New York City, where large blimps hover over the city projecting the inter-dimensional Spineless One called Mojo over the city, as glowing spires are dropped throughout the city. 'Who would have thunk it? The walls between reality come tumbling down...and it's b-e-a-u-tiful!' Mojo declares. He announces that the signal is strong, and tells the citizens of New York that first he will reshape their minds, and then their world – and they can't help but watch every catastrophic second of it. Civilians look up and listen in awe as Mojo tells them that he knows that Earthers are a strong-willed sort, and that having a spine gives them delusions of grandeur and all, but that if they think they can look away, if they think they can form a resistant thought of their own, then they have no idea who they are $#%&%#*%$ with! Mojo adds that to illustrate his point, they should watch as the combined forces of the X-Men make their last stand. 'The games are finished! This is the really real world! And the final elimination round is just getting under way!'
Indeed, the captive X-Men are now battling cyborg-like Brood. Fighting for their lives are Ororo “Storm” Munroe, Kitty Pryde, Old Man Logan, Kurt “Nightcrawler” Wagner, Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin, Rachel “Prestige” Summers, and the time-displaced original X-Men Scott “Cyclops” Summers, Jean “Marvel Girl” Grey, Bobby “Iceman” Drake, Warren “Angel” Worthington, Hank “Beast” McCoy and their new allies, the reality-lost Jimmy Hudson, and from another reality, Bloodstorm.
'If we're gonna beat Mojo at his own game...if we're going to save everyone who's been sucked into his mind-control transmission...we need to stop wasting time duking it out with these foot soldiers!' Cyclops calls out. Marvel Girl knocks one of the Brood aside with a telekinetic punch and tells Scott that she is with him, but points out that these guys are standing between them and the control room, and she doesn't think they will step aside, even if they ask nicely.
Prestige fights alongside Marvel Girl and as she tosses a creature back with a telekinetic blast, tells Jean that some of them can hold them here, keep them bust while the others make a play for home. As the rest of the mutants battle the creatures, Kitty Pryde phases through a cyborg and calls out to Longshot, a one-time X-Man who is fighting alongside some of his former teammates and reminds him that he has been staging guerrilla strikes on Mojo longer than anyone – but she stops herself mid-sentence when she looks over and sees Longshot being confronted by a tall fellow in a blue costume with a white cape. The large man calls himself Magog and tells Longshot that it has been a while since they tussled. 'Last time, it didn't go so well for you' Magog reminds Longshot, who asks 'Really? I don't remember thanks to the concussion'.
As Jimmy moves towards Longshot, Logan lunges at Magog and kicks him in the back, telling Jimmy to get their good luck charm out of here, as he can lead them right where they wanna go. 'Somebody clear us a path!' Logan calls out, so Angel swoops down and releases cosmic energy from his wings, 'One path – coming right up, Logan' he exclaims as he blasts dozens of the cybernetic Brood.
'This way!' Colossus calls out as he tears some large steel doors open. Cyclops speaks to Jean through their telepathic link and tells her to go and not worry about them. He adds that their psychic rapport is loud and clear, so he will be with her every step of the way. As she looks back and watches him fire an optic blast, Jean runs ahead and telepathically tells Scott to take care of himself. 'Please' Jean adds as she telekinetically slams one of her opponents against the wall of the corridor that she runs down with Longshot, Old Man Logan, Jimmy Hudson, Colossus and Angel, who flies behind the others. Jean asks Longshot which way they need to go and he tells her that he doesn't know. 'I'm making this up as I go' Longshot smiles. 'Uh – you're joking, right?' Jean asks, wide-eyed. 'Do you understand how many lives are at stake?' she enquires. 'Of course I do! I almost never know exactly where I'm going... and I almost always get there!' Longshot smiles.
Suddenly, Jean hears a telepathic call from Rachel and asks her 'What's up?' to which Rachel reports that she is running a telepathic psi-sweep of the facility, trying to help point them in the right direction. 'That's great, because we may be a little lost' Jean responds. As her teammates and the other X-Men fight around her, Rachel reports that she found something, or more precisely, someone, and she is pretty sure she wasn't supposed to know about. 'Jean... I'd ask you to tell me you didn't know about this... but we both know that's untrue. All this time, you've been working with -' Rachel begins, when suddenly, 'Sorry to eavesdrop, Rachel. Psychic rapport, y'know' Cyclops calls out as he telepathically interrupts, while blasting several flying Brood with an optic blast. He then tells her that she might be right, they should have told someone what they have been doing, but that now is not the time to discuss it. 'Fair enough, but something like this... it was bound to surface eventually' Rachel replies.
'Let's see if you're blue on the inside!' Magog calls out as he grabs Nightcrawler, only an instant later he is forced to release him as Kitty phases through him, surprising him. 'Coming through, pal! Let's see how a little partial intangibility suits you' Kitty exclaims, while Iceman is up against a man with a red beard and mohawk and calls out 'Hey, Kitty! How about making dog—boy here a little insubstantial, too?' to which Bobby's foe calls out that his name is Gog and boasts that he is anything but insubstantial. 'I'll hear you scream my name before I rip your frosty-guts out!' Gog warns Bobby.
'Well, well, well... look what we've stumbled on to!' Logan remarks as he and the others peer into a room where several strange creatures are working at control stations. 'Looks like a control room to me' Longshot replies. 'Don't get cocky, kid' Logan mutters, to which Longshot tells him 'The line is “Great, kid. Don't get cocky”. But nice one'. Longshot then grins and declares 'Now, let's go save both our worlds'. He and the others rush into the control room, 'Come, X-Men! Take the fight to these broadcast technicians!' Colossus shouts as they start to take down the creatures. 'I bet that sounded a lot cooler in your head, huh?' Jimmy asks. 'Da. Let's forget I even said that' Colossus replies. Longshot starts tinkering with some equipment and tells the others that the people of Earth's addiction to Mojo's programming is taking hold, just like all the viewers in the Mojoverse, and when they cut the signal, there is going to be one big, collective Earth migraine, but that it is a small price to pay so they don't end up like those in Mojoworld.
Suddenly: 'Don't touch that dial!' a voice shouts, and someone blasts the equipment Mojo was tinkering with – it's Mojo, who scuttles into the room on his robotic spider-like legs, and tells the X-Men that they get more and more resourceful, and more and more annoying, every time he sees them. 'Divas! That's what you are! Demanding little divas!' Mojo exclaims, adding that he created the diva mindset, and is riding high on a ratings surge and is going to rain a meteor shower of pain on their pathetic little carcasses. 'Flank him, kid!' Logan calls out to Jimmy. 'Cut his legs out from under him!'
But as Jimmy rushes towards Mojo, Jean tells both Jimmy and Logan to watch out, as Mojo is siphoning mental energy from everyone who watches his programming, 'I can feel it bleeding off him!' Jean adds. '“Bleed,” you say? If blood is what you want, I'll give you buckets of it!' Mojo exclaims as he grabs Jimmy with one hand, and blasts Logan back using the energy beam from his cybernetic tail. Mojo turns to Jimmy: 'You're Baby Wolverine, right? You don't look much like you're old man' Mojo remarks, boasting that, up close and personal, he can drain Jimmy's life force whether he is addicted to the programming or not. Jimmy growls, and Mojo jokes that now the family resemblance comes out.
Back in the other chamber: 'Bloodstorm! What are you doing?' Storm calls out as she sees the alternate reality version of herself prepare to bite one of the creatures. 'What are you doing? You are no monster!' Storm exclaims. Bloodstorm explains that if she is to keep fighting, then she must feed, while, nearby, Iceman increases his form as he continues his fight against Gog, who asks 'You want a horror show? I'll give you a horror show!' and suddenly large bone-like spikes sprout from his arms and shoulders and he roars at Iceman, exclaiming that Mojo is feedings him scraps from his table. 'A Ratings surge!' Gog shouts. Rachel realizes that Mojo isn't the only one drawing power from the viewership, and decides that if she can cut his thugs off from the power flow, turn it back on them, she might be able to incapacitate them. She releases a surge of psychic energy, and Gog collapses. 'Nice job. But I totally almost had him' Bobby declares as he, Kitty and Nightcrawler gather together with Rachel.
'Nyet!' Colossus calls out as he tries to topple the gluttonous Mojo and prevent him from shoving a sharp cybernetic foot through Old Man Logan. 'I do not care how powerful you have become! No one else will die at your hands... or one of your mechanical feet'.
'You know you're beaten, Mojo! Why not just surrender before this goes really badly for you?' Longshot suggests as he hurls some blades towards Mojo, they strike his arm and he drops Jimmy. 'Surrender? I'd like to think you know me better than that!' Mojo retorts, adding that he didn't cry “uncle” when Longshot's little pirate broadcast started leeching his audience, and here he is on the verge of a massive ratings sweep. 'Longshot, my boy, I'm just getting started!' Mojo declares, when suddenly, as Logan helps Jimmy out of the way, Angel lights Mojo up in a blaze of cosmic energy.
Jean concentrates hard, 'If I can just reach... just find...' she begins, but Mojo, recovered from the cosmic blast, tells Marvel Girl that he doesn't buy into her hype, and declares that his mind is off limits. 'Believe me, you wouldn't like what you find in there anyhow! There's a reason I keep my browser history clean!' Mojo exclaims. Mojo blasts Jean, then starts firing blasts around the room, using the weaponry on his tail and attached to his shoulders. 'When are ya gonna learn? You mess with Mojo... you get canceled!' Mojo exclaims as Colossus is struck by one of the blasts, then Angel, too. Mojo picks Marvel Girl up by her throat and holds her in the air, 'The people of Earth... their attention... their focus... revving my engines... and you can't stop me!' he exclaims, choking Jean. Logan asks Jimmy if he is ready for a rematch, and, recovering from his injuries, Jimmy replies that he is ready, while asking Logan 'You know we're losing this fight, don't you?' to which Logan points out that won't stop either of them.
Suddenly, blasts of energy tear the tubes connecting Mojo's weaponry on his shoulders to his blubbery body. 'Those were warning shots, Mojo. The next blasts take your eyes out' a voice declares – Danger has arrived with Magneto and Polaris! Mojo frowns as he looks over at the trio, none of whom look very impressed, and he tells them that he wondered when they would show up. Jean smugly tells Mojo that all that time, she wasn't trying to reach his mind, she was calling reinforcements. 'You're nothing without your precious ratings, and I think I know how -' Jean begins, before Mojo tosses her across the room. 'I'm sorry. Were you saying something?' he asks, before Danger jumps towards him and starts blasting his body, telling him that she admits to being impressed by his simulations, and that if he wasn't targeted for extermination, she might ask him for a critique of her own.
Longshot goes over to Marvel Girl and asks her if she is okay. 'I'm pretty sure everything is fractured. But I'll live' Jean replies, while Mojo knocks Danger back, pointing out that she isn't even a mutant. 'If I'm gonna fight the X-Men – I at least want to fight the real deal!' he exclaims as he scuttles towards Magneto and Polaris. Jean calls out to them, explaining that he is too strong, and that he is drawing more strength from his audience. She adds that his machines are the key, so if they monkey-wrench his tech, they cut off his power supply. 'An excellent suggestion, Marvel Girl' Magneto remarks as he and Polaris unleash magnetic fury against their foe. 'It's father / daughter moments like this that I think we've missed out on over the years' Polaris remarks. Magneto tells his daughter that there is no time like the present to make up for lost time, before suggesting to Danger that she might like to bolster her shielding for a moment.
Energy crackles around Mojo as his tech is disabled. A similar effect ripples through the spires across New York City, and the blimps with screens of Mojo's image are de-activated. 'No! Not that! Don't do that!' Mojo pleads. At that moment, the complex plunged into darkness. 'We did it! We pulled the plug!' Longshot exclaims. 'That's a good thing, right?' Jimmy asks. In New York City, civilians watch as the blimps start to fall. 'Everyone! Get back!' someone calls out. 'No! Look! It's vanishing!' another exclaims as the blimp suddenly fades away.
In the other part of the complex on Mojoworld, 'They did it!' Bloodstorm remarks. Cyclops reports that it was Polaris and Magneto, that they created an electromagnetic pulse and shut down Mojo's entire network. 'Magneto? Erik is here? I thought he was dead' Nightcrawler calls out. At that moment, the spires start to disappear as well. 'The people who were trapped inside – they're all right!' a civilian looking at the spire calls out.
'What... have... you... done?' Mojo calls out, furious. He suddenly starts to flicker like an old television struggling to get signal. He tells the X-Men that they have severed his connection to the material plane, and that he can't hold himself together. Marvel Girl warns the others not to get too close to him, as he could still be dangerous. 'You monsters! You took everything from me! You've killed me...' Mojo calls out, before he vanishes. 'Somehow, I doubt it. I don't think anyone is that lucky' Longshot remarks. The facility around them begins to vanish as well, and Longshot declares that Mojo's world is fading – and that it will be like it was never here at all.
Later, night has fallen over New York City. Kitty, Storm, Prestige, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast and Bloodstorm are together as they examine the city, and Kitty remarks that, all things considered, the spires caused minimal damage, and with the way they vanished, cleanup shouldn’t be too bad. 'Wouldn't it be nice... if all the bad guys vanished so easily?' Kitty adds as Magneto descends with Polaris, Longshot, Marvel Girl, Angel, Danger, Jimmy and Logan. 'Jean!' Cyclops exclaims as they embrace, while Magneto approaches Kitty, and suggests that they “get on with it”.
'Who the hell do you think you are?' Kitty snaps. 'How dare you lure the X-Men away for whatever maniacal, secret scheme you've cooked up in that chrome dome of yours?' Kitty exclaims. She adds that the kids might be naive enough to buy into his garbage, but that she is not. 'Aren't you supposed to be dead?' Kitty adds. 'Why is it that you keep coming back? You're like a magnetic bad penny'.
Kitty then turns to her former charges: 'And you two! Are you kidding me with this? That's Magneto! You can't just expect me to sit back and -' Kitty begins, yelling at Scott and Jean, when suddenly, Colossus intervenes, cutting Kitty off, as he reminds her that his own relationship with Magneto is complicated at best, but that it was Magneto and Polaris who put an end to Mojo’s broadcast, and that as much as any of them, Magneto is responsible for saving the lives of everyone who was trapped in Mojo's hellish games. 'You can't be serious. We can't just forget what he's -' Kitty begins. Colossus tells her that he will never forget the things Magneto has done, and nor will he forget the times Magneto has fought by their side. 'I will not forget that he brought you back to me when I thought you were gone forever' Colossus adds. 'Aw, crap. I hate it when our archenemies save the day' Kitty mutters, before telling Magneto that whatever it was he was up to, he wanted the world to believe he was dead and buried, so good luck with that. 'And now – smile for the cameras' she adds, as civilians with cameras film the X-Men.
Marvel Girl telepathically tells Cyclops that Kitty will never stop trying to get them to return to the school now. 'Ugh! The lectures!' she exclaims. Cyclops tells her that this changes things – it changes everything. 'Not everything' Jean replies, looking back at Angel, the Beast and Bobby.
Longshot goes over to Polaris and tells her that it is good to see her, and that it has been too long. Lorna tells Longshot that if he needed a place to stay, she is sure they could find a place for him in Madripoor, but Longshot starts to walk away and announces that he needs to find his way back to the Mojoverse, if he can, as he has got an audience that it probably feeling pretty lost. He adds that most of the people of the Mojoverse longed for freedom, but that doesn't mean they know what to do with it now that they have got it.
'So... what's next?' Angel asks as he hovers over the group. Rachel suggests that they do what they always do – save the day, say their farewells and wait for whatever comes next.
'I always thought this world was a bit of a sewer. Who knew how right I was?' Mojo asks as he scuttles through the underground tunnels. He then barks at Major Domo, declaring that he hopes he has some good news for him. 'Good news, your eminence?' Major Domo replies, standing with Magog and Gog, near a wall lined wiith television monitors. 'That depends on your point of view, I suppose' Major Domo remarks, revealing that the damage to their operation was catastrophic – not only did the terraforming operation fail, but their link to the Mojoverse has been irrevocably severed, meaning they are stranded here. 'Stranded. That is not a word that blows my skirt up' Mojo snarls. 'I would think not' Major Domo replies.
Major Domo states that while their primary objectives died on the vines, their backup plans have yielded fruit – the people of Earth were too busy dealing with the threat of the spires to notice their more subtle endeavors. Atop a building in New York City, several satellite dishes have been established. Major Domo reports that the Mojo News Network is fully operational on Earth, and they can begin broadcasting immediately. 'Now, that's what I'm talking about!' Mojo exclaims, grinning. 'People of Earth – buckle up – your old pal Mojo's ready for prime time!'
