Starbolts #695: Hungry Like the Witch

 Hail!

    Yikes! It looks like Zarantha has entered the final boss stage of her evolution! Let's hope our heroes can stop her. She placed a dark bubble around Dodger Stadium and now the heavy hitters can't come in and save the day. Firaxil and Angela are the strongest Starbolts and if they can't get in, our heroes inside the bubble may be in for the fight of their lives. Let's hope they can save the day.

    Keep in mind Carter had no idea this was going to happen. I don't think anyone could have foreseen this kind of development. If you use a soul cleaver on someone without a soul, you'd think that would have been it. Looks like chaos magic is more unpredictable than she or anyone else realized. It's going to take a lot to defeat Zarantha now and I hope our heroes are up to the task!

See ya next time!

Starbolts #694: Soul Cleaver Fever

 Hail!

    Finally our heroes have the soul cleaver and Carter plans on using it on Zarantha herself! What kind of an effect will it have on that witch? It's hard to say. I mean Zarantha doesn't exactly have a soul anymore. Theoretically, the knife wouldn't work on her, would it? Well, either way we're going to find out what happens when the "food" fights back. The question is who is going to be the one to stab her with it. Carter? Crystal? Marcus? Jack? These are all good questions to be sure. Next week we'll be seeing the battle and I think there may be a change in personality for Zarantha. She's gotten....umm....hangry.

    This week the Starbolts were introduced to Nikki's girlfriend, Heather. A while back I had her cameo in a comic when she showed up for an interview. She got the job almost immediately and no it wasn't because of her looks. Heather's really smart and Nikki sees that in her. In fact, she and Cal are probably the only ones who see past her beautiful exterior. Heh. Remind you of anyone? 

    I think Heather could possibly be the audience's lens in this comic. She's observing all the weird things going on around her and wondering just what she's gotten herself into. Her boyfriend Cal came back from the dead and isn't a zombie. Her girlfriend Nikki is a clone of a superhero. Things are a little complicated. But, she's handling things really well.

    So, we're marching toward Starbolts #700 and it looks like an epic battle is on the horizon. Will our heroes emerge on top? Let's hope so. It's going to be a challenge to quell the witch's hunger. We'll see what happens next week when Zarantha herself goes under the knife!

See ya next time!

Starbolts #693: A Desperate Escape

 Hail!

    Here it is, folks! The whole reason why Zarantha has been after Crystal all these years is because she sees our heroine as food and not in a zombie needing brains sort of way. Zarantha studied chaos magic and because of her studies she lost her soul. Now she has to consume other souls in order to survive. There's a catch! The souls she consumes must be from void witches. That's pretty gross! This basically means that in all those battles with Zarantha she was basting Crystal and getting her ready to be consumed. She will go to great lengths to satisfy her hunger. That's what happens when you study dark magic like chaos magic. You essentially become a lech. It's her own fault, really.

    Speaking of baddies causing their own problems, we have trapped Tommy in the Outlands! How long he'll stay there is up to Sam and I. It's really his own fault for shooting the sensitive equipment. Everything would have been fine if he had just calmed down and went along for the ride. Nope. Tom doesn't play with a full deck. All he wanted was to score with Crystal and his lust left him stranded in another dimension. Will he ever go home? Maybe. I might bring him back because there are natives in that dimension and we can't have a human influence them. Think of the damage he might cause! 

    At least our heroes are back on Earth. It looks like Marcus and Crystal landed on Nikki's balcony. Too bad Nikki isn't at home right now. Her fight with Zarantha seems to be going well. We'll be seeing the satisfying conclusion to that fight soon!

    We're marching into Starbolts #700 and the fun is just getting started!

See ya next time!

Starbolts #692: Chasing Crystal

 Hail!

    Well, it looks like our two lovebirds have been reunited and it was not a moment too soon! Marcus may be a tad impulsive. But, that's just a result of his speedy nature. He thinks five steps ahead of everyone else and it can be a little bit extra. However, you can't argue with the results. He is the perfect person to run in and grab Crystal before the wicked witch can bat an eye. It's her own fault, really. She left an inept and unfortunately lovesick thug in charge of her prisoner.

    Crystal had a great strategy here. She was trying to make Tommy jealous of her and Marcus by playing up the relationship. Marcus really does worship her. I think he'd chuckle at the "goddess" line. Then like a loser Tom tried to use the same trick on Marcus. Marcus is way too smart to fall for that since he knows Crystal's heart and her soul. She would never cheat on the man who saved her time and time again. Though, she did save him a few times too. Let's not forget he had Demonstorm in his head for a while.

     Marcus definitely doesn't like being back in the Outlands. Well, the D.I.S.C.O.R.D. island part at least. The rest of the dimension is fine as far as he's concerned. The floating island he's on was once D.I.S.C.O.R.D. Island and that was where Soldier Six met their unfortunate end. He heard Jack tell the story of his team's death AND even went there when the team went back in time. See Starbolts #470 for details. In that comic he witnessed the death of his hero, Tyrone who was like an older brother to him when he was little. Being back on the island brings back a lot of bad memories.

    Speaking of souls. I know I said I was going to explain why Zarantha wants Crystal's soul so badly. I wasn't able to fit it into this week's comic. However, it IS in next week's comic, I had to fine tune the details. It's kinda gross to be honest. You'll see. 

    Meanwhile, we have Nikki fighting the witch by herself. How long can she hold out fighting her? She's a tough cookie. Then again so is Nikki. She may not want to admit it. But, she does have Andrea's blood running through her veins despite being a clone of Carter's. You might say she has issues with being a clone and all that. More on that later!

See ya next time!

Starbolts #691: Finding the Cleaver

 

 Hail!

     It turns out that Crystal is trapped in the Outlands with Tom White aka Tornado. If that wasn't bad enough, she's in the old Terra Nova/D.I.S.C.O.R.D. base Zarantha teleported to another dimension. The Outlands is a mysterious dimension akin to Marvel's "Negative Zone".  It was discovered by Terra Nova and they've been using/exploiting the area for quite some time.  Zarantha teleported Discord Island there some time ago and if you recall the island was also the place where Cobra killed Soldier Six and nearly killed Crystal's brother, Jack. Yeah, there's a lot of bad juju associated with the place.

    Of course Tom doesn't care about any of that. He just wants Crystal and took her to his old room in the hopes of having sex with her. Thankfully, that didn't go anywhere! Even if Zarantha didn't put a curse on Tom Crystal would have surely kicked him and made a break for it. She did escape from that base before and she could do it again. However, I think Marcus might arrive in the Outlands before Crystal can put her plan into action.

    I think Zarantha will of course have her hands full with Nikki. It should be noted that Nikki isn't cheating on her husband Cal here. I think it's clear that Nikki is in a polygamous relationship with both Heather and Calvin. Calvin is also in a relationship with both women. So, no cheating is involved. Nikki, however, seems to have the same magical powers her "sisters" Crystal and Carter have. So, that will be an interesting battle for sure!

    While that's going on, Crystal still has to deal with Tom. Let's hope she can hold out until help arrives. I still need to go into details in comic about why Zarantha wants Crystal so badly. Sure she wants her soul. But, why? That's a great question and it will be answered soon! Very soon!

 See ya next time!

Starbolts #690: Fighting Fear

 Hail! 

    Well, it turns out Zarantha's plan all along was to take Crystal's soul and our heroine has every reason to be afraid considering what happened to her sister. Carter's soul was cut using a "soul cleaver" and clones were created using pieces of her soul. Eventually, they were all reintegrated while she was in the pools in Elisua as seen in Starbolts #609. Well, not every clone was reintegrated. One clone, Nikki, is still out there. She was last seen many comics ago and may soon make a return. You never know.

    As far as Crystal goes, this week I wanted to show her as being strong and vulnerable at the same time. On the outside she was of course very mad about the situation. she was placed in. Who could blame her? A woman with her history shouldn't have been plucked from her bed like that. So, she reacted the only way she could. She acts tough on the outside and yet on the inside she's scared.

  She handled Tom fine without her powers. Even without magic she's still a dangerous woman. She focused on her fighting skills more than magic and it shows here. That doesn't mean she isn't magically inclined. She was still able to make the mystical connection with Marcus and communicate with him over vast distances.  Their connection is hard to explain. I'd like to think that they saw into their hearts and connected beyond spiritually.

    Marcus and Crystal had been practicing the bonding ritual since they first heard about it back when he had Demonstorm in his head. They went to the Arlandero ranch in El Paso to sort out their feelings and connections. They tried to connect once in between Starbolts #598 and #599. It started to fade and so they decided to try and make it stick. I'd say it finally succeeded. Crystal may not be as strong as Carter in the magic department. But, you can't argue with the results when she puts her mind to it.

    Zarantha wants Crystal's soul because hers was likely lost and since Crystal isn't as strong as Carter, it makes her an easy target. The witch always knew she had magical potential because of who her father is. She's gonna need some more mystical protection and training to keep the target off her back. It remains to be seen if she'll be able to get out of this situation. Contact has been made and our heroes are poised to take the action to Zarantha and save their friend.

   See ya next time!

Starbolts #689: A Nightmare Scenario

 Hail!

    Zarantha has woken up from her coma and she means business! For those who don't know she was put into that state by Nightstrike's leader Ethan Knight back in Starbolts #373 when he realized that there was no reasoning with her. For unknown reasons she always had her eyes set on Crystal and now that she's a void witch she has an even bigger target on her back! However, our heroine isn't the same woman she was when they last fought each other. It's been a little over a year in the comic since Crystal saw her and a lot has changed. Crystal is way more confident. She might end up saving herself from Zarantha. You never know.

    However, Crystal might need some clothes before she goes anywhere. Zarantha kidnapped her at a very ummm....intimate time. That's the most PG way of putting it. Zarantha doesn't seem to care about romance or anything like that. She just wants Crystal and we'll be exploring that as we march toward Starbolts #700. Let's just hope Tom can keep his hands to himself. The guy's a creep and even without her powers I'm confident that she can take him out. She's still a very good fighter.

    Zarantha got herself a younger body as she was well over six hundred years old and being in a coma weakened her. So, she sought out the youthful energy of a nearby young woman. That's pretty gross. I wonder what happened to the lady whose youthful vigor she stole. Never mind. I don't want to think about it.  

    As far as Jack goes, it looks like he's going to have his hands full with Nautilus. Let's hope our heroes can get to Crystal before Zarantha does any more harm to her. Marcus will definitely be leading the charge. He is going to be BIG mad next comic. VERY mad. Stay tuned!

See ya next time!