- Personal save number--Just how many lives I just save by scrambling this broad's brain?: Hotfoot
- Call it 666 if it makes you feel better, Hotfoot.: The High
Number of the Beast #6 is an issue of the series Number of the Beast (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 2008.
Synopsis for "Verse Six: Apocalyptic Fiction"
Lieutenant Welles is about to press the kill button to kill everyone inside the program. Fortunately, Hotfoot catches up to her, and along the way slaps up Doctor Sin repeatedly in the process, and stops Welles by vibro-phasing his hand through her head, causing brain damage.
In the program, the High then learns from the Eidolon that there are many heroes and villains still remaining throughout the City. The High sets out to find them so they can all escape the program.
Back at the Pentagon, General Somerset summons their "consultant" to the NOTB program: a Daemonite scientist named Slyxx, who was given "amnesty" by the U.S. government for Daemonite technology. Somerset demands Slyxx for answers as to why the Daemonite-based VR technology (the "sleep-net") is failing to contain the prisoners. Slyxx explains to Somerset that the sleep-net wasn't built for a large "group-collective" and nor was it made for an overcrowded prison. Instead they have perverted the technology's original programming and that is the reason why it is falling apart.
Back in the City, the High ends the program by flying to the upper limits of the City and plummets back to the ground at a high rate of speed turning himself into a living bomb. The impact eradicates the city and causes everyone trapped in the program to awaken inside Bunker One.
Having watched the events that ended in the simulation, Hotfoot goes back to the awakened heroes and villains, who are all confused about what had happened. Redeemer still thinks the High is the "true villain" responsible for what is going on, but Cumberland tells everyone that killing them is what saved them. He then pulls Sergeant Stringer out from his sleep-tube and forces him to tell everyone how long they were inside the simulation. They are then shocked to learn they have been in suspended animation for sixty-three years. Noticing that Engine Joe isn't present among them, Mago coerces Stringer into leading to where he is. The group finds their way to the bunker's motor pool and rejoins Engine Joe, who then informs them that he saw Dr. Sin making his escape just as he woke up. Hotfoot discovers all of their old costumes and weapons in the bunker. Sergeant Stringer reveals that all their items were kept because every superhuman in the program was viewed as a weapon that could be used at any time if the need presented itself.
Cumberland leads everyone outside the bunker and tells them he will be back soon before flying up into the air to intercept a plane that was about to drop a nuclear warhead on the bunker. He dispatches the plane and takes its warhead with him into space. He then arrives at Skywatch III, which is presently under construction, and makes his presence known to Stormwatch's Weatherman Jackson King. The High throws the warhead at Skywatch in which its force field takes the brunt of the impact. He then wastes no time and begins lobbing asteroids from the Kuiper Belt at the station until King finally calls for Cumberland to come aboard to explain himself.
The Authority arrives at the site of the bunker after having previously detected the number of metahumans there. They find the dead bodies of the strike team and investigate the surroundings. Suddenly, they are then confronted by the Paladins, who were hidden in Mago's magic, in which Midnight Rider kicks Midnighter; they mistake the Authority for government assassins sent to kill them and prepares to engage them.
Back at the Pentagon, General Somerset makes a phone call to the President whom he informs him that he has dispatched the Reapers to contain the situation and assure him that it will "all be over soon."
Appearing in "Verse Six: Apocalyptic Fiction"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- The Eidolon
- Hotfoot
- Crime Corps
- Lieutenant Welles
- Slyxx (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- General William Somerset
- Doctor Sin
Other Characters
- Sergeant Timothy Stringer
- StormWatch
- The Authority
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Wildstorm Universe
- Number of the Beast Bunker #1
- The City
- Washington, D.C.
- The Pentagon
- Skywatch III
- Number of the Beast Bunker #1
Notes
- At the end of the issue is a quote from Heinrich Heine: "Wild, dark times are rumbling toward me, and the Prophet who wishes to write a new Apocalypse will have to invent entirely new Beasts, and Beasts so terrible that the ancient animal symbols of St. John will seem like cooing Doves and Cupids in comparison."
- This is the first appearance of the Daemonite, Slyxx.
- This comic included some ancillary notes on the virtual reality-made Pale Rider of the Apocalypse, Seafarer, Midnight Rider, Petrified Girl, and Private Warr.
Trivia
- Lieutenant Welles' "The meek are supposed to inherit the earth" line is based from Matthew 5:5 in the King James Version of the Bible: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
- Hotfoot calls Lieutenant Welles "some crazy W.A.C." The W.A.C. is the Women's Army Corps, a U.S. Army unit created during World War II to enable women to serve in noncombat positions.
- Slyxx's "dwellings made of glass" line is a reference to the proverb "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." It means that people who have faults should not criticize other people for having the same faults.
- The Doctor's "I'm a doctor, not a coroner" line is a reference to the famous catch phrase and snowclone used in Star Trek, in which it was originally used by the character Dr. Leonard McCoy.
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. Wildstorm: Armageddon
Wildstorm: Revelations
Number of the Beast
Number of the Beast #1 • Number of the Beast #2 • Number of the Beast #3 • Number of the Beast #4 • Number of the Beast #5 • Number of the Beast #6 • Number of the Beast #7 • Number of the Beast #8 |