Warning: contains spoilers for X-Men #24!After nearly 2 years away from comics, the teen version of the X-Men's famous time-traveling hero Nathan Summers, Kid Cable, has returned to Marvel Comics in X-Men #24... and he quickly realizes that doing so was a bad call.

Kid Cable, who killed his older self back in 2019 before convincing the Quiet Council to resurrect him 2 years ago, has not been seen since he traveled into the far-flung future at the request of Old Man Cable, now returning to the present time in an attempt to stop Orchis from launching a devastating attack on Krakoa at this year's Hellfire Gala. X-Men #24 - from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Joshua Cassara - sees Nathan attempting to assault an Orchis base in the Rocky Mountains to prevent the Fall of X, where he is violently ambushed by Moira X, Omega Sentinel, Dr. Stasis, and Nimrod, who gravely injures and then captures the young hero.

Kid Cable Should Never Have Underestimated Moira X

Somehow, perhaps using her knowledge gained through Mother Righteous' magical virus bomb in the Sins of Sinister universe, Moira X predicted Kid Cable's attack on their base, and had all of her Orchis allies ready to stop him. Kid Cable has always been more brash and unpredictable than his older, wiser self, but he is still an incredibly intelligent and practical young man, so it is surprising that he so deeply underestimated Moira X and the rest of Orchis. Kid Cable overconfidently assumes he can beat Moira X, who herself feels assured that she could take him one on one, but brought her Orchis crew with her anyway, with Nimrod viciously tearing his techno-organic arm in half, before Dr. Stasis uses a freeze fray to seal Nathan in ice, preventing him from stopping Orchis and also taking him off the board in their fight with Krakoa.

It is no surprise that Kid Cable attempted to stop Orchis from assaulting Krakoa and beginning the Fall of X, with Omega Sentinel pointing out that if he has come from the past to stop their attack, then that means Orchis has already won, with Kid Cable witnessing the devastating impact of their war. If Kid Cable had used a bit more foresight and thoughtfulness, he would have returned to Krakoa and told Cyclops and the other War Captains about Orchis' plan, so that they could wage a preemptive strike against the organization. Moira X's plan to freeze Nathan, and not murder him as Dr. Stasis wanted, is based on the "total situational awareness" that Cable has of his death across any timeline. By only freezing the hero, Orchis can avoid being targeted by different versions of Cable.

Kid Cable Was Just One Of Orchis' Many Mutant Targets

It also appears that Kid Cable was a very specific target for Moira X, who says she does not trust him because he is "of Essex," since he was born through the union of Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor, the Jean Grey clone that Nathaniel Essex - aka Mister Sinister - created specifically to bear a child with Scott. However, X-Men #24 reveals that Kid Cable is not the only mutant being targeted by Orchis, with the anti-mutant group now gunning for the powerful hero Manifold, who Destiny has tasked her daughter Rogue with protecting.

The young hero Kid Cable could have been an incredibly powerful ally to the X-Men if he had returned to the present and partnered with Krakoa to take down Orchis, but instead he attempted to save his family on his own, leading to being taken off the board and giving Orchis one more win over mutantkind.

X-Men #24 from Marvel Comics is available now in stores.