Hellions #7

Issue Date: 
February 2021
Story Title: 
Whetstone
Staff: 

Zeb Wells (writer), Stephen Segovia (artist), David Curiel (colorist), Virtual Calligraphy's Cory Petit (letterer), Tom Muller (designer), Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo (cover artists), Jonathan Hickman (Head of X), Lauren Amaro (assistant editor), Mark Basso (editor), Jordan D White (senior editor), CB Cebulski (editor-in-chief)

X-Men Created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

Brief Description: 

Mr Sinister makes a dramatic plea to the Quiet Council about his Hellions being dead following their recent assignment on Amenth, where Wild Child, Nanny and Orphan Maker were killed on Arakko, and Havok, Kwannon, Greycrow and Empath all died on Krakoa – although he doesn't inform the Council that he was responsible for their deaths. The Council are unimpressed with his theatrics, but allow for the Hellions to be fast-tracked for resurrection. Xavier meets with the Five, who are in the Hatchery, where they report that Orphan Maker is in stasis, as something is wrong with him. Xavier knows this, and warns the Five that Orphan Maker must nor share his power with the world. He soon learns that Wild Child and Nanny have returned somewhat “extra”. Wild Child appears deadlier than before, while Nanny has not emerged from her hatchery-egg. Their personalities seem somewhat more focussed than before. At the White Palace, Havok is depressed, but Emma tells him that he needs to remain with the Hellions for a while longer. Empath and Greycrow are at Bar Sinister and discuss Sinister's report which claims they went down in a blaze of glory so he could get home safe. They don't believe it, but Kwannon tells them that it isn't their place to question it. They are surprised when Nanny and Wild Child join them, both wearing new costumes. Sinister explains that Orphan Maker won't be with them until  they get new armor to protect the world from his x-gene, but that Nanny can't build the armor until they get to her ship, which is currently being held by the Right. Nanny offers cryptic clues about Orphan Maker's powers, before Havok joins the briefing and asks Sinister how he got them all killed. Greycrow and Empath are also interested in settling this, but Kwannon comes to Sinister's defense, and instructs the others to get into the jet. When the others depart, Kwannon warns Sinister that she wants to see her daughter, so he projects her DNA helix for Kwannon to admire, now that he possesses Apoth, where her mind was downloaded into. Sinister asks Kwannon if he wants to hear her daughter talk, but Kwannon declines the offer. The Hellions make the journey to the Right facility, where Greycrow talks to Wild Child, who claims that there is fire in his blood, that he has come back to hunt and find his she-wolf. Havok tries to talk to Kwannon about sticking up for Sinister, but she isn't interested in talking about it, and ignores him, before ordering everyone into the escape pod – as she crashes the jet into the Right facility, to Sinister's annoyance, as he monitors the Hellions' mission. The Hellions emerge from the escape pod, where they are confronted by several Right soldiers. Nanny and Wild Child engage them, but soon discover that there are no people in the Right armor, they are robots – and a moment later, Cameron Hodge appears. 

Full Summary: 

'My Hellions are dead!' Mr Sinister exclaims as he meets with members of the Quiet Council. 'And you dare tell me the resurrections are halted because of a vile superstition?' He tells the Council to not forget how his noble children fell – grasping after the swords of Arakko, fighting to end Saturnyne's bloodbath before it began. 'Did they succeed? No. not even close. We were ambushed by the evil mutants of Arakko, who'd been alerted to our presence' Sinister explains. He wonders who betrayed them, and states that he doesn't want to point fingers, before pointing out that Apocalypse did just buy a house on Arakko. 'No? I'm the only one who finds that weird?' Sinister asks, while Nightcrawler looks on wide-eyed, Jean Grey frowns and Storm folds her arms, glancing narrowing her eyes.

'Make your point, clown-tongue!' Exodus snaps. Sinister turns to his rival and remarks that he was going to honor the names of his murdered teammates. 'But I can hurry it up if that's too silly for you, Bennet' Sinister adds. Exodus scowls, before allowing Sinister to continue. 'Checkmate' Mystique utters as she sits next to Exodus. Sinister informs the Council that Empath, Greycrow, Havok and Kwannon (calling her “Psylocke”) made it to Krakoa before succumbing to their wounds, but that sweet Nanny, Orphan Maker and Wild Child fell in Arakko. 'Only through their loving sacrifice did I make it home myself' Sinister lies, before declaring that they died in Arakko, not Otherworld, so there is not proof that they will come back scrambled. 'Please!' he cries out.

'Wasn't this settled? I thought Professor X is resurrecting them right now' Kate Pryde whispers as she leans over to Emma Frost. 'Let him go on a bit longer. I wanna see if this crocodile will give us some tears' Emma smiles. 'GYAAAHHH! My babies! Bring them back to me!' Sinister shrieks. 'A truly breathtaking lack of shame' Emma utters.

Shortly, at the Hatchery:

'Professor? Something's wrong with Orphan-Maker' Hope Summers calls out as she and the other members of the Five – Egg, Tempus, Proteus and Elixir – approach Charles Xavier, who acknowledges that Orphan Maker's readings are troubling indeed, before asking if he is in stasis. Egg explains that they cut the nutrient flow to Orphan Maker's egg, and that he is dormant for now. Xavier is happy with that course of action, noting that it is better to prevent Orphan Maker's x-gene from expressing itself fully. Hope asks if that is a little severe, but Xavier tells her that he refuses to see any mutant's abilities as anything less than a gift. 'But Peter... Peter has a curse. And he mustn't share it with the world' Xavier remarks cryptically, addressing Orphan Maker by his only known name, “Peter”.

Egg decides that now is a good time to tell Professor X that the other two Arakko deaths came back a little “extra” as well. 'Nanny and Wild Child?' Xavier asks. Hope informs him that their husks matured awful fast, and that they seem a little eager.

Xavier steps into another part of the Hatchery, where Wild Child has emerged from his egg, his body somewhat more muscular and less scrawny than it was previously, while Nanny appears to be still in her egg, save for her legs and arms, which stick out of the egg, similar to the egg-shaped armor she wears. 'You haven't uploaded their consciousnesses yet, have you?' Hope asks. Xavier confirms that he hasn't, and supposes that their backups might call to them, possibly a consequence of their Arakki deaths. 'Either way... maybe it's best if you stand back' he tells Hope and the others.

Meanwhile, in the White Palace:

'I trust you resurrected well?' Emma Frost asks as she gazes out over the ocean which glows under the light of the sun. 'Oh. Yeah. Everything's where it's supposed to be' Alex Summers a.k.a. Havok mumbles as he sits nearby. 'Except that you're here and not with your team' Emma points out. 'Yeah, about that. I guess I was wondering if, you know... you'd all proven your point?' Havok asks. 'How so?' Emma enquires, turning to Alex, who admits that he messed up – twice if they count blowing up Sinister's orphanage – although that was why they were there – but he feels fine. 'I don't belong on a team with a bunch of – you know' Alex declares. Emma tells Alex that this is for his own good. 'Your mind... well, let's not go into that... I wouldn't want to upset you' Emma replies, asking Alex to trust that it is safer if he remains among these Hellions. 'For everyone's sake' she adds.

At Bar Sinister, Manuel de la Rocha a.k.a. Empath asks John Greycrow: 'Sinister's saying we went down in a blaze of glory so he could get home safe?' to which Greycrow tells him that it takes an unquiet mind to think anyone is buying that. 'Psylocke, you hearing this?' Empath asks Kwannon, who turns to her teammates and points out that Sinister gave his report, and it is not their job to question it. 'Cool. Thanks for the backup' Empath mutters.

'Well, well... look at you two!' Greycrow calls out, wide-eyed as he sees Kyle Gibney a.k.a. Wild Child and the mysterious Nanny approach them. Wild Child wears a darker brown costume than normal, with a thick belt around his waist, and large gray cuffs on his wrists. The large collar remains around his neck, while Nanny's egg armor is now a dirty gray color and she wears red boots and gloves that stick out from the armor, and the large faceplate has been modified, also. 'Death agrees with you!' someone remarks. 'You look good, brother' Greycrow smiles at Wild Child, who just growls as he walks past, while Kwannon looks on in shock.

'To me, my Hellions!' Sinister calls out, laughing as he extends his arms to his team. 'Kidding, of course. Keep a healthy perimeter' he instructs them, adding that he doesn't like to be touched. Sinister tells the Hellions that he knows they probably have questions about what went wrong on their last mission, but unfortunately he cannot say a word until the investigation is complete. He declares that what they do know is that Nanny and Wild Child came back better than ever. 'I'll throw you two the floor if there's anyone you'd like to thank' Sinister remarks, but Wild Child and Nanny stare back at him in silence. 'Ooooookay. Business it is!' Sinister exclaims as he explains that young Peter, the Orphan Maker, one of their own, cannot come back without the armor that protects the world from his vicious little x-gene.

A holographic representation of Nanny's ship appears before Sinister as he informs the Hellions that Nanny can't make another suit without her ship, which, he notes is shaped like an egg but also has legs. 'Fell like you were just throwing $#&% at a wall there. But moving on!' Sinister mutters to himself when no one reacts to his comment about Nanny's ship. Sinister reveals that Nanny's egg-ship was repossessed by the Right early last year, and that Nanny has a standing request with the Council to repatriate her ship, but the request was de-prioritized as Nanny uses her ship almost exclusively to steal babies. 'A ghoulish habit we can all agree' Sinister smirks, before joking that he should stop chucking rocks from glass houses, and  asking Nanny if she wants to impress the importance of this mission on the team.

'Peter, Peter, sits on a wall/His power sleeps while Peter is small/But when Peter grows, the end is certain/He'll destroy the world, pull the curtain -' Nanny begins to say as a rhyme before Sinister cuts her off: 'Okay, that's enough. Didn't think she'd rhyme it. My mistake. Who has time for that?' Sinister remarks to the other Hellions, before telling them that they need the suit, or the world cracks in half, or something. 'Should be a tidy little heist' Sinister tells the team, reporting that psy-scans suggest that the stronghold is unmanned and unprotected, save for automated systems, making it a perfect job for the Hellions. 'Any questions?' Sinister asks. 'You leading us on this one?' Greycrow snarls. Sinister holds his hands up and with wide-eyes, claims that he would love to, as he is sure the team would love to have him, but as the sole-survivor of their last mission, he is still healing. 'And in light of the situation – which, I must remind you, we're not allowed to talk about -' Sinister starts to say, before he is interrupted by the arrival of Havok.

'Sorry. Coming in late. Certainly didn't hear that last part so I'll just ask... how the hell did you get us killed, Sinister?' Havok asks. Kwannon looks over at Havok, while Empath puts his hands behind his head . 'Good question' Greycrow decides, turning to Sinister, he suggests that they might settle that now. The Hellions begin to surround Sinister, who smiles at them and tells them to take his private scramjet and travel in style, as they have earned it. 'He's hiding something' Empath declares, and Kwannon asks Havok to watch the door, as her fist suddenly glows with her powerful psi-knife. But Kwannon tells the Hellions to get in the jet or they'll end up on their backs. 'Those are your choices' she informs them as she prepares to defend Sinister. 'Got it' Havok mutters, while Greycrow and Empath scowl as they walk out of Bar Sinister. The others follow, and Sinister waves at them, 'Safe travels! Don't adjust the A.I. I've spent months training him!' Sinister calls out.

When the others have gone, Sinister asks Kwannon if he has told her how pretty she is when she is loyal. 'I want to see her. Now' Kwannon remarks, ignoring Sinister's comment. DNA helix appears before Kwannon, and Sinister tells her 'She certainly has her mothers' genes, doesn't she?' 'That's... her?' Kwannon asks. Sinister confirms that, like all who used Overclock, her mind was downloaded to Apoth, and thanks to her, Apoth belongs to him. He explains that it took him a while to dig through the code, but that he found her. 'That's your daughter. As much as I am me and you are you. Thinking and being in a sea of ones and zeros' Sinister remarks, adding that Kwannon's daughter is safe, as long as he remains in power, and reasonably happy. He asks Kwannon if she would like to talk to her daughter, but Kwannon hangs her head and utters 'No' she replies, before walking away from Sinister, 'We have a mission'. Sinister holds his arms out, 'That you do! Such a responsible mother. Always putting your daughter first. Please take care of my ship. Ta-ta now. Be good'.

Soon, over Arizona, Sinister's ship's A.I. welcomes the Hellions to the Sonic-Sinister, the personal jet of Nathaniel Essex. The A.I. tells the Hellions that they may address him as Clive, and notes that Mister Essex would prefer that they use the escape-pod bathroom only. Kwannon pilots the jet, while a bored looking Empath sits next to Greycrow, who is picking at something on his boot, while Wild Child sits slumped next to him. Havok leans against a wall, while Nanny examines the schematics of the Right facility and reports that the concrete shielding is five feet thick. She tells Havok that he should hit it hard as soon as they arrive, as it will take time to breach. 'Havok?' Nanny calls out when Havok doesn't respond. 'Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sure' the distracted Havok responds. 'Mister Essex – what a guy' Clive's A.I. voice can be heard saying.

Greycrow then smiles at Wild Child and tells him that he looks good, before asking him if he feels different. 'Yes. There's fire in my blood. It spurs me' Wild Child replies without looking at Greycrow. 'To rend. To hunt. To find a she-wolf and grow my pack' Wild Child adds. Greycrow laughs, 'My man did come back different!' he exclaims. “A she-wolf” he quotes. 'I love it!' Greycrow exclaims as he bursts into laughter again. 'You guys are weird' Empath mutters, while Havok approaches Kwannon at thr front of the jet. Clive the A.I. welcomes Havok to the cockpit, as Havok calls out to Kwannon. 'Alex' Kwannon replies. Havok asks her if they can talk about what happened back there. Without looking at Havok, she points out that Sinister's authority was questioned, and she provided the answer. 'Mister Essex – what a guy' Clive the A.I. remarks.

Havok points out that Kwannon backs every play that Sinister makes without even blinking. 'That's shady enough, but we both know Sinister got us killed on our last mission... or worse' Havok adds, before asking Kwannon why she is protecting Sinister. 'What's worth getting in bed with a psychopath? What's worth selling out your teammates?' Havok asks. Kwannon offers no answer, so Havok asks her if she is going to say something. 'Clive, hold this course' Kwannon declares as she gets up out of the pilot's seat. Clive states that the autopilot has been set to an unsafe trajectory, while Havok asks Kwannon what that means. 'Escape pod. Now' Kwannon tells him, while Clive addresses her as Psylocke and asks her to return and adjust the course. 'Escape pod! Now! Move!' Havok shouts at his teammates, while Clive's voice can be heard alerting everyone to the fact that the course is set to impact with the target.

'Ah, my little pawns are making good time. They should -' Sinister begins as he sips tea at Bar Sinister while watching the Hellions on monitors as he sits on his throne. 'Alert – Master Sinister – Alert!' Clive's voice calls out. 'What's that?' Sinister utters. 'What is she doing?' Sinister asks, looking at his monitors, concerned as he sees the jet headed directly to the Right facility.

'What are you doing?' Havok asks Kwannon as they and the others strap into seats in the escape pod. 'Saying something' Kwannon replies, while Clive informs them that he cannot use the escape pod. 'Please reconsider -' his voice begins.

Sinister sees the escape pod shunt upwards and away from his jet, moments before the jet crashes into the Right facility. 'Pull up! Pull up, my beautiful baby – PUUUULLL UPPPP!' Sinister cries out as the explosion ripples along the large concrete exterior of the facility. 'CLIIIIIVE!' Sinister shrieks.

At that moment, the escape pod falls to the ground and bounces along until it comes to a stop. Someone kicks the escape pod door off the pod and the Hellions emerge from the escape pod. 'That – that's just great! Do you think that proved something?' Havok asks. 'She got through the concrete perimeter' Nanny remarks. 'That's not the point -' Havok begins to argue with her, while Kwannon tells them to shush. 'Look. The automated systems' she remarks as two figures wearing large armor can be seen moving towards them through the smoke of the jet wreckage. 'Perimeter breached' one of the large green Right soldiers remarks, adding that mutants are detected. 'Visual stimulation: X-Men? Classification: Sub-team' one of them states. 'Agitated thought: subhuman swine' one of them adds, through their grinning mouths of the armor. 'Agitated thought: Die, mutant scum' the other grins.

'That's enough of that!' Greycrow calls out, while Kwannon begins to tell everyone to fan out, Empath tells her she's too late. 'The psychos are on it!' he exclaims, pointing over to where Wild Child and Nanny are running towards the Right. Wild Child leaps straight onto one of their faces, dodging the bullets that the Right operative fires at him, while Nanny ducks under the gunfire of the other operative, who remarks 'Abnormal body shape detected'. 'BLEED!' Wild Child tells the Right member that he attacks, while Nanny punches her foe with an uppercut, before Wild Child leaps from his defeated opponent onto Nanny's, tearing open the armor's chestplate. The Right operative screams as Nanny shoves her fist into the back of the armor. Havok looks on in shock: 'Is it me or is Nanny wrecking that smiley?' he asks. 'It's not you' Kwannon tells him. 'Get it!' Empath calls out, grinning. Suddenly, Wild Child looks back at his teammates, holding the chestplate of the Right operative, he has discovered something: 'No blood. No fun' Wild Child utters, standing over what appears to just be a robot.

'I'm sorry to disappoint you' a voice calls out. 'I know how you muties love to murder us... the pure human race' grins Cameron Hodge, flanked by more of the Right robots, all grinning like him. 'Cameron Hodge' Kwannon utters. 'This $%#& again' Havok mutters as he looks at the hateful human....

 

Characters Involved: 

Havok, Kwannon/Psylocke II, Mr Sinister, Empath, Greycrow, Nanny, Wild Child (all Hellions)

Egg, Elixir, Proteus, Hope Summers, Tempus (all the Five)

Emma Frost, Exodus, Jean Grey, Mystique, Kate Pryde, Storm, Professor X (all Quiet Council)

 

Cameron Hodge robot

Right drones

 

Story Notes: 

Wild Child, Orphan Maker and Nanny were all killed on Arrako, while Havok, Kwannon and Greycrow were killed on Krakoa. Empath was technically killed while stuck between a portal between Otherworld and Krakoa. All deaths took place in Hellions #6, part of the “X of Swords” crossover.

Depending on when the meeting of the Quiet Council takes place, Jean Grey's presence is possibly an error as she quit at towards during the end of the “X of Swords” crossover. Similarly, if the meeting took place before Jean quit, then Storm should not be present as she was on Otherworld during this time.

This issue includes a one-page text-only dossier of information on the Arakki resurrections, which discusses the differences between these resurrections and the Otherworld resurrections. The information also notes that the personalities of Nanny and Wild Child are intact but enhanced, while Orphan Maker's resurrection came dangerously close to activating his x-gene, something that cannot be allowed, for unknown reasons.

The storyline involving Kwannon's daughter, Overclock and Apoth took place in Fallen Angels (2nd series) #1-6.

The anti-mutant group known as the Right debuted in X-Factor (1st series) #17 and would terrorize X-Factor and the New Mutants for some time, with their last appearance being in X-Factor (1st series) #57. The Right reformed and appeared in X-Force (3rd series) #7, 9 and 10, and then joined up with other anti-mutant groups in the “Second Coming” crossover.

Cameron Hodge first appeared in X-Factor (1st series) #1 as an old friend of Warren Worthington and ally to X-Factor. Hodge betrayed X-Factor and would be killed by Warren (as Archangel) in X-Factor (1st series) #34 after Hodge killed Warren's girlfriend, Candy Southern. Hodge had bargained with a demon and later returned as part of the Phalanx, terrorizing the X-Men and allies during the “X-Tinction Agenda” event. He would make occasional appearances until returning again during the “Second Coming”, his most recent set of appearances before this issue.

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