Logan Heights, San Diego:
There is a surge of energy behind a suburban home as Scott “Cyclops” Summers, Emma Frost and the young mutant Fabio Medina materialize on a rooftop. 'You can open your eyes, Fabio' Emma remarks, while Scott looks out over the rooftop and asks Fabio if that is his home down there. 'Are there demons?' Fabio asks, covering his face with his hands. 'No demons' Cyclops assures him. Fabio slowly removes his hands, 'Please no Dormammu please no Dormammu please no Dormammu' he utters. 'Oh, thank God' he declares as he looks around and stares over to his house. 'If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to escort you home and talk to your parents' Cyclops offers, adding that when parents first discover their little one is a mutant, it can get... complicated. 'You don't know my dad. I think it would be a lot more complicated if you walked into my house' Fabio replies.
Emma wishes Fabio the best of luck. 'And we mean that' she adds. Fabio tells them both that he is sorry he let them down. 'Let us down?' Cyclops asks. Emma assures him that he didn't, but that he will if he doesn't find a way to use his God-given mutant gifts to make the world better than the way he found it. 'I just want to – I don't know what I want. But I -' Fabio begins. Cyclops interrupts and tells him to just be a good person and be proud of who he is, no matter what. Fabio replies that he feels guilty – but he can't be attacked by demons and Avengers. 'Hey, it's not for everybody' Cyclops tells him, before wishing him luck. He and Emma then turn away, as Cyclops radios Magik. 'Party of two' he tells her, before he and Emma vanish in another surge of energy. Fabio looks downcast, then looks over towards his family home.
Nearby, in another home, SHIELD agents are watching Fabio through a window. One of the agents announces that he has a positive identification on Fabio Medina, while the other, sitting at a computer, states that Scott Summers and Emma Frost dropped him off and left, and confirms the positive identification. 'Ask them what we do now?' the first agent remarks. 'Orders?' the second asks.
Meanwhile, at the secret location of the New Xavier School:
'Well, that was fast' Christopher Muse a.k.a. Triage, one of the students, remarks as Cyclops and Emma re-materialize in the meeting room, where the rest of the faculty – Magik and Magneto – and the other students – Benjamin Deeds, Eva Bell a.k.a. Tempus, Celeste, Phoebe and Mindee Stepford and Angel – transported from the past to the present – are waiting. 'Like a band-aid' Emma replies. 'So that's it? He's gone? No more... whatever his name was?' Benjamin asks. 'Fabio. He was a good soul. Don't make fun' Magik tells Benjamin, who replies that he wasn't, and explains he is legitimately not good with names. Tempus asks what they do now, to which Cyclops reports that if the last few hours have shown them anything, it is that they are all in dire need of training. He removes his mask and puts his glasses on, adding that they got out of Limbo by the skin of their teeth.
'I'm glad you noticed because, watching that, we honestly thought: wow, isn't this the saddest bunch of mutants we had ever been around' one of the Stepford Cuckoos declares. 'And you should see some of the mutants we have been around' another adds. 'That's enough, girls' Emma tells her students. The young Angel steps forward and announces that he feels he needs to tell them all that he was only in the original X-Men for a few weeks before he came here, and he is only saying that because he kind of feels that everyone thinks he knows more than he does. 'I know how to fly. That's about it'. Benjamin turns to Angel and tells him that flying is kind of cool. 'But I don't know how to fight' Angel adds.
Eva comments that she feels really bad about Fabio leaving. Cyclops tells her that not every mutant is a born warrior. 'Better he leave than cower and stumble when we need him most' Emma adds. 'So, we're one mutant short now or... how does this work? Are we going to get more?' Eva asks, while Cyclops tells Magneto that he wants to speak with him outside. 'Of course' Magneto complies.
Emma presses a button on a console and a map is projected in the room, with various lights showing up across it. 'Not too long ago... our people were decimated and there were no new mutants being born' she begins, explaining that they thought their people might actually be extinct. But now, for the first time in a very long time, new mutants are popping up all over the world. 'I'm sure there's another one ready to be an X-Man' Emma adds.
Elsewhere:
'Okay, I'm a mutant' a young man declares, putting his hands over his ears, he then waves his hands out in front of him. 'David! What are you doing?' a woman exclaims as they stand in a parking lot during the night. David calls her Karen and shushes her. 'I'm trying to concentrate' he declares. 'This is freaking me out!' Karen exclaims. 'You're freaked out? I'm a $#%& mutant all of a sudden!' David points out, to which Karen remarks that he shouldn't be saying that out loud. 'That I'm a mutant?' David asks. 'You don't know that! Karen tells him, looking scared. 'The glory that is the Inter-Web says that new mutants are popping up all over the world' David exclaims, adding that he has not left his apartment in two weeks because of his illustration deadlines, so he hasn't been able to be hit over the head with any kind of radioactive isotope or alien meteor. 'So I'm sure that if all of a sudden I have super-powers… it's because I'm a mutant!' Karen mutters that that is not the most politically correct thing to yell out in the middle of a parking lot. 'I don't know what you're talking about but I would really like you to shhh! I am concentrating!' David declares. 'No, seriously, what are you doing?' Karen asks.
'Shhh! I just want to see something!' David explains. Still holding his hands out front and concentrating, he stares at the cinema at the end of the parking lot. 'Did it happen?' Karen asks. David shushes her again. 'Cars on' David announces, and an instant later, all of the cars in the parking lot suddenly turn on, their motors roar and their lights flick red. 'Oh my God' Karen smiles. 'Whoa.' David gasps, holding his hands up again, 'Uh-uh – turn off' he instructs the cars, and they do so, going silent once more. 'Honk' David declares, and the cars all start to honk. 'Stop! Stop!' David instructs the cars. 'Holy...' Karen utters, when suddenly someone shouts, 'Stop right there!'
David and Karen spin around and see two police officers walking towards them. 'What are you doing? Hands over your heads!' one of the officers orders. 'No! Nothing! What?' David replies as he and Karen raise their hands. 'It was him! Not me!' Karen exclaims. 'How did you do that?' the officer enquires. 'Thanks a lot' David mutters as he looks at Karen. 'He's a mutant!' Karen shouts. 'What?' the officer asks. 'He controls cars! It's – I was just watching!' Karen calls out.
One of the officers aims his gun at David, while the other contacts dispatch, reporting that they have a probably 366 in progress. He adds that they have an armed mutant displaying powers. He requests backup and asks dispatch to contact SHIELD command. 'Please, officer, I didn't do anything' David proclaims, adding that he didn't steal anything and didn't hurt anybody. 'Quiet, you! On the ground!' the officer shouts. 'Your car is getting away' David calls out, as he controls the police car, sending it speeding away. '#$%&' one of the officers exclaims. 'Stop!' the other orders. 'I'll go after it. You stay with the suspect' one of the officers tells the others.
'What are you doing?' Karen whispers to David as she sees him get up. 'Stop!' the other officer shouts, firing his gun, which strikes David, sending him toppling to the ground. Karen screams and asks the officer 'What did you just do?' 'Aggh, ow!' David exclaims, while the officer tells Karen to shut up, warning her that she will be next.
The officer stands over David, pointing his gun at him, 'You mutants think you're so clever. You think you're above us. Let me tell you something -' he begins, when a voice calls out: 'Yes, please, I would love to hear this!' Magik appears, along with the Stepford Cuckoos. She tells Celeste to stop psychically torturing the police officers, as Celeste manipulates their weapons to be pointing at them. 'Ugh. I liked you better when you were all demonic' Celeste mutters.
'He – he – they shot him!' Karen exclaims. 'What the hell?' David gasps. 'She sold the boy out' one of the other Cuckoos informs Magik, who suggests to Karen that she step away from him. 'And let us do what we do' she adds. 'What – what do you do?' Karen asks. Magik tells Mindee to relieve the man's pain, and Mindee kneels down next to him, telling him that she is going to make it so he is not going to feel any pain. 'Ow!' David declares, before telling Mindee that he is not sure who she is, or what she just did, but it is awesome. The women stand over David, 'Congratulations on your mutant birthday. I have an offer for you, David Bond. Have you ever heard of the X-Men?' Magik asks, before the world around David goes dark.
Meanwhile, outside, in the snow-covered landscape around the secret New Xavier School, Magneto tells Cyclops that he knows what he is going to say. 'You are still very upset with me because I went to SHIELD and made a deal to betray you. Even though I told you that I did it to get them to betray themselves' Magneto reminds Cyclops. 'You're still not sure if you can trust me' Magneto realizes. 'You're not sure if I'm playing them or playing you pretending to play them. You've known me a long time Scott Summers... so you need to remind yourself that I have dedicated my life to the preservation of the mutant race'. Magneto declares that he would never put the needs of the humans in front of them – it would never happen. Cyclops stands with his back to Magneto, who continues: 'And you know I've been doing this a long time... I have survived ten lifetimes because I know this one entire truth'. Magneto states that he knows in the core of his entire being that the government of this country wants to put them down, because they are a threat to them. 'Because powerful people will do anything to hold on to their power. They will sell their souls. They will sell the souls of their children. They will murder children... just so they can keep what they have'. Magneto explains that to get them to trust them, he has to earn that trust. 'I had to give them you... or the promise of you'.
Cyclops finally turns around, 'That's the thing, Erik. I do know you... I do know that there is nothing that you would put before the mutant race. All I have to worry about is whether or not you think I'm standing in the way of your dreams for our people'. He tells Magneto that the thing about people in power is that they will do anything to hold on to their power.
'You feel I would punish and betray you' Magneto remarks. 'It is not ridiculous of me to consider -' Cyclops begins, to which Magneto interrupts, asking Cyclops if he thinks that would be a suitable punishment. 'Suitable?' Cyclops asks. 'You broke our mutations... you murdered Charles Xavier... you think that my betrayal to you would cover it? That would even up your karmic debt?' Magneto asks, before telling Scott that he is not going to do it. 'Do what?' Scott asks. 'I'm not going to take the role of your punisher. I'm not going to be the thing you fight against to make yourself feel better'.
Magneto continues, stating that it is not his job to make Scott feel better about the mistakes he has made. 'You're going to have to get there all by yourself'. 'So you haven't forgiven me...' Cyclops remarks. Magneto states that he wonders if he will ever forgive Cyclops. 'But I have more faith in you than even my own children. I want you to crawl out of the mud. I want you to fix this. I want it so badly'.
'Well, that’s -' Cyclops smiles, before telling Magneto that is not the reason he called him out here. Cyclops suddenly lower his optic glasses and fires a surge of optic energy into the air. 'That's the best I can do. We are broken. We need to train each other back to health. You and me. No one knows how to do this better than us. We fix each other while we train those new mutants' Cyclops suggests. He adds that neither of them wants to be responsible for anybody else dying because they can't control themselves. 'If we screw up just one time... everything we worked for... for our entire lives will have been for nothing' Cyclops announces. He states that he stole that second chance, he knows that. He stole it by sheer force of will, and claims that he is not going to get to do that again.
Magneto looks away, before turning back to Cyclops: 'Well, then... again. And this time focus. Your powers are like breathing, like walking, like eating... they are a part of you' Cyclops lowers his glasses, as Magneto stands behind him: 'Say it with me: I am mutant'. 'I am mutant' Cyclops declares, eyes glowing.
There is darkness all around, but voices can be heard. 'Oh man. Did you stab him?' someone asks. 'No. No. The police shot him' another voice declares. 'The police were there?' the first asks, while someone tells Christopher that he is up. 'Me?' Christopher responds. 'It's time to put your brand-new healing powers to work' Christopher is told. 'Uh...' Christopher begins. '“Uh?” What does “uh” mean?' he is asked. Christopher reveals that he doesn't like blood. 'You're the healer' he is reminded, to which Christopher explains that blood makes him queasy. 'Heal the man' someone tells Christopher, who asks 'Can't you clean him up first?' Christopher is told to pretend that they are on the battlefield. 'Pretend you've got a pair' they add. 'Okay, okay...' Christopher mutters. Everyone goes silent, and darkness starts to give way to light, 'Hold on' someone calls out. 'Do you feel it?' another asks. 'He's awake' someone declares. David Bond sees Angel standing over him, 'Where am I?' he asks.
'Hello, David' Emma remarks as she leans over the table David is lying on, the students all gathered around him. 'Oh my God. I died!' David exclaims. 'I thought you told him you were taking him here' Christopher asks, while Angel wonders why David thinks he is dead. 'Okay... this is... weird' David remarks, sitting up. Emma informs David that he is at the Charles Xavier School for the Gifted, and points out that he is a mutant. 'They – they shot me. I was shot' David declares. Emma explains that they fixed that, and assures him he is going to be okay. 'Fixed it?' David asks, confused. Emma tells David that they came to recruit him, and just in time from the look of things. 'Welcome to the X-Men!' one of the Cuckoos exclaims. 'We hope you survive the -' the second begins, but the third interrupts her: 'Oh come on!' she mutters. 'What?' the second asks. “Hope you survive the experience” the third declares. 'It's a cliché!' 'You're a cliché!' the second retorts. 'Well, you're identical to me, so what does that make you?' the third asks. 'Girls!' Emma exclaims, turning to her students.
Meanwhile, back in Logan Heights, San Diego, someone stands and watches the Medina home as Fabio enters, 'Mom? Dad?' he calls out. 'Oh my gosh!' Mrs Medina exclaims as she sits up from her chair in the living room. 'Where have you been Fabio?' Mr Medina asks as they both wrap their arms around their son. 'Oh my God, he's alive!' Mrs Medina declares, adding that she prayed so hard. 'Where have you been?' Mr Medina asks again. 'Are you hurt? Did they do things to you?' Mrs Medina enquires, to which Fabio exclaims that he is okay. He suggests that they should sit down. 'We should call -' Fabio's father begins. 'We need to talk about this' Fabio announces, while his mother calls out 'Jennifer! He's home!' Mr Medina looks at his arms and sees that he is shaking, while Fabio's sister enters, 'Yo, bro! Like, what's the -' she begins, as Fabio tells her that he is okay. 'What happened to you? Is what they said on the news true?' Jennifer asks. 'Of course it isn't' Fabio replies.
Fabio admits that he doesn't know what they said on the news, 'But here's the deal. I am just going to say it. I am a mutant' Fabio announces. 'No. They – they just told you that so they could -' his mother begins, but Fabio tells her that he is, that he was attacked and the X-Men saved him. 'The X-Men?' Jennifer asks. 'Scott Summers. Cyclops' Fabio replies. 'You met him?' Jennifer enquires. Fabio explains that is where he has been. His father grabs him and declares that they are going to the hospital. 'They did something to you' he remarks. 'Dad' Fabio exclaims, while his father asks 'Did they touch you?' Fabio ignores the comment, and tells his father that he needs to listen to him, and that this is really hard for him to say, but he is a mutant. 'They did something -' Mr Medina states again. 'Things fly out of me' Fabio reveals. 'What they said – the police – what they said was true?' Mrs Medina asks. 'Hold on. Like what? Show us' Jennifer tells her brother. Fabio tells his family that he doesn't want to do it right now because he doesn't want to hurt them. 'Hurt us?' Jennifer asks.
'Listen, the X-Men helped me!' Fabio exclaims, while his father tells him that the police came here and said that he was a fugitive. 'I'm not' Fabio replies. 'I told you he was a good boy' Mrs Medina exclaims, while Fabio's father asks him why he didn't call them. 'They didn't have a phone' Fabio explains. 'The X-Men don't have a phone?' Mr Medina asks. Fabio explains that they don't want anyone finding out where they are. 'Because they're terrorists, dog!' Jennifer shouts.
Fabio assures everyone that it is not like that, but his father declares that they are going to the hospital, that Fabio has been drugged, he is talking crazy. 'Stop' Fabio asks. 'You've been missing for days. Your mother almost died. You will do what I -' Mr Medina begins. 'STOP!” Fabio shouts, and suddenly, a gold ball appears above him – more balls bound about, crashing around the house and out onto the street. Fabio's parents and sister have fallen to the floor. 'Dad?' Fabio asks, as a large gold ball has fallen on his father. 'Oh dear Lord in Heaven above' Mrs Medina utters. 'Did you just poop those out of your butt?' Jennifer asks. 'No' Fabio tells her. 'What did they do to you?' Mr Medina asks, hanging his head. 'No one did anything to me!' Fabio shouts, annoyed. 'This happened. This is who I am now' he declares.
Fabio tells his parents that he was born this way and he just because what he guesses he was supposed to become. 'It's because we didn't go to church' Mrs Medina utters. 'Please, be quiet, Gloria' Mr Medina tells his wife.
Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. 'Who could it be?' Gloria wonders. 'Uh, any one of our neighbors looking to return a gold butt ball' Jennifer suggests. 'Who is it?' Mr Medina calls out. A blonde woman wearing a white SHIELD uniform enters. 'Is everybody all right?' she asks. Other SHIELD agents can be seen outside, as the woman states that she couldn't help but notice whatever that was that just went crashing through their window. 'I'm not here to hurt anybody' she states, before introducing herself as Alison Blaire. She explains that she is a deputized agent of SHIELD, one of the good guys. 'I'm here to talk to your son' she tells Mr Medina, before she leans into Fabio, and informs him that she needs him to tell her where Scott Summers is!
