The day was nice and hot on this summery day, as Alpha Flight converged in Toronto to combat Brainwave, who had turned the entire citizenry of this town into mindless beasts. The wind brushed through Shaman's long hair, as he heard Brainwave, who had recently been transformed into their former foe, Pestilence, babbling and ranting about his power.

"PESTILENCE LIVES!! AND NOW, ALPHA FLIGHT WILL DIE!!!"

It was painful for Shaman to see his pouch and his Spirit Staff housed within it to be taken from his grasp and within Pestilence's hold. The pouch was not only his weapon of choice but a physical part of his being. It would be akin to cutting off a limb to be separated from it.

"Alpha Flight Attack!" Even though the battlecry was usually carried out by Guardian, the leader of the team, Shaman felt he could shout it to its desired effect. He waved his arm in the air, pointing it at the villain. Soon, the rest of the team that Guardian had sent to Toronto to deal with this menace converged to do away with Pestilence. Shaman only prayed that Kamikaze's and Diamond Lil's strengths could deal with this threat.

"Don't you worry about it, Michael," Diamond Lil stated, as she leapt into action. "Kamikaze and I will get your pouch back for you. Just you relax."

Kamikaze just grumbled under his breath. It was obvious to these members of the Flight that he wasn't used to working on the side of the team.

"Your days are numbered, Pestilence."

"We're not going to allow you to run rampant throughout Canada," Kamikaze added, excitedly. "Or your mindless slaves."

Diamond Lil saw what Kamikaze had up his sleeves. He reached into his pocket, took out a series of gas grenades, and threw them on the ground, separating Pestilence from his slaves. There was a wispy gas that enveloped all except the safe Alphans but it had little effect on them.

Simply, Pestilence laughed the annoyance off. He turned his attention to the Brainwave side of his personality and used his telepathic powers to command his slaves. With but a thought uttered, the slavering beasts walked like zombies toward the three Alphans, particularly at Shaman. His plan was to do away with the meddlesome medicine man. Without the mystical Alphan commanding the pouch, his weapon of choice would now be Pestilence's to do with as he pleased.

Seeing the danger assaulting him, the two other Alphans prepared to defend him from the villainy. Diamond Lil clenched her fist and she was about to punch his lights out. Before she and Kamikaze were about to deliver the killing blow, Pestilence delivered a blow of his own by way of commanding the death spirits that lived within the town of Toronto.

For Diamond Lil, worms oozed out of the primordial earth and enveloped her body, boring into her with annoying slowness.

For Kamikaze, a horde of killer bees chased after him as he ran to avoid them and then, disappeared only to reappear a few feet distant.

Neither Alphan were able to escape their particular torments.

"What do you want, Pestilence?" Shaman asked.

"Why, it's close to Mother's Day and I want to be reunited with my mother. It's that simple."

Using the magic within Shaman's pouch, Pestilence teleported between dimensions to be closer to the comatose Snowbird at the Alpha Complex.

All that Shaman knew was that Alpha Flight was surely doomed!

"Any luck?" James Macdonald Hudson asked Walter Langkowski within one of the main labs within the Alpha Complex.

"Somewhat. Give me a sec and I'll be able to get you up to speed."

The two Alphans were wearing traditional white lab coats and Langkowski used a laser to strip the various costumes off the Faux Alphans. Underneath, the robotic constructs looked pale white with faceless features.

"Wait a minute," Hudson said, recognizing AIM's certain brand of robots. "I've researched the Avengers' files on AIM and those look terribly like their adaptoids. Maybe even the Super-Adaptoid but I seriously doubt that AIM would mass-produce a whole army of Super-Adaptoids. What do we have here, Walter?"

"Exactly as we both feared. A low-level robot of such design that it could adapt to powers and weaponry introduced into its power bases. Ideally, it can defeat us for a time but it can't adapt to such concentration as several opponents at once, like when Jeffries incapacitated them." He smiled. "This is fascinating. We need to keep these in the lab for further study. This is a major scientific advancement. We've encountered many obstacles in our path in the Flight's existence but this is something new."

"Like AIM being interested in me and Snowbird simultaneously?" Hudson asked. "What is AIM's interest? They usually fight Iron Man or SHIELD. Why us? There has to be a connection."

"Frankly, I don't buy the fact that Kamikaze doesn't know more about his employers than he is letting on. They must have told him something about what they were doing to us. Why make our duplicates? There must be more to it than simple cloning."

"Snowbird has to be the key. What did they do to her that won't make her wake up? She seems to be in a coma-like state that makes her withdraw from reality. It is a process very akin to her death before the rejuvenation process began." Hudson scratched his head, as if he was trying to place and replace his thoughts. "Wait, all of this is starting to make sense... I remember MODOK and his scientists talking to us while we were under. I don't know how we were able to ascertain all this but it's coming back to me now... What if they were trying to clone us to create an army of superbeings of their own and Snowbird, Narya... just imagine what would happen if they were able to cross-breed her children or clones of her within AIM's clutches. They could decimate the world. Just imagine an evil Alpha Flight. Perish the thought."

Walter removed his glasses and held them mere inches from his face. "Jesus. I just got a picture of an evil Sasquatch running rampant through Canada or America. I just don't want to think about that."

"I just hope Snowbird wakes up soon so we can find out all the answers to this enigma."

There was a knock on the door. Walter stopped what he was doing and answered it. He was surprised to find that it was Aurora, wearing casual clothing.

"Oh, hi, Jeanne-Marie," he said. "How's life on the other side?"

Jeanne-Marie smiled, her lipstick shining underneath the glow of the lights. "Ooh, Waltair. You certainly know how to woo a woman, one as beautiful as Aurora. I am bored, ma cherie, and I want to have some fun with you."

"What did you have in mind, baby?"

"Your quarters seem nice... and appropriate."

"Anything you want." Walter cleared his throat and turned to Hudson. "Uh, you don't need me for awhile, until we track down AIM and hear from the Toronto team, right?"

"Don't worry. I was young and in love once. I understand. Go have your fun. I'll call you if we need you."

"You're a lifesaver, James."

Aurora smiled again. "Thank you. Monsieur Hudson."

Elizabeth Twoyoungmen entered the infirmary where Narya was being held and approached the bed where she was fast asleep. She sat down beside her and placed her hand within the goddess'.

"Narya, I can't believe this is happening to you. You have got to wake up. I was not with you when AIM resurrected you but I feel I know what actually went down. We're all waiting for you to come out of this. I'll do whatever I can to make this better for you.

"When you were alive (the first time), I feel that I knew you about as much as the other Alphans did, knowing that I am a newcomer to this superhero game. You were one of my guides to the mystical world, as much as my father was. I know I didn't get along with him all that much in the beginning because I blamed him for my mother's death. I felt that since he was a medical doctor he should have been able to do something. But I now know that he couldn't do anything. He did all that he could. In those early, childhood years, I still had Heather as my good friend but I wouldn't accept her help, either. Some of those times I regret. When he chose me to be the Talisman, I blamed him also for forcing me to do something I didn't want to do. I was harsh to him when we fought while in the Flight.

"Oh, God, Narya, I miss you so. The Flight is not the same without you. Mac is right. The Flight will only be whole when you awaken and take your rightful place as Snowbird, the third and final mystical being within our ranks. Please, do it for me, please wake up..."

Elizabeth stood up and started to walk out the infirmary door. "But, I keep reminding myself that you need your rest."

As she turned her back to Narya a final time, Liz heard a slight moaning and a word being expelled from her mouth.

That word was 'Douglas'.

The name was Douglas Thompson, her late husband who was killed by Pestilence years ago just before Snowbird's death.

Elizabeth touched her cheek as she saw Narya rise from the bed, scratching her head. "Ohmygod... Snowbird is awake!!"