The final confrontation with the sadistic Gladiators! As the New Mutants' combat ability is put to the test, so too is their mental resistance as the mysterious mind-controlling leader of the Gladiator is revealed.
As Sunspot & Magma fought the gigantic monster for their lives, Dazzler sung her heart out on stage. Their mysterious obese captor was partially hidden in the shadows, feasting on luxurious foods and wine. The creature turned out to be mechanical, but it was intangible to punch. when Magma shook the earth from underneath it, the machine seemed to walk on air. Sunspot recognized Shadowcat's powers & deduced that she must be held hostage inside the mechanical giant. As the giant grabbed him, he implored Shadowcat to come to her senses. The obese leader of the Gladiators screamed for her to kill him, but Shadowcat phased out of the robot to join the New Mutants side-by-side. Dazzler began to attack them, but Shadowcat used one of the armored spikes off the robot as a projectile and threw it towards their mysterious kidnapper.
At that moment, Cannonball arrived carrying Magik & Rachel Summers. Dazzler's attack continued, so Magik had one of her demons grab Dazzler & dragged her into Limbo. Dazzler's Gladiator friend Ivich believed Dazzler had been killed and dived into the fight. The fight was chaotic until Magik returned Dazzler from Limbo and the police arrived (scaring off the crowd). The jaunt to Limbo had broken the telepathic hold on Dazzler, and she implored Ivich to run away & lead a decent life.
Meanwhile the fat proprietor of the Gladiators' arena had disappeared. Magma used her powers to tunnel them out of the complex. Just as Sunspot realized that Dazzler & Shadowcat had been under some sort of possession, he was possessed and turned to fight the others. Rachel used her telepathy to reach out to Sunspot, but was also possessed instead. Dazzler was determined not to be caught again and used her lights to dazzle the others back into sense.
Cannonball then took the lead, and flew into their obese tormentor. As he pushed her into the air he was shocked to find that it was his old classmate, Karma! The holographic images of Alexander Flynn had merely been a front to hide her true identity. The shock halted his attack, and she landed on the ground to torment the others. Shadowcat had realized that they were fighting the first New Mutant, but didn't tell the others. Karma ensured her escape by threatening to have innocent bystanders slit their own throats.
She escaped, and framed the Gladiator's illegal activities on her uncle, General Ngyuyen Ngoc Coy. With the General arrested, the mutants considered what to do next. They weren't sure if the X-Men had survived their fight against the Beyond (see Secret Wars II #1), and Shadowcat consoled Dazzler.
Additional: In the back of this issue were pin-up fact files drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz. One per Hellions member; these featured Empath & Catseye.
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