Descent #5-6

On another plane: The two pale beings from previous issues continue to discuss Descent. The male thinks they need to tell Greg some of his background. “At least our side of the family,” he says. “He does not need to know of his father yet.” They discuss the plotting of another of their siblings, and decide that it is best that the female figure be the one to make contact. Both figures then disappear.

Calvin City College: Alan Penn, the hero known as Rush, is in his office grading some papers. His graduate student assistant, Tim, comes in and sits down, nervous about teaching Alan’s largest class—a lower level general history course—by himself. Alan responds by reassuring Tim that he knows the material better than anyone, and it a requirement that Tim teaches one session. “Look,” Alan says. “If I’m there you’ll use me as a crutch, so I won’t be there at the beginning. But you’ll be fine, and I’ll come in halfway and listen to your lecture.” Tim seems reassured and strides off confidently to the class, carrying a list of the class’s students. The name “Grigori Moore” is on the list.

Belle Reve Prison: Amanda Waller is watching some recent security footage of Digger in a prison cell after his recent transfer to Iron Heights. First, Digger is visited by Tim Drake, the Red Robin, whose father, Jack Drake, Harkness murdered. Tim tells him if he tries to escape, he'll be waiting for him. Later, after being beaten by guards, Digger is being seen to in the medical bay when he suddenly finds himself able to create boomerangs out of energy that explode on contact. While not understanding where this new power came from, Digger uses it to escape Iron Heights.

Waller decides to suppress the information of Boomerang’s escape for a while and not put an APB on Captain Boomerang yet. She's going to try to track him down with her own resources so she can get him back into her custody, and once he's there, she's going to pull every string she can to keep him property of the Suicide Squad. She calls Rick Flag into her office, and says she has a mission that requires some discretion.

Calvin City, Downtown: Descent is surprised to see his “friend” Digger Harkness, aka Captain Boomerang, in Calvin City. As a criminal serving on the Suicide Squad, Digger is kept on a very tight leash by Amanda Waller. “I’m, uh, undercover on a very special assignment,” Digger explains. “I guess on these last few missions, I’ve proven how much I can be trusted.

Descent is glad to hear that, and while they’re on the subject of  undercover work, Greg brings up a mission that a superhero who has been mentoring him (the obscure JLA member Gypsy, who is working with the slightly less obscure Vixen) has asked for help with. It involves Descent and others pretending to be fashion models during fashion week in New York City. Boomerang volunteers to go undercover with Descent as a sleazy designer, since the plan involves him drinking lots of alcohol, hanging out backstage at a fashion show where models are changing, and try to get invited to an afterparty full of models where a large quantity of illegal drugs is being kept. “Since I’m such a good friend I will help you out on this one,” Digger says. “But you are going to owe me a big favor…”

In fact, the big favor is the reason Digger has come to see Greg, but he doesn’t mention that yet. Greg asks Digger if this would interfere with his undercover work for Waller, but he says it’s a long-term assignment and he has time. Then Greg asks if Digger really thinks he has the acting chops to be able to pretend to be a terrible person like this imaginary sleazy designer. Digger replies that he should be able to make use of acting classes he took in school to pull it off. Descent says, “Thanks a lot, let me try and set it up.”

  
Days Later, Tien's Apartment, Chinatown, Calvin City: Tien Shi, the martial artist known as Red Phoenix, is getting ready for work in the morning. He is watching the morning TV news when it is interrupted by a special report. The government of Qurac is complaining of an attack on innocent civilians by the American government. There is footage of a group of 14 people dressed in all black and wearing masks entering an area with tents. Then it cuts to a scene with about a hundred corpses strewn on the ground. These people were off on a religious retreat in the desert. It was mostly women and children, and they were all stabbed or gunned down by what the Qurac government says was a special forces team gunning down innocent civilians. It goes back to the footage of the 14 people approaching the tents. Tien paying closer attention, then recognizes Descent by the way he carries himself and the combat stance he has taken. He calls Oracle and asks for her assistance in finding Descent. She replies that actually, she already knows where he is. He is on an undercover investigation with Vixen and Gypsy in New York City.

New York City: Rick Flag is near the park, looking for signs of Captain Boomerang, when he gets a message from Waller to watch the news. He looks in a nearby department store window and sees the broadcast. “We’ve been set-up,” he says.

Waller agrees. She says that he has a few more hours to look for Boomerang, and then she wants him on a plane to Qurac. Obviously, something bigger has come up.

Bryant Park, New York Fashion week: Greg is telling Gypsy that he’s glad to be here instead of in his class, as they stand backstage of the runway. History is his least favorite subject, he explains, not to mention he gets to keep all the new clothes and he’s getting better pay here than in his work for Waller. Gypsy replies that she’s anxious to get away from this modeling nonsense, saying that the former model Vixen may be used to this, but she’s definitely not. She doesn’t like this shallow world they’ve been forced to interact with, but at least it’s the last day, and this mysterious master of disguise Greg brought on-board says he has a lead on the after-party where the drugs will be. What Gypsy doesn’t realize is that the “master of disguise” is in fact Captain Boomerang in prosthetic make-up, who has convinced Greg to keep his identity secret to protect his “undercover” mission for Waller. Vixen comes backstage as well, more comfortable than the other two due to her modeling background, and asks where their “designer” is at the moment.

On the other side of the park, Boomerang is using his false identity as an Australian fashion designer to coerce two seventeen year old female models into allowing themselves to be sexually exploited by him in exchange for fictitious career assistance. Sometime later, Boomerang finds Greg and reports his progress. “I just had some rather vigorous, uh, questioning with a couple of models. They let me know where the party is. I talked with the guy throwing the party about how dumb my models are, and how they will do anything if I give them drugs, and we’ve all been invited over tonight.”

Later that night, they enter the party. Digger does a great job of carousing and keeping everybody's attention while Vixen, Gypsy, and Descent find the drugs, then call the feds in to bust the party. While glancing through some shipping receipts, Descent notices an unusually large amount of drugs are being shipped to Calvin City. But when he searches for his companions, he can’t find Captain Boomerang. Instead, he receives a message on his phone that something has gone wrong with his undercover mission, and that he had to leave in a hurry. Also, the message tells Descent to remember that he now owes Captain Boomerang a really big favor…

A secret location in Qurac: The team of fundamentalist Islamic super-terrorists known as the Onslaught (formerly the Jyhad) are discussing their recent losses to the Suicide Squad, and how they spliced together footage of their own murder of a large number of pilgrims with security camera recordings of the Squad’s attack in order to retaliate. Now many intelligence agencies are blaming the Squad for the murder of the pilgrims. In fact, agents of the Onslaught had set up the Squad’s attack on their own forces, motivating their main forces even more to do for the cause and creating a political problem for Amanda Waller. The only problem was the accidental death of their agent Asif the Mighty, who wasn’t supposed to be there. They refer to this Asif as one of their two “Chosen of Jibrail,” apparently the most powerful of their superhuman agents.

However, they also know that before her death, the agent known as the Desert Witch identified another “Chosen of Jibrail”: the Squad member known as Descent. They will find a way to force him to work for them, whether he wants to or not.
 Calvin City College: Alan Penn’s grad student is teaching class nervously when the demon Al-Aknor and the sorcerer Damien Moonblood appear in the classroom, looking for Descent. They magically lock the doors so no one can escape. Seeing their quarry is not present, they are enraged and begin to murder every living thing in the classroom.

Ten minutes later, Alan Penn is heading for class, feeling optimistic because one of his best TA's is giving a lecture today. When he opens the doors, he is overwhelmed by the stench. It looks like there are no survivors. Most of the bodies are not identifiable anymore. Someone has used skin and entrails to write out "You can't hide from me". There is also what appears to be the figure of a Martian spider that has been squished and is made of human remains. Alan calls his favorite student, Tish, because she was enrolled in the class and the bodies are not identifiable anymore. To his relief, she answers and says she was feeling sick. He tells her to stay home.

Later, Rush and the police are able to determine out of 143 students, only seven are absent. Two of them are Tish and Grigori Moore, but in all 136 students have been brutally murdered. Rush also uses his speed to make a copy of the security tape before the police take it. He is going to get the team together and take these guys down.

A pier just off of Christopher Street, New York: Vixen bids farewell to Descent and Gypsy after celebrating a job well done. Gypsy is extremely pleased, because not only did they get drugs off the streets, but they shut down an operation that was targeting runaways and using them as mules or forcing them into prostitution.

Greg observes that it’s nice actually feeling like one of his missions accomplished something good. This is not the case when working for the Squad. He goes on to explain the recent mission in Qurac and how they were ordered to kill the super powered terrorists. He says he didn’t want to kill people, but Waller had explained that if they did nothing, the Onslaught members could kill thousands of innocent people, so he went along with it. But except for the leader, they all looked like young teenagers, though their intelligence briefing made it seem like they were experienced terrorists. Greg says he did not do any actual killing, but he still felt dirty just for being there. He also mentions that he seemed to come close to learning something about his background, before the two terrorists who seemed to have some information were killed. But he is even more haunted by having seen a 16 year old girl die before his eyes. Gypsy responds by asking why Greg continues to work with these murderers.

Greg says, “It is the first place where I have felt like I belonged. I was an orphan and bounced around in foster-care all my life, but now I feel like I have made some good friends. There are finally some people I don’t have to watch my back around. They also protected me from all the people trying to kill me like the wizard and his demon. I would never have understood any of my powers without them. They seem to think my powers are from a magical background. Maybe my dad was a Canadian Captain Marvel. They are my only way of finding my background, understanding my powers, and staying alive.”

Gypsy says she understands, but tries to remind Greg he has other friends besides the Suicide Squad. But as she speaks, Greg's phone rings. Almost immediately, he says, “I don't know who you are lady, but whoever you are, I’m not doing what you say. I report to people far more important then you and they will see to it that you leave me alone.”

On the other end of the line, Oracle smiles, bemused. As formidable as Amanda Waller is, Oracle knows that even the former White Queen of Checkmate isn’t in her league when it comes to influence. But instead pointing that out, Oracle merely states that she knows Gypsy can vouch for her, and also knows Gypsy is standing only a few feet away from Descent.

Gypsy laughs when asked, shaking her head as she informs Greg that he’s worked for Oracle already—she is the one who put together the mission in Malta where he and Gypsy met. Greg agrees to meet Oracle’s representative that night.

Midnight, the platform surrounding the Statue of Liberty’s torch: Descent lands and, believing he is still alone, he takes in the view of the city. A voice from behind him says, “We have to talk.” He recognizes the voice as Tien Shi, who he also met on the operation in Malta. Now known as Red Phoenix, Tien explains that after the attack on the museum he had intended to ask Descent to join a team he’s putting together with Oracle’s support, but then he saw the TV footage of Descent in Qurac, followed by the video of hundreds of dead civilians.

Descent responds that the only people killed on his mission were seven super-powered terrorists, but he himself has not killed anyone. He then says Bronze Tiger can vouch for his innocence as well. Further, Descent offers the information he recently uncovered about increased drug traffic into Calvin City, and about a major shipment specifically intended for the Sazia crime family. Red Phoenix decides this is enough and offers Greg a place on his team. Greg remembers what he said to Gypsy, about actually getting to do some good, and readily accepts the invitation, but warns Tien that Damien and Al-Aknor will probably come looking for him again, and that Martian Manhunter has also passed on some disturbing impressions that might mean they should all keep an eye on Hezikiah Dare.

Thanking Greg for the info, Tien also offers that he considers Greg’s new outfit a vast improvement over the ski mask and black jumpsuit he was sporting before. But before Greg can reply, Tien is running down the statue of liberty and over the water into Manhatten.

The Hudson Hotel, New York: Descent just gets back to his hotel room when everything goes black around him. He pulls out his sword and adopts a combat stance. But all he hears is a voice that says, “You are one of the Chosen of Jibrail. Your comrades killed Asif the Great, a warrior of the Chosen who fought for our case, and now we require your service in recompense. You have 48 hours to set your affairs in order and board a plane or there will be consequences.”

When everything goes back to normal and there is a plane ticket lying on the ground next to Greg: a one-way ticket to Qurac.

FIRST ISSUE: DC Universe Team-Up #1

CALVIN CITY: Five men in dark coats and hats step out of the Housatonic River and onto the shore, not far from the Calvin Historical Society Museum. They and their clothes are bone dry, as if they had never been in the water at all. Seeing the museum building, they begin to walk towards it, very slowly. The men have no faces.

THE DREAMING: An otherworldly woman in a grey chiton, looking like a Greek statue, appears in the dreams of Alex Kostas, the hero known as the Olympian. Her name was once Echo, and she shows Alex her story, a story that has been woven into the tales of many others since she vanished from the world, but which belonged to her.

The truth of Echo’s story is this: She was a dryad, a spirit of the woods, who had sworn chastity and service to the goddess Athena. Her beauty drew the unwanted attention of Apollo, and in his ardor the amorous god pursued her night and day, until her life became a nightmare, an endless race to escape his power. Echo prayed so intensely to Athena for release that the goddess swore to save her, though she knew that even if Echo passed into the realm of death Apollo would pursue her. Athena was a young goddess then, still testing the boundaries of her power and her domain within the world, and she invented a means of saving Echo, but one that required the aid of Morpheus, the god of dreams and stories. Though Morpheus was highly unwilling, Athena used means as ancient as they were unnatural to compel him to do as she bid—an action that would later cost her dearly—and Morpheus gave Echo permanent release.

He destroyed the very idea of Echo. Not only did he remove her from existence, but he blotted her from the world as if she had never existed at all. But Athena and Morpheus remembered what they had done. What little of Echo existed—a few snippets of her voice in the distance, the faint impression her beauty had left upon a river she’d gazed into—they took what and placed into a statue, carved of Athena’s memory of the dryad’s final supplicating prayer. The hole in the world where there had once been Echo was sewn shut by Athena and Morpheus with immortal skill, and other than her name—which the Greeks gave to the disembodied voice that cries back from emptiness—it was as if there had never been an Echo at all.

Until now. Now, the shadow of Echo that remains in a hidden corner of the Dreaming—where the Lord of Stories hides his own unhappy memory of what was done in Athena’s service—has sensed someone tugging at Athena’s stitches upon the fabric of the world. A mortal magus, a man of great power, is investigating the fate of the woman who never was, and perhaps to drag her—kicking and screaming—back into the world. Prescient in her immortal non-existence, Echo knows that the visit of a modern Oracle to her statue is the sign that heralds the magus as he comes for her.

Painting her story across Alex’s dreams, she reveals that in the 21st century, her statue stands in the Calvin City Historical Society Museum. As a hero in the mode of the ancient world, tied to the Olympians  and Athena’s father Zeus, Alex Kostas is her only hope, and she begs him for aid. Alex swears to help her before he returns to the waking world.

As she-who-was-Echo begins to fade, she thanks Morpheus’s successor, the new Dream King, for helping her to contact Alex. But he will not accept her thanks, saying he is only compelled by the ancient knot tied by Pallas Athena. He finds the erasure of the very idea of a living being an unconscionable crime, one he is ashamed to have any connection to.

ALEX KOSTAS’S APARTMENT, CALVIN CITY: All at once, Alex awakens from his late afternoon nap and springs to his feet. Mere seconds later, he is in a cab.

“Calvin City Historical Society Museum, please,” he tells the driver. “And I’m in a hurry.”

THE CALVIN CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM: Tien Shi, secret martial arts adventurer and newly hired head of the Museum’s Asian History wing, is told that someone is looking for him, a woman in a wheelchair. He heads out to the Greek wing where he meets Oracle, in person as Barbara Gordon, for the first time, in front an exhibit on Delphi. She explains that she has a program which tracks mentions of superhuman crime in the media, and that in just the last few weeks the number of mentions connected to Calvin City and Ivy Town has risen sharply, to be comparable with Gotham City or Metropolis. Knowing that Tien Shi has settled in the city, she is asking him to put a team together from the various superhuman heroes in the city, who are currently working separately. She says she can make some resources available to him and his teammates if things work out. Tien Shi is a little concerned that Oracle may have brought unwanted attention with her unannounced visit, but he agrees.

Suddenly, Alan Penn—the hero known as Rush—enters the room. A history teacher in his civilian identity, Alan has one of his classes here on a field trap, and as he passed by the Greek wing he recognized Tien Shi from their earlier team up, and so he has left the class under the leadership of his graduate assistant, Tim. Introducing himself to Tien Shi and Oracle, Rush reveals his own superheroic identity, becoming the first recruit for Tien Shi’s team.

IVY UNIVERSITY: Across the Housatonic River from Calvin City, the Witch-Boys Hezikiah Dare and Klarion Bleak creep across the campus with their familiars. Klarion says he has unfinished business in an alternate future that could profit them both, and so Hezikiah has agreed to use his powers to interfere with some time distortion experiments on the campus to create a portal that will send Klarion forward in time.

Also on campus are Descent and the Cybernaut. Both have heard through various covert channels that today the Killer Croc is going to be transferred into a secure holding facility on the campus. This is being kept secret to prevent a public outcry, but Killer Croc is to become a part of the experiments of the controversial research psychologist Dr. John Kingfisher, who seeks to cure the criminally insane through a new and more human form of radical therapy than has previously been tried. Descent is here on orders from Amanda Waller, who still hopes to take possession of Killer Croc for the Suicide Squad. The Cybernaut is here to prevent Amanda Waller from getting her hands on the cannibalistic, dangerous metahuman.

As the two watch, a SWAT Team van pulls up and two dozen armed police officers get out to secure the route across campus they’re using to transport Croc. But as they do so, the Cybernaut notices black clad figures crouching on the rooftops of nearby buildings, and recognizes them as ninjas working for the League of Assassins…

THE CALVIN CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM: As Oracle prepares to leave, Alex Kostas arrives at the museum and sneaks into the restroom to transform into his superheroic identity as the Olympian. He encounters Rush, who recognizes him, and then tells Rush, Tien Shi, and Oracle that someone is coming to attack the statue of Echo in the Greek wing. Oracle now determines this is an even better team to leave the scene, but before she leaves, she informs the Olympian that there is already a hero with that name, a former member of the International Ultramarines who also happens to be the disgraced national hero of Greece.

The Olympian has little time to take this information in, however, as within moments of Oracle’s departure, the Greek wing is invaded by five faceless men in coats and hats.

IVY UNIVERSITY: It’s all out battle between Descent, the Cybernaut, and the ninjas, with the surprised SWAT team members scrambling to survive. The Cybernaut fins himself fighting the assassins almost single-handedly, as Descent seeks to defeat a single ninja by stealth and capture him to be interrogated by Amanda Waller.

Hezikiah sends his familiar, an unnatural looking Martian spider, to harry the ninjas as well, but he and Klarion take advantage of the confusion to sneak into the museum’s physic lab, where the time experiment is reaching a crucial point.

THE CALVIN CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM: As Rush transforms into his superheroic identity (which takes about a picosecond), the faceless men are revealed to be unloving constructs made of supernatural candle-wax. As the three heroes battle the constructs, each of the Candle Men ignites in flame, revealing a candle-wick in each of their heads. But eventually, the Candle Men are defeated and extinguished, leaving five molten lumps of wax standing in a circle on the opposite side of the room from the Echo statue.

IVY UNIVERSITY: Descent knocks a ninja out, Hezikiah’s spider paralyzes one with poison, and the Cybernaut fights off the rest. Killer Croc’s transport has already fled the scene as the SWAT team aborted the transfer, so the ninja’s mission is already a failure, and they disappear amid smoke grenades and hurled shuriken. However, they also fail to kill their captured comrades and prevent them from being interrogated.

Descent grabs his captured ninja and quickly flies high up into the air above the city to avoid attention.

BENEATH IVY UNIVERSITY, IN A HIDDEN PHYSICS LABORATORY: As the physicists distort the time field, Hezikiah uses his vibration control to drastically alter the experiments effect. Suddenly, a portal to the future opens, and Klarion shouts “Forward! To conquest and the world’s end!” as he leaps through it. But the portal soon destabilizes, and explodes with a sudden dispersal of blue energy waves. All the power in the both Ivy Town and Calvin City goes out.

In the blacked out lab, a figure appears—Lex Luthor! He is clad in a glowing orange energy replica of his warsuit, he wears a an orange ring, and his bald head is ringed with bizarre diodes. Luthor’s voice is stangely mechanical as it speaks: “Analyzing data… atmospheric pollution levels dramatically decreased—orange light power is decreased by half, indicating another wielder of the orange light is present on the planet—primitive transmissions detected. Conclusion: I have been transported through time, back to the year 2010.” With that, Luthor blasts his way up out of the lab and back to the surface.

IVY UNIVERSITY CAMPUS: On the surface, he flies into the air and sends a loud a powerful signal that nearly deafens the super-senses of both Hezikiah and the Cybernaut.

At that instant, high above the city, Descent sees a giant spacecraft appear familiar from new coverage of the recent attack on Metropolis: the ship belonging to the extraterrestrial conqueror known as Brainiac.

THE CALVIN CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM: The blue waves of energy from the disrupted time experiment in Ivy Town pass through the museum… but when they hit the statue of Echo, they bounce back the opposite direction and there is a blinding flash of flight.

Suddenly, aged, darkened versions of Green Arrow, Black Canary, Connor Hawke and (if one looks carefully) the ultra-tiny new Atom (Ryan Choi) appear. This strange Black Canary immediately points at Tien Shi and shouts “You! Lord High Assassin of the Morningstar! I’ll make you pay for your betrayal!”

IVY UNIVERSITY CAMPUS: Surveying the scene, the being that appears to be Lex Luthor sees the SWAT members as well as Cybernaut. “Hello, local law officers. I require your assistance. I will broadcast my needs electronically, so that other agencies may comply.”

At that moment, a voice transmission goes out over several different local radio and television frequencies. “This is the Brainiac-Luthor Team, a superior life-form and Primary Programming Officiant for the Tyrant Sun Hegemony. I am in your timeline seeking five wanted fugitives from the Justice League Underground. Hand them over to me at once or I will proceed at once with the removal of this urban area to my ship for further examination.”

Far above the city, Brainiac’s ship extends its tentacles…

Red Phoenix #5

After the destructive attack on the Calvin City Historical Society Museum (as portrayed in DC Universe Team-Up #1), Tien Shi elects to help guard his ruined workplace against looters. In order to protect his new “secret identity," he has donned a simple costume and resolves to continue operating under the name Red Phoenix, a nickname the O-Sensei had given him.

The museum contains relics from the city’s superheroic history including items once possessed by the Crime Champions, a group of villains fought by Al Pratt and the JSA after Al had come out of retirement to become The Atom once again. The museum has an early version of the Flying Sundial, a conveyance used by the time-traveling villain Chronos. Red Phoenix wanders through this part of the museum reading about the bizarre details of decades of superhero history.

Small time hoods under orders from the Sazias infiltrate the museum looking for valuable artifacts. After a short fight, they flee from Red Phoenix and try to make their escape aboard the Flying Sundial which is not as decommissioned as everyone thought. The hoods trigger a time-traveling escape device left behind by Chronos, that fractures surrounding spacetime.

Red Phoenix falls as he finds himself in the distant past, when the ground level was different. Something stirs in the dark woods around him.

Aegis: Son of Olympus #1

Following on the heels of his hit 6-issue mini-series, the character once known as the Olympian is back with a new ongoing series and a new identity: Aegis, Son of Olympus!

The issue opens with Aegis in his civilian identity as Alex Kostas, as he and his girlfriend Rebecca Glass move boxes into his new place.  Instead of being too close to Ivy University, or being mired in the hustle and bustle of Calvin City, he's opted for the seclusion of a private home nestled on the shore of a forested lake on the outskirts of both cities.  Of course, since this is an expansive 6 bedroom home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright-- similar to the famous house "Falling Water"-- it wasn't cheap.  But that's not a problem for one gifted with wealth by the Olympian god Pluto.

Meanwhile, a 9-1-1 call received with the Ivy University Police Department from a frantic lab assistant has the Atomic Skull charging through the administration offices.  Needless to say, the Action News helicopter is soon overhead covering the event live as breaking news.  With a text alert on his cellphone, Alex is quickly in the air to confront the metahuman menace.  The fight is relatively brief as the Skull didn't know what hit him at Mach 1.  And Aegis is left feeling that something doesn't seem quite right...

EPILOGUE: Through a second story window in the nearby Theoretical Physics offices, Angle Man is seen to be raiding a file cabinet, finding what he was looking for, and disappearing into thin air...

Rush #4

Story Title: “A Little of the Old Ultra-Violence”

A worried group of hoods meets in a warehouse to discuss their options: either band together or get taken out by the Sazia family. They reach an agreement and are ready to make their plans when one is taken out by an energy bolt; another is nearly decapitated by a speeding clothsline; still another is seized with an overwhelming desire to claw his own eyes out. The group of young superhumans known as the Brood sweep through the remaining criminals, making short work of them, with the exception of one who simply falls over dead; the young metahuman is shot in the head by an unseen sniper in a dark corner. As the Brood revels in their victory, Angela Moorhead steps out of the dark corner. “Good, much improved. Speed and savagery will make them fear you. However one of you got sloppy,” she says, pointing out their dead comrade. “Take the body. We leave no one behind, and we watch each other’s backs.”

At least until the drug finishes burning you all out, she thinks.

Meanwhile, Tish Montague goes to the office Alan works out of in his messenger job, wondering what happened to him at the museum. When she finds him, she asks to follow him on his rounds. He warns her he moves pretty fast, but she says she can keep up. Alan is torn between wanting to use his time hunting for the Brood and his growing attraction to Tish.

Using information gleaned from his forays into the dark side of the city, Alan arranges for several packages to be delivered to known criminal fronts, and uses his own super speed to ensure that he is the one making those deliveries. He gets a good look at the inside of many of the buildings, although some of the security in the building wonders about the young woman with the camera phone that seems to show up outside many of their offices. As a messenger, Alan is almost invisible in the bustle of downtown—an artist-type like Tish sticks out a great deal more. One of the security men decides to check up on the mysterious girl.

The pair takes lunch in a diner when a police officer comes in. It is Tish’s father, Sgt. Frank Montague, who she called to meet her new friend. He is suitably intimidating to the young man as the three sit down to eat. As the issue closes, the Sazia torpedo calls his boss. “Sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but we may have a problem that will require a permanent solution.”

The Cybernaut #4

Story Title: "Trail of Blood"

Days after the events in Cybernaut #1, Chet Edwards recieves a message from his new contact in the mysterious Black Box vigilante spy ring. The Cybernaut has caused quite a stir with his recent dust-up and is advised to stay low, but remain in the area. He is directed to meet a shadowy operative from the Black Box vigilante intel network who have arranged for Chet to join a special fellowship studying astronomy (and secretly UFOs) at Ivy University. This group is a clandestine Black Box "cell"-- and ostensibly, they're good-guys.

Chet goes to the meeting in disguise. They meet near the University, give code phrases to confirm IDs, and then exchange bits of information, Chet's intuition tells him that something is wrong and he notices the contact has minute traces of blood on him that only his supersenses could detect. Chet realizes that this is not the man whom he was directed to meet, but the imposter realizes just as quickly that the jig is up.

A running gun fight ensues, culminating in the imposter hitting a detonator which, he reveals, has started a countdown on a bomb somewhere on Ivy University's campus. Cybernaut is able to track the bomb's location with his machine senses and uses his bionic speed and technical savvy to disarm it. The imposter manages to escape. The police determine an Ivy University professor (the real contact) is missing. Chet is left to ponder who infiltrated his network and how/why this was done. He has reason to suspect the imposter to have been the martial arst assassin Alpha, operating for one of the League of Assassins factions. He remains in Ivy Town to investigate further.

Hezikiah the Witch-Boy #4

Not long after his confrontation with Gilles de Rais, Hezikiah is approached by a dubious man while looking over occult texts at the university in Ivy Town. The man tells him that he is a part of a secretive occult organization known as "The Owls." They have been watching Gilles de Rais and know about Hezikiah’s battle with him. They offer to share information on de Rais, in exchange for Hezikiah’s help.
Hezikiah agrees, and he is soon sent to the central library of the University of Buenos Ayres to steal the original copy of the Malleus Maleficarum, a book written in the 15th century by an inquisitor of the Catholic Church which purported to expose the realities and dangers of witchcraft. It was actually an attempt to draw attention away from a sect of male practitioners of magic, by convincing people that men rarely had involvement in magic, and therefore women should be of more concern. The original copy was actually a powerful instrument of dark magic in the guise of anti-witchcraft literature.

Hezikiah joins a young female agent of the Owls named Jordan Black to replace the book with a fake version, due to suspicion that de Rais has recently learned of its nature and plans to steal it himself. Hezikiah and Jordan manage to steal the book, but before leaving the city, they are attacked by a powerful figure wielding fiery magic. When asked who this man is, Jordan only responds,”The forsaken, bastard son of a demon.” The fight is challenging, but Hezikiah channels magic through the book and is able to subdue the demonic man and deliver the book to the Owls.

Descent #4

After finishing a mission with his new team, Descent grabs an incapacitated ninja and flies to report in to Amanda Waller. After listening patiently, Waller says "Work with these people, but remember which team is your priority. Also keep on eye on the Cybernaut. If he seems to be about to do anything to compromise us then report to me and we will see that he is 'discouraged.' He didn't have the stomach to do what was necessary in the service of his country, but hopefully he won't bother the ones that do."

Descent goes to his quarters in Belle Reve and finds a package containing what appears to be a superhero costume. It fits perfectly, and even seems to change itself slightly as he is wearing it. There is no note attached, but for some reason he feels like he has worn it before and it feels safe. He decides this will be his costume when he is active as a hero, but when he is with the Squad he will stay with the all black outfit to try and keep them separate. Then he gets the call from Bronze Tiger to suit up, as they have a new mission in Qurac.

Rick Flag starts the briefing, telling the group about a new group of super powered terrorists has been assembled and they are going to go in and take them out before they are fully trained. "This is a kill mission," he says. "We are to leave no survivors. We are sending a strong anti-terrorism message. Besides, we were never there..." Greg feels better when he finds out he will be paired with Captain Boomerang, feeling he is one of the few people on the team that would have his back.

They go in late at night, teleported by Nightshade, and hit them quick and hard. Bronze Tiger and Plastique team up to battle the most powerful of the terrorists, the one known as Asif the Mighty. Near the end of the battle, Greg parries an attack from a supernatural terrorist known as the Desert Witch, and they find themselves staring at each other across locked swords. She begins to use a power she possesses, allowing her to  understand her opponent and find their weakness. Then her eyes widen in fear. She says, "You are like Asif, you are..."

Suddenly, blood dribbles down the woman's mouth as she dies from three boomerangs in the back. "Way to keep her distracted for me," the captain says.

Greg starts to look around for the one named Asif, but just as he finds this mysterious opponent, Bronze Tiger has paralyzed him, and Plastique blows his head off. Then they all hear Flagg scream, "Get our dead and wounded together. Nightshade, we're ready, evac now!"

Within moments, Nightshade teleports them back to Belle Reve. But as they are debriefing, all Greg can think of is how close he came to finally getting some answers about his mysterious origins.

EPILOGUE: Damien Moonblood is relaxing, his gaze focused on a T.V. screen in a bar in Los Angeles. Subsequent panels reveal that the bar is littered with fresh corpses. But as he enjoys his drink, Damien suddenly sees something on the screen that irritates him. He sends a mental message to Al-Aknor: "Did you see who is alive?"

"Yes," Al-Aknor replies. His voice is loud in Damien's head. The rituals to return Al-Aknor to his full power have just been completed that day. "Greg Moore."

"The annoying little blue kid with the strange sorcery appears to still be allied with him as well," Damien says. "And Moore's gone public now, as a 'superhero.' How many times do I have to kill that one?"

"Just once, though it appears that may be harder than it seemed before. But once he is dead, we can begin the next step."

"The End of the World," Damien replies. "I'll drink to that..."

The Olympian: Children of the Gods (Limited Series) #6

THE BELGIAN COUNTRYSIDE - THE SECRET INSTALLATION KNOWN AS "THE DOME"
Outnumbered by Phobos and his duplicates, things look bad for our heroes-- the Olympian, the Cybernaut, and the Knight-- in the final issue of this limited series. They are surrounded by more than twenty exact copies of the god of fear. Knight turns to Olympian and asks, “shall I?” to which he replies “Yeah, I think now’s good.” After pressing a button on his utility belt, several heroes teleport into the room from God knows where-- Man-of-Bats, El Gaucho, and the new Dark Ranger (members with Knight in the Club of Heroes), along with Vixen, the Irish hero Jack-O-Lantern and a Greek hero dressed not unlike Alexander Kostas himself (these last three were some of the Knight's old comrades in the Ultramarine Corps). The Knight calls out "You didn't expect this? An international military child-snatching operation, did you honestly think more heroes wouldn't come for you? DID YOU, YOU BASTARDS?"

A grand melee ensues while the Olympian and the Cybernaut duck out. As they leave, they hear Jack O'Lantern taunting "What's all this now? Two dozen Greek gods, seven of us-- Finally, FINALLY, Cyril, ye've called me in for a fair fight!

While Cybernaut looks for where RED SKY is keeping the kids, Olympian seeks the real Phobos, believing he’s found him when he encounters Ixion and Euryale guarding an armored door. A fight breaks out between the three of them, but Olympian shows that he can learn from defeats and pyrrhic victories, showing the cunning of Heracles in battle-- wrestling Ixion first, and then aiming his flame blasts at Euryale.

After defeating the pair, he breaks down the door to find the Dome’s control room with the Col. Adam Armstrong and his staff drawing arms against the son of Zeus, guarding what looks like meditating Phobos on the floor behind them. Alex tries to reason with them, saying that the creature they’re protecting is manipulating them to feed on their fears. He says that children no matter what their parentage, short of a demon, are nothing to fear because they’re still innocent. And if they don’t believe him, they should believe that their pistols and assault rifles will only ruin the décor here, because they wouldn’t leave a single scratch on his.

With that, the RED SKY agents lower their weapons and Phobos opens his eyes (on another panel, all of his duplicates disappear, to Jack-O-Lantern's clear disappointment). Whispering “no”, Phobos stands up and screams “NO!!” again, and lashes out with a blast of force that wrecks most of the equipment and sends everyone flying across the room while rending a giant hole in the floor of the control room.

Phobos begins to run through the exposed tunnel with superhuman speed when, to his great surprise, he finds himself running into a Boom Tube... which closes behind him, as he frustrates the Olympian by disappearing right before his eyes.

Afterwards, the assembly of heroes are gathering on the front lawn of the Dome watching Checkmate agents escort the RED SKY leadership (including Col. Armstrong, though his niece is mysteriously absent) and their shooters aboard transport choppers in chains. It’s discovered that Phobos’ minions have disappeared as well. Cybernaut reveals that all of the children except a few from South and Central America have been recovered and that he’ll participate in the interrogation to find where they’ve been taken. With that Olympian states that he hopes to get the chance to work with all of the other heroes again (“especially you Cybernaut”), and takes to the air to head home…

As he flies away, the Knight turns to his former comrade in the Ultramarines-- Aristides Demetrios, the national hero of Greece-- and says, "What do you think? Should we tell him his name's already taken?"

"Nah," says the original Olympian. "Sooner or later he'll figure it out. In the meantime, in all honesty? I could use the good press."

EPILOGUE 1 – Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean
As Olympian flies home, he’s joined in the air by Lord Hermes. The messenger of the gods delivers his father’s gratitude into looking into the missing children, to which Alex responds he was glad to help. He asks Hermes how many of the dozen were his siblings, to which Hermes simply smiles and asks in return, “What do you think?” Alex shakes his head, and Hermes leaves him with a final thought: "Not all of them, though. Some were the children of someone far worse... someone even Zeus is afraid of..." But before Alex can say anything else, the god of speed just flies back into the clouds, disappearing from Alex’s sight.

EPILOGUE 2 - On the other side of the Boom Tube, Phobos finds himself someplace dark, looking at Katarina Armstrong, who wears a giant glove glowing with power and surrounded by Kirby dots. "You're lucky I pulled you out of there, Phobos," she says. "I suspect there were far more heroes there than you could handle."
Phobos doesn't like surprises. "You knew I was manipulating your uncle?"
"I have something that keeps my mind from being controlled by bastards like you," she says. "I was ready to free my uncle at any time, but I knew he'd want me to see what your game was first. Unfortunately, it ruined a good operation."
"I don't know what your game is, mortal," Phobos answers. "But you cannot keep me here, and you cannot harm me. In fact, why shouldn't I destroy you now?"
"Because A) That wouldn't be as easy as you think it would, B) I know how to help get the better of the 'mortal' you've somehow found yourself working for, and C) I can help you get revenge on the person ultimately responsible for disrupting your scheme here."
"The son of Zeus?" Phobos asks with a scowl. But already, he has decided this mortal is interesting enough-- and useful enough-- not to destroy after all.
Katarina laughs. "Zeus isn't the one at the other end of this chessboard, I'm afraid. Tell me, Lord Phobos... Have you ever heard of Amanda Waller?"

EPILOGUE 2 – Belle Reve Penitentiary
The last speech balloon of the previous EPILOGUE hangs over this panel as Amanda Waller walks down a hallway, holding a file folder, with Count Vertigo walking behind her. Col. Adam Armstrong sits handcuffed to a table, in an orange prison jumpsuit. Waller walks in to sit opposite him, with her superhuman aide in a corner of the room watching.
"Well, Colonel," she asks, “What the hell happened in Belgium? Your last status report stated everything was running clean?”
Armstrong looks up. “Yes ma’am, it was… until Phobos showed. I thought that we could keep him out of our heads, but he was too strong for our esper defense. I take full responsibility.”
Waller looks down at the file, “Losing the Dome was bad, but we can rebuild its capabilities here in the States I’m sure. What I need to know is if you can get your head in the game again and keep RED SKY out of the Washington Post?”
“Yes ma’am I know I can do that,” he states plainly.

The two old soldiers stare each other down for a moment, to the point where Count Vertigo becomes really uncomfortable in the room. Eventually, Waller breaks first saying, “Good. Then I want you to reassemble RED SKY. Your new mission is to locate, and develop a means of eliminating the threat known as Phobos. You have license to kill a god, Colonel, provided you can find a way to do it.”
Waller turns to leave, then remembers one more question she wanted to ask, "Oh, and Colonel? You didn't by any chance involve that niece of yours in this operation at all, did you?"
"No," the old spy says, lying expertly. "I'm afraid I haven't seen my niece in a long time."

EPILOGUE 4 – KOBRA facility, location unknown
Jason Burr looks down on Phobos from his snake-styled throne, a position that he knows the son of Ares to be quite uncomfortable with.
“You promised me an army of demigods Phobos, so I’m sure that you can understand my… disappointment.”
“Of course my… lord,” Phobos says, struggling the words out. He's just arrived from meeting with one mortal who dared to look him in the eye, and now this one dares to sit above him and flaunt his current advantage. “Unfortunately the combined might of so many superheroes couldn’t be forseen… unless…”
Lord Kobra interrupts, “Unless what, godling?”

It takes all of Phobos's willpower not to lash out at this doomsayer, but then he remembers his arrangement with the woman Katarina Armstrong. And he knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he will make Lord Kobra kneel before him one day. Instead, speaking through gritted teeth, he points out, “If I had these 3 children I’ve given you, I would have known they… were… coming! But if you doubt their oracular power, the power that you now possess Lord Kobra, then look at them now!”

Across the dimly-lit cave floor where they stand are three children giggling and playing with toys. Behind them is a chalkboard where among the doodles, in a child’s scrawling reads, “1+1=2." “Pi - Infinity = Anti-Life." and "Anti-Life + 7P(4mQ)5s/666= KALI YUGA”…

The Cybernaut #3

AN ABANDONED TRAIN STATION, BETWEEN CALVIN CITY AND IVY TOWN
With the Cybernaut and Red Phoenix held at bay in the spy ring's headquarters by a cadre of Kobra martial artists, Rat speculates on who exactly Red Phoenix might be and why he is so familiar. It is clear that he does not know Red Phoenix is his brother. He also reveals he is in league with Kobra in an attempt to increase his weath and power, selling scientific and military intel to Chinese spies or the highest bidder. Then, Rat tells the Hoods (the martial arts operatives provided by Kobra) to kill the Cybernaut, but not to lay a hand on Red Phoenix-- Rat will defeat this interloper himself!

The Cybernaut defeats a bunch of the Hoods as Rat and Red Phoenix fight it out. But even as he finishes off the last of the Hoods, he is confronted by a monstrous robotic guardian which attacks with uncommon savagery and screams "Why?!?!?" at him repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Rat attempts to uses mystical kung fu combined with high tech weapons to defeat Red Phoenix, but the righteous martial artist overcomes them. During the battle, the Cybernaut realizes who the robot is-- it is the AI Sketch, corrupted by the computer virus and turned into a crazed killer. He realizes that even if he defeats this body, Sketch can come after him again: the AI can ride along inside other advanced computers and can possess robots, high tech aircraft, spacecraft, etc but it must transmit itself (which requires whatever Sketch is inhabiting to have the ability to broadcast or be connected via physical wiring).

Cybernaut manages to best the warbot but blows up most of the lab in the process, and Rat flees both Red Phoenix's kung fu prowess and the rapidly disintegrating lab. Red Phoenix and Cybernaut barely make it out alive. They discuss having common foes and decide to make a temporary alliance. They discuss Rat and his operation and the ramifications of his alliance with Kobra.

After Red Phoenix leaves, Cybernaut receives a message from one of his one of his Black Box contacts confirming his suspicions: Sketch the AI may have survived in one form or another, as signs have been detected all over various networks. His contact promises more info as it comes up, but Chet gets another call and excuses himself. He looks suprised as a strange voice asks if he "obtained the needed data?"

Chet listens, then responds sullenly, "Yes." It is unclear who the voice on the other end of the phone is, but it is clear that this person sent the Cybernaut to discover to get information on Kobra's attempts to create a new Lazarus Pit. It is also clear that, whoever this person is who can give the Cybernaut orders, it is someone decidedly sinister...

Red Phoenix #4

Shocked to be confronted by a massive pagoda in an alley in Chinatown, Tien Shi-- in his costume as Red Phoenix-- and Rush are even more suprised when they realized they've walked into a trap.

They find only the minions of Pig waiting for them -- metahumans turned martial artists trained by Pig himself; they are Third Princess, Golden-Faced Buddha, Six-Fingered Demon, and the Iron Scholar.

The fight is prolonged and bloody. It ends in a stand still and is punctuated by the appearance of Pig himself who reveals he was not hired by the Triad at all: he is it's dai lo. The Twelve are no longer killers for hire, they have separated to take control of the criminal organizations of the world and unite them in a global network. And of the Twelve, Pig is the only one to discern Red Phoenix's true identity as the thirteenth son of Huang. Pig laughs as the heroes escape; he will be waiting for Tien Shi.

Mysteriously, when Rush later returns to the Shadow Pagoda to lead the police there, he cannot find it... as if it had never been there at all...

Hezikiah the Witch-Boy #3

Alexander grabs the bars of his cage and pulls them apart like fists full of straw as Hezikiah and his spider pass through the bars as though they weren’t even there. Gilles de Rais steps back in surprise. “You two are more powerful than I thought; you will make a much greater sacrifice than expected.”

With that he grabs a braquemard from a nearby table and flings it at Hezikiah, who easily dodges the sword. Alexander-- now in his armor as Aegis, Son of Olympus-- dashes forward, delivering a solid punch to de Rais’ face and sends him off his feet into the stone wall behind him. De Rais leaps back at Aegis in an attempt to grapple with him. Aegis gets a grip on de Rais and launches him through the ceiling and into the room above. He then jumps through the hole after him.

Hezikiah runs up the stairs to an adjacent room, where he is confronted by the four men from earlier. He immediately alters the vibrations of his body for a moment, emitting a radiation that brings the men to their knees. He grabs a small lamp from a nearby nightstand and changes its vibration to become extremely unstable matter.

Suddenly Aegis smashes through the wall as if thrown. Hezikiah hurtles the lamp through the hole into the room from which Aegis came and a large explosion rocks the house.

Aegis jumps to his feet and dashes into the room with Hezikiah behind him. The walls are destroyed on the far side of the room and de Rais is lying on the lawn just outside. De Rais jumps to his feet in anger and lets out a deep roar as he transforms into a beast that looks not unlike a werewolf.

Aegis and the beast continue to fight; punching and clawing at eachother. After struggling for a few moments, de Rais realizes that he needs to make more sacrifices to gain the power needed to defeat these two and throws Aegis back towards the house. He begins to run towards the car in the gravel driveway. Hezikiah grabs a handful of the gravel and launches it at the car. It explodes into an inferno that sends the beast reeling.

Just then, a car comes speeding from around the other side of the house and de Rais runs towards it as it circles closer. Aegis and Hezikiah begin to chase him but the distance between them is too great and he dives into the open back window of the car as it halts momentarily. The car then speeds away, leaving Hezikiah and Aegis with Gilles de Rais’ mansion burning behind them.

The Olympian: Children of the Gods (Limited Series) #5

A JET FLYING OVER NORTHERN EUROPE
The opening of this issue has Olympian, Cybernaut, Knight, and Squire on an advanced transport jet with “IUC” (International Ultramarine Corps) marked on the tail. Knight explains that he got ahold of a lot of the Ultramarines' old equipment after the team broke up, following their return from exile in the infant universe of Qwewq and the destruction of their headquarters, Superbia. As Knight pilots the aircraft, and Squire sits at a computer terminal, Cybernaut explains who they’re going up against.

RED SKY is an ultra-covert military intelligence unit created after the event known as “FINAL CRISIS”, and tasked with monitoring extra-dimensional intelligence channels. Their mandate is to, by any means necessary, protect the national security of the United States and its allies from the kind of “Higher Dimensional” (i.e. godly) incursion like the one Darkseid perpetrated. To do so, the U.S. government purchased the rights to the former headquarters of the Global Guardians known as The Dome, to gain access to the specialized equipment left behind after their folding.

RED SKY currently has a mission codenamed “MAGNET SCHOOL” where they’ve discovered a way to identify and track children that have DNA of the previously-mentioned Higher Dimensional beings. These children are classified as sleeper agents of these foreign powers, and as such will be apprehended and put into stasis if they can’t be turned against their progenitors. Thinking “there but for the grace of the gods go I,” Olympian states that this ends today.

A SEWER IN RURAL BELGIUM
Later, our heroes save for Squire, are sneaking through a sewer system (Olympian: “this stuff might work for you two, but you’re not wearing sandals”), while Beryl (Squire) is working the comms from the aircraft, which can also operate submerged as it as right now at the bottom of a large rural lake. While Beryl hacks RED SKY’s security system, the heroes in the sewers take out roving shooter patrols in their own ways (Knight with karate, Cybernaut with his tranq gun, and Olympian by flicking them on the forehead with his index finger).

When they enter the Dome-proper from the sewer, they’re surprised to see it so empty. But as they walk through it, they begin to be taunted by the voice of Phobos. Eventually they find themselves in the main foyer of the place, stunned to see over two-dozen duplicates of Phobos in front, behind, and above them on a balcony chanting “Fear is everywhere!”

To be concluded in The Olympian: Children of the Gods (Limited Series) #6

Rush #3

Aging petty super villain Jimmy the Stone (the last metahuman jailed by Al Pratt before his retirement as the Atom) returns to his old home town, Calvin City, after years in Belle Reve. All he wants is to make one big score before retiring, but Juliana Sazia has no interest in hiring him, and warns him against going renegade in “her city”.

Meanwhile Rush is studying the methods of Al Pratt, the Golden Age Atom, trying to figure out how a simple boxer was able to keep the underworld at bay, “atom punch” notwithstanding. He begins to mirror some of Al’s techniques, busting small timers but letting them go in order to get the dope on bigger fish.

Meanwhile Jimmy finds out about a weapons deal going down, and vows to show Sazia he’s still got what it takes. Rush arrives to break up the deal, but Jimmy gets the drop on him and they fight. Not knowing what is happening, the gun runners attack them both. This infuriates Jimmy, who barrels into the gunmen (“You punks got no respect!”) while Rush collects the fleeing money men.

Unfortunately, Rush returns to find Jimmy mortally wounded by the new high-tech weapons, but the old crook keeps true to his code: he won’t rat on “his Boss”.

Descent #3

PROLOGUE - ONE HOUR AGO – BELLE REVE PRISON
In a puff of smoke, the demon known as Al-Aknor appears in the form of an imp in the cell of Damien Moonblood. “Our plan has worked,” the demon says. “He is in the open without protection.” With a snap of his fingers, all the shackles on Damien open.

The sorcerer protests, “I was going to do that.” And then a magical axe suddenly appears in his hand. “Let's go hunting.”

The two suddenly disappear. The guard watching the security camera feed lifts his radio, but he doesn't call the warden. He calls the woman who really controls Belle Reve prison: Amanda Waller, the woman who runs the Suicide Squad. “Ma'am, I've got something you're gonna need to see."

THE PRESENT – CALVIN CITY
As Hezikiah and Descent follow the Martian Manhunter across a parking lot, Damien appears next to them in a billow of smoke and brimstone, Al-Aknor sitting on his shoulder just like a witch's familiar.

"Hello, Grigori," Damien says. At once, a wave of force extends from his outstretched hand, knocking everyone to the ground. A wall of fire rises, separating Greg from the others. Damien blasts him with hellfire but Descent is unaffected. He then charges at Greg with his axe. As he goes to dodge, Descent missteps and falls back, but the axe cuts across his chest diagonally and he lands on his stomach. “Get the blood!” screams Al-Aknor.

Meanwhile on the other side of the wall of flame, the intangible Hezikiah is staring in confusion at the stymied Martian's frenzied movements. “I don't understand, why do you hate the fire so much?” After a moment of a fascination, watching the J'onn's fearful dance to avoid the flames, the witch-boy manages to overcome his curiosity. Despite his desire to see what would happen if the Martian actually did catch on fire, what he can hear of the ancient demonic tongues being uttered on the other side of the flaming wall convinces him this may not be the right time. “Ah well,” he says, waving his hand, “I suppose I had better send it away.” With a simple counter-spell, the wall of fire vanishes, revealing Greg lying on the the ground in a growing pool of blood.

Standing over Greg is Damien, clutching two vials of blood, as he finishes a short but potent demonic ritual. He completes the spell, and suddenly the lowly imp in the occult diagram before him grows into its true form, a 12-foot tall archduke of Hell.

“Free at last!” screams Al-Aknor. Martian Manhunter charges the demon, only to be swatted away. Damien swings his axe at Hezikiah only to find that it passes through him.
Al-Aknor says, “Enough! “This one is dead, and the others are not worth our time. We have much work this night!” With that, the demon and sorcerer vanish, leaving only the blood-covered Greg and a whiff of sulphur.

J'onn slowly gets up and rolls Greg over. “The boy is lucky,” he says. “The vein that was hit bled out a lot, but his blood has coagulated quickly. Let me get him to the JLA satellite sick bay.” Ignoring Hezikiah's continued questioning, the Martian Manhunter turns himself and Greg invisible. Hezikiah senses them flying away.

The witch-boy sighs, disappointed. “Well now,” he asks his familiar as they look up into the night after them, “When am I going to meet a Martian again?”

EPILOGUE - ABOARD THE JLA SATELLITE
Greg wakes up in the JLA satellite's infirmary. J'onn and Gypsy are standing next to him.

“It was touch and go for you for a little bit,” Gypsy explains. “There was a lot of blood loss. You'd better have a lot of friends with you next time you go after that guy.”
“Do you have any clues as to the identity of the sorcerer who attacked us?” the Manhunter asks. "The one who seems to have summoned a demon?"
“I have no idea who he was,” Descent answers. "But I am going to find out and put him in a cell he can't get out of.”

The Olympian: Children of the Gods (Limited Series) #4

Splash Page: The two heroes, the Olympian and Cybernaut, falling into darkness, eventually “landing” into separate scenes. First, Olympian lands into a dark fantasy landscape evoking the feel of an especially dark Frank Frazetta painting where he has to fight all manner of chthonic beasts. The Cybernaut has to confront the Martian ruins responsible in part for his transformation, as liquid metal hands spring from the nanite pool trying to draw him in to drown. As they struggle, it’s revealed to the Olympian that Phobos has him in a “Hall of Fear” where he hopes they will succumb to what they fear the most. But these are superheroes we’re talking about, and the pair dig deep into their reserves of willpower and eventually they find their way out of the field, but they’re not in Calvin City anymore.

They're in a deserted warehouse in Liverpool, England where they’re met by British heroes Knight and Squire who’re dusting themselves off after what looks like a hellacious fight with their own group of well-armed thugs. Comparing notes, Knight explains that he received a tip from Batman that the child abductions are connected and that the group responsible might be operating somewhere in the U.K. Cybernaut knows of a rogue military intelligence unit operating primarily in the U.S. and Europe called “RED SKY” that might be connected. And the Olympian knows that the Greek God of Fear is behind it all, he just knows it in his bones. The three older heroes have no idea where to go next until Squire, squatting over an unconscious shooter, says that she believes she can trace the radio signal to a location in the Belgian countryside…

EPILOGUE Somewhere in the Belgian Countryside
The Dome: on the outside, it looks like no one has been in this place for years. Inside, specifically in its sub-basements, there’s a bevy of activity. Standing in the middle of what looks to be a command center with hundreds of monitors on the wall (a large central monitor on the wall monitoring the Bleed, and a holographic display in the middle of the room with a “snowflake” dimensional map rotating) is Col. Adam Armstrong (a relative of the first Spy Smasher) and his niece Katarina Armstrong (Spy Smasher II). The younger Armstrong gives a report stating that “Operation: Magnet School” is proceeding apace, to the elder’s appreciation. Katarina walks out, and only then does Phobos walk out of the shadows. He tells Armstrong to hold that thought, because things are about to get somewhat interesting…

Continued in The Olympian: Children of the Gods (Limited Series) #5

Red Phoenix #3

The gang war between the Sazias and the Lotus Blossom Society escalates, with a series of bombings around the city. It seems the two criminal organizations are clashing over who will control the heroin trade in Calvin City.

Tien Shi suggests they eliminate the source of the conflict before more innocent people are caught in the crossfire. The two heroes work their way through the smuggling pipeline and cripple it, effectively cutting off the flow of heroin into the city. Juliana Sazia decides to wait to deploy her HIVE-equipped mercenaries against the heroes, however, hoping that these do-gooders will flush the mysterious leader of the Triad.

Finally, after days of hearing that the mysterious Shadow Pagoda "can be anywhere," a rookie Triad member gives them its location. Tien Shi asks for Rush's help in confronting his brother.

Continued in Red Phoenix #4

Cybernaut #2

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN CALVIN CITY AND IVY TOWN...
A Chinese man in a dark coat and glasses walks into an abandoned train station, looking over his shoulder to make sure he is not followed. He does not notice the Cybernaut, who tails him into the building.

Infiltrating the base, Cybernaut finds a Kobra team working in some kind of research facility, vials of glowing liquids, equipment and computer banks line the walls. Cybernaut surveys his surroundings with his super senses and mentally melds with a computer while hidden. Along with military information and scientific data, he learns about the spy ring's plans: they are attempting to synthesize a Lazarus pit.

He is discovered by computer security programs and infected with a super computer virus. He is contacted by "Sketch", his connection at the mysterious agency Black Box. It is revealed, however, that Sketch is an AI. She selflessly removes the virus... only to be infected herself.

Cybernaut awakens to Red Phoenix helping him up and aiding him in his escape, chastising him for his foolishness. Though Cybernaut tries to contact Sketch, the AI is silent. The two are discovered by Kobra agents and the alarm goes off. A huge kung fu/firefight ensues-- it ends only with Red Phoenix's smarmy brother "Rat" (a cunning survivor and gadget lover) appears, revealing himself as the master of the spy ring...

Continued in The Cybernaut #3

Hezikiah the Witch-Boy #2

Alexander lunges at the bars of his cage towards his captor, Gilles de Rais. Hezikiah Dare quickly puts a hand on Alexanders arm, as if he were telling him to wait just a bit longer...
“How could you have known my grandfather?” he asks de Rais.
“I guess I’ll tell you the story” says de Rais. “I haven’t told anyone in quite a long time.”

TOLD IN FLASHBACK
In the late 1420s, the nobleman Lord de Rais studied the occult and met a man named Francesco Prelati, who informed him of a demon named Barron, to whom they made sacrifices for eternal life. He was a young and bloodthirsty man at that time and quenched his thirst on the battlefield in the Hundred Years War. He fought alongside Joan of Arc in the battle that freed Orleans, the entire time wanting to kill her himself as an offering to his demon master, knowing the reward would be great. He later conspired with Bishop Pierre Cauchon to put Joan of Arc on trial and ensure her execution. In 1429 she was then sacrificed to the demon named Barron in public, under the guise of an execution. She was filled with the spirit and love of a nation of people, which the demon feasted on. Gilles received great power and fortune for her sacrifice, but he was greedy and continued to sacrifice young peasant children. He tortured them, violated them, and ate their flesh.

His deeds were discovered and he was hanged. His power and charisma was so great that he had the parents of his victims praying and crying for him at his execution: even the executioner also knelt weeping for him.

One of his servants dug up his body and he retreated to the other side of France. In 1571, under the name Gilles Ranier, he was once again captured for his crimes and convicted of lycanthropy. He became known as The Werewolf of Dole. He again rose from the grave after his execution and this time fled to England.

He hunted heavily in London, which is where he met Ananias Dare. Ananias and his wife Eleanor were married in a church on Fleet Street, a place de Rais remarks he would return to centuries later. Eleanor would become pregnant just before the two set out to help establish a colony in the new world. When de Rais sensed that the woman was pregnant he could feel there was something special about the child and joined expedition. The child was the first to be born of two British citizens in the new world. Virginia Dare was her name. She, like Joan of Arc, was pure, and infused with the hopes and dreams of an entire country of people. She had a powerful life force that Gilles de Rais took and offered to his demon, once again gaining him a great reward of power and fortune. He never returned to the colony after stealing the child. He was absent when Melmoth descended upon the colony and unaware of what happened.

BACK TO THE PRESENT
After he finishes telling some of the gruesome details of his early life and how it relates to Hezikiah, Gilles de Rais stands in front of the cage that holds Hezikiah and Alexander with an evil grin of satisfaction.
Hezikiah looks at Gilles de Rais and says, “Alexander…”
“Yes?” the student replies.
Hezikiah grins sadistically as his spider swiftly runs through the wall behind him into the room and up to the top of his shoulder, bearing its fangs at de Rais. “Now we fight.”

Continued in Hezikiah the Witch-Boy #3

Rush #2

FLASHBACK - WEEKS AGO - CRETE
We see Angela Moorhead on the island of Crete, off the coast of Greece, returning to the girls' orphanage where she was raised. In the beautiful, windswept courtyard of this humble orphanage, she finds the old woman who ran the orphanage when she was there, and the old woman is very happy to see her, seeing that she is fairly well-off and has clearly traveled the world. The old woman congratulates Angela on doing so well with her life, and calls her by her original Greek first name, Pasiphae.

But Moorhead is no mood to be congratulated. Her conversation makes it clear that the orphanage was secretly a brothel, and that the old woman sold the bodies of the young girls in her charge-- Angela included-- to tourists and local men to pay the bills. In fact, Angela makes clear that she was the most popular of all the girls, much to her torment. The old woman protests that after years of running the orphanage off meagre donations, she did what she had to do, and that there was no other way to keep the girls fed. But the old woman's protests are stifled by Moorhead's hands around her throat. She begins to choke the woman to death, but is forced to use one hand for the last few moments, as during the process she answers a cell-phone call from Juliana Sazia.

"Yes, Mrs. Sazia," she says, as the old woman gurgles, "My business in the Mediterranean is nearly concluded. I'll be on a plane to Boston within the hour. I look forward to visiting Calvin City for the first time, I hear it's a lovely city. I look forward to both of us calling it home for a while. Yes. Goodbye."

As she hangs up, Angela has already killed the old woman and dropped her body to the floor. She steps over the body of the woman who destroyed her youth on the way out of the oprhanage's front gate. As she leaves she mutters, "By the way, Madame Pollakis-- no one calls me Pasiphae anymore."

THE PRESENT
The campus is open the next day after the on-campus battle, and since Alan’s history classes are unaffected by the damage in the science wing, he continues teaching unabated. Angela Moorhead is also on campus, trying to find a lead on both the interfering Rush and the mysterious Descent, for whom she feels such a strong connection.

She also makes contact with the local party crowd, and offers them a taste of a powerful new stimulant called “Hunny”, available in innocuous plastic packets. For most people it is simply an easy high, like crystal meth you don’t have to smoke. But for a very few it stimulates their metagene and unlocks potential power.

Moorhead locates these few who develop metahuman abilities and makes them a deal: if they will be her soldiers, she will get them as much Hunny as they want. Many take the deal and become the team of metahuman villains known as “the Brood”. Some refuse, and are killed.

When Calvin College students are found dead, Rush investigates. This leads him to the location of the Brood headquarters, where he is beset by a gaggle of garishly dressed opponents (imagine what methed-out club kids would consider super villain garb).

Descent arrives, having followed his own leads. Unfortunately, one of the Brood is a 15 year-old boy he tried to counsel in his volunteer work as Greg Moore. Unable to reach this troubled youth, all he can do is aid Rush in driving off the powerful yet unorganized metahuman rabble.

Back at a second safehouse she has established for the Brood, Moorhead vows to beat these worthless college kids into fighting shape. After all, she remarks, she herself learned from the very best how to make the most of a child's potential...

The Olympian: Children of the Gods (Limited Series) #3

CALVIN CITY - AN APARTMENT COMPLEX
This issue picks-up right where the previous one leaves off. Drawing her knife, Euryale is about to plunge it into the Olympian’s back when an object hurtles at her at terrific speed, knocking her out of the panel—the Cybernaut leaping at her with bionic power!

Ixion prepares to engage the government agent, but instead disappears into that cloud of smoke again. Cybernaut rushes to the window he knocked Euryale through, and she was nowhere to be found three floors below – the pair of monsters had made their retreat. Cybernaut turns to Olympian, and removes the arrow (by pulling it through his leg). Alex comes-to soon afterwards, glad to see that he got some help.

After introductions are made, the agent inquires as to why the arrow had him out, to which he replies “It was enchanted to do just that.” Cybernaut explains that he is on the trail of a group of missing children, snatched by what appears to be some kind of black ops outfit called “RED SKY." According to his intelligence, they send small teams of men using tranquilizer guns to kidnap specific children. The Olympian believes that there’s a connection between that and the appearance of the superhumans they fought. Agreeing, Cybernaut says that he believes that there are people with the means to perform such an operation in Calvin City and that the two should check it out.

CALVIN CITY - CLOCKWERK (an elite nightclub in the financial district)
The two heroes barge into the crowded club where Cybernaut explains that this is a holding of the Sazia Crime Family (something Olympian knows something about), the group Cybernaut believes could know something about what’s going on with the kids. Within moments, goombas in black suits outfitted with ray guns attack the two heroes, weapons Olympian’s partner recognizes as old H.I.V.E. technology. The heroes take the shooters out fairly quickly, but some duck into the door of the office seen in the epilogue to issue #1.

The Olympian and Cybernaut move to intercept them, but instead of the office seen in the previous issue they’re both plunged into a swirling darkness plagued with a sinister laughter as the issue ends…

Continued in The Olympian: Children of the Gods (Limited Series) #4

Descent #2

PROLOGUE – SOMEWHERE IN THE DREAMING
“I appreciate you’re not sneaking up on me in my library this time, my sister,” the taller figure said.
“You’re welcome,” the shorter woman, pale and thin and wearing black from head to toe, replied with a smile. The smile almost immediately faded, however, and the woman’s lips were pursed with concern. “But I’m here about Grigori again. You know what’s happening. You know that he’s going to have the mental blocks that you put into him removed,”
The taller figure, a man clad in white, nodded slowly. “I am aware of this. But if I move to interfere, then our nephew will be revealed at once—revealed to the one of our siblings we’ve sought to hide him from."
The female shook her head. “She would not stoop so low as to hurt him.”
“She once fathered a child and tried to force my predecessor to spill his blood and attract the ire of the Kindly Ones, solely to avenge a perceived slight. If there are actions she would not stoop to, I am not aware of them. At the very least, she is likely to entangle him in her ceaseless plotting. Sometimes, I think it is best to be—as they say—“off the radar” when it comes to certain relatives. Besides, I think he will need to grow now, on his own, to discover more of what he is, to face what is to come. He is becoming stronger and should be able to handle what awaits.”
She pulled off her black top hat, stared into its emptiness as she spoke. “I’ve watched him for a while, you know. All his life. He’s different than the other nieces and nephews we’ve had, I feel very… protective of him.”
“That much is obvious. And he does continue to enjoy your protection, does he not?” her brother responded, pointing to his right eye. “After all... he does bear your mark. That makes him very hard to kill.”

MEANWHILE, IN CALVIN CITY
Several days after the events of last issue (and just before the first issue of his own series) Hezikiah Dare is walking around, enjoying the still novel sensation of strolling beneath an open sky. His senses feel the world settling down in the rapidly approaching embrace of night. And then he senses another vibration. An unusual one. Something close. He looks up but sees nothing. He decides to follow the vibrations because they remind him a very specific place: Mars, where he gained his powers. And honestly, he figures he has nothing better to do on a Wednesday night.

He ends up in a lower-income neighborhood. Not quite the ghetto but not much above it. He walks through the locked lobby door and heads to the second floor. He knocks on the apartment door which is opened by a very confused Greg Moore. “Do I know you?”
“No,” Hezikiah answers, smiling, “But will you share your Martian with me?”
"What do you know?" Greg says, pulling him in the door quickly and shutting the door. But Hezikiah simply shrugs.
"I just sensed the Martian vibrrations and followed them," he says. "I really am just ever so excited to meet a native of Mars!"
“The Martian is helping me with something at the moment,” Greg says, after a long pause. “You can talk to him after that.”

The presence Hezikiah sensed in the room now becomes visible: the Martian Manhunter. The situation is clearly beginning to try his patience, “Let's make this fast. I have little time. I have only recently returned to life, and there is much to be done. Descent-- Greg-- I want to emphasize how fortunate you are that Gypsy has become so fond of you. Were it not for her entreaties, I would not have found time to come and aid you.”

The Manhunter then goes to work on Greg with his mental powers, trying to ignore the curiosity of his newest fan. After some time, his work is complete. “I have been able to break the locks that were put on you,” he says. “They were created by a telepath far more powerful than myself, but it looks like they required constant maintenance. They had been allowed to lapse, but that was the reason I was able to break them.”
Already, Greg is realizing that he has gained the ability to shape shift. It is very minor and can only slightly alter his appearance. “I can use this to make a costume,” he observes. “I never needed one in the Squad. We just wore all black and tried not to get shot.”
“Now he gets to answer all my questions," Hezikiah says quickly. "Do you have a spider like mine?”

The witch-boy's familiar suddenly appears and J'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter from Mars, is strangely disturbed. Instead of responding with a question of his own, J'onn simply says, “I think it's time to go.”

Greg suddenly gets a call... not on his personal phone, but on a smaller, more streamlined unit, the one the Squad gave him. A phone that has never rung before. He picks up, and the voice on the line is the Bronze Tiger, the Suicide Squad's main field leader. His voice is abrupt. “Go to ground and hide as quickly as possible,” the Tiger says. “He escaped and is coming for you. He is far more powerful then we thought.”

Hezikiah, J'onn, and Greg go running out the building. J'onn suggests maybe hiding Greg on the JLA satellite for a bit. Hezikiah says, “That sounds great! Let's go into space with a Martian!”

As Hezikiah and Descent follow the Martian Manhunter across a parking lot, Damien appears next to them in a billow of smoke and brimstone, Al-Aknor sitting on his shoulder just like a witch's familiar. "Hello, Grigori," the man says, his eyes glowing a threatening red.

Continued in Descent #3

Red Phoenix #2

Tien Shi's investigations have led him nowhere. The gang members don't know where the Shadow Pagoda is (or are incapable of uttering its location). They only speak of masked sifu, and powerful martial artists that demand their loyalty.

Meanwhile, violence sweeps across the city as the Sazia Family clashes with the triad, the Lotus Blossom Society. The conflict seems dangerously close to escalating into a mob war. Rush appears on the scene, on the trail of the Sazias. Tien Shi mistakes him for a mob enforcer or assassin and the two clash before realizing their on the same side. Tien Shi asks for Rush's aid in the investigation, he believes the triad may have hired Pig to train its members and underlings.

Continued in Red Phoenix #3

The Olympian: Children of the Gods (Limited Series) #2

PROLOGUE: A PRIVATE AIRSTRIP SOMEWHERE IN CONNECTICUT
Lt. Banks is waiting at what looks to be a private airstrip with another officer (a Lt. Colonel whose nameplate reads “MAYWEATHER”), watching as a Learjet finishes its taxiing to the hanger. Its sole passenger is familiar to DCU readers as The Cybernaut. Lt. Banks says he’s nervous about going around Waller on this one, but Mayweather responds that using his contacts with the mysterious network known as Black Box was the only way to get assistance fast enough to help the missing children. Banks is dubious—he suspects Waller knew about Mayweather’s contacts and is manipulating them into involving the Cybernaut, against whom Waller is rumored to have a grudge.

Pissed that he was pulled off the hunt for two White Martians in the mountains of Pakistan who may have been collaborating with the mysterious Chinese spy ring he’s been pursuing,  the Cybernaut starts to read the officers the riot act, but then the older officer hands him a file marked “TOP SECRET – RED SKY.” Cybernaut takes one look and responds “I’ll begin right away”.

CALVIN CITY – ALEX COSTAS’ DORM ROOM
After that the scene shifts to Alex still asleep in his messy dorm room (the clock reads 11:45am) with the phone ringing. After what seems like forever (3-4 panels) he eventually wakes up and answers it – it’s his father! Zeus explains that the recent kidnapping of little Phoebe Williams (remember the billboard from last issue?) needs his attention. Asking why, a little lightning comes out of the phone with a HUGE word balloon saying “BECAUSE I DAMN WELL SAID SO!” Hair slightly singed and his eyes like saucers Alex says, “ok… let me get my pants on.”

CALVIN CITY – THE WILLIAMS FAMILY’S APARTMENT
The Olympian in full costume stands in the hallway of the apartment building with a few cops and Ivy Town Police Chief Liza Warner who’s glad to get the help of a superhero with the kidnapping investigation. Inside the child’s bedroom, he notices a splotch on the wall that no one had noticed before – sniffing and tasting it he tells Chief Warner that he believes that its propofol a powerful anesthetic humorously dubbed "milk of amnesia" by health workers due to its amnestic effects and appearance as a white liquid.

Just about then, Ixion attacks again, setting the building on fire! As the Olympian lays a punch on Ixion that sends him flying into an abandoned building across the street. Flying there, the son of Zeus is about to finish the lunatic off when a “twang” from off panel happens, leaving Alex with a shocked-look on his face as he’s looking at a jet-black arrow sticking through his leg… and collapses immediately after. Standing over his unconscious body is Euryale, with her longbow and a very satisfied look on her face.

Continued in The Olympian #3

FIRST ISSUE: Hezikiah the Witch-Boy #1

FIRST PAGE RECAP
Hezikiah Ananias Dare's home was underground in Limbo Town, with the other lost descendants of the Roanoke Colony who lived in the tunnels beneath New York. In his studies of witchcraft and day-to-day duties directing the zombie farmhands who grew Limbo Town's food, he thought little of the world above… until the day Limbo Town was invaded. When Melmoth, the twisted immortal who had bred his inhuman blood into Limbo Town's ancestors and drawn them underground, came to harvest his descendants as slaves, Hezikiah Dare was sent to labor in the mines of the Red Planet, but escaped and found his way to the lost ruins once ruled by the shape-shifting sorcerer kings of aboriginal Mars. Imbued by mysterious alien glyphs with greatly increased magical powers over the vibrations of matter and energy, Hezikiah escapes back to Earth with help of Frankenstein, eventually partnering in mischief with his cousin, Klarion the Witch-boy. Aided by his familiar, one of the Spiders of Mars, Hezikiah the Witch-Boy seeks adventure both above and below the surface of Earth… and beyond.

IVY TOWN, NEW YORK - THE PRESENT
Having had a few adventures outside of Limbo Town, Hezikiah decides that he must find a permanent place to live in Blue Rafters. Hearing of its many odd occurrences, he decides on a place called Ivy Town. He has a peculiar sensation the day he sets out, and it’s not just the excitement of finding a new home. Something menacing starts following him as he leaves New York City. The closer he gets to Ivy Town, the more he can feel its strange properties. All the while, the presence of some evil lingers somewhere not far behind. Hezikiah makes no change in his behavior that might alert this evil to the fact that it is being monitored.

Hezikiah has now spent a few days in Ivy Town, and still, the presence is near. He goes to the university to see a display of ancient artifacts, wondering if perhaps any of them have strange properties influencing the altered nature of the town. While there, he discovers the evil that follows him is a well dressed man appearing to be in his mid thirties. He has black hair to his chin, a neat mustache, and dark soulless eyes.
Hezikiah wanders around the exhibit for a while, aware that the man continues to follow. Hezikiah exits casually and walks out amongst the college students. He notices a young man sitting nearby, in which he senses a much greater amount of power than any normal human would have. He strolls up to the young man, thinking that he might entangle both individuals and draw some attention away from himself.

Hezikiah says to the student, “I sense in you special powers. The man approaching my back has powers as well. I think he means me harm. I must know who he is and what he wants. Will you help me?”
The student replies with a confused face, “Uhhh.”
“Good” responds Hezikiah.
“What?” says the student with greater confusion.
“Just play along” Hezikiah tells him.
The man approaches and says to Hezikiah “Hello young man. I saw you inside at the exhibit. Do you study such things at the school here?”
“No, but my friend does.” Hezikiah points to the student.
The man responds, “Well, I have a collection of old artifacts such as these, but I must admit that I don’t know much about them. I simply collect them because they look interesting. Would the two of you be interested in looking at my objects and telling me what you know of them? I would pay you for your time of course.”
The student doesn’t know what to think of Hezikiah, but can tell that this man is in fact quite evil. Deciding that he too wants to know what this man is after, the student stands up, “Yes, we would be happy to” he replies. “We are free for the rest of the afternoon, if you would like to go now.”
The man responds, “That would be grand. I don’t live here in town but my chauffer can drive us and return you when we are done.”

They arrive at the man’s house, all three so occupied by the situation that none have yet asked each other’s names. After a few moments inside, four large men appear and grab the two young men by the arms. Hezikiah quickly looks to the student and says, “Don’t try to fight, there are too many,” hinting that he has a plan.
The student is sharp and understands immediately. He feigns a slight struggle, knowing that he could easily overpower all four of the men. They are taken to a metal cage in what appears to be a dungeon designed for torture under the house. The four men are sent away and the evil man steps up to the cage.
“Forgive me, I have been so impolite. My name is Gilles de Rais (zseel-du-ray, like Zsa Zsa Gabor), what are your names?”
“Alexander Kostas” the student says impatiently.
“Hezikiah Ananias Dare”
Gilles de Rais’s eyes widen and Hezikiah hears his heart pick up speed. A maniacal joy visibly washes over de Rais. “I knew there was something familiar about your face. You will be a treat. I presume you are a grandchild of the English colonist Ananias Dare. If you taste anything like his daughter did……well…..she was something special.”

Continued in Hezikiah the Witch-Boy #2