The CADREThe CADRE
Membership: Dementia (Tia), Shard (Ard), Vortex (Vor)
Purpose: To discover the identity of their mother and to learn about their true nature as well as to seek out other homeless Hellbent
Aliases: None
Affiliations: Jean-Paul DuChamp, Knights Templar (Gregori, Lauria, Chloe Tran), Manx, Moon Knight (Marc Spector), Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
Enemies: Code: Blue (Daniel "Fireworks" Fielstein, Andrew "Jock" Jackson, Samuel "Mother" Majowski, Julius "Mad-Dog" Rassitanio, Margarita "Rigger" Ruiz, Marcus Stone), Hellbent Primes (specifically Arc, Bass, Belle, Crackdown, Dusk, Hook, Lava, Nightshadow; formerly Spike), the New York Police Department, Seth the Immortal;
formerly the Manx
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
last noted to be mobile in New York City, New York;
formerly a
seemingly dead tenement just south of the Manhattan riverfront's Alphabet City;
fomerly the Knights Templar remote monastery in the
mountainous regions of upstate New York
First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (1993)
Abilities: Dementia can generate paranoia and delusions in those around her via perception-warping pheromones. She eventually became able to focus specific delusions on individual targets.History:
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59 (fb) - BTS) - The Cadre are apparently the spawn of the Hellbent Prime known as Spike and a human woman.
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (fb)) <19 years before the main story> - An unidentified woman fled after dropping off a trio of infants at the doorstep of a remote monastery for the Knights Templar in the mountainous regions of upstate New York. Upon opening the door and seeing the children, Brother Gregori immediately realized, "The dark bloodline resurfaces...and -- Lord help us all -- our order still remains their sole sanctuary. Although it has been well over a century since any member of our cell has laid eyes on such children as these...no one of us could fail to recognize the tainted legacy of the original Knights Templar."
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/3 (fb) - BTS) - Brother Gregori was the closest person the trio knew to a father. 
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (fb)) <10 years before the main story> - The three Hellbent -- named Ard, Tia, and Vor -- played within the monastery, continuing under the supervision of Gregori and Lauria. After serving the kids lunch, Lauria noted how there had been no further manifestations of their arcane birthright, and she also told Gregori that the children wished he would visit more often. While Gregori treasured them as if they were his own, he noted that the Order's traditions were very strict when it came to the Shadowspawn, with very good reason. He recognized their inherent danger and knew that they could never walk free.
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (fb)) <4 years before the main story> - While exploring the caverns below the monastery (with Vor leading them deeper than they were supposed to go), Ard and Vor discovered their powers and inadvertently shattered a wall into an immense secret library (which they discovered to be on geneology). There they discovered volumes on the Hellbent and learned their true/code names, Shard, Dementia, and Vortex, respectively, as well as their own designations as Hellbent. Gregori discovered them, shut the book, and told them these volumes were forbidden to them.
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (fb) - BTS) <The night before the main story> - The Hellbent trio fled the monastery and hitched a ride in the back of a supply truck bound for Manhattan and driven by Stan and Jack. Seth led a group of Hellbent into the upstate New York monastery and -- immediately after the kids' departure -- the Hellbent slaughtered the Knights Templar stationed there. Seth also noted a traitor within that Templar faction's ranks.
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9) - The Helllbent trio
arrived in Manhattan, but a pothole caused the truck to wreck and
Dementia's powers to activate. Dementi's abilities made them see the
city as "some kind of madman's nightmare" (and they assumed that was
true of the rest of the world). Vortex vowed they would face the coming
damage together as "the Cadre."
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/3) - With the Cadre's powers (especially Dementia's) active in the middle of the city, they caused a major commotion, which drew the attention of Spider-Man (who was initially severely affected by Dementia's powers), the NYPD, and Code: Blue. Vortex instructed Code: Blue to stay their distance or the Cadre could not be responsible for what happened; Code: Blue ignored the instruction and fought back, although Dementia's distortion field caused their attacks to guy astray. Cadre took advantage of the distraction caused by a truck Code: Blue blew up to flee, while the police squad were confronted by civilians irate over their seeming recklessness.
Spider-Man followed the escaping trio, but as soon as he swung into
their view, they used their powers against the hero until Code: Blue
caught up and rejoined the struggle. Shard angrily fired a series of
spikes at a Code: Blue helicopter, and Vortex tried to use his winds to
deflect them, but was struck in the shoulder by a shot fired by "Mad
Dog" Rassitanio. With Vortex thus distracted, the spike and the
uncontrolled winds tore apart the helicopter, but Spider-Man got
Rassitanio and the pilot, Samuel "Mother" Majowski safely to the
ground. Correctly determined that Dementia's powers were further
inflaming Code: Blue and everyone else's hostilities, Spider-Man took
out Shard and Vortex to get to her, but when Code-Blue fired on
Dementia again, missing her but knocking her off guard, her powers
began to spiral further.
Eventually, the Knight Templar Chloe Tran, who recognized the trio as Hellbent, arrived and calmed Dementia (who had focused her powers on Spider-Man when he had tried to grab her). Trusting them, Spider-Man formed a web-dome to block outside stimuli to allow Dementia to calm herself and to provide them all a break to regain their composure. Chloe explained their origins and guided Shard and Vortex to use their powers in controlled fashion to open an escape hatch on the opposite side of the web-dome. Spider-Man, while sympathetic, resealed the dome to stop them from departing without facing the consequences for their actions. When Code: Blue attacked anew and tore open the dome, however, Spider-Man was forced to defend Code: Blue from a barrage of spikes that allowed the group to escape.
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/3) - Chloe accompanied the Hellbent trio back to their former home where they found the corpses of Gregori and the rest of the monks stationed there, and she told them that they could not stay long. While Dementia, Shard, and Vortex spent a moment alone with what was left of their family to deal with their loss, Chloe -- noting en route that Seth would love to have three new dependent recruits into his Hellbent legions -- headed to check the Archives
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/3 (fb) - BTS) - Vortex got to the Archives before Chloe and stole the back-up copies on he and his siblings (with the primary copies already having been raided by Seth's agents).
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/3) - Chloe was surprised to find that even the back-up files (hardcopies) on the trio were incomplete; she did not see Shard escaping behind her as she checked the files.
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/3 - BTS) - Chloe took the Hellbent trio to an apartment room behind an abandoned facade and false walls in a seemingly dead tenement just south of the Manhattan riverfront's Alphabet City (her own privately-secured sanctuary, purchased via the Templar's "black account" set up shortly after her initiation and known only to her).
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/3 (fb) - BTS) - From the Templars' files, the trio learned only a name and a 20 year old address for their mother.
Over the next few weeks, Chloe taught the trio meditation techniques to held them master their talents. Shard learned how to launch individual spikes on command; Vortex learned to use wind-bursts to fly short distances; and Dementia's sanity returned more with each passing day, and she eventually became able to focus specific perceptial distortions on a single target. However, as Chloe refused to explain to them their Hellbent designation, they had Dementia use her focal powers to make Chloe unaware of Dementia's progress, as well as Shard's new ability to retract his spikes and Vortex's defensive windshield ability.
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/3) - Weeks later, Chloe tried to console Dementia and assure her she was safe, but Dementia seemingly remained virtually unresponsive. Meanwhile, Shard and Vortex continued to train against each other on the roof, with Vortex taunting that Shard could not control his spikes' direction, but as Vortex used a wind-burst to fly over the spikes, he crashed headfirst into the ground. Though slightly upset that the two were not instead refining their meditation techniques, Chloe was proud of their progress. When Shard reminded her that she could only shelter them for so long, Chloe noted that she hoped that they'd be able to walk the streets of New York with impunity soon, IF she could activate the Bloodline Agenda before Seth.
After Chloe departed with Dementia, Vortex and Shard discussed how the
Knights had tried to keep their past from them once before, but the
limited information would give them a place to start. Once Dementia's
recovery was complete, they would consider the Cadre to again be
complete, and -- one way or another -- they would eventually find their
mother.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#56) - Chloe continued to train the Cadre, manipulating Shard and Vortex into using their own powers against each other, and she goaded them into recklessness by threatening Dementia. Reminding them that this type of recklessness was what had driven Dementia into <near>-catatonia, she told them they needed to become a team if they were to take the battle to Hellhole and potentially find their father.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#57) - The Manx ambushed Chloe and the Cadre, crashing through a skylight in their lower Manhattan apartment. Vortex instructed Shar to protect Dementia, after which he used his winds to smash the Manx against Shard's back in hopes of impaling the creature. The Manx swiftly angled itself to minimize contact and rebound next to Dementia, and his primal senses guided him through her perception-warping pheromones. As the Manx dodged Shard's quills, Chloe arrived and convinced the Manx that the Cadre were not rogues like those serving Seth, but rather wards of the Knights Templar (much like the Manx once was); Chloe asked the Manx to join them in taking the hunt to Hellhole.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58) - After Jean-Paul DuChamp -- via his armored micro-tank -- broke into the Hellhole temple's antechamber and took out a trio of Hellbent Primes, Chloe, the Cadre, and the Manx used this new entance to access the temple as well.
Seth the Immortal subsequently manipulated Jean-Paul into turning into Pierre Latrec, intending for him to follow his Bloodline directive and head for the Arcane Archives. As Chloe and the Templar arrived, Seth left to allow Spike and his troop of Hellbent Prime to finish them. As Crackdown grabbed Vortex, Spike attempted to attack Dementia, but her distortion powers caused Spike to strike Crackdown with his psycho-poisoned spikes, leading Crackdown to flatten Arc, while Lava crashed after from Dementia's abilities. While Vortex's winds smashed Spike agains the cavern walls and Shard assaulted Crackdown with his launched projectile, the Manx arrived and took out Bass and Belle.
When Hook followed Seth, Chloe instructed the Cadre to pursue Hook; meanwhile the Hellbent Omegas took the arrival of a Templar (Chloe) as a sign that they could finally take back Hellhole.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58 - BTS) - Meanwhile Moon Knight unwittingly unleashed his own Hellbent power, draining Latrec's life force, stunning -- but seemingly killing -- Jean-Paul via the loss of one of the Bloodline components.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59) - As Seth -- with Dusk
-- prepared to assault the distraught Moon Knight, Hook and Spike
arrived, closely pursued by the Cadre, Chloe Tran, and the Manx, and
the two Hellbent forces fought; Vortex sent a hail of tiny rocks at
Seth, while Shard was punched back by Hook, the Manx assaulted Spike,
and Dementia watched from a distance. Seth swatted away the Manx and, naming
Dementia's perceptual distortion powers as the most dangerous, Seth knocked her
out next.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59 - BTS) - Chloe used the Bloodline nerve cluster to shut down the chemical relays between Latrec and Duchamp, saving the latter's life.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59) - Shard shrugged off Hook's razor-wing attack, after which Dementia put Hook under her spell. In return, Spike nailed Vortex and Manx with his psycho-quills, but these only made the Manx more savage, and he attacked Hook.
Noting his own immunity to Dementia's powers, Spike realized that he was the Cadre's long-lost father. When Shard tried to drive off hook with his bio-spines, Nightshadow ambushed and began draining Shard's life force, at which point Spike revealed his parental relationship to the Cadre and tackled Nightshadow from behind. Nightshadow turned his power on Spike (possibly killing him).
After Chloe, Jean-Paul, and Moon Knight defeated Seth and accessed the Arcane Archives, Hellhole began to rumble, as the violent battles within Hellhole had triggered the fragile magma faults below it. Jean-Paul guided Moon Knight, Chloe, and the Cadre through a Hellgate teleportal.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#60) - Moon Knight, Chloe, and the Cadre emerged from the Hellgate, arriving above the Spectorcorp building, and Vortex followed Chloe's guidance, using his winds to ensure Shard reached the dome first to open a safe pathway for the rest of them. Shard landed safely on his own, while Vortex creatued wind cushions for himself and Dementia.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#60 (fb) - BTS) - Manx swiftly departed.
(Marc
Spector: Moon Knight#60) - Chloe guided the Cadre to follow Jean-Paul
to the residential section, where the Cadre voiced their plans to find
their mother, as well as to seek out and help other homeless Hellbent
survivors in New York until they found her; they further noted that
they were far beyond proving they could take care of themselves.
When Moon Knight attempted to purge his computers of
Seth's influence, he instead activated /seth's Zero Hour computer
plague, leading Spectorcorp/Shadowkeep to self-destruct. After Moon
Knight locked out Jean-Paul to protect him, the Cadre grabbed Jean-Paul
and got him out. Vortex funneled most of the debris back into the
rubble, after which the Cadre witnessed Moon Knight's apparent death
from the explosion.
The Cadre subsequently attended a funeral ceremony for Spector/Moon Knight along Chloe, Jean-Paul, and Donna Kraft.
(Civil War: Battle Damage Report) - Tony Stark considered Dementia a potential recruit to the Initiative.
Comments: Created by Terry Kavanaugh, Nelson Ortega, and Don Hudson.
1993 Annual Cards...whoot! whoot! Only a few more to go to cover them all:
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Cadre has no known connections to:
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59 (fb) - BTS) - The Cadre are apparently the spawn of the Hellbent Prime known as Spike and a human woman.
(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (fb)) <19 years before the main story> - An unidentified woman (suspected to be the Cadre's mother) fled after dropping off a trio of infants at the doorstep of a remote monastery for the Knights Templar in the mountainous regions of upstate New York.
--Web of Spider-Man Annual#9
images: (without ads)
Web of Spider-Man Annual#9, first story page, panel 2 (mother/caretaker fleeing);
pg. 2, panel 1 (babies);
pg. 3, panel 2 (youths);
pg. 8, panel 4 (Cadre confront Manhattan);
pg. 13, panel 5 (Dementia; distorted appearance);
card front (group) and back (faces and mini-profile)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#57, pg. 14, panels 5-6 (Vortex using wind powers to drive off Manx);
#58, pg. 14, panel 1 (Shard; projecting spikes);
Appearances:
Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (1993) 1st story -
"Origin of the Cadre" - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Nelson Ortega
(penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Eric Fein (editor)
2nd story - "Chaos is the Cadre!" - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Chris Marrinan (penciler), Keith Williams (inker), Eric Fein (editor)
3rd story - "Things to Come" - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Vince Evans (penciler), Bill Anderson (inker), Eric Fein (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#56 (November, 1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer),
Stephen Platt (penciler), Scott Koblish (inker), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#57 (December, 1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer),
Stephen Platt (artist), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58 (January, 1994) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Fred
Haynes (penciler), Scott Koblish (inker), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59 (February, 1994) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Fred
Haynes (penciler), Scott Koblish & Fred Haynes (inker), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#60 (March, 1994) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Stephen
Platt (artist), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Civil
War Battle Damage Report (2007) - Anthony Flamini (head
writer/coordinator), Ronald Byrd (writer), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
First Posted: 05/08/2016
Last updated: 05/08/2016
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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