Several hours earlier, Jamie met Josef Huber at the Power Plant. Jamie is a little surprised that Huber knows who he is, but the Isolationist quotes that Daily Bugle headline when Madrox stood up against the Registration Act a few issues ago. Huber says it takes a true patriot to say 'no' to his government, and to speak truth to power. He sits, and Jamie remembers back to that detective dupe who got himself killed in Chicago. The dupe told Jamie that he had figured everything out, that he saw patterns where everyone else saw chaos. The dupe said he knew about 'uber'. Uber? Huber? Madrox thinks the coincidence is too close for comfort, even if his dupe was drunk. Huber says that Madrox seems distracted and asks if he's engaged in a little internal monologue. Jamie is surprised again that Huber would know that, and the Isolationist says he knows a little something about internal voices. Madrox asks why Huber is there, and Huber explains that he has an idea how to save the remaining mutants. Huber wants to have the government declare the remaining 198 mutants to be an endanger species.

In Nashville, Tennessee, Siryn and Monet have found the twins Wally and Molly. They're at an anti-mutant concert and Monet says that the kids' parents should be taken out and shot for doing this to their children. Someone in the crowd hears her and asks if she's a mutant hugger. Monet says that she's shagged a few, and the guy asks what mutants have to do with carpets. Siryn interrupts and uses her new hypnotic voice powers to convince the guy to go buy her an expensive Persian rug. Monet likes Siryn's new cruelty, and together they go use those powers to sneak backstage. Only someone seems to have spotted them and knows they are mutants. Monet is a little upset that they don't get to punch their way in, but Siryn says that using her powers to persuade the parents will be easiest. That's when Siryn gets shot in the head by a sniper. The bullet only glances off her head, knocking her out, and Monet rushes to her side. She calls out the sniper to fight, but then someone who can turn invisible sneaks up behind her and puts a chloroform rag to her mouth, knocking her out.

Back at X-Factor, Rahne seems to be suffering some doubt after hooking up with Rictor. She finds him working out in the gym, and he seems to be in a much better mood, even giving Rahne a little pet name of endearment. Rahne admits that she felt sorry for Rictor, but he doesn't have a problem with that if that's how she wants to justify her actions to herself. Rahne says that she wasn't justifying anything, that she's not ashamed. Rictor thinks that a part of her is, because she was operating entirely on instinct when she jumped his bones, and instinct is where her wolf side lives. Rictor says that she still hates that part of herself, and won't shut up when Rahne tells him too. That's when she kisses him again, rather passionately. She even jumps up on him, causing Rictor to stumble backwards and fall down. Ruining the moment, Guido's voice rings out looking for Rahne. She answers him, and Guido says that she and Rictor need to come downstairs because Jamie called a meeting. Rahne also tells Guido that Layla went out for a walk, and she hasn't seen Nicole. Rictor tells Rahne to go down without him, he'll be right along. It turns out that Rahne accidentally ripped the back of his shirt when she jumped him, and there are claw marks on his back. There's also a small track of Terrigen Crystals going down Rictor's spine.

Monet and Siryn are tied up in a dark room. Siryn is bound and gagged in a chair, and Monet is chained to the floor. Monet is cracking angry jokes, about how Siryn is Irish and is supposed to be lucky. That's when their captors show up, and Monet asks what the chains are made of. That way, when she's strangling the two men with the chains, she can say, "You idiot! Don't you know these chains are made of..." The guy says he won't be telling Monet what the chains or, or what their names are. He says that Monet shouldn't be so mouthy, considering that he could have killed them both while they were unconscious. Monet demands their names, asking if they're only fearless when they've drugged her. The two men are shown, and the one who has been talking introduces himself as Solo. His silent associate is Clay, the white-haired and tattooed man from the MadroX mini series. Solo explains that his armored suit protected him from Monet's strength, and it also has light-refractive capabilities. Monet continues with the attitude, and tells the men that her actions have court-approval. Solo says that he only cares about his paycheck, and that if they come around again then Solo will kill them. He and Clay leave.

In New York, Huber has explained his endangered species idea to Guido and Rahne. Huber says that mutants can be declared a separate species, and there's a quick joke about just how many mutants are left. Guido mentions that Siryn still thinks that Banshee is alive, so not everybody agrees on the number 198. Madrox and Rahne look rather uncomfortable with Guido's joke. Rictor shows up and Huber introduces himself, then slaps Rictor on the back as a sign of camaraderie. Rictor barely hides the pain that caused, and Jamie notices that Rahne is asking rather weird. Then he figures out what's going on between the two of them, and he settles back in his chair with a smirk on his face. But he then turns his focus back on Huber and asks about this 'sanctuary' the guy was talking about. Huber says that if the government declares mutants an endangered species, then they'll have to set up a protected safe haven for mutants. There's even a chance that the Endangered Species Act could protect mutant superheroes, and maybe that could be used to overturn the Super Human Registration Act! Madrox is a little hesitant, this sounds like a stretch. Huber says that the flat-backed turtle is protected, just like the black-footed ferret and the grand skink. Shouldn't mutants be accorded at least as much respect as a skink?

Guido says that depends. You should see some of the skinks he's dated. Rictor and Rahne move away from him, and Guido grumbles about how people used to have a sense of humor.

Meanwhile, Monet manages to break out of her chains. She smashes down the door to their cell, only it turns out they were being held in a shack in the middle of the desert.

The Isolationist begins hearing voices again, including Monet's, and it's giving him a noticeable headache. Madrox asks if anything is wrong, and Huber hits him when he tells him to get away. A duplicate is formed, one who has some medical knowledge and says that Huber is suffering from a migraine. Huber takes some of his pills and says that it's nothing he can't handle. In Central Park, Layla Miller went for a walk with the pregnancy test from last issue. She's surprised when Nicole suddenly shows up, and Layla says that she's getting pretty tired of having another creepy little girl around. Nicole asks what Layla's going to do about the pregnancy test. Layla says she doesn't know, and asks Nicole what she thinks. Nicole says that she thinks Mr. Huber wants Layla to die. She smashes Layla in the face with a large rock, then pushes her off the bridge into the water below. Nicole then uses the rock to smash the little white pregnancy test, and throws both into the water.

Madrox muses that perhaps everything comes down to 'might makes right.' Evolution is survival of the fittest, after all. That may sound pragmatic, but if you're strong, you wind up being right because of the simplest reason of all: there's no one left to say you're wrong.

Review: The conflict ratchets up another notch or two as the new X-Factor storylines begin to play out, and I'm glad to see they're more focused on the characters involved than the conflict itself. Siryn and Monet have the most interesting case by far, and it's gotten off to just an acceptable start. We haven't really gotten into the meat of the story, we've only been introduced to the chief antagonists, more on them later. Like most non-Aryan, racially-unbiased individuals, at least I assume, I had never heard of Prussian Blue until this storyline, and more knowledgeable comic bloggers pointed it out. It is a fantastically weird concept and I think it's just wonderful that PAD would tackle it in a mutant context. I am honestly more interested in seeing how X-Factor deals with the Purity Singers than I am in seeing the Uncanny X-Men battle the new, randomly-assembled Morlocks. That is one of the great directions of X-Factor: tackling real world-like mutant problems instead of playing super hero like the other teams.

It's also evident in how Madrox and the gang deal with the Isolationist. They bring him back to HQ and have a meeting, they hear him out, even though his idea is a little off-kilter. I assume they will eventually be a fight, but it's not the first response. I'm glad for that. Even when Siryn and Monet fight their opponents, it's not a fight. It's just a kidnapping, though, again, I assume they will eventually come to blows. And how great are Solo and Clay? For anyone who read the MadroX series, the reappearance of Clay is big news. Even though the Purity Singers and Movement don't seem to be tied to anything else yet, it's rather obvious since he's involved. Thanks to his apparently Madrox-like powers, and the cryptic messages he gave Jamie in the earlier series, there's more to Clay than we know and it might finally be time to find out. I like the use of Solo just because he's a real character, instead of PAD creating some new, generic mercenary type. It's one of those fun C-list cameos that fans of the character can adore. Madrox used to be that type of character, just a third-string mutant who popped up from time to time. Look at him now.

The rest of the story bits are nicely intriguing. The Isolationist's idea is just crazy enough to be considered, Rictor with the Terrigen Crystals could only lead to very good drama and we all know that Layla isn't dead. So for an issue that just moves the story along, as opposed to concluding anything, this issue did a wonderful job of making each story and character worth reading about.