“SECOND COMING”, CHAPTER SIX A beloved X-Man died defending Hope, the returned mutant “messiah.” As they lay their comrade to rest, the remaining X-Men are left to question: Is she worth it?
Synopsis
The issue beings in the Sick Bay of Utopia, with Magneto still comatosed, Karma having her leg treated and Colossus socializing with Kitty from outside her containment pod. Karma gets annoyed while having her bandages fixed, as Magneto wakes up, exclaiming that he has a feeling that they've missed something that's happened.
Up on Utopia, and a crowd has gathered around the dead body of Nightcrawler; Bastion's arm protruding from his chest. Emma seems sad, while Cyclops and Hope seem shocked. Wolverine is angry and Iceman concerned, as Dazzler cries in Northstar's arms, and Hope in Cable's. Dazzler tells Hope to bring him back. Cyclops tells them to stop putting the blame on Hope, her then realizing that they blame her but doesn't understand how at first, before running off, shouting that she's incapable of anything and is nobody. Cable calls after her but Emma pushes Cyclops to follow her. Cable has a talk with her about the inability to control what others think of you, only your response and they will survive this. Cable introduces her to Cyclops, revealing while stuttering slightly, that he's his father, with Hope reacting in surprise. Cyclops introduces himself, saying he's been waiting a long time to meet her, stating that it must be weird for her for others to expect so much, as she continues to explain that she's nobody. Cyclops tells her she must stay alive, before instructing Cable to take her to the Sick Bay to have them both checked out, before leaving, telling them he has to bury Nightcrawler.
Walking back into the crowd, Cyclops tells Angel to prepare his body, asking Bobby to prepare the rights and telling them that they need to contact Amanda Sefton, and that they need to work now to stop Bastion to make sure his death wasn't in vain, over a panel of Wolverine snarling.
He then calls down to Danger, who's running therapy sessions with the prisoners, telling her that she needs to check the presence of them to make sure their there because Cerebra has been attacked somehow. She acknowledges the presence of all her prisoners, including Donald Pierce, who however has escaped, but Cyclops tells her to remain sharp as they theorize that they've been infiltrated.
Pierce is walking through a tunnel in the island, reporting to Bastion telling him that Danger is still fooled and that asking what he needs to do next. While examining virtual models of Utopia, Bastion tells him that containment is now they're main target and they've started killing the teleporters, and now Pierce needs to stop their ability to leave the island by destroying the Blackbirds in the hanger and he send the maps to Pierce via they're link. He is then instructed to find the X-Men and destroy them after that; Pierce questions that this is suicide, but is reassured and says he'll do it in Bastion's name.
Cyclops comes to the conclusion that they need Magik back to teleport and sends Cannonball and his team, teleported by Pixie, to Limbo to find her. Cannonball believes however that they should focus on destroying Bastion's towers, Doctor Nemesis agreeing with him. Cyclops sends the X-Club to find out what he's doing with them and for them to destroy them. Before they leave, he tells them that they should blame him for Nightcrawler's death not Hope, as she's still just a girl, before advising them to return alive.
Dr. Kavita Rao is performing a medical examination on Cable, as Hope looks through Kitty's containment window to have her wave back. Magneto explains to Hope who she is and that she's not herself nowadays and that none of them actually are. Cable then tells Hope not to talk to him, but she persists, asking why Cable doesn't want her talking to him, and he replies by telling her that Cable believes he's up to something. She blatantly asks why this should worry Cable, to which he replies that he wasn't always this fragile. They shake hands and exchange names, and Hope realizes from his previous statement that he believes her to be a messiah of some sort, and asks does he believe that. He replies by telling her there's still suffering in the world, to which she seemingly jokingly replies that given a week or two she could do something about it, before Angel cuts across, explaining that they've got a few minutes before everyone's heading off so they can say goodbye to Nightcrawler.
As Cyclops, Wolverine and Colossus carry his casket followed by a crowd, Beast appears, shouting at Cyclops, telling him that it's his fault. Cyclops calmly thanks him for attending, claiming it would've meant a lot to Nightcrawler.
It turns to Iceman who thanks everyone for being present, and that it isn't a proper Catholic burial but they're doing the best they can, before reading a passage from Ezekiel 37:4, saying he thought it was nice and liked the song as a child, during which we see shots of Storm, Cable, Hope, Cyclops and Emma. Then, they each take it in turn to state something about the mutant himself, while a mirage of Nightrawler in different costumes in drawn across the top of the page.
Up to then, Wolverine has said nothing, and Iceman asks if we like to, and we see Wolverine's claws extracted slightly, cutting himself. Wolverine begins monologuing, stating that Nightcrawler was the only person who saw him as a person, not an animal. He then extracts his claws fully, shouting in Cyclops' face, before turning and pointing his claws at hope, stating "You better be worth this, I swear to God." before leaving the burial with X-Force.
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