Young Cyclops, still suffering from his injuries just thought the evening’s excitement was over when he beat a rogue demon. Unfortunately, he finds out said demon brought friends.
He shouts for Beast, even as the tentacles of one demon entrap him. Hank comes out of his lab to help, apologizing for being preoccupied this evening. He manages to free Scott, who demands what the hell has he been doing in that lab? As Hank helps him move away, he hints that is an extremely long and elaborate story.
In the meantime, their teammates Bobby, Idie and Evan are walking at the each in Miami and Bobby is still gushing about the young Inhuman Romeo he met in the club they visited. He refuses to care about the simmering conflict between mutants and Inhumans. Adult Cyclops was a one man Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. No way is he going to take his side. That’s their whole thing, right? Not taking sides. He muses about the boy’s name - Romeo. How on the nose is that? But he’ll be that guy’s Juliet.
Idie and Evan interrupt him, as they see a huge demon rising from the ocean. Idie halfheartedly points out that it is her turn to look after bystanders. Genesis reckons the bystanders are on their own this time.
Suddenly, something flaming flies towards the monster’s head. It’s Angel, carrying Wolverine. She jumps towards the demon’s eye and smashes right into it. The monster falls.
Idie and Bobby are somewhat disgusted. Laura works her way outside the demon’s head. She and Angel explain there has been weird monster stuff popping up all over town this night. They found the monsters with the help of the internet but so far no reason. Wolverine warns them this might turn out to be a long night.
Downtown Miami:
The Goblin Queen walks the street with her Bamf Dragon, surrounded by scared bystander. She muses she has been working too hard. All the traveling she has done in her life has been for work. Alaska for flight school, then bouncing all over hell in that cargo plane. Westchester to and fro. Playing X-house with ol’ one-eye. She’s never even been to Manhattan for fun! Just that one long weekend sacrificing babies to the pit. For some elaborate work-presentation. Satisfied, she announces she has come a long way: no pasty-skinned creepo boss barking orders. No long cons to run or fraudulent marriages to propose. She doesn’t even have a real plan to speak of. Just mayhem and mojitos in South Beach, with a couple of hundred new friends bound by blood and mayhem. She looks at the flying demons.
In their Airstream, Beast explains to Cyclops that their parking space is located over a dimensional gate between their dimension and the darkness that lies beneath. He’s been using the Airstream’s spatial expansion matrix to widen that portal into a sort of doorway. The experiments have been eye-opening, but now it seems black magic has corrupted the matrix. He continues that magic isn’t much different from science. You study. You experiment. You follow a set of rules.
Cyclops angrily points out that there is a line of fire rising from their living room floor! Hank explains elements from the demon world are crossing over into theirs. And the Airstream is growing to accommodate. They need to hurry into his lab or this could grow worse in a hurry-
Could get? Scott screams. He has them walking through literal fires of hell! He accuses him of recklessness and compares him with his older alter ego. Hank is taken aback. Scott asks if it is the time travel block. He’s sure that’s frustrating… Hank interrupts, he solved time travel the day he and Evan returned from Egypt. He’s been home. And what he’s found there… Scott interrupts him urgently, as a fire-breathing monster is about to attack.
On the beach, Angel muses that the foes are actually kind of cool-looking gremlins. Laura has little understanding and orders him to shut up and help!
Oya and Iceman freeze their foes and Oya then proceeds to use her flames to fry them. Angel still insists that, apart from the violence, their foes are cute. Annoyed, Genesis repeats the order to shut up.
They have barely finished with their foes when they see a large, red, one-eyed demon towering over the city. Didn’t Wolverine finish that one off earlier? Genesis asks. Laura figures it has regenerative abilities. These aren’t goblins but demons. Genesis decides they need a genius now. They need Hank!
Hank has his own problems, as Cyclops and he try to flee from their monster. Hank berates himself as an idiot. Cyclops helpfully points out that only a genius could dream up this much god-awful. Hank begins to formulate a plan but is interrupted by Scott, who orders him to duck, moments before a snake-like demon tries to eat Hank.
As Scott half carries the injured Hank outside, Hank rambles that he’s been flailing. Desperate to hang on to an identity that clearly no longer fits. His mind is still sharp, but the technology here is so far beyond him, he doesn’t know where to begin. He’s tried to catch up. He’s tried to go back! A failure on both fronts: Nothing gained - nothing learned. Except perhaps the obvious truth: He’s no genius here, no scientist. Just a smart boy with big hands and feet willing to let loose hell on Earth to feel special again.
They reach the door to the lab and Hank uses his strength to pry it open. Scott announces they all make mistakes and Hank wonders if this is how it happened to the other Hank: How he lost control…. Sight. Lost regard for the consequences of his actions. He won’t become what his future self is, he vows, even if that means he will never become much of anything! No more magic! No more reckless flailing! That won’t ever happen again!
And, to prove that, he jumps straight at the magical monstrosity hovering over his machine. An explosion later, Hank (holding Scott) makes it outside the Airstream. They watch as it implodes.
A moment later, the other X-Men are there. They ask what happened. Hank comes clear. He was experimenting with sorcery. Things went bad. Scott stepped in, and together they shut it down. He is ashamed to say the Airstream, their home, paid the price.
Genesis is disgusted by his self-pity. No one cares! Just tell them he made the demons go away! Hank believes so. All the monsters and demons were contained in the Airstream, he explains, apologizes again and promises to replace what was lost.
Genesis asks what he means about the monsters being “contained.” What about the other demons? What about all the demons out here? They are still attacking the city.
And the Goblin Queen smiles…
