As the members of Excalibur prepare to take on Albion, he has already begun gathering allies. Scicluna of Black Aire has put him in contact with Shadow X, the original X-Men from another dimension, who have been psychically dominated and reshaped by their mentor. Albion plans to help them rescue their Professor X from captivity, and use them as soldiers in the battle against Excalibur, but Shadow X has their own agenda.Are Albion's plans unravelling even before they're completed?