Issue #4: Disembarkment

The Watcher's step-dad packs-up and leaves the house, leaving them pennyless; Richard Hughes gets a call from daddy in London saying the Gatekeepers are going to arrive in VB the next night; while patrolling Soildream sees Fire Salamander taking runic firepower from Armand's people and saves him with a fiery dragon; together they take out the team which was hiding something on containers in the docks; they take their captives to Hughes House (middle of the night) where they subject them to one of Solidream fantasies and reveal they were hiding crystals; at night Hughes House is under a terrible attack by undead Devourers (clearly Simon Crey's work) and just barely escapes; Solidream has a dream about a ship docking in the harbour and a host of ferocious warriors of pure light disembarking and butchering everyone; Black Bill and the Watcher investigate desecrated graves and discover a ritual has taken place; soon they are alerted by the Watcher's sister, May, who has gone to get a job in the shopping centre, that the place is under attack by a great glowing red giant; the four (inc. DeLight) arrive at the scene where everyone who's touched by the giant is infected with unstoppable rage granting them superhuman strength; May gets hit and begins to wreak havoc, hating the Watcher for leaving her behind (becoming a ghost); DeLight's protection fails and he goes berserk; finally they discover there is a person inside the giant and manage to reach him; the person is a bank clerk who got fired and dumped by his gf; Solidream shows him a way to make his dreams come true; back in the church they confirm that it is Simon Crey's base; the minister, who seems to be in Crey's service, has disappeared; Fran places surveillance on the all-too-active dock 21; DeLight seems wrecked and asks to meet Hughes for a pint; he doesn't show up and Hughes is harassed by an old Irishman called Patrick, who tells him 'don't believe the truth' and gives him another peanut before he leaves; Mr. Burns tips off the heroes about the ship arriving in dock 21 at midnight (although Hughes knows Haloween starts at dusk); a group of Armand's people sets up more crystals to trap the Gatekeepers, but the heroes lock them up in a container; Solidream sits on the crane and watches; fire swirls underwater, then Fire Salamander emerges horrified, followed by a mob of undead led by Simon Crey; Crey and Hughes battle, the others try to curb the Devourers and deadly Spider Souls; Solidream cannonballs into one; at last the majestic ship appears and everyone stares at awe; but when the passengers disembark they are the same beings of light which Solidream dreamed of and they start butchering everyone; eventually Solidream begins to understand this is one of his fantasies and makes the entire ship and crew disappear; during the battle Hughes sees Patrick waving at him, slipping into a smaller, shaggy boat and sails into the night; DeLight thinks this was a decoy for the real Gatekeepers visit; everybody is worried about Solidream's display of powers; Hughes finds a special gem inside the peanut Patrick gave him.