This was a bad idea. I guess that's what happens when you let a stripper play psychiatrist. 
- — Nemesis
Wildcats: World's End #5 is an issue of the series WildCats: World's End (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 2009.
Synopsis for "Who is Spartan?"
Spartan has become frustrated with his role as leader of the Wildcats. As the current demands of the team pile up, Spartan begins to distance himself from the others. When Voodoo fails to get through to Spartan, she sends Nemesis to talk to him.
Spartan proceeds to recount his long and convoluted history that began on Khera. The Kherans built the Spartan Guard, the perfect protectors for the aristocracy, and they were modeled in appearance and fighting skill to one of Khera's greatest warriors, Yon Kohl. Yon Kohl was one of the survivors of the Kheran ship that crash landed on Earth millennia ago. Stranded and with no way off, Yon Kohl adopted many names over the years including the name John Colt during the twentieth century. Spartan tells Nemesis that he does not have the full personality of Yon Kohl but she begins to see evidence against his claim.
Spartan counters her disbelief by reminding her that during the Cold War John Colt joined Lord Emp, who at the time was working for the U.S. government. It was then that Colt joined Team One which included Majestic. It was during a battle against Lord Helspont and the Daemonites that Colt sacrificed himself to stop an impending nuclear holocaust. Lord Emp attempted to save John Colt by downloading his persona into a Spartan unit he made. In order to give his new Spartan unit an affinity for humankind, he hired a human scientist who modeled Spartan's personality after his late son-in-law's.
When Nemesis questions why Emp didn't leave Yon Kohl's personality in Spartan, he tells her that Emp knew Kohl wouldn't be the same after the disastrous Team One mission. Unknown to everyone at the time, Yon Kohl did not die so easily. Kohl regenerated and was traumatized by his ordeal, becoming cold and sadistic after being left for dead. He became a dictator by impersonating Kaizen Gamorra, and eventually came into conflict with Spartan. Ultimately Yon Kohl died at the hands of Majestic.
After Yon Kohl's death Spartan soon found that more of Yon Kohl's memories surfaced which included feelings for Zealot. Nemesis finds this part amusing. She tells Spartan that he cannot figure out who he should be and what others meant for him to be. Therefore, she advises him it doesn't matter what they or anyone else thinks they should be. It is their actions that define who they are. But right now Spartan is defining himself as a puppet or a tin soldier who is paralyzed without orders. Spartan must rise above that and it's only up to him to do that. Nemesis concludes that agreeing to talking with him was a bad idea and walks out.
But Spartan isn't alone for long as Voodoo shows up and reveals she listened to the whole conversation. She reminds him that he did rise above all the things of his past when Lord Emp asked Spartan to kill him to ascend to a higher state of being before he turned over the Halo Corporation to Spartan. He tells Voodoo that it was the first time his destiny became clear, especially after Void bequeathed her powers to him. He did what Lord Emp asked him to do and began using his position to make the Earth a better place. But even after Voodoo commends him for all the good he did, Spartan asks her why the world ended up the way it did. Voodoo can only remind him that having the power of a god and being a god are two completely different things.
Spartan also reveals that part of his frustration lies in the fact that when the new Void appeared, he lost all of his powers. But he was determined to bring the Wildcats back together which he did little by little until The High's clones, the Reapers, attacked. But Voodoo reminds him of how he shielded a huge portion of Los Angeles single-handedly as the Reapers went nuclear. She considered it a miracle that they were able to download him into a new body afterwards. Even after that, Spartan continued to help survivors out of the ruined the city and protect them from hostile and insane post-humans.
Voodoo tells him that he's been through so much that it's no surprise to her that he's more than a little shaken by it all. But she tells him the best thing he can do is still be himself, reminding him that she still believes in him as they share a kiss together; a kiss that is secretly observed by Jeremy who becomes distraught by the spectacle and leaves in despondence.
Appearing in "Who is Spartan?"
Featured Characters:
- Spartan (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Daemonites (Flashback only)
- John Colt (Flashback only)
- Reapers (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Wildcats
- Ladytron (Flashback and main story)
- Grifter (Flashback and main story)
- Maul (Flashback and main story)
- Backlash (Jodi Slayton) (Flashback only)
- Zealot (Flashback and main story)
- Team One
- Isaiah King (Flashback only)
- Lord Emp (Flashback only)
- Mister Majestic (Flashback only)
- Marc Slayton (Flashback only)
- Regiment (Flashback only)
- Caitlin Fairchild (Flashback only)
- Void (Nikola Hanssen) (Flashback only)
Locations:
Items:
- Halo Batteries
Vehicles:
- Halo cars
Synopsis for "Missile Man: Stalking Horse - Chapter 1"
In post-Armageddon Delaware, a man who the locals call Missile-Man rambles on about how he knows that Armageddon happened because of something that occurred in 1945. A kid, who knows about Missile-Man from the comic books and a serial movie, shows up offering him booze in exchange for the story Missile-Man claims to know.
Missile-Man recounts that he's not sure how he got his powers but when he did, he found he could fly and was impervious to harm. Like many superheroes at the time, Missile-Man started out fighting crooks, then spies and saboteurs. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Missile-Man fought in World War II and battled Axis supervillains such as Black Panzer. By the time of V-E Day, Missile-Man and other American superheroes were recognized and honored by the U.S. government.
However, as the war wound down, the government grew weary and fearful of the growing large number of superhumans in the world. But Missile-Man at the time only had a general sense of all this and was more concerned over never being sent to the Pacific Theater with the other Allied superhumans. Regardless, Missile-Man followed what his government tells him to do.
One day he received orders to check out an apparent airship crash in the desert. Once Missile-Man arrived at the crash site, he discovered a crashed Daemonite ship.
Appearing in "Missile Man: Stalking Horse - Chapter 1"
Featured Characters:
- Missile Man (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Black Panzer
Locations:
Vehicles:
- Daemonite spaceship
Notes
- Grifter asked Spartan for the MIRV to "check in on some old friends". This is a reference to John Lynch's calling for the reunion of Team-7.
- Missile Man: Stalking Horse continues in The Authority (Volume 4) #5.
Trivia
- According to the stranger, the Black Panzer was portrayed by actor Kane Richmond, who was best known for playing as The Shadow, in an old serial movie.
See Also