Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada:
Old Man Logan has returned to his trailer after an evening spent drinking, only to find a teenage Jean Grey waiting for him. She asks to be invited in and, once she enters, politely claims it’s cozy. It’s a dump, he admits. He doesn’t need to read her mind to know what she’s really thinking. If that’s really her. She’s real, Jean replies. How? She came from the past. It’s complicated. His turn. How did he get so… Old? He finishes her sentence. He came from the future. Kind of. It’s complicated.
Okay, so now what? she asks. Logan reminds her she found him. She thinks the X-Men need them, she reveals.
X-Haven in Limbo, currently under attack by the demon hordes of Limbo:
Storm and Iceman try to protect the refugees. Storm hails Forge in the workshop and asks if he had any luck contacting Illyana and Piotr, only to be told they are still radio silent. She tells him to focus his energy on getting the backup security running. Forge reminds her it’s at least a week from being ready. As she fries some demons, she snaps that’s not good enough. Mutant lives are at stake. She needs it now!
He sighs he’ll do his best, but he can’t work miracles. They are in hell, after all. Cerebra corrects him that this is Limbo not hell. He snaps at her not to be a pain in the ass and get out there and beat up some demons!
Outside, the students Ernst, Anole and Glob Herman have also joined the battle. They are confident until a huge demon singles them out. Luckily, Storm and Iceman team up to take care of the demon. But they find the demons keep on coming. Cerebra joins them to give some air support.
Iceman calls Forge ad asks him to open up the cold locker. Forge complies and Iceman sits down, trying to concentrate in the middle of the battle. The reason soon becomes clear as an army of Icemen comes out of the building, all under his control.
Neepawa:
Logan tells Jean that Ororo already gave him her sales pitch. He ain’t an X-Man anymore. Jean asks if he knows his younger self died here. Yeah, but that ain’t him. It never happened to him. So whatever future he comes from, it ain’t this one. Some things are the same, others…
Jean asks what Storm told him about the state of things. The Terrigen Mists… Scott. What did Slim do now? he asks. She explains that Scott is dead. He attacked the Inhumans. It was… bad. Dead? He repeats. Damn…
And he’s not the only one, Jean presses. Did Storm tell him there won’t be any more mutants? The Terrigen Mists have sterilized them… They need him.
Ain’t that simple, he sighs. Where he comes from, he did terrible things. That can’t be taken back. Jean assures him she knows. She was in his head. He killed his X-Men but it wasn’t his fault. Grumpily, he replies: his fault or not, he did it. He ain’t safe to be around. She shouldn’t be near him. Jean assures him she can handle it. She wants to see the rest. Over his protests, she establishes a mind-link:
Logan’s mindscape:
She sees how his world fell to the villains who wiped all the heroes out. But not him. He lived alone for a long time and then –- he had a family!
Reality:
Horrified, Jean breaks off the contact when she sees what happened to them. Gone, just like everyone else he ever knew, he agrees grimly. And then, all of a sudden, here he is. And here she is.
She reminds him this may not be his past. This may never happen. Especially now that he knows. He knows, he agrees. He knows that all the super-villains team up and kill the heroes. He knows that Mysterio tricked him into killing the X-Men. But she doesn’t get it. He can’t just press the reset button. There’s something else she doesn’t know. Even if none of that comes to pass, he’ll still do it! No matter what happens, he’s destined to kill the X-Men!
Limbo:
With his Iceman army getting their butts kicked, Iceman asks Forge how that shield is coming along, to be told he needs more time. Forge keeps saying that, but he’s almost out of party tricks, Bobby insists.
Storm addresses the students, Ernst, Anole and Glob Hermann as X-Men and orders them to take charge of the refugees and get them to the Danger Room.
Bobby almost falls exhausted and Storm props him up and defends him.
Getting rid of demons, Cerebra hopes nothing bad has happened to Ms. Rasputin, then chides herself for being a “Negative Nelly.”
Sapna is afraid for her parents. She reaches out with whatever talent she has and the demon stops attacking. She realizes the demon is listening to her and she orders it to help the X-Men.
Canada:
Jean considers his idea of being destined to kill the X-Men nonsense. He insists the universe finds a way of course-correcting. No matter what he does, he knows it will one day come back to him losing control. He looks at her. Just like—
What? She asks. Just like she is destined to die, he continues. It will find a way of happening, no matter what they do.
Furious, she shouts she is in control of her life. She doesn’t buy that destiny stuff for a minute! And the Logan she knows wouldn’t either. He was a fighter, not a coward hiding behind destiny! He retorts she doesn’t know what he’s seen. She’s too young.
Don’t give her that! She knows mutants are dying! She knows the X-Men are in trouble. She knows Wolverine and Marvel Girl can help. That’s what she knows.
He can’t go back, Logan insists. He can’t trust himself around them. Then let her help! Jean asks. She promises to keep an eye on him and let him know when he is losing control. She’ll never let it get that far. She tried to live a normal life whatever that is, and now look at him. How he’s been living. He wants to talk about destiny? Well, they are destined to be X-Men!
Even if he agrees, how do they find the X-Men? He saw on TV that the Xavier School is missing. No one knows where it went. Some reporters say it went into space.
Jean replies she can call them, and they aren’t in space. So is he in? Come on! she urges.
He never could say no to her, he sighs. But he ain’t wearing no damn costume!
Limbo:
Sapna glows with her newly-discovered power, as she orders some demons to stop attacking. Iceman notes she is like a demon whisperer, no wonder Illyana was drawn to her. He is hit by a demon but Glob Hermann comes to the rescue. Anole admires him for saving Iceman. Proudly, Glob reminds him of what Storm said: he is an X-Man now.
Storm calls Forge, informing him that most of the refugees are inside the school, but they need that shield! Suddenly, she is scratched in the back by a demon and falls. A voice in her head urges her to get up. She looks up to see Professor Xavier, who orders her to get up and fight. She obeys and flash-fries her demon attacker. “To me, my X-Men!” she orders Iceman, the X-kids and Sapna. “Hold the line. Not one mutant dies here today!”
She calls Forge again and tells him to invent faster. Remember the good old days when they were in love and she talked sweetly to him? he retorts wryly. Cutting down more demons, she snarks, “vaguely.” It’s a distant memory and getting hazier by the second.
Suddenly, Forge gets another call, this time by Jean Grey, who announces she and Logan are ready to come to X-Haven. If they still want them to— Forge assures her need would be a better word. He’s sending transport.
Forge orders Cerebra to fire up her teleporter.
In Canada, Jean and Logan wait not sure for what. The Sentinel appears and Logan groans. Cerebra suggests they have no time to discuss her merits as an X-Man at the present. She lifts them and teleports them to Limbo.
Demons? They got to be kidding him! Logan swears. He unsheathes his claws and announces he knew he never should have left Canada…
