One of the time-displaced X-Men, Jean "Marvel Girl" Grey, uses Cerebro as she thinks about HYDRA's takeover of America and the revelation that Steve "Captain America" Rogers is on their side. She notes that the mutants finally got a nation of their own like they wanted thanks to the new regime, but it turned out not to be the paradise they were hoping for. Cerebro helps her find the location of many political prisoners and she leads the other time-displaced X-Men (Scott "Cyclops" Summers, Warren "Angel" Worthington III, Hank "Beast" McCoy, and Bobby "Iceman" Drake) in a raid of the facility, which turns out to be Alcatraz. They breach the walls and free the prisoners, with a horrified Grey learning from the guards' minds that many of those prisoners were scheduled to be brainwashed. She also notes that the prisoners did nothing worse than speak out against the New Tian government, and then yells at the prisoners to make some trouble now that they're free. As the prisoners escape Grey sighs that Alcatraz will be full of prisoners again by next week, possibly the same ones. Summers just tells her they can keep freeing prisoners until they're captured; in the meantime, she should be happy that they did a good deed and frustrated the government.
In Utopia, New Tian's capital, King Kuan-Yin Xorn meets with his advisors Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, and the present-day Hank McCoy. Xorn notes that the rebels are becoming incredibly brazen. Frost thinks Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr is behind the attacks and says the rebels must be dealt with permanently, though Xorn advocates for less drastic action. McCoy agrees with Xorn and also points out that Lehnsherr is supposedly dead, and Frost backs down, saying she will of course abide by King Xorn's decisions like everyone else should. She argues, though, that the rebels be punished for undermining the good work they're doing in building a society where mutants and humans can co-exist. McCoy says the regime is not perfect, but Frost insists that the rebels haven't even given it a chance, and adds that they're protecting the mutants from HYDRA. McCoy says that many young mutants don't see things that way, though he himself is older and thus more pragmatic. He notes, though, that Charles Xavier wouldn't be happy with New Tian. Xorn bluntly says that Xavier is dead and that, were he alive, he would see that New Tian was in the best interest of all mutants—and if he didn't, he would be made to see things that way. Frost muses that Xavier might have at least cautioned the younger mutants to do nothing rash and says that they're about to stop the uprising, though she promises McCoy that the strike team will try not to hurt them too badly.
The time-displaced X-Men go to their base, one of Lehnsherr's old shelters. They're welcomed back by Briar Raleigh and James "Jimmy" Hudson Jr., who were keeping the base under watch while the others were gone. Raleigh says she's been analyzing governmental misdeeds that she thinks the team should deal with and has a long list for them, and Drake sighs that being a rebel is much more work and less fun than the movies show. Hudson tells Grey that Raleigh is unnerving him since she kept talking about the limits of healing factors. Grey says Drake can stay with Raleigh next time, but Drake refuses since he hates the bunker. He misses Madripoor and the mansion, he says, and Worthington agrees. Raleigh also agrees but says that Lehnsherr wants them in the shelter for the moment, and the others did agree to be his proxies and so have to do what he wants. Before she can continue, though, the bunker is attacked and everyone is hurled outside.
The X-Men regather and look at their opponents, which include Angelica "Firestar" Jones, Mondo, Mortimer "Toad" Toynbee, Marrow (whose real name is Sarah), and Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair. The attack team asks the time-displaced X-Men to stand down, but they won't, even though Raleigh was knocked out in the initial attack. Grey leads her team in a fight against the others. Jones and Drake blast each other with their elemental powers while Toynbee dodges a blast from Summers and then strikes at him with a flaming tongue; the flames are new and Toynbee notes that he had a secondary mutation which made him stronger. McCoy and Sinclair brawl, as do Hudson and Marrow, and Worthington sets Mondo on fire while another enemy swoops down at him. This new enemy is Worthington's future self, now called Archangel, and he easily knocks out his younger opponeent before carrying him away. Grey realizes that Archangel's feathers are coated in toxin and erects a telekinetic shield to block them, but then Mondo attacks her. She, however, manages to use her telepathy to make Mondo fall over.
Grey senses a new presence and yells for everyone to take cover before putting up another shield, which enables her to (barely) resist an attack from a newcomer. The new attacker turns out to be Alex "Havok" Summers. This distracts Scott Summers, who is quickly grappled by Toynbee with his flaming tongue. Jones also blasts Drake with enough fire to drop him, and as McCoy grapples with Sinclair, she suddenly splits into a pack of five wolves and takes him down. He asks if this is another secondary mutation, since she hasn't displayed that ability before, but either way he is powerless to fight back. Meanwhile, Havok says Grey is no leader but just made her team weak. He prepares to blast her and Hudson jumps in front of her to take the shot; however, the blast is sufficient to knock them both out. Scott Summers panics at that and manages to fight off Toynbee but collapses before he can actually attack Havok. This takes care of the team, and Havok calls the fallen X-Men weak before ordering them to be gathered up and outfitted with power dampeners. He also says that someone should contact Frost to let her know the rebel cell was defeated.
Scott Summers wakes up in an empty room and sees Frost in front of him. She tells him that they're together again; it's Emma and Scott against the world.
Tropes:
- Senseless Sacrifice: Hudson tries to take a blow for Grey, but the blast just knocks them both out, rendering his sacrifice pointless.
- Taking the Bullet: Hudson tries to do this for Grey, but while he takes the bullet, he can't save Grey from the same fate.
