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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Things aren’t always what they seem (1st story)
A stranger in my mirror (2nd story)
First story :
Near the peak of Canada’s tallest mountain, an isolated research station, Mt. Logan Cosmic Ray, stands alone, huddling into the mountain to shelter itself against the encroaching winter. And, as the poet Robert Service once said “The Northern lights have seen queer sights…” But tonight perhaps they shall see the queerest of all…
Inside the main cabin of the research station, Dr. Walter Langkowski, a.k.a. Alpha Flight’s Sasquatch, thanks his assistant, Kortgaard, who has just been outside running additional leads for more power, and rigged another adapter. Walter says that with any luck, they should now be able to get an answer. A gruff looking man leaning against the wall spits out “I doubt it“. Walt barely suppresses his sigh of annoyance and turns to the older man telling him that he knows he doesn’t want him to be here, any more than he does. But he tells McMurdo that the constant jabs are not doing anything except slowing them all down. Walt continues, saying that everyone is tired and on edge, and that if he and McMurdo could just bury their personal hatchets, things would go a lot smoother. Colonel McMurdo points a finger at Langkowski, and rudely tells him that while he may be Canada’s greatest radiation expert, around here he is nothing more than another warm body until he proves his worth.
Interrupting the squabbling men, Megan Masterton, sitting at a console tells the men that it is about time for their intruder to show again. The rude McMurdo curses the poor girl, and once again tells her not to call the signal an intruder. However as a jagged line scratches suddenly across the console screen, Walter smiles, and says “I don’t know what else you would call it Colonel“. Standing behind Meg, Walt looks at the screen and says that it is the darnedest thing he has ever seen, as it cuts across the radiation spectrum, and on top of all that it looks like a biological rhythm – almost like a brainwave pattern. Meg asks if she should try for an increased resolution, to which Walt applauds her good idea, and Meg boosts the reception. McMurdo tells them that it is a waste of time and effort, as it is a normal 21-centimeter signal, with background noise. Walt says that it could be, but he is more inclined to think not – just like the Ministry of Defense right? After all, if they were not concerned about it, he wouldn’t be here. Walt asks Kortgaard if he is ready, to which the reply is that the adapter dish is aligned. Discreetly crossing his fingers for luck, Walt tells someone to “fire at will“.
Outside, the hastily modified dish is quiet for a moment, until…it sparks up suddenly with a flash of light. Kortgaard is s amazed, and tells his companions that they have caught something in the dish, but cannot make it out through all of the radiation present. As the being falls from the dish to the ground, someone shouts out “Holy cow, that’s the Thing!“ All of the crew rushes out into the freezing night air. Greene asks where he came from, but the silent Thing offers no response, and lies smoldering in the snow. Greene tries to lift up the Thing, but does not get far. Green asks Walt how they are going to move him. Unbeknownst to Greene, Walt’s mind is already thinking the same thing. Walt thinks that he could carry the Thing out easily, but not without blowing his secret identity.
Walt decides, and tells Greene that he will handle it. Hands on his hips, McMurdo asks Walt just what he thinks he can do. As he takes off his glasses, Walt tells the McMurdo and the others that he will be able to do something he picked up on his travels. Crouching beside the Thing, a shudder ripples through Langkowski, as if all his muscles tremble simultaneously. Walt’s form begins to swell, his clothing tighten and suddenly burst into threads, as orange fur begins to bloom over Walter Langkowski’s body. Where once stood Walter Langkowski, now stands Sasquatch! Alpha Flight’s resident scientist lifts the Thing up off the ground, to the amazement of the onlookers.
Not far away, the station doctor is enjoying a moment’s peace in his office – until one of the office walls is ripped from the building. Sasquatch excuses himself for the unorthodox entrance, but he is a little too big for conventional doors at the present. Laying the Thing on one of the tables, Sasquatch tells the doctor that he needs his attention. Minutes later, after the doctor has been bought up to speed on what is going on, the doctor tells everyone that the Thing is alive, but barely as his respiration is very shallow, and can only just hear his heartbeat. The doctor turns to Sasquatch who is sitting on the floor, and asks him, because he is probably more familiar with what Things’ normal condition is. Sasquatch tells the doctor that he isn’t necessarily, and his guess is that the Thing may have been “beaming down” from another planet when they plucked him out of the ether.
McMurdo turns to Sasquatch and asks him how he would know. Telling the Colonel that it is not any of his business, but that he had recently returned from a special consultation in New York with the Fantastic Four. And thinking to himself, Walt says that he was an unhappy witness to a tragedy of which the world at large has not yet learned. The doctor begins pushing Sasquatch and McMurdo out of his office, asking them to take their conversation elsewhere, as he would like to have a more thorough look at his patient, in private. McMurdo asks the doctor to be kept posted, as does Walt.
About an hour later Doctor Duncan sits at his microscope, after finally getting a small blood sample from the Thing when he forced a very strong needle through one of the Things gaps in his exodermic plates. The doctor thinks that he is not exactly sure what he will find, but a blood sample is usually a good start. Doctor Duncan notices something not right in the blood sample, and as he decides to call Walt he is grabbed from behind, and pulled to the floor. The last thing Doctor Duncan will ever see, is a large rocky orange hand hanging motionless above his eyes.
Meanwhile, Walt and Meg are sitting at a table somewhere, and are drinking coffee. Walt tells Megan that transforming from human to Sasquatch can, like any physical activity, be exhausting if he attempts to make too many changes in a short period of time. Megan is amazed at how everything enlarges proportionately – heart, lungs…Megan is about to ask about something else, when Kortgaard steps into the room, in a panic. He tells Walt to come quickly, as something is happening in the infirmary. The three race through the infirmary, thundering like buffalo in a stampede. Reaching the infirmary, Walt does not need his shaggy alter ego to deal with the flimsy plywood door, and he easily breaks through it, as for the former All-Pro linebacker, such barrier is no obstacle at all. Megan puts her hand over her mouth in shock, and Walt stands in front to protect her. He tells Megan that if it is Doctor Duncan, then he has been burnt to a crisp. Meg asks who - or what - could have done such a thing. With the Thing no longer on the bench, Walt guesses whoever came to collect him did it – and whoever that was, has left a subtle clue.
McMurdo enters the room, and asks Walt what is going on. Walt tells the older man that murder and kidnapping – though looks can be deceiving, as they all know. Standing at the broken wall, Walt suggests something went out through it. McMurdo tells Langkowski not to be ridiculous, as the wall was smashed inwards from the outside, same with the perimeter fence was bent in towards them. Pointing out to the snowy ground Walt tells McMurdo that he is overlooking one very important fact – namely the only set of tracks – which lead away from the station. Walt suggests that whoever made the hole in the wall flew in, but was unable to fly away carrying the Thing – but that leaves the question of the open window. Walt says that while Doctor Duncan might have liked his fresh air, it is nearly forty below zero outside. Walt tells his companions that they are looking for an attacker who possess super human powers, and guessing that he – or she was alone in the room all along, which suggests an invisibility power, someone devious enough to set false clues too…
Walter decides to follow the tracks, and after climbing a distance up the rocky cliffside over looking the research station, he notices that the “mystery guest” is not very steady on his feet – but is that because he is carrying the Thing, or because he was groggy to begin with? Assuming the latter, Walt decides that whoever it was must have been very cunning to be on the ball fast enough to set those clues. Walking, not climbing now, Walt thinks that he may have everything wrong, the open window is not “iron clad” evidence, as he is only assuming that whoever it was reached out to smash the wall in, but now that he thinks about it, Walt decides that whoever it was would have to be able to stretch that far in the first place to do that from the window. Walt thinks he is on to something – stretching, burning, super strength, and maybe invisibility…so far it sounds like he is following the whole Fantastic Four, walking in one set of boots. Walt comes to a puddle of melted ice. It is fresh, recently melted and suddenly by the look of it, as if something combusted almost instantaneously right here.
Walt realizes what has happened, and his thoughts are cut short as he races down the mountain slope, thinking what a fool he had been, after all, only one creature possess all the powers of the Fantastic Four – Walt’s words are cut short when he is blown back across the snow by an enormous explosion. Even though he was blown back quite a distance, Walt makes up the distance in a less than satisfactory fashion – by rolling back down the mountain. Dazed, battered and bruised, Walter comes to a jarring halt, a few yards short of a fire engulfing the research station. The Alphan walks slowly towards the flames, thinking that his arm might be broken, and he does not dare change to Sasquatch unless he is sure, after all, there is no telling what damage he may do to himself if a broken bone is altered in mass and shape. Walt wonders what could have happened – did the intruder circle back?
Walt hears a moan, and calls out to Megan. She lies beneath a mound of rubble, but manages to call over to Walt. She tells him it is so dark, that she cannot see where she is. At this comment, Walt thinks she must have been blinded by the blast. Even with a broken arm, Walt still proves to be the hero as he tells her he is coming, and asks her not to move around to much. She tells him that she is afraid. Walt reaches her, and rests her against his body. He asks Meg, who is burned and disfigured, what happened. Poor Meg tells him the last thing she remembers is a brilliant flash of light outside, like a super nova. She tells Walt it was so horrible, and everything seemed to catch on fire at once. McMurdo went up like a bonfire, then Kortgaard and Greene…Meg tells Walt she feels strange. Walt tells her to take it easy, that he will get her to a doctor, but Megan Masterton goes silent and her head flops back before he gets a chance to finish the sentence.
Walt tenderly lets Megan’s body slip from his grasp, and the fire that burn now in his eyes is anything but tender. Walter calls out to the monster, asking it if it can hear him. He tells the monster that he knows it is still there, otherwise he would have seen it fly away. He threatens the creature to come out before he comes after it. A figure begins to emerge from the flames, telling Walt he speaks bold words, but that his thoughts were confirmed as he tells Walt he judged him right as the only warrior amongst the group…the only one worthy enough to see the creature’s true form before he dies…
As Walt and the creature hidden in the shadows of flame walk closer to each other, Walt realizes he was right – that the Thing was never there, and it was him all along. The alien tells Walt that he was disorientated by his return to Earth, and needed to take a form that would protect him. The alien tells Walter Langkowski to “hold his tongue”, for he is about to receive a “great honor”…and as the shadowy figure walks into the light tells Walt his great honor – death at the hands of the Super Skrull ! And as the Super Skrull begins to use the Fantastic Four’s powers, Walter’s fear is diluted by his rage, as even he, as Sasquatch, may not be able to prevail against the one who possess all the powers of the Fantastic Four!
Second story :
(ca. 7-8 years ago)
In a cold night, thirteen year old Jeanne-Marie Beaubier stands on the edge of the roof of Madame DuPont’s School for girls. Standing with the moon shinning down on her from the background, Jeanne-Marie looks very much at peace. She found this special place almost by accident, many years prior to this night. As a very young girl she was sent into the dark and dusty attic to find some ancient and forgotten textbook, and she had become lost in the maze of cobwebs and clutter. Following only her instincts, and a faint glimmer of light, she had come into this wondrous new world. The world outside.
Jeanne-Marie did not tell the Sisters or her fellow students of her discovery. Jeanne-Marie was nervous, introverted and terribly shy, and she welcomed the escape that the high secret place atop the roof offered. Tonight though, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier seeks a different kind of escape…
“Forgive me Heavenly Father. Forgive your poor daughter this greatest sin“, Jeanne-Marie says her prayer, and the girl steps off the edge of the building. She had desired this day to end a life of mounting miseries. What happens next however, she can only call a miracle!
Jeanne-Marie does not plummet to her death, but as she nears the ground, her arms suddenly outstretch, and she flies across the school yard, at a speed which is almost as astonishing as the actual flight itself. In mere seconds, she is more than a mile above the lights of the sleeping city, LaVelle, Quebec, and joy explodes in her heart.
It is difficult to maintain that joy however, and six hours later Jeanne-Marie waits on the hard bench outside the office of the school’s headmistress. But the wonder of her discovery still sings through her veins, banishing all previous despair. That is, until she enters the headmistress’ office. When telling her amazing story to the sour, disbelieving Sister Anne, Jeanne-Marie makes a mistake. Grasping for words beyond her experience, Jeanne-Marie tells her story as if it were one of divine intervention. Sister Anne hears not wonder, but blasphemy, and a story to be most severely punished by.
Jeanne-Marie’s punishment does not end with physical punishment, as in the chapel, many hours later, the kind-hearted Father Tyrel may have sent poor Jeanne-Marie to the evening meal, had Sister Anne not forbidden it. That night, Jeanne-Marie, aching, tired and hungry, chokes back bitter tears, and contemplates the meals still to be missed, the classes somehow to be made up, all which will be lost while she sits on her knees and prays in the chapel. For a thousand tears take a long time to say. Madame DuPont’s school for girls is one of the last of its kind in Canada, perhaps the entire world. It staunchly clings to the harsh, cruel ways of another century entirely.
That the school may one-day find it’s way into the twentieth century is of little solace to Jeanne-Marie though.
Entering the communal bathroom, Jeanne-Marie’s brain still burns with fires that may never be quenched, for hers is a frail and tender psyche, ill suited to this environment. She looks away from the mirror, and asks her mother and father of how they could die and leave her in this awful place – she was just a baby! Poor Jeanne-Marie of course can get no response, and wonders what she may have done that would let her be punished like this. “You did nothing Jeanne-Marie“. With those words spoken, Jeanne-Marie becomes startled. She looks up to the mirror, wondering who said those words – and sees her reflection, smiling back at her. No longer is the reflection a confused child in despair, but a beautiful, confident person. The voice speaks again, telling Jeanne-Marie that she is her friend, and brings her a very special gift…freedom!
(three days later)
A tired looking Jeanne-Marie stumbles into the school yard. She does not go unnoticed however, as a group of girls sees her. One of the girls says she must be crazy to come back, as Sister Anne will kill her. Another cruelly says that she probably had to come back as no one else would take her. As Jeanne-Marie tries to pass the group, one of the girls tells Jeanne-Marie that Sister Anne is ‘just about having kittens!’. Another asks Jeanne-Marie if she is wearing make-up. Jeanne-Marie, confused, tells the girl she does not know, and breaks through the crowd, running away asking to be left alone.
Poor Jeanne-Marie is not left alone, by her peers, or her superiors. Sister Anne stands stoutly before Jeanne-Marie and tells her that she did not want her in this school from the beginning, as she has the look of the Devil about her. The nasty Sister tells Jeanne-Marie, who has her eyes looking to the floor, that this is inexcusable, and asks Jeanne-Marie what she has to say for herself. Jeanne-Marie tells Sister Anne that she has nothing to say, except that she is terribly sorry. “That is all you ever say“ is Sister Anne’s response, and pulling out a cane, tells Jeanne-Marie she has an imp inside of her, and now she is going it drive it out of her! Jeanne-Marie stares at the cane, frightened and pleads...
During the months and years that follows, things become dull again around Madame DuPont’s school for girls, and Jeanne-Marie never seeks out her secret place. When she looks in mirrors, she guards herself, intent on only seeing her plain face reflected back at her in the glass. Until one day…
(ca 2-3 years ago)
Dressed very prim and proper albeit plain, wearing glasses and her long hair tied up in a bun, Jeanne-Marie, looking about thirty-six, not eighteen, stands before Sister Anne. Still as awful as ever, Sister Anne tells Jeanne-Marie that she asked her to meet here with her because she wanted to tell her how pleased she was with her progress. After all, it has been five years since…the incident, and in that time, Sister Anne says, Jeanne-Marie has grown very much in mind and spirit. For those reasons, Sister Anne says, is why she has accepted Jeanne-Marie’s application to join the teaching staff. Jeanne-Marie thanks the Sister. After climbing the rickety stairs to the top of the school, Sister Anne brings Jeanne-Marie into a room. She tells the younger woman that the room was used by Father Tyrel, and that he died in that very bed. Sister Anne tells Jeanne-Marie she has made arrangements for her to use it, once she is on staff, though the lock on the door, of course, will be removed.
Minutes later, Jeanne-Marie is alone, and taking off her glasses she sits on the bed. She thinks that this is almost too good to be true, that all the hardship was worth it - that she now has everything she ever dreamt of. “Have you?“ a voice asks. The voice continues, telling Jeanne-Marie that she has a cold little room, in a cold little school. The voice asks if that is enough for her – for one who flew? “Enough for one who could have everything?“ Jeanne-Marie turns to the mirror – and her reflection grins back at her. Jeanne-Marie screams ‘No!’ and throws a book at the mirror, shattering the reflection, and the glass. She lies down on the bed, pleading with the unknown to be left alone.
But Jeanne-Marie’s pleading is a pitiful, crumbling resistance, and within the hour, Jeanne-Marie looks remarkably changed, and is actually smiling. Dressed very trendy, she is now at a fashionable nightspot in Montreal. She is the ‘new face’ on the scene and Jeanne-Marie finds herself learning the social rituals of modern man…a handsome man had just told Jeanne-Marie his star sign, Cancer, and Jeanne-Marie replies “So you are a cancer? But, Cheri, that must be so painful for you…“.
As the evening wears on, Jeanne-Marie’s walk outside leads her to less desirable areas of the city. Passing an alleyway, two men watch the innocent Jeanne-Marie. One of the men tells the other that she is not carrying a purse. The other replies that they should grab her anyway, as it will be fun…searching her. Aurora thinks how exciting her adventure into the city at night is, so exciting in fact that she gets a sense of imminent danger just walking down the street. As if on cue, a startled Jeanne-Marie is grabbed into the alleyway, the men telling her that they are not going to hurt her…much. One of the men tells Jeanne-Marie that if she plays nice, they can all have fun. More intelligent than she appears, Jeanne-Marie tells the man that she is not interested in his kind of “fun”. Jeanne-Marie does not even move, and her assailant is knocked off his feet, with a cry to go with his fall.
Not far away, a mysterious man stands on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette. He thinks he felt something odd about the “frail” he passed a couple of blocks away, and bets that the man on the ground did not even see the punch coming. The man thinks Jeanne-Marie’s bag of tricks is empty as she has let her guard down now. The second assailant approaches Jeanne-Marie, calling her “chickie” he tells Jeanne-Marie that he doesn’t know what she did, but tells her that it is going to get very bad for her now, and pulls out a knife, pointing it at her. The man from around the block grabs the assailant by the shoulder, and asks him if his mother ever told him that it is rude to point? The mysterious man pins the assailant up against the wall, and after a “Snikt” is heard, says “Especially when there’s some folk in the world who might just point back“, and edges his claw towards the mans nose.
Clearly frightened, the crook pleads “No contest“, and Jeanne-Marie’s rescuer asks the astonished girl how she is. Jeanne-Marie tells her savior that she is fine, and asks who he is. Taking his cowboy hat off, he reveals pointy dark hair. He smiles a reassuring smile, and tells Jeanne-Marie that his real name is nobody’s business, and that most people these days call him…Wolverine! Half an hour later, after the would-be muggers have been turned over to the police. Sitting in a café, Wolverine tells Jeanne-Marie that he thinks his friend Jimmy Hudson would be interested in her, and asks the intrigued young woman if she is up for a quick trip to Ottawa. Deep within her, a small voice cries out “no!”, but it goes unheard, and smiling, Jeanne-Marie tells Wolverine that she is “Up” for anything!


[User]
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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Blood Battle (1st story)
Family Ties (2nd story)
First story :
New York, New York, the second largest city of the world has nearly 11 million inhabitants, which is half the population of Canada. Today, across the Brooklyn Bridge, words are spoken and papers are to be signed which will reduce Canada’s population by two – and at the same time increasing New York’s number by the same. Inside a stately old apartment block in Brooklyn Heights, James Hudson is conferring with his possible future landlord, about the possibility of moving in. Mac thinks it seems perfect, signs the contract, and thinks to himself that two weeks ago he was an unemployed petro-chem researcher with absolutely no prospects, and now he is an executive researcher with Roxxon Oil! As the two men leave the apartment block, Kevin the landlord tells Mac that Brooklyn Heights in general attracts a very nice class of people, and that he thinks he will like the place. Mac jokes about two Canadians lowering property value.
The “long arm of coincidence” is about to touch James MacDonald Hudson, for as he leaves the building…he does not go unnoticed by a man walking into the building. The woman with the man is in the middle of a conversation with her companion, though his attention has turned to Mac as he walks by. The blond man tells his friend, Bernie, to hold up a moment, for while James Hudson may seem like just another stranger being passed on the street, Steve Rogers is not just any other person. Bernie asks Steve what is wrong, as the man looks innocent enough. Steve Rogers, the man who is secretly Captain America, agrees with Bernie, but something tells him that the they have met before, and that there is something about the dark-haired man that makes Steve Rogers feel that he is accustomed to wielding great power. Captain America continues to wonder whom the familiar man really is…for a moment, anyway.
In a secluded alley not far away, James Hudson has begun to undress himself, and thinks to himself that it really makes him feel like a super hero changing clothes in a New York alleyway. Mac of course does not have a convenient cape-pouch in to which he can store his civilian clothes, and so as he flies up from the alleyway into the New York sky, he carries with him a duffle bag. He decides that it is not very romantic, and wonders if he will ever get the chance to ask Spider-Man what he does with his civvies. James thinks that idea is quite funny. Though he met most of the American Super Heroes a few months ago back at the amnesty declaration for the Hulk…but he had no idea that he would be moving to New York, and possibly leaving behind Canada forever! He thinks that before the year ends even he may be fighting side-by-side with one of the great Avengers! Continuing across New York, Mac thinks that no so long ago he would have seen this move to New York as an opportunity to quit being a super hero for good. But now, he thinks of all the potential adventures in living and working in New York. ‘Speaking of adventures’ he wonders how the rest of Alpha Flight is doing...
The rest of Alpha Flight are mostly doing all right at this current time, except for Dr. Walter Langkowski – Sasquatch. At this moment, Walt is running for his life, from the powerful alien, the Super Skrull. At the top of Mount Logan, Canada’s tallest mountain, Walt is near the summit, however, the freezing air is rarified, and over-exerted lungs burn from cold and oxygen starvation.
As the Super Skrull shoots rays of flame at Walt, he manages to dodge them, but thinks the alien is playing with him. Walt manages to hide behind a rock for a minute, and thankfully for the Alphan, the Super Skrull does not see him. Walt thinks that this was something less than the holiday in the Rockies he was expecting, and he recalls how he got in this mess.
(flashback)
The Ministry of Defense sent him here to check out some strange readings at the Mount Logan Cosmic Ray Research Station. The readings seemed to suggest an almost biological rhythm. Walt and the other scientists constructed a makeshift booster antenna and, to his surprise, plucked from the ether, the Fantastic Four member known as the Thing. To Walt’s knowledge, the Thing had been off-world, though in a matter of hours being back on Earth at this station, he was kidnapped and the center doctor burned to death. Walt followed the kidnappers trail, though as he began to work out what was really going on, it was too late, and the station was destroyed by a huge explosion. The blast knocked Walt down the side of the mountain, breaking one of his arms, and leaving him in no shape to fight the real villain of the mess, for it had never truly been the Thing…but the Super Skrull.
(present)
The Super Skrull finds Walt, and as he crushes the rock the Alphan shelters beneath, he tells him that he grows tired of this game. He asks the Alphan if he has such little love of life that he would accept death with such a paltry resistance? The Super Skrull tells Walt that he is a warrior, and craves the hunt, the chase – and that Walter survives only to amuse him. Pure instinct causes Walter’s aching muscles into action. He hurls himself down into the mountain, hoping that the snow will cushion his fall. It does, only a little too well, as Walt begins to slip through the soft snow, as it was deeper than he thought. Walt falls through the snow, and eventually there is no trace of him, and the Super Skrull cannot find him. The alien curses the thousand dying suns and is not impressed that his “kill” has escaped.
Though as the Super Skrull fumes, flying above the snow where Walt disappeared down, the Super Skrull does not notice the snow stirring. The snow cracks, three times, and from beneath the surface, a sound is made. The Super Skrull notices the movement of the snow now, but is unsure at what to make of it. The muffled sound slowly grows, and building in volume and intensity, a snarl, a roar of anger and pain. Suddenly, the snow erupts! Transformed into Sasquatch, the giant beast, Walt leaps from the snow, grabbing Super Skrull, and taking him by surprise he throws him across the snow. The Super Skrull saw Sasquatch once before, when he entered Earth through the cosmic ray dish, and although it was hazy, he knows not all is as it seems. The Super Skrull has witnessed the awesome transformation of man into beast, and was experiences the good-natured joviality that is Sasquatch’s trademark…but that is not here now. Animal savagery gleams in the beast’s ruby eyes – this is indeed Sasquatch, and Walter Langkowski is nowhere to be found.
No stranger to the art of shape-shifting, the Super Skrull realizes what has happened, and the alien realizes too that Walter’s broken arm must have been healed by the transformation, as Sasquatch is not afflicted. But the Skrull thinks that the pain of broken bones altering shape must have driven Walt to madness! The alien decides he must stop the beast quickly and permanently, and using the combined powers of Mr. Fantastic and the Thing, the Skrull outstretches two of his arms, striking Sasquatch with full strength. However, as Sasquatch rips a chunk of land from the mountain, Super Skrull realizes that even his full strength may not be enough to stop the Alphan in this state.
Using Mr. Fantastic’s powers, the Skrull barely manages to dodge the huge piece of land that Sasquatch throws at him. The Super Skrull thinks that he is lucky his powers exceed those of the Fantastic Four, whose powers he imitates. As he is stronger than the Thing, and can stretch further than Mr. Fantastic, the Super Skrull decides there is one power that Sasquatch cannot hope to beat – his anti-matter blast. However, Super Skrull did not expect the shower of snow courtesy of Sasquatch raining over him. The Super Skrull was saved by his invisible forcefield, which did not allow the snow to douse his flame again. The Super Skrull decides he must be careful not to underestimate Sasquatch, as some of Walter’s human intellect seems to have remained.
Super Skrull starts to charge up, and his power builds. As he is about to release it however, he is struck by pain. His blood boils, and he keels over, in unbearable pain. Sasquatch, sensing his opponents’ weakness moves in for the kill. The Super Skrull musters what strength he can and crawls across the snow, trying to out-distance Sasquatch. But the Super Skrull is not fast enough, and as Sasquatch draws back his hand, ready to strike, it is more of a weapon than hand. The claws, razor sharp, talons, glint in the dim light of the Aurora Borealis. But before Sasquatch can strike the alien however, the Super Skrulls’ eyes light up.
Sasquatch is frozen in movement, and the Skrull decides that it has bee many years since he last used his hypnotic powers, but feels this time calls for them. Sasquatch is to stand frozen, until the Super Skrull decides to let him go. Looking up at Sasquatch, Super Skrull admits the pain in his blood is lessening, but his mind remains in turmoil. The Skrull wonders that he may be able to free Sasquatch of the madness that clouds his mind, so his human intellect can shed some light on his own problems. And so the alien begins to tell Walter his story.
(flashback)
The last few hours that the Super Skrull remembers…or was it days…or years... he was searching for a highly refined cavorite crystal, and the trail led him to New York. The Super Skrull needed the power within the crystal to power his ship he intended to build that could return him to his home world. However, there are those that sought to stop him - Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel. While the Skrull battled Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel erected an electro-net above them, which blocked the signal from his home world and the power beam that boosted the Super Skrull’s natural powers to super-human levels. While the Super Skrull was in contact with the crystal, the blocking effect was cut and bathed in a sudden surge of power, the Super Skrull became a living space-warp…and then time itself ended.
(partially flashback)
While dimly at first, the Super Skrull’s words do pass into Walter Langkowski’s mind. With the agony of the transformation past, and the hypnotic suggestion of the Super Skrull calming his berserker urges, Walter slowly takes over the mind of the Beast. Reasserting himself, Walter finds that the longer the Super Skrull drones on, the clearer pictures become. And a theory begins to form. Logically, Walter thinks that, as it was the powerful beam from the Skrull’s homeworld which fired the mysterious energies of the cavorite crystal, the Super Skrull was probably transported back along the beam, all the way home to the Andromeda Galaxy. There, the Super Skrull simply became another random pulse in the arcane mechanisms, until the destruction of the Skrull homeworld by the planet-devouring Galactus! Somehow, this triggered the beam, still homed on Earth, and the Super Skrull’s atoms were sent back to become ensnared in the van Allen Belts.
(present)
Walt thinks that this explains the sudden pain Super Skrull is experiencing, as all those months in the radiation belts must have contaminated him, and the Super-Skrull is now suffering from some kind of super-leukemia. Walt suddenly turns his attentions back to the Super Skrull’s words, and he receives an order from the alien to help him return to his homeworld so that his race’s advanced technology can cure his agony. Walt thinks to himself that he will be only too glad to “help” him… and tells the alien that he will obey.
So, as the first light of a cold dawn trickles into the area, robot-like and silent, Sasquatch sifts through the rubble of the fire blasted Mount Logan Cosmic Ray Research Station. And as the distant winter sun hangs over the mountain, a strange alien artifact is being erected. Super Skrull orders Walt to align the antennae groupings like he instructed him, as without the additional power boost of a refined cavorite crystal, he must rely upon precise focusing to transmit himself back to the throneworld. Making final adjustments on a panel, the Skrull tells Walt that the natural rotation of the Earth will carry his projector into the correct alignment with the Skrull galaxy, and at that instant he shall fire himself homeward.
Sasquatch stands motionless at the Skrull’s side, and the alien wonders what will become of him. After all, the beast’s “puny” intellect has proven so weak, he has not even needed to periodically reinforce his hypnotic control. The Super Skrull decides that because Sasquatch aided him, albeit unwillingly, he shall not slay him, but rather leave him frozen here cold, and alone until – suddenly, the Skrull is overcome by pain again, at that moment, Walter Langkowski drops his ruse, and uses the moment to grab the Skrull and throws him onto the projector. Walt tells the Skrull that he knew if he just played "possum" for long enough, that he would have another attack. Walt tells the Super Skrull that his game is over, and is going “bye-bye”. The Skrull panics, as the projector is not properly aligned. Walt knows that, and pulls down the control. With that, a sudden flash of light is seen, and the sound of the Super Skrull screaming is heard, before the alien vanishes completely.
The soul-searing anguish of the Super Skrull ripples across the peaks of the mountains, but Walter Langkowski goes unmoved. Walt decides that his plan worked, and the Super Skrull’s atoms are now scattered back across the van Allen Belts, soaking up in radiation. Walt decides that if the Skrull ever manages to get back together, he should last about five minutes before the cancer destroys him. Walt thinks that patting himself on the back for finding a way to beat the Skrull hardly makes up for the deaths of Megan Masterton and the four men who were up on the mountain for simple research. Hardly something to die for.
As he lumbers down the mountain, Walt decides he has found something out about Sasquatch he is not too fond of. Bruce Banner lived for years in the shadow of his monstrous alter ego the Hulk, until he found some way to tame him. Walt hops that this hasn’t been a warning that his life is going to take a turn in the other direction. What if he should ever loose control of Sasquatch again….
(several days later)
The grim thoughts have not entirely left the mind of the Alphan when, a little less than a week later, Walter Langkowski returns to his home base in Vancouver also the city where Walt was born. Today, Walt lives some miles from his mother’s house in one of the apartments across False Creek, from the city center. He calls out ‘Honey, I’m home!’. Though since the departure of his wife and son nearly five years ago, Walt has taken a slightly sardonic delight in calling out that prosaic delight sit-com greeting each evening as he returns to his apartment. He has neither expected nor received any reply…until now.
A figure stands in a doorway, illuminated by the light, and says ‘Bonjour ma chere Walter’. Walt is understandably startled. Until Aurora steps out. He asks his teammate what she is doing here, and how she got in. Aurora walks over to him, and tells him that he left his bedroom window open, which is an easy egress for one who can fly. As to what she is doing here…Aurora tells Walt that she has terminated her partnership with her brother – and so she has come home…to him…. As Aurora snuggles up to Walter Langkowski, an inviting thought briefly flashes across his mind…what will the rest of Alpha Flight think of this ?
Second story :
In a top-secret training room beneath Parliament Hill, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier has just completed another training exercise. Now, James Mac Donald Hudson has some very shocking news for the Department H trainee. Holding up a newspaper clipping, James Hudson says to Jeanne-Marie that he doesn’t think there is much room for doubt. ‘Sapristi’ is all she replies. Dressed in his uniform, Canada’s premiere super hero, Weapon Alpha, tells the astonished Jeanne-Marie that he checked records of her birth and adoption as soon as Heather, his wife, spotted this photo in the newspaper. He tells Jeanne-Marie that the man in the photo, Jean-Paul Martin, is her twin brother. Jeanne-Marie asks Hudson how such a thing could be possible, and wonders why they weren’t both adopted by the same family.
Hudson tells Jeanne-Marie that it is here that things get a little hazy. It would appear that shortly after their parents were killed, Jean-Paul was taken by their mother’s cousins, the Martin’s. But because they couldn’t afford to adopt both twins, so, James continues, they arranged to have Jeanne-Marie raised at Madame DuPont’s school for girls, which is Government subsidized.
Soon after that, Louis Martin was posted to Northern Quebec, as he was with the RCMP, so the Martin’s lost contact with Jeanne-Marie. Jeanne-Marie thinks this is fantastic. Mac continues, telling Jeanne-Marie that in a “nasty little twist of fate”, when Jean-Paul was around six, the Martin’s were also killed in an accident. Jean-Paul was taken in by a foster home, and grew up unaware of his history. Still amused at this startling revelation, Jeanne-Marie asks the head of Department H when they could contact him.
Hudson must have forgotten to mention it to Jeanne-Marie, and tells her that agents of Department H made contact with Jean-Paul about two months ago, and he is on his way here even as they speak, probably pulling up at Parliament Hill right now even! The woman code-named Aurora leaps off of the equipment and says ‘What?!?’
Outside Parliament Hill, sitting in a car, Jean-Paul thinks how strange it is to find himself summoned here – not as strange as his answering the summons however, especially as not too long ago he would have came with a bomb under his arm. As Jean-Paul leaves the car, Gary Cody, official government liaison to Department H comes over to him. Calling him “Mr. Martin” he apologizes for not meeting Jean-Paul at the airport. Jean-Paul tells Gary Cody that his name is “Beaubier” and that he has worn the wrong name for long enough now. He asks where the “Hudson person” is that he was supposed to meet.
Inside one of Parliament Hill’s long corridors, Gary Cody asks Jean-Paul if he wouldn’t mind speaking in English for him, though “Government types” are supposed to be bilingual, Gary says, his French doesn’t get past a few voulez vous’s and an avec or two. Still speaking French, Jean-Paul tells Gary Cody that he prefers his native tongue, and that he will just have to keep up. Gary sarcastically thinks to himself that Jean-Paul is a real friendly type and wonders if Mac knows what he is getting into.
In an elevator, Jean-Paul notices how deep down it is going. He tells Gary Cody he wasn’t aware Parliament Hill had such deep foundations. Cody tells Jean-Paul that officially they do not. As the elevator comes to a halt, the doors open to reveal a bustling room full of scientist and technicians. Gary Cody welcomes Jean-Paul to Department H. Walking into an office, Gary Cody tells Jean-Paul that before he explodes with questions, he introduces him to the man he wanted to meet – James MacDonald Hudson. Calling Jean-Paul “M’sieur Martin” he welcomes him into his office. Jean-Paul tells Mac that, like he told Cody, his name is “Beaubier”.
Jean-Paul puts his bag down, and sits on a chair, crossing his legs and folding his arms. Leaning on his desk, Mac tells Jean-Paul that he is surprised he took his true name so quickly. Jean-Paul says that he has no great love for the Martin family, and if he is a Beaubier, let him be a Beaubier. He asks Mac who he is and why he was ordered here. Mac says to Jean-Paul that before he tells him anything about Department H he wants to tell Jean-Paul something about himself…such as how a mediocre skier became a world champion gold-medallist shortly after he learned he could fly… Jean Paul looks at Mac as if his secret was out.
Mac tells Jean-Paul not to look so surprised, and while at first he wasn’t certain Jean-Paul possessed super speed and flight, he soon checked his sports record – and Jean-Paul’s rise to championship coincides exactly with his last year of puberty – precisely when mutant powers manifest themselves. Mac reckons that it must have been a terrific time for Jean-Paul, it was as if suddenly the world had become his oyster, and if he had to cheat a little to gain the pearl…well, Mac tells Jean-Paul he knows he had no trouble justifying that. Jean-Paul went on using his powers, growing more and more famous, and when he turned pro, more and more rich.
Mac tells Jean-Paul that he had it all – money, fame and women…Mac thinks that the woman did not interest Jean-Paul all that much, but guesses it is probably because like a lot of jocks, the winning is all that matters. Getting to the point, Mac tells Jean-Paul that he invited him here to do something a little more worthwhile with his powers. He tells the French-Canadian mutant that he is gathering together a select group of very special people, the kind of people that Canada – the World – needs, to fight the good fight. Mac tells Jean-Paul that he wants him to be one of them.
Smiling, Jean-Paul asks Mac if he is joking, and while he may have read him very well, Jean-Paul asks Mac what makes him think that the man he described would be interested in joining the little “club” of his. A voice coming from behind Jean-Paul says ‘Perhaps because I already have…brother’. Jean-Paul leaps up from his chair, and is shocked to see the young woman entering the room. Jeanne-Marie tells Jean-Paul that it has been a long time. The twins come face-to-face and Jean-Paul thinks it is fantastic – like looking in some kind of strange distorting mirror. Smiling, Jeanne-Marie asks her brother if he agrees that he will accept James Hudson’s offer to join them.
Jean-Paul turns to Mac and tells him he will not, as this must be some kind of trick! He asks how he could have a twin and not know about it? Mac tells the stunned Jean-Paul that he didn’t even know his name was “Beaubier” until eight weeks ago, that this is no trick. Jeanne-Marie extends her hand, and asks her brother to greet her, as family should! As their hands reach out for each other Jeanne-Marie tells her brother that they have much to talk of, and Jean-Paul agrees...


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Set-Up (1st story)
Unleash the Beast (2nd story)
First story :
Moosejaw, Saskatchewan. The home of Roger Bochs, and he is receiving a very rare visit at his oft unvisited home. The quadriplegic Bochs is fare welling his guest – Delphine Courtney. He thanks the mysterious woman for her visit, and tells her he will be in touch. Delphine tells Bochs not to take too long, as the “fires of vengeance” dwindle with too much contemplation. Roger tells Delphine that in twenty-four hours he will be ready to join her. Outside of Roger’s home, Delphine walks away, thinking that she has four down, and one more to go, and so far the plan is going along perfectly.
Back inside, Roger contemplates Delphine – such a beautiful woman, yet cold, and Bochs is shocked at what she is proposing. Roger thinks that Delphine is very clever, as she broached the whole matter with such confidence that she was sure he would accept. Bochs wonders whom of the others she has recruited…Flashback? Puck? Roger decides he has to tell Guardian what is going on, and he rings Parliament Hill, wanting to speak to Gary Cody, Alpha Flight’s liaison. He is abruptly told that Gary Cody is on vacation, and is hung up on. Roger wonders how it is that anything gets done in this country, and decides that if he cant reach Gary to get to Guardian, then, pulling back a curtain revealing a large robot of sorts, Bochs tells the robot that it is up to them...
Meanwhile, in the city of Ottawa…Heather McNeil Hudson, wife of Alpha Flight’s leader, Guardian, sits on a suitcase and looks around at her empty home. Heather is surprised at how quickly everything happened. First Mac got the job offer from Roxxon Oil in New York, then they found an apartment, and now she is about to move there! Heather thinks about how she and Mac moved in just one month after they married – ten years ago! Heather wonders where all the years went…and memories remind her. As she walks through the barren apartment, she remembers telling Mac how perfect it was, and her husband replying that with a few coats of paint it should be okay. Then another memory – asking Logan if he was here to fight with Mac again and her friend telling her that he was here to make peace. Another room, and Heather remembers the discussion about getting pregnant – she told Mac she has eight million brothers and sisters, and he told her that if the Hudson line stopped with him, it didn’t matter as long as he had her. By the fireplace, and Mac asking Heather if she was sure this stuff was supposed to burn. Another room, and Wolverine telling Mac that he is virtually invulnerable, that there was no such thing as a fair fight anymore… and a more recent memory – of Alpha Flight deciding to stay together, without government sanction. Heather tells herself that it is time for her to leave.
As she walks out of the apartment, the memories still stir, so many of them, so much life – and she is not even thirty! Now a new life awaits in New York. Heather meets with her landlord, and gives him the next four months rent in cash, in case they need to come back before their lease runs out. Mr. LaPierre tells Heather that he is sure she won’t, and wishes her luck in New York. Heather thanks him, and tells him she might see him again sometime. Outside, Heather says goodbye to her car, as Mac told her no one in his or her right mind would be crazy enough to drive in New York! But Heather was told Mr. LaPierre would find it a new home.
A few minutes later, Heather is in a taxi, and on her way to the airport. Heather notices how witty she is today, and wonders if it is because she is nervous moving from Canada to the capital of the World! It’s like saying she’s never tried alcohol before, and that she thinks she will start with a week-long binge. Just over two hours later, Heather is onboard a plane headed for New York, and Heather feels something like vertigo tug at her soul…a premonition that suddenly swells – and then is gone as she sinks deeper into her seat.
In New York, and in an office in the World Trade Center. Five very unique individuals are gathered in a boardroom, and already they are arguing. Alec Thorn, a.k.a. Smart Alec has already begun to complain, and tells the others that he doesn’t like it at all. Hands on her hips, the only woman present, Lillian Crawley, also known as Diamond Lil tells Smart Alec that he never likes it, that the whole time in Gamma Flight they were together, she never heard him say two words that weren’t complaints. Smart Alec tells Diamond Lil that he didn’t invite her into this conversation, and that if he wanted her opinion he would give it to her! Lil folds her arms and tells Thorne that if it was supposed to be funny, he was wasting his time, as she doesn’t have a sense of humor.
Sitting on the table, the former Beta Flight member known as Flashback tells the egocentric Smart Alec and the aloof Diamond Lil to tone it down, as they have only been in the room fifteen minutes! Roger Bochs comments on how it seems like Lil and Alec have hated each other for years. He tells them he can see why they never made it into Beta Flight. Gardner Munroe tells Bochs that he is no prize either. He asks the others who the laughing boy by the window is, and why does he not want to show his face? The young man by the window tells the other man that it is for his benefit, as some people find his face disturbing. As Wildchild turns around, it is obvious why. Flashback holds his hand up, and tells everyone that it is bad enough he has to hang around with whiners and gimps, but he draws the line at freaks. Kyle Gibney tells the older man that he wishes he didn’t say that – as now he has forced him to rip his throat out!
Wildchild grabs onto Gardner’s hair, and has his claws ready – until Delphine Courtney enters the room, ordering them to stop. Delphine tells Gibney to let Flashback go, or else he will find himself back in the hole she pulled him out of so quickly, he wont know what hit him. There is a moment of electric tension in the air…Delphine thinks that the influencer is working perfectly, heightening the former Beta and Gamma Flight members jealousies and phobias, priming them. Delphine asks the five super humans to be seated so they can get on with the task at hand. However, as they obviously have not taken the matter of introducing themselves already, Delphine does the duty for them. World-class engineer and mechanic – Box. Diamond Lil, indestructible giantess. The man who can summon his future - Flashback. The man with a computer brain - Smart Alec, and a resident killing machine – Wildchild. Smart Alec tells Delphine now that with the amenities out of the way perhaps she could enlighten them as to the details of her project, the reason she asked them all to join her. Delphine tells Alec Thorne that all in good time –, as there is one more introduction to make.
A door opens, and a wheelchair bound man enters. He tells Delphine that he will take care of that himself. He introduces himself as Jerome Jaxon, the man who summoned them all to New York. Jerry tells them all that they must have a basic idea of the plan, which he has conceived, and must agree with it, otherwise they wouldn’t be here right now. He tells them that they were all given a glimpse of the gold at the rainbow’s end – only to have that treasure snatched away from them directly, or indirectly, by the actions of one man – James MacDonald Hudson! Jaxon tells everyone that that is why they are gathered here – that they will crush his dreams as he crushed theirs. Jaxon tells the others that he proposes nothing less than…the destruction of Alpha Flight, and the subjugation and annihilation of James Hudson…the man called Guardian!
Elsewhere in New York, the man in question, Guardian flies high in the air, as he heads for the airport. He thinks that Heather’s plane should have gotten in about forty minutes ago, and he is late because of a directors meeting at work. He knows Heather will understand, but still, it is something less than an ideal welcome to the U.S! After a quick change of clothes, Mac is at an information desk, and tells the clerks that he was supposed to meet his wife here, he wonders if they saw her. Mac describes her, and one of the clerks tells him that she did not see her. The other one mentions that he did – though not exactly. Mac is a little confused, but the clerk tells him it was the woman who met his wife that got his attention – a very striking, tall brunette. The clerk hands Mac a card she dropped, telling him that she made quite a spectacle of dropping it, as if she wanted to be sure someone noticed.
The card reads “Roxxon. Jerome Jaxon, Associate vice. Pres.”. Mac stares in shock at the small white card, which now feels very very heavy. The name seems engraved in letters of living flame. Mac runs out, in shock  - after all these years! He takes barely a moment to suit up and put on the psycho-cybernetic helmet before he takes to the sky once again. A sudden flare of electro-magnetic energy rips his outer clothing to shreds. Within seconds, a bright golden comet streaks across the skies, over Queens and Brooklyn, and Mac thinks that Cunningham, the man who held him back for the directors meeting must have been in on this. It must have been a deliberate delay so that the mystery woman could get Heather. Mac is headed straight for Roxxon Plaza to beat the truth out of him – but before he can follow up on that thought, Guardian hears a voice in his head.
The voice tells Mac that he knows he can hear him, as he knows the frequencies on which his helmet operates. The voice tells James that he has his wife, and that he is holding her in an office on the forty-third floor of the number one World Trade Center, on the east side. The voice tells Mac that if he comes and surrenders, she will be release unharmed. Mac doesn’t think so. He remembers how Jaxon messed with his life once before…and if he has so much as breathed on Heather…he will kill him! Mac spots what looks like the office the signal is coming from, and as he doesn’t want to risk glass going onto the street, so he just melts his way through.
Mac calls out to Jaxon, letting him know he is here. Jaxon’s face appears on a television screen, and Jaxon tells Mac he is perceptive as ever, that the years have not changes him. Jaxon apologizes for the fact they cannot make the reunion more personal…Mac tells him, he means that he is too afraid to come and face him. Mac tells Jaxon he wont ask how he found out he was Guardian, that he just wants to know where Heather is. Jaxon tells Mac he will do better than that, that he will escort him, and asks Mac to step into the private elevator. Entering the elevator, Mac thinks there is no way anyone can hurt him with his battleshield on, so he may as well play along. But Mac admits that the full impact of it is getting to him. As the elevator descends, Mac thinks that it must have been a set-up all along, the job offer, everything! And all to lure him away from the rest of Alpha Flight. That won’t work, Mac thinks, as he has already contacted the rest of Alpha Flight – the elevator door opens…and Mac says ‘Uh-oh…’.
Standing in the room, Diamond Lil, Box, Wildchild, Flashback and Smart Alec are there! Diamond Lil welcomes Guardian, and tells him Heather is nearby. Box tells him that of course he will have to get through them, to which Smart Alex adds they have no intention of allowing that though. Wildchild tells him they are derelict in their duties as hosts, and reintroduces themselves to Guardian – as Omega Flight! And Flashback and his past and future selves tell Mac they are going to kill him!
Second story :
In a laboratory, Walter Langkowski is preparing for his experiment. Wearing nothing but his jocks and his glasses, Walt has wires and tubes attached to his body. Walt sees no reason for further delay, as all the mechanisms have been tested and re-tested. He removes his glasses, hoping that it will be for the last time, as the increased strength anticipated in all muscles should restore his eyesight. Walt jokes that he may come out of all of this green, but at least his eyesight will be restored. Not that improved vision is his only goal in this project. A project which cost just a little less than eight million dollars. Walt sits down in a strange machine and types the instructions into the computer matrix…and this project which Walt had spent half his life on is about to be completed. Walt thinks to himself how incredible it all is, working towards this project since he was a freshman!
(flashbacks)
That was when Walt met one man who was to have an enormous impact on him life and education, a fellow student, Bruce Banner. Walt and Banner only knew each other for one term, but during that term they were one half of a very special group. While their contemporaries were “turning on and dropping out”, these four gathered everything they could out of their education’s. They saw a brave new world beyond their ivy-covered walls, and they wanted to comprehend everything about it. They were young and idealistic.
Somewhere along the way however, Bruce Banner’s idealism must have got side tracked, as Banner began working on a top-secret military project, and he paid a terrible price for the world’s first and only, Gamma Bomb. Bruce Banner absorbed enough radiation to kill a hundred men in a second. But he did not die…not quite anyway. Instead, Bruce Banner became the victim of a periodic living death, his mind submerged in the monster called The Incredible Hulk.
Walt had been following Banner’s footsteps, and he amassed a greater knowledge in the area of gamma research, even during his three years as a pro football player. Through that, Walt managed to make a few million dollars. When the identity of the Hulk was revealed a few years later, Walt knew he had to do something different with his life though. So starting on his own, he gathered information on everything he could find on Banner and the Hulk, plus the few others that had been transformed due to gamma exposure. It was Walt’s intent to create, under controlled conditions, the circumstance, which produced the Hulk.
After spending over a million dollars of his own money, Walt took his project the federal government. By that time, James Hudson had his own project, Department H, well under way, and Mac got Walt funding and a lab, a lab which was tucked safely away from prying eyes – and innocent bystanders – up in the Arctic Circle…which is where he is now…
(present)
Three days ago Walt recalls, he sent off his assistants, and was to carry on the last stages of the project himself. Walt pushes the last button, and the experiment is under way. Walt’s body, and his mind become twisted, everything in a blur. His muscles are re-aligned, and reality seems to stir. When finally, he transforms into a creature not unlike, yet very different from the Incredible Hulk…only, Walt has fur and is orange in color. Walt…or whatever he now is, breaks free from the constraints of the experiment, and begins to tear-up the lab. The creature Walt has become smashes its way through the laboratory, and runs out into the cold Arctic night.
(the next day)
Across the crimson sky, a figure can be made out over the Arctic Circle. Upon closer inspection, the figure is revealed as Snowbird, the mysterious member of Department H’s super team. The goddess spies the laboratory and swoops down upon it. At first Narya seems quite perplexed at why James had asked her to check Walt’s lab after he failed to make his daily report – until she sees the damage inflicted upon the building. Snowbird lands and enters the lab. She thinks it looks like some great beast was conjured during in the midst of all the equipment. Snowbird feels the beast has terrible power, and she thinks back to how she warned Department H against setting the experimental site in this region, as there are mystic barriers here of which no white man has knowledge. Narya fears what may have happened if Langkowski broke one of the barriers….
Using her post-cognitive power, Narya attempts to see the events which took place here, though to no avail, as her sight shows nothing, meaning whatever happened here happened to long ago for her to be able to see. Back outside, Narya comes across some tracks, and decides they are at least twelve hours old. Narya is fortunate that there was no snowfall during the twelve hours, if there was she would have wasted precious time discovering which direction to follow. Narya acts swiftly, fearing the reason she was put on Earth may show itself – one of the Great Beasts she is destined to protect the world from and destroy. She tries not to think about that, and continues following the tracks.
Five hundred miles on, the goddess is amazed at how much distance was covered in twelve hours. As she nears some broken trees she comments on how swift, strong and untiring the Beast must be. An oil rig site is smashed for no reason other than that it lay in the Beast’s path. Narya sense that no one was hurt or killed however  -suddenly, Snowbird comes across a man laying naked in the snow. Narya lands at his side, and she is surprised, to say the least, to see that Walt is the man in the snow. Walter stirs, and Narya asks him what he is doing there, and how he got there. Walt seems equally surprised to see Snowbird, but can give no such answer, and only pleads for her help. Narya wraps the freezing doctor in her cloak, which will protect him long enough till they reach a hospital, then they will contact James Hudson and Michael Twoyoungmen. Narya picks Walt up, and flies away with him.
Some hours later, Walt is resting in a hospital bed, looking a lot better and talking to James Hudson. Mac tells Walt that some workers at the drill site said the monster that tore through it was orange! Mac asks Walt how it could have been him. Walt tells Mac that he is not too sure, as the gamma radiation should have turned him green! Walt guesses that something got mixed into the gamma rays. He thinks there may have been some heavy activity in the Aurora Borealis, which may have interfered. Walt tells Mac that he won’t find out just sitting here, and asks Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen when he can get back to work.
Michael tells Walt that he can’t go back to work for a month, and that he is lucky Snowbird found him when she did, as another few hours and he would have been dead. Walt starts to climb out of the bed, and tells his friends that that is another reason why he has to get back to work – he has to find out what went wrong that caused him to end up in such dire straights to begin with. Mac tells Walt that he has had his back-up team checking all of his notes, and they found that his theory on controlled gamma holds, and apparently, the problem lies in his genetic make-up, biologically or physically.
Suddenly the window to the room opens and Snowbird flies in saying ‘And that is where I come in, I take it’. Calling her “Birdie” Walt tells Snowbird that it is good to see her, and that she flew off without him getting the chance to thank her for saving him. Michael Twoyoungmen tells Walt that Narya has not come for thanks. Snowbird agrees, and tells Walt that she is here to help him overcome his beastly other-self, after all, she too is a metamorph, and knows all the pitfalls of shape shifting. She tell Walt that she must help him turn his mind inwards to leash the beast, so that he is the master. Walt smiles and tells Snowbird that it sounds good to him. Mac tells Walt that it sounds good to him as well, especially after his aborted attempt at reclaiming Wolverine from the X-Men. Mac says that if the Prime Minister orders a second try he is going to need his help…and he asks what they are going to call the beast. Walt smiles, and tells everyone that based on Mac’s description, there is only one logical choice – they can call him Sasquatch!