Scamp
wandered the streets of Schonstadt, the capital city
of Symkaria, oblivious to the crowds rushing past her
as they attempted to flee the country. Above her, a
holographic projection of the head of Victor von
Doom, ruler of the northern neighbour Latveria,
threatened the destruction of the nation within one
hour. That she heard, but she did not care.
Scamp
was confused, to say the least.
Like
all of the Exiles, Scamp had secrets, secrets
she was not only unwilling to share, but secrets she
did not want to even think about on her own. What did
keep running through her mind, however, was how
being with the Exiles had changed her life.
When
she woke up with the others on a barren wasteland
somewhere out in space, her first thought was about
doing whatever they had to do to get home. (Actually,
her first thought was that Joseph was Magneto, and
that he needed to pay for hurting her mother - but
that thought was soon set aside.) Within hours,
however, she had become smitten with Daywalker - and
that simply was not like her.
She had
been hurt too many times to love anyone, even her own
family, and falling for someone she didn't even
know... that was unheard of. Still, that only seemed
to make her feelings even stronger. When the Exiles
finally found themselves in Daywalker's home
dimension, they become close - about as close as a
man and woman could ever become.
And
when he thought Scamp had been hurt by the Crimson
Circle... he was willing to risk everything to save
her.
Now he
was gone forever.
Scamp
knew herself well enough to realise that her sense of
confusion was nothing more than her brain locking
itself down, blocking out the rest of the world to
keep her from getting hurt again. And it worked -
nothing seemed to bother her. She didn't care about
the fleeing people of Symkaria, or Doom's threats.
All her mind, all her body seemed to care
about were the obstacles directly in its way; an
overturned barrel, for example, that almost sent
Scamp falling flat on her face.
The
rest of the world could go to hell, for all Scamp
cared. From then on, she was worried about one thing
and one thing only - not her bizarre mission, not the
Exiles... just Scamp.
As
Doctor Doom's deadline drew closer, the Wild Pack
began to panic. There was only so much they could do,
without the assistance of their leader Battlestar, to
help the people across the border. But Battlestar had
vanished*,
and even Prime Minister Sakrova was not telling them
what to do; they were on their own.
[ * - actually, he was defeated by
Ph-Eros, who now wears his costume and carries his
shield... which you already knew, because you read
last issue, right? - Adrian ]
Lena
Kozlov, the deputy leader of the Wild Pack, gathered
her team together near the nation's southern border -
as far away from Latveria as you could get without
leaving Symkaria. She could see that they were all
eager to help the desperate Symkarians - but, at the
same time, they had their own families; some
Symkarian, some not, and despite the chaos in
Symkaria, Doom had also warned of trouble affecting
the rest of the world.
The
Wild Pack had a choice to make.
"My
team," she said. "I understand the problems
you are facing. We are mercenaries, and now you must
determine whether to stay with your appointed
mission, and earn our paycheques... or leave to
ensure the safety of your families.
"I
will not blame you if you decide to leave. Without
Battlestar, without Sakrova... your choices are your
own. The people of Symkaria will not endure
without our help, but they are our clients, not our
loved ones. You should go if that is what you truly
wish."
The
members of the Wild Pack looked at each other. It was
only a moment before they turned back to Lena, and
one of them said: "Whatever has happened beyond
these borders has already happened. We can do nothing
about that now. We were brought together by Silver
Sable; she would want us to protect Symkaria in its
time of need. We should honour her wishes, and defeat
Doom."
The
others nodded in agreement. Lena smiled.
"I
thought you might say that," she said. "But
before we act, you must learn the true fate of Silva
Sablinova."
"Sakrova
already told us," another said, "that
Silver Sable was killed by Doom, and left to hang
beyond the barrier."
"The
barrier you now know displayed an illusion of the
outside world?" Lena countered. The other Wild
Pack members looked confused. "Silver Sable was
killed, but not by Doctor Doom."
"Then
by whom?"
"The
Wild Pack."
Inside
Castle Symkaria, Ph-Eros found himself with a
dilemma. He had just defeated Battlestar in a
relatively one-sided fight, and stolen his costume
and weapon. Only, Battlestar's costume did not
include a mask, which made escaping the castle
difficult. What it did include was his
large, rectangular shield. Ph-Eros thought for a
moment.
The
Wild Pack go up against superpeople all the time, he
thought. His shield would have to be able to deal
with massive strength and heat blasts and all that
stuff... It should be able to bust through a simple
castle wall... right?
He
raised the shield in front of his body and charged
against the wall. He hit it - rather, the shield hit
it, he hit the shield, and fell back.
"Ow
ow ow ow ow!"
Okay,
that didn't work, he thought. Maybe... Gee,
I'm an idiot.
Ph-Eros
turned and left his quarters. He walked through the
castle, calmly, past every distracted guard and
government worker, and left through the main entrance
undisturbed.
If
I can change my appearance in the eyes of six
hyper-alert superheroes, doing it for ten
pre-occupied soldiers can't be much harder. Now I
just have to find the others.
Ph-Eros
continued to walk away from the castle, into the
anarchic streets of Schonstadt. All around him,
panicked Symkarians packed bags with their own
possessions, and stole and beat up others for
anything else they could find. Even children were in
on the act - waiting until their mother or father hit
another adult, then stealing their belongings. It
seemed that the fear of sudden death - or, at the
very least, eviction from their homeland - was
bringing out the worst in people.
So...
what do I do?
He
considered his options. Symkaria was about to be
invaded by the Latverian army. He could join the
fleeing Symkarians and get to safety; he could find
the other Exiles and help resist the invasion; he
could grab whatever he could find and -
Several
feet ahead of him, a man roughly pulled a young woman
behind him. She was screaming and crying, and from
the blood on her pale purple dress Ph-Eros guessed
she really did not belong with the man.
Almost instinctively, Ph-Eros pressed the button
inside Battlestar's right glove and waited a moment
for the solid shield to materialise.
"Okay,"
he said to himself. "Here we go!"
Ph-Eros
hurled himself forward and, without pausing, struck
the man across the jaw with the stolen shield. The
man staggered back and blood began to seep from his
mouth but, as hard as shield was, Ph-Eros lacked the
sheer strength to do any real damage. The man lunged
forward angrily, but Ph-Eros was able to narrowly
avoid him as the girl ran away.
Oh,
I am so going to get hurt now.
Ph-Eros
raised his shield to defend himself from the man's
inevitable blow. As he cowered, the shield began to
glow black - as bizarre as that sounds. It radiated a
pure black light; one strong enough to make it seem
like night in the immediate vicinity. All Ph-Eros
could think about was how he wanted the man to trip,
to hit his head, to punch himself in the nose.
And no
blow came.
After
several moments, Ph-Eros looked out from beneath his
shield and saw the man laying on the ground,
unconscious, blood gushing from his nose. Ph-Eros had
not hit him; he had heard nothing, felt nothing
strike the shield. He had no idea what had happened
to the man, but he wasn't going to be hurting anyone
in the near future.
In the
dense forest to the east of Schonstadt,
Nachtgleiskette listened. He kept his eyes and mouth
closed, rendering his body entirely jet-black and
invisible in the dark shadows of the forest. His ears
picked up the chirping of birds, completely unaware
of the threat Doctor Doom had made against their
habitat. He heard small animals scurrying across the
brush, equally ignorant of their fate.
He
heard Firefly, sobbing like a small child a few feet
away.
Something
had happened to the boy the night before. He had
attacked both his fellow Exile, Doctor Savage, and
Prince Namor, the monarch of Atlantis. His power to
create and control flame had driven Namor away, and
badly injured Savage. In fact, Firefly was trying to kill
Savage at the time.
However,
a small, perfectly round blue sphere given to the
Exiles had somehow freed Stephen Strange of the curse
that turned him into Doc Savage - and given it to
Firefly. Panicked, Firefly's body began to change,
and even Aleta and Joseph, two other Exiles, confused
him with the beast. He threw the sphere into a nearby
river and fled... and there, he returned to normal.
His
normal, tearful self.
Nachtgleiskette
continued to sit and listen... and he heard the
rushing water that poured into the river from the
ocean too late to avoid being buried chest deep in
it. He did not move, but continued to listen, as
Namor returned from the sea.
Firefly
sobbed loudly from his hiding place in the forest
growth. He could not live with what he had done - but
at the same time, he did not regret it. Doc Savage
had killed Daywalker with his own two big, green,
amphibious hands. He needed to pay, and he would,
once Firefly found a way to control the changes to
his body.
So
focussed was he with his thoughts of revenge that
even as he noticed the water welling up around him he
did not react. It was not until he felt a firm hand
on his shoulder that he turned to see what was going
on - and came face-to-face with Namor. His Atlantean
flesh was burnt and blistered, but he was still
recognisably the same man, and he held the Exiles'
orb in his right hand.
"This
belongs to you?" Namor asked.
Firefly
nodded.
Namor
squeezed the orb tightly, and it broke into a blue
powder which hit the water and clumped together. The
wet particles formed a perfect disc in the water, and
began to draw the water - and anything else not
anchored to the earth - inside it.
"This
was not what I expected!" Namor shouted.
Firefly
struggled to move again the current, but there was
nothing he could do. He continued to be drawn into
the disc alongside Namor and, once inside, discovered
both their bodies and the water dissolving into the
same blue mist he knew symbolised their movement
between worlds. As always he had no idea where they
were going - but he had a feeling wherever it was,
the other Exiles would not be coming with him.
Lena
Kozlov began to speak. "Yes. The Wild Pack
killed Silver Sable."
"That
is not true!" one of the others shouted.
"None of us betrayed her!"
"Battlestar,"
Lena said.
"What?"
"On
the orders of Prime Minister Sakrova."
"You
are lying."
"No,
I am not," Lena replied. "Four months ago,
just a week prior to the erection of the barrier,
Silver Sable became aware of attempts by Sakrova to
make secret, illegal arms deals with Latveria. Arms
deals which included the acquisition of Battlestar's
shield. She threatened to expose Sakrova's plans to
the rest of the Symkarian parliament - and it was
then that Battlestar was given his orders.
"He
took another Wild Pack team to hunt Silver Sable
down. Sablinova killed them all - all except
Battlestar. I... do not know the specifics, but he
was able to snap her neck and deliver her to Sakrova.
It was then that the barrier appeared, and Sakrova
projected an illusion onto its surface, depicting a
hanged Silver Sable just beyond our borders."
"How
do you know this?"
"Because,"
Lena answered. "I was the Latverian
representative in the arms talks. I designed
Battlestar's shield."
"You
lie!"
"No."
"Why
have you kept this from us?!"
"You
know now," Lena said. "And if you truly
wish to honour Silver Sable and protect Symkaria, you
will go now to Castle Symkaria."
"We
will not trust you!" One Wild Pack member leapt
forward, his hands reaching for Lena's throat; Lena
merely raised her hand, and her opponent was flung
backwards and out-of-sight.
"Do
not attack me again," Lena said.
"I have never steered you wrong. Return to the
castle - now - and save Symkaria." Suddenly, in
a blue flash, she was gone. There was no gradual
fading or dissolution - she was there one moment, and
gone the next.
Elsewhere
in the forest, beyond the reach of the rushing water,
Joseph and Aleta considered their options. The Exiles
had been separated - while they searched for Firefly,
he, Nachtgleiskette and Scamp had disappeared. The
Mysterious Stranger wandering the forest, and Ph-Eros
had been left behind at Castle Symkaria.
The
Exiles were far from the most cohesive team.
"Doom
will be here in half an hour," Joseph said.
"If he employs Doombots, I can - " Aleta
began to cry. "Aleta? What's wrong?"
"We
can't go on like this!" she cried. "The
Exiles... Daywalker... Doom! I don't... I don't know
what to do!"
"Aleta..."
"Don't
try to calm me down!" Aleta snapped. "You
don't know... Vance... Kristoff! This is too much! I
can't do this alone!"
"You
are not alone."
"Yes,
I am!" Aleta shouted. "You have all turned
to me for leadership! I am not a leader! I cannot
even control myself, let alone a team! You don't know
what it is like to have no control!"
Don't
I? Joseph thought. Try having no memories of
your past, living in a world where your species is
hunted down like rabid dogs, where everyone believes
you to be a genocidal monster.
"That
is not what I meant," he said. "I meant
that I am here. With you."
He took
Aleta's hand, and she did not pull away. Slowly, he
manipulated the traces of iron in her blood and drew
her closer, close enough to wrap his arms around her
body. Without fully realising what he was doing, he
leaned in close and pressed his lips against hers.
Aleta stopped being passive and draped her arms
around the mutant's shoulders, and gently slid her
tongue across his lips as both faded into the
too-familiar blue mist.
Castle
Doom, Doomstadt, Latveria
A blue
flash preceded the appearance of Lena Kozlov by only
an instant, but it was enough for Doom to be
prepared. He bowed slightly as she fully
materialised, and waited patiently for her to speak.
"It
is done, Doom," she said. "You have what
you wanted, and I have what I wanted."
"The
Wild Pack...?" he asked.
"They
will be terminated in a few moments, and the Exiles
have already left this world, their orb
destroyed..." Lena told him. "I warned you
of the pending devastation your world would face, and
your role in rebuilding it. I told you how to protect
Symkaria as a sanctuary for Latveria, promised to
eliminate the Symkarian rulers - "
"All,
of course, at a gain to yourself," Doom said.
"These 'Exiles'... their presence has not
disrupted things?"
"Of
course not," Lena said. "Their presence was
essential to my plan. They have the shield, which is
what this was all about."
"I
should have known," Doom remarked, "from
the moment you appeared on my time-platform that you
were a force to be reckoned with."
"Do
not attempt to flatter me, Doom," she said.
"You will get nothing more from me. Rebuild your
world. Rule it as you will. I do not care." She
took a deep breath. "Now, activate your
time-platform."
"Surely
you do not need it to leave this world?"
"No,"
Lena said, "but it is the way it has always been
done. All of this is the way it has always been done.
The way it must be done. I will not change
that for the sake of impressing you with my power...
or giving you the chance to steal it."
"You
see right through me," Doom said.
"I
see through everything," Lena said as she
stepped onto the time-platform. "That is my
gift... as well as my curse."
Doom
flicked a switch and slowly, in a burst of blue and
yellow light, Lena Kozlov was gone.
NEXT ISSUE: In a
world of shadows, Firefly fights alone... or does he?
