Heaven has nothing to do with it! You know how...you must know...that we can't take all these Ani-Mates back with us...not while monsters like The Right are there, ready to cage and torture them! The Ani-Mates fought alongside of us! They earned the right to live on their own, to find out who and what they are. And we can't leave them here, to fall prey to those Smile-Faces...so I put the Smile-Faces where they can't hurt anyone else! 
Appearing in "Our Way!"
Featured Characters:
- New Mutants
- Magik / Darkchilde (Illyana Rasputin)
- Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair)
- Cannonball (Sam Guthrie)
- Mirage (Dani Moonstar)
- Sunspot (Bobby Da Costa)
- Warlock
- Cypher (Doug Ramsey) (Corpse, skeleton or other remains)
- Karma (Xuân Cao Mạnh) (Photo)
- Magma (Amara Aquilla) (Photo)
- ⏴ Magneto / White King (Magnus) ⏵
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- X-Factor
- Cyclops (Scott Summers) (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
- Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
- Ship
- Beast (Hank McCoy) (Photo)
- Iceman (Bobby Drake) (Photo)
- Angel (Warren Worthington III) (Photo)
- Professor X (Charles Xavier) (Photo)
- The X-Men (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
- Colossus (Peter Rasputin) (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
- Wolverine (Logan) (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
- Storm (Ororo Munroe) (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
- Rogue (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
- Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) (Photo)
- Banshee (Sean Cassidy) (Photo)
- Longshot (Photo)
- Psylocke (Betsy Braddock) (Photo)
- Dazzler (Alison Blaire) (Photo)
- Thunderbird (John Proudstar) (Photo)
- Several unnamed demons from Limbo
- Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Mentioned)
- Horsemen of Apocalypse (Mentioned)
- Apocalypse (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- North America
- Atlantic Ocean
- Poland (Referenced)
- Limbo
Items:
Synopsis for "Our Way!"
Continued from last issue...
The New Mutants and Ani-Mates mourn Doug's death on the Ani-Mator's Paradise when they are attacked by left-over Smiley Bots, whom Illyana sends to Limbo and brutally tortures, feeding them to her demons. She returns to the island where Rahne reveals that she's happy that they're gone and Illyana reveals that she did it so the Smiley Bots can't hurt anyone else. The New Mutants decide to leave the Ani-Mates on the island to survive on their own so they aren't continuously attacked by humans, so they say goodbye to Bird Brain before portaling home with Doug's body, finding the Mansion empty.
After looking at some pictures of Xavier's former classes, inluding their own, Illyana covers Doug's body, explaining to Warlock that they have to wait for Magneto to come home to bury Doug, and Magneto can help protect her like a dad she didn't have in Limbo. Rahne blames herself immensely for Doug's death and runs onto the roof to get some air, but slips and nearly falls to her death in the process. Sam catches her, revealing that he feels guilty as well for being leader and not keeping an eye on Doug. Rahne says that they could try and look after each other to protect each other like a family, like Sam and the others have but Rahne doesn't, so Sam agrees to adopt her as his sister. Dani and Bobby get into a fight about who has to call Magneto, with Bobby blaming himself for Doug's death by taking Warlock away and Dani blaming herself for not telling Magneto so the others didn't think she was a wimp. They decide to call together, although Magneto's already on his way home.
The New Mutants watch the news of the X-Men and X-Factor on TV, watching the building where the X-Men are in Dallas explode, terrifying Illyana as she just brought her brother there. Magneto comes in and asks where Doug is, and when he learns, he starts shedding tears before attacking the New Mutants, tying them up in metal to supposedly protect them. Illyana says that Doug may be dead and the X-Men may still be alive and they have to try and help. Magneto refuses, and when Illyana accuses him of doing nothing, Magneto retorts that he's going to do the most difficult thing he's ever done by calling Doug's parents and telling them he let their son die. Illyana portals to Dallas anyways, with Magneto trying to tell the others that terrible things are happening to mutants and he needs to keep them safe at all costs. Illyana returns presently and violently attacks Magneto, claiming that she can't get into Dallas and that the X-Men are dead and that she thought Magneto would help and protect them, but she was wrong. Illyana nearly kills Magneto before Sam talks her down, telling her that it isn't what her brother would have wanted.
The New Mutants leave Magneto alone with Doug, who truly fears that bad things are coming and that he has to protect the New Mutants, but they are children and simply don't understand. The other New Mutants find Illyana crying in the attic that she just wants to be a normal kid, but Rahne hugs her and tells her that they can't afford to be anymore. Instead, all the kids create and don new costumes to fight evil mutants and evil humans, following Xavier's dream of human-mutant peace without telling Magneto, because the X-Men are gone and they're all the world has left.
Notes
Trivia
- Harold Leland appears in this issue as a Hellfire Club member, though he apparently died a year and a half ago in Uncanny X-Men #209. This also happens with Friedrich von Roehm who also died in the above mentioned issue.
