“I thought so, too,” Roni Santiago said as she touched down on the ground, still covered in ash. Upon touching the ground, the electrical energy dancing around her ceased. The blue pigment to her skin vanished—back was the beautiful tan smoothness of her exotic hide. She softly ran her finger alongside Pyro’s face, “But I’m alive. And real.”

Pyro swallowed to get the nervous lump out of his throat, trying to ignore the fact that Diode was nude, “But…yer brother…”

“…pulled the biggest con on you crackers the world has ever seen!” Diode retorted. She looked down at her bare feet and coyly crossed her legs while standing. “He’s a reality warper. Can’t trust them none, son.”

Pyro noticed the almost lightning bolt-esque white streak that now accompanied Diode’s black curls. After noting some of the workers ignoring their job of replanting the scorched rain forest, Pyro quickly discarded his shirt and gave it to Roni to put on.

“What happened, then?” was his next question as they began to walk back to his tent. “I mean, Jesus…why…?”

John stopped walking and put his hands on his hips, quick to turn away from Roni. Her smile faded and she became serious for one of those rare moments in her life when she had to stop “performing” and get down to reality.

Roni sighed, despite not having anything cover her from the waist down, “I don’t know what happened. Raul probably tried to kill me, but…he didn’t. He supercharged me with all that energy he absorbed from Proteus. Guess it finally wore off some.” She grabbed John by the arm and hugged him from behind, “But I know I’m here now.”

Pyro, his face stained with tears, turned and faced Diode and tightly embraced her. Part of him was mad at her for “dying,” and causing him to act irrationally by quitting X-Corp and selling his shares, but he knew that no matter how dark and tortured his soul was, he was happy. “Don’t you ever leave me again, lil’ sister.”

Diode smiled as she closed her eyes and tightly clasped her arms around her teammate. John silently looked off into the distance. Feeling the change in his emotion and body language, Roni looked up at him, “What’s wrong, big bro?”

“If you’re here, then your brother’s probably alive, too. With your entire fortune, no doubt,” Pyro said. “Somehow, he impersonated your dad.”

“We’ll get it back,” Diode said.

“What about my shares?” Pyro sighed. “I just sold them to the devil. Not only that…the company is folding. The team is on the ropes.” He looked into Diode’s brown eyes, “Your innocence is lost. People will be glad you’re back, but…I don’t think they’ll be laughing with you this time.”

Diode nodded, “We gotta play this smart. What are we gonna do? And where the fuck can I get some bikini bottoms? Not that I mind the breeze, but, y’know…”

Pyro sighed as he whipped out his cell phone and dialed a number. He plugged his other ear as he waited for a signal.

Diode wondered, “Who’re you calling?”

“Maggott,” Pyro responded.

Roni smirked as she crossed his arms, “Not that I don’t love the guy, but he’s not big on the whole incognito smarts. What’s he gonna do?”

“Give us the number for the Xavier Institute,” Pyro responded. “I sorta…forgot the number. They used to be my mortal enemies, so…it’d be kind of awkward if I had them on speed dial.”

Diode flashed her eyebrows, “Yeah.” She wondered, “Couldn’t you just call the Corp?”

Pyro flinched as he shook his head, “They’d probably just patch me into Sandy. I hate that broad.”

Diode rolled her eyes, “Men.” She huffed, “Why are you calling the X-Men, again?”

“To give you a place to hide out until we make up a good resurrection story,” Pyro said.

“I wasn’t dead!” Diode laughed as she held out her arms to her sides.

“Well, your brother did a little number,” Pyro explained. “Convinced us that you were just a figment of his imagination.”

“Fuck me,” Diode scoffed. “I mean…isn’t that illegal? That’s like…dirty. Even for like…evil mutant standards. I’m a woman. And…that’s kinda fighting like a woman, y’know? Man…what a fucker!”

Pyro shrugged with a smirk, happy to hear Diode’s patented vulgarity again, “Hold on, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, luv.”

Mojoworld.
Prison Facility.

“Right this way, sire,” a lanky man wearing a full-length green robe said as he gestured his mechanical hand down a long, dark corridor.

“Shut up, Domo,” Archangel muttered as he pulled out his gun and plugged the android in the temple. The hippie-ish man instantly fell to the floor, strangely playing the theme song from “The Partridge Family.”

Dazzler arched an eyebrow, “Was that really necessary? Major Domo is harmless.”

{{“--make you HAPPYYYYYYYYYYY!”}}

Archangel turned his droopy face towards his ex-girlfriend. He smiled slightly with his dead eyes, “Another one is being built as I speak. Not that I care.” He turned away and continued down the corridor, “I just want to get this done so we can either leave quietly or die fighting a rampaging Spiral.”

Xorn suddenly stopped as he slowly inched for the wall, “Wait, I can’t see anything. I need light particles to interpret my environment.”

Dazzler held up her hand and snapped her fingers, producing an orb of light. She smiled as she grabbed Xorn by the elbow, “Come on, I got us covered. We all don’t have Mr. Worthington’s perfect night vision.”

Archangel was the first to reach the end of the corridor, “I don’t have to see it. I can smell my way through here.” He took the large crank and turned it, breaking it off the hinges and kicked the metal door open.

“Have you been working out?” Dazzler wondered as the orb of light in her hand dispersed. The light from the inside of the cell, although dim, was enough for Xorn to see clearly.

Warren looked behind him in response to the comment, “I’m not a little robin anymore, Ali. In my old age, I’m like a horned owl.”

Dazzler sighed, “Oh, here we go with the allegorical stuff…” She paused, “I see you have your wedding ring on. Nice to see.”

“Don’t start with me, please,” Archangel growled.

“Uhm…hmm,” Xorn muttered to himself, trying to stay as far away from the conversation as possible.

Warren simply scoffed as he approached the prisoner in question, “Hello, Rita. It’s been a long time.”

Within the confines of her mystical bondage restraining all six of her arms, the white-haired, tan-skinned woman simply smiled from within the shadows, “I accept.”

Warren returned the cold smile, “You don’t know what I’m offering you yet.”

Spiral laughed as she hissed, “Yes. I. Do.”

Archangel crossed his arms, “I forgot, gossip travels fast here. I suppose everyone has the Longshot vs. Psylocke DVDs bootlegged?”

Spiral laughed, “Playing non-stop in Mojo Square, if I’m not mistaken.”

“What’s wrong with Betsy?” Archangel demanded stoically. “Earth-bound science can’t explain it. Kree, Shi’ar, even Skrull technology can’t fix it. Magic won’t work. But you know the answer.”

Spiral’s face slowly inched into the light. Her eyes were hollow and blank. Small cuts and sores ran along her face. Her sweat-soaked hair stuck to her temples. In short, she looked terrible. As far as Archangel was concerned, she had every right to be. “She used her psionic blade on herself, causing a physiological deterioration of her cells.” She snorted, “Sometimes, you can only mess around with the human form so much before it starts to just ware out. She isn’t made out of clay.”

Xorn spoke up, “I consulted with Hank McCoy earlier and we theorized that if her twin brother Brian donated a pure DNA sample, it could stabilize her condition. Is there any validity to that?”

Spiral smirked enigmatically, “I suppose that would be an acceptable solution. But where ever would you find Captain Britain? If I’m not mistaken, he’s not empowered by his Otherworld armor anymore, but by the Helios formula.” Spiral tried to act shocked, “Oh wait…that means his DNA is tainted.”

Archangel grit his teeth as he pulled out his gun and unclicked the safety, “One last time to answer, or the ‘deal’ is off. How do we fix her?”

Spiral smiled, “Give me the mantle of Mojo and I’ll tell you.”

“Don’t do it,” Dazzler said. “She’s lying.”

“Tsk, tsk, Ms. Blaire. You’re not a telepath,” Spiral snickered. “Give me some credit. Why would I lie to you?”

“Because you’d have nothing to lose,” Archangel said. “Xorn.”

The Chinese mutant turned his masked head, “What?”

“Burn one of her arms off,” Archangel commanded.

“Excuse me?” Xorn inquired.

“Oh, it’s nothing new to you, murderer,” Spiral smiled. “How many prostitutes have you killed in the last six months? All those years being imprisoned didn’t rehabilitate you at all, did it?”

“You have no idea what you are talking about, witch!” Xorn shouted as his eyeslots lit up with the light of a million suns.

“Hahaha,” Spiral laughed, “pacifist to abusive redneck in less than 60 seconds. Someone should really amp your Prozac prescription.”

“Xorn…,” Dazzler began, “what is she talking about?”

“None of your business,” Xorn muttered.

“We’ll deal with it later,” Archangel growled. He glared at Xorn, “I’d be a hypocrite to judge you, but you better clean up your act when this is over with!”

“I have nothing to be ashamed of!” Xorn shouted. “I did nothing wrong!”

“Were you really imprisoned by Feng Tu because you were a mutant lined up to be the next Chinese superhero…or did you do something to get yourself put there?” Archangel asked.

“Being born a mutant? Is that a crime?” Xorn rebutted. “Why are you even listening to Spiral? She’s trying to get to you by using your grief to distort your judgment!”

“Guys!” Dazzler shouted as she generated a massive force field of light, knocking the two men back. “Enough!”

Spiral simply rolled her eyes and laughed, “Why don’t you tell them the part where you gave Feng Tu cancer. You premeditated it. Doesn’t that sound murderous?”

Archangel glanced at the iron-masked man as he got to his feet, helped up by Dazzler, “What?”

“We all do things we are not proud of, Warren,” Xorn muttered. “What about all the strings we pulled with the Jigoku, trying to cover up Betsy’s involvement with them? And Proteus’s past crimes? Or the fact that you were once a Horseman of—”

“Alright,” Archangel growled between grit teeth. “We all have our reasons to do what we do. It’s not always the right way…I’m not going to judge. We’re here to help Betsy.”

Warren holstered his gun and crossed his arms as he approached Spiral, “By any means necessary.”

Manhattan.

Above the streets, a blur whooshed past, stirring up a whirlwind of trash and old newspapers. The native New Yorkers simply seemed oblivious and apathetic, while tourists from all over the world snapped photos, or at least, tried to.

On the top office floor of the parent X-Corp building, Colossus stood patiently, waiting for his guest. Soon, the man who took flight landed in front of the Russian, dressed in a leather version of his old Captain Britain armor.

Brian Braddock gave a courteous smile, trying not to notice the puffy eyed man of steel. It was clear he was grief stricken about almost losing his wife, who was probably going to be confined to a wheelchair the rest of her life. The same could be said of Longshot.

“Meggan couldn’t make it?” Piotr Rasputin wondered.

“I left as soon as I could,” Brian said. “I had to slay an army of dragons, oddly enough. I don’t know if the Helios formula gave me more power or made me realize I had mutant powers I never knew I had, but…” He sighed as he realized he was starting to ramble. Brian had an odd chance of luck, never seemingly being able to help his twin sister when she needed it most. This most recent attack on her life was devastating to him. “How is she?”

For a moment, Colossus had to think if he meant Nareel, his wife, or if Brian was referring to Psylocke.

Colossus simply shook his head in a flash of frenzy, “I…”

Brian placed a hand on Colossus’s shoulder, which was strangely armored. Perhaps Peter thought he could hide his emotions better if he were in his organic-steeled body, but it was clear he was distraught. “Sorry…I suppose that was a dumb question,” Brian said.

Peter armored down and wiped tears from his eyes. He turned away and motioned Brian to follow him through the office and out the door. They passed Sandy at the reception desk. The blue-haired mutant simply looked up at Peter with sorrowful eyes.

Colossus cleared his throat as he tightened his tie, “My son is in protective custody with both Kurt and Kate. We were thinking of taking him to Xavier’s, but…I’m not sure that would keep him out of danger, what with Scott’s new…direction. I haven’t even seen him yet. Nareel is resting comfortably. Doctors aren’t sure if she’ll walk again. Surgery could help her, but it’s risky. It’s possible Xorn could heal her, but I don’t know how advanced the nerve damage is. And…Longshot, well…”

“You say Warren and the others left for Mojoworld?” Brian asked, trying to change the subject.

Colossus nodded, “But that was a week ago. Time works differently when other dimensions are involved. That’s why I knew it was a terrible idea.”

As the two former members of Excalibur entered the room, the comatose Elisabeth Braddock was hooked up to various life-support machines and neural monitors as both Scarlet Witch and Dr. Strange meditated, hovering over her body.

“I see you brought in the big guns,” Brian observed.

“I had no other choice,” Peter said. “They have been incanting a time-slowing spell for a couple days now to halt her body’s deterioration.” He smiled, “Plus it’s good to see Wanda use her hexes to cause good luck for once.”

Wanda Maximoff half-opened an eye and caused Peter’s belt to snap and his trousers to drop, her way of saying, “Stop interrupting the spell.”

“Uhm,” Peter gulped as he cleared his throat, discreetly pulling his pants back up, “let’s go into the lab.”

Brian couldn’t help but ask as they entered a large white room with various doctors and large-screen computers, “Is Warren alright with this? I mean, who’s even running the company?” He cracked a smile, “You? Not that I’m saying you couldn’t.”

Colossus paused for a moment, “No. X-Corp has a few…ways of keeping the machine going without the engineer. And I imagine Warren will learn to appreciate the fact that I saved his wife’s life because of the idiotic decisions he made.”

“Quite,” Brian said as he sighed, looking around. “You sure this is going to work? This blood-transfusion?”

“Indubitably,” the blue-furred Hank McCoy, donning a lab coat, said as he landed in front of the two men after silently performing an acrobatic flip from the lab’s upper levels. “You’re the closest genetic match Betsy has. You two shared a womb, after all. Given the fact your genes are already running on all cylinders with the Helios formula pumping through your veins, this may be the only chance we have short of a miracle to help Betsy overcome this…genetic malfunction.”

“I’m really not a fan of needles,” Brian said.

“Don’t worry,” Beast smiled. “We’re using high-intensity lasers, Mr. Nigh-Invulnerable!” Hank ran his massive hand through his mane and glanced over at the stasis tube which contained the non-corporeal form of Proteus. Standing before it was a middle-aged woman with reddish-brown hair, nearly in tears.

“Moira? Are you ready?” Colossus asked.

Dr. Moira MacTaggart, perhaps the world’s leading geneticist, reached under the lens of her glasses and wiped her eyes, “Aye. Let’s begin the procedure.”

“I’m sick of all this standing around,” Archangel said as he crossed his arms. Both Dazzler and Xorn were pressed up against the prison walls on opposite ends in utter boredom and frustration. “Out with it.”

Spiral sighed, “I told you, it’s more complicated than you think. Science can’t really explain it. Neither can magic.”

“What’s killing her?” Warren demanded.

“You have no idea how pleasurable it is to hear you ask that very question, Your Highness!” Spiral smiled, “There’s a reason why the Mojos never had any wives. The mantle of Mojo gives the individual a certain life-draining ability. Usually, Mojo needs to be in close proximity…”

“Warren is doing this?” Dazzler blurted out. “How? Longshot did this…made Betsy use her own psychic blade on herself.”

Spiral nodded, “True. It was a catalyst. But it was Warren’s doing.”

“That’s impossible…,” Warren gasped, “unless I did it unknowingly. Absorbed her life force.”

“No,” Spiral explained, “you’d feel it. This is a tad bit more…intangible. Love, for example? Coupled by the fact that marriage is an almost spiritual bond—and you two already shared the Crimson Dawn abilities. The spiritual channel between you never ceased.”

Archangel looked down at his left hand, at his wedding ring, “No…”

“I hope you signed a pre-nup,” Spiral cackled.

After a brief moment of introspection, Warren looked up, “What do I have to do?”

“Firstly, your marriage license; annul it,” Spiral said as a piece of legal documentation and a pen suddenly appeared in front of Warren’s face. He briefly looked over at Alison and Xorn, both of which seemed shocked that this was even happening at all. To hear that Warren and Betsy were already married was a stunner.

Alison’s hands rushed to her mouth as she had certain empathy for her former boyfriend in that her own marriage to Longshot ultimately crumbled because of Mojoworld. It seemed Warren noticed this and felt a tear run down his face.

Flashes of memories flooded his senses as he recalled the first time he and Betsy met. Both of them were going through dark periods of their lives. Both were warped into killing machines and yet they were able to retain their humanity through each other’s love. It was a love that carried on when that darkness was washed clean…

Warren took the pen which hovered in front of his face and was prepared to sign the annulment. “I can’t…”

“You HAVE to!” Spiral implored with a smug grin.

“Something’s…wrong,” Dr. Stephan Strange’s astral form said as he hovered alongside Scarlet Witch above Psylocke’s bed-ridden body. “An outside force of some kind is trying to get to her…”

“I can feel it, too,” Wanda said as she strained. “I can’t seem…to hold it.” Sweat beaded on her forehead, “Stephan?!”

Brian Braddock, who was by his sister’s bedside with a bandaged forearm, appeared alarmed, “Did the procedure not work?”

“ARGH!” Dr. Strange erupted in pain. He gripped his temple as he regained his composure, “I shouldn’t have been able to feel that physically.” Strange sighed, “I have to regroup. We should stop the healing spell for now.”

“But Psylocke--!” Wanda shouted.

“We’ve done all we can for now,” Strange said as he faded away ominously. “Her fate is not ours to decide this day.”

“Well…,” Brian said as he rubbed Betsy’s clenched fist, “she’s a tough cookie. She’ll pull through, eh?”

The former Captain Britain seemed alarmed by Wanda Maximoff’s sudden look of distress. He turned around and observed several masked men and women dressed in black ninja attire. Before the cadre of ninjas stood a large, muscular Spaniard in very the same attire.

“Ugh, thanks for the subtle warning, Stephan,” Brian muttered to himself. “Who in the holy feck are you?!” he growled as he prepared to lunge at the man.

The man in question simply uttered a command in Japanese, preventing the other ninja from initiating an unnecessary battle, “I am called Vargas.” He gestured behind him, “They are the Hand.”

Brian grit his teeth, “You are not TOUCHING my sister!”

“On the contrary,” Vargas began as he allowed a solitary ninja to pass in front of him. He carried a strange glowing urn. “The Hand possesses the only means to ensure Psylocke will survive.”

Spiral smiled as Warren signed the annulment, “Now…your ring. Destroy it. It’s the primal symbol of your bond with Psylocke.”

Warren almost reluctantly slipped the gold ring off of his finger and held it out in front of him, “Xorn.”

The Chinese mutant’s mask suddenly became illuminated by the internal fusion of his star cluster brain, “Are you sure?”

Tears streamed down Worthington’s face as he fought for the courage to say, “Yes.” And with that, a beam of heat poured through the eyes of Xorn, directed at the ring Archangel held in the air.

In an instant, Warren dropped the broken ring on the floor amidst the constant laughter of Spiral. Her shackles suddenly broke open and shattered as her eyes glowed with an eerie aura of yellow.

Psylocke’s eyes darted open as the contents of the mystical urn enveloped her body. Her vein-filled complexion returned to normal and her platinum hair became an eerie jet black. Wanda and Brian looked on in both delight and shock. Psylocke ripped the IV from her arm and stood up in her hospital gown.

“Bets?” Brian smiled as he slowly approached his fraternal twin sister. “Are you…?”

“GRRRAH!” Psylocke growled as she drove her palm into Brian’s nose, stunning him and promptly elbowing him in the throat, causing him to slump over. She finished the bout by “stabbing” him with her psionic blade. Brian’s eyes went wide as every last one of his pain receptors went off, leading to his unconsciousness.

“Oh my God!” Scarlet Witch shouted as she went into a defensive stance upon noticing Psylocke’s aggressive gaze upon her. “Betsy! Stop! Don’t test me!” she warned as she held out her hands, chaos energy flowing from them like a burning flame. Out of nowhere, seemingly avoiding the hex, Psylocke nonchalantly jabbed her psionic blade into Wanda’s temple.

“I’m not evil, Wanda,” Psylocke whispered into her ear as Magneto’s esteemed daughter began to black out, “but you all can go to HELL for all I care!”

“What the fuck?!” Dazzler shouted as she stood behind Archangel. Spiral seemed to double in size and mass with energy encircling, dancing around her—she was called the “time dancer” after all.

“It was part of the deal, even if it wasn’t spoken,” Archangel said as he un-holstered his twin gold-plated guns, “so get ready to fight.”

“Why don’t you get ready to…DIE!!?!” Spiral shouted as a bright white light exploded from her form, vaporizing everything in its path. Outside, the prison facility imploded and crumbled beneath the might of Spiral.

The might of Mojo VII.

Vargas, the last human repository of the Crimson Dawn energies, lovingly watched on as Psylocke dressed into her own ninja attire which she had stocked away. Part of him was surprised, “You want to rejoin our ranks?”

“The moment I was close to death, I subconsciously called for the Hand’s assistance,” Psylocke said as she tightened her leather gauntlets. “I knew what you did for Elektra would help me.”

“But why attack your friends?” Vargas inquired. “Why join us?”

“Everyone else seems to have come up with their own solution to my problem, which I intended to fix on my own…now everyone has fouled everything up worse than before,” Psylocke sighed. She pulled the gold and diamond-encrusted butterfly wedding and engagement ring off of her finger. With sorrow in her voice, trying to hide the sheer emotion, she dropped the rings on the floor.

She looked up, “I have no where else to go now.” Betsy then pulled up her hood and covered the lower half of her face, completing her transformation into a full-fledged ninja once more, “And quite frankly…I don’t want to deal with what’s coming next.”

And with that, Psylocke followed her Hand brethren and Vargas through a shadow portal. Into the darkness.

“Fuck…ah…fuck,” Warren coughed as he stood up. His suit and shirt had been burnt off of his body. Blisters from the heat of Spiral’s blast covered much of his face and torso. Many of his feathers had been burnt off of his left wing. Being able to fly was out of the question.

Xorn stood over Dazzler’s form, “Come on, stay with me, Ali.” He held out his hands as a soothing blue energy encircled her.

And that’s when Warren caught something. He grabbed Xorn by the forearm, forcing him to drop a small vile of blue mist, “What the hell are you doing?!”

“I’m healing her!” Xorn shouted as he shoved Warren in the chest.

Warren winced in pain as his bloodstained body rebelled against him. He slumped to his knees. He closed his eyes, “You’ve never been able to heal anyone naturally…have you?”

Xorn looked away as Dazzler, fully energized, darted up from her brief moment of cardiac arrest after using her force field to protect them from Spiral’s atom-splitting blast. He shook his head, realizing his lying would only complicate things, “It’s an old ninja remedy.”

Warren flashed his teeth, “The Hand.” He sighed, “All this time, boasting that you could heal the sick…it was all bullshit. Whenever you ‘chose not’ to heal others was because you were out of the stuff, right? You were trying to turn yourself into a fucking messiah to attest for your past sins?”

“It brought you back to life,” Xorn reminded. “Once.”

“You lied,” Warren grumbled. “What’s worse…you could have used it on Betsy!”

“I’m not a mystic, Warren,” Xorn sighed. “I can only heal based on my supply of the healing element. The hydrogen fusion process of my star cluster does the rest. I used the last of it up on Alison. It was all I have. I swear.”

“You can only probably get that on the black market…,” Archangel muttered. “You bought that shit with MY company’s money?!” Fully distraught, Warren slumped down and covered his face, “This can’t be happening.” He looked at Xorn and almost laughed, “I seriously had a lot of respect for you once…turns out I was wrong yet again.”

“You have no idea what it’s like to grow up like this, Warren!” Xorn shouted as he pointed to his horrific helmet. “I’m very insecure! I was imprisoned!”

“For a crime!” Archangel rebutted. “I know you’re hiding something! I’ve seen you on the battlefield. I’ve worked with Wolverine. I know a natural born killer when I see one!”

Xorn crossed his arms, “I needed something to help people like me…as childish and stupid as it sounds…so yes, I turned myself into an Asian Jesus.”

“Stop fucking talking!” Archangel yelled.

“Guys!” Dazzler shouted, trying to catch her breath. “I don’t have the strength to stop you two from bickering again.” She pointed into the distance, towards Mojo’s Citadel. Lightning crackled from the sky all around it, “In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got some serious shit to deal with.”

“Three against a god,” Xorn moaned. “Terrific.”

“Jesus…what have I done?” Archangel limped to get to his feet, horrified by what has transpired, “Betsy…where are you?”

"…where are you?”

“Allow me to introduce the new leader of the Hand…,” Vargas bellowed as he presented the dojo filled with deadly Hand agents. “Lady Mandarin and former head of the Jigoku…Psylocke!!!”

Psylocke unmasked herself in front of the thousand-strong faction which has gone through rebirth after rebirth over the years. It was ironic that they were involved yet again in her rebirth. But now the two were simultaneous.