The Sentry reborn #2

TS R | #2 

The Watchtower

So They Told Me I Have To Go Back To The Same Store For An Exchange. They Won't Do A Refund. Can You Believe That?

Mm. No, I Can't. Did You Call Customer Service?

Customer Service? What's It Been, Like, A Trillion Years Since You Used A Telephone?

It's All Automated Nowadays. You Don't Get Real People On The Phone Anymore.

I Could Get Cloc To Do It.

He's Supposed To Be Saving The World, Not Sitting On Hold Listening To Bad Piano Music. Besides, I Think It'd Be Bad For His Circuits.

Can You Imagine The Cyber-aneurysm He'd Suffer After Being Transferred For The Eight-hundredth Time And Then Cut Off-

Watchdog! Get Down!

Hehh...Little Scoundrel. You Know He Tries To Intimidate Me, Don't You?

Thank You, Cloc.

My Pleasure. Miss Lindy.

I Think His Scrounging Mechanisms Are A Little Overdeveloped. I'll Modify His Behavioral Controls, First Chance I Get.

It's Actually Kinda Funny. I'm Beginning To Enjoy The Battle Of Wills.

Oh, By The Way, I Found That Chinese Silk Print On Ebay.

Really? How Much?

Twenty Bucks .But Someone Sniped It At The Last Second.

I Hate That.

S'cuse Me For One Second. Lindy

Sorry About That

It's Okay. Problem?

Situation In Libya. Nothing Major.

That Always Throws Me. I Thought You Were In The Bathroom.

The Bathroom? No, I Don't...

Oh Yeah T Forgot.

You Have A Ittle, Uh...

Hmm? What? 

Oh Sorry.

Buildina Caught Fire.Aqq

So, Whattya Say... You Got A Little Time For Your Better Half Now That Libya Didn't Explode?

For You? Always.

Hey! Check Out The Pins On The Dame!

Gosh... Lindy Lee's A Real Knockout! Too Bad She Goes For Guys Like Buzz! A Doll Like That Would Never Talk To A Nerd Like Me!

What Say We Make It An Early Night? I Can Show You This Thing I Read In Cosmo Today.

Mm-hmm. "Ten Tips To Drive Your Super Hero Wild"?

Something Like That.

Well, Are You Coming?

Sure. Lead The Way.

Oh.

What's Wrong?

Nothing. It's Just...

It's The Pants, Isn't It? I Kinda Dropped Coffee On The Crotch-

No, It's You. I Mean It's Him. Oh, God...

...I Know This Sounds Shallow. Thought You Might Be Him. Just For Tonight.

What, The Sentry? Well, I Am Him-

It's Not The Same. I Mean...You Know: It's Like Lingerie. You Like Me In Lingerie, Don't You?

That's What The Sentry Is. He's Lingerie. I Mean, I Love You...It's Just Window Dressing.

Come On. Just This Once. It'll Be Fun.

I Know, Bob. That's The Problem.

I Don't Understand.

It's A Lonely Feeling.

To Watch Over The World And Miss What's Happening Right In Front Of Your Eyes.

You Do Understand But You Don't Want To Admit It.

You're Two People... Three, Maybe. But She Only Wants One Of You

The One Of She Can't Have. The Dangerous One With The Power Of A Million Exploding Suns.

You Don't Know How To Feel About That.

Jealous Of Yourself, Maybe?

Cloc, Is My Wife Okay?

Miss Lindy Is Currently In The Garden. Sir.

"I Didn't Mean That; I Meant Her Well-being. Is She Okay Emotionally, Do You Think?

"She's Had A Lot To Deal With, Coming Back Here To The Watchtower So Abruptly. I'm Worried That She's Unhappy."

Sir I Am Unable To Calculate The Parameters Of Miss Lindy's Emotional Responses.

Please Be Advised: Our Helioscopes Have Detected The Creature Known As The Wendigo Moving Towards The Seattle Suburb Of Bellevue. Thirty-one Seconds To Interception...

Go Ahead.

Don't Bite Him Too Hard.

...It's Just...So Weird, Sue. He Keeps Forgetting Who He Is, And Then He Remembers, And Then I'm Married To A Rock Star Again.

I Keep Having To Move My Stuff Back Between Our Old House And The Watchtower.

Oh, I Know.

It's Just Not Normal. I've Got Costumed Weirdos Coming In At All Hours Of The Day And Night- I Feel Like I'm Living In A Bondage Club. They Always Look At Me Like I'm An Outsider.

Every Time I Get The Place Cleaned Up There's Avengers Meeting-this Or World-crisis That, And When It's All Over I've Got Fifty Pizza Boxes On The Floor And The Toilet's Backed Up Again.

Oh, I Know.

Sorry, Susie, But You Don't. You Can Turn Invisible. I Don't Have A Super-power.

I Love Him. I Just Don't Know If That's Enough.

You Okay?

Sometimes She Forgets I Can Hear A Butterfly Sneeze In Central Africa.

She's Just Ting The Sentry Being Back Again, Robert. She's Confused. You've Had More Career Revivals Than John Travolta.

That's A Quaint Way Of Putting It. 

She's Just Getting Used To The Sentry Being Back Again, Robert. She's Confused. You've Had More Career Revivals Than John Travolta.

I Know, Reed. Really, I Do.

Did Something Happen Between You?

But Suddenly...

Come No Closer, Golden Guardian! Not Unless You Want Your Female To Die!

Hahahaha!

Not Between Us, Per Se.

But Something Did Happen, Didn't It?

Last Week

Uhh. Ehh...End Of The Line Xeniac.

Ah-ehh... Hpshhte...For You, Maybe. Sentry!

Long Have The Factious Five Prepared For The Moment Of Your Death-

Sorry To Disappoint, Xeniac.

When You Get Back To The Others, Do Offer Them My Apologies, Won't You?

I Know About Your Wife.

And She's Dead, You Hear Me?

Dead Before You Even Get Home.

You Think You Know Pain, Xeniac, But You Have No Idea What Pain Is. You Have Nerve Clusters You Don't Even Know Exist.

I've Never Ever Demonstrated The Full Extent Of My Power. But Just So Much As Think About Harming My Wife And Just See If I Change My Mind.

It's Just Bravado. I've Heard It From A Thousand Different Villains. People Threaten Sue All The Time-

Reed, The Void's Been Making More Than His Usual Share Of Threats Against Her.

The Void? Is He--?

Safely Under Lock And Key In The Lower Vaults. But I Think He Might Be Trying To Influence Us From Within. He's Been Very Cryptic Lately.

She's Tough, Robert. And She Loves You In A Very Rugged And Determined Way. That's One Of The Big Reasons You Married Her.

You Don't Have To Worry About Her Giving Up On You.

That's Just It, Reed.

I'm Worried About What'll Happen To Her If She Stays.

You're A Mess, Robert.

I Don't Care About Your Opinion-

It's The Truth. You Have Gaps Inyour Memory. You Talk To Yourself.

You're Driving Everybody Crazy.

Including Lindy. Don't Think She Doesn't Notice How Strangely You've Been Behaving.

You Can't Make Up Your Mind Who

You Want To Be, You're In And Out Of The Golden Suit Like A Stripper Between Musical Numbers. 

I Don't Have To Listen To This, Void-

Then Why Come Here, Robert? Face It: You're Hoping I'll Tell You About The Things You Keep Forgetting.

All Those Gaps In Your Memory. You're Looking For Something. You Can't Even Remember Your Own Birthday.

Much Less That Secret You Keep Forgetting. Do You Remember The Day You First Became The Sentry?

Do You Remember What Really Happened?

Nothing Happened, You're Messing With My Mind.

Everyone Messes With Your Mind, Robert. That's Your Weakness.

What About The Hippy?

They Say You're A Gas, Daddy-o! But Soon The Won Will See What A Downer You Really Are!

The House Of Ideas Presents Our Trippiest Tale Ever!

Can The Groovy Guardian Of Good Withstand The Onerous Onslaught Of That Hepcat Horror...

The Hippy?

Ha! Hehh... God, Remember Him? He Filled An Entire Lake Full Of Lsd And Made You Drink It. You Chased Imaginary Purple Aardvarks For A Week-

Is It You? Are You Stealing My Memories?

Most Of The Time, Golden Boy. Most Of The Time.

But Not This Time.

Who?

An Old Friend. Lunatic Old Geezer... Hates French People-

The General? The General's Dead-

Maybe That's What He Wants You To Think. I Heard He Went To New Zealand, At Least Initially.

Or Maybe I'm Just Messing With Your Mind.

"Cuckoo."

Did You Ever Think Maybe You're Just Incompatible?

Lindy And I Are Not Incompatible. We Love Each Other. It's Just Been Hard To Adjust.

What Does Love Have To Do With It, Robert?

Love Should Be As Much As We Need. We'll Figure Out The Rest.

Doctor Worth, Do You Think There

Might Be Some Kind Of Secret--something I'm Supposed To Know, But I Keep Forgetting?

It's Possible. But I'd Rather Focus On One Question At A Time

This Is What You Do, Robert: You Create New Problems And Drive Them As A Wedge Between You And Your Wife. You Distance Yourself From Her. So Tell Me:

"Who Are You Really Trying To Protect?"

He's Right. And So Wrong.

He Doesn't Understand What You Are.

You're The Sentry, The Golden Guardian Of Good.

You Can't Focus On One Person. You Don't Have Time To Watch Desperate Housewives And Cuddle On The Couch When The General Is Still Out There Somewhere.

What If He Came Back And Invaded France While You Were Busy Making Love? How Would You Explain All Of That To Your Wife?

She's Immersed In This Life But She Understands It Like An Iceberg Understands The Ocean.

That's The Two Of You: Two Icebergs.

Gradually Drifting Apart.

And So You Throw Yourself Into Work--as You Always Do. To Protect Yourself.

Take Your Mind Off Your Problems.

You Shuffle About. Fixing Clocks.

Breaking Things And Fixing Them Again.

A Big Secret Burns In Your Heart. It Tugs At Your Mind.

You Try To Remember.

Back To When You Were Both Young And Innocent And Nothing Bad Had Happened Yet.

They Were Good Times, And They Were A Lie.

You're Coming Into Focus, Sentry.

The Bigger Your Thoughts, The Smaller You Get.

Until Your Thoughts Are As Big As The World.

And All Of Them Are About Her.

Sir, We Have A Development: From Your Description Of Your Discussion With The Void. It Appears He May Have Been Telling The Truth.

Hmm?

I Have Analyzed The General's Final Transmission Before His Disappearance. It May Be Traced Via Redundant Encryption Keys To This Location Near Brazil.

Where I Detect A Localized Temporal Anomaly Of A Kind We Are Familiar With.

The Void Mentioned New Zealand But He Structured His Syntax In A Curious Way: He Said The General Went There "Initially."

We're Supposed To Look The Initials "N. Z."

Yes. Sir. I Fear This Means We Miist Be Prepared For The Worst.

The General Is Within The Negative Zone

You're Going To Have To Go There...To The Negative Zone--where You're Virtually Powerless. Where Your Secret Dark Side--the Opposite Of You--becomes The One In Charge.

It's The Only Place In The Universe You Swore You Would Never Return To.

And From Which You May Never Return.

Uh-huh...I Can't Talk For Long. No...I Want To See You Tomorrow. It's Just Complicated, That's All.

No Nothing Like That-

Can You Hold On For A Second?

Who's-

--oh.

Cloc: Explain, Please.

Compliments Of Your Husband, Miss Lindy. He Regrets A Temporary Delay And Hopes To Join You As Soon As Possible.

He Requested I Deliver This To You. With His Apologies.

To: Lindy

From: The Two Of Us

Snff

You Never See Again.

You May Never See Her Again, And Maybe That's Just As Well For The Both Of You.

Because This Kind Of Love Never Works Out, Sentry. Not Even In Storybooks.

How Can It, When One Of You Is A God?

And One Of You Is Only Huiman.