Synopsis
Part 1 Prologue
Pencils Joe Madureira. Inks Steve Moncuse, Jasen Rodriguez. Letters Patrick Owsley.
The action takes place on the extremely large Godwheel, a disc whose surface is very many times that of Earth, which 'orbits' 2 dwarf stars in the gap in the centre, with Vahdala city of the Gods hovering over all. The God Argos was resurrected on Earth (Rune #9) and returned to Vahdala with Rune following him (our #0) to renew his immortality in the Crucible Of Life. But he found it empty save for the servant Iago who told him that the other Gods had fought a Civil War and died, except top god Ogma who scattered the 3 Keys:- The Windsword, the Roc's Egg and the Crystal Crown. Without these Keys the Crucible won't work, and Ogma decreed that only 3 worthy mortals could find them.
Argus used Rune's Star Stones to locate powerful mortals on Earth and transported them to Vahdala. Evil Lord Pumpkin and Necromantra allied with him, all the while planning to steal his power for themselves. He also tried to get Prime but instead got 1 of his discarded protoplasmic skins, which Necromantra gave life and power to as Primevil. Ranged against them were the Freex (Cayman, Feline, Flygirl and Pressure), Hardcase, Lucasz, Warstrike and the villain Boneyard who wants to use the heroes to get the power himself. Their team escaped and found Ogma's Godyacht (a spaceship) to use as a base and source of information.
Last issue the Yacht told them where the 3 Keys are and they split into 3 teams to go after each Key. But no-one trusted Boneyard so they left him behind. However Argus tracked the the good guys intending to send the bad guys to take the Keys off them. Cayman, Feline, and Pressure fought Primevil for the Windsword and won. Flygirl and Hardcase fought Lord Pumpkin for the Roc's Egg and lost, but Argus killed Pumpkin for his attempt to keep it for himself.
Now the 1st team are back on the Godyacht. Feline has the Windsword and refuses to hand it over to Boneyard's 'safekeeping'. And it burns him when he tries to take it. Lizard-skinned Cayman has been half-converted into human after Primevil swallowed him. And Pressure has been acting suspiciously. A battered Hardcase returns from the 2nd quest to report failure and the death of Flygirl. Both Boneyard and Argus bemoan the fact that they've been thwarted in their goal to get *all* 3 Keys.
We now turn to team 3, Lukasz and Warstrike who find themselves facing Necromantra. Conflicted Lukasz stops Warstrike from shooting her with his big gun because she is the evil Thanasi but in the body of his love Mantra (Eden Blake), whose soul is still trapped inside. (It's even more complicated than that because male knight Lucasz had originally been forced into Eden's body and had developed its latent magical potential to become the sorceress Mantra. Sharing the body the 2 had fallen in love. Just before this mini-series (Mantra #17) Lukasz created a new male body for himself and moved out. But Thanasi immediately moved in and became Necromantra.)
(The backstory is even more complicated and involves Boneyard and Warstrike. Lukasz and Thanasi were 2 of 123 knights serving the good magician Archimage against his enemy Boneyard. Thanasi betrayed them to Boneyard, and mercenary Warstrike killed Lucasz with his own Sword Of Fangs. Archimage transferred Lucasz' soul into Eden's body, and the Sword became Mantra's weapon. Hence there are fracture lines in the 'good' group.)
Lukasz fights back against Necromantra with the minimum of power, while precog Warstrike detects and retrieves the Crystal Crown from a huge firepit. Meanwhile Boneyard drops in to claim the Crown for himself. He blasts Necromantra, reminding Thanasi that he gave him the power to take over bodies and that therefore he should serve him not Argus. And in revenge he drives him out of Eden's body. For the 1st time for a long time she is whole, and Mantra, to Lukasz' delight.
Meanwhile Warstrike has donned the Crown and it amplifies his precognition. He foresees a planet of ruin and horror ruled by himself and Necromantra. He collapses in a babbling heap as Lukasz and Mantra fight Boneyard until Lukasz kills him with the Sword Of Fangs. But then Mantra gets taken over by Thanasi and becomes Necromantra again. And she takes the Crystal Crown and transports away with it.
Lucasz returns to the Godyacht with mumbling Warstrike's body which Hardcase places in a healing machine. He's also brought Boneyard's cyborg head which he intends to destroy in case there's life still in it, even as Hardcase argues that they may need him against Argus. Then the head proves Lucasz right by flying round the room and blasting him followed by Hardcase, until Pressure and Feline smash it with a blast and a blow from the Windsword. And Feline says that they *must* take the Sword to the Crucible. Despite the others saying that keeping it away from Argus is their prime goal, she activates the Yacht's teleportation system to take them to Vahdala.
Part 2 Reinventing the wheel
Pencils John Statema. Inks Jason Temujin Minor. Letters Gail Beckett.
Argus sits on Vahdala's throne watching everything that transpires with his multifaceted eyes, with Necromantra pretending to fawn over him and Primevil bowing to his 'creator'. The Roc's Egg is already in position in the Crucible's 'control panel' and Argus wants NM to put the Crystal Crown in its place too. But she pretends to vanity and asks to wear it herself until they *both* attain godhood together. Argus pretends to agree and she rewards him with a kiss and they embrace. But this angers Primevil because he thinks Argus is hurting the woman (or maybe he's just jealous). Necromantra blasts the stone beneath his feet making him jump away and Argus jokingly suggests he replace Iago as his court jester. Sly Iago makes an enigmatic reply.
But NM's blast also startled a flying monkey that has been hanging around and it flies away to a 'rosebush' near Lord Pumpkin's body with it's smashed pumpkin head. And a vine snakes out of the bush, strangles it and pulls it in.
Argus is still supremely confidant of his success even though he's been steadily losing power and size ever since his resurrection, which can only be countered by the reignited Crucible.
Feline has transported the surviving heroes including healed Warstrike to Vahdala. The Windsword wants Feline to take it to the Crucible. Pressure urges her on and accompanies her. Lucasz follows them (I think) and tells Hardcase to go after Argus but don't hurt Eden (ie Necromantra). Cayman (turned half-human) and still-weakened Warstrike are left behind. A figure calls Cayman from the shadows and he recognises Pressure.
HC finds Argus and NM and attacks the 'god'. Argus asks his ally for help but she turns on him. Feline place the Sword in the Crucible and Pressure mentions getting 1 step closer to godhood. Then Cayman and Warstrike arrive supporting injured Pressure between them, telling Feline that the Pressure with her is a fake - which reveals itself as Rune. (The switchover happened behind the scenes near the end of #1, and Cayman's been suspicious ever since.) Necromantra leaves Argus fighting off Hardcase and getting ever smaller. She flies to the Crucible and adds the last item which ignites it, and she lands in the middle.
But Argus, now almost skeletal, has somehow escaped from Hardcase and is now trying to climb in to the Crucible. He and Necromantra exchange blasts and Primevil zooms in to 'rescue' his beloved creator, leaving Argus alone in the Crucible. But suddenly a horde of 'Lord Pumpkins', grown from the seeds of the original, swarm over the heroes to the Crucible which begins to hum and erects a forcefield around itself and Argus who starts to grow into an immortal god.
Meanwhile Rune is beating up Primevil to get to Necromantra because he thinks she can shut down the Crucible. The energy vampire prepares to bite her neck to put her under his control and she panics. She quits the body leaving it to its original owner Eden Blake. She in turn calls to her love Lucasz for help and he attacks Rune with the Sword Of Fangs and tells her to remove the Crown from the control panel (which conveniently is outside the bowl of the Crucible itself). She does that and it shuts off the forcefield but the Crucible keeps working. However it does allow lots of Pumpkins to fall into the bowl.
Argus is now giant-size but he's also part Pumpkin and growling unintelligibly. However that doesn't stop him firing eye-blasts at everyone as he heads to get the Crown back from Eden. The heroes and Rune gang up to try to stop him but he shrugs them off. He finds a voice and declares that there are other demi-gods who will serve him and kill them all. And he fires a blast which opens a portal through which flies a hammer. But it strikes him not his foes.
Part 3 Thunder in Vahdala
Pencils George Perez. Inks Jason Temujin Minor. Letters Patrick Owsley.
The hammer is Mjolnir and it's followed by Thor who isn't happy about being dragged here (from Marvel Asgard) against his will. Argus protests that this isn't the god he wanted. Everybody (including Primevil and Eden/Mantra) piles in to help Thor, but Rune ducks out and notes someone else coming through the portal. Thor calls down lightning but in this universe the effect is to open another portal. Mantra uses a magic blast to propel the Crystal Crown through it. And the Argus/Pumpkin beast follows it. And the portal closes as Argus swears to return. Battle over.
There's congratulations all round. Thor senses that Mantra's magic was involved in bringing him here. She says she was trying to stop Argus' champion from coming through and seems to have got him as a bonus. The Thunder God offers to use Mjolnir to send them wherever they wish. Hardcase wants to go back to the Godyacht for some unfinished business with Ogma. Feline wants to go to the Godwheel to bury Flygirl (but thinks she might find the acceptance there that she didn't get on (Ultra-)Earth, and maybe even power). Warstrike wants return to Earth but he's giving up his Ultra-identity.
Thor tries to transport himself and the others but it doesn't seem to work until Mantra adds her power. But at the last second Rune, who has regained the Star Stones that Argus took off him (in #0), leaps on Thor seeking to steal *his* power. And they all vanish ...
... leaving behind Loki (who is presumably who Argus really wanted as an ally). He breaks the Windsword (presumably to stop Argus or anyone using the Crucible to become a rival god). Then Iago pops up and offers him a chalice of wine, along with his service. Loki plans to make everyone in this realm his servant.