While teaching a class at Columbia University, Charles
Xavier psychically hears some of his students planning a murder! He keeps a
wary eye out, unable to tell which are the killers or who the victim is. Since
his recent mugging he’s been unable to screen out others’ thoughts and so has
resorted to taking drugs to reduce his telepathic abilities. Even still, he’s
determined to find the truth and prevent this crime. Meanwhile, in East Africa,
on the Serengeti Plain, Storm is enjoying the radiance of home when she’s
suddenly shot by the poachers she encountered a couple issues ago! The tourists
leave her for dead, satisfied with their vengeance. Back in New York, Xavier
meets with the X-Men and the recently reformed Magneto to brief them on the
situation. Kitty is distrustful of Magneto while Wolverine can tell that Xavier
isn’t telling them the whole truth, claiming his inhibited powers are the
result of an experiment. Rachel can also tell Xavier is lying, when she
suddenly senses a massive psychic presence and suddenly spots the Beyonder at
the other end of the deli. She talks with him a bit but he just as suddenly
disappears, as if he was never there.
Elsewhere, Nightcrawler visits his priest, suffering a
crisis of faith. He tells his priest about his experiences on Battleworld with
the Beyonder, questioning if he could be God. He tells himself this can’t be
the case but is unable to reconcile God letting this seemingly all-powerful
malevolent being exist unless he were God. Kurt feels like he would no longer
be able to believe in God if this were the case, making him feel more empty and
lost than ever. Later, at Columbia University, the murderous students sneak
into a certain office and leave a special device for their target. Nearby, the
X-Men all split up to check the list of suspects that Xavier had compiled.
Rogue and Rachel stop a mugging only to discover that the victim had been
spraying anti-mutant graffiti on the alley wall. This enrages Rachel, feeling
like things are only going to turn out here as they did in her time, with
mutants legally persecuted. Meanwhile, the Beyonder continues to observe
everything, unseen.
Kitty and Logan discuss whether or not Magneto has
really changed and Logan says that for now, they just have to trust Xavier and
wait and see. Kitty heads into one of the University buildings to check the
next bunch of suspects. She finds a bunch of students hanging around the
computer physics lab and notes how they all clammed up once she entered. They
ask Kitty if she’s a “mutie” like Xavier and she exchanges harsh words with
them, feeling like she’s struck paydirt. Kitty’s taken by surprise and chloroformed,
and the students plan to kill her just like with Xavier! Meanwhile, Xavier,
Magneto, and Rachel enter Xavier’s office, when Rachel suddenly feels the
Beyonder’s presence once more. She tries to mindlink herself with Xavier and
Magneto so that they can see him too, which sets off the device the students
planted in the office. This causes Rachel’s powers to lash out and go haywire,
blasting Xavier and Magneto out of the building!
Rogue catches them and Colossus throws Wolverine up
into the office. There, Logan discovers Rachel dressed in her hound getup, when
she suddenly senses the students about to kill Kitty. She explodes into the lab
and stops them just in time. However, one of them fires a gun at her, causing
her to easily deflect the bullet right back at him. The bullet suddenly stops
just before it can kill the student, courtesy of Magneto. In an interesting
role reversal, Magneto attempts to talk Rachel out of killing the students. She
points out that it’s no more than they deserve and Magneto reasons that he used
to think that way. As a result, he’s been hunted, his children have abandoned
him, and he’s likely only made things worse for the mutant community. Magneto
finally gets through to her, telling her that their hatred is born of ignorance
and fear, and that she shouldn’t justify it by killing them. It would only give
them the final victory. Magneto carries Kitty out as the Beyonder looks on,
confused. Unable to comprehend the seeming contradictions of humanity, he
decides he must become human in order to truly understand!