The New Mutants #78

As if the battle with Freedom Force from last issue wasn’t enough, now the New Mutants must confront the wrath of Hela! Doctor Strange guest-stars!

Doctor Strange continued to monitor the New Mutants progress. Mirage & Brightwind were encased in a block of ice, but they were becoming physically gaunt and withered from the mystical attack. Wolfsbane attempted to telepathically communicate with Mirage through her lupine form, but was shocked back into her human form by the terror and pain. Rusty recalled the terror of when his own mutant powers of fire manifested, but understood that he was fortunate not to be harmed by his own powers while Mirage was being consumed by the mystical fire that afflicted her. Boom-Boom was obviously worried for Mirage, but tried to put on a brave face even though she was scared. They decided to return to Ship. Sunspot and Skids worked together to lift the ice-machine enough for Warlock to carry it while Cannonball propelled them trough the air. Doctor Strange continued to follow them through the Astral Plane.

Meanwhile, Hela continued to watch them from Asgard. The Rainbow Bridge had been shattered and Asgard floated through the Negative Zone. She was glad that her spell which afflicted the Valkyrior was also effecting Mirage. She believed that the Fates were conspiring against Odin to allow her to take over Asgard.

Back on Earth, Freedom Force flew through the city in a helicopter. They believed that Rusty had caused the fires in Greenwich Village (see previous issue), and Destiny predicted that Rusty needed to be arrested to ensure the survival of Freedom Force and other mutants.

Cannonball struggled to keep his balance, and was clipping buildings as he pushed the others through the air. Freedom Force's helicopter appeared and they demanded that Rusty hand himself over. The New Mutants resisted and Skids asked Freedom Force if they would help them. However, Crimson Commando opened fire. Rictor went to use his powes, but Destiny warned Freedom Force of his planned attack and so Commando fired a shot to catch Rictor across the temple. Rictor fell and Boom-Boom panicked for him. Rusty grew angry and used his fire, but Pyro was then able to use it against the ice block. As the ice melted, Wolfsbane could feel Mirage regaining consciousness. Skids was unable to extend her shield to protect Mirage too, and Sunspot wanted to land to fight Freedom Force face-to-face. Cannonball lowered the New Mutants on Ellis Island to try to talk to Freedom Force.

Once on the ground Blob went to grab Rusty, but Sunspot stepped between them. Pyro surrounded them in fire and Skids protected them all with her force-field. Cannonball flew at Pyro and knocked him into the water, thereby freeing Rusty to use his fire without fear of Pyro using it against them.A lot of ice had melted from Mirage's self-imposed prison and the Blob stepped forward to grab her. Boom-Boom freaked out at having lost Illyana and was still scared from nearly losing Rictor, so she used a time-bomb to destroy the concrete below Blob, dropping him into the water below. However, the ice machine also began to topple into the water and all the New Mutants went to grab it. Suddenly, Cyclops appeared and began to chastise Rusty for his behaviour. Wolfsbane pounced on Cyclops and revealed that she knew he had really been Mystique because of her lupine senses.

However, Silver Sabre ran by Rusty and knocked him over with his super speed. Rusty collapsed to the ground where Skids protected him. As Blob pulled himself back out of the water, Rusty offered to go with Freedom Force. Blob laughed and admitted that there would have been a staged trial where Rusty would have been offered a civil service position and the public would approve of training mutant babies. Skids realised that they meant the mutant babies who had been kidnapped during the Inferno; they had passed the babies to Freedom Force to return them to their parents (see X-Factor # 40), but they had held on to the children to manipulate them. Rusty then commanded the rest of the New Mutants to rescue Mirage while he and Skids resisted arrest under her force shield.

Cannonball blasted the ice machine back into the air and Freedom Force's helicopter followed them. Warlock took over the flying duties from Cannonball, freeing him to carry Rictor for a long distance aerial assault on the helicopter. Bullets from the helicopter couldn't harm them through Cannonball's blast field, but did throw off Rictor's attack. Instead he clipped the motor and the helicopter crashed in the water. All the passengers bailed with parachutes, and Wolfsbane was relieved that they all survived.

However, Avalanche then used his powers to create a giant tidal wave to swamp the New Mutants. Just as they were about to reach Ship, the tidal wave hit them and melted the last of the ice. Mirage and Brightwind flew free, with Hela's malicious grin appearing in the shadowy sky behind them.

Ship then mysteriously rose further and further above them. The New Mutants thought they'd arrived home, but Ship called out that he was being forced into space. Ship had disappeared, but octor Strange had continued to monitor the whole altercation. He recognised Hela's influence, and decided that the Fates had involved the New Mutants. He then cast a spell to teleport the New Mutants away. Freedom Force were astounded to see the New Mutants disappear in flash of light.

The New Mutants arrived in Asgard. Boom-Boom hoped that it wasn't Oz, and Sunspot explained how they had been to Asgard before. However, they realised that the sky looked unnaturally strange and Mirage flew into the air on Brightwind as the two of them continued to burn with a supernatural fire.