Outsiders #5 (2024)

Nocturna invites Kate Kane, who she once manipulated into a relationship, to a party for monsters in New York. Although the invitation was only for her she brings along the Outsiders. The "party" turns out to be an orgy of nihilistic violence where people who have given up on the world offer themselves up as willing victims to monsters, serial killers and supervillains. Drummer slips away and Luke Fox, who originally only planned to attend to gain tactical information on the guests, is horrified and disgusted and says he will put a stop to it. However as soon as he says this the Upside-Down Man appears and blasts him with magic. Nocturna tells him that any violence or attempt to interfere with her guests will be met by instant retribution at the hands of the Upside-Down Man. Kate asks Nocturna not to kill Luke and she releases him, then tells Kate to follow her, leaving Luke alone. Luke wanders the sprawling nightclub, witnessing people being victimised but helpless to save them. He sees a little girl chained to a wall and breaks her free, then tells her to run. Meanwhile Drummer changes into a leather dress and goes to a bar in the club where demons are hanging out. She tells them that she wants their stories and speaks to each in turn until she finds the one she is looking for: an "extra-fictional entity" whose name is a string of unpronounceable symbols. He says that nothing matters as everything is erased and brought back by "the writer", but he recognises Drummer. Nocturna takes Kate up a flight of stairs and tells her that she never wanted children, even when she was human, as the idea of childbirth frightened and disgusted her; and she became a vampire so she would be powerful, free of men and unable to have children. However, recently the world has changed, the dark secrets are exposed for all to see and monsters are everywhere. She tells Kate that something has changed in the fabric of the universe and leads her to a room with the floor covered with blood, human bones littered everywhere and a crib in the centre. She takes a baby boy out of the crib and tells Kate he is her son, The End. Kate tells her to put the baby down but Nocturna reveals the child is not kidnapped; he is her natural-born son, which should be impossible for a vampire, and is somehow fully human. Nocturna says that The End is a dark messiah, a monster born as a human and therefore undetectable, who will reveal the ultimate horror of the world and usher in an age of "truth". She asks Kate to join her, and says that the three of them can be a family. Drummer and the demon have a drink together. She reveals that she knows he is the last survivor of a destroyed Multiverse and his essence extends beyond the "pages" which they inhabit. She asks him how to get to "The Place Between" and he initially refuses to tell her, but she promises that if he tells her she will murder someone in his name. He agrees and whispers the answer to her. He gets up to leave, saying she has a year and a day to perform the sacrifice; but she punches his head clean off, exploiting a loophole in the protection spell which allows her to kill him on the premises if it is part of their deal. Luke carries the girl through the halls and leaps through an upstairs window, landing safely on the ground. The girl reveals that "she" is actually Klarion the Witch Boy, and mocks Luke for being unable to save even one person. However, he also tells Luke that he saved him, because if he had stayed inside he would have tried to fight a guest and gotten himself killed. Klarion teleports away, leaving Luke alone in the snow. Back in the club Kate storms downstairs and Nocturna follows carrying The End, who the monsters all kneel to. Nocturna tells her the world is already doomed and all they can do is enjoy the chaos, but Kate refuses to believe that. She says that Nocturna is right that people can choose to either be predator or prey and asks which one she thinks Kate is, challenging her to drop the protection spell and let her guests try their luck against her. After a tense pause, Nocturna asks her to leave. She goes outside and meets up with Luke, and shortly afterwards Drummer comes out too in her normal clothes. Luke asks Drummer if she got what they came for and she replies that she did. They open a gate back to the Carrier to make their next move, but Kate asks to stay behind. She changes into her costume and goes out to patrol the streets of New York.