The Shadow King (plot)

When he was a child Amahl Farouk witnessed a vicious lynching of a mutant girl. His mind unable to cope with the prospect of suffering the same fate compartmentalized and blocked his mutant abilities. In the process it inadvertently created an autonomous psychic construct that grew to parasitically subsist on the psychic energies of Amahl and on other telepaths that Farouk came into contact with.

As time went by the increase in the 'stolen' energy being processed though his body began to have a severely adverse effect on Farouk's physical condition as his body began to 'burn out.' Concurrently the parasite, styling himself the Shadow King, began to block some of Farouk's abilities in order to minimize the deterioration.

Puzzled and concerned Farouk eventually sought help from the mansion, inadvertently exposing the X-Men psis to the depredations of the Shadow King. Throughout Farouk's tenure the parasite seeded its influence in most of the resident telepaths, biding its time.

The denouement came as Farouk left for Madripoor, to utilize a local Jesuit Hospice in a surgical operation he hoped would allow him to solve the puzzle of his illness. As Amahl was placed under anesthesia, the Shadow king revealed itself and took over his mind overtly. Shortly after it launched an attack on Cain Marko, planing to take Juggernaut's body as his new host.

However, the experience as the vessel of Cyttorak made Cain a unique being, prompting a crisis unforeseen by the Shadow King. Its attack on Marko brought about a prospect of an entirely new construct being born, a hybrid possessing of both magical and psychic abilities. This created a paradox, throwing the Astral Plane into chaos and confusion.

Following a warning from Dr. Strange the X-Men psis attempt a rescue, but the Shadow King utilizes the triggers it emplaced within their minds and drives some of them catatonic, others experience severe hallucinations or personality displacement, wreaking havoc through the mansion and Salem.

X-Force depart for Madripoor to investigate the situation and if necessary to resolve the crisis by assassinating Farouk. Back at the mansion, however, Strange, Sefton, Maximoff and Rasputin continue investigating the situation and eventually hit on a desperate plan - by flooding the Astral Plane with the magic energy they hope to create an environment that would become inhospitable to a pure psychic entity like the Shadow King. Activating the network that X-Force has been cultivating among the mages, they channel their energy and achieve their goal - the Shadow King is forced out of the Astral Plane and is imprisoned by Farouk inside his own mind - just in time to provent X-Force from killing him.

Meanwhile the Astral Plane still continues to experience severe discombobulation as a consequence of the clash between Scientific and Magical worldview forced by the crisis. This eventually forces a manifestation of the collective human subconscious through a young human Catholic priest, Bennet du Paris - the Plane is scoured clean of psychic and magical constructs and 'rebooted.'