Some time ago Apocalypse came to the understanding that the American subcontinent, large as it is, could no longer cope with the amount of corpses he was creating. So, he had the decomposing overspill located to small islands across the Atlantic in what he called the Atrocity Zones.

When Callisto's crew intercepted the Infernal Gallop's submarine, the Excalibur, and dumped the passengers into the Atlantic Ocean, they drifted and got stuck in the Atrocity Zones. Rendered immobile, they were boarded by the X-Man known as Nightcrawler who avenged their deaths. The final showdown between Nightcrawler and Callisto was interrupted by Mystique who slayed her son's would be murderer.