Solicitation
As Rictor faces down death underneath a rapidly lowering, swinging blade, the rest of the team finds themselves in a Mutant Town transformed into the vicious Murderworld of the diabolical ARCADE! But who has hired the red-haired assassin to take out our heroes? This issue ends with an explosive finale that will literally change the landscape of New York City.
Summary
Monet finds Rictor, but before she manages to free him, she's be hit by an electric jolt and knocked unconscious.
The man who hired Arcade is revealed to be a former Purifier, the one who recruited Rictor and was later kicked out after Rictor exposed himself as a spy. He seeks revenge on Rictor, but Arcade wants to make it more than personal and get rid of the whole community of Mutant Town.
Guido is still stuck to a big rock, rolling around the "jungle" and about to smash everyone in his way. Guido barely frees his hands in time to save a woman pushing a baby cart.
The woman, however, is part of Arcade's amusements and takes a gun out of the cart and starts shooting at Jaime.
In the last moment before the axe hit him, Rictor breaks part of the board he's tied to and blocks the blade. Theresa and a Jamie dupe arrive to help him.
Though the plan seems to fall down, Arcade says he'll execute a failsafe plan. To keep everyone in Mutant Town and prevent an outside help, Arcade activates a force field.
Jamie takes down the shooting woman, after she killed and wounded many of his dupes. After he hits her, Jamie discovers that it was a robot. He is then sure that Arcade is behind it all—that and his sign on the rock from last issue.
Jamie is fooled by another robot, this time of his, thinking he's a dupe. The robot shoots him in the shoulder. Guido shows up and squashes the robot with a rock.
Rictor is being hunted by a horde of cars, Theresa saves him.
Monet is awake and pissed off, looking for the man responsible for her electrocution.
Outside of Mutant Town the police and army can't get through the force field without getting harmed. Valerie Cooper arrives and hears the sit-rep, knowing that X-Factor are somehow involved.
Jamie's dupes calm down the civilians while Monet traces the location of Arcade with the robot's head.
They find the client alone. He says Arcade escaped through a hatch and Monet goes after him.
The former Purifier tells X-Factor about his bad experiences in life and how the Purifiers saved him. Now it's all gone he has no reason to live.
He tells them that Arcade's last plan was that he'll be attached to a bomb that will blow all Mutant Town when his heart stops working. He just finished drinking a glass of poison and lost consciousness.
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