Clint Barton stood over Bobby Drake's shoulder. The X-Men's Blackbird rocketed towards a single signal- the location of an Avengers communicard. The former Avenger known as Hawkeye hadn't spoken a word since the small team had left the estate owned by Charles Xavier half an hour earlier. His mind was racing through possible scenarios involving what was going to happen in the next hours. He and three other superhumans had discovered that they were taken by an extradimensional alien race called the Coutai three years earlier and that the aliens had planted a sleeper agent on Earth shortly before their own return.
"Tell us again," She-Hulk asked the man called Mimic, "how did you know that it was the Sentry?"
Calvin Rankin sighed. It was he who had figured out who the sleeper was. "When I shook his hand at the Avengers Mansion," he said. "There was a void there. A coldness. When Xavier uncovered the memories of our time in the Coutai dimension I recalled that sensation. Every time my latent telepathy tried to read one of the Coutai, I felt that. It was him."
- Awakening #1
- Awakening #2
The mutant known as Xorn nodded from the co-pilot seat. "A void. That is what I felt as I removed their eggs."
A rumbling sound suddenly filled the air. The small group looked out the windows. An earthquake shook the countryside below- trees flew, the few buildings they could see buckled, and so on.
"This shouldn't be happening," said Ben Rielly, the Scarlet Spider. "There's no fault lines or anything to be causing an earthquake."
"There doesn't need to be a fault line for an earthquake," Iceman stated.
"No," Xorn said. "The Spider is right. This is not being caused by anything natural. This is the work of our adversary." The healer closed his eyes. "I can feel the gravitational pull of the sun tugging harder on the planet. We are growing closer to the sun."
"Where did you find this guy?" Hawkeye asked Iceman.
"He's good, isn't he?"
"This is Trish Tilby for WNYC News, New York. We interrupt your program for a special report. A recent rash of seismic activity has spread all across the globe. The US Government has called a special press conference regarding this, and President Bush asked that we interrupt regular programing for this occaision. We now go live to the White House."
"Are we live? Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming on short notice. I am Peter Corbeau, one of President Bush's science advisors. We have bad news. The rash of seismic disturbances is directly connected to a catastrophe in the making. The orbit of the planet has deteriorated. We are even now starting to draw closer to the sun. Unfortunately, the occurance of natural disasters will continue to increase. We have a matter of weeks before the planet falls into the sun. In that time, I encourage everyone to make penance to whatever God they worship and say goodbye to those you love. And maybe, we'll gain mercy."
Reed Richards dodged a blast of light energy. His elastcine body stretched towards their attacker. The Fantastic Four had traveled to South Carolina to investigate a strange energy source earlier that day. They had promptly been attacked by a man they had thought to be their ally- the Avenger known as the Sentry.
Mr. Fantastic wrapped his body around Sentry and squeezed. He suddenly felt very cold, and released his grip. He took a deep breath, exhaling a cloud of white.
"What are you?" he asked.
"An impostor," the Sentry said. "A spy. A red herring. Whatever phrase you humans use for someone who's about to kill them."
"Not likely," said Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman. An invisible forcefield clobbered Sentry, sending him flying. A burst of flame followed, encompassing him in fire.
"We've dealt with worse than you," the Human Torch said. "And we've beaten them."
"You have no idea boy."
"Enough mell- metlo- uh, fancy talkin'!" chimed in the fourth member of the Fantastic Four, the Thing. "You knocked me silly a minute ago. Now I'm returnin' the favor! IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!" Ben Grimm hit the alien pretender as hard he could, slamming him into the ground. Ben hit again and again, not letting his foe even breathe. "How d' you like it!"
A blast of energy lanced up, throwing the Thing backwards. The Sentry stood up, the flesh of his face tore to reveal pitch black underneath.
"It feels quite good," he said.
"We just lost the communicard signal," She-Hulk said. "I think it was just destroyed."
"That's fine," Iceman replied. "I think we're close enough. Look at that." Bobby pointed to intermittent bursts of flame and light several miles ahead.
"Looks like the Fantastic Four beat us here," Scarlet Spider declared.
"How far away are we from that?" Hawkeye asked.
"About five minutes," Iceman replied. "I hope the Four can hold their own until then. Sentry is hardcore. I saw him once take on the Juggernaut solo and knock him across New York City."
"Then I pray that we're enough," Mimic said.
Genis Vell stopped near the site of the strange energy source, signalling his sister Phyla to stop as well. His cosmic awareness flared, showing him a vision of Earth being overrun by aliens as it neared the sun.
"Go on without me," he said, "and destroy whatever is causing the orbit to deteriorate. I'm going to try to pull the planet back into orbit."
"Good luck Gen," she said.
"Thanks." The Kree heroine resumed her flight, leaving her brother hovering in the air.
"I hope I can do this," he muttered as he watch Lady Marvel grow farther away.
Peter Parker fired webbing into the rioting crowd. New York had erupted into violence minutes after Dr. Corbeau's announcement. The backlash was definitely expected. Looting and riots were all over New York. Peter wondered for an instant why he wasn't among them. Why he wasn't trying to make his last moments comfortable. He shook the temptation from his mind a quickly as it entered.
Seeing a young girl trip and stumble, Peter jumped from a passive crowd control to something a bit more active. He dove downward, spraying webbing as he went, restraining more of the rioters. He landed on his feet, and immediately several people jumped onto his back. He threw them off, spun and covered them in webbing. He scooped up the little girl and jumped onto the nearest structure he could, a small newstand.
"Do you see your mother!" he called over the roar of the crowd. The girl pointed at a woman who seemed frantic. Peter set the girl down. "Stay here, I'll go get your mommy." He dove into the crowd again, firing nets of webbing as he went. As he neared to child's mother, he heard her screaming a name franticly. Peter dodged a sming took at him by one of the rioters, and nailed him in the gut. He jumped over another and kicked a third in the face, landing directly in front of the woman.
"Your daughter's safe!" he said, scooping her up. He jumped into the air, and grabbed a lamppost. He swung around it and landed atop the newstand. He let the woman down and they two embraced. Peter turned and looked back into the crowd.
It was going to be a long day.
"He's too powerful!" the Torch yelled. "We're not slowing him down!" The Sentry pounded against a forcefield Sue had created. She winced each time he hit. She wouldn't be able to hold the field much longer.
"He's an energy siphon," Mr. Fantastic replied. "Every attack we pursue is futile, because he is absorbing it. We need to create an energy void. Something he cannot feed off of."
"Like ice," a voice said from behind the Four. They turned to find Iceman, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Mimic, Xorn, and the Scarlet Spider.
"Never fear, the Champions are here!" Scarlet Spider cried. The group rolled their eyes.
A large block of solid ice encompassed the Sentry instantly. Iceman lowered his hands and set his jaw.
"That won't be enough," he said. "We need something bigger."
"A large body of water frozen solid would be sufficent to hold him," Mr. Fantastic said. "If we could get him to a lake or pond..." The ice shattered and the Sentry was free. Hawkeye acted quickly. He notched an arrow and loosed it. The shaft pierced the Sentry's shoulder. Instantly energy sparked outwards, showering the assembled heroes. The energy melted away the traitor's flesh and costume, revealing a being of pure black.
"That was a mistake you will regret Hawkeye," he said. "As is often said, it will be your last."
"Not likely!" A thick strand of webbing caught Sentry's back and pulled him the opposite direction. The Scarlet Spider punched him hard, throwing him forward again. The Thing lifted She-Hulk and threw her at their foe. She connected hard, slamming the Sentry into the ground.
"Enough!" The alien ripped the arrow from his shoulder and threw it aside. He then aimed his fists at the assembled heroes and summoned a massive blast of energy. A blue and red streak intercepted the blast. There hovered Lady Marvel, her wrists crossed, the blast being absorbed by her Nega-Bands.
"Yes, it is." Phyla absorbed the last of the energy and rechannelled it to the alien. "Get to the gravity device!" she yelled. "Destroy it!"
"It's in the hangar!" Invisible Woman cried.
"She-Hulk, Spider, go!" Hawkeye cried. "We'll hold him here." He drew an arrow from his quiver and notched it in his bow. He shot it. It was a bola arrow, and the small metal weights and the cords loosed themselves an instant before they hit the Sentry. It wrapped around him tightly. Jennifer and Ben followed his order, sprinting for the building.
"Pile on!" Reed yelled, dispensing his elloquence. The heroes did so, using their numbers to overpower him. For a few seconds, it was successful. Reed held him tight as the different heroes took shots with their respective abilities. Then another blast of energy threw them all back.
The alien's body was surrounded by energy. "THIS ENDS NOW!"
Genis shut his eyes as he reached his hands out. He knew he was powerful, but he had never tested his powers like this before. He was attempting to move an entire planet. It was going to be one of the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life.
Energy lanced forward, bands wrapping around the planet. Genis began to pull, praying to the gods of the Kree that he would be successful. He began to feel the strain. He couldn't do it alone.
"We are here my friend!" a voice cried from nearby. Captain Marvel looked and saw the Silver Surfer straining with similar energy bonds to his left. Ahead of him Quasar held a similar grip. Last of all was Adam Warlock, using the power of his Infinity Gen to enhance that of his allies. Genis smiled.
"On three- PULL!"
Ben Rielly looked at the gravity pull device that was deteriorating the earth's orbit. It was possible to defuse the device, but how?
"Let's see..." he said. "I think the power source is in the middle of the device. If we unhook it, the gizmo's dead."
"Is gizmo a technical term?" She-Hulk asked.
"Very funny," he replied. "Now, if I could remove this panel, I should have direct access..."
"I've got a better idea," she said. She balled her fist. "As my cousin would say- SMASH!" She-Hulk punched the device hard. The humming stopped. The device emmitted sparks then died.
"Or we can do that." A tremor shook the ground, and She-Hulk was thrown on top of Scarlet Spider on the ground.
"Looks like the damage has been done," he grunted.
"In that case-" She slipped his mask up to his nose and kissed him. "-better do that just in case that's our last chance."
Ben grinned. "I hope it isn't. I like strong women."
Mimic wiped blood away from his lip. He was lucky to still be conscious. Most of the others were out cold. The Thing stumbled to his feet, Lady Marvel shook her head, and Xorn pushed himself up from the ground. They were the only ones still conscious. Calvin stood shakily and faced the Sentry. He curled his lip and blasted him with an optic blast. He merely absorbed the energy into his body.
"Futile," he said. "Absolutely futile." He reached out for Mimic's head. Suddenly, something struck him, throwing him across the clearing.
"You rampage halts at this moment fiend!" yelled Thor as Mjolnir flew back into his outstretched hand. "You have betrayed the Avengers, and the Odinson does not tolerate villains such as you!" Thor began spinning his hammer, lightning sparking from the Uru mallet.
"HAVE AT THEE!"
In Awakening #4- Awakening concludes as heroes band together to save the planet. In the midst of the battle, one hero makes the ultimate sacrifice and a team is born!