MARVEL UNIVERSE - 'HELL ON EARTH'
Story Arc 4 - 'We All Fall Down'
8:17 p.m. - Eastern Standard Time
A monstrous mass of fire slowly passes over the body of Marc Spector, who used to be called the Moon Knight, among many other names, but sadly, the only thing he was now, was a zombie. While this body had possessed a lot of power, it was only an empty husk now, and of no use to the mass of fire. Speeding Eastward, it continues its search for power. Hundreds of miles away, it comes upon the impaled body of the Thunderbolt known as Atlas.
While dead, he stayed in giant form. Someone, or something, had knocked him onto the building, impaling him, and killing him. The giant zombie tried to free itself from the building's metal framing, but it was stuck. Its moans of frustrations would keep the living in the area awake and on edge for weeks.
The mass of fire had already experienced the life of an adventurer, and it would refuse to settle for anything less. Then, a beacon called out to it. A hero was beginning to flicker, and the mass of fire had to be there to bond with it. It takes flight, headed North…and it was excited.
8:26 p.m. - Eastern Standard Time
Captain America stalks his way through the overgrown brush. Being that it was dark, he didn't have to crouch any lower to camouflage his red, white and blue uniform. Make no mistake, it was a uniform not a costume. He understood that the second he put it on. He was a symbol to friend and foe alike.
This trail was different from any other he had hiked before. As far as he traveled, he never seemed to get any closer to his target. Come to think of it, what was his target? On cue, the answer was obvious. A giant fireball crashes to earth in front of him, and Cap is thrown backwards. His uniform is singed where his shield could not protect him.
He struggles to get his next breath, and then forces himself to stand. His body was now covered in a cold, slimy, sweat, but he marches on regardless, towards the crater. Cautiously, he peers over the edge, only to once again be forced backwards as a geyser of fire shoots upwards into the night sky. The fire begins to take shape, and Cap recognizes his old teammate, the Vision, who then morphs into the devil himself.
He begins to feel a sense of enlightenment, but before he can get his bearings, Mephisto begins to mock him, "Captain America. Ever resilient."
Anger overcomes Cap, "You, monster! What have you done?"
"Why, Captain…you know what we've done - we've pushed the world towards its long overdue end. Funny thing though, you're not doing your part. Can't you just die?"
Ever defiant, Cap screams, "It doesn't matter if I die, there will always be heroes to take my place!"
Mephisto chuckles, and in doing so, rains down red-hot spittle around Cap, and setting the surrounding fields on fire.
"True. Humankind is like the ancient roach. You just don't go away. The thing is, my dear Captain, those other heroes are not you. In times of utter despair, humanity has always had an ideal to hold onto…a hero to give them hope. This wave of humanity has chosen you."
Mephisto then raises a finger at Cap, "Even those from other countries, who fear and despise the United States, seem to take comfort knowing that you walk amongst them. So you see, we simply cannot have you alive. If we are to rule this world, we want a dormant servitude, which means you have to die."
Mephisto then turns into a giant stream of lava, flowing upwards and arcing, until it crashes forward to envelope Cap. He raises his shield, and realizes the irony of being compared to a roach, just as he was about to be squished like one.
He screams.
He wakes to find Warbird and the Falcon holding him. Like his dream, he is drenched in sweat. His body shakes violently.
Across the room, the current group's de facto leader, Cyclops, watches Captain America fight for his life. He was doing his best to lead this group, and truth be told, all things considered, he was doing a good job. Hawkeye's constant questioning of him was similar to Wolverine in the X-Men's early years, so he was used to it. The one fact remained though, Captain America wasn't just a man, he was an ideal, he was hope.
Cyclops' train of thought is interrupted as he hears the Falcon scream, "Cap's going into cardiac arrest!"
8:32 p.m. - Eastern Standard Time
Their muscles strain, and their bodies ache, but Thor and Hercules continue to hold onto the gates of Valhalla. To let down now, would unleash unimaginable horrors upon Asgard, and then Earth. The mighty gates had already been splintered, and decomposed hands reach through them, pleading for the two warm-blooded heroes. Inhuman screams of anguish and need, ring from behind the gates. They echo throughout the ghost town of Asgard.
They are physically two of the strongest beings in the universe, but even they have their limits. They are exhausted mentally as well as physically. Hercules loses his concentration for a split-second and releases a deep sigh. Sadly, that's all it takes for a pair of hands to get a grip on his hair. The scabbed, gray hands hold tight, and pull Hercules over and into the other side of the gate. Thor has no time to react, and what he hears next is a moment of silence by all parties, (maybe in surprise?) and then the screams of the Olympian God of Strength.
The hole in the gate is now big enough for Thor to peek through, if he so desired…but he doesn't. Instead, he closes his eyes, and lowers his body just a little bit more, so the ghouls can't reach him as well. He digs his boots a little more into the dirt below, and holds the gate alone.
8:48 p.m. - Eastern Standard Time
Four super villains huddle in the dank comfort of a storm drain. Scorpion, Tiger Shark, and the Rhino, sit back and listen to the Taskmaster's take on how they might be able to survive the current crisis. Pacing, the Taskmaster makes his final pitch.
"So unless one of you has a better idea, I'm thinking our best bet may be to join up with whatever heroes are still kicking. Maybe lend a hand in stopping the Vision and Mephisto."
Still unsure, Tiger Shark asks, "Why would we want to do that? The Vision said that we're already going to Hell, and that we'd be better off helping our future landlord."
Cleaning the blood off of one of his swords, Taskmaster replies, "I don't blame you for thinking that way. Technically, it makes sense, but remember with whom we're dealing with. He's the original turncoat, the king of lies."
He lets Mephisto's identity sink in, before following up with, "Yet, on the other side, we constantly hear the preaching that we are all forgiven. I know each of your histories, and while we've all caused our fair share of damage, none of us is truly evil. I think we can still be forgiven."
The thought takes a tremendous weight off of the Rhino's shoulders, and for the first time since they had been recruited by the Vision, he feels hope.
"Do you really think so? Please don't mess with my mind, Taskmaster. It's not a pretty place right now."
Taskmaster shrugs, "I can't say for sure, big man. What I do know for sure is that the Devil is up there causing all kinds of problems for the human race, and if that is truly who he is, then it stands to reason that his counterpart exists as well. I want that guy on my side."
The Scorpion stands up, "Damn straight. Let's do this."
Rhino nods, and Tiger Shark says, "That makes it unanimous. What did you have in mind?"
Taskmaster smiles, "Simple. We help the good guys."
Scorpion scoffs, "The mansion was trashed, and the survivors split. How're we supposed to find them?"
"Easy" the Taskmaster grins, "I followed them."
9:06 p.m. - Eastern Standard Time
It's been nearly an hour since the Falcon's awesome eyesight caught three of Mephisto's Devil Dogs hiding outside in the dark. Captain America had since appeared to have a heart attack, but was still alive. Since then, the remaining heroes have taken turns looking through Nova's helmet and it's infrared lenses. No one was happier than Ben Grimm, to know that the helmet could expand to the user's comfort.
Havok was currently using the helmet.
"Man, this is eerie. What are they doing?"
Hawkeye slides over to Havok and says in a whisper, "I've always thought Wolverine was creepy, but this takes the cake."
Havok briefly sneers at Hawkeye, before addressing his brother, Cyclops.
"Sorry you can't take your visor off, Scotty. There is no way I could describe to you how weird this is."
Cyclops adjusts his visor, "Don't worry about me, Alex. I've worn these visors for as long as I can remember, and over the years, Professor Xavier and I have done some amazing things with them. Including night-vision."
Across from the heroes, and up in the trees, Sabretooth sniffs at the air and recognizes a new scent. It's familiar to him, and he grunts something intelligible to Wolverine. Wolverine has also caught the scent, and he isn't too happy with the new arrival. After killing the one-eyed man, he had no intention of sharing.
The voice that had led them here tried to calm him down. He would not have to share, because there would be more than enough for all of them. This was just another friend to make sure that they killed all of the heroes. Wolverine was content once again. He smiled when he saw the one-eyed man looking at him.
Back in the tiny shelter, the normally stoic Cyclops looks into the trees at Wolverine, and has to do a double-take.
Spider-Man was currently looking through Nova's helmet, and quickly pulls his head out of it, looks at Cyclops, and then once again through the helmet at Wolverine.
"Um…Cyke, is Wolverine waving at you?"
Emotionless, Cyclops confirms it, "It appears that he is."
Spider-Man shivers. Unconsciously, he turns to look at Captain America for comfort. He had given them all a scare earlier, but thanks to Dr. Strange's quick emergency response, Cap seemed to be stable. No matter how bad things were now, Spidey couldn't help but to think how much worse they would be if something happened to Cap.
Ben Grimm catches Spider-Man's gaze, and knew exactly what he was thinking. The normally gruff Thing simply nods to acknowledge Spidey's thoughts.
The silence is broken by Cyclops, "There's someone out there!"
Spider-Man puts the helmet back on, "Luke!"
While the rest of the group had been content at just watching and waiting, Luke Cage had decided to confront the Devil Dogs, and he had the worst of intentions. They were more than ready to greet him, as Sasquatch crashes down directly in front of Cage. Luke doesn't flinch. Instead, he seems to be welcoming his fate, offering no resistance as Sasquatch picks him up off of the ground.
Hawkeye is beside himself, "Luke! No!"
Cage looks down into the maw of Sasquatch's razor sharp teeth and closes his eyes. Sasquatch smiles, but that smile quickly turns into a grimace, and then into a look of sheer pain. Even though his ribs were being crushed, Luke Cage needed, no…he wanted to get this close in order to get a good grip behind each of the monster's ears. Then he began to pull. Pull with every ounce of super strength that he had. The result was messy, and sets off a bloody chain of events. Sasquatch would not be returning as a zombie, though.
Luke Cage falls onto the mulched corpse as Wolverine and Sabretooth charge, enraged at Cage's boldness.
Cyclops yells out, "Help him!"
The heroes all rush out of their makeshift shelter to help their friend. Fear has a chokehold on all of them, no matter how seasoned they might be. Their heroic instincts are the only things making them react.
In the meantime, Cage does his best to hold off the two Devil Dogs. They're much faster than he anticipated, and were already on him. He could feel claw after claw cut into his supposedly indestructible skin. As the pain shot through his body, Cage felt a sudden breeze, and his neck snapped backwards in a whiplash effect,. Nova was the quickest among the heroes, and he had hurled himself forward into the middle of the fray, knocking Cage to safety.
Wolverine was knocked clear by the impact as well, but Sabretooth had managed to hold onto Nova. He slashed repeatedly at the young hero's back and torso. Desperate, and in agony, Nova crashes into trees and brush alike, but Sabretooth would not let go. The savage Devil Dog held fast by digging his claws into both sides of Nova's ribcage. Nova cries out in pain, and he can't help but to see Sabretooth as a giant tick, but in this case, the bloodsucking would start once he was dead.
The young heroine, Turbo, was close behind. She screams out for Nova's wellbeing. He had become her whole world in the past couple of days. While there was no guarantee that there would be a world left in the next few days, Turbo had already decided that it wouldn't be a world worth living in without Nova. She just hadn't told him yet. She was more afraid of being alone, than being attacked by Sabretooth.
Left and right, heroes rushed out into the darkness, no plan, no leadership. That is until Cyclops called out to the Falcon.
"Falcon! We need some light. Their animal instincts give them a distinct advantage in the dark!"
The Quantam Bands were acting as a life support of sorts for the Falcon, producing hardlight substitutes for the Falcon's damaged skin, muscle, tissue and veins, presumably until the Falcon healed on his own. They had become a purely defensive weapon for the Falcon's benefit, but he had to take the chance that they would also have enough power to help him turn this night into day.
The Falcon rocketed skyward, amazed at his newfound speed, "You asked for it, Cyke. You got it."
The night sky then took on a bright yellow hue, and back on the ground, Hawkeye wishes that the Falcon had left it dark. Dozens of demons had been stalking in the brush, and no longer having to hide, they pounced into the clearing, attacking the heroes.
Fighting with his back to Ben Grimm, and drawing arrow after arrow in a rhythmic motion, killing demon after demon, Hawkeye deadpans, "You know, Ben, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."
The Thing chuckles. "Look at the bright side, Hawk. There used to be thousands of these things. Maybe the devil is running out of ammo?"
Hawkeye shrugs, "We're living on borrowed time anyway, right?"
Ben Grimm catches Dr. Strange out of the corner of his eye, "Hey, Doc! How about joining the party?"
Dr. Strange levitates slowly between Hawkeye and the Thing.
"Very well, gentlemen - let us make our stand."
The battle rages on, Cage and Wolverine go toe-to-toe. Spider-Man looks on, seeing the sparks that are a result of Wolverine's claws scraping and digging into Luke Cage's skin. He tries to help out by webbing Wolverine's hands together, but the monster has gone berserk. He chews the webbing off, taking some of his hands with it. With wild eyes, Wolverine turns his attention to Spider-Man.
In the past, this is where Spider-Man would come up with a comical quip, but all he did now was swallow his own saliva, hating the fight he was about to get into. To everyone's surprise, Wolverine began to float upwards, and as he snarled and struggled, the Scarlet Witch held fast with a levitation spell.
"Check on Luke, Spider-Man," she said confidently, "I've got Wolverine."
Wolverine has stopped struggling. He could not fight air. The realization makes him whimper, but then that whimper is quickly replaced by a howl. The inhuman cry is a call for help, and the Devil Dogs are joined by a feline. The former Avenger, Tigra. She has also been stripped of her humanity, and she crashes onto the Scarlet Witch, cutting her throat with her claws. The heroine dies instantly.
Cyclops had had his hands full with several demons, and his optic blasts were quite effective against them, but seeing Wanda die pushes him over the edge, and his only thoughts are now of revenge. He fires a full powered optic blast at Tigra, and the ferocity of the blast tears her apart…but he doesn't stop there. He keeps his visor open, and the resulting scarlet wave knocks over and annihilates zombie and demon alike.
His brother, Havok, has seen Cyclops in action for many an adventure, and if anyone knew the kind of damage these blasts could do, it was Havok. Yet, on the other side of the coin, most people didn't realize that because these beams were coming from his eyes, his aim was also pinpoint. If he could see his target, he could hit it. So the intensity and randomness of these blasts unnerved Havok.
Now in the air, and in her version of the Iron Man armor, Warbird decided to chase Nova, Turbo and Sabretooth. She knew that as young as he was, Nova had been doing this for as long as any of them. Turbo however, was a different story. True, she had been a New Warrior with Nova, but she couldn't have been doing this for more than a year or two.
Warbird is unable to gather her thoughts, as she is knocked off of her flight path by none other than the Vision.
"The armor is a surprise, Carol, but please understand that my associate and I went through very extreme measures to ensure that Captain America, Thor and Iron Man would be removed from the equation at the very start of our undertaking."
The Vision proceeds to try and rip the helmet off of Warbird's head, even if he had to take her head with it!
"Forgive me for my choice of words, Carol, because there is definitely no pun intended when I say that it's not a good idea to stir up old demons."
Warbird panics, but she also realizes that the Vision has to stay tangible to hold onto her. She fires a desperate blast of magnetic repulsors, and to her surprise, the Vision's features become distorted, and he stutters, struggling to form words. Just as quickly though, he returns to normal, and he is pissed.
"How dare you! This is exactly my point! Using those magnetic repulsors to try and erase my memory as if I were a mere computer?"
The irony isn't lost on her, but she knows that she'd just be wasting her breath explaining to him that it wasn't what she had planned. Sadly, it was now time to fight.
"I'm sorry, Vision. I can't say that I understand why you did this, and I'm not sure if I can ever forgive you at this point. We were hoping you'd come back to the side of angels, back to your friends."
The Vision hesitates for a second, seemingly pondering her words.
"How very noble of you, Carol. Unfortunately for you, I do not have a soul yet, so I am incapable of extending you that same courtesy."
10:11 p.m. - Eastern Standard Time
Elsewhere, Adam Warlock has had to hear Thanos gloat that the Earth was finally going to meet the fate it had escaped hundreds of times, and the sweet irony of it all was that one of it's vaunted 'heroes' would be the one responsible.
Adam smiles, letting the madman ramble, amused that Thanos was oblivious to the silver blur racing back towards Earth, and back towards Avengers Mansion.
End of Part 4