by Barry Reese
“Of course… I was only…”
“Trying to sabotage me further.” The Manchu turned away, his robes rustling with every step. “I know that you left a clue back in Atlanta, in hopes of luring the Peregrine to Germany in time to stop me.”
Jian straightened, one hand delving into a pocket at his side. He fingered a sharpened blade and awaited what was surely to come. “I have served you faithfully for many decades.”
“Yes… but not with the same sort of devotion that my other adherents possess. In some ways, that is why I kept you around. You were not blind to my faults. You would not tell me whatever I wanted to hear. But now you have overstepped your bounds. You have taken active steps to try and foil me. I am not happy.” The Warlike Manchu stopped in the doorway and turned his gaze back upon the aged advisor, whose parents had died at his command so many years before. “You have exactly ten seconds to tell me why I should not kill you.”
Jian bared his teeth and hissed like a tiger, snatching out his blade and hurling it with amazing accuracy. The Warlike Manchu’s hand shot upwards in a blur, catching the blade mere inches from his throat.
“Such a fool. You could have stood by my side in the new world order… but once again, I am betrayed by those who are of lesser blood.” The Manchu tossed the knife aside and raised both hands above his hand. He called upon the powers that now raged within him, products of the all-powerful Philosopher’s Stone. The ability to turn lead into gold was a potent ability, to be sure… but the Stone was about far more than that. It was about transfiguration of the spirit and the body as much as of metal.
Jian screamed as his body began to burn with a strange form of heat. He staggered back, noting that his skin and clothing were beginning to be covered by a golden sheen, a rapidly spreading set of scales that extended up past his waist, pinning his arms to his sides and then on up to his neck. Jian screamed out obscenities but could do nothing as the gilded surface enclosed his entire face, leaving only the tiniest of holes for him to breathe through and slits for him to see out of his golden prison.
“Think on your mistake,” the Manchu whispered. “As you slowly starve to death, you will realize that you should have learned from your parents’ example.”
Jian answered his murderer then, though his words were lost in the muffled confines of the prison. “I did,” he said. “I learned from their example, you monster…”
CHAPTER VIII
To Duel with Death
The Peregrine flew through the darkened streets, night having fallen quickly. Max could only imagine what the Fuehrer was doing tonight, with the last of his so-called ‘super agents’ dead and the tide of war slowly beginning to turn against him. Through his various contacts, Max knew that Enrico Fermi had recently led a team in initiating the world’s first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Though the news was at the highest levels of top-secret security, Leonid Kaslov was privy to such things and he’d shared the news with Max, even telling him that code-words used to inform President Roosevelt were “The Italian navigator has landed in the new world.” It was only a matter of time before America had a powerful weapon to bring down the Axis powers… of course, the Nazis had their own weapons program but Max felt certain they wouldn’t reach their goal first. The Germans were spread too thin and in too many directions… were they going to bring down the Russians? Or the British? Or were they focused on America? And would they achieve victory through conventional means or through the supernatural? Hitler couldn’t seem to make up his mind.
From rooftop to rooftop, the Peregrine bounded, sprinting and leaping. From time to time, men and women on the streets below would look up and catch him in mid-air, partially silhouetted against the full moon.
The Peregrine reached the address given him by the Ten Fingers, panting from his exertions. It was an old tavern and boarding house, closed for quite some time from the looks of it. Max knew this area of Berlin had once been home to a number of Jewish owned businesses, most of which had been seized by the Aryans upon their ascensions to power.
To Max’s surprise, the front doors were standing open, two members of the Ten Fingers outside. The Peregrine moved forward, still standing on the rooftop of the building next door, and one of the men looked upwards, staring into the barrel of the Peregrine’s pistol. The Peregrine was prepared to fire but the man held up both hands in obvious surrender.
“The master is waiting for you inside. He wishes me to congratulate you on surviving such an obvious trap but he advises that if you value your life, you will now turn tail and return to the United States.”
The Peregrine fired his pistol, shooting the man in the left leg. He then jumped from the rooftop, blocking a blow from the other member of the Ten Fingers. Max followed with a powerful karate chop to the man’s ribs, finishing him off by grabbing hold of the villain’s hair and slammed his head into his raised knee.
After checking to make sure that the sound of gunfire didn’t attract too much attention, Max made for the door. He saw one or two people peer fearfully from their windows in his direction but none allowed their gaze to linger for too long. Such was life under Hitler’s reign.
The Peregrine found that his path was fairly well laid out before him. No other members of the Ten Fingers were present and only a peculiar golden statue of an old Chinaman caught Max’s attention until he reached what had once been the master bedroom upstairs. The Warlike Manchu sat in this room, sitting languidly on a throne that looked like it dated back to one of the Imperial Chinese Dynasty.
“Welcome, my former pupil.” The Warlike Manchu leaned forward, his eyes glittering. Something about him seemed different than before. He seemed feral and somehow inhuman. Max saw dried blood on the master villain’s robes. “I commend you on your victory when last we met. You alone were able to defeat me.”
“Your daughter helped.”
“I’m sure. I will save a special revenge for her when I am done with you.” The Manchu rose from his throne, watching as the Peregrine moved slowly towards him, gun in hand. “I was reborn with stranger hungers, Max. I crave human flesh… nothing less will satisfy me.”
“You were always a monster. Now it’s just more obvious.” The Peregrine raised his gun, pointing it level with the Manchu’s face. “You should have stayed dead. It’s where you belong.”
“I once thought you could rule at my side,” the Manchu said, ignoring the danger. “But now I see that you are far too weak to do so. You lack the killer instinct that tigers possess… you see the weak and the sick amongst humanity and you reach out a hand to aid them, rather than culling them from the strong. There are too many like you in the world, which had led to its current decadent state of affairs.”
“I’m not here to chat.” The Peregrine squeezed the trigger but gasped when he noticed that his gun was now a golden color, its entire surface having been transformed by the Manchu’s power. “What the hell…?”
“I am so much more than I once was,” the Warlike Manchu said, his eyes glowing with an inner light. “I have devoured the Philosopher’s Stone.”
Max blinked, letting the enormity of that settle in. “You… ate it?”
“Yes. And now I can do things like this.” The Warlike Manchu slashed at the air with his fingers, causing every vein in Max’s body to seize up. They could be seen, pressing blue and purple against his flesh, and Max felt like they were about to tear free of his body.
The Peregrine fell forward when the attack ceased, though every fiber of his being ached with pain. Max felt his heart hammering in his chest and he was barely able to stay conscious.
“Today is the last day of your life,” the Warlike Manchu said, walking slowly towards the Peregrine. “When I am done here, I will journey to America and find your wife and child. I wonder if I shall like the taste of your son’s meat when I eat him for supper.”
The Peregrine groaned as the villain came ever closer but he was quietly slipping a hand inside his trenchcoat, slipping free the
glowing Knife of Elohim. The mystic blade had once been bathed in the blood of Christ, making it especially powerful against those empowered by evil.
When the Manchu was within striking range, the Peregrine yanked the blade free and drove it hard into the madman’s foot. It cut deep, sending up a geyser of blood. The wound sizzled as the mystical weapon worked into the Manchu’s skin.
The Manchu tried to use his newfound powers on the blade but found it strangely resistant to his abilities. Instead, he kicked the Peregrine in the face repeatedly with his other foot and finally managed to tear his injured appendage free of its painful hold.
The Peregrine threw himself forward, pushing off with his knees, and slammed hard into the Manchu’s midsection. The two men flew backwards, knocking over the throne.
The Manchu gripped the Peregrine’s coat and began transforming the clothing into a golden prison, much like the one that had trapped Jian. Max shrugged it off quickly but was then unprepared for a backhanded blow from the villain that knocked him off his feet. Max landed hard on his side but immediately kicked out with a foot, catching the Manchu behind his legs and yanking them out from under him.
The Manchu ended up sprawled on his back but he rolled out of the way when the Peregrine attempted to drive his knife into the villain’s torso. The Manchu slammed an elbow into the back of the Peregrine’s head, momentarily disorienting him.
Max felt the Manchu grip him by the ears, the villain moving to stand behind the Peregrine. “This is it, my former pupil. Today you pay the price for refusing to accept the honor of standing beside me.”
“Go back to hell,” the Peregrine hissed as the Manchu began to project a strange sort of heat directly into the vigilante’s skull. Max felt himself being lulled into a comatose state… awake but not unable to fully move.
The Manchu released his grip, allowing Max to slam to the floor. The villain then knelt beside his old foe and opened his mouth, revealing sharpened teeth. “In this way, at least, you will always be a part of me, Max.”
As the Manchu leaned in to take a bite of his enemy’s flesh, the Peregrine had a very clear image appear in his mind’s eye: of his wife and son, in danger from this monstrosity called the Warlike Manchu. Max had no doubt that the Manchu would live up to his word… he would hunt them down and he would, as unbelievable as it sounded, eat them alive.
The power of the Philosopher’s Stone seemed to weaken in the face of love and Max felt his body return to his own control. He whipped up the hand holding the Knife of Elohim and drove it straight into the villain’s open maw. The blade slammed through, protruding from the back of the man’s neck. The Warlike Manchu jumped back, clutching at the hilt of the blade but it was too late… the evil-destroying power of the Knife was at work, spreading its effects through the villain’s body.
The Manchu fell against the wall, his entire form hardening into an inert state. He looked like he was carved from lead, his body as quiet and still as if he had never lived at all.
The Peregrine moved towards him, knife still in hand. He wasn’t sure what to do with the unmoving corpse but the decision was quickly taken out of his hands. The sounds of sirens and men shouting reached his ears—obviously, the altercation had finally brought the authorities. Not wanting to be captured in the heart of Nazi Germany, the Peregrine bolted for the window and was on his way to freedom by the time the S.S. soldiers burst into the room.
The ranking officer of the group looked around in confusion, seeing nothing more than an oddly carved metal statue, so much like the one of pure gold they’d found downstairs… the Fuehrer would not be pleased. Unless, he thought to himself, that statue piques his interest for some reason. Hoping for the best, he shouted to his underlings. “Take the statutes… both of them. We will have the Reich’s best men study them. Perhaps they can be some use.”
While the Nazis took possession of the Manchu’s body, the Peregrine was on his way to find McKenzie. He felt a sense of relief that nearly overwhelmed him.
Once again, the Manchu had been thwarted and the world was safe for another day.
THE END
THE REESE UNLIMITED TIMELINE
Major Events specific to certain stories and novels are included in brackets. Some of this information contains SPOILERS for The Peregrine, Lazarus Gray, Gravedigger and other stories.
~ 800 Viking warrior Grimarr dies of disease but is resurrected as the Sword of Hel. He adventures for some time as Hel’s agent on Earth. [“Dogs of War” and “In the Name of Hel,” Tales of the Norse Gods].
1748—Johann Adam Weishaupt is born.
1750—Guan-Yin embarks on a quest to find her lost father, which takes her to Skull Island [Guan-Yin and the Horrors of Skull Island].
1776—Johann Adam Weishaupt forms The Illuminati. He adopts the guise of the original Lazarus Gray in group meetings, reflecting his “rebirth” and the “moral ambiguity” of the group. In Sovereign City, a Hessian soldier dies in battle, his spirit resurrected as an headless warrior.
1793—Mortimer Quinn comes to Sovereign City, investigating the tales of a Headless Horseman [Gravedigger Volume One]
1865—Eobard Grace returns home from his actions in the American Civil War. Takes possession of the Book of Shadows from his uncle Frederick. [“The World of Shadow,” The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History]
1877—Eobard Grace is summoned to the World of Shadows, where he battles Uris-Kor and fathers a son, Korben. [“The World of Shadow,” The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History]
1885—Along with his niece Miriam and her paramour Ian Sinclair, Eobard returns to the World of Shadows to halt the merging of that world with Earth. [“The Flesh Wheel,” The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History]
1890—Eobard fathers a second son, Leopold.
1895—Felix Cole (the Bookbinder) is born.
1900—Max Davies is born to publisher Warren Davies and his wife, heiress Margaret Davies.
1901—Leonid Kaslov is born.
1905—Richard Winthrop is born in San Francisco.
1908—Warren Davies is murdered by Ted Grossett, a killer nicknamed “Death’s Head”. [“Lucifer’s Cage”, The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One, more details shown in “Origins,” the Peregrine Volume One] Hans Merkel kills his own father. [“Blitzkrieg,” the Peregrine Volume One]
1910—Evelyn Gould is born.
1913—Felix Cole meets the Cockroach Man and becomes part of The Great Work. [“The Great Work,” The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History]
1914—Margaret Davies passes away in her sleep. Max is adopted by his uncle Reginald.
1915—Felix Cole marries Charlotte Grace, Eobard Grace’s cousin.
1916—Leonid Kaslov’s father Nikolai becomes involved in the plot to assassinate Rasputin.
1917—Betsy Cole is born to Felix and Charlotte Grace Cole. Nikolai Kaslov is murdered.
1918—Max Davies begins wandering the world. Richard Winthrop’s parents die in an accident.
1922—Warlike Manchu tutors Max Davies in Kyoto.
1925—Max Davies becomes the Peregrine, operating throughout Europe.
1926—Charlotte Grace dies. Richard Winthrop has a brief romance with exchange student Sarah Dumas.
1927—Richard Winthrop graduates from Yale. On the night of his graduation, he is recruited into The Illuminati. Max and Leopold Grace battle the Red Lord in Paris. Richard Winthrop meets Miya Shimada in Japan, where he purchases The McGuinness Obelisk for The Illuminati.
1928—The Peregrine returns to Boston. Dexter van Melkebeek (later to be known as The Darkling) receives his training in Tibet from Tenzin.
1929—Max Davies is one of the judges for the Miss Beantown contest [“The Miss Beantown Affair,” The Peregrine Volume Three]. Richard Winthrop destroys a coven of vampires in Mexico.
1930—Richard Winthrop pursues The Devil’s Heart in Peru [“Eidolon,” Lazarus Gray Volume Three].
1932—The Peregrine hunts down his father’s killer [“Origins,
” The Peregrine Volume One]. The Darkling returns to the United States.
1933—Jacob Trench uncovers Lucifer’s Cage. [“Lucifer’s Cage”, The Peregrine Volume One] The Peregrine battles Doctor York [All-Star Pulp Comics # 1] After a failed attempt at betraying The Illuminati, Richard Winthrop wakes up on the shores of Sovereign City with no memory of his name or past. He has only one clue to his past in his possession: a small medallion adorned with the words Lazarus Gray and the image of a naked man with the head of a lion. [“The Girl With the Phantom Eyes,” Lazarus Gray Volume One]
1934—Now calling himself Lazarus Gray, Richard Winthrop forms Assistance Unlimited in Sovereign City. He recruits Samantha Grace, Morgan Watts and Eun Jiwon [“The Girl With the Phantom Eyes,” Lazarus Gray Volume One] Walther Lunt aids German scientists in unleashing the power Die Glocke, which in turn frees the demonic forces of Satan’s Circus [“Die Glocke,” Lazarus Gray Volume Two]. The entity who will become known as The Black Terror is created [“The Making of a Hero,” Lazarus Gray Volume Two].
1935—Felix Cole and his daughter Betsy seek out the Book of Eibon. [“The Great Work,” The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History] Assistance Unlimited undertakes a number of missions, defeating the likes of Walther Lunt, Doc Pemberley, Malcolm Goodwill & Black Heart, Princess Femi & The Undying, Mr. Skull, The Axeman and The Yellow Claw [“The Girl With the Phantom Eyes,” “The Devil’s Bible,” “The Corpse Screams at Midnight,” “The Burning Skull,” “The Axeman of Sovereign City,” and “The God of Hate,” Lazarus Gray Volume One] The Peregrine journeys to Sovereign City and teams up with Assistance Unlimited to battle Devil Face. They also encounter a new hero—The Dark Gentleman. [“Darkness, Spreading Its Wings of Black,” The Peregrine Volume Two and Lazarus Gray Volume One)]. Lazarus Gray and Assistance Unlimited become embroiled in the search for Die Glocke [“Die Glocke,” Lazarus Gray Volume Two]
