Dani's family gave her two names, Danielle and Moonstar. The family name was Lonestar. I don't know why she was called Danielle Moonstar as if that was her last name.
It seems like all super strong heroes have excellent aim, whether they are from Marvel or DC, don't ask me why.
Professor Xavier seems to think that it's time his students got a break, but I just finished some difficult midyear exams and am feeling a little evil.
This is a rewriting of Rom annual 3. It may be a good idea to look up Rom on wikipedia.
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Charles Xavier couldn't have been more proud of his students. They had managed as well as he could have hoped for with himself and the X-Men gone, even while facing threats that could have given the X-Men a run for their money.
But the fact remained that they were all still children, and should not have had to fight those battles. Xavier did not want them be soldiers; not yet, anyway. So he arranged a field trip. Illyana, Kitty, and most of the New Mutants were on there way to Kentucky to visit Sam's family. Dani was not able to go because she was still recovering from the injuries she sustained battling the demon bear.
Un fortunately, not far outside Sam's hometown of Cumberland, there was a roadblock obstructing their way. A ranger approached their vehicle and told them to turn back because of a forest fire.
Sam was horrified. His entire family, all the people he used to work with in the mines, were in danger. "We've got to do something!"
Xavier agreed. "From the minds of those battling the fire I can see where it is." He looked at Illyana. "Can you make it rain enough to stop the fire?"
"No." Illyana answered. "I can make it rain a little, but the spells that cause heavy rains require there to be a lot of water already in the air, and it's a dry day." (I'm getting this from the first issue of Alpha Flight.)
"Very well," Xavier said. "Sam, you fly on ahead and clear the trees between Cumberland and the fire. That should create a firebreak that will keep the blaze from spreading to the town." Immediately Sam leapt from the car and blasted towards the fire.
Xavier then had a job for Amara. "Sometimes firefighters use explosions to drain the oxygen from an area and deprive fires of fuel. There are few things as explosive as a volcano." He telepathically showed Amara where the fire was. She used her powers to cause a volcanic eruption in the fire breaker Sam was making. As Xavier predicted the explosion ate all the oxygen in the immediate area, snuffing the fire. (I have no idea if that would really work or what that would do to people's ability to breathe, but this was what was done in the comic.)
Later, after the roadblock was removed, they continued driving towards Cumberland. As they drove they saw the devastation the fire wrought. Acres upon acres of forest were burnt down. There was one building, right outside of the town, that was surrounded by scorched earth. The building, however, seemed to be in perfect condition. "That's strange." Sam said. "The town church looks untouched." All of the passengers looked at the church, amazed that it escaped damage, except for Illyana. She sensed something sinister in the building.
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The entire Guthrie family was waiting outside of there house to greet the students of Xavier when they arrived. After the introductions, Mrs. Guthrie invited them into her house for dinner.
While dinner was being served Amara asked "I'm surprised that you're all so calm. Your town was nearly burnt to the ground."
"We're a mining town." Mrs. Guthrie answered. "We've learned to live with disasters."
The next oldest Guthrie child after Sam, Josh, then said that it was a miracle that stopped the fire. "Yeah," Roberto whispered to Sam, "a miracle called the New Mutants." Sam elbowed him and whispered to him to shut up.
"The lord gives, the lord takes away." Mrs. Guthrie said.
"Huh?" Sam asked. "What was taken away?"
"Reverend Joad just died. He got sick suddenly. The funeral will be tomorrow morning."
"Reverend Joad? But he wasn't much older than forty!"
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That night a figure flew towards the church. The spacenight Rom landed just outside the building, only to be immediately frozen in place.
"Did you really think that you could sneak up on me?" came a voice from inside the church. A young man in minister's robes stepped out. The neutralizer that Rom had been holding flew out of his grasp, to land in the hands of the young man.
"An interesting weapon, this. It does not kill, but from where it banishes, there is no return." The minister pointed the gun at Rom and fired. The spaceknight disappeared, leaving only smoke behind.
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In the morning, before Reverend Joad's funeral, Sam was out hunting squirrels with Josh. "I used to do this all the time with dad before he died." Sam said, looking sad.
Josh was just as sad. "I never really knew dad, but Reverend Joad was always like a father to me."
"I felt the same way after dad died." Sam admitted. "So who's this guy they've got to replace him?"
"Reverend Joad found him unconscious in the river during a baptism right after he started to get sick, and took him in. It turned out that the guy was a genius and a very spiritual man. He knows more about the bible than I think Reverand Joad did."
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Xavier's students went with the whole town to the funeral, where the new minister was giving a moving
eulogy for the man who took him in, causing most people who knew the old reverend to cry. Kitty thought that he looked familiar, and Illyana sensed great power, and evil in him. "Can you read his mind?" she asked Xavier.
He tired, but couldn't. "He seems to have mental shielding, somewhat similar to yours."
"Try again." Illyana said. This time Xavier was able to read the minister's mind. He wondered what Illyana had done to allow him to do so, but was more horrified by what he found in the minister's mind.
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Xavier spoke to his students in private about what he had learned. "The new reverend is actually a half human creature called Hybrid. He knows who we are and is determined to control our powers and give them to a new race of demons." He left out the part that Hybrid wanted to father this new race with the girls among their group(I was going to leave that out too, but I think that that explanation makes things make more sense).
"But the X-Men killed Hybrid with the help of Rom long ago!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Lets hope we can do that again," Illyana said, "because from what I sensed from him, his powers are magic based and he may be more powerful than I am."
"He won't let us leave." Xavier said, feeling depressed about asking them to fight yet again. "We have no choice but to try to stop him."
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They made their way back to the church, only to find that it was gone, seemingly swallowed by the earth. Illyana and Xavier tried to sense where Hybrid had gone to, and found him in the mines under the town.
They entered the mines, Sam remembering all the people he knew who died in cave-ins and his own near death experience the last time they were there. Deep in the mines they found the church.
Just as the church came into view (through light Amara provided in the dark caves) the mines began to shake. The cave ceiling behind them collapsed, causing their exit to be blocked.
Out of the church came hybrid. Sam blasted at him without a second thought, but his power cut out in mid-flight. Amara tried to throw a lava blast at Hybrid, but her powers also cut out.
Illyana noticed how Hybrid was taking control of their mutant powers and wondered if they could beat him if he could take control of her magics as well. Somehow able to sense her thoughts through her psychic shielding Hybrid mocked "You could ask nicely, or maybe even woo me with a kiss. We could make a great team, you know, evil to evil."
"Not interested." Illyana said, revolted.
"Well, then you'll have to die." Hybrid used his control over Sam's powers to force him to blast at Illyana, who sidestepped as Sam crashed into the rock wall behind her.
At that moment Kitty, who had phased into the ground when Hybrid first came out, phased out of the ground behind Hybrid and grabbed him from behind, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck. "Get him now!" she yelled.
Illyana complied, summoning her soulsword. Before she could move towards Hybrid however, he unleashed Xavier's powers on her and Kitty. Both girls screamed in pain from the mindblasts and Kitty was forced to let go of Hybrid. Illyana swung her sword through Xavier, temporarily freeing him from Hybrid's control and ending the mental assault.
Hybrid, however, had a final trick up his sleeve. He took out Rom's neutralizer and shot Illyana with it. She disappeared, seemingly vaporized, and ending the last resistance that Hybrid faced.
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Illyana had no idea where she was, or even if she was still alive. Her surroundings reminded her of Limbo, but were also distinct. None of the laws of physics seemed to work wherever she was.
She explored her surroundings and found what she thought to be a robot being attacked by numerous demons. She fired magical blasts to disperse the creatures then summoned eldritch flames to destroy them.
"Thank you," the armored being said. Relief was evident in his voice, which told Illyana that he was not a robot.
"What were those things?" she asked. "And where are we?"
"They were dire wraiths, a race of creatures that practice evil magics and have been trying to invade the Earth for some decades now. I used my neutralizer to banish the wraiths to Limbo, except now Hybrid has banished me here."
Illyana looked at Rom skeptically. "I spent seven years in Limbo, and this is not Limbo."
"Limbo is more of a concept than an actual place, child. This Limbo is a timeless stasis field where those trapped inside cannot affect reality."
"The Limbo I know could affect reality," Illyana said. "but I don't plan on being trapped here."
"You don't seem to understand." Rom said. "Escape from here is impossible."
"Even for an one-dimensional teleported?"
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Illyana and Rom teleported back to the church, where Hybrid was holding Xavier and his students. Rom walked straight into the church to face Hybrid, who was surprised and not too happy to see him.
"How did you escape?" Hybrid demanded.
"I've been a spaceknight for two hundred years. Naturally I've picked up a few tricks."
"Well, I won't make that mistake again." Hybrid formed a ring of fire around Rom.
While concentrating on Rom, however, Hybrid failed to notice Illyana sneaking up behind him, until her soulsword was in his back. The incredible pain the weapon caused made him lose his hold over Xavier, Kitty, and the New Mutants, drop the flames encircling Rom, and drop the neutralizer.
Before Hybrid could reassert control Xavier caught him with a mindblast, giving Rom the opportunity to grab his neutralizer and use it to banish Hybrid to the Limbo he and Illyana had just come.
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"What are we going to tell everyone in town?" Sam asked. "We can't tell them the truth." All eyes were on the Professor.
"True." Xavier replied. "Perhaps we should let them investigate. They'll never find out about Hybrid, or us."
"Ah hate this." Sam moaned. "Lying to my friends and family." He sighed. "Ah guess, being different means you can't go home again."
Xavier didn't reply to that, but Illyana did. "No, you can't."
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Next Time: Warlock
