TENSEN 2099UG	Writer/Artist/Editor: Gary M. Miller  |  Creator: Peter David  Editor-in-Chief: Michael Shirley  |  AEIC: Chris Lough
Jan. 7, 1998 #5

Click the pictures to see character profiles!

John Tensen	Thanatos	Reed Richards	Nightmask

Xina Kwan and her passenger, the hitchhiking John Tensen, arrived in Las Vegas, seeing the city  in ruins and Halloween Jack's Virtual Unreality projector destroyed.  With the help of the X-Men's resident speedster, Meanstreak, they rebuilt the VU portal so Tensen might return home.  Just as they finished reconstructing the portal, the madman known as Thanatos attacked, gravely wounding Tensen and crippling Meanstreak.  After accidentally throwing Thanatos through the functioning portal, Tensen followed, leaving his comrades to fend for themselves.  Having briefly been incapacitated by the trip through the portal, the adversaries found they had returned to the world of Tensen's birth--but were facing execution at the hands of the deadliest man alive--Reed Richards, Emperor of the New Universe Earth entire!

The whiteness that surrounds is comforting. Comforting me. Perhaps it's the first time in a long while that I've truly felt comfortable.

Endolina ... was that her name? The name of my love ... my life. But then a part of me screams that that isn't true. I remember the woman briefly as I drift through the abyss between worlds, only to soon find myself in a different world between worlds.

I am at peace. I don't dare question it at this point.

Then I see a shift in the pure white as a figure strides toward me. He is dressed in a red shirt and blue jeans. He seems to float as there is no floor to speak of (then what am I standing on?). His black hair seems to blow gently in the wind of the void.

He reaches out to me with his gentle hand, and before I can do anything to defend myself, he touches my forehead. And then my visions of Endolina are replaced -- replaced by reality. Replaced by Irene. Dear, sweet Irene.

"She's here, Justice," the man says to me. In fact, now that I look at him more closely, he hardly seems older than twenty-two, or perhaps twenty-five at most. I look at his forehead and I see what appears to be a birthmark, or a scar -- however it is the strangest such mark I have ever seen -- one that I remember now that my memories have been restored. It is a half-moon shaped mark.

"Remsen?" I ask, unsure. Some space seems to fill in around us, eliminating the whiteness and replacing it with the crisp atmosphere of an office, like a psychiatrist's -- just the floor, a couch, some equipment, and the rest is the whiteness.

"Yeah, it's me, Tensen. You know, you look like hell," he says to me. I nod as I rub my face. My beard is full-grown, my mustache is there as well. My hair is long, and I feel that I look as haggard as he indicates.

"Yes," I say. "How ... where am I?"

"Mindscape," he tells me, resting one hand on his hip while raising the other to his chin. "You're in your own mind. As for where your body is, well, you're home. Some people got quite worried about you during your absence. It's been fifty years!"

Fifty years. First I heard this from the death-god, Thanatos (don't think of him!), and now I hear from Keith Remsen. "If it's been fifty years," I ask, "then why do you look so young? You don't look a day older than--"

"I don't look a day older than when I came out of my coma to assemble everyone against the force that tried taking the Star Brand power away from Earth. That's the last time we saw each other. And you were in your old uniform, as I recall."

"Hadn't slept well," I tell him. "My mind ... it does things when I'm not rested, or am otherwise not well."

"I could tell," Keith says. "You were out of it when I first slipped into your mind to make sure it was you. You were remembering that other world, the one Darquill took you into. I suppose when you were hurt the endorphins in your body acted like any mind-altering drug and--"

"Skip it. Just tell me what you're doing here checking up on me. And tell me what you're doing not in your costume." My last comment shakes him up a little bit. I'm not sure that that's because he knows about my recent memory loss, or because something's genuinely out of place here that he doesn't want anyone knowing about.

The pain then washes over me again, and I find my body rigid, unable to move. I fall backward as Keith watches, as though helpless, over me. I feel hands around me as the scenery changes from the office to white to black as Keith starts to fade away. I feel myself growing numb as I realize I'm being pulled back. Back to the world of the living. Back home. But something's wrong.

With the last words my nearly-paralyzed vocal cords can muster, I scream (it sounds like a whisper) to Keith: "Where's the Nightmask?"

I will receive no answer. Keith is already gone.

The blackness begins to shift in shape and I am once more confronted by the menace of a guillotine pointed directly above my neck. I see Thanatos in the same shape as I. I am strapped down, unable to move, as I see a crowd of hundreds screaming for my and Thanatos's blood, and two executioners more than willing to carry out the deed. My hands are strapped down tightly, and so I cannot fire my sword or shield. And then I remember that I may fire no sword. My right hand is gone, carbonized.

I look up at the man who will give the order to execute, and remember him from my adventures on the other Earth, in 2099. Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four is ready, willing and able to give the order. And I cannot comprehend why.

There is no justice.

Manhattan, 2049:

"We of the Paranormal State will not stand for insolence! Notice these two rebels who had fled my rule for the last fifty years. Notice that they, much like I, have retained their youth as well! It has been determined that they have been leeching off of the technology developed at Richards Laboratories, and in doing so have preserved themselves only to die after being caught. My judges will carry out the sentence of death at my order. However, if there should be any person who sees a reason why these two should not meet their end today, let he or she speak freely now!" Reed then stood still as he surveyed the crowd with his eyes, roving back and forth among the men and women who seemed hypnotized by the commanding presence Richards possessed.

"I object!" one man, from near the back of the crowd, shouted. He stepped forward. "I object to you, your methods, your rule, your--"

"I don't recall giving any normals a chance to speak," Richards retorted, pointing a finger at the shoddily-clad man. The others in the crowd now turned to look at the man, who wore a black armband with a red "X" upon it. "I don't recall EVER giving any NORMALS a chance to voice their pathetic, subhuman opinions!" Richards shook his fist high in the air now, clearly displaying his white armbrand with a star-like insignia for all to see. "Bailiffs, show the normal what we do to those who do not obey the strict race laws in this world."

Richards stared in tyrannical delight as the one in the green and purple armor aimed its lance at the man and fired, disintegrating him, leaving nothing but a pile of ash.

"Does anyone have any objections to the execution?" Richards repeated. No one replied. Save one.

"You have no authority!" Tensen said. "What right have you to judge?"

"What right have you, trespasser?" Richards asked in a mocking tone. "You dare to show your face in public again. It is you who has no authority. Certainly less, even, than your friend."

"We are not friends, Richards," Thanatos said. "You should take the time to know your enemy before you attempt to kill them."

"Certainly you should know that I have known you a long time ... are you now calling yourself 'Thanatos?' I have gotten to know you ... and I am sick of you. The both of you. You should know better than to question the absolute authority. The people respect me. The normals fear me. The world is better because of ME!" Richards then turned to the two executioners.

"Ready," Richards ordered. Tensen waited, trying to feel his arms, his left hand, trying to make use of at least one of his powers. He needed to be free, to escape, to find out what had become of his world. To find out what his dreams were all about. As much as he tried, however, he could not move his arms, could not loose his hand.

He heard the shrieks of the crowd, with everyone shouting for his blood, demanding it. He looked above, seeing the laser of the guillotine ready to fall and slice off his head with pinpoint accuracy. He looked over at Thanatos, also helpless, and started praying.

Tensen remembered what it was like years ago, when he believed that he was on a mission from God to confront evil -- evil humans, evil paranormals -- and punish them with his sword. He remembered how he had been convinced how wrong he was -- that he had always been subconsciously fueled by the death of his wife Irene in a carbomb explosion meant for him. He'd been so cold, so withdrawn, so immersed in the belief that he had thereafter been assigned by God to punish those who target the innocent. And Irene was innocent. So innocent.

Just like he was now.

He focused within as he saw the buglike creature ready to pull the switch that would release the laser blade and kill him. Like never before he tried focusing his powers, focusing them even though he had no free hand. He felt too much pain to make his sword with his left hand -- and didn't feel that he could anyway due to the numbness he felt in his arms, an effect probably caused by a neural disabler of some sort. He concentrated, and concentrated.

Then he heard the SNAP of the switch and felt the wind that was the oncoming laser.

And something unusual happened.

Tensen closed his eyes to focus, trying somehow to prevent the blade from striking him. His eyes then shot open with a life of their own, a green barrier rising, projected from them, rising to meet the oncoming laser! He felt the force that he applied as well as the counter-force of the laser apparatus. He strained, his brow furrowed, as he fought first to stop the laser, then reverse the course of the apparatus back upward.

At the other guillotine, the laser apparatus was ready to descend, to rend Thanatos's head from his body. All that needed doing was to assure Tensen's death. That would not be easy.

Gathering all the strength he could, Tensen began to push the laser apparatus upward with his shields. He grunted, strained, and then finally, finally he felt the power behind the guillotine laser cease. And that's when he was able to concentrate on the laser itself, making the shield tilt the laser blasts from their position as a single solid beam to twin beams which ricocheted off the large metal apparatus which Tensen prayed was the primary motor. He prayed correctly, as the humming of the machine stopped, the laser shut off, and once more he was able to move his arms and legs. He was free!

Tensen leapt quickly to his feet, not completely comprehending what had just occurred. He saw the buglike being come toward him and used his newfound power to project shields from his eyes to push that one away. He then turned to the grey-haired being, and Thanatos, still bound in the death machine. Not a word was spoken. He wondered ... since he could now project shields from his eyes, might that also mean ... YES! As he concentrated he could now freely fire his sword from his left hand! He aimed it at the grey-skinned being, forcing it backwards as he fired again, this time at the apparatus which held Thanatos. The entire machine exploded in a flash of electricity and light, and in mere moments, Thanatos was free. He rose to his feet as Tensen somersaulted to a position beside him. The crowds began to encroach upon them, as did Reed Richards.

Tensen turned to Thanatos. "No time for hostilities. I'll judge you later." Back to back they turned, facing the droves of people who came at them -- some of them inhuman in appearance, some with energy or fire frothing from their hands, some with other abilities. All were paranormals. Several hundred paranormals, all with the intent to kill.

Thanatos's blue eyes glowed uncannily. He now found his gun and shield suddenly on his arm. "So be it," Thanatos said, and fired a round of shots into the crowd.

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Site created and maintained by Gary Michael Miller, tensen2099@yahoo.com Tensen and all related characters are © 2001 Marvel Characters, Inc. No copyright infringements intended.