Anima Vol 1 4

June, 1994

**Anima #4** is an issue of the series Anima.

## Synopsis for "Break Out"

Dwight Mason returns to alcoholism, having lost both his job and daughter. Jeremy Mason is disgusted by his father drinking, and decides to leave and live with his mother.

In the primal world of Arkana, Animus and Fenris battle the Nameless One. It is an ancient evil and the oldest one of their kind. The creature grows stronger and stronger, snaring them with its tentacles.

Courtney Mason is reunited with her mother Willow at the Tellus Institute. They thank Maxilla Yale for bringing them together, unaware of her sinister intentions. Courtney discovers Maxilla's books on the primal archetypes. Maxilla catches her reading up on Animus, and promises not to tell her mom about her powers. Later, Courtney is strapped into the Dream Machine so Maxilla can experiment on her with oneiroshock therapy. Maxilla is thrilled to see Courtney responding to the experiments even better than her mother, and believes the meta-gene runs in the entire family. Courtney dreams of the night Anima was born, when she was bitten by the monster Lissik.

Despite her new happiness, Anima misses her friends. Back in Rain City, Judy and Slam are with Liv in the hospital. The doctor diagnoses Liv with a mild concussion, but it's also revealed that she is HIV-positive. Liv explains that she contracted the disease when she was raped by a member of the Scorpions, and didn't tell her friends because she thought they would leave her. The doctor explains that being HIV-positive does not mean you have AIDS, and neither of them can be transmitted simply by proximity. Kyle Woodleaf continues his search for Anima at O.D.D. headquarters. His co-workers praise him for capturing Scarecrow, and tease him for losing his wallet.

Maxilla takes Courtney into Death Valley for a tribal vision quest. They intend to recreate the methods ancient Indians used to communicate with the spirit world. To help her channel the Animus, Maxilla gives Courtney a pill to lower her inhibitive threshold. Courtney realizes this is the same chemical Scarecrow used to drug her, and Maxilla is evil. This forces Animus into the physical world, leaving Fenris to battle the Nameless One by himself. Animus is outraged at Maxilla, but they are unable to help as the Nameless One kills Fenris. Willow goes into shock as Fenris was her spirit guide, and she can feel his death.

There's a dimensional rift, and the reverberations are felt all the way in Rain City. The Boojum kids evacuate, and Kyle Woodleaf says it's the second biggest rift he's ever seen. Animus swears to avenge Fenris. The Nameless One finally breaks into the physical world. Anima and Animus battle it, but Anima's energy blasts only make it stronger. To punish Maxilla for hurting her, Anima gathers energy by draining several years off Maxilla's life. The Nameless One escapes, and Anima flies after it. Maxilla swears revenge on Anima. Trying to find a new patient with Courtney and Willow gone, she realizes that she can still experiment on Jeremy. Back in the Arkana, several cloaked figures gather around the corpse of Fenris. This is the beginning of a prophecy, but they have no idea how it will end.