Issue+33+-+'Crossfire'


 * Issue 33 - 'Crossfire' **




 * Plot**

In the aftermath of the train derailment, Mac is unable to revive Dagan after she mysteriously fell unconscious. He can tell that there’s nothing physically wrong with her. Dane and Bastienne help Dagan into the Blackbird and quickly fly her back to Academy X. Jessica, Liam, and Melissa wait for them in the hangar. Once in the medical lab, Liam says that her mind is simply not there. Melissa summons her soul dagger and inserts it into Dagan’s head, which should nullify any psionic or magical control. There is no effect. Jessica runs tests, but they don’t reveal any physical maladies. During their investigation, the group is interrupted by Jubilee. She says that during the train derailment the psychic twins (Leong Coy Manh and Nga Coy Manh) have an “episode” where they became quite agitated. Since they are normally supremely calm, this is strange. Bastienne tells Jubilee to bring the twins down.

Meanwhile, back at the scene of the train derailment, Mac has healed everyone he can. Cameron has helped put out the fires and the other eXalts have pitched in where possible. The press has arrived in force, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. commander at the scene asks them to leave before there is a lot of commotion. Cameron flies off, worried about Dagan, and David creates a light platform to transport the rest of the team. Cameron arrives as the psychic twins are heading downstairs with Jubilee. Once downstairs, the twins explain that they sensed a foreign psychic presence at the school. It was angry and murderous. They sensed that it was a familiar presence, but it was hiding its identity and the twins couldn’t tell who it was. They blocked the presence and it finally left. The twins are able to tell that Dagan’s mind is still in her body, but buried somewhere deep where they cannot reach. Gunther has already determined that her “spirit” (or soul) is still present. The twins have detected that Samantha is much more psychically powerful since she gave birth, and they guess she might able to aid Dagan. Samantha concentrates and is able to free Dagan’s imprisoned consciousness. Dagan awakes.

David returns with the others. Matt informs everyone that the press has been contacting the school nonstop. David decides to take an interview from CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. During the interview he identifies the members of the eXalts (but not underage members Dagan or Joni). He defends taking underage students along on missions as they are probationary members that will need the training for when they join the eXalts as full members. He also takes a stand on Proposition X, saying he’s disappointed that it passed. He says the eXalts have powers and want to use them to help people. Dane begins working on a project to develop a device that will allow him to affect insubstantial enemies. Samantha tells Matt about her new abilities and he suggests she ask Professor X for guidance. Sam e-mails Hank and Xavier. Xavier replies and tells her not to neglect her own training even as she helps Academy X students to use their mutant powers. Bastienne went out with her roller derby team and got drunk.

On Sunday the eXalts are receiving a lot of positive press after helping people at the train derailment. The website Nothing Can Stop The Blog in particular is quite busy with eXalts supporters. A group called the Mutant Revolutionary Force takes credit for the train derailment once it’s announced that an explosion caused the tragedy. The group suspects Cougar’s gang. Dane, Bastienne, and David meet to deal with the issue of the sophomore spies. They discuss whether they should send false information to see if Xavier’s school reveals they are the spies. In the end they decide to put a hidden camera in Gerard’s room and observe the conversation. David then checks in on Cordelia. She says she’s doing better. David invites her to observe one of his English classes. She agrees to visit the next day. Later, Samantha visits Cordelia. She is watching soap operas because she likes watching people when she can’t feel their emotions. Sam invites her to see the twins. Cordelia says she’s sensed Alex, which concerns Sam because she thought mutant relatives couldn’t use powers on one another. Cordelia enjoys seeing the sleeping babies, then returns to her room. Sam e-mails Professor X who tells her not to worry because it’s often true that relatives can use powers on one another. David asks Vincent to send a text message to Christine inviting her to a one-on-one lunch in San Francisco. Vincent does so, but Christine doesn’t show up for the lunch date.

Afternoon free time on Sunday is disturbed when the school receives notice that the S.H.I.E.L.D. director (Colonel Steven Rogers) will soon be visiting. Bastienne and Dane meet him at the door. He is flanked by two agents in power armor based on the designs of Stark Enterprises. One is Special Agent Marquez, the other is Special Agent McAllister. Bastienne asks Agent McAllister if he’s related to William, and he says he is. Inside, Colonel Rogers meets with the staff of Academy X. He apologizes for causing a disruption at their school. He tells them that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been asked to assist in enforcing Proposition X, should it become law. Director Rogers wants the staff of Academy X to know that it’s not personal – he doesn’t want there to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. mutants problem. He also doesn’t want there to be another Civil War. He says that S.H.I.E.L.D. is reviving a special unit – the Superhuman Restraint Unit, also known as the Capekillers. He hopes they can find a peaceable resolution even if Proposition X becomes law. Before parting, he informs the group that his intelligence agents have discovered that the Japanese Yakuza has been making several power plays. They have been eliminating rivals in the criminal underground and have been making contributions to many politicians through lobbyist intermediaries. He also says that he believes the Lady Lotus that is the Guji of Hellfire Club: Tokyo is the same Lady Lotus he battled during WWII. Before leaving, Agent McAllister tells Mac that he can’t wait to use S.H.I.E.L.D.’s anti-mutant weapons.

That night, Bastienne, Dane, and David observe Gerard’s room as they wait for the sophomore spies to meet at 3 am. They see Gerard awaken, grab his backpack, and leave the room. Bastienne hurries upstairs and listens in as Gerard joins the other sophomores in Robin’s room. Bastienne hears Aurelie’s voice. She asks about Dagan’s health, Cordelia, the Mutant Revolutionary Force, and anything else interesting happening. They agree to meet nine days later. Bastienne reports back to Dane and David .They decide to try to steal Gerard’s backpack to figure out the technology they’re using to spy. David says he’ll handle it.

Monday morning brings David’s combat club. Ginny is the first there, as always. David asks if she wants special training, and Ginny enthusiastically says yes. When leaving the club, David spots Sarah’s hand running across the dining room. He contacts Lucius, who was frantically looking for it. Ginny overhears him mentioning a hand, but leaves to shower. David manages to capture the hand and return it to Lucius. At breakfast that morning, Cameron and Agape eat together. David asks Chelsea if she’ll “tag” Gerard’s backpack at some point during the day so she can summon it later. He asks her to keep it a secret and she agrees. Later, during Billy’s free period, Bastienne asks for help on a secret project. Mac asks Jubilee out on a date, and she happily agrees. Jubilee then asks Samantha for advice and help shopping for clothes, since Sam is the only “girly-girl” there. Sam asks Matt, and he tells her to go.

Later Monday, Lucius hacks into the local cell phone tower to locate Christine’s signal. Christine’s cell phone is either not in range or not on, so he can’t find her. He does access the tower’s logs, however, and learns that several phone calls were made at Academy X in the middle of the night. The calls were made by Hiro Takahashi’s cell phone to his home in Japan. Chelsea shows up at David’s room with Gerard’s backpack. David tells her not to tag anything else and keeps the backpack. He brings it to Bastienne and the two search the bag. They find many mundane items like notebooks, binders, and so on. They also find a holographic communication device. Dane joins them and tinkers with the device. After working on it for several hours, he learns that it connects to a server at the east coast school. He also places a recorder in the device to capture any transmissions. David then wakes up Ginny. He asks her to return the backpack (with holographic transmitter inside) to Gerard the next day. He instructs her to tell Gerard that she saw “a hand” dragging it across the floor. David then convinces the disembodied hand of Sarah to wreak havoc in the girl’s bathroom the next morning. Rina finds the hand and screams, waking everyone. Bastienne recaptures the hand and returns it to Lucius.

Meanwhile, Dane receives a phone call from Maria Hill before classes start on Tuesday. She tells him that St. John Allerdyce (“Pyro”) has been found dead, shot and killed in a “robbery.” Other former Purifiers are also dead. She says The Chemist, an MGH dealer Dane identified weeks ago, has been found to be an agent of the Yakuza. He is selling cheap MGH on the streets and is probably working for Hellfire Club: Tokyo. Lastly, she tells him the real reason for her communication: several mutants across the state have pre-emptively registered out of concern they’d be in trouble. One of them was Dane’s father. He is living in far northern California, outside of Eureka.

Tuesday afternoon brings news of a suicide bombing in downtown San Francisco. A trolley exploded as it neared a group of Church of Humanity protestors. One of the protestors was the church’s leader, Simon Trask, though he survived. David calls a San Francisco police office and learns that “an African American girl” was a suicide bomber and detonated the explosive. The group suspects Christine, Academy X’s dropout, because she can become insubstantial.

On Wednesday, Lindsay reports to the headmasters about Simon Trask. He is still alive, but injured and in a local hospital. She also has information on his relationships and background. Bastienne then met with Ashley, concerned about rumors that she was raped by her boyfriend. Ashley breaks down into tears and confesses that she did have sex with Adonis, but she doesn’t think it was consensual. She doesn’t want anyone to know, however, because she doesn’t want people to think she’s a slut. Wednesday also brought the last regular roller derby competition of the season. The Shevil Dead defeated the Beach Blanket Babes and qualified for the finals. Jess attended, and Cameron brought Agape to cheer on Bastienne. Cameron and Agape held hands. Meanwhile, Mac took Jubilee out to dinner. The two had a nice time and the date ended with a kiss.

Late Wednesday night Bastienne noticed a strange smell. When she ventured out of her room she realized it was more than one scent. At that moment, there was a loud pounding at the door. Bastienne contacted Dondre in the security office. He looked at the cameras and saw it was Wolverine, carrying an unconscious girl. Bastienne threw open the door to reveal a disheveled Wolverine. He growled that he needed help. Bastienne contacted Mac to come right away and awoke the rest of the staff. When leaving his room, Dane noticed a body on the floor in the student hallway. He hurried over to find it was Tierra, a junior. At the same time, Bastienne realized that the foreign scents did not belong to Wolverine or his foster daughter, Amiko. Upstairs, Dane tried to check on Tierra, but a katana blade suddenly appeared between his ribs…

**Next:** Issue 34 - 'Fire on the Mountain' **Previous:** Issue 32 - 'After the Fire'