‘So, this is nice. Little field trip?’ the young Bobby “Iceman” Drake asks as he and his other teammates pulled from the past to the present stare at the bright lights and billboards of the metropolis around them. ‘This is weird’ Warren Worthington III a.k.a. Angel remarks, while Scott “Cyclops” Summers asks if everything in the present day is a commercial. ‘Yes, Scott, everything’ Kitty Pryde tells her young charges, while Jean “Marvel Girl” Grey and Hank McCoy a.k.a. the Beast stare around in awe. ‘Listen, what we do here is -’ Kitty begins, before her thoughts turn to Jean, telling her to get out of her head. ‘Sorry. It’s a new power. I was just -’ Jean begins, while Kitty tells her ‘Just because I leave my bedroom door open doesn’t give you the right to go in and start going through my stuff, right?’
Bobby asks Kitty, calling her Professor Kitty, if they can go to the Toys ‘R Us. ‘If you behave’ Kitty tells him, while Jean looks at Kitty, and telepathically tells her that she is sorry, before asking how Kitty knew it was her. Kitty glances back at Jean and explains that she was trained to - as will many of the people she runs up against, which means that if Jean does plan on poking her new mutant brain powers around in other people’s juices, she is going to have to be more careful who she does it to. ‘And you’re going to have to get a whole lot more better at it’ Kitty suggests. ‘Why are you scared of me now?’ Jean frowns.
Kitty puts her hands on her hips and coolly replies ‘Because you’ve been acting scary. That stuff you pulled with Angel? That scares people.’ She suggests to Jean that if she is going to act that way, not to be surprised when people start treating her that way. Arms folded and scowling, Jean replies telepathically: ‘It was the right thing to do at the time’. ‘Says who?’ Kitty asks, while the four young men all point up at Spider-Man who swings by. Jean glances sideways, looking unhappy, while Bobby turns to Kitty and asks ‘Uh…what are we doing now?’ Kitty asks her charges if they know what a Sentinel is. ‘Sentinels are mutant-hunting artificial intelligence programmed to locate mutants for capture or to kill’ Jean states. ‘I told you to get out of my head’ Kitty snaps at Jean, who frowns once more, and replies ‘Last time. Promise’.
‘They make mutant-hunting robots?’ Bobby asks. ‘They do’ Kitty tells him. ‘Specifically to hunt mutants?’ Bobby asks. ‘Specifically’ Kitty replies. Angel asks who this “they” is. Kitty reports that it doesn’t matter who “they” are, all that matters is what the young mutants will do when the Sentinels come for them.
And, as if on cue, the brightly-lit city is bombarded by various Sentinels which stalk towards the young mutants. ‘Everyone! Like we practiced! Get each other’s back. Don’t leave an opening!’ Cyclops orders as he fires an optic blast at one Sentinel. Hank declares that he has a better idea, and asks Angel to take him to the top of the tall Sentinel, as he can shut it down old school. ‘You got it’ Warren replies as he grabs his friend and takes flight. ‘Ugh! Guys! We need to -’ Cyclops calls out as he is knocked aside, while Bobby glides by on an ice-sled, narrowly dodging the blast of another Sentinel.
Another Sentinel destroys Bobby’s ice-sled, and the young mutant falls to the ground, while Kitty asks Jean what she has to offer. ‘Telekinesis’ Jean replies. ‘Show me’ Kitty orders. Jean uses her power to lift a large truck towards a Sentinel, blocking its blast from striking her and Kitty. ‘Decent’ Kitty remarks.
‘Right here?’ Warren asks as he and Hank reach the top of the tall Sentinel. ‘Perfect’ Hank tells his friend, while Warren asks ‘What should I do?’ ‘Look busy’ Hank suggests as he lands on the Sentinel’s head.
Down on the ground, Cyclops has gathered himself and fights alongside Jean, firing an optic blast at a Sentinel, while civilians rush away. ‘We’re all over the place! Get back here!’ Cyclops shouts, but as Jean uses more telekinesis, she tells Scott that the others can’t hear him.
‘HUUAAAAA!’ Jean shouts as she sends a Sentinel slamming backwards along the ground with the power of her mind. ‘Wow!’ Bobby exclaims as he glides by on another ice-sled. Kitty looks impressed, while Jean struggles to stand up. Cyclops calls out to her, but Jean assures him that she is fine, and that she just needs a minute to recover - but, two Sentinels attack them simultaneously, sending Scott and Jean careening into the air.
‘Oh no! Professor!’ Bobby calls out as he sees a Sentinel approach her. ‘I got you, Professor!’ Bobby shouts, but as he slides down to help, Kitty phases, so he passes through her, and disorientated, he loses control over his ice-sled, falling from it once again.
On top of the Sentinel still, Hank is digging into its head, while working out an equation in his mind. Suddenly, he is shocked as a backlash of energy courses through him, and he galls off the back of the Sentinel.
Warren sees his friend in danger, and soars downwards to help him, but as he does so, a Sentinel swats him aside. ‘Regroup! Re-@#$@$!!’ Cyclops calls out to his teammates.
Looking embarrassed, Kitty utters ‘Times Square Program pause’, and suddenly, the sprawling city vanishes - replaced by the bland sterile Danger Room. The young X-Men look around, as Kitty asks her charges what they think they did wrong here. ‘and don’t say everything’ she tells them. ‘It felt like everything’ Jean mutters. ‘It was almost everything’ Kitty agrees, before closing the Times Square Program.
‘Why does your Danger Room hurt so much?’ Bobby complains, before Kitty asks him what he thinks he did wrong. ‘Seriously, our Danger Room is like a big red ball that flies at us really fast. Some hoops and a - this is really elaborate’ Bobby mumbles, rubbing his head. ‘What do you think you did wrong?’ Kitty repeats. ‘I tried to save you’ Bobby tells her. ‘That’s right’ Kitty agrees. Bobby explains that he was being sarcastic, but Kitty points out that by trying to save her, he clearly didn’t know that her mutant power is phasing.
Kitty phases her hand through Bobby’s, explaining that she can become intangible at will, and tells him that if he had done his research, he would also know that if she phases through electronics, she can disrupt their circuitry and shut them down. ‘They can’t hurt me’ Kitty explains to the young X-Men, while Bobby turns to his teammates and asks if there was reading he was supposed to do. ‘I was the only person you shouldn’t have been saving’ Kitty points out, adding that everyone else in the vicinity, including Bobby’s teammates, was in serious jeopardy.
Kitty turns to Hank and asks him what he thinks he did wrong, but the young mutant turns and walks away, ‘Point taken. No need to belabor it’ he mutters.
Kitty tells Cyclops that he is very good in the field, but that his men weren’t listening to him. ‘You lost control of the situation before the situation had ever begun’ she explains.
‘Are they my men?’ Scott asks. ‘You were the one barking orders. You, all of you, have to decide who is leading this team’ Kitty replies, telling her charges that they will each be getting a copy of the training footage, and suggests they relive the pain and they can discuss more of it after dinner. ‘That sounds awesome!’ Bobby replies. ‘What does this have to do with anything?’ Angel asks, leaning against the wall, away from his teammates. ‘I’m in charge of training you. What part don’t you understand?’ Kitty asks as she goes over to Angel, who replies that he thought they were here because the present day X-Men were scared that Cyclops was about to commit mutant genocide. ‘Where is this mutant genocide?’ Angel asks, hands on hips. ‘Those exact words’ Cyclops mumbles, adjusting his glasses. ‘Huh. Well…’ Kitty mutters as everyone turns to Cyclops.
‘At this point, I’m just trying to make sure that the five of you don’t die’ Kitty adds, before ordering them out, as Storm’s tactical class has the room in five minutes. Cyclops remains behind, but Jean turns and looks at him, and asks ‘Who is Mystique?’ Kitty turns around, ‘What?’ she calls out. ‘Get out of my head’ Cyclops scowls at Jean, who walks back over to him, followed by Kitty. ‘Mystique. You met a blue woman named Mystique’ Jean remarks. ‘When did this happen? Here in the school?’ Kitty demands. ‘So…I’m not allowed to have thoughts of my own anymore?’ Cyclops asks. ‘Who is she?’ Jean demands, while a furious Kitty asks Scott when this happened. Scott runs past them and out of the Danger Room, but Kitty follows him, ‘Don’t walk away when I’m talking to you’ she calls out. Jean scowls and folds her arms. ‘Mystique’ she mutters.
Meanwhile, at the Raft, Ryker’s Maximum Security Installation, a chopper descends, while SHIELD soldiers stand ready with their weapons. ‘What the hell is this?’ one of them calls out. ‘Hold your fire, I think that’s Maria Hill!’ another calls out, while a third wonders what Hill is doing here. ‘Pop inspection’ someone suggests. ‘I hate her’ another mutters. Indeed, Maria Hill emerges from the chopper, ‘At ease, Agents of SHIELD’ she calls out, while victor Creed a.k.a. Sabretooth is in high-tech cuffs behind her. She informs the SHIELD officers that they caught him trying to break into the Latverian Embassy and this was the closest super-high security facility. ‘I don’t want to take any chances’ she explains. ‘No one told us you were coming, Ma’am’ one of the agents announces. Maria replies that she didn’t know she was, and explains that the cuffs on Sabretooth are Stark-Tech pure adamantium shackles from Tony Stark’s personal collection. ‘Where should we put him?’ one of the soldiers enquires. ‘Find a hole and throw him in it’ Maria orders.
As the SHIELD officers follow Maria and Sabretooth down a corridor lined with cells, one of the SHIELD officers remarks that he doesn’t smell good. ‘They rarely ever do’ Maria replies. ‘He was trying to break into an embassy?’ the officer then asks, before Maria looks confused, and declares ‘Hey, you know what…I totally forgot. Those aren’t adamantium shackles. Do we even have adamantium shackles?’ and an instant later, Sabretooth is free, and he starts tearing up the SHIELD officers. Maria continues on down the corridor, until she finds a certain cell. ‘Hello. Believe it or not, I’m here to rescue you. I know you and I have not always seen eye-to-eye but you know I admire you and your powers’ she calls out. ‘Who the hell are you?’ the person in the cell calls back.
Suddenly, Maria Hill vanishes, replaced by Raven Darkholme a.k.a. Mystique, who states: ‘Here’s the pitch. I don’t care about the mutants. I don’t care about the good mutants and I don’t care about the bad mutants. I used to. Sometimes I cared a lot’. Mystique points out that Charles Xavier is dead, and so is his dream. ‘So screw it. How about we use our considerable powers and get rich? Really rich. Buy an island and sit on it rich. Is that something you think you’d be interested in?’
‘Better than sitting here and staring at the wall’ Regan Wyngarde replies as she emerges from the cell. ‘I thought that’s what you’d think’ Mystique remarks, before asking Regan what she calls herself these days. ‘Still Lady Mastermind?’ to which Regan asks ‘What’s wrong with Lady Mastermind?’
‘It seems sexist. They don’t call your father “Dude Mastermind”’ Mystique points out. ‘Yeah, it always kind of rubbed me the wrong way’ Regan replies, while Sabretooth continues to tear through the SHIELD agents. Suddenly, more SHIELD officers appear, and they hold their weapons to Mystique and Lady Mastermind, ‘Drop your weapons! On the ground!’ they order. ‘The Avengers will be here any minute. On the ground now!’ Mystique asks Regan if she wants to take care of this, and the blonde mutant replies ‘Like you wouldn’t believe’. Regan asks Raven if she has any requests, to which Raven tells her to just scare the hell out of them so they can get out of here. ‘I can do scary’ Regan boasts, raising her hands, she casts an illusion, and the SHIELD officers suddenly find themselves under attack from zombie-versions of the Avengers.
Back at the Jean Grey School, the present day Beast is in his lab, when the past Angel enters. ‘You’re not dying anymore, I see’ the younger mutant states. Examining some maps, Hank asks Warren what he can do for him. ‘I was wondering where this mutant genocide you were selling us on is’ Angel announces. Hank turns to him and replies ‘I wasn’t lying if that’s what you were insinuating’. Warren points out that he doesn’t see any genocide. ‘Let me tell you something about this school. This is not the real world’ Hank explains, telling Warren that this is a fenced-in oasis where everything mutants want is exactly how they want it. ‘But step outside? Step out there and things, for our people, have never been worse’ he states. ‘Genocide worse?’ Angel enquires. ‘Scott Summers, who I knew you bumped into, with Magneto, of all people, is calling for a revolution’ Hank explains.
Hank continues, telling the younger Warren that Cyclops is calling for their people to rise up and revolt against the human race. ‘This is dangerous talk’ he explains. Turning to the map, Hank tells Warren that even though they have had their first burst of new mutants in quite a long time, and even though the past X-Men are here, there are just a handful of mutants, and billions of humans. ‘So for him to stand in front of the cameras of the world and yell revolution is dangerous. And it leaves us just a couple of choices’ Hank tells Warren, adding that they either fight Cyclops, take him head on, or join him in his fight with the humans. ‘I don’t want to do either. No one in the school wants to’ Hank explains. Angel asks if everything is so bad with the humans, what will it take for them to push back?
‘When the humans show up at our front door with a tank and a giant mutant-hunting Sentinel. Or worse…microscopic mutant-hunting Sentinels…and tell us that’s enough…then I will fight’ Hank reveals, adding that the only thing he can think of that will make the humans show up on their doorstep with a tank and mutant-hunting robots is the most popular mutant in the world standing in front of cameras and picking a fight. ‘Yes. I brought you here to wake him up. I desperate want Scott Summers to snap out of it’ Hank tells the young mutant, who turns away. ‘You’re wondering where the mutant genocide is? I’m telling you that if I, we, played this right…we’ve avoided it’ Hank explains, adding that he didn’t bring the past X-Men here to witness the mutant genocide, he brought them here to avoid it. ‘A mutant…genocide…oh my stars and garters!’ he suddenly gasps.
In the kitchen, ‘Scott, stop!’ Kitty shouts as she finds young Cyclops. ‘Mystique?’ she asks. ‘You bump into a character like Mystique…you tell someone’ Kitty explains. ‘I don’t have to’ Scott mutters, hanging his head. ‘Not with you having Jean poke around in my brain whenever the hell you want’. Kitty starts to ask ‘How did Mystique even know where you were…’, but her attention drifts to the window.
Scott turns and follows her gaze, and upstairs, Jean, Bobby and Hank do the same. Wolverine is teaching a class, when he too notices something, and looks out the window. ‘Son of a -’ he calls out. For, outside, the present day Cyclops has teleported in courtesy of his teammate Magik. She stands with him, as do Emma Frost and Magneto. Cyclops calls out ‘To me, my X-Men!’
