Although perhaps impossible to believe, the heart of Manhattan was now home to a miniature sun. This strange occurrence seemed to be the source of the bizarre events happening in the general area. The sun appeared shortly after the Sentry came to this area, transforming the area into something out of a comic book from the 1960s.

Currently investigating the sun, and as present unaffected by it, were four individuals. Three of them—Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man and the Beast—were three of the world’s most brilliant scientists. The fourth was Doctor Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts and the current bearer of the title Sorcerer Supreme.

“Reed, are you getting the same heat readings I am?” asked Iron Man as he hovered nearby, scanning it with his armor’s sensors.

“If by that you mean ‘none,’ then yes,” said Mr. Fantastic. His neck and the hand which held a scanning device stretched all around the sun. He rubbed his chin with an elongated finger. “It seems to have all the properties of a sun, but it’s not giving off any sort of heat. No detectable forms of radiation of any kind, for that matter.”

“I can’t get a solid reading on the core, there’s too much interference,” said Iron Man. “Could possibly be some sort of technological device.”

“I don’t believe so,” said Doctor Strange. The amulet situated at the collar of his cape opened, revealing a glowing eye that scanned the sun. “The Eye of Agamotto confirms my suspicions that this is somehow connected with the Sentry.”

“Of course it does…” muttered Iron Man. “I think we should consider all scientific possibilities before we start gazing into our crystal balls.”

“The readings I’m getting suggest it may be biochemical in nature,” said the Beast. “Reed, do you see what I see?”

Mr. Fantastic returned his body to its normal proportions and looked over the Beast’s shoulder. “We’re looking at a burning mass of self-replicating hormones. And when those hormones are distributed out into the atmosphere, they’re able to alter perceptions of reality.”

“Not only the perceptions, but physical reality itself.” The Beast removed his spectacles and wiped them on a handkerchief. “That’s how we ended up in Mayberry.”

“So why aren’t we being affected?” asked Iron Man.

“Hank and I both have a genetic make-up different than most humans. And as for you, Tony, your armor could account for some sort of delayed effect,” said Mr. Fantastic. “And in some rare cases, we’ve seen the effect go even further than just altering perceptions of reality in people—there’s some form of genetic manipulation occurring.”

“Which would explain the Sentry’s pals that the Defenders are keeping distracted,” said the Beast. “And if we don’t find a way to stop this, those poor souls could find their bodies permanently changed. We have to find a way to disconnect them from this.”

“There’s something else here…” said Doctor Strange. “Something that involves the Sentry. Upon his return, that’s when this thing appeared.”

“Just who is this Sentry anyway, Strange?” asked Iron Man.

“He’s a very disturbed man named Robert Reynolds, a man who believes himself to be the world’s greatest hero—only he erased his memory from every mind on the planet.”

“That’s not possible, not without some sort of reality shift,” said Mr. Fantastic.

“And I would know if such a thing had occurred,” said Doctor Strange.

“So he’s crazy. Seems pretty simple to me,” said Iron Man.

“And yet, we must step carefully. He’s an extremely powerful individual and there is something very, very odd about him,” said Doctor Strange. “Something evenI find frightening.”

“That fills me with a rousing confidence…” muttered the Beast.

THE GOLDEN AGE

Part III

By Ed Ainsworth and Dino Pollard

The Valkyrie tightened her grip on both her sword and spear as she and the Sentress circled each other. Their matching crystal eyes were locked together, each of them waiting for the opportune moment to launch into battle.

The Asgardian launched her strike first, hurling her spear at her opponent. The Sentress flew above the spear, directing her solar eyebeams at it. In that instant distraction, the Valkyrie leapt for the Sentress, bringing her sword in an upward swipe.

The Dragonfang’s blade connected with the Sentress’ body and though her powers protected her from any serious damage, the blow was still powerful enough to knock the woman from the air. The Sentress fell to the ground on her back and the Valkyrie landed before her.

She was motionless for a few moments and Valkyrie cautiously approached. Then the Sentress opened her eyes and unleashed a powerful solar blast that engulfed Valkyrie’s head. The warrior called Brunnhilde struggled, trying to raise the Dragonfang to defend herself. Once the Sentress ceased the onslaught, she launched herself at Valkyrie, pummeling her with small yet extremely powerful fists.

Nearby, the rest of the Defenders weren’t faring as well. Sleepwalker found himself engaged in battle with Team Sentry’s pet, the Watchdog. The canine’s small size allowed him to easily evade any sort of structures Sleepwalker formed on the surroundings with his warp vision. He tore up the street in barriers that Watchdog flew around and altered street lamps to try and lasso the creature, but he slipped through them with little trouble.

“Why couldn’t I fight the little kid instead of his mongrel?” muttered Sleepwalker. He wrapped a sidewalk around the creature, but Watchdog flexed and managed to shatter the granite. The dog then flew right for Sleepwalker’s neck, latching onto it with his jaw.

“Get…OFF!!” shouted Sleepwalker, angling his eyes just enough so he could fire a warp beam at Watchdog. It caused the dog to release his grip and fall to the ground. But after a quick shake of his head, Watchdog appeared fine again and lunged for Sleepwalker’s ankle.

“Oh for…!” Sleepwalker hovered above the ground, but it didn’t stop Watchdog from trying to grab hold of his leg and violate it. Watchdog wrapped his legs around Sleepwalker’s leg and the alien possessed by the mind of a college student tried desperately to shake the dog free. He fired his warp beams at the dog, but Watchdog seemed strangely immune to them now.

“Golly, why’s your hair green, mister?” asked Scout.

“It’s Doc, actually. Doc Samson,” said his opponent. The gamma-powered psychiatrist removed his glasses and placed them inside a metal case he carried in his pocket. Samson cracked his knuckles as the young teenager who had been transformed into Scout advanced on him.

“The Sentry says you’re bad news, Doc. So while he takes care of that red thing over there, I’m gonna keep you busy!”

“Kid, I don’t want to hurt you,” said Doc Samson.

Scout shouted a battle cry as he flew at the Defender. Samson braced himself as Scout’s fist connected with his jaw. It was enough to cause Samson to wobble slightly, but not enough to knock him over. The boy definitely had a lot of strength, but nothing compared to the Sentry.

When Scout tried for another blow, Samson grabbed his fist in his palm. Samson returned with his free hand, slamming it against Scout’s face. Samson brought his elbow up and slammed it on Scout’s back. He wrapped his arms around the boy’s body, lifting him in the air and slamming him against the ground.

As Scout limply laid on the ground, Samson dusted off his hands. “Of course, not wanting to hurt you doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“RRRARGGHHH!!” Scout sprung up once more, jumping onto Samson’s back, wrapping his legs around the psychiatrist’s torso. He wrapped one arm around Samson’s neck, pounding on his chest with the other. Scout bit down on Samson’s ear, possessed of enough strength that Samson could feel blood.

The Doc grabbed Scout’s head with his hands and pulled him free, throwing him against a parked car. “Kid, I’m warning you. If you keep this up, you’re going to end up in traction.”

In the past few days, the red Hulk had been slapped around by his green counterpart and was now smashed into a crater by the Sentry. Although getting back at Banner wasn’t currently an option, the Hulk wanted something to hit. And the Sentry had given him plenty of reason to be smashed.

“Awright, goldielocks. You’ve really pissed me off!”

The Sentry hovered above the Hulk, arms folded, blue cape billowing in the wind. The symbol on his belt and his eyes both hummed with solar energy as he looked down at his enemy.

“Is that supposed to scare me?” he asked. “I can see you’re frustrated. But maybe if you stop acting like a child, I can help you, M—”

The Hulk sprung from his spot and wrapped his crimson hands around the Sentry. He pulled the Golden Guardian down to the ground and slammed him into the pavement. The Hulk bashed the Sentry with his massive fists, completely lost in his rage. The Hulk’s yellow eyes crackled more. As his anger grew, his body began to generate more and more radiation.

He raised his humongous arm, prepared to turn the Sentry’s head into a smear. The Hulk brought his fist down with intense speed, but the Sentry was faster. He stopped it by gripping onto the sides of the Hulk’s fist with both hands. The Hulk struggled against the Sentry’s strength, which only appeared to grow with each passing second. The Sentry pushed back against the Hulk, his eyes glowing brightly and then…

KRAK

The Hulk howled as he pulled his arm away, his hand limply hanging on, the bones in his wrist having been broken. He glared at the Sentry in both anger and surprise. The Sentry hovered before him, tensing his own fingers. The energy from his eyes connected to matching orbs of power that appeared around his hands. The energy intensified and then the Sentry thrust his arms forward, unleashing an incredible blast of power that threw the Hulk back by several hundred feet.

Citrusville

The creature that was once Ted Sallis moved through the wetlands. He could sense the disturbance, he had sensed it for months. And now it was growing. Something wanted the Nexus. Something hungered for it.

And that force grew more powerful by the day.

It is said that those who know fear burn at the Man-Thing’s touch. But what happens when the Man-Thing is the one afraid?

Manhattan

Through the use of Doctor Strange’s magicks to open a portal, Reed was able to quickly gather chemicals he surmised would slow the reaction occurring within the sun. But as he stretched all around it, dousing the chemicals on the glowing ball of energy, it only seemed to feed off it.

“This isn’t working, the imbalance is only growing!” said Iron Man.

“That’s not possible, at the very least it should slow down the process,” said the Beast.

“It must be the surface layer, it acts as a shield to the core,” said Mr. Fantastic. “We need to break through it in order to have any effect.”

“Unfortunately we have other problems to worry about as well,” said Doctor Strange. “My mystic shields are straining against the power of this sun, I can’t hold it for long. The build-up is becoming too much.”

“And the Defenders are pretty much two for two,” said the Beast. He glanced over his shoulder at the battle between their allies and Team Sentry. Watchdog and Scout appeared to be down for the moment, but Valkyrie and the Sentress were still going at it. The bigger concern was the Sentry himself, however. He appeared to take down the red Hulk and now both Sleepwalker and Doc Samson were trying their level best to hold their own. “But I’m not sure how much longer they can keep this up…”

“I’m sending out an Avengers priority call,” said Iron Man. But then a moment later he added, “something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?” asked the Beast.

“I’m getting too much interference, I can’t connect to anything.”

The Beast reached inside his pocket and drew his cell phone. “I don’t think it’s just your armor. This phone could make a call to the Shi’ar Empire and I have no signal.”

“It’s the sun, whatever this reaction is, it’s interfering with our methods of communication,” said Doctor Strange. “It doesn’t want us to call for help, not until it’s taken control of us, first.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t want us to call? You can’t seriously be telling me this thing is alive,” said Iron Man.

Doctor Strange said nothing, just concentrated on trying to control the energy burning within the sun. Its power was incredible and every binding spell he could think of was having trouble holding that energy within.

“Wait, I’m picking up something!” said Iron Man. “It’s an incredibly high level of energy and it’s coming right—”

A beautiful streak burst through the sky, so powerful that it made the midday sun seem like the dead of night in comparison. That streak of energy slammed into the heart of Manhattan, blowing right into the Sentry and knocking him to the ground.

“Oh my stars and garters…” muttered the Beast.

The ball of energy dimmed enough so that a feminine figure could be seen within it. She was dressed from head to toe in a form-fitting suit of red, complete with a white star emblazoned on her chest and she had long, dark hair that was held aloft by her incredible power.

Her name was Tania Belinsky. Once she was known as the Red Guardian. But that was before she became the nuclear-powered juggernaut called Starlight.

To Be Concluded