchantment and N’astirh complied. Yet when they were out of hearing range, a demon named Crotus asked his master N’astirh why he let himself be overpowered so easily, to which N’astirh answered that he had his reasons. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #71: | N’astirh traveled through time to steal Belasco’s book of spells before it was destroyed, and also he summoned Magik (and the New Mutants) from a later point in time to him, claiming that he loved her. He promised to help her should she embrace her dark heritage and with the deal made he sent them back to the point in time they had been taken from. After they left, Crotus once more questioned the motives of his master, earning him an angry slapping. |
| X-Factor #32: | Using some notes of fifteenth century mystic Belasco, Cameron Hodge made contact with Limbo. It was N’astirh who answered his call, slightly annoyed that his studies were interrupted. Hodge wanted to bargain his soul, but N‘astirh said that his soul was already no longer his, though instead he wanted help in acquiring certain infants from Earth, as his master had ordered him to. Hodge claimed to have exactly what he was looking for, mentioning the orphanage in Nebraska where Sinister was experimenting with mutant babies. N’astirh agreed to the bargain and in return granted Hodge protection from total destruction by his enemies. |
| Uncanny X-Men #234: | Likewise, S’ym found another potent ally by entering the dreams of Madelyne Pryor and offering her the power to shape her own destiny rather than to be a victim of fate. Taunting her about how her husband had abandoned her he made Madelyne accept his offer. The fact that it was only in her dreams didn’t matter, for according to S’ym there are dreams, only different shapes and orders of reality. The decision was made and S’ym plunged on of his claws fingers into Madelyne’s heart, thus bonding her essence to his. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #67-68: | When the New Mutants learned of Lila Cheney being attacked during a concert, Illyana teleported them there, once more passing Limbo and S’ym, who further taunted his former mistress. The team were too late to prevent aliens kidnapping Lila. Going back to Limbo, Illyana used a scrying mirror to uncover her whereabouts, but her magics no longer fully under control, the mirror shattered. The team instead used Gosamyr’s ship to follow Lila, apparently fulfilling Destiny’s prophecy of Illyana having to leave Earth. |
| Uncanny X-Men #236, 238: | Meanwhile Madelyne Pryor had been captured by Genoshan forces. Just as the scientists wanted to examine her and expose her to the mutate bonding process, N’astirh appeared on a video screen, but offered to contact her again at a better time. The process was started but the pain of the examination fully triggered her magically awakened powers. |
| X-Terminators #1: | Coming to Earth, N’astirh and his followers set up base in an abandoned mausoleum on a graveyard. Their arrival was noticed a man named Bill, whom N’astirh turned into a demon too to function as their guide. He then sent his followers to acquire the mutant babies, and as they had no idea what a baby is, he described them as small, bald and with big eyes. The demons then brought him Artie and Leech, the wards of X-Factor, as they matched the description. |
| X-Factor #34: | As several demons checked out the locations Hodge provided, though with only little success, N’astirh contacted him accusing him of betrayal. Hodge told him to check out the orphanage’s hidden basement, and a little clamed down, N’astirh reassured him that if the babies were really there, he would hold true to his words and make sure that Hodge would not die. |
| X-Terminators #2: | N’astirh’s forces continues to look for mutant babies and found several of them, however Crotus spied on the X-Terminators, the friends of Artie and Leech. After overhearing that Takeshi’s computer included a spelling checker, which Crotus misinterpreted as a device to check spells, he abducted the boy and brought him to his master as a gift. Surely the boy could help him find a way to sift faster through Belasco’s book of spells that N’astirh had stolen. |
| New Mutants (1st series) #69-70: | Attempting to rescue Lila Cheney, the New Mutants were overpowered by aliens. When Magik used her sword on one of them she had to learn that Limbo’s curse had followed her even to space, and S'ym’s power was so big by then that the wounded alien turned into a techno-organic demon as well. Illyana feared that to use her power again as her powers might have no longer functioned properly. She hoped that once they had freed her, Lila would teleport them back to Earth, but the rock star apparently died, leaving Illyana no choice. In order to get home teleported the team to Limbo, where S’ym and his army were already waiting. |
 [ X-Terminators #3-4, New Mutants (1st series) #71-73, Excalibur #6-7, Uncanny X-Men #239-242, X-Factor #36-38 ] - N’astirh contacted Madelyne Pryor in Australia and wanted to make a bargain with her, offering to help her finding her missing son. Not much later, while checking out the orphanage’s basement, he happened upon the child and several other babies that were experimented on by Mr. Sinister. He told Madelyne about it, but by the time they returned, the babies had already taken away by some other demons, though instead they happened upon Mr. Sinister. While Madelyne was captured by the man, N’astirh fled, knowing that he was out of his league. - Instead he returned to the mausoleum to overwatch the Wiz Kid create a giant computer that, connected to Belasco’s book of spells, was able to perform magic with the press of a key. With all needed infants in his thrall, N’astirh was ready to make use of the machine, though he had to discover that Wiz Kid built it in a way that demons could not use it. However, N’astirh forced Wiz Kid to operate the computer by threatening to kill his friends. - At the same time the New Mutants were battling S’ym’s horde in Limbo, and Magik found that they were stuck, she could no longer teleport out of the dimension. With the techno-organic demons overwhelming them, she had no other choice but to teleport the New Mutants through time, though they remained in Limbo. In the past they witnessed little Illyana beaten up by S’ym and also happened upon N’astirh of the not too distant past, who offered Magik a deal (check above) to pool resources and defeat S’ym. Illyana accepted and when S’ym finally caught up with them, she did as the demon had told her – she fully accepted her dark side, turning her into the Darkchylde. Now she once more was in control, and could overcome the barrier around Limbo. - Illyana teleported to Earth and her stepping disk opened over Times Square, with the New Mutants and many demons raining down from it. N’astirh had been waiting for them and with his spell computer and the mutant babies empowering floating pentagram, he wrested control over the stepping disk from Illyana and forced it to remain open so that Earth could be invaded. Illyana accused him of betrayal, which he did not deny, though he was still in love with her. - Skids of the X-Terminators tried to pull the plug of the spell computer, but Crotus intervened, even though touching the machine fried his demon flesh. He survived badly scorched. - S’ym was among the demons that arrived from Limbo, and he confronted N’astirh over double-crossing him. A battle between the two erupted, while Magik was teleported away, into strange no-win situations that forced her to use her sword once more on innocent creatures. - Meanwhile, N'astirh pretended defeat and let S’ym infect him with the transmode virus, though he then resisted his attempt to drain him of his life-energies. Now more powerful than ever, N'astirh could not only touch the spell computer, he even tried to absorb it, but in the last instant Wiz Kid destroyed the machine, his friends freed by the New Mutants, and with the two groups of mutant teenagers working together soon the mutant babies were collected and the giant stepping disk closed down. - One of his plans having failed, N’astirh decided to once more visit Madelyne, now fully transformed into the Goblyn Queen, right in time as she freed herself from Sinister’s bonds. He handed her the child, and talked her into sacrificing it as it represented the two men responsible for everything that went wrong in her life – Sinister and Cyclops. Madelyne was quite fond of the idea, though X-Factor were not, and opposed her. In battle she proved to be their match, and N’astirh’s, as she no longer wanted to be bossed around by him she forced the demon to flee. - When she sensed the X-Men’s arrival, Madelyne pretended to be innocent, blaming X-Factor of wanting to steal the baby from her. While the two teams were busy battling each other, Madelyne once more transformed into the Goblyn Queen and hurried to Empire State Building to sacrifice the child. - Excalibur’s Phoenix, Rachel Summers, sensed her baby brother’s distress and departed to New York. She mistook Madelyne for her mother, a mistake that left her distracted long enough to be knocked out of the sky. Rachel’s teammates followed, though the empathic Meggan soon felt the empathic influence and found herself becoming N’astirh’s Goblin Princess. - Elsewhere, S’ym tried to wrest the Soulsword from Illyana, but she was rescued from him clutches by her brother Colossus, who was also fighting Inferno’s effects in the streets of New York. Colossus was shocked about his sister‘s latest transformation; ashamed she left to Limbo and with her dark side fully active, she easily resumed leadership there. Wolfsbane asked to at least to save the seven-year-old Illyana she saw earlier in Limbo, which gave Magik an idea how to end Inferno. She used a combination of magical spells, her Soulsword and stepping disks to suck all the demons back to Limbo and sacrificed herself in a last stroke that would purge herself from ever having existed. When the others found the scorched eldritch armor they thought her dead, but suddenly a voice from the inside was heard. Colossus ripped it apart to discover the little child Illyana within; it appeared as if the teenage Magik never existed, though everybody remembered her. - Only a handful of demons remained on Earth, one of them being Crotus, who had picked up Belasco’s book of spells from the rubble. He happened upon the incapacitated Rachel and attempted to gain the power of Phoenix by marrying her in a magical ritual, though her teammates could stop him in time, destroying the book in the process. - When X-Factor and X-Men finally teamed up to battle the Goblyn Queen, they first had to deal with N’astirh, who was intent for the sacrifice to happen. However against the combined might of the two teams, he had no chance. Trapped in Iceman’s ice and overpowered by Storm’s lighting, his life ended in a bang. - The threat of Madelyne too was soon brought under control, more or less by herself. She wanted nothing more than to destroy Jean Grey and hoped to do so by committing suicide and force her along in a telepathic bond, though her plan failed. |
In between
Chronology continued
| Excalibur #37: | Several months after Inferno Dr. Doom approached Excalibur and asked Kitty Pryde to draw the Soulsword as he needed to get to Limbo. He claimed to be after a mystical metal called Promethium which could be used as an inexhaustible and waste-free energy source. Phoenix’s mindscan showed Dr. Doom being true about his intention to use it for Earth’s benefit, and Kitty did as asked. However once in Limbo, Doom wrested the sword from her as he only needed her to draw it, not to wield it. |
| Excalibur #38: | With the sword Doom became automatically Limbo’s ruler and him possessing a superior will and some magic knowledge, he shaped Limbo’s surroundings to his liking, the demons being transformed to twisted versions of Earth’s Heroes. Not even S’ym was powerful enough to resist his will, though another purple skinned figure remained unaffected by Doom. He pretended to go along with Doom’s schemes, who in order to get the Promethium was about to let Limbo collapse in upon itself. The West Coast Avengers came to help Excalibur against Limbo’s many demons, but they happened to be too late to stop Doom from plunging the Soulsword into Limbo’s heart. |
| Excalibur #39: | While the heroes continued fighting the demons, Phoenix managed to temporarily hold the heart together. When Doom was about to strike at her, the purple-skinned “demon” revealed himself as Darkoth, whom Doom had given a skeleton of Promethium before fully knowing the metal’s capabilities. Instead of being vaporized, Darkoth had been pulled to Limbo, the source of the metal in his bones. Doom fled back to Earth, hoping that Rachel would tire soon enough. With him gone, Limbo’s demons regained their will, and S’ym attempted to pick up the Soulsword, but Darkoth was faster. The empathic Meggan helped Darkoth to find the inner strength to act as Limbo’s ruler, and not only repair the heart, but will Limbo to lasting peace. He also cleansed the dimension of all Promethium so that Doom would not come back. |
| Cable (2nd series) #13-14: | Cable and Lee Forrester were attacked at first by D’Spayre which apparently was a test by Belasco, who after revealing himself, addressed Nathan as the son of the Goblyn Queen. The sorcerer took Cable to the Nexus of all Realities, somehow connected to Limbo, as the place was expanding. The problem was a product of both magic and science, which is why he needed Cable as a champion to battle the villain behind it – S’ym. Cable easily defeated the demon, and Belasco stayed true to his word and closed the portal of the expanding Nexus. |
In between
Chronology continued
| Excalibur #103: | Belasco took advantage of Margali’s defeat and captured her, claiming the Soulsword for himself, and once more becoming rightful ruler of Limbo. As he expected Excalibur to come looking after her, he placed Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Colossus in a logic trap involving lot of alternates counterparts, to see how much they had grown since he last encountered them. |
| X-Men Unlimited #19: | Soon Margali found a way to escape, by switching minds with her daughter Amada, aka Daytripper. In her name she quit Excalibur, but sometime afterwards Nightcrawler tracked her down, just as she was about to enter Limbo. Kurt accompanied the woman he thought to be his lover, but upon encountering S’ym, her true identity was revealed. With the two busy fighting each other, Nightcrawler went to Belasco’s throne room, where his evil counterpart, a servant of the sorcerer, struck a bargain with Amanda to steal the Soulsword. Belasco discovered the scheming and disintegrated him, while Nightcrawler rescued Amanda. In battle with Belasco, the sword fell over a balcony. By then Margali arrived, having defeated S’ym, and banished Belasco to a pit in Limbo’s soil. She magically returned herself and Amanda to their right bodies, and with pleading words to her children she departed. With all others gone, Amanda found herself stuck with the role of Limbo’s guardian. |
| X-Men Black Sun #1: | Belasco appeared before Kitty Pryde, and caused her to be attacked by the N’Garai demons, hundreds of them, and the mansion actually being buried beneath a mountain of skulls. Some other X-Men joined her efforts, and together they devised a plan to close the N’Garai cairns, but it was a trick, these X-men being Magically disguised N’Garai as well, and the spell enabled them to truly take over the X-Men who they pretended to be. Realizing that she was in Limbo the whole time, Kitty was soon confronted by Belasco who told her pretty much that this has been long in coming, in fact ever since their first encounter. He proceeded to make a catalyst stone from Kitty’s soul, but afterwards was confronted by the believed to be dead Magik. |
| X-Men Black Sun #2-4: | Magik and Kitty discussed events, and as she could not exist on Earth without a soul, and also could not remain in Limbo without Belasco’s influence over her growing, Magik decided to absorb Kitty’s essence into the Soulsword. She the teleported to some of the other X-Men, trying to warn them of the N’Garai attacking them, but in most cases she came too late, as their souls too had been drained. |
| X-Men Black Sun #5: | With all the Bloodstones in his possession, Belasco sets his plan into full swing. While the remaining X-men battled the demons, Magik teleported to Belasco’s throne room and struck down by the demon lord himself. Kitty Pryde materialized from her sword and attacks Belasco, distracting him so that Magik could disrupt the Bloodstones, breaking the spell. Those X-men whose souls had been drained returned to normal, Outside, the X-Men are no longer possessed and they have their souls back, and together they managed to defeat Belasco. After the villain escaped, Magik was revealed to be none other than Amanda Sefton in disguise. She chose this ploy to confuse Limbo’s many enemies. |
| X-Men Magik #1: | Amanda traveled to her associate Nugent in New York, who was helping develop a database for all occult and mystical events and beings. Afterwards visited her old lover Nightcrawler, at the time studying to become a priest. Right then, Amanda’s chief military, commander Vitchen, pulled her back to Limbo, and Kurt along, to inform her that the Great Wall of Limbo was under attack. Magik and Kurt engaged the demons from Nightmare’s realm who fled from there after a magical aftershock. After defeating them, Magik got a most deadly visitor – the Dread Dormammu. |
| X-Men Magik #2: | Dormammu explained that something terrible has been unleashed amongst the Splinter Realms and he proposed an alliance. After consulting her council, Vitchen being against it, but a Duke Bleys convincing Magik to go along, Magik agreed to the offer, and along with her followers and Dormammu she traveled out of Limbo, only to find that the realm of the Norse god Surtur has been destroyed. Next, the group found themselves attacked by the mysterious and powerful force that had already overtaken at least two realms. Amanda and her allies made a quick escape back to Limbo and after speaking to Nugent on Earth, who typed the data into his newly made machine, Amanda learned that Mephisto’s realm Hades was the next target of the mysterious force. After teleporting into Mephisto’s throne chamber, Amanda engaged him in battle until he finally agrees to listen to her, which is when the force unleashed itself in Hades. |
| X-Men Magik #3: | As the blackness unleashed itself, killing many of his servants, Mephisto realized the only way for him to survive this is to join with Magik. They teleported back to Limbo, where Amanda consulted allies before she decided to call a convocation. The call went out, and the next morning, the millions of rulers of the Splinter Realms began to arrive, including Umar, Pluto and D’Spayre. In the great vault, an enormous chamber, they all gave their thoughts about the looming menace they had very little information on, and whether or not they thought they should band together, many of them having been rivals for eons. After words from Pluto, the rulers unanimously joined in the pact of union, to protect the Splinter Realms. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler discovers that Duke Bleys was in league with the strange opponent, and that he was S’ym in disguise. He laughed as the unification had given his master one single big target to attack. Just as Magik too learned of S’ym’s involvement, the mysterious enemy made its presence known. |
| X-Men Magik #4: | S’ym escaped while Magik, Nightcrawler and the assembled rulers of the netherrealms and their minions tried to fight the strange opponent, but to no avail. Amanda realized that they needed to know its origin, so she asked the others to add their magical might to her own for a spell of clarification. To her horror she learned that it was of her own creation. Somewhere in the future the arcane database computer she had Nugent build on Earth evolved into an artificial intelligence and had come back to the era of its birth to conquer it. She immediately teleported Kurt back to Earth where he could destroy the device, thus preventing this future from happening. The enemy destroyed, the rulers of the Splinterrealms left again, and Magik knew that she needed to be more careful. |
Afterwards
Unplacable
| Fantastic Four (3rd series) #16: | Margali Szardos, ruler of Limbo, accompanied by the ghosts of Legion and Destiny summoned the Fantastic Four to some alternate future Earth where at one point humanity had been turned into Kree. After they helped some locals in their rebellion, Margali sent them back to their own time. Note: The problem with this story is that it doesn’t fit anywhere into the established continuity, and Margali displays a blue skin tone throughout the entire story. This could be a hint to her being from the alternate future Kree-Earth in the story, but it wasn’t outright stated. |