In a secret location on Planet X Magneto is slowly start to crush Alex “Havok” Summers. ‘What are you scheming with this menagerie of filth, Havok? What is your plan?’ Magneto demands. ‘You’ll just have to wait… and see…’ Alex manages to utter. ‘No. I won’t. Because you’ll be dead’ Magneto replies.
‘Dammit, Magneto - stop! You’re killing him!’ Cyclops of the X-Council orders. Magneto points out that Havok is endangering all of reality on a fantasy that has no hope of success. ‘If you weren’t willing to end him to save our world, Cyclops - you should not have come!’
Nearby, Psylocke of the X-Council rushes to a possible future version of herself, Magistrate Braddock, who remarks ‘Lamb, you once swore on your very life to never become like me. But look at you now. A member of the ruling X-Council of soldiers’. Psylocke prepares to kick Magistrate Braddock, but she steps out of the way. ‘Keeping the “peace” X-Force style, through whatever means necessary? I told you it was the only future for either of us’ Magistrate Braddock reminds her younger counterpart.
Magistrate Braddock readies a psi-knife, and tells her younger self that she is proud to see her rise to the occasion. ‘Only, unlike you, we didn’t choose to impose our will on anyone, Magistrate Braddock!’ Psylocke points out as she flips backwards, dodging the older woman’s attack. Psylocke creates her own psi-knife, and as she drops back down, ‘We didn’t choose to rule - we were handed this fate!’ she exclaims as she shoves her psi-knife into Magistrate Braddock’s head.
At the same time, Cable approaches his doppelganger, Stryfe, ‘Don’t know what the hell you’re doing here, Stryfe - but I will kill you if you don’t stand the hell down’ Cable declares, aiming his weapon at Stryfe. ‘Just look at yourself, Cable’ Stryfe replies. ‘The once proud freedom fighter reduced to servant’. Stryfe unleashes a psychic attack as he points out that he is the one fighting to protect Earth, and Cable, his clone, the pawn of Apocalypse. Cable is knocked back by the telekinetic blast, before Stryfe kicks him in the head.
While the motionless Janet van Dyne a.k.a. the Wasp has been set down on a table nearby, the Beast leaps at one of the X-Force members the Blob, ‘You’ll have to forgive me’ he tells the Blob, adding that he is quite partial to Mrs van Dyne-Summers, so he cannot allow harm to befall her. The Beast also knocks Pyro over, before Lady Avalanche causes the ground around the Beast to rise up and wrap around him. ‘It is not for you to choose, rodent’ she declares. As the Blob lumbers over to the Wasp, Lady Avalanche exclaims that the Wasp’s death is by decree of Constable Magneto - for the good of the people.
‘How do ya call yerself a mutant, Beast? Working with this human dirt to erase our paradise?’ the Blob asks. He picks the Wasp up by her throat, and remarks that back on Earth, the Beast always was more Avenger than X-Man, always wanting to jump teams. ‘But now you get ta see what happens to traitors on Planet X… now you get ta watch the Wasp die!’
Magneto once again demands to know what Kang’s plot is, and how they can stop him. ‘First step… kiss my ass -’ Havok begins, as Magneto continues to put pressure on Havok’s body so much that blood bursts from his mouth and nose. Alex screams in pain, as Magneto tells him that he prolongs the inevitable. ‘You will talk before you die, Alex Summers. I assure you -’ Magneto boast, before suddenly Cyclops fires an optic blast at Magneto, knocking him into the wall, and freeing Alex from his hold. Cyclops goes over and pulls his younger brother up off the ground, telling him that he hopes to God he has this one right. ‘Thank you’ Alex utters. Cyclops tells him to thank him when they fix this mess. ‘Kang can do the thing that every single person has told me couldn’t be done? He can save Earth?’ Cyclops asks. ‘Yes. I believe so… he’s got no reason to lie, Scott’ Alex points out.
Havok continues, explaining to Cyclops that nothing here will survive - these last few years on Planet X - will all be erased. Cyclops tells Havok that Cable and the X-Council think that Havok will crack the Time Stream right down the middle and erase everything. ‘Kang’s got my daughter, Scott, so I might be compromised. But I know this - nobody wants to save the Earth more than him. It’s his prized gem - the thing he wants above all else. Alex adds that he thinks they can do it - and he is willing to live his life trying - but not without Cyclops’s blessing. The brothers hug, as Scott tells Alex that he has missed him. ‘It’s mutual, Scotty’ Alex replies. ‘Come on… we’ll do this together’ Cyclops announces. ‘Set this right’ he adds.
Meanwhile, above Planet X, inside Eimin’s throne room, Thor smashes Eimin across the room with a crack of his mighty hammer. ‘For Midgard!’ Thor declares. He grabs the axe jarnbjorn and flies towards Eimin, ‘I have spent years dreaming of this moment, Eimin - it is sweeter than I imagined’ Thor exclaims as he slams his hammer into Eimin’s face. Nearby, May “Venom” Parker leaps towards Daken: ‘Hey, looky here. Blueberry Wolverine is back for more!’ she calls out. ‘tHe name’s Daken, little girl - in case anyone asks who killed you’ Daken replies as he reaches out with his claws to slash Venom. But she easily glides over him, ‘Oh, sweetheart - you’re positively delusional - how about a little electroshock therapy on the house?’ May Parker replies, as she blasts Daken with her Venom blasts, striking him in the back, he cries out in pain.
Thor holds Eimin up by her throat, ‘You used Jarnbjorn to doom my people - to doom my world! It is fitting you should die by its blade’ Thor tells her as he prepares to bring the axe to her - until a voice calls out ‘There’s no time to indulge in revenge, brute’ and a purple-gloved hand grabs Thor’s wrist. Thor turns to see Kang, telling him that he should not have deviated from the plan. ‘Father!’ Eimin gasps. Thor pulls away from Kang, ‘Unhand me, Kang - I will do as I see fit!’ he exclaims, reminding him that he doesn’t take orders from he. ‘Yes. You. Do’ Kang grins, before telling Thor to quit wasting his time. They turn to the cages built into the wall, where Wolverine a.k.a. Logan and Shiro Sunfire” Yoshida have been kept captive. ‘Do not forget - this is your mess I’m cleaning up, Thunder God. Now go. Collect the mutants… I’ll deal with my daughter’
‘Father, you must understand! You left us no other choice -’ Eimin begins, but Kang grabs her by her wrist and replies ‘No, I didn’t. Though I had hoped you would provide a more substantial challenge to my throne, Eimin.’ Confused, Eimin replies ‘Substantial? We destroyed your kingdom!’ But Kang tells her ‘Temporarily. But now you will see yours erase for eternity’ he adds, while May Parker stands over Daken. ‘Foolish girl. Did you truly believe I was unaware of what you were up to?’ Kang smiles. ‘Do you think so little of me, my daughter?’
Eimin drops to her knees, as Kang continues: ‘After all the trouble I went to raise you and your brother, Uriel. The idiot you marched to his death for your own goals. Did you think that I hadn’t foreseen your treachery?’ Kang asks, telling Eimin that in revelling against him, she played her role in this divine comedy perfectly. Kang releases Eimin and declares that she has served the only purpose she was ever any good for. ‘You have served Kang’.
Suddenly: ‘You’re not the end of me, friend’ Daken declares as he rips through the Venom web and lunges towards Kang, ‘No - I am’ Wolverine suddenly announces, as he slices his claws along Daken’s body. Daken cries out in pain, as a very naked Wolverine, his body disfigured from years of torture, continues to slash away at his son. ‘You’re a rotten monster. Did the right thing killing you. Right thing putting you down. But I ain’t doing it again… I ain’t gonna face the nightmares’ Wolverine declares has he holds the bloodied mess his son has become up by his neck.
Nearby, Sean “Banshee” Cassidy screams as Sunfire unleashes his atomic flame over his former friend. ‘How many years have they tortured us, Banshee? How many years have you sat back and done nothing?’ he asks. Sunfire tells Banshee that he loved him like a brother. ‘This is how you repay me?’
Arno Stark and Abomination Deathlok stand nearby, as Banshee tells Shiro that he has a devil inside him. ‘You were a Horseman once - you know. I… I can’t control it… I just - I wasn’t strong enough’ Banshee calls out. Wolverine goes over to Sunfire and tells him that Banshee is right. ‘We both know it, Shiro - both been there. Leave him be’ Wolverine suggest. Sunfire stops pouring the flame onto Banshee, and joins Wolverine, Thor, Abomination Deathlok, Arno Stark and May Parker as they follow Kang. ‘Don’t you fret, Sunfire. They won’t have to live with it much longer’ They leave Banshee smoldering in flames, Daken laying motionless on the ground, and Eimin frozen in her kneeling position.
‘I can see the headlines now - handsome man crushes irritating lady, saves world!’ the Blob declares as he raises the Wasp overhead, but drops her when Doom 2099 fires a blast at him, ‘A compelling title. I’ll take note for my propagandists’ Doom remarks. ‘Plagiarism? I expected better from you, Doom’ Stryfe mocks, when suddenly Magneto uses his control over metal to lift Stryfe up. ‘Clearly I cannot make you see reason, to understand the destruction your recklessness will bring about’ Magneto tells him. ‘Fortunately, I do not have to’ he adds, as he crushes Stryfe inside his own armor.
He then levitates the Beast, Wasp, Ahab and Doom. ‘I will not allow you to risk our lives, our future, on your short sighted gamble’ he tells them. ‘We’re not asking your permission, Erik’ a voice calls out. It is Cyclops, who adds that saving Earth is worth any risk, as he and Havok blast Magneto in unison. ‘You can’t be this stupid’ Magneto exclaims as he lands on the ground. ‘Stupid was ever listening to you. X-Men - take them down!’ Cyclops orders as Havok, Storm, Cable and Psylocke stand ready.
‘Bring it, ya dumb X-squibs!’ the Blob shouts as he, Lady Avalanche and Pyro gather near Magneto. ‘Rethink this, Scott! Your sentimentality will cost us everything!’ he exclaims. ‘Go, Alex. We’ll take care of X-Force’ Cyclops tells Havok. ‘Scott -’ Alex begins, but as he blasts the Blob, Scott tells Alex that there is no goodbyes. ‘Just don’t get this wrong’ he tells him. The Beast picks up the Wasp, while Ahab and Doom 2099 follow. ‘A large decision you just made for us, Pops’ Cable tells Cyclops. ‘If you don’t agree, you can go stop them, Nathan. I won’t get in your way’ Cyclops tells Cable. ‘We’re not going anywhere’ Storm announces. ‘I’ll kill you all if you make me’ Magneto warns the X-Council. ‘You just might, Erik… but Alex will be long gone by then’ Cyclops replies.
Atop the X-Council headquarters, Wolverine and Sunfire stand away from Kang, Thor, Arno Stark, Abomination Deathlok and May Parker. Wolverine has found some underwear to put on, as Kang asks ‘Can you at least grunt in accordance with the plan, Wolverine?’ Logan replies that he understands the plan. ‘So long as you understand we arrive before Rogue was killed’ Logan adds, warning Kang that if he doesn’t hit the right time, that if Rogue is dead when they get back, he will sabotage the entire thing, and make sure Kang doesn’t have an Earth to conquer. ‘I’ll sink the entire dammed ship’ Logan adds. ‘Fine, crazy. Yes, not too much on the line, just all of mankind’ Kang mutters, before asking ‘Why is this moron so difficult to herd?’ Thor points at Kang and reminds him that Wolverine has endured half a decade of constant torture and suggests he shows a modicum of empathy for another being.
‘Look who you’re talking to, Thor’ a voice calls out. ‘The kind of person who self-applies “conqueror”!’ the Wasp declares as she goes over and punches Kang in the face, before shoving her knee into his stomach. ‘We should stop her’ Doom remarks to Havok, as Ahab and Magistrate Braddock stand with them. ‘I wouldn’t’ Havok replies. Kang drops to his knees, bleeding, as the Wasp stands over him. Ready to fire her wasp’s sting at him, she orders him to return her daughter right now, or she will melt off his stupid blue face. ‘If I gave you Katie back, she would die here, erased with the rest of it’ Kang explains, assuring Janet that he is doing her a service, as Katie is safe in the slipstream. He adds that once his Earth is restored to its proper place, she will have her daughter again. ‘You simply have to trust me’ Kang remarks.
‘What is this madness? To risk everything that is left on this madman’s word? To willingly die at his hand - are we fools? This is Kang!’ Sunfire shouts, flames burning around him. ‘NO! I will not be a part of this! I won’t let you do it! I won’t -’ Sunfire shouts as his flames grow more fierce, until Wolverine knocks him in the back of the head, rendering Shiro unconscious.
Wolverine assures Kang that when they are in the past, Shiro will fall in line, that he will understand once they are on the other side. Thor stands with Havok, Wolverine and Sunfire and the Wasp, and tells them that they are presented with a final opportunity to earn Earth’s salvation - but only if they learn from past failures.
Thor explains that he set this in motion the day he enchanted Jarnbjorn, but that Earth fell because the mutants were not there to aid them in their darkest hour. ‘Because we were divided. Because we would not behave as heroes. It was our lack of unity that brought about this great disaster - it will be our combined might that sets it right’.
The Wasp turns to Alex and asks him what his heart says. ‘Will we see each other again? Will we see our daughter again?’ she asks him. Alex tells Janet that he can’t say. ‘But no matter what comes, I know one thing… we’ll face it together’ he assures her.
‘Do it’ Kang tells Magistrate Braddock, while Alex and the Wasp kiss. Magistrate Braddock telepathically extracts the consciousnesses of the five Unity Squad members from their bodies, and Doom wraps their consciousnesses in energy. Arno Stark helps to fuel Kang with another form of energy, which he expels into the air above them, enveloping the five consciousnesses.
The bodies of Wolverine, Havok, Thor, Sunfire and the Wasp fall to the ground, as Kang announces that it is done. ‘Dear God…’ Arno Stark utters. ‘What does it mean?’ May Parker asks. ‘Did we just save the Earth?’ Arno wonders. ‘Or shatter reality?’ May enquire, as they look around, and see Planet X start to crumble around them.
