37,000 feet above North Carolina:
'How do these seats keep getting smaller?' David Alleyne a.k.a. Prodigy remarks to himself in the middle seat of the middle row on a packed flight. The captain's voice comes over the intercom, informing the passengers that they have reached cruising altitude and that it looks like clear skies. The captain gives the passengers permission to move freely about the cabin to stretch their legs, adding that while they are up, they might want to saty hello to a special guest they have on board – an actual super hero is on the flight today. The passengers next to David go wide-eyed, 'Pleasenotme pleasenoteme pleasenotme' David utters to himself, before the captain introduces him as Prodigy from the world-famous X-Men, who is in seat 24D. The passengers next to David turn to him, shocked. 'You're a super hero? You're so skinny' the man on David's left remarks. 'Make sure to say hello soon... because you're all about to die!' the captain declares, and David goes wide-eyed, horrified.
40 feet below New York City, the Hatchi's Corporate New Mutants team are battling the creatures called the Mindless Ones. Tabitha Smith a.k.a. Boom-Boom tosses a timebomb at one of the creatures, while Rahne Sinclair a.k.a. Wolfsbane runs up the side of the subway tunnel. Julio Richter a.k.a. Rictor destroys one of the creatures with a vibration, as Guido Carosella a.k.a. Strong Guy slams his fist into one of the creatures, and Illyana Rasputin a.k.a. Magik slices one of the creature's heads off with her Soulsword. 'Yeah, but I'm saying the Enterprise could destroy the Falcon one-on-one' Rictor declares. 'Nobody thinks that' Gudio replies. 'I do!' Rictor retorts, before asking Magik her opinion. 'Don't know. Don't care' Magik replies. 'Are you serious? You've never... where the hell is that music coming from?' Rictor asks as he hears a musical tune. Phh, sorry. My B' Boom-Boom admits as she stops mid-battle and answers her phone.
'Tabby's phone. Whatcha want?' she asks. 'Oh my God. Tabby. Hang up!' Rictor calls out. 'We're having a fight, Boom-Boom!' Wolfsbane points out. 'Well, actually, it's not a great time. The Mindless Ones are eating... okay... I'll tell her' Boom-Boom tells her caller, before turning to Magik and informing him that it is Prodigy – and he is about to die.
29,000 feet above West Virginia, the aeroplane is plummeting towards the fields on the ground. Suddenly, there is a flare of energy above one of the wings, and the New Mutants materialize thanks to Magik's teleportation abilities. Magik grimaces as she plunges her sword into the wing, hanging on for her life. Wolfsbane digs her claws into the wing, while Strong Guy holds onto it with one hand, and grabs Boom-Boom with the other, while Rictor shouts 'MAGIK?! WHAT THE $#%&?' as he clings to Boom-Boom's ankle.
Inside the plane: 'Ohmygodohmygodohmygod' a man screams, while his partner tells him to hang on, that it is going to be okay. Suddenly, the emergency exit door is torn open, and Strong Guy pulls himself in from the wing into the cabin. 'We're all gonna die!' someone shouts. The rest of the team enters the cabin, and dropping to her knees, Boom-Boom asks 'Magik, what the #$%& was that?' to which Magik replies that teleporting isn't an exact science. 'It's no science at all!' Wolfsbane mutters. 'If you can't tell the difference between in the plane and on the plane, then maybe we shouldn't go to the plane' Boom-Boom suggests.
Rictor mutters that he told them they needed a flier, and suggests they should have Storm. 'Why would Storm want tae join our team?' Wolfsbane asks. 'Fine. Siryn' Rictor suggests, referring to their former X-Factor Investigations teammate. 'Why would she?' Wolfsbane asks, while Strong Guy tells the passengers to have no fear, as they are here now.
The passengers start to move towards Strong Guy and punch him, 'KILL THEM!' one of the passengers exclaims. Strong Guy tells the others that this was not the reaction he was expecting. 'And yet it feels as if things like this keep happening to us' Boom-Boom points out, preparing a timebomb. Wolfsbane reminds Boom-Boom that these are civilians. 'Who are trying to kill us' Boom-Boom declares, before Wolfsbane remarks that she thinks it isn't their fault. Magik knocks one of the passengers back and tells her teammates that Wolfsbane is right, and not to hurt them.
'I got this' Rictor announces as he steps forward and knocks a group of passengers back with a vibration wave. 'Okay! No more of that. Your seismic blasts are gonna break the plane!' Strong Guy declares, to which Rictor points out that the plane is going down anyway. 'And we'd like to stop that' Strong Guy mutters, before knocking back another passenger and telling his teammates that he doesn't think any of them have done the prerequisite study of aeronautics to safely say what the effects of earthquakes on plans are – but his money is on “not good”. Wolfsbane kicks one of the civilians, while Magik announces that Guido is right- no powers in here. She instructs Rictor and Boom-Boom to see if they can get into the cockpit and find out what the hell is going on, while the rest of them hold the passengers off.
Strong Guy knocks one of the passengers back with a suitcase and declares that whatever has gotten into them, they have become monsters 'Ye'd know all about that' Wolfsbane snarls. 'What does that mean?' Guido asks her. 'Ah think ye know' Wolfsbane tells him, waving a finger in his face. Why don't you tell me' Strong Guy replies. 'Yer right quick tae make sure that nobody is tae blame for the things they done!' Wolfsbane exclaims, adding that it is not surprising, coming from the man who murdered her family. 'Enough!' Magik orders while holding back some passengers. 'Surprise, surprise! The lass with no soul does nae care that Ah'm forced tae stand beside the man who -' Wolfsbane begins, when suddenly a voice calls out, 'Help!', and she looks over as Guido picks Prodigy up from behind a seat. 'Hey! I found Prodigy!' Guido calls out. David looks at Magik and thanks her as she asks him what happened here. 'The pilot... he's trying to kill me' David reveals. Magik asks him why, and David tells her it is because of them, because of what they are doing.
Magik informs Guido and Wolfsbane that they need to get into that cockpit. Strong Guy knocks a passenger out of the way and asks 'What does he mean? What are we doing?' but Magik doesn't answer him, just tells her team to fall back, as they head towards the cockpit. 'This flimsy plastic divider should keep the angry mob at bay' Guido mutters as he closes the partition on the passengers, and Magik and Wolfsbane approach Boom-Boom and Rictor, who are standing outside the door to the cockpit. Magik asks Rictor what is going on, and he tells her that the door is locked and the pilots are not responding, so they can't get in. 'Lemme try' Guido offers, slamming himself against the door. 'Ow. Nope' he mutters as the door doesn't budge. A spark of energy appears at Boom-Boom's fingertip as she turns to Magik and tells her 'I know you said, in your infinite wisdom, that I shouldn't blow stuff up in here, but I can get this door open'. 'Or kill us all' Rictor mutters. 'Or that' Boom-Boom agrees. 'Do it' Magik instructs Boom-Boom.
Boom-Boom releases a small charge of energy at the bottom of the cockpit door. 'Didn't think you'd really go for this. Not my best idea' Boom-Boom remarks, as the timebomb explodes – 'Ah, mother -' Boom-Boom exclaims, as the door is still standing. 'It didn't work!' Rictor declares. 'At least I tried' Boom-Boom mutters, leaning into Rictor she tells him that is more that she can say about him. 'Is this what you're like when you're sober? Cus it suuuucks' Rictor tells her. Magik looks at them, then turns away, while Wolfsbane asks them what they are going to do now. 'Why am I in charge now? I just blow stuff up' Tabby snaps. 'And ye can barely do that' Wolfsbane tells her.
Magik touches the cockpit door, and sees some strange symbols on the door. Prodigy and Wolfsbane look at Magik, while Rictor tells Tabby that she knows she is the worst when even Miss Goody Two-Shoes is clowning her. 'We're on a crashing plane and you want to call each other names?' Guido asks them.
'Witchcraft and Norse runes?' Magik asks herself quietly as she examines the symbols. 'What are ye whispering about now?' Wolfsbane asks. 'The passengers, the plane going down... our fighting with each other. He is trying to tear us apart' Magik remarks. 'Who is?' Wolfsbane enquires. Magik ignores her as she announces that the door is sealed with magic, but that she can get in. Prodigy tells her that, by his calculations, they are going to hit the ground in approximately three minutes and ten seconds. 'So how long are you going to take?' he asks. 'Hopefully less time than that' Magik smirks. Wolfsbane asks Magik why she doesn't just teleport the whole plane, to which Magik reveals that whatever is behind this door is blocking her powers. 'And what if ye can't get in?' Wolfsbane enquires. 'Then a lot of people will die' Magik points out. 'That's your plan?' Boom-Boom shouts, annoyed. 'We got three minutes!' Guido declares. 'Two minutes and forty seconds' Prodigy corrects him. 'I knew you'd get us all killed!' Boom-Boom snaps at Magik, who starts to create a stepping disc, which starts to rise up over the rest of the team. 'We all knew we'd die at some point doing this job, Tabitha, but you won't get to blame me today' Magik replies casually. 'Don't -' Boom-Boom begins, before vanishing.
The plane continues to plummet towards the ground, as a stepping disc materializes on a field nearby, and Boom-Boom's sentence continues: '- get cute with... she's so $#%&*%$ annoying!' Tabby screams, throwing her hands into the air. Guido and Prodgy look at the plane, while Wolfsbane asks 'Where's Rictor?'
'Glad we got rid of them' Rictor smiles at Magik, who is confused as to what he is still doing on the plane. 'When your little glowy thing started, I jumped out of it. Nobody ever did that before?' Rictor asks, smugly. 'No' Magik replies. Rictor presses against the partition, and tells Boom-Boom that he doesn't think she should get to be the only hero today – besides, someone has to make sure these mouth breathers don't make it up here to first class.
The passengers bang against the partition and shout 'Let us in!' 'We're going to kill you!' to which Rictor replies 'That's not a good reason'. Magik looks at the cockpit door again and tells Rictor that she needs to access more of her power to break this seal. 'You aren't going to like this' she adds. Rictor glances back at her and tells her 'Whatever. Just make it... quick' – as Magik suddenly transforms into the Darkchild. Silver armor covers her body – of which the lower half is now a hooved demon. Her Soulsword glows bright with energy, and horns rise up from her forehead, as she declares 'Now we finish what we started'. 'Yeah... I hate this' Rictor mutters.
Magik slices her way through the cockpit door, and as she enters the cockpit she finds one pilot slumped over the console, blood seeping from his head, while the other turns to her, a red, demonic face grins at her. 'So nice to finally meet you in person. And the real you, at that, Darkchild'. 'Who am I speaking with?' Magik demands. 'Oh, don't act like you don't know' the strange being grins, slobber drooling out of his mouth, he tells her 'You've been chasing me all through the swamps and the snow. You were always a little too slow, but now here we are'. Magik greets the demon as Tran. 'Hello, Illyana' Tran responds. 'You know you're dead, right? That's why Shan sent me after you' Magik declares. 'Of course I know that. My soul has been trapped in my awful sister's body like a... well, like a hostage on a plane, if you'll humor me' Tran replies, before remarking that Magik, of all people, should appreciate what it means to be a soul who escapes imprisonment – that she saved herself as a child, even returned her friend Guido's soul to him, if he isn't mistaken'.
Magik ignores that comment and declares that Tran can't be here, so she is going to send him to Limbo until Shan can figure out what to do with him. Tran leers at Magik and asks if Limbo isn't his final stop then. 'Do you wonder why? Or why she sent the other one after me?' Tran asks. 'What other one?' Magik replies. Tran reveals that he knows what Karma has planned, and aims to stop it – and he will save the world from her. 'You don't actually think you're the good guys, do you?' Tran asks, before telling Magik to take a look at her team: 'A vapid bomb for hire, a narcissistic natural disaster, an overgrown baby killer, an actual werewolf. And you... it would only take a mirror to show you that you'll never be the good guys'.
Magik listens to Tran as he adds that, either way, she, her team and his sister will be killed – and he will watch his sister die with his own eyes. 'You have my word'. 'NO!' Magik shouts as she drops the Darkchild and reverts to her regular human form, before shoving the Soulsword into the body that Tran had possessed – before realizing her mistake, as she kills the pilot, and Tran's spirit is freed. '...oh. No' Magik utters. 'W-why?' the pilot gasps, as Tran tells Magik that this was fun, but he has to go to New York and find a man who knows real magic. 'Enjoy the ground...' Tran adds.
Back outside, Tabby, Wolfsbane, Guido and Prodigy look up at the plane, 'C'mon, Illyana. C'mon' Wolfsbane utters – before the plan slams into the ground and explodes in a field nearby.
Meanwhile, in Canterbury, Connecticut:
'Query: How can self-warlock assist selfstranger?' Warlock asks as he emerges from the old cabin hidden in the woods. 'Stay back!' the boy called Christian warns Warlock, while in the bushes, the bullies look out and one of them shouts 'Don't let it touch you!' and another suggests that they run – but Christian falls backwards when he trips on a metal pipe. 'Don't touch me!' Christian exclaims. Warlock just grins at Christian and remarks 'Excited state, selfstranger is genetically mutated, like self! A common bond. Selfstranger seeks camaraderie!' But Christian grabs the metal pipe, 'I said leave me alone!' he shouts as he slams the pipe into Warlock's face, knocking the surprised Warlock backwards. 'Query: selfstranger is selfenemy?' Warlock asks. The bullies emerge from the bushes, 'That was crazy!' one of them calls out. 'It came at me...I...' Christian begins, while another of the bullies syggests that they finish it off – and the bullies start to punch, kick and stomp on Warlock, who cries out 'Please, no...'
