Issue+84+-+'Patriot'


 * Issue 84 - 'Patriot' **


 * Plot**

Over a busy family and friends weekend at Academy X, news breaks on Saturday that the Pacific/Hawaii NEO (Near Earth Object) Keck Survey has detected a previously-hidden comet due to approaching Earth from the other side of the sun. It’s unique due to its vibrant red color. Could it be the Red Star Sekhmet warned Bastienne about that foretold great destruction but also great power? On Sunday Sam and David visit Barry and Catalina, the two New Genosha immigrants who had hidden their true identities as Sam and David’s former classmates from Xavier’s school. During the visit to New Genosha, Sam sees JamieLynn, a mutant that believes Academy X student Evan (the clone of Apocalypse) is her savior. While they talk, David is contacted by former Academy X student Christine Cord that dropped out of school to join the Mutant Revolutionary Front (MRF), a terrorist group. Christine attempts to recruit David. He only agrees to meet with her. He says she can live on Utopia. She says she’s already living there. That afternoon there’s a major bombing in San Francisco. The government office in San Francisco’s City Hall that oversees mutant registration was hit. It looks like the MRF has struck again. 12 people were killed and 24 were injured. One of the injured was Utopia Attorney General Evangeline Whedon! She was meeting with one of Major Sinclair’s aides. S.H.I.E.L.D. saved her, but even their healers couldn’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 Manhattan, causing a great deal of destruction. Before he passed out he managed two words: “It’s coming…” Sam, David and Matt leave a meeting to watch the news coverage of the attack. Sam says Utopia should condemn the bombing. The Academy X staff agrees to hold a meeting that night. The students are also watching the news. It’s clear some students hate the MRF, most have conflicted feelings due to admiring the MRF’s support of mutant rights but disliking their lethal tactics, and a small group actively supports the MRF despite their murder of innocent civilians. The pro-MRF kids include Exemplars Marco, Hunter, Wendy, and Craig as well as Ardent Tani. Liam wonders if the Academy X staff should talk to the kids about the MRF, perhaps as part of a class discussion. They could even host a debate where students could argue either the pro- or anti-MRF side. While talking to students about the bombing, Liam runs into Dagan who is trying to convince Wendy not to leave pro-MRF graffiti around the school. Dagan looks awful. When Liam asks what’s wrong, she admits she hasn’t felt well since Xandra Nova possessed her. She’s having difficulty controlling her new powers (telepathy), suffering from headaches, and not sleeping well. She breaks down in tears and admits that Xandra destroyed most of her childhood memories while she was possessed – most of her memories from the “future” are gone! She’s also upset because Julian broke up with her because she has “too much drama.” She suspects he is interested or involved with Laura “X-23” Kinney. Lastly, Dagan says she believes Ruth was the one who sent the eXalts’ minds into Dagan to fight Xandra. Ruth’s mental powers have also grown lately. Before the staff meeting that night Matt works on a PowerPoint project. Then the staff meets to discuss the student reaction to the bombing. Mac also agrees to release a statement as President of Utopia condemning the attack. During the meeting Ruth suddenly straightens in her chair, alarmed. When asked what’s wrong, the staff’s vision swims and they witness one of Ruth’s visions. A blue light is visible above the New York City skyline. It looks like a blue comet, not red. It scrapes the edge of one building before crashing directly through another and exploding as it lands. Everything goes black. Next it seems the staff of Academy X is looking through someone’s eyes. A blurry image appears – it’s Captain America! He asks someone called “Nova” if he can speak. Nova, whose eyes they’re seeing through, manages to say “It’s coming” before passing out. The vision swirls and reforms as the White House. Captain America and Iron Man are meeting with the President of the United States and high-ranking military. Iron Man scanned Nova and discovered a familiar energy signature: the Phoenix Force. The Red Star isn’t just a comet – it’s the Phoenix Force coming to Earth. If and when it finds a host, it could cause untold devastation. The Avengers are sending a team to stop it while it’s still in space, but they consider it be a suicide mission. The vision swirls again and now they’re viewing the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Wolverine’s new mutant academy in Canada. Captain America and Logan are meeting to discuss the approach of the Phoenix Force. Steve wants to know if Logan knows where it’s headed. Logan says he doesn’t know, but he’s sure Scott will be looking for its most likely host. Steve says he hopes the Avengers and X-Men can work together to stop the Phoenix Force, but Logan says Scott will have a personal agenda. Steve asks if he can count on Logan’s help, but the mutant doesn’t reply at first. The vision swirls yet again. Now they are watching a conversation at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in New York. Scott is talking to several staff members, including Emma Frost, Magneto, Namor, and Colossus. Scott says the Phoenix Force represents power to put the world back on track. He says the recent spread of Prop-X like laws isn’t right and perhaps the Phoenix Force could be a sign that they could change the world for the better. Emma asks what his plan is. He says they’ll find whoever the Phoenix Force intends to use as its host so they can have control. Then the vision swirls again and begins to fade. After the vision ends David says, “Scott has a good plan. Let’s join Scott!” Not everyone agrees. Carom thinks they should find the Phoenix Force host and kill them. Mac says they won’t murder anyone. David agrees. Carom says David is the one who’s killed people. Bastienne says he’s not the only one. Sam wonders if they can trap the Phoenix Force like Alex Nova was trapped by Seth, but David says the Phoenix Force can only be contained in a living vessel, which it will do willingly when it finds a suitable host. The group discusses possible hosts. They consider the most powerful mentalists they know such as Quentin Quire, Professor X, and Emma Frost. Apparently all three were once possessed by the Phoenix Force, but it rejected Quentin and Emma wasn’t strong enough to control it. Matt looks up other past hosts: besides Professor X, Quentin, and Emma, others included Marvel Girl (Rachel Summers), the Stepford Cuckoos (Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe) and Jean Grey, of course. They wonder if anyone on Utopia could become a host. Sam is a powerful telepath, as is Evan. Dagan now has Xandra Nova’s telepathic powers. Could Plex, the Kree artificial intelligence in Asteroid M serve as a host? It’s only an AI, but it’s used powerful telepathic abilities. It exists as a programmable piezoplasm, which could be biological in nature. In the end Carom says they have three choices: do nothing, ally with Scott, or ally with the Avengers. David says the Avengers are going to get themselves killed if they try to stop the Phoenix Force. He suggests Mac should contact the Avengers while Sam should contact Scott. She probably has the best relationship with him now. Maybe they can work with both sides or at least remain neutral. They can always join a side later if needed. They table the discussion for now. Sam and David visit Ruth after the meeting. She’s sitting in her room listening to music. Next to her are items owned by Billy, like one of his rings and his scarf. They say she probably already knows why they’re there. She says to go ahead and ask – she’s trying not to start conversations in the middle. They ask about the business she’s been doing on the dark web. She admits she’s been selling illegal goods there. David asks if it’s genetic material. Ruth doesn’t answer at first, but eventually confirms the sale. She says she’s selling to their allies and nothing bad will come of it. Sam and David aren’t happy about it. She says they’d previously discussed DNA sales when they brainstormed ideas on how to fund Utopia (along with other ideas like selling a Hope cure), but Sam says they rejected selling DNA. Ruth opens a locked drawer and hands a ledger to David. He scans the numbers and says Utopia is in fiscal trouble. Ruth explains that the 100 immigrants that moved to Utopia are a large expense. Most of them (except children) are paid at least fifteen dollars an hour (professionals, like the physician’s assistant, are paid more) which means the salaries cost almost 4 million dollars a year. Most of Utopia’s income is from Hellfire Club: Tokyo’s payment for their bank on the island, and that’s only 5 million dollars. While Ruth is making progress making money from merchandise, it’s not going to be enough. Sam says they might not be able to take in more mutants. David says they might be able to invite more businesses or sell land to the immigrants, but those options present problems, as well. New businesses mean others have control of parts of the island. And what if the immigrants sell their land to others they don’t like? Academy X could be forced off the island. They drop the subject for now and decide to trust Ruth’s precognitive abilities. Monday morning is the last Combat Club team fight. The Ardents and Paragons battle and the Ardents win. After spring break the three winning teams will have a free for all to determine a winner. The club will also hold a battle royale to select the club leader for the fall. Later Mac has news from the Avengers. As a reserve member he has access to some Avengers communications. Steve Rogers and Tony Stark met with the president, then Steve went to the Jean Grey School in Canada. Ruth’s vision was accurate. The Avengers are trying to determine who the Phoenix Force will select as a host. Beyond those discussed by the eXalts (Professor X, Emma Frost, Quentin Quire, Rachel Summers, the Stepford Cuckoos, Sam, and Evan) the Avengers have mentioned Chamber, Cosmo, Exodus, Karma, Legion, the Manh twins, Mantis, the Mastermind Girls, Mindworm, Monet, Moondragon, Ms. Sinister, No Girl, and Psylocke. Mac sends the Avengers a message that the eXalts will help with the Phoenix situation however they can. That afternoon Carom is in the security room and sees Madison stumbling while taking a walk. He teleports to her and asks what she’s doing. She admits she uses her mutant power to make herself drunk because it’s easier. First she and her father (Mindworm) had a falling out, then he controlled her and made her steal a boat to travel to San Francisco, then he was arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D. She doesn’t have a mother and she feels alone. Carom says getting drunk isn’t the way to handle it. He’s willing to talk to her whenever she needs someone to listen. She says she understands getting drunk isn’t helping and agrees to talk to him again soon. At the Utopia meeting on Monday night Mac, Bastienne, Ruth and Sam talk about the need for an interim Attorney General. Evangeline Whedon is still in a coma and they need someone to fill the role. Wicked can handle the island’s police force for now, but they need someone to run the judicial branch of the government. None of Evangeline’s partners from her law firm are interested and the only lawyer they know in the superhero world (She-Hulk) isn’t interested. They discuss the possibility of moving Bastienne to that position – she has a master’s degree in educational administration and law. While she’s not a lawyer, she’s probably the best qualified. She agrees to help in an interim capacity if needed. They also agree to reach out to X-Corporation: Los Angeles to see if they have any lawyers they can spare that might be able to handle the position. On Tuesday afternoon Liam looks over the paperwork he’d need to fill out to run for mayor of New Genosha. He’s considering it. He takes a walk to think and runs into his daughter, Jasmine, and her new friend, Seth. They’ve been close (as friends, not romantically) since she helped him when Xandra Nova attacked. Jasmine asks her dad if he’s decided to run for mayor. She gives him some forms – she’s already filled out the paperwork for him! She offers to be his campaign manager. Liam laughs and asks Seth what he thinks. Seth stammers that he doesn’t know. Liam realizes Seth has a dark past but seems like a nice kid. He tells Jasmine he’s still thinking. At the student staff meeting that night the staff reports that students are still discussing the MRF bombing. Not much else is going on. The eXalts meeting on Wednesday is focused on the Phoenix Force. Sam shares the research Matt did on the “Red Star”, or Comet C/2012 F4 / PHNKS, named for the Planetary/Heliophysics NEO Keck Survey that first detected it. Astronomers classified it as a Near Earth Object (NEO) and believe it has a chance of striking the planet. The Avengers and X-Men know the so-called comet is actually the Phoenix Force coming to Earth, though this isn’t common knowledge yet. The astronomers believe the comet will pass Earth in early June. Therefore they only have a few months before it arrives. Mac says the Avengers mission to stop it in space was a disaster, but at least no one died. The Avengers are now focused on finding potential Phoenix Force hosts – but the X-Men are trying to find the host first. Carom shares his concerns about Madison at the staff meeting on Thursday. He’s opened a line of communication with her but they all need to support her. David suggests talking to a peer might help. Perhaps one of the female student staff would try? Carrie, the head girl, is a possibility, as are prefects Mercy and Melody. Mercy has come a long way in terms of social skills, though she’s still a bit awkward. Melody is much more outgoing. Mac asks Melody if she’d talk to Madison and she agrees. After classes on Friday Mac calls an assembly for students. He shows a PowerPoint presentation he’s been working on. Each slide has information on one of the victims of the city hall bombing recently carried out by the MRF. He talks about his support for mutant rights but also the cost of human lives when extreme measures are used. The students are subdued after the presentation. Carom quips that it’s a great way to start the weekend and send the kids off on Spring Break. That night works on rebuilding the house Cameron originally built on the island to the northeast of Utopia. Cameron destroyed it before leaving Utopia for Canada. Bastienne goes to Santa Muerte’s Friday night services. Now there are nearly 100 people there – the most in attendance since before Cynthia brought most of the Santa Muerte worshippers to Aleph. Many of them brought cats. They pray to Bastienne. Part of her finds it odd, but another part of her enjoys it. Saturday is the long-awaited New Genosha field trip. Nearly all of the students go on the trip. First they visit the Pacific Financial Group, Hellfire Club: Tokyo’s bank in the town. An Asian woman gives them a tour of the state-of-the-art building and focuses on internship and employment opportunities at the business, stressing that PFG is an equal opportunity employer. They are happy to hire mutants, while many businesses are not. Many students are excited about this, especially the Paragons. The students then tour the municipal building. They see Georgie meeting with one of the workers there. She’s going over plans for new apartment buildings. X-Corporation: Los Angeles is already hard at work at issuing new visas and the next wave of immigrants will need more housing. Georgie had taken some architecture classes at college and still wants to be an architect. In the police station they see Barry working with Bailey. At lunchtime the students tour the shops and eat at the café. There are signs that dozens of people recently held a vigil for New Genosha resident Evangeline Whedon, who is still in a coma. At the café they see Catalina as well as Wicked. Wicked is sitting with an attractive blonde man. While having lunch Sam notices JamieLynn walking towards the café. JamieLynn sees Evan and gets excited. Sam tries to stop her, but JamieLynn runs past her and shouts to Evan, calling him “My lord.” Evan looks extremely uncomfortable. Carom teleports next to JamieLynn, then teleports her to the outskirts of New Genosha before teleporting back. The rest of the tour goes well. After lunch they see Heather Cameron, CEO of X-Corporation: Los Angeles and Neal Shaara, the man in charge of X-Corp:LA’s New Genosha team, hand-in-hand. Bastienne is happy to see Rafé, George’s ex-fiancé, with them. He’s acting as Heather’s bodyguard once again. Also with Heather and Neal is Kiah, an Academy X graduate whose parents pulled her from the school after it was attacked by vampires. She graduated from public school early and has been using her mutant ability to speak all languages to interview mutants seeking Utopian visas. Heather mentions that the Academy X staff is doing a lot of good in New Genosha. As part of the process to issue new visas, she’s reached out to those who were denied in the first wave. She couldn’t reach nearly three dozen of the hundreds that applied. They may have chosen not to respond, but many of them are likely missing or dead… Saturday evening is the field trip to Avengers Academy in the former West Coast Avengers headquarters outside Los Angeles. It’s the first inter-school baseball game. Dondre wears the Academy X Artichokes mascot costume, but it doesn’t help. The Avengers Academy students easily win. David awards points to several teams whose players do well, and takes points from one of the students that shows poor sportsmanship. But the trip isn’t just about playing a game – it’s a chance for friendly relations. The Academy X staff speaks with Hank “Ant-Man” Pym, one of the founding Avengers who now co-runs Avengers Academy with Tigra. The conversation turns to their mutual concerns about the Phoenix Force. Bastienne and Tigra joke about a cat-girl quota at west coast superhero schools. Bastienne also enjoys holding Hank and Tigra’s baby. The teachers check in on their transfer students. Academy X students Arturo and Patrick are doing well at Avengers Academy as are Kevin and Jimmy at Academy X. Mac asks Laura “X-23” Kinney, who is now a teacher at Avengers Academy, if she’s heard from Jubilee. Laura admits she spoke to her only a week ago. Mac didn’t know Jubilee was in touch with the outside world again and is hurt she didn’t contact him. At dinner back at Academy X, Barry and Catalina (really Paul and Selena) come to dinner. They’re surprised that they’re eating in the school cafeteria and not having a private dinner with staff, but they’re glad to see Sam, David, Bastienne, and Ruth. After dinner Mac receives a phone call from Major Henderson at S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Owen has approved a meeting with Agent McAlister to be scheduled soon. On Sunday spring break begins. About two-thirds of the students head home, while another third remain at Academy X (mostly the wards of the school). Sam chaperones the ferry to San Francisco. Afterward she goes to San Francisco General Hospital (where Academy X Board of Trustee Agape Chionia used to work) to visit Evangeline Whedon. A few other victims of the MRF bombing are still in the hospital as well. Police are stationed nearby. There are many flowers in Evangeline’s room and signs she’s had recent visitors. Sam is alone with her for the moment. She attempts to mentally contact the lawyer but doesn’t find a lot of mental activity. Even though her brain injuries were healed, her mind didn’t “boot up” correctly. Sam feels sad for Evangeline’s family and frustrated with the MRF. Others are evidently upset with the mutant terrorist group. On Sunday night there is another bombing, but this time it’s not the MRF. The Purifiers bombed one of X-Corporation: Los Angeles’ mutant shelters. The Oakland shelter was badly damaged and nine mutants died. Since the Oakland attack was near the Santa Muerte church, Bastienne calls Deacon Graves and says he should ask parishioners to help. There is an immediate response. Dozens of Santa Muerte followers show up to donate blood or to give money to the victims’ families. The violence between the MRF and the Purifiers hasn’t gone unnoticed. On Monday there’s news that several states are pushing stalled Prop-X-like laws or proposing new ones. On Monday David gets a text message from an unknown number that only lists a time and a three-digit number. He realizes it’s Christine setting up a meeting. She wants to meet on Tuesday in one of the apartments in New Genosha’s incomplete apartment building. David approaches Sam and Matt with an audacious plan: he wants to go undercover in the MRF. He hopes to prevent them from any more bombing that targets civilian populations. He also wants to find out about other cells. He wants Sam to remove the memory of the plan and implant a trigger that he will report back to Matt if the MRF plans any activities that will harm civilians or cause widespread damage or in a few months, whichever comes first. Sam, Matt and David discuss the plan back and forth, and in the end they decide to go forward with it. Matt will inform a S.H.I.E.L.D. contact that he has a contact undercover with the group, but it will not be a sanctioned S.H.I.E.L.D. activity. Sam removes the memories from David and implants the trigger. It's time for him to meet with Christine. David tells Bastienne about the meeting before attending. At the meeting are Christine, Academy X dropout Rodrigo (a mutant with a skull-like head), and a familiar-looking Asian woman named Lotus. Christine asks if Lotus can scan David to make sure he’s not there to betray them. David agrees, but fights Lotus’ scan from going too deep. Lotus seems to accept the result. Christine again asks David to feed false intelligence to S.H.I.E.L.D. David says no and that he won’t help the MRF if they plan bombings that kill innocent civilians. They negotiate a deal: the MRF will only target Purifiers with lethal attacks if David helps with S.H.I.E.L.D. Christine’s cell has plans and S.H.I.E.L.D. has been breathing down their necks after breaking up other cells. David agrees, but says if any civilians are targeted then he will personally help S.H.I.E.L.D. track them down. She gives him a folder and departs. The next week passes uneventfully. Liam commits to running for mayor of New Genosha. He also has his long-delayed Valentine’s Day dinner with Bastienne. She gets the sense he still doesn’t understand how she’s changed. She’s not playing at being a goddess – she really is one after merging with Bastet. Then Jarvis, the Avengers’ butler, calls Mac to set up a meeting. A group of Avengers wants to visit Utopia and have access to students and staff for interviews. Mac discusses the call with everyone, but ultimately agrees to the request. They already said they’d help and what could they do – deny the Avengers? The delegation arrives in an Avengers Quinjet on Thursday. Stepping from the jet are Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, T’Challa (the Black Panther), and Logan. Logan has also brought along several staff members from his school, including Quentin Quire, Cameron LaPrue, Charles Xavier, Rachel Summers, and Jubilation Lee – who is holding a baby! Mac is stunned to see his ex-girlfriend, and momentarily concerned the baby could be his. He soon realizes Jubilee has been gone too long for that, however. There are some friendly and some awkward conversations. Steve greets Sam, his fellow team leader. Sam is happy to see Professor X again. Mac warmly greets the Avengers teammates he’s worked with in the past, though he doesn’t get a chance to speak to Jubilee as she is tending to Shogo, the baby. Alice, Carom’s girlfriend, is star struck by Captain America. She says, “It’s nice to muscle. I mean, meet you.” Liam also gets a chance to talk to Captain America. Cameron and Quentin get a cold reception – Cameron for quitting his job at Academy X after promising to remand himself to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody plus not following orders as an eXalt and Quentin for helping trap Sam and Matt’s daughter Alex. The delegation moves to the library, which also acts as one of the school’s conference rooms. Steve says he has a list of people to interview and thanks them for their cooperation. David wants to know his intentions. Steve says they are interviewing mentalists to try to determine the most likely hosts for the Phoenix Force. Tony has designed a program using chaos theory to establish which mentalists are most likely to be chosen by the cosmic entity. The interviews will include questions about each person’s mental abilities but also questions to determine personality traits. This will establish compatibility with the Phoenix Force based on its past choice of hosts. Steve says they’re there to interview Sam, Ruth, and Evan. Sam says she’ll stay with Evan for his interview, as he is only a student, then asks if they’re also there to interview Dagan. The delegation seems surprised – they weren’t aware of Dagan’s newfound telepathic abilities. But they agree with Sam’s suggestion and add Dagan to their list. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Not all members of the delegation assist with each interview. Sam is interviewed first by Steve, Tony, Logan, Xavier, Quentin, and Rachel. They ask about Alex Nova and how Sam’s mental powers increased after giving birth to Cassandra Nova’s “child”. Meanwhile, Bastienne sees Jubilee and gives her a hug. She still feels slightly drawn to her, perhaps because she once drank Jubilee’s vampiric blood. Bastienne plays with Shogo, then moves away as Mac approaches. Mac and Jubilee have an awkward reunion. She says she completed her training with the Forgiven (vampires have controlled their bloodlust) and, while training, found Shogo. Mac says he’s missed her. She says it’s mutual, but she needs time for herself right now. Evan’s interview is next. Sam stays with him as the delegation asks questions about his background (he was raised in an artificial as a hero by Weapon X test subject Fantomex), the events of last semester (while in Aleph he was manipulated into using his powers for evil by Sophia, Bastienne’s grandmother and a member of Clan Akkaba), and his recent activities (he hasn’t used his powers since Aleph). Outside, Bastienne is surprised when T’Challa silently approaches. He respectfully greets his goddess, but says he doesn’t understand why she’s abandoned her followers in Wakanda to merge with a mutant. Bastienne says she hasn’t forgotten her faithful but she’s enjoying time on Earth. T’Challa warns her that the Lion Cult is growing. She kisses his cheek before he leaves. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The delegation conducts a quick interview with Dagan. They were not aware of her telepathic powers and had not prepared questions for her. Bastienne finds Ruth outside the library waiting for her interview. The precognitive mutant tells Bastienne that their “Plan A” isn’t to kill the Phoenix Force’s host. Their “Plan A” is to send the host to another dimension… but if that doesn’t work they will kill the host. Ruth then enters the library as Dagan leaves. Bastienne lingers nearby and witnesses the delegation exit when Ruth’s interview is over. Matt Stone suddenly emerges from the opposite classroom to cold clock Quentin Quire. He says, “That’s for stealing my daughter from me!” Sam leads Matt away before there is any more conflict, but privately thanks him. The Avengers’ Quinjet leaves Utopia. Ruth says to assembled staff, “The Avengers asked if I foresaw the host. I said I hadn’t. I lied.” They ask who she saw as the host. Ruth says, “It’s Dagan. They don’t know yet, but they will soon.” The conversation is interrupted by a call from Deputy Barry in New Genosha. New Genosha’s Police Chief Bailey’s dog is in a panic. No one can find Bailey. He’s been kidnapped!
 * Next:** __Issue 85 - 'Ironclad'__
 * Previous:** Issue 83 - 'Godlike'