Pendragon Comics - The Pendragons 17

The Pendragons

# 17

Brought together in defense of Avalon and the British Isles, the Pendragons are the officially-sanctioned heroes of Great Britain. Originally led by the Black Knight, the group is composed of the remnants of the old Knights of Pendragon group, as well as several other heroes. Willing to die for their beliefs, the Pendragons stand united as England's best defense against threats of a superhuman nature.

Written by Barry Reese

What's Been Happening: The Pendragons have been thrown through time and space by some unknown force and are now taking part in the legendary "Secret Wars" event. The group has been deposited on an alien world, where they have learned that a group of villains -- including Pendragons' foes such as Slaymaster, Mordred and the Ebony Knight -- are hoping to win a contest sponsored by the awe-inspiring Beyonder. Through a series of misunderstandings, the Pendragons ended up in battle with the X-Men -- a battle that left the mutant known as Wolverine dead at the hands of Union Jack, who is now clad in an alien costume found on the battle-planet.

Back on Earth, two months have passed since the Pendragons disappeared and a replacement group has been hurriedly put together. This group consists of: Shamrock, Kate McClellan, the high-flying Archangel, the time-displaced Tangerine and the heir to a heroic legacy, Thunderfist! These five, armed with knowledge given them by Brian Braddock, king of Otherworld, now embark on a mission to rescue the missing heroes! Their task: to find and defeat the Scarlet Centurion!

Captain Britain could feel the tension all around her. The Pendragons were onboard a stolen airship, pirated away from the base belonging to Captain America and his group, and were busily seeking out a structure to call their own. They needed a base badly, somewhere where they could hide from all these men and women from the past.

She felt a sudden flash of mental anguish from the rear of the ship and rose from her co-pilot's seat. Flashing a small smile at Grace, she whispered "I'll be back in a few -- I want to check on Joey."

Grace made a face. "I wouldn't have pictured Joey as being soft about killing. He certainly put away a few agents of the Bane in the past...."

"It's not the killing of Wolverine that bothers him," Betsy replied. Though it certainly bothered me, she mused. I knew Logan. He was a friend. "What scares him is that it was so unintentional. He's frightened by his own newfound power -- I can sympathize. My own powers have gone up and down over the years and it's hard to get a feel for your limits when it happens."

"What is it?" Betsy asked, half-sitting again. She did her best not to pry with her telepathy, but there were times that strong emotions or sensations broke through. And she could feel that Grace was conflicted.

"Oh... Oh, no, Grace. Don't think like that." She reached out and touched her friend's shoulder. "We've been over this before. The Peter that's still alive in this time and place has his own destiny, his own Grace to find and love. Your place is with us."

"Is it?" she asked bitterly. "I would have died just like poor Breeze and Dai if Brian hadn't pulled me into Otherworld*. I've felt like I'm living on borrowed time ever since. And we've changed so much of this time's history already -- the death of Wolverine is hardly the first of it, I'm sure. So why not make a few more changes here? I deserve it, Bets -- and so does Peter. He died for us!"

Betsy knew how tempting this must be for Grace, but she also knew that it was the path to ruin. Putting a hard, commanding tone in her voice, she said "That's right, Grace. He did die for us. He died with bravery and courage -- and he never would have taken the easy way out. And that's what this is -- the easy way out."

Grace looked away, her attractive face set in a decidedly unattractive manner. She looked both angry and hurt. "I'm not a child, Betsy. You can't tell me what to do. If I choose to stay, I will."

"Then you'll be making a tremendous mistake. But I think you're stronger than that." Betsy stepped out of the cockpit before Grace could respond. She wanted the other woman to think about what they'd discussed and anything that was said would only turn their conversation into an angry one.

Passing through the heart of the ship, she saw Wynter lost in meditation, while Dark Angel and Miracleman were discussing some aspect of popular music (from what Betsy could glean, Micky was opining that current pop music was too lewd for his tastes, while Shevaun was arguing the finer points of a group called the Flaming Lips). Adam Crown, for his part, was polishing Excalibur and looking pensive. Betsy thought about asking him what was on his mind but discarded the thought. She'd already played counselor for one team member today and had one more on her agenda. She couldn't spare time for everyone -- not now, anyway.

Betsy stepped into the small personal compartment at the rear and nearly bumped into Jacqueline, who was exiting. Betsy excused herself and whispered "How is he?"

Jackie shrugged, showing signs of annoyance. "The usual. Acting like a pig-headed fool. He doesn't want to discuss what happened -- he just says that it was an accident and it won't happen again."

As soon as Jackie was out of earshot, Betsy stepped farther into the room. She saw Joey near the rear viewport, a sketchpad in his hand. He was drawing a marvelous landscape, capturing all the nuances of this alien world. It was all too easy to forget, amongst the constant battles with supervillains, that Joey was an on-again, off-again art student. "Nice work," she said, gesturing to the pad.

Joey looked up and offered a weak grin. "Come to check on me, have you?" Betsy noticed that he still wore the new costume he'd found in the alien base and commented on it. Joey looked at himself and said "It's comfortable. And it's a lot more useful than the old one, I can bloody well say that."

Joey stood up and held out his arms before him. The material that made up his costume slithered down his arms like a living thing. "I think this'll be my cold-weather gear," he muttered. The entire suit then shifted, becoming a copy of his original suit, complete with full face mask. "And this is for the times when I feel nostalgic."

As the suit resumed its normal appearance, Betsy asked "Is there any limit to that? Can it become whatever you imagine?"

"I think so. It can simulate street clothes with no problem. You want to see something really impressive, though?" At Betsy's nod, he held his right arm out and slowly formed a quarterstaff out of the suit's material. It hardened in his hand, becoming solid. "This little beauty can deliver some real damage!"

"Definitely." Joey re-absorbed the quarterstaff back into the suit and Betsy felt herself marvel at the costume's properties. "But I'm going to have to be careful about that. I still can't believe I killed that mutant."

"It was an accident, Joey. It also happened in the middle of combat, right after you'd seen him cut open Adam. You have to remember that. Even the X-Men recognized it."

"Yeah, but did you see the look that Colossus gave me? Looked like the bloke wanted to tear me in half."

"He was just upset. You know, it's a shame you didn't a get a chance to get to know Peter. He's an artist, too, and he--"

Sorry to interrupt, everyone, Death Angel said, her mental 'voice' ringing out in the heads of the Pendragons. But Grace has found a base that should suit us just fine. We'll be setting down in about three minutes.

Linda McQuillan flew through the clear blue skies of Otherworld, a bit self-conscious of how she must appear. Her belly was quite swollen with child, as she neared her eighth month. Rick had teasingly referred to her as the "Captain U.K. blimp" which had earned him a swift kick to the shin and an even more serious tongue-lashing.

Despite that, she loved the man at her side more than life itself. Rich were her everything and once, not so long ago, she'd thought she'd lost him forever. He, like so many others on her homeworld, had been slaughtered by the Fury -- Linda herself had sought refuge on Earth-616, home to Brian Braddock. After aiding Brian in overcoming the Fury once and for all, she'd been rewarded by the lady Roma -- by reuniting with her beloved, snatched from his own timeline, seconds before death.

Since then, she and Rick -- in his guise as Young Miracleman -- had liberated several worlds and come to experience an even deeper, almost spiritual, kind of love.

"You look very pensive today," Rick said. He looked delicious, she thought, in his brightly-colored costume. He reached out and took her hand, flying closer to her. "What's wrong?"

"Ah," he replied. In the early days of their second romance, she'd often get into long moods where she couldn't stop thinking about Rick's death. Over time, however, those mood swings had gotten far less common. "Well, it looks like Brian and Meggan are waiting for us."

Linda felt her spirit lighten as she and her husband touched down on the balcony of the grand Braddock Castle. Meggan, dressed like a princess, was as radiant as Linda had ever seen her. The two women hugged each other while Brian and Rick exchanged firm handshakes.

Brian laughed at Rick's comment. "Says the man who's my senior by quite some years. Not that one could tell -- that magic form of yours stays very vital!"

"I never bother switching from it anymore. So -- Why the summons to Otherworld?"

The shapechanging beauty put a hand on her slender belly, beaming. "I'm going to be a mum, just like you!" she said, her eyes locking on Linda's.

Brian felt Rick pat him on the back. "And I bet Otherworld is going to throw quite a party when they hear the news."

"I'm sure," Brian replied. "But there's more. Your old friend, Micky Moran, is alive and well."

Rick looked absolutely shocked. "What? But... I saw him die!" Linda stepped towards her husband, the same look of disbelief showing in her own eyes.

"I know that you thought you did," Brian answered, "but your memories aren't quite accurate."

"Roma told Linda that she had pulled you from a point just prior to your death*. She lied. When your earth was destroyed, its entire timeline folded up nice and tight. In that moment, there was no longer any past 'you' to save. What she did was take you from the Realm of Dead Heroes, in your own native universe. Remember?"

Rick felt like a door had suddenly been thrown open in his mind. He saw the three of them -- Micky, Johnny and himself -- caught in some horrible trap. He and Johnny had died, but Micky... Micky was thrown free, but unconscious. And then, then there was a darkness and a light. And he'd been surrounded by the dead.

Linda's voice brought him back from the edge and Rick turned to stare at her with haunted eyes. "It's true. I'm not the Rick of Earth 238. I'm not your Rick."

"No!" Brian interrupted, his voice full of hot anger. "Don't even start that! The two of you have been together for several years now -- and you're about to become parents. Whether or not you started out as 'her' Rick is beside the point. You are now. And you still have the memories that Roma crafted for you, as well."

Linda looked stunned but not as upset as Brian had feared she'd be. Somehow, deep inside, she must have always suspected. "Why tell us this, Brian? Just a need to come clean?"

"Not quite," Brian said. "I also wanted to prepare you. Micky is back and is active with the Pendragons. And he's looking for Rick. He knows that he's no longer dead."

Rick let out a triumphant yell that rang out through the courtyard, making the citizens look up in surprise. "That's bloody wonderful! I can't wait to see him again -- He was my best mate!"

Linda relaxed a bit and realized that she had been clenching her hands into fists. She felt a little unnerved but not much, really. As Brian had said, this wasn't a total surprise to her. There had always been little things that should couldn't quite put her finger on... but this man was so much like the old Rick. So much. And she was happy for him now. Seeing his old friend was bound to be a good thing. How could it not be?

Warren Worthington held up his glass, letting the moonlight glint off its side. "To new friends...."

Robbie Parkinson and the telepathic beauty named Tangerine joined him in the toast, each of them enjoying their view of the Thames River. It had been Robbie's idea for the three newest Pendragons to go out on the town, but it was, of course, Warren who had proved to be the mover and shaker of the night's events, picking the restaurant and doing most of the ordering. Even though the millionaire mutant was suffering from a mild form of amnesia, he still seemed to retain a bit of his playboy past.

Tangerine downed her glass of wine and hiccupped slightly. Blushing, she said "Sorry. Where I come from, we don't get a chance to celebrate like this very often."

"Don't worry about it," Warren replied with a smile. "I know a thing or two about dystopian futures, so I understand."

Robbie sipped his coke, having been the only one to avoid the wine. He didn't want them to think him a prude -- and he wasn't, for he'd been known to have a pint or two down at the local pub -- but he also knew that people would be recognizing Warren... and that meant that all three of them owed it to themselves and others to be on their best behavior. "Do you have any other name, luv? Besides Tangerine?"

"None that I care to give," she said. "Not to sound rude or anything, but the name I had growing up was given to me by an owner, not a parent."

"An owner? You were a slave?" Warren sounded outraged by the very thought, which made Tangerine laugh softly.

"You guys are so... I don't want to say naive, but... Yeah, that's the closest I can come to it. In my future, mutants are one of three things: dead, slaves or hounds. The hounds track down rogue mutants, so that they can be put to work or killed, whichever is more beneficial for the folks in charge."

"Sounds like a bloody fourth Reich," Robbie whispered. "And you came back to prevent your future from coming to pass?"

Allowing Warren to pour her another glass, Tangerine nodded. "More or less. I mean, others were sent back before me but we never heard back from them. Some folks believed that they'd failed to change history or that it wasn't possible to do it. Maybe changing things just splits the timelines or something. But... I wanted to try." She looked towards the Thames, a faraway expression on her face. "More than anything, I just wanted out. I wanted to be someplace where I didn't have to go to sleep worrying that a hound was going to ferret me out. I didn't want to watch anymore friends die. I...."

"I know, but it's still so strange. I mean, some of the things I see now are just legends in my own time -- the Pendragons are long gone, Excalibur has reformed but only as a shadow organization... and some of you guys are the same ones I grew up idolizing."

Seeing the chagrined expression on Robbie's face, both Warren and Tangerine broke out laughing.

The sound of three signal devices chiming simultaneously brought the levity to an abrupt halt. Warren motioned to the others that he would take the call and the others waited as he activated the communicator and said "Archangel here. What's the emergency?"

Shamrock's soft, lilting voice replied "We need all of you back at Lyonesse, pronto. Kate's got some big news for us."

Tangerine leaned closer so she could speak into Warren's communicator. "Does it have to do with the Vixen's gang?"

"No -- As far as we know, we smashed the bulk of it. With Vixen behind bars, whatever's left is gonna fall apart, I'm sure. This has to do with the old Pendragons -- We've got a lead on where they are, but it's going to take some doing to get them back."

"If it were easy, it wouldn't require the Pendragons, now would it?" Robbie whispered.

Ignoring him, Warren said "We'll wing it back there as soon as we can, Molly. Archangel out."

Noting the pensive expression on Archangel's face, Tangerine asked "Something troubling you?"

Rising from his seat and motioning for the waiter to bring their check, Warren answered with a weary tone "I'm just not sure what I'm going to say to Betsy when she comes back. It's obvious that she cares for me, but for the most part, my relationship with her is all a haze. I just hope she understands that, right now, at least, I don't love her."

Betsy Braddock woke up to find sunlight streaming in on her face, giving her a warm, fuzzy feeling. She'd dreamed of Warren again -- three nights in a row, now -- and the passion that they'd once shared had kindled a strong desire within her. She wished he were here now, beside her. I'd do my best to spark some memories of yours, sweet Angel....

Betsy showered and dressed, thinking again that the Beyonder seemed to have considered everything -- including the fact that the two teams he'd set against one another might split into smaller groups. This base they'd found was likely to be one of many scattered across this globe, and each was, most likely, well suited for housing a squadron of heroes and/or villains.

Captain Britain jumped a bit at first, still not used to having another telepath about. Still, it was nice to have Shevaun around -- the two women had forged a close friendship during the early days of Dark Angel's career, though their lives had gone in radically different directions soon after. I'm here. What's up?

Captain Britain launched herself into the air, soaring through the spacious hallways. Flying was such a wonderful experience -- she could see why Warren had always sought to spend so much time in the skies.

When she reached the monitor room, she found the rest of the team already there. The team's resident mage, Wynter, was in the forefront, staring at the large monitor that dominated the room's interior. It was showing an image out of Betsy's worst nightmares -- the mighty Galactus, standing beneath a gigantic structure that could only be his world-devouring ship.

Wynter turned to regard her with his usual placid stare. Nothing seemed to unnerve the man, not even the prospect of being another notch in the cosmic belt of Galactus, it seemed. "Apparently, Galactus has decided that the time has come to end the Beyonder's contest."

Union Jack sighed. His alien costume seemed to share his discomfort, subtly shifting to become more rigid and unyielding. "So what's Captain America and his troops going to do about it?"

"Precious little, perhaps." Wynter's fingers danced over the monitor's controls and the image shifted, to show a smoking rubble that had once been the heroes' base. "This happened very recently, sometime after we elected to strike out on our own. Given the fact that in our own timeline most of the heroes survived this secret war of the Beyonder's, I'd say it's fairly safe that most of them made it out here, as well."

"But we don't know that," Spitfire mentioned. "Things have already taken different turns here."

Betsy turned to see Miracleman watching her. His deep blue eyes seemed full of faith, which made her feel more confident when she said to the group "Well... We can't let Galactus finish us off. I think we should send Micky and Shevaun up to investigate, see if he can be reasoned with."

"And what if he can't be?" Dark Angel asked. She wasn't hesitant to do what Betsy was asking -- blessed with a costume composed of the fabric of the universe, she'd been able to play with many of the cosmic entities that frequented Earth and its environs. Even so, she wanted to know exactly what was going to be expected of her.

"In that case," Betsy replied, "Get yourselves back here -- Because we'll follow up with a full assault."

Kate McClellan surveyed the group before her, wondering if they had the necessary firepower. Should she try to contact Ghost Rider? He'd worked well with the Pendragons during the whole Blackheart affair and he could certainly give them a power boost... No. I'm playing this one with the cards that I'm dealt. Besides, this is Pendragons business, through and through. Hoping that she could capture just a shred of Albion's old charisma, she stepped forward into the center of the clearing. All around them was the beauty and splendor of Otherworld, casting a fitting air of dignity to the proceedings. "Brian will transport us to the 40th Century, where we should be able to find the mastermind behind these affairs. The Scarlet Centurion is an aspect of Kang the Conqueror, so let's please be careful. This isn't Jack O'Lantern we're facing here, lads."

Archangel flexed his wings, nodding. "We're ready, Kate. If we strike hard and fast, maybe the Centurion won't know what hit him!"

Thunderfist slammed his fists together eagerly. "Wings is right. The longer we stand here talking, the more time the other Pendragons are in danger."

"Let's be off, then." Kate turned her face towards the clear blue sky. "You ready, Brian?"

A shimmering image of Brian Braddock's face appeared in the clouds above, a benevolent smile on his face. Of the assembled heroes, only Kate and Warren were familiar with the man that Brian Braddock used to be and Warren's recollections were spotty, at best. Even so, the sometimes hard-drinking, impetuous hero of the past seemed at odds with the nearly godlike being who now ruled the Omniverse. "May the Lady watch over you," Brian murmured.

Kate smiled, pleased that Brian had elected to evoke the Lady at this moment. She was the only one of the current group to have been blessed by the Lady of the Lake and she sometimes feared that the Pendragons, as an organization, were beginning to lose sight of their original purpose: to defend not only England, but Avalon. "The same to you, Brian."

Wind began to swirl about them, sending leaves and grass in a circle of magical power. The Pendragons remained standing close to one another, though both Tangerine and Thunderfist seemed a bit in awe of their circumstances. Kate could well understand. She whispered to Shamrock "It's a bit incredible that I've become kind of jaded about all this."

Molly grinned, an infectious smile that made Kate realize how much Molly's friendship had come to mean to her over the past couple of months. "I know what you mean! It seems like just yesterday that I was fighting Captain America in the contest of champions*, and now I'm an old hand at this...."

Bright light swelled around them, as they traversed the timestream, gradually pulsing dimmer and dimmer until it faded completely. The Pendragons found themselves standing in a grand hall, one of mammoth proportions. The ceiling was so high that Archangel knew that it would be quite a feat for even him to fly to its upper portions and the hall itself was wide enough to hold a large army or two. Dust covered everything -- the tiled floor, the strange display cases that lined the walls and even the great throne, upon which sat a stooped figure in the familiar red armor of the Scarlet Centurion.

Kate didn't hesitate in the least, though the surroundings were far different than what she'd expected. After scouring through the database files on the Centurion, she'd been led to assume that the Centurion would create a most ostentatious display -- but this room showed signs of having been ignored for quite some time. "Archangel, Shamrock -- man the exits! Nobody in or out! Tangerine -- check his psi-shields! Thunderfist, you're with me!"

To punctuate her orders, Kate ignited her right hand in a small ball of lightning and rushed forward. Thunderfist was at her side, eager to test his abilities against a foe of the Centurion's caliber. As ordered, Shamrock and Archangel were at the only two exits from the room, ready to cut off any reinforcements that the Centurion might call upon. Only Tangerine remained where she was, reaching out with her mind to find....

Kate threw a lightning bolt at the Centurion, sending his body into sudden spasms. Thunderfist, following her lead, also struck without giving any quarter. He slammed his mighty fists into the chronal villain, causing the madman's armor to shatter and Thunderfist's hand to sink into the yielding, desiccated flesh beneath.

"Oh, bloody hell!" Thunderfist yelled, horrified to find his hand trapped inside the villain's ribcage. Up close, he could smell death all around him and he saw that the flesh beneath the Centurion's helmet was dry and decayed.

Kate stared in shock as well, before turning back to Tangerine. "What's going on?"

The telepath, however, was unable to answer. She was on her knees, her eyes pointed skyward. There was no white to them any longer, as the entire orbs were now black and wet. They gleamed like dark, obsidian pearls. "The pathways are blocked, one by one. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Patricide! All is lost!"

Archangel heard a distant hum on the other side of the door that he was blocking. He whirled about just in time to catch the full brunt of an energy blast that shattered the door to pieces and sent the winged mutant flying through the air. Thunderfist managed to catch Archangel before the mutant smashed against a wall, but blood still dripped from numerous wounds.

Captain Assyria, backed by bizarre, otherwordly versions of the Avengers, barked out "In the name of En Sabah Nur, I command you to stand down or face the consequences!"

Kate stood her ground, feeling her team waiting for her to make a decision. Tangerine was back on her feet, slowly recovering from the weird possession she'd been under.

Kate wished suddenly that someone else -- the Black Knight, Albion or even Wynter -- were here to make this decision. But in the end, there was only one thing to do -- even when faced with what looked to be overwhelming odds. "Pendragons, getting taken prisoner isn't going to get us any closer to the answers we need... So, let's go kick their arses and sort it out later!"

Miracleman let out a long whistle of amazement as he circled underneath the massive worldship. He'd never seen anything like it before, not even in his most bizarre adventures. He glanced over to see Dark Angel staring up with a similar expression on her own face. She grinned at him, winking. "C'mon, you want to speak to him first or shall I?"

Miracleman cast a glance at the monolithic Galactus, who worked steadily and with precision. "Let's do it together."

As both Pendragons flew closer to the alien being, Galactus spared them a brief glance before returning to his work. Dark Angel made sure that her suit would augment her voice as she yelled "Galactus! Pardon us for interrupting you, but we have a slight problem -- You're about to eat the world that we're sitting on and we'd like to discuss some alternatives!"

Micky would have laughed had the situation not been so dire. How Shevaun could be so glib in a situation like this was beyond him.

Dark Angel frowned when no answer came. "Galactus -- Answer me!" Shevaun punctuated her words with a small energy burst that exploded just before the world devourer's eyes. Galactus jerked back in surprise and turned to face these stinging gnats who were attempting to distract him.

Miracleman sensed the build-up in energies even before Dark Angel did. Calling out her name, he rocketed forward with the speed of mercury. He managed to snatch Shevaun up in his arms and propel her out of an energy blast that shot forth from the eyes of Galactus.

Shevaun blinked in surprise as Miracleman hovered in the air, watching to see if Galactus would strike again. The giant, however, had turned back to his work once more. "You saved me."

Dark Angel laughed, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. When she did so, he blushed boyishly. "I've never been a damsel in distress before. It's charming!"

Dark Angel's smile faltered somewhat as Captain Britain's mental voice rang out in her head. We're okay, but the big G isn't listening to us. He's not a very chatty fellow today.

Dark Angel paused before answering, trying her best to reach out and find her friend's mind. She sensed the rest of the Pendragons, standing outside the structure they now called home. She also felt the minds of the various heroes led by Captain America, who were now combating some sort of robot unleashed upon them by Galactus. But of Captain Britain, there was only a faint trace of life....

Down below, in the monitor chamber, Betsy Braddock was on her knees. Blood spilled out on the ground below her and she felt her breathing becoming ragged and uneven. She'd been stabbed in the side, the blade puncturing a lung. How did anyone sneak up on me? I wasn't that distracted, was... No. It's him.

Raising her head up, she looked into the face of the man who had haunted her dreams for so very long. "Slaymaster," she wheezed.

The killer's handsome face parted in a grin, giving him a wolfish appearance. "Indeed. My apologies for wounding you before our battle could properly begin... but your anger, misplaced or not, gives you quite an advantage. Now we are on equal footing, I think."

"Equal footing..." she said, disbelief coloring her voice. She rose unsteadily, feeling blood running hot and wet down her leg. "You sick, sadistic bugger."

Slaymaster offered her a dagger, curved and sleek. "Do you want to arm yourself?"

"Go to hell," she replied, activating her psychic knife. It flared to life brightly. "I carry my own weapons."

Before they could renew their conflict, however, a dark shadow fell over all... and a rumbling, deep in the core of the planet.

Captain Britain let out a startled gasp, still clutching her injured side. "No! This can't be happening! It didn't end this way! It didn't!"

Slaymaster and his foe both moved to the window, staring skyward. The worldship of Galactus flared to life and energy began to flood this world, created by the Beyonder. "What is he doing?"

Betsy didn't even spare Slaymaster a second glance. "He's killing us. All of us."

"May Allah welcome me into heaven," Slaymaster whispered. He reached out and touched Betsy's shoulder, making her hiss. "There is only way to die with honor. Shall we?"

Captain Britain slashed with her psychic blade, driving it deep into Slaymaster's shoulder. Crying out, he reached for his opponent and tangled his fingers in her hair. Together they toppled to the ground, each of them slashing and cutting, biting and tearing.

Brian sat before a chessboard, upon which sat two groups of Pendragons, as well as a group of Egyptian-themed Avengers, the Scarlet Centurion, the mutant warlord known as Apocalypse and several villains, including Slaymaster.

The former Captain Britain wore a pensive expression as he leaned forward and, very calmly, knocked aside the figurines representing his sister, Slaymaster and all the other heroes and villains of Battleworld.

He next cast his weary eyes to Kate McCellan's group. Don't let me down, Pendragons. Not after all I've done to set things right.

Next Issue: "A Secret War" comes to a shocking conclusion. What's going on with Brian Braddock and why does it bode ill for the Pendragons? What role does the classic Marvel villain Apocalypse have to play in all this? And how the heck are the Pendragons are going to survive being devoured by Galactus?

Hi Barry,

just read Pendragons #16 and thought I'd drop you a few lines. I just realised that, even though they are not the same title and they feature completely different characters, your Pendragons now gives me the same buzz I got from Nicizea's Thunderbolts. I'm hoping for you to keep a regular schedule with Pendragons now that I can no longer get a fortnightly Thunderbolts fix.

The new team is intriguing:

* Archangel - for some reason I have never really warmed to him. I've liked the way certain writers have approached him, but he's never been on my list of favorite characters. It will be interesting to see how the team develops.
* I remember Tangerine from both of her appearances. She was very cool in the Warren Ellis Excalibur issue. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with her, and I'm confident that you will make her a different character from Rachel Summers. How far in the future is she from? Has she been born yet in this time?
* Thunderfist - I'm totally unfamiliar with this character, but I'll wait to see what happens.
* Shamrock - I like her, but I'd like to know more about her motivations and what her life is like outside the team. Unlike the main Pendragons, I get the impression that she has one still.
* Kate - I love the way you write her. I can still imagine Gary Erskine drawing her. I loved the visual of her in her nightdress in Otherworld with lightning flashing from her eyes.

I thought you did a very good job of summarising the different universe the Pendragons are set in when Kate was musing on what had happened. I laughed out loud at "Champ".

The scenes with Kate and Brian were very revealing. I find it hard to reconcile Brian with how he was portrayed in his own series, but I think I am meant to. I liked the way Kate also reflected on this - Brian is no longer someone we know. I'm curious to what the true nature of the Pendragons universe is, and to what the Scarlet Centurion is planning. I am surprised that Kate would know he was Kang though.

I was not expecting Jack to kill Wolverine. That was a real shock. I have fond memories of the Secret Wars - the British reprint was my first real introduction to Marvel US, so I found the characterisation of the X-men and Professor X in particular to be especially accurate
for that time period. The insite into Grace and Betsy was well done. I personally feel that Betsy should be the team leader when the team returns.

In short, it was another great issue. Keep them coming,
Gary.

It's funny to see you writing that you see some similarity to Thunderbolts, since one of my goals in recent issues is to recapture the Tbolts' feeling of "damn, so what happens *now*" with lots of twists and turns. It's also an homage to the old Steve Englehart Avengers run, when folks came, went, died, etc. at an almost breathtaking rate.

The new team got a bit of a short introduction in issue 16 but the next couple of issues
should flesh them out a bit more. Warren is an old favorite of mine but, like so many X-Men, he's gotten bogged down in a worrisome amount of continuity. His temporary amnesia helps considerably with that, as I'll be able to re-introduce elements of his past as I please, as opposed to dealing with it all at once. Tangerine is a character I really like and, while her powers and origin definitely evoke Rachel Summers, I promise to make her quite different. Thunderfist is new, though with ties to a really obscure character. He's fun to write though and hopefully you'll get to like him in the future. As for Kate, you know, I never consider myself a "fan" of the character, but she's one of the easiest to write. For some reason, it's very easy for me to get in her head and understand where she's coming from.

As for Brian, you hit the nail on the head. He *is* quite different, as suddenly being aware of all these omniversal events makes one a bit... altered. Will he become as manipulative as Merlin and Roma were when they had similar roles? We'll see.

Coming out of "A Secret War" you'll see major changes for both Betsy and Union Jack, who are the two focal points for the storyline. As for Betsy being leader of the team when they return, let's just say that there will indeed be an official leader named in issue 19 (after about 10 issues of the team not having one after the Isles of Magick affair).

Thanks, again, for taking the time to comment.