The past has been revealed to those on the fringes of Black Air. Tangerine and Snow Destine rescued a man called Eddie who pulled them into the Dimension called Avalon. There they encountered the Green Knight, the protector of the Wild, bound by shackles of progress. Eddie discovered his true nature as the Green Man and his awakening freed the Green Knight. At the same tie in the silicon cavern beneath Braddock Manor, Captain Britain returns from his slumber.
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THE BEAT OF DRUMS EXCALIBUR MFS ISSUE 12
Written and created by Mark Peyton Dark Angel created by Bernie Jaye and Geoff Senior Adam Destine created by Alan Davis
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This issue takes place during and after Paradise Lost Preludes
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MILAN, ITALY
The first explosion tore through the wall, catching three of the brothers as it did. Black Air had not expected another attack on a library so soon after the destruction in London. Certainly not an attack on Milan. Here the Library had been carefully hidden, shielded from the watchful eyes of those around. This was partly because Black Air was well aware that it was not alone in operating in Italy. The bastard offshoot of the Hellfire Club, from which Black Air itself had stemmed, Club Inferno operated within Italy. The Milan Library had been established in part to monitor this group. No one had ever been entirely certain why Doom had never taken Italy during his years of expansion. Members of Black Air had speculated the reason was connected with Club Inferno and so the Watchers observed.
This secrecy surrounding the Milan Library seemed to have counted for nothing as the library was breached. The strike came out of nowhere. Italian sensors picked the incomings up barely minutes before they hit the Library. Three projectiles had swept into the city and through the wall. That was when the mayhem started.
Talwar had been working in the section dealing with Occult texts. One of the three torn apart by the original blast had been blown near to where he was working. Talwar flung himself to the ground and as the dust cleared he dared to look around the desk he was sheltering behind. He was confronted by two armoured figures moving through the wreckage. The lead one was bedecked in red and silver, the armour festooned in runes. He raised his arm and traced a lasersight across the room. Behind him strode in another wearing a blue and steel version of the armour. A high pitched chattering seemed to come from the iron clad creatures as they turned to each other. Talwar saw this as his chance and sprang to his feet, desperately trying to escape. As he ran he felt the heat of a lasersight upon his scalp. Panicking he dove to the ground as a repulsor shot swept into the space his head would have occupied. He rolled on the floor, eyes darting this way and that searching for a way out or some cover. It had only been his control of his body that had even alerted him to the danger. Time was running out fast.
The armoured creatures separated and the red and silver began to move slowly towards him. There seemed to be a degree of sadism in playing on Talwar's certain knowledge that this was the end. Suddenly the ability to speak dead languages did not seem all that relevant when confronted by a creature such as this. The laser sight danced upon his body as Talwar tried to dodge this way and that. In these frantic few seconds sound seemed to disappear, leaving Talwar deafened by the loudness and quickness of his breathing. That sound was punctured by another blast searing through the sky. Again he rolled, but this time was not as lucky as the blast struck his arm. The pain ran through him as he looked up again and felt the heat of the laser sight on him once more.
As he slumped to the ground the noise of the battle returned with a vengeance.
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Milan's library tried desperately to stay the advance of their uninvited guests. The one advantage the Library's defenders seem to have was that their attackers did not seem to know the layout. But the brethren of Black Air in Milan were not renowned for their fighting skills. These were watchers, not fighters. And then it all seemed to stop. The two attackers had moved into one of the shelving rooms and all had gone quiet. No more advance, no more destruction, just that clicking between the two as the brethren gathered their breath. Then one final salvo as the shelving room was exposed to the air and the iron clad creatures departed as swiftly as they had arrived. They had left behind them scenes of destruction and taken with them only a single tome.
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CORNWALL, ENGLAND
The mirror pod cleared and Shevaun Haldane closed her eyes. If even a fraction of what had been shown was to come then the barriers that kept the masses safe would be under severe threat. She pulled a gown around her shoulders and folded her arms around herself. The chill creeping down her back was not a result of the heating of Darkmoor Castle. Her armour, body and indeed her very being was connected to the structure of the Universe. That chill was endemic of something very wrong with the world.
She levitated slowly, gliding, over the scrying pool and up the central tower of the castle. There was a decision to be made. Should she allow herself to be drawn into the inevitable conflict or should she place the guardianship of the Un-Earth ahead of all once again?
The gown had swept out around her in an arc as the air ran around her legs. She knew she could make a contribution, but would it cost too much to do so? The woman called the Dark Angel rose into the apex of the roof and curled her legs up to her body. She would have to stand on the sidelines once more and watch all the pain. Feeling each blow against reality, unable to risk even greater destruction. The protection of the Un-Earth was too important to distract herself.
Darkness was closing in and Shevaun could not afford to wait. She could grieve for all the blood later. With her fingertips touching the roof she pushed off it and straightened her legs out beneath her. The little push magnified as she shot down towards the ground. Her arms spread out from her shoulders as she began the ritual, keeping her body straight as she did so.
Heavy mists swept in from the sea rapidly, having formed from only the merest whisper. They climbed up the cliffs silently and scaled the castle walls. The mists rose higher and enveloped the upper levels of the castle. As the heavy fog cleared so Darkmoor Castle had disappeared. Wind swept over the treetops and back to the coast as the mist was blown out to sea leaving only emptiness in its wake. The Un-Earth was sealed off for the time being from the turmoil of the world.
Dark Angel was again aware quite potently of how alone she was. She retreated once more to the roof to weep for the horrors that would face some old friends.
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PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND
One of those old friends had been contemplating the sea, unaware he was the subject of observation. His blonde hair fluttered in the breeze, but he paid no attention to the temperature. Jack and Gawain were away, trying to stop a Black Air agent reporting back on their activities [A story for another time - Mark] up North, while his daughter and Tangerine had gone back to London to investigate the aftermath of the Library destruction. Adam had not heard from either group for days, nor from Scratch, who had disappeared shortly after his brief return.
High above him settled a craft which had not attracted the eye of any of the two countries it had passed over on the way here. This was a vessel far ahead of its time, but it had been crafted as a unique construct, utilising many species technologies. The eyes of the world glided over it, and that suited its owner perfectly. It had come to this place with the express purpose of encountering Adam Destine.
The owner of the craft raised himself from his throne. "Well done, Captain, the ship is running smoothly. Is Destine aware of our attentions?"
From the forward station the addressed man looked back and replied, "No, my lord. No one is aware of our presence."
The steel masked man nodded. "The plan may continue. Extract him."
Silence descended over the flight deck as the crew began the countdown. If Adam Destine had been aware of the magnetic background of the air around him he might have known what was about to happen. The first he knew was when thin air pulled at him sharply. He gazed up slowly as he felt the tug skywards. From his seat by the edge of the sea he was dragged sharply into the sky. Onlookers gasped as the blonde haired man was plucked from the ground and spiralled upwards, his arms and legs pushed down to his sides. On the deck of the ship the crew watched as their King turned and strode from the bridge.
"What now?" the navigator asked.
"Now we follow orders," the Captain replied. From the back of the bridge Black Axe watched and smiled. The Second was gathered.
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Far below a message flashed on a deserted viewscreen. Snow Destine was seeking her father.
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The waves parted beneath him as he shot across the sea. His eyes were slowly growing accustomed to the bright glare of the light after so long asleep. It felt strange to fly again and he pushed himself faster and faster. He could not remember what he had dreamt of in those long years asleep. All he could remember was the green of the wyld. It still hung there, deep in his mind.
He was the Once and Future Captain, the guardian of the Sceptred Isle. He was Lancelot Reborn and he was on the way to stand and face down the threat to the green and pleasant land.
His body twisted as he changed direction. If his mind had been clearer he might have realised the feelings and thoughts running through his head were nothing new to him. It was that clouding of his mind that was leading him towards the fate on the road ahead. Pity the sleeper who has yet to wake.
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NEXT ISSUE - It all comes down to this. Sometimes you know when things are at an end. Sometimes you know when you've been pushed into fulfilling a specific role. Sometimes things happen just the way you plan and it all comes crashing down on you. Sometimes it all comes down to FATE. I could tell you more, but I'd have to kill you. Come back next issue for what is likely to be one of the most controversial issues of Excalibur MFS.
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CRIBNOTES
I guess some people thought we'd never get here. Paradise Lost is finally here and we're in the midst of the repercussions of all those events in the first two preludes. You know little things like the invasion of New York and Germany sealing itself off through magic. Excalibur will be dealing with one of the threads from the Preludes as it connects quite blatantly to one of our cast. Next issue is one of those issues I've been heading towards for a long time. You might not see it yet, but I've been foreshadowing it for months now. I'm expecting a few people might not be entirely happy about it, but I'm thinking of a couple of ways of expanding on it. All I need is an adversary and the whole thing can go ahead. Anyway that's next month. Lots can happen between now and then. This issue was only short and I apologise. Believe me you'll get it made up to you :)
This time I got another letter. Will wonders never cease? Anyway this one is from Les Chaon, who writes Flash over at DCFS.
Hey Mark,
Tell you evil twin Park Meyton that Excalibur #11 rocked! Oh, and also tell him to be careful. If he keeps on putting Arthurian legends into the series I'm going to become a huge fan of the series. No one wants that :)
Lex
For those of you not in the know Park Meyton is now a running joke started by Josh McCormick over in Monstrogliftic FS in the FS Mag. For all those people who think that sometimes FS gets a little worthy we've set up a humour column which is now running rampant throughout the sites where the current notion is that this is all the creation of one FS studio in LA. Go and read it and wait for it to get a lot more surreal.
Onto the letter. Well Josh last issue was going on about Dragons and now Les is on about Arthurian Legends. Good, that whole notion that I might be doing a superhero book here is getting thrown out the window. Will I be putting more Arthurian Legends into the series. Well next issue has as its starting point one of those Legends. It might be the last for a little while, but it will have repercussions. After that we may well get to see more of Europe, but we do have a few new titles setting up shop here like Damage Control INC. and Hellstorm is already over in Italy. In case anyone didn't realise that's what all those Club Inferno references were connected to. So yes Arthurian Legend is one of the things that underpins this whole series, but there are times I'll be blatant and times well I'll sneak it in. Thanks for the letter, Lex.
My picks for this month are
Smoker - a Novel by Greg Rucka. Now I don't read very much contemporary fiction. I prefer my mind off in other places and if I want contemporary I'll go out or watch the tv, but I tried Greg Rucka's second novel on the back of his work on Batman and currently on Detective Comics. I'd recommend it to anyone and will probably be passing it around my family. Rucka has a lovely descriptive style and his first person narrative works extremely well and even as the second novel I found myself easily slipping into what was happening. Now all I have to do is find the other books, which seems to be tricky in Britain for some reason.
Other than that I'll go with the Counter X titles of X Man and Gen X. X Force isn't out yet, but I'm sure I'll be plugging that too. Now those people who know me can guess that many of the reasons I bought the books had little to do with the actual characters. Last time I enjoyed Gen X was when Bachalo was still on the book and even then he was in his doe eyed phase, while X Man I've not liked since 2 issues after it became an ongoing. But an issue in on both I'm pleasantly surprised. In X Man's case I'm very happy. Well it's little things like the Tim Bradstreet front cover and the fact that a Mr Scratch appeared in the first four pages. Yep that's right the way things look at the moment Counter X all have a Black Air connection. Scratch in X Man, Wisdom leading X Force and who knows what in Gen X yet. So yes I'll recommend them all at the moment.
And after a long while I'll recommend Starman again. The series has finally kicked back in. While I'm not completely convinced by some of the continuity at the moment, the spark that makes me love the book so much is back and that's why I've been raving about it for the last week. But now we know when the book is going to end. I'm going to be a mess the week of the last issue.
In Fanfic there's obviously Paradise Lost to read. I'd also suggest the latest Tbolts issue which got some rave previews when it got sent out for editing. It's the first meeting between the Tbolts and the AA, so you can guess the sort of sparks that fly.
That's about it this month. Going to start on issue 13 directly and don't forget to read some of the other PL tie ins
All comments and email to Starman26@hotmail.com