The New Mutants # 91 - Prey for the Living

Meanwihle, Cable led the New Mutants through the sewers.  Cable's senses were useless, as the background noise made it difficult to determine whether something was a mile away or just in front of them.  This allowed Masque's group of tear-away Morlocks to ambush them.  Cable ordered Boom-Boom & Sunspot to be quiet as he negotiated safe passage through the tunnels.  Masque was happy to let Cable, Caliban & Sabretooth kill each other so he could finish off the weak survivors.  As they walked on, the New Mutants recognised that Masque's mental condition was deteriorating.

They soon found Caliban & Sabretooth fighting over Rictor.  Wolfsbane became enraged and leapt at Sabrebtooth, but he slashed his claws into her with a dangerous upper-cut.  Cannonball blasted into Sabretooth pushing him away from Wolfsbane and into the sewer wall.  

Sunspot had picked a fight with Caliban, but Cable ordered him to move away allowing him to open fire.  Boom-Boom then detonated the tunnel roof above Caliban, burying him under the fallen concrete.  However, Sabretooth had escaped taking Rictor with him.  Once he had reached a safe distance, Sabretooth threw Rictor into the water and was determined to have his revenge on Rictor for interfering with his fight.  His verbal taunts angered Rictor to the point that he overcame the pain from his open wounds and was able to effectively use his powers.  The tunnels began to shake, and debris fell into the sewer water as Rictor stood up.  Sabretooth laughed in defiance as the tunnel began to collapse.

The rest of the New Mutants felt the trembling.  Boom-Boom was bragging about how she's managed to defeat Caliban, but hr victory was short lived as Cable ordered them to find Rictor.  Cable's infra-red sensors detected Rictor buringed enderneath the rubble.  Sunspot used his strength to clear away the concrete while Boom-Boo lectured Rictor.  Sabretooth snuck up behind the team, but Rictor stood up to him.  Sabretooth was faced with the whole of the New Mutants and was ready to fight when Masque returned.

Masque and his rogue Morlocks decided that they wanted revenge upon Sabretooth since had killed many Morlocks during the Mutant Massacre.  However, Sunspot declared that the New Mutants were honour bound to stop Sabretooth after he'd hurt Rictor.  Cannonball suggested that they walk away from the fight, which Cable agreed.  Sunspot had initially difficulty accepting the new orders, but the situation soon changed.  Caliban crashed through the concrete rubble as Sabretooth began to creep towards the Morlocks.  Masque threatened Caliban, but was easily scared into submission by Caliban's new strength.  The Morlocks and New Mutants stood by while Sabretooth and Caliban ran towards each other.  Cable ordered the New Mutants to wait while he watched the outcome of the fight.  Caliban managed to grab Sabretooth around the waist with one arm, and pushed his head backwards with his free-hand.  A terrible 'krakk' rang through the tunnel as Sabretooth's spine was instantly broken.  Masque grinned with evil delight.  Boom-Boom & Cannonball was disgusted by the seemingly deadly conclusion.  The Morlocks fled the scene, the New Mutants began their journey home and Caliban abandoned Sabretooth's body believing him to be dead.

Days later, the other New Mutants went to visit Rictor as he lay in the infirmary.  He still remained defiant and ungrateful for everything Cable had done to save his life in the tunnels.  Wolfsbane chastised him, asking him to confide in them the reasons why he hated Cable so much.  Later on, spurred on by Wolfsbane's words, Rictor went to the Danger Room.  He wanted to train to prove to himself that he didn't give up easily.  However, he was shocked to find Cable was in the middle of a highly dangerous programme.  Robots continued to dive towards Cable, but he used his strength, agility and tactics to defeat them all.  Rictor realised that Cable wasn't doing it to show off, but to train his own body.  As much as Rictor still despised Cable, he admitted to himself that he was finally beginning to respect him.