Appearing in "To Build a Fire"
Featured Character(s):
- The New Mutants
- Wolfsbane
- Mirage
- Magik
- Cannonball
- Sunspot
- Warlock
Villains:
Supporting Characters:
Locations:
- X-Mansion
- Massachusetts Academy
- Nove Roma
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "To Build a Fire"
In the X-Mansion, Cannonball receives a letter from Magma while she is on the Hellions team. He reads it to the rest of the New Mutants. It talks of how she is in Nova Roma with her teammate Empath and they are having a wonderful time there. He even notices the way she underlined the word "wonderful" and they all wonder what it could mean.
At the Massachusetts Center, the Hellions are training by battling against Magma. They all come at her at once and each is not strong enough to stop her. They tell Empath to try and he possesses her to stop fighting and she does. She says that she loves him and realizes that he has possessed her and he does the same to Tarot who mocks him singing that Empath has a new girlfriend. Magma gets angry and starts to run out of the room as the White Queen walks in. She hands Magma a letter from her father in Nova Roma. It tells Magma that she is needed at home and to come home at once. She is allowed to leave. The White Queen tells Empath that he should go with her to help get her father to allow Magma to stay and that this is the Hellfire Club's plan since they want her father's land. He agrees and goes to Magma's room to tell her that he is going with her.
A few days later they are on a plane flying to Nova Roma. Magma is afraid of the flight since they are in a storm. Empath is calm and tries to calm her. He goes to the pilot to have him turn around and the pilot yells at him to sit down and then the plane is hit by a lightning bolt and it starts to go down. The pilot is already dead and Empath tries to navigate the plane down and crashes it into the swamps. He rescues Magma from the burning plane and they jump in the water as the plane explodes. They realize they are stranded here with only each other and many wild animals.
A few days later, Magma realizes that they are in her jungle environment close to her home and they decide to journey towards Nova Roma. They encounter multiple animals along the way like boas, vampire bats, crocodiles and even a jaguar. The whole time they fight with each other and then as the jaguar attacks Empath, Magma steps in and fights it. It slashes her leg and she gets it to run off. She tends to her leg and Empath walks up scared. She begins to "feel" his fright and begins to take it on because of his powers. He tells her he is sorry but that she must use her powers to shake the Earth to call her father to save them. She turns and kisses him suddenly and the ground shakes and all the surrounding wildlife catches on fire. They dive into the water and swim to the other side of the river they were next to and Magma says if they are to get home then they should head northeast to the Amazon River.
Days later, they are stumbling through the swamps and Empath sees that Magma's leg is swollen and the infection that has grown there is giving her a fever. They continue through the swamps and Empath then hears something. Magma's father, Lucius Aquilla appears and asks Magma if Empath is a ruffian. She says no, that he is a teammate and a friend and that she hopes her father will find him a friend as well.