Capt. Dane Casey

Cmdr. Edward Castillo

Moondancer

Capt. Jack McNeal

Hisham Selim

Stacy McKone

Jessie Moore

Charlie Mannix

Lillian O'Banion

#144

P R E L U D E

"The Coming of Horus"

Game Date: 10/5/02 - 10/6/02

The assembled members of Forte—Rainier, Max, Tinker and Dyna Girl—their new friends Moonspider and Vortex—and former Forte member Moondancer are all standing (along with Commander Edward Castillo, Captain Dane Casey, and a bunch of UNCLE agents) inside a holding room at UNCLE Seattle’s HQ, staring curiously at the sight before them.

The ancient Egyptian sarcophagus they’d recovered from the hands of Mandate and Erebus is now open, and the twelve-year old robed boy named Horus is sitting there, while his seeming followers, The Brotherhood of Horus, are bowed before him.

He had just asked the leader of the Egyptian quartet, Hisham Selim, if “the time” had come, and if his “brother” was there, someone he referred to as “The Jackal”, causing the Forte and UNCLE people alike to exchange confused and nervous looks.

Horus tells Hisham and the other Brothers— Salah Abul Naga, Issa Nazif, and Sadiki Fahy—to rise, referring to them as “my friends”. They seem to treat him like a god, but the fiercely intelligent boy seems to be a magnanimous god who doesn’t need the royal treatment. Hisham stands and tells him that Anubis has not returned (making everyone breathe a sigh of relief that he wasn’t talking about Dr. Jackal), but Horus’s reliquary was disturbed in an attempted theft while they moved him to this country, which seems to have interrupted his rest. Enthusiastically curious, Horus asks what country this is, and what century it is, as he marvels at sites of the people, garb and décor around him.

Rainier steps in, carefully, greeting Horus and explaining (in geographical terms he’d understand if, in fact, he is from far in the past as it seems) where he is and what the date is. He introduces himself (and the kid seems to not be put off by the fact that he’s a huge rocky guy) and explains that he and his friends rescued the sarcophagus, and want only to help him and understand what he’s doing here.

At this point Captain Jack McNeal, leader of UNCLE Seattle’s STRIKE team, walks back around the corner, saying “Woah!” at the scene before him. The heroes and his fellow agents turn at the sound of his voice. Looking uncomfortable at all the attention suddenly being on him, he asks, casually, “So who’s the bald kid?”

The bald kid in question climbs out of his coffin as his followers rush to help, and several agents start to raise their guns. Tinker quickly tells them to lower them, that it’s okay, and Castillo seconds the idea. He tells his agents to clear the room and get back to work, and suggests that the heroes, the Egyptians and Horus all adjourn to a nearby meeting room and discuss this—whatever “this” is. The Egyptians become defensive and say they need to get the boy out of there and to a safe place, but Horus tells them it’s all right, that these people are trustworthy, and he would be happy to talk to them. Diplomat Rainier thanks him for his understanding under these circumstances and agrees that they all have a lot of information to share that would be helpful to everyone. He leads the Egyptians and Horus after Castillo and Dane, and Horus looks up at Tinker and smiles brightly at her as he passes, which seems to inexplicably warm her heart (god or no god, he’s a cute kid).

Horus is seated at the end of a long conference table, his followers standing behind him and flanking him, while Castillo is seated at the other end and the heroes, Dane, and McNeal (the unspoken reason for his presence is to be there in case this kid is evil after all, never mind the fact that the room is full of super-heroes) all take seats of their own. Castillo offers Horus refreshment, which the boy eagerly accepts, and an agent brings assorted fruit, crackers, and couple of cans of soda. Horus’ delight at both the can and the taste of Pepsi is very evident. With that, Castillo lets Rainier take the lead, and the archeologist tactfully begins asking his questions.

What they find out, with questions asked by many of the assembled heroes and answers given by Horus and the Brotherhood (the latter of which are nervous and secretive, but give that up when their god seems intent on hiding nothing from these people), is this: in a pre-dynastic Egyptian time, the actual gods who would turn into the legends that would become the ever-changing Egyptian cosmology walked the Earth. Rainier puts together that they were of the Homi Magi, a race of magical beings that lived long ago and allowed themselves to be worshipped as gods—a race that included such notables as the Olympians, the Norse gods and others (see any Forte issues dealing with the Scions or the Rock of Eternity). They ruled over the peoples of Egypt. Horus was the young son of Osiris and Isis, younger brother of Anubis and nephew of Seth (his father’s brother, the god of storms). A mystical child, Horus was born with great knowledge and wisdom, and was his father’s great love (where as Anubis was crafty and scheming, and used his powers of rule cruelly). Other “gods” of the pre-dynastic ennead included Hathor (a consort of Seth, goddess of love, dance and alcohol (though usually those things happen in reverse order, don’t they?)), Khonsu (goddess, not god, of the Moon—one of the many historical mistakes or reinterpretations that Rainier is raptly fascinated to discover from someone with firsthand knowledge), Thoth (god of ancient writings and wisdom), Shu (god of the air and the heavens), Atum (the serpent god), Ra (the sun god), Sekhmet (goddess of war and sickness), Apis (the mighty bull god), Anuket (goddess with the swiftness of the gazelle), Min (god of fertility) and Sobek (the crocodile god).

A power struggle began between Osiris, the great king, and his brother, Seth, who felt the rule of the land should be his. Some gods sided with Seth, and his plans to expand their rule, others backed the noble Osiris and his wise queen, Isis. But one night, Osiris was slain in his royal bedchamber, and witnesses saw Seth leaving. While the land wept at the loss of their sovereign, a war of the gods began, with those loyal to Osiris hunting for Seth and those who defended him. Seth faced Horus himself in combat, the grieving son out to avenge beloved father. Horus defeated the older and seemingly more powerful god. Brought before the queen and the gods for judgment, Seth admitted that he had no love for his brother, but denied being the one who killed him. But the evidence and motive were too strong. Seth was judged, and his soul banished to Amenti, the underworld, the realm of imprisoned souls denied passage to the afterlife. His lover, Hathor, and his other followers fled and disappeared.

Soon after, however, before Horus was—per his father’s wishes—made king, his brother Anubis attempted to slay him. He discovered that it was Anubis, using his dark magics, who had impersonated Seth and murdered their father. Anubis planned to become king, and knowing that it would be Horus called upon to avenge their father, he assumed that Seth would be forced to kill the boy in combat, opening the door to Anubis’ ascension to the throne. Horus and Anubis battled to a standstill, but with other gods joining in, Horus gained advantage, and with Anubis realizing that his duplicity was discovered by all and he would never rule, he escaped through a mystical portal. All that the priests could determine was that he had traveled into the far future…but to when, they could not divine.

More was discovered about what Anubis did in secret. He had cast a spell on Thoth and gained access to the darkest of ancient magical tomes, and not only became a mage powerful beyond what he’d allowed others to believe, but became obsessed with death. The priest sect that served him was “unkindly” questioned, and revealed his plans. His grand scheme was to bring death to the whole Earth, and cast every soul to Amenti (a place he had made many journeys to and taken control of already), where he would rule for eternity. His rise to kingship in Egypt was simply a means to that end, giving him the full power and access he would need to make this happen. And now Anubis had been unleashed upon the unsuspecting future, where he would certainly try to continue his plans and end all life in the living realm.

Feeling the responsibility for his brother, and feeling the guilt for being duped into banishing his uncle’s soul to damnation, Horus turned down the kingship of his people, concocting a plan, instead, to lay in wait for Anubis’ return. He would be mystically sealed in a sarcophagus, essentially being put in suspended animation, and would be released from it somewhere in the future when “The Jackal” appeared. He would then stop his brother’s mad schemes and avenge Osiris. A group of priests was formed into the Brotherhood of Horus, and the job they swore their lives to was the protection of Horus’s vessel, a duty that would be passed down to others throughout the ages until the time of his awakening. The time of the Homi Magi ended, and the so-called gods all left the plane of Earth, and man’s history went on without its gods. Save one sealed in a coffin.

The question still remains as to how Horus was suddenly awakened. He doesn’t believe Anubis has already returned…he feels, now that he’s fully “awake”, that he would be able to sense it if it was so. It’s possible that the spell broke in reaction to the danger to him during the fight. He simply believes there was a reason for it, and that the time of Anubis’ return must be close, so he has no plans to go back into hibernation. So now the question is…what happens now?

A prolonged historical discussion takes place, mostly between Rainier, Horus and the Brotherhood, discussing Egyptian mythos and how it, and the recorded information on the gods, differs from truth, until most of the others (especially McNeal) start to get fairly bored. Seeing that this could go on all night, Castillo considers all the facts and feels that Horus should remain in UNCLE custody for his safety. The Brotherhood disagree, feeling they’re more qualified to protect him…though if he’s as powerful as he’s supposed to be, Moonspider wonders if he needs this protection everyone’s arguing about at all.

At the very least (or perhaps as a stalling tactic), Castillo feels Horus should be checked out by a physician. If he really has been in stasis for thousands of years, it might be prudent to make absolutely sure he’s okay. Tinker explains they know a doctor who’s also a sorcerer, who happens to be in town, and agrees it would be a good idea. Horus has no problem with this. He’s just anxious to see as much of UNCLE as possible, and the med bay sounds very interesting to him. Tinker gets on the radio to Nightsable, back at the old Forte base, and tries to “Reader’s Digest” what’s going on and ask if Stephen Strange is still there. Turns out he’s going to be staying there for a day or two to keep an eye on Jack, so yes, he is, and soon, Nightsable teleports back to UNCLE with Stephen in tow.

Castillo has a private conversation with Stephen before the examination, and tells him they do want to make sure Horus is okay, but they also want to make sure he is who he says he is. Stephen’s not very comfortable feeling like an UNCLE spy, but understands. He does both a physical and mystical examination of the boy, and Tinker goes along to make sure Horus feels safe. He’s just fine with it, and has endless questions for both her and Stephen about modern medicine, the 21st century, etc.

While this is going on, Nightsable gets a chance to talk to Vortex again, and, like the others, is happy he got healed up from his wounds at the hands (and claws) of Prowler. Vortex talks about feeling out of his element, talking to a kid from ancient Egypt and all this talk about time travel. She laughs and says he’ll get used to it if he’s going to be a super-hero for any length of time. She even confides in him that she’s from an alternate Earth, and from the future, which fairly blows his mind.

Meanwhile, Dyna Girl is talking with Max and Rainier while Moonspider is having a chat with Moondancer (probably about the Moon or something…). After she gets Rainier to stop looking over at the two of them every two seconds, she brings up the subject of the two new guys. They’re both local supers, and they’ve proven themselves pretty well so far (Moonspider even knows Dr. Jackal’s secret identity). She wonders what they think of the idea of asking them to join up? She’s obviously spent more time with them than these two founding F2K members, but they’re not necessarily against the idea. Rainier is just cautious and thinks they’d have to consult with Tinker and Seahawk first. She suggests they might at least show some good faith (and some gratitude for all their help the past couple of days) by having them over to the base for a little hang out time tonight and getting to know them. Sam could teleport them in so they wouldn’t know where the secret base is located. They both think it sounds like a fair idea, though Rainier is much more interested in talking to Horus more this evening.

Stephen finishes his examination and says that Horus is just fine. The spell that sustained him kept him in perfect health, no atrophy of any kind. He steps out and tells Castillo that their story about him does seem to match up, and the boy is pulsing with incredible mystic power. Castillo mentions that this is how Erebus could sense him, and perhaps other dark magical types could as well…and Anubis, for that matter, if he does exist and does pop up. Stephen thinks he can work up a cloaking spell. It wouldn’t completely hide the boy’s aura, but would, in effect, spread it across the Earth in bits so small they likely wouldn’t be perceivable, and if they were, another who could track mystically wouldn’t be able to pinpoint him. Castillo diplomatically lets the Brotherhood in on this, and Horus as well, and everyone agrees to let Stephen work the spell.

Then it’s back to the question of what to do with him. Castillo points out that, technically, he’s a non-U.S. citizen so there’s legal reason to keep him at UNCLE, though that’s a bit of a stretch (not like there are a lot of precedents for this kind of thing). The Brotherhood have their own ideas. But in the end, it’s Horus who speaks up and says that he would like to stay with Tinker.

Uh…what?

She’s caught off guard by this, and the Brotherhood immediately are against it. Horus says that he wants to learn more of this country if he’s going to be operating in it, and would like to stay with someone born here. Plus, he says he likes Tinker, thinks that she’s caring and nice and funny, and he can sense that she’s a good person. Both the Brothers and UNCLE have issues with it. Hisham tries to, respectfully, explain to Horus that they have pledged their lives to his protection. Horus explains to him that they are faithful and loyal servants who have done well, and will continue to do so, but he feels this is the right thing to do. If Tinker agrees, that is. She hesitates, but doesn’t want to be rude, and reminds them all that since he can’t be tracked magically, being at her place might be the last place anyone would look (the first place they’d look being with the group of Egyptian guys…). And somehow the discussion ends with Lucy having a houseguest for a little while.

Tinker takes Hisham aside and attempts to assure him that Horus is in good hands under super-hero protection, though she admits to him that she’s pretty nervous about it, as she hasn’t done any babysitting in a while (loser boyfriends notwithstanding). Hisham has calmed down some and explains to her what it’s like, to believe in something your whole life on faith alone, and then have it come true before your eyes. The boy is his life’s purpose, as is stopping Anubis. She finds herself respecting these men and their selflessness a great deal. She tells him if Horus thinks it’s okay, she’ll have them over to her place to spend some time with him.

Rainier and Dyna Girl, meanwhile, are talking with Stephen about this whole Anubis thing. Stephen has heard stirrings, legends mostly. If the story is true, then a being of great mystical power could be headed for their century with Armageddon on his mind. Stephen wants to consult with some of his associates (including Poltergeist) and keep in touch with Forte on his findings…and also keep an eye on Horus himself.

Horus walks up to Moondancer with a smile and tells her she has the touch of Khonsu upon her. Pardon? He says he can sense it in her, that the goddess must still be involving herself in the affairs of men. Chelsea remembers her visions of the golden woman with the purple hair (see Forte #’s 272 and 283) and is shocked to find that she may finally have a name to put with it.

Tinker politely asks the overeager scholar Rainier to give it a rest for one night and not come along with her and Horus and badger him with further questions. Rainier settles for talking the Brotherhood into hanging out with him at UNCLE and talking the night away about Anubis, Horus, the history of their sect, etc. Before he can start in with that, Moondancer comes up to him and says good-bye, and that she wants to catch up with Anvil, Lightsedge and Tomarssuk, her old Forte teammates, while they’re still in town. She’ll be staying at Vanguard’s old safehouse (which was her home for quite a while during her tenure with Forte, and a place she and Rainier have spent some romantic time), and asks if it’s okay if she calls him. Hesitating, he tells her he’ll be busy with all this…but yes, she can call, and they can talk. Pleased with this, she squeezes his rocky hand and smiles, and says she’ll be seeing him soon.

Castillo asks for regular updates on what’s happening with Horus, and Tinker agrees…but stops short of wanting them all to know where her home is (though she’s pretty sure UNCLE probably knows anyway). Dane, their friend and Forte liaison, knows, so Castillo is satisfied with him checking in on her and the boy. With that, Horus tells his followers, who each take turns kneeling before him, that all is well, and not to worry, and that he will send for them soon. They all have work to do, and he’ll need them now more than ever. Nightsable opens up a portal to Lucy’s airplane hanger home (opens it in a janitor closet so no one’s peeking into her place), and Horus takes Lucy’s hand and the two walk through.

While Rainier and Stephen have a sit-down with the Brothers, Dyna Girl invites Moonspider and Vortex back to the F2K team’s base for a couple of drinks (which is news to Nightsable). They both agree, and Dyna, Max, Nightsable, Moonspider and Vortex all teleport to the secret base. Mostly a big warehouse with a seawater pool in the center that holds the floating Mariner (F2K’s submersible jet), it has a large, windowed observation deck on a second story, overlooking the Mariner pool, a number of rooms (living quarters, locker room-type showers, a rec room with air hockey, a pool table, a dart board, a juke box, and a big TV set), and a bunch of tarp-covered equipment still laying around from when the base used to be a secret lab for an undersea project of Tether International. The assembled heroes kick it in the rec room and have some cocktails (none for Max, still too young…old enough to save the world, not old enough to have a screwdriver) and chat and laugh. Vortex loosens up and figures he can trust the heroes (they are Forte, after all) and tells them who he is and about being a schoolteacher, about how he got his powers being a bomb squad cop in Gotham City, etc. Moonspider, on the other hand, is more closed-mouthed about himself, and hopes the heroes understand that he has his reasons. They say they do…after all, he just met them, trust can take time.

In the middle of things Dyna Girl notices that there’s a message on the answering machine, and it turns out it’s from Seahawk, calling from Boston where he’s staying with his ex-wife and seeing to the recuperation of his son, Gabriel, after the attack on his family’s home by Stingray (see Forte 2000: “The Storm”). Nightsable becomes very quiet after the message plays, and Dyna feels for her. She was starting to hit it off with Vortex, but seems to close up after that. After a while it’s time to call it a night, and Samantha teleports the new guys back to UNCLE, where they can make their own way home.

Back at her home, Lucy is getting Horus set up. When they showed up, all her stray cats immediately came to him and seemed quite fond of him, and even her dog Beast warmed up to him right away. He asks Lucy what breed the dog is, and, laughing, Lucy says probably a little bit of all of them. She has a couple of spare bedrooms and sets him up in one, feeling a little embarrassed to be setting a god up in such a way, but he’s quite pleased with the accommodations (you would be too if you just spent a few thousand years in a box). They end up sitting up late into the night, watching TV, talking about the modern world, and he’s hungry to learn about all of it. She finds he’s very sweet and kind and child-like beneath his stature, and he seems to have a great love for the world and all its people. She imagines he would have made a wonderful ruler in Egypt had he been able to take his kingship. Finally, his age betrays his powerful nature when he dozes off on the couch, and Lucy watches him sleep for a while, then manages to get him to his room and tuck him in. She realizes that, already, she cares a lot about this mysterious child, and acknowledges to herself that he reminds her of her brother, who died years ago in the same forest fire that took her parents.

She’s still watching him, thoughtfully, when her phone rings, and she rushes to grab it. It’s Seahawk calling, checking in, saying he tried the base earlier but couldn’t reach anyone. She quietly, as not to wake her new roommate, fills him in on everything that’s been happening in the past 48 hours, from the Mandate fight to the new heroes to the Jackal poisoning to Horus. He’s especially shocked about Jack, as the Jack Parker news hasn’t hit the media just yet (it will in a few hours). She asks how Gabriel is, and he tells her it’s tough going, but he’s strong, and he’s sure the boy’s going to make it through okay. She asks how things are going with him and his ex, and he can’t really talk about that. She realizes Stephanie’s staying in the same condo with him, so she could probably overhear him. He does, though, ask, finally, about Samantha. Lucy navigates the touchy subject, saying that she’s okay, and feels a tinge of guilt about the sparks with her and Vortex. She just tells him they’re all looking forward to him coming home, but to take as much time as he needs to take care of his family. He wishes her luck with her “household god”, and the two old friends say good-bye.

James Avalon gets back to his house and checks it over to make sure his mystery visitor (see Forte 2000 #141) hasn’t returned. He reminds himself to get some better security set up in his home, something he should have done a long time ago, and fixes himself a drink—a double. He has a lot on his shoulders. First, he’s a villain lawyer who’s secretly collecting information on his clients, something that could get him disbarred immediately if it ever came out. And now it looks like he’s possibly joining up with a hero team that hates his uncostumed self’s guts. Too many secrets, too many lies. His triple life is going to start eating away at him very quickly.

The next day, feeling guilty over the way she treated him on the subject when Dane asked her and Tinker to give that no-good villain-defending lawyer Avalon a lift to Pocantico Point, Dyna Girl sets up a lunch with her friend—and her father’s assistant at the Forte Museum—Stacy McKone, and calls Dane and asks him to join them…and he jumps at the chance. He and Stacy, no surprise, get along great, each being such walking encyclopedias on all things super.

Paul Seaborn—Vortex, makes it back to his job at school—and fills his principal, David Hogan, in on the fictional meetings he had with UNCLE (hey, in truth, he WAS at UNCLE all day…). He has a talk with his class over their feelings about the bomb scare (see Forte #140), and talks about some of his experiences with bombs as a police officer and answers questions. They were all frightened over what happened, but seem more intent on talking about what it was like to be teleported to another town by Nightsable, and many of the guys have to discuss how hot she is in person. After class, one of his students, David Kellog, lets him know that he, too, is interested in getting onto a bomb squad one day, maybe with the FBI, and wants to talk to him more about it.

Rainier gets permission from Lucy to come over and talk to Horus some more, and is flabbergasted to find that she’s introduced the ancient being to her Questech Infinity game system, which delights him to no end. Davis talks to him while he battles giant space monkeys and asks more questions about his fellow gods, supplementing the information he got from the Brotherhood (which is much more trustworthy coming from Horus, who actually knew all of them personally).

Max had taken vacation time for the journey to Guatemala with Rainier and Johnny Quest, so he now has time on his hands. With neither school nor work to bog him down, he decides it might be a good time to make some time with his “friend” (unrequited love of his life) Lillian O’Banion. He calls her and she happily skips class (any excuse to get out of it) and hooks up with him for fish tacos at Anthony’s, and the pair have their lunch on a patio table within view of Seahawk’s currently unused boat at the adjoining Bell Street Marina. So, naturally, just as things are going well, he sees, over Lillian’s shoulder, the villain Kingfisher running down the street at top speed, looking frightfully over his shoulder. A few moments later, a massive 15-foot tall robot comes into view, apparently chasing Kingfisher. Horns honk and people scream, and Lillian turns around just after the robot disappears from view.

Frustrated, Max tells Lillian quickly that he totally forgot that he had to be into work to cover for someone. Annoyed, Lillian says, “Why am I not surprised?”, having gotten used to Bobby’s vanishing acts. He apologizes and says he’ll call her later, and she says “fine” without much enthusiasm. Feeling the rare urge to curse, Max runs back to his car and his waiting costume, quickly getting on the radio and telling the team about what he just saw, and asking if anyone’s near downtown to give him some backup.

Dyna gets the call and lets Dane and Stacy know that there’s a Forte thing going down, so she’s going to have to cut out. Dane, of course, has to fake his disappointment at her exit, and Holly takes off to join up with Max.

At a local security company, James Avalon is shopping for a high-tech surveillance system for his home when he hears the call on his recently gifted radio, and realizes he’s very close to Max’s location. He runs out back for a quick change and takes to the rooftops as Moonspider.

Flying into the scene, Max spots Kingfisher dodging between some cars in a panic, as the gigantic robot shoves autos out of the way to get to him, seeming hell-bent on squashing the not-too-bright bruiser. The robot’s booming “Target acquired. Destroy! Destroy!” leaves little doubt as to its intentions. Max notices the dent in the side of its head and sparks occasionally spitting out. He gets the robot’s attention with yelling, trying to keep it from shoving more cars around. Its head turns all the way around and it looks at him, then its cranium swivels back around and it keeps going after Kingfisher. Max flies up and punches it in the head, causing it to swing a metallic arm around and bat him, sending him flying back down the street. Then it’s back on Kingfisher.

Dyna Girl flies in, seeing the robot chasing after Kingfisher. Figuring out quickly which is the bigger threat, she soars in and belts the robot, sending it flying back and bouncing down the street, throwing up sparks as it does. The cowering crowds lined up on the street and in store entryways cheer at both her appearance and the impressive punch.

Kingfisher starts to run off again, but Moonspider suddenly drops down and in front of him and asks where he thinks he’s going. Kingfisher looks back at the rising robot and tells Moonspider it’s all theirs, he’s getting out of there, and he bolts into a Starbucks next to them. Seeing that Max and Dyna Girl are on the robot, and realizing his martial prowess may not be too effective against such an enemy, Moonspider runs in after Kingfisher.

The robot gets up and starts clambering after Kingfisher again, seeming like it’s going to ignore Dyna Girl. When she comes in for another punch, though, it swats her out of the air, sending her through the window of a clothing store. Max slams into it from behind, knocking it forward and onto the ground, and starts punching it as hard has he can…which doesn’t seem to be enough.

Inside Starbucks, Moonspider has flipped over Kingfisher and landed in front of him, blocking his path to the back door (and impressing the assembled patrons). He tells the villain (surprise, surprise…a former client of his) he’s not leaving. Kingfisher tells him that crazy robot is trying to kill him, so to get out of his way. Moonspider doesn’t budge, asking Kingfisher why it’s trying to kill him. Kingfisher admits that he was doing a job, breaking into a place called Herald Positronics, and his employer didn’t say anything about any giant security robots. It had come after him, and he got in a really good head shot, but he thinks he broke something in its brain, because it just went nuts. He tried to leave, and it just kept chasing him. And he doesn’t plan to stick around and let it pulverize him, so Moonspider had better move. Moonspider says he’s not going to, and that Kingfisher is under arrest. Guess AGAIN, Spider-Boy!

Outside, a KLTZ news van comes screeching up, and out jumps news anchor Jessie Moore, along with Ace Cameraman ™ Charlie Mannix. Jessie was just a reporter a decade ago when the original Forte was still in business, but has since become anchor. But her itch to get back out into the field got her out on assignment with Charlie once more, to cover a local tech convention, when the police band told her there was a villain fight going on nearby, and the old instincts kicked in. With her usual disregard for danger, she gets on the mic and gets Charlie to start filming her and the robot fight, and begins reporting on the events.

Max is back down and Dyna Girl back up, and the robot has grabbed the end of a city bus and started lifting it, apparently intent on smashing it into the Starbucks (not seeming to care much about the screaming people inside). Dyna Girl flies to the front of it and holds the front end down and fights for control of it with the robot, yelling across the length of the bus at it like she’s talking to a child. “No! That’s a BAD robot! We do NOT throw busses!” The robot seems to stop and listen to her for a second but then goes back to struggling with the bus, until Max flies into it and knocks the mechanical monolith away.

Kingfisher is trying to get by Moonspider, but Moonspider is popping him and shoving him back. He keeps trying to just get past, but Moonspider, having read Kingfisher’s file and knowing his psych profile, starts taunting him in ways he knows will work. And they do. Kingfisher tries to pound Moonspider, but Moonspider keeps dodging his blows (which makes the villain even angier) and keeps taunting him.

Back at Lucy’s place, she and Rainier (and Horus) are watching the fight on TV. Rainier wonders if he should call Nightsable and get her to teleport him out there and help. Tinker is focused on the screen, having noticed a hatch on the robot’s chest that had fallen open after all the blows from Max and Dyna. She gets on the radio and tells Max and Dyna to get the robot in front of the camera so she can see it closer.

The pair manage to grab it and manhandle it right toward the surprised Moore and Mannix. Max gets punched away, but Dyna holds it long enough for Tinker to pause the close-up on her TiVo and run up to the screen and trace her finger over the shot of the exposed wires and circuits, figuring it quickly out. She tells them that they need to disconnect the green wire. Max runs up and tries to, but it turns out there’s a force field over the hatch. He tries to punch it instead and destroy the workings, but the force field holds. He then gets swatted again, and Dyna gets flung into the side of a building.

Moonspider dodges and dodges, and Kingfisher can’t lay a fist on him, smashing tables and chairs instead with each miss. Just as James had planned, Kingfisher starts tiring, and the misses start becoming wider. Finally, when he’s too winded, Moonspider goes to work, kicking and punching the crap out of the villain until he falls.

The robot is headed right for the Starbucks, and Max and Dyna each have one of its arms and are trying to hold on and hold it back. Tinker keeps yelling on the radio about the green wire, and Dyna keeps yelling back that they can’t let go of the robot to get to it.

Suddenly, as the robot is about to smash through the Starbucks door, a blue blur shoots down the street, and Vortex skids to a stop right in front of it. He starts raining punch after punch on the force field at blinding speed, until it’s finally overwhelmed and shuts down. He quickly yanks the green wire.

The robot pauses and straightens up. Vortex looks up at it, then at Dyna and Max, and says, “She did say the GREEN wire, right?”

The robot’s booming voice speaks again, and it says, “Target abandoned, entering sleep mode.” It’s arms drop to its sides, and its glowing eyes grow dim, and it freezes where it is.

And the crowd goes wild.

Moonspider carries Kingfisher out over his shoulder, and crowds rush in on the heroes, including Jessie Moore and Charlie. Young people from the Starbucks crowd behind Moonspider to get on TV, and enthusiastically pat in him the shoulder in congratulations. Max puts a call through to UNCLE to come pick up the villain and figure out what to do with the robot, yelling to be heard over the cheers. Dyna plays to the crowd, waving and cheering along with them.

Jessie gets up to the heroes with her mic and starts interviewing them. After getting some quick facts, she asks Dyna who the two new faces are. As the camera pulls back to show all four heroes, Dyna gladly introduces the two newest members of Forte--Moonspider and Vortex.

Back at Tinker’s, Lucy and Davis are watching this. They look at each other.

“So,” Davis says, scratching his head. “I guess they’re on the team, then?”

“Looks that way,” Lucy says with a shrug. “It must be true. I heard it on TV.”

Horus then has many enthusiastic questions about robots, and wonders if Lucy owns one, because they seem very exciting.

Back at the scene, Vortex whispers to Dyna that he has to get back to work. He was in the middle of a faculty meeting and excused himself to go to the bathroom when he heard the radio call in his ear. With a wave to the crowd, he streaks off, leaving Dyna Girl, Max and Moonspider to handle clean-up and sign autographs.

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