#4 - Crisis In The Ultraverse, Part One

By Barry Reese

SCENE ONE : "A Knight and His Lady"

Sersi sat in the gardens of Olympia, idly transforming rose petals into bits of silk and gold. She had been trying rather fruitlessly to lose herself in parties and such but it was doing no good. Ever since her return from the Crusades*, she had merely been going through the motions of living. Even her minor fliratations with Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four** had failed to divert her mind from its wanderings. And seeing Dane ever so briefly during the Kree-Shi'ar War had only made her heart heavier than ever.

(*See Black Knight : Exodus for more)
(** See Fantastic Four # 432-433 on an MV1 site near you!)

"Sersi?" Dane's voice cut through the silence like a knife. For a moment, the Eternal felt certain that was her imagingings once more but when the Black Knight spoke again, she knew that this time it was no daydream. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you..."

She rose, turning to face him. He was standing in full armored regalia, the Shield of Night on his arm and the Sword of Light sheated in its scabbard. In the distance behind him, she could see his winged horse grazing in the grass. "Dane...What brings you to Olympia?" She fought to keep her voice neutral. She was a proud woman and certainly didn't want Dane to see how much she'd missed him.

He moved into the garden, setting his shield on the ground and removing his helmet. His strong, handsome face betrayed his own inner turmoil. "I thought you should know...Proctor's back. Someone he survived what you did to him*. He's active on that other world where we were both trapped for a few months. Ultraforce needs me. And...well, given your history with him, too...I thought..." Dane frowned harshly, embarrassment reddening his cheeks. He was an Avenger and a Crusader and yet he was tongue-tied around this woman...

(*Sersi apparently killed Proctor back in Avengers # 375.)

Sersi's eyes sparked with energy and when she spoke, her voice was cold and flat. It frightened Dane, reminding him of how her madness had nearly destroyed her once. "Proctor? I can't imagine how he could have survived...This time he must be killed. We have to be certain."

Dane touched her shoulder and leaned closer. "Sersi." The energy faded from her eyes somewhat and she relaxed. "We'll go as far as we have to, but let's not go into this expecting to kill, okay?"

She nodded, a smile dancing across her full lips. "I've missed you, Dane. Maybe some good can come of this if it means that we'll be near each other again."

Dane cleared his throat and placed his helmet back on his head. "This is business only, Sersi. I don't think it's healthy for either of us to think it's anything more than that."

Sersi watched as he turned his back and strode towards his steed. "You might be saying that with your words, Dane Whitman...but your eyes are telling a different story," she murmured. Smiling, she hurried to catch up to him, eager to begin their journey.

SCENE TWO : "Overwhelmed"

Prototype knew he was in danger. His armor's power reserves were nearly depleted and somehow the Gatherers were jamming his transmissions. He was miles away from Ultraforce HQ and it was looking unlikely that he would make it. He gritted his teeth beneath his helmet and came to a stop in mid-air. He whirled around to face the pursuing villains and snarled "Okay...no more running! If you want some of this, then come on!" He powered up his gauntlets and watched as the villains came to a stop as well, grinning in anticipation.

There were five of them and Prototype found himself grateful that Proctor and Lord Pumpkin weren't present. Maybe he could handle these guys. The group was led by the green, reptillian skinned Tyrannosaurus, but he was flanked by the water witch Naiad, the metal-encased serial killer Mangle, the sandy pirate Sandblast, and the hulking form of Deathwish. Prototype had never crossed paths with any of them but he recognized them from files -- Tyrannosaurus and Naiad were former members of TNTNT, Sandblast was associated with Scar's Raiders, Mangle had fought both Nightman and Freex while Deathwish was a foe of the Strangers, thought destroyed.

Tyrannosaurus laughed. "Glad to see you showing some spunk, kid. Hate to see you running like a coward..."

Prototype fired, striking Naiad. The water-controlling woman shrieked and her skin steamed.

Sandblast launched a sandy fist at Prototype, striking him hard. "Now dat's a direct hit! Ya goin' down, tin man!"

Mangle launched himself through the air at Prototype, gibbering madly. "Going to slice you up good, hero. Going to lick your blood off the floor!"

Prototype recovered quickly, wrapping his arms around Mangle and flooding his armor with electricity. The wire frames that held Mangle's flesh in place sparked with electrical flame. The villain howled and Prototype threw him aside.

"You armored bastard!" Naiad sent a stream of water at the armored hero, the water blast concentrated so tightly that it knocked the wind out of him.

Deathwish moved forward, eager to envelop Prototype and sap him of his life force. "Come and embrace sweet oblivion, Prototype..." The villain slashed at Prototype but missed, the armored hero spinning wildly through the air.

Tyrannosaurus pressed the advantage, grabbing Prototype's boot and pulling him from the air. "'Bout time we taught you to respect the Gatherers!" The massive villain bashed Prototype's helmet with several powerful blows and blood seeped out of the disfigured helmet.

The villains pulled back and stared at the silent figure. "Why can't we just kill 'em?" Sandblast wanted to know.

Tyrannosaurus shrugged. "I dunno. But that's what the boss wants. We take him back to base like the others." He saw the angry expression on Deathwish's face and grinned. "But we can stop and pick up a snack or two for old 'wishy of course!"

SCENE THREE : "A Gathering of Heroes"

The forms of the Black Knight, Ghoul, Prime, and Sersi materialized in the headquarters of Ultraforce. Ghoul grinned, his decomposing flesh filled with tiny worms. "Now that's what I call traveling!" He looked about the empty meeting room and yelled, "Hey, Lucy! We're hooooooooooooome!"

The Black Knight placed a hand on his blade. "Ghoul -- hush. If the Gatherers have already struck, we might need to move stealthily..."

"Too late for that." The voice belonged to a man and it drifted down out of the shadows. Two red lenses glinted from his mask. "Ghoul has all the stealth of an elephant."

Sersi narrowed her eyes. "And you are?"

The figure dropped to the floor, his cloak spreading out around him. He was in good shape and wore a padded costume of gray and blue. "I'm Nightman."

Ghoul mimicked, "I'm Nightman." He shook his head. "You've seen Batman too many times, pal."

Dane ignored Ghoul's attempts at humor and moved closer to Sersi. "Is there any way you can trace him, Sersi? Proctor, I mean..."

She started to answer but was cut off as the lights suddenly flared in the room. A broad-shouldered blonde man entered the room, alongside a woman of stunning beauty. The brunette wore a cloak and a skimpy costume. "There's nothing she can do, I'm afraid. I've tried every spell I know to locate him. Lord Pumpkin is matching me spell for spell."

Mantra and Hardcase moved to join the others and Dane offered a hand. "Nice to meet you, Mantra. Sorry we never met during my time here."

Sersi made a jealous face. "In a costume like that, I'm sure you are."

Dane shot her a withering stare and was startled by the firm handshake that Mantra delivered.

Hardcase spoke up, "I hope you can do something about this, Whitman. Things have been strange lately...I'm missing about two months out of my life. It's like I didn't even exist briefly."

Mantra nodded. "It's a result of the Infinity Gems' tampering*. Reality was briefly remolded but it's since corrected itself. Perhaps Proctor's arrival here is related to the restructuring of reality...I don't know. But I do know that we have to stop him. He's captured almost every Ultra that we know of."

(*This occurred in Avengers/Ultraforce and continued into 'Black September.')

Dane nodded. "Well, there are things you need to know about Proctor. First of all, he's me -- from another world. And he's gathered groups of villains before..."

The Black Knight's explanation went on well into the night.

SCENE FOUR : "Break-Thru"

"She's here." Proctor stood at the window, gazing out at the unsuspecting city. He held his hands clasped behind his back and his expression was one of both sadness and hatred.

Lord Pumpkin stood behind him, watching. The evil sorceror grinned. "Who's here?"

"Sersi. My beloved, hated Sersi." He turned to face the evil, pumpkin-headed monster. "I've been with here on dozens of worlds. I can feel that she's arrived. No doubt with my doppleganger in tow."

Pumpkin realized that his leader was at long last willing to open up. That would be very useful...especially if Proctor revealed some new weakness that Lord Pumpkin could exploit at the right moment. "I've been meaning to ask, Proctor...What are trying to do exactly? Destroy all the heroes? Rule the world? Get some girl to fall in love with you? I'd really like to know..."

Proctor regarded him for a moment. The treacherous beast couldn't be trusted, he knew that. But he also knew that he was the only one of the Gatherers with the intelligence to appreciate what it was he was planning. "I very nearly died recently, Lord Pumpkin. And that brush with death taught me something...as powerful as I am, I'm not powerful enough. I've been forced to utilize lackeys to strike at my enemies...but no more. When I arrived here, I immediately set about learning more about this world. Imagine my surprise when I saw references to a Black Knight fighting alongside your pitiful excuse for the Avengers, the Ultraforce...It didn't take much reading between the lines to realize that this was the same Dane Whitman who helped slay me. Did you know that I appeared here the exact day that he disappeared with his Sersi? It's true..."

Pumpkin digest that fact. What it important?

"I also read about the strange girl in the sky...the shifting colors...and the odd explosions on the moon. They predated my doppleganger's arrival on this world, but they caught my attention. I hacked into the Ultraforce files on the event and learned some interesting facts, about the Entity that had existed there and it's influence in creating superpowered individuals*."

(*See the Break-Thru crossover.)

Lord Pumpkin held up a bony arm. "Excuse me...but how did you manage to break into their files?" Keep him talking, the more information the better...

"You forget. Their leader was for a time Dane Whitman. And I am the ultimate Dane Whitman.There are no passwords he can come up with that I can't crack. I am him, after all...But this Entity that was located on the moon, it was the 'black box' of a crashed alien craft. It was sending out distress signals for centuries, flooding earth with energy rays that 'jumpstarted' humanity and created ultras...The heroes of this world foolishly allowed the Entity to explode, but there are no doubt bits and pieces of that technology still around. Each piece of that Entity's metal form is probably soaked with its energies...that means that they might have the power to jumpstart almost anyone. Including me."

Lord Pumpkin narrowed his eyes. "So you hope to gain power for yourself. And what of us? What do we gain for our efforts?"

Proctor shrugged. "You get access to the jumpstart technology as well. Perhaps it could augment your abilities, perhaps not. But all the heroes of this world will be yours to do with as you will. I had hoped to have them all out of the way before we moved into the final phase of my plan, to avoid any possible conflict...but Sersi's arrival moves up my timetable." He turned and gazed back out the window. "After all is said and done, I shall use my newfound power to continue my crusade, without needing Gatherers to use as footsoldiers...You and your ilk can divvy up this world as you see fit."

Lord Pumpkin nodded thoughtfully. He didn't trust Proctor, nor did he believe that the man had revealed all there was to know. But there was still time to learn the rest...for now, he would absorb what he had learned tonight and plot how to use it best...

SCENE FIVE : "Night Moves"

Dane Whitman sighed, lying back in bed. He ignored the television that ran in the corner, instead closing his eyes and trying to find some sense of calm. After the tensions of the Kree-Shi'ar War, he'd been hoping to find some time to relax but now this...

He felt her weight on the bed and immediately knew who it was. He hadn't locked his door and now he wasn't sure if that had been on purpose or not. He opened his eyes and looked into Sersi's beautiful face. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk, Gann Josin."

"Don't call me that."

Sersi reached out and placed a hand over his. "It's what we are, Dane. No matter what, our minds were bonded...a part of you will always be with me. I should never have forced that bond onto you, but what's done is done."

Dane sighed. "I don't really love you, Sersi. The woman I really love...I can't have. I'm sorry."

Sersi recoiled as if struck. "I see." Her face became a stony mask and she stood up quickly. "I'm sorry I debased myself by coming into your room. I should have realized that whatever I thought we had is long gone."

Dane raised a hand quickly. "Calm down! I'm not trying to hurt you..."

Sersi turned away. "It's too late, Dane. We've both been hurt too much already."

The Black Knight stood up, moving to stand behind her. Something in her words had touched him. She was right...they had both been hurt. "I..." He reached out a hand and placed it on the back of her neck. "...think that maybe we should just start over. Let's just see what happens if we try making a fresh start..."

Sersi looked over her shoulder and stared into Dane Whitman's eyes. She turned slowly and pressed her lips to his. "I love you, Dane."

Dane Whitman opened his mouth to protest, to point out that this wasn't what he meant by a fresh start but he fell silent as his tongue made electric contact with hers. He found his arms sliding about her and he pulled her close.

Two lonely people found themselves not quite so lonely for at least one night...

Author Notes

Thanks for reading this issue. I'm kicking off a three-parter entitled "Crisis in Ultraverse" that will hopefully be both epic and touching. I know a lot of people don't like the Dane/Sersi pairing, but stay with me. There are surprises a-plenty on the horizon.

You might also notice that this lineup isn't one that was ever featured in the pages of Ultraforce. Mantra and Nightman never joined in the real comics, but I always felt they deserved to be there and you can assume that they've signed on for the duration here out of necessity.

I have to apologize for not featuring Abby Rose and the Glade in this issue. I keep saying they'll show up but I can't seem to fit them in. Current plans are for # 7 to feature the first appearance of the Glade, a nightclub that will be featured in Crusaders : Shadows # 13-15, written by myself and guest-starring the Black Knight.

Let me know what you think of the storyline so far!

Barry Reese