Back to GatefoldIssue #61 by Steve Crosby
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They were after him.
Looking over his shoulder, Robert Baldwin saw nobody following him down the dark dank street. He knew otherwise though, could feel it in his other senses. Movement released kinetic energy, and to Speedball the energy sang to him wherever it was. Falling drops of water. A cat running between garbage cans. Birds flying in a hover over the clouds…not birds!
Robert punched a fist to his palm. The kinetic energy released multi-colored bubbles that covered his body. The suit of a Damage Control investigator was gone, replaced with a bright costume. Robert Baldwin had become Speedball, just in time to deflect the bullet meant for his heart.
They had finally made their move, after weeks of watching. Every town with a Hulk incident, Robert had felt the eyes on him as he investigated the disappearances and strange, unrelated occurrences. They’ve made their move, a violent one, and Speedball had a choice of fight or flight.
Jumping sideways, Speedball struck the wall as hard as he could. Kinetic energy transferred, and he ricocheted up at high speed toward his airborne attacker. A second rifle shot was fired, this bullet as ineffectual as the first. It struck and then fell harmlessly, the energy transferred to support Speedball’s leap.
When he collided with the shooter, Speedball held on and felt she was a woman. The impact drove him down, and she fell with him. The rifle flew from her hands to land some distance away. Behind her vaguely Spartan helmet, eyes flashed murder at Speedball.
“Give it up Miss. You’re unarmed and out-yow!” Her head snapped up and slammed into Speedball’s face, the helmet’s crest colliding solidly with his nose. Anybody else would have bled profusely, but Speedball was only forced away by the sudden kinetic impact. He back-flipped past the rifle, landing in a crouch with the firearm inches from his fingers. “I can take anything you got. Either fly away or give yourself up.”
Instead of responding, the sniper that rode on clouds stood up to her full height. A sudden fog had settled into the alley, gathering around Speedball and his attacker. He suspected it was her doing; that she didn’t so much fly under her own power rather than ride on solidified gas. Speedball should have wondered if she could do more with the gas than fly on it.
The fog pressed in on Speedball, and too late he felt the gas going up his nose, into his mouth and ears. As he struggled for breath Speedball wondered if the gas itself was harmful, though certainly it didn’t have to be. Anything made solid enough to fly upon could be used to block air passages. As Speedball began to suffocate on the air, he saw his attacker approach, and idly wondered just how far she’d be following him.
Looking over his shoulder, Robert Baldwin saw nobody following him down the dark dank street. He knew otherwise though, could feel it in his other senses. Movement released kinetic energy, and to Speedball the energy sang to him wherever it was. Falling drops of water. A cat running between garbage cans. Birds flying in a hover over the clouds…not birds!
Robert punched a fist to his palm. The kinetic energy released multi-colored bubbles that covered his body. The suit of a Damage Control investigator was gone, replaced with a bright costume. Robert Baldwin had become Speedball, just in time to deflect the bullet meant for his heart.
They had finally made their move, after weeks of watching. Every town with a Hulk incident, Robert had felt the eyes on him as he investigated the disappearances and strange, unrelated occurrences. They’ve made their move, a violent one, and Speedball had a choice of fight or flight.
Jumping sideways, Speedball struck the wall as hard as he could. Kinetic energy transferred, and he ricocheted up at high speed toward his airborne attacker. A second rifle shot was fired, this bullet as ineffectual as the first. It struck and then fell harmlessly, the energy transferred to support Speedball’s leap.
When he collided with the shooter, Speedball held on and felt she was a woman. The impact drove him down, and she fell with him. The rifle flew from her hands to land some distance away. Behind her vaguely Spartan helmet, eyes flashed murder at Speedball.
“Give it up Miss. You’re unarmed and out-yow!” Her head snapped up and slammed into Speedball’s face, the helmet’s crest colliding solidly with his nose. Anybody else would have bled profusely, but Speedball was only forced away by the sudden kinetic impact. He back-flipped past the rifle, landing in a crouch with the firearm inches from his fingers. “I can take anything you got. Either fly away or give yourself up.”
Instead of responding, the sniper that rode on clouds stood up to her full height. A sudden fog had settled into the alley, gathering around Speedball and his attacker. He suspected it was her doing; that she didn’t so much fly under her own power rather than ride on solidified gas. Speedball should have wondered if she could do more with the gas than fly on it.
The fog pressed in on Speedball, and too late he felt the gas going up his nose, into his mouth and ears. As he struggled for breath Speedball wondered if the gas itself was harmful, though certainly it didn’t have to be. Anything made solid enough to fly upon could be used to block air passages. As Speedball began to suffocate on the air, he saw his attacker approach, and idly wondered just how far she’d be following him.
"He Alone"
“It happened right here.” Michael Ian Van Patrick pointed to a spot where the dirt looked loose, as though a hole had been filled in. “Hulk fell out of the sky and landed on my friend. He wasn’t hurt, thank goodness.”
“So in general there was no damage.” Robert Baldwin made a notation in his notepad. All of Hulk’s rampages were covered in a policy contracted by the government to Damage Control. As an assessment agent, it was Robert’s job to determine if damages should be paid. In this case, it appeared to be no.
“Just the hole and I filled it in myself. But the next day, Emery disappeared.”
“Most likely he was freaked out by what happened. It’s common with new mutants.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t think he’s a mutant. He’d mentioned drinking a kind of liquid plastic some days ago.”
Robbie couldn’t suppress a smile as he recalled his own origin. “My mistake, but however you get it, learning you have a power takes some getting used to. He’ll turn up.” Hopefully not as a villain.
The next stop wasn’t so easy.
“Doctor Miller was one of the kindest souls here at the hospital. Everybody was so sad to find him in that state.”
“I can only imagine your loss.” Robert made note of a crack in the doorframe. Hulk had landed on the grounds outside the hospital, and the vibrations had caused some minor damages. The death had been really troubling of course, but at least Hulk couldn’t be connected to it. “What happened to the patient found with him?”
“Moved to a more secure facility, thank goodness. Folks had figured his mother died of a heart attack, but after what he did to Doctor Miller she was dug up for an autopsy. Same cause of death.”
“Blood loss?” Robert consulted his notes, and confirmed that Doctor Miller’s only wound had been a missing tongue, later found in his stomach.
“Oh no, that was the first thing we saw when he found him. The tongue was gone, torn out, but no blood. As near as the coroner could figure, everything just stopped. That boy Terrance claimed not to know anything about it – acted like we’d had to tell him about his mother, but clearly he did something. And him just turned fifteen. It’s a shame how these killers get younger and younger.”
“Yeah, a shame.” And suspicious enough that Robert made a note for Damage Control to bring in an occult specialist. “Would you happen to know the name of where Mr. Ward was moved?”
More suspicious, she didn’t. The next day some men had appeared, and Terrance Ward was taken away. A brief inquiry yielded nothing, and Robert made a note that Terrance may have engineered his own escape. He then moved on to the next case.
“I’m not sure.” The man shook his head. “She was there and then she was over the edge. The bridge was shaking something awful when he landed. Several others nearly went over.”
“But she was only one that fell?” Robert asked.
“Yes.” His head lowered. “I had my hand out, said we could fix whatever was wrong. I’d like to think she was reaching for me, that it was his shaking the bridge that...In the middle of all that, I didn’t look down to see her hit the water.”
Neither had anyone else, Robert thought as he made the notation. “I’m sure you did the best you could.”
One of the police cruisers had a camera on the scene, had recorded Violet jumping right before the Hulk landed. Still, it could be argued the confusion of his presence had delayed rescue efforts. After weeks of searching the river her body hadn’t been recovered, so cause of death can’t be determined. That made this super-related in Robert’s opinion, but the final call wasn’t his.
At any rate, he was done there, and moved on to South Dakota.
“The equipment alone was worth millions! Not to mention the serum!”
Of course, Robert thought as he resisted rolling his eyes. There was always a world-changing serum or formula or gadget. “A regenerative based off Doctor Curt Connors’ research?”
“Yes, potentially worth billions!”
More likely it was a potential invasion by lizard men. “There are a few discrepancies to sort out. This technician, Melati Kusuma, had clocked in but didn’t clock out.”
“Clearly she had run off in fear and forgotten.”
“That wouldn’t be unusual if she hadn’t been the only one. And she hasn’t turned up since.” The lab suit was blathering on with some explanation, but Robert only half listened. His attention was on the claw marks. Clearly the Hulk had landed on the building, but something else had been there too.
A notation was made. Any decision would be made by higher-ups.
Montana, and the Brokeridges, had been Robert Baldwin’s last stop.
Mrs. Brokeridge was a nice woman, offering Robert tea while crying. “It just isn’t like Roger to run off like he did. Not with his brother the way he is.”
“The timing of it all,” said Mr. Brokeridge. “It just has to involve that Hulk in some way.”
Instead of getting anybody’s hopes up, Robert said, “Tell me about your other son.”
“Jeremy’s a good boy with…he had just a bright future. Before he was kidnapped and they…did things to him. That fighting wasn’t his idea. He was forced into that, brainwashed!”
Robert knew all about the Power Broker’s methods, and they didn’t involve brainwashing. An investigation had determined Jeremy Brokeridge had engaged in illegal superhuman activity of his own free will, so the results weren’t covered by any kind of insurance. Robert found it interesting that this poor man’s brother would disappear the same day a new masked super conveniently blasted an armored truck out of the Hulk’s path.
“Thank you for your time,” Robert told the Brokeridges. “We’ll be in touch.”
# # # # # # # # # #
It was with a deliberate, chilling calmness that Speedball’s opponent approached him. At this point he was on his knees, fighting to breathe through the fog. She bent down, picked up the rifle, held it aimed dead between Speedball’s eyes. If she fired then, while he was still conscious, the bullet would have ricocheted. So she waited, patiently still as a cat, for Speedball to pass out from lack of oxygen.
So still was his would-be killer that Speedball failed to notice that it was no longer her choice. Not until she began to move in reverse, setting down the rifle and walking backwards. The fog flowed out of Speedball’s body and he gasped desperately for air, blessedly free of whatever was happening. A hand fell on his shoulder and Speedball looked up to see and old friend, the events now making sense.
“Timeslip!”
Rina Patel couldn’t help but smile at the frog’s croak Speedball made of her codename. She wore a sleeker design of her old green costume, lacking the golden bands around her arms and legs. There was a rippling in the air around her and Speedball, the boundary against her temporal manipulation. Timeslip pulled Speedball to his feet.
“How are you doing this?” Speedball asked. Previously, the best Timeslip could do was slow time, making herself appear to move super-fast.
“With too much effort,” said Timeslip. “She’ll be free soon. We have to run.”
They did, and Speedball felt something akin to a rubber band snapping. As they turned the corner he heard footsteps splashing in the rain behind them. He’d forgotten to grab the rifle.
“How did you find me?” Speedball asked as they raced down the street.
“Because you’ll tell me where to be.” That was when Speedball realized he was talking to Timeslip’s future self, her consciousness having taken over her present body. “You’ll need to move fast. They’ll be moving up their schedule now that you’ve stumbled across them.”
“Who? What have I stumbled across?”
Timeslip shook her head. “I’ve been here too long. Things are slipping, and I need to remember to get this right. But take this,” something round and hard was pressed into Speedball’s hand.
“Find help as fast as you can.”
“But aren’t you coming-”
Timeslip pushed him ahead of her. “Go!”
A bullet exploded out from between Timeslip’s breasts. Speedball’s scream was drowned out by a loud humming that filled the air. As Timeslip was collapsing she shimmered, and vanished entirely just before hitting the ground. Only the blood, washing away in the rain, was the only sign she’d been there.
Speedball saw her walking down the street towards him, rifle in hand. She’d lowered it after the one shot, knowing a bullet at him would be useless. But from both sides of the street fog was roiling. Speedball knew if he didn’t run there would be a repeat of before, only with nobody to save him again. He considered for a moment, and then pulled the pin from the grenade Timeslip had given him.
“You’ll pay for that!” Speedball shouted just before the explosion. It was a stupid, childish taunt to make, especially for someone about to flee. The grenade blew up in his hands, yet remained intact. The energy that would have thrown shrapnel in every direction went instead to Speedball.
The useless grenade dropped to the ground while Speedball went flying into the air.
The killer rapidly disappeared from Speedball’s view, though before he turned he noticed that she was also taking to the sky. As the ground raced up to meet Speedball he hoped she wasn’t a fast flyer. The energy of the impact launched Speedball back up immediately, with greater speed than before. The irony wasn’t lost on Speedball, each leap being longer and faster than the last. Though in the back of his mind he also wondered, how would he stop?
# # # # # # # # # #
The image that Diane Newell saw on the monitor puzzled her. Taking her eyes off the scan, she spoke in the microphone to its subject. “All right Bonita, we’re done. I’m moving you out and we can go over the results.”
Bonita Juarez, the Avenger known as Espirita, sat up once she was slid from the MRI. Her legs shifted over the side, setting her feet solidly on the ground. Before she rose to a standing position, Espirita rolled her neck first clockwise, then counter-clockwise.
“I already know my neck isn’t broken.”
“There’s no evidence that it ever was,” Diane said. “And that is the mystery. Your teammates saw the Hulk strike you. They heard your neck snap.”
“As did I.” Espirita’s voice sounded more of serenity than melancholy. “Worse, I felt the bones break. Suddenly I couldn’t move and I lay helpless as darkness rushed all around me. I was broken and dying, but then I rose again. This isn’t in dispute.”
“But even with a rapid healing there should be signs of the injury. Marks in the bones where they knit back together, new tissue alongside the old.” With a sigh, Diane pressed commands to save and print the images. “This is for the experts to explain, though.”
“Oh there isn’t anything to explain.” Espirita smiled. “God brought me back. It wasn’t my time.”
Diane laughed in spite of herself. Making a neat stack of the scans, she picked it up and walked with Espirita out of the Medical Lab. “Somehow I think Captain America will require a more specific explanation.”
Espirita appreciated the effort Diane made in choosing her words. She waved a hand in a dismissive fashion. “And when one can’t be found, they’ll claim it’s some aspect of my abilities. All with no evidence, and yet they’ll cling to it before accepting that a higher power felt this wasn’t my time. While they conveniently ignore that my powers come from God.”
“Were you…conscious the entire time?”
“I believe I mentioned darkness,” said Espirita with a chuckle. “Hulk’s blow had knocked me out, for which I am thankful. I couldn’t feel my body, and then I couldn’t feel anything. But that split-second of being disembodied filled me with dread. No amount of spoken or written accounts can prepare for the experience. And when I awoke, I was whole once more. For what purpose I don’t know, but soon God will make it clear to me.”
Diane couldn’t help but ask the question. “How can you be so certain? I mean, you’ve seen so much as an Avenger, encountered other gods.”
“I have,” Espirita conceded. “Thor is a god, yet Odin the All-Father is above him. All the pantheons have heads, and they revere still more powerful beings. But above it all is God.”
Espirita truly believed it. Diane could hear the difference as she said the words. Such confidence, the quiet acceptance rather and dismissal of alternate views, Diane couldn’t help but feel assured. The two women were in the elevator now, and the doors opened at the main floor. They found several of the Avengers talking quietly in the public room; Captain America and Warbird and Stingray.
“-using my own connections, but they’re freezing my out,” Warbird was saying. At sight of Espirita and Diane she smiled and stepped forward. “Hey, there’s our girl. Everything checked out okay?”
“I am unhurt,” said Espirita in a reassuring tone.
Captain America wasn’t smiling. “You still went through a trauma. I would feel better if you talked to someone.”
“As should you, Steve.” Espirita touched his arm and looked up at him with sadness. “You were forced to give hard orders, and I know that must weigh heavy on you.”
Stingray had left the conversation to walk off with his wife, but Warbird felt the need to speak.
“Finally, someone who understands. Beast was yelling for what seemed like hours, using words I never thought even he knew. Others talked about feeling ‘uncomfortable’ and didn’t like ‘being in that situation.’ Honestly, the hypocrisy of it all-”
“That’s enough Warbird,” Captain America said. “They all understood, in their own ways. I’m fine with them venting to me, they should vent to me. What matters is they did as ordered and nobody else was hurt.” He turned back to Espirita. “I only regret that I may have waited too long.”
“You did as circumstances warranted. My concern is for Hulk. That was more than anger borne from grief.”
“We were just discussing that. The government isn’t telling us his location, but I spoke to Bruce. The moment he learned about Jennifer, men were shooting at him.”
“We’re thinking they drugged him somehow,” Warbird said.
“So this was about sending Hulk on a rampage?”
“If he had reached Washington a lot of damage would have been done,” Captain America said. “Both in property damage and political ramifications. We’re still catching some fallout.”
“Jennifer has been asked to step down as liaison,” said Warbird. “Who they’ll try to shove down our throats is anybody’s guess.”
“She advised that we use this public victory to build some goodwill. Send the team out on speaking engagements. Your work with church charities was mentioned.”
“You know I’m uncomfortable with that,” said Espirita.
“I know, but it’s a way to build support for those groups as well.” Captain America had been a public relations tool for as long as he’d been a soldier. “One thing I feel I should ask, what happened to you isn’t public.”
“I won’t open myself up to attack by claiming a resurrection.”
“You aren’t the first, if that helps,” said Warbird. “I’ve been hearing whispers of a cult to Mar-Vell. Maybe another thing on the list for us to deal with, Cap.”
“And we will. I’m especially concerned about Genosha. Why we’ve stayed out of that for so long I’ll never-”
Alarms cut off what Captain America was about to say. Through the large French windows, the air crackled with energy. Something was trying to breach Avengers Mansion, and in response the security measures had kicked in.
The three Avengers rushed outside. Captain America had his shield raised and against it crashed a body. A young man bounced off and fell to the ground, then was immediately restrained by the mansion’s non-lethal measures. Warbird was the first to recognize the blonde man in a blue-and-gold bodysuit, surrounded by spheres of multi-colored light.
“Speedball!”
It was the young hero, if barely recognizable. The costume, an aspect of his power, was dirty and somehow torn. His hair was caked with mud and, Captain America noted, blood. He bent down to check and found no cut on the scalp. The blood didn’t belong to Speedball.
“Security disengage.” To the freed visitor Captain America said, “You’re safe now. What happened? Who’s been hurt?”
The manacles that bound Speedball unlocked and flowed back into the ground. Not that he noticed by the dazed, lost look in his eyes. “R-rina.” The words were a muffled whisper. “She…oh my god…she shot…”
“Who? Who did this person shoot?” Warbird had taken Speedball by his shoulders and lifted him off the ground.
Speedball was shaking his head. “Not…not now. Me…they were after me.” The cobwebs were clearing from his head, and Speedball’s voice gained in force. “During Hulk’s rampage, there were strange disappearances. I was investigating…someone followed, attacked me. An…old friend helped me out, but I had to run, find help. Figured they would expect Metro City.”
“We can contact Force Works if you’d like,” said Captain America. “After we get you inside and put security on high-alert.”
Esprita had taken out her Avengers communi-card. “I will alert the rest of the team.”
“Don’t worry Speedball,” Warbird said as she helped him inside. “Even if whoever’s after you thinks to look here, they won’t be dumb enough to attack the mansion.”
At her words Speedball stopped so suddenly that Warbird dragged him the last foot into the mansion. His face was white behind the mask. “It’s not here they would think to look! Before I joined up with Force Works, I was one of the New Warriors!”
# # # # # # # # # #
Blood was trickling from Night Thrasher’s ears. The sound of the explosion had been nothing compared to the damage done, an entire wall of the Crash Pad gone and the rest buckling. All that was done from a slip of a girl with literally a cannon for an arm. She was smiling as that cannon aimed down at Night Thrasher’s face, and her lips were moving to say something he couldn’t hear.
“-where he is, and I’ll make it-”
A golden disc struck her in the temple after it ricocheted off several pieces of debris. The thrower, appropriately called Ricochet, followed this up with a leaping kick to the face. Three more discs appeared inside the fingers of his hand. Before the girl had even hit the ground, Ricochet had turned and hurled these discs at the man walking through the missing wall.
At a gesture, the powerfully built man in a full-face mask had erected a sphere of energy around himself. The discs struck it uselessly and fell to the ground. The sphere fell, but two more appeared around the man’s fists and he continued to advance.
“You’re powers remind me of an old teammate.” Turbo had taken to the air on twin gusts of wind created by turbines on her legs. Her prosthetic hand was raised and the turbines on that were spinning. “Are they as useful against me too?”
Turbo received her answer soon enough. The whirlwind that engulfed her opponent forced the air from his lungs and he fell to this knees struggling for breath. The spheres on his hands were growing larger and brighter, and Turbo braced herself for evasive action.
But the attack came from above. A young woman with green scaly skin and reptilian features fell through the skylight at Turbo. Turbo looked up and twisted to avoid the collision, but the reptilian woman slashed out with razor sharp claws, raking deep cuts along Turbo’s chest.
“Argh!” Turbo lost control of her winds and crashed to the floor. Ricochet saw blood pooling under her and leapt between his teammate and the animal. Guided by his senses, Ricochet ducked under a slashing swing and delivered an uppercut that drove the reptilian woman back a step.
Night Thrasher had recovered and jumped toward the scaly woman backing towards him. From his back a skateboard was detached and Night Thrasher swung it against the woman’s head. It shattered, and with a cry of pain she collapsed. The girl with a cannon was still down, but Night Thrasher saw the man was rising back to his full height, a sphere around each fist.
“Who are you?” Night Thrasher said without hearing his own words. “What do you want with us?”
“The girl mentioned Speedball,” said Ricochet. “You think he’s slummed back with us after ditching Force Works? For the compliment I’ll be sure to kick your ass extra special.”
But Night Thrasher raised a hand to stop Ricochet. “This guy might be too much for us, and Turbo’s hurt. Get her out of here and find some help.”
Every fiber of Ricochet’s being agreed with Night Thrasher. His senses were screaming to run, and he reluctantly agreed to do just that. But when Ricochet turned to pick up Turbo, he found behind them a horrific sight. Spider-Girl, their former teammate otherwise known as Mattie Franklin, was standing there with arms extended to him. Blood was dripping heavily to the floor, falling from long gashes in each of her arms.
“I tried to tell you.” Her voice was pleading, full of anguish. “Why didn’t you listen?”
“Mattie, I…I, no, no this can’t be…” Richocet’s danger sense was screaming, but he was paralyzed with the horror of his fears.
The second explosion that brought Night Thrasher to the ground was smaller but no less devastating. The man he faced had created a sphere of blue energy in front of him, and it erupted in a blinding flash that shorted every circuited in Night Thrasher’s armor. A backlash through his cybernetic link sent a wave of pain through Night Thrasher, knocking him onto his back.
Night Thrasher struggled to get up, but like his armor his body was responding to mental commands. From a fixed vantage point he saw Ricochet was lying beside Turbo, limbs twitching. Standing over the two, helping reptile girl to her feet, was a tall man with pale skin and jet black hair, dressed all in black. Ironically, Night Thrasher’s hearing had recovered, and he could hear the three standing enemies talking.
“-was a mistake,” said the reptilian woman. “I can’t smell him.”
“Outside of Force Works, this was the most likely place,” the energy-user said. “They even I.D.ed that girl as being one. Where else would he go?”
“His job, perhaps,” mused the pale one. “But no, he would fear we have people watching the Flatiron Building. It’s the same reason he didn’t go to Metro City.” He pointed at their unconscious teammate. “Pick Armory up. We should leave immediately before they arrive.”
Surprisingly, it was the reptilian woman that moved, easily hoisting the small woman. “Before who arrives?”
“It makes perfect sense. He knows this involves the Hulk, so the ones that beat him would be on Speedball’s mind. He’s gone to the Avengers, and events will need to accelerate.”
“And these three?” Night Thrasher saw their energy-user gesture down at him. “We have trouble taking them down, no way are we ready for the Avengers.”
“Once the others join us we shall be.” That pale head looked upwards. “Yes, if we make them act from fear it will buy us time. Once we’re out, bring it down.”
Next Issue: The Avengers learn the fate of the New Warriors!
# # # # # # # # # #
Captain Marvel
“Past Loves and Hates”
Part Two
Brought to you by Steve Crosby
“Die interloper!” From out of the shadows they came, beasts of claw and tooth that struck at Captain Mar-Vell. He’d been so focused on the statue he hadn’t been Aware. Quickly his attention focused. He dodged a clumsy strike with little effort and felled three beasts with one blast.
No, not beasts. Mar-Vell was Aware of their true form and named them. “Skrulls!”
Look out! These monsters are pretending to be Skrulls!
Very recently, Captain Mar-Vell had battled scores of hostile Skrulls. Instinct from that battle and training from years as a soldier kicked in. He leapt into a mass of Skrulls and sent a half-dozen flying with one powerful haymaker. Their features cracked, then melted like candlewax. He grabbed another and smashed him to the ground, cracking the floor with the force of the impact.
“What is this place? What madness are you Skrulls up to?”
With his Awareness, Captain Mar-Vell hadn’t been worried about other Skrulls rushing him during the interrogation. But after their initial attack, none of the Skrulls made a move toward him. They all stepped back, their hands raised, and Captain Mar-Vell noticed their robes. Skrull clothing was a part of their bodies shaped by conscious thought. Years of uniform thinking had shaped a militant style of dress, with only aberrants deviating from this. They had called him an interloper, an intruder to their gathering.
“We worship the teachings of the Princess Anelle. She preached peace, and we do our best to practice it.”
Releasing the Skrull he’d held, Captain Mar-Vell stepped back with understanding. “This is madness…to your fellow Skrulls.” His gaze was raised to the statue’s face. Around him, many of the Skrulls were kneeling.
“We know you, Mar-Vell. The Princess spoke often of your kindness and bravery. It was your conversion from soldier to protector that inspired her to speak for changing our way of life.”
Captain Mar-Vell looking down at the priest he’d assaulted, who was now rising to his feet. “You knew her personally?”
The Skrull nodded. “I was her servant and voice, preaching her views off-world when Galactus consumed. He was a means to punish us, and so I founded this order to turn the Skrulls from our wrongful path of war.”
“Your death was widely known,” one of the Skrulls said. “Yet here you stand, alive. Will the Princess return as well?”
Give it a few years.
Captain Mar-Vell did not tell them that. What could he tell them? That he was from the past, that he simply hadn’t died yet? Perhaps it would work; the Skrulls knew of time travel.
“I have not yet died,” he said. “My last meeting with Anelle remains fresh in my mind. I came here…to pay respects.”
“Then you do not know-”
The doors that had closed exploded open, spraying fiery fragments into the chamber. Acting on instinct, Captain Mar-Vell unleashed photonic blasts to destroy fragments before they could strike anyone.
“Everybody get down!” he cried.
Your light show drew attention.
A large, bulky figure strode into the building. It was a Skrull, but he had differences from others in that identical species. His limbs were elongated and ended in flaming hands and feet of rock. One of Captain Mar-Vell’s blasts stopped a half-foot from his head, deflected by an invisible barrier.
“Super-Skrull!” Captain Mar-Vell flew at his old enemy, the Nega-Bands on his wrists bursting with power.
“I knew it!” Super-Skrull said. He threw a fiery fist that stretched toward Captain Mar-Vell’s head. “Your return was well-publicized on Earth, Mar-Vell. And of course we monitor the former site of Throneworld. This is an opportunity I have longed for.”
The fist missed his head, but the arm twisted and caught Captain Mar-Vell’s neck. He felt the heat of the flames and fired a thick photonic burst at Super-Skrull. He clearly saw it strike something invisible, and saw the look of pain on Super-Skrull’s face. Before Captain Mar-Vell could fire a second burst, Super-Skrull’s other fist struck him in the mid-section. Captain Mar-Vell was then pulled closer to him.
“The years have taught me mastery over my powers,” Super-Skrull said. His eyes grew wider and seemed to spiral. “All my powers!”
Everything began to blur for Captain Mar-Vell. The clarity gained by Cosmic Awareness was clouding as a consciousness pressed against his own. Captain Mar-Vell struggled to focus his mind, to fight against Super-Skrull both physically and mentally. But he was no match on either front.
Dad, you have to wake up! Dad!
Captain Mar-Vell’s eyes shot open and saw that he was lying face-down in a pool of blood. From the color he knew it was Skrull blood. Immediately Captain Mar-Vell feared the worst, but then realized the floor was not the same. He’d been moved. When Captain Mar-Vell turned his head, he saw a dead Skrull in the fine uniform of an admiral.
“What…what happened?” Captain Mar-Vell asked. There was no answer in his head, but he could hear a voice hyperventilating.”Genis? Genis, are you all right?”
No. Saw it all…the blood and the dying. I saw it all.
The first thought in Captain Mar-Vell’s head was concern. Then a suspicion crossed his mind, and he asked, “Genis, how did you see this?”
Through your eyes. As you did it.
That was when the doors burst open, and Skrulls came in shooting.
“So in general there was no damage.” Robert Baldwin made a notation in his notepad. All of Hulk’s rampages were covered in a policy contracted by the government to Damage Control. As an assessment agent, it was Robert’s job to determine if damages should be paid. In this case, it appeared to be no.
“Just the hole and I filled it in myself. But the next day, Emery disappeared.”
“Most likely he was freaked out by what happened. It’s common with new mutants.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t think he’s a mutant. He’d mentioned drinking a kind of liquid plastic some days ago.”
Robbie couldn’t suppress a smile as he recalled his own origin. “My mistake, but however you get it, learning you have a power takes some getting used to. He’ll turn up.” Hopefully not as a villain.
The next stop wasn’t so easy.
“Doctor Miller was one of the kindest souls here at the hospital. Everybody was so sad to find him in that state.”
“I can only imagine your loss.” Robert made note of a crack in the doorframe. Hulk had landed on the grounds outside the hospital, and the vibrations had caused some minor damages. The death had been really troubling of course, but at least Hulk couldn’t be connected to it. “What happened to the patient found with him?”
“Moved to a more secure facility, thank goodness. Folks had figured his mother died of a heart attack, but after what he did to Doctor Miller she was dug up for an autopsy. Same cause of death.”
“Blood loss?” Robert consulted his notes, and confirmed that Doctor Miller’s only wound had been a missing tongue, later found in his stomach.
“Oh no, that was the first thing we saw when he found him. The tongue was gone, torn out, but no blood. As near as the coroner could figure, everything just stopped. That boy Terrance claimed not to know anything about it – acted like we’d had to tell him about his mother, but clearly he did something. And him just turned fifteen. It’s a shame how these killers get younger and younger.”
“Yeah, a shame.” And suspicious enough that Robert made a note for Damage Control to bring in an occult specialist. “Would you happen to know the name of where Mr. Ward was moved?”
More suspicious, she didn’t. The next day some men had appeared, and Terrance Ward was taken away. A brief inquiry yielded nothing, and Robert made a note that Terrance may have engineered his own escape. He then moved on to the next case.
“I’m not sure.” The man shook his head. “She was there and then she was over the edge. The bridge was shaking something awful when he landed. Several others nearly went over.”
“But she was only one that fell?” Robert asked.
“Yes.” His head lowered. “I had my hand out, said we could fix whatever was wrong. I’d like to think she was reaching for me, that it was his shaking the bridge that...In the middle of all that, I didn’t look down to see her hit the water.”
Neither had anyone else, Robert thought as he made the notation. “I’m sure you did the best you could.”
One of the police cruisers had a camera on the scene, had recorded Violet jumping right before the Hulk landed. Still, it could be argued the confusion of his presence had delayed rescue efforts. After weeks of searching the river her body hadn’t been recovered, so cause of death can’t be determined. That made this super-related in Robert’s opinion, but the final call wasn’t his.
At any rate, he was done there, and moved on to South Dakota.
“The equipment alone was worth millions! Not to mention the serum!”
Of course, Robert thought as he resisted rolling his eyes. There was always a world-changing serum or formula or gadget. “A regenerative based off Doctor Curt Connors’ research?”
“Yes, potentially worth billions!”
More likely it was a potential invasion by lizard men. “There are a few discrepancies to sort out. This technician, Melati Kusuma, had clocked in but didn’t clock out.”
“Clearly she had run off in fear and forgotten.”
“That wouldn’t be unusual if she hadn’t been the only one. And she hasn’t turned up since.” The lab suit was blathering on with some explanation, but Robert only half listened. His attention was on the claw marks. Clearly the Hulk had landed on the building, but something else had been there too.
A notation was made. Any decision would be made by higher-ups.
Montana, and the Brokeridges, had been Robert Baldwin’s last stop.
Mrs. Brokeridge was a nice woman, offering Robert tea while crying. “It just isn’t like Roger to run off like he did. Not with his brother the way he is.”
“The timing of it all,” said Mr. Brokeridge. “It just has to involve that Hulk in some way.”
Instead of getting anybody’s hopes up, Robert said, “Tell me about your other son.”
“Jeremy’s a good boy with…he had just a bright future. Before he was kidnapped and they…did things to him. That fighting wasn’t his idea. He was forced into that, brainwashed!”
Robert knew all about the Power Broker’s methods, and they didn’t involve brainwashing. An investigation had determined Jeremy Brokeridge had engaged in illegal superhuman activity of his own free will, so the results weren’t covered by any kind of insurance. Robert found it interesting that this poor man’s brother would disappear the same day a new masked super conveniently blasted an armored truck out of the Hulk’s path.
“Thank you for your time,” Robert told the Brokeridges. “We’ll be in touch.”
# # # # # # # # # #
It was with a deliberate, chilling calmness that Speedball’s opponent approached him. At this point he was on his knees, fighting to breathe through the fog. She bent down, picked up the rifle, held it aimed dead between Speedball’s eyes. If she fired then, while he was still conscious, the bullet would have ricocheted. So she waited, patiently still as a cat, for Speedball to pass out from lack of oxygen.
So still was his would-be killer that Speedball failed to notice that it was no longer her choice. Not until she began to move in reverse, setting down the rifle and walking backwards. The fog flowed out of Speedball’s body and he gasped desperately for air, blessedly free of whatever was happening. A hand fell on his shoulder and Speedball looked up to see and old friend, the events now making sense.
“Timeslip!”
Rina Patel couldn’t help but smile at the frog’s croak Speedball made of her codename. She wore a sleeker design of her old green costume, lacking the golden bands around her arms and legs. There was a rippling in the air around her and Speedball, the boundary against her temporal manipulation. Timeslip pulled Speedball to his feet.
“How are you doing this?” Speedball asked. Previously, the best Timeslip could do was slow time, making herself appear to move super-fast.
“With too much effort,” said Timeslip. “She’ll be free soon. We have to run.”
They did, and Speedball felt something akin to a rubber band snapping. As they turned the corner he heard footsteps splashing in the rain behind them. He’d forgotten to grab the rifle.
“How did you find me?” Speedball asked as they raced down the street.
“Because you’ll tell me where to be.” That was when Speedball realized he was talking to Timeslip’s future self, her consciousness having taken over her present body. “You’ll need to move fast. They’ll be moving up their schedule now that you’ve stumbled across them.”
“Who? What have I stumbled across?”
Timeslip shook her head. “I’ve been here too long. Things are slipping, and I need to remember to get this right. But take this,” something round and hard was pressed into Speedball’s hand.
“Find help as fast as you can.”
“But aren’t you coming-”
Timeslip pushed him ahead of her. “Go!”
A bullet exploded out from between Timeslip’s breasts. Speedball’s scream was drowned out by a loud humming that filled the air. As Timeslip was collapsing she shimmered, and vanished entirely just before hitting the ground. Only the blood, washing away in the rain, was the only sign she’d been there.
Speedball saw her walking down the street towards him, rifle in hand. She’d lowered it after the one shot, knowing a bullet at him would be useless. But from both sides of the street fog was roiling. Speedball knew if he didn’t run there would be a repeat of before, only with nobody to save him again. He considered for a moment, and then pulled the pin from the grenade Timeslip had given him.
“You’ll pay for that!” Speedball shouted just before the explosion. It was a stupid, childish taunt to make, especially for someone about to flee. The grenade blew up in his hands, yet remained intact. The energy that would have thrown shrapnel in every direction went instead to Speedball.
The useless grenade dropped to the ground while Speedball went flying into the air.
The killer rapidly disappeared from Speedball’s view, though before he turned he noticed that she was also taking to the sky. As the ground raced up to meet Speedball he hoped she wasn’t a fast flyer. The energy of the impact launched Speedball back up immediately, with greater speed than before. The irony wasn’t lost on Speedball, each leap being longer and faster than the last. Though in the back of his mind he also wondered, how would he stop?
# # # # # # # # # #
The image that Diane Newell saw on the monitor puzzled her. Taking her eyes off the scan, she spoke in the microphone to its subject. “All right Bonita, we’re done. I’m moving you out and we can go over the results.”
Bonita Juarez, the Avenger known as Espirita, sat up once she was slid from the MRI. Her legs shifted over the side, setting her feet solidly on the ground. Before she rose to a standing position, Espirita rolled her neck first clockwise, then counter-clockwise.
“I already know my neck isn’t broken.”
“There’s no evidence that it ever was,” Diane said. “And that is the mystery. Your teammates saw the Hulk strike you. They heard your neck snap.”
“As did I.” Espirita’s voice sounded more of serenity than melancholy. “Worse, I felt the bones break. Suddenly I couldn’t move and I lay helpless as darkness rushed all around me. I was broken and dying, but then I rose again. This isn’t in dispute.”
“But even with a rapid healing there should be signs of the injury. Marks in the bones where they knit back together, new tissue alongside the old.” With a sigh, Diane pressed commands to save and print the images. “This is for the experts to explain, though.”
“Oh there isn’t anything to explain.” Espirita smiled. “God brought me back. It wasn’t my time.”
Diane laughed in spite of herself. Making a neat stack of the scans, she picked it up and walked with Espirita out of the Medical Lab. “Somehow I think Captain America will require a more specific explanation.”
Espirita appreciated the effort Diane made in choosing her words. She waved a hand in a dismissive fashion. “And when one can’t be found, they’ll claim it’s some aspect of my abilities. All with no evidence, and yet they’ll cling to it before accepting that a higher power felt this wasn’t my time. While they conveniently ignore that my powers come from God.”
“Were you…conscious the entire time?”
“I believe I mentioned darkness,” said Espirita with a chuckle. “Hulk’s blow had knocked me out, for which I am thankful. I couldn’t feel my body, and then I couldn’t feel anything. But that split-second of being disembodied filled me with dread. No amount of spoken or written accounts can prepare for the experience. And when I awoke, I was whole once more. For what purpose I don’t know, but soon God will make it clear to me.”
Diane couldn’t help but ask the question. “How can you be so certain? I mean, you’ve seen so much as an Avenger, encountered other gods.”
“I have,” Espirita conceded. “Thor is a god, yet Odin the All-Father is above him. All the pantheons have heads, and they revere still more powerful beings. But above it all is God.”
Espirita truly believed it. Diane could hear the difference as she said the words. Such confidence, the quiet acceptance rather and dismissal of alternate views, Diane couldn’t help but feel assured. The two women were in the elevator now, and the doors opened at the main floor. They found several of the Avengers talking quietly in the public room; Captain America and Warbird and Stingray.
“-using my own connections, but they’re freezing my out,” Warbird was saying. At sight of Espirita and Diane she smiled and stepped forward. “Hey, there’s our girl. Everything checked out okay?”
“I am unhurt,” said Espirita in a reassuring tone.
Captain America wasn’t smiling. “You still went through a trauma. I would feel better if you talked to someone.”
“As should you, Steve.” Espirita touched his arm and looked up at him with sadness. “You were forced to give hard orders, and I know that must weigh heavy on you.”
Stingray had left the conversation to walk off with his wife, but Warbird felt the need to speak.
“Finally, someone who understands. Beast was yelling for what seemed like hours, using words I never thought even he knew. Others talked about feeling ‘uncomfortable’ and didn’t like ‘being in that situation.’ Honestly, the hypocrisy of it all-”
“That’s enough Warbird,” Captain America said. “They all understood, in their own ways. I’m fine with them venting to me, they should vent to me. What matters is they did as ordered and nobody else was hurt.” He turned back to Espirita. “I only regret that I may have waited too long.”
“You did as circumstances warranted. My concern is for Hulk. That was more than anger borne from grief.”
“We were just discussing that. The government isn’t telling us his location, but I spoke to Bruce. The moment he learned about Jennifer, men were shooting at him.”
“We’re thinking they drugged him somehow,” Warbird said.
“So this was about sending Hulk on a rampage?”
“If he had reached Washington a lot of damage would have been done,” Captain America said. “Both in property damage and political ramifications. We’re still catching some fallout.”
“Jennifer has been asked to step down as liaison,” said Warbird. “Who they’ll try to shove down our throats is anybody’s guess.”
“She advised that we use this public victory to build some goodwill. Send the team out on speaking engagements. Your work with church charities was mentioned.”
“You know I’m uncomfortable with that,” said Espirita.
“I know, but it’s a way to build support for those groups as well.” Captain America had been a public relations tool for as long as he’d been a soldier. “One thing I feel I should ask, what happened to you isn’t public.”
“I won’t open myself up to attack by claiming a resurrection.”
“You aren’t the first, if that helps,” said Warbird. “I’ve been hearing whispers of a cult to Mar-Vell. Maybe another thing on the list for us to deal with, Cap.”
“And we will. I’m especially concerned about Genosha. Why we’ve stayed out of that for so long I’ll never-”
Alarms cut off what Captain America was about to say. Through the large French windows, the air crackled with energy. Something was trying to breach Avengers Mansion, and in response the security measures had kicked in.
The three Avengers rushed outside. Captain America had his shield raised and against it crashed a body. A young man bounced off and fell to the ground, then was immediately restrained by the mansion’s non-lethal measures. Warbird was the first to recognize the blonde man in a blue-and-gold bodysuit, surrounded by spheres of multi-colored light.
“Speedball!”
It was the young hero, if barely recognizable. The costume, an aspect of his power, was dirty and somehow torn. His hair was caked with mud and, Captain America noted, blood. He bent down to check and found no cut on the scalp. The blood didn’t belong to Speedball.
“Security disengage.” To the freed visitor Captain America said, “You’re safe now. What happened? Who’s been hurt?”
The manacles that bound Speedball unlocked and flowed back into the ground. Not that he noticed by the dazed, lost look in his eyes. “R-rina.” The words were a muffled whisper. “She…oh my god…she shot…”
“Who? Who did this person shoot?” Warbird had taken Speedball by his shoulders and lifted him off the ground.
Speedball was shaking his head. “Not…not now. Me…they were after me.” The cobwebs were clearing from his head, and Speedball’s voice gained in force. “During Hulk’s rampage, there were strange disappearances. I was investigating…someone followed, attacked me. An…old friend helped me out, but I had to run, find help. Figured they would expect Metro City.”
“We can contact Force Works if you’d like,” said Captain America. “After we get you inside and put security on high-alert.”
Esprita had taken out her Avengers communi-card. “I will alert the rest of the team.”
“Don’t worry Speedball,” Warbird said as she helped him inside. “Even if whoever’s after you thinks to look here, they won’t be dumb enough to attack the mansion.”
At her words Speedball stopped so suddenly that Warbird dragged him the last foot into the mansion. His face was white behind the mask. “It’s not here they would think to look! Before I joined up with Force Works, I was one of the New Warriors!”
# # # # # # # # # #
Blood was trickling from Night Thrasher’s ears. The sound of the explosion had been nothing compared to the damage done, an entire wall of the Crash Pad gone and the rest buckling. All that was done from a slip of a girl with literally a cannon for an arm. She was smiling as that cannon aimed down at Night Thrasher’s face, and her lips were moving to say something he couldn’t hear.
“-where he is, and I’ll make it-”
A golden disc struck her in the temple after it ricocheted off several pieces of debris. The thrower, appropriately called Ricochet, followed this up with a leaping kick to the face. Three more discs appeared inside the fingers of his hand. Before the girl had even hit the ground, Ricochet had turned and hurled these discs at the man walking through the missing wall.
At a gesture, the powerfully built man in a full-face mask had erected a sphere of energy around himself. The discs struck it uselessly and fell to the ground. The sphere fell, but two more appeared around the man’s fists and he continued to advance.
“You’re powers remind me of an old teammate.” Turbo had taken to the air on twin gusts of wind created by turbines on her legs. Her prosthetic hand was raised and the turbines on that were spinning. “Are they as useful against me too?”
Turbo received her answer soon enough. The whirlwind that engulfed her opponent forced the air from his lungs and he fell to this knees struggling for breath. The spheres on his hands were growing larger and brighter, and Turbo braced herself for evasive action.
But the attack came from above. A young woman with green scaly skin and reptilian features fell through the skylight at Turbo. Turbo looked up and twisted to avoid the collision, but the reptilian woman slashed out with razor sharp claws, raking deep cuts along Turbo’s chest.
“Argh!” Turbo lost control of her winds and crashed to the floor. Ricochet saw blood pooling under her and leapt between his teammate and the animal. Guided by his senses, Ricochet ducked under a slashing swing and delivered an uppercut that drove the reptilian woman back a step.
Night Thrasher had recovered and jumped toward the scaly woman backing towards him. From his back a skateboard was detached and Night Thrasher swung it against the woman’s head. It shattered, and with a cry of pain she collapsed. The girl with a cannon was still down, but Night Thrasher saw the man was rising back to his full height, a sphere around each fist.
“Who are you?” Night Thrasher said without hearing his own words. “What do you want with us?”
“The girl mentioned Speedball,” said Ricochet. “You think he’s slummed back with us after ditching Force Works? For the compliment I’ll be sure to kick your ass extra special.”
But Night Thrasher raised a hand to stop Ricochet. “This guy might be too much for us, and Turbo’s hurt. Get her out of here and find some help.”
Every fiber of Ricochet’s being agreed with Night Thrasher. His senses were screaming to run, and he reluctantly agreed to do just that. But when Ricochet turned to pick up Turbo, he found behind them a horrific sight. Spider-Girl, their former teammate otherwise known as Mattie Franklin, was standing there with arms extended to him. Blood was dripping heavily to the floor, falling from long gashes in each of her arms.
“I tried to tell you.” Her voice was pleading, full of anguish. “Why didn’t you listen?”
“Mattie, I…I, no, no this can’t be…” Richocet’s danger sense was screaming, but he was paralyzed with the horror of his fears.
The second explosion that brought Night Thrasher to the ground was smaller but no less devastating. The man he faced had created a sphere of blue energy in front of him, and it erupted in a blinding flash that shorted every circuited in Night Thrasher’s armor. A backlash through his cybernetic link sent a wave of pain through Night Thrasher, knocking him onto his back.
Night Thrasher struggled to get up, but like his armor his body was responding to mental commands. From a fixed vantage point he saw Ricochet was lying beside Turbo, limbs twitching. Standing over the two, helping reptile girl to her feet, was a tall man with pale skin and jet black hair, dressed all in black. Ironically, Night Thrasher’s hearing had recovered, and he could hear the three standing enemies talking.
“-was a mistake,” said the reptilian woman. “I can’t smell him.”
“Outside of Force Works, this was the most likely place,” the energy-user said. “They even I.D.ed that girl as being one. Where else would he go?”
“His job, perhaps,” mused the pale one. “But no, he would fear we have people watching the Flatiron Building. It’s the same reason he didn’t go to Metro City.” He pointed at their unconscious teammate. “Pick Armory up. We should leave immediately before they arrive.”
Surprisingly, it was the reptilian woman that moved, easily hoisting the small woman. “Before who arrives?”
“It makes perfect sense. He knows this involves the Hulk, so the ones that beat him would be on Speedball’s mind. He’s gone to the Avengers, and events will need to accelerate.”
“And these three?” Night Thrasher saw their energy-user gesture down at him. “We have trouble taking them down, no way are we ready for the Avengers.”
“Once the others join us we shall be.” That pale head looked upwards. “Yes, if we make them act from fear it will buy us time. Once we’re out, bring it down.”
Next Issue: The Avengers learn the fate of the New Warriors!
# # # # # # # # # #
Captain Marvel
“Past Loves and Hates”
Part Two
Brought to you by Steve Crosby
“Die interloper!” From out of the shadows they came, beasts of claw and tooth that struck at Captain Mar-Vell. He’d been so focused on the statue he hadn’t been Aware. Quickly his attention focused. He dodged a clumsy strike with little effort and felled three beasts with one blast.
No, not beasts. Mar-Vell was Aware of their true form and named them. “Skrulls!”
Look out! These monsters are pretending to be Skrulls!
Very recently, Captain Mar-Vell had battled scores of hostile Skrulls. Instinct from that battle and training from years as a soldier kicked in. He leapt into a mass of Skrulls and sent a half-dozen flying with one powerful haymaker. Their features cracked, then melted like candlewax. He grabbed another and smashed him to the ground, cracking the floor with the force of the impact.
“What is this place? What madness are you Skrulls up to?”
With his Awareness, Captain Mar-Vell hadn’t been worried about other Skrulls rushing him during the interrogation. But after their initial attack, none of the Skrulls made a move toward him. They all stepped back, their hands raised, and Captain Mar-Vell noticed their robes. Skrull clothing was a part of their bodies shaped by conscious thought. Years of uniform thinking had shaped a militant style of dress, with only aberrants deviating from this. They had called him an interloper, an intruder to their gathering.
“We worship the teachings of the Princess Anelle. She preached peace, and we do our best to practice it.”
Releasing the Skrull he’d held, Captain Mar-Vell stepped back with understanding. “This is madness…to your fellow Skrulls.” His gaze was raised to the statue’s face. Around him, many of the Skrulls were kneeling.
“We know you, Mar-Vell. The Princess spoke often of your kindness and bravery. It was your conversion from soldier to protector that inspired her to speak for changing our way of life.”
Captain Mar-Vell looking down at the priest he’d assaulted, who was now rising to his feet. “You knew her personally?”
The Skrull nodded. “I was her servant and voice, preaching her views off-world when Galactus consumed. He was a means to punish us, and so I founded this order to turn the Skrulls from our wrongful path of war.”
“Your death was widely known,” one of the Skrulls said. “Yet here you stand, alive. Will the Princess return as well?”
Give it a few years.
Captain Mar-Vell did not tell them that. What could he tell them? That he was from the past, that he simply hadn’t died yet? Perhaps it would work; the Skrulls knew of time travel.
“I have not yet died,” he said. “My last meeting with Anelle remains fresh in my mind. I came here…to pay respects.”
“Then you do not know-”
The doors that had closed exploded open, spraying fiery fragments into the chamber. Acting on instinct, Captain Mar-Vell unleashed photonic blasts to destroy fragments before they could strike anyone.
“Everybody get down!” he cried.
Your light show drew attention.
A large, bulky figure strode into the building. It was a Skrull, but he had differences from others in that identical species. His limbs were elongated and ended in flaming hands and feet of rock. One of Captain Mar-Vell’s blasts stopped a half-foot from his head, deflected by an invisible barrier.
“Super-Skrull!” Captain Mar-Vell flew at his old enemy, the Nega-Bands on his wrists bursting with power.
“I knew it!” Super-Skrull said. He threw a fiery fist that stretched toward Captain Mar-Vell’s head. “Your return was well-publicized on Earth, Mar-Vell. And of course we monitor the former site of Throneworld. This is an opportunity I have longed for.”
The fist missed his head, but the arm twisted and caught Captain Mar-Vell’s neck. He felt the heat of the flames and fired a thick photonic burst at Super-Skrull. He clearly saw it strike something invisible, and saw the look of pain on Super-Skrull’s face. Before Captain Mar-Vell could fire a second burst, Super-Skrull’s other fist struck him in the mid-section. Captain Mar-Vell was then pulled closer to him.
“The years have taught me mastery over my powers,” Super-Skrull said. His eyes grew wider and seemed to spiral. “All my powers!”
Everything began to blur for Captain Mar-Vell. The clarity gained by Cosmic Awareness was clouding as a consciousness pressed against his own. Captain Mar-Vell struggled to focus his mind, to fight against Super-Skrull both physically and mentally. But he was no match on either front.
Dad, you have to wake up! Dad!
Captain Mar-Vell’s eyes shot open and saw that he was lying face-down in a pool of blood. From the color he knew it was Skrull blood. Immediately Captain Mar-Vell feared the worst, but then realized the floor was not the same. He’d been moved. When Captain Mar-Vell turned his head, he saw a dead Skrull in the fine uniform of an admiral.
“What…what happened?” Captain Mar-Vell asked. There was no answer in his head, but he could hear a voice hyperventilating.”Genis? Genis, are you all right?”
No. Saw it all…the blood and the dying. I saw it all.
The first thought in Captain Mar-Vell’s head was concern. Then a suspicion crossed his mind, and he asked, “Genis, how did you see this?”
Through your eyes. As you did it.
That was when the doors burst open, and Skrulls came in shooting.