Femforce Index

2nd Story: Alliances (25 pgs)

Credits:
Rik Levins, story / letters; John Nadeau, pencils; John Dell III, inks; Bill Black, edits

Synopsis:
Back in 1927, a group of fleeing bank robbers encounter Klyness, whose arm has been slowly regenerating since being blown off by the Latigo Kid a half-century earlier. Over the next few decades, Klyness's knowledge of the future helps the thugs invest their way to fabulous wealth and power. One day in 1953, Richard Latimer approaches the group seeking backing for his electronics company. The part of Latimer's persona possessed by the Shroud detects the Kronon's presence, and he confronts the alien. Unaware that their initial meeting is to take place only a few weeks hence, the Shroud mystically influences Klyness to relate the complete story of his past (actually future) alliance with the Shroud, their joint defeat of Captain Paragon, the creation of the Anti-Paragon, the Shroud's betrayal of the Kronons, and the fateful battle in the Old West. Klyness, having now lived a long life on Earth since the 1870's, plans to meet his younger self when he arrives on Earth to avert the disasters that have befallen him. The Shroud, however, puts Klyness to sleep to prevent that meeting and plans to meet the younger Klyness himself, thus keeping his schemes intact.

In the present, the peace of an Arazello family picnic is shattered by a battle between Dragonfly and a Psiborg construct who knows her identity. To avoid endangering her family, Nancy shoots straight up into the stratosphere with the Psiborg in her grasp. She is soon helpless, however, and is saved only by the mysterious astral presence of Kuromoko, who teleports her to his sanctuary. Kuromoko reveals himself as the Shroud inhabiting the businessman's shell, and explains that he needs to combine his powers with Dragonfly's to defeat their common Psiborg enemy. Intoxicated by her new power levels, Dragonfly toys with Kuromoko until she believes him dead, then seeks out and destroys Psiborg. After she departs, Jong Sue Chae recovers the broken robot and returns it to the Shroud, who has it reassembled by his hirelings. Allowing Dragonfly to only think he was killed, the Shroud removes his power from Nancy along with her memory of the incident. Leaving the taint of evil within her, the Shroud now has both her and Psiborg, as well as the just-emerging Anti-Paragon, to summon at will in his upcoming war with the Earth's heroes.

Notes:
The nature of Dragonfly's possession is such that her personality becomes more aggressive but she is otherwise normal, oblivious to the fact that the Shroud can take command of her at a whim, as he does in FF 36.... This is another key story in understanding the Shroud's impact on the AC Universe over the years, focusing in this case on his involvement with the Kronons.... As Klyness explains, the Shroud tricked him into helping him create the Anti-Paragon, letting the Kronons believe that the Paragon replacement would rise to great power and ultimately surrender Earth to the Kronons.... This is a retro-continuity story that takes place before Nightveil, Weir, Paragon, and Tara go to Jungle Island to confront the Shroud; the evil genius mentions his alliance with Dragonfly in the second part of "The Devil Below" (FF 27).... Presumably, the older Klyness ceases to exist once his younger self arrives on Earth.