Creation

The New Mutants Special & Uncanny X-Men Annual cross-over was a turning point for Moonstar's character (who was known at the time as Mirage). This was when she gained her Valkyrie powers, which has been a long standing fan-favourite aspect of her character.

The Asgardian Wars

New Mutants Special & Uncanny X-Men Annual #9

While enjoying a holiday on a Greek island, the New Mutants & Storm were kidnapped by Loki's henchmen. He planned to bewitch Storm, who had lost her mutant powers by turning her into the new God of Thunder in Asgard. Since he didn't require the New Mutants, he handed them over to the Enchantress. When threatened, Magik attempted to teleport them all to safety. However, her mutant power clashed with the Enchantress' magical wards and therefore the team was scattered across Asgard.

Magik was held captive by the Enchatress, while the other New Mutants experienced different adventures as they travelled back to save her:

• Karma survived a walk across the desert, during which time she lost all the weight she'd gained when possessed by the Shadow King.
• Sunspot enjoyed being a mysterious Shadow Skinned warrior adored by the local Asgardian barmaids.
• Cypher was treated as a slave boy in the feast halls, and later entered into a Gestalt merge with Warlock to escape.
• Cannonball saved a dwarf princess, but was wounded in battle.
• Magma was tricked into eating Faerie food, which transformed her into an elf.
• Wolfsbane fell in love with the wolf prince, Hrimhari.
• Mirage was adopted by the pegasus Brightwind, and therefore gained the powers of the Valkryrior.

Eventually they thwarted the Enchantress. However, they remained trapped on Asgard and Storm was still bewitched by Loki's lies. Due to the psychic link between Magik & her best friend, Shadowcat received a subliminal message in her sleep. Cyclops used the thunderbolts from Arkon The Imperion to transport the X-Men to Asgard.

The X-Men divided into two search parties. One half discovered Cannonball & Magma who were forced to deliver a new mystical hammer for Loki. The other X-Men located the other New Mutants, but were soon kidnapped by Loki.

The action came to ahead when the mutants confronted Loki in the Great Hall of Heroes. Wolverine was severely poisoned, and Storm struggled to understand why her closest friends were trying to hurt her new friend Loki. When she took possession of the mystical hammer Storm transformed into a Goddess & began to attack Wolverine with the power of lightning. It was when Hela appeared to collect Wolverine's soul that Mirage was forced to intervene, trying to fight the Goddess with her new Valkyrie powers. The sight forced Storm to snap back to her senses. She used her powers to fight Hela, and then Loki.

All the mutants were returned to Earth. Everyone was returned to normal, except for Karma (who did not regain her obese weight) and Mirage (who retained her Valkyrie abilities).

Collected Editions

• X-Men: The Asgardian Wars (1st Edition)
• X-Men: The Asgardian Wars (2nd Edition)

Related

• The Gift