ALPHA FLIGHT 139

THE ALPHA FLIGHT GATEFOLD

The Story Up Till Now ... Omega Flight and Alpha Flight head north to face off against Tundra

CAST OF CHARACTERS

GUARDIAN - a bio-organic Sentinel, and not the de-aged James MacDonald Hudson as had been suspected, created by General Clarke in order to foster mistrust inside of Alpha Flight

VINDICATOR - Heather Hudson; estranged wife of Mac and sometime leader of ALPHA who's seen her husband die and return to life; has doubts about Mac's authenticity

SHAMAN - Michael Twoyoungmen; Shaman of Sarcee Tribe and accomplished surgeon who has at different times abandoned science for magic and magic for science

PUCK - Eugene Milton Judd; a long time adventurer who is considered the soul of ALPHA; has loved Heather from afar for years; Puck is a dwarf

SASQUATCH - Dr. Walter Langkowski; accomplished scientist and athlete, Walt can transform himself into a sasquatch and back with just a thought

AURORA - Jeanne-Marie Beaubier; suffers from a split personality between the reserved Jeanne-Marie and the outgoing Aurora, twin sister of Northstar

DOCTOR H2O - Shelly Holmes was Langkowski's research assistant, has demonstrated "ice" powers but the full extent is not known - trainee

AQUANEA - possibly the daughter of Marrina who was being used to breed more Plodex by Apocalypse - trainee

JACQUES CLOUVERE - the new head of Department H and political outcast of the Canadian Premier; desperate to regain his political power

OMEGA FLIGHT - the government sanctioned replacement for Alpha Flight, it's membership includes: Major Maple Leaf II, Talisman, Persuasion, Radius and Flex

MAGNUS ACCORD - Treaty between the Canadian government and Magneto. In exchange for protecting Canada, Magneto has been given control of the newly named Magneto Territories, where he can create a haven for non-criminal mutants to live under his rule.

NORTHERN BEAR PRODUCTIONS

They had come here to face off against Tundra and had been succeeding only marginally well. Things then got worse.

It was bad enough facing one of the Great Beasts, but now they found themselves confronting two. Kolomaq had arrived, the Great Beast of the Snows and Tundra's eternal enemy. The Beasts roared at each other, their anger primal and unyielding. They sought nothing but the others end.

"Pull to the side!" Vindicator screamed above the howl of wind and the cracking of the Earth. No one could hear her, but they followed her lead and soon Alpha and Omega were standing alongside a battle centuries old.

The two teams came together for the first time, Alpha Flight: Vindicator, Puck, Sasquatch, Guardian, Aurora and Doctor H2O, and Omega Flight: Major Maple Leaf II, Talisman, Persuasion (currently unconscious), Radius and Flex, standing on the cold desolate plains of Northern Quebec. Heather and Talisman wondered where, exactly, Shaman was, but they didn't say anything.

Major Maple Leaf cut in, "Persuasion is our immediate concern. We must get her to safety!"

Puck raised an eyebrow at the new Major Maple Leaf, but kept any thoughts to himself.

"Yes," Maple Leaf answered strongly, then turned back to Vindicator. "How do you want to handle this?"

"You have more experience leading the people gathered here than I do, not to mention the experience you have battling the Great Beasts." Heather found herself wishing that she could see his eyes, but they were hidden behind a mask that was close to that of both Guardian's uniform and the Weapon X uniform that Wild Child had worn. "We need to get Kara to safety, however. On that I will accept nothing less than complete success."

Behind them, Kolomaq and Tundra raged on, Tundra attacking with his brute strength of the plains and Kolomaq countering with the raging ferocity of winter.

Heather thought quickly, "Puck, Flex and Doctor H2O will take one of your Omnijets and bring Kara to safety. The rest of us will stay here." Everyone nodded. "What can you do?" she asked Major Maple Leaf.

He answered succinctly, "I fly. I hit things. I have limited super-strength. I have blaster gauntlets on my wrists that fire blasts similar to those on the Guardian suit. I'm a scientist first, I prefer to think my way out of problems."

Heather nodded and turned to watch the Great Beasts. "Get Kara secured and let's move her out. Our first priority is making sure they get a clear path outta here."

"Once again, our King isn't here," groused Sig Janeau, the White Rook. His aging face held up poorly in the light of the Hellfire Club's most exclusive room, which was kept dark to help, as Hagani put it, "set the mood for power".

"Patience," Margaret Fernier smiled, her eyes alight with energy, her body rippling beneath the leather and lace blue and white outfit of the Club's Queen Blue. "We have holes in our membership, as you can see, Hagani. Do you propose that we fill them?"

Hagani let the brandy roll over his tongue, wishing he had a glass of chocolate milk instead, but knowing that such a simple act would cause him to lose all face with Janeau and Fernier.

"With no one here, I propose that I ascend to White Knight status!" Sig pounded the large, ornate table.

"Don't be a fool, Rook," Hagani scolded the man nearly twice his age. "You know the rules. The Knight must be a heroic soul that is bent to the ways of the Hellfire Club. And you," he let his voice drop cold, "were never heroic."

"Bah! Rules!" Sig exploded, rising from the table and pacing the dark outskirts of the light. "Outdated rules for a time that no longer exists! The Knight has power!"

"Except for the King, no one here has any more power than anyone else," Queen Blue answered in her schooling manner. "At least," she flashed her eyes to Hagani, "not because of a title."

Hagani grinned in return, a smile that forged the alliance between Queen and Bishop. He was pleased. For the Queen to court the Bishop so openly the King must really be an absentee ruler. "I propose that we acquire new members, yes," Hagani let out his plans. "But we have no need to proceed rapidly. Time is ever on our side. We should recruit members that can aide us, and not just those with raw power. We should seek those with skill and daring-"

"You're talking about letting non-mutants in!" Sig accused. "That is not the way!"

Hagani leveled his gaze. "I said no such thing, Rook. Only that we can learn lessons from the past - there is no need for us to bring in a trophy Queen like the X-Man Jean Grey. Such frivolities are unwise and bring undue attention to the Club."

Queen Blue rose from her seat at the round table and walked to Sig, who eyed her nervously. Her fingers played in her long, blonde hair. "Rook."

"Do you desire me?" she asked, throwing aside her cloak, allowing her curved body to be seen by his eyes. She turned her head to wink at the grinning Bishop.

"What?" Sig took a step back. "What kind of nonsense question is that? Christ, Margar-"

Queen Blue slapped him hard across the face. "Do not dare call me by anything other than my title while inside these walls."

Sig bowed his head, "You know that I do. I have desired you since I brought you into the Club and out of your hellish existence."

Sig nodded. Hagani couldn't decide whether to laugh at his plight or be ashamed for him.

"Then go upstairs and fetch me the most beautiful young maiden in the Club," she ordered as she turned to sit back down.

"You don't understand?" the Queen challenged him. "You do not need to. You need only to bring me what I wish. Now go, or consider it an act of War."

"Now, Bishop," Queen Blue smiled, leaning across the table to him, "let us talk about our plans for the Club D'Enfer."

Nature was their weapon. Tundra blasted at Kolomaq with rock, mud, ice, trees, anything that his enormous body could wrest from the Earth. Kolomaq countered with winter: ice, sleet, hail, blizzard, whipping winds.

"What do you advise, Vindicator?" Major Maple Leaf shouted above the roar of the battle.

"I don't know!" Heather yelled in response. "Should we even try to stop them? Or wait until the battle is over and deal with the winner?!?"

The two teams huddled close together. Puck, Flex and Dr. H2O had taken Persuasion and left, leaving them to face the Great Beasts.

"We should depart!" Aurora shouted, her light keeping her warm. "Let zem have their way with each othair!"

"How dare you?" Aurora asked, somehow managing to sound indignant even with the wind whipping around them. "Waltair, teach this boy a lesson!" she ordered.

Alpha and Omega turned to look at Sasquatch to see what his response would be, but when they turned to look, they found him missing.

"What?!?" Vindicator screamed. "Where is he?!? Damnit, if he's lost that means both he and Shaman have disappeared!"

"He was with us when we loaded Persuasion into the Omnijet!" Maple Leaf answered.

They all looked around them, but they saw nothing but white snow blowing. The only color came from above, where Tundra and Kolomaq continued their confrontation.

All was quiet on the Reservation, but Aquanea still could not bring herself to leave the comfort of the Pond. The stillness in the air was a welcome sound to her. For too long she'd been a prisoner of her Master, forced to breed Plodex for his never revealed plans. She found the silence warming, it's embrace intoxicating.

She stayed near one edge of the Pond, the one closest to the open end, a stone's throw from Shaman's medical cabin. Half of the Pond was open with a small shore, the other half met the forest.

It was on that end that Aquanea lost her sense of safety. Shaman had assured her that the woods around the Reservation were empty except for the animals.

But what came out of the forest to drink the water of the Pond was only half-animal.

She froze, unable to move or breathe. Could this be her Master returning for her?

The creature, a man's head and torso on the legs of what looked like a horse, looked right across the Pond and saw her.

Aquanea could do nothing but wait until the creature had left and pray that it never returned.

Alpha and Omega were reduced to helpless spectators. They moved as far away from the battle of the Great Beasts as they could, but still the wind howled in on them, causing them to shout to be heard.

"No, he's right!" Vindicator yelled. "Neither is slowing down. We need to stop them, somehow, someway! She looked around at the assembled heroes: Major Maple Leaf, Talisman, Radius, Aurora, Guardian. Shaman and Sasquatch missing. Puck, Dr. H2O, Flex and Persuasion gone. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Elizabeth, can you do anything to slow this down? You control the spirits, do you not?"

"I … I don't know," she shook her head. "Kolomaq's power is greater than mine!"

"We need to do something!" Guardian shouted, then mumbled to himself. "Perhaps if we sided with one against the other …" No one heard him.

"Why don’t we concentrate on defeating just one of them!" Maple Leaf offered. "Team-up with one to defeat the other and then take it from there!"

Vindicator nodded, "Sounds good! Okay, folks, let's take out Kolomaq! Then we can deal with Tundra!"

"And nothing," the Sarcee medicine man replied. "That was my reasoning for why you should help. The Great Beasts are not to be trifled with. If they are allowed to run free they will come here. Better to face them when they are near your home and not inside it."

"He is already gone," came a voice and Shaman turned to see a beautiful, lithe female of purple skin holding an infant in her arms.

He let Shelly fume and vent but he wasn't listening. Nor did he notice the way that Flex looked at her as if she were a goddess fallen to Earth. He was more concerned about why Heather had decided what she did. Sure, she could have done it because Shelly was a rookie, but she had proven herself against the Plodex* and her powers could have been useful.

'Something tells me there's more to this than I see,' Puck thought to himself. 'But what is it, Heather?'

Guardian, Major Maple Leaf and Vindicator flew in tandem, blasting away at Kolomaq's large, grotesque form from above.

Aurora floated in the air behind him, letting her light blast outward, hoping against hope that she could somehow lessen the intensity of the Great Beast's attack.

Talisman and Radius attacked from the ground, Radius serving as a shield for Talisman to call forth spirits to aide them. He complained the entire time, except when she closed her eyes to concentrate. Then he couldn't keep his eyes off her.

"No!" cried the spirits that hung in the air before her. "We do not trifle with the Beasts!"

"We can, Talisman," they spoke to her, "if we fear that our aide would seek to harm the Gods. We are too weak to face Kolomaq in his current state."

The spirits vanished and Talisman collapsed to the ground, unconscious. She didn't notice Radius come to her aid, concern etched on his face.

Above them the Beasts continued on. Tundra had grown to twice his normal height and Kolomaq stood with him, toe-to-toe. They attacked each other furiously, both completely unaware of the flies buzzing around them.

"No kidding!" Vindicator snapped back. "Can't you do anything useful? Don't you have any Sentinel powers we don't know about?"

The words hit Guardian like a slap in the face. "How dare you!" he lashed out at her. "If you've got a problem with me all of a sudden you should speak up and tell me and not hide behind insults!"

Kolomaq found a reserve of strength from somewhere and the storms rose higher, knocking the members of Alpha Flight to the ground. They were helpless, stuck to the Earth as the snow and wind pounded down on them. To a man, they all wondered if they would make it out of this alive.

Guardian was the first to raise his head from the snow. He looked up into a sight that was as unbelievable to his bio-organic eyes as the Great Beasts battling was.

And above them, a body hidden by the glare of the sun hung in the air, arms outstretched. Guardian wondered at first if it was an angel, but then the sun shifted behind a cloud and he could see who it was.

Alpha and Omega Flight picked up the pieces of the battle. Magneto had left as soon as he had arrived and Sasquatch was still missing.

"The power …" Major Maple Leaf shook his head. "My God, what power. They were like toys to him. The Great Beasts were like toys to him!"

Shaman hung behind them, not saying a word. He knew, as powerful as Magneto was, the victory was much too easy. His eyes turned up to the sky and his heart froze.

Dominating the sky with their images, the immortal enemies Somon and Snowbird stood together, watching over them as if they were ants.