Issue+95+-+'Beast+and+the+Harlot'


 * Issue 95 - 'Beast and the Harlot' **




 * Plot **

Clan Akkaba, descendants of the X-Men villain Apocalypse, is searching for “seeds”: mutants that can host Egyptian gods. eXalt Bastienne was Bastet’s seed and already merged with the cat goddess. Her sister, Georgie, once merged with Sekhmet but was freed using the Orb of Ra. Clan Akkaba already has four seeds: Dmitri (Anubis), Christian (Isis), Ian (Seth) and DJ Niji (Ptah). The eXalts saved a fifth seed, Robyn (Horus), but she’s in hiding. During a trip into the heart of Utopia, the newly-expanded island nation filled with alien flora and fauna, the eXalts discovered the next seed: former Academy X student Christine “Tattoo” Cord. But Christine dropped out of school to join the Mutant Revolutionary Front, a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of hundreds. She has since been arrested and is in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, though her location is secret. Clan Akkaba also knows Christine is a seed and will be looking for her. Do their plans also involve Evan, the clone of Apocalypse and Academy X student?  The eXalts spend the night at a Hellfire Club: Tokyo encampment. The secretive organization also made an expedition into the valley in the heart of Utopia – a jungle filled with dinosaurs, elves, orcs, and other odd lifeforms. They were taking samples of alien plants in the region. The eXalts recover from various injuries and conditions sustained during their trip. They also reunite with the rescue team, dubbed the eXalts Red Team: Sam’s husband, Matt, along with reserve eXalts Ethan and Mercy (“Sublime” and “Subsume”), Bailey’s girlfriend Susanna (“Ultragirl”), former Academy X students Ginny (“Spark”) and Rafé (“Lobo”), Utopia federal agents and former Academy X students Robert “Glob Herman” and “Wicked” – and Mustang, the eXalt who was in prison! As acting Attorney General in Liam’s absence, Glob Herman gave David permission to join the rescue. The two teams nurse their wounds from Clan Akkaba’s attack – the soldiers, lead by Apocalypse’s daughter, Diamanda Nero, injured several members of the group. The next morning the Hellfire Club: Tokyo team helps the eXalts leave the valley and reach a boat that takes them back to Academy X. Even after leaving the strange valley, their powers do not return. It seems only rest will let them regain their abilities. They return to the school Tuesday morning to find students taking midterms. Michael, a mutant who has been both an ally and foe to the eXalts in the past but who most recently joined the Academy X staff, greets the group. In the absence of the two eXalts teams, he was both acting headmaster and President of Utopia (as he was the only remaining legislator). Bastienne gives Michael a hug, surprising him as they haven’t always had the best relationship (though he’s lost his memory of most of their interactions). She thanks him for keeping an eye on the school and the country while the eXalts were lost in a jungle dealing with dinosaurs. Michael is surprised by the news. He then pulls Academy X student Craig from his midterm to heal those who need it (as Mac hasn’t regained his healing abilities). Some accept the healing, while others choose to heal naturally (as Craig’s healing comes with the side effect of aging). Bailey says he’ll see if Plex, the alien artificial intelligence that controls the former space station beneath Academy X, can heal him. Bailey has a bond with Plex, as Plex is a Kree program while Bailey is half-Kree. Michael says he’d like to have an impromptu staff meeting to fill everyone in on what they’ve missed over the last week and a half. At the meeting Michael admits he had to make some difficult choices while everyone was away. Following the anonymous posting of fliers in the mutant community of New Genosha that demanded more control for residents of Utopia, there was unrest in the town. David demanded new elections for all Utopian government positions (and the intention to run for president) and Dane, who was once Utopia’s president until he disappeared into another dimension, claimed he still held the position. Meanwhile, Bastienne announced her resignation as Secretary of State. In the chaos that followed, New Genoshans protested in the streets, demanding more rights and new elections. The media became aware of the unrest and dubbed the event the “Utopian Spring” (referencing the “Arab Spring” when Middle Eastern people pushed for more freedom). Michael says he went to the town to calm the protests. To restore calm, he acquiesced to several demands. He made an executive order for new elections for all positions on the first of the new year. He also announced a constitutional convention to follow in order to allow input from residents. He granted permission for 1,000 new mutants to arrive in January (ten times as many as originally planned) and the creation of new jobs for new and existing residents, including more federal agents to keep an eye on the greatly expanded island. He also announced that he’d accepted a deal from Hellfire Club: Tokyo. In exchange for the construction of several new buildings in New Genosha (more housing, more buildings for stores and other needed facilities), he allowed the group the rights to twenty square miles on the western end of the island for ten years. The group digests the news. Dane turns to Mac and asks, as president, if he’s okay with Michael’s decisions. Mac says he’s not happy, but he’s more willing to accept the deal Michael made as opposed to dealing with the fallout of backing out now. Dane scoffs, and Mac says he can use the issue as campaign fodder if he needs to. Sam explodes at Dane, calling him a child for his petty political maneuvering. She storms out. In the end, the executive orders stand, and there’s more business to deal with. Mac says they need to contact the United States and S.H.I.E.L.D. about the area of Utopia where they were stranded. Not only did it cause them to lose their powers, but it also caused electronics to fail. Any airplane that flies into the region would crash (like their Blackbird, which remains at the crash site in the jungle). The group agrees. Matt adds they need to get the Blackbird as soon as possible. Considering it’s in the middle of virgin jungle and they can’t use electronics or super powers there, however, no one is sure how to get it and it has to wait. Michael brings up a concern about the students. He says they’ve been getting into fights (mostly verbal, but a few physical alterations) more often recently. He’s had to give several detentions. The group agrees to talk to the various students involved in the conflicts to try to figure out what’s going on. After the meeting, Mac and Dane learn that the other superhero team they belong to, the Uncanny Avengers, tried to contact them while they were missing in the jungle. They faced a foe called the Grim Reaper who could not be stopped and couldn’t be killed. Finally, Rogue absorbed some of Wonder Man’s power and defeated him. They get in touch with the team and explain their absence. Dane then spends some time with Davan, the son he shares with David. Dane has been the more involved parent and Davan missed him quite a bit. Meanwhile, Bastienne seeks out Michael. She asks Michael if he’ll be running for one of the positions. He admits he hadn’t thought about it as he had been acting president and he didn’t know if the eXalts would ever return. Now that everyone’s back, he’s considering running for Secretary of State (the position she resigned). She pledges her support to him. Mac waits for a few hours until Sam has had time to recover from her outburst during the meeting, then knocks on her door. She is spending time with her kids, as they hadn’t seen her for over a week. Valerie, a “normal” looking Morlock without powers, had been keeping an eye on them while Sam and Matt were gone. Mac and Sam chat privately. She apologizes for her explosion, but says she’s frustrated with Dane. He’s acting like a child. He cares more about feeding his ego than he does about New Genosha or Utopia. He’s just feeding his ego and he never follows through with committing to anything but himself. She’s been afraid before that Hellfire Club: Tokyo would take control of Utopia, but with all the recent chaos she’s even more afraid now. She’s convinced the group was behind the anonymous posters that riled up the populace and they’re going to take advantage of the resulting political unrest. Mac says in the end it doesn’t matter – the truth is, they had this coming. He was so busy trying to figure out how to be a good leader that he didn’t actually lead. He didn’t engage with the New Genoshans to hear their concerns and address them. As he’ll still be president until at least January, he pledges to do more to be a better leader. Sam agrees that they can do more, but she still fears what the elections will bring. Matt enters and hears the end of their talk. He says they’re not perfect, but in the end they’ve helped over 200 refugees and dozens of mutant kids. That night Mac writes a letter to all New Genoshan households where he accepts responsibility for his failures as president and outlines his plans to spend more time in the town and be responsive to their needs. Sam writes an e-mail to Honoka, the former Academy X teacher and eXalt who is now running Hellfire Club: Tokyo (though she serves the mysterious Emperor). Sam lets Honoka know what happened during their time in the jungle and updates her on the changes in Utopia. Honoka replies with a terse, but friendly acknowledgement of the news and is grateful that Sam is okay. Sam reads the response and then gets some sleep. Wednesday begins with Combat Club practice. The students are engaging in team fights: two on two or three on three to start with. It’s clear that the conflict among students is bleeding into the battles, as they are more vicious than usual. Evan is also different – instead of patiently helping weaker students, he ignores them to only work with the strongest students. Evan then skips his morning classes and ignores his midterms. Bastienne finds him in the tech lab working on a new suit of armor (his last suit was left behind at the crashed Blackbird when he couldn’t move in it due to losing his telekinesis). She offers to train him and he accepts. They go to the Danger Room to spar, but when Evan sees that she intends to train him in staff fighting (in the style of Wakandan warriors), he refuses. He says he wants to be stronger, not learn to use a stick. He says improving his own abilities is the only way to become more powerful. She calls him weak for not wanting to try. He throws his staff to the floor and storms out. Bastienne is concerned, but at least Evan has been spending time with the Stone family (he’s bonded with them, though he’s been withdrawn around them lately), though he’s also been in New Genosha visiting David… At the Thursday staff meeting, Liam says he’ll be taking a leave of absence to return to New Mexico. He intends to seek the help of the Navajo elders to figure out why the Egyptian god Sobek was able to possess him and why he’s had aftereffects (disturbing dreams or visions). The group is sad to learn he’ll be leaving but understands his decision. The group then discusses the plan to build a teleport blocker. Dane and Mac figured out how to build a device that blocks all teleportation, including through magic. But is it a good idea? There is some debate. Bastienne is against the plan as the device blocks all teleportation (even their own or allies) and it might hurt them. In the end, however, the group votes to move forward with construction of the device. Matt has some news. He spoke to some S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts about the location of the next seed, Christine. No one knows (or can reveal) where she’s being held as a prisoner, but she’s still somewhere on the west coast. More troubling, however, is the admission by one well-placed contact that, since the destruction of the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t have a facility that blocks teleportation. If Clan Akkaba locates Christine, they will be able to get her without any resistance. And another source informed Matt that a mysterious group has recently been probing known S.H.I.E.L.D. locations searching for information. It’s most likely Clan Akkaba looking for Christine. If they don’t find Christine first, they may lose another seed to the group. Fortunately, he does have some good news: one source revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps physical records of sensitive information that can’t be kept in a hackable database. The records are kept in a safe at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secret front: Credit Dauphine in San Francisco. West Coast Director Owens has an office at the bank and the safe is kept there. Tomorrow night there will be a charity dinner and dance fundraiser for the Maria Stark Foundation. It’s the perfect cover to sneak in and get Christine’s location. The group discusses the plan. If they can get to Christine first, the teleportation blocker will keep her safe (or at least safer) at Academy X. Mac contacts Steve Rogers to see if S.H.I.E.L.D. will transfer Christine to them or someone who can hold her safely, but the organization won’t even acknowledge they have her. The eXalts have no choice but to take the risk and infiltrate Credit Dauphine. They need to be proactive and it’s only a matter of time before Clan Akkaba finds Christine if they do nothing. Billy says Sam will be perfect for the mission, as she was raised by super-spy “Raven” (X-Men foe Mystique). The group doesn’t know what he’s talking about – it’s another false memory (or sign he’s from another timeline). Moving on, Matt says he needs five eXalts, and fortunately they’ve regained some powers: Sam (who’s recovered her mental communication and ability to create mental illusions), Bastienne (who has all her abilities), Mac (who can now teleport), Dane (who can once again assume human form), and Bailey (who can now paralyze foes). Sam will mentally keep in touch with Matt. He can’t enter the bank due to their biometric scanners (as a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, he would be recognized) but he can lead the operation through Sam. Bastienne will use her supernatural agility to sneak into Owens’ office and get into the safe. Mac will use his social skills to distract guards or get information. Dane will use his tech skills to hack the security on-site, and Bailey will be there as muscle, if needed. Mac teleports the team to the bank. It’s time! Sam creates mental illusions to make the team appear as invited guests (fake identities uploaded by Dane). Sam poses as Natalie, a beautiful brunette socialite. Bastienne is Parker, a blonde philanthropist. Dane is Hardison, an African American Silicon Valley exec. Mac is Simon, a tall, dark and handsome businessman. Bailey is a scruffy venture capitalist. They enter the party. Bastienne slips away and makes it to the top floor where Director Owens has his office. Dane breaks into a security office and gets control of the cameras. Sam, Bailey and Mac mingle among the party guests and wait for Bastienne’s signal that she’s ready. Immediately there’s a problem. Dane sees on the security cameras that Owens isn’t at the party: he’s in his office. The group has to figure out how to get him out so Bastienne has time to crack the safe. Dane spoofs a S.H.I.E.L.D. e-mail address to send Owens a message that he’s needed in a meeting. Owens replies that he’s busy but will attend later. Since that didn’t work, Sam, Bailey and Mac look for a way to draw Owens out before the party is over. Sam and Mac notice two party-goers that seem “off”: a member of the San Francisco Federal Reserve and a bank CEO. Could they be Clan Akkaba soldiers (they can shapeshift)? Bailey notices the guards are actually S.H.I.E.L.D. agents posing as hired security. Sam uses her mental abilities to start a fight. It works: Owens gets word of a brawl and hurries down to take charge of the scene. Bastienne takes the opportunity to get into the office. Her ability to move silently foils the noise sensors. Upon entering, she’s surprised to find Owens strange taste: the office is lined with black velvet paintings of dogs, boasts a shag carpet, and holds a small collection of lava lamps – really, really big lava lamps featuring life-sized, hollow resin figures of Egyptian goddesses. Does Owens worship one or more of the Egyptian pantheon? But there’s no time to worry about it. She makes her way to safe to find a laser crosswire in front of the mechanism to open it. She attempts to disable the laser without setting it off, but only succeeds in overloading a fuse elsewhere. She has no choice but to use a device Dane gave her to fry electronic equipment. It can only be used once, but it shuts off the laser. The delay in dismantling the security has cost her, however – downstairs, Owens is headed back to the elevator.  Mac intercepts Owens first. He recognizes the S.H.I.E.L.D. director and has a security concern for him. Owens listens to Mac’s worries about Utopia, but dismisses him and steps into the elevator. Mac’s bought Bastienne some time, but is it enough? Fortunately, Bastienne’ super senses allow her to hear the nearly silent tumblers and quickly crack the safe. She opens the door to look for the paperwork with Christine’s secret location – but is surprised to instead find security monitors that show footage of S.H.I.E.L.D. prisoners in the bank’s basement vaults. Christine is in the building! But there’s more. On one monitor she can see Major Henderson, Owens’ second-in-command, is moving the prisoners to an elevator. Besides Christine, there’s Agent McAlister (Mac’s renegade cousin) and Outcry, the youngest member of the Guardians (a villainous “superhero” team). Bastienne can read Major Henderson’s lips as he talks to S.H.I.E.L.D agents. They’re planning to get the prisoners onto a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter on the roof. They’re being transferred to another location – but once the prisoners make it to the roof, Clan Akkaba will likely know where they are and will get to them first! Bastienne quickly exits the office and relates the news. But before she can leave the scene, the elevator door opens and Owens emerges with his bodyguards. He says she’s not supposed to be there and dispatches his guards to take her into custody. She plays along and goes willingly until Owens re-enters his office, then attacks. Meanwhile, Dane hacks into the elevator system and stops Major Henderson’s elevator just before it reaches the roof. Bailey is already en-route on the other elevator. When Major Henderson pries the door open to head for the stairs, Bailey is waiting. While Bailey takes out the four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Bastienne dispatches the two and heads for the rendezvous points. Bailey handcuffs the other two prisoners (Agent McAlister and Outcry) to a railing and brings Christine to the exit point. Mac teleports everyone back to Utopia: they’ve made it out with Christine! And their other objective was a success, as well. Dane routed his hacking through an IP address linked to the Mutant Revolutionary Front. Mac made some sympathetic comments about the MRF that make their way back to Owens. Bastienne left claw marks on the safe that would appear to be similar to Cougar (MRF’s leader). Not only did the eXalts successfully get Christine, but Owens believes the MRF, not the eXalts, was responsible for breaking her out! The eXalts leave on the power dampening bracelet Christine is wearing and put her in a Danger Room cell for now. She asks to see David, but they tell her he’s in prison. The next day is the first performance of a play put on by the Ardents, one of the student teams. Unfortunately, the performance is ruined when several members of the team get into a fight in the middle of the performance. The Academy X staff begins to suspect something unnatural is causing all the recent student fights. Sam wonders if Michael, with his emotion control powers, could be responsible. She questions him but he pleads his innocence. Then a knock at the door reveals Diana, the new senior telepath. It was recently revealed that Diana’s paperwork was falsified. Her true identity is a mystery. Diana says she used her telepathy to listen into the conversation. It’s not Michael manipulating the students – it’s new freshman Ardent Valentina. Sam scolds Diana for misusing her powers, but thanks her for the information. Sam brings the information to the headmasters. They decide to interview Diana first to get more information. Diana admits she forged her paperwork to get into Academy X. Her parents were low-level mutant minions for the Brotherhood and then the MRF, and she wanted a different life. Bastienne has heard of her parents. The headmasters say Diana can stay at the school, but she’ll be punished for her actions. When it’s time to bring Valentina in to answer for her actions, however, they discover she’s gone! She made her way to the edge of the teleport blocker’s range and disappeared. Was she working for Clan Akkaba? And why was she trying to get Academy X students to fight? On Sunday Bastienne investigates junior prefect Hunter. He’s used his student staff privileges to sneak off at times. The headmistress finds he’s also stealing small electrical or mechanical components. What is he up to? She waits to catch him in the act. Meanwhile, Mac visits New Genosha to tell David they have Christine. That night, at the eXalts training session, Evan tries out his new armor against several eXalts. Bastienne refuses to spar with him, however, since he was unwilling to train her way. Sam talks to him after the meeting to see why he’s been so agitated since their time in the jungle. Evan loses patience with her, however. He says she doesn’t understand power – after all, when she had a Phoenix Force fragment, she did nothing and wasted it! At the student team meetings, the Ardents are beginning to mend fences after all the fights. The Corsairs are adjusting to new teacher Susanna (who replaced David). The Excelsiors are still concerned about Shadae (who was cutting) and Seth’s growing power. They’re planning the school’s Halloween party (the theme is “Monster Mash”). Dagan is still concerned that her team, the Exemplars, may be in touch with the MRF. The Hellions are worried about Evan’s agitation, and the Paragons mention they noticed a lot of recent shipments to Hellfire Club: Tokyo in New Genosha. By Monday the eXalts have all regained their missing powers. At the Monday night Utopia meeting, Bastienne says Mayor Sinclair of San Francisco is looking for an update to her offer. Do they want to make a lucrative deal with the city in exchange for taking any mutants who want to move to Utopia as well as all the Morlocks? The legislators decide to approach the San Francisco Morlocks (to see if they want to move) and the Utopian Morlocks (to see if they’re okay with sharing resources). Mac says X-Corporation Los Angeles will soon finish vetting the thousand mutants who will move to Utopia in January. Sam says construction has begun in New Genosha for the buildings Hellfire Club: Tokyo promised. Glob Herman attends in Liam’s absence. He says he’s doing his best to train the newly-hired federal agents with Wicked’s help. Bastienne says she’ll also help. On Tuesday night the student staff says the fighting has died down. On Wednesday, there is a New Genosha town council meeting. The town has returned to normal since Michael’s promise of new elections and other reforms. After the meeting, Barry (New Genosha’s deputy police chief) tells Bailey that the Evan cult is still meeting secretly – and he saw Evan himself attend the last gathering. Bailey updates Plex on recent developments. Plex also informs Bailey that the Cotati (sentient, telepathic plants from the Kree homeworld) have settled in and are doing well. The rest of the week passes uneventfully. Mac keeps his promise to spend time in New Genosha on Saturday. That night is the school’s Halloween party. The event goes off without any problems (unlike some previous Halloween parties) and the kids have a great time. Halloween itself is a big day for Bastienne. Her church, the former Santa Muerte cult, is celebrating her feast day with a ceremony which will conclude at midnight, bridging Halloween and All Saints’ Day. It’s also the grand opening of her new, larger church in Oakland as well as big celebrations at her churches in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Rafael, and smaller gatherings in other communities. The new church is filled with lots of roses (Santa Muerte’s symbol) and green banners (Bastet’s signature color). Bastienne enters in full Santa Muerte makeup (similar to Day of the Dead) and a red robe with gold and beaded jewelry, effortlessly mixing both Bastet and Santa Muerte iconography. She speaks of the good work they’re doing as a church to help the needy and to protect those who cannot protect themselves. She says all must look inside themselves for ways to help those less fortunate, but as the clock strikes midnight screams interrupt her speech. Smoke begins filling the church and the doors are barred from the outside. Bastienne heads to the back door, but finding it locked as well, scales the wall with her claws and bursts through the stained glass windows to escape. Amid the shower of brightly-colored glass she finds a bloody body in the back alleyway. Once she frees the congregation, she discovers the body is none other than former Academy X student and her sometimes lover Rafé “Lobo” Lopez. He has Egyptian hieroglyphics carved into his chest: “She’s mine” and a lion symbol. Sekhmet has killed Rafe! And soon news arrives from the other churches: they’ve also been set on fire. Dozens died at the Los Angeles church and many more were injured. Has the lion cult come to the west? <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;"> Meanwhile, at midnight, a mental scream from Diana wakes everyone at Academy X. Everyone experiences a blur as they’re forcibly moved by Billy (he slowed time to get everyone out). A green gas fills the building. Billy gasps he couldn’t save everyone – left behind were seniors Jamie, Marco and Reggie; junior Wendy; and freshman Lina. Billy just brushed Davan’s foot as the gas reached the boy. In that moment, Davan disappeared and Billy doesn’t know why! Dane rushed to his son and was knocked out by the gas, maybe dead! And Evan was left behind… but at that moment, Evan emerges from the school, seemingly unscathed by the gas. His armor is glowing and he’s furious. But there’s no time to deal with Evan as hundreds of mutants appear in the skies above the school. It’s Hellfire Club: Tokyo! The mutants begin raining blasts of energy onto Evan, but with a gesture he summons hundreds of Plex’s android guards from Asteroid M. They burst from the ground all around the school and engage the mutants. Hellfire Club presses the attack. An elderly Asian man leads the assault with an elderly Asian woman at his side and former eXalt Honoka. Honoka refers to the man as “Emperor Golden Claw” and the woman as “Lady Lotus”, but Sam can tell they’re really Billy and Ruth – *their* Billy and Ruth! But why are they so old? There’s no time for conversation. Elderly Billy and young Billy begin a speedster duel. Elite Hellfire soldiers Sunfire, Decay, Tattoo, and a Japanese Ghost Rider join Lady Lotus and Honoka (or “Nightwind”) in the attack. They focus on Mystic, the healer. Sunfire destroys a Mystic duplicate and stuns Phantasma. Decay disintegrates K9’s side. Lady Lotus unleashes a mental volley, sending the eXalts visions of possible futures. Many of them are dazed. Tattoo takes advantage and drops Phantasma. Michael (or “Discord”) surprises the eXalts and fights for Hellfire Club: Tokyo! He mentally controls Glimmer to attack Mystic, destroying another duplicate. Meanwhile, Nightwind staggers Evan from behind. They’re only knocking out eXalts, but they’re trying to kill Evan! Discord is shocked by this and switches sides. He mentally controls Sunfire to attack Lady Lotus, but she sees it coming and dodges. Meanwhile, Alice (an Academy X staff member with a mental link with Plex) calls out in Plex’s voice that he’s free! The Cotati have helped him break Evan’s mental control. Bailey tells him to help the students. The situation looks dire as Mystic goes down, but he’s brought Phantasma back first. Phantasma uses her telekinesis to throw Honoka into the gas, knocking her out. Sunfire once again attacks Lady Lotus, and this time lands a solid hit. The elderly Billy has knocked out Blur, but upon seeing Lady Lotus go down, he grabs her and flees. Glimmer uses the healing borrowed from Mystic to heal Evan. Regaining his strength, he lets out a scream of rage. Suddenly all the Hellfire Club mutants dissolve into ashes. Sunfire barely escapes, but Tattoo and Decay are dead along with nearly 300 other soldiers. Evan screams, “It is time to accept my destiny: I am Apocalypse!” And with that, he flies off to the horizon. The battle is over, but have things gone from bad to worse? **Next:** __Issue 96 - 'Pestilence'__
 * Previous: ** Issue 94 - 'Sky is Falling'