Marvel’s X-Men reboot continues with the second wave of “Dawn of X” books, and just before the Thanksgiving Holiday we got the trifecta of second issues from X-Force, New Mutants and Fallen Angels. In the case of X-Force #2, the mutant nation of Krakoa is trying to pick up the pieces after Charles Xavier was brutally assassinated in the Krakoa massacre that took place in X-Force #1. As the X-Men go through FBI-style investigation of the attack on Krakoa, they also have to solve the mystery of what happened to Domino, who was sent to infiltrate humanity’s new Anti-Mutant coalition and never heard form again.
As we find out in the final scene of X-Force #2, there are indeed some things in the world that worse than death, and Domino is definitely finding that out firsthand.
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WARNING – Major Disturbing Spoiler for X-Force #2 Follows!
After Xavier is gunned down, the X-Men start on a two-part response to the attack. Wolverine leaves Krakoa to backtrack the assassin group’s movements, using his fists and his claws; meanwhile, Dr. Cecilia Reyes and Jean Grey work to dissect the cybernetic hitmen for information, and begin the Xavier resurrection protocols (respectively). Wolverine’s mission leads him to Seoul, Korea, where the assassins first infiltrated a commercial airliner and hijacked it to infiltrate Krakoa. While infiltrating the Seoul airport, Wolverine bumps into Kid Omega (aka Quintin Quire), who is following the same thread, and is several steps ahead of Logan.
The odd-pair of Wolverine and Kid Omega end up following a license plate number to a remote factory outside of Seoul. That facility turns out to be a genetic engineering factory with one purpose: manufacturing enhanced human assassins from the DNA up. The recon mission turns violent when the facility’s artificial humans come to life and ambush the two X-Men. During that battle, Quintin and Wolverine notice the facility is equipped with psionic dampers, which Wolverine surmises are there to hide a person: Domino. Wolverine holds the battleground, and sense Quentin ahead to rescue Dom – but that rescue hits a major snag, when Quentin sees just what the human coalition has done to Domino:
Earlier in the issue, Cecilia Reyes and Jean discovered that the dead assassins were able to fool Krakoa and gain access to the island by attaching skin grafts to their bodies – skin grafts that came from Domino! As anyone who watched Game of Thrones‘ season 6 – 7 know all too well from the horrific arc of Ramsay Bolton, flaying someone while they’re alive is one of the most horrific things a person can endure. Indeed, it seems that Domino’s famed luck has finally run out.
We’ll find out more about Domino’s fate in X-Force #3 next month.