The fists flew furiously on the front law of the hospital grounds in the middle of downtown
Vienna. Try as he might, Max could not snap Benedict out of his kiss-induced trance. The
zombie Juliet's seductive powers were strong, and the only thing Benedict desired at that moment
was to embrace her . . . and that meant getting Max out of the way!
If it was the embrace of a beautiful woman that would snap Benedict out of the trance, then it was
like divine intervention when two maidenly arms wrapped around Benedict's torso from behind.
Like magic - or the dissipation thereof - Benedict roused from his violent stupor. The two men
turned to see a comely red-haired young woman shrieking in a Scottish brogue about how such
behavior was "unbecoming of members of the Empire Club." Although Max and Benedict hadn't
a clue who she was, Deirdre Kayleigh Campbell, of the Glasgow Campbells, knew them well.
Determined to make a name for herself and gain admission into the Empire Club some day,
Deirdre knew every detail about the lives of every Empire Club Member from New York to Hong
Kong. She exhorted the men to "put on some decent clothes" because the reserved tickets for
Empire Club members to the American Archaeological Society symposium at the Vienna Civic
Centre across the street were waiting for them at the door. Turning their bewildered gazes across
the street, Benedict and Max noticed that one of the banners outside the Civic Centre bore the
symbol of the Phoenix Horde, Wo-Feng's Mongolian army!
Meanwhile, the real Juliet awoke in the passenger cabin of the Bellerophon, to see below her what
appeared to be the Dead Sea, not the Mediterranean. Stirring Alistair, she led him to the cockpit
only to find that Sammy was gone, replaced by a zombie replica! Retreating toward the cargo
bay, Juliet and Alistair found the real Sammy bound and gagged in a cargo crate. After a bit of a
struggle, the crew managed to entrap the zombie in the crate, but by the time they had done so,
the Bellerophon had lost so much altitude, that Sammy had no choice but to make an emergency
landing in the middle of the Dead Sea. A magnificent, ancient war junk emerged from the fog,
piloted by Wo-Feng's son, Hugala Khan, and the crew was taken prisoner, the life raft left to drift
. . .
In the limousine on the way back to the Hotel Diplomat, Wilhelm revealed to the zombie Juliet
that he knew what she was. Throwing herself on Wilhelm's meager mercy, she confessed that an
Indian mystic named Tabar Mahatra, working on behalf of Professor Ozymandius, forced her to
drive a wedge between the two Americans. Once he was assured that she had divulged all she
knew of Mahatra's doings, Wilhelm, in his trademark fashion, destroyed her.
Max and Benedict arrived at the symposium to find that the guest speaker, and Deirdre's date,
was none other than Max's old Princeton University buddy, and world-renowned
archaeologist-adventurer, Dr. Indiana Jones. Dr. Jones beseeched the attendants to donate funds
to the excavation of the old Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul to renovate the structure into a
museum for posterity. Citing, seriatim, the treasures that could be unearthed, he mentioned the
famed Gordian Knot, the knot Alexander the Great sliced open, and which, as myth had it, would
enable its possessor to determine the fate of all Asia.
Across the continent, Hugala Khan had beaten Jones to the punch at excavating the Hagia Sophia.
Alistair, Sammy, Prince Farouk and Juliet were marched as prisoners into the vast excavation site
beneath the mosque, where hundreds of shackled prisoners dug and picked at the stone floor in
search of the Gordian Knot so that Hugala Khan himself could rule over Asia. Khan promised
Mahatra that he would turn Juliet over to Ozymandius in return for his gracious services.
Mahatra somberly agreed and removed himself from the dig site as Juliet and her companions
were imprisoned in a makeshift cell.
After the symposium, a bomb blast at the Diplomat Hotel obliterated Dr. Jones' hotel room. Max,
Benedict and Wilhelm emerged from their own rooms to find a blackened crater where Dr. Jones'
bed used to be. Moments later, Dr. Jones emerged, bewildered, from Deirdre Campbell's hotel
room, looking in horror at the charred remains of his expedition crew - two dead and one mortally
injured. Fearing that the safety of his expedition had been compromised, Dr. Jones resolved to
leave immediately, and beseeched Max, Benedict and Wilhelm to help him, in place of his former
crew, while Deirdre stayed behind to tend to the sole survivor of the blast.
Max noticed a suspicious man in a fez rushing from the hotel and the heroes gave chase. The man
led them to a plane and the heroes hijacked it, making their way to Istanbul where they found the
abandoned Bellerophon, and the zombie Sammy, afloat in the Dead Sea. Heading for the
mosque, the group stormed the subterranean excavation site, freeing their companions and
battling the Phoenix Horde halberdiers only moments after Khan's diggers uncovered their bounty.
During the commotion, the braziers lighting the dig site were overturned, setting the site on fire.
As Hugala Khan attempted to make an escape with the Gordian Knot by means of a makeshift
ladder on the far end of the dig site, Benedict used his Sinanju to hurl a halberd far across the
yawning, fiery expanse separating the heroes and Khan. With his dying breath, Khan let the Knot
drop into the flames, destroying it, much to Dr. Jones' horror. On the cavern floor, however, one
lone slave shattered his shackles with his pick-axe, proclaiming with a newfound hope that the
fate of Asia was now no one's to command . . .
Episode Twelve: At the Point of a Dagger
A millennium ago, the Phoenix Horde conquered a proud tribe of Arabian warriors led by
Rukh-al-Diin. Although al-Diin was executed, four items in his possession - a dagger, a
medallion, a sword, and a spear - were entrusted to an early master of Sinanju, Liu the
Lesser.
A similar dagger, obtained in Istanbul, was presented to Dr. Jones, who quickly identified it as a
forgery. Blithely, he threw it aside as he took leave of the Empire Club members, but Juliet felt
something mystical emanating from the artifact. Upon closer inspection, Wilhelm and Benedict
discovered a combination lock on the pommel which revealed a secret compartment. Inside, a
map to the "Cave of a Thousand Daggers" led them to the conclusion that the Phoenix Horde Dr.
Jones spoke of must be located there, and they set off in search of Cara.
During a stopover in Delhi to tend to Max's wounds, Juliet encountered a vision of the spirit of an
aged Korean man who informed her that the dagger had found its owner, and that Benedict must
fulfill the prophesy in lieu of Liu the Lesser.
Meanwhile, across the continent, Sir Heathcliffe awoke to find himself in a train carriage, at the
pont of Simeon Schrek's gun. When asked, Schrek revealed that he was taking Sir Heathcliffe to
his immolation.
In Delhi, Wilhelm, Sammy and Juliet set off to search for some herbs to make a healing salve for
Max. As Benedict, Max, and Prince Farouk set off to dispose of a Phoenix Hordesman they had
taken prisoner from Istanbul, they noticed that they were being tailed by two Japanese men.
Cornered by the heroes, the men, led by one Mr. Moto, revealed that they were emissaries from
the Japanese government searching for the fabled weapons of Rukh-al-Diin for their own
purposes.
Giving the Phoenix Hordesman a taste of his own medicine, Benedict and Prince Farouk stripped
him of everything but a loin cloth and set off to sell the man into slavery. Down a dark alley by a
seedy marketplace, they found a small building in which was a band of men wearing the telltale
yellow scarf of India's dreaded Thuggee cult. Their leader proclaimed that they would get a good
price for the Hordesman, but it would pale in comparison to the price they would get for Benedict
and Prince Farouk!
Upon their return to the plane, Wilhelm, Sammy and Juliet elicited from the injured Max a hazy
account of the events. As Wilhelm applied the healing poultice to Max's wounds, a company of
armed men knocked on the hatch of the plane. King Fuad of Egypt strode in as Wilhelm opened
the hatch, demanding that his son be returned to him immediately . . .
Episode Thirteen: Shiva's March
In a far off land in the penumbral regions between time, space and shadow, lay a palatial realm
called the Phoenix Palace. It was there that Wo-Feng summoned Cara to meet the erlkonig. He
explained that the time had come to chose between her new responsibilities and her friends
because Feng and the Phoenix Palace were in imminent danger of destruction.
Meanwhile, Simeon Schrek lead Sir Heathcliffe through The Valley of Miseries, by the Ganges
River, toward a cave mouth, where he intended to destroy the Great White Hunter and turn him
into one of Ozymandius' zombie slaves. Deep in the bowels of the honeycombed cave, in an
elaborate throne room, lay the unconscious forms of Prince Farouk, Benedict and the Phoenix
Hordesman prisoner. As Sir Heathcliffe was tied up, Schrek and Tabar Mahatra "prepared" the
Mongolian for his immolation.
Back at the Bellerophon, Alistair discovered that the secret spy radio transmitter he carried in his
bag had enabled the King to track the plane to Delhi. Wilhelm convinced the King to allow the
party twenty-four hours to deliver his son. Following Max's hazy account of Benedict and Prince
Farouk's intention to sell the Phoenix Hordesman into slavery, the party made their way to the
seedy Subai Marketplace, where they found a beggar selling the Prince's fez and Benedict's jacket
for a pittance. Wilhelm's merciless interrogation techniques revealed that the beggar found the
items in a nearby building where bodies were strewn about with a distinct blood-red mud caked
on their boots. Recognizing the mud from the dreaded "Valley of Miseries," Wilhelm directed the
party to the site, where they discovered the cave mouth that led them to the throne room where
the remainder of the party was bound. The group battled their way through the Janissary guards
in a futile effort to rescue their companions. As Benedict was mortally wounded in the battle,
Simeon Schrek revealed himself, claiming to have obtained a higher consciousness when Tabar
Mahatra animated him from the dead. Believing himself to be Shiva incarnate, the Hindu God of
Destruction, Schrek presented himself as the "Dead Night Tiger" and revealed his intention to use
the Dagger of al-Diin to take over The Phoenix Palace and assume his rightful position of
erlkonig, coveted by his former employer, Professor Ozymandius.
Juliet commenced a convocation ritual to summon the spirit of the aged Korean Sinanju master
who originally stood against Wo-Feng, Liu the Lesser himself! Liu's spirit appeared and healed
Benedict as Juliet announced to the Janissaries that Schrek was an imposter and that Benedict was
the true Night Tiger. With the spirit of Liu as Benedict's testament, Benedict and his newfound
army descended upon the zombie Schrek like carrion upon a cadaver.
With an army of warriors in tow, the heroes retrieved Prince Farouk and returned him to King
Fuad, who awaited their return in Delhi. During the commotion of the Prince's return, Juliet
pilfered the Crown Jewels of Egypt right out from under the King's chiseled nose and hurriedly
ushered her companions back to the Bellerophon, which was far to small to transport the
hundreds of Janissaries to the Cave of a Thousand Daggers.
Wilhelm contacted his old friend, Haitian ship captain Toussaint D'Artagenauve, known more
affably as Mr. Darvy. Mr. Darvy readily agreed to transport the Janissaries to mainland China on
his ship The Jade Nile, particularly when he learned that their mission was to rescue his farmer
ward and "Mojo Princess," Cara, from the clutches of the warlord Wo-Feng. Meeting the crew of
the Bellerophon in Bangkok, Juliet gave Wilhelm two of the pieces of the Egyptian crown jewels,
one of which was intended as payment to Mr. Darvy for his services.
Upon docking in mainland China and marching the entire day, the crews of the Bellerophon and
The Jade Nile, and the army of Janissaries, encountered a group of fifth columnist Phoenix
Hordesmen, who agreed to march along side their impressive phalanx to storm Wo-Feng's
Phoenix Palace. At first light, the allied armies marched on, and found the fabled Cave of a
Thousand Daggers with the help of the indigenous yeti beasts of legend. Benedict conducted an
ancient ritual to locate The Phoenix Palace by shedding the blood of an "unsuspecting enemy," in
this case, the Janissary who revealed the Valley of Miseries to Schrek. As the dagger began to
glow and melt away, the drops of molten metal formed a portal through which a forbidding
mountain pass and stone wall could be seen.
Standing before the army and their allies, Benedict shouted, "Forward, to vengeance!" and led the
impressive phalanx through the portal to confront Wo-Feng one last time . .
.
Episode Fourteen: Death, Then Life Again
Laying siege to Wo-Feng's ancient Phoenix Palace, the heroes, allied with the Janissaries of
Arabia, the native yeti beasts of Mongolia, the crew of The Jade Nile, and the fifth columnist
Phoenix Hordesmen, stormed the palace grounds as Wo-Feng's minions, the halberdiers of the
Phoenix Horde, confronted their attackers with their blades whirling. Sammy Palermo and Max
arrived in the Bellerophon with none other than the young Janos Proshaka (soon to be of The
Black Hawks) and his airborne comrades-in-arms in tow to aid in the assault on the Phoenix
Palace. With the help of Juliet's master thieving skills and Max's daredevil derring-do, the heroes
gained ingress to the mystical fortress, but not before Wo-Feng had begun the resurrection ritual
of the mythical Phoenix, calling upon its magic to grant him more power than even the mightiest
of the erlkonigs of the Black Lodge. The ancient manna of the Phoenix was far too great for even
the elder sorcerer, however, and it drove him mad with power. Before the great bird arose from
its ashes, it commanded Wo-Feng to sacrifice a life force to sustain its own. Wo-Feng chose his
own protégée, Cara, and slowly began to draw her into the ethereal abyss of the Phoenix's
dimension.
Sammy bailed out of the Bellerophon as the risen Phoenix sent it into a fiery tailspin. However,
before the monstrous avian could wreak more havoc, the beckoning of Mr. Darvy and Sir
Heathcliffe sufficed to extricate Cara from Wo-Feng's mysterious mental grasp. For lack of a life
force, the Phoenix crumbled back to ash, and Wo-Feng joined it, consumed by its magical energy .
. .
Episode Fifteen: Crinolines and Crossbows
After the immolation of Wo- Feng, the band of heroes turned the Phoenix Palace over to
Wei-chun and the Mongolians, and made their way back on horse and on foot in search of some
recognizable port. Coming out of the mountains, they happened upon a tiny village with a
Buddhist temple. With no other accommodations in sight, they entreated the monks of the temple
to give them sanctuary. The heroes repaired an old radio set which the monks had in a back
chamber of the temple, and were able to call for transport from a Chinese shipping service. Janos
Proshaka and his compatriots arrived, and in their care, the heroes were transported back to Hong
Kong.
At Lotos Mansion, the Hong Kong Empire Club, the members planned a gala fete to celebrate
the return of Cara Al-Moud, to begin with an early supper banquet, followed by a party in the
harbor on a yacht that Wilhelm procured. Before the banquet, Max and Juliet, looking for
suitable gifts, went to a small shop in the city and were accosted by minions of the vampire Vlad
Tepes, seeking revenge for the slaying of their master at the meeting of the Black Lodge. Max
and Juliet were rescued from their assailants by Benedict, now the Night Tiger of the Janissaries,
who assured Max that he will always be watching from afar and available should the need arise.
Grateful, Max and Juliet returned to Lotos Mansion, where Juliet presented Cara with a ruby from
the crown jewels of Egypt set in a gold necklace. Heathcliffe presented Cara with a lovely
Walther P38 pistol.
At the banquet, Cara ran into an old friend, her sponsor for membership, soldier of fortune Adam
Tempus, who was accompanied by the lovely Deirdre Campbell, in the latest of her many attempts
to procure a sponsor for membership to the Empire Club. Adam had been in Hong Kong
investigating a series of bizarre pirate raids that had taken place in the area, and accepted Cara's
invitation to attend the fete.
That evening, on board the yacht, Chinese Gangster and patriot Jimmy Sung arrived with "Number Two" of his Tong Family, Danny "Killer" Mak, whom the heroes met the previous night in a Hong Kong nightclub. Also present at the yacht party was scientist Wesley Dodds and Sir Heathcliffe's game-hunting rival, Reginald Hollingsly-Smythe. As the boat set sail in the harbor for a lovely evening of frolic, an unusual vessel with strange flashing lights accosted the yacht and hypnotized the unwitting passengers with a mysterious, blinding strobe light . . .
