Description

That Man, Wolverine!.While Wolverine and Sabretooth are staring each other down (with Iron Man reluctantly standing back), they are interrupted by three Destroyers being D-Smashed onto the scene. Seeing as how he wouldn't allow anyone to interrupt his rampage, Sabretooth obliterates one of the Destroyers and sets off after Ōkuma and Riley. Thor advises the Avengers and Wolverine to go all out, since the Destroyers are lifeless husks. Sabretooth threatens Riley since she intervened, but Ōkuma and Manino D-Secure him, noticing that the DISK changed shape due to his mutant nature. Back on the battle scene, the Avengers take down one Destroyer while Wolverine takes down the other with some help from his healing factor. A safe distance away, Iron Man apologizes for what happened to Cyclops and offers Wolverine to join the DISK-securing effort. Wolverine responds with the story of the Sentinels, robots designed by humans to hunt mutants. Wolverine sees the DISKs as the new Sentinels. Pepper tries to explain that history wouldn't repeat itself, but Cyclops had already considered that in the past and had since become living proof that it was false. (Professor X, on the other hand, had stated that changing that was the whole point of the X-Men.) Akira asked why mutants were considered any different than the Avengers, and Tony supported his views on how it was unjustified. That night, Noriko had another dream (she dozed off into one earlier that day) and in that dream she encountered the astral projection of Professor X and abruptly woke up. This distracts her the next day, as she tries to keep up with some tutoring from Hikaru, who she feels enamored to. After a walk, Noriko asks Hikaru if he knows anything about the rumored kids who are supposedly summoning the Avengers. When Hikaru doesn't reply, Noriko asks him to escort her home and keep her safe...after a night on the town. Back at the base, while everyone else is excited about getting take-out, Captain America watches Chris practice boxing in a mirror, as more memories of Bucky are stirred. Chris told the Captain that he knew all about Bucky from Ed, and the Captain requested some time alone to think. In the city, Hikaru is escorting Noriko home when they encounter a gang mugging in progress. As they approach, the target of the mugging escapes and Hikaru repels one of the gang member's lunges. When Hikaru is distracted, though, the gang members overwhelm him, eventually forcing Hikaru to the ground. Seeing Hikaru about to get seriously hurt, Noriko reflexively produces a bioelectric field that lashes around the entire area, sapping all electricity within a short distance. Noriko immediately became horrified with what just happened, and the gang runs off. Professor X once more reaches out to Noriko, introducing himself as an ally and stating that she is in fact a mutant. Wolverine then comes out of the shadows, confirming the Professor's words and explaining more, such as the nature of her mutant powers and that he wants to take her back to the Xavier Institute with him.