Wanda wants to find out where her father Magneto is, so she enlists Caliban for help. She then goes to her brother Quicksilver for info. When he refuses, Wanda delivers him to the police. When the Brotherhood tries to break him out of a prison transport (as part of Magneto's offer from Gambit), Rogue and Shadowcat appear to break up their rescue operation.
Tropes included:
- Berserk Button: Evan freaks when one of the bullies pushes Rogue to the ground.
- Big "WHAT?!": Rogue and Kitty in response to learning they got detention for Skipping School.
- Bullying a Dragon:
- Kelly has no problem bluntly telling Lance that he and other Brotherhood mutants are expelled and brushing them off. Lance responds by pinning him behind his own desk.
- A couple of bullies harass Evan at school and insist they're not scared of him, only to run away when he displays his power.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Double subverted. While explaining what happened to Scott and Xavier, Rogue and Kitty fully expect to be punished for this. Xavier doesn't punish them (he even applauds them for taking initiative), but Scott says the girls got detention for skipping sixth period.
- Character Witness: When army officers are about to arrest Rogue and Kitty on assumption of them being hostile mutants, the major tells his troops to stand down and that they're free to go because Rogue saved him from being crushed by a truck during the fight between them and the Brotherhood.
- Conspiracy Theorist: The first ride that Rogue and Kitty hitch is a truck driven by a woman with an "I Brake for Aliens" sign and matching bobblehead.
- The Dreaded: When Wanda says she wants his Psychic Radar to track down Magneto, Caliban says that's not possible and walks away. Subverted in that he's not actually scared of Magneto like Wanda thinks; it's just that the guy is too advanced for him to track. Caliban has no problem helping her track Quicksilver when asked.
- Everyone Has Standards: The Major points out to Rogue and Kitty that not everyone hates mutants.
- Foreshadowing:
- Heading to school with Kurt, Evan remarks he's this close to bailing on Bayville High. He later finds himself unable to immediately retract his spikes and wonders what is happening, which hints at the Power Incontinence that will ultimately prompt him to leave the team and show.
- Wanda's increasingly drastic attempts to hunt down Magneto will force him to take action.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Gambit puts a scare into the bullies harassing Evan and Rogue because he's genuinely disgusted by bigotry directed at his fellow mutants. When Rogue encounters him afterwards and demands to know what he's up to, he simply remarks he's just passing through and walks off.
- Human Ladder: Kitty stands on Rogue so she can phase through the top of a box truck.
- I Warned You: While pursuing the Brotherhood, Kitty suggests calling Cyclops and the others, but Rogue ignores this. With all the chaos that ultimately ensues, Kitty reminds Rogue of her earlier suggestion. Twice!
- Indy Ploy: Rogue cops to doing this, as she and Kitty try to follow the Brotherhood.
- Initiation Ceremony: With the Brotherhood formally expelled, Gambit approaches them to say that Magneto is giving them a chance to join up. The test? Free Quicksilver from the custody that Wanda arranged. As a result of Rogue and Kitty, the Brotherhood fail rather spectacularly, with Quicksilver only escaping because of Kitty. Gambit remarks the boys really botched it, but he says they'll get another chance after Quicksilver whips them into shape.
- Irony:
- Just as the three Brotherhood mutants denounce Quicksilver as a traitor and want nothing to do with them, Gambit informs them that Magneto wants them to rescue the boy.
- Once put in charge of the Brotherhood, Quicksilver tells the guys to clean up the house, which is what Lance was advocating at the start of the episode.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Kelly is prejudiced against mutants, he is not wrong to expel the Brotherhood from school, given the destruction they caused during fight with the X-Men in the previous episode. Though to be fair to Lance he rightfully calls out Kelly for bringing the Brotherhood back to school in the first place just so they would fight the X-Men and get all mutants expelled.
- Lampshade Hanging:
- Toad says Quicksilver had four identical uniforms and finds that just odd.
- While Xavier commends Rogue and Kitty for taking initiative on a possible problem, he acknowledges how various responsibilities mean they can't get involved in every situation that comes up. It's essentially an acknowledgement of how not every character takes part in a given adventure or even appears at all in a given episode.
- Mundane Utility: As part of their training, Beast has the New Mutants clean mansion debris by using their various powers. Beast wishes they cleaned their own rooms with the same enthusiasm.
- Oh, Crap!: Quicksilver when he sees his sister has tracked him down.
- Only Sane Man: Though Toad and Blob are content to just goof around and party, Avalanche wants the house kept in good condition out of concern that Mystique could come back. He reminds them that she owns the house and could kick them out (thus leaving them homeless).
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When Evan grouses about how none of his school friends stood by him after mutants were outed, Kurt says he'll make new friends. Evan reminds Kurt he still wears his holo-inducer and doesn't have to deal with the kind of grief the others do. Kurt realizes he's right, gets self-conscious about his fur, and bails on going to school, at which point Evan realizes he stepped in it.
- Pet the Dog: Gambit warns the school bullies to stop messing with mutants and scares them into not telling Kelly about Evan using his powers.
- Revenge: Blob and Toad see the upside to joining Magneto's team, but Avalanche is really only in on this test for a shot at getting back at Quicksilver for his betrayal. Blob admits he can certainly see the fun in that.
- Save the Villain: Kitty saves Pietro from falling to his death while locked inside a military transport vehicle via phasing through it and grabbing him just in time as the truck plummets down the cliff’s edge and explodes. Pietro being the Jerkass that he is, tells her that she almost blew it, then he takes off.
- Skipping School: Rogue and Kitty skip their sixth period to go follow Gambit, and then to infiltrate the Brotherhood’s mission of breaking Quicksilver out of military custody. Later, both girls get detention as punishment for skipping out.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Kitty risks her life to save Quicksilver, and he responds by snarking at her. She is not pleased.
- We Will Meet Again: After Quicksilver runs off, Wanda promises to see him again.
- With Friends Like These...: Evan mentions that all the non-mutant friends he made since coming to Bayville won't stand by him now.
