Issue+83+-+'Godlike'


 * Issue 83 - 'Godlike' **




 * Plot**

It’s a Saturday in the middle of March. Academy X students are having their first baseball games. The headmasters sit in the bleachers and cheer for the kids. A figure appears in a flash of light. It looks like Bastienne’s sister Georgie, but with an ornate staff and dressed in Ancient Egyptian clothing. It’s Sekhmet, the Egyptian goddess they fought last semester! Sekhmet gestures towards Mac. The ruby scarab pattern glows on his chest. A portal opens, revealing a desert and a giant pyramid temple. It’s Aleph, the dimension where several eXalts were recently trapped! And lying in the sand is the real Georgie, bound and gagged. Sekhmet says, “You need to come with me.” She draws Mac and Bastienne through the portal into Aleph and then the portal winks out.  Students notice the appearance of Sekhmet. They aren’t sure what’s happening. Some wonder why Georgie was dressed strangely. Ethan, reserve eXalt and Academy X senior prefect, sends a message on the eXalts frequency. He says a lion woman that looked like Georgie appeared and teleported away with the headmasters. Samantha responds. She’s not sure if there’s a threat, so she tells Ethan to take the kids inside just in case. Bailey responds from New Genosha and asks if he’s needed at the school. Sam tells him there might not be a problem but to head towards the school anyway. Bailey begins running towards Academy X uses his kinetic energy control to enhance his speed, but Dagan uses the teleportation powers she borrowed from Carom to transport him more quickly. Meanwhile, David tells Sam that they really need Amanda. Amanda is a graduate of Academy X whose mutant X-gene allows her to use magic. She’s been studying with Doctor Strange. Since Mac was the only one who knew how to open portals to other dimensions, the eXalts can’t go after the headmasters without help, and Amanda might be willing to assist. Sam finds the contact information for Doctor Strange and places a phone call to the mansion in Greenwich Village, New York City, where his Sanctum Sanctorum is located. Doctor Strange’s assistant, Wong, answers. He says Amanda is currently in the middle of an important meditation. Sam asks him to interrupt. He says he will inform her.  Meanwhile Bastienne and Mac appear in an opulent palace in Aleph. In the distance they can see the pyramid temple that Bastienne’s grandmother, Sophie, used as her base. She had used the Orb of Ra to control the spirits of the Egyptian gods themselves. Bastienne and her sister, Georgie, had been created or modified to specifically house the spirits of Bastet and Sekhmet. Sophie also placed the spirits of the rest of the Ennead (the most powerful Egyptian gods) into others. This included Carom’s vampiric mother Cynthia housing the spirit of Isis, David’s clone and the Norse god Runak housing the spirit of Ra, and several more. She had also used the Orb of Ra to raise the dead (which is how David’s clone had been revived). Sophie had secretly been a member of Clan Akkaba, the human descendants of the ancient mutant Apocalypse. She sought to manipulate Evan, the Academy X student and clone of Apocalypse, into becoming the god-like ruler of the world. The eXalts stopped Sophie’s plan when Mac used the Orb of Ra to drive Sekhmet’s spirit from Georgie’s body, but the powerful artifact was drained and could not force Bastet’s mind from Bastienne. The eXalts then defeated Sophie’s other minions. Bastienne turned against her own grandmother and killed her while Sam convinced Evan not to use his powers for evil.  Now the real Sekhmet – the lion goddess of warfare – stands before Bastienne and Mac. Georgie is bound and gagged at her feet. Sekhmet leans her staff against a table and draws a wicked-looking Egyptian sword called a khopesh. She asks why her sister, Bastet, remains trapped in the mutant. She offers to kill Bastienne in order to free the goddess within. Bastienne (or, rather, Bastienne and Bastet’s merged mind) refuses the offer. She’s enjoying the experience of being one with a mutant on Earth instead of on Heliopolis. Sekhmet tries to convince Bastet several times to sever her connection to Bastienne. She says Bastet has only a fraction of her true power now and that her worshippers have been abandoned. Bastienne still refuses to die to free Bastet. Sekhmet shrugs. She says her real target wasn’t Bastet anyway, but Georgie. Georgie had been created as a “trap” or “shell” to house Sekhmet’s spirit, and Sekhmet doesn’t want to be trapped in a human again. Sekhmet then runs the tip of her sword along Georgie’s neck, drawing blood. Bastienne hisses. She says to leave her sister alone. Sekhmet says that Georgie isn’t really her sister – she is. She says the Akkabite (referring to Sophie) trapped them in the humans and she intends to destroy all the vessels they created – and have her revenge on Clan Akkaba. Bastienne isn’t sure if Sekhmet is referring to the temporary hosts for Isis, Runak, and the others or if there are more mutants like her and Georgie that were created specifically to house the spirits of the Egyptian gods. Either way, she threatens Sekhmet to back off. Sekhmet agrees not to kill Georgie for the moment, but says something has to be done about her. She says she’ll give Bastienne some time to decide what to do, then takes her staff and teleports away.  Back on Utopia, Amanda finally takes the call from Samantha. She says she’s tied up maintaining the protective magic of Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, but says the eXalts can come to her if they wish and she’ll try to help. Sam agrees. Carom teleports the entire group (minus the reserve eXalts) to Greenwich Village. They appear in a Shake Shack and alarm several tourists. The trip from there to Doctor Strange’s mansion on Bleeker Street is uneventful, however. It is a beautiful Victorian-style brownstone townhouse with a large stained glass window over the door. Wong greets them at the door and ushers them in. Inside the building is much larger than it appeared on the outside. The floors are polished hardwood and there is a smell of sandalwood in the air. Each room they pass is filled with dusty tomes and magical knick-knacks. On the way to the meditation room on the third floor they pass a hallway and nearly run into a familiar-looking young man. Sam and David recognize him as Will, the young boy they rescued from Mystique’s Academy M students years ago. He is connected to a powerful ape spirit named Bruce. Will is now a senior in high school and is finishing his studies with Doctor Strange. He briefly catches up with Sam and David and then heads out to get some dinner. Wong leads the eXalts to Amanda.  In the middle of the meditation room, bathed in glowing light from the large stained glass window, Amanda is surrounded by tomes and burning incense. After a moment she opens her eyes and the glow fades. As Doctor Strange’s apprentice, she maintains the magical protections on the townhouse. Amanda greets the eXalts and is introduced to newer eXalts Carom and Primal. She asks how she can help. Sam explains about Sekhmet and how it’s likely she’s taken Bastienne and Mac to the pocket dimension of Aleph. David asks Amanda if she can create portals to other dimensions, as Amanda already has the ability to open portals to other places on Earth. Amanda says she’s been working on that skill, but she can only open portals to specific dimensions that are close to Earth. She says she knows someone who has the ability they seek, however. And considering who is currently missing, Amanda suspects she will help. She then contacts the Ruler of the Dark Dimension: Mac’s mother, Clea!  Meanwhile, in Aleph, Bastienne, Mac and Georgie are alone. Bastienne frees Georgie. She asks Georgie why she didn’t free herself with her mutant super-strength. Georgie says she was terrified of Sekhmet. Bastienne tells Georgie she has to be strong. At least the cut on her neck has already healed due to her regeneration. Bastienne then turns to Mac and asks why he hasn’t just opened a portal to Utopia. Mac says he’s been trying (which is why he’s been so quiet), but something is blocking his magic. Servants enter to offer them food and drink. They appear to be Egyptian, but Bastienne notices there’s something odd about them – they’re not really Egyptian, but the magic of the plane makes them appear so. The servants bow to each of them, but they are especially obsequious towards Bastienne. Before Bastienne can ask the servants any questions, one of them says they have a visitor. David enters the room! But it’s not David – it’s his clone that has the mind of Runak, an evil Norse deity! But Runak was dead! Runak is still posing as Ra and glows with the light of the sun. Runak wants to know why Bastet and Sekhmet (referring to Georgie) have returned. Bastienne says they were drawn here by the real Sekhmet. Runak is alarmed the real Sekhmet is in Aleph. He touches his necklace – a stone on a simple cord carved with either a Norse rune or an Egyptian hieroglyph. Suddenly Runak’s hammer appears in his hand! He says he has to tell Isis and flies off. Bastienne says they should leave now before Isis or any of the other gods in Aleph arrive. They hurry to the exit of the palace – and hit a magical wall. They’re trapped!  In New York City Amanda finishes the spell to contact Clea. Then her eyes go wide. She says one of the artifacts has disappeared from “Steven’s” vault! Carom asks which artifact is gone. Amanda says it’s Runak’s hammer, which the eXalts left with Doctor Strange after they took it from Runak’s dead body in Aleph. David is alarmed that Runak’s hammer was nearby, since he has been tempted by the hammer several times before. Amanda said it was in a pocket dimension, but something or someone teleported it away, which shouldn’t be possible. Then, in a purple flash of light, Clea arrives. She has white hair and is dressed in bizarre clothing that is predominately purple but features arcane patterns. Clea greets the eXalts, but is puzzled by Liam (as he is a human that can channel spirits and is not a mutant, yet he is on the mutant team) and Bailey. She uses her magical sight to examine Bailey and asks if the eXalts really want to bring an alien with them. The eXalts are surprised – they had no idea Bailey was an alien. He admits he’s half-Kree but he really is a mutant. Some eXalts privately wonder if he’s connected to Plex, the Kree artificial intelligence beneath Utopia, but they’ll have to talk about it later. Sam says all the eXalts are going along. Clea agrees to open a portal to Aleph and they step through. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">The portal opens on the courtyard before the pyramid temple. There are thousands of Egyptians in the area. Some are guards, others are selling at market stands, while others are just milling about. The arrival of the eXalts causes a panic. As Clea surveys the crowd she comments that the Egyptians are actually people from all over Earth. They were members of various death cults Sophie manipulated to become Clan Akkaba’s minions. Sam mentally scans them to find that, by and large, they all want to be there. Most are presumed dead back on Earth, anyway, as many of the cults were believed to have committed suicide when their members were transported to Aleph months ago. Besides, the eXalts aren’t there for those people, anyway. Sam senses Mac and Bastienne’s nearby, but can’t pin them down. David also senses something odd – it’s Runak’s hammer! He can tell it’s somewhere nearby, but it’s not calling out to him this time for some reason. Primal draws upon the spirits of the falcon and dog to track Sekhmet and catches her scent. When he summons the spirits his features twist into a hybrid of Horus and Anubis. He leads them towards the palace. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">Inside the palace Mac and Georgie discover they’re also trapped by the same magic that stopped Bastienne. Mac tries to open a portal again but can’t seem to summon any magic. Bastienne says his powers are gone – but then she senses energy around him. It seems she can harness the energy, like Sekhmet drew upon the Ruby Scarab in Mac to teleport them to Aleph. She leaves it alone or now. The three decide to split up to explore the palace. It’s clearly the residence of someone wealthy. There is a beautiful reflecting pool in the courtyard surrounded by lush gardens, marble statuary, and there are servants everywhere. Bastienne interrogates one of the servants and finds out that the owner is a follower of Isis (really Cynthia, Carom’s mother) but he hasn’t been seen since Sekhmet appeared and took control of the palace. Bastienne tells the servant to go to Ra and Isis and tell them what’s going on. They need to stop Sekhmet. The servant is terrified of Bastienne and runs off to help, but Bastienne isn’t sure if he will really do what she asked. Mac and Georgie rejoin Bastienne. Georgie has found a knife in the kitchen and a serving platter to use as a shield. Bastienne isn’t sure why she doesn’t just use her claws. Mac found the dead body of the master of the estate in the basement. He was clearly killed by Sekhmet’s claws. As he tells Bastienne, Sekhmet appears in a flash of light. She says Bastienne’s time is up and demands to know what she plans to do about Georgie. If Bastienne doesn’t have a plan Sekhmet says she will kill her. Bastienne steps between Sekhmet and Georgie – her “sisters” – and says she doesn’t have a plan, but she won’t let Sekhmet kill Georgie. Sekhmet gives her one last chance to come up with another idea, or she’ll kill the girl. She draws both khopeshes. Georgie raises her knife and serving platter defensively. Bastienne hisses. In the middle of the tense standoff Mac sneaks up on Sekhmet… and drains her! Even with his magical powers blocked, he still has his original X-gene that allows him to drain life energy! The attack should have dropped Sekhmet, but she merely falls to one knee, yowling. She turns towards Mac… <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">The eXalts burst onto the scene! Primal, Phantasma, Mustang, and Glimmer fly into the courtyard. Carom teleports behind one of the flowering bushes nearby. Baliey – now going by his new codename of K9 – uses his kinetic energy control to zip past the fountain to stand right in front of Georgie. But Sekhmet is not about to surrender. She rises and calls out for her followers to help her. In a flash of light dozens of Egyptian warriors appear at the end of the courtyard. Clea says she’ll hold them off. She creates a magical wall of force to keep them at bay, but they begin battering the barrier. Primal swoops down to help Clea. He begins harrying the warriors to prevent them from destroying the wall. Back at the fountain, Sekhmet has summoned other allies: nine giant lions! The lions savagely attack the eXalts. Carom is mauled by one and is immediately knocked unconscious. Mustang and Glimmer’s force fields are strong enough to repel the beasts. Bastet and Mystic are able to evade the attacks. Georgie isn’t so lucky, but K9 steps in the way of the giant cat’s attack. He’s injured, but he prevented Sekhmet’s true target from being hurt. Seeing Georgie in danger, Bastet turns her fury on her sister. She realizes Sekhmet has caused the entire area to glow brightly so she can’t teleport through shadows. Sekhmet is associated with the sun while Bastet is associated with the moon. Bastet charges Sekhmet and lashes out with her claws, but misses. Meanwhile Glimmer shifts into her light armor form to face down several lions. She injures one. Georgie tries to attack a lion with her kitchen knife but misses. Finally she drops the knife and attacks with her claws – and drops the lion! Mustang swoops down and grabs Georgie. He flies off with her in hopes of keeping her away from Sekhmet. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">Sekhmet isn’t about to let Georgie escape. She gestures towards Mustang with a Khopesh and unleashes a solar blast that injures the mutant, but doesn’t stop him. Sekhmet then teleports mid-air next to Mustang and Georgie. She grabs onto Georgie and yanks her free with her super-strength. They fall towards the courtyard. Phantasma uses her telekinesis to pull Georgie free from Sekhmet once more. In the meantime Mystic has revived Carom. Sekhmet snarls. She unleashes her frustration on Bastet. She attacks twice with her khopeshes, but K9 once again gets in the way. He’s badly hurt! Bastet returns the attack and hurts Sekhmet – but her wounds almost immediately heal! The lions attack again. This time Carom is ready. He opens portals in front of several lions and redirects their attacks to Sekhmet. The lion goddess is hit by several claws and bites. She’s staggered! But Carom wasn’t able to redirect them all. Georgie is hit by several lions and falls prone. Sekhmet stands over Georgie and raises a sword to kill her. Mustang fires a blast at Sekhmet but misses. In desperation he pushes himself to attack again but he can’t stop her! Sekhmet swings with her khopesh, delivering a killing blow to Georgie. But then a marble statue slams into her and knocks her back – Phantasma has stopped the attack! Bastet tackles Sekhmet to the ground and lands two savage blows, finally dropping her sister! The lions and Sekhmet’s followers disappear. The battle is over! <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> Bastienne says they should turn Sekhmet over to Isis and Ra. They won’t be happy to find the real Egyptian goddess in the dimension they’ve been ruling. But before they can act, Sekhmet’s body disappears! Bastienne then hears Sekhmet’s voice in her mind. She says, “I’ll see you soon, sister. And be careful – the red star is coming.” There’s no time to decipher the message, however. There’s no guarantee Ra and Isis (and any other Egyptian “gods” still remaining) will be friendly. Clea quickly opens a portal back to Doctor Strange’s townhouse and the group escapes Aleph. Once they’re safe again, David asks how Runak can still be alive since he killed him months ago. Clea says Runak was revived by the Orb of Ra, a powerful artifact. Runak is infused with the Orb’s energy and probably revived again after being killed. It’s likely nothing can permanently kill him now. And Runak is still bonded to his hammer which is how he can summon it even across dimensional boundaries. Everyone digests the grim news. Mac asks if he can talk to his mother. They move to a separate room. It’s the first time they’ve met. Clea says she’s missed him over the past several years. He says he’s missed her too. She says she’s glad he’s followed his own path and found a group that are “his people” – a real family. Mac says the really are his family, but he’s hoping he can see more of her, too. She says they’ll meet again soon, but that she had to stay away from him because she has enemies. She was able to take the body of a woman who would have soon died from cancer in order to be his mother, but now that protection will no longer hide her. She explains how she and Doctor Strange were once bonded together on a mental plane in the most intimate way possible. Their very essences were commingled. When that state ended, a third essence had somehow been created – Mac. Clea wanted Mac to have a body and a chance at a real life, so she found an artifact that would allow her to bond the essence into a body: the Ruby Scarab. She placed Mac’s essence into the body of a baby who would have soon died anyway and raised him as her own. She didn’t tell him any of this so he could lead a normal life. Mac says he suspects there’s no such thing as a normal life. They hug before parting. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> Once they’re in Utopia Bastienne hugs Georgie and says she’s proud of her. She used her claws and fought back – she really can be a warrior. Bastienne then seeks out Evan. He hasn’t been using his powers at all since he was almost manipulated into becoming Apocalypse in Aleph months ago. Bastienne tries to convince him it’s okay to use his powers, but Evan gets upset and storms off. The rest of the weekend passes uneventfully. The next week Sam decides she has to do something about the familiar mental presences she sensed on Utopia. She asks Matt to go with her to the Cerebra chamber. She scans New Genosha and discovers the identities of the two familiar minds – her former classmates, Paul Thomas and Selena Moreno! They must have used false identity to emigrate to Utopia. Sam finds David, who is working on extending his force field to protect others. David agrees to accompany Sam to New Genosha to talk to Paul and Selena that weekend. David then reveals that one of his students, Kai (a mutant who can control machines) hacked into the Academy X computers and discovered that Ruth has been using the “dark web” to send message. Sam and David are worried but decide not to do anything about the news yet. At combat club that week the student team battles continue. The Hellions fight the Exemplars. The Hellions win. During the battle, freshman demon P’Ythri blocks Erica’s (or “Bug Girl’s”) attack – and chitinous armor covers him! It seems he can somehow mimic powers. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> At the Utopia meeting on Tuesday, Ruth reports that X-Corporation: Los Angeles is moving forward with issuing new visas, hopefully by the end of the school year. Attorney General Evangeline Whedon says she’ll be meeting with San Francisco Mayor Sadie Sinclair on Sunday to discuss the legalities of more trade with Utopia. Several companies have banned trade on the grounds that the United States doesn’t consider Utopia a sovereign nation and trade with the island might jeopardize their contracts with the US government. Lastly, the group discusses possibility building an elementary school in New Genosha. They table the idea for now. After the meeting, Bastienne asks Mac if she can try to use his powers as Sekhmet did. Mac is uncomfortable with the idea. Bastienne decides to do it anyway. She harnesses his magic, causing the Ruby Scarab pattern to glow on his chest. A portal opens across the room! Mac is infuriated that Bastienne used him without his permission. He storms off. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> Mac and Bastienne both go to church on Wednesday as it is Ash Wednesday. Mac goes to a Catholic service. Bastienne goes to the Santa Muerte ceremony. Liam agrees to go with her. Deacon Graves asked Bastienne to arrive early because he’d like her help with the service. When Bastienne and Liam arrive, however, they find that dozens of parishioners are already there! There is a strong smell of incense and candles are lit everywhere. Deacon Graves calls out to Bastienne, calling her “Lady Sebastienne.” He throws some powder onto candle flames and it causes a flash of green light. Suddenly a giant panther spirit appears over Bastienne. Deacon Graves has revealed Bastet’s spirit! When the spirit fades, Bastienne is covered in makeup that makes her look like Santa Muerte herself. The parishioners gather around her and ask for her blessing. Bastienne is stunned by the turn of events at first, but then quickly adapts the idea. Liam looks on in shock. It seems Bastienne is enjoying the worship! He calls Samantha back at Academy X to tell her what’s going on. Sam agrees to talk to Bastienne later to make sure everything is okay. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> As the week goes on Sam involves Evan in more Stone family activities. They tell him the adoption will take some time, but the truth is they want to make sure Evan can be trusted. Evan accepts the delay without complaint as he is happy to be with the family. That week Carom works on building a house on the small island to the northeast of Utopia once used by Cameron. He says he’d like a more private and spacious area where he and Alice can live. That weekend is family and friends weekend. Gabriel Lisowski’s mother, Ella, visits and is introduced to Liam. Wendy, the purple mutant, is visited by her brothers: Buford, Terry, and Skottie. They all resemble dogs. Freshman Craig (the healer with tentacles) is visited by his sister, Anne “Lipid” Moore. Anne was once a student at Xavier’s. She reveals her mutant power when she gets into a fight with Craig and cries ink tears. The group is surprised when a Skrull arrives to visit Robin. They worry that Plex may be upset, as the Kree tend to hate Skrulls. The other news on Saturday is that the Pacific/Hawaii NEO (Near Earth Object) Keck Survey has detected a comet that was previously hidden due to approaching Earth from the other side of the sun. It’s a unique comet due to its vibrant red color. Over the weekend the group also prepares for other upcoming events. Next weekend will be the baseball game versus the Avengers Academy team in Los Angeles. The Paragons (as well as other students) will finally get their field trip to New Genosha. Sam thinks they should also see if students want to tour X-Corporation: Los Angeles. Sam then tells everyone about Paul and Selena living in New Genosha under assumed names. David wants Alice to hack into their Facebook accounts to see what they’ve been up to. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> On Sunday Sam and David go to New Genosha to talk to Paul and Selena. Sam realizes Paul is at the New Genosha police station. They go inside to find him. Bailey is not there at the moment as he is working on putting together a vote to elect a mayor (even though the people wanted him to be mayor, he’s hoping someone else will run) and a town council for New Genosha. They find Paul in the deputy’s office. Paul has really been Barry, Bailey’s deputy, all along. He admits that he forged the papers he and Selena submitted so they could move to New Genosha. They’d been working for Mutantes Sans Frontieres in Slokovia and had been targeted by the anti-mutant populace. The local embassy was no help and they didn’t want to deal with the Prop X-like laws spreading across the United States. David and Sam invite Paul and Selena over for dinner. Sam shakes Paul’s hand. David is privately horrified, as Paul is a power mimic and he may have been able to “borrow” Sam’s powers by touching her hand. When they leave the police station one of the residents of New Genosha hurries over. Sam recognizes her as JamieLynn, a mutant living in one of X-Corporation’s Los Angeles shelters. She had tried to glide onto Utopia a few months ago in hopes of meeting her “savior,” Evan. JamieLynn asks how Evan is doing and asks Sam to tell Evan that several New Genosha residents would like to see him. Sam says she’ll pass along the message, though it’s probably a lie. While Sam is distracted by JamieLynn, David hears a whisper from the alleyway next to the police station. Someone is calling for him. He goes around the corner to find Christine Cord, the former Academy X student that dropped out to join the Mutant Revolutionary Front! She has been behind at least one bombing that caused the deaths of innocent civilians. Christine tries to recruit David to join the MRF. She says he once stood up for mutant rights and discouraged mutants from registering, but then he moved to Utopia and has been hiding ever since. David says he sympathizes with her, but he doesn’t agree with the bombings. Christine says it’s the only way to get attention to their cause. David says they’re Malcom X-ing the situation when they need to MLK it. Christine asks David if he’ll pass along some false information to S.H.I.E.L.D. to get them off their trail. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been causing them problems lately and they have a big event coming up soon. David says he won’t lie to S.H.I.E.L.D. but he will meet with them. He tells Christine she is welcome to live on Utopia. She says she already lives there. She then fades away when Sam returns. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> Later that day Bastienne asks Ruth about the “red star” Sekhmet mentioned. Ruth admits she’s had visions involving a red star. It foretells great destruction, but also great power. Meanwhile Mac receives a phone call from S.H.I.E.L.D… Major Henderson, West Coast Director Owen’s second-in-command, says one of their prisoners has asked for a meeting with Mac. It’s Agent McAlister, Mac’s cousin. Major Henderson says he can deny the request immediately. Mac says not to deny the request and he will decide whether to accept the invitation if Agent Owens even approves the request. But then Major Henderson is called away. It seems there’s been a major bombing in San Francisco. The government office handling mutant registration in the city was hit. Twelve people are killed and twenty four are injured. One of the injured was Utopia Attorney General Evangeline Whedon! She was meeting with one of Major Sinclair’s aides who was killed. S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to save her, but even their healers can’t bring her out of her coma. And that’s not all – news breaks in New York City that a member of the Nova Corps crashed into New York City, causing a great deal of destruction. Before he passed out he said two words: “It’s coming…”
 * Next:** Issue 84 - 'Patriot'
 * Previous:** Issue 82 - 'Savage'