- I've said it before, and I'll say it again...A soldier's greatest weapon is the ability to adapt to any situation, and we're gonna have to adapt to this hell on Earth. But don't forget the Golden Rule: those who have the gold make the rules.
- ā Dane
Wetworks: Mutations is a one-shot with a cover date of November, 2010.
Synopsis for "Mutations"
Dane and his Wetworks team have been sent on a mission by Spartan to investigate some unusual activity in the former U.S. state of Utah. The team finds a bunch of Daemonites there and fights them off. Since the Number of the Beast incident, the team members have noticed their symbiotes have been acting strangely; giving them abilities they never had before.
The team raids an I.O. bunker the Daemonites have taken over and find the two vampires, Persephone and Princess Arin. But they find the two hostages have been used as bait as dozens of Daemonties swarm them. During the fight, Dane's symbiote quits working and a Daemonite bites off his left arm. When Dane comes to, he finds the team has neutralized the threat. They find that the Daemonites have taken Jester and Grail. Persephone shares with Dane, who is recuperating the loss of his arm, that she and Princess Arin were suppose to rendezvous with Sister Mary, Unman, Ashe and Black Sun in investigating strange reports of a utopia in Central America before being captured by the Daemonites. Wetworks heads to where the Daemonites retreated while having lost communication with Skywatch. However, they are able to track their missing team members through their tracking devices. On the way, Dane learns from Persephone that before Armageddon, a vampire seer named Lord Necros prophesied that Daemonites would cross with vampires to create hybrid creatures with untold powers that would come out of post-Armageddon Earth. She further reveals that she and Arin had their blood extracted by the Daemonites and are attempting to create these Daemonite/vampire hybrids.
Indeed, Lord Defile is in charge of this group of Daemonites along with a new Cabal, and he's trying to find a way to create the hybrids. He has the help of the Daemonite Slyxx, the scientist who affiliated to the Number of the Beast incident, who is forced to work for him in experimenting on Jester and Grail as hosts for the creatures.
Wetworks arrives at Logan and encounter a large roadblock made from stacked up cars. As the team attempts to clear the blockage, they are ambush by Daemonites. Wetworks fight them off in which during the battle Dane's symbiote creates a new arm for him. The team continues on their journey. Inside Defile's hideout, Slyxx is chastised by Defile and Lady Decadence for the slowness of the hybrids' process before the Cabal eventually learns about the tracking devices on their captives which the Daemonite scientist had been concealing this. Wetworks eventually finds Defile's hideout and stages a rescue. As they fight, several of the team members find their symbiotes continue to evolve. One member of the Cabal, Derby, a former government sponsored superhero and against Defile's intentions on Grail and Jester, defect and demands Slyxx in releasing the prisoners. The scientist reluctantly obey, which prematurely unleashes one of the hybrids from Grail, but is immediately decapitated by a freed Jester. The hybrid's blood spews on Decadence and severely harms her, as the blood contains the Daemon toxin that is fatal to Daemonites. This forces Defile and his Cabal to retreat. Before their escape, Defile forewarns Wetworks that he was using the hybrids against the Daemon High Council when they invade Earth and that the invasion will be unlike that of any other alien invasions the planet has ever seen.
The Wetworks team regroups with a newly evolved Jester, who now calls himself Symbiote. Dane recalls back to Lord Necros's prophecy and wondered if he was referring Grail and Jester. Wetworks resolve to hunt down Defile and the Daemonites.
Appearing in "Mutations"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Princess Arin
- Derby
Antagonists:
- Daemonites
- Amadeus
- Harlan
- Myna
- Slyxx
Other Characters:
- Spartan (Flashback only)
Locations:
- Wildstorm Universe
- Utah
- Logan
- St. George
- Utah
Items:
Vehicles:
- The Carrier (Flashback only)
Notes
- This issue takes place sometime after Spartan assigns missions to all the heroes in Wildcats: World's End #22.
- Lord Defile had anticipated an invasion from Daemon before during the World's End back-up story, "Defile: A Narrow Pass".
- Defile refers to Slyxx that he had a hand in causing Armageddon as evidently seen in Number of the Beast #8.
- Defile mentions the previous alien invasions from the Knights of Khera and Sliding Albion, which happened in Stormwatch: P.H.D. and the Wildcats "Red Blade" story arc; and The Authority "Shiftships" story arc respectively.
Trivia
- Derby revealed that he was a member of The Chasers, a team of superhuman bounty hunters employed by the United States government that had previously hunted Taboo and Backlash.