(The Ortega apartment)
After accidentally shooting his sister, Esteban Ortega curls up against the wall, horrified at what he’s done. Absolon Mercator, better known as Mr. M, has phased into the Ortega’s apartment after seeing Esteban playing with the weapon. As the gun smokes on the apartment floor, Mr. M promises Esteban that his sister will be all right. He phases his hand inside Chamayra’s stomach, removes the bullet, and seals the skin up as he removes his hand.
As soon as he has finished, Chamayra’s mother, Armena, enters the room brandishing a kitchen knife. She swears she’ll use it if Mr. M doesn’t get away from her daughter. He puts his hands up and promises that she will be okay. Chamy wakes up, and appears none the worse for her experience. Izzy then arrives, and asks Mr. M just what exactly he’s doing in his home. Armena informs Izzy that he hurt Chamy. Izzy grabs Mr. M by the collar and angrily enquires, “What did you do?! ” Mr. M steps backwards, and replies that he didn’t do anything. He departs, not wishing to exacerbate the situation.
Armena asks Izzy to let him go, and to see if Esteban’s okay. Chamy wonders what happened. She was watching television, and now she feels funny inside. Esteban stutters, “He-he touched Chamy, mom.” Armena hugs her daughter as Izzy notices the discharged weapon on the floor, the bullet lying beside it. He turns to Esteban and asks if he shot Mr. M. Esteban lies, and says he did. Izzy hugs him, and swears they’ll get him.
(Frankie’s)
Meanwhile, Shaky Kaufman and his boys; Mr. Punch included, are shooting up the street outside Frankie’s. The place is a war zone, and there are casualties. Mr. Punch notices the police approaching. Shaky wonders how they got there so fast. Before he has time to think about it, Frankie Zapruder emerges from the shell-shocked building carrying a small rocket launcher. With little warning, he fires it at his main competition, only for Mr. Punch to selflessly place his body between Frankie and his boss. The rocket strikes him in the chest. “I f-felt that one, Mr. Kaufman,” is all he can utter, before slumping to the asphalt, dead.
Shaky kneels next to Mr. Punch, who is as close to the man as anyone. He screams as he walks away, but no longer has an outlet for his aggression. He approaches Frankie Zapruder, but before he gets there, S.W.A.T officers order them both to get down on the ground and surrender.
As they are led away to waiting police cars, Shaky warns Frankie that he’ll be coming for him. Frankie smiles, and replies that she should lighten up. He’ll find himself a new boyfriend once he’s inside. Good-looking guy like him will have his pick.
Bishop watches the proceedings, standing next to a detective named Jerry. He thanks Bishop for the call. Without a planned alert, Kaufman and his boys would have been long gone before they arrived. Bishop is thankful that at least they get to arrest someone this time. He excuses himself, and makes a call to Izzy. He asks if the kids are okay, but Izzy informs him of what’s gone down. Bishop promises they’ll find Mr. M and put him away.
Mr. M, meanwhile, is heading back to his apartment in a hurry. He catches his breath against a telegraph pole, and looks down at a street artist’s painting. It is an impression of Mr. M himself, with a glowing energy around him and Mutant Town’s buildings leaning away from his body. The artist looks up at him and is amazed that the man in his picture is really there in person.
(Hanna Levy’s apartment)
Hanna is about to eat a large bug from a large glass tank where she keeps an assortment of insects and bugs, when Mr. M phases through her doorway, apologizing for not knocking. She asks him what’s happened, and he replies that there’s been a revelation. He’s seen the light and now everything makes sense. He seats himself in her chair and explains that all these years he’s tormented himself, asking himself why everything he does turns to disaster. But, he continues, that’s the way it’s meant to be. That’s what he’s there for. Mutant Town is a waiting room for the lost, the hopeless, the sick and the corrupt. Hanna asks what it’s a waiting room for. “For an act of purification,” Mr. M replies. “I’m not a healer. I’m a destroyer.”
Hanna says that’s not true. He’s a good man. Mr. M removes his hat to reveal his head covered in worm-like tendrils. “I’m a monster!” Hanna is shocked by this revelation. Mr. M explains that good or evil; that doesn’t come into it. He was put here to end the misery. He’s going to wipe Mutant Town off the face off the Earth. He grabs Hanna by the arm and tells her to run; run for her life. He ushers her out of her apartment door and she heads downstairs and out of the front door. There, she meets Bishop and Izzy, alongside several other police officers.
“Where is he?” asks Izzy, not wishing to beat around the bush. Hanna informs him that Mr. M intends to destroy Mutant Town, and she thinks he can do it. Bishop figures he has to try and absorb his power, and Izzy asks if he can do that. Before, Bishop said he was too strong. Bishop suggests Izzy evacuates the area. However, Izzy has an idea. He asks Bishop to delay Mr. M for as long as he can. He’ll explain when he gets back, before jumping into his car and speeding off.
Waiting for the clock to strike 4 o’clock, Absolon Mercator sits cross-legged in his apartment, in a meditative position. Bishop enters his room, and Mercator apologizes, for Bishop is too late. Blue energy pours from Mr. M’s body, and Bishop holds out his hands to absorb as much as he can. He struggles to contain this massive outpouring of power, and soon finds himself screaming as Mr. M lets loose. With Mr. M at the epicentre, a massive shockwave of energy extends outwards from his body, and all around him, buildings crumble and fall. A whole neighborhood is destroyed as he cleanses this area of New York of its ‘disease.’
As the dust begins to settle, Absolon Mercator sees Hanna approaching him. As she arrives, he breaks down in tears and says he is sorry. Hanna holds him by the shoulders and asks whether he would take it back if he could. Absolon replies that he would, and means it. Suddenly, their surroundings fade away, and they find themselves sitting in his apartment, as if nothing untoward had happened. Absolon looks out of the window and sees that everything’s still there. He doesn’t understand.
Izzy Ortega introduces him to Lara the Illusionist, who admits that this was one of her better performances. Absolon wonders where his power went. He could feel it, and it was no illusion. Bishop is leaking energy, and replies, “You felt it. I’d say Miss Illusionist here was cutting it pretty fine. Another minute and you would have killed me.” He opens the window, and releases all the absorbed energy into the early evening sky. It hurts having to expend so much power so quickly, but he has little choice. Bishop closes the window, and asks Absolon if they can arrest him now, or do they have to do this all over again?
As Mr. M is led away in handcuffs into a squad car, Izzy asks Bishop what is to stop him simply leaving any cell they put him in. “Beats me,” replies Bishop. Hanna says he won’t leave. He doesn’t have anywhere to go.
(The Ortega apartment)
Izzy returns home and asks Armena how their daughter is. Chamy is okay and sleeping, and Izzy asks about the tests. Armena informs him that she’s fine. They examined her and say he didn’t touch her. He hugs his wife with relief, and takes a look at Chamy sleeping soundly. He then calls in on Esteban who is still awake. He has a confession to make.
(Eleventh Precinct holding cells)
Absolon Mercator sits quietly as a visitor arrives to see him. It’s Izzy, and he has come to apologize to him. He explains that his son told him what happened, and he just wanted to say thank you. He hands Absolon a photograph, and leaves with Bishop. Bishop asks if they’re going to have a problem with him and Izzy replies that he thinks it’s going to be okay. Absolon takes a look at the photograph. It is of Chamy, smiling, alive and well.
