Revenant
| Revenant | |
|---|---|
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| Dates run: | April 1-2, 2010 |
| Run By: | Rossi |
| Read the logs: | Revenant |
She'd decided that she wanted to see the fear on Meggan's face. She wanted to see Amanda watch helplessly while Selene drained the girl of all her life's force. The girl would be released from Selene's control, but not from the ritual itself.
Nothing stays buried forever. Selene is back and she's going after those who put her at the bottom of the bay.
Contents
Cast
Amanda Sefton, Meggan Szardos, Kurt Sefton, Amara Aquilla, Jubilation Lee, Nico Minoru, Remy LeBeau, Wanda Maximoff, Lucas Bishop, Sarah Morlocke, Marie-Ange Colbert, Emma Frost, Doug Ramsey, Julian Keller, Adrienne Frost, Vanessa Carlysle
Selene, Heinrich Klar, Dr. Peter Alarune, Karl Mordo
Sebastian Shaw, Belladonna Boudreaux-LeBeau, Hellfire Club
Timing
Plot Summary
Nothing stays buried forever. In November 2005, a witch was imprisoned at the bottom of Jamaica Bay, bound by magic and concrete. However, with the upheaval of the astral plane and the weakness between magical dimensions caused by the Shadow King affair, the physical upheaval of New York during Day Zero and the arrival of a new source of dark magic in the shape of Nico and her Staff of One, cracks both physical and metaphorical have begun to appear in Selene's prison. Cracks she has begun to use. Bit by bit, over time, she has begun to stretch out her consciousness, seeking a mind and soul with which to exact her revenge on those who betrayed and trapped her.
But who to target? There are four in the area she has a pre-existing connection to - Jubilee, Manuel, Amara and Amanda. However, all of them are stronger of will than when she preyed on them last, and she's too weak to overcome them by magic. But there is someone close to several of them who is vulnerable, upon whom Selene attempted to exert her will years ago when she had the little girl kidnapped - Meggan. No longer a child, Meggan's natural protection, her innocence, is not what it was, and her empathic nature makes her a perfect vehicle for a weakened Selene. Gradually, bit by bit, she worms her way into Meggan's psyche.
First, however, she needs to ensure she will not be detected. The mansion no longer has the number of telepaths it did and of those that remain, Monet isn't powerful enough and Charles easily distracted by the pressures of the school and his smaller team of X-Men, trying to address the gaps. There are two other empaths - Manuel and his sister - also easily dealt with by her followers and their 'abduction' attempt; Amanda's interruption was calculated, as was Manuel's departure. The younger witch's wards on the mansion are already compromised by the presence of Nico and the Staff of One. The stage, then, is set and Selene acts.
At first, nothing really changes. Then Meggan starts having nightmares of drowning, of overwhelming hunger, of something stalking her. It seems nothing more than a delayed reaction to the stress of her experiences in New York and living in the school, and she goes about her daily life. Then the moodswings start, as well as subtle physical changes, changes in her powers, until it becomes clear there's something not right with her. Eventually she becomes Mini-Selene, and she goes to the Hellfire Club to claim the seat of the Black Queen, freeing the cultists arrested and jailed after Voodoo Child. She also injures Adrienne, who Reads Meggan's math homework and tries to stop her, in the process. Adrienne is found by Morgan and taken to medlab, and the alarm is raised.
It's this action that finally reveals Selene's hand and shortly after a message comes to Amanda, Jubilee and Amara from the witch, offering a trade. Selene wants her place back in the Hellfire Club and is confident that Shaw will take her back, given her power and resources and her hold over the X-Men in the form of one of their students. The time under the bay, however, has weakened her and so she chooses those she is confident she can manipulate to deal with - three of her former victims. Amanda will do anything to stop harm coming to Meggan, she surmises, Jubilee she terrorised into nearly sacrificing herself, and Amara spent a large part of her life living under Selene's magicks. She also has a more basic reason to use them - revenge for everything that was done to her. So her offer is simple - free her from her prison and Meggan will be freed. Harm her in any way, call in the X-Men, and Meggan will die from the backlash.
After much debate and apparent outright argument with various team members and friends, the bargain is accepted. Kurt and X-Force try to subdue Meggan and Selene's followers, hampered by the fact that they don't want to harm her and she apparently has full control of Selene's magic, with a pitched battle taking place in the Natural History Museum where the Nova Roma stones have been kept. Amanda, Jubilee and Amara raise Selene (with back up in the form of Morgan and Bishop with sniper rifles) and demand she fulfill her part of the bargain, only to be told that Selene must recharge her lifeforce in order to reverse her influence. Backed into a corner, they have to reluctantly agree and escort Selene to the Hellfire Club where she sets up the ritual, using the stones from Nova Roma and the channelling spell carved into Amanda's back. Amara and Jubilee are chosen as energy sources, Meggan is summoned by Selene for the transfer and the spell begins. Of course, Selene plans to double-cross everyone and completely drain those in the ritual, making her super-powerful, but X-Force has a double-cross of their own, with Kurt teleporting Nico in at Amanda's pre-arranged signal once Meggan is free. Nico slams the Staff of One into the middle of the ritual and disrupts it. Selene rises up, furious and vengeful and expecting the Black Court to follow her in punishing those who have yet again wrecked her plans. Julian steps forward to help Nico protect those who were in the ritual, specifically Amanda, who is weakened by the transfer.
What Selene doesn't realise is that when it became clear what was going on, White Court approached Black and a deal was made to agree to dethrone Selene and remove her from the scene permanently. Shaw had his own plans, with Belladonna waiting in wings to be installed as Black Queen, and agreed to the conditions. So when Selene takes on X-Force and the White Court, she is shocked to find her allies, the Black Court, withdraw from the scene. There's a pitched battle with Selene being driven back and as she's searching for a way to escape, she's blasted fatally in the back. As she's on the floor dying, she sees Belladonna stepping forward in the garb of the Black Queen. X-Force, of course, wants nothing more than to take Belladonna down, but Shaw invokes the deal made with the White Court, forcing Emma and Doug to defend his choice of Queen. X-Force, outnumbered and not wanting to go against their own, reluctantly agree to leave - at least they know where Belladonna is now and maybe they can take care of her later.
Selene's dead body is left to the Hellfire Club to dispose of, however it is stolen by a grieving Heinrich Klar. His grief is short-lived however, when Selene's body reanimates, revealing Candra has somehow moved in.
Related Links
External Links
Trivia and Meta
Trivia
As a result of the events, Amanda and Nico finally shared their personal secrets - Amanda's history as a magical battery and Nico's killing of a man who raped her while she was on the street.
Meta
Plotrunner: Rossi
