At a storage depot, two guards were arguing about the heat.

"Can you believe this heat?" One asked.

"It's not the heat; it's the humidity." Another clarified.

"There you go again." The first guard complained. "Every night the same thing! I say heat, you say humidity."

"Yeah, well, it's true." The second guard said.

"It's midnight, and it's still ninety-seven degrees." The first guard said. "That, to me, is heat."

As they were talking, a man made of ice was standing outside the gate. The security camera was turning back and forth before it was frozen solid.

"Yeah, but it's the humidity that's making you uncomfortable." The second guard said.

The man then used his ice powers to reveal the infrared lasers.

"No, the humidity just makes me wet. You are making me uncomfortable." The first guard insisted.

"You're just bored." The second guard replied.

"Bored?" The first guard asked. "Guarding an empty warehouse? I just can't take the..." He started shivering as the temperature dropped drastically. "Say it's getting cold in here."

The door was then frozen before it was smashed open by the intruder. The Iceman froze the two guards, but one of them managed to hit the alarm button.

"Just as I thought." Xavier said as he was fixing something in the War Room. "A faulty AE-35 unit. We'll need a replacement."

"No prob!" Jubilee said. "I'll just hop in one of the mini-jets and pick up a spare at the..."

"Jubilee." Xavier said sternly.

Jubilee frowned. "Busted."

"You know you're not authorized to fly the mini-jet solo." Xavier reminded her.

"But I'm ready!" Jubilee argued.

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Not according to your simulator tests. Jubilee, you can't keep acting like some impulsive child."

Jubilee folded her arms. "Well, maybe if you'd stop treating me like one."

Xavier put his hand to his ear. "I didn't catch that."

"Attention." Cerebro informed. "I am registering violent mutant activity. Scanning federal satellite transmissions to corroborate." It showed the location that was being attacked.

"What type of installation is that?" Xavier asked.

"Property is identified as a federal storage depot." Cerebro told him. "Restricted access."

"Can you determine the nature of the attacking mutant's powers?" Xavier asked the computer.

"Formation and manipulation of ice." Cerebro stated.

"But Storm's in Africa." Jubilee said.

"And Cerebro didn't pick up an ectoplasmic signature, so it's not Danny either." Xavier processed.

Cerebro then showed an image of the iceman. "Mutant has been identified." The image of the iceman changed to that of a man wearing an X-Men uniform.

Xavier recognized the person. "That's Bobby."

"Robert Drake." The computer said. "Also known as Iceman."

Danny had managed to get some sleep without Rogue by his side, who was on a mission, when he heard Xavier's voice in his head.

"X-Men! Assemble at the Blackbird at once!"

Danny grumbled as he got out of bed. "Whoever is responsible for this is so going to pay."

Beast, Wolverine, Danny, and Cyclops were getting on the Blackbird.

"Professor, what's our situation?" Cyclops asked.

"I'll explain once we're airborne." Xavier answered.

"This better be good." Wolverine grumbled. "I destroyed my alarm clock by accident, and if I don't get a full night's sleep, I'm cranky all day."

Danny snorted. "First of all, welcome to my world when I was on my own back at Amity Park. Over there, getting a full night's sleep was a luxury. Second, you're cranky no matter how much sleep you get."

Wolverine growled.

"And you've proven my point." Danny said.

"Mansion's all locked up." Jubilee told the professor. "Let's jet!"

"No, Jubilee." Xavier said. "You stay here and prepare the infirmary in case we need it."

"But..." Jubilee was about to protest when Xavier put his foot down.

"That's an order, young lady."

"Just do what he says, Jubilee." Danny told her. "Then get some sleep; trust me, you'll thank me for it later."

"You heard your brother." Xavier then got on the Blackbird with Danny.

"The infirmary?" Jubilee complained. "What am I, a candy striper?"

"It's just like before." Cyclops said to Xavier heatedly as they were flying the Blackbird. "The guy is trouble."

"He's an X-Man." Xavier stated calmly.

"Was." Cyclops retorted.

"What are we up against with this Iceman?" Wolverine asked.

"We're not against him, Wolverine." Xavier said.

"That's not what Cyclops says." Danny replied. "So we're with him?"

"Of course not!" Xavier denied. "He's destroying federal property!"

"So we're against him?" Danny asked.

"Of course not!"

"So we're with him?"

"Of course not!"

"So we're against him?"

"Of course not!"

"So we're with him?"

"Of course not!"

"So we're against him?"

"Of course not!"

"So we're with him?"

"Of course not!"

"So we're against him?"

"Of course not!"

"So we're with him?"

"Of course not!"

"So we're against him?"

"Of course not!"

"So we're with him?"

"Of course not!"

"Well, that clears everything up." Danny said sarcastically.

"Bobby was one of the original X-Men." Beast told him. "Until he left."

"Left? As in, he quit or was kicked out?" Danny asked curiously.

Xavier sighed. "Bobby was difficult. Always up to mischief. But never like this."

"You always made excuses for him!" Cyclops ranted. "You'd never let the rest of us get away with half the things he did! I'm not surprised Drake's gone bad. He's a renegade!"

"Shit." Danny whispered to Wolverine. "Not even you made Scott this pissed."

Wolverine nodded in agreement.

Beast tried to defend his former teammate. "Renegade? No. Free-spirited, perhaps."

"There you go again, coddling him." Scott snapped. He then pointed at Danny. "Danny's free-spirited, but unlike Drake, you don't see him disobeying orders left and right."

"And you are being intransigent!" Beast replied.

"What does that word mean?" Danny whispered again to Wolverine.

"I think he means that Scott's being a dick." Wolverine answered.

"Listen to me!" Xavier interjected. "I don't know what Bobby's up to. But I do not want him harmed. He's in enough trouble as it is."

The Blackbird then landed outside the storage depot as Scott gave his orders.

"Alright, split up." Scott said. "We grab Iceman, and we get clear without taking on those soldiers."

"Hey, if there's one thing we ghosts know how to do, it's to stay invisible." Danny turned invisible as he went to look for Iceman.

"Now if only Iceman could be like that." Scott said regarding Danny's compliance.

Iceman was dealing with some soldiers when he made an ice wall to block their projectiles. He then hid at the back of a building. He then shifted back to his primary form.

"Whoa!" Bobby said. "This is getting way too hot for me."

"I see you have retained your engaging sense of humor." Beast said as he hung upside down from a lamppost.

"Beast!" Bobby greeted him. "What's up, besides you? Wait a minute." Bobby realized Beast was here because of Xavier. "Xavier sent you!"

"Professor Xavier was concerned for your safety." Beast said.

"I don't want his help!" Bobby asserted as he turned back into his ice form. "Or yours!" He blasted Beast into a stacked pile of boxes.

Iceman then created a trail of ice that he was riding before Wolverine tackled him.

"Ok, pal, you come easy, or I get to make cocktail ice for a hundred." Wolverine threatened.

Iceman froze Wolverine's entire body, except for his head.

"Sorry, pal." Iceman said. "You're..." He stopped as his eyes glowed green. "Completely right in the fact that I should go with you guys." He turned back to his primary form, and his eyes stopped glowing.

Bobby rubbed his head. "Why do I feel like going with you guys even though I don't want to?"

Danny turned visible and phased Wolverine out of his icy prison.

"Nice work, Danny." Cyclops praised. He glared at Bobby. "You have no right to wear that uniform!"

"It appears we have overstayed our welcome." Beast said as he came up to them. Guards were starting to surround them as they aimed their guns.

"Something tells me this ain't your run-of-the-mill storage depot." Wolverine commented.

"Everyone grab onto me!" Danny ordered. When they did, he turned them all invisible and intangible as they made their way back to the Blackbird.

The next day, Xavier was interrogating Bobby back at the institute.

"I insist you tell me what you were doing at that government complex!"

Bobby refused to disclose his purpose for being there. "I have nothing to say to you!"

"We probably saved your life last night!" Xavier remarked.

"Nobody asked you to." Bobby said.

"He may not have wanted our help." Danny muttered.. "But he clearly needed it."

"What's with those two?" Jubilee asked. "I've never seen the professor so angry."

"It's a surrogate father-son dynamic, with unresolved issues of dominance." Beast explained.

Jubilee didn't understand. "Beast. In English?"

"Bobby likes to question authority." Wolverine simplified.

"Well, that's better than my theory." Danny said. "I thought it was that Drake made too many bald jokes to the professor's face."

Scott had it with Bobby's attitude. "You owe the professor an explanation."

"Why?" Bobby contended. "Last time I checked, I've flunked out of this loony bin."

"You didn't flunk." Xavier clarified. "You chose to leave."

"I chose to think for myself instead of always playing the good soldier boy." Bobby returned as he glanced at Scott.

"Ooh, them fighting words." Wolverine stated.

"Don't push me, Drake." Scott warned. "I push back."

"Nice comeback, Scott." Danny murmured with sarcasm.

"Anytime, apple polisher." Bobby challenged. "I'm right here."

"Stop it!" Xavier rebuked. "Both of you!" He turned to Bobby. "Are you going back to that compound?"

"Maybe." Bobby admitted.

"I cannot condone..."

"It's my life!" Bobby cut the professor off. "I'm not one of your students anymore. You can't tell me what to feel and who to fight. You can't send me to detention hall."

"On the contrary." Xavier got in his path. "Until you prove that you are no danger to yourself or to others, that's exactly where you're going." He pressed a button on his chair as Bobby was trapped in an energy field.

"Hey, what is this?" Bobby demanded as he floated off the ground.

Jubilee was shocked. "That's new."

"Let me down." Bobby ordered.

Beast explained the device to Jubilee. "A gravity-suspension device I recently constructed, using technology gleaned from the Shi'ar craft found in the Morlock Tunnels. It is designed to promote healing. I see it also serves another function."

"You don't understand!" Bobby said. "I've got to get back to that depot!"

"Bobby, tell us why." Xavier requested. "Trust me."

"Trust you?" Bobby said in disbelief. "I tried that once. I can't trust any of you. Let me out of here!"

Jubilee was searching through Cerebro for more information on Bobby.

"Searching for data." Cerebro said. "Subject, Iceman."

Jubilee shushed the machine, not wanting anyone to know she was doing this. "Shh! Cut the volume down, will you?"

"What are you doing?" Danny asked.

Too late; she was already busted.

"I'm looking for information about Bobby." Jubilee said shyly.

Danny sighed before turning to Cerebro. "What do you have for us, Cerebro?"

Cerebro showed the original members of the X-Men, which were Cyclops, Beast, Jean, Angel, and Iceman.

"Huh, I didn't know Archangel used to be part of the X-Men." Danny said in surprise. He then noticed the yellow uniforms they were wearing. "Thank God, Xavier decided to change the uniforms."

"Drake, Robert, second member of X-Men." Cerebro said. "Recruited by Xavier at age sixteen. High potential. Low discipline."

"And seriously cute." Jubilee added.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Oh, give me a break."

Bobby was trying to get out of his prison, but to no avail.

Beast came in holding a tray of food. "Food for the flesh and the spirit."

"My spirit and I aren't hungry." Bobby said.

"Your attack on that compound suggests that you hunger for something." Beast pointed out. "Revenge perhaps? Or information."

Jubilee was secretly eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I'm sorry, Hank." Bobby apologized. "I can't tell you."

"By the way, where's Lorna?" Beast asked.

"This has nothing to do with Lorna!" Bobby snapped.

"Who's Lorna?" Jubilee asked herself.

Beast tried to reason with his old friend. "Bobby, I was your friend. I was then, I am now. Please tell me what happened."

"I tried doing what Xavier wanted." Bobby explained. "It was never enough to please him. Then, after we nearly lost Lorna, I took off. And Lorna came with me."

He had a look of nostalgia on his face. "I got a job. We lived like normal people. We weren't trying to fight the entire world. We were young and very much in love."

His smile then turned into a frown. "And then the arguments began. Always about our powers and our duty to use them in the fight for mutants' rights. Lorna sounded more and more like Xavier. But I still loved her. One day, I came by her apartment. She was gone. The place was a wreck. My only lead was a scrap of paper with the name Kirby Glen."

"The location of that storage depot!" Beast realized.

"I think the government grabbed Lorna." Iceman theorized.

"Bummer." Jubilee said quietly.

"Hank, get me out of here." Bobby pleaded.

"Let go of the past." Beast requested. "Xavier wants to help you. But first, you must trust him."

"I can't." Bobby said.

"That's a pity, old friend." Beast said as he turned to leave. "Without trust, the world can be a lonely place."

Jubilee moved out of the way, so Beast didn't see her.

"Yes, it can." Bobby said before the energy field disappeared. "Huh?"

Beast was walking out when he realized he forgot to leave a book for Bobby. "The book!" He headed back into the room. "Bobby, I forgot to give you..." He saw that Bobby was gone. "Oh, no."

Jubilee was observing the compound through a pair of binoculars.

"Perfect." Bobby said. "They'll never expect us to hit them again so soon."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Jubilee cautioned.

Bobby wasn't deterred. "I don't care. I'm going in." He turned into his ice form. "Stay put!"

"No way!" Jubilee protested.

Iceman tried to shush her. "Would you keep it down?"

"I was good enough to help you back at the mansion; I'm good enough to help you here." Jubilee said.

"You're right." Iceman conceded. "Let's go."

"So, wait up!" Jubilee followed him as they approached the gate.

Iceman pointed at the camera. "Nail that camera."

Jubilee destroyed it with her powers.

Iceman then froze the fence before smashing it. "Let's go!"

Jubilee was impressed by his powers. Danny didn't really use his ice powers that often. "Cool!"

"Told you, this is a piece of cake." Bobby said.

"And we're the crumbs!" Jubilee cried when they came face-to-face with a group of people in uniforms.

One of them blasted the two with energy from his hands, knocking them out.

"Excellent work." A familiar voice said. "Take them inside."

"When I get my hands on Drake, he's gonna be sorry he took Jubilee." Cyclops raged.

Xavier felt guilty over this. "It's my fault. I should have found a way to reach him."

"I have a feeling that Jubilee had something to do with his escape." Danny said.

"Yes." Beast agreed. "She may have overheard my exchange with Bobby and had sympathy for his dilemma."

"This is Drake's fault, not yours." Cyclops said to the professor. "He has no respect for anyone! Give him an order; he ignores it."

"Scott, losing Bobby has made me realize that sometimes good leadership is knowing when not to give orders." Xavier said.

"Don't worry. I won't say I told you so." Wolverine quipped.

They landed the Blackbird and found the mini-jet that Jubilee and Bobby took. They also found a fence with a hole in it.

"Bobby's handiwork." Cyclops confirmed. He activated his communicator. "We're going in, professor."

"Keep this channel open." Xavier requested back at the Blackbird. "Good luck."

The X-Men were spotted by a security camera.

"Attention, security guards." The familiar voice from before spoke over the monitors. "Pull back. Do not confront the intruders. Leave them for us."

The man turned out to be Forge.

Jubilee woke up and found herself and Bobby tied to a couple of chairs. She looked around and saw a crate that said Mutant Project.

"Mutant project?" She read. "That sounds gross!"

Bobby groaned. "You wouldn't happen to have an aspirin the size of a bus, would you?"

"Sorry. Left it in my other purse." Jubilee said cynically. She tried to use her powers to escape, but the gauntlets on her hands blocked them. "These metal mittens block my powers. Somebody really did their homework."

"Yeah?" Bobby turned into his ice form and used his powers to break out. "Guess they forgot to read the chapter about me." He then released Jubilee. "Let's go." They reached the exit. "Time to kiss this door goodbye!"

Wolverine burst through the door and tackled Iceman.

"You!" Iceman cried.

"You!" Wolverine returned.

The other X-Men then came in.

"Jubilee!" Danny scolded. "How could you help this guy escape?"

"Because he needed us!" Jubilee argued. "The professor and the rest of you guys were too busy condemning him to notice it!"

"That's ridiculous!" Cyclops claimed.

"No, Cyclops." Xavier said over the communicator. "Jubilee is right. I fell back into my old role as Bobby's disapproving headmaster. I should have found a new role as his friend."

"Hate to bust up the therapy session, but your hour is up!" A new voice said.

The X-Men were confronted by a team of mutants. The leader, who was the one who knocked out Jubilee and Iceman, fired a blast from his hands at the X-Men, who jumped out of the way.

"Who the heck are they?" Wolverine demanded.

"Let's move!" Cyclops said.

One was approaching them at superspeed, with Jubilee blinding him with her powers.

"I got one!" She cheered. She then noticed his appearance. He was in blue spandex and had white hair. "Looks like he ripped off your hairdo, Danny."

She and Iceman were then followed by a big, buff man who kept chasing them.

Cyclops was confronting the leader of the group.

"Nice uniform, pal." The leader quipped.

"I don't like your attitude." Cyclops replied.

The leader blasted Cyclops, but it didn't affect him. Cyclops fired his optic blast, but it didn't hurt the other guy either.

"Cyclops, do you read me?" Xavier said back at the Blackbird. "Cyclops!"

"I don't understand." Cyclops said, referring to both of them being immune to each other's powers.

"What gives?" The leader was also confused.

Beast was up against a short-haired, redheaded woman. "I do not believe we have been introduced." The woman then turned into a werewolf.

Beast's eyes widened. "Oh, dear."

The werewolf tackled Beast, as the buff guy was still chasing Iceman.

"Yo, tiny!" Iceman called. "Time for you to chill!" He froze the buff man.

Jubilee was still dealing with the speedster, who kept running in circles around her.

"Stand still, will you?" She said irritably. She was then lifted up in a whirlwind he made. "Hey! Cut that out!"

Wolverine felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see a man dressed in green.

"Go on." He stuck his head out. "Take your best shot."

"It's your face, pal." Wolverine replied before a duplicate of the man appeared. "What's this, a two-for-one sale?"

More duplicates of the man appeared. "No. It's more like a baker's dozen!" They all dogpiled Wolverine.

"I must do something to end this." Xavier said as he left the Blackbird.

Danny looked around as none of the other mutants tried to make a move at him. He saw everyone else struggling and shrugged.

"Well, here we go." Danny turned invisible and tripped up the speedster, sending him flying into a pile of crates. He then caught Jubilee in his arms.

He appeared behind the duplicate men and summoned his own copies.

"Nice trick; you also do parties?" Danny quipped as he and his doubles dealt with the copies.

Danny then sent a strong ecto-blast at the buff man before sending another at the leader, knocking both mutants down. He then got in front of the werewolf before she could hurt Beast.

"Down, girl!" Danny ordered. "Don't eat that; he's a scholar." He blasted her.

Xavier came in and saw that Danny had dealt with all the opponents. He smiled. "I'm glad we have you on the team."

"Well, it looks like you had these guys figured." Iceman said to Danny.

"Yeah." Wolverine praised. "Not bad."

Iceman interrogated the buff man. "Alright, where's Lorna Dane?"

"She's right here." Forge said as he appeared with Lorna by his side.

"Lorna!" Bobby went to Lorna, who was wearing a uniform like the other mutants.

"Bobby, I..." Lorna stopped, as she saw the injured leader. "Havok!" She flew to his side. "Are you all right?" She hugged him.

Bobby looked on, heartbroken. He had been replaced.

"Bobby, I'm sorry." Xavier said sympathetically.

"Professor Charles Xavier." Forge greeted. "I am Forge." He pointed to the leader. "That is Havok." He gestured to the duplicate man. "Multiple Man." Then the buff guy. "Strong Guy." The speedster. "Quicksilver." And finally, the werewolf. "Wolfsbane. We are a mutant team recently formed under the auspices of the federal government."

"What do you mean?" Xavier inquired. "I work closely with the government in this area. I have been told of no such program!"

"You, above all people, can appreciate our need for secrecy." Forge pointed out.

"Great." Wolverine grumbled. "Now they're hiring mutants to wipe out other mutants."

"Not so." Forge said. "We want to make the world safe for all mutants. Yourselves included."

"Why did you attack us?" Xavier asked.

"You broke into our training camp." Forge stated. "I must admit we did not warn you. I thought a friendly little skirmish with the X-Men might teach us a few pointers." He looked at Danny. "Didn't count on one of your students beating the entire team."

Wolverine flashed his claws in annoyance. "I got your pointers, right here."

"What are you doing here?" Bobby asked Lorna.

"Forge recruited me in Seattle because of my experience with the X-Men." Lorna answered. "The way you felt, you would've tried to stop me. So we faked my own disappearance."

"Why didn't you tell me later?" Bobby demanded. "Let me know something."

"I needed to start over, without the X-Men." Lorna said. "Without you."

"I would have come." Bobby said. "I would have..." He stopped as he realized that he wouldn't and that he still wanted to live a normal life.

"When I joined X-Factor, I also fell in love with Havok." Lorna said. "Havok and I are fighting to make things better for mutants. I'm using my powers to help people who need me. You've lost touch with that, Bobby. And when you did, I lost touch with what I loved about you. I'm sorry."

"You'll get over it." Iceman replied as he went to leave.

Jubilee saw him leaving. "Professor?" She was about to ask him what was going to happen to Bobby when she got an idea and raced after him.

"Bunch of rookies." Wolverine commented to the members of X-Factor.

"Some other time." Cyclops said to Havok.

"I'm counting on it." Havok replied.

"Likewise." Forge added.

Back at the institute, Jubilee was trying to beg Iceman not to leave. "Don't go!"

"Yes, Bobby." Xavier agreed. "Perhaps we should all try again."

"Rejoin the X-Men?" Bobby said. "Nothing's changed, professor. By this afternoon, I'd be driving you crazy."

"Come on!" Jubilee tried to convince him to stay. "I like having someone around who can get into trouble instead of me!"

"Hey, thanks, kid." Bobby thanked. "You're ok. I'm counting on you to keep this big shot on his toes after I'm gone." He pointed at Scott before leaving on his ice slide.

"Think we'll see him again?" Jubilee asked.

"I can only hope." Xavier replied.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Scott hopes not." Danny said.

This made them all laugh, including Scott.