Issue+75+-+'The+Living+Dead'


 * Issue 75 - 'The Living Dead' **




 * Plot**

The eXalts have found the X-Killer, the serial killer responsible for the deaths of many mutants in San Francisco over the past few months; it’s Phantom, former member of the Guardians! Sam rips out the floor of an abandoned warehouse in Oakland to reveal his basement lab. He’s performed medical procedures to implant the X-genes of his victims into himself. Phantom hisses, “The eXalts!” then splits into several duplicates. They disappear! Meanwhile, Carom is a level below in the lair of his mother, Cynthia. She has been revealed to be “Mama,” the leader of the Santa Muerte cult in the bay area, and a vampire. She is drinking Carom’s blood, but at the sound of Sam ripping out the floor above, Cynthia turns into shadow and melts away. Carom is shaken out of his delirious state and notices a door. He teleports next to it and opens it to reveal a stairwell leading to Phantom’s lab above. Upstairs, Bast teleports next to a body chained to the wall. It’s one of the corpses belonging to Thomas, Academy X graduate. Mustang guesses where the invisible duplicates might be and creates a light box to contain them, but misses. Carom emerges from a trap door into the box moments later. He’s clearly tired from having his blood drained. The chunks of cement Phantasma ripped from the floor are pulled from her telekinetic grasp and slam into her. She rolls with the impact but is injured. The eXalts recall that Phantom has the X-gene of a mutant with earth control, as well as flight, super-strength, and super-reflexes. Other duplicates attack – Mystic and Bast are surrounded. Bast senses one nearby with her cat-like sense of smell and lashes out, stunning one. It becomes visible! But the duplicates connect. Mystic is slightly injured and Bast is stunned. Primal channels the reflexes of the fly and dodges one. With his super senses he knows one is nearby, but misses. Phantasma can’t use her telepathy to find them and her telekinesis to attack at the same time, so she scans for the duplicates and is able to sense six out of nine. She calls them out, allowing her allies to attack. Now aware of one nearby, Glimmer blasts a duplicate and stuns it. The duplicate is able to stay invisible. Mustang moves his light box around himself, trapping the two invisible duplicates Phantasma said were on either side of him. Other duplicates fire pieces of cement at Phantasma, but she deflects them back at the duplicate Glimmer stunned and knocks it out! Mustang is hit by one of the duplicates in his light box, while Mystic is injured again and Carom is stunned. Primal channels the spirits of the crocodile and chameleon and fades into a nearby pillar. He then lashes out, landing a solid blow and stunning a duplicate. Phantasma reaches out mentally and locates all the duplicates, including the original! Carom shakes off his stun, teleports next to a fire extinguisher, then douses the area the original is hiding – he’s visible! Mustang drops his light wall to try to snare the original with light bands, but misses. The original disappears again. Mustang then pushes himself to put the light wall around the original to trap him, but the original creates a hole in the floor and disappears. Meanwhile, the remaining duplicates knock out Phantasma and badly hurt Bast. The battle is turning against the eXalts! Mystic, desperate, tries a new spell. He opens a portal to a mystical realm and the Eye of Agamotto appears. Its glowing light fills the warehouse and dispels Phantom’s invisibility. All the duplicates and the original are visible! Glimmer blasts Phantom and stuns him. Carom opens a portal onto Phantom’s torso, disintegrating layers of skin and badly hurting him. Mystic hits Phantom squarely in the torso with a gout of hellfire and he goes down! The duplicates disappear and the fight is over. Mac uses energy he stole from a duplicate to heal Sam and Bastienne. David restrains Phantom with a light snare. Sam concentrates and attempts to contact his mind. While she concentrates, Carom tells David that he needs some sort of psionic blocker to protect himself from his mother. She was able to use a vampiric power to control him at a distance. He knows vampiric abilities are magical in nature, but he’s hoping a psi-blocker might help. David realizes what a problem Carom could be if he’s controlled, but he’s not sure how to help. Carom steps away to explore the lab. He teleports some of the medical equipment Carom used to create X-gene implants from bone marrow back to Academy X. Meanwhile, Sam is able to reach into Phantom’s mind. She’s overwhelmed at first by images from his fractured psyche. The man is clearly insane. She sees strange and disturbing images: memories of his former Guardians teammates, icons of a skeletal woman, a cat woman that reminds her of Bastienne, murders of mutants, and more. Upon digging deeper she learns that Phantom is an assassin for the Santa Muerte cult. He’s part of the inner circle. He receives orders from Mama (Carom’s mother, Cynthia) to kill mutants with useful powers and to inject their X-genes into himself. He believes those mutants are enemies of the church, and he commits murder – a sin – and takes the darkness into himself to protect the holy members of the church from doing so themselves. She also realizes that Phantom’s first murder was a homeless mutant with the power to turn into air. She relates this information to the team. David realizes Phanom could turn into air and escape when he wakes, so he tells Mac to drain him to exhaustion to contain him until S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives. But the group forgot that Phantom also had the power of regeneration. He immediately turns into air and begins to escape. Sam is able to sense his mind, and David tries to create a light box to contain Phantom… but he’s gone. David says they need to go – the basement is also a vampire lair and could be booby-trapped. Mac creates a portal to Academy X. Mac, David, and Liam depart. Carom heads downstairs to search the lair while Sam, Bastienne, and Dagan wait for Mac to bring in Matt. Mac returns with Matt a few minutes later. He has his S.H.I.E.L.D. gear and is ready to investigate. He asks Mac to open a portal to Credit Dauphine, a bank in San Francisco that is a front for S.H.I.E.L.D. Mac does do and moments later he returns with Maria Hill, Matt’s teammate on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top secret team. Maria asks for a situation report. Sam fills her in on everything that transpired. Maria says she’ll need a S.H.I.E.L.D. forensic team to run some tests. Carom emerges from downstairs. He found a laptop, TV, police scanner, clothes, and blood in a small refrigerator. He dumped the blood on the clothes and stole the laptop and police scanner, but left everything else intact. Carom tells Sam that they’ll need to contact Academy X graduate Vincent (also known as Vince or “Redneck”) for help, as he’s a vampire hunter for Hellfire Club: Tokyo. Sam calls Vincent and leaves a message. Bastienne asks Maria what to do with Thomas’ body. Maria says it’s up to her – after tests are run on the body, they can turn it over to the family. Bastienne doesn’t want Thomas’ family to go through that trauma. She says he can be buried on Utopia once they’re done with their tests. At this point the Academy X staff returns to Utopia. At school that night Liam talks to Sam about his time in Santa Fe. Since a fragment of Sam’s daughter’s mind is inside Jasmine, and since Jasmine is a member of Sam’s team, Liam feels Sam should know some of what transpired while he was gone. He consulted with the elders from his Apache tribe that recommended Jasmine go through her vision quest, or coming of age ceremony, early. Through the spiritual journey she could make peace with the spirit within her, gain control over it – or possibly succumb to it. Liam agreed Jasmine was ready. Though he leaves out some of the personal details of her vision quest, he tells Sam that Jasmine was able to come to an understanding with the shard of Alex Nova’s mind inside her own. While Jasmine can’t control it, Alex shouldn’t grow in strength or be a danger to Jasmine for now, at least. While Liam and Sam are talking, David, Mac, and Carom discuss what to do to protect Carom from his mother’s vampiric powers. Mac thinks he might be able to research a protection spell to help Carom. David suggests a sombrero: the circular hat brim could act like a circle of protection. Mac decides an amulet might be more appropriate. He spends the week researching from the occult tomes given to him by his father, Doctor Strange. Bastienne contacts Agape and makes plans for dinner the next night. On Monday after school, Bastienne meets Agape at the hospital once her shift is over. Agape completed her nursing degree over the summer and is a RN. She’s working towards a pre-med degree and eventually becoming a doctor. She’s just completed a double shift and it’s dark when she emerges from the hospital, her scrubs still on. She quickly changes and the two women walk to a nearby restaurant. Bastienne finally breaks the reason for the meal: at Thomas’ memorial she smelled the scent of blood on Agape and noticed a slight skin imperfection that could be the remnants of a fang wound. On top of that, she relates how Sam saw one of Agape’s memories months ago involving a man biting her. Bastienne says she’s concerned that Agape is involved with vampires. Agape feels betrayed that Sam read her memories (even though Sam did so by accident) and claims Sam is mistaken. She says she is not involved with vampires. She curtly thanks Bastienne for her concern, says she’s not hungry, throws money on the table and departs. During the week David asks Sam to periodically use Cerebra to search for Phantom. While sometimes she’s unsuccessful (he’s hard to track in his air form), they notice he’s heading south towards Los Angeles and then south. They report this news at the Thursday night staff meeting. Also at the meeting, Carom brings up his ongoing concerns about Plex, the Kree Artificial Intelligence inhabiting Asteroid M beneath the school. The AI is working on something down there and it can’t be good. They need to find a way to kill it. Dagan reiterates that she’d like to find a diplomatic solution. Carom concedes that he’ll go below to talk to Plex if he can wear Magneto’s helmet. Dagan says no – it’s David’s helmet, but only when he’s ready for it. In the end the group decides to try a diplomatic solution. Carom won’t go without the helmet, so the group will include Mac, Sam, and Dagan. Mac, Sam and Dagan turn off the security to the hole that leads from the Danger Room to Asteroid M. The other Academy X staff stand nearby in case they’re needed. They lift the tile and see red emergency lighting below – but no security androids of helicopter-like devices. Dagan extends a pale yellow glow around her, providing additional lighting, and they descend. They immediately feel vibrations from the space station and the sounds of distant clanking. They head down the nearby passageway that leads to the ship’s computer system and Plex. The door that Sam and Liam ripped open has been repaired and is sealed shut once more. This time they try knocking, and Mac asks for entrance. The door slides open. Inside the pillars glow with alien symbols and a green light glows from across the room. A metal grinding sound accompanies the sliding of a metal door, and Plex is revealed. Plex demands to know why they’ve returned to its home. Sam says they just want to talk. They want to know what Plex wants, but Plex won’t reveal his plans. Mac says they’re willing to live in peace with Plex if its intentions are peaceful. Plex asks if they’re seeking a non-aggression treaty, and Mac says yes. Plex asks what they have to offer to make such a treaty worthwhile. Sam asks what Plex wants. Plex considers for a moment, then offers to take criminals and castaways off their hands, as long as they’re not physically deformed. Mac asks about physical deformities – so no Morlocks, then? Plex wants to know what a Morlock is. Mac says they are deformed mutants. Plex says it doesn’t want any deformed offerings, but it would be glad to take mutants. Mac says they’ll see what they can do and they’ll talk more soon. Plex agrees. Mac creates a portal back to the Danger Room and they leave. Dagan can’t believe Mac would really give people to Plex, and Mac assures her that he was only bluffing. He wanted to know what Plex wanted. At least the conversation has bought them time for now. They table the Plex situation and agree to deal with it more later. On Friday Bastienne sends a report to the Board of Trustees updating them on the problems at Academy X, specifically Plex and the vampires. Heather Cameron of X-Corporation: Los Angeles doesn’t have any specific ideas, but says to let her know if they think she can help. Honoka, Shogun of Hellfire Club: Tokyo, gives a rare response. She tells Bastienne that Carom is a trained vampire hunter and should know what to do about the vampire problem. None of the other trustees respond. Later on Friday Mac attempts the ritual to enchant an amulet to protect Carom from vampiric influence. Unfortunately, the ritual fails. That night Bastienne returns to the Santa Muerte shrine for Friday services. The deacon Carom met is in charge. After services, he tells parishioners that Mama is in Los Angeles getting resources and will return when she can. In the meantime they will continue their outreach, such as fund raising and helping the poor. Bastienne notices that the cult’s attendance has increased – there are more than 50 members now. The students spend a lot of time studying over the weekend to prepare for midterms next week. Bastienne finds time to train with the demon freshman P’Ythri, who is more interested in combat than classes. Vince finally returns Samantha’s call, calling her Professor Carpenter (her maiden name). Sam asks if Vincent can help in a vampire hunt. Vince says he might be able to get away for a day, but if it’s more involved he’ll need permission from his employer (Hellfire Club: Tokyo). He reveals that Carom is a samurai in their employ and probably has the pull to get him reassigned temporarily. Sam says she’ll ask Carom, and offers Hellion pizza for Vince if he helps out. Vince laughs, knowing how bad the pizza is, but says to call him later. At the Sunday eXalts meeting, Mac tells the group that he contacted Shiro (former X-Man, Academy X trustee, Hellfire Club: Tokyo member) about Plex. Shiro said alien technology was beyond his group’s knowledge. David jokes he could contact the Latverian embassy, then explains to Liam his tortured past with Doctor Doom. David tells Sam they need to keep using Cerebra to track Phantom, but Sam is resistant to use the dangerous machine too much. Carom reminds the group that they need to kill the vampire controlling Agape. They come up with a plan: Liam will go on a stakeout at Agape’s apartment in the Tenderloin (the poor area of San Francisco) that night and they’ll decide what to do next. After sunset on Sunday, Agape leaves her building and goes to a nearby bar. Liam takes off his homeless disguise and goes inside. Agape has already slipped into a back room. By channeling his animal senses, Liam listens in from the door outside. Agape is telling an unseen male figure about a Monday shipment. The “drives” take place on the weekend, and she should be able to divert 10% of the “product” to the man. Bastienne later tells Liam this refers to the blood drives over the weekend, and she’s stealing some of the blood for the vampires. Liam then hears the faint sounds of slurping and moans. Agape emerges a half hour later, a bit paler and a little dazed. She eats bar pretzels, has a few beers, make some small talk with other bar patrons, then goes home and goes to sleep. The next week brings midterms and the students are stressed. Otherwise the week passes normally. On Friday, Sam agrees to use Cerebra to track Phantom again. This time her fears come true – the machine starts smoking and Sam yells out in pain. David pulls off the helmet to reveal red sores on Sam’s forehead. Sam is shaken and feels hungover. She doesn’t think anything else is wrong, but she’s alarmed. David says he’ll contact the Manh twins, Academy X graduates that are powerful mentalists. They can scan Sam and make sure nothing is wrong. Sam agrees, then leaves to recover. Saturday night is the Halloween party organized by the Excelsiors (Liam’s team). The students dress as their heroes – many are superheroes (real life or DC heroes), such as freshman Frankie who dresses as Alpha Flight member Puck. There are a few jokes about her “butch” appearance, as she is a lesbian. Meanwhile, other students dress as historical or literary figures. Carom “borrows” the original 60’s Batman suit. Liam dresses as his Native American mentor. His daughter, Jasmine, dresses as Thor girl. David dresses as Green Lantern while Sam dresses as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to honor Matt. Mac dresses as a literary character. The kids dress as superheroes: Davan is Thor, Jess is Mystique, Kurt is Nightcrawler, and Alex is Black Widow. Bastienne, Matt, and Ruth do not wear costumes as they are in the security room or chaperoning. To everyone’s surprise, the party goes off without a problem. Unlike past Halloweens, there are no attacks or odd events. The students have a good time and everyone goes to bed happy. On Monday night the Manh twins arrive to mentally scan Samantha and observe her as she uses Cerebra. They’re unable to detect any foreign presences in her mind, and she’s similarly fine as she uses Cerebra. Sam is able to locate Phantom’s presence again. He’s southwest of Los Angeles now, nearly at the Mexican border. He’s nearing a town named Salton City. Then Sam remembers – that’s where Bastienne’s sister, Georgie, is residing at a psychiatric treatment center as she recovers from the shock of her sudden physical mutation. And Georgie’s fiancé, Rafé, is there as well! Could Phantom be planning to kill one or both to steal their impressive mutant powers? Sam contacts the eXalts on her communicator and says they need to fly to Salton City immediately. On board the plane, Bastienne desperately tries to contact Georgie and Rafé, but neither answer their phones. She then calls Heather Cameron at X-Corporation: Los Angeles, Rafé’s former employer, in hopes she has some way to reach him. Heather can’t help, however. The Blackbird reaches Salton City. The community was built up before the housing crisis, then largely abandoned. There are dozens of empty houses and streets that lead nowhere. David opens the Blackbird’s hangar door and flies down to the desert. He creates a light platform and follows the jet with a great deal of sand (in case they need to locate Phantom’s invisible forms). Sam senses that Phantom has reached the treatment center. Mac creates a portal from the jet down to the center’s courtyard. The group emerges to a shocking sight: Phantom is kneeling before a catwoman wearing an Egyptian headdress. It’s Georgie, but she’s dressed as the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet! Rafe is standing behind her. His torso is tattooed with a strange symbol. David is surprised to realize it’s the symbol of Clan Akkaba, the human descendants of Apocalypse’s original followers. Is the powerful X-Men foe behind this, or does it have something to do with the clone of Apocalypse, Evan Sabahnur, back at Academy X? Also standing behind Georgie is Bastienne’s grandmother Sophie. Bastienne is in shock – what is going on with Georgie, and why is her grandmother there?! Georgie scolds Phantom, saying he’s lead them to her before she was ready. But she turns to Bastienne with a smile and asks if her sister has brought her friends to join them. Sam tries to mentally contact Georgie, but is surprised to find Georgie is a powerful telepath. Georgie mentally blasts Sam and tells her to stay out of her mind. She then demands to know if they will be her followers. She gestures to her scores of followers in Salton City, and the group suddenly realizes there are dozens of people watching the scene from the windows of the courtyard. David says they’ve only come for Phantom, but Georgie says he belongs to her and that they can’t have him. She says that David can join her, however, and she’ll give him unimaginable power. Runak urges David to accept the offer, and David flies down to Georgie. Sam yells at David to stop and tries to telekinetically pull him back, but fails. Georgie says it’s time, and Sophie pulls out a yellow orb that Mac recognizes as the powerful artifact called the Orb of Ra. Sophie holds it aloft and it begins to glow. Suddenly Mac’s torso glows red and a red scarab emerges from his body. It floats over to Georgie. Liam tries to grab it, and when his fingertips brush it he feels as if his energy has been drained. Georgie grasps the scarab. Suddenly the ground begins to shake and a giant pyramid emerges from the ground behind her. She says it’s time to go. The red scarab glows once more. David stands beside Georgie. Sam mentally contacts David to try to urge him to stop, but he mentally tells her that he’s in control. He urges her to find him and rescue him. At the last moment, Georgie turns to Bastienne and says, “Come with me, sister. Come with your family.” She reaches out… and Bastienne takes her hand. She looks at Sam and seems to be about to say something, but then they all disappear. The rest of the eXalts stand in shock as they realize that Bastienne and David are gone – as is the pyramid and all of Georgie’s followers. What will they do?
 * Next:** __Issue 76 - 'She's Lost Control'__
 * Previous:** Issue 74 - 'Don't Fear the Reaper'