The X-Men unexpectedly stop in at the apartment of
Misty Knight, finding only her roommate, Harmony Young. They explain the open
invitation from Misty to stop by whenever they needed and the initially
surprised Harmony agrees, inviting them to stay. Kitty Pryde asks Storm to
accompany her in meeting her parents, hence the reason for their stop in at
Misty’s apartment. Having brought nothing else to wear, Harmony lends Storm
some clothes and the two head out for the night. Meanwhile, in Rio Diablo,
Cyclops talks with his brother Havok about their recently returned father and
Xavier’s recent coma. They head back to Alex’s home where Polaris is readying
dinner while entertaining Corsair. Corsair states how much he loves seeing his
sons but also admits that it’s only a temporary stop, as he plans to head back
out into space, not quite feeling at home on Earth. When asked if he would like
Scott and Alex to accompany him, he honestly isn’t sure.
Back at the apartment, Nightcrawler talks with Harmony
about his past in the circus, when suddenly they get a call from Kitty asking
to speak to Ororo. Problem is, Ororo isn’t there, even though she left Kitty
hours ago, and we see that she’s been attacked, lying in an alley with two
wounds in her neck! Wolverine and Colossus rush to the hospital after Storm is
taken there and find out that they have no definite answers about anything, but
that Storm’s wounds seemed to be superficial. Storm is released from the
hospital against the doctor’s wishes and is put to bed in Misty’s room to
recuperate. During the night, her rest is fitful and anxious, as she feels
increasingly off, and a strange voice calls out to her. Eventually, she can
resist it no longer and bids a mystery guest to enter and a strange fog swirls
about the room!
Days later,
Kitty returns from her trip to find the others in poor spirits. Storm has taken
a turn for the worse and apparently now doesn’t even want to go on living!
Kitty goes to Storm, opening the curtains until Storm cries out that the light
hurts! Kitty also notices a mysterious scarf that Storm suddenly acquired, as
well as flinching at the sight of Kitty’s Star of David necklace. After getting
rebuked by Storm, Kitty runs out to follow some hunches about Storm’s
condition. That night, Storm bids her mysterious guest to enter once more,
revealing that it is Dracula, who had already bitten Storm, confirming Kitty’s
suspicions that they were dealing with a vampire. Before Dracula can complete
Storm’s transformation, Kitty returns bearing a cross, but finds it has no
effect, since she doesn’t believe in it. Her Star of David does work, however,
as Dracula is burned trying to grab Kitty and he and Storm make their escape
out the window!
The others find Kitty and Wolverine tracks Dracula and
Storm to Central Park, where they’re holed up in Belvedere Castle. Dracula
appears and summons rats and wolves for the X-Men to contend with. Try as they
might, the X-Men make little progress against Dracula and his minions until
Nightcrawler makes a cross with two sticks, hurting Dracula due to his belief
in God. Dracula then summons lightning to strike Kurt, prompting him to have to
continuously teleport to avoid it. While the rest battle Dracula, Kitty sneaks
into the castle and finds the vampiric Storm and pleads with Storm fight
against Dracula’s control. Outside, Nightcrawler teleports above Dracula,
causing the lightning to strike all present, which unfortunately does nothing
to Dracula. Storm arrives and reveals his hold over her is broken as she
attacks Dracula, before chasing him into a skyscraper near Central Park. After
a short battle, Storm concedes that she will never be controlled again. This
earns Dracula’s respect, and he flies off, promising that they will meet again!
Back the apartment, after everything is resolved, the X-Men get a sudden a call
from Moira MacTaggert, stating that Professor Xavier’s condition has taken a
turn for the worse!