It is England but not our England. A world dying in agony, but it is not our world, not yet… This is an alternate Britain, sideways in time from our own. And the Status Crew are its protectors. Ten years ago they seized control of this their country.
It wasn’t easy. First, they had to kill all the superheroes. Since then, however, Britain has been relatively quiet. Maybe a little depressed, maybe a little desperate… but quiet. And then a couple of weeks ago, things started coming unstuck, when suddenly a new superhero appeared, Captain Britain.
In the Status Crew’s control center, one man addresses his superior and asks him to look at his view screen. What’s the problem? the major asks, until he looks at the warped reality around Big Ben seen on the screen. Everything has become crooked, gravity no longer works, tentacles from the ground swallow people, a man is burning alive. It’s hell! he blurts out.
Another soldier informs them that freak weather conditions are spreading over the country. Hail, heat, lightning, is he seeing this? An earth tremor along the east coast.
And as the world goes crazy, a last jigsaw piece falls into place in the major’s mind. Intelligence suggests that Captain Britain, Saturnyne and her followers are agents from a parallel world. Add to that the reports of tampering with the reservoir earlier today and the situation becomes obvious. He announces to the others that he believes they are being invaded by creatures from another dimension. They have no choice. They must unleash the Fury.
At the Headquarters of the Dimensional Development Court, Captain Britain grabs Saturnyne and angrily asks her what is happening. Is this some sort of side effect of the Push? Saturnyne seems lost for the first time as she stutters out that cannot be. She doesn’t know. Jackdaw informs Cap that apparently the roof will cave in soon. Cap decides to get Jackdaw out without hurting his injures arm. Saturnyne and the Avant Guard can follow behind.
Outside, things are worse. The world is tinged in a greenish light and, just like the Status Crew before them, they see the laws of nature breaking down, people flying in the air, being attacked by the ground and worse.
Has anything like that ever happened before when they used the life-enhancing fluid, Cap asks Saturnyne. She has never seen anything like that, she replies, clearly shaken. It is as if reality itself is being bent out of shape. Can’t he do something? Can’t he do something? he shouts back. Shouldn’t that be her doing something? Ever since he got involved with her and her project, his world has gone slowly crazy.
It isn’t his world, it istheirs, a voice announces, and Captain Britain and his friends have spoiled it. It is a member of the Status Crew. He points at the strange creature behind him. A tall, lumpish, black creature, seemingly composed of an oozing material with mismatched eyes. The major explains that this is the Fury: a cybiote, an unstoppable amalgam of flesh and metal. It kills superheroes.
The Fury shoots at Captain Britain.
It cautiously moves towards its fallen prey, its mismatched eyes examining him on several levels: x-ray, infra-red, heartbeat, and even more. It estimates the damage. The superhero is still alive. He has some sort of forcefield around him. There is a 85 % probability that he is planning a counter attack.
The Fury doesn’t worry. It is used to superheroes and their strange powers. Ten years ago, it batted the Iron Tallon, who could become invisible. It killed him. It battled Colonel Tusker and his killer toys. It battled the atomic powerhouse called Miracleman. It killed them. It has become used to superheroes. It finds them predictable.
Captain Britain lunges at the Fury with all of his strength. It doesn’t even budge. Jackdaw can’t believe it. The creature just brushed the Captain off. That’s because he is an amateur, Saturnyne announces and orders her Avant Guard to atomize the brute. The Avant Guard fires away at it with their umbrella guns. It doesn’t even look at them. welcome to the amateur hour, your Whyness, Jackdaw tells Saturnyne.
She suddenly decides that this is all too much. The Push has gone wrong; this world is falling to pieces. She orders the Avant Guard to her side and into warp formation. They are getting out of there. Over Jackdaw’s disbelieving protest cries, the men surround Saturnyne and unfold heir umbrellas outwards. With that, they disappear, leaving behind Jackdaw, Cap and Dimples.
Dimples breaks down, crying that she forgot about him. He did everything she wanted. He was a good servant. She left him behind. He loved her and she forgot about him.
The Fury looks at Dimples and judges him a nuisance and possible distraction. A gland oozes. A circuit is completed. It fires. Jackdaw shouts out in horror as Dimples dies. The Fury notices Jackdaw and judges him a distraction as well. It fires.
Not again! Captain Britain shout as he rushes to his sidekick’s side. He hugs the dying elf, horrified as his legs are no longer there. Clearly in shock, Jackdaw tries to comfort him telling him it is alright. Merlyn will whisk him away to Otherworld in a minute and patch him up. That’s what he did last time. Jackdaw wasn’t supposed to tell him. Everything will be all right in a minute. Believing that to the end, Jackdaw dies.
Hugging him close, Captain Britain cries, before grief gives way to rage. Pain and grief boil up from his throat in a soulwrenching scream. He coils and leaps, every muscle shrieking with the desire to kill. It isn’t enough. The Fury just swats him aside, breaking his arm in the process. This can’t be possible, Cap babbles. His forcefield… What the hell is this thing?
From a flying helicopter-sized teapot hovering above him comes a reply. It’s the Fury, Captain. It’s death. I designed it myself. It is quite unstoppable. You may have noticed. Who? Cap just asks dumbly as the man tosses him a rope-ladder and gestures at him to climb aboard.
I’m the man with the answers, Captain! I’m the upside-down box at the bottom of the page! I’m Mad Jim Jaspers. I think we’ve met.
