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Singularity War was the second half of the fourth chapter in the Journey Into Misery subseries of the webcomic The Cosmic Beholder. Written and drawn by Paul Hoppe, it was released both in serialised webcomic form and in a limited print run.
Although Jenny Everywhere was a recurring character in The Cosmic Beholder, she only had a short, non-speaking cameo in this story, which instead starred the Terrific Two (Kelly and Jenkins).
Contents
Plot
The Terrific Two have decided to cease running from the Bureau of Singularity. After Kelly manages to steal a portal back to their home dimension from an agent of the Bureau, the Two bring it to Professor Madison, who is house-sitting at Captain Evening's Fortress. They decide that they need to recruit a team of heroes to attack the home base of the Bureau. Using a secret protocol in the Captain's computer, they notify and summon such a crew, consisting of Mysto the Space-Wizard, Terry Tornado, the Big Bad Wolf and Red Riding Hood — although, after hearing the nature of the mission, Red and the Wolf soon opt out.
After Madison downloads part of her mind into a robot duplicate to guard the house while they're gone, she feeds the team's clothes and weapons to a Mutant-creature that will keep their molecular structure intact as they travel through the Portal Pool. Jenkins is sent ahead for reconnaissance work, owing to his invisibility, but fails to come back. When the rest of the team follow him into the strange landscape of the Nexus of Realities, they bump into a dishevelled Jenkins who explains that time is unstable here and he has been waiting for them for a week. It also turns out that probability works differently here, such that a highly unlikely mode of attack (such as a normal woman like Madison hitting the wall bare-handed) has a greater effect than the heroes using their superpowers.
While Terry, Kelly, Myto and Rodney fight the Bureau's agents head-on, an invisible Jenkins and Madison (also turned invisible thanks to Mysto) sneak around. On Floor 239, the head of the Bureau is monitoring a huge wall of screens playing recordings from various realities when he hears the alarm about “the anomaly from Reality Z-25 31-H” having been detected in the lower levels of the building. Jenkins and Madison reveal themselves and tell the director that they've switched around the labels on a number of the Bureau's precious tapes while they were invisible, and will only put things right if the Bureau sign a contract guaranteeing that they will reclassify Reality Z-25 31-H as “alternate” and not interfere with Kelly and Jenkins's lives anymore. Once the contract is signed and Kelly joins them, providing a physical threat, they confess that they actually haven't touched any tapes at all.
After collecting the somewhat more frazzled Terry, Mysto and Rodney, they go back through the Portal to find that the Robot Madison has been single-handedly fighting off Singularity agents besieging the Fortress of Evening. Goodbyes are said (with Kelly and Jenkins going back to a more normal life and Terry going off to film some commercials as part of her main career). Mysto says to spend the night with Madison while Rodney goes off to watch TV with the Mutant.
In the morning, Madison receives a call from Captain Evening, who apologises for not having been here, but begins to tell her about a strange new situation he's dealing with at his current location…
Worldbuilding
Universes
- This story takes place all in one universe, named as Reality Z-25 31-H for the first time.
- The Bureau of Singularity are also observing a variety of other worlds, including Reality 69-T-0.
- The Bureau's headquarters are in a strange dimension called the Nexus of Realities.
Continuity
- This story follows on from the events of the previous Terrific Two story, COMIC: Life… in the Heart of the City, which are briefly summarised.
- Gladys's husband from COMIC: Terry Tornado and the Teleporter and one of the Midwesterners from COMIC: Oasis of Horror are seen on the monitors in the Director of Singularity's office.
Other
- One of the Bureau of Singularity's agents claims that the Bureau has “hundreds of agents… thousands” in Reality Z-25 31-H.
Behind the scenes
Read online
Singularity War is available online on the Cosmic Beholder blog.