Sans Point, New York:
The middle of the night.
Lydia Nance answers her phone and is told to turn on her TV. She catches the breaking news of the United Nations being under attack and a group calling themselves the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants claiming responsibility. Lydia Nance begins to smile.
At the UN building in New York:
Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler and Old Man Logan are facing the new Brotherhood (made up of Masque, Pyro and Avalanche lookalikes, a reptile-like monstrous stranger and former New Mutant Magma).
Seriously? Kitty asks, regarding the name. They don’t think that’s a bit on the nose? Humans act like mutants are evil already. Why should they not act the part? Magma asks. What the flaming ‘&%$ is she doing here? Kitty demands. Flaming… funny she should put it that way, Magma replies and fires a lava blast at Logan.
Kitty orders Nightcrawler to teleport the injured Logan away, leaving her alone with the Brotherhood. She informs the other half of the team, who are looking for survivors, of the situation. She needs a T.F.S. stat. What’s a TFS? Masque asks. Telekinetic fastball special, Colossus replies as he comes flying and hits him.
Kitty faces the new member, while Magma and Pyro try to get at Colossus. Rachel tries to read their minds from the distance but finds their shields are too good. They must be working with some sort of telepath.
Nightcrawler and Old Man Logan accidentally learn the answer to that question as the rooftop Nightcrawler to which he teleports them is already occupied. Can he help them? Mutant hypnotist Mesmero asks sarcastically. Kurt shouts out his name. Nice to be remembered. Now “bamf” away, will he? Mesmero orders. Under his control, Kurt obeys. Mesmero steps closer to the still smoldering Logan and asks how he is this fine evening.
Down below, the others are still fighting the Brotherhood. Avalanche destabilizes them with an earthquake. Kitty orders Storm to buy them some time. There is a flash of lightning and the Brotherhood are gone, but Storm didn’t do it. Apparently they teleported away. Colossus points out that doesn’t make sense, as the Brotherhood were winning. The reason becomes clearer when they look up to see several SHIELD helicopters above them.
Later aboard the Heli-carrier, Captain America, current head of SHIELD, congratulates Kitty on her new role. Kitty isn’t so enthusiastic now. She has two men missing. That’s not her only problem, Cap points out. He shows her an interview with Lydia Nance, who is currently decrying the mutant attack on the United Nations. Has Kitty heard of her? Cap asks. She’s head of the Heritage Initiative. They call themselves a think tank but, if she were to ask him… They are a bunch of anti-mutant racists, she finishes his sentence. He points out that Nance is making a lot of hay of tonight’s attack.
He shows her pictures of the new Avalanche and Pyro. She replies the originals are dead and they have different voices, so they are new. Masque is a former Morlock and permanent dipwad. She has no idea who the reptilian one is. He asks about Magma, who according to his sources used to be an X-Man. Kitty has no idea how she ended up with the Brotherhood.
Prestige enters, announcing they found Kurt - wounded and exhausted, lying in the garbage of Lowtown Madripoor. No sign of Logan though.
Old Man Logan finds himself tied to a chair in a dark room. He knows he is there, he addresses someone in the dark. He smells a million miles away. Mesmero steps in front of him. Isn’t he supposed to be dead or depowered? Logan asks before deciding he doesn’t care. He thinks he’s going to, Mesmero retorts. He’s going to discover those chains he’s been trying to break are made of Adamantium.
It’s been a long night, Logan snarls, so how about they are going to get to the part where Mesmero tries to mess with his mind. He will only get one shot, then Logan will take his.
Elsewhere, a mutant runs in panic, then stops when there is an abyss in front of him. Can’t fly, mutie? the armored and masked, armed man behind him asks before he shoots him. Too bad.
The X-Men have flown to Madripoor to fetch Nightcrawler. He explains that Mesmero made him teleport again and again until he collapsed out from exhaustion.
Kitty figures Mesmero’s involvement explains Amara being part of this. They hope, Storm stresses and reminds Kitty people have a way of being corrupted and changing sides.
That moment, Rachel telepathically contacts Kitty. They have a new problem.
Soon, Kitty joins Rachel in front of Gracie Mansion, New York City, home of the mayor. The Brotherhood’s attack took less than three minutes. They killed three security personnel and a former NYPD detective and kidnapped the mayor. Two attacks in 24 hours, Kitty muses. Those guys move uncomfortably fast.
They are joined by Detective Elizabeth Kim, who informs them they shouldn’t be here. She cuts Kitty off when she tries to introduce them. Rachel points out they want to help. Like they did at the UN? Detective Kim scoffs. Kitty asks her not to make this a race thing. She isn’t the one doing that, Kim replies, then realizes they haven’t watched it. She shows them a video of the Brotherhood declaring they have captured the mayor as a prisoner of the war Homo sapiens and superior have waged for decades. They will execute him in 24 hours unless…
The footage is interrupted by Lydia Nance explaining this is a tragic example of what she’s been talking about. They need to start thinking about taking steps. Mutant deportation.
At the Xavier Institute, several students are watching the interview. There are twenty times as many mutants, Inhumans and other enhanced beings in the US than anywhere else, Nance continues. That is a disproportionate burden their country shouldn’t be forced to bear. There was Genosha, there was Utopia. Let’s get back to the idea of mutants living among their own kind.
Kid Gladiator asks Anole how long until they kick them out. Anole doesn’t know. Storm watches them silently.
Elsewhere, Logan is giving Mesmero a hard time. Wanna try again? Logan snarls. If not, he’d really like to get to the part where he feeds Mesmero his spleen. Charming, Mesmero replies, but Logan is still chained up. Not even he can cut through Adamantium.
Logan calls him a special kind of stupid. The chain may be adamantium but the chair is just wood! He tears himself free and wraps the chain around Mesmero’s throat. Masque and Pyro come attacking but Logan easily takes them out.
Back at the Xavier Institute, Rachel is using Cerebro. Kurt asks her how it’s going. Not good, she finds. Whoever put the Brotherhood’s psi-shields into place, also did a very good job of shielding them from Cerebro.
He asks if she is all right. Rachel admits she is having trouble getting adjusted to the new Cerebro. And the hysteria pervading the school really isn’t helping this migraine. Lydia Nance, Kurt realizes. She has all the students afraid. Rachel agrees. She is talking about mutant deportation. State-sponsored racism. It’s not just the students who are afraid.
Kitty, in the meantime, is trying to get intel from hacking the web. There is something about the Brotherhood that doesn’t sit right with her. Colossus informs her, the students are nervous. There is a rather unlikeable woman on TV talking about deporting mutants. She tells him it’s okay. They are gonna find the Brotherhood, save the mayor and be heroes. Is she sure about that? He asks. She is sure about the first two.
That moment, the phone rings. Got some paper and a pen handy? Old Man Logan asks. He’s got an address she’s gonna want to write down…
