Proctor... Dane Whitman... felt his world slowly sliding into madness as he stared into the face of his variant self. On one of the countless alternates Earths that made up the multiverse, Dane Whitman had formed the Gann-Josin bond with Sersi, only to be slowly driven mad by the experience. On that world he became Proctor, forming a team called the Gatherers whose sole reason for existence was to find the Eternal named Sersi on world after world... and slay her. His mad schemes had fallen been stopped by the Black Knight and Sersi on this Earth - but now, impossibly, he was back.
"Surprised to see me, Dane? I'd think that you'd have learned by now that good villains never stay dead!" Proctor stood atop a high parapet, his eyes blazing with power. Below him, the assembled heroes panted from their exertions against the Parliament of Darkness.* They were the Black Knight, Sersi, Spitfire, Union Jack, Albion, and Kate McClellan - together they were all stood between the realm of Avalon and pure destruction.
* (the fierce battle was depicted last issue - Barry)
Sersi moved forward, anger coursing through her veins. Tendrils of cosmic power surged from her eyes, trailing after her. "You?! I ran you through the Ebony Blade... How can you even be here? Not that it matters - I'll kill you again if I have to!"
The Black Knight placed a hand on her arm, holding her back. He could feel her shaking with emotion and he understood what was she was going through. Proctor was a reminder of their love gone bad, a symbol of all that could go wrong in the slippery road of their romance. "Sersi, don't... Let him talk. We need to talk how he's involved in this."
Albion glanced at Union Jack and Kate, his former teammates in the Knights of Pendragon. They looked tired but mostly unharmed, for which he was extremely grateful. Mordred's forces had slain so many of the Knights already... Good people that Albion considered friends. He didn't know if he could stomach losing more.
Proctor slowly made his way down into the darkened courtyard. Overhead, dark winged creatures flew silently - this was a place of death and decay. "Still so full of fire, my dear Sersi... Has the Dane of this world accepted you into his heart for good, yet? Or has he seen in my eyes what will happen if he does? No good can come from loving you..."
Sersi started to make an angry retort when Union Jack entered the verbal fray. "Look, ladies and gents, I don't mean to interrupt this lovely little family drama - but didn't we come here for a particular reason? And I don't think that it involved sorting out who was going to get the girl..."
The Black Knight glanced over at Union Jack, losing his patience for a moment. "Damnit, Joey - shut up! If Proctor is involved with Mordred, that means that we're in the dark about at least one thing - there might be others that we don't know about as well!"
"Have no fear, Black Knight - you've seen the faces of all your foes by now. Aside from myself and Mordred, there is only the Parliament of Darkness to contend with."
Albion took a step back, motioning for the others to join him. The Black Knight and Sersi were obviously taken with this mysterious Proctor and the villain seemed equally engrossed. He glanced at Spitfire, whispering "I want you to search this area at superspeed - look for any signs of Mordred or his followers. Keep an eye out for any prisoners as well."
Spitfire nodded, glad for once to take orders. She'd never really been a leader in the past - in the Invaders there had been little doubt who had been in control, after all. Captain America had been the team's tactician, allowing Spitfire the freedom to focus on her battles. She nodded once, curtly. Her face was so youthful-looking and her figure so trim that it was hard for Albion to realize that she was far closer to his age than to any of the others in this group. "Will do, mate." With a yellow and scarlet blur, she was gone.
Union Jack reloaded his pistol. "I think the three of us should enter that castle, Pete. If we wait out here, we have to listen to more of this bloody soap opera!"
Kate shook her head. "Not until Spitfire returns. Albion's right - we've been taken by surprise at every turn since we arrived here. We need to take control of the situation."
Union Jack grunted. He hated this sort of thing - other dimensions, shadow-demons... It all made his teeth ache and his stomach churn. As strange as it might sound, he preferred to be back in London fighting vampires and werewolves. At least there he was in his own element.
Mordred the Evil was filled with bliss. He and the Parliament of Darkness, along with a plethora of demons, were standing at the gates of Avalon. While Proctor held the heroes at bay, Mordred would ransack Avalon and claim his ultimate victory. He would defile everything that his father Arthur had held dear... he would turn the Lady of the Lake over, kicking and screaming, to the Parliament.
He turned to face his assembled army. They hissed and grunted, each of them embracing their evil leader's dreams. "My troops... At long last, the time has come! Avalon shall be ours! There is no one to stop us now!"
"I wouldn't say that..." The voice was ethereal and cold, freezing the blood in Mordred's veins. The villain turned to see a man floating before the gates, his long hair flowing in a sudden breeze. His skin, hair and clothing were all perfectly white, giving the appearance of a corpse come back to life. Only his eyes showed any signs of being alive - they shown with an eerie pinkish-red light, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. "In fact, I'd say that Avalon is very well defended for now."
Mordred regained his composure, refusing to let his followers see that he was rattled. "And who might you be, stranger? Some last defender that Avalon has called forth?"
The figure's eyes twinkled with sudden mirth and a childlike smile spread across his beautiful features. He looked almost like a porcelain doll as she replied, "Oh, I've defended Avalon often enough, Mordred. I've gone by many names over the years but for now I favor Wynter."
Mordred's eyes narrowed. Something about this figure seemed disturbingly familiar, though he could not place him. "Well, Wynter... If you choose to stand against us that is your decision." Mordred raised his gauntleted fist high into the air. "My army... attack!"
With that, the forces of darkness stormed the Gates of Avalon.
Spitfire rocketed through the castle, finding empty room after empty room. Not for the first time, she wondered why she'd let Joey talk her into coming along on this - she'd told herself that she'd taken up the Spitfire identity again only to find her son, Kenneth. But that wasn't the truth and she knew it - ever since she'd regained her youth thanks to the blood transfusion that the original android Human Torch had given her, she'd felt the desire to become Spitfire again. It was a rush.
She skidded to a stop in the throne room, staring open-mouthed at the woman who sat in the large, ebony throne. She was beautiful in a haughty sort of way, her long hair hanging straight down her back. "Who...?"
The woman laughed suddenly, a full-throated laugh that was almost manly. "Come now, girl - surely you can guess my identity? You've already met my nephew, I'd wager."
Spitfire frowned. Morgan Le Fay... Spitfire had to remind herself that these beings weren't just myth and fairy tale - they were all too real. "I might have known you'd be pulling the strings."
Morgan tossed her hair, her lips pursed. "No... This is Mordred's doing, not mine. Even now he's about to break into Avalon."
"What? He's there now?"
"Yes... Proctor is but a distraction, my dear. For once, my befuddled nephew seems to be on the winning end of things." Morgan smiled again as she added cryptically, "For now."
Spitfire let out a gasp as a nearby brazier suddenly lit of its own accord. In the flames that flickered, she could see images - a man in white casting spells against Mordred and his forces.
"Who is that?"
Morgan made a distasteful expression. "An old nuisance given new life, I'm afraid. But he won't stand a chance against the army Mordred has assembled. Look there!" The images shifted as a winged demon suddenly struck the man in white from behind, sending him to the ground. He was soon lost in a sea of bodies.
Spitfire turned away from the scene, her heart sinking. She'd never met the man defending Avalon, but she could recognize bravery when she saw it. "My God..."
Morgan leaned forward. "Go and warn your friends. They must make haste to Avalon at once."
Spitfire's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And why would you want to help us?"
"Because Mordred is forgetting his place in the grand scheme of things. He must be taught a lesson. If anyone shall tear down Avalon and its champions, it shall be Morgan Le Fay."
"You are quite right in saying that you killed me with the Ebony Blade, Sersi. But the Blade is actually a gateway to the realms of the afterlife. Some souls become trapped in the blade itself but others - like my own - move on. Mordred was scouring for allies when he saw me... He thought me at first to be this reality's Dane Whitman but upon closer examination, he saw me as a useful tool in his war against Avalon. So he resurrected me using black magic... A deed for which I am quite grateful. I've aided him since, giving him knowledge of Dane's thoughts and actions..." Proctor sounded smug and satisfied as he stood before the Black Knight and Sersi.
Dane flinched. He knew that Proctor was merely a mad reflection of himself - somewhere deep inside, was he just as vain?
Sersi snarled like a tigress, "You disgust me! I have no wonder as to why your world's Sersi betrayed you - I would do the same gladly!" Sersi channeled energy through her eyes, firing a powerful energy beam at Proctor.
The blast sent the villain flying. He crashed through a courtyard wall, climbing to his feet with a smile. "First blood to you, dear Sersi. How fitting that I will kill you next to your world's Dane Whitman... Perhaps, in death, the two of you will find a love that I never had!" Energy shot out from his own eyes as he spoke.
The blast was absorbed by the Shield of Night as the Black Knight moved forward to protect Sersi. The energy was transferred to the Sword of Light, which Dane pointed at his doppleganger. "You're wrong about one thing, Proctor. What happened with your Sersi is not fated to happen on every other Earth. My Sersi isn't like yours." The energy blast flowed through the Sword of Light, striking Proctor once more.
Sersi raised her hands, using her Eternal powers to manipulate the very air around Proctor. She transmuted the oxygen into a skin-tight metal prison which clutched at the villain. "And my love for Dane is true! No matter what happens, I would never betray him."
Proctor howled, calling upon his hidden reserves of energy. He shattered the metal sheath around himself, his eyes blazing with power. "You're both fools to believe that! Your relationship is doomed!"
The Black Knight paused for just a moment. Underneath Proctor's bluster and madness, he could hear his pain... Perhaps, in some sick way, Proctor's crusade to slay all the Sersis in the multiverse was just a cry for help? Regardless, he had to be stopped. Dane strode forward, holding his sword high. He brought the blade down in a strong arc, slashing deep into Proctor's arm.
Proctor backed away, already using his powers to heal his arm. "I'll kill her while you watch, Dane..."
"No. There's been enough killing." The Black Knight slashed through Proctor's stomach, slicing him almost in two. Instead of blood, a rush of energy flew into the air. The Black Knight used the Shield and Sword to absorb Proctor's essence.
Sersi let out a ragged sigh. "Is he gone for good?"
Dane shook his head. "Probably not. I'll have to release his energy from my blade at some point. I'll wait until we return to Earth and turn him over to the Avengers or the Fantastic Four... someone who can get him some help."
"Help? He's a monster!" Sersi stared at him disbelievingly.
"Fine. Then he'll be locked up forever. But I won't kill anyone else unless I have to. I've done too much killing as it is - both in the Crusades and in the Kree-Shi''ar War!* If there's a way to help him, I'll look for it."
* (during Operation: Galactic Storm the Black Knight led the group of Avengers who chose to slay the Supreme Intelligence - Barry)
Before Sersi could respond, Spitfire appeared between them. Her eyes were wide in alarm. "Avalon is in grave danger! Mordred is there and the gates are open!"
The Black Knight locked eyes with Albion, "That means we've failed... Avalon has fallen."
Albion shook his head, "It's not over, Dane. Not as long as a single one of us still lives. All this means is that the war is going to Avalon."
In Black Knight #6: The Battle for Avalon concludes! The Black Knight vs. Mordred! The fate of the Lady of the Lake! More on the mysterious Wynter! And the birth of a brand-new legend!