'Are we there yet?' complains Quentin Quire as he follows his teammates through the darkened Central Park, New York City. Leading the way, Nathaniel Carver a.k.a. Hindsight turns back to Quentin, and frowning, tells him to go ahead and read his mind. 'That's not exactly how castration works, Nathaniel, but points for style' Quentin smirks. Roxy Washington a.k.a. Bling turns to Quentin, and the moonlight reflects off of her and causes Quentin to shield his eyes. 'We're supposed to be the hunters, not the hunted. Dim the lights' Quentin exclaims. Roxy frowns and pulls her hood up over her head, while remembering how, a few years ago, she woke up in the middle of the night, freezing. She tried rubbing her arms to warm up, but that didn't help – because her skin wasn't skin anymore – and it hasn't been since.
'This is is' Nathaniel calls out to the others, motioning to the underside of a bridge, he reports that whoever attacked Face went down a tunnel that starts under those rocks. Benjamin Deeds a.k.a. Morph looks under the bridge, while Nature Girl a.k.a. Lin Li and Eye-Boy a.k.a Trevor Hawkins stand near Nathaniel. They all move under the bridge, and as Quentin uses his psychic powers to raise the bricks in the ground, revealing the staircase down into a darkened tunnel, Eye-Boy stares down and announces that this is kind of feeling like the beginning of a horror movie. 'One where, plot twist, virgins like you die first' Quentin jokes. He then shines the light from his phone into the tunnel and mutters that he can't believe he is about to spelunk the bowels of Central Park, and in wool. Bling tells him to quit whining, and as she leads the way down thre staircase, points out that now he has an excuse to buy another suit. 'Like I needed one' Quentin retorts.
Back at the Xavier Institute, Jubilee and Dani Moonstar are sitting on a sofa in Jubilee's quarters. As she squeezes blood into a wine glass while her son, Shogo, sleeps beside her, Jubilee tells Dani that she is sorry about the mess. Dani looks at the toys scattered across the floor and food and drink strewn across the coffee table and tells Jubilee not to worry about it. 'It's not... that bad' she remarks. Jubilee explains that after wrangling teenagers and chasing after a toddler all day, she only has enough energy to wash dishes or watch “Drag Race”. 'And because booze does exactly zero for me since I vamped out... drag queens are my drug of choice' Jubilee grins. Dani asks Jubilee if she had a rough time with her class. 'Actually... they've been surprisingly good' Jubilee replies, sipping the blood. She smiles and tells Dani that it is like they are starting to trust her, like when she says something, it is like they are actually listening. 'Even Quentin! Sorta. Kinda'.
Jubilee adds that the point is, they are good kids, and not one of them complained about Kitty's curfew. 'Which is crazy, cause, we would've gone nuts, yanno? Like student me totally would've just snuck out – by now -'. Jubilee realizes what she has just said, and she and Dani both looks concerned. 'CRAAAAAP!' Jubilee exclaims as she holds Shogo and enters Quentin and Benjamin's room. 'Don't freak out just yet' Dani tells her. They look around the room, Quentin's four-post bed on one side, a fountain in the middle of the room and Benjamin's single bed against the other wall, Jubilee remarks 'Just because Quentin and Benjamin snuck out doesn't mean -', '- Roxy and Lin are gone -' Jubilee adds as they enter Roxy and Lin's room. Lin's bed is barely visible, surrounded by trees and shrubs, while weights are scattered around Roxy's bed.
'- And of course Nathaniel and Trevor went with them. Because WHY WOULDN'T THEY WANNA GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?' Jubilee shouts as she and Dani stand in the boys' rather non-descript room. Dani tells Jubilee to go, and to leave Shogo with her. Jubilee hands Shogo to Dani, 'Are you sure, he's -' Jubilee begins, but Dani tells her to shut up and go find her kids.
At that moment, the kids are sneaking through the catacombs between Central Park, illuminated by the lights glowing from Quentin and Nathaniel's cellphones. 'Did you guys see that?' Eye-Boy asks nervously. 'Yeah, the roaches are huge' Bling mutters as dozens or roaches and several rats scamper across the ground. 'Screw the roaches, the rats are beasts! I think I saw one run off with a wallet!' Nathaniel exclaims. Eye-Boy asks Nature Girl if she can't just ask the rats where Face's attacker is, but Nature Girl frowns and announces that she can't, as rats always want something in return. 'Nathaniel' a voice calls out, and Nathaniel comes to a stop, while the others walk on ahead. Benjamin sees Nathaniel has stopped, and asks him what is wrong. 'Hey, Nathaniel' the voice calls. 'You didn't hear that?' Nathaniel asks.
'Hear what?' Eye-Boy asks as he and the others come to a stop. Nathaniel tells the others that he could swear someone called out his name. 'Calm down, drama queen. It's me, Phoebe' the psychic tells him. 'Dammit, Phoebe – don't use my mind like it's a mutant cell phone' Nathaniel replies. 'What good is it to me otherwise?' Phoebe asks as she stands outside the Xavier Institute, with Jubilee standing nearby. Phoebe turns to Jubilee and reports that she got through to Nathaniel, and that he is whininh, so they can't be in that much danger. 'Where are they?' Jubilee asks. Phoebe tells her that she is still working on it, and announces that she guesses they are somewhere in Central Park. 'Are you friggin' kidding me? They're running around Central Park? At night?' Jubilee exclaims. 'Don't they know how dangerous that is? I'm gonna kill 'em!' she snaps.
Back in the tunnels, 'If Phoebe's in Nathaniel's head, then -' Bling begins. 'She's trying to pinpoint our location for Jubilee, blah blah blah' Quentin mutters, announcing that he is on it, he uses his psychic power to project various psi-hats on his teammates, preventing Phoebe from entering their minds. 'Yes, we're totally fine – Phoebe? Phoebe?' Nathaniel calls out, the connection lost. He turns to Quentin and asks him what is with the psi-tin hats. Quentin explains that they are just a little something to keep Phoebe out of their heads and off their backs. Bling reminds the others that if they don't find whoever hurt Face before Jubilee finds them, then they are done. 'You know “done” is better than “dead”, right?' Benjamin frowns, folding his arms. Bling tells him that if he wants to head back with his tail between his legs, then to go for it. 'I get that you feel like you've got something to prove, Rox, but -' Benjamin begins, which causes Bling to move closer to him, and pointing a finger, she tells him 'You don't get $%^&, Benjamin. I don't belong in this class!'
'Guys?' Eye-Boy calls out, as he and Nature Girl look at something nearby. No one pays attention to him, as Bling tells Benjamin that he might be cool with failing as a mutant and falling back into a life amongst humans, but she isn't. 'Ohmygod – that rat was totally carrying a human pinky with a ring on it!' Eye-Boy calls out. Bling turns to him and asks Eye-Boy if he can't chill for just two seconds. 'Roxy! Behind you!' Eye-Boy exclaims, pointing to a shadow that seeps from the cavern walls and rises behind Bling. 'Monet!' Eye-Boy shouts as Monet St Croix in her M-Plate guise looms over Bling, the palms of her hands open, revealing teeth with long tendrils that lash about, trying to touch the shocked Bling.
Bling can't move, it is like her body is frozen, but her bones are on fire, her insides liquefying, her energy drained out of her. She knows this feeling – and this is not Monet. 'Em... Emplate!' Bling utters as M-Plate's hands latch onto her head. 'It's been far too long, Roxy. I've missed the taste of you' Emplate, through Monet, snarls. 'I should've known we were looking for an old who was literally sucking the life out of a younger generation. Typical' Quentin frowns, throwing some psychic swords towards M-Plate, who just grins and declares that children are always so impatient. 'But don't worry, you're next' she tells Quentin, diverting the psychic swords back to him, Quentin screams as one of them pierces his shoulder. Bling watches in horror, and wonders how this is happening, how did she let Emplate get her again?
Looking at his bloodied wound, Quentin complains 'Why didn't anyone tell me how much that #$%^& hurts?' while Nathaniel asks 'Who's Monet and what the hell's an Emplate!?' Benjamin informs him that Monet is an X-Man, but that she has been missing for months. 'And Emplate -' he begins, as Quentin declares 'Her creepy vampire mutant brother who's got a thing for merging with his siblings – it's why she's got Emplate's hand tongue's all up in Roxy's ears'. Quentin adds that they have to stop her before she sucks all of the marrow from Roxy's bons and replicates her powers. M-Plate grins as she sucks the marrow from Roxy, who is wide-eyed, and thinks to herself 'It's too late, Quentin. I'm sorry'. Roxy then falls to the floor, while M-Plate grins, and starts to fire small portions of crystalized rock towards the mutants. 'Why's her face lighting up like -' Nathaniel begins. 'Like Face?' Benjamin asks, while Quentin swears, as energy blasts from M-Plate towards them.
The three young men fall backwards against the cavern walls, and Quentin telepathically reaches out to Monet, telling her that he is not into hitting women, and suggests she does it for him. Unfortunately for Quentin, his psychic suggestion once again backfires and he punches himself. 'What the -' Quentin begins. 'Mental manipulation? Cute idea' M-Plate declares, suggesting she show Quentin how to properly execute it, as Quentin punches himself again. Nathaniel and Benjamin watch as suddenly, a shoe is thrown at M-Plate. While levitating the shoe, she turns towards Eye-Boy and Nature Girl and asks 'My, what big, terror-filled eyes you have. Let me guess...you threw this?' 'Would you believe me if I said “no”?' Eye-Boy asks. M-Plate lunges towards Eye-Boy, but before she can strike a blow, a chant can be heard, and there is a pink glow, as Pixie teleports into the cavern with Jubilee and Chamber.
M-Plate turns, 'Jubilee...?' she calls out, her appearance losing Bling's crystal-like look. 'Bloody hell!' Chamber gasps. 'Monet?' Jubilee calls out. She sees Monet start to reduce into a shadow, and tells her not to dare, but it's too late, as Monet vanishes. 'Dammit!' Jubilee snaps, before turning to her students and asks them if they are all in once piece. 'Think so' Benjamin tells her. 'Prude excluded' Quentin mumbles, while Nathaniel asks her how she found them. Chamber reports that it was Phoebe, that she lost them for a moment, but found them again. 'Must've been all the internalized screaming I was doing...' Nathaniel supposes. 'Wait, where's – ROXY!' Jubilee exclaims as she sees a motionless Bling on the ground, with Nature Girl and Pixie tending to her. 'Pixie, is she -?' Jubilee begins, while Nature Girl reports that Monet hurt her, and Pixie announces she is alive. Drained, but alive. Jubilee picks Roxy up and tells the others that is all that matters, and that it is time to go home.
Shortly, in the infirmary, Jubilee and Chamber stand near the bed Roxy is recovering in. Jubilee tells Roxy that she doesn't get it – sneaking out after curfew, diving headfirst into a suicide mission against someone as dangerous as Monet. 'We didn't know it was Monet' Roxy remarks. Jubilee declares that she expects this sort of thing from Quentin, but not from her, and asks her what she was thinking. 'You said that if I wanted to be an X-Man, I'd have to prove it' Roxy reminds Jubilee. 'What? No – that's not what I said' Jubilee tells her. “If you want it badly enough -” Bling quotes Jubilee, who tells her that it doesn't mean she has to go all crazy reckless on her, before asking Bling what this sudden desperation to become an X-Man is, as it was never that important to her before. Chamber puts a hand on Jubilee's shoulder and asks her to give him and Roxy a minute alone. 'Fine' Jubilee declares. Bling turns away from her as Jubilee tells her that if she won't listen to her, then to at least listen to Chamber. 'I'll see you in the morning. Rest up' Jubilee adds.
Chamber moves closer to Bling and tells her that this isn't so much about needing to be one of the X-Men, as it is about not wanting to live among humans again. 'Because of what your powers did to you, externally' Chamber adds. Tears well up in Bling's eyes, and she thinks to herself that this isn't fair. 'That's why you wanted to be in my class' Chamber reminds her. Bling thinks to herself that Benjamin, Nathaniel, Quentin and even Jubilee will never get it – they can't. 'How am I supposed to just “go back to living with humans” when I'm so clearly not one of them?' Bling asks. She sits up in the bed and remarks that if she can't be an X-Man, then what is the point? Why did she come here. 'And why'd my mutation have to leave me...like this?' Roxy asks as Chamber sits next to her and gives her a hug.
Jubilee stands in the large foyer, the remaining five of her students lined up before her, she tells them that it is not like she wouldn't have done the same thing – because she totally did, which is why she is suddenly feeling a whole lot of karmic guilt for all the premature grays she must have given Emma and Banshee. 'But seriously, guys. What happened?' Jubilee asks. Nathaniel steps forward and reports that it was his fault, that he is the one who led everyone to Monet. 'But after looked into Face's past, I just got so mad that I -' he begins, shrugging his shoulders. 'You used your powers?' Jubilee asks. Nathaniel confirms that he did, and adds that he didn't mean for Roxy or Quentin to get hurt. 'Dammit, Nathaniel. Now I don't know if I'm mad at you or just...really proud of you' Jubilee tells him, turning away. '...I'd prefer proud?' Nathaniel smirks. Benjamin puts a hand on Nathaniel's shoulder and informs Jubilee that Nathaniel wasn't the only one at fault. 'He may have led us there, but we all chose to go' he explains.
'Kill me now...' Quentin mutters, before announcing that he will pass on the gratuitous team %#&^%$. 'See you fools never' he tells them as he strides past everyone. 'Fine. I'm “mad” at all of you. But for future reference, guys, I'm really going to need you to play it smarter' Jubilee tells her team. They listen to her carefully as she tells them that she gets they are trying to figure out where they belong, but points out that it is hard to do that if you're dead.
Later, Jubilee is in her kitchen, pouring some blood and other matter into a container while telling Chamber 'The school's like one big mutant marrow food court for her. Of course, Monet – Emplate – M-Plate is going to hover and try to feed on more students. Jubilee uses a stick-mixer to blend the concoction she is making and tells Chamber that she thought their days dealing with the St Croix siblings all cross-mixing with each other were over, like, fifteen million years ago. 'How the hell did we end up back here?' she asks, frustrated. Chamber tells Jubilee that she is allowed to be depressed. 'Monet was our classmate, we go way back -' he begins. 'Depressed? Who said anything about being depressed? I'm ticked' Jubilee announces. She grits her teeth and frowns, exclaiming that Emplate-possessed or not, Monet St Croix is hunting their kids. 'I'M GONNA KICK HER ASS!'
