Yuriko Oyama bowed in prayer as the Avatar known as Quake read pathetic love poems to her. The programming that had assumed control of her cybernetic like a vise demanded nothing but respect for her master's lapdogs. As much as she wanted to scoop out their vital organs, she couldn't as much as look at them with a disapproving gesture.
Thankfully, her torture quickly ended. She felt a mental summons in her mind, and the entirety of the terrorist estate poured into the courtyard where they saw the assembled Excalibur lined up one by one, filled with righteous anger and impressive power. They formed a line that could only be broken with their deaths.
Union Jack sized up their opponents. Most obvious was Lady Deathstrike, the Avatars of the Mandarin alongside scores of heavily armed ninjas, most likely a break away faction of The Hand, judging from their uniforms.
The two sides stood still with baited breath. Neither was willing to make the first move just yet. Then, silently, the army of terrorists parted like the Red Sea as a withered old man, clad in silver armor over most of his flesh and wearing a blue silk robe hobbled forward. The respect and reverence the Avatars gave him clearly marked this man as their master, this man known as…
"Yellow Claw."
The ancient oriental villain pointed a weathered old finger at Excalibur, "I see the decadent guardians of the West aligned before me. How polite, to display yourselves like pigs for the slaughter."
"Oh, there's gonna be a massacre here," U.S. Agent grunted, "but it ain't gonna be us."
"Is that so American?" The voice was like that of a powerful avalanche, echoing into the very bones of the collected heroes. Finding the source of a voice like that wasn't overly hard. A thin, nude man stood tall atop the main house of Yellow Claw's estate, "I must disagree."
"And what's your name scumbag?" the former Super Patriot demanded.
The man chuckled as if he'd just heard a private joke, "My name? Funny you should ask that, little flea. Where I come from, we name ourselves. I chose a name that was ordinary, a name that I personally would win respect for. What is my name?"
The short and physically unimpressive man leapt to high into the air some of Excalibur thought the man had instead flown into the clouds. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of green energy that exploded outwards, growing exponentially like an atomic blast.
"My name is Fin…"
A giant green clawed foot smashed into the ground one hundred feet away from where Excalibur was standing, dumbstruck.
"Fang!"
Another clawed foot slammed into the ground some two hundred feet from the first one.
"Foom!"
Mighty wings stretched out and swallowed Excalibur's sun as they watched with limp jaws. The mighty alien dragon was standing directly over Yellow Claw and his minions, his very shadow seeming to be all the protection in the world that they could ever need.
Fin Fang Foom snorted, sending a slight puff of acidic flame into the air, "Tell me flea, do you have anything to say before I end this?"
Union Jack could feel the eyes of his team upon his back and the weight of the world upon his shoulders. But what he said next, he said with no fear, no intimidation and absolutely no hesitation.
"Lady Deathstrike, Yellow Claw, Avatars and assorted others," Union Jack nodded to indicate Yellow Claw's ninjas and personal dragon.
"You are all hereby under arrest for acts of international terrorism by the power vested in me by the United Nations of the World," Rock's eyes met each and every one of theirs. He then craned his neck up longer and farther than he ever had before to meet those of the powerful dragon, Fin Fang Foom. Union Jack pulled the hammer of his gun back as he finished, "but you most certainly are more than welcome…to resist."
Marvel 2000 Presents
Excalibur Vol.2 #10
Terror of the Rising Sun
Conclusion
Major Trouble in Asia Minor
&&&
"Scatter!"
A green scaled foot larger than most yachts came crashing down upon Excalibur's position, as the mammoth alien dragon feared through out all of Asia, Fin Fang Foom, dismissed the heroes as the insects that he saw them as. The ten person super hero team leapt or flew to one side to avoid being crushed to death, with one sole exception.
"Hellios!"
The massive weight of Fin Fang Foom's clawed foot sent a pressure wave that pushed a thick cloud of dust into the air. It settled several seconds later, and what the combined forces saw amazed them both equally.
The solar powered superhero's arms were held above his head, keeping the giant clawed foot at bay. His muscles rippled and eyes were ablaze with solar power.
"You won't get rid of me that easy," at the speed of sound, Hellios flew out from underfoot and smashed into the mighty dragon's chin with both fists. The blow sounded like a clap of thunder and threw the alien dragon's head back, "I intend to make up for time lost."
"Sabra, Scarab, back him up!" yelled Union Jack.
Fin Fang Foom flapped his giant wings, attempting to get into a better position so that he could napalm the fleas that plagued his master, but that proved his undoing. Scarab, Hellios and Sabra slammed into him at once, and between their strength and the legendary dragon's lack of leverage, the alien dragon was blasted through the air to land clear across the tiny Asian nation, in Madripoor 'High Town' section.
"You just had to egg them on, didn't you!" screamed Eshu as he morphed his body around a searing blast of flame, "and we've lost our strongest! What do we do now?"
Union Jack sighted the probability manipulator known as Butterfly with his sidearm. With a single shot, she joined her predecessors. Luck was to much of an advantage to allow the Avatars.
"We fight and we win!"
Le Peregrine soared into the air and lobbed several grenades at Foundry. Cybermancer blasted Quake with a thousand decibels of sound while Darkstar created an ebony wall and ploughed through the legion of foes.
"Keep moving! Don't let them pin you down!" Rock decked one of Yellow Claw's ninjas, "Spitfire…!"
Union Jack spared a second to look over the battlefield, and saw that the famous English Invader known as Spitfire was nowhere to be seen.
"The fecking hell…"
A sword swung for Jack's neck, and by the time it struck his energy dagger, all thoughts of Spitfire were gone. She wasn't here, he was and it was that simple to Union Jack's tactical mind. Answers could wait, but the man trying to kill him wouldn't, nor would the approaching Lich who thought Union Jack's turned back was an invitation.
&&&
Yellow Claw smiled in obscene satisfaction. The magics that bent the mighty dragon Fin Fang Foom to his will were far superior to those used by the secret power cabal he'd joined months earlier who sought and failed to fully tame the beast. Unlike those savages, the Yellow Claw always thought two steps ahead, his formulas acting like a virus, slowly and invisibly bending the creature's mind to his will to where the dragon was his most loyal servant.
With the battle raging at his very doorstep, Yellow Claw turned on his heel and strolled away towards his inner sanctum. More drastic measures might be required soon if his soldiers didn't claim victory soon, and Claw wanted to be ready.
Le Peregrine saw the man who'd ordered the death of thousands of his country men just walking away unobstructed as if the entire battle was just something he couldn't be bothered with.
And it pissed the flying hero off.
"CLAW!"
The French hero dove after the villain only seconds after he'd entered his estate. Le Peregrine was half way through mentally counting the tortures he'd inflict upon the man when he collided with a solid but invisible wall that he bounced like a tennis ball off a racket while sending a jolt of energy through his body.
"Kill the infidel!"
His head still swimming and body still tingling, Le Peregrine was targeted by three of Claw's regular soldiers. One man hauled the Frenchman to his feet and gripping the sometimes writer in a headlock while the other two drew their knives. They intended to take their time with the hero, to savor his screams.
Le Peregrine would have none of it. He snapped his head backwards, breaking the nose of the man that held him. Reaching over his head and grabbing the man's neck for support, he lashed out with both legs, striking the other two men in their delicates. As they kneeled over, the savate trained fighter dropped his legs on their far shoulder and brought the two thug's head together. The snap he heard behind his head meant nothing to him.
Grabbing one opponent at random, he slammed the man up against the force field that first obstructed him. The screams were ear piercing, and the smell of burning flesh mixed with feces and urine, but Le Peregrine pushed the man against the barrier with all his strength regardless.
"That's enough!" U.S. Agent grabbed the French soldier by his shoulder and threw him of the man.
"Agent! What are you doing, I was trying to get to Claw!"
"You were torturing that bastard!"
Quake stomped towards them alongside the reluctant Lady Deathstrike, "Yes, fight amongst yourselves. It will only make you that much easier to slay!"
Le Peregrine soared into the air as U.S. Agent threw himself backwards with his shield raised, barely fending off her attack. In the back of his mind, he wondered how long he had before she got her head in the game and spread his guts all across the ground. He only hoped the others were doing better
&&&
Bo Heng Lim Ming and Wen Bao, two tourists who just happened to be walking down the street screamed as Fin Fang Foom towards like the Hindi berg, his massive wing span tearing through buildings like a knife through butter in an out of control crash. They squeezed their eyes together, felt a strange breeze, and two blocks away realized they were in fact still alive.
"Run!" Spitfire shouted to the crowd she'd gathered as superspeed. The giant dragon battling three super heroes only a block away and perhaps only an inch away from danger scattered any translation problems.
A single tear rolled down her cheek as the once Invader raced back into the battle, remembering those she wasn't fast enough to save the first time. She knew she couldn't save everyone. Even at the height of her power, she was no Quicksilver. But in the face of a clash of titans, Spitfire resolved to do everything she could do to save anyone forgotten in this battle of giants.
&&&
Sabra watched in astonishment as Hellios let loose a left hook that snapped back Foom's head like the beast was a 'Rock 'em Sock 'em' child's toy.
Fin Fang Foom's head was reeling, but he'd sooner mate with a human than admit surrender to these specks of flesh. As he brought his head back, he opened fanged mouth and expelled a blast of atomic fire that was powerful enough to melt a battleship in seconds. Both Scarlet Scarab and Sabra flew above the blast, but even with their invulnerable skin and distance they felt their mouths run dry.
Hellios took the superheated plasma straight on, hands on his hips with his cape flapping in the wind in a sign of casual defiance. Fin Fang Foom smirked loudly, the foolishness of the bright little flea who was now less than dust, less than…
"As the Americans say, your bark is less than your bite, dragon."
Hellios hovered before his enemy, his custom completely immaculate, even his teeth shined in the sun light.
"Clearly, I have to beat some more sense into you, beast," Hellios drew his fist back and smiled, "thank you."
It was then Hellios felt as if his very skin was aflame and his blood replaced with acid. The attack lasted only a split second, but felt as though it were an eternity. The pain dulled for a moment, then returned with twice at much force. This time, however, Hellios heard the thunder, and with his blurring, double vision swirling body of air that formed his enemy.
"Tsunami…" the word was filled with equal parts venom and worry. A hero, Hellios had no concern for his own life, but he did worry what might happen should the woman who casually threw him into a coma the first time they fought manage to kill him in round two.
"Hellios, now where have you been hiding?" she taunted, "to think, you just removed your tail from between your legs and now…"
Scarlet Scarab saw the lighting coming, and only barely managed to block it with his own body before it struck his teammate. Thankfully, due to the fact his own powers were fueled by magic Scarab weathered the attack easily.
"Let me handle her," he suggested, "my powers well allow me to combat her more effectively."
"She is made of pure air," Hellios warned, "you cannot hurt her."
"And I think she's proven she can hurt you."
"I have an idea," answered Hellios, "I simply ask you trust me."
Scarab gritted his teeth, "Very well."
"Tsunami! You slanted eye slut!" Hellios taunted, "if you want me, come and get me!"
Hellios sped away with Tsunami hot on his tail. Wordlessly, Sabra and Scarlet Scarab looked at each other, and then towards their giant foe. Fin Fang Foom smiled broadly, revealing teeth larger than the average football player as smoke trickled out his jaw.
"Now, little fleas, where were we?"
&&&
Yellow Claw stared into the mystical artifact known as 'The Heart of Darkness' and watched his minions battle Excalibur. Even in this, his inner most sanctum, he could hear and feel the blows of the battle. Yellow Claw knew his minions would fail him. If they hadn't won by now, they never would. And even if they killed the entire of Excalibur, more heroes would come. X-Force, the mighty Avengers and countless others would be charged with his capture. The Celestial One was not one who cared to be hounded.
One last stand was called for then. An act of magnificence non conformity was required before he departed this world for his ancestors. Plunging his hand deep into the Heart of Darkness, Yellow Claw drank deep into it's strength and felt his strength multiply a thousand fold, again and again.
Within seconds he felt as though he had enough power to eradicate the Western World with a simple shrug.
He wasn't too far off.
&&&
Cybermancer blasted Foundry with every last bit of power her gauntlets had while he answered back with waves of flame that could melt a tank.
"We're at a stalemate, whore, not for long. Surrender, I would hate to damage such beauty."
"Worry about yourself. Now, John!"
An indestructible shield whirled through the air and embedded itself in Foundry's golden metal belly. The Avatar screamed in pain and surprise, faltering in his onslaught long enough for Cybermancer to let loose two mini missiles from her wrists that split the fiery terrorist in two.
"Suzi! Look out!" screamed Agent.
Lady Deathstrike fell upon Cybermancer no louder than the fall of a snow flake and began hacking and slashing at the armored heroine. Indestructible blades propelled by servo motors raked across Cybermancer's body as she fell to the earth. Lady Deathstrike jumped off a moment before impact, and looked at her victim to see that the damage that had be wrought.
"What?"
Cybermancer's armor was virtually unscathed, and there wasn't a mark on the young woman's exposed face.
"How…?"
A EMP blast crashed Deathstrike's neural net, "Force fields turn away edged weapons, especially mine."
U.S. Agent collected his shield and helped his friend to her feet, "Man, I was worried for a sec there…"
"Me too, but…"
Just then, Eshu's elongated body slammed into the old friends.
"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something? 'Cause me and Quake have a problem with each other."
"If I kill him, will that shut you up?"
"Maybe."
"I'll take that bet!"
U.S. Agent picked himself up as Quake rushed towards their position. Jumping into the air, he flung his shield towards his enemy. It bounced off harmlessly, slammed into Lich's head where it ricocheted off the wall and back into U.S. Agent's out stretched hand where he swung it in front of his chest just in time to prevent Quake's fist from collapsing his ribcage.
Darkstar flew back and forth above the battle, blasting the cannon fodder with repeat bursts of darkforce energy. Already she'd downed Old Woman and Warfist with this strategy, and best of all kept her foes looking over their shoulders in hesitation. One bullet had found its way to her heel and another in her shoulder, but two energy bandages later, she was still battle worthy.
Union Jack battled Lich while Le Peregrine watched his flank from the air. Cybermancer dogged Deluge as Ancestor found his incredible strength useless as he sought to remove Eshu's slime like body from around his head, suffocating him. U.S. Agent used every last ounce of skill he had to hold of Quake, knowing the second his teammates defeated their foes they'd help him.
Their enemies were many and powerful, but slowly Excalibur began turning the tide in their favor. They became increasingly confident of their victory, of finally ending the Avatars threat. There was a massive explosion from the estate, and in the settling dust the gathered Excalibur looked up to see their hopes slip through their hands like sand through an hour glass.
&&&
Scarlet Scarab darted above an avalanche of flame that ignited several city blocks behind him. The Arabic hero knew he couldn't let himself be concerned with the lives in danger, but it was still like a knife to his heart to just callously turn away from those who might be in danger to battle some monster.
Fin Fang Foom had the two on the ropes, but Scarab was smart enough to know size wasn't always an advantage. Flying over the monster's head, Scarab landed upon it's back, and plunged his hands into the scaly green flesh with all his strength. Almost instantly, the second generation hero activated his ability to siphon energy and drank deep into Foom's power.
"Arrggh! What treachery is this?" Foom bellowed, loud enough to break every window on the island nation, "you won't steal my holy power, human trash!"
Sabra watched in horror as Fin Fang Foom threw himself backwards, demolishing buildings like sand castles. The entire island shook from the impact, and when Foom picked himself back up, Scarlet Scarab was laying in the center of the (vaguely) dragon shaped crater.
"Scarab!"
Sabra darted towards her teammate, but was plucked from the air like a paper airplane by Foom's claws. Impossibly powerful claws tightened around her waist as Foom sought to burn a hole through her body with just his glare.
"Your friend sought to sup upon me. Perhaps I should sup upon you to return the favor?"
"He is not my friend," with speed and skill, Sabra reached for the claw on Foom's thumb, braced herself and marshalling every last ounce of strength, pulled.
Foom screamed in pain, but it still wasn't enough for the Israel super agent to get free. Luckily, the finger nail she'd just relieved her foe possessed a pointed edge. Sabra thought it only fair to return the nail to the thumb from which it'd come from.
Another roar of pain and spurt of blood, and she was free. Sabra landed next to Scarab's limp form, still in the new crater.
"Scarab, wake up! We have to move!"
"You pathetic, insignificant cow!"
Sabra looked up, and to her horror saw Fin Fang Foom less than fifteen meters away. The savage beast was breathing deeply, and even an idiot knew what that meant. Her anti-gravity cloak was damaged, no guarantee of escape.
"Scarab…!"
Atomic flame rumbled forward like a wall of pure death. Sabra raised her hands in a vain, futile attempt to protect herself.
To her amazement, the flame slammed into a wall of crimson energy.
"I've no love of close calls, Scarab."
"I need your strength," Scarab stated as he stood up.
"What?"
"I wasn't strong enough to hold on," Scarab explained hastily. Foom had stopped his onslaught, but the smoke would conceal them for a few more precious seconds, "With your strength combined with mine, I can drain that beast of his power."
"What on earth makes you think that will work?" snapped Sabra, "if it fails, you'll be dead and I'll be defenseless!"
Scarab reached out his hand, "You'll just have to trust me."
Fin Fang Foom flapped his leathery wings, scattering the blanket of smoke his flames had created. No sooner had the ebony clouds parted than Scarlet Scarab rocketed forward. The hero flew through the monster's shoulder like a bullet, painfully tearing and severing alien muscles and ligaments. When he swung back around, Scarlet Scarab landed upon the back of Foom's neck. He wouldn't be dislodged so easily again.
&&&
U.S. Agent, Le Peregrine, and the rest of Excalibur stared with slack jaws as a ninety foot Yellow Claw loomed over them, regarding them like the ants they now were to him.
"Two giants in one day, this bloody gig doesn't pay enough…"muttered Union Jack.
"Hey Frenchy, you called first dibs, right?" Eshu asked.
Yellow Claw scowled at the collected heroes, and a powerful laser beam lanced down, barely missing Cybermancer and scoring the island bedrock.
"You've finally managed to be somewhat effective, Excalibur. You've actually earned my full attention," observed Yellow Claw, "and that's why you'll die."
Another powerful blast reigned down, this time almost slicing down towards the planet's molten core as the villain tried to eradicate Union Jack and Darkstar.
"Talk about a performance review," Eshu quipped.
"Grab the Avatars, we can use them as hostages!" Le Peregrine shouted.
"I think not."
With casual wave of his giant hand, Yellow Claw teleported his minions away.
"Now, where were we?"
"I was about to end your evil for all time."
Yellow Claw turned around, and was met with an equally giant fist to the face that sent him staggering back.
Scarlet Scarab, standing equally tall and bubbling with energy, stared back at him.
"Come, let us end this."
&&&
"End this?" Tsunami laughed. With a mental shrug, she lashed Hellios with another bolt of lightning that threatened to fry every nerve in the hero's body. If they were on solid ground, the solar powered hero would almost certainly be on his knees, "but we've barely even started!"
But they were not on solid ground, far from it. They were on the very outer edge of the tiny Asian nation of Madripoor. A distance of twenty miles was the farthest Tsunami had allowed him to flee before bringing him to a grinding halt.
Now was the moment of truth for the Greek hero. Marshalling every last once of power his body could give him, Hellios rocketed forward at twice the speed of sound.
Tsunami was at first unimpressed. Physical power meant nothing to her body of solid air. But Hellios changed course, missing her by a wide margin before turning back around in a full circle. Within seconds the hero was nothing more than a swirling blur that surrounded her on all sides. It was then she realized her foe's tactics, he was creating a vacuum!
Hellios flew above, below around and under his foe as she lashed out desperately with lightning to free herself. But she couldn't match his speed, nor cunning. Though she was a creature of pure air, Hellios observed that his foe preferred to unleash her lightning from her hands and he made sure to keep out of the line of fire.
Tsunami screamed, and it sent a chill down Hellios' spine. The first Hellios and Tsunami were founding members of Excalibur and died on their second mission. A small part of him feared history repeating itself here.
The hero created vacuum grew larger and larger, and Tsunami grew more desperate. Her body felt as though every inch was being torn apart, and each thought became harder and harder. As a last ditch effort, she released her power entire, mystic energy blasting outwards in every direction. Even the superfast Hellios wasn't swift enough to avoid it, the blast knocking him towards the mainland, but it didn't matter. By releasing all her power, Tsunami lost the only thing that held her together, and she died only moments before the vacuum would have taken her.
Unfortunately, the ad-hoc weather system created by Hellios didn't magically die like its victim. It was too powerful and created too quickly. The swirling mass of air morphed into a powerful cyclone as it thundered towards the mainland.
&&&
"You shouldn't have embarrassed yourself, Arab," Yellow Claw and Scarlet Scarab were grappling hand to hand as titans, but the ancient terrorist had the hero on his knees, struggling to rise, "your gem can barely contain the power you wield. I can already hear your mind breaking at the strain!"
"Then it's a good thing he doesn't stand alone!"
Darkstar and Cybermancer blasted one of Yellow Claw's eyes with their energies while Le Peregrine threw his last two grenades at the monster's hands, hoping to somehow free Scarab. With a wave of his hand, Yellow Claw dismissed all three. With a smirk he watched as the remainder of Excalibur stood by helplessly. They would die soon enough.
Yellow Claw gripped Scarab by the neck and poured the power of The Heart of Darkness into the Egyptian hero's form.
"Now would be the time to say something memorable for your tombstone, Arab."
Scarlet Scarab's vision blurred and for one brief moment, thought he saw his long dead father. He could feel himself shrinking, the power he stole from Fin Fang Foom escaping the gem or being expended in the battle. He felt as though his brain were on fire, and knew he couldn't keep this up much longer. The power and his own sanity were slipping from his control like grains of sand in an hour glass. One last gamble for the sake of the world.
"In the words of a great Muslim, float like a butterfly…"
The Egyptian hero flew into Yellow Claw, slamming into him and carrying their titanic form high into the air, until the island nation they were fighting upon was just no greater than a dinner plate in the distance.
"…and sting like a bee!"
With that, Scarlet Scarab released every last once of energy his mystic gem contained. Yellow Claw screamed as his flesh was peeled back and body torn apart. So close he was to Scarab's power, it was almost as if he was standing next to a bomb. The astronauts on the International Space Station saw the explosion from half a world away.
Scarlet Scarab smiled as he saw nothing left of his foe. Gravity reclaimed him, and Scarlet Scarab was glad to know that he would die with his mission finished. His world faded to black, his mind needing rest after controlling such incredible energies. He knew none of his flying teammates would save him, as none had the constitution to follow him up this high.
He never saw the white gloved hand that saved him.
&&&
Epilogue 1
The Avatars felt Yellow Claw's termination with the power of the Heart of Darkness as one. They were gathered together on a barge that was slowly making its way out of the territorial waters of Madripoor, concealed by several devises both technological and mystic in origin.
"Our master is dead," Lich said plainly, "what are we to do now?"
"Be thankful that we have our freedom," Lady Deathstrike hissed.
"No, we must honor our master!" Quake rumbled, "Yuriko, you must lead us now!"
"Yes!" Ancestor seconded, "You have more experience than any of us combined! Who better to lead us?"
Lady Deathstrike snorted in disgusted, "Very well. But I must warn you, Avatars…"
The female cyborg ran her finger across Quake's chest suggestively. The monster felt his beat pound in his chest, and then heard something wet and sloppy strike the deck. He looked down to see his own internal organs at his feet.
Her adamantium claws slick with Quake's blood, Deathstrike glared at the stunned terrorists, "You know nothing of honor, of merit. But I will teach you."
Within minutes, the Avatars learned, and knew no more.
&&&
Epilogue 2
"…half of Low Town was destroyed, the cyclone created by Hellios devastated the docks and nearly one thousand innocent lives were lost in the crossfire," the Chinese representative finished. For the last hour, the United Nations Security Council had been grilling Joey Chapman on Excalibur's performance. He wasn't too surprised. But deep down he knew they were more pissed with him for concealing the fact that he had discovered Yellow Claw's base and not divulging that fact to them. The lives and destruction wrought meant less to them than the sting their collective egos suffered realizing that Chapman was playing his own game while they argued. The destruction and lives lost was to be expected. Lies from someone they saw as an underling, were not.
"Tell me, have you anything to add?"
"Only that we recovered the gold and defeated Yellow Claw, preventing him from launching any more terrorist attacks as per my orders."
"And the Avatars?"
"We…found their chunks."
"Still, it is hardly a job well done," the Russian Representative began, "there were riots in Low Town. Local leaders have demanded SHIELD and other U.N. forces leave the island immediately and are demanding compensation. We have little choice but to acquiesce."
"Now wait just one bloody minute!" snapped Chapman, "some of those blighters had to know Claw was there, and didn't do a damned thing! Why should we be responsible for their harboring such a monster!"
"Because that's the way things are run," answered the American Representative, "that aside, your team has endured its first real test, and survived. While your performance has been overall excellent, the record will show that it was your actions that cost us control of Madripoor, something that could have been prevented had we received proper warning."
Chapman bit his tongue, wanting so much to wipe that smug look off his superior's face. But he couldn't. They were talking down to him for one reason and one reason only, to remind him he was on their leash. The droning continued until he finally heard that magic word, 'dismissed'.
Later
Union Jack knocked politely on Chapman's door before he entered.
"You wanted to see me?"
Chapman had a glass of scotch in one hand, "I just wanted to commend you on a fine job. I got fucked up the arse for what went down, but I know the front lines better than those twits."
"And you wanted someone to have a drink with. Misery and company an' all that."
"The thought crossed my mind. Any reason why?"
"Just thinking," Chapman peered into his own reflection in the scotch, "Yellow Claw represented less than one percent of one percent of one billion people. But because he got his hands on some extra normal weaponry and a barely fifty other fools like him, he was able to kill thousands. That's who we protect the world from, that simple dozen among billions."
"Damnation," Union Jack scowled, "now I need a drink…"
Next issue: Did someone notice a Presence in the room?