Dudley

Also like you, Dudley leaves his shoes on on the bed, you filthy animal.

Dudley is just a normal boy. He's obsessive about comic books, prefers the indoors, and hates the idea of lying to his mum and dad.

OK, he's maybe more of a geek than is normal. But what's important is that he's just like you, and like you, he could one day be called upon for a great adventure by beings more marvellous than even his great imagination could conjure.

Fiction

On a day in 1985, The Chromobots issue 21 Dudley was completely absorbed in an issue of The Transformers to such an extent that he didn't even hear his dad calling for his attention. What he did notice was a fast-moving object fly in through his window and upend him off his bed. Cautiously peeking over the covers, he discovered a real life space robot no bigger than a toy. Issue 12 The robot introduced himself as Mikros, a Chromobot, and apologised for dropping in. Dudley was in complete disbelief, and he was forced to hide Mikros from his dad in case he got in trouble. Dudley demanded an explanation on where Mikros was from, but Mikros' biggest concern was how he would locate his fellow Chromobots. Issue 13

After being unable to sleep for the entire night due to trying to get his head around the idea of real life robots from space, Dudley took a Saturday afternoon walk through the park with his mum's shopping list – and Mikros concealed in a carrier bag. Mikros picked up a signal from one of his comrades, briefly causing Dudley concern that the sky would be filled with diminutive Chromobots. Suddenly, Dudley was approached by an old tramp, who claimed that Dudley had something of his. The nervous boy fled. Issue 14 Mikros attempted to explain that the old man was more than met the eye, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Chromobot leader Transmute. After Dudley figured out that the tramp was Transmute in disguise, the Chromobot's psionic scan told him that Dudley could be trusted, and he beseeched him to ally with the Chromobot Empire. Issue 15

Dudley brought the bagged-up Mikros and Transmute – now disguised as a human boy Dudley named "Lenny" – back to his house, where he was forced to lie to his mum about where he'd been for the past couple of hours. As soon as they could, Dudley and "Lenny" retreated to the boy's bedroom, where Transmute returned to his regular form and explained their mission to capture or destroy the Chromobot criminal, Predator. Dudley was alarmed that, after taking the groceries down to his mum, he then had the job of saving the world. Issue 16

Transmute considered Dudley to be of great worth to their mission. Two weeks after their first meeting, Dudley and the two Chromobots were searching a city, and he wondered how he would explain his absence from his bedroom if his mum went in to check on him. A woman's scream alerted Dudley to a kidnapping in progress on top of a building. Transmute recognised the culprit as Predator and confronted the criminal. Issue 17 Dudley was helpless as he watched Predator toss Mikros off the side of the building – but Mikros was caught in a force bubble and gently lowered down by Shield, the third Chromobot in their squad. Dudley was shocked at the size of him, but Mikros interrupted, drawing their attention to the flash of energy on top of the skyscraper. Issue 19

After their encounter with Predator, Dudley and the Chromobots returned to the boy's bedroom. When Shield's psionic scan revealed that Dudley's dad had been awoken by their arrival, they each scrambled to hide, with Dudley slipping under the bedclothes, fearing his father's chastisement. After his dad left, Dudley whispered for the other Chromobots to come out of hiding. Shield volunteered to return to their ship to update the Chromatic Star Federation, and Transmute declared that they wouldn't fail in overcoming Predator – though his allies laughed at his Humph the Cat disguise. Issue 20

Dudley slept while Shield returned to the ship to contact Cygnet; Transmute patrolled the area surrounding Dudley's house, and Mikros read his comics. Mikros had previously sent a report to the C.S.F. on Dudley which noted his familiarity with mutants, aliens, and robotic life-forms, thanks to Marvel. Issue 21

Following Cygnet's intel, Dudley and the Chromobots searched the countryside in one of Shield's force bubbles for Predator; Dudley's question on what they'd do if the Chromatic criminal found them first went unanswered. Transmute located the unconscious body of the woman Predator had kidnapped, but the four heroes were suddenly transported to a ruined city in the 26th Century. Dudley was alarmed that even the Chromobots seemed scared, Issue 22 and worried about where he'd ended up. Issue 23

The next thing he knew, Mikros went flying and landed in a heap. His assailant was a hulking brute; while Shield engaged it in combat, Dudley worried that if he didn't win, he wouldn't be able to see home or his Marvel comics again. He was approached by Rage and Menace, who introduced themselves as part human/part Chromobot Mutants. As the heroes fought the Mutants, Dudley thought about how he got mixed up in all this. His thoughts were interrupted by someone lurking behind him... Issue 24 Predator himself!

Predator told Dudley that in this time, the boy was the only living human on Earth. In the intervening years, Predator had used the knowledge of the kidnapped Tessa Stone to create the ultimate hybrid nuclear weapon, with which he had destroyed Chromos Five and eradicated all life on Earth to start again. Key to his plan was the time modulator, a time travel device that stabilised his changes to future history. Dudley theorised that the modulator could be used to change the future to a nice place, and perhaps one where the people might be into Marvel in a big way. Issue 25

Kicking off from a rock and leapfrogging over Rage, Dudley snatched the time modulator from Predator. While the Chromobots held off the attackers, Dudley ran to the time shift through which they'd arrived. Though he tripped at the final hurdle, he landed in 1985. Dudley's relieved thoughts of what he would've missed were interrupted as the other Chromobots followed him through. Shield quickly destroyed the time modulator with his force weapon, which had the effect of closing up the time shifts and replacing Predator's version of the timeline with an unaltered one. From his humble beginnings as a daydreaming comic reader, Dudley ended up saving the Earth – and Chromos Five. Issue 26

Notes

• Dudley is a noted fan of Marvel Comics. His bedroom wall is quite consistent in its appearances, featuring posters of Optimus Prime and Machine Man, a "Make Mine Marvel" flag, and a pin-up of Humph the Cat. Issue 12 Issue 20 The wall by his door features a poster of Spider-Man. Issue 13 Issue 20
  • Dudley's comic collection includes at least four issues featuring Spider-Man, Issue 12 Issue 16 Issue 20 Issue 21 two issues starring Captain America (the first of which was titled after him), Issue 13 Issue 21 one issue each of The Transformers Issue 12 and X-Men (starring Wolverine), Issue 20 and something with a logo containing the letters "PET" and "SP".  Issue 14 One comic in his collection featured what appeared to be Mister Fantastic, while another featured Humph the Cat. Issue 21 Dudley also had a jumper with Humph's face on it. Issue 22 Issue 23 Issue 24 Issue 25 Issue 26
• In issue 12, there's a toy car (a Transformers?) on the stairs. Presumably, that's Dudley's, too.