Issue+68+-+'Dread'


 * Issue 68 - 'Dread' **




 * Plot**

An ancient evil god known as the Serpent has awoken. Eight hammers have crashed in various places around the Earth in order to summon his avatars. When responding to the devastation caused by one hammer’s landing in San Francisco, eXalts team leader David “Mustang” Goldberg was seduced by the weapon and became Runak, Breaker of Skies. He went on a rampage, killing several civilians before the eXalts were able to knock him through a portal to Academy X. Runak then claimed a package David had been given by his father, Magneto: one of Magneto’s old helmets. Now immune to mental powers, Runak has left for Sacramento, and he plans further carnage. The eXalts race after him in their Blackbird, but will they be in time?  En route to the state capital, the eXalts are contacted by Matt, Academy X security chief and husband of acting eXalts team leader, Samantha. He informs them about the worldwide crisis. The leader the Worthy, or hammer-wielders, is Skadi. She leads an attack on Washington, D.C. known as Blitzkrieg, USA. Nazi mechs are destroying iconic buildings and terrorizing the populace. In New York City, two hammers have landed. One destroyed the superhuman prison known as the Raft and dozens of supervillains have been freed. That hammer was claimed by the Juggernaut. He is now known as Kuurth, Breaker of Stone. Several heroes have tried and failed to stop him, and the X-Men have broken their quarantine to respond. In the Pacific Ocean, an oil pipeline was destroyed by Attuma, now known as Nerkkod, Breaker of Oceans. In South Africa, a hammer was taken by Titania. She is now known as Skirn, Breaker of Men. She and her partner, Absorbing Man, have traveled to Beijing to claim his hammer. In Paris, the Grey Gargoyle has become Mokk, Breaker of Faith. Finally, in Brazil, Hulk has been possessed by a hammer to become Nul, Breaker of Worlds. Academy X staff member Ruth informs the group that Odin intends to raze all life from Earth to prevent the Serpent from using the humans’ fear as fuel. Just then, Matt and Ruth hear screams outside. Students have gone into a panic. It seems figures are crawling out of the ground. Once again, the dead have risen…  eXalts member Cameron “Vortex” LaPrue wants to immediately return to the mutant school to assist the students. Acting team leader Samantha “Phantasma” Carpenter says they can’t – they’re needed in Sacramento, where Runak will soon be unleashing destruction on the unsuspecting populace. She says her husband and children are at the school and she understands his concern, but Matt, Ruth, and the student staff can handle the crisis. eXalts Lucius “Prism” Hayes, Bastienne “Bast” Noel”, Ethan “Subsume” Connors, and Wonder Man stay out of the argument. Cameron says he’ll go alone if he must. Samantha says he’s off the team if he leaves. Cameron doesn’t care and turns into his air form to depart. Dagan “Glimmer” Lightfoot pleads with fellow eXalt Mac “Mystic” Strange to at least create a portal for Cameron to get back to the school quickly, or he’ll never arrive in time. Mac reluctantly creates a portal – and another teammate, Dane “Panzer” Lightfoot, goes through as well! Samantha is frustrated, but the jet continues towards Sacramento. In the distance they see dark clouds appear over downtown. A tornado stretches down over the capitol building…  At Academy X, Vortex flies above the school. In the memorial garden he sees a shocking sight: several former students and staff have risen from the dead! The zombies and skeletons include deceased students like Chancy, Daniel, Maya, Sarah, Toxin, and Brian, the deceased clones of Billy, Sam, Mac, Honoka, Bast, Dane, and Dagan, as well as Nikkya, Cordelia, and Danielle! The student staff has responded. Julian, Gunther, Ginny, and Tierra are leading the defense of the students and are assisted by some team leaders, including Taz, Robin, and Aliyah. Matt has grabbed his S.H.I.E.L.D. gear and is using a sniper rifle to target the undead. Ruth has leapt out the window and is engaging several zombies. Glob Herman, a graduate and guest living at the school, has tackled a skeleton. Several students are already down, however. Prefect Tierra goes down, and the situation looks grim.  Back in Sacramento, the Blackbird arrives at the scene of the destroyed capitol building. The dome has collapsed. Standing atop the ruin is Runak. Wonder Man is the first to exit the jet. He slams into Runak, knocking him to his knees and injuring the hammer-wielder. Runak rises. He channels a light blast through his hammer, blasting Wonder Man square in the chest. The superhuman screams as a hole is burned right through his torso. He falls to his side. Runak brings down his hammer on the fallen hero’s head, causing an explosion of ionic energy. When the light fades, the horrible truth is clear: Wonder Man is dead. Bast teleports into Runak’s shadow and tries to restrain him from behind, but fails. Runak throws her aside, then aims a blast at her. She avoids the worst of the attack, but she’s hurt. Phantasma flies to the base of the building and attempts to use her telekinesis to pull off Runak’s helmet, but she can’t penetrate his force field. Subsume jumps onto a truck that smashed into the building from Runak’s tornado and climbs it to the top of the building. Glimmer says they need to take down his force field. She flies up to Runak, but he deflects her attack. Mystic teleports inside the force field to grab onto his foe. He drains some of his energy. Runak is exhausted, but still stands. Runak retaliates by blasting Mystic back, stunning him.  At Academy X, Vortex narrowly avoids a necrotic blast by former student Toxin. The undead clone of Samantha rips a chunk of the building free and hits Vortex with it, but he shrugs it off. Vortex then blasts Toxin, knocking him to the ground. Panzer rushes around the building and intercepts two zombies. His liquid metal arms become spears and he targets two foes. He lops off the head of former student Sarah and injures another. The former headmaster is then targeted by a group of undead. Then, suddenly, eXalts member Mercy “Sublime” Connors appears out of nowhere! She had been trapped in an alternate dimension, but she arrives just in time to disintegrate the risen corpse of Nikkya Lewis. Panicked, she unleashes a mental scream.  In Sacramento, Subsume is momentarily stunned by his sister’s mental shriek. He quickly informs her of what she’s missed: their teacher, Professor Goldberg, has been possessed by an Asgardian warrior and Wonder Man is dead! The battle at the capitol building continues. Runak has regenerated the damage he’s taken. He then swings his hammer in an arc around him, controlling the winds. A tornado appears around him, blasting the eXalts nearby. Glimmer’s force field withstands the onslaught, but Bast and Mystic are injured by debris. Runak then flies to the road in front of the capitol and lands on an overturned police car. He summons a larger tornado that levels the area, including several trapped and fleeing civilians! Phantasma is able to keep the winds at bay with her telekinesis, but just barely. Prism ducks behind an overturned vehicle, but some shrapnel injures him. Bast teleports next to Runak. She knows David is somewhere inside. She pleads with him, saying simply, “Take me with you.” Runak hesitates momentarily.  Several more students fall from the attacks of the undead at Academy X, but the kids fight back. The student staff teams up to take out the clones of Danielle and Dane. Julian telekinetically blasts his former teacher, Cordelia, destroying her skeletal form. Matt fires from his sniper position, dropping Honoka’s undead clone. Vortex and Panzer continue their offensive, but the zombies avoid their attacks. Sublime is surrounded by zombies of her teachers, including Dagan and Bast. Matt shouts that one of the zombies is Maya, and she’s shut down the security system! Then the comms go dead…  Runak pauses for a moment, as if considering Bast’s plea. He responds by shouting in Asgrdian and unleashing another tornado. Bast is slammed into a car, stunned. Prism and Phantasma avoid the worst of the attack, but they’re injured again. Frustrated, Runak throws his hammer at an escaping human and kills him. The hammer returns to his outstretched hand. At that moment, Glimmer lands next to Runak and grabs his other hand. Runak’s body goes rigid as he and Glimmer begin glowing. When the light fades, Glimmer collapses – but Runak’s force field drops! Glimmer has nullified his power – he’s vulnerable! Runak is still dangerous, however. Mystic teleports next to Runak, but the hammer-wielder sidesteps his draining touch. He then unleashes another tornado that impales Bast with a piece of shrapnel. She’s dying! Mystic is slammed into the ground, stunned. Prism and Phantasma are injured, but conscious. Runak then hears a familiar voice: David’s former protégé, Joni. She pleads with him to stop the attack. Prism’s illusion is successful. Runak suddenly stops speaking Asgardian and instead says, “Joni…” He’s stunned! Prism uses the distraction to create the illusion of an Asgardian to pull off Magneto’s helmet, but he lacks the precise control to do so and the helmet stays on. Subsume reaches Bast to stabilize her. Now’s their chance…  At Academy X, Sublime withstands the attacks from the clones of Dagan and Bast, but the undead take down four more students. Some students are dying! Sublime unleashes a blast of vibratory energy that knocks down several zombies, including Toxin and Brian, but a few of her fellow students are hurt in the process. Head Boy Gunther phases into the clone of Billy and disrupts the body, destroying it. Panzer singles out Maya and impales her, but the zombie is still standing. Vortex blasts Daniel’s zombie, but misses. Ruth finishes off Maya. Matt’s sniper shot takes out Bast’s undead clone. Sublime atomizes Mac’s clone. The tide of the battle has turned. Panzer takes out Chancy, and Vortex finishes off Daniel. Sublime disintegrates the undead clone of Samantha. The battle is won.  In Sacramento, Runak finally sees through the illusion of Joni and reasserts control. He swings his hammer in a wide arc, catching Mystic and Subsume. Subsume is momentarily stunned, but he absorbs much of the attack and he’s stronger now. Mystic isn’t as fortunate. He’s down – and dying! Runak then turns his attention to the last conscious eXalts, Phantasma and Prism. He starts with Phantasma. He throws his hammer at her. She deflects the worst of the attack, but she’s hurt once again and barely standing. Now that his force field is down, she tries to slam him into the ground, but Runak avoids her telekinetic grasp. Runak unleashes a light blast at Phantasma, but she grabs a mailbox to take the attack. Prism uses the distraction to attempt to grab the helmet, but fails again. Momentarily forgotten, Subsume heals and rises behind Runak. Runak unleashes another tornado, staggering Phantasma and stunning Prism. Subsume is the last one standing. He swings at Runak twice… but misses! Runak tosses him into a nearby building, knocking him out. Phantasma rises. She telekinetically slams Runak into the police car. Without his force field, he’s badly hurt. But for how long? Fortunately, Prism has shaken off his stun. As Runak shakily rises from the police car, Prism says, “Joni was right. This isn’t you.” Prism fires a powerful darkness blast. Runak is hit! He flies back into the ruin of the capitol building… and collapses! The eXalts have won, but there’s still the aftermath to deal with. In the ruins of the capitol building, Runak’s form wavers, then vanishes. He’s gone! But the eXalts can’t worry about that now. Mac is down and dying. Bastienne, Dagan, and Ethan are unconscious. Lucius is hurt and Sam is barely standing. Sam telekinetically grabs the medical kit from the Blackbird. Lucius uses it to stabilize Mac. Phantasma mentally urges him to awaken – they need his healing ability. Mac comes to. He uses energy stolen from Runak to wake Bastienne and Dagan. He then finds nearby unconscious humans to borrow their energy. While Mac heals Ethan and Sam, Dagan looks at Bastienne and says, “Did I kill anyone?” The headmistress is confused, but says, “No, you only hurt David.” Dagan says, “But I’m David.” Bastienne realizes that when Dagan absorbed Runak’s force field, she also absorbed David’s personality! Samantha is frustrated when she can’t reach Matt on her cell phone (all circuits are busy) or through the Blackbird’s comm. Ethan knows through his mental link with Mercy that the school’s power is shut down. Sam says they need to get back to the school. Bastienne interrupts her to tell her that Dagan has absorbed David’s mind. Sam mentally contacts Dagan to find that Dagan’s mind is dormant, but she’s okay. Sam then sets the Blackbird to autopilot back to Academy X. She orders Mac to create a portal back to the school.  The eXalts return to Academy X to find that three students (Erica, Bobby, and Morgan) are dying and over a dozen are unconscious. Dane, Cameron, and Mercy have stabilized the dying students. Ethan and Mercy reunite. Mercy relates mentally how she was in a dimension that was very similar to her world, except there was no Ethan. Mercy’s roommate in that dimension was also Tierra. Tierra helped her with her emotion and mental control powers. Mercy is no longer stuttering! While the siblings talk, Mac borrows energy from student volunteers to heal the victims. Lucius creates illusory wheelchairs for injured and exhausted students. Sam checks on Matt and the kids. The babies are under a nearby table. They’re crying, but they’re okay. Sam then orders Julian to fly across the island to make sure they’re secure. With the security system down, she needs eyes in the air. Julian flies off. Sam asks Bastienne to check the school’s perimeter. Bastienne doesn’t smell any new presences other than the zombies. She notices the zombies share a unique smell. Julian reaches the construction site of New Genosha to find the construction and security teams have fortified a building.  Meanwhile, David grapples with Dagan’s powers. He can’t control her telepathy and is overwhelmed by the thoughts of those nearby. He uses her power mimicry to borrow other powers: purple skin, sound mimicry, sweating sugar instead of salt, and others. This allows him to drop his other mimicked powers (Sam’s telepathy, Mac’s healing, and Dagan’s borrowed medical skills). Matt and Lucius are working on bringing the school’s systems back online. Due to Dane’s concern that zombie Maya infiltrated the system, Matt is restoring from an earlier backup. It will take longer, but it’s safer. Sam reaches out to Old Lucius to see if he’ll help, but Old Lucius somehow pushes Samantha out of his mind. Worried, Sam asks Young Lucius to check on him. Young Lucius finds that Old Lucius is working on jury-rigging a communicator. Young Lucius helps his older counterpart hack into a S.H.I.E.L.D. frequency. They learn the worldwide crisis is continuing. Thor is still imprisoned in Asgard. The Secret Avengers were the first team to respond to the battle in Washington, D.C. Beast is saving a lawmaker trapped in the capitol building and helps broadcast a message of hope to TVs worldwide. The New Avengers (including Captain America, Black Widow, and the Falcon) have also arrived. Iron Man has reached Paris and he’s fighting the Grey Gargoyle, or Mokk, Breaker of Faith. There are reports that, in entire sections of the city of lights, people have turned to stone. X-Force is hunting Purifiers and has reached New York City. Superheroes across the country have heeded Steve Roger’s volunteer call to arms and the Initiative is reborn. The heroes are responding to fear-related riots and crime in cities and towns in several states.  Sam telepathically calls a staff and eXalt meeting. While the group discusses what to do, Ruth is distracted. She’s surprised no one else is hearing a loud noise. When asked what she’s listening to, she says it’s a rooster call. Due to researching Ragnarök, Lucius realizes the third cock has crowed. The frost and fire giants have arrived on Midgard. But then news breaks that Iron Fist and War Machine are battling Titania (now Skirn, Breaker of Men) and Absorbing Man in Beijing. Iron Fist has been knocked out and Absorbing Man has claimed a hammer. He is Greithoth, Breaker of Wills! Help is needed in Beijing. Plus battles continue in Washington, D.C., New York City, Brazil, the Pacific Ocean, and Paris. What will the eXalts do? After some discussion, Mac says he can open a portal to D.C. He grew up nearby in Philadelphia and has visited the nation’s capital. He can also open a portal to New York City, but he’s never been to the other areas under attack. The group decides to help D.C. since the X-Men are responding in New York. David (in Dagan’s body) announces he’ll be staying behind. When Samantha asks why, he says they don’t understand what he’s been through. Mercy angrily responds, “What YOU’VE been through?! You almost killed my brother!” David says that’s why he’s staying behind. With Sin leading the attack in D.C. and wielding a hammer, he doesn’t want to risk picking up another weapon and getting possessed again. Cameron says he should be exiled from Utopia for what he’s done. Samantha angrily says, “HE should be exiled?” After Cameron disobeyed her orders, Samantha isn’t interested in what Cameron thinks. She tells Mac to open a portal. Bastienne asks David if she should go – technically, she’s only an eXalts reserve member. David simply says she should go. Bastienne hands David a photograph of Jessica and him together. He thoughtfully looks at the picture.  Since the range of Mac’s portals is only about halfway across the country, he opens a portal to Milwaukee, Wisconsin en route to D.C. He once stopped at a rest stop outside Milwaukee when he drove cross country to interview for his job at Academy X. The group comes through and sees the parking lot is deserted. Inside the restaurant, dozens of people are huddled around televisions watching the news of the ongoing crisis unfold. Several eXalts notice smoke coming from downtown Milwaukee. Sam tells Mac and Cameron to check it out. They fly over the downtown area and notice a large group of people rioting. They are starting fires, overturning cars, and looting. A few former members of the Great Lake Avengers have responded. Their headquarters is in Milwaukee. The eXalts see Mister Immortal, Big Bertha, Doorman, and Flatman attempting to calm down the mob. They notice someone has scrawled graffiti across a building that reads, “This is the end of the world.” Seeing heroes have responded, Mac creates a portal so he and Cameron can return to the group. Back at the rest stop, some of the civilians have noticed the eXalts. Lucius creates an obscuring crowd to avoid a scene, but the group can hear people pleading for the eXalts to help in New York, D.C., or in nearby Milwaukee. Some plead for their relatives in those cities. When Mac and Cameron return, Bastienne says heroes have responded to those cities and the eXalts are off to help in Washington. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Upon arriving in D.C., the eXalts can see that a recent battle was fought around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The monuments have been damaged. Several destroyed mechs covered in swastikas are nearby as well as several dead bodies. The battle rages nearby. They can hear screams, the sound of machine guns and the shouts of orders in the midst of battle. Bright lights flash intermittently in the sky, and the air is filled with hazy smoke. The eXalts follow the sound of battle to downtown D.C. There they see Captain America leap atop a mech, smash the window of the cockpit with his shield, throw a grenade inside, and combat roll away from the explosion. Captain America then notices the group. He identifies them as the eXalts and thanks them for coming to help. Several eXalts realize this is Bucky Barnes, not Steve Rogers (as Bucky has been Captain America since Steve apparently died years ago). Bucky says Falcon is providing reconnaissance from above and Black Widow and other Avengers are keeping the mechs contained. The eXalts are needed inside the perimeter. Cap provides Lucius the Avengers comm frequency and Lucius quickly tunes their comms to the new frequency. They overhear that the main Avengers team is in Brazil trying to save the Red She-Hulk from Hulk (now Nul, Breaker of Worlds). S.H.I.E.L.D. reports that Steven Rogers will be joining the fight in D.C. The Avengers Academy staff has responded to Dubai, where Titania and the Absorbing Man (Skirn, Breaker of Men and Greithoth, Breaker of Wills) have begun to rampage. There is a report that the two Worthy have been knocked through a portal to the arctic. But there’s no time to help. The eXalts leap into battle with the mechs. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> The battle rages all around the eXalts and they see Captain America, Black Widow, the Falcon, Ant Man, Beast, and other heroes fighting mechs as well. After shrugging off some bullets, Subsume grabs a mech and throws it into another, destroying both. Sublime disintegrates the legs of a mech, causing it to collapse, but is injured from another mech’s fire. Panzer inserts a metal arm into one mech, killing the pilot. Bullets harmlessly pass through his liquid metal body. He pilots his captured mech and destroys two others before his mech is damaged. Vortex simply blasts from above, taking out three. Mystic uses his fiery breath to destroy one mech, then ports into another and drains the pilot into unconsciousness. Bast leaps onto a mech and rips off a panel. She tears the wiring out, causing it to shut down, but she’s hit by strafing fire from another mech. Prism creates illusory gremlins that infest five different mechs and shoot them down. Phantasma attempts to use her telekinesis to destroy a mech, but she’s badly hurt when a nearby mech explodes. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Before the eXalts can help Phantasma, they are knocked to the ground as a massive shockwave explodes from nearby, leveling several buildings. The source of the shockwave is a hammer strike from the Nazis’ leader, Skadi. She has red skin and is wielding a massive two-handed hammer whose head is as large as her torso. Subsume identifies her as Sin, the Red Skull’s daughter. She is the Serpent’s right hand and leader of the Worthy. The shock wave came from a hammer strike against Captain America. He has absorbed much of the attack with his shield, but he’s down. She rips his cybernetic armor clean off his body, then uses the spear end of her weapon to piece him in the torso. She walks off as Black Widow and Falcon hurry to Cap’s side. He’s dead!
 * Next:** Issue 69 - 'Panic'
 * Previous:** Issue 67 - 'Worry'