It began with a Sentinel invasion of New York City. They were giant robot killing machines developed by Bolivar Trask as a solution to the mutant problem. Each one was equipped with the Cerebro technology created by Charles Xavier to identify the x-genes present in mutants, and they were programmed to kill any mutants they targeted. Except now, they were launched by a force other than the United States government and rather than killing mutants, the Sentinels had been reprogrammed to kill anyone without the x-gene.

Or in other words, human beings.

The perpetrator was another experiment gone wrong. A creature that was created by combining the genetic material of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr—arguably the two most powerful mutants ever known. This creature was originally supposed to be under the control of its creators, Henry Peter Gyrich and William Stryker, who had engineered the creature by allying themselves with the Chinese government.

Unfortunately, the creature gained sentience and, calling itself Onslaught, reprogrammed the Sentinels. Its purpose? To protect mutantkind by eliminating humanity from the face of the planet.

Once the Sentinels invaded New York, the X-Men and Avengers, two teams which were previously at odds with each other, were forced to unite against their common foe. They held their own against the Sentinels, before Onslaught itself appeared, taking on physical form by bringing together the remains of destroyed Sentinels and crafting a shell for its essence, in an appearance resembling the armor of Magneto.

With a wave of its hand, Onslaught unleashed a massive electromagnetic pulse, blacking out the entire state of New York. Only the Sentinels were spared from the attack. In Central Park, a massive citadel appeared where Onslaught now resided.

Deep beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean was the Triskelion, a SHIELD facility designed to contain superpowered criminals. It was also the current base of Colonel Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD, and T’Challa, king of the African nation of Wakanda and also the Avenger called the Black Panther.

“We’ve lost all contact with the teams, Fury,” said the Panther. “The energy output this creature is producing is nothing short of incredible.”

“I was monitoring the transmissions before the pulse, and if this thing is telling the truth, that means somebody’s been mucking around with illegal genetic experiments behind my back,” said Fury. “And if word of this gets out, that won’t bode well for us. The mutant community ain’t gonna like the fact that we’ve been developing the means to destroy them.”

“We need the others down here immediately,” said the Panther. “I’ve contacted my scientists and they’re working on the issue. I’ve also opened diplomatic channels with other nations to get to the bottom of this.”

“I’ve already sent a transport out to find the teams,” said Fury. “Just gotta hope they’re still alive.”

CLASH OF THE TITANS

Part VI: Darkness Falls

By Dino Pollard

With a snap of her fingers, the Dazzler generated a ball of light that she held in her palm. It illuminated the subway station where the X-Men and the Avengers had chosen to take refuge.

“There, as long as everybody keeps talking, I’ll be able to keep the lights on indefinitely,” she said.

“Then let’s get started,” said Iron Man. “First question, is Onslaught telling the truth?”

“It was able to communicate telepathically with all of us and it caused that pulse,” said the Beast. “The only two men I’ve ever known to be capable of those feats were Charles Xavier and Magneto. So in my opinion, yes, he’s telling the truth.”

“What about the government experiment part?” asked Steve Rogers, who had by now been recognized as Captain America.

“Look around, Uncle Sam,” said the Hulk. “Aside from the X-guys, none of us were born like this. We were created.”

“An’ we already know the government ain’t above experimentin’ on mutants,” said Wolverine. His claws extended from one of his hands. “I’m proof of that.”

“Don’t forget Project: SHIAR,” said Cyclops, his thoughts momentarily going out to his now-deceased father. “I’d say the government is definitely capable of all this.”

“We have more important things to worry about,” said the Marvel. “We need to get back to the Triskelion and develop a plan of action. Otherwise, those Sentinels will soon track us down.”

“I have a better plan—how about we bust this guy up?” asked the Hulk.

“Seconded,” said Thor.

“No, the Marvel’s right,” said Iron Man. “We need a plan of attack. I’m still trying to boot up my armor’s power reserves—if it wasn’t for the Hulk, I’d be stuck out there.”

“Last time we faced something this big, Jean turned up at the zero hour to bail our asses out,” said Thunderbird.

“Don’t think that’s gonna happen this time,” said Nightcrawler.

“We split up,” said Captain America. “The heavy hitters will go after Onslaught and the Sentinels. The rest of us, try to find a way to this Triskelion.”

“Yeah, it’s underwater genius, good luck with that,” said Thunderbird.

“I’ll go to the Triskelion,” said the Marvel. “I’m the only one who can survive without oxygen and you’ll need Tony to stay here for communication purposes.”

“How can you survive without oxygen?” asked the Beast.

“Force field,” said the Marvel.

“Then I’d like to go with,” said the Beast. “I might be able to help with a plan of attack.”

“Fine by me,” said the Marvel.

“The rest of us should stay here,” said Captain America. “Once we hear from the Marvel and Beast, we’ll move out.”

Wolverine nudged Cyclops. When Scott turned to face him, Logan motioned with his head for the young man to follow. As the moved into the next room, Wolverine tapped Nightcrawler as well and signaled for him to follow.

“Keep yer voices down, alright?” said Wolverine. “We’ve gotta breach Onslaught’s citadel.”

“How are we going to do that?” asked Cyclops.

Wolverine pointed at Nightcrawler.

“Me?” asked Kurt.

“Yeah, you,” said Wolverine. “You can teleport me inside an’ get out quickly if things get hairy.”

“What about the rest of the team?” asked Cyclops.

“I don’t want ‘em findin’ anything out,” said Wolverine. “If I can get in there and weaken him, the rest of you are gonna strike hard and fast.”

“You’re not doing this alone,” said Cyclops.

Logan glared. “You gonna stop me, One-Eye?”

“No, I’m going with,” said Cyclops.

“Hell no.”

“Excuse me?”

“If things go south for me, someone’s gotta lead this group,” said Wolverine. “You’ve already proven you got the stones, an’ I want you to prove it again once I’m gone.”

“You make it sound like you’re already dead,” said Cyclops.

“Wake up, kid—there’s no way I’m cheatin’ death this time.” Wolverine turned to Nightcrawler. “Ready to go, Elf?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” said Nightcrawler. He placed a hand on Wolverine’s shoulder and the two vanished in a burst of light and smoke.

Triskelion

The Marvel and Beast charged through the Atlantic, moving towards SHIELD’s underwater base. A translucent bubble surrounded the pair, providing them with enough oxygen to survive the trip.

As they neared, Beast looked at the Marvel. “How are we getting inside?”

The Marvel said nothing, but his eyes began to glow brightly. As they charged towards the Triskelion, Beast noticed the Marvel did not slow down. “Umm… you gonna slow down?”

Again, no words were offered by the Marvel.

“Hey… say something!” said Beast.

Right before they slammed into the Triskelion, the Beast shut his eyes tightly. Just before they would make contact, they vanished in a flash of light. When Beast opened his eyes, they were standing inside the Triskelion.

“Damn…” he muttered. He looked at the Marvel. “You could have told me you were planning that.”

The Marvel grinned. “Where’s the fun in that?”

SHIELD agents rushed towards them, expecting to find an intruder, and had their guns at the ready.

“Hold your fire!”

The voice was gruff and recognized by all as belonging to Colonel Nick Fury. He pushed through the ranks and the agents lowered their weapons. Fury puffed on a cigar and regarded both the Marvel and Beast.

“Nice to see you two made it,” he said. “We’ve got transports scouring the city lookin’ for you guys.”

“I’ll go with them, show them where the others are,” said the Marvel.

“Good,” said Fury. He looked at the Beast. “What about you?”

“I thought you could use an extra mind to get to the bottom of Onslaught,” said the Beast.

“Alright, let’s move,” said Fury. “Marvel, go with a squad an’ show them where the Avengers and X-Men are at.”

The Marvel nodded and walked towards the hangar with the agents following. Fury motioned for the Beast to follow him. He led the young man to a lab where the Black Panther was already hard at work.

“Get to work,” said Fury. “I want a way to defeat this thing ten minutes ago.”

Central Park

Right outside Onslaught’s citadel, Nightcrawler and Wolverine appeared in a burst of light and smoke. Kurt placed his hands on his knees and started to cough.

“You okay?” asked Wolverine.

“’Porting with a passenger… takes a lot out of me,” said Nightcrawler. “Usually takes a lot out of the other guy, too.”

“Guess I got a strong stomach,” said Wolverine. “Sorry we had to keep movin’ the whole time, but it was the only way to stay off the Sentinels’ radar.”

“Right… got it,” said Nightcrawler.

“Just need one more out of you, kid. Get me inside.”

Nightcrawler took a few deep breaths and stood. “Okay… I’m ready.” He placed his hand on Wolverine’s shoulder and the two vanished once again. They rematerialized inside the citadel and Nightcrawler keeled over, vomit flying from his mouth. Wolverine patted him on the back.

“Take a breather, kid. When yer ready, get back to the others.” His claws extended. “Leave the rest to me.”

Triskelion

The Beast sat before a computer terminal, scrolling through the DNA readouts. There were two samples—one which belonged to Charles Xavier, the other to Erik Lehnsherr.

“They combined the DNA and cloned them both,” said the Beast. “Why would they do that? Two of the most powerful mutants on Earth, you can’t tell me they actually believed they could control it.”

“You’d be surprised what men obsessed with power will believe,” said T’Challa. “I’m more concerned about these readouts.”

He motioned to the other monitor and Beast looked at it in shock. “This can’t be right, can it?”

“I’m afraid it is,” said T’Challa. “And judging by Onslaught’s retreat into his citadel, I think it’s already happening.”

“Oh my stars and fucking garters…”

“I can’t believe they just ran off,” said Iron Man.

“You obviously don’t know Logan,” said Dazzler.

“He was like that back in the war, too,” said Captain America.

“What do you mean ‘back in the war’?” asked Colossus.

“World War II,” said Captain America. “Jim was in my unit.”

“’Jim’?” asked Thunderbird and Colossus, exchanging confused glances.

The Avengers and X-Men were met at their temporary hiding place by a SHIELD transport led by the Marvel. Now that same transport, called a Quinjet, headed towards Central Park to strike directly at Onslaught’s citadel.

“Alright, time to cause some damage!” said the Hulk. He moved to the hatch and opened it up.

“Hulk no, wai—!” called out Iron Man. It was too little, too late. The Hulk already had the hatch opened and leapt from the Quinjet.

He plummeted towards the citadel, bringing his fists down upon it as he struck. It seemed to cause no effect, not even scratching the surface. The Sentinels were on him in a minute, and the Hulk lashed out, taking as many of them down as he could.

“Somethin’ you guys don’t know about me,” he said. “The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets. An’ right now, you’re really pissing me off!”

Chain lightning coursed through the Sentinels, Thor hovering in the skies above, his hammer crackling with electricity. Colossus fell next, pile-driving through a Sentinel. Iron Man came after, using his repulsor blasts and miniature rockets.

The Marvel flew from the Quinjet, with Captain America, Dazzler, Cyclops, and Thunderbird encased in a force field. As soon as they touched ground, they scattered, joining the battle against the Sentinels.

While Colossus fought, he noticed something else. Nightcrawler stood by the side of the citadel, and the armored X-Man ran to his friend’s side. “Kurt! Are you okay? Where’s Wolverine?”

“One question at a time,” said Nightcrawler. “I’ll be fine, I’m just winded. And as for Wolverine—”

The citadel opened just enough and a figure flew from it, landing several feet away on the ground, unconscious. Nightcrawler pointed towards the man. “He’s right there.”

Iron Man heard the voice of T’Challa in his helmet. “Loud and clear, Panther. Any idea on what we’re up against?”

Beneath his faceplate, Tony Stark’s expression was of surprise and confusion.

“What do you mean ‘it’s evolving’?”

Triskelion

“I mean just that,” said the Black Panther. “Onslaught is evolving, taking on a new form. That citadel, it’s like a cocoon. It’s why he hasn’t responded since his first strike. The EMP and the Sentinels are meant to keep us at bay until he finishes his transformation.”

{So what do we do?}

“We’re trying to figure that out at the moment,” said the Panther. “Once Onslaught’s cocoon opens, he will be pure energy. If you do not stop him before he dissipates, he will be able to infect every mind on the planet. Combine that with his magnetic powers, and he could very well completely disrupt Earth’s electromagnetic field.”

{How are we supposed to hit something made of energy?}

“You’re not,” said the Black Panther. “Which means you’ll need something to contain his essence.”

Central Park

“Very helpful,” said Iron Man. “Everyone, pull back!”

The X-Men and the Avengers pulled back enough so they were all within range of Iron Man’s voice. “According to the Panther, Onslaught is evolving. Once that shell opens, he’ll be pure energy and if we don’t stop him then, he’ll infect everyone on the planet.”

“What do we do?” asked Dazzler.

“We need someone or something to contain Onslaught’s energy,” said Iron Man. “But not one person will be able to contain all that energy, their body would burn up in seconds.”

“What about spread out among several bodies?” asked Cyclops.

“Theoretically, it could contain his essence, at least most of it,” said Iron Man. “Of course, there’s a chance some of his essence would still escape.”

Cyclops looked at the rest of his team. “This thing came from the Professor’s genes, and unless we stop it here and now, it’ll go on and pervert everything he stood for. Everything we stand for. I’m not about to let that happen. In all the time we’ve been together, we’ve seen a lot of death and a lot of tragedy. We’ve all lost our innocence. We’ve made a lot of mistakes. And this is our last stand. It’s not going to be easy, but this is our responsibility.” He extended his hand. “Who’s with me?”

A crack appeared in the shell.

“From pop star to superhero,” said Dazzler, putting her hand on top of Cyclops’. “Sounds like the makings of an Oscar-worthy movie.”

Another crack.

“I’ve been here this long, time to see it through to the end.” Thunderbird put his hand in.

Energy began to seep out.

“For Rogue,” said Nightcrawler, putting in his hand. “And Storm. And Monet. And Jean. And Kitty.”

The shell opened.

“We were enemies at first, but now I’ve come to think of you as brothers in arms,” said Colossus. He put his hand in.

Slowly, it started to break apart, revealing the large orb of energy inside.

Cyclops nodded. “X-Men—”

The shell opened completely.

The team broke from their circle and at Cyclops’ word, they charged forward. “MOVE!”

The five young mutants, brought together by circumstance, bonded by necessity, charged into the large ball of energy and leapt into it. The energy flowed into their bodies, and their figures sucked it up like a sponge.

“They’re in!” said Captain America. “Avengers, attack!”

The Avengers released the full force of their abilities, quickly eliminating the X-Men and with them, Onslaught faded into nothingness. Now, little more than a painful memory. But a memory that would live on to haunt the world for years to come.

SHIELD Helicarrier

Several days had passed since Onslaught’s defeat in Central Park. Colonel Nick Fury stood on the observation deck of the Helicarrier. Things had taken a turn for the worse since then. Onslaught had got his message out, information about his creation was leaked all over the Internet.

His last strike. His legacy.

Once the connection between Gyrich and Stryker was discovered, it made things worse. Mutants were rioting in the streets and there was talk of declaring martial law in mutant-dominated communities. Wolverine and Beast had escaped once Logan recovered from his injuries, and they’ve dropped off the map.

“You wanted to see me, sir?”

Fury turned and saw Steve Rogers, Captain America, standing behind him. “Yeah, I’m glad you came, Captain. We’ve got ourselves in some real hot water these days. We’ve got reports of mutant terrorist cells popping up all over the world. Taking the name of another group that called themselves the Brotherhood of Mutants.”

“Things are bad then, I take it,” said Captain America.

“That’s an understatement if I ever heard one, Cap,” said Fury. “This is the beginning of war.”

Sydney, Australia

The patient had been comatose for a number of months. Very little brain activity, but the family insisted on life support remaining on. So imagine the nurse’s surprise when she noticed the brain activity suddenly spike.

And imagine her further surprise when the patient’s eyes opened and the patient smiled at her.

“My god…” said the nurse.

“I appreciate the compliment,” said the patient. “But please, my dear. Call me Charles.”