Fate's Rising

***Fate's Rising*** is a webcomic drama series that was created by Alex Guy and a standalone spin-off to *South City*, taking place in the same universe. It was written and illustrated by Alex and is an English language remake of the Mexican telenovela, *La Fuerza del Destino* (*The Power of Destiny*). Originally titled "***Destiny's Rising***," various names and events altered in order to Americanize it, and a few major religious references have been removed.

The series revolves around the life of Evan McGuire, a lower-class citizen of Los Angeles raised by his single mother, who, after a series of unfortunate events, forces him to flee across the country where he becoming a wealthy and successful engineer. His fate eventually brings him back to Los Angeles where he reunites with old friends but also is faced with old enemies and new situations.

## Plot

13 year old Evan returns with his mother, Alice, to Los Angeles, California, his birthplace. His father, James Jackson Dragon, a wealthy and powerful businessman and landowner, does not recognize him as his son and rejects him. Alice keeps her son's origin a secret and is forced to accept the job as a servant for the Larson-Carter family, where Miss Carter, her daughter Louise, her son-in-law Gerald, and their two daughters, the teen Miranda and the child Dawn live.

Years go by and Evan and Miranda are now adolescents. Evan feels an attraction to Miranda and she, for being frivolous and shallow, seduces him and ends up pregnant. Her family is faced with keeping the pregnancy a secret to keep their family's good name. Evan visits his godmother, Amelia, and there finds his mother dying after trying to end her own pregnancy, much to his surprise. He believes James Jackson is the father of the baby.

When Evan walks outside to get some air, he is attacked by Louise thugs for getting Miranda pregnant. During the brawl, Evan's friends, Cam and his brother Antonio arrive and rush to help him. Antonio stabs one of the men, killing him. However, Evan is mistakenly accused of the murder and flees the country out of fear of being unjustly convicted for murder and sent to prison. He crossing the country, still recovering from the beating and fighting the natural elements of the desert between Los Angeles and the east coast.

He goes to New York City and ends up staying there for eleven years, eventually becoming a successful engineer. There, he meets Anthony McGuire, an elder businessman who has lost his wife and only son. Anthony initially pays for Evan's education and then arranges to adopt him. Anthony encourages Evan to return to Los Angeles with him, not only for business but also to face his past.

Evan gets several pieces of surprising news when he returns to Los Angeles, among them is that the child he conceived with Miranda mysteriously disappeared the same day he was born, and no one has known about him since then. He meets Dawn, now a young child psychologist, who confesses to Evan that she has secretly loved him since she was a child. Dawn promises to help him find his son, regain his dignity, and overcome all the obstacles with courage. Evan discovers that Alex, the adopted son of Gerald, is his son. Miranda also discovers the fact and tells Evan that if he doesn't marry her, she will take Alex away from him. Thinking about his son, Evan agrees to marry Miranda and end his relationship with Dawn, whom he is in love with. Evan marries Miranda and moves to South City with her, Alex, and his adoptive father.

Dawn had made love with Evan before his marriage with Miranda and after his departure, she goes to a club with her friend to try to forget all her problems. Her drink contains a date rape drug, which not only makes her drowsy but a mysterious guy rapes her. Weeks later, Dawn discovers that she's pregnant, and believes that Evan is the real father. Carly suggests that Dawn should marry Cam, who deeply loves her, as she doesn't want her granddaughter to be a single mother. Dawn gives birth to a baby girl named Pearl and marries Cam. Dawn is unable to forget about her relationship with Evan, which makes Cam feel angry and jealous. After Miranda commits adultery, Evan divorces her and gains parental rights for Alex. Anthony later tells Evan that Dawn has married Cam and has a baby, which makes him feel angry and betrayed. He returns to Los Angeles to seek for reasons as to why it happened.

Evan's return causing jealousy in Cam, causing Dawn to start thinking twice about staying married to Cam. Meanwhile, Miranda returns and now turns her attention to seducing Cam, starts an affair with him. Dawn continues with the divorce proceedings, and during the court process, Pearl's custody meets challenges after DNA results prove she is not the daughter of Evan. Dawn begins to recall actions on the night of Pearl's conception, revealing that she was actually raped. After undergoing hypnosis therapy, Dawn finally gets to recall the face of her attacker as Sebastian Dragon, James Jackson's son.

Dawn and Evan decide against filing a case against Sebastian so as not to taint the future of Pearl. Louise is found to have kidney failure and she will need continuous treatment and eventually a transplant to save her life. Cam breaks off his relationship with Miranda in light of her becoming needy and meddling. Later, it is found out that Miranda is the only one compatible with her mother. Miranda agrees to donate a kidney and during the operation, she dies, saving her mother's life and is recognized by Alex as a hero.

After an audit is done on the Agricultural Association's accounts, James Jackson is forced by the association to pay back the money he stole in exchange of non-involvement of the authorities; However, his wife, Esther, is also filing for a divorce with a request of half the share of the Dragon wealth. These activities cause James Jackson to get deeper into his tequila bottle, and eventually, he is left alone with no one at his side. Sebastian, who is on the run, is arranging with his partner, "The Big Show", on kidnapping Evan's son for money. When arranging to receive ransom from Evan in a desolate area, "The Big Show" shoots Evan, who is then gets shot by Cam. "The Big Show" and Sebastian's other accomplice shoot Cam in the process and leaves all three of them there and runs with the bag of money. After a long battle with infection, both Cam and Evan recover and they are finally reunited with their families.

In the end, Sebastian is imprisoned and commits suicide in his prison cell, Evan and Dawn finally get married, and Cam meets a woman at their wedding with whom he makes an instant connection.