The Crab Nebula

The Collector sat aboard his mothership, sitting amidst the flora and fauna of the extinct planet Ceres, sipping a type of grain alcohol once produced by the long-dead Freyan race. He smacked his lips after taking a sip of the drink and admired the strange planets and creatures that surrounded him.

A clear dome surrounded this small garden and the Collector looked past it to the other domes housing other environments he’d preserved here on his ship. He rested his head back against his chair, his eyelids growing heavy.

“Taneleer Tivan.”

The Collector groaned. “You are mistaken. There is no one by that name here. Now go away.”

“This is no time for games.”

The Collector opened his eyes and took another sip from his drink. “That’s funny coming from the Grandmaster. I wasn’t aware you’d developed a sense of humor, En Dwi Gast.”

The Grandmaster hovered above the Collector, arms folded across his chest. He lowered himself until his feet touched the ground. The Collector held out his glass. “Care for some? It’s quite good.”

“There is an urgent matter we must attend to. I engaged in a contest of champions with a man I believed to be the Scarlet Centurion.”

“And?”

“And it was the Rogue Watcher in disguise,” said the Grandmaster. “He used the game as a distraction to obtain something far more valuable.”

The Collector continued to sip his drink, his disinterest somewhat obvious. “Keep going, I’m listening.”

“It was the Mundane Egg.”

At the mention of that, the glass slipped from the Collector’s hand and shattered as it hit the ground. Tivan stood and approached his old friend. “I’m sorry for my demeanor. Do you know what this means?”

The Grandmaster nodded. “If Aron cracks the egg, he could restart the universe.”

“Agreed,” said the Collector. “We must deal with the Rogue Watcher before he obliterates reality as we know it.”

GROUND ZERO

Part I

By Curtis Fernlund & Dino Pollard

Seattle, Washington

Nick Fury stood overlooking the devastation of the Seattle Center, a cigar clamped between his teeth. Tents were set up all over the city, still trying to find lodging for the thousands of people who were left homeless after the Hulk’s rampage through here.

“See what I’ve been warning you about for years, Fury?”

Fury didn’t have to see the face to recognize the deep voice of General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross. Fury stood upright and exhaled the smoke through his nostrils. “Maybe if you’d listened to our warnings about that damn gamma reactor, we wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.”

He turned now and faced the aging General. “But no. Had t’ do it your way, huh Ross? Your little club just had to push forward with a project that SHIELD told you was risky.”

“Gentleman, we don’t have time for this.”

The voice came from above and Fury and Ross looked up to see two people hovering above. One of them was a woman with short blond hair and wearing a blue, red, and gold costume that covered her entire body. The other was a blond man with light-blue skin and large, feathered wings protruding from the back of his white suit.

The two fliers touched down beside the two human men. Fury shook hands with both of them. “Good to see you again, Carol. Like the new look.”

“Thanks, felt like it was time for a change,” said Ms. Marvel.

“We appreciate you coming down here as a representative of SHIELD, Colonel,” said the man with the wings.

“Seemed like the thing to do, Warren,” said Fury. “X-Corporation’s been doin’ a lot to help with the rebuilding effort.”

“We do what we can, but it’s not been easy. Thankfully, Carol’s been a big help,” said Warren.

“So here’s where the party is.”

The group turned around and saw the President of the United States accompanied by an entourage. Introductions were made and then the President looked out over the devastation. He sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“This is too much.”

“On that we’re agreed, Mr. President,” said Ross.

“What are we looking at here?”

“Most of the missing have been accounted for. We think we’re close to identifying all the dead,” said Ms. Marvel.

“And the rebuilding?”

“The damage is extensive, sir,” said Warren. “X-Corporation is doing what it can, and we’ve had a lot of assistance from the Maria Stark Foundation, Damage Control, and more.”

“All well and good,” said the President, clasping his hands behind his back as he stood amongst the rubble. “So what do we do about this?”

Warren, Carol, and Fury all exchanged curious glances.

“I…think we just answered that question, sir,” said Warren.

“Not about the rebuilding, Worthington. About catching the guy responsible for this,” said the President.

“The Hulk’s gone to ground, sir,” said Fury. “SHIELD’s looking for him ‘round the clock, but we haven’t had much luck yet.”

“Then find him,” said the President. “He’s gone too far this time.”

“Say the word, Mr. President, an’ I’ll get a new Hulkbusters team assembled and ready to go,” said Ross.

“Right, because that’s worked so well in the past…” muttered Carol.

“X-Corporation has a team of our own out in LA, we can dispatch them,” said Warren.

“No.” The President spun on his heel and faced the group. “Ross, Major Danvers is right. You’ve had numerous opportunities to stop this monster over the better part of two decades and you’ve accomplished something between ‘jack’ and ‘shit.’ And Worthington, I appreciate the offer, but the Hulk would wipe the floor with your Champions.”

The President looked at Carol. “Major, I want you to get in touch with your old teammates. It’s time to call in the Avengers.”

The Raft

After disembarking from the ferry from the mainland, the three lawyers entered the visitor’s area of the Raft. The guard behind the desk checked their identification and showed the three into a room with a table and four chairs—three on one side, one on the other.

The male lawyer was tall and bald and he stood in the corner, arms crossed over his chest. The head lawyer was a beautiful young woman with blond hair and the third was another young woman with short, black hair.

After a few minutes, the guard returned with an inmate wearing handcuffs. The inmate took a seat and the guard left the room. The blond lawyer sat across from him, opening a file on the table.

“Fred Myers,” she said. “AKA Boomerang.”

“That’s right,” said Myers. “Now who the hell are you? They said my lawyer’s here, but I’ve never seen any of you before in my life.”

The woman raised her hand and waved her fingers. “That should take care of the cameras. Fatale, would you mind?”

“What are you talking a—” Myers’ words died in his throat when he saw the dark-haired lawyer snap her fingers.

Light bended around the three lawyers and Myers saw who it was he was now dealing with. The dark-haired lawyer now had green skin with blue hair. The man was bald, and instead of a suitcase, he held a large axe in his hands. And the blond woman in front of him he recognized by the green outfit and emerald headpiece.

“Holy shit…”

“No need for such language, my dear,” said the Enchantress. “My name is Amora. This lovely young woman is Fatale and my large friend back here is Zhib-Ran. But I call him my Bloodaxe.”

“The hell do you want with me?” asked Myers.

“I am putting together a group to go up against the Avengers and I would like you to join us,” she said.

Myers chuckled. “You’re kidding, right? I’m not really Masters of Evil material, lady. I throw friggin’ boomerangs.”

“You are welcome to refuse my offer, Fred,” said the Enchantress. “But I should warn you that I am then welcome to wipe your memories and leave you a pathetic vegetable.”

Myers swallowed hard at that. “You’re not leaving me much of a choice, are you?” The Enchantress smirked and Myers sighed. “Guess I’m in.”

“Excellent. Fatale, my dear?”

“Got it, boss.” Fatale opened a portal the size of the door. Bloodaxe stepped closer and grabbed Myers by the collar of his shirt before throwing him into the portal. He then followed through but Fatale lagged behind, looking at her leader. “Coming?”

“Oh, I’ll catch up. I have some things to take care of, first.”

Fatale nodded and retreated into the portal. The Enchantress held up her hands and green energy swirled around her arms and fingertips before snaking out into the ether. She then entered the portal.

And all the cells in the Raft opened.

The Quinjet raced across the bay, with Maria Hill sitting at the controls. Hawkeye sat in the seat beside her, placing a pair of glasses on his face and checking the readings that the lenses flashed over his retina.

“What are those?” asked Hill.

“Somethin’ new Tony whipped up for me.” Hawkeye stood from the seat and moved into the cabin where the rest of the team sat. “Alright kids, since Stark’s off dealin’ with his own problems, that means I’m taking point on this job. We’ve got a breakout at the Raft. Melissa.”

Songbird looked up from her seat.

“Want you over the heavy hitter wing. Get some sonic barriers in place over the exits. If those guys get out, then we’ll be lookin’ at some serious damage.”

“Got it,” said Songbird.

“Storm, we’ll need some severe weather to make swimming for it a tall order. Try and keep as many of ‘em as possible on the island.”

“Understood.”

“Scott, shrink down and get to the security center, see if you can reactivate the systems in the place. With Stark gone, means I gotta rely on you, so don’t let me down.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” said Ant-Man, placing the helmet over his head.

“Clint, that only leaves Captain America, Nightcrawler, and the two of us to contend with a prison riot,” said the Vision. “Should we consider calling in some reinforcements?”

“SHIELD’s been sent a distress call already, Dugan’s scrambling response teams to meet you on the ground,” said Hill.

Nightcrawler placed a three-fingered hand on Captain America’s shoulder. “Bet I can take out more than you, mein freund.”

Josiah X smirked at his teammate as he unhooked the vibranium/adamantium shield from the harness on his back. “You’re on, Elf.”

“Switching to hover mode,” said Hill. “Hatch is opening.”

“Avengers Assemble!” said Hawkeye. He pulled a rebreather over his face and ran down the open hatch before leaping off. Hawkeye fired an arrow into the courtyard below right in the midst of the rioting prisoners and a cloud of gas emerged from it. He launched a grapple arrow and swung from it, kicking one of the prisoners in the face on his descent.

A burst of smoke and the scent of brimstone signaled the arrival of Nightcrawler with Captain America in tow. Both of them wore rebreathers similar to Hawkeye’s and they wasted no time, with Captain America using his shield as a battering ram and taking out as many prisoners that he could reach.

Nightcrawler teleported around the courtyard, using a neural sword that Scott Lang built for him based on the same technology that former Avenger, the Black Knight, used for his. The energy blade delivered a massive jolt to its victim’s central nervous system, knocking them out of the fight.

The Vision came into the fight next, flying down from the Quinjet and striking the ground in his hardest state, sending out a shockwave across the ground. He phased as prisoners came at him, solidifying just enough to shock them into unconsciousness. The Vision rose above the ground, the solar jewel directing power into his eyes so he could unleash devastating optic blasts.

Elsewhere, Songbird carried herself on her sonic wings, using her powers to create a wall of solid sound that she used to seal off the exits from the maximum security wings. She could feel the strain as the powerful prisoners inside fought against her barrier.

“Scott, could use some help…!”

“I’m on it!” said Ant-Man, riding on the back of a flying ant and into one of the vents. The layout of the Raft had been downloaded to his helmet and the image flashed over his eye, showing him where to go. He turned his steed when necessary until he reached the central control room.

Ant-Man grew to full-size and went to work repairing the damage to the security systems. On the monitors, he could see the skies darkening as Storm did her part, calling down torrential rain and hurricane force winds to make escape via water nearly impossible.

Hawkeye found himself separated from the rest of the group. He had used up most of his special arrows and was now relying on rubber-tipped blunt arrows. If he ran out of those, though, all he had left were the standard ones.

“Barton!”

Hawkeye spun and fired one of the blunt arrows, striking the prisoner right between the eyes. The prisoner shook it off, probably high on something like MGH. Hawkeye was about to draw another blunt arrow when a second arrow flew from above and struck the attacker in the chest.

The prisoner stood there for a moment, looking at the arrow protruding from his chest, before collapsing. Hawkeye looked up to where the arrow came from, but even with the sensors afforded by his new glasses, he couldn’t see anyone who was no longer there.

The assassin dropped from his perch on the roof, quickly collapsing his bow and hooking it behind his back. He touched his ear to activate the hidden comm-link. “Job’s done, now get me outta here.”

A portal opened up in front of him and Fatale emerged from it. “Got it done?”

Even through the skull mask, Fatale could tell the man wore an incredulous expression on his face.

“Listen lady, when you hire the Taskmaster to kill a guy, that guy’s gonna get dead,” he said. “Now how about we vamoose before the Avengers know I’m here?”

Avengers Island

Hawkeye stood in front of his teammates, who sat behind a long table. Also seated at the table were Maria Hill and Henry Peter Gyrich of the Commission on Superhuman Activities.

“We’re calling this meeting to investigate the actions of Clinton Barton during the riot at the Raft,” said Hill. “Mr. Barton, have you anything to say on your behalf?”

“Yeah, how about we drop the formalities, Hill?” asked Clint.

“We were down there as well, Agent Hill,” said Josiah. “It was a hectic situation and Clint did the best he could to try and contain that.”

“Still doesn’t change the fact that Barton used lethal force when there were other options,” said Gyrich. “I’d say that suggests reckless behavior. And this isn’t the first time something like this has happened in the field, is it?”

“This was different,” said Clint, narrowing his eyes at Gyrich. “I didn’t fire that arrow.”

“It does match your arrows, Barton,” said Gyrich.

“Mr. Gyrich, please, we were all there and none of us saw Clint kill anyone,” said Kurt.

“And were you by Barton’s side when this incident occurred, Wagner?” asked Gyrich. “Can you corroborate his story of a second archer?”

Kurt lowered his eyes and shook his head. Gyrich looked around to the rest of the Avengers. “Lang was busy getting security back up and running, Munroe was handling the weather, and Gold was containing the more dangerous prisoners. Both Wagner and Bradley have admitted they can’t corroborate Barton’s story. And that leaves only one person left.”

All eyes turned to the Vision. The synthetic Avenger closed his eyes as he listened to the charges levied against his friend. “I’m sorry, I saw nothing.”

“I’d say that settles it then,” said Gyrich. “Agent Hill, as the Avengers’ liaison to SHIELD, do you have any recommendations?”

“Suspension from field duty, Mr. Barton’s duties as an Avenger will be limited to monitor duty,” said Hill. “With Mr. Stark currently attending to other matters, chairperson duties will fall to Ms. Munroe, given her experience as a former leader of the X-Men. Dismissed.”

Gyrich walked towards the SHIELD plane that waited on the tarmac to take him back to the mainland when he heard his name called. He turned and saw Josiah running up to him. Gyrich looked down for a moment.

“I’m sorry.”

“What was that in there?” asked Josiah. “I know you and Clint have had your differences, but—”

“Barton’s innocent, that’s one thing I’m damn sure of,” said Gyrich.

Josiah blinked. “Then why?”

Gyrich glanced around and leaned in closer. “I’m convinced someone wants Barton out of the way. Possibly someone within Control. Staging this whole thing would be a great way to get him out of the field without drawing too much attention.”

“So who could it be?” asked Josiah.

Gyrich shrugged. “Just keep your eyes open.”

Doomstadt
Latveria

Victor Von Doom stalked through the opulent corridors of his castle, the metal footfalls echoing down the halls. He passed by Doombots that stood as silent sentries and servants who stopped in their duties to bow as he passed by without even acknowledging them.

When he arrived to the laboratories deep below the castle, he found an old scientist tending to the large machinery. Doom strode into the lab and stopped behind his servant.

“There are memories I must retrieve,” he said.

“Yes, my lord,” said the scientist.

Doom reached for his head, removing the metal mask that had been associated as his true face for so long. The hood of his cloak still kept his face in shadows and the scientist was careful as he attached the diodes to his master’s head. To gaze upon the face of Doom carried with it a swift sentence of death.

The scientist sighed, now free to move away and no longer risk glimpsing the scarred face of Latveria’s monarch. He moved to a control panel and activated the memory extractor. It crackled with powerful energy and Doom’s entire body seized up before moving into convulsions.

In his mind, Doom saw the flash of a pharaoh, followed by a man in red and finally, the image of a conqueror among many more. His body thrashed as the rush of memories from different eras and divergent realities battered his mind.

The machine stopped and the scientist rushed over to his master, carefully disconnecting the diodes. He held the metal faceplate up for Doom, but the villain made no effort to take it.

“My liege?” asked the scientist.

Doom’s hand suddenly snapped up, grabbing the doctor’s wrist and shattering every bone inside. He rose to his feet, looking down at the faceplate. He slowly started to return to his senses and he returned the faceplate to his helmet.

Then, he said one word: “Grimm.”

The Null

Aron the Rogue Watcher sat in a vast field of white, clutching the Mundane Egg in his arms, one hand stroking the surface.

“Aron.”

The Rogue Watcher looked up and saw both the Collector and the Grandmaster standing before him.

“We can’t let you do this,” said the Collector.

Aron just laughed and stood. He cracked open the egg and the two Elders both gasped.

“Welcome to the new universe.”

To be continued…