"No!" Quicksilver shouted and he ran to his sister. "I won't let her die!"
Black Bolt grabbed him and pulled him back.
"We will not let her die!" Black Bolt yelled through his mind. "But she has given us the chance we need to end this! We cannot let that be in vain!"
Crystal ran over to her husband and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Pietro," Crystal said softly and, to Quicksilver, her voice sounded like a soothing rain. "You know he is right. Wanda wanted it this way."
Quicksilver clinched his teeth together and shook with anger.
"Come now," Black Bolt said. "Graviton may not have the Omega Machine but he is still very much alive and with power. We must hit him hard and fast."
Black Bolt turned his back on them and marched in the direction of their foe. Quicksilver remained, looking at his sister. She was hovering in mid-air, convulsing almost violently, with a vortex of pulsing red energy imprisoning her.
He wanted to reach out to her, be a brother to her. Be the brother that he should have been all these years. Pietro couldn't lose her now. He felt his wife grace his shoulder again.
"She loves you very much, Pietro," Crystal said softly. "And she's not the only one, you know."
Quicksilver flinched a bit, but turned and looked with a cautious eye to his wife.
"Graviton," Pietro murmured. "He's trying to take everything from me. He's winning."
"When has that way of thinking," Crystal brought her hands up and touched his face, "ever been befitting of a member of the Inhuman royal family?"
"Crystal..." Pietro pulled away from her. Crystal didn't let him get far.
"I need you with me now, Pietro," Crystal tore a hole in her husband with a simple stare, "more than I ever have."
Pietro looked to the ground and Crystal caught his chin and lifted him back up to eye level.
"And so does Luna."
Crystal lifted herself up a little and kissed her husband lightly, quickly. She interlocked her fingers in his and pulled him toward her and into a path after Black Bolt. Quicksilver's demeanor didn't change but he followed nonetheless.
Jan couldn't take her eyes off the huge black mass that was about to collide with her and Ka-Zar. The giant black frog seemed to linger in the air forever before it finally came down to crush her.
"Jan!"
It was a voice she hadn't heard in a very long time. The voice rushed past her and swept her and Ka-Zar out of the way of the frog. The frog met nothing but air and landed with a loud crash on the beach below.
"Simon!" Jan looked up at her savior. "It's about damn time you got here!"
"Sorry about that." Wonder Man laughed, "The weather around Cape Horn this time of year is brutal."
Wonder Man let Jan and Ka-Zar down on the beach, a good distance from the frog. His blue and purple ionic figure bellowed in the strong winds of the river bed, with the crimson 'W' that adorned his chest waving like a banner.
"So...what's with Kermit over there?" Simon thumbed to the frog.
"The Mole Man." Jan shrugged.
"Ah, okay then." Simon chuckled. "It won't break your heart if I deep fry him?"
"Actually, you'd be doing me a favor."
"Oh, the perks of being an Avenger again," Simon sighed and he rose into the air again. "Twenty percent off at the ESPN store, free buffet at the Golden Dragon and eradicating hundred-foot amphibians into the atmosphere."
Wonder Man's eyes began to glow with purple energy as the frog started to bound toward Jan and Ka-Zar. He opened his mouth but made no sound. None was needed. Out of his mouth came an intense shine of purple that eclipsed the frog. The purple became brighter and brighter until only the faintest outline of the frog could be seen. And, within seconds, it faded away.
"Whew. Glad that worked." Simon wiped his forehead mockingly. His body had changed incredibly since his resurrection by the Scarlet Witch many months ago. He had been toying with his new body to see what it was exactly capable of. This was the first real action of his new control over his ionic composure.
The purple dissipated, leaving only Wonder Man.
"Good to be back," Simon called down to Jan.
Medusa, upon the cascading waves of crimson hair, made her way past Wanda's zombie-like state and entered the still-standing parts of the castle. She meant to find the entrance to the catacombs of Attilan, where the entire population of the city should have been evacuated to by now. But she knew she wasn't going to make it. As fast as she went, with every breath she took, Medusa expected the inevitable.
The inevitable came. Medusa couldn't move. And the voice that she was dreading finally made it's presence felt.
"I'm sorry, my queen."
Medusa was able to turn her eyes to the small, angelic being that she cradled. Slowly, Medusa's arms came untangled from the child and she watched as Luna floated elegantly to eye level.
"For many months now, I have kept my nature hidden for fear of upsetting the balance of life within my family. Unfortunately, if I do nothing, I will not have a family to be hidden from. I love you all very much, grandmother. It is the reason I must leave you here. It is my kingdom, after all."
As the child sluiced past Medusa's frozen form, Medusa tried in vain to lick at the salty tears that wetted her parched lips.
Carol Danvers awoke to a stinging vision and seized lungs. It all came back to her in a series of pulsating aches and constricting grips. She was leading the Avengers in the Savage Land and...a giant squid had plunged her to the bottom of the Lorelei River. She was leading the Avengers and she was at the bottom of the river?
Through the gripping pain, Carol opened her eyes wider.
What happened to her teammates? She let her guard up for one second and, for all she knew, her teammates could be dead. She needed to act quickly. She was the leader of the Avengers! And she was failing them.
Suddenly, the pain that was overwhelming Carol's lungs was surpassed by a deep burning that screamed throughout her body. It was screaming to be let out. There was only one place to put it.
"Simon!" Jan pointed back to the water. Wonder Man turned back to it and his jaw dropped.
"Ouch!" Ka-Zar retreated back from the bay
"What?" Jan asked him, panic showing in her voice.
"It's hot!" Ka-Zar stated, his skin pale in disbelief. "The whole river is boiling!"
White foam began to make its way over the surface of the river. Soon there was a loud popping noise as more and more bubbles paraded out of the water and on to the shore. And a smell came along with it.
Simon put his thumb and forefinger to his nose. "What is that?"
Wonder Man threw himself higher into the air and positioned himself over the point in the lake that seemed to be the center of the heat. As he looked, the bubbles just seemed to get more heated and forceful. The water started to rise and looked like it was about to...
"Jan!" Simon calls down, frantic to her. "Get down!"
"What--?"
Jan didn't get a chance to finish before the river exploded.
"This is my kingdom!" Black Bolt resonated through their minds. "It is our kingdom. We will not let it be destroyed or conquered, no matter what the cost."
Quicksilver marveled at the city of Attilan. A city of such vibrant energy had been reduced to nothing more than an empty, gray shell. It almost felt completely different. It was like Graviton had already stolen their city from them.
"All of the citizens are now in the underground catacombs of the city," Black Bolt explained. "Do not hold back."
Both Quicksilver and Crystal nodded their heads and took a stance with her father in the middle of their abandoned capital. Slowly, the ground beneath them began to shake with increasing anger. Crystal, sensing the vibrations, kept the ground under the three of them stable.
She was lucky. In an instant after she steadied the ground, there was a maddening shockwave and buildings, monuments and streets all collapsed and crumbled. The debris was blocked from the three, as Crystal was quick to cover them with an electrical field. Peering through the chaos and the smoke, they saw a recognizable figure in the sky.
"You may have taken the Omega Machine from me," Graviton shouted from the sky, "but I still have more than enough power to defeat you!"
The ground began to quiver with an even more rampaging fervor. Streets erupted with black fountains of earth and dust. The noise became cruel and Crystal collapsed to her knees, trying maintain the composure it took to shield them from Graviton's fury.
Through her blurry vision, she saw Black Bolt begin to crackle with the blue electricity that echoed the wrath in his heart. The energy became so strong that Quicksilver kneeled and wrapped his arms around his wife.
"Cover your ears!" Quicksilver said quickly.
Crystal didn't know what to expect but she did as she was told. She looked up at Black Bolt, who was now just a shaking blur of blue electricity.
"Now lower your shield!" Quicksilver had to shout to Crystal over the uproar of Graviton and Black Bolt. But still, Crystal didn't quite believe what she had heard.
"Lower it! Now!" Quicksilver shouted with even more desperation in his voice and she did.
In the same instant she did, Black Bolt shot from the ground like a bullet toward the small figure in the sky that was Graviton. She didn't admire the situation for too long before her husband swept her into his arms and rushed them from the chaos to more stable ground, leaping gaping maws and narrowly breezing past flying debris.
Soon, the ground became a bit more stable. Quicksilver stopped and saw that they were at least a couple miles from where they had been before. But they could still make out the two warring figures in the sky. And the noise became even louder.
Graviton and Black Bolt shined brighter than any star and moved faster than any comet and the force and explosions as they met in fierce clashes could be easily felt by the two Avengers who only stood in awe and hope.
Crystal grasped her husband's hand and Quicksilver saw the single tear that streamed from her eye. He returned her link and choked back his own tear in an effort to stay strong against the amplifying tide of fear.
The two saw the forms in the sky burst with even more boisterous light. The ferocity with which they flew at one another were like those of two gods who decided to destroy the universe in one fiery onslaught. The explosion as they met was like the sun had finally lost control of itself let out all its pulsing anger before it's death.
But it was quick. Pietro and Crystal blocked their eyes with an embrace and when they turned to the sky again, they saw the two figures, falling like dreams, to the unforgiving rubble below. When they hit, the noise shook Quicksilver and Crystal to their knees.
And then it was over. And the silence was more frightening than any of the destruction that had come before it.
Quicksilver and Crystal only needed to glance at one another before they knew what they had to do. In a smooth motion, Crystal was back in her husband's arms, being carried to where Black Bolt and Graviton had collided with the ground.
It was a quicker journey than either of them had thought.
Where the two furious warriors had fallen, there was a voluminous crater at least a mile across and half a mile deep. Trying to contain their own shock, the two Avengers peered into the vast hole and saw them. One was sprawled across the bottom of the crater, face down in defeat. The other was standing, arms raised and smiling at his own cold victory.
And then they knew it wasn't over. And the laughter was more frightening than any of the destruction that had come before it. Graviton had won.
Wonder Man didn't have enough time to throw his hands up in defense before the boiling tidal wave from the river below engulfed him. Even in his ionic body, he could still feel the intense heat of the water. The stench around him was even stronger now.
As the water returned in a deluge back to the ground below, Simon looked to the beach and saw Jan yelling to him. Yelling and pointing. Pointing above him. And Simon then noticed the large shadow that washed over him. And then he noticed the charred remains of the giant squid that was flying toward him.
"Whoa!" Simon yelled as he ducked and the corpse flew like a Frisbee over his head.
He looked at the squid and saw it land unceremoniously on the beach. As he looked back to Jan, he saw that she was still pointing behind him. Simon turned quickly around, anticipating another burnt husk of a giant mollusk to come parading at him. But that's not what he saw.
"Carol!" Simon shouted as he recognized the woman hovering just slightly across from him in the sky.
Warbird didn't reply to him, but instead just hovering, every limb stiff and straight, shaking and growling at him. Her eyes looked completely devoid of any life.
"Carol?" Simon inched closer to his teammate.
Then, Simon watched Warbird's eyes roll into the back of her head and she fell backwards from her stiff state and plummeted to the lake below.
"Carol!" Simon yelled.
For simply dropping, Warbird seemed to be falling with an incredible force. Simon was having a hard time catching up to her. He was getting closer but it still wasn't enough. He knew he was going too fast. Even if he did catch her, he knew he was going to hit that lake with enough force to crush a five-story building. So his priority changed.
He was able to reach Carol's ankle. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled her from her increasing decent and into a bear hug with him. Simon closed his eyes as he saw the face of the river come up to meet him. As quick as he could, he shifted his momentum and swung his back to crash into the river and protect Carol from the initial force.
Jan and Ka-Zar could only watch as the two fell from the sky and into the river, causing an immense splash that, to Jan, looked like a mushroom cloud.
"Simon!" Jan yelled from the bay, "Carol!"
"My god…" Ka-Zar whispered.
They stood there in complete silence, waiting for something to happen. The water that was erupted from its natural place returned once more to whence it came. The waters were almost calm when something did happen.
There was another burst from the river. This one smaller than the one before it but it was much faster. But Jan was able to recognize it from the purple ionic trail that followed it. It flew higher and higher into the air and, reaching a zenith, curved and dashed at an even quicker speed toward the beach.
"Watch out!" Ka-Zar yelled and he tackled Jan to the ground.
Just afterwards, Jan watched as the purple streak rushed over them. Then she heard the impact of bodies against sand and looked up as fast she could.
Lying just thirty yards ahead of her were the limp bodies of Wonder Man and Warbird, with the river washing itself over them in an eerie caress.
"Black Bolt!" Crystal yelled as she saw the body of her king at the feet of Graviton.
"I have conquered him a second time, Avengers!" Graviton laughed at them. "Now bow to me!"
Graviton raised an arm at the Avengers, crushing the ground beneath the two. Crystal started to fall but her husband was quick to catch her and pull her to safety. She was in his arms again and Quicksilver carried her off and away from the crater.
They stopped and Crystal saw that they were a good distance from Graviton. The madman must have still been gloating because they didn't see him rushing after them.
"Oh god," Crystal mumbled and she pulled her husband closer to her. "What can we do now?"
"We fight him," Pietro said, just as quiet. "It's the only thing we can do. I am not going to die knowing that I didn't do enough for my family."
Crystal looked up at him, gazing at him with the radiant stare that made him remember why she got into his heart so easily, while others simply grazed its surface.
"Pietro," she began, "I--I'm--"
"You don't need to say anything," Pietro ran his finger down his wife's cheek. "I know. I just didn't want to believe it. All my life, I've been running, Crystal. Running from my father, my race and, most importantly, my family. And now that a tyrant is threatening to take it all from me, I don't think I can run fast enough to save them."
"If you're running to save your family, Pietro," Crystal put her own hand on her husband's cheek, "then you're running with me. You always will be."
Quicksilver smiled brighter than Crystal had ever seen him smile. He brought his lips down to meet hers and she felt her spirit reborn. She separated herself from Quicksilver and raised her hands to the sky. Pietro took two steps back, still smiling at her. He watched as his wife raised herself into the air upon the wind.
Pietro looked toward the crater again and he could see a figure flying toward them at an immense speed. Quicksilver took off like a shot at an even greater speed toward his attacker. He looked over his shoulder briefly and saw his wife, looking much like Black Bolt earlier, absorbing the lightning from the air. Immediately after seeing her, Quicksilver covered his eyes. Not a moment too soon.
All Quicksilver heard was loud, cracking noise and even with his eyes shielded, he saw the bright flash of Crystal's lightning. He moved his hands from his eyes and looked to the sky. Graviton was falling. Pietro let out a loud laugh and kicked his legs even faster toward his enemy.
Graviton hit the ground hard but was only dropped to his knees. He looked up briefly and the only thing he saw was Quicksilver's fist. It knocked Graviton straight up into the air and back a couple yards. He tried to regain his frame of vision but, once again, it was only Quicksilver. Punch after punch, Graviton was knocked around like a rag doll.
"Pietro!" Crystal called from the sky. "He's mine!"
Graviton grimaced as he saw his opening.
Crystal gathered her lightning again, feeling it ebb and flow throughout her limbs, and seeing Graviton still huddling on the ground, she threw it all in one hammering blow. The flash was bright and the thunder was deafening but when it all cleared, Graviton was still standing. And her husband was at his feet.
"Pietro!" she yelled, "No!"
Graviton could only laugh at his ability to pull Quicksilver in front of the lightning at the last possible second. And in Crystal's own distress, he pulled her forcefully and quickly to the ground, knocking her into unconsciousness.
It was so quick and so easy. Graviton couldn't believe that he had won. Looking at the two fallen heroes, it was hard to believe that he had bested Earth's mightiest. A grin began to form across his lips and a laugh almost spewed from his throat. Almost.
"Graviton!" there was a yell from the sky above him.
He turned to face this calling but wasn't quite sure at what he was looking at. It was a man, that much he was certain. But that's not what was strange. It wasn't even the fact that the man was stark naked. What was shocking was that half of the man's body was jet black. Looking closer, Graviton recognized the mark of a heart over the man's eye.
"I'm back, you son of a bitch!" Jack of Hearts yelled from the sky, his body surrounded by flashes of pink zero energy. "I'm back and I'm taking you to Hell!"
Luna gazed up at the sight of the Scarlet Witch. The swirling hurricane of crimson energy that surrounded Luna's aunt was an incredible and intimidating sight. But if Luna, a small child of only three years, was intimidated, she didn't show it. On her face was a look that reminded the Silver Surfer of a corpse.
"Hello," the Surfer said, admiring the Scarlet Witch as well.
"Hello," Luna replied, her voice galloping through the Surfer's mind. "I am happy that you have joined me here."
"Who are you?" the Surfer asked.
"I am the legacy of the Inhuman nation," Luna sounded confident. "I am not going give it up with a whimper."
"Of course not." the Surfer said simply, "What do you propose to do?"
"My aunt is one of the most powerful humans walking the planet, whether she knows it or not," Luna explained. "Combined with the power of the Omega Machine, her power is being pushed to the brink of her control. So I am going to give her control."
The Silver Surfer was still perplexed by this child. He could sense her power, her skill, her confidence but he was still...unconvinced. Even so, he stood back as Luna approached the Scarlet Witch and raised her hands at her. Immediately, the Surfer sensed a change in the power around him. The vortex around the Scarlet Witch seemed more calm, more controlled.
And that's when the Scarlet Witch screamed.
Warbird awoke to a sharp pain in her chest as the air forced into her lungs in turn forced out the water that had settled there. She choked and coughed and felt a warm embrace around her. She was desperately trying to regain her breath.
"Come on, babe," a familiar voice said. "That's it. Keep hacking. Get rid of all that crap."
Her eyes were closed so tightly, she couldn't see her savior. She could only hear and feel his kindness and his calm reassurance. She grabbed him into a deep hug and held him with every bit of strength she could muster.
"Hey there," the voice returned the embrace but not as tightly. "It's alright. You're okay."
She was finally able to place the voice. And she remembered everything. The Savage Land, the Mole Man, the squid, Wonder Man. She opened her eyes, letting the bright sun over the sting her eyes. With a loud grunt, she pushed away the man who had saved her.
"Whoa, whoa," Carol heard Jan say behind her. "Take it easy."
"Yeah," Mister Immortal, the voice that had brought her back to consciousness, said to her, leaning closer. "You've been through a lot. Just settle down. Like I said, it's all right now."
"No, no," Warbird stumbled to her feet. It wasn't easy and she almost fell again. "Where is Ka-Zar?"
"He went back to deliver the good news to his people and the UN embassy," Tigra said and Warbird noticed her to her left for the first time.
Warbird's eyes finally adjusted and she could take in her surroundings. There was Tigra and Jan and Mister Immortal and...Wonder Man. Warbird stormed over to Simon and gave a hard shove that almost knocked him over.
"Just where the hell were you?" she shouted at him. Simon was taken aback.
"Well...I...there was a storm around Cape--"
"Bullshit!" Warbird grabbed him. "You're Wonder Man, for god's sake! You were held back by a storm? Tell me you were stuck in bed in Hollywood with some bimbo and I might believe that one!"
"Carol!" Jan placed her hand on her shoulder. "Calm down! The threat is over! Simon came through for us!"
"Oh, the threat is over, huh?" Carol turned to Jan but then quickly to Tigra. "And just where is the Mole Man?"
"The Mole Man got away," Tigra said quietly. "He was rushed off with his goons and I...I lost him."
"You lost him?" Warbird shouted. "You let the premier environmental terrorist on the planet escape? Great! What about Plunder?"
"I got a confession out him," Jan said. "I don't know where he got off to, but we'll have in custody soon. He can't hide from us."
"Jan," Carol rubbed her temples, "the man has connections everywhere! He'll be back on the street scot free in less than a week! We needed the Mole Man to pin Plunder!"
"Hey! What are you so worked up about?" Mister Immortal shouted from behind her. "The day is saved! Why don't you just take a pill of the chill variety already?"
Warbird turned and looked at him with a sneer of utter disgust.
"What are you still you doing here?" Warbird marched over to him. "I told you to keep out of this!"
"I know what you said," Mister Immortal said sternly. "But I told you that I'm here to save your day and, by the looks of the way you're breathing, it looks like I did."
Warbird's eyes grew fiery and she looked ready to deck him. Instead, she simply turned his back on him.
"Come on, Avengers," she said, "let's go. We've got a moon to save."
Tigra, Jan and Simon were slow to follow but they did. Through everything, Carol was still their leader and they needed to respect that. They followed Carol, but they did so at a distance.
"This is your first time, huh?" Mister Immortal called to Warbird as she marched away.
"What?" Warbird turned around and walked briskly back to him.
"Leading a team," Mister Immortal said as Warbird got right into his face. "This is your first time, isn't it?"
This time Warbird did punch him. Mister Immortal was sent spiraling backward twenty yards and hit the ground with a loud crack.
"Carol!" Jan yelled.
"Come on," Warbird said through gritted teeth, turning from the fallen Mister Immortal. "Let's get out of here."
Graviton was barely able to raise enough gravitational force to redirect Jack's attack. Even so, Graviton was still pushed back numerous feet. He had thought that the Avengers were done for. Defeating them is going to become a habit, Graviton mused to himself.
Jack continued the barrage of zero energy. He was without his suit so it was amazingly easy to push the energy from his body and at Graviton. Unfortunately, Graviton wasn't being affected. He used gravity to either redirect the blasts at Jack himself or to have them forced to the ground before the blast could reach him.
But that didn't bother Jack, just so long as he could keep Graviton distracted long enough. Long enough for the Silver Surfer to hatch a plan, whatever it was. He didn't stick around to hear it explained. He trusted the Surfer enough to know that he could be counted on.
So Jack continued to shoot away at Graviton, feeling the zero energy inside of him slide like fine wine from his body into incredible destruction on the moon's surface. He kept hurling it, not stopping for an instant. There was no way that even Graviton could have kept up a defense against the salvo that Jack had unleashed.
But when the smoke cleared, Graviton was gone. But not for long. Jack turned behind him when he heard that recognizable laughter. Graviton had slipped right behind him.
Before Jack could react to him, he felt Graviton's powers begin to crush him again, just as they did in their first encounter. The energy was building inside of Jack and he wasn't so sure if he could survive it this time.
"It seems I'm going to have to be more efficient in my chores from now on," Graviton snarled at him. "This time, I'll personally watch you explode."
The pressure kept building but Jack couldn't inch out a wail for help. Luckily, someone wailed for him.
"Graviton!"
Jack recognized the voice and let a relieved smile inch across his face as Graviton released him from his grip and let him slump the ground. Before Jack faded into unconsciousness, he watched with pleasure the look of shock on Graviton's face.
The Scarlet Witch was hovering over the destroyed city of Attilan, her skin glowing a bloody red and energy storming around her like an enraged mother. Her eyes were black.
"You want power?" Wanda screamed at him but Graviton was frozen with fear at the sight of her.
Suddenly, Graviton was overcome with a stiff pain. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. But he could feel. He could feel everything around. Every movement. The slight pulsing of his own chest. The contortions of the Scarlet Witch. The light from stars millions of light-years away.
"Then it's power I'll give you!" Wanda used her probability-altering powers--powers that had been increased ten-fold by the Omega Machine--to increase Graviton's powers to uncontrollable levels.
Graviton knew exactly what was going on. Abruptly, he was thrown into the sky and then saw the moon quickly getting smaller and smaller under him. His gravitational powers had grown too far. They were seeking out the largest body of mass to be attracted to. The Scarlet Witch had made sure to increase his powers to the point that there was only one celestial body big enough to attract him: the Sun.
If Graviton could breathe, he would have screamed.
The crimson hue of the Moon disappeared immediately after Graviton was out of sight. The storm of energy that had surrounded the Scarlet Witch disappeared and Wanda merely collapsed to the ground. The Silver Surfer rushed over to her.
"She will live," Luna said from his side. "As will all the combatants here today."
The Surfer looked at the small child floating next to him and marveled at the tenacity she had shown throughout this ordeal. Only one question remained.
"What will you do now?" he asked her.
"Actually, Surfer," Luna smirked at him, "I was hoping you could help me in answering that question."
The End...
Previous Issue | Next Issue