New Mutants (3rd series) #12

Issue Date: 
June 2010
Story Title: 
Second Coming: Chapter 3
Staff: 

Zeb Wells (writer), Ibraim Roberson (artist), Brian Reber (colorist), VC’s Joe Caramagna (letterer), Adi Granov (cover), David Finch, Matt Banning& Peter Steigerwald (variant cover), Daniel Ketchum (assoc. editor), Nick Lowe (editor), Jeanine Schaefer (consulting editor), Joe Quesada (editor-in-chief), Dan Buckley (publisher), Alan Fine (Exec. Publisher)

Brief Description: 

The X-Men and Reverend Stryker’s Purifiers both fight to get to Cable and Hope. Magik is to teleport Hope away, but the Purifiers came prepared for her. They fire a strange gun at Illyana and demon tentacles coming from her teleportation disk drag Magik into Limbo. In the meantime, Cyclops gives the New Mutants who have infiltrated the RIGFHT to fight them to stop them from helping the Purifiers. The mutants do so. However things turn hairy when Cameron Hodge reveals his techno-organic body and severely injured Karma’s leg. Back at the battlefield, the secondary teleporter, Nightcrawler, is also wounded and Cable and Hope flee. As new prime teleporter, Cyclops sends his team the alien teleporter, Ariel. Angel, in the meantime, reveals his Archangel form to the rest of the team and kills Reverend Stryker. Elsewhere, Cable is unwilling to reveal himself to the X-Men as he believes something is wrong, as the bad guys keep finding them before the X-Men do. Rogue, who is still at Utopia, displays a subtle sort of mental link with Hope and Danger doesn’t realize that something strange is going on with their prisoner Donald Pierce.

Full Summary: 

A secret headquarters of the RIGHT: a commanding officer calls his team, still only partially in armor, to get their faces on. They are moving out!

One young blond man announces with a grin that he’s gonna bag a big one… a ten-point mutie! The young man next to him looks out of it. Something’s happening… They are gearing up, he whispers. Is he all right? the blond man asks. What? the second mans asks, then claims he was just saying a prayer for the other’s dumb ass. The first one states, does he know how many mutants are left on the planet? Save his prayers. They’ve got them outnumbered.

They join the hundreds of others as they stand in lines, to be addressed by the leader - Cameron Hodge - who announces the extinction of the mutant race lies before them. Seize it!

My God, the second man mutters. Misunderstanding, the first one states, he knows.

Not too far away, in another room of the facility, Karma tells the other New Mutants what she has learned from the man she possessed. There’s hundreds of them. Cameron Hodge has an army! And they are supposed to attack ? Dani Moonstar asks in disbelief. Is he sure this is such a good idea? Sunspot asks their teamleader Cannonball. Cyclops didn’t ask him, Sam stresses. He gave him an order. He’ll let them know when he gets another one.

Elsewhere. A team of X-Men are fighting the Purifiers to get to Hope and Cable. Wolverine orders Magik to get the kid out of here.

Seeing the two teleporters, Magik and Nightcrawler, present, Reverend William Stryker orders his men to run contingency-23. Several men bring a strange cannon and are told target “White Devil” is their primary. Fire when ready.

Stepping out of a teleportation circle, Magik has reached Hope and Cable, who have sought cover behind a car. Illyana reaches for the girl, asking her to come with her. That moment, the cannon is fired at her. “Direct hit”, a Purifier announces. Now they’ll see if the weaponized ritual is worth what they paid.

Illyana looks at her hands in shock. Strange symbols are lit on her skin. “Blood of Elzebus… parchment of souls”, she mutters, before she can say or do anything else, tentacles emit from the stepping disk and drag her into it. Colossus lunges for the teleportation disk but it disappears.

Wolverine orders Nightcrawler to act as teleporter. White Devil is down, Stryker states. Blue Devil is their primary now. Perception concussors, fire when ready, the commander states.

Nightcrawler teleports several times in a series toward Cable and Hope but suddenly cannot concentrate. He sinks down weakly in a corner, crying out for Cable, who enters a car with Hope.

The rest of the X-Men still do battle. The Purifiers came prepared for them, Wolverine announces darkly. They’ve got to cut off their head! Stryker, X-23 states.

Stryker announces to his people that Blue Devil is grounded. Move up to the girl! However, that moment, an enraged Colossus breaks the line and runs toward Stryker, demanding what they did to his sister. Stryker radios for reinforcements.

Cannonball radios Cyclops to inform him of an incoming transmission Doug has picked up. The RIGHT has just been ordered to join the Purifiers at Alpha Team’s position.

Is Hope secured? Cyclops asks Wolverine of the alpha team. Looking at a heap of beaten Purifiers, Logan replies negative. Their location is hot and Cable is running.

Nein, Nightcrawler moans weakly as he sees Cable and Hope drive away. Are they just leaving them? Hope protests. They’re not safe, Cable replies. Something is wrong.

Cyclops tells Cannonball that they are going to lose the girl if Stryker gets reinforcements. The New Mutants are to engage their targets. He’s not confident he can engage without causalities, Sam points out. If it’s his decision… It’s not, Cyclops cuts him off. He has an order. That’s all he needed to hear, Sam replies. Beta team engaging.

They are moving in, he informs the rest. Is he crazy? Sunspot demands. Not now, Sam warns him. He orders Cypher and Warlock to gather as much information as they can and make sure it gets back to Utopia. Do not join the hostilities unless necessary! He reminds the rest that their orders are to hold the enemy here. It’s going to be the New Mutants or them. “Do what you have to do!

Karma is to make the first move. Copy, Karma replies and possesses the RIGHT member again. Copy, he says and fires away his comrade’s head, then begins to fire wildly at the other Smileyfaces. She forces one of them to get out of his armor, so Dani can wear it after punching him out.

Further above, seeing what is happening, Hodge announces that Bastion will not accept a defeat. He was hoping this would happen. Now he can justify this. Before his disbelieving people a technological tentacle-like spine appears and lifts Hodge’s head off his human body to bond wit the spine as part of a giant spiderlike body. Come now, soldier, he chides his panicking technician, grow a pair!

Elsewhere, Wolverine tells Angel they need to end this fast. Tell the others to stay low, Warren replies as he shifts to his deadly Archangel form and fires his lethal wing-knives at the Purifiers.

An injured Stryker shouts to Bastion for help. In front of the horrified Nightcrawer, Archangel cuts off Stryker’s head with his wings. With that, the battle is over. Warren? Psylocke asks hesitating. No reply.

Wolverine contacts Cyclops to inform him the Purifiers are down. Cable is close but they’ve lost their prime teleporter. Cyclops is already aware of that. Through the door of the building behind Wolverine steps their new prime teleporter, the alien mutant Ariel. Might be hard to sell Peter on that, Logan remarks. Emma will do that from here, is Scott’s reply. He is close and Cannonball’s team is fighting for every second they have to look for her.

Not far ahead, Cable and Hope are back on the road. They weren’t in that room thirty seconds, Cable remarks about their motel room. Whatever trail they left should have been hard enough for Cyclops to find… there’s no way Bastion picked it up that fast. They are tracking him and Hope.

Hope doesn’t quite get why they are running. They were looking for the X-Men. The X-Men found them… Bastion found them first, Cable reminds her. That is unacceptable. He could have a man on the inside. Thirty minutes… he is not seeing something. They’ve got to go completely dark. They don’t even come up for air. No more hotels!

Back in Utopia in Danger’s cyberprison where Danger checks the prisoners, she announces that the electro neuron flow of Donald Pierce seems to be excited. Rogue who sits next to her dreamily announces that hotels are nice… soft, warm and new. What did she say? Danger wonders aloud. She doesn’t know, Rogue replies surprised and announces she has to talk to Cyclops. That is fine, Danger assures her, she has this under control. Donald Pierce smiles…

Back at the RIGHT HQ, Cannonball, Magma and Sunspot are fighting the monstrous Hodge, who swats Magma away wit his tail and almost impales Sunspot. Sam shouts to Karma who is hiding a room away that they are in trouble. Can she get a lock on this thing? Karma tries and momentarily has Hodge possessed. However, his systems manage to detect the source of the mind control and attack Karma. With his stings, he pierces her left leg several times…

Characters Involved: 

Cannonball, Cypher, Karma, Magma, Magik, Moonstar, Warlock (all New Mutants)
Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Rogue (all X-Men)
Archangel, Wolverine, X-23 (X-Force)
Ariel II (X-Men ally)
Danger
Cable
Hope Summers II

Cameron Hodge
RIGHT soldiers
Reverend Stryker
Purifiers
Donald Pierce

Story Notes: 

This is Chapter 3 of the Second Coming crossover. It follows Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #523 and continues in X-Men Legacy #235.

The main story is continued in X-Men Legacy #235.

Magik’s story is continued in X-Men: Second Coming – Revelations: Hellbound #1.

Cameron Hodge’s techno-organic body originally stems froma deal he made with the demon N’astirh. [X-Factor (1st series) #2] That body was first shown during the X-tinction Agenda crossover.

Hope and Rogue’s link might stem from them touching during Messiah Complex.

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