The X-Men have breached the Federal Security Agency's building which houses the Mutant Affairs Department, with the goal of destroying all files on mutantkind. During the break-in, the X-Man called Morph has suffered an hallucination which threatened his very sanity... and the mission.
'He's apparently emerging from the hallucinatory episode. Whence do you surmise it came from, my dear Storm?' the Beast asks his teammate as she puts a comforting hand on Morph's shoulder. Storm replies that she hasn't a clue, but points out that Morph is mumbling about something happening tonight. She wonders if it was pre-cognitive and suggests that they must be gentle with him. 'It's going to happen...going to appen tonight...' Morph mumbles. 'Gentle? In a pig's eye. We got files to shred and he's coming to the party, capish?' Wolverine exclaims.
The Beast helps Morph to his feet as they continue on down a corridor, 'Now, let's get a move on. We can't waste more time nurse-maiding Mr Brain-Dead' Wolverine declares, but Storm instructs Wolverine to hold his tongue, and announces that Morph will be treated as she deems fit, for she is in charge here, not him. Motioning to the door ahead, Storm announces that Professor Xavier's briefing indicated that the room they seek is somewhere beyond this door.
And, on the other side of the door, two guards stand ready. 'When they come through we don't give them a chance to react. Hit them hard – all at once' one of them instructs. 'We know the drill' the other replies.
Outside the facility, Cyclops, Rogue and Gambit are keeping watch. Cyclops peers through a high-tech device, and Rogue reminds him that he has done so for over half an hour. 'What's shakin’?' she asks. Cyclops reports that Storm and company are heading towards the objective inside, but that reinforcements are arriving to stop them. He sees more soldiers arriving in a truck, and Rogue asks him how they are gonna handle them. 'I'll think of something, Rogue' Cyclops replies as he fires an optic blast, destroying the truck.
Inside: 'Wolverine – wha?' Storm exclaims as Wolverine steps between Storm and the door. He tells her to hold up, as he smells shoe polish on the other side of this door – government issue. 'Surrender, soldiers! You face power beyond your comprehension! You face the X-Men!' Storm booms as she blasts the doors down with a gust of wind, knocking the soldiers backwards. 'Remind me not to get on your bad side, beautiful' Wolverine remarks. They enter the room, and Wolverine helps Morph.'I got the feebs in tow' he mutters, while Morph announces that he is starting to feel better. 'And you will treat him with respect. He is one of ours' Storm warns Wolverine, while the Beast shushes everyone, reporting that there is a guard slouched up ahead. 'He requires dispatch' the Beast suggests, and walking over to the surprised guard, asks him if he knows where the sanitary facilities are housed. 'Huh?' the guard asks. 'Wrong answer' the Beast tells him as he punches the guard out cold.
They move into the computer room, and Storm tells Morph that they have arrived inside, while Wolverine jokes that the Beast is such a great actor. 'You came on like a bat outta Hades – only tapped him to sleep, wimp'. Storm tells Wolverine that this team is not necessarily about violence, something she hopes he will learn one day. 'Yeah, yeah, skip the speech' Wolverine replies, before asking the Beast, who is at one of the computers, if he has a handle on this hardware, or if they are looking at a long night's labor? 'Prepare thine eyes for wonderment, Wolverine. Prepare thine eyes' the Beast responds.
Outside the room, Morph has disguised himself as the recently knocked out guard. He doesn't know what hit him before, but decides that he is fine now. He admits that he never would have believed they could actually get all the way into the Mutant Affairs Department to erase the files, because the Professor thinks some rogue element in the government is kidnapping mutant types. Morph isn't comfortable with what they are doing, but his train of thought is lost, and he is thankful he has shifted into the form of a guard, as several guards rush towards him. He points down the corridor, 'Yep, buncha strange looking dudes ran down the corridor too fast for me to intercept. About two minutes ago' Morph lies. 'Good. You just stay at your post, soldier. We'll have thiis situation in hand momentarily' one of the guards responds. 'I'll bet you will' Morph thinks to himself, while back inside, the Beast has pulled Jubilee's file up on screen. 'As Archimedes was known to have intoned upon discovering the principle of displacement – eureka!' he exclaims, before announcing that the files have been accessed and their erasure is imminent. 'Hard copy elimination to follow' the Beast adds. Wolverine tells the Beast to can the conversation and put his hairy thumbs on the keyboard, as he has a cold brew waiting for him back at the X-Mansion.
Outside, Cyclops speaks into a communications device, calling Storm. He instructs her to wrap it up in there, as there is trouble out here, major reinforcements are coming in. 'Let's move, X-Men!' Cyclops shouts. 'Yuh don't have to tell me twice, big boss man. How about you, Gambit?' Rogue exclaims as she takes flight. 'The enemy is ours, mademoiselle!' Gambit replies, tossing some kinetically-charged playing cards towards the assembled soldiers below, while Cyclops fires an optic blast in their direction, 'Not yet, Gambit! Keep pouring it on!' Cyclops orders, while one of the soldiers points to the slope where the trio of X-Men are and exclaims 'Some more of those freaks up on the hill ambushing us! Get 'em!'
Nearby, Storm, Wolverine, Beast and Morph have made it out of the facility and are running up the hillside. 'Interference is being run for us!' Storm points out as Cyclops's optic blast strikes a nearby soldier. Suddenly, three massive purple robots appear in front of the fleeing X-Men. 'Oh my stars and garters! This Brobdingnagian is either the defensive line of the New York Giants – or the government's latest foray into mutant management' the Beast exclaims. 'Any guesses?' he asks his teammates. 'Just look like bigger targets to me, bub' Wolverine responds.
Nervously, Morph suggests that perhaps they are all show and no go. One of the Sentinels responds by firing a blast towards the X-Men, who scatter. 'Maybe not! Let me draw their line of fire while you guys split, gowan!' Morph tells his teammates as they near the ridge where Cyclops, Rogue and Gambit wait. Suddenly though, 'Morph – no!' Rogue calls out as one of the robots unleashes two beams from its eyes, striking Morph. 'He is hit, mes amis! Hit!' Gambit calls out as Morph is struck down, Wolverine and Beast looking on in shock.
Inside the War Room at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Jean Grey goes wide-eyed, 'Omigod! It's Morph! His readings! They – they -' she utters to the Professor, as she has Cerebro on, the Professor tells Jean that he senses it as well – that Morph's readings have ceased.
At that moment, one of the large robots smacks the Beast against a fence, which Wolverine knows is electrified. The Beast is rendered unconscious, and Wolverine stands over him: 'That's an electrified fence, ugly! You murdering – I'll waste every -' Wolverine declares, claws at the ready, before one of the robots wraps a large coil around him. 'First Morph, now Beast – I must protect the rest' Cyclops tells himself, as he fires an optic blast at the coil, freeing Wolverine. 'Nice save, Cyke! Sometimes ya earn yer keep!' Wolverine calls out, as he leaps towards another robot. Cyclops tells Wolverine to control himself, as they have to get out of here. Rogue sees that Wolverine isn't listening and decides she has to drain some of Logan's life force to put him under so they can escape. 'Sorry, Wolvie, but there's no way we can beat this many Sentinels. The boss says retreat...and that means you, too!' Rogue tells Wolverine as she removes her glove and puts her bare hand to his arm. 'I ain't turning tail not matter what that...' Wolverine replies, before he passes out. 'It's hopeless, people! More Sentinels are arriving every second! We have to move out now or we'll all be captured – or killed!' Cyclops tells the X-Men as more of the large robots move towards them. 'My gosh! There are so many of 'em!' Rogue thinks to herself, and as Cyclops, Storm, Gambit and Rogue carrying Wolverine flee towards the Blackbird, Cyclops warns the Sentinels that they have not heard the last of the X-Men – not by a long shot.
Meanwhile, at a recently abandoned autoplant Mutant Affairs Director Henry Gyrich is interrogating the captured mutant, Jubilee, who is restrained to a table. 'Now, child – my patience is exhausted with your shenanigans! You can help us identify the most dangerous mutants of all!' Gyrich snarls. 'Stuff if in ya barf bag, four eyes!' Jubilee replies, while a man in a white coat stands back in the room and asks Gyrich why he has brought this mutant here, and who she is. Gyrich explains that she is just a name from the files, a test to see how easy it will be to capture them. 'I ain't a number, buster, I'm a free mutant!' Jubilee retorts. The man in the white coat tells Gyrich that he thought they agreed not to strike at the mutants until they had a thousand Sentinels. Gyrich addresses the other man as Trask and tells him that he is building them to slowly. He then announces that he is receiving a message, and listens to a walkie-talkie. 'Yes, yes. I see' Gyrich responds, before turning to Trask and informing him that there was trouble at the Agency, a break in. 'How many Sentinels do we have operational?' he enquires. Trask replies that there is enough todo the job – he is certain of it.
Later that night inside the War Room, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue, Gambit and Professor X are meeting. 'And that's all there is to tell, Professor. If I could have done anymore...' Cyclops's voice trails off. The Professor tells Cyclops that he understands, to which Wolverine pops his claws and points at Cyclops: 'What a whitewash! You did nothing, Summers, except leave Morph and Beast to buy it! I got a good mind to -' Wolverine exclaims, before Cyclops interrupts him, 'I know how you feel, but I had to consider the safety of the entire group' Cyclops points out. The Professor tells Wolverine that Cyclops is right. 'I didn't make him deputy leader because I didn't trust his judgment' the Professor adds. 'Yer on my list, Cyke' Wolverine mutters as he turns away from Cyclops, while Gambit asks the Professor what they know about those who oppose them. The Professor informs everyone that since they have been going, he and Jean formulated a plan of action that he believes will lead them to whomever is behind the kidnapping. Cyclops asks the Professor if there is anything they can so about the Beast, to which Rogue announces that she misses the furry guy something awful already, and asks the Professor what he thinks has happened to him. The Professor reports that Beast has been captured, and doubtless taken to a federal prison where he will be indicted for federal offenses. 'What can that be like for a sensitive soul?' Gambit wonders.
The Beast is slumped over in a dirty room, as Gyrich stands over him: 'Get it straight, furball! You're here until you rot if you don't come across and tell me things. For instance – who you're associated with and what you were doing in the Mutant Affairs Department in the middle of the night?' Gyrich demands. 'I had merely mistaken your imposing edifice for that which houses my hairdresser. Succinct enough for you?' the Beast responds. Gyrich turns to the door and warns the Beast that if he keeps up with the jokes, his fur will turn gray in hyre, before announcing that he has a corpse to attend to. Forlorn, the Beast remarks 'Morph. What a brave final act you had, lad. We should all leave the scene so heroically'. He recalls holding the dying Morph in his arms, telling him not to move. 'You've sustained injuries but... but they're not fatal...' the Beast lies. Morph quietly tells the Beast that he always was the one looking out for him, helping him when he stumbled, the best. 'I just want you to remember me – like this' Morph smiles, switching his form to resemble that of the Beast's. 'You're the guyt I allways wanted to be like...Hank' Morph utters. 'Remember me to the Prof, okay....' he adds, before he switches back to his true form and passes away. The Beast stops remembering the moment, and tears fall down his face, 'I'll remember you Morph, as an X-Man. There'll by a reckoning for this, my friend. The Beast swears it'.
Washington DC, a man wearing glasses congratulates Gyrich on how well the Sentinels performed. Gyrich addresses him as Commander, and thanks him, before the Commander reports that he is canceling the order executive order for mutant registration. 'You're what?' Gyrich asks, surprised. The Commander points out that those mutants were willing to sacrifice their lives to destroy those files in the Mutant Affairs Department. 'Perhaps they had a good reason to feel threatened' the Commander suggests, adding that in any case, it is too risky a strategy right now. 'This is an election year, you know' the Commander reminds Gyrich who tells the Commander that he may come to regret this decision. He leaves the Commander's office, and throws his files to the floor. 'Blast it! All of my months of hard work down the drain because the Commander's having second thoughts!' he thinks to himself, while deciding that maybe it isn't all lost, as there are always alternatives. His phone rings, and he answers it – it is Martin Dobson. 'You know who this is... what's that? They're at your home? You know what to do. I'll handle the rest' Gyrich tells Martin Dobson, who assures Gyrich that he will keep them here as long as he can.
Martin Dobson turns back to his guest – Scott Summers – and apologizes for the interruption. 'You were saying?' Martin asks, while his wife, Martha sits on a sofa and announces that Mr Summers thinks their daughter Jubilee has been kidnapped by those things the Commander talked about – those Sentinels. 'But why would the government do something like that?' Martin asks. Scott tells him that people fear what they do not understand, that it makes them do wrong things sometimes – things they come to regret later. He turns to the door, and explains that he has to be going, to which Martin tells him to get out of this area fast, as someone has been in contact with him as he said he should call him if anybody came asking about Jubilee. Martin hangs his head and admmits that he was scared. Scott tells him that he understands. 'You only wanted to help your daughter. And we will' he assures him, when suddenly, a massive Sentinel appears, towering over them, addressing Cyclops as an unregistered mutant, he raises a hand and announces that termination is proceeding. 'What in the name of Heaven is that?' Martin asks. 'Part of what it is you fear, Mr Dobson' Scott replies, before unleashing a powerful optic beam towards the Sentinel's hand: 'Don't put that arm where it doesn't belong, mister!' Cyclops exclaims as the Sentinel's arm is destroyed. The Sentinel then takes flight, and Cyclops adjusts his glasses, while thinking 'That's a good boy. Head home to get all bandaged up'.
Inside the X-Men's Blackbird: 'I have it! I have the Sentinel on radar. Its location is pinpointed. Now we follow' Storm announces. 'Looks like this chicken's going home ta roost' Rogue remarks while Gambit sits with her.
The autoplant that has been refitted to accommodate the construction of Sentinels, inside, Trask is working on more Sentinels, when Gyrich approaches him and tells him to pack it up, that they are leaving because the Commander has canceled mutant registration – and the Sentinel programme may be next. Gyrich informs Trask that they are moving the operation overseas, to a place where the government knows how to deal with mutants. 'I can't just pack everything up in a suitcase, you know. I need some time' Trask responds, but Gyrich tells him that they don't have it, and to get going. 'Where exactly are we going?' Trask asks. 'It's a place that -' Gyrich begins ti reply, before hearing a sound. 'Like a strong wind?' he remarks, before the damaged Sentinel with no arm drops through the ceiling above. 'My God! A Sentinel!' Trask gasps in shock as the Sentinel lands on some of the equipment.
In the nearby room, Jubilee doesn't know what the noise was, but decides that if it keeps those buttheads busy, she can get free. She uses her power to disrupt the mechanical cables keeping her held prisoner.
Above the complex, Wolverine has dropped from the Blackbird, while Cyclops and Gambit drop out of it on a rope. 'Should we not have tried the front door first, mes amis?' Gambit enquires. 'This way suits me just fine, Bub. I love surprises!' Wolverine replies, while Cyclops tells them to be ready for anygthing. 'We don't know what's in there' he points out. 'Oh, Ah think we got us some idea what's slinking around down here!' Rogue replies as she uses a long piece of timber to bash into a Sentinel. 'And we're gonna take 'em down one by one! Ain't that right, Wolvie?' she calls out to Wolverine, who has landed on the back of another Sentinel and is slashing into the robot's neck. 'You bet, babe! This one's for Morph, you blasted bucket of bolts!' Wolverine declares. 'Unregistered mutants continuing assault. Offensive options being evaluated in line with this unit's structural damage' a Sentinel announces, when suddenly, a large drillpress above slams down on the Sentinel. 'Whoa!' exclaims Rogue, wondering how that came on and pancaked the Sentinel. 'We got a secret admirer?' Rogue wonders. 'I cannot tell a lie. I did it all by myself!' Jubilee smiles as she steps out from behind some controls. 'Why you little devil. That's what's called pressing the advantage!' Rogue replies.
Several Sentinels start to fly towards the opening in the roof that the X-Men created, and Cyclops points out that it looks like they have been programmed to skip town if the going gets too rough. Storm fires a blast of lightning, striking one of the Sentinels, which falls to the ground in pieces. 'There will be no escape for these metallic monstrosities, Cyclops!' Storm declares, adding that, this night, they become the hunted at last. 'Hey! Some of those dweebs are getting up again!' Jubilee calls out. 'You are the observant one, cherie' Gambit jokes. 'I'm gonna plasma-zap these tim cans til even Mr Goodwrench can't fix 'em!' Jubilee boasts as she lets loose a blast of plasam energy. 'You're the first in line, ugly! Come and get it!' she exclaims, while Gambit holds up a kinetically charged playing card, 'Ah, the ace of spades. Bad luuck for you, mon ami!' he declares as he throws the card towards one of the Sentinels, adding 'In defeart you swallow the pride, robotic one! I pray there is room for this as well!' he tells the robot, as the card enters its mouth and the Sentinel explodes. 'Did ya miss me, petite?' Gamibt asks as Jubilee wraps her arms around him. 'Did I ever...all you guys' Jubilee anounces. Storm assures Jubilee that she is safe, and as they stand over one of the destroyed Sentinels, Cyclops points out that this factory has been rebuilt as a warehouse for turning these Sentinels out. 'Well, we just turned 'em off!' Rogue remarks, while Wolverine wonders where the scum that built these walking abominations are.
At that moment, a car speeds out of the factory, with Gyrich at the wheel, Trask looks back out the window and remarks that it is a good thing they left when they did, as there is no telling what those muties would have done if they caught them. 'They've got to be stopped!' Trask exclaims. Gyrich assures Trask that this is just a setback, as once they get to that place called Genosha, it will all fall together. 'There's a better way to build them' Trask remarks, to which Gyrich asks him what he is mumbling about. 'Hmph? Nothing. A way to make them stronger. Yes' Trask mumbles to himself.
The next day at the X-Mansion, a cab pulls up, with Jubilee inside it, she thinks that it is too late to turn back now. She recalls how saying goodbye to her parents was the toughest thing she ever did, as she loves them so much, they were so good to her, and they were just getting to know each other. Biting her finger, she tells herself that she will see them again, while recalling her foster father telling her not to cry, and that it is for the best, while her foster mother told her to come and visit. 'Of course, mom, you're my family, we'll always be that, won't we' Jubilee replied. Tears in her eyes, she thinks that this is where she belongs, as she is a “gifted youngster”, and she can best learn to use her special power here. She wonders if it is so good for her, then why does it hurt so much?
Up in the mansion, Jean Grey and Cyclops look out the window, as Cyclops sees the cab and remarks that it must be Jubilee, and adds that she is going to be an X-Man now. 'I wonder what the poor girl's been going through, ostracized by the world – leaving her foster parents after only a year' Jean tells Scott, wondering why it is so hard, why won't people accept them out there. 'All we want is to be part of the human race...to fit in'. Scott tells Jean that that day may be a long time in coming, and that until it does, all they have is each other. 'Sometimes that thought doesn't seem so bad. It really doesn't' Jean replies, to which Scott tells her that they had better go and greet Jubilee.
And on the Blue Area of the Moon, the Watcher remarks that on this Earth, the noble band of mutants perseveres despite dire circumstances, for strength of character is their bulwark against a harsh humanity. He knows this, for he is the Watcher.
