Charles Xavier revels in the full use of his legs for
the first time in decades, having fun playing basketball in the mansion’s gym.
His fun is cut short by another psychic scanning wave, which he’s been
experiencing for the past couple issues. He’s found by Storm and the two
discuss Storm’s recent radical changes. Storm expresses frustration that Kitty
feels she’s turned into a monster but admits she has similar worries, and
wonders if she’s going crazy. She used to hold all life sacred but nearly killed
Callisto on two occasions, a fact which concerns her. A cursory psychic probe
reveals no mental issues, and Xavier offers to run a more intensive test but
Storm elects to work through this on her own.
Meanwhile, Kitty Pryde and her new friend Doug Ramsey
are playing an arcade game at the mall, when they get kicked out after
accidentally breaking it. They head to the food court and Kitty vents her
worries about Ororo to Doug, about how Ororo has changed, becoming harder. Doug
then tells Kitty about the invitation he got to join the Massachusetts Academy,
which concerns Kitty as it’s secretly run by the Hellfire Club. Back on the
grounds of the mansion, Colossus is cutting down trees, despite his still-healing
injuries, when he’s found by Wolverine. Colossus expresses his own worries
about Kitty’s newfound closeness with Doug, and feels that perhaps what he
thought he and Kitty shared was nothing but a naïve dream.
Elsewhere, Storm takes a trip to the Bronx Botanical
Gardens to visit the plants that used to be in her attic garden. While there,
she stops a gang from accosting an old couple and kicks their butts without
even using her powers. Though she
helps the couple, she finds that they’re even more scared of her than they were
of the gang. Professor Xavier calls the X-Men together to discuss the matter of
the Massachusetts Academy’s interest in Doug. Xavier reveals that Doug is a
mutant, his power having to do with languages. Kitty devises a plan to go with
Doug, betting she’ll be safe since the Hellfire Club is currently in disarray,
with Emma Frost still in a coma. Kitty promises to reach out to Xavier the
instant she needs help, and they reluctantly agree to her plan.
Later, Storm sweeps Kitty up into a wind high above
the mansion for a much-needed talk. Storm confronts Kitty about her feelings
about the recent changes Storm has gone through. Storm admits that she doesn’t
quite understand it all either, but states that change is a part of life. Kitty
can’t accept this, worrying that Storm has changed and that she won’t love her
anymore, just as her parents don’t love each other anymore. Storm tells Kitty
that she can’t be her replacement mother, but that she still loves her and
needs Kitty’s support while she figures out who she is and where her life is
headed. Finally, Kitty starts to come to terms with everything. A week later,
Kitty and Doug fly out to the Massachusetts Academy, but on the plane ride
there, Kitty receives a shock when she’s confronted by Emma Frost, out of her
coma! Meanwhile, Xavier has traced the psychic scanning waves to Central Park,
where they find a large, mysterious structure that has sprung up out of nowhere!
Xavier and the X-Men enter the structure and are whisked off to parts unknown!