(New York City)
Ana/Yuriko and Amora the Enchantress walk into a building and are escorted to a vault. As they walk into the vault, which has been sealed by a huge metal door, they put gas masks on. Yuriko tells Amora that it’s insane and asks if she is really able to do it. Amora replies that, if Arkea’s information is correct, then she has the power required. As Yuriko opens a door within the vault, Amora asks her if she believes the information to be correct. They walk through the door and Yuriko replies that for twenty million of her father’s money it had better be.
They enter an empty, sterile room with strange white paneling on the walls. Amora says she can smell the air but Yuriko tells her not to think about it. Amora replies that she has to think about it and then wonders how technology could capture a soul in nothing but air. Staying close to the door and looking nervous, Yuriko tells Amora that she has heard stories about Necrosha. When Yuriko tells her it’s a bad idea, Amora asks if there is any part of the partnership that strikes her as wise. She says they obey, for even a goddess can be vain despite herself.
Amora starts moving her arms around her as the air begins to swirl and something starts to coalesce from it. Amora says that the air is alive and the stasis room has preserved the body as airborne particles. As a figure starts to emerge from the vapors, Amora tells Yuriko they will both pay a steep price and she doesn’t mean the twenty million dollars. There is so much anger present. Yuriko goes to speak but Amora cuts her off. She says that she is wielding the blackest of magic and she must be precise. Amora has her eyes closed and Yuriko calls out her name to get her attention. Amora looks up to see a naked, dark haired woman standing before her. She falls to her knees and bows before Selene, the Black Queen.
(The Cortes Yacht)
The X-Men’s jet has landed in the ocean and is floating next to the luxury yacht. Soon, the team is on the back deck of the yacht and Storm gets them to go over the information again and asks what they know. When Rachel replies nothing, M makes a jibe directed at her trench coat and corrects her by saying they know very little, which isn’t the same as nothing. Rachel mutters that she got rid of the trench coat and M thanks her from the bottom of her heart. Psylocke emerges from the empty yacht and informs them that it has been searched and it must be a red herring.
M says that they don’t know that but Karima tells her the yacht sailed from a point of origin along a very logical escape route from Dubai. Storm adds that it wasn’t just logical but obvious too. Karima replies that they had to work hard to find it, though, and reminds everyone she was a cop. Rachel interrupts her and sarcastically acts surprised that she was a cop, as she hadn’t mentioned it before. Karima ignores her and tells the group she knows a red herring when she sees one. She then addresses Rachel and tells her she is the only one there with experience with organized crimes. Storm adds that they are the ones with experience of Lady Deathstrike and that’s who they are talking about. The Ana Cortes persona is probably just a cover.
When Karima tells her it’s still leaving a data trail, Storm says they will continue to follow it. But they need to see that the trail is infallible and they need to take another angle on it. She continues and points out the entire team, bar one member, has been collected together in a remote location. Rachel says that they aren’t under attack, to which Storm replies that wasn’t what she meant. Whilst they are here, what is happening where they aren’t?
M starts listing off the known Sisterhood members on her fingers and suggests they are not done recruiting. Psylocke says they should be worried about it as they have zero intel on who it could be. When Rachel mentions Arkea, Karima tells them she though she killed them. It was a desperate move and she thought she wouldn’t survive it but she might not have known it. Karima says that when Arkea comes for them, she will crush them once and for all and then poses the question as to who would benefit from it. She asks whom the Sisterhood can recruit that would threaten the X-Men in a serious way. When Storm replies that it’s a big list, M asks if it really is big and tells everyone to put some thought into it. She then poses the questions as to who brought Lady Deathstrike back and how they did it. She asks who would buy up dead mutants and then suggests that would narrow the list of possible enemies considerably.
Back in the vault, Selene has gotten dressed and is applying make-up. Arkea enters and tells her she must understand who set her free and for what purpose. She asks Selene to probe her mind, as the more she knows the more she will understand. Selene stares at her for a few seconds and a look of horror flashes across her face. Selene drops to the floor and bows down at Arkea’s feet. Arkea tells her that she is of limitless power but the X-Men remain an annoyance. Selene tells her to swat them like vermin but Arkea informs her they are formidable and they have her twin sibling whispering in their ear. Lady Deathstrike counters that Sublime is dead but Arkea replies that she failed. Selene asks if her task is to help erase the X-Men and Arkea confirms it is, adding that they will need one more member to help do it. When Selene questions it, Arkea tells her they require overwhelming superiority in the form of Madelyne Pryor.
On the X-jet, the team is speaking to Sabra via the onboard computer. Sabra tells them that she has identified Madelyne Pryor as a likely target for the Sisterhood and that her source also tells her the remains of Selene Galio have been purchased. She tells the team that a market exists for things like this. Fanboys, collectors and enthusiasts will trade in pieces of mutant memorabilia. Karima tells her it’s not just some eccentric collector; it’s Lady Deathstrike and Arkea. She thanks the gods the X-Men kept her body in stasis at the Jean Grey School.
Storm asks Sabra if there is any more information besides the purchase and Sabra replies that the chamber that housed Selene is now vacant. She doesn’t have any information regarding Madelyne but Arkea being what she is and what happened to Karima… Storm cuts her off and tells her to keep digging. Musing over the two prospective villains, M jokingly asks if this is some kind of initiation ritual.
(Jean Grey School)
John Sublime asks if he is to be watched over by a child. He is walking down a corridor with Quentin Quire, who tells him he respects him and the least he could do would be to respect him back. Quentin tells Sublime that he has been doing a lot of research on famous serial killers but his horrific past has all of them beat. Plus, nobody knows anything about him. Sublime tells him the world is rife with super-villains, so it makes it easy to hide in plain sight. He spots baby Shogo in the distance and asks about him. Quentin says it is but tells Sublime not to get any ideas, as Jubilee and Rachel would murder him if he let him within ten feet of the baby. Sublime replies it’s ancient history but adds that Quentin should check his books for a nasty example of a serial killer called “the future.” Something just reminded him of it.
(Japan)
Typhoid Mary and Ana Cortes are sparring in a traditional style Japanese building. Mary jokes that at least she is seeing the world, to which Ana seems a little put out by the comment. Assuming that Yuriko is in control of the body, Mary tells her that it’s how she coping with a very terrifying gig. She was hired to steal some data and now she is helping a cosmic super-virus dig up corpses and take over humanity. Ana informs her she is in control of the body and now Yuriko. In a moment of desperation, Ana asks Mary to kill her. Mary is taken aback by the request and Ana tells her she can suppress Yuriko for brief moments. She asks Mary to kill her again but the reply is no.
Ana lunges at Mary with a katana and says she will have to do it the hard way. As Mary defends herself, she asks Ana if this is what she wanted. Ana replies she wanted to be popular and powerful and she thought she might get to meet Cyclops and the X-Men. She’s still in her teens and this was supposed to be fun. She won’t survive this, as all she is to Yuriko and Arkea is a means to an end. She needs to stop them before they run out of reasons to keep her around. As Mary ducks from a swing of Ana’s sword, she tells her that she won’t kill her.
Arkea walks in and tells Ana that she has much to offer them beyond her finances. She asks the two women to follow her, as they have the Madelyne consciousness primed and they can begin the procedure. Ana asks what she is going to do with her but Arkea simply asks her to come with her. Ana screams no and then impales herself through the gut with it.
(Catalina Island)
Meanwhile, Jubilee and the X-Men students are fighting a group of Sentinels that Arkea is controlling. Pixie and Bling! rip apart one Sentinel and it starts to collapse into the ocean. Unfortunately, Bling! gets caught in some wires and pulled down with it. She yells to Pixie to help her and the young girl goes to dive in after her. However, Mercury suddenly appears and tells her she will help Bling! out as Karima is making her.
Closer to the beach, two more Sentinels advance on Hellion. He blasts them with his telekinesis but they keep moving forward. He shouts to Jubilee and asks how they are supposed to stop them. Jubilee tells him off for calling her “Jubes,” especially as he is in his underwear. He yells back that it’s a swimsuit but she replies that he isn’t fooling anyone, as she jumps on to one of the Sentinels. Using her enhanced vampire strength, she claws her way up the giant robot and rips out wiring and metal panels as she goes. She asks Quentin who is on the X-jet, how he is doing. He replies that he is about fifty levels deep into psychic warfare and it’s all scorched earth and Armageddon. He tells Jubilee that Arkea has just realized where she is.
Jubilee looks up to see a Sentinel hand about to grab her. She says she hates to do the mist thing as she fells she won’t come back. As the Sentinel closes its grip, Jubilee disintegrates into a fine mist and evades capture. Karima asks if anyone can see how Mercury is doing but Quentin tells her he can’t spend the spare telepathy. In the ocean, Mercury swims down towards both the sinking Sentinel and Bling!
Cipher, who is flying the X-jet, tells Karima she is wasted up there. Karima says that she is stopping the jet from crashing into the water and that is no mean feat. Plus, once she and Pixie leave the jet, she is in charge. Cipher is happy to hear this and Karima tells her she and Pixie are joining Storm’s team.
Mercury rescues Bling! and the two make it to the surface of the water. Mercury asks if Bling!’s diamond form can protect her underwater but the girl replies she has her limits. Cipher radios through and asks if anyone has seen Jubilee. She did the vampire mist thing but she hasn’t rematerialized yet. As Hellion faces off against the Sentinels alone, Cipher asks where Jubilee is.
