Synopsis
S'ym stands on Darkchilde's body as he reaches for her Soulsword. She forces him out of the window behind them and sends him crashing down onto the street. She leaps upon S'ym and cuts his head off. However, he is able to pull himself back together thanks to the transmode virus. He continues to push his attack on her, but her spells send him backwards into the wall. The fight rages on.
Near Times Square, Mirage, Rusty, and Skids watch their team-mates fly off. However, the buildings and the road became animated and attack them. Far from powerless, the X-Terminators and New Mutants use their own mutant abilities to destroy anything that attacks them.
Meanwhile, below, Colossus marches through the streets. He interrogates minor demons to discover the location of his sister, but discovers that S'ym has overthrown Limbo. Caught unawares, the demons then pile onto Colossus.
On the rooftop of the Hellfire Club, the Inner Circle battles demons. Magneto is confronted by N'astirh, who offers a pact to rule the Earth between them. N'astirh then informs Magneto of the battle for power that over-threw Darkchilde's rule. The New Mutants fly by overheard and see Magneto discussing matters with N'astirh. They believe the two are most likely making a deal. They fly on, determined to have nothing to do with their headmaster any more.
S'ym's battle with the Darkchilde is interrupted when Colossus's armored body is thrown into the battle. S'ym threatens to kill Colossus for a second time and, even though she is not sure if he really is her brother, Darkchilde fights to protect him. The flashes from the fight are seen by the combined New Mutants and X-Terminators overhead. They fly closer and are surprised to see Darkchilde completely wrapped in her Eldritch Armor. They crash into a local, albeit possessed, pawn shop. Suddenly S'ym falls backwards through the window with Colossus pushing and crushing him. Colossus demands to know where his sister is and S'ym relishes in the moment as he reveals that Darkchilde is Illyana. Darkchilde cringes, embarrassed that her beloved brother sees her as such. In shame, she teleports away. The New Mutants and X-Terminators quickly leap into stepping disc behind her. They land back in Belasco's throne room. The New Mutants explain the basic rules of Limbo to Boom-Boom and Rictor while Darkchilde cringes in shame.
Back on Earth, Colossus continues to fight the demons and punches S'ym back through the pawn shop window and across the street. As their fight rages on, Wolfsbane implores Darkchilde in Limbo to return to Earth. Darkchilde refuses, claiming that such an action was what caused the power vacuum in the first place. The demons pick her up off the floor and carry her over to Belasco's throne where she sits as the ruler of Limbo.
On Earth, Colossus is slowly being overcome by the demons. And outside the church the remaining X-Terminators and New Mutants fight off he demon hordes. As a valkyrie, Mirage begins to see the dealthy image above Rusty, Skids, and herself. She collapses, unable to fend it off, and is caught by Artie and Leech.
In Limbo, Darkchilde's increased power allows her to create a newer and greater scrying glass. Through it she watches the fight between Colossus and S'ym, Manhattan's demon invasion, and Mirage's collapse all at the same time. Determined to do something to stop the Inferno, Darkchilde begins to glow pure, radiant, white light. The other New Mutants chase after Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane refuses to give up on Darkchilde's innocence and runs until she finds a chamber filled with floating stepping discs. Warlock and Cannonball grab her before she is able to throw herself into one. She breaks down in tears as she reveals her plan: Wolfsbane hopes to find the little child of Illyana they had seen previously. She hopes that future, past, and present are all connected in Limbo and wants to save both Darkchilde and Limbo by saving Illyana as a little girl. She leaps into the first stepping disc and the others follow her.
They fall into a barren field in Limbo. Sunspot grabs Wolfsbane by the arm, imploring her not to get them even more lost. Wolfsbane acknowledges how scared of Limbo she was and hates how terrified little Illyana must have been. She then finds another stepping disc and dives in. Again, the others follow her. They land in the middle of a group of transmode infected demons. Leaping through another stepping disc, Wolfsbane finds little Illyana and grabs her before falling through yet another light disc. As the New Mutants land, they are confronted by Darkchilde.
Glowing so brightly that they could barely see her, Darkchilde is horrified to see her younger self and swats Illyana away. Darkchilde's light grows even more intense as her power grows stronger. Her Eldritch Armor falls away from her and she stands towering as a fiery demon girl made of pure power. Darkchilde steps towards young Illyana and raises the Soulsword to execute her younger self in order to prevent it all from happening. Wolfsbane throws her arms around little Illyana and implores Darkchilde not to murder her own innocence. Wolfsbane reminds Darkchilde that she has a choice, which plays on her mind. Darkchilde recalls how N'astirh mocked concepts of good and evil among demons. She had learned to distrust what demons had told her, while she knew she could believe Wolfsbane.
Darkchilde decides to take herself out of the equation and remove the choice. The floor begins to glow and Darkchilde radiates even brighter as she teleports them all back to Times Square. The stepping disc grows over the city and sucks all the demons back to Limbo. In the heart of the falling demons, Darkchilde throws her Soulsword straight up into the air. It pierces the dark night sky, while Darkchilde herself is lost in the blinding light. Wolfsbane panics, as she had lost her hold of little Illyana.
Nearby by, Colossus's battle ends when S'ym is magically dragged back through the stepping disc. The remaining X-Terminators and New Mutants watch as the demons fly passed the church. Gosamyr appears from inside and offers to stay behind to watch the babies while Mirage, Rusty, and Skids run to Times Square.
In Times Square, the blinding light finally subsides and, in the dust, Wolfsbane finds the crushed Edlritch Armor. Colossus runs up and begins to despair for his little sister. Cannonball's tears stream down his cheeks. Mirage arrives and wraps her arms around Wolfsbane to console her. Colossus crouches down and picked up the crushed Eldritch Armor. A small voice from inside called his name. Little Illyana calls for help and Colossus rips the armor open. Underneath the metallic shell, Illyana lays curled up. Upon seeing her big brother, Illyana leaps out and hugs him around the neck. Wolfsbane looks up and is delighted to see Illyana alive and well. The little girl runs to Wolfsbane and they hug with tears of joy.
Cannonball thinks about how Darkchilde believed she was empty inside, but he knows that the little innocent girl was inside her all along. Rictor is confused, asking if it means that the teenaged Darkchilde had never existed. Cannonball knows that couldn't be right, because they could clearly remember her and that her sacrifice wasn't in vain. Wolfsbane clings to little Illyana and promises her a long life filled with joy.
They are all unaware that N'astirh sits on a ledge above them. He had survived Darkshilde's final spell that forced all the demons back to Limbo. He turns his attention to the top of the Empire State Building to the souls of baby Nathan Christopher Summers and his mother Madelyn Pryor, the Goblyn Queen.
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