Dead X-Men #4

(Moira's Fifth Life)

Faraway, where the cyborg Moira has arrived, and confronts the Dead X-Men team as well as a team of X-Men from this reality. 'Her mind...it's so corrupt!' this world's Psylocke remarks, before apologizing to Joanna Cargill a.k.a. Frenzy and telling her that she is sorry for attaking her team first and never asking questions. 'Honestly, Braddock? I would have done the same' Frenzy admits, while Moira tells them not to tear themselves apart. 'Leave some fun fer ol' Moira!' This world's team of Psylocke, Banshee, Cyclops, Wolfsbane and Sway ready themselves, while Frenzy shouts 'X-Men – take her down!' But Moira just laughs, when suddenly, Frenzy's teammate Alison Blaire a.k.a. Dazzler appears behind Moira and wraps her arms around her throat. 'Ach, let go, ye daft -' Moira begins, while Dazzler calls out to Askani, telling her to hurry, before Moira gets loose. 'Bring us back!' Dazzler screams.

A fiery image of Rachel Summers a.k.a. Askani appears as she uses her chronoskimming abilities to shunt her team through reality after reality. Dazzler continues to latch onto Moira, while Frenzy looks in agony. As does Sam Guthrie a.k.a. Cannonball, while Jubilee looks shocked. 'Every life...everything Moira ever experienced...I can feel it all' David Alleyne a.k.a. Prodigy utters. Indeed, as the X-Men pass through Moira's lives, they see a teen Moira encountering Charles Xavier for the first time. In another life, Moira is confronted by Destiny. In another life, Moira pushes Xavier around in a wheelchair. The next life, Moira is with Wolverine in the Preserve. And in the next, she holds a large weapon, ready to take down her prey. In the next, Moira kneels before Magneto who sits on a throne, and finally, Moria stands at Apocalypse's side.

'Where... where am I?' Moira suddenly asks as she tries to make sense of what is going on. Askani's face appears above Moira and replies 'My mind. Your mind. Bit of both'. Askani compliments Moira on her impressive psychic defenses. 'But nothing I can't force open' Askani boasts, adding that she doesn't care if she breaks Moira. 'You're beyond broken' Askani points out. 'And whose fault is that? I gave up lifetimes to find a way for mutants to win! I sacrificed everything!' Moira declares. 'Yes, you have. And it won't matter' Askani tells her. Askani explains that she is very angry right now, as she has just found out she was lied to by Charles Xavier. 'Which is probably something I should have anticipated' Askani supposes. She informs Moira that she helped Xavier find his way back to a version of Moira that is very vulnerable, and he may just be planning to shoot the child in the head. 'If you ask me right this picosecond, I don't really care what happens to you, Moira – to any version of you. But if that child dies, so does everything my friends and I have ever known. So we can't waste any more time on monsters like you' Askani announces as she shunts Moira onwards.

(Moira Engine II.4)

'Easy, Ms. Brand – that scavenger did a number on you' Josiah Guthrie a.k.a. Smasher remarks as he helps Abigail Brand up the side of a cliff face. Suddenly, Brand warns Smasher that she is coming back to finish the job. Indeed, a rip in Space Time opens up, and the cyborg Moira plummets from the sky down to the remnants of this world. 'No! Not again! I broke free of this barren hell, you flame-haired #$%&!' Moira shrieks at Askani. The Dead X-Men land on the ground too, and Frenzy quickly reaches for some space helmets so that they can breathe in this atmosphere. 'If you condemn me t' this graveyard planet – then I'll take every mutant I can with me!' Moira snarls as she hurls her axe towards Prodigy. 'David! Watch out!' Dazzler exclaims as she lunges at Prodigy and pushes him aside – as Moira's axe strikes her in her back. 'Dazzler!' Prodigy cries.

'I call dibs on ripping Moira's head off!' Jubilee exclaims as she turns her attention to Moira. 'Right behind ha, Jubes!' Cannonball agrees as he blasts towards Moira, while Moira catches her ax as it is returned to her. Prodigy places Dazzler on the ground, while a golden orb appears overhead. 'The strange visitors return. Makes no difference. Once I've collected my mysterium, this petty conflict will be concluded' a voice within the orb calls out. It's Orbis Stellaris, and he boasts that with the mysterium, he will finally ascend. 'C'mon, Ali... not like this. Not so close to the end' Prodigy tells Dazzler as he stays with her – when suddenly, the mysterium lodged in Prodigy's chest begins to glow, and energy coils extend from Orbis Stellaris down to Prodigy and yank him into the air.

'I'll cut all of Xavier's bastards down! I've come too far to -' Moira begins, waving her ax about – when suddenly, the mysterium shard in it begins to glow. 'No! The mysterium shard!' Moira gasps, and, as she is distracted, Frenzy rushes over to her and punches her hard. 'You're done, MacTaggert!' Frenzy declares. Moira gathers herself and looks up at Frenzy: 'First Erik... now poor old Moira... Charles always did have a habit of sending his whelps to beat on the elderly!' Moira exclaims. 'Keep Magneto's name out of yer mouth! He's a hero – you're a monster!' Cannonball shouts as he blasts towards Moira – but as he reaches her, she swings her axe and knocks him backwards. 'Aye – and I can still fight like one, too!' Moira boasts. 'Cannonball!' Jubilee exclaims, before she unleashes her powers at Moira, striking her in the back. 'Eat sparks, sleazoid!' Jubilee cries out.

Moira groans as she is knocked over by the plasmoids Jubilee attacks her with. She holds her axe overhead, but finds she is unable to escape this reality without the mysterium. 'But my axe still has more than enough power to take you all to Hell with me' she snarls as the axe crackles with energy. 'What's the plan, Frenzy?' Cannonball asks as he and Jubilee regroup with Frenzy. 'Try not to get hit by black hole energy, Sam' Frenzy replies. 'Cool. Awesome' Jubilee mutters, when suddenly, the Starjammer vessel appears overhead. 'Starjammer to anyone in range – we've got the Technarchy on the back foot, but they're not making it easy on us... if anyone's got a Hail Mary in them... now's the time' Sunpot's voice can be heard saying, as explosions ripple through the sky above.

Suddenly, Dazzler gasps, sits up and fires a beam of energy at Moira – striking her right in her head, and causing her to drop the axe. 'Hey, how about that? Guess I had another comeback in me after all' Dazzler jokes. 'Ali! You're alive!' Jubilee exclaims. 'I think we figured out the limits to my little beating-death thing. Smashed to a pulp by Nimrod? Game over. Nasty flesh wound? Live to fight another day' Dazzler remarks as she joins the others who are standing near Moira's axe. Dazzler supposes that taking in all the sonic energy from the battle above probably helped, before she asks 'Where's Prodigy?'

Up above, Orbis Stellaris pauses the tractor beam, and looking out from his golden globe, the old man sees Prodigy trapped in the tractor beam, and realizes that he has collected a hanger-on. 'Sinister' Prodigy utters. 'Yes and no, child' Orbis Stellaris responds. The mysterium hovers above the golden globe, and looking at the mysterium chunk in Prodigy's chest, 'You've taken something of mine. That shard of the M'kraan Crystal belongs in my ascension engine, not lodged in your chest' Orbis Stellaris declares. 'Shard of the what -?' Prodigy begins, before Orbis Stellaris boasts that he will take it back now, and with another energy coil, yanks it from Prodigy's chest, causing Prodigy to scream. 'Every fragment of the M'kraan Crystal is the totality of the M'kraan Crystal, Every individual is the whole. Do you understand?' a voice echoes. As he takes the crystal, he releases Prodigy from the tractor beam, and Prodigy plummets back to the wasteland below. 'Exceptional. After all these long years, my moment is at hand' Orbis Stellaris utters.

'I've got him!' Frenzy exclaims as she catches Prodigy before he hits the ground. 'David! What'd that space loony do to ya?' Cannonball asks. Prodigy smiles and tells his teammates not to worry, that he got a special message when Orbis ripped the rock out of his chest – he thinks everything is going to be okay. The group hold hands as Prodigy informs Rachel that they are ready. 'Bring us back!' he calls out, while, up above, the M'kraan Crystal has reformed and hovers above Orbis Stellaris, who boasts 'At last, I am ready. The Dominion is mine!' But nothing happens and he looks confused. 'I don't...understand. There's already a Dominion? But I...I didn't plan for this...' his voice trails off as he looks dejected, and the M'kraan Crystal begins to drop back down towards the wasteland.

Moira uses this opportunity to start to run, but up above, Smasher, who carries Abigail Brand, contacts his “Uncle Bobby” and informs him that he has eyes on Stellaris and the scavenger. 'Once I get Brand to the ship, I'll circle back to deal with them' Smasher reports. Inside the Starjammer, Sunspot smiles and tells Josiah not to sweat it. 'We'll bring the ship around to target Orbis. Moments later, Moira glances upwards when a large shadow falls over her. 'Oh, $#%& off. Couldn't even send a mutant to finish your -' she mutters, before the Juggernaut lands on her, crushing her. The Juggernau collects the cyborg Moira's skull and holds it up as he contats the Starjammer and reports that it has been handled. 'That'll teach 'em not to mess with the X-Men' he adds.

(The White Hot Room)

The Dead X-Men find themselves on Atlantic Krakoa within the White Hot Room, where, as Dazzler points, it seems like a hurrican is underway, as fierce wind pushes against them. 'Rachel, is that you?' Jubilee asks. Askani's voice can be heard as she apologizes for the theatrics, but explains that she is really ticked off. 'Xavier played us. He played all of us' Askani declares, informing the others that Xavier never intended to talk to Moira, instead, he went back in time to kill her before her powers manifsted. 'No... he wouldn't...' Cannonball utters. 'That arrogant $#%& decided all on his own that our best chance against the Dominion was preventing Krakoa from ever existing' Askani declares. 'And he'd murder a child to -' Dazzler begins, before Askani, whose face appears in a whirling hurricane, reveals that Rasputin IV has already gone to try and stop Xavier, but Sinister is on Xavier's side – Essex was here all along, in Doug Ramsey's body. 'It's all falling apart so badly' Askani remarks, adding that if Xavier pulls the trigger, then everything resets, and nothing they have known will have ever happened.

Jubilee tells the others that Chuck has made a lot of questionable calls oin his day, but his dream, the promise of Krakoa, is bigger than him. She doesn't want to get sentimental, but remembers how she had nothing, and nobody, and the X-Men gave her a family. 'And I'm not the only one. Krakoa was full of mutants just like me' she adds. Frenzy remarks that the threat of the Dominion is more than she can wrap her head around, but admits to having followed zealots before – Apocalypse, Magneto, Exodus – so there is a part of her that respects Xavier for being ruthless enough to consider this. 'But Krakoa allowed me to change my story. For good. I have never been afraid of doing whatever is necessary, I refuse to accept this is necessary' Frenzy announces. Cannonball reminds the others that he has a kid of his own. 'Putting aside how wful it is to consider killing one, even Moira...if Xavier unravels our timeline, Izzy and Ah might never meet. Josiah might never be born. So many lives might never be lived' he remarks, adding that there is no guarantee that anything will turn out better. 'Throwing away so much on a coin flip...that ain't Xavier's right to decide'.

Dazzler notes that even if things do turn out more or less the same way, Krakoa meant everything to so many. 'Not to be corny, but I understand second acts. The island meant mutants who lost their powers could be whole again. That “villains” could have another chance'. She adds that all the lives they have lost to small-minded bigots and giant stupid robots didn't have to stay lost – and even if everything else was okay without Moira in the picture, she helped give them something they can't lost. 'We just can't!' Dazzler exclaims. Prodigy reports that he is the one who had to live with Moira in his head, and that her view of the world is just as cold as Xavier's. 'They both look at the big picture and don't care about the little people it costs to achieve their visions. But that big picture is nothing on its own' Prodigy remarks. He explains that in the Moira Engine timeline, a piece of the M'kraan Crystal got embedded in his chest, and his unlocked powers stopped hurting the moment it him it. 'And the Crystal...it spoke to me. It told me the individual is the whole. Every single one of us matters… and even if it's impossible, every life is worth fighting for'.

Askani informs Prodigy that the M'kraan Crystal is the Nexus of Realities itself, and the White Hot Room exists inside of it. She adds that every fragment of the Crystal is effectively the entirety of the Crystal – it doesn't subdivide, each individual is the whole. 'You brought the Crystal through defunct timelines and back inside of itself, all while absorbing the impressions of the lives around you. You made a circuit' Askani explains. Prodigy gets caught up in Askani's hurricane, as Askani announces that Xavier had three plans to stop the Dominion – the first failed, the second is murdering Moira and undoing Krakoa – and the third, it's impossible, but involves manifesting the Phoenix on a scale never accomplished before. 'But, David...do you understand what you've done?' Askani asks. She explains to David that with the Crystal bonded to him, ever lifetime he passed through, he brought it into itself. 'Ten lifetimes of the mutant experience. Ten lifetimes of fighting for our right to survive'. Rachel tells David that every individual is the whole, and he has let them touch every individual ever. 'You've given us the kindling we need to light the pyre' Askani declares.

'Not just me, Rachel. All of us. The X-Men' Prodigy responds as he drops to the ground.

(No-Place X)

Rachel looks concerned as she reports that this is still the longest of long shots. 'We'd need my mom to make it work' she adds, before deciding that their odds aren't zero. 'We can pull this off' Rachel announces.

(The White Hot Room)

Jubilee helps Prodigy to his feet as she tells Askani that she should know by now that the only thing the X-Men ever need is a fighting chance. 'Which means we have to stop Xavier now, before he takes that away from us' Frenzy adds. 'Can we do this? Can we convince Xavier to change his mind?' Dazzler asks. Cannonball notes that Xavier is stubborn. 'Once he sets himself to a course of action...' Sam's voice trails off, to which Prodigy suggests that they just tell Xavier the truth, their truth, the six of them, and all the rest of them beyond. 'We'll remind him about the small details in the big picture' Prodigy remarks. 'Sure, sounds like a breeze' Jubilee mutters. Energy begins to whirl around the X-Men, as Rachel tells them to buckle up, that they have one shot. 'I'm about to loop us into the mother of all conference calls'.

(Moira's Tenth Life)

Charles Xavier stands near Moira as a child, and aims a weapon at her. He frowns, while Moira looks frightened. 'Hey! You may not need to explain anything to anyone. But the “anyone” wants to explain things to you before you do this!' Rachel's voice calls out to Xavier. The Dead X-Men are shunted into Moira's Tenth Life as they prepare to confront Xavier, Rachel tells Xavier that her team wants to talk to him about the dream – about Krakoa, what it means, and why he can't wipe it away, no matter what – and especially like this. 'Listen'....