Previously in New Warriors...
Cannonball, Spider-Girl, Icarus, and Valeria Richards have been captured by Annihilus and taken to the Negative Zone! Luckily they've escaped, but have no way home. Meanwhile, Johnny Storm, making a rescue attempt, has gotten himself captured and Alpha became lost in the Negative Zone, only to be captured by the evil alien overlord Blastaar, who plans to use the hero as his own personal weapon!
Oh, and something about Franklin Richards being lost in space and time, but that's not really important right now...
Cannonball, Spider-Girl, Icarus, and Valeria Richards have been captured by Annihilus and taken to the Negative Zone! Luckily they've escaped, but have no way home. Meanwhile, Johnny Storm, making a rescue attempt, has gotten himself captured and Alpha became lost in the Negative Zone, only to be captured by the evil alien overlord Blastaar, who plans to use the hero as his own personal weapon!
Oh, and something about Franklin Richards being lost in space and time, but that's not really important right now...
Issue #27 by Tobias Christopher
February 2018
February 2018
"Negative - Part Two"
"Resist all you want, Human Torch," Annihilus said as Johnny Storm hung upside down in front of him, wrapped in chains. "Those chains are immune to your powers. I had them made especially for you. I want my cosmic control rod, and if you want to live, you will return it to me."
"I didn't bring it, you dickweed," Johnny told him. "I left it somewhere safe. You're never getting it back."
"Too bad, now I really do have to kill you and all of your friends," Annihilus said. "Don't worry, though, I'll send all of your severed heads back to your loved ones on Earth before I lay siege to it."
"You promised you'd leave Earth alone!"
Annihilus grabbed Johnny by the hair and punched him. "Well, I guess that makes me a liar, doesn't it? Prepare the torture device! You'll spend the remainder of your time alive in a virtual reality simulation where you'll be forced to watch all of your friends and family die brutally painful deaths again and again. And also every sixty seconds your testicles will be dipped into a tank of angry hornets."
# # # # #
"Are you sure this is going to work, big brother?" Icarus asked nervously. "I don't know if I can do this."
"No, but I didn't have to time to come up with a better plan," Cannonball told him as he put his hands on his little brother's shoulders. "But I know you can do this, Josh. You've always been capable of great things. You were the one I counted on to take care of Mama and our siblings when me and Paige weren't there. You're stronger and braver than anyone gives you credit for, and right now all of our friends are counting on us. So what do you say we kick this space villain's ass and take our friends home?"
Icarus smiled and nodded as the young mutant's large red angel wings expanded to their full length, lifting him off of the ground and into the air.
"You two ready?" Cannonball asked.
"Ready to get our butts home and out of this dark and dirty nightmare world?" Spider-Girl asked. "Yeah, I think I'm past ready for that."
"Once we get Annihilus isolated, we can use whatever he used to bring us here to get home," Valeria told them.
"AFTER we find Alpha, right?"
"... Sure, whatever," Valeria said as she followed Spider-Girl.
"Alright," Cannonball said as he motioned to Icarus. "Let's do this. I just hope New York's still in one piece."
# # # # #
New York
New Warriors Headquarters
"There it is," Juston said as he entered the rec room, where Adam and Ms. Marvel were playing a video game. He held out a scanning device. "It's a long distance tracking device. If Franklin's body is still on Earth, this will lead us right to him. I just need some of Franklin's DNA to get it going."
"There's a bucketful of tissues in his room," Adam said.
"Heh, gross," Juston said. "A hair will work just as well. Hell, a dirty sock, his toothbrush, anything."
"A strand of hair is probably your best bet," Ms. Marvel said as she eyed Adam while the trio walked upstairs. "So, how exactly did you lose the world's most powerful kid?"
"We didn't lose him, he just kind of... vanished," Juston said.
"Franklin has a habit of doing that," Adam told them. "We really need to put a tether on that boy. So, we start this gizmo up and find out where his body is. Then what? What if he's like, at supervillain central? Only one of us has powers at the moment."
"I have my Sentinel armor, and you have your... hands," Juston told him. "Your... well manicured hands."
"Hey, if I'm going to be human, I'm going to try everything, including a salon," Adam told them. "And no one's commented on how shiny my hair is now."
Juston looked him up and down. "Rigggghhhhtttttt. We'll find out where Franklin is and just go from there."
# # # # #
The Negative Zone
Valeria walked up to Annihilus's fortress and looked up at the two large bug creatures that were standing guard.
"I want to talk to your master," Valeria said.
"One of the fugitives our master seeks," the guard said. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know, and frankly I don't care," Valeria said. "Are you going to let me in or not?"
As Valeria was led inside, Spider-Girl crawled through the door and onto the ceiling before anyone could see. Outside, Cannonball was richocheting around, taking out the armed patrollers that were guarding the perimeter before they could react. On the roof, Icarus landed behind two guards, ramming their heads into each other to knock them out, just as three more armed guards charged in.
"Before you open fire, let me say just one thing," Icarus said as he hit a high-pitched note, forcing the guards to cover their ears, just as Cannonball rocketed onto the roof, knocking the guards down like bowling pins.
"I think that's all of them," Cannonball said. "Good job, little brother. Now, let's go get Johnny."
# # # # #
As Valeria was being lead toward Annihilus's throne room, Spider-Girl was crawling along the ceiling, using the combo of her webbing and strength to take out the security along the way.
"We have one of them!" the guard shouted as he brought Valeria in. "She willingly surrendered!"
"Is that so?" Annihilus asked as he blasted the guard into ash. "Fool! You've probably led them right to me!"
"Aw, he ruined the surprise!" Spider-Girl said as she swung in, webbing the two sentries behind Annihilus to the wall.
"I have had enough of the infant earth heroes!" Annihilus shouted as he shot a blast towards the two, only for Cannonball to blast through the wall, deflecting the blast back toward the villain as Cannonball rocketed off the wall to take out the entering guards. Icarus few through, having grabbed a laser lance and blasted the remaining guards. "Do you honestly believe you have what it takes to defeat me?"
"Let's find out," Cannonball said as the quartet marched toward him. "Give us back our friends and send us home."
"You mean him?" Annihilus said as he pulled back a curtain, revealing Johnny being put into a torture device.
"Great balls of fire!" Cannonball shouted.
"Not if you get me out of here in the next sixty seconds!" Johnny replied as he saw the tank of hornets being brought in.
"Sit tight, Uncle Johnny, we'll get you out of there!" Valeria said as the group ducked while Annihilus kept firing blasts from his gauntlets at them.
"I will not be made a fool of by children!" Annihilus shouted. "I will destroy you and send you back to Earth in pieces!"
"See? He is willing to send us back!" Icarus said.
"We can't beat him like this, he's got us pinned!" Cannnonball said as he realized he didn't have enough room to propel himself, then looked at Icarus. "Or maybe we can. I got a wild idea, little brother. It may be dangerous, so you if don't want to do it--"
"I trust you, big brother," Icarus told him. "What is it?"
"Remember the Fastball Special?" Cannonball asked. "Maybe it's time the Guthrie brothers put their own special twist on that...."
As Annihilus kept firing, Johnny struggled with his fireproof restraints, realizing he could wiggle his hand free.
"Alright, Anal-ous," Johnny smirked. "Hope you like hornets."
Johnny flung a fireball at the tank, shattering it. Raising his body temperature to repel the hornets away from him, the swarm instead flew toward Annihilus, distracting him enough for Cannonball to extend his energy field to Icarus enough to propel him at the villain. Icarus's wings were wrapped tightly around his body as he was launched, spreading just in time for the young mutant to punch Annihilus with enough force to knock him through several walls.
"He won't stay down long," Valeria said as she untied Johnny. "We need to find whatever he used to bring us here."
"What about Alpha?" Icarus asked. "The Negative Zone is huge, he could be anywhere!"
"All of you go home," Johnny told them. "I'll stay behind. He's lost because of me, I'll stay behind until I find him to bring him home."
"No," Cannonball said as he put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "You're both a part of this family. We all go home or nobody goes home. Besides, it's Alpha, he shouldn't be too hard to find."
Annihilus got up and got ready to attack again when the wall on the opposite end of the room exploded, allowing Blastaar to come through with a weapon in hand.
"Annihilus! Come face me and my new weapon!" Blastaar shouted. "The Negative Zone will be the first to fall before me!"
"You expect to take what is mine with that toy?" Annihilus laughed.
"No, not that weapon," Blastaar said as he tugged on a chain, pulling Alpha into the room, who was growling like a rabid dog. He had dark bags under his blood shot eyes with his bangs hanging down in his face.
"No," Icarus said.
"It can't be," Cannonball added.
"Why is he naked?" Spider-Girl asked.
Blastaar looked around the room at all of his opponents. "Destroy them all, my pet! Obey your master!"
Alpha let out a vicious roar as Blastaar removed the chain before flying fullspeed at Cannonball with his photon blasts charging up to their fullest.
TO BE CONTINUED....
"I didn't bring it, you dickweed," Johnny told him. "I left it somewhere safe. You're never getting it back."
"Too bad, now I really do have to kill you and all of your friends," Annihilus said. "Don't worry, though, I'll send all of your severed heads back to your loved ones on Earth before I lay siege to it."
"You promised you'd leave Earth alone!"
Annihilus grabbed Johnny by the hair and punched him. "Well, I guess that makes me a liar, doesn't it? Prepare the torture device! You'll spend the remainder of your time alive in a virtual reality simulation where you'll be forced to watch all of your friends and family die brutally painful deaths again and again. And also every sixty seconds your testicles will be dipped into a tank of angry hornets."
# # # # #
"Are you sure this is going to work, big brother?" Icarus asked nervously. "I don't know if I can do this."
"No, but I didn't have to time to come up with a better plan," Cannonball told him as he put his hands on his little brother's shoulders. "But I know you can do this, Josh. You've always been capable of great things. You were the one I counted on to take care of Mama and our siblings when me and Paige weren't there. You're stronger and braver than anyone gives you credit for, and right now all of our friends are counting on us. So what do you say we kick this space villain's ass and take our friends home?"
Icarus smiled and nodded as the young mutant's large red angel wings expanded to their full length, lifting him off of the ground and into the air.
"You two ready?" Cannonball asked.
"Ready to get our butts home and out of this dark and dirty nightmare world?" Spider-Girl asked. "Yeah, I think I'm past ready for that."
"Once we get Annihilus isolated, we can use whatever he used to bring us here to get home," Valeria told them.
"AFTER we find Alpha, right?"
"... Sure, whatever," Valeria said as she followed Spider-Girl.
"Alright," Cannonball said as he motioned to Icarus. "Let's do this. I just hope New York's still in one piece."
# # # # #
New York
New Warriors Headquarters
"There it is," Juston said as he entered the rec room, where Adam and Ms. Marvel were playing a video game. He held out a scanning device. "It's a long distance tracking device. If Franklin's body is still on Earth, this will lead us right to him. I just need some of Franklin's DNA to get it going."
"There's a bucketful of tissues in his room," Adam said.
"Heh, gross," Juston said. "A hair will work just as well. Hell, a dirty sock, his toothbrush, anything."
"A strand of hair is probably your best bet," Ms. Marvel said as she eyed Adam while the trio walked upstairs. "So, how exactly did you lose the world's most powerful kid?"
"We didn't lose him, he just kind of... vanished," Juston said.
"Franklin has a habit of doing that," Adam told them. "We really need to put a tether on that boy. So, we start this gizmo up and find out where his body is. Then what? What if he's like, at supervillain central? Only one of us has powers at the moment."
"I have my Sentinel armor, and you have your... hands," Juston told him. "Your... well manicured hands."
"Hey, if I'm going to be human, I'm going to try everything, including a salon," Adam told them. "And no one's commented on how shiny my hair is now."
Juston looked him up and down. "Rigggghhhhtttttt. We'll find out where Franklin is and just go from there."
# # # # #
The Negative Zone
Valeria walked up to Annihilus's fortress and looked up at the two large bug creatures that were standing guard.
"I want to talk to your master," Valeria said.
"One of the fugitives our master seeks," the guard said. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know, and frankly I don't care," Valeria said. "Are you going to let me in or not?"
As Valeria was led inside, Spider-Girl crawled through the door and onto the ceiling before anyone could see. Outside, Cannonball was richocheting around, taking out the armed patrollers that were guarding the perimeter before they could react. On the roof, Icarus landed behind two guards, ramming their heads into each other to knock them out, just as three more armed guards charged in.
"Before you open fire, let me say just one thing," Icarus said as he hit a high-pitched note, forcing the guards to cover their ears, just as Cannonball rocketed onto the roof, knocking the guards down like bowling pins.
"I think that's all of them," Cannonball said. "Good job, little brother. Now, let's go get Johnny."
# # # # #
As Valeria was being lead toward Annihilus's throne room, Spider-Girl was crawling along the ceiling, using the combo of her webbing and strength to take out the security along the way.
"We have one of them!" the guard shouted as he brought Valeria in. "She willingly surrendered!"
"Is that so?" Annihilus asked as he blasted the guard into ash. "Fool! You've probably led them right to me!"
"Aw, he ruined the surprise!" Spider-Girl said as she swung in, webbing the two sentries behind Annihilus to the wall.
"I have had enough of the infant earth heroes!" Annihilus shouted as he shot a blast towards the two, only for Cannonball to blast through the wall, deflecting the blast back toward the villain as Cannonball rocketed off the wall to take out the entering guards. Icarus few through, having grabbed a laser lance and blasted the remaining guards. "Do you honestly believe you have what it takes to defeat me?"
"Let's find out," Cannonball said as the quartet marched toward him. "Give us back our friends and send us home."
"You mean him?" Annihilus said as he pulled back a curtain, revealing Johnny being put into a torture device.
"Great balls of fire!" Cannonball shouted.
"Not if you get me out of here in the next sixty seconds!" Johnny replied as he saw the tank of hornets being brought in.
"Sit tight, Uncle Johnny, we'll get you out of there!" Valeria said as the group ducked while Annihilus kept firing blasts from his gauntlets at them.
"I will not be made a fool of by children!" Annihilus shouted. "I will destroy you and send you back to Earth in pieces!"
"See? He is willing to send us back!" Icarus said.
"We can't beat him like this, he's got us pinned!" Cannnonball said as he realized he didn't have enough room to propel himself, then looked at Icarus. "Or maybe we can. I got a wild idea, little brother. It may be dangerous, so you if don't want to do it--"
"I trust you, big brother," Icarus told him. "What is it?"
"Remember the Fastball Special?" Cannonball asked. "Maybe it's time the Guthrie brothers put their own special twist on that...."
As Annihilus kept firing, Johnny struggled with his fireproof restraints, realizing he could wiggle his hand free.
"Alright, Anal-ous," Johnny smirked. "Hope you like hornets."
Johnny flung a fireball at the tank, shattering it. Raising his body temperature to repel the hornets away from him, the swarm instead flew toward Annihilus, distracting him enough for Cannonball to extend his energy field to Icarus enough to propel him at the villain. Icarus's wings were wrapped tightly around his body as he was launched, spreading just in time for the young mutant to punch Annihilus with enough force to knock him through several walls.
"He won't stay down long," Valeria said as she untied Johnny. "We need to find whatever he used to bring us here."
"What about Alpha?" Icarus asked. "The Negative Zone is huge, he could be anywhere!"
"All of you go home," Johnny told them. "I'll stay behind. He's lost because of me, I'll stay behind until I find him to bring him home."
"No," Cannonball said as he put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "You're both a part of this family. We all go home or nobody goes home. Besides, it's Alpha, he shouldn't be too hard to find."
Annihilus got up and got ready to attack again when the wall on the opposite end of the room exploded, allowing Blastaar to come through with a weapon in hand.
"Annihilus! Come face me and my new weapon!" Blastaar shouted. "The Negative Zone will be the first to fall before me!"
"You expect to take what is mine with that toy?" Annihilus laughed.
"No, not that weapon," Blastaar said as he tugged on a chain, pulling Alpha into the room, who was growling like a rabid dog. He had dark bags under his blood shot eyes with his bangs hanging down in his face.
"No," Icarus said.
"It can't be," Cannonball added.
"Why is he naked?" Spider-Girl asked.
Blastaar looked around the room at all of his opponents. "Destroy them all, my pet! Obey your master!"
Alpha let out a vicious roar as Blastaar removed the chain before flying fullspeed at Cannonball with his photon blasts charging up to their fullest.
TO BE CONTINUED....