| Shatterstar |  My very existence is a paradox. I am the reincarnation of a warrior born in the future.  |
| Meltdown | Yeah, I still have trouble with that, 'Star... |
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Appearing in "The Haunting of Castle Doom"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Nathaniel Richards
- Dimitri Fortunov
- Baron Tristian de Sabbat (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
- Lieutenant Schlange (First appearance)
- Several Nazis
Other Characters:
- Unnamed Latverian citizens
- Zefiro Clan
- Esmeralda Rosikon (Younger self also shown)
- Several of Strucker's scientists
- Greta, a maid
- Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom) (Mentioned)
- Fantastic Four (Mentioned in narration)
- Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) (Mentioned in narration)
- Adolf Hitler (Mentioned)
- Kitty Pryde (Mentioned)
- Dimitri's father (Mentioned)
- Hydra (Mentioned)
- A.I.M. (Mentioned)
- Super-Adaptoid (Mentioned)
- Cosmic Cube (Mentioned)
- M.O.D.O.K. (Mentioned)
- X-Men (Mentioned)
- Thunderbird (John Proudstar) (Mentioned)
- United Nations (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
Items:
- X-Uniforms
- Siryn's Wings
- Strucker's Storm-catcher machine - (Destroyed)
- Doctor Doom's Time Platform (Destroyed)
Events:
- World War II (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "The Haunting of Castle Doom"
Latveria
Caliban, Warpath and Sunspot stand in a Latverian village and are stunned that Castle Doom has disappeared. Esmeralda, a gypsy, tells them that odd occurrences like this happen all the time with Castle Doom. She tells that she once saw ghosts in the castle when she worked there as a child.
Castle Doom
X-Force realizes that they have become separated during the blinding flash. Meltdown and Siryn team up and find Rictor close by on a balcony in a storm. He tells them he believes they have gone back in time as the cars and countryside are different. They then hear a scream from a maid and a young girl named Esmeralda, who thinks she has seen ghosts. X-Force soon realizes that they are the 'ghosts' and they even can phase through objects as if they are truly ghosts.
Elsewhere, Cable and Bridge argue over their current situation. Bridge believes they would not be in this predicament if it weren't for Cable and Cable feels differently. Nathaniel Richards breaks them up and tells them that they must be in the past in 1941. Dimitri is amazed at this because it means that his grandfather, the baron, is still alive.
Baron Sabbat enters his study and finds that the Baron Strucker has completely taken over and setup a new machine that he plans to use. Tristian is upset but is forced to help him. Strucker explains that his machine is to contain the energy from the lightning which strikes Latveria to power other things. Strucker talks to his lieutenant about the machine, when his guards discover the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who have overheard everything.
Siryn attacks and the rest of X-Force joins in. The guards are knocked out and the team goes to find a way back to their own time. G.W. Bridge sees that if Baron Strucker is taken care of in the past, many of the organizations that he founded would not exist in the current time. Cable tells him this is a bad way to think and it will get him into trouble. They then realize that Dimitri is missing.
Dimitri went off to look for his grandfather to attempt to save him from his death at the hands of the Nazis. Meltdown finds him and tells him that this will alter the course of history and will create a paradox. They are met by Lieutenant Schlange and they quickly take him out. Then the baron walks in and they tell him that he is in danger from Baron Strucker and they tell him that they will defeat Strucker for him. They find Strucker and his machine and Rictor quickly destroys it. Siryn then knocks out Strucker and they head off to find Doom's time-platform.
When they find it, they find that the machine had caused the interference they were finding and that kept them there. It is now at zero and they are able to use the time-platform. As they are teleporting away, the Baron Sabbat asks what is going on and Dimitri is about to tell him, but they suddenly disappear. They end up in the present day Latveria only 3 hours after they had left. Cable quickly destroys the time-platform before Bridge can use it and they walk off.
Notes
- X-Force travels back in time in this issue and arrive in 1941 during World War II.
- Baron Sabbat has been under Strucker's thumb since at least as early as 1937 (Astonishing Tales: Dominic Fortune #4). Sabbat later becomes King of Latveria (Books of Doom #4), reigning until he is overthrown and killed by Doctor Doom (Books of Doom #6).
- After the characters' return to the present, Dimitri Fortunov receives no further mention, but in Spider-Man Unlimited #16 Silver Sable confirms that his encounter with X-Force and S.H.I.E.L.D. put paid to his designs on the throne. He would be restored as a puppet ruler of Latveria in Doctor Doom #4.
See Also
Links and References
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators - accessed on 06/29/2010