As Tessa went about her duties in the complex underneath the Hellfire Club, Karma ambushed Tessa. She had to fight to take control of Tessa's mind, an then used to her perform as search on the Hellfire Club's computer for her lost brother & sister. Sebastian Shaw grabbed Karma and threatened violence against her. Tessa stood up for Karma's motives, and Magneto arrived to stop Shaw from hurting her any further. Tessa admitted that they were performing the same searches on a daily basis, but without success.
Upstairs, Mirage & Thunderbird were arguing about who was at fault for their team-mates uninhabited behaviour. They agreed that no rules would be enforceable during their context (see New Mutants #53). Magik teleported in with the New Mutants graduation uniforms, since they had masks to hide their identities. Cannonball taunted Cypher about his hangover, Wolfsbane contemplated how her behaviour was no worse than Cyphers, while Magma stood on the snow-covered balcony ledge. She couldn't feel the cold because of her mutant ability, but she was worried about Selene's claim to be her maternal grandmother many times removed (see New Mutants #53). Magik threatened to teleport Cypher to Limbo to conjure up a hang-over spell, but the prospect of going to Limbo made him run out of the room to vomit. Mirage entered the room and showed no mercy for Cypher, while Cannonball held him in a hot shower (still fully clothed) to help him sober up. Cannonball suggested that they 'call it quits', but Magma burst into flames and passionately declared that they could not bow down before the insults the Hellions had thrown at them. They got changed, and Wolfsbane used her lupine senses to find a scent on a broken fragment of the Selene statuette (which she thought greatly resembled Magma).
Karma entered the room and was surpised to see everyone in their graduation outfits. They had been waiting for her, but she apologised and said that she couldn't help the team while her heart & mind were on her brother & sister.
Outside in Central Park, Wolfsbane read the area for recognisable scents. She immediately shifted back into her human form and fell over with the shocking revelation that the Silver Samurai was the one who sold the forged statuette. Meanwhile, back at the Hellfire Club Karma lied to Magneto when he enquired where the rest of the team was. He kindly placed his cloak around her shoulders to keep her warm from the snow.
The New Mutants spied on the Hellions. The Hellions were in New York harbour, where Tarot used her cards to divine where the culprits were. Thunderbird counselled her that she should have more faith in herself, seemingly unaware that Magik was spying on him with a scrying pool. The Hellions had discovered that the criminals were on Shooter's Island, but when the New Mutants went to teleport there first Cypher held back. He admitted that without Warlock's protection, he was scared.
On Shooter's Island, Mirage distracted a guard with one of her illusions, while Magik teleported behind & punched another. Magma offered to burn the whole island down, and couldn't understand Cannonball's logic that they shouldn't kill anyone. As the New Mutants used their powers to render the guards unconscious or powerless, Cypher pushed Mirage out of the way of a sniper but was shot squarely in the chest. Magma began to use her fiery powers in a more offensive manner, and created a circle of flames to pen the remaining guards in. Just as Magik was about to unleash her dark side on a hapless guard, Wolfsbane cried out with relief. She pulled open Cypher's shirt to reveal a large burn, and hugged him tightly upon the realisation that he was alive.
Just as the New Mutants were deciding how to interrogate the guards, the Hellions appeared on a gantry overhead. They had already apprehended the Viper & the Silver Samurai. Thunderbird explained that he knew the New Mutants would spy on them, therefore they purposefully fed the information about Shooter's Island to them. After that the Hellions held back, leaving the New Mutants to fight the guards while they went on ahead to defeat the Viper & Silver Samurai without any interruption. Thunderbird & Mirage shook hands; Mirage accepted that the New Mutants had been defeated. The Hellions cheered themselves, while the New Mutants were quiet & miserable.
Back at the Hellfire Club, both teams changed back into their formal dress. Neither Magneto nor the White Queen could understand why their students were so miserable and happy respectively. Thunderbird and Mirage accepted that their teams did work well together, and moved closer. They were about to kiss when Tessa arrived, interrupting the moment by handing Mirage a note from Karma. The letter on Hellfire Club headed note paper, stated that Karma was unable to sit idly by while her brother & sister could be in mortal peril. Cypher wanted to go after Karma to help her, and was angry when Cannonball said it was her decision to make. He didn't agree with that logic when Sunspot & Warlock had runaway (see Fallen Angels #1). Magik agreed with Cypher, and suggested that Wolfsbane should use her lupin senses to follow Karma. However, Mirage agreed with Cannonball, stating that Karma was the eldest f the New Mutants, and was capable of making her own decisions. Mirage then blamed herself for getting caught up with the challenge against the Hellions instead of looking after their own team mate.
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