Issue+77+-+'Fix+You'


 * Issue 77 - 'Fix You' **




 * Plot**

In order to free their ally David, Bastienne, Liam, Samantha, and Carom find themselves deep inside a pyramid temple created by Bastienne’s sister, Georgina. Georgina believes herself to be a reborn Egyptian cat goddess named Sekhmet. Mac was able to create a portal to the pyramid by using something David cares about as a conduit – in this case, Dagan. Bastienne, Liam, Sam, and Carom reach a burial chamber and find David chained to the back wall. Suddenly the door slams shut behind them. Standing there is Academy X graduate and Georgina’s fiancé Rafé! Then a scraping noise fills the room as the lids slide off four of the sarcophagi to reveal four mummies! They are under attack! Rafé uses the distraction of the mummies to create a wall between the rescue team and Mustang. Carom blindly teleports to where he remembered Mustang was chained. He narrowly avoids teleporting into a pillar. He sees the former eXalts leader is conscious, but trapped by manacles chained to the wall! Meanwhile, Bast lashes out at a mummy climbing free of its sarcophagus. She rends the mummy’s wrappings, causing the body to collapse. Primal, in “hawkadile” form (with visible animal features in this dimension such as an elongated snout and feathery wings), is surrounded by two mummies. He’s hit by both and stunned! Bast nimbly evades the last mummy’s attack. With Mustang’s light on the other side of Rafé’s wall, Phantasma is fighting blind. She hears Rafé apologize before he punches her solidly in the torso. She falls back, injured, and lashes out blindly with her telekinesis but misses. On the other side of the wall, Carom disintegrates the section of wall connecting the manacles to the wall. Mustang is free! He blasts Rafé’s wall and creates an opening. He flies to Phantasma’s side and fills the room with light. Two mummies emerge from the golden sarcophagus next to where David was chained and attack Carom. He tries to deflect the attack but he can’t create a portal in time. He goes down! Primal and Bast struggle to hold off the other three mummies. Bast hits one, but it’s only a glancing blow. The mummy slams Bast back, bruising her. Primal nimbly dodges both mummies’ attack. He then channels the spirits of the bear and cheetah. His form shifts into a yellow bear with black dots. He speedily runs over to the unconscious Carom and carries him to safety back at the room’s entrance. Mustang and Phantasma continue to fight Rafé. Rafé delivers a solid kick to Mustang’s torso. Even though his force field absorbs some of the hit, he’s still hurt. Phantasma rips part of the wall free and hurts Rafé. Mustang takes he opportunity to blast him and the attack lands true: Rafé falls to the floor, unconscious. The wall he created disappears! Bast injures the mummy attacking her, but it still won’t collapse! She shadow steps next to Primal to distract the two mummies converging on him and Carom. She yells at him to flee. The two mummies that knocked Carom out converge on Bast while she faces another two – she’s surrounded and one grabs her arm! Going against Bast’s wishes, Primal runs back to help her and hurts one of them. Bast is free! But the mummies press the attack, hurting Bast and dazing Primal. Bast says, “I told you to run!” and grabs Primal. They shadowstep next to the door. Phantasma orders everyone to fall back and pulls Carom’s unconscious body next to her with her telekinesis. Mustang blasts a hole in the door. He uses a light snare to grab Rafé, but the Academy X graduate disappears in a flash of light. The group flees through the temple with the mummies after them. Mustang blasts several holes in the temple as he goes out of frustration. The group heads through the portal Mac created at the temple’s entrance and emerges in the Mojave Desert where Mac and Dagan are waiting. Mac closes the portal – they succeeded in saving David! David wants to know why he’s in the desert. Carom explains that he chose the location as their base of operations because no one lives there if anything came back through the portal. David is impressed with Carom’s foresight. He asks how long he’s been gone and is not surprised to hear it was two weeks. It seems time passes the same in both dimensions. When the group begins asking David questions about his captivity he answers a bit oddly. Sam scans him mentally and realizes there’s no other mental presence – Runak is gone! But where did he go? Carom worries that Sekhmet removed Runak from David’s mind for some nefarious purpose, but there’s nothing they can do about it now. Mac creates a portal back to Utopia. They fill David in on what he missed over the past few weeks. He’s alarmed that there’s been no noise from Asteroid M beneath the school. What is Plex up to? He jokes they should just move or drop a nuclear weapon on the island. Bastienne tells David that Davan missed him. David is surprised, as he wasn’t thinking about his son, then feels like a bad father. He is more concerned that something was implanted in his body during his captivity. Dagan uses the equipment in the medical lab to scan David, but doesn’t find anything out of place. Meanwhile, Mac looks at the manacles still around David’s wrists. They’re covered in Egyptian hieroglyphics. They dampened David’s powers to the point that he couldn’t blast himself free, but they didn’t nullify his abilities. Mac takes pictures of the glyphs with his camera phone. David asks Carom to remove the manacles with his disintegration powers, but says “Don’t Julian me.” While talking in the medical lab, the group also discusses the vampire threat. Mac signals his intention to perform a ritual to create an amulet to protect Carom from his mother’s emotion controlling powers. On Monday morning the kids are excited to see David return to combat club. He says he wasn’t in jail. One of the kids asks about the manacle marks on his wrists. David admits he was sort of in jail. That afternoon Carom goes to a military surplus store to buy thermal scopes. The scopes will allow him to check the temperature of people at a distance. Anyone whose body appears to be at room temperature is likely a vampire. Afterward he takes his girlfriend Alice to dinner in Rio de Janeiro. There is no Utopia meeting that night as the members of the government go over visa applications (flagging those from mutants that claim to be in immediate danger). Later that night Liam and Bastienne have their second date at the school but keep it quiet. After the student staff meeting on Tuesday, David and Carom discuss what to do about the vampire problem. They need to find the vampire that used shadow powers to infiltrate Hellfire Club: Tokyo’s bank or Utopia won’t receive the money it needs from the group. They recruit Liam to search for vampires in San Francisco. Building on their lead about prostitutes that passed out in the middle of their shift, they go to bars in the same neighborhood. The search continues on Wednesday night. Liam hears a rumor from a bartender that a local clinic has been treating homeless people that were found passed out in alleys. Was a vampire feeding from them? Mac finishes his ritual on Wednesday night to create a protective amulet for Carom, but fails. On Thursday night the Academy X staff gathers for the weekly staff meeting. Lady Fingers is also in attendance. Mac says his next ritual will be to locate N’Kantu, the Living Mummy. The monster has knowledge about the Orb of Ra that may be useful. Liam, Carom, and David intend to continue their vampire search. On Friday night, David and Bastiene go to the services at the Santa Muerte church. On the way to the church they notice cats following Bastienne. David tries to snare one, but the nimble creature evades. Inside they notice that the cult’s attendance continues to grow. David tries to find a vampire by announcing how he’s so hot that his blood is boiling. He gets some odd looks and several patrons recognize him. Bastienne apologies for him and takes him outside. News breaks on Saturday that David has joined the Santa Muerte cult. Someone must have alerted the press. David’s mother calls wondering why he’s left their (Jewish) faith. David says he was just hunting vampires, and given his odd life his mother accepts the excuse. During lunch on Saturday, Carom, Alice, Matt and Sam go on a double date in Paris while Bastienne watches the kids. Davan complains he misses his father, David. Liam continues to train Glob Herman and Wicked to become Utopian police officers. The soccer final is held that afternoon. The Exemplars defeat the Corsairs in a shoot-out to claim the school’s top spot. The Exemplars will take the mantle of the Academy X Artichokes to play Avengers Academy’s top team the second Saturday in December. Mac fails his second ritual in a week that night when he fails to craft a spell to find N’Kantu. Dagan checks on Agape Sunday morning to find that her friend is still going through withdrawal. The school has a breakfast of omelets made from eggs laid by the chickens Bastienne had brought to the island. After eating, Liam, Carom and David confirm that the potential vampire activity is happening in one neighborhood (Hunter’s Point). The rest of the day is quiet, though some students are feeding the feral cats Bastienne brought to the island to kill rodents. Monday begins like any other school day – 90% of the students attend combat club. Then there’s showers, cleaning the rooms, and breakfast. The sophomores eating breakfast together notice something odd: Liam and Sam are not in the cafeteria. The sophomores head to their first class of the day: David’s English class. Professor Goldberg teaches a lesson about grammar. Near the end of class Liam knocks on the door and calls David out into the hallway. Seth, the human magic-user, sneaks over to the door to listen in. He overhears Liam ask David to come to the headmaster’s office to look over some troubling news. Meanwhile, Bobby Joe uses his sound mimicry powers to create a realistic-sounding conversation between the two teachers that gets everyone laughing. Etta frowns and records the conversation on her phone. Hector goes to David’s desk and finds his phone left behind. He flees to his desk just in time, as David returns and tells the kids to finish their homework for tomorrow. The class ends a few minutes later. The next period of the day is history class. Strangely, Samantha is not in attendance. The Hellions team leader, Jamie, is filling in for Professor Stone. While Jamie tries to decipher Sam’s sub plans, Evan uses his telekinesis to shoot pencils into the ceiling. JJ flicks pennies at the pencils, knocking them from where they’re stuck in the ceiling to show off. Wendy compliments Evan on his burgeoning abilities, trying to fit in with the cooler kids. Sumalee offers Wendy some helpful advice on covering up her purple skin, but it only makes Wendy feel worse. In math class, another teacher, Liam is absent. Excelsiors team leader Mariana is filling in for him. She reads through his detailed lesson plans. While Mariana circulates through the room to help students with the homework, Marisol uses her prehensile hair to knock Shadae’s water bottle off her desk and Imani’s lighter onto the floor. Hunter is using school supplies to build a golem. He finishes his construction: a knight-like figure that fights a monster made from garbage. Marisol is impressed and picks up a pencil to do battle with the knight herself. At lunch the sophomores are surprised to see that all teachers except Ruth and Dagan are missing as well as a few students. Bobby Joe asks Dagan what’s happening. Dagan says there’s some kind of meeting going on. Hunter asks the roommates of the missing students if they know where their roommates went, but no one knows anything. After lunch cleanup, the kids report to their specialty classes to practice their powers without attacking each other (unlike combat club). Bobby Joe, Sumalee, Shadae, and Wendy report to Bastienne’s melee class. Imani, JJ, Marisol and Seth head to David’s blaster class. Evan, Etta, Hector and Hunter attend Sam’s mentalist class. For once all the teachers are there! But they have some odd news. Rather than a normal class, all the students will be taking part in a school-wide game of tag. They can use their powers, but are asked to try not to hurt each other. Bobby Joe jokes that it’s like the Hunger Games. The kids scatter to begin the game. Etta hides in the history classroom. She pokes her head out the window to see if anyone’s around, then is surprised by David who is just outside. His eyes are glowing green! He puts both his hands on either side of Etta’s head. Suddenly her eyes are glowing green as well! What is going on? Meanwhile, Hunter plans to use his golem in the math classroom to create a distraction when he hears someone coming down the hallway. He’s surprised by a noise in the cabinet. Inside he sees Lady Fingers. The disembodied hand tries to warn him, but it’s too late – Sam is behind him with green, glowing eyes! She puts her hands on Hunter’s head and now his eyes are glowing green! In the English classroom Wendy hides under the teacher’s desk. She’s distracted when she sees David’s phone. As she tries to open it, Bastienne sneaks up next to her. The purple-skinned girl now has glowing green eyes. Meanwhile, in the back yard, Marisol has realized that her teachers are under some kind of mental effect. She’s looking for Sumalee’s feathers so Seth can cast a protective spell. She runs from Mac into the woods, but is surprised by a mind-controlled Pamela. Pamela uses her power to shrink Marisol’s hair before she can attack. Marisol is quickly turned. Sumalee and Evan flee from a turned classmate to the elevator to the basement. Evan uses his technopathy to control the elevator. When the doors open to the basement, Sumalee is too scared to follow. She can’t stop the elevator to returning to the first floor. When the doors open, Hunter is waiting and Sumalee is turned. Hector ventures into the history classroom while looking for his friends. He sees Jamie unconscious on the floor. He considers checking to see if Jamie’s okay, then kicks him instead. Jamie jumps to his feet, surprising Hector. Jamie grapples Hector, and moments later it’s over. Outside, JJ convinces Seth to flee to New Genosha instead of finishing his ritual. Mercy pops out from behind a tree and grabs JJ. Seth sees several other green-eyed students in the woods and flees back to the school. If he can find a lighter he can cast his protective spell. Evan has emerged from the underground hangar through the basketball court and joins him. They decide to head for the docks to take a boat to San Francisco. Suddenly Tony (a mutant with gills) emerges from the pool and grabs Seth. Evan runs off. The four remaining sophomores escape to the docks. Only Evan, Imani, Bobby Joe, and Shadae are left. The ships at the docks are all gone! Imani tries to convince the others to go to New Genosha, where Hellfire Club: Tokyo has an army of mutants, but it’s a journey across Utopia past all the turned students and staff, and Evan thinks it’s too risky. He tries to convince the others he knows how to stop the mind control. He used his telepathy to discover that Plex, an alien artificial intelligence in the space station below Academy X, is responsible. Plex used an “omni wave” to take control of a few staff members. Those under his control can spread the effect through touch. If Evan can get close enough to Plex, he can stop the AI or damage it enough to free those under its control. He’s been training extensively lately and he’s capable. Imani thinks it’s a bad plan, but she’s forced to go along when Bobby Joe and Shadae agree. Evan leads the group to the escape port near Utopia’s hill. Evan uses his telekinesis to rip the locked door to the port open. They descend down into the space station. Red emergency lighting provides illumination. Shadae is the last to begin the descent, but before she can start down the ladder she is grabbed by Melody (a flying mutant) from behind! The three remaining sophomores run down the corridors of Asteroid M with Melody and Shadae behind them. They finally reach the section of the space station below Academy X. They reach a locked door with a pencil-sized hole burned through it. Evan uses his technopathy to take command of the control panel next to the door. It slides open. The group finally reaches the door to the computer room. Inside is Plex itself. If they can stop the AI, they can still save their peers and teachers. With little time, Evan uses telekinesis to rip the door open. The space station’s security system responds. A metal door opens, revealing softball-sized helicopters. They fly straight at the three sophomores at incredible speed. Evan says he’ll hold them off. Bobby Joe and Imani run through the door into the computer room, looking back just as Evan is overwhelmed by the security devices. Inside the computer room, the two sophomores are shocked to see all of their teachers (and Alice) touching pillars lit by glowing yellow symbols. They are somehow combining their efforts to spread the range of the omni-wave. Carom notices the two sophomores enter. He teleports next to them and grabs Imani. Only Bobby Joe is left! While Carom spreads the mind control to Imani, Bobby Joe has only seconds of freedom before the adults descend on him. He looks around desperately for some way to stop Plex. The giant green head glares down at him. Could he damage one of the pillars? His power of sound mimicry has never seemed so useless. But then he sees that Evan is stirring. He runs over to his unconscious classmate and shakes him. Evan groggily comes to. Bobby Joe yells that Evan needs to stop Plex. The helicopter-like devices begin to return. The Academy X staff is racing closer. Carom’s portal opens next to them and he begins to emerge. It’s now or never! Evan concentrates, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes. Suddenly, everyone freezes. A moment later, the green light fades from their eyes. Evan has won his mental battle with Plex! He can now influence the powerful artificial intelligence. The threat has been defeated… but Evan’s power has clearly grown at an incredible rate. As he’s Apocalypse’s clone, is this a good or bad thing?...
 * Next:** __Issue 78 - 'My Way'__
 * Previous:** Issue 76 - 'She's Lost Control'