Above the Atlantic Ocean, aboard a passenger jet bound for Moscow, Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) daydreams, reminiscing about his early days with the X-Men. He is broken out of his reverie when his traveling companions, Logan (Wolverine) and Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler, disguised by his image inducer) return to their seats. They have joined Piotr as he travels to his homeland to pay his respects to his deceased parents. Meanwhile on the distant Siberian plain, at a Russian military camp called “Province 13â€, the director of the facility, General Sergei, walks through the halls, contemptlating his hatred for his duty. He stops to check on a playroom where six children entertain themselves, and then continues to a secured area to peer into a darkened cell, within which something shuffles. The three X-Men arrive in Moscow, and are soon en route to the village where Piotr grew up. On the way, they stop in a small village where they go to a tavern for refreshments, but the patrons inside are far from welcoming. Shortly, Piotr is facing one of the villagers, Boris, in an arm wrestling match. While everyone’s attention is on the two of them, another Russian sneaks toward the X-Men’s baggage, aiming to steal their gear, but he is spotted by Logan and Kurt. The three drop their disguises and Piotr, as Colossus, easily defeats Boris. The patrons see that the three are mutants, and Logan threatens Boris, insisting they be served. Within Province 13, Andrei and Valerie, the two guards outside the shuffling thing’s cell, check in on it, but cannot see it within, and so Andrei unlocks the door to look inside. The thing emerges from the shadows to accost Andrei, whose flesh immediately withers at its touch. Valerie rushes away from the open cell. Back at the tavern, after a brawl, Logan tosses the proprietor a roll of cash to cover damages, and the X-Men take their leave. Shortly, two soldiers from Province 13 approach the tavern, but are confronted by the grotesquely misshapen creature from the cell, and they too die at its hands. Upon getting the report of the thing’s escape, General Sergei flies into a rage and orders his men to find and return it at any cost. Later, it hides in the shadows, watching the three X-Men as they board a train for the village of Colossus’s family.
