"Temple of the Dying Sun"

As for the story, well it's a little different from the norm. Some people might comment that it was written purely to show off how powerfull Dani has become, or that the story was a little on the dorky/weird side, and you have to admit that there's a kernel of truth to all that, but the story had a few intriguing bits to redeem it. At first the story has you all confused though, because the team is on a tropical island fighting whacked out ecology, but a few pages down it goes into flashback and you go back to the park where we were left last issue. The people who blew up the frisbee are a pair of Eternals that say they need Dani's help to combat a threat that could endanger all life on the planet if left unchecked. Since Dani's powers aren't really telepathic, but always more empathic, she can't tell exactly what they're up to but she decides she can't ignore a possible threat to the world and agrees to go with them. Naturally the other members of X-Force aren't going to let her go alone, hence the scenes from the first few pages.

The threat is an island that suffers environmental mutations. To make a long story short, the team fights their way to a temple with alien technology inside that seems to be the center of the disturbance. Jesse tries to shut down the alien machine causing all the problems, but he just makes it worse and the members of X-Force start to mutate erraticaly, all except for Dani who's powers protect her it seems. She tries to destroy the machine only to discover that her powers have lost their punch. The two Eternals show up and it's haha we stole your powers with the communications chip we gave you to wear. They knock her down a hole in the ground and leave. She encounters the sun god there who reads her mind and senses that she is no threat to him though she is more powerfull than he expected. He then tells Dani who he is. Turns out he used his powers to enslave and let tyranny rein and all that good stuff, but later realized his mistake and left to live in isolation as penance for his atrocities. The alien machine causing the evironmental mayhem was his way of ensuring that he be left alone. He decides to help her, knwing everything in her mind and tells her that she hasn't lost her power for the energy she can draw upon is infinite. With a little coaching Dani overcomes the mental block (I'm assuming that's her prob) and regains the use of her powers. He tells her how to shut down the damaged machine and she does so, saving her friends (their transformations were painful). The sun god tells her she can leave now and she had better do so for her plans to repair his machine so he can have peace again. She tells him that if he really wants to atone for his past he should try doing somethig constructive rather than brooding an leaves.

Scene shift to the Eternals ship. Guess who they worked for? Damocles, the dudes we met in Almost Reno (remeber those issues?). Suddenly their computers and stuff go caput. Dani and the team are on the scene. Battle time. Dani takes out the powerfull male Eternal (named Electryon in case you wondered) with her powers. Astarte takes control of the males in the group, but Tabitha foils her plan of using them against herself and Dani with a well placed timebomb and Dani takes the K.O. The teams only problem now? How to get home. The ground starts to shake and they see the temple rise into the air. It would appear that the Sun god found wisom in the words of Danielle Moonstar and has decided that his atonement must take the form of action to make amends. He wishes them well and is about to leave when Dani calls up and asks if he can give them a lift.

The interludes in this story show Domino coming home after her clash with Halloween Jack and finding nothing but empty rooms until she gets to Sunspot's. His there collecting his things so that the INS agents can take him to the airport. He tells her the whole story and why he has to leave (any other alternative would put the kids of X-Force under surveilance. If you're wanted, that isn't really a good thing). He tells her his lawyer says he can have him back in the US in six months at the most and Bobby goes outside where the agents are waiting to take him to the airport. Domino says goodbye to him and is there to recieve a much re-routed package for Sam Guthrie, from Genosha.

Ok, you can really see where the story got a little silly with the lame-o bad guys and how it was basicaly a Dani is strong and smart power trip, but it had some very good moments. Jesse cracks a few good jokes that have you laughing, and Meltdown got one or two in there as well. It was nice to see that someone is going to be able to tell the team what happened to Sunspot as well. I personaly really like the Sun god character. It's also interesting that Damocles isn't leaving the team alone. The whole stealing Dani's powers thing was in an effort to use them to catch Arcadia and Ulysses who seem to still be on the loose (Yay for them!). It'll be interesting to see how the Damocles Foundation keeps coming into conflict with X-Force. Are they the big threat that X-Force will be facing around that #100 Aniversary issue? Are they what Cable formed the team to combat? I wonder...