Chapter 21: “Silenced.”
Written by: Mountjoy

  “Where...are..”  *BBLLAASSTT*  If Elizabeth Twoyoungmen had time to finish
that sentence, she would have said we, but as she takes a quick look around
after dodging the mystic fire blast she learns she is quite alone.  Alone,
that is, except for TOLAMAQ, the Beast of Hellfire!  It's been too long since
TOLAMAQ has smelt human fear, and he wants more.
  “I remember you, daughter of power, and this shall be the last time we
meet.”  
  “That's right, because this time we're going to put you down for
good.”  With that, Talisman gathers all the mystic energy and rechannel it
into a deadly blast...or so she thought.  “Nothing... nothing’s happening!”

* * * * *

  As a super-hero, and as the shaman to the ancient Sarcee tribe, Michel
Twoyoungmen has seen a lot.  But as he wakes up in the bleak black and white
landscape of the Realm of the Beasts, even he is a little bit stunned.  
  “Narya!  Elizabeth!  Stephen!  Can you hear me?  The Great Beasts were ready
for us,” Shaman  says to himself “  they must have separated us in the
portal so they could defeat us more easily.”
  “That is all too true, mortal.”
  “Who?... KOLOMAQ, beast of Winter!  How are you here?  Snowbird defeated you long ago!”  
  “One of the Beasts is already on Earth, he feed me from my earthen grave.
Now under Somon we shall concur all!” with that, a great blizzard the likes
of which Shaman has never felt engulfs the entire area.

 * * * * *

  Young Kara Killgrave returns home from a exciting night at the Cineplex
Central, seeing, as she put it, “a horrible blood and guts movie with NO
plot.”  But she didn't mind the less than adequate directing job, as long
she was next to 'the proper company.'  
  “England was nice, but THIS is the life.  I think I've died and gone to...”
she stops on her words, as she reads a very involved e-mail.
 

>From : Elizabeth Twoyoungmen ELTM: twoyoungmen@utoronto.com Sent  :
Friday, May 23, 1997  10:51 PM To   : Kara Killgrave, Kyle Gibney,
Madison and Lillian Jeffries Subject: Alpha Flight

 Dear Ms. Kara Killgrave, Mr. Kyle Gibney, Mr. Madison and Mrs. Lillian Jeffries

Hi, I don't know you and you don't know me, and I don't know you, but this
is a matter of life or death.  I assume you know Elizabeth Twoyoungmen
(Talisman), whose apartment I'm at now, and the rest of Alpha Flight.
Well, anyway, they went off to the center of all worlds or something and I
was left to baby-sit Narya's (Snowbird) daughter.  Oh yes, Snowbird and her
daughter are now alive again, but don't ask me how.  Anyway the baby, who is
half god I think, grew up a couple years in a couple hours a flew out the
window and now I need your help!  I think all of Alpha, plus some guy
named Dr. Strange, are in need of your help!  Please respond and come here as
some as possible.  The address is 2439 Viking Drive, apartment 13, Toronto,
Canada.  Hurry!

“......wow.”
 

Chapter 22: “Without Words.”
Written by: Matthew Davidson

 Eugene Milton Judd awoke, his head pounding and his Dwarven body
aching. His vision focused slowly, and he started to remember what had
happened.... Something had struck him from behind, something fast. He
surveyed his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was. The room he
was in was empty, almost sterile, with metallic walls, floor and ceiling.
The only deviation from this theme was a mirror, and what he was restrained
with: He was shackled in a large orb, like that of a virtual reality game. 
 “Damn!” he grunted, straining against the restraints. Suddenly, out
of the corner of his eyes, he caught a flicker of movement near the
mirror.... In the mirror... “Whoever you are, come out of there! I can see
you, eh!”
 There was a buzzing, electronic noise, and suddenly a voice. “Hello,
Puck, glad to see your back to the land of the living.... Is there anything
you'd like? A cup of tea, maybe some freshly brewed coffee?”
 “Where are Guardian and Vindicator?”
 “The happy couple are quite alright.... Nice and comfortable just
like you.”
 “Where have I heard that voice?” mumbled Puck pensively, trying to
remember.

“You idiot! It's not that hard!” shouted the voice violently. “Come
on Puck think!”
 Behind the glass, Flashback started to laugh hysterically.

* * * * *

  Heather struggled against her restraints, also. She, however was in
a different situation than Puck. She was tied up with ropes, stripped of her
suit. She sighed in frustration, and fell back against the bed of her cell.
Through the bars she could see her suit on a rack, and her husband standing
lifeless against a wall, several wires running into his temples.
 Her wrists started to bleed. “It's hopeless. If only the others
would show up....”
 Then a door opened, with Northstar standing behind it. He entered,
chomping a bowl of unappetizing slop. Heather now noticed a glowing
electronic device located on the back of his head. “That must be the reason
he's being controlled.” Heather thought. She had to get out of these ropes.
As she stood up, she noticed something she hadn't before, there was a jagged
metal outlet on the far wall, it looked as though there had been a switch
there before. Heather quickly broke a piece of the metal free and used it to
cut though the bindings.
 She pounced on the mutant speedster's back, trying to rip the mind
control device from his head. He fought her off, but was slowed by the
implant. She kicked him in the knee, sending him reeling into the wall
behind him. There was a fountain of sparks as the device shorted out. 
 Jean-Paul rubbed his head, confused. “What happened Heather?”
 “Someone planted some sort of mind device on you. You and Aurora
attacked Mac, Puck and me!” 
 “So, you've gotten free have you?” said a voice from behind them.
“Well, we can fix that can't we?” Behind them stood a woman in a yellow and
white suit, similar to Vindicator's, and a young man*.

Chapter 23: “Seeds of the Future”
Written by: Sue Wong

  “Child of man!” Kariooq sniveled as he surveyed Snowbird holding
her child. “This is better than we ever could have planned.”
  “You horrid beast!” Snowbird shouted,  holding her small son
protectively. “Whatever do you mean?”
  “I mean...” the hideous creature said with a sneer in his voice,
“that not only are the Beasts' progeny in the world beyond, but we now have
_your_ whelp here where we can wipe both of you out, and thus, insure that
our children will be able to conquer the world --with _no_ interference
with the descendents of Nelvanna --_or_ their allies! Even now, your
associates here are in serious trouble!”
  Perhaps this may have been true when the members of Alpha Flight
had first arrived in the realm of the Beasts. But what Kariooq did not know
was that already Snowbird's allies were beating back the Great Beasts.
  Tolamaq could not defeat Talisman. Every time he had tried,
Talisman used her magical powers to protect herself from being consumed by
the magical flames.
 “Hey, dummy!” Elizabeth Twoyoungmen called out. “Why don't you
just give up? You should know by now you can't win!”
  The fire Beast hissed and dwindled into nothingness. One Beast
defeated. 
   Likewise, St. Elmo the Lightkeeper defeated Kolomaq. St. Elmo's
lightblasts blinded the Great Beast of winter to the point where Kolomaq
could not see that Tundra had risen from in back of him. Now, Tundra
grasped Kolomaq in a huge, earthy embrace . Both Beasts went down into a
huddle...and then, suddenly disappeared.
   “My thanks, St. Elmo,” Shaman said. “How wonderful to see you
again after all these years. Will you be coming back with us?”
   “I hope to,” St. Elmo said. “There will be great need of my powers in the world beyond. Now, we must hurry to your daughter. And then, to the daughter of Nelvanna and her small son.” 
   Shaman and St. Elmo hurried to where Talisman seemed to await them.
 Talisman grinned. “ Hey, Dad, aren't you going to introduce me to your giant friend?”
  “Introductions later, Daughter,” Shaman said, as he came up to Talisman, and took her arm to propel her past. “We must hurry to help our friends. Every minute we stay here in the realm of the Beasts is another minute when the Beasts will stand a better chance of victory back in the real world.”
  “Dad, I don't understand....” Talisman began.
 “The Beasts hope to keep us here long enough for their progeny to have a chance to conquer the world outside,” Shaman explained. “The sooner we can defeat the parents here, the sooner we can get back into the world beyond to defeat their children. Now, we must find Somon the Artificer. If we can destroy him, the remaining Beasts will turn on each other, and will lose interest in penetrating the world outside.”
   Snowbird held her son against her breast. Her eyes blazed white. “My son is a scion of the gods _and_ he has the soul of a great Tibetan lama in him as well. You shall not corrupt him, Kolomaq!”
   “Oh, my dear,” Kolomaq said. “Why do you think it was so important for you to be here? Not only are we keeping you from defending the world beyond from our progeny, but we also have the great bonus of the chance to corrupt a descendant of the Gods ---to bring to _our_ side!”
  “Do not be too sure of that, Beast,” Snowbird hissed back. “My son may have too much power for that!”
  Suddenly, Snowbird's son broke free from her arms. He assumed the form of a gyrfalcon, and streaked away from his mother.
  “My son!” Snowbird cried. “Where are you going?” She shapeshifted into the form of a snowy owl, and flew after him, leaving a bewildered Kariooq behind. 
  Snowbird's son flew towards the platform where Somon had Dr. Strange encased in a tight cage. A green, acid-like substance was slowly oozing towards the Sorcerer Supreme.
  The small gyrfalcon ripped into Somon's body. The artificer screamed, and tried to fight the small bird off with his staff.
  Then, the larger snowy owl appeared. She dropped to the platform, shapeshifted briefly into her human form, and then, took the form of a polar bear. It did not take long for the polar bear to finish Somon off. He was weaker than he had wanted others to think.
  When Somon was destroyed, the effects of his magic began to disappear. The green ooze vanished. Dr. Strange's cage was magically shattered, and he was freed.
  “My thanks, Narya,” Dr. Strange said. “And I am most impressed by your son. Instinctively, he knew that to defeat Somon was to defeat _all_ the Beasts.”
  Snowbird held out her arms in time to catch her small boy, who transformed from his gyrfalcon form to his human one. “He will be a great champion yet,” she said with some pride in her voice.
 Just then, Shaman, Talisman, and St. Elmo arrived. Talisman
looked around. “Seems like we're too late to defeat Somon here. Which suits
me fine. I'm sick of these Beasts, and want to get back into the real world.”
 “It would seem we have much to do there,” Snowbird said. “And...look!”
 Tanaraq and Kariooq were wrestling each other. Sasquatch lumbered up in time to join the other heroes to watch. 
  Shaman took a handful of ice crystals from his pouch. “Let's finish this fight, shall we?” He hurled the ice crystals onto Kariooq. The ugly Great Beast screamed and dwindled into nothing. The corrupter, defeated by ice, the preserver.
 “And _I_ shall deal with Tanaraq,” Snowbird cried, shapeshifting into the form of a white Sasquatch. She bounded toward him, and the battle was brief. Once again, Snowbird managed to kill this Great Beast by ripping into his body.
  Sasquatch was a bit nervous about this. Hadn't he a symbiotic link with Tanaraq? Wouldn't killing Tanaraq destroy him, also?
  It would seem not. Snowbird, returning from her victory over Tanaraq, shapeshifted back into her human form, and answered Walter's unspoken question. “Fear not, Walter Langkowski,” she said in a soothing voice. “The Beast was only trying to frighten you into submission and defeat. You have gone through too much --particularly the last time you were here, in the Well of Souls-- for him to be able to corrupt you and
claim any link with you.”
 “Well,” Walt said, “that's a load off my mind.”
 “Come now, my friends,” Snowbird continued, with her son in her embrace. “We have seen the Beasts defeated. Now, we must return to the world in time to defeat their next generation.”
 “If we can....” Talisman said doubtfully.
 Snowbird looked down at her child. “I would say that we have a chance.”
 Shaman withdrew the Great Key from his pouch to begin the incantation that would bring them back.

Chapter 24: “The Temper Of The Inferno Ahead”
Written by: Adam-X@juno.com

“C'rest, who are deze people?” Aurora stopped, facing the two figures standing
before them.
 “I recognize them,” Puck growled. “Temper and Inferno... they're from Omega
Flight - and that means they're on the wrong side of the team.”
 “Zare's only two of zem! Let's take care of zem and get on wit' zis!” Aurora
said, and before anyone could move, was already in motion...
 “That's right,” Temper smiled. “Come on...”
 Just as Aurora drew close - even moving at her incredible speed - she stopped
in mid flight and collapsed to the ground, as if all her life had been robbed from her. Northstar screamed, “Monsters! What have you done?!” And he was the next to move - and despite his speed as well - the same fate befell him when he drew too close to Temper.
 “Curse it!” Puck growled. “They got tempers quicker than their feet, eh?”
 “Now the odds are a little more even,” Inferno laughed. “Now it's two against
two and a half, eh, Puck?” The last words were bitter and harsh. There was some
connection between Puck and these two - but there was no time to find out what
that connection was. “You always thought you were hot stuff, eh, Inferno? With
your little lava lamp powers, eh? How many times have I beaten you to the
ground, eh? What makes you think this time will be any different than the last?”
 The ground erupted with explosive results. Puck quickly, and with little
effort, tumbled out of the way, while Vindicator and Guardian took to the air.
 “This has gotten out of hand,” Vindicator growled. “We're taking them down
now, and we're taking them down hard. I am not sure what's going on here,
fighting people you and Puck claim to be dead - and now these people from
Omega Flight...”
 “I guess you can't keep a dead person down...”
 “Who the - ?” Vindicator, Guardian and Puck turned... at were at a loss
for words... save one.
 “Flashback?”
* * * * *

 “Was it me or did that seem too... easy?” Sasquatch muttered, as they headed for the gate that would return them to Earth...
 “Easy?” Talisman coughed sarcastically, as she began weaving her hands in an ancient pattern.
 “No,” Snowbird cut in, her voice as cold as the winter's fall, as she held her son - so caring, and warmly - contrasting her voice, and her white, snow like pupils. “Walter is correct... the battle turned too easily...”
 “What are you suggesting, Nayra? That this is a trap? A setup?” Shaman asked, nervously glancing at Doctor Strange and Talisman, whose magic was stronger than his own - wondering if they detected anything. 
 “No,” Snowbird said again, tilting her head slightly. “The Great Beasts here... they were testing us... finding our strengths and weaknesses... Somehow they are communicating to their Children on the other side... there on Earth... They know that only we - as Alpha Flight - can stop them... they needed to learn who was in Alpha Flight now... what we could or couldn't do... Now they've learned... now they know what to expect... Surprise is no longer on our side...”
 The Magical Gate opened, and they stepped into the swirling colors...
 It felt as if their souls were being pulled from their very bodies, into the
colorful doorway beyond... and it felt as if it took a minute or two for their bodies to catch up to their travelling souls...

 Earth. The Eye Of The World.
 Walter ran off to the side and threw up what remaining food he had in his stomach - and anything else that might have been there and between his mouth. He wretched and held his gut, trying to gasp and breathe when he could. “I hate how that feels,” he managed to choke. He collapsed to the side, when he finished wrenching and looked around, dazed.
 Elizabeth Twoyoungmen placed her hands on her hips, and smiled coyly. “Well look, Walt' - I'd like to see you try and make it better!”
 Doctor Strange placed his hand on Snowbird's shoulder and whispered in her ear. “Nayra, it is nice to see you among the living again... And I wish I could stay and help more... but -”
 Snowbird turned, still holding her son close. “Say no more, Stephen. I understand.” She smiled at him warmly - again contrasting her cold appearance.
 Doctor Strange bowed, and closed his eyes. He changed a few words and held the necklace he wore... in a brilliance of light, he was gone.
 “Where did the good Doctor get off to?” Elizabeth asked.
 “He has matters of his own he needs to take care of back in the States...”
 “Hope he feels better than I do with that magic travelling thing...”
 Talisman shot Walter a dirty look and laughed...
 Right now, they were bathing in their victory over the Great Beasts, and how easy their victory was... trying not to think of Snowbird's words... That this had all been a test to learn Alpha Flight's weakness... and now the Children of the Great Beasts would be even more ready for them... when the time came to face them... 
 ... and that time would come soon.
 All too soon.

Chapter 25: “Escape.”
Written by: Seng

   They were surrounded. Mere moments ago, they faced off against two of Omega
Flight's deadliest members: Inferno and Temper - almost even odds. Now, a dozen, if not more, gaunt men in white and sable filled the room. Even by Puck's accounting, they were outnumbered and even perhaps outclassed.
  “Surprised, my friends?” one of the white and sable clad men sneered. 
  “Thought I had gone the way of old villains?”
  Mac launched himself into the air, threw up an E-M shield. “Watch your backs
everyone. He's everywhere!”
  “I am indeed,” the Flashbacks gloated, their laughter mingling into an
insane cacophony. “Take them my Omegans!”
  The world erupted into fire as Inferno summoned flames from the earth.
Guardian turned, in time to see Puck suddenly jump at her.
  “What? Judd-?” His action took her completely by surprise, as did the punch
that knocked her senseless to the ground.
  “Heather!” Vindicator shouted above, surprised at the sudden treachery of
the man he had long regarded friend and team-mate. Instinctively, he sent a
barrage of E-M pulses in Puck's direction. The dwarf nimbly leapt away,
laughing. There was something tinny about his voice as he cartwheeled from
the blasts.
  “Surprised, Vindicator?” the Flashbacks said as one. “That old friends
should turn against you so suddenly?”
  Realization dawned on Mac. “Blast you!” he cried, blocking off a gout of
magma that had erupted from the ground beneath him. “That's not Puck is it?”
He looked down at Northstar and Aurora lying prone on the ground. Were these
the real Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie, or were they imposters too?
  He did not have time to ponder long as Inferno unleashed more fire at him.
Quickly, he prioritized the situation. He had to get Heather to safety --
and then get the both of them out of here. Find the real Puck, Northstar and
Aurora if he could.
  He swooped down, still shielded from the flames (though his cybernetic
readings told him that the E-M shields would not last long under this
punishment), and grabbed Heather.
  Grounding himself was a mistake -- the Flashbacks piled on him, joined by
the ersatz Puck. He struggled against their weight, pulling as much power as
he could from his systems to enhance his strength. In one burst of E-M
force, he lifted himself off the ground, Heather in his arms, sending the
Flashback and false Puck tumbling to the ground. Another E-M pulse burned a
sizeable hole in the ceiling and he flew through.
  The Flashbacks yowled in anger. “Get him! Get him!”

* * * * *
 

  In another room within the complex, the real Puck struggled uselessly
against the restraints that held him within the orb. The orb generated some kind of field which dulled his mind and numbed his muscles, making his enhanced strength effectively useless. He ground his teeth, thinking hard. Minutes ago, Flashback had revealed himself to be the mastermind behind this entire thing. In true fashion for a villain, the man had proudly outlined his plans to Puck, thinking the dwarf helpless to act against him. If the
madman was right, then Judd had little time to act before Flashback's plan came to fruition.
  The field had to be generated by something. Puck scanned the chamber, looking for some kind of generator but if there actually was one, it was not in the room.
  Suddenly, a loud humming filled the room and the ceiling burst open in a shower of sparks and golden energy. Puck's spirits lifted -- he recognized the energy signature -- but his heart sank when he saw the prone woman in Vindicator's arms as he flew into the room.
  “Judd? Is that you?” Mac asked.
  “The one and only, eh?” Puck asked. “Why-?”
  Mac shook his head. “Long story. Let's see if we can get you out of that.”
  He shorted out the restraints with his E-M bursts and cracked open the orb. Judd stepped out unsteadily, still shaky from the effects of the field.
  “I'll be okay, eh. Just give me a moment,” he said.
  “That's about all we've got,” Mac said as alarms sounded throughout the
complex. Quickly, he informed Judd of Flashback. Judd nodded. “And there's
more. It looks like Monroe is even more crazy than we first thought, eh.
What he's got planned: if we don't put a stop to it, then it's going to be
hell for Canada... and the world.”