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

[Assistant]
Wrath of the Dreamqueen part 1: The Ties That Bind
Fort Calgary, Canada…Elizabeth Twoyoungmen leads the way through a cairn, followed by a fellow archaeologist who admits that he doesn’t like to keep bugging her, but wants to know why she insists on digging into this cairn. He reminds Elizabeth that they were going to dig into this cairn in a couple of days anyway, but right now they are supposed to be finishing excavating the village that built it. Elizabeth ignores her colleague, to asks her if she has anything to say.
Elizabeth does have something to say and tells her co-worker to shush, ‘I’ve found him!’ she exclaims wide-eyed as she gazes upon the skeletal remains of a man who had been bound to the ground in the corner of this cairn. Elizabeth’s colleague notices some kind of sceptre, or wand, lying beside the skeleton and wonders what it is, as he has never seen anything like it in all his studies. Elizabeth declares that she doesn’t know, admitting that she was drawn here, she dreamt of a man, a shaman…she reaches down for the sceptre but before she can touch it, her hand bursts into flames.
‘It’s burning!’ cries Elizabeth as she shakes her hand, trying to put out the flame. Her colleague obviously doesn’t see the flames, and asks Elizabeth what she is talking about, before the once phenomenally powerful young woman, formerly of Alpha Flight, falls to the ground, unconscious.
‘Listen well, daughter, for we could not allow you to touch the object! Listen and observe. What you will see is the past, the foundations of the future, the building blocks of the present! We want you to learn!’ announces the beautiful goddess Narya, once part of Alpha Flight as Snowbird, until she met an untimely demise. Snowbird appears before Elizabeth and informs her that they want her to prepare, because before the day will be over, she will go back to the endless game, she will once again don the mantle of power…and will need to return to her destined path. With that said, Snowbird begins to recount a tale to Elizabeth.
(In Elizabeth’s dream / flashback to Dreamqueen’s origin)
Her name was Zhilla Char, a succubus who haunted the sleep of lonely men, some 800 years ago. After a night of visitations, she would wander the glades of the Astral Plane, seeking a private place to digest her stolen man-essence. Being a lesser demon, she would never imagine herself as the victim of another dark obsession - such was the vanity that killed her.
From on a nearby ridge, a white-skinned figure in green calls to Zhilla, who turns to look - and suddenly runs as her now-assailant throws some creature at her. ‘Stay away from me!’ she screams, before the creature wraps itself around her and she tumbles to the ground. The mysterious assailant asks Zhilla Char if she likes his pet, joking that it tends to grow on people. Scared, Zhilla asks her attacker who he is and what it is he wants. The pale man tells Zhilla that she is so naive for a demon, and adds that she should know these are the borders of his domain. ‘And I am your worst Nightmare!’ he sniggers aptly introducing himself.
A bedraggled Zhilla gathers herself and gets to her feet as she looks around at the dark and strange surroundings she now finds herself in. She wonders where she is, when Nightmare appears before her, a projection, informing Zhilla that he has banished her to a lesser plane, one that cannot be so easily escaped from. The shaken Zhilla asks Nightmare if he hasn’t done enough to her already, and asks if he knows what will happen now. Smugly, Nightmare replies ‘Of course’ and explains he knows that she is in a lot of pain, and that soon, she will give birth to their daughter.
Nightmare informs Zhilla that the birthing will destroy her, since demons’ mothers become their children. Nightmare declares that he finds it quite amusing, but then he always finds the suffering of others a laugh. Zhilla tells Nightmare that he is insane before pointing out that her daughter will know everything she knows, just as she has the memories of her own mother. ‘She will hate you! She will seek revenge!’ Nightmare disagrees, boasting that their daughter will never be a threat to him so long as she is trapped here, adding that without him, she would have never been born.
Nightmare mockingly wishes Zhilla ‘Fare well’ as the birthing flames begin to consume her, yet Zhilla tries to summon the passion to live on. ‘Hate you…’ but Nightmare’s act could not be revoked. Crawling along the ground, she desperately screams ‘I won’t die…I won’t!’ But her entire body is then consumed. Very soon, her bones and ashes are replaced by a younger looking version of herself, complete with the white skin and flowing green hair, inherited from her father.
As the demoness wakes into life, she finds herself in a realm of mediocre interpretation. It is a world of sub-matter molded by an apathetic intellect. She feels the urge to change it - and she has the power to do so - she is the Dreamqueen! The Dreamqueen stands up, and declares that her father has given her her own world, that her mother was wrong and he was right. ‘How can I hate you for giving me life or the gift of a private dimension?’ The Dreamqueen declares that this world will conform to her thoughts and all that she desires shall be. She uses her powers to create her home the way she wants it, creating floating islands, rivers and lakes, and her mighty citadel. By imposing her will on the ethereal reality around her, she creates a world and a people that submit to her dark fantasies. The Dreamqueen does whatever she wants, creates all that she desires. But as the years pass, she sees her dream world no longer as a domain…it has become her prison.
450 years later, a drought plagued the now extinct tribe of the Chickaqua. After two months of dryness, after berry bushes withered and the game moved away, the tribe implored the shaman known as Nanquato, to seek a solution to the problem. Nanquato sent his astral self on a quest in search of the Sky God’s realm. He was to beg them to release the waters of the air onto the parched soil of the Chickaqua territory.
Nanquato searched through dimensions of screaming colors, through planes where machines danced in weird rituals…his journeys led him further away from the Earth planes and deeper into the dream lands where the dark ones dwell. Eventually he came upon the Dreamqueen’s realm. Nanquato hoped it was the land of the Sky gods. He approached the tower with high spirits and great expectations.
Inside the tower, Nanquato met a beautiful goddess who assured him that she would bring the soothing sky waters to his people, all he had to do was carry a magic totem back to his world, he wore the totem around his neck. Nanquato did not see the Dreamqueen laugh with evil satisfaction, or the dark reality of her world. This was her first deception, and it gave her a feeling of pleasure unlike anything she had ever known.
Upon returning to his people, Nanquato informed them that he had returned to say a goddess had granted their request. The Dreamqueen meanwhile, watched her play unfold, anxious to hear the screams and taste the terror of the Chickaqua. Watching Nanquato and the Chickaqua through a looking globe, the Dreamqueen, whose powers on Earth were limited to the altering of perception, knew the effects would be satisfying.
Nanquato begins a prayer to the “Sky Goddess”, and his people stand with him in support as he asks her to come and dance with his people. The Dreamqueen laughs, ‘Ha ha ha, let them dance with these!’ she exclaims before sending illusions into the people’s minds - Nanquato believes that the rain is pouring down on him, while his people believe they are being attacked by horrid beasts.
The Dreamqueen is pleased with her trickery, as the fear of Chickaqua feeds the psychic link, so she can soon pull herself through. As Nanquato bathes in a dream of rain, his people fought with phantoms, their hearts bursting with terror. Nanquato only saw laughter and joy, the Dreamqueen had spared him for later torment. The Dreamqueen sets into motion her next phase, causing a sceptre to burst from the totem worn around Nanquato’s neck, she waits for the weapon of fear to pass safely, and if it does, then she too will be able to do the same.
As Nanquato felt the pain of the sceptre’s passing, a nearby warrior realized the source of their problems, and heaved a spear at Nanquato, striking him in the stomach as he labels him a traitor. As the Dreamqueen sees this, she is shocked, certain that they will ruin everything.
The wounded Nanquato looks up at the warrior and asks him why he did this. The warrior declares that it is because he brought evil upon them, it was either his life or theirs. Nanquato is confused and asks the warrior what he is talking about - and it becomes apparent as the warrior reveals that Nanquato has betrayed them to demons. Another spear is thrown into Nanquato, striking him in the chest this time.
The Chickaqua are freed from their nightmares as Nanquato lies dead. ‘We are bound to our destiny, as we are bound to our past. The choices of necessity are often painful’.
Nightmare appears before his daughter and asks her if she is disappointed. The Dreamqueen is surprised to see her father, who tells her that he has come to bask in the light of her misfortune. ‘It’s really invigorating, I must say’. The Dreamqueen asks her father why he has imprisoned her here and why he doesn’t set her free. Nightmare declares that he enjoys watching her suffer, as anguish gives him thrills. Nightmare points out that his daughter has some of his powers, and a nature almost as perverse, so he doesn’t want any competition.
The Dreamqueen tells her father not to be too confident, for when one of the people she motions to through the looking globe touch her dream totem, then they will be under her control. She explains that it will then only be a matter of time before she can forge a new connection and escape. Nightmare reveals to his daughter that he knew what she was planning, so the night before, he gave that warrior a nightmare, showing him that the dream totem is a weapon of evil, that to touch it was to die.
The Dreamqueen is furious as Nightmare declares that her little ploy is going to fail, and she watches as the warrior wraps the totem in cloth without touching it. She watches the Chickaqua stake Nanquato to the ground so the evil spirits could not animate his body. The Chickaqua then began to build a cairn, to keep the malignant forces trapped by the power of the Earth’s bones. Once the dark magic is enclosed in stone, its corrupt influence cannot escape to plague the living.
Nightmare laughs as he tells the Dreamqueen it looks like she will be here much, much longer. The Dreamqueen asks her father if he thinks this is amusing, to which he replies ‘Very much so!’ and that if it weren’t, he would have to think of some other thing to upset her.  ‘After all, what are parents for?’ he asks before boasting that he is so glad he met her mother and laughing as he disappears.
Years passed, and the Dreamqueen’s hatred for her confinement grew with each passing moment. Her frustration would be reflected in the changing landscape, as she re-molded her world. As the decades passed, her moods would shift from violent outbursts with brooding introspection. Sometimes, she would try to invent victims for her savage amusement, but the thrill was never there - she had tasted the fears of real people, and nothing could compare to that.
Sometimes, her father would visit and make jokes about her situation. In a screaming rage, she would hurl volcanic blasts at her tormentor. Nightmare would just laugh and laugh.
Then, one day her servants brought a creature they had found wandering the wild lands. This was not a life form that she had created, but a truly independent living thing. Resisting her sadistic impulses, the Dreamqueen set the creature free, and would spend hours each day studying its movements, hoping to learn how it came into her world. Eventually, her patience was rewarded.
The Dreamqueen learned that the creature was a twin to an Earth girl named Laura Dean. Laura could open a portal to any dimension of her choosing. She had placed her mutant sibling in a place that seem pastoral and safe. Like Nanquato before her, Laura had made an ill-fated choice of necessity.
Laura and Goblyn would later associate with Alpha Flight, becoming members of the junior squad, Beta Flight. The Dreamqueen saw a pattern beginning to unfold, the moment of her escape was fast approaching. Alpha and Beta Flight were brought to the Dreamqueen’s realm after a series of misadventures, and she tried to force them to help her escape. But they resisted, which only made her more mad.
Then, unexpectedly, a gate was opened between the worlds, Alpha Flight made their escape, with the Dreamqueen not far behind. But the former Alphan, the aged Puck, prevented the Dreamqueen from escaping. Thankfully for Puck, the Dreamqueen’s powers could not affect him as they were between worlds. In desperation, the Dreamqueen planted a psychic seed in the minds of Alpha Flight - seeds of their worst nightmares.
When Alpha Flight parted ways from each other, these seeds sprouted in the dark corners of their consciousness, feeding upon their weaknesses and inner fears. Their nightmares were utter fantasies, born of delusion and insecurity, they were formed out of their most recent concerns. Vindicator dealt with an uncontrollable battle-suit, and Jeffries too fought inner demons concerning his Box armor. Sasquatch was bothered by the Great Beasts, while the Purple Girl was confronted by her “resurrected” father, and Manikin feared death. As each aberration reached its zenith, a bond of fear would grow into the Dream Queen’s world.
While the Dreamqueen waited for each link to strengthen, she tormented Puck, making him a slave to her perverse pleasures. In the Dreamqueen’s world, reality was malleable to her will, so she made him young again, able to withstand the physical abuse. When the Dreamqueen wasn’t using him, she would torture him, renewing his flesh when his wounds became too serious. These excesses only increased her hunger for the solid world. She was anxious to inflict her special attentions on the people of Earth.
The Dreamqueen had foreseen Elizabeth’s presence near the tomb of Nanquato, she had felt the power that lay dormant within her and sensed Elizabeth’s relationship with forces that she wanted to control. Within Talisman lies the raw power of the spheres, she can channel these mystic energies in the manner of the elder gods…but she needs to awaken from her dormancy, she must use her powers again. Because Elizabeth was close to the dream totem, the Dreamqueen could enter her sleeping mind, making Elizabeth want to seek it out…it was her bidding that made Elizabeth enter the cairn. ‘Touch it! I want your power! Touch it!’
(Present)
Snowbird tells Elizabeth that it is time to make her decision, that necessity calls once more. ‘In your hands rests the fate of mortal man’. Snowbird informs Elizabeth that she and her fellow Gods have helped her to overcome the Dark One’s influence, but that it is now her turn to act. Elizabeth tells Snowbird that this must be a dream, that it can’t be real as she is dead. ‘No, Elizabeth. This is no dream. The nightmare is just beginning’ declares Snowbird, he last words before Elizabeth wakes up.
Several archaeologists are standing around Elizabeth, and declare that she…’uh we’ one of them corrects himself, were wondering what happened. Elizabeth rubs her forehead, supposing that she passed out, she wonders how long for. One of the archaeologists replies that it doesn’t matter, and tells Elizabeth that they have something they want her to examine.
One of the archaeologists hands Elizabeth the Dreamqueen’s totem and tells her that she must touch it. ‘Take it!’ he urges, but Elizabeth pulls away, telling him ‘maybe later’ as she doesn’t feel well, but the man backs her up against a wall and tells her to ‘take it now’. Elizabeth tells him to back off, as she isn’t going to do anything until he backs off.
The Dreamqueen telepathically orders the archaeologists to make Elizabeth touch it, while Elizabeth wonders if her powers really exist within her still… and as a bright light suddenly surrounds her, she realizes that Snowbird was right, she has her powers. ‘Drop that thing, now!’ orders Elizabeth, as the archaeologists tell her she said that she must die…painfully. Elizabeth declares that “she” can stick it, and uses her powers to release her colleagues from the Dreamqueen’s spell.
The archaeologists wonder where they are and what had happened, when Elizabeth suddenly realizes that the Dreamqueen still has Alpha Flight. As she rushes out of the tent, one of her colleagues call after her, asking her where she is going, to which Elizabeth calls back that she has to warn Alpha Flight.
Watching Elizabeth through her looking globe, the Dreamqueen boasts that she is too late. Suddenly, Nightmare appears beside his daughter and after asking his daughter if she is going somewhere, he tells her he wanted to drop by and see her off. The Dreamqueen tells her father that he shouldn’t think he can stop her, as she has planned this too well. Nightmare asks the Dreamqueen why he would want to stop her, and reveals that he came to give her a little warning.
As Nightmare places a hand on his daughter’s cheek, she brushes him off, telling not to ever touch her. Nightmare jokes that he only has that urge every thousand years or so, and laughs as the Dreamqueen tells him to say what he has to say then leave. Nightmare informs the Dreamqueen that the world she is about to enter is much different than when she last tried this trick.
The Dreamqueen asks Nightmare why he is telling this, to which he exclaims ‘Because I am your father, of course…’ before the Dreamqueen walks through a portal.
Elsewhere, Heather “Vindicator” McNeil Hudson, former long-time leader of Canada’s former premiere super hero team Alpha Flight, stands before her lover Madison “Box” Jeffries and Wanda “Sasquatch” Langkowski, as well as former Beta Flight members Kara Kilgrave the Purple Girl, Laura Dean and Goblyn. Heather tells everyone that she has asked them to come here because she and Madison have been facing a serious crisis. She knows that the team has split up, but that it is something that is affecting them all.
Heather points out that Manikin is the only one who refused to come, as he doesn’t want to be a part of Alpha anymore, so it is down to the six of them. Heather asks Wanda and the Beta Flight girls if they have been experiencing any waking nightmares. Visions so real that they make them lash out at the world around them. She admits that it sounds crazy, but they have been through weirder experiences together.
Wanda informs everyone that when she was in court trying to regain her estate, she thought she was being attacked by the Great Beasts, then just the other day she was out in the mountains and thought she had struck gold, but when she got back to town discovered she was carrying granite.
The Purple Girl reveals that she thought her dad had come back from the grave, and that both she and her mother saw him, so she cannot say that it didn’t happen, but the damages to their condo where gone after the fight. Laura Dean tells Heather that nothing happened to her, but that she is kind of scared now. Vindicator tells Laura that hopefully she will be ok.
The handsome Madison Jeffries stands up beside Heather and informs everyone that they think this might by the Dreamqueen’s doing, and asks everyone if the Dreamqueen zapped them when they were back in China. Heather interrupts her lover and tells him that his head is glowing (…a familiar green glow…), and so is everyone else’s! They all cry out, before suddenly all collapsing across the living room.
The Dreamqueen enters the room littered with unconscious Alphans, cackling ‘And now, the night begins…!’
Laura Dean used her powers to send Goblyn to the Dreamqueen’s realm (dubbed “Liveworld”) when she was a foetus, to protect her from being killed in the womb by their mutant hating parents. Later, whenever Laura was in danger, the twins would switch place, as told in their origin story. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #54].
Alpha Flight tussled with the Dreamqueen across Alpha Flight (1st series) #58-60.
The Dreamqueen’s psychic attacks on Alpha Flight continued in Alpha Flight (1st series) #62, 64-66, all unexplained at the time, though there were hints that it was the Dreamqueen.
Talisman’s powers were believed to have vanished when the coronet that she wore was torn from her in Alpha Flight (1st series) #37. Close readers would remember however, that Elizabeth had some innate powers before she donned the coronet, as seen in Alpha Flight (1st series) #18.


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

[Assistant]
Wrath of the Dreamqueen part 2: All That We Are…
Fifteen minutes ago, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen was asleep. Her slumber was possessed by dreams and visions brought to her by the Goddess Narya. Narya was once a friend, a super hero known as Snowbird. But Snowbird is now dead, and she showed Elizabeth visions of a dark spirit. This dark spirit is a demon of great evil who was about to enter the Earth realm through a psychic link she had established through Alpha Flight.
Elizabeth gets into a car, and has trouble starting it, which gives her fellow archaeologists time to reach her and tell her to wait. But Elizabeth, formerly a member of Alpha Flight known as Talisman, feels there is only one way to stop the Dreamqueen, and she has to warn her friends. Unfortunately, for both Elizabeth and the heroes formerly collectively known as Alpha Flight, they are 3000 miles apart.
Elizabeth’s car screeches away, one of her colleagues calling to her, asking her where she is going. Elizabeth knows that if the Dreamqueen enters the Earth realm, then she will fill the world with evil destruction. She will fill eyes with visions of death, and hearts with dark despair…unless Elizabeth calls Alpha Flight in time.
Elizabeth leaps out of her car and rushes over to a payphone, where she dials a phone number.
In Ottawa, a phone rings and someone answers it. ‘Hello?’ she asks. ‘Heather! It’s Elizabeth! I’ve called to warn you, the Dreamqueen is - ‘ Elizabeth is interrupted, as the Dreamqueen screams down the phone, telling Elizabeth that she is too late, as she is already here! Lying unconscious around the room are those who were most recently part of Alpha Flight - Heather “Vindicator” McNeil Hudson, Madison “Box” Jeffries and Wanda “Sasquatch” Langkowski, as well as the three young Beta Flight girls, Kara Kilgrave the Purple Girl, and the Dean twins, Laura and Goblyn.
Elizabeth is shocked, and the Dreamqueen asks her what is the matter, is she not happy to hear her voice. ‘Just think of all the fun we’ll have’ the evil woman jokes. Elizabeth tells the Dreamqueen that her friends better be all right, and threatens to kill her, adding that she is coming over right now, and tells the Dreamqueen that if she is still there, she will kill her anyway. The Dreamqueen laughs, reminding Elizabeth that she is 3000 miles away, at a Zephyr gas station in the Yukon Territories, and laughs when she points out that it will take her hours to get here, and to see what she will find. Elizabeth is furious, and gets back into her car, thinking ‘That - that - I’ll kill her!’
The Dreamqueen looks around the room at the fallen Alphans, and wonders which of them shall be her pawn, and decides upon Sasquatch, and kissing Wanda on the forehead, the Dreamqueen casts a spell on her. The Dreamqueen laughs, telling Wanda that she is now ready for her part in this dark comedy, sure she will play it well. The Dreamqueen exit’s the house, laughing profusely.
Four hours later, it had taken Elizabeth that long, to reach the house her friends were in. Rushing up to the front door, she cannot remember the last time she ever worried so much, she can feel her heart racing. Entering the living room, Elizabeth sees her foster sister, former baby-sitter, friend and team leader, Heather, sprawled on the floor. Touching Heather, Elizabeth can tell that she is still alive, and tries to wake her. When Heather comes to, she is surprised to see Elizabeth and asks her what she is doing here, what is going on? Motioning around the room, Elizabeth declares that she will explain everything once they have woken the others.
Elsewhere, the Dreamqueen now appears in regular civilian clothing, a green dress, as she sits in a mans car. The man tells the Dreamqueen that she is the prettiest hitchhiker he has ever picked up, that he has never seen anyone wave down a car like she did. ‘I mean, you just pointed at me, then pointed at the curb! I guess you knew I’d pull over huh?’ ‘I usually get what I want from a man’ the Dreamqueen boasts in her scratchy voice. The man asks the Dreamqueen what it is that she wants from him.
The Dreamqueen puts her hand on the man’s thigh and tells him to take her where she wants to go and she will make it worth his while. ‘You got it babe!’ the excited man exclaims. Gazing out the window of the car, the Dreamqueen realizes that the matter of this world is different than that of her own. She thinks the physical laws are too restraining, and is annoyed she cannot warp reality here, only the perceptions of it’s inhabitants. The Dreamqueen’s jagged teeth glisten as she smiles wickedly, thinking that if her unwitting pawn plays her part, then nothing shall be safe from her.
Meanwhile, Heather and Elizabeth have woken everyone up and Elizabeth informs them all that the Dreamqueen has come into their world, that the six of them were the link and they did not know it. Heather mentions that they were just sitting here talking about some problems they were having which they had guessed were caused by the Dreamqueen, and that the last thing she remembers is a pain in her head that got worse and worse. Elizabeth declares that the Dreamqueen is here now, and that they have to stop her, so she is calling in her father on this one, as he has the power of the Talisman that she once had, explaining that they need that power to defeat the Dreamqueen.
Sasquatch asks Elizabeth if she knows where her father is, and Elizabeth replies, that oddly she does, that she feels the pull of the Talisman he wears, its power calls to her, telling her she has to take it back, that one way or another, she has to reach her father. Jeffries smiles and declares that he can turn his Box armor into a plane that can take them wherever Elizabeth is, as all the metal he needs is in the back yard. Beginning to transmutate his armor, Jeffries asks Elizabeth where she wants to go. Elizabeth replies ‘North’ and that they better hurry, as there is no telling what horrible things the Dreamqueen is doing as they speak.
Meanwhile, in Edmonton, the Dreamqueen gazes up at a very tall building, asking her “companion” if this is where the richest mortal of this land dwells. The man replies that the top two floors belong to one guy that he read about in a magazine. The Dreamqueen calls the man ‘Darling’ and asks him if he would mind walking down the path and picking her some flowers. The man replies ‘sure’ and begins walking down a path which is actually an illusion created by the Dreamqueen, in fact, he walks out onto a busy street, right in front of a car, and smashes through the windscreen. The Dreamqueen thrusts her head back in amusement, laughing as the cruel act takes place.
Vindicator, Elizabeth, Sasquatch and the girls are all inside Jeffries’ Boxship as he heads North, and en route, Jeffries asks Elizabeth to give him a more specific destination. Kara complains that they have been travelling for over an hour, to which Elizabeth informs her that they are almost there, and tells Jeffries to start taking them down. Box exclaims that he knows this place, and Elizabeth declares that it is the Eye of the World, reminding everyone they tried to save Walter’s soul there.
‘And you failed!’ Snaps Wanda, reminding everyone that Walter’s body was destroyed, so he eventually ended up taking over Snowbird’s body when she died, but look at him now - he is a man trapped in a woman’s body! When Wanda has finished her rant, Vindicator points out that Shaman is below.
Michael Twoyoungmen a.k.a. Shaman, a.k.a. the third Talisman leaves his small tent in the Eye of the World, and his long-estranged daughter runs to him after leaving the Boxship, followed by everyone else. Shaman is unmoved by his daughter’s presence, stating that a vision foretold her arrival…and her mission. Elizabeth asks her father if he will help them, but he bluntly replies ‘No’.
Vindicator steps forward and tells her old friend and teammate that he must help them, especially as he knows what kind of menace is running around out there. Arms folded across his chest, Twoyoungmen confirms that he does know, but that as Talisman he can do nothing, however, he will accompany them back to Ottawa. Rain begins to pour down at the Eye of the World as Elizabeth asks her father why he won’t help them, and asks if he cannot see the enormity of this problem.
Cryptically, Twoyoungmen tells his daughter that he sees everything as clearly as she will before the day is out. Vindicator hustles her former teammates, telling them that they better get back and start and looking for the Dreamqueen, as they are running out of time. ‘Ugh! We just got here! Now we’re going back again!’ complains the Purple Girl, asking what kind of super hero team this is, as Wanda comes up behind her and motioning to the rain and dankness of the Eye of the World, asks her if she would rather hang around here all day.
‘A whole world of real people to play with’ the Dreamqueen thinks to herself as she gazes out the window of the high-story building she has taken residence in. She calls this world a world of ‘Free-floating neurosis, of dark dreams born of bad chemicals’. She knows the fear and hate are palatable, that greed runs like pus through the open wounds of their minds. Just like the fool in the car, and the simpering old man who opened this penthouse, all the people of this planet are her toys.
She thought watching the old man fall was amusing, especially the way he splattered when he hit the cement. The Dreamqueen begins to stretch her thoughts out over the concrete mound, penetrating the mortals’ minds and twisting their perceptions.
Inside the Boxship, the Purple Girl looks at Shaman, thinking about how everyone is so upset with him because he wont help them. She wonders if she could get him to help them all if she used her powers to control people on him, but decides against it, as then her former allies would be even more mad at her. Vindicator asks Shaman why then, if he isn’t going to help them, he is coming along. Shaman replies that he did not say he wouldn’t help them, but that as the Talisman, he could not. Vindicator points out that Twoyoungmen keeps saying “as Talisman” and asks him if that is supposed to mean anything. Shaman replies that as Talisman he can only observe this conflict.
Bluntly, Elizabeth tells her father that she thinks it is time he gave the Talisman back to her. Shaman asks ‘Why is that?’, to which Elizabeth exclaims that it is her destiny to be Talisman, not his, and reminds him he was a shaman before he took the Talisman, and Shaman is who he really is. Twoyoungmen reminds Elizabeth that she was resentful of her responsibilities, and became cold, distant and cruel. Elizabeth claims that she was being immature, after all, she is a human being, and that having super powers doesn’t make a person any wiser, she has had to learn from her mistakes.
Vindicator asks Elizabeth if she realizes what it is she is saying, and reminds her that she hated being Talisman, so why would she want to become that again? ‘Because…I have to’ replies Elizabeth, declaring that everyone has responsibilities in life, some people having greater responsibilities than others. She admits that she was not willing to accept hers because they were so overwhelming. Elizabeth declares that being Talisman was like carrying the world on her shoulders, she was aware of all the mystic forces at play in the world, it was such a burden.
Elizabeth declares that it is not easy being a super hero, having to be there whenever trouble starts, knowing you had to win no matter what - knowing that failure can mean the end of everything. Elizabeth looks around at everyone as she exclaims someone has to do it, that the world is in chaos, and it takes good people to turn things around. She proclaims that if she was born to be something, she shouldn’t hide from it, it is time for her to take charge of her life and do something good.
Shaman asks Elizabeth if she really believes she is ready to assume the responsibilities once more, to which Elizabeth quickly replies that she does, and reminds her father that the Talisman was not meant for him, that it was meant for her, and she has to have it back. Elizabeth suggests to her father that he returns to just being Shaman, as Twoyoungmen asks her why she has had a sudden change of heart, and why he should relinquish the power to her.
Elizabeth declares that she now knows her place in the scheme of things, that she was born to wear the Talisman, and tells her father that he knows that already. Elizabeth declares that she has got over her misgivings, that she was wrong to be upset about it, for now she can see the good that she can do.
Box announces that they are over Calgary now, so he is making a turn for Ottawa. Wanda transforms into Sasquatch as Shaman begins to take the Talisman off his brow, and telling Elizabeth that he hopes she knows what she is asking for. Elizabeth replies that she does, and as the coronet comes off Twoyoungmen’s brow he exclaims that the pain is great, and only be transferring the tiara to its rightful owner will the pain go away. Handing the Talisman to Elizabeth, Shaman tells her that he is proud of her for doing the right thing. But just as Shaman places the tiara in Elizabeth’s hand - Sasquatch snatches it from him!
Sasquatch screams uncontrollably as Heather asks her what she is doing. But the consequences for Shaman are more serious, as he is under immense pain because the tiara has not been returned to Elizabeth. Sasquatch knocks Shaman out as she rushes around the Boxship, beginning to rip up Jeffries, who also cries out in pain. Vindicator tells Sasquatch to stop, that she doesn’t want to have to hurt her, but Sasquatch just cries ‘traitors’ and rips up the floor of the Boxship, hurting Jeffries further.
Vindicator fires a plasma blast at Sasquatch, but Wanda jumps through the recently created hole, and plummets to the busy city below, clutching the Talisman as she falls. Sasquatch lands on top of a high-rise restaurant, and bursts through the roof, frightening the patrons as she lands.
Back in the Boxship, Jeffries announces that he is making a landing while Vindicator flies through the hole, towards the restaurant Sasquatch entered.
Sasquatch returns to her human form as she runs through the busy restaurant, ‘Somebody call the cops!’ yells a patron. ‘Move it!’ snaps Wanda as she pushes someone aside so she can enter the elevator. Seeing Vindicator approaching, Wanda pushes the “down” button furiously, but even as the doors close and she begins to move downwards, she knows they will all be waiting for her, and thinks that there has to be another way out. She wonders why they made her like this, knowing she can be herself again, she is going to fight them…but can she win?
Vindicator flies towards her allies after Box has landed, and informs everyone that Wanda is coming down in the elevator and that they have to cut off her escape. Everyone rushes towards the building they expect Wanda to exit from, Goblyn rushing ahead, despite the Purple Girl calling out to her, warning her that it is too dangerous. Elizabeth asks her father if he knows what is going on, why Sasquatch is doing this, and Shaman reveals that it is the Dreamqueen, that she has placed a mind spell into Wanda’s brain and that Wanda does not know she is doing this.
Shaman explains that the Dreamqueen wants the Talisman, as she thinks it will make her more powerful. Elizabeth asks her father how he knows this, to which Shaman replies he knew this when he wore the Talisman. Goblyn rushes through some doors which slide closed behind, but Vindicator can see that Sasquatch has resumed her human form - before she can finish what she was saying though, Goblyn is hurled through the glass doors, and flung right past them all.
Wanda emerges through the doors, the Talisman placed on her brow, her body glowing with power, to which Elizabeth, shocked, asks how Wanda could be wearing the Talisman. Shaman reminds Elizabeth that Wanda has taken the body of Snowbird, who is a goddess, therefore she can wear the Talisman and channel some of the mystic force, but Twoyoungmen knows that the Gods of the North will take note of this, and tells Elizabeth to ‘watch and learn’.
Vindicator approaches Wanda and tells her that she doesn’t know what she is playing at, but whatever it is, she wants her to give herself up right now. ‘My name isn’t Wanda, its Walter!’ shouts Wanda, reminding Heather that she deserted her when the team broke up, that she had no money, nowhere to live, and no one even offered her any help. Wanda / Walter tells Heather that it is her fault she / he looks this way, that it is her fault she / he is changed. ‘Now suffer!’ exclaims Wanda / Walter firing a blast of energy at Heather, knocking her out.
The Purple Girl approaches Wanda and tells her to stop attacking them and hand over the Talisman. Kara uses her mutant powers on Wanda, and orders her to give back the Talisman - but when Wanda doesn’t turn purple, Kara wonders why Wanda doesn’t do as she is ordered. Wanda replies by punching Kara hard in the jaw, knocking her to the ground also as Wanda reminds Kara that her power doesn’t work on this body, as it is not human, ‘And my name is Walter!’
‘Your name is Mud!’ declares Box as he increases his mass and declares that he has had enough of this nonsense. With a modified hand, he tries to scoop Wanda up, but she manages to dodge his hand as it comes to the ground. Jeffries calls to Wanda, telling her to come back, as she makes a getaway. Wanda turns to Box and screams ‘Shut-up!’ and blasts him with the magic of the Talisman, causing him to fall to the ground. Using so much energy weakens Wanda, who is not used to such power, and she becomes weakened.
As Wanda stumbles slowly down the street, Elizabeth points out that she is getting away, but Shaman tells his daughter not to worry, as she will not get far, and they begin to follow her at a safe distance.
Wanda runs, thinking she has to run North, to give her the…’Give who? What am I doing?’ she suddenly thinks. Wanda wishes that she understood things, she wants to be a man again, but what does that have to do with the Talisman?
Watching the proceedings from her new “home” the Dreamqueen cries ‘Bring it to me!’ and telepathically tells Wanda to find an automobile and bring the Talisman to Edmonton.
Wanda sees a lady getting into a car and thinks that she has to steal that car…before wondering why. Nevertheless, Wanda pulls the woman aside and declares that she needs the car.
Suddenly, a voice exclaims ‘You will not take the sacred Talisman any further!’ and in a blinding light, the sprit of Snowbird appears! Snowbird announces that Walter Langkowski has worn her Earth-born form and yearned for his lost manhood, before revealing that she can see the dark spells that have driven Walter / Wanda to these acts. The beautiful Narya declares that by the powers of her lost flesh, she grants Sasquatch his / her dream, adding that the Dreamqueen will rule him / her no more!
Power flows from Snowbird and Sasquatch is bathed in it, breaking the spell of enchantment, and completing Walter’s / Wanda’s shift back to manhood. Walter looks at his body…astonished, he sees that he is back…he is Walter again! Wearing nothing but his jocks, Walter looks up to the sky, and thanks Narya, wherever she is. ‘Thank you…’ he exclaims deeply sincere.
Furious, the Dreamqueen screams ‘Where did she go? I can’t see her! Where is she?’
Elizabeth and Shaman walk over to Walter, Elizabeth telling him that she wants the Talisman back. Walter apologizes to Elizabeth, claiming that he doesn’t know what came over him, but Elizabeth tells him not to worry, that it is over now, before placing the tiara on her forehead, and being bathed in golden light. Shaman turns to the woman who was shoved out of her car by the possessed Wanda and apologizes to her, telling her that it everything is under control now. The woman asks ‘what…who are you? What happened here?’
Shaman tells the woman that they are super heroes, and says that he is sorry if they frightened her, they just had to take care of a little emergency. Elizabeth, now back in her flowing red and gold costume as the Talisman walks over to her father, followed by Walter. Talisman reveals that she can see the Dreamqueen and feel her thoughts, like black tar pouring out and engulfing peoples minds.
Talisman declares that the Dreamqueen is angry, for she wanted the Talisman to boost her powers, and now she is filling the minds of people with bad dreams, her influence is stretching out further and further.
Suddenly, Box, now transformed into a large car, pulls up beside Talisman, Sasquatch and Shaman, with Vindicator and the former Betans inside. Heather looks around and asks what happened, and where is Wanda. Talisman smiles and exclaims that there is no more Wanda anymore, ‘say hello to Walter!’ Vindicator sees Walter and asks him if he is all right, to which Walt replies ‘Never better’.
Talisman explains that Snowbird used shape shifting powers to make Sasquatch a man again, thus breaking the spell the Dreamqueen had placed on him, for as a God of the North, Snowbird could not let Sasquatch take the Talisman to the evil Dreamqueen. Talisman exclaims that she knows where the Dreamqueen is, and that they have to stop her. Heather asks where she is, to which Elizabeth reveals the Dreamqueen is in Edmonton, and has already taken over the city.
In Edmonton…carnage, tragedy and hatred fill the city. In a jewellery store, Arnold Wilcox fills a sack with diamonds, thinking they have been brought. After it is full he will deliver it to the woman in the penthouse…the Dreamqueen. He doesn’t question his actions. Meanwhile, Ed Jones smiles as he examines the three deers he has shot. He doesn’t know he will wake up soon, holding his rifle, he doesn’t knot he will be screaming - because he just shot and killed his family.
Elsewhere in the city, Annie Turner loves the bumper cars at the fair, she can hear the carnival music and smell the corn from the nearby concession stands. As she plows along the side walk, running straight into people, she thinks that she will ride the tilt-o-wheel next. Meanwhile, in her dark tower, the architect of this madness laughs. Her malevolent will goes out and touches the dark corners of people’s minds…playing with them. She can feels the thoughts of Alpha Flight, so far away. They grow closer by the second. The Dreamqueen thinks that it is time for the game to begin…the killing game….


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

[Assistant]
Wrath of the Dreamqueen part 4: …Is But a Dream within a Dream
Twilight falls over Edmonton. On Jasper Avenue, those who can still walk shamble up and down the street…dreaming awake. Something has taken over the city, their minds are full of dark visions. Blood and pain…sorrow and confusion…these are the things that fill their thoughts. Above them, a demoness looks down with lust filled eyes, drinking in the pain, gorging on the fear. They don’t feel her. They don’t know she is there. They only know the death thoughts, the visions of their loved ones dying. The dreams of their own flesh peeling…of their eyes falling out.
Only the circle of fire can save them, it grows from the mind of a young girl, fifteen miles away. She is part of a group of fantastical beings…and they come to do battle. Their leader is a woman named Vindicator whose suit is a matrix of electro-magnetic energy. There is a man whose mind can transform metal into machines. His flesh is merged with a steel and aluminium robot. There is a creature like a Goblyn from an ancient fairy tale…a man who can turn into a supernatural monster…a shaman with an infinite bag of tricks…a girl who can create doorways through space and time…and a sorceress who is one with a mystic power.
At one time or another, they were all members of Canada’s premiere super hero team, Alpha Flight, or its junior team, Beta Flight. Sometime ago, Alpha Flight disbanded, but now, several former members have banded together, and at this very moment, they are teleported to Edmonton, and rush from the gateway, for they come to do battler. Vindicator! Sasquatch! Shaman! Talisman! Box! Laura Dean! Goblyn!
Elsewhere, the Prime Minister of Canada along with several other officials and Military personnel are watching the current happenings from a satellite monitor. The Prime Minister points out that despite their best efforts to keep Alpha Flight apart, it would look as if they are getting back together. A military official tells the Prime Minister that the super heroes may be the only ones who can deal with this problem. The Prime Minister asks what the problem is, as he thought they had only lost all communications with the cities in that zone.
The military official informs the Prime Minister that it began around 12.00 this afternoon, adding that planes flying into Edmonton were not reporting back on the radio. Next, the telephone company started getting complaints from people trying to call into the area, nobody was picking up their phones. The military official reveals that they sent a team into the area to check it out, but that they never reported back, nor did they come out of the area.
The military official explains that they then noticed the area was growing, that more and more towns seemed to fall under this “zone of silence”, that cars and trucks entering the area are not coming out, that the roads from the zone are empty. When the Prime Minister asks what the satellites are telling them, a second military official changes the view screen which now depicts people on the ground, cars crashed into walls, and some people who seem to be shambling around like zombies.
The second military official informs the Prime Minister that they are not sure if this is some sort of plague, or chemical problem, but that it is starting to spread out further and further. The Prime Minister reveals that Washington is unable to send any of their own super-teams right now, as they are all tied up with their own problems. ‘Whether we like it or not gentlemen; Alpha Flight’s our only hope!’
Meanwhile, in her room of dark shadows, in her tower of glass and steel, the Dreamqueen watches the advance of her most hated enemies. As they draw near, she reaches out with her mind…touching them…but no…for the sorceress called Talisman blocks her, keeping the Dreamqueen’s influence from the heroes minds. The Dreamqueen has the ability to take peoples reality and twist it any way she likes - but this one is too powerful, she must wait for the right moment, the right opening.
The Dreamqueen’s anger is a blazing bonfire now. She thinks of her failed attempt to kill them, a Chinese super team and Alpha Flight were led to a mall, for she had convinced China Force that Alpha Flight were their enemies. The Chinese were supposed to win, she wanted Alpha Flight’s blood. She wanted their pain, their deaths. But Alpha Flight prevailed and their young gate-maker brought them to Edmonton. She knows that they will soon be searching for her, coming to do battle…but she will be ready for them.
In the bloodied streets of Edmonton, Elizabeth “Talisman” Twoyoungmen looks up at the Dreamqueen’s dark tower, thankful that she was able to block the Dreamqueen from filling her friends’ minds with nightmares. Elizabeth boasts that she will decide when and how much influence the Dreamqueen can have over them. ‘I’m on to you, Dreamqueen. I’m coming for you’.
Dr. Walter Langkowski a.k.a. Sasquatch motions to the road where dozens of civilians lie asleep, and declares that the Dreamqueen really has a hold on this town. Alpha Flight’s once-leader, Heather “Vindicator” Hudson asks Elizabeth where the Dreamqueen is. Pointing up at the tallest building in Edmonton, Elizabeth reveals that the Dreamqueen is on one of the floors, but she is unsure which one. Heather urges everyone on, telling them that it is time to finish this. Elizabeth silently agrees, thinking that now they can see who is really the most powerful woman in town. ‘Is it you, or I, Dreamqueen? That’s what I want to know. That’s what I’m going to find out’ boasts Talisman was she enters the dark tower.
Inside the lobby, Sasquatch, Madison “Box” Jeffries and Goblyn have discovered a large pile of jewellery, which Sasquatch decides is the real thing. Jeffries wonders where it all came from, but Heather points out that the Dreamqueen is more important, so they better start their search. Elizabeth rushes over to her allies and tells them to wait, declaring that she can feel the Dreamqueen now, that she is somewhere above the tenth floor.
Vindicator suddenly declares that she is getting the feeling that Elizabeth is not telling them everything that she knows. Elizabeth explains that the Dreamqueen can still cause everyone to see things, but that she has limited her power over them, and suggests that they split into teams and search for her.
Hesitantly, Heather agrees, and suggests that they split into two teams to keep from getting themselves spread to thin. Heather starts to split everyone into teams, but Talisman interrupts, and explains that she wants to be alone, as she is the most powerful person and can take care of herself. Elizabeth begins to enter a elevator as Vindicator asks her foster sister what she means by that. But Shaman reminds Heather that as Talisman, Elizabeth is the most powerful member of the team.
Reluctantly, Vindicator agrees, before warning Elizabeth if she gets into any trouble. But Elizabeth tells Vindicator that she knows what she is doing. ‘That’s what I’m afraid of,’ remarks Heather as the elevator door closes, before suggesting that if they did not have to leave the Purple Girl behind, then they could have used her to get some straight answers from Talisman. Box agrees, suggesting that Elizabeth seems to be holding back, almost as if she has been leading them on.
Sasquatch wonders what Talisman is trying to pull, to which Heather replies that she doesn’t know, but that Elizabeth was right about one thing, they do need to split up. Heather tells Laura and Goblyn to go with Sasquatch, but as the trio prepare to enter a elevator, Sasquatch realizes that he is not going to fit, so returns to his handsome human form, before asking Box what he is going to do.
Vindicator agrees, and asks Jeffries what he is going to do. Box explains that even though he could shrink down, he would still be too heavy for the elevator so suggests that they just go up a elevator shaft, as the two of them can fly, and Shaman can levitate. Shaman points out that levitation is much slower than flight and can only go in one direction. Walt enters the elevator with the Dean twins and tells Heather that they will start on the tenth floor and work their way up. Heather replies that they will start on the fifteenth floor, and flies up the elevator shaft followed by Box, then Twoyoungmen, who declares that he can feel something up there…something horrible!
In the elevator, Walt tells the young Dean girls that as soon as the door opens he will go out first and transform into Sasquatch, telling the girls that they need to be on guard, because there is no telling what they will find. But the elevator door opens to a restaurant, packed with patrons.
Walt walks cautiously out, followed by the twins, warning them to be careful as this could be a trap - when suddenly, a voice cries ‘Walter, mon cheri. Come over and join me!’ Surprised, Walt turns to see Aurora sitting a table, and asks her what she is doing here, as he thought she had become a nun. Aurora tells her former boyfriend to have a seat and she will tell him all about it.
Laura Dean sees two people wave at her and realizes that it is her mother and father. Darby and Susan Dean beckon their children over to their table, suggesting that they all have dinner together. Susan tells Laura that they missed her and have come looking for her. Laura approaches her parents, but Goblyn looks back at Walt and growls.
On the fifteenth floor, Vindicator and Shaman find themselves walking through a greenhouse, Shaman surprised that one is even kept here. Suddenly, Box enters the greenhouse, asking Heather and Twoyoungmen if they found anything - but his sensors show him his lover and Shaman embracing in a passionate kiss. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he shouts before phasing out of the Box armor.
Heather asks her lover what the matter is and why he is phasing out of his armor. ‘Why were you kissing him?’ shouts Jeffries, telling Heather that he thought what they had was something special. Heather protests, explaining that they just came out of the elevator…’and started making out!’ snaps Jeffries. Before Shaman can get in on the argument, Talisman screams for help, she is trapped by three giant beasts, and shouts that she cannot fight them by herself.
Back at the Edmonton Mall, Kara Kilgrave the Purple Girl is on her own, and just waking up. Startled, she wonders where she is, but noticing the Native American style blanket that is lying across her, she realizes that it looks like something Shaman might put on her, when she remembers the battle with the Rat-woman, who scratched her, causing her to pass out. Kara stands up, wondering what happened next, she looks around before remembering the drink Shaman gave her, some kind of potion, then everything went black.
Kara wonders where Alpha Flight is…they wouldn’t have abandoned her, would they? ‘I’m Purple Girl! I can make people do what I want!’ she boasts, before declaring that Alpha Flight wouldn’t leave her, they need her…’don’t they?’
Back on the tenth floor of the dark tower, Aurora pours Walt a glass of wine as she tells him that she needs him and that she came looking for him, knowing he would be here. Holding his head, Walt asks Aurora how, as he and the others came here because…his voice trails off, he doesn’t remember, it is all so confusing, something about a Queen. ‘A Queen who…uh…’ ‘Take your time, darling’ Aurora tells Walt as she pours herself a glass of wine.
Several tables away, Darby Dean tells Laura to take a seat. Laura asks ‘what about Goblyn’ to which her mother, Susan, replies sure, and declares that they want both of them to have dinner as they need to talk. Laura and Goblyn take seats across from each other and declares that they will order from this menu. ‘Yeah, we’re really hungry’ declares Susan looking at Laura.
Back at Walt’s table, he tells Aurora that this doesn’t seem right, that he gets the feeling something here is wrong. Aurora tells Walt that nothing can be more right, and asks him if he can guess why. ‘No, tell me…’ says Walt, when suddenly, Aurora lunges across the table, eyes popping from her head she declares ‘Because I only have eyes for you!’ and laughing as her eyes wrap around his neck, strangling him, while a demon pours from “Aurora’s” mouth.
Back on the fifteenth floor, Shaman rushes to his daughter’s aide, pulling from his medicine pouch a flaming stick ready to hurl at the monsters - but instead, he hurls it at a window, and shouting ’Take that, demons…’ before crashing through the window and plummeting fifteen floors to the street below.
On the tenth floor, Laura Dean tells her parents that she doesn’t understand, reminding them that they hated Goblyn for being a mutant, yet now they are saying that she is okay. Darby tells Laura that they are both okay, in fact they are so delicious they could eat them up. ’Real sweet looking’ says Susan, laughing as Laura and Goblyn are both trapped as their chair’s secure them in, and their “parents” prepare to eat them.
Laura calls to Sasquatch for help, and after freeing himself from “Aurora”, Sasquatch tosses the demon out the window, before rushing over to rescue the Dean girls, shouting ’This is a nightmare!’, when suddenly, the tables begin to attack him, blocking his route to the Dean girls.
However, Goblyn manages to free herself, and makes her way over to her sister, when Laura, still stuck in her chair, finds the chair walking away from the battle, and she calls to Sasquatch and Goblyn to help. Sasquatch tells her to hold on, when suddenly, the chair tosses Laura out of the window.
Back in the greenhouse, Jeffries admits to Heather that he may have been seeing things, that the Dreamqueen must have the drop on him, before motioning around and asking where Shaman is. Heather also begins to call out to Twoyoungmen, when Jeffries suddenly alerts her to the foliage that is creeping up behind her! Jeffries and Heather become trapped within the trees, Heather unable to fly out of their grip, and Jeffries unable to reach his Box armor. The plants then proceed to lower Heather and Jeffries to the giant, venus fly traps below, teeth bared ready to eat the heroes, as Heather is unable to move her hands so she can blast them. ‘Then we’re dead!’ cries Jeffries.
They struggle, they cry out, they die. They drown in the excess of their own fears, in the poison of their phobias. And the Dreamqueen’s influence spreads out, farther, flooding the continent in a tidal wave of twisted dreams. She looks out the window of her dark glass tower and like petals of a hallucinogenic flower, unfolding, engulfing, she can feel the people of Detroit, and Chicago, their visions dim, then brighten, they see what she wants them to see, and their fear fills her up, it enriches her, it feeds her.
Suddenly, the Dreamqueen’s father, Nightmare, appears before her, reminding her that he tried to warn her, but that she obviously didn’t listen. He tells her again that this world is a dangerous place to play in, that it is a lot safer in Hades. The Dreamqueen asks Nightmare what it is he is doing here, is he jealous of success so he has come to sour her mood with his presence. Noticing how she addressed him as Nightmare and not as Father, he comments on this, but the Dreamqueen just screams ‘What do you want?’
‘I came to warn you of your impending death’ Nightmare replies, but the Dreamqueen just laughs and as she asks him who is going to kill her ‘You?’ Nightmare replies that he wouldn’t, as he is her father. Pointing to the doorway where Talisman is standing, he declares ‘She will’.
Laura Dean continues to fall from the skyscraper, screaming, when suddenly, she lands in Shaman’s arms as he levitates back up to the building. Laura is surprised and asks him how she knew, to which he informs her that he was tricked into falling and only managed to levitate back up when he saw her falling down. He explains that levitation is not a very fast way to travel so it may take a few minutes. When Laura asks Shaman where he is going, he motions to the top floor, where a dark cloud hovers above, for he has a feeling that is where they will be needed.
On the top floor, Elizabeth approaches the Dreamqueen, who asks Talisman if she is feeling suicidal today, before asking her why it is that she has come to face her. Elizabeth asks the Dreamqueen if she remembers their phone conversation, ‘The one where I said I was going to kill you? Well here I am…’. The Dreamqueen realizes that is why Talisman lied to her friends, making them search other floors so she could face her alone. Elizabeth tells the Dreamqueen that she is smarter than she looks.
As Talisman powers up, the Dreamqueen smiles as she says to Elizabeth ‘I imagine you think you’ll be able to beat me’. Talisman points out that she can block her powers, but that the Dreamqueen cannot block hers. ‘I don’t need to control you to kill you’ boasts the Dreamqueen, before Elizabeth tells her that she is going to make her regret everything she has done in the last nine hundred years.
‘Is that so?’ asks the Dreamqueen as her four handsome and half-naked henchmen come up behind Talisman and hold her still. The Dreamqueen explains that she brought these men up here to pleasure her while she did her work, but admits that they have other uses. Talisman tells the Dreamqueen that she better make them let her go, but picking up a large butcher knife, the Dreamqueen tells Talisman not to waste her time trying to block her influence, as she has the men completely spellbound. The Dreamqueen rubs the large knife before handing it to one of them men, ordering them to start with Talisman’s feet and to work her way up.
In the greenhouse, Vindicator manages to get one of her hands free, and tells Jeffries to look out as she starts to cut away at the plants with her plasma blasts. She tells Madison to get to his suit, as they have got someone to visit. Jeffries boasts that it is payback time before phasing into his armor, just in time for more plants to attack the lovers. Jeffries points out that this is nuts and urges Heather to head for the top floor. Heather agrees, claiming that she has some feeling that the top floor is where Talisman went. With that, the powerful Alphans fly out of a window and head upwards.
Back on the tenth floor, Sasquatch keeps fighting the tables, declaring that they probably are not even real, that it is the Dreamqueen, and she is the one they have to fight. He smashes one table into another before grabbing Goblyn away from her “parents”, explaining as he rushes towards the elevator that they are wasting their time down here, that the Dreamqueen must be at some other place. Sasquatch transforms back into Walt as he ushers Goblyn into the elevator, believing the Dreamqueen to be on the top floor, where else would she be he wonders, and realizes that Talisman has been leading them on.
Held still be the handsome agents of the Dreamqueen, Elizabeth declares that she wasn’t sure before, but know she knows it…;You’re crazy!’ she exclaims, knocking back the four men with blasts of powerful energy. Elizabeth tells the Dreamqueen that she would have to be crazy to think she could come here and take over the world. ‘Only a lunatic would believe she can use the people of this planet for her sick amusement!’
The Dreamqueen laughs before telling Talisman that everyone uses people, reminding her that she used her friends to get to her, and as Talisman’s former teammates arrive on the top floor, the Dreamqueen declares that it is now her turn to use them, ‘Kill her!’ she screams, pointing at Talisman. Vindicator, Walt, Box and Goblyn approach Talisman, the Dreamqueen just laughs.
Watching through a window, Shaman tells Laura to open a gate behind the Dreamqueen, and to hurry. Laura does so, declaring that she knows just where to send the her. The Dreamqueen notices the portal behind her, and urges the mind controlled Alphans to stop Talisman - but it is too late, as Elizabeth steps forward and whacks the Dreamqueen hard in the face, knocking her through the portal, which closes quickly behind her.
The Alphans all return to normal and Heather grabs Elizabeth, telling her that she has got some explaining to do. Heather points out that Elizabeth lied to them, having them search the other floors while she was up here with the Dreamqueen. Vindicator informs Elizabeth that they almost died down there, and asks her how she could use them like that.
Talisman points out that she was an inch away from getting killed, and that the reason for that is because the closer everyone else is to the Dreamqueen, it is harder for Elizabeth to keep the Dreamqueen out of their minds. Talisman reveals that she didn’t want the others getting close to the Dreamqueen as she knew they would fall under her spell, ‘And you almost killed me!’ she points out.
Heather calms down and tells Elizabeth not to lie to them again, as the safety of Alpha Flight is too important. Jeffries asks if this means they are going to be a team again, to which Talisman declares that they are, for there is no other way that they can survive. Somewhat taken aback and annoyed, Vindicator asks Talisman what makes her say that. ‘Because the worst is yet to come’ Talisman declares.


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

[Assistant]
Power Plays
A military helicopter circles the highest building in Edmonton, someone announcing that the camera is in operation and can see some external damage. Noticing a broken window, he exclaims that it looks like someone came crashing through it. He switches the camera to infra-scan, which reveals several life forms, all which are in the paranormal range. He adjusts the zoom while the camera searches the files, and the beings come up on the screen for computer analysis. The soldier declares that they have got a positive ID - ‘It’s Alpha Flight!’ he exclaims, before declaring that they are moving in. With that, several helicopters land on top of the sky scraper during the darkening night.
Meanwhile, on the top floor of the building, several people who were once known as Canada’s premiere super hero team, Alpha Flight, have just fought their worst enemy, and now they want to relax. But their problems are just beginning. Alpha Flight’s once leader, Heather “Vindicator” McNeil Hudson declares that she knows that everyone wants to go home, but that there are some things they need to discuss first. The handsome Doctor Walter “Sasquatch” Langkowski asks ‘like what?’ to which Elizabeth “Talisman” Twoyoungmen declares ‘Alpha Flight, of course’.
Vindicator agrees, and tells everyone that before they all go their separate wants, she wants to know if any of them are interested in keeping Alpha Flight going, suggesting that they may as well discuss this now while they are all together. Turning to Talisman, Heather declares that she wants to make one thing perfectly clear: ‘This team only has one leader, and it isn’t you, Elizabeth!’ Heather reminds Elizabeth that she led them all on and tried to use them to get at the Dreamqueen. She boasts that she is not going to fall for it again.
Talisman tells Heather that if it is leadership she is worried about, then she shouldn’t worry, because she has no intention of being the boss. Heather replies that she is glad to hear it, before Elizabeth points out that right now there is something else to be concerned with. Heather asks ‘what is that?’ when Talisman’s father, Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen a.k.a. Shaman points out that it sounds like helicopters. Heather’s lover Madison “Box” Jeffries points out that it sounds like they are landing on the roof, and Heather realizes that it is the military. Soldiers suddenly burst into the room, and Heather declares ‘Immobilize them!’
Heather orders the Alphans to stop the military but not to hurt them. Transformed into Sasquatch, Walt picks up a soldier and asks him if they have ever heard of using the front door. Box shoves some of the soldiers aside also and asks them where their manners are. Reaching into his medicine pouch, Shaman draws from it a mystical powder, and blowing it onto the soldiers he exclaims ‘Sleep!’
Heather fires electromagnetic pulses from her battle suit, while Goblyn slashes the soldiers’ guns withy her bestial fury, protecting her sister Laura Dean. Suddenly, Talisman casts forth a blinding light and shouts ‘Stop!’ Turning to her fellow Alphans, she points out that they have got company, and as the soldiers raise their guns to the Alphans, Elizabeth tells them that she doesn’t think they should cross the line.
Elsewhere, a young couple have made a small campsite in a forest. Dexter draws a line in the ground with a stick, and tells his wife, Carol, that the line symbolizes the history of the human race, meaning that the length from end to the other represents about 20,000 years. He explains that it was not until roughly 150 years ago that things started to dramatically change for ‘us’ as he puts it. ‘Us?’ asks Carol, to which Dexter explains he means the human race, reminding Carol that they haven’t been married that long.
Carol declares that they have been married for two years and ten days, but that it seems like just yesterday to her. ‘Me too, honey’ claims Dexter, before informing Carol that it took man around 15,000 years just to form the first city, and that it wasn’t until 150 years ago that humans began to seriously understand science, as before that, there was no electricity, cars, planes, telephones and so on. Dexter explains that apart for sociological developments, life was virtually the same as it was in ancient Babylon.
Returning to the line in the ground, Dexter declares that if it represents the history of man, only the very tip encompasses the technological age, adding that there are very few people alive today who remember the Wright Brother’s flight, the invention of television and radio. Carol asks if everything that humanity takes for granted is a recent development, to which Dexter replies that it took us 20,000 years to develop the car, the factory and the nuclear power plant, it all came about in 150 years.
The couple begin walking back to their tent as Dexter declares that in such a short amount of time, humanity has managed to totally mess up the environment in that same period. He declares that if humanity doesn’t do something soon, the mankind is going to take a serious fall…with that, Dexter himself falls over as he trips on something in the ground. Carol asks him if he is okay, Dexter replies that he is, and points to the object half stuck in the ground that he tripped over. Dexter begins to pulling the ground up and asks Carol to being him a shovel from the camp. Carol begins to run back to their tent, but Dexter calls to her to not worry, as he has it.
With the object pulled out of the ground, Carol suddenly becomes cold and hugs herself, asking Dexter if it is some kind of Indian artifact. Holding up the small statue, Dexter replies that it is no Indian, but something else entirely.
Back in Edmonton, the military continue holding their firearms up at the Alphans as Heather asks them who they are and what is going on here. Suddenly, someone barks ‘Put down your weapons!’ A high ranking military official steps forward and apologizes to Heather for the actions of his men, claiming that they did not know what kind of situation they were getting into. Heather asks what this is all about, ‘We just saved the city and the send the army after us!’
A second official informs Heather that they came to congratulate them all. ‘This is how you congratulate people?’ asks Heather, before the second official admits that they were unsure as to what they were going to find here. The first official steps forward and introduces himself as General Brian Winslow, and reveals that he represents Ottawa, that he was sent as an ambassador to meet with Alpha personally and extend their warmest thanks.
Winslow tells Heather that whatever Alpha Flight did here saved the whole country from a horrible fate, and that they want Alpha Flight to know that the government is ready for them to come back and work for them again. Sasquatch laughs and declares ‘That’s great!’ but Vindicator tells the General that his offer is totally out of the question, reminding him that they quit working for the government because the government acted like they owned Alpha Flight, and boasts that they are not about to make the same mistakes again.
General Winslow begins to negotiate with Heather, when Elizabeth steps forward and tells the General that there is another reason why they will not be accepting his offer. ‘TALISMAN!’ snaps the frustrated Heather, before Elizabeth tells her that they do not need the Canadian government anymore, and that they are going to be setting up base in Edmonton. ‘What did I just tell you a few minutes ago?’ asks Heather, but Talisman asks her foster sister what the matter is, as she is just telling the truth.
Heather begins to tell Talisman that they haven’t even decided about whether or not they are going to remain as a team, before snapping ‘Let’s discuss this later!’ Calmly, Elizabeth tells Heather that they can talk about it all they want, but that the fact remains this is the city where they will be living. Vindicator asks Talisman if she has forgotten about their situation. General Winslow tells Heather that he understands Alpha Flight lack funding and a base of operations, which is why he thinks they need the government, as they can provide things and give direction.
Vindicator tells Winslow that direction from the government is something they neither need, nor want, and that Alpha Flight is a private organization and its problems are none of the government’s business. Winslow starts to protest, but his associate interrupts and points to Talisman, suggesting she be allowed to continue, reminding her she was saying something about re-forming in Edmonton. Elizabeth confirms this, to which General Winslow asks how she is going to go about this without the government’s help. ‘Ask them!’ declares Talisman as she points to three men in suits who have just entered the room.
Back at the campsite, the statue sits by the fire, as Carol and Dexter lie side by side in their sleeping bags several feet away. Carol asks Dexter if he thinks the statue has any monetary value. Dexter replies that it might, as it doesn’t look like any Indian artifact he has seen, reminding her that he has studied anthropology in college. Carol suggests that they may have found something from Atlantis, as Dexter suggests it might have fallen from a UFO. ‘Maybe somebody bought it at KMART and threw it away?’ offers Carol as the next suggestion. Dexter jokes that it is probably too old, and tells Carol that she was probably right about Atlantis.
Carol asks Dexter why it is they came here, saying that it wasn’t so they could dig up little stone statues or talk about the environment. Dexter agrees that it wasn’t, as Carol strokes his face, and tells him that she remembers something about a second honeymoon…. But Dexter quickly rolls over and tells the surprised Carol that he is not in the mood. ‘Good night,’ he says, going to sleep, as Carol turns the other way, and faces the statue…which suddenly increases in size.
Suddenly, the now huge statue appears before Dexter in his dreams, ‘Dexter Rayne - accountant, environmentalist, husband…you have looked upon my image and have been brought before me!’ the statue declares, before telling Dexter that they shall do great things together. ‘We shall change the world’. Dexter asks the strange creature who he is, the reply being ‘I am who I am’. Dexter declares that that cannot be, before the mysterious being asks him if he knows the insurance company he works for is helping the corporations pollute the Earth.
This surprises Dexter, but the strange being continues, informing Dexter that his company provides liability insurance, so if a corporation gets sued for environmental damages, his company pays their court damages. Dexter protests, claiming that they are an insurance company, which is what they do. The being declares that the polluters continue to destroy nature with their greed and filth and tells Dexter that his company helps to keep them in business.
Dexter tries to protest, before the mysterious being asks him if he knows his wife is cheating on him. ‘That’s not true!’ shouts Dexter, before asking who it is that she is seeing. The strange being declares that he knows and sees everything, revealing that the Earth is going to die, in twenty years, pollution is killing the oceans, the rain forests are being destroyed, the ozone is disappearing faster and faster…’The end is fast approaching. Human beings are drowning in their own filth’. The mysterious being then informs Dexter that he can do something about it, that Dexter himself can stop it from happening.
Back in Edmonton, Heather slumps into a chair and wonders how she can stop this mad rush into oblivion - the team is falling apart and the government is trying to own them - while Talisman is manipulating things somehow, Heather doesn’t know what to do, and turns her attention back to the men in the suits. A man in a brown suit asks what is going on here, to which General Winslow asks him who he is. The brown suit man replies that he is the Mayor of Edmonton, and asks the same question to Winslow. Winslow states that he is with the government, and that this is official business.
Before Winslow can continue, the Mayor of Edmonton turns to Heather, asking if she is Vindicator. Heather replies that she is, and asks the Mayor what she can do for him. The Mayor thanks the Alphans for saving his city, then made them an offer of his own, that the city of Edmonton would give the heroes their own headquarters if they promised to defend the city in a future crisis. Heather can tell that Winslow is getting upset, and that Talisman seemed to know this was coming.
Heather tells Winslow and that Mayor that she and her allies have to talk about this amongst themselves, but that they will take the Mayor’s offer into consideration. The Mayor hands Heather his card and asks her to give him a ring when she has made up her mind. After a furious Winslow, the military and the Mayor all leave, Talisman gives Heather a look that says ‘I told you so!’, before Madison turns to Heather and mentions the Purple Girl!
Vindicator recalls that the left Kara Kilgrave the Purple Girl behind at the Edmonton Mall, and figures now is a good time to go and get her. Laura Dean opens a portal and teleports them back the swimming pool within the giant mall. Upon arriving, Kara is still waiting and is not very happy. Vindicator approaches Kara and tells her that she is so glad she is all right, but Kara snaps ‘I’ll bet you are,’ sarcastically.
Vindicator asks Kara what the matter is, to which the Purple Girl angrily asks Heather what she thinks the matter is, reminding her that she was left here all alone and didn’t know what was happening. Shaman points out that they had to get to the Dreamqueen and could not wait for her to awaken. Vindicator tells Kara that she was unconscious and as Shaman pointed out would not come around for several hours.
Still angry, Kara declares that she hears them, but it doesn’t change the fact that they didn’t even try to wake her up, pointing out that they have powers, Shaman is a doctor and Talisman has all kinds of magic at her disposal. Kara tells them that one of them could have done something, but instead they left her alone, with no idea what was going on. Frustrated, Shaman steps forward and tells Kara that he did what he could, as she was infected with a disease, and his cure made her sleep so it could work its magic, that there was no other way.
Changing the subject, Kara tells them that they did what they could and now she wants to go home. Shaman asks the Purple Girl if she is not mad at them, to which Kara reveals that she has been doing some heavy thinking in the last couple of hours, and informs them all that this is no longer her scene, ‘all this super hero stuff - it is too much of a downer!’
Kara declares that she wants to live a normal life, have a boyfriend and go dancing. Kara exclaims that running around and saving the world is just too much for a kid like her, and she is not ready for it. Laura Dean admits that she too feels the same way, and of course where Laura goes, Goblyn goes. Laura opens a portal, everyone waves goodbye, and the senior Alphans are left alone.
Morning in the forest now, Carol wakes up and looks around for Dexter. She sees him in amongst some trees and runs over to him, where he is muttering something in a language she does not understand. Carol asks Dexter if everything is all right, when Dexter swiftly turns around and shouts ‘What are you doing here?’ Nervously, Carol tells Dexter that she just wanted to know where he was, as she was going to fix him breakfast. ‘Well, you’ve found me!’ snaps Dexter.
Noticing a change in her husband, Carol asks him if something is wrong, if it is something she said. Dexter turns away from Carol and tells her that he is looking for firewood, and suggests she make herself useful my getting some food together. Carol tells Dexter that he is scaring her, as she has never seen him like this before. Dexter turns back to Carol and tells her that he will join her back at the camp and they can talk about it in a minute.
As Carol walks back to the camp, Dexter turns to the statue, whispering that he doesn’t know what to do with these powers that he mentioned earlier. He asks what the powers are going to be, and how much he will have. The statue stares back at Dexter, its evil blood red eyes fierce, its toothed mouth scary. ‘That much!’ exclaims Dexter, before asking how he is going to hide the power from Carol, reminding the being that he said Carol is never going to know.
The statue keeps looking at Dexter, speaking to him, Dexter replies that he understands that he is being given these powers so he can save the environment, but that it still doesn’t explain how he can keep Carol from knowing anything. Suddenly, Dexter is obviously told something he doesn’t like, as he cries ‘No! You can’t mean that! Not that!’ The statue just keeps staring at him.
Meanwhile, in Ottawa, Madison Jeffries phases out of his Box armor, feeling the metal and circuitry on his tongue, burning. His thoughts turn to Alpha Flight and the team’s continual problems. Things have not been well. As he walks up the stairs from the garage to the house, he hears a knock at the door, and he thinks of Heather, and their upcoming marriage, and all the thoughts of Alpha fade away. Jeffries remembers that Heather said she was going to stop by, and he wants to take her in his arms and make her forget all the horrors of yesterday.
But when he opens the door, standing before him is the sultry Diamond Lil! ‘Hiya, babe!’ Lillian “Lil” Crawley says to the shocked Madison, who asks his ex girlfriend and teammate what it is she is doing here. Lil reveals that she is out of prison and thought she would come and see him. Jeffries invites Lil inside for a few minutes, but tells her that Heather is going to be here soon. ‘Heather? You mean Heather Hudson?’ asks Lil.
Jeffries replies ‘Yeah’, before Lil puts her hand on Jeffries’ chest and asks him what he is seeing Heather for. Jeffries informs Lil that he and Heather are engaged, to which Lil asks if Heather isn’t a little out of his league. Neither Lil nor Jeffries sees Heather out the window, approaching Jeffries’ apartment. Lil tells Jeffries that she remembers when they were - Jeffries cuts Lil off, asking her what she means. ‘Let me remind you!’ says Lil as she leans in to kiss Jeffries, who tries to pull away.
Heather sees Jeffries with his ex and turns away and walks back towards her car. Jeffries tells Lil that he appreciates the thought but that he is spoken for. Lil asks him if it is true love, and he replies that it is. Getting into her car, Heather wonders if the day can get any worse.
Opening the door to her home, it suddenly does, for sitting on the sofa, is Talisman. ‘Love’s dangerous, isn’t it?’ says Talisman, ‘It can really do you in’.
Carol is kneeling over a camp cooker ready to pour something into a frying pan. Dexter comes up behind her and puts his hands on her shoulders. Carol apologizes for all of this, admitting that she should have been more understanding. Feeling Dexter’s hands around her neck, Carol smiles and supposes that he forgives her, when suddenly, Dexter starts choking her. Blood trickles out the side of Carols mouth as Dexter tells her that he is so sorry.
The mysterious being telepathically tells Dexter that he did well, as he is now much stronger, and that he too will be. Tying Carol’s feet up in some rope, Dexter tells the being that he wishes they didn’t have to kill her, as he loved her. The being asks ‘What is love?’ and asks how it can be more important than the world. Dexter admits that he doesn’t know anymore, that everything seems so confusing. As Dexter hoists his wife up so she hangs from the rope as it dangles from a tree, the being tells him not to worry, as it will not be confusing for much longer, and that he will soon see everything will incredible clarity, so long as he follows his instructions to the letter, adding that he will not believe the results.
Dexter places a pot beneath his dangling wife, and as he places the statue into the pot, the being keeps repeating ‘Excellent’ over and over. Dexter pulls out a knife and mutters ‘Carol’, but the mysterious being tells him not to worry about her, as she cannot hear him, and tells him to finish the job. Dexter holds Carol steady as he draws the knife up to her throat, the being explaining that when he slices her throat, the blood will dissolve him, making the next step easier for him. The being asks Dexter if he remembers the next step, and as he slices his wife’s throat, Dexter replies that he remembers.
In Ottawa, Heather asks Elizabeth what she thinks she is doing in her house. Talisman tells Heather that they have to talk, to which Heather angrily says ‘Talk about what?’ ‘Compromises,’ states Talisman, telling Heather that they have to face their compromises and wrestle with them. Heather asks Elizabeth what has happened to her, telling her that ever since she put that thing on her head she has become this…this…Heather’s voice trails off as Talisman declares that she knew what she was giving up and knew what she was going to gain. ‘I made a decision and drank in the consequences’.
Talisman declares that she now knows things, she knows what has been going on all this time, and why they have to do something soon. ‘Or everything is going to go bad’.
Dexter holds a pot filled with his wife’s blood and begins to drink from it, drinking all the blood, and tosses the empty pot aside, the statue dissolved, just like the mysterious being said it would.
Heather asks Talisman to stop being so cryptic, to just say what she means for a change and stop being so secretive. Talisman tells Heather that she makes it sound so simple, but that from where she sits, it isn’t, though claims she will try her best.
Talisman asks Heather to remember the Great Beasts, who live in a netherworld beyond their dimension. Elizabeth reminds Heather that the Great Beasts have tried to enter Earth’s plane many times unsuccessfully for thousands of years, yet all of a sudden, they start to succeed again and again. ‘Why?’ says Elizabeth before moving on to her next example, reminding Heather that they fought a being called Pestilence who was a man frozen in the Arctic ice, and asks why should someone frozen 150 years ago come back to life with super natural powers.
Talisman reminds Heather that the Dreamqueen was a demoness trapped in an obscure plane, out of all infinite dimensions in space and time, why did she want Earth, and why was Laura Dean drawn to the Dreamqueen’s dimension? Talisman explains to Heather that the odds of all of that happening are almost infinitely against it. Heather asks Talisman what she thinks the answer to all that is, but Elizabeth replies the answer is rather unpleasant, and reveals that the events were warnings of things to come, like the sound of distant thunder announcing an approaching storm.
Talisman declares that a storm is exactly what is coming, for every 10,000 years the planets enter a unique configuration, and when that happens, the physical laws of Earth begin to change, and the world enters a phase of darkness where everything that’s evil gets the upper hand….
In the forest, Dexter glows in power, ‘The night is coming and we are going to usher it in!’ declares the mysterious being, informing Dexter that it was no accident that he found him, as he brought him from across the miles as he knew he was what he needed. Dexter is gone, a Sorcerer dressed in black, blue and red, and with flames surrounding him. He declares that they are about to change the world, just as he tried to do 10,000 years before.
‘But first we have to kill some people!’ the Sorcerer declares as he teleports to Ottawa. Approaching Heather’s house, he declares that he has to kill the people in this house.
Inside, Heather picks up the telephone as she asks Talisman if what she is saying is that Canada is the nexus point for all these negative forces. Talisman confirms this, explaining that the badness will start to ooze out from here, eventually covering the Earth if it goes unchecked. Elizabeth tells Heather that Alpha Flight needs to exist, as they are the only group of people capable of dealing with this crisis and that without Alpha Flight, the darkness will gain a foothold in Canada and the rest of the world will not have a chance.
Heather speaks into the phone, she has rung Madison. Madison asks Heather where she is, as he thought she was going to come over. Heather hesitates before telling Jeffries that they will get to that later and suggests he come over to her place. Talisman senses something outside and asks Heather to tell Jeffries to hurry and to bring her father. Heather asks Madison to hold on and turns to Elizabeth, asking her what is wrong. Madison shouts down the phone, calling to Heather.
‘It’s too late, he’s here!’ exclaims Talisman with urgency in her voice. Heather asks Talisman who it is she is talking about, as Madison calls down the phone, asking Heather what is going on.
Suddenly, a hole is blasted in the wall, and Elizabeth and Vindicator are knocked back as Llan the Sorcerer makes his entrance.