PREVIOUSLY IN ALPHA FLIGHT: One of the Flight's severed members, Kamikaze, was charged with crimes as a member of AIM. Now, a free man, Kamikaze takes Beta Flight to his native homeland of Japan to begin their training...

At Hull House, Heather Hudson, minus her geothermal battlesuit, walked through the hallways with the Granny, its headmistress. She was an elderly lady with granny glasses. She was here to make sure that the PM's ultimatum, which she disagreed with, was carried to the full extent of the letter.

"So, tell me," Heather said, "how exactly is your progress going?"

"Very well, Miz Hudson. All our new recruits are in the Nursery. Having a little downtime. You are welcome to check on them yourself."

"Nursery, huh? Aren't these children a bit too old to be in a nursery?"

"The Nursery is only a term to be used for where they can, how do they say it, 'hang out'."

The Granny opened the door to the Nursery and Heather saw a very unwelcome sight. She saw the former members of Beta Flights, and its inherent members, duking it out.

"Isn't it wonderful," Granny said, "how these children love to let off steam? It brings a tear to my eyes. "

"Your sense of wonderment is something to be desired."

But Heather did not have a chance to finish her sentence fully, as Persuasion was thrown out of the room by Murmur. Both girls possessed highly persuasive powers and it was nice to see how the two could compete for the men's attention.

Persuasion looked at Heather, very forlornly, hurt at being defeated by a newer member of Beta Flight.

The French Canadian called Murmur came out of the Nursery to apologize to Persuasion for decking her. "Oh, I am sorree, 'Eather 'Udson. But she deed fall, non?"

Her accent was as thick as Aurora's.

"I want all of you to stop fighting and clean up after yourselves," Heather said firmly, "And Granny, we have gotta talk."

"Of course, Miz Hudson."

"If you don't tell let me alieve you of these premises while we talk in my office," said Heather. Her office consisted of a tiny space at the end of the hallway. She wanted to talk there instead of at Granny's real office because so then she could spy on the kids and see if they were really doing what they were told.

"What can I do for you, Miz Hudson?" Granny asked.

Heather sighed. "I am going to have to relieve you of your charges and ask you to have them reside at the Alpha Complex. I think that would be easier on you, so that you can, uh, handle them better."

"Whatever you say, Heather Hudson." Granny paused and then, continued her thoughts. "Which ones would you like?"

"All of them. And I welcome you to stay at the Complex with the rest of your staff. I think that it would easier for all concerned. You have done a great job of assembling these mutants and paranormals."

Granny grabbed Heather's hands firmly in her own. "Thank you, thank you, Miz Hudson. I appreciate everything that you have done for us. WE won't let you down."

"See to it that you don't."

A plate constructed of the finest china in all of Europe crashed slightly above Heather's head, shattering into a million pieces. The pieces then fell to the ground below them, shattering into even more pieces.

"Jason Nemeroff, what have I told you about mentalling throwing things around the Nursery!" Granny scolded the perpetrator. He was seen blanching and blushing, his white cheeks transforming into a bright crimson. Granny ran after him. "When I get my hands on you-"

Heather breathed deeply and then released a breathy sigh. If these runaway paranormals were going to be this much trouble, maybe she should seriously consider getting her geothermal suit back from the PM.

"One thing that I don't understand, Kammie," Kane said, sitting in his chair in the house of the Clan Harada, "is that why we have to come all the way here to train. Why can't we train in Canada with the remains of Alpha Flight? Speaking of which, I should be the one to train you guys or even Wyre here."

"I agree with Kane, though not his motives for saying so," Marrina said. "I have been a member of the Flight for far longer than you, Harada. This seems to be more of a vacation than a training session."

"I don't mean to sound rude," Dei Guan remarked.

"Though the others don't seem to mind, but if you want to visit your family that's fine. Why drag the rest of us here?

Kamikaze was silent for a long time. Then, he spoke again, through his mask, looking at them sternly through his eye slits. "Because, inexperienced Betans, because I am the only one with enough fighting skills to train you properly. I defeated all of Alpha Flight easily.* I am more powerful than all of you combined, even on your best days."

* (In Alpha Flight #1-4-recapping Gregg.)

"Okay, you may have a point there," Kane interjected. "But that doesn't explain why here? Why Japan?"

"Because, Kane-san, I recently got a letter from my family that the Clan Harada is having trouble with a secret organization called the Kabuki Spiders and their greatest warrior, Shadowhunter. We are here to fight them."

"Oh, I get it. You brought us here to train us and what better way to train then to fight villains."

"Exactly. Now, you see my train of thought."

"But why didn't you tell us before?" Marrina asked, curiously.

"I just wanted to surprise you. And I thought that you wouldn't come if you knew."

"Of course we would. Betans never back away from a fight."

"Come close, Betans, and let me tell you my plan of how we will defeat them."

The next day, when their attack was planned, Kamikaze and the rest of Beta Flight were waiting in the hallway of the House of the Clan Harada.

Suddenly, there was a crash as a window was broken and several figures entered the House. The older members of the family ran like scared rabbits. The younger ones, those trained in the martial and especially the ninja, arts, stood to fight their enemies.

The Kabuki Spiders.

They worked in the kabuki theater downtown in Toyko. But by night, they were trained assassins, like Kamikaze used to be. Maybe this was a stab at him. Since he belonged to the Harada family. The women wore long kimonos and their faces were painted chalk white.

Kamikaze saw their star assassin, the Shadowhunter, an evil ninja whose face was painted to look like a devil's. They fought before. "Beta Flight, you deal with the Spiders, while I tackle Shadowhunter."

As Kamikaze left to fight the his dark counterpart, Kane led the Betans against the Kabuki Spiders. "I thought he was supposed to train us. What a gyp."

"Keep your mind on business, Kane," Wyre said, as he took out his machine gun and began to fire warning shots at the ceiling scaring the Spiders into submission. But that didn't leave them unguarded. Once they knew that the Betans wouldn't kill them, the Spiders pressed on.

Marrina extended her claws to slash and rip at the Spiders' clothing. But this didn't mean that Marrina was totally victorious in her endeavors. They raised their swords to block her attack and counterattack at her side. She fell to the ground.

"Marrina!! NO!!!"

This statement of exclamation came from Dei Guan who transformed into the Jade Dragon. He couldn't stand by to see Marrina hurt. Even though he respected Marrina a lot as a team-mate, he was growing severely attracted to her. He didn't seem to care that she was married to Namor, the Sub-mariner and had a deep, growing friendship with Puck.

Suddenly, they all stopped fighting and saw that the Kabuki Spiders were all kaput. They laid unconscious on the ground and it seemed that someone had called the police.

"Well, that was easy," Kane said. "I always said I was a natural born leader. Who needs to be trained and furthermore, who needs Kamikaze?"

"We do," Wyre said. "He may be retired but he is still an Alphan. Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Kamikaze."

"Shadowhunter."

"It's been a while, Harada-san. You've not changed a bit but then you have changed so much so in the years since we first saw one another at this very dojo. You the student, and me the teacher. What would your father say if he knew that you have gone soft in your old age."

"Don't speak of my father in that manner. You knew nothing of how he really was. True, he wore the Kamikaze identity before me but he was your master, more than just the sensei of this dojo."

Beta Flight had arrived at the dojo, to only see Kamikaze locked in combat with Shadowhunter.

"What should we do?" Marrina asked. "We have to help him."

"No, this is Kam's fight," Wyre said. "It is his battle. To interfere would be to dishonor him."

Not far away, in the center of the dojo, Kamikaze and Shadowhunter circled one another, drawing samauri swords.

"I'm curious, 'Hunter," Kamikaze said, striking first but his enemy blocked it with a parry. "Why here and why did you choose to fight me after all these years?"

Shadowhunter kicked Kamikaze in the center of the chest, sending him him sprawling backwards, ever backwards. Kamikaze fell on the mat but soon righted himself. "Because I wanted to know for myself if you were still a worthy opponent. I heard the stories about you working for AIM and then, joining Alpha Flight. And I see that the stories were true. You even brought your compatriots to fight your battles for you. You have gone soft, Harada-san."

Shadowhunter offered his hand and Kamikaze received it and stood up.

"No, I have not gone soft, as you say, but I am just choosing my battles more wisely. Only a fool rushes in to battle with no backup. I tried that and I nearly lost everything. I expect you to know that, being my teacher."

Shawdowhunter smiled. "I do know that. Why do you think I came equipped with the Spiders? I will return. And then, one day, I will kill you. You will die alone, Kamikaze."

With a puff of smoke, he disappeared.

"What was that all about?" Kane asked.

"I rather not talk about it. Let's go home, Betans. Your training is over, you passed with flying colors."

The J-C Building

"So, that's the boss, eh?" Gardner Fox said, looking at the man behind the desk. All he could garner from his new leader was that he had white hair, wore a black three piece suit, wore glasses, and was not confined to a wheel chair as before. His paralysis was gone.

The only other person in the room was a young, black-haired, very attractive lady. She also wore a black suit. She had an incredible influence on people, especially mutants and paranormals, like Flashback. "yes, that is him. Back from the dead, wouldn't you say?"

"I don't care if he's Santa Claus as long he can pay my fee."

The lady put her long fingernails around Fox's neck, squeezing tightly, choking him. "No one may talk to the boss like that. No one."

A fist punched her upside the head. This didn't come from Fox but from behind her.

"Having a case of double vision, are you?" Fox said.

"One of your future men. I thought you couldn't summon them any more." The lady scratched at the nape of her neck where the Future man had struck her.

"What are you kidding? Who told you that. James Hudson? He may have trained me but he knows diddly about my powers. "

"Enough."

The two quarrellers stopped fighting and looked at the man who had said that simple word.

"I will not have my two best agents fighting amongst themselves. Flashback, know your place. Delphine Courtney, mind your business."

"Yes, boss," they said in unison.

"Now, I have brought about your deliverance, Flashback, because I am reassembling Omega Flight. A recent team has adopted that name and they will cause new trouble for that mer-woman, Marrina soon with the help of their leader, the Master of the World. I have also created a new Bedlam the Brain Blast and the Derangers. They will steal Hudson's battlesuit so that I can don it. And soon, very, very soon, I will bring about the total destruction of Alpha Flight!!!!"

Then, the three villains laughed uproariously, delving in the evilness of it.

Flashback wondered how Hudson would react that the destruction of his team would be orchestrated by none other than Jerry Jaxon...?