Krakoa: empty except for one man, Charles Xavier, who stares into the sunset.
On a perimeter around the island is an Orchis vessel, commanded by Sebastian Shaw and Selene, who watch Krakoa via an orbital Stark Sentinel.
Shaw orders it to focus on the External Gate. Shaw orders a zoom, then he sees the slaughtered bodies of his men and realizes they pushed Xavier too far.
Back at Shaw Industries, Selene follows Shaw into a vault. When she asks what this is, he explains this is where he keeps his most precious belongings. His collection of vintage pornography? she deadpans. Even more precious, he replies. For example, this precious thing. Here, in case he needs it. He puts a small vial into one of the safes and hopes he will never have need of it. Today he has this! He shows her his Hellfire Armor. A suit similar to the Iron Man armor, with Victorian ornaments. Designed by him, he preens. Commissioned and prepared for when he’d need it.
Selene is somewhat impressed but doesn’t understand why they don’t simply send in the Stark Sentinels. Climbing into the suit, Shaw retorts that’s what Orchis wants. But Krakoa is his to exploit. He is not going to lose anything of value in the process of squashing a bug like Xavier!
Hellfire Armor, Selene muses. Bit embarrassing, when he is no longer the Black King. He sees things are back to normal, Shaw snarks. Working with people he despises. He misses the Krakoan Age already. Now let’s kill this fallen saint, so he can get back to exploiting it for a truly grotesque amount of money!
Xavier is still waiting, when Shaw in his armor fires missiles at him. Xavier runs.
Somewhere else, someone (who looks like Apocalypse but is not) watches the missing Krakoans planting food in their small oasis and anticipates a time of testing.
On one of their forays into the desert, Exodus and Hope find Egg being captured by versions of Bishop. He can’t die again! Egg shouts unhappily. Exodus swoops down to carry him away but gets jumped by a feral Wolverine. Hope copies his claws and kills him. Horrified, she recalls the look in his eyes being exactly like when he came for her.
Egg is somewhat impatient, while Exodus shields them from the evil Bishops’ attack. Hope mutters this is all so weird - and Bishop’s trying to kill her again. Her nightmares are bad enough without crossing over into real life, but good news: Egg is the last of the Five. The eternal life gang is back together!
Exodus telekinetically carries them back to the Krakoan oasis, where they have made their home.
Having spent 107 days in the desert by now, they have water from they don’t know where. They have begun planting food and shored up their defense. But Hope’s and Exodus’s forays have shown an endless desert around them.
With the Five complete, they turn back to resurrection. While they have no Cerebro, Mother Righteous believes she can get the dead’s essences from the Waiting Room. She tries with a magical dance and, indeed, the Five’s resurrection goes right with her help.
Afterwards, Hope thanks Mother Righteous. She shows them a holographic image and explains there is another missing mutant. Destiny warns them it is a mistake to trust Mother Righteous. She is hiding more than her mutant nature. Exodus cuts her off and acidly reminds her that Mother Righteous has returned the Five to them, and therefore immortality. She is useful. Cruelly, he reminds her that Mother Righteous’s visions are true, while Destiny has none. What use is she to them? She is proving her use by warning them! Destiny shouts back.
Hope sensibly points out that she is asking a lot. It would be easier if she allowed them to read her mind. Destiny refuses: trust her or don’t trust her. She knows things that would burn the skin from their bones and tear the sky asunder. It would endanger everything if they looked into her mind. She repeats her warning: Mother Righteous isn’t what she seems.
Exodus apologizes for his harshness and urges her to have faith. Her visions have abandoned her. They will not. Hope promises they will be careful while they are away. Watch Mother Righteous. Not literally… but you know.
Unhappily, Destiny replies that she needs to know what happened to her wife. They don’t know what it’s like. Hope promises her they will get out. And while they are gone, Destiny has to be the council. They take off.
The despondent Destiny is disturbed by Kafka and Phil. They explain that the tubers they are trying to grow look all peaky. What should they do? Tend to them. Love them, she explains. You should cherish that which gives you life. You should cherish what you cannot live without.
Krakoa:
In his battle suit, Shaw informs Selene he is going to drive Xavier to her, as he chases him with firing explosives. While arguing with Shaw over psychic blockers, Selene animates wood and fires dozens of splinters at Xavier. Shaw adds more explosives.
Xavier mentally reaches out for Emma Frost and asks what Shaw wants. Are they talking again? Emma demands. Xavier retorts that things are somewhat pressing. Emma sends a telepathic infodump. Xavier learns Wilson Fisk has stolen control of the Hellfire Club. Despite the psychic blockers, Xavier manages to contact Shaw and tells him he has just harvested the passwords for a dozen key Hellfire accounts. Shaw can use them to take back control of the Hellfire Club. It’s a battle, but he can win, if he acts now. He tells him to recover his club. Krakoa will still be here, when he is done.
In the meantime, Selene almost squeezes the life out of him with animated tentacles. Shaw shouts at her, Xavier got through his psi-shield. He then takes her out.
Shaw tells Xavier that Selene just wants the External Gate. Let them have that and he will keep her off the island, until he is done with Fisk. He demands the passwords and Xavier gives them to him. As Shaw carries Selene away, he remarks somewhat disgusted that Xavier always was a manipulative bastard, but murderous him is something else. He thinks even Selene quivered when she saw the bodies. Taken aback, Xavier bursts out, he doesn’t understand - he hasn’t killed anybody.
Elsewhere, in the desert, Hope and Exodus reach the location Mother Righteous gave them, where to their surprise they see Jean Grey lying in the sand. Jean doesn’t even notice them. She is out of it, her mind elsewhere, as she mumbles about Scott not surviving the Phoenix.
Hope carefully touches her and wonders what they are missing. Their Satan, comes another voice, as Apocalypse rises from the sands. Facing him, Exodus exclaims that prideful grandiosity was always on Apocalypse’s list of sins. Hitting him, Apocalypse replies he is who Exodus says he is. Here that is true. They are in Exodus’ desert.
Hope telepathically asks what he is on about. Exodus explains he had visions of this place long ago. And he is right! He thinks of Apocalypse as his devil! Hope realizes the horrors that they face: Logan as he killed her. Bishop as he hunted her. Now Apocalypse – Exodus’ Satan in his desert!
Revelation awaits, Apocalypse calls to her. Is she ready? Hope decides that she is going to read Jean’s mind. She does and is pushed out. Hope announces she is okay; Jean isn’t. Her mind is on fire! So hot. Beyond hot! She knows where they are. But she doesn’t know what it means. What is the White Hot Room?
In the meantime, Xavier is on a quest for revelation and all its consequences of his own. He follows his footsteps to a cave and finds a lab. An ape with Cyclops’ visor points him further.
He looks into a mirror and sees a red diamond painted in a position of his reflection’s brow. “Don’t kill yourself, please,” is written below.
