'The Mansion – part if it's destroyed!' one of the X-Men shouts inside the Blackbird as it descends over their Westchester home, part of it in ruin. They are returning from the isle of Genosha, only to discover this shocking concern at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The Blackbird lands, and the X-Men race out to search through the rubble. Ororo Munroe a.k.a. Storm asks Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclops how something this horrible could happen while they were away. Scott tells her that he has no idea, but that if the Professor was here, he may be in the rubble – injured, or worse. Cyclops begins firing optic eye beams into the rubble, to break it up and he asks Jean Grey if she is able to contact the Professor telepathically. 'I'm receiving nothing!' Jean replies as she uses her telekinesis to levitate some of the rubble, clearing a way through. Logan a.k.a. Wolverine starts digging through the rubble, too, and tells Cyclops to quit talking and keep digging – they will find something.
The X-Men clear a path to the War Room, and as they race into it, they find a message on Cerebro – from the Professor. He greets the X-Men and informs them that he is taking a journey whose results may change their lives forever. He apologizes for the cryptic nature of this message, but explains that secrecy is of the utmost importance. He tells the X-Men that he trusts them to continue their training and to look after the school in his absence. He bids the X-Men farewell, and the message ends. Storm points out that the Professor obviously recorded that before the damage occurred, but wonders whether he left before the disaster happened. 'Can't tell. We'll have to continue searching' Cyclops points out.
Remy LeBeau a.k.a. Gambit asks Wolverine if he noticed anything, and Wolverine reveals that he saw footprints – big ones. He adds that the smell is familiar, but he can't put his finger on it. He adds that he has a hunch the answer to everything is with bigfoot, and reports that while the trail is warm, he is going to moe out and follow the scent.
'This isn't time to separate. I'm sure Professor Xavier -' Cyclops begins, but Wolverine interrupts him: 'Wouldn't be wasting my time with speeches if he was here. One side, “deputy leader”!' Wolverine declares that he has places to go, and pushes past Cyclops as he walks over to his motorcycle which is parked nearby. 'We'll go together, mister. As a team. But we need to look for more clues here. Maybe we missed something' Cyclops suggests. 'I got a whiff'a all the clues I need, Scottie boy. Yer just crampin' my style now. Like I said... I'm outta here' Wolverine calls back as he speeds away on his motorcycle.
Cyclops turns to Storm and tells her to take Rogue and Jubilee and track Wolverine down – to stay close to him, as he doesn't know what he is getting into. 'Gambit, you're here with me. Jean – you too' Cyclops adds. Jean doesn't look very impressed, and narrows her eyes 'Of course, Scott. Whatever you want' she replies quietly.
Cyclops suggests that they get back down to the War Room, as there is something he wants to try. 'Scott, don't you think I could -' Jean begins, as she follows him, but Gambit calls out to her, asking for a word. They stop and Gambit points out that he can see in Jean's eyes something more than the Professor's disappearance troubles her. 'Is it that Cyclops, he makes you stay behind too much while the others they go off?' Jean confides in Gambit that sometimes she feels like a fifth wheel around here, that she always seems to be at the Mansion, minding the store while everyone else is off on some adventure. 'I like it here – but it’s so frustrating'.
Moments later, Jean and Gambit arrive in the War Room and Cyclops tells Jean that perhaps she can't telepathically establish a rapport with the Professor unaided, but they could use Cerebro to amplify her psionic abilities to search for him – and whoever has wrecked the school, assuming it was a mutant. Scott asks Jean if she is up to it, to which Jean sits in the Cerebro unit chair and replies 'You needn't ask, Scott. Don't you know me by now?'
Twenty minutes later, Storm, Rogue and Jubilee have arrived in the town of New Salem, driving in a red convertible car, Storm asks why Wolverine is always so quick to play the rebel. 'If only he realized Professor Xavier wants us to behave as a team' she tells the others, but Rogue tells her this is just Wolvie's way of showing his concern for the Professor. 'I think he just wants to kick butt!' Jubilee pipes up from the back seat. She starts to admit that sometimes Wolverine scares her, when suddenly, she notices something and tells Rogue to pull over to the surb ahead. Rogue does so, and the women see a large man near a derelict building. 'Gotta be the dude that scragged the Mansion! Check out his size – and that skin! I better -' Jubilee begins, noticing the man's strange metallic skin. Storm tells Jubilee not to jump to any conclusions, and that they should see what is occurring before they act in haste.
'Yich! Put a lid on it, lady! I didn't spend hours in that smelly Danger Rom – to sit around like a dweeb when we should be going into action!' Jubilee snaps back at Storm, leaping out of the car, despite Storm telling her not to, as they must assess the threat before attacking. 'Jubilation!' Storm exclaims, but the young fiesty mutant doesn't listen, instead she rushes over to the large man who is involved in demolition of the building and shouts 'Freeze, hammerhead! I can make these plasma blasts really do a number on you if ya don't listen!' as she fires some of her plasma-like fireworks towards the larger man, who drops a steel beam he is carrying, and turns to her, asking 'What manner of creature has the power to harm me in my metallic form? You? A simple child?' He then reaches for some bricks.
Storm sees this and alerts Rogue that the mysterious man is attacking Jubilation, and suggests that before engaging him with brute force hand-to-hand, she attempts a more distant defense. 'Ah hear yuh, ma'am. Give it a shot!' Rogue responds, as Storm summons a wind, which raises up several bricks. 'Nice move! Got a little ol' whirlwind going for yuhself!' Rogue exclaims, before Storm calls out 'Back, silver one! No member of the X-Men will come to harm from such as you while I live to fight!', and she casts the bricks towards the mysterious man, one brick hits him in the face and he is knocked backwards. 'If that's yoah idea of not usin' brute force, Ah'd hate tuh see when yuh really git scrappy!' Rogue jokes, before pointing out that the big boy ain't down for the count yet. The mysterious metal man holds his ground and asks why he is under this assault, as he has done nothing to these woman – and yet they see him as an enemy. 'Why?' he asks. 'Stop yoh bellyachin', Chromedome! Ain't evah day yuh git the attentions'a three X-gals at once!' Rogue tells him as she slams her fist into his face.
The mystery man grabs Rogue by her jacket: 'Lay off muh threads, varmint, or I'll -' Rogue begins, as her opponent shouts 'NYET!' and throws Rogue against the building, declaring that if combat and strife is what she craves, then so be it. He stands his ground, ready for a fight and tells the X-Men to come, and learn the error of their ways. He boasts that he has never run from a fight and will not begin now. 'Come!' he calls out. Rogue flies back towards him, 'Well, whoop-de-do! So hightailing it ain't yoh style, huh. Suits me jest fine! Let's git crackin' metal man!' Rogue exclaims, but before she can strike him again, he grabs her by her wrist and holds her out at a distance. 'You see me as a metallic monster. But I am not what I appear to be, woman...not at all' he exclaims. 'Yeah? Well jest whut are yuh, the Pillsbury Doughboy in disguise – or a runaway subway token? Show me yours, Ah'll show you mine!' Rogue jokes.
'I will show you “mine” and then we will see if you retain your arrogance' the mystery man tells Rogue as his form begins to change, 'Wh -? Yoah changin' – changin' into a -' Rogue begins, wide-eyed, as a handsome man stands before her, where once stood the metallic “monster”. 'Is “human” the word that escapes you? For that is what lurks under the shiny exterior you loathe' he remarks. Suddenly, a construction worker approaches them, asking what is going on here. He calls the mystery man Peter and reminds him that he hired him to demolish this condemned building, not beat up some girls. 'Hired? Condemned building? What -?' Rogue asks, while Jubilee admits that she thinks they made a boo-boo. Storm asks the construction worker who he is, and he tells her that he is the foreman. 'I see. And this is -' Storm asks, referring to Peter, who introduces himself as Piotr Nikoliverich Rasputin.
'I call him Peter for short. This big guy made the trek to America when the Soviet Union went into freefall. He's got some sort'a mutant power makes 'im a one-man demolition crew, saves on labor costs' the foreman reveals. Rogue asks the foreman if him being a mutant doesn't bother him none, to which the foreman tells her Peter is the most gentle, trustworthy gent he ever had on his crew. 'While I toiled in the wheat fields of the Ustordynski Collective, I dreamt of coming to the United States... but I still do not understand why you attacked me!' Peter tells the X-Women.
Jubilee admits that was her mistake, explaining that the place they live in got trashed, big time, and that he looked like the bet suspect. 'Sorry' she adds. Storm apologizes to Peter and the foreman for this incident. 'Do we not, Rogue?' Storm asks. 'Umm, you betcha boots, lady!' Rogue agrees.
Back at the X-Mansion, in the War Room, Jean suddenly sits up in Cerebro and reports that she is getting an incredible reading on Cerebro in New Salem, and is picking up three laser readings in the same vicinity, so it must be the other X-Men. Jean explains that it is powerful enough to register – even though it might not be a mutant. She adds that in some ways, that pattern is similar to that of the Professor – only vastly amplified. Scott tells Jean to hang on, while he contacts Storm. He presses a button on a console, which links him up to Storm, asking her if she is in New Salem. Storm confirms that they are, and Cyclops tells her that they have located a presence, a possible mutant, several blocks East of where she is, at the First National Bank. Cyclops instructs Storm to proceed with extreme caution, as they have never detected anything this powerfiul. Peter smiles at Storm and offers to aid her in her search. 'My strength has been known to – as you say – come in handy'. Storm tells Peter that they owe him, and allows him to accompany them.
A short distance away, Wolverine is perched on a rooftop that overlooks the First National Bank, he sniffs the air and decides that he has got him, and that while his quarry is in the bank, he needs to make his move. Wolverine reminds himself that he has never faced anyone like this before – not even Sabretooth comes close to this clown in throw-weight, and that is saying a lot.
Inside the bank, a large man in a brown costume with a large dome over his head is at the bank vault, 'They had some case thinking puny bank guards could stop me!' He discovers the bank vault is some new kinda steel, about eight inches thick, but he pulls at the vault, and it breaks open with ease. After collecting the cash he wanted from the vault, the behemoth bursts through an outer wall of the bank, finding himself in an alleyway, filled with soldiers. 'This cash is gonna hold me over till -' he begins, before joking 'What ya got againat making a legitimate withdrawal, huh? This how I gotta pay my interest penalty?' he jokes, while one officer warns him to freeze, or they'll have to drop him. 'I mean it – don't move!' the officer shouts. The soldier close in, as the behemoth shouts 'Maybe you guys in this neck'a the woods haven't heard about me! Well here's a little fact you can stick in your pointy heads! Ready? NOTHING CAN STOP THE JUGGERNAUT!' The soldiers open fire, while Juggernaut grabs some of them and throws them aside with ease, knocking cars over as he tramples through the squadron. 'Bring up the heavy artillery! He's no pushover!' an officer shouts, as the bullets fired at him just bounce off Juggernaut.
As a tank rolls towards Juggernaut, he jokes that he is shaking in his boots as the bring up the battering ram 'Time to switch on the force field' Juggernaut tells himself, as the battering ram tank slams into him – but he doesn't even move, and the tank is squashed upon the impact. 'Just don't build 'em like they used to!' he jokes, before slamming his fist into the front of the tank, squashing it intto the ground. 'Clean ups bore me so I'll be on my merry way. Want to stay healthy? Don't even think about following' Juggernaut warns the remaining soldiers as he lumbers out of the alleyway, dropping a trail of cash as he walks. 'Ever wanna find me – I'm in the phone book... under “Unstoppable”!' Juggernaut jokes.
Juggernaut enters another alleyway, it's dark, but he can see some light at the other end. He decides that it doesn't matter, as he is in the clear. Suddenly, though, a set of adamantium claws tear through one of the sacks containing the stolen money. 'WHA -?' Juggernaut utters, looking down, he sees Wolverine a few feet away from him, claws at the ready, Wolverine jokes that he thought Juggernaut might have had one of those free toasters in there. 'Always wanted one'. Juggernaut grins and asks Logan how he liked the demolition job he did on the X-Dump. 'You and the kids weren't there! I would have loved to have pounded ya to a pulp! What ya got to say for yourself, sad sack?' Wolverine doesn't answer, he simply roars as he leaps across the alleyway, claws at the ready – but Juggernaut grabs him before he can inflict any damage with the claws. 'Nice entrance. Least you went for the eyes...but that's it! I hate my personal space being violated – even by an old buddy like you!' Juggernaut exclaims, asking Wolverine if he has to remind him what he is all about, as he tosses Wolverine into a trash can nearby.
'I heard it every time we tangled. Yer Xavier's half-brother named Cain Marko – who ain't a mutant. Ya got magical powers in some temple'a Cyttorak in Korea. But most of all – ya got a mad-on fer Xavier 'cause ya think he left ya fer dead in that temple when it caved in. An' ya been out fer his blood since ya dug yerself out' Wolverine remarks, recapping Juggernaut's origin. Juggernaut turns back to Wolverine, 'Not bad. I see you learned yer lesson, Wolve-ster!' Juggernaut tells him, as Wolverine's claws scratch across his armored face. 'But you forgot one thing' Juggernaut points out. 'What's that?' Wolverine asks, as Juggernaut punches him hard in the face, boasting that he wants to crush anyone that is connected with Charlie – anyone! Juggernaut remarks that this time there is nobody around to save Wolverine. 'You're all mine' he snarls. Juggernaut raises his fist and promises to make it fast – one shot – Wolverine will never know what hit him!
But suddenly, Juggernaut finds that he can't bring his fist down, as Peter hold it back. 'You will harm no one, monster! I do not espouse violence – but Colossus will do what he must to stop your rampage!' Juggernaut turns to Colossus and tells him that if he doesn't like violence, he came to the wrong place. 'By the way, mister – trying to hold me back is one baaaad career move! See?' Juggernaut declares as he slams Colossus up against a wall. 'Shugah – you ain't gonna have no career when the X-Men git done with yuh!' Rogue calls out as she flies down and attempts to strike Juggernaut. Storm appears overhead and instructs the others to attack en masse, because if Juggernaut possesses the power Cyclops believes, it is their only hope of bringing him down. Jubilee blasts Juggernaut with her plasma bursts, but Juggernaut tells Storm that where he is concerned, hope ain't an option. He then grabs Rogue and pushes her into Storm and Jubilee, knocking them all over.
'You and I have not finished, giant!' Colossus exclaims as he punches Juggernaut in the stomach, but Juggernaut doesn't even flinch. 'Listen, Mr Tin Can, I just hope you're recyclable! I hate leaving a mess!' Juggernaut jokes as he slams his fist into Colossus' face, knocking him back. 'Hands off him, mister!' Cyclops calls out as he fires an optic blast, which strikes Juggernaut's helmet. 'When you're up against the X-Men, remember there's always one more of us than there is trouble!' Cyclops exclaims. 'Sometimes two!' Jean Grey adds. Wolverine tells Jeannie that they shouldn't have come, as Juggernaut is too blasted strong – 'Ya don't know what yer getting into!' he exclaims. 'That's why you took off earlier...to face him alone!' Jean replies, before Wolverine reveals that he knows Juggernaut is only vulnerable to mental attacks. 'Gotta weaken him – get his helmet off then hit him telepathically – full force!' Wolverine tells Jean, who then turns to Cyclops and informs him that he has to distract Juggernaut, that they need to get his helmet off – it's their only chance.
'What're you jabbering about, babe?' Juggernaut asks, before Cyclops instructs Rogue to get onto Juggernaut and drain all the energy she can from him. 'Move it lady! It's life or death!' Cyclops orders. Rogue puts her ungloved hands to Juggernaut's shoulders and informs Cyclops that Juggernaut has too much power, she can't drain much of it. She strains, starting to overload – she even begins to take on Juggernaut's thoughts. 'You're just tickling me, Dixie! Give it up!' Juggernaut tells Rogue, who begins to lose control, she flies upwards, 'Agony! They love my brother Charles! Love him! Must destroy them! Destroy!' Rogue screams, before she crashes to the ground. Cyclops tells Jubilee to see to Rogue, and instruct the rest of the team to get the helmet off. 'Keep yer shirt on, Cyke! I don't need no invitation fer round two!' Wolverine remarks as he leaps onto Juggernaut's back and starts to swipe at the helmet with his claws. 'Leave a piece of him for me, my friend!' Colossus asks as he races over, then tears the helmet from Juggernaut's head!
'Get those paws off my headgear, give it back – you hear? Give it back or I'll kill ya all!' Juggernaut threatens Colossus, who tells the Juggernaut that he thinks not, and suggests that Juggernaut has much to learn about those he mocks – about those called X-Men! 'Yeah – I'll need that info when I'm making up their obituaries!' Juggernaut exclaims as he knocks Colossus backwards. Cyclops fires another optic blast at Juggernaut, and Jean asks him if that is a maximum intensity blast. Cyclops confirms that it is – and that Juggernaut isn't even blinking. 'Are you all right, Rogue?' Storm asks as Rogue leaps onto Juggernaut's back. 'Right as rain' Rogue replies as she tries to hold Juggernaut down, adding that this boy's got sibbling rivalry problems something fierce. 'Come at me all you want – but nothing stops the Juggernaut! Nothing!' Juggernaut shouts, while Jubilee grabs one of his arms, and Cyclops continues to pour on the optic blast.
Jean uses this moment to reach out to Juggernaut, telepathically telling him that hers is the only voice he hears. Juggernaut turns to Jean, 'You're the one making my brain ache! I'll rip your head off, Red! I'll -' Juggernaut begins, while Jean continues to telepathically tell Juggernaut to listen to her. Juggernaut lumbers towards her, but then starts to stumble, something is happening to his head, he is confused, and looks around, wondering what he is doing here, he mutters that he has to be alone, to figure out what he is doing here, who he is. 'All a blank!' he exclaims, as he starts to stumble out of the alley. 'Let's nab him!' Wolverine suggests, but Jean tells Wolverine not to antagonize Juggernaut, that this is the best way. Jean drops to her knees, and covers her face with her hands as Cyclops points out that she is weak, and asks her what she did to Juggernaut. Jean asks for a moment, before explaining that she planted a suggestion in his brain that made him forget who he was and why he was here. 'He won't cause harm to anyone now' she announces.
One hour later, at the X-Mansion, the X-Men and Colossus stand outside, as Colossus tells Cyclops that he is sure he could persuade his foreman to come and rebuild this structure, to which Cyclops tells him his offer is appreciated, but that they have their own plans. Cyclops then asks Colossus if he would like to stay with them for a while. 'As a fellow mutant, you have a place here' Cyclops assures Colossus, who tells him that his hospitality touches him, but that he must refuse, as he needs to locate his sister, and then he will see more of this blessed land called America. As he walks away from the X-Men, Colossus tells the heroes that he has seen this day a greater purpose for his life than as a simple laborer, and adds that he will never forget those who have shown it to him. He farewells the X-Men, until they meet again. Cyclops bids Colossus goodbye and tells him that their best wishes go with him.
Gambit goes over to Jean and puts an arm around her. Jean smiles, and Gambit tells her that he hears she saved the day, alone, against the irresistible force. 'Never doubt your worth to us. Or to yourself. Ever' Gambit smiles. Jean thanks Gambit and asks how she can repay him for what he did to her self-esteem. 'Just keep de smile on. Easy, non?' Gambit replies. 'Easy, yes' Jean smiles back.
