Zero, arch swordsman, is teaching three young wererats the secrets of swordplay. Due to their healing abilities, wooden swords aren't needed and they seem to be learning quicker. Problem being that Zero marks them full o' fatal wounds each session. He leaves them with a glimpse of hope for the future, then reminds them of payment. One wererat is too impatient though. Lydia. She curses and coerces the other two, Romeo and valley-girl Moisha, into a little journey. To Atlanta...
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Brit's lying in the sun while Gina's Super Construction VOTOMS work on a new addition to the house for her and Stripe. She's got the Peebos helping too. Gina and Penny drive up, mention they'll be in the lab, and ask where Stripe is. He's alone in the backyard grilling up dinner (with telekinesis no less) when a stranger interrupts his thoughts. Agent M of the FBI, who knows Dr. Diggers from way back, lets Stripe know that he handles relations with Class 5 and higher residents of Earth. He gives Stripe a business card, then is gone.
Brit comes back to look in on the food and Stripe when a rustle in the trees gets her attention. She looks up but nothing's there. Lydia, crouched beneath the yard's fence, is scared and muttering something about Brit having the Doom Gaze. Moisha doesn't believe her. Just then, Britanny looks over the fence, hereby freaking out the two girls by looking at them. They bolt, and Brit notices Lydia's tail hole in her body suit.
Down in Gina's lab, she and Penny prepare themselves to examine the Beta item they found in Civ-Alpha (in issue GD Beta #1, last ish.) Gina's lab is still messy from Peachbody's attack waaaaay back, but functional. Gina switches on the computer...
... and they notice that the Sun's core is three times hotter than normal and rising exponentially. (Sigh, here's a word-for-word account. I can't explain it any better than this.) "The 'Generator' works like a capacitor. It's building up a certain amount of power, then it regulates the power's release! The Sun's core is this capacitor's source of power!" "[The Beta creature] turned on the... capacitor. With it on, more of those Beta creatures could invade our phase of reality... but we turned it off. ...What if the creature turned on the capacitor, then simply destroyed the regulator while he was at it? "...With the regulator destroyed," "...this capacitor would have to remain on to have some place for the extra energy to go, otherwise our sun goes... supernova!!"
Gina concludes that they have no choice but to turn the capacitor on, and expect the worst. Penny tries to hand off the key, but Gina doesn't want to even touch it.
Elsewhere, food-gofer boy Romeo has tracked his two teammates back to some house. Moisha's ampleness, seen through the curtains, is the final clue. Inside, as he's explaining the cost of the munchies, the girls interrupt with wide eyes and wild tales about the evil demon Britanny and her Doom Gaze which burned their souls. Romeo takes it that the girls were boozing in his absence. He's proven wrong when the wererat clan elder, Lord Gothwrain, appears from outside. He orders the trio into the car.
He's ticked, royally, at the foul-up earlier as it revealed the existence of the wererats. He claims death to be a fitting punishment, but the Council has too much at stake in them with their fighting abilites. So, he makes the warriors put silver blades to their throats. Their souls sear and the stench fills the car, all while Gothwrain orders them to keep silent. He ends it, and offers them information so they don't screw up again...
First, he reminds them that silver shouldn't be feared by wererats, and that they will respect it. All werecreatures are supernatural, making their magical souls tangible. It surrounds their bodies like an aura, but reacts harshly when in contact with silver. Too much silver will obliterate the soul. The magical soul allows the ability of shapeshifting, enhanced healing and any other abilities given to the hybrid form. Wererats specifically get increased agility and supernatural strength, being designed to become the ultimate assassin race. When silver touches the soul of a werecreature, it negates the use of any enhancements, including healing.
Lydia asks what Lord Gothwrain meant by "We were designed..."
He can't believe he said that, then tells the trio that this information is confidential. Long ago, an archmage named Iceron created magical creatures for hobby. His enemies were great, though, so he created the weredogs to protect his home, and the wererats to assassinate his foes. The wererats were a complete success, whereas the weredogs failed miserably. So Iceron made werewolves out of the now extinct Grizzly wolves. They, the ultimate guardian race, defended against almost anything. Almost. One wererat, Sherisha, slipped in through their defenses and assassinated Iceron. The werewolves pounced on her, but she declared freedom to all and slipped away in the confusion. See, the wererats had become immune to Iceron's influence while abroad, whereas the werewolves still were loyal. Until Iceron's death. They also fled.
But Iceron wasn't quite dead, and decided to destroy the wererats. To do this, he created the werecats out of lions, panthers, tigers, jaguars and others. They were great, and Iceron was about to destroy the failures when he noticed the werecheetahs. They had been catching mice and rats naturally to feed their diets; they were naturally the best exterminators. Iceron gave the werecheetahs the Gorgon-like "Doom Gaze" that would make any wererat who saw it unable to act for sheer terror. It worked and the wererat population went near extinct. Lord Gothwrain then explained that Britanny, alone and last of the werecheetahs, could singlehandedly bring down the entire wererat clan. That's why the training with blades. He then gives the trio a test...
(phew)
In the lab, Gina and Penny are completing the experiment of creating a Beta tool. The procedure is as delicate as a nuclear bomb, so they're being extra careful. Behind them, Brianna sneaks in with Raphiel's soul key in hand to learn where it originated: Jade. She leaves. The Beta tool, a phantom ring, is completed. It makes 73 tons of mass feel like two pounds. Gina goes to get a reluctant Britanny to test it. Brit's too busy opening her wedding presents though, until Gina shows hers. It says "For always being there...", and Brit melts.
She puts her hand through the ring and feels nothing. When she tries to take it off, however, she can't. Gina and Penny realize that Brit, who can barely lift two tons of mass, can't begin to get 73 tons off of her. Luckily, the gravity's not the same and it's inertia-less, so Brit can move freely about with it on and just can't get it off. She's scared so she tries to leave, blowing the blast door off with an additional 73 tons of force behind her. Gina and Penny get the phantom ring off and they begin to tell Brit how the thing works until Gina tells her it's better that she not know.
Brit leaves and gets ambushed by the wererats, who in a cloud of smoke and pinch of the butt, leave Britanny with a new collar. One that jingles constantly and cannot be removed...
Once again, I apologize about this review's length. But the stories just keep getting more in depth!!! A great issue, with my favorite part being Romeo's reaction to Moisha and Lydia's 'monster' claims. I can't help but to get the voice of James Marsters (BtVS' "Spike") out of my head when he talks. The writing and lengthy revelations were excellent. Sorry I couldn't sum them up any better. Art here is a constant - beautiful.
(out of four.)
Super Construction VOTOMS - based off of the anime VOTOMS
Britanny's pet names - quite similar to a lot of cereals
Mac Dees - McDonalds have sued for less...
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