Quicksilver #8
Rescue Missions(s)!
After fruitlessly searching for his missing Knights of Wundagore, Sir Ram returns to Haven demanding to speak with their supposed leader Quicksilver immediately.[1][2] He is greeted by Bova, who informs him that Quicksilver just had his wife Crystal and daughter walk out on him.[3]
Pietro is currently in the basement trying to make sense of what just happened. One minute he was fighting with the Black Knight over her and the next she was walking out on both of them. Pietro is then greeted by a mysterious cloaked figure who tells him that he is better off without his wife and daughter. This figure also tells him that he needs to let go of all his connections to the past, including the Avengers and the Knights of Wundagore as it is his destiny. When Quicksilver tries questioning this stranger, he is interrupted by Sir Ram who comes down to talk to him. When Pietro says he is in the middle of a conversation, Sir Ram asks if he’s been talking to himself. When Quicksilver turns to face the stranger again he has somehow disappeared.[4]
Outside the castle, Lady Vermin — who just escaped captivity — arrives at Haven interrupting an argument between Pietro and Sir Ram. Once fitted with a new speech harness, she explains how she, Lords Gator, Churchill, Tyger, and Lady Ursula were kidnapped from New York by mutants working for Exodus. They are being tortured in order to learn where the High Evolutionary went to ground and hid Isotope E, as they believe it will provide a cure for the mutant Legacy Virus.[5] When asked if Lord Anon was with them, Lady Vermin says she hasn’t seen him since they parted company in the city.
The Knights are being held at the Abby, a church located fifty miles north of Haven. While Lady Vermin is informing her allies of the situation, Lord Anon has tracked them down himself. Inside, Pyro, Feral, Omega Red, and the Fenris Twins have finished interrogating an ordinary rat that Lady Vermin switched places with. Not getting any valuable information out of the rodent, Feral eats the tiny creature before Omega Red is sent to get another prisoner. Inside the cell, the Knights of Wundagore continue to wait for rescue. Lord Churchill has been grating on the others with his incessant howling. However, this provides a distraction so that Lord Anon can ambush the Mutate standing guard outside.[6] Inside, Pyro and Avalanche report back to Exodus, telling him that they have not been able to determine the High Evolutionary’s location. Exodus tells them to stop as he has finally pinpointed their foe thanks to the unique energy signature of Isotope E. The geneticist has gone to ground in the Savage Land and Exodus wants the Knights of Wundagore kept alive to be used as bargaining chips.[7] He orders Pyro and the others to load the New Men onto a ship and head to that location where they are to rendezvous with members of the Acolytes.
After terminating the call, Fabian Cortez and Scanner question why Exodus is working with Pyro and his crew. Particularly, since Exodus has decreed that mutants infected with the Legacy Virus are viewed as impure and Isotope E isn’t going to provide a cure.[8] Exodus points out that they are desperate and that makes them useful tools to exploit. When Cortez tries to protest this, Exodus orders him to be silent, as he is still in trouble for botching the mission in Attilan.[9]
Back at the Abby, Pyro and his crew try to move the Knights of Wundagore from their cell to their ship. The New Men take this opportunity to try and make their escape. In the ensuing battle, they are joined by Lord Anon who helps them commandeer the mutants’ ship. However, when Anon tries to kill Avalanche, Lord Gator reminds him that the Knights don’t kill a defenseless enemy. Anon spares his life, not saying anything about the Mutate guard her killed when he arrived.[10] After the New Men have escaped, Pyro reports this back to Exodus. the Acolyte leader is not happy with the news, but arranges to have Pyro’s team teleported to Wundagore so they can join the Acolyte strike team in the Savage Land.
Moments later, Quicksilver and Sir Ram arrive on the scene only to discover that the Abby is now deserted. To figure out what happened, Lady Vermin speaks to the other rats and learns that everyone departed for the Savage Land.
Borrowing a Quinjet from the Avengers, Quicksilver and his allies arrive in the Savage Land just in time to see the other Knights fighting a horde of evolved dinosaurs — the High Evolutionary’s handiwork. In the ensuing fight, a evolved triceratops joins the fight and as Quicksilver struggles to subdue the massive beast, Lord Anon blasts it with a rifle. This kills the monster, but also injures Pietro in the process. Sir Ram scolds Lord Anon, who insists he was just saving lives. Quicksilver is also critical of the move, pointing out he had the monster subdued. That’s when Anon spots the Acolytes ship approaching.
However, before they can react to this new situation, the ground collapses under their feet and they fall into a secret chamber below. There they are greeted by the High Evolutionary himself. He explains that he came to the Savage Land to try and save his own life. To show them what he means, the geneticist removes his mask and reveals that he has de-evolved into an ape!
Recurring Characters
Quicksilver, High Evolutionary, Knights of Wundagore (Sir Ram, Lord Anon, Lord Gator, Lord Churchill, Lord Tyger, Lady Ursula, Lady Vermin), Acolytes (Exodus, Fabian Cortez, Scanner), Legacy Virus Strikeforce (Pyro, Avalanche, Feral, Andreas and Andreas Von Strucker, Random), Bova, Nestor (unidentified)
Continuity Notes
The narrative of this story refers to Quicksilver as a mutant. In reality, he actually isn’t. Years later it is revealed that the High Evolutionary kidnapped Pietro when he was a baby and performed experiments upon him. To cover up his work, he made it so the boy always registered as a mutant. See Uncanny Avengers #4-5.
Lords Gator, Tyger, Churchill and Ladies Ursula and Vermin went missing in Quicksilver #5. They were kidnapped by mutants in league with Exodus’ Acolytes. Lord Anon disappeared on his own. We’ll catch up with him later this issue.
This is a really long and complex series of events that I talk about at length in my notes for last issue. TL;DR version, Quicksilver and Crystal were reunited in Quicksilver #3 after a long absence. Due to a long string of marital problems, Crystal took Luna and returned to her native Attilan last issue.
This mysterious entity will later become known as Nestor in Quicksilver #13. Who he really is and his plans for Quicksilver’s destiny is never really explained as this series was cancelled and the plotline dropped. I pose a theory about this in my summary for issue #13.
The Legacy Virus is an illness that directly targets mutants that was unleashed on Earth by the terrorist known as Stryfe in X-Force #18. A cure won’t be found until Uncanny X-Men #390.
A number of Genoshan Mutates have joined up with Exodus’ Acolytes since the Bloodties event. See Avengers #368-369, X-Men (vol. 2) #26, Avengers West Coast #101, and Uncanny X-Men #307. Seeing them as less than pure, Exodus frequently employs them as cannon fodder.
For more on what the High Evolutionary has been up to in the Savage Land, see Ka-Zar (vol. 3) #12-14.
Exodus has taken the position that mutants infected with the Legacy Virus are impure in X-Men Unlimited #2 when he denied Pyro a place with the Acolytes. Speaking of Pyro’s crew not all of them are infected with the Legacy Virus. The ones who are include:
Pyro himself. Although Exodus detected the illness in him in X-Men Unlimited #2, he won’t learn the truth until X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #1. He will die of the illness in Cable #87 before a cure can be found. He will be resurrected years later in X-Necrosha #1.
Feral: Discovered that she was infected with the virus in X-Force #90. She will survive until the cure is found.
Random: Is not infected with the Legacy Virus, but has been caring for people infected with a variant of the virus that can spread to ordinary humans. See X-Factor #143-144.
Fabian Cortez was sent to Attilan to recruit Maximus the Mad in their plot to destroy the Terrigen Mists. This is because Exodus viewed the Inhumans don’t conform to his ideas of mutant supremacy. This plot was foiled by Quicksilver and the Inhumans. See Quicksilver #4-6.
This is another clue as to the true identity of Lord Anon, which will be revealed in Quicksilver #11. After a series of attacks by Exodus, the High Evolutionary evolved a wolf into a New Man even though the others would have been against it because, thanks to the Man-Beast, they do not trust wolves. This wolf was named Lord Anon and given armor to hide his animalistic nature. The Man-Beast later murdered this other wolf and took his place in order to hide in plain sight while he plotted to get ahold of Isotope E.