Why is Fred Dukes in a hooded bathrobe? Why are those other frat jocks around him in hooded bathrobes? Why are they incanting some ancient verse in archaic language? For they have deemed him worthy of The Next Level, aka the Unspoken, aka ... the Hidden Eye! "Uh, cool?"
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Dukes and Morty (aka the Blob and the Toad) have tried to resume their places, integrated as students in Empire State University. (It's not like they can be excused for Mutant Masters taking over their underground community!) But Dukes, as an up-and-coming new pledge and member of the football team, has been asked to participate in the ritual of the Hidden Eye. And the Toad can't know about it! (It's not like the Blob can tell about a secret society within the frat-- it's a double secret!) Morty tries to understand, and he won't let it get to him-- not with the new-found sense of self he's discovered after battling the Masters.
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Who is that?! Professor Magnus? Magneto? I thought he was lost to the Scarlet Witch? He covers for his recent absence, as well as the absence of Mr. Porter, who was also a professor at ESU. St. John Allerdyce will be a new, temporary, professor in his place.
That settled, St. John (Pyro) thanks Magneto-- well, actually Mystique. Her shape-changing abilities will buy them some time, and place St. John as another asset on campus. He shouldn't waste time but learn how to help recruit others to The Brotherhood, to help more of their community. She gives him some more file folders and the "tools" and strategy he will need. Except some that she is keeping for herself.
It's somewhat... personal... that the Vanisher had disappeared at the hands of the Mutant Masters' Nightcrawler. It's about time that the mutant Brotherhood worked BOTH ways, that SHE could get help from IT, by traveling "upwards" through the underground railroad, seeking specific information step by step along the community.
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But will they even HAVE a community, after ANGELO is done with them?
Angelo Unuscione is rallying the mutants of the underground Amphitheater. They are tired of being invaded, used, and abused. They came seeking sanctuary from the world, and this is how they are treated? Far better to remove themselves from civilization as much as they can. Now more than ever they think of themselves as Angelo's codename... the Pariah! He doesn't want to be their leader, but he won't stop them from following him. Imagine his surprise when the call is raised, his name is chanted... "PA RI AH! PA RI AH!"
Zala Dane lays a hand on his shoulder. She knows why he hangs his head. She also knows where the perfect place would be to build a new community... it was a place that forged her from a blank slate into the person she now is. It is a brutal world, but one a community of mutants could transform into paradise...
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Dukes is taken to the last step of his initiation. He must enter the mysterious Castle Cassidy and stare into the Hidden Eye! And yes, that's ONLY the amount of details he was given, outside the stately manor in upstate New York that was called "Castle" Cassidy.
Feeling more than a little like he's in some J-horror movie, Dukes wanders the halls of the manor. But as luck would have it, he stumbles across a cache of hidden treasure. This couldn't be what the Alpha Deltas were talking about, could it? Nope! The treasure is none other than a supercriminal called the Banshee-- who takes what he likes and likes what he takes. And NO ONE will ever be givin' HIM orders again!
It's hard for the Blob to battle against the Banshee-- whose powers seem to pierce Duke's nerves directly. To make matters worse, when Blob retreats, he stumbles upon the other Alpha Deltans, ready to prank him. The pranks on THEM of course, when Banshee surprises them all! They are out could, and the Blob vainly tries to hold on, with a few leprechaun quips thrown in for good measure. ("Look, I keep tellin' ya, I ain't after ya Lucky Charms!")
The Blob, his immovability-power useless against a flying, screeching foe, is rescued at the last minute by the timely arrival of the Toad, Pyro, and Avalanche. The Toad's flying leaps force the Banshee back, and Pyro's flames keep him corralled. Avalanche's vibrations match Banshee's shock-for-shock, and the Banshee is simply ready to flee. But Blob blocks the way, and a mighty backhand is all it takes.
The Banshee will be dropped off to jail, muzzled, of course, by The Brotherhood Elite, but Dukes can stay behind and wake up with the rest of the Alphans. They can all just add another spooky legend about haunted Castle Cassidy. And the Toad won't accept Blob's apology. He's free to have his own friends, his own life. How he chooses to balance the two isn't Toad's decision. The Blob is left with a wish for luck, and he returns to his frat buddies, but he wonders why, if he has such a good friend in the Toad, does it feel so lousy?
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Cover and text by Danny Wall
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