*Continued From X-Factor #10
"I'm sorry," Warbird said, defiantly, "but we can't let you go any further. You're under arrest for damage of property and attempted theft of a classified device."
The Avengers stood, ready for anything, and stared at the motley grouping of opponents across from them. They were X-Factor, a rag-tag band of heroes put together by SHIELD as an emergency strike-force. Warbird and the rest of the Avengers knew of many of them. There was Vindicator, the leader of the Canadian super-heroes known as Alpha Flight, Sunfire, the national superheroic icon of Japan, Speedball, the lightning quick former member of the New Warriors, Crush, a young size-altering mutant and trainee of Hank Pym, Dazzler, the well-known, reclusive mutant pop singer, and Warlock, the living alien computer.
Then, of course, there was Darkhawk...the former Avenger. While the two teams glared at one another, begging the other for the first move, Warbird's eyes never faltered from Darkhawk's. She knew he was glaring back under his red-visored helmet.
Finally, the man called Sunfire stepped forward. He moved to the front of his team with all the grace and command of an emperor. His bellowing red cape draped over his fiery red costume and followed him like a sunset. The brilliant butterfly mask that covered most of his face only seemed to accentuate the godliness of his character.
"We've come too far to be stopped." Sunfire spoke as though he were declaring war, "Step out of the way...or we will be forced to remove you."
The rest of X-Factor seemed to draw around Sunfire, echoing his sentiments with their movements. But it was Vindicator who assured Warbird of their intent.
"Yeah." she smiled curtly at Warbird, "What he said."
"So be it!" Carol shouted, though she wasn't pleased this had come to fruition. Most of these people in front of her had been heroes and were well-respected. She had even fought alongside a few of them. Carol knew that whatever they were planning to do with the device behind her, it was probably for understandable reasons. But that didn't change her job one bit. She still needed to make sure X-Factor did not steal the device. There would be time for talking later, "Avengers! Assemble!"
Four Hours Ago...
"I am sorry for calling you all here so early in the morning." Hank Pym said, as he saw the Avengers file into the Comm Room one by one. They were all visibly tired and some even held coffee mugs as they yawned and stretched and tried to focus on what they were about to hear.
"What is it, Hank?" Jan asked, looking him over. Even though it was early in the morning, Jan looked as though she had already spent an hour at the salon. Hank knew that, in truth, Jan was just as much a genius with make-up and hair styling in the same way Hank was a genius in science.
"We received a report from SHIELD last night explaining that they believe one of their installations in Texas might come under attack soon." Warbird said, stepping out of the shadows of the Comm Room.
Warbird was already dressed crisply in her black Avengers uniform. She looked like she had been prepared for this a long time in advance. She stepped forward to her seat at the large metal table that sat in the middle of the Comm Room. The room became dark and suddenly, a bright blue hologram flashed to life over the table and then focused itself into a picture that looked like a giant, wire circle. It was something straight out of a science fiction movie.
"This is a dimensional warp gate." Warbird said simply as the picture rotated itself so all could see, "It's located at a secret SHIELD installation in the heart of the West Texas desert."
The image itself shrunk and then changed before widening again. Now it was a scattering of images; seven of them. They were images of people, each in their own bright costume.
"This is X-Factor." Warbird motioned to the holograms, "They are the suspected terrorist group."
"Wait," Hank said, stepping closer to Warbird, "X-Factor? One of their number is Elizabeth Guthrie. I've been supervising her training over at SHIELD. I didn't know that her or X-Factor had gone renegade! The girl is so vulnerable! Impressionable!"
"Did you know that X-Factor had been disbanded?" Gyrich chimed in behind him. Hank hadn't known that. Gyrich adjusted his glasses and continued, "Apparently, they didn't take too well to the news. They all got back together and seem to be doing this as a revenge tactic, in retribution for SHIELD not compensating them for their efforts."
"Revenge tactic?" Jan asked, her eyebrows up, "That sounds like typical government crap to me, Carol. How could anything force these heroes to go after SHIELD for revenge?"
"It doesn't matter, Jan." Warbird stated, "I'll admit right now that I'm not too sure of this mission myself. But there will be time to sort things out later, when X-Factor is in custody. These people need to be stopped."
She looked at the group of Avengers that she had assembled before her: the Wasp, The Scarlet Witch, Jack of Hearts, Mister Immortal, Quicksilver, Crystal and the Silver Surfer. It was vastly different from the roster that she had commanded in the Savage Land, during her first mission as leader. The Mole Man escaped from her that day. Warbird hoped that, this time, she and her team wouldn't make the same mistake.
It wasn't two seconds after the cry for battle had left Warbird's mouth that the two teams entangled one another. There was a cacophony of blasts and noises and flashes of lights filled the room. Warbird lifted herself into the air immediately, hoping to catch her target and land the first blow.
Her target, of course, was Darkhawk.
"You've got alot of explaining to do, Powell." Warbird used Darkhawk's real name as she flew down to meet him. She had studied his file extensively when she found out he would be involved in this.
"Allow me to spell it out for you." Darkhawk leapt up and met Warbird in the middle.
Darkhawk's sudden move upward was a surprise to Warbird. She tried to stop her descent but Darkhawk was too quick for her. Two fists smashed up against the left side of her face and she was sent careening backward.
"Was that loud enough?" Darkhawk asked and he flew after Warbird again.
But Warbird was able to stop her momentum from sending her any farther and she stopped abruptly. She stopped so quickly that Darkhawk flew right by her. She reached and grabbed his ankle as he flew past and swung him to the ground with vicious force. The collision of Darkhawk and the concrete floor was even more vicious.
"Loud and clear." Warbird grunted and she dashed down after him.
Darkhawk was quick, however, and he rolled out of the rubble where he had impacted the concrete and was on his feet and he met Warbird's advance again. He stretched out with a punch, but that was waved by a forearm from Warbird. She brought up her left arm in a hook, but Darkhawk ducked. In the crouched position, he threw both fists forward, impacting Warbird square in the stomach. The leader of the Avengers flew back a few yards but she landed on her feet. She looked up just in time to see Darkhawk flying toward her fast, eager to cash in on his advantage. Warbird was able to twist out of the way just as Darkhawk was about to meet her. Her twist was graceful and quick, and as such, she was able to jump onto Darkhawk's back as he flew.
"Hey!" Darkhawk grunted as Warbird latched her arms around his neck, "Get off! I can't--!"
Warbird making herself an unwanted passenger on Darkhawk's back had the effect of making Darkhawk lose control of his flight. He had been having trouble with his powers as of late and now he had lost complete balance. He and Warbird twisted as they flew, and kicked and punched at one another, unaware of concrete wall that both of them were spiraling toward.
The impact was vicious.
The Scarlet Witch was quick with her attack when the battle started. With a wave of her hands, there was a rumbling under X-Factor, causing all the members to scatter or take to the air. Soon, the ground erupted as rocks and soil quaked to the surface.
But, one member of X-Factor was not sent scattering by Wanda's attack. The blonde-haired woman had actually climbed over the erupting earth and with amazing intensity and agility jumped right in front of Wanda, recognizing the threat she posed. Then, suddenly, there was a great flash of light and Wanda lost sight of her opponent for a moment. She cowered back as she tried to adjust her eyes.
Alison Blaire, noticing that Wanda was occupied, felt a familiar warmth in her hands as she began to form another blast. But, Dazzler saw Wanda open her eyes and then wave her hand in a quick second. The blast that had been forming in her hand suddenly exploded prematurely. It sent Alison stumbling to her left.
"It doesn't have to be this way, you know!" Wanda called after Dazzler, "Please! This violence is senseless!"
"To you, maybe!" Alison said as she recovered herself from Wanda's attack, "But I've been through so much to get here...to get back! And if I have to go through you, then it's a small price to pay!"
At that point, Alison felt herself rise into the air and saw that Wanda was waving her arms in some sort of pattern to keep her there. Alison focused on the ground at Wanda's feet and soon it exploded in a mass of soil. Wanda fell backward, causing Alison to fall as well.
But they were both on their feet in the same instant. Wanda waved her hands past her face and chunks of debris flew up into the air to block Wanda from Dazzler's incoming light attacks. Then, with another wave, Wanda sent the debris forward and flying into Dazzler. But Alison was quick in ducking and she rolled right beneath the rocks. She rolled to her feet just a little in front of Wanda and snapped her fingers. Wanda screamed as the sound waves moving past her eyes was immediately changed into light. Knowing that she had blinded her quarry again, Dazzler was fast when she brought two more light blasts up at Wanda. The Scarlet Witch fell to the ground, motionless.
"I'm sorry." Alison said, looking at the limp body, "But I can't lose him. I won't lose him."
Four Hours Ago...
"When is this X-Factor supposed to attack?" Quicksilver scoffed, "I know something about being a member of X-Factor. This team is a shallow comparison."
"We're not sure." Carol answered him, "But, we've been told that SHIELD has a man on the inside who should be able to alert us when X-Factor is going to make their move."
"You mean I could have possibly slept another few hours before we were ordered to hop into a jet and fly into the middle of Texas?" Quicksilver realized, "Great. I'm going to get another cup of coffee."
Before Warbird could answer the man's tone, Quicksilver was gone in a blur. His chair spun after him and was open for a few seconds before there was another blur. Quicksilver had returned with another cup of black coffee.
"Pietro," Crystal talked to him so Warbird wouldn't have to, "calm down. It's not a bad thing to be prepared."
"I know that, Crystal." Pietro looked over at her, "But I've just had to watch my former brother-in-law and long time teammate get killed. I had to watch my family's kingdom be reduced to ruins by a madman. I've had to watch my daughter almost get killed.* We both have barely been back in the mansion a day. I think I deserve a good night's sleep."
Quicksilver trailed off and the rest of the room was silent. Warbird had to agree that it wasn't fair. Quicksilver and Crystal had just returned from the Moon late the night before, and now were thrown right back into the thick of battle. Plus, Carol didn't know the details, and she didn't want to know, but Quicksilver and Crystal had only agreed to rejoin so that they could be with one another in an atmosphere they were familiar with. Judging by the way they had handled eachother just then, they weren't looking happily-ever-after just yet. It had to be exhausting for them, Carol admitted, but it was necessary.
"That brings me to my next point." Warbird broke the silence, "The roster has come under fire."
Each member of the team looked up at her.
"How?" Jan asked, "Where are Tigra and Wonder Man?"
Carol winced at the question and raised her eyes to one of her teammates. Mister Immortal met her stare with a frown. Then, he looked down at the table in front of him.
"Wonder Man has resigned his post as an active Avenger." Warbird said, quickly.
There were a few groans from the team, signaling their surprise. It wasn't usual for a teammate to quit so quickly after rejoining.
"How did this come about, Carol?" Gyrich asked.
"He refused to take responsibility for his actions." Warbird said to him. As soon as she said that, she heard Mister Immortal scoff from the table, "Do you have something to say, Craig?"
"Nothing that hasn't already been said." he replied to her and he kept up his stare, "And that's Mister Immortal to you, fearless leader."
Carol cringed at his remark but she didn't let it show. She continued, "Tigra is absent without leave. I shall deal with her when she returns. For all intents and purposes, we are the Avengers, ladies and gentlemen."
"Pardon me," a cool, almost metallic voice called everyone's attention.
The eyes of the Avengers turned toward the man who wasn't seated at the table in the middle of the room, but rather standing in a corner, his arm wrapped gingerly around his shining surfboard. The Silver Surfer's mere appearance was enough to make Earth's Mightiest Heroes take heed.
"I thank you for accepting my request for membership so quickly." the Surfer said, "I hope that I can make my stay worthwhile for you all. It is an honor to finally stand among you as a teammate."
The Surfer's deep, pupil-less eyes wandered around the room, meeting everyone's gaze. His own eyes, though, rested on Jack of Hearts. Jack simply stared back at him, with the pink pools of energy that now filled his eye sockets chilling the Surfer to his very core.
"Of course, Surfer." Warbird said, "The honor is completely ours. We need all the help we can get."
Then, there was a light beeping noise. Gyrich reached into his coat and pulled out his cell phone. He opened it and put it to his ear. There was never a doubt as to what was being said between them. It wasn't long before Gyrich put his cell phone away.
"That was the informant." Gyrich said, "X-Factor is on the move. They should be in Texas in about four hours, estimated. The Avengers need to be there before that."
"And we will be." Warbird said confidently, "Alright, Avengers. Let's go to work."
Bobby Baldwin used to be a New Warrior, a team that the Daily Bugle had regularly called "The minor league Avengers". Now, Bobby knew that the New Warriors were a very respected team in super-hero circles, if they had them, but these were the Avengers. Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Bobby was proud to have been a part of the New Warriors and loved what he did with them, but you just don't screw with the Avengers. They were kicking ass while Bobby was failing sixth grade math. Speedball couldn't help but think maybe his new team, X-Factor, hardly experienced with one another, had gotten in over their heads this time.
As soon as the teams charged one another, Speedball took the indirect route. Instead of heading directly toward his opponents, he bounced to the side and off one of the walls to get higher in the air. But as he hit the wall and felt himself bounce higher, something hit him. It hit him hard. So hard that Speedball was forced to change the direction of his momentum. He changed his direction toward that of the ground. That also hit him hard.
But, Bobby Baldwin was Speedball and he was back up not even a second after he had hit the ground. He regained his bearings and saw the man who attacked him. The sight made Speedball gulp.
"You're a quick one, aren't you?" Quicksilver noted with a smirk, "Well, I just happen to be the fastest man alive. You think you can keep up?"
Bobby didn't even have time to register a witty response before the image of Quicksilver, standing across from him, blurred. Bobby didn't even have time to move from the inevitable attack before Quicksilver reappeared, right in Bobby's face.
"I guess the answer is no." Quicksilver still had the same smirk.
A fierce pain ripped into Speedball's stomach and crept up the rest of his body with intense speed. Speedball dropped to his knees right in front of the fist that had just nailed him in the stomach. Bobby could only kneel there with his eyes bulging and his mouth gaping; the punch had knocked all the wind from him.
Quicksilver looked down at his opponent and then lifted Speedball's face up to him with his left hand. His smirk now turned into a full-fledged smile. Pietro could see Speedball twitch and flinch as he desperately tried regain his breath.
"Haven't you heard?" Quicksilver mockingly laughed at him, "We're the Avengers and I'm Quicksilver, the fastest man alive. Go back to the minors, kid."
Speedball didn't even have time to cringe before Quicksilver became the same terrifying blue blur once more and, for Bobby Baldwin, everything went black.
When the battle began, Elizabeth Guthrie had tried to get to her teammate, Chris Powell. Elizabeth had seen Warbird, that was the leader of the Avengers if she remembered her CNN right, staring straight at him all through the standoff. Just like Liz thought, Warbird immediately took off after Chris as the battle started. Liz tried to reach Darkhawk but a hand grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.
"Aren't you a bit young to be employed by the United States government?" a red masked, blue caped, "I" emblazoned, blonde haired, actually-kind-of-cute Avenger asked.
"Good thing Ah don't work for the government." Liz smiled.
"Now, look here, young lady," Mister Immortal looked at his own feet as he began a monologue that he had used many times before to get young children to fess up to petty crimes, "what would your mother think of your actions at this moment? Do you think that when you were born she had this wild idea to raise you to be a government dimension-jumping thinga-ma-jigger thief? Of course not! You're mother is probably worried sick about you and--"
Mister Immortal stopped looking down at his feet and back up at the young lady he was talking to. Craig's mouth dropped when he saw that the girl was now a foot taller than him. He blinked a few times at the sight and brought his hands up to rub his eyes. He opened them again to see that the girl was now three feet taller than him. Craig gulped and then realized why Hank Pym was supervising her training. He gulped again and realized why her name was 'Crush'.
"As I was saying," Craig cleared his throat, "perhaps you would be more suited to a career with the WNBA. I'm sure they have a better dental plan than--"
Liz reached down and pulled Craig up to her face by his collar, "Ah'm not the one who's gonna need the dental plan."
Craig watched as Liz pulled her fist back and launched it at Craig's face. Mister Immortal felt his neck twist violently to his left and even heard his neck snap with a burning quickness. Then, there was darkness.
Liz didn't mean to hit him so hard. She stared limply, not knowing what to do, at the body in front of her. Was he dead? Who the hell was this guy anyway? Liz looked at the fist she had hit him with. She knew that she had increased the density of her fist to the point where it might even had been able to dent Iron Man's armor. She looked back at the body across from her. It started to twitch.
"I don't...think...you realize..." Mister Immortal said as he stood up, "how much...that...really HURT!!"
As he got to his feet, Liz screamed. Mister Immortal was standing upright, with his hands on his fists and his head on backwards. He looked at the shocked young girl who only stared and pointed at him. Then he looked down at himself.
"Ah, maaaaaan...not again." Mister Immortal realized and then he turned back to Crush, "I bet you threw one hellova temper tantrum when you were younger."
With that, Mister Immortal, looking straight at Crush, brought his hands to his head and then violently, quickly and forcefully, ripped his head back to the left and returned it to the natural position. It was enough to kill Craig again and bring Crush to her knees as she vomited.
Nicholas Fury watched the battle beneath him with a growing concern. The dimensional warp gate was still a highly sensitive project and the slightest blow to it might cause some kind of irreparable damage. But he had agreed to help his young team and help them he would. He was standing in the control, high above the open battle. Nick knew he only had a few minutes to coordinate the warp gate to the right frequency. The process only took a few seconds.
"Nick Fury?" the voice behind him was startling, but he recognized it well enough.
"Yeah?" Fury turned around and saw Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, "Why, Ms. Van Dyne. You're looking lovely today. It seems your team is in excellent shape, considering that you're fighting my team for absolutely no reason."
"Nick," Jan crossed her arms, "everytime I cross paths with you, it's one conspiracy after the next. What is it this time?"
Fury threw his cigar to the ground and crushed it with his boot heel, "Alright then. Stop me if you've heard this one..."
Vindicator rose high into the air after Sunfire. Immediately, Sunfire was engaged with Jack of Hearts but Heather was sidetracked with something else before she was able to help her teammate. The Silver Surfer was flying straight at her. Heather was able to twist out of the way just in time before the Silver Surfer's board could impact itself with her stomach.
"Stand down, Vindicator!" the Surfer said, making an arc with his board and flying back toward Heather, "Violence should be avoided at all costs!"
"You have a strange way of avoiding it." Heather said under her breath.
The Surfer came straight at Heather again but this time, Heather was ready. She twisted again out of the Surfer's path, and this time, she left a path of boiling steam in her wake. The Surfer yelled as he passed through the burning mist.
"Gotcha." Heather smiled.
The Surfer was quick to turn though and he was soon back after Heather. He released beams from his fists in calculated patterns, sure to not fire hard enough to hurt her substantially, just get her down for the count. Heather, however, was dodging the shots with apparent ease. But, Heather became distracted with her movements and the Surfer was able to grab her out the air, while on speeding past her on his board.
"Please! I don't want to hurt you!" the Surfer said.
"Wow, you're just full of contradictions today." Heather said.
The Surfer felt the body over his shoulder start to warm. As he was flying, he could feel Heather getting warmer and warmer in his arms. A mere second later, she became so hot that the Surfer wailed in pain and dropped his opponent and flew from her. Heather caught herself in mid-air and regained flying. She had never tried heating the air molecules laying on the outside of her costume, but she had to admit that her first trial was a successful one.
"What the--?" Heather turned around and looked at the battle. Everyone was fighting or paired up with someone. But the Silver Surfer was nowhere to be found.
Heather desperately turned around in all directions. She couldn't see him. Left and right, down and....up? Heather looked up but there was only a flash of blue waiting for her. The Silver Surfer caught her unconscious body before it hit the ground.
"Sub-designate: Crystal Amaquelin Maximoff, codename: none, class: extra-terrestrial, affiliation: Avengers, conclusion: indeterminable...friend?"
"By the looks of you," Crystal said to the tall, lanky and obviously inhuman form in front of her, "I'd say you're an extra-terrestrial as well. Not that it matters anyway!"
Warlock saw Crystal's fist begin to crackle with electrical energy and with a wave, there came from the sky a brilliant streak of lightning that went straight through him. He felt the electricity flow through his circuitry and back into the sky. Crystal halted her attack and Warlock dropped to one knee.
"Why would you do...that?" Warlock uttered as he shook violently but tried to stay steady on his one knee, "Have I...wronged you? The Avengers and X-Factor...are they not allies?"
Crystal cringed at his words, not so much at what he said, as much as what he implied. "I cannot allow you to steal that device. If that is what you plan, then I am sorry, but I must stop you. It's my responsibility."
"Have you not also a responsibility to your friends?" Warlock stood up.
"Of course I do." Crystal was ready for any attack from Warlock, but her opponent didn't seem to be preparing for one, "What do you mean?"
"Then you must understand why I have to do this." Warlock said, showing true regret in his face.
Crystal finally realized what Warlock meant when, out of the ground near her foot, a large vine shot up and wrapped itself around her ankle. Looking down, Crystal recognized that it wasn't a root, but rather the techno-organic substance that made up Warlock. She looked back at him and saw that one of Warlock's legs were embedded into the ground. Then, another vine shot up the ground and wrapped itself diagonally around her torso. Crystal couldn't move.
"Friendship is a wonderful feeling." Warlock said as he warped his arm into an energy beam cannon. He aimed at Crystal and fired.
Sunfire leapt to the air, pulsing with plasma radiation. Jack of Hearts could feel it on him. Jack immediately leapt up to the air and straight for him. Sunfire ducked out the way of the incoming Jack of Hearts but turned and followed after him, higher into the sky.
"You really think you got a chance against me?" Jack laughed back at the pursuing Sunfire.
"Still your tongue and fight!" Sunfire yelled and his hands flared to life, emitting an intense wave of fire from them.
Jack felt the energy begin to accumulate around Sunfire before the attack was even launched. He anticipated the act perfectly. Jack flew up and around the blast, flying back toward Sunfire as soon as the shot was fired. Jack's eyes flashed and fired a ripping beam of Zero energy from them. It caught Sunfire square in the chest and sent him falling backward toward the ground. Sunfire accelerated and Jack flew after him, his fists ready to strike. But as Jack threw his fist forward, he caught nothing but air as Sunfire flew out of Jack's path. Jack tried to stop but he couldn't before he felt the roaring heat of flame against his back. The concrete ground cracked as Jack hit it.
"Alright." Jack muttered, standing up from the imprint he left in the concrete, with his eyes flashing with energy, "Now you've gone and made me angry."
Waves of Zero energy began to emanate from Jack's body and he began to shine with a pink hue. He shot up into the air after Sunfire like a rocket and was in front of Sunfire not two seconds after he'd launched. Jack clutched the front of Sunfire's red uniform and threw him to the ground. Sunfire was falling so quickly it was hard for him to steady himself. Jack, still flying high in the air, lifted his arm even higher above himself and formed a dark, hellish pink ball of energy. He threw it right after Sunfire.
Sunfire's eyes widened as he saw the ball gaining on him with increasing speed. But Sunfire was mere seconds from the ground and there was no way that he was going to be able to avoid the ball if he hit the ground. Sunfire focused all of his energy underneath him at that moment. He warmed the air underneath him at a raging temperature, heating the air molecules under him and creating a huge gust of wind that turned him over and threw his trajectory away from the energy ball.
Sunfire was out of the it's path but the ball continued on its course. To the horror of each Avenger and each member of X-Factor there, the ball was on a collision with course with the dimensional gateway.
"No!" Alison Blaire screamed.
The ball exploded as it hit the dimensional gateway and the whole structure began to quake. The two teams all loooked at the gateway and saw that the space inside the large wire circle was starting to glow and warp with energy.
"Watch out!" the Surfer yelled, "The portal has opened! It's dangerously unstable! We must shut it down or--"
The Surfer was interrupted by a thunderous clap as the portal roared to life. Both teams of heroes felt themselves being pulled to it. Suddenly, there was another explosion from the control panel where Jack's energy ball had hit. The portal then roared wtih a more intense glow and its pull became stronger. In one quick, bright second, the Avengers and X-Factor were gone.
To Be Continued In X-Factor #11
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