The Fall of the Mutants

Colossus decides to rejoin the X-Men after some time away recuperating. Before he can contact them, though, he is approached by a young woman who asks him to sketch a picture of her. She disappears after he’s done drawing her and in her place is a statue of himself.

Meanwhile, the X-Men are in Dallas searching for Storm. They knew she went there looking for Forge, as she wanted to ask him to return her powers. While there, Freedom Force arrives and tries to arrest them for not signing the Mutant Registration Act. After a big tussle most of the X-Men, along with Mystique, end up inside Forge’s penthouse building, Eagle Plaza. Destiny cries out after getting the precognition that everyone inside the building by dawn will end up dead.

Soon, a rift in the sky occurs and the chaos wrought by the Adversary begins. Dinosaurs, Neanderthals and all sorts of weirdos start coming out of the woodwork and running rampant through Dallas as time and space go crazy. The X-Men and Freedom Force team up to battle the craziness. A couple of reporters, Neal Conan and Manoli Wetherell, show up ready for the story. A group of Cheyenne Indians from the past approaches, eager to help. They know a way to end this chaos, but their leader is shot by what appears to be a human... some racist fellow (actually the Adversary in disguise).

Colossus shows up in the middle of all this (having asked his sister Magik to teleport him to his teammates’ side) and helps out. Destiny calls him a temporal fluke and Psylocke senses Roma’s influence within him. The X-Men decide to try and investigate Forge’s penthouse, but are kept from doing so as the environment around them turns into the Vietnam War. Wolverine convinces Mystique and Freedom Force to stay outside.

Meanwhile, Storm and Forge are in another world created by the Adversary. The world they are in seems to be a copy of Earth, though there is no technology, no civilization and no humans besides them. After nursing Forge back to health Storm leaves on a quest to Africa and returns to Forge a year later with him having a new mountain of power. He tells her he can get them back to their world if he restores her abilities. He fires a gun at her and her powers come back. Mixing his magic and her lightning powers they create a portal that allows them to return.

Back in Dallas, the X-Men are still in the midst of the Vietnam War, except they’re battling demon beasts instead of soldiers. They realize the events occurring in front of them are related to Forge’s past. High above Earth, the Adversary has taken over Roma’s Starlight Citadel and Forge, Storm and Roma are his current prisoners. Psylocke senses her teammates above and the X-Men make their way to the citadel. During the battle with the Adversary, Colossus dives through him, tearing him in half and revealing his true form. Rogue absorbs some magical knowledge from him and opens an energy portal behind the Adversary. However, it’s only Forge’s magic that can send him through.

Years ago he used the souls of his dead friends to open a gate (intending to avenge their deaths), now he again needs nine souls to close one. The eight X-Men and Madelyne Pryor agree and he starts the spell. The Adversary is knocked through the portal and sealed behind a tombstone. Forge teleports himself and cameraman Neal Conan back to Dallas.

In the citadel, Roma recreates the X-Men. She informs them that chaos is always needed in the universe. She thanks them and tells them they can go where and whenever they want. They decide to let the world keep thinking them dead so that their friends and family will no longer be targets.

The New Mutants sneak out from the mansion (against Magneto’s orders) to help their new friend, the animal-mutant Bird-Brain, as he claimed that there were more beings like him and that they would die during some horrible testing. The mutants follow their new friend to a strange island only to soon find themselves surrounded by more strange starving animal-hybrids, Bird-Brain’s fellows whom he is trying to help. The mutants are not aware that they are being watched by the master of the island, the strange silent being calling himself the Ani-Mator who is responsible for the animal experiments.

Subsidized by the anti-mutant organization “the Right” he quickly learns who the New Mutants are and successfully has several of his Ani-Mates capture them and the rebelling Ani-Mates. The Ani-Mator intends to kill the rebels and use the mutants for experiments to create even more successful hybrid strains, however his search alerted his superior, “Right” leader Cameron Hodge. Suspicious of what the scientist is doing Hodge decides to pay him a visit.

The Ani-Mator intends to blow up his lab and most of the Ani-Mates and leave with the mutants as test specimens but Cypher convinces the creatures to free them. The mutants beat the other Ani-Mates and the Ani-Mator, but just as they are crowing about their victory the Right arrive, shoot them with Tranquillizer guns, and strap them with inhibitor helmets. Hodge’s people intend to kill all the Ani-Mates, but Bird-Brain and his followers manage to free the mutants.

Battle ensues, as they are joined by the two missing New Mutants, Sunspot and Warlock, who had run away some time before. The tide is turning in their favor, however none of them but Cypher notice that the Ani-Mator has a gun trained on Wolfsbane. Cypher pushes Rahne aside, is injured lethally in her stead and quietly dies, something the others don’t even notice, until the battle is over and the Right have fled.

Furious, Magik throws the rambling Ani-Mator, as well as the few remaining Right soldiers to her demons in Limbo. Bird-Brain and the other surviving Ani-Mates stay behind as the heartbroken mutants teleport home to an empty mansion while Magneto is still using the Hellfire Club’s resources to look for them. The mutants in the meantime face their loss and wait for his return, Magik especially hoping that somehow he will put things right again. Things are about to become much worse however as they see the X-Men seemingly dying in the battle against the Adversary in Dallas on live TV.

Magneto returns reading them the riot act and goes ballistic when he learns that Cypher is dead. He once more forbids them to use their powers. Illyana begs him to let them help the X-Men and he refuses pointing out that they are adults. Angrily she teleports away to help only to return moments later, as there is a magical barrier around Dallas preventing her from going there. As her scrying glass doesn’t register the X-Men anymore, she now knows that they are dead. Furious and disappointed, she attacks Magneto until the others calm her down. While Magneto grieves for Douglas, the New Mutants decide that they can no longer afford to be kids. Putting together makeshift costumes they decide to disobey Magneto and try to replace the X-Men.

X-Factor finds themselves on Apocalypse’s ship, face to face with Apocalypse himself. Apocalypse verbally berates them, and when Cyclops orders the team to attack, easily bests them. He informs them of the history of his life and offers for them to join his side. They decline, of course, and are attacked by the Horsemen. They defeat them easily, but are in turn defeated by Death, who turns out to be their former teammate, Warren.

They awaken to find themselves strapped to some metal slabs. Warren and the Horsemen decide to go out into the city (they’re in Manhattan) and wreak havoc. Caliban, who was forgotten by Apocalypse appears, but when Cyke tries to get him to free them, he instead goes to Apocalypse and takes his side.

They manage to get free on their own and fight Apocalypse once more. Cyclops and Marvel Girl end up out of the ship, and Beast and Iceman remain within. Scott and Jean battle the Horseman while they’re outside. However, Apocalypse teleports his Horsemen away after being defeated by the former X-Men.

Back on the ship, Iceman and Beast go after En Sabah Nur. Beast rips out a piece of the ship’s wall, which causes the cloaking mechanism to fail and the ship’s stabilizers to go offline. The ship heads towards the Empire State building and smashes into the antenna. Jean does her best to hold it and Power Pack shows up. Pestilence is killed in the debacle.

Scott and Jean head back to the ship and aid Hank and Bobby in their fight against Apocalypse. War and Death are there as well and the fighting becomes intense. Bobby creates an ice replica of himself and tricks Warren into attacking it. After “killing” his former friend, Warren breaks free of Apocalypse’s hold and turns the tide of the battle. Apocalypse retreats with Caliban and War.

The ship crashlands in the Bay and turns over on top of their former headquarters. A bunch of reporters wait outside to talk to them.X-Factor finally come clear to the press about the mutant hunter façade. The police arrive and try to arrest them, but X-Factor leaves to save the city. Several explosions occur throughout the day and X-Factor is there to save the civilians. During the rescue operations Scott discusses Maddie and his recent history with Jean. Afterwards, Jean transports most of the wounded to nearby hospitals. While at one of the hospitals Beast runs into Trish Tilby and bares his soul to her.

The next morning they finally finish taking care of things. The police show up again, but not to arrest them. They inform their new mutant friends that they’re considered heroes and a parade will be thrown in their honor later in the day. Tired and excited, the team heads back to their new base, Apocalypse’s ship. With new uniforms on, the team proudly takes part in the parade. Apocalypse watches from his monitors and glowers at X-Factor.