Back on the outskirts of the woods, Gladiator is furious that the team has escaped. He gives an order to contact Grand Vizier Araki and to tell him that the Emperor's telepathic spies were correct to consider this planet a sign of forthcoming doom. He admits that the Guard will need the help of the telepathic spies to locate the X-Ternals, whom he assumes are rebels to the Shi'ar Imperium. Oracle speaks up, telling Gladiator that they may be able to use Rictor to locate the X-Ternals, avoiding having to contact the telepathic spies at all.

In the forest, Gambit awakes. He is totally entangled by the living vines. Remy begins to charge a throwing knife when he is stopped by a Shi'ar and his followers. The Shi'ar warrior tells Remy that the plant life of this planet, Ch'reesharaa, is sentient, and that it is crying for help. Lila agrees with the warrior; when she opened up the portal, she felt the planet calling to her, as if it needed her assistance.

Meanwhile, Gladiator and the rest of the Guard have set up base in Ch'reesharaa's main agricultural processing facility. Rictor reveals that he has a tracking device planted on one of the X-Ternals. Oracle is glad; with the tracking device they will be able to discover if the X-Ternal's arrival is a result of the "cataclysmic dangers" forewarned by the Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken's telepathic spies. Gladiator orders Oracle to probe Rictor's mind to find out why Gambit and his band are so important. Oracle cannot discerne this, ans suddenly collapses. For a split moment, the entire planet 'blinks' out of existence! Oracle tells Gladiator that D'Ken's spies were correct to assume that Ch'reesharaa would be the next planet to be destroyed by the Nexus Expansion. She curses the day that Emperor D'Ken found the M'Kraan Crystal. Rictor becomes bold and demands to know what's in it for him. Gladiator gets angry, telling him that his being allowed to live is payment enough. Rictor threatens to destroy the tracking device with his vibratory powers if Gladiator does not allow him to take the X-Ternals back to be punished by Apocalypse when Gladiator is through with them. Gladiator agrees.

In the forest, the Shi'ar warrior reveals himself as Jonath and begins to explain the recent events. Jonath tells Gambit and the X-Ternals that he and the rest of the Shi'ar on Ch'reesharaa were once an assassin cadre in charge of protecting the Emperor. However, the cadre failed to prevent the current Emperor D'Ken and his sister Deathbird from murdering their father and assuming control of the Imperium. As a result, Jonath and his people were banished to the farming planet. However, what was intended as a punishment turned out to be quite the contrary, as Jonath and his people became used to a peaceful way of life. While they were learning to adapt to the new world, D'Ken had discovered the all-powerful M'Kraan Crystal and used it to take complete control of the Imperium from Deathbird. He then killed Lilandra, his younger sister and Admiral of the Imperial Grand Fleet, therefore completing his control over the Shi'ar Empire.

Unfortunately for D'Ken, no mortal can control the M'Kraan Crystal, and the mad Emperor's attempts have resulted in the Crystal's rapid expansion. This expansion manifests itself in expanding energies which nullify reality, planet by planet. Jubilee becomes angry with Gambit, demanding to know what he has gotten them into. Jonath soothes her, saying that the planet has spoken to him: the X-Ternals will be spared so that they may witness the destruction of Ch'reesharaa and prevent it from ever happening elsewhere. Without warning, Gladiator, the Guard, and Rictor arrive, screaming down from the sky. A battle begins. Remy asks Lila if she is able to conjure another portal for the team to escape through, but she is unsure of her powers. Suddenly, another blink of non-existence occurs. Oracle becomes frantic, telling Gladiator that the planet is dying and that he must get the Guard off-world before it is too late. The Guard begin to be crystallized, followed by Jonath. Just as they are about to be swallowed in crystal, the X-Ternals vanish.

Gambit and the others look up to see themselves aboard a spaceship. A strange Shi'ar woman introduces herself as Deathbird and her crew as the Starjammers, and assumes that the X-Ternals are the beings that will save the universe. She orders her ship to escape the crystallization wave. The X-Ternals watch the entire planet rapidly turning into pure crystal. Deathbird tells Gambit that the M'Kraan wished for them to see the planet's destruction, and that the crystal is the nexus of all realities and matter. Gambit becomes aware of the magnitude of their quest, and becomes more determined to succeed than ever.