Night at Xavier’s. The students are asleep (Becka under her bed with a knife in true Savage Land manner) when the alarm rings. A moment later, Becka finds that her roommate No-Name is missing.
A little later while her room is searched, Becka tells her friends that the room was empty when the alarm rang. No-Name slipped right past her. Living there must be making her sloppy. Before Becka could do anything security burst in loaded for war. They took away her knife!
Shame on them, Rico comments wryly. Pavel brings them back to topic. What about No-Name?
Oli points out that it isn’t just security searching the room, but also Val Cooper’s feds. They are playing this totally seriously. Pavel protests why they are treating No-Name like the enemy. Apparently, they aren‘t the only ones wondering that, Rico remarks as Cyclops and Emma Frost finally enter the room, Cyclops angrily demanding what the meaning of this is.
Val reminds him he helped write the rules. They have a potential metahuman security threat. And the deeper they dig, the more concerned she gets.
Later, the kids are questioned. Scott interviews Rico. They are her best friends. Actually, her only friends, Rico corrects him. Cyclops asks him to help them, so the can help her. Rico admits they are as scrapped by this as the adults are.
Emma Frost questions Pavel who tells her he could see No-Name was upset. But she wouldn’t talk to him, she didn’t trust him.
Beast is on better terms with Oli, asking him how the thesis is coming and about his sister. Oli admits they don’t talk much Hank knows that.
Val Cooper questions Becka who demands to know why they are treating No-Name like an enemy. Not so long ago Becka ran away. Maybe No-Name was scared. Of what? Val asks. Of this? Of her? Becka shoots back.
Later, the adults compare notes. As far as the kids are concerned, they are now the bad guys, Hank sighs, and so history repeats itself. He suggests they wait and see what happens next.
Is that wise? Emma wonders. Hank reminds the others they didn’t exactly always play by the rules either when they were X-Men.
He is enjoying this far too much, Cyclops points out and reminds him the kids are not X-Men. If he says so, Hank needles him. Damn straight he says so, Scott shouts. He’s head of this school. He reminds Hank this is a school. Not an academy for superheroes. Suppose they follow Hank’s lead and cut them loose? Suppose one of them gets hurt or worse? What do they tell their parents? What would Charles have told theirs? Have they learned nothing from the past?
He points to the pictures of dead X-Men and allies on the wall behind him. Look at those faces, he tells Hank. Each one got a phone call to parents, to husbands, to wives, telling them their baby was dead. Hank didn’t make the calls. Scott did. Hank didn’t have to bear the grief, feel the pain and heartbreak, deal with the anger, Scott did. They trusted him with the lives of people of children they loved and he failed. Never again, he states forcefully.
Sobered, Hank still insists that they can’t deny who or what they are. And they sure as hell shouldn’t run away from it. When they are grown, they can make their own choice, Scott decides. And they can pray they’ve taught the kids enough to make the right one. But until then they are the adults’ responsibility.
Outside on campus, the kids are aware that the grown-ups are watching them, but believe they can’t be heard. Becka insists they do something. They aren’t cops or the X-Men, Rico points out. The X-Men don’t even exist anymore! Officially, Oli remarks slyly.
So they do nothing? Becka asks angrily. How come that rationale didn’t apply to her? Do they think the adults will find No-Name? Pavel asks. The others are pessimistic. Oli thinks No-Name is full of surprises. He thinks the X-crew are so used to powers, they’ve forgotten how formidable a “normal” human being can be. And she isn’t normal. Not even close. She’s in a league of her own.
Rico knocks him on the arm playfully, asking him if he isn’t already spoken for. Oli calls him a jerk and asks if Rico can find her. Why should he? comes the reply. She left them. Becka points out she is their friend and they have to help. If it turns out she is not, they have to stop her. So, smart guy, Oli insists, can he find her?
It’s not that simple, Rico insists. And it’s not their job. Says who? Becka asks aggressively. Wasn’t she the one who almost quit? Rico points out. They fought for her, she reminds him. Don’t those rules apply to No-Name? And for the record, she almost quit because she wasn’t sure she belonged and because she is scared of her powers. But she always stands by her comrades.
Oli suggests Rico see it as a challenge. It’s what the adults expect from them. So they only have one shot. Or is Rico afraid of the challenge? Rico tells him to put away the beginners psych text. So how do they do this then?
Later in the library, Oli asks Pavel how he is doing. First, he pretends he doesn’t know what Rico is talking about, then he relents and admits he’s worried. But he hopes she is fine. There’s more to her than any of them suspect. Oli insists they need to find her; she is their friend and would do the same for them. Pavel playfully points out he is impressed. But what else should they expect from Gambit’s son? And Rogue, Oli reminds him. Don’t forget his mother. Finding her is one thing, the happy ending, that’s the challenge.
Meanwhile in her office, Emma Frost suddenly screams in pain as she seems to be mentally attacked. Later, she walks outside her office strangely happy and goes onward to the Danger Room. Her astral form peeks inside with an evil smirk.
In the observation booth, Beast tells Becka to show her powers. They’ll start with the basics; see how well she flies. From below, her friends and X-23 watch Becka take to the air and fly loops around them as lightning flares.
Suddenly, X-23 jumps on her to see how she reacts to something unexpected. Becka tells her not to, she saw something with Dr. McCoy. That moment, she loses control of the lightning. X-23 orders her to hold onto control before she tears the room apart. Colossus holds her before she flies away. Upstairs, the compensator system crashes. Colossus and X-23 find they are protected by Rico’s invisible force field. Oli orders Becka to get control of herself. She shouts that it’s like the power has a mind of its own.
Upstairs, Emma’s astral form watches. Suddenly, Becka’s eyes begin to flare. She collapses and the weather calms itself. Beast frantically runs inside asking if anybody is hurt. Oli helps up Becka who can’t remember what happened. He describes events. Beast orders them into the infirmary for a full evaluation.
Upstairs, a student walks into Miss Frost’s office and is shocked to find her sitting there in a black leather fetish outfit.
Emma’s astral form still watches the Danger Room proceedings as an alert goes off. That’s a scale one! Hank exclaims. It hasn’t sounded for years. He orders the kids to go to the infirmary and is strict about it while he and Laura race to deal with whatever is going on.
Oli asks Rico how close he is to finding No-Name. Can he search for her on the road? Rico agrees and Oli orders them to the hangar. This is their chance to help No-Name. On their way, they note that everybody’s panicked. The last time those alarms sounded kids died. If they are going to make a move, it has to be now. He asks Rico to mask all four of them on a full spectrum-vanish.
At the office, Hank and Laura find Cecilia and Scott have already arrived and Emma is in a snit. She blames someone called Janine Gray, Evil-X from another dimension who calls herself Black Marvel.
The kids fear that the hangar will be locked down tight, not to mention all the planes. Not all, Oli replies and leads them to the X-Men’s original Blackbird. Can this antique even fly? Rico scoffs.
Inside, Oli explains that Megan and he have been working on it for months. It’s totally restored, to which Rico points out there is no fuel. Oli orders him to keep them invisible while Becka carries the plane outside. Outside, Becka remarks that the hangar doors are closed. Oli tells her to follow a surveillance plane. They exit hot on its heels without a sound.
A little later they are airborne. Rico congratulates Oli, then remarks he has found a lead on No-Name.
Outside, Becka asks if they can please land soon. She needs to go to the bathroom.
