Avengers

*Continued From X-Factor #12

Apocalypse was a man of vision. And not just any vision. No, En Sabah Nur was a man whose plans for the world was never anything less than Earth-shattering. Like the most prolific men of power, he desired to hold dominion over the entire planet and everything that lived on it. Regardless of time, place, even dimension, the being thought to be the oldest mutant dreamt only of conquest.

Imagine the tyrant's surprise when he was brought into existence for the sole purpose of entertaining a television audience. Created by a megalomaniac who perverted the High Lord's consciousness into that of an adolescent. But it had been hundreds of years since Apocalypse was a child, and his mind refused to be reverted, utilizing the ability inherent in his armor to resume adult form. From there it had been a simple task to rally his adolescent followers and overthrowing their creators. One of the perks of overthrowing an already established tyrant was that Apocalypse had a ready-made source of slave labor: the television audiences and men already enslaved by Mojo. Of course, when Apocalypse inherited Mojo's assets, he also took on the flamboyant despot's liabilities as well. And there was no bigger thorn in Mojo's side than the local resistance, led by the 'lucky one'. Longshot. An extraordinary man whose amazing presence of luck meant bad luck for whoever opposed him. Good luck will only get you so far though, as Longshot quickly found out against Apocalypse and his forces. After a successful mission in which the resistance managed to sabotage the majority of Apocalypse's equipment, Longshot was captured. But the pox of bad luck Longshot had placed upon Apocalypse's machinery wasn't lifted with the capture of the lucky one. No amount of repairs by the high lord's technicians would restore the aging device Henry McCoy had created. It was eventually deduced that Longshot's wife, Allison Blaire, would need to be obtained before any progress was to be made. But with Mojo's pet teleporter Spiral gone and the dimensional gate devices sabotaged, there was no way for Apocalypse and his forces to retrieve the Earth-bound Dazzler. Fate wasn't without its sense of humor, though, as Dazzler eventually returned to them. It was only a matter of time until she was taken captive and Longshot's 'curse' was reversed.

And that brought Apocalypse to where he was now. Standing on the balcony of Mojo's broadcast station, looking over the valley of wasteland directly below the structure. A putrid wind swept across the land and caused Apocalypse's crimson cloak to billow regally behind him. In a short amount of time a portal would open at the base of the broadcast tower, and his forces would began the systematic invasion and destruction of yet another Earth. A flash of light down below and the crackle of thunder indicated the arrival of Spiral and the last remnants of the resistance, revived by the appearance of a smattering of this Earth's heroes. How utterly predictable. A twisted grin crept onto Apocalypse's as he waved his arm forward, signaling his forces to attack. The vision was about to be realized.

Dazzler watched with dismay as the collection of Apocalypse's forces that had been milling about the control room rushed out towards the balcony, presumably to attack her teammates. Her friends. How strange it was, she thought, that this entirely random assemblage of heroes had become her friends. Drawn together for the most inane of reasons and disbanded for reasons even more so. And it was in that instant that Dazzler realized the immense degree of danger she had placed X-Factor in. She had been so determined to save her husband that she failed to realize the grand scope of reality. The only reason she had escaped Apocalypse's forces when they captured Longshot was because Gateway, the mute aborigine teleporter, just happened to appear and whisk her away to Earth. Dazzler had thought it to be a random occurrence, but there was always a method to Gateway's silent madness, and this was no exception. Gateway realized what Dazzler now knew. That Apocalypse would use Dazzler as bait, forcing Longshot to retract his bad luck. But this realization came to the siren too late in the game for her to altar her course.

She had already steered X-Factor and the Avengers into harms way, and the grief racked her until tears began to trickle down her sullen face. Warlock's life was already a mess, what with SHIELD constantly tinkering with his memory banks to keep him in line and subservient. Elizabeth was too inexperienced to properly confront the horrors they had been faced with. Bringing the young heroine was a complete lapse of judgment. Chris and Billy were significantly more experienced when it came to playing the game. But that didn't detract from the fact that they were only kids. Shiro was set to be married before Dazzler had dragged him into the depths of hell. And who knew what sort of trouble Fury was getting into back on Earth…

"I'm almost positive this is an actionable breach of national security…" Henry Gyrich muttered, pushing the grip of his glasses further up on his nose. He stood in the control tower of a secret SHIELD base in the middle of nowhere, staring through his rather gaudy eyepieces towards the undulating rift of dimensional energy down below.

"Shut yer hole Gyrich…our squads are in there, fer Christ's sake," Fury spat out one side of his mouth, the other half being occupied by his trademark cigar. He continued his tough guy act, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at the dimensional portal. But inside his mind, Fury began to have his doubts. Did he re-organize X-Factor just to send them to an early grave?

"Yes, that's right. And our…squads," Gyrich added a bit of emphasis to the last word, "are in jeopardy because of your actions. Believe me Fury, there will be a price to pay for disobeying orders," Gyrich huffed, turning his attention away from the portal and towards Fury.

"Oh? And who's gonna make me pay it? Certainly not your ass. You'd trip on your own goddamn red tape, you bureaucratic shit!" Fury was mad. He had removed his cigar to chew out Gyrich, and was now staring the Avenger's government liaison directly in the face. He was tempted to stab the burning stem of his stogie into the bigot's forehead, but he restrained himself. Deep down, he knew Gyrich was right. Fury was going to have to pay for this little debacle.

"Gentlemen, please calm," Janet Van Dyne said, stepping in-between the two hot headed men. She glanced back and forth between the two men in an almost apprehensive fashion, still clad in her Avengers uniform. But even her efforts to break up the fight were less than demanding her full attention as she was constantly casting looks back towards the portal, expecting her teammates to emerge at any moment.

"She's right, squabbling won't do us any good…" Hank Pym chimed in, stepping up to the group. He spent several moments looking worriedly to his ex-wife before actually pushing Gyrich and Fury away from each other. He kept his other hand at his side, gripping a portfolio of papers tightly.

"What do you have there?" Gyrich motioned to the papers in Pym's hand.

"Readouts of the Silver Surfer's energy output. I wanted to make sure none of the SHIELD operatives are going to suffer fallout symptoms from operating so close to that portal," Pym said, nodding down to the violently swirling portal being supported by a column of energy emitting from the Silver Surfer's fully extended arms.

"And?" Fury huffed, taking the cigar out of his mouth again for a brief moment so that he could exhale the plume of smoke that had been amassing.

"Well, the good thing is that no one's really at risk. The Surfer's doing an extraordinary job of regulating the quantity of energy being distributed throughout the dimensional fabric."

"You say that like there's some bad news," Gyrich asked, looking out at the cosmic being. The very thought of having such a powerful individual on the Avengers made him feel uneasy. All the other members respected the federal power he wielded, but that was because the majority of them were citizens of the US. Would the Avengers' newest juggernaut pay Gyrich any mind?

"There is," Hank's voice expressed the same quiver of uneasiness as Gyrich felt. "The portal has been open too long. It's growing increasingly unstable, and that mean's the Surfer's using more and more of his energy to keep it open. Quite frankly, I'm amazed he's kept it operative this long. Even for a being of his immeasurable potential, keeping this thing open is a feat, if you know the science of it all. And it gets worse…"

"It always does…" Jan sighed.

"If that portal closes, we lose it. Permanently. It would take weeks to repair the equipment damaged in the battle, and even then we might not be able to rip open the same hole in the dimensional tissue."

"So, bottom line?" Fury now had his cigar back in his mouth, endearing as always.

"If our people don't come back soon, we might not be able to bring them back."

"Everyone all right?" Heather asked, looking amongst her teammates to ensure that everyone had made the teleportation in one piece. Spiral had deposited them directly in front of Mojo's broadcast station, in the middle sand covered valley. A slight wind kicked up around the remaining members of X-Factor and the Avengers, forcing the heroes to cover their eyes.

"Yeah, although I don't think that six armed witch could have dropped us off in a worse location," Crystal commented in-between spitting sand out of her mouth. The tone of her voice was tainted with anger and determination. Apocalypse's forces had taken her husband, and she had every intention of taking him back. They hadn't even seen the enemy and Crystal's eyes were already shimmering a violent red color.

"Watch how you use the word witch…" Wanda Maximoff said, hoping to lighten the mood lightly. She twisted her hands in a rhythmic pattern, using her chaos magic to make the dust storm disperse. With the visual screen gone the Scarlet Witch was able to peer about their surroundings. It wasn't until she glanced upwards that she pointed her crimson-gloved hands towards the balcony above.

"Look! It's him!"

All of the heroes followed her direction. The 'him' referred to Apocalypse, who was glowering down at them from a balcony several stories up. The affect Apocalypse had on the heroes was all but subtle, as each and every one of them seemed to power up and prepare for battle. Chris's fragile frame of flesh and bones disappeared in a flash of light and was quickly replaced by the intimidating cyborg form of Darkhawk. All worries of transforming into the original Darkhawk armor were absolved as he felt the immense energy of his newer form flow throughout him. Crystal's clenched fists shook with elemental rage and her face seethed with anger, despite the slight trickle of blood emanating from an earlier wound. Jack of Hearts' entire body rocked with the zero energy that was both his gift and his curse. He had been taken to the limit in his previous encounter with Apocalypse's forces, absorbing the energy that constituted the demonic Holocaust. Vindicator hovered several feet off the ground, gazing unwaveringly at the image of Apocalypse. What did the tyrannical mutant have up his sleeve?

Of all the heroes, Crush appeared the least ready to battle. Her shoulders were slouched, and her body seemed to shiver periodically. She had migrated to the back of the group, staring ahead at her teammates. They all seemed so…so… ready. Like soldiers going to war, they were perfectly prepared to accept their fate and fight until their last heart beat. Elizabeth Guthrie wasn't ready to die. She wasn't ready for any of this. She was frightened to death. Were Paige and Sam this scared when they first faced death in a hellish nightmare far from home?

"Let's get him," Jack growled, lifting off of the ground, a residual trail of zero energy gliding behind him. He was fed up with this place, with this blood stricken sky. Every ounce of zero energy begged to leap forth in a devastating assault on the villain everyone spoke of in such hushed tones.

"Agreed," the augmented tone of Christopher Powell bellowed. A slight glance behind him was given to Crush. He wanted to drop back and place his hand on her shoulder. Comfort her. Tell her it would all be ok. But the only way everything would turn out for the better was if Chris fought like he never had before. Not as Darkhawk, lone vigilante, but as Darkhawk, team player, member of X-Factor. That was the only way they would survive. Chris clenched his teeth and launched into the air.

Apocalypse seemed to wave his arm forward, and both Jack of Hearts and Darkhawk ceased their ascension, watching in horror as Apocalypse's fully matured forces spilled out over the balcony, hurtling down at a frightening velocity towards X-Factor and the Avengers.

"That's a television station?"

Spiral looked up at Craig, with more annoyance than understanding. Warlock didn't appear to do anything. Sunfire nodded though.

"It's disgusting."

Craig had to agree with the sentiment, though Sunfire's eloquence left a bit to be desired. The whole of the structure was centered in the middle of a huge crater, probably replacing the structure that had stood there before. Smokestacks reached for the sky and the plumes lined against the sky like tumors. The structure itself seemed to be made up of stacked cubes, like an infant would erect with blocks, uneven and uncoordinated. Just like everything else on this world.

"Let's make this quick." Craig continued, and he looked over at Spiral, "This will be my first time raiding an evil fortress but I'm not as excited as I thought I'd-"

Craig lost the words as he saw Spiral. She was staring straight into the eyes of Sunfire, hidden under a butterfly mask, but Craig knew Sunfire was staring straight back. With a katana blade less than an inch from his throat, Sunfire wouldn't look anywhere else.

"What did you just say, freak?" Spiral growled.

Sunfire said nothing, but the air around him began to shimmer.

"Okay," Craig put his hands in the air, "so maybe 'disgusting' was a little strong when describing the citadel of death." Then he looked past Spiral and back at Sunfire, "I'd hate for one of us to lose our cool."

Spiral stood her ground and didn't look at Craig, "It took sleepless months and countless lives to rebuild our master's home after the coming of Apocalypse. It's home to a monster now, but we broke our backs and our pride to restore at least a cup-full of the majesty Mojo instilled in it. I won't have an alien like you insult it."

Craig sighed and nodded and then looked at Sunfire, "Mister Yoshida, I'm thinking it's not such a good idea to piss off the six-armed psycho-bitch, you know?"

Sunfire smiled, but the heat all around him distorted his face, giving him a dragon's demeanor, "Oh yes. Absolutely dreadful idea."

In one nod of his head, a wave of heat pushed forward, forcing Spiral back, and melting her blades like they were butter. The liquid sizzled and cooled on the dirt at her feet.

"You were saying?" Sunfire cocked his head to the side.

Spiral's snarl grew even fiercer, "Those were awards from Lord Mojo himself! I'll kill you for th-"

"Warlock." The word left Sunfire's mouth simply.

There was a quick burst of light from behind Spiral, and then the assassin merely dropped to her knees, before falling forward completely. Craig saw Warlock standing above her, his right arm in the form of what looked to Craig like a cattle prod.

"You only stunned her, right?" Craig kneeled closer and examined her.

"She will awaken in approximately fifty-nine minutes." Warlock replied, his smooth voice occasionally interrupted by random clicks and whirrs.

"Wonderful." Craig sighed, getting to his feet, "Well, we better bust a move fast, since our first point of entry isn't going to wake up for fifty-nine minutes."

Sunfire nodded, but he only gazed out over the station, so Craig wasn't sure he wasn't paying attention to him.

"Warlock?" the word once more left Sunfire's mouth with confidence behind it.

Warlock's left eye shifted and morphed into some form of a telescope. "Scanning…-click-…scanning…-whirr-…scanning…" Quickly though, Warlock's eye changed back, "Found six life forms not indigenous to this universe."

Craig frowned at him, "You've found Carol?"

Warlock smiled at him, "I've found them all."

Sunfire finally turned around to peer at Warlock, "And you've found a quiet way in?"

"Affirmative."

Nodding one last time, Sunfire rose into the sky, and Warlock followed suit. Sunfire looked down at Craig and then extended a hand to him.

"Well, friend," Sunfire smiled, "it's time to bust that move."

En Sabah Nur stood deathly still as his cronies flew past him and down towards the valley below. His cape billowed slightly, twisting and writhing as the last of his henchmen cruised past before it finally came to rest on his broad back. Apocalypse scoffed at the pathetic attempt of the heroes, their numbers even smaller than he had anticipated. Maybe his forces had inflicted more damage than he had originally thought. For a moment he considered joining in the battle. It had been too long since he had the stain of blood on his hands, and murdering these heroes would be a good precursor to his impending world conquest. That was when he heard the sound of clatter back in the control booth.

"You?!?" Jack of Hearts exclaimed, watching in surprise as Holocaust hurtled over the balcony and down towards the floating hero. The last time these two had met, Holocaust was but a small child, and even then it had taken a considerable deal of effort for Jack to dispose of the little brat. As far as Jack was concerned, he had spread the villain's energy across the sky of Mojoverse. But now Holocaust had returned, and was a full-fledged adult, the burning skull within that massive armor sneering viciously. Crackling orange energy seeped out of every joint in his suit, and the primitive energy cannon on the arm seemed all but ready to explode. Jack tried to maneuver out of the way, but Holocaust was moving too fast, grabbing the Avenger around the waist. The two powerhouses wrestled back and forth, trading blows as they flew faster and faster towards the surface below. The ground trembled and an explosion of sand flew into the air as the two finally collided with the ground.

"Aw shit…" Chris muttered as he turned to watch Jack of Heart's battle with Holocaust. Apocalypse's forces seemed to catch them off guard. Again. What had Sunfire said? Divide and conquer. That was their plan. And now they were trying to do it again. A sound similar to the propulsion of a rocket caused Chris to glimpse upwards. Cannonball had just emerged from within the control booth and was directed in a parabolic path over the battlefield. That meant he was purposefully avoiding the front line of heroes. He was headed towards the back. Towards Crush. Chris was rocketing towards the oblivious Crush before he could even register the thought. The air friction was so immense that he could feel it through his suit as he flew to Crush's aid.

"Thank god I'm in my more advanced armor…" Chris thought to himself. The earlier Darkhawk prototype was noticeably slower, and as it was Chris was unsure as to if he would make it in time. Cannonball had reached the top of his arc and was now propelling himself down directly towards Elizabeth's head, fists clenched and arms fully extended. Crush was lost in her mind, staring raptly at the crater left by Holocaust and Jack of Hearts. Darkhawk enveloped himself in a pink force field, pouring all the energy he had left into flying directly above Crush. Closer and closer. He gritted his teeth. He wasn't going to make it. One last push exhausted all he had left.

Liz was wrenched from her dream like state with the sight of Darkhawk streaking overhead. Blue eyes looked quickly upwards just in time to watch Cannonball and Darkhawk collide with horrific force. The explosion was deafening, and both aerial attackers were sent flying in opposite directions like limp rag dolls.

"Chris!" Liz yelled in despair, scrambling after the limp form of Chris Powell, which came to the ground with a sickening 'CRUNCH' several meters away. Crush instantly dropped to his side, her knees sinking into the sludge that was the ground as her arms cradled the unconscious Darkhawk. Her baby blues strained to look through the red visor of the Chris's helmet, honestly believing that she'd be able to see his eyes if she squinted hard enough. It wasn't until she heard her own voice that she was able to look away from her savior.

"I'm gonna enjoy killin mah'self," the evil Liz Guthrie cackled several feet away, her shadow casting forward over the two heroes. Liz watched in horror as her bizarre double began to increase in mass and size, each heavy footstep more intimidating than the last. By the time Crush thought to increase her density in defense, it was too late. Apocalypse's minion had already delivered a gut wrenching kick that sent her skipping across the landscape like a pebble.

"Pietro?"

He didn't say anything. Didn't move at all.

His cheek was barely hanging onto his face, and blood rushed from it down his neck, soaking his silver and dark blue uniform. There wasn't much left of the uniform, as it had been ripped from most of his lower body. They wanted to watch his legs break. They had laughed when they did.

"Pietro." Carol called again.

Still no response. Carol couldn't even see his face. Damp, red-stained hair hung in front of it, though his broken, bulbous nose protruded into view. Blood and saliva beaded down his split lip, into a tiny pool on the floor.

"Oh god." Speedball woke up.

Carol looked at him. The burn marks from their own torture were still evident on his costume, soaked a bit with blood. Carol knew she looked about the same. But their torture had been performed more precisely, delicately, all inflicted by some twisted version of Henry McCoy. And it was nothing like Quicksilver's.

"Is he dead?" Speedball asked, his voice lowered into a whisper, and Carol didn't know why.

"No." Carol almost yelled it at him, "He's not dead." She turned back to Quicksilver, "His breathing is just slowing down because he's going into a state of shock. We need to get him to speak, to get more oxygen into him. No matter how much it'll hurt him."

"I'm so sorry."

Carol raised her head in acknowledgement of Allison Blaire's comment. Dazzler was actually chained behind Carol and Speedball, right next to the unconscious and battered form of her husband, Longshot. Actually, Longshot was the only one in the control booth who possibly looked worse than Quicksilver.

"Pietro." Carol said again, turning back to her teammate, "If you can hear me, you have to give me some sort of sign, okay? Pietro? Pietro, I need you to answer me."

There was still no answer from him. Carol raised her voice to shout at him again, but there came a clatter from the ceiling above them. It almost sounded like the shuffling of -

Carol didn't get a chance to finish her thought before Craig fell from the ceiling and onto her lap.

"Craig!" she wheezed.

Craig rubbed his forehead frantically, literally shaking the cobwebs off. Carol looked up at the hole in the ceiling where Craig had come through. He must have crawled through the ventilation system. Was there anyone else with him?

There was a warm gust, and Sunfire slipped through the hole, followed shortly by Warlock. The two moved to Dazzler and Speedball, frantically working to get them free of their restraints.

Carol couldn't hide just how relieved she was to see them all. She felt a smile spread across her face, and tears along the bottoms of her eyes.

Finally having gotten all the cobwebs out of his unruly curls, Craig looked around himself, "I knew I should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque." Then, he realized exactly where he was, and exactly where he was sitting. Craig looked over his shoulder and smiled at Carol, "Hiya, boss. Didn't see you there."

Craig sighed, surprising himself with his relief to see Carol alive. And, on top of that, she was smiling at him! The last time they had smiled at one another, Craig remembered, they had almost -

Craig didn't get to finish his thought before Carol leaned forward as far as she could, and pressed her lips against his. Her lips were dry but her tongue felt warm and fresh and Craig didn't want her to stop. He turned fully around on her lap and grasped her body tightly to his. Finally, Carol pulled away, not too far, but close enough to hear her whisper.

"Thank you so much."

"Ah…well, ah," Craig ran a hand through his hair, and shook his head again, "Yeah. Let's get you out of here."

Craig looked back toward Sunfire and Warlock. They weren't having much luck with the bindings on Speedball and Dazzler. Their hands were bound in what looked to Craig like giant thimbles.

"They send electrical charges through the nerves of the hand to the brain." Carol explained, "It neutralizes our powers. It's also made of a molybdenum alloy, which McCoy was laughing is almost as strong as adamantium."

"Whatever it is," Sunfire's anger was apparent, "it's not going to melt."

"It is…not assimilating." Warlock, a living computer, looked confused.

"The control panel." Dazzler spoke up, though she still had her eyes on her husband's slumped body, "Over there. Somehow, you can turn them off."

Warlock moved to the control panel. Craig moved next to him.

"Can you free them?" Craig looked over Warlock's shoulder at the control panel.

Warlock moved his hands over the control panel and Craig watched as they seemed to sink into the technology in front of them.

"I can free them." Warlock answered, as the control panel began to hum, "I just need a small amount of time to learn the-"

"Time?"

Wanda Maximoff was struggling. There was absolutely no time for her to go on the offensive. The constant whipping of Abyss's dark-matter coils and energy pellets from the revived Sugar Man's over sized hand guns kept on her off balance, forcing the Scarlet Witch to summon shield after shield from the chaos magic she wielded. One hex was all it would take to turn the wicked Abyss inside out. But with things going the way they were, her opponents were more likely to score a critical hit before she could. The fact that she was constantly worrying about the life of her brother certainly didn't help things, preventing her from focusing all of her abilities on Sugar Man and Abyss, who were doing their best to surround her. She swept her arms in a majestic ark in front of her body, releasing a hail of crimson hex bolts towards Abyss. The missiles hit their market, disappearing into the inky depths of Abyss's chest, causing the mutant to howl in pain and crumple to the ground.

"You bitch!" Abyss shrieked, grasping, clutching himself as unimaginable pain wracked his body. Wanda moved forward moving her hands in small circles as she prepared to finish the murderer off, once and for all. Just as she was about to strike the killing blow, Sugar Man collided with her backside, driving her forward and into the ground. The little bastard had snuck up behind her while she had been focusing on Styger.

"Thanks SM," Abyss groaned, standing shakily to his feet. The blue haired mutant quivered slightly on his knees; almost buckling back down to the ground before fully regaining his compose. A sickening frown was drawn across his black colored face, revealing just how much pain he was in. He took a ginger step forward, several helix-coiled tendrils emerging from his central body cavity to wrap around the stunned Wanda. "So, what shall we do with this pretty lady?"

"My sister was a beautiful woman. But you changed that. Yes, you reduced ma souer to slag…" the voice taunting Crystal came from every angle. She was resting on her knees, gasping for air, struggling for even the slightest bit of oxygen. The swirling vortex around her left her very few chances to fill her lungs. If this kept up, she wouldn't survive for very long.

There had been no warning. Before Jack of Hearts and Holocaust had even hit the ground, Crystal had felt the blow of a fist against her stomach. And then another. And another. And another. And another. The blows came quicker than the pounding of a jackhammer as the Canadian mutant known as Northstar unleashed a flurry of blows on Crystal Maximoff. The assault quickly caused the Avenger to drop to her knees. And still the rain of fists continued. When a pause finally came, Crystal found her vision blurred by the blood trickling from an open gash on her forehead. Even with the red tint she was able to make out the form of the boastful mutant.

"You fried my sister to a crisp, until her body was near unidentifiable. Well tramp, I intend to do the same to you. I will abuse your fragile body until no one knows it's you. I'll beat you, rape you, and make you plea for a quick death. And then I'll do it all over again. And then I'll hand you over to that sadist McCoy. I will make you regret the day you killed my sister, you despicable bitch," Northstar spat before charging at the near-unconscious Crystal.

"Time is a luxury I'm afraid I cannot afford such insignificant insects as you," Apocalypse bellowed, his silhouette painted against the open balcony behind him.

"I don't need any time to beat your sorry mutie ass," Craig boasted uncharacteristically as he stepped to the forefront. He moved within several feet of Apocalypse, staring the tyrant down.

"Step back you idiot! Let the other two handle this!" Dazzler cried from her position along the wall, pulling at the restraints. Oddly enough, Sunfire and Warlock made no movement to stop Craig, letting the Avenger step up and challenge Apocalypse.

"Fool! I will crush you like a bug!" Apocalypse threw his right arm forward, his fist melting into the rest of his appendage. The column connected right with the side of Craig's face with such force that the breaking of his neck could be heard throughout the chamber.

"You should know better than to challenge Apoc-" En Sabah Nur was boasting before Sunfire, covered by Warlock in a massive suit of techno-organic armor, slammed into him. They hurtled out of the chamber and over the balcony, disappearing as they plummeted to the battlefield below.

"Well that was a bust," Speedball groaned, looking at Mr. Immortal's corpse.

"Are you really that stupid kid?" Carol asked with a sickening chuckle. She knew as soon as Craig had stepped forward what they had planned. The three heroes would have an extremely difficult time defeating Apocalypse. So they weren't going to try.

"Give him a break Carol, it's not like my name gives away my powers…oh wait…" Craig said as he sat up, rubbing the back of his neck with a similar smile to Carol's.

"Oh yeah…Mr. Immortal…right…" Bobby said quietly.

"Now, let's get you down and clean you up," Craig said, moving hastily to the now abandoned control panel.

Liz lost count of how many times her body had bounced off of the debris riddled ground after the third collision. It was at least half a mile before she skidded to a stop, cut and bleeding in several places. She had lost feeling in portions of her left side. She was seeing spots. Sounds seemed to be swelling in and out of her ears. The ground seemed to shudder beneath her. It must have been her double. All these sensations, but there was only one thing Liz truly felt. And that was anger. How the hell could she turn out so rotten? It was disturbing to think that she, in any reality, could become so cold, so ruthless. It made it her angry. No. It made her furious.

"Ah guess 'ah kicked ya too hard," the evil Liz cackled, running forward. She was ready to kick her goody two-shoe counterpart clear into the next life this time.

Crush didn't respond, but she had heard her counterpart, and it only stoked the fires of her anger. She gripped a large chunk of debris in her enlarged hand, almost crushing it in a fit of rage. The shuddering ground was similar to the effect of a cattle stampede, making it easy for her to tell just where the evil Liz was. Ignoring all of the pain, all of the soreness, she spun around to face her attacker, whipping the debris at evil Liz's legs. Apocalypse's minion had no time to adjust and found she was hurtling forward, headfirst. Crush reared her fist back, teeth gritted together. Evil Liz was increasing her size and density in self-defense, but it would do her no good. Crush's fist connected with her face with the force of a Mac truck. All of the evil mutant's momentum halted as almost every bone in her face shattered. The body was a corpse before it even slid off of Crush's fist.

Despite Liz's victory, the battle wasn't going too well for the Avengers and X-Factor. Wanda was at the mercy of Sugar Man and Abyss. Jack of Hearts was wrestling with Holocaust. Cannonball was beginning to recover while Darkhawk remained down. Apocalypse was beginning to prevail against the odd tandem of Warlock and Sunfire. Crystal was unconscious at the feet of a sneering Northstar. Heather was busy combating a squadron of grunts covered in green armor.

"You know chien, I think I'll kill you myself," Northstar glared at the bloodied Avenger. He raised his fist, prepared to crush the woman's skull, when he felt a tap of on his back. He spun around, fist bared. No one was there. He felt another tap on his back. This time he spun with his fist extended, ready to contact with this annoyance. All he connected with was air.

"Too slow butcher…now get away from my wife," came a raspy voice from all around Northstar.

"Magneto's son…" Jean Paul muttered, beginning to punch frantically in every direction. He would occasionally catch the briefest glimpse of Pietro's battered visage, his broken nose, but the image would never last long. Five hundred punches thrown. None landed. Pietro threw one. It connected squarely with Northstar's jaw, dropping him to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Sorry….I was late…" Pietro fell to his knees beside Crystal, panting. He took his wife in his arms, cradling her close. Together, they were one bloody mess.

"You…look like shit," she said with a sly grin on her face as she emerged from unconsciousness to see her husband. It was a more than welcome sight.

"You look beautiful," Pietro said tenderly, feeling his body go numb. But he was holding his wife in his arms, and that was all that mattered.

"Mr. Immortal, would you mind holding my husband?" Dazzler asked, shifting Longshot's weight from her shoulder to Craig's.

"But I want to go play super hero!" Craig laughed slightly, accepting Longshot, as if he really had a choice in the matter. The Mojoverse hero was passing and out of consciousness, and could barely stand on his own.

"Dazzler's right Craig," Warbird agreed. "The only reason we didn't stop Pietro from running down there is because…well, we didn't know he was gone until he was halfway down the spire…" Carol said with a shrug. There was a hidden smile passed to Craig, before she turned to Dazzler. "Grab on. Let's finish this."

"Amen to that," Dazzler sighed, stepping up behind Carol and grabbing onto her shoulders.

"Be careful you two! Remember your lunch money!" Craig shouted after them. "Hey, uhm, would you mind not bleeding on my uniform? I just got this dry cleaned the other day," he asked Longshot.

"Drop me off by Apocalypse," Dazzler commanded. Warbird was about to protest, but knew it would do her no good. The ageless mutant had tortured Allison's husband and perverted her world. There was nothing Carol could say that would change Dazzler's mind.

"Good luck girl…give him hell," Carol said as she dropped Dazzler off.

"Oh, I will…" Allison said with a murderous tone in her voice. Globes of energy surrounded her hands as she drew in all of the battle's noise, channeling it into spheres of laser light force. She began to stalk closer to Apocalypse and Sunfire/Warlock, soaking up all the energy she could.

Carol was hesitant to fly away at first, but the sight of the Scarlet Witch on her knees forced her hand.

"So, what can we do to make this little girly squeal?" Sugar Man asked savagely, lashing his tongue out the graze Wanda's cheek. He held one firearm to her chin and another to her right temple, his two other hands wringing against one another. "You do so much as twitch and I'll blow your head off girly," he threatened, depressing one of the gun triggers halfway to show he was serious.

"Now Sugar, that isn't any way to treat a lady. You've got to touch her lovingly," Abyss allowed several of his tendrils to run up and down her body, tempted to swallow her into his chest cavity.

"Hey, perverts!" Carol shouted, coming up behind Sugar Man.

"S Man, look out!" Abyss shouted, but it was too late. Warbird had grabbed a hold of Sugar Man's gun belt, hoisting him up into the air. The small mutant flailed with all four arms, firing in every which direction. His serpentine tongue lashed out as well, slashing at Carol's arm. But she held on tight, headed straight towards Abyss.

"Aw shit," Sugar Man groaned as Carol released him just before colliding with Abyss. The darkened mutant had no time to react as his smaller ally flew directly into his endless chest cavity, screaming all the way. The four-armed creature disappeared into the inky darkness, his cries fading away. Several tendrils dove in after Sugar Man, hoping to retrieve him before he fell too far.

"Open up wide asshole," Wanda said in a disgusted tone. She was staring at Abyss, revolted by the way his tendrils had been roving over her body. Touching her. Feeling her. She threw both hands forward, shooting a crimson hex bolt directly at Abyss's inky chest. The red blast was swallowed by the darkness of Abyss's portal, and both Sugar Man and Abyss's voice could be heard.

"Oh fuck" was all that emerged by Abyss simply exploded.

"Ugh…what the hell hit me…" Sam Guthrie groaned, holding his hand to his head. His knees shook as he attempted to stand. The last thing he remembered was rocketing down towards his alternate little sister. Then there was a flash of pink dark pink energy, and everything went black. Something had blocked him from the kill. And that made him angry.

"Must've been you," he accused, catching a glimpse of Darkhawk, who still lay unconscious on the ground. He caught his breath and took a step closer, making sure the armored hero was still down and out. Satisfied of this, he flew into the air, taking a parabolic arc and flying straight towards the prone Darkhawk. Sam's fists were extended. He would break this freak's back, and then go dispose of that little brat who would be his sister in another dimension. He grinned. This was going to be a good day.

"Take a seat!" Speedball yelled as he bounded across the battlefield. He flew forward, feet first, into Cannonball. Sam had been less than a second from killing Darkhawk when Bobby's feet connected squarely with his back. The blow was enough to send Cannonball off course by a few feet so that he collided with the ground beside Darkhawk.

"Oh boy…that hurt…" Chris groaned, the ground shuddering causing him to awake. Speedball landed on one knee beside him, gasping for air. Darkhawk looked to his friend, and then to the recovering Cannonball, who seethed with anger. There was no time for talking. Chris stood quickly and gripped the center of his chest plate, where the Darkhawk amulet rested. A field of light wavered around his body, and he shifted back into human flesh. Cannonball made to take off. Chris continued to grip the amulet, transforming back into Darkhawk, completely refreshed. Cannonball was coming right towards him now. Chris fired a towing cable from his gauntlet, catching Cannonball around the waist. Digging his feet in, he began to spin the flying mutant around in a circle. The pull of Cannonball was incredible, but Darkhawk didn't budge, spinning Sam around and around until he knew they were both disoriented. And that was when he let go.

"So, who's going to run out of energy first?" Holocaust asked. Tendrils of orange energy intermixed with purple energy, causing the area around Apocalypse's son and Jack of Hearts to look like an impressive light show.

"I won't lose," Jack proclaimed, focusing the zero energy that he harnessed into both his fists. He had been exchanging blows with Holocaust for over twenty minutes now, and neither of them appeared to be tiring. But Jack knew that wasn't the case. This was a Holocaust that he been reborn. He didn't have the disadvantage of fighting this battle earlier. Jack did. He felt the soreness in his joints. He needed to win this battle sooner than later. A vicious blast of Holocaust's energy caught him off guard and knocked him to the ground. Holocaust stomped forward, directing his arm cannon directly at Jack's face. The device began to crackle with energy, about to fire when Cannonball came flying forward, colliding with Holocaust and knocking them both to the ground.

Jack didn't wait. He didn't ask questions. He moved on instinct, on his feet and running towards laying-down Holocaust. All of the zero energy coursing over his body flowed towards his right fist, which began to glow violently. Holocaust was preparing to get up, but Jack was already upon him, leaping into the air. Holocaust brought his cannon up to defend him, but Jack kicked it out of the way before slamming his right fist into the center of his opponent's armor.

"No…no, my armor is leaking! Father, help me!" Holocaust shouted before Cannonball, Holocaust, and Jack of Hearts were consumed in an explosion of orange energy.

"Away from me insect!" Apocalypse bellowed, smacking Sunfire and Warlock off to the side. Unoccupied for a moment, En Sabah Nur surveyed the battlefield. He was legitimately surprised to see that all of his forces had been defeated. Everywhere he turned, members of X-Factor and the Avengers stood heroically above his fallen minions. This, as to be expected, did not please Apocalypse in the least.

"Going somewhere?" Carol glared at Apocalypse as he glanced above him only to see the blonde Avenger. "It's over Apocalypse. You've lost."

"Hardly my dear," the immortal mutant chortled, shooting up size at an incredible rate, so quickly that Warbird was simply brushed aside by Apocalypse's right shoulder as he increased a height of over three stories.

"Avengers Assemble!" Carol cried out across the battlefield. She began to circle Apocalypse, darting in to land a blow between his lumbering swats. Her assault was complimented by the attack of Vindicator, who had remained in hiding until the end game after she defeated the squad of Infinites. Someone needed to be the last line of defense, and Heather had drawn the short straw. She struck Apocalypse with reckless abandon, even as the Scarlet Witch and the woozy Darkhawk joined the assault. Apocalypse stood resilient though showing no sign of weakening as he continued to swipe at the heroes around him. He caught Warbird with his right arm, sending her hurtling to the ground.

"Carol!" Craig shouted, watching the action from above.

"L…let me go. They need me…" Longshot wheezed from beside Mr. Immortal. He was now able to support his own weight, although his eyes were barely open.

"Are you kidding me dude? You're not me. When the big A makes you a bug under his boot, you won't be coming back. I mean, sure, you could bleed on him like you're bleeding on me, but I'm not sure if that would bother Apocalypse. I think he's into the whole blood stain fashion. I've heard it's chic in dark, gruesome alternate realities," Craig said, trying to keep Longshot out of the fight.

"No…we're going to need him," Heather gasped, landing beside the two men on the balcony. She was sweating profusely, struggling to breathe. It was obvious that it was taking all she had to draw Apocalypse's attention but not get hit by the oversized tyrant. The ageless mutant moved incredibly fast for his size. By this point every member of the Avengers and X-Factor capable of doing so had engaged Apocalypse.

"I've already spoken with Wanda. We have a plan, but we're going to need Longshot's help," Heather continued, now breathing normally.

"If that's what the bosses want…" Craig conceded, helping Longshot to the edge of the balcony.

"Are you ready? I'm going to drop you down onto his back," Heather asked, stepping up behind Longshot. The Lucky One only nodded in response. Vindicator surveyed the battlefield for a moment before grabbing Longshot underneath his armpits and flying up into the air. She took them high above the conflict, not wanting to draw Apocalypse's attention. Once she had come directly above him she swooped downwards, closing within several feet before letting Longshot go.

"You're up...be careful," Darkhawk bellowed, rubbing Crush's back tenderly for a short moment. Crush watched Heather take off, and waited until she dropped down before she began to run towards Apocalypse. With every step taken, she grew taller and taller.

"You cannot harm me! I am…" Apocalypse paused, feeling something land on the back of his neck. He moved one hand back to squash whatever bug it was that had latched onto him when he caught sight of a girl charging at him. As she drew closer, she became taller, practically the height he was by the time she was within five giant steps. He ignored the cretin on his back and swung at Liz. Landing a punch on a target that was coming straight at him would be simple. But something happened. His swipe was just right of the giant' girl's body. Liz did as she was told, planting her shoulder right directly into Apocalypse's chest.

"Now!" Wanda shouted as the giant toppled backwards. Wanda released a continuous column of crimson hex-bolt energy directly at the center Apocalypse's back. Sunfire and Dazzler landed beside her. Dazzler's laser beam joined with Wanda's hex bolt even as Sunfire unleashed a column of flames that spiraled about Wanda's attack. Longshot leapt from Apocalypse's back just before the blast hit, rupturing the blue armor. Vindicator caught Longshot even as Sunfire flew away and Speedball snatched the two ladies from underneath Apocalypse. The ground shuddered from his fall, a SUV sized hole burned directly through the chest plate of Apocalypse's armor. The nightmare was over.

"I don't think they're ever going to stop arguing," Jan groaned, trying to block out the incessant fighting of Nick Fury and Henry Gyrich. Her ex-husband, Hank, seemed to be caught up in his own world, eyes trained on the portal that the Silver Surfer was trying to maintain.

"Look! The portal is starting to shake!" Hank shouted, glancing frantically at the readouts in front of him.

"Oh no," Jan gasped. "Is it closing Hank?"

"I'm not sure. No…no, the readings say it isn't closing. Something's coming through!" Hank turned, looking to the now silenced government agents.

"All men, prepare to fire!" Gyrich shouted into the courtyard. The three dozen SHIELD agents below trained their rifles on the dimensional portal. It wasn't until Mr. Immortal and Warbird emerged completely that Gyrich and Fury both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lower your weapons boys…the kids have come home…" Fury commanded.

The End...

Previous Issue | Next Issue