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Peter Milligan (writer), Michael “Doc” Allred (artist) Laura Allred (colorist), Nate Piekos of BlamBot Studios (letterer), Michael & Laura Allred (cover artists), Guiseppe Camuncoli & Laura Allred (variant cover), Lauren Amaro & Kat Gregorowiecz (assistant editors), Darren Shan (editor), C.B. Cebulski (editor-in-chief)
While the X-cellent are desecrating the Walk of Fame, X-Statix keep away, afraid of what dark truths Zeitgeist would reveal about them, were they to interfere. However, after Mr. Sensitive changes their minds with a rousing speech they confront the X-cellent. As warned, Dox begins to reveal their secrets and turns public opinion against X-Statix, a process that changes somewhat when Mr. Sensitive shows that, unlike Zeitgeist, he is concerned about the public’s safety. Later, at the Zeithouse, Toodle Pip decides to destroy Dox, rather than face Zeitgeist. Dox is prepared, though, and blocks her teleporting power. He tells her of how she and Mirror Girl can succeed in killing Zeitgeist. Toodle Pip shares the plan with Mirror Girl, who is mean to go to Zeitgeist and distract him, allowing Toodle Pip to surprise him and teleport him to his death. Instead, though, Mirror Girl comes clear to Zeitgeist, who shows he has things under control by forcing Dox to delete all memories of his father’s death, as well as any compromising intel he has on Mirror Girl and Toodle Pip. However, Zeitgeist nevertheless murders Toodle Pip, at which point Dox silently vows revenge.
Dox, a sentient robot, recalls how Zeitgeist murdered his creator, how he has copied the Book of Vishanti, looking for a spell that will turn him into a god and how he, Dox, is blackmailing Toodle Pip and Mirror Girl into killing Zeitgeist, before he can find the spell.
Unaware of Dox’s plans, Zeitgeist impatiently calls him and asks what he is doing down there. Waiting for him, Dox replies deferentially and claims that, between following orders, he goes into sleep mode. Zeitgeist announces, he has a job for him, a little public shaming of X-Statix to boost the number of his own followers.
And so, soon in Hollywood, on the Walk of Fame, Zeitgeist, Hurt John and Uno destroy the stars of the dead X-Statix members U-Go-Girl and Anarchist.
Zeitgeist announces to the crowds that the stars on the Walk of Fame are yesterday’s people - the X-cellent embody the spirit of tomorrow!
Meanwhile, at X-Statix HQ, the heroes watch the desecration of the Walk of Fame via the news. Guy Smith is shaken and orders Katie Jones to teleport them there. Dead Girl reminds him that Zeitgeist warned them what would happen then. She does not wish a full disclosure of her dirty hauntings. Rosa Lemper pleads that her unfortunate dealings with the Stasi must remain in die Vergangenheit. Even The A agrees. Zeitgeist already hurt him and Katie once. “Biracial love charlatans” is what the trolls call them. Phatty opines it’s just a tacky sidewalk. Not worth losing the rest of their rep over.
Angrily, Guy protests the Walk of Fame represents everything they stand for. Celebrity, glitter, showmanship… Vivisector adds. Fast lives and faster deaths. If they let Zeitgeist blow up all those stars, they might as well put on civilian clothes and call it a day, Guy continues.
He convinces the others and Gone Gal teleports them there. Zeitgeist has just been waiting for this and orders Dox to get to work.
Reluctantly, Dox obeys and explores the internet to find the secrets of the X-Statix. His journey takes him to East Germany. The Stasi. A daughter spying on her own parents. The lost honor of Rosa Lemper.
In the meantime, Rosa’s wall crumbles and Phatty hits Uno.
Dox next turns to Guy Smith and finds some very useful electronic ghosts whispering terrible secrets: His true role in the death of Edie Sawyer? His racist diatribes against Tike Alicar? Or is he Katie Sawyer’s mysterious father?
Hurt John gets into Guy’s mind to torture him with his parents’ divorce and his role in it, and is in turn savagely attacked by Vivisector.
Dox turns to Myles Alfred. Were large extracts of his acclaimed second novel plagiarized? Is he in fact a literary fraud?
Guy thanks Myles, who states he couldn’t let Hurt John make Guy believe he was to blame for his parents’ divorce. Because they are pals? Guy asks. Because he’s a writer: he hates clichés, is Myles’ reply. A moment later, Guy drags him down to dodge a blast but then realizes the crowd is getting hurt. He orders the others to watch his back, then appeals to the crowd to withdraw - they are in danger of getting hurt.
Zeitgeist realizes Guy’s good Samaritan act is stealing followers from him. What the hell is keeping Dox?
Guy tells the people to watch the battle on X-Statix TV, when suddenly he and the others are getting pummeled with food. Guy contacts Girl Joe and asks what is going on. She informs him they are being doxed. Starting with Phatty. She once wanted a gastric bypass and fat-shamed herself. Horrified by the memory, Phatty begs to make this stop.
Spare them the details for later, Guy orders, causing Doop to call him a coward. Guy denies this, but their presence here is only aggravating the crowd. He orders Gone Gal to take them home. However, she snaps, maybe she will, maybe she won’t. Now he knows how she and Mike felt, when the love lie Guy forced on them was discovered. Not so nice, is it, she mocks. Guy apologizes and asks if they can go home now.
Grinning at what he has caused, Zeitgeist has the same idea and orders Toodle Pip to take them to the Zeithouse.
In his room, surrounded by most of the team, Zeitgeist rants that the copy of the Book of Vishanti throbs in readiness for the Spell of Deification. A few more thousand followers and it will be done! He has summoned them all here to discuss how to address him when he is a god. Displeased, he notes the absence of Toodle Pip and Mirror Girl.
The two women discuss what will happen if Dox doxes them, as he did to X-Statix, unless they kill Zeitgeist. Mirror Girl complains that he is powerful and dangerous. It won’t be easy, Toddle Pip agrees. Maybe it isn’t Zeitgeist they should be offing.
Toodle Pip enters Dox’ empty room and he begins reciting facts about her whole life, starting with her father’s suicide when she was 5. How she killed her first man when she was 14. Annoyed, she asks if she is meant to be impressed or what. He retorts that she and Mirror Girl are meant to have killed Zeitgeist, murderer of his beloved father, as he requested. Blackmailed, Toodle Pip corrects him. She begins the teleportation process with the intention of dropping him in the Hudson River. However, she cannot finish it. He remarks, she doesn’t understand the quantum mechanics behind the act of teleporting. He is able to generate a powerful electrical field that interrupts the process. He repeats his previous order: he has analyzed their relative skill sets and devised a way…
Later, Toodle Pip explains the plan to Mirror Girl, who has to go in first, as Zeitgeist has zero respect for her and will have his guard down. Jenny thanks her sarcastically and asks if she’d really rather kill Zeitgeist than have all her dirty laundry aired. She’d rather kill herself! Toodle Pip replies. But what does Mirror Girl have to hide? She was an innocent, little, trainee nun, right? It’s called a novitiate, Jenny corrects her. She had a crisis of faith and held her mirror to the Mother Superior. Toodle Pip might remember that killer nun from a few years back. Five people died before the cops took her down.
Toodle Pip gets it and continues outlining the plan. She describes how Zeitgeist is always in his room at the time, meditating or whatever he is doing (looking at his mirror image and talking himself up, actually). Jenny is to knock at his door.
Zeitgeist tells her he can spare her five minutes; she knows where the bed is.
The plan is for Mirror Girl to then hit him with the horrors he will see in her mirror and, when he is stunned, Toodle Pip will teleport him somewhere deadly.
Instead, he grabs her and asks why she is using her mirror…
When Toodle Pip teleports into the room, both are sitting on the bed. She sputters, what is going on. Mirror Girl stammers she had a change of heart. He seemed so vulnerable and lost. She told him everything about Dox and the blackmail.
Toodle Pip groans it took him nine minutes to seduce her, who used to be a novitiate. Now what are they going to do about Dox? They leave that to daddy, Zeitgeist grins.
However, Dox is prepared and has taken precautions, like keeping important memories in deep storage and developing the ability to lie. Zeitgeist forces him to erase all memories of Zeitgeist killing his father and then delete all files regarding Mirror Girl and Toodle Pip. Dox claims to obey.
Zeitgeist turns to the women and gloats how easy it was. They should have come to him at once. Mirror Girl thanks him.
He then vomits at Toodle Pip, burning her to death. He informs the traumatized Mirror Girl that he will expect her in his room in thirty minutes. He is in need of some light entertainment.
He walks away and Dox silently vows revenge.
The A, Dead Girl, Doop, Gone Gal, Mr. Sensitive, Phatty, Rosa Lemper, Vivisector (X-Statix)Girl Joe
Dox, Hurt John, Mirror Girl, Pood, Stripe, Toodle Pip, Uno, Zeitgeist (X-Cellent)
Strangely, last issue Dead Gurl and Rosa boasted they were not afraid of Zeitgeist disclosing their secrets, whereas here they very much are.
Stasi: Department of State Security in the German Democratic Republic, which spied on its citizens. Apparently, Rosa Lemper, like many citizens, was an informer.
“Die Vergangenheit”: German for “the past” (wrong grammar, though. As a dative object it would be “der Vergangenheit.”
