Issue+30+-+'Rise+Me+Up+From+Down+Below'


 * Issue 30 - 'Rise Me Up From Down Below' **



**Plot**

In a flashback to before the anti-mutant protestors stormed the gates of the school, Dane was called by his girlfriend, Hannah. Hannah was worried because a strange guy was lurking outside her door and she was afraid to leave. Dane told Matt he had to help his girlfriend with something and arrived at the apartment building to find a crowd of anti-mutant protestors outside Hannah’s window crying, “mutie lover!” Dane shifted into his armored form to scare them off. He attempted to enter the building, but his Vibranium form was too heavy. He hurried upstairs as a human to find eight attackers breaking in Hannah’s door. Dane grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed the group, stunning many. He then used the extinguisher to knock out the leader, but not before his ribs were cracked. Inside, he faced a man with a cleaver and was stabbed twice before knocking him out. He then took out the last attacker with a power bomb but not before several ribs were broken by a baseball bat. He and Hannah attempted to sneak out the back, but Dane was surprised with a woman with a syringe. She injected him with some mysterious substance. He tried to transform, but couldn’t, and blacked out…

Back at Academy X, the team was recovering from the protestor attack on the mansion and the battle at the Golden Gate Bridge. David called a staff meeting to discuss the day’s events. Cameron realized that the masks worn by the group that brainwashed the mutants from the Los Angeles branch of X-Corporation were the same as those worn by the men who kidnapped Agape. David explained about the Hellfire Club and the group speculated about the Tokyo branch of the group. During the meeting, Hannah called. She said Dane was in trouble and Amanda needed to teleport to them right away. David, Mac, Amanda, and Melissa teleported to Dane. Dane was badly hurt, sweating, and still unable to use his mutant abilities. Hannah said Hope had been used on him. Mac tried to heal him but couldn’t do so. The group teleported back to the school where Amanda was able to heal him. Mac theorized that Dane hadn’t been afflicted by Hope, but something else that stopped all mutant abilities from being used on him (as well as stopping his own). Lucius called Dr. Kavita Rao, who confirmed that Dane had been affected by MGH of a mutant who could nullify powers (like Leech). Dane went through the process of removing all Selenium from his body to stop Robitaille's tainted MGH from killing him.

David, Mac, Bastienne, Billy, and Amanda teleported to Hannah’s apartment building to try to find the woman who injected Dane. Bastienne located the scent of the attacker, but it disappeared at a curb. The group located two security cameras in the area. The one at the supermarket did not have the right angle to give any information. David spoke to the detective on the scene. He also called Hannah so the detective could speak to her. David then revealed he was Mustang, leader of the eXalts, and the detective said, “You look taller on camera, and you don’t look very tall on camera.” She asked him and Hannah to go to the station to give statements. She also asked him to find Dane, but he pleaded ignorance of Dane’s location. Meanwhile, Dane called in a favor with a police officer and obtained the name and location of the driver of the car who picked up his attacker. David, Mac, Bastienne, Billy, and Amanda went to the man’s apartment, but he was nowhere to be found. Dane turned himself in. He was arrested and charged with assault, but let out on bail. He helped Hannah clean out her apartment, and Hannah tearfully broke off the relationship due to fear of dating a mutant.

That night, Bastienne told Jessica about Gabriel’s mutant abilities (protecting others by taking their damage) as well as his declaration of love. Jessica was shocked, but sad for Gabriel. She said Gabriel should go into the Danger Room to gain control of his powers. That week, David spent time with Gabriel each night in the Danger Room until he learned to turn off his powers. It was discovered that he could take damage for those he cared about (Bastienne and Jessica), but no one else. Also that week the staff noticed that Hayley, the freshman whose powers were still a mystery, had befriended Chelsea, the Academy M outcast. Tatiana’s cat was seen around the school. David asked Vincent about Christine and found out that she’d joined a “tough” gang. David also spent time with Dagan. Dagan revealed that, in her dimension, Hellfire Club: Tokyo had engaged in a shadow war with Hellfire Club: Los Angeles. She shared what she knew of Tokyo’s ranks, actions, and history. Dagan also spent time with Dane and Cameron. Dr. Kavita Rao revealed her new theory about how Hope functions: it reverts a person to a baseline human, so even if a person has a mutant gene it won’t function (kind of like gene therapy or a “vasectomy,” as David put it). David and Jessica looked after Cordelia Frost, who was in a daze, but slowly improving.

One night in the following week, Bastienne overheard a girl in one of the rooms belonging to a former Academy M sophomore. She opened the door to see the five boys in a semicircle speaking to a hologram of a girl. The hologram disappeared before she could tell who the girl was. The boys admitted they’d been speaking to their former classmate, Aurelie Sabayon (“Naiad”) from Xavier’s school. Bastienne gave them detention for being up after lights out. Later in the week Bastienne stumbled across “slash fiction” of Dane and David. She also received a phone call from Janelle, the former Purifier she’d met during a roller derby competition. Janelle was drunk and apologized for the horrible things she’d done as a Purifier, including possibly killing someone. Bastienne told her that she’d been used and it wasn’t her fault. Samantha, now nearly 8 ½ months pregnant, prepared for the birth of her twins. Also that week, Bastienne and Dane received a phone call from Heather Cameron (“Lifeguard”) who told the headmasters she was now the chief operating officer of the Los Angeles branch of X-Corporation. Lucia Callasantos (“Thornn”) was also assigned to help. They had been working at the Mumbai branch but were sent to Los Angeles following the arrest of the LA X-Corp members. Heather said she was attempting to fight Proposition X but that they were being out-funded 4-1 and that the most recent polls predicted passage of the measure, 60-40.

Dane’s appearance before a grand jury came the next week. The school’s lawyer, Vanessa Marcellus, convinced the jurors that Dane was acting in defense of his girlfriend. He was acquitted of the charges and was free to leave. On his way home, he noticed several mutants, including Christine, in an alley in a rundown area on the edge of San Francisco. He recognized them as the mutants who had attacked humans during the mutant protest in Union Square. He spoke to their leader, Rob (“Cougar”), who questioned what side Dane was on. Dane said he was on “our side,” but that he did work with the “good humans.” Rob said he’d be watching, and Dane would see him “real soon.” Dane smiled and walked away. Later that week Dane received a phone call from Maria Hill. She shared that a state senator (and a secret mutant) had suspiciously drowned in his own pool. She also said that another former Purifier had been found dead. Dane shared what he knew about Hellfire Club: Tokyo and Maria confirmed that many of the recent high-profile mutants who died were likely in Hellfire Club: Los Angeles. Maria said SHIELD would look into the Church of Humanity and the Tokyo Hellfire Club, but she had few leads. Dane then met with Bastienne and David to discuss hiring Lindsay McCabe, a private investigator that had worked in Jessica Jones’ PI business. They agreed to hire her and asked her to conduct surveillance on the Church of Humanity.

On Friday that week Bastienne once again overheard the group of sophomores speaking to Aurelie. She listened in on the conversation. Aurelie asked about the security at the school and about Cordelia Frost. The boys said they believed the school had installed EMP shielding following the protestor attack and that Cordelia was in shock. Bastienne shared the information at an emergency staff meeting. The group agreed to place a bug to record the sophomores' next conversation, which was scheduled for six days later. The group then finalized plans for the 80's Halloween Dance for the next night.

At the Halloween dance on Saturday, students and staff were enjoying the 80s costumes and music when Erica burst into the room. She cried out that “they” were rising! The eXalts hurried outside to see that the students who had died and been buried in the memorial garden had climbed from their graves! These students included Brian “Tag” Cruz, Chancy “Electrogirl” Lewis, Sarah “Schism” Rabinowitz, Toxin, Maya “Uplink” Ramirez, Daniel “Survivor” Robitaille, and Nikkya “Nightshade” Lewis. Liam (“Scan”) sensed their mental patterns and learned they blamed the staff for their deaths. He also learned that they had been risen by someone named Selene. Several of the eXalts remembered that Selene was the Black Queen of the New York Hellfire Club. Liam also discovered that Kevin Ford (“Wither”) was missing.

The eXalts battled the risen students, but soon discovered they were difficult to stop. Brian caused Mustang and Blur to run away in fear. Maya turned off the security system, summoned the Danger Room robots, and started up the jet. Chancy shot electricity at several eXalts. Toxin spread disease to several staff. Nikkya drained the life force of Vortex and Medic. Sarah, in five pieces, swarmed Medic and slit his throat. David used his communicator to get in touch with Amanda and asked her to teleport some students in to act as reinforcements. Vincent and Ashley teamed up to kill Sarah. Liam mentally paralyzed Toxin. Cameron finished off Tag, Nikkya, and Chancy. Dane used his new mutant-dampening abilities to turn off Maya’s powers. Mustang then finished her. Joni broke Daniel’s neck, killing him again. Bast turned off the jet by ripping out wires and teleported in to drop Toxin. Following the battle, power was restored to Academy X in time for a message from the east coast school: Selene had resurrected all dead mutants, including all of Genosha. Nightcrawler and an X-Men team had hurried to the island to stop her, and Nightcrawler had been killed…

**Next:** Issue 31 - 'In the Court of the Crimson King' **Previous:** Issue 29 - 'South of Heaven'