#166 – Struggle in the Snow – Arachnia attacks; Warp takes out Medusa, and Portal brings the rest of the team to the fight.  Arachnia proves to be more than a match for the entire group, and the battle is brutal and furious.  Eventually, Incandescent emotion controls the villainess, who scoops up Medusa and flees back into the base, escaping via a submarine.  A critically injured Warp decides to remain in the care of the GamesMaster, while the other Guardians and their associates return home.  Epilogue: Super soldier Seraph, a failed U.S. government experiment, flies via commercial airline from New Babylon to New York.  He meets with the King of Swords and discusses the possibility of membership in the Tarot Masters organization.

#168 – A Fallen Star – The Guardians gather at Chandler’s, a restaurant and bar in D.C., and Majestic introduces Dai Oni, Dr. Mercury, Portal, USA Defender, and Xeo Fey to his friend, owner Gary Chandler.  C.H.E.S.S. calls for assistance, so the heroes join them at a nearby bank, stopping a robbery and apprehending Pöl and the villainess Flaming Star.  Released on technicalities by the D.A., Flaming Star joins the Tarot Masters, changing her name to Daystar.  Dr. Mercury confronts the Guardians’ accountant, Julian Wonti, boldly but compassionately forcing him to deal with his alcoholism.

#170 – The Academy of Crime – The young adventurers are attacked by the new Crime Academy graduates: Aeroflat, Chem, Triceratops, Sable, and Infra-Red, and the battle spills to the marching grounds outside.  The vigilantes quickly defeat the criminals, then tackle faculty members Diamondstar, ‘Borg, Penumbra, Crime Teacher, and her giant adder Lucian inside Grant Hall.  After a lengthy slugfest, the villains are apprehended, with only Penumbra escaping capture.  A secret passage is discovered, leading into an underground labyrinth of steam tunnels beneath the school.

#172 – Vacation on Mount Li – C.H.E.S.S. assembles a large team: Dai Oni, Xeo Fey, USA Defender, Incandescent, Majestic, L-Force, Titan, Mindbender, and W-Force, who are flown by pilot Jerry Hammond in the Dark Angel to China for a goodwill tour.  In Beijing, Minister Xiao Wei reluctantly asks the champions for assistance at an archaeological dig, where legends warn of a great evil that will be unleashed if the tombs are disturbed.  They fly to the Xi’an province near Mount Li, finding many dead Chinese soldiers and thousands of small Terra Cotta Warriors marching in formation, digging, and taking up positions around the burial mound.  The heroes bypass the masses, journeying deep into the true burial chambers to confront recently awakened Emperor Qin and his three generals, Changxin, Jing Ke, and Li Buwei.  Negotiations fail, leading to a large battle with the undead forces, all while Terra Cotta Warriors dig relentlessly towards them.  When the ruthless Emperor is defeated, he and his minions dissolve into dust.  Lady Zhao, the mysterious guardian of the tomb, appears to inform the victors that while the seal is intact the Emperor will not return for 1,000 years.  A thankful Chinese government declares a moratorium on the excavation.

#173 – The T.O.T.EM. Wars – Homer Grimsby retires and Dr. Desist is appointed King of C.H.E.S.S.  They learn about Operation: Trojan Snake, a T.O.T.E.M. project to clone members of the Guardians and Zarton Team, so Dr. Desist also instigates a cloning operation to trace the paper trail.  C.H.E.S.S. infiltrator and triple agent Andrij Wytjuk allows the Dark Angel to be flown into the hanger of a base near Skopje, Macedonia, then is killed by T.O.T.E.M. agents.  Majestic leads a team comprised of G-Force, Dai Oni, Dr. Mercury, L-Force, Xeo Fey, USA Defender, Titan, and Dr. Desist into the building.  They strike swiftly and move through the labs quickly, defeating Gestaltenwerke, Zoë Fang, and the arriving Zarton Team: Barbarian, Caster, Meknoid, Phase, and Medusa.  The villains are captured, and the heroes recover clones of Mischief and BlueStreak, as well as powerful weapons and genetic material of the other Guardians and their affiliates.

#175 – Striking of Intercrime – During several months of relative peace, Lokilani (in Portal’s body) scouts most C.H.E.S.S. facilities.  Dr. Mercury overdoses on smart pills and goes missing.  Intercrime Corporate launches a surprise assault on C.H.E.S.S. bases worldwide, wiping out most of the powerful organization with a colossal attack.  Some items from the secret vault are destroyed, others are missing, and the Queen (Alexandria Huntington) is killed.  The Crimelord threatens the Guardians at their Foundation Headquarters, then sends Dark Clown, three Mystic robots, and Lokilani’s body at them through a portal.  Dark Clown and Portal (Lokilani) attack, the robots begin to self-destruct, and USA Defender, Dai Oni, and Incandescent evacuate personnel.  Lokilani uses her staff to transfer back into her body, then she and Dark Clown escape via a portal.  Mischief gets out, and G-Force rescues Portal and Majestic, but many lives are lost when the building is swallowed up by a psychic maelstrom.  Dr. Mercury recovers, and the team uses a teleportation device based on his overdosed ramblings to visit C.H.E.S.S.’s new Aqua Base.  C.H.E.S.S. orders a retaliatory strike on an Intercrime base in Utah, destroying it from orbit.  Dr. Desist and the Guardians discuss a potential merger, but talks are put on hold to attack an Intercrime Corporate facility in New York.  C.H.E.S.S and the heroes take down Dark Clown, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Anderson, while Mindbender and Fourarm lead a team into the lower levels and defeat Adamantron; both groups apprehend many Power Infantry, Assassins, and agents.  Miss Robinson and Miss Johnson escape.

#177 – Homeward Bound – After lengthy negotiations, the Guardians make the decision not to join with C.H.E.S.S.  Due to recent losses, Kamikaze and Magnet Master of A.R.T. turn to the Guardians for help.  A team flies to an alien crash site in Antarctica, where they find a missing A.R.T. scientist racing north.  Fourarm is suddenly compelled to do the same; when he is caught G-Force-beta does likewise, an alien entity jumping from person to person.  Their journey leads to a small, remote village, where USA Defender, Dai Oni-beta, Fourarm, and Dr. Mercury take down several heavily armed thugs.  G-Force finds a lab and smashes some equipment, and the entity departs via a gateway.  Majestic confronts the robotic L-10, who escapes by teleporting away.  Evidence shows that the Alliance had been using a dimensional gateway to steal alien technology.  Rumors of a mysterious, secretive organization known as Freedom of Chaos emerge.  Elsewhere, Dai Oni, G-Force, and the Beta-dimension rebels Portal, BlueStreak, and Incandescent raid C.H.E.S.S. Space Station Freedom to sabotage their weapons batteries.  In a protracted battle, they face off against multiple Majestic Knights, a Motherland Defender, Dark Warp, Dr. Mercury, Arachnia (a clone of Dai Oni), and Toonmaster.  The station breaks up after G-Force pulls it from orbit, but the heroes and many major villains escape.  Incandescent succumbs to Arachnia’s venom, and Portal’s benefactor, rebel leader Robert Perry, has his people hack into the C.H.E.S.S. media networks so that Dai Oni, believed to be a turncoat Guardian of Liberty, can address the world with the rebel viewpoint.

#179 – The Tesseract Conundrum – Majestic learns that T.O.T.E.M. has hired Tesseract, a deadly assassin.  William Wills, G-Force’s father, is made the chief U.S. Representative to the U.N. and given a seat on the Security Council.  Dai Oni-beta, USA Defender, Incandescent, and Majestic attend a ceremony where Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington, D.C. and G-Force’s father present the hero (actually his Beta duplicate) with the keys to the city.  Tesseract appears out of nowhere and disintegrates Wills, while his henchman Welchia multiplies and battles the others.  Welchia and his duplicates are dropped, but not before Tesseract nails G-Force, who also disappears.  Tesseract refuses to fight the Guardians and vanishes, and Majestic is able to track him as he flees into a 4th dimension.  In Beta, the heroes deal with the threat of C.H.E.S.S satellite-control bases by throwing EMP bombs at them through portals.  Moments later, a C.H.E.S.S. strike team of Dr. Mercury, Dark Warp, Titan, Arachnia, and Toonmaster attacks.  After another protracted battle that brings down the safe house, the heroes capture Arachnia and leave.  The vigilantes, each with U.S. Commonwealth bounties of $100 million on their heads, discover that they are being tracked by Arachnia’s venom; they solve the problem with an EMP bomb and two quick evacuations.  C.H.E.S.S. responds by nuking Hawaii and the underground base in Arizona, then blames it on the rebels!  Vice-President Lott resigns, President Buchanan announces C.H.E.S.S. King Joshua Stevens as his new V.P., and the new appointee immediately declares martial law.

#181 – Through the Dark Looking Glass – Portal transports the captured Dai Oni-beta to the Guardians’ base, where she is also confronted by Majestic, Dr. Mercury, USA Defender, Crocodile, Quiasar, Mischief, and Peregrine.  She attempts to call in a rescue, but the Beta duplicates that arrive: Dark Warp, Toonmaster, and Titan, plus two Majestic Knights and two Motherland Defenders, also serve as an attack force.  As the invaders begin to fall, Dai Oni-beta asks for asylum.  Dark Warp and Toonmaster flee with an unconscious Dr. Mercury, leaving behind their fallen comrades.  Dr. Mercury-beta, however, triggers the auto-destruct sequences on the powered armor suits, killing the Majestic Knights, then attempts to coerce the heroes into relinquishing the captured Titan-beta.  The Guardians find a hidden anti-matter bomb in their hanger, and Portal dumps it into space, saving the Eastern Seaboard.  Dai Oni-beta cooperates, describing C.H.E.S.S. and the militaristic, corrupt America of the Beta dimension.  Crocodile and USA Defender are able to access Dr. Mercury-alpha’s research notes.  In Beta, a Rolling Stone interview with that dimension’s Dr. Mercury reveals information about C.H.E.S.S., the Guardians, and the deaths of Thomas Carter (Majestic) and Ashley Willow (Mischief).

#183 – Conjoined Forces – The Guardians, their affiliates, and many of their opponents find themselves strangely merged together, their powers, costumes, and names strangely combined.  The group is made up of: Dr. Majestic (Majestic and Dr. Mercury), Catbird (Xeo Fey and Quiasar), Void Oni (Portal and Dai Oni), Vavavoooomm (Mischief and Toonmaster-beta), Northguard (USA Defender and Bluestreak-beta), The Singularity (Warp, Portal-beta, and Shadowknight-beta), Lightforce (G-Force and Incandescent), and the Roc (Crocodile, Peregrine, and Titan).  Working together, the amalgamated heroes defeat a Beta army led by Dr. Mercury, FORCE, Purple Masque, Barbarian, Dark Warp, Medusa, and Arachnia.  They take down the evil C.H.E.S.S., giving the victory to the rebels and establishing a new era for the Beta world.  The Queen of C.H.E.S.S. (alpha) unravels the damage done by the Chaos bomb Dr. Mercury-beta stole from the Mexican T.O.T.E.M. base, restoring everyone to normal.  Dai Oni-beta decides to remain in her home dimension and help with the rebuilding, and the champions return home via the Queen.

#185 – Diamonds Я Us – Still searching for the missing G-Force-beta and William Wills, the Guardians do detective work in an attempt to track down the mysterious Tesseract.  Taped interviews with a late C.H.E.S.S. janitor tell of his prior work with English scientist Otto Schaeffer (brother of Dr. Slaughter, Niles Schaeffer).  Information on Schaeffer’s lab assistant, George Schongauer Sr. (Adamant’s father) leads the team to investigate the man, who was imprisoned in Europe in the early 70’s for terrorism.  A model inmate and charismatic leader, he appears to have wanted to stay incarcerated, but was released six months ago and vanished instantly.  USA Defender, Dr. Mercury, Majestic, Dai Oni, G-Force, and Portal visit Adamant in a Brazilian prison, where he tells of his father’s plans to heist a large diamond recently purchased by Britain’s royal family.  Majestic cuts a deal with the convict, the team learns more, and they fly to Cuba, where they question an imprisoned Kismet.  Journeying to Amsterdam, the heroes meet Prince William and formulate a plan.  To protect the innocent, they pose as security guards, allowing a strike force: Torvax, three powerful Oni Mark III robots, and a gang of spray paint wielding thugs, all led by a glowing villain, to steal a fake diamond with a hidden transmitter.  The vigilantes track the gem, but the truck carrying it drives into a building and disappears!

#187 – Tarok Noir – World famous archaeologist Eugene Quarterman asks for the Guardians’ assistance in checking out a strange artifact.  He leads Dai Oni, Portal, and USA Defender to Sturwood Hamlet, New Jersey, where unearthly energies emanate from a field near a schoolyard.  New costumed adventurer Maccane also investigates, as does C.H.E.S.S., who sends Dr. Mercury, Mischief, and a team of agents.  Before the mysterious, round object can be identified, representatives from the Major Arcana of the Tarot Masters: Strength, Hermit (formerly Scuz), Hierophant (formerly Paladin), Moonflash, World (formerly Powerman), Diablo, and Hanged Man show up and lay claim to it as well.  The heroes join forces to contest them, and Dr. Mercury calls in backup operatives Fourarm and W-Force.  Out of nowhere, the Assassin appears, gunning down Dr. Quarterman and slipping away into the night.  The superheroes gain the upper hand and the item, which turns out to be a hatching egg.  A beautiful but monstrous creature emerges and flies into the air, growing at a phenomenal rate.  Portal cleverly saves all from the deadly Chaos Scourge, shunting it to her homeland and the Elderess, and the champions subdue the villains, capturing all of them.  Unearthly demon-like beings take over several villages in the African nation of Ghana.

#189 – Igor Chernetsky’s Blues – Colonel Igor Chernetsky, a C.H.E.S.S. Archbishop and Federal Security Bureau liaison, gives information about T.O.T.E.M. and Intercrime cooperation and a joint base in Bulgaria.  Concerns about geneticist Dr. Anatoly Grobnyakov and a possible Chaos Bomb cause C.H.E.S.S. to look to the Guardians to form a strike team.  The Guardians: Kageryu (formerly Dai Oni), USA Defender, Incandescent, G-Force, and Majestic, along with new ally Maccane, choose not to accept the military-like mission, leaving C.H.E.S.S. to do it on their own.  Led by Chernetsky (Red Dragon), C.H.E.S.S. raids the base on the Black Sea coast, wiping out the enemy but sustaining heavy casualties in the process.  Grobnyakov eludes capture.  A.R.T. comes under the jurisdiction of the United Nations.  Epilogue: The Umatilla Weapons Depot in Oregon holding Barbarian and Phase is swallowed up by the earth, completely disappearing.

#190 – Night of the Living Dead – Warp and G-Force return to active duty; USA Defender takes a leave of absence.  Maccane learns of a threat and calls the Guardians.  Titan deploys Incandescent and affiliate Mischief to the D.C suburbs, where they meet Maccane, then form an alliance with members of Sleeper’s Paranormal Detective Agency: Thunderbird, Huntress, and Hermes.  The group finds a meat truck with trussed up humans, fights numerous zombie-like undead beings, and takes down two men.  They discover that homeless people are being abducted, and the captured men reveal info about a factory.  Reinforcements are called in.

#192 – The Vampire Chronicles – Many past and present Guardians, along with affiliates, friends, and staff, attend the wedding of J.J. Johnstone Jr. (Quiasar) and team publicist Ami Johnson.  At the reception afterwards, Portal announces that she is pregnant and disappears.  A moment later, the festive atmosphere is interrupted by the dramatic arrival of vampires Destrada, Nospheratua, and Enoch.  Hostilities nearly erupt, but calm is restored and the visitors tell the heroes about a civil war amongst their kind.  The younger upstarts, not believing in peaceful coexistence with humanity, call themselves the Bloodsworn.  Many of the old guard, themselves included, were driven from Jorstadt Island and now call themselves the Council.  They ask for a neutral third party to be present at negotiations in New York, so Entropy, White Leopard, Crocodile, and Dr. Desist attend, insuring peace.  The current Guardians: Kageryu, G-Force, Warp, and USA Defender, along with allies Dr. Mercury and Mischief, gear up and prepare to invade Jorstadt Island.  Guillermo, who has spied on the team in bat-form since the wedding, flies there first, alerting Contessa Selena DeLarosa.  When the vigilantes arrive, they find the Coast Guard searching for a missing couple.  They bravely enter the labyrinth of caves and find a hall of mirrors, only to be ambushed by many lasers!

#194 – Perfect Crime Storm – Kageryu takes time off to go home to Japan, and Portal accompanies her there.  Mystic watchdog Shadow Hunter meets with Majestic.  Massive storms continue to pound the east coast, moving inland every evening.  Each time a storm moves into a city, all power goes out and numerous banks are robbed.  Aquarius, now calling himself Dr. Squallus, claims responsibility and gives impossible demands.  Homeland Security Head Tom Ridge and a Lt. Colonel Jamison ask the Guardians for help, so Warp, Incandescent, Titan, Majestic, G-Force, and USA Defender, along with ally Araneae, chart the crimes and set up an ambush at the Federal Reserve Bank in Baltimore.  The storm arrives, power is lost, and the bank is invaded by Dr. Squallus, Shaman, Ice Princess, and many female Belle Weathers.  The champions battle the invaders, and Majestic is nearly killed by a sustained lightning strike from Dr. Squallus and Shaman.  The heroes trounce the villains, but Shaman is accidentally killed.  All of the other criminals are captured, but soon after, due to a pre-arranged deal, the government sets them free.  The T.O.T.E.M. base in the Amazon is swallowed up by the earth.  In Ghana, the invasion of creatures appears to be over, but a portal region is found scorched.  New Orleans mayor Marie Wiltz disappears and foul play is suspected.

#196 – The Best Defense… - After weeks of research, the team holds another strategic meeting.  Majestic, Portal, Kageryu, Incandescent, USA Defender, Warp, Titan, and G-Force delve into the enemies of the Guardians, discussing the World’s Scorned, vampires, T.O.T.E.M., Intercrime, Sanctum, the Zarton Team, and others.  Majestic reveals news about the danger and growing power of the Alliance; Sleeper and Shadow Hunter visit, providing more information, and more is learned about Project Lull.  Araneae reveals that Arachnia is his younger sister.  In Arizona, bodies are found devoid of moisture.  Father Heronomous Kinkaid begins making public appearances.  Mayor Williams and G-Force’s father again present him with the keys to Washington, D.C.  L-Force learns that he is much older than previously thought.  Mischief goes to work for the A.S.A. and is given the code name Ms. Vermilion.

#198 – Love is a Battlefield – The Crimelord, his organization Intercrime crumbling around him, walks into a C.H.E.S.S. facility and surrenders.  Dr. Desist meets with him, and information he gives about a T.O.T.E.M. superweapon is corroborated by recent discoveries in Pennsylvania, as well as a coded message that Grobnyakov recently sent to Chernetsky.  Evidence suggests that a rogue terrorist group has broken away from T.O.T.E.M. Asia and plans to eliminate all ordinary humans with a deadly anti-genetic fusion bomb.  A team is assembled, and Dr. Desist begins gathering many of the old Guardians.  Robert Perry (Entropy) meets David Lens (Shadow Knight) at a tennis club in Colorado and convinces him to accompany them on the mission.  Dr. Desist, Entropy, Quiasar, and Shadow Knight, along with G-Force, L-Force, and W-Force, fly the Dark Angel to Siberia, where they meet up with Mindbender.  The heroes invade the base, which is constructed partially underground in an ancient meteor crater.  They blow past Backfire, Cold Warrior, Snowstorm, Snowball, and Heater, who attempt to keep them from entering.  Inside, they confront the terrorist mastermind, Master Zero.  G-Force remains in the vehicle, struggling against internal T.O.T.E.M. programming.  He reluctantly launches the craft’s missiles, but changes their trajectory at the last second, causing them to circle around and return, blowing up the Dark Angel with him inside!