WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Marauders #15 by Gerry Duggan, Benjamin Percy, Stefano Caselli, Edgar Delgado, VC's Cory Petit, and Tom Muller, on sale now.
A formal dinner isn't likely to be the first thing anyone would think of when confronted with an impending fight to the death but for the champions of Krakoa and Arakko, it's one last chance to relax before the X-Men begin the battles that will define Marvel's X of Swords crossover event.
However, not everyone is happy with their respective side's tactics leading up to the tournament, though. The espionage and underhanded methods might even be enough to push one particular champion, the intimidating White Sword, all the way across the aisle.
Although the evening starts out well enough, Wolverine smells something wrong with his food. But before he gets a chance to mention it, Cypher takes a bite off of Logan's plate, ingesting a significant amount of poison in the process. Within seconds Cypher is unable to breathe, sliding to the floor and foaming at the mouth. The other X-Men spring into action as best they can, but it doesn't seem like there is a lot that can actually be done.
One of Arakko's champions, White Sword, is infuriated by this act of espionage, considering it to be beneath him and his people. White Sword accosts his fellow Arakkii War about this course of action, and War tells him that the poison was clearly meant for Wolverine, who War believes will be the death of them all no matter how the tournament ends. This still isn't good enough for White Sword, and so he does something about it in open defiance of his fellow champion's wishes.
The White Sword may be a reknowned warrior, but he's still ultimately a healer at heart. Proclaiming poisons to be the weapon of cowards, White Sword reaches down and places a hand around Cypher's throat. In an instant, the blue foam pouring from the X-Men's mouth turns black, and Cypher is finally able to gasp for air.
White Sword's healing powers come with a heavy price, but it's one that he is happy to furlough for Cypher's sake. Under normal circumstances, anyone whose life is saved by White Sword is granted immortality by him after, in exchange for nothing more than spending an eternity on the battlefield, dying and being resurrected every day to fight an endless legion of daemons in his name.
But this is not the case today. His fellow Arakkii's actions have left a putrid taste in White Sword's mouth, and that could be enough to sway him over to the X-Men's side of the conflict. White Sword has already shown that he's willing to take up arms against his own, and it only makes sense that even someone as stoic as him could be pushed over the edge by the constant nudging from his fellow champions of Arakko. While White Sword might not be likely to launch an assault against his own side in retaliation for their guerilla tactics, it wouldn't be a surprise if he somehow ended up turning his back on his team.