"Vargas came through a shadow portal, wounded Blink, and then took her through the same portal," Quicksilver explains, having called a mandatory meeting in the briefing room. The X-Men, Pyro, Rogue, Archangel, and Joseph, are all sitting at a long rectangular table while Quicksilver is sitting at the head. They are all dressed in their leather uniforms. "Based on what Warren has already told us of Psylocke's possible involvement with this, I think it's safe to assume she's turned heel. She must have become head of the Jigoku after Sabretooth killed Tsung."

"Are you sure she wasn't part of it before Sabretooth killed Marcus?" Joseph asks.

"She was acting rather strangely in Japan," Quicksilver observes.

"Where's Blink now?" Rogue asks.

Quicksilver looks at Joseph, "She's not being detected by Cerebro."

Joseph folds his arms, "She's probably in the shadow realm. Or where ever the Crimson Dawn's power resides."

Archangel's eyes flash, "The Ebon Vein. Guys, I just want to say I don't think this is totally Betsy's fault. She's shown no signs of being genuinely evil before."

"Yeah right," Pyro scoffs. "I've read up on how she was placed in Kwannon's body by Spiral an' all that. The Mandarin and the Hand corrupted her. Plus, the fact she held the Shadow King in her wee lil' head for so long, maybe some of him rubbed off on her. Now she's got those shadow powers."

"That's what I'm saying, John," Archangel shouts, pounding his fist on the table, "It's not Betsy, it's the Crimson Dawn."

"Well, Psylocke, or rather, Kwannon, had a connection to Nyorin," Joseph observes. "Maybe Psylocke inadvertently inherited the top spot with the Jigoku? And now, as Warren says, maybe the Crimson Dawn is corrupting her, causing her to use the crime syndicate for her own means?"

"Why do you think it's Betsy's control of her shadow powers that's causin' this?" Rogue asks.

Warren shakes his head, "I don't know if it's our psychic rapport or if it's my new powers, but I just have an instinct about it. I can't explain it." Archangel looks up towards Quicksilver, "I saw the Ebon Vein, the source of the Crimson Dawn. It's the literal life blood of Earth itself." He looks back at his teammates.

He takes a drink of bottled water, "The Proctor of the Dawn, Tar...he was a tough cookie. Getting a pint of the elixir was serious stuff. Dr. Strange, Wolverine, and I probably didn't realize at the time, but Tar may have been the good guy. He was just trying to prevent Betsy's descent into darkness. A stubby little man named Gomurr eventually became the new Proctor soon after Psylocke's transformation."

Quicksilver rubs his chin and zips over to the computer console and performs a little search on the Crimson Dawn, hoping to find legends of it online. "Ah-ha!" he exclaims. He presses a button, causing a hologram to form above the table, allowing the team to see the webpage.

Quicksilver appears back at the head of the table in a whoosh of warm, dry Outback air as he reads the text aloud, "932 BC, Laos - A man uses ancestral rosary and tries to perform a spell on the Earth to save his dying wife and creates the mystical Vein'ebon. Some believed it was the heart of Gaia herself. Others believed it to be the heart of Chaos. Regardless, the spell did not work. The widower became the first Proctor, ensuring the balance of the light and dark sides of the Vein'ebon."

Joseph decides to narrate the next passage, "1021 AD, China - according to legend, gentle high priest named Nara-Sinn goes on mystical journey to find Vein'ebon, comes back with red blade marking over his eye and can manipulate the shadow. He tries to overthrow the Emperor. Sinn is eventually killed by spearing after sorcerers removed power by deploying a magical spell of illumination..."

Warren's brow lowers as he reads through the next one, "1843 AD, Mongolia - The first woman to contract the Dawn by drinking from the Ebon Vein is able to control the impending darkness by distributing the power throughout her family. The family is eventually slain by samurai when the Sorcerer Supreme known as the Ancient One sensed terrible darkness."

"And the list goes on," Quicksilver sighs, turning the hologram off, "each having similar outcomes. Whenever someone gets the Crimson Dawn power, they're corrupted and...they eventually have to be killed."

"We're not going to kill Betsy!" Archangel shouts.

"I know, Warren," Quicksilver says. "There's another way. There has to be. We've lost too much already. We're not going to lose Betsy."

"Or Blink," Joseph mutters as his eyes sparkle with electromagnetism.

"What I don't get is that there's a light side to the Ebon Vein, too. Why isn't that documented?" Rogue asks.

"Maybe the people wanted the power out of greed. Once they got the Crimson Dawn, the shadows reflected their true nature...?" Pyro suggests. He was dying for a cigarette. He reaches for his coat pocket and pulls out a piece of gum. He begins chewing it like mad.

"Or maybe the preceding Proctors weren't able to maintain the balance of the light and dark sides like the original?" Rogue asks.

"Oh, I know!" Pyro comments, "They wanted to strike fear into the hearts of those that wanted the power by showing the negatives. Just like those anti-marijuana campaigns on TV."

The other X-Men roll their eyes.

"Warren," Pietro asks, "what happened exactly when Betsy got the Crimson Dawn powers?"

"Well," Archangel begins, "she was wounded fatally by Sabretooth. I myself had a chunk of my metal wings missing because of that bastard, too. Um..." He sighs and touches his chest, "A portion of my soul gave her those powers."

"A portion of your own soul?" Quicksilver asks.

"Well, rather the piece of Betsy's soul she entrusted with my own. Dr. Strange used his magic and pulled it out of my chest. It took the form of Betsy as a gold figurine. Then he plunged the figure into the Ebon Vein and...that's how she got the power," Archangel explains.

Warren nods as he recalls everything that year, "Yeah. Just a few weeks later, my metal wings molted, revealing my original feathered wings. After I shed my metallic wings a second time, I got these." Yellow wings of light suddenly manifest out of his back. "I'm pretty sure it was some kind of thing that had to do with Apocalypse."

"Um," Rogue interrupts. "The moment Apocalypse died, his genetic tampering on me and the other Horsemen flushed out of our systems. I'll bet it happened to the other former Horsemen as well. Whatever your powers are now, they can't be linked to Apocalypse."

"Maybe it's just the next evolution of my powers," Warren suggests. "You discovered your absorbed powers and personas didn't go away after a while, they were encoded to your DNA."

Rogue ponders the statement, "Hmm, maybe you're right."

"We have to find a way to get to Blink. Vargas could be killing her right now!" Joseph shouts, getting everyone back on track.

"Sorry, I absorbed a little of Pietro's sister once. I'll see if I can access some of her knowledge of mystics," Rogue says as she gets up from her chair. "It's just that memories and personas take a lot longer to access than powers. I'll need a little quiet time to myself to concentrate."

"It's okay, Rogue," Quicksilver says as he sits down. "If it fails, we'll know where to reach Psylocke. She's still in Tokyo."

Elsewhere...

Blink is fighting for her life in a realm she's never seen before. It is the mystical dimension of the Ebon Vein. In the center of the mountainous region is a glowing mass of red liquid, appearing to be pumped through a system of roots into the terrain. Adjacent to the Ebon Vein is a large throne with a little Asian man wearing a green cloak. He has his hands folded. A golden staff rests by his side as it leans against his chair.

Vargas comes at Blink with vicious cuts. She has already been stabbed in the hip and sliced along her ribs. He isn't talking. He's a silent killer. However, Blink was trained by some of the best fighters in a reality that doesn't even exist.

She leans backward as she avoids Vargas' deadly swipe. He seems to growl as he uses his free arm to jab into her stomach. She cries out in pain as her wounds become worse and more painful.

"I'm going to get you, damn it," Blink mutters. "Powers or not. Your ass is mine."

Vargas chuckles as he swings at Clarice again, actually taking off about ten inches from a stray strand of hair. Blink grits her teeth as she kicks the sword from Vargas' grip, causing it to stick into the rocky ground. She follows that up with a jab to Vargas' chin with the casts on her forearms.

"Argh!" Vargas screams. "Bitch!"

"He speaks!" Blink smirks as she delivers a sharp kick across his jaw. He simply shrugs it off and grabs Blink by the neck and tries to strangle her.

"You won't defeat the Jigoku," Vargas mutters coldly. With a press of a button, the sword magnetically returns to Vargas' glove. "I'm gonna enjoy this."

The Base

"Okay," Rogue says, closing her eyes as she scribbles down a list of things needed to perform the necessary magic spell to access the Crimson Dawn dimension. The others wait patiently...well, Pyro simply flicks his finger against his cheek, producing a leaky faucet noise. "There, done."

Quicksilver picks up the pad of paper and arches his eyebrow, "Are you...sure we need all of this?"

Joseph grabs the list and scans it, "A Mandarin-English dictionary?"

Rogue shrugs, "I need to recite the spell in Chinese."

"We could just as easily contact Forge or Dr. Strange, you know," Archangel suggests.

"Rogue can do it, mate," Pyro says. "She's our new mutant Swiss army knife fer fecking sakes."

"She absorbed Scarlet Witch for what, a split-second?" Warren asks.

"Still enough, I guess," Rogue says. Quicksilver, having memorized the list, has already returned with various odd objects needed for the spell. Toad eyes. Rotting poultry carcass. Dried rice. Incense sticks. Various volcanic rocks.

"I, uh...couldn't find any pickled human toes," Quicksilver says reluctantly.

"Jesus criminy," Pyro mutters. "You expect me to quit smokin' in this kinda work environment? Feck that." He tries to fumble around in his trench coat pockets and eventually finds a pack of Marbarol...except it's empty. "Mother feckers, seriously!"

"Goddamn it, John. You're going to kill yourself if you smoke with the patch!" Warren exclaims. "Don't know how I can make it any more clear for you!"

"Well, the goddamn patch don't work!" Pyro shouts, ripping it off of his forearm.

"John, shut up. Blink and Psylocke are more important than a frickin' cigarette. Look at yourself, you're acting like Robert Downey, Jr.," Quicksilver says, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Lemme see that list," Warren says. He is handed the pad by Rogue, who was already setting up the positioning of the rocks. She drew a weird symbol on the tiled floor in an open area of the briefing room. He looks at Pietro, "Where in the hell did you find all of this?"

Pietro shrugs as he turns around. He was performing a search on the Internet, trying to find pickled toes somewhere, "I dunno, Australia has it all."

Pyro smiles, "Cept no legal prostitution. Damn it. Kylie Minogue will be mine soon enough, ey?"

"Pietro," Joseph says, "you didn't get the sooloo herb."

"Hmm...must've missed that. I'll check to see where it is," Quicksilver says as his fingers fly across the keyboard. "It's in Taiwan."

"...where in Taiwan?" Joseph asks.

"I don't know, anywhere you can find it. It just grows there. It's very distinct. Hot pink, can't miss it," Quicksilver says, still searching for pickled toes. "Use your powers to focus on that particular color of the spectrum."

"Okay, back in a jiff," Joseph says as he hovers.

"Wait, are you fast enough?" Rogue asks.

"If I ride the radio waves, yeah. Won't take more than fifteen minutes there and back," Joe says as he flies out of the room.

"Ah-ha! Pickled toes in San Diego! Look out!" Pietro shouts as he zips out of the room.

Rogue begins writing the incantation in English. She takes the Mandarin dictionary and writes down the rough translation, the Indo-European syllables, anyway.

"So," Pyro asks, chewing a wad of gum in the side of his mouth, making his cheek stick out, "Chinese, huh?"

Rogue nods.

"Must be kind of hard. You know, as a telepath, you'd be able to learn the language in a minute?" Pyro suggests.

"I already did, I'm just making sure the spelling is correct. I have to say this thing exactly. Magic is dangerous stuff," Rogue explains as she continues to translate.

"Yeah...I kinda hate magic," Pyro says.

"Well," Rogue says, visibly frustrated by Pyro's constant presence, "that's your preference. Right now, we need it."

"John?" Warren asks.

"Yo?"

"Uh, maybe you can be more of a help by helping me move this table out of the way. There's going to be a large portal to the Crimson Dawn dimension here in a few minutes," Archangel suggests.

"Oh, sorry," Pyro chuckles. He gets out of his chair and goes to the opposite end of another table. Archangel is on the other end. "One, two....THREE!" Pyro grunts as they lift it and place it against the far wall.

"You hate magic, Worthington?" Pyro asks.

"Um...the black magics, I guess," Archangel sighs.

"Yeah, I kinda hate it all. Remember all those Limbo demons? I hated that shit."

Warren simply nods.

"S'matter?" Pyro asks. "You look all...well..."

"Damn it, John. The lady I love is sick!" Warren shouts. "And all you're doing is being a jackass! I've had to deal with this corrupt teammate business before. Jean, myself, Charles, Rogue, and now Betsy! Why are you so fixated on getting my attention away from her, unless..."

"What?" Pyro asks. Warren simply glares at him. He manifests his wings and his talons. He lightly touches John's forehead with his talons, gaining insight on his psyche.

"You slept with her...?" Archangel mutters coldly. "Looks like I was right." Paranoid my ass, Samson.

Rogue's attention perks up, but she doesn't pick up the pencil off the pad of paper, "Jeez, here it comes."

"I...did, okay!" Pyro admits. "But we all have to remember Psylocke is just a manipulative bitch...er...okay, Dark Psylocke is. She seduced me, mate. What can I tell ya? We snogged! We shagged! Can you blame me? She had so much telepathic suggestion runnin' around in my brain, it was drivin' me mad. I'm tellin' ya, I'm not a home-wrecker!"

"Said the former terrorist," Archangel mutters, his clawed hand still over Pyro's face.

"Back," Pietro says as he slides to a halt. In his grasp is a glass jar filled with a yellow liquid and dozens of severed human toes. "Can you believe this cost 45 dollars?"

Joseph hovers into the room with a handful of the pink sooloo herb, "I got the weed or whatever."

"Slowpoke," Pietro smirks.

Warren turns back to Pyro as he releases his grip, "We'll discuss this later."

Blink jabs her foot where the sun don't shine on Vargas. He growls in pain and grabs her by the neck once more. "You...bitch!"

"How original...," Blink growls.

"ENOUGH!" Gomurr shouts from his throne. "This realm is not to be used as a dueling ground for two warring parties!"

"Quiet, little man," Vargas smiles.

Suddenly, ten photo-fletchettes are stuck into Vargas' back. He tries to shout out, but he can't. He releases his grip on Blink as she falls to the ground, gasping for air. Her neck had dark purple handprints around it as the bloodflow was halted there.

Vargas, too, slumps to his knees, the feathers made of light still piercing his spine. They eventually disappear, delivering one last jolt of pain into the Jigoku assassin. He grimaces, "Don't get it...should have been...rendered powerless...my sword...has a negator...for mutants!"

Rogue and Joseph run over to Blink and help her to her feet, taking her over to the team. "How?" Blink asks.

"We had to do a magic spell," Joseph explains. "And I had to go all the way to Taiwan for a special herb." Blink gives him a dumbfounded look.

"We'll explain later," Rogue interrupts.

"You want to fight us, Vargas?" Quicksilver asks. "Go ahead. Without our powers, X-Men Omega is still a team to be reckoned with."

Vargas laughs, "Is that why you were duped by one of your own, my mistress?"

"I..." He pauses, looking for support from his team. They shrug. He bites his lip. "Shut up, asswipe," Quicksilver says in his commanding tone.

"Um, just a lil' bit o' observation here, mates...uh...how come only Warren can use his powers in the presence of that negator thing?" Pyro asks.

"Simply put, luv," Psylocke says as she appears out of a shadow portal wearing her black business suit. She concentrates and forms two katanas made of solidified darkness. "Archangel's wings and talons are mystical...derived from the Crimson Dawn."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks," Pyro responds as he spits his chewing gum out. "Uh...do we have any cool catch phrases to blurt out?"

"No," Quicksilver says. "We're pretty impromptu."

Warren suddenly takes to the air as Psylocke jumps at him with her shadow blades drawn. The two begin duking it out. Archangel wasn't a martial artist, but his flight gave him a unique fighting style, allowing a variety of "jump-attacks."

Suddenly, shadow warriors appear all around the remaining group of X-Men.

"Shit on a stick," Pyro growls. "Hey, you're right. We are impromptu."

"X-Men assemble!" Quicksilver shouts.

"Avenger-withdrawls?" Rogue asks with a smirk.

"You know what I mean," Quicksilver says nervously as the shadow warriors, with their katanas drawn, surround the powerless team.

Next: DAWNING concludes!