Issue+43+-+'Forget+Me+Not'


 * Issue 43 - 'Forget Me Not' **




 * Plot**

David stands in Meghan’s room in shock: Doctor Doom is holding his son, Davan! Doom says, “Ah, you’re here at last. Allow me to present your new baby son. I believe congratulations are in order. And thanks.” And with that, Doom teleports away! David quickly takes stock of the situation. Bastienne is unconscious on the floor. Her torso is blackened and smoking. Meghan, though unconscious, seems unharmed. He quickly calls for Mac. Billy hears the message on the comm and runs Mac up to David. Mac uses some of his own energy to heal Bastienne, who awakens. David volunteers to be drained of energy to heal Meghan. Mac does so, but she doesn’t wake. Samantha arrives on the scene. She realizes Meghan has been affected by some sort of sleep effect. David calls for Amanda. Billy runs to get her. Amanda reports what everyone expected: Doom used magic to teleport in and to put Meghan to sleep. And maybe that’s not all…

Dane arrives and makes sure Meghan’s okay. He demands to know what’s going on. When he hears that Doctor Doom teleported away with his son, he storms off. Matt (from the security room) says Dane has flown off in the Blackbird. He’s heading to the Latverian Embassy in New York City. Samantha tries to raise Dane on the communicator but he doesn’t respond. He also has his cell phone turned off. Doctor Strange, who was completing the safe room for Jubilee, arrives. He confirms that Doom used a teleportation spell. He says he should be able to trace it back to its origin and teleport everyone there, but it will take some time. Sam goes into Meghan’s mind to make sure she’s okay. She’s fine, but drowsy. She awakens and then realizes what happened. David holds her as she sobs. She then pulls away and tells him that she knows it was his fault and she never wants to see him again. She leaves the room. David then leaves as well. He calls his mother to tell her that she has a grandson. She is stunned, but starts to congratulate him when David interrupts. He says Davan was kidnapped by Doctor Doom. He tells her that she needs to call his real father (referring to Magneto?) and tell him.

Bastienne follows David to the headmasters’ office. David is sitting in Dane’s chair and spinning. Bastienne says she’s sorry about what happened. She promises they’ll get Davan back. David says he doesn’t know if the eXalts can do it; Doctor Doom has fought more experienced teams like the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers to a standstill. Bastienne isn’t sure what to say but once again assures David that they’ll get Davan back. The headmistress leaves.

David calls Dagan in to tell her the news. She says Liam, a telepath, already knows and told everyone. She says she wants to get her brother back. David says it’s dangerous, but Dagan persists in arguing that they can’t leave Davan with Doom. David says it’s his fault Davan was taken, and that other people keep suffering for what he’s done. When Dagan leaves, Jess finds David. She’d been avoiding him for some time. She says she knows what he’s been up to with Lucius (trying to find a way around his ankle tracking bracelet for home confinement) and that it initially made her angry. Now, however, she says she’d understand if he wanted to get rid of the bracelet to go after his son. David says no, he needs to stay at the school and not put any more of his teammates in danger. Hours pass as Doctor Strange works to trace Doom’s teleportation spell.

Later David calls an eXalts meeting. David says it may be too dangerous to go after Doom. Most of the eXalts want to go after Davan, however. Bastienne says that Dane had called X-Corporation: Los Angeles. They agreed to loan them Thornn for missions. David says it’s up to Sam, the eXalts team leader. Sam says they have to go after Davan. David says it needs to be a rescue mission only. Doctor Strange breaks in to tell them that he’s figured out the teleportation spell and can take them to wherever Doom came from. He can’t find out much without alerting Doom, but he knows Doom came from Slokovia, a tiny kingdom next to Latveria that Doom recently annexed. Doctor Strange teleports to Los Angeles to get Thornn. Samantha tells Matt about the mission. He tells her to be safe, and also tells her that he’s worried about Dane. The Blackbird has been cloaked in hover mode for over an hour near the Latverian Embassy in New York City. Matt tries to reach Dane again, but to no avail. Sam is worried the Blackbird will run out of fuel and crash. Matt assures her that he can remotely pilot the jet and he won’t let that happen. She says she loves him, then leaves for the mission. Dagan is with David. She asks if Doctor Doom has his vibranium armor yet. David says he doesn’t think so. Dagan then asks if it would be okay to borrow Thornn’s powers. She knows Thornn can regenerate, and if Doctor Doom is as dangerous as David says, she may need the healing. David looks upset (thinking of Joni’s death?), but says it’s up to Sam.

The group gathers. The team includes team leader Phantasma, Bast, Medic, Blur, Glimmer, Thornn, and Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange casts a teleportation spell and the group disappears. A moment later they reappear near the top of a tower in an ancient castle in Slokovia. It is also a throne room. Doctor Doom sits in a throne and regards them with curiosity. He acknowledges “Steven” (referencing Doctor Strange) and then offers the group hospitality. Medic politely asks for the return of Davan. Doom says he was owed by the eXalts after they did not send him the futuristic Doombots they promised – now that he has Davan, they’re even. Sam searches for Davan mentally and Glimmer uses Thornn’s heightened senses to search for Davan, but he’s not there. As the two sides argue, Doctor Strange is concentrating. Suddenly Strange says that Doom has opened a gateway to another dimension and sent Davan through. Doom stands, angered. Doctor Strange tells the eXalts to go through the gateway and bring Davan back. Doom laughs and says they’ll never get Davan in time; time moves more quickly there and Davan will be an adult soon. Doctor Strange surprises Doom by opening the gateway by activating the key (an urn over the fireplace) and a wavy purple doorway appears. Doom, furious, attacks Doctor Strange, but the former Sorcerer Supreme holds him off. The rest of the team hurries through the gateway. On the other side they appear on a grassy hill overlooking an Ancient Greek city.

Blur’s nose begins bleeding and he nearly collapses, but he’s able to synchronize the dimension’s time with their home dimension. Medic notices that the gateway seems to react to him, but he can’t figure out why. A quick mental scan tells Sam that Davan is inside the palace on the sea. As the team approaches, guards dressed in praetorian armor notice the group and fly off to alert the palace. They appear to be humans, but they’re really Doombots! When the team arrives at the palace, a phalanx of Doombots are waiting for them. A fight breaks out at the palace entrance. The leader blasts Blur, but Blur responds by damaging the robot. Other team members are injured – Thornn is stunned by a powerful blast and others are hurt. Medic heals Thornn, then moves behind cover. Glimmer fires at a Doombot and dismantles it. Thornn, now healed, quickly takes down another. Phantasma flies past the Doombots into the palace. There she sees Doctor Doom himself – in modified armor – holding Davan! Bast shadow steps next to Doom and tries to pull Davan free, but fails. Phantasma uses her telekinesis to rip Davan from Doom’s arms and bring him to her safely. Doom retaliates with a powerful blast that stuns her. Phantasma falls to the ground, badly hurt, but Bast manages to grab Davan.

Glimmer flies inside and blasts Doom – revealing it to be another Doombot! The Doombot that is posing as Doom activates something in its armor, dispelling an illusion. The group sees that the idyllic city on the sea is really a hell dimension! The buildings sit on volcanic glass and the sea is actually a sea of lava! Worst of all, flying demons begin approaching! The team tries to escape. Medic is stunned by one of the Doombots, but Glimmer picks him up and flies off. Thornn covers the group’s escape and takes down three Doombots in quick succession. Blur grabs the dazed Phantasma and runs her to the gateway. Bast, who has Davan, is stunned and Doom is about to reclaim the baby when suddenly Meghan appears! She borrowed Gunther’s ability to invisibly tag along! She swoops down and grabs Bast and Davan and flies them back to the gateway. Thornn runs after them. Soon everyone is back at the gateway. On top of the hill, Medic somehow notices that the gateway is reacting to Meghan and Davan. He realizes that if either of them step through, the gateway will close – and cannot be reopened! Phantasma, Blur, Thornn, and Bast go through. Only Medic, Glimmer, and Meghan (holding Davan) are left behind. The Doombots and the demons are approaching. Medic tells Meghan she has to make a decision. Meghan extends Davan to Dagan. She tells her to take care of her brother. She tells Medic to tell David and Dane to raise Davan and tell him about her. Medic says he will and steps through. Dagan says, “I love you, mom,” and goes through with Davan. The gateway closes with Meghan left behind. Back at the castle, Doctor Strange is losing the battle with Doom. They are nearly matched in magical skill, but Doom’s armor is tipping the scales. Thornn tackles Doom, allowing Doctor Strange to cast a teleportation spell, bringing everyone back to Academy X.

Doctor Strange asks what happened to Meghan. Mac explains. Doctor Strange realizes that the gateway was programmed to close as soon as Davan went through. It was keyed to his (inactive) X-gene. Since Davan and Meghan had the same X-gene, she would have also caused it to close. Dagan’s X-gene has apparently changed (a secondary mutation?), which is why she didn’t trigger the gateway to close. The group theorizes that Doom must have wanted Davan for his power – or to take it. Strange reveals that Doom had been using magic to scry on the Meghan and Davan. Mac then notices Billy seems changed, somehow, and asks him what’s going on as Billy slips away. Billy just says he isn’t feeling well. Then, moments later, an explosion rocks the school! The garage is on fire! Phantasma is the first at the scene. Inside the flames she sees a figure. She uses her telekinesis to pull it free. It’s Billy – and he’s holding Ruth! Bastienne shadow steps nearby and puts out the flames. Billy’s back is badly burned and he’s dying! Dagan flies Mac over and the healer saves Billy. He’s unconscious from the strain of the time travel – but he saved Ruth! Somehow the experience of synchronizing time between dimensions gave him the key to time travel. The students help the teachers put out the fire. After the chaos, things settle down. Time passes.

Doctor Strange finishes Jubilee’s safe room. While he’s working Sam grabs one of his hairs at David’s request. Before Strange leaves, he talks to Mac. Mac wants to know why the gateway reacted to him. Doctor Strange tells him he obviously has latent magical abilities. They were probably inherited. He admits he has had suspicions that Mac is actually the son of Clea, a powerful mage. He says he’s sorry that he must leave, and also that he didn’t know about the pregnancy. Later David asks if Mac wants to know for sure if Doctor Strange is his father. Mac says he already knows the truth. Mac spends a lot of time with Jubilee in her new area of the Danger Room. She has impulses to kill and to feed, but she’s trying to live with them. Meanwhile, David takes care of his son. Everyone welcomes Ruth. When Billy recovers from overtaxing himself, he finds he can’t use his abilities. Bastienne tries to get Ruth to re-take her headmistress position, but Ruth declines. Bastienne has to deal with disciplining new freshman Nicholas, who broke Combat Club rules by being too violent. While making him run in the predawn hours while she chases him, Nicholas suddenly panics and attacks her. Bastienne manages to calm him down. Cameron finally makes bail and returns to the school. Michiyo pressures the eXalts to search for vampires. Sam agrees. She and Dagan (using Amanda’s powers) find a vampire at a college frat party. They bring it back to the school stakes. Before Sam can search its mind, enemies arrive.

Six vampires approach the school. The leader, a blonde, walks through sunlight without harm! While the other vampires attack the support pillars of the school, the leader, who’s called Xarus, says he’s there to leave a message. He reads Mustang’s mind and says he knows he doesn’t want to kill. Then Mustang starts to try to kill his teammates! Xarus grabs Bast and removes her ears, tail, and claws! He mentally attacks Medic, reversing his healing (he harms those he tries to heal!). He grabs Glimmer and, in a burst of speed, turns her into a vampire! He says he knows how to hurt Phantasma – he goes after her kids! Vortex and Matt are there. When Xarus tries to kill Vortex (who is holding Alex) the mutant somehow turns into air! Alex begins levitating as Vortex disperses. Xarus grabs Matt and cripples him. Alex shrieks – and suddenly Xarus runs away! The other vampires follow, but not before taking out a support pillar. The school collapses! The group manages to get everyone to safety. Most team members are healed. Dagan activated Thornn’s regeneration to fight off the vampirism. Phantasma “fixes” David and Mac. Mac heals Matt. Billy’s powers are back. But Bast has lost most of her powers. And Cameron, once he re-forms, reveals that it was Alex that somehow activated his secondary mutation. What does it mean? And what can they do about Xarus?

**Next:** __Issue 44 - 'At Dawn They Sleep'__ **Previous:** Issue 42 - 'Fresh Blood'