Issue+44+-+'At+Dawn+They+Sleep'


 * Issue 44 - 'At Dawn They Sleep' **




 * Plot**

The staff looks on in shock following the vampires’ destruction of Academy X. The classrooms and the student housing has survived, and the activity building / chapel in the backyard is untouched, but the main part of the building has collapsed. The basement under the school was not affected. Thankfully, everyone made it out safely. Sam is able to quickly break David’s confusion. She then reverses Xarus’ mental suggestion on Mac, allowing him to heal Matt. Dagan activates Thornn’s regeneration, curing her vampirism. Cameron manages to re-form. He says that he heard Alex’s voice in his head. She simply said, “change,” and he became air. Meanwhile, Bastienne is in shock following the loss of her physical mutation. Jess and Lucius are safe in the basement, and Billy and Ruth are with the kids in the activity building. Michiyo is also there, but out cold (she was knocked out by a vampire).

Cameron and Dagan patrol the grounds. Cameron can’t figure out how to turn into air again. He moves the school bus (still burned from Ruth’s return) in front of the gates to keep them blocked. Outside, the protestors are in shock that the school collapsed. They are recording or taking pictures. David goes downstairs to check on Davan (who’s with Jess) and Matt follows with the twins. He moves the controls from the security room to the War Room. Sam takes charge and tells the kids that everyone’s okay. The kids are worried the school will close or they’ll be sent home, but Sam tells them to sit tight. Cameron has determined that the student housing is stable, so David makes a stairway out of a light construct and the kids return to their rooms. Bastienne recovers enough to call Warren at the east coast school. He arrives via “holopresence” (as a hologram) to view the damage. He says he’ll contact insurance companies about rebuilding. At night, the staff bed down in various places – Matt and Sam in the War Room with the kids; Cameron in the school bus; Michiyo in Mac’s room; Bastienne and Jess in the library; Billy, Ruth, and Mac in the activity building, and Lucius in the basement.

The next day, Dane awakens on a beach in New Jersey. He is only wearing a bath robe from the nearby hotel. He charms the desk attendant so he can use the phone. He calls Warren, who sends Piotr to get him in a Blackbird. Piotr brings clothes and tells him that his son, Davan, is back at Academy X. Dane calls Academy X from the Blackbird and speaks to Sam. He says he was a prisoner of Doctor Doom. Sam tells him that vampires caused the school to collapse and that Meghan was trapped in Doom’s hell dimension. Dane is upset by the news. Piotr drops him off at an airport and Dane flies back. Meanwhile, Bastienne goes out to get breakfast for the school. She sees protestors are there with new signs saying that the school’s destruction was punishment for their sins. There are signs about arresting David and freeing the Guardians. Bastienne leaves food for the protestors.

At noon, Matt says there are a many interesting articles on the “Nothing Can Stop the Blog!” website. The staff takes a look. There are articles about the protestors, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s arrest of seven mutant criminals in Sacramento, increased graffiti from the MRF, speculation about the Guardians being denied bail, possible prejudice being show in bail hearings for eXalts, news about the reassignment of the X-Corporation: Los Angeles mutants that were found not guilty recently, and a Proposition X update. Dane flies in that night. Bastienne picks him up, but he walks right by her. He says nothing until he arrives at the school and asks for her communicator. He asks for David to meet him in the medical lab. David is at a backyard bonfire set up by Cameron, but he agrees. Mac, who is in the Danger Room spending time with Jubilee, comes down to see Dane. Dane won’t say much to him. David arrives and there is tension between David and Dane (due to Dane being upset). David says he’s glad Dane is back. Dane asks to hear the full story of what happened when he was gone. David tells the story. He ends by saying that Meghan is in a dimension with accelerated time, and she might not be found. When David tries to say more, Dane says he’d better leave because David talking only makes him want to kill him.

Dane then asks Samantha to come down. Sam leaves the kids (a sticky mess from s’mores) with Bastienne and Jessica. Dane has already begun running tests on himself to see what Doctor Doom had done to him. He’d removed some of Dane’s skin and injected him many times. With Sam’s help, Dane is unable to find anything implanted in him. When Dane tries a blood test, he sees the machine has already finished another test – and the blood sample has traces of nanites in it. Dane asks for Jess to come down and confronts her. He wants to know if it’s Davan’s blood. Jess looks uncomfortable, but says it’s not Davan’s. Dane doesn’t trust her, but she seems to be telling the truth. Jess said the blood was an old sample from Lucius from when he had the techno-organic virus. Jess runs blood scans for Dane but finds nothing except that he has traces of drugs in his system (pain killers and narcotics). Dane, not trusting Jess, runs his own tests as well as tests on Davan, but everything checks out as she said. Back at the bonfire, Jess tells Bastienne secretly that the tests showed that the blood had traces of nanites in it, and Bastienne is worried.

The next morning the kids are sent home early for spring break. Reconstruction begins on the school Warren has made sure there are many workers and shifts that will work around the clock. The goal is to have the school rebuilt by the time the kids return from break. Some staff members move into hotel rooms (Matt and Sam), stay with someone else (Cameron with Agape) or rented RVs (Dane) while others sleep wherever they can. Dane and David argue about Davan’s sleeping accommodations. David sets up in the med lab so he can use the refrigerator for Davan’s formula. Dane wants him in the RV with him, but David says that Davan knows him better. Dane agrees for now, but says he’ll want to share custody. Dane then offers the spot in the RV to Dagan (the only student staying over break), who happily agrees to stay in the lush accommodations.

By the weekend, the rubble is being cleared. Michiyo continues to pressure the eXalts to take on the vampires, fulfilling their debt to Hellfire Club: Tokyo to kill the vampire leader. Dane is surprised one day when he finds that Michiyo has called in her friend, Blade. Dane calls a staff and eXalts meeting. They agree it’s time to take on the vampires. Blade asks what they know so far. They say that they’ve learned that there are many sects in the city. Blade says this isn’t normal. He also says their visibility is unusual. Vampires have been in the area for a long time, but they’ve remained hidden. When Michiyo mentions the vampires’ influence, Lucius counters by saying there’s on area of influence Michiyo never mentioned. She listed 15, when there are 16 chess pieces. Dane guesses the last area of influence is superhero. Michiyo agrees, but says that neither side is seeking to influence the superheroes in the area. Next the staff shows Blade the security camera footage of Xarus attacking the school. Blade says it’s possible that the Moksha Sect (vampire seers) found a mythical ritual that protects a vampire from vampiric weaknesses. Blade also says that he learned from Michiyo that they’re keeping a vampire at the school. He tries to convince them to kill her, but they tell him she’s off limits.

When the staff tells Blade that they’ve determined that vampires are using blood bank deliveries to steal blood, the vampire hunter says it’s time to hit them where it hurts. He wants to find out where the blood is going and destroy it. The group agrees, but Blade says it’s not time for superhero tactics (show up in tights and blast away), but intelligent tactics. Blade tags one of the blood bank vans that is “losing” blood and discovers that it’s dropping off blood at a former meatpacking facility in northeastern San Francisco. Meanwhile, Cameron and Dane pull the equipment taken from the Masters of Silence out of storage. They modify the armor to fit Billy, Bastienne, and Mac. Dane purchases enough silver to electro-plate weapons from the Masters of Silence for Bastienne, Billy, and Mac. He has enough left over to make “silver knuckles” (silver-plated brass knuckles). The others do research on the meat packing facility to determine the best way to infiltrate. They determine there are three entrances. There will be three teams: Alpha (Phantasma, Blade, Michiyo), Bravo (Vortex, Medic, and Bast) and Charlie (Glimmer, Panzer, and Blur). On Monday, the group strikes in broad daylight. Blade first finds the vampires’ “watcher”, a familiar that is keeping an eye on the facility. Phantasma goes into his mind and finds he knows very little.

The three groups strike simultaneously. They catch the vampires flat-footed. There are four Tryk Sect vampires (Eastern European vampires that shift into a “bone golem” form), three Pureblood Sect vampires (those born as vampires), and the leader of the Yuki Onna vampires! Michiyo quickly dusts one of the Purebloods. Blade throws a “light grenade” that blinds two of the Tryk vampires. Panzer and Glimmer knock another Pureblood unconscious. Vortex is mind-controlled by the Yuki Onna leader. He blasts Bast, nearly knocking her unconscious. Medic heals her, but the remaining Pureblood unleashes a thunderclap with his super-strength, stunning Bast and Medic. Meanwhile, a blind Tryk summoned a pack of wild dogs that surround Michiyo. Panzer stuns the Yuki Onna leader. The other eXalts pile on, hurting him again and again, but he won’t drop! Finally, Michiyo decapitates him. She says (in Japanese), “That is for my mother.” Panzer knocks the remaining dogs unconscious with a thunderclap and the eXalts wrap up the foes.

Glimmer staked one of the vampires and he is taken prisoner. Michiyo tells the group that their debt to Hellfire Club: Tokyo is paid – the leader they agreed to kill was the Yuki Onna leader, not Xarus. Michiyo and Blade leave for Los Angeles, where there are more Yuki Onna. Back at the school, the group is in for a surprise: there is a new contender in the gubernatorial race from the new “Peaceful Coexistence Party”: James Sangrey, a mutant! Standing behind him is none other than Michael Schwartz (Discord)! How is the group’s former foe and sometimes ally involved in this turn of events?

**Next:** __Issue 45 - 'My Time (Has Come)'__ **Previous:** Issue 43 - 'Forget Me Not'