Plot summary
Xarus meets with the leaders of each vampire clan and has them form an alliance. Xarus and his allies stake Dracula, enabling Xarus to assume leadership over the vampires. Xarus' allies in the Mystikos Sect managed to invent a special device that can block the frequencies of light that are harmful to vampires. Xarus decides to use this device to create a new, dominant place in the world for vampires. Following an attempted betrayal from the Siren Sect, Xarus foolishly allows its leader Alyssa to live and keep serving him. Alyssa secretly slips one of the light-deflecting pendants to Janus, which enables him to escape after the Claw Sect betray him to Xarus. Xarus declares himself Lord of the Vampires.[9]
Cyclops sends Pixie out to check up on Jubilee. As Pixie and Jubilee visit an outdoor cafe, a man sizzles and explodes in the sunlight. Blood and parts of the man's body cover many in the square, including Jubilee. After testing her blood, it is determined that Jubilee was infected during the explosion by a manufactured virus. That night, the other people infected by the virus during the explosion respond to the call of the vampires.[10]
Blade arrives in San Francisco to assist the X-Men in capturing a vampire specimen for the X-Club. He confirms Dracula's death and reveals that Dracula's son Xarus is the new Lord of the Vampires, having united many vampire clans together. He immediately objects to Cyclops' plan to resurrect Dracula. Much later, while the X-Men gather to discuss the death of Dracula and learn who the new Lord of Vampires is, Kavita Rao is seen checking on Jubilee, only to be attacked. Jubilee leaves Utopia to see Xarus, who bites her. It is also revealed that Xarus only wants Jubilee to lure the X-Men into a trap.[11]
While attempting to free Jubilee, Wolverine is bitten by her. At the same time, the X-Men resurrect Dracula, who declines to help them and says that he will deal with this himself.[12]
The Vampire Nation has gathered its forces for an assault on Utopia. Wolverine lands down and plows through his former comrades. Cyclops then presses the button on a remote that Doctor Nemesis gave him, activating nanobots that disable Wolverine's healing factor and heal his vampirism. Back to his normal self, Wolverine turns on the vampires, who are repelled.
Xarus announces his intention to conquer Utopia, but is attacked and beheaded by Dracula. Whereas Cyclops wants nothing more to do with the Vampire Nation, Blade does not see eye-to-eye with him and charges at Dracula, only to knocked unconscious with an optic blast. Cyclops then reminds Dracula of their previous, unspoken agreement. However, Dracula muses that if his son was successful in uniting the vampire sects into one functional alliance, then perhaps he may finish what he started: conquer Utopia. Dracula, at Cyclops' insistence, decides to end hostilities with mutants.[13]
