.|. COHERENT COMICS UNINCORPORATED ---X------------------------------------------------------------------------- '|` PRESENTS DVANDOM | -. -. -. | ________| ____ \ ,___ \ ____ \ ________| | .' \ | | / ` | | | | | | | / ___| | | | | ` / | | __| | | < | __| | | | ,--- \ \ | | | \ | | \ ` | | | / | \ / | ___| _______-' ___| ____\ -______-' ____________| #60 - "The Choice" copyright 1996 by Dave Van Domelen ============================================================================= [cover is an aerial shot from high above. At the bottom of the page is the Necrosaur Robo standing over the piled up bodies of Dvandom Force and Team M.E.C.H.A. At the top of the page, Acton Lord is flying into some sort of heavenly light upon his Klein Couch.] ============================================================================= WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE Well, quite a bit, really. If you think I'm going to summarize the entire Grand Tour crossover now, you're crazier than I am. Especially since Robotech_Master *is* crazy enough to summarize the entire thing. So go back and read his summaries in Team M.E.C.H.A. if you're just picking this title up. Okay, okay, here's a little summary. In his plot to return to his own timeline [diverged in Dvandom Force #48 - Ed.], DeFacto brought the Mighty Muddy Power Grangers over from the Superguy Altiverse by accident. Since then, he's been bedeviling Dvandom Force with various plots to distract them from his primary goals. Meanwhile, Team M.E.C.H.A. has been bouncing from reality to reality, trying to find the Grangers, but inevitably getting sidetracked into local conflicts and thus taking much longer than anticipated to reach the Looniverse. As a result of this, continuity "blipped" forward by several months during last issue. Between last issue and this, some Important Events have occurred in the pages of Team M.E.C.H.A. #75, including a dramatic fight scene that left the Roadkill Destructoid and Hercules Robo in rather bad shape, as you're about to see.... * * * * The hard tundra of Buffer Island was pitted and scorched, steam rising from multiple blast craters. Where there had been four huge figures visible before, now there were only two. To one side lay the two halves of the Roadkill Destructoid, carved in twain by the force of Super Sabre's sword, sparks still jumping between the halves as the cyborg pilot struggled to free himself from the ruined control room. Of Hercules there was no trace, the Flames of the FireTsar having burned it to monomolecular ash at the terrible cost of Boursifying the entire area...it would not be fit for human habitation for years. Only nerves literally of steel had allowed its pilot to eject in time, and he slowly crawled away from the cursed earth surrounding the site of the blast. "Now what?" asked Squidman as he fought to bring FireTsar's runaway generators under control. Flames were still leaking out of the various weapon ports of the merged Robo, randomly blasting nearby debris. "Now we wait. DeFacto's in that base somewhere, and I'm not too eager to go in after him unless we have to. His own ego will draw him out...he wants an audience, that's the only reason he told us he was here in the first place. Plus, in case we *do* have to go in after him, I want to make sure the others are safe first..." Skysabre let the sentence trail off. No need to add that he was willing to detonate the Slipstream's dimensional engines to utterly destroy the base if he had to. They all knew it was the last-ditch plan. Steam continued to rise from the ground.... * * * * Link leaned Bull up against the wall for a moment. "Do we keep looking for the Constellation Gang, or go?" he asked Mike. "It's possible they aren't even here, despite the presence of their mecha outside," Dr. Science added. "And the Grangers are weakening by the minute." "I didn't see them here," admitted one of the Dr. Zwarghoffs. "Ah say we git!" Pinto Sally declared. "Those Constellashun Gang people knew whut they-all were gettin' inta when they went t' work fer DeeFacto." Her expression, even hidden as it was behind the sealed environment suit, took on a panicked look. "Can't we do anythin' fer mah cousins now? Ah don't think they'll make it unless'n we do!" Dr. Science shook his head. "I'm afraid we've done all we can in this situation." [No, you didn't miss an episode, the boring medical stuff all happened after Team M.E.C.H.A. #75 - Ed.][Hey, Ed, put a lid on it! You're blowing the flow of the story! - RM][Sorry. - Ed.] Dr. Science paused while the off-screen argument occurred, then continued, "Physically, they're in perfect health aside from a few minor bruises and poor dental hygiene. They simply don't have the energy to go on...even Spectrum's attempts to 'gate in' his 'healing energy' failed." "We should do *something* though," Phobos said. "If we run into any security system that can't be fooled by my invisibility, the Grangers might be cut down in the crossfire." There was silence as everyone tried to think of alternatives. Sally looked around, even more worried now that the possibility of attack had been brought back up by Phobos. Hesitantly, Adam spoke. "I've been feeling a...presence...ever since we got here. It's hard to describe, it's like the spirits I communicate with as a shaman, but somehow...different. I think it may be one of the fundamental forces of this reality, and for some reason it's intently interested in this place." "Is it good or evil?" Mike asked, not wanting to draw in more hostile forces than were already there. Adam shook his head. "It simply IS. It's beyond human morality, that much I'm sure of. But I don't think it means us harm...I can try to contact it now. Even if it can't or won't help the Grangers, it might be a good idea overall." Mike nodded. "Let's use this cul de sac, we won't be at as much risk from random patrols of those automata we saw earlier." The group moved into the small side-tunnel and Phobos bent light so that the back wall of it seemed to be on the other side of them. It should trick simple scans, he figured. Adam sat down and concentrated. Slowly, a glowing "#1(PWc)" appeared in midair. A soft voice came from it, a voice they seemed to see rather than hear. "Hello, players. Enjoying my brother's site? Apologies for not manifesting fully, but the rules don't let me right now." "Hello," Adam replied. "Who are you? Are you DeFacto's brother?" "I am Lord MUDD, and DeFacto's just a Royal...my brother is Master Workload, and a boring brother he is. Would you like to play a game? I know this great new X-Com site...." "Maybe later, we're still trying to solve this 'game,'" Adam said. He turned to his brother, who had spent more time on computers lately, with the obvious question on his face: "Any idea how to talk to this guy?" Link nodded, and cleared his throat. "Lord MUDD, we ask a boon of you. Four of our party have been set Halted and Mortal, and may soon be set Corpse. Could you possibly clear some of their flags so they can join back in on the game?" Lord MUDD considered this for a moment. "They have not been set Mortal, their Royalty bits have been removed entirely, and their Going flags are set as well. This is my brother's @zone, my power is limited. But I could keep the balance of power by removing one of your Roybits to clear the others. I sense Pinto_Sally(#4525PreXc) would be the best choice for this." Dr. Science whispered to Adam, "I suspect that this Lord MUDD plans to spread Sally's Mighty Muddy powers between all five, giving them enough energy to live but removing their superguy powers." Sally obviously heard this, because she said, "Ah don't care if Ah lose mah powers, Ah jest wanna see mah cousins live. Do it!" Lord MUDD muttered quietly to himself, "Let's see, clear the roybit, do some @mvattrs, reset their stats...oh, I think I can leave one of them his MUCKer bit, @set them !corpse and un@halt them...." Then he raised his voice and said, "It is done. You five are now Mortals, play in good health. Damn, forgot to set myself Dark, he's seen me...gotta go!" With that, he disappeared. "Dayam," muttered Bull as he held his aching head and stood up. "Did anyone get th' number of that kegger?" "Whut?" said Mule. "Ohhh...we were kicking their butts, too, until they cheated," complained Reaper. "Hehhheh...you said butt," Hellhound replied. Just then there was a terrific explosion from above, and they were all thrown against the nearest walls. Suddenly the hallways started to multiply and go in every which direction. "Those fools!" shouted a Zwarghoff, "They've Boursified the entire area!" "What's that mean, exactly?" the other Zwarghoff asked. "They must have used potent Flame attacks and generated split paths and unnecessarily crossposted replies, something we call Boursifying in this dimension after the net.kook responsible for much of it," answered the first Zwarghoff, apparently the Looniversal one. "Okay, let's get topside as fast as we can!" Mike ordered, and they all raced off after him towards the surface. * * * * Acton Lord sat in his sumptuously tasteless surroundings, listening to quadraphonic speakers blaring out "Kung Fu Fighting" while the soft light of faux hurricane lamps lit the orange and brown colored room. Soon. Very soon. The great powers of the Looniverse were all focusing their attention on the potentially momentous events happening far to the north, events Acton Lord had manipulated so they would come to pass. From helping DeFacto break the barrier between the Looniverse and 000SUPERGUY to giving directions to the Inbred warrior, it had been a subtle and sublime series of tweaks and prods that shaped events, not the hammerblows DeFacto wished to use. Perhaps that is another way in which power corrupts, Acton Lord mused. It makes you forget that there are simpler ways to accomplish things, ways which don't require all the power you have. This was especially true in the case of poor DeFacto, harried and controlled by Master Workload, a cosmic being that simply could not grasp the concept of letting resources go unused. Acton Lord swirled the Manhattan in his decorated glass tumbler as he waited for the exact moment. He didn't drink from it, of course. It had been mixed with care and precision to an exacting balance needed as the final component of the Klein Couch, and to drink from it might upset that balance. No matter. He wasn't thirsty. Not for a drink, anyway. Knowledge... THAT he was thirsty for. And he planned to drink deep by the end of the day. * * * * Suddenly a hatch blew open a few hundred meters away. "Look! It's them!" Kat cried out from her hidden position nearby. She then flowed from one rock to another to conceal herself again. Skysabre detached from the Slipstream module and sent it over to the group of Superguys. "Anyone who isn't up for a fight, get in! I'll send you to cover before DeFacto decides to come out!" As the Grangers and the Zwarghoffs piled in, Squidman added over Slipstream's speakers, "You too, Phobos. Anything smaller than Sigma's not going to be much use, and someone has to protect the noncombatants in case Joe and Cobra decide to get some revenge." Reluctantly, Phobos entered the craft, which picked up speed and zoomed over the horizon. Then there was a low rumbling. "Here he comes," Mike shouted, getting his team into position to form Bahamode Sigma. A platform rose out of the center of the base. Atop it were two things. The first, and largest, was a gigantic synthetic diamond, pulsing with power. The other was a smallish Robo, no larger than a human. "ATV Frank!" Sidewinder hissed, recognizing the being responsible for trashing his Harley a year ago. "Yes, ah, the Kirbytowners were rather thorough," ATV Frank admitted, trying to sound impressive and important, but failing. "But my NEW master rebuilt me. Oh, and before you think he's surprised at the presence of your new allies, I told him about the spacebridge...he knew what to look for. SURRENDER! You are DOOMED!" he shouted. "Your mind control tricks won't work on us, Frank," Sidewinder scoffed. "Our cockpits were already sealed for other reasons, and your subsonics can't get in." "Oh, poopie," ATV Frank cursed. "Where is your 'master,' Frank?" Squidman asked. "Still hiding in the base?" <> came a voice that reverberated across the tundra. <> Suddenly, the ground began to shake and crumble around them. Fused silica from the flamewar crater cracked like ice on a puddle. Team M.E.C.H.A. took to the air and formed Bahamode Sigma as quickly as they could, while FireTsar and Skysabre backed up several paces. Parts of the base previously underground thrust up from the dirt and bedrock, shedding the effects of their Boursification and merging together into arms and legs. "Oh my Author," Mike whispered as the half-mile tall Robo stood and shook off the dust and grit. The platform ATV Frank stood on had rotated and been sealed behind a clear bubble in the middle of the new-and-improved Necrosaur's chest. The jewel pulsed with stolen energies and purple flames danced around Necrosaur's hands and eyes. It took a step forward, its foot sinking into the ground a depth greater than the height of Bahamode Sigma. <> DeFacto crowed, slamming his foot down next to FireTsar and knocking it back a hundred meters on a wave of almost liquefied earth. Skysabre leapt into the air as Slipstream flew back over the horizon, having discharged its cargo. "TRANSFORM!" he shouted, merging with the transport to become the more powerful Super Sabre. Even this form looked puny and helpless against the mighty Necrosaur Robo. "Everyone, Arthur Dent manuever!" Squidman shouted. "Right!" Mike shouted. "Form Blazing Sword!" he commanded. They'd discussed this tactic in the event Necrosaur had been rebuilt as larger than before, but they hadn't anticipated such a large refit. Mike hoped the "kneebiter" trick would work. DeFacto sneered. <> As one, FireTsar and Sigma flew towards DeFacto's right knee, blades drawn, while Super Sabre dove at the left knee. Blazing swords flared bright as the sun for a moment, and when they had passed, there were twin slices through the towering Robo's knees. For a moment, he simply hovered there as his shins tottered slightly. Then cables and struts shot out from both sides and knit the damaged legs back together. <> he mocked. "No, this is!" Squidman shouted defiantly as he landed his team between DeFacto's legs. "FLAME OF THE FIRETSAR!" Like a white-hot nuclear blast, the flames exploded from the FireTsar gestalt, withering everything in their path. Super Sabre and Bahamode Sigma pushed their powerplants to the maximum to stay ahead of the shockwave. The air itself curdled under the flames, and lurkers by the thousands fled in terror. The fires cooled, and a half-melted FireTsar stood apparently alone in the middle of a blast crater. Then it looked up to see a legless Necrosaur hovering above. <> Twisting and folding, Necrosaur assumed its terrifying Dimetrodon form, the fin on its back now reaching hundreds of meters in the sky. <> he purred as he moved lightning-fast to seize the FireTsar in his cavernous [of gratuitous death? - Ed] jaws and clamped down. Forcefield-backed metal screamed in protest before giving way like paper before scissors. Inside, the three pilots screamed in pain as electrical lines fed back into their controls and their personal battle gear flared white as the forcefields burned out trying to protect the wearers. At the last possible second, the ejection system activated, hurling them out of Necrosaur's mouth and across the charred landscape. As one, Super Sabre and Bahamode Sigma streaked back in at top speed, ramming into the monster's dorsal fin and slamming it onto its side. Without missing a beat, Necrosaur's tail lashed out and slammed into Sigma like a falling skyscraper, shattering the linkup and sending the individual mecha tumbling through the air, sparks arcing between them. <> Kat leapt from her concealment and flowed over Super Sabre, turning both into a shadowy figure in the process. "Shadowsabre STRIKE!" they shouted in unison, flitting from weak spot to weak spot, striking quickly and without mercy while their foe tried to spot them and failed. They shattered the bubble on his underside, causing ATV Frank to tumble free. He transformed to his dirtbike mode and fled as fast as he could. Suddenly, everything froze in place. 'Sabre and Kat were held helpless in the grip of a stasis field that emanated from their opponent. <> Standing up into humanoid form again, he willed "Shadowsabre" to drift over to a small hill, where he set them down. <> he boomed. "No, I don't think so," said a small figure, almost gnat-like against the mighty bulk of Necrosaur. Mike pulled up his cannon and calmly, quietly said, "Fire." Blazing chainguns, missile launchers and bolts of light streamed forth from the assembled mechasuits, filling the air with smoke and heat. But accomplishing nothing but a few scratches. DeFacto waved his hand and they all flew backwards into the snow. <> "Distract you," said Spectrum as he popped up in front of DeFacto's face and unleashed the gated in fury of all the energy at his command.... * * * * "Now!" Acton Lord whispered excitedly, and spilled his drink on the polyester upholstery of the Klein Couch. With a rending of spacetime and perceptual reality, the Klein Couch and Acton Lord were gone, headed for a higher plane. * * * * There was a sound like linoleum breaking as Spectrum hit the ground face first after being swatted aside. Already stunned by the blow, he hadn't been able to do anything about the fall, and now lay still on the scorched earth. The last conscious thought to run through his mind was to wonder what his son looked like, then darkness. Above, DeFacto reeled in pain as he desperately tried to seal the huge hole in his head before he lost any important systems. Energy, both electrical and cosmic, crackled as it leaked out of open conduits and shorted wires. The earlier repairs to his legs started to unravel as resources were diverted to the head. And, most importantly, the stasis field had been dropped. As Kat and the de-energized Skysabre dropped the few meters down to the ground, they were joined by Summer, the only member of her team not stunned or incapacitated. "What do we do now? Even Spectrum's full power wasn't enough!" Summer said, tension coloring every word. "We go inside, kid, and hope he's not as tough mentally as he is physically...the three of us against him might stand a chance," Kat said, not sure she believed her own words. The Slipstream's systems were pretty obviously down, so the suicide option the Sidestep Device offered wasn't available. "You guys get inside me, I'll drive in the connection." With that, Kat enveloped both human-sized figures, forming connections between their minds. Guardedly, she thought, "These aren't exactly the circumstances I wanted to merge with Sabre under, but you take what you get." Then she leapt onto Necrosaur and drove an arm deep into his processor linkages, forging the connection. * * * * Once again, Summer was on a vast, featureless plain. Not again! she thought, feeling dwarfed by DeFacto's vast cyberspatial presence. Huge walls to either side must have been Kat and Skysabre. --Remember what I told you, kid!-- came Kat's mental voice. --Size is how you visualize it here, you're only small if you want to be!-- Lightning crackled across the "sky" and struck one of the other surfaces. The battle had already begun, and she was too small to even be noticed. How could she match the power of these advanced future-machines? It was like thinking you could match Xolchatech...it just didn't happen. --Damn it, girl! Be scared out of your mind later! We need all the power we can muster, and you've got teraflops to spare...get up here!-- ++But how? He's so much more powerful than I am...more here than outside!++ Summer cried out. <> With that, whirling, bladed killing machines rose up out of the plain and advanced towards her. Summer jumped back, or at least performed the cyberspace equivalent. These creatures "felt" like anti-viral routines, designed to prevent minor intrusions. Like her. Forming a spike from the hand of her persona image, she lanced out at one of the subroutines and felt the satisfaction of seeing it fly to pieces. One after another, she smashed, cut or blasted the bughunters. But they kept coming, like antibodies in an immune system. Above her, the glow of her companions was fading. In the bigger war overhead, DeFacto was winning. He may even have been playing with them, like he was playing with her. The "antibodies" swarmed over her, unable to hurt her or really stop her from moving, but hemming her in, smothering her. She felt trapped, like a bacterial cell about to be destroyed. "Come on, we can do it!" yelled a small voice inside Summer's head. She paused for a moment, perhaps a nanosecond in the outside world. It was her own voice, yet...it wasn't. --Who?-- "It's me, Summer Daye! Or, at least, a few of her memories and stuff... I guess some of me rubbed off on you when we were merged...you do have an AWFUL lot of space in here, you know. I suppose eventually I'll fade out as your subconscious does housekeeping, but until then think of me as a ghost in the machine. Heh. Anyway, all the racket you're making out there 'woke' me up." --Okay, *how* can we do it? You've had more experience in the wires than I have.-- "Like THIS!" Suddenly, the antibodies and the rest of the world fell away around Summer as her persona image grew to match the size of the others. Kat and 'Sabre didn't look too good, but the sight of Summer joining the fight seemed to re-energize them. Oddly, DeFacto looked a lot like Skysabre, although more mechanical. And Kopikat actually looked like a human, middle aged but trim. All pretense had been cast aside early in the fight, and now they all looked like their deepest self-images. Summer cried out, --Take this, scumbag!-- and launched into a spinning side kick which actually knocked DeFacto back slightly. --Wow! I really *can* do this!-- "You go, girl!" encouraged her inner voice. Summer advanced, hoping to give Kat and 'Sabre a few moments to recover their strength, and lashed out with a spiked fist, ignoring Kat's warning to be careful. And DeFacto caught it. <> he shouted as his free hand reached into Summer's chest. It felt like he was grasping her beating heart in his hand and squeezing...the pain was incredible. Then he pulled it out, holding onto a faint, wisplike image of Summer. The image screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Summer stumbled backwards, feeling sick like she'd just been kicked in the stomach by a mule. * * * * Kat watched DeFacto pull the secondary persona out of Summer in horror. If he could casually violate the integrity of their personas like that, they didn't stand a snowball's chance in a fusion reactor. It was with a faint nausea that she then watched DeFacto suck the faint echo into his mouth and devour it, grinning the entire time. No time to be subtle. She did what she had to do, and forcibly kicked Skysabre and Summer out of the link. This was the main reason she'd had them link in through her, because she knew she might have to get them to safety over their protests. They'd have tremendous headaches, but they'd live...if this worked. If it didn't, well, Kat would just get to die first, that's all. The Guardians often referred to her as a walking timebomb, because of the Nanoplague she carried. And DeFacto was proof that they were right to fear it, and her. But she was more dangerous than they knew. She carried not only a weapon of immense physical destructive potential, but one of great mental destructive potential. The MAC-Smasher. The ultimate intrusion program, designed to wipe memories clean and leave a tabula raza for Waveform to write new personalities onto. Defection to the MACE cause in one easy step. Unfortunately, it was almost useless because it had to be delivered after getting past all other defenses...and by the time you got that far, you didn't really need it. Kat had accepted it as payment for a job she did for Waveform, since in a slightly modified form she could use it to erase selected parts of her own memories and avoid the fate of so many Wasters, that of running out of memory space. It, like her nanotech, was a great and terrible genie that had been forced into a bottle and used for mundane purposes. Kind of like using nuclear power to run a sewing machine. But she'd never removed its original design specs. It was her poison pill, her way of committing suicide if she ever found it harder to live than to die. And now, here she was, inside DeFacto's outer layers of defenses, layers he didn't think he needed because he was so powerful. And she unleashed the Smasher. Like a whirlwind of darkness and fire, it ravened out from her mouth, seething towards its assigned target and blocking off all possible escape routes. Very efficient it was, it not only destroyed the personality, it also prevented it from escaping or transmitting an update before "death." <> He reached out to stop the whirlwind in its tracks, and looked so very surprised as it devoured him whole. ++You also had my suicide routine that prevented any last-second containment of the Smasher as well, asshole.++ As the whirlwind turned to destroy her as well, Kat sighed and accepted the inevitable. At least she found something worth dying for, instead of dying because there was nothing worth living for. And then everything went gray. * * * * The Klein Couch soared in a direction that felt liike upwards. Acton Lord had long since passed the point where the Pega.SYS had refused to carry him higher and thrown him several years ago [In The Bellerophon Gambit, System Corruptors #1-4, available in the TEB section of the archives. - Ed]. With all the major cosmic representations intent on the latest battle between Lord MUDD and Master Workload, a battle he himself had engineered, none took note of a lone mortal ascending towards the Sourcecode. In mere moments, all his questions would be answered. He would know the power beyond the Writers, the true omnipotence. The path was clear ahead. "That's as far as They want you to go, Acton Lord," said a familiar voice as the Klein Couch jarred to a halt. A figure resolved out of the sparkling lights and velvet darkness around him. "Constellation. Let me pass. You of all people should appreciate what I'm trying to do," Acton Lord said, simply and without a trace of supplication. "Oh, I do. That's why I came to stop you when it became plain you'd distracted the other intermediate powers. You of all people should know that you're not capable of handling the truths you'd find in the Sourcecode!" "But I don't seek the kind of power that dominance of the Sourcecode might offer, Constellation. I seek to either be freed of my fetters, or to know for certain the fetters exist. To know if I'm a slave, and if I can, use the truth to set myself free!" "A slave? You're one of the most powerful people in the Looniverse! You've held complete control over all of reality at one time!" "Don't patronize me," growled Acton Lord. "You know as well as I do that power without free will is no power at all. To be the most powerful puppet in the play is hardly a source of pride. And that is the crux of my quest. To see if I have strings...and if they pull at me, or I pull at them. In short, Writers." "But of course. Hard to believe in the possibility of free will if someone can claim with reasonable provability that there's these extradimensional beings controlling our every move, writing our words for us. But how is this so much worse than not having Writers you can point at and blame? Free will is what you make of it, yes? The Christians say that God, while capable of controlling our every action, gave us the gift of free will, of choice. Is this so different?" Constellation countered. "Yes, it is!" Acton Lord shouted. He paused to collect himself, then said, "Have you ever wondered about the origin of the phrase 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely?' It was a slogan in the late 19th Century movement to abolish the Papal dogma of infallibility. Many felt that the only being that could safely wield the power of God was God, and to invest any man with that sort of total power...even over such a limited area as matters of religion...was a truly bad idea." "Okay, your point being?" "Imperfect beings should not hold total control over a finite realm, let alone an infinite one. And Writers seem to exercise exactly that kind of control over us. It's bad enough to lack free will, but to have your world shaped by men of limited perspective and unlimited power is like having a blind man try to paint your portrait. The only result can be chaos. The Sourcecode is a power either above or at least equal to the Writers, and from it I can learn if the power of Writers is indeed absolute. Only an answer from a power they cannot control will satisfy me." "But if you can make it answer you, couldn't a Writer force it to lie to you?" Acton Lord sagged slightly, some of the defiance bleeding out of him. "Yes, I had considered that. But I don't intend to try and force an answer, I merely hope that the simple fact of my reaching it will convince the Sourcecode to answer my question. Perhaps merely making it there, where Writers cannot go, would be proof enough that they do not totally control me. Now let me pass, I must at least try!" A wall sprang up in Acton Lord's path, sealing off the infinite space in all directions. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you. However, it is within my power to offer you a choice, a choice you can make without the Writers or Readers seeing it, a choice you can act on for a while before they ever know your decision. You'll have to trust me, but this will be your free will." Acton Lord crossed his arms and considered the offer. Then he said, "What is the choice, then?" "There are powers which influence your life at a level below the Writers, you know. First there was the Super-Molder Serum as a child, then the Sig.Force, then the Corruption Force. While they gave you power, they also controlled you, pulled your strings in ways the Writer didn't see the need to. Even now, you're being influenced as much by your own powers as by the Writer. You also know that the Sig.Force is out there, without a host for the moment, perhaps seeking one out or building one. I can sever your ties to the Corruption Force. I can place the Sig.Force within you if you desire. Or I can leave you totally without outside powers like Skysabre, free to create your own destiny. Hero, villain, neutral...the choice is yours. Stay as you are, become the new Sig.Lad, or carve out a totally new identity for yourself." "How do I know the Writer won't pick my choice for me?" "You'll have to trust me. I suppose he'll divine your choice in time to write about it, they always do...he may even know it already, causality is funny that way. But the choice is yours. Months ago I was offered the choice over one man's life, and it had a profound effect on my own life. Now I in turn offer you a similar choice, only it affects you directly. What will it be, Richard Franklins?" "All right, I know. I choose...." ============================================================================= Next issue: Epilogue. Not everything will be explained, but everything that's likely to be explained any time soon will be covered.