In the garage of the Xavier Institute, Pavel Rasputin is quite comfortable spending his time fixing a car, His teammate No-Name joins him, dressed neatly in a school uniform. She’s been looking all over for him. It’s not like he’s been hiding, he retorts. He’s been here all morning, rebuilding the front axle of this truck. She knows she’s gonna regret asking, but why? Buildings-and-grounds is doing some restoration work along the lake, he explains, they are short of equipment. No-Name reminds him that this is their job which they are getting paid for. His is to go to school.
She sits down and looks through his sketch book as she reminds him he has responsibilities. And they have a tutorial. He has to get this finished, Pavel replies defensively. He gave his word. He gave his word to her too, No-Name points out sourly. Not to mention Professor Sabin. Don’t they count for anything?
He supposes, Pavel admits, it’s just… he doesn’t see the point. It’s not as though he is ever going to use any of this education. And there are better things he can do with his time… like finishing this.
Agitated, she asks him how he can claim this knowledge has no purpose when he is already putting it to use. Just look at what he’s doing! If he’s doing it, what is there to learn? He asks smiling. What he is doing is totally trial and error, she explains. Doesn’t he want to know how things work or why? Can’t he just trust his instincts and accept that they do? Pavel asks. He isn’t curious? she wonders Not about this, no. He is learning by doing. He makes some mistakes, solves the problems himself. What she is offering is a shortcut he chooses not to take.
Angrily, she retorts she doesn’t get him. He’s being selfish. Sure he can do this, but how does he pass along his skill and knowledge? Or does he want everyone to follow his lead and do it all themselves trial and error?
They might understand things better when they finish, he retorts. Would that be so bad? Then they lose on the chance to build on the work gone before! she shouts, She says that’s bad, No-Name sulks. Sometimes he makes her crazy, she sighs. But in a nice way, he hopes, Pavel jokes.
She warns him not to push his luck. In response, he grabs her and kisses her. Surprised, she breaks off the kiss. Why did he do that? Instinct, Pavel suggests. She turns away. Pavel apologizes and asks if something is wrong. Nothing, No-Name replies and leaves, adding in a small voice that he wasn’t out of line.
Later, a wondering Pavel tells his two best friends Rico and Oli about the kiss. When they ask for more details, he instead replies he’s asking them for help. Later, Oli is practicing martial arts with No-Name’s roommate Becka, who tells him she is clueless. Doesn’t she talk to her roommate he asks and cries out the next moment as Becka gets to him with a blow. Like friends? she scoffs, and asks him to be serious. She apologizes for hitting him so hard.
Later, Pavel visits No-Name in her room with artificial flowers, not wanting to chop up real ones. So he made that as a symbol and planted seeds over in the garden. After they bloom, she can enjoy them for years. She looks outside the window and declares him nuts though she is clearly moved.
He notes what she is hiding behind her back, a self-made plushie of Pavel as Colossus. She threatens that he is dead after she gets the phone which is ringing.
A little later, Pavel has gathered his Pavel friends. Things went great, he tells them until the phone rang. She wouldn’t say who the caller was and there was no number on the caller I.D. Before she would even start talking, she basically shoved him out of the door. He has this feeling that she’s going to break curfew and meet the caller in town. If she gets caught, she could be suspended, even expelled. Becka takes charge, intent on going after No-Name and bring her back. Or at least cover her back. Are they coming?
A few miles away from the school in Salem Center, No-Name almost immediately finds herself faced with trouble in the person of one of the X-Men’s most formidable adversaries, a Shockwave Rider. Mockingly, he remarks that she’s become respectable. Whoever would have thought, he muses as he grabs her by the shoulders.
What is he doing here? she demands. Her life has nothing to do with them anymore. The deal was they leave her alone! He becomes nastier as he tells her time to learn some manners or she’ll make him lose his temper.
That moment, her teammates arrive. The Shockwave Rider grabs No-Name from behind and reveals that he didn’t come alone. The other Shockwave Riders - mutants who use technology to enhance their power – attack them.
Colossus quickly jumps to the others’ defence, while Rico orders Oli to take his hand. They need to share powers to help No-Name. The transfer is intense and Rico almost falls.
Becka flies herself and Rico up, while Oli displays the starching ability he absorbed from Rico. Becka turns more feral as her lightning powers takes down one of the Riders’ flyers.
Their infrared notice the invisible Rico on another flydisk and they toss him down.
She wants to be left alone? the first Rider asks as he cruelly pulls No-Name down by her hair. Once he sends her to hell, she can be alone forever! Colossus comes attacking and orders him to let her go. He can share her fate, the villain offers as he smashes Pavel into the ground.
Suddenly, his computer warns him that Xavier Institute members, as well as federal law enforcement members, are nearby. Arrival imminent, hostile intent. It’s not fair! he shouts but finds there is no time to finish the teenagers off. He threatens that he’ll have his revenge eventually before he and the Shockwave Riders evacuate.
No-Name helps Pavel up, while the other three wonder what that was about. Rico points out that clearly the Rider knew No-Name. That’s no crime, Oli retorts, and it looked to him like she was standing up to him. He suggests they gather up the others and go home before the night gets any worse. As if on cue, they are surrounded by heavily armed federal officers.
Later. While the kids are waiting outside inside the office several Institute members, namely the principals Scott and Emma as well as Psylocke Beast and another discuss matters.
They had minimal contact with the riders over the years, considering them a low-level adversary. Their enhanced abilities are disturbing. Why are they surfacing now and what do they want? No-Name didn’t run into them by accident. What do they know about her exactly?
She is a foundling, definitely a mutant but no sense yet of manifesting powers. She was in pretty rough shape when they found her, with minimal accessible memories, or so she claimed. Telepathic scans were inconclusive, Hank point out. Emma remarks that she is very good at hiding her secrets. Perhaps they should look a little harder. Scott points out that they are no longer X-Men. This is a school. At the very least they can asks questions, Emma retorts. And figure out their next move from there.
Later, Pavel stops by No-Name’s room to see if she is all right. She’s had better days, she admits. He asks if he can help. No-Name admits he did pretty good in town against those creeps. That creep had him on the ropes, Pavel admits sheepishly. He got lucky, No-Name tells him. She just wishes fixing things was as simple. It’s not that bad, he assures her.
What if things get worse? When he doesn’t react she tells him that was a joke. His family has a lousy sense of humor, he admits before nervously giving her his present he hid.
When she sees the picture, she is speechless, then runs away crying. He leaves the picture behind as he shouts that he doesn’t know what has her running but he won’t let her face it alone. He’s going after her whether she wants him to or not, he’s going to help!
Left behind remains the picture of a beautifully dressed No-Name in an idyllic landscape; clearly a gift of love.
