As the Hellions battle the Locus Vile, Mister Sinister shows off his newest creation in Hellions #15, by writer Zeb Well, artist Roge Antonio, colorist Rain Beredo, and letterer Ariana Maher. This issue is pretty good throughout, but then the ending kicks the whole thing into high gear, changing everything for the team.

With the Hellions busy, Cameron Hodge’s allies communicate with the neonate in Nanny’s ship and the ship itself. As the Locus Vile makes short work of Sinister’s clones, he shows his Arakko clone to his Murderworld laboratory. With her friends in jeopardy, Psylocke bargains with Tarn to free the team for the location of Sinister’s whereabouts. He takes the deal when he sees what Sinister has been doing while in her mind, and she tells the team how she knows all of this. As Tarn confronts the Sinisters, Greycrow goes a little crazy and takes out everyone and begins feeding Amino Fetus. This causes Tarn to run back to Krakoa to stop Amino Fetus from evolving, leaving the Hellions in Sinister’s lab, where they see precisely what he’s created with the Arakko genes- a Sinister/Tarn chimera. The team doesn’t take too kindly to any of this, but Psylocke begs them to spare the lab because it holds the DNA of her daughter. They all agree, except Empath, who takes control of Havok and unleashes him on the lab.

There is just so much to love about this comic. Wells does all of the things he does so well in this issue, building plots for the future with the beginning interlude with the neonate on Nanny’s ship and the ending, which is probably the highlight of the whole issue. Seeing Psylocke, a no-nonsense assassin badass, beg for his daughter’s life is poignant and heartbreaking. That heartbreak compounds when Empath does what he does, and Wells again uses this moment to build as Empath whispers to Sinister, “Emma says hello.” Those three words and the destruction of Psylocke’s hope for her child because of Empath propel the book into its next phase in epic fashion.

While this issue isn’t as funny as others, Wells still does a great job of lightening the tone several times with some strategic jokes from Sinister. Fans finally get to see the origins in the present of mutant chimeras first seen in Moira’s ninth life in Powers Of X, and while the lab has been destroyed, Sinister doesn’t just lose knowledge. Wells also does an amazing job with Tarn and the Locus Vile. He’s the only creator who has really dug into any Arakko mutants, and he’s done a great job with this group. The fact that Tarn promises to return is just icing on the cake.

Antonio’s art is so good. The fight scenes with the Hellions and the Locus Vile look amazing. Readers get a nice body horror treat when they see Amino Fetus start mutating. He’s able to capture Psylocke’s emotions so well throughout the book, and that makes the ending all the more effective.

Hellions #15 starts like any other chapter of the book, and then the ending hits and just shifts the whole thing into another gear. Wells is doing a fantastic job with this book, and Antonio continually knocks it out of the park on pencils. This story has opened this book up to go in so many directions, and it will be a treat to see where this stellar team takes it.

Grade: B+