Necrosha

In the dead of night, Selene’s army of the dead arrive on Utopia and begin to position themselves strategically throughout the island, waiting for the moment that Cypher breaks through the security codes, granting them entry. Once accomplished, Harry Leland and Shinobi Shaw, deceased members of the Hellfire Club, invaded the X-brig, where Sebastian Shaw, Donald Pierce and Empath are all prisoners. Meanwhile, the Hellions attack their former mentor, the White Queen. Oblivious to this, Archangel, Warpath and Hrimhari arrive on Utopia and go to the infirmary to treat the wounded Wolfsbane, only to be attacked by Pyro and Berserker. Meanwhile, the young mutant Blindfold is mysteriously visited by Destiny, the prisoner of Selene, with a cryptic message of another impending danger, as well as potential information about Blindfold‘s mother.

With her Inner Circle at her side, as well as the resurrected Thunderbird and Caliban, Selene arrive at the decimated Hammer Bay, Genosha. There, she proclaims that this is where she will become a god and then welcomes her associates to what she now calls Necrosha.

By now, all-out war is taking place on Utopia, with its residents encountering Selene’s army at every turn. Some of the island’s defenders are not even familiar with the resurrected mutants they are fighting, such as Psylocke and Dazzler, who encounter the Dark Riders, or several of the X-Men students facing off against Rusty Collins. Other battles were more personal, like Iceman encountering his almost-girlfriend, Darkstar, and Cyclops and the White Queen who are confronted by Banshee. Some of Selene’s army, including Banshee, find that they are able to intermittently resist her thrall and apologize to their friends for their uncontrollable actions. Warpath’s former lover, Risque, is among those who are able resist Selene’s control and urges him to run from her. Archangel uses his razor-sharp wings to eviscerate Scaleface and Pyro, but discovers that, thanks to the TO virus, they can re-assemble themselves.

Though the invasion of Utopia’s sections is methodical, it is not simultaneous. Among the last infiltrated is the New Mutants’ quarters, in which the New Mutants are having a brief reunion with Professor Xavier, unaware that their long-time dead teammate, Cypher, is watching them. Cypher attacks Magma first, striking when she is alone. He then attacks the rest of his teammates, using his ability to read their moves before they make them. It is only when Karma possesses all of the New Mutants, preventing Cypher from “reading” them any further, that the team manages to adequately fight back. Cypher is knocked into the sea by Cannonball but is thereafter collected by the alien Warlock, who brings Cypher back to the New Mutants. Warlock attempts to download a copy of Cypher’s personality stored in Warlock’s databanks but Cypher recovers too quickly and decapitates Warlock.

Before the New Mutants have much of a chance to react, Cypher slowly regains his memory and the Hellions, once the constant foes of the New Mutants, arrive in an attempt to recapture Cypher. The New Mutants are forced to split up as Mirage and Sunspot need to get the badly injured Magma to the infirmary, while Cannonball, Magik and Karma go in pursuit of Cypher and the New Mutants. Mirage and Sunspot get Magma to Doctor Nemesis, fighting off their former associate Feral along the way. Nemesis manages to stabilize Magma by jumpstarting her power, as her wounds would not be present in her “Magma”-state. Meanwhile, Cannonball, Magik and Karma are aided by Warlock, who has repaired himself, and uses two missiles to blast the Hellions away. With the help of Magik’s Soulsword, Warlock purges the remnants of the TO Virus from Cypher, who is restored to life without Selene’s influence.

In the midst of battle, Blindfold locates Cypher and reveals to him that Destiny had come to her in a dream and warned of danger on the other island - Muir Island. Despite not wanting to deplete the ranks on Utopia, Cyclops sends a squad of X-Men and associates to Muir Island to investigate. Rogue, Psylocke, Colossus, Magneto, Husk, Trance and Blindfold soon arrive at the former the Genetic Research Center, once operated by the X-Men’s now dead ally, Dr. Moira MacTaggert. During one of the many battles of the X-Men on that location in the past, Destiny plotted her escape from Selene with the help of another once-dead mutant Leon Matheson. Destiny appears before Blindfold and, in doing so, Blindfold is then possessed by the danger Destiny warned her about: Proteus!

Rogue, Nightcrawler and the others are forced to battle the possessed Blindfold and, during the battle, Proteus manages to possess Nightcrawler as well. As the battle progresses, more of the mutants fall to Proteus’s possession until, eventually, Magneto rips up a chunk of Muir Island, taking himself and the possessed Blindfold into space. Trapped in Earth’s orbit, Proteus begins to weaken, enabling Rogue to free Nightcrawler and the other possessed mutants. Magneto brings himself and the possessed Blindfold back to Earth, where he manages to expel Proteus from her and subsequently destroy him.

In the aftermath, Rogue and Destiny have a brief reunion, during which Destiny reveals to Blindfold that, though she is not Blindfold’s mother, she is close-enough on her family tree, a great-grandmother perhaps. Destiny informs Blindfold that her mother is dead but that she has a brother. The X-Men soon return to Utopia, or whatever is left of it.

The plight of Utopia does not go unnoticed by Bastion and his associates, who are planning their own scheme against mutantkind. They are also among the first to learn that Selene has successfully resurrected the deceased mutants of Genosha. On Utopia, the Stepford Cuckoos soon alert Cyclops to this startling development. During the chaos on Utopia, Doctor Nemesis is finally able to examine the injured Wolfsbane and announces to her and her companion, Hrimhari, that she is pregnant. Hrimhari then proceeds to contact Hela, summoning her to Utopia.

Back in Necrosha, Eli Bard reveals in confidence to Blink that he has lost the blade Selene needs for the spell to cast her into godhood. Blink immediately betrays that confidence and tells Selene, who sends her Inner Circle to Utopia. They arrive just as a number of Selene’s undead have cornered several residents of the island’s residents, including Cyclops, Emma, Wolverine and X-Force. Also among them is Dazzler, who is shocked to see her sister, Mortis, who proves she means business when she murders Diamond Lil.

Hrimhari’s purpose for calling upon Hela is soon made clear as Hrimhari requests that Hela save Wolfsbane and his unborn cub. Hela refuses, offering only to save one. Hrimhari cannot cope with that, so offers his own soul in exchange for that of the unconscious Elixir’s. Hela wakes Elixir and teleports away with Hrimhari, leaving Elixir to save Wolfsbane and her unborn child/cub.

The X-Men and their allies continue to battle the Inner Circle. Wither kills Onyxx, while Eli Bard pursues Warpath, who has the blade that Selene desires. Seeing this, Blink teleports the rest of the Inner Circle to Warpath and Bard. After they capture Warpath and the blade, Blink teleport all of Selene’s minions away to Necrosha, leaving the X-Men to lick their wounds and mourn their dead. X-Force, however, has other plans and makes their move to go to Genosha.

Selene is pleased to have the blade back in her possession but executes Eli Bard for the way he disappointed her. Still captive of the Inner Circle, Warpath is shocked to see his long-dead brother, Thunderbird, and tries to communicate with him. Wolverine, Archangel, Domino, Wolfsbane, Elixir, X-23 and the Vanisher arrive on Genosha / Necrosha and are forced to massacre their way through the undead forces that stand between them and Selene. Meanwhile, Thunderbird manages to reveal to Warpath what will happen once Selene ascends to power and urges him to find a way to stop her, while giving his brother a clue on how to do so. Despite impending doom, the Vanisher teleports to Warpath’s location and rescues him, just as Selene begins her ascent to godhood, annihilating all of her army as she uses their power as part of her plan.

Warpath and the rest of X-Force launch their attack against Selene’s Inner Circle, quickly taking out Senyaka, Wither and Thunderbird. Seeing no way to win, Blink teleports herself and the wounded Mortis to safety, leaving Selene to battle X-Force alone. As X-Force then keeps Selene distracted, Warpath uses the blade he recovered from his brother to stab her with it. Her apotheosis spell disrupted, Selene discorporates, her reign of terror ending before it could become any worse.