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Dead Man’s Hand: part 2: Neon Knights
Troy and his date are walking through the Las Vegas Streets. The girl thanks him, as this was exactly what she needed to stress-out from Los Angeles, which sometimes starts to get to her. Troy smiles that it’s good to try some sanity. The girl calls Troy crazy, and he jokes that is exactly what he is. Crazy like a coyote. The girl corrects Troy he means “crazy like a fox.” No, Troy smiles at Legs: she is a fox.
As they continue their walk, they don’t notice that they are being watched by a crook, whose arms look like cannons!
Troy and his date walk inside a casino. Troy explains to her that he’s got a meeting coming up and will be stuck in Las Vegas for the entire week, so he might as well have brought his favorite party girl with him. The girl smiles that by taking her off the streets, Troy has certainly hit the jackpot. They pass along an old lady, who fails to win something at the slots. Disappointed, the woman takes off, and bumps into someone. She drops all of her leftover coins, and asks the man to help her pick them up. The old lady looks up, and notices she has bumped into the guy with the cannon arms! He asks her to be quiet, as he’s trying to avoid attention.
Troy and his girl go to watch a show, and manage to get a table for their own. The villain sneaks up from behind, and points his cannon arms against Troy, telling him that there won’t be any more running. The other spectators notice that the villain has got a gun, but he corrects them: he is the gun! Legs start to freak out and asks Troy who the bad guy is. Troy remains calm and asks Legs to sit down.
The villain punches Legs in her face, telling the hooker to listen to her date. Troy gets upset and tells Carl that wasn’t necessary. Carl points his attention to Troy, and asks him where the kid is he wants. If Carl gets the kid back, he’ll make good with his wife. A man sneaks up behind Carl, and points his gun at Carl’s head, sarcastically telling him that slapping around his friend won’t do him any good. Carl doesn’t know who the guy is, but he introduces himself as… Nomad!
Nomad has been in Las Vegas for only one hour and he’s already into trouble. He may end up liking this place as much as he likes L.A. Legs gets up and asks Jack what he’s doing here. He replies that he came to get Legs out of here. Legs notices Bucky on Nomad’s back, and he gives her a smile. In all the confusion, Carl manages to free himself from Nomad’s grip, and angrily slaps the man, upset that this is all about a baby.
Carl starts shooting, and mentions that Troy took away his daughter from his wife. And Troy’s ex-wife is Carl’s sister-in-law! And since Carl’s wife isn’t talking to him anymore, thanks to this mess, he is bound to get the baby back. Nomad manages to dodge all the bullets, but doesn’t understand much of this. He was just trying to enjoy the show.
While they fight, Troy orders Legs to follow him and run away. Legs hesitates, since Jack is her friend. Carl notices their escape, and shoots at him, but they hide behind the stage curtains and survive. Carl shouts that you can’t just take a kid like that. Nomad tries to slam a chair on Carl’s head and tells him to shut up, but Carl defends that he won’t. That kid is his last chance to get both his life and wife back. Carl starts shooting again, but luckily Nomad manages to dodge all the bullets, and luckily both the baby and the other spectators remain unharmed. The spectators make a run for it.
When Nomad gets up again, he notices that Carl managed to escape. Jack tries to make a decision: chase after psycho Carl or find Legs and get her out of there? Either way, Jack has a feeling that this town is in for some fireworks. He thinks that clearing Legs out is more important, so she can take Bucky with her. Nomad finds a pack of cigarettes lying on the floor, and discovers some weird markings on it. He thinks that at least he knows where to start looking.
Troy and Legs have returned to their room at the Hilton Hotel. Legs wants to know what’s going on, since they left Jack behind and he’s a friend of hers. Troy thinks that, if Carl managed to get his hands on Jack, he won’t be Leg’s friend anymore. He starts drinking, but the scotch won’t calm him down. But Troy thinks it’ll all turn out just fine in the end, since this is business they are talking about. Troy prepares to leave, as he’s still got that meeting to go to. Legs doesn’t like behind left behind. Troy throws her some money, and tells her to go out and have some fun. Troy leaves, and promises to be back by two. Legs is scared and closes the door behind him.
Troy goes to his office building and introduces himself to the security guards as he enters. He mentions to them that he’s presenting the west coast operations for Lotus. The guards mock Troy that he’s late, but he likes to make an entrance. Troy’s boss welcomes him, and he takes a look at all the other representatives sitting at the table nearby him. But, the female speaker had understood from Lotus, Troy’s boss, that she prefers her people to be punctual. Troy apologizes, and explains to the board that he ran into some trouble, and claims that it’s solved now.
The spokeswoman suggest that they begin. She tells the gathered men that, as they may know, they are there to divide and allocate the resources left by the Kingpin after his recent downfall. She hopes they can do this professionally and without bloodshed. Hammerhead gets frustrated and demands to know who the spokeswoman is. The woman introduces herself as the Word, and mentions that she represents the interests of Johann Schmidt. Hammerhead realizes who he is, and immediately calms down. Word suggests that, just so everyone knows each other, she will introduce all gathered in the room.
There is Andreas von Strucker, representing Fenris. Also present is Werner von Strucker, of the new Hydra. Justin Hammer is also there; he’s a corporate entrepreneur. Another representative is the mysterious Mr. Tolliver of the European cartel. There’s also Jonin, member of the Hand. Tombstone represents the Maggia, while there are also representatives of the Secret Empire present. Master Tatsu’o heads the Yakuza, and the Slug is the Miami based capo. And last but not least, there’s Hammerhead, head of a New York splinter group of the Maggia.
Word suggests that the villains take a look at the briefs that are being handed over to them. She explains that they will see that her employer has attempted to subdivide all proceeds in an equitable manner, based on influence and experience. Hammer cuts in, as he wonders why the Red Skull couldn’t be there by himself. Word responds that the Skull is there in all ways that matter. Hammerhead wants to know what’s going to happen if they don’t like this “subdivide” the Skulls’ suggesting.
Tolliver explains that they are trying to conduct business in a civilized manner. And he knows that will not be accomplished for as long as he shares this table with someone who has stolen something from him. Troy shouts that Tolliver is going at it again. He defends that the deal was sour, and that Lotus lost as almost as much as Tolliver did. That was years ago, though, and Tolliver should let it go. Word agrees, and suggests that they all put aside the differences from the past. She opens a viewing screen, on which she displays a chart.
At the same time, Nomad has had enough of the waiting. He has watched Troy leave his hotel an hour ago, and since there is nobody walking in or out the hotel that Jack recognizes, he thinks its time for him to make his move. He goes to Leg’s hotel room, and tells her to pack her things, as she and Bucky are moving out of the place. He hands over Bucky to Legs and warns her not to waste any time, as this place means trouble. He opens the fridge and takes out a drink, and mentions to Legs that things are starting to add up.
Nomad explains that Leg’s trick works for Lotus, and mentions that they are organized crime, and that the government has hired him to put an end to the group. And a couple of months ago, Jack ran into someone who had an unhealthy curiosity about west coast shipping activity. He just knows that something big is going down in Vegas. He discovered that the underground wants Legs out, and he wants Legs to take Bucky with her. Legs asks Jack what will happen to him. He plans on waiting right there in the room until Troy returns, and then he’ll ask him some questions.
At the same time, on the outskirts of the city, a motel door opens. It’s windy outside. A costumed man walks out on the streets, and his hat gets blown away. He doesn’t care much, and just walks to his car. He drives away, leaving the hat behind.
Three hours have pass, and Nomad is still waiting for Troy. He starts running things through in his head, wondering what’s really going on, and exactly who is involved. Outside the hotel, Troy returns. Unfortunately, he isn’t aware that he’s being watched by none other than… Deadpool!
Troy enters his room, and a gun gets pointed to his head. He suspects that Bushwacker is responsible, but Jack denies that. He introduces himself as a friend of a friend. He mentions that he sent Legs packing with his kid, and got them out of Bushwacker’s way. Jack demands to know what’s going on, and to give him a reason to save Troy from that madman that’s chasing him. At that point, smoke bombs get tossed inside! Nomad pushes Troy to safety. He starts running away, and can’t believe that they sent Deadpool after him. An overjoyed Deadpool laughs, and starts shooting wild.
Jack runs after Troy, but he makes it to the elevators, and descends before Jack can enter. Nomad has no idea who Deadpool is but, despite the guy’s ridiculous costume, Jack has to admit that he is good. Deadpool teleports behind Jack, and jokingly congratulates Jack on his long hairstyle. But all kidding aside, he wants to know where Troy went. Nomad moves fast, and punches his elbow right into Deadpool’s face!
Nomad quickly ducks and takes out his gun, and shoots into Deadpool’s face! Wade survives, but wonders why everyone always aims to his head. He starts fighting Nomad, and wonders if people perhaps think he’s happy with the way he looks. After all, there is a reason why Deadpool wears his mask. Wade keeps punching Nomad several times, with him unable to defend himself. Wade really tries to be considerate but fails, and thinks that Jack will make a nice looking corpse. He even destroys Jack’s sunglasses.
The elevator starts coming up again. Jack has a plan. Wade reveals to Jack that, if he’s working for Troy, it means he’s also working for Lotus, who scammed Wade’s boss out of big cash. He apologizes that this fight is nothing personal, but pure business. The elevator finally gets up. The door opens, and Jack rolls backwards into it! He tosses a stun disc at Deadpool, giving him the chance to close the door and press the button down to the lobby.
Unfortunately, Deadpool quickly heals and sticks his sword through the elevator door! Jack almost gets a heart attack because of this. He slams his fist against the sword, and its top breaks apart. Wade is a bit upset by this. He jokes that, if Jack didn’t have as much gumption as he has, Wade would really be ticked by him. But, since a man has got to be merciful every now and then, he decides to let Jack live, and instead plans to go after Troy. He teleports away.
Meanwhile, Nomad makes it downstairs, though startling the other guests. He gets up, and wants a beer. Stumbling outside, he tries to keep his mind of the sunglasses and thinks that, at least, on the bright side, Legs and Bucky are home free, and he is still alive. And he hopes that Troy gets what he deserves.
Troy on the other hand is running for his life. Someone fires on him. He suspects that Deadpool is behind it and calls out to him, trying to make a deal, but it isn’t Deadpool. It’s Bushwacker! Carl shouts that he wants to know where Troy’s wife’s kid is. Troy defends that the woman is his ex-wife, but answers that his friend took the kid. Carl aims at Troy, and calls him stupid. He mentions that his wife is clean now, and wants the kid back. And in return, Carl will get his wife back. Troy falls on his knees, explaining that Legs and the kid went out of town on his command, as he didn’t want to see his kid hurt. He sent them to the airport.
Bushwacker believes Troy, but warns him that, if he finds out he has been lying, he’ll come back for him. Once Carl is gone, Troy catches his breath. He calls Carl an idiot, since his daughter is nice and safe with his mother in Miami! Suddenly, someone calls out to Troy. It’s Deadpool! He shoots at Troy, and kills the man.
A car arrives. Tolliver opens the door and informs Deadpool that it’s time for them to go, as their business in this city is concluded. Wade agrees, but found it a boring trip, as he’s feeling a little guilty: he feels like he didn’t really earn his paycheck. While they drive away together, Troy’s corpse is left behind.
At the same time at the airport, Legs is washing her face off, telling Bucky that, soon, they’ll be safe for good. Just at that moment, Bushwacker enters, and kills Legs! Bucky starts crying, but Carl doesn’t care and picks her up, telling the baby that her mom is waiting for her.
Meanwhile, Nomad made it to a motel room and washes up. He feels like a bruised tomato. He jokes that Deadpool can hit like a mother. But at least, Jack can settle down now. He takes out his bag, in which lie guns, bullets and… a spare of sunglasses! Jack puts them on, thinking he can finally put things in perspective. Get a clear view on things. He takes a look outside his window, and looks at the magnificence that is Las Vegas.
Jack realizes that there’s a crime conference of some sort going on. He doesn’t know why, though. He knows that Daredevil is in the city as well, so he can handle most trouble. Jack has a decision to make. He wonders if getting his slate cleaned by the government worth killing the Slug for. After all, after Jack got Bucky and what happened in Alaska, he said he would never kill again. He wonders what he’ll do then.


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Fast and Loose!
Canada - more specifically, St. John’s in Newfoundland. There lies a deceptively bland façade - a large brown warehouse enclosed in a high fence with barbed wire all around it, and Private Property: No Trespassing sign on the fence. But within lies a very deadly purpose. Welcome to…Department K!
Inside, General Jeremy Clarke stands in front of a large computer screen with an image of Jean-Paul Beaubier a.k.a. Northstar, a founding and long-serving member of Alpha Flight - Canada’s former premiere super hero team. Clarke declares that Northstar is a mutant speedster with hyper-fast reflexes and a limited degree of resistance to injury, but with no enhanced physical strength beyond the sheer speed and frequency with which he can hit.
Clarke exclaims that Northstar is arrogant, pig-headed, highly contemptuous of authority, ‘And he’s - well, you’ve all read the file’ Clarke remarks, not wanting to say out loud that Northstar is also gay. Clarke declares that he is not interested in the niceties of due process, for he simply wants Northstar removed from the public eye. Clarke points out that Northstar will resist strenuously - that’s a given - ‘But I’m sure it’s nothing…Weapon P.R.I.M.E. can’t handle!’
Standing in the center of the facility are the five members that comprise the current line up of Weapon P.R.I.M.E - Tigerstryke, Double Trouble, Yeti and Killspree. Tigerstryke assures General Clarke that they will not fail him, and adds that if Northstar resists, they will take him down - hard. The beastly Yeti growls and exclaims ’Just tell us where he is!’
Northstar is currently in Ibiza - a small island off the South-East coast of Spain, the old town, where after midnight, every night - it’s party time! Jean-Paul makes his way through the crowds, when suddenly someone comes up and grabs him, telling him to wait up, exclaiming that it has been a while week. ‘But hey, seven, eight clubs a night, we’re beat, out on our feet, don’t you, ya know, get tired?’ Addressing the man as Clive, Jean-Paul removes Clive’s hands from him and tells him to go or stay, as it really is of precious little concern to him, for with or without “excess baggage” he fully intends to see the night through. ‘”Tired” is for other people!’
Suddenly, Jean-Paul is blinded by the bright lights of cameras flashing, and a reporter remarks that they have followed him around for days, and all they get is one little temper tantrum. ‘Please, something newsworthy…something shocking!’ Jean-Paul immediately speeds off, rushing past a man selling some flowers, he grabs the flowers and puts some money in the mans hand. Then past a woman putting on some lipstick, and again he takes the lipstick and leaves her some money - all in the blink of an eye, before arriving back by the reporter, Klaus, and covering his face in lipstick and shoving the flowers into his belt. Klaus’ fellow reporters and their camera crews all begin to hassle Klaus for this, laughing at him.
As Northstar begins to take his leave, another reporter holding a video camera shouts at him, asking if he has a comment for him about the Quebec City bus station bomb. What did you say?’ snaps Jean-Paul as he races over to the man and grabbing him by his collar, shoves him up against a wall. ‘I suggest, maggot, you reconsider you line of questioning!’Northstar says angrily, before remarking that what he did with Klaus was a bit of fun, Jean-Paul then warns the reporter that he does not want to make an enemy out of him. Jean-Paul then strides off, while Klaus runs over to the reporter and asks him if he is okay. He replies that he is, while thinking to himself that Northstar is going to regret that, for there are a lot of people who do not like this snotty, self-absorbed lifestyle that he Northstar has adopted. ‘Folks who’d like to see you take a fall. Well, Ritchie Ward is gonna give them their wish!’ he thinks to himself.
Soon, at a villa on the rugged North Coast. Jean-Paul takes his jacket off and thinks that he couldn’t wait to get away and be rid of those leeches. He wonders why, with his life finally on his own, to do with what he will, no one laying down rules or restrictions, is he so completely and utterly miserable? He tells himself that it is not as if he misses Alpha Flight, for he was glad to see the end of that particular set-up - it was too comfortable, too cozy and was suffocating him. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he doesn’t know what it is - for although a new chapter of his life has begun, a blank page on which he can write what he wants, he should be welcoming it with open arms - but he is not. Suddenly, someone sitting in the shadows exclaims ‘I think, Jean-Paul deep down…you already know the problem!’
A brief moment or two later, a blue car streaks towards the villa. In a tree high above the road, Tigerstryke radios to his teammates, informing them that the subject is mobile, but they need to let him get well beyond the residences in this area, then they can move in and secure. Suddenly though, Yeti leaps out in front of the car - ‘”Move in and secure” What a stuffed shirt!’ he exclaims, mocking Tigerstryke, and causing the car to swerve. The driver is shocked at seeing Yeti and wonders what it is. Yeti calls out to Double Trouble, and the twin sisters fly towards the car and unleash their energies on it, causing it to fly off the road and down a small gully.
Fire springs from the car, as the members of Weapon P.R.I.M.E gather around, and Tigerstryke congratulates his team on a job well done, while telling Killspree to stand down. The vicious Killspree exclaims that a bio-generated plasma bolt right in the face will work well for him, before remarking that it is a shame about the wheels of the car, then pulling the door of the driver’s side. ‘Jean-Paul Beaubier, in the name of the government of Canada I -’ begins Tigerstryke, until he sees that it isn’t Northstar. ‘We took out the wrong guy!’
A few miles back up the road, Ritchie Ward carries his video camera with him, and thinks to himself that Jean-Paul is going to talk to him whether he likes it or not - ‘After, that is, I take a little poke around’. Suddenly, there is a noise, and Ritchie is attacked. Punched in the face, kicked in the stomach, then a large rock thrown down on him, ‘Urh-hh - Don’t!’ he pleads. CHUD. The rock lands hard.
Shortly, a computer-phone in Jean-Paul’s room rings. Stirring in his sleep, Jean-Paul mumbles that this had better be good, but upon turning the computer on, he is greeted by Heather McNeil Hudson a.k.a. Guardian, who tells him that they have to talk. Sitting up, Jean-Paul replies that they don’t, ‘Not if it remotely concerns the late unlamented Department H’. Northstar tells Heather that he thought he made it perfectly clear that he wants nothing to do with an Alpha Flight consigned to backroom oblivion.
Heather informs Jean-Paul that this is as unofficial as it comes, for General Clarke would blow a major artery if he knew she was as much as thinking about Northstar, however, she tells Northstar that there is no way she can just sit back and let this all drop on him from a great height. Heather reveals to Jean-Paul that General Clarke has his own “Flight” these days, an outfit called Weapon P.R.I.M.E., and tells Northstar that it isn’t about red faces in high places anymore, for she intercepted this morning’s priority call, and a body was found. ‘They think you killed him!’
Moments later, there is a mighty boom as Tigerstryke blasts his way into Jean-Paul’s villa, followed by the rest of Weapon P.R.I.M.E., Tigerstryke picks up Jean-Paul sheets and exclaims that he doesn’t believe this, that it looks like Northstar only recently left here. He tells his teammates that this is fast becoming a bad joke, and they are being made to look like jerks. Killspree slashes at the computer with his blades, while Tigerstryke angrily orders his team to find Northstar - now!
Five miles due East and some hundred or so feet up in the air, Northstar soars through the air, thinking that he might be able to make some sense of this mess now. Jean-Paul decides that it wasn’t bad enough Ritchie Ward had to start dragging old Separatiste skeletons out of the closet in the national press, but he had to go and get himself killed also - and right on Jean-Paul’s doorstep no less. He wonders how people can think he did it, and thinks that it is bad enough Weapon P.R.I.M.E. believe he is some sort of aberration of nature that needs “removing” from society, without thinking he is a murderer to boot. Northstar wishes that he hadn’t been quite so abrupt with Raul earlier, but his solicitous words did touch a raw nerve.
(Flashback, earlier that morning when Jean-Paul got home)
Raul understands that Jean-Paul is afraid, and tells him that it is okay, for a certain vulnerability can be a strength, not a weakness. However, he tells Jean-Paul that he must stop running, and covering himself in comfortable situations. ‘Things have changed, and for the sake of your own sanity…you have to change with them!’
(Present)
Jean-Paul wonders if he really told Raul to stuff his bargain basement psychology. ‘Of course I did - is it not my true talent…to always hurt those closest to me?’ Dropping to the ground, Jean-Paul reminds himself that Raul is an old friend, a good friend, and perhaps it is not to late to make amends, when suddenly, someone comes up behind him, smiling, he greets Jean-Paul, telling him it has been a long a long time. Jean-Paul smiles and rushes over to the man, addressing him as Max, he remarks that he hasn’t seen him since his uncle’s funeral, and asks him how he is.
Max replies that he is frightened, and tells Northstar that he wishes this reunion could be under better circumstances, but the truth is he sought him out because of the other night. Max reveals that he has be warned, ‘Warned that any part of your past is hazardous to my future’. Handing Jean-Paul a photograph, Max explains that his attacker left this, and supposes that it has some significance to him. Jean-Paul looks at the photo and sees himself, some years ago, with his friend Mariel, though someone has drawn a target around Mariel’s face. Jean-Paul screws the photo up and exclaims that first Max, the only surviving relative of Raymonde Belmonde, and now Mariel. ‘I believe someone is challenging me…by threatening my past!’
(Show with Flashback images, prior to the back-up story in Alpha Flight (1st series) #10)
Jean-Paul remembers - a man alone on the streets of Montreal. A man who saw more than just a petty thief - but also saw the depth of the boy’s loneliness and confusion. A shell-shocked survivor of a childhood plagued with tragedy and fear. Raymonde Belmonde, a man who spoke of a freedom of choice, of gifts from a generous God - instead of Hellfire and damnation. Jean-Paul’s eyes were opened, and he grew to understand his difference, his place in the scheme of things - to accept who and what he was. Jean-Paul found control and direction. Raymonde Belmonde, who without ever asking for anything in return - made it his business to make sure Jean-Paul Beaubier was steered right.
(Present)
Jean-Paul reveals to Max that he owes his uncle so much, and with his death, the debt passed on to his family. He tells Max to go to Toronto, to Department H and seek out Heather Hudson, to tell her that Northstar sent him, and she will arrange protection for him. Max shakes Jean-Paul’s hand and asks what he is going to do. Northstar explains that someone is leading him toward Paris, and it seems he has no choice but to follow.
Suddenly, the ground around Northstar explodes, and Jean-Paul is knocked backwards, as Tigerstryke orders him to stay where he is. With the rest of Weapon P.R.I.M.E. by his side, Tigerstryke tells Northstar that he must come with them, and they can do it the easy way, or the hard way. ‘Your choice!’ ‘THE HARD WAY!’ Jean-Paul shouts angrily as he speeds towards a surprised Tigerstryke, knocking him off balance with a powerful punch. Yeti grabs Jean-Paul by his ankle, and throws him to the ground, telling him that it wasn’t very nice. Raising his fists into the air, then bringing them down hard, Yeti jokes ‘Then again…neither is this!’ But a surprised Yeti only smashes the ground, and proceeds to scratch his head. Northstar smiles and tells Yeti that he reminds him of his former teammate Sasquatch. ‘Only slower - and dumber!’
‘This fast enough for you, pretty boy?’ asks Killspree as he lunges at Northstar, slicing him with his blades. Jean-Paul stumbles, and scolds himself for not being ready. Jean-Paul trips Killspree up, while recalling that from what little Heather was able to hack from Department K’s files on this ground, she was able to put together quite a useful profile on of their fighting strategy. Jean-Paul grabs Killspree by his headpiece and swings him around and around, while thinking that as Yeti was attacking him head on, Killspree was getting in position for his attack. Northstar assumes that Double Trouble are up next, and understands that they are twins with symbiotic plasma charging powers, so he imagines that if anything comes between them when the women are ready to strike, the result would be quite explosive. And as Jean-Paul tosses Killspree towards Double Trouble, all three find themselves fried.
Tigerstryke returns, declaring that General Clarke said he wanted Northstar brought in, but he never said in what condition! With that, Tigerstryke blasts Jean-Paul in the back, and Jean-Paul falls to the ground. Tigerstryke runs over to him, ‘We’ve got him now!’ he boasts, but Northstar thinks that Tigerstryke shouldn’t be too sure of himself there, for although his battle suit is close to Heather’s in design, it is most certainly not an equal. Jean-Paul thinks he knows what to do, when he suddenly looks at the photo of Mariel crumpled in his hands and wonders what he is doing - in his need to vent the frustration, he has forgotten his friend who is in danger for the sole reason that he once cared for her.
Northstar flies straight up, causing Tigerstryke and Yeti to run and bump into each other. Jean-Paul tells them that while he would love to stay and fight, he cannot, and strakes off into the sky. Tigerstryke rubs his head, and exclaims ‘Wherever you go, Northstar - Weapon P.R.I.M.E. will find you!’
Northstar thinks that his mysterious adversary has miscalculated whatever uncertainty and confusion he felt before he has been swept away. Instead of demoralizing him the way forward seems suddenly clear. ‘Again I have direction…and purpose!’
Meanwhile, in Paris, France, an ice cream truck sits in an alleyway, and inside, someone is watching Northstar on hidden cameras. ‘Ah, Northstar. If there’s one thing I like…it’s a complacent victim!’ His name is Arcade. His business is murder. The red-headed long-time enemy of the X-Men smiles, and declares that the game is on, and this time, the whole globe is his game board. ‘Truly…a Murderworld!’


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Fast and Furious!
Paris, France. Specifically, Montmatre - “the Artists’ Quarter”, a slice of old Paris, its cafes and cobbled streets as much a part of the city’s renown as the famed Eiffel Tower. Home to performers, thinkers, dreamers…and some years previously one Jean-Paul Beaubier, more famously known as the mutant speedster Northstar, openly gay and former member of Canada’s premiere super hero team, the now defunct Alpha Flight. That is why, on this glorious Spring day, that the life of one other, more current resident, has been shattered. Out in the streets, two mimes pass an ice cream truck, and head towards an apartment up above one of the cafes.
Inside that apartment, Northstar stands in a ransacked room and shouts ‘Mariel!’ Before asking his mysterious foe ‘Why are you doing this? What do you want? This is my past…and you’re tearing it apart!’ Jean-Paul remembers this apartment as it was - the clutter and confusion, the way Mariel seemed to know exactly where every little thing was. Gone now, shattered - like the memory itself. The handsome speedster wonders if he was able to move faster, perhaps he might have been here in time, but no, he allowed his bruised pride to draw him into battle with the Canadian government’s current super powered lackeys - Weapon P.R.I.M.E.
Jean-Paul goes over to a photograph on the wall of himself and Mariel, thinking that he was so incensed about Weapon P.R.I.M.E’s readiness to believe his guilt, that he ignored the warning he had been given. Jean-Paul straightens the photo, realizing a copy of it was the one marked with a crude gun sight and delivered to him by a terrified Max Belmonde - another persecuted for the simple crime of being his friend. Jean-Paul is distraught that whoever is doing this has taken Mariel from him, with so much left unsaid and so much angry silence between them. ‘Did they drag me thousands of miles to Paris to torment me?’ Northstar wonders.
He recalls that it has only been a few hours since he awoke this morning on Ibiza to find that he stands accused of murdering a journalist named Ward, a journalist who had been dogging Northstar, taunting him with “soon-to-be-published facts about his past. Northstar remembers threatening Ward, so in the eyes of Weapon P.R.I.M.E. who already had orders to remove Northstar from the public eye - that was enough to convict him. Jean-Paul knows that somewhere in all of this there is a pattern, a motive, so to find Mariel, he must first find out who - ‘Eh? That noise. It sounds like -’
Jean-Paul doesn’t get time to say what it sounds like, as a helicopter hovers outside the apartment, and a large metal fist is sprung into the building, knocking Northstar to the ground. Jean-Paul gets up and looks at the chopper, seeing a face on the front of it that he recognizes from Alpha Flight’s files - Arcade. ‘Right on the money, Northstar. But I’m afraid I beat you to the punch! Get it? No! Well you will, trust me, you will!’ Arcade shouts, while down below, a host of civilians have gathered to look at all the commotion.
Northstar sees the people and realizes that if Arcade starts indiscriminately battering this apartment building, then the debris will surely crush the people below. Northstar sees Arcade’s chopper coming in again for another strike, so decides to make himself a static, visible target, and move only at the very last moment. Jean-Paul does as he planned, when the two mimes enter the room, so he trips one of them up, meaning the mime gets punched instead. With the first mime smacked against the wall, Jean-Paul sees that the mime is actually a robot of sorts. Northstar thinks to himself that Arcade’s mind really is as twisted as he believed it was, when the second mime comes into attack him.
The robot smashes Northstar back across the room so hard that Jean-Paul feels like his jaw has been broken. He thinks that whatever degree of invulnerability he possesses, it is clearly less than he needs to survive this - and he moves swiftly out of the way as the robot mime lunges to kick him, resulting in the mime getting its leg stuck in the oven screen. Jean-Paul has some time to gather himself, but he knows that it is no good in here, as the room is too small, too restricting for him to function at his best. Suddenly, Northstar smells gas, and realizes that the robot’s foot must have ruptured the supply pipe. Time for a sharp exit, Jean-Paul races to the hole in the side of the building, then flies out just in time for the explosion behind him.
Northstar suddenly remembers the crowd of people below, but upon looking down, sees that they are all gone, dispersed thanks to the police. However, Jean-Paul assumes that the police’s presence has also removed Arcade from the scene, so he wonders what he is to do next. Landing on a rooftop, a small Eiffel Tower statue floats down beside him attached to a small parachute with a large “A” on it. Jean-Paul thinks to himself that he should have known that whatever twisted game Arcade is playing that it is far from over.
Nearby, Arcade is in his ice cream truck, still watching Northstar and jokes that Jean-Paul is confused, wondering if the cheap souvenir tower conjured up memories of Mariel. ‘Or is it me? Does he wonder why the world’s most outrageous assassin has him firmly in his sights?’ Arcade decides that either way, it doesn’t matter, for now the game proper has begun, and it is time to really start putting the speedster through his paces!
Meanwhile, half a world away, at Department H in Canada. Heather McNeil Hudson stands in a darkened room, so many memories here, chapters in the life and times of Canada’s premiere super hero team, Alpha Flight. Frozen now, on hiatus - but for Canada’s greatest super hero ever the woman now known as Guardian and previously Vindicator, they are not forgotten. There was a time when Heather was one of the most powerful and influential women in Canada. Now though, she wonders if she has done enough.
With Alpha Flight suspended, her official status is shaky at best. Heather knows she went out on a limb monitoring General Clarke’s communications to and from Weapon P.R.I.M.E. and alerting Northstar to their content. Heather thinks that although Jean-Paul did his best to keep an icy distance between them, she knows him well enough to be certain he is no murderer. So when it comes down to it, she cannot just sit back and let him be hunted down. Heather looks at a photograph of the original Alpha Flight - her estranged husband the original Guardian, now Vindicator, Northstar and his twin sister Aurora, the goddess Snowbird tragically deceased, brilliant scientist Sasquatch and the aging Shaman.
Heather thinks to herself that in many ways, she and Northstar are very alike - both at one time or another having substituted Alpha Flight for family. And now? Cast out on his own, one doesn’t need to be a psychologist to figure that more than ever, Northstar may need a friend.
Back in Paris, Northstar approaches the Eiffel Tower, thinking to himself that it is as if his private past is an open book into which Arcade can dip into at will - his eyes crawling over another page of Jean-Paul’s life as his hand prepares to tear it out!
(Flashback, Paris, several years ago)
In his native French, though with a slight Canadian accent, Jean-Paul tells Mariel that he has much to thank her for, for she has introduced him to a freedom, an openness of expression he never imagined possible before. ‘Here with you, I feel…alive!’ Mariel exclaims that to Jean-Paul, everything is new and vibrant, before thanking him for also opening her eyes to a new world, one seen through Jean-Paul’s very special perspective. Jean-Paul remarks that even with Belmonde he felt constrained, somehow limited, but here, with Mariel, he can do anything - even fly!
With that, Jean-Paul takes to the sky, despite Mariel screaming ‘NO! Get down here!’ Jean-Paul lowers himself to a hover above her as Mariel tells him he is like a child still - but a child with the powers of a god! Mariel angrily tells Jean-Paul to listen to her, warning him that he must be careful, that he must understand there are those who fear difference and will persecute him because of it. ‘This is no Never-Never Land! Sooner or later you will have to grow up!’ Jean-Paul looks at Mariel, then hurtfully tells her that she is just like all the rest. ‘As petty and small-minded as the establishment you claim to detest!’ Mariel calls out to Jean-Paul as he starts to walk off, but Jean-Paul just shouts back ‘Goodbye, Mariel!’ As Jean-Paul leaves, he hears Yves, the friend who meant so much to him, say ‘Leave him, he’ll be back’.
(Present)
But he never was. Northstar circles the Eiffel Tower as he thinks that it is ironic, for he believed he was being so mature and independent, when truthfully, hw was just proving Mariel right. Suddenly, something hits Jean-Paul in the stomach, causing him to loose balance mid flight. Northstar sees that it is Arcade, sitting on a small tank who fired the object at him, ‘Excuse the abrupt intrusion, but you seemed lost in thought!’ Arcade grins wickedly, before telling Northstar that it is now time to come back down to Earth.
Jean-Paul swoops swiftly towards Arcade, telling the madman that there is a good chance he will regret that invitation, before picking Arcade up off his tank and demanding to know where Mariel is. Arcade replies ‘Oh, please! I’d thought…hoped even that my reputation had preceded me!’ Arcade then informs Northstar that there is a game, ‘It’s 1943. Wartime. Paris is occupied by the German army…’ Arcade begins, grinning his awful grin as he tells Northstar that to frustrate the enemy, the French resistance planted bombs at key points around the city - five in all. Arcade explains that each of them airs a letter, and all that needs to be done is for them to be shuffled around.
Arcade reveals the location of the first bomb, at Pere Lachaise, and tells Jean-Paul to think “doors”, before warning him to hurry, as time is running out for Mariel - and the nest plot at the cemetery might just belong to her! Jean-Paul swiftly punches Arcade in the face - only for Arcade’s head to come off, revealing it wasn’t really Arcade, but one of his robots. The head falls to the ground yet keeps on laughing. ‘Yes, laugh now, madman - you will not have much jaw left unwired when I have finished with you!’ Jean-Paul exclaims before racing off towards the cemetery.
Jean-Paul mutters that Arcade is playing games with his head, before recalling the comment about “doors”, and realizes that is must be the music group, or rather their one-time singer, Jim Morrison. Northstar finds Morrison’s tombstone, picks up the bomb with the letter “M” on it and a photograph of what he presumes to be his next destination, the Arc de Triomphe. Suddenly, the small bomb explodes in Northstar’s hand, though Jean-Paul is not harmed. ‘Keep this up Arcade - and you won’t have enough bones for me to break!’ Northstar swears.
The mutant speedster makes his way quickly across France, finding the letter “E” at the Arc de Triomphe, then “T” and “R”. Jean-Paul assumes that Arcade is spelling out “Metro”, and supposes that Mariel is somewhere in the subway tunnels beneath him. He decides that the final letter becomes irrelevant, before realizing that it would not be beyond Arcade’s twisted gamesmanship to make the final bomb a real one, hoping that he would just ignore it. Knowing this now, Northstar decides he cannot ignore the final bomb, and flies towards Notre Dame, where the fifth bomb is located. Jean-Paul hesitates before entering, and wonders what is wrong with him. He realizes that he is anxious for the safety of Mariel, then grabs the bomb and tosses it high into the air, where it explodes.
That! Is! It!’ Jean Paul exclaims, racing towards an entrance down into the subway, then speeding along various areas of the subway, he declares that he will find Mariel even if he has to search every inch of the track. Suddenly, Northstar sees Mariel strung up from the ceiling of the tunnel before him. Battered and bruised, a sobbing Mariel mumbles to Jean-Paul from under the tape over her mouth, but nevertheless, she gets his attention anyway, and Jean-Paul looks over his shoulder, only to be smacked to the ground by another mime. Jean-Paul notes that this one is more deadlier than its predecessors, and knows that he has to get up and stop it - or else Mariel will die!
The train looms closer as Jean-Paul and the mime fight, Northstar thinks to himself that Arcade has chosen his battle site to perfection: a confined, constricted space that therefore works against Northstar. Jean-Paul suspects that his range has been coolly assessed and countered, unless he can come up with something new, it is all over - for everyone! ‘Think, Jean-Paul…think!’ Realizing that he has one chance left, Northstar flips backwards, reminding himself that in his circus days he taught himself to rely less on his mutant gifts, practising instead agility and timing.
The mime tries to follow Northstar as Jean-Paul tells Mariel to go limp, he lets his momentum take both he and Mariel as he grabs her up to the tunnel roof, and hopes that if the Gods are smiling on him today, he will find a foothold. The mime gets caught in the searing lights of the train as Jean-Paul and Mariel are pressed firmly against the tunnel roof. As the train smashes into the robot mime and screeches past them, Jean-Paul assures Mariel that it is all over.
Soon, Mariel and Jean-Paul are outside, and they hug. Jean-Paul admits to Mariel that he has been a fool, ‘If anything had happened to you…’ he begins, before asking what he would say to Yves, after all they have experienced together, all this time, ‘When I thought I was punishing the two of you, I was punishing myself!’ Northstar reminds Mariel that he had convinced himself in early life to keep moving, to never look back, to never allow past ties to slow him down - but now suddenly it is all so important to him. ‘As vital as the air I breathe’.
Mariel tells Jean-Paul that their pasts are their storehouses of experience and emotion, that they make us what we are today - ‘And what we will be in the future!’ Mariel points out that to ignore the past is to preclude the possibility of growth, when suddenly she is startled, as a small animatronic clown moves up beside them, ‘Roll up, roll up for the greatest show on Earth!’ the clown says. Mariel asks Jean-Paul what it means, to which Northstar explains that is the next fragment of his past - the circus.
Meanwhile, in Zuyevo, Russia, Arcade is sitting inside his ice cream truck which is parked outside a circus tent. Speaking to someone via his communications devices, he remarks that their concern is noted, but that anything less would have surely roused Northstar’s suspicion. ‘Yes, I do know who’s footing the bill!’ Arcade stammers, before telling his associate to trust him, as he has been doing this for years. Arcade reveals that Northstar is already en route to Russia, adding that he thinks he has arranged a truly captive audience - to witness Northstar’s ultimate downfall! And inside the tent, the audience waits, while a group of deadly circus performers strut their stuff, waiting for their target to arrive - Northstar!


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The Quick and the Dead
Zuyevo, Russia. Where, under the canvas of the circus big top, the once warm cheers of the crowd…have become a chilling cry for blood! Jean-Paul “Northstar” Beaubier is slammed against the ground of the circus arena, and blood spurts out of his mouth as the circus Strong Man attacks the one-time Olympic athlete with a crow bar. Northstar dimly remembers returning to the circus. Smells and noises that in their comfortable familiarity bred incaution; taken unawares once more by a past become suddenly hostile…and deadly. As the Strong Man prepares to deal out another blow to Canada’s handsome hero, someone cries out ‘Wait! I don’t want Northstar dead…’
‘…at least not yet!’ the trickster Arcade, dressed up as a circus ringleader exclaims. Flanked by other circus performers, Arcade points out that the audience paid good rubles to be here, so he intends to give therm full value for their money. Arcade remarks that he hopes Jean-Paul appreciates all of the trouble he has gone to, to arrange Northstar’s very own comeback performance under the big top. Arcade grins as he exclaims that there is a rather “enthralled” audience, and motions to his assistant, who is operating a camera which is supposedly broadcasting Northstar’s “comeback performance” worldwide.
Arcade points to the circus performers and tells Northstar that they may not be the ones he once traveled with, but nevertheless they will do. Jean-Paul finds the strength to ask Arcade why he is going to such an elaborate scheme if he wants him dead anyway. Northstar recalls how Arcade framed him for the murder of journalist Ritchie Ward, terrorized his friends and violated his most personal and private memories, dragging him from country to country.
Arcade pushes his glasses back onto his eyes as he mutters that “why?” is what everyone asks, and he gives them all the same answer - he tells them to mind their own business. Arcade declares that it is not enough that he is the master gamesman, the most stylish assassin-fore-hire. For this is the profession where most people’s imagination is a bullet to the brain. He exclaims that it is fun to devise new and interesting ways to die, before remarking that he can tell Northstar is tired of his ramblings and eager to proceed. ‘What is it they say in this profession? Ah, yes…the show must go on!’
With that said, the Strong Man slams the crow bar down, but Northstar uses his super speed and reflexes to slide out of the way. Jean-Paul thinks to himself that his opponent is too strong for him - he already discovered that - but thinks that he might be able to apply the small amount of leverage the position he is in affords him, to pull the bulky man off-balance. Jean-Paul pulls at the Strong Man, and his plan works as the large man comes crashing to the ground. Jean-Paul quickly gets up, knowing that down doesn’t mean the Strong Man is out, and as he hears a growling noise coming from behind him, he deduces that the next threat has claws - and teeth.
Northstar ducks as the savage lion leaps at him, but to Northstar’s shock, the lion lands on the Strong Man and begins tearing into him. The former member of Canada’s former premiere super heroes, Alpha Flight, tells himself that unlike the robots he fought in Paris, these foes are alive, and suspects that they are real performers who have had their minds controlled. Jean-Paul thinks to himself that once again Arcade has created a near-perfect snare, where he can allow no serious harm to befall those around him. As he begins to pull the lion’s tail, Jean-Paul doubts that his enemies will show him the same consideration.
As he continues to pull the lion, Jean-Paul nearly falls into a barrel of acid. He thinks to himself that Arcade has turned the circus into a playground of his own devising - with lethal toys. Northstar swings the lion now and tosses it into a cage, quickly sealing it, while wondering how long before one of those toys finds its target. As if on cue, a large muscular woman tosses three knives at Northstar, though they just miss him.
Northstar tells himself that the knives came too close thanks to the strain the constant effort of this endless day is taking on him. A fat clown throws a pie which almost lands in Northstar’s face. Jean-Paul realizes that he has limits after all - limits that are fast being reached, for even his metabolism is slowing down, refusing to heal wounds that at any other time would be a memory. ‘If it’s blood the crowd wants…they seemed destined to get their wish!’ The knife-throwing woman, the pie-throwing fat clown and the fire-eating man all begin to close in on Northstar.
Meanwhile, outside, Arcade gets into his ice cream truck, thinking that it is time he was moving on, after all, the USA beckons and with it, the penultimate act of this little drama he has been paid so handsomely to stage. Arcade admits that he feels quite sorry for Northstar, as he actually admires him, ‘The courage to bare his soul and all that…but a job’s a job to me…the game is everything!’
Back inside the big top, Jean-Paul spies a scantily-clad machine-gun-toting trapeze artist. As bullets fly all around Jean-Paul, he realizes that the woman is none too fussy with her aim. He thinks that if she isn’t careful, then she will no doubt gun down one of her own. Which is exactly what happens when a spray of bullets hit a clown juggling grenades on a unicycle. Jean-Paul goes over to the fallen clown, remarking that, so far, Arcade has had everything his way. ‘I’ve danced pretty much to your tune, letting you maneuver me into corners, situations now best suited to my powers, anger I thought was fuelling me, was in truth fanning your flames!’
‘Well no more! I’ve finished playing by your rules!’ Jean-Paul flies up to the trapeze-artist and clocks her on the head to knock her out. He remarks that when people start dying because someone is trying to get to him, then it is time to be very sure each and every move counts. Flying out of the big top, Northstar wonders what his next move is. Setting the woman down on the snow, he tells himself that he cannot leave, for the pattern established in Paris indicates that only by running Arcade’s gauntlet to its conclusion will he gain the next pointer, the next link in a chain leading to whoever is behind all of this.
Northstar knows that he is just a rat in a maze, a dog salivating at an intricately placed set of signals! He decides that he has to rest and think a bit - but where? Arcade hasn’t given him a moment since this all began, if not here, then what has he got left for himself? Northstar’s mind begins to drift, far back through his years….
(flashback prior to Northstar becoming involved with Department H)
Jean-Paul is back there - suspended high above the ring, lost in the twists and tumbles of those restless rewarding years. He was welcomed without question or reservation, and friends soon became the family he had never known. There was warmth and laughter…and yet, not far beneath the surface there was also anger, a low, slow burning flame that when fanned…became an inferno as Jean-Paul and the other circus performers became involved in separatist factions pushing for Quebec to become an independent nation. Expression - after years of silence, afraid to give what voice to who and what he was, now lay in the subversion. Frustration was translated to action. Far from the applause of the circus crowd, the separatists gave him the chance to make a mark on the world.
(Present)
‘And to my eternal shame…I took it!’ Jean-Paul wonders if he was able to live that time again, if he would do things differently. Or was Mariel right - and good, or bad, ones past makes them what they are today? A voice coming behind Jean-Paul snarls, before exclaiming ‘I’ll tell you what you are today, pal…ours!’ the voice booms as Jean-Paul is smashed through a caravan and across the circus grounds. Jean-Paul lands and rolls several feet, before looking up and seeing who is standing before him. ‘Oh no! Not you - not now!’ he exclaims.
‘Sorry, Beaubier, but as I’m sure you know…it’s Weapon P.R.I.M.E. time!’ exclaims Tigerstryke, the leader of Canada’s newest batch of “heroes”. Yeti, the creature that smashed Jean-Paul looms over him. Killspree stands alongside Tigerstryke, and Double Trouble hover in the air. Tigerstryke tells Jean-Paul that they have unfinished business. ‘Remember? A little matter of tarnished Canadian pride…not to mention murder!’ Tigerstryke tells Northstar that under military ordinance B-6345, he is under arrest. ‘And this time, you are coming with us!’
Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Canada, on a huge private estate nestled a stones throw away from the majestic Rocky Mountains. A man sits at his desk, ‘Yes, yes, I’m aware of all that!’ he mutters on the phone, declaring that the fact is Weapon P.R.I.M.E.’s involvement was not foreseen by either of them. ‘What if they do take Northstar in? It’ll ruin everything!’ The man is speaking to Arcade, who from the safety of his little ice cream truck tells his associate not to worry, as in its own way, Weapon P.R.I.M.E. serves a purpose, an admittedly unexpected wrinkle that will only enhance the game. ‘I hope so, for your sake, I really hope so!’ the man declares before hanging up. ‘What an imbecile!’ Arcade exclaims, before realizing that the man does have a point - if Weapon P.R.I.M.E. does prove to be a nuisance…then Canada will be minus its second super team!
Back in Zuyevo, Weapon P.R.I.M.E. have closed in around Northstar, and Tigerstryke tells Jean-Paul that he doesn’t look too good, so if he is thinking of taking them on, then he advises him to think again. Jean-Paul glances behind him and sees an angry crowd emerge from the circus tent, while thinking that although it pains him to admit it, Tigerstryke could be right. Jean-Paul thinks that if Weapon P.R.I.M.E is part of this, or even a by-product, Arcade will be expecting him to fight - but this time, he intends to disappoint! Jean-Paul holds out his hands and declares that he surrenders.
‘WHAT?’ exclaims a shocked Tigerstryke. Killspree remarks that it must be a trick, when suddenly, he is struck in the back by a crow bar. Weapon P.R.I.M.E. are confused, until they look up and see the circus Strong Man leading an angry mob of performers and patrons towards them. ‘Looks like the natives are restless!’ snarls Yeti as he, Double Trouble and Killspree are attacked. Tigerstryke decides that these people must be in on Northstar’s plan, that he set them up. He is about to use his powers to help his team, when Jean-Paul stops him, asking him if he is insane, as one misjudged shot or blow and there will be dead civilians to account for.
Northstar points out that these people are all innocent pawns in Arcade’s game. Tigerstryke is confused, ‘Arcade? What are you talking about?’ Jean-Paul is equally confused, he exclaims that he doesn’t understand, for if Weapon P.R.I.M.E. are here, they must have seen the broadcast. Then he realizes that Arcade would never make it that simple. He tells Tigerstryke to look into the eyes of the civilians - their minds are not their own. Yeti calls out to Tigerstryke for some help, ‘Sp, Tigerstryke - what’s it going to be?’ Jean-Paul asks.
The red and white clad man replies that he doesn’t know, as there was no allowance for this eventuality, no contingency plan. Northstar grabs Tigerstryke and pulls him up above the crowd, face to face they talk high in the air, where Northstar suggests to Tigerstryke that his people take evasive rather than offensive action, while the two of them take a somewhat more elevated view of the situation. With that, Jean-Paul propels the two men even higher, before asking Tigerstryke if his battle suit works on the same principles as Guardian’s.
Tigerstryke replies that it does, but he doesn’t see what that has to do with anything. Northstar tells him to recalibrate his optical range and scan for any large or anomalous energy readings. Tigerstryke does as his uneasy ally requests, and discovers the strange energy emanating from a trailer at the circus. Northstar explains to Tigerstryke that Arcade uses gadgetry and machinery, so to control so many minds at once, he would have needed to generate a very powerful signal. Northstar asks Tigerstryke if he reads any life signs, to which the reply is ‘No’. ‘Then what are you waiting for? Destroy it!’ Jean-Paul declares. In a spectacular display of pink energy, Tigerstryke blasts the trailer, causing a massive explosion.
Soon, Killspree informs Tigerstryke that he thinks the humans are all normal, but points out that his Russian is basic to say the least. He reveals that what he died gather however is that the logical law is on its way, so he thinks they should be gone before the law arrives. Tigerstryke agrees, before telling Jean-Paul that he is sorry, and that he believes him, but Arcade or no Arcade, he has his orders to bring him in. Northstar is searching through some wreckage of the trailer. ‘Beaubier?’ Tigerstryke calls out, while Jean-Paul picks up a card with Old Cult Magic Shop New Orleans on it.
‘Beaubier, I’m warning you!’ Tigerstryke exclaims, adding that he really did want to resort to violence, but he has no option. ‘Prime - take him!’ but as Tigerstryke gives the order, all of the lights at the circus go off. ‘What happened to the lights?’ Yeti mumbles, to which Tigerstryke suspects that the main generator is down, and adds that it is no coincidence probably. Killspree exclaims that he cannot see anything, so they are going to lose him again. Tigerstryke declares that they wont lose him, and switches to Star Light mode, his sensors now enabling him to see Northstar streaking out of the circus in the air. Tigerstryke calls out to Northstar, telling him that as fast as he may be, he cannot outrun a high intensity electromagnetic burst. But before Tigerstryke can administer the blast, something knocks him out.
Northstar thinks to himself that it seems he has a guardian angel, and wonders who it was. He supposes that it could have been Arcade, because he imagines that his capture would throw a large wrench in the works of whatever he has planned for him in New Orleans. Jean-Paul recalls the tarot card he found - the five of Batons. He knows that reversed, its divinatory meaning is fraud, defeat through trickery. Jean-Paul supposes that means the end of the preliminaries, so now it is all about him and the false murder charge over his head. ‘Good!’
Shortly, in New Orleans, the French Quarter. Jean-Paul has a long blue jacket on covering his costume, and thinks that it is strange, as he has no past link with this city, so why should he be here? He regrets that he does not have a plan, something is better than stumbling blindly from one glaring Arcade clue to another. Northstar’s head feels stuffed with cotton wool. He needs desperately to rest. ‘But I cannot!’ Jean-Paul begins to enter the magic shop, knowing that Arcade may chose to target another close friend - Raul or Philippe - anyone who has had the misfortune to care for him.
Jean-Paul approaches the counter and calls out, ‘You - old woman. I am here concerning a tarot card - the five of Batons. The old woman doesn’t turn from what she is doing, so Jean-Paul asks her if she heard him. The old woman replies ‘The five of Batons? You must be mistaken. The only card that need concern you, Monsieur Beaubier…is DEATH!’ the old woman turns, and Jean-Paul is shocked to discover she is practically a corpse, when suddenly the corpse - or rather, robot - opens its mouth and shoots something at Jean-Paul, who falls to the floor unconscious.
Sometime later, Northstar wakes to find himself in a reconstruction of the Quebec City bus terminal, which shocks him to the core. ‘No! Please…not this!’ he exclaims as he gets to his feet, while thinking that it is an uncannily perfect reconstruction - almost as if Arcade really has looked inside his head and plucked out an image. Jean-Paul tells himself that he should have known it would end here, ‘In my own personal Hell!’ Jean-Paul calls out to Arcade, asking him if that is what his employer wants - ‘To hear my confession? To see my shame?’
Suddenly, a voice calls out ‘You…you did this!’ and robots of the undead begin to rise. ‘You killed us…with your bombs and ideals!’ Jean-Paul is shocked. ‘You murdered us all!’ ‘NO!’ screams Northstar. ‘No! No! No!’ ‘You! You! You!’ cry the zombies all pointing at him. ‘Yes…’ he whispers as he falls to the ground, hanging his head.
Suddenly, someone grabs his head, and pulls a scalpel to his neck. The man has a scar down his face, and exclaims that the boss figured this little trip down memory lane would take out whatever fight was left in Northstar. The man remarks that it was a shame really, and turns to his equally nasty teammates, who all stand before Northstar. ‘I don’t know about the rest of you…but I was looking forward to a bit of a struggle!’


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Running on Empty
Last stop: The Quebec City bus terminal, as recreated and relocated by master assassin, Arcade. It is the final stage in his murderous game that has torn mutant speedster Northstar across the globe - from Ibizia, Spain, to Paris, France, then to Zuyevo, and finally here, to New Orleans, in the USA. The handsome speedster, exhausted, looks up to find five strange beings surrounding him, and one of them holding a scalpel up to his face. Another of the group asks if he can do it, but the man holding the scalpel replies ‘No, Short Fuse, that pleasure is mine…all mine!’
The man, dressed in a tuxedo and wearing a trench-coat, explains to his cohorts that Arcade was quite clear on this. ‘”Mister Nice”, he said, “if Beaubier folds, cracks or refuses to fight…cut him”!’ Mister Nice excitedly shouts ‘Again! And again!’ when suddenly, Northstar grabs him, and tosses him over, before kicking him, and breaking his scalpel-holding arm. Mister Nice screams, while Northstar kicks an ape-like creature, and remarks that he can only guess Arcade’s sense of humor is more keenly developed than he imagined. ‘Why else would he have sent such a vaudevillian troupe of super-villain rejects to finish the job?’
Northstar grabs the ape-like creature, whom Short Fuse calls Link, and uses him as a human (or rather ape) shield as Short Fuse blasts Northstar with his powers. Jean-Paul then tosses Link into Short Fuse, knocking them both out. The dominatrix-looking woman holding two dogs by leads calls out to the reptilian-like being, and calling him Barb she orders him to finish the job. ‘A pleasure!’ the green Barb replies as tendrils extend from his body reaching out for Jean-Paul, who has long since used his super speed to move out of the way. Northstar admits that Arcade’s little backdrop rattled him, but not for as long as he led them to believe - and certainly not for reasons that they think.
Meanwhile, outside, the diabolically absurd Arcade sits in his mock ice-cream truck, watching Northstar’s battle from hidden cameras, he mutters that at least he got one thing right - ‘A motlier crew I couldn’t have hoped to assemble’ however Arcade wonders how the bus terminal scenario could have misfired. For combined with the sheer physical and mental stress of the past day, it should have been the straw that broke the camels back. ‘As well, I’ll just have to hope they’re not as inept as I first thought!’
‘REJECTS?’ Link bellows, as he and the others approach the woman, whom he addresses as Sadista, and seeing that she has caught Jean-Paul in one of her whips, he tells her to hold Northstar there, then telling Northstar that he got it wrong. ‘My specialty…is damaged goods!’ with that, Link smashes Jean-Paul across the mock bus terminal. Bloody and beaten, Northstar tries to gather himself, but limits that he thought were none existent have been reached - and exceeded. The founding member of Canada’s former premiere super heroes, Alpha Flight, knows that he is running on empty, for even his metabolism is slowing down, refusing to heal wounds that otherwise would be a memory - such as the nasty gash on his leg.
‘I smell blood!’ Sadista screams, ‘And so do they!’ she remarks, releasing her savages dogs. Short Fuse isn’t impressed that some dogs are going to get to have Northstar, and exclaims that they can have what is left when he is done, only for him to trip up in one of their leads, and stumbling to the ground, his powers knock a hole in the brick wall. Watching via cameras, Arcade is aghast, and wonders what he did to deserve this. Jean-Paul stands by the exit, knowing that if he can take this fight beyond the confines of Arcade’s little play ground, then the advantage may now be his. However, Jean-Paul finds himself savagely shoved out by Link.
The brute tells his cohorts to stay back, ‘He’s mine, you hear me, mine!’ Link raises his powerful fists high above his head, ready to strike the defenseless Jean-Paul, who is right now thinking that he couldn’t bear to think of anyone knowing that he lost to these clowns. Suddenly, Link is struck by a blast of electromagnetic energy, signaling the arrival of Canada’s greatest super hero, Heather McNeil Hudson a.k.a. Guardian, former leader of Alpha Flight, now relegated to a desk-job within Department H.
Guardian announces that she is here with absolutely no authorization whatsoever, and that she is already in violation of so many statutes and limitations, that a little over zealousness in the use of her battle suit’s armaments really wont make any difference. Jean-Paul is confused by the sudden appearance of Guardian, while Sadista remarks to Barb that it sounds like Guardian is making threats at them. ’Think she means it?’ Barb asks. ’Let’s find out!’ Sadista replies gleefully, only for both of them to be struck down by Heather’s trusty powers. ‘I meant it!’ Heather declares.
Jean-Paul gets to his feet and tells Heather that he doesn’t mean to sound ungrateful, ‘But what are you doing here?’ He points out that Alpha Flight is gone, suspended, and that just by wearing that battle suit she is risking everything. ‘You did this for me?’ he asks. Heather smiles and tells Jean-Paul that he has a lot to learn about families. ‘The ties don’t snap just like that, they’re always there’. She adds that Alpha Flight might not exist in the official paperwork, but where it counts - in the heart - they are all still together. Northstar smiles now, and tells admits that he has always found it difficult to express himself, to admit that he cares, ‘But I do’. Heather takes Jean-Paul by the hand as Jean-Paul explains that, if anything, this ordeal has taught him to treasure friendship, and embrace it, adding that he hopes when this is all over, they can start afresh.
Heather begins to reply that she would like that, when Short Fuse appears behind Northstar declaring ‘Time’s up!’ Jean-Paul shoves his elbow into Short Fuse’s ribcage, before repeatedly punching him in the face, then with one final uppercut, knocking him across the area. Jean-Paul tells the rejects that whatever fleeting momentary illusion of supremacy they may have entertained is now over. Suddenly, Jean-Paul collapses, but Heather grabs him. Seeing that he is in a bad shape, Heather suggests that the find somewhere for him to rest up, adding that she didn’t follow him all the way to and from Russia just to see him die of exhaustion.
Jean-Paul realizes now that it was Heather at the circus who bought him the time he needed to escape from Weapon P.R.I.M.E. ‘Trust me…the pleasure was all mine!’ Heather exclaims. Jean-Paul points out that he cannot rest yet, as there is still the “small” matter of a murder charge hanging over him. Jean-Paul remarks that it is the only thing that doesn’t really fit - why would Ritchie Ward be killed, then he be framed for his death when he was also marked for death. Heather wants to know who hired Arcade, as they know he only kills to order. Northstar declares that there has to be something more to this than a simple contract - a missing piece in the puzzle, vital for the finished picture.
Suddenly, sets of televisions in a store window burst to life, and Arcade appears on them, ‘Congratulations! Jean-Paul Beaubier, you’ve won tonight’s star prize!’ Arcade exclaims as if he was hosting a television game show. Arcade informs Jean-Paul that by surviving his 24-hour torment, running his global gauntlet, ‘You get to take a trip - to this luxury chateau in Vancouver’ Arcade motions to an image of the sprawling chateau, and exclaims that the prize also includes tickets to the video premiere of “Killing Ritchie Ward: Director’s Cut’ Arcade begins to fade off the screen, bidding Jean-Paul farewell, and smirking that he is looking forward to the sequel.
Heather turns to Northstar, ‘Oh no, no you don’t!’ she tells him, pointing out that it is obviously a trap, as nothing is that easy with Arcade. Jean-Paul asks who knows how Arcade’s twisted mind works, and figures ‘Maybe, in his eyes, I have won!’ Whatever the case, Northstar thinks that he has no choice, as he needs that evidence he will get from Vancouver, but even more, he needs to know why. Heather can see that there is no way she can talk Jean-Paul out of it, so she asks him to let her come along and back him up. Northstar turns his back on Heather, who quickly tells him that it is not a capital offense to need help, to fall back on someone else. She points out that he is hurting, close to exhaustion, and while his edge may be his speed, it is almost all gone now. ‘”My edge is my speed” How very true. Without it, what am I?’ Jean-Paul thinks, ‘A man’ is his answer.
He is about to tell Heather that she can accompany him, before reminding her that she said she followed him from Russia, and asking how. Heather explains that as he was slower than usual, she was able to lock onto him using her onboard tracking system, and asks why it matters. Jean-Paul reminds Heather that Tigerstryke’s battle suit is a version of hers, so if she could find him, then it follows that Tigerstryke could also. Jean-Paul explains to Heather that as far as Weapon P.R.I.M.E. and the Canadian government are concerned, he is a murderer, at very least an embarrassment they want removed for fear of adverse publicity, and tells Heather that if she really wants to help him, then there is something else she can do for him.
Nearby, atop the New Orleans World Trade Center. ‘There you are!’ Tigerstryke thinks, before radioing to his teammates and informing them that their target is airborne and locked in. He begins to move in to apprehend, when suddenly, Guardian appears behind him and blasts him with her electromagnetic powers, telling him that Northstar has some personal business to conclude, after which he will only be too happy to talk. Tigerstryke gathers himself while Heather tells him that if he wants to get to Northstar, then he is going to have to get through her first.
Angrily, Tigerstryke tells Heather not to think that he wouldn’t like to try, battle suit against battle suit, but after that business in Russia and how Northstar helped Weapon P.R.I.M.E., he doesn’t really feel inclined to. Heather smiles, and addressing Tigerstryke as Mitchell, she tells him not to look so pained, adding that if he and Weapon P.R.I.M.E. really mean to fill Alpha Flight’s shoes, then bending the rules is something he had better get used to.
It begins somewhere over Oklahoma, a rumbling chest pain that spreads rapidly body wide. Muscles start to scream for relief, lungs wheeze wretchedly for air through raw throat tissue - until finally, Jean-Paul cannot go on. He makes his way to a car rental facility, and handing the receptionist his credit card he mutters ‘The card…never leave home without it!’ In a moment, he is in a car, and again waves of sheer exhaustion threaten to drown him. More than once he finds himself adrift in the lanes, asleep at the wheel. But the questions drive him ever onward - Why? Who?
Soon, Jean-Paul arrives in at the luxurious estate in Vancouver. Making his way through the building, he thinks that Guardian was right, that this is way too easy, and recalls that the man at the gas station was fairly tripping over himself to give him directions to this place. Northstar assumes that from the butler’s unquestioning welcome he must be expected - but from whom? He wonders which villain has returned phoenix-like from the ashes of some previous defeat. - The Master? Llan? Loki? The butler opens the door to a large office, and calls to his employer, informing him that Monsieur Beaubier is here. Addressing his butler as Graham, the large man tells him he can go now.
Jean-Paul is alone in the room now, and the man turns and smiles, telling Jean-Paul that he is so pleased to finally meet him, and introducing himself as Carl Kerridge. ‘WHO? Do…I know you, sir?’ Jean-Paul asks. Kerridge adjusts his bowtie and replies ‘No…I, on the other hand, have made it my business to know you…perhaps better than you know yourself’. Kerridge reveals, explaining that it is one of the many advantages of wealth - there are no closed doors, no secret that cannot be unearthed and no one who cannot be bought. Jean-Paul slams his fists down on Kerridge’s desk, ‘You employed Arcade to kill me? Why? What I am to you?’ Jean-Paul asks.
‘What are you to me?’ Kerridge replies ‘You are change, you are disorder, you and your kind that typify the malaise that infects the modern world…the insidious progression towards a society lacking the most basic grasp of morality or responsibility!’ A shocked Jean-Paul shouts ‘My…KIND? How dare you pass -’ he is interrupted by Kerridge, who demands that he finishes his speech. ‘It’s true, I did employ Arcade. But not to kill you. That’s my privilege!’ he boasts, before smashing Jean-Paul across the face with his powerful fist.
Kerridge leaps over the desk and kicks Jean-Paul in the stomach, explaining that it was Arcade’s job to tire Northstar out, find out whatever limits he possesses and exceed them. Kerridge whacks Northstar in the back of the neck, declaring that he wants Northstar to know, before he dies, what it is like to be part of the human race, and to understand how the decent, clean-living backbone of society truly feel. Kerridge looms over Northstar, declaring that he has watched him flaunt his difference for the whole world to see, delighting in his genetic and emotional quirks. ‘And what I saw in every expression, every smug look, was the clear message…I am your superior, your future’. Kerridge kicks Jean-Paul while he is down and shouting, asks him how superior he feels right now.
Kerridge goes over to a mirror and adjusts his tie once more, declaring that it was time to say “enough” and to show by example that once you strip away the gaudy costumes and inflated egos, there was just flesh and blood. ‘no magic, no great white miracle…nothing to fear or revere. They could be exposed, their sordid pasts laid bare. They could be hunted, tormented and they could be killed!’ Kerridge explains that Northstar’s death will serve as a rallying cry, to all those who want to hold on to the hope, the dream, that this is and will be in the future a sane, habitable world.
Clutching his wounded body, Jean-Paul thinks to himself that this is no idle threat, that Kerridge means every word, but beyond the rage and posturing, Jean-Paul can see a frightened man, scared of change and progression, clinging on, no matter what, to the safe, insulated world he has constructed around himself. ‘Who, I wonder, does that remind me of?’ Jean-Paul adds to himself. Kerridge picks up a video cassette and remarks that you really have to admire Arcade for his attention to even the smallest detail. Kerridge declares that there is nothing, no facet of the whole illusion overlooked - even this videotape, the “prize” in the game. Kerridge puts the tape into a VCR and remarks that it is probably blank, or perhaps some trashy movie, as it is so hard to gauge the way Arcade’s mind works.
However, Kerridge is shocked to see a recording of himself giving a briefcase full of money to Arcade, then Ritchie Ward being murdered by one of Arcade’s robot mines. ‘No! That…idiot!’ Kerridge shouts angrily taking the video out of the VCR, wondering what Arcade was thinking, as he never meant for him to actually - ‘Pah, no matter, easily destroyed!’ Kerridge realizes, only for Jean-Paul to leap up, ‘NO!’ he shouts, taking Kerridge by surprise. Kerridge falls to the floor before knocking Jean-Paul aside, ‘So, a little fight left in you after all. Whatever little bit we missed in New Orleans’.
Both men get to their feet as Kerridge remarks that he is curious about that, as he dislikes loose ends. He remarks that he was sure of Jean-Paul’s part in the Quebec city bombing, certain that those deaths must be on his conscience. ‘Can it be that you have no remorse for those you killed?’ Kerridge asks. ‘You, the hero…the mighty Northstar?’ Both men struggle in hand to hand combat, until Kerridge shoves his elbow in Northstar’s face, causing Jean-Paul to fall against a wall, and thinks to himself that there it is, the biggest flaw - the biggest miscalculation in Kerridge’s scheme: The Quebec city bus terminal, so nearly Jean-Paul’s darkest hour, but in fact the single most important event in shaping the man he is today!
(Flashback, years ago before Northstar was involved with Alpha Flight)
A bus returning late to the station is laden with passengers - a bus that should not have been there. Destruction of property had suddenly, terrifyingly, escalated, become something it was never meant to be. Jean-Paul Martin (as he was known then) would not be party to murder. He had made that plain to his separatist colleagues from the very beginning. Racing towards a bus, he had seconds in which to turn terrorism…into heroism. Thanks to his super speed, he was able to take the bomb from the rubbish bin and toss it away from the innocents. Mercifully, no one died. But the nightmare of what so nearly came to pass would return to haunt him again and again. Fuelled by a government so eager to turn the incident into a propaganda weapon in its war against separatists, crafting a lie full of corpses.
(Present)
As Kerridge holds Jean-Paul in the air by his spandex costume, Northstar thinks ‘It’s why I agreed to join Alpha Flight, why despite each petulant tantrum I came back again and again. And in the final analysis…it’s why…I will not just lie down and die!’ he shouts, dodging Kerridge’s fist, which gets stuck in the wall behind him. Northstar breaks free, knowing his words were bold, as he has neither the advantage of speed, not power, and despite his age, Kerridge is as strong as an ox. Kerridge shoves his elbow into Northstar again, once more knocking him across the room. Jean-Paul recalls that Wolverine’s legacy from his days at Department H was a combat regimen based on nerve clusters and impact points, and wishes now that he had paid it the attention is so evidently deserved, for the conceit he once had may turn out to be his death.
But Kerridge leaps at Northstar, Jean-Paul kicks him as he is in the air, and Kerridge slams hard face-first onto the solid floor. Jean-Paul knows that while the advantage is however tenuously his he must act, as he has only got one shot, meaning if this is the wrong spot, then he will no doubt be dead. With that, Jean-Paul slams his hand down at the back of Kerridge’s neck, and the wicked Kerridge is finally unconscious.
Taking the video recording, Northstar hurts all over, and tells himself that he might deserve the pain, for it will serve to remind him how close his arrogance brought him to the edge. Jean-Paul thinks that in his own way, Kerridge was right, he has been frivolous of late, courting notoriously to satisfy some itch he could not scratch, burying his true need for rigorous self-examination in a succession of mindless knee-jerk situations. Jean-Paul notices the butler looking at him through a hole in the wall, and suggests to him that he prepares for guests, as once the contents of this tape are made public, there will be plenty.
Leaving the estate with the video in his hand, Jean-Paul thinks to himself that Mariel summed it up, that our pasts make us what we are today and what we will be in the future. He thinks that Arcade’s murderous jaunt through his life has served to show him that by denying his past he was creating a person no one, not even himself, could like…or trust. Jean-Paul knows that all must change, for he is Northstar, and though he will never hide from who he truly is, what he wishes for the future is to be someone everyone can be proud of.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

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Chapter XXVIII The Black Vortex
Deep space, one week ago:Gara is the last of her civilization, which was consumed by the Black Vortex. She is one of the Elders of the Universe. The Black Vortex has once again resurfaced and she will stop at nothing to destroy it. She can only pray that this object with the power to topple civilizations is in safe hands.
Actually, it is in the hands of one Sam Alexander aka Nova, flying through space. He recalls that he had the Ultimate Nullifier in his hands once. It felt like a vintage video game controller. He didn’t respect it. Until he fired it. The black hole that emerged from the gun destroyed an entire Chitauri fleet. That’s when he started respecting the Ultimate Nullifier. The crazy mirror under his arm from an alien antiques roadshow has the same vibe to it. This is one trigger he doesn’t want to pull, he thinks. Or does he?
He looks inside the Black Vortex and sees an idealized version of himself looking back. He could do anything if he just reached out and—
No, he is already a badass, Sam decides and looks away. He beat the Hulk. What does he get out of even more power? He holds the Vortex up again and tells it not to show him what he can become but why he should submit.
He sees potential futures. Him saving his missing father, he sees himself beating Thanos, then he sees scenes depicting the sacrifice of his predecessor, Richard Rider, and he wonders why. As a warning not to become him?
How does it happen? he asks his alter ego reaching from the Vortex. Does he just reach out and touch it? How can he not do it? But then he recalls his dad’s words that nothing in life is free. So what’s the cost for the power-up? he asks the Black Vortex.
Meanwhile, in his flying fortress Mr. Knife aka J-son informs Thane that the Black Vortex is in the possession of a young simpleton from Earth. They must recover it if Thane is to have his vengeance on the Guardians of the Galaxy and the mutants from Earth. They slaughtered his flock.
Thane sputters why would they do that. To bring him to his knees and take him out of this fight, J-son lies. So he would fly in a fit of rage and attack them before the Vortex unlocked his cosmic potential. Thane is convinced and swears there is nowhere they can hide the Black Vortex from him.
Earth:Nova has returned to his home in Arizona and is in his room. His mother Eva demands to see what he is hiding under the sheet but relents that a teenage boy needs his secrets.
Sam takes his Avengers ID card and asks if the Vision is at home. Jarvis tells him the Vision is unavailable and asks if he can help. Sam tells him it’s really a job for a droid. Jarvis promises to tell the Vision when he returns and Sam shouldn’t let the Vision hear him call him a droid.
Sam wonders if the Vortex is still waiting for him to sign on the dotted line. He draws the sheet aside and again sees his cosmic self in the Vortex. He considers that he could find his father, protect the planet, fix everything.
He is broken out of his reverie when his mother calls him to dinner and he puts the sheet back.
At the table, his mother asks why he is acting weird. Sam defends himself he is just having a bad day. Whatever’s under the sheet is not from o-ut-e-r s-p-ac-e? his mother spells. He tells her she can say “outer space.” It’s not like Kaelynn (his younger sister) is going to go there. She does want to go there, Kaelynn insists. Eva tells him not to get fresh. He can have a bad day and not be a stinker. The last time he brought home a souvenir, it was filthy with radiation. And the time before that—
The doorbell rings and she goes to answer it. Outside stand two aliens who introduce themselves as the Collector and his associate Legronn the Terrible, who has tracked a very desirable object here. Taking the weirdness in a stride, Eva sighs and tells them to come back later. They are having dinner.
Sam rushes to his room and puts on the Nova helmet, wondering how they found him. He was so careful to hide in the Oort Cloud for a while.
He gets a shock when he sees Kaeley entranced staring at the Black Vortex. He pushes her back. Angrily, she attacks and shouts it’s hers!
Outside, the Collector offers Eva jewelry as a down payment for the exclusive right to negotiate with her.
Legronn points to the sky where Nova is flying way with the Vortex. To the shuttle! the Collector orders.
They follow him into space and fire at him. He slingshots around the Moon, uses it as cover and is behind them. He fires a blast at their ship and boasts he is an Avenger. Don’t try to follow him! The Collector is unimpressed. Most Avengers don’t kill.
On Spartax, Gara senses the Vortex’ approach – and with it her redemption. She takes off. Kitty hopes she can recover it and then this will be over.
Nova is already in Spartax’s orbit and enters the flying fortress and the Collector withdraws, rethinking his strategy.
Nova expects Star-Lord, instead he finds J-son and Thane, who demand the Vortex. When Nova doesn’t comply, they attack. Thane hits him and takes the Vortex. He looks inside. With a triumphant yess, he submits.
Nova orders him to drop it when he is contacted by Star-Lord, who tells him somewhat belatedly not to go to Spartax.
Uh-oh, Nova mutters when he looks at the empowered Thane, who remembers Nova’s threats from moments ago…