First Story:
The Cold Warriors are still in a heated battle with Colossus. One with eyebeams says he thinks Colossus is beginning to melt, while Jocko complains about not being able to cut deep enough with his claws. The third with a flamethrower for a hand tells the others to keep at it, until they get to the flesh and blood man inside the armor. As this transpires, the family runs to their pick-up truck, with Zackery begging his father not to abandon Colossus. Bruce tells him to be quiet. P>
Meanwhile, Colossus stuns Jocko with a blow to the head and body slams him into the man with eyebeams. The flame-thrower man continues to shot at Colossus, but the X-Man cuts this short by slamming his own hand cannon into his face. He tells the men that they might have been better off if they’d just been happy with the limbs God gave them. The Cold Warriors are on the ground long enough for Colossus to jump in the back of the family’s truck as they take off down the road. However, the trio quickly recover and call in a Code Six, saying to alert all the locals.
Bruce tells Colossus that he is taking all of them to the police, but Colossus thinks this is a bad idea. Suspicious, Bruce asks what he has to hide, to which Colossus says “nothing!” Bruce explains that Americans don’t have to fear the police; they have a social contract with them for defense and won’t be taken to some prison camp like in Russia. Colossus says this is a bad contract if you give up the right to defend yourself. He goes on to say that the killers in the woods have expensive powers and that big money is behind them. They were not some mere mafia group.
Bruce objects to this sentiment because he says he fought for his country and it will defend him in return, that it won’t betray him. Grampa cuts in by saying Bruce was in Vietnam and asks how often he has to fight for his benefits check. Bruce tells Grampa to shut up. Roxanne ends the argument by saying that they are all scaring her and little Zackery with their yelling. Colossus apologizes and says he just got a little paranoid. He figures things will calm down inside the station.
Later at the station, an officer tells the family and Peter – who has transformed back to his human form – that he will drive them to a special unit that deals with situations like theirs. However, Peter overhears a phone conversation from another officer, where he explains that itis there. The officer then receives some kind of instructions, saying “right” with each one.
A short while later, everyone is being led to a van outside when Peter suddenly shoves the officer over and steals the van. As the officer fires a few shots at the departing vehicle, Bruce yells at Peter and asks what he’s doing. The cops were going to protect them! Peter wins his trust back immediately by pointing out that the cop wouldn’t have shot at women and children if he were on the level.
The family takes Colossus to their house out in the country. Bruce knows that this is the first place they’ll look, still he refuses to budge. He then prepares for any visitors’ arrival by boarding up all the windows and doling out firearms. Peter says they are up against the CIA or somebody in the government because, whoever they are, they have the police working for them. Bruce still refuses to believe his own government is trying to kill his family. He yells that that happens in Peter’s country, not his!
As Bruce begins to board up a window, Roxanne chides him not to muss up the curtains, as she just washed them. Incredulous, Bruce tells her not to get strange. Acting even more strangely, she inexplicably declares that she’ll go fix lunch. Bruce hands her a shotgun and tells her that they have to fortify the family. However, Roxanne just sits down and rambles about lunch and how she just cleaned those curtains.
Bruce insists the family will be like the Founding Fathers or the pioneers, staking out land and defending it on their own because they’re Americans. He hands a handgun to the astonished and smiling Zachery, and returning to boarding up entrances. The boy stares at the pistol for a moment before pointing it at Colossus, asking if he is a Commie like his dad has been saying.
