Overview[]
This page will provide a condensed version of the story-line told for Season 5: Love is a Battlefield through Events, Gallery Cards, and Hero Stories. Some of the lore texts may be broken up into parts in order to put the story chronologically. Side-Stories are events which are not directly related to the rest of the storyline and/or could take place at any point during the season.
Main Storyline[]
Grand Games [Gallery Card #1][]
En Dwi Gast, aka the Grandmaster, is an Elder of the Universe, a group of beings with vast amounts of cosmic power. After the Timestream Entanglement, some of the Elders decided to to merge their domains together, including the Collector's Gallery and the Grand Garden, a joint creation of the Grandmaster and the Gardener. While exploring, the Grandmaster noticed a contract signed with the name "von Doom" in the Collector's Gallery. Seeing it as a powerful bargaining chip for when Doom inevitably challenges the Elders, he tasks Gambit with stealing the contract.
Deal of a Lifetime [Gambit Hero Story #1] / About To Make A Name For Myself [Gallery Card #2][]
Right before the Timestream Entanglement, Gambit and Rogue were in the middle of their wedding when suddenly a timestorm swept up Krakoa left it in the 2099 Timeline, with their wedding rings being lost in the storm. The Grandmaster appeared before Gambit on Krakoa, making a deal where Gambit will steal a contract from the Collector. In return, he would create a pair of wedding rings out of Chronovium for them and allow them to use the Grand Garden for their honeymoon. He had Storm reach out to Black Panther to lend them a spaceship so they could go on a honeymoon across the stars, without telling Rogue of his plan, knowing she would never approve. Gambit convinced the Quiet Council that their honeymoon could also be diplomatic, leaving Krakoan gateways wherever they stopped to help any lost Mutants join them on Krakoa.
They make a few stops on the way to the Grand Garden, including on Knowhere, to obtain information and leave gateways. Gambit explains the situation to Rocket as they play cards, where Rocket helps him make a deal with a Badoon to learn that the Collector obtained the contract from a "red-skinned stranger", in exchange for an unusual contraption that "looked like a pile of tangled pipes". When Rocket beats the Badoon at the card game, the Badoon shoots Rocket under the table. Gambit is able to heal Rocket using the Chronovium cards the Grandmaster gave him as a "down payment". The Grand Master also used his power to repair some damage to Gambit's brain, allowing him to infuse objects with a healing energy. In return for saving his life, he asks Rocket not to tell Rogue, who shows up as more Badoons return to attack him and Rocket. Rocket asks that if they see an otter named Lylla in the Collector's Gallery to tell her he is coming to find her.
Phantoms Of The Past [Gallery Card #3][]
To obtain his current tremendous power, Doom 2099 had to sacrifice his memories from before the Heroic Age. After the Timestream Entanglement, he began to have visions of a woman he could not identify, but felt an affection toward. He began to scour historical records, use telepathic devices, and unlock the secrets of his genes to find his missing memories. After every other avenue had been explored, he attempted to use the power of Chronovium to search across timelines for the woman. He found her being tortured in a hellish dimension, crying for Doom to save her, but when he tried to reach out, the vision would shatter. In one of the broken shards, he saw a contract where he could read the name "Cynthia", inscribed on it. Doom learned the contract may be in the possession of the Collector, and begins planning how he will obtain it.
Trouble In Paradise [Gallery Card #4][]
Gambit dawns his Thieves Guild regalia and sneaks out of their honeymoon suite in the Grand Garden. However, Rogue isn't actually asleep and knows Gambit is up to something. Magneto, who traveled through the Krakoan Gateway Gambit and Rogue had planted, feels the shifts in the magnetic field and knows Gambit is up to something.
Cosmic Contest [Gallery Card #5][]
The Grandmaster and Collector play a game to determine who will control their converged realm. They summon versions of heroes to battle one another, but before the game could end, an alarm goes off in the Collector's Gallery. He rushes off to the Gallery and the Grandmaster smirks knowing he distracted the Collector long enough for Gambit to get into the Gallery.
Forever Alone [Rogue Hero Story #1][]
Rogue woke up and saw Gambit donning his Thieves Guild uniform but by the time she realized he was planning a heist in the middle of their honeymoon, he was already gone. Angry that Gambit had deceived her, she begins to get up before noticing a strange crystal die Gambit had been playing with. When she touches it, she feels a wave of powerful energy flow through her. As she rushes out into the Grand Garden, Magneto stops her, noticing the surges of power crackling across her body. Magneto says he came through to make sure they had made it to the Grand Garden since they had stopped responding to messages. He tells Rogue that Gambit went into the Collector's Gallery, which angers her even more. Magneto recognizes the energy signature radiating from her as that of Chronovium. He tries to make a protective shell around Rogue but the chronal energy causes it to wither away, along with plants of the Grand Garden and the Krakoan Gateway. Rogue asks Magneto to take her back home but Magneto denies her, not wanting to risk her new power destroying Krakoa. When Magneto tells Rogue that Gambit has exited the Collector's Gallery, she blasts him with energy and flies towards Gambit.
Broken Vows [Gallery Card #6][]
Rogue confronts Gambit exiting the Collector's Gallery and demands an explanation. He explains that the Grandmaster offered him the chance to steal a scrap of paper from the Collector, but once he brought it to the Grandmaster, he instantly knew it was a fake. Gambit notices Rogue is radiating energy and she shows him the Chronovium Die he left behind. He says he was going to forge it into a ring for her but Rogue tells him that when she touched it she absorbed some of its energy. Gambit considers bringing her back to Krakoa but sees the gateway is destroyed, leaving them both unsure what to do next.
Museum Security [Gallery Card #7][]
The Collector, noticing the Grandmaster had his eye on the contract, stored it in a chronovium cabinet, isolating it from the timestream, and placed a duplicate in its place. When Gambit stole the duplicate he figured the ordeal would end there, but now he sees his partner, Rogue, absorbed the chronovium from the cabinet, allowing them to steal the real contract. The Collector does not want to lock them away in his Gallery since he expects more Mutants would come to find them. Instead he hopes to eliminate them, using two Earth-born operatives of his own: a blathering, foul-mouthed mercenary and a monster hunter as deadly as she is beautiful.
To be continued in Season 6: Night at the Museum