#1
The Sword is Drawn
Written by David Wheatley
The sword was still in his hand as he landed next to the man who waited for him. He looked at the warrior before him, seeing past the battered armour to the bruised and beaten man who had worn it. The blood still stained the blade, and the smoke from the fires was above the ruined city.
"So that's it then?" he asked, his hands shaking as he put the cigarette in his mouth as the warrior removed his helmet. After the events of today, he needed a nicotine hit, to get drunk and to get laid. "It's over?"
"Yes, W, it's over.""So we won." He breathed a little easier. Mutants and terrorists he could handle. Demons from another dimension wanting to conquer Earth so that they could gain the upper hand in an eternal war between the Powers That Be and the Opposition was something else entirely. "The demons are all gone."
The warrior knight shook his head. "The demons are never gone, they're always there. I can feel them out there, regrouping. We prevailed in a major conflict, but this was just a battle. The war goes on."
"Now would have been a really good time to lie to me," W said. "Something like 'Sure, W, the world is safe, you can close your one good eye again at nights and sleep soundly'. Would it have been too much?"
"I try not to do that, unless I have to." Captain Britain looked down at the ruined Houses of Parliament. It had been a long battle, a battle he had been reborn for, but now it was over. He would assist in the rebuilding, but what then he idly wondered what the future held. Khan was gone, Otherworld was safe for now and Denouement had been averted, but the price had been high. The capital city of the UK had been devastated, Merlyn had been lost and the conduit of the Powers was now a young girl who had not chosen this path. His hand went to the Heart of the Lady, the source of his great powers and he wondered why it had not been enough.
"You can't save everyone, Brian," W said, as if he were reading his mind. "You saved a lot of people today. Khan is gone and Jaspers is going to be looked after by the best." The XL unit was going to have a field day with James Jaspers, demonic concubine and most likely to be the scapegoat for this whole mess. People needed someone to blame and they would never buy the demon angle. Mutants yes, demons no. "Go find Courtney, rest. You look like you could do with it." Britain nodded and put Excalibur away in the invisible sheath that followed him around. The magical connection was broken and Captain Britain vanished to leave Brian Braddock. He looked fine, but W could see the tiredness and residual pain in his eyes.
"Thanks, W. For everything."
"It's no…" Before the head of MI6's mutant division could answer there was a flash of rainbow coloured light and the two men turned, W readying his hot knives and Braddock drawing Excalibur once more.
"Brian Braddock," said a metallic female voice. "I have come for you."
"Is that a robot?" W said, not sure whether to fire or not. He wanted to, but his years had taught him that caution was sometimes better than to charge blindly in to the unknown.
"Yes, a robot on top of a transdimensional vortex, if I'm right," the scientist said and the light faded to grey.
"My name is Kate Pryde," the robot said. "I have been sent to find heroes to defeat a sorcerer and you, Captain Britain, are one of them."
"He's just fought a war, what makes you think he'll fight another one on the word of a robot?"
"Because, Pete," she said and W's jaw dropped at the mention of his name, "it's what he does. It's his destiny."
"Your name is Pete?" Britain asked. "I always imagined you as more of a Gary."
"Please," said Kate. "Will you help me?"
"Tell Courtney I'll be back," he said after a moment and Pete shrugged.
"Good luck," W said as Brian stepped in to the portal generated by Kate and the both of them vanished and he sighed as he lit another cigarette and looked over his devastated city and he knew they would rebuild. "One of these days, I'm going to get myself a real job…"
Adam Destine sat in his garden, outside the country house that his family had inhabited for generations. To the world, it was just another ancestral house, in a small village north of London called Ravenscroft, but to Adam Destine it was a place of memories. He had lived there all his life, since the year 1168. His life had been one of simple farming back then, but he had gone to ward and had met his destiny when he freed a genie from a cruel master. In return for her freedom, she had granted him immortality and the two of them fell in love. Their children were numerous, but they knew their true fate was to outlive them all.
He looked at the headstones of the graves and thought back as he remembered the faces of each of those whom he had buried. Their children. Though they were possessed of longer lives than most, they were still mortal and could still go the way of all flesh, either by injury or old age. Some deaths caused him guilt because he had been unable to save them, but that was the way it had to be and he had come to terms with it mostly. Vincent had been a problem, an evil child and the only way to stop him was death at Adam's hand. It had divided the family and Adam had spent a long time in exile, travelling the stars in an attempt to deal with it all, searching for a way to end his existence for his crime, but now he was himself once more. Immortal, invulnerable to everything he had come across, which had been handy thanks to his adventures since his return.
His children had been hunted by Omegans and the creature known as Lenz and he had managed to stop the battle, but not before more of his children were discovered and killed, which was why he elected to stay and get to know his youngest children - Rory and Pandora. After that there was the encounter with Synraith, who they managed to stop crossing over to the Earth dimension with the help of the X-Men, at which time Adam considered the idea that they should leave the business of being heroes to those who were more adept at it. That was not to be their fate as Adam was reunited once more with his old friend Logan, now the X-Man Wolverine and together they helped stop Chen Yu drawing on the power of the Crimson Dawn, and striking a major blow to the Hand, as history repeated giving them a chance to finish something they had started years before. Adam had hoped that would be it, as his family were at risk once again, but they had been caught up in the machinations of Black Air and he and Pete Wisdom of Excalibur had been thrown through the multiverse while their friends and family put things right. It had been a hectic time for the family and he had only just returned home from delivering the Avenger Quasar to his destiny as a member of the Infinity Watch, and now Adam was waiting for the next shoe to drop.
He had known this could happen, that once immersed in the world of heroics, it forever touched you and you could not escape. His wife knew this as well, and they had tried to live normal lives, but once the Relative Strangers protocol was broken, there was little else. While the family lived out of time to a certain extent, time moved onwards and perhaps this was the price they now had to pay for their longevity. Then he felt her presence in his mind a moment before he was transported to the limbo-esque realm where they consummated their relationship. His senses were overwhelmed by her presence but he knew she wasn't there for the two of them to be together, but he knew she needed to speak with him.
:::What is it, my love?::: he asked of her as he embraced her. :::What is happening?:::
:::The lines of fate are calling to you, my love::: she replied. :::You must go:::
:::Go? Where?:::
:::Between dimensions, outside of time. If you do not go the consequences will be dire for all reality. Even now, I can feel the shifting of the Omniverse itself:::
Adam sighed. This is what he had been waiting for. :::I'm ready::: His reply was determined, knowing that though he had lived for over eight hundred years, he would live a good deal longer than that and that the universe was not done with him yet.
:::I will be here when you return::: she said. :::It has been too long since we had a child and I yearn for another:::
:::So do I::: Adam's response was met by feelings of overwhelming passion radiating from her and then he found himself back outside Ravenscroft Manor once more, where a robotic creature was waiting for him.
"I will go with you," he said before Kate could speak. "I know you are here for me. My aid is yours."
"Thank you, Adam Destine," she said and she transported him away, thinking that had been easier than she had thought it would be.
"Jamie," Elisabeth Braddock said as she knelt by the grave of her brother, who had given his life to save the world from Onslaught. The final battle had been such a ferocuious affair, that so many of the heroes and villains that had been engaged in the conflict had perished, and everyone mourned in their own way. A gentle rain began to fall from the sky and she ran her hand over the writing on the tablet. "I envy you your peace, you and Brian are reunited." It had been some time since the fall on Onslaught, and the world had made it's peace and moved on.
It was not the civilisation they had once known, but it was a new kind of civilisation, where a natural order had formed. Technology was almost obsolete now, and while there were a few who could make things work, there was not the materials required to be as they had once been, and the truth was that nobody really missed what had been lost. They were alive, they were free and that was what mattered. The scars of the past were fading, but they would always remember.
"Hey, love," said a voice and she turned to see her husband standing there, watching her. "Figured you'd be here."
"Oh, Peter, it's amazing how much of it has regrown, especially in such a short space of time" she said, looking at the wonder of it all. "Krakoa…"
"You can still sense him," Wisdom said. "In the whisper of the wind, the crash of the waves, the birds in the sky. He regenerated the planet, and you know something - I swear I can see Shiro from time to time."
Elisabeth smiled as she slipped her hand in to his. "Me too," she said. "I can feel them both, though a residual trace of her."
"Your powers are incredible," said Pete, marvelling at how much she had discovered, and she smiled, knowing he wasn't just being flattering, he really meant it. Finding her brother alive had freed her from her guilt and allowed her full access to her powers. Telepathy had only been the start of it and she had discovered telekinesis and the ability to prognosticate. She could not see far in to the future, but she could see enough to keep them safe. Not all of Onslaught's lieutenants had been killed and they were hunting down those they could in some perverse loyalty to their long dead lord, but from time to time they would come back here, to England and the ancestral seat of the Braddock family, where they had laid Jamie to rest.
"I've been trying something as well," she said. "Watch." She flung her hand open and five psionic energy knives flew from her. "Psionic hot knives, as powerful in their way as your hot knives are."
"Damn that's cool." He lit a cigarette and he looked at her. "It's also one hell of a turn on…" She gave a slight jump as she felt his hand slip down her jeans and behind her panties and a shiver went down her spine as he touched her. "You up for it?" She looked at him with a smile.
"Always," she replied. "I can see you are."
"Come one then," he said, pulling her close to him and they kissed, their hands exploring each other, covering familiar territory. "Oh, Beth…"
"Oh, Pete," she said, then she slightly pushed him away. "But…"
He gave a slight tilt of his head. "Well, we've not done that for a while," he said, "but I'm game…"
"No," she said, telekinetically shoving him away, light enough not to hurt, but enough to break the mood. "We can't. Not now."
"Oh, that but," sighed Wisdom, realising, and then he saw the way her pupils had turned the purple of her iris and he knew she was getting a flash of the future. "What is it?"
"Something's coming…" There was a flash of rainbow coloured light and before them was a being the like of which neither had seen before.
"Elisabeth Braddock, I have come for you."
"Over my dead body," said Pete.
"WAIT!" said Elisabeth, the butterfly effect forming as she telepathically scanned the being. "There's no malice in there, just… such a sadness." Then Beth looked at her husband. "Pete, I'm sorry but I have to go."
"Go? Go where?" Pete didn't understand any of this.
"I know you don't, my heart," she said, "but Kate's mission is important - not just to us but for everyone."
"Then I'll come with you," he said.
"Not this time," she said, softly shaking her head and then she kissed him. "Wait for me."
"Until the end of time," he said and he tapped the small gold band on his ring finger. "I already made that promise."
"I never figured you for the marrying kind," said Kate as Elisabeth stepped towards the light beneath the metallic head.
"Oh, I'm full of surprises," said Pete, wondering exactly what the robot thing knew about him. He was about to ask, but then he realised they were gone and he shook his head. "Well, that knackers my ideas for this afternoon…"
Adam Drake's phone rang with a single tone repeated and he picked it up, knowing that it would be his secretary on the other end. "Yes, Angela?"
"I've Michael Carrington for you, Adam," she said.
"Michael?" Drake said. "Guy's got a pair, I'll give him that. Send him in."
"Right away," she said and he hung up and considered things. He'd not heard from Carrington since he'd quit SHIELD after the Bureau had been closed down the year before. There were rumours about what he was doing now, recruiting for a new version of the Bureau, under his control but how he was doing it was another matter entirely. Either way, it was making a lot of people nervous about what he was doing and to waltz in to the MI6 building without an appointment was typical of his style. It was one of the reasons Drake liked him so much.
"Mac!" he said, extending his hand and the former SHIELD agent grabbed hold of it and they shook. "Been a while."
"I've been busy," said Carrington with a smile.
"Coffee?" said Drake and Carrington nodded and Drake gestured to Angela who was waiting, and she made her exit. "So… I guess you've heard then."
"They're winding down XL," said Carrington. "The UN screwed you guys over as well."
"Not as badly as they did you and Jo," said Adam. "It's not a good thing to have powers at the moment. The superhero backlash has been brewing a while, and it isn't just about mutants." Drake had been the MI6 liaison to SHIELD, part of the British Government's spy network and was one of their elite XL unit, the mutant division of MI6. Drake himself was a mutant, with the ability to power to view the electromagnetic spectrum and slightly nudge the EM field in his immediate area, which came in quite useful in their line of work. "There's rumours that they're going to expand it."
"How? Outlaw every superhero on the planet?" Carrington shook his head. "Be a dark day if that happens." Angela brought in the coffee. "Though it's about that kind of thing as to why I'm here."
"I figured as much. Let me guess. You're building a new version of the Bureau, with a team of mutants and metahumans, and now you've heard that XL is closing down you've come to speak with your old friend Adam to see if any of the XL staff will join up?"
"Yeah, that'd be about right. I hate it when you do that."
"Experience, my friend. Which is why I think you're doing the right thing. There's been a lot of us and them going on for too long, and if they're going to draw a line then we need someone who can and will cross it, and that's you. You're going to screw it up though."
Carrington put his cup down. "Thanks, I'm glad I came."
"No, seriously. Are you ready to take on the UN, SHIELD and everyone else who'll stand in your way?"
"Yes," said Carrington. "I know this is a big deal, and I know it's not going unnoticed. You were supposed to retire two years ago, Adam. Retire now - help me build this thing. You work on levels I don't work on - at least not yet."
"Your problem is you're too trusting," said Drake. "Nothing is as it appears. Take for instance…" He broke off, sensing something was wrong and Carrington noted it as well from the look in his friend's eyes. "What the hell is that?" Drake said as his powers saw the disturbance and then it appeared. "Holy shit!" His coffee cup fell to the floor as he saw the robot appear before him.
"Yeah," said Mac. "That works."
"Adam Drake," said Kate. "I have come for you."
"Me?" said Drake. "I'm nearly 50 and I've no powers and my clearance these days doesn't count for much. I'm of no use."
"Yes, you are," said Kate. "I'm offering you a chance to be a part of something big, to do something important again. It may be the last chance you get." Drake considered that. He didn't fully trust the robot, but then again it wasn't exactly hostile. It may not have been the smartest opening line to use though, and he could see that Carrington was ready for something.
"Is that a threat?" asked Mac, as Drake's thoughts entered his head. "Pretty energy patterns you have for a body. I could… be unpleasant. Even if you do have a nice voice."
"I wouldn't recommend it," said Kate. "The Omniverse is at stake and you would be responsible for the destruction of all that is."
"Which would be bad," said Drake. "You know, if I went, you'd have access to my files and such…" Carrington smiled. "The rest I'll see about, if and when I come back. Just remember, Mac, the rules are changing. Watch your back."
"You too," said Carrington. "I need all the friends I can get." Drake nodded and picked up his phone.
"Angela, get yourself home. Mac and I will be a while."
"Thanks, boss," she said and the line went dead and Drake looked at the robot.
"Lead on, MacDuff." Kate fired up and took him away. There was one person left to collect and then they could begin.
"Drove downtown in the rain, nine thirty on a Tuesday night," he quietly sang to himself as he waited for the bloke behind the bar to bring the drinks. "Just to check out the late-night record shop." The bartender slammed the drinks on the bar, spilling the liquid and he handed over some bills and the bartender grunted. Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane." His change was given over to him and the bartender just glared at him. "Almost like getting served in the Duchess…" he muttered as he took the drinks over.
"What is that you've been singing?" Lydia del Ruiz asked him as he sat down, putting the drinks on the table.
"Some Canadian band that Maverick leant me," Pete Wisdom said. "Barenaked Ladies. Though it had a different meaning entirely, but live an' learn."
"So how've you been?" she asked.
"Not bad," he said. "XSE is going well, we've six actual X-Force teams out at the moment, doing what we did." He took a swig of his beer. "Which is a bugger."
"There are people who'd call that karma," she said with a smile.
"You mean I've not paid for that with the whole Shadow King deal?" said Pete, raising an eyebrow. "Or Kate." They both fell silent. "You heard from her?"
"Yeah," said Lydia. "She's doing okay. As well as can be expected after the term…"
"Don't," said Pete, and she could see the pain in his eyes. "Please, Lyd."
"Sorry," she said. "I tell you I found my father?""
He's alive?" Wisdom was surprised, and glad that the subject had been changed. "That's incredible!"
"You know it was one of the reasons I requested the transfer from X-Force Special Executive," said Lydia. "After everything that happened here, I needed to come home."
"I know," said Pete. "And for what it's worth I miss you."
"Thanks," she said, putting her hand on his. "I knew what I wanted to tell you. I had a weird nightmare though the other night. We were still as X-Force, but we were all acting out of character. Genesis had been taken over by Mjnari and turned the XSE in to a bunch of renegade SHIELD agents. Then Forge came back to life.."
"I always said living in Genosha warped your mind," Wisdom chuckled. "Weird dreams are part of the deal in our job, but that's crazy! Aren't our lives complicated enough without that kind of oddness? What had you been smoking that night?""It's the last time I sleep with the window open, I'll tell you that," she grinned, glad to see him smile. "I…"
"Hey!" said a voice from behind them, ruining the mood that had been set up. "I know you!"
"Everywhere you go," said Lydia. "Is there nowhere on the planet where we can go and have a normal date?"
Pete was indignant at that one. "Oi! What makes you think it's me? This is your home country!"
"Wisdom! I'm talking to you!" Lydia just looked at him.
"A'right," he admitted with a sigh as he put his beer down. "This won't take a moment."
"Are you deaf!?" The voice was shouting and attention had been drawn to them.
"No, I'm just bloody ignoring you, but you're too dumb to get that!" Pete said turning towards the person making the noise. "Now piss off, you wanker!"
"Subtle," said Lydia as he sat back down. "You've lost none of your charm."
"And I have no idea who the hell he is," said Pete. "Hate it when that happens…" As if by instinct more than anything else he turned in time to see the bottle come down towards him and he slammed his elbow backwards in to the gut of his attacker, throwing off his assault. But the bottle came down on his shoulder, and if it wasn't for the SHIELD jacket he was wearing, he'd have been injured and he was up on his feet. "You wouldn't let it lie," he said.
"Chapman sends his regards," the thug said, ready for whatever the SHIELD agent could throw at him, little realising the mistake he'd made mentioning that name.
"That's all I needed to know," Wisdom said and slammed his fist in to the man's face, sending him sprawling, but there was now a group of them ready to take his place. "And this is why I don't visit Genosha that often," Pete said to Lydia who'd joined him. "There's always someone wants to kill me."
"I cannot take you anywhere…" she sighed and then they went to work in a mini-X-Force reunion. The attackers didn't stand a chance and within a few moments they were all out on the floor, the bar was in a bad state and they were hot and sweaty.
"Now you got to admit, that was fun," Pete said, as he looked about the now deserted bar for something to drink and he found a bottle of beer, unspoilt.
"You sure know how to give a girl a good time," Lydia said. "Have you any idea of the paperwork that's going to be needed to explain this?"
"Oh yeah," said Pete with a smile as he passed her the bottle, "but the really cool thing about being the head of the XSE? I have a staff to do that for me now." Lydia shook her head, a smile on her lips and she took a swig of the beer. Pete didn't change, and that was one of the reasons she loved him.
"Pete Wisdom," said a voice and they both turned to see a robot standing before them.
"Kate?" they said in unison, knowing the voice and the robot seemed shocked at being recognised.
"You know me?"
"It's not her," said Pete. "Her voice, but it's not her. If I remember it right, that's Widget."
"The Excalibur droid?" said Lydia. "What's it doing here?"
"I was Widget, but I now house the spirit of Kate Pryde," Kate said. "I've come for Pete."
"For me? No, you want Brian. He's got his powers back and everything. He's Captain Britain. I'm not."
"Nobody has ever gotten you and Brian confused, Pete," said Kate. "You're needed. The Omniverse…"
"I hate this already," said Wisdom. "Why me?"
"Because it's all part of the grand design," said Kate. "I need you, Pete. We need you."
"Go," said Lydia. "I'll square this, just make sure you come back." She kissed him on the cheek.
"Bloody women," said Pete, resignedly. "Always ganging up on you…" He straightened his jacket. "Okay, Widgy, take me to you leader."
"Please, don't call me that," Kate said as they vanished in a rainbow coloured light and Lydia shook her head.
"The Omniverse is doomed…"
Author's Note
So there I am, doing very little and Barry asks who he has to kill for me to write something for Pendragons. I've retired, I think to myself, do I have any fanfic stories left, and how would they fit in to Pendragons lore, which is an incredible set of work in itself. I said leave it with me and I'd see what I could come up with, but the thing was my brain was already working on an idea and this is it, and fortunately Barry liked the idea and said yes.
You may recognise the characters in this issue. They are all characters I have written before in other groups. They are not the characters from those groups, but what would have happened if I'd stayed writing them. For those who don't recognise them here's a quick checklist:
Captain Britain - Marvel Dark Design, Captain Britain
Adam Destine - Marvel Omega, Wolverine, Excalibur, Warlock and the Infinity Watch
Psylocke - Age of Onslaught, Children of the Atom
Adam Drake - Marvel 2015, Network
Pete Wisdom - Marvel 2000, X-ForceIt doesn't matter if you don't know those series or sites, as it's not important to this series, but if you are then I hope you like my revisiting of some old friends.
Once again, the sword is drawn.
- David Wheatley
August 2004