The New Age - Chapter Six

Outer space could be a lonely place, especially if you were flying through it without the aid of a spacecraft. But sometimes people desire loneliness. One of these people was Cosmic Kid. The youngster had agreed to help the Istari in their war with Darkmagus, and he was now on his way back to the moon of Titan, where he had spent much of his time during the last year. Titan, of course, was famous as the home of the former Avenger Starfox, and the late Mar-Vell.
    As Cosmic Kid left the Earth’s atmosphere his thoughts were on the meeting at the Anglo-Force mansion. He wondered how big a part he would play in this way. In the back of his mind something told him he hoped it would be a small role.
    Soon Cosmic Kid was approaching Mars, the red planet. His thoughts were still on the impending conflict, his flight path and speed being controlled by his sub-conscious. It was because of this he failed to notice a structure on the surface of Mars. He also failed to notice when an energy beam came his way. The energy beam soon struck him.

The New Age - Chapter Five

    Night began to close in as the clear-up at the mansion began, with the housekeeper, Yetta, moving around the hallway with her vacuum cleaner. She was not happy.
    “Will you look at my carpet?” she said. “All of this mud from all of those feet! It will take me ages to get this clean.”
    “I’m sure you’ll do a fine job as always, Yetta.” said Watt. “Now, please excuse me.”
    A short time later Watt walked into the nursery where he found Katrina cradling young Peter.
    “Shh!” Katrina gestured.
    A few seconds later she put Peter into his cot. Turning off the light she then left the room, closing the door behind her.
    “Hopefully he’ll be out for hours.” she said. “I think he enjoyed meeting his great cousin Igor today.”
    “I did also.” said Watt. “He’s a very nice man.”
    Then Watt’s communicator sounded. He reached into his pocket and pressed the button.
    “Watt here.”
    “It’s Arthur, Jim. You’d better come down to the monitor room.”

The New Age - Chapter Four

    Many people had managed to scale Mount Everest during the past half century, but none of them had seen a special place that was located on this mountain, mainly because this place was cloaked from normal view. The place in question was the citadel and home to the Over-Seer of Earth’s events, one of the most powerful beings in this world - Rhiannon.
    For nearly one hundred years she had watched the events of the world from her citadel, and when times were dire she intervened. She had to intervene in an event recently, when the power-mad Supremus defeated the members of Anglo-Force. She then had to use her powers to erase the short-term memory of James Watt, because even though she watched the world’s events her presence should never be known.

The New Age - Chapter Three

    High in the French Alps stood a castle that had not been used in years - at least that was what the nearby inhabitants thought, for in the early hours of the morning this castle was bristling with life. In the main hallway stood what could be termed as some of the most evil men and women who had ever lived - and they were growing a trifle inpatient.

The New Age - Chapter Two

The forests of southern Germany could be a lonely place, especially for someone who has spent the batter part of the last five years alone, wandering around the world. If you were to look at this man you would say that he was in his late thirties, possibly his early forties. But in truth he was one thousand years old, having been born at the end of the first millennium. But for the past five years he had been travelling around the world, trying to keep one step ahead of his evil twin brother, and also trying to find out who he was. During these past years he had received ‘visions’ of sorts, sightings of himself as he used to be a thousand years previously when he first became immortal. But in recent days he had been seeing a vision of another sort, and it was this vision that brought him to this German forest, not because it told him to come here, because there was someone here who could help interpret it.

The New Age - Chapter One

    Never before had the east end of London seen a sight like this. The sight in question was the four remaining members of the Black Squadron, Mother Nature, the Grim Reaper, Vampira and Trull, trying to get away with their ill-gotten gains. They would, however, have to outrun their chasers, four members of Anglo-Force, James Watt. White Knight, Star Man and Red Sun. It seemed that on this day they would finally be able to capture their arch enemies. It was while their car was speeding through the streets that it was hit by a nova burst from Star Man. The burst caused the engine to explode and sent it skidding across the road, narrowly missing several innocent bystanders and then turning over four times until it came to a rest on it’s edge. A few seconds later an angry Mother Nature began to crawl out of what was left of the doorway. She was soon followed by the Grim Reaper.

The Dawning of the New Age - Chapter Six

    A day later and the lone woman motor cycle rider was in Germany. She rode along at speeds of sixty miles an hour-plus until she came to a road sing. She stopped and read it. In German it said ‘Berlin, two miles’. Seeing this she took off her helmet and looked upwards towards the sky. It appeared that she was on time because in the sky she saw a read a yellow streak, the sign that Fire-Flash was coming. The German soon landed near her. He then flamed-off.

The Dawning of the New Age - Chapter Five

As the rest of the super-heroes departed for Belgium Doctor Magus, Doctor Fate, Connor and Duncan McCloud remained behind to see for themselves the damage caused by Fire-Flash’s attack hours earlier. Luckily no one had been injured in the attack, except for one woman. The sight of the destruction distressed Duncan McCloud somewhat because of his fondness for Paris. As the McClouds began to clear away some of the rubble Magus and Fate began talking to each other.

The Dawning of the New Age - Chapter Four

August 23rd, 1944. Today was a happy day for the people of Paris, because it was on this day they finally freed their city, having driven the Nazi regime out without any help from the allies. However, news of this triumph travelled fast, so fast that the allies decided to send a group of their super-powered operatives to help protect the city. The group numbered five, and included Captain America, the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch from the Invaders, and Green Lantern and Hawkman from the Justice Society. This group decided to travel to France using the Sub-Mariner’s aircraft, a machine considered ahead of it’s time. It was while they were airborne that they picked up something on the radar. Namor was confused, and somewhat amazed at what he saw.

The Dawning of the New Age - Chapter Three

    The deck of the Valkyrie was a hive of activity as crewmen assumed their battle stations. They did not know what to expect as the streak of yellow and red flew high above them, suddenly swooping down low and passing them several times. Then, after a fifth pass, it attacked, hurling fire and fireballs at the deck and the guns, the attacks melting the metal on impact. It then swooped high up into the sky and was about to attack again when it found itself encased in a green sphere, courtesy of the Green Lantern. Now unable to move at it’s tremendous speed it showed itself for what it truly is - a man.

The Dawning of the New Age - Chapter Two

March 8th. An R.A.F. Mosquito aircraft flies over the Atlantic Ocean, en-route to a drop-off point. Apart from the usual crew this aircraft also carried four important passengers, Dr. Magus, Connor McCloud, Captain America and the Human Torch. Of these four passengers Magus was the most irritable.
    “I would have preferred to levitate to the ship.” said Magus. “This mode of transport can be very slow.”
    “I disagree Doctor.” said Captain America. “I think the crew of the Valkyrie would be shocked if we just appeared on their deck.”
    “Tell me Captain.” said McCloud. “Who are these associates of yours we’ll be meeting on the Valkyrie?”
    “Two members of our sister group.” replied Captain America. “You may have met them before.”
    Then a call came through from the cockpit.
    “We’re reaching the drop-off point gentlemen.”
    Upon hearing this McCloud and Captain America strapped on their parachutes. Magus began to shake his head.
    “You could at least let me levitate you to the deck of this ship!”
    “Will you let me have some fun Phineas?” smiled McCloud. “I haven’t had a parachute jump in years!”

The Dawning of the New Age - Chapter One

The date was January 16th, 1943. The Casablanca Conference between Roosevelt and Churchill started two days ago, and on the streets of Berlin the sound of tank and jeep engines echoed throughout. A Nazi military convoy was heading for a point two miles east of Berlin where an old abandoned building was situated. They were going to this building on the express orders of Hitler himself, and they were being commanded by none other than the Ultra-Humanite herself, who sat in the front passenger seat of the lead jeep.
    It did not take long for the convoy to reach the old house, mainly because the traffic moved out of the way as soon as they saw the tank approach. The Ultra-Humanite was not far behind them. A lowly lieutenant approached her.
    “This is the house.” he said. “But it looks as if no one is here.”
    “Appearances can be deceptive.” said the Humanite. “You will go on and find the one we are looking for.”

Inauguration - Chapter Sixteen

Two days later President Watt sat on the examination table in Med-Lab while Doctor Franklin carried out the second physical examination on him in as many days. A rye smile appeared on Franklin’s face.
    “In all of my years as a doctor I’ve never seen anything like it.” he said. “You absorbed enough energy to kill a thousand normal men, and yet I can find no trace of ill health whatsoever.”
    “Many doctors have been baffled by my medical history.” said Watt. “Did I tell you about the time I pushed en entire space station through a wormhole?”

Inauguration - Chapter Fifteen

Magus stood at the junction of two corridors, wondering which way he should head next. If it were not for the sensors he would have been able to sort this out by now. Then a fall figure appeared before him.
    “Ah, Magus. I knew you would be here. Do not worry about using your powers, you will need them to defend yourself. I intend to kill you and to add your powers to my own.” smiled Alen.
    “Easier said than done Alen. You want to match the skills of four centuries against two millennia?”
    The two began to circle each other warily. Arcane energy began to form around their hands. Alen raised his hands and struck the first blow, sending Magus reeling. Now he could use his powers again there was not the effect Alen had hoped for. The older wizard turned to him with a smile.

Inauguration - Chapter Fourteen

The door to Garibaldi’s office opened, and two heads peered around the door, looking one way and they the other. Slowly they then stepped out into the corridor.
    “Well this is it.” said Watt. “You know the plan. You go through the corridors and I’ll use my powers to go through the walls.”
    “I only hope this plan works.” said Magus.
    “It will. And remember, no matter what happens one of us must disable the reactor.”
    Watt extended his hand, and Magus grasped it.
    “Good luck Ambassador.”
    “Likewise Mr. President.”
    And with that Magus and Watt went in separate directions.

Inauguration - Chapter Thirteen

Watt stood at the small computer station in the corridor busily trying to operate it. After a few seconds he punched the wall.
    “Damn!” he cursed.
    Magus, who was keeping an eye on the corridors, turned round to face Watt.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “I can’t access the main computer from this station. I need to get to a bigger terminal.”
    Watt switched the terminal off and began thinking.
    “As far as I can see there are two possibilities.” he said. “One of them is the Operations room. That, of course, is out of the question.”
    Watt began to rub his chin. A few seconds later he suddenly snapped his fingers.

Inauguration - Chapter Twelve

Teddy sat, his delicate black nose tilted upwards, scenting the air. Jimmy and Tabby sat before him, washing themselves.
    “Any sign of them?” asked Jimmy languidly.
    Teddy nodded.
    “They appear to be climbing one of the Jefferies tubes.”
    “What do we do now?” asked Tabby.
    “Have you seen Toby?” asked the Collie.
    “I saw him heading towards the detention wing. I called but he took no notice.”
    “Captain Watt has the same problem with him. I dare say he knows what he’s doing. There may well be food involved.”
    The dog looked down at his smaller companions.
    “We find which tube and wait there. If you are approached by the enemy play the part of a dumb animal.”

Inauguration - Chapter Eleven

Watt sat in one of the chairs in the debating chamber, his hands and feet securely bound by chains of cavourite. Magus, too, was chained, by the great chain Angainor, forged by the Valar to restrain Melkor Morgoth during his three ages of captivity. The chain prevented Magus from using his powers.
    “Look at you Magus, you foolish old man. I wonder how many times you had the opportunity to do what I am now doing and passed it by.”
    Magus gave Alen the Seer a long hard look.
    “We made a mistake when we chose you Alen. Power can corrupt, and it has corrupted you.”

Inauguration - Chapter Ten

Ivanova was helpless. All she could do was watch as the two strange unknown vessels neared the station. Queeg stood beside her, his phaser still aimed at her. He, too, watched for a few seconds before he activated his communicator.
    “Queeg to attack squads. Operation has begun. Proceed with stage two.”
    In the chamber Watt and Leacock were about to step down from the podium when the door suddenly burst open. Suddenly all of the officers from the Yorktown and the Aswan that were in the chamber sprang to their feet, and Captain Solkun fired his phaser into the air. No one had any idea what was going on as thirty more men from the Yorktown suddenly ran in holding phaser rifles. Magus then got to his feet. He now knew why he was feeling uneasy. He raised his hand and was about to fire a bolt of mystical energy at Solkun when a blast hit him. Magus fell to the ground and saw Alen the Seer standing over him. Then there was a loud scream as someone burst into the chamber. The screen was because the ‘man’ seemed to be some sort of zombie, and he was brandishing some sort of weapon. Panic ensued, and from his point on the podium Watt took to the air and flew towards the zombie-like creature. The creature held the weapon up, pointed it at Watt, and fired. A beam of red energy emanated from the weapon and struck Watt. He fell to the floor like a dead bird that had just been shot out of the sky. Amid all of the chaos and phaser fire Picard had managed to make his way to Captain Watt.

Inauguration - Chapter Nine

The time for the inauguration drew near. The chamber was beginning to fill up with the V.I.P. guests dressed in their ambassadorial robes and dress uniforms. IN his quarters Watt was making his final preparations when the door buzzer sounded.
    “Come in.” called Watt.
    The door opened and Thomas Leacock entered. Leacock was fully dressed in his robes. He smiled when he saw Watt.
    “Aren’t you ready yet?” he asked.
    “We have plenty of time left Tom.” said Watt.
    “Not that much. They’re beginning to gather in the chamber. Ben Adams is beginning to look a trifle impatient.”
    Watt completed the final adjustments to his clothing and then looked at himself in the mirror. He paused for a few moments.
    “I remember when I first met you.” said Watt. “Magus introduced you to me as his adopted son. The thing that annoyed me was when you called me Sir all the time.”
    “I was merely being polite James.”
    Watt turned towards Leacock.
    “A hell of a lot has happened since then.” he said. “Come on. Let’s get going. We’ve got a Federation to start running here!”