The New Mutants # 22 - The Shadow Within

Nightcrawler demonstrated a mid-air manoeuvre to Cannonball with acrobatic ease.  Cannonball had begun to doubt himself, since he was the eldest of the New Mutants but had made the least progress controlling his powers.  After a pep talk from Nightcrawler, Wolfsbane entered the Danger Room and blew Cannonball a kiss for good luck.  He blasted into the air, turned off his blast field, spun in the air, but couldn't restart his blasting power in time.  Nightcrawler teleported between Cannonball and the wall, caught the New Mutant and threw him down into the safety net below.  He reassured Cannonball saying that he had also failed that same manoeuvre when he first tried it.

As Cannonball climbed back up the ladder to try it again, Nightcrawler changed the appearance of the Danger Room and Wolfsbane's outfit.  Suddenly she was a cute clown in a pink ruffed romper suit in the Big Top's spotlight.  A taller clown (Nightcrawler) invited her to waltz and she danced with a smile.  However, when Nightcrawler deactivated the illusion, Wolfsbane grew angry and upset that she'd been dancing with a demon and she ran off.

In one of the other underground gymnasiums, Sunspot and Colossus were sparring.  Sunspot grew tired of being spoken down to as a complete novice.  He was distracted by Wolfsbane running passed the door, and Colossus took the opportunity to knock him off his feet.  Sunspot pulled the mat out from underneath Colossus, and as the two tussled Colossus suddenly cried out in pain.  Sunspot's arms had grown elongated and sharp, but quickly returned to normal.

Wolfsbane had shifted into her wolf form and spied on Warlock as Professor Xavier and Moira MacTaggert studied his abilities further.  She then ran off to find Mirage (see Dani Moonstar), but was disappointed that she was on the telephone to her father and ran off again.

Meanwhile in New York City, Friedrich Von Roehm received an unexpected guest.  He threatened to have the woman in black arrested, but when he recognised her as Selene he pledged his undying loyalty to her.  He was dedicated to inducting her into the Hellfire Club.  While in the Hellfire Club itself, Emmanuel DaCosta was uncomfortable with the frilly and elaborate outfit that he was expected to wear.  His concerns were soon put at ease as Sebastian Shaw spoke of his induction into the Club

Back at the school Wolfsbane considered joining Sunspot and Magma as they splashed about in the pool outside.  She decided to finish writing her story instead.  It was a fairy tale heavilly inspired by Disney's Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.  A red-haired princess lived in the woods with the woodland creatures as her friends who helped with the day-to-day chores.  Suddenly her prince fell into the cottage, defeated by an evil sorceress.  The princess transformed into a wolf and ran into the city were she fought evil possessed taxi cabs to discover the sorceress' location.  The princess used her power to transform into a wolf in her fight against the sorceress and her black knight.  The black knight had a dark flowing cape, while the sorceress was pure white and carried a distinctive locket; they bore a striking fantasy resemblance to Cloak & Dagger.  The princess defeated her foes, showing them absolutely no mercy.

Later, Wolfsbane had fallen asleep while holding on to the same locket that the sorceress wore in her story.

Additional:  In the back of this issue were pin-up fact files drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz.  One per New Mutants member.  These featured Wolfsbane, Mirage and Magma.  This was the first time that Danielle Moonstar had been addressed as Mirage.