X-Force #9 - X-Manhunt Part 6 Spoilers

Spoilers: After being pursued by both the Alaska X-Men and the Louisiana X-Men, Professor X telepathically contacts Sage, requesting an extraction. She obliges and sends the teleporter John Wraith, a.k.a. Kestrel, to retrieve him from Utopia, San Francisco. Once Xavier is secured, Sage transmits coordinates for Kestrel to meet her at a safe house in Mexico City. Using a teleportation device, she transports herself there and waits for Kestrel to bring Xavier to her.

The safe house is actually a secret laboratory known as the Toybox, once belonging to the Mad Thinker, where an artificial intelligence manages the facility. After overriding the AI, Sage gains access and brings Xavier and Kestrel inside. Xavier has brought a Krakoan egg with him. Kestrel is suspicious of his intentions, but Sage reassures him that Xavier was the first friend she ever had.

Sage quickly pieces together that Xavier had access to DNA and a Cerebro backup, created an egg, matured the body, and delayed the hatching until he could physically unlock it. However, she struggles to understand how this is possible since Krakoan resurrection was meant only for mutants. Xavier simply states that this particular resurrection was something he did for himself. Sage understands and warns him that he has only thirty minutes before the X-Men arrive.

Xavier uploads the Cerebro backup into the egg, and from it hatches the resurrected Shi’ar Empress, Lilandra Neramani. Reunited, Xavier pleads for her help in saving their daughter, Xandra. Sage provides them with transport for their next destination, and Xavier thanks her. Sage responds that it’s the least she can do after he saved her soul years ago.

Meanwhile, in Estrella, South America, X-Force teams up to take down an out-of-control Brute That Walks. Betsy immediately targets La Diabla, recognizing her as the real threat, but is quickly overpowered. The team splits up—Rachel tries to psychically restrain the Brute while Tank engages in a brutal fight with Colossus. Betsy keeps La Diabla occupied, allowing Forge to sneak up on her.

Forge asks for Betsy’s psionic boost, which manifests as a massive butterfly effect with eyes inside its wings. Together, their combined attack breaks through La Diabla’s defenses, seemingly overpowering her. However, La Diabla retaliates with her alchemy, and with the aid of Brute That Walks and Colossus, she successfully subdues and defeats all members of X-Force.