X-Men #5/2005

In a future where the X-Men are scattered and the world has changed beyond recognition, Tom Skylark and his dog Rover meet with E.V.A. at the ruins of the Xavier Institute, carrying the mysterious Phoenix Egg. As they return to the X-Men’s hidden base, a hidden threat emerges— one of Beast’s Crawlers slips aboard and steals the Egg, sending shockwaves through a universe already unraveling. Back in the present, Scott stands at Jean’s grave, torn between grief and duty, as Emma pleads with him to reopen the school and stay. But Scott, convinced the era of costumes and heroics is over, walks away—leaving behind the future he once believed in.

In "Here Comes Tomorrow, part 2," Tom Skylark recounts the final stand of the Proud People, who fell defending the Phoenix Egg from Apollyon and a relentless swarm of Crawlers, buying precious time for Rover and him to escape. With the Egg now back in the Beast’s hands, the X-Men prepare for an urgent assault—just as the Beast, now calling himself Sublime, accelerates the Egg’s hatching, unleashing a disoriented Jean Grey who stumbles into a world transformed.

In "Here Comes Tomorrow, part 3," the Phoenix, acting on Sublime’s orders, eradicates an insectoid species across Pan-Africa—only to preserve the consciousness of the X-Men’s ambassador as proof of a more evolved path. But Sublime’s plan deepens: a colossal Crawler carrying a mental plague invades the Xavier Institute, while swarms of flying crawlers march to intercept the X-Men and eliminate the aquatic mutant Mer-Max. As the Institute crumbles and the X-Men at sea face overwhelming odds, the Phoenix steps into the battle, her power a defiant force against the encroaching doom.