Dani encounters her first recruit, Sophia Montega, by chance when the young girl is arrested for using her abilities to manipulate the wind in an effort to gain the attention of her neglectful father.

At the school, currently in its summer session, Sofia meets fellow students Laurie Collins (Pheromone Control), Julian Keller (Telekinesis), and Cessily Kincaid (Mercury Metal Form).

Dani helps in recruiting additional students Kevin Ford (Organic Decay) and David Alleyn (Telepathic Learning).

Dani is also reunited with former New Mutant Xi'an "Shan" Coy Manh who agrees to move back to the school with her younger siblings.

Josh attempts to heal Laurie with his ability, while Kevin, in his anger strikes at Pierce in an effort to kill him by decaying his exposed flesh.

Dani, unable to physically stop Kevin, must reluctantly use her mutant ability against him; generating a horrifying illusion that he is attacking Laurie instead of Pierce.

During parents week, Sofia has a bad encounter with her father, and in a moment of grief, Emma encourages her to switch to her as an adviser, but Dani quickly quashes the idea.

The students leave campus and discover the mutant Julian previously rejected may be involved in an electrical attack and robbery at the local coffee shop.

Former New Mutants Dani, Shan, and Rahne were assigned the task of shuttling the summer students to safety, thereby sitting out the encounter.

Donald Pierce, leader of The Reavers, lies in prison awaiting execution, but is given an offer of leniency in exchange for information on Kevin Ford who previously attacked him in New York.

The FBI inform the team that Pierce has escaped and will likely seek revenge against Kevin Ford or Josh Foley, the former Reaver that betrayed him.

This story arc not only dealt with the fallout of Genosha's destruction, but also began the psychic relationship shared by Cyclops and Emma Frost.

Julian demoralizes David in front of the class by indicating that he his power to temporarily absorb knowledge is insignificant in a tactical environment.

As the staff struggle to adjust to this ordeal, another more dangerous issue threatens the school; a mind-controlled Wolverine is lose on the grounds.

With the X-Men away, and only Dani and Amara to protect the school, several New Mutants and Hellions join the fray to help defeat Blob.

In response to the increasingly desperate situation that mutants now faced, Emma Frost has disbanded all the former training squads and integrated those students she deemed capable of combat, including new addition X-23, to a new team.

Issues #24-27 Forty-two of the de-powered students are killed in an attack by anti-mutant fanatic, Reverend William Stryker.

Elixir, who had a romantic relationship with Wallflower and witnessed her death, kills Stryker and is reduced to a comatose state.

Rockslide is reduced to dust but soon reconstitutes himself in a stronger form, while Hellion lets Emma Frost release a formerly untapped potential of his mental powers.

She is experimented on and tortured by scientists who use her living mercury to create a skin for a mutant hunting animal-like being called Predator X.

Illyana reveals that she can defeat Belasco with a Soulsword, but having lost her own, she persuades Pixie to allow her to create a new one from her soul.

Illyana attempts to steal the rest of Pixie's soul, but memories of her past self come back when Colossus speaks to her.

This pushes David to allow the Stepford Cuckoos to unlock the psychic barriers in his mind that prevented him from remembering all of the information he had absorbed as a mutant; he also ends his relationship with Surge.

Elixir slips into a depression because of the overwhelming potential of his powers, and while he is shaken out of it by Loa's advances, the Institute staff fear that he could become "the next Magneto."

Meanwhile, the Purifiers, now led by Matthew Risman, lure Predator X into pursuing Dust using one of her spare niqabs, until it changes direction towards Alaska.

However, her spell mis-fires and she teleports all the present students, Predator X, Beast and Nightcrawler to Muir Island, where X-23 and the rest of X-Force and the X-Men were in battle with the Marauders.

The resulting fight goes to plan, Pixie stabbing the Malice-possessed Omega Sentinel and Dust attacking Exodus internally while Emma Frost distracts him with a telepathic battle.