At Xavier's School for the Gifted, the New Mutants were coming up with excuses not to had a Danger Room training session. When Magneto asked Mirage to create an image of what he wanted to see, it was an image of them training in the Danger Room. When he entered the observation booth he found a tropical island sequence running & gave them a lecture on saving energy. To his surprise, when he switched it off a Bird Boy creature flew into the botth's glass windows. Immediately the New Mutants teleported into the Danger Room to catch the Bird Boy & calm him down. Magik teleported the refrigerator into the Danger Room, and Wolfsbane marvelled at how smart the Bird Boy was. Cypher was distinctly unimpressed while Magneto was bewildered & asked for an explanation.
The New Mutants explained that they thought the Bird Boy might be a mutant, but Magneto still hadn't rebuilt Cerebro (see Uncanny X-Men # 213). The New Mutants were forced to continue with their studies. Wolfsbane took the Bird Boy with her, and he tried to eat the characters on her computer monitor. She asked Cypher to try and talk with him, but Cypher refused calling him a Bird-Brain. When Wolfsbane & Bird-Brain left the IT room, the others teased Cypher about being jealous.
In the afternoon the New Mutants gathered on the steps of the school. Magma implored her friends to understand her reasons for transferring to the Massachusetts Academy, and they gave her a huge group hug goodbye. The White Queen accompanied Magma away from the school. Magneto ordered the remaining New Mutants to continue with their studies, but Magik suggested a trip to the mall for some burgers and a movie to cheer themselves up.
They went back down to the Danger Room where the Bird-Brain surprised them. Wolfsbane took it to mean that he really was human, so Cypher cruelly suggested that they take Bird-Brain with them to the mall. Soon the New Mutants had pulled on some baggy fitting jeans and a trench-coat to disguise Bird-Brain as a human. They teleported to the mall, and sat Bird-Brain in a booth furthest away from the rest of the customers. They ordered enough burgers for them, but Bird-Brain stole everyone else's food. Cypher was already angry that his food had been stolen, when Magik offered Bird-Brain a milkshake. She showed him how to slurp the shake through a straw, and after he had a taste of it he wanted everyone else's. Immediately Bird-Brain lurched across the table and food began to fly everywhere. They dragged him out of the burger bar, leaving Cannonball to pay the waitress for the mess they'd made. Wolfsbane & Cypher argued all the way to the movies. There, Mirage paid for them all to enter, but as soon as an advert for McBurgers appeared on screen the Bird-Brain flew up to try and eat it. Cannonball flew after him, but the crowd thought that they were part of the special effects from the new 3D science fiction movie trailer. When Cannonball managed to drag Bird-Brain to the floor, the others leapt on him and teleported back to the school.
However, Magneto was impatiently waiting for them in the Danger Room. He had received a call from the manager of the Burger restaurant and was determined to hand Bird-Brain over to the authorities. Magneto stormed out of the Danger Room, leaving Wolfsbane in tears. Bird-Brain petted her on the head, while Cypher continued to protest that he wasn't human. He ranted saying that he'd tried to talk to the creature, but then had to admit he hadn't really tried.
Cypher turned to Bird-Brain and began to make clicking & squawking noises. Straight away Bird-Brain began to converse with him, and hugged Cypher. Cypher explained that where Bird-Brain was from, food was given as a reward. Therefore Bird-Brain believed he was being rewarded whenever he saw food, and that the advert at the movies looked like the ultimate reward. Wolfsbane was so happy that she hugged Cypher. She implored Mirage to tell Magneto that Bird-Brain could talk, and then pointed out that he was exactly what Magik had asked for; a new male member on the team.
Log in to comment