X weeks after the Hellfire Gala:
Krakoa, population: 1
Charles Xavier is the only one left. Having grown a beard, he sits and stares into the sunset remembering…
Flashback:
Briefly, before the Hellfire Gala Destiny implored him, if something happens, he needs to get Mystique out. Is something going to happen? he asked. It may, it may not, she replied. She has said there is a blankness in her head, but really? Would he believe her if she told him?
He remembers how the new X-Men team was elected and celebrated. He remembers Nimrod smashing down, murdering them. He remembers the Stark Sentinels butchering the guests.
He remembers surrendering.
Dr. Stasis told him Orchis had hacked their gates and right now they are pointing off-Earth. He offered to kill no more humans, if all mutants left. Moira X ordered him to make them walk. And he did. He made all mutant who couldn’t resist walk through the gates.
Exodus gathered up the Five and pushed them through one gate when they tried to resist.
Later, Rogue flew him away. He had lost all telepathic contact, leaving him with the conviction he sent all mutants to their deaths. Again, he remembers Destiny warning him before the gala…
The Day after the Gala:
Somewhere in New York City:
While Stark Sentinels patrol the skies, Sebastian Shaw, in a spacious office, is willing to give his new partners at Orchis a show of good faith by injecting himself with a substance that will take away his mutant powers. Not willing to show weakness in front of his new assistant, he lectures her he was never really a mutant. He just had a mutant gene. Now that the nasty preliminaries are over, it is time for the fun part. He sits down, pours himself a drink and orders “Tessa” to inform him, how rich he is.
The young woman corrects him that her name is Siobhan. Calling her “new Tessa,” he informs her that, with the amount he is paying her, she will be Tessa. If you are rich enough, the world is exactly what you say it is. He demands the analysis. “New Tessa” hesitates before admitting his funds are unchanged. Angrily, he demands how. He owns Krakoa! Sheepishly, she explains that he owns the island, not the finances. Who has that? he demands. “New Tessa” replies they are trying to ascertain it… there are shell companies. She apologizes, assuring him she is trying.
He orders her to find out and asks, annoyed, why she is quivering. Did she think he’d throw her off the building or something? Yes? she admits. Putting on his jacket, he exclaims, he isn’t a bloody super-villain, for #*/& sake! He’s a businessman and he made a /&%# deal!
Enraged, he strides into Manhattan’s branch of the Hellfire Club. A butler tries to stop him and Shaw orders him to get him a drink for when he’s finished.
He walks into the part of the cellars, where once he started a magical ritual and calls Mother Righteous. She appears with what seems to be a hangover, complaining about the gala afterparty. Shaw angrily reminds her of their deal. He was naïve, she chuckles. He acted like he was dealing with a businesswoman - he made a deal with a magician. A speller. A storyteller. You make a deal in a story, and it’s never quite what you wanted. Nice doing magic with him, Mother Righteous dismisses him.
He promises to destroy her for this. As she disappears, she reminds him that he broke the magic circle in their little Quiet Council, and you know what happens if you break a magic circle: You are in danger. Several armed Hellfire guards enter the room and order him to leave immediately. His membership has been cancelled by the new owner! Shaw leaves the room and demands the damn whiskey. A butler stutters about his membership. Shaw demands the whiskey or he will tear the man’s head off!
Outside, the building “new Tessa” is waiting with information on who the new owner’s identity. It’s Wilson Fisk. The Kingpin is the new White King? Shaw does a spit take. Cue for Emma Frost to telepathically appear to him in giant form and in her best dominatrix outfit. She addresses him as a “worm of a man” and a disappointment. Shaw sputters that, if she is on Earth, she is going to get people killed. She knows the new rules. Of course, she replies. She is somewhere safe. She just had to talk. He went for the short trade rather than the long one. He left oh so much money on the table. He could have been rich, truly rich! Instead – scrapings from their table. She did it for the children, she whispers into his ear. He did it for the cents.
“New Tessa” has seen nothing of that interaction, just Shaw in a stupor on his knees. She asks if he needs medical assistance. It’s nothing, he brushes her off. An old annoying ailment. Still, it serves as a reminder. Does she know what his superpower actually is? He could absorb energy and turn it into power? “new Tessa” replies. He gets up and rights his tie. With a smirk, he claims that his superpower is turning cents into billions. He orders her to start arranging meetings. He wants to begin the exploitation of Krakoa immediately!
Weeks later, on a yacht not far away from Krakoa:
Impatient, Shaw asks “new Tessa” why they haven’t even finished stage one (salvage of anything useful from Krakoa) yet. Does he have to take direct control of the operations himself? Nervously, she corrects him they are at stage zero. They have no presence on Krakoa.
Tanning herself on a deckchair, Selene interrupts that this is embarrassing. She addresses one of the mercs and tells him to make excuses.
The man explains that there are monsters on the island. Everyone they sent there has asked to be repositioned. This is what happens when you hire anti-mutant people, she sighs. Not monsters, mutants! she corrects him. And they are gone. The man stubbornly insists he knows what he means.
Xavier still sits on the beach staring at the sunset. Emma Frost telepathically contacts him and insists he stop ignoring her. She won’t tell him where she is, in case anyone is listening, but she is worried about him. She knows he thinks the others are all dead, but they cannot be sure. Just because he can’t sense them… Yes, she knows how that sounds. He has Cerebro and that overdeveloped mind of his, but… she’s reaching out to Strange, T’Challa, Reed. She asks him to not give up! They don’t know for sure!
Their children are dead! is his curt reply. He orders her to leave him be.
He is interrupted when he senses frightened thoughts. Somebody near fearing mutants. He turns around and senses another of Shaw’s teams entering the beach.
Xavier makes them see horrible monsters and they leave as quickly as they came. Xavier looks after them. He believes his people are dead but, as long as he lives, he will not let their memories be desecrated. No more! he vows.
Nowhere, no-when:
What seems to be an endless desert and, in it, are three people. Sitting on the ground, Hope Summers complains about Exodus pushing them so hard through the gate. She gets her bearings and demands where they are. They are in the desert is Exodus’ stoic reply.
The third person, Destiny, wakes up with a scream of denial. Horrified, she shouts she can’t see. Hope tries to calm her and helpfully points out she is blind. Destiny clarifies she cannot see the future! There is nothing but a white space. Is Raven here? she asks. Where is her wife? she shouts and begins to babble hysterically about trying to save her. Hope finally slaps her and grabs her by the shoulder She tells Destiny she is an ice-cold #&%*. She liked that. Pull it together!
Hope orders Exodus to scan the minds of those nearby. There are 250,000 minds. Mystique is not among them, nor are the rest of the Five. The whole population of Krakoa, he announces. The ones Xavier forced to walk through the portals. They were meant to arrive on Arakko. Instead, they came here to the desert,
Hope points out most of them have no useful mutant power, they have no food. No water. Some of them are wearing /*&% formal wear. What are they going to do?
Standing on a hill, Exodus raises his hands and his voice, demanding the people listen. He promises that they will survive the desert, as he did so long ago. They will be transformed like he was. They are mutant pilgrims. He will lead them to the promised land. Trust him. He has seen this in a vision, long, long ago.
The people listen hopefully. He continues that they are the people of Krakoa. They have each other. They have only ever had each other. And whether they live or die, they will live and die together. He points in a direction and orders them to follow him.
Supporting Destiny, Hope walks next to him and asks, what is this way? A promised land, he replies. Does he know this truly? Hope asks. Absolutely not, he states grimly, while walking ahead. But he’s got faith!
“The whole mutant people were cast out from Krakoa and came to the desert. In the desert, the whole community grumbled against Exodus and Hope. The mutants said to them, ‘if only we had died by Orchis’ hand! In Krakoa, we sat around pots of plenty and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly unto death!’”
The Book of Exodus – Bennet du Paris translation
