BIOGRAPHY - Page 4
Douglock was eager to take their budding romance further but Rahne was distracted by the failing health of her guardian, Moira MacTaggert, who was suffering from the deadly Legacy Virus. When Moira decided to place herself in quarantine while she continued her research, Rahne leapt into the containment lab at the last moment before it locked Moira in. Douglock was distraught at losing Rahne, just as they were beginning to explore their feelings for each other. [Excalibur (1st series) #115]
Douglock tried everything he could to breach the lab’s security protocols but the computer system kicked him out each time. As Moira had sealed the lab to the day when a cure for the Legacy 
Virus would be found, Douglock eventually had the idea to convince the computer systems that Moira had solved the Legacy mystery. Douglock’s stratagem succeeded, though actually it didn’t take much of an effort, as the systems reacted to the buried datafiles that Zero had downloaded into him. When Douglock entered the lab, his reunion with Wolfsbane was far from happy, as she was furious that he had disrupted Moira’s desperate search for a cure. [Excalibur (1st series) #118-120]
Over the next few days, Moira helped Rahne see her error and she forgave Douglock. This occurred at the wedding of Meggan and Captain Britain. Unfortunately, he was in no state to accept Rahne’s apology, as Douglock was suffering from a systems malfunction that impaired his memory. At least partially, his condition was caused by drinking too much at Braddock’s bachelor party. Following Excalibur’s disbanding, Rahne and Douglock both stayed on Muir so that Moira might study the glitches in Douglock’s memory matrixes. [Excalibur (1st series) #121-125]
Memory malfunctions were the least of the troubles that lay ahead for Douglock. A few weeks later, he was captured by the nefarious Red Skull, who then used him to assume control of a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and all aboard it. Douglock resisted the Red Skull as best he could but the villain was empowered in part by remnants of a Cosmic Cube and had tapped into the Phalanx programming within Douglock. Not only did Douglock have to fight the Skull’s control but the 
increasingly intense demands of the Phalanx imperatives in his own being. To fight the Skull, Douglock awakened two other cybernetic lifeforms aboard the helicarrier: Deathlok and Machine Man. They were joined in liberating the helicarrier and its crew by some of the X-Men - Kitty Pryde, Colossus and Nightcrawler. Douglock was willing to sacrifice his own life to stop the Red Skull but this proved unnecessary. The Red Skull was defeated and his plot to use Douglock’s techno-organic power to conquer the world was thwarted. However, the experience left Douglock radically changed. While in contact with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s systems, he learned more about his true nature and emerged with a new sense of self. [X-Men (2nd series) Annual ‘99]
The revelations he experienced aboard the helicarrier helped to restore Douglock’s true memories. He realized that he was truly Warlock, reborn through the machinations of the Phalanx 
and programmed with Doug Ramsey’s engrams in order to earn the trust of his former friends. Warlock went to Doug’s grave once more to see if there was any trace of the Transmode Virus within Doug’s remains and perhaps the potential to bring Doug back to life, just as he had been resurrected. However, he found no trace of the virus in Doug’s cells and wondered if perhaps they had already been taken, even used in his own miraculous reconstitution by the Phalanx.
From the S.H.I.E.L.D. files he had accessed, Warlock learned that Phalanx matter continued to be studied and potentially exploited in facilities around the globe. Feeling responsible for the threat the Transmode Virus posed to the world, Warlock was determined to seek out and stop those who would unleash it. This led him to Project Mainspring, where he discovered specimens who had been exposed to the virus. He also found the source of Mainspring’s ability to spread the virus, a mutant girl named Hope. The Phalanx had attempted to assimilate Hope and her family into the Babel Spire in the Swiss Alps, but Hope was a latent mutant and proved resistant. Instead, she developed the ability to pass the Transmode Virus on to others. [Warlock (3rd series) #1]
Warlock rescued Hope and her transmoded monkey pet, Chi-Chee. The trio was pursued by Mainspring’s Gatekeeper robots and then captured by the mysterious Psi-Cops, who sought to destroy all traces of Phalanx material on Earth. One of the Psi-Cops, a young telekinetic called Psimon, realized that Hope and Warlock were enemies of Mainspring and that they wanted to prevent the further spread of the Transmode Virus. When Mainspring tracked them to the Psi-Cops’ base, Psimon helped them to escape and joined their cause. In doing so, he defied Psiren, his sister and the Psi-Cops leader. Unfortunately, Mainspring captured Chi-Chee during the scuffle. [Warlock (3rd series) #2-3]
Mainspring intended to use Chi-Chee as lure to capture Hope but soon discovered that the 
monkey, as a mutated form that could convert inorganic matter as well, also had the ability to pass on the Transmode Virus. Mainspring still needed Hope to learn how to control these new “techno-mechanic” creations. Meanwhile, Warlock and Psimon were helping Hope to gain control over her abilities so that she might use her innate link to Chi-Chee to lead them to Mainspring. Along the way, Warlock began developing feelings of jealousy over Hope’s fondness for Psimon. He also began to realize that, while he now identified as and behaved more like Warlock, he still retained some traces of Doug Ramsey, including his linguistic power. [Warlock (3rd series) #4-6]
The group made their way to Muir Island in hopes of using their advanced systems to locate and stop Mainspring. They were joined by Wolfsbane, who was surprised to see “Douglock” so changed. During this period, Mainspring had been experimenting with the techno-mechanic virus. He succeeded in bonding it to the mutant-hating Bastion, resulting in a new form of terror called Template. Template had the ability to attack through computer systems, using its techno-mechanic form. Mainspring sent it to attack Warlock and his friends at Muir. They defeated Template’s projected form and realized that they needed to take the fight to him and to Mainspring. Mainspring’s plot to control the world had the side effect of spreading the Phalanx influence. A second Phalanx communications tower rose up, as the presence of the Phalanx on Earth reached a critical point. This in turn sent a signal into space and this time Warlock could not stop it. Realizing that Template was no longer in control, Mainspring destroyed the power source that was driving Template: himself. Warlock and his friends were aided by the Avengers in destroying the newly-erected Phalanx tower but it was too late to stop the transmission. [Warlock (3rd series) #7-8]
The call was answered by the Magus, who had reverted back from infancy to his former self. Once again, Warlock was forced to face his “siredam” in deadly battle. The Magus was even more intent on destroying Warlock, now that he had been “contaminated” by both the Phalanx influence and bonded with aspects of the human, Doug Ramsey. As such, he considered Warlock an abomination that needed to be expunged. Warlock battled fiercely with help from his friends and the Psi-Cops. Together, they came up with the plan to use Hope’s Transmode power to once again rewrite the Magus’ DNA into a replica of Warlock’s. By doing so, they made him part human as well. This enraged and confused the Magus, who now saw himself as an abomination that needed to be destroyed. Overwhelmed by the experience, the Magus fled.
After the incident, Warlock and his new friends went on a well-deserved vacation. However, he, Hope and Psimon vowed to continue their quest to protect the planet from any lingering aspects of the Transmode Virus. [Warlock (3rd series) #9]
