Issue+71+-+'Youth+of+the+Nation'


 * Issue 71 - 'Youth of the Nation' **


 * Plot**

The Serpent is defeated and Ragnarök averted, but at what cost? Captain America (Bucky Barnes) and Thor are dead, as are students at Academy X and Xavier’s school. This event, along with years of tension, has caused a rift between Cyclops and Wolverine that leads to an event dubbed Schism: the fracturing of the mutant community. Wolverine and his allies, including Kitty Pryde, Beast, and Professor X, found a new mutant school called the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning at the Howlett Estate in Alberta, Canada. Schism is felt at Academy X, as well. Cameron, wanted for attempted murder, joins Wolverine’s staff. After “young” Lucius disappears, “old” Lucius joins Xavier’s school. Sixteen Academy X students also join the Jean Grey school. On top of that, Academy X Board of Trustee and President of Utopia Dane Lightfoot has disappeared. It is a time of turmoil. The remaining staff of Academy X (Bastienne, Dagan, David, Mac, Matt, Ruth and Sam) regroup during the summer. Due to Schism, Academy X hosts students that cannot or will not return home during the summer. Meanwhile, the staff of Academy X completes their graduate degrees. Several eXalts assist the rebuilding in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. David doesn’t participate, however, as the often-maligned leader of the eXalts faces a barrage of negative attention following his time as Runak. While he was possessed by the hammer and not responsible for his actions, he has been tried in the court of public opinion and found guilty. He steps down as eXalts team leader, leaving second-in-command Samantha as new team leader. Other events take place over the summer. In an event that becomes known as “Spider Island,” the inhabitants of Manhattan all gain abilities similar to Spider-Man. Avengers Academy moves to a new location in the old West Coast Avengers headquarters outside of Los Angeles. The headmasters contact Academy X to see if they’d be interested in some friendly competition. Avengers Academy has opened its doors to more students and now has nearly as many as Academy X. Late in the summer there is news that Jubilee has resurfaced from her quest of finding her sire. She was reportedly seen with X-23 in Paris. There is little news from other groups, such as the Purifiers, the vampires, the Mutant Revolutionary Force, or the Morlocks. Mac is busy in his new role as President of Utopia. Bastienne takes over his former role of Secretary of State. She finds time to visit her grandmother and her sister, Georgie, who has been dealing with the activation of her X-gene. She is at a psychiatric treatment facility in southern California with her fiancé, Rafé. Bastienne also oversees the students staying at Academy X over the summer, including taking them on field trips. There is sporadic news of the other “adult mutants” in San Francisco. Some have committed crimes, while others have been found dead. David is haunted by being possessed by Runak. He struggles with raising his son Davan, accepting a lot of help from Bastienne and Sam. Meanwhile, Sam juggles her roles as mother to three children (including the rapidly-aging Jessica), eXalts team leader, Academy X staff member, and Secretary of the Interior. On Utopia, New Genosha’s construction is nearly finished. The main bank building and housing buildings are complete, and several other support buildings are nearing completion. There is one notable incident over the summer. Shiro “Sunfire” Yoshida, Academy X Trustee, member of Hellfire Club: Tokyo, and supervisor of the New Genosha project, informs Sam that there was a security breach at the bank. Someone had access to security codes and stole a substantial amount of money as well as customer data. He is looking into it. On top of that, Dane’s project to pump the ocean water from Asteroid M comes to an end. The former space station should be free of water (and the Selenium pumped into those waters by Hellfire Club: Tokyo to remove the Atlantean vampires). But several mysteries remain, including how the power is still on in the station below, and the occasional odd mechanical sounds and vibrations that emanate from below. There is news from the Board of Trustees. Trustees Scott “Cyclops” Summers and Emma Frost have resigned the board. Scott’s seat has been transferred to Heather Cameron, CEO of X-Corporation: Los Angeles. Emma’s seat has been transferred to Agape Chionia, former Academy X student. Lastly, Dane’s lawyer contacts the school to inform them that his Board of Trustees seat has been transferred to Matthew Stone, Samantha’s husband! Along with the seat is ten million dollars – enough to cover the trustee’s role in funding the school for ten years. There are some shake-ups in staffing. With so many staff members dead or gone, existing staff take new roles. Dagan will be a full-time technology and language teacher (and Exemplars team advisor). Ruth will become the science and music teacher (and Ardents team advisor). Even after these changes, two more teachers are needed. New candidates are interviewed and then approved by the Board of Trustees: Carom (a mutant with the ability to teleport) will be the language and art teacher. Liam Stonecrow (a former detective with the ability to channel spirits) will be the math and language teacher. The staff of Academy X also selects the student staff for the fall. Ethan and Mercy will retain their prefect status as seniors and will act as reserve eXalts members. Mercy will also serve as Bastienne’s assistant. The Head Boy and Head Girl will be Robin and Carrie. Junior prefects will be Gabriel and Melody. As August begins, word breaks that Wonder Man has attacked the Avengers! Since Fear Itself and the world-wide destruction, Wonder Man decided super-powered individuals cause more problems than they solve. He attacked the Avengers building, inadvertently endangering the world when he unintentionally destroyed a time machine the Avengers were using to help repair the time stream. Failing in his attack, Wonder Man disappeared. Wonder Man then formed a group called the Revengers made up of lower tier heroes such as Captain Ultra, Anti-Venom, Virtue, Devil-Slayer, Atlas, Goliath, Century and D-Man. They assault Avengers Mansion and easily defeat Luke Cage's New Avengers. The Avengers put out a call for help, summoning reserve members including Mystic. When the Revengers attack Avengers Tower, Mystic helps the Avengers defeat them. Soon enough it is time for the new semester. On Friday before the start of the new school year, the staff of Academy X is enjoying their last day of freedom before students return over the weekend and the semester begins on Monday. Samantha spends the day with the four kids. Mac finishes moving into Dane’s former room. David finishes setting up Davan’s nursery. Ruth goes over the curriculum for the new semester. Bastienne oversees the students that spend their summer at Academy X. Dagan spends the day with Julian before he heads off to Stanford University. While not with Sam and the kids, Matt checks in the new staff members and their companions. Liam Stonecrow arrives with his daughter, Jasmine, in the morning. He moves into Mac’s former room and helps Jasmine move into her room. Carom Kawaguchi teleports to Utopia late in the day with his girlfriend, Alice MacKay. They begin moving into Cameron’s former room. After dinner the students that have been staying at Academy X over the summer watch the kids so the staff can hold a staff meeting. Dagan is the first one in the War Room. She is texting on her phone. Bastienne enters and notices Dagan looks tanned and relaxed. Guessing Dagan is texting with her boyfriend, Julian, she asks how Julian is doing. Dagan says he’d still adjusting to his prosthetic hands, but he’s excited about going to Stanford. Bastienne seems more emotionally stable following a summer spent grieving for her dead wife, Jessica. Sam and Matt enter. Matt keeps an eye on the perimeter cameras from the security console. He notices that baby Davan is upset about something. His mutant power of emotion control is causing the students around him to cry, as well. Mac and Ruth enter next. Ruth sits quietly at the far end of the table while Mac makes small talk. David is the last of the returning staff to enter. There is a blue tint around him, indicating he still does not have full control of his light powers following his possession by Runak, Breaker of Skies, during Fear Itself. The tint is barely noticeable, however, so he has made progress. Liam arrives and introduces himself. He is of mixed Native American and Welsh ancestry, slight of build, with glasses and rumpled clothing from moving in. Dagan whispers to Bastienne that she’s never heard of him. Liam is just in time to join the discussion about sorting the freshmen into teams. Two students with size-altering abilities (Isabel can shrink and Oki can grow) are placed in the Ardents to train their melee skills. Priya, a girl that has absorbed the power cosmic, is a natural fit in the Corsairs as a blaster. David also selects Kai, a Hawaiian with limited technopathy that allows him to learn how to use technological devices by touch. Liam is the new team advisor of the Excelsiors, the team for students that might need extra support. He selects Francine, or “Frankie”, a little person that is immovable. As she recently attempted suicide, the Excelsiors will be a good placement for her. He also chooses Glenn, an African American boy who seems embarrassed by his mutant power of attracting animals. Dagan has taken over the Exemplars, the team where many students with physical mutations are placed. As such she selects Craig (a healer with tentacles) and Leticia Bianchi (a Brazilian girl that is half snake). Sam selects two students with mental powers for the Hellions: Jasmine (Liam’s daughter), who can grow plants, and P’Ythri, a young demon from Muspelheim that can control hellfire. Lastly, since Paragons advisor Carom has yet to arrive, the two remaining students (Pamela, an Irish girl that can grow her hair; and Tony, a transgender boy that has gills and a second, transparent set of eyelids) are drafted into the Paragons. The door opens and Carom’s girlfriend, Alice, arrives. Carom sent her to tell everyone he is finishing moving in and will be down shortly. She introduces herself, accidentally making awkward comments a few times (like saying Sam’s skin looks bluer on TV and wondering if that was racist, or saying David looks shorter in person). She says she is a reader of the Nothing Can Stop the Blog! website and doesn’t believe what the mainstream media is saying about David. He tells her she should believe it. The embarrassing situation is interrupted by Ruth. She informs everyone that the pumping project begun by Dane has been completed. The ocean water has been removed from Asteroid M beneath the school and it should be safe to enter. Dagan mentions she’s heard occasional thumping noises from below and felt the floor vibrate. David agrees to investigate the former space station. He says he’ll plan an expedition with Mac and Liam. Changing the subject, Sam mentions that she spoke to Shiro recently about the security incident in New Genosha. Someone broke into the bank from the inside and stole money and investor data. Shiro would like access to the school’s security system to check footage from the night of the break-in. Since Shiro is one of Academy X’s trustees, the group believes they should aid him. They discuss supervising his review of the footage or making him a copy of the video files, but they don’t want to give him complete access to their system (since he works for Hellfire Club: Tokyo, they don’t fully trust him). In the end they decide to review the footage themselves first. Carom enters at last. He is a biracial man of Caucasian and Japanese ancestry. His hair is dyed blonde and he has dark brown eyes. He is wearing a trench coat, dress pants and shirt, and a tie. He introduces himself to the staff. There is some whispering among several staff members that Carom is working for Hellfire Club: Tokyo and can’t be trusted. At this point Matt calls over Sam and the others to take a look at the security cameras. Davan is throwing a temper tantrum, but for once none of the kids around him are upset. Matt points out that one of the sophomores, Evan (a clone of Apocalypse), is staring at Davan. Is he somehow preventing Davan’s emotion control powers from working? Matt comments that Evan’s powers (energy projection, telepathy, telekinesis, shapeshifting, technopathy, and flight) have developed substantially since he first arrived at the school. The staff meeting ends. Sam and Bastienne pick up the kids (Kurt is excited he caught a ball, Alex has a stinky diaper, and Davan is still upset he didn’t get a popsicle). Everyone goes to bed. That night, Bastienne is awoken when she heard David scream across the hall. She approaches the room to see bright blue light within. When she asks him if he’s okay or needs to talk, he admits he had a nightmare but he’s fine now. Bastienne goes back to bed. The student staff returns on Saturday: Head Boy Robin and Senior Prefects Ethan and Mercy are already there, but Head Girl Carrie and Junior Prefects Gabriel and Melody arrive. They go through orientation and training, including the Danger Room. Robin and Carrie pick code names (Boggart and Arsenal), as do Gabriel and Melody (Aegis and Aero). David will train the student staff to be a super team. Later Hank Pym (headmaster of Avengers Academy) calls Mac to discuss setting up friendly competitions. They agree to have a soccer match between the top teams of the two schools and possibly a staff competition and exchange program in the spring. Hank Pym also shares information about Wonder Man: his team, the Revengers, are in the rebuilt Raft, while Simon was placed in an ionic containment unit – but he escape. Meanwhile, David tells Dagan he needs precise GPS tracking of his expedition team to Asteroid M. Since Lucius has left the school and Dagan is the technology teacher, she’s best equipped to build what he needs. She agrees to try. That night, Sam, Matt and Liam watch the security camera footage from the night of the New Genosha break-in. After watching hours of footage from various cameras (and wishing Billy was there), it seems fruitless until Liam notices movement in the shadows in one shot. The others confirm the movement, but are unsure of the cause. They agree to share the news with Shiro. On Sunday the rest of the students return. David, Bastienne, and Mac take the ferry to the San Francisco pier to meet students. A small crowd has gathered. They are taking photos of the mutant students. The Academy X staff hurriedly loads the kids onto the ferry, but not before noticing there is new stock in the store selling Academy X and eXalts gear. Cameron and David merchandise is on sale, but they’re still selling Billy and Dane products. The traditional welcome back picnic is held. Afterward, headmasters greet the students and go over the school rules. That afternoon, students have team meetings. Liam gets to know the Excelsiors and Carom meets the Paragons. Ashley, Paragons team leader, tells Carom that she spoke to Honoka (Hellfire Club: Tokyo Shogun) earlier in the week and she looks forward to working with him. Carom later finds out that the Paragons once had Honoka as their team advisor and have remained close to Hellfire Club: Tokyo. Later on Sunday the members of the Board of Trustees arrive for a meeting. The staff politely welcomes Honoka and Shiro, and more warmly welcomes Heather and Agape. Agape is a bit distant, but Heather hugs everyone (including the new staff), and is especially affectionate with Mac. Mac doesn’t return her affection, as he thinks of Jubilee, who was recently seen with X-23 in Paris. Matt later tells Sam that the trustees met in the War Room and discussed the school’s budget. The first week of classes passes uneventfully. Carrie convinces all students to join the Combat Club. They meet before classes each day. There’s news of another dead mutant in San Francisco. Mac is bombarded by asylum requests from mutants hoping to move to Utopia. An increasing number of mutants have attempted to sneak onto the island. He calls for a cabinet meeting that weekend to address the issue. Then, on Saturday, news breaks of an attack on Monterey, California by a giant bug creature. A S.H.I.E.L.D. team has responded but has already been taken down! Sam calls Agent Owen, who unofficial confirms that the eXalts are needed. New staff members Carom and Liam accompany Phantasma, Bast, Mustang, Glimmer and Mystic. Mac opens a portal to a rooftop near the scene. Civilians are fleeing the giant insect creature. It releases giant locusts the size of humans. The locusts swarm the civilians and eXalts. Bast teleports Liam to the street where they rescue injured people. They are attacked by giant bugs, but Carom opens portals to deflect the attacks back at the locusts. Several drop. Liam channels the strength of a bear and drops another. Glimmer’s light blast drops another. Bast jumps onto the Locust Lord’s back, barely injuring it. A locust attacks Mustang but can’t get through his force field. Mystic creates duplicates of himself, then demonstrates a new power when he shoots a gout of acid at another locust, but the bug is immune! Mustang, unable or unwilling to use his light blasts, binds the Locust Lord with light bands. It breaks free and injures Bast. Musang then creates the light construct of a slide for a civilian to escape. Phantasma telekinetically throws one locust into the Locust Lord, killing the smaller bug. The Locust Lord vomits acid at Phantasma and Glimmer. They are both hurt. Glimmer is swarmed by several smaller locusts and drops. Desperate, Carom creates a portal between the Locust Lord’s head and body, decapitating it. The smaller locusts fly away. The battle is won, though several S.H.I.E.L.D. members have died…
 * Next:** Issue 72 - 'A New Machine'
 * Previous:** Issue 70 - 'Terror'