The wind was at my back for so long that I nearly forgot the taste... of utter defeat. Oh, darling. We planned it all so well, but God knows what to do with plans, don't they? Now my queen is off the board, and I'm back on my heels. I feel the call of my... darker designs. Would I be the White Queen without them? I covet what I cannot have, I take pleasure in pain, but you inspire me to... rise above all that. Now our enemies from without and within smell the faintest whiff of blood. I will hold fast until the winds shift. I need you back, Kate. 
Appearing in "Journey to the Center of Pyro"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Madripoor Police Force (Named only)
- Triads (Named only)
- United Nations (Named only)
- Ambassador Donald Pierce (Named only)
- Order of X (Named only)
- Lim Zhao (Named only)
- Pyro (St. John Allerdyce) (Only appearance; illusion)
- Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) (Only appearance; illusion)
- White Queen (Emma Frost) (Only appearance; illusion; dies)
- Red Bishop (Lucas Bishop) (Only appearance; illusion)
- Pyro (St. John Allerdyce) (Only appearance; illusion; dies)
- Yellowjacket (Darren Cross) (First appearance)
- The Company (Named only)
- Agent Jeff Bannister (Named only)
- Hellfire Trading Company (Named only)
- Red Queen (Kate Pryde) (Mentioned) (Deceased)
- Morlocks (Named only)
- X-Force (Mentioned)
- Beast (Hank McCoy) (Named only)
- The Five
- Ai Tran (Unnamed)
- Lockheed
- God (Yahweh) (Referenced)
Races and Species:
- Krakoas
- Mutants
- Birds (Mentioned) (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Humans
- Fish
- Gods (Named only)
- Flock
Locations:
- Astral Plane
- Earth
- Pacific Ocean
- New York City, New York, United States of America, North America (Named only)
- Arizona, United States of America, North America (Named only)
- Rio Verde (Named only)
- Asia
- Hell (Invoked)
- Earth-TRN1213 (Vision or hallucination)
Items:
- X-Uniforms
- Flowers of Krakoa
- Habitat
- Human Drug L (Named only)
- Human Drug I (Named only)
- Human Drug M (Named only)
- Gateways (Named only)
- Yellowjacket's Suit
- Pym Particles (Behind the scenes)
- Pollen (Named only)
- Magneto's Helmet
- Cerebro
Vehicles:
- The Marauder (Illusion or holographic simulation)
Synopsis for "Journey to the Center of Pyro"
Pyro disembarks the Marauder amid a Krakoan beach party. He grabs a drink from a butler’s tray and makes his way through a throng of revelers until he comes upon Marvel Girl splayed sensually across the hood of a sports car. Jean asks Pyro for a ride. They kiss and Pyro peels the car out, “Free Bird” blasting on the radio…
Bishop meets Emma Frost on the psychic plane and watches as she directs the scenes flashing through Pyro’s mind. Emma tells Bishop the psychic “play” is for the benefit of the stowaway mind she encountered when she went to meet the Marauder when the ship returned to Krakoa. She then asks Bishop to meet her at the cove in Hellfire Bay. Bishop leaps from a window of the Red Keep and slides down the cliffside until he reaches the bottom; there, he finds Emma sitting in front of an entranced Pyro. Emma tells Bishop the stowaway is someone called Yellowjacket who is coursing through Pyro’s body in a microscopic submarine. Bishop telepathically shares an idea with Emma for extracting Yellowjacket.
Yellowjacket records a mission log as Pyro and Marvel Girl tear down the highway. Suddenly there is a rumbling and Jean disappears. Bishop's and Pyro’s voices boom all around the sub, excitedly talking about dealing with Yellowjacket. Realizing his presence has been discovered, Yellowjacket hits the “Enlarge” button on his control panel. The sub instantly grows to full size. Pyro's body explodes in a shower of blood that drenches Bishop and Emma. Horrified and angry, Emma telepathically commands Yellowjacket to leave the vessel. Unable to fight the command, Yellowjacket emerges from the top-side hatch and orders his weapons to fire. Emma is shot in the head, which frees Yellowjacket from her control. He jumps back into the sub, pounds the “Shrink” button, and speeds towards the bay. Bishop shoots wildly at the tiny fleeing vessel as it dives into the water. Yellowjacket radios Homines Verendi that he is heading back to Madripoor.
An X-Desk intelligence briefing reports that the group known as Homines Verendi has bought its way into control of the Madripoorian government. They are using the governmental offices as their base of operations and letting local organized crime run the country, while the royal family has disappeared. The office has also learned various other tidbits: the Krakoan medicines or flowers can be chemically altered into a narcotic; Rio Verde, Arizona, is home to a small mutant enclave; and the Krakoans have registered a website for a “Hellfire Gala”.
Bishop, Emma, and Pyro stand on the beach, joined by Magneto and the Stepford Cuckoos. The Cuckoos are helping Emma maintain the telepathic illusion of Yellowjacket’s bloody escape. Magneto uses his powers to pull the minuscule sub out of Pyro through his mouth. Magneto examines the vessel as Yellowjacket doses off, believing that he has engaged the autopilot for Madripoor after three hours have passed. Emma extracts every bit of useful information from Yellowjacket’s mind, then wipes all of his memories since the battle at Madripoor Bay. Magneto then flings the submarine into the distant horizon.
Emma joins hands with Pyro and telepathically broadcasts their astral forms to Homines Verendi headquarters. Verendi - including new White Bishop, Chen Zhao - is toasting the success of Yellowjacket’s mission when Emma’s image suddenly appears before them. Emma chides them for their knock-off Hellfire Club and warns them to keep out of Krakoan business, or else. Pyro then appears and the flames from the candelabra on the table engulf every member of Verendi. They scream in pain as Pyro laughs; then the astral projections - Emma, Pyro, and even the flames - disappear, leaving Verendi stunned and shaken, but physically unharmed.
Back on Krakoa, Emma visits Arbor Magna to check on Kate Pryde’s resurrection. There, she finds The Five, discouraged at another failed attempt. Charles Xavier tells her that like the others, this latest husk proved inviable. He says they’re going to try again in the morning, but that they don’t know what is going wrong. Emma silently wishes for Kate - the person who inspires her to be better than her worst impulses - to come back.
Meanwhile, in Madripoor, Lockheed sleeps in bed with Ai Tran. Lockheed wakes early in the morning and brings the girl a freshly caught fish, which he lays on her pillow. He gently tucks the girl in tighter and flies out the window towards the sunrise.
Solicit Synopsis
PEST CONTROL!
A very small attack on Krakoa grows into something much bigger, thanks to Yellowjacket! Can Captain Kate’s crew swat him before his sting pays off?