Underground, below the hidden city of Nova Roma, Amara Aquilla had been reborn from the fiery pit of molten lava as a girl made of living magma. She then threw down spurts of burning rock to destroy Selene, the Black Priestess, who had just tried to sacrifice her. However Selene revealed her own mutant power; to manipulate inanimate matter. The rocks were turns into giant monsters that crumbled on top of Amara burying her alive. Selene's power had drained her own body and she'd been left with the appearance of an elderly woman. She then demonstrated to Psyche how easily she could replace her youthful looks by sacrificing the lives of her servants. As much as Psyche tried to resist, she also found the power of the sacrificed life-force intoxicating. Although Selene promised to teach Psyche how to live forever, Psyche continued to defy Selene even more than she had previously defied professor Xavier's authority back at school.
However Selene's attention was again distracted by Amara. She had melted the rocks that previously buried her and began to flood the cavern with molten rock. Psyche, wearing only the strange bikini that she had woken up in, began to climb the hot rock cliffside to escape the burning magma. Her power reacted with Amara, showing her fear of accidentally killing her friend. With both girls distracted Selene caught & bound Amara and drained her of her life-force. Amara's body returned to normal and Psyche caught her friend believing that she was dead. Again Selene promised Psyche that she would teach her the same dark spells.
Meanwhile, Gallio oversaw the enslavement of Senator Aquilla and his staff. Gallio did not count on the fact that Sunspot understood Latin & therefore knew what he was plotting. Amongst the new slaves Sunspot saw the red-haired woman from the day before. He slipped away from the others and took a soldier's helmet & cape. Undetected, he moved through the dungeon and overheard Castro threatening has mother. He then over-powered Castro, freed his mother (who had been rescued from the river by other Nova Roma girls disguised as natives) and they began to plot.
Upstairs Gallio summoned Senator Aquilla. Cannonball & Wolfsbane were shocked to see the physical marks of torture on his fat body. Suddenly the room split open and Amara's molten magma body appeared. She begged for her father's help, but he told her to flee. The chaos inside the room was matched by the chaos outside; Sunspot's mother had brought the Amazonian Nova Roma girls back to the city to lead a revolt against Gallio. Wolfsbane sprang to protect Senator Aquilla while he was still bound-up, and Cannonball & Sunspot made short work of Gallio's men. Gallio hit Wolfsbane across the back of the head while she was untying Senator Aquilla's ropes. Aquilla and Gallio then fought. Although Gallio was taller, stronger and more refreshed, it was Senator Aquilla who succeeded.
With Gallio dead Amara lead the New Mutants back underground to save Psyche. However the ground soon coccooned them. Cannonball and Amara used their powers to escape, but Sunspot's solar-powered strength had drained away. Cannonball broke his friend free and flew them up to where Selene was holding Psyche. She had dressed Psyche in a long-sleeved low-cut dress to match her own, and had her strapped to a stone tablet. Selene's attention was drawn by the on-coming New Mutants. Although she successfully blasted them back repeatedly, Psyche was able to catch her unaware by showing her a nightmare vision of death. Cannonball broke through the cavern ceiling revealing the daylight above. Sunspot was repowered and Amara blasted open a deep pit in the floor. Sunspot used his strength to hurl Selene down into the lava filled pit below and covered her in a shower of rocks. Cannonball objected to murder, but Sunspot believed that it would take more than that to kill Selene.
Note: This issue came out during Assistant Editors' Month. It included a one-page back up strip offering readers a chance to win Marvel Universe Slipper Socks.
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