In Vancouver, Canada, a young mutant named Sammy with a fish-like head is being harassed by a group of kids. They push him into a puddle of mud and walk away, laughing. The boy picks himself up and dejectedly walks back home, bemoaning his fate as a mutant, and "not one of the good kind." He arrives back at his house, where his mother tells him to come inside and prepare for company coming later in the day. Sammy tells his mother that he wants to go to the nearby field for a minute. Despite his mother's warnings that the field is dangerous because of broken glass and nails, Sammy wanders into it and enters his secret hiding place: a ramshackle fort. The inside of the fort contains effigies of the boys who harass Sammy, all hanging by their neck. Sammy produces a hidden gun, and contemplates suicide. The question he considers is, should he take his tormentors with him? Before he can act, his mother calls him again and he walks back home. The company has arrived: it is Professor X with the Blackbird. A tear rolls down Sammy's cheek as Charles tells the boy that he has a wonderful opportunity for him.
Somewhere above the ocean, a second Blackbird containing Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Archangel, Iceman, Stacy X and M heads in the direction of Scotland. Stacy asks why Xavier is sending the team to Scotland, and Warren replies that the Professor detected a weak mutant signal that suddenly cut off. Stacy comments on Chamber's leaving for college, wondering how he can just walk out on the X-Men. Monet accuses Stacy of knowing nothing about the X-Men and of simply being a "mutant prostitute hitching a ride." Stacy angrily replies that men paid her to be with her, while the men that slept with Monet were only aroused by her father’s fortune. The argument is cut off when a series of strange noises occur: the jet is being hammered by giant fireballs being hurled at them from the coast they are approaching.
A hole is torn in the Blackbird and M is thrown out of the craft with only a cable holding her seat to the jet. Stacy leaps out of her seat and tries to reach M, but she can't quite make it. Monet tells Stacy she should have just stayed in her seat: M is, after all, invulnerable. Stacy panics and loses control, but Warren is there in time and grabs hold of her. The jet finally reaches the coast of Scotland, and it crashes down, right through the wall of a huge castle.
At Sammy's home, Xavier informs Sammy and his parents of the details of his school. After a long conversation during which the concerned questions ask about the Institute’s recent problems, Sammy is packing his bags to go. Sammy and Xavier board the Blackbird. A police officer briefly talks with Xavier and reminds him that public streets are no landing places for jets. The professor apologizes that it was an emergency situation and promises to not do it again. The officer is convinced and wishes them goodbye. Sammy, still gaping in awe at the recent events, realizes marveling over the Professor's "brain powers", though Xavier explains he would never force his will on another human being unless lives depend on it.
The Beast is waiting for them in the Blackbird, and introduces himself to the young mutant. Sammy comments on the Beast‘s looks and he wishes he would look like him, as then nobody would mess with him again. Hank is surprised to get such a reaction, but decides to take it as a compliment. Xavier reveals to Sammy that he knows about the gun hidden in his pants, and asks him to give it up. Ashamed, Sammy obeys, telling Xavier that he only brought it along because was afraid someone might find it and get hurt. The Professor tells him that he was wise to think of such a thing. He then tells Sammy to take a seat and strap himself in. While Xavier puts the gun away, the Beast asks if it had anything to do with their sudden descent onto a public street and Xavier confirms. The professor then tries to contact Warren to finish informing him about their mission.
The professor's psychic presence arrives at the crashsite at the castle, and he is horrified to see the wreckage before him. Nightcrawler lies over an airbag in the Blackbird‘s cockpit, Monet is partially buried by some debris and Wolverine has been impaled by a sharp piece of wood. Stacy is the only one conscious, and she is panicking over Warren's fallen form. She tells Xavier that Warren is not breathing, and completely loses it. The professor tells her to calm down, and that he will perform CPR through her, but she still panics and believes that the others are all dead. In shock she shuts the professor‘s mind out, shouting “Why did you send us here ?“
Xavier informs the Beast of the events in Scotland and that he can’t get Stacy to calm down. Hank advises him to stimulate her seratonin levels, but Xavier thinks that would be too much – he only wants to calm her down and not to put her to sleep. Instead he aims for the adrenal glands and from half a world away, the telepath reaches into Stacy’s mind and accomplishes to reduce her "fight or flight" impulse. He then tells her to calm down and relax, as the lives of the rest of the team depend on her. Behind Xavier, a frightened Sammy watches wide-eyed.
At the island, Stacy has calmed down enough to let Xavier take control of her body and administer CPR. Kurt stumbles out of the wreckage, and begins to help Stacy with Warren. He wonders where Monet is, and Stacy replies that she is “over there, somewhere“. As Iceman too comes around and comes out of the Blackbird’s remains, the Professor tells Kurt his reason for sending the X-Men to Scotland : he received a distress call from one of his hotlines that appeared to be legitimate. However, he now fears it may have been a trap. Kurt confirms his fears as he watches Juggernaut advance on him !
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