Reflections of Life
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What's Been Happening: The crafty Mandragon plays the heroes of Otherworld for fools, distracting them with one feint after another. King Brian has uncovered a genetic experiment left over from the days of Merlyn, while his wife Meggan struggles both with her own pregnancy and with a series of frightening visions. Betsy Braddock, the heroine now called Captain Britain, has uncovered a threat in her childhood home -- confronting the evil Dr. Synne, Betsy has apparently perished in a fiery explosion. Couple all of this with the very real possibility that there is a traitor in House Braddock -- one who struck down loyal Sir Benedict -- and you have a royal family teetering on the verge of collapse....
Braddock Manor, England
The childhood home of the Braddock family lay in smoking ruins. It was not the first time that the residence had been the victim of a superhuman battle gone awry, but never before had the structure been so utterly, so completely, destroyed.
As the fire and smoke rose ever higher into the night sky, movement began to stir amid the wreckage. There were no emergency workers on scene as of yet, but if there had been, they would have felt a creeping sense of incredulity at the sight. For there, rising up in the center of the flames, was a woman. Her costume, a stylized representation of the British flag, hung in tatters from her well-toned frame. Her beautiful face was smudged by dirt and soot, but the fury in her eyes gave ample evidence to her strength of spirit.
Betsy Braddock held the collar of Dr. Synne's tunic in her hand, the old man dangling below. Betsy cast one baleful glance at her surroundings and a pained expression came over her. She'd only recently reclaimed this place as her own, returning it to the glory that she'd remembered from her youth. Seeing it now nearly broke her heart.
Captain Britain flew upwards into the air. She was a bit unsteady, as her flight power was dependant upon her costume, which had suffered greatly in the explosion. Her personal force field, generated by the suit, had held up to the difficult task of keeping her and Synne alive, but it had been a close call for the both of them.
She landed, a bit too heavily, a safe distance away from the Manor. A loud cracking sound caught her attention and she whirled about just in time to see the Manor collapsing in on itself, tumbling down into the caverns below. Once, the super-intelligent computer Mastermind had called the caves home, but in recent days they had become a storehouse for the surviving Braddocks. Childhood toys, hand-me-downs from their parents and scrapbooks... All so much fodder for the fires now.
"You stupid git," she whispered. She let Dr. Synne drop from her hand and his head hit the ground with a thud. Betsy felt no pity for the man, despite his age. He had brought this upon himself -- and he deserved far worse. Betsy turned away from the flames, trying to force her mind to other matters. Crying over the loss of the Manor would do her no good -- especially not now, with all that she'd learned.
Mandragon was back and he was sowing the seeds of rebellion, which meant that poor Brian was a sitting duck at the moment. Knowing that someone was masterminding all the madness of the last few weeks actually put Betsy at ease in a way -- Their problems weren't just some horrible fluke of fate, but were instead something that could be dealt with and defeated.
Betsy reached out with her mind, attempting to contact her teammates in the Pendragons. Unfortunately, she was too frazzled to pull it off. She felt the barest glimpse of Shevaun's mind, as the woman known as Dark Angel was a powerful enough telepath that she was the most easily reached. Thoughts of Warren Worthington were running through Shevaun's mind, but Betsy lost contact too quickly to find out what those thoughts consisted of. She felt a brief pang of jealousy, but tried to ignore them. Perhaps Brian.....
A hum of electricity behind her made her whirl about. The movement was too quick for someone who was still stunned from an explosion and Betsy lost her balance. She fell on her side, her head spinning and a feeling of nausea beginning to well up from her belly. "If you're here to finish me off, good luck to you," she whispered. With all her fading strength, she generated her psi-blade. It flared to life around her right hand, looking sharp and deadly.
The person who looked down at her smiled softly. Brian Braddock, dressed in the dark uniform that had once belonged to his father, knelt beside his twin sister and gently lifted her into his arms. "Silly girl. Put that away." With a firm hand, he gripped Betsy's wrist, squeezing until she'd withdrawn the psi-blade.
"Brian....?"
"Hush. You need to rest." Brian saw her face twist in an expression of feisty annoyance but her injuries were too great for her to overcome. She closed her eyes and sagged into his grip. Brian lifted himself up into the air as the first sirens could be heard in the distance. Help would arrive soon and they would be more than capable of taking the injured Dr. Synn into custody. I'm so glad that Betsy re-established the link we used to share. I was afraid that she no longer trusted me that much -- not after what happened with Jamie*. But she must have put it back in place sometime recently. Otherwise, I never would have sensed her distress.
(*As shown in the classic "A Secret War" storyline in Pendragons # 15-18.)
With a crackle of energy, the ruler of Otherworld disappeared from the world of his birth....
Only to reappear a few seconds later in the throne room of his palace. King Brian saw Sammael, the gnarled Keep of Secrets, waiting nearby. The secretive little man was watching him intently, his eyes flickering over the still form of Betsy Braddock. "Is she dead, m'lord?"
"No, she'll be fine!" Brian replied, with a bit more vehemence than was necessary. He set Betsy down as gently as possible, placing his hands on either side of her head. Since claiming his birthright as King of Otherworld, he'd found himself blessed with the ability to heal almost any wound, great or small. But his failures had come more numerous as of late -- first with his own mad brother, Jamie, and more recently with the so-called 'failures' left behind by Merlyn. As such, Brian had hesitated to try and heal Betsy back on Earth -- he preferred to do it here, where his power was greatest.
"There are things that you should know, my king...."
Brian ignored Sammael's words, feeling his anger rising at them. Couldn't he see that he was busy? That the King's only sister lay bleeding before them? The healing power of Otherworld flowed through Brian's fingers, slowly knitting back together Betsy's torn flesh. Warmth spread through her extremities, breathing new life into them.
When he had at last completed his task, Brian Braddock sat back on his heels and closed his eyes. Images of Darkmoor ran through his mind, of fleeing from the Reaver... He saw himself take a nasty tumble on his bike, falling into the midst of a clearing. By all rights, he should have been dead at that point. But he had been chosen for a greater task than even he knew... as task given him by Merlyn and Roma. He had been given the Amulet of Right and the title of Captain Britain. He had been made a hero.
"Your kingdom is under attack, m'lord."
That brought Brian back to reality with a start. He looked up into the wizened face of Sammael. The old man was close enough that Brian could smell him -- the odor of old books, dusty scrolls and the slightly pissy smell of unwashed skin made the King wrinkle his nose in disgust. Why had he let this man take up residence in his castle? "What are you talking about?"
"In three of the outlying counties, there have been uprisings. Since you were otherwise occupied, I took the liberty of dispatching the Dark Guard and some of your other forces to quell the rebellion."
Brian's eyes and forehead suddenly crackled with fire, as the image of the union jack appeared on his face. This depiction of his power appeared only when he was in full King mode, with all the royal power that that entailed. "You hold no office here, Sammael. You were given your position by my predecessor. In my eyes you are nothing more than a tool to be used, a pump to be primed for information. Do you understand?"
Sammael bowed low, smiling slightly. Brian couldn't tell if the old man found him amusing or not -- perhaps, he mused, Sammael was pleased to see Brian acting as a true monarch at last. "Of course. I apologize if I overstepped my bounds."
Brian ran a hand through his blond hair, feeling suddenly invigorated by the situation. He would hate to admit it out loud, but he craved action the way a sailor craved life on the sea. And ever since he and Betsy had uncovered the fact that someone was manipulating recent events, he'd been waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. "Make yourself useful, Sammael -- Fetch me Opal Luna and Meggan. I need to consult with them."
"Yes, sire." Sammael backed away quickly, leaving Brian lost in his thoughts. The sheer magnitude of it boggled the mind -- to torment the members of the royal house, while formulating an attack on Betsy's Manor home... not to mention fomenting dissent amongst the citizenry of Otherworld. Who could be behind all of this?
"Mandragon...." Brian looked down to see Betsy slowly rising to her feet. He reached out to steady her, but she held him at bay. His healing attempt had obviously worked, for the hungry look of a lion shone in her eyes. "I saw it all in Synne's mind. We've been at war for weeks and not known it, Brian."
"Mandragon," he whispered. He remembered the man well -- a power-hungry zealot who'd framed Opal Luna Saturnyne and who had very nearly brought about Brian's own demise. "Are you sure?"
Betsy rolled her eyes. She started to explain but decided the most expedient way was the best. She projected all that she had seen in Synne's mind directly into Brian's. The overall effect was startling to say the least. Brian swayed on his feet before catching himself. "There. Any doubts now?" she asked.
The man who had once called himself Captain Britain drew up to his full height. Since his reconstruction by Merlyn and Roma several years ago, he'd been much taller and broader than a normal man and he looked extremely imposing as clenched both hands into fists. "I'm going to smash his bloody head in."
Betsy smiled at her brother then and felt a strong connection to him. When they were children, they'd played at being perfect little children. She had been drawn to fashion and the arts, while Brian had sought out cars and girls. All in all, there had been no sign of what truly lay with them -- the sparks of greatness, of heroism. But here it was, all out in the open -- they were warriors. "And I'll be at your side all the--"
"Brian!" Meggan burst into the room, her gowns flowing around her. Her beautiful features were drawn tight with concern and one hand rested uneasily on her pregnant belly. "Those people you brought up from the Chamber of Failures. They've awakened!"
"All of them?" Brian asked, surprised. He'd wanted to bring them out slowly, one at a time.
Meggan moved into his arms, nodding. "Yes -- Oh, Brian! It's terrible."
Betsy exchanged a glance with her brother. She could sense his dilemma. Should he charge forth into battle alongside his troops and quell this rebellion to his rule? Or should he remain here and protect his home from a possible threat within its walls? Touching his shoulder, she said "Go. Otherworld needs to see its King. Meggan and I can handle whatever's going on below."
Brian moved away, nodding. He trusted Meggan and Betsy both and knew they were up to the task, though he loathed leaving them behind. Still, Betsy was right -- now was the time to show this realm that its King was not about to bow down to the likes of Mandragon. He strode towards the open balcony and launched himself up into the air.
Mandragon, beware, he promised. You've stalked me and mine for far too long. Now is the time that I turn the tables.....
Elsewhere -- In the Realm of Mandragon
The assassin known as Slaymaster watched his pupil move across the floor in a stunning pirouette of death. The younger Brian Braddock, plucked to this time and place through the machinations of Mandragon, had proven to be a more than capable student for Slaymaster -- so much so, that the killer had refused the opportunity to join some of the rebel forces in their first official uprisings. He wanted nothing less than to be here, with young Brian, for as long as possible.
Before him, Brian swung out a karate chop that removed the head of an assault droid. The youth then ducked below another robot's attack, striking with his Star Sceptre at a weak joint in the droid's leg casing. The blow sent the robot reeling to the floor, where Braddock finished it off with one more swing of the Sceptre.
Slaymaster applauded softly as Brian wiped the sweat from his brow. Both men were dressed in matching attire -- yellow and orange jumpsuits, lined with weapons. The decision to dress alike had been Slaymaster's, as most of the decisions in recent days had been. It bonded them, tied them together in a visible manner. And, with time flowing differently here than in Otherworld, the two men had slowly begun to grow ever closer.
"Bravo, Brian. You are truly a natural."
Brian smiled sheepishly. He still retained some of the innocence of youth, having been taken from a time just after his first battle alongside the amazing Spider-Man. The world of superheroics were still fresh to him, still something that could be enjoyed and savored. He came from a time before Jackdaw the Elf had died at his side and before his own sister had become a hero -- and been horribly blinded by the very man who now tutored Brian himself. "Thank you. I'm beginning to relax a bit more in battle, like you said. I could practically feel my body operating on automatic just then!"
"Good! And while your body does what seems natural, your mind -- your great weapon! -- is free to contemplate. To study. To analyze. And then you know where to strike for greatest effect."
Brian nodded, looking disturbed over something. "When am I going to face... him?"
Slaymaster smiled knowingly. The thought of facing the 'evil' King Brian had been haunting the young man ever since Mandragon had begun feeding him those lies. "Soon. Today, we launched the first official attack against the King. He knows we exist now."
"I just can't fathom how I end up being like him. What turned me -- him -- so evil?"
"Evil is a state of mind, my lad." Slaymaster put an arm around the boy's shoulder, drawing him close. He stared into Brian's eyes with his own, knowing how powerful a hypnotic stare he possessed. He could sense Brian beginning to wilt before him, allowing himself to be molded as Slaymaster saw fit. "Remember this -- it is not for man to judge the actions of another. That is Allah's domain. We are merely his servants in this world."
Brian's voice sounded dreamy and distant. "Will you help me with this? The world's so strange... Nothing like how it was when last I saw it. Betsy -- a ninja and a hero? England behind a magical barrier? None of it makes any sense."
Slaymaster gripped the boy harder. "I will help you. But you have to trust me." Almost whispering, he added "Do you trust me?"
"Yes...."
"Then you and I will serve Allah well....."
The Township of Everpeace, Otherworld
The small farming community was in flames. The local constabulary had been attacked first and then the pillaging began. Despite the fact that most of what was being destroyed was theirs to begin with, the mob saw this effort as righteous vengeance. For too long they had been ignored by the likes of Merlyn and Roma and now, with their beloved King Brian offering solace to the lunatic Jamie Braddock, they had had enough. Perhaps the time had come, they mused, for the royals to learn that their time was done -- the Common Man was rising up.
Their rioting had been met not only by the local militia but also by the newly arriving heroes of the Dark Guard, King Brian's elite fighting force. Composed of Captain Assyria, Horus, Grace, Shamrock, Thunderfist and Tangerine, the Dark Guard were more than up to the task of handling a thousand or so angry citizens -- but their reticence to actually harm these people slowed them considerably.
At the center of the township, the man known as Thunderfist found himself standing back-to-back with the warrior woman called Grace. Thunderfist's blows echoed through the township, each strike of his gloved fists sending bursts of static electricity into the air. Grace, for her part, was slashing with her wrist blades. She tried to avoid doing permanent harm to these people, but her attackers did not share her reticence for violence. They attacked with a myriad of weapons, ranging from pitchforks to hi-tech energy weapons. "We've got to get some back-up here, Robbie!" Grace shouted, straining to be heard over the din.
"I agree with you, luv, but I'll be damned if I know what to do about it!" Thunderfist back-handed a farmer who had danced close enough to jab at the hero with a machete. The blow was hardly Robbie's finest, but it wasn't meant to be. Even pulled as it was, it was more than enough to send the man flying.
Grace ducked below a swipe of a woman's pitchfork, kicking out with her own feet to disable her foe. She could see Shamrock off in the distance, using her uncanny luck powers to stay out of harm's way. "It's days like this that I actually miss being part of the Pendragons," she murmured.
"You and me both, Gracie."
The sudden rumbling of the ground beneath their feet brought a sudden halt to the combat. Dark Guard and rioter both looked skyward to see King Brian hovering above them. He shone with an almost ethereal light and the fiery union jack that adorned his face blazed with a hellish fire. There was blood on his uniform and it was torn in a place or two -- evidence that this was not the first bbattlefield to which the King had come. That realization made Grace gasp -- how many townships were like this one, turned upside down by forces unknown?
Brian's voice was augmented by the magic of Otherworld -- magic that infused his very being. "Stop this," he said. His voice was firm but not angry. He sounded more like a parent come to scold a naughty child. "Whatever you've been promised, it's all a lie. The men who've moved amongst you are servants of Mandragon. He cares only for his own personal power. If you have legitimate concerns, I will hear them out. But violence... this is not the answer."
Down below, there seemed to be a sense of hesitation amongst the rabble. They stared up at this man and recognized his nobility. But the words they'd been told had been so persuasive....
Before anyone could lay down their arms, however, a powerful blast struck Brian full in the torso and sent him tumbling backwards. He crashed, hard, into a nearby building. Grace turned her attention to the direction from which the energy blast had come, finding her eyes settling on the form of a somewhat squat man dressed in medieval armor. He brandished a large sword which glowed with a purple hue. The man was shouting, exhorting the men to rise up in warfare once more. "He lies! Does he think he can just appear and make your rage disappear? Nay! This is your land! Strike! Strike in the name of Mandragon!"
Brian Braddock pulled himself back to his feet, his senses reeling. He'd seen the man's face in Betsy's telepathically-induced visions, but he'd scarcely believed that his oldest foe -- Joshua Stragg, the Reaver -- was activve once more. But there he was.....
As the mob surged forward once more with shouts of rage, Brian jumped back into the air. He could see the Reaver beginning to flee, trying to disappear into the crowd. The king swooped down low, trying to avoid watching what was going on with the Dark Guard and his loyal troops. They were being overwhelmed... soon, they would either be taken to the ground or they would let loose their morals and strike back at the townspeople.
Knowing that this had to end, now, Brian landed hard on the Reaver's back.
The villain tumbled to the ground with a grunt, rolling free as quickly as possible. He raised his sword high. "So the little schoolboy turned superhero wishes to fight, does he? I should have run you through when we first met*."
(*Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in Captain Britain Weekly # 1!)
Brian ducked under a swipe of the blade, driving a powerful blow into the man's midsection. The Reaver was never anything more than a hi-tech thief and even cloaked in some sort of armor, he could not stand before the one true king of Otherworld.
Brian reached down and tore open the Reaver's armor, revealing the middle-aged man beneath it all. A glowing medallion shimmered around the Reaver's throat and Brian yanked it free and held it aloft. "Look!" he yelled, his voice carrying far and wide. The authority in his tone made everyone turn and look. "This is what the Reaver used to control you! This is what he used to sway your feelings into ones of war and destruction!" Brian exerted all of his strength, crumbling the medallion in his fingers.
Silence reigned for a long moment as the townspeople fell free of the hypnotic influence that had been wielded by the Reaver ever since his first appearance in the town*. One by one, slowly at first and then with greater speed, the men and women who had raised up arms began to drop them to the ground.
(*Back in our second issue.)
Brian relaxed slightly, sensing that the worst of this was over. He had performed similar feats in two other townships so far, finding men in the crowd who bore these medallions and destroying them. There was still much to be done, much work to fulfill in terms of rebuilding the faith these people had in him -- but for now, their guilt was great and it silenced them.
"Do ye want them arrested?" Shamrock asked, moving to his side.
"No, Molly. Leave them be. They're pawns, that's all. The real villains are still out there, waiting. But it's time we went on the offensive....."
The Royal Palace
Betsy Braddock stepped into the lower-level chamber housing the so-called 'Failures,' not knowing what to expect. These were creatures considered failures by their creator -- the archmage known as Merlyn. Meant to house the genes that would allow someone to wield both the Amulet of Right and Excalibur, they would be the rightful ruler of Otherworld and the true protector of the Omniverse. But there were so many failures -- dozens of them -- who either lacked the required abilities or who were touched by the taint of madness. Merlyn had locked them away in stasis tubes, ordering Sammael to care for them over the years.
When Brian and his sister Betsy had finally manifested signs of the divine, the Chamber of Failures had fallen into forgotten memory, where it would have remained had not Brian's wanderings led him to the hidden facility.
And now, the failures were awakened.
Betsy still wore her tattered Captain Britain costume, but it only gave her a more dangerous appearance. Her psi-blade crackled around her right fist and her eyes were narrowed as she stepped into the room, Meggan behind her. The shapeshifting bride of the king was in feral mode, with a slightly wolfish appearance and sharp claws. Both women were accompanied by a small group of guards, each armed with swords and shields.
Betsy felt with her telepathic senses, trying to discern the intentions of the men, women and inhuman creatures before her. All of them stood outside of their pods, looking about in confusion. A few of them, obviously insane, were laughing loudly. The others regarded them with looks of disappointment or derision. One of the men, a handsome man of broad shoulders and dark hair, looked almost like a cousin to the Braddocks. He was nude, save for a small loin cloth that barely covered him.
"Meggan," Betsy whispered, holding out a hand to stop her sister-in-law from entering. "They're no threat to us."
"They're not?" Meggan asked, a look of bewilderment on her face. She wrinkled her nose a bit as her enhanced senses picked up the slightly medicinal scent of the open stasis tubes.
The dark-haired man stepped towards them, his eyes full of sorrow. Betsy felt a sudden, profound sense of kinship with him, though she could not express why. "How long were we locked away?"
"For far too long." Betsy found herself trembling even before she had placed exactly what about this man was so familiar to her... and she looked about the room, into the faces and the eyes of all those who now watched her. "Queen and country," she whispered.
"Betsy?" Meggan asked, shifting into her normal form. "Why do they all look like you and Brian?"
Brian had only mentioned it in passing before and its full impact hadn't really hit home to Betsy until now. Sammael had said that Merlyn had taken bits from all the failures in order to insure that Brian and Betsy would flourish... they were, in essence, the spiritual parents of the Braddock twins. "Meggan... I think our family just got a whole lot bigger." She stepped forward and clasped the hand of the man before her, who was the spitting image of her own dead father. "Welcome back to the land of the living. I promise you -- You'll never be locked away again."
The man smiled at her, sensing her honesty. "Thank you." He gestured towards Opal Luna Saturnyne, who stepped into view. "And thank you, as well."
Meggan pressed past Betsy, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at Opal. "You woke them all up, didn't you?"
Opal nodded, her white hair falling delicately over one eye. "Yes. I knew that Brian was planning to do it slowly but... I thought that it might be more important to do it now."
Betsy turned at that, her curiosity piqued. She couldn't resist peering into Opal's mind to get a quick answer... and what she saw there made her blood turn cold. "You're not serious, Opal. Please tell me you're not."
Opal looked away. "When I saw him there, I had to act...."
Betsy moved forward, towards the back of the crowd. She pushed through with some force, but no one seemed to hold it against her. And when she reached the last of the stasis tubes, she caught her breath. For there, in perfect condition, stood Merlyn himself.
Tall and elegant, with long white hair that hung straight down his back, Merlyn stood looking around with the wide-eyed innocence of a babe.
Betsy sighed, shaking her head. "When Merlyn died, there was a grand ceremony... he was placed into a casket -- a stasis tube. And Roma put him in the Chamber of Failures, didn't she? All that time, he's been there... healing."
Merlyn looked towards Meggan and smiled broadly. His voice was small and somewhat childlike. "Are you my mother?"
"He's mad," Opal whispered. "Stark raving mad."
"No," Betsy corrected. "Not mad. Just... reborn, in body and mind. He's like a blank slate."
"What is to become of him? And of us?" a raven-haired woman asked. One of the failures, she wore a stylized version of Captain UK's costume.
Betsy looked around the crowded room for a long moment before answering. "First, clothing for all of you. Then, baths. And after that... does anyone fancy a bit of tea?"
Next Issue: The former 'Failures' take center stage -- with the reborn Merlyn foremost among them. Guest-starring Wynter of the Pendragons. Plus: the current Captain Britain returns to the ruins of Braddock Manor.
Author's Notes
Not much in the way of feedback so far, so I assume you're all enjoying the ride. :-)
Keep in touch,
Barry Reese
