Cable was sitting on the edge of his bunk when three members of Freedom Force, Commando, Blob and Pyro, entered his cell and began to interrogate him. They showed him the video of the Mutant Liberation Front's kidnapping of Rusty and Skids and explained how they thought that the kids were working in concert with the MLF. Pyro even accused Cable of working with them. To which Cable replied,
"You know what I stand for, Pyro. You know my record."
Blob then tried to threaten Cable. Commando assured them that threats of physical violence would not move Cable.
He then tried a different tactic. He told Cable that tritium was missing from several energy research stations including the ones that the MLF had blown up.
"So that's what Stryfe was after." Cable thought, "Tritium is a radioactive element used in the manufacture of hydrogen bombs" Cable shuddered to think of such a weapon in Stryfe's hands.
This interrogation went on for several minutes, until interrupted by a message from Mystique that
X-Factor's ship had just landed in New York and that she wanted them to report for a meeting immediately. Cable's pulse quickened, "If these New Mutants are still missing, maybe I can convince X-Factor to help me save those kids. They were wards of X-Factor to begin with." Cable thought.

Unknown to Cable, The New Mutants had also returned to New York and were at that moment with X-Factor explaining where they had been and telling them that the last they had seen of Rusty and Skids, they were fighting Freedom Force at the Statue of Liberty.

Cable meanwhile was ready to make his escape. He pulled a tiny blowgun with a dart dipped in a special fast acting tranquilizer, from his boot heel, and began to fake a choking fit. The guards entered one wanted to help but the other was more cautious. While they argued Cable used the blowgun to take out the first one then used a vial of acid that he had taken from his other boot heel on the shackles that they had bound him with and floored the second guard with one quick punch. "Now," Cable thought, "All I need is some quick transportation to New York."

Mystique was informing Freedom Force of the call she had just recieved from Cyclops of X-Factor demanding the return of their wards, Rusty and Skids, when a guard burst in,
"Commander Mystique! I tried to call but he severed the lines...he took out his guards...he stole their guns...he.."
"Who?" interrupted Blob.
"Cable!" Mystique answered for the guard. "Come, we should have finished him when we had the chance." Mystique ordered as she led them down the hall, in search of Cable.

Cable, hidden in an alcove, watched all of this transpire, and smiled, for he knew that the hunters were now the hunted. Pyro was the last man out of the room, as he stepped into the hallway, Cable slammed the butt of the rifle into his face, knocking him cold with the one blow. Blob heard this and went on the attack. Cable calmly laid down the rifle, useless against Blob, and picked up Pyro's, limp wrist, he waited until Blob was right on top of him...and fired the flame-thrower right into Blob's face! As Blob leapt back in shock, Cable grabbed the rifle and crashed through the window.
"Mystique!" Blob screamed, "Cable's outta here! He took out Pyro! He's got a gun..."
Cable hit the ground in a roll and came up shooting.
"...An he ain't shy about usin' it!" Blob added as the bullets rained up at him.
Cable used the time this brought him to quickly run a mono-filiment wire across the small yard he found himself in and waited for Blob to press the attack.
Blob leaped down, from the window, and was immediately on the attack. Cable leapt from cover and took off hoping to lure Blob into running into the wire when out of nowhere the speedster, Silver Sabre, came zooming in and barely got stopped in time to keep his head from being cut off by the wire. Blob stopped to check on his severely injured team-mate as Cable made his run for the helicopter he had seen from the second-floor window as he had leapt through. Mystique and Commando had joined the chase by now. They entered the heli-port just as Cable got the chopper started up. Cable lifted off about twenty feet swiveled around and opened up with the fifty-caliber machineguns mounted on the struts of the chopper, just to give Freedom Force something to think about.

"You've got to admit it," Commando said, as Cable disappeared into the distance,
"Cable has style."
"Cable knows too much." Mystique said "About us and our operations. About the tritium."
"Get after him, Commando. At all costs...I want him stopped!"

Commando, Blob and Pyro took another chopper and set off in pursuit of Cable. Commando managed to score several hits on Cable's chopper but none serious enough to bring him down. As they neared the southern tip of Manhattan Commando decided to use their air-to-air missiles. One of these scored a hit to Cable's rear rotor, but Cable wasn't going down alone. He grabbed a plasma rifle and opened the side door and fired, taking out the pursuing choppers rotor shaft, then dove into the sea just before his own chopper crashed.
Cable swam ashore and told the crowd gathered there that he was going to call the police and medics and that they should help the other survivors until help arrived. Cable hoped that the crowds well-meaning efforts would slow Freedom Force's pursuit, and buy him some time to contact X-Factor.

Meanwhile The New Mutants were calling family and friends to let them know that they were safe. When Rahne contacted Moira she was shocked by the change in Moira's attitude. Moira informed her that she was coming to New York to return Rahne to Muir Island and that she was to be packed and ready to leave when she got there. Rahne protested this but Moira told her that she had no choice in the matter and ended the transmission. (Unknown to The New Mutants, and everyone else at this time, The Shadow King, one of the most powerful psi's on the planet had taken up residence in the body of Charles Xavier's son known as Legion and was controling the thoughts and actions of everyone on Muir Island he had hoped to bring Rahne back and take possesion of her as well) Rahne was very upset by this turn of events. The others tried to comfort her but to no avail. Sam, Bobby and Tabitha decided to leave Rictor with Rahne and to go into town to buy her a going away present to try to ease the pain of her having to leave.

Elsewhere, in Manhattan, Blob and Pyro had managed to catch up to Cable, near fifth avenue, and as the Blob held him Pyro was indulging in a little pay-back for the beating Cable had given him during his escape. Cable waited for Blob's hold to relax slightly and then struck at one of Blob's few weak points, his mouth. He let his head fall forward as if he were about to pass out then slammed it back, full force, into Blob's face shattering more that a few of Blob's teeth in the process. The second Blob's hold on him relaxed Cable then gave Pyro a round-house kick to the chin knocking him to the ground.
It was at this time that Sam, Bobby and Tabitha happened by the alley and saw what was transpiring. They immediately went to the aid of what they thought was a helpless man being attacked by the two mutants. Sam and Bobby powered up and went on the attack. Sunspot gave Pyro another blow to the chin as he was getting up from where Cable's blow had landed him. Then he and Cannonball slammed into Blob with everything they had...and bounced off, having no effect whatsoever on Blob.
At that moment, Commando showed up, drew his gun and informed the lot of them that they were under arrest. Sunspot was unimpressed by this and promptly decked Commando, who landed near Tabitha who was powering up to attack Blob. Commando grabbed her leg and pulled it out from under her and rolled over to retrieve his gun. Cable helped Tabitha up and blocked Commando's fire with his left arm, rushed in and finished off Commando with a right cross that knocked him cold.
Cable picked up a new set of thought patterns closing fast. Silver Sabre, Mystique must have had him treated for his injury and sent him at super speed to aid the others. He was going for Cannonball Cable immediately told Sam to raise his blast field, which he did, thus Silver Sabre slammed into the equivalent of a brick wall, knocking himself out for the count.
Blob was now moving in to attack, Cable ordered Sunspot to power up and take out the side-walk underneath Blob's feet. Sunspot did so and then moved in on the downed Blob to demand to know what Freedom Force had done with Rusty and Skids. Cable informed the kids that Rusty and Skids had been kidnapped and that Freedom Force had no idea where they were, but that he intended to find them. As Cable led the kids away from the crowd that had gathered at the fight scene Tabitha mentioned Moira's name and the fact that she was forcing one of their teammates to leave. Cable told them that he knew Moira and would see what he could do to help change her mind.
When the group returned to X-Factor's ship Cable questioned Moira about her reasons for making Rahne return to Muir Island. The Shadow King was shocked by the presence of such a powerful psi as Cable and immediately changed his mind about forcing Rahne to return to Muir. It was all he could do to mask his presence from Cable. Thus when Cable informed them all that Stryfe and the MLF were building a bomb that would threaten all mankind and that he needed help to stop them Moira relented and agreed to let Rahne stay and promptly departed to get away from Cable before he could detect anything amiss.

Nathan could not believe his good fortune. He had found Guthrie, earned The New Mutants trust and respect. Now he had to forge them into a fighting unit that could take down Stryfe's MLF. He knew that he would have to make some changes in the way the team operated and to get them away from X-Factor. He doubted that his father, Cyclops, would agree with his agenda for The New Mutants. All of this could wait until tomorrow, however, for today Cable took satisfaction in the knowledge that his war, fought to make tomorrow a better place, had just gained some very powerful new recruits.

Thus Cable and The New Mutants destinies were forever changed. Together they would become,
The Future's Last Hope.