| “ | In the past, we lived here secretly, exiled from our Homelands and cloistered in the mundane world. We became their fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Their Frog Princes and Fairy Godmothers and Big Bad Wolves. But now? Now everything has changed. Many of us have left, and those who remain live out in the open. We can do so because this world is creating its own legendary beings, new Fables. And we few, the old guard, are the ones who comprehend magic. We're the ones who understand its true power… and we--the Shadow Players--are the only ones who can save this world from itself. | „ |
| ― Feathertop to Connor Wolf, Everafter: From the Pages of Fables #1 — "The Show Me State: Chapter One of The Pandora Protocol" |
The Shadow Players[nb 1] are a group of Fables who serve as a secret intelligence organization after magic is introduced to the mundane world. They make their debut in Everafter: From the Pages of Fables #1 — "The Show Me State: Chapter One of The Pandora Protocol" and their base of operations is located in Washington, D.C.[1]
History
Founding
The title "Shadow Players" was proposed by Ayesha and was among several options put forward for the organization. Their leader, Feathertop, favored Ayesha's suggestion above the others,[6] leading to its adoption.[1] During the naming discussions, Ayesha and Feathertop also considered bringing Connor Wolf into the organization, but they concluded that he was that he was still too young at this time.[6]
Hunting Yordan Yew
After five years of operating from its headquarters in Washington, D.C., Feathertop is finally able to recruit Connor into the organization. Meanwhile, the Shadow Players agents Bo Peep, along with her husband Peter Piper and Hansel, embark on a mission to capture Jordan Yow, a mundy girl who has gained magical abilities since the introduction of magic into the mundane world. However, Jordan causes Hansel to combust into a gooey mess and seamlessly teleports out of their grasp.[1]
Following Hansel's demise, Thomas of Erceldoune conducts a ritual aimed at bringing Hansel back to life. The attempt is successful, but the results are grotesque.[2]
Helping Jordan Yew
Using a magical map of the mundane world, the truthsayer Thomas is able to locate Jordan. Feathertop demands for Bo to kill the girl, but despite the pressure, Bo stands firm in her decision not to harm a child. In an attempt to persuade her, he brings her to Nibiru, a once prosperous world that was destroyed by powerful magic. Feathertop cautions her that if she chooses to spare Jordan's life, the mundy world could suffer the same fate.[7] He orders her to fulfill her responsibility, in order to prevent the children of the mundane world from meeting a similar fate.[8]
Bo seeks Jordan out and offers to help the girl.[9] She fakes Jordan's death and sends the girl to Nibiru to help resurrect the dead world. When she returns to headquarters, she provides body cam footage as proof of the "deed."[10]
The relic thieves
The Shadow Players listening helplessly while Connor is captured by the enemy
Concurrently with Bo's hunt for Jordan, Connor and Peter are assigned the mission of thwarting a team of mercenaries who have been stealing sacred Native American artifacts from museums. Tonight, these mercenaries will be attempting to rob the Denver Art Museum, and it is imperative that they are captured. At the museum,[2] Connor improvises by killing one of the members of the gang and using his shapeshifting skills to assume the appearance of the deceased man. While Connor persists in his infiltration of the group in San Francisco, he is captured by the relic thieves. Peter commandeers a boat,[7] and is able to rescue Connor, who has transformed into a bird and flown away from the island, only to lose consciousness and transform back into a human. Suddenly, murderous revenants begin to appear as the thieves used the artifacts to unlock a portal to the afterlife.[8]
They take a boat to Alcatraz, where the thieves are located. Peter takes on the role of leader, determined to stop the ritual and retrieve the valuable artifacts, while Connor is tasked with apprehending the thieves alive. When a leopard-human hybrid ghost emerges from behind Peter and impales him with its sharp claws, Connor rushes to his aid. He transforms into a spectral wolf and offers his back to Peter, who rides him to where the boat is docked. After successfully evading their attackers, Peter is shocked when Feathertop discloses the method he is using to neutralize the ghosts, as it involves sacrificing innocent lives. However, Feathertop argues that it is the only option to prevent complete annihilation.[10]
The Cube
After receiving a distress call from Inola Tanner, Feathertop, Peter, Bo, Connor and Thomas rush to Plano South Junior High School. A group of renegade students has created a magical prison called the Cube and trapped all the students classmates inside. It's up to the five of them to find a way to break the spell and free the captive students.[11]
The following morning, the Dallas Goat Man and the Plano Goat Man, who are targeting Inola, emerge and begin attacking police officers and Shadow Players agent alike.[3] Feathertop gives orders to his agents to lead the monsters away from the police officers here and handle them in a less populous area, stating that there must be no casualties.[3]
Thomas attempts to tap into his gifts and gather intel on the Cube, but his ability as a truthsayer proves ineffective against it.[4] Feathertop introduces Erwin, a cat who is sometimes alive and sometimes dead. Erwin's unique condition requires him to be the one sent in to take down the Cube, because it is sustained by a magical superposition of a quantum eigentstate. Erwin is successful, and Bobby Speckland and his legal guardian, Kara Bass, are reunited after Bobby was trapped inside the Cube.[12]
The Illuminati
Bobby assumes the position of agent for the Shadow Players, joining his colleagues on a mission as they commence an offensive against a faction of Illuminati lizards in Vienna.[12]
Appearances
References
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 In Everafter: From the Pages of Fables #6, Feathertop says, "We've been considering a handful of different names. Lately I'm partial to "the Shadow Players." However, in Everafter: From the Pages of Fables #8 — "Gleaming The Cube: Part One of The Unsentimental Education," Inola Tanner opens a magical precis compiled by Acquisitions (which uses normal letter case, as opposed to the speech balloons from the Everafter series which follow the long-standing standard for comic books and are written in all caps), which says "Contained herein is all the information regarding the Fable-run intelligence agency known as the "Shadow Players," suitable for clearance level 14."