At the canyons, Wolverine is riding a dirt-bike over to Nightcrawler,
Shadowcat, Rogue, Iceman and Cannonball. The girls are sitting on
four-wheelers, and the boys are on dirt-bikes. He tells them that a couple
more days and this will all be at the bottom of the new reservoir. They
partner up – Sam and Logan, Bobby and Kurt, and Kitty and Rogue. Sam winks
at Bobby, and he and Logan ride away. Bobby and Kurt leave after them, and
then the girls. Kitty can't keep up, though, and keeps bouncing around.
Rogue speeds ahead of her and Kitty, after losing sight of her, takes a
different lower trail by mistake. Rogue, above her, knocks some rocks down
as she turns, and the rocks fall in front of Kitty. Kitty falls into the
canyon. She phases through a rock and loses her four-wheeler along the way,
but manages to grab a rock. She tries pulling herself up, but the rock
breaks and she falls, this time hitting the floor.

Up on the trail, Logan and Sam are racing. Sam is very good and actually
leads most of the time. Suddenly, Logan sees the smoke from Kitty's
four-wheeler and stops, realizing that someone's has an accident.

Kitty wakes up to find an unfamiliar girl standing next to her. The girl
drags her away, just before rocks collapse on where she was. Kitty asks her
who she is, and she answers that her name is Danielle and asks Kitty if
she's okay. Kitty answers that she thinks so, and thanks her for saving her
life. Danielle says that it's nothing compared to what Kitty did – only a
mutant could dissolve through solid rock. Kitty admits she's a mutant and
asks if it matters, and Danielle says absolutely, because then she's just
like her – though Kitty's powers are way cooler. Kitty is surprised and says
that she's never seen her around before, and Danielle says that she lives in
Dark Hollow with her grandfather. The boys show up on their bikes, followed
by Rogue. Logan asks Kitty if she's alright, and she tells him she had a
guardian angel. Rogue asks what happened, and Logan says that what happened
was she left her partner.

In the Institute, Logan is unloading the dirt-bikes from the van. In
Xavier's study, Danielle tells the professor that everyone in Dark Hollow is
afraid to come near her. He says that she'll find that the Xavier Institute
offers relief from that kind of intolerance. Kitty is eavesdropping, when
Rogue walks to her and apologizes for leaving her. Kitty tells her not to
worry about it, as everything worked out, and she got to meet Danielle.
Xavier telepathically asks everyone to gather in the community room, and
Kitty drags Rogue away.

In the foyer, Sam walks to Logan and tells him he was sure surprised to see
Logan coming up short in their race earlier, but Logan answers that Sam
can't claim victory until the finish line is crossed. Sam says he doesn't
blame him for wanting a rematch, and without waiting for an answer, sets it
for afternoon the following day – loser washes the bikes. Logan asks why
he's getting the feeling he's being set up.

In the community room, the X-Men, Iceman and Cannonball are gathered. Xavier
introduces them to Danielle Moonstar – Mirage – and tells them that she has
agreed to enroll here at the Xavier Institute. Everybody's very happy to
have a new student aboard, and Kitty leads Danielle to her room, saying that
they can share a room. Wolverine asks Professor X about Danielle's powers,
and Xavier tells him she has a form of telepathy, but her emotional issues
run very deep. Logan says that a troubled girl with the power to enter other
people's minds is not a good thing. Sam runs around with Bobby on his
shoulders, and Logan asks annoyingly if they don't have a training session
or something.

On a dock, Jean is having a training session with Iceman, Cannonball,
Sunspot and Mirage. Jean says that today they'll be focusing on unforeseen
obstacles, as a storm starts, and Storm flies in the sky. Mirage gets scared
and hugs herself, eyes closed. Jean tells them that their mission is to get
their team across the river and claim the flag despite some surprises along
the way, and flies away. Iceman tells his teammates to hop on the pier -
they'll float it across. Cannonball asks if he can't just ice-bridge them
across, but Iceman says it's way too far. Sunspot powers up, pushes the dock
away from shore and prepares to jump on it, but Shadowcat phases from the
ground and phases his legs into the ground. Surprise number one: he gets
left behind. Cannonball hops to the water and starts propelling the dock
rapidly, but suddenly Nightcrawler teleports him away. Surprise number two:
a team member vanishes. Iceman says that they're close enough so he'll
bridge them over. They start running on the bridge, when suddenly lightning
breaks it and they fall to the water. Mirage panics, but Jean, Nightcrawler
and Shadowcat call her from shore, saying that she can make it. All of a
sudden, Jean starts levitating in the air uncontrollably, Nightcrawler
teleports but gets stuck in the other dimension with the monsters, and
Shadowcat phases all the way to the ground. Shadowcat opens her eyes and
looks around – she is still on the shore, and so are Jean and Nightcrawler.
Nightcrawler asks what happened, and Xavier tells them to relax and explains
that they're okay - it was just all in their head, courtesy of their newest
member. Mirage is still in the water, and seems upset.

Outside Xavier's study, Kitty arrives right as Danielle leaves, saying that
she should have known this place wouldn't be any different. Kitty asks her
what happened, and Danielle tells her that sometimes she can't control her
powers, but people get mad at her anyway. Kitty asks her why she didn't at
least warn them she could do that, and Danielle explains that it's because
nobody ever wants a freak around who brings their worst nightmares to life.
Kitty tells her she's not a freak and that things like that don't matter
there, but Danielle says the professor will want to get rid of her, just
like everyone did back home. Kitty says she's wrong and that he'd never do
that, and Danielle angrily says he better not, before walking away.

That night, Kitty is watching as Danielle is having a nightmare. Logan is
also having a nightmare – he is in the Weapon X lab again, in the green
tube. Ororo too is having a nightmare – the room is shaking and the walls
and the ceiling are closing in on her. Xavier is having a nightmare that
hundreds of Sentinels attack the Institute. He wakes up, scared, and calms
down when he realizes it was only a nightmare. Telepathically, he tells
Kitty he wants to see her downstairs. She wakes up and gets out of bed.

In the kitchen, Xavier, Ororo, Logan and Kitty are in their nightwear. Ororo
is pouring Logan a cup of tea. Kitty tells them that Danielle is sound
asleep - she probably doesn't even know what happened. He asks if she's sure
Danielle never left her bed, and she says she's sure. He sighs and tells her
to go back to bed - everything will be fine in the morning. Before leaving,
Kitty asks the professor to not be mad at Danielle. She stays eavesdropping
behind the door, and listens as Xavier tells Logan and Ororo he's not sure
what to do next, but Danielle Moonstar is a problem they need to deal with.
She returns to her room and turns off the light, which wakes up Danielle.

The following morning, Kitty wakes up to find Danielle and her bed gone. She
runs to the wardrobe, and finds that Danielle's clothes are gone to.

In the kitchen, Xavier, Logan, Scott, Jean and Kurt are having breakfast.
Kitty phases through the door and angrily asks what they've done with her.
Confused, Xavier asks who she's talking about. Kitty explains she's talking
about Danielle – she's gone, and so are her bed and clothes – where is she?
Everybody exchange looks, and Xavier says he's sorry, but they don't know a
Danielle.

In Kitty's room, Kitty is on the phone, trying to reach Danielle with no
luck. She then tries Danielle's grandfather, Black Eagle, but finds nothing.
Xavier enters and tells her there is no Danielle Moonstar - she was just
dreaming. She refuses to believe that, saying she never had a dream like
that before, but he says she's never slept this long either – she's been in
bed ever since her biking accident yesterday. She says it was so real, and
he says that with some more rest, it won't feel quite as vivid. She sighs
and gets back to bed. He exits, and Kitty goes to sleep, when suddenly she
hears Danielle calling her. She gets up and finds, to her shock, that her
entire room green and raining. She runs out to find the hallway that way
too, and Danielle keeps calling her. She keeps running, and finds Danielle,
dead looking, whispering her name and asking for help. She turns around, and
sees Danielle there too. She wakes up screaming, as the phone rings. She
picks up and, to her shock, hears Danielle on the other side of the line,
saying it's so dark and she doesn't know where she is, and asking for help.

In the kitchen, Kitty phases in, grabs Kurt and asks him where's Danielle.
He just says he thought the professor talked to her about that and that
there is no Danielle, but she stops him mid-sentence and asks why they're
all lying to her. He tells her he's telling the truth and that he doesn't
know any Danielle, and she thinks the professor must have wiped his memories
of her. She asks him to teleport her to Dark Hollow, but he says he can't –
that's too far. She asks him to get her as close as possible, and he sighs
and tells her to go get changed.

In the canyons, Logan and Sam are preparing for their rematch. Bobby holds
up two flags and tells them that the first one up to the north ridge takes
the cup, and to watch out for the obstacles. Logan asks what kind of
obstacles, but Bobby doesn't answer, and waves the flags down – they're off.
Sam is leading again, and they part to different paths. Ray shows up and
electrocutes a river in front of Sam, but Sam jumps above it. Roberto powers
up and pushes a big rock in front of Logan, blocking his path and forcing
him to turn around. Amara sends some lava streams, but he gets around them
by riding up the side of the mountain.

Nightcrawler and Shadowcat get to the town of Dark Hollow, and are shocked
to see that the place looks like an old abandoned Western town. A payphone
rings, and Kitty hurries to pick it up. On the other side of the line is
Danielle, telling Kitty that time is running out and begging for help, and
then she hangs up. Kurt asks Kitty what she's doing and she tells him the
phone rang and it was Danielle, she needs help, but Kurt thinks she's
hallucinating and says he's worried about her, as the phone line isn't even
connected. Kitty flips through the phone book, and finally finds it –
Moonstar, 760 Maggie Blue Road. They run to that address, and find an old
man in a rocking chair on the porch, Black Eagle. Kitty tells him they're
looking for the Moonstar family, but he doesn't answer. Kurt asks him what
happened to the town, and Black Eagle says they all had enough of his
granddaughter, Danielle. Now knowing for sure Danielle is real, Kitty asks
Black Eagle is she's home, but he says she isn't - she went hiking into the
canyon and never came out – two years ago.

In the canyons, Sam is ahead by just a little, as he and Logan approach the
finish line, where the New Mutants are waiting. Sam goes Cannonball, and
fails to see a rock in his path that sends him flying in the air. He lands
just before the finish line, as Logan crosses it. Sam gets up and asks if he
won, and Bobby says he won their sympathies.

Nearby, Kitty and Kurt are looking for Danielle. Kurt tells Kitty that it
doesn't make any sense, but she says she won't abandon her friend. He asks
how she can be her friend, and Kitty answers she just is and she said time
was running out. He says time is running out for them too, as the water
they're standing in is getting higher and higher. Kitty realizes that's
probably what trapped Danielle, and she thinks she knows where. They
teleport to above where Kitty's accident happened, the water now covering
it. Kurt thinks they should go get help, but Kitty dives into the water and
phases to the ground.

Logan loads the bikes on the van and tells Sam that if he hadn't gone
Cannonball on him, the race might have turned out different. Sam happily
asks if he could've won, and Logan says of course not – but it'd been close.
Kurt teleports near them and tells them they have to go help Kitty.

Kitty phases deeper and deeper into the ground, until she reaches a cavern,
where the water is rising. She looks around, until she finally finds
Danielle lying, glowing blue. She runs to her, pulls her from the water and
wakes her up. Danielle is surprised that Kitty is real and not just a dream
and Kitty says she's glad Danielle isn't a dream either. Danielle thanks her
for finding her, but Kitty tells her not to thank her yet – she can't phase
her out of there – it's too far and Danielle is too weak.

Above ground, Wolverine asks Nightcrawler if he can teleport down there, but
Kurt says he can't, since he doesn't know where there is, so Logan tells
Iceman to get the water out. Bobby ices up and freezes the water in a
whirlpool position so that there's a spot of ground left. Sam jumps and
Cannonballs to the ground, but Logan tells him they can't risk a cave-in.

Kitty comforts Danielle that the falling rocks are just signs that her
friends are trying to get them out. Danielle asks how long she's been down
there, and Kitty answers way too long and asks what she was doing there
anyway. Danielle explains that she just scaled down the fissure and it just
caved in on her. Kitty hugs her as the water continues to rise.

Magma tries lava next as a digging tool, and Nightcrawler says that it's
taking way too long.

Kitty and Danielle are now in the water all the way to their shoulders, and
they're close to the ceiling. The rock at one spot melts from Amara's lava,
and Kurt teleports down. He's shocked to see that Danielle is real, and
teleports the girls up.

In the Institute, Danielle wakes up. Kitty asks her if she's feeling better,
and she says yes. Kitty tells her that her grandfather will be there soon.
Danielle thanks her for believing, and Kitty asks how could she not believe?
When Danielle projected herself into Kitty's mind, everything was so real -
it was like they actually became friends. Danielle says they did become
friends. In the outer room, Kurt asks the professor how Danielle survived
down there. Xavier explains that Danielle's mutant abilities put her into a
form of hibernation and she connected with Kitty through some kind of
out-of-body experience – a psychic connection that made for a most unusual
friendship.