[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>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Pestilence
Atlantis, where Namor the Sub-Mariner has returned to reclaim his throne from the tyrant Attuma, who managed to lure Namor to Atlantis by capturing Namor’s missing love, the former Alphan Marrina. Attuma’s barbarian soldiers begin to swarm in on Namor, seeing that he comes without an army of his own, they boast that he shall die alone for Attuma rules here now. Namor calls for the true Atlanteans to heed his call and free themselves from the tyrant’s thrall in helping him free the woman he loves. One of Attuma’s allies informs Namor that Atlantis rejects him as his “subjects” are revolted by the monster that he would have made their queen. Attuma then speaks up and proclaims that if Namor wants to rescue Marrina that he will have to do so himself.
Byrrah swims up to his cousin’s side and grabs the Savage Sub-Mariner telling him he has taken leave of his senses, as when he summoned him to save Atlantis, he thought that he would come aided by his surface allies, the Avengers. Namor informs his cousin that he expects his subjects to rally by him. Byrrah reminds his cousin that Atlantis forced him to abdicate the throne, that he is no longer their Prince and they no longer his people. Namor asks if the Atlanteans prefer Attuma to him, but Byrrah replies that they prefer is an orderly dictatorship to the benign neglect that prevailed while Namor reigned, adding that they will not accept an alien as their Queen.
Namor declares that his owes Atlantis no allegiance and shouts that he will fight for Marrina only as he plows his way swiftly through a horde of barbarian warriors. For he is not called the Scourge of the Seven Seas for nothing. However mighty Namor’s legend may be, it is not limitless, especially when the power of s kingdom stands against him. The barbarians continue to attack as Byrrah recalls that Namor’s rage has often made him heedless of his own safety and the safety of the realms, which is why Atlantis cast him out and his former subjects are willing to see him struck down. Namor boasts that he hopes Neptune curse the Atlanteans for the cowards that they are.
Back in the throne room, Attuma tells the High Lord of the Triumvirate to witness as their former Prince attacks and berates them and all for the sake of the ‘otherworldly horror’ he adds motioning to Marrina held prisoner in an orb. One of the Triumvirates declares that they are not blind, as Marrina wishes she were before herself so that she could behold the sorrow that she has brought upon her beloved Namor. Attuma exclaims that Namor’s sorrow and shame are of his own creation, for it was he who chose to love a creature that is neither of Atlantis nor Earth.
Down in the courtyard below the battle, Atlanteans have gathered to watch, many with thoughts of their own. One boasts that Namor should not have turned his back on his birthright, while another declares that Attuma speaks for them all. However more levelheaded Atlanteans think to themselves, one admitting that there are some who disagree with Attuma but are too cowardly to contradict him out loud. A female Atlantean wonders how they can condemn Namor’s love when Namor himself is only half Atlantean while says the opposite, declaring that they will have no creature for their queen.
Attuma looks down at the Atlanteans and asks if they will let the hybrid Namor and his monstrous mate rule them. Other than those who are too afraid to say what they think, the general consensus is that the traitorous Namor should be killed, that it is better to have Attuma rule them than an alien and that it is better to be a barbarian than a beast. Clutching herself in her orb prison, Marrina can hear the cruel Atlanteans and is dismayed when they call her alien though she was born on Earth and that she is human enough to grieve at what sorrow love has brought she and Namor.
Byrrah swims up to Namor, who is still fighting the barbarians and declares that he didn’t risk his life defying Attuma to watch Namor throw away his own life. Byrrah asks Namor to withdraw and flee while he is able, to run and raise an army of surface friends. Byrrah pleads Namor to humble himself for the greater good, to admit that he needs help, for without it, they and Marrina will all die.
Namor realizes that his cousin is right and that he has been acting like a fool. From her orb, Marrina watches in despair as her beloved swims away from the battle with Byrrah. Attuma looks at the Triumvirate and declares that as Namor leaves now the Atlanteans will never compare his power to that of Attuma’s own ever again. Vashti tells Attuma that Namor was but one man against the elite guard, and to mark his word, as with or without allies, Namor will return.
As they swim away, Byrrah asks Namor if he is hurt, to which Namor asks why he cares. Byrrah informs Namor that while there is no love lost between the two of them he cares for the sake of Atlantis, as he alone can save the realm that Byrrah loves. Namor declares that he cannot do it without aid obviously, and boasts that he has never begged for anything before. Byrrah tells Namor to conquer his pride and reminds him that it was his pride that made him unfit to rule Atlantis. ‘Insolent scuttle-fish’ declares Namor before cutting what he was about to say and asking Byrrah to forgive him.
Namor admits that asking others for aid does not come easy to him, but for Marrina’s sake he shall petition the Avengers, while he tells Byrrah to seek out Marrina’s teammates in Alpha Flight. Byrrah asks if this is for Marrina’s sake and not the sake of the realms, but Namor proclaims that he cares not for Atlantis, as they are ruled by the despot they deserve.
Beechy Island in the Arctic Circle will in times to come be known as the birthplace of Pestilence, a being of immense power who has succeeded in decimating Alpha Flight. Team leader Heather “Vindicator” Hudson is trapped in a constant cloud of flies, while the handsome speedster, Jean-Paul Beaubier, a.k.a. Northstar is slowly sinking in a puddle of muck. His twin sister, Aurora, lies covered in Maggots while Roger “Box” Bochs is immobile as he slowly rusts. Eugene “Puck” Judd, unbeknownst to his teammates has fallen beneath the ice, while Michael Twoyoungmen, a.k.a. Shaman has been aged to that of a feeble old man. Pestilence has the ability after possessing the newborn baby of Snowbird to control the forces of death and decay.
However that isn't all that Pestilence has done, for he has also done the impossible in that he tore the tiara from Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, a.k.a. Talisman, who in part is responsible for bringing him out of his in between death and life stasis. Hovering above the now powerless Elizabeth Pestilence turns to his “mother”, Snowbird and pardons himself while he gives thanks to the lovely lady that helped him to be reborn – by granting her a swift and painless death. Snowbird’s human husband, Doug Thompson tells Pestilence that he is not their son, and the beautiful Snowbird declares that he is not human or demigod, but a demon!
The feeble Shaman thinks that he has not done such a good job in delivering Snowbird’s baby, as its life force was seized by a creature that represents death and decay as Snowbird represents life. And now after immobilizing Alpha Flight it now attempts to destroy his daughter, and the fault is all Shaman’s as he begins to recall the events of the last couple of days.
(Flashback, retelling of events in Alpha Flight (first series) #35-37)
Shaman was absent from the mansion when Snowbird was brought back to Alpha Flight, recently married to Thompson, she was two weeks pregnant and mystically already come to term. Northstar, Heather and the others did their best to comfort Snowbird, and by the time Shaman arrived she had gone into labor. Being a goddess with shapeshifting powers, Narya’s pains were extreme. Shaman knew that like Snowbird, the baby would be born unformed and would need to be bound by him to reality. A place of power had to be found where the binding could be accomplished and with the aid of Doctor Strange, Shaman located that place of power.
However neither Shaman or Doctor Strange had any way of knowing that the spirits who helped them locate the place of power were under the control of Shamans’ daughter, Talisman. Talisman hated her father for having “tricked” her into becoming the Talisman, and she had chosen this place of power, hiding its true nature from her father. For this was a place of pure evil, as beneath the ground lay a man, Captain F.R. Crozier, who was frozen deathlike, but not dead and his body became consumed by an insatiable hatred for the living. Talisman hoped to see Pestilence embarrass Shaman in the eyes of his teammates before she exorcised him and set Snowbird’s baby free.
(Present)
But Pestilence was not within Elizabeth’s control, as he stole the life force of the unformed infant for himself and took the tiara from Elizabeth before she could summon other spirits to combat him. Looking at the tiara that lays just mere centimeters from him, Shaman realizes that he could don the tiara and save Elizabeth, but only by sacrificing his own humanity to become the Talisman. But then what? Would the spirits that Twoyoungmen summon be able to destroy Pestilence without destroying the life force it has possessed – the “soul” of Snowbird and Thompson’s son? The old man reaches for the tiara – ‘what to chose, who to condemn … who to save?’
At that moment, Vindicator strives to free herself from the stinging swarm of flies that blinds her, however for every hundred flies that her electromagnetic battle suit fry, a thousand more take their place. But Heather knows that she has to go on the offensive, and use her battle suits power to create a plasma funnel so that she can see through the swarm, which she does. However the sight that greets Heather is not pretty, as an exhausted Snowbird and her helpless husband watch their “Child” settle back to decaying the earth he commands to finish choking Elizabeth to death and direct the final blows to the other Alphans.
Box lies immobilized with rust as the deadly giant leaches draw nearer towards him, and Northstar remains trapped in the muck which slowly sucks him down. Heather sees Shaman crawling towards Elizabeth’s tiara with a failing heart and aching chest, while Aurora huddles wracked with revulsion as maggots begin to bore into her beauty. While Puck has not been seen since the ice across which he raced decayed, plunging him into the frozen waters.
Heather blasts her way through the swarm of flies, furious she plunges towards Pestilence, professing that she is not going to let him kill her Alphans. Pestilence turns to face Heather, but by the time he has turned around, he has gone and James MacDonald Hudson stares up at Heather and says ‘Your Alphans? Why, my dear Heather, I thought they were mine!’ Heather slows her flight at the sight of her husband and though he still chokes Elizabeth, “Mac” asks her if she wouldn't kill him again. Snowbird declares that Guardian is dead and that this is a trick, which Heather realizes, is true and thinks that because Pestilence is intimate with death, he somehow knows how her husband died and that she may have been responsible, thus making her feel guilty that she will be too paralyzed by remorse to defend herself.
Heather tells herself that despite all of the unsavory things she has learnt about Mac since his death she does still love him and borrows a cliché ‘Love is truer having to say you’re sorry’ before she smashes Pestilence back with an electromagnetic blast, freeing Elizabeth at the same. Heather thinks that cutting loose at Pestilence felt good, and wonders if his looking like Mac had anything to do with it. Heather tells herself that that question suggests that she needs some serious time in the psychoanalytical department and promises to take it up with her shrink, if she had one that is. The only problem facing Heather now is that she just used her best shot, and Pestilence is still standing. Elizabeth is thrown near her father, and as he turns to her, she solemnly declares that she is sorry.
Heather saw Elizabeth apologize and knows that with her tiara gone she is the same sweet-natured kid that she knew what seems like a lifetime ago, yet they are still stuck with the fruits of her former hatred for her father. Heather swoops in on Pestilence again, but despite all the power built into the battle suit she wears, she doesn’t think she can defeat Pestilence alone.
However, Heather may not have to face Pestilence alone much longer, as beneath the ice, Puck swims in the frigid waters, blessing the time he was taught yoga. For without the ability to slow his breathing and alter his body’s temperature the cold and loss of air would have killed him, though Judd knows that he will need to surface soon. At least Judd gets to chose the time and place, and does so, lunging up through the ice Judd grabs Pestilence by the ankles, much to the demon’s surprise, and pulls him into the water as Heather swoops down and pulls Puck out of it. As Pestilence sinks in the water, Judd tells him that it is a good thing his own powers of decomposition rotted the very ice that he stood upon.
As Heather fires some electromagnetic blasts at Pestilence hoping to keep him down in the water longer she informs Judd that from what she has seen the icy water will not hold the demon for long. Judd agrees, declaring that the cold will not hold someone who has lain alive beneath the ice for over a century, but it will give them time to free the other Alphans. Heather agrees, declaring that their power alone is not enough to finish Pestilence, and as the fly past Jean-Paul and pull the handsome Alphan from the muck he declares that he is not sure how much help he will be.
As Northstar rushes to speed past his sister, thus clearing the maggots from her, Vindicator cannot believe that they just heard some humility from Northstar, who informs her that while he was stuck in the muck and helpless to free himself or aid his sister, he had some time to reflect on how easily he was rendered inoperative. Judd asks if he also learned how valuable teamwork is, and Northstar replies that he is creating the vortex not only to sweep the maggots away from his sister, but also because he knows that only Aurora’s light can drive the leaches back to the dark and away from Box, which Aurora does, and it works.
Heather stands by Box and uses carefully pulsed bursts to vibrate the rust off and Roger jokes that he now knows the Tin Woodsman felt standing in the forest before Dorothy and the Scarecrow came along! Aurora asks if the ordeal is over and whether or not they have one. Judd declares that Pestilence will probably be back, to which Shaman reveals that he feels the demon’s evil all around them and that they will have to fight him.
Elizabeth accepts that this is her fault for freeing Pestilence, hoping to punish her father for failing both her mother and she, by setting forth the creature who is using the power of Snowbird’s baby to destroy Alpha. As Elizabeth holds the tiara, her father Shaman tells her that the tiara robbed her of her humanity and made her do it. But Elizabeth disagrees and exclaims that the choice was her own, and admits that she was a selfish brat who was too blind to see Shaman’s love for her.
Elizabeth believes that the tiara merely gave her the power to escalate her brattiness into  brutality, and suggests that if she puts it back on she can make up for what she has done. But Shaman snatches the coronet from his daughter and declares that he “tricked” her once into donning it, but will not allow for it to happen again. Northstar asks if he will not even allow it to save Snowbird’s child, but Shaman informs Jean-Paul that he said the tiara’s power would not be used by Elizabeth, but by another!
Snowbird’s irritable husband steps forward and asks Shaman if he is talking about himself, and whether or not his “hocus pocus” hasn’t gotten them into enough trouble as it. Shaman informs everyone that having survived the spirit test he has been proven worthy. Thompson reminds Twoyoungmen that he is old thanks to Pestilence and suggests Talisman’s power might kill him. ‘Better me than my daughter’ professes Shaman.
Elizabeth begins to protest when suddenly Snowbird’s baby appears above everyone, and Narya alerts everyone to its presence. Judd wonders if the baby’s spirit might have been strong enough to reject Pestilence, when suddenly the form of the baby disappears and is replaced by Pestilence, who declares that the ‘little waif’s’ life force is still bound and his power still belongs to Pestilence. Pestilence starts to jibe Snowbird and tells her that her son misses her and asks her if she will not set him free.
Narya declares that she will, and that while Pestilence has taken her child’s sweet soul and tainted it with his own foul and fetid spirit, other forces of death and decay have existed long before he awoke, and with that she transforms into one of her most powerful forms, that of the Albino Sasquatch. Pestilence declares that the worms that writhed around him when he lay in the earth did whisper tales of the Great Beasts.
Alpha Flight, Elizabeth and Thompson watch in amazement, and Aurora recalls that twice before Snowbird has transformed into the Albino Sasquatch, the first when she killed her beloved Walter. Jean-Paul adds that Walter was the original Sasquatch, who was a hero until he learned something shocking. Elizabeth continues the story, revealing that the Great Beasts had allowed Walter to assume the legendary form of one of their own so that the Beast Tanaraq could be reborn. Thompson and Shaman both wonder why Snowbird would assume such an evil shape. Perhaps it is because the Great Beasts rule over death and decay, and Snowbird hopes to fight Pestilence with his own weapons.
However as Snowbird races towards Pestilence, the demon informs his “mother” that she has miscalculated, as while the Great Beasts could employ death and decay as weapons against mankind, he controls death and decay just as he can control the Great Beasts themselves. Which is when the Great Beasts – Somon, tundra, Ranaq, Kariooq, Tolamaq and Kolomaq all appear behind Pestilence. The demon boasts that since his “mother” has been so foolhardy as to assume the shape of Sasquatch, he can also control Tanaraq.
All of Alpha Flight leap into battle, Jean-Paul reminding them all that the Great Beasts were nearly destroyed when they fought them the last time. Aurora reminds her brother that that was on the Beasts’ world, to which Vindicator suggests that since they are also under Pestilence’s control and not acting on their own, may give the Beasts a disadvantage.
It was in ancient times that the Arctic Gods and the Great Beasts fought and each time the Earth was spared, but even when the Beasts’ were hurled back unto their own world, they spun a mystical vortex which whipped the Gods away from Earth too. The balance was preserved with “minor” disruptions until now, when Pestilence has set free the Great Beasts while the Gods remain in exile, and only the mortal members of Alpha Flight stand between a living world and the assembled forces of death and decay.
Heather reminds Box that this is the first time the two of them have fought the Great Beasts, Bochs declaring that it may be their last when Heather is knocked back and he is trapped in the fist of Tundra. Shaman removes his headband, and while he stood ready to don the tiara he had hoped that such a great sacrifice would not be needed. As he slowly moves the tiara up to his forehead he wonders if he might have aged too much and the strain might kill him, which would mean it would again fall to his daughter to don the tiara. But Shaman tells him self that he did not prove himself worthy in the recent tests to back out of the responsibility now.
As Michael Twoyoungmen places the tiara on his forehead he asks himself what his humanity, or the life of Snowbird’s baby is when balanced against the lives of Alpha Flight and every human being on Earth. Elizabeth pleads with her father, but he dons the tiara and with a newfound power he walks into the battle, leaving a heartbroken Elizabeth behind, crying that they have finally found each other after so long.
Twoyoungmen walks up behind Pestilence and orders him to stay his evil, for the Binder of Spirits commands him. Pestilence grins when he sees the old fool supplanting the young one and reminds Shaman that he is not a spirit and cannot be commanded. Shaman knows this, and informs Pestilence that he obviously overlooked the fact that the Beasts are of the spirit world, and therefore he can command them!
Eldritch energies begin to bind the Beasts and eventually banish them. Pestilence still goes strong however, and declares that this means nothing to him as the Beasts were just agents of destruction, where he is ‘death, decay and devastation incarnate!’ Shaman knows Pestilence speaks the truth, and tells Pestilence that he has kept in reserve one Great Beast upon the mortal sphere to do his bidding.
Pestilence sees that Sasquatch/Tanaraq remains, and Shaman reminds him that it is really Snowbird. Alpha watch in horror and Heather is forced to hold Thompson back when Shaman declares that as Pestilence possess the child, he controls the mother, he trusts that Pestilence’s perverse sense of the unnatural will appreciate the irony when he orders one to destroy the other.
Snowbird knows that her power to assume any animal native to the Arctic entails certain risks, foremost is that her own reason will be consumed by the chosen animal’s bestial instincts. Though with ordinary Earth animals, the risk is real, it is much more dangerous with an animalistic spirit such as Sasquatch’s that the beasts rage will become Narya’s own, and that she will forget how to reverse the transformation. Snowbird slashes at Pestilence who cries out in pain. Narya continues to slash, until suddenly the form of her baby appears, and pleads with her to stop.
Vindicator quickly tells Shaman that Pestilence has fled the baby, but Twoyoungmen knows that this is just another trick, like when he assumed her deceased husband’s form. Hesitantly, Heather asks if he will let Narya kill Pestilence, to which he replies he will if the demon can be killed. Heather asks what of the baby, and he replies ‘what of mankind’. Heather asks her old friend if he can make that choice, and he simply replies that he is neither Michael Twoyoungmen nor Shaman, but the Talisman, and if he does not make the choice, who will?
The form of the baby fades away and Pestilence returns, and tells Snowbird that she could kill him, and knows she would, but that he has cheated death for the past 138 years an will not allow her to take life from him now. Pestilence then commands the earth that held him for nearly a century and a half to receive him again, and he disappears beneath the ice. However this time, he falls hundreds of feet deep, leading to a labyrinth of caverns, and the ground closes up so that Alpha Flight cannot follow.
Snowbird, still in the Sasquatch form digs at the ice, until Shaman releases her, calming the rage of the Great Beast possessing her. Thompson races to his wife’s side, swearing to her that they will find their baby. Elizabeth joins her father’s side and tells him that she loves him, to which he simply replies that he is happy for it. Box wonders if Shaman truly is, recalling that Michael said in becoming the Talisman it would cost him his humanity, the ability to feel for mere mortals, and his heart. Heather asks Twoyoungmen if there is any way they can follow Pestilence, to which Aurora adds ‘and save the child’ and Jean-Paul declares he will race like the wind to wherever he is sent.
But Judd realizes that Pestilence has masked himself too well, by hiding his evil amidst the constant death and decay of the earth. 'for now Puck’ says Twoyoungmen before he informs everyone that he will put spirit agents on Pestilence’s trail, but that they may have to wait until he shows himself again, however Twoyoungmen declares that he will not rest until Pestilence’s evil is rooted out. ‘By destroying Pestilence, or saving my child?’ asks Snowbird bluntly. Twoyoungmen merely says ‘Whatever is required’.
Hours later, on the shores of Tamarind Island, Byrrah surfaces from the waters, ready to prove the old proverb ‘there’s no rest for the weary’ for he has arrived to ask Alpha Flight’s aid in helping the Sub-Mariner free their former teammate Marrina from near death!


[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>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Invasion of Atlantis
Desperately needing a rest after the tragic battle with Pestilence, Canada’s premiere super heroes, Alpha Flight, return to their home on Tamarind Island. From within the teams Omni-Jet, sensors indicate an intruder on the shore of the Island. Heather “Vindicator” Hudson, team leader, orders mutant twins Northstar and Aurora to take the diminutive Puck down to the shore and confront the intruder directly, while the others land behind the house and block and escape path the intruder may take.
The twins fly Puck out of the plane and towards the shore, where before he even reaches the ground, Eugene Judd drops from their grasp declaring as he falls that whomever their guest is he has spotted them now. As Judd somersaults towards the blue-skinned Atlantean, he declares that introductions are in order. The Atlantean introduces himself as Byrrah, royal cousin to Namor, the rightful ruler of Atlantis, and proclaims that his lord has commanded him to seek Alpha Flight’s aid.
Judd declares that the Sub-Mariner has aided Alpha Flight in the past, and that of course they will return the favor. Judd guesses Byrrah must have swum a long way to get to Tamarind Island and starts to help him to his feet, when Byrrah shoves Judd back, exclaiming that he is an Atlantean nobleman and needs ‘no assistance from a dwarf’. Just then Heather flies down and tells Byrrah to be at ease, reminding him he is a guest and a supplicant. Byrrah addresses Heather as ‘woman’ and asks her in what capacity she addresses him. Heather declares that she is Vindicator, leader of Alpha Flight. Byrrah says that he thought Guardian was leader, and Heather informs him that Guardian is dead. ‘About the Sub-Mariner’ says Judd.
Soon, in the meeting room of Mansion Alpha, Byrrah is explaining the current predicament to everyone. He declares that after Atlantis ousted Namor from the throne, the barbarian Attuma took over, and took hostage Namor’s beloved against the day of his enemy’s return. The flighty Aurora asks who “Namor’s beloved” is and Byrrah replies that she is a monstrous-looking green-skinned female. The handsome Jean-Paul “Northstar” Beaubier exclaims that it must be Marrina, to which the beautiful goddess Snowbird declares that must be where their former teammate disappeared to, adding that they must rescue her.
Snowbirds husband, the mortal Doug Thompson stands up and asks Narya if she has gone mad, reminding her that they have just come from losing the life-force of their newborn son to the horror known as Pestilence. Thompson tells Snowbird that as soon as she has rested they have to go and rescue him. ‘Must we, Douglas?’ asks Narya calmly, before reminding him that her marriage to him and the birth of ‘that child’ was her undoing! She declares that by binding herself to mortality she has become mortal and has been rejected by the gods in Paradise. She believes that by forswearing her mistakes she will again be welcomed in Paradise.
Mistakes? Is that all our son and I are to you?  shouts Doug as he starts to leave the room. Snowbird starts to say I did not mean… when Doug cuts her off, storming out of the room he says Bloody blazes you didn’t! and declaring that it has become crystal clear to him that his wife belongs with her fellow freaks of Alpha Flight, or somewhere off in the clouds with the Gods, not married to a mere mortal such as himself. He adds that as Snowbird is not human he cannot expect her to know what motherly love means, before declaring that he is a father and will not rest until he has saved his son.
Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen, formerly “Shaman” and now the new Talisman declares that he fears Pestilence may find his parents before they find him. Judd asks Twoyoungmen if that is a premonition or a prophecy before Heather tells Byrrah that he is presenting Alpha Flight with a problem. She declares that Atlantis, like Canada, is a sovereign nation and the Atlantean people have forced the Sub-Mariner to give up his throne and chosen Attuma as their new ruler. Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, recently stripped of her Talisman powers and succeeded by her father watches her former leader as Heather declares that any assault on Atlantis to free Marrina by Alpha Flight is going to be regarded as an act of war!
Northstar suggests that they act on their own, not as agents of Canada, but Alpha Flight’s ally Madison Jeffries suggests that Atlantis and the world will not see it that way. Roger Bochs proposes that Marrina may not want their help, reminding everyone that she never returned to Alpha Flight. Puck informs everyone that Marrina couldn’t return, for personal reasons. Heather asks Judd, who was present when Marrina ran away if he can tell them about it. Judd reminds everyone that Marrina loved Prince Namor, but then the evil Master of the World exposed her to her true alien mate and unleashed a monstrous side of Marrina’s personality.
Judd declares that in horror and shame, Marrina fled from both Namor and her friends. Heather recalls that Marrina was still consumed by that shame when Alpha recently saw her, but as Judd points out, she is still an Alphan when it comes down to it. Heather agrees, which is why they must help her, but she reminds everyone that Alpha Flight is exhausted and she does not want to trigger an international incident.
Just then, computer monitors turn on and Alpha Flight see before them their government liaison, Gary Cody, who tells Heather that she will not trigger an international incident, as Attuma is the rightful ruler of Atlantis now, and Alpha Flight is expressly prohibited from involving Canada in any war. Alpha Flight is all astonished to see Cody before them and Jean-Paul asks if it is Heather’s doing. Judd is perplexed that Cody monitored their meeting and Jeffries suggests that he is a spy. Roger realizes that the mansion must be bugged and Gary Cody confirms that certain devices were installed when Alpha’s headquarters were remodeled to facilitate electronic surveillance.
Gary informs everyone that since Ottawa pay Alpha Flight’s bills, they have ordered him to keep tabs on Alpha, adding that the eavesdropping was not intrusive. Heather asks Gary if the deal was that there would be no strings attached when Alpha Flight accepted the government funding. Well, yes, but … says Gary, when Heather uses the electromagnetic powers of her battle suit to blast the surveillance screens to bits as she tells Gary that he can tell the Prime Minister and parliament to keep their noses out of Alpha Flight’s business, or the deal is off! Roger asks what that means and as Heather strides out of the room with Twoyoungmen at her side she informs everyone that they go rescue Marrina and pay the piper later. As Jean-Paul looks somewhat shocked at what Heather just did, Jeffries asks him if he still wants to sneer at her now.
Alpha Flight’s Omni-Jet takes less than an hour to bridge the 3,000 miles between the Pacific and Atlantic Seaboards … While inside the Omni-Jet, Heather tells Byrrah that she thinks it is time he divulges the secret undersea position of Atlantis. Eating a donut, Roger reveals that data gleaned from the Alphanex computer would place Atlantis just below them. Byrrah leans across the table and declares that he does not like the arrogance of which Roger boasts of fathoming a state secret. Cripple the Atlantean adds. Jean-Paul tells Byrrah to curb his tongue, as Roger may be cripple, but he is their cripple.
Sipping a cup of coffee, Heather is shocked that Northstar is defending a teammate, and wonders if the sarcastic speedster is growing up. She is glad to hear it, as she knows she needs to count on him more than ever, because both Shaman, since he donned the powers of the Talisman and Snowbird are drawing further away from the rest of the team. Other than that, Heather realizes that Alpha Flight is exhausted after battling menace after menace for months and that Marrina’s peril merely affirms that death, danger and despair are every Alphans lot in life. For better or worse, I lead Alpha Flight! Heather tells herself.
Northstar tells Byrrah that he has come to aid Alpha Flight and suggests to him that he start treating them as allies – and equals, adding that as such he wishes to know two things. Where Atlantis is and how they will fight underwater when they arrive there. Byrrah declares very well and that he will give the crip – Mr. Bochs – the coordinates. Jeffries announces that he and Bochs have already taken care of question two, and declares that while he is getting ready the demonstration he thinks there is a question that nobody has asked yet.
Roger declares that Jeffries is referring to the background check he had Alphanex do on Byrrah, which revealed him to have been at one time the Sub-Mariner’s mortal enemy! Twoyoungmen orders his teammates to be on guard and as everyone turns to face Byrrah, Aurora asks if they have been tricked. Byrrah tells the Alphan’s that he will tolerate their slander only because he has sworn himself to bring Alpha to his cousin. Heather asks him why he would aid a man he once tried to dethrone, Byrrah replies that though Namor is a terrible Prince, Atlantean blood still flows in his veins, whereas Attuma has no legitimate claim to kingship.
Jeffries gets the Alphans’ attention when he declares that he doesn’t know anything about politics but that by working from Bochs’ designs he can certainly transmute machinery into dandy deep-sea pressure suits! Alpha Flight all put on the suit designed for their form, but Snowbird declares that as she can assume the form of any under sea creature she does not need such an apparatus. Aurora declares that she wishes she didn’t need one either, as it is so unstylish! Heather reveals that a mask is all she will need as her electro-fields will deflect and pressure. Roger informs everyone that the masks will supply air, by osmosis, taking pure oxygen from the water. He adds that he would need one too, if he were going into battle as a pudgy paraplegic, but of course he is not, and at that moment he phases into the Box armor, informing everyone that the Bochs robot does not breathe, before asking Alpha Flight if they are ready for the invasion!
Alpha Flight may be ready, but it is Atlantis that fires the first shot, as subsurface-to-surface missiles, which are virtually undetectable and very deadly fire at the Omnijet, causing it to fall into the ocean. However as Alpha Flight land safely on a metal raft thanks to the transmuting powers of Madison Jeffries, they survive. Twoyoungmen alerts Alpha Flight to an attacking horde of Atlanteans, which his water spirits sensed. Attuma’s barbarians are also among the attackers, who surround the life raft consisting of Snowbird in a polar bear form, Twoyoungmen, Judd, Jeffries and Byrrah, while Heather, the twins and Box take to the air.
Heather orders Alpha Flight not to hold back, as Atlantis attacked first, however Judd suggests that one could argue that the Atlanteans were merely defending their realm from invasion. Aurora exclaims that they are terrorists and hold Marrina hostage. Box asks Aurora if that is not the same label that Canada gave her brother, to which Jean-Paul declares that he is not ashamed of his past. Box tells Jean-Paul that he is not suggesting he should be, as he fought for a cause that he believed in, ‘even if you were misguided’ he adds.
Suddenly some kind of vessel is thrown up from the ocean, knocking over the raft and sending Snowbird, Judd, Twoyoungmen, Jeffries and Byrrah into the water. Aurora declares that it may be the very craft that brought down their ship but wonders what force could have cut it in half and sent it flying up from the depths. Heather declares that whatever the cause the vessel struck the remains of their ship and sent their teammates into the ocean.
All four heroes dive into the water and Heather declares that Jeffries was not wearing a deep-sea suit. Box declares that the worst of it is that Madison once told him he cannot swim, and they need to find him before he drowns. Aurora sees the Alphans and alerts her teammates. Seeing an Albino whale amongst the group, Northstar declares that it must be his friend Snowbird, and that she and Byrrah are keeping the Atlanteans at bay while Twoyoungmen is using his powers to send Jeffries out of the water.
Twoyoungmen tells Jeffries that the air spirits will send him to the surface where everyone else will join him once they have rescued Marrina. Reaching the surface, Jeffries swims over to a part of the life raft and asks himself why he had to put himself in a situation where Alpha Flight had to rescue him, why didn’t I make a deep-sea suit for myself? He knows the reason why, but after fighting beside Alpha against some of their most formidable enemies how could he tell them that he was afraid of water?
This is ridiculous! cries Heather Two of my Alphans can’t swim? Judd replies that it is his only shortcoming – you’ll pardon the pun eh? The diminutive Alphan thinks that if he can flail around in the water he can “flounder” in the direction of the fight. Byrrah tells Judd that by the time he reaches the battle, it will be over. Northstar tells Byrrah as he sweeps through a horde of the enemy to let history to reflect that it was Alpha Flight who saved him despite the overwhelming odds.
Vindicator tells Northstar not to get cocky and not to forget that Alpha Flight is out of their element while the Atlanteans are in it. Not that it seems to matter, Vindicator,declares Box who boasts that on land or beneath the sea, Alpha Flight is simply the best, even with water resistance slowing them down. And zee brightest, ne c’est pas? says Aurora as she shines brightly, blinding several of the enemy.
As Judd “flounders” around in the water, he is astonished at the changes that have taken place within Alpha Flight recently, namely Heather taking a fractured group as willing to fight among themselves as they would face the enemy, and forged them into a family. How I love her! he exclaims, but knows that it is still to soon after the death of her husband, Guardian, for her to want to return any love. Judd realizes that the Atlanteans can see him flailing around and are starting to close in.
Judd approaches Narya in her whale form and suggests that he hitch a ride on “snow-whale”. Die dwarf, cries an Atlantean who pokes a spear at Judd when he lands on Snowbird. Judd declares that if his size is going to make him the butt of Atlantean jokes, then it is only fair that he repays the Atlantean with the butt of his own spear, and does so. Judd tells the Atlantean to consider himself lucky that he didn’t ask him if you got the point. Resting on Narya he is happy that he is no longer floating helplessly.
Puck suggests to Snowbird that he be a sub-sea knight and she his charger and that together they make a attack into the midst of their enemy. Snowbird doesn’t see any reason not to, and hopes that perhaps in battle, death will claim her and release her from the mortal coil she now resides in.  Snowbird charges forward in the form of the giant whale, mouth open wide as if she is going to swallow everyone in her path, Atlanteans and barbarians turn and flee in terror.
Judd realizes that now that she is mortal, Snowbird can pass beyond the borders of Canada without having to worry about possible death, she can now also assume the form of any creature, whether it is indigenous to the Arctic or not. However Judd knows that the loss of Snowbird’s immortality and her son has left her with a desperate death wish, for she believes that by dying she can rejoin the gods. Judd hopes that her does not perish with her.
Vindicator announces that the first fleet of Atlanteans has turned and fled, but Twoyoungmen points out that more warriors arise from the depths. Heather is about to say that they had to anticipate that, but suddenly realizes that the approaching figures are not troops or Attuma’s fleet, but the Sub-Mariner and the Avengers!
Hrrmph! What are they doing here? asks Northstar crossing his arms. Zee same thing we are! Oui, Madame Wasp? sks Aurora. Wasp agrees and reveals that Namor told the Avengers he also sought Alpha Flight’s aid. Captain Marvel asks Wasp if this then makes the incident an international assault on Atlantis. Box introduces himself to Hercules and in reply to Captain Marvel’s comment, Heather exclaims that she ‘hopes not’ as they are only here to free a hostage. Captain America shakes Heather’s hand and calling her Guardian, declares that the Avenger’s mission. Twoyoungmen asks the handsome Black Knight who he is, and introducing himself Black Knight asks the same question. Byrrah swims up to Namor and tells him that he has done as requested, to which Namor forgives his cousin for his past crimes. Judd tells Namor it is good to see him again, and the feeling is mutual from the Sub-Mariner.
Heather tells Captain America that she is actually Vindicator, as Guardian was her late husband. Captain America expresses his sympathies, but Heather declares that she has gotten over it – almost. Heather realizes that it must have been Captain America who destroyed the Atlantean sub that shot down Alpha Flight’s Omni-Jet, to which Cap tells her that she has Namor and Hercules to thank for that, who in fact took it upon themselves as a point of honor.
Heather asks Captain America now that they have joined forces what they are to do next. Aurora tells herself that there is such an aura of assertiveness about Captain America, while her brother Northstar wonders why Vindicator yields command easily to this aged Avengers? Cap suggests that they save Marrina and get out, to which Byrrah asks what? And not usurp the usurper? Namor tells his cousin that that is correct, and reveals that he has fought hard about it since word was brought to him that Attuma now ruled Atlantis. Namor boasts that in former times his pride would have demanded that he take back that which was his. However he admits that when he ruled Atlantis he ruled neither wisely nor well, and in the end Atlantis cast him out.
Namor declares that pride would compel him to force himself upon his people, but they have since chosen a barbarian over him. Solemnly, and with the attention of all the Avengers and Alpha Flight, Namor declares that all he demands from Atlantis and Attuma now is that the free his beloved Marrina, whom he thought was lost forever, so he can make her his bride. Captain America tells Namor that they will help him, and Vindicator declares that international law sanctions the rescue of hostages.
Byrrah recalls how he once despised his hybrid cousin, but now that he has forsworn both kingdom and his pride, Byrrah does not think he has ever seen a more noble man, and decides that he must convince Namor to reclaim the throne. Captain America asks Captain Marvel, who travels at the speed of light, to fly ahead and scout out to let them know what danger awaits. Whatever they might be, Alpha Flight is ready declares Heather, and the Wasp boasts that the Avengers are ready too.
However, the foe that the two super teams go forth to confront is formidable, for an entire kingdom stands massed against them. Alpha Flight and the Avengers reach the city of Atlantis and prepare to engage the enemy in battle. Still riding on the back of Snowbird, Judd points out that if Attuma s a despot, his subjects seem willing to follow him. Captain America informs Judd that Attuma has promised to re-establish Atlantis’ lost power, adding that he once fought another such dictator who rallied a nation with such promises and nearly destroyed the world.
Captain Marvel declares that she will try and find Marrina and asks what she looks like. Green! exclaims Box as Hercules declares he thinks he can see her below. Indeed, Marrina is below the battleground, trapped within an orb. Marrina exclaims that she wished Namor would not risk his life for her as Attuma bellows that he knew Namor would, adding that as he arrives with his surface-dweller allies he proves to the Atlantean people where his true allegiance lies.
Vindicator tells Namor to go to Marrina, declaring that everyone else will run interference and hold off Attuma’s armies for as long as they can. Namor streaks through the water telling Attuma that while he has usurped his throne, he will not malign his motives. As Namor and Attuma engage in physical combat, Attuma tells Namor that his assault on Atlantis is proof enough that his loyalties lie above the water. Northstar swims over to the orb where Marrina is held captive and freeing her from it he tells her that it is good to see her again, though he wishes it were under more auspicious circumstances.
Namor tells Jean-Paul to take his beloved to the surface, as Attuma tells Namor that more than anything it was his decision to make that monster his queen that turned Atlantis against him and made them willing to serve. Marrina clings to Jean-Paul ands exclaims that she must stop this as she is not worth it.
Attuma’s hordes begin to surround Namor, Marrina and Northstar as Attuma tells Namor he has shown the extent of his treason and now Atlantis will witness his death! Marrina tells Namor not to sacrifice himself for her as she is not worth it. Namor is surprised to see her still here, telling her that if she had fled he could have followed.
Heather looks over and realizes that since Marrina did not flee, she, Jean-Paul and Namor are encircled. Captain America declares that success rests on snatching Marrina from her captors and retreating, for the longer they stay the greater the chances of sparking an international incident are. Alpha Flight and the Avengers move in towards Northstar, Marrina and Namor as Cap declares that diplomacy demands they get out, however as Aurora points out, duty says they save their teammates. No contest as far as I can see declares Captain Marvel.
Both teams fight valiantly, but no matter how mighty the super teams of both Canada and the United States may be, not even they can withstand the assembled might of Atlantis, and eventually all the heroes are surrounded! Attuma shouts that he has long maintained that he is a fool to show mercy to a defeated foe and orders his barbarians to slay the heroes on his command!


[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>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Love
Near Atlantis, where after a battle, Alpha Flight and the Avengers helped Namor the Sub-Mariner rescue his beloved Marrina from the warlord Attuma. Now though, Marrina has fled. Namor calls to Marrina as he swims through the ocean, followed by Alpha Flight. Jean-Paul “Northstar” Beaubier is surprised to hear that the water carries the Sub-Mariner’s calls so that it resounds as loud as a thunderclap. Aurora reminds everyone that Namor is searching for Marrina, who happens to be their teammate also. Heather McNeil Hudson, a.k.a. Alpha Flight’s leader Vindicator swims alongside the Beaubier twins, recalling that Alpha Flight and the Avengers risked sparking an international incident by invading Atlantis to help free Marrina from Attuma, only for Marrina to flee in shame, leaving Namor hysterical and Alpha out of their element!
Namor swims off ahead of Alpha Flight, Vindicator thinking he must have forgotten about them. She wonders if they should continue to follow him, or even if they can, as he swims so fast it is almost impossible to keep up with him. She chooses her course of action and sends Northstar, the team speedster to keep following the Sub-Mariner, while she figures out what to do next. Heather reminds herself that she inherited the mantle of leadership from her late husband, Guardian, and remembers him also agonizing over the dangers he led Alpha Flight into. She looks back to her team – Snowbird, Aurora, Shaman, Puck, Box and of course Northstar – her friends, and family. ‘What right did I have to heed Byrrah when he begged us to aid Prince Namor?’ she wonders…before remembering the events that occurred so recently.
(Flashbacks – Alpha Flight (first series) #39, Avengers (first series) #272)
Byrrah came to Alpha Flight informing them that Attuma has seized both Atlantis and their teammate Marrina. Alpha Flight knew invading Atlantis meant defying their own government and risking an international incident, but Marrina had been an Alphan, just as the Sub-Mariner had been an Avenger, and if aiding a teammate was good enough for the American Avengers, Canada would just have to understand.
For a while, things looked bad, as the Atlanteans supported their tyrant, and had the super heroes come to conquer Atlantis, they would no doubt not have survived, but Namor was content with rescuing Marrina. When the two teams saved her, they fled while Attuma called them cowards all the way. Was Marrina grateful for her rescue? No. She fled, declaring that it would have been better that they let Attuma slay her than for them to see her like this. The Sub-Mariner informed Captain Marvel that he would not be returning to the Avengers, for he had to save Marrina.
(Present)
Saving Marrina defined Alpha Flight’s mission too, and looking at her motley crew, Heather tells herself to get ready to lead them into another peril, when suddenly, Box cries out in pain. Heather asks him if he is all right, and he informs her that he should be, but that in a moment of panic during the battle with Attuma, he phased out of his armor, and drowning, he tried to surface, impossible given the depth they were at. So raising rapidly the nitrogen in his lungs expanded and burst, meaning he incurred a bad case of what is called the “bends”. Between that and the water pressure, he would have died if he did not phase back into his armor.
Roger declares that apart from twinges of psychosomatic pain he is okay as long as he remains in the robot armor. Aurora swims over to Roger and grabbing his arm declares ‘I cannot love a machine!’ Roger asks her if that is all she can think about, and realizing that it is he tells her not to worry as he will find a way to get back to manhood. Heather finds Aurora and Roger a surprising combination, but none of her business. She turns to the diminutive Eugene “Puck” Judd, who is riding on the back of a white whale, who of course happens to be Alpha Flight’s resident goddess, Snowbird. Heather asks him if he is ready, and Judd reminds her that she is the leader and all she needs to do is give the word and Snowbird – ‘er, Snow-whale’ – and he shall follow.
Michael Twoyoungmen a.k.a. Shaman or the new Talisman announces that the eighth Alphan has arrived, and motions towards Madison Jeffries approaching in some device he has made. Aurora recalls that they left him floating on the surface amidst the remains of their Omnijet. Jeffries declares that he got tired of sitting on the debris of their jet, so transmuted what was left into the nifty mini submarine he is in now. He adds that while normally he gets his designs by merging minds with Roger, but that some of his genius must have rubbed off onto him. As the Alphans gather around Jeffries, he tells Heather that he has a sonar fix on Northstar, Marrina, the Sub-Mariner…and something else! ‘You’re full of surprises’ Heather tells Madison.
Far ahead, Northstar realizes that he moves through water only slightly slower than he moves through the air, adding that with the deep-sea suit Jeffries designed providing oxygen and compensating for the crushing pressures, he could feel well at peace in the solitude of the sea. However, Jean-Paul knows that even here, peace is shattered by passion. The former Olympic skier has seen the turmoil love can wreak on the surface, and just as he was, his sister is now a slave to love, and in return she has enslaved others- Walter Langkowski, Roger Bochs – and of course himself, in a fraternal way. Jean-Paul wonders if Aurora’s longing for love is merely a reaction to the loathing of her Jeanne-Marie persona. Jean-Paul still loves his sister, and would sacrifice everything for her sake, even as the Sub-Mariner threw away crown and kingdom for Marrina.
Speaking of the Sub-Mariner, Jean-Paul sees him ahead, the proud prince reduced to near panic by his raging passion, so blinded by love that he does not notice Jean-Paul when the speedster swims up beside him. However Jean-Paul does not take lightly to being ignored, and swims rings around him – still without acknowledgment, until Jean-Paul disrupts the water around Namor and swims ahead of him, blocking his path.
Namor grabs Jean-Paul by the shoulders and asks him if he is insane, coming between him and his quest. Shocked, Northstar declares that he merely sought to attract his attention and to prove that he is every bit as swift as him. ‘You would play games?’ asks Namor ‘Now, when my love’s life may be at stake?’ He shoves Northstar backwards and tells him that his childish one-upmanship reminds him of the Namor he once was, but this Namor has to put aside pride to attain a greater prize – love.
Northstar realizes that Namor means what he is talking about, that he has renounced all – his power and people – for Marrina. Vindicator and the rest of Alpha Flight soon arrive behind the shocked Northstar, who reminds himself that he keeps saying he would do as much for his sister as Namor is doing for Marrina…but would he really? Heather congratulates the thoughtful Jean-Paul on finding Namor, but Twoyoungmen asks if he has found Marrina. ‘More importantly’ says Jeffries ‘Has that other entity whose lifesigns I’m detecting on my sonar scopes found them both?’
Several leagues ahead…Marrina swims swiftly through the ocean depths, still wishing that she died before Namor came to her rescue, perhaps even more that he never loved her and asked her to be his queen. Marrina does think the honor was great, but all she ever brought him was everlasting sorrow and shame. Marrina tells herself she was a fool to think that their love would ever be, as she is not a human, nor is she Atlantean…not of this planet at all.
Marrina thinks back to her mysterious origins, which revealed her to be an extraterrestrial dispatched eons ago to Earth along with countless others of her kind. Marrina knows that the plan of her race – the Plodex – was to hatch, adapt and survive…by overwhelming whatever life forms already inhabited the planet! However the incubator ship that was carrying Marrina’s egg and the hundreds of other eggs crashed and ejected the eggs too soon – during Earth’s great Ice Age! Most of the eggs were destroyed, but somehow Marrina’s lay dormant beneath the sea for untold centuries, until it was found by a human fisherman. At the moment of hatching, Marrina adapted to both surface and subsea environments. Marrina thought she was alone, the only one of her kind, until the evil Master, who gained both power and immortality from the crippled Plodex ship, introduced her to the hatchling intended to have been…Marrina’s mate!
Marrina remembers that she and her mate clawed at each other, made mad at what she presumed to be bloodlust. However in the months since Namor and Puck rescued her from the Master, she has come to suspect that what transpired during the encounter with her mate was more akin to lust of another, more loathsome kind! Marrina looks over her own body as bumps begin to appear all over it and horrified, she recalls that the Plodex had intended for the eggs to survive, over eons and under the most adverse conditions. A tiny embryo can be made out in one of the bumps across Marrina’s body and she thinks what better way to insure survival of the eggs than to make sure the hatchlings would be compelled to breed uncontrollably upon exposure to each other.
Marrina realizes that the pain, which has wracked her for many months and her reversion to a more monstrous appearance, not to mention the pulsating growths thrusting from her flesh can mean only one thing – ‘I am pregnant!’ Marrina is mortified that she is about to deliver not one, but hundreds of alien offspring whose, very instinct will drive them towards the conquest of the Earth. Marrina loves the Sub-Mariner and the people of the planet who took her in and reared her in a caring environment unknown to the Plodex, therefore she has no wish to live as the agent of destruction of everything she loves.
Namor has reached his beloved, and in the instant he calls her name, Marrina devises a desperate plan and as Namor wraps his arms around Marrina, she pulls away, informing him that he must destroy her. Marrina quickly informs Namor of her shame, and when she finishes, Namor asks her if she though her impregnation by an alien monstrosity against her will would cause him to reject her. Marrina reminds Namor that his Atlanteans would never have accepted a creature such as she as their queen. Namor declares that the same Atlantis would accept a tyrant on its throne, and therefore he is done with such hypocrisy.
Namor tells Marrina that he loves her and will attend to her throughout the fearsome birth. Alpha Flight swims onto the scene and Heather announces that they heard Marrina’s tale and that the “children” about to be born will be the offspring of monsters. Talisman proclaims that their very existence will imperil the Earth. Marrina is shocked to see her former teammates, and stands by her lovers side as Namor tells the Alphans that they overlook the obvious – that Marrina was also the offspring of alien conquerors, yet adapted in a loving environment. Namor defiantly adds that since it is too late to abort the birth, if it was even possible, he means to marry Marrina and that together they shall raise her hatchlings in a loving environment, as their own.
Marrina starts to tell Namor that what he suggests is madness, until Judd exclaims that it sounds good to him, as the creatures should take on the characteristics of their “parents”. Twoyoungmen declares that with role models like Namor and Marrina, their progeny could have much to offer man – or they could be more powerful than humanity and in time, seek to supplant them, declares Heather. Jean-Paul reminds Heather that the same argument has often been advanced against mutants such as Aurora and himself. Unconvinced, Vindicator exclaims that the Plodex are killers who conquer worlds by saturating them with their young who adapt and then take over.
Heather remarks that she understands Marrina’s case was different, that loving parents might curb the hatchlings’ aggressive tendencies, ‘but for Earth’s sake, stop and think – what if you’re all wrong?’ she says raising her voice as Namor swims in front of the stricken Marrina to protect her. Judd asks Heather if what she is suggesting is that they slay Marrina’s children – or Marrina herself so that the birth might be stopped. ‘First you must bypass Namor’s corpse, woman!’ Namor says to Heather, until Marrina swims forward and exclaims that she doesn’t want any of them to die fighting over her, and that Vindicator is right – ‘I must be destroyed!’
Aurora is shocked and declares that she never thought an Alphan could do such a thing – to which Jeffries tells her none of them may get a chance, as his sonar readings in the mini submarine have jumped off the scope – meaning something is coming, something big! Looking at what lies behind Namor and Marrina, Jeffries and the rest of Alpha Flight look on in horror as Jeffries says that if killing Marrina or her children was to be put into vote, he would have to say 'daddy holds a veto'’ and as Namor and Marrina turn to see what Alpha Flight are looking at, they see Marrina’s hideous mate!
‘Zen eet did not perish along with zee Master!’ exclaims Aurora, her accent thickening. Box reminds everyone that the Plodex creature was genetically bred to survive and conquer and he suggests that maybe once hatched, the creature cannot be killed. Vindicator announces that that is all the more reason Marrina’s offspring must not be allowed to be born.
The hideous, deformed alien creature, like a giant glob of muck with many tentacles, a main head with huge gaping teeth and several smaller heads, all the same sickly green color, swims closer to Marrina. Namor curses everyone, proclaiming that he will not allow his chosen bride to be harmed by her teammates or the ‘creature from the stars’. Marrina fears that it has come to harm her, and Namor discovers first hand that the creature can shock at will!
Vindicator realizes that survival of the fittest compels the creature to protect Marrina and her offspring from harm, and declares that the very possibility of hundreds of horrors like it suddenly hatching forth upon the planet is the very reason Marrina must be destroyed. Heather declares that the future of the Earth imposes a duty upon Alpha Flight, that they do what they must and worry about the morality of it in the morning.
Marrina tells herself that Heather is right, even if it is about her destruction she is right about, for Marrina has no wish that she or her children should become like her mate and endanger the Earth. However, Marrina cannot resist the way she is strangely drawn towards the Plodex.
Aurora calls to her former teammate as she swims towards the Plodex and Namor realizes that Marrina is seeking the creature’s protection. Vindicator declares that despite Marrina’s adaptations and all her eons on Earth, when push comes to shove, she cannot override her genetic programming. A mass of bubbles spread around Marrina and the Plodex as they get closer and Box asks if Marrina cannot resist her genes, how can they be sure that her children wont one day revert to the same?
Vindicator exclaims that they cannot know, and tells the Alphans that they have their orders! Alpha’s leader is armed ready with her electromagnetic powers and lets the power flow from her battle suit in a steady stream at the hideous Plodex. Namor calls out to her ‘No!’ and tries to block her way. Heather swims up to Namor and tells him to get out of the way, adding that she feels as bad enough about this without wanting to feel responsible for his death too. ‘Arrogant wench! It is the Avenging Son whom you address!’ Namor snaps back at her. He proclaims that others before her have tried to slay him, and failed!
Box tells Namor to think with his head, instead of his heart and suggests he take another look at Marrina’s mate, who is a composite of all the Earth creatures – human, Atlantean, mammal, fish, ‘you name it, that it’s slain in order to survive’. Namor tells the Alphans that their fear of mankind’s extinction has over ridden their reason, adding that he does not contest the fact that the monster is deserving of destruction – ‘but Marrina is your teammate!’ As Marrina swims amongst her mate’s tentacles, Namor tells the Alphans that if they love Marrina as he does then they should be looking for some way to help her rather than harm her.
Everyone watches the pain stricken amphibian as she swims by her mate and Namor exclaims that Marrina is trying to resist her mate, and as Vindicator and Box hold him back he begs them to heed their hearts. Heather tells him that they cannot take the chance. Namor manages to break free of Heather and Box’s grasp by using his physical might to toss them away.
Marrina watches Namor battle her fellow Alphans, for her sake so that she may survive – even though her survival may result in Earth’s doom. ‘Why? Isn't survival far more important…than love?’ she wonders to herself. Marrina tells herself that that was just the Plodex within her talking, the alien heritage that so horrified her when she first came face-to-face with her monstrous mate. She realizes that its genetic hold on her is strong – but so are her memories. She thinks back to her birth, and to the Smallwoods, whose hearts went out to her even though she was not of this Earth, and to every place she has gone since – the community she was raised in, Beta and Alpha Flight’s and to Namor – where she has accepted, and even loved.
Marrina swiftly turns and faces her alien mate and proclaims ‘I am no alien! I am Marrina – of Earth!’ Instinctively understanding her rejection, if not her words, Marrina’s hideous mate howls – and in that instant, something wonderful happens – Marrina swims away from the Plodex and her pulsating growths and monstrous appearance all fade away. ‘I am myself again!’ she exclaims to her friends. Box asks if she is not pregnant any more, to which Twoyoungmen declares he now begins to understand, for neither they nor Marrina herself had any experience of Plodex child-bearing and simply assumed that from her symptoms she was pregnant. Shaman continues and exclaims that Marrina was never pregnant, but merely in a state of “breeder receptivity”, genetically designed to attract a male of her species and complete the process of perpetuating the race.
Vindicator strikes the Plodex with a plasma blast and declares that by Marrina choosing humanity she stopped sending out biological signals that she was ready to mate. Snowbird in her whale form barges into the Plodex as Namor punches it and announces that the Plodex can no longer sense Marrina and would destroy her as well as everyone else. Box rips a tentacle off the beast and reminds Namor that he said ‘Only over our dead bodies’. Aurora exclaims that they should slay the foul creature, Northstar adding ‘For Marrina!’ Marrina watches and realizes that they all love her and would lay down their lives for her – but Namor most of all.
Vindicator uses her electromagnetic powers to send a powerful blast into the Plodex, while Jean-Paul, Aurora and Namor swim in tandem, creating a undersea vortex that literally rips the Plodex limb from limb. When all the heroes have finished doing their part, the creature that was bred to survive lives no longer. Aurora declares ‘zee monster’s gone!’ but Judd asks what would happen should another Plodex ever reach Earth – will Marrina suffer the same genetic changes? Twoyoungmen guesses that she will not, having utterly rejected her alien heritage. Box proclaims that if the Plodex do land on Earth, then Alpha Flight will stand by Marrina no matter what. Vindicator tells him that Marrina probably won’t need them, as the Plodex adapt to survive.
Namor finishes what Heather was saying by holding Marrina in his arms and declaring that by Marrina choosing humanity and love over bloodlust and conquest, thus she may have found the best way to survive on planet Earth! Judd smiles and tells Namor that it looks like Marrina is in good hands.
The Alphans follow Namor and Marrina as they swim away from the battleground as Namor asks the Alphans back to his kingdom. Jeffries is somewhat surprised by this and tells Namor that he thought Atlantis gave him ‘the boot’. Heather asks Jeffries to have a little diplomacy. Namor declares that it was an understandable mistake and informs everyone that he was referring to his new kingdom, centered around his undersea villa which he had built decades ago.
As the heroes approach the new kingdom, they sea a crowd of Atlanteans and Heather tells Namor that it would appear his homecoming has been anticipated. Judd asks if it is Attuma, to which Box mentions that it is the logical interference. ‘But not necessarily the right one’ says Namor. Jeffries is convinced that ‘those dudes’ are armed, Aurora is resigned to the fact that they must fight again, to which Marrina asks if there will ever be peace. Namor tells her that he will forge a safe haven beneath the sea or her, or die trying! Vindicator tells Namor that he has Alpha Flight’s help.
However as the heroes come closer to the approaching Atlanteans, an elder Atlantean cries ‘Long live Namor, sovereign of the sea’. Another rejoices that their prince has returned to them, and Byrrah asks ‘where are the doubters who thought him dead?’ Vindicator acknowledges the man who summoned Alpha Flight to Namor’s aid, and Byrrah declares that he also led these fellow disaffected Atlanteans to Namor’s villa, whilst he was fighting Attuma.
Namor tells them that they will all be welcome as his subjects in the new kingdom, called Deluvia which his beloved Marrina and himself shall build at the bottom of the sea. He asks Marrina if that is not so, to which the green-skinned woman replies ‘If your subjects will accept me!’ The unanimous cry is ‘Namor! Marrina! Deluvia!’ Namor tells Marrina that she has her answer.
Although these refugees from tyranny are all-too aware that Attuma’s Atlantis will spare no effort to challenge their right to exist beneath the sea, they nevertheless set their fears for the future aside long enough to rejoice in an event that seems to promise that their will be a long and lasting civilization, for it is founded not in tyranny, but in love.
Namor and Marrina are married in a formal ceremony attended by Alpha Flight, where they are pronounced husband and wife.


[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>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
It’s Not Easy Being Purple
Three o’clock in the morning, in the suburb of Etobicoke in Toronto, a time much too late for a thirteen year old girl who has school the next morning to have stayed out. However, as she sneaks into her home, it is only because in her condition she was afraid to come home. She sneaks past her mother’s room and in the bathroom she runs herself a bath, where once in the bath she begins to rub her skin furiously…for earlier that night, it suddenly turned…purple!
Suddenly, the young woman’s mother enters the room, and says ‘Kara, honey what on Earth are you doing taking a bath at this time of the –’ her sentence is cut off when she sees her now-purple daughter in the bath before her. Kara looks shamefully up at her mother, and asks her what is wrong with her, as she was just at the party, having fun, not drinking or doing drugs – or anything else she wasn’t supposed to – when suddenly, she turned purple!
Kara wraps herself in a towel and tells her mother that she got scared and not knowing what to do, ran home, hoping that she would get there before anyone saw her – ‘But it wont come off!’ Melanie Killgrave hugs her daughter and ads she sits on the edge of the bed asks her if she is sick, or if she has AIDS and if she is going to die. Melanie tells Kara that she isn't sick, nor is it her fault, but that what happened is what she has always feared would happen…. And as a tearful Kara glances at a photo of Olympic Skier, Jean-Paul Beaubier taped to her mirror, Melanie tells her that it is time she told her about her father!
Meanwhile, at a place called Tamarind Island, which is just a dot off the coast of British Columbia, in the straits of San Juan De Fuca, is Tamarind Island, the headquarters and home to Canada’s premiere super hero team – Alpha Flight! Sitting around the meeting table is: team leader Heather McNeil Hudson a.k.a. Vindicator; Alpha Flight’s ally Madison Jeffries; Roger Bochs inside the Box armor; mutant twins Aurora and Jean-Paul Beaubier also know as the strikingly handsome Northstar. Next to the twins are the ancient Eugene Milton “Puck” Judd and the beautiful goddess Narya, whose codename is Snowbird; followed by former Alpha Flight member Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, a young woman recently known as the phenomenally powerful Talisman. The new Talisman however is her father, detached from the team, Dr. Michael “Shaman” Twoyoungmen leans against a wall.
Heather tells the team that she knows they are all exhausted after the battle with Pestilence and the Atlantis affair, but that there is one important order of business they must address before they rest. ‘What now, Vindicator?’ Aurora whines as her brother reminds Heather that some of them have lives outside of Alpha Flight. ‘Without Heather, have I any life at all?’ Judd asks himself as Snowbird exclaims that unless this concerns rescuing her baby from Pestilence, she probably isn't very interested in whatever it is. Elizabeth looks at Heather, her former baby sitter and wonders why she is even here, while as Talisman she belonged, but she abused her power and lost it to her father!
Heather stands up from her seat and wonders if exhaustion is all it takes to undo the glue that holds Alpha Flight together. Heather reminds everyone that with Marrina’s marriage to the Sub-Mariner, they are short one member of Alpha Flight, and would like to propose a replacement in Madison Jeffries. Madison is surprised at this and declares that he is honored before asking Heather if she is sure, as he is nothing more than a tinkerer. Box reminds his best friend that he is actually a transmutator who can make metal and machinery do his bidding, adding that he has used his power to aid Alpha Flight many times before, not to mention building the Box armor.
Standing up, Bochs tells Jeffries that he has to help him get out of the armor, so he can touch Aurora without giving her goose bumps again! Bochs proclaims that he knows that is a selfish reason for his nomination, and declares that he is also doing it because he is his friend. Jeffries tells Bochs that he hopes they will always be friends. When the men have finished their banter, Heather opens the floor to discussion. Twoyoungmen tells the Alphans to do as they will. Elizabeth glances up at her father and realizes that the same power that almost led her to doom Alpha Flight is destroying her father, for when he assumed the power of the Talisman he may have saved Elizabeth from her humanity, at the cost of his own.
Aurora exclaims that she votes ‘oui’ as long as she gets to design Madison’s costume. Northstar turns to his sister and says ‘something impossibly form fitting no doubt’. Aurora looks at her brother and asks him since when does hi object to having attractively dressed men around? Heather tells the twins to knock it off before asking all for those in favor of having Jeffries join the team to say “aye”, to which everybody does – except Shaman. Heather notices this and wonders what has becoming the Talisman done to him.
Jeffries declares that he is not very good at speeches and so would rather thank them all by getting to work on getting Bochs’ out of the armor. ‘The sooner, the better’ Bochs says to Aurora, and she agrees. Northstar, disgusted with his sister stands up and declares that now the business is done he intends to take a leave of absence. ‘To do what, Northstar?’ Aurora asks, the reply being that Jean-Paul reminds everyone he was an internationally acclaimed ski champion before he joined Alpha Flight, and has now been invited to return to that career.
Thinking to himself, this return to his former career also spares him the pain of witnessing his sister lust after Bochs, a legless cripple, should he ever be restored to manhood again. Aurora is somewhat shocked by her brothers’ announcement and asks him if he is joking, reminding him that he knows his powers of speed and flight prevent him from competing fairly. Taken aback by this accusation, Jean-Paul exclaims that he would never use his power to cheat and is shocked that the implication comes from his sister. He quickly declares that it is none of their business, but he is skiing in exhibition meets only.
Turning from the room, Jean-Paul asks why he shouldn’t hesitate to employ his gifts to win, as every athlete he knows does! Heather calls to Northstar and reminds him that “gifts” such as his come with certain responsibilities. Bitterly, Northstar says ‘Yes, first and foremost – to myself!’
One week later, at the world famous Banff Springs Hotel, Kara Killgrave stands before a mirror, examining her new hairstyle she thinks that because she has done herself up so punk that no one will wonder why she is purple, that they will just think it is the latest craze! ‘Madonna, eat your heart out!’ Kara says as she walks out the room, before adding ‘Sure, like she’d ever be jealous of a freak like me!’ Kara declares that she is not going to let people ruin her fun, not after she stole her mothers’ credit cards so she could afford to run away!
Outside Kara’s chalet, the slopes beckon to the purple-hued young lady, where at the gate, is Jean-Paul Beaubier! A crowd awaits the handsome young super hero, people saying things like ‘He’s the reason I came to this meet!’ and ‘Me too, he hasn’t skied in years!’ Someone asks why he ever retired, a question Jean-Paul has asked himself countless times, and as he skies down the mighty slope he is always confronted with the same answer – ‘I could not continue to compete. It would not have been fair’.
Northstar thinks back to his past…where he was an orphan, driven to prove himself and thus became a champion skier before the age of thirteen. Then, at puberty, his super speed miraculously manifested itself and Jean-Paul Martin became unbeatable! But Jean-Paul did not ask for his powers, nor did he want them, and in skiing, striving was everything. Then winning came effortlessly to him – the challenge was gone! So angry and embittered, Jean-Paul foreswore the sport he loved and enrolled in college, only to become embroiled in the radical politics of the Quebec Nationalist Movement.
Then, under the influence of Raymonde Belmonde, a friend, father…and more…to Jean-Paul, it became a short step from radicalism to terrorism. However, Jean-Paul was rescued from his folly by James MacDonald Hudson of Department H, who informed him that he was not a freak, but a mutant, and further, that he had a twin sister from whom he had been separated from by adoption. Together, Jean-Paul and his sister Jeanne-Marie joined Hudson’s newly formed Alpha Flight!
Jean-Paul takes to the air, and while showing off a somersault he tells himself that never as an Alphan did he ever feel as he did in his younger days, before his powers appeared. For the glory he used to achieve through constant practice gave meaning to his life, but now, doing what he loves to do has been made too easy. ‘How I envy the young…and human’. Jean-Paul lands gracefully on the white snow and wonders if he beat the course on his own, or because of his super speed? Taking off his helmet, he thinks to himself that if he cannot tell, then how would they who watched know? Listening to their applause, he wonders if he did use his powers, does that make him undeserving of their applause?
Jean-Paul wishes that Hudson had lived to explain to him the distinction between mutants and freaks, when he is then swarmed by adoring fans. A young woman asks him for an autograph, and as he sings her book, Jean-Paul replies ‘certainly, for what it is worth’. Northstar feels himself to be the most unenviable of men but he is nonetheless both envied, and idolized, by another – young Kara Killgrave! Kara looks longingly at the man whom she has had a crush on for years, and had known from the television that this is where he would be this weekend.
Kara runs away from the crowd, asking herself what she had hoped would happen – that Jean-Paul would fall madly in love with her and sweep her off her feet and ski away with her? ‘What a jerk’ she says to herself as she enters a bathroom and locks the door behind her. Kara thinks to herself that even if a champion like Jean-Paul Beaubier had the time of day for her, the fact that she is purple would make him puke! Leaning over the sink, Kara tells herself to face facts – she is seriously weird, and there is no way she can escape it by fleeing into some kind of fantasy.
A knock at the door and someone asks if Kara is going to be long in there. ‘What if I am?’ Kara rudely snaps back. The young woman replies that she ‘needs to go’, and Kara yells ‘You need to go jump off a cliff!’ Suddenly, the girl’s skin turns purple, and mesmerized she says ‘I…need to go jump off a cliff’ and walks out of the lodge and across the snow. Back in the bathroom, Kara is glad the woman is gone and declares that she does not need an audience watching her cry, she thinks that no one has a better right to cry than her, especially after the story her mother told her about meeting her dad in a Buffalo bar fourteen years ago!
(Flashback)
Melanie sits with a friend in the bar when a purple skinned man walks over to her and asks if he may join them. The friend points out the color of the man’s skin to Melanie and tells her that he must be a creep and so that she should tell him to get lost. Melanie starts to explain that they were waiting for their dates, when the purple skinned man interrupts, introducing himself as Zebediah Killgrave and telling Melanie that she wishes to marry him.
An hour later, before a Justice of the Peace, where Killgrave orders the Justice to say ‘Do you, Melanie, take this man Killgrave to be your lawfully wedded husband’. The Justice does as he is commanded and Melanie is ordered to say ‘I do’, which she does. And so the Purple Man took a bride! Zebediah Killgrave was an American criminal who along with purple skin had gained the power to make people do his will. On a whim he made Melanie marry him, but eventually he actually fell in love with her! He decided to free Melanie from his thrall in hope that she would have genuine feelings for him. He told Melanie that he loves her, but a distraught Melanie runs from him, reminding him that he used her, she tells him that she hates him.
The Purple Man could have stopped her with a single word, but he let her go – all the way to Toronto, and he never came after her, that or he went to prison before he had the chance, Melanie never found out. Despite being forced to marry him, Melanie never filed for divorcee, perhaps because soon, she learned that she was pregnant, and much to Melanie’s relief, she gave birth to a perfectly ordinary pink baby.
(Present)
Kara is still looking in the mirror, knowing that that is why her mother never told her the story about her father until now, as there never seemed to be a trace of weirdness in her – until she turned thirteen. Kara wonders why she could not just be like other kids and get acne.
Meanwhile, outside, the crowd suddenly turns in horror, as a young woman throws herself off the cliff! ‘Nobody can possibly save her!’ cries someone. But they are wrong, as Jean-Paul Beaubier takes to the air, stripping his clothes and revealing his Alpha Flight outfit underneath he flies swiftly to the falling woman, and as she lands in his arms he asks her why she chose such a lovely day to die. The young woman replies that she does not know what came over her, and as Jean-Paul flies down towards the crowd of onlookers he realizes that the girl genuinely does not know why she attempted suicide.
Northstar lands and making sure the girl is all right he wonders if her confusion has anything to do with the strange purple pallor slowly fading from her skin. The girl remarks that all she can remember is needing to use the bathroom, and then a voice telling her to go jump off a cliff! Kara watches, shocked as she remembers saying that, and then the girl did it – ‘just like Daddy!’
However, the shock of Kara Killgrave is nothing compared to the shock of the spectators who suddenly realize who Jean-Paul Beaubier really is. A skier walks up to Jean-Paul and proclaims that he knows he is Northstar, a super hero from Alpha Flight and calls him a cheater! Calmly, Northstar declares that he made no use of his powers during the ski exhibition earlier, to which the other skier tells him he is lying and adds that he always wondered how Jean-Paul could suddenly reappear from retirement and outshine him, who has been training steadily for years!
‘Perhaps I am the better athlete’ Jean-Paul remarks calmly still, to which the other skier accuses Jean-Paul of ‘pouring on a little of the old super speed in the tight spots’ in order to beat his time down the slope. Suddenly, Northstar looks shocked and realizes that he may have unintentionally allowed his powers to give him the edge. He reveals to the crowd that it was from the fear of that happening that he foreswore the sport he loved more than life itself. Walking away he declares that for that reason they need not fear, for he shall never ski again!
Awed by the enormity of what they have learned, the crowd parts, and only one among the spectators dares to follow Jean-Paul away from the slopes…Kara Killgrave. Running after the Alphan she asks him to wait, and turning around, Jean-Paul asks what it is they want, the autograph of a freak – but Northstar is taken aback when he sees Kara’s flesh. Kara stands before Jean-Paul and tells him that that is why she wanted to talk to him, because she knows how he feels!
Kara tells Jean-Paul that she is a freak, like him, and adds that it was she who made the woman jump off the cliff, albeit accidentally. ‘Can I not even be alone in my anguish without attracting the lunatic fringe?’ Jean-Paul asks crossly. Kara realizes that Northstar thinks she is crazy and declares that she will prove she has the power. When she says ‘Follow me!’ Jean-Paul turns purple, and replies that he will follow. Leading Northstar away, Kara is quite smitten that it worked, but wonders why Jean-Paul turned purple also, as she doesn’t remember her mother stating that the Purple Man’s power had that effect.
Entering her chalet, Kara states that she doesn’t care, for purple or not, the man she has had a crush on forever belongs to her! ‘Question is, what do I do to him?’ Kara thinks it should be something romantic and tells Jean-Paul to ‘Be my boyfriend!’ however when there is no response, she thinks that her orders might have to be something more specific and so she orders him to bring her flowers. Jean-Paul pulls some flowers from a vase on a table, to which Kara tells him is not very romantic and that she has something more exotic in mind.
‘As you wish’ replies Northstar as he takes Kara in his arms and flies out of the chalet with her. High in the air, Kara tells him to let her go, but realizing the consequences scratches that order and tells him not to drop her, but to slow down, not so much that she will get cold, just so the friction keeps her warm without burning her up. However, Kara still has to turn her head backward to take breaths, as the wind is so strong. Kara tells Northstar to tell her, without letting go of her, where they are going. As they streak past an aircraft, Northstar tells her that they are going to find her flowers that are more exotic. ‘Oh, wow!’ says Kara before asking her “Sweet Prince” to soar on.
It takes the mesmerized Northstar mere hours to reach the small tropical atoll, and seeing it, Kara tells him to go down, which he does, landing near a lake. Snatching some pink flowers, Northstar hands them to Kara and tells her that he trusts she finds them more exotic. Kara replies that the orchids are okay, but that it is like they are in the Garden of Eden! ‘Wanna play Adam and Eve?’ she asks. Northstar replies non-emotionally that he will do as she bids him.
Taking off her jacket, Kara realizes it is like her mother did for her father, which puts a downer on the situation, but she knows if she lets him free, there is no way of telling how he may react, and that he might just fly away like her mother did to the Purple Man. Kara declares that she may as well enjoy Northstar’s company while she can and heading into the lake tells him they can swim. Jean-Paul takes his uniform off on the bank and looking up at him Kara tells him to wait as all his clothes drop to the grass – only to see that he is wearing briefs.
Northstar dives into the water and Kara watches him, not noticing the crocodile approaching her she tells herself that she has the power to make the man of her dreams do anything she wants yet she is too embarrassed to use it! Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Kara sees the crocodile and screams for Northstar. Beneath the water, Jean-Paul returns to his normal self and realizing he is not in Alberta, wonders where he is. Swimming to the surface he wonders whom it is that is screaming, and at the sound of Kara’s voice, her control is reasserted over Northstar and he becomes purple again.
However, Jean-Paul is frozen in the water, awaiting further orders. Kara asks him why he is not doing anything and realizes that he is waiting for orders from her, and so she says ‘Save me now! Please?’ Faster than the eye can follow, Northstar encircles the hungry crocodile, and weaving a waterspout around it, he whirls the creature away.
When he is finished that, he flies into the waterfall, looking for Kara, and standing beneath the falling water, he declares that it would seem as long as he stays submerged she cannot manipulate his mind. He grabs the frightened girls’ wrist and pulls her towards him, Kara proclaiming that she did not realize and promises not to do it again. Jean-Paul tells her to be silent and informs her that he only wants to know who she is and why she has used him. Kara tells him her real name, then introduces herself as the Purple Girl, and somewhat hesitantly she tells him that she did what she did, because she loves him!
Jean-Paul is astonished and as he makes his way back to the bank and puts his uniform back on, he tells Kara that even if t were conceivable that he might return her affections, one does not use those one loves. Kara puts her clothes back on and tells Northstar tells him that she knows and that that was how her whole ordeal started. She tells him that she did not mean to use him but that she got these powers by accident and it just happened.
After telling her entire story to Northstar, Kara boasts that it does not mean she doesn’t love him, for she does! ‘Like your father loved your mother?’ Jean-Paul asks. Kara snaps back that a freak like her will take love any way she can get it. Northstar gently wipes a tear away from Kara’s eyes and tells her that she is no more and no less a freak than he is and that there are others in the world like them who understand her powers and would train her in their use.
Northstar realizes he is saying the same words to the Purple Girl that James Hudson once said to him, yet remembers that in joining Alpha Flight he accepted outcast status, by going to live as a freak among freaks, instead of asserting his equal right to live in the human world. Jean-Paul starts to walk away from Kara, declaring that it would be better if he left her here to die rather than to force her to choose as he chose.
Kara panics and tells Northstar that he cannot leave her, and calling “Stop” she suddenly puts Jean-Paul under her command again. Kara realizes that he was only speaking figuratively and yet she freaked. She knows that this is terrible and thinks that even if Jean-Paul goes and soaks his head in the water then he will be free from her power, but will be so mad that he will leave her! ‘But I promised him and he trusted me!’ Kara shouts.
Looking up at her hero, Kara realizes she doesn’t have any choice and has to give Jean-Paul one more order. ‘Northstar, take me to Alpha Flight!’