Back to GatefoldIssue #67 by Steve Crosby
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"Classic Reboot"
The dreams had gotten worse.
Every time Allison Blaire closed her eyes, she would return to hell. The screaming crowds, the flash of cameras, that fat producer dictating her every move. Perhaps if they were flashbacks of her old life as a singer, the woman known as Dazzler could have coped. But these memories were of her time in the Mojoverse, named after its ruler.
Dazzler had thought she'd moved on from that painful time in her life. After Mojo and the Sequel had been killed, the entertainarchy overthrown, Dazzler's relationship with the rebel leader Longshot had fizzled. Their love had been one of danger, and when that faded they had agreed to end things. Perhaps if she hadn't gotten…
A long drain on the liquor bottle drove that thought from Dazzler's mind. The drinking had grown more frequent. The only time Dazzler didn't dream was when she was passed out drunk.
It hadn't always been this way. When Dazzler had first returned to Earth, fighting alongside the X-Men had given her a renewed purpose in life. One final trip to the Mojoverse had brought closer, and Dazzler had even tried to jumpstart her music career.
A recent performance in Mutant Town hadn't worked out, but helping to rebuild the neighborhood had kept Dazzler busy. Still, the condemned buildings and dejected populace had reminded Dazzler of conditions while in the rebellion. Perhaps that had brought on the dreams. Since then, Dazzler had grown more distant from the work, and closer to the bottle.
"Maybe I should’ve have listened to my father and become a lawyer," Dazzler said to herself.
All through her music career, trouble had always managed to find Dazzler. The Hellfire Club, Enchantress, Project Pegasus, even Galactus had somehow managed to cross paths with Dazzler. It'd gotten to the point where she joined the X-Men for mutual protection, but that hadn't worked out. Dazzler had barely begun to get her life back together when Longshot had arrived and dragged her into his Mojoverse drama.
The bottle was no longer in Dazzler's hand. Before she'd even realized what happened, it shattered against the wall Dazzler was too close too, showering her with glass fragments. Turning away, Dazzler walked into the other room, leaving a trail of blood drops behind her. In the bedroom were more bottles, and men and women in various states of undress. Whatever worked to fill the emptiness in Dazzler's life, however briefly.
# # # # # # # # # #
“Wow, cake after meetings,” Darkhawk said to Speedball. “This reminds me of my brief time with the New Warriors.”
“Luckily Jarvis is a better cook than I am,” Speedball said in between bites.
The massive cake took up almost the entire dining table in Avengers Mansion. The frosting alternated between blue and pink, a representation of a baby in the center. Espirita had been concerned about waste, but Jarvis had assured her that most would be donated to a nearby hospital’s maternity wing. Fitting, as the cake had been made to celebrate Walter Newell and his wife Diane’s news.
“How did the twins react when you told them the news?” Photon said.
“They’re so excited to have a little brother or sister,” Diane said.
Binary walked over. “Wait, you have children? How have I not known this?”
“They stay with my sister in Massachusetts,” Stingray said. “We go to see them as often as we can. And of course we’ll be taking a leave of absence once we’re farther along.”
Photon laughed. “Listen to this one. Talking as if he’s carrying a baby too.”
“You should have seen him las time,” Diane said. “He exhibited more symptoms of pregnancy than I did! Just be thankful he can process waste in his armor.”
At hearing that, Binary awkwardly put down her cake and walked away. At the other side of the room, Warbird was standing alone with no cake. Noticing this self-imposed solitude, Espirita walked over to the team’s leader.
“You don’t appear as jubilant as everyone else.”
Warbird shook her head. “No, I’m happy for Walter and Diane. It’s just that in our line of work, I find it hard not to think of all the bad that could happen.”
“I’m sure that’s not lost on them,” Espirita said. “Their son and daughter don’t live here, after all.”
“No, it’s not the typical risks I worry about.” Warbird sighed, trying to exorcize the bad thoughts. “I just can’t help but look at things from my own situation. The weird things that you don’t even think to prepare for.”
“As with most other things you need to trust in God’s judgement and move on as best you can.” Espirita picked up a second piece of cake and offered this to Warbird. “Depending on each other helps. Whatever happens I’m sure we’ll face it as a team.”
Warbird remembered when she had needed to depend on her team. Before she could give a heated response, Espirita dropped both pieces of cake. She had doubled over in pain, clutching the table’s edge for support.
“Espirita, what’s wrong?” Warbird had grabbed her teammate, offering further support.
“I see Dazzler,” Espirita gasped. “Her pain is calling out to me, and it’s a fraction of what’s to come!”
# # # # # # # # # #
Soon after the Avengers determined Dazzler’s whereabouts, Photon arrived there first. As pure light she flew through the window of Dazzler’s hotel room and transformed into flesh in the midst of naked people. The stench of alcohol and sex were overwhelming, Photon saw evidence of drug use.
“Alison, what have you gotten yourself into?” Photon whispered, invoking Dazzler’s real name. Stepping over naked people, Photon spoke a little louder, transmitting to her teammates en route. “It isn’t a super-battle. It looks like Dazzler has...”
Photon trailed off, having caught sight of Dazzler. She was hard to miss.
“Photon, what is it?” came Warbird’s voice over the Avengers communi-card.
“Have the med-lab prepared for a possible drug overdose,” Photon said. “And...I don’t know. We may need an ultra-sound.”
Lying in front of Photon was an unconscious Dazzler who appeared to be nine months pregnant.
# # # # # # # # # #
Dr. Robert Bruce Banner had worked non-stop from the moment Dazzler was brought into the medical area. Not only was a treating a woman potentially suffering from alcohol poisoning and a drug overdose, he also had the health of a fetus to consider. The stress was considerable, even with Photon assisting.
Warbird entered to see that Banner was sweating profusely. “Bruce, once the danger’s passed you should go get some rest.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t know if it’s passed!” Banner slammed a hand against a monitor. Both Warbird and Photon jumped with understandable distress. “Dazzler is stable. But she could regain consciousness at any time, and if her condition is a mystery to us I can’t imagine how she’ll react.”
“We can handle it,” Photon said. She then addressed Warbird. “But speaking of her…condition, we can’t get anything.”
“You’re not saying…?”
“No,” Photon was quick to respond. “I mean nothing at all. According to everything except our eyes, Dazzler isn’t pregnant.”
Warbird recalled a distant memory. “There was a time when the X-Men - Dazzler included - were invisible to electronic sensors. Some kind of magic spell, and while it’s obviously faded, is there a chance it carried over somehow?”
“Magic, could that be why Espirita had a…a premonition?” Banner asked. “There’s so much about her own powers we don’t know.” Including why I didn’t kill her, he didn’t say out loud.
Warbird put a hand on Banner’s shoulder, and fought the urge to rip his head off in self-defense when he flinched. “Bruce, go get some rest. We called in some specialists, and I’ll be right here to keep Dazzler calm when she wakes up.”
After a tired nod, Bruce Banner left the room on unsteady feet. Outside he would be watched by Binary, Espirita and Speedball. Hopefully they’d make a difference should the other guy appear. That left Warbird and Photon alone with Dazzler.
“I can only imagine what you think of all this,” Photon said. “But just out of curiosity, how do you plan to keep her calm?”
“Mostly I’ll just take what was said during my pregnancy as a guide to what to avoid. I sure as hell won’t congratulate her on how lucky she is.”
It was so inappropriate Photon had a hold back a laugh. “Who…who would say that?”
“Wasp. At the time I thought she was such a bitch. Later on it occurred to me that Immortus might have mind-raped them the way he did me. Maybe that’s too easy of an excuse, but it helps me work alongside people I would rather punch in the face.”
“You know, Dazzler probably hasn’t gone through the same thing,” Photon said. “Most likely this is her pregnancy from Longshot, just…somehow affected by whatever the Mojoverse is.”
Warbird had read the notes Beast had compiled, along with his theories. If Shatterstar was in there, she’d declare this job too weird and retire on the spot. “It’ll still be a shock. And obviously Dazzler is wrestling with some demons of her own. I’d hate to think it was in reaction to the pregnancy, some attempt at…”
Warbird couldn’t finish the words, not that Photon didn’t know what she was saying. “Give me a second to check something.”
Photon disappeared in a burst of light, then reappeared seconds later. “I was just looking through the hotel’s video surveil-aargh!”
Having shielded her eyes from Photon’s light form, Warbird didn’t witness the arrival. It wasn’t until Photon’s cry that she looked, and Warbird saw six swords cut through Photon as though she were still flesh. Photon fell to the ground in five sections of solid light, cries of pain seeming to come from each. But Warbird’s attention was focused on her teammate’s attacker.
Shades of a past beauty could be glimpsed in the woman’s malicious, worn features. Long grey hair hung under an ornate silver helmet like straw, and the eyes that reflected beneath that helmet were a solid dead yellow. Six arms extended out from her torso, each grasping a sword of varied types.
“Spiral!” Gathering energy in her clenched fists, Warbird launched herself at the villain. “I should have known you and Mojo were behind this!”
With a flick of her half-dozen wrists, Spiral binds Warbird in place with eldritch energies. “Hadn’t you heard? Mojo is dead, and so for that matter am I.” Spiral gave a smile that sent shivers down Warbird’s spine. “Once I’ve reminded you and yours of that fact, I’ll take the proud mother-to-be to her destiny, and none will be the wiser.”
As she always did when casting powerful spells, Spiral danced, weaving her arms in an intricate pattern. Warbird could only watch helplessly, the power drained from her body. But she could also hear, and noticed that the machines monitoring Dazzler’s vitals no longer beeped. Either those vitals had ceased, or Dazzler was awakened, and her power to transduce sound into light was in effect.
A sudden flash of light washing over Spiral and Warbird provided the answer.
# # # # # # # # # #
The loud crash and tremors coming from beneath the mansion sent Avengers rushing to the sub-basement. Binary and Espirita flew while Speedball bounced from the walls and ceiling. Dr. Banner would remain upstairs, ready to lock down the mansion and alert other Avengers.
Binary was first through the door, first to find her teammates and Dazzler missing. In their place was a six-armed woman she recognized from case files as Spiral. She had been knocked to the floor, weapons scattered, and was in the process of righting herself when Binary entered.
“So you’re behind this,” Binary cried out. She launched herself forward, fists raised to lay a haymaker. “I’ve read you’re powerful, but I’ve gone toe-to-toe with the Hulk!”
Binary’s fist connected solidly with Spiral’s face. However, Binary found the force redirected against herself, and was hurled backwards against the wall.
“Brute strength means nothing against finesse.” Rising to her feet, Spiral summoned a sword to each hand. “In you I detect a mix of science and magic, reminiscent of my own work. Perhaps it is within my power to undo.”
“Keep back, witch!” Espirita had reached the fray. Flames erupted from her fingertips, forming in a tight circle around Spiral. “You’ll explain what’s become of our teammates.”
But instead of expected bravado, Spiral’s response was a primal scream. She attempted to shrink back from the flames, but they burned from all sides. From the slightest touch Spiral experienced a pain almost beyond recognition. She collapsed into a fetal position, the cries of pain turning into sobs of agony.
Fearful of her power’s effects, Espirita instinctively drew the flames back. “I am sorry for the pain, but you must understand that-ack!”
The moment she was able, Spiral threw her sword that was more of a long knife. It sank deep into the center of Espirita’s chest.
“And you claim a witch am I,” Spiral spat with the purest disdain. “Go back three to where thou came!”
Before she could overcome the shock of the attack, Espirita faded from view. In seconds she was gone and the sword fell to the ground, not even a trace of blood on the blade. Binary had just recovered in time to watch this, and her eyes then fixed on Spiral.
“What did you do? Bring her back! Bring them all back!”
“Your greatest asset banished, any demands are toothless. In you my curiosity is raised. I’ll see my queries answered, one way or another!”
But as Spiral advanced on Binary, multi-colored balls of kinetic energy struck her in the side. Speedball had now entered the fray.
# # # # # # # # # #
It took a moment for Warbird’s eyes to recover. When the spots created by Dazzler’s light burst faded, Warbird saw that she was no longer in Avengers mansion. She was lying on a rooftop, overlooking a city that certainly wasn’t New York. Even counting modern architecture, the city did not appear to be like anything on Earth, except for the gigantic television screens that seemed to be everywhere.
One look at the images being broadcast told Warbird where Spiral had transported her too. “Mojoverse. But I’d read that it was destroyed.”
“One thing about Mojoverse, time isn’t exactly relevant.” Dazzler was also on the rooftop, holding her pregnant belly. “I always thought I’d miscarried after an encounter with Spiral. What she must have done was…put it in some kind of temporal stasis.”
“Speaking of Spiral, where is that bitch?” Warbird looked about, but didn’t see any sign of the villain. “Or Photon for that matter? From what I saw, she could very well be-”
Beams of light flashed around Warbird, accompanied by childish laughter.
“-dead?”
Five beams of light settled onto the roof in front of Warbird, each forming into the shape of a toddler. When the lights formed into flesh, Warbird saw that each was Photon, or at least a child version of Photon. Four were wearing slight variations of the costume, except for the fifth who was wearing a white bodysuit under a trench coat she was in danger of tripping over.
“Who the heck are you supposed to be?” Warbird asked. Behind her, Dazzler groaned and covered her face with both hands.
The little girls spoke at once, each giving a different name.
“I’m Captain Marvel!”
“I’m Photon!”
“Nobody else is called Pulsar!”
“There’s only one Spectrum!”
“I’m Monica Rambeau!” Said the girl in the trench coat. “And nothing like this happened when I led the Avengers!”
“Oh, Spiral, you are now my most hated enemy,” Warbird muttered to herself. “Okay, um, girls, have you by any chance seen a mean lady with six arms?”
“No, but that lady just wet herself.” Spectrum pointed at Dazzler’s, who’s water had indeed just broken.
“Oh, wonderful,” said Dazzler. “Another baby on the way.”
“Yeah, and you’re taking this remarkably well.” Warbird turned to the five tiny versions of the same Avenger. “Girls, I need you to get me some things.”
After the five beams of light flew off to gather supplies for a birth, Warbird turned to address Dazzler. “Don’t worry Dazzler. If this is indeed your baby by Longshot, we’ll get it out of your safe and sound.”
“Longshot’s sterile,” Dazzler said. “And this isn’t the result of me sneaking around.”
A fury was growing inside of Warbird. “You don’t mean…?”
“At the time I was held captive my Mojo’s forces, I wasn’t sure what experiments they were running on me.” Dazzler moved to lay down on the floor. “It wasn’t until Professor X somehow detected life inside of me that I had an idea. Longshot and I played it cool, but of course we were worried. I was naive to think that everything had sorted itself out, that Spiral wasn’t acting to protect some grand plan.”
Warbird knelt over Dazzler. “Whatever it is, I’ll help you deal with it. Spiral, Mojo, whatever is coming, I promise you won’t face this alone.”
Dazzler gave a laugh, mix with a grunt from a contraction. “Oh, you silly Ms. Marvel. Here in Mojoverse, whatever is most entertaining, that’s what’s going to happen.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Christopher Powell was in a job interview when the Avengers alert came in. He checked in a few minutes, and upon receiving no response contacted Stingray. Walter Newell and his wife Diane were out of the city, and their way to see their children. They agreed that Christopher would check out the alert and would contact Stingray if he was needed.
Activating the amulet that was always on his person, Christopher transformed into Darkhawk and glided to Avengers Mansion. First he saw the smoke, then a gaping hole where the front door should have been. Three people appeared to be battling on the front lawn, and when Darkhawk identified who they were he almost contacted Stingray on the spot.
“Hulk smash!”
A massive green fist slammed against Speedball’s chest. The much, much smaller super-hero went flying back, a flurry of multi-colored balls of kinetic energy exploding around him. Speedball smashed against the high wall that surrounded Avengers Mansion and immediately bounced back at the Hulk, completely unharmed. Blows from tiny arms and thousands of kinetic balls only served to anger and distract the Hulk.
But the real shock was the third man, Doctor Robert Bruce Banner. While the Hulk was battling perhaps the one man that could withstand his rampage, the human scientist was firing a laser blaster into the mansion. Suddenly he dropped the gun and dove to the ground, as a six-armed woman with swords leapt into view.
“I take it you’re the bad guy!” Darkhawk swooped down and unleashed a blast of dark force energy from his amulet. It struck Spiral full on and she went back several steps. Darkhawk landed near Banner, picked up the gun and handed it to the man. “Have you been conducting experiments, doctor?”
“That woman did something to me,” Banner said in a weary tone. He looked very pale to Darkhawk and, upon a second look, the Hulk was also a very pale green. “She’s also apparently teleported several of us away.”
From the mansion’s gaping out, Binary staggered out. She appeared to be bleeding energy from numerous cuts in her fiery dark-red skin. For a moment her eyes were fixed on the Hulk, who was still battering ineffectively at Speedball.
“Forget him,” called Banner. “While Speedball is keeping my other half busy, we’re free to handle this one!” Activating a switch on the blaster, it transformed into a rifle that was almost half Banner’s size. Though he hefted it with some difficulty, Banner was able to rapidly fire a series of large laser bursts at Spiral.
“Did you design that gun for use in both your forms?” Darkhawk asked. He flew into the air and led with dark force blasts while closing in on Spiral. “I find that equal parts disturbing and awesome.”
The six swords of Spiral deflected each of the laser bursts, and with a contorted pose dodged the dark force blast. “And how do three children and an unstable man propose to handle me?”
Spiral stabbed at Darkhawk, but he caught two of her swords with his grapple claw. A third sword slashed at his torso, but Darkhawk twisted to avoid it. He appeared to succeed, having no scratches on his body.
“We’re still four to one, and you keep missing,” Darkhawk replied.
Spiral smiled. “Oh do I? In another dimension your body is bleeding.”
Before Darkhawk could respond to Spiral, Binary flew between them. She slammed into Spiral, carrying her towards Speedball and the Hulk. The four were soon almost completely obscured by the kinetic balls.
Banner ran over to Darkhawk. “I’m sure she was just bluffing,” he said between shallow breaths.
But Darkhawk wasn’t so sure. “We just met, and she knows my entire deal. We need to get Stingray here, and any reserves we can. Once backup’s arrived, I’ll bow out.”
Balls went flying in all directions, as did Speedball and Binary. That left Hulk grasping three of Spiral’s arms in one hand, including a crushed cybernetic arm. Swords jutted from his body, but if the Hulk noticed it only fed his rage.
“Spider lady hurt Hulk! Nobody hurts Hulk!” Each scream was accompanied by a slap that was felt by every Avenger present. Surprisingly, each blow from the Hulk seemed to only daze Spiral, and her three free arms were each moving in elaborate gestures.
“Something’s wrong,” Darkhawk said to Bruce Banner. “The Hulk should be killing her.” He turned to face the doctor. “Not that that’d be a good thing. But she’s clearly doing something to him and…and to you!”
Darkhawk saw that Banner was sprawled on the ground, not moving. When Darkhawk picked him up, he felt how weak the man’s pulse was and noticed how faint his breathing had become. The same must be true, though less noticeable, for the Hulk.
“We need to get them back together,” Darkhawk called to Speedball and a recovered Binary. “You two get ready!”
Darkhawk then launched himself at the Hulk, Doctor Banner still in his arms. At the same time Spiral made her move, unleashing eldritch energy to drive the Hulk away from her. The massive, deathly pale creature went back several steps, right at Darkhawk and Banner.
Later on Darkhawk would recognize the risk, but in the moment he acted without thinking. He surged forward with the unmoving Banner held in front of him, and slammed him against the back of the Hulk. Logically, Banner should have been crushed, but as with most things involving Spiral the illogical occurred. Banner disappeared into the Hulk, or the Hulk disappeared into Banner. Darkhawk could make no sense of what he was seeing, and if his body had a stomach likely would have emptied it’s contents.
Unconcerned that her spell had been countered, Spiral twirled to deflect a plasma blast from Binary. Speedball was coming at her from behind, but she paid him no mind. Her blank eyes saw everything, even into other dimensions and points in time. At the end of The Mojoverse, her attention was fixed on a momentous event that was occurring.
“No longer can I afford to waste my time.” Continuing the twirl, Spiral grabbed Speedball’s balls with two hands. She slammed them together, his head in between, and Speedball actually felt it. Looking into his eyes, Spiral his future, and asked, “Is it me that you’ll see again?”
With a third hand, Spiral grabbed Speedball by the front of his costume and casually threw him behind her. He crashed into Binary, not bouncing, and together they fell into a heap. Despite her injured arm, Spiral was certain of her eventual triumph.
The Avengers would be subdued, made to forget, but to continue would risk Spiral being late for her date. The cancellation of the Mojoverse was a fluid stacking of seconds, making travel difficult for one of even her abilities. To attempt to reach the final act was to court madness.
How fortunate for Spiral then, that she was already insane.
Three of his teammates down, Darkhawk could only watch helplessly as Spiral danced. Grappling claw out and gliding wings spread, Darkhawk launched himself forward, hoping he can stop the villain before she could complete the spell. From the corner of his visor Darkhawk saw Binary roll Speedball aside and also launch herself into the air.
Alas, the Avengers efforts were for naught. Spiral completed her dance and vanished in a swirl of colors. Binary passed through empty air, a scream of rage passing her lips.
“She’s gone! And three of us with her!” Binary smashed a fist into the palm of her hand. “How are we supposed to follow?”
“We’ll find a way,” Speedball said as he was rising to his feet. There was blood at the corner of his mouth, and there would soon be a lump on his head. “First we should be Banner to the lab, and Darkhawk I heard Spiral remark that she’d wounded you.”
While Binary picked the thankfully whole and human Banner, Darkhawk walked with Speedball back into the mansion. “Yes, something about cutting across dimensions to get my human form. If true, I’d better change back to deal with it.”
Darkhawk touched the amulet on his chest, willing the transformation. In an instant, the Darkhawk android is teleported to the Ship in Null Space, while the body of Christopher Powell was returned from suspended animation. Immediately, Christopher felt the blood running down his side, and he saw Speedball rush at him before everything started to fade.
# # # # # # # # # #
There wasn’t much blood, for which Warbird was grateful. On the rooftop of an alien building in an alien dimension, she and Dazzler had no access to medical care. Nor were there access to cleaning supplies, which made the mess problematic. It didn’t help that Warbird added to that mess, so unexpected and repulsive did she find the product of Dazzler’s pregnancy.
Though obviously in pain from the discomforts of childbirth, Dazzler moved to her feet and away from the mess. “Grotesque thing. I’ve never seen a spineless child before.”
One look at the creature’s ghastly smile nearly made Warbird vomit again. At the moment however her revulsion was overlaid with confusion. Dazzler was being far too calm in this situation.
“I always did suspect this,” Dazzler said in response to the unasked question. “There are several days in Mojoverse I can’t account for, and then suddenly I was told a sterile man had impregnated me. If only I’d gotten pregnant before I met Longshot again but no. It had to be this, a forced implantation for whatever sick plan Mojo had.”
Dazzler turned and started to walk away. “Come on, we’d better find those girls and figure a way out. If this is when I think it is, Xorn should be detonating soon. Once that happens, this entire universe becomes a black hole.”
“And you just want to leave your…your…” It was instinct to speak out in defense of life, but looking down at the thing eliminated any arguments Warbird may have had. She remembered Marcus Immortus, and Warbird wondered what she would have done if in her right mind.
The answer was lost in a sudden attack. Between Warbird and Dazzler there appeared Spiral. It was plain the woman had been in a fight, bruised and battered as she was, her cybernetic arm crushed. Nevertheless she still had five, and each one holding a sword.
“Now that I’m dead here I am at last.” Spiral twirled, strands of crimson energy cascading from her swords. Warbird found herself bound, the energy leeched from her body. Spiral advanced on the spineless child, and strangely Dazzler made no move to stop her. “And so the abandoned child becomes the abandoning mother.”
At that Dazzler stopped, but she didn’t turn around. “Don’t think you can goad me. This universe delights in twists and turns, in manufactured drama. But if I reject the script and refuse to perform, you have no power over me.”
“Entertainment doesn’t require cooperation,” Spiral said. “Even as you attempt the mundane life, the masses will clamor, and ratings will ri-aahhh!”
Four waves of conflicting crashed into Spiral’s body in rapid succession. The next wave was so insane that it snapped Spiral back into sanity. Those blank eyes gained color. That bloodied mouth opened to scream. A fractured mind reassembled then broke again only to reassemble once more. Swords clattered to the ground, followed soon by Spiral’s prone but breathing form.
Standing over Spiral, reassembled in form and personality, was the adult Photon. The glow of her energy form was unlike any Warbird had ever seen.
“I’ve managed to duplicate her trans-dimentional energies,” Photon said. She was looking out in the distance. “I think I can get us home, and we need to go fast. A fusion reaction is occurring.”
“All right then,” said Dazzler. “Let’s go.”
“But wait,” said Warbird as she rose to her feet, the bands falling away from her. “We have to stop it, save this universe and all these people.”
“I already did.” Dazzler gestured at the spineless creature that had come out of her. “It makes perfect sense. Mojo engineers his return at the cancellation of his universe, his own power triggering a reboot. Killing it might be a required catalyst, as could an emotional embrace of acceptance or the turmoil of abandonment.”
“And what do you intend to do?” Warbird asked.
Dazzler couldn’t help but smile. “Something unexpected.” Dazzler then turned at last, reached down for the child, and picked him up. “I’m taking him out of this ratings-obsessed world and into a mundane life.”
That illicted a reaction from the spineless child. It gave a hideous wail and attempted to claw at Dazzler. But holding him at arms length, Dazzler carried him toward Photon. Together they touched the glow of her energy, and disappeared.
Out of the corner of her eye Warbird saw it, the detonation of a nearby supernova. Turning from the flare of trillions of hydrogen bombs, Warbird rushed at Dazzler, and they disappeared together in a burst of light. A second later, the Mojoverse died again.
# # # # # # # # # #
From a second story window, Warbird observed as Dazzler left the mansion by the front gate. The spineless child, ignored at Dazzler’s insistence, had died minutes after arriving, by what she claimed were “declined ratings”. Warbird didn’t like letting a woman whose mental health was in doubt just leave, but a new crisis took precedence.
“Is everybody recovering well?” She asked Speedball, who was standing behind her.
“Binary seems to be all right,” Speedball said. “Darkhawk’s regained consciousness, but even with the transfusion he’s still weak. Banner’s still under sedation, and as for me…” Speedball touched his face. “I’m not used to bruises, but otherwise I’m okay.”
“Good, because we start looking for Espirita immediately.” The face of the Avengers Chairperson hardened. “I’m not leaving a teammate behind, wherever she may be!”
# # # # # # # # # #
The desolute landscape stretched as far as they eye could see. Espirita lay on cold grey ground, her eyes fluttering open. She felt felt no heat, no cold, only the ground. She could see no stars in the black sky.
Rising to her feet, Espirita sensed a presence behind her and turned. Towering over her was a man dressed all in red, wearing a mask that appeared to be made from human skin. Standing next to him was a slight figure, all form and features obscured by a black cloak.
“You do not belong here,” said Centurious. “Death is only for those that can die.”
Next Issue: To save one of their own, the Avengers must face off against Death herself!
Bibliography
- Dazzler had a lot of terrific, weird adventures in her solo series, published by Marvel Comics from 1981 to 1986.
- Read all out what happened in Mutant Town in M2K’s The Uncanny X-Men, wonderfully written by Bryan Locke.
- Who could forget what happened in Carol Danvers in Marvel’s The Avengers vol. 1 issue 200?
- The Mojoverse was destroyed in M2K’s X-Corp #24, found in the Completed Titles section.
- Hoo-boy. Dazzler’s time in the Mojoverse began in Marvel’s X-Men vol. 1 issue 5, she was revealed to be pregnant in issue 11 , and it was suggested she’d lost the pregnancy in issue 47. There had long been a theory that Shatterstar was the future son of Dazzler and Longshot, but the revelation in M2K’s Uncanny X-Men #6 that Longshot is sterile makes that unlikely. It may also moot following the events in M2K’s Fallen Angel’s #17.
Every time Allison Blaire closed her eyes, she would return to hell. The screaming crowds, the flash of cameras, that fat producer dictating her every move. Perhaps if they were flashbacks of her old life as a singer, the woman known as Dazzler could have coped. But these memories were of her time in the Mojoverse, named after its ruler.
Dazzler had thought she'd moved on from that painful time in her life. After Mojo and the Sequel had been killed, the entertainarchy overthrown, Dazzler's relationship with the rebel leader Longshot had fizzled. Their love had been one of danger, and when that faded they had agreed to end things. Perhaps if she hadn't gotten…
A long drain on the liquor bottle drove that thought from Dazzler's mind. The drinking had grown more frequent. The only time Dazzler didn't dream was when she was passed out drunk.
It hadn't always been this way. When Dazzler had first returned to Earth, fighting alongside the X-Men had given her a renewed purpose in life. One final trip to the Mojoverse had brought closer, and Dazzler had even tried to jumpstart her music career.
A recent performance in Mutant Town hadn't worked out, but helping to rebuild the neighborhood had kept Dazzler busy. Still, the condemned buildings and dejected populace had reminded Dazzler of conditions while in the rebellion. Perhaps that had brought on the dreams. Since then, Dazzler had grown more distant from the work, and closer to the bottle.
"Maybe I should’ve have listened to my father and become a lawyer," Dazzler said to herself.
All through her music career, trouble had always managed to find Dazzler. The Hellfire Club, Enchantress, Project Pegasus, even Galactus had somehow managed to cross paths with Dazzler. It'd gotten to the point where she joined the X-Men for mutual protection, but that hadn't worked out. Dazzler had barely begun to get her life back together when Longshot had arrived and dragged her into his Mojoverse drama.
The bottle was no longer in Dazzler's hand. Before she'd even realized what happened, it shattered against the wall Dazzler was too close too, showering her with glass fragments. Turning away, Dazzler walked into the other room, leaving a trail of blood drops behind her. In the bedroom were more bottles, and men and women in various states of undress. Whatever worked to fill the emptiness in Dazzler's life, however briefly.
# # # # # # # # # #
“Wow, cake after meetings,” Darkhawk said to Speedball. “This reminds me of my brief time with the New Warriors.”
“Luckily Jarvis is a better cook than I am,” Speedball said in between bites.
The massive cake took up almost the entire dining table in Avengers Mansion. The frosting alternated between blue and pink, a representation of a baby in the center. Espirita had been concerned about waste, but Jarvis had assured her that most would be donated to a nearby hospital’s maternity wing. Fitting, as the cake had been made to celebrate Walter Newell and his wife Diane’s news.
“How did the twins react when you told them the news?” Photon said.
“They’re so excited to have a little brother or sister,” Diane said.
Binary walked over. “Wait, you have children? How have I not known this?”
“They stay with my sister in Massachusetts,” Stingray said. “We go to see them as often as we can. And of course we’ll be taking a leave of absence once we’re farther along.”
Photon laughed. “Listen to this one. Talking as if he’s carrying a baby too.”
“You should have seen him las time,” Diane said. “He exhibited more symptoms of pregnancy than I did! Just be thankful he can process waste in his armor.”
At hearing that, Binary awkwardly put down her cake and walked away. At the other side of the room, Warbird was standing alone with no cake. Noticing this self-imposed solitude, Espirita walked over to the team’s leader.
“You don’t appear as jubilant as everyone else.”
Warbird shook her head. “No, I’m happy for Walter and Diane. It’s just that in our line of work, I find it hard not to think of all the bad that could happen.”
“I’m sure that’s not lost on them,” Espirita said. “Their son and daughter don’t live here, after all.”
“No, it’s not the typical risks I worry about.” Warbird sighed, trying to exorcize the bad thoughts. “I just can’t help but look at things from my own situation. The weird things that you don’t even think to prepare for.”
“As with most other things you need to trust in God’s judgement and move on as best you can.” Espirita picked up a second piece of cake and offered this to Warbird. “Depending on each other helps. Whatever happens I’m sure we’ll face it as a team.”
Warbird remembered when she had needed to depend on her team. Before she could give a heated response, Espirita dropped both pieces of cake. She had doubled over in pain, clutching the table’s edge for support.
“Espirita, what’s wrong?” Warbird had grabbed her teammate, offering further support.
“I see Dazzler,” Espirita gasped. “Her pain is calling out to me, and it’s a fraction of what’s to come!”
# # # # # # # # # #
Soon after the Avengers determined Dazzler’s whereabouts, Photon arrived there first. As pure light she flew through the window of Dazzler’s hotel room and transformed into flesh in the midst of naked people. The stench of alcohol and sex were overwhelming, Photon saw evidence of drug use.
“Alison, what have you gotten yourself into?” Photon whispered, invoking Dazzler’s real name. Stepping over naked people, Photon spoke a little louder, transmitting to her teammates en route. “It isn’t a super-battle. It looks like Dazzler has...”
Photon trailed off, having caught sight of Dazzler. She was hard to miss.
“Photon, what is it?” came Warbird’s voice over the Avengers communi-card.
“Have the med-lab prepared for a possible drug overdose,” Photon said. “And...I don’t know. We may need an ultra-sound.”
Lying in front of Photon was an unconscious Dazzler who appeared to be nine months pregnant.
# # # # # # # # # #
Dr. Robert Bruce Banner had worked non-stop from the moment Dazzler was brought into the medical area. Not only was a treating a woman potentially suffering from alcohol poisoning and a drug overdose, he also had the health of a fetus to consider. The stress was considerable, even with Photon assisting.
Warbird entered to see that Banner was sweating profusely. “Bruce, once the danger’s passed you should go get some rest.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t know if it’s passed!” Banner slammed a hand against a monitor. Both Warbird and Photon jumped with understandable distress. “Dazzler is stable. But she could regain consciousness at any time, and if her condition is a mystery to us I can’t imagine how she’ll react.”
“We can handle it,” Photon said. She then addressed Warbird. “But speaking of her…condition, we can’t get anything.”
“You’re not saying…?”
“No,” Photon was quick to respond. “I mean nothing at all. According to everything except our eyes, Dazzler isn’t pregnant.”
Warbird recalled a distant memory. “There was a time when the X-Men - Dazzler included - were invisible to electronic sensors. Some kind of magic spell, and while it’s obviously faded, is there a chance it carried over somehow?”
“Magic, could that be why Espirita had a…a premonition?” Banner asked. “There’s so much about her own powers we don’t know.” Including why I didn’t kill her, he didn’t say out loud.
Warbird put a hand on Banner’s shoulder, and fought the urge to rip his head off in self-defense when he flinched. “Bruce, go get some rest. We called in some specialists, and I’ll be right here to keep Dazzler calm when she wakes up.”
After a tired nod, Bruce Banner left the room on unsteady feet. Outside he would be watched by Binary, Espirita and Speedball. Hopefully they’d make a difference should the other guy appear. That left Warbird and Photon alone with Dazzler.
“I can only imagine what you think of all this,” Photon said. “But just out of curiosity, how do you plan to keep her calm?”
“Mostly I’ll just take what was said during my pregnancy as a guide to what to avoid. I sure as hell won’t congratulate her on how lucky she is.”
It was so inappropriate Photon had a hold back a laugh. “Who…who would say that?”
“Wasp. At the time I thought she was such a bitch. Later on it occurred to me that Immortus might have mind-raped them the way he did me. Maybe that’s too easy of an excuse, but it helps me work alongside people I would rather punch in the face.”
“You know, Dazzler probably hasn’t gone through the same thing,” Photon said. “Most likely this is her pregnancy from Longshot, just…somehow affected by whatever the Mojoverse is.”
Warbird had read the notes Beast had compiled, along with his theories. If Shatterstar was in there, she’d declare this job too weird and retire on the spot. “It’ll still be a shock. And obviously Dazzler is wrestling with some demons of her own. I’d hate to think it was in reaction to the pregnancy, some attempt at…”
Warbird couldn’t finish the words, not that Photon didn’t know what she was saying. “Give me a second to check something.”
Photon disappeared in a burst of light, then reappeared seconds later. “I was just looking through the hotel’s video surveil-aargh!”
Having shielded her eyes from Photon’s light form, Warbird didn’t witness the arrival. It wasn’t until Photon’s cry that she looked, and Warbird saw six swords cut through Photon as though she were still flesh. Photon fell to the ground in five sections of solid light, cries of pain seeming to come from each. But Warbird’s attention was focused on her teammate’s attacker.
Shades of a past beauty could be glimpsed in the woman’s malicious, worn features. Long grey hair hung under an ornate silver helmet like straw, and the eyes that reflected beneath that helmet were a solid dead yellow. Six arms extended out from her torso, each grasping a sword of varied types.
“Spiral!” Gathering energy in her clenched fists, Warbird launched herself at the villain. “I should have known you and Mojo were behind this!”
With a flick of her half-dozen wrists, Spiral binds Warbird in place with eldritch energies. “Hadn’t you heard? Mojo is dead, and so for that matter am I.” Spiral gave a smile that sent shivers down Warbird’s spine. “Once I’ve reminded you and yours of that fact, I’ll take the proud mother-to-be to her destiny, and none will be the wiser.”
As she always did when casting powerful spells, Spiral danced, weaving her arms in an intricate pattern. Warbird could only watch helplessly, the power drained from her body. But she could also hear, and noticed that the machines monitoring Dazzler’s vitals no longer beeped. Either those vitals had ceased, or Dazzler was awakened, and her power to transduce sound into light was in effect.
A sudden flash of light washing over Spiral and Warbird provided the answer.
# # # # # # # # # #
The loud crash and tremors coming from beneath the mansion sent Avengers rushing to the sub-basement. Binary and Espirita flew while Speedball bounced from the walls and ceiling. Dr. Banner would remain upstairs, ready to lock down the mansion and alert other Avengers.
Binary was first through the door, first to find her teammates and Dazzler missing. In their place was a six-armed woman she recognized from case files as Spiral. She had been knocked to the floor, weapons scattered, and was in the process of righting herself when Binary entered.
“So you’re behind this,” Binary cried out. She launched herself forward, fists raised to lay a haymaker. “I’ve read you’re powerful, but I’ve gone toe-to-toe with the Hulk!”
Binary’s fist connected solidly with Spiral’s face. However, Binary found the force redirected against herself, and was hurled backwards against the wall.
“Brute strength means nothing against finesse.” Rising to her feet, Spiral summoned a sword to each hand. “In you I detect a mix of science and magic, reminiscent of my own work. Perhaps it is within my power to undo.”
“Keep back, witch!” Espirita had reached the fray. Flames erupted from her fingertips, forming in a tight circle around Spiral. “You’ll explain what’s become of our teammates.”
But instead of expected bravado, Spiral’s response was a primal scream. She attempted to shrink back from the flames, but they burned from all sides. From the slightest touch Spiral experienced a pain almost beyond recognition. She collapsed into a fetal position, the cries of pain turning into sobs of agony.
Fearful of her power’s effects, Espirita instinctively drew the flames back. “I am sorry for the pain, but you must understand that-ack!”
The moment she was able, Spiral threw her sword that was more of a long knife. It sank deep into the center of Espirita’s chest.
“And you claim a witch am I,” Spiral spat with the purest disdain. “Go back three to where thou came!”
Before she could overcome the shock of the attack, Espirita faded from view. In seconds she was gone and the sword fell to the ground, not even a trace of blood on the blade. Binary had just recovered in time to watch this, and her eyes then fixed on Spiral.
“What did you do? Bring her back! Bring them all back!”
“Your greatest asset banished, any demands are toothless. In you my curiosity is raised. I’ll see my queries answered, one way or another!”
But as Spiral advanced on Binary, multi-colored balls of kinetic energy struck her in the side. Speedball had now entered the fray.
# # # # # # # # # #
It took a moment for Warbird’s eyes to recover. When the spots created by Dazzler’s light burst faded, Warbird saw that she was no longer in Avengers mansion. She was lying on a rooftop, overlooking a city that certainly wasn’t New York. Even counting modern architecture, the city did not appear to be like anything on Earth, except for the gigantic television screens that seemed to be everywhere.
One look at the images being broadcast told Warbird where Spiral had transported her too. “Mojoverse. But I’d read that it was destroyed.”
“One thing about Mojoverse, time isn’t exactly relevant.” Dazzler was also on the rooftop, holding her pregnant belly. “I always thought I’d miscarried after an encounter with Spiral. What she must have done was…put it in some kind of temporal stasis.”
“Speaking of Spiral, where is that bitch?” Warbird looked about, but didn’t see any sign of the villain. “Or Photon for that matter? From what I saw, she could very well be-”
Beams of light flashed around Warbird, accompanied by childish laughter.
“-dead?”
Five beams of light settled onto the roof in front of Warbird, each forming into the shape of a toddler. When the lights formed into flesh, Warbird saw that each was Photon, or at least a child version of Photon. Four were wearing slight variations of the costume, except for the fifth who was wearing a white bodysuit under a trench coat she was in danger of tripping over.
“Who the heck are you supposed to be?” Warbird asked. Behind her, Dazzler groaned and covered her face with both hands.
The little girls spoke at once, each giving a different name.
“I’m Captain Marvel!”
“I’m Photon!”
“Nobody else is called Pulsar!”
“There’s only one Spectrum!”
“I’m Monica Rambeau!” Said the girl in the trench coat. “And nothing like this happened when I led the Avengers!”
“Oh, Spiral, you are now my most hated enemy,” Warbird muttered to herself. “Okay, um, girls, have you by any chance seen a mean lady with six arms?”
“No, but that lady just wet herself.” Spectrum pointed at Dazzler’s, who’s water had indeed just broken.
“Oh, wonderful,” said Dazzler. “Another baby on the way.”
“Yeah, and you’re taking this remarkably well.” Warbird turned to the five tiny versions of the same Avenger. “Girls, I need you to get me some things.”
After the five beams of light flew off to gather supplies for a birth, Warbird turned to address Dazzler. “Don’t worry Dazzler. If this is indeed your baby by Longshot, we’ll get it out of your safe and sound.”
“Longshot’s sterile,” Dazzler said. “And this isn’t the result of me sneaking around.”
A fury was growing inside of Warbird. “You don’t mean…?”
“At the time I was held captive my Mojo’s forces, I wasn’t sure what experiments they were running on me.” Dazzler moved to lay down on the floor. “It wasn’t until Professor X somehow detected life inside of me that I had an idea. Longshot and I played it cool, but of course we were worried. I was naive to think that everything had sorted itself out, that Spiral wasn’t acting to protect some grand plan.”
Warbird knelt over Dazzler. “Whatever it is, I’ll help you deal with it. Spiral, Mojo, whatever is coming, I promise you won’t face this alone.”
Dazzler gave a laugh, mix with a grunt from a contraction. “Oh, you silly Ms. Marvel. Here in Mojoverse, whatever is most entertaining, that’s what’s going to happen.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Christopher Powell was in a job interview when the Avengers alert came in. He checked in a few minutes, and upon receiving no response contacted Stingray. Walter Newell and his wife Diane were out of the city, and their way to see their children. They agreed that Christopher would check out the alert and would contact Stingray if he was needed.
Activating the amulet that was always on his person, Christopher transformed into Darkhawk and glided to Avengers Mansion. First he saw the smoke, then a gaping hole where the front door should have been. Three people appeared to be battling on the front lawn, and when Darkhawk identified who they were he almost contacted Stingray on the spot.
“Hulk smash!”
A massive green fist slammed against Speedball’s chest. The much, much smaller super-hero went flying back, a flurry of multi-colored balls of kinetic energy exploding around him. Speedball smashed against the high wall that surrounded Avengers Mansion and immediately bounced back at the Hulk, completely unharmed. Blows from tiny arms and thousands of kinetic balls only served to anger and distract the Hulk.
But the real shock was the third man, Doctor Robert Bruce Banner. While the Hulk was battling perhaps the one man that could withstand his rampage, the human scientist was firing a laser blaster into the mansion. Suddenly he dropped the gun and dove to the ground, as a six-armed woman with swords leapt into view.
“I take it you’re the bad guy!” Darkhawk swooped down and unleashed a blast of dark force energy from his amulet. It struck Spiral full on and she went back several steps. Darkhawk landed near Banner, picked up the gun and handed it to the man. “Have you been conducting experiments, doctor?”
“That woman did something to me,” Banner said in a weary tone. He looked very pale to Darkhawk and, upon a second look, the Hulk was also a very pale green. “She’s also apparently teleported several of us away.”
From the mansion’s gaping out, Binary staggered out. She appeared to be bleeding energy from numerous cuts in her fiery dark-red skin. For a moment her eyes were fixed on the Hulk, who was still battering ineffectively at Speedball.
“Forget him,” called Banner. “While Speedball is keeping my other half busy, we’re free to handle this one!” Activating a switch on the blaster, it transformed into a rifle that was almost half Banner’s size. Though he hefted it with some difficulty, Banner was able to rapidly fire a series of large laser bursts at Spiral.
“Did you design that gun for use in both your forms?” Darkhawk asked. He flew into the air and led with dark force blasts while closing in on Spiral. “I find that equal parts disturbing and awesome.”
The six swords of Spiral deflected each of the laser bursts, and with a contorted pose dodged the dark force blast. “And how do three children and an unstable man propose to handle me?”
Spiral stabbed at Darkhawk, but he caught two of her swords with his grapple claw. A third sword slashed at his torso, but Darkhawk twisted to avoid it. He appeared to succeed, having no scratches on his body.
“We’re still four to one, and you keep missing,” Darkhawk replied.
Spiral smiled. “Oh do I? In another dimension your body is bleeding.”
Before Darkhawk could respond to Spiral, Binary flew between them. She slammed into Spiral, carrying her towards Speedball and the Hulk. The four were soon almost completely obscured by the kinetic balls.
Banner ran over to Darkhawk. “I’m sure she was just bluffing,” he said between shallow breaths.
But Darkhawk wasn’t so sure. “We just met, and she knows my entire deal. We need to get Stingray here, and any reserves we can. Once backup’s arrived, I’ll bow out.”
Balls went flying in all directions, as did Speedball and Binary. That left Hulk grasping three of Spiral’s arms in one hand, including a crushed cybernetic arm. Swords jutted from his body, but if the Hulk noticed it only fed his rage.
“Spider lady hurt Hulk! Nobody hurts Hulk!” Each scream was accompanied by a slap that was felt by every Avenger present. Surprisingly, each blow from the Hulk seemed to only daze Spiral, and her three free arms were each moving in elaborate gestures.
“Something’s wrong,” Darkhawk said to Bruce Banner. “The Hulk should be killing her.” He turned to face the doctor. “Not that that’d be a good thing. But she’s clearly doing something to him and…and to you!”
Darkhawk saw that Banner was sprawled on the ground, not moving. When Darkhawk picked him up, he felt how weak the man’s pulse was and noticed how faint his breathing had become. The same must be true, though less noticeable, for the Hulk.
“We need to get them back together,” Darkhawk called to Speedball and a recovered Binary. “You two get ready!”
Darkhawk then launched himself at the Hulk, Doctor Banner still in his arms. At the same time Spiral made her move, unleashing eldritch energy to drive the Hulk away from her. The massive, deathly pale creature went back several steps, right at Darkhawk and Banner.
Later on Darkhawk would recognize the risk, but in the moment he acted without thinking. He surged forward with the unmoving Banner held in front of him, and slammed him against the back of the Hulk. Logically, Banner should have been crushed, but as with most things involving Spiral the illogical occurred. Banner disappeared into the Hulk, or the Hulk disappeared into Banner. Darkhawk could make no sense of what he was seeing, and if his body had a stomach likely would have emptied it’s contents.
Unconcerned that her spell had been countered, Spiral twirled to deflect a plasma blast from Binary. Speedball was coming at her from behind, but she paid him no mind. Her blank eyes saw everything, even into other dimensions and points in time. At the end of The Mojoverse, her attention was fixed on a momentous event that was occurring.
“No longer can I afford to waste my time.” Continuing the twirl, Spiral grabbed Speedball’s balls with two hands. She slammed them together, his head in between, and Speedball actually felt it. Looking into his eyes, Spiral his future, and asked, “Is it me that you’ll see again?”
With a third hand, Spiral grabbed Speedball by the front of his costume and casually threw him behind her. He crashed into Binary, not bouncing, and together they fell into a heap. Despite her injured arm, Spiral was certain of her eventual triumph.
The Avengers would be subdued, made to forget, but to continue would risk Spiral being late for her date. The cancellation of the Mojoverse was a fluid stacking of seconds, making travel difficult for one of even her abilities. To attempt to reach the final act was to court madness.
How fortunate for Spiral then, that she was already insane.
Three of his teammates down, Darkhawk could only watch helplessly as Spiral danced. Grappling claw out and gliding wings spread, Darkhawk launched himself forward, hoping he can stop the villain before she could complete the spell. From the corner of his visor Darkhawk saw Binary roll Speedball aside and also launch herself into the air.
Alas, the Avengers efforts were for naught. Spiral completed her dance and vanished in a swirl of colors. Binary passed through empty air, a scream of rage passing her lips.
“She’s gone! And three of us with her!” Binary smashed a fist into the palm of her hand. “How are we supposed to follow?”
“We’ll find a way,” Speedball said as he was rising to his feet. There was blood at the corner of his mouth, and there would soon be a lump on his head. “First we should be Banner to the lab, and Darkhawk I heard Spiral remark that she’d wounded you.”
While Binary picked the thankfully whole and human Banner, Darkhawk walked with Speedball back into the mansion. “Yes, something about cutting across dimensions to get my human form. If true, I’d better change back to deal with it.”
Darkhawk touched the amulet on his chest, willing the transformation. In an instant, the Darkhawk android is teleported to the Ship in Null Space, while the body of Christopher Powell was returned from suspended animation. Immediately, Christopher felt the blood running down his side, and he saw Speedball rush at him before everything started to fade.
# # # # # # # # # #
There wasn’t much blood, for which Warbird was grateful. On the rooftop of an alien building in an alien dimension, she and Dazzler had no access to medical care. Nor were there access to cleaning supplies, which made the mess problematic. It didn’t help that Warbird added to that mess, so unexpected and repulsive did she find the product of Dazzler’s pregnancy.
Though obviously in pain from the discomforts of childbirth, Dazzler moved to her feet and away from the mess. “Grotesque thing. I’ve never seen a spineless child before.”
One look at the creature’s ghastly smile nearly made Warbird vomit again. At the moment however her revulsion was overlaid with confusion. Dazzler was being far too calm in this situation.
“I always did suspect this,” Dazzler said in response to the unasked question. “There are several days in Mojoverse I can’t account for, and then suddenly I was told a sterile man had impregnated me. If only I’d gotten pregnant before I met Longshot again but no. It had to be this, a forced implantation for whatever sick plan Mojo had.”
Dazzler turned and started to walk away. “Come on, we’d better find those girls and figure a way out. If this is when I think it is, Xorn should be detonating soon. Once that happens, this entire universe becomes a black hole.”
“And you just want to leave your…your…” It was instinct to speak out in defense of life, but looking down at the thing eliminated any arguments Warbird may have had. She remembered Marcus Immortus, and Warbird wondered what she would have done if in her right mind.
The answer was lost in a sudden attack. Between Warbird and Dazzler there appeared Spiral. It was plain the woman had been in a fight, bruised and battered as she was, her cybernetic arm crushed. Nevertheless she still had five, and each one holding a sword.
“Now that I’m dead here I am at last.” Spiral twirled, strands of crimson energy cascading from her swords. Warbird found herself bound, the energy leeched from her body. Spiral advanced on the spineless child, and strangely Dazzler made no move to stop her. “And so the abandoned child becomes the abandoning mother.”
At that Dazzler stopped, but she didn’t turn around. “Don’t think you can goad me. This universe delights in twists and turns, in manufactured drama. But if I reject the script and refuse to perform, you have no power over me.”
“Entertainment doesn’t require cooperation,” Spiral said. “Even as you attempt the mundane life, the masses will clamor, and ratings will ri-aahhh!”
Four waves of conflicting crashed into Spiral’s body in rapid succession. The next wave was so insane that it snapped Spiral back into sanity. Those blank eyes gained color. That bloodied mouth opened to scream. A fractured mind reassembled then broke again only to reassemble once more. Swords clattered to the ground, followed soon by Spiral’s prone but breathing form.
Standing over Spiral, reassembled in form and personality, was the adult Photon. The glow of her energy form was unlike any Warbird had ever seen.
“I’ve managed to duplicate her trans-dimentional energies,” Photon said. She was looking out in the distance. “I think I can get us home, and we need to go fast. A fusion reaction is occurring.”
“All right then,” said Dazzler. “Let’s go.”
“But wait,” said Warbird as she rose to her feet, the bands falling away from her. “We have to stop it, save this universe and all these people.”
“I already did.” Dazzler gestured at the spineless creature that had come out of her. “It makes perfect sense. Mojo engineers his return at the cancellation of his universe, his own power triggering a reboot. Killing it might be a required catalyst, as could an emotional embrace of acceptance or the turmoil of abandonment.”
“And what do you intend to do?” Warbird asked.
Dazzler couldn’t help but smile. “Something unexpected.” Dazzler then turned at last, reached down for the child, and picked him up. “I’m taking him out of this ratings-obsessed world and into a mundane life.”
That illicted a reaction from the spineless child. It gave a hideous wail and attempted to claw at Dazzler. But holding him at arms length, Dazzler carried him toward Photon. Together they touched the glow of her energy, and disappeared.
Out of the corner of her eye Warbird saw it, the detonation of a nearby supernova. Turning from the flare of trillions of hydrogen bombs, Warbird rushed at Dazzler, and they disappeared together in a burst of light. A second later, the Mojoverse died again.
# # # # # # # # # #
From a second story window, Warbird observed as Dazzler left the mansion by the front gate. The spineless child, ignored at Dazzler’s insistence, had died minutes after arriving, by what she claimed were “declined ratings”. Warbird didn’t like letting a woman whose mental health was in doubt just leave, but a new crisis took precedence.
“Is everybody recovering well?” She asked Speedball, who was standing behind her.
“Binary seems to be all right,” Speedball said. “Darkhawk’s regained consciousness, but even with the transfusion he’s still weak. Banner’s still under sedation, and as for me…” Speedball touched his face. “I’m not used to bruises, but otherwise I’m okay.”
“Good, because we start looking for Espirita immediately.” The face of the Avengers Chairperson hardened. “I’m not leaving a teammate behind, wherever she may be!”
# # # # # # # # # #
The desolute landscape stretched as far as they eye could see. Espirita lay on cold grey ground, her eyes fluttering open. She felt felt no heat, no cold, only the ground. She could see no stars in the black sky.
Rising to her feet, Espirita sensed a presence behind her and turned. Towering over her was a man dressed all in red, wearing a mask that appeared to be made from human skin. Standing next to him was a slight figure, all form and features obscured by a black cloak.
“You do not belong here,” said Centurious. “Death is only for those that can die.”
Next Issue: To save one of their own, the Avengers must face off against Death herself!
Bibliography
- Dazzler had a lot of terrific, weird adventures in her solo series, published by Marvel Comics from 1981 to 1986.
- Read all out what happened in Mutant Town in M2K’s The Uncanny X-Men, wonderfully written by Bryan Locke.
- Who could forget what happened in Carol Danvers in Marvel’s The Avengers vol. 1 issue 200?
- The Mojoverse was destroyed in M2K’s X-Corp #24, found in the Completed Titles section.
- Hoo-boy. Dazzler’s time in the Mojoverse began in Marvel’s X-Men vol. 1 issue 5, she was revealed to be pregnant in issue 11 , and it was suggested she’d lost the pregnancy in issue 47. There had long been a theory that Shatterstar was the future son of Dazzler and Longshot, but the revelation in M2K’s Uncanny X-Men #6 that Longshot is sterile makes that unlikely. It may also moot following the events in M2K’s Fallen Angel’s #17.