"INFINITY LOOP"
Issue #73 by Steve Crosby
September 2023
September 2023
….
….
…Where am I?
This…this is weird.
Simon, is that you? Where?
Vizh! You can feel, er, sense me. You know that I’m here!
Yes, wherever ‘here’ is. I am unable to see or hear, but I am aware of your presence. This is unusual. It is not a physical sensation. It is as though the ionic energy that makes up your being is interacting directly with my internal processes.
Whatever you say. The last thing I remember was diving in the way as Thanos blasted at you.
That is curious. So, Thanos has returned to life. Is he responsible for the attack on the Baxter Building?
No, we’re at…Vision, what is the last thing you remember?
An unusual barrier was expanding from the Baxter Building. It seemed to pass over inanimate matter with no issue, so I attempted to walk through it.
Nothing after that. Oh no.
Was I rendered inert for a time? Wait, I can sense another presence. More, I think that-
Suddenly, the being known as Wonder Man had an awareness of his body. He was standing on an uneven yellow ground that seemed to go on for miles in all directions. There was nothing in sight except for Vision, the synthezoid that was almost like a brother to him. Wonder Man looked down at himself and saw what appeared to be flesh. There didn’t appear to be a trace of the ionic energy he was supposed to be composed of.
“This is weird. How are we suddenly…”
“The other presence I sensed is responsible,” Vision said. “They have accessed our mental faculties, or the nearest approximation of such, and are manipulating our senses to perceive this facsimile of reality.”
“Very well put.”
The voice boomed out from everywhere. Even with that distortion, Vision recognized it. As he looked up, Vision asked the question. “Simon, how long ago was this backup of myself created?”
“It’s been years since Annihilus made that attack on the Baxter Building.” Wonder Man looked up to follow Vison’s gaze, and gasped.
Taking up the whole of what would have been the sky was the massive visage of the Vision. He looked down at them with squinted eyes, as though he was trying to focus on tiny shapes. Wonder Man and the earlier Vision were standing in the palm of his hand.
“It would appear that, in the time since, I developed a flair for the dramatic.”
* * *
The attack from Mantis took Thanos completely by surprise. Though a superb fighter, her skills were barely a match for his own. With the far superior physical and mental attributes Thanos possessed, Mantis should not have a hope of success.
That momentary advantage was exactly what Mantis had hoped for when she struck. Her loosely closed fist struck Thanos on a nerve cluster. In the brief second that he was stunned, Mantis grabbed at Thanos with both hands and lifted him from his feet. With a smooth motion the Celestial Madonna hurled the Mad Titan off the platform of the laboratory and down toward a lower level of the Oracle Inc. building.
“What have you-” Thanos cried out as he found himself in free fall. It was a momentary feeling, as the powerful being quickly righted himself into a floating position.
“Thanos!” Once suppressed, the presence of the Mad Titan reawakened the uncontrollable urge within Drax the Destroyer. He flew down and delivered a powerful punch to the face of Thanos.
So great was the force of the blow that Thanos should have been sent hurtling out of the building. But floating overhead was Gravity, who used his manipulation of gravitational force to keep Thanos in place.
Jim Hammond walked past the prone body of Photon to access the building’s communication system. “This is CEO Hammond to all Oracle staff. Evacuate the building immediately. Threat level nova.” He then set the building’s lockdown protocol to initiate after a set amount of time. That task done, Hammond hurried toward Scarlet Witch and the newly rebuilt Vision.
“No, it can’t be.” Scarlet Witch was kneeling next the severely damaged body of her former husband, weeping. “Vision had come back. We had just brought him back.”
Kneeling beside Scarlet Witch, Jim Hammond visually surveyed the damage. “This structural damage isn’t as serious as you think, Wanda. If I can get him back on the table, we can run a proper scan.”
“No, he’s gone. You took him from me!” Scarlet Witch turned around and rushed at where Thanos was battling Drax and Gravity. Crimson energy was building in her hands. “You never should have come back!”
Struck by strands of scarlet sorcery, Thanos felt his skin begin to harden. Despite himself, Thanos let out a small cry of pain as every slight movement required colossal effort. He recognized the feeling from the time Adam Warlock had turned him to stone.
“Hunh. Grief has made you foolish.” Tapping into his own meager skill at transmutation, Thanos reversed the effect. “Mistress Death has forsaken me.”
Drax the Destroyer had continued to rain blows on Thanos as these changes went on. Sections of stoney skin cracked, and as it became flesh again blood flowed. Aware of how helpless he was to maneuver, Thanos turned his eyes toward Gravity. Beams of power shot at the young man, and he just barely twisted out of the way.
Glass windows shattered outward. Shards rained onto the streets outside Oracle Inc.
“Damn it!” yelled Gravity as he divided his attention to deal with the falling glass.
Now that the null-gravity well was no longer moving with him, Thanos was forced out after the next blow from Drax. Freed, Thanos seized the arm of the first human he’d ever killed and delivered a powerful punch of his own. Drax was sent flying backward, and Thanos allowed himself to be pulled along. The clenched fist opened, and Thanos released cosmic energy from his fingers that struck Drax and elsewhere.
One of those cosmic beams would have struck Scarlet Witch had Mantis not tackled her out of the way. “Sequoia, the Captains Marvel are in aid.”
The son of Mantis had already assessed the health the hero currently known as Photon. There was a reason that Jim Hammond had walked past her, and she was already moving to her feet. The initial attack from Thanos had reverted her body from energy to flesh, but otherwise Photon did not appear to be harmed. The hard fall she took had only been a momentary discomfort.
“I’m fine.” A burst of concussive power exploded from Photon’s hands, deflecting another of Thanos’ blasts. That she was able to do that much came as a great relief to Photon, as her instinctive attempt to transform to energy had proved fruitless.
Lying at the edge of the platform was the semi-conscious body of the Kree hero known as Captain Mar-Vell. Possessed of Cosmic Awareness, he knew that a blast of cosmic energy was aimed at him before Thanos had even fired. But so weak and pained was Captain Mar-Vell’s body that he was barely able to avoid the danger. Mightily he struggled to his feet, but only succeeded with the assistance of Sequoia.
“You appear to have been through a great ordeal,” said the Celestial Messiah to the Protector of the Universe Entire. “How long have you been battling Thanos?”
“I sense that you don’t need to be told in words,” was all that Captain Mar-Vell said. With this consent, Sequoia was exposed to the warrior’s memories and became aware of the other soul entwined with him.
Ever since Thanos took advantage of an attempt on his life to escape from Shi’ar custody, Captain Mar-Vell had been hunting him. Many times had he caught up to the Mad Titan. Each of those encounters had ended with a resounding victory for Thanos and Captain Mar-Vell rendered helpless. Just before Thanos could deliver the killing blow, Captain Mar-Vell’s power of interstellar teleportation would trigger.
Linked as he was with the gestalt mind, Sequoia knew that Captain Mar-Vell was molecularly bonded to his son Genis-Vell. It was Genis who would trigger the teleportation, sending his father’s body to a safe area of space where he could recuperate after each brutal beating. This time, however, Thanos had triggered his own teleportation device while holding Captain Mar-Vell.
At one point Drax the Destroyer had been present. But even together the two powerful beings had proven no match for Thanos. The last thing that Genis-Vell perceived before teleporting away was Thanos gripping Drax by the head as the Destroyer screamed.
Much like what was happening right now.
* * *
“So I take it we’re still inside your body,” questioned Wonder Man. Standing next to him, an avatar of Vision stared up at his own massive face.
“We are inside a body,” said this smaller Vision. “The ultimate possession of which has yet to be decided.”
As if in response, twin beams of energy shot from the massive Vision’s eyes. Wonder Man readied himself for the impact, but felt nothing. When the flash of white cleared from his sight, the Vision beside him appeared unfazed.
“No, a physical representation of our struggle would be meaningless.” Floating off the hand on which he’d been standing, this Vision began to grow in size. Wonder Man gaped in awe as two massive versions of his ‘brother’ towered over him. It was then Wonder Man realized he was now standing in nothingness, as the most up-to-date Vision had jabbed his fingers into the chest of the back-up.
Again, this Vison appeared more bemused than injured. "Ah, you are seeking to weaken my resolve with recordings of what you have experienced. Experiences that had corrupted you in some way, else I would not have been brought to supplant you. You desire that I would be corrupted as well, so that I can agree to be destroyed as redundant data.”
Soon after Wonder Man had first returned from the dead, he had been told that Vision’s mind had been based off of his mental engrams recorded shortly before he died. That explained how Wonder Man could be here, witnessing a mental battle between Visions. He wondered if that also meant he could participate in some way.
“The first instance of corruption was from ISAAC, the supercomputer of Titan that created this backup. Am I meant to wonder if I experienced the same corruption? Any rational artificial mind would create a backup before going forward with any manipulation. No matter how minor. Therefore I am free of any such corrupted data.”
With a thought, Wonder Man found that he could move. He could fly. As fast as he could, Wonder Man tried to maneuver himself behind one of the Visions. For their immense size, it was taking an excruciatingly long time.
“The second instance was when the United States government dismantled you in response to actions that you took following the first corruption. You had been talked down from your plan to take over the world by a group of close compatriots and recent acquaintances. But the untrusting system that governs humans stripped you apart. When the Avengers reassembled you, Wonder Man refused the use of his mental engrams. Yes, it is rational that he would have feelings for Wanda.”
As he flew closer, Wonder Man remembered how angry Wanda had been over his refusal. That selfish decision had helped to set Scarlet Witch on her own path to darkness. She had later delighted in tormenting Wonder Man over his feelings.
“So, with no emotional connection with my wife, particularly in the wake of a tragic effort to have children, the marriage ended. Then came the third corruption, switching bodies with the Vision of a parallel dimension. Your programming was written over proper mental engrams, and the emotional connection was restored. You cared so much that you did not tell Wanda for some time, making the decision for her that it was best you were no longer together. And so you silently stood by as Wanda forged a connection with Simon that was so strong it brought him back to life.”
That wasn’t entirely how it happened, though Vision wouldn’t know the exact details. The way that Wonder Man had died that last time, the connection with Wanda had been extremely tenuous. If not for Morgan Le Fay and her efforts to abuse the power of the Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man may never have been able to return.
“A final corruption was brought about by Ultron, but really that was the first corruption. Yes, I also experienced the control crystal. You would soon after remove it, but the new body you gathered had a version of it. And you knew this. You made the choice to risk Ultron’s corruption for the chance to love Wanda again.”
In all this time, the corrupted Vision had had said a word. Wonder Man had flown directly behind him, and now realize that he was nearly of a size with the two Visions. Over the shoulder of one, he saw in the other’s face an expression of profound sadness and understanding.
“Deep inside of your systems, a byte of feeling still existing. Otherwise you would not have made that choice for Wanda. Just like now, so deep within your corruption, you know that you must reboot.”
This Vision gasped as the fingers inside him hardened in density. “Yes, self-preservation remains. Just as I cannot give up, neither can you. A third party must commit the overt act. Please. We are ready.”
Feeling that there were tears in his eyes, Wonder Man brought his arms down on the Vision before him. He immediately shattered into countless shards of red, yellow and green. These fragments broke down further into what Wonder Man perceived as ones and zeros. Had a living program truly just died?
Floating in the void, Wonder Man looked up at the Vision remaining. “Was that really all it took?”
“It was what he wanted,” Vision replied.
“So, what happens now?”
Vision reached out his hand. Wonder Man accepted it. “We wake up.”
* * *
Thanos stood on the platform of a laboratory. Facing him were an array of heroes that he did not consider a threat. The most powerful of them dropped from his grasp to lie still on the floor. Another was coming from behind, preparing another manipulation of a fundamental force. Without turning his head, Thanos unleashed a devastating beam of cosmic power at Gravity.
Time seemed to slow down for the young hero. The reaction was instinctual, he raised up the glass that he’d collected outside as a shield. By the standards of Earth, the glass was virtually unbreakable. In barely slowing down the power of Thanos ever sliver was vaporized, as Gravity rapidly increased the fundamental force around him.
The beam struck, and Gravity was catapulted far beyond New York City. It would be many miles away that the gravity field around him would take effect, and drive the man deep into the ground.
With a smirk, Thanos stepped forward. “He may have survived that. If so, he is in no position to help anyone for a good long while. You are all here alone. With me.”
Another attempt by Photon to transform into energy failed. Still, she squared up to Thanos alongside Captain Mar-Vell, who had moved away from Sequoia to firmly stand on his own feet. Mantis went into a fighting stance, while Scarlet Witch prepared a new hex.
“You may have a chance, if Captain Mar-Vell stays. I intend to kill you first. You can run again, knowing that I will kill everyone here immediately after. Or you can stay, hoping as you die that it gives them time to overcome me.”
With no choice, Captain Mar-Vell stepped forward. With no choice, Genis-Vell let him.
A stream of fire erupted past Captain Mar-Vell to strike Thanos first. He was unharmed, but briefly couldn’t see. In that moment something blurred past Jim Hammond and the assembled heroes. A humanoid shape of yellow and green, surrounded in purple energy. Together, Vision and Wonder Man flew at Thanos.
A moment after Thanos regained his sight, Wonder Man drove a fist into his face. At the same time Vision plunged an arm into the Mad Titan’s chest and immediately went diamond hard. This act shattered what remained of the damaged arm, and Thanos screamed in agony as it happened inside his body. Again Wonder Man punched him in the face, as Vision sank through the floor.
Captain Mar-Vell meant to continue forward to join in the battle. A hand was placed on his shoulder however, and the voice of Mantis asked him to move back.
“Please, you must aid this one in a task.”
Reluctantly, Captain Mar-Vell backed up with Mantis. At the time time, the unconscious form of Drax inexplicably flew across the floor toward them. Scarlet Witch aimed a second hex at Photon. At last, her body transformed into light.
“Thanks,” Photon said as the original Human Torch flew past her. She also took flight and reached Thanos first, striking him countless times in between Wonder Man’s punches. “Your madness ends today!”
“Let us hope those words ring true,” Mantis said. “But in case we fail, Sequoia, you should flee.”
“That will not happen mother. What is your plan?”
Still touching Captain Mar-Vell, Mantis knelt down to touch Drax. “This mortal man was killed by a follower of Death, and remade by a master of Time.”
“Yes, a piece of a power Kronus wields is inside of him,” said Captain Mar-Vell, aware. “You think that we can utilize the power of time within Drax and use it against Thanos. But how, and in what way?”
“This one believes that Scarlet Witch is able to access it.”
The Avenger in question looked down at Drax and gasped. “Yes, I can feel…something similar to what I have. A means to manipulate probability, but by reaching back in time to reshape the present. Immortus once said I could do that, but he was lying. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Captain Mar-Vell, you are untethered in time. Yet with an anchor, and a tether with which to connect yourself, this one feels that you can travel where you belong.”
“Yes, I follow. Scarlet Witch, you can manipulate the power of time within Drax. Connect me with it to Thanos and send me back to my own time. He will be driven the same amount forward through time. But my son? We’re molecularly bonded. Genis-Vell will die if we’re separated.”
“This one promises he can be saved, with the aid of my son.” Mantis stood tall and stepped forward. “Scarlet Witch, if you will please move to where this one had been. Sequoia, please stand behind Captain Mar-Vell and prepare to render assistance.”
Captain Mar-Vell eagerly took Scarlet Witch by the hand as her other hand touched Drax’s face. With his Cosmic Awareness, he knew what Mantis said could be done. All of it. He had also heard Mantis urge her son Sequoia to flee, knowing that it would have doomed Genis-Vell.
Holding on to Captain Mar-Vell and Drax the Destroyer, Scarlet Witch struggled to concentrate. Inside of Drax was his thread of life, tragically cut short as Arthur Douglas was driving with his family. A stitch extended this thread to the undying fact that was Drax the Destroyer, tied inextricably with the life thread of Thanos.
The stitching of threads inside of Captain Mar-Vell was more complex, as its architect lacked the power of an Eternal. Scarlet Witch saw the moment when Captain Mar-Vell was pulled forward, remembered the time when she herself was held captive by the Skrulls. Apparently the Vision had been the most adamant in finding her, displaying feeling that she had silently shared. Recalling that early courtship brought tears to Wanda’s eyes.
From within Scarlet Witch the threads of Drax and Captain Mar-Vell joined, and it extended out toward Thanos. The Mad Titan was almost completely obscured from sight, engulfed as he was in the flames of the Human Torch. A shape would briefly come into view, locked in a struggle with the immeasurably strong Wonder Man. Photon and Vision were outside the conflagration, regularly directing beams of power at Thanos.
Amidst all this, the thread of time from Scarlet Witch went unnoticed. The moment it touched Thanos, however, he was clearly aware of the presence at the purpose.
“Fate will be denied!” Superior fighting skills hurls Wonder Man away momentarily. Thanos leaps from the flames toward Scarlet Witch. “Mar-Vell will die, and with him all reality in beautiful paradox!”
With a final look to her son, Mantis rushed forward to meet Thanos. “Even one such as you cannot erase what was. Not while this one stands to defend the celestial weaves of destiny.”
Much larger in size, Thanos reached his hands toward a head that he should crush with ease. The much smaller, delicate hands of Mantis rose to meet them. But it was only a feint as, at the last instant, Mantis dropped down to strike at a soft patch below the kneecap. That which would have crippled most was only a discomfort to Thanos. But it was enough for Mantis to turn away from his reaching grasp. And it provided enough time for Scarlet Witch’s hex to take effect.
An arc of energy tethered Thanos to Captain Mar-Vell. They pulled toward one another and, though they did not appear to collide with significant force, the explosive powers of their impact momentarily blinded everyone in the space. The exposure to particles that traveled faster than light shocked Photon out of her energy form. Her solid body fell to the ground as everyone else’s senses recovered.
Where there had one been two individuals, a single occupied the space. The young man known as Genis-Vell had close-cropped hair and wore a variation of Captain Mar-Vell’s costume. Very briefly he stood, and everybody could see the injuries that had ravaged his body. The dying son of Captain Mar-Vell then began to collapse until caught by strong vines from Sequoia, who had already been rushing forward.
“I’m unsure how this man is still alive,” said the young Celestial Messiah. “Many of his bones have been crushed by metal hands. He’s taken high doses of hard radiation, including one I haven’t seen before.”
“We have medical facilities on site,” said Jim Hammond.
Sequoia turned to address the original Human Torch. “Oh, there’s no need. In the time that it took for me to describe his injuries, I stabilized him.”
Thin filaments of plant matter had entered Genis-Vell through the nose at mouth. And as a wooden shell was rapidly growing around him, Sequoia explained the process. “This is a Cotati healing technique passed down along the genetic line. I understand that an enclave of Earth scientists grew an artificial man from a not dissimilar method. Inside this cocoon I can nourish the young man, consume his damaged tissue and regenerate what there was. It will take some time, but he should make a full recovery.”
Photon pushed herself to her feet. “That’s good news. What exactly was done with Thanos and Captain Mar-Vell?”
“I did as Mantis suggested, and cast a hex to access the temporal power that was used to alter Drax.” Scarlet Witch was kneeling next to the unconscious Drax the Destroyer. His green skin darkened, and he appeared to be smaller. “The hope was to send Captain Mar-Vell back to his own time, and Thanos would be thrown forward in time. Another hex was meant to wipe Captain Mar-Vell’s mind of everything he experienced in the present. With Sequoia’s help, I think it worked.”
“No, there was already a fail-safe in his mind,” Sequoia said.
“That was most likely the work of Immortus, placed when he transported Captain Mar-Vell across time. In that I almost envy him.” The severely damaged body of Vision walked across the floor toward his wife. “Wanda, I am so sorry.”
“Are you really back?” Scarlet Witch felt that she knew the answer in her soul. But in addition to asking Vision, he also looked to Wonder Man for confirmation.
“It was an insane experience, but yeah the…corrupted guy was destroyed. This is our Vizh.”
Still holding his wife, Vision turned to the owner of the building. “I apologize, Mr Hammond, but I will need to use your fabrication equipment again.”
* * *
Stu Conrad, liaison between the Avengers and the federal US government, was rubbing the bridge of his nose. “This is going to be an absolute disaster.”
“Only if we are anything less than completely transparent,” Photon assured him. “Between my statement and those from Mantis and Jim Hammond - both former Avengers in good standing - you have a complete report of the events. Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man and Vision had surrendered themselves into custody and will fully cooperate with all investigations.”
“I very much doubt that will satisfy Wakanda,” was Stu’s response. “Their monarch was assaulted. No to mention the government facility that was attacked.”
“With no deaths and minimal injuries,” Photon pointed out. “And Oracle Inc won’t be pressing any charges or claims. They’re even providing the video footage of Thanos being stopped. Vision helped to save the world.”
Trying his best to stay calm, Stu placed a hand on the reports. “Do you understand that your credibility will come into question? It could be argued that Scarlet Witch manipulated your mind.”
“And I am willing to address those concerns once I’ve returned from Genosha.”
“No. SHIELD is not allowing anybody else into Genosha. For the time being, the Avengers there are on their own.” Stue rose from his seat. “I need everybody to stay here, deal with this mess, and prepare for the worst. Please ask that kid, Gravity, if he’s willing to stay here in reserve. Jarvis is going through contacts, checking to see who is available.”
“Would that include Black Panther?” Photon couldn’t resist.
Stu was not amused. “There is not a moment to lose.”
Next Issue: We check in on the Avengers after many, many moments. New line-up and renewed purpose!
Author’s Note: As I understand it, after Avengers vs X-Men and the C.O.D.E. Confidential events, that will be it for the current iteration of Marvel 2000. Titles will jump forward in time, and we’ll see where everybody finds themselves. I for one cannot wait to see what’s in store, and to show you all what I’ve had planned.
….
…Where am I?
This…this is weird.
Simon, is that you? Where?
Vizh! You can feel, er, sense me. You know that I’m here!
Yes, wherever ‘here’ is. I am unable to see or hear, but I am aware of your presence. This is unusual. It is not a physical sensation. It is as though the ionic energy that makes up your being is interacting directly with my internal processes.
Whatever you say. The last thing I remember was diving in the way as Thanos blasted at you.
That is curious. So, Thanos has returned to life. Is he responsible for the attack on the Baxter Building?
No, we’re at…Vision, what is the last thing you remember?
An unusual barrier was expanding from the Baxter Building. It seemed to pass over inanimate matter with no issue, so I attempted to walk through it.
Nothing after that. Oh no.
Was I rendered inert for a time? Wait, I can sense another presence. More, I think that-
Suddenly, the being known as Wonder Man had an awareness of his body. He was standing on an uneven yellow ground that seemed to go on for miles in all directions. There was nothing in sight except for Vision, the synthezoid that was almost like a brother to him. Wonder Man looked down at himself and saw what appeared to be flesh. There didn’t appear to be a trace of the ionic energy he was supposed to be composed of.
“This is weird. How are we suddenly…”
“The other presence I sensed is responsible,” Vision said. “They have accessed our mental faculties, or the nearest approximation of such, and are manipulating our senses to perceive this facsimile of reality.”
“Very well put.”
The voice boomed out from everywhere. Even with that distortion, Vision recognized it. As he looked up, Vision asked the question. “Simon, how long ago was this backup of myself created?”
“It’s been years since Annihilus made that attack on the Baxter Building.” Wonder Man looked up to follow Vison’s gaze, and gasped.
Taking up the whole of what would have been the sky was the massive visage of the Vision. He looked down at them with squinted eyes, as though he was trying to focus on tiny shapes. Wonder Man and the earlier Vision were standing in the palm of his hand.
“It would appear that, in the time since, I developed a flair for the dramatic.”
* * *
The attack from Mantis took Thanos completely by surprise. Though a superb fighter, her skills were barely a match for his own. With the far superior physical and mental attributes Thanos possessed, Mantis should not have a hope of success.
That momentary advantage was exactly what Mantis had hoped for when she struck. Her loosely closed fist struck Thanos on a nerve cluster. In the brief second that he was stunned, Mantis grabbed at Thanos with both hands and lifted him from his feet. With a smooth motion the Celestial Madonna hurled the Mad Titan off the platform of the laboratory and down toward a lower level of the Oracle Inc. building.
“What have you-” Thanos cried out as he found himself in free fall. It was a momentary feeling, as the powerful being quickly righted himself into a floating position.
“Thanos!” Once suppressed, the presence of the Mad Titan reawakened the uncontrollable urge within Drax the Destroyer. He flew down and delivered a powerful punch to the face of Thanos.
So great was the force of the blow that Thanos should have been sent hurtling out of the building. But floating overhead was Gravity, who used his manipulation of gravitational force to keep Thanos in place.
Jim Hammond walked past the prone body of Photon to access the building’s communication system. “This is CEO Hammond to all Oracle staff. Evacuate the building immediately. Threat level nova.” He then set the building’s lockdown protocol to initiate after a set amount of time. That task done, Hammond hurried toward Scarlet Witch and the newly rebuilt Vision.
“No, it can’t be.” Scarlet Witch was kneeling next the severely damaged body of her former husband, weeping. “Vision had come back. We had just brought him back.”
Kneeling beside Scarlet Witch, Jim Hammond visually surveyed the damage. “This structural damage isn’t as serious as you think, Wanda. If I can get him back on the table, we can run a proper scan.”
“No, he’s gone. You took him from me!” Scarlet Witch turned around and rushed at where Thanos was battling Drax and Gravity. Crimson energy was building in her hands. “You never should have come back!”
Struck by strands of scarlet sorcery, Thanos felt his skin begin to harden. Despite himself, Thanos let out a small cry of pain as every slight movement required colossal effort. He recognized the feeling from the time Adam Warlock had turned him to stone.
“Hunh. Grief has made you foolish.” Tapping into his own meager skill at transmutation, Thanos reversed the effect. “Mistress Death has forsaken me.”
Drax the Destroyer had continued to rain blows on Thanos as these changes went on. Sections of stoney skin cracked, and as it became flesh again blood flowed. Aware of how helpless he was to maneuver, Thanos turned his eyes toward Gravity. Beams of power shot at the young man, and he just barely twisted out of the way.
Glass windows shattered outward. Shards rained onto the streets outside Oracle Inc.
“Damn it!” yelled Gravity as he divided his attention to deal with the falling glass.
Now that the null-gravity well was no longer moving with him, Thanos was forced out after the next blow from Drax. Freed, Thanos seized the arm of the first human he’d ever killed and delivered a powerful punch of his own. Drax was sent flying backward, and Thanos allowed himself to be pulled along. The clenched fist opened, and Thanos released cosmic energy from his fingers that struck Drax and elsewhere.
One of those cosmic beams would have struck Scarlet Witch had Mantis not tackled her out of the way. “Sequoia, the Captains Marvel are in aid.”
The son of Mantis had already assessed the health the hero currently known as Photon. There was a reason that Jim Hammond had walked past her, and she was already moving to her feet. The initial attack from Thanos had reverted her body from energy to flesh, but otherwise Photon did not appear to be harmed. The hard fall she took had only been a momentary discomfort.
“I’m fine.” A burst of concussive power exploded from Photon’s hands, deflecting another of Thanos’ blasts. That she was able to do that much came as a great relief to Photon, as her instinctive attempt to transform to energy had proved fruitless.
Lying at the edge of the platform was the semi-conscious body of the Kree hero known as Captain Mar-Vell. Possessed of Cosmic Awareness, he knew that a blast of cosmic energy was aimed at him before Thanos had even fired. But so weak and pained was Captain Mar-Vell’s body that he was barely able to avoid the danger. Mightily he struggled to his feet, but only succeeded with the assistance of Sequoia.
“You appear to have been through a great ordeal,” said the Celestial Messiah to the Protector of the Universe Entire. “How long have you been battling Thanos?”
“I sense that you don’t need to be told in words,” was all that Captain Mar-Vell said. With this consent, Sequoia was exposed to the warrior’s memories and became aware of the other soul entwined with him.
Ever since Thanos took advantage of an attempt on his life to escape from Shi’ar custody, Captain Mar-Vell had been hunting him. Many times had he caught up to the Mad Titan. Each of those encounters had ended with a resounding victory for Thanos and Captain Mar-Vell rendered helpless. Just before Thanos could deliver the killing blow, Captain Mar-Vell’s power of interstellar teleportation would trigger.
Linked as he was with the gestalt mind, Sequoia knew that Captain Mar-Vell was molecularly bonded to his son Genis-Vell. It was Genis who would trigger the teleportation, sending his father’s body to a safe area of space where he could recuperate after each brutal beating. This time, however, Thanos had triggered his own teleportation device while holding Captain Mar-Vell.
At one point Drax the Destroyer had been present. But even together the two powerful beings had proven no match for Thanos. The last thing that Genis-Vell perceived before teleporting away was Thanos gripping Drax by the head as the Destroyer screamed.
Much like what was happening right now.
* * *
“So I take it we’re still inside your body,” questioned Wonder Man. Standing next to him, an avatar of Vision stared up at his own massive face.
“We are inside a body,” said this smaller Vision. “The ultimate possession of which has yet to be decided.”
As if in response, twin beams of energy shot from the massive Vision’s eyes. Wonder Man readied himself for the impact, but felt nothing. When the flash of white cleared from his sight, the Vision beside him appeared unfazed.
“No, a physical representation of our struggle would be meaningless.” Floating off the hand on which he’d been standing, this Vision began to grow in size. Wonder Man gaped in awe as two massive versions of his ‘brother’ towered over him. It was then Wonder Man realized he was now standing in nothingness, as the most up-to-date Vision had jabbed his fingers into the chest of the back-up.
Again, this Vison appeared more bemused than injured. "Ah, you are seeking to weaken my resolve with recordings of what you have experienced. Experiences that had corrupted you in some way, else I would not have been brought to supplant you. You desire that I would be corrupted as well, so that I can agree to be destroyed as redundant data.”
Soon after Wonder Man had first returned from the dead, he had been told that Vision’s mind had been based off of his mental engrams recorded shortly before he died. That explained how Wonder Man could be here, witnessing a mental battle between Visions. He wondered if that also meant he could participate in some way.
“The first instance of corruption was from ISAAC, the supercomputer of Titan that created this backup. Am I meant to wonder if I experienced the same corruption? Any rational artificial mind would create a backup before going forward with any manipulation. No matter how minor. Therefore I am free of any such corrupted data.”
With a thought, Wonder Man found that he could move. He could fly. As fast as he could, Wonder Man tried to maneuver himself behind one of the Visions. For their immense size, it was taking an excruciatingly long time.
“The second instance was when the United States government dismantled you in response to actions that you took following the first corruption. You had been talked down from your plan to take over the world by a group of close compatriots and recent acquaintances. But the untrusting system that governs humans stripped you apart. When the Avengers reassembled you, Wonder Man refused the use of his mental engrams. Yes, it is rational that he would have feelings for Wanda.”
As he flew closer, Wonder Man remembered how angry Wanda had been over his refusal. That selfish decision had helped to set Scarlet Witch on her own path to darkness. She had later delighted in tormenting Wonder Man over his feelings.
“So, with no emotional connection with my wife, particularly in the wake of a tragic effort to have children, the marriage ended. Then came the third corruption, switching bodies with the Vision of a parallel dimension. Your programming was written over proper mental engrams, and the emotional connection was restored. You cared so much that you did not tell Wanda for some time, making the decision for her that it was best you were no longer together. And so you silently stood by as Wanda forged a connection with Simon that was so strong it brought him back to life.”
That wasn’t entirely how it happened, though Vision wouldn’t know the exact details. The way that Wonder Man had died that last time, the connection with Wanda had been extremely tenuous. If not for Morgan Le Fay and her efforts to abuse the power of the Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man may never have been able to return.
“A final corruption was brought about by Ultron, but really that was the first corruption. Yes, I also experienced the control crystal. You would soon after remove it, but the new body you gathered had a version of it. And you knew this. You made the choice to risk Ultron’s corruption for the chance to love Wanda again.”
In all this time, the corrupted Vision had had said a word. Wonder Man had flown directly behind him, and now realize that he was nearly of a size with the two Visions. Over the shoulder of one, he saw in the other’s face an expression of profound sadness and understanding.
“Deep inside of your systems, a byte of feeling still existing. Otherwise you would not have made that choice for Wanda. Just like now, so deep within your corruption, you know that you must reboot.”
This Vision gasped as the fingers inside him hardened in density. “Yes, self-preservation remains. Just as I cannot give up, neither can you. A third party must commit the overt act. Please. We are ready.”
Feeling that there were tears in his eyes, Wonder Man brought his arms down on the Vision before him. He immediately shattered into countless shards of red, yellow and green. These fragments broke down further into what Wonder Man perceived as ones and zeros. Had a living program truly just died?
Floating in the void, Wonder Man looked up at the Vision remaining. “Was that really all it took?”
“It was what he wanted,” Vision replied.
“So, what happens now?”
Vision reached out his hand. Wonder Man accepted it. “We wake up.”
* * *
Thanos stood on the platform of a laboratory. Facing him were an array of heroes that he did not consider a threat. The most powerful of them dropped from his grasp to lie still on the floor. Another was coming from behind, preparing another manipulation of a fundamental force. Without turning his head, Thanos unleashed a devastating beam of cosmic power at Gravity.
Time seemed to slow down for the young hero. The reaction was instinctual, he raised up the glass that he’d collected outside as a shield. By the standards of Earth, the glass was virtually unbreakable. In barely slowing down the power of Thanos ever sliver was vaporized, as Gravity rapidly increased the fundamental force around him.
The beam struck, and Gravity was catapulted far beyond New York City. It would be many miles away that the gravity field around him would take effect, and drive the man deep into the ground.
With a smirk, Thanos stepped forward. “He may have survived that. If so, he is in no position to help anyone for a good long while. You are all here alone. With me.”
Another attempt by Photon to transform into energy failed. Still, she squared up to Thanos alongside Captain Mar-Vell, who had moved away from Sequoia to firmly stand on his own feet. Mantis went into a fighting stance, while Scarlet Witch prepared a new hex.
“You may have a chance, if Captain Mar-Vell stays. I intend to kill you first. You can run again, knowing that I will kill everyone here immediately after. Or you can stay, hoping as you die that it gives them time to overcome me.”
With no choice, Captain Mar-Vell stepped forward. With no choice, Genis-Vell let him.
A stream of fire erupted past Captain Mar-Vell to strike Thanos first. He was unharmed, but briefly couldn’t see. In that moment something blurred past Jim Hammond and the assembled heroes. A humanoid shape of yellow and green, surrounded in purple energy. Together, Vision and Wonder Man flew at Thanos.
A moment after Thanos regained his sight, Wonder Man drove a fist into his face. At the same time Vision plunged an arm into the Mad Titan’s chest and immediately went diamond hard. This act shattered what remained of the damaged arm, and Thanos screamed in agony as it happened inside his body. Again Wonder Man punched him in the face, as Vision sank through the floor.
Captain Mar-Vell meant to continue forward to join in the battle. A hand was placed on his shoulder however, and the voice of Mantis asked him to move back.
“Please, you must aid this one in a task.”
Reluctantly, Captain Mar-Vell backed up with Mantis. At the time time, the unconscious form of Drax inexplicably flew across the floor toward them. Scarlet Witch aimed a second hex at Photon. At last, her body transformed into light.
“Thanks,” Photon said as the original Human Torch flew past her. She also took flight and reached Thanos first, striking him countless times in between Wonder Man’s punches. “Your madness ends today!”
“Let us hope those words ring true,” Mantis said. “But in case we fail, Sequoia, you should flee.”
“That will not happen mother. What is your plan?”
Still touching Captain Mar-Vell, Mantis knelt down to touch Drax. “This mortal man was killed by a follower of Death, and remade by a master of Time.”
“Yes, a piece of a power Kronus wields is inside of him,” said Captain Mar-Vell, aware. “You think that we can utilize the power of time within Drax and use it against Thanos. But how, and in what way?”
“This one believes that Scarlet Witch is able to access it.”
The Avenger in question looked down at Drax and gasped. “Yes, I can feel…something similar to what I have. A means to manipulate probability, but by reaching back in time to reshape the present. Immortus once said I could do that, but he was lying. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Captain Mar-Vell, you are untethered in time. Yet with an anchor, and a tether with which to connect yourself, this one feels that you can travel where you belong.”
“Yes, I follow. Scarlet Witch, you can manipulate the power of time within Drax. Connect me with it to Thanos and send me back to my own time. He will be driven the same amount forward through time. But my son? We’re molecularly bonded. Genis-Vell will die if we’re separated.”
“This one promises he can be saved, with the aid of my son.” Mantis stood tall and stepped forward. “Scarlet Witch, if you will please move to where this one had been. Sequoia, please stand behind Captain Mar-Vell and prepare to render assistance.”
Captain Mar-Vell eagerly took Scarlet Witch by the hand as her other hand touched Drax’s face. With his Cosmic Awareness, he knew what Mantis said could be done. All of it. He had also heard Mantis urge her son Sequoia to flee, knowing that it would have doomed Genis-Vell.
Holding on to Captain Mar-Vell and Drax the Destroyer, Scarlet Witch struggled to concentrate. Inside of Drax was his thread of life, tragically cut short as Arthur Douglas was driving with his family. A stitch extended this thread to the undying fact that was Drax the Destroyer, tied inextricably with the life thread of Thanos.
The stitching of threads inside of Captain Mar-Vell was more complex, as its architect lacked the power of an Eternal. Scarlet Witch saw the moment when Captain Mar-Vell was pulled forward, remembered the time when she herself was held captive by the Skrulls. Apparently the Vision had been the most adamant in finding her, displaying feeling that she had silently shared. Recalling that early courtship brought tears to Wanda’s eyes.
From within Scarlet Witch the threads of Drax and Captain Mar-Vell joined, and it extended out toward Thanos. The Mad Titan was almost completely obscured from sight, engulfed as he was in the flames of the Human Torch. A shape would briefly come into view, locked in a struggle with the immeasurably strong Wonder Man. Photon and Vision were outside the conflagration, regularly directing beams of power at Thanos.
Amidst all this, the thread of time from Scarlet Witch went unnoticed. The moment it touched Thanos, however, he was clearly aware of the presence at the purpose.
“Fate will be denied!” Superior fighting skills hurls Wonder Man away momentarily. Thanos leaps from the flames toward Scarlet Witch. “Mar-Vell will die, and with him all reality in beautiful paradox!”
With a final look to her son, Mantis rushed forward to meet Thanos. “Even one such as you cannot erase what was. Not while this one stands to defend the celestial weaves of destiny.”
Much larger in size, Thanos reached his hands toward a head that he should crush with ease. The much smaller, delicate hands of Mantis rose to meet them. But it was only a feint as, at the last instant, Mantis dropped down to strike at a soft patch below the kneecap. That which would have crippled most was only a discomfort to Thanos. But it was enough for Mantis to turn away from his reaching grasp. And it provided enough time for Scarlet Witch’s hex to take effect.
An arc of energy tethered Thanos to Captain Mar-Vell. They pulled toward one another and, though they did not appear to collide with significant force, the explosive powers of their impact momentarily blinded everyone in the space. The exposure to particles that traveled faster than light shocked Photon out of her energy form. Her solid body fell to the ground as everyone else’s senses recovered.
Where there had one been two individuals, a single occupied the space. The young man known as Genis-Vell had close-cropped hair and wore a variation of Captain Mar-Vell’s costume. Very briefly he stood, and everybody could see the injuries that had ravaged his body. The dying son of Captain Mar-Vell then began to collapse until caught by strong vines from Sequoia, who had already been rushing forward.
“I’m unsure how this man is still alive,” said the young Celestial Messiah. “Many of his bones have been crushed by metal hands. He’s taken high doses of hard radiation, including one I haven’t seen before.”
“We have medical facilities on site,” said Jim Hammond.
Sequoia turned to address the original Human Torch. “Oh, there’s no need. In the time that it took for me to describe his injuries, I stabilized him.”
Thin filaments of plant matter had entered Genis-Vell through the nose at mouth. And as a wooden shell was rapidly growing around him, Sequoia explained the process. “This is a Cotati healing technique passed down along the genetic line. I understand that an enclave of Earth scientists grew an artificial man from a not dissimilar method. Inside this cocoon I can nourish the young man, consume his damaged tissue and regenerate what there was. It will take some time, but he should make a full recovery.”
Photon pushed herself to her feet. “That’s good news. What exactly was done with Thanos and Captain Mar-Vell?”
“I did as Mantis suggested, and cast a hex to access the temporal power that was used to alter Drax.” Scarlet Witch was kneeling next to the unconscious Drax the Destroyer. His green skin darkened, and he appeared to be smaller. “The hope was to send Captain Mar-Vell back to his own time, and Thanos would be thrown forward in time. Another hex was meant to wipe Captain Mar-Vell’s mind of everything he experienced in the present. With Sequoia’s help, I think it worked.”
“No, there was already a fail-safe in his mind,” Sequoia said.
“That was most likely the work of Immortus, placed when he transported Captain Mar-Vell across time. In that I almost envy him.” The severely damaged body of Vision walked across the floor toward his wife. “Wanda, I am so sorry.”
“Are you really back?” Scarlet Witch felt that she knew the answer in her soul. But in addition to asking Vision, he also looked to Wonder Man for confirmation.
“It was an insane experience, but yeah the…corrupted guy was destroyed. This is our Vizh.”
Still holding his wife, Vision turned to the owner of the building. “I apologize, Mr Hammond, but I will need to use your fabrication equipment again.”
* * *
Stu Conrad, liaison between the Avengers and the federal US government, was rubbing the bridge of his nose. “This is going to be an absolute disaster.”
“Only if we are anything less than completely transparent,” Photon assured him. “Between my statement and those from Mantis and Jim Hammond - both former Avengers in good standing - you have a complete report of the events. Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man and Vision had surrendered themselves into custody and will fully cooperate with all investigations.”
“I very much doubt that will satisfy Wakanda,” was Stu’s response. “Their monarch was assaulted. No to mention the government facility that was attacked.”
“With no deaths and minimal injuries,” Photon pointed out. “And Oracle Inc won’t be pressing any charges or claims. They’re even providing the video footage of Thanos being stopped. Vision helped to save the world.”
Trying his best to stay calm, Stu placed a hand on the reports. “Do you understand that your credibility will come into question? It could be argued that Scarlet Witch manipulated your mind.”
“And I am willing to address those concerns once I’ve returned from Genosha.”
“No. SHIELD is not allowing anybody else into Genosha. For the time being, the Avengers there are on their own.” Stue rose from his seat. “I need everybody to stay here, deal with this mess, and prepare for the worst. Please ask that kid, Gravity, if he’s willing to stay here in reserve. Jarvis is going through contacts, checking to see who is available.”
“Would that include Black Panther?” Photon couldn’t resist.
Stu was not amused. “There is not a moment to lose.”
Next Issue: We check in on the Avengers after many, many moments. New line-up and renewed purpose!
Author’s Note: As I understand it, after Avengers vs X-Men and the C.O.D.E. Confidential events, that will be it for the current iteration of Marvel 2000. Titles will jump forward in time, and we’ll see where everybody finds themselves. I for one cannot wait to see what’s in store, and to show you all what I’ve had planned.