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Quote1 The city is ruled by a wizard named Kulan Gath. Quote2
Valerie Cooper

Appearing in "An Age Undreamed Of"

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Synopsis for "An Age Undreamed Of"

Continued from last issue...

The military has come to New York in full force after a strange mystical barrier has erected itself around the island of Manhattan, transforming the teeming metropolis into a Hyborean realm of barbarians and magic. In Washington DC, there is an emergency meeting with National Security at the White House. There, Valerie Cooper briefs those gathered of the situation going on in New York. She explains that anyone who crosses the mystical barrier into the city is transformed into a barbarian from a bygone era with no memory of their previous life. However, those who stumble out of the area are restored to normal. Intelligence has gathered that an evil sorcerer named Kulan Gath is responsible for the spell. Attempts to contact the Avengers and the Fantastic Four have failed, however Val confirms that a number of the Avengers, X-Men and Spider-Man have been spotted active in the city. All of them, with the exception of Spider-Man, had been transformed.

When the talk focuses on members of the X-Men, a bunch of anti-mutant rhetoric gets passed around until a commanding military officer speaks up about how this is exactly the sort of bigotry that America fought against when they battled the Nazi's during World War II. Val breaks up the debate and tells them that she hopes the super-human community trapped within the mystical barrier can resolve their problem.

Within the barrier, Storm of the X-Men has been transformed into a warrior woman aboard a passenger ship. She is awoken when her sleeping quarters is broken into by the Vizier's Guard, Morlocks led by their captain Callisto who now are enforcers for Kulan Gath. They arrest her because her existence displeases their master and they are about to brand her with a hot iron collar, but Storm manages to break free, knocking over the hot coals. As the other Morlocks attempt to avoid the flames, Storm climbs up to the mast head, but Callisto follows after her. Unarmed, Storm is defenseless when Callisto slashes her stomach open with a knife. This causes her to briefly remember her previous identity. With the boat burning up quickly, Storm grabs Callisto and swings out to the water. Being sure that Callisto takes the brunt of the impact, Storm swims away from the blaze and passes out of the mystical barrier. She and Callisto are restored back to normal and Storm retains all her memories. Swimming toward a military vessel, Storm wonders what Kulan Gath has done to her other friends.

At that very moment, Kulan Gath is doing everything in his power to convert those who would stop him into his loyal slaves. To this end, he magically merges Professor X and Caliban into a single entity to better hunt his foes and has Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Strange, mystically warped so that he cannot utter a magic spell or cast any with his fingers, rending him harmless. With these threats neutralized, Gath orders prisoners to be brought to them. The most recent prisoners are members of the New Mutants. However, while he is capable of transforming Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, and Mirage into his loyal slaves, his spell has no effect on Warlock who manages to escape. When it is explained that Warlock does not come from Earth and is immune to the Master Spell, Kulan uses his magical might to force Caliban/Xavier to deal with the Technarc. Gath is unaware that he is being spied upon by Selene who also has not been affected by the spell and has decided to overthrow him. Selene teleports into the city where she kills a number of Kulan Gath's minions in an attempt to recruit Rachel Summers and Magma to her side.

Meanwhile, on the Hudson River on the other side of the barrier, Storm and Callisto are aboard a military ship trying to figure out what to do, now that they are locked up. They are contacted by Selene telepathically through Rachel to warn them that Kulan Gath intends to not only make his Master Spell permanent, but also to make it encompass the entire Earth. She tells Storm and Callisto that while she cannot prevent another transformation when they cross the barrier, she can at least make them remember their mission. Agreeing to do something, Storm picks the lock to the room that they were locked in and they jump ship, heading toward the barrier.

Back on the other side, Spider-Man, one of the only people unchanged by the Master Spell, flees for his life. Hunted by the New Mutants, Spider-Man ducks into a tavern and tries to fight them off. Inside are the transformed Avengers, Captain America, Starfox and Wasp, as well as the X-Men Nightcrawler and Rogue. The New Mutants succeed in capturing Spider-Man when Mirage notices young Illyana and recognizes her as a foe of her master. Before she can take Magik prisoner, the Avengers step in and a fight breaks out. Nightcrawler and Rogue decide to join the fight and help the Avengers. As the battle rages, Colossus and Sunder enter the fray, turning the battle in a massive free for all.

Back on the other side, Storm and Callisto travel the Morlock Tunnels to the edge of the barrier. Without hesitation the two pass through, once more being transformed into warriors and are instantly ambushed. While above, the battle rages on until Magik begins using her magic. She realizes that her Soul Sword frees those from Kulan Gath's control when she strikes her brother Colossus with the sword. She is soon overwhelmed by attackers until Selene steps in and uses her powers to slay most of the warriors, forcing the New Mutants to retreat from the battle.

With the fight over, Selene makes her presence known to the heroes and offers an alliance with them. She is attacked by an astral image of Kulan Gath who swallows her up, transporting her off to be his prisoner. He warns the gathered rebels to cease their quest to overthrow him, offering them pleasure beyond their wildest dreams and teleports away, warning them not to cross his path again. As Kulan Gath disappears, Storm and Callisto arrive and they and the others flee before the forces of Kulan Gath can storm the tavern. When Gath learns that his enemies have fled, Selene mocks him. This causes her to be tortured. Gath then tells his minions that he wants all the rebels taken prisoner by sunrise and sends them back out into the city.

Meanwhile in the Morlock tunnels, the gathered rebels camp out for the night and begin comparing notes. They all realize that Kulan Gath is their primary concern but worry that Selene's brand of evil is something to be dealt with when Kulan Gath is defeated. Deciding to work together, the heroes all call out "Avengers Assemble!" Although most are gathered together in this rallied cry, standing off to the side are Rachel and Magma.

This story is continued next issue...

Notes

  • The reality that Kulan Gath has created is Earth-8591.
  • Spider-Man and Selene are aware of the pre-transformation world, presumably because of their prior experiences with Kulan Gath; in Spider-Man's case, they fought in Marvel Team-Up #79 and will again in Spider-Man / Red Sonja.

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