We open with two of the preview pages, Craig of NASA talking with Chef Saucier at a dinner table overlooking the ocean of Arakko. Caption boxes, Storm's thoughts, tell us Craig has a doctorate in astrophysics and another in soil and crop sciences. Made the cover of NOW magazine twice. "He may be the most ordinary man I've ever been on a date with." She appears in the sky in her beautiful and lowers herself down, Craig taking her hand. They flirt a bit as Saucier presents a shot of chilled Krakoan gazpacho over caviar from Sobunar's ocean. Storm asks how the children are doing. He says Kobb still won't talk but he does smile, and that Loolo is doing great. The children lost their whole commune and the Argyre community has taken them in, Craig as well. The community has encouraged Loolo to talk through her experience and it's helping her. "Fisher's way. You can't heal if you don't say the pain aloud", Storm says.
Oof! Unfortunately they are interrupted by a large projection of Xavier's head appearing. He says he needs Storm to cut her "meeting" short and join him at once to talk about Erik. Storm is not pleased, apologizes to Craig as she gets up, and says he'll have to finish his answer on their second date.
We now get the hot bath scene with Sunspot, Nova, and Kobak Never-Held. Sunspot asks them how they think it's going. Nova responds "not great" and explains that the Proscenium is gone, destroyed. He's keeping an eye on all the fires back home. Rebel Skrulls, rogue Brood, etc. He says his Nova sense is tingling about Arakko. With no Proscenium, Arakko's diplomatic zone is the biggest interstellar forum going, making Arakko a big target. Nonetheless his therapist told him he needs to take six hours off each week so that's why he's hot-tubbing. Roberto says he was talking about Storm's date lol. He calls Nova a supercop which Nova rejects, saying his beat is planet-level emergencies and such. He and Roberto banter (flirt, imo) and discuss a game of soccer, no basketball, between the New Mutants and New Warriors.
Kobak says he must leave and prepare for his battle with Calderak in the Circle Perilous for the Seat of Victory. He stands up in all his naked glory and Roberto and Rich look hilariously taken aback by what he's packing. The placement of Roberto's knee in this panel is very funny. Kobak says he has no plans to yield so next time they see him he'll either be on the Great Ring or dead. He says if he does not return for them to remember him. Rich quietly responds, "shouldn't be a problem" as Kobak walks off. Roberto explains that under the new Law of Logos there are preliminary events before battle in the Circle, tests of fitness. The new Seat of Dreams is at that stage and the Seat of Stalemate was decided yesterday, won by an Arakkii named Lycaon. He starts explaining that Lycaon is like an Omega Wolverine when suddenly a flare rockets down from the External gate not far away. Alarmed, the guys start to stand up as Sunspot says a flare like that means something's come through it, something big. Or someone. He tells Nova to suit up. "This could become apocalyptic."
Storm is in her regular costume and arrives at the QC chamber where Xavier is waiting. The conversation between them is tense, dense, and layered. A recap won't don't it justice so hopefully you're able to read it. We get a flashback of when Xavier approached her in Africa, telling her she's not a goddess and that what he's offering her is not beautiful but it's real, not a fantasy. In the present, he asks if she still resents him all these years later. She says she was young enough to believe him when he told her it was just a fantasy, that helping her people survive was worth less than helping him. He asks if he was wrong and how many times she saved the world. They go back and forth and he says his hand was forced at the time, the X-Men were dying and he didn't have Erik to turn to. Ororo corrects him. "Max. His name is Max."
Xavier says "of course" and apologizes. He says he knew "Erik" as well as he knew himself, his oldest friend. But that he never saw "Max". Max never let him. When Magneto died Xavier was engaged in psychic warfare with the Eternal Uni-mind and though he felt his friend die he had no time for the fine details. "But now I am the sole captain of the ship of state. And this business with Sinister... how he infected me with his psyche... I must know, Ororo. What did he know? When did he know it? What were Magneto's last words?" Ororo says they were private and Xavier says "not from me." Ororo says from him most of all. She begins to call him out for the "sole captain" comment as if he's a king on a throne, as if the council doesn't matter. He grows angrier as he yells, "He was my oldest friend! He died in your arms! I have a right to know what he said to you, and I am not ASKING, Ororo!" She says she is no longer an X-Man and that he no longer leads her and asks in what capacity does he presume to order her.
She remains calm and collected while he's livid. He threatens to read her surface thoughts.
Ororo: By all means, Charles... try.
He says that Sinister didn't claim her so she couldn't know what it was like. Sinister didn't just control him, he was him. He's worried if he's been fully purged or not, and is confused about when Sinister initiated his strain into the DNA. That it's not what Sinister did that haunts him but when, as we get a flashback to when Xavier and Magneto first approached Sinister. He says they're surrounded by enemies, within and without.
Xavier: Moira lost her faith and turned against us. Max lost his and turned away. If I lose my faith... Can our nation survive? Already, there are cracks in the bedrock.
He continues to express his fears and Storm, after listening, tells him that Max was thinking of him as he died. She tells him Max asked her to watch him. "Not because he thought you might be Sinister. Because you might be you."