Nathan “Cable” Summers has a unique relationship with time and the X-Men. Raised in the future, he is the self-appointed guardian of Marvel‘s timestream. For most of his life, he fought to avert the dark timeline where he grew to maturity. However, the final chapter of Cable: Love and Chrome sees the time-sliding hero do the unthinkable to save all reality.
Written by David Pepose with art by Mike Henderson, Cable: Love and Chrome showcased a different side of Nathan Summers. Ever devoted to his mission, he slid into an alternate future where Earth was ravaged by the same techno-organic virus that infected him. It was here that he fell in love with Avery Ryder, a leader of the human resistance. For the first time, Nathan was truly happy, though he was harried by a mysterious new enemy called Cicada.
When Avery Ryder died, Cable broke every rule he’d ever had regarding time travel to try and save her. His efforts were not successful. Worse still, his final effort to cure her condition transformed Avery into Cicada. Driven mad by what she saw as a betrayal from the man she loved, Cicada threatened to destroy all reality. She weakened the timestream by chasing after her lover and trying to kill him before they met and fell in love.
Cable sacrifices his true love to save reality
Torn between duty and love, Cable knew his options were limited. He could not make Avery see reason, and stopping her from killing his past selves was only weakening the timestream. This culminated in an ironic battle, where Avery sacrificed herself to save Cable from his past self, who thought he had gone crazy. Unfortunately, this battle also set off a chain reaction that, combined with the gathered temporal energy, risked destroying the multiverse. Thinking quickly, Cable makes one final time jump, dragging the bomb that threatens reality with him.
To his surprise, he wakes up in a hospital in Salvation Bay, where he had met Avery. Moreover, Avery was in his hospital room watching over him. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that the past had changed so that Avery was a doctor and did not recognize him. He had successfully saved the woman he loved and her time from the techno-organic virus that threatened it, along with the multiverse. Unfortunately, he had to sacrifice his own happiness to do it. But Cable was content, figuring it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
Cable: Love and Chrome #5 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
