Avengers

Medusa walked quickly through the halls of her palace. As she passed, maids and butlers are bowed in reverence. She paid them no mind. Her hair flowing behind her like a great banner, she made her way deeper and deeper into the catacombs of her palace and soon she was at her destination. The prison.

She rushed to the cells. A guard stopped her. He wore the blue gown of the royal guard of Attilan and blocked her from proceeding with the regulation royal guard spear.

"My queen." he said as raised his spear, "You know I cannot let you pass."

"I know."

"I am so sorry." he lowered his head, "I have a family and...I do not want them to--"

"I understand." Medusa told him, "Of course, I do. But I must ask you to let me pass just this once and shall bother you no more. I must see my daughter."

The guard was silent but he eventually raised his spear.

"Please proceed with caution, my queen." the guard said as he kneeled.

"You have my utmost thanks." Medusa continued on quietly and quickly.

She eventually reached the cell of her daughter. At the sight of Crystal, Medusa wanted to cry. Her daughter was chained and bloody. She was dangling limp in the shackles and her sweaty blonde hair covered her face.

"Daughter."

Crystal looked up through her hair and smiled at her mother.

"I am alive." she said to her mother, "Arguments with Pietro are more agonizing than this."

Medusa could not help but join with her daughter's smile. Crystal was just fine.

"I believe Black Bolt is on his way back." Medusa said, "Once he strikes, with the element of surprise, we shall strike and take back our kingdom. Graviton took us by shock before and now we shall repay the feeling."

"Good to hear." Crystal said, "But I don't think Gorgon or Karnak are going to be much help."

Medusa turned her eye to the two figures bound with Crystal in her cell. Gorgon, a great warrior with the power to send shocks through the ground with his powerful legs, now hung with his kneecaps shattered. Karnak, perhaps the greatest hand to hand fighter in the kingdom, was shackled by broken wrists. Both were in a deep slumber caused by their great pain.

"I know." Medusa said slowly, "And their vengeance shall be coupled with our king's."

"Mother?" Crystal asked weakly, her voice noticeably smaller, "What about Luna?"

Medusa looked at her daughter and then turned away from her quickly. She thought back to the events in the throne room and what Medusa could have sworn was...no, it was impossible, she knew. Medusa dashed the thought.

"Luna is well." Medusa replied, "Graviton will not hurt her. He knows if he does we shall rise up against him and he will lose. Her safety is the only reason we have not. It is a wrenching stalemate, I know. But I can assure you, daughter, if Luna is harmed, I shall personally break his neck. I swear to you."

Crystal was silent. Medusa watched the tears roll down her daughter's cheeks and drip from her dirty chin to the cold stone floor.

"I must go." Medusa said, turning and walking quickly out of the prison, "I will see you soon, when the revolution begins."

"You're who?"

Mister Immortal put his hands down from his hips and gave Warbird a serious look.

"Alright, hey," he put out his hand, "I am sorry for the way I spoke. I just get a bit...angry after I just come back to life. I didn't mean to insult your leadership."

Warbird just stared at him.

"You're who?" she repeated.

Mister Immortal put down his hand.

"I'm Mister Immortal." he explained, "I'm here to help you. I already have."

"We don't need your help." Warbird's eyes were stabbing him, "We're the Avengers. We're the professionals. So, please, step back inside the--"

"No." Mister Immortal said, giving her back a stare of his own, "I'm an Avenger too, whether you believe me or not!"

"I believe you." Warbird said, devoid of any emotion, "You're a member of the unsanctioned Great Lakes Avengers based out of West Haven, Indiana, where you were their leader. You've been responsible for the apprehension of several wanted criminals in the area and developed a sort of cult following. You possess the ability to seemingly come back any certain demise and have a high tolerance for pain."

Mister Immortal looked at her for a moment. He blinked a couple times.

"Well...yeah." he said, "That's me. Good to know you're a fan. I can sign a t-shirt if you--"

"You're team is colossal waste of time." Warbird continued, "You've been responsible for over half the property damage caused in the midwest over the last ten years. Local law enforcement refuses to cooperate with you on the grounds that they can't afford the high hospital bills. And you, personally, have several unpaid parking tickets."

"You can't expect me to keep the number of quarters that those parking meters want just in my..." Mister Immortal started but then he turned his back on Warbird and crossed his arms, "That doesn't matter. I'm an Avenger and I can help you."

"You call yourself an Avenger." Warbird said simply, "Your 'branch' wasn't ever officially recognized by the Avengers. You're not an Avenger. We appreciate your help today but please do us a favor and stay out of our way from this moment on."

Warbird pushed past him and continued on toward the embassy. Ka-Zar, the Wasp and Tigra all followed her. Tigra put her hand on his shoulder as she passed.

"Chin up, sport." she said happily, "West Haven's a nice place. Saw Aerosmith there once."

The four left Mister Immortal standing not with his hands on his waist, but with his shoulders slumped.

There was a bright flash but Jack's eyes adjusted quickly. He saw through the white flashing, the form of voluminous four-legged creature take shape. After the light had died down, Jack saw it was enormous brown dog. He had an antennae on his head just like Black Bolt.

"Lockjaw." Quicksilver said.

"We will be teleported into the prison of the palace." Black Bolt told them, "We will free my daughter and my soldiers from the cells there. Then we will able to take Graviton by surprise."

"What of this machine?" Vision asked, "We should destroy this before Graviton decides to use it."

"Indeed." Black Bolt said, "I curse myself for it's creation. It's destruction must quick and efficient, as not all of us can turn our attention to it. If we are to keep the element of surprise, we must be quick."

"Jack." Vision turned to his teammate, "Will you be able to destroy this machine?"

"It's tough to say how long it'll take since I've never seen this thing before." Jack said, "But destroy it? Oh, yeah."

"Good. Lockjaw?"

The gigantic dog barked a low deep growl at the sound of it's own name.

"Gather close. We will depart now."

Wanda got close to Lockjaw and put her hand of her brother's shoulder again. She gave him a little smile. Quicksilver looked at her but didn't return it. Wanda could see the pain and guilt spread across his face like a veil.

There a bright flash again and everything became white for an instant.

As the Avengers and Ka-Zar entered the embassy, a courier ran up to them with a red face and a stumbling gait. He told them with a quick breath that there was a call waiting for them. The four followed the man down a corridor.

Warbird looked to her side at Jan. She bit her lip and then straightened herself and continued looking forward.

"Jan," Warbird began slowly, "are you alright? You took quite a burn back there."

"Oh," Jan was taken back a bit, "uh, yeah, Carol, I'm okay. Suit covered most of it. But I think I'm gonna need an emergency run to the hairdresser when we get back to New York. Thanks."

Carol nodded without looking at her. The four of them were brought into a large room with a large computer screen in the front of them. It flickered to life and Henry Pym's face appeared.

"Warbird!" he shouted, "Our shoulders have gotten a bit more strained."

"What is it, Hank?" Warbird said, crossing her arms and staring with a frown at the screen.

"Graviton's taken over the moon."

"Say what?" Tigra squinted.

"I know it sounds crazy." Hank said quickly, "But I'm telling you, he's conquered the moon. He just sent us some sort of video message telling us."

"That's crazy, Hank." Jan said, as she stepped up to Warbird's side, "He has to be bluffing. If he'd conquered the moon that means he had to have defeated--"

"The Inhumans." Hank said, "I know. Warbird, he was broadcasting from Attilan. I'd recognize the place anywhere. Somehow, he's defeated Black Bolt and taken the kingdom for himself."

Warbird was silent and looked away from the screen.

"Any communications from Wanda or Vision or Jack?" she asked.

"None." Hank said, "We haven't heard from them since they left the Quinjet. But the storms over Libya seem to have stopped. We don't know what that means yet."

"Damn." Warbird said quietly, "Have you heard from Wonder Man?"

"Not since I told him he was reactivated. He agreed to serve again. I assumed he was there."

Warbird raised her chin and looked back at the screen and Hank.

"Thank you, Hank." she said, "We will be in touch with you again soon."

"Be careful." Hank said before the screen went black.

Warbird looked back at Ka-Zar, Tigra and Wasp.

"It appears we're on a tight schedule, Avengers." Warbird said with a deep breath, "We need to move fast against the Mole Man. King Ka-Zar, is there anywhere in Antarctica where he could steal a robot or have one built for him?"

"Nowhere." Ka-Zar said, shrugging, "He must've gotten it before he came here and even then how did he move it here in the--"

Ka-Zar stopped speaking and his jaw opened. The three Avengers looked at him expectantly.

"Of course!" Ka-Zar said loudly.

"What?" Warbird asked.

"Parnival."

Graviton rose to his feet and swallowed the bite of roast beast in his mouth. He wore a deep, dark frown on his face. He closed his eyes and breathed out a slow sigh. Then he opened his eyes, smiled and turned to Luna, who was floating quietly behind him.

"It seems your grandfather doesn't value your life as much as you'd hope." Graviton said simply, "And, of course, the people of Earth will have to pay for this insult as well."

Graviton started to walk quickly out of the dining hall and, with but a thought, beckoning Luna to follow him. But Graviton stopped as a voice rang through his head.

"You will not win."

Graviton spun around frantically. He looked through the massive dining hall for whoever invaded his mind. He saw no one. No one except Luna. Graviton approached the floating child. Her blue eyes seemed to invade his soul as the voice did to his mind. Graviton backed up slowly.

Then he chuckled to himself. He knew there was no one in the room. A mere child could not possess such power. It was impossible. The whole thing had to simply be the anxiety of what was to come. Graviton, with the event dashed from his mind, resumed his gait from the room, with his cape bellowing behind him and Luna floating and smiling behind that.

"That's it, down there!" Ka-Zar told Warbird.

The four of them had traveled to the coast of Antarctica in the Quinjet. According to Ka-Zar, there was only one logical person who could give the Mole Man both a robot monster and transportation to the Savage Land: his brother, Parnival Plunder.

Parnival had never been on exactly the best terms with his brother. Parnival wanted not only Ka-Zar's share of their father's business but he wanted to raze the Savage Land. The eruptions would give Parnival the perfect opportunity to wreck havoc on Ka-Zar's kingdom.

Warbird directed the Quinjet around to land on Parvinal Plunder's yacht, which was sitting in the middle of the massive Lorelei River, which was as wide and deep as some lakes.

Immediately, Ka-Zar noted the panic around the ship, as men in suits ran for the inside of the yacht, not wanting to answer to the Avengers. Warbird seemed to pay no mind to the panic and walked of the Quinjet with the same determined demeanor that he had come to expect from her.

When they were all out of the Quinjet, a man in a suit did rush up to them. Warbird brushed passed him as though he wasn't there, prompting the rest to do the same. The man was clearly exasperated when he spoke.

"You--you can't come here!" the man said, frantic, "Mr. Plunder is very busy and can't see you at the moment! Please, let me help you in whatever--"

"You tell your boss," Warbird said simply, not paying any mind to the man and simply continuing to walk across the yacht, "that the Avengers want a word with him."

"I'm sorry, ma'am." the man said hurriedly again, "But that's im--"

Warbird interrupted him again and grabbed him by his collar.

"When the Avengers speak," she glared at him, "you listen."

"Uhm...uhh...yes, ma'am." the man stuttered as he was put down, "His office is right this way."

"Thank you." Warbird followed him.

The Avengers were led to the very top floor of the yacht and into a large office that spanned the entire floor. Inside, at the very back, was a large stained oak desk with a very muscular man in a white suit behind it. It was Parnival.

"I'm sure there is a good reason as to why my secretary was assaulted by one of the world's premiere super-heroes?" Parnival sneered as he lit a cigar.

"We're here to arrest you, Parnival Plunder." Warbird said, staring a hole through him. Parnival seemed unimpressed.

"For what exactly?" Parnival let out a breath of smoke, "The only criminals I see here are you. Illegal landing of a craft on private property, assault, breaking and entering. Shall I go on?"

"Can it, Parnival." Ka-Zar came closer to the desk, "You know what you've done and you know by now that it didn't work. The robot was defeated and the Mole Man ran scared. You're going down."

"Kevin." Parnival chuckled, "You never write anymore. As for your absurd claim, I have never--"

But he was interrupted as he looked out the window of his yacht. The cigar fell from his lips and to the floor. Ka-Zar turned his attention to the window. He jaw went as gape as his brother's.

Outside the window was the giant yellow eye of great large red squid. It was looking straight at them. Parnival gulped.

"Mister Jules Verne," Tigra said, "white courtesy telephone, please."

The white soon faded into a deep blue atmosphere that focused into that of Inhuman architecture. It was the prison, Quicksilver noticed. Then he noticed something else.

"Crystal!" he shouted and he ran up the cage door. He grasped the bars in his fists and started to rattle them so quickly, the door came off it's hinges. Pietro rushed to his wife and then pulled so quickly at her chains, that they burst from the wall. He caught her.

"Pietro?" Crystal looked up at him. Tears filled her eyes and she hugged him.

"I'm here." Pietro embraced her back.

"We're here." Black Bolt said sternly, "It is time to take back what is our's."

Crystal let go of her husband and stood up with him. She looked at her father.

"Of course." she said, as she wiped her hair out of her face and took a stance with him, "I am ready to serve with you, father."

Black Bolt nodded and turned to Jack of Hearts. The antennae on his head flashed for an instant. Jack's head jolted back quickly.
"Those are the coordinates for the Omega Machine." Black Bolt told him, "Go now."

"I'm gone." Jack said, "Good luck."

Jack glowed red with zero energy and he cut a hole in the roof above him and flew out into the open air, leaving only a fading streak of red behind him. Black Bolt turned back to his comrades. He saw the fallen figures of Karnak and Gorgon.

"They fought valiantly for me." Black Bolt said, bowing his head, "Now, I will do the same for them."

"Your highness," Vision said, "we must act quickly."

"Of course." Black Bolt replied, "Just a moment."

Black Bolt breathed in deeply and then the antennae on his forehead began to glow again. Then the glowing stopped and his eyes became wide.

"No!"

"What is it, father?" Crystal asked, stepping to Black Bolt's side.

"Graviton!" Black Bolt yelled through their minds, "He's already activated the machine!"

Jack of Hearts had just landed in front of the large dome that was the Omega Machine when it started to hum. He watched crackles of energy shoot up it's side and disappear. He didn't know what was happening but he knew it wasn't good.

Jack flashed with red zero energy and his hands started to glow. He lifted his arm for a blast to the door but before he could do so, something hit him on the back and forced him against the ground. Jack looked behind him but there was no one forcing him. It was like there was an invisible vice gripping and crushing him. Jack knew what was happening now.

He looked back to the dome, trying to gather enough zero energy to repel the gravity that was keeping him in place. The dome began to move. It began to rise. It was springing from the ground and floating in the air. Then, the dome became transparent, as though the walls were never there at all. The only thing left was a chair and the man sitting in it. Graviton.

Jack was flung into the air like firecracker, yet the force on his back and chest remained. I could barely breathe. He was brought face to face with Graviton.

"I thought I told you Avengers not to interfere with me?" Graviton shouted at him.

Jack wanted to spit at him but couldn't.

"I didn't want any trouble!" Graviton kept on, "Why do you always have to make things go the hard way? This all could have been avoided. Now, you have to die and the child has to die and countless people on Earth have to die. You see what you make me do?"

Jack could feel the zero energy pulsing through him. He wanted to let it out. He had to let it out. But he couldn't. It was being kept in. It was being forced in. Jack's vision was beginning to get blurry. He was going to explode. He could feel it. Much more of this and he would explode.

"Be gone." Graviton said and he blinked.

Jack was thrown through the air again and he felt himself enter the cold of space. Soon Graviton couldn't see him in blackness. But a few seconds later, as Graviton released his grip on his captive, there was a dark red explosion as though a small star had burst in the distance.

"Hmm..." Graviton shrugged as he observed, "ouch."

He turned, in his new throne, to the child over his shoulder.

"I will kill you in a moment, my dear." Graviton smiled at Luna, "But, first, I want the attention of your grandfather. Since I couldn't kill him in my first try, he will watch me kill you in my first try."

To Be Continued...

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