Victor Borkowski a.k.a. Anole walks down a street in New York City. The day is cold, he has a large overcoat on and wears a hat and a scarf, pulled up around his face. He can hear Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel speaking to him via an earpiece. 'I just heard about you getting let go from Key Turn. I'm so sorry, I know you'll say it wasn't my fault, but still. That sucks and I'm sorry' Kamala tells Anole, who ignores her and just responds by saying 'Okay, let's do this'. Anole leaps onto the top of a train, as Kamala tells him that she isn't sure he heard about what happened last night in Greenpoint. 'They say he was only 26. Found his body outside a gas station. Word is he flashed the midnight “M” at the wrong person. And that was that'. Anole leaps off of the train and makes his way down another street, as Kamala tells him that someone ought to mourn him, and she thinks it should be them. Kamala explains that she bugged Sophie until she agreed to come, and she thinks Professor Alleyne is going to be there. 'You're obviously extremely invited, but, also, I totally get it if you're...' Kamala's voice trails off, as Anole passes a woman holding a child. The woman frowns at him.
Anole arrives at the memorial. A photo of the boy is placed alongside candles and flowers, and a stuffed bear. 'Just feels like we should all be together for this, you know? Like we were during the Hellfire Gala. I hope you come' Kamala tells Anole, before informing him that his name was Shay – but he could have been any of them. Anole pulls his scarf down, revealing his face. The memorial is taking place near a ROXXON gas station. Kamala looks over and sees Anole, rushing over to him, she embraces him and tells him that she is so glad he came. 'Yeah. You made a good case, Kamala' Anole responds, before Kamala pushes him to where Sophie Cuckoo and David Alleyne a.k.a. Prodigy are standing. Prodigy is with his boyfriend, Dante, and Kamala tells Anole that Sophie and Professor Alleyne won't stop sniping at each other over Krakoan stuff. 'You were pretty popular there, right. Maybe you can make peace?' Kamala suggests. 'Not every mutant spent their nights at the Green Lagoon' Sophie snaps. 'Yeah, just the cool ones' Prodigy remarks, before he greets Anole and tells him that he is sorry Key Turn is run by a bunch of bigots who hate good drinks.
Anole thanks Prodigy and reveals that his roommates are pretty militant about being “allies” so he is good on rent until next month. 'ANYWAY!' Kamala exclaims, before suggesting that this is everyone, unless that jerk the Krakoan shows up. 'Even Laura's here – and she's even not making anyone call her by her codename' Kamala remarks, while Laura Kinney a.k.a. Wolverine looks over at her new companion, Local, and smiles at him. 'I've never organised something like this before, but...I figured we should try to get some of his friends to speak, right?' Kamala asks. 'Assuming we can hear anyone over those dirtbag Truthseekers. They were here before we even showed' someone remarks as several of the anti-mutant Truthseekers are gathered, protesting nearby. Suddenly, one of the Truthseekers points into the distance: 'Hey! Look, more muties! You're seen this live, people!' he calls out, before Kamala asks if they did anything special for funerals on Krakoa.
'We... we didn't have funerals on Krakoa' Anole responds as he turns to see Caliban and the Arakkii mutant called Loolo, both wearing elaborate black and red costumes, walking past the protestors and towards the memorial. Two small mutants walk at their sides, dropping petals from a basket. Caliban drops to one knee and hangs his head in front of the shrine, before picking up Shay's photograph and kissing it. 'What is he?' Caliban asks. 'MUTANT!' Loolo cries out, tears streaming down her face. Loolo then picks up the photo and kisses it. 'What is he?' she asks. 'MUTANT!' comes the response. 'Mutant' Sophie utters quietly, tears streaming down her face. More mutants appear with Caliban and Kamala asks 'Whoa, who are they?' Anole tells her that he thinks he knows the big one – Caliban – but he has questions on context, so decides to go and find out. 'Need backup? I make excellent backup – just ask either Wolverine' Kamala responds. Anole tells Kamala that he doesn't, and while it sounds weird, he trained for this since he was eight. He follows Caliban and the others as they round a corner – then vanish. 'They can go invisible all they want. My tongue can smell kebabs from half a mile away and practically give you an address to boot' Anole declares.
Anole stands over a grate in an alleyway and calls out 'Um hello? I come in peace. Anole – we might've met over tiki drinks, assuming you didn't make your order with Blob?' Anole calls out, referring to his co-bartender at the Green Lagoon. 'Please don't be mad at me for following you – I'm just curious' Anole explains. He makes his way under the grate, and clings to the ceiling of the tunnels beneath the alleyway, where he looks shocked at what he sees. 'Welcome, Child of Krakoa' a voice calls out. The large chamber connects to several tunnels, lit by bright lights and killed with assorted plant life. Dozens of mutants stand next to a food truck, waiting to be fed. Caliban stands on a podium with several other mutants, including the Arakkii mutant Sobunar. Caliban tells Anole to remove his human vestments and join their community, that he is among friends. 'For you, like Caliban and Sobunar... are Morlock!' Caliban declares, and tears begin to stream down Anole's face.
Back at the memorial, 'So... does anybody else wanna say a few words?' Kamala asks, when suddenly, 'KAMALA!' a voice shouts, and Kamala looks over to where a car has stopped nearby. 'What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?' the driver of the car calls out. 'Do I need to beat up this guy's frontal cortex?' Sophie asks, smiling. But Kamala explains that this is her brother, and asks Sophie to play this extremely cool. Aamir Khan walks towards his sister and tells her that the news is talking about some kind of illegal mutant gather. 'It's a memorial service, Aamir. It's lots of different kinds of people. Also, since when were you the mutant police?' Kamala asks. Suddenly, a voice from within the car calls out 'It wasn't his idea, cousin Kamala. Aamir just knows a good idea when he hears one'. A door to the car opens and another man can be seen. He looks at Kamala and tells her that someone needs to keep an eye on all these mutants – for the good of the community.
'That Krakoan is killing people every day. And who's mourning them. Or have they already gotten to you? You always were a bleeding heart' the man declares. 'Cousin Bilal. Been a minute' Kamala frowns. Sophie looks unimpressed, too and announces that they are not doing all this – not here, not in Shay's memory. She moves forward to Bilal and tells him that he is on sacred land right now, and that this place is protected. 'Who are you supposed to be?' Bilal asks. 'To you? I'm a walking lobotomy with a $#%&*^& hair trigger, ^%&*#!' Sophie points at Bilal and tells him that a boy is dead, and he comes down here to judge how their mourn. 'What if it had been your -' she begins, while Kamala calls out to her, trying to calm her down. A furious Sophie then uses her psionic powers to command Kamala's brother and cousin to leave. '...come on, Bilal. It's just some...they're just...we should go' Aamir remarks, before telling his sister that she should really be in class. 'Don't make me tell Baba' he adds. Aamir drives off with Bilal and Kamala tells Sophie that Bilal used to be her favorite cousin. 'Yeah, my favorite sister dated Quentin Quire. Sometimes it's hard to tell that someone is an absolute %$^&*. but honestly? He's the one you gotta be worried about' Sophie responds.
'The Truthseekers' Sophie remarks as she uses her psychic power to connect to the Truthseekers, to see what they are up to. She sees several of them, gathering, and arming themselves with weapons, and another image of them wearing armor, storming some tunnels. She sees them watching Anole, and sees Anole down in the tunnels with the Morlocks. 'They're not just bigots. They're armed. They followed Anole. And they're gonna turn this memorial into a massacre!' Sophie exclaims. 'NO!' Kamala utters. 'They're gonna try'.
Back in the tunnels, 'Is this okay? If you want the full show, I'm going to need at least two margaritas' Anole jokes as he removes his shirt, revealing his green skin. 'Caliban asks to see you skin so that you may see us seeing. And not flinching' Caliban explains, before Sobunar asks Anole – calling him “mutant of Earth” - whether it feels good to be seen. 'I mean...it's better than the guys I've been meeting on the apps with the scalie fetishes...but you gotta admit, this whole thing's pretty weird' Anole responds. 'Acceptance without struggle iis strange. But we offer it freely, as Storm taught' Loolo explains. 'And as Callisto did, when first we called these tunnels home' Caliban adds. Anole tells the mutants that he appreciates the welcome. 'But I just came down here to...to kind of...' his voice trails off, to which Caliban asks 'See if you were one of us?'
“One of us...one of us...” a large blue mutant quotes, to which a strange mutant with crab-like arms remarks 'Tod Browning reference? My man'. 'I mean, look at me. I'm definitely one of you' Anole smiles. 'Are you? Or are you X-Men?' Sobunar enquires. Anole looks annoyed, and snaps 'All right, #$%&^ to that right there. Is that why I stripped? So you could see if I was hiding spandex?' Anole asks. Anole stands between Caliban and Loolo and Sobunar, and tells them to trust him when he says that he is done with that life. 'That's what they think we all are, just because we're...us. That we're all one moment away from jumping in a Blackbird or being attacked by Sentinels or spilling our blood on the fields of the Locus Vile!' Anole declares, asking why any of them can't just let him be stupid, make bad jokes and suck a sports, and to love peppermint lattes – because he has green skin and a big arm? 'I mean, genuinely! I just want to be a bartender and figure the rest of my life out on my own time! Why can anyone just let me live?' Anole asks.
'Why are you asking permission?' Caliban smiles. Anole pauses, and looks confused, when suddenly, he hears Sophie telepathically calling out to him. He turns, and looks worried, as Sophie tells him 'If you're down there, find some cover! They're coming for you. And they're coming NOW!' Sophie warns Anole. An instant later, the armed Truthseekers burst their way into the tunnel, firing weapons which seem to dissolve the tunnel wall. 'Purifiers! We have contact with the freak show! Let's cut 'em down!' one of the Truthseekers shouts as several of the mutants are struck with energy blasts. 'Watch out!' Anole calls out to everyone. He tosses a park bench towards the Truthseekers while urging Caliban and Loolo to get the others to safety. 'And leave yourself wife open?' one of the Truthseekers asks, when he is confused as his gun is suddenly telekinetically pulled apart. 'Hey! Purge-reject gun nuts!' Sophie exclaims as she appears in the tunnel with Kamala and Wolverine. 'You uglies are stinking up the wrong sewers!' Kamala declares, while Wolverine asks them if they don't know that this place belongs to mutants.
'Look at that – the last in a string of terrible choices. Bullets are so last century' Sophie remarks as she catches a dozen or so bullets with her telekinesis. 'Purifiers! Switch to charge-rounds!' one of the armed Truthseekers shouts as he shoots Wolverine, who glows with the charge of the blast. 'Purifiers...I hate that word!' Anole snaps as he slams one of the Truthseekers up to the tunnel ceiling. 'Gun regulation now!' Kamala calls out as she extends her arms and grabs several weapons off of the Truthseekers, before breaking them. 'Are you just... shouting political slogans?' Sophie asks. 'Look, I'm too angry to quip, okay?' Kamala responds, while Anole asks Wolverine if they have reinforcements coming.
The electrical charge begins to fade across Laura, who tells Anole that there are none needed. She sniffs the air and confirms that is all of them. Sophie thanks her for the assist, to which Laura replies 'As I understand it, that's what friends are for. Now, you might want to look the other way while I -' to which Kamala declares that they are not killing them. Sophie agrees with Kamala, and tells Laura that if the Truthseekers vanish, then people will ask why, and it won't be long until the violence comes back to the mutants. Kamala then tells Sophie that a psychic lobotomy isn't better. 'Oh, they're going to keep their higher brain functions. It's just all the details that I'm going to scramble!' Sophie exclaims, to which Kamala points out that they might have families. 'No $#&%. so do we' Sophie snaps.
Laura goes over to Anole and tells him that it was good to see him raise a little hell himself. 'Once a Hellion, always a Hellion' Anole jokes, while Sophie commands the Truthseekers to follow her out of the tunnels. Laura then puts an arm around Kamala and tells her to come on, as they are not invited to the after party. 'But this place is so cool!' Kamala protests. 'Exactly. Not our scene... but it could be his' Laura remarks.
Anole is given a long purple open tuni to wear, and he tells the mutants that he knows what that looked like, but swears that isn't him. 'I'm not...not a fighter, or a hero. I'm just...' his voice trails off, to which Caliban tells him 'Yourself'. Anole looks at Caliban who continues: 'Krakoan. Arakkii. X-Men. Morlock. They are all just labels trying to put into words a simple truth. We are, each of us, infinite'. Caliban tells Anole that if he wishes to be one of them, then he is one of them. 'But one of us who has been trained to protect. When danger threatened, you walked towards it' Caliban points out. 'So did the others' Anole notes. 'And then they walk away. Because they can because they have places they can go' Caliban adds. 'But your feet are still, Anole. You are where you have gone' Sobunar points out. 'Yeah. That's it exactly' Anole decides. 'We can accept each other and hide where they can't finds us. That's safety, sure. But it's still hiding. There are other Morlocks up there. They have to see us stand up. They have to see me. Up there. Not thriving in a human world, but making a mutant one' Anole decides. 'Don't we deserve to be seen?' Anole asks, as Caliban puts his forehead to Anole's, before turning to other Morlocks he asks 'Do you recognize your brother? What is he?'
'MUTANT!' comes the unanimous response, and shortly, now wearing an elaborate black and red costume like Caliban and Loolo, Anole walks alongside them and Sobunar and dozens of other Morlocks through the streets of New York City. Among them, Maggott can be seen. 'Now let us walk our brother home' someone calls out, a photo of the dead mutant, Shay, can be seen with them.
As Anole walks proudly through the city, Kamala arrives home, despite being offered her guest room at Sophie's place. Kamala has had enough of New York for the today. Laura sits in the shadows of her apartment. David returns to his apartment, his fingertips covered in spraypaint. Dante calls out to him, informing him that he saved him some Prince Street. 'Yeah, babe. Sorry I had to dip. I had to take care of something' David calls back as he opens his backpack, fill of spray paint cans. Sophie wears a trenchcoat as she appears to enter some sort of construction site, with a STOP sign warning people away. 'Okay. Once more unto the breach' she tells herself.
In a penthouse, two of Sophie's sisters are sitting on men. They wait next to an elevator, 'Five. Four Three. Two' the sisters countdown, before the elevator opens, and Sophie appears. 'God, I love having a full set' a voice calls out. 'You have nothing, Manny' Sophie scowls at Manuel de la Rocha a.k.a. Empath, who sits smugly behind a desk. 'I have everything, Soph. Most of all, the plan' he boasts, before asking her how her part is going. Sophie looks concerned, before informing Empath that it is done. 'She's seen what it means. What it takes. She's getting self-righteous. She's getting her head in the fight' Sophie tells Empath that he was right. 'She's not just any of us. She's Ms. Marvel. Soon, she'll stand up... and it'll all fall down' Sophie utters, while, in her bedroom, Kamala sits on her bed and looks at a poster of her idol, Carol Danvers.
