The New Mutants take up residence in the underground remains of Xavier's Mansion. They unify with new uniforms and a training session. Rictor, however, isn't too keen on Cable's leadership and strikes into the Morlock Tunnels. The New Mutants charge in to find the boy before Sabretooth or Caliban have their way.
Synopsis
Samson know he's being stalked through the Morlock Tunnels, but he doesn't know by whom. Sabretooth leaps out of the shadows. Samson puts up a fight while, nearby, Caliban closes in, as he's been tracking Sabretooth.
The New Mutants inspect the razed remains of the Westchester school. X-Factor had suggested that the New Mutants use the intact subterranean levels as a base. Despite the devastation on the surface, the floors below the ground are still fully furnished and fully functional. Cable quickly issues orders for them all to design their own lessons timetable and matching uniforms that reflect their individuality. Sunspot adds that Jean Grey had warned them to stay away from the entrance to the Morlock Tunnels, as there are still killers down there. Rictor is unimpressed when they enter the Danger Room, but the others are ready to show off it's capabilities at a later training.
Caliban finds Samson's corpse floating face down in the sewers. His desire to kill Sabretooth is matched by Sabretooth's desire to kill whoever is stalking him.
Cannonball finishes designing his uniform, but Warlock queries why he would need goggles since his blast field protects his eyes during flight. Rictor objects to creating uniforms. Boom-Boom picks up on his hostility towards anything that Cable introduces and points out that Cable doesn't show any signs of recognizing Rictor. When she presses him to know more details about it, Rictor refuses to talk. Warlock announces that the time has come for their Danger Room training session, and Sunspot is exciting to show off what it can do. Wolfsbane pleads with Rictor to join them in their training session; he only agrees based on the thought that the New Mutants are the only family he has left.
All of them (except for Rictor) change into leotards for their training session. Boom-Boom is initially unimpressed until they came under attack from a fleet of tie-fighters and large masked aliens. The others explain the capabilities of the Shi'Ar technology. Impressed with how they weren't just holograms, Boom-Boom begins to let loose with her time-bombs. Rictor holds his own until he is surrounded. Suddenly he breaks down with the memory of what had happened to his father and is forced to beg Cable to switch the program off. With the session cancelled, the others run to Rictor to see if he is okay. However, he accuses Cable of purposefully setting him up and storms off, leaving Cable confused by his behavior.
Later that day, Boom-Boom shows off her new uniform when Wolfsbane bursts in with the news that Rictor had run away. She is afraid he's run into the Morlock Tunnels. They quickly find Cable using Cerebro, trying to locate the Mutant Liberation Front. When he learns what has happened, he drops everything and orders them to all meet at the entrance to the Tunnels.
Rictor isn't afraid of any bogeyman hidden in the tunnels until he came across Samson's corpse. Caliban appears and demands to know why Rictor is in the Morlock Tunnels. Rictor didn't recognize his old friend because of the vast changes in his physique, and he uses his powers to attack Caliban. The Morlock, however, pushes through the attack. Rictor ceases when Caliban speaks in the third person, causing him to recognize his friend. However, their reunion is cut-short as Sabretooth attacks. He slashes at Rictor and would have killed him if Caliban hadn't intervened. Caliban and Sabretooth battle while Rictor looks on in fear, afraid that whoever wins the fight would kill him next.
Cable assembles the New Mutants. Boom-Boom wonders why he wasn't telling them to stay away because of their young age and inexperience. However, Cable recognized that there was safety in numbers. He commanded Sunspot to power up and Wolfsbane assumes her lupine form. Cable then leads the New Mutants charging into the Morlock Tunnels.
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