Madripoor:
The Marauder has just been attacked by another ship and boarded by the X-Cutioner and the Hatemonger. Pyro loosens a flame blast at them, telling them to wear a sheet and get beat. In the meantime, Storm and Bishop are assisting Shinobi Shaw’s Upstart.
Iceman is lying on the deck of the Marauder after being hit by the villains’ attack, namely a depowering ray. Just as the Hatemonger raises his sword to kill him, Kate Pryde phases him through the deck and orders him to stay down until he can ice up again. She orders Lockheed to protect him.
Kate phases upward. The sight of Hatemonger having Pyro in a headlock stops her in her tracks. She is still afraid of men in hoods. She grabs Pyro’s hand and phases him out of Hatemonger’s grip. He tries to stab her but, as she phases, he injures Pyro instead. They are unaware that he has injected Pyro with a microscopic vessel carrying the miniaturized Yellowjacket, who contacts Verendi. They look forward to the they intend to get about the mutant state. Manuel Enduque cheerfully announces they are going to have the most expensive streaming service on the planet. Wilhelmina looks outside and notes the mutants trapped on the Upstart are trying to escape, aided by Bishop.
On the Upstart are Storm and Shinobi, who is trying to make the ship run again. Storm tells him they have a secret gateway to Krakoa on the Marauder.
On the Marauder, the rest of the crew have their own troubles. Currently, only Kate is left standing and facing the Hatemonger and the X-Cutioner. She remembers him, she tells the X-Cutioner. Former fed, current anti-mutant bigot. As she blocks his attack with her sword, he accuses the mutants of having left a trail of ruined human lives in their wake. The Hatemonger urges him to stop wasting time and kill.
Kate holds her sword to his throat. She was afraid of men like him before she knew she was a mutant. She’s not afraid of them anymore, so don’t let her next move go to his head. She jumps off the ship and climbs onto theirs and phases inside.
The two villains swear and Hatemonger decides to call Pierce.
Kate phases through the ship through a floor with several armored-suits like the Russian Paragon one and comes up on the deck, where she finds Donald Pierce and Chen Zhao. With a smirk, Pierce tells her he has to ask her to disembark now. Zhao adds this is a diplomatic mission belonging to the nation of Madripoor.
Unimpressed, Kate draws her sword: they attacked a Krakoan ship and they are carrying armor that shorts out mutant powers. Plus, she just fought a Klansman, so no, this ship is hers now!
Her and what army? Pierce scoffs, informing her he is Madripoor’s ambassador to the United Nations. Zhao gleefully points out this is an act of aggression against their nation. Kate snaps that last week Zhao was a citizen of China. Last month her country didn’t exist! Zhao shoots back.
Kate attacks and throws Pierce to the ground. Nervously, Zhao points out she has diplomatic immunity. Kate snaps that she hired a man in a hood to kill her and her friends! and hits her in the face.
Storm joins them and informs Kate that the mutants who were trapped on the Upstart are now safely on the Marauder. What do they need to do to this small man?
Pierce needles Kate about being protected by so many powerful mutants. Kate rejoins, right now they are protecting him from her.
Aboard the Marauder, Pyro shouts a warning regarding the Hatemonger but Bishop takes the shot absorbing his energy. He returns the blast throwing Hatemonger and X-Cutioner off board.
Storm uses her winds to throw Pierce into the water and Kate does the same to Zhao.
Iceman joins them. He sent the refugees and Shinobi through the gate, he informs them, and Bishop and Pyro are doing a security sweep. What are they doing with this ship? Kate states there’s a cargo full of the armors they encountered in Russia. Storm considers they shouldn’t sink it but it’s too dangerous to take to Krakoa. Kate suggests that she sail the ship to island M and Storm can meet her there. Bring Sage and Beast. Forge should examine the antimutant tech. Storm agrees, adding ominously that he should be intimately familiar with their designs. Iceman asks if Forge invented the power dampeners. Storm replies that, not so long ago, they lived in a very different world. She promises he will fix it. And if he can’t? Iceman asks. Storm replies, then she will break every last piece herself.
She tells him to accompany Kate. He protests he had plans but then agrees he will take the slow boat. Kate interjects that she doesn’t need a babysitter. He assures her that’s not what they meant. Yes, they did, she smiles and suggests they split up. At least two of them have something important to do. Iceman remarks that he knows Storm and Kate are both on the Quiet Council but he’s a guest judge on Drag Race this week. Clearly, he has the most responsibility, Storm deadpans. Storm and Kate say goodbye. Storm tells her they will see her at home in a few days.
Kate is left alone with Lockheed on the ship – or so she thinks. Someone moves through the cargo hold and walks up surprising her. The Black King Sebastian Shaw fires a weapon trapping Lockheed in a net. He drops some Krakoan seeds. Calling her “Kitty,” he announces he has brought some seeds she will find very interesting.
Kate draws her sword. Of course he is mixed up in this! She threatens he will sleep next to Sabretooth. Shaw doubts that.
Vines suddenly creep up from the seeds and from around Kate’s legs. She finds she cannot phase through them. He tells her Krakoa has rejected her and mutantdom can’t afford to cling to its past. He sees his yacht approaching and bids her farewell in whatever comes next for her.
Kate draws her sword. He cares about a second council seat this much? she snarls. Absolutely, he replies and easily kicks the sword out of her hand. He will need it in order to acquire his third council seat. He throws the net with the unconscious Lockheed into the ocean. Kate screams and promises him her council seat if he saves Lockheed. He refuses. Now he must return to business, and she also has someplace to be.
He presses a button on a small device. A detonation tears a hole into the hull. Water streams in and begins to cover Kate. She shouts that the others will bring her back, but Shaw is certain that whatever quirk of her powers keeps her from walking through the Krakoan gates will also keep her out of the Resurrection Protocols. Why else would her friends be guarding her like a treasure?
Calling her “Kitty,” he tells her to take heart. This is a course correction for mutantdom. He will have Shinobi in her chair, and soon a Queen of his choosing will wear white. Does she think the world of man wants to negotiate with a telepath? When the powers of man look at him, they are not afraid. They see themselves. They see money. In five years, he will have overseen the largest transfer of wealth the world will ever know. And before he goes, he must thank her for her assistance today. It was not difficult to entice today’s participants. Even with the high turnover rate of the vessels they’ve been printing money. He hired Verendi and the villains via Pierce. And the rest was just a matter of a friendly drink around the island. He told Christian Frost that they can’t resurrect the Red Queen and that is why Iceman won’t join Christian’s crew. He’s too busy guarding some feeble half-mutant girl. Kate and the White Queen just needed the right nudge for him to make sure that Shinobi’s ship was just where he needed it to be for her to come sailing to the rescue. And then he needed her pride to clear the deck of her omega level friends.
The water has almost reached Kate’s mouth. She shouts she will live again only to kill him. When she returns, he will beg for her blade. Then she swallows water and drowns. Perhaps, Shaw muses, enjoying the sunset. But not today.
