We're not going back. I've seen what is going to become of our lives. I've seen everything that gets us to this point. I'm not having it. No. We go back, and Charles Xavier, you said it, Charles Xavier will read our minds and know what Hank did here, and he will mind-wipe all of this from us. We'll never know that no matter what we do in the course of our lives as X-Men... we end up in torture and disaster. And disaster. All of us. Everything we're going to go back and fight for ends in my death, Charles Xavier dying, and Scott becoming everything he says he despises... and if that's the way it's going to be, if that's our destiny, then we have to make sure it was worth it. We have to right things here. We have to do what we set out to do. We put things the way they're supposed to be, and then we go back. Xavier can mind-wipe the hell out of us. Hell, I'll do it myself. 
- —Past Jean Grey to the X-Men
Appearing in 1st story
Featured Characters:
- X-Men
- Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde)
- Iceman (Bobby Drake)
- Beast (Dr. Hank McCoy) (Main story and flashback) (New mutated form)
- Wolverine (Logan) (Main story and flashback)
- Storm (Ororo Munroe) (Main story and flashback)
- Warbird (Ava'Dara Naganandini)
- Lockheed
- Doop
- Students
- X-Men (Past) (Joins)
- Beast (Hank McCoy) (Past)
- Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) (Past)
- Cyclops (Scott Summers) (Past)
- Iceman (Bobby Drake) (Past)
- Angel (Warren Worthington III) (Past)
- Glob Herman (Robert Herman)
- Anole (Victor Borkowski)
- Shark-Girl (Iara Dos Santos)
- Genesis (Evan Sabahnur)
- Oya (Idie Okonkwo)
- Kid Omega (Quentin Quire)
- No-Girl (Martha Johansson)
- Rockslide (Santo Vaccarro)
- Three-In-One (Stepford Cuckoos)
- X-Men (Past) (Joins)
- X-Men (Extinction Team)
- Cyclops (Scott Summers) (Main story and flashback)
- Emma Frost
- Magik (Illyana Rasputin)
- Magneto (Erik Magnus Lehnsherr) (Main story and flashback)
Supporting Characters:
- Eva Bell
- Christopher Muse
- Benjamin Deeds (Name revealed)
Antagonists:
- Rama-Tut (Nathaniel Richards) (Only in flashback)
- Hellfire Club (Only in flashback)
- Sebastian Shaw (Only in flashback)
- Harold Leland (Only in flashback)
- Donald Pierce (Only in flashback)
- Jason Wyngarde (Only in flashback)
- Apocalypse (Only in flashback) (Merged with Cyclops)
- Goblin Queen (Madelyne Pryor) (Only in flashback)
- Onslaught (Only in flashback)
- Xorn (Kuan-Yin) (Only in flashback) (Impersonating Magneto; under Sublime's control)
Other Characters:
- Cable (Nathan Summers) (Only in flashback)
- Phoenix (Jean Grey) and Phoenix Force (Only in flashback)
- Professor X (Charles Xavier) (Mentioned)
- Unnamed students at University of Dallas
Locations:
Items:
- Cyclops' Visors (Main story and flashback)
- Magneto's Helmet (Main story and flashback)
- Soulsword
Synopsis for 1st story
While the present Cyclops recruits a new mutant whose power involves gradual evolution and shapeshifting to develop the mutant powers of others in his vicinity, the past Jean uses her new telepathy to help the two Hanks make mental contact with each other. After Beast is convinced to tell Jean about what she will experience in the future, Hank manages to determine a means of treating his future self's condition. Out in the courtyard, Scott is uncomfortable about the harsh stares he is receiving from the other mutants, and is nearly pushed to tears when Wolverine publicly threatens to kill him unless someone steps in (to which no one does), before the two Hanks emerge from the school, the older Hank now fully cured and reverted to a more human-like appearance. Although Wolverine is in favor of the original team returning to the past where Xavier can erase their memories, Jean refuses to depart until they have saved the future, with the rest of the team with the exception of Angel, who wonders where his present self is in this scenario voting in favor of her decision. With Kitty Pryde volunteering to take responsibility for the past X-Men, past Scott attempts to talk to Jean, but she orders him to stay away from her.