The Cube

The young man with platinum blonde hair stands in the middle of a large room. His legs and arms are restrained and attached to the floor, limiting his movement. Around his neck is a harness which acts as a giant inhibitor collar to render him powerless. He turns his eyes upwards, directing them at the mirrored ceiling.

He knows they’re up there. He can feel their eyes on him. Watching him, studying him. Like a rat in a cage.

Up in the observation booth, a group of scientists watches him through the two-way mirror.

“This is Noh-Varr,” says the head scientist. “We have many illustrious characters here at the Cube, but he’s perhaps one of the most interesting.”

He turns away from the mirror and directs the rest of the group’s attention to a monitor. He holds a miniature remote control in his hand, and presses a button. The monitor activates and the scientists watch Noh-Varr’s battles against the likes of SHIELD and the Bannermen.

“Noh-Varr hails from the alien race known as the Kree,” the scientist continues. “When he first came to the Cube, he said he would only need five months to turn the place around. That was a little over a year ago.”

The scientists all chuckle at this remark, as does the head scientist.

“We hear that kind of talk a lot when people first arrive,” he says. “Noh-Varr’s ship crash landed here on Earth, and he blamed us for the death of his crewmates. He embarked on a one-man war against our planet, even carving a very… shall we say, vulgar phrase in the Earth’s surface. But thanks to the efforts of SHIELD, he was apprehended and brought here.

“Since that time, we’ve been studying him over the past year,” he continues. “To the best of my knowledge, the last time he spoke was when he first arrived. He said, ‘welcome to the capital city of the new Kree Empire.’ Nothing else since, however.

“We’ve analyzed his DNA, and we’ve discovered that he has insect DNA mixed in with his own — almost like half-man, half-cockroach and his body fluids are nanoactive, with submicrotech inside them. For this reason, all people handling him must be covered from head to toe to avoid any contact with sweat, saliva, blood, tears, and the like.

“He apparently had a partner, though,” the scientist continues. “A young woman who calls herself Oubliette. After he was captured, she attacked DisneyWorld and she claimed that ‘cosmic jihad had begun.’ Internet cults have sprung up, referring to Noh-Varr as a ‘star-god’ whose mission is to upgrade the world. Since then, however, Oubliette has gone into hiding. Some suspect she may be dead, others suspect she may be captured. And these cults pose little threat. Without Noh-Varr to lead them, they’re nothing more than a bunch of rebellious teenagers trying to find something to waste their time on.

“For all intents and purposes, Noh-Varr is now harmless. And he’s going to remain here for a very long time.”

EMPIRE

Part I: Incarceration

By Logan Polk and Dino Pollard

Avengers Mansion

Inside the communications room, Captain America sits at a Cray computer terminal. On the monitor is the image of Colonel Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD. Following the events in Luminstan, the two war veterans have been discussing the event and what the causes might have been.

“Any leads, Nick?” asks Captain America.

{{ Nothin’ yet, Steve, }} replies Fury, referring to the living legend by his birth name. {{ We haven’t been able to locate any open contracts on Kitchstein, and obviously Bullseye’s not talkin’. }}

“Could it possibly have been someone within Luminstan’s government?” asks Captain America.

{{ It’s possible, but the question is how’d they break Bullseye out to hire him for the job. Seems like an awful lot of work when they could’ve easily given the job to some local mercs. }}

“So we’re looking at the possibility of someone with access to Bullseye, then,” says Captain America.

{{ That’s what it seems like t’me, but because there were plenty of people in Luminstan who didn’t want Kitchstein to come to power, I don’t wanna rule out the possibility of them somehow being involved. }}

“It just doesn’t make any sense…”

{{ What doesn’t? }}

“Why would someone who has access to Bullseye have an interest in Luminstan?” asks Captain America. “Something doesn’t add up here, Nick.”

{{ I know what you mean. Best thing I can think of is someone on the inside was paid off by one of these factions in Luminstan. But still… why they didn’t just hire local mercs doesn’t flow right. }}

“Keep searching, see what you can find,” says Captain America. “Keep me posted.”

{{ Alright, will do, Cap. Fury out. }}

The screen goes black and Captain America sits back in the chair, absently rapping his fingers on the armrest.

The Playroom

State-of-the-art technology provided by Tony Stark grants the Avengers use of a training area equipped with robot opponents as well as various death traps for the Avengers to pitt their skills against. Currently, three of the seven Avengers are utilizing the Playroom — Cannonball, the Vision, and Stark himself in his guise as Iron Man.

In the small observation booth overlooking the Playroom, Warbird leans against the wall with her arms crossed, looking out on the group. Rick Jones is in the room with her, sitting backwards on a chair. The sound of the electronic door sliding open turns their attention briefly away from their teammates in the Playroom and they see Captain America walk into the observation booth, wearing his shield on his back.

“Hi Rick,” says Captain America. “I was half-expecting to see Genis here.”

“Nah, he’s in the Microverse taking a rest,” says Rick.

“What, from the Luminstan incident?” asks Captain America.

“Oh no, that was nothing,” replies Rick. “The other day we were fighting off a race of alien monkey robots.”

“I… see,” says Captain America.

“We were just talking about Cannonball’s progress so far,” says Warbird. “He seems to be adapting very well to his new role as an Avenger.”

“Yeah, I gotta say Cap, you did a good job recruiting that hayseed,” says Rick. “Who’d’ve thought he actually knows what he’s doing?”

“I did,” says Captain America. “Sam’s exploits may not be known to you or Carol, but they are to me. He started off as one of the New Mutants and when the team became X-Force, he really stepped into his own. Since the team was constantly on the run and Cable was off on occassional sabbaticals, Sam had to step up as the leader several times. He’s been trained by Xavier, Magneto, and Cable — and he’s taken the best each of them had to offer.”

“Looks like he’s gonna have a chance to prove himself right now,” says Rick. “Check it out.”

Captain America and Warbird look down to the area to see three robots surrounding Cannonball. He stands his ground, glancing about him to take stock of the situation. He looks over to Iron Man and Vision and sees that each of them is occupied with their own opponents. A small kinetic field appears around Cannonball’s body, and he expands it wider, until it engulfs the three robots surrounding him, demolishing them instantly. Up in the observation booth, Captain America just smiles at Rick.

“Not bad,” says Rick. “I’ve seen better… but not bad.”

The Cube

“After a year of testing and observation, I’m loathe to admit that there is still much we don’t know about Noh-Varr,” says the head scientist. “However, it’s only a matter of time before we learn more about his alien physiology. Perhaps we could find a way to engineer new super soldiers or weapons.”

“How exactly is he being contained?” one of the scientists asks.

“The Cube operates on a self-sustaining power system,” replies the head scientist. “We’re constantly recycling energy, with several back-up generators in the event of a power failure. Noh-Varr is held down with restraints and a leeching instrument that drains energy from him, keeping him weak. This energy is stored into the Cube’s power cells. Essentially, the prisoners power the prison.”

As if on cue, the lights in the room begin flickering. The scientists all look around in shock and the lights shut off completely, bathing the room in darkness.

“What’s going on?” one of the scientists asks.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” replies the head scientist. “They may be running a test.”

Down in the center of the room, Noh-Varr looks up once the darkness fills his area. He can feel his strength slowly growing. He is unsure what exactly is happening, but he doesn’t really care, either. He feels his powers slowly returning to him. He smiles as he pulls hard, the restaints beginning to buckle under the pressure. The restraints break with the sound of metal tearing from metal. He drops the restraints to the ground and reaches for the collar on his neck, roughly pulling it off. He looks up at the mirrored ceiling and he darts up the wall with incredible speed towards it. He crosses his arms in front of his face as he smashes through the glass of the observation booth.

“He’s in here!” exclaims one of the scientists. He grabs the scientist’s head and roughly twists it, breaking his neck. He moves across the room with ease, killing the scientists quickly.

He stops and he listens hard… he can hear the head scientist trying to crawl away. The lights begin flickering on and off, but Noh-Varr ignores them. He slowly steps towards the head scientist, the man who had been studying him for the past year. He slowly walks towards the scientist, and the scientist sits up against the wall, looking up at the Kree with fear in his eyes.

“Please no…” he begs. “Please… I have a family…”

“So did I, once,” says Noh-Varr. “That didn’t stop your people from slaughtering them.”

“No… I was just doing my job!”

“So am I,” says Noh-Varr. He slams his fist against the scientist’s skull at full force. The skull shatters beneath the pressure, and Noh-Varr’s hand goes through the scientist’s head. Noh-Varr pulls his hand free and shakes it, loose blood, bone, skin, and brain matter falling from it. He pushes the door open and steps out into a corridor. The room is bathed in a blinking red light, and he looks around him to see other prisoners stepping free from their cells as well.

“Do you see?” he asks. “I told you I would turn this place around! I told you all!”

Avengers Mansion

The alarm rings out through the corridors of Avengers Mansion, the six team members rushing for the Avengers’ meeting room. Captain America arrives there first and sees the alarm was the result of an incoming emergency call. He activates the console and the image of Nick Fury appears on the monitor screen.

“What’s happened?” asks Captain America.

{{ We’ve got problems, boys and girls, }} replies Fury. {{ Have any of you heard of the Cube? }}

“State-of-the-art prison used to contain extremely dangerous criminals,” says the Vision.

{{ Yeah, basically. It’s on a man-made island three-hundred miles off the coast of America. Designed to reduce even Doom to a sniveling bug. And now we’ve got a security breach. }}

“How many prisoners?” asks Warbird.

{{ Six. And it looks like one of them has been chosen as the leader. }}

Fury’s image is replaced with an image of Noh-Varr on the screen.

{{ Say hello to Noh-Varr of the Kree Empire. Particularly nasty little prick. We could use some Earth’s Mightiest-level help down here. }}

“Understood, Nick — we’ll be there shortly,” says Captain America. He deactivates the monitor and turns his attention to the rest of the team. “Rick, I assume Genis is privy to everything that just happened?”

“One of the benefits of a psychic link, Cap,” says Rick.

“Good,” says Captain America. “Tony, get in touch with Namor — we’re going to need him for this mission.”

“Already sent an emergency alert to his Avengers ID,” says Iron Man. “He should arrive shortly.”

“Everyone else, get to a Quinjet,” says Captian America. “Avengers Assemble.”