Muir Island, where all is quiet until a teleport signal sounds the arrival of two Inhumans, Mosaic and Reader. Mosaic tells Reader that he still thinks this is a crazy idea. Mosaic doesn't disagree, but points out that they don't have a lot of options at this point. 'Easy for you to say. I'm the one who has to stay here' Mosaic replies. Reader tells Mosaic that if he keeps the gate open, the X-Men will notice, and that is no good for either of them. 'Besides, you told me no one can see you unless you want them to. Just stay calm. Run the plan' Reader adds, before walking back through the portal and suggesting Mosaic stay away from blonde women or redheads and look for the old guy, Magneto, as the psychics can't read his mind so long as he has his helmet on. 'Right. Got it' Mosaic replies as Reader vanishes. Mosaic flies towards the Research Center and thinks to himself over and over 'Stay away from the blondes and look for the old guy with the helmet...'
Meanwhile, in Limbo, hundreds of horrid winged demons fly around the globe prison that several Inhumans are trapped within. The globe sits atop a large spire which rises up through the emptiness of Limbo.
'All right. Time to go' Queen Medusa announces. The Human Torch tries to blast the globe with his flame power, but tells Medusa that nothing is getting through. Meddusa tells her lover that she begs to differ, as all sorts of things are getting through. Medusa turns back to the other Inhumans – Crystal, Gorgon, Frank McGee, Flint and Naja, and points out that for one thing, light is getting through, otherwise they couldn't see those Limbo demons, nor could the demons see Johnny's flame. Motioning to where two demons are fighting as they fly around the globe, Medusa adds that sound is also getting through, although she isn't sure of course whether it goes both ways, before she shouts 'You! Beasts!' at the fighting demons, who turn to her.
Medusa declares that now they know the barrier lets light and sound pass through, and air, too, otherwise they would have suffocated by now. Her sister Crystal points out that it doesn't let them through, or anything solid at all. Medusa tells Crystal that it doesn't need to, as sound is enough. Motioning to the stones and dirt within the globe, Medusa asks Crystal and Flint if they can create something from the stones and earth, something that will focus sound in one direction. 'Like a...like...damn. I can't remember the word. Like one o those huge antennas' Flint replies. 'A parabola? Yes, Medusa, I'm sure we can do that' Crystal tells her sister. Medusa instructs them to do it and points at where they need to angle it. Medusa turns to Gorgon and tells him that he will need to use his sonic stomp. 'Against the energy shield? But if sound just passes through it...' Gorgon starts to reply, to which Frank McGee explains that Medusa doesn't want the sound to go out, she wants it going down, towards the spire. Medusa confirms that Frank is correct, and reveals that the shield generator is connected to the rock in this prison, she saw it when they were brought in. 'If we can focus your stomp using the amplifier that Crystal and Flint are building...' Medusa begins. Gorgon tells her to say no more, and assures Medusa that he understands, apologizing for questioning her.
Naja announces that she has a question and tells Medusa that she knows that the shield is keeping them in, but it is also keeping those demons out. 'If we bring it down, won't they try to tear us apart?' she asks. 'One problem at a time' Medusa replies, before turning to the large parabola that Crystal and Flint have created and tells Gorgon to do it. Standing behind the parabola, Gorgon tells everyone that they might want to cover their ears, as it is going to get loud. Gorgon starts to stomp his feet, and eventually, there is an explosion beneath the platform that the Inhumans are standing on. The force field around them shuts down, and with the spire collapsing, the platform begins to slide downwards, while the demons move in towards the Inhumans. 'Fight through!' Medusa calls out. The Human Torch uses his flame against several demons, while Crystal launches an elemental attack on the demons that fly towards her.
Flint surrounds himself with rocky armor as he slams one demon into the platform, and Naja darts about several demons, taking them down. Gorgon grabs one demon in a headlock, and kicks his foot straight through another of them, while Medusa's hair wraps around several demons, choking them. Frank McGee's eyes glow, and a demon that approaches him is vaporized. The demons fall, and the Inhumans gather together, standing their ground. 'Good enough. Let's go find some mutants' Medusa commands.
Muir Island, where Mosaic passes through a corridor, still repeating Reader's warning over and over. The time-displaced Cyclops and Angel are in the corridor, but they don't see him. Suddenly, Mosaic passes into the next room: 'Whoa!' he thinks to himself as he comes across Magneto, Storm, Emma Frost, Iceman, Rogue, Old Man Logan and the time-displaced Beast. Emma reminds the others that Forge is gone and so is his Terrigen eater, so she wants to hear other ideas for killing that damn cloud. 'We have to finish what Scott started!' she exclaims. Rogue tells Emma that she is turning into a broken record, to which Emma turns to Rogue and asks if they are really supposed to trust her. 'Excuse me?' Rogue asks. 'You worked with the Inhumans, after all. On that infantile Unity Squad' Emma reminds her. Storm asks the two women to stop, reminding them that they have enough to worry about as it is. Storm adds that the Inhumans are locked in Limbo, and that protects them from immediate retaliation, but that they can't hold them there forever.
The young Beast agrees with Storm, and adds that even more pressing is that they are literally running out of time until the Terrigen saturates the atmosphere past the tipping point. 'If we are going to act, we need to do it now' he exclaims. Magneto announces that they have no choice – they must find Forge, as he is the only one who can possibly find a solution in time.
Mosaic watches and realize that Magneto is the old guy, and that his helmet is off. But he sees Emma and knows that she is one of the blondes, so he has to act quickly. Emma agrees with Magneto and asks if Cerebra can't find Forge. Storm reports that she is trying, but for some reason has had no luck. Mosaic runs over to Magneto, and in his energy state invades Magneto's mind. Magneto stands motionless, while Emma declares that this is insane, and asks the Beast whether he can find something in the present-day Beast's notes to help them destroy the cloud. The young Beast tells Emma that he is trying to devise plan B, and that he has combed everything in the Beast's files. 'But there is nothing there that can -' he begins, while Mosaic finds his way into Magneto's mind. 'There' the Inhuman tells himself, as Magneto puts his helmet on, and Emma quickly turns to him as he does this. Mosaic hopes he acted quick enough, before deciding to see what Magneto knows.
In Magneto's mind:
Mosaic floats through the mind of Magneto. 'He's one of the big time X-Men. Even I know that' Mosaic thinks to himself as he sees the Inhumans held prisoner in Limbo, Black Bolt trapped within some contraption, Magneto's parents, Reverend Stryker pointing at Nightctrawler, Karnak fighting Fantomex, Magneto ripping the adamantium out of Wolverine. Images of Polaris, Quicksilver, Joseph and Xorn flash through his mind, and Cyclops killing Professor X, Storm and the time-displaced Beast talking to the imprisoned present-day Beast, a Sentinel destroying Genosha, Havok and Emma Frost standing over the body of Cyclops as Emma declared that Cyclops isn't this meat, not anymore – that was her gift to him, her gift to the man she loved – she made him an idea – and ideas never die.
Another memory, this time of the Scarlet Witch crying as she altered reality. The information is almost too much for Mosaic to take in, but he is getting better at this, and he looks for what he needs. Suddenly, 'Get out of my head, child!' Magneto declares.
Reality:
'Oh!' Magneto gasps, causing the others to turn to him. Storm asks him if he said something, to which Magneto looks around anxiously. 'Uh...' he utters. 'Erik?' Rogue asks him. Sheepishly, Magneto raises a hand and announces that he needs to go to the bathroom. He turns and lumbers out of the room. 'Did that really just happen?' Iceman asks, turning to the equally confused Old Man Logan. Magneto starts to run, then clutches his helmet, 'I said – get out of me!' he shouts, before collapsing backwards as Mosaic bursts forth from him. 'Yeah, like I want to hang out inside some crusty old creep' Mosaic exclaims, when suddenly, he darts around the corner – only for the young Cyclops, Angel and the Stepford Cuckoos to see him. 'Who is that?' Celeste asks the others. 'Uh-oh... a blonde' Mosaic exclaims, wide-eyed.
The older X-Men race into the corridor and find the collapsed Magneto. Storm calls out to him and Rogue asks him what happened. 'An Inhuman. We have been compromised' Magneto announces. Storm asks him which one, reminding him that they have themm all in Limbo. 'Not all, apparently' Magneto replides, adding that he doesn't know which one it was, but that his mind had a sense of inexperience. 'Dammit. Must be one of the new ones' Logan suggests. 'So much for Frosts's big plan. We missed this guy – how many others are still out there?' Logan asks. Suddenly, the time-displaced Iceman rushes over and announces that somebody just stole one of the Blackbirds. Storm radios Cerebra, who confirms that a Blackbird took off not long ago and engaged the cloak, so she cannot trace it. Magneto tells Storm that this is getting out of control, and that they need to confirm the royals are still secure in Limbo. 'If they escape -' he begins. 'I know, Magneto' Storm scowls, before contacting Colossus, warning him that the Inhumans might be mounting a counter-attack. She asks him if Black Bolt and ther others are still contained.
'Black Bolt yes. The others... not so much' Colossus responds from a balcony at X-Haven in Limbo, where he sees an explosion in the distance – and a whole lot of red hair. 'Peter – what does that mean?' Storm asks. Colossus reports that Medusa is free, along with her sister and the others they were holding prisoner. Storm informs Colossus that they have a situation on Muir, and that she needs him to hold the royals – stall them as long as he can. 'Alone?' Colossus asks. 'Yes' Storm confirms, explaining that Forge is missing and she needs the other teams back on Earth to search for him. She tells peter that she is sorry, and that she wished she had someone else she could send. Colossus assures Storm that it is no problem – he just wanted to clarify. With that, he switches to his steel form, as the Inhumans arrive on the doorstep down below.
'Where do you think they're keeping Black Bolt?' Crystal asks. Frank McGee reports that the Beast described the layout of this place to Iso once, so they have a pretty good idea of what is here, and only two places make sense – Forge's workshop, or the school. Medusa announces that it isn't the school, as the mutants wouldn't turn their symbol of hope and progress into a prison. She suggests that they check the workshop first. Medusa turns to the Human Torch and tells him that she doesn't want to be surprised by an attack on their flank – so if there are X-Men in the mansion, to make sure they stay there. 'You mean...? Really?' Johnny asks. Medusa tells him not to burn it down, just to give them something to consider. 'They attacked our home, after all. Let them fear for theirs' Medusa suggests. The Human Torch takes flight and tells himself that this is getting ugly. 'All right – something to consider – coming right up' he calls out as he engulfs the mansion in a flaming force field. 'Let's go' Medusa tells the others, when suddenly, Naja tells her to wait, and points to where a figure is approaching them through the flames. 'All right, my friends! Who is to be first?' Colossus calls out.
In New Jersey, Inferno and Iso have met up with several other Inhumans, and the unconscious Forge lies on the grass in front of them. Grid, Synapse, Kamala Khan, Quake, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur watch as Inferno asks Iso if she is planning to keep Forge unconscious forever. Reader remarks that he was thinking the same thing, adding that the guy is smart and can probably afford to lose a few brain cells. Iso assures Reader that Forge will be fine, and that it is just until Mosaic gets back and they can figure out what to do. 'Or, you know...we can all fight for our lives when the X-Men show up to take him back' Reader suggests as he looks up and sees a Blackbird descend. Iso tells everyone to get ready, that they can't just let the X-Men take Forge back, or he will just rebuild his machine and it will all be over. Grid asks who they are going to be fighting, to which Quake suggests that it could be anyone – Sabretooth, Psylocke, Magneto. 'Oh, great, the cuddly ones' Inferno mutters as a figure emerges from the Blackbird. 'Hey!' smiles the young Cyclops. 'Cyclops?' Kamala asks, anxiously. 'Guess again!' Mosaic exclaims as he emerges from Cyclops' body.
Synapse stands over the unconscious Cyclops and asks Mosaic why he chose him. Mosaic assures her that it is no big conspiracy – this guy was the only one on Muir who could fly the plane and that he could get into. Mosaic explains that most of the mutants on that island were like Forge – brains locked up tight. He supposes that you would have to be, with so many telepaths running around. Iso asks Mosaic what he learned, to which Mosaic reports that it is not so pretty, and reveals that the royals are a place called Limbo. Iso tells the others that she has read about it, but doesn't know how to get there. 'Maybe if we find Lockjaw, we can -' Iso begins but Mosaic interrupts her, telling her that is not the important part, and informs everyone that the Terrigen Cloud is going to expand, or something, that in just a few days the whole planet will be poison to the mutants. He adds that they attacked them now because they didn't think they had a choice unless they destroy that cloud, they leave the Earth or they die. All of the Inhumans fall silent, and an anxious Kamala asks 'You guys... who are the good guys?'
