In the present, X-Factor and new members Longshot and Darwin are battling Cortex, an agent of the Summers Rebellion era government. Cortex briefly controls Shatterstar and M, using them to respectively make assassination attempts on Reverend John Maddox and an X-Factor client. Cortex grabs Longshot, trying to also control him, and realizes he and Shatterstar are connected, and when Cortex loses control over Monet, she attacks him and his hood falls back revealing that he is the second Jamie Madrox duplicate from "Messiah Complex".