Release Date: January/February 2009

"The Tao of Tao"

Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: John Paul Leon
Colours: JD Mettler
Letters: Wes Abbott
Assistant Editor: Kristy Quinn
Editor: Ben Abernathy

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!
Synopsis:

"The Tao of Tao-Part 1"
Soon after the events of Armageddon, the woman called Providence battles a creature that is destroying the remains of Providence, Rhode Island. She reveals that it is an elder god she fights and it is trying to take over the world now that it is in ruins. Providence tells the creature that while she does not know why she didn't foresee Armageddon, she will use her powers to fix the world, starting by getting rid of the creature.

She defeats the creature but is weakened by the encounter. Just then, Tao approaches her with Void still captive by him. He tells Providence that his slave Void will defeat her and then she will be joining them.

"The Tao of Tao-Part 2"
As Providence pleads with Void to stop fighting her and help her fix the world, Tao watches. Tao tells Providence that after he escaped from Internal Operations he observed Armageddon was coming. He even admitted that he might have helped it along. He knew that the entity called Void existed and that she had reshaped the world. He could not allow that unless he controlled it.

He met the current host for the Void entity, a paramedic named Nikola Hanssen. Tao posed as a doctor and easily bent her to his will. Controlling Nikola also meant controlling Void and now he had her power at his disposal. He determined who was most likely to prevent Armageddon and under the guise of enlisting their help to stop it, he had Void show them just enough to ensure that it would come to pass and that they could do nothing about it (as seen in Wildstorm: Armageddon).

The problem was that Tao's mind and voice were impossible to resist but there were those who where determined not to allow him to speak. But with Void's help, he could now project his voice directly into their minds controlling them, which included the heroes Jackson King and Majestic.

"The Tao of Tao-Part 3"
As Void and Providence continue their battle, Tao continues to tell Providence how he manipulated events that led to Armageddon. He shows how he made sure forces like The Authority and Stormwatch were preoccupied (the events of The Authority: Prime are shown) while he marshaled his forces and gathered supplies.

He tells her how he enjoyed using Void's power to manipulate some of the world's most powerful heroes such as Majestic. And states how he even tricked Void herself into thinking that by her appearing before chosen heroes (Wildstorm: Armageddon) she could prevent Armageddon when in reality, Armageddon was a foregone conclusion and the heroes were nothing more than pawns. However there were some he was unable to control, like John Lynch, but he considered these heroes too weak to even be bothered with.

Finally, he tells Providence that he studied Void and learned about the Orb of Power which contained the essence of creation itself and is what transformed Nikola Hannssen into the new Void. He also learned that there were others who contianed parts of this essence which is why he's come after Providence.

Void blasts Providence one last time and she finally falls. Tao tells Providence that he intends to collect all of the ones who contain parts of the essence as he stands over her defeated body, ready to restrain her.

"The Tao of Tao-Part 4"
As Tao restraints the defeated Providence, she asks him why he would want to rule the world as a barren wasteland. He tells her that the world is not barren to him, just chaotic. But he intends to change that. He tells her he's looking for the artifact called The Creation Wheel which gives it's wielder the power of a god with the means to shape reality in his image. He tells Providence that by having Void and herself, they are just two of the embodiments of primal energy that activates The Wheel and that he only has one more being to capture.

Somewhere in the South Pacific, Max Faraday and his wife Susanna Chaste, are enjoying their honeymoon on the beach. His best friend Devan Lawless and Max's sister Jenny are with them enjoying themselves as well. Susannah asks Max, who is reading a newspaper, if "anything interesting is going on in the outside world?" (alluding to the fact that they are in a reality Max created). He tells her "nothing that matters" and teleports the newspaper away, obviously choosing not to do anything about the fact that he knows Armageddon has come to the real world.

Notes:

• This back-up story originally appeared in 4 parts in the following titles:

1. Wildcats: World's End #7
2. The Authority: World's End #7
3. Gen 13: World's End #27
4. Stormwatch: P.H.D. #19
   

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