Magneto’s cape flows beside the grave marker of his friend Charles Xavier. The epitaph on the marker reads “Any dream worth having is a dream worth fighting for.” Magneto talks to the grave wondering how Xavier would feel if he knew that his dream would come at so high of a price. Magneto stands above the grave marker in full battle armor and wonders out loud how one man’s life, namely Charles Xavier’s, can mean so much that it could change the world, from one with freedom, to one ruled by a tyrant. Magneto also tells the grave of how it is ironic that he may have to sacrifice everything he loves for Xavier’s dream to be fulfilled.
With that said Bishop calls out to Magneto and as he turns he notices Bishop holding a gun towards him. Bishop informs Magneto that now is not the time for reminiscing because there was a security breach of the mansion’s defensive shields and they have been scanned. Apparently they are about to be attacked. Magneto chides Bishop telling him that he has allowed Bishop to carry his gun not to point it at him but to protect himself. To make a point Magneto uses his powers to destroy Bishop’s gun, to Bishop’s surprise, and then he uses his powers to rebuild the gun. Magneto places his helmet on his head and commands Bishop to fire over his left shoulder, which Bishop does. Magneto explains that he had felt a disturbance in the electromagnetic field around them even before the Infinites, whom one of them Bishop just shot, had fully completed their transport in. Magneto warns Bishop that the final battle has now begun and that this is just the first wave of the Empire’s assault. With that said the Vanisher appears and taunts Magneto, as Magneto proclaims of the length of time that it has been since the Vanisher has been seen, telling Magneto not to give himself so much credit. Vanisher, smiling tells Magneto that they will not battle today because he was just used to teleport the Infinites in and he has something else to do. Before he vanishes though he tells Magneto that the next time they see each other it will be in “hell”.
Bishop calls the Vanisher a coward and Magneto tells Bishop that the Vanisher could not stomach what will happen next. Bishop asks what that will be? Magneto answers the question with action as he rips the gene-spliced Infinites apart. Bishop wonders why these Infinites were not even as tough as the Infinites he had encountered in Seattle when the X-Men first met Bishop. “Do not be fooled”, Magneto tells Bishop, “He is here, waiting here to strike ...”. Like he suspected, Apocalypse appears out of nowhere and knocks Bishop and Magneto to the ground with a plasma explosion. Apocalypse holds Magneto’s unconscious body by the hair, as Bishop watches in horror saying to himself how he can not fail again like he did before. He fires a blast at Apocalypse knocking him away from Magneto. Apocalypse congratulates Bishop on a blow well struck and not only deduces correctly Bishop’s mutant powers, but also recognizes him as the stranger that his troops must have faced earlier. Apocalypse wonders aloud why Bishop is so important to Magneto and why the X-Men are protecting him. While Apocalypse taunts, Bishop crawls slowly to reach his gun but Apocalypse stops him and pounds him into the ground calling Bishop a fool for needing a crutch. In the meantime Magneto has come around and tells Apocalypse that with his dying breath he will curse Apocalypse. Magneto grabs the gun Bishop was reaching for and programs it to self-destruct, which Magneto hopes will be a large enough explosion to kill Apocalypse even though it will cost his own life too. Apocalypse taunts Magneto that the Vanisher is currently capturing little Charles and if he is dead then nobody will be there to protect his son. While talking Apocalypse grows taller and taller and taller. Magneto’s eye’s widen in shock and fear as he drops the gun and causes it not to explode, because he realizes he can not leave his son alone. Apocalypse throws Magneto into the ground and congratulates himself on capturing Magneto, Bishop, and he says in a blink of an eye, Magneto’s youngest son.
Nanny wheels through the labyrinth of tunnels underneath Westchester County carrying the baby in a protective bubble. Listening to the commotion above settle, she knows that Magneto and Bishop have lost and tells Charles that she is sorry. As she talks about needing to find an “egress” in order to protect Charles, the Vanisher appears telling Nanny to hand over Charles. Placing her charge in jeopardy is not within her parameters but protecting him is, she tells the villain, and several plasma guns emerge from her robotic back, ready to fire.
Later in the day, Quicksilver’s team arrives by way of the Brotherhood’s Ark that they had taken from them. They have returned from the successful evacuation of thousands of humans to Eurasia. Quicksilver runs across the estate looking for his baby brother, father, Nanny and Bishop but finds them all missing. Storm and Banshee have searched other parts of the grounds but too saw no sign of them. Dazzler’s light projection appears in front of the three X-Men, telling them to come to the graveyard and fast. When they arrive they see Exodus standing in a crater holding Magneto’s helmet. Very somberly looking, he points to the signs of battle. The dead Infinites show that Magneto and Bishop did defend themselves, but somebody far more powerful must have beaten them. That someone, must have captured or killed Magneto and Bishop. As Exodus begins to mourn, Quicksilver comforts him by telling him that he knows what Magneto means to him and Magneto is still alive. With that said Iceman interrupts Quicksilver by throwing the Vanisher in front of him. Iceman, who had been checking the tunnels for any sign of anyone, has found the Vanisher dead and shot full of laser blasts. Quicksilver surmises that only Nanny’s defensive weapons could have caused such burns. So he sends Dazzler and Exodus into the tunnels to find Nanny and Charles. As he runs off, Quicksilver commands Iceman to find Rogue and tell her Magneto is missing and for Banshee and Storm to wait there for the other teams‘ imminent arrivals. They ask him where he is going and Pietro tells them that he wants to talk to the one man who has all the answers to everything.
In what was once called Manhattan, Angel gets no more joy from flying through the skies like he used to. He thinks how that only yesterday Scarlett was arrested and now Karma’s missing, apparently captured by Apocalypse’s henchmen. Angel knows that since Karma was captured, Apocalypse probably knows about all of the Angel’s secrets. He also now realizes that soon there will come a time he must make a decision about what side he will stand on. The Angel lands in his apartment and begins to wash his hands. When Quicksilver rushes in and knocks the Angel down, as he begins to pull a gun out of his holster on his side. Quickly dissecting the gun, Quicksilver demands from the Angel to tell him where his father and Bishop were taken. Angel then informs Quicksilver that Apocalypse himself captured the two heroes. Magneto was taken to the heart of Apocalypse’s citadel while Bishop was taken to the Tabernacle of the Madri in Quebec. Quicksilver gets angry, why had the attack occurred now he wonders? Angel explains that Apocalypse was aware of the X-Men trying to perform some desperate move. As Quicksilver ponders who is more important to the dream, Magneto or Bishop, the Angel tries to help by advising that Pietro should go after who is more important for whatever the X-Men are planning.
In Quebec, the Madri Priests who keep chanting “May the fittest survive” torture Bishop. One of them, with a hood covering his face, opens a vial that contains the Shadow King and the King possesses the body of Bishop. In Bishop’s mind, the Shadow King sees images of the astral battle between the Shadow King and Xavier in Israel (Uncanny X-Men #117), Professor Xavier’s death (X-Men (2nd series) #41), the forming of Xavier’s original five mutants, Apocalypse and a younger Bishop side by side with Xavier. The Shadow King wonders how Bishop as a younger man than he is now can stand next to a Professor Xavier that is older than when he died decades ago. He only comes up with one possible solution – Bishop must come from another reality. To confirm his theory, the Shadow King decides to examine deeper but Bishop’s mind is able to reject him and the King’s essence is expunged from Bishop.
The Madri Priests are stunned to see the Shadow King fail and they say they have never seen a person with the ability to reject the Shadow King before. With Bishop unconscious and the Madri huddling over him they do not see Abyss sneak from behind and kill some of the Madri. Abyss talks to anyone that can hear him and tells them that Bishop is the most dangerous mutant they have met. Bishop knows something they don’t and he has got Magneto’s X-Men performing some special missions to achieve something they have no idea of, but whatever it is – it surely will change things for the worse for Apocalypse and that is just something Abyss will not allow to happen.
Back at Xavier’s estate, Quicksilver returns two hours after he had left them the first time and he hopes his stepmother Rogue has showed up, so he does not have to go through on the decision he has made. Yet Rogue’s team is still away, and Exodus and Dazzler are still looking for Nanny and little Charles. Only Storm and Banshee await him. Pietro fills them in that Magneto and Bishop have been brought to different locations and since Bishop is crucial to Magneto’s plan, they will go to Quebec to rescue him, even if it means leaving his father to Apocalypse. Shocked, Banshee starts to object but Quicksilver interrupts and tells them to prepare for their mission. Somewhat later, the three X-Men load the Ark with supplies they might need. Storm reminds Quicksilver that only yesterday he endangered their mission because of one child, and now he is unable to show the same feelings when it comes to his own family. Pietro tells her that he will not allow himself those thoughts, and that his mind is made up. So Quicksilver, Banshee, and Storm head off to save a man they barely know, to fight for the dream of a man neither of them ever met.
