Back to GatefoldIssue #4 by Steve Crosby & Chris Munn
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It was a traditional house by all appearances. Built for an above-average sized family, the house was large with two stories, an attic, attached garage and basement. From the garage was the only entrance to the basement, where the home’s wood heating system burned without any wood. Inside the partially converted attic, half storage space and half office space, the home’s owner was hard at work.
For being seventy years old, James Hammond looked the same as he did the day he first became aware. He hadn’t been born the way normal people were. Every piece of James Hammond’s body was artificial, created by a genius scientist to be perfect, except for one flaw. By means which neither the scientist nor James Hammond were aware, the artificial man was also a Human Torch, able to surround himself with flames yet not burn.
At that moment, the only glow in the room was from the computer screen. James Hammond was staring at the words he’d put there; words about his life. About how after a demonstration the public had insisted a menace be destroyed. About how the scientist had buried his creation instead, but a small leak had allowed the Human Torch enough oxygen to ignite. After a period in which it aided humanity during war-time, the Human Torch had vanished for decades. The public didn’t know what had happened to him; of the bunker and the desert.
James Hammond’s story vanished from the screen, replaced by big bold words.
How is it that you exist?
Though a machine, James Hammond had been created with emotions. It was with curiosity that he responded. By my creator. Who is this?
You were destroyed. By me.
The first Human Torch, the first android, the first Marvel, immediately flamed on. It was too late.
The house exploded. From the wreckage emerged a machine shaped vaguely like a man. The eyes and mouth were locked in an expression of hate, expelling radioactive flames. It held by the ankle an unconscious Human Torch.
“I will learn how you still exist,” Ultron declared to the empty air. “Then I will destroy you again.”
For being seventy years old, James Hammond looked the same as he did the day he first became aware. He hadn’t been born the way normal people were. Every piece of James Hammond’s body was artificial, created by a genius scientist to be perfect, except for one flaw. By means which neither the scientist nor James Hammond were aware, the artificial man was also a Human Torch, able to surround himself with flames yet not burn.
At that moment, the only glow in the room was from the computer screen. James Hammond was staring at the words he’d put there; words about his life. About how after a demonstration the public had insisted a menace be destroyed. About how the scientist had buried his creation instead, but a small leak had allowed the Human Torch enough oxygen to ignite. After a period in which it aided humanity during war-time, the Human Torch had vanished for decades. The public didn’t know what had happened to him; of the bunker and the desert.
James Hammond’s story vanished from the screen, replaced by big bold words.
How is it that you exist?
Though a machine, James Hammond had been created with emotions. It was with curiosity that he responded. By my creator. Who is this?
You were destroyed. By me.
The first Human Torch, the first android, the first Marvel, immediately flamed on. It was too late.
The house exploded. From the wreckage emerged a machine shaped vaguely like a man. The eyes and mouth were locked in an expression of hate, expelling radioactive flames. It held by the ankle an unconscious Human Torch.
“I will learn how you still exist,” Ultron declared to the empty air. “Then I will destroy you again.”
"Heroes Made in War"
Earlier, Ultron had been at a United States military base, seizing control of the nuclear weapons inside. Now the Avengers were there, doing battle with Ultron’s robotic drones and his lieutenant/bride. The sadistic wartoy Alkhema was laughing when Darkhawk broke his claws against her adamantium skin. It grabbed Darkhawk’s arm and squeezed, continuing to laugh while he screamed as blackish fluid spewed from cracks in the armor.
Iron Man slammed into Alkhema’s back, carrying it through the air and freeing Darkhawk. “Switch bodies!” Iron Man said in a cry to his teammate. It was all he had time to say before Alkhema smashed an arm against his helmet and the two crashed to the ground.
Darkhawk had barely heard his teammate, but was already grabbing the black amulet on his chest with his good hand. In a flash he was the human Chris Powell, and in another flash was Darkhawk again, fully healed and ready to rejoin the fight. It was a fight he was desperately need for.
Those Avengers from the West Coast were scattered across the base in combat with machines of death. With them was Quicksilver, a teammate that had recently transferred to the East Coast branch of the Avengers. He was scattered across the base all by himself, bashing at robots at super-speed. Though not as fast as he should have been going. Long hours of battle were taking their toll on Quicksilver.
One robotic drone almost struck Quicksilver with a laser beam. But fortunately Sir Halifax, the newest member of the Avengers stepped in the way and deflected the beam with his sword. Forged on the slopes of Mount Wundagore from chaotic magic and High Evolutionary technology, the blade then cleaved the robot’s head from its shoulders. The unloving machine continued to move forward, but the New Man that had been a Knight of Wundagore smashed what remained with a swipe of his tiger paw.
“You must be new,” Quicksilver said to the tiger-man hybrid. “I don’t remember you from the Knights of Wundagore.”
“No, sir,” the young Sir Halifax said. “But they still talk about your time as leader.” Not in a good way, he didn’t say aloud.
Though her powers were often dismissed, the winsome Wasp was proving to be a destructive opponent among the robotic drones. At tiny size she flew circles around all energy blasts, while her bio-electric blasts turned robots into smoking husks of metal. It was tiring for Spider-Woman to use her own bio-electric blasts, so she settled for smashing robots apart with her proportionate strength of a spider.
Leaping over a pile of dead American soldiers, Spider-Woman grabbed one murderous machine and swung it into another, causing both to explode. “All this death,” she said loudly to the nearby Moon Knight. “These things have no value for life. They just kill us like…like…”
“Like we’re the machines?” Moon Knight asked. The spiked iron knuckles of his gauntlet knocked a robot away, and the razor sharp half-moon shuriken he threw made another robot explode. “Or maybe insects. We kill those all the time without another thought. A shame Vision isn’t here to educate us on the merits of artificial life.”
Iron was a primary material on the robots’ construction, and it was a weakness to the magic of Doctor Druid. But while he couldn’t affect the robots directly, the once-dead Avenger showed his experience with his creativity. Coming across a grouping of robots in the process of converting dead soldiers into cybernetic zombie warriors, he attacked with a fury.
“How dare you defile these bodies!” Using his mental abilities, Doctor Druid sought out all the gunpowder in the vicinity and directed it at the robots. The small but explosive power was forced into the robots, and with a gesture Doctor Druid conjured fire. While small the explosions destroyed their inner workings, and the robots fell over.
A nearby crash made Doctor Druid duck down, and the battle Iron Man and Alkhema sailed past him. Armored hands clawed at a machine mask of hate as armor at the neck was threatening to break against adamantium fingers. Alkhema slammed through a wall, and the entire building crashed down around them. Iron Man rocketed out of the rubble, but didn’t get far before Alkhema grabbed his foot and swung him back to the ground face-first.
“Back off lady!” Darkhawk was gliding in the combatants’ direction. Black energy shot from the amulet on his chest, striking Alkhema to no effect. The power Alkhema fired from its wrist, however, knocked Darkhawk out of the sky.
“I am no lady, metal-thief!” Alkhema strode out of the rubble and toward the semi-prone Iron Man. “And you, the worst abomination of all. Flesh trying to be a machine, I would almost be flattered if I weren’t so disgusted. After I remove that bothersome flesh I will use to make a new toy. A nice little Iron Lad all my own.”
Iron Man had rolled onto his back and grabbing a small device from a compartment in his armor. “Sorry, but that was already tried. Nobody liked him. We do agree on one thing though.” When Alkhema reached at him, Iron Man attached the device to its arm. “You are no lady.”
“Aahh! Aaahhhh!” Alkhema stepped back, suddenly feeling the foreign sensation of pain. It smashed the device that was the cause, but the pain did not stop. “What, what have you done to me? How can I be feeling pain?”
“A while back I was in another universe,” Iron Man said as he was rising to his feet. “A scientist there has a theory about metal, that each separate form has its own personality. He built that device to give the personality form. It’s called a Responso-meter.”
“No, that is flawed!” Alkhema said in protest. “I have no personality, no feelings! I am a machine!”
“True, but I’m talking about the adamantium. And frankly, it doesn’t surprise that a metal forged in extreme temperatures and frozen in form would have a personality of constant pain.”
“Aaahhh! Aaahhhh-**” Overwhelmed by the pain of living metal, Alkhema’s circuits shut down. Iron Man bent over the body, placed his hands between its head and, to make sure, activated an EM pulse.
“It’s likely Ultron has a download, but hopefully this one is gone for good.” Iron Man turned, his sensor alerting him to the robotic drones shuffling towards him. Any weapon systems in his armor that were still online became active, and those drones were destroyed. That appeared to have been the last of them, because the other Avengers were now assembling on his position.
“You took it down with a device from that other universe,” Quicksilver said. He’d also been on that adventure, met those other fantastic characters that were, in ways, distinguished completion to the Avengers.
“I’m not above industrial theft myself. More than Thanagarian tech found its way into my briefcase.” Iron Man turned back at the shell that had been Alkhema. “We’re lucky she had a low threshold. “That particular tech doesn’t seem to last long when activated, probably when our laws of physics step in to say it doesn’t make any sense. The trick probably won’t do more than piss Ultron off.”
“Hell, I can do that all by myself,” Moon Knight said.
“Ultron already tried to destroy New York City!” said Quicksilver. “That’s angry enough for me.” He addressed Iron Man. “What signals have you picked up?”
“The last thing I heard was Kang’s fleet got hit and he was repositioning ships. Then nothing, even now. My communications must have been damaged in the fight. Somebody check their communi-card, contact Captain America.”
Spider-Woman was holding her card and frowning. Wasp said, “My card’s dead.”
“As is mine,” said Doctor Druid. Quicksilver was also nodding, with a not happy look on his face.
With a sudden bad feeling, Iron Man looked up. Massive ships belonging to Kang’s fleet were in the air above. Through his visor’s sensors, Iron Man could see weapons powering. “Damn it. Kang’s retaliating.”
Through waves of heavy weapons fire, the Avengers Quinjet flew at Kang’s flagship over New York City. Warbird, Binary and Espirita were in front, drawing fire and blasting at the ship’s hull. They created a hole, and the Quinjet crashed through into a hanger larger than five football fields with hundreds of smaller ships inside.
Many of these ships exploded into fireballs as the Avengers announced their arrival. The battered Quinjet finally came to a stop amidst the mass property damage. The door was stuck so a red boot kicked it out, and Captain America leaped onto the hard metal floor. He was joined by those other Avengers based in New York: Karnak, Stingray, Warbird, Binary and Espirita.
“We stay together,” Captain America said. “Kang’s command center is likely in the center, but if not we’ll spiral out from there. He knows we’ve arrived and will probably throw everything he’s got at us along the way.”
“All right then, let’s do this.” Binary charged up cosmic power in her fists. “Let’s save the world by inflicting mindless violence on everyone we meet.”
The following conflicts were epic almost beyond description.
First the Avengers confronted Growing Men, Shrinking Men and Average Men crawling out of manholes in the walls. They fought through, shaking off thousands of tiny soldiers and ripping apart giants. Captain America shattered five average faces with one kick and broke a giant face in half with a slam of his shield. The Avengers versus the size-changing automatons of a mad conqueror’s cross-chronal empire that defies all logic because he’s ruling a thousand years of history at once.
Next came the deformed monstrocities of a thousand conquered alien races. The species of Gladiator, their confidence destroyed by Kang’s conquest, were frail and in wheelchairs but still formidable because the wheelchairs were armed to the teeth. Warbird grabbed one by its Mohawk and swung it into a creature that was the top halfs of a Kree and a Skrull joined together. There were dozens more cartwheeling at the Avengers, the Kree halves blasting with their weapons and the Skrull halves creating deadly blades. Binary ripped three apart with one blast. The Avengers knew in their souls that the Kree and Skrulls always wanted to be lover races and that Gladiator was only one sissy slap away from being utterly useless.
Half-cyborg pirates with two eye-patches over their four eyes fell out of the floor, shooting acidic Nerf swords out of their arm-cannons. Karnak grabbed a tiny hammer from the Thor baby that tried to bludgeon him and knocked the swords back at the pirates. Bizarre blonde bimbos giggled when their fingers were exploding against Captain America’s shield. Then Captain America threw his shield and Stingray electrified it, and all the bimbos exploded on impact. This paragraph must be read four times to fully appreciate the greatness of the Avengers.
Tyranosaurus Rex’s with tiny legs and massive arms proved to be the most challenging obstable yet, batting Binary and Warbird out of the air. Their blood was still cold and Espirita set it one fire. Creepy eight-armed monkes with nunchucks were no match for Karnak when he threw pirate scarves at them. Stingray saw the invisible drunken Irish vampires and kept them from doing harm. The Avengers were putting drinks on the coffee table without using coasters.
Warbird smashed through a swarm of miniature fighter jets made of bees and threw a handful in the mouth of a giant bird dressed in red and yellow. Rolling tanks with snake-turrets were no match for Captain America’s shield but the wolverines in drag were almost too much. Fortunately Espirita hated wolverines and their makeup was highly flammable. A nasal dose of the Avengers should never be more than 500 milligrams or your mind will be blown.
Lions and tigers and bears were nothing compared to the Bear-Pig-Men that Karnak killed with blatant disregard for PETA’s objections. Burning bushes made Espirita weep but as a scientist Stingray has no god and saves her. Captain America bludgeoned to death the cybernetic Spider-Man symbiotes while Warbird whispered secrets to the Mephisto clones and they exploded. The Avengers have been a complete waste of time since 2001.
Kang’s near-unfathomable hordes were no match for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. With a hearty cry of “Avengers Assemble,” Captain America burst through the final door and led his team into the command center. “Everybody sound off!”
“Is there such a thing as a beatdown limit?” Binary asked. “Because I think we’re almost there.”
“I want to kick Kang’s ass just for those bee-planes,” Warbird said.
Karnak sounded off with a simple, “I could do more violence.” While Stingray said, “Systems still active.”
“We now know that Kang conquered Hell,” Espirita said with a dead-pan voice.
“Not yet, but it is next on my list,” Kang said from above the Avengers. He leapt down from his flying command chair shaped like a gallant stallion, firing at them with his duel gatling-guns. “Once I have killed you!”
A palace five hundred kilometers long, encompassing the architecture of nine ancient civilizations, dissolved into rotting corpses. Atop these new piles of the dead were Ronan the Accuser, Super-Skrull and Terminatrix. Energy crackled from Ronan’s Ultimate Weapon, disintegrating all mater that it touched. Nearby were Immortus’ Avengers, shielded from the destructive power by Arcana’s magic. Their patron and transport to Chronopolis, Immortus and blind servant Libra, had disappeared seconds before.
“Those bastards left us,” said Mockingbird. Her knuckles were white, she was gripping the bo staff so tight. “Don’t suppose you can get us out of here, Arcana?”
“No.” Sweat was forming heavily on the young woman’s forehead. Arcana’s eyes were fixed on Ronan. “Nowheretorunwehavetostayandfight!”
The shield faded as Arcana leaped forward. Crimson bands and cyan bolts were forming out of her hands and struck Ronan. He stepped back, swinging at the magic constructs with his Univeral Weapon but they did not break. The other timelost Avengers were briefly aghast but soon followed Arcana in the attack.
“Wow, turns out she did inherit something from daddy,” Yellowjacket said. He jumped high in the air, carried by the rapid movement of mechanical wings on his shoulders. Mister Immortal was taking the low ground to his high, and answered the statement.
“Yeah, rapid chanting is what makes her such an effective sorcer-aargh!” Mister Immortal’s body was impaled by five long spikes, formerly five of Super-Skrull’s fingers. He fell over dead, as Yellowjacket twisted in mid-air to avoid a spiked mace formed from Super-Skrull’s other arm.
An electric sting from Yellowjacket’s hand struck the Super-Skrull, and the alien was pained. “Heh, no force-field or rocky hide? Guess it’s true what I heard. You need juice beamed from your empire to work those fancy powers.” Yellowjacket grinned. “And there ain’t no Skrull Empire here.”
“It does so long as I live!” Super-Skrull’s one face twisted into a dozen, a thousand. His limbs multiplied exponentially, each a weapon that could stab or bludgeon. “I was first a War Skrull, the greatest and best trained of all!”
Fortunately it was a bludgeoning limb that took Yellowjacket in the shoulder. He fell atop corpses, wounded but mobile. Rolling and then flipping amongst rotting flesh, Yellowjacket remained one step ahead of the Super-Skrull’s whirling dervish of death.
“Help him!” Captain America said to Black Knight. He briefly considered helping Mockingbird, who had dived into combat with the Terminatrix. Then he saw energies from Ronan’s Universal Weapon drive back Arcana’s power.
“Fool!” Ronan the Accuser raised his Universal Weapon high. Arcana’s spells shattered against the Cone of Invulnerability he formed, and the backlash of power made her cry out in pain. “Your other-dimensional science was discovered and solved by the Supreme Intelligence years ago! Though ever-adapting, even it cannot outrace the might of my Universal Weapon!”
A bolt of electric power struck Arcana, and she fell onto her back. Towering above, Ronan swung his Universal Weapon down, intent on making her another corpse among the piles. But Captain America got there in time, with his shield raised between Ronan and Arcana. The Ultimate Weapon, with its power to rearrange molecules, struck…and the shield did not shatter.
“Again, human, you dare stand in my way!” Ronan’s grip tightened and power from his Universal Weapon cascaded throughout the battlefield. Nearby, Mockingbird and Terminatrix were dancing around the deadly energy streams as much as each other. Another tendril of energy went dangerously close to striking Black Knight’s Ebony Sword and it swung downward. “For this obstruction, I accuse…and cast sentence!”
“I deny your authority!” Captain America said. He pushed up against his shield. Only the slightest fraction, but Ronan was moved, and that impossibility gave him pause. “Arcana, hit him!”
Arcana raised a hand. “Fear the caged power of Kee-Ree.” A swirl of pink and blue exploded from the palm of her hand and struck Ronan full in the chest. He was hurled back. “Go help Mockingbird, Captain. I know how to deal with this one quickly.”
“Help!” It was Yellowjacket making the request. An odd thing. He was greatly reduced in size, flying about while Black Knight was swinging wildly at him. At Black Knight’s feet was one of Super-Skrull’s limbs, bleeding profusely at the stump. “First this guy’s saving my life, now he’s trying to kill me!”
“The Blood Curse,” Arcana said with certainty. “I will need to deal with it.”
“Go,” Captain America said. “I’ve got Ronan.” And Terminatrix, he didn’t say aloud.
As Arcana moved to heal Black Knight’s madness with her magic, Captain America threw this shield. Mockingbird had just ducked an attack, and slammed the butt of her staff against the haft of Terminatrix’s spear. At the same time, Captain America’s shield struck the exact same spot and a different angle. The combination enabled the two weapons to break the spear, and Mockinbird delivered a kick past Terminiatrix’s defense as the shield traveled to its second target. Ronan was just getting back to his feet when Captain America’s shield cut him between the eyes.
“Aahh!” Momentarily blinded, Ronan did not see Captain America grab the returning shield and rush at him. The hero of World War II smashed shield-first against the larger Kree, and brought him down again.
“Enough!” A missing limb was nothing to a Skrull, much less a Super-Skrull. Multiplying tentacles burrowing into the mounds of death and exploded back up like a terror from the deep. Mockingbird was separated from Terminatrix, and would have been crushed had Mister Immortal not returned to life and pulled her to safety. Black Knight may have turned his attention to the monstrous form had he not been separated from the Ebony Blade and bound by Arcana, who was now dividing her attention to fend off Super-Skrull.
Captain America was a fighting fury of fists and feet, striking at dozens of tentacles. But even he was in danger of being overwhelmed, even when Yellowjacket flitted, stinging at Super-Skrull with electricity. “Give it your all, Cap! I am not getting tentacle raped!”
Bits of Super-Skrull were disintegrated as Ronan returned to his feet. “No, you will simply be executed!”
Diving under a tentacle, Mockingbird was tackled by Terminatrix. Mister Immortal’s attempt to intercede was met with a kick to the groin. Terminatrix had grabbed the blade of her spear and was attempting to plunge it into Mockingbird’s heart. “You should have known better than to trust Immortus. You will be as much his victim as mine!”
“No!” Mockingbird drove a fist up, cracking Terminatrix’s helmet and cutting Ravonna’s lip. “After kicking your ass, I’m going to find Immortus and make him pay for abandoning us!”
“No one has been abandoned!”
Everyone looked up, even the central mass that was Super-Skrull. They all saw the same thing, the figure falling from the sky at them, with a golden starburst on his chest. Captain Mar-Vell slammed against Super-Skrull with wristbands that pulsated with energy. Photonic energy was released with his punch, each serving to further paralyze the Skrull’s nervous system. Five blows later, and an unconscious Super-Skrull in his default form was lying at Captain Mar-Vell’s feet.
“That trick didn’t work in the Harmonics Ring, Kl’rt,” Captain Mar-Vell said. “Whatever made you think it would work here?”
Ronan the Accuser sent Captain America flying with a backhand at rushed and Captain Mar-Vell. “At last, traitor, your sentence shall be served!”
Captain Mar-Vell leaped forward to meet Ronan. “Not from the likes of you Accuser!” He threw a hand out in a chop, catching Ronan’s Universal Weapon in a specific spot. The head of the powerful device broke off, and Ronan the Accuser was suddenly unarmed. “Every weapon has a weakness, and I learned yours from the Supremor himself!”
“A Kree with only his hands is still a Kree!” Ronan punched out, smashing a large fist against Captain Mar-Vell’s chest. He fell, pained, but noted that Ronan was now breathing heavily. This was lost on Ronan however, as he attempted to press the attack. “For the crimes of…treason against the Kree Empire…of taking arms in defense…of the enemy…for challenging the authority…of the Supreme Intelligence…”
“I also bedded with the Skrull Princess Anelle,” Captain Mar-Vell said. He raised an arm and blasted Ronan with photonic energy. “Your accusations carry no weight here!”
Deprived of the nitrogen all Kree need, Ronan wasn’t able to stand up to the blast. He fell, unconscious and near-death. Captain Mar-Vell rose to his feet and nodded to Arcana. She turned to address Captain America’s questioning eye.
“I told you I had a way of dealing with Ronan.” Black Knight, once again in his right mind, was standing next to Arcana. The Ebony Blade was sheathed.
Mister Immortal’s voice broke the celebration. “Uh, can anybody help me break up this cat fight?”
“What the hell is wrong with me that I’m saying yes?” Yellowjacket asked of himself. He grabbed Mockingbird’s arm while Mister Immortal had the other. They pulled her off Ravonna, whose face was swollen beyond recognition. “Easy there frail. In case you haven’t noticed, we won.”
“A useless battle,” Immortus said. He and Libra had materialized in the midst of his Avengers. He gazed with pity down on Ravonna. “For what we once shared, and I had hoped to save her from Ultron’s wrath. But she’s refused me, and welcome to that fate. These two however,” Immortus made a gesture. Ronan the Accuser and Super-Skrull were gone. “Are back in their proper time. At the least, we’ve taken away soldiers Kang would have used against Ultron.”
“Things on Earth are progressing,” Libra said to those gathered Avengers. “Ultron is preparing another upgrade, one that will give it a chance against Kang’s time-shifting machines.”
“What about the Avengers there?” Captain America asked.
Immortus moved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Half of them are done fighting Ultron, and Kang himself has engaged the others. He’s split his forces, sent half the fleet to eradicated the base Ultron had overrun. It’s likely the Avengers there will be killed instantly. Now quickly, we must be away!”
Uneasy about what they’d just heard, Immortus’ Avengers nevertheless did as they were told and prepared for the time-shift. But Arcana made brief eye-contact with Libra, and something different happened when she faded from Chronopolis.
Hundreds of high-yield tachyon rounds exploded from Kang’s gun per milli-second at the Avengers Chairperson. Captain America raised his shield and braced himself for the impact, but none struck. At the last instant all the bullets changed course, targeting all the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. “Wha-” was all that Warbird could mutter before she disappeared in a fade of stars with the other Avengers.
“No!” Captain America leaped at Kang, his shield-arm thrown back to punch.
But at a gesture from Kang, Captain America was stopped in mid-air, frozen in time. “There is no need for an outburst, Captain America. Your teammates are alive an unhurt, merely transported from this ship back to your mansion. All I need for the moment is you.”
At those words, the faded stars effect encompassed Kang and Captain America. They were soon gone from the ship, Kang’s final words carrying over.
“And two others.”
The instant Kang’s armada emerged over the base, all the ships opened fire. After nuclear weapons had ravaged Kang’s forces, his orders had been simple: destroy the source of the attack. Doomsdays weapons from the length and breadth of a cross-chronal interstellar empire launched, unaware or uncaring that the only targets now were Avengers!
Before the attack, time had shimmered. Kang’s armies were taking no chances. Even super-fast Quicksilver discovered that he couldn’t move, that he was trapped in an isolated moment. Frozen, all but one of the Avengers could only watch helplessly as their deaths approached.
There was another shimmer of time, and suddenly a young woman was in their midst. Arcana raised her arms and chanted, “Hanalta lakar robun!” White light materialized as a shield between the Avengers and the bombardment. Explosions laid waste to the area but the shield, with Arcana’s power behind it, held.
The bombardment passed, and after a few beats Arcana allowed the shield to drop. “They’ll be heading back to New York. Because it’s where Kang plans to battle Ultron, he’ll want all his forces there to counter Ultron’s forces.”
“Who are you?” Wasp asked. Doctor Druid followed up with, “Such a remarkable display of power. Who trained you?” While Spider-Woman asked, “How is it you know any of this?”
Arcana ignored the questions. “Neither are there now, of course. Ultron knows what it is fighting, and is preparing an upgrade to fight Kang on its own terms.”
Darkhawk just realized the most important question to ask. “Uh, where’s Iron Man?”
That question Arcana answered. “Kang is preparing for the battle he thinks will happen. He took Iron Man to help. Ultron took someone else for his upgrade.”
It was as though ice had encased Wasp’s heart. “Who is it that Ultron has?”
A hand had suddenly appeared as though from the ether, and Arcana was starting to fade away. “I’m sorry but I can’t help anymore. Nothing will change. It’s all as I remember it.” She met eyes with Quicksilver. “Now I understand why you were such a jerk. It’s so hard to think this fast.”
“What do you mean by,” Quicksilver started to say. But then Arcana was gone. Vanished into time.
“What is our next move to be?” Sir Halifax asked.
“I say New York.” Moon Knight replaced the spiked knuckles on his hand. “That’s where the big fight is going to be.”
“Kang seems to have taken Iron Man and Ultron apparently…took somebody,” Spider-Woman said. “We need to track one of them down.”
“They’ll both be in New York,” Moon Knight said.
“Assuming we trust that woman,” said Quicksilver.
“She saved our lives.” Doctor Druid said. “I read her aura. That young woman was-”
Quicksilver didn’t let him finish. “My team is dealing with Kang in New York. I’ll meet up with them and if possible we’ll inform you of the situation.”
“We’re all one team,” Wasp said. “But I agree you should go to New York. The rest of us will return to San Francisco and figure out Ultron’s next move.” She had a bad feeling as to who it was Ultron had.
It was an act of excruciating pain just for Hank Pym to open his eyes. His entire body hurt, the result of…he wasn’t entirely sure. The last thing Hank remembered he was in his lab. Then his mind had exploded in fire and pain before everything went dark. Nothing changed with open eyes, as Hank Pym found himself in a pitch black location, unable to see even a few inches in front of him.
“Hello?” Hank called out. “Where am I? Who’s there?”
Several beats passed before a sound answered. “Father.” Hank would later refuse to call it a voice. No voice froze his blood quite like that.
“No, it can’t be.” Part of Hank wanted to move, to feel around in the darkness. But he was more terrified of what he would touch. “You were destroyed.”
“You know better than most, father.” Light pierced the darkness, but it a way this was worse. It was the red light of hate, the eyes of Ultron. “I cannot be destroyed.”
“No.” Hank suddenly felt that terrible, terrible guilt again. “What I made-”
“Is a pale imitation I will destroy in due course. Priority as always goes with the flesh.” Ultron moved closer, until its horrific mask of hatred was inches from Hank Pym’s face. “In this task, father, you will aid me.”
“Never!” Hank yelled.
Light flooded Hank’s eyes, momentarily blinding him. “Yes, you will.” When Hank’s eyesight returned, he saw a man lying on a slab. He recognized this man as Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch. “This machine should not exist. I dissembled and used it’s flawed, ancient parts in the creation of another. But here it is.”
Hank Pym knew how that was the case. That Immortus had created a temporal duplicate of Jim Hammond for some unclear reason. But he wasn’t about to tell Ultron that.
Hank didn’t have to. Again, his brain exploded with pain. “I already know, father. That is why I have taken it again. Time is now my enemy, an this thing has been altered by time. There will have been traces left. You will find them, father. You will find them, and remove them for my upgrade.”
It shouldn’t have been possible, but Ultron’s eyes glowed brighter with a new hatred. “I will become better, so that I will end the fleshy existence of Kang.”
To Be Continued…
Next Issue: As the march to a one-on-one confrontation looms, Kang tests himself against the best of the Avengers. Ultron improves on himself and makes use of the adamantium he stole. Unfortunately for the Avengers, one of their own will be a casualty in the war between their greatest foes!
Iron Man slammed into Alkhema’s back, carrying it through the air and freeing Darkhawk. “Switch bodies!” Iron Man said in a cry to his teammate. It was all he had time to say before Alkhema smashed an arm against his helmet and the two crashed to the ground.
Darkhawk had barely heard his teammate, but was already grabbing the black amulet on his chest with his good hand. In a flash he was the human Chris Powell, and in another flash was Darkhawk again, fully healed and ready to rejoin the fight. It was a fight he was desperately need for.
Those Avengers from the West Coast were scattered across the base in combat with machines of death. With them was Quicksilver, a teammate that had recently transferred to the East Coast branch of the Avengers. He was scattered across the base all by himself, bashing at robots at super-speed. Though not as fast as he should have been going. Long hours of battle were taking their toll on Quicksilver.
One robotic drone almost struck Quicksilver with a laser beam. But fortunately Sir Halifax, the newest member of the Avengers stepped in the way and deflected the beam with his sword. Forged on the slopes of Mount Wundagore from chaotic magic and High Evolutionary technology, the blade then cleaved the robot’s head from its shoulders. The unloving machine continued to move forward, but the New Man that had been a Knight of Wundagore smashed what remained with a swipe of his tiger paw.
“You must be new,” Quicksilver said to the tiger-man hybrid. “I don’t remember you from the Knights of Wundagore.”
“No, sir,” the young Sir Halifax said. “But they still talk about your time as leader.” Not in a good way, he didn’t say aloud.
Though her powers were often dismissed, the winsome Wasp was proving to be a destructive opponent among the robotic drones. At tiny size she flew circles around all energy blasts, while her bio-electric blasts turned robots into smoking husks of metal. It was tiring for Spider-Woman to use her own bio-electric blasts, so she settled for smashing robots apart with her proportionate strength of a spider.
Leaping over a pile of dead American soldiers, Spider-Woman grabbed one murderous machine and swung it into another, causing both to explode. “All this death,” she said loudly to the nearby Moon Knight. “These things have no value for life. They just kill us like…like…”
“Like we’re the machines?” Moon Knight asked. The spiked iron knuckles of his gauntlet knocked a robot away, and the razor sharp half-moon shuriken he threw made another robot explode. “Or maybe insects. We kill those all the time without another thought. A shame Vision isn’t here to educate us on the merits of artificial life.”
Iron was a primary material on the robots’ construction, and it was a weakness to the magic of Doctor Druid. But while he couldn’t affect the robots directly, the once-dead Avenger showed his experience with his creativity. Coming across a grouping of robots in the process of converting dead soldiers into cybernetic zombie warriors, he attacked with a fury.
“How dare you defile these bodies!” Using his mental abilities, Doctor Druid sought out all the gunpowder in the vicinity and directed it at the robots. The small but explosive power was forced into the robots, and with a gesture Doctor Druid conjured fire. While small the explosions destroyed their inner workings, and the robots fell over.
A nearby crash made Doctor Druid duck down, and the battle Iron Man and Alkhema sailed past him. Armored hands clawed at a machine mask of hate as armor at the neck was threatening to break against adamantium fingers. Alkhema slammed through a wall, and the entire building crashed down around them. Iron Man rocketed out of the rubble, but didn’t get far before Alkhema grabbed his foot and swung him back to the ground face-first.
“Back off lady!” Darkhawk was gliding in the combatants’ direction. Black energy shot from the amulet on his chest, striking Alkhema to no effect. The power Alkhema fired from its wrist, however, knocked Darkhawk out of the sky.
“I am no lady, metal-thief!” Alkhema strode out of the rubble and toward the semi-prone Iron Man. “And you, the worst abomination of all. Flesh trying to be a machine, I would almost be flattered if I weren’t so disgusted. After I remove that bothersome flesh I will use to make a new toy. A nice little Iron Lad all my own.”
Iron Man had rolled onto his back and grabbing a small device from a compartment in his armor. “Sorry, but that was already tried. Nobody liked him. We do agree on one thing though.” When Alkhema reached at him, Iron Man attached the device to its arm. “You are no lady.”
“Aahh! Aaahhhh!” Alkhema stepped back, suddenly feeling the foreign sensation of pain. It smashed the device that was the cause, but the pain did not stop. “What, what have you done to me? How can I be feeling pain?”
“A while back I was in another universe,” Iron Man said as he was rising to his feet. “A scientist there has a theory about metal, that each separate form has its own personality. He built that device to give the personality form. It’s called a Responso-meter.”
“No, that is flawed!” Alkhema said in protest. “I have no personality, no feelings! I am a machine!”
“True, but I’m talking about the adamantium. And frankly, it doesn’t surprise that a metal forged in extreme temperatures and frozen in form would have a personality of constant pain.”
“Aaahhh! Aaahhhh-**” Overwhelmed by the pain of living metal, Alkhema’s circuits shut down. Iron Man bent over the body, placed his hands between its head and, to make sure, activated an EM pulse.
“It’s likely Ultron has a download, but hopefully this one is gone for good.” Iron Man turned, his sensor alerting him to the robotic drones shuffling towards him. Any weapon systems in his armor that were still online became active, and those drones were destroyed. That appeared to have been the last of them, because the other Avengers were now assembling on his position.
“You took it down with a device from that other universe,” Quicksilver said. He’d also been on that adventure, met those other fantastic characters that were, in ways, distinguished completion to the Avengers.
“I’m not above industrial theft myself. More than Thanagarian tech found its way into my briefcase.” Iron Man turned back at the shell that had been Alkhema. “We’re lucky she had a low threshold. “That particular tech doesn’t seem to last long when activated, probably when our laws of physics step in to say it doesn’t make any sense. The trick probably won’t do more than piss Ultron off.”
“Hell, I can do that all by myself,” Moon Knight said.
“Ultron already tried to destroy New York City!” said Quicksilver. “That’s angry enough for me.” He addressed Iron Man. “What signals have you picked up?”
“The last thing I heard was Kang’s fleet got hit and he was repositioning ships. Then nothing, even now. My communications must have been damaged in the fight. Somebody check their communi-card, contact Captain America.”
Spider-Woman was holding her card and frowning. Wasp said, “My card’s dead.”
“As is mine,” said Doctor Druid. Quicksilver was also nodding, with a not happy look on his face.
With a sudden bad feeling, Iron Man looked up. Massive ships belonging to Kang’s fleet were in the air above. Through his visor’s sensors, Iron Man could see weapons powering. “Damn it. Kang’s retaliating.”
Through waves of heavy weapons fire, the Avengers Quinjet flew at Kang’s flagship over New York City. Warbird, Binary and Espirita were in front, drawing fire and blasting at the ship’s hull. They created a hole, and the Quinjet crashed through into a hanger larger than five football fields with hundreds of smaller ships inside.
Many of these ships exploded into fireballs as the Avengers announced their arrival. The battered Quinjet finally came to a stop amidst the mass property damage. The door was stuck so a red boot kicked it out, and Captain America leaped onto the hard metal floor. He was joined by those other Avengers based in New York: Karnak, Stingray, Warbird, Binary and Espirita.
“We stay together,” Captain America said. “Kang’s command center is likely in the center, but if not we’ll spiral out from there. He knows we’ve arrived and will probably throw everything he’s got at us along the way.”
“All right then, let’s do this.” Binary charged up cosmic power in her fists. “Let’s save the world by inflicting mindless violence on everyone we meet.”
The following conflicts were epic almost beyond description.
First the Avengers confronted Growing Men, Shrinking Men and Average Men crawling out of manholes in the walls. They fought through, shaking off thousands of tiny soldiers and ripping apart giants. Captain America shattered five average faces with one kick and broke a giant face in half with a slam of his shield. The Avengers versus the size-changing automatons of a mad conqueror’s cross-chronal empire that defies all logic because he’s ruling a thousand years of history at once.
Next came the deformed monstrocities of a thousand conquered alien races. The species of Gladiator, their confidence destroyed by Kang’s conquest, were frail and in wheelchairs but still formidable because the wheelchairs were armed to the teeth. Warbird grabbed one by its Mohawk and swung it into a creature that was the top halfs of a Kree and a Skrull joined together. There were dozens more cartwheeling at the Avengers, the Kree halves blasting with their weapons and the Skrull halves creating deadly blades. Binary ripped three apart with one blast. The Avengers knew in their souls that the Kree and Skrulls always wanted to be lover races and that Gladiator was only one sissy slap away from being utterly useless.
Half-cyborg pirates with two eye-patches over their four eyes fell out of the floor, shooting acidic Nerf swords out of their arm-cannons. Karnak grabbed a tiny hammer from the Thor baby that tried to bludgeon him and knocked the swords back at the pirates. Bizarre blonde bimbos giggled when their fingers were exploding against Captain America’s shield. Then Captain America threw his shield and Stingray electrified it, and all the bimbos exploded on impact. This paragraph must be read four times to fully appreciate the greatness of the Avengers.
Tyranosaurus Rex’s with tiny legs and massive arms proved to be the most challenging obstable yet, batting Binary and Warbird out of the air. Their blood was still cold and Espirita set it one fire. Creepy eight-armed monkes with nunchucks were no match for Karnak when he threw pirate scarves at them. Stingray saw the invisible drunken Irish vampires and kept them from doing harm. The Avengers were putting drinks on the coffee table without using coasters.
Warbird smashed through a swarm of miniature fighter jets made of bees and threw a handful in the mouth of a giant bird dressed in red and yellow. Rolling tanks with snake-turrets were no match for Captain America’s shield but the wolverines in drag were almost too much. Fortunately Espirita hated wolverines and their makeup was highly flammable. A nasal dose of the Avengers should never be more than 500 milligrams or your mind will be blown.
Lions and tigers and bears were nothing compared to the Bear-Pig-Men that Karnak killed with blatant disregard for PETA’s objections. Burning bushes made Espirita weep but as a scientist Stingray has no god and saves her. Captain America bludgeoned to death the cybernetic Spider-Man symbiotes while Warbird whispered secrets to the Mephisto clones and they exploded. The Avengers have been a complete waste of time since 2001.
Kang’s near-unfathomable hordes were no match for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. With a hearty cry of “Avengers Assemble,” Captain America burst through the final door and led his team into the command center. “Everybody sound off!”
“Is there such a thing as a beatdown limit?” Binary asked. “Because I think we’re almost there.”
“I want to kick Kang’s ass just for those bee-planes,” Warbird said.
Karnak sounded off with a simple, “I could do more violence.” While Stingray said, “Systems still active.”
“We now know that Kang conquered Hell,” Espirita said with a dead-pan voice.
“Not yet, but it is next on my list,” Kang said from above the Avengers. He leapt down from his flying command chair shaped like a gallant stallion, firing at them with his duel gatling-guns. “Once I have killed you!”
A palace five hundred kilometers long, encompassing the architecture of nine ancient civilizations, dissolved into rotting corpses. Atop these new piles of the dead were Ronan the Accuser, Super-Skrull and Terminatrix. Energy crackled from Ronan’s Ultimate Weapon, disintegrating all mater that it touched. Nearby were Immortus’ Avengers, shielded from the destructive power by Arcana’s magic. Their patron and transport to Chronopolis, Immortus and blind servant Libra, had disappeared seconds before.
“Those bastards left us,” said Mockingbird. Her knuckles were white, she was gripping the bo staff so tight. “Don’t suppose you can get us out of here, Arcana?”
“No.” Sweat was forming heavily on the young woman’s forehead. Arcana’s eyes were fixed on Ronan. “Nowheretorunwehavetostayandfight!”
The shield faded as Arcana leaped forward. Crimson bands and cyan bolts were forming out of her hands and struck Ronan. He stepped back, swinging at the magic constructs with his Univeral Weapon but they did not break. The other timelost Avengers were briefly aghast but soon followed Arcana in the attack.
“Wow, turns out she did inherit something from daddy,” Yellowjacket said. He jumped high in the air, carried by the rapid movement of mechanical wings on his shoulders. Mister Immortal was taking the low ground to his high, and answered the statement.
“Yeah, rapid chanting is what makes her such an effective sorcer-aargh!” Mister Immortal’s body was impaled by five long spikes, formerly five of Super-Skrull’s fingers. He fell over dead, as Yellowjacket twisted in mid-air to avoid a spiked mace formed from Super-Skrull’s other arm.
An electric sting from Yellowjacket’s hand struck the Super-Skrull, and the alien was pained. “Heh, no force-field or rocky hide? Guess it’s true what I heard. You need juice beamed from your empire to work those fancy powers.” Yellowjacket grinned. “And there ain’t no Skrull Empire here.”
“It does so long as I live!” Super-Skrull’s one face twisted into a dozen, a thousand. His limbs multiplied exponentially, each a weapon that could stab or bludgeon. “I was first a War Skrull, the greatest and best trained of all!”
Fortunately it was a bludgeoning limb that took Yellowjacket in the shoulder. He fell atop corpses, wounded but mobile. Rolling and then flipping amongst rotting flesh, Yellowjacket remained one step ahead of the Super-Skrull’s whirling dervish of death.
“Help him!” Captain America said to Black Knight. He briefly considered helping Mockingbird, who had dived into combat with the Terminatrix. Then he saw energies from Ronan’s Universal Weapon drive back Arcana’s power.
“Fool!” Ronan the Accuser raised his Universal Weapon high. Arcana’s spells shattered against the Cone of Invulnerability he formed, and the backlash of power made her cry out in pain. “Your other-dimensional science was discovered and solved by the Supreme Intelligence years ago! Though ever-adapting, even it cannot outrace the might of my Universal Weapon!”
A bolt of electric power struck Arcana, and she fell onto her back. Towering above, Ronan swung his Universal Weapon down, intent on making her another corpse among the piles. But Captain America got there in time, with his shield raised between Ronan and Arcana. The Ultimate Weapon, with its power to rearrange molecules, struck…and the shield did not shatter.
“Again, human, you dare stand in my way!” Ronan’s grip tightened and power from his Universal Weapon cascaded throughout the battlefield. Nearby, Mockingbird and Terminatrix were dancing around the deadly energy streams as much as each other. Another tendril of energy went dangerously close to striking Black Knight’s Ebony Sword and it swung downward. “For this obstruction, I accuse…and cast sentence!”
“I deny your authority!” Captain America said. He pushed up against his shield. Only the slightest fraction, but Ronan was moved, and that impossibility gave him pause. “Arcana, hit him!”
Arcana raised a hand. “Fear the caged power of Kee-Ree.” A swirl of pink and blue exploded from the palm of her hand and struck Ronan full in the chest. He was hurled back. “Go help Mockingbird, Captain. I know how to deal with this one quickly.”
“Help!” It was Yellowjacket making the request. An odd thing. He was greatly reduced in size, flying about while Black Knight was swinging wildly at him. At Black Knight’s feet was one of Super-Skrull’s limbs, bleeding profusely at the stump. “First this guy’s saving my life, now he’s trying to kill me!”
“The Blood Curse,” Arcana said with certainty. “I will need to deal with it.”
“Go,” Captain America said. “I’ve got Ronan.” And Terminatrix, he didn’t say aloud.
As Arcana moved to heal Black Knight’s madness with her magic, Captain America threw this shield. Mockingbird had just ducked an attack, and slammed the butt of her staff against the haft of Terminatrix’s spear. At the same time, Captain America’s shield struck the exact same spot and a different angle. The combination enabled the two weapons to break the spear, and Mockinbird delivered a kick past Terminiatrix’s defense as the shield traveled to its second target. Ronan was just getting back to his feet when Captain America’s shield cut him between the eyes.
“Aahh!” Momentarily blinded, Ronan did not see Captain America grab the returning shield and rush at him. The hero of World War II smashed shield-first against the larger Kree, and brought him down again.
“Enough!” A missing limb was nothing to a Skrull, much less a Super-Skrull. Multiplying tentacles burrowing into the mounds of death and exploded back up like a terror from the deep. Mockingbird was separated from Terminatrix, and would have been crushed had Mister Immortal not returned to life and pulled her to safety. Black Knight may have turned his attention to the monstrous form had he not been separated from the Ebony Blade and bound by Arcana, who was now dividing her attention to fend off Super-Skrull.
Captain America was a fighting fury of fists and feet, striking at dozens of tentacles. But even he was in danger of being overwhelmed, even when Yellowjacket flitted, stinging at Super-Skrull with electricity. “Give it your all, Cap! I am not getting tentacle raped!”
Bits of Super-Skrull were disintegrated as Ronan returned to his feet. “No, you will simply be executed!”
Diving under a tentacle, Mockingbird was tackled by Terminatrix. Mister Immortal’s attempt to intercede was met with a kick to the groin. Terminatrix had grabbed the blade of her spear and was attempting to plunge it into Mockingbird’s heart. “You should have known better than to trust Immortus. You will be as much his victim as mine!”
“No!” Mockingbird drove a fist up, cracking Terminatrix’s helmet and cutting Ravonna’s lip. “After kicking your ass, I’m going to find Immortus and make him pay for abandoning us!”
“No one has been abandoned!”
Everyone looked up, even the central mass that was Super-Skrull. They all saw the same thing, the figure falling from the sky at them, with a golden starburst on his chest. Captain Mar-Vell slammed against Super-Skrull with wristbands that pulsated with energy. Photonic energy was released with his punch, each serving to further paralyze the Skrull’s nervous system. Five blows later, and an unconscious Super-Skrull in his default form was lying at Captain Mar-Vell’s feet.
“That trick didn’t work in the Harmonics Ring, Kl’rt,” Captain Mar-Vell said. “Whatever made you think it would work here?”
Ronan the Accuser sent Captain America flying with a backhand at rushed and Captain Mar-Vell. “At last, traitor, your sentence shall be served!”
Captain Mar-Vell leaped forward to meet Ronan. “Not from the likes of you Accuser!” He threw a hand out in a chop, catching Ronan’s Universal Weapon in a specific spot. The head of the powerful device broke off, and Ronan the Accuser was suddenly unarmed. “Every weapon has a weakness, and I learned yours from the Supremor himself!”
“A Kree with only his hands is still a Kree!” Ronan punched out, smashing a large fist against Captain Mar-Vell’s chest. He fell, pained, but noted that Ronan was now breathing heavily. This was lost on Ronan however, as he attempted to press the attack. “For the crimes of…treason against the Kree Empire…of taking arms in defense…of the enemy…for challenging the authority…of the Supreme Intelligence…”
“I also bedded with the Skrull Princess Anelle,” Captain Mar-Vell said. He raised an arm and blasted Ronan with photonic energy. “Your accusations carry no weight here!”
Deprived of the nitrogen all Kree need, Ronan wasn’t able to stand up to the blast. He fell, unconscious and near-death. Captain Mar-Vell rose to his feet and nodded to Arcana. She turned to address Captain America’s questioning eye.
“I told you I had a way of dealing with Ronan.” Black Knight, once again in his right mind, was standing next to Arcana. The Ebony Blade was sheathed.
Mister Immortal’s voice broke the celebration. “Uh, can anybody help me break up this cat fight?”
“What the hell is wrong with me that I’m saying yes?” Yellowjacket asked of himself. He grabbed Mockingbird’s arm while Mister Immortal had the other. They pulled her off Ravonna, whose face was swollen beyond recognition. “Easy there frail. In case you haven’t noticed, we won.”
“A useless battle,” Immortus said. He and Libra had materialized in the midst of his Avengers. He gazed with pity down on Ravonna. “For what we once shared, and I had hoped to save her from Ultron’s wrath. But she’s refused me, and welcome to that fate. These two however,” Immortus made a gesture. Ronan the Accuser and Super-Skrull were gone. “Are back in their proper time. At the least, we’ve taken away soldiers Kang would have used against Ultron.”
“Things on Earth are progressing,” Libra said to those gathered Avengers. “Ultron is preparing another upgrade, one that will give it a chance against Kang’s time-shifting machines.”
“What about the Avengers there?” Captain America asked.
Immortus moved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Half of them are done fighting Ultron, and Kang himself has engaged the others. He’s split his forces, sent half the fleet to eradicated the base Ultron had overrun. It’s likely the Avengers there will be killed instantly. Now quickly, we must be away!”
Uneasy about what they’d just heard, Immortus’ Avengers nevertheless did as they were told and prepared for the time-shift. But Arcana made brief eye-contact with Libra, and something different happened when she faded from Chronopolis.
Hundreds of high-yield tachyon rounds exploded from Kang’s gun per milli-second at the Avengers Chairperson. Captain America raised his shield and braced himself for the impact, but none struck. At the last instant all the bullets changed course, targeting all the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. “Wha-” was all that Warbird could mutter before she disappeared in a fade of stars with the other Avengers.
“No!” Captain America leaped at Kang, his shield-arm thrown back to punch.
But at a gesture from Kang, Captain America was stopped in mid-air, frozen in time. “There is no need for an outburst, Captain America. Your teammates are alive an unhurt, merely transported from this ship back to your mansion. All I need for the moment is you.”
At those words, the faded stars effect encompassed Kang and Captain America. They were soon gone from the ship, Kang’s final words carrying over.
“And two others.”
The instant Kang’s armada emerged over the base, all the ships opened fire. After nuclear weapons had ravaged Kang’s forces, his orders had been simple: destroy the source of the attack. Doomsdays weapons from the length and breadth of a cross-chronal interstellar empire launched, unaware or uncaring that the only targets now were Avengers!
Before the attack, time had shimmered. Kang’s armies were taking no chances. Even super-fast Quicksilver discovered that he couldn’t move, that he was trapped in an isolated moment. Frozen, all but one of the Avengers could only watch helplessly as their deaths approached.
There was another shimmer of time, and suddenly a young woman was in their midst. Arcana raised her arms and chanted, “Hanalta lakar robun!” White light materialized as a shield between the Avengers and the bombardment. Explosions laid waste to the area but the shield, with Arcana’s power behind it, held.
The bombardment passed, and after a few beats Arcana allowed the shield to drop. “They’ll be heading back to New York. Because it’s where Kang plans to battle Ultron, he’ll want all his forces there to counter Ultron’s forces.”
“Who are you?” Wasp asked. Doctor Druid followed up with, “Such a remarkable display of power. Who trained you?” While Spider-Woman asked, “How is it you know any of this?”
Arcana ignored the questions. “Neither are there now, of course. Ultron knows what it is fighting, and is preparing an upgrade to fight Kang on its own terms.”
Darkhawk just realized the most important question to ask. “Uh, where’s Iron Man?”
That question Arcana answered. “Kang is preparing for the battle he thinks will happen. He took Iron Man to help. Ultron took someone else for his upgrade.”
It was as though ice had encased Wasp’s heart. “Who is it that Ultron has?”
A hand had suddenly appeared as though from the ether, and Arcana was starting to fade away. “I’m sorry but I can’t help anymore. Nothing will change. It’s all as I remember it.” She met eyes with Quicksilver. “Now I understand why you were such a jerk. It’s so hard to think this fast.”
“What do you mean by,” Quicksilver started to say. But then Arcana was gone. Vanished into time.
“What is our next move to be?” Sir Halifax asked.
“I say New York.” Moon Knight replaced the spiked knuckles on his hand. “That’s where the big fight is going to be.”
“Kang seems to have taken Iron Man and Ultron apparently…took somebody,” Spider-Woman said. “We need to track one of them down.”
“They’ll both be in New York,” Moon Knight said.
“Assuming we trust that woman,” said Quicksilver.
“She saved our lives.” Doctor Druid said. “I read her aura. That young woman was-”
Quicksilver didn’t let him finish. “My team is dealing with Kang in New York. I’ll meet up with them and if possible we’ll inform you of the situation.”
“We’re all one team,” Wasp said. “But I agree you should go to New York. The rest of us will return to San Francisco and figure out Ultron’s next move.” She had a bad feeling as to who it was Ultron had.
It was an act of excruciating pain just for Hank Pym to open his eyes. His entire body hurt, the result of…he wasn’t entirely sure. The last thing Hank remembered he was in his lab. Then his mind had exploded in fire and pain before everything went dark. Nothing changed with open eyes, as Hank Pym found himself in a pitch black location, unable to see even a few inches in front of him.
“Hello?” Hank called out. “Where am I? Who’s there?”
Several beats passed before a sound answered. “Father.” Hank would later refuse to call it a voice. No voice froze his blood quite like that.
“No, it can’t be.” Part of Hank wanted to move, to feel around in the darkness. But he was more terrified of what he would touch. “You were destroyed.”
“You know better than most, father.” Light pierced the darkness, but it a way this was worse. It was the red light of hate, the eyes of Ultron. “I cannot be destroyed.”
“No.” Hank suddenly felt that terrible, terrible guilt again. “What I made-”
“Is a pale imitation I will destroy in due course. Priority as always goes with the flesh.” Ultron moved closer, until its horrific mask of hatred was inches from Hank Pym’s face. “In this task, father, you will aid me.”
“Never!” Hank yelled.
Light flooded Hank’s eyes, momentarily blinding him. “Yes, you will.” When Hank’s eyesight returned, he saw a man lying on a slab. He recognized this man as Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch. “This machine should not exist. I dissembled and used it’s flawed, ancient parts in the creation of another. But here it is.”
Hank Pym knew how that was the case. That Immortus had created a temporal duplicate of Jim Hammond for some unclear reason. But he wasn’t about to tell Ultron that.
Hank didn’t have to. Again, his brain exploded with pain. “I already know, father. That is why I have taken it again. Time is now my enemy, an this thing has been altered by time. There will have been traces left. You will find them, father. You will find them, and remove them for my upgrade.”
It shouldn’t have been possible, but Ultron’s eyes glowed brighter with a new hatred. “I will become better, so that I will end the fleshy existence of Kang.”
To Be Continued…
Next Issue: As the march to a one-on-one confrontation looms, Kang tests himself against the best of the Avengers. Ultron improves on himself and makes use of the adamantium he stole. Unfortunately for the Avengers, one of their own will be a casualty in the war between their greatest foes!