To find a superhuman �tunneler�, Jack Shen suggests hiring �Earthmover� � the walking tank who helped demolish the Battlestars� headquarters ! To look into this, Crater again visits Maranda Wilhite in jail. �Steeplejack� tells how to contact any of her former teammates through the want ads�and it works! A meeting is arranged, the weasely �Leo Lizarro� agrees on a price, and the Drifters now have a quick entrance into the ABYSS catacombs � if the Battlestars don�t beat-up Earthmover on sight!
To better isolate the underground labs (where Arctica is likely to be held) Ramjet and Defender create a specialized electromagnetic scanner. Machinery and power sources can now be roughly identified from the surface.
Ramjet wonders aloud whether Arctica even should be rescued. The ABYSS leader �Marcus� said that Arctica was an assassin on her world � and given her skills and temperament, the Drifters seem to have accepted this without question! Arctica has always kept her own secrets and agenda. As proof of this, Ramjet reveals to the team Arctica�s meeting with the UN �GAAF� agent, Robyn Quill (episode # 17). Caught on closed-circuit TV, Arctica admitted that she�s been spying on the team since leaving Minerva, and making clandestine reports to the UN! Should this �mole� be rescued? Crater is the first to say �yes.�
Sgt Quill would make a strong ally in the ABYSS invasion, but can�t be contacted. Since she�s also a member of the group �Montage��and the dragon �Icewing� is a member of Montage and the long-established Chicago group �Mythos��Jessica (the Owl-Girl) tries contacting Sgt Quill through Mythos! �whew!� This doesn�t work, but Jessica recruits Mythos for the ABYSS base invasion! Since Mythos has dealt with �Marcus� and his Chicago ABYSS enclave before, Ikarus is eager to help!
Hopefully ABYSS hasn�t tapped the Colt Laboratories phones, or they�ll learn much more than they should.
Jessica and Jack Shen�s assistant, Nathan (�Geek Boy�), continue their research into the Egyptian goddess of law and justice: �Mayet.� The Battlestars stole a statue of her (in episode #12) for some reason!
According to myth, the god Set was envious of Mayet�s growing adulation among the humans�so he corrupted her! Set created an amulet for Mayet, and presented it as a gift from his brother Osiris. Mayet graciously wore the amulet�and grew increasingly vengeful and destructive as a result! Her own power was linked to the amulet, drawn into its dark stone, and used to change her! Soon her followers fled from her, and even her fellow �Elders� could not placate her. A group of human priests eventually cast a spell that turned her to stone! Her cursed, indestructible pendant � now known as �the Amulet of Endless Wrath� was removed and �hidden for all time.�
Jessica theorizes that the statue in the Boston Museum of Antiquities must have been Mayet herself� and if Mayet stayed a statue throughout the centuries, she would have missed the supposedly sudden disappearance of the other gods thousands of years ago. But there was a �Mayet� fighting evil in the �20s, �30s and �40s as one of �the Freedom Guardians.� Was she the real deal? One final bit of research clinches it. The Mayet statue has existed for centuries, at least � but was mysteriously �stolen and missing� during the �20s, �30s and �40s! Mayet must have been awake during that era � uncorrupted, but weaker, since most of her powers were still tied to the missing amulet!
The final theory:
1) Somebody (probably Doctor Arcane) must have found the cursed �Amulet of Endless Wrath� six months ago�and became corrupted by it!
2) Doctor Arcane and Defender then modified their communicators with stone chips from the enchanted amulet �and wearing the communicators caused the Battlestars to become increasingly violent and bloodthirsty!
3) Doctor Arcane went on lots of �road trips�, giving his modified communicators to whatever heroes would take them! This explains the nationwide rash of �Blue Player� vigilante extremism seen in the past few months. (Mythos, thankfully, hasn�t seen Doctor Arcane or been given any new communicators. Jessica checked!)
4) The body of Mayet was stolen � and possibly revived � for reasons unknown. Possibly to increase the power of the amulet? And if Mayet is reunited with the amulet, she�ll again be vengeful and really, really powerful!
�But first things first. The Drifters have a teammate to rescue! Ramjet and Defender argue about plans. Jamaleh prepares Jessica to assist in the invasion � and again cautions against giving in to �the Dark Side.� Jam also mentally assists Jack Shen in reducing his claustrophia. Stretch makes fun balloon animals. The Battlestars seethe and rage � eager to crush ABYSS once and for all! �And Crater works at gaining one more ally: Steeplejack!
With an attorney provided by the Drifters (using Jack Shen�s contacts), Steeplejack is to be remanded into the custody of the Drifters until her trial. Maranda is delighted � until the court suddenly withdraws the offer! The captured Eurostar members �Fiacho� and �Pantera� have been broken out�leaving behind their �ally�, Steeplejack. The State now plans to make an example of her!
�and did I mention, another episode with no gratuitous fight scene?