In the middle of the night, an almighty roar ripped through the mansion. The New Mutants recognised Lockheed's cry, and raced down into the underground complex. Mirage ran outside to check on Brightwind first, but when she looked back a giant image of death with antlers like an ancient tree stood miles high above the mansion.
As Moira MacTaggert had her morning shower, Magik teleported into the bedroom. Having left a note for Banshee, she teleported Moira to Limbo. Magik's spell to dress Moira had a kinky & metal-studded side effect. Magik had moved slightly backwards through time, so they observed the events back in New York. Lockheed arrived in the hanger bay, soon followed by the New Mutants. The X-Men destroyed the wall to escape the Morlock tunnels. Shadowcat was virtually transparent, Nightcrawler was unconscious, all of them had damaged clothing, and they were accompanied by various Morlocks (see Uncanny X-Men #211). As they stumbled into the hanger bay, Magik teleported them back to the school. Quick explanations were exchanged about the Marauders' attack on the Morlocks, and they could only pray for more survivors.
The underground complex became a make-shift emergency room. Sunspot bent metal beams into bed frames, Cannonball flew around carrying supplies, while Magma welded metal joints. As Sunspot carried a life-support module, his solar-powered strength began to wane. Colossus caught the module, but Magneto berated Sunspot for being careless and ordered him to stay out of the way. At that moment, Sunder began to throw a fit and even Magneto couldn't restrain him with metallic floor tiles. Karma struggled to keep Sunder under control, and collapsed in Psylocke's arms as the telepath took over. Psylocke comforted Karma, but Magneto was more concerned about the strain on Psylocke. Karma struggled to cope as the death and vast amount of injuries reminded her of life in war-torn Vietnam. Mirage, however, couldn't cope at all. Her Valkyrie gift to foresee death left her huddled in a corner. Everywhere she looked there were more images of death. She had lost all hope for the Morlocks and New Mutants when Cannonball found her and comforted her.
Upstairs in the kitchen Wolfsbane was making sandwiches for everyone. Sunspot entered in a rage after the way Magneto had treated him. When he went to take a sandwich, Wolfsbane slapped his wrist as it was for the patients downstairs. Already angry, he lost his patience and powered up and kicked the table across the room. All the sandwiches were ruined, so Wolfsbane transformed into an angry werewolf triggering her psychic link with Mirage. She and Cannonball raced upstairs to stop them from fighting. They agreed to help clear up & start make more sandwiches after a quick lecture on responsibility.
Outside, Warlock sat keeping a watch out for something on the porch. Cypher was concerned, but Warlock assured him that he was keeping an eye out for any more Marauders.
Up in the Head Master's study, Karma desperately tried to call home, but neither Leong nor Nga were answering the telephone. Magik appeared out of nowhere, swearing. She had tried to teleport Shadowcat to Limbo, but she had phased so much that Magik was unable to latch on to her. Since her magic wouldn't work on Earth, she was left powerless to help her best friend. Karma sympathised since she was worried about Leong & Nga. Magik decided to teleport them both across town when Cypher & Warlock arrived in time to see them leave. The boys raced into the kitchen to warn the other New Mutants. Mirage was concerned that the death images might have been for Karma & Magik.
Across town, the girls arrived inside Karma's apartment. It was dark & empty, but when Karma flicked the lightswitch a bomb exploded destroying the apartment.
Back in the school, the other New Mutants were debating what to do. They were under direct orders not to leave the mansion, but they also wanted to make sure their friends were safe. They realised that Magik should have teleported back immediately if something was wrong. However, Sunspot kept chiding Cypher, almost causing another fight which Cannonball threatened to straighten out. They voted on the matter and soon Magma had burned a hole out into one of the underground tunnels beneath Manhattan. Warlock then transformed into a car for them all, which seemed strange as flying to Manhattan would have been quicker. Warlock claimed his strange behaviour was an attempt to replicate the strange behaviour of regular humans during such a stressful time, but none of them seemed to believe him. As they raced away from the school, Magus appeared and planned when to strike.
Across town Sunspot broke open a manhole cover and they climbed out on to the street. He was frustrated that he couldn't punch any Marauders in the same way. Magma quoted Julius Caesar to try and make sense out of the carnage. Wolfsbane huddled by an old dumpster with Cypher & Warlock trying to comfort her. However, when they moved around the corner they found the emergency services trying to put out a fire where karma's home had been. Mirage took her anger out on Warlock, claiming that if he had flown them there, then they might have arrived in time to help. Suddenly, Magik & Karma appeared behind them. Magik had teleported them both out in time, but Karma had sustained more injuries.
Just as they began to think about Leong & Nga's whereabouts, and the possibility that it was a Marauder attack, Warlock's sensors began to react. He looked panic stricken and suddenly grabbed the entire team. He fled down into the tunnels, but then transformed into a tank. The New Mutants couldn't understand what was going on until Mirage remembered the night when Warlock arrived and explained that he was running from his father (see New Mutants #21).
Mirage was correct. The entire team was suddenly lifted off their feet by a giant technarch entity who called himself Magus. Magik teleported them all to Limbo, leaving Magus behind as he swore to find and kill them all.
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