Fenris and Crucible are brought to New York from Wisconsin via magical transport to see Dr. Strange about a new matter. They are greeted by Wong, and the Doctor's new secretary, Mary Jane Watson. After being shown into the study, the Doctor explains he must make good on his vow to properly train Spiral, the High Lady of Wundagore. He tells them that little has gone on since the Invasion of New York, and that things are now quiet enough for him to see to the training, which could take several months.
He activates the Delphi Apparatus, which serves as a limited range magical sensor. He tells them that if anything happens while he is gone, and the Apparatus activates, Wong will contact them. The Doctor then takes his leave.
Wong wont let them stay at the mansion, after the prior incident where the demon in their group made him explode, and so they look up Fenris' associate, Marc Spector. Spector offers them a place to stay while they are here, as he is often out of town on 'business.'
As they are relaxing on a balcony overlooking central park, they are contacted by Wong, who tells them of an occurrence elsewhere in the city. Spector's righ hand man, Frenchie, offers to fly them to their location, and drops them on the perimeter of a large, vacant lot adjoining a rundown orthodox church.
Fenris quickly detects the presence of the supernatural, and as they approach, they see that the church is surrounded by vampires who are threatening to burn down the building to get to those trapped inside!
Springing into action, Crucible and Fenris attack the evil creatures, each going to a different side of the besieged church, and Crucible finds himself fighting three of the creatures alone!
Fenris chases off his attackers, and rejoins Crucible, and together they force the other vamps to retreat. After the battle they enter the church and question the priest standing guard inside. After much discussion, Fenris detects the presence of a magical being, and they discover that the priest has been hiding two young Russian refugees. A teenaged boy named Piotr, and his younger sister, Ilyana.
The girl has a magical aura, and the heroes try to convince the priest to let them take the youngsters to safety. As they discuss, the young man becomes enraged and assumes a form of gleaming steel. Before the confrontation can come to blows, cooler heads prevail, and the heroes convince the young refugees to come with them. Once back at Spector's mansion, they contact Hank McCoy, who says he will come in the morning to interview the teens.
The next day, he shows up with an older, wheelchair bound gentleman who introduces himself as Charles Xavier. Xavier explains that he is a powerful mutant telepath and quickly ascertains that the teens are both also mutants. He tells a disappointed Crucible that he is not a mutant, and that his mind is shielded from probing into his past.
Hank and Xavier promise to look after the teens and train them just like Hank was trained, at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, in upstate New York. With that, the four of them leave together, and the heroes retire to a well deserved break for cold beer and easy living.
(published June 7, 2014)
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