New Avengers, The (2025 series) #6

A Jackal clone in Kamchatka created clones of the main Illuminati at the behest of a mystery boss. These 7 clones called themselves the Killuminati, killed their maker and set about individually doing evil deeds. Black Widow and Winter Soldier assembled a new group of Thunderbolts or New Avengers to hunt them down :- Carnage (Eddie Brock), Clea, Sub-Mariner and Wolverine (Laura Kinney). Bruce Banner and Hulk briefly got involved too. The clones of Black Bolt, Prof X, Sub-Mariner and Mr Fantastic have been killed. They thought that the Iron Man clone died too but Iron Apex got better and last issue he sent Bucky Barnes a video showing that Jackal's boss was seemingly Black Widow! But she reported to someone higher. He also said that he and the other remaining Killuminati (Black Panther clone Luke Charles and the Dr Strange-alike Guru Strange) were banding together.

Now they've blasted a very large crater in the centre of Osaka, Japan killing 20,000 people.

1 day later in Bucky's New Mexico safe-shack team leader Natasha Romanoff tries to raise their spirits. Clea and Laura Kinney are sarcastic as usual. Bucky suggests a sneak attack but Namor wants a direct attack to strike fear into their foes. He rants about it until Clea turns him into a frog. Widow tries to tell them all something important but Laura, Eddie and Clea are too busy squabbling and Bucky is too gung-ho to listen until she shouts them down. And Clea's thoughts tell us she's sensed something wrong about Nat.

But we now flashback to 5 days before the blast where another Jackal clone (sporting Einstein hair and moustache to complement his green skin and bat-like ears) is singing as he works on more neurogenic clones in the Skeleton Coast, Namibia. Iron Apex breaks in and tells the mad scientist he's taking over. And he asks who's in the 2 cloning pods?

Then it's 3 days before the blast in Palm Springs, California and bikini-clad Natasha leaves off lounging by a swimming pool and returns to her hotel room to find the door open. She enters with drawn gun but is grabbed by Bucky in his swimming trunks. They tussle on the bed and Nat gains the upper hand. But then they make love. However Bucky can't keep the video of BW and Jackal out of his head, even though he keeps telling himself he trusts her. He suspects a clone is involved, but how can he be sure *this* Nat isn't the clone? As they lie in bed post-coitus he draws a knife from under the bed and cuts off a sample of her hair to have tested. But we see that she's awake.

2 days after the blast in the Straits Of Skagerrak, Norway Guru Strange has erected a levitating palace he calls Shamballa 2. He's lounging in luxury surrounded by his drowsy semi-naked acolytes. Taskmaster brings captive Clea to him. We know that she wants to kill this disgusting distortion of her husband Stephen Strange. He knows it too and he's put out a bounty on her head in the mercenary network. Taskmaster says he lured the Sorceress Supreme to him with claims of info on the Guru, and now he has her wrists bound in the Clasps Of The Onyx King which cancel magic, and which he says he borrowed from his old teammate Selene. GS assures his captive that he's not evil, he only wants to enjoy the finer things in life and he invites her to join him. He shows her his horde of cloaked followers who call themselves the Strangies, which she classifies as a cult. Then he gets her to admit that she only let Taskmaster *think* he tricked her in order to get close to him, which he interprets as her desire for him. But 1st she must be initiated by swearing fealty on the Blade Of Stalgith, which will kill her if she lies. And he asks her for a kiss to seal the deal. Clea vows and puckers up ...

... but we have seen that 1 of the hooded cultists is actually Carnage who sends a red tendril to unlock the Clasps. Clea summons the Swarm Of Sjornson wasps to attack Guru S. And Taskmaster unmasks as Bucky Barnes demanding to know where the other Killuminati are. GS hits him with Balthor's Battering Ram. But Carnage sinks his claws into the villain's face and Clea puts the Clasps on *his* wrists to stop him casting any more spells. They threaten to push the claws into his brain and he prepares to tell them what they want to know ... but Luke Charles was also hiding in the congregation and leaps in to sever Brock's claws with his sword.

But now we rejoin Iron Apex and Jackal 5 days before the blast where Tony Stark is searching the lab's files trying to find out who's behind it all. Failing in that he decides to beat the info out of Jackal, who readily tells his computer to load his shadow boss. A hologram appears which claims to be the creator. We can't tell who it is but Tony recognises him.

Back in Shamballa Luke Charles wants to rescue Guru Strange. He defeats the 3 New Avengers but then Wolverine slashes through a gauze curtain to stab him in the back. And some hurled statuary announces the entrance of 2 new Killuminati :- Rapunzel (a Medusa clone) who threw the statue with her hair, and Lord Britain (a Captain Britain clone).