The New Mutants #77

Brightwind flies once more! And that means Dani Moonstar, Mirage, must rise as a Valkyrie against Hel!

Rusty marvelled at how the New Mutants had been to Limbo and were travelling to Russia. Cannonball reminded him that the X-Terminators were part of the New Mutants too, since they'd accepted their offer to merge teams. The others were brimming with excitement at the prospect of reuniting Illyana with her parents. They didn't speak Russian and therefore were unable to call them in advance. The only one who was not excited was Mirage, who was sweating profusely and still endured her terrible migraine. However, she tried to hide her pain so not to ruin the excitement of the day. Unfortunately just as Illyana ran into her mother's arms, Mirage screamed and collapsed. Brightwind also collapsed, and Warlock had to carry him as a heavy cargo underneath a helicopter.

Warlock flew them all back to New York. Ship analysed Mirage, but soon detected that her affliction was mystical in nature. Ship suggested that they go to see Doctor Strange for more help.

Warlock quietly set them down in Greenwich Village. Rictor teased Boom-Boom that she wasn't respectable enough to approach Doctor Strange while Cannonball, Rusty & Skids went to knock on the door. Wong answered, but broke the bas news that Doctor Strange was dead. Boom-Boom grew angry since she saw through Wong's lie and tossed a time-bomb into the house. Rictor began to quarrel with her, and teased her that he time-bomb didn't even work. However, what none of them realised was that Doctor Strange was observing them from indoors and had used his magic to nullify the time-bomb. Wolfsbane tried to calm Rictor and Boom-Boom down by reminding them why they were there. Inside, Doctor Strange could sense that something evil & mystical was effecting them all, and that Boom-Boom & Rictor were particularly sensitive to what was happening.

The scene was interrupted when Mirage gained consciousness and began screaming. Immediately she and Brightwind were consumed in flame and began to attack the others with their new fiery powers. Doctor Strange then entered the Astral Plane to investigate. He soon deducated that Mirage was a Cheyenne girl who was also a Valkyrie, but he also detected a third malicious presence. As Mirage and Brightwind soared into the air he separated Mirage's soul from her body to talk to her on the Astral Plane.

Meanwhile, the New Mutants began to fight their possessed friend. Cannonball tackled Mirage in the sky, while the others tried to save passers by from their fiery attacks. Rusty softened the metal of nearby railings to turn it into a wire lasso. With Warlock's help they lassoed Brightwind, but it lifted Rusty off the ground. Sunspot held him down, despite the fact that the hot wire burned through his hands. Mirage covered Cannonball's eyes and he crashed into the ground, landing next to a fire hydrant. Boom-Boom destroyed the hydrant, but the water couldn't extinguish Mirage's fire. Instead it created a dangerous steam that scolded Cannonball until Skids could save him. Rictor managed to use his powers to knock Mirage off her feet, and the others begged Mirage to listen to reason. However, as Boom-Boom stated, it was no longer Mirage in control of her body.

On the Astral Plane, Mirage reacted to Doctor Strange believing that he was the cause for her pain. He quickly restrained and reassured her. He admitted that he was mistaken to remove her soul from her body as she had been able to fight the evil possession. Yet, she refused to re-enter her body and face the burning pain again. However, she looked down at her body and saw more terrible things. Brightwind broke free of the lasso and attacked Rusty & Sunspot. Mirage's body climbed back onto Brightwind and went to attack an innocent little girl. Wolfsbane dived in the way of the attack and was seriously burned. Seeing her soul-mate so terribly injured Mirage decided that she had to return to her body.

Doctor Strange sent Mirage's soul back into her body. Instantly she used her power to create a giant ice-making machine. It encased herself and Brightwind in a mighty block of ice. Doctor Strange then took the chance to magically restore and repair all the damage and heal the New Mutants' wounds. He then assumed the disguise of Doctor Stephen Sanders and offered to help the New Mutants. Boom-Boom continued to suspect that he was really Doctor Strange, but Wolfsbane dismissed her as being daft. They realised that Mirage had conjured up the machine and decided to return to Ship.

The were all unaware that Hela had been observing their conflict the entire time. Hela boasted that she would use the valkyrior as part of her revenge.