Emma is still using her psychic powers to make police officers believe she’s a schoolgirl under attack by hideous monsters. The officers, not realizing that the “monsters” really are the X-Men, try to help Emma out and tell the monsters to back away from her.
Wolverine suggests to Emma that they shouldn’t make this any harder than it has to be. Emma, with an evil grin on her face, assures Logan-san that the situation is already more complicated than he knows. Storm calls out to the officers, trying to make them understand they’re actually the X-Men and not monsters. She explains they only want to question Frost, as she could be dangerous. She asks the officers to stand back and let the X-Men handle this.
But Emma uses her powers to make the officers believe they aren’t talking to Storm, but just one of the monsters. They can’t even understand what she’s saying. One of the officers points his gun at Wolverine, who angrily stares at him. The officer believes that he’s staring at one of the monster’s big, sharp teeth. The officer can’t handle it and faints in front of the X-Men, who wonder why everyone’s looking at them. Storm realizes something’s not right.
Emma uses her psychic powers to attack Wolverine, which brings him down. However, she makes the other people around her see that she has just defeated one of the monsters. Emma tries to escape, and more officers tell her to run away as fast as she can. Cyclops tries to follow her, telling the officers to stop her. The officers show Scott that their guns are loaded. He tries to calm them down and asks the officer to put their artillery away, defending he’s one of the good guys.
The officers once more believe they’re facing a monster and open fire on it. Scott gracefully dodges all of the blasts, and grins this is fine: he can shoot first and asks questions later as well. He fires one of his blasts at the cops, clearing an escape path for the X-Men. Storm helps Wolverine up, realizing they need to get out of there before someone else gets hurt. Scott agrees, as they can deal with Emma later. He helps Storm dragging Wolverine clear, but the regular folks still see two monsters dragging their fallen companion away.
Storm spots something devastating on a billboard, and tells Scott to read it. It says “...reports of monstrous mutants rampaging through the downtown streets of Hiro prefecture...” Scott panics, realizing that, by “monster,s” the people mean the X-Men! They quickly hide in an alley and Scott wonders if they should surrender themselves. Storm thinks that option was never on the table. More officers arrive and Scott thinks there’s only one thing left to do. He fires a blast on the ground, which creates a lot of dust. He suggests that Storm takes his brother out of there, while he’ll hold the cops back.
Cyclops walks through the dust, without his visor on and holding his hands in the air. The officers look scared. Scott jokingly asks them they wouldn’t shoot a guy with only one eye, would they? One of the officers demands that Scott keeps his hands where they can see them. Scott asks the cops if they know what happens when he opens his good eye. He promises to count to five before he gives them a look. The cops look even more scared then before when they notice Scott’s eye starts to spark...
Later, in the sewers...
Cyclops, alone, has located Storm and Wolverine. Storm asks Scott if he thinks the cops will follow them. Scott doubts it, but they need a place to regroup. Storm suggests they go to Master Toad’s place.
Meanwhile, at the X-Mansion...
Jean, standing outside the mansion behind a closed fence, stares in disbelief at the many reporters that have gathered around the compound. They ask her if it’s true that, even though it has been many hours, Jean still hasn’t heard from her teammates. They also want to know if the X-Men can’t change shape and what Jean can tell about the reports of eyewitnesses who saw rampaging monsters. Some of them even believe Jean is unaware of mutations.
Jean states she can’t answer any more questions. She tells the reporters they know as much as she does right now about what happened earlier today. She knows there’s a perfectly good explanation for all of this and promises that, when the X-Men return, they’ll release a statement. She begs the reporters not to jump to any conclusions or spread any more myths about the X-Men or mutants in general. She promises they aren’t monsters! The X-Men use their powers for good, and says that mutants don’t go on senseless rampages, nor do they destroy property or endanger innocent people’s lives.
A female reporter angrily asks if that’s true, what happened to the X-Mansion, which she can see is partly destroyed. Starting to sweat, Jean says she has no comment on that.
The next night, at the Hellfire Club...
Emma is at the office of the Club’s leader, who has Tessa and Cerebra sitting next to him on a desk. Emma angrily shouts that the man can’t do this to her. The bald leader reminds Emma that she cost the Shadowcat clan three of its ninjas. She and her lackeys nearly destroyed a bar owned and operated by a rival syndicate. And yesterday, a very public and destructive exchange with the X-Men while the Club is supposed to be infiltrating inconspicuously is unacceptable to him. Drinking from his coffee, the man concludes that Emma’s becoming quite a liability to their fledging organization.
Emma defends that the X-Men came after her, and asks Tessa to back her up on this. Tessa angrily says she had nothing to do with this. The leader asks the girls to lower their voices because they’re upsetting Cerebra. Cerebra angrily but quietly glares at the girls. The leader explains to Emma that she’s merely being admonished. This is a temporarily suspension, not an expulsion from the Hellfire Club. And, he realizes, although this might hurt Emma’s chances of being named White Queen, she is still and always will be... his daughter!
The leader steps out of the shadows, and is revealed to be... Charles Xavier?! Xavier gently places his hand on Emma’s shoulder, but she turns away from it and leaves, slamming the door shut. Xavier smiles that Emma’s impatient and brash... just like her mother. She has that nasty temper as well. Tessa corrects her father he’s actually describing her other now. She reminds him that Emma’s mother was the quiet one who liked to write haiku and fly kites.
The sewers, Master Toad’s place...
Storm thanks their master Toad for helping them out yet again. Toad tells the fair Ororo it’s nothing, seeing it as his privilege and pleasure to be of assistance. As Toad tends to an unconscious Wolverine, who lies in bed, Cyclops explains that the X-Men are still a masterless clan. He asks Toad if he wouldn’t consider them joining the team “above.” After all, times have changed.
Toad asks, if that’s true, why the X-Men are down there. Scott smiles and explains to his sensei that they’re just dealing with some classic misunderstanding scenario. They’ll get it cleared up as soon as he’s done patching up Wolverine. Toad mentions he’s done all he can, and thinks that, even with Logan’s accelerated healing abilities, they can only wait and see.
Storm asks that if, in that case, they can leave Wolverine in Toad’s case, because they have to figure out what happened up there, talk to the police and try to clear the air. Scott asks Storm what they should do first: go see Shiro Yoshida, their so-called chief or police, or should they try and track down Frost for some answers. Scott and Storm suddenly realize they forgot something: Jean!
Cyclops hopes Toad has devised some means of contacting the outside world since they last were here. But unfortunately, the old sensei hasn’t. The two X-Men leave, and Storm tells Scott to check up on Jean. She’s going to speak to someone who may be able to help them. Toad continues to tend to Wolverine, asking him to hurry up healing, as his “masterless clan” needs him.
The X-Mansion...
Jean watches an interview on TV, which has Shiro Yoshida declaring the X-Men must be stopped, since they operate outside the law, which makes them vigilantes. The interviewer asks Shiro how he feels about the reports that the police are preparing special measures in the event. Shiro repeats that the X-Men are outlaws who answer to no one, which makes them dangerous!
A newsflash interupts the show, which reads: “X-Men at large... mutant menaces wanted by authorities... threat to public...”
Jean gets furious reading this news. Flames emerge from the palm of her hand, which melt the remote. Jean panics when she saw what she just did, but suddenly hears a noise downstairs.
Outside, police officers have surrounded the mansion and have even guards stand on the roof.
Jean looks out the window and gets even angrier. Even her entire body bursts up in flames now!
Downtown...
Wearing a hood over her head so people don’t recognize her, Storm looks on at some television sets from a window of a shop, and hears how Yoshida declares that the X-Men are dangerous. Forge meets up with her. When Ororo asks Forge if he heard all this, Forge grabs Storm’s hand and runs with her to the river temple where they had their first date, and stop on a bridge.
Forge explains that Chief Yoshida only wants to protect them. It’s to keep the criminal mutant element in check and make the streets safer for everyone. Storm is afraid to even bring it up, but wants to discuss criminal mutants. Forge, a bit sweaty, confesses to Ororo that he knows who she is. Storm is surprised to hear that. Forge suggests that Storm just turns herself in, thinking that running away will only make matters worse. He knows the X-Men have done some good things, but by operating outside the law doesn’t help the fact they injured several police officers.
Storm defends the cops shot at them first. Forge reminds her that witnesses say the X-Men were threatening a little girl. Panicking, Storm denies that and explains they were after a woman named Frost, who’s a telepath that even send ninjas after them. Storm finally gets it: Frost is a telepath... she brainwashed those mutants who attacked their mansion and made people see them as monsters!
Forge asks Storm to come back with him to the station so she can explain it there. He claims that her friends are already being rounded up. Storm starts to cry, not believing what she just heard. She leaves Forge and quickly flies up to the skies, ready to go help her friends.
The X-Mansion...
Jean hides in her room, but has seen the officers entering her home. The cops make it to the interrogation cells and open the doors. They inform Pyro, Drake and the other mutant that they’re now under arrest by proper authorities. He warns them not to dishonor themselves any further and just to surrender peacefully. One of the cops holds a collar ready and points his gun at Drake, who grins. He quickly freezes up and shouts at the cops they don’t have any authority there!
Pyro and the big mutant join their friend, and Pyro smiles that the first round is on her. More cops arrive and order Drake and his friends to freeze. Drake thinks that’s funny. The big mutant turns into stone again and stretches his arms, and his hard fists knock the poor officers out.
With all the cops out of the way, Drake and his friends are ready to leave. Jean suddenly stands behind him, and asks where they think they’re going. Pyro asks Jean who she is. Jean introduces herself as a member of the X-Men. Pyro, recognizing Jean’s name, angrily recalls she’s the reason what got them into trouble.
The pupils in Jean’s eyes disappear, and her eyes are now just plain white. Smoke circles around her, and Jean shouts at the murderers that their troubles are just beginning!
Outside, Cyclops has finally made it to the mansion, only to see a big bird f fire emerging from the roof! He can only think about one thing: “Jean!”
