'What are we looking at here?' Jean Grey a.k.a. Marvel Girl asks as she and her fellow time-lost and reality-displaced teammates look at what appears to be themselves, fighting Magneto, while the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants lay defeated on the ground. Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast tells Jean that he doesn't know, but that it sure looks to be them. 'This can't be real, can it? Jean – I remember this fight' Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclops tells Jean via their psychic rapport. 'Same here. But not like this. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants... they look dead' Jean remarks.
'X-Men! Once more you plague me! But never have you fought so ruthlessly!' Magneto declares, pointing out that his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is no more, so he asks the X-Men to join him and take their place. 'Together, we can enslave the human race!' Magneto boasts, as the original X-Men stand their ground. 'Did anybody else just get chills? Chills – and that's coming from me. We live in that guy's house, you know' Bobby Drake a.k.a. Iceman utters, staring ahead at the battle. The others all look concerned, while the Beast points out that a great deal has changed in the years since this encounter.
'We're not joining you, old man! We're taking you down!' the original Angel declares as he flies over to Magneto – but the metal spear he attempts to attack Magneto with shatters against a magnetic force field. Bloodstorm tells her new friends that in her world, Magneto never reformed, that he always pursued his goal of conquest. 'So what world is this?' Jimmy Hudson asks.
'Fool! You dare attack me with a metal weapon?' Magneto shouts at the original Angel, blasting him backwards. The time-displaced Warren Worthington a.k.a. Angel tells his friends that they would not have killed the Brotherhood, it just isn't who they are. 'It's not who we were' Jean corrects him.
Suddenly, Magneto turns as a voice calls out 'Our attacks weren't meant to harm you, Magneto... we only wanted to keep you occupied' declares Charles Xavier as he walks towards the battleground.
'Professor!' Jean exclaims. Magneto hovers over the original X-Men and tells Charles that this is a surprise, and with him on his feet, too. 'Will wonders never cease?' Magneto asks, before enquiring as to whether Charles has come to beg for him to leave homo sapiens to their own devices, or to plead for compassion. 'I assure you, I have none' Magneto announces. Charles points out that times change, and so do ideals, and claims that his dream is altogether different than it once was, but that there is still no place in the new world order for a relic like Magneto.
With the future-tech that was given to him in the year 2099 still in his ear, the Beast picks something up from it, and discovers that is something coming – something honing in on their location.
Charles tells Magneto that they kne he might be a bit much for them to handle, but that they also knew he would only grow more powerful day after day, so if they wanted to kill him, now would be the time. Charles adds that he doubts even Magneto's shields can hold up against what is headed his way. 'Bodsylide. By six' the original Cyclops calls out as, Charles and the other original X-Men vanish. 'Not like this' Magneto exclaims as he starts to surround himself with scraps of metal. The Beast knows that a large missile is headed this way: 'The yield on a missile like that... and we're at ground zero... Magneto's shields... your shields, Jean... won't stop it -' the Beast remarks, before the missile strikes – and there is a massive explosion.
At Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, in Westchester, Xavier and the original X-Men stand before a monitor: 'So that's that. Magneto falls down, goes boom' Cyclops remarks. 'Everything falls into place' Angel points out. But viewing footage of the missile attack, Charles tells his X-Men that he wouldn't be so sure, as there was something – he sensed it just before they teleported away, and he thinks they have company. He suggests that they consult Cerebro. With Angel at his side, Charles tells the others that they will be back, and the others should make themselves useful – they can scan all channels. 'I want to make sure Magneto is toast' Charles declares. 'Net time, I get to be Angel' Cyclops remarks, oddly.
'You really think it's them? You think the X-Men have come for us?' Angel asks as he walks alongside Charles Xavier, down a corridor, Charles tells Angel that they are the X-Men, and not to forget that. He adds that he expected a challenge to come along at some point, and sighs. 'Pretenders to the throne. They're the only ones who could possibly stop us now' he remarks, and Angel assures him that they are ready. They arrive at a door that has been boarded up, and Charles begins to pull the boards away, 'Of course. This is our time now' he tells Angel. 'They forfeited any claim they had' he adds, opening the door, they enter a room where another Professor Xavier is strapped to a chair, Cerebro on his head, he appears in some sort of blank state. 'But I think the good Professor here might be playing games with us' the other Charles remarks.
'But how? The Cerebro unit we built... it keeps him under our control' Angel points out, adding that they would be alerted to so much as a stray daydream. The walking Charles leans into the other Professor and declares that he is a crafty one, and that even with all the restrictions they have placed on him, he has found a way to call his perfect little X-Men home – a valiant effort. 'A wasted effort, you mean' Angel remarks. 'Well, naturally' Charles agrees, and explains that if he has found a way to contact their time-lost counterparts, then he has only brought them back to die.
'Where are we?' one of the time-lost X-Men asks as they find themselves in some strange glowing green realm with Magneto. 'What did you do, Hank?' Marvel Girl asks. The Beast declares that he pulled them out of the blast zone in the nick of time, but didn't really have time to consider where they should go, and so he just routed them into a place between space and time, for now, of course. 'So where nowhere and nowhen' Angel remarks. 'Precisely' the Beast confirms. 'And you felt like it was a good idea – to bring evil Magneto along' Angel points out.
'What trickery is this? You look like the X-Men but you are different!' Magneto exclaims, asking them who they are – allies or enemies. 'That's... uh... a complicated question' Jean tells him, supposing that they have been a little of both, and telling him that for right now, they are on the same side.
Magneto looks up: 'And this... what I am seeing... must be the totality of time!' he exclaims. The X-Men look around them and see several different scenes playing out – The original X-Men fighting Magneto, Magneto and Charles meeting Gabrielle Haller, Quentin Quire with the power of the Phoenix Force, Weapon X hunted by soldiers, Apocalypse and his Horsemen – Havok, Maggott, Bloodstorm and Daken, a photograph of the original X-Men and several from the Age of Apocalypse – Blink, Sabretooth, Gambit, Morph and Nightcrawler. 'Such power. With this at my command, I could so easily conquer mankind' Magneto declares, adding that he could ensure that mutants rise to their destined place of power. 'Don't be an idiot' Jean fumes. Angel and Jimmy both look at each other – their thoughts are the same: 'Jean's going to get us into a fight with Magneto, isn't she?'
Magneto points at Marvel Girl and tells her to have a care. 'I will not be spoken to -' he begins, but Jean interrupts him, pointing back, she tells Magneto that she isn't sure if he noticed it or not, but they just saved his life. 'So don't threaten me... or I'll toss you right out there into the void and you can see how well you fare out there in the Timestream' Jean warns him. 'Jean's going to get us into a fight with Magneto, isn't she?' Bloodstorm and Cyclops think in unison.
Jean picks up on Scott's thoughts and tells him to shut it, that she knows what she is doing – sort of. 'It was you who sent us back in time, Magneto. You and Professor X. Not because of some bid to take over the world, but because you needed us to fix whatever mess we're in'.
'Sent you... back? Somehow... you're from the future. In a future in which I work alongside the X-Men' Magneto remarks, asking if Charles has finally come to see things his way. 'Whatever you need to think, that's fine' Jean tells him, explaining that all of reality is starting to crumble – everything that happens in the future. 'So why don't you start by explaining to me what we just saw. We... the X-Men... were trying to kill you' Jean points out. 'So it would seem' Magneto replies, reminding the X-Men that they have faced in battle before – but that in recent weeks they have become much more pitiless in their tactics. 'This time, you staged a preemptive strike, murdering my Brotherhood without hesitation' Magneto reports. 'Could this mean – previously, when we visited the past... we saw that we had already returned. If that was really us, then something has changed... something that has upset all of time. We came back... different' the Beast tells his teammates.
'No kidding, Hank!' Bobby snaps. 'Of course we got all screwed up! That's what going to the future does to you... especially if, when you're in the future, you start hanging around with... well...' Bobby's voice trails off as he points to Magneto. Angel tells the others that he has accepted the world is going to hell – he just never thought they would be the ones holding the pitchforks. 'Why not? If Magneto can change, why can't we?' Cyclops points out. Angel tells his teammates that they have been assuming that they are never going back to their original time – as they saw those other X-Men were already here, and they assumed they had gotten a free pass to the future. 'That... was stupid on our part' Angel admits. Jean tells her friends that they have all wondered how their time in the future might change the past, and suggests thaty they have been forgetting that they have changed, also.
'Not like this, though' Cyclops remarks, adding that whatever is happening, they are not killers. 'We're not trying to use our knowledge of the future to – what – take over the world?' Magneto tells the young mutants that if he were guiding them, he would encourage them to do so. 'you're not helping' Cyclops mutters. Jean tells everyone to hold on, and suggests that even if they came back as some sort of mirror versions of themselves, they can all agree that they must figure out how to stop “themselves”. She asks Hank if they could just use the time machine to go back to a time right after they left in the first place, and fix everything before it ever really gets broken. Hank looks at his tech-pad that he has been carrying around and tells Jean that, for all they know, that is exactly what they have done – that could be what changes them in the first place. He adds that he is sorry if that is confusing, but that is how a paradox works.
'That settles it, then. We need to do something – here and now' Jean exclaims. She turns to Magneto and asks him what he says: 'Do you want to help us take down the X-Men?' Magneto smiles and replies 'Young lady – do you really need to ask?'
'We'll, X-Men... we're home' the Beast remarks as the team and Magneto are teleported into the X-Mansion. Magneto surveys his new surroundings, but Jean warns him to tread lightly, as this place means something. 'I've been here before' Magneto snaps. 'I remember. You freaked me out a little then, too' Cyclops admits. Suddenly, a voice calls out 'Don't worry. He will not be staying long. None of you will be'. The X-Men look over and see Charles Xavier standing with the other original X-Men. 'You shouldn't have come back. You no longer belong here' Charles tells the time-displaced X-Men. 'Professor X? But you called us back. You brought us back because you needed our help!' Jean exclaims, while her teammates and Magneto watch Professor X carefully.
Professor X walks closer to Magneto, and tells the X-Men that they came running – and they are already here. 'I don't know who they are... but they're not the X-Men!' Cyclops suddenly shouts. 'Wanna bet, pretty boy?' the original Cyclops snaps back, as the two teams suddenly engage in battle. 'Professor... what's happened to you? What's happened to us? Why are you doing this?' Jean asks as she hovers before Charles, who tells her that he grows tired of her asking their question. He then suggests Jean dispense with her psychic assault, for although she is quite a bit more powerful than she was the last time they met, she will never be a match for him. Cyclops fires a powerful optic blast that knocks back the original Cyclops, while both Beasts lunge at each other, and both Angels fly towards each other. Both Icemans have transformed into large ice-creatures, while Jimmy Hudson and Bloodstorm challenge the original Marvel Girl.
Magneto hovers above the battle, and tells Charles that these X-Men did not come alone. 'It would seem you have forgotten the true might of the Master of -' Magneto begins, before he screams in agony. 'Who?' he calls out as he drops to the ground, and a mysterious figure appears behind him. 'Oh, no. I should have known' Jean utters. 'Is that -' Cyclops begins, as Charles begins to change form, declaring that they no longer need these disguises. 'You might as well know whom you're dealing with – Charles Xavier is actually his son, Charles Xavier II, and behind him appears Xorn a.k.a. Jean Grey, as the original X-Men's disguises fall, too – Old Man Deadpool, Ice-Thing, Bruiser, Raze and Beast stand beside their leader. Charles Xavier II tells the X-Men that he is sorry, but that they have yielded their claim on this timeline – and now the Brotherhood will shape the course of mutant history!
