Saved along with a few stories reposted was the original preview for Goldeneyed #23, along with a snippet of the original draft of the story (before it was scrapped and rewritten nearly half a dozen times). So here they are. I think things turned out for the best... :\
Next Issue: It’s the first full day of the new Lair Legion, and the new roster has Goldeneyed as a veteran Legionnaire! But how does he feel he - and the rest of the team - stacks up? It’s another first-person perspective story, too!
It seems like only a few weeks ago when I first joined the Lair Legion… It was shortly after I had moved to Parodiopolis. We were fighting under Jarvis then, for the weeks before he died. After that, there was a change in the roster. Visionary became leader. Things were surprisingly stable for a while. It didn’t last long… Well, anyway, after a while Visionary left to reform the League of Regulars. He took a lot of the old school, veteran LL-ers with him. It was chaos here at Lair Island… It didn’t even look like we’d have enough members for a team. Fin Fang Foom was left in charge, now especially short-tempered. I had nobody to turn to for advice, with Lisa gone. For a few moments, I rethought my affiliation with the team. I wasn’t ready for any of this. I was about ready to ask if the Regulars would let me join. Of course, in the end, I decided to stay with the Legion. Foom and the Dark Knight recruited Nats and Ziles to the team. Sorceress joined up, too. Dream and Derek stuck around, as well as Trickshot. When all seemed done, Donar showed back up to pull double-duty. So we had a Lair Legion again. But it wasn’t the same to me. Fin Fang Foom and Hatman are good choices for the leaders, with who we have left. To be honest, I wouldn’t want the Dark Knight, Donar or Dream in charge. I like all of those guys, but I don’t see Dream or Donar leading us. And, I’m sorry, but just the thought of the Dark Knight leading scares me.
Things have definitely gotten a little edgier around here. We have assigned, designated times for shifts on monitor duty, among other things. I seem to end up on monitor duty more than anyone else does. Things seem weirder now, too. I’d gotten used to the old team; it was almost like family. Now, it’s like being on a team with a bunch of strangers. It can be a little creepy. I mean, I’d never even heard of Ziles before she was recruited. It’s more than a little awkward for me being in a room with Laurie when Hatman and Sorceress are being all affectionate. It seems like Nats is always around the corner, too. Heck, I never even know where the Dark Knight will show up.
I dunno… It all just seems so foreign now. Lisa really had become a bit of a mentor to me. When I first came to the city, it was her I stayed with. When I needed a job, she was there for me. Maybe in some weird way, she was the closest thing I’ve had to a mother. And now she’s gone, and I’m more alone than I’ve ever been. I don’t like feeling that the Lair Legion are a bunch of strangers, not after all this time. It just doesn’t feel right.
“The Old Order Changes… Again!”
By Goldeneyed
The sun shines in through my bedroom window, and a soft voice beckons me from my dreams.
“Hey there, handsome.” Laurie calls to me, kneeling on the foot of my bed.
The sunlight makes her face glow, and her dark hair shines. Right now I’m thinking, ‘she has got to be the most beautiful woman in the world.’ It’s now that I realise that despite how crummy my life’s been for the most part, I couldn’t really be any happier with my life right now as Bry Katz. I just smile back at her. She playfully pushes my head away, laughing.
She points at the alarm clock on my nightstand with her eyes. “Another late night, was it?”. I look over, and see what time it is. 12:23. I just sigh.
“Me and Mike busted up a few muggings here and there. Mostly Hell’s bathroom stuff. It went on a lot longer than I suspected. Mike’s very devoted.”
She crawls over beside me and sits with me, back to the wall.
“And you’re feeling a little less devoted, is that it?” she asks me. I smile. “You should be a psychiatrist.”
My face turns more serious. “Okay, yeah. I feel less devoted. I… well, to be honest, I feel kind of abandoned by the people who were like a family to me… I feel… alone. This has been my home for a while now, but it doesn’t feel like it. Not now.”
Laurie pulls me towards her and hugs me.
“I just don’t feel content anymore…” I whisper.
She holds me and arms’ length as sly looks spreads across her face. “Just say the word, and I’ll make you more content than you’ve ever been.”
I look at her, dazed. “Laurie… Well, jeez, you know…”
I get a playful punch in the shoulder. “Yes, I do. And you know I’m okay with that…”
I laugh a little.
“Yeah, I know… I’m just feeling too defensive right now.”
Laurie stands up and reaches for my hand. I take it. “How about getting some food in you, huh? You’re getting to be skinny as a rail.” She says.
“Am not.” I weakly reply.
The kitchen isn’t usually a place of such savagery and disarray. I say this because the second I walk into the doorway, I’m hit in the head with a flying mustard bottle.
Dream is running around the room, and Troia is chasing him while throwing whatever she can get hold of at him. She’s hit about everything in the room besides him, too.
“Aw, c’mon, Troia! Lighten up a bit, willya?” Dream pleads.
Troia snarls. “Next time you touch me like that, you LOSE THE HANDS!”
Dream and Troia part ways (basically with Troia fuming and Dream backing away slowly) and I manage to get some toast.
Hell’s Bathroom…
A lone figure stands perched on the side of a rooftop over a small coffee shop. His gaze never leaves a window across the street.
He’s been here for hours.
Since the troubled villain Iguana Lad escaped from Prison, Exile has taken it upon himself to track him down and bring him to justice.
That's all I've got. Time permitting, G-Eyed 23 will be posted very, very shortly. Hassle me until then about it.
And I'll be replying to the Repost-a-thon very shortly as well. Sorry for the lack of activity over the past few days.
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