Cast
of Characters:
Rockface Britannia Mustang Spiderboy
Wildthing Makarra Marvel Girl
Luna Stark Nightshade
Sprocket Starbird
Chaos Magni Vanguard Sentinel
Doom Shaman Crimson
Feran
Hellscout Fleetfoot Ranger
Oracle Jericho
What has come before: The Earth has been occupied by the
Martian invasion force. Even after the mystical barrier over Europe fell,
Earth’s forces were no match for the alien military machine. The heroes of
Earth fought valiantly but have been reduced to little more than hit and run
terrorists against the Martian overlords. Hope did come in the form of Odin the
All Father of the Asgardian Gods. Odin could not commit the armies of Asgard to
the cause of his frequent allies due to his pact of non-interference in the
affairs of Earth, which he had agreed with the “Sky Fathers” of the other
pantheons of gods. However he did grant sanctuary to the heroes’ children and
families allowing them to fight on unhindered by worry. These children would be
taught the ways of the Asgardian warrior and form an army capable of freeing
their homeworld. Now in a sector of Asgard lovingly referred to as “Little
Midgard” these refugees of Earth train and learn to use their amazing abilities
to free a world.
Previously: After a mission to Earth to retrieve
Jocasta and her new born son Britannia’s team of young heroes teleported back
to Little Midgard. However during transit the Asgardian God of Mischief Loki
interrupted their path causing them to rematerilase in the Negative Zone. A
second team of heroes was sent out from “Little Midgard” in the hopes of
gaining the aid of the Enchantress and her Students in finding the missing
heroes. The heroes in the Negative Zone have teamed up with The Nega Protectors
to find the technology they need to get back home and help them oppose the
armies of Blastarr. While in Asgard the team has run a foul of a gigantic
octopod monster, which unknown to them was sent by the true architects of the
situation Loki and his son Token. Having secretly entered Blastarr’s new
capital city the Negative Zone heroes have just made a dramatic discovery,
Blastarr is allied with Earth’s conquerors the Martians.
NEGATIVE MAGIC
Part Two
“When Two Tribes Go
To War”
The Capital City of Blastarr’s new empire, the Negative Zone
Britannia looked at the approaching Martian Tripods unsure what to make of this new development. Eventually it was Mustang who vocalised the feelings of the group.
“Oh crap!” the
green skinned archer blurted out. Realising he had caused some of the crowd to
stare he pulled back behind the others and lowered his hood further.
“That is
starting to become the catch phrase of this group” Angelica whispered nudging
Mustang in the ribs. “But I can’t say I disagree”.
“It seems we
share a common foe,” Britannia said to Hellscout gesturing towards the spindle
legged war machines approaching the city.
“Indeed Miss
Bethany” Hellscout answered “perhaps it is the lord’s will that has brought us
all together to oppose this evil”.
“I think you
guys are missing one detail that does seem quite important to me” Valeria piped
up from the rear of the group “if the Martians are here it means that they have
transit between here and Earth which in turn means we can use it to get home”.
The Enchanted Forest, Asgard
“Is that what trolls look like?” Sprocket whispered as she stared down from the branches of the tree the group were using as cover.
“Verily it is
Lady Rhodes, although I wouldn’t want to get too close the smell is quite
repellent” the prince of Asgard Magni replied cupping his hand to Sprocket’s
ear to muffle the sound. Sprocket surpressed a giggle, feeling quite girlish in
the presence of the handsome Asgardian prince.
“This isn’t
good” Sarah Rogers mused as she adjusted her straps holding her shield in place
on her back. “That’s the third troll patrol we’ve seen in the last ten minutes.
Where the hell are they all going?”
“Only one way
to find out” Nightshade said from above the others as she lowered herself down
to their level by her tail.
“I think I can
follow them with out been spotted” Feran announced. “I’ll stay in the tree
line, after all I was raised in these woods”.
“Very well
friend Feran, find out what transpires and return” Prince Magni acknowledged
“We shall wait for you here”.
With that
Feran silently dropped from the tree they were hiding in and disappeared into
the thick foliage of the wood.
After about an
hour Sprockets legs were numb from dangling them from the tree branch when
suddenly Feran appeared directly below her.
“Jesus! Feran
do you want to cough or something next time, you nearly gave me a heart attack”
“Sorry Sprock
gotta be stealthy in my line of work” Feran grinned up at her.
“No more
patrols have passed since you left” Sentinel said dropping to the ground from
her look out position.
“That’s
because every troll in Asgard as at the Enchantress’ castle and looks like they
are preparing for war!”
The New Capital of the Negative Zone
“We have to get my father out of there” Ranger snapped angrily, however anyone who looked into his eyes knew this was out of fear for his family more than rage.
“We will my
friend but if rush in without a plan of action not only will your father remain
a captive but we will more than likely join him or worse” Hellscout replied
placing his hand on his friends shoulder.
“Of course I
apologise” Ranger said returning to his normal brooding demeanour. Mentally
Ranger chastised himself; this was not the way his parents had trained him he
must surpress his feelings in order to think clearly.
“I believe our
best chance lies in a hit and run attack in order to get Lockdown out of there”
Britannia addressed the heroes gathered around her in the alley they had
entered the city through. “That is if your up to a few quick teleports Lock”
Britannia continued turning to the huge two headed canine. Lockley nodded both
his heads vigorously, while Aaron struggled to maintain his seat between them.
“As much as it
pains me to say I believe we should also attempt to retrieve the devil
Anihillus. We will need strong forces to oppose Blastarr and his allies and we
may be forced into an unsavoury alliance of our own” Hellscout added although
his face showed the disgust the idea gave him. “Better an enemy in your debt
than one who is not”.
“That would be
my advice too” Jocasta agreed from the rear of the group. Quickly a plan was
formulated. Lockley would teleport everyone to the staging area where Ranger
and Hellscout would attempt to free Lockdown and Anihillus from their bonds,
while everybody else held off the Balduurian guards, Bursturr and Blastarr. The
plan was as simple as you could get but they had the element of surprise and
wide range of powers at their disposal, Britannia silently hoped it would be
enough. Once they had Lockdown and Anihillus Lockley would then teleport all to
Hellscout’s village where they would plan their next move. Hellscout was not
sure about taking the devil back to his home but he could see he was in no
shape to be a threat at present so reluctantly agreed. The heroes mentally
prepared themselves for their daring assault, each one checking their weapons
and thinking through possible scenarios that could occur. Britannia couldn’t
help but wonder if they were ready for this, their first mission had only been
a day ago. However the time for such thoughts was long passed they, there was
no going back.
The Enchanted Forest, Asgard
Sprocket and
the others peered out of the undergrowth in front of castle formerly belonging
to the Enchantress. Feran had lead them as stealthily as possible as near the
castle as he dare with out alerting the troll guards. The gates were well guarded but they were
open, allowing the heroes to see into the castle courtyard. They were shocked
to see the former manservant to the sorcerer supreme Wong tied to gallows
awaiting execution in the centre. Wong had come to Asgard in order to help
train the mystically powered young heroes of Earth’s secret army. Troll guards
walked the battlements of the castle, they were not only armed with the
standard asgardian style of weaponry but also hi-tech ionic cannons both
mounted and hand held. Sprocket confirmed that they were state of the art and
perhaps even alien in design. As well as the vast troll army which must have
numbered in the hundreds judging from the encampment at the rear of the castle,
there was also some of the huge beasts of Asgard fully kitted out in harnesses
and battle armour. Feran’s keen eyesight had also spotted a regiment of Dark
Elves and asgardian rouges. What concerned Sprocket was the robo drones dotted
about who were busy checking on the larger pieces of mounted weaponry. She
swore she had seen their design before she just couldn’t place it.
“We haven’t
got a chance against all that by ourselves” Sprocket whispered to the others
“we’d last about two minutes”.
“We need to
get word to Asgard immediately” Magni responded “my grandfather maybe in his
Odin sleep but the armies of the eternal realm will fight on”,
“I think it’s
about time I made a call,” Feran said as he started to pull away from the
others.
“Your gonna
what!” sprocket shrieked a little louder than she should fortunately she didn’t
alert the guards.
“He’s going to
call his Mum” Nightshade smirked.
“What?”
Sprocket repeated
“ She means he
is going to go contact the wolves of Asgard, hopefully they can send word back
to the warriors and aid us” Vanguard answered Sprocket.
“Why didn’t
she just say so?” Sprocket sulked feeling for once a little dim; she could see
the smirking Nightshade from the corner of her eye. Then as was her gift
Sprocket had an idea. “Do you think you could port in and out of there and grab
me one of those droids tending the big guns?” Sprocket leaned in and whispered
to Nightshade. “If they are maintaining them they must have the schematics
programmed into them, if I can get a look at them maybe and this is a big maybe
I can figure out a way of jamming them and giving us a fighting chance”.
“Sure I can
there is just the small matter of the hundreds of Trolls and god knows what
else in the way”
“I think you
may just get a distraction in a second,” Vanguard said pointing to the crest of
a near by hill where Feran was just taking a massive inward breath. Feran let
out a tremendous feral howl, which to his people was actually a series of
instructions. Nightshade saw her brief opportunity and ported to the nearest
droid while the guards looked to the source of the animal roar. She was in and
out in the blink of an eye leaving the guards none the wiser and wondering
where that smell of brimstone had come from.
When
Nightshade rematerialized next to Sprocket she quickly used a dampening device
from her backpack to stop the droid sending out any signals then systematically
began taking the small robot apart.
“This is not
good, not good at all” Sprocket murmured as she shifted through the pieces of
the dismantled droid. “If I’m not mistaken and I’m not, this droid is based on
Martian technology. Whoever has amassed this army is in league with them”.
Inside the Castle
The young mage
Vincent Von Doom struggled with his manacles holding him fast against the
castle walls. Beside him similarly confined were his fellow mystic students
Heather Twoyoungmen, The Shaman and Vincent’s current lover Raven Strange or
Crimson, as she preferred to be known. Crimson was unconscious and Heather
wasn’t fairing much better. The fourth member of their group the mystic known
as Voodoo, Jerome Drumm was not around when Loki attacked and overpowered their
teacher The Enchantress. Doom was in two minds whether or not this was lucky on
Drumms part or pre arranged. As if in answer to Vincent’s doubts the shadows in
the corner of the room began to swirl as dark black tendrils formed and
rendered the two troll guards at the door unconscious as the dark energy
entered their bodies and then released through their faces. “Admit it you
thought I’d run away” a gravelly voice came from the shadow.
“I actually
considered that you had betrayed us” Vincent answered surpressing the sigh of
relief he desperately wanted to give.
“You should
have little more faith Von Doom” the shadowy figure continued. He stepped
forward to reveal the handsome face of Jerome Drumm or at least it would be
handsome if not for the long scar running down the left-hand side of his face.
The scar was a gift from the creatures of the Dark Dimension who killed his
father while they attempted to use the dimension to flee the Martian conquest
of his native Jamaica. “I have been watching from the shadows all that has been
happening and as I’m sure you’ll agree we can not allow Loki to conquer Asgard
especially with the Martians as his allies”.
“Well how
about you stop posturing and free us so we can do something about it” Doom
snapped losing his patience with his fellow mystic.
“Oh I thought
you’d have worked out how to get around Loki’s spell on your chains by now. If
you think about it it’s the metal that’s enchanted not the wall they are
attached to” with this Voodoo raised his left arm and released a torrent of
dark mystical energy. The energy severed the manacles holding the young mystics
captive. All three fell to floor, the two ladies cushioned by Voodoo’s mystic
energy. Vincent immediately got to his feet and rushed over to where Crimson
lay. He plucked some herbs from a pouch at his waist, crushed it between his
fingers and held it under her nose. Crimson immediately sat up with a start
wide eyed and breathing heavily.
“What the hell
was that?” Crimson panted as Doom helped her to her feet.
“Trade secret”
Doom smiled at his lover.
“When you two
are finished with the Romeo and Juliet rendition I think we should get out of
here. There is a group of heroes hidden outside the castle, I think they are
best bet of holding Loki’s forces at bay long enough for the forces of Asgard
to rally themselves and get here”. Voodoo said as he helped Shaman to her feet
as well.
“Well that’s
certainly and interesting idea although I doubt that you will survive long
enough to see it happen” the voice of Loki’s son Token mocked from the doorway
where the unconscious trolls lay.
“You are a
dead man, scumbag!” Shaman screamed leaping at the young godling. She had
suffered tortures at the hands of the sadistic Asgardian she didn’t even want
to think about yet. All Shaman wanted at this moment in time was to beat the
unholy crap out of the miserable little scum in front of her. As Shaman
descended on Token a huge orange fist flashed out of the darkness of the doorway
batting the Native American hero across the room.
“Now now my
dear there is a time and a place for us to get physical and I’m afraid Ulak is
quite right this is not it” As Token spoke a huge figure of a very powerfully
built troll entered the room following his fist.
“My he is a
big one isn’t he?” Crimson smirked as she waved her palm across her throat
revealing the cloaked amulet of her father. “Didn’t see this did you tokey?”
A ball of
scarlet energy erupted from Crimson’s hands smacking straight into the troll
guarding Token. Ulak staggered back but did not fall. He grunted and then with
another swipe of his huge hands Crimson and the near by Vincent Von Doom joined
Shaman crumpled in the corner.
“Ok now I
think that’s enough of that” Voodoo said once again from the shadows as his
tendrils again snaked out of the darkness and began to creep all over the
struggling troll prince. Sweat dripped from the young mystic as he tried to
hold the powerful troll. However this gave Doom the chance to regain his
composure and ensnare Token in a mystic sphere. Crimson and Shaman soon joined
the effort and the sphere became the crimson bands of Crytorrak, which
enveloped both Token and Ulak.
“Father help
me!” screeched Token just before the crimson bands covered his mouth. With a
flash of light Loki stood before the assembled mystics.
“This had
better be important child” The God of Mischief snarled. He quickly saw the
situation and used his vast magical abilities to rip the bands apart. The
mystical back lash catapulted the four heroes through the exterior wall and out
into the forest.
Five Minutes Earlier in the Enchanted Forest
“My people
will get word to Asgard, but it looks like it’s up to us to hold things up
until then” Feran said as reappeared out of the forest foliage.
“It’s worse
than we thought, whoever has amassed the trolls and everyone else has been
aided by the Martians” Sprocket sighed still looking through the pieces of
dismantled droid. “I think I can rig up something that will disrupt the energy
cannons but I don’t know how reliable it will be”.
“Well it’s
gonna have to be enough!” the until now silent Chaos spoke up as he peered
through the groups cover to see a ball of scarlet energy hurtling towards them
from the castle. Chaos quickly erected a magnetic barrier around himself and
the others. The ball of energy bounced off, the impact of which caused Chaos to
fall to his knees. Chaos’ shield dissipated, as did the ball of scarlet hued
energy to reveal four stunned but otherwise unharmed individuals.
“Nice energy
sphere Von Doom” Voodoo sighed as he sat up. “We’ll cal it quits since I’ve
already saved you once today”
“Be quiet we
have bigger problems than your pride” Doom snapped getting to his feet.
“I take it
that was not a planned entrance guys ”Nightshade said helping her old friend
Shaman to her feet. “Don’t get me wrong I’m glad you could join us looks like
we’re gonna need all the help we can get”.
“Indeed if
Loki is to be stopped”
“Loki!!!”
Magni bellowed interrupting Doom.
“Yes he and
his Martian allies are behind this attempted conquest of Asgard” Doom finished.
“Huh guys”
Sprocket interrupted gesturing towards the castle. “I think we’ve been
spotted”. Everyone looked in the direction of the castle and saw the regiments
of trolls and various other creatures charging towards their location.
“Everyone
ready?” Vanguard said as he nocked a psionic arrow in his bow. They all drew
whatever weapons they had or charged up their various powers and turned to
fully face the encroaching hordes.
“For Asgard!”
Magni yelled and they burst forward.
Author’s Notes
Thanks for sticking
with this one. Firstly I am going to explain what my original plan was this
little caper. Basically I got a little carried away and wanted to tell more
than one story at once, I found I had created a monster with a life of its own
so I apologise if this has seemed a little confusing with the amount of
characters running around (but I hope the cast of characters has helped a
little). Originally I planned to do a series of one offs but I have been
treating this rather like a mini series, as I said it just got away from me
(these two issues were originally one but in order to make life and file size
easier I did a bit of creative editing). I’d like to thank everyone for their
comments and suggestions and I will try to take it all on board and hopefully
improve but please feel free to continue with any feedback. I would like to
continue to develop my “Legacy” ideas here and hopefully some more stories
should be along soonish until then please look out for Cyberspace 3000 which I
will have a hand in. Any suggestions on
where I should go next with “Legacy” would be welcomed and if any one else
feels they have a tale to tell here please do and I would love other writers to
build up this alternate Pendragons future. As always you can contact me at daveevans78@hotmail.com or via the Pendragons mailing
list.
See you all soon
Dave
Now a few
comments from Mark Bousquet whose MV1 “All God’s Children” remains one of my
firm favourites,
Dave,
Just got a chance to read your Pendragons stuff and I really like it. Shows a
lot of promise. Sprocket and Mayor Rhodes were probably my two favorite
characters because of the relationship they have. Sprocket is the one character
that really leapt off the page; she seems to have that "it" that
makes characters special. I will admit that there were so many characters that
it was very hard to keep them straight, so I was glad to see the cast of
characters section down at the end of the issue. Looking forward to more.
-- Mark Bousquet ...
Thanks Mark,
Kind words
indeed coming from you, as you know your “All God’s Children” series over at
MV1s Epic branch was a great inspiration for me. Sprocket has grown on me a lot
too, which is odd, as initially she was a very minor support character in my
head. She was basically going to be Q to the other heroes James Bond. Sprocket
has grown with the story and is now a major character and will continue to be
so for some time to come. I take your point about there been a lot of
characters to keep track of but as you will have seen theres been some fighting
and I felt it required a number of characters to do it. I also wanted to shown
as many of the next generation of heroes and the “Little Midgard” community as I could.
Dave
Cast of characters (new additions)
Voodoo –
Jerome Drumm – the son of the master
voodoo magician Brother Voodoo
Crimson –
Raven Strange – the daughter of the
former sorcerer supreme Doctor Stephen Strange and his wife Clea
Ulak –
the son of the lord of the Trolls
LEGACY GALLERY:
(From left to
right): Makarra, Marvel Girl,
The new Iron Man
Rockface,
Britannia, Wild Thing, Mustang
Arno Stark
And Spider Boy.
The Nega-Protectors: Token son of Loki
(From left to
right): Hellscout, Oracle, Jericho,