Sage Under Pressure: Purging The Mind Controller

So, yeah...

Time to come clean. While post 125 bragged all the Sage related mind control stories had been told... today's Sage centered entry kind of disproves that statement. And yes, while its true the content of this post was previously featured, however briefly, in the final part of the Sage Saga... It does require further examination.

In a way, this post is a sequel of sorts to the anniversary blog... Turns out, Sage was facing identical problems as teammate Psylocke was at the time: someone who was essentially them was trying to usurp control of their minds... In the case of Betsy Braddock, it was her evil alternate reality counterpart Lady Mandarin...

But before we get to Sage's adversary, lets set the scene first. The book is New Exiles, obviously the writer is Chris Claremont, and the situation?

Well, the Exiles had teleported to an Earth where Atlantis had literally emerged to become a super power centuries earlier than they would in 'our' universe. In a world of warring empires, the Atlanteans controlled the seas and therefor  all warfare and technology. As all of this occurred well before the American revolutionary war of the 1770s, this meant the British were still in control of North America, while France had become a major world dominating nation in its own right.

Britain and France were on the brink of war, with France planning to invade America. The French invasion force was set to land in New York, just as the Exiles arrived to aid in the city's defense.

Alas, during one of the initial confrontations, both Sage and Morph were kidnapped by the French... And that's where the mind control comes in...

Take a few seconds to read Purge's dialogue. He is a French operative, ever so clearly enjoying his task... that is controlling the minds of his victims. Even Sage seemed unable to deal with his powers because, well... you've read all of this so far, right? Go on...

Yes, there are just so many things wrong here. From Purge manhandling the sweaty, bound Sage to her desperate and slightly unbelievable promise she'd break free... Purge, whose gloves are awfully reminiscent of Nightcrawler's original costume, seems to be the man in charge and takes active glee in watching Sage suffer while her personality is being erased. However, he did not expect this...

Ah yeah... Way before Chris Claremont wrote Sage in New Exiles, he made her star in New Excalibur in which Sage had offered to infiltrate the criminal organisation of Albion, an evil Captain Britain counterpart.

To make sure she couldn't be detected, Sage's computer brain produced the persona of Diana Fox and made herself believe she was indeed the aforementioned blonde bombshell. It allowed her to do her work undetected, but it also had a lasting effect on Sage, as 'Diana Fox' became a new, seperate identity within her mind, taking every chance to wrest control away from her... And with Purge taking care of Sage's dominant personality, Diana was allowed free reign....

So how did Sage's actual body transform into Diana's form? That's never truly explained... It might be an unexpected effect of her powers to catalyse (physical) mutations in others. Or not... but hey, whatever works right? Purge wasn't so easily beaten and he once again tried to take control of Diana/Sage by taking the fight to the astral plane... Alas, that didn't exactly work out for him either...

All the dialogue speaks for itself. While Sage is knocked out, keep that in mind, the Diana Fox aspect of her mind appears without a face in her astral form... yet is indeed capable of transforming Sage's physical form into hers? Yeah, that makes a decent amount of sense...*cough* NOT * cough*

Anyhoo, how will all of this end then?

With Purge out of the picture, Morph and Sage quickly recovered and helped prevent the French invasion of New York harbour. But despite the fact Sage passed out on deck in her Diana Fox form, she wakes up as her old self and no one seemed to have a clue about what had just happened...

"... So HOW did we defeat Purge?"

Well, Sage... mainly because you're being written by Chris Claremont, the man who loves you and mind control so much, he doesn't mind controlling the forces of logic... Shine on, you crazy diamond!