Junior Year Fall Semester

34. Curtain Coming Down I : Run for the Border (8/89)
When Shriekback and Fletcher (who has had a containment suit built for him so that he can use his powers without risk) arrive at JFK to pick up Dan upon his return form the Orient, they encounter Rainfall, Red Wolf, Mouse and Desire. Red Wolf attacks Chris to prove he's a better man, and humiliates Chris and Fletcher until a lucky shot knocks him out a window. The rest of the SVAF escape with Desire's help, while Dan covers for Section Eight's part in this mess. Meanwhile, Arclight is called by MEDUSA to get the rest of the team to aid in the defense of Particle and Wave, who have just defected. Lena flies to JFK to inform the rest of the team and makes the mistake of grabbing Desire, who promptly learns all he can from her and leaves her alone on a hilltop.

35. Curtain Coming Down II : In Hiding (8/89)
With their initial base compromised by Arclight's mistake, the State department moves Particle, Wave and Section Eight to a safe house in upstate New York, to wait until all of the papers can be processed for the Soviet agents' defections. There they are attacked by the SVAF members in the States (Enigma discovered their locations through psychic probes). The battle rages, but eventually Section Eight wins, with Shriekback stunning Red Wolf (woah!), Skywalker finding Rainfall, Talon and Fletcher beating Desire and Gypsy stopping Mouse.

36. Curtain Coming Down III : Watching the Collapse (8/89)
Particle and Wave defect and begin attending Lancaster, and the rest of the SVAF get shipped back to the USSR as the Soviet collapse begins. Rainfall and Mouse vanish, Desire is promoted, and Red Wolf is imprisoned.

37. The Genocide Directive I: Chinese Puzzles (10/89)
Jennifer's plans to have Genocide's body removed and destroyed continue to garner national attention, and the vice president is due to arrive at the ceremony. Before the ceremony, Section Eight is approached by MEDUSA, who is contacting them regarding the deaths of Hamptington and VelJohnson. The two scientists were found in an abandoned cabin in the north woods of Massachusetts, partially burned and quite dead. Judging from the mole trail, Menagerie was present at the time of the murder. Gypsy uses her postcognition to determine the events surrounding their death, and who they were working for at the time. Those people were the neo-nazi group responsible for the attack from Dead Man's Hand. They are planning on using weapons built by Hamptington and VelJohnson to attack the exhumation, using the ceremony as a time to both strike a terrorist blow and destroy Section Eight for their interference.

38. The Genocide Directive II: Revelations (10/89)
Obviously against these plans, our heroes locate the neo-nazi group and have Chris infiltrate them. The plan is marginally successful, and they are able to hold off Snow Leopard, the variant associated with this enclave, while destroying the weaponry. In doing so, they gain evidence that Hamptington and VelJohnson might still be alive, aiding them in the attack on the neo-nazis. Millions of dollars are missing after the fight, taken by the tow "dead" scientists. Fletcher takes a Plovian fusion grenade from the wreckage of the giant robot.

39. The Genocide Directive III: Post Mortem (10/89)
With the ceremony safe, it continues as planned, save that there is no body present in the coffin! Tracking down the most likely culprits, they learn from a slightly groggy Machiavelli that the rest of the Society of Syrynx is missing. Following Syrynx's credit trail, they (with Mach) confront the society members, all under Syrynx's sorcerous control (they are, in fact, later awarded the "Most Mind Controlled" superlative by their dorm). Distracted by saving Gypsy, who has gotten her astral form captured in a pentagram, Section Eight defeats the Society, but is unable to stop Syrynx from getting away with the body.

40. The Genocide Directive IV: Roll the Bones (10/89)
At a loss for what to do next, Skywalker contacts Victoria Slade, who is able to determine where Syrynx's spell must occur: the graveyard where Genocide had rested. Rushing back to the scene, they are trapped in an uncomfortable repetition of last Halloween's events. Unable to breach Syrynx's defenses before he can complete the spell, the two teams are forced to watch Syrynx's body collapse and Genocide's rise, with Syrynx's spirit animating it. A brief battle ensues, with both teams being tossed about by Syrynx/ Genocide's overwhelming power. After having Shriekback shoot him several times, and charged to capacity, Fletcher engages in a wrestling match with the animated Nazi, warning his teammates off. Just as he is about to be snapped in two, Fletcher pulls out the fusion grenade, detonates it, and absorbs its power. One tear-filled glance at Gypsy is all he has time for before his powers overload, focused by the armor through his gauntlets into Genocide's head. The resultant explosion leaves both Fletcher and Genocide dead.

41. Dust to Dust (11/89)
Fletcher's funeral; afterwards Gypsy announces she's both pregnant with Fletcher's baby and leaving the team for a while. Arclight and Shriekback get into a screaming match and both stomp off for parts unknown. Talon leaves on a trip to Antarctica and her soul, and Simon falls into a deep depression and vanishes into his lab, leaving Skywalker alone in an all-too-empty building.

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