Issue+37+-+'Walk+Through+the+Fire'


 * Issue 37 - 'Walk Through the Fire' **




 * Plot**

Maya has been driven away, but the staff of Academy X know she could attack the school again soon and next time there will be no stopping her. David decides to put his plan into action right away. He convinces Cameron to stay and help. Meanwhile, Samantha consoles Alex. The little girl is still distraught following Nga’s psychic scream and Maya’s incursion. David assembles Bastienne, Billy, Mac, and Cameron. He tells them to drive to the Four Seasons in San Francisco where Akane Fusion, a company controlled by Hellfire Club: Tokyo, has rented the suites on one floor. They are to take the teleportation nullifier that Cameron completed from Dane’s plans. The group agrees and sets out. They have some trouble reserving a room so early in the morning (it’s just after dawn) and Bastienne’s credit card is declined. They eventually sneak upstairs where Mac is able to open a linen closet to place the device. They call David who tells them to go into the suite instead. Mac opens that room and they wait for the Hellfire Club to arrive.

Back at the school, David notices that Simon Trask is holding a “prayer meeting” at the hospital now that he’s awoken from his coma. David ignores this. He’s already begun phase two. He gathers Samantha, Joni, and Robin. He informs Robin of his role: the sophomore will use Hiro Takahashi’s phone to call Mr. Takahashi in Japan. Robin will pose as Hiro (by using Japanese “borrowed” from Joni’s mind through Samantha’s psychic powers) and tell Hiro’s father that he has to leave Academy X right away. He’ll be fleeing to the Four Seasons to be picked up by Hellfire Club: Tokyo agents. Then David’s plan would kick in – his team would activate the teleportation nullifier and subdue the Hellfire guards. He hopes this would lead to finding the Hellfire Club’s headquarters and stopping Maya. Robin nervously agrees to the plan. Sam transfers fluency with Japanese from Joni to Robin. Robin makes the phone call, but something goes awry. Hiro’s father tells him that something major is going down with the Hellfire Club and he needs to get out of the area as soon as possible. He especially needs to get away from Academy X! Seeing that his plan won’t work, David calls the other group back to the school. Is Academy X about to come under attack?

Before the other group returns, David notices that the news footage of Trask’s “prayer meeting” now shows a scene of chaos. The Church of Humanity members are having seizures or some other malady. People are running from the scene. David ignores the news. Shortly after the group returns, David gets a phone call from Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. Special Agent Brand informs David that there’s a Phalanx signal coming from the Californian desert near the Nevada border. A Technarch ship is already heading towards the planet. Brand tells David to take out the signal while she holds off the spaceship. The eXalts quickly jump into the Blackbird and speed off into the desert. As they approach they see a giant “babel spire” 40 feet high made of gleaming metal. It is sending out a signal so powerful that it drowns out all other communication. The eXalts launch an attack. In the distance they see Lucius. He is covered in metal and his cybernetic eye is glowing. Next to him is Dane. They can see that metal has been cut away from Dane’s metallic form. Worst of all, his arm has been removed! A device is attached to his chest that would decapitate him if he tried to move…

The eXalts engage the Phalanx soldiers. It becomes obvious that the soldiers were military that Lucius infected. Two tanks guard the area and barbed wire surrounds the babel spire. David gives the order to infect Lucius with Hope (using the fake vaccines that Hiro switched, as David believes it’s Hope). David thinks that the “mutant cure” could kill off the Techno-Organic Virus in Lucius’ system. Blur speeds towards Lucius with the syringe in hand. As he gets close a land mine explodes! Blur avoids most of the damage, but he’s blown back. Mustang fires at Phalanx soldiers while Phanasma grabs a tank to crush the babel spire. The tank smashes into the construct, but the spire is undamaged! The eXalts then realize that the spire is made from vibranium ripped from Dane’s body. Chi and Medic work together to take out another Phalanx soldier. Several eXalts are wounded by Phalanx fire. Vortex speeds towards Dane, but is unable to free him. Bast shadow steps next to Lucius and stabs him with the syringe, but the device shatters on his metallic skin. Blur tries again, this time aiming for Lucius’ unarmored eye, but he misses and his syringe shatters, as well. Bast teleports back to grab the last Hope syringe. This time the attack is successful – Lucius is stabbed in the eye and the metal covering his body immediately begins to recede! Meanwhile, Vortex finally frees Dane. Dane then single-handedly grabs the babel spire and rips it free from its base. The feedback from the spire causes the Phalanx soldiers to convulse and collapse. The eXalts have won.

Lucius’ unconscious body is brought to the Blackbird. Dane grabs some of the valuable vibranium to take with him while the other eXalts bury the spire. Sam finds Sarah’s hand. They put it in a box to bring with them. Then one of the prefects from Academy X is finally able to send a signal over the communicators: Simon Trask’s Church of Humanity followers have been turned into bio-sentinels! The robots are attacking the Mutant Revolutionary Force’s headquarters and killing several mutants. The eXalts consider the news. In the end, they decide to allow the terrorist religious group to attack the terrorist mutant group. S.H.I.E.L.D. has responded by sending their Helicarrier, after all. They begin to fly back to Academy X. En route, David receives a phone call from Academy X’s former student, Christine. Christine dropped out and joined the MRF. Now she’s caught in the crossfire and she’s panicked. The mutants are getting wiped out by the bio-sentinels and she’s only barely escaped. She believes she is being tracked, even in her incorporeal form. David convinces Samantha to turn the jet towards San Francisco. The jet nears the scene of the attack. Bio-sentinels are attacking the Helicarrier while the flying aircraft carrier returns fire. Suddenly, however, the giant vehicle begins firing all weapons into the city! Buildings topple and explosions rock San Francisco! In that moment the group realizes the horrible truth: Maya now controls the massively powerful weapon. Ruth’s prophecy about Maya “raining fire and lightning” down, “causing untold deaths” has come true!

Hoping to distract Maya, Vortex exits the Blackbird and flies towards the Helicarrier. Phantasma and Mustang soon follow. Phantasma follows Vortex while Mustang decides to fly after Christine in order to help her escape the Church of Humanity. Panzer, his arm reattached, pilots the Blackbird. When Vortex enters the innards of the Helicarrier without responding to his communicator, the group realizes Maya has possessed him. Dane lands the Blackbird on the deck. The eXalts hurry below decks. In the command center of the Helicarrier the group sees a chaotic scene: paralyzed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stand like statues as Hellfire Club: Tokyo agents stand guard. Among the agents are Sunfire, Silver Samurai, Lady Deathstrike, Lady Lotus, and the leader – Gorgon! Gorgon wears electrodes connecting him to Cerebra. The Hellfire Club guards begin attacking. Blur runs back to the Blackbird to grab the teleportation nullifier. Before he can do so, Lady Lotus teleports away. Blur returns and turns on the nullifier and the battle is joined.

Bast teleports next to Cerebra and tries to rip out cables to shut down the machine. There are some sparks but little else. Panzer charges through the room and attacks the device, but Cerebra’s armor holds for the moment. Medic and Chi become pinned down next to the exit by several sword-wielding Hellfire guards. Phantasma is the first victim of Cerebra as Gorgon’s empowered psychic blast knocks her unconscious. Vortex, still possessed, finally shakes off his brainwashing. He blasts Sunfire, but not before Sunfire gravely wounds Medic. Panzer then knocks Gorgon from Cerebra, severing his connection from the machine. Blur zips over and pummels the leader of Hellfire Club: Tokyo. He attempts to use his time slowing power on Gorgon, but the Asian man resists. Meanwhile, heavy fire from the Hellfire Club guards and attacks by the swordsmen take their toll. Medic is the second eXalt to fall.

The battle is becoming desperate. The eXalts gain reinforcements as Dagan, clad in light armor, bursts into the scene to attack Gorgon. The Ruth from her dimension and time prophesized that the battle couldn’t be won without her. When she heard what was going on she hurried to the scene. She manages to hurt Gorgon, but she is quickly surrounded by other Hellfire Guards. Chi, alone by the exit, holds out for a time, but she is eventually knocked out. Panzer sends a thunderclap through the innards of the Helicarrier and drops several guards, but he is then taken out from behind. Things truly look grim. Mustang, listening to the comm traffic, sends a message to the school for reinforcements, but they’ll never arrive in time. Bast takes several more hits and is in bad shape. Vortex is likewise badly hurt by Sunfire. Gorgon grabs Dagan and tries to turn her to stone. All appears lost.

Suddenly Dagan’s eyes begin to glow. Gorgon steps back and draws his sword. Slowly, inexorably, he impales himself with the weapon. The leader of Hellfire Club: Tokyo falls. Taking advantage of the surprise, Vortex knocks out Sunfire. Her eyes still glowing, Dagan sends Maya’s mind back into Cerebra. Vortex attacks with all his power and destroys the machine! The tide of battle has shifted. A Hellfire Club guard destroys the teleportation nullifier and the guards teleport away. Silver Samurai follows. Lady Deathstrike, possessed by battle rage, tries to finish Bast. The cat girl soon knocks her unconscious. The battle is won.

Cameron revives Mac, who in turn heals the rest of the team. Dane takes over the controls. He signals the approaching military jets that the threat is over. He then flies the Helicarrier out over the ocean. At this point the eXalts realize Lady Deathstrike revived and teleported away. Melissa finally arrives from the school with the reinforcements. She’s able to use her soul dagger to free Sunfire from his brainwashing. The team surveys the devastation wrought by the Hellfire Club on San Francisco. Several buildings have been destroyed. The team heads into the city to assist with humanitarian efforts.

After a long day of emergency work, the team returns to Academy X. Agape flies into Cameron’s arms and declares her love for him. Jubilee warmly welcomes Mac, while Jessica and Matt are waiting for Bastienne and Samantha. Samantha tells Leong and Nga that Maya is dead, and the normally emotionless twins share a rare smile. At a meeting afterwards, Dagan confesses that she was able to steal Gorgon’s telepathy when he touched her. The group realizes that Dagan doesn’t have David’s mutant gene after all; she possesses her mother’s ability to steal powers! The first powers she stole were David’s, taken during conception, but now she has the ability to steal from others while retaining David’s abilities!

School returns to some semblance of normality. Hiro is sent back to his father in Japan, though S.H.I.E.L.D. is notified that he shouldn’t be allowed to re-enter the country. S.H.I.E.L.D. is facing its own negative publicity following the Helicarrier attack. The eXalts receive positive press for their humanitarian work in the aftermath of the attack. The government of Half Moon Bay (the town where Academy X is located) wants to honor the mutants. Dane contacts the defense lawyers for X-Corporation. The X-Corp employees are on trial for attacking the governor while brainwashed. Dane hopes that further evidence of Hellfire’s brainwashing (the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents controlling the Helicarrier that caused the attack) might help the mutants on trial.

A week after the attack, the headmasters receive a phone call from a mysterious Asian woman. She apologizes for the bad relationship and “difficulties” between Hellfire Club: Tokyo and the eXalts. She offers a meeting in a location of the headmasters’ choosing to smooth out the problem. The headmasters agree and meet her at the Four Seasons. At the meeting she introduces herself as Maki Matsumoto, Ebon Shogun of Hellfire Club: Tokyo. Evidently the Crimson branch has lost power due to the recent disastrous events. The Ebon branch has seized control and intends to be more professional. Maki even offers a boon: while the Hellfire Club will still control crime (through the Yakuza) and several recently-elected politicians, they will no longer deal MGH in the streets or allow it to be sold. Dane and Bastienne are grateful, but they ask if the Hellfire Club can stop Proposition X. Maki smiles and says that it will cost them. Dane and Bastienne aren’t ready to make a deal. The two groups part amicably.

As the winter holiday approaches there is one last surprise for the staff of Academy X. Following the departure of students, a visitor appears at the gates. It is none other than Meghan Flanagan, former student and love interest of David and Dane! Most shockingly, the redhead is obviously pregnant. But considering her close relationship to both men, who is the father?...

**Next:** __Issue 38 - 'Temptation Waits'__ **Previous:** Issue 36 - 'Put out the Fire'