The Sentinel Awakens

Although Alan Scott had long ago given up his identity as Gotham's original Green Lantern, he had never ceased to be vigilant. First as a newspaper reporter, then as an editor, and now as a media mogul. When the calamity of Pittsdown had occurred, Alan Scott had been worried that these American shores had come under attack again. When the Pittsdown Monster revealed itself, he felt grimly satisfied that he had called in a few favors and had some metahumans investigate the disaster. But when the extent of the power of the Pittsdown monster (soon to be shortened to just “The Pitt”) revealed itself, the former Green Lantern knew he was going to have to call in some big guns to handle it. Luckily, one of the first and most powerful was on his way to see him.

Him. Adam Warlock showed up on Alan Scott's doorstep, or rather window, fifty stories up on Sentinel Tower, home to Sentinel Enterprises, Scott's media holding company. sentinel had met the once and future Warlock when the two had fought against Thanos, the mad god from Titan. During that battle, Warlock had “died”.

He seemed to have gotten over it. It was Warlock who told Alan Scott a little bit about the nature of the lantern that was the source of his power, and longevity. It was the same power that was behind the creature that now roamed the ruins of Pittsdown. A soul gem. Although Warlock and the creature wore it as a gem upon their brows, the power that was the soul gem could assume many forms. Including an engineer's oil lantern.

“All of the soul gems are linked,” Adam Warlock explained to Alan Scott. “Now that one of them has been corrupted by this creature, there is a chance that they might all be corrupted. That is why I sought you out.”

“On top of everything else, Warlock, it's also a huge loss of life and worth anybody's time to investigate and make sure it doesn't happen again, don't you think?” Alan Scott said pointedly. “It's worth any heroes time I would say. Not to mention to try and make sure whether there are any survivors.”

Adam Warlock stood straighter. “Absolutely.”

Alan Scott wondered if Ms. Swashbucket had had the sign painted yet. It really was an open house -- doors, windows, floors, you name it. Scott was expecting Santa to come in through the chimney and the Atom through the phone. The next visitor came up through the floor. Why not?

“I have sensed a great confluence --”

“Can it, Doc,” Sentinel said to Doctor Strange. “We got work to do.”

“So that's your story and your sticking with it, eh?” Spider-man quipped later, as Alan Scott explained the circumstances of that particular “cavalry” that had saved their bacon.

“Adam Warlock came first,” Sentinel said. “Then there was Doctor Strange and his allies, the Magdalena and John Constantine. I called in my friend Mikaal, and Warlock sought out the mysterious Havok.”

“You're leaving one out," Spider-man pressed.

“Obsidian is my son,” Alan Scott said, looking at Spider-man dead-on in such a way as to leave no doubt that the discussion was not going to go any further.

“What he really wants to know,” Link interjected snidely. “Is what do we do now?”

“Hey, you!” Spidey objected. “Get out of my mind!”

They were gathered in Alan Scott's penthouse atop Sentinel Tower.  Not all of them were there, just Iron Fist, Link, and Spider-man. Some of the other heroes had gone with Pitt's unconscious body to Project Cadmus, where it was going to be studied. The Magdalena and John Constantine had had their own affairs to tend to.

“I don't have to read your mind,” Link responded to Peter, nonchalantly. “It's in your every puppy dog movement around here. You like the luxury you're experiencing and the fact that you are hanging out with some heavy hitters. Admit it.” Link sidled up next to Peter, and said, low enough so only Peter could hear: “Besides, there's only one fact in your head that's interesting, and it would only be of interest to our sleeping friend there, wouldn't you say?” Link pointed at the snoring form of Danny Rand, who was draped across one of Alan Scott's numerous overstuffed couches.

Spider-man felt like somebody poured ice water down his back. If Link had read his mind and knew that his real identity was Peter Parker, and if he exposed that fact to Iron Fist… Danny Rand could have gotten the better of Spider-man at full strength, probably, now that Peter was just a regular joe, he would have no chance at all.

Link moved casually across the room, as if nothing mattered. As if he hadn't said a word.

Alan Scott ignored the exchange, and answered Peter's question instead. “We who bear the infinity gems are going to try and track down the other bearers of the gems. The combined might of Doctor Strange, Magdalena and John Constantine along with some other friends should be enough to defend the Earth from any major catastrophes while we're gone.”

“What about your other heroes for hire?” Spidey asked.

Alan Scott made a face. “What a ghastly term.”

“I've heard worse,” Spidey shot back. “Besides, what are you infinite gem guys going to call yourselves? The Infinity Parade? Gem 13? The Infinity Watch?”

Alan Scott pondered for a moment. “Hmmm. No, but how about Infinity, Inc.?”

Link said disparagingly: “Sounds like the beginning of a new franchise.”

“You might be right. What about you, Spider-man? What are you going to do?”

“You can call on me if you need me, or if your backup team needs me while you guys are off playing He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. But right now, all I want to do is crash on my own bed. I've been up for over 24 hours and this little arachnid sure is tired. So, unless you gents have something pressing, then ta-ta for now.”

Peter felt a lot more comfortable leaving now that Iron Fist was asleep on Alan Scott's couch. Not taking any chances, as soon as he got one of Scott's drivers to take him back to the docks (where he retrieved his civilian clothes), Peter went back to the room he and Ben had booked in their Gotham hotel. Ben wasn't there, so he left him a message. Then Peter took a red-eye back home. All in all, he was safely ensconced in his bed (like a bug in a rug, he thought deliriously before crashing) by four in the morning. Peter had every intention of getting at least twelve solid hours of good sleep. Being a superhero -- even a non-powered one -- was hard work.

Peter Parker's phone rang at six in the morning. It was Ben Urich. "Peter, I think you need to get a copy of the morning paper A.S.A.P."

So, stumbling, Peter made his way to the corner grocery store, where the headlines blared at him

To begin with, I like the name Weapon Zero and what it implies. In medicine, an outbreak can be traced to an origin, a patient zero. A Weapon Zero, what would that mean, or entail, hmmm…. Although Weapon Zero, the Top Cow/Image book was a cool idea unto itself, it shares nothing with what I'm doing here other than the name. I thought it would make a cool spin on what happens to Harlen Quinzel. I hope to develop the whole Pitt idea further, so as to distinguish him from a typical Hulk-type character.

Very many thanks and a tip o' the hat go to John Byrne, from whom I lifted the whole Pittsburgh becoming known as the Pitt idea, and Dale Keown, who really did take his Pitt character to new levels artwise from what he did over at Marvel.

I dislike the whole idea of X-clones. It's become a whole branch of fiction at Marvel. It's a never-ending, convoluted mess that takes up too much time and strategizing. I dislike the X-clones. And the whole name was dopey, too. But…

When Eric Stephenson and Chris Sprouse took it over in issue #20, magic happened. The storyline they were working on unfortunately never concluded, but I hope to take strands of what they were doing and incorporate it into my series work wherever I can. They can be supporting characters for once. And I explain the name, too. :)

Remember this: the Alan Scott Green Lantern was Gotham City's first hero protector. And second:  his powers are mystical in origin. I postulate that he has kept his fingers in the media pie as head of Sentinel Enterprises, and that he has given up hiding his identity. He is more or less retired from public life, but no less vigilant. Will he heed a call to action?

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III