Sprawl Vol 1 26

Part of the By the Time I Get to Phoenix arc

Art by: Unknown

Appearances · Synopsis

 Jane- **My wife**... She, uh, she told me that I used to live my life after I got my powers at **100**. Non-stop, I was in the suit 24/7. She, heh... She introduced "**work-life balance**" to my life. Taught me that... **Shay Daniels** was just as important as **The Outlandish Tarantula**. But after she died, I went back to it... Helping people 24/7 but this time without powers. But now... Being back here? Seeing this? I'll catch up with you guys in New York... Meet you there. I think I'm going to just stay here for awhile. **Let time pass.**
—Maver!ck (Shay Daniels)
## Appearing in "The Vampyre of Time and Memory"

**Featured Characters:**

* Woods' Group
	+ Woods
	+ Sybil Grey
	+ Nathan Fiasco
	+ Maver!ck (Shay Daniels) (Death)

**Other Characters:**

* Cowboy Dan / The Stranger
* Shay Daniels (Past)
* Jane Harper (Past)
* Ford Easton (Past)
* Jordan Knight (Past)
* Ren Carter (Past)
* Father Jacobs (First appearance)
* Leslie Malcolms (Vision or hallucination)

**Races and Species:**

* Humans
* Abstract Entities
* Mutants
* Marutas

**Locations:**

* Earth-10 (First appearance)
	+ United States of America (First appearance)
		- Nevada (First appearance)
			* Las Vegas (First appearance)
				+ Spring Valley (First appearance)
					- St. Joseph's (First appearance)
					- The Block (First appearance)
		- New York (First appearance)
			* New York City (First appearance)
				+ Manhattan (First appearance)

**Items:**

* Techno-Organic Virus

**Vehicles:**

* Plymouth Road Runner

## Synopsis for "The Vampyre of Time and Memory"

After the bright white light blinded the group, Woods was the first to regain sight. He wasn't in Arizona anymore but in his car with Nathan in the passenger seat and Sybil and Shay in the back. Woods checked his gut shot and saw that he was still bleeding, not as bad, but he wasn't healing from the TO Virus bullet. After a few moments, there were a couple of groans, and everyone woke up, their faces beaten with sweat and blood. Though, nobody talks. Nobody says a word, and Woods turns the engine over, stifling a grunt, and begins to drive away from a sign that says "Desert Breeze Park."

After a while, Nathan's phone goes off. Having synced up with the rest of the world, it displays the date, and Nathan nudges Woods, showing him the date. Here, Woods tells everyone else in the car that they are in 2023, and that whatever Dan did worked. What should've been a joyous moment wasn't. The group remained silent and tumbled down the road until Woods couldn't drive. His body was giving up, and he pulled over in Spring Valley, a few streets away from what would eventually be Bruiser Brigade headquarters. Woods cut the engine. His bloody hand trembling as he stuffed the keys in his jeans.

Nathan asked if he was alright as Woods began to shed tears down his scarred face. His left hand was still on the wheel, and after staring at the sun for a moment, Woods stepped out of the car as Sybil asked where he was going. He didn't reply. Woods closed the car door, and Shay soon exited the vehicle. For a moment, the two older men looked at each other. Woods examined Shay's wounds, and his face softened slightly. He seemed briefly upset, but then Shay shook his head, putting his hand up. The two hugged momentarily and departed, walking in opposite directions, leaving Sybil and Nathan stunned.

Woods ended up at a catholic church, St. Joseph's. While not open for mass, it was always available, and Woods limped inside as Sybil parked the Road Runner. She and Nathan had split up, with her going after Woods and Nathan going after Shay. After watching Woods enter the church, Sybil waited a few moments and reached into the glove compartment, pulling out a picture of Woods and Leslie with St. Joseph's in the background. A quiet sigh left Sybil, and she exited the car.

Inside, Woods had left a blood trail and ended up resting in a confessional booth. Shortly after, Father Jacobs entered the booth and sat on the other side of it, opening the window. Alarmed at the sight of Woods, Woods dispelled this by telling him that it had been sixteen years since his last confession. It proceeded as usual until Woods broke down, slumping into the confessional booth seat. Sobbing, Woods told Father Jacobs that he got everyone he has ever loved killed and fears that his trail of bodies will lead to Nathan and Sybil. Woods spoke about how every day and every night, he sees images of his loved ones dead, and he considers their end every time he has a conversation with someone.

Father Jacobs attempted to offer his sympathies, but Woods threw it back in his face, claiming he didn't want them. With that, Father Jacobs asked what Woods wanted, and he paused but then responded honestly. Woods stated that he didn't want to be scared of being alone anymore. Father Jacobs somberly looked down, and Woods stepped out of the confessional booth, checked his wound, saw that it was worse, and sighed. However, when he looked up, Woods saw Leslie in her wedding dress, walking down the aisle. It was only for a moment, which lasted much longer than a moment, and then it passed as Woods saw Sybil where Leslie was. Then, he collapsed.

With Nathan, Shay had managed to get to the place affectionally called The Block in his younger years. In their native timeline, this would become the headquarters for the Bruiser Brigade, and outside was a birthday party. Instead, a block party, and they were celebrating his past self's 23 birthday. Shay sat on the block's transformer, watching the party as he saw himself, Ford, Ren, Jordan, and Jane when they were young and without powers, without the baggage of their lives weighing down on them but close. Nathan approached after sending Sybil a pin to their location for pick up.

Nathan sat there for a while with Shay, staring at the party, then commented on how it looked nice. Shay chuckled and responded by stating that it was. Nathan reached for Shay's shoulder and placed his hand on it, asking him if he was ready to go. However, Shay began to open up to Nathan. He told him that his wife, Jane Harper, introduced him to work-life balance and how he ran at 100% without a break. Shay continued by explaining that Jane was the one who taught him that Shay Daniels was just as important as Tarantula, but after she died in Chicago, Shay returned to going at 100%, but this time without powers.

Shay looked at Nathan with a somber smile and told him he would meet them in New York. He explained that he had money and would get patched up and fly to Manhattan. At first, Nathan disagreed but eventually gave in as Shay told him he wanted to stay here a while and let time pass. Nathan reluctantly agreed and walked away. However, when Nathan left the block, Shay looked down at his wounds and saw that the blood had turned black, and he inhaled, nodding.

Thirty-six hours later, Nathan was driving the Road Runner down the highway with Sybil asleep in the backseat and Woods phasing between consciousness and unconsciousness in the passenger seat. As he looked down, he saw his bandages and that the bullet wound was healing as the bullet was removed. However, ultimately, Woods passed out as his phone lit up on the dashboard. It had a notification from a news outlet, and the headline was about an older man who was found dead in Spring Valley, Las Vegas, from blood loss.

The Road Runner tumbled down the rocky and winding highway as mountains parted, revealing the Manhattan skyline in the distance.

## Notes

* Sprawl Vol 1 26, and by extension, Legacy exist outside of mainstream Marvel Universe continuity. Themselves, their stories, and other characters are unrelated and not connected to the Marvel Multiverse and exist within solely within The Donuts Multiverse.

## Trivia

* The title of this issue comes from the Queens of the Stone Age song of the same name.

## See Also

* 2 image(s) from Sprawl Vol 1 26
* 1 reprint(s) of Sprawl Vol 1 26

## Links and References

### References

ru:Sprawl Vol 1 26
tr:Sprawl Vol 1 26