Issue 12

Date:  June, 1991
Title:  Forever Yesterday, Part Two: A Betrayal of Hope
Writer:  Fabian Nicieza
Penciler:  Mark Bagley

Synopsis:  The gang of rebel mutants make their way through a tunnel under Maqaman Island until they reach the field generator which prevents them from entering the island.  Using a scrambler, the mutant gang are able to disrupt the field for a few seconds, long enough for them to enter the island and begin their quest to shut down the field once and for all.  Once the field is shut down all the mutants will be able to enter and face the Sphinx.  In Avengers Mansion the Sphinx informs the Avengers that plans pertaining to the mutant detention field has been obtained by the mutant rebel group known as the Mutant Liberation Front.  Just then the Sphinx is alerted to the presence of the gang of mutants who have entered the island.  The Avengers head off to stop them from destroying the generator plants.  Back inside the Riders' apartment, Nova has been alerted to the mutant invasion.  Sayge tells him to wait and begins to show him the history of the Sphinx as it should be.  The true history shows the pharaoh's wizard's snake being defeated by Moses' snake.  For this shame, the wizard was exiled from Egypt.  After years of living as a nomad he discovered the Temple of the Ka himself.  He placed the Ka Stone on his forehead and became the Sphinx.  When he emerged from the Temple of the Ka he was dazed by the sudden flood of power.  He was found unconscious by an exiled woman.  She took him in and nursed him to health.  Over time she fell in love with him, but he quickly left her.  As she grew old, her love for him did not wane.  She died a lonely old woman only to be reborn as a boy who would later grow up to be an architect for the Pharaoh.  After years of studying the Ka Stone and learning of it's secrets he died, to be reborn again as a woman who would grow up to marry the pharaoh.  The woman orchestrated a plan that would have her buried with the Scepter of Ka, which could focus and attune the energies of the Ka Stone.  The woman was reborn several times over the centuries, waiting for a time when the Sphinx would emerge to prominence, which occurred when the Sphinx confronted Nova in the true timeline.  The woman was reborn in the body of an Egyptian woman and discovered the the Sphinx had been destroyed by Galactus.  She returned to her ancient burial site where she had been buried with the Scepter of Ka and used it to align the Ka Stone energies that had been dispersed into the atmosphere during the Sphinx's destruction, bestowing upon her, the power of the Sphinx.  She was overcome with power and retroactively altered reality into the world the Nova had come to now know.  The reason: so that she could experience the love of the man who had never loved her back throughout her countless lives, the Sphinx.  Elsewhere, Magneto and Emma Frost descend into the Atlantic Ocean for a meeting with Namor and his cousin, Namorita.  They ask for Namor's help in defeating the Sphinx.  At the Taylor Foundation, Reed Richards and Deir Taylor plan to go somewhere safer so that they can continue to feed information to the mutant rebels.  Just then, the entire Richards family and Dwayne Taylor's parents are gunned down.  Dwayne managed to escape through the service elevator.   Meanwhile, the MLF have arrived at the field generator plant when they are attacked by the Avengers.  Nova arrives and decides to help the mutant rebellion, knowing what he knows now.  During the attack, Nova generates a powerful starburst of energy that manages to knock down all the Avengers.  The mutants rebels are able to destroy the generator and Magneto and several other mutants are able to enter Maqaman Island ready to confront the Sphinx.  The Sphinx appears, ready for battle herself. 

Key Events:

The true origin of the Sphinx is told.