MV1 #80 JANUARY Year 4

"The Order Changeth..."

What Has Gone Before: The Warriors defeated the Leader's plan to harness the well at the Temple of the Dragon's Breadth and decided to reform. Meanwhile, Ultra-Girl was kidnapped from her commercial shoot in L.A.

The heat isn't the only danger they face, however. Trans-Sabal has suffered numerous attacks and uprisings. Whether they be from outside, such as when the Pantheon attacked* (*see Incredible Hulk #390-392), or internal, such as the strife caused by the rebellion of Araq Mezdbadah* (*see New Warriors #29-30), it has never been a tranquil place. Even now, they are battered by the People's Armed Front, revealed as a puppet group of their Eastern neighbors, and they only fend them off by reluctantly accepting help from US interests. Oil is their most important resource, and thus has always been a target in these attacks. The roughnecks know that, and they work the rigs knowing that they could be attacked at any moment.

Fortunately for them, the oil they mine is very much in need in the western countries. Western countries which throw a lot of money and political support behind the organization known as SHIELD. SHIELD, the superspy agency that had provided the US Government with weaponry and armor to help defend Trans-Sabal.

Primary amongst these defenses were the ten foot tall golden battlesuits known as Mandroids. Each contained a native Trans-Sabalian, trained by US experts in how to use the suit, and although many had been destroyed in the Pantheon conflict and a few more in the Force of Nature conflict, there were still enough that a few patrolled each oil drilling area.

On this particular morning, as the sun began to rise over the desert, two Mandroids were patrolling the area. This spot was on the border, and was likely to suffer attacks. Thus standard military, a handful of tanks and a troop carrier full of armed elite guards, backed them up.

Marek el'Fasha looked at the radar scanner on his Mandroid HUD and spoke to his comrade, Jarod n'Ahna over the commlink. "Jarod, do you see something incoming?"

"Yes," Jarod responded. "Sensors identify it as using rotary wing propulsion, roughly matching the silhouette of an American C-130."

Marek radioed to the tank commanders and troops, letting them know they had a potential situation. It might be nothing, he realized. American flyovers in this part of Trans-Sabal were common, as the Westerners tested their luck, reminded Trans-Sabal that they were right next door if Trans-Sabal should try aggression on their neighbors or attempt to break the stranglehold the U.S. had on Trans-Sabal's dwindling oil supply. Sure, he couldn't imagine a helicopter that large, but maybe it was something new.

It was definitely something new. It had propellers on both front and rear, and was a silvery shaped craft. The center was almost hollow, holding a large number of troops suspended from the craft. The soldiers were dressed in the same black and red color scheme, with no identifying flags or insignia.

Four figures suddenly flew into view, each dressed in a shiny black jumpsuit with red armor pieces on their shoulders, arms and legs. Two were women, a tanned strawberry blond and a young oriental girl with dark hair. One was a man, and his jumpsuit appeared to be a suit of armor, with large circular gauntlets on the wrists and an oddly shaped, elaborate helmet with a red visor. The other...he didn't know what it was. It looked like a mass of black goo poured into one of the jumpsuits. The blond was flying down under her own power, carrying the oriental girl in her arms. The goo had extended one rubbery tentacle out that looped around the waist of the armored one, who was also flying under his own power.

"Metahumans," Marek said. "Jarod, I'm calling it in."

"Don't bother," Jarod answered. "Our radio transmissions are being jammed."

Dwayne looked around the table. There were six chairs, but only four people, including himself. Robbie Baldwin, looking extremely out of place in the tailored suit Dwayne had bought for him, looked around the small conference room as if he was desperately trying to avoid talking to anyone. Angelica Jones sat staring expectantly at Dwayne, clearly wanting to get this over with so she could get back to her life in Colorado. Silhouette gave him a little half-smile as he looked at her.

"I guess Nita's not coming," Dwayne said.

"What about Rich?" Robbie asked.

"I didn't really expect him," Dwayne responded. "Figured it couldn't hurt to have a chair just in case."

Dwayne looked around again. Once, these people had been friends, the closest friends he had. They had all felt the same way. When had they all become strangers again?

"So why are we meeting in a Taylor Foundation meeting room?" Robbie asked. "Why not just use the crash pad?*" (* The New Warriors' warehouse base of operations - As if you didn't know Randy)

"The crash pad's gone," Firestar said. "I was going to sleep there last night, and when I went down, there were people loading cargo into it."

"While I was...indisposed," Dwayne began, and Robbie flinched as he remembered where Dwayne had been, "the board sold off a lot of Taylor Foundation property that was used solely for Warriors business. They've always thought of that as a waste of resources and a potential public relations nightmare."

Silhouette leaned over to Firestar. "Angelica, why didn't you stay with your dad?"

"My dad and I aren't exactly on speaking terms right now," she replied.

"We're getting off-track here," Dwayne said. "I was hoping to get the founding Warriors, plus Silhouette, who was sort of a Warrior before we had a team, and figure out where to go from here. Since this is all we're going to get, I think we should get down to business."

"Dwayne, I can't be a part of the Warriors right now," Firestar said.

"Is it because we remind you of Vance?" Speedball asked. Firestar winced, and Silhouette looked over. Robbie wasn't usually that blunt.

"It's...sort of, yeah. I mean, there's still a lot of pain associated with the name New Warriors in my mind. But that's not really it. I'll admit it sort of felt good to be going into action with the team again, but I've got responsibilities in Colorado. I can't be part of a team in New York."

"Maybe I can help in that regard," Dwayne answered. "I've been thinking about a change of scenery, and the Taylor Foundation has offices in Denver*, what if we based the Warriors out of there? Would you be game then?" (*As seen in Night Thrasher: Four Control #1 - Bought all those mini-series Randy)

Firestar smiled slightly and nodded. Silhouette and Speedball smiled as well. The core of the New Warriors, it seemed, had been set.

The blond woman flung the other woman down toward the ground. The dark-haired girl landed and bounded right into the air, her body crackling with some kind of electricity as she landed on Jarod's suit.

She struck the faceplate of his armor, and he cried out inside the suit as the electricity arced through, burning out several of his systems. He glanced over to Marek, who wasn't faring any better. The goo had landed and transformed into a sandy man about eight feet tall. He extended his arm and shot out a burst of greenish liquid that landed on Marek's suit and began to sizzle and smoke as it ate its way inside.

Jarod was suddenly aware of the tanks firing, and he watched as one of the shells struck the blond girl in midair. It exploded, and when the smoke cleared, she was unharmed, flying angrily toward the tank. She landed and twisted the barrel of the tank gun into a pretzel knot.

The troops had disembarked from the carrier and were firing their Russian-made AK47s at several of the metahumans. The one with the "bio-electric" blast bounded away, moving faster than even Jarod's sensors could follow, flipping and jumping to keep away from the bullets. The "blond girl simply let the bullets bounce off her as she moved on to the next tank, and the bullets passed right through the one called Elementary, emerging with a few more grains of sand and bouncing off the weakening armor of Marek's suit.

A burst of powerful wind sent the troops sprawling, several of them cracking their heads against the transport behind them, as the other flying man in the armored suit aimed his gauntlets at them. The wind was clearly coming from his weaponry! Now Jarod recognized that suit! It was the Turbo armor, and it had belonged to a member of the American team known as the New Warriors!
 

Duc No Tranh, the former assassin known as Bengal, walked slowly into the chapel that sat right off of 29th and Madison. He scratched an itch on his bald head and tugged gently at the Ultra-GearTM sweatshirt he had bought. Melina, standing next to him in a simple denim skirt and white blouse, smiled at him. In their youth together in Cambodia, he had often told her about this priest, the man who had kicked him from a helicopter and into the ruins of his village. The man he had sworn revenge on. Even then, Melina had seen a softer soul inside the young temple guard, but she knew he would need the flames of his rage to burn out naturally before the embers of that soft soul could truly take on a life of their own.

Now, he was obviously nervous about seeing the man again. Duc had lived here with him for a year before heading home to his native Cambodia to truly say goodbye to the family he had lost. But in that time, the two men had become like father and son. The nervousness he felt was probably not fear, but excitement.

As they walked into the church, Melina looked all around. It had stained glass windows, and was fairly small. About ten rows of wooden pews decorated the church on either side, with a small pulpit at the front. Standing at the pulpit, writing and reading from his Bible, was a slightly blocky man dressed in black priest's robe, his brown hair receding from his head to form a widow's peak. His face had a kind of genial kindness, and with his somewhat chubby cheeks, he looked very cherubic.

"Father Janes!" Duc yelled, running up to the front.

"Duc?" Father Janes rushed down from the pulpit and hugged the boy. Melina nodded. This was good. She may not have agreed with the teachings of this man, but it was clear that seeing him had made Duc's heart gladder.

"Hello," Janes said, releasing Duc and walking over to Melina. "You must be Melina, Duc spoke of you often."

Melina responded, glad that she had thought to cast a translation spell before venturing out onto the streets of New York. "He spoke of you as well. I am very pleased to meet you."

"Your English is excellent," Janes said, surprised. Melina didn't tell him he was hearing a perfect magic translation, and she was in fact speaking Cambodian. "I didn't expect Duc to return here with you. I thought he was going to say goodbye to his family."

"Certain events...brought us together," Melina replied. No need to share the details, to talk about her discovery of the Leader and his machines at the Temple, or how she had fled when he had discovered her. No need to share the fear she had felt as the Hulk chased her, or the relief when she managed to find her old friend Duc, who had promised to always protect her.

Which he had, she realized. If he hadn't known about the New Warriors and helped her find them, the Hulk would most likely have killed them both, and the Leader's mad plan would have been completed.

"Well, come on, let's get you two some food, I'm starving myself. How long will you be staying in New York?"

"We don't know," Melina replied. "We are still considering our options."

In the sky over Virginia, two trails of light streaked across the blue and white tapestry. One was filled with stars, the other a burst of rainbow light. The former belonged to a man with blond hair, dressed in the familiar black and red garb of Captain Marvel. The latter was trailing a blond boy in his very late teens, dressed in a dark gray jumpsuit with a white streak down the middle, complemented by white gloves and boots and a black leather jacket.

Captain Marvel flew alongside Alex Power, and the two chatted in midair.

"So you're going to be part-time, huh?" Alex asked.

"Yes. My responsibilities extend beyond Earth, so I need to be available out there too." He jerked his thumb skyward to indicate space.

"Well, good luck."

There was silence as they continued flying, and then finally Genis spoke again.

"You're sure about this, Alex? You were one of the Warriors in the past, and I'm sure they would like to have you back on this new team."

Alex just stared ahead at the air, but he responded. "The Warriors probably didn't tell you this, but on the last mission we were on together, we had a bit of a disagreement. Have you ever heard of a Smartship?"

"Like the Kymelians use?"

Alex nodded. "I had one, named Friday. Actually, I guess you could say we had one. It belonged to me and my brother and sisters, and then the Warriors used it for a while. Anyway, on our last mission, a villain named Volx took it over, and the Warriors and I wound up having to nearly destroy Friday to stop her."

He paused, obviously reliving the painful memory. When he spoke again, it was in a frustrated half-yell. "We didn't even try to find another way. The Warriors were always like that, doing what was necessary to win the day, even if it meant sacrificing something."

"Isn't that what heroes do?"

"Yeah, I guess."

The two men flew in silence for a minute then, before Alex spoke again. "Maybe I'm not cut out to be a hero, if that's the case. Because I don't know if stopping the villain was worth almost killing my friend. And every time I'm with the Warriors, that's all I can think about."

"I understand," Genis said. "Good luck, Alex Power. Wherever destiny takes you."

"You too, Captain," Alex said. The two men split off into different flight patterns then, Alex breaking for Washington D.C. and Genis headed upward, to the stars.

The troops had landed, and were finishing their job by gunning down the defeated Trans-Sabalian elite guard. Two melted Mandroid suits sat stacked near the destroyed and useless tanks. Jolt and Ultra-Girl, the women in the black and red uniforms, stood stock-still and watched. A man in a sharp gray uniform that looked quite a bit like an SS uniform stood next to them. His uniform had gold piping along the arms and on the cuffs, and a red-trimmed collar and armband, bearing some kind of sword insignia. But what was most unusual about him was his face and hands. They were pure black, with only the hint of features, as if he was merely a being shaped from darkness.

He was speaking into what looked like a steno pad, only it actually had a video screen, the other side reflecting a massive, ugly bald humanoid with slitted yellow eyes and sharp teeth. "Our first incursion is successful, Admiral Protocol."

"Excellent, Obsidian. The new Soldiers of Misfortune performed well?"

"Very well, sir. Jolt took to the conditioning especially well, what with her recent brainwashing* (*see Avengers #423 and the upcoming MV1 Thunderbolts series)."

"Did you have her kill anyone?"

"No, sir. I thought it might be unwise to push the conditioning that far on first test. Same with Ultra-Girl and Elementary. But they performed very well in combat, using their abilities to their fullest extent. None of the dullness we usually get with the conditioning., and a 3% increase in reaction times over the last implants we used."

"Good. Wraith is in the capitol working his way toward King Dahn's palace to begin...negotiations. You and the soldiers are to begin moving in toward the capitol should he choose unwisely."

James Proudstar sat at the outdoor café drinking a glass of ice water. It was the same café he had been to many times in the past few weeks. He still remembered the last conversation he'd had with the members of X-Force.

"I need to get away," he had told them. "Theresa and me really aren't working, and I love you guys but it's getting painful to stick around. Maybe I'll hang up the tights and look at doing something else with my life, I don't know. But I'm going to head into Manhattan to see an old friend, and then stick around for a while. If you need to contact me, I'll be hanging around the Café Rousse."

Every day that it had been possible, he had come here. He knew why he was doing it, knew that no matter how much he told himself he just needed to be available in case of emergencies, he was hoping that Theresa would come and tell him how wrong she was. That they did need each other, that she wasn't nervous at all about being with him and loving him openly. He also knew that wasn't going to happen.

Proudstar was surprised to see a group of young people coming his way. He recognized two of them. Tabitha was the one with the short blond hair, dressed in tight jeans and a "Nine Inch Nails" shirt, and Shatterstar was the guy with curly red hair, a scar over one of his eyes, and looking very uncomfortable in a bulky NYU sweatshirt and sweatpants. The case he carried at his side probably held his swords. They were his former teammates, members of X-Force.

He didn't recognize the other girl, dressed all in black and looking a lot like the Crow's sister. He did recognize that she was carrying a green lobster on her shoulder. What worried him was that the green lobster seemed familiar as well.

"Jimmy!" Tabitha yelled, running over toward him. He stood up and caught her as she flew into his arms, and they hugged. There was something wrong, however. James could tell, and as they pulled away from the hug, he looked into her eyes. She looked...haunted. Something was bothering her.

Before he could ask, however, Shatterstar came over and gave a curt nod. "Warpath."

"Proudstar now," he replied. "How you doing, 'Star?"

Shatterstar didn't respond, instead waving over at the goth girl. "This is Serendipity. And Bill."

Bill! That was why James recognized him. Siryn had told him about her time with the Fallen Angels, and the lobsters Bill and Don. There had been a boy, named Gomi, who had created them, blended them with cybernetics. Where was Gomi, he wondered? More importantly, where was...

"Theresa couldn't make it," Serendipity said.

"You a telepath?" James asked.

"No, I have certain visions," she said, sitting down at his table. "But that's not why I said that. Theresa wanted us to tell you."

"Jeez, show some #*%^$! tact, will ya, Serendipity? They used to be an item."

"It's okay, Tab," James said. Tabitha and Shatterstar sat down as well, and Serendipity set Bill on the table. "If I'm being honest, I knew it was over when I left X-Force. I guess this is the new team?"

"Yeah, this is it," Tabitha said. "Had a bit of a run-in with everybody in Boston, and it kind of took off from there. Serendipity here is dragging us to Nebraska, you #*%^! believe that? Looking for Cable. We thought we'd stop by, see if you wanted to hook up. We could use you, you can see why don't have a big bruiser with us."

James smiled. "Sorry, Tab, I can't. I've kind of hooked up with the Warriors."

"Well, it's just a %*#^! reunion-fest with the young hero groups, isn't it? C'mon, Jimmy, you left because of Theresa, and she's not around anymore!"

"I know, but...well, that old friend of mine I came to see, she's joining up with the Warriors, and she lost somebody recently, and...well, I guess I think she could use my help more than you guys. Sorry."

Tabitha nodded. "S'cool. You're not sweet on this old friend, are you, Jimmy?"

He shook his head, a little too violently. "No! I'm sure she's not even ready for anyone else, anyway, but we're just friends."

Shatterstar stood up, as did Serendipity. Tabitha reached over and shook James' hand, and then put Bill on her shoulder as she stood and turned to go. She scribbed the number of Shatterstar's apartment in Boston on a napkin and handed it to him.

"Take care of yourself, Jimmy. We'll stop back by to see how you're doing, okay? Keep in touch!"

James smiled and watched them go. In a sense, it was like watching a phase of his life pass.

Wraith faded through the wall of the King's palace, avoiding yet another set of dim-witted bodyguards. No wonder Farnoq Dahn was assassinated. If he had used the same bodyguards his idiot cousin did, a three-year-old with a slingshot could have killed him.

There was one problem, a Mandroid standing in front of the double doors that led directly to Dahn's throne room. Wraith let himself slip back into a substantial form and aimed one of his wristguns at Mandroid. He mentally selected armor-piercing explosive rounds for his gun and then let the targeting sight lock on. The percentage chance of hitting came onto his visor heads up display. 87%. Hah. With an untrained marksman, maybe. But Wraith had been a sniper for Marine Force Recon, and had worked under much worse conditions than this.

He fired, and the powerful silencers prevented it from even making a sound. The bullet entered the faceplate of the Mandroid, drilling right in and then exploding outward. The Mandroid fell, a smoking hole in its yellow head, as Wraith burst out from the column he was hiding behind and ran at top speed, slowing only a little when he let himself turn insubstantial and pass through the double doors and into the throne room.

The room was adorned with massive marble columns, a bubbling bath large enough to house a dozen people, a bed big enough to house just as many and covered in purple and red silk and satin, and an enormous big-screen television that was showing "Armageddon."

Dahn himself sat in a golden throne, dressed in a blue suit with red shoulder epaulets and a sash. He was a large man, with dark skin and thinning black hair, a bushy mustache and small tuft of hair on his chin giving him a somewhat distinguished look. His surroundings and activities were less than distinguished, however. He was laughing uproariously at the movie while two stunningly beautiful women, obviously foreigners from their pale complexions, were pulling his pants off. Given the pillows beneath their knees, Wraith had no question what they were there for.

None of them had noticed Wraith, so he moved slowly up to the throne, finally coughing when he had gotten within six feet. Both of his wrist-mounted pistols were aimed directly at Dahn's head.

Wraith turned one of his pistols on the brunette and growled, "Don't scream."

He'd seen her about to do it. It was the way women like that were in a crisis situation. If she screamed, this would get bloody and out of control fast. When he stuck a gun in her face, though, she shut up fast.

"King Dahn, I am here to make you an offer. Right now, my associates are moving through your Mandroid forces, slowly eliminating them. We want you to get on the air and make a little announcement or we'll keep hitting the troops until you don't have any left."

"You don't scare me, American," Dahn muttered.

"I might not, but I know Mezdbadah does. Did I mention his rebels have gotten their hands on some Chinese-made power armor? And that we've been feeding the information about your defenses?"

Now Dahn looked nervous. To his credit, the steel in his eyes remained, but it was clear that he was in a more pliable mood now.

"Relax, Dahn. Just a little announcement to get our point across."

James Proudstar bumped into Duc and Melina as they all were walking into the Ambrose Building that evening. He grinned at them.

"So you guys are in too, huh?"

Melina answered him. "Duc has told me so many things about his time in America. I really want to experience it for myself."

They walked in, past the security guard and into the elevators, where they took a ride up the elevator. Once they got there, they found Firestar, Night Thrasher, Silhouette and Speedball staring at the television. Thrasher looked back and nodded at them, motioning for them to move over at the same time.

The TV was tuned to CNN, and Wolf Blitzer, he of the Gulf War, was standing on the desert sands of Trans-Sabal. In the background, there were fires.

"Once again, this land is burning. The last time this happened, the New Warriors and the Force of Nature intervened and just made it worse. This time, it was started with interference from another group, calling themselves the Undertow. CNN has decided not to show their video, as it might be offensive to many viewers, but suffice to say that this group refers to itself as ultra-conservative."

The scene changed to file footage, showing the Mandroids facing off with the Soldiers of Misfortune. "These troops, called the Soldiers of Misfortune, have been hitting the US-supplied Mandroid defenses of the country systematically ever since King Dahn was executed on camera by one of the troops calling himself Wraith. We've also heard reports of rebels using unidentified battle armor striking at Mandroids as well, and it seems likely that this will get worse before it gets better."

Night Thrasher turned back to the new arrivals.

"I wasn't with the team when we went into Trans-Sabal before. But I'll tell you this much. Those are our foes, and that mess is partly our fault. We're going in, and this time we're not leaving until we've set things right!"

Shawn Connolly
I have only one complaint. And that is...

I want issue 80! RIGHT NOW!!!

Keeping that in mind, let me just say that I /adored/ this issue of the New Warriors. It seems very in-sync with Fabe's run and used MV1 continuity to the hilt - and I certainly can't complain about that.

Captain marvel... well, I have my reservations. He /is/ real powerful. But... we'll see.

I loved the fact that you included the members of the long-forgotten Folding Circle... and I hope we see some of them again. Excellent job on their characterizations as well, I must say.

I don't suppose you'll bring Justice back from the dead?

No?

Damn.

Well, then keep up the good work anyways!

Heh. Sorry, man, Justice won't be coming back. Well, not as such. Heh, heh, heh. Stay tuned. Captain Marvel is a part-time member, think of him as the ultimate backup. And the Folding Circle will return, later if not sooner. Glad you liked the book! Shawn, by the way, writes the excellent X-Force series (and you saw that team in these very pages), not to mention taking over as interim writer of X-Men and writing a great new creator-controlled title called Protect & Serve over on Marvel Knights.

Matthew Wang
I just read New Warriors #79 and I have to say it was a good ride. Not as exciting and good as your last two issues, but definitely a nice conclusion to your first story arc.

The Leader!!! I should have known, who could have manipulated the Hulk so well?

The Folding Circle! I love those guys, but you did not have to bring back the Left Hand! I am a big fan of "If he dies he stays dead!". I understand your need to beef up the ranks of the Folding Circle, because they were outnumbered, but still please no resurrections. So what are you going to do with Midnight's Fire and Smiling Tiger, now? You killed everyone else!

Eleven New Warriors! Sounds like the same problem in Issue #51,w hen they thought they were going to have a spin-off title. I wonder if anyone has ever asked Fabian what they were going to call that? The Newer Warriors?

My guess at your new team is Night Thrasher, Silhouette, Proudstar, Bengal, Melina, Speedball, and Captain Marvel. I am also guessing that Ultragirl will probably join the group later down the line.

Thanks Matthew. One reminder here...the Left Hand didn't die...he was just sucked into the well, which closed. When the arc opened, the well's energies were flowing again. Something to think about...

They were going to call it Warriors, if I remember correctly, and have the younger team remain in the New Warriors book. As for the team...you've pretty much got it. But expect a latecoming surprise in a few issues, and an even bigger surprise shortly after the X-Force crossover.

If you're not on the MV1 Talk list for discussion of MV1 fanfic, you can join by going to http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/mv1talk. You have to register with onelist but it's a painless process that generates ZERO spam. Or, if you want to send me letters, you can send them to rwlander@snapjudgments.com.