The Scott and Jean Archives
The X-Men and Clan Destine encounter each other when Clan Destine mysteriously appears in the Danger Room. They immediately start fighting without hesitation or reason. Rory uses his powers to stop the fight and clear the air. Clan Destine, like the X-Men, just want to rescue their people that have been captured.
Wolverine and Walter have a standoff, and Dominic interjects by mocking Wolverine. This enrages Wolverine and he injures Dominic. Then Walter starts brawling again, until Newton knocks him unconscious. Cyclops agrees with Newton that the X-Men and Clan Destine need to work together. First things first, Cyclops orders the “injured to the infirmary”. He also instructs Shadowcat and Cannonball to keep Rory and Pandora safe and away from the portal.
Xavier and Colossus find themselves in a wasteland in the portal. They encounter Adam and Kay. Kay reveals that she and Xavier have met before, when she was known as and inhibiting the body of Cuckoo. Now older and wiser, Xavier sees through Kay and tells her he distrusts her.
Gracie is also in the wasteland, and tells everyone that it was her “doing” that brought them here to the Synraith’s “homeworld”. The Synraith has brought Gracie, Kay and Xavier here to prevent them from disrupting its next “attempt to reach the earth”. Now, they must try to stop it at all costs.
Newton has come to check on the injured in the infirmary. Storm and Moira are currently tending the infirmary. Dominic is in a stable condition, but Wolverine is “flatlining” despite his “healing factor” and Shi’ar medical technology.
While waiting for Forge to analyse the portal, Gambit flirts with Samantha. They decide to “take a walk”.
Meanwhile, Shadowcat and Cannonball are giving Rory and Pandora a tour of the mansion. A frustrated Rory wants in on the action with the adults. When Cannonball lends him a sympathetic ear, Rory cannot wait to show off his powers. Shadowcat plays off Rory’s enthusiasm by stating that he does not want to “disobey Cyclops if [he] hopes to join the X-Men” and go on superhero missions such as this one. This distracts Rory from the mission, and he shifts his focus on envisioning being a member of the X-Men.
Unfortunately, Walter is still not able to calm down, and breaks free of his restraints.
Gracie recounts how she is responsible for the Synraith’s appearance, which began over four centuries ago. In 1519, Kay was “inhibiting the body of a Spanish nobleman” so he could join Cortez’s exploration of Mexico. Gracie, then a teenager, was “smuggled...along as [Kay’s] valet”. Gracie and Kay wanted to “study the alien wonders of the Aztec culture” but Cortez was only concerned with the gold. Gracie and Kay were separated in Cortez’s battle with the Aztec. During that time, Gracie’s psychic powers were “newly emerging” and she sought refuge with some Aztecs they had befriended earlier.
Gracie wanted to enhance her powers to stop Cortez, so she “sought out a nexus of cosmic powers” in an ancient temple. In that act, she “bonded [herself] to the demon”. Kay found Gracie and managed to stop the Synraith from permanently transitioning to earth, but the damage had been done. The Synraith now knew how to get to earth and ever since then Gracie has dedicated her life to finding a way to stop the Synraith permanently.
Archangel, Beast, Nightcrawler, Cable and Bishop are unable to stop the raging Walter. Juggernaut steps in to take on Walter.
Newton’s surgical skills stabilises Wolverine and saves his life. Storm finds herself impressed by and attracted to Newton.
While Rory cannot wait to become an X-Men as he tries on an X-Men costume, Pandora feels that it is not right “to be doing this while [their] family’s in danger”. Also, she “only agreed to crimefight because [hers and Rory’s] powers only work when [they’re] together”. Just because she is Rory’s twin does not mean she wants the same thing as Rory. Shadowcat takes Pandora aside for a “little girl talk” to cheer her up.
Back in the Synraith’s homeworld, Gracie explains that they have to “[anchor] the demon to this plan...until the dimensional convergence passes”. Fortunately for them, they are “protected” from death by the Synraith because “any release of raw life force will instantly destabilise [the portal]”. With their combined psychic efforts, they attack the Synraith.
When Samantha has Gambit out of sight, she attacks him and demands to know what the X-Men are up to. She saw Wolverine’s attack on Dominic as a threat. Then, she spots Wolverine in the shadows. She is alarmed that Wolverine was able to heal this quickly.
Meanwhile, Walter has met his match in the Juggernaut, and Storm continues to make out with Newton. Cannonball and Shadowcat try their best to keep Rory and Pandora away from the commotion. But the twins refuse to take anymore orders and intend to find out what is happening. Cannonball is revealed to be mind-controlled. Gambit disappears into thin air while being restrained by Samantha. She gets into a fight with Wolverine.
Xavier, Gracie and Kay are locked in a psychic battle with the Synraith. Colossus decides to take matters into his own hands and attacks the Synraith with brute strength. The Synraith retaliates and horribly disfigured Colossus, but Colossus was able to wound it. Adam takes advantage of his “absolute invulnerability” to injure the Synraith more, but is tossed out of the portal instead.
Adam turns out to be an old friend of Wolverine.the X-Men are left confused as they were preparing for the Synraith’s attack. Adam insists on going back into the portal. Cyclops unleashes a lethal optic blast meant to kill but Adam is unharmed. Iceman ices Adam. Beast warns that Adam may be “an agent of Synraith”. Acting on a hunch, Wolverine attacks Cyclops and reveals him to be a drone controlled by Synraith. Synraith had “infiltrated the Danger Room system and programmed trainin’ drones t’stop [them] goin’ through the portal”. Soon, the X-Men are attacked by “every drone in the archive”.
Forge instructs Storm to focus her lightning blast onto the floor as it is the only non-variable in the Danger Room. Disrupting the circuitry will reveal what is and is not an illusion. Xavier comes to the horrible realization that the Synraith has tricked them into thinking they are in its homeworld when they are actually in the Danger Room, and they have instead been “pulling the demon towards Earth”. Combining their efforts once again, Xavier, Gracie and Kay force the Synraith back into the unstable portal, destroying it.
The X-Men, Clan Destine and the Danger Room return to normal and everyone tries to make sense of what had happened. Crisis averted, Clan Destine return home.
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