New Mutants (3rd series) #2

Issue Date: 
August 2009
Story Title: 
Return of the Legion – part 2: Security Blankets
Staff: 

Zeb Wells (writer), Diogenes Neves (penciler), Cam Smith with Ed Tadeo (inkers), John Rauch (colorist), VC’s Joe Caramagna (letterer), Adam Kubert & Benjamin (covers), Daniel Ketchum (assistant editor), Nick Lowe (editor), Joe Quesada (editor-in-chief), Dan Buckley (publisher), Alan Fine (Exec. Publisher)

Brief Description: 

The New Mutants discover that, while Karma’s body is tied up in the bar, her mind seems to be in Legion’s body. Meanwhile, in his mindscape, Karma flees with Marci and her doll from the other personalities led by Jack Wayne, who wants to kill Dani and the other New Mutants, as they once helped David Haller reintegrate his personalities. Currently dominant is the personality which is holding on to the doll, currently Marci. Shan is caught by the other personalities after warning her friends, and so eventually is Marci, along with the doll. In the real world, Amara and Illyana learn from Marci’s parents that when she came back after disappearing looking like this, the town forced them to lock her up, in case other mutants came. They had to lock her up to make sure the town was safe. The girls try to convince the couple that Legion is not their daughter and that he has to come with them to be healed, but the mother refuses to abandon what she believes to be her child. Suddenly, one of Legion’s evil personalities take over the body, after which he stuns the girls and kills the parents before leaving to find and kill Dani. Still at the bar, the boys learn this and also learn from the barkeeper that Dani is currently kept in a cell at the police station. Despite the police arriving on the scene, Cannonball flies himself and Sunspot over there. At the police station, Legion’s Jack Wayne persona threatens Dani… though she is not impressed.

Full Summary: 

The backroom of a bar in a small town: standing next to the tied-up, unconscious body of Xi’an Coy Manh aka Karma are her teammates, Sunspot and Cannonball. Sam is phoning their teammate Magma, telling her she isn’t making sense. Shan is right with them. Tied up, a prisoner or something. Roberto observes that it looks like she isn’t all there.

That’s what she’s saying, Amara replies. She thinks the rest of Shan is hereI with her and Illyana.

Magik is kneeling opposite Legion, asking if it’s really Shan in there. Yeah, she’s stuck in this body, Karma replies. With Marci’s umcomprehending, scared parents standing in the background, Amara breaks the news to Shan that she is in David Haller’s body.

Is she for real? Karma asks. Well, she’s not going to lie to them… that explains a lot!

Legion’s mindscape:
In David Haller’s mindscape, Shan is running for her life, dragging a long the missing girl Marci and holding the doll Marci was playing with. Chasing them is a bloodthirsty assortment of beings from normal men to tentacled monsters, all various split-personalities of David.

Trying to open a door, Karma continues that Legion’s psyche is more fractured than they’ve ever seen before.

They are coming, Marci warns Karma. Just a second, sweetie, Shan tries to calm her When the door proves locked, Shan kicks it in.

Who is she talking to? the two girls on the outside ask.

Shan enters the room with Marci and locks the door by pushing a chair under the doorknob. She explains that she found the suspected mutant she and Dani were looking for. Marci. Everyone in town was playing dumb, so Karma reached out with her power to see if she could contact the girl’s mind. She found her consciousness but it wasn’t in her mind. It was here.

She looks around, searching for an escape and finds a ladder leading to an opening in the ceiling. She and Marci take it while the knocks on the door get louder. Dani was with her when it happened. Have the others seen her?

Negative, comes the reply. Shan continues, she’s in trouble here. They need to get her to Emma fast. She might be powerful enough to sort this all out.

Marci reaches the top of the ladder. Shan tells her to hide up there and stay quiet. Marci asks her to send the doll Morrie up next. Davey told her to keep it safe.

In a second, Shan promises and looks down to the door that’s broken down by the mob that very moment.

Amara tells the boys that Karma has stopped talking to them. Something’s happening…

Bobby decides to get Shan’s body out of the chair she is tied to. As he touches her she seems to possess him automatically and Sunspot briefly appears in the mindscape Shan is trapped in.

In reality, he falls to the ground when Cannonball uses his blast-field to separate the two of them without touching Shan himself.

Amara asks Shan what is going on. Sam says her powers are going haywire.

She doesn’t know and is a little busy, comes the reply as her hunters – anything from men to monster – close in on her. She knows the fixers, one of them mutters, won’t fix us.

Their leader is revealed to be Jack Wayne, Legion’s telekinetic psychopathic personality. Never seen her before, he tells her, but he thinks he knows a few of her friends… the silly robot with the autistic friend? The werewolf and the squaw? The fixers, another one repeats. That’s right, Jack agrees. The fixers. The ones who put little David Haller’s mind together again. David came here looking for them, so they could do it again. As she can imagine they are not planning on letting that happen.

Now the way she is clutching that doll suggests she probably knows they can’t do anything unless they have it. So he’s going to cut to the chase and offer her a deal.

A stuttering, half-naked, emaciated freak mutters w-wolf and the squaw, the robot and the g-g-geek. Can’t have them f-f-f-ixing us again.

Jack orders Shan to hand the doll over and they’ll just kill her friends. He can convince the others to let her live, because, like he said, they don’t know her.

That’s right, Karma snarls, they don’t know her! She kicks Jack in the knees and elbows his nose. She shouts to Amara on the outside that they want Dani. She pushes Jack into the crowd. They want to kill Dani and Rahne! Dani isn’t safe! They need to find her. While the girls outside wonder what is happening, Karma turns back to Marci in the attic, asking her to be brave.

Amara tells Sam over the phone they are losing her. Sam doesn’t know what to do.

Karma hands Marci the doll and orders her to run before dozens of hands drag her down.

What is happening? Roberto wonders as Shan’s body begins to moan.

Elsewhere, Amara shakes Legion’s body, calling Shan.

A child-like voice replies that Shan’s with the bad men now. Marci’s mother recognizes the voice. She runs to David. Is that Marci? Did she come back? Marci cries they are coming for her and begs her mommy to take her away. Marci’s mother pushes Amara aside and tries to get to her daughter. Amara tells her she is crazy.

Illyana observes the woman cries as her mother did when the demons came for her. That is her daughter. Yeah maybe, Amara replies unconvinced, but it’s also their friend…

She kneels down next to Legion and announces they are taking him to Emma now. They’re coming for me, Momma, Marci whispers from Legion’s body. Marci’s mother snarls at Amara to get her hands off her. Marci may be a mutant, but she is still her daughter!

Illyana tries to explain that her daughter’s body is elsewhere. The woman continues ranting. They told her they’d do this! When Marci stumbled back into town looking like that but asking for her mother… She touches Legion’s feet. They said she must be a mutant… some sort of shapeshifter… They said if she didn’t lock Marci up, they would. Said she would have to keep her out of sight or other mutants would come. So that’s what she did. She angrily turns towards the girls. They came anyway! They came, but she won’t let them take Marci away!

Her husband holds her back and asks her to stop. Let them take it, he orders her calmly. I-it? she repeats disbelievingly. That thing isn’t their daughter, he replies resigned. She needs to let them take it. He called them, didn’t he? she asks. He denies it without conviction.

Marci in Legion’s body announces in horror that they are coming!

In Legion’s mindscape, the other personalities are climbing up the ladder and surround Marci. She cries to her mother for help.

While she cries for help, her mother decides that they can’t leave their daughter in the hands of strangers.

In Legion’s mindscape, the others have overwhelmed Marci and a particularly brutish looking one has gotten his hands on the doll and thereof gained control of Legion’s body. Finally… he gets to introduce himself.

Legion’s face suddenly looks evil. His name is Drexel, &%$§ you! Amara and Brett, Marci’s father stare in surprise before Drexel slams them away with super-strength. Oh that felt good! he exclaims.

In Legion’s ,mindscape the giggling clown grabs the doll and therefore control.

Legion giggles and hits Magik with a sonic scream.

Marci’s mother runs to Legion, asking him what he is doing, addressing him as Marci. Her husband runs to her, trying to drag her away.

In Legion, another personality shift takes place and the new personality impales both of them on his arm.

A stuttering, thin personality grabs the doll, stammering that Jack says Moonstar is close, f-fly away to the Moon. Under his control, Legion flies away.

Dying, Marci’s mother asks her husband if he called them and he admits it.

Sam and Roberto’s call wakes up the two girls. Illyana warns the boys that Legion is after Dani. They have to find her!

In the bar, Sam turns to Noah, the barkeeper and asks him about the other girl that came in with their friend. Angrily, Noah replies she was disturbing the peace. Asking about mutants… trying to start a panic. She’s in jail; they didn’t hurt her. Like they didn’t hurt Shan? Sam asks and slams him against the wall. Did she tie herself to that chair?

Noah explains that when they told her they didn’t know anything about no mutie girl, she said she was going to check if they were lying. Next thing she’s foaming at the mouth.

Sam asks Bobby to come help him find Dani. What about Shan? Sunspot asks. She’s fine Noah insists. Maynard started shaking just like her while he was tying her up. No one’s gonna touch her.

She was just trying to help, Sam points out. Oh yeah? Noah scoffs. Like “help” turn Westcliffe into a crater? He knows what happens to towns with mutie kids. Ever heard of a little place called Cooperstown, Alaska? Damn, Bobby admits. Low blow.

They walk outside to find the police already there. No time for this, right? Bobby asks. Right. He hates doing this in front of people, Sam mutters as he lifts up Bobby and he cannonballs away.

The police station. The door opens. As the receptionist sees the person coming in she nervously states that he shouldn’t be out, for his own safety. If he doesn’t leave, she’s gonna have to call…

Legion burns her with his mental powers and steps into the cell block. Dani, Dani, he goads. You’re going to die, Dani. Which way would you like us to kill you… for we have many.

Then come on in, I’ve got a few myself, Dani Moonstar replies grimly from her cell.

Characters Involved: 

Cannonball, Karma, Magik, Magma, Moonstar, Sunspot (all former New Mutants)

Legion
Jack Wayne and others (David’s subpersonalities)

Marci
Marci’s parents
Noah, Westcliffe barkeeper
Police secretary

Story Notes: 

Legion’s last appearance was in X-Men Omega where Bishop killed him in the past with his own psi-powers. Legion hasn’t been seen since.

One group of New Mutants, including Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, Cypher and Warlock, as well as Professor X and his own telepathic persona Jemail, healed Legion’s fractured psyche somewhat, as told in New Mutants (1st series) #26-28.

It is odd that Jack doesn’t recognize Karma, as Legion, especially the Jack Wayne persona, fought all the New Mutants in New Mutants (1st series) #44. As Karma was the one who flirted with Jack to lead him into a trap, he should remember especially her.

Sunspot mistakenly exclaims “Madre de dios,” which is Spanish for “Mother of God”, but actually his native language is Portuguese. (Of course, past writers have made the very same mistake before)

Illyana’s comment about her mother crying the same way when the demons took her is odd. Her parents weren’t present when Illyana was kidnapped by Belasco.

Cooperstown, Alaska is the town that was destroyed by the Purifiers for spawning the first mutant since M-Day [X-Men: Messiah Complex #1]

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