A fresh preview of interior pages from Marvel Comics' X-Factor #4 implies that Rictor and Apocalypse may be headed straight for the Resurrection Protocols.
The mutants were mortally wounded in this week's X of Swords: Creation #1, which kicked off 'X of Swords,' the first line-wide X-Men crossover of the 'Dawn of X' era. X-Factor #4 marks part two of 'X of Swords.'
On the other hand, the cover seems to horrify the Five – the mutants whose powers come together and coalesce to allow mutants to be resurrected with their memories and powers intact, coinciding to the time of their deaths.
The issue's spare solicit text adds few clues, reading simply "Death and rebirth. Corruption. A dark discovery."
Rictor and Apocalypse's injuries came from an attack by the First Horsemen, the children of Apocalypse, who betrayed their father and joined the ancient enemies of Arakko, along with the other mutants of the long-lost island.
In the preview, with art from Carlos Gomez, several members of X-Factor and Excalibur drag the wounded mutants back through the Otherworld gate to Krakoa. Apocalypse, who has taken Rictor under his wing, appears to suffer from some kind of pestilence (as in the Horseman…).
Following X-Factor #4, 'X of Swords' will comprise 20 more parts, running through every title of the 'Dawn of X' X-Men line, along with two more one-shots, X of Swords: Stasis, which marks the story's midpoint, and X of Swords: Destruction #1, which wraps the whole thing up.
Check out a gallery of pages and covers from September 30's X-Factor #4 below:
Newsarama has the rundown on everything you need to know going into 'X of Swords' right here.
