There’s being caught between a rock and a hard place, but what about being caught between two warring cults? That’s the situation Jubilee and Roberto (Sunspot) find themselves in the final issue of X-Men ’97 Season 2 #5.
Going undercover in their mission of searching for one of Apocalypse’s horsemen, Jubilee is horrified to discover most if not all of the townsfolk belong to Clan Akkaba, a religious secret society that worships the mutant supervillain. Worse, the rest of X-Force learn the clan is plotting to use Autumn Rolfson (Famine) to bear Apocalypse’s heir. Meanwhile, Exodus and his Acolytes plan to take Apocalypse’s Rejuvenation Chamber so they can try to resurrect Magneto, who’s presumed dead along with the X-Men following the events of the season 1 finale “Tolerance is Extinction.”
Town Square Brawl
Picking up from the chaos of the last issue, the town square is now a battleground where Clan Akkaba cultists and Exodus’s Acolytes are in full-on brawl with Jubilee and Roberto caught in the middle of the madness.
They spot two familiar kids from the Vigil back in issue #1, Rusty and Skids, who immediately start to panic. Turns out, they only joined Exodus because they had nowhere else to go after X-Factor rounded up all the mutants at the Vigil. Some of the Acolytes are furious at Rusty and Skids for doubting Exodus but Jubilee tells them they don’t have to follow “a pink pretty boy with a savior complex.”
Just when it looks like Jubilee has everything under control, Psylocke, Archangel and Cable show up with the latter stunning Rusty and Skids with his gun. That pisses Jubilee off because wants to take the two kids with them since it’s obvious they didn’t join Exodus willingly.
“How well do you know these two?” Cable asks Jubilee. “Well enough to rule them out as sleeper agents? As spies? Because I sure as hell don’t.”
He also argues the kids offer no real tactical advantage since Skids’ force field is limited to protecting herself while Rusty can only turn his fists into burning flames, but Jubilee refuses to back down. Her efforts amount to nothing when the Acolytes collect the unconscious Rusty and Skids.
“Fair warning Cable? That’s the last time we ever leave behind mutant kids in need,” Jubilee says and she means it too. In season 2, episode 2 Jubilee goes against X-Force to break out all the mutant kids X-Factor captured for the U.S. government.
Dealing with Ozymandias
Meanwhile, Ozymandias warns Famine that Apocalypse would never bring an heir into the world if Exodus succeeded in using the Rejuvenation Chamber to bring back Magneto. Famine attacks Exodus by using her withering touch on his arm, but he brushes her off. Since X-Force got the information they were looking for, Cable calls for a retreat and tells his team to let their enemies destroy each other.
As soon as they reach the jet, Ozymandias is somehow already waiting in the hold, thanking Cable for recovering his time-seeing opal. When Ozymandias touches the opal, it floods Archangel with traumatic visions of his past as Apocalypse’s Horseman, along with weaponizing his feelings for Psylocke. Warren loses control and starts firing metal feathers everywhere before Psylocke manages to reach him with her telepathy to help him snap out of it.
Ozymandias vanishes while X-Force deals with Archangel, but he doesn’t win either. Cable left a booby-trapped explosive on the Rejuvenation Chamber with a note attached saying “What to x-pect when you’re x-pect-“.
The Akkaba cultist doesn’t even get to finish reading the note when the chamber blows up right in Ozymandias’s face! But despite this setback, he’s undeterred in his mission to serve Apocalypse. Exodus is not pleased as he bemoans he’ll have to “carry the banner for mutantkind still longer.” He does vaporize Famine so it’s not a total loss for him.
Back on the jet, Jubilee asks Psylocke if the opal showed her the future of the X-Men and if they’ll be okay. Psylocke explains that seeing the future is tricky because just talking about it can change everything. She reassures Jubilee that the X-Men fight for love, for each other and will never give up easily. After a little bit of playful banter between Jubilee and Psylocke, Cable announces they only have about twenty-four hours to rest before their next move: tracking War in Rio, where he’s hiding out in the middle of a crowd at a carnival. The issue ends with Havok and the X-Factor team arriving at the small town, just in time to help clean up following their “town fair.”
