The New Mutants #81

Magma gets swept up in adventure with the Prince of Power himself -- Hercules, son of Zeus!

There was a wedding inside a catholic church in South America. Magma stood overlooking the town from the mountainside. She thought about how her own religion was considered barbarian yet it also had roots in Rome. Transforming into Magma, she began to reshape the ground around her when Empath arrived. He wore a suit and had arrived fresh from the marriage ceremony where he had been a guest. As they walked back towards Nova Roma Empath called the Nova Romans pagan. To retaliate Magma asked him to prove the power of his God. When Empath was unable to provide evidence of God, she began to recall a story of when she had met one of her Gods.

At a time before Karma had left the New Mutants, Magma still attended Xavier's School for the Gifted and Cypher was alive, the whole team had gone to the cinema. They laughed at the terrible acting from the Hercules film, and Warlock took an interest in the tacked-on romantic sub-plot. As they left the cinema the other continued to joke and play around. However, Magma began to feel quiet & lonely. That night she retired to her bedroom, lit the incense and began to pray to the Gods of Olympus for guidance. A might breeze poured through the open window and a clap of thunder heralded the arrival of Hercules. He stood in the open window, towering in the shadows. At first he greeted Magma in Latin and she was over-joyed to be in his presence. However, when she switched the light on she was shocked and angered to see that it was the same man who had been in the terrible movie she'd seen earlier that afternoon.

Magma woke the other New Mutants, angrily pounding on their bedroom doors demanding an apology. Magma believed that they were playing a practical joke on her, but the others were just as astounded to see Hercules there as she was. They continued to poke fun at Hercules, so he tried to prove his identity with feats of superhuman strength. However, when he lifted a car he was shown that Sunspot could do the same thing. Hercules wanted to destroy a mighty boulder by hurling his mace at it, but Cannonball flew faster and collided into the rock first. When he tried to leap higher than any mortal, Warlock showed how high he could fly and stay airborne. Magma then used her powers to construct a statue from molten lava. It was of Hercules with his trademark club and the hide of the Nemean Lion. He admitted that he used to look like that in ancient days. Magma then accused Hercules of being another mutant. In an attempt to convince Magma that he really was a God Hercules called to Zeus to summon them to Olympus. However, the Olympian God merely laughed at Hercules' foolish behaviour. Zeus refused to help his son, hoping to teach him a lesson in humility. And on Earth the New Mutants also laughed at Hercules.

The other New Mutants returned to bed. Magma stayed outside feeling sorry for Hercules. He was determined to prove himself to Magma by taking her to visit the Avengers' Mansion. So Magma accompanied him on a train journey into the city. She was still angry with him, and the way that he moved among regular people while wearing such a ridiculous outfit irritated her further. When they arrived in the city they couldn't hail a taxi and there were no buses. They suddenly stumbled across a robbery. Magma caused minor volcanic eruptions that forced the getaway car to drive into Hercules. He stood still, while the car crumpled around him. Hercules then wrapped the thieves in strips of the car so they couldn't do anything else until the police arrived to take them away.

To celebrate successfully foiling the robbery, Hercules went to a local bar. There the crowds of people hung on his every word and local girls clung to him. Hercules wanted Magma to cheer up, but she confessed that she had been convinced that he was the hedonistic person she had originally suspected him to be. The local girls led Hercules away to dance while Magma left the club.

Outside, Magma was blown off her feet as she walked past an apartment block that suddenly exploded. Her over-coat was immediately shredded, but she still wore her New Mutants uniform underneath. Looking up at the remains of the building she saw residents who were trapped. She fired up into her Magma form and entered the building. She found an old black lady cradling her grandchildren and reassured them before wrapping them up in a sphere of rock. She lowered the rock capsule to the ground level where Hercules caught it and gently opened it and released the family inside.

However, there was still a young black man holding on to a baby inside the building. She offered her help, but he was too scared of her fiery appearance. The floor collapsed beneath them and they topped down a couple of floors. The floor knocked Magma unconscious and she reverted back to her human form. The young man realised that she was just a girl an cried for help, telling everyone that they were in the basement. Hercules heard the cries for help and leapt to the roof of a nearby building. There he wrenched the water-tower from it's moorings and poured the water over the burning building. The men from the fire department were impressed.

Later at Bellevue Hospital, Magma was dismayed that there was nothing they could do to help. Jaime Suarez, the young man who had called for help from inside the building, was slowly dying. By calling for help, he had breathed in flames that destroyed his bronchial membranes. He was slowly & quietly dying as the oxygen was unable to reach his bloodstream. To honour the young man's last few hours, Hercules sat next to his bed and recounted tales of Jason and the Argonauts.

Jaime Suarez died just before dawn. Hercules carried his body and cried for the short lives of brave mortals. Magma was touched by his humility and dropped to his feet. Holding on to his hand she begged for his forgiveness and acknowledged him as the real Hercules. He picked her up and held her by the shoulders as he admitted that he did not always prove himself worthy of such high praise. Hercules then lifted her into his arms and Magma smiled as she asked if they could remain friends. They left the hospital together to make themselves more presentable before they met Jaime Suarez' parents later that morning. Meanwhile, Zeus looked over the body of Jaime Suarez and promised his soul a place on the Elysium Fields.

Back in the present day Magma finished recalling her tale. She was proud to admit that she had met one of her Gods and questioned Empath's faith. He rebuked her by saying that since he had no bodily proof of his religion it meant that his faith was stronger. Magma didn't answer and suspected him of manipulating her judgement. She also envied him for never doubting his faith, but was content that he had his faith and she had her own.

Note: This is a 'filler' issue with a one-off flashback story. The continuation of the Asgard story featuring the New Mutants is one-issue later in New Mutants # 82.