Life Thru a Lens |
What Has Come Before: The Pendragons have returned from space, where they gained a major victory for Earth in its ongoing war with the Martian invaders. Seeking to build a stronger, more cohesive group, Captain Britain has revamped the lineup, paring down the membership to five. One of those members is Joey Chapman, aka Union Jack, who has returned from the dead thanks to the grace of the Green Knight and a sacrifice made by Kelsey Leigh. Now the Pendragons seek to recover from the harrowing events of recent days....
10 Downing Street, Office of the Prime Minister
Harrison Halpin sipped his tea and tried to ignore the various papers strewn across his desk. The Pope's recent call for something akin to a Crusade* was just one of the many headaches he was suffering through these days. Food shortages, the rising tide of Fascism across Europe and the ongoing threat of Latveria were all reasons for the many gray hairs that had begun to appear atop his head. "So how are things going for you, Scott?"
(*See Dept. F.66 # 5, by Robert Rock)
Scott Wright, sometimes known as the size-changing hero Micromax, was busy looking out the PM's window. There were the usual protestors, of course, but there was also a good-sized faction of people waving placards and casting spells in favor of the PM. "Very well, I suppose... the Pendragons are a good group."
"You're still upset over the loss of your lady, however."
Scott smiled softly to himself. In so many ways, he felt like his whole life was a lie -- a series of masks, carefully crafted to hide the real man inside. Some days he was Scott Wright, government agent. Others, he was Micromax, the superhero. At still other times, he was Mr. Right, DJ hero to thousands. But most of the time, deep inside, he was balding, short Scott Wright, using his mass and size-altering abilities to look fit and trim. "I didn't lose her, Harrison. Breeze is still out there, on the other side of the Barrier. She had reasons for not coming back and I respect them."
"Respect doesn't keep your bed warm at night, though."
"That's true enough," Scott replied, with a laugh. He turned to face his old friend. Back in his days with F.I. 6, Scott had befriended Harrison Halpin. He'd admired the man's steadfast convictions and recognized him as someone with big things ahead -- but watching his friend become PM was never something Scott had expected. "Why did you ask me here, Harry? Surely not just to quiz me about Breeze."
"No... Though I was concerned about you. I've always had trouble reconciling our friendship with my distrust for metahumans... but I've experienced a rather profound change in my opinions recently."
"Because of your daughter's marriage to Adam Crown?"
"Yes... but even before that. I felt the rightness of it all, of Adam taking control of Darkmoor and establishing his little kingdom. I knew right then that my time -- that the time of this grand experiment we like to call our government -- was passing. Britannia is coming back in full force. I'm just holding the keys to the kingdom until the time is right."
Scott ran a hand over the top of his mask, pulling the cowl back to reveal handsome, earnest features. They weren't too dissimilar from his true visage, he liked to think. "I've never known you to speak so... idealistically."
Harrison laughed out loud and leaned forward so quickly that he splashed a bit of tea onto his tie. "This isn't idealism, Scott. It's realism. But I know what you're talking about -- I've always been a pragmatist, especially after my wife died." His smile faltered a bit and Scott knew they had come to the real reason for this meeting. Despite himself, Scott felt the hairs begin to raise on his arms. "I'm not the only one who knows this, Scott. Who knows that we're fighting a losing war to keep Britain from changing. Science is going to go the way of the Dodo. Modern religion will too, I think... That's what has the Vatican shaking in its boots. It's an inevitable shift in the way we live. In our very existence."
"What are you getting at?"
"I had a meeting with members of Parliament last night. Some of them have a great deal of control over W.H.O. and their operations -- they've been stepping up their attempts to create metahumans. The female Thunderfist was one of their successes, but she's not the only one. There are more. I'm being pressured to cut ties to the Pendragons -- to declare them rogue agents of change. This new supergroup would be the official hero team of Britain." Halpin pulled forth a folder and passed it over to Scott, who accepted it without opening the file. "This is top secret, Scott. No one is supposed to know about them -- but I want you to share this with Betsy. She needs to know that I may not have the backing to prevent this."
Scott nodded, glancing down at the papers he now held. He saw photos, with descriptions and data aplenty. Both the colorful costumes and the codenames were very familiar to Scott: Ghost Girl. Thunderfist. Captain Wings. Tommy Lightning.
They were names from the distant past, when Britain had nearly fallen before the Axis hordes.
"They're bringing back the bloody Crusaders...?" Scott asked, picturing the short-lived group from the 1940s... they'd clashed with the yank group known as the Invaders before most of them faded into obscurity. "Will wonders never cease...."
"You look fine, Joey... Honestly, if you spend any more time in front of the mirror, I'm going to start calling you one of those Metrosexuals."
Joey Chapman looked back at his wife, who stood in the doorway to their bathroom. The hot shower he'd just taken had left the room a bit warm and misty, but Jacquelyn Crichton Chapman was still able to get quite an eyeful of her husband. He turned to face her, grinning. "I'm taller, I tell you."
"Heh. You've got a bigger head, that much I'm sure of!" She stepped over and embraced him, not caring that his still-damp skin was ruining her silk blouse and expensive slacks. "I love you so very much."
They enjoyed each other's company for several moments, reveling in the freedom of young lovers. When they finally pulled away from each other, Jackie's eyes were twinkling and she felt more vibrant and alive than ever before. She noticed his approving smile and blushed. "What are you thinking about, naughty boy?"
He cupped her breast and leaned forward to smell her hair. "Just that I've never put much faith in the whole rewards system... but now I do."
"What are you talking about?" she giggled.
"Doing good works... Fighting the good fight. Serving Avalon. I always did it because it felt like the thing to do, not because I expected to be rewarded for it -- but it finally happened. I got a second chance."
"I feel like I've gotten one, too, luv." She pulled away from him and straightened her clothing, noting how horrible it looked. She shrugged it off, thinking that a dozen ruined blouses would be more than worth having her lover back. "The whole family's doing well, I think. Kenneth is off with his son and he seems to be embracing things like he never did before."
"I'm still shocked he's okay with us...."
"It was strange for him at first, I think. But he loves us both, so he wants us to be happy -- and he's too wrapped up being a father to care too much for our relationship."
"Bully for him, then. He deserves happiness almost as much as we do."
Jackie spun away from him, narrowly avoiding another touch-and-grab from his hands. "We need to get dressed -- Pendragons meeting this afternoon, remember?"
"How could I forget?" he replied, feeling a bit disappointed. He wanted to spend more time here with their child... or with Kenneth, truth be told. He'd missed his friend ever since the Baroness had stolen him away. You take care of yourself, mate -- Wherever you are today, he thought to himself.
Kenneth Crichton and his half-vampire child lay in the cool, damp earth. They slumbered together, their minds locked in unison, dreaming of the previous night's events. They'd come to Nekros Keep to find the dusty remains of Baroness Blood*... the woman who'd given birth to Kenneth's son and who had stolen her man's life from him, trapping him forever in a world of darkness and blood.
(*See issue 22)
Kenneth had swept her remains into a great pyre, dousing them with gasoline and setting them aflame. He'd held his son against him, feeding him blood drained from the babe's nursemaid, Gloria. "Ashes to ashes, you bloody bitch," he'd whispered aloud, staring skyward as a shrieking banshee seemed to rise up from the smoke, crying out in fury and pain. The Baroness Blood was cast loose from the mortal coil, forever.
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Gray Poldark, clad in the purple and black uniform he wore as Nocturne, stepped gingerly past something that looked like it was straight out of a 1930s-era monster flick.
"We don't know when -- or if -- Shevaun will be able to come back here. She told me there were lots of dangerous things left behind, even after the Red Lord demolished the place."
Nocturne said nothing, but he knew that his lover had her reasons for coming to Castle Haldane - and he'd learned to respect Betsy Braddock's opinions a whole lot.
The two of them stepped into the dimly-lit confines of Shevaun's old laboratory. As both the daughter of Ranulph Haldane and a talented techno-wizard in her own right, Shevaun had been an incredible weapon in the Pendragon arsenal. With her gone, it seemed that a big part of the team was missing... They still had Suzi Endo on staff to handle Tech issues and Wynter was only a phone call away to lend his mystical input, but the entire team had grown to take Shevaun's presence for granted.
"There -- That's what we're looking for."
Nocturne followed Betsy's gaze, letting his own linger for a moment on her tantalizing backside. The woman was flat-out gorgeous and had graced the cover of every magazine in the world at one time or another -- and here she was, right before him, decked out in skintight spandex. God, life is good,he thought. "What have we found?"
Captain Britain stepped up to run a hand over a glass-encased weapon of some sort. "A Graviton Phase Blast... Shevaun hardly ever used it because it had a number of side-effects associated with it. I didn't want this thing falling into the wrong hands."
Nocturne studied the large gun, recognizing it as one that Dark Angel had sometimes worn strapped to her leg. "Has some sort of temporal effect, right?"
"Smart lad. You've been doing your homework, haven't you?"
"I'm awake about 21 hours a day, luv... got to occupy myself somehow."
"And here I thought you were busy thinking about me all that time." Betsy knelt beside the glass case and placed her palms against it. Though she possessed only normal human strength, that was greatly augmented by the battlesuit that had been bequeathed to her by her brother. Using that Otherworld-given strength, she managed to force open the case.
"What sort of side-effects did it have?"
"Shevaun tried to change history once and ended up altering the timeline with some pretty horrific results. Given how unstable our own timeline has been since Jamie and Jim Jaspers starting mucking with it, I don't want anything like this just hanging about."
"Seems smart enough." Nocturne turned suddenly to the left, as the sound of movement caught his attention. He readied the retractable taser that he wore on his gauntlet, but never discharged it... the source of the sound stumbled into view and he felt his heart swell up in concern. "Bugger me...."
Betsy cried out, touching her head in alarm. "Pain... So cold... stop it! Aaagh!"
Gray reached out for her, but she shoved him away, turning her own gaze to the figure who had moved before them. It was obviously Shevaun Haldane, but her uniform -- a piece of the Fabric of the Universe -- was torn in numerous places, revealing gaping wounds. Her face was a horrid sight, as well, with her left eye blown clean away, leaving just a bloody hole.
"Gray -- Help her!" Betsy whispered.
Nocturne moved quickly, catching Shevaun as she fell forward into his arms. She looked older than he remembered, with streaks of gray in her hair and wrinkles around her remaining eye. "Shevaun? What happened to you?"
Dark Angel whispered to him, sparkles of temporal energy still swirling around her. "You... have... to... kill... her."
Gary leaned closer, unsure of what he had heard. He sensed that Betsy was recoving behind him, but she was moaning like she was still in great pain. "What did you say?"
"You have...to... kill her... Please!"
"Who?" he replied, lowering his own voice to match hers automatically.
"Betsy Braddock must die...."
Andreas Strucker was pouting. He sat in his bed, completely ignoring the man and woman who writhed next to him, doing their best to stimulate him. He was bored, angry and sad... for his sister, who had been the light in the darkness for him, was never going to return. She had perished in a fiery inferno, all because of that necromancer's folly*.
(*A slightly erroneous view of issue 49's events.)
The door to the chamber flew open, revealing the tall and deadly figure of the Rook. He strode forward confidently, ignoring the looks of terror from Strucker's courtesans. "M'lord! I bring exciting news!"
Strucker waved a hand lazily through the air. He had a distinctively Euro-trash look and feel to him, one that had always appealed to Rook in some nameless fashion. "None of it matters, Rook. You know that -- Fenris can rise or fall, for all I care."
Rook restrained his exasperation, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Nothing can restore your sister," he said, his voice sounding like a purr. "But you can honor her memory by striking down those who caused her death."
"Nekros is dead," Strucker murmured. "And I've long since tired of desecrating his corpse." The handsome blond rose from the bed, wrapping an expensive robe about his nakedness. He strode over to the full bar that lined the wall and poured himself a drink. "Unless there's someone else you're referring to?"
"The fiery being who consumed your sister's body... I believe it's the same one that now inhabits one of the Pendragons."
Andreas paused at that. "Do you think my sister's spirit could be alive?"
"I... don't know. But I do know that creature still exists, while Andrea does not. I say we seek revenge in your sister's name."
Andreas moved over to his personal assassin and smiled warmly. "You've made me feel alive again, Rook. Thank you."
"It's nothing, m'lord. The real challenge will come in slaying the one they call the Celtic Phoenix."
"Statement: Terrans designate Pendragons are most unusual."
Uatu the Watcher turned a dispassionate eye towards Recorder 303. The robot had been fashioned by the Rigellians many years before, for a task not unlike that of Uatu's race. They observed, cataloged and studied. "The true tests they face are yet to come," Uatu responded. "On a dozen other worlds, the Pendragons have tried and failed against the menace to come."
"Query: Do you think the Pendragons of this world will fare differently?"
Uatu paused before answering, staring down below at Lyonesse.
"No."
TO BE CONTINUED
Next Issue: "Grudge Match" begins! The new Emissaries of the Dark are ready to launch their assault on our heroes, and things get very ugly, very fast.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
First off -- you'll note that I'm not Gary Dreslinski. Gary's three-part storyline was originally slated to begin with this issue, but things have conspired against that... so his Dark Guard/Exiles adventure will appear in a future issue of Tales of the Pendragons instead.
We've got a couple of letters this time around, with Dave Evans coming up first:
I enjoyed the way this tale was told in flashback and I am overjoyed to have Joey back. The new line up should be interesting and lead to new ways of handling challenges now they have been powered down, although I hope the Hulk and Molly are not too far away in a crisis. I thought a couple of the Pendragons may stay outside the barrier at the end of Unity but I guessed it would be The Hulk and Molly. I will miss Dark Angel as she was a firm favorite of mine from Marvel UK. However it may give some one a good excuse to check in on the post unity world outside the barrier (any volunteers?) what will Magneto do next, who exactly are in his Acolytes, how will Deathbird fit in and can Forge fix Andy, all these need answering plus it would be cool to see Dark Angel and Breeze as Avengers.
Cheers,
Dave
P.S. bring on the Exiles and Dark Guard.
Glad you liked the slightly unorthodox way I presented the story. In retrospect, I realized that I accidentally forgot to include a few things... I might have to do a follow-up story in Tales to answer a few dangling questions from "Unity." I try to wrap things up and create new work for myself... ;-)
The Pendragons have been pretty darned powerful for awhile now
(Captain Britain, Dark Angel, Hulk and Phoenix alone
are capable of challenging the Avengers). As for Hulk and Molly, they'll be
back for the crossover I'm
planning for the titles soon.
Next up is Robert Rock:
Just read the final Chapter in Unity and
while it definitely wasn't the strongest issue in the series, I felt that you
did a great job tying up the story. The biggest plus for me in this issue was
the return of Joey. He was always my favorite character in the early
issues of the Pendragons and his mini was great. I also look forward to
what you'll do with the Micromax character. Neil Gow did a great job with
him in his Crusaders series, so you're up against some pretty stiff
competition.
I look forward to the paired down roster, and the fact that you give the
impression at the end of #59 that the team is going to be dealing with small
threats for awhile.
Will the Pendragon issues going forward have an in barrier and out of barrier
storyline running?
Keep up the good work.
The return of Joey Chapman to the series has been very popular, it seems. I'm always a little leery of resurrections, for the simple reason that I don't want to devalue death in this universe, but Joey just screamed for a comeback. It's been ages since I read Neil's treatment of Micromax, but I recall that he did do some wonderful things with Scott's character. I hope to do the same! Wish me luck.
You can reach me at aric_dacia@yahoo.com
