A metal hand is propelled through the air by energy emitted from its wrist. It is joined by more than half a dozen others… all to attack Cable. Recognizing the hands – and their abilities – Cable calls out to their owner. Kane! However, he is prevented from shouting again when one of the hands, in the shape of a fist, rocket into his jaw – a powerful left cross. Joining her partner, Domino tries to warn Cable he’s got Psychoman inside his head, and has to stop him by creating a telepathic shield! Or perhaps a telekinetic blast. Exasperated, she reminds Cable that he’s supposed to be one of the most powerful mutants around.
Arriving next, Mari shoots at the hands with her energy pistol, telling Domino it’s no use. If Psychoman’s playing the hate card with Kane, he’s got Cable running on doubt. She asks Bug for a little help, which surprised him. They’re the Micronauts for crying out loud, he says. They’re the best band of freedom fighters the Microverse has! He uses his staff to bat at the airborne appendages. Like handball, he smiles.
When Rann orders everyone to fall back, Domino tells Rann that maybe falling back is how things are run here in the Microverse but, where she comes from, they don’t abandon their own! Bug warns Domino she’s got to trust their boss. It’s like he said: you don’t get to be 1000 years old and not learn something. Domino doesn’t care about how old Rann says he is, she won’t leave without Cable. Mari tries to make Domino understand she’ll be better off by listening to Rann. Rann admits he doesn’t like leaving Cable any more than she does. He has lost too many friends in this war. Far too many. He shoots some of the hands and asks her to trust him. He promises Cable will be okay, and that he has a plan. He pulls Domino away from Cable, telling her to move now. Domino does and shouts at Cable they’ll come back for him.
Once the Micronauts and Domino are gone, the Psychoman appears and picks up the unconscious Cable. “Imagine,” Psychoman says. Imagine how invulnerable these… humans would be if they learned a simple lesson. If you lead with your heart, you will only find defeat. For in the pocket that they all draw their emotional triflings from, they open up the door for… Psychoman!
Cable keeps his eyes shut, but telepathically tries to contact Domino, who’s running with the Micronauts somewhere in the access tunnels below. When she asks Cable if he’s alright, Nathan jokes he wouldn’t go that far. But, he wants Domino to listen what he’s about to say: he thinks Vanessa is the key. Domino agrees, but only if the plan is to kill the “witch.” Cable explains that Psychoman is using Copycat to control Kane. If they find Copycat, they’ll sever the connection. On that moment, Cable’s link shuts down. Domino takes a moment to ask Cable if he’s still there. When she doesn’t receive a response, she tells Rann to hold up. They have to talk.
Another level, soon afterwards…
Two guards are standing before a giant door. Despite their vigilance, Bug sneaks up behind them and quickly knocks them out. Once the guards are down, Bug informs everyone they can go in. Behind the great door, the team finds Psychoman’s lab. “Roomy,” Mari jokes. Domino is amazed at the technology they find inside. Rann explains it’s what allowed Psychoman access to Earth. Most of it was either confiscated or destroyed by Reed Richards, who normally monitors the space wall that borders both the dimensions of Earth and the Microverse. Domino hates to break it to Rann, but there are no more Reed Richards or Fantastic Four. They recently… died.
Rann is deeply sorry to hear that, as that family is a legend. But that would explain why there was nobody to stop Psychoman from seizing the chance to get what he needed to make the Microjump to the outerworld. And now that he has Kane’s technology to upgrade his body bank soldiers, Psychoman has very little to stop him from making a full scale attack on this entire system, creating nothing but chaos. He’ll leave an emotional feeding frenzy the likes of which neither universe has ever seen before. However, Rann concludes, if this equipment can make an army grow, he wants to see what happens when the Micronauts live up to their name.
The body banks…
Where Garrison Kane is becoming the living matrix for a new breed of soldier. Hanging trapped on a huge machine, dozens of wires running to and from his cybernetic parts, an almost breathless Kane begs Vanessa to break free, so she can help him and everyone else. However, Vanessa sits almost catatonic in a corner far below Kane, her arms wrapped around her legs, which are pulled close to her body. She seems too frightened to do anything.
Psychoman enters the room, carrying Cable over his shoulder. He tells Kane Copycat can’t help him. He has overwhelmed her mind with all the fears and self-doubts she has ever experienced. And from the look of her, there must have been a great many. He doubts she’ll ever snap out of it.
Suddenly, Psychoman hears something above him, and sees a hatch in the ceiling opening… from which the Micronauts jump! Rann orders Bug to attack by the numbers. Bug understands and jokes he has come to save the day. Mari sighs and asks Rann why they put up with Bug. However, the Micronauts have all shrunken in size and, with jetpacks on their back, attack Psychoman. He thinks this is impossible, as none of the Micronauts have the ability to size-shift! Bug agrees, joking Psychoman has himself to thank for that. Bug jumps on top of Psychoman’s head, joking he would give anything for a can opener right now so he could fight the villain man-to-bug.
As he fires his gun on a control panel together with Mari, Rann mentions that one of the remarkable things about courage is that it doesn’t require height or weight or even size. They only need something that can’t be measured in inches or centimeters. It’s something he thinks Psychoman wouldn’t understand. It’s a little thing called “faith.” And in their endless quest to free the Microverse from Psychoman’s chokehold, Mari concludes, the Micronauts are giants when it comes to faith.
With Psychoman distracted, Domino crawls out of a sewer hatch and approaches the still scared Vanessa. Domino admits to Vanessa she doesn’t want to be here any more than Vanessa wants her here. And they may have their differences, but Domino tells Vanessa, she has to look at the bigger picture. They need her help. Not gaining any response from Vanessa, Domino thinks Psychoman really did a number on her. Domino thinks there is no other way now, something she doesn’t really enjoy doing, but there is no other choice. She slaps Vanessa a few times really hard in her face hoping that’ll bring her back. It works, and Vanessa turns back to normal, angrily telling Domino not to hit her.
Suddenly, Psychoman’s soldiers attack the two and Domino quickly fills Vanessa in about what happened with Kane while she was out of it. Vanessa can only think about whether Garrison is alive, and if there is a chance for them to have a future. She asks Domino if she can put their differences aside and fight side by side? Domino answers the question by giving the opening punch on one of the soldiers, and Vanessa soon joins in.
Cable telepathically contacts everyone wanting them all to listen to him. He explains he’s built up enough reserve that he thinks his following plan might work. He tries to reach Kane, who can feel Cable inside his head. Nathan also reaches Vanessa, who hears him but mentions she’s a little busy. She asks what’s up. Cable explains he’s going to try something he hasn’t done before, but he has seen Nate Grey pull the trick off, so maybe he can do it, too. First, he synchs up Kane and Copycat; then, he mixes a telepathic blast with a telekinetic burst, and fires it from his eye!
The powerful blast hits Psychoman’s head, and he is immediately overwhelmed by it, and all his systems overload. He senses Copycat’s sacrifice and Kane’s need for her… it’s almost primal! Cable angrily punches Psychoman on his head, correcting the villain the feelings are called love. With Psychoman lying beneath his feet, Cable explains that the villain was going off before about how vulnerable they are for “leading with their hearts.” But the humans do that for a reason. It enables each of them to strive harder, to rise above impossible odds, to try for something positive when doubt, fear and hate tell them otherwise. That is why love is such a complicated emotion… it requires the willingness to give totally of one’s self… selflessly… to another.
An exhausted Cable is helped up by Domino, who compliments him on the nice speech and asks if he meant it. Nathan changes the subject, smiling he’s a little drained right now. Kane and Vanessa share a kiss, and Kane tells her how proud he is of her. Vanessa replies back that she loves him.
From far below, the still-shrunken Bug warns Cable not to forget about the Micronauts. When Cable wonders how they can get the Micronauts to full size again, Bug explains by the same way they shrunk, by a machine in the Psychoman’s lab!
Soon afterward…
The Micronauts are turned back to normal size. Rann explains they used the same technology which restored them to their previous biological stature can be calibrated to achieve the Microjump. Mari jokes that, what Rann is saying, means Cable can return home whenever he’s ready. Bug hopes that he didn’t bug Kane too much before and asks, if the Micronauts ever come to the outerworld… Kane smiles to his friend they’ll always be welcome. Mari tells Domino the same goes for them. They’re all welcome to stay, as the Microverse still has untold adventures. Domino is sure it does but, with the state their own Earth is in, it needs all the help they can give it.
Cable asks Rann if he’s sure Psychoman is safely is stasis. Rann smiles Cable can trust him on that. After all, he spent several centuries in suspended animation himself. Psychoman won’t bother anyone ever again. Rann tells Cable to take care of himself, and Cable tells the Commander to do the same.
Later, back on Earth… San Francisco… night…
Sitting on some stairs together, Vanessa admits to Domino she has a confession to make. She knows she can’t ever give back the year she stood in for her. But, in that year, she got to be someone who commanded respect and could be cared about. And without that, Vanessa doesn’t think that she would never have found the strength in herself to start over again with Garrison. She owes Domino for that. Big time.
Domino tells Vanessa that no matter the way she slices it, it isn’t easy for her. When she thinks about the anger she had for Vanessa, it was really directed at herself. She says this is hard. She now realizes that, by keeping herself such a mystery to Cable and X-Force, they had no basis to determine that she had been replaced.
Vanessa says that she doesn’t know if this matters otherwise, but she doesn’t think Domino understands how her mutant powers work. When she… morphs… into another person… she becomes that person… literally. Identical in every way. Including their psi-pattern. Cable didn’t know because, even as a telepath, there was no way to know.
Kane arrives on his motorcycle and Vanessa climbs on behind him. When Cable asks the two if they have any idea where they’ll go, Kane says he isn’t sure. Only that, unlike Cable and Domino, they don’t want to be outcasts. It’s a big country and, somewhere, he and Vanessa can find a place they can fit in and be accepted. Maybe not as mutants or humans, but just as people. Cable wishes Kane a “g’journey” and Domino tells them to keep in touch. Kane leaves, wishing Cable a “g’journey” himself.
As they watch the two leave, Domino asks Cable what he wants to do now. Cable thinks they’ll do what they always do. What they were meant to do. Continue the good fight and strive for a better tomorrow. Domino jokes if they could get something to eat first.
Meanwhile, at the Xavier Institute…
On an active computer screen, an image of a scared Moira MacTaggert pops up. She calls out to Cable, wondering where he is. Renee Majcomb may be in grave danger, and Moira needs to speak to him at once!
