New Attilan, where a voice announces over a communications system to all residents that Queen Medusa has initiated Defense Protocol X. The report advises that security personnel are to report to their assigned battle stations, and non-combatants are to proceed to their nearest shelter zone and remain there until the all-clear sounds. 'The city will remain sealed for the duration of the emergency. Do not be afraid. We are one. Trust the Queen'.
The city's defenses are activated, large cannons point skyward, while civilians rush to the safety zones, and Inhuman guard ready themselves. Medusa stands on a balcony overlooking the city, with Johnny Storm the Human Torch hovering at her side. He offers to fly out there and see what the X-Men want before they get close to the city. He adds that the X-Men won't attack him, as he is neutral in all of this. 'No, Johnny. You're not. The mutants know what you and I are to each other. Everyone does' Medusa points out, before telling Johnny that she wants him down in the city, as the mutants have teleporters, they can be anywhere at any time. 'Use your speed... help where you can' she asks him.
The Torch tells Medusa that he can't leave her alone up here, to which Medusa tells him that he can, and adds that the mutants might just be here to talk. 'Talk? They brought an army!' the Human Torch exclaims, pointing to the distance where several approaching figures can be seen. Medusa tells him that she refuses to believe the mutants are planning to attack civilians – as they X-Men are heroes. The Torch tells Medusa to look again, and remarks that they aren't all X-Men – Magneto is there and Sabretooth, too. 'Let me stay. Let me protect you' he asks her. Medusa instructs Johnny to go, pointing out that this is no time for sentiment. She adds that she doesn't need his protection and asks him to go and find someone who does. The Torch flies out over the balcony, and Medusa extends some of her hair to touch him – it sizzles against his flaming form, before the Torch drops down and flies to the ground.
Medusa steps back inside, and calls out to Iso, asking her where she is. Medusa's attendants walk over to her, as Iso's voice is heard over a communicator, informing Medusa that she and Inferno are at the main gates, that they just sealed them. 'Is this really the X-Men?' Iso asks. Medusa tells her that it is, and she is not sure what they want, but that she has to assume the worst. Iso reports that they are ready down here. As she puts some armor on her face, Medusa tells Iso that she needs her and Inferno to do something else, as Black Bolt, Crystal and Karnak are not responding to her calls. 'You need to get out. Find out what happened to them' Medusa instructs Iso, adding that if the city falls, she needs to gather whoever she can find – Reader, Grid, Kamala, as Ahura might give them sanctuary in Ennilux. 'Resist. And when the time is right, take back our home' Medusa adds. 'Of course... but, Medusa, shouldn't you be doing that?' Iso asks.
Several mutants can be seen surging towards the city's defenses, as Medusa tells Iso that the mutants will come for her first, so the longer she can keep them occupied, the more time they will have for Black Bolt or Crystal to get here. 'This is my home. These are my people. I will not let the X-Men shape their future' Medusa declares, spiked bonds tied through her hair, she stands defiantly. 'Medusa! I... think it's starting!' Iso calls out as she hears a loud boom. Looking out the window, Medusa decides that it looks like the mutants have decided to skip the negotiation phase. She bids Iso good luck and tells her that, Mists willing, they will see each other again.
Outside in the streets of New Attilan, Frank McGee fires weapons upwards as Psylocke drops down towards him. 'Flint! Flint, can you read me? We are under heavy attack here! I need backup!' he calls out, asking where Crystal and her team are and why they haven't returned. 'No one can reach them, Nur! The mutants are everywhere! We all need backup!' Flint, in his large rock- form replies as he struggles with assaults by Archangel and Warpath.
Storm hovers above the battle and tells the mutants to listen as she reminds them that they must be careful – just because they need to do this doesn't mean they need to hurt any innocents. She declares that the Inhuman Royal Family is the target, not the New Attilan civilians, so they must remain unharmed. 'And if you can, assure them this is only temporary' Storm adds. The Sentinel called Cerebra has picked two Inhumans up as Magneto hovers nearby and tells Storm that these people are not in the right mind to be assured of anything. 'Magneto? I thought you would still be in Chechnya' Storm responds.
As New Attilan civilians gather below him, Magneto informs Storm that Cerebra provided quick transport, and that the two of them have it under control. He adds that they are corralling as many of the Inhumans they can, and that they will be kept safe until the strike is over. 'Speaking of which, are we ready for phase two?' Magneto enquires.
Magik is standing on a rooftop, and Storm contacts her, asking her if she is there and ready. 'Yep. Off to go teleport me some Inhumans' Magik replies as she teleports up behind Frank McGee who is still battling Psylocke.
'Hey!' Frank exclaims as Magik grabs him and then they vanish. 'What is she doing?' Flint asks as he slams Warpath to the ground. The time-displaced Cyclops is nearby when Magik lands on Flint's back. 'Where is she taking u-' Flint begins, before he vanishes, too. The female Wolverine is battling Naja mid-air. Wolverine falls as Magik lands on Naja's back. 'Careful, Illyana. This one is tougher than she looks' Iceman warns her. 'I can handle her' Magik boasts as she teleports away with the Inhuman.
The time-displaced Beast bounds through s hallway, dodging bullet fire that one of the Inhuman guards blasts after him. 'Beast? Are you there? Did you make it in?' Storms' voice is heard over the X-Men's communicators. 'I'm here, Storm. I'm inside New Attilan' Beast confirms. He adds that he is just a little busy, and asks Storm to give him a moment. He shoves one of the guards to the ground, before entering a lab, and reporting to Storm that he is in the other Beast's lab. 'If there is anything in there that he was working on that could help us combat the Terrigen poisoning -' Storm begins. 'I will find it. If I know myself – and I do – it shouldn't take long to crack the other me's file encryption' the young Beast declares as he starts to tap away at a console. Suddenly: 'Beast! Why are your people attacking us? Wait, who are -' Medusa exclaims as she enters the lab.
'Uh... yeah, wrong Beast' the young mutant admits, turning to face Medusa, whose hair is poised like snakes, ready to strike him. 'You' Medusa snarls, as her hair suddenly bursts down through the floor and then back up like spikes, each thick spire of hair aimed towards him.
'Beast? Henry, what is -' Storm's voice can be heard, as the Beast tells her that it is Medusa. 'How dare you invade my home like this! Attack my people!' Medusa exclaims. The Beast tells her that they don't want to hurt the Inhumans, but they have no choice. 'We have to do this' he exclaims. 'We were trying to work with you here! We were trying to help you!' Medusa exclaims. The Beast lunges and dodges her deadly tresses again, when Medusa snags him by his ankle and tells him that now he has endangered her people, that truce is done, as she slams him to the ground, sending lab equipment smashing everywhere.
'You think you can hurt me, child?' Medusa asks, moving closer to the Beast, who groans as he is knocked backwards. Suddenly: 'Believe it or not, we are not here to hurt you, fraulein. Only to take you somewhere you cannot hurt us' Nightcrawler declares as he teleports behind Medusa, grabs her, and teleports her away. The Beast gets to his feet, and Storm tells him to get anything he can from the lab. 'Got it, Storm. If there's anything left' the young mutant replies as he surveys the damaged lab.
Elsewhere within New Attilan, Iso and Inferno are running through a corridor, as Iso tells Inferno that they need to get to the hangar, as it is the only way out. Inferno asks Iso if she is sure, and points out that the mutants will certainly have guards there. He adds that even if they get a flier out, the mutants have the city surrounded, so they will see them. 'We won't get far' he declares. Opening the hangar, Iso tells Inferno that they don't need to get far – just to Long Island. 'Why the hell do we want to go there?' Inferno asks. 'We're supposed to escape, remember? That's how we'll do it' Iso tells him – but as they step into the hangar, they find Sabretooth waiting for them. The two Inhumans stand their ground, and Iso tells Inferno that they can do this, that this is exactly why Medusa had them study all those mutant files. 'This is Sabretooth. I know his capabilities' Iso claims. 'Yeah, me too. That's how I know we're screwed' Inferno replies.
'Not yet' Iso tells Inferno, instructing him to hit Sabretooth with everything he has got, and she will alter the pressure, try to get a firestorm going. 'A firestorm? How the hell is that supposed to work?' Inferno asks, when suddenly, Sabretooth leaps towards them, but a surge of fire engulfs him, and Sabretooth roars. 'Wow. Impressive, Inferno!' Iso exclaims. Confused, Inferno tells Iso that he didn't do anything. The Human Torch reveals himself, and tells the young Inhumans not to worry, that he has their backs. 'Us fire guys have to stick together, ri-' he begins, when suddenly, Sabretooth roars again as he leaps at the Torch and forces him to the ground. 'Torch!' Inferno calls out. The Torch tells them to just go and get out of here as he pours another burst of flame at the deadly mutant.
'We can't just leave him!' Inferno tells Iso as she gets onto some sort of sky sled. Iso tells Inferno that they have to, that this is their only chance. The young Inhumans escape on the sky sled through an exit, while the Human Torch continues to pour his power on against Sabretooth. 'This wasn't your fight, blondie. We'd a' let you go, if you'd been smart enough to stay out of the way' Sabretooth tells him. 'But hey, if you wanna side with the Inhumans, that's fine by me' Sabretooth declares, lunging through the Torch's fire again, Sabretooth exclaims 'Let's see how far it gets you'.
Outside, lightning bolts strike New Attilan and thunder crashes above, while Sabretooth contacts Storm, informing her that the Torch is down, but that two of the baby Inhumans got away on a sky sled. Storm sees the sky sled fly nearby, and contacts Wolverine. 'I'm here' the young woman replies as she fights alongside the time-displaced Angel and Cyclops. Storm informs Wolverine that two Inhumans broke free and are heading east by air. 'Wherever they're going, it can't be good for us. I need you to track them and stop them' Storm instructs Wolverine. Angel swoops down and picks Wolverine up. 'My ride just showed up. I'm on it. We'll stop them' Wolverine assures Storm. 'I know you will, Laura' Storm replies, before contacting Magik and Nightcrawler and asking them how the prisoners are doing.
'We got all of the targets, Ororo. They are now secured... or more accurately, they're in Limbo' Magik replies, as Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, the Human Torch, Flint, Naja and Frank McGee stand on a slope, and horrid demons scurry around them, watching over the sullen Inhumans.
Smoke and flames rise from New Attilan, as Inferno and Iso make their escape. 'We did it! We got away!' Iso exclaims. Inferno points out that they got out of New Attilan, but he isn't sure they got away, as Angel, carrying Wolverine, fly after them. Wolverine instructs Angel to get her above them, to which Angel explains that he is working on it, but that sky sled is pretty damn fast. As Angel and Wolverine get above the sky sled, Iso tells Inferno to hold them off and adds that they don't have far to go. 'I'm trying!' Inferno replies as he fires a blast upwards, but misses. Wolverine pops her claws and drops from Angel's arms down towards the sky sled. 'Just... a little... farther...' Iso utters as she forces the sky sled onwards – but an instant later, Wolverine slices through the sky sled, slashing it into pieces and sending Inferno and Iso tumbling through the air towards the beach below.
They land after falling from such a heavy height, scattering sand around them. Iso goes over to Inferno, who asks 'How... are we alive?' Iso explains that she cushioned the fall with her powers. 'Not for her, though. She has... healing factor. She can take it' Iso explains. Inferno points out that Wolverine will wake us soon, and adds that Angel is still up there. Iso tells Inferno to to worry, and reveals that they made it – that this is the spot. 'The spot for what?' Inferno asks. 'Not what – who. Eldrac' Iso explains, using her power to blast away the sand that covers the door Inhuman called Eldrac. 'The gate?' Inferno asks. 'Yes. He'll send us where we need to be – that's his Inhuman power' Iso explains. Inferno tells Iso that he knows, but points out that Eldrac looks like he is dead. 'I don't think he can send us anywhere' Inferno remarks. Iso tells him that Eldrac is just asleep – at least, she hopes he is asleep.
Iso crouches beside Eldrac ad informs him that the Inhumans need him again. 'We forgive you. Please...' she begins, while Inferno looks up and sees Wolverine walking across the beach towards him, and Angel hovering in the air above. Inferno asks Iso if she wants to hurry it up, as Wolverine is back on her feet. Angel calls down to them, and asks the Inhumans to come back with them. He adds that it will all be fine, that they don't want to hurt them. 'Yes, we do' Wolverine exclaims, while Inferno asks Eldrac to forgive them. Eldrac's door suddenly opens, and a glowing portal appears. Iso reaches over and yanks Inferno towards her, pulling him down into Eldrac as she passes into him also – while Wovlerine lunges towards them, claws outstretched – but her claws land in the sand, as it whirls about and covers up most of Eldrac once again. Angel drops down beside Wolverine and tells her that he is almost glad they got away. He adds that he knows how important it is that they win this fight. 'But... should we really be trying to kill each other?' he asks. 'Aren't we trying to keep people from dying?' Angel asks Wolverine, who just grunts in response.
Iso and Inferno examine their new surroundings, what appears to be a jungle. 'Where... where did Eldrac send us?' Iso asks. Inferno tells her that he doesn't care where they are – just so long as they got away from Wolverine. Suddenly, there is a familiar SNIKT sound, as Old Man Logan approaches the Inhumans. 'Sorry, bub. Guess this just ain't your day' he tells Inferno....
