Issue #01

The Return

Part One
by Gary Jones

The grass was green and rolled out as far as the eye could see.

In many respects the terrain resembled that of Darkmoor in England but in truth the location was far more exotic.

Standing atop a small hill were two standing stones, wrapped around one was an amulet that gave off a slight golden glow and imbedded in the other was a sword which gave off a silver glow.

Standing in front of these stones, staring at the amulet and sword was a well built man with short cropped blonde hair; he wore crimson coloured robes that marked him as royalty.

Standing next to him in plain white robes which were hemmed with gold was a striking dark haired beauty. Each time the sun caught her, the outline of her stunning figure could be seen through the gossamer like fabric of her gown.

�I choose the Sword of Might,� the man hand reached out and grabbed the hilt of the blade, smoothly drawing it from the stone �I claim again the mantle of the Captain Britain of Earth 616,� Brian Braddock, the former Monarch of Otherworld, smiled as his robes changed shape, reforming themselves into a replica of his original costume.

The blade in his hand shimmered and dissolved into energy which entered the mystical circuitry of the costume and infused it with power.

Brian turned to his companion, the goddess and now ruler of Otherworld, Roma �it�s good to be back in the old union suit.�

�It does seem to suit you more than your previous attire,� Roma responded with her hands clasped behind her back �although your sudden abdication of the throne and the naming of me as regent has caused quite a bit of chatter in the royal court.�

�I have full confidence that you will be able to silence those voices Roma,� Brian said as the pair began to walk down the slight hill and back toward the royal palace.

�My family�s reputation as rulers of this land is not the best, I hope I will be able to meet the standards you have set,� Roma replied with uncertainty in her voice.

�You're not Merlyn and you don�t have to repeat the sins he committed,� in an impossibly short amount of time the pair had arrived back at the palace gates �just live your own life and you�ll be fine,� Brian smiled at Roma �now if you wouldn�t mind opening a portal back to Earth for me, I�ll be on my way.�

Roma gestured with her hands and in front of the pair a shimmering white portal opened, Brian�s wife Meggan visible on the other side, she was showing her watch and holding up a man�s smart formal suit, looking quite impatient as she did so.

With a final wave to the small crowd that had gathered to see him off, Brian Braddock stepped into the portal, moving from Otherworld to Earth-616.

�As I do not follow the path of my Father, I pray that you do not make a mistake in following the path of your sister,� Roma whispered, her arms crossed across her chest, as the portal blinked shut.

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�How do you get out of this crazy thing,� only moments before Clarice Ferguson had been with her team of time lost Exiles. Together with a rag tag group of heroes, they had succeeded in saving the Earth from the Vi-Locks, a race of Techno-Organic beings.

She had been looking into the eyes of her lover Calvin Rankin, the mutant powerhouse known as Mimic, when the Timebroker had arrived to tell her that she had repaired her own personal broken link in time. She could only stand and see the look of hopelessness that washed over Calvin as she disappeared before his eyes.

The Timebroker however had miscalculated. Blink had originally become unstuck in time because her reality referred to those who know about such things as the Age of Apocalypse, no longer existed and as such she had no home to return to.

She didn�t now how long she had been floating in the void. There was nothing in the void to mark the passage of time, just an endless silent blackness.

Then suddenly there was a chink of light and a whistling noise could be heard, Clarice looked around and saw that a tear had appeared in the black.

Using the teleportation powers that gave her the code-name of Blink, Clarice aimed for the tear and prayed that it would lead her to a better place than the void.

BLINK

Clarice reappeared underwater and began to panic she could find no purchase on the smooth surface of the pool.

She felt a strong pair of hand grab hold of her shoulders and pull her head above the surface.

�I�m not one to usually complain about sharing a Jacuzzi with a beautiful woman,� Tony Stark said as he watched the light-purple skinned woman gasp for air �but most usually do wait for an invitation.�

As Clarice regained her composure she took stock of her surroundings.

She was in an incredibly plush and huge bathroom, the amount of money that must have been spent would have been obscene had it not all been done in the greatest of possible taste.

The man sitting on the other side of the Jacuzzi was incredibly handsome with a short cropped black hair and an immaculately trimmed goatee, the roguish smile on his lips told Clarice that this wasn�t the first time that he had shared his bathtub with a woman.

�I�m sorry about this Mr. Stark,� she said running her hands through her hair to push it away from her eyes �but the Timebroker didn�t give me any other choice but to float around in the black.�

�Think nothing of it my dear,� Tony replied, slightly stunned that the new arrival knew his name �but if you would be so kind as to get out of the tub and pass me a towel.�

Clarice reached to the side and pulled herself to her feet. The Jacuzzi tub was built into the floor and although they didn�t look like it the tiles surrounding it provided an excellent grip underfoot.

She handed the towel to Tony who lowered it around his waist as he got to his feet, when he had wrapped it around himself he reached to where his bathrobe was lying and wrapped it around himself.

�If you would care to make use of the facilities here to dry yourself Miss, I shall call down to reception and order us a snack and you some dry clothing,� Tony gave Clarice a lingering look as he left the room, muttering under his breath �thank goodness super-types where such becoming outfits.�

As Tony exited the bathroom Clarice could help look at Tony's bottom and remark "TJ was right after all."

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The Astral Plane is a world in itself.

It is a place where every mind on the planet is connected to but only a select few people ever get to see, those people are the world�s telepaths and a select few magicians

And a few beings call it home.

One such being is Amahl Farouk, better known to the world as the Shadow King.

�You sought to imprison me in the folds of your puny mind,� the Shadow King sat on a throne created from the most evil thoughts that he could pull from the minds of men and kicked out at the figure of a woman who was chained by the same thoughts to the ground in front of him.

His power was growing every minute but for the moment he was still weak and worst of all he was vulnerable to those who would end his existence once and for all, pitiful creatures like Xavier and his brood would be on him in a second if they knew he still lived.

He could however not pass over the chance to punish the woman who had attempted to keep him away from the world.

When he had sensed the passing of Elizabeth Braddock he had thought that his chance for revenge had slipped him by, gone for eternity.

But some force had helped her cling onto the world, helped her stay so that she could pass on a warning of future events to her team-mates in the X-Men.

After the warning was given she attempted to pass on to what waited for her on the other side but he was ready and grasped her soul, making her his prisoner.

Psylocke was now and forever a captive of the Shadow King.

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�So how do you feel now that you�re just plain old Brian Braddock again?� Meggan fastened her husband�s black tie and then smoothed down the collar of his white shirt.

�Not quite back to plain old Brian,� he smiled and he tapped his shirt where the small Union Jack medallion he wore lay against his chest. The medallion was the form his costume took when it wasn�t in use.

�So do you think I am doing the right thing,� Brian asked as he pulled on his black jacket.

�Helping to train Stark International's newest Iron Man, I should say it is exactly the right thing to do and it certainly won�t harm Braddock Enterprises public image,� Meggan said as she stood on tip-toe to kiss her husband on the cheek.

�Actually I meant handing the throne of Otherworld back to Roma but it�s nice to know my wife has such a good business head on her shoulders.�

The pair laughed as they left the bedroom and as they stepped through the doors of Braddock Manor to where a Stark International limousine was waiting for them, Brian asked his wife �so what do you think about the idea of restarting Excalibur.�

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�So you�ve been travelling to various realities and have to alter the course of events in them in order to get home,� Tony Stark took a bite of his cucumber sandwich as he talked through the bedroom door to Blink.

�The Timebroker told us that we were setting events back to what they should have been in the first place,� in the bedroom Clarice was putting on the little black dress that Mr. Stark had purchased for her �since you crashed my bath, the least you can do is escort me on my business trip today,� was what he had said to her.

�But if he is a construct of your team�s collective consciousness how would he be aware of all the events you are supposed to set right,� Tony stroked his beard in thought for a moment �and while I can�t be sure, I do seem to remember the name �Timebroker� or something similar from a report Giant-Man and the Wasp filed for the Avengers. The Destiny War was the name I believe.�

�So you think he could be lying to the team,� Clarice said as she stepped into the lounge, trailed by the hotel�s hairdresser who was desperately trying to finish her styling.

�I can�t be sure until I can check the Avengers files,� Tony gestured toward the laptop that was sitting open on a antique desk �my remote unit can�t get direct access to the information I need, it�s a little limited in that fashion.�

�Hey, I don�t think I�m limited at all,� a electronic voice buzzed out from the laptop and from a small lens on the top right hand corner of the screen a holographic image of a little girl formed sitting on the edge of the desk.

�Clarice Ferguson meet Friday,� Tony introduced �Friday is my artificial intelligence operating system although at times she does very little operating,� Tony said with a mocking tone to the computer.

The holo-image stuck out its bottom lip and pouted, its arms folded across its chest �if you�re not going to be nice I won�t tell you what I�ve discovered about our guest.�

�Thank you for the marvellous job you did Jorge,� Tony said as he hustled the hair stylist out of the room �and this is a little something extra for you,� Tony handed over a wad of notes and shut the door behind a stunned but suddenly richer stylist.

�Come on now Friday; tell us what you learnt from your hook up with Cerebro.� Tony asked in a stern voice.

�Well apart from having a major chip on his shoulder because he�s infused with,� Friday raised her hands and used a finger on each to mimic quotation marks �alien technology.�

�Can we get past the chit-chat and on the actual information,� not for the first time Tony wished that he hadn�t done such a through job in creating a personality for the holographic girl.

�Ok boss, no need to get shirty,� Friday pouted again at being told off �basically Clarice here is dead in our reality and Cerebro told me that the X-Men are aware of a reality called the Age of Apocalypse but all information regarding it can only be accessed by either Professor Xavier or Bishop.�

�So why have I been sent here, instead of back to my own reality,� Clarice asked, fidgeting uncomfortably in the little black dress.

�While Reed could probably give you a more exact answer, it seems likely that this Age of Apocalypse was an aberration of this time-line and when that was corrected you had to be sent here because technically, this is your home reality,� Tony wished not for the first time that he had paid more attention in his theoretical sciences class at MIT.

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�Fascinating, utterly fascinating,� Mr. Sinister sat in his lab, a massive underground complex that was a high-tech mix of technology and organic materials.

The focus of his interest this day was the clone of Elizabeth Braddock that had just been birthed moments ago.

He was absorbed with the gene that should have granted her the ability to draw power from the friction between realities; it was not a mutant gene but was something else entirely. The gene however was under-developed and not active, even in this copy of her original English body.

�Perhaps the twin,� Sinister mused.

He had after all never paid much attention to Brian Braddock, he was after all only human so he did not have his genetic material on file but the chance to study an active version of the gene was an opportunity that he could not afford to pass up.

�Activate retrieval units Three, Six and Eight, send them to me when they are prepared,� Sinister verbally order his complex computer systems, which immediately buzzed into life to follow its master�s commands.

Only minutes later, three newly birthed mutant clones stood before their master.

�Arclight, Riptide and Vertigo, how nice to see you all again,� Mr. Sinister said to the cloned Marauders �your task will be to capture the man known as Captain Britain, I wish him to be alive but if you find it necessary to harm him, well these things happen don�t they,� Mr. Sinister grinned.

The Marauders nodded at their master, quickly turning to leave the main chamber, walking toward the one that contained the teleportation device.

Mr. Sinister sat down again in his chair when the Marauders had left. They were useful disposable tools, it mattered little if one were captured or killed, they could easily be cloned again and again if need be.

The discovery of this new gene in the clone of Elizabeth Braddock had excited Mr. Sinister in a way that he had not felt in a long time. Perhaps he had become too obsessed with the mutant x-factor as the means to create the next generation of humanity and maybe it had been stifling his work. The Braddock gene was undeniably human but at the same time, so much more.

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�The right stabiliser feels a little loose,� above the streets of London, a new suit of Iron Man armour was being run through its paces �and the jets on the right boot are under-performing by 12%.�

The man inside the armour was not Tony Stark but rather the man who had been chosen to be the Iron Man for the United Kingdom, his name was John Anderson.

John could not have been more surprised when his name was put forward for the role of Iron Man; he was tall at 6�2� but not particularly muscular, he wore round rimmed glasses and an unruly crop of brown hair. More than one person had described him as an older Harry Potter.

He was quite happy working behind his desk every day, working on new software for his employer Tony Stark and he had originally turned down the role but the man himself had personally called him, asking as a personal favour to take on the challenge of being Iron Man.

Well how could he turn down Tony Stark, so here he was flying over the streets of London, the lenses of the Iron Man armour were compensating for his missing glasses.

After a few more minutes of flight time, during which he himself had noted several improvements that could be made to the flight software, he approached the newly built Stark Building in London�s Canary Wharf.

�So how�d you like the experience,� Jim Rhodes asked as the newest Iron Man set down on the building�s roof, the powerfully built black man waived a hand in front of his face to get rid of the dust the boot jets kicked up.

�The suit has a few glitches but that�s a software problem, the hardware is working perfectly,� John responded as he broke the seal on the helmet and pulled it off.

�Not what I asked,� Rhodes smiled as he handed John his glasses �how did you like the suit.�

�It was a highly exhilarating experience,� John said looking slightly ashamed �I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would.�

�I know that feeling,� Rhodes said as he rested a hand on the armour, a feeling of nostalgia running over him as he remembered the time he spent as Iron Man.

�We�d better go and get the suit buffed up for Tony�s big presentation, there is nothing the ladies like more than a shiny suit of armour,� Rhodes left the roof by the access door, walking down to the lab where the armour was maintained.

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The world�s press had gathered at the front of the Stark Building, the announcement had leaked out months ago but could not be confirmed with the man himself.

The news that Tony Stark was going to employ a team of Iron Men around the globe was massive news. Stark had never before allowed his technology into the hands of others why was he allowing it now, what safeguards on its use was he going to have in place, these were all questions that the gathered press waited to have answered.

�I feel a little out of place,� Clarice said as the limo slowed outside the Stark Building, the press swarming around it as it stopped, camera flashes only just dulled by the blacked out windows.

�Nonsense my dear,� Tony replied as he looked up from his laptop �a beautiful woman is never out of place,� the door which Tony was sitting next to was opened from the outside �especially when she is at my side.�

Tony got out of the limo to another cascade of flashing lights. He extended an arm and helped Clarice out of the limo, as she stepped out there was a gasp from the assembled crowd and a flurry of questions regarding her identity.

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A black whip made of hate formed in the Shadow King�s right hand, with one swift movement he brought it down on the bare back of the woman who had earned his loathing.

Betsy Braddock cried out with pain as the whip lashed her back, the Shadow King had created a wall from the psychic energy of rapists, which made her experience all the perverted things they would do to her, and fastened her to it with chains made from the minds of child killers, which made her experience all the joy and excitement the evil people took from their crimes.

He brought the whip down again on her bare back, relishing her cries. A smile formed on his face that revealed his sharp pointed teeth �I�ve been without a host for far too long,� he muttered as he took another stroke �this was far more fun in the real world.�

Suddenly the blows stopped and Betsy wondered if the Shadow King was developing a new kind of torture for her to endure. The Shadow King reached out with his mind and sent a massive burst of pain through her mind but before she blacked out into unconsciousness, she heard the Shadow King snarl out one word �Bogan.�

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Clarice sat on the podium, behind and just to the right of where Tony Stark was working the crowd of reporters and journalists.

He had answered most of their question with a precise and quick answer, and manoeuvred around the ones he didn�t want to answer with the skills of a politician who had just been caught out making an indiscretion.

�And with no more time wasted let me introduce the two men you are really here to see,� Tony raised his hands in the air, looking up he shouted �Captain Britain and the new Iron Man.�

Clarice noticed that the blonde woman in the tight silver dress sitting to her right clasped her hands together and smiled when the name Captain Britain was mentioned. Clarice had become very good at reading body language during her time with the Exiles, the other members of the team would often trust a familiar face with no questions asked but she had learned that what people said wasn�t always what they meant.

Brian lowered himself gently to the floor, using his force-field as a cushion. Flight which had seemed so natural before now seemed to need almost all of his concentration, his force-field also seemed far stronger than it had been in any of its previous incarnations.

The breeze coming of the water ruffled the mop of blonde hair that come out of the top of his mask, he had chosen to return to his original costume because he wanted a fresh start, to start again from the beginning without all the baggage that he had accumulated.

The Iron Man who had landed beside him had not done so as gracefully. When he was only a couple of inches from the ground he had just cut his boot-jets and come down with a thud, he had stumbled forward and was lucky not to have tripped over, which would not have been the front page that Tony Stark would have wanted.

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The first thing Betsy Braddock noticed as she woke was that she was not shackled or caged in anyway.

The second was that she no longer appeared to be in the Astral Plane but lying on a sawdust and sand covered floor, she forced her eyes open to see a bustling bar, a place that she had only seen once before in the memories of Professor Xavier when he had been teaching her some new telepathic techniques, it was the bar in Cairo where he had first met the man called Amahl Farouk.

Charles Xavier had just recovered his wallet from a young girl, one who would grow up to be the X-Man known as Storm, when he had been hit by a massive telepathic burst.

Xavier made his way to the bar where he had taken a seat on the opposite side of the room to where Farouk had been sitting.

The two men talked telepathically, everyone else in the bar was unaware that the two men were even having a conversation.

Farouk wanted Xavier out of Cairo; he did not want another telepath to ruin his hold on the city�s criminal element.

The two men ended up in a vicious mental battle, a battle in which Xavier had found himself victorious. As Farouk slumped dead at his table Xavier quietly left the bar, upset at the death of a man, no matter how evil he had been.

But Farouk had not died, he had instead become a being of pure psionic energy and years later he would return to plague Xavier and his allies.

Betsy Braddock painfully got to a sitting position and at the same window table hen had encountered Xavier years ago say Amahl Farouk, his appearance that of an overweight man in a white suit, a red fez perched atop his flabby head.

�So good to see you finally awake my Dear,� Farouk said as he poured himself a glass of red wine from a plain brown glass bottle �I was beginning to think that I had been a little too severe in your punishment.�

Farouk gestured for her to take a seat, as he did so a plain light brown dress formed on Betsy�s body.

�Please join me for a glass of wine; I�ve pulled the flavour from the mind of one of the finest Italian vintners.�

Betsy didn�t have the strength to resist the pull of the Shadow King, so she got to her feet and took a seat on the opposite side on the table.

�Is this some kind of new torture you�ve developed for me Farouk,� Betsy said before she greedily lapped at the wine that he been placed in front of her, it had seemed like an age since she had any taste of pleasure.

�On the contrary, new developments have come to the fore that means I can no longer spare the psychic energy required to hold you; an old pupil has returned that needs the teacher�s stern rod.�

Betsy could see the rage and anger in the Shadow King�s eyes, and for the first time she could see that it was not directed at her.

�Where am I expected to go, I�m not like you, I can�t exist on the Astral Plane like you,� Betsy protested, raising her voice ever so slightly.

�I have something that might suit you,� if the Shadow King showed any irritation at Betsy�s raised voice he didn�t show it �although you might consider it a little retro for your tastes.�

The Shadow King raised his hands and sent a burst of energy at Betsy, who immediately felt a strong pull.

The bar faded from view, showing the Shadow King in his true again, an evil grin on his face.

�Give my regard to your brother when you see him�, he said as Betsy form was pulled further away from him across the Astral Plane �and I�ll be seeing you as soon as I take care of my own business.�

Betsy screamed as she was dragged away, the Shadow King�s voice echoed in her mind, the traumatic events she had been under going would be with her for a long time to come.

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�Do you see that,� Clarice could see something in the air behind the three men who were fielding questions from the press.

�What do you see,� Meggan asked, unsure by what the woman by her side meant.

�I�m a teleporter,� Clarice remarked �a side effect of that is I can see the disturbances in the air that comes before a person appears.�

Meggan was familiar with the power of teleportation thanks to the time she had spent with Nightcrawler in Excalibur and while she had no reason to trust this woman, Brian had not made any mention of a teleporter making any appearance.

Before Meggan or Clarice could inform anyone of what they had discovered a bright white light flashed, the glare of which temporarily blinded all those present, all except John Anderson whose new Iron Man armour had automatically polarised to protect his eyes.

He turned around and found himself face to face with two women and what appeared to be a human whirlwind.

Next Issue

The newest Iron Man takes on the Marauders, the Shadow king begins his hunt for his former pupil and the return of Psylocke to the land of the living, but will she stay there for long once she is confronted by Mr. Sinister.

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