Man-Thing #4

All is chaos in the Rosewell Sanitarium in Charles, Massachusetts. Devil-Slayer battles the incarnations of his personal demons, while the fellow inmates of his alter ego, Eric Simon Payne, panic. The staff try to lead the patients out to safety, but they look out the doors to find the whole building is floating in another dimension. Mr. Termineus, in his Santa suit, oversees the mayhem. Finally, Sorrow, the mute telepathic inmate, calms Eric, and the demons dissipate.On Earth, Ellen Brandt and the Man-Thing stand at the pit which seems to have engulfed the asylum. The voices of the mystic staff Ellen carries overwhelm her, and she drops it. The Man-Thing picks it up, and the voices begin to speak through him. The words of the ancient voices encourage Ellen, so she again takes the staff and the pair vanish from the corporeal world.Meanwhile, the Jack and Gwyneth Burke decorate their Brooklyn home for Christmas Eve, but Jack is briefly haunted by a vision of Termineus. In another room, their son, Job, is awakened by a visit from the spirit of Sorrow, whom he recognizes. She gives him a sense of well-being as a gift.In the asylum, Termineus confronts Sorrow for visiting Job, but Devil-Slayer attacks him and Termineus fades away. Sorrow and Eric realize time has frozen around them as they are joined by Man-Thing and Ellen, who herself was an inmate of Rosewell after being burned by the swamp monster. Ellen recognizes Sorrow, but their reunion is cut short when Devil-Slayer mistakes Man-Thing for another demon and attacks him, tearing him apart. During his frenzy, Eric recalls the events that led to him becoming the Devil-Slayer. He again collapses into a catatonic state as Sorrow tries to comfort him, while Termineus reappears. Though the voices of the staff call to Ellen to take action, she remains rooted to the spot, overwhelmed by the memories of her stay at Rosewell. Finally, the Man-Thing, who has reassembled himself into a misshapen mass, rises, and Devil-Slayer...