Sabretooth (3rd series) #5

Krakoa has been through a lot lately – Kaiju, genetically modified super-soldiers, Techno-Logan, and now, one undersea volcanic eruption, coutesy of the New Mutant Magma, who now lies motionless on Krakoa, near to the Morlock Mole, while other mutants are scattered about, sprawled across the mutant nation, Krakoa. Imagine the sudden shock to the system for Krkaoa itself, so in an effort to survive, Krakoa reached out to every mutant near the eruption, draining their energy, knocking out hundreds of them – in other words... no witnesses.

'I love it when a plan comes together' Victor Creed a.k.a. Sabretooth thinks to himself after rising from the mutant prison within Krakoa itself called the Pit. 'Or maybe it would be better to say, I love it when I can exploit the plans of others' Creed decides as he races past several unconscious mutants. 'Those dopes in the Pit were inside my brain...and I was inside theirs' Sabretooth remarks as he races across the island to a small cove with a dock. 'Here we go - “Nanny's Cove”' he calls out as he reaches the dock, where Bling can be seen lying motionless on the dock, and Shark-Girl floats unmoving in the water beneath the dock. Sabretooth knows that Nerka didn't name this cove for some crazy old lady in armor – it's named for Nanny of the Maroons, a rebel queen. Creed also knows that Nekra and her low-rent Amazons kept a boat docked here – which is how he is going to get off this island. 'When they offered to help her, they didn't realize they were helping me'.

Sabretooth stands on the dock, smugly pleased with himself at escaping the Pit and preparing to leave Krakoa, when a voice calls out 'And where do you think you're going?' Sabretooth doesn't have time to react, when Mystique and Destiny appear, and Mystique throws him to the ground. Mystique tells her wife that she didn't believe her when she said Creed would be here. 'I wasn't sure I believed it myself' Destiny responds. Mystique holds Creed to the ground with a hand around his throat, and Creed tells her to be careful, as she's making her wife jealous. 'You're no competition' Mystique snaps back, before she stands up and Creed asks her if she is going to call in the other ten Quiet Council bozos to stop him. 'Obviously, I didn't need help taking you down. And I'll do it again' Mystique replies, but before she can knock Creed out, Destiny tells her to wait.

Destiny whispers something in Mystique's ear, then Mystique turns to Destiny and asks 'Really?' while Sabretooth gets to his feet: 'What's it going to be?' he asks. 'You're going to be surprised by my answer' Mystique tells him, before motioning for Sabretooth to pass her and head to the dock. 'We choose chaos' Mystique smiles at her former teammate and lover. 'Yeah, I can provide that' Sabretooth snarls.

Meanwhile, in the Pit, where Nekra, Madison Jeffries, Third Eye, Oya and Melter find themselves stannding in a police line up, while Cypher and Warlock are on the other side of a window, looking into the line-up. 'He's gone. And it's my fault. I let him go' Cypher tells the prisoners. 'You don't expect us to sympathize with you, right?' Nekra asks, waving a finger at the window which Cypher stands behind. 'No, I guess I shouldn't' Cypher replies, hanging his head, while Warlock stands behind him and looks frightened of Nekra. Cypher, carrying Warlock as a briefcase, enters the line-up room, where the mutant prisoners gather around a hologram projection of Krakoa. Cypher reveals to the others that Sabretooth stole a boat and took to sea. 'Isn't that Nanny's Cove?' Oya asks. Cypher confirmed that it is, and informs the others that the boat belonged to Bling. 'Did he kill Roxanne? Tell me you freed her killer – I dare you!' Nekra screams, grabbing Cypher by his throat and raising a fist with her other hand.

But before Nekra can strike Cypher, Warlock leaps up and grabs her, pushing her away Cypher, who assures Nekra that Bling is not dead, just unconscious, that everyone at this end of the island is knocked out. 'Krakoa reacted instinctively after a major trauma' Cypher explains, and adds that this means there is still time for them to go after Sabretooth. 'And do what – bring him back?' Madison Jeffries asks. Warlock folds his arms and frowns at Nekra, while Cypher reports that they will never put him back in the Pit, and that Sabretooth has done enough damage to Krakoa.

Reality around Krakoa's prisoners changes, and the mutants find themselves standing in front of the throne Sabretooth once sat on as the King of the hellish landscape he created within his mind in the Pit. 'If Sabretooth is gone, why are we seeing this at all?' Third Eye asks. Cypher explains that Sabretooth may have made this hell, but didn't take it with him. 'It's part of Krakoa now, is that it?' Nekra asks. Oya suggests that perhaps they all carry a little hell inside them, but Cypher tells them that Krakoa didn't – not before they got here. Nekra tells him to cry about the end of paradise later, and asks him what he is offering them. Cypher reveals that Sabretooth made a deal for himself – to let him go and he would stop inspiring a rebellion above. Oya anxiously asks if Sabretooth mentioned them at all, to which Third Eye tells her that all that talk about rising up together was just Sabretooth's con. 'He got us all'.

Melter, in his new molten form, angirly exclaims that he bets it is worse  than that. 'He wanted us left behind!' he shouts. Cypher frowns as he points out that it is easier to hide one escapee rather than six. Suddenly, 'Excuse me, dears, but I'm about ready to throttle someone!' a strange voice calls out. Jeffries is then knocked aside as Eleanor Murch a.k.a. Nanny barges past him, followed by the deadly Orphan Maker, only knownas Peter. Nanny reports that she was singing a lullaby to her poor Peter topside as they were sent down here. 'But as his Nanny, let me tell you, this is not an appropriate place for a nap!' 'Keep your hands to yourself!' Oya shouts as she fires a beam of ice, knocking Nanny backwards. 'Ne nice!' Orphan Maker warns Oya as he leaps towards her. 'Be humble' Nekra suggests as she punches Orphan Maker in the face.

Cypher turns to Third Eye and reveals that there are actually nine prisoners, and the deal Krakoa and he are offering means they all have to go – evven Toad, who thinks he is hiding. Indeed, Toad can be seen cowering behind some dirt, while Nekra motions to Nanny, Orphan Maker and Toad and exclaims 'Take them with us? I don't even know who they are!' Nekra exclaims. 'Like anyone's ever heard of you' Toad mutters. 'I know him! That's the Human Torch!' the excitable Orphan Maker calls out as he points to the surprised Melter. Cypher looks at Nekra and tells her that it's all of them or none of them. Nekra asks him why it is that important, and suggests that the five of them can go after Sabretooth, as they are the ones he betrayed. Cypher looks over to Sabretooth's “throne” and explains that Sabretooth has changed Krakoa, like any virus would. 'This throne sits empty, but I don't want to see what happens if Toad or Orphan Maker sits in that chair. I don't wannt to see the hell Nanny would create' Cypher tells Nekra. 'Oh, stuff it, golden boy!' Nanny snaps.

On the surface, mutants begin to recover from their bout of unconsciousness near where a large fiery crack has raised up on the land. Magma turns to Mole and tells him that she usually prefers to be more direct when she helps others. 'Plausible deniability – that's what this buys you' Mole suggests. But Magma tells him that if she is asked why she broke the law, she won't lie. 'Why should I?' she asks. 'Tell me you grew up entitled without telling me you grew up entitled' Mole replies. The aggressive woman stares at Mole, who gives her a half smile then turns to walk away, assuring her that he is messing with her, and that he is grateful for her help. Magma switches to her fiery form as she steps into the flaming crevice, and Mole adds that he knows the folks in the Pit will be grateful for her help, too. Magma asks Mole if he thinks they have made it out, but Mole yells her that he doesn't know that – but what he does know is that a lot of people are going to hear about who put them down there. Magma asks Mole where he will start, to which Mole reports that first, he has to make an apology. 'Angel, Iceman – I can't remember the difference between one pretty boy and the next'.

Later, Xavier walks across a piece of ground where someone has carved “Sabretooth was right” into the earth. Word has spread. Mole and Magma know. Shark-Girl, Skin, Bling and Blob know, as do others. But none of them wanted to attack Xavier, and yet still he is hurt – his repution is hurt. No matter where he walks on this island, the rumors will get there first. And it's not humans thinking about him, it's mutants. Sabretooth swore vengeance on the Professor. He cannot be hurt more than this. Mutants are immortal – but not their reputations.

Off the shore of Krakoa, a strange dome rises from the ocean, and when the dome pops, Cypher, Warlock and the mutant prisoners can be seen. 'What were we inside, a polyp? A cyst? Even for me this is disgusting' Toad mutters. 'Well, look who's too good to ride inside a giant cyst' Nanny snaps. 'Can we please leave them in hell?' Nekra sighs, turning to Cypher. 'Absolutely not' Cypher responds. Oya asks what happpens after they go after Sabretooth. 'He can't ever come back' Cypher instructs her. Madison Jeffries asks his companions if any of them can fly or teleport. 'I can zoom across the astral plane, but otherwise, I'm on foot' Third Eye replies. 'Despite what the armored guy thinks, I'm not the Human Torch' Melter adds, to which Madison supposes that he is going to have to make them a vessel. Cypher hands Nekra a tiny skull, and tells her to track Sabretooth down, then drop this in the soil which he stands. 'You're sending us to assassinate him' Nekra states as she looks at the slull. But Cypher assures her that won't kill him. 'He'll wish that's all it did' Cypher adds.

Meantime, on the open seas, near a non-treaty nation's territory. Sabretooth sails the stolen boat, while his “Feral Council” appear on the boat, too. The Boy fishes off the side of the boat, while the Beast reclines on the deck. The Captain stands next to Sabretooth who pilots the vessel, and the Cat sits on the Captain's shoulder. 'I'm going back to Krakoa with an army, bet on that' Sabretooth tells his Feral Council. The console in front of Sabretooth suddenly picks something up on radar. 'Too far out at sea for anything that big'. Sabretooth looks through some binoculars and tells himself that he is glad he stole a fully loaded craft, as he mmight need to use some ordnance. He sees something large through the binoculars. 'What the – can't I even get one day too myself?' he complains, when suddenly, a voice camn be heard over a communicator: 'Attention vessel, you have entered an unathorized zone. After scanning your ship, we have detected a mutant signature!'

Sabretooth's vessel is then captured in a beam which raises the ship upwards into the air. 'Damn right you did! Now let me introduce myself!' Sabretooth snarls. The voice announces that before boarding, all mutants must submit to inhibitor collar application. A mutant inhibitor collar suddenly darts through the air and clamps around Sabretooth's neck. The voice on the communicator informs Sabretooth that he will be admitted to Station Six, a for-profit prison facility operated by Orchis Corporation, where he will be tested. 'Welcome to Purgatory' the voice adds. 'You gotta be kidding me' Sabretooth snarls.

Shortly, a small ship leaves Krakoa, with all eight Pit escapees onboard. 'Who's driving this ship?' Melter asks. Third Eye informs him that Jeffries is, and explains that he formed it from the microplastics teeming in the waters around Krakoa. 'Wait. So it's made of inorganic polymers?' Melter asks. Third Eye tells him not to overthink it, and to just enjoy the wind on his face. Nekra remarks to Oya that she does not like being sent on other people's missions, to which Oya asks her if they prove themselves whether they will be let back on Krakoa. But Nekra tells Oya that they are never going back there.

On the shore of Krakoa, Mystique and Destiny watch the prisoners escape. Mystique remarks that she is concerned about letting them go after Sabretooth, and asks Destiny if they are headed into danger. 'Yes' the precog responds. 'Then why send them?' Mystique asks. Destiny reveals that Sabretooth won't succeed alone. 'Do we want Sabretooth to succeed?' Mystique asks. 'At this? Yes. So many lives are at stake' Destiny responds. 'And you're telling me we need the Five to resurrect that telepath as well?' Mystique enquires, running a hand through her hair. 'It's the least she deserves' Destiny remarks, adding that Birdy will live again – but far from Victor. Mystique wonders if a truly bad man can ever do a good thing, to which Destiny tells her that she hopes so. Mystique asks Destiny to tell her what she saw, but Destiny tells Mystique that she would never believe her.

And, aboard Orchis' Station Six, Sabretooth sits in the middle of an open space, sitting in a wheelchair, while an assortment of prisoners can be seen standing on the balconies around the open area. 'To me, my Exiles' Sabretooth calls out.