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"Verse Four: Horses": In NOTB Bunker #1, one of the sleep-tubes goes offline. Captain Rosado sends Sergeant Stringer to deal with it while he deals with a mysterious brownout...

Quote1 I've had it up to my sparkplugs with God's errand boys wreckin' my city! Quote2
Engine Joe

Number of the Beast #4 is an issue of the series Number of the Beast (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 2008.

Synopsis for "Verse Four: Horses"

In NOTB Bunker #1, one of the sleep-tubes goes offline. Captain Rosado sends Sergeant Stringer to deal with it while he deals with a mysterious brownout...

In the Pentagon, General Somerset is getting a briefing on The High, outlining his history: an idealist, his opposition to Stormwatch's policies ended when he hit the force field around their satellite headquarters, smashing himself to gunk. However, it seems he had an undiscovered superpower - genetic memory, which allowed his individual cells, when collected, to reform as a "lifeform". When this lifeform was placed in the nutrient bath of the NOTB sleep-tubes, it rebuilt him, memories and all. The potential results are dire, but General Somerset is indifferent: "What's the worst that could happen?"

The High has broken free in the Bunker. His musculature is almost entirely reformed, but his skin is less developed. He is, however, indestructible - as Sergeant Stringer discovers when he tries to shoot him. As Stringer tries to hold him back with argument, Rosado does his job, monitoring the City - for example, the effect the "Apocalypse" is having on Hotfoot. So far, he has saved 487 people, and even stops a woman from committing suicide. However, the program must continue. Hotfoot is ambushed by Pestilence, the First Horseman of the Apocalypse, as the Eidolon looks on in grim amusement.

In the diner, Engine Joe, Mago the Magician and Tumbleweed are having breakfast, when they see the arrival of War, the Second Horseman. Engine Joe attacks the newcomer in a rage, but gets stabbed in the chest.

In the Bunker, the High staggers into the command center, bringing along Stringer by the throat, and demands answers from Captain Rosado. Rosado agrees to comply, but, he says "you're not going to like what you hear."

In the City, the Crime Corps find the body of Doctor Sin, and reach the conclusion that the Paladins are using the disaster to "clean house", as it were. They decide to find somewhere defensible, and wander off... never guessing that, in the real world, Doctor Sin took advantage of his "death" to escape his sleep-tube and break into the armory. Finding a modern gun clearly based on his Sintrino cannon, he begins to realize his situation.

In 12 minutes, a US Army strike team will reach NOTB Bunker #1 and demolish it - Doctor Sin is known to be loose, and such a dangerous man with access to their systems is too serious to rely on the in-house team. A back-up plan to deploy "the Reapers" is suggested, but something seems to be going wrong at one of the Reaper silos...

In the City, the Third Horseman, Famine, has struck. Honeybee has been aged by forty years, and Aeronaut is running scared. The Fourth Horseman, Death, is imminent... but the Eidolon has destroyed him and stolen his horse, and comes to the Paladins to tell them a story. In the Bunker, the High is watching this, and has acquired a replica of his old costume, just before he is ambushed by Doctor Sin, who zaps him unconscious. Sin then asks for a brief history from the soldiers.

Outside the bunker, the Army strike team lead by Lieutenant Welles arrives. As they set the charge to blow the doors, they note a graffiti etched next to the door: "ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER."

Appearing in "Verse Four: Horses"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Doctor Sin
  • Four Horsemen of Apocalypse
    • War
    • Famine
    • Death
    • Pestilence

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:



Notes

  • This issue coincides with the events of Wildstorm: Revelations #6 in which the reason the technician mentioned about a problem with one of the "Reaper" silos happens with Nemesis and her group attack on the silo.
  • The comic includes a passage from Dante Aligheri's Divine Comedy: "Through me you pass into the city of woe; Through me you pass into eternal pain; Through me among the people lost for aye."



See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

World's End Trilogy Crossover
The events from this issue or series are related to the "World's End Trilogy". This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the World's End Trilogy Crossover category.
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