Issue+98+-+'Famine'


 * Issue 98 - 'Famine' **




 * Plot **

Former Academy X student Evan Sabahnur has become the X-Men villain Apocalypse! Upon embracing his dark destiny, he reduced hundreds of mutants to ash and unleashed a gas killed humans or uncontrollably activated their X-gene. During his last encounter with the eXalts, Evan revealed that one of their members, David “Mustang” Goldberg, was actually one of the team’s enemies in disguise! David once accepted the power of an ancient artifact and became possessed by Runak, an evil Norse sky deity. After David freed himself of the malevolent god, Runak took control of a clone of David. Little did the eXalts know that the clone had been with them all semester, not David! And, even worse, Runak delivered Evan the “seeds” he had been seeking – the mutants created to host Egyptian gods. In the middle of a Wakandan arena, Evan made the eight seeds fight to the death until only four remained. Christian Cord, an Academy X graduate and seed of Isis, was killed. Dmitri, a young man who was the seed of Anubis, died next. Then Ian and DJ NiJi, friends and seeds of Set and Ptah, respectively, were revealed to be illusions. Evan announced they forfeited their chance. Only four seeds remained: eXalt Bastienne (or Bastet), her sister Georgie (or Sekhmet), former Academy X student Christine (or Osiris), who dropped out to join the terrorist Mutant Revolutionary Front, and a recent ally of the eXalts, Robyn (or Horus), who had been a small-time hero in Los Angeles called Flyweight. Evan announced the four seeds were now his Horsemen, and his foes should tremble… As Evan celebrates the outcome of the battle, Bastienne looks from Apocalypse to her sister. She whispers, "I never meant for this to happen. I never thought it would go this far. I just wish I knew what to say…" She shakes her head, looking down at her hands which are covered in blood. "I love you, Georgie." Then, stepping into her sister's shadow, she appears in the shadows behind Runak. She quickly whispers, "I knew something was different, but no one would believe me. Pity, we could have had so much more fun together if I’d known you weren't really David..." She bites his ear sharply, and then uses the Ruby Scarab (an artifact bonded to Mac she stole back from Evan) to teleport away. Evan seethes with rage. Seeing his opening, Ian steps out of his hiding space where he’d been controlling illusions during the fight. “Let her go,” he says. “I will be a better Horseman than she would ever be. Is strength all you value? Bastet was strong, but she betrayed you. My illusions fooled her and all the others. You still have four followers, my lord. Let me join you.” Evan considers his words and nods. “Yes. Your powers are impressive and I will have need of your trickery. Join me, Set, and deprive my foes of comfort. You are Famine!” Ozymandias, Apocalypse’s right man, touches a gem bonded to his turban. It glows a brilliant red and the Egyptian god Set’s very soul transfers into Ian. While their personalities and powers merge, Sekhmet becomes the Horseman of War, Osiris becomes Death, and Horus becomes Pestilence. Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen have risen! Meanwhile, an illusion of Ian leads DJ NiJi out of the arena to a busy Wakandan street. There they see the other eXalts. Academy X student Seth (or “Binder”), and eXalt Dagan (or “Glimmer”), who had been in the arena with Bastienne, were teleported outside. They join eXalt team leader Samantha (or “Phantasma”), Billy (or “Blur”), Mac (or “Mystic”), Bailey (or “K9”), Honoka (or “Nightwind”), and T’Challa, the Black Panther and former King of Wakanda until he recently stepped down to allow his sister, Shuri, to become Queen of Wakanda. The eXalts are surrounded by students from the Wakandan School for Alternative Studies – mutates training to master their superhuman abilities. Their leader is a woman in a black suit similar to T’Challa’s, but with white makings and long, white hair. The woman pulls back her mask to reveal herself as Shuri! She demands the eXalts surrender – Sekhmet has spoken! T’Challa is shocked that his sister has turned her back on Bastet, the Panther Goddess, and now follows the outlawed faith of the Lion Goddess! As the students move in, Shuri taunts T’Challa. She says she should have been allowed to challenge her brother long ago for the title of Black Panther. But since Bastet found her unworthy, she turned to Sekhmet to get her due. One of the priests also turned from Bastet and gave her access to the heart-shaped herb. Now she is the Black Lion, with all the powers of the Black Panther! The eXalts launch a sudden attack. Phantasma tells Blur to target the Black Lion. He slows time and easily bypasses her defenses, but Shuri’s vibranium mesh armor absorbs the punch. The Black Panther lashes out at a Wakandan guard, then charges towards the Black Lion when the guard falls back. K9 utilizes his mutant power of kinetic energy control to paralyze the Black Lion. It works – she’s frozen! Mystic, still recovering from having the Ruby Scarab pulled out of his body by the elderly teleporter working with Evan, is forced to rely on his own magic. Fortunately he’s been training for months. He creates an orange whip in one hand, then creates duplicates of himself for defense. Nightwind leaps on top of a moving car. She jumps at the nearest guard, slashing with her katana as she lands. The guard is badly hurt. Glimmer flies to the nearest rooftop. She targets the immobile Black Lion. The light blast penetrates Shuri’s armor, injuring her. Phantasma orders Binder, the student, to take cover. He ducks behind a building. He can’t just hide, however. The human mage fires a mystic blast at a guard, but misses. The guards were not expecting the eXalts’ sudden attack, but they finally recover. One guard is a power booster. He moves next to Black Lion and amplifies her abilities, freeing her from paralysis. Another guard burrows into the blacktop. He reemerges next to K9. The surprise attack injures the eXalt. Another guard jumps onto a car hood and targets Phantasma. A jet of ice slams into the team leader, injuring her and freezing her to the pavement. She can’t move! Meanwhile, a guard with four arms attacks Mystic with four different weapons. Three attacks go wide, but one connects, despite Mystic’s duplicates. He’s hurt! Despite the fact that he’s in the process of becoming one of Apocalypse’s Horsemen, Ian tells DJ NiJi they should help the eXalts. They teleport into the fight. DJ unleashes a bright flash of light that targets the guards. Several of them are blinded! Ian targets Black Lion with a mental blast, stunning her! The eXalts are thankful for the help and press their attack. Blur, now surrounded, targets several of the guards but only hits one. Black Panther slashes into Black Lion’s torso, injuring her. Shuri backflips onto an 18-wheeler truck. The driver slams on his break, but he’s going too fast to stop. She nimbly lands, then roars with all her might. A concussive blast explodes through the area. T’Challa is dazed and K9 is stunned, but so are some of the guards who are nearby (the ice blaster and the multi-limbed guard). The battle grows desperate. Mystic is down to one duplicate. He tries to summon more, but finds his limited magic cannot do so. He attacks a guard with his orange whip, but the guard can adapt to others’ attacks and is unhurt. Nightwind misses a guard while Glimmer tries to drain a guard who teleported next to her, but misses. The burrowing guard badly hurts the stunned K9 and the guard who adapted to Mystic’s attack stuns the eXalt after a guard who went invisible destroys his last duplicate. A guard who shifted into a bestial form and another with a tail press the attack on Mystic, knocking him to the pavement. Phantasma throws a mailbox into the ice blaster, but cannot free herself from the ice. DJ attacks the Black Lion but misses. Already Shuri’s injuries have healed! Ian quickly assesses the situation and comes up with an idea to turn the tide of the battle. He mentally tells the eXalts to ignore what they’re about to see, then creates an illusion of a sentinel bursting from the ground! The guards falls back, stunned and terrified. Blur uses the opportunity to knock out the guard in a bestial form while Mystic takes out the one with a tail. Nightwind and Binder combine to take down the ice blaster. Glimmer blasts the teleporter, but the guard connects and staggers her. Black Panther jumps onto the jackknifing truck, slashing at Black Lion twice. Shuri nearly falls from the truck, badly hurt. DJ presses the attack, hitting the Black Lion with an icy blast of her own. Ian mentally blasts Shuri, dropping her to her knees. T’Challa stands over his sister and says, “You have chosen the wrong path.” He then kicks her in the torso, knocking her off the truck as it slides into a car and topples sideways. He leaps after her and lands next to her prone form. Half-conscious, she mumbles, “I could have beaten you… one-on-one…” T’Challa grimly says, “Maybe,” but then realizes dozens of Wakandans have just seen their former King attack their Queen. The remaining guards have recovered from their surprise over the sentinels appearance and close in… Suddenly Bastet teleports in the middle of the battle. She’s holding a staff she stole from a guard. She plants the staff on the ground and growls, “You will stand down!” The guards hesitate, but look from Bastet to the fallen Black Lion. They kneel. But it isn’t over yet. With a soft “blink” sound, a pink portal opens near Bastet. A woman in a burqa steps forth. She quickly opens two new portals: one beneath an SUV and another over Bastet’s head. Bastet jumps forward in a combat roll, but is hit by one end of the vehicle. She’s stunned! And the teleporter brought friends. Two men with gray skin and red, glowing eyes stand atop a nearby building. They shoot black rays at the Wakandan guards – both those unconscious and those still standing. The guards’ forms bubble and distort as they grow in size. Moments later a dozen Apocalypse soldiers surround the eXalts! K9 jumps to the top of the building next to the two men. He recognizes them as two Inner Circle members he saw when he went through a portal to Clan Akkaba’s headquarters weeks ago. Now that he’s close, he can see they’re concentrating on the soldiers. “It’s a temporary transformation!” he yells into his communicator. “If we take these two out, the Wakandans will go back to normal!” K9 lashes out with his tonfa and drops one man, then injures the other. Nightwind jumps from her car to a second-story window, then scrambles up the side of the building to take out the other man. Once both Inner Circle members are down, the Wakandans collapse. Their forms melt away, revealing unconscious students within. But the Inner Circle members are also melting… and their true selves are now dead! The burqa-clad woman opens another portal, but Mystic is already there. He grabs onto her shoulder. “I don’t think so, Blink!” he says, identifying her as a former X-Man. With a touch, he drains her to unconsciousness. The battle is over! Sam turns to Ian and DJ NiJi. She says, “Where did you come from?” DJ reveals how they’d been held in cells with the other seeds, but Ian figured out how to free them. He created illusions of the two of them to follow the other seeds when Runak lured them to the arena. They hid in the shadows during the arena battle while Ian had their illusions fight in their stead. They managed to escape, but had to help when they saw the eXalts in trouble. Sam thanks them for their help. Meanwhile, T’Challa lifts Shuri’s unconscious body. He apologizes to Bastienne that he can’t do more to help them now. News will quickly spread of the conflict between the siblings. Wakanda will be in crisis and he must help his country. Bastienne is sad to be parted from T’Challa once more, but understands. When she turns back to the group, Mac is waiting. He clears his throat and points at the Ruby Scarab. Bastienne scowls. “You’re welcome,” she says, and throws it at him. He catches it and ruefully thanks her, but his smile turns into a frown. The powerful artifact is drained! It only had enough power left to teleport Bastienne out of the arena. Sirens near the area, but more concerning is that the sounds of the nearby arena have ended. Ian says, “Evan has chosen his horsemen.” Bastienne says, “And it’s worse. David isn’t David. He’s really Runak!” The eXalts look at Sam for what to do next. She kneels next to Blink and touches the girl’s forehead. Sam quickly scans Blink and can tell she’s been mentally controlled by a magical artifact. Sam concentrates. A moment later the mental control is broken. But Sam’s powers flare uncontrollably, as they have occasionally since she hosted the Phoenix Force. Without meaning to, she goes beyond Blink’s surface thoughts and probes all her memories. She says that Blink is the descendant of Frederick Slade, the “Fittest” (or leader) of Akkaba’s Inner Circle. Frederick is the elderly teleporter – they have the same mutant power. And Sam sees something else. She says Blink overheard a conversation. The real David is a prisoner in Aleph, the pocket dimension once used by another group of Akkabites. An explosion prevents the eXalts from talking further. Rising from Fort Hahn are Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen: Sekhmet (War), Osiris (Death), Horus (Pestilence), and Set (Famine)! “They are no longer my teachers,” Apocalypse says to his horsemen. “Finish them!” The eXalts know they’re no match for Apocalypse alone, let alone with his horsemen. Ian quickly creates an illusion. A giant image of a Black Panther appears over Bastienne and roars. The horsemen are momentarily taken aback: has Bastienne harnessed the full power of Bastet? The distraction gives the team time to escape. Mac already knows how to create a portal to Aleph, but it will take more than a few seconds. Billy zips next to him and slows time around them, speeding Mac’s movements until the portal is open. The eXalts run through the portal with their allies, escaping Wakanda before Evan and his horsemen can reach them. But either through Evan’s meddling or due to Mac’s haste in opening the portal so quickly, something goes awry. The eXalts emerge in Aleph… but they don’t all arrive in the same place. Sam, DJ NiJi, Dagan, Honoka, and Mac (holding the still unconscious Blink) emerge at the base of the giant pyramid temple that serves as the headquarters of Aleph’s ruler, Isis… but the others do not appear. And even worse, the courtyard is crammed with thousands of troops loyal to Isis. The group has emerged in the middle of a military encampment! Meanwhile, the others (Bastienne, Billy, Ian, Bailey, and Seth) emerge next to Aleph’s great river, but in the middle of a desert. They, too, are surrounded by a military encampment and thousands of troops – but standing before them is none other than David! Bailey moves forward and says, “David? Is it really you?” David is surprised by their arrival, but says, “My friends! Welcome!” Then Bailey punches him! Hundreds of soldiers raise weapons, but David waves them off. Bastienne scowls at Bailey, then tells David it’s good to see him. She says they have a pressing problem: Runak has taken his place and Apocalypse has risen. The elderly man, addressing David as general, tells David to use his tent to talk to his friends. David agrees. Inside the tent, he hugs Billy and says he’s missed him. Billy says he’s not really “his” Billy as he’s from another timeline. David doesn’t care: he’s “our” Billy now. The group updates him on what he’s missed back home. David tells his story: how, while visiting family over the summer, Runak ambushed him and knocked him out. He awoke in the same cell in the great pyramid temple of Aleph where he’d previously been held. One of Runak’s minions was a mentalist who gave Runak his memories so he’d be able to pose as David. Runak then tried to kill David, but there was a fiery explosion that killed the mentalist and nearly killed the Norse god. He was left locked up until they could figure out how to kill him. The next day, a lone guard came in and said he was staging a jailbreak. The guard explained he was a native to Aleph and had infiltrated the outsiders with the goal of overthrowing them. He asked for David’s help to help the native people of Aleph to reclaim their home. David agreed. He escaped the city and joined the natives in a village hours away. He learned the natives were farmers and herders who had been the victims of attacks by Clan Akkaba once they came to the dimension. They raided their villages and took supplies and slaves. David vowed to help them fight back. He helped train their troops and prepared them for a final assault to retake the city… which will be taking place in a matter of hours, just before dawn! Meanwhile, inside the city, Sam, Mac, DJ, Dagan, Honoka and an unconscious Blink are brought before Isis at the top of the pyramid. She’s not really Isis – she’s a vampire from Earth who poses as the Egyptian goddess to rule the Clan Akkaba cultists who built the city in Aleph. Her real name is Cynthia. She is the mother of former eXalt Carom (who has since disappeared). The group finds they are powerless within the temple. Isis recognizes a few of them and grins. “You can’t seem to stay away,” she says. Sam says they came to Aleph looking for David. Isis laughs and says, “Please, take him!” She then tells how Runak, who had been her right-hand man, betrayed her. He stole some mystic artifacts and several of her best men (who had secretly been loyal to him) and left months ago. Then David escaped and has been leading an uprising against her rule. In fact, a battle against the uprising is imminent. Isis makes them an offer: if they fight for her in the upcoming battle, they can take David and leave Aleph afterward. If they refuse, they will be prisoners and trapped in Aleph. Honoka and DJ quickly agree – they want to get back to Earth. Isis touches an ankh necklace and it becomes a silvery scepter. She tells them to touch it and pledge their loyalty. As they do so, the scepter flashes. They feel bound to Isis. Sam refuses. She won’t help an evil woman fight and kill innocent people. Dagan tries to convince Sam to change her mind, but she won’t. Dagan turns to Mac and asks what to do. Mac sympathizes with Sam, but it’s more important to get back to Earth to stop Evan. Mac and Dagan make the pledge. Then a weak voice also agrees – Blink has risen. Two powerful guards grab Sam and lead her into the prison below. Isis tells the rest of the group that they will be leading troops into battle. Her spies have indicated that the natives are on the march. She doesn’t know when, but they will soon strike. Back at the village, David says, “We’re taking over Aleph. I need your help.” He turns to Ian. “But first, who are you?” Ian says he can help by mentally scouting the city. David tests him by having Ian scan him, but David pushes him out of his brain. He says Ian is useless. David then flies out of the tent to view the pyramid temple of Aleph in the distance. Bastienne sighs at David’s behavior. She says that’s how she knew something was off about his recent behavior on Earth: Runak was smoother and not as much of a jerk. David returns. He says they’ll attack an hour before dawn, so rest now. He then confers with the elder. Bailey listens in with his super-senses as the elder asks David if his friends will agree to lead some troops. David’s trained them, but they’re still farmers and herders. The eXalts would be better at leading them into battle. Bailey enters the tent and says he agrees to fight. David accepts the offer. He then seeks out the others to see if they’ll also help. He finds Bastienne and Billy in a nearby tent. She’s telling Billy not to let her get bored again, as that’s when she makes bad decisions (like sleeping with Runak, perhaps?). David asks them if they’ll lead troops. Bastienne says no – she’s pregnant with T’Challa’s child. David is surprised. He asks if she’s sure it’s not Runak’s baby. Bastienne pats his cheek and says, “He was so different. Probably better in bed, too.” David stammers, then agrees she should stay away from battle considering the pregnancy. Bastienne says she’ll remain with Seth, as the Academy X student shouldn’t fight. David agrees with that as well. David turns to Billy. The speedster is reluctant to lead troops. David says, “The people of Aleph need you. I need you.” Billy reluctantly agrees to lead some spearmen into battle. Ian joins them. He agrees to lead some troops and has a plan. He has military training. He says he’ll take the middle of the army. He can create an illusion of a company of green troops, then mid-battle they’ll retreat. It will draw the enemy forces towards them in pursuit, then the real troops will surround the enemy and decimate them. David likes the plan. David and Ian begin working on the finer points while the others get some rest. They’ll be marching in an hour… Back in the city, Mac visits Sam and asks her to reconsider. She listens and is tempted to change her mind, but in the end has to stick by her principles. Mac understands. He returns to the courtyard. Isis has assigned Mac, DJ NiJi, Dagan, Honoka, and Blink troops to lead. They begin discussing battle plans for whenever the natives attack… when horns sound. The attack has begun! David’s troops arrived under the cover of night. Billy’s spearmen and Bailey’s archers approach on one side of the great river while the bulk of the forces under the command of David and Ian approach from the other side. Archers rain arrows upon the city’s gates. From atop the gates, DJ orders her archers to attack David and Ian’s troops. The natives are ready, however, and raise their shields, taking minimal losses. DJ flies down herself and creates a fiery burst in the middle of the spearmen. They take heavy losses. Mac surprises David by opening a secondary gate to send several units of spearmen into battle. He seems to be trying to overwhelm the more inexperienced troops quickly, hoping they’ll break. The two armies of spearmen clash. Mac’s units are professional soldiers, but the natives have greater numbers. David sees Isis at the gate. He ignores the battle to target her, but her vampiric toughness absorbs his light attack. The battle continues. Dagan leads the charioteers into the spearmen. The elite troops drive David’s troops back – but they’re Ian’s illusory spearmen! Bailey moves his troops across the river to flank. Mac’s troops are surrounded! The bulk of his troops are outside the gate are getting cut down, but those still inside the gate are holding. Honoka has the archers provide supporting fire. The city’s archers are well-trained, and it seems the tide of battle might turn back against David. But David presses the attack against Isis. He flies over the gate to land next to her. Billy zips past the defenders to join him. Bailey leaps over the gate and stands with them. While Ian leads the troops outside, the three mutants gang up on Isis – and she falls! The battle is over! David holds the dead body of Isis aloft. “Behold the false goddess! We have taken the city!” The eXalts who pledged themselves to Isis feel that the magic binding them from the scepter is broken. The scepter itself has transformed back into a hammer, like the one Runak wields. David is once again tempted, but Billy wraps it in a sheet for safekeeping. Bastienne says it should go back to Namor. She was the one who obtained the hammer from Namor to give to Isis in trade for a favor months ago. The group rushes to the dungeon to free Sam – but she’s gone! She cannot be found, and the group needs to return to Earth. DJ and Ian say they’re staying in Aleph. It’s the safest place away from Evan, after all. They’ll keep looking for Sam and help the natives. The group says goodbye to them, then leaves through a portal Mac creates. They return to find that Mac’s original portal didn’t just separate them: time was somehow affected. They haven’t been gone for twelve hours, but two weeks! And in their absence, Evan somehow put his bioweapon into food, causing tens of thousands of humans to die or become mutants. The mutants have all joined his growing army, along with the New Genoshans who were originally affected (including Mac’s son, Aiden!). There are food shortages as no one knows which food is safe and which is tainted. And there’s new from Academy X: Evan broke into the school and used Cerebra. What is his plan?... **Next:** __Issue 99 - 'Death'__
 * Previous: ** Issue 97 - 'War'