Marauders #1 (2022)

Lauren Amaro

After making a snarky comment at Bobby, she gets a telepathic call from Emma Frost). Emma asks her why she hasn't told her friends to call her Kate, and Kitty replies that they can't handle it yet. Emma then explains that she trusts Kitty because of how long she has been fighting for mutants and considers her dependable, which is why she needs her help for a mission. Emma reveals that she is creating a new economy with the life-sustaining drugs, but needs to control the black market as well. She dubs Kitty a captain in her new trading company, offering her a ship) and the ability to recruit anyone she needs for her mission. She also asks her to help mutants reach the gates around the world in the process. She says that Kitty isn't a schoolteacher anymore, and needs to start living in the new world.

In Vladivostok, Iceman prepares to help mutants cross into the gate but ends up confronting a splinter group of Russian Armed Forces) led by a man in a suit of armor named Phobos_(Earth-616)), who declares that Russian mutants will not go to Krakoa. He decrees that mutants will either serve the state or get crushed, and blasts Bobby with a power-nullifying burst and tells the soldiers to open fire on him. Bobby jumps back through the gate, narrowly escaping with his life, and runs into a plastered Kitty. He explains the situation in Russia and Kitty drunkenly tells him to get into the boat, with a nearby Ororo joining in the process.

In Taipei, a woman named Mrs. Zhao leads a protest with the people of Taiwan and asks why the mutants took her husband Lim. After leaving the stage, she runs into Bishop). He tells her that he is from Krakoa and asks to speak with her privately. He says that Krakoa doesn't have any records of her husband entering a gateway, but Zhao interrupts him and says his word is useless. As Bishop leaves, he reports to Charles Xavier) about something rotten happening in Taiwan.

Bobby explains to Kitty and Ororo about the situation in Vladivostok, when they are interrupted by Pyro) who was sleeping below deck. Bobby realizes that this is not Simon Lasker), but the original Pyro. Pyro explains that he was gone for a while, and is revealed to be one of the first mutants who was resurrected as a lab experiment. He was going to steal the boat they were using, but ended up taking a nap. After being forcibly drafted by Ororo, the foursome make a plan to save the mutants from Phobos.

They reach Siberia and fight Phobos who drains Storm and Iceman's powers. Kitty disables his suit using her phasing powers, then she takes down a squad of soldiers and a tank single-handedly while stealing an officer's sword. After Pyro and Lockheed stop the rest of the soldiers, Kitty tells the group that they should take the gate back to Krakoa. The others deny this, and Ororo says that they will leave together. The captured mutants thank the group, with one of them recording Kitty. She declares that they are the Marauders_(Earth-616)), and that they will bring mutants who can’t get to Krakoa there for safety.

Later, Kitty and Ororo discuss the team. Ororo remarks she does not like the name “Marauders,” and Kitty replies that she made the choice on the spot and she's not sure if the X-Men would want to be associated with their plan. She asks her if Ororo will join her on the open seas and Ororo says that she will to help enslaved mutants around the world, but Kitty has to deal with Emma Frost. Kitty reaches out to Emma telepathically to accept the position she'd been offered earlier, Emma already knows about her plan and approves, as well as commends her decision. Bobby asks Kitty where they are going, and Kitty replies anywhere they want, but requests that they also start calling her Kate.