Issue+23+-+'Losin'+Your+Mind'


 * Issue 23 - 'Losin' Your Mind' **




 * Plot**

Vidarr arrives at the school, badly injured. He asks Amanda for help: he needs to be healed and teleported to Oklahoma, where he’s heard from the Norns that Asgard will soon fall. He also asks the eXalts to finish Cassandra Nova. She’s within Jubilee’s body and she’s been weakened by Vidarr. The eXalts agree. Amanda and Rafé take Vidarr to Oklahoma while the eXalts come up with a plan. They decide that the only way to force Cassandra from Jubilee’s mind is for Samantha to take the Jean Grey MGH that Academy M possesses. They make a plan for Daniel to steal the MGH from Academy M’s vaults and have Amanda teleport him out.

The Daniel at Academy M meets with Roger and makes a deal to trade homework for a dose of MGH. Roger takes Daniel down to the vault, but he says Jean Grey’s MGH is off limits. Daniel gets the MGH of dead shapeshifter Changeling and returns to his room. He then takes the MGH. Unbeknownst to him, two doses of MGH in his system cannot coexist (he’s still taking Thomas’ MGH). He almost blacks out, and Thomas’ MGH stops functioning. The Daniel at Academy X disappears, leaving clothes on the floor. Daniel at Academy M is okay, though he has a terrible headache, and now he has Changeling's mutant ability.

Daniel shapeshifts into Roger’s form and makes it back into the vault. The vials are numbered and he isn’t sure which contains Jean Grey’s MGH. He grabs several samples. One vial makes a “clicking noise” when it’s removed from the case. Suddenly he is locked in the room. He manages to shapeshift into a form small enough to escape the room, then fool the retinal scanner that he is the headmistress. He opens the door and collects the vials he left behind. He hurries back to the school, still in Cordelia’s form. Staff members approach him, and he realizes they know he’s a fake. He makes a run for it.

Meanwhile, the eXalts teleport with Amanda’s aid to an In-N-Out Burger and then to the top of a building overlooking Academy M. They need to get Daniel outside to teleport him away, so they create a large Molotov cocktail out of a gallon of gasoline, a bucket, and a lighter and teleport it onto the roof of Academy M. Daniel bursts outside during the resulting fire evacuation, but he's still in Roger's form and the eXalts don’t know where he is. Billy teleports onto the grounds. He calls out Daniels' name, hoping the mutant will come out. Billy is shot by the Sentinel on the roof, but he grabs Daniel and they run through the portal to safety.

From the roof the eXalts watch the Sentinel put out the fire. They’re unsure which vial of MGH is Jean Grey’s, however. Billy guesses that the one that made the clicking noise that set off the alarm is Jean’s, and he drinks one of the other vials. Cameron and Dane follow suit. Billy gains control over earth (Petra’s MGH), Cameron gains control over time (Sway’s MGH), and Dane gains energy manipulation (Vulcan’s MGH). Concluding that the last vial must be Jean’s, Samantha takes the MGH. It does, in fact, belong to Jean, and she gains incredible telepathic and telekinetic abilities. The group then teleports to Los Angeles, stopping at a rest stop en route, to get to Nova.

In Los Angeles the group teleports into a hotel room. The residents run off while the eXalts teleport to a building near where Vidarr left Nova. Bast and Panzer scout the area and Bast can smell Nova in an abandoned lot. The eXalts burst onto the scene. Nova is there in Jubilee’s body. She has a spear wound in her side. She is surrounded by a group of teenagers, however: the Runaways! The Runaways defend Nova and a fight ensues. Molly knocks Billy back. Chase uses his Fistigons to blast Panzer, but to no effect. Old Lace bites Bast, but before Bast can fight back she is turned into a cat by Nico! Karolina flies up to Mustang and blasts him. Then Nova begins using Jubilee’s powers to blast everyone. Many of the Runaways are injured. Klara creates a protective barrier of trees around them. Billy is badly hurt and is taken out of the fight by Vortex. Survivor is killed but gets better. Phantasma attempts to break into Nova’s mind, but is unsuccessful. Then Xavin, unaware that Nova is their enemy, spots Phantasma and stuns her. Mustang shakes Phantasma out of it, but Nova has jumped into Survivor’s body! She attempts to escape, but the eXalts realize she is inside Daniel and knock him out. Phantasma forces Nova out of his body while Daniel uses his amulet to create a portal to Limbo. Nova is sucked away.

While the eXalts are in Los Angeles, the remnants of David’s secret team spring into action. Joni, Roxy, Gunther, and Maya sneak up to the Sentinel on Academy X’s roof while Maya is feeding the school’s security cameras a false feed. Joni tosses Gunther up to the robot. He gets inside and uses his ability to solidify his fingertip to knock out the pilot and copilot. The rest of the group gets inside and flies the Sentinel to Academy M. There is a battle above Academy M between the Sentinels, and both are destroyed. Joni’s group manages to bail before their Sentinel is destroyed above San Francisco Bay. The other Sentinel falls onto Academy M.

Back at Academy X, Jubilee is still unconscious and Billy is recovering. Maya calls Chancy and asks for help getting money for a cab back to the school. Chancy asks Cameron for help. When Cameron asks Rafé for money, then asks Dondre for a tunnel out of the school, suspicion falls upon him. Dane questions him until it is revealed that Cameron is helping a group of students return to the school. Samantha goes to the convenience store where the students’ cab will arrive. There she runs into Amanda and Chancy. Amanda was planning to teleport them back into the school. The students arrive and they are brought to the headmasters’ office for a lecture. Amanda, Chancy, and Cameron are allowed to leave with minor punishment. Joni, Gunther, Maya, and Roxy get a longer lecture. Gunther, Maya, and Roxy seem cowed, but Joni is defiant. Following the meeting, Dane talks to Bastienne about the possibility of needing to expel Joni if she does something dangerous again. He then calls Academy M to make sure they’re okay.

Jubilee is still unconscious the next day. Cameron is teaching Bastienne’s classes to get some experience. That afternoon, David gets a call from his former classmate, Josh Foley (“Elixir”). Josh warns the eXalts that he survived an assassination attempt by gunmen who destroyed themselves when the fight turned against them. David tells him that it was probably the Purifiers. Josh reveals that the attack was in London, but now he’s going underground. Meanwhile, Dane gets a report from the east coast school that Oldeani has been assassinated in Kenya.

At the staff meeting that night, Dane and David discuss the need to talk to Nikkya Lewis, Lucius’ e-mail friend. David says it's likely that they may need to hurt Nikkya. Lucius storms off and quickly sends a warning to Nikkya not to come visit. Dane is frustrated, but there is nothing more to discuss. The Purifiers have seemingly gone underground and there are no further leads to follow. What are the Purifiers planning next?...


 * Next:** Issue 24 - 'I'm Your Pusher'
 * Previous:** Issue 22 - 'Light My Fire'