Plot
Jean Grey's clone, Madelyne Pryor, was taken in by the demons from Limbo, S'ym and N'astirh. They planned for a demonic invasion of Earth, beginning with Manhattan. Illyana Rasputin of the New Mutants began to mutate into a demon and N'astirh tricked her into opening a gateway. The city of Manhattan fell under siege, and the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Power Pack, and Spider-Man had to fight numerous demons, most importantly Hobgoblin, now possessed by a demon that did not disappear with the others when the crisis was over, and the mutant-hating Boogeyman, transformed into a monster by N'astirh. Even objects became demonically tainted and people's souls became twisted. Havok, Dazzler, Wolverine, Longshot, Archangel, and Storm all fell to the darkness to some extent. Colossus was one of the few who remained wholly immune to the effects of Inferno, due to the protection of his organic steel armor, which is a naturally disruptive force against magic. Some civilians weren't so lucky; some were maimed, others were simply devoured and/or killed.
As shown in Daredevil, life tried to continue as normal in the city. Buses still ran, under an all-volunteer force since the drivers had either been eaten or subsequently transformed into demons themselves. Subways functioned, though Daredevil had to save one from being sucked into the depths of Hell. Stores still sold products. Helicopter tours ran.
Other parts of the city did not function as well. The Daily Bugle was under siege, though fortunately for the untrained civilians and an injured Spider-Man inside, the demons shattered under one blow. Demons also attacked Osborn Chemical, and Harry Osborn put on his Green Goblin suit to defend it. Kang the Conqueror sought control of Mantis.
In the late stages of the story the seven-year-old Illyana could be seen in Limbo. Illyana finally chose to give up her demonic powers by creating a massive stepping disc that banished most of the demons back to Limbo, including S'ym, then throwing her Soulsword in after them to seal the portal shut. Afterwards the New Mutants found the seven-year-old Illyana inside the husk of Magik's armor. Their guess was that Illyana had removed her seven-year-old self from Limbo, thus negating everything that had happened, except that they still remembered the teenage Illyana who had never existed and they remembered events that had not happened. While the bulk of the demons were now gone, Madelyne Pryor and her servants remained, and many parts of the city remained demonically transmogrified. N'astirh was destroyed by the combined efforts of the X-Men and X-Factor, and finally only Madelyne herself was left. Jean Grey battled her clone and despite Madelyne's powers being enhanced by demonic magic, gained the upper hand. Finally unable to go on, Madelyne forcibly linked herself to Jean's mind and willed herself to die, attempting to take Jean with her. However, as Madelyne breathed her last, the fragment of the Phoenix Force that first gave her life emerged and bade Jean to use its power to save herself. Jean did so, thus breaking Madelyne's mental hold on her. New York then returned to normal. The X-Men and X-Factor then went after Madelyne's creator, Mister Sinister, who was responsible for the manipulations which led to Madelyne's creation. Cyclops blasted Sinister to a smolder, though he would eventually return.
Despite all of the destruction and death, many human Inferno survivors were convinced it was all a shared hallucination.
Read more about this topic: Inferno (Marvel Comics)
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““The plot thickens,” he said, as I entered.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
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—James Thurber (1894–1961)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)