Julia Carpenter, known as Arachne, storms into a room and plops herself down across from Walter Langkowski, known as Sasquatch. He looks up from his food but remains eating. Arachne impatiently interrupts him.
Arachne: OK, if I'm going to stay in Canada, become Canadian, let my daughter grow up here, and be a part of the hero team that protects Canada, I need you to open up Pandora's Box.
Sasquatch: Come again?
Arachne: Rachel loves it here. The school, the city, the friends. She's even bugging me to get Leaf tickets. She watched the Argos get pummeled by the Stampeders last night and wasn't pleased. I like being the only spider gal in town. But if I'm going to stay there can't be any secrets. Whatever I agree to join, I need you to answer all of my questions; 'I don't know' is not an option.
Sasquatch grins
Arachne: 20-plus questions, no holds barred.
Sasquatch leans back in his chair, still grinning. Fair enough. I want you to stay, I want you to be happy. No secrets it is.
Arachne: Is Marrina still alive?
Sasquatch: No, but rumours have been bandied about that the Master had Plodex clones. But Marrina is dead, any clone wouldn't have her memories, knowledge, or experience.
Arachne: Fair enough. What's up with Snowbird, then, she's a clone after all.
Sasquatch: Snowbird's body was a clone but the Northern gods put Narya's spirit into it, so she really is Snowbird.
Arachne: What about those time-travelling teammates you had...
Sasquatch: They disappeared soon after they appeared, once their usefulness ended.
Arachne: How can you be sure they didn't just teleport or something?
Sasquatch: If they still existed there'd be two sets of Beaubier twins running around, and a younger Heather Hudson taking care of her older self's daughter. No evidence of any of that.
Arachne: Back to Snowbird. Will she be joining us?
Sasquatch: Not likely. I believe she needs a mystic anchor to stay in a group. Shaman was it, Talisman or Earthmover could be it, if they'd join. But Talisman isn't here, and I really don't like knowing where Earthmover is.
Arachne: Did James Hudson have anything to do with Weapon X, or Weapon Plus?
Sasquatch: No, no. Mac was never a Weapon subject.
Arachne: But he was Weapon Alpha...
Sasquatch: A very poor choice of codename. He didn't like it and changed it very quickly. The whole reason he left Am-Can was to avoid military usage of his technology, calling himself Weapon Alpha seemed to go against that. Vindicator was OK but really, Guardian made a lot of sense.
Arachne: What did he have to do with Logan, then?
Sasquatch: He and Heather found him, helped him regain his humanity, his dignity, became two of his best friends after Weapon X.
Arachne: So Hudson didn't create Weapon X, or work for it, or do the adamantium thing...
Sasquatch: Rumours and conspiracies. Mac created Department H, Alpha Flight, became Guardian. He would've been 21 when Weapon X started up, do you think an engineering student would have time to learn about Weapon Plus, branch off Weapon X, and do all the genetics needed to...
Arachne: OK, OK, you made your point. Next question: Why was Puck in jail, before he joined Alpha Flight?
Sasquatch: Judd had an awfully interesting life. At that time he had been out of SHIELD for almost three years, with CSIS all that time. He was sent to check up on a Chinese diplomat, the Ambassador's adjutant, and funny thing, the Ambassador worked for HYDRA, the adjutant got killed, Judd was blamed for the foul-up. He was a good soldier and took his lumps.
Arachne: What are the Legacies?
Sasquatch: Whew. Well, back before Department H, when mutants were still a myth, the government brought together a few mutants to study them. The building where they were staying in was destroyed, most of them were killed. 11 kids were orphans, the government put them in Hull House. Turned out 8 were mutants too. Hence the usage of 'Legacies' to describe them.
Arachne: What did the H stand for in Department H?
Sasquatch: laughing Hudson. Or Human. Take your pick.
Arachne: What was Department H for?
Sasquatch: Initially it was to create, train, and support levels of 'Flight' teams. But it grew into an organization doing genetic experiments, playing with Weapon X, a tangled mess by the time the government shut it down.
Arachne: I know he's gone but do you think Pointer is a bad person?
Sasquatch: Michael Pointer is not evil, or bad. He's quiet, unassuming, non-confrontational. But since his mutant powers manifested he's become evil, a loose cannon, a danger to all around him. I think Pointer doesn't really exist anymore, his powers have changed who and what he is so much. If he lost his powers he could regain some of his milquetoast personality but I think the true Pointer is gone forever.
Arachne: Do you ever see your son?
Sasquatch: Over the 'net. He and his mother still live in South Africa. I try and talk to him every month.
Arachne: Are you really the only survivor of Pointer's rampage? What about Puck, I know....
Sasquatch: Looking serious for a change Thankfully, I don't have that survivor's guilt. Eugene Milton Judd didn't have Raazer in him for so long and not gain any anything for it. The mystic energy that permeated Judd for so long has kept him alive. You've seen him trained with him, trust me, there is no grave. Puck is one of us. The real deal. I know the man.
Arachne: So how long have you been planning the return of Alpha Flight, Department H?
Sasquatch: Since before Omega Flight. I've had my plans in motion before I even knew Omega Flight was to be created.
Arachne: How did you get Department H back?
Sasquatch: It wasn't just me. CSIS was never capable of running Flight, they don't have the ability or mandate to do superhuman affairs justice, try as they might. A lot of people knew that. Unless we wanted foreigners running the show, we needed Department H back.
Arachne: I know it'll still be secret, but why?
Sasquatch: To be effective it has to be out of the public's eye. Alpha Flight can be public.
Arachne: So who'd the director, who's in charge?
Sasquatch: You know Brown wanted it, so did Oculus, but they'll have to settle for being department heads. The Cabinet and DND agreed on Director Gentry, over them and Beatrice DeLasalle.
Arachne: Standing up OK. I"m convinced, I'm staying. I've seen enough and learned enough.
Just then, warning siren sounds. "The Weapon Hold", says Sasquatch. They rush past others and get to the Hold first. The door is still locked up. Sasquatch rips it off. The room is basically undisturbed at first glance, but both heroes notice what's wrong.
Arachne: The new Guardian suit, and the Nemesis sword and uniform.
They race outside but find no trace of the thieves, or the missing items. Sasquatch looks at Arachne grimly.
Sasquatch: Agent Crosson, Arachne and I need to go to Department H. Tell Puck and Director Gentry we're coming.
Arachne: Why Department H? Shouldn't we look for clues?
Sasquatch: No. Trust me, I can't explain it but I think I know what just happened. Our CSIS days are over, by the way.
Racing along in full costume, they come to the new Department H. Puck is waiting outside with two guards. He motions for the other two to follow him inside
Puck: I got your message. I guess the spit hit the fan early,eh?
Sasquatch: What have you got?
Oculus: Activity in the Dreamqueen spectrum showed up first, then a teleport north of Kelowna. We captured this image.
Sasquatch: The Master, Earthmover, a new Tech-Noir and Box-like Forearm, Brain Drain, Delphine Courtney, Weapon Omega. So the cat came out to play, finally. The fog has lifted.
Arachne: But the Master's dead!
Puck: We always doubted that Danvers actually killed him. He's too paranoid to be killed that easily. He's lost a lot of clout but he's still the Master. And he has pretty potent friends now, he got to Weapon Omega quickly. Tech-Noir looks udapted and Forearm sure bulked up.
Sasquatch: What connection do they have to the Dreamqueen Realm spike?
Puck: Hard to tell. They may have come from there, went there, or maybe their movement caught the Deamqueen's attention is all.
Arachne: What does this have to do with the CSIS thefts, then?
Sasquatch: I told you I'd been working on Department H and Alpha Flight since before Omega Flight. I could choose new recruits, but train them?
Arachne: Talisman. She's been training them. She's behind the theft.
Puck: Bingo. She had to have picked up on either the Dreamqueen spike or maybe the Master somehow. So she used her powers to get into CSIS, arm our new recruits, and get out.
Arachne: So the Hudsons aren't dead?
Sasquatch: Mac and Heather yes, but that doesn't mean we didn't have other options.
Arachne: The Legacies? Persuasion? Manikin?
Sasquatch: Not quite. But experienced agents two of them are. We need to shake a leg. Get Talisman to come here with them.
They head off to the airplane hangar where a small but recognizable craft remains. As they approach the craft Talisman appears with Guardian, Nemesis, and someone Arachne doesn't have a clue about, a young Inuit girl.
Arachne: Introduce me, I'd like to know who I'm working with.
Puck: Arachne, Julia, I'd like to introduce, Mitchell Hudson, once known as Tygerstryke, the only survivor of Weapon PRIME. Mac's younger brother...
Arachne: I didn't even know he had brothers!
Sasquatch: They vary in age a lot, Victor Hudson was 12 years older than James, Mitchell here is 9 years younger.
Arachne: Their poor mother!
Puck: Usually Nemesis is a mystery to us, but not this time. We got to choose, and we hoped to get Witchfire but we got lucky. Meet Willow Dancer!
Sasquatch: And our newest member has no battle experience. She lived a nomadic life but with her powers her parents thought she needed to live with her own kind. She agreed, and joined us last year. Her real name is Beth Aglukaark, but she is called Angukkuq. Her powers appear telekinetic but she's no mutant, she has a strong sense for the environment around her and can move things thusly, not with her mind. Sure looks telekinetic, though.
Arachne: Pleased to meet you all! What are....
Guardian: Sorry, we'll have to trade stories later. We need to head to the place where the Master was scanned. Pick up his trail. Get in.
Sasquatch: We'll meet Talisman there. Let's be clear, everyone; we're Alpha Flight. We have a legacy like no other. Some of us would love to put the hurt on Pointer but remain objective, we need to find out what's going on. Once we land I want Guardian, Nemesis and Angukkuq to go up and scout around. We'll scan the site below. Once there, Guardian is in charge.
And so we leave them. What is going on? Can Alpha Flight figure it out in time? What connection do the Dreamqueen and Master have, if any? Is anyone else involved? Wow.
