Author's Note 1: The Mighty Avengers is a non-profit fanfiction story.
The Avengers are owned by Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby.
Any original characters and concepts are owned by Navek or xpegasus.
Please support the official release.
There was nothing. Followed by everything.
Swirling, burning specks of creation that circled life-giving suns. And then, we raced to the light.
It was a spark that started the fire; a legend that grew in the telling.
Some believe it began when the Captain Britain Corps and the Council of Kangs went to war.
Others say it was when the Deathwalkers completed their blood ritual.
Many more think it was when Ex Nihilo terraformed Mars, turning the red planet green.
They were all wrong.
As it happened before the Light.
Before the War.
And before the Ultimate Sacrifice.
It started with two men. It started with an idea.
Navek and xpegasus presents
An Avengers fanfic
The Mighty Avengers
Chapter 1: Wake the World
Avengers Tower, Two weeks after Avengers VS X-Men…
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
Tony Stark had first heard of that quote in his high school days when they studied Shakespeare's King Henry IV. It was only in the past few years that the Armored Avenger had learned the true meaning behind those words.
Sure, he had wiped his memories of the actions he committed during the whole 'Civil War' debacle, World War Hulk, and the recent Skrull Invasion. But every one of those disasters had still happened, no matter how hard he wished they hadn't. On nights like this, where he tinkered the away in his lab, he would often wonder what his past self was thinking when he decided to wipe his mind.
He probably wanted a clear conscious. The guilt was probably too much to bare, weighed him down like chains and shackles. And that maybe he'd go back to being the hero he used to be when he first founded the Avengers. But if the last three years were any indicator, that hero was buried underneath a scarred and jaded man reaching the end of his prime.
Cul's awakening. The reformation of the 'Illuminati' as Hawkeye called them. And just recently, the massive conflict with the X-Men that, by all accounts, could've easily been avoided.
That last conflict weighed on him more recently as it seemed like the culmination of the Avengers' failures since… well, since Scarlet Witch had been manipulated by Doctor Doom; an event that almost ended Earth's Mightiest Heroes forever. And what did they have to show for their battle with the X-Men?
Charles Xavier, dead; Scott Summers, a wanted fugitive; millions of innocent Wakandans dead; and further strife in the superhero community.
It was something that Steve had mentioned the day after the conflict. That everything nowadays seem to spiral out of control. Back during the halcyon days of the Avengers, they would've stopped events like this before they happened. Suddenly, he remembered what Steve had said that day, and a new idea sparked in the Founding Avengers' head.
Hours later, he left the lab, the halls of Avengers Tower silent, as even Jarvis was asleep. Not that there were many heroes living at the tower recently. Jessica had moved to Boston. Carol was off in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Logan and Ororo needed to devote their attention to the X-Men. General Ross had been reinstated into the military. Noh-Vahr was left in space after his betrayal. Spider-Man had decided to focus on his career (and had become a real jackass recently.)
The only ones living at the tower besides him and Jarvis were Clint, Vision, and Steve. Speaking of the latter, Tony had arrived in front of the Star-Spangled Man's room. And not really one for tact, Tony opened the door, waking up the Captain with the new light flooding into his room.
"Wake up, old man." Tony said with a smile. "I haven't been able to sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about something you said. And well… I've been busy."
He then noticed Steve rubbing his eyes. "I'm sorry. I know its late."
"It's fine, Tony. I'm grateful." The blond man replied.
"Bad dreams?"
The Star-Spangled Avenger said nothing for a moment, a distant look in his eyes. Recently, the good Captain had spent a decade in Dimension Z, going through a hellish ordeal where he lost his adoptive son from that world. He had returned, only to realize that barely a day had passed.
"Something like that." Steve replied as he put on a shirt.
"Come on, I'll make you a coffee." Tony said, no words needing to be said between the two, as the Armored Avenger was one of the only people aware of the ordeal his friend had been through. Soon enough, the two were walking down the hall, where Tony began to speak his mind.
"So… this idea has been running through my mind. It's overwhelming, all-consuming, and I can't shut it off. The exact same thing happened the day we found you."
"You remember that?" Steve asked, smiling for the first time in hours.
"Oh… I remember everything about that day." Tony replied, the two thinking back to the day the Avengers found Captain America frozen in ice. "We started something that mattered. Because of you, the world changed. I changed."
He then placed his arm around Cap's shoulder before continuing. "See, the best ideas are always the simplest. And last week, when we were talking about how things keep escalating, how the world is ever more dangerous, how threats are more frequent, how our enemies are seemingly endless… well, Steve, that's a complex problem, but you had a pretty simple answer. Do you remember what you said?"
"I do."
"Well, now I'm sure you were right. We have to get bigger."
And with those words, the next great chapter in the history of the Avengers had begun.
Mars, One Month Later…
On an uncharacteristically green portion of the red planet, a massive cannon formed from an amalgamation of disgusting bio-material launched a projectile past the bounds of the planet's gravity well and into space. Watching this was a bizarre looking golden being that resembled a male humanoid with a horned head, a black omega splayed across his chest, and green eyes with a third closed eye on his forehead. Standing next to him was an advanced gunmetal gray android with a rectangular head.
"Look at it streaming across the sky." The golden man said with a smile. "I wonder if this is how the goddess felt at the moment of creation. Go. Be."
"Error: Deity Negative." The robot replied. "Correction: Recode, not recreate. Objective: Time-Sensitive. Goal: World-Razing. World-Razing, Ex Nihilo."
"Ah, you miss the point, Aleph. Where's your sense of wonder?" The golden man said as he approached a giant blue cocoon. "We have been given a gift; an opportunity. So I hurl Origin Bombs, not fire, earthward. I don't want to be a destroyer of worlds… I want to build one."
"Objective: Time-Sensitive."
"Feh." The green-eyed being rolled his eyes as he saw looked like an inside-out human being generated bit by bit. "Look here; I'm assembling a perfected version of the creatures who inhabit that planet. This will be our new Adam. The First Man. Our son. Can't you understand that?"
"World. Razing."
"You're wasting your time, Ex Nihilo." A black-haired woman dressed in black and grey chimed in as she gazed into a nearby pool, wisps of shadows constantly streaming off her body. "You could sing sweet songs until the stars burn out. He has marked that world for death, and the Eye of Aleph will not be averted."
"And what about you, Abyss?" Ex Nihilo asked. "What do you see?"
"Oh, I see things for what they are." She replied with a smile before tapping the water in the pool, which transformed into some kind of star map, with an object fastly approaching their location. "These 'men' are clever animals who learned to make tools. Now they threaten everything because they have taught themselves to be dangerous. You building a better primitive seems… unwise. Sparing them in any way… reckless."
She then pointed out the approached blip on their starmap. "Look! See how aggressive they are? They've sent their warriors to stop us, Ex Nihilo. Their very best."
"Acquiring…" Aleph said as he looked up towards the stars, several panels on his body shifting as he activated his offensive protocols. "Apes. Incoming."
Speaking of the 'apes', the Quinjet had just destroyed the latest Origin Bomb thanks to Hawkeye's steady aim.
"Projectiles destroyed, Cap!" The Avenging Archer said with his usual cocky smirk. "Damn, I'm good."
"Now there's something I didn't miss." The statuesque stunner known as She-Hulk said with an eye roll. Aside from them, the other passengers of the Quinjet were Captain America (who was piloting it), Vision (who was tracking the flight path of the Origin Bomb), Thor, and Iron Man (now wearing his new streamlined armor.)
"Setting a course to slip us in along the horizon." Vision stated as he input the commands via his datastream. "They won't see us coming."
"Holy crap!" Hawkeye shouted as they approached their targets, seeing the vegetation that stretched out for miles. "They terraformed Mars!"
"Is that even possible?" Cap asked.
"I don't know why it wouldn't be." Tony chimed in, now fully adorned in his Mark 50 armor. "The first two bombs that hit the Earth completely changed the ecosystems of the impact zones. Whoever these people are, they've altered billions of years of evolution in minutes and from two hundred million kilometers away."
"Pfft! It matters not what powers these strangers possess!" Thor proclaimed, Mjolnir at his side. "This forced evolution hath slaughtered millions of innocents! Whatever their goals may be, we cannot allow them to continue unopposed!"
"Took the words right out of my mouth, goldilocks." She-Hulk replied as she cracked her fists. As Cap landed the Quinjet, the various members readied themselves; Hawkeye strapping on his quiver of trick arrows, Vision and Iron Man fully calibrated for combat, and Thor beginning to channel lightning through his hammer. The Star-Spangled Avenger pulled out his shield off his back as the door opened.
"AVENGERS, ATTACK!" Captain America cried out, leading the charge.
"HAVE AT THEE!" Thor proclaimed before tossing the lightning-charged Mjolnir, slamming Aleph into the air.
"By Eternity!" Ex Nihilo shouted as the other Avengers charged into battle, She-Hulk lept into the air and tried to smash Abyss, only for the woman to turn into shadows to evade the attack.
"Wow, I didn't think aliens went for the goth look." The Jade Giantess quipped as she attempted to punch her foe, only for Abyss to turn ethereal. And with a wave of her hands, Abyss conjured a pitch-black sphere around the green-skinned Avenger.
"She-Hulk's hit!" Tony proclaimed as he prepared to fire a repulsor beam, not seeing the multitude of vines approaching him until it was too late. In an instant, the vines attacked, wedging into the crevices of his armor. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Suit Compromised. Parasitic Dynamo. Systems failing...power levels at 20 percent. 13 percent. 6 percent.
"Come to me, Metal Man." Ex Nihilo said. With a mental command, the vines brought the Armored Avenger closer to their master, ripping apart his armor as they did so.
Zero Power. Shutting down.
"Well, that's just peachy." Tony grumbled as the vines wrapped around his throat.
"Surprising. Only three percent of sentient races have exoskeletons." Ex Nihilo said with a raised eyebrow. "Let's peel this off and see if we can't speed your evolution on a bit."
But before the golden man could begin his experiment, he was hit in the back by a barrage of explosive arrows. Quickly recovering, he turned and saw Hawkeye aiming at him, another arrow in his bow.
"Alright, ya League of Legends reject," Hawkeye said tauntingly. "Why don't you let go of old Shellhead before I get nasty?"
"You… YOU DARE VIOLENCE?!" Ex Nihilo screamed in rage, his third eye opening up and cosmic energy beginning to flow out of him. "VIOLENCE FOR VIOLENCE'S SAKE?! I would remake him into something better. I would remake your world. And in return, this is the thanks for the offer?!"
"Aw crap." The Archer Avenger said as he headed for the tree in a vain attempt to find cover. Before Clint could even think about reaching for another arrow, he was blasted into unconsciousness by Ex Nihilo.
"Struggle all you want." Vision proclaimed as he phased his hand through Aleph. "I have already begun to hack your systems. In a nanosecond, you will be stripped of your will to figh...fi….ERROR! ERROR!"
Suddenly, Vision tensed up as Aleph's eyes glowed blue. Lines of a similar color began to form all over the synthezoid's body as he fell onto the floor and began to convulse.
"Question; You think can override my programming, Earth Machine?" The silver robot said as he towered over his foe. "Statement; I was constructed unfathomable eons ago. Before your creators were even a speck in the universe. You cannot hope to fathom the depths of my systems, you primitive construct."
Meanwhile, She-Hulk had managed to destroy the sphere surrounding her with a Hulk Clap before she went back to attacking Abyss.
"You know this is pointless." The shadow woman stated as her opponent's fist continued to phase through her. "Your fists will never connect."
"I know." She-Hulk said with a smirk and her finger pointed, confusing her opponent. "I'm just distracting you while our big gun charges up."
Abyss raised an eyebrow before looking up. And indeed, Thor was just the red skies, channeling his thunder into Mjolnir with each swing.
"FOR MIDGARD!" The Prince of Asgard proclaimed. She-Hulk leaped away as he swung his hammer down, unleashing an awesome blast of lightning that Mars had never experienced before, the red planet shaking from the impact. And for the first time in eons, Abyss screamed in pain.
"SISTER!" Ex Nihilo shouted in concern as his vines pushed Captain America back. In anger, he turned towards his robotic companion. "Aleph! You wanted to raze a world? Well then, focus all of that destructive power at that flying ape!"
"Request; Accepted." Aleph stated as his chest unfolded, revealing a massive cannon that he aimed at Thor. "Target; Acquired."
With a battle cry, Thor flew towards his opponent, unaware of the destructive power he was about to face. Without a word, Aleph unleashed a massive barrage of blue cosmic energy that blasted the Thunder God past the Martian atmosphere, through one of the red planets' moons, and into the farthest reaches of the galaxy, Thor's trajectory continuing to send him through space even after the blast had subsided.
"THOR!" She-Hulk shouted before glaring at Aleph. "Oh, you're gonna get it now, you discount Ultron!"
Before the silver robot could react, She-Hulk began to slam her fists into the robot, each punch and the kick aimed for any part that looked important, continuing to do so until her fists began to bleed with green blood.
"Enough." Abyss said as she reconstituted herself. She then conjured another stream of shadowy tendrils and launched them at She-Hulk. But instead of trying to trap her, the shadows forced themselves into the Jade Giantess' ears. And as soon as the tendrils reached She-Hulk's brain, Abyss said a single word that ended the battle. "Sleep."
And indeed, She-Hulk fell to the ground, transforming back into her human form of Jennifer Walters as she lost consciousness.
"I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself right now, aren't you?" Abyss turned and saw Captain America, who had escaped from her brother's vines. "I bet you think you've won. Well, Ma'am, you haven't. Not as long as I'm left standing."
With precision honed from years of experience, the Star-Spangled Man tossed his signature shield. And while Abyss meary turned to shadows to let the circular projectile phase through her, the shield then ricocheted off a nearby tree, hitting Ex Nihilo in the back of the head. And thanks to the magnetic controls hidden in his gloves, Cap's shield was flying back towards him...only for it to be grabbed out of the air by Aleph.
"Yield?" The robot asked as he stared down at the Avenger.
"You're a big one, aren't you?"
"Yield."
"Not a chance." Captain America replied, defiant as always. In response, Aleph punched him into the ground, shattering most of the Captain's ribs as he did so.
"Yield." Aleph commanded as he reared his fist back.
"No." Steve groaned out. Once again, Aleph struck him, destroying most of his teeth and bloodying up his eyes.
"Yield."
"Enough, Aleph." Ex Nihilo said as he put his hand on the robot's arm. "We are the Gardeners. And in this garden, I choose not to waste life. I choose to transform it. To change it and give it purpose. We will use him to send a message. We'll send him home to write a warning in the heavens; Here, Earth. Here is your champion. Watch him burn red through the sky. We have been sent to judge your world, and we cannot be stopped. These heroes were the best you had to offer. And they were found… wanting."
Avengers Tower, Three Days Later…
"...even? Master Steven?"
Through all the pain in his body, Steve Rogers opened his eyes, finding himself in the medical wing of Avengers Tower with Jarvis looking over him.
"Oh, thank the gods." The loyal butler said with a sigh of relief. "For a moment, I was afraid you were about to leave us again."
"Not a chance in hell, Jarvis." The blond man groaned as he sat up. As he did so, he began to recall in the end of the battle on Mars. The three putting him back into the Quinjet and launching him back to Earth. How the Quinjet burned upon re-entry and he had to make a forced crash-landing in the Hudson river.
"Captain…" Jarvis asked, concern evident in his eyes. "What happened to Master Stark and the other Avengers?"
Steve thought back to the fate of his teammates, his eyes hardening. "Jarvis."
"Yes, sir?"
"Take me to Tony's lab."
In a matter of minutes, the super-soldier was brought to the lab with Jarvis' assistance. As Steve approached the main computer, he recalled his talk with Tony.
"We have to get bigger. We've held on for so long, but there's something looming just past the horizon. We can't see it, but it's coming. It's going to be too much, and too soon. And we have to get ready now. We'll keep this quiet until they're needed; You and I will do most of the recruiting. Specific people for specific needs. But they'll be out there, ready and waiting. And then, when that day comes, all you have to do is say the words."
Steve activated the computer, which showed a blue diagram. At the center, the Avengers logo had the six symbols of the Avengers around it (A shield for Cap, an arc reactor for Tony, an arrow for Hawkeye, a radiation warning sign for She-Hulk, a diamond for Vision, and Mjolnir for Thor). Attached to the diagram were nine inactive symbols.
It was a summoning. He was the best; our very best. So when he called, what hero would not answer?
It started with an idea. The spark that started the fire was expansion. Our captain spoke, and gave the idea form. He said the words, and made it real. He said…
"Avengers Assemble."
And with that vocal command, the nine symbols on the diagram lit up, revealing a pair of goggles, a falcon's head, an infinity symbol, a heart, an eye, a sword, a star, a cross in a circle, and a headpiece.
Throughout the world, across America, Britain, Australia, Romania, and China, nine people heard the ringing of an Avengers ID card. In a matter of hours, the heroes were assembled.
Hank Pym, Codename: Wasp.
Wanda Maximoff, Codename: Scarlet Witch.
Sam Wilson, Codename: Falcon.
Monica Rambeau, Codename: Spectrum.
Wendell Vaughn, Codename: Quasar.
Faiza Hussain, Codename: Excalibur.
Xiang Liuchow, Codename: Ban-Luck.
Nathan Summers, Codename: Cable.
Eden Fesi, Codename: Manifold.
And assemble we did. In the dead of night, when the world was sleeping, Captain America and Iron Man had made something new; An Avengers Machine.
A communal device that was built to save us all. This whole was made of parts; Individuals aligned perfectly to serve a greater purpose. When called, they each came for different reasons.
Some of us wanted a new challenge. Some wanted redemption. Some wanted a better life. And some of us could not help who we were.
One Month Ago…
"So, what brings you guys to Avengers Academy?" Hank asked as Steve and Tony sat opposite of his desk.
"Um… Hank? Why are you wearing your Wasp costume?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, Janet's taking a break from the whole superhero business. I mean, she has been in the Microverse for a year. And I figured I could I use a change of pace, so I dusted off this little number." The founding Avenger explained as he adjusted his goggles.
"It's never a consistent identity with you, isn't it?" Steve joked, the three veterans sharing a chuckle.
"But seriously, why did you guys come here?"
"Well, Hank, we're reorganizing the Avengers." Tony explained. "Expanding out so we have all of our bases covered."
"We already got a core team settled." Steve explained. "And we're hoping you'll answer the call when we need to expand."
"… why me though?" Hank asked, since he hadn't had the most… pleasant tenure as an Avenger.
"Because when I was dead and Tony was on the run, you held up the tradition." The blond man stated, referring to the short tenure when Hank led his own team of Mighty Avengers. "Jarvis speaks the world of that time."
"Huh. I… didn't know that." The original Ant-Man said, genuinely touched.
"I mean, we are going to have to go through some legal snafu if we want to operate outside the US." Tony explained. "After that nasty business with the X-Men, the United Nations ain't exactly chomping at the bit to sponsor us."
Hank said nothing before bursting out laughing, confusing his longtime teammates.
"Gentleman, you're in luck." The size-changer said before holding up his hand. "Toolbot."
Instantaneously, a communicator with the words, 'GRAMPA', grew into his hand.
'Forgot he could do that.' Tony thought, genuinely impressed as Hank activated the communicator, revealing a hologram of a man in a grey business suit and a blue & red mask with a white A on it.
"Ace, how'd you like to do business with the Mighty Avengers again?" Hank asked with an adventurous smile.
Wundagore…
"You two must be out of your mind." The Scarlet Witch stated as she used her magic to keep a mob of ghouls at bay, Captain America and Iron Man standing back-to-back-to-back with her.
"You wouldn't be the first one to call me crazy." Iron Man said as he adjusted his arc reactor, ready to unleash a unibeam.
Harlem…
"Do you even need to ask?" Sam said as he shook hands with Steve, both of them ignoring as one of his birds pecked at Tony.
Manhattan…
"So you're going by Spectrum, now." Tony said as he, Steve, and Monica watched her latest opponent being dragged away by SHIELD. Some idiot called Blue Streak. "I dig it."
"Thanks." The former leader of the Avengers said, shaking out the dust from her hair. "I even got a catchphrase now."
"Well, you're gonna need it, Captain." Steve stated.
"Can't wait for, Captain." Monica joked, tapping Steve's shoulder with her elbow.
Nebraska…
Nathan Summers AKA the time-traveling anti-hero Cable had returned to his current hideout, which as an abandoned airfield in Nebraska, his trench coat flowing in the wind. He arrived at the decrepit WWII bomber plane that he currently called home. However, he noticed two figures standing inside of it; Captain America and Iron Man.
"Just fuckin' great." The white-haired man groaned before raising his right arm up. "Let me guess, you guys are here to arrest me."
"Actually, we're here to offer you a job." Iron Man replied, confusing the hell out of the time-traveler.
MI-13 Headquarters…
"… "
"She hasn't said a single word since we gave her the offer." Tony whispered to Captain Britain while Steve looked a tad uncomfortable.
"Faiza is...very shy." Sir Brian replied. "But she's one the best heroes this country's ever seen. The fact that she wields Excalibur is proof enough."
Australia…
"Can I get you wherever you want to go? Bend Space-Time? Sure." Eden Fesi answered while he meditated on top of a rock. "But I don't know that I'm the man for the job. I've tried this 'being a hero' bit before and all that happened was a lot of my friends got hurt. Do you really think I'm the right guy for the job? Because I don't know if I am."
"Why don't we find out together, Eden?" Steve asked.
Wisconsin…
"About time you guys stepped up." Wendell replied with a smile, Captain America and Iron Man having approached him as he was enjoying a quiet day near a lake.
Hong Kong…
"You know when Ace said a blond supersoldier wanted to take me out to dinner, I was kind of hoping it was John Walker." A black-haired chinese woman said with a smile, Steve and Tony sitting on the opposite end of the restaurant table.
'Probably the first time anyone's ever said that.' Tony thought in his mind.
Avengers Tower, Now…
'What the hell is Steve thinking?' Falcon thought to himself as he glared at Cable, who was helping Wasp, Spectrum, and Scarlet Witch fix up the Quinjet. At the same time, Excalibur was healing up Captain America (Manifold heading to the med-bay with her) and Ban-Luck was monitoring all GRAMPA feeds incase the nutcases on Mars launched another Origin Bomb while Quasar was floating around Earth, ready to intercept them at a moment's notice.
Why was the Winged Avenger glaring at Cable? Because about three months ago, the time-traveler led a one-man crusade against the Avengers, and Falcon was the first one taken down via a sniper round to the back. And while they did learn that Cable was driven mad by a techno-organic virus (that his daughter Hope can cured him of,) it still didn't help the matter.
And yet here he was, standing alongside the Avengers with a cybernetic left arm and right eye, using his telekinesis to lift up panels.
But before Sam could contemplate things anymore, an alarm blared and Ban-Luck suddenly stood up, her wrist-mounted hologram projector active.
"Heads up, heroes!" The goggle-wearing heroine proclaimed as her projector watch showed five objects heading towards Earth. "We got five Origin Bombs incoming! Quasar!"
"I'm on it!" The Cosmic Avenger replied, blasting off towards the planet-bound projectiles with the power of his Quantum Bands. He saw one of the bombs and unloaded a massive yellow blast of quantum energy destroying one of them. However, the bombs were moving faster than he could have anticipated.
'Shit!' He thought to himself as he raced after the bombs, cursing himself for being out of practice. A year ago, Quasar had returned to life as a being of pure quantum energy, serving as a major player during several cosmic conflicts. But through a series of events, he had both returned to Earth and returned to being a creature of flesh and blood. As such, he was still readjusting to the limitations of the human mind, as the Quantum Bands could only help so much as he raced after them, even as he blasted another one into space dust.
And so, faster than any ordnance weapon could react, the three Origin Bombs each hit their intended targets.
Kobe, Japan. Chhatarpur, India. And Holjanmyra, Norway. And those three locations would never be the same again.
'No.' Quasar thought to himself before he headed back to Avengers Tower.
"Holy shit." Monica replied while the rest of the Avengers looked on in horror.
"Guys, I…" Wendell said as he entered the hangar. "I didn't… I mean they were faster than…"
"No one's blaming you, Wendell." The Scarlet Witch replied with a sympathetic look. "You did the best you could."
"Alright, double time people!" Cable ordered before pointing his thumb at the half-rebuilt quinjet. "There's no telling how many of those doomsday weapons those freaks on Mars have, so we gotta get this bird back up and flying in the next hour."
"And who the hell put you in charge?" Falcon asked.
"No one. I'm just stating the facts." The mutant cyborg proclaimed with his usual scowl.
"Easy, gentlemen." Hank stated, getting in between the two. "We're on the same side."
"Right you are, Hank." The assembled heroes looked up and saw Captain America, now fully healed, walking into the room, Excalibur and Manifold following him on either side. "And you're right, Nathan. We need to get to Mars, asap. And we have just the man for the job."
The Star-Spangled Avenger then gestured to Manifold, who walked ahead of the Captain, feeling a bit nervous.
"This is Eden Fesi. According to his files, while he's never been off planet, he has the ability to teleport us to Mars."
"Really?" Hank asked.
"Would you believe me if I told you that getting there is as easy as walking across the room?" Eden asked.
"Kid, you're talking to a bird man, a size changer, a mutant witch, a living cross-section, a super-soldier whose almost a century old, a woman who can turn into any kind of radiation, a cosmic guardian, a lady with a heart-shaped boob window, and a time-traveling cyborg." Cable stated. "I think we'd all believe ya."
'Boob window?' Ban-Luck thought as she looked down at her costume.
"Well… that saved me an explanation." Eden quipped.
"Alright people, listen up." Captain America began to say as the ten heroes huddled up. "I know this particular team is barely any hour old, but right now, our friends on Mars and the world needs us. So whatever grudges we might have with each other or any hang ups we have need to tabled for now. We need to be more than heroes. We need to be Avengers."
'And Cap's still got a way with words.' Hank thought, Monica, Sam, Wanda, and Wendell had similar thoughts as Manifold raised his spear into the air.
"Alright, everyone. Things about to get… wicked." The former Secret Warrior said as he activated his powers. In an instant, a massive circular white portal appeared behind the ten Avengers. And in the next instant, the australian hero bent space and time, teleporting the newly forged team to the surface of the red planet. And as soon as they arrived, Captain America began to lay out their strategy.
A few minutes later…
'Good lord, why does every omnipotent cosmic so-and-so feel the need to go on and on and on?' Hawkeye thought to himself as he and Tony were hung up by Ex Nihilo's vines, Vision was still in the middle of the cybernetic equivalent of a comma by Aleph, and Jennifer was still unconscious thanks to Abyss. Since the Avenging Archer didn't see Captain America, he figured that the shield hero had escaped and was coming up with a plan to rescue them.
He just wished that Cap would hurry up, because at this rate, he figured Ex Nihilo's monologue would end up killing him before the brute laid a finger on him. The golden weirdo just kept going on and on about evolution, creation, how him and his buddies were part of some ancient race called the Builders, and a whole bunch of other crap that the Archer Avenger couldn't give a damn about.
"-and each one making your planet better suited for its new future." Ex Nihilo continued, explaining the purpose behind the five newly-launched Origin Bombs. "It's perfe-WAIT WHAT!?"
"Finally!" Clint exclaimed as the golden blowhard was suddenly encased in a cone-shaped Quantum Construct.
"Apes." Aleph said as he quickly turned, seeing Captain America rushing towards him with Quasar and Scarlet Witch flanking him from the air and ground respectively.
"Vânturile Destinului, Schimbare!" Scarlet Witch chanted before unleashing a large hex bolt that destabilized most of Aleph's systems, including the hacking program on Vision. Cap followed up on this by slamming his shield down on Aleph's head, knocking the robot on its back.
"Remember me?" The Sentinel of Liberty asked as he placed one foot on Aleph's chest. "Yield."
But as Aleph blasted his foe off of him, Quasar was confronting Ex Nihilo.
"You only get one chance; give up or me and my friends are gonna kick your asses back to whatever planet or dimension you came from."
"And just who are you to issue an ultimatum to the Gardeners?" Ex Nihilo growled, his third eye glowing with power.
"The Protector of the freakin' Universe." Quasar replied as he activated another feature of the Quantum Bands; draining energy from a specific target, causing Ex Nihilo to begin to falter.
Seeing her brother in pain, Abyss turned to the unconscious She-Hulk.
"Beast! Serve Me!" She commanded, her shadowy tendrils forcing Jen to wake up and Hulk out. "Cast a ferocious shadow! Blot out the sun!"
With a savage roar, the Jade Giantess leaped towards Quasar, beginning to brawl with her fellow Avenger as Scarlet Witch helped Captain America up.
"Query: Status Stable?" Aleph asked the recovering Ex Nihilo.
"No, Aleph. Never static." The golden being replied as he shoved his hand into the ground. "Forward. Always forward."
Suddenly, hundreds of blue cocoons emerged from the ground around Captain America and Scarlet Witch before bubbling out and unleashing hordes of mutated hounds and birds.
"Apăra!" The mutant sorceress quickly chanted, creating a red mystical barrier around the two Avengers, keeping them apart from the bizarre creatures.
"Wanda! Captain!" Vision proclaimed, finally up and running again before he started to fire solar beams at the creatures.
"Hey, Cap." Steve turned and saw Tony, who had just regained consciousness. "I thought the plan was to call everyone."
"It was. I did." Captain America replied before he tapped on his earpiece. "Eden! Find me!"
A second later, the rest of the Avengers were teleported behind the Scarlet Witch's barrier, although Wasp as noticeably absent.
"Avengers, push ahead!" The shield-welding Avenger proclaimed.
"You heard him, people!" Cable proclaimed as a weapon teleported into his hands via blue energy. Said weapon could only be described as three six-barrelled gatling guns mashed together. "Give 'em hell!"
And so, Earth's Mightiest Heroes pushed back against the horde of killer animals. Bullets, chaos magic, hard-light talons, light blasts, heart-shaped projectiles, and spear stabs with several punches & kicks thrown in the midst.
"Sorry about this, Jen." Quasar said as he quickly conjured up a series of elaborate restraining devices, weights, and chain constructs to keep the mind-controlled She-Hulk from harming herself or others.
As this was going on, Cap and Excalibur ran over to free Tony and Hawkeye from the vines.
"Hello, Mr. Barton." Faiza said as she cut him down. "Dr. Faiza Hussain. I'm a huge fan."
"I'll give ya an autograph, later." Hawkeye replied as he quickly grabbed his purple bow from the ground. He then pulled out a tuning fork-shaped arrow and fired it at the ground near Abyss. The arrow then began to unleash a frequency that started making the shadow woman phase in and out, her body becoming a chaotic mess of moving shadows.
"W-What in E-E-Eternity is this?!" Abyss cried out.
"Anti-Phaser Arrow." Clint said with a smirk as Captain America helped Tony down. "Looks like Shulkie owns me one."
And indeed, with her puppeteer now distracted, She-Hulk regained her senses was a tad bit confused. "Wendell?"
"Hey, Jen. Long time no see." The Cosmic Avenger said as he dismissed the construct before the two rejoined the battle against Ex Nihilo, Aleph and the seemingly endless hordes of animals.
"Apes. Annoying." Aleph proclaimed as he smacked Captain America's shield away, only to topple over as Excalibur cut off one of his legs. "Activate Cosmic Cannonononononoonon-"
"Aleph?" Ex Nihilo asked in concern as he summoned up a wall of veins to block attacks from Cable, Spectrum and the Scarlet Witch.
"Error!Error!Error!Error!Error!Error!Error!r!Error!Error!Error!Error!Error!" The robot continued to repeat as sparks flew from him.
"Sorry that took so long, Cap!" Hank's voice spoke from within Aleph before he flew out and grew back to normal size. "Took me a few minutes to figure out how his operating system worked. That feedback loop should keep him occupied."
"You…but…" The golden man said, utterly baffled that a flawed lifeform could even grasp Aleph's systems. He then looked around and took stock of the battlefield.
His sister was in constant agony. His lifelong friend was broken. His creatures were being slaughtered. And if things continued this way, not only would he fall, but his Adam would probably be destroyed as well.
And as if to rub salt in the wound, thunder began to roar above and an object crashed onto the battlefield. Out of the crater came an enraged Thor, his body slightly iced over from the exposure to space and lightning crackling around him.
As the Avengers continued to battle his hordes, Ex Nihilo realized that this was a battle he could never win. In desperation, he opened his third eye once more. But this time, green energy began to swirl around himself, Abyss, Aleph, and Adam's Cocoon.
"(Builders; Guild your Children.)" He chanted as his eye glowed brighter and brighter.
"That can't be good." Tony proclaimed.
"Keep pressing!" Cap ordered.
However, Ex Nihilo's third eye unleashed a blinding green glow, and when the heroes were able to see again, the residents of the Garden were gone, the only thing remaining being the vegetation.
"Typical." Cable grumbled, having faced his fair share of retreating villains.
"So, are all Avengers missions this insane?" Ban-Luck asked Falcon.
"Pretty much." The Winged Avenger replied.
Avengers Tower, Later…
"I just got confirmation from Ace." Hank said as he walked through the halls of Avengers Tower with Steve and Tony. "The impact zones in Australia, Cuba, India, and Japan have been quarantined. GRAMPA research teams are on site until they can figure out a way to reverse the damage."
"What about the Norway site?" Steve asked.
"Well, there's some good news on that front. That impact site seems to be the least affected. All they found was some type of cocoon that they took to the 'Underbelly,' wherever the hell that is."
"I thought you were tight with these GRAMPA guys." Tony chimed.
"I think he's still mad about almost being trapped in the Underspace with Ultron." The size-changing Avenger said as he scratched the back on his head.
"Well, at least we can look on the bright side; the new team managed to work somewhat well together and that Nihilo guy and his posse are gonna think twice about attacking again."
"Damn right," Steve replied as the three entered the living room. "Because they know what kind of world this is."
The three saw the large team getting to know each other better; Quasar was telling Cable and Thor about his space adventures, Falcon was showing off Redwing to Ban-Luck, Spectrum, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk were catching up with each other over drinks, Excalibur was asking Vision about his biology, and Hawkeye and Manifold were enjoying some Hors d'oeuvres that Jarvis had prepared.
"It's an Avengers' World."
It was the spark that started the fire; a legend that grew in the telling.
The great idea was expansion. And it started with two men.
One was life, and one was death.
Author's Note 2: So this is my take on Jonathan Hickman's Avengers run. And don't get me wrong, there's a lot I like about his run. But there was also a ton of problems with it. One of which was that aside from Sunspot's posse, there was little to no interaction between the larger team.
So instead of going for a large 20+ roster, I'm sticking to a rotating cast of no more than fifteen Avengers.
And if you think this going to be a carbon-copy of the Hickman run with a different cast, think again. I'm merely using the premise Hickman set up as a springboard for my first fanfic set in the main Marvel Universe.
Next Time: Moving Day! Please remember to read, favorite and review!
Excelsior, True Believers!