'This is it' Maria Hill, SHIELD Commander declares as she frowns at the reddish screen before her, aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier, floating one thousand feet south of Newberry, South Carolina. The reddish screen depicts a now barren landscape, with one individual standing, his name is Matthew Malloy. The screen reports that hr is an American citizen with college education from Northwest University, and no prior arrests, but that an omega-level power is indicated, and the casualty estimate is incomplete. 'This is it' Maria repeats herself. 'Ma'am?' one of her officers asks. Maria declares that last year she overheard Tony Stark and Nick Fury talking, this was after a classified major attack, and Tony Stark said he had five nightmares – five nightmare scenarios that kept him up at night. 'Before he could ever say what they were Fury snarled back at him – I only got one nightmare. My nightmare is that some guy just wakes up on morning with the power of a god. He doesn't know how he got it, he doesn't know what to do with it, and he just $#%&$#% hiccups and thousands of people $#%&$#% die'. Maria adds that she thought to herself that is her nightmare, too – and this is it. 'This is the nightmare. This is our nightmare. Get the Avengers now' she orders.
A female officer informs Commander Hill that the Avengers are off planet. 'All of them? There's fifty teams' Maria replies. 'The ones we need for this? They are off planet, Ma'am' the agent explains. 'What about the Fantastic Four?' a young male officer suggests. 'Don't ask' Maria retorts, before turning to her team and instructing them to evacuate the entire state of South Carolina. 'Ma'am?' someone asks. 'You heard me' Maria snaps. 'There is an omega threar protocol. First step is evacuation. Quickly and quietly empty the entire state. I don't care where they go or where you put them... nobody else dies today'.
'No. I said no!' Cyclops exclaims as he bursts out of the front doors at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. 'No, to what part?' Nightcrawler asks as he, Dazzler, Emma Frost, Magik, Storm, Wolverine, Iceman, Firestar, Magik and Kitty Pryde follow Cyclops out the front doors. 'I'm not doing it. I'm out' Cyclops replies, covering his eyes. 'You wanna bet there, Slim?' Wolverine remarks. Cyclops turns back to his teammates and the other X-Men, 'He lied to us. Xavier lied to all of us. All our $#%$#% aside, Logan. He lied to us' Cyclops tells Wolverine, adding that Xavier told them to act one way as X-Men and behind their backs he acted another. 'We always teased him that his psychic powers let him do pretty much whatever he wanted. But he convinced us of this higher standard'. Wolverine approaches Cyclops and pointing at him exclaims 'Our $#%$#% not aside. Charles Xavier had a dying wish and we are going to fulfil that dying wish' he declares. 'No' Cyclops replies. 'Get on the plane' Wolverine warns Cyclops. Storm gets involved now, while Firestar looks on concerned, and Iceman looks annoyed. 'Charles Xavier's last wish was for you and Logan and Rachel to go and take care of something. So take care of it' she declares as Rachel Grey joins the group. 'Actually his last wish was probably like – Scott Summers, I wish you weren't killing me right now' Iceman points out. Cyclops doesn't respond to this comment.
Storm tells Cyclops to cut his trademark holier-than-thou hypocrite song and dance and get on the plane. Cyclops hangs his head, but looks up to see Emma standing before him. 'He would have done it for you. Nothing else matters' she tells him. Cyclops follows Wolverine, Storm and Rachel to the jet, and Emma asks 'You sure you don't want more of us to come?' Storm tells her that if they need more they will call, and that she is confident Rachel can handle this. 'That makes one of us' Rachel mutters. Nightcrawler puts a hand on Kitty's shoulders as they watch the plane take off. 'You were not exaggerating about our dear Mr Summers. That is upsetting' Nightcrawler remarks. Magik, Dazzler, Firestar and Iceman are gathered nearby, and Firestar confesses that she feels sorry for Cyclops. 'You do?' Iceman asks. 'He's suffering' Firestar points out. 'He's in – he's clearly still in shock over Xavier's death. Look at him' Firestar continues, adding that Cyclops killed Charles Xavier, his father figure. It was an accident, it wasn't his fault, but it still happened. In the jet, Cyclops sits by himself, slumped over.
Firestar continues, explaining that nothing they do, and nothing Cyclops does is going to make that not have happened. 'Don't you think when he closes his eyes at night the first thing he sees is Charles Xavier's dead body lying on the ground in front of him?' Firestar asks, adding that it is okay to be made at him if that is how they deal with all of this, but Cyclops is suffering. 'Don't you think he -' she starts to say, before Iceman interrupts her, 'Please, Angelica. Don't. Don't make me sympathize with Scott Summers' plight. Don't make me feel bad for him!' Iceman declares. 'Bobby, you can empathize with him and still -' Kitty starts, but Bobby shouts 'Charles Xavier is dead! How about we don't do what we always do. We don't just pretend the bad things didn't happen. Scott Summers ruined us. This school will never be the same'.
Nightcrawler suggests that it may be that everything happens for a reason. 'And that what comes next will be among our finest -' he begins, before Bobby tells him to stop, 'You think Scott Summers is in shock? I think I was in shock and I'm just coming out of it' Bobby remarks, supposing that it might be looking at Xavier's hologram today, or hearing the craziness that Charles married Mystique. 'But I'm angry' Iceman exclaims. 'I'm really, really angry that Scott Summers murdered the man who gave me this life! Gave my entire life purpose!'
'I'm angry! And I'm getting angrier by the second!' Iceman continues, to which Magik asks 'What would you have us do?' Iceman admits that he hopes Cyclops dies in battle. 'Put him out of our misery'. 'And if that doesn't happen?' Nightcrawler asks. Bobby doesn't respond, instead he slides away on an ice-sled, leaving Kitty, Nightcrawler, Magik, Firestar and Emma Frost to frown.
Newberry, South Carolina, a large crater has been formed, and Matthew Malloy stands in the center of it. He raises his hands, and numerous human bones rise before him and take full skeletal forms. 'How am I doing this?' Matthew wonders, wide-eyed, while the skeletons stare back at him. 'Okay, okay... this is too creepy' he decides, pulling his hands away, the skeletons crash to the crater floor and the bones are all separated again. Matthew closes his eyes and covers his mouth.
Back aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier, an officer informs Commander Hill that the Psi Division has arrived. The mutant called Exodus approaches Maria Hill. He introduces himself as Bennet Du Paris, and states that his presence has been requested. 'You sounded like you needed the best psychics I could get my hands on. This is Headlok. He is on loan from -' Exodus starts to say as he introduces the gray-skinned man at his side. 'No time for chit-chat. I need you to trach inside that man and shut him down' Maria explains, motioning to the monitor. 'To make him sleep or -' Exodus begins. 'Whatever you have to do. The problem is, I can't get you any closer, physically, that is' Maria explains.
Exodus takes a seat and states that the two of them will create a mind connection. 'Basically, he'll anchor me while I enter the man's head. From here' Exodus explains. Maria holds her arms and tells him to do it now. Exodus puts his hands on the table and closes his eyes. Outside, Matthew looks at his hands, while Headlok links with Exodus. Matthew suddenly looks up. 'His name is Matthew. He is born a mutant' Exodus reports. Matthew glances sideways, aware that someone is in his mind. 'Charles Xavier?' Exodus asks, opening his eyes. 'Don't' Matthew utters, clenching his teeth. Suddenly, there is a cracking noise, and Exodus's neck snaps to the left. Headlok clutches his own head, while Maria looks on in shock. Blood pours out of Exodus's mouth and eyes. Matthew looks up and frowns. Headlok falls to the floor. 'All agents! Clear the war room! We are under attack!' a SHIELD agent calls out. 'Geez' Maria mutters. 'He is a mutant. $#%&! Get me the X-Men!' she orders.
Elsewhere, Captain America, Iron Man, the Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Hulk, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman drop from the air, 'X-Men, we are bringing you in!' Captain America calls out. 'I am not doing this' declares Triage as he and his fellow students at the New Xavier School – Goldballs, Hijack, Tempus, Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe Cuckoo and Benjamin Deeds – as they stand ready for the approaching Avengers. 'We are doing this, Christopher' Hijack tells his teammate. 'Wait, what's happening?' Tempus asks, as Triage declares that he is not fighting the Avengers. 'ATTACK!' Captain America orders, pointing towards the students. 'Too late!' Tempus exclaims. 'Goldballs!' calls out Goldballs as he tosses his mutant power towards the approaching Avengers. 'Oh, good Lord! Now it's your catchphrase?' Hijack asks. 'Golballs!' Goldballs just shouts in response. The Hulk smashes up the ground around the students and Hijack falls backwards. 'Now I'm fighting a Hulk (Are words I was sure would never come out of my mouth)' he remarks. The Hulk is about to smash Hijack when Goldballs fires his goldballs towards the Hulk.
The Stepford Cuckoos are all in diamond form and one of them reports that their hive mind doesn't work, as Iron Man's armor is blocking them. 'Yeah, how about that?' Iron Man replies as he drops towards them, while Black Widow goes up behind one of the Cuckoos and stings her in the head. Hawkeye fires an arrow, while Triage remarks 'I mean, I'm not fighting the Avengers because it, by definition, makes us the -' he doesn't finish his sentence as Hawkeye's arrow strikes him the chest. He pulls the arrow out and declares that he doesn't want to fight the Avengers. 'You do understand it's not really real, right?' Benjamin Deeds asks . 'It's a fancy interactive hologram created by Magneto and -' one of the Cuckoos explains, while Hijack tells him that he is ruining the illusion. 'Totalu! Training program off!' Tempus declares, and the holographic versions of the Avengers disappear. 'Come on! I was fighting the Hulk... and winning!' Hijack exclaims. 'Yo, Chris, we're training dude' Benjamin tells Triage, who replies 'I understand “dude” But why are we training to fight the Avengers?' he asks. 'Because we're sick of fighting hologram dinosaurs?' Goldballs suggests.
'No. Why the Avengers? Why is Scott Summers training us to fight them?' Triage asks. 'It's not specifically the Avengers... it's just something to hit' Hijack explains, to which Triage asks why this program is even in the Danger Room simulator. 'Because, you know, the Avengers are a thing we have to deal with. They showed up at my house once' Tempus points out. 'Captain America hates the X-Men like Wolverine hates showers' one of the Stepford Sisters remarks. 'No. He hates Scott Summers. The Avengers don't know us' Benjamin corrects her. The Stepford Sister then asks Triage if it really just dawned on him now that this is exactly what they're training for. 'Celeste, I'm saying... if we're training to fight the Avengers, if we're training to fight the good guys...what does that make us?' Triage replies. 'Revolutionaries' Celeste declares. 'No... I mean... if they're the good guys... doesn't that by definition make us the bad guys?' Triage asks. Celeste tells him that she doesn't agree with any of those simplistic labels. 'Well, most of the world does' Triage points out. “Most of the world” Celeste quotes him. 'Most of the world eats processed foods. Most of the world is gleefully stupid' Celeste rolls her eyes.
Triage asks her if she is okay with this, training to specifically take on the Avengers – to take on authority? Phoebe and Mindee stand by Celeste as Phoebe reminds Triage that she and her sisters have been at this a little longer than him, that they have been mutants a lot longer than him. 'We're training for our rights as mutants' Mindee adds. She tells Triage that whether he sees it or not, whether he agrees with it or not, they, mutants, they are a threat to the homo sapien establishment. 'We're training to fight back' Phoebe remarks. 'No' Triage replies. 'We're training for the coming “Mutant Revolution”'. 'That, too' Celeste agrees. 'And what form will that take?' Triage enquires. Celeste declares that if it takes the form of Avengers knocking down their front door, she would like to be ready.
Triage turns to Benjamin, Tempus, Hijack and Goldballs and remarks that they haven't had a moment to talk about any of this, as it has been bedlam since they joined this thing. 'Nobody else finds this increasingly squirrelly? I'm alone here?' he asks. None of the other four answer him for a time, before Goldballs suggests that they should wait for the adults to return and talk about it then. 'Adults? I'm thirty years old' Hijack declares. 'You know what I mean' Goldballs replies, while Tempus and Benjamin glance nervously aside. Celeste frowns, before she and her sisters walk away in one direction. Hijack, Benjamin, Goldballs and Tempus leave in the other, and Triage remains in the center of the room. 'Well... what an awkward silence for everyone but the psychic sisters. Guess I struck a nerve' Triage mutters.
Aboard the X-Jet, Wolverine contacts the Beast via communicator and asks him if he has any idea where they are going. The Beast reports that he is in Cerebro now, trying to lock down coordinates. 'Xavier had hidden this mutant from me, from us, for years, so trying to pinpoint his exact location is a bit of a challenge. This man is on the grid. I have his normal, average, homo sapien life right here. We know where this Matthew Malloy lives, but wer don't know if – hold on' the Beast calls out, announcing that he thinks he has something. 'Oh my stars and...' he gasps as he goes wide-eyed. Sitting across from Cyclops, Rachel Grey stares at her father, while Wolverine tells the Beast to hold on, something is not right. 'Something just – came out of nowhere' he adds, as several jets fly up alongside the X-Jet. 'X-Men, this is Maria Hill' Maria's voice can be heard. She tells the X-Men that she realizes this will sound incredible after all they have gone through in the last few weeks, but SHIELD needs their help and they need it bad. 'We may have a mutant problem in the form of -' Maria begins, while the Beast interrupts, informing the X-Men that they may have a problem, for the mutant has awoken and he is more than an omega level mutant. 'He's more powerful that any mutant signature we have ever seen before. Charles was right. This is the one we may not come back from' the Beast declares.
