Bishop leads his team, consisting of Malcolm and Randall, into battle. Sporting a huge gun, Bishop warns his teammates to be careful about the bystanders, because they’re only after the outlaw mutants of their timeline. Surrounded by lots of futuristic mutants, Randall thinks it’s time to quote something the Beast once said: “we’ve come to help these humans, not to bury them!”
Malcolm mocks Randall that it’s enough for him that they’re almost being squashed in some 20th century nightclub, and he doesn’t want to hear ancient verses from “The Wit and Wisdom of Henry McCoy.” He further explains that his mutant power to detect normal humans beings indicates this room is free of them. Randall remembers the old days, the ones that haven’t even happened yet here, that when all they had to do was flag Cerebro for back-up.
Bishop recalls those memories. He orders his team to shut up and just fight. On that instant, a mutant hits Bishop from behind. Bishop absorbs the mutant’s energy and fires it right back at him! Another mutant grabs the guy and is furious at him, shouting that he might as well have handed Bishop his weapon. The mutant leads the next attack, claiming that their only chance to defeat Bishop is with projectiles and bullets. His army starts firing their guns at the X.S.E. The leader adds that, seventy years from now, Bishop and his friends will hunt them down and slap them up in prison! He’s certain that nobody wants to go back there and be free again. Bishop runs towards the army and attacks them on his own, ordering Malcolm and Randall to get back now. They refuse and jump into the battle, telling Bishop he’s too important. An explosion takes place, causing the deaths of both Randall and Malcolm. Bishop unleashes an awful amount of energy, which takes all of the evil mutants around him.
Taking a look around him, Bishop asks the computer to re-run the program. The Danger Room does as told, and Bishop once again fights alongside simulations of Malcolm and Randall against the army of mutants.
Observing from the Danger Room’s cockpit, Storm admits she thought Bishop was over this. She wonders how many times he has been running this scenario. Forge explains Bishop ran it almost every day whenever the X-Men weren’t away on an active mission. Bishop keeps trying to find a different variable, maybe create a scenario where his two friends don’t die. Storm thought Bishop reconciled himself to being in this time area. She admits to Professor Xavier that this bothers her. Charles replies he didn’t create the Danger Room as a theatre for psychodramas, but he thinks that perhaps Bishop is trying to tell them something. He knows they’ve accepted him as an X-Man, but Bishop himself has raised a question: is he more X-Man or X.S.E.? Charles tells Forge to end the program, believing that this has gone on long enough.
Bishop becomes furious when he sees all the images fading away and demands to know why the computer is doing this. The Professor explains to Bishop that he terminated the program. He wants him to come out, as he has run this program long enough. Bishop wants to run another program, but Charles won’t let him. He orders him to come out. At first, Bishop simply stares with a look of anger, but then agrees to do as told. Once outside, he is greeted by Storm. She jokes that, for someone who once said the street was his Danger Room, he spends a lot of hours in there. She was thinking of going into the city this evening, perhaps take a show. She was wondering if Bishop would like to join her.
Bishop coldly thanks Ororo for the offer. Professor Xavier and Forge join the pair, with Charles agreeing that it might be a good idea for Bishop to go among the people. It might help him understand them better, and also learn more about this time era. Bishop thinks this is an order as well. Storm gets a bit upset, sarcastically congratulating Bishop for having a lovely way with compliments. Most men wouldn’t need an order to spend time with her. Forge agrees. Bishop realizes his error and apologizes. He would be honored to escort Ororo. Storm and Xavier leave, with Storm adding that she’ll meet Bishop in half an hour. Xavier tells Bishop to think about what show he’d like to see, as he may be able to get him some tickets.
Forge wants to leave as well, but Bishop asks him to wait for a moment, as he wants to ask a favor. He shows Forge a holographic projector from his own time era. It contains the brain patterns and memories of... a person very important to him. But it has developed something of a slitch. He knows Forge’s mutant talent deals with machines and asks if he could take a look at it. Forge takes the projector and promises to do what he can, but the projector is an advanced piece of work, and isn’t sure what good he can do. The two walk away together and Forge asks whose brain patterns are in the projector. Bishop reveals it’s his sister... Shard.
Meanwhile at New York City, Central Park...
Bantam quickly bounces over some rocks and curses Bishop, as he never thought he would need him, or anyone else from the XSE. But Fitzroy is gone, and now he’s stranded there. And Fitzroy was Bantam’s only protection from Mountjoy! Every time Bantam thinks he lost the creep, he shows up again.
Suddenly, someone wearing a trench coat shows up before Bantam and mocks they’re having such fun. It’s Mountjoy! Mountjoy notices that Bantam has developed a nasty stammer, believing they must do something about that. And he knows just the thing. Mountjoy states that Bantam led him a merry chase these past few months, and he appreciates that, but now it’s over. It’s nothing personal, but Bantam is the only one who knows he’s alive in this era. And it’s better for him if nobody else knows. Mountjoy points his hand towards Bantam’s face, ready to kill him.
Suddenly, street punks appear behind the two and want to kill them. Mountjoy is thrilled to find some humans. His pupils disappear from his eyes. He throws a knife into one of the kids and starts fighting them, though gracefully. The children aren’t much of a match for the powerful villain, who hopes they will make it interesting for him somehow. In short order, most of the punks are dead and Mountjoy is now bored. One of the punks manages to escape, which Mountjoy quickly notices. He runs after the punk, grabs him, and says that Bantam has already done that. And now, he needs a “proxy” to ride, so he can sneak up on the little pig.
Mountjoy pushes the kid on the ground and laughs. He places his hand on the kid’s face, and flows inside his body, taking it completely over! Mountjoy gets up, and can’t believe the name of the kid he just took over really is Eustace. He discovers that Eustace is a disgusting mount, but he’ll serve. He looks around and sees that Bantam has run off again, and wonders what direction he went.
Downtown...
A desperate Bantam is on the phone, begging to have Bishop talk to him, as it’s a matter of life and death. But, Bishop is not there.
Xavier’s...
Jubilee, while eating an apple, is on the other end of the phone. She explains to Bantam that Bishop is in the city somewhere and offers her help instead. However, upon hearing Bishop’s whereabouts, Bantam immediately hangs up. Forge enters the room and asks Jubilee if she really thinks it’s wise to tell a mystery person where Bishop is. Jubilee doesn’t care, as it’s a big city, and what are the chances of the guy finding Bishop at the play, as there are also hundreds of them. Forge corrects that the Theatre District isn’t that large, and the play Storm and Bishop went to see is “Cats,” which should be somewhere in its middle by now. Jubilee realizes she may have made a mistake, and jokingly says, “Oops.”
The Theatre District...
Storm and Bishop leave the theatre and she asks him if he enjoyed it. Bishop jokes that the play was... instructive. Storm asks Bishop what’s going on. She knows he has acclimated himself to this time and to being an X-Man. So she doesn’t understand why he appears to be so disoriented, as she thought that was all behind him. Bishop confesses that he had... dreams. And questions. And doubts. He knows Shard always said he questioned things too much and, sometimes, he misses the X-Men of legend that he grew up believing in. Storm laughs, remembering how hard it was to convince Bishop he really was dealing with the X-Men when they first met. Bishop recalls that, as it was so difficult that he almost killed them all, Storm included.
Still, he wonders sometimes if there is a purpose to his being there. He wonders if he can prevent what he knows to be history, and forestall the betrayal from within that’s coming. He wonders if he can prevent the X-Men’s deaths. On that moment, someone from in an alley interrupts the two, telling Bishop he can help prevent his death. Bishop looks into the alley and recognizes... Bantam! Storm leaves the two alone and promises to stand guard. Bantam gives up and begs Bishop to protect him, as Mountjoy is out to kill him.
Bishop thinks that’s impossible. He believes Mountjoy can’t be there, as he had an exact count of all the mutants who came through Fitzroy’s time portal. And he knows Bantam is the only one left. Bantam corrects Bishop that he’s wrong, as Mountjoy begged him to take him along. Mountjoy rode through the portal alongside Bantam.
Unbeknownst to the three, Mountjoy is hiding not far behind them, and eavesdrops on the conversation.
Storm asks Bishop who this “Mountjoy” is. Bishop reveals that Mountjoy is an outlaw mutant from his time era. He’s a nasty piece of work, whom even his own cellmates steered clear of. Mountjoy was what people in Bishop’s timeline called a merger. Mountjoy was trained by the Emplates. He can manifest power in two ways. He can merge his body into another’s, becoming what Bishop calls a silent partner. The person Mountjoy takes over is still conscious but it’s his will that dominates. The body remains the same as well but usually Fitzroy’s features will dominate it. A hostile takeover is far worse. That’s when Mountjoy absorbs his victim into himself. Everything of that victim – powers, memories, perhaps the very soul, becomes a part of him and, unless he is forced to divest the victim, he or she will soon cease to be!
In the alley, Mountjoy abandons his “human host” and reverts back to his normal form, continuing to eavesdrop on what Bishop says about him.
When Bishop demands to know why Mountjoy would kill him, Bantam says that’s because he’s the only one who knows Mountjoy is there. Mountjoy figures, if he’s dead, he can’t tell anyone else and won’t have any interferences with his “pleasures.” When Fitzroy was alive, Bantam was safe, because Mountjoy would never risk a confrontation unless he had to. But now, Fitzroy is dead. Bishop thinks that Bantam figured that, if he would fight and stop Mountjoy, he’d be off the hook. Bantam agrees, as that’s what Bishop does. Bantam tells Bishop that he’s build for fighting while he’s not. He mentions that the girl at the mansion told him Bishop would be at a play so he’d track him down until he had found him.
Behind the two, Mountjoy sneaks up to Storm and takes over her body! Bishop hears it and wonders what’s going on. Mountjoy, this time in his own form, reveals that Ororo is part of him now and gloats that they’re going to be very happy together. Bishop starts fighting Mountjoy and demands he lets her go, but Mountjoy uses one of Storm’s wind powers to blow Bishop away from him. Mountjoy explains he gained Storm’s powers when he absorbed her, and he can also tap into her memories on how to use them! He thinks Bishop forgot that, and attacks him with a lightning bolt. Bishop corrects it’s Mountjoy with the faulty memory, as he just absorbed the bolt and now strikes it right back at his enemy.
Mountjoy doesn’t care, as he knows Storm’s power can allows him to fly and, if he’s not grounded, then the lightning does no harm to him. Mountjoy flies up, but Bishop mentions the energy blast was just a distraction. He throws some hailstones at Mountjoy and he falls back down, with his face injured. Bishop attacks Mountjoy again and demands that he let Storm go. Mountjoy answers the attack by throwing a hurricane at Bishop, which hurls him away once more. Mountjoy flies towards Bishop, admitting he knows the hurricane probably had some kinetic energies he could probably use against him – but he has an answer for that. Mountjoy takes out a rifle, and sees that Bishop isn’t wearing any body armor, meaning he can be hurt just like anyone else. He fires some arrows at Bishop’s body, al of which hit him!
Bishop tries to protect himself with his arms, causing the arrows to go inside it and not his face. Mountjoy congratulates him on the nice defense move, as he was really aiming at one of Bishop’s eyes. He punches Bishop down, planning on using a knife next to finish the job. Bishop thinks that’s a bad move and quickly grabs Mountjoy’s arm. He tries to startle Bishop by taking on Storm’s face, but Bishop knows the truth. That, however, didn’t startle Bishop as planned... it angered him! He slams Mountjoy against a wall and wants him to release her, or else he’ll break his arm. Mountjoy doesn’t think Bishop would do that, as that means he’d also hurt his teammate, but Bishop claims he really would, and again punches Mountjoy.
Mountjoy agrees and releases Storm from his body, not thinking she’s worth the effort of retaining her any longer. Mountjoy gets up, and sees that his arrows have taken a toll on Bishop, as he is starting to faint. He points a knife against Bishop’s throat, wanting to slice him, but then gets hit by one of Storm’s lightning bolts. Mountjoy runs away, with both he and Storm declaring that they owe each other one, but he is glad that at least Bishop is already paid for. A bit injured, Storm crawls her way over to Bishop, who has fainted and also started losing some blood...
