Once upon a time:
Los Angeles, where Bobby Drake a.k.a. Iceman leans on a dirt bike: 'Please?' he asks Judah Miller, who is busy sorting through some boxes in a garage. 'No' Judah replies without looking up. 'Pweeeease?' Bobby wheedles. Judah smiles at this, but still tells Bobby no. 'C'mon, Judah, I never get to drive in New York' Bobby exclaims. 'All I wanted to do was find some old comics to show you. Let's go' Judah replies, adding that he doesn't even know if these dirt bikes still run. 'Only one way to find out' Bobby winks at Judah, who grins back at him and tells him that his persistence is charming. 'Pray it stays that way' Judah adds. And shortly, they speed across a barren landscape on the dirt bikes, 'Really though – you never drive?' Judah calls out as Bobby races ahead of him.
Thirteen beaches later, Bobby and Judah are down to their jocks as they lie on towels on a deserted beach, a box of beers sitting beside them, plenty of ice keeping the beers cold. 'Thank you' Bobby remarks, laying with his hands behind his head. 'What for? This was all your idea, Toots' Judah smiles as he takes a drink. Bobby lifts his shades up and tells Judah that, firstly, he refuses to be anybody's Toots, and second, for the rest and relaxation – he doesn't get to be this way back home. Judah listens as Bobby tells him that he would fill the air with chatter back home, try to keep people distracted or annoyed or amused – anything so they wouldn't notice that he was so damn lonely and sad. 'It was either all eyes on me being obnoxious, or me hiding in the background' Bobby adds. He leans towards Judah and tells him that he makes him feel calm, that he can just be. 'Aww, Toots... glad to let you be quiet' Judah replies, leaning in to kiss Bobby.
Now:
Manhattan, beneath the theater that Mr Sinister is using for his diabolical schemes, he has the icy remains of Bobby trapped in a stasis tank. Sinister stands before the tank and tells Bobby that he is truly sorry to have lost him in such a vulgar manner. Holding some device in his hand, Sinister uses it to analyse Bobby's remains, and is shocked to discover that the sequencing hasn't loaded – there is no genetic data in Bobby's remains. 'Yeah, about that, Sinister...' a voice calls out, causing a furious Sinister to spin around, to find Bobby Drake ice-sliding towards him, boasting that his decoy game is strong. 'How...?' Sinister asks. 'Oh, by doing the thing you're trying to steal from me' Bobby replies. Sinister lunges towards Bobby, who raises himself up on his ice-sled, dodging the attack. 'Let's be honest. I am pretty stupid. I'd totally mess up and die if I walked into your lair all willy-nilly' Bobby admits.
'Impudent cur!' Sinister shouts as he hurls some machinery at Bobby. Tsk. Interrupting!' Bobby mutters as he narrowly avoids being struck by the machinery, before revealing that Forge created some cameras and sensors to put into a golem and brought him a spare life. 'At any rate, Netflix just released a new cooking show, so can we hurry this up?' Bobby asks as he creates several more ice-golems, who move towards Sinister. 'Hah. You witless cow' Sinister calls Bobby, as he announces that he can still move forward with the second phase of his plan while he takes the real Iceman. 'I still need bodies, you see' Sinister remarks as the ice golems he had in the stasis tanks are suddenly freed, and turn towards Bobby.
Outside, at the Mutant Pride Parade, security guards watch over the festivities when Kurt Wagner a.k.a. Nightcrawler teleports next to them. He introduces himself and informs them that he is taking over perimeter sweeps, before asking them if all is going well. 'Yup, appreciate you X-Men checking in!' one of the guards replies, giving Nightcrawler the thumbs-up sign. But as soon as Nightcrawler teleports away, the guard remarks 'Stinky mutt's gone' and he and his colleague touch their heads, dropping their disguises and revealing themselves as Sinister's new faux-Marauders. 'Can't believe these helmets blocked all the telepaths out. So easy' the first faux-Marauder mumbles, while the other remarks that Sinister covered everything, and they have fifteen minutes until Nightcrawler returns. The first faux-Marauder tells him to call the others so they can show these freaks what happens when you mix with filthy blood.
Nearby: 'Aside from the preachy stuff, this Mutant Pride Parade was the best' a woman walking with some friends comments. 'Mutant parties are so tight' another of the group adds. The faux-Marauders see the group and ready their weapons. 'We're good to go' one of them scowls. Another of the group states that he is sorry they had to leave early, and that he hates morning shifts. 'No big! Coco's throwing a party uptown anyw-' one of the group starts to say, when suddenly, the faux-Marauders appear before them: 'You love dirty blood so much? How about you bathe in it?' one of them exclaims as they aim their weapons at the four friends, but, before they can open fire, 'NOT TODAY!' Madin of the Morlocks exclaims as she drops down on the faux-Marauders, with Bishop and several other Morlocks ready to fight behind her.
Elsewhere at the festival, Forge contacts Nightcrawler and reports that all is well over on his block. Nearby, Emma Frost and her brother, Christian, are at a stall selling Mutant Pride t-shirts. A green-skinned mutant behind the stall holds a t-shirt up to Emma and informs her that the material was hand-constructed here in Manhattan, and they used a bamboo-spandex blend to give for expanding bodies and breathe for harder skin types. Emma lowers her shades to take a closer look at the t-shirt: 'Made here? That explains the uneven stitching and unfortunate pleats' she tells the mutant, before suddenly, she picks up some activity with her telepathic powers. Christian asks his sister what is wrong, to Emma informs him that she is sensing fear – an outpouring of it, towards the exit. 'Party crashers?' Christian enquires. 'With guns' Emma tells him. Christian asks Emma to take him to them, but Emma frowns and tells him 'Absolutely not'. Emma reminds Christian that the X-Men are not fans of hers, and she doesn't trust the stability of his powers yet, so they need to practice a modicum of discretion.
'You can tell me how to use my powers. But don't tell me who to use them on' Christian replies, narrowing his eyes. 'Dear brother...I cleaned up the murder of your father for you...I've been taking your recovery exactly at your pace...' Emma begins, to which the green-skinned mutant scratches their head and asks 'Umm, did you say murder?' as Emma tells Christian that at this stage of his journey, she gets a say in what he can and cannot do. Christian tells Emma that he is grateful for that, but he wants to use his mutant powers without feeling the shame. Emma suggests to Christian that externalizing his pain may prove productive, that maybe this time his psionic projection won't be their father. Emma suddenly removes her fur coat, revealing her black costume underneath, she hands her coat to the green-skinned mutant and telepathically commands them to look after it and to use this time to study and appreciate the care a couturier puts into an 'Hermes” garment 'Study... appreciate...' the mutant responds.
At that moment, the drag queen called Shade walks past, and stops and watches Emma and Christian run off down through the festival. Christian tells Emma that she really is a saint. 'I'm keenly aware' Emma responds as she switches to her diamond form. Shade tells herself that she would recognize that diamond skin anywhere, and opening her Darkforce fan, decides that she is going to see what kind of Hellfire Emma is getting up to.
Back underground: 'Look, I get why you want an army to mind-control...it isn't because you can't trust accomplices or wait for the cycle of evolution' Bobby tells Sinister, blocking the villain's kick with an ice-shield, while around them, Bobby's ice-golems battle the other golems that are under Sinister's control. Bobby slams Sinister back and tells him that he sees himself in him – the arrogance, perhaps. Bobby adds that the Latin root word for that is loneliness. 'You're on century two of living, and you still can't find a friend' Bobby points as he smacks Sinister backwards. Sinister rubs his jaw, then knocks Bobby back, declaring that the childish prattling amused him to a point – and that point is now. He then picks up a large lance-type weapon, energy crackling around the blade, Sinister boasts that he will unearth Bobby's powers and continue his plan. He tells Bobby to enjoy this moment, as he has two armies off to spoil his mutant pep rally.
Sinister brings the energy lance down on Bobby, who throws up an ice-shield to protect himself, but screams as the energy strikes his form. Bobby looks at his arm in shock, before Sinister leaps into the air and declares that, for what it is worth, he concurs with Bobby's earlier assessment: 'You are stupid. Truly' Sinister remarks as he drops back down towards Bobby, who gets back into action, hurling a large spiked ice-formation towards Sinister, who cuts it in half with the lance. Sinister lands and lunges forward, shoving the lance against Bobby's abdomen, where it creates some strange whirling effect, as his ice-form begins to repair itself around the wound Sinister made. 'Huh. Lookit what you just made me do!' Bobby jokes.
Back at the parade, humans and mutants alike run in fear as the faux-Marauders battle the Morlocks, Bishop and the Frost siblings. 'Bishop! Mein Gott!' Nightcrawler gasps as he teleports onto the street, where he finds Bishop absorbing the energy weapon fired at him by one of the faux-Marauders. Madin knocks out her opponent, while another Morlock with long green tentacle arms traps two more of the faux-Marauders. Emma punches her opponent, while Christian uses his new ability to create psychic constructs against another of the hateful people, and another Morlock hovers above, spitting an acid-like substance at the faux-Marauders. 'Finally, a little backup!' Madin declares when she sees Nightcrawler. 'Yep' Bishop agrees, before the faux-Marauder fires another blast towards him. 'Time to fry, freak!' the faux-Marauder shouts. 'Taste your own hate, %$&#' Bishop retorts as he absorbs the blast and directs it back at his opponent.
'Frost!' Nightcrawler calls out when he sees Emma amongst the battle. 'Now's not the time' Emma calls back, while Christian projects a psychic construct of his father and uses him to take down one of the faux-Marauders. 'That is for telling me I'm nothing! And for telling me I deserved to die in an unmarked grave! And for -' Christian shouts as he uses the psychic construct of his father to attack another faux-Marauder, unaware that another of them is running up behind him, until he turns around to see that faux-Marauder suddenly disappear through a Darkforce portal. 'Don't mind me. Just throwing shade, henny' Shade calls out as she holds up her Darkforce fan, when suddenly, there is a violent shake and Christian and Shade are thrown through the air. Christian looks up and sees several large ice-golems running towards the fight. 'Seriously? It never ends!' Christian mutters. 'Welcome to the real world' Emma tells him as she kicks one of the golems.
Meanwhile, Sinister shoves the lance through Iceman once again, 'Is this what the kids mean by “vape life”?' Bobby asks, before he hears Forge's voice over his communicator, informing him that his drones are catching a fight outside of the parade, and asks him if he is done there. 'Edward James Almost!' Bobby grins as he heals the hole that Sinister just made in his chest. 'You self-righteous child!' Sinister shouts as he throws another piece of machinery towards Bobby, who dodges it. The machinery lands against some other equipment and causes an explosion. 'Eep! Call you back!' Bobby tells Forge, while Sinister tells him that all he has is a new parlor trick, and angrily declares that he has been deconstructing every known genome and discovering the depths of Bobby's capabilities for months. 'What could you possibly have to stop me besides child's play?' Sinister asks.
'I mean, friends? Boyish good looks? I've got a whole list, but...' Bobby replies before leaping towards Sinister and reminds him that he told him he was over his “prattling” so shoves two largev ice-spikes through Sinister's chest. 'I guess all that's left is for me to go omega-level on your butt' Bobby announces as he increases his mass, turning himself into a large winged ice-creature, he bursts out of the theater, up through the building, with Sinister hooked to his body, he flies higher and higher, Bobby tells Sinister that he doesn't know how to kill him, and nor is it his place to. 'Just think long and hard before you try me again. Enjoy kissing the atmosphere' Bobby tells the villain as he hurls him upwards into the star-filled sky above. 'Still more day to save down there...' Bobby tells himself as he reverts to his regular form and drops downwards, back to the city, he lands amongst the battle.
'No!' Madin calls out as two ice-golems loom over her. 'Now, now. Be nice to Madin' Bobby calls out as he starts to re-absorb the ice from the golems controlled by Sinister, and as he does, he discovers that there are mutants underneath the ice. He increases his capacity, a spectacular display of Bobby absorbing the ice, while Madin looks up at him, 'That was -' she begins. 'Ice timing, amirite?' Bobby smiles as the absorbed ice is re-directed to the faux-Marauders, trapping them in solid blocks of ice. Madin then realizes that those freed from Sinister's ice-golems are the Morlocks that went missing. 'Way to use one army to stop another...' Bishop remarks, as the Morlocks reconnect with their thought-missing companions. Emma watches the scene and then tells Christian that it is time for them to go.
Festival goers get the phones out and start recording the spectacular icy scene before them. 'Oh my God' a woman utters. 'I know' a man smiles. 'Powerful' another woman remarks, before wondering how they kept this installation of a dystopian future under wraps until the very end. Bobby smiles at Bishop and asks him if calling Madin was his idea. 'Let's just say you're gonna be buying Hoagies for two...for a while' Bishop replies, while another civilian calls out 'Wow, so important. I think I'm gonna use the x-pro filter'.
Later, at the Xavier Institute, 'Why didn't you tell me?' Kitty Pryde shouts as she sits on a sofa across from Bobby, who creates some ice cubs in his drink. Bobby tells Kitty that he had it all under control, and that she was busy enough running the parade on top of being headmistress. He adds that Sinister won't be bothering them for a long time, before informing Kitty that he has still got to sort some stuff out with Madin, but he thinks the Morlocks are warming up to him. 'Plus, after your wedding...' Bobby's voice trails off as he tells Kitty that he really wanted something to go right for her, and take something off her plate. 'By trying to stop Mr Sinister, his makeshift Marauders and an army of Frankenstein'd Morlocks on your own?' Kitty replies, wrapping her arms around Bobby and telling him that she loves him. 'Love youb back, Kitty' Bobby responds, before Kitty gets up and announces that shev needs some sleep. She then warns Bobby to be ready for her to wake up with more to be mad at him about. 'But it's my birth month!' Bobby protests.
A short time later, 'Finally!' Bobby exclaims as he leaps onto his bed. He hugs the pillow, 'Emergered...t huth feelth tho good' he mubmles, speaking into the pillow. 'Good night, Manhattan! Leave me alone!' Bobby then calls out, unaware that outside, on the grounds surrounding the Xavier Institute, an icy figure in a dark cloak stands and watches the Xavier Institute. The icy figure has a long beard, and tells Bobby to sleep well, and that he will be seeing him very soon.
