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X-Men Annual Vol 1 12

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Quote1 You thought me slain, fools -- now learn to your peril how wrong you were! Quote2
—Terminus

Appearing in "Resurrection!"

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  • Terminus (robot/armor/mecha) (Main story and flashback) (Destruction)
  • High Evolutionary's Flycycle

Synopsis for "Resurrection!"

Having detected an attack on the very Earth itself, Storm flies away from the X-Men's headquarters in Australia, almost pulling Longshot into the sky in the tail-wind, if not for the fast thinking of Dazzler who saves his life. Rogue shoots off after Storm to follow her while Madelyne and the other X-Men track her with their base's equipment. Pinpointing Storm's trajectory to Antarctica, Logan realizes that Storm is heading toward the Savage Land. In order to meet Storm there, Logan and the other X-Men gear up and have Gateway teleport them there.

Upon their arrival, the X-Men are shocked to see that the Savage Land has been decimated and is nothing more than a barren frozen wasteland[1]. Finding a bone, Logan has Longshot use his psychometric powers to learn what happened and he relates a story how an alien creature known as Terminus was responsible for the land's destruction that seemingly killed everyone in the area. Hearing this, Colossus becomes upset that a woman -- a member of the Fall People -- to whom he had made love when the X-Men first traveled to the Savage Land[2] might be dead. When Psylocke begins scanning for signs of life, the X-Men are suddenly shaken by a sudden earthquake.

Elsewhere in this frozen wasteland is the High Evolutionary, who has come across a sample of Sarcodes Sanguinea, proving his theory that the former Savage Land is not truly barren and that life can once more thrive here. He is suddenly attacked by what appears to be Terminus, who bursts from the ground and grabs the High Evolutionary in his massive hand. Seeing "Terminus" rise from the ground, the X-Men come to the High Evolutionary's aid, but none of their attacks have any effect on the creature except for Wolverine's Adamantium claws. However, even they cause little damage and the armor's self-repair systems instantly fixes what damage was done. When Storm and Rogue arrive, Storm realizes that "Terminus" is the reason she was drawn to the Savage Land and unleashes the full fury of the winds to knock him into the side of a mountain, burying him in rubble while Rogue rescues Wolverine, Longshot and the High Evolutionary from the giant alien.

With the battle over, the High Evolutionary explains that he has come to attempt to restore the Savage Land to its former splendor and the X-Men agree to try and aid him, sending Havok along with the Evolutionary while the X-Men keep an eye on Terminus. Longshot meanwhile wanders off and when he slips on a patch of ice he is shocked when he suddenly passes through some invisible portal. When Alex arrives with the High Evolutionary at the temporary base he has set up in the area, he is surprised to learn that the Evolutionary's interests stem around evolution and that he has focused much of his life to get all species to reach their true potential. Seeing a photograph of his Knights of Wundagore makes Alex consider that the Evolutionary is not all that different from Professor Xavier and his formation of the X-Men. He is then introduced to the Evolutionary's assistant in attempting to restore the Savage Land, Zala. Alex finds her striking and wonders if he has not met her someplace before. As they begin discussing how to restore the Savage Land, the High Evolutionary tells Havok that a living being, preferably a mutant, whose primal nature was in sync with the land's, would be the focus-catalyst needed to trigger the land's restoration. Havok reveals that he knows of only one person that could succeed in the task but, so far as he knows, that person is dead.

Back out in the wasteland, Dazzler realizes that Longshot is missing and decides to go looking for him, with Wolverine (weary of Dazzler's love-sick nature regarding Longshot) tagging along while Storm, Rogue, Colossus, and Psylocke go to keep an eye on Terminus. When Logan's tracking of Longshot's scent leads him through the invisible portal, Dazzler screams when she witnesses Logan suddenly disappear. While not far away, Storm notices that her Cameo crystal is glowing and races back to find Dazzler, ordering Rogue and Psylocke to stay and keep an eye on Terminus. When Colossus and Storm catch up to Dazzler, Storm raises her Cameo crystal and a portal suddenly opens and the massive form of the Warhound C'Jime emerges from the portal. Before Colossus can attack, Storm explains that she met this creature during their first visit to the Savage Land[3]. The X-Men are surprised that a number of beings from the Savage Land survived, rescued by Storm's friend M'Rin and brought to her dimension.

Colossus is happy to be reunited with Nereel, who also survived. She has a son named Peter but she discreetly reminds Longshot that he promised to not reveal that Colossus is the boy's father. Just then, Terminus revives, and as Rogue attempts to pull Psylocke away, they are knocked out of the sky. With Storm staggering their foe with a lightning bolt, everyone gets into the ship on C'Jime's back and the giant beast attacks Terminus with its advanced weapons, but they have no effect on Terminus. During the course of the battle, Havok and the High Evolutionary return with a plan. Quickly implementing it, Rogue uses her powers to absorb Longshot's luck powers.

With them, Rogue flies toward Terminus's faceplate, smashing and revealing their enemy is not Terminus after all, but Garokk, hooked up to the machine, under its influence and believing himself to be Terminus. As Rogue begins absorbing Garokk's power, weakening him, Wolverine and Havok attack to disable the robot's self-repair systems. Once that's done, Dazzler fires a full strength photon blast at the back of the robot's head, blasting through it with enough force to propel Garokk out of his seat in the head and into the air where Storm catches him. Deprived of Garokk's life-force, its sole source of power, the robot collapses and falls apart into flaming rubble.

Free from the machine's influence, Garokk has no memory of what has happened to him since he last faced the X-Men and is shocked to see what has happened to his land. When told that the Savage Land had been laid waste by Terminus, Garokk wonders if he was the destroyer, but is quickly reassured that it was another who wore the accursed armor, leading Havok to realize that, if the last guy wasn't Terminus and neither was Garokk, then the real Terminus must still be on the loose.

When Colossus asks Nereel about her son's father, she doesn't tell him the truth, telling him that the man is gone and she will raise the boy on her own. Garokk agrees to help the High Evolutionary restore the Savage Land and, at the High Evolutionary's citadel, it is determined that Garokk would have to sacrifice his life in order to restore the Savage Land to its glory. Garokk, having cheated death many times and having enough love for his land to sacrifice his life for it, agrees to do so. As the X-Men oversee the operation, the Savage Land Mutates (led by Zala, who is really Zaladane) watch eagerly, seeing this as playing into their hands and the first step to their goal of conquering the world. The High Evolutionary is aware of this and he secretly plots to foil this plan as he activates the device that converts Garokkk into pure energy that restores the Savage Land to its glory, restoring the vast tropical forest and its prehistoric wildlife.

The X-Men then help the survivors of the Savage Land rebuild. However, before leaving, Storm has Psylocke alter their memories so that they do not fully remember who helped them. Some time later, after the X-Men have left, Ka-Zar and his family return to the Savage Land and are surprised to see that the survivors have formed together as the United Tribes and have created a banner given to them by their saviors. When Ka-Zar and Shanna ask who helped them, all Nereel can tell them is that their saviors were legends.

Evolutionary War
X-Factor Annual #3 Punisher Annual #1 Silver Surfer Annual #1 New Mutants Annual #4 Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22 Fantastic Four Annual #21 X-Men Annual #12 Web of Spider-Man Annual #4 West Coast Avengers Annual #3 Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #8 Avengers Annual #17

Appearing in "I Want My X-Men!"

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  • Mojo's floating ship

Synopsis for "I Want My X-Men!"

In the Mojoverse, Mojo is furious that in order to stop the Adversary, the X-Men sacrificed their lives[4] cutting off any future records of their exploits ruining his ratings. With the danger of dropping out of the number one spot he makes demands to his writers, the head writer balks and has his head turned into that of a child by Mojo.

His prisoner, Ricochet Rita tells Mojo that it would be simpler to just find replacements for the X-Men. Finding this idea brilliant, Mojo orders his Warwolves be pulled in for the job, however he learns that they are still on a mission to recapture Phoenix[5]. He then latches Rita to his ship to pilot the Wildways to find suitable replacements. Rita is up for the challenge, telling Mojo that she survived the trip before[6][7].

Doing a casting call, Mojo rejects every alternate version of the X-Men from an all female version, all robot, kinky, and animal X-Men. When the final pull is a new incarnation of X-Babies based on Rogue, Wolverine, Havok, Storm, Dazzler, Longshot, Colossus, and Psylocke, Mojo is instantly angered. Horrified at a lil' Longshot, Mojo uses his powers to turn Lil' Longshot into a photograph leading to a battle between Mojo's forces and the X-Babies. As Mojo unleashes his Trademark Police on them, the X-Babies pound them while Sugah and Lil' Dazzler fight over the Longshot photograph. Wolvie and and Psychild free Rita and when Mojo surrounds them all, Major Domo informs his master that X-Babies are an instant hit.

Realizing the marketing potential of these cute little X-Men, Mojo accepts them with open arms although Wolvie takes the opportunity to poke the ruler of Mojoworld in the rear with his claws. With the X-Babies Mojo's new sensational stars, Rita wonders if she will end up regretting this.

Appearing in "The High Evolutionary Chapter Seven: Demon Night"

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  • High Evolutionary's Annihi-lance
  • Darkhold

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Synopsis for "The High Evolutionary Chapter Seven: Demon Night"

For over a decade, in the Citadel of Science, Herbert Wyndham has genetically transformed animals into intelligent humanoid beings and the ghost of a sixth century sorcerer named Magnus (in the body of Jonathan Drew) has trained these New Men into highly skilled, highly principled warriors. As the High Evolutionary, Wyndham declares that the apprenticeship of the latest knights-in-training is over and he dubs the six of them (including Sir Gote and Sir Hogg) Knights of Wundagore, bringing the total to forty-two. When Magnus mentions that he had had them undertake the training program with great haste to prepare the Knights to face the demon Chthon, Wyndham reminds Jonathan that he only humors his claims about his body being occupied by the ghost of a sixth century magician and he totally rejects the idea of a demon from the bowels of the Earth. The High Evolutionary then dismisses the new Knights so that he can make preparations for the feast of ascension.

Elsewhere in the valley of Transia, a pregnant Gypsy woman who has had to leave the village inn because she had run out of money spots the citadel in the distance. She hopes that the lord of the manor will take her in because her water has just broken and she will soon be in labor.

At nightfall, the pregnant woman arrives at the Citadel's gate and is challenged by Sir Gote. Shocked at seeing a man with a goat's head, the woman faints. Although his lord had forbidden the presence of outsiders in the citadel, Sir Gote reasons that he surely would not deny a very pregnant woman. As he leaves his post to carry her inside, Sir Gote doesn't notice when a cloaked figure a carrying a book takes that opportunity to sneak into the area.

Within the Citadel, Bova cares for the Gypsy woman whose contractions have begun. Having been informed of her presence, Wyndham and Jonathan soon arrive. While Jonathan probes the unconscious woman's mind and determines that she is clean, with no trace of the demon in her, the High Evolutionary tells Bova to keep her confined to that section and to let no more New Men interact with her. As the pair are about to leave, Jonathan experiences some pain and mutters that he can feel that Chthon will rise that night. As the pregnant woman becomes semi-conscious and mutters about how her husband was a monster from whom she had to get away, Wyndham decides to sound the alarm and call the Round Table to arms. With the psychic assault having passed, Jonathan is all right again and he reveals that the woman, although not part of the demon's scheme, did provide enough of a distraction for someone to bring the infernal Darkhold into the vicinity. As Wyndham recalls that the Darkhold was the book that their neighbor, Baron Russoff, had once owned, a book that was supposedly written by the demon, Jonathan assures him that his skepticism will be laid to rest that night and then collapses as the spirit of Magnus leaves its borrowed body. Wyndham thinks that he sees a faint image of the spirit, but quickly reassures himself that he didn't.

Soon afterwards, a flight of five Knights leave the Citadel on Atomic Steeds into a sudden storm. As they wonder what they were supposed to be scouting for, they hear loud laughter as a face appears in the storm clouds and identifies itself as the Other, the elemental host of his demonic majesty Chthon. The Knights attack with their atomic lances but the Other is unharmed and easily kills several of them. Watching from below, the High Evolutionary begins firing his Annihili-Lance at the face.

At the base of Wundagore Mountain, the spirit of Magnus finds Baron Gregor Russoff seated cross-legged, with the Darkhold in his lap. Realizing that the baron had lied when he claimed to no longer have the Darkhold and that Chthon has used him to recite the Spell of Ascension, Magnus takes possession of Russoff's body and begins to recite the Spell of Binding. Becoming aware of what Magnus is doing, Chthon tries to stop him. At the same time, within the Citadel, Bova has just delivered Magda's second baby when a flash of light briefly blinds her, preventing her from seeing that the "lightning" touched the newborn baby girl.

Outside, the demon-storm abates, a full two hours after it began, and the High Evolutionary and his surviving Knights celebrate their victory. Wyndham wonders if the elemental threat that had killed over half of his Knights was Jonathan's demon.

The next morning, Magda clutches her two newborns to her bosom. None are aware of the fact that Chthon had secretly touched the female mutant-child, transforming her into someone with a dual heritage of science and magic, so that, when she reaches maturity and embraces that heritage, the woman who will be called the Scarlet Witch will be a fitting vessel for Chthon's full demonic majesty.

Solicit Synopsis

The Evolutionary War rages on! A massive, three-way battle is brewing when the High Evolutionary decides to rebuild the decimated Savage Land! Can the X-Men survive a head-on encounter with not only the High Evolutionary but also the gargantuan Terminus? Also: Once again, it's those diminutive mutants, the X-Babies!

Notes

  • I Want My X-Men! (2nd story) doesn't list any credits.
  • Resurrection! (1st story) reveals that the yellow-skinned alien who died in Avengers #257 while still claiming to be Terminus was never the real Terminus after all. In Quasar #7, Eon will reveal that this first false Terminus wasn't even an alien, he was Jorro, a Deviant weapons-maker who had created the replica space armor for Terminus and had then worn it when sent to recover Terminus's lance and to engage Earth's champions in battle so that Terminus could better gauge the extent of their might.
  • This story also implies that, like Garokk, wearing the armor had caused Jorro to think that he was the real Terminus, thus explaining why that Avengers story had been written as if he were the real planet-ravager.
  • The ruined Terminus mecha and his Lance will next be seen in Quasar #7, when Terminus summons his lance back to him.
  • The story does not explain how Garokk came to be imprisoned in the Terminus mecha. It also doesn't explain how the Savage Land, which was merely described as being frozen over back in Avengers #258, was now burn-scoured down to the bare rock, a fate that had befallen Pangea in Avengers #257.
  • Demon Night (3rd story): Like in all annuals published in 1988, it shows the history of the High Evolutionary, with new details.
  • Massive changes that have since been made to the origins and backstories of Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) and Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) have seemingly rendered much of this story non-canon. The most significant changes are:
    • Jessica Drew's father, Jonathan Drew, was never the partner of Herbert Wyndham and the co-founder of the Citadel of Science on Wundagore Mountain. Instead, he and his wife were scientists employed by HYDRA at a secret base on that mountain.
    • Magda Lehnsherr, the former wife of Magneto (Magnus Lehnsherr), did not give birth to Wanda and Pietro. Instead, the true mother of the twins was Natalya Maximoff, the previous Scarlet Witch. Where Natalya gave birth to her twin children has never been revealed, but it is known that the Knights of Wundagore kidnapped them from the female relative in Serbia to whom Natalya had entrusted them and brought them to Wundagore where the High Evolutionary had experimented on them.
    • Also, Wanda and Pietro were never mutants, they were actually only mutates disguised as mutants. Why the High Evolutionary supposedly disguised them in that way has never been revealed.

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