METALSCREAM

Real Name: John Flamel

Identity/Class: Extratemporal (Earth 2099) Human/Magic user

Occupation: Technomancer

Affiliations: Litany Kirkpatrick

Enemies: Darkcore, Necrosis, Painqueen, the Red Hermitage, S.H.I.E.L.D.

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The Mantic Gallery, somewhere in the desert of Arizona; Earth 2099

First Appearance: 2099 Unlimited#4 (April, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: Metalscream had no natural powers of his own, but possessed great knowledge of magic and many magical devices, including the Bone Machine, the Gallery, the Mantic Gallery, and the Unfolding Edge. Metalscream also possessed a computer uplink to his brain, which allowed him to use the Bone Machine to it's fullest.

History: (2099 Unlimited#4) After Nectrosis stole the Hand Of Tiamat from Doctor Pylon, Litany woke Metalscream from the Bone Machine. Metalscream explained to his student that the Hand Of Tiamat invites Tiamat to eat the world... And that is a very bad thing. Showing up at Pylon's place, Metalscream came into conflict with Painqueen, another magician, over a misunderstanding. Returning to the Bone Machine, Metalscream got into contact with Suhgurim, the man who created the Hand of Tiamat, who explained how to defeat it. Appearing at Necrosis' lair, Metalscream boasted that he would kill both Necrosis and Tiamat, which gave Necrosis a bit of a laugh, as nothing can kill Tiamat. Metalscream then blew up a wall, destroying the machine Necrosis was using to decode the Hand. Necrosis and Metalscream circled each other, ready to do cool magic stuff... When Litany shot the Skin Cage out of Necrosis' chest. With his power gone, Metalscream gave Necrosis a magical lobotomy and left with Litany to get some beers. Lots of beers.

(2099 Unlimited#7) At one of the Red Hermitage's churches, Metalscream attacks and kills Darkcore, one of their highest ranking officials, who also happened to be wired in with the church. With Darkcore's death, the church explodes on Metalscream, badly injuring him. Litany, who was watching from a remote location, teleported in and brought him home. Fully wired into the Bone Machine, the dead spirits did their best to heal him. Wanting retribution, the Red Hermitage sent their Elite Synod after Metalscream's home. Litany shot one and trapped another with the Unfolding Edge, but was quickly outnumbered. As she retreated, Metalscream awoke from the Bone Machine, which was now a part of his being. Taking care of the Synod, Metalscream told Litany of the Red Hermitage's plan, to rebuild the world as they saw fit through the power they'd steal from the Plane Of Broken Eyes, destroying all they didn't like. Metalscream teleported to the center of the Red Hermitage's circle of churches where most, if not all of it's supporters were located. Metalscream used the energy flow coming down to first help the Bone Machine to heal him and then destroy the Red Hermitage's flock and churches. Despite the victory, Metalscream knew he was in trouble now, as he had just made magic visible to the outside world.

(2099 Apocalypse) During President Rogers' strike on 2099's heros, SHIELD bombed the Mantic Gallery and awaited Metalscream's retaliation. Metalscream flew out of the Gallery, yelling that their missiles had killed Litany and looking for revenge, but the ludgate rods they had surrounded the area with negated his magic, leaving him powerless and alone to meet the SHIELD agents.

Litany Kirkpatrick was Metalscream's disciple. She was much better at handling firearms than with magic spells, but was slowly learning more and more. When SHIELD attacked the Mantic Gallery, Litany died in the blast. @ 2099 Unlimited# 4, 7; 2099 Apocalypse (bts)

The Bone Machine contained the skulls of 3 millenia's worth of magic users. When plugged in, Metalscream could communicate with them, and when he was near death after his battle with Darkcore, it helped revive him. Whether it survived SHIELD's raid of the Mantic Gallery or not is uncertain, but probably isn't very likely. @2099 Unlimited#4, 7

The Mantic Gallery was Metalscream and Litany's home. Alone in the Arizona desert and cloaked with spells, it was supposed to be a sanctuary and safe haven for them. Apparently it wasn't cloaked too well, as both the Red Hermitage and SHIELD found it and damaged it, to varying degrees. @2099 Unlimited#4, 7; 2099 Apocalypse

The Gallery is a living gallery of paintings inside the Mantic Gallery, which reports on the various magic happenings on Earth and various other dimensions. @2099 Unlimited#4, 7

The Unfolding Edge is a plate which, when stepped on, unfolds into a four-dimensional box, then folds back down into a flat plate, locking whoever is inside of it into Subspace. Litany used this against one of the Red Hermitage's Elite Synod. @ 2099 Unlimited#7

Comments: Created by Warren Ellis and D'Israeli

According to NYFAX reporter Jack Whitlow in 2099 Apocalypse, Metalscream was the first documented case of a magic user in 100 years.

As the scene ended in 2099 Apocalypse, a SHIELD agent was holding his gun to Metalscream's head. It's pretty bloody likely that he didn't end up with jailtime, but he was a pretty decent magic user, so he probably could've done some of that magicy stuff to escape while they were still setting up the ludgate rods.

Metalscream's assistant, Litany Kirkpatrick, may have been named in tribute to Kirkpatrick Sale, a modern Luddite writer (Most famous for the book RebelsAgainst The Future: The Luddites and Their War on theIndustrial Revolution: Lessons For The Modern Age).
The Luddites were a group of early-19th century English radicals who opposed the use and growth of machines over man. Because many of them took to destroying the machines of the time, many members were rounded up and executed. Because many of Earth 2099s heroes were anti-corporation, and the universe in itself was vaguely cyberpunk, the executions of the heroes in 2099 Apocalypse were somewhat similar to the executions of the Luddites in 1812. The confusion over whether many of the heroes were the ones who died (Punisher 2099 and Hulk 2099 in particular) may have been a commentary on the executed Luddites and the fervour of the government who organized it.

Profile by: Zerostar

CLARIFICATIONS:
Metalscream 2099 should not be confused with:

• Metalloid: an android presumably designed by the Mad Thinker, @Fantastic FourI#179
• Metal Master: alien, Hulk foe, @Incredible HulkI#6
• Metalslash: Sensor Squad member, @Moon Knight#39
• Metallurge of the New Universe: Chris Barrett, aka Metallurgist, @The Draft
• Metalhead 2099: Eddie Von Beethoven, of that alternate future's X-Men, @X-Men2099#1
• Metalsmith 2099: aka Smith, X-Nation 2099 member, @X-Nation2099#2
• other "Metal" characters

The Bone Machine should not be confused with...

• The Duplicating Machine: invention of Professor Zaxton, @Journey Into MysteryI#95
• The Magneto-Gravity Machine: used by the Sun-Stealer, @Tales Of SuspenseI#55
• The Mind Mechanism: mind-whiping machine used by Baron Samedi, @Strange TalesI#171

S.H.I.E.L.D.-2099's ludgate rods should not be confused with:

• Anthony Ludgate, aka Dr. Druid, aka the Last Druid @Druid#1 (named as such) -- Another toy of Warren's
• Ludgate, a place where men and animals were sacrificed, where London's St. Paul Cathedral now stands, which both are named after
• The Celtic god Lud, whom all three are named after
  mmmm...the above statement was made by Flank McLargehuge, and I'm not so sure about it. The name should come from Ned Ludd and the Luddites (see comments). I don't know if Ned Ludd's name is derived from Lud in any way--Snood.
• Ludi, a demon who claimed to have been Lud, @ Chamber of Chills#4

The Mantic Gallery should not be confused with:

• The Mantic Organ, a mystical musician instrument used by the devil breaker Stephen Loss @Hellstorm#20 -- Another toy of Warren's... anyone noticing a pattern here?

Suhgurim 2099, who created the Hand of Tiamat, is presumably named after, but otherwise unrelated to:

• Zahgurim, apparently one of Marduk's many aliases
  Marduk Kurios was, of course, another Ellis character
• Zahgurim, another demon created by Warren Ellis, @ Hellstorm#12
  Just goes to prove my theory--Ellis digs the Mesopotamian Gods!--Snood

Tiamat 2099, an occultechnological demon, may or may not be connected to:

• Tiamat, aka Leviathan, the Mesopotamian Goddess/Dragon, not yet seen in the MU, unless it is the Leviathan from which Lilith emerged
• Tiamat, an extra-terrestrial sent to Earth @ 3000 years ago the destroy the Messiah/S'met'kth, @ Deadpool III#21, 22
• Leviathan, an immense creature created by the Plant-Man, @ Sub-Mariner I#2
• Leviathan, an immense, monstrous ship, used to capture other ships for Hydropolis, @ HULK!#22
• Leviathan, aka Gargantua, @ Defenders I#126
• Leviathan, an undersea robot, piloted by Irina Tsarova, @ Iron Man I#218
• Leviathan, a name for the immense form taken by Marrina just before her apparent death, @ Avengers I#291
• Leviathan, an anarchist who led the Coven, @ Nick Fury, agent of SHIELD II#7
• Leviathans, a name referring to the offspring of Marrina, @ Avengers I#293, Namor Annual#4
• Leviathans of the Microverse, immense creatures of Seazone, @ Micronauts I#30

First Posted: 01/05/2003
Last updated: 01/06/2003

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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