Forge	Nice entrance. Couldn't you have used the door?
Rogue (after crashing through the roof of Eagle's Nest)	We wanted t' s'prise y'all.

Appearing in "Wraithkill!"

Featured Characters:

• Storm (Ororo Munroe) (Main story and flashback)

Supporting Characters:

• Forge
• X-Men
  • Colossus (Peter Rasputin)
  • Rogue (Anna Marie)
• Nazé

Antagonists:

• The Dire Wraiths
• Deathwings
• Hellhounds
• Shadowbeings (First appearance)

Other Characters:

• Joe Huntley (First appearance; dies) (Host for a Dire Wraith)
• F.B.I.
  • Inspector Mathis (Hosts for Dire Wraiths)
  • Unnamed FBI agents (Hosts for Dire Wraiths)
• Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett) (Only in flashback)
• ROM (Illusion or holographic simulation)
• Starshine (Illusion or holographic simulation)
• Yukio (Referenced)
• Devil (Invoked)
• Valerie Cooper (Mentioned)
• Goddess (Invoked)
• Lord (Yahweh) (Invoked)

Races and Species:

• Mutants (Main story and flashback)
• Dire Wraiths
• Cyborgs
• Deathwings
• Hellhounds
• Humans
• Shadowbeings (First appearance)
• Galadorians (Illusion or holographic simulation)
• The Brood (Referenced)
• Dogs (Referenced)

Locations:

• Sol (Main story and flashback)
  • Earth (Main story and flashback)
    • North America (Main story and flashback)
      • United States of America (Main story and flashback)
        • Texas
          • Dallas
            • Eagle Plaza

Items:

• X-Uniforms
• Superhuman/alien detector, "Scanalyzer"

Synopsis for "Wraithkill!"

Continued from the last issue...

Storm is walking away from Forge's home following the revelation that he invented the neutralizer weapon that stole her powers. As she flees, some Dire Wraiths who are seeking to destroy the weapon and its creator arrive at the huge tower and get past security by posing as FBI agents until one of their kind replicates the security guard. Hearing the racket, Storm turns and is attacked by a Dire Wraith that comes out of the huge downpour. Storm rushes back to Forge's office tower where she finds a gun among the scattered remains of the security guard and tries to use it to defend herself. Despite the shooting lessons that Wolverine previously had given her, it’s Forge's old friend Nazé who manages to kill the alien sorcerer with a shotgun. Nazé explains who he is and he and Storm attempt to contact Forge about the danger coming from above.

This is too late because when Forge answers the phone, the Dire Wraiths enter his penthouse and use their mystical powers to create Deathwings to protect the building. Without power in the building, Storm and Nazé are forced to climb the elevator shaft where they are attacked by a Hellhound. It attacks Storm, but Nazé manages to shoot it dead. They are next attacked by another Wraith, whose mystical bolt breaks one of the elevator cables. As it madly springs upwards, Storm gets her foot caught on it and finds herself being pulled up to a potentially painful death. She manages to pull herself free and uses the cable to bring her up to the level where Forge lives, leaving Nazé to traverse the other floors alone.

Storm exits onto the rooftop patio to find that the Wraith's have cast a spell to turn the rainstorm into a blizzard. Unable to resist the cold, Storm is forced back when she is attacked by another Hellhound and Wraith. As she locks them back outside, she is struck by a powerful mystical mental backlash caused, unknown to her, by Nazé being replaced by a Dire Wraith. This backlash is felt by Forge who has fled deeper into his home and activated the automated defenses.

Storm catches up to Forge and the two face off against the Wraiths together. When one of the Wraiths attempts to trick Forge by casting an illusion spell to make it look like Storm, and Storm look like a Dire Wraith, Forge taps in his long-neglected mystical talent to learn the truth and destroys the Wraith. They are reunited by "Nazé" who congratulates Forge for embracing his heritage once more. Just then, Rogue and Colossus smash through the roof and join up with Forge, Storm, and the faux Nazé in mounting a counter-attack on the Wraiths in Forge's home. As Storm, Colossus, and Rogue fight off the horde of Wraiths, Deathwings and Hellhounds, Forge rushes off to find some kind of distraction.

Left to his own devices, the Wraith-Nazé goes to the Eagle's Nest inner sanctum and begins preparing a spell of evil intent. As the X-Men continue to fight against the Wraiths, Forge provides ample distraction by having his home's holographic simulator create virtual constructs of the Spaceknights ROM and Starshine, striking fear in the Wraiths. This allows the X-Men to easily wipe out the rest of the Dire Wraiths. However, before they can consider the battle over they are suddenly attacked by a manifestation of Shadowbeings that have been summoned by the Wraiths.

This story is continued next issue...

See Also

• 3 image(s) from Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 187
• 4 reprint(s) of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 187

Links and References

• Official Marvel Index to the X-Men (Vol. 2) #4 - See for further referencing

References