The story starts off with a reunion of mother and son. Mystique goes straight into mother mode about the state of Kurt’s fur is in. Next to them are the dead bodies of all the pirate crew, including their captain, Callisto. Mystique and Nightcrawler head into her air ship. Turns out, she wasn’t even looking for Kurt but rather the pirate crew. It appears these pirates have killed the last two shipments of refugees and she was ready to give them hell for the bad business they’ve been giving her.
Hidden in the clouds is the craft of the Pale Riders. Damask is highly impressed by Kurt’s fur, the way his muscles move under it make him look like velvet. Wade, holding the dead body of Moonstar, is still in agony about the loss. He asks why Damask had to kill her. Damask tells him to shut up and that it shouldn’t take three to torch Avalon. With a smirk, she tells him that Moonstar never even liked him.
Mystique lands her ship at her Antarctic station. Kurt grumbles about the cold so his mother pipes him down saying how thankful he should be that his father carried a fur gene. Kurt starts to get into an argument about his father but Raven shuts him up. Kurt asks her why she doesn’t want to go to Avalon. She tells him she goes there all the time but Kurt snaps at her that she’s been TO its shores but not UPON its shores. She tries to change the subject but Kurt teleports in front of her and slaps her saying how everything everyone’s ever said about her seems to be true. She claims unawareness of the subject but Kurt educates her stating how she dumps the refugees just like the pirates and if she doesn’t dump them then she fleeces them. Raven tries to defend herself that she doesn’t fleece but rather charges a tariff. As Kurt tells her that a tariff doesn’t mean you take everything they own, Raven shoves him back and screams out that it’s not her fault that some do no deserve peace.
In the under passages to Avalon, Kurt and a cloaked Mystique land at the shores. Mystique loathes being there, having been talked into going. Kurt addresses that they are about to cause some major trouble. Cain, who meets them at the shores, tells them to go back if they have no hope. Kurt starts to yell at Cain, but the still cloaked Mystique tells Cain that is it imperative that she speaks with Destiny. Cain tells her that Irene has been growing frail so she can no longer meet refugees. Raven tells him to take all the crates, but forgets to notify him that they are filled with weapons, as they go on. Stopping for the night, Cain tells of his past, mentioning his stepbrother Charles. He shares that once he himself was a man of violence, using his God-given talents of strength for evil purposes. He recollects that he must have had hundreds of murders, knowing so many ways to kill people and yet none to help them.
After days of walking, a now uncloaked Mystique tells of how incredible Avalon is, almost like heaven. Kurt speaks of how glad he is to see his mother finally smile. Raven asks where Destiny can be found and Cain tells her that Irene will be in the first fields awaiting new refugees with her son. Raven gets shocked to hear about a son but Destiny shops up and says that Douglas, her adopted son, was one of her secrets that she kept from Mystique. Raven tells that she never kept any from Irene, at least non-intentionally. Irene tells Raven that it’s good to finally see her at Avalon, to share in its wonders. Raven sadly tells Irene that she’s here to take her out of Avalon. After an hour of silence, they all reach Avalon Village. Irene escorts them to a home and introduces Raven to Switchback. She tells them that the day Switchback arrives she brought with her a future of death.
Meanwhile, Dead Man Wade and Damask have made their way to Avalon’s entrance too. Damask is in shock of how beautiful Avalon is, but Wade on the other hand is disgusted by the many living things that make this place what it is. Birds, plants, Insects, everything is alive and he wants to see it all killed. However Damask is in tears, she never knew of Avalon and no one ever told her that such a place could exist.
Back in the Avalon Village, Mystique tells everyone what Magneto has told her. The X-Men discovered Bishop, a man who speaks of a timeline in which Apocalypse does not come to power. She tells them that Destiny is needed to confirm his story so that they can change time to become that better world. Destiny is afraid that her departure might cause the destruction of Avalon like in her precognitive vision. Besides she would have to consider her own position in this new world order, she might loose someone dear and points towards Doug. Mystique, pointing towards her own son, says how she understands but it’s a cause worth fighting for.
Right then an explosion catches everyone off guard. After questioning Switchback to see if she knows how to use a firearm, Mystique hands her a gun. Cain says how he cannot be harmed, especially from a hand-launched rocket attack. But he also says he will not fight. After some yelling by Kurt, Cain falls down muttering “Charles”. Turns out he had an aneurysm from the strain of contemplating to be peaceful or violent. Still firing, Wade questions why Damask isn’t using her powers. She says how wrong all of this is, how she has always wanted to do the right thing but was the product of a world gone bad. She then jumps on Wade from behind and rams her knife into his throat. His healing factor kicks in but it is not fast enough to do anything when Nightcrawler teleports off with his head ending the life of Dead Man Wade. Damask then defects to their side. Switchback asks about the caliber of the bullets in the guns, not recognizing them. Kurt then goes on to explain that they were .44 calibre but they are now customized with an “x” stamped on them as a joke. Mystique declares that they WILL get Destiny off of Avalon.
