FILE 144: THE DRUID

Chapter One: The Cult

Dredmund Cromwell was born in Caribou, Maine, probably sometime towards the end of the 1950s. We know little of his past, save that he was a gifted engineer and chemist and that at some point he became interested in the ancient art of Druidism to the point of obsession. He was a charismatic but ultimately unstable individual who was motivated towards a single goal, which was the acquisition of power. He studied ancient Druidic and Alchemical texts and began to learn of potions and elixirs that could imbue him with powers and abilities beyond those of a normal human; at some point, he began to synthesise and ingest these compounds, gaining hypnotic abilities in addition to his natural charisma. These made an irresistible combination and he soon began to gather to him a number of like-minded individuals whom he encouraged to worship him. With such a God-Complex, it was inevitable that Dredmund would soon find himself at odds with the law in his native America.

Calling himself the Druid, Dredmund established a small cult and began to preach the ways of Druidism, all the while seeking the means to extended his power through the servitude of these minions. He made an impressive figure in his purple robes and horned helmet, and his Cult members were similarly garbed in simple purple hooded robes. The Druid genuinely believed that the arcane arts which he had mastered could aid his rise to power and that they should form the basis for a society under his control. Nevertheless, he saw their limitations and using his knowledge of engineering and chemistry he combined this with his knowledge of Druidism to create a power base of considerable technological sophistication. Thanks to his own skills and probably the donations of his worshippers, he had considerable financial resources and was able to excavate a subterranean complex to house this headquarters. We do not know exactly where this base was located, but it was somewhere in America and probably in New York State. Not wishing to squander his Druidic skills, he seems to have concentrated primarily on using pure technology to equip his Cult with weapons and apparatus necessary to carry out his plans, although he dressed these in Druidic trappings; thus his Satan Eggs, which were flying robotic weapons capable of firing lasers and projectile weapons, were disguised as large white eggs with no visible external features.

By the time he was in his forties, the Druid was finally ready to begin a terrorist campaign that would facilitate his rise to power. His base was well hidden beneath a large tree, which could lift up into the air on hydraulic ramps concealed in its roots and he was confident that it was a secure base of operations. Further trees both camouflaged the site and also contained an array of periscopes and auditory monitoring devices. Despite his megalomania and ego, the Druid's paranoia kept him alert to the possibility of opposition. Over the last few years, the number of so-called Super-Heroes, beings with super-human powers and abilities, had markedly increased for the first time since the 1940s, but Dredmund's main concern was with the anti-Terrorist organisation SHIELD. SHIELD (an acronym for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division), was a top-secret American Government organisation set-up to combat terrorism. It was run by one Colonel Nicholas Fury, a veteran of World War II who had been kept hale and hearty thanks to a life-prolonging serum known as the Infinity Formula, and it would undoubtedly be the first line of opposition to a large and well-equipped terrorist campaign by a shadowy Cult. Cromwell felt that he would better off making a pre-emptive strike against SHIELD before they discovered his existence and came looking for him, and so began to prepare for a strategic attack against the Head of SHIELD. And it is here that our story begins in earnest...

Chapter Two: Nick Fury

The Druid's strategy for defeating SHIELD was to kill its commanding officer, Colonel Nick Fury. By doing so, he hoped to demoralise, and thus cripple, SHIELD, before moving on to the next law enforcement agency on his list. The weapon that he intended to deploy against Fury was one of his Satan's Eggs, which were now programmed to hunt the head of SHIELD. The Druid had never actually used one of his Satan's Eggs before and therefore decided to test one quietly before launching the proper attack in front of the whole Cult. The Egg was programmed to track Fury and so if it failed, Dredmund could make improvements to the remaining Eggs without losing face in front of his worshippers, and if it succeeded he could claim that the first blow had already been struck. He launched it and soon it was on its way to intercept Fury. As we shall see, the Stan's Eggs had two means of control, autonomous and external. They could be controlled remotely from a control panel in the main control room of the Druid's base, and by thus taking control the operator could see the Egg's surroundings thanks to concealed cameras built into it. We do not know whether Dredmund or one of his underlings was controlling the first Satan's Egg sent against Fury, or whether it was on automatic, but if the Druid was indeed steering it, he nearly succeeded in introducing himself to SHIELD in a far more spectacular way than he had envisioned. When the Egg reached Fury, he and Aloysius "Dum-Dum" Dugan, an old friend from Fury's War days and a fellow high-ranking SHIELD agent, where travelling by aeroplane back to SHIELD's hidden Brooklyn headquarters. Without further ado, the Satan's Egg attacked the aircraft and caused it to crash, but unbeknownst to the Druid it was an experimental atomic aircraft and as soon as it hit the ground and burst into flames, the nuclear reactor controls were damaged and the core began to build towards critical. Had a nuclear explosion occurred, the Druid would have undoubtedly become one of America's most wanted men very early in his career. Fortunately, the tenacious Fury survived the crash and managed to shut down the reactor with mere seconds to spare, much to the relief of Dugan, who had also survived.

Although Fury had survived, the Druid was satisfied with the performance of his Satan's Egg and decided to launch the second Egg with more pomp and ceremony. That same night, he organised a Witches' Sabbath in the woodland directly above his subterranean base. As his minions formed a circle around a fiery pit in the ground, Dredmund ordered an image of the Cult's greatest enemy to appear in the smoke rising from the pit. Right on cue, an image of Fury appeared, quickly followed by an image of the SHIELD emblem. These images were achieved through a very simple trick; the fiery pit reached down into the control room below the surface, where one of the Druid's men placed an effigy of Fury's face and a mock-up of the SHIELD emblem on a small hydraulic life, raising it up so that it lifted out of the mouth of the pit above. Although his worshippers seem to have been aware of this charade, they were clearly caught up in the atmosphere of the ritual. As they watched, the Druid ordered the images to cease, and the "Egg of Satan" to come forth. As the gathered druids watched, a Satan's Egg rose out of the fire and flew off into the night in search of Fury. With all proceeding to plan, the Druid went down to the control room to watch his victory on the Egg's remote camera.

The Satan's Egg flew out of the ground and off towards Fury's location near New York with incredible speed. It was quickly detected by a SHIELD coastal defence station's radar, but at 3000mph it was moving far too fast for the interceptor jets sent after it. Furthermore, it could make sharp turns in the air and dart towards the ground at a moment's notice, flying out of sight beneath the treetops. The SHIELD defence station personnel could only watch the radar helplessly as it headed towards Fury's last known location and then set off in pursuit of him. When it eventually reached Fury, he and Dugan were driving through the suburbs on their way back to headquarters, with Nick doing the actual driving. They quickly spotted the Egg flying along behind them, made the connection with the reports of an Egg causing the aircraft to crash, and took evasive action. The Satan's Egg had slowed down to keep pace with the car and now fired a searing laser beam into the ground, trying to slice through the moving vehicle and its occupants. Nick's driving skills allowed them to evade it, but they would not be able to do so for long. Fortunately for them, the car they were in was a SHIELD vehicle. Pressing a button on the dashboard, Fury launched a circular "borer bomb" from the car's boot, which shot into the air, clamped onto the Egg and drilled a large hole in it, before exploding. The Egg was now damaged and had a gaping hole in its side, but its circuits were still intact and it was still functioning enough to kill them.

Meanwhile, the Druid was growing impatient. Realising that Fury would be harder to kill than he had anticipated Cromwell decided to manoeuvre the Egg personally and stepped over to the remote control panel. Watching the scene below the Egg on its cameras, he positioned it above and behind the moving car and selected a weapon from the control panel. He had a choice of Thermo Ray and Multiple Jet Gun amongst others, but settled on the traction nodules. Firing the weapon, he watched as the Egg launched two missiles, which streaked past the car and exploded, scattering plastic spheres all over the road. On contact, these spheres suddenly changed shape and grew fixed tombstone-like blocks protruding from the tarmac. Once more however, Fury's gadget-laden car saved the two SHIELD officers; Fury activated the vehicles hidden air jet fans and it flew over the obstacles ahead. Fury and Dugan the leapt from the car and fired machine guns into the hole in the Egg's armour, causing it to explode. They made their way to SHIELD's Brooklyn headquarters, where they went to ground.

The Druid knew that Fury would now be alert to the threat of the mysterious Eggs and would be much harder to locate. He responded to this by launching not another Satan's Egg, but a whole flotilla of them. Since it was not possible to control more than one Egg remotely, he instead had them record whatever they saw so that his men could examine the footage on their return. He then settled down to wait. Soon enough, the Satan's Eggs began to return with footage of their victims. After five of them had returned, the Druid realised that he needed another plan - all five of them had recorded individually killing Fury. Obviously, he had lost the advantage of surprise and SHIELD was deploying robot duplicates of Fury to act as decoys for the Eggs. To be precise, these robots were Life Model Decoys (LMDs) a series of incredibly life-like androids designed and built by billionaire industrialist Anthony Stark. As the Druid had guessed, SHIELD had released several of these LMDs to draw the Eggs' fire whilst the real Fury remained safe and set about trying to identify the mastermind behind the attacks upon him. So far he had met with little success. Nevertheless, he was about to find out who his opponent was, since Dredmund had decided to confront him directly.

The Druid had decided that since Fury was now prepared for his Satan Eggs, he would confront the Colonel, introduce himself, and offer to surrender if Fury defeated him in hand to hand combat. He was confident that Fury would rise to his challenge and moreover he was certain that Fury would lose, since Dredmund intended to cheat. All he needed to do now was to draw Fury into the open so that he could face him. To this end, he dispatched a Satan's Egg to the edge of Brooklyn (which was where most of the Fury duplicates had been destroyed) and caused it to detonate. Fury was in SHIELD's underground headquarters interrogating the recently captured criminal and technological genius known as the Fixer (real name Paul Norbert Ebersol), in case he knew anything about the Eggs, but when the Egg exploded the blast was loud enough for him to hear it. He and Dugan made their way to the site of the explosion accompanied by a group of SHIELD agents and Jasper Sitwell, a young and over-eager agent who had been assigned to Fury to investigate the mysterious Eggs. When they arrived and found the remains of the Satan Egg, Dugan suggested that it had crashed accidentally, but Fury deduced otherwise; he had guessed that it was a lure. Right on cue, the Druid made his presence known.

The Druid had arrived with the Egg, but was invisible thanks to a prototype light-absorber. He now made one hand visible and pointed it at Fury, announcing that they had business to settle between them. Fury was unimpressed by Dredmund's parlour tricks and yelled out to his men to produce an infrared blaster. Ever efficient, Sitwell produced such a device and fired it in the direction of the Druid's hand, thus revealing him. Unruffled by this, Cromwell decided to introduce himself: "I am..the Druid! One by one, I shall destroy every law-enforcement agency in the land!" Discarding the bulky harness of his now unnecessary light absorber, the Druid issued his challenge to Fury to face him in unarmed combat. Fury agreed and the fight began. The director of SHIELD quickly discovered that the Druid had come prepared; his skin and robes were coated in a liquid that made striking him like hitting sandpaper. Against such a defence, Fury's hardest blow served only to skin his knuckles on Dredmund's face. He then discovered that Cromwell had other elixirs at his disposal, including one that increased his strength to greater than normal levels. It is interesting to note that this is the only weapon or tactic used by the Druid since he began his campaign against Fury that actually involved genuine use of the Druidic arts rather than electronic trickery; as we shall see in subsequent chapters, his dependence on technology would wane over the next few years.

Fury ducked a punch from the Druid only to see Dredmund's fist smash deep into the tree behind him. It was clear to the Druid that he was winning, despite Fury's best efforts to the contrary. Eager to be able to hit him, Fury had wrapped his hands in cloth torn from his shirt, but the Druid realised what he was going to do and landed a powerful blow first. Fury was driven to the ground by the force of the blow. Gloatingly, the Druid moved forward to deliver the killing blow. Unfortunately for Dredmund, he had allowed confidence to gain the better of him. Underestimating Fury, he casually reached towards his prostrate form, only to receive a sudden punch to the face that rendered him insensate. Fury had rolled with Dredmund's earlier punch and was playing possum. As suddenly as that, the Druid was defeated and in SHIELD custody. Meanwhile, Dugan and Sitwell had deduced that the Druid must have had back-up and had ventured into the surrounding woods with the other SHIELD agents. They soon found themselves under attack from the Druid's Cultists, who were riding inside large Egg-shaped tanks. Unlike the Satan's Eggs, these were ground vehicles with caterpillar tracks and wheels that could be manned by personnel, but they shared their air-borne cousins' elaborate array of weaponry. Despite this, the ferocity of the SHIELD agents coupled with the organisation's own impressive arsenal soon defeated the Cult, who had lost their incentive to fight once they realised that their leader was captured.

The Druid's pre-emptive strike against SHIELD had gone horribly wrong. Rather than removing a potential enemy in advance, he had instead exposed himself and his organisation and met with a humiliating defeat. Defiantly, he informed Fury that his defeat was only temporary, since SHIELD had not located his main headquarters. Fuming, he was led away. We do not know exactly how long he spent in SHIELD's custody, but it cost him; Sitwell was given the task of interrogating him and he soon became the subject of SHIELD file 3B, which contained his real name and history. He also, insofar as we know, never returned to his subterranean base between the huge tree and we can speculate either that one of his men revealed its location or SHIELD located it via other means. SHIELD's analysis of the Druid based on his attack on Fury was that he lacked foresight, but made up for this limitation thanks to his impressive technical knowledge. It was undoubtedly this that allowed him to escape from custody. After several months, he was not only free, but he had gathered his Cult to him once more and had established a new and even more impressive headquarters somewhere in a mountainous region of North America. From this new base, he sought revenge against SHIELD, but rather than attacking Fury again he decided to target someone else. During the months of his incarceration, an old ally of Fury's had helped SHIELD out on several occasions and was a well-known public figure. Destroying this perceived primary agent would not only ensure the Druid's revenge, it would bring him to prominence just as his defeat of Fury would have done. This agent was Captain America.

Chapter Three: Captain America

The Druid's new power base was situated near the top of a mountain and in addition to a large control area and living complex for himself and his Cultists, it boasted several other features, all designed to trap the Druid's chosen victim. Most impressive of all was the "Maze of the Ancients", a vast labyrinth with moving walls and other traps, at the centre of which was a triangular portal leading to the "Arena of Ages". Despite the impressive names and appearances of these areas however, they were further products of the Druid's flair for drama and his penchant for cheap theatrics; whilst the traps within the Maze were undoubtedly technologically remarkable, the Maze itself was not even remotely ancient, built as it was out of wooden walls overlaid with concrete. But its ancient-looking walls created an atmosphere sufficiently convincing so that the Druid felt certain of its ability to intimidate his intended victim, and as such it would be a useful psychological tool. The Arena of Ages was also not what it seemed, but we shall discuss this in more depth later on. With his new headquarters prepared, all Dredmund needed was to bring his new target to it. He still felt that a pre-emptive strike against SHIELD a sound strategy, but after being defeated once by Fury he had no desire to confront him again in case he lost face in front of his followers for a second time. Besides, Fury knew his tactics and might guess that the Maze was effectively a large theatrical prop, albeit a lethal one. Instead, he decided to kill Captain America.

Captain America had originally appeared during the 1940s, when an experimental program designed to create an army of Super-Soldiers for the American military had created him. Prior to this, Steve Rogers had been physically weak and frail and thus unable to fight during the War; eager to serve his country, he had thus volunteered for the program. Immediately after he had become Captain America however, a Nazi spy had killed Professor Reinstein, the Super-Soldier Serum's creator, and so Captain America had been both the first and last successful Super-Soldier. Throughout the Second World War, he had fought against the Axis powers with his young prot�g� Bucky (real name James Buchanan Barnes). Towards the end of the War, he and Bucky had faced their old enemy Baron Zemo for one last time and Bucky had been killed [see file 4: Baron Zemo]. At the same time, Captain America had plunged from an experimental drone plane into the icy waters of the sea and thanks to an unexpected side effect of the Super-Soldier Serum he had gone into suspended animation. Some forty years later he had been discovered and revived by the American Super-Hero team known as the Avengers and for the last couple of years had resumed the fight for truth, justice and the American way. He had also helped out SHIELD, since Fury was an old friend from the War. He was not currently an agent of SHIELD, since he had objected to some of Fury's methods, but the Druid was unaware of this and would probably not have cared anyway. His death would still be sufficiently symbolic to establish the Druid as a serious threat and constitute a publicly acknowledged act of terrorism. To fetch the Captain to his mountain base, Cromwell despatched a large ovoid craft similar in design to his Stan's Eggs, which was programmed to locate the Avenger just as the Eggs had been programmed to locate Fury. The craft did so with ease and without warning, its tractor beam lanced down out of the sky, enveloped Captain America and bore him skywards. Travelling at the same colossal speeds available to the Satan's Eggs, it soon returned to base and reversed the tractor beam, carefully depositing Captain America down through a hole in the rock face and into the Maze of the Ancients. It was time to begin.

The cavern containing the Maze was rigged with a loudspeaker system through which the Druid immediately began to address his guest from his control room, although he chose to remain anonymous for the moment. Pompously, he explained that the Maze was a "geometrical progression of mystic numbers and symbols" at the centre of which Captain America would die. The Avenger was baffled at this melodramatic means of trying to kill him, but he had little choice but to play along for the moment. He quickly set off through the Maze. The real reasons for the melodrama were two-fold; firstly, the Druid was enormously egotistical and wanted to impress his victim before he actually killed him. Secondly, he wanted to impress his followers so as to boost their faith in him, and finally he derived sadistic pleasure by toying with his victim like a cat with a mouse. He probably achieved his first aim early on, when Captain America encountered his first obstacle. Thus far, we have chiefly seen the Druid employing his technical skills, but here we see a truly impressive example of his arcane Druidic skills; Captain America was confronted by three shambling mindless humanoids with soft, lumpy orange bodies and druidic runes on their chests and backs. These were animated sponges with mass and weight, which could repel any blow by virtue of their bounciness. Captain America quickly discovered this when first his fist and then the flat surface of his indestructible metal shield rebounded off them. But whilst the creation of these sponges is remarkable in itself, they did not last long. As another of the three sponges shuffled towards him with its arms swinging, Rogers swung his shield horizontally and the figure was sliced in two. With the sponges defeated, he then proceeded further into the Maze.

From his vantage point in his control room, the Druid watched in satisfaction. He intended for Captain America to die in the Arena of Ages, and he had fully expected the Avenger to overcome everything he faced in the Maze. He now operated controls that caused the walls of the Maze to move, ensuring that Captain America could only find himself at the heart of the labyrinth. This was not immediately obvious to Rogers, although he did hear the grinding and clanking sounds produced by the moving walls. Before he could ponder the significance of these sounds however, he was distracted by a fleeting glimpse of a shadowy figure leaping between the tops of the walls surrounding him. Instinctively, he threw his shield at the mysterious silhouette, but as he moved forward to catch it again, his foot came down on a trapdoor and he plunged through. Beneath this trapdoor was an open space and directly below him was a vat of some bubbling yellow sludge. With lightening reflexes he grabbed onto a girder at the edge of the trapdoor and swung back up through it to safety, narrowly avoiding being cut off by the now-closing door. Had he been less distracted by his plight, he might have questioned why the floor of this supposedly ancient maze was supported by iron girders, but for the moment he was more concerned with reacting to each new threat.

The Druid continued to herd Captain America further into the Maze, with his enigmatic agent continuing to trail him. As the walls continued to slide open or shut around him, the Avenger became increasingly aware of his shadow, until suddenly it attacked. The figure was humanoid, but still concealed by the darkness such that Captain America could not identify it. As it struck him from behind, he rolled forward, turned and smashed it to ground with his shield; before he could get a proper look at it however, it seized his gloved forearm and its fingers burnt straight through the cloth. The Sentinel of Liberty leapt back in shock and looked at the handprint seared into his glove and his attacker turned, bounded up the side of the wall and vanished into the darkness once again. Before Captain America could attempt to follow, he was interrupted by the arrival of the next obstacle in the form of three flying eggs, each with a pair of articulated metal arms ending in vicious pincers. These new cousins of the Satan's Eggs moved forward menacingly, firing deadly laser beams at Captain America's feet, but whilst the Satan's Eggs had been truly deadly machines, these were soon overcome by the Avenger thanks once more to his shield. Furthermore, as he smashed the robots to pieces, he had come to an important realisation. All of the obstacles that he had faced so far, save perhaps for his mysterious stalker, had been relatively easy for him to overcome, and when he had first arrived the anonymous voice had informed him that he would die at the centre of the Maze. Logically therefore, everything he faced whilst in the Maze before he reached its centre was designed to slow him down but not to kill him. Clearly, somebody was playing games with him and so he decided to break the rules; lifting one of the broken robots by its arm, he swung it at the wall of the Maze, hoping to break the stone and allow him to move through the Maze in a straight line. On doing so, he discovered the Maze's true nature as the cement cracked off and the wood beneath it shattered. Furiously, captain America made his way out.

The Druid was undoubtedly annoyed at this setback, especially when Captain America reached his centre of operations and from his vantage point of top of a catwalk leapt down to attack the Druid's cultists. They quickly pulled out guns, but the Avenger easily disarmed and knocked out several of them before finally being hit by a potent stun beam. When he awoke, he was in the Arena of the Ages and his host was watching him from a balcony. The Arena of Ages was filled with numerous man-sized geometric sculptures and was surrounded by a square amphitheatre housing a large number of Cultists. The Druid greeted him and introduced himself: "Your death is inevitable - - as is the ultimate fall of SHIELF - - at the hand of the Druid!!" Before his captive could respond, Dredmund's mysterious agent who had been stalking Captain America in the Maze entered the Arena through the hovering triangular portal, which led from its twin at the Maze's centre. Revealed at last, the creature was red and green humanoid with a bestial face and an acrid smell surrounding it. We shall let Cromwell explain what it was: "He is called - - the Alchemoid!! He is a walking storehouse of alchemical energies, specially trained to be undefeatable" The Alchemoid truly showcases the extent of Dredmund's abilities and was a remarkable creation. It appears to have been wholly artificial, although with a personality and malign intelligence all its own. Its hands dripped corrosive liquid and it was this that had burned a handprint into Captain America's glove during their early skirmish in the Maze. It now moved in for the kill.

The battle was fierce. As the gleeful Druid looked on, all the while gloating to his followers that he could create a entire army of Alchemoids with which to destroy SHIELD, the two combatants traded blows. The Alchemoid was physically impervious to all of Captain America's blows, but the Avenger's shield blocked the creature's attacks and his agility allowed him to avoid other attacks. The Alchemoid fired a burst of alchemical fire from its fist, only to see its opponent dive aside and the blast destroy one of the sculptures on the edge of the Arena. Nevertheless, both the Druid and the Alchemoid noticed that Captain America was rapidly slowing down and knew that the fight would soon be over. They were correct, but not in the way they believed. As soon as Captain America had seen the Druid and heard his name, he had gained an enormous advantage. Although he had never met Dredmund before, Fury had recounted the details of his meeting with the Druid and Steve had remembered a great deal. Fury had told him that the Druid had a "rudimentary knowledge of antinatural chemical properties", but also utilised theatrical tricks and his considerable technical knowledge to achieve his ends. In other words, Fury had said, "he cheats". Bearing this in mind, Captain America had also noticed that as he and the Alchemoid moved closer to the centre of the Arena, the creature grew stronger. He suddenly realised that the geometrical sculptures, which were denser near the centre, were power feeds for the Alchemoid. With this insight, he quickly turned his full attention back to the fight and goaded the Alchemoid into firing a blast at one of the statues, shattering it.

An icy fist tightened around Dredmund's stomach as he realised what Captain America had worked out. Instantly, he reached for the control panel built into his podium and turned a dial, boosting the output of the power feeds and sending a massive charge of energy into the Alchemoid. Hysterically, he yelled to the creature that Captain America was trying to trick it into destroying its own power supply and ordered it to use its now-boosted energy to kill him as quickly as possible. It almost worked; the Alchemoid unleashed a blast at Captain America, which knocked him to the ground stunned, even through his shield. It then raised its hands to deliver the killing blast and promptly exploded, its power-intake overloaded. Mad with rage, the Druid shrieked impotently that it should have killed its opponent sooner. Captain America was incensed; he wasn't sure whether the Alchemoid had been a wholly artificial creation or a man with powers granted by the Druid, but either way an intelligent being had just died and its master didn't care. Unfortunately for the Druid, Captain America had recently been through a variety of traumas in his life and had already been in a foul temper when he had been abducted. In an uncharacteristic outburst he swore to defeat the Druid: "I'm going to stop you for only one reason - - the Alchemoid! Your defeat will be vengeance - - evil as he was - - for his was the kind of evil that is purposely bred and exploited by scum like you!" Realising that his plans to kill Captain America were in danger of turning into a repeat of his ghastly and humiliating defeat by Fury, Dredmund decided to flee. He produced two metal canisters at Captain America, which exploded into pillars of flame, dazzling him. The Druid then shouted a rallying cry to his followers, who surged down into the Arena to kill Captain America, and whilst the Avenger was thus distracted he made a hasty exit. Unfortunately, Captain America had disarmed and defeated all of the knife-wielding zealots before the Druid had got far enough; pursuing him, he reached the heart of the Druid's complex. Spotting him on a catwalk overhead, Rogers hurled his shield at Dredmund, knocking him painfully into the central Control room below.

Forced to face Captain America in combat directly, the Druid was absolutely terrified. His fistfight with Fury had severely damaged his confidence in such a situation and he desperately tried every trick he could think of to avoid another defeat. Worse still, he was now so paranoid that as Captain America challenged him, the perceived mockery filled him with a mixture of rage and anxiety that clouded his judgement. Another pair of canisters was hurled at the Avenger, these turning the floor beneath him into a thick sticky mess. Seeing this, the Druid suddenly grinned maniacally, ran at Captain America, and aimed a clumsy kick at his head. The Sentinel of Liberty caught it with ease, eliciting a shriek of panic from Dredmund who frantically tried to tear himself free. Captain America flung him away from him. Picking himself up once more, he threw another pair of cylinders, which burst open on contact and released a thick sticky fluid that clung to Captain America's shield. Reacting quickly, Rogers flung the shield and its noxious coating at the Druid, knocking him backwards into the main control panel, which exploded in a shower of sparks. The complex's entire electrical system started to short out and the base began to fall apart as the equipment exploded. Pulling himself free, the dazed and almost-electrocuted Druid staggered unseeingly towards Captain America, just as he pulled his feet free of the sticky morass holding them just in time to deliver the knockout blow. Dredmund collapsed.

At that point, SHIELD arrived. They had been aware of the Druid's new base for sometime, but had been content to wait and see what he was doing before challenging him. Once they had realised that he had abducted Captain America, a rescue team led by Eric Koenig, another wartime friend of both Fury and Captain America, had set out for the mountain base. But just as they arrived, their chief target was stolen from them. As Captain America watched in stunned disbelief, the same ovoid craft that had delivered him to the Maze of the Ancients appeared overheard, visible through one of several holes appearing in the base's disintegrating roof. Its tractor beam stabbed down and enveloped the Druid's unconscious form, lifting him up into its belly. The hatch closed and the weird craft sped away. The Druid had escaped. Yet he had lost both headquarters and Cult; as Captain America watched the vanishing vessel in disgust, Koenig and his team flew down into the base through the shattered roof with their SHIELD issue jetpacks and mopped up the remaining cultists. The Druid's entire operation was crippled once more.

Twice now Dredmund Cromwell had attacked SHIELD without provocation, and twice it had cost him dearly. He had lost two bases and now virtually all of his followers had been captured by SHIELD. At long last, he turned away from thoughts of pre-emptive strikes and instead turned his attention towards building a solid foundation with which to achieve his dreams of conquest. For the next few months, as he recovered both physically and psychologically from the injuries inflicted upon him by Captain America, he began to focus more on the genuine Druidic secrets known to him rather than his theatrical trickery and technological gimmicks. His confidence had been severely shaken by his two defeats and he felt that he was a failure, his actual Druidic abilities feeble and insignificant. Yet he still wanted power both for himself and over others. Soon, his researches led him to discover the existence of an ancient book of Druidic secrets, which arcane lore suggested could give him power undreamt of. He would locate this book and learn its secrets. Legend had it that the book resided in England, somewhere in the now-ruined Greymoor Castle. Dredmund would travel to this Castle and find the book, no matter how long it took him. Unfortunately, by coincidence his visit to England would coincide with a visit by an old acquaintance...

Chapter Four: Greymoor Castle

Greymoor Castle had been built on an ancient Druid burial ground by Romans with stones from demolished Druidic temples, and had stood strong in the North of England for centuries until the Second World War, when a V2 rocket had ruined it. But Greymoor had not been struck by a V2; rather it had been destroyed when a V2 had been launched from within it, for Greymoor Castle had been the site of a great betrayal to the Nazis. The castle had been owned by scientific genius Dr Cedric Rawlings, who lived there with his sister Celia. Rawlings had discovered a mass-reducing type of radiation that he had called Z-Rays, but his genius had not been recognised by the British scientific establishment and the embittered scientist had offered his discovery to the Nazis. The Red Skull, Hitler's lieutenant and the second most powerful man in the Reich, had seen the advantages in this discovery, since he realised that it could be used to compact rocket fuel, thus making far more powerful, long-range missiles. More to the point, he saw ways of exploiting Rawlings and his sister in order to trap his arch-nemesis, Captain America and his sidekick Bucky. He had despatched an aide, Major Uberhart, to England, and during the subsequent events Uberhart had killed Rawlings' sister when the Major had decided that Cedric was no longer necessary. Heartbroken, Rawlings had switched sides and helped Captain America and Bucky defeat the Major and also redirect the experimental compact-fuel V2 present in the Castle so that it destroyed a Nazi company that was menacing an allied unit in France. The pit housing the deadly Z-Rays had been left sealed with a lead cover and was buried when the V2 was launched through the Castle roof. Rawlings had apparently died in the launch, and Captain America and Bucky had escaped. Forty-odd years later, Bucky was long dead and Captain America had woken up only to resume his continuous battle with the Red Skull, who had also survived for four decades in suspended animation.

Whether the Druid knew of his enemy's past association with Greymoor is uncertain, and even if he did know he could not have believed it to be relevant. All that mattered was locating the ancient book of alchemical secrets that had long been hidden there, so that he could gain power and ensure that he would suffer no further embarrassing, and demoralising, defeats. We do not know how long he searched, but the Castle was not that large and although the book was hidden, the ruinous nature of the Castle must have further limited the number of hiding places. Shortly after Dredmund arrived, he became aware that he was not alone in the ruins. In the darkness and the rubble lived an old man with a scarred face who was haunted by visions of his past. This man was Dr Cedric Rawlings. He had not died in the launch of the V2 rocket, although its exhaust fumes had horribly burnt his face. The knowledge of his betrayal of his country and his part in the death of his sister had stayed with him and the grief and guilt had driven him mad; he constantly hallucinated that Major Uberhart, Celia and the Red Skull visited him. After four decades he was very old, but he was still well enough to keep himself alive. Clad in an old suit of plate armour, he scavenged on whatever he could and remained alone. Dredmund probably did not know who he was, but this was of no consequence. It was easy enough for the Druid to avoid the old man, and whenever Rawlings did see or hear him during his search, Cedric assumed that the purple robed figure was just another ghost. In fact, Dreedmund soon narrowed down his search to the Z-Ray chamber and whenever Rawlings ventured near it, he exploited the old man's fear of ghosts to frighten him off. But not long after Dredmund arrived at the Castle, someone who was rather harder to ignore or frighten visited it. It was Captain America.

Recently, Captain America had been summoned to England by an old wartime ally, Lord Falsworth. During the First World War, Falsworth had fought against Germany and he had come out of retirement for World War Two. Captain America had fought alongside him as a member of the team known as the Invaders, and together they had battled the vampire Baron Blood, secretly Falsworth's brother. During the fight, Falsworth had been crippled and Blood had been staked through the heart. He had briefly been revived later on in the War, but had soon been staked a second time. Recently, the stake had been removed from Baron Blood's skeleton and the vampire had returned to his semblance of life. Falsworth had summoned Captain America to face their old foe, and the vampire had been permanently destroyed when the Avenger had beheaded it with his shield. Falsworth had died during the battle. Before returning home, Captain America had decided to visit Greymoor Castle. He was not in the habit of celebrating any battle, but Bucky's death had haunted him for years and he liked to be reminded of his old friend. As soon as he entered the ruin, the unhinged Rawlings attacked him with a mace, believing him to be yet another hallucination. Captain America deflected the blow, but the impact sent him crashing back against a rotted wooden door, which gave way and caused him to fall into the room beyond. The room in question housed the Z-Ray pit, which Dredmund had left uncovered during his search. The Avenger narrowly avoided falling into it, but he landed heavily and was knocked out. Then, as the Druid watched from concealment, the armoured old man carefully lifted him and carried him to the undamaged room where he made his home.

Eager to make up for his past sins and suspecting that this was no ghost, Rawlings sat Captain America in a seat and when he awoke offered him a goblet of mulled wine. Realising that the old man wanted to be sure that he was real, the Avenger drank the wine and then looked on in surprise as Rawlings removed his visor. He was amazed to find the old man still alive and listened as he explained how he had lived in hiding for years, haunted by his conscience. Unfortunately for Dredmund however, when he swore that he had seen actual ghosts besides his hallucinations, Rogers decided to investigate. He had just battled a vampire and had faced the occult several times both alone and with the Avengers, but he knew that scientific explanations were often more commonly right than supernatural ones. The Druid realised that he was going to have to act. As Captain America and Rawlings began to wander the castle, Dredmund crawled onto a broken wall that towered high above them. Putting his weight behind a huge stone gargoyle, he pushed it off and it plummeted straight down towards Captain America. Reacting quickly, the Avenger dodged it by millimetres, even as Rawlings triumphantly crowed that he had been right. Rogers had other ideas though; he had caught a glimpse of a horned and robed figure atop the battlements, and whilst he did not yet recognise the shape, he knew that this was no ghost. He set off in pursuit.

The Druid must have been panicking by now, since his last encounter with Captain America had been extremely painful. As the Sentinel of Liberty began to catch up with him, he pulled a pair of metal eggs filled with acid from within his robes and hurled then at his pursuer. Captain America heard the swishing sound made as the Druid hurled them however, and raised his shield just in time. Thinking quickly, he vaulted down the outside of a broken spiral staircase, even as Dredmund made his way down its well. Then, he came face to face with Rawlings' "ghost". Surprised to see the Druid there, he exclaimed "the Demon Druid", a melodramatic extension to Cromwell's usual alias that Dredmund had used in passing on their first encounter. Trying to hide the fear that he must have been feeling, the Druid threatened to kill him, as he would have done had SHIELD not intervened last time. After all, he announced, it was not so long ago that the Avenger had been broken and beaten by the psychological assault of his Murder Maze. With a derisive snort, Captain America reminded him what had actually happened, even as he ducked a pair of clumsily thrown metal eggs, these two containing liquid fire which ignited some drapes behind him. This touched a nerve; suddenly furious, the Druid snarled a response as panic gave way to rage: "Curse you, Captain America! I'll not let you mock me with my own inadequacy!" With anger boosting his confidence, the Druid smugly announced that he had come to Greymoor to locate a means a massively increasing his powers. He then threw another pair of acid-containing eggs at captain America's feet, which burnt a hole through the floor and sent the Avenger plunging through. Directly beneath was the Z-Ray pit.

To the Druid's delight, Captain America was hanging from the edge of the hole by one hand. All he need to do was smash the ceremonial axe that he had picked up down on his enemy's hands and he would have triumph and revenge in one fell swoop. Unwisely, he decided to spend time gloating: "My powers are insignificant Captain America - -pitiable, laughable, hardly what you could call super-powers at all! I came to Greymoor to rectify that - -to find the old druid book and be reborn! And how utterly fitting that my ascension to supreme power should coincide - - - - with your downfall!" With that, he raised the axe above his head and swung it at Steve Rogers' hand. At that point, the full armoured weight of Dr Cedric Rawlings struck his body and carried them both over the edge, past Captain America and down into the pit. He had lived with enough ghosts for the last four decades and would not let Captain America die at Greymoor. As the pair fell, Captain America shot out his free hand and snagged Rawlings, hoping to save at least one of the two falling figures. The Druid was less lucky and plunged screaming into the Z-Ray pit. He vanished into its glowing radiation and disappeared.

With the Druid gone, Captain America ensured that Rawlings was all right and then explained why the Druid had been there. Moreover, he was able to show him; during his fight with the Druid, Dredmund's axe had struck a patch of wall and made a hollow sound. Hurling his shield at the stone in question, he broke open a hidden compartment and revealed the ancient book for which Dredmund had been searching. Although this was Rawlings' property by right, the old man did not want it - he intended to make peace with his ghosts in his own way before he died. He gave the book to Captain America, who returned with it to America to hand it over to the mutant chaos-magic manipulator and fellow Avenger known as the Scarlet Witch (real name Wanda Maximoff). As for the Druid, he had not died in the Z-Ray pit. Miniaturised though he was, he escaped and used his arcane abilities to restore himself to his full size. Defeated once more, he returned to America. Once there, he began to plan anew, and soon learned of an object, which his Druidic knowledge would allow him to use to gain incredible power. He began to formulate a plan that would not only grant him this power, but would allow him to transform others to a form that he could then control. In his greatest quest for power to date, Dredmund Cromwell would attempt to become Lord of the Werewolves. As we shall see, this grandiose project would drag not only Captain America, but also a variety of heroes, crime-fighters and even mutants, into conflict with the Druid. And in order to begin he needed an ally, one who had also fought Captain America before...

Chapter Five: Starwolf

At the dawn of creation was the Big Bang. As the Universe exploded outwards, remnants of the previous universe survived, scattered throughout space and one such remnant, a chunk of crystal, landed on the planet Kree-Lar. Because it came from the universe that existed before our own it had properties, which made it unique in this universe; its energies could affect the evolution of the living organisms of this new universe and change them, granting them enormous powers. For billions of years, the crystal lay hidden on the planet Kree-Lar, until the native Kree eventually uncovered it. By this time they were a highly advanced race and they used their skills to split the stone asunder, releasing enormous power, which killed thousands. Dubbing the two new stones Alpha and Omega, they continued to study them, eventually attracting the attention of other races. They brought other artefacts of similar natures to Kree-Lar, and eventually the Kree with their newfound allies created the Hellfire Helix to siphon energy from the Alpha and Omega stones and transfer it into these artefacts. Eight of these newly empowered crystals now had the ability to manipulate one of the fundamental forces of the universe, which are earth, air, fire, water, life, death, anima and gravity. These eight stones were used to power a device that could transfer these energies into chosen champions who would bring order to the galaxy. For two centuries they maintained peace, until eventually they died or retired. War broke out and the eight lifestones were taken from Kree-Lar to be hidden from those who would misuse them. Unfortunately, the ship carrying the stones exploded and the stones shattered. Their shards were caught in the explosion of the ship's warp drive and scattered throughout space via the spatial anomalies this created. Entering our solar system, several of these shards landed on Earth and its satellite. Over the years, these shards were found and the people who discovered them were transformed into meta-humans by their powers. One such recipient of a lifestone shard was astronaut John Jameson, who located a stone on the moon. Its powers transformed him into a werewolf-like bestial creature known as the Man-Wolf, and he ran amok on earth for months before finally removing the stone. It was this stone which the Druid now sought to obtain.

We do not know whether Dredmund knew of the stone's origin and history, but it seems unlikely. Nevertheless, he had learned of it and the Man-Wolf and he saw the potential that he held. He intended to tap into the stone's energies and use it to make himself a God. Some months earlier, the so-called Moongem had been removed from the Man-Wolf thanks to the combined efforts of the wall-crawling Super-Hero Spider-Man, and scientist Dr Curt Connors. Connors had found notoriety after taking a biochemical concoction designed to re-grow his missing right arm, which had been derived from the self-regenerative abilities of amphibians such as the salamander. An unexpected and horrific side effect had transformed him into the Lizard, a savage reptilian monster with a burning hatred for mammalian life. He had been returned to normal with Spider-Man's help, but had become the Lizard on numerous other occasions since. His alter ego's long enmity with Spider-Man had resulted in a friendship between Connors and the web-slinger and it was this that had prompted Spider-Man to seek his aid in freeing John Jameson from his curse. On removal, the Moongem had crumbled to dust, which Connors had carefully gathered up and stored for analysis in his laboratory at Empire State University in New York. The Druid intended to steal the vial of dust and reform the Moongem. He reasoned that since Jameson had been transformed into the Man-Wolf, the stone's powers would have similar lycanthropic effects on him, although whereas Jameson had become a bestial monster, Dredmund would use his arcane knowledge to control the nature of his transformation. He knew that by pouring the blood of a mystic onto the stone he could control its properties; thus, he would open a vein and add his own blood to the gem. Having tapped the stone's potential he would thus become a super-being and would be able to achieve his long-standing dream of taking over America. He would need servants befitting his new status though and began to carefully craft a plan that would provide him with an army of creatures fit to be led by a Man-Wolf-like creature; he intended to use his hypnotic abilities to ensnare victims and transform them into werewolves obedient to his will. In order to do this he would need help. He thus contacted Nightshade, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Werewolves.

Nightshade's real name was Tilda Johnson and she was a brilliant African-American biochemist. Like the Druid, she was an old enemy of Captain America and on their first encounter she had been using a biochemical serum to transform men into werewolves. Spoiled and petty, she had been easily manipulated by her employer, the criminal genius known as the Yellow Claw [see file 1: The Yellow Claw] and easily defeated by Captain America. She had clashed with him on several other occasions, including recently when she had worked with the female dominatrix Superia. During the several years since her first battle with Captain America, she had matured into a ruthless and capable woman and was a perfect choice for Cromwell's scheme. He contacted her and told her what he intended, and she soon agreed. He then sneaked into ESU and stole the vial of Moongem dust from Connors' laboratory. He had his stone and he had an ally; all he needed now was a suitable base from which to work and ready supply of potential werewolves. He chose the small town of Starkesboro, population 932, in Massachusetts. In addition to Nightshade, Zachary Moonhunter, a Native American who was skilled in handling dangerous animals, also served him. Unlike Nightshade, whom he had employed, Moonhunter had been slaved to Dredmund's will by the Druid's hypnosis and although he kept his own mind, he was unable to stop himself from obeying his master's commands. These three thus invaded Starkesboro and an injection of Nightshade's serum was soon transformed each member of the townsfolk into a Werewolf. The serum itself was prepared on mass from the blood of an unwilling slave of Nightshade's, the so-called Werewolf by Night. This Werewolf's name was Jack Russell and he had become a werewolf by super-natural means. He was kept unconscious and restrained by Nightshade, who took samples of his blood and derived her serum from it. She set up a laboratory in one of the buildings where she could administer the serum to new victims; moreover, her serum was such that the werewolves only remained in their lupine state during the hours of night, reverting to normal in the daytime. Dredmund ordered her to use her skills to modify the serum to create a permanent transmogrification. Meanwhile, he set up his own base in the church, where he turned the vestry into a veritable museum of the occult, and set to work to restore the Moongem. Throughout this time, he maintained a mental hold over not only Moonhunter, but also the population of Starkesboro. He planned on seizing the Moongem's powers at midnight on the last night of this full moon. All was going well, until the werewolves began to attract unwelcome attention.

One of the Druid's werewolf subjects was the Man-Wolf, whom he had presumably kidnapped. Jameson had fallen into Cromwell's clutches and had been turned back into the creature against his will. He was distinguishable from the other werewolves thanks to his white fur and he soon established himself as leader of the werewolves in the Pit, a dungeon accessible only by a hatch set into its caged iron roof, where Moonhunter kept the creatures when they were not needed. Unfortunately for the Druid and Nightshade, John Jameson had recently taken on a new job for the government; he had joined the Avengers' support staff and was Captain America's pilot. Noticing his friend's disappearance, Captain America soon started to look for him, and was quick to notice Starkesboro due to news of killings by large, half-human, half-wolf creature. He believed this creature to be the Man-Wolf, and although it was actually one of Dredmund's transformed townspeople, it drew him to the correct location. Furthermore, he had also investigated the Moongem on learning of John's disappearance and had found that its dust was missing, which only added to his suspicions; realising that he was facing a super-natural element, he contacted an expert in the field and thus set out for Starkesboro with Doctor Anthony Ludgate Druid. Druid, who had changed his name from Droom some years ago, was recognised by everyone in the field except for Dredmund as the foremost authority on Druidism in America and possibly the world. He had recently served a term with the Avengers, but this had ended badly when he had fallen under the influence of the manipulative time traveller Ravona, who had seduced him and managed to exert her influence over his mind. He had betrayed the Avengers and was no longer a member, but he had recently freed himself from Ravona's influence. In the process, a complicated sequence of events had ensued which had led to his rejuvenation; previously aging and almost totally bald, he was now in his prime once more and had a full head of hair, which he wore long. Captain America had sought his aid due to the arcane nature of the Moongem and he had offered to join Rogers in investigating Starkesboro, since he too had been intrigued by the reports of what was clearly a werewolf. On landing in the woods near the town on Captain America's flying skycycle, a female werewolf had attacked them and Dr Druid was injured. Then, as Captain America fought their attacker, Moonhunter flew into view on his own flying craft and snared the beast around the neck with his lasso. Since working for Dredmund he had been clad in a sophisticated silver-coloured metal armour with a featureless mask and a helmet supporting a mop of razor wire "hair". Stunned at the appearance of the bizarre figure, Captain America failed to either free the werewolf or stop Moonhunter as he flew off. Doctor Druid meanwhile had been using his powers to heal his throat, but was still in pain. Levitating and in a mild trance, he suggested that Captain America pursue Moonhunter alone whilst he recovered.

Captain America pursued Moonhunter on his skycycle and attacked him, but Moonhunter's padded armour protected him from the Avenger's blows. Before Captain America managed to injure him, he decided to get rid of him and fired a gun into his chest at point-blank range. Captain America's chain-mail costume and its various layers of padding stopped the silver bullets, specially designed to kill werewolves, but knocked him out of the air and back into the trees. Moonhunter returned to Starkesboro to inform him that Captain America had been near, but had been killed. It seems likely, given their history, that Druid was perturbed by the appearance of the man who had soundly defeated him twice before, but he was reassured by Moonhunter's report of his death. In any case, he was in too good a mood to be easily worried; Nightshade had completed the prototype batch of the new Werewolf Serum, and more importantly, he had restored the Moongem to completeness. Immediately, he started to use its powers to massively increase the power of his mind. Additionally, as soon as it had been reformed, it began to radiate a weird lupine aura, which the Druid realised would soon bring other werewolves from all across America to Starkesboro and decided to prepare for unwanted visitors. Unfortunately, one such visitor had already arrived, in the form of Wolverine. Wolverine was a feral mutant who had been a guinea pig in Canada's Weapon X programme years ago, which had been set up to convert men into the ultimate fighting machines. Wolverine, whose only known real name was Logan, was a mutant gifted with a healing factor that could cure virtually any injury, and also with three retractable bone claws in each forearm. Logan had been discovered, naked and feral, in the Canadian woods by MacDonald Hudson, whom along with his wife Heather had taken him in and gradually coaxed him back to humanity. The Weapon X programme had bonded the indestructible metal adamantium to his skeleton, which had rendered it unbreakable and had also boosted his healing factor to even greater levels. For many years, Wolverine had worked as an operative for the Canadian government, but had eventually tired of the corrupt Department H and had gone to America, where he had joined the X-Men, a group of outlaw mutants who sought to create a world in which humans and mutants could live in peace. He had met Captain America on several occasions in the past, and despite the vast differences in their philosophies and fighting styles, they shared a mutual, if uneasy, respect. Wolverine had come to Starkesboro that night to investigate the werewolf killings and was now in the town square, fighting off the werewolf night patrol. Although Wolverine was one of the most dangerous hand-to-hand combatants in the world, they eventually overcame him by sheer weight of numbers and held him prostrate whilst Moonhunter approached. He recognised Wolverine from news reports and realised immediately that he posed a threat to Dredmund's schemes. Unable to fight the Druid's conditioning, he thus felt compelled to kill the intruder. Four shots from a double-barrelled shotgun had been fired into Wolverine's torso at close range before he collapsed. Realising that his healing factor made him near impossible to kill, Moonhunter ordered the werewolves to take him to Nightshade; once transformed into another werewolf, he would make a valuable pawn for Cromwell. Once in Nightshade's laboratory, he was connected to a valium drip and his unconscious form restrained on a couch. The scientist then injected him with her werewolf serum. As she, the Druid and Moonhunter watched, he features became elongated and lupine. Then just as quickly, he reverted to normal. Several attempts yielded the same results; Wolverine's healing factor allowed him to metabolise the serum. Undeterred, Dredmund decided instead merely to take control of Wolverine as he had Moonhunter; Logan's savage nature meant that he already fitted into the Druid's new world order. Instructing Nightshade to remove the valium drip, he stared into Wolverine's eyes and seized control. He then departed, instructing Nightshade to try and synthesise the mutant's healing factor, since a regenerative capacity could come in useful.

Meanwhile, other intruders had come to Starkesboro. Captain America had used his acrobatic skills to survive the fall from Moonhunter's vehicle and rejoined with Dr Druid. The pair of them arrived in town, Druid immediately noticing the pall of mysticism that hung over the place. Soon enough, werewolves attacked them. Dr Druid levitated himself to safety, whilst Captain America fought the creatures, but he quickly grew impatient and levitated his ally to safety also, casting a cloak of invisibility around them both. Just as they alighted on a nearby roof, the sun rose and the werewolves reverted to normal. Still invisible, they dropped down to the ground and set off to investigate. However, Moonhunter had learned of their presence and had gone to inform Dredmund. The Druid was furious that Moonhunter had failed to kill his old enemy earlier on, and decided to deal with him personally. He sent the mesmerised Wolverine to get him. Logan soon found Captain America who was alone, Dr Druid having gone off to explore elsewhere. Captain America was a superb unarmed combatant, but Wolverine was in a berserker rage and his adamantium claws could cut anything short of Captain America's shield. After a short and ferocious battle, Wolverine had his claws to Captain America's throat and was saved only by the intervention of Moonhunter, who ordered the obedient mutant back and fired a tranquilliser dart into the Captain's neck. Dredmund then arrived to view his enemy's defeat and ordered his two lackeys to bring Captain America to Nightshade's laboratory. She then injected into him her new serum, which would maintain his lupine state even during daylight. As his face elongated and grew fur and as claws sprang from his hands and feet he awoke, and Dredmund approached him. Staring into the eyes of the star-spangled werewolf, he attempted to exert his influence over him - and failed. An unexpected interaction between the super-soldier serum in Captain America's body and Nightshade's serum had increased both his physical and mental state. Snapping his restraints, he shook off Dredmund's influence and ran howling into the woods outside, his eyes stung by the sunlight. Although his mind had been made strong enough to resist Dredmund, it had nevertheless become largely wolf. His thoughts were primitive and clouded, but he remained self-aware and was still determined to stop the Druid. Furious at this development, Dredmund used his new powers from the Moongem, transformed six of the townsfolk into werewolf form in broad daylight, and sent them after Captain America. He then returned to the Vestry to await further news. On arriving there however, he soon discovered an intruder...

Dr Druid had discovered Dredmund's lair and was examining the impressive collection of occult artefacts. Spotting Dr Druid examining the glass bell jar containing the floating Moongem, he silently approached. His horned helmet was sat on a bench behind Anthony, since Dredmund had taken to wearing the heavy and cumbersome object. Now however, he wished to look at his most impressive before confronting the intruder. With a thought, he levitated the helmet and brought it to him, then donned it and announced himself to the intruder. Sensing Dredmund's power, Dr Druid immediately attempted to place him under his mental control only to discover that Dredmund was more than capable of resisting. The two of them were soon mentally locked together, each trying to find a gap in the others' defences. Dr Druid had told Dredmund who he was to the Druid's delight; he had long been contemptuous of Dr Druid's reputation as master of the Druidic arts and was keen to prove his own power. Meanwhile, Anthony had realised that his foe was augmenting his power with some outside influence and quickly spotted the Moongem. Thinking quickly, he levitated a wolf headdress from a nearby table and began to move it towards the stone. Unluckily however, Cromwell noticed and pressed his advantage, knocking his distracted opponent unconscious with a powerful psychic blast. He could not resist gloating over his fallen foe: "Anthony Droom, alias Doctor Druid...the World's leading authority on Druidism...Fah! You have been defeated Anthony, overwhelmed by my superior might! There is room in this World for but one Supreme Druid - - and henceforth that man shall be me!" Everything was going well; that night was the last night of the full moon, when he would join with the Moongem and become all-powerful. And with Dr Druid his prisoner, he no longer needed to bleed himself in order to add the blood of a mystic to the gem...

Elsewhere, Wolverine and the six werewolves had caught up with Captain America. This time however, it was not Wolverine who was the more dangerous predator. With his newfound strength and claws, the semi-feral avenger slashed the mutant's face open, overcame the other werewolves and set off back to Starkesboro to stop Dredmund. So strong and determined was he, that when Moonhunter flew above him and snared him with his lasso, it was Moonhunter who was torn from his saddle and dragged painfully along the road behind Captain America. He was soon unconscious. It was with this unwelcome burden trailing around him that "Capwolf" reached Starkesboro and Nightshade. As he approached her, she exerted her own powers over him, using her pheromones and hypnotic voice to make him obey her. She gently explained that if he hurt her, he would never been changed back into a human. He was soon docile, and she led him back to her laboratory. Once inside, she led him to the Pit and ordered him inside. The problem of Captain America had been dealt with for now - or so Nightshade thought...

Elsewhere, Dredmund's plans were coming to fruition. The day was drawing on and that night was the last night of the full moon. In the church, were a pair of huge stone monoliths, capped by a third horizontal, stone. Presumably, this edifice was a local feature moved into the church by the Druid, and it was to be the centrepiece of that night's ceremony. Dredmund had chained Dr Druid to it at his wrists and ankles and had also fastened a blank metal mask across his face to both blindfold and gag him. As an afterthought, he drew a ceremonial knife and cut Dr Druid's ponytail off, venting spleen continuously: "I have suffered numerous setbacks in my efforts! I have been persecuted, beaten, incarcerated - - even stricken in stature! But I persevered... I prevailed against all odds! Still, despite all I have striven for, you - - Anthony Druid - - have continued to be hailed by the short-sighted populace as the Master of Druidism!" Finally, he finished taunting his captive and left, promising that when he returned once more with his ceremonial knife, it would not be Dr Druid's hair that he cut, but his throat. Summoning Moonhunter and Nightshade to the Vestry, he ordered them to ensure that nothing more went wrong, and promised to literally throw them to the wolves if they made any further mistakes. What he did not know, was that Nightshade had already made a mistake, which would threaten his entire scheme.

Down in the Pit, the Man-Wolf had attacked Captain America, only to be beaten by the star-spangled werewolf, who was too confused to recognise the creature as John Jameson. He quickly established himself as leader of the pack and realised that he needed to unite his fellow werewolves if they were to escape from the Pit and stop the Druid and his allies. To do this, he needed to talk, and thanks to a new prisoner, he was soon able to do this. This prisoner was Rahne Sinclair, a.k.a. the lupine mutant known as Wolfsbane, a member of the Government sanctioned mutant team X-Factor. The young Scot had been drawn to Starkesboro by the influence of the reconstituted Moongem and had been left in the Pit since her arrival. Since she was used to transforming into a werewolf-like creature at will, she was still able to speak and soon taught Captain America to relax his throat so as to be able to talk. He then rallied his fellow werewolves around and persuaded them to form a pyramid by standing on each other's shoulders. It was then a simple matter for him to climb up them, open the trapdoor, and climb out of the pit. Very soon, all of the occupants of the Pit, including Wolfsbane and the Man-Wolf, were free. They soon found Moonhunter and Nightshade, returning from their final meeting with the Druid, and overcame them both. Moonhunter was knocked out and unmasked, and Captain America ordered that he be dropped into the Pit for the time being. Nightshade was dragged off to the laboratory, where she was forced to release Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night. Captain America ordered her to synthesise an antidote to the Werewolf serum, but she refused, knowing full well that whatever form he was currently in, he wouldn't allow her to be hurt. She was already trying to think of a way to turn the situation to her advantage and use the werewolves against the Druid, since after his earlier threat she had had more than enough of him. Unfortunately, even with his thoughts somewhat clouded by his new form, Captain America was able to outsmart her, and ordered his fellows to strap her to the operation couch. Her fear of restraint was such that she desperately told him that Dr Druid was in danger, hoping that he would let her go; instead, he left instructions with the Man-Wolf and then loped off to the church.

Unaware of these developments, the Druid, resplendent in his helmet and robes, was standing in front of the standing stones in the church and addressing his werewolf audience. Night had fallen and the moon had risen; everything was going as planned. Just as Dredmund drew the ceremonial knife however, Captain America burst snarling through the church doors, smashing them into matchwood in the process. Seeing the Druid properly for the first time since his arrival in Starkesboro, he finally recognised his old enemy and knew that Dredmund, rather than Nightshade, was the true mastermind behind the werewolves. As he lunged forward, Dredmund was overcome with panic and ordered his convocation to keep Captain America from him; then, abandoning ceremony, he quickly drew the knife across Anthony Druid's throat and a as blood began to gush from the captive mystic's neck, it landed on the floating Moongem carefully positioned beneath. Nothing could stop Cromwell's ascension now; tearing his helmet off, he pressed the blood-drenched stone to his throat and as Captain America watched, he began to change. Crimson light spilled out from the gem as exquisite pain tore through his body. His face became lupine and claws and fur grew fast. But he was unlike any other werewolf that we have seen so far; he was a werewolf shaped hole in space through which stars could be seen. As he moved, this star-studded silhouette, his only other features were a slavering fang-filled mouth and glowing red eyes. We shall leave it to Dredmund to disclose what he had become: "The energies of this mystical stone, immersed in the blood of prey, and shaped by my own considerable occult mastery, have transformed me! I have become unto a force of nature - - a triune entity - - God, man and beast in one! I am Dredmund no more - - call me Starwolf!" No longer in need of others to fight for him, Dredmund allowed Captain America to approach. The Avenger could feel waves of energy radiating off Starwolf, but had no other alternative to attack; he lunged forward, only to be casually swatted aside by the Druid. Crashing into one of the monoliths with painful force, he collapsed. Groggily, he began to pull himself together and prepared to continue fighting, when help arrived; all of the werewolves from the pit save for the Man-Wolf had followed him from Nightshade's laboratory and now joined the fray. The Werewolf by Night had brought Captain America's shield, and tossed it to him. Whilst "Capwolf" used its edge to break the changes holding the bloody form of Dr Druid, the other werewolves engaged Starwolf's followers in battle. Starwolf himself floated in the air above the monolith, mocking Captain America's attempts to help his clearly dead friend. A bullet, which narrowly missed his muzzle, abruptly interrupted his gloating; more opposition had arrived, in the shape of yet another mutant. Cable had arrived.

Cable's history was complex in the extreme; nevertheless, this chronicler will attempt to briefly summarise it. He had been born Nathan Christopher Summers, son of founding X-Man Cyclops (real name Scott Summers) and Madelyne Pryor, a clone of then-apparently-deceased founding X-Man Marvel Girl (real name Jean Grey, also known as Phoenix). As a baby, Nathan had been taken into a possible future timeline where the immortal mutant despot Apocalypse (real name En Sabah Nur) had infected him with a techno-organic virus, because he knew that Nathan posed a threat to his rule of Earth in that timeline. Although he possessed the telepathic and telekinetic skills to keep this virus from infecting his entire body, he required the teachings of the Clan Askani, who sought to end Apocalypse's rule, in order to do this and thus survive. Consequently, he had grown up in the future and had been trained as the ultimate soldier, constantly striving to overthrow Apocalypse. Eventually, in his forties or fifties, he had travelled back in time to the twentieth century and the thus the ear in which he had been born, in order to kill Apocalypse in his past and thus prevent the timeline in which En Sabah Nur ruled from ever occurring. As part of this plan, he had taken over the training of outlaw mutant group X-Force, which was an offshoot of the X-Men. With his metal techno-organic left arm, the control of which was a constant source of pain, and the scars surrounding his right eye, he made an impressive and intimidating figure. He had travelled to Starkesboro in search of Feral, a former terrorist who had recently joined X-Force. Like Wolfsbane, Feral was a lupine mutant, real name Maria Callasantos, who had been lured to Starkesboro by the aura of the Moongem. Cable had tracked her across country, and had felled her with a tranquilliser dart just as she had reached the town. He had then decided to investigate further, and had stumbled upon the church. Seeing the packs of fighting werewolves, he opened fire above their heads, prompting Captain America to attack him, so as to stop the mutant injuring the transformed townsfolk. Captain America's shield shattered the barrel of his rifle, and then "Capwolf" tackled him, trying to make him understand what was happening, since the Avenger knew who cxable was and believed him to be on the side of the angels. Unfortunately, as they struggled, Starwolf had recovered from the shock of being narrowly missed by a bullet and used his considerable powers to levitate a length of carpet from the church floor and wrap it around the struggling pair. He then rolled them under the standing stone and with a gesture he caused the two-ton top stone to fall onto them. Meanwhile, unnoticed, the Man-Wolf had entered, retrieved Dr Druid's body and returned to Nightshade's laboratory.

Starwolf was ecstatic; with Captain America, Cable crushed, and Dr Druid dead, he was confident that nothing could stop him. He noticed that Dr Druid was missing at about the same time that Wolverine entered. Since Logan was under his control, this did not worry him, and he ordered Wolverine to go and find Dr Druid's body. By the time he realised that Logan wasn't obeying him, it was too late. Moonhunter had managed to climb out of the Pit and had released Wolverine from confinement. On reaching the laboratory, the pair had challenged the Man-Wolf, but had soon found themselves facing Dr Druid, who had used his powers to hold his throat together and heal it. He had freed both men from Dredmund's influence. Now, Wolverine rolled the broken stone away from Captain America and Cable and used his claws to cut the carpet open. Captain America had saved them from being crushed by wedging his shield upright between the monolith and the ground. Fighting mad, he asked Cable and Wolverine to form their hands into stirrups beneath his feet, then catapult him upwards towards Dredmund. Frozen with surprise at Wolverine's treachery, Starwolf was slow to react; Captain America locked his hands around his throat in mid-air and tore the Moongem from his throat. The pain was enormous for both men, but the stone came free and sailed through the air, to be caught by Cable, who crushed it beneath his boot. Realising that the fight was won, Nathan quickly slipped away. By the time Dredmund landed, his throat badly damaged, he had turned back to normal. Bewildered and almost in tears at having victory snatched from him so suddenly, he saw Moonhunter approaching, clearly on the side of his enemies. The last thing he heard before he passed out from the pain was Moonhunter explaining that he was no longer loyal to the Druid, because he had his free will back.

With the Moongem destroyed and Dredmund Cromwell captured, this biography is almost at an end. Wolverine immediately went after Cable, with whom he had business. The rest of the werewolves, including "Capwolf" were cured over the following day; the Man-Wolf had injected Nightshade with her own werewolf serum, thus forcing her to find an antidote, which was quickly administered. Wolfsbane and Jack Russell both went their own ways, and the Man-Wolf was soon turned back into John Jameson; wearied by the experience, he parted company with Captain America for a time, resigning from the Avengers support staff. Nighshade was turned over to the authorities, although she did not remain incarcerated for long. As for Moonhunter, once free of Dredmund's influence, he gave Captain America and Dr Druid a lift back to Avengers Mansion on his flying craft and Captain America offered him a place on the Avenger's support staff. But what of the Druid? Thanks to the ministrations of Dr Druid, who was schooled in first aid, he did not die from the injuries to his throat, but was once more incarcerated. To date, no further documents describing his activities have come to light, but it seems likely that it is only a matter of time before we learn what next became of this most unusual of criminal masterminds.

Appendix I: References:

"The Day of the Druid!" from Strange Tales (vol. 1) issue 144, by Lee (writer), Kirby (layouts), Purcell (finishes), and Esposito [as Demeo] (inks); and "Lo, the Eggs Shall Hatch" from issue 145, by Lee (writer), Kirby (layouts), Heck (finishes), and Esposito [as Demeo] (inks); One of the tremendously silliest offerings the Silver Age has to offer. The art is great and the writing is fun, and the Druid is an interesting, if rather self-defeating villain. 6/10.

"The Madness Maze!" from Captain America (vol. 1) issue 187, by Warner (writer), Robbins (pencils), and Chiarmonte (inks); and "Druid War" from issue 188 by Warner (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), and Colletta (inks); This is basically a fill-in story, but it works surprisingly well. The Druid is well characterised as the unstable lunatic that he is, and the art in both issues is great. The final battle between Cap and the Druid, in which Dredmund is reduced to a whimpering heap, is excellent. 7/10.

"The Ghosts of Greymoor Castle!" from Captain America (vol. 1) issue 256, by Mantlo (writer), Colan (pencils), Simons, Milgrom and Giacoia (inks); a superb single-issue story, featuring the art of Gene Colan. It features obscure Silver Age "villain" Dr Cedric Rawlings in addition to the Druid, and has a wonderfully eerie feel to it. 9/10.

"The Prowlers [Man and Wolf Part 1 of 6]" and "City of Wolves [Man and Wolf Part 2 of 6]" from Captain America (vol. 1) issues 402 and 403, by Gruenwald (writer), Levins (pencils), and Bulanadi (inks); "Children of the Night [Man and Wolf Part 3 of 6]" from issue 404, by Gruenwald (writer), Levins (pencils), and Bulanadi, Hudson and Kryssing (inks); "Dances with Werewolves [Man and Wolf 4 Part of 6]" from issue 405, by Gruenwald (writer), Levins (pencils), and Alexandrov (inks); "Leader of the Pack [Man and Wolf Part 5 of 6]", "Lord of the Wolves [Man and Wolf Part 6 of 6]" and "Dark Dawn" from issues 406 to 408, by Gruenwald (writer), Levins (pencils), and Bulanadi (inks); One of the single most derided stories of the Gruenwald era, but it's actually quite good. Capwolf is nowhere near as silly as he could be, and in addition to Dredmund, who carries rather more menace than ever before, we have Nightshade, another old cap foe, plus a plethora of guest stars. Admittedly however, Starwolf is remarkably easily defeated for someone who is supposed to be a God. 7/10.