Fear in the Dark

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PHASE 2

Fear in the Dark
Dates run:	May 4, 2019 - July 29th, 2019
Run By:	Rei and Rossi
Read the logs:	Fear in the Dark

It is Asgard drama, it is complicated and annoying and quite the telenovela

Tandy Bowen's past with the entity known as the Dweller gets majorly complicated as old alliances are reformed and old nightmares awakened.

Timing

May 4, 2019 - July 29th, 2019

Breaker of Stone

Cast

Tandy Bowen, Julian Keller, Alex Summers, Arthur Centino, Barbara Morse, Callisto, Hope Abbott, Lorna Dane, Maya Lincoln-Lopez, Quentin Quire, Susan Storm, Warren Worthington, Scott Summers, Garrison Kane, Angelo Espinosa, Jean-Phillipe Colbert, Clarice Ferguson, Jean Grey, Logan, Sooraya Qadir

NPCs: Dweller-in-the-Dark, Cullen Zaher/Cul Bor'son, Cindy O'Neal/Skadi, Cain Marko/Juggernaut/Kuurth, D'Spayre, Michelle, Society of Thule

Plot Summary

In May, the Dweller and D'spayre were freed from their prison in the Empire State Building by agents of the Society of Thule, including a young woman called Cindy O'Neal who was fascinated by the Dweller and its history. With powerful enchantments hiding the escape, the Dweller again possessed Tandy Bowen, but was still partially restrained by the spell. In return for its full release, the Dweller agreed to help O'Neal and her associate, Cullen Zaher to find the prison of Cul Bor'son, elder brother of Odin, deposed king of Asgard and former ally of the Dweller. The Dweller agreed, lending the pair D'Spayre to aid in their search and returned to Tandy's apartment to avoid suspicion. A day or two later, a phone call revealed Cul had been found on a forgotten island in Norway. Joining O'Neal and Zaher there, the Dweller witnessed O'Neal pick up the Hammer of Skadi and transform into the goddess of winter, but had not anticipated that Zaher would prove to be the avatar of Skadi's father, Cul himself. Agreeing to work together to locate the remaining hammers, the Dweller returned to the mansion with an amulet to shield it from the wards against evil, to use the resources there to aid in the search.

Over several weeks, X-Factor became aware of a series of disappearances of mutants, all with enhanced strength. The situation became more urgent when a young woman named Michelle came to the office, asking for help in finding her boyfriend - Cain Marko. Lorna, recognising the name from her time with her father's Brotherhood of Mutants, alerted the X-Men, while the investigative team began following leads. The search provided fruitless, however, until during a situation meeting a ruckus was heard in the streets below. X-Factor discovered that Cain Marko had returned, dressed in Asgardian-type armour and wielding a hammer with similar powers to Thor's Mjolnir.

Calling for back up from the X-Men, X-Factor split into three groups - two to evacuate civilians in District X and rescue those injured or trapped by Cain's rampage, while Lorna, Alex, Sue and Callisto tried to steer him away from populated areas and keep him contained. Lorna was injured during the fight and Cain showed no sign of recognising his former teammate, instead referring to himself as "Kuurth". The X-Men arrived and were successful in removing Kuurth's helmet, allowing Marvel Girl to take him down psychically. However, as they discussed next steps in the immediate aftermath, a mysterious woman, also dressed as an Asgardian warrior and bearing a hammer, appeared and teleported the unconscious Kuurth and his hammer away.

Breaker of Oceans

Cast

Tandy Bowen/Dweller, Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Bevatron, Nightcrawler

NPCs:

Cul Bor'son, Raymond Goud/Nerkkod

Plot Summary

While the media reported on the destruction in District X and the lack of police leads, a local Alaskan paper reported the disappearance of a local fisherman after he destroyed his boat at sea, nearly killing the crew. Doug Ramsey did some investigating and unearthed phone footage of the boat's crew hauling a large box up out of the ocean with their nets and then the captain, Ray Goud, transforming into some kind of warrior and destroying the boat. It did not bode well and on a remote beach, the truth was revealed as Cul welcomed his newest Worthy from the arms of the ocean.

In the meantime, following the events of "Breaker of Stone", the X-Men were on alert for any sign of Kuurth (or Cain Marko) resurfacing. When reports were received of a super-strong individual attacking a Russian base, it seemed like their caution had paid off. A team was sent to investigate and discovered a scene of carnage - security guards dead and their bodies scattered around the base. As they investigated further, they realised the facility wasn't a simple weather station or military outpost - it was some sort of storage facility which ran deep underground.

At the bottom of the deep pit they found inside the facility, the X-Men came across their target. It wasn't Marko, however - it was another Asgardian warrior, calling himself Nerkkod; he seemed to be trying to retrieve two large boxes of Asgardian design. After a pitched battle, Nerkkod was overwhelmed and fled, leaving behind the boxes. The X-Men decided it would be best to take the boxes back to the mansion for study.

Elsewhere, Cul was extremely disappointed in Nerkkod's failure and swore destruction of the pesky mutants who had interfered with his plans. The Dweller, however, was philosophical and promised that Cul would soon be fully restored, along with his Worthies.

Breaker of Men

Cast

Tandy Bowen/The Dweller in the Dark, Susan Storm/Skirn, Molly Hayes, Darcy Lewis, Tyrone Johnson, Laurie Collins, Amanda Sefton, Marie-Ange Colbert, Doug Ramsey, Wanda Maximoff Scott Summers, Julian Keller, Logan, Xavin Majesdane, Angelo Espinosa, Jean-Phillipe Colbert, Monica Rambeau, Sooraya Qadir, Artie Maddicks, Kevin Sydney, Clea Lake

NPCs:

Cul Borson

Plot Summary

With two of the mysterious hammers in their possession, the science and magic teams went into overdrive trying to ascertain what was going on. They had mixed succcess - while it was clear the hammers were Asgardian in nature, none of the residents with experience in that area could find any information about them. It didn't help that the Earth's premier Asgard expert, Thor was nowhere to be found. Undaunted, work continued.

A week after the finding of the hammers, Clea discovered a mysterious letter had added itself to the pile and shouted for Amanda. The letter had trace magic and a familiar seal and a quick consultation with Doug revealed that it was indeed from the Ancient One. All it said was Check Empire State, but Amanda knew straight away it related to her previous encounter with the Dweller, during which she imprisoned it and its 'daughter' D'Spayre in the Empire State Building. Worried about the state of the magic keeping the demons imprisoned, Amanda took a small team - Marie-Ange, Wanda and Doug - to check. There was a cloaking spell in place, but with the help of one of the ravens haunting Marie-Ange, they discovered that the prison had been breached and the occupants escaped. It was at this opportune moment that the mansion's alerts went off.

Back at the mansion, Sue had wandered into the lab where one of the hammers was being studied, looking for Reed. Strangely, the hammer seemed to be singing to her, and while the rest of the science types pondered the phenomenon, Sue reached out and touched the hammer. An energy wave swept through the room, lightning erupted and everyone was knocked flat as Sue Storm became Skirn, another of Cul's Worthy. Her awakening also destroyed the magic shielding the Dweller from the mansion's wards and every alarm - mundane and mystical - went off. The Dweller retrieved the second hammer while Skirn amused herself by flinging friends and colleagues around the place, and then the two made their exit, meeting Cul outside the grounds and teleporting away while the mansion's residents tried to understand what had just happened.

The Dweller wasn't done, however - there was one last chore to do. The three arrived at the Snow Valley offices and while Skirn and Cul held off the resistance of the three X-Forcers present, the Dweller retrieved the staff taken from it five years before from Amanda's safe, ensuring it could not be used against it.

In the aftermath, Doug was able to find footage of Cul on the mansion's security cameras, and was able to identify Cullen Zaher. It was another piece of a very large puzzle.

Breaker of Faith

Cast

Reed Richards, Darcy Lewis

NPCs:

Jane Foster, Dr Paul Pierre Duval/Mokk, Skadi, Skirn, Nerkkod, Kuuth, D'Spayre

Plot Summary

Despite the events at the mansion and the disappearance of his girlfriend Susan Storm, Reed had made commitments to attend the International Stark Science Conference in Paris with Darcy Lewis, less than a week after. He was cheered by a meeting with an old college friend, Doctor Paul Duval, who by coincidence was acquainted with Darcy's old 'boss' Jane Foster. Paul had something he wanted Reed and Jane to see at his nearby lab; when they arrived, they discovered Paul had obtained yet another of the mysterious Asgardian hammers. Paul laughed off Darcy's warnings, but before they could discuss the situation the building's alarms went off. D'Spayre and the all of the so-far-awakened Worthies - Skadi, Skirn, Nerkkod, and Kuurth - had come to collect the hammer and they weren't taking any chances.

Realising they were outmatched, Darcy pulled Jane to safety and called the X-Men for help. Reed tried to stop them from taking the hammer and after Skirn amused herself with him, Skadi turned the full force of her wrath on him. Paul, watching his friend dying in pain, grabbed the closest weapon to hand - the hammer he had been studying - and became Mokk, Breaker of Faith. While it wasn't exactly what they had planned, the Worthies were satisfied with a new associate and left the laboratory without any further damage or harm done.

The X-Men arrived at a later point to recover Darcy and Reed.

Breaker of Wills

Cast

Amanda Sefton, Artie Maddicks, Clea Lake, Doug Ramsey, Jubilation Lee Kevin Sydney, Marie-Ange Colbert, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff

NPCs: Harturo Tanaka/Griethoth, Cul Bor’son, Daniel Drumm

Plot Summary

With all teams on alert now for any signs of further hammers, X-Force went into motion when Natasha alerted them to a Nordic Hammer being auctioned in Tokyo at the prestigious Tanaka Family auction house. A few days before the sale, Kevin and Wanda posed as a wealthy couple looking to sell a valuable painting with Clea acting as their assistant and while Kevin and Wanda talked business, Clea used the excuse of needing the bathroom to infiltrate the server room and plant a device which would give Doug access to the building’s systems.

The day of the auction, X-Force ambushed a delivery van bringing in new items to the auction house’s loading bay. While Doug manned the comms and provided information, Amanda, Jubilee, Kevin and Marie-Ange took the places of the delivery crew and infiltrated the loading bay, meeting the eldest son of the Tanaka family Hatoru, who had been tasked with taking the delivery. Doug engineered an urgent phone call and errand for him and he left the delivery crew alone; with Doug’s directions they found the box with the hammer in it and loaded it onto the van, ready to depart.

An unexpected interruption came when a raven attacked Jubilee and Marie-Ange had a pre-cognitive fit which told her they needed to open the box and leave the hammer behind. Confused, but familiar with Marie-Ange’s powers, they were doing just that as Harotu returned. The hammer called to him and he responded, becoming the Worthy Greithoth and knocking everyone flat with the resulting energy wave.

Clea and Wanda, on lookout duty, watched as Griethoth blasted a hole in the wall and met with Cul, who teleported them away. The team was retrieved, bruised and battered and Doug scrubbed all signs of their presence from the security system.

Upon their return to the mansion, Amanda and Marie-Ange, had an unexpected visitor – the Ancient One’s follower, Daniel Drumm. He came bearing gifts – specifically a book providing information on Cul and his Worthy, something they had been searching for in vain. Despite the fact it put her again in the debt of the Ancient One, Amanda accepted the book and the accompanying verbal information and set about researching what they were up against.

Breaker of Souls

Cast

Kyle Gibney, Blink, Cyclops, Dominion, Dust, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler, Spectrum, Wolverine, Xavin Majesdane

NPCs: Craig Hollis/Angrir, Skadi, D'Spayre, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow

Plot Summary

With the knowledge that there were only two hammers – and Worthies - left for Cul to find, the mansion was on full alert. When Kyle shared news of a special event in the world of underground mutant fight rings, where the prize offered was “the power of a god”, it was enough of a lead for Scott to assemble the X-Men to investigate and hopefully prevent another Worthy from awakening.

With a small group outside to keep an eye on things and provide backup, Scott took his team inside the warehouse hosting the fights. In the main ring was a familiar box – one of the special containers which housed a Worthy’s hammer. Kurt teleported into the ring to secure the box and ‘port it away, but discovered the magic of the hammer prevented him from teleporting away at all, with or without the box. The other occupant of the ring, reigning and undefeated champion, Craig Hollis, mistook Kurt’s sudden appearance as a new challenger, and attacked him.

Meanwhile, Sooraya, Logan and Clarice had spotted two familiar faces in the crowd – Skadi and D’Spayre – and with Clarice’s help, Logan was able to get close enough to hear their plans. The fight had been arranged in order to find the Worthy for the hammer being offered as a prize, and time was running out. But before Logan and Blink could confront the pair, the box containing the hammer was broken during Kurt and Craig’s fight, and it was revealed that Craig was the chosen avatar for the next Worthy, Angrir.

With the sudden emergence of a large Asgardian warrior and the accompanying energy surge of the transformation, the crowd panicked and stampeded for the doors. Scott and his team became caught up in crowd control, trying to prevent casualties, and lost track of Skadi and D’Spayre. Angrir contributed further to the panic by using his hammer to try to destroy the main pillar holding the roof up – Logan drove him back and Jean used her TK to hold up the roof, but it was only a stop-gap measure. Sooraya, Kurt and Clarice cleared as many people out of the building as they could before it could collapse, and in the confusion, Angrir also was lost from sight.

Meanwhile, the outside team had their own hands full when their own crowd control duties were interrupted by the appearance of Skadi, D’Spayre and the newest Worthy. Garrison, Xavin and Monica did their best to stop the three from escaping and were marginally successful, but as the other team emerged from the destroyed warehouse, Skadi used her hammer to create an energy wave which knocked everyone over and gave them the chance to escape.

Boarding the Blackbird, Scott, Garrison and Jean were surprised to see three Avengers approaching. Tony Stark, Yelena Bolova and Kate Bishop had been undercover at the fight club for the same reasons as the X-Men, and realising this they decided to approach and compare information, revealing they had the last hammer locked up in the SHIELD vaults at the Triskelion. The discussion was interrupted by Kate’s phone – the Triskelion was under attack.

Breaker of Worlds

Cast

Blink, Cyclops, Dominion, Dust, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler, Spectrum, Wolverine, Xavin Majesdane, Julian Keller, Amanda Sefton, Jean Grey, Doug Ramsey, Fourteen, Marie-Ange Colbert, Molly Hayes, Garrison Kane, Scott Summers, Alex Summers, Darcy Lewis, Tandy Bowen

NPCs: Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk/Nul, Thor, The Dweller in the Dark, D'Spayre, Cul Bor'son, Skadi, Skirn, Angrir, Mokk, Griethoth, Nerkkod, Kuurth

Plot Summary

With the Triskelion under attack from Cul, the Dweller and their combined forces, any issues between the Avengers and the X-Men were set aside as they fought to protect the final hammer, locked in SHIELD vaults. Dominion, Marvel Girl and Spectrum joined with Captain America against Angrir and Nerkkod; and Dust, Xavin, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Iron Man took on Mokk (who was using his before-now latent mutant powers of turning things to stone) and Griethoth. Shades, former SHIELD agents who had been transformed by the Dweller’s powers, pervaded the building and contributed to the chaos.

Outside of the vault, the Hulk battled Kuurth, as Scott, Clarice and Julian took on Skadi and the Dweller. The vault was breached when Kuurth was thrown into the wall, and the Dweller too its chance to seize the box. An optic blast from Scott threw the Dweller into a wall and knocked Tandy’s body unconscious, but in the process the hammer box was also breached and their worst nightmares confirmed when the Hulk responded to its call and seized it, becoming the final Worthy, Nul. Satisfied with how things had turned out, Cul teleported his people out of the building, while Scott had Clarice teleport the unconscious Tandy out to the mansion, taking advantage of the confusion to stop her falling into SHIELD’s hands.

At the mansion, Jean and Amanda combined their respective expertise to enter Tandy’s mind and help her lock down the Dweller’s presence in her mind. At the same time, Phebe Stepford informed Doug about Marie-Ange’s bout of automatic writing, which provided further clues into the unfolding situation. And in the morning, the mansion saw a visitor who was able to provide all of the answers they were looking for – Thor returned from Asgard where he had been sequestered with his father Odin and a weapon against Cul created – a new Odinsword – as well as a gift from Baldr to help Tandy. Representatives from the various teams at the mansion gathered to discuss the situation, joined by Thor’s “friends from work”, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers and, more surprisingly, by Tandy herself. It was agreed the situation was too big for the Avengers or the X-Men, and plans were laid to combine forces. It was shortly after this that Cul made his move, as news reports across the globe reported mass destruction caused in various cities; the Worthy had been deployed and were doing their best to sow global fear and panic.

Breaker of Gods

Cast

Alani Ryan, Alex Summers, Clea Lake, Everett Thomas, Fourteen, Jean-Phillipe Colbert, Jubilation Lee, Kurt Sefton, Laurie Collins, [[Namor], Rahne Sinclair, Reed Richards, Sharon Friedlander, Sooraya Qadir, Stephen Strange, Susan Storm, Xavin Majesdane

Alison Blaire, Amanda Sefton, Artie Maddicks, Betsy Braddock, Garrison Kane, Hope Abbott, Jean Grey, Kevin Sydney, Kyle Gibney, Miles Morales, Molly Hayes, Monica Rambeau, Topaz, Tyrone Johnson, Wanda Maximoff

Angelo Espinosa, Doug Ramsey, Julian Keller, Logan, Marie-Ange Colbert, Scott Summers, Tandy Bowen

NPCs:

Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Falcon, Deathlok, Hawkeye, War Machine, Vision, Thor

Cul Bor'son, Skadi, Kuurth, Nerkkod, Skirn, Mokk, Griethoth, Angrir, Nul; The Dweller in the Dark, Cindy O'Neal

Plot Summary

Across the world, in various capital cities, the Worthies were creating chaos and terror, but surprisingly few deaths - their mission was to generate enough fear world-wide to provide Cul with the power he needed to assail Asgard and take back his throne. The Avengers and members of the various mutant teams, devised a plan - eight teams would take on the Worthies while another group, with Thor and the Odinsword, would take on Cul himself. But this time they would go in prepared.

Breaker of Stone: Havok, Dust, Wallflower, Fourteen and Deathlok took on Kuurth in Los Angeles. While Havok and Deathlok kept him distracted with plasma blasts and heavy artillery, Dust infiltrated his armour and Wallflower overloaded the temperature-control parts of his endocrine system. At last, Kuurth was forced to remove his protective helmet, which allowed Fourteen to shut his mind down.

Breaker of Oceans: In Tokyo, Namor and Loa took on Nerkkod in his element, eventually able to force him to land. Black Widow, Sharon and War Machine then engaged him while Bevaton used Tokyo's power grid to overcharge his powers. At the crucial moment, he released the stored electricity at Nerkkod, knocking him unconscious.

Breaker of Men: Skirn was found in Mexico City. Rahne used her enhanced senses to track the invisible Worthy, allowing the "official" Black Widow, Jubilee and Clea to engage her. When Skirn threw up a forcefield to protect herself, Jubilee used an old trick from her student days, overloading Skirn's powers and causing the shield to fall. Then Reed, conflicted about fighting his former girlfriend, wrapped her so completely in his skin she was rendered immobile. For the time being.

Breaker of Faith: With Mokk causing destruction in Jerusalem, Synch, Nightcrawler, Xavin, Stephen and Hawkeye had to act quickly to prevent an all-out war. Synch and Xavin went in as the heavy-hitters, most immune to Mokk's ability to turn things into stone. Hawkeye and Stephen bombarded him from a safer distance, all trying to break through the Worthy's armour. At last a small chink was created, and it was then that Nightcrawler acted, teleporting in and injecting Mokk with the active ingredient in peanuts - something Dr. Paul Pierre Duval was deathly allergic too. Mokk collapsed, his stolen body reacting to the allergen.

Breaker of Wills: Changeling, Facade, Wildchild, Psylocke and Falcon went to Geneva to battle Griethoth. With a combination of X-Force's research into the host body's background and Betsy's telepathy, they pinpointed the personal trauma most likely to impact on Haruto Tanaka and upset the hold Griethoth had on his mind. Wildchild and Falcon played distraction - Facade, Changeling and Psylocke interacted, Changeling using his shapeshifting to mimic Harotu's disapproving and strict father, while Facade created illusions of the scenes Psylocke was giving him from the memories she dragged out of his mind. Griethoth, unable to retain his hold on Harotu's traumatised mind, dropped the hammer.

Breaker of Souls: Angrir was in New Delhi. Daytripper, Trance, Cloak and Dazzler were joined by Captain America in trying to subdue the immortal Worthy. After a prolonged fight, during Trance and Dazzler were involved in evacuating the crowds, Daytripper crushed the Worthy to death in her shielding spell bubble, only for him to slowly return to life. Trance, reading his aura, realised that more than anything Angrir feared his death state, even if it was only temporary, and called on Cloak to use his powers. Cloak was overcome with hunger at the 'taste' of the Worthy's Asgardian magic and proceeded to 'eat' him, only releasing him when Trance called him out. When Angrir emerged from Cloak, he was a shell of the former Worthy, drained and deeply traumatised by the experience.

Breaker of Worlds: In Johannesburg, Nul proved to be a terrifying challenge. Spider-Man and the Scarlet Witch, along with the Vision, did their best to contain him, while Topaz drained off as much of his anger as she could (promptly returning it in the form of magical attacks). At last, after a ringing blow from Miles, Nul was half-dazed, giving Topaz and Marvel Girl the chance to enter his mind and forcibly shift the Hulk back to Bruce Banner. Nul still possessed him, but for the moment the abrupt change left Nul temporarily stunned.

Skadi, Daughter of Cul: Dominion, Spectrum, Bruiser and Iron Man arrived in Reykjavík to confont the final Worthy, Skadi. AS Goddess of Winter, she had turned the Icelandic summer into a snowy battlefield, and the four had to work quickly to save the city from freezing completely. Bruiser and Dominion, able to stand extremes of temperature, engaged Skadi directly, while Spectrum and Iron Man directed huge amounts of infra-red energy at her. It seemed to be working.

Breaker of Gods: Meanwhile, the larger team arrived on the island of Haja, Norway, where Cul had been imprisoned and where the final showdown would take place. When Cul realised they were there, he sent a burst of fear energy to Tandy, hoping to release the Dweller from its imprisonment in her mind. Tandy collapsed, trying to fight back, with the help of Marie-Ange and Doug. Scott, Julian, Angelo, Logan and Thor (armed with the Odinsword), attacked Cul, the mutants providing support to the former biker-turned-Asgardian. Cul managed to knock the sword away from Thor, with it landing close to the blood-cursed Doug. Tandy - or possibly the Dweller - approached Cul, at the last moment unleashing an enormous light burst which weakened him for a moment. A moment was all that was needed, as Doug seized the Odinsword and ran Cul through, before cutting off his head - the very moment that Marie-Ange had seen and the reason why she had brought Doug along, blood curse and all.

At the same time Cul was killed, the hammers of the Worthies dissolved into dust. Kuurth and Nerkkod returned to their human states; wrapped up in Reed's body, Skirn's struggles ceased and she became Sue again; Mokk became Paul Duval and Kurt injected him with and Epi-pen to stop him dying of anaphylactic shock; Greithoth and Angrir became traumatised humans; Nul's hammer dissolved as Miles went to touch it; and Skadi became Cindy O'Neal. The other hosts were taken into SHIELD custody, but O'Neal disappeared in the confusion when Molly succumbed to hypothermia and had to be taken to hospital.

Tandy was completely drained by her power burst and was brought back to the mansion in a coma. A team of her friends was assembled by Amanda and Jean - Molly, Topaz, Julian and Hope - to enter Tandy's mindscape and assist her in imprisoning the Dweller. It was a battle, but with the help of the Baldr-infused 'Mjolnir' clone that Molly summoned, they succeeded. It meant, however, that Tandy was now the Dweller's prison and she would be vulnerable to any attacks from those who followed him.

Related Links

Asgard

Light in the Darkness

Darkness Within

The Thralls of Asgard

External Links

Fear in the Dark

xp_communication posts

xp_journal posts

media reports

xp_teams posts

Trivia and Meta

Trivia

Although it wasn’t revealed on screen, the reason for Marie-Ange’s vision in Breaker of Faith was to weaken Skadi by having another Worthy awakened – without that, she would have been too strong to defeat during the end plot.

Meta

Plotrunner: Rei and Rossi (who deserves all the gold stars)