The agents travel to the city of Comity when the body of high school teenager "Boom" Deboom is found dangling from a rope. Police Detective Angela White explains that it's the third death of a high school boy in as many months. She suspects the fatalities may be linked to a satanic cult. Scully insists that the FBI's research has proved most accounts false or imagined. But during Deboom's funeral, the casket suddenly erupts into flames.
     The agents interview two blonde teenaged girls, Terri Roberts and Margi Kleinjan, who were present on the night Deboom died. The girls give almost identical stories... one account corroborating the other. Shortly thereafter, the girls attend basketball practice at the high school gymnasium. One of the players, Eric, accidentally crashes into the girls, showering them with lemonade. The girls focus their powers on the ball, sending it bouncing beneath wooden, accordion-like bleacher seats. When Eric crawls beneath the bleachers, the electric motor suddenly engages, crushing him to death.
     With each passing death, the townspeople's anger increases. So, too, does the tension between Mulder and Scully, who are unusually short with one another. Detective White visits Mulder at his motel room. The conversation shifts from the facts in the case, and Mulder and White find one another in each other's arms. But Scully interrupts their tryst with news of another death.
     Mulder turns to Madame Zirinka, an astrologist, for help. Zirinka claims a rare planetary alignment, scheduled for January 12th, is affecting people's behavior. She also believes that those people born in 1979 will have all the energy of the cosmos focused on them.
     Meanwhile, Margi makes sexual advances towards Scott Simmons inside his garage. But their private moment is spoiled when a jealous Terri interrupts. Margi and Terri engage in a bitter argument. When their telekinetic powers flair, a garage door spring suddenly and unexpectedly snaps in two, impaling and killing Scott. The girls turn to the police, and blame each other for the deaths that have plagued the town. But when they are brought to the police station, their anger towards one another wrecks havoc. Guns discharge, furniture moves, and everyone ducks for cover. Scully pushes Terri into an interrogation room where Margi is being held. She dead bolts the door, and watches, amazed, as the power within builds to a crescendo. But when the clock strikes midnight, the fury suddenly ends. The agents open the interrogation room door and find the girls, weeping and frightened, inside.