Death Isn't Forever is an Eternal Champions complete story, published in the Eternal Champions Special. Although it is the first chronological entry in the series, the story is the second to be featured in a Sonic the Comic publication.
Staff[]
- Michael Cook - script
- Jon Haward - art
- Tom Frame - letters
Story[]
The first page of the story is merely a full-page splash detailing the many deaths of nine brave warriors; ninja assassin Shadow Yamoto falls from a Tokyo tower block, Jonathan Blade is felled by a deadly plague, Slash is stoned by a suspicious tribe, Jetta Maxx's acrobatic routine is sabotaged, RAX Coswell's cybernetics self-destruct, Xavier Pendragon is burnt at the stake, Larcen Tyler is executed by his crime boss, Midknight dies at the hands of a stake to the heart and Trident is crushed in the fall of Atlantis. Although all nine of them died in prejudiced ways, they are all from different times. Not for much longer...
In the future, the nine find themselves teleported into Fortress Eternity by The Eternal Champion. The imposing man welcomes them to his home before stating that they must train here for the "Day of Determination", where the nine must battle each other for the chance to survive and save the future. Xavier wonders if they are in heaven, The Eternal Champion instead informing him that they are in a city controlled by the evil Overlord. Only one is required to fight it, the rest will be sent back to their fates. Cyber-fighter RAX is less than pleased and demands The Eternal Champion send him back to The Cyberdome. Unhappy that RAX has not been listening, The Eternal Champion steps in and stops the human from attacking him, easily beating him down. He then warns the others to train for the Day of Determination and fight their fate.
Next morning, Yamoto begins training hard in The Battle Room, but is suddenly disturbed when Tyler appears, sarcastically applauding her martial arts skills. Yamoto states that she would have killed him had he not made himself known, but Larcen laughs that death doesn't seem too bad right now. Midknight takes offense, having controlled a lifetime of hunger. Upon discovering that neither of them are much of a killer, the three decide that maybe all working together to fight The Overlord might be a better plan. This babbling does not appeal to Trident, who would rather continue training, although the computer systems prove a stumbling block. With the reluctant help of Midknight, Trident begins and warns that everyone should be honoured to fight for their lives. In the days that follow, everybody continues to fight the battle room - and each other. One day, an impatient Slash damages a machine, almost costing Blade his life. The two come to blows, with Jetta attempting to defuse the situation. Intelligent ape-man Slash reveals he knows Blade needs more practice, and it comes down to the arrival of The Eternal Champion to calm things down. Training is now over; Trident has received a bye due to his training performance, so the other eight must now take each other on.
Day of Determination[]
The first round of battles begin the next day, with the eight Champions sorted into four pairs to do battle. Blade takes on Larcen first, mocking the "old-timer" for his lack of understanding new battle techniques. The Chicago cat-burglar doesn't care; preying mantis kung-fu seems much more effective than "flashlights" and proves this by knocking Blade out of the tournament. In bout two, Jetta's phase speed proves too slow for Midknight's precision kicks, his vampire instincts getting the better of her. Darkness descends on the third fight and Slash has trouble locating his target. The natural hunter feels nobody can hide from his club, but Yamoto doesn't intend on hiding, using shadow to disguise herself and land a fatal blow. The final skirmish of the day sees Xavier and RAX lock horns. Unfortunately for them, Xavier's magic and RAX's cybernetics prove too much of a match and the pair knock each other out. With five losers already decided, they are sent back to finish off the deaths they were about to start, whilst the others watch on before preparing for their next fights.
On the eve of the final battles, Shadow, Midknight and Larcen make a pact to stand together and fight The Overlord as a team. Trident is their only obstacle, and it will be down to Shadow to sort him out. Their bout begins, with Trident taking the lead thanks to his immense strength. He fights for his fellow fallen Atlantean warriors, slain by treacherous humans. Shadow informs him (with a boot to the face) that not all humans can be blamed by these crimes and only working together will prevent the Overlord from enslaving humanity forever. The Eternal Champion congratulates her by saying Trident will be sent home to die, but the ninja has no honour in victory and wishes to no longer have blood on her hand. Larcen announces that the remaining three warriors have a pact, but Trident's bleeding mouth awakens the bloodlust in Midknight and launches into battle with Tyler. His vampiric powers easily overpower the human and The Eternal Champion has to step in, sending Larcen home before Midknight can suck his blood. Realising that her honour demands it, Shadow agrees to host the final with Midknight.
The final battle is silent, both warriors concentrating on landing perfect hits. The ninja is fast, but the vampire has amazing powers. Shadow uses the shadow whilst Midknight sucks the life from his foe. In the end, the difference between them is between a ninja's honour and the violent rage of the monster. With one swift attack, Shadow is felled and Midknight believes himself to have won. However, The Eternal Champion wishes him to kill Yamoto while she still proves to be a threat. Returning to his senses, Midknight refuses and offers Yamoto to be the winner. Satisfied with what he hears, The Eternal Champion reveals they have both found the wisdom and humanity needed to succeed and must now pass on this information to their fallen seven friends. The nine will now be - The Eternal Champions!
Trivia[]
- The nine flashes of fate at the start of the story are repeated in the "Champ Stats" section, albeit with more detail. Five of these panels also reappear later in this story when the first five losers are sent home to die.
- Several of the Champions attacks are named as actual moves, further elaborated on their individual profile pages.
- It isn't clear how the tournament would have proceded had Xavier and RAX not knocked each other out. As it stood, five warriors would have made it through to the second round. Even with another bye, there would be three champions in the third round.
- According to his profile, Trident should not know about the fall of Atlantis, as he was killed during the invasion.
- Although it is based on the original Eternal Champions game, the story deviates in two ways. This version is a knock-out tournament rather than a ladder. The Eternal Champion is also not fought (although RAX tries - and fails).
Timeline[]
This is chronologically the first Eternal Champions strip. The last to be published was The Eternal Champions. The next is Reality Check.