We start with a flashback. After Emma learns the truth about Kate's death through Lockheed, she immediately calls Callisto to go after Shinobi - who is having a meeting with Christian about... something. With Cal as her bodyguard, she reads his mind and finds out that Shinobi was not guilty, but he is involved in... something that she needs to fix.

In the present, Callisto asks Storm to be her partner in the Crucible, as they now need to ask somebody to do it since Apoc's departure. Storm refuses, and Cal reminds her of the lengths she went through to make herself whole again.

There's more building to the Hellfire Gala, with Emma having a meeting with the Hellfire Club members (sans Kate, but with Shaw, Bishop, Christian and Shinobi) in the island that was first featured in Giant Size Magneto. Emma makes a dig at Sebastian by questioning his parentage to Shinobi. The keeper of the island flirts with Jumbo.

Kate is absent as she has unfinished business in Madripoor - she goes to thank the family that kept Lockheed alive by giving them a lot of money, and in the midst of the process we find out Madripoor is a huge mess. She also drops by the Verendi's place to give them an invite to the Gala.

A data page from the X-Desk lady indicates that as a state event the gala will have the presence of a lot of humans (ambassadors, heads of state) and meta human allies - so we can expect to see the Avengers and others to be involved. We also learn that to also counter the Verendi government in Madripoor, Emma has also bought of lot properties there.

In the central scene of the issue, we have the Crucible. At first, Callisto stands alone, and the Silver Samurai offers himself to fight her (the Fenris twins also offered themselves because they just wanted to kill somebody). However, Storm finally shows up and does a quick job after a initial squabble with a literal thunder punch to the heart. Ororo cries, and raises a huge tempest in the colosseum. But with Callisto being ressurected back to normal, knowing that Kate is safe and her operations are thriving, she feels closure with what she set out to do at the start of the book, and longs for change.

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Probably one of my favorite issues of the series so far - I really liked how Duggan portrayed the Storm/Callisto dynamic and the Crucible scene packed a big emotional punch, especially with Storm's reaction and her narration afterwards. Like in X-Men #7, the Crucible is portrayed as fight to regain of your sense of self and your control of your life, and Duggan really hit the right tone here. Wish the series had spent more time on the characters' headspace like this.

Also one of Loli's best issues so far, especially the page which shows Callisto experiencing Krakoa for the first time with her powers.