Captain Marvel Vol 4 20

Outside the Comic Book Castle, a man dressed as a knight and a woman dressed as a princess hand out pamphlets advertising the "mother of all events" to passersby. Inside the store's office Merlin Demonspawn sits at a desk using a crystal ball to scry a sleeping draconic monster; remarking that soon the stars will be right and the sacrifices in place, and that once the draconic monster is free it will be able to rampage as it did in ancient times.

At the Golden Orange Comics store, Marlo Chandler-Jones attempts to feed her preternaturally-aged husband Rick Jones, who stubbornly refuses to eat despite goading from Captain Marvel - to whom he is linked through the Nega-Bands. Rick grumbles that he wants a burger or a steak, but Marlo remarks that his teeth can't handle it and that she made a dental appointment. Flying into a rage, Rick shouts that he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life as an old man, flinging the bowl aside and hitting Red Raven - who had been transformed into an actual crimson corvid. Rick snaps that he'd rather be dead, and when Marlo chastizes him he snaps that he's already been dead and that it still beats being old. Marlo reminds him that she's been dead as well, before wondering if any of their friends haven't died and come back to life at least once. As Marlo runs through a list of their acquaintances, Rick suddenly vanishes and then reappears - startling her. Marlo asks what happened and Rick remarks that he got pulled into the past, to when the Avengers were fighting Kang the Conqueror. Rick brusquely brushes off Marlo's worries and storms off, remarking that he's going to take a nap and that if he's lucky he'll die in his sleep, Marlo protesting that she's just trying to help him the way he'd helped her.

Downstairs, Allister remarks that he's beginning to wonder if Marlo lied to him about Rick being his own great-uncle. Copping to her deception, Marlo explains that the grumpy old man is Rick Jones himself, and that an alien death-god called Walker had aged him and took one of his arms in retaliation for Death having possessed her, adding that Walker had done too good a job in provoking her. She notes that Thanos had tried to restore Rick as a favor to Death, but had failed because Walker's curse had created a "temporal flux barrier" around Rick. Allister doesn't buy the convoluted explanation and goes back to believing that Rick is his own great-uncle, Marlo deciding to just go along with it. Exasperated, Marlo rushes after Rick but sees he's gone, noting that since she didn't hear an explosion he probably just caught a cab rather than swapping places with Captain Marvel. Marlo laments Rick's suffering before wishing Lorraine hadn't been killed by Walker.

At Aguna Beach, Lorraine washes ashore, somehow resurrected, and is mistaken for an illegal immigrant by some people playing beach volleyball. As a man asks her in broken Spanish to return their ball, Lorraine - overjoyed at being alive again - gleefully throws it into his crotch with as much force as possible before skipping away, leaving him collapsed in the sand.

Elsewhere, Rick sits on top of an abandoned warehouse and remarks that he wants to die. Worried that he's contemplating suicide, Marvel tries to talk him down; Rick wryly stating that he wasn't but that if Marvel tells him that it will be "all right" again he'll do it. Marvel remarks that there are people all over the world with a fraction of Rick's determination who are coping just fine with old age, but Rick angrily retorts that at least they got to live full lives beforehand. As Rick bemoans that he's older than Captain America, Captain Marvel tells him everything will be all right. True to his word, Rick promptly jumps off the top of the warehouse, Captain Marvel - in the Microverse - begging him to swap places with him before he hits the ground. Moondragon telekinetically catches Rick, who snaps at her to let him die. Depositing him back on the roof of the warehouse, Moondragon remarks that from anyone else Rick's self-pity would be understandable, but that he's faced worse situations and beaten them. As Moondragon probes his mind to get at the root of his depression, Rick snaps at her to stay out of his head and she wryly asks if he'll gum her to death if she doesn't. Moondragon deduces that the reason Rick is so consumed by despair is that there is no permanent cure for old age, and even undoing Walker's curse would only be a temporary solution. Rick tries to change the subject by asking why she stopped wearing her green swimsuit-like costume, Moondragon indignantly refusing to give him an answer. Rick tries to goad her into attacking him by making rude remarks about her figure, Moondragon irritably forcing him to swap places with Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel chastizes her, saying that if he'd been in deep space she would have just sent Rick to his death, asking if she even thought of that. Moondragon retorts that she hadn't, but adds that she still would have done so even if she had; remarking that he was insulting her and wallowing in self-pity - two traits for which she has no patience - before indignantly remarking that she's not fat. Noticing Captain Marvel staring off into the distance, she asks what's wrong. Captain Marvel replies that while Thanos had tried to cure Rick of his old age, he'd seen visions and that Moondragon had been in one of them. When Moondragon asks what she'd been doing, Captain Marvel awkwardly states she'd been saving the world alongside him - the actual vision having been rather indecent. Moondragon remarks that he's been spending too much time with Rick, who chimes in from the Microverse to complain about Captain Marvel being friends with her before asking where he is. Captain Marvel responds that he is in the Royal Gardens of King Timhotep, having been invited by one of his daughters - to whom he is close. Rick asks exactly how close Captain Marvel is with the princess, and is both relieved and disappointed when told they're just friends.

Back at Rick's apartment, Genis-Vell strums a guitar and asks Moondragon if she came to harass him about what he should be doing on Kree-Lar again. She replies that she returned to help him hone his powers of cosmic awareness, admitting that she installed psychic dampers to prevent them from overwhelming him and driving him insane. Outraged, Genis demands she remove them, but she refuses.

At Golden Orange Comics, Marlo despairs at seeing one of the Comic Book Castle's fliers, lamenting to Allister that every time their rival holds a major event they lose 10% of their customers. Noting that the Comic Book Castle's spectacular giveaway is happening that night, Marlo tells Allister that she's going. Allister worries that will give off the impression of her endorsing her biggest competitor, but Marlo remarks that the Comic Book Castle is winning with or without her endorsement. Red suddenly begins squawking in alarm and shaking his birdcage, Marlo assuring him she'll be fine before rhetorically asking what could go wrong.

Captain Marvel and Moondragon race through the sky, the former refusing to have anything to do with the latter until she's removed the dampers. Rick interrupts their argument to tell Captain Marvel to just go along with Moondragon, remarking that their bickering is giving him a headache. Captain Marvel begrudgingly agrees and they land on a roof, Rick interrupting Moondragon's attempts to help Genis meditate by making snide remarks about her. Telling Genis to ignore Rick's infantile remarks, Moondragon says that in order to control his visions he must first learn to look both inward and outward at the same time, telling him to pick something that matters to him and build from there.

At the Comic Book Castle, Marlo remarks that she didn't know there were so many comic fans in all of Los Angeles. Allister remarks that the punch is good, but Marlo refuses to drink any and remarks that free punch and pocket knives seems lackluster for a "big giveaway". Her musing is interrupted as Merlin appears, introducing himself as the great sage from Arthurian lore. Marlo warily suggests they leave, Allister remarking that he's likely a stage magician. Marlo remarks that she's been around enough superpowered people to get the sense that this Merlin is legit and that they should leave while they have the chance. A man standing behind them mockingly yells out for Melin to do a magic trick, the sorcerer telling them that he has one in mind that he thinks they'll love; instructing everyone to take their pocket knives, cut their hands, and bleed onto the floor. Marlo, disgusted, asks why Merlin thinks anyone would do something like that, only to turn and see everyone else - including Allister - doing as instructed while chanting Merlin's orders in a trance. Realizing that the punch was drugged, Marlo rounds on Merlin; who applauds her for being clever enough to not have partaken of it.

Merlin states that he needed the blood of a hundred virgins spilled simultaneously in the City of Angels to enact his plan, smugly stating that he's already pre-cast his incantations to be activated at that exact moment. Marlo incredulously asks if Merlin really went through the trouble of establishing his own comic store and accruing customers just to get the blood of a hundred virgins. Merlin remarks that he had no other choice, asking if she can think of a better place to find a hundred virgins on a Saturday night than a comic store. Marlo snidely retorts that he should have tried a Star Trek convention, Merlin pausing before admitting that she has a point.

The floor at Marlo's feet suddenly cracks, and as she asks what's happening Merlin replies that he has fulfilled the requirements for the counterspell and managed to free an ancient terror, asking if she's heard of Grendel - the dragon/man-beast purportedly slain by Beowulf. Marlo remarks that she thinks so, and as a blood-red draconic monster with a pronounced feminine figure and a massive fanged maw rises from the pit and looms over Marlo, Merlin states that he's proud to introduce Grendel's Mother.

Links and References

References

Captain Marvel Vol 4 20

Appearing in "Mother's Day"

Synopsis for "Mother's Day"

See Also

Links and References

References