The X-Men intervene to save innocents from a raging fire after an unknown arsonist sets flame to a Manhattan hospital. Meanwhile, a disguised Magneto places the fate of humanity in the hands of an average man name William Jones. Bill is investigating the freakish building collapse of the Center for Humanitarian Excellence in Los Angeles, which is suspected to be the work of mutants. Magneto, posing as a board member, engages Bill in conversation.

While Storm strikes an uneasy truce with the response teams outside of the hospital, Magneto manipulates his partner to declare his hatred of mutants. When Bill proves to be more tolerant than Magneto expected, Magneto reveals himself and lashes out violently to inspire the fear and hatred he sought.

Elsewhere, purple sentinel-esque automatons descend on the magnetic north pole on an unknown mission.

Having perverted his supposedly objective experiment in human nature to his own ends, Magneto whisks away to meet his cadre of robots at the magnetic north pole - instructing them to gather his army to sweep humanity from the face of the planet!