WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Cable #7 by Gerry Duggan, Phil Noto & VC's Joe Sabino, on sale now
When the X-Men first turned Krakoa into a nation-state, part of that meant extending a hand of peace to many of their former villains in the hope of achieving unity among all of the mutants in the Marvel Universe. However, there were some very specific hold-outs who have a special level of contempt for the X-Men. And now, Cable is going to be hunting one such villain down.
As Cable #7 reveals, Cable is on track to confront Stryfe, the villainous clone of his older self, and he'll get some help in the form of his fellow X-Force veteran Domino.
With X of Swords behind him, Cable has decided to return to his previous investigation into a series of kidnappings of mutant infants. Working with his sister, X-Factor's Rachel Summers, Cable helps the police hunt down the cultists from the Order of X and rescues the five . But while four of them appear to be genuine believers in the cult, their leader is revealed to actually have a different mission. Using his telepathy, Cable probes the man's mind and is shocked to find memories of him getting orders from Stryfe. Stryfe is evil and malicious clone of the original older Cable, who has repeatedly threatened the future of the X-Men and their allies.
Cable tries to keep the truth of Stryfe's involvement away from his sister -- which makes sense, considering that the last time the X-Men encountered Stryfe it was during a time when the villain was mentally controlling Rachel and threatening the entire time-stream. After she was freed in 2019's X-Force #10, by Ed Brisson and Dylan Burnett, she quickly turned against Stryfe, with Cable barely keeping her from killing the villain.
Now, Stryfe seems to be working against the X-Men again, and he's one of the handful of major mutant villains who didn't come to Krakoa when the X-Men opened their doors to everyone. His absence seems to have not been in vain, however, as it appears Stryfe already has plans in motion that require his own collection of mutants. To that end, he's been clearly manipulating the Order of X to his own goals.
Considering the relationship Stryfe had with the older Cable -- and how the new Cable has been doing his best to live up to the heroic legacy he left behind -- it makes perfect sense for the young telepath to throw himself into this conflict, especially since it coincides with his own personal investigations into missing mutant children. But instead of working with the Summers family, Cable seems intent on turning to other allies who also have plenty of experience in dealing with Stryfe and his machinations. The young Cable turns to the original Cable's old partner, Domino, who he finds at the Green Lagoon and asks to accompany him on his new mission.
The young Cable and Domino have worked together in the past, but this gives the pair a chance to solidify their status together, despite the chaos of their own responsibilities to Krakoa. Her own experience with Stryfe makes her a potentially invaluable ally to Cable going into this investigation. But there's still the question of what Stryfe is planning. Even the current X-Force is wary of Stryfe and his tactics, with a note from Sage revealing that most of the files on Stryfe are kept under heavy lock-and-key due to their connection to future events. Cable might be stepping into his most difficult mission yet by trying to hunt down the clone of his older self, but at least he won't be going in alone.
KEEP READING: Summers Rebellion: How Cyclops' Last Revolution Saved The X-Men's Future