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"They'd have to be idiots to come," Dragonslayer muttered. He stood outside a room in which the members of Parliament had been herded. His handsome face was covered with a light sheen of sweat, for his bulky armor was exceptionally hot. He rested his hands on his drawn sword, the point of which was digging into the floor.
"Not idiots. Heroes." His lover, Hell's Angel, moved up to massage the back of his neck. She lifted up his longish hair and blew coolly upon his skin.
"Same difference," he answered. Turning to face her, his brooding expression softened somewhat. "I don't like this. We're lucky enough to be freed from prison and we do this? Turn over the leadership of the group to a bloody Martian and then take Parliament hostage? It's like the plot from a bad telly show!"
"Keep your mouth shut!" Captain Englander bellowed. Dragonslayer turned to face the larger man, who had entered the room from a set of stairs leading downwards. "All that matters is that we kill off the Pendragons. At that point, our loyalty to the Bane's at an end, as far as I can see. Then you're free to go off and make whatever plans you want."
"You really believe that?" Hell's Angel asked. "If my father's taught me one thing, it's that you're never truly free*. Ever."
(*Hell's Angel is the daughter of longtime Pendragons foe Blackheart)
"I'd agree with that," Dragonslayer murmured. "We're all bound by some kind of chains, whether we admit it or not." The youth gestured towards Englander. "Even if you kill these Pendragons, you're still bound to the Bane, aren't you? You were sent to this world for one reason: to kill Wynter."
"And I'll do that eventually." Englander sighed, looking into the room where the members of Parliament were assembled. He hated this plan, which left the Emissaries on the defensive as far as he was concerned. According to the Overlord, it allowed them to choose the battlefield and lead the Pendragons into an attack... but once you revealed your presence to them, wasn't the element of surprise lost? Now it was the Pendragons who could determine how and when they entered the building. "We'd best be prepared. They should be arriving any moment now."
Jack O'Lantern hovered above the roof, her flying platform keeping her perfectly balanced even in the stiff wind that was blowing. Maguire could feel the magic in the air, all around her, and it made her feel giddy. When she'd first put on this costume, it had almost been a lark, a bit of misdirection that she and Danny Berkart had come up with when they'd been seeking revenge for the death of Maguire's cousin, the villain known as Mysterio. In the end, Berkart had adopted the Mysterio identity for himself, while Maguire had found a measure of peace wearing the pumpkin-headed mask. And coming here, to Britain... it had turned out better than she could have ever imagined. Here, she'd gained actual mystic abilities from the Black Mass Barrier. She'd also found an odd sort of family in the Emissaries, though she knew that the others didn't share her view of the team. They thought it was a means to an end... but for Maguire, she enjoyed the rough camaraderie and she'd won the respect of all on the team for her willingness to sacrifice herself.
"It's a noble sentiment, I suppose... but a bit misguided."
Jack O'Lantern whirled around, an explosive curse building on her lips. The last time the Pendragons and Emissaries had clashed, she'd been the first to be taken out because, just like now, she'd been on guard duty. When the heroes had arrived, they'd made short work of her... and now she was hovering just feet away from Betsy Braddock, the heroine known as Captain Britain.
Maguire moved quickly, tossing off a pumpkin bomb that exploded at Betsy's feet. Captain Britain's force field held strong, but the impact was enough to knock her back a bit and give Maguire time to move. She had practiced this particular spell nonstop over the last few weeks. With a word, she and her flying platform became immaterial, allowing her to drop through the roof.
Jack O'Lantern felt a sense of relief wash over her. It had worked! She was going to actually contribute this time... or so she thought. Waiting for her on the next floor down were two more Pendragons: the armored woman called Cybermancer and the masked vigilante Nocturne. They were kneeling over some sort of electronic device and were taken by surprise when Jack O'Lantern emerged amongst them. Maguire felt the spell's effects fading as she shimmered back into solidity. "Oh, no," she whispered. "Not again."
Nocturne jumped towards her, striking her with the back of a fist. The blow didn't really hurt Maguire, as it bounced harmlessly off her helmet, but it was enough to tip her off the flying platform. She landed flatfooted, just in time for Nocturne to extend his electrified tentacle from his wrist gauntlet. It snaked around, holding firm and a second later electrical energy flooded through her. Maguire's mind seemed to explode with pain and she felt herself falling... but it was not the floor that rushed up to greet her.
Instead, she found herself on a field of green grass and yellow sunflowers. The sun beat down warmly on her naked back and Maguire sat back on her knees, wrapping her arms around her suddenly bare breasts. She was no longer in the Parliament building and there were no Pendragons standing above her, ready to rain blows down upon her head.
"What in the name of God....?" she whispered, her eyes widening as a figure began to emerge from the mists before her. He walked like a man but was of such great stature and such odd appearance that it was clear that he was inhuman. The glory and majesty of him echoed in her mind.
Maguire Beck, a voice said, masculine and strong. It reminded Maguire of her father's voice, when he'd tuck her in at night. It promised safety and security from all the world's wrongs. The Bane have lived in your heart for too long. Even before you became an Emissary, you served the darker passions and the evils of man. But I sense that you are eager for more. Is this true?
Maguire felt strangely shy, like she was stripped naked not just physically but emotionally. "I... What do you want?"
What do you want? was the only reply.
Maguire felt her head lower to the ground. She was a child again, wanting the approval of her dad. She was a young woman, offering her body in the hopes of gaining love. She was a neophyte mystic, at play with newfound abilities. "I want a home. A family. I want to belong."
Then belong you shall.
"What's happening to her?" Cybermancer asked, nudging the quivering form of Jack O'Lantern with a boot. "It doesn't quite look like a seizure."
Nocturne knelt and took Maguire's pulse. "Not sure... but it doesn't look like it's going to be fatal, whatever it is." He glanced at his teammate. "Let's get a move on, shall we? We're nearing the next deadline and the Overlord's already slain one Parliament member."
Suzi Endo nodded, going back to work. Her device was wired directly into the building's security system and power supply. A flip of the switch brought the security doors slamming down, sealing the building off from the outside. A second switch generated a powerful force field around the Parliament members, rising up around them like a protective coccoon. "It's worked. We're good to go." Cybermancer stood up, silently thanking the work done by Dark Angel. Shevaun had telepathically mapped out the exact positions of the Parliament members, helping Cybermancer create the boundaries of their force field.
Nocturne began moving down the hall. His mind was already turning towards the inevitable battle he'd face with Hell's Angel. She'd been his lover briefly, long ago... and he knew she still harbored a grudge against him. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone else will take her down. I think it's good to swap sparring partners every now and again.
Adam Crown felt the smile slowly spread over his face
and he hurried forward to greet his old friend. They were in the courtyard
of his Darkmoor palace, his many subjects watching with great pride and
amusement as their King lost his sense of decorum. “Kate! It’s wonderful
to see you. Makes me want to break out in song!”
Kate McClellan laughed as Adam picked her up in a hug
and spun her about. “Please don’t. I remember how horrid your voice
was.”
Adam set her down and stared at her as if she were a
figure from a dream. “You have no idea how good it is to see a friendly
face.”
“I’d imagine you see nothing but. The people here
adore you.”
“It’s not them I have to worry about,” Adam
replied, his features growing more serious. “I’m waiting like everyone
else to hear how the Parliament vote went. Any word?”
“Not yet. I can only hope that the Pendragons will
rescue everyone and their actions will sway the decision towards our
side.”
Adam began leading his old friend back into the
castle. “Our side? I’m not sure where I fall on the issue. I definitely
believe we owe it to the rest of the world to help out, but I’m not sure
we’re in any position to do that. We don’t even know how having the
Barrier removed will affect everyone… What if those who’ve gained
magical abilities suddenly lose them? What about the fairies, the elves and
the centaurs? Do they fade away again? Or do they remain?”
Kate ran a hand through her blonde hair and sighed.
She’d had this same argument with too many people as of late and was
growing tired of it. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” she
said testily. “There won’t be a world left on the outside if we don’t
start doing something about the Martians.”
“I didn’t realize I’d be making you so cross by
talking against it,” Adam replied. Shifting subjects, he said “So, I
imagine you weren’t coming here to talk about Betsy’s plan?”
“No,” she admitted. “I’ve gone back to my
journalism career and they want a piece on how the kingdom’s doing, your
upcoming fatherhood and so forth.”
Adam felt a mind brush his own and he blushed
slightly. It was Tangerine, just offering up a little hello. She’d been
doing that more and more lately, yet another sign of the growing attraction
between the two of them. Last evening, while his pregnant wife lay at his
side, Adam had imagined himself sneaking down the hall to Tangerine’s
quarters. He’d thought of what she’d look like naked, her lips parted to
accept his own… and he’d known she’d psychically ‘heard’ the whole
thing.
“Adam?”
Kate asked, concern in her voice.
Crown
cleared his throat, as if trying to avoid swallowing his own shame.
“Sorry, my mind wandered.”
“Are
you okay?”
“Everything’s
right as rain,” he lied.
Lady Mandarin activated her psi-blade, dropping into a crouch. The instant the force field had gone up around the members of Parliament, she'd known that her old enemy was near. The glow of the damned field resembled that of Captain Britain's own protective field and it made Mandarin grit her teeth with anger. She hated everything about Betsy Braddock, from her beauty to her unerring knack for stealing victory from defeat.
A mind brushed her own and Lady Mandarin whirled about, eager to strike down her old foe. To her surprise, it was not Betsy Braddock who stood there, but Dark Angel instead. The red-haired beauty was smiling at her in a most unnerving way. "Hello, Zhang," Dark Angel said. "Betsy told me to say hi."
Mandarin swiped out with her blade, hoping to disrupt the synapses of her opponent. Dark Angel dodged the attack, ducking low and channeling pure force at Mandarin. Zhang screamed as she felt a rift open up around her, sucking her in. Within seconds, she was gone from this plane, having been deposited in one of the many dimensions that Dark Angel was able to access.
Elsewhere, Captain Englander had found himself under sudden attack. For a moment, the blurry figure about him made him think of his own former teammate, the corrupt Lady Spitfire... but then he realized that this was this world's version of the same. He growled like a beast, trying to snatch her up and break her neck. The way his own Jacqueline had betrayed him still ate away at him. "Stand still, you whore," he whispered.
"And let you prove yourself an even bigger cad? No thank you," she replied, slowing down enough for her words to be understood.
Englander started to reply when he felt the barrel of a gun press up against his temple. He shifted his eyes to the left, where Spitfire's husband, Union Jack, stood. "You wouldn't dare," Englander hissed.
"Betsy says you've got a personal force field like hers." Joey Chapman squinted, just barely making out the skintight field that surrounded Englander. "If that's true... this won't kill you. Just leave you with one hell of a headache."
Englander's eyes narrowed. "I'll hunt you down and kill you. I'll--"
BLAM
The gunshot echoed throughout the building, but both Dragonslayer and Hell's Angel were too busy stemming off an assault from Captain Britain and Polaris. Lorna Dane had joined the Pendragons en route to the Parliament building, having just returned from an enlightening visit to the Lord of the Lake. As it was, she was bringing to bear the full brunt of her magnetic abilities, ripping steel from the reinforced walls and sending them flying towards Hell's Angel. The daughter of Blackheart was blocking some of the attacks with her eldritch flame, but more and more was starting to get through her defenses.
Dragonslayer saw his lover weakening, but his own troubles were just as bad. He felt Captain Britain trying to hammer through his mental defenses, all the while using her suit-augmented strength to slam away at his shield. He heard the metal crack and a second later, her blow sent him flying through a wall.
Pendragons, Betsy projected telepathically, How goes it?
One by one, the reports came in... the politicians were safe and the villains, all save one, were done for.
The High Overlord was still free.
Killraven knew his foe very well.
When confronted with obvious defeat, the High Overlord would attempt to flee the scene, usually by going below ground. As such, Killraven was situated in the deepest recess of the structure, currently standing astride the bloody remains of the Overlord's Martian forces. There had been no more than a dozen of them, hardly enough for Killraven to break a sweat with.
The armored Martian entered the room just as Killraven was wiping his blade clean. For a moment, there were no words spoken... and then it was the Overlord who broke the silence.
"Your world is doomed, Killraven. That much should be clear. What can be gained from these games of war we now play?"
"If you thought it was pointless, you wouldn't have come here," Killraven countered. He sauntered towards the Overlord and the two of them began slowly circling the other. "I have been told that your death in this era will create a time loop. Your menace will be ended forever."
"Nonsense! Who filled your head with such drivel?"
"Someone who has much to gain from your demise. Someone who wishes to see an end to attempts such as yours to alter the timeline."
"And what will you be doing by killing me? You're as much to blame for the frayed timeline as I...."
Killraven grunted. He knew the Martian's reasoning and it matched his own, disturbingly so. But one thing was clear: the world would be better off without a monster such as this. Springing forward, Killraven struck with his sword. The blade struck the alien's armor harmlessly, but it elicited a cry of surprise from the Overlord nonetheless.
The Martian struck back mercilessly, swinging his powerful arms again and again until one of his blows struck home. Killraven's skull made a horrible crack and he staggered back, blood streaming down the side of his face. The Overlord then grasped his foe around the waist and lifted him high, putting all his strength to bear in an attempt to snap Killraven's spine.
"Your people will die," the Overlord hissed. "I'll grind the last of them beneath my--"
Killraven reached out with his mental powers, letting his mind touch that of his old enemy's. The Overlord was shielded and well trained from such things, but there was something different here, in this time and place. Killraven's power was amplified by the ambient magic, transmogrified into something slightly different than before.
The Overlord dropped him like a hot potato, skittering backwards and making high-pitched noises of fear. "Stop that!" he cried. "Get out of my head! I command you!"
Killraven wiped away a drop of blood that oozed from his nose. "You can't command me. You're not my Overlord. I'm a Human. A free human. And we will never stand down before tyranny! Never!"
An explosive display of mental power erupted from Killraven, channeled straight into the skull of the Martian Overlord. There was a sickening sound -- splutch -- inside the alien's helmet and then hee was falling to the floor, as limp as a marionette whose strings had been cut.
Killraven stood panting for a long moment, scarcely able to believe his eyes. After so long... after so many battles... the High Overlord lay dead at his feet. He felt drained and confused, but also elated. If and when he made it back home, there would be celebrations aplenty for mankind had just moved one step closer to being free of its bonds.
There was a great big wide open world lying ahead of Killraven and he was eager to explore every facet of it.
Next Issue: For months we've all wondered just what Betsy Braddock saw when she touched the Phoenix Force... and now she's prepared to reveal all! What awful secret has helped propel her plan forward and will it alter the opinions of her teammates when they discover the truth? Plus: Adam Crown's wife is due to give birth and his relationship is on the rocks; how will he cope with the growing feelings he has for Tangerine? Also, Killraven and Jack O'Lantern... what's next for them? Be here to find out in "Questions and Answers."
AUTHOR'S NOTES
You know, I really like the current Jack O'Lantern. I've always liked the costume but the way Maguire Beck has developed here in the Pendragons universe... I really dig her character.
I continue to build towards the end of the series. Some things that look like odd diversions (like the Adam Crown storyline) will actually be bigger than it might first appear....
A letter from Joseph Connell this month:
Oh-kay! So, Lorna...isn't Lorna?
Oh-kay! So Betsy's managed to piss off Parliament? Not exactly a surprise, but...
Oh-kay! The Martian Overlord knows where and when Killraven is. Definitely not a good thing, but...
And they're all converging?
Ohhhh boy. Why am I suddenly envisioning one of those huge, multi-car pile ups you see on the news and Jerry Bruckheimer films?<g>
It is getting a bit busy, isn't it? To answer your points, though:
Lorna is Lorna.
Betsy has angered a lot of people with her decision to press ahead with the removal of the Barrier. The next few issues will definitely test the popularity of the Captain Britain legacy in the U.K.
The Martian Overlord is a fun villain, a bit black-and-white in terms of how he views things, but that's fun every now and again.
Hope you enjoyed the finale this issue!
Next up is Gary Halpin:
No worries about Tangerine. She's not dying! I'm enjoying writing her too much at present. The Adam/Ginny dynamic has always worked for me but I've heard from others that they haven't felt it so you're not the only one. Glad the Polaris subplot resolved nicely for you.
You
can reach me at aric_dacia@yahoo.com
