Mekanix #3

Kitty is standing in the doorway to her apartment, her jaw dropped in shock. A team of FBI agents are ransacking her apartment, their actions justified by the search warrant she clutches in disbelief. The agents are from a special branch of the bureau; the Homeland Anti-Terrorist Task Force. As Kitty complains loudly to the agent blocking her door, a man in a black suit leaves the group and comes over to ask what the problem is. He gives Kitty the Purity slogan, “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear,” and keeps her from entering her own apartment.

Kitty watches from the hall as the agents violate every bit of privacy she has, finally running out of the building after one of them taunts her about her Dad getting busted by the feds when she was a kid. Turns out her leaving was exactly what they wanted, as they have an agent ready to tail Kitty. It looks more and more like the feds are on a mutant hunt rather than a terrorism investigation. Kitty’s used to this kind of thing, though, and ditches her tail by boarding the el, then standing still and phasing as the train moves on without her. She heads straight for a lawyer.

Kitty shows up for her counseling session with Dr. Lyszinski. The doc prods her about feeling responsible for her parents. A frustrated and tearful Kitty vents a bit at the shrink, and finally leaves, saying she’s better off alone.

Back at the University Heights precinct, Tom More is being questioned by the same detectives that interrogated Kitty. He isn’t being treated like a suspect they way Kitty’s whole class was, but it’s not clear whether he’s given them any hint about Kitty being a mutant. When he heads back to his dorm room, Alice is waiting for him at the door with a bottle of champagne and a barely-there negligee.

After Tom and Alice have had what seems to have been a VERY good time, Alice begins to get dressed, letting Tom know that she and Jeff used Tom’s infiltration of the physics computer network to cause the accident at Bessemer Station. She sees nothing wrong in what she’s done, even considers it a necessary act of war, but an outraged Tom starts to call the police. Alice stops him by reminding him of his shared guilt, since he was the one who hacked into the system to begin with. She goes on to let him know that he’ll take the fall, not her, and has a whole if-you’re-not-with-us-you’re-against-us moment. She leaves a dumbfounded Tom standing in his room, smoke from the demolished physics lab visible in the window behind him.

Kitty is pulling a double shift at the Belles of Hell, trying to keep her mind off her troubles. More come knocking, though, as a distraught Shan comes into the bar with her brother and sister. Her landlord evicted her after she received the same kind of visit from the feds that had Kitty so upset. Kitty offers to share her apartment, although they can’t go there until the feds are finished with it. Dylan offers an empty apartment in his building, provided Shan can fix it up. The two women, each carrying one of the twins, make their way to the University of Chicago administrative building – it seems Kitty wants to locate Shola Inkosi’s address.

After Kitty and Shan hand the twins over the Dylan for babysitting duty, the women head to Shola’s apartment, only to find it completely ransacked, with Shola nowhere in sight. As they gaze around the wrecked room, a light shines through the window, followed by a Molotov cocktail. As the room catches fire, a group of masked thugs, most likely Purity supporters or members, opens fire on the building from the street outside.

Kitty and Shan burst out of the apartment just above Shola’s, having gone upstairs to rescue his neighbors. They deposit the family safely on the street, then turn to confront their attackers. Shan takes the chance to possess them and hold them still. Unfortunately, one of the guys drops a vial of pepper spray, and the resulting cloud causes Shan to lose her hold on them. Tom More suddenly appears, just in time to prevent the girls from getting shot. He puts up a good fight, but is overpowered by the masked men. Just as Tom is about to get shot, his would-be executioner’s rifle disintegrates. Shola has taken his turn at being the cavalry, and he’s definitely not a happy camper. He slams the thugs against a wall, pinning them in place with his power. He’s angry enough to kill, but Kitty talks him down. Shola’s neighbors are more than willing to press charges against the Purity bigots, and Kitty extends a hand of friendship to Tom.

Back on Lake Michigan, the Amazon Belle has even more mutant targets slated for destruction as it approaches Chicago.