Cable lies on the ground after being shot out of the diner window by Bishop. The Messiah Baby is unharmed, but Bishop attacks Cable again, this time using the bionic tendrils in Bishop's mechanical arm. Cable stabs Bishop, but their fight is broken up by the arrival of the Turnpike Authority. During the standoff, Bishop recalls how he came to the future.

Bishop's flashback reveals the following: After having his arm bitten off by Predator X, Bishop cauterized his wound using Sunfire's unconscious, but still burning, body. After attempting to shoot the Messiah Baby again, but hitting Professor X instead, Bishop is blasted out of the Muir Isle lab by Cyclops. Bishop then fled to Eagle Plaza, Forge's lab in Dallas, Texas, where he attacked Forge and stole a mechanical arm equipped with assault tendrils and time travel capability. Bishop searched for Cable and the baby in many different years until he discovered a discarded can of milk. This clue, along with information from the fisherman Al Buchanan, and the waitress Sophie Pettit, led Bishop to wait for Cable and the baby at the Celestial Diner hours before Cable arrived.

The standoff with the Turnpike Authority is broken when Bishop attacks. During the crossfire, Cable is wounded and discovers that his time mechanism is broken, just before Bishop lifts an eighteen-wheeler and throws it at Cable and the baby.