Issue+92+-+'Run+Boy+Run'


 * Issue 92 - 'Run Boy Run' **


 * Plot **

At the start of Academy X’s fifth school year there are already challenges to face. The villain Arcade (who kidnapped young heroes and forced them to fight to the death in an event he named Avengers Arena) is still on the loose. A new superhero team comprised of Avengers and mutants, called the Avengers Unity Division (or unofficially, the “Uncanny Avengers”), hunts for Arcade. Two eXalts, Mystic and Panzer, are pulling double duty and are also members of the Uncanny Avengers, but their magical and technological research have not yielded any leads on the fugitive. Prop X was ruled unconstitutional, though appeals continue and attacks on “adult mutants” in San Francisco have increased. Closer to home, Utopia is now over double the size of Long Island. Most of it is unexplored, but short excursions have revealed alien species in addition to mostly Earth flora and fauna. Returning staff member Dane “Panzer” Lightfoot readjusts to life on Utopia after months away, while new teacher Michael “Discord” Schwartz has replaced missing teacher Nicholas “Carom” Kawaguchi. Then business manager and teacher Ruth “Blindfold” Aldine suddenly resigned, the night before a fiery explosion heralded the return of former eXalt (and Ruth’s husband) Billy “Blur” Pang… In the moments before Billy’s return, the residents of Academy X enjoy a warm Saturday afternoon. Following soccer practice, some students lounge at the pool while others play games or otherwise socialize with each other. The children at the school relish the freedom of being outside. Matt wrestles with Alex and Kurt while Sam keeps an eye on Jessie, who wanders to find wildflowers to weave into a wreath. Liam absent-mindedly watches the students play from his second-story apartment window in the activity building while composing his official judgment on David’s legal case. He’s found David guilty, but he’s yet to send the news to the staff. His twelve-year-old daughter, Jasmine, enters. She has a towel wrapped around herself and is looking for some clothes still in boxes from the summer. She mentions that she misses her former roommate, Melody, who died during Avengers Arena. She appreciated the kind words Liam said about Melody at the memorial service held at Academy X a week ago. Jasmine also mentions that her new roommate, senior Hellion Diana Fox, seems great. She’s troubled, however, that Shura (the shard of Sam’s daughter Alex Nova that merged with Jasmine) thinks that Diana is hiding something. Liam asks why Shura thinks Diana is hiding something, but Jasmine says Shura doesn’t know anything else. Liam says Diana is a telepath and therefore probably has secrets due to her powers. Dagan finds her father Dane outside doing maintenance on the school’s HVAC system. Her brother, Davan, is nearby. He chases his cat “Kitty” or butterflies that venture too close. Dagan says Dane has kept to himself since returning from Muspelheim. He didn’t take his teaching position back (which is why “that bad man” Michael was hired) and he hasn’t rejoined the Academy X Board of Trustees. Technically, he might even still be President of Utopia since Mac rose to the position when Dane was presumed dead. Dane says he’s busy enough on two superhero teams (the eXalts and Uncanny Avengers) and serving as school technology officer. Most importantly, he wants to take care of Davan. Dagan quips that Davan could use an involved father (as David, Davan’s other father, has shown little interest in the role). Dane says Mac is doing a good job as president and now is not the time for change with all the issues the country is facing. He is looking into retaking his seat on the Academy X Board of Trustees, but his estate is still being sorted out now that he’s no longer legally dead. Matt continues to serve on the board until the paperwork is done. Dagan asks why he didn’t say more at Liam’s meeting about David. Was it because he recently killed David (while possessed by a fragment of the Phoenix Force)? Dane says it’s because it wasn’t his place – he has a long history with David that everyone already knows about. Meanwhile, Bastienne begins dinner prep inside. Michael keeps an eye on students playing video games in the lounge. David is training in the Danger Room in the basement. Mac is in the headmasters’ office reading the two letters of resignation left by Ruth (one for her position as business manager and teacher and one for her position as Utopian Secretary of the Treasury). Mac learns that Ruth has appointed Michael, the new teacher, as her Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. He’ll be taking over until an election can determine her successor. Bailey, eXalt and Mayor of New Genosha, arrives for a meeting with Mac. Then a sudden explosion interrupts the scene. Outside, Sam sees the fiery eruption in the middle of the basketball court and momentarily panics, remembering when she lost control of her Phoenix power and killed her husband. She quickly reacts to protect her children while Matt runs towards the students, herding them away from the flames. Bastienne emerges from Sam’s shadow, surprising her. The headmistress uses the kitchen fire extinguisher to put out the flames. A figure emerges from the blast – it’s Billy! Both Bastienne and Sam hug their long-lost friend. Bastienne uses her communicator to share the good news with the rest of the staff. From the Danger Room, David responds to make sure Bastienne touched him (as they’d been fooled by illusions long ago). Bastienne says she did, and she seems quite affected by the hug. Dane replies at the same time to see if Sam read his mind to make sure he’s really Billy. Sam says she will when she gets the chance to ask his permission. Bailey arrives and asks if Billy is a friend. Sam and Bastienne vouch for him. Billy meets Liam for the first time and finds out that Liam is the one who took his job (“that’s awkward.”) He’s glad to hear everyone is still alive from when he was sucked into a portal, but is saddened to hear about the students who died in Avengers Arena. Billy then explains what he’s been up to. He says his time in Muspelheim (land of the fire giants) was miserable. There were giants and demons as well as half-giants (their former classmate Meghan’s children, as she became Sinmara, Queen of the Fire Giants). Billy survived by living in a cave and using his time manipulation powers to steal supplies from a fire giant community. He says Dane found him after a while and said he’d find them a portal home. When Dane arrives, Billy gives him a hug and thanks him for helping him in Muspelheim. Dane says he doesn’t have any memories from that time. Billy is shocked to learn that he wasn’t gone for only three or four months like he thought – he’s been gone for nearly a year and a half!  Later Billy has a chance to talk to some of his friends one-on-one. He’s sad to hear Ruth has left. Bastienne tells him that Ruth said, “he needs me” and assumes Ruth is looking for him. When Sam gets permission to scan him, she accidentally goes deeper than his surface thoughts and learns that Billy thinks Ruth was going to help their son Jin, not him! Sam knew Ruth and Billy had a son in other timelines, but is surprised they had one in this time. Billy catches up on what he’s missed. Young Lucius isn’t around anymore to help find Ruth, for example. Bastienne wants to continue the talk but has to go to church. Billy is surprised to hear that it’s her church – she’s a goddess! She asks if he wants to go with her and he tells her he’s not ready for that kind of change just yet. At church in Oakland, Bastienne interacts with the hundreds of followers outside who can’t fit inside for the services. Her right hand man, Deacon Graves, tells her the construction of a new church is going well and should be open by her holy day on Halloween. The Los Angeles church is also moving to a new, larger location and new chapels have opened in San Francisco, San Rafael and Sacramento. On Sunday Liam completes his e-mail about his judgment on David’s case. He shares that it was a difficult decision that had to balance the need for a strong eXalts team with a response that addressed the concerns of the world community that condemned David’s actions. He notes that of the ten non-binding ballots that were submitted for feedback on David’s case, six were guilty, three were not guilty and one indicated a guilty verdict for David implied a guilty verdict for the others involved. Finally, one person abstained. There were a variety of suggested punishments. In the end, Liam decided that David must turn himself in within 48 hours to be jailed for a period of three to six months on Utopian soil, followed by six months of house arrest. Based on his behavior, the house arrest could be suspended and instead be changed to probation for a minimum of one year. David must also sign an affidavit that he has severed all ties with the Mutant Revolutionary Front and will not again attempt to contact them or involve himself with the group in any way. But there is more. Liam places Matthew Stone, Samantha Stone and Bastienne Noel on probation for one year for their complicity in the crime. They will be limited in their travel outside of Utopia without prior approval of the government, with the exception of official, sanctioned, eXalts business. Liam also encourages the Utopian government to establish an official protocol and oversight for covert/undercover activities. He suggests creating a governing body to approve these activities, a reporting mechanism to ensure the governing body is aware of all aspects of the operation and a clear statement of consequences for those that choose to operate outside of the protocol. There is immediate feedback on the decision. Bastienne and Sam are furious at the punishment (Sam is more upset about David’s punishment than her own, while Bastienne feels it’s unfair that she’s been given the same punishment as Matt and Sam when she was only aware of one meeting while Sam and Matt knew about the entire operation) while Matt accepts the judgment. Others seem to think the punishment isn’t harsh enough, while David feels any punishment is a miscarriage of justice because he saved lives by steering the MRF from bombing civilians while a member. Even so he agrees to abide by Liam’s decision and turn himself in at the New Genosha jail in two days. Bastienne protests the decision by passive-aggressively sending an e-mail to with a long list of dates she would like permission to go to church or other functions. As it turns out, that night is eXalts training. The teammates take out their frustrations with each other through combat. Bastienne defeats Liam in combat. When David asks if Billy will train with them, he blasts the speedster without warning. In the middle of the tense session, someone opens the Danger Room door. The action comes to a halt as no one should be interrupting the session. The group is surprised to see junior student Evan (clone of Apocalypse) standing in the doorway. He is wearing an upgraded suit of armor. He says the eXalts are the only ones on Utopia who can give him a challenge in combat. He needs to continue his training as only the strong will survive. The decision rests with eXalts team leader Samantha. She agrees to let Evan train with them. No one wants to go one-on-one with Evan at first, perhaps sensing how powerful he’s become. Bastienne agrees and is soundly defeated by the young man. With all his experience and tactical knowledge, David barely defeats Evan. He realizes Evan truly is more powerful than all of them now… On Sunday there are also team meetings. The Ardents are looking for a new director for their play since news that David will be imprisoned has leaked. The Corsairs are outraged that their advisor will be headed to prison. They are also adjusting to new team member Hollow, who is mute. The Excelsiors are still concerned about Shadae, who is cutting herself following a rough summer. Liam, as team advisor, will counsel her. The team also wants permission to throw a homecoming dance/party following the first soccer games on Saturday. They are given approval. Dagan reports that she’s concerned her team may somehow be in contact with the MRF, as they have been supporters of the group and made some suspicious comments. The Academy X staff agrees to look into it. The Hellions quickly embraced new member Diana, though they’ve noticed Evan seems more serious and grim than ever. The Paragons are excited to begin internships in New Genosha on Sunday. Some staff joke they aren’t reporting for orientation, but indoctrination instead. At the impromptu staff meeting late that night, the group has to make some emergency staffing decisions. The headmasters agree to appoint Billy as David’s replacement and Dane as the new business manager in place of Ruth. Someone will have to take over Ruth’s teaching duties, however. Bailey says he can help with one class, but not all of them. He suggests his girlfriend Susanna. The headmasters decide in the end to hire her as a substitute and Corsairs team advisor. More difficult decisions await at the Utopia meeting on Monday night. After tabling the decision at previous meetings, the Utopia legislature (Sam, Bastienne, and now Michael), in concert with the president (Mac) agree to expand the legislature. They will phase in two new members at a time beginning with the same election to find a new Secretary of the Treasury (in six weeks, shortly before Halloween). There is concern that the group will eventually “lose control” of Utopia once enough non-Academy X legislators are elected. The group is ultimately okay with that, but want protections enshrined in the government to allow the school to maintain autonomy. There is agreement on this point. A decision on whether to allow humans to move to Utopia is more contentious. Mac is in favor of the idea, though Michael speaks out against it. He says that, for every human allowed on Utopia, a mutant in need is left to fend for themselves. He says they already allow human spouses or children of mutants, and that’s enough. After a long conversation, the two sides meet in the middle. They will prioritize mutants and will only select humans if in need of a skilled immigrant and no qualified mutants apply (for example, if in need of a doctor). The sometimes tense conversation makes Bastienne wish an election to replace her was sooner (her position won’t be up for reelection for another two years). Bailey (who attends as a guest due to his important position in Utopia) brings up a request: Plex has asked him to lobby for asylum for a group of Cotati refugees. Cotati are sentient telepathic plants from the Kree homeworld who were nearly wiped out by the militant race. Sam and Mac are immediately hesitant and want to get more information before granting or rejecting the request. Sam says she’ll talk to her S.W.O.R.D. contacts. The request is tabled for now. Michael gives a report about Ruth’s financial records. Utopia is running out of money quickly. Bastienne brings up that Mayor Sadie Sinclair of San Francisco has requested that the “adult mutants” from San Francisco (those with latent X-genes that were activated in later life) be granted priority in moving to Utopia if they apply due to the recent attacks against them. Sadie has also asked in the past to give additional Morlocks space on the island. Sam mentions that if Sadie wants her people to move to Utopia so badly, maybe she will help with Utopia’s financial problems. Bastienne says she’ll meet the mayor – if she has permission. Liam, the victim of her verbal jab, deadpans that she has permission. On Tuesday David reports to jail as he promised. He is a model prisoner from the start. It’s immediately clear that the residents of New Genosha don’t agree with David’s sentence. Mac notices how many have come to visit him and wonder if David’s imprisonment was a mistake. He’s already more popular in jail than he was as a free man. Mac then sends a press release about David’s imprisonment to mollify the world community’s concerns that David would not be punished. Even though most commentators feel David wasn’t punished enough, there is a general sense of relief that Utopia will at least somewhat police its own. At student staff meetings that night there is not a lot to report other than some roommate issues (Hollow/Priya, Shadae/Maggie, Wendy/Lucia, and Evan/Iago). At the Wednesday eXalts meeting, Mac and Dane share that the Uncanny Avengers have had no luck finding Arcade. After the meeting Liam approaches Sam now that she’s cooled off following his judgment and her punishment. She tells Sam about Jasmine’s concerns about Diana. Sam says Diana seems fine to her but they both agree to keep an eye on her. Meanwhile, in New Genosha, the town council has its weekly meeting. Valerie, as representative of the Morlocks, attends as a guest. She passes along an apology from the colony’s elder about the recent thefts. They request access to New Genosha’s landfill. The council agrees. Recent Academy X graduates Ethan and Mercy are officially given permission to open an elementary school. They have already begun construction and hope to be open by October. There is still some concern about the large number of powerful mutants in Asiantown and the need to privatize New Genosha. And there’s news from Glob Herman: while on patrol he noticed that, for the first time, there were non-Asians in Asiantown. At the end of the meeting councilwoman JamieLynn shares gossip. There’s still no sign of Bastienne’s sister Georgie, though when X-Corporation: Los Angeles member Rafé was recently in town, JamieLynn heard Bastienne spend the night with him. She says Wicked and a man who calls himself Freakshow are definitely a couple, too. When Bailey returns “home” to his room in Asteroid M, the Plex personality called “The Scientist” appears and wants an update on whether the Cotati will be granted asylum. Bailey has some questions (he is assured they’re safe at the moment but need a long-term home) and says the decision has been tabled for now. Bailey then spends time with his girlfriend Susanna, who is “ultra” excited to be a substitute at Academy X. She has already moved into an apartment in New Genosha. At the Academy X staff meeting on Thursday, Alice wants an update on the search for Carom. When Mac and Dane share that there’s been no progress with Doctor Strange and Hellfire Club: Tokyo respectively, Alice reveals she tried to hack into Hellfire Club: Tokyo’s computer system but failed. She did find some communications they had on the dark web, however. One member said that the “Emperor is coming” – and the message was from a week ago! Has the Emperor already come to New Genosha? Bastienne warns her to be careful poking around Hellfire Club as they could be dangerous. Sam shares Liam’s news about Diana. No one has seen any problems with the girl (she’s a model student), but they’re going to watch her. Sam shares that she spoke to S.W.O.R.D. about the Cotati and was assured they are a pacifistic people. When asked why Plex might want them, the S.W.O.R.D. agent wasn’t sure but imagined he wanted them to owe him a favor. There are noises from Plex below, but it could be a coincidence. Sam then asks for permission to get donations for clothes for the Morlocks and also to go to San Francisco to go shopping for her daughter Jessie (the girl grows a month every week and is constantly outgrowing her outfits). She is given permission for both. Bastienne also wants permission to go to church that night. This time Billy agrees to go with her and is impressed by her worshippers.  Soccer practices take place on Saturday in preparation for the first games of the year in a week. Preparations for the upcoming homecoming dance and party are made. On Sunday Bailey’s deputy police chief Barry asks him to accompany him on a patrol. It turns out that town councilwoman JamieLynn has a shrine to Evan in an unused shop in New Genosha. Around 20-30 people seem to attend weekly services. Matt returns from a visit to the Morlocks with news: some large underground creature is creating new tunnels while burrowing under the earth. It excretes the rock it eats which blocks off other tunnels, so the geography underground is constantly changing. He also returns with a care package from the Morlocks: they heard of Jessie growing out of her clothes and made her some new outfits, including one made out of one of David’s discarded prison uniforms. They plan to have Jessie visit David while wearing the outfit.  The next week passes uneventfully at Academy X. Meanwhile, David works on his memoirs from the New Genosha jail, as he’s had offers for publication. He’s considering the title “My Struggle.” With his access to e-mail he continues sending updates on his time in jail to the Nothing Can Stop the Blog website. David’s had several visitors. Matt plans to visit once a week, Bastienne visits every couple of days, and he has daily visits from New Genosha residents who pledge their support. The two new police recruits are clearly friendly to David and bend the rules to allow him minor privileges. Over the weekend are the first soccer games. The Hellions, Ardents, and Excelsiors win the first games. The homecoming dance and party goes off without any issues and the kids have a good time.  Then, on Monday, Matt interrupts afternoon classes with news of an attempted abduction of a super-powered teen in Sunnyvale. Witnesses were concerned that Arcade may be starting a new Avengers Arena. As the teen is on the run and still in danger, Sam assembles the eXalts. Mystic quickly contacts the Avengers to let them know what’s going on. The Blackbird hovers in stealth mode over the city park where the attempted abduction took place. Bastet teleports Primal to the park. They use their super-senses to identify the teen’s trail and follow it until it disappears. Bastet notices the ground seems disturbed and Primal channels the spirit of a badger to tunnel after the teen, who seems to have earth control powers. The group wonders if the teen somehow has Dondre’s powers – did Arcade steal the powers of the kids he abducted? Primal follows the trail into a water pipe and finally to a cemetery where screams alert the heroes that the teen is once again under attack. A group of eight gray-skinned soldiers are blasting black energy at him, preventing him from burrowing into the ground to escape once again. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> The battle begins. Bastet tries to teleport the teen to safety, but he panics and fights back. Glimmer sees the danger the teen is in and doubts herself. She summons David’s memories from when she absorbed his personality earlier. He’s now in control of Glimmer’s body! He tells the teen, “Come with me if you want to live,” but the kid refuses! Glimmer uses Mac’s borrowed powers to knock the teen unconscious. Meanwhile, K9 stuns one soldier. Panzer unleashes a thunderclap and stuns several others. The soldiers fight back, injuring several eXalts. Phantasma manages to telekinetically pull the unconscious teen away from the soldiers, but then she’s hit by a blast from one of the soldiers and is knocked unconscious. She plummets to the ground and is impaled on the cemetery fence. She’s dying! The kid lands on his head and is likewise in danger of dying from his injuries. Bastet teleports next to the teen to stabilize him. Mystic pulls Phantasma off the fence and heals her, but is surprised to find the wounds from the blast are incurable! The eXalts are injured by several attacks from the soldiers, and one of them grabs the unconscious teen! Panzer runs through a wall and frees the kid. Finally Blur is able to grab the teen and rush him away to safety. One of the soldiers uses his armor to communicate with their leader that the kid is gone. A moment later pink portals blink open one by one in front of the soldiers, allowing them to escape. They grab some downed soldiers, though one downed soldier and one soldier drained to exhaustion remain. The eXalts are shocked to see that the downed soldier’s body has become sludge! The huge, muscular form has melted away to reveal a dead human. Even the human form slowly melts into goo. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> At the same time, Billy uses his time control to hurry Mac to the hospital where he left the kid. David (still in Dagan’s mind) borrows Sam’s telepathy to speak to the teen, whose name is Dmitri. He says the soldiers looked normal at first and were asking him questions. They were looking for his sister, but he doesn’t have one. When he started to feel weird about the conversation and tried to leave, they somehow transformed into the gray, muscular forms and attacked. But it didn’t seem like they were trying to kill him – their blasts went wide. It was like they were steering him to try to capture him alive. Dmitri agrees to get himself checked out of the hospital and go with the eXalts for their protection as he may still be in danger. But who were the soldiers and what do they want?... **Next:** __Issue 93 - 'Protect and Survive'__
 * Previous: ** Issue 91 - 'Judgment Day'