Marvel Heroic: Equality Act 2, Issue 4

Next!

Last time, Arcanix and Rift found a new base of operations and sanctum/space prison for the team, and Spore, Juno, and Inferno took on some of the Kutya.

Back at the sanctum, they take stock and rest up. Rift tries to patch up Inferno, but grabs the wrong anti-toxin from the wrong reality and just makes his poison worse. Juno, however, manages to talk Spore down from his brush with U4YA, and heals his trauma. Arcanix takes off his armor and pounds out the remaining dents, and the heroes reconvene.

They've taken down the Root of the Mountain, Oleado, Dafadae, and U4YA (as well as Waves, Decibel, and Grimoire) and imprisoned them. The plan is for a speedy trial once the Kutya's plans are defeated, but to do that, they need to understand what those plans are. Arcanix opens some mystical communication channels and loops in Bianca Hines, AEGIS admin, and goes over the remaining Kutya members.

The first is Hunter Insea, also known as the Multitude. He was sentence to federal prison for murder, and somehow wound up with super powers while inside. He can change into a cloud of smoke or a swarm of bees, and he has a passage from Revelation tattooed on his back. Religious fanatic and maniac.

Corey Diamond, aka Erosion. Not much is known about his past. His powers stem from his gear - his armor can superheat anything it touches to a melting point, and he can create blades from nothing. He's also utterly fireproof (sorry, Inferno).

Shanice Greer, also known as Guerilla. Revolutionary and terrorist, US born but operates mostly in Africa. Her powers include mind and emotion control, and a psychic blast powerful enough to fry a person's brain (Hines isn't sure if her powers will work on Spore or Arcanix).

Dennis Stark, also called Deton8. Stark was an Army combat pilot, honorably discharged and a veteran's advocate before something drove him underground and hooked him up with Kutya. No powers of his own, but has next-level weapons tech, including gloves that allow him to deliver an explosive punch without taking off his own arm.

Blake Smith, also called Bleedout. Once an agent of AEGIS, Smith wound up losing his home in a financial crisis and not being able to get help from AEGIS (or anyone). Superlative martial arts training combined with Kutya tech, including a sword that, like Erosion's armor, can super-heat and cut through almost anything.

And, finally, Michael Carlsson, formerly of AEGIS. The heroes don't know why he turned or what he's trying to accomplish, or, indeed, whether he has any powers of his own. They figure he's at least got access to the same tech as the others. They look back through his records to see if they can figure where he turned. Hines tells them that following the Phylum's attempt to conquer Earth (here), Carlsson worked with Spore to try and make sure they had a way to fight the species if they returned. AEGIS developed a computer protocol called GENYS, which was meant to predict and monitor metahuman activities - Carlsson was heavily involved. But his activities started getting more erratic after Baron Anguish and company attacked AEGIS (here).

The heroes look for commonalities between the villains - they're all idealists, they all seem to want to fight the "system" (in some form). They wonder if Baron Anguish or Jurgen von Drescher (aka the Krampus) were also pitched on this idea, seeing as how they're pretty idealistic, too. Arcanix decides to ascend the space elevator to talk to Grimoire.

Juno contacts Baron Anguish and asks if he knows anything, and he says that he interfaced with GENYS when he and his crew took on AEGIS. GENYS became self-aware and began to learn, but Anguish was captured right after that, so GENYS "grew up" on its own. Juno asks if GENYS could have "infected" a human mind, and Anguish says he thinks so, if the mind was curious, idealistic, and regimented.

Rift looks through multiple realities and talks to various versions of herself to learn what exactly the Kutya are planning. She learns that the next stage of the plan involves population reduction - the Kutya are planning a leveling of sorts. Carlsson has become one with GENYS, and his mind and personality has become rigid and cold. He doesn't even think of himself as Michael Carlsson anymore - now he's just Logic.

Arcanix, meanwhile, talks to Grimoire. Grimoire was indeed approached by Logic, and Logic knew exactly what to say to entice him - but Grimoire, as a former possessee, knows what two minds in one body looks like and wasn't interested. Arcanix posits that magic might be a bit of a blind spot for the Kutya, and Grimoire agrees, and offers his help if the team needs some more magic.

The team confers with Hines, who tells them that most of the research taking place on the Phylum was happening in a black site in Nigeria, outside the capital city of Abuja. They decide to head there, and take Grimoire with them.

When they arrive, they realize that things are already going badly. A mob of people, moss in their eyes, starts lurching toward them. Grimoire puts up a magical barrier, and Spore tries to fell them with a spore-burst, but it doesn't help. They're already infected with the Phylum, but this is an offshoot containing animal DNA as well. Arcanix closes the barrier to keep the people from escaping, and Rift gates in to try and knock them out, but they stay standing. Juno uses her force field to cut them off from the Phylum and a bunch collapse, and Spore, correcting for the mutation, drops more. He tells Inferno to burn off the moss near their eyes, and Inferno very carefully does so. The heroes have won this fight, but now they hear a loud droning noise from inside the building.

The heroes steel themselves and head inside. The interior of the building is a hive, but the bees are as big as guinea pigs. The worst is yet to come.