All characters appearing in Avengers and other Marvel titles are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee, and are owned by the Walt Disney Corporation. All real persons mentioned in this story belong to themselves. No infringement of these copyrights or offense to the people mentioned is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder or persons. All original characters are the property of TVfan.
Note: This story is my sequel to "Civil War" in the Captain America section and takes place immediately after that story. I had initially thought this would be the last chapter for Initiative... but I got to a point where I figured that going through to the end of the battle would make it too long... so for the moment, this the next to last chapter...
Initiative
By TVfan
Chapter 6: Successes and Escapes…
The Bronx
"I am Dormammu!" the great demon seemingly wrapped in fire announced as he made his appearance on the face of the Earth, "Ruler of the Dark Dimension and Earth!"
On the ground, Avengers: Blue Team gathered nervously at the feet of the tyrant from the Dark Dimension. They had largely beaten the Hood's gang and strained the Hood, but the appearance of Dormammu was not a good sign. Even Luke who didn't typically deal with anything like the powerful magic user could see that his presence was not good. To make matters worse, while the Hood's magic had been exhausted after finally reaching the point where he could bring Dormammu to Earth, he was still conscious and still armed.
"This is bad," Doctor Strange stated clearly, "Very bad indeed."
"How did he…" Luke Cage gasped as he looked up at what had just emerged and was for the moment uninterested in what was beneath him.
"Is there anything we can do to stop him?" Cap demanded sounding fairly insistent.
"It was as I feared," Doctor Strange said slowly, "the Hood in his quest for power for criminals has made a bargain with Dormammu… likely for the hood that he wears. In doing so, the Hood has been wielding Dormammu's power in OUR dimension."
"And let me guess," Spider-Man said nervously, "Doing so weakened the walls between our world and wherever you had Dormammu locked up."
Doctor Strange slowly nodded.
"Can we stop him?" Wolverine asked.
"Not by ourselves," Doctor Strange answered, "Dormammu is far more powerful than I am and I've only been able to beat him by engaging him before he was at full strength… in a situation where his power is weakened… or with the help of other magic users like Clea. We will need help."
Cap was about to say something more when a great blast of fire suddenly landed among the Avengers there. Spider-Man managed to leap free before it landed, but the others were all sent by a powerful shockwave that threw them about the room. The only Avenger not seemingly touched was Doctor Strange.
"Doctor Strange," came Dormammu's voice from above them, "It is most amusing to find you here waiting for me…"
"A shame I cannot say the same for you," Doctor Strange answered and moved his arms, preparing to try and cast a spell that would reverse the polarity of the portal that the Hood had opened. If he could do that, Doctor Strange figured he could at least force Dormammu back into the Dark Dimension.
Dormammu, however, noticed this and stretched a massive hand down and raised a golden glow around it. Soon after that, Doctor Strange found himself imprisoned in a golden orb and beginning to float up toward Dormammu.
"Please, Doctor," Dormammu gave a wicked smile, "Your orbs, wands, and talismans are not with you. I know that… and your allies… they are not versed in magic or anything that could presently harm me. This world is mine."
Doctor Strange felt beads of sweat going down his face as he was lifted up so that he was looking directly into Dormammu's flaming eyes. Fear and concern went through his entire being, as the Hood's scheme had unleashed a foe that no one other than himself could counter, and Doctor Strange knew that even he needed help at times.
"May the Ancient One come to our aide in some way…" Doctor Strange said slowly, hoping for a miracle.
On the ground, the Hood watched as Dormammu began to actually leave the area around the bar that had now been completely wrecked by the battle, but it had left him in fairly good shape. While much of his union was unconscious on the ground and for the moment his powers felt like they had been drained, but the Avengers were practically at his mercy. Dormammu had taken Doctor Strange and the rest were trying to recover from Dormammu's blast of fire.
"And now to be through with the Avengers," the Hood gave a smile as aimed his guns directly toward Luke Cage's head, "First you and then… wait… where's…?"
The Hood then looked up to see Spider-Man coming down from above him. He caught several web-balls in the face. He gave frustrated scream, tried to transform into his demon form, but couldn't. He then dropped his gun and instinctively began to pull on the webbing on his face. This only got more web-balls hitting him and now webbing his hands to his face. By this time, Spider-Man came down and landed a strong punch that finally knocked the Hood out.
"All your power and all your ego… but you're still a dirty crook, Hood," Spider-Man said down to the unconscious crook, too preoccupied by the fact that a being from another dimension had just carried off a different member of Blue Team to make a joke. He then looked up to Cap, "What do we do? The Flaming Dork took Doctor Strange."
"We have to get him free," Cap vowed as he came forward.
"But how, Cap?" Ronin asked carefully, "Doctor Strange even said that HE couldn't defeat Dormammu on his own."
"We may not have magic… but I'm certain that we can still cause him pain," Iron Fist said slowly.
"Just hit him harder?" Wolverine questioned, and then shrugged, "Doesn't sound like too bad a plan… though… how are we gonna get close enough to his head?"
"Dude… we ain't got the power to scratch him!" Luke Cage answered, "He's a hundred feet tall!"
"And knows magic," Spider-Man added.
"But we have Doctor Strange on our side," Iron Fist answered, "all we need to do is distract him so that he releases the Doctor. Then the Doctor can use his magic to suck Dormammu back into his own dimension."
"It's the best shot we have," Cap then spoke with a sigh, "We want to try and keep him from getting into Manhattan… Maybe let him get to the river and then keep him pinned in it…"
The members of Blue Team rapidly gathered around their leader. Cap then turned to Spiderwoman who was brushing dust off the sleeves of her costume.
"Can you get ahead of him?" Cap asked.
"Sure… but my venom blasts aren't going to do much to him," Spiderwoman answered, "Not unless you got something that can amplify my powers…"
"What about your pheromones?" Ronin wondered, "can't you get him… you know…"
"Ewww!" Spiderwoman protested, "And that's more of a hit and miss thing. Arachne and I have very little control over that… and I don't think a demon from another dimension is going to respond like a human male…"
"We don't have any choice," Cap said firmly, "You're the fastest out of all of us. You must get ahead of him and slow him down. We'll be right behind you."
Spiderwoman then watched as Cap then pulled a small communicator from his pocket.
"And we're going to get Red Team to come in and help too," Cap answered, "Doctor Strange was right… Dormammu's actions are too big for us to face alone. ALL of the Avengers will be needed!"
"What about the Hood?" Wolverine asked for a moment.
"Forget him," Cap answered, "If we don't stop Dormammu… we lose the world."
Spiderwoman gave a heavy sigh while the rest of Blue Team ran on.
Kronas Office, Queens, New York City
Iron Man and read team, meanwhile were in a bit of a pickle of their own. They had figured out that Aleksander Lukin had been behind the attack in Boston, likely as some test of the Cosmic Cube and had moved to arrest him. They made it to the Kronas Office okay, but from there nothing went right. Lukin had grown fairly adept at using the cube and had split Avengers: Red Team up. Many of those fights were being won, but Iron Man had no idea how the others were doing, or if Lukin was caught.
"How shall we find this man?" Hercules asked him as the two came out into a hallway littered with unconscious security personnel and wrecked equipment.
"I'd imagine we follow the carnage," Iron Man answered when he suddenly heard footsteps coming up from a different hallway. "Someone's coming!"
Iron Man and Hercules both readied themselves for a foe coming around the corner. However, it wasn't an enemy but at least part of the rest of Avengers: Red Team. Arachne, Black Widow, and Wonder Man came around the corner at a fairly high rate of speed.
"I take it you didn't get him?" Iron Man asked.
"No," Black Widow reported, "Lukin has gotten good at using the Cube… he's had us forced to duel with each other and when we broke his control… he vanished."
"We also feared he might have also captured Wasp and Ms. Marvel," Wonder Man added.
"Great," Iron Man grumbled, "that means all we have left is to follow the carnage and hope that it leads us to the fighting…"
Black Widow was about to report more a radio device in Iron Man's armor suddenly beeped.
"Great," Iron Man grumbled, "As if nothing else has gone wrong… Director Stark, Iron Man, what's going on?"
"Tony, it's Cap," came Captain America's voice over the radio.
A feeling of relief went through the Red Team members was visible, and Iron Man was quick to see if he could get some advice on how to deal with the Cosmic Cube.
"Cap!" Iron Man said quickly, "What… never mind… we could use some advice here."
Cap's answer, which cut him off took any relief that Iron Man felt.
"There's no time for that, Tony," Cap cut him off, "We need help… now."
The communication link that Cap was using then activated a series of video screens on the optics that Iron Man had in his helmet. None of the others could see it, but Tony inside his armor could. But what he saw was not something that Iron Man could think was any good. A figure looking like was wearing black leather and standing one hundred feet tall with his head on fire was walking down one New York City's streets and Iron Man thought he could see Doctor Strange held prisoner by this figure.
"Cap…" Iron Man said slowly.
"You remember that weird bank robbery you responded to, Tony?" Cap asked over the link.
"Yeah…"
"The guy who did it was a petty crook who got a magic hood from Dormammu," Cap answered, "and he just opened a portal that Dormammu just came through. We need your help desperately."
Inside his helmet, Tony's eyes widened in fear. It took him a few moments, but eventually he got enough together to make an answer.
"Cap… Red Team is not that much better off at the moment," Iron Man said nervously, "Lukin's had us on the ropes with the Cosmic Cube… I'm not sure we can do much."
"Forget Lukin!" Cap said urgently, "Dormammu is already here and I think he might be headed to try and get Doctor Strange's arcane artifacts. We'll all be defeated if he succeeds."
"I'll try," Iron Man said hesitantly.
"What's going on?" Wonder Man asked as the communications link shut off, "I heard Cap say something about Dormammu?"
"Who is Dormammu?" Arachne wondered.
"According to the files Doctor Strange has graciously given me… Dormammu is a powerful being from the Dark Dimension with powers beyond any human sorcerer," Iron Man answered, "and he's apparently been brought to Earth and is headed toward the Sanctum Sanctorum."
"As much as I'm sure you'll want to help," Black Widow said as tactfully as she could manage, "With Lukin likely holding Ms. Marvel, Wasp, and the Sentry prisoner at the moment, we have nothing that can stop him."
"We must do something…" Iron Man answered.
"We must stop Lukin FIRST," Black Widow answered, "It's tough, Tony, believe me… but if we rush off… with the powers of the cube, what's to say that Lukin doesn't rewrite New York to become his own little Kronas city… or worse what if he manages to rewrite history? The cube's powers are based on willpower. So long as Lukin can think of something, the cube is capable of responding…"
Iron Man let Black Widow's comment sink in while the others gave him some fairly concerned looks. Eventually something came to Iron Man's mind from what Black Widow spoke.
"That's it!" Iron Man stated suddenly.
"Fighting Lukin?" Black Widow asked.
"No," Iron Man answered, "We'll be fighting Dormammu with Cap's team… but we'll either get the cube from Lukin or make some attempt to get Lukin to join the fight against Dormammu."
The gasps of surprise were clearly audible. Iron Man didn't give them a chance to argue as he began to walk over the rubble and unconscious Kronas agents that had been left over from the Sentry's fight with the construct of the Void.
SVU Safe House, Elsewhere in Bronx
Madame Masque followed John into a rundown apartment a few blocks away from the bar that had just been raided by the Avengers. John looked slightly nervous as he had no powers and was afraid that if the Hood's scheme had attracted the attention of the Avengers there was a good chance they'd come after him to.
"We made it," John said slowly as he shut his door and locked it quickly.
Madame Masque looked around the room and found it desperately lacking. The furniture was very poor and Madame Masque could smell something that gave an indication to her that John didn't get to a laundromat very frequently. While Madame Masque had lost a lot of the wealth she had enjoyed as Whitney Frost and the Kingpin had broken the Maggia in New York and she couldn't rely on the organization's wealth, she was not used to the poor conditions that John lived in.
"Yes," Madame Masque said slowly, "We did…"
She looked back to John standing nervously near the door.
"No one followed us," Madame Masque answered in a very scolding tone, "the more you go around like a rat expecting the cat or the snake to catch it… the more suspicious your neighbors will be."
John finally sighed and moved over to a tattered couch and set the duffel bag full of money that was his take from the bank robbery. Madame Masque only walked a few more paces and set her bag down near an interior door. She glanced down at the bag for a moment. The fact that they had escaped the Avengers with money from a major bank was a victory that not even petty thugs had accomplished.
"Hopefully Parker gets through it okay," John said nervously, half to himself and half to Madame Masque.
"With all his power, you're worried about his survival?" Madame Masque wondered in almost amazement.
"His power is the hood and he didn't always have it," John answered, "before he got it… Parker and I were just a couple of petty thugs that got our butts handed to us by even the weakest superheroes."
"And with it he's proven be a force that no one can match," Madame Masque answered, "and quite different from other crime bosses I've dealt with. He stayed to fight the Avengers and let us get away…"
Madame Masque intended for that line to give the sniveling assistant some courage, but as she made her way into what was the kitchen, she was soon caught by a fiery glow coming from the general area of the bar that they had just been told to flee. She went to the window and looked out to see if the battle was visible. As she could see a dark figure standing above the old and rundown apartment buildings of the area and he seemed to be surrounded by fire. The figure, however, wasn't the Hood, Madame Masque knew that. But, the figure did scare her. She soon turned around and was about to head out of the apartment.
"Where are you going?" John asked as he saw Madame Masque head for the door, "Parker told us to STAY here until he came back."
"And I'm going to get him back, as I think something bigger than him might have grabbed him," Madame Masque answered, "and unless you've gained powers like the Hood's… you'll stay here."
"What is it?" John wondered nervously.
"A giant man on fire," Madame Masque answered, "And I'm only going to get our people out."
And with that, Madame Masque headed out.
The Bronx, With Dormammu
Doctor Strange, meanwhile, pressed as hard as he could against the golden cage that Dormammu had him in. He even tried a series of blasts of raw magic to push against the energy that held him prisoner. None of it worked and Dormammu continued to carry him along as he headed in a southward direction from the bar that had been wrecked by the battle with the Hood. He had some great fear at the fact that his great enemy had gained entry into Earth from the Dark Dimension, but some of what Dormammu was doing was odd to him. With his power, Doctor Strange expected Dormammu to launch a massive attack, using magic to overpower anything and everything and unleashing a horde of mindless ones take on anything that his magic didn't defeat or kill. But that hadn't happened.
"It feels marvelous to finally have you at my mercy, Stephen Strange," Dormammu said with a great smile, "You and your mentor have been thorns in my side for far too long."
"Your rule here will not be welcomed," Doctor Strange answered, "and I doubt that crook you tricked will entirely welcome your rule…"
Dormammu only laughed, "The Hood? No, I did not trick him. Yes, I needed him to gain entrance to Earth, but I did not trick him… I didn't even need to trick him. The poor little street punk thought that criminals had the right to rape, murder, and steal from people and was so desperate for the power that he willingly agreed to be my agent on Earth in exchange for the right to rape, murder, and steal… which will suit my purposes…"
That gave Doctor Strange some answers as to what the demon's plans where. The Hood and the SVU were to replace the mindless ones, on Earth anyway. He didn't know if many of the human criminals knew the truth of the Hood's bargain with Dormammu, but he also figured that they might ultimately be upset by it. That, though, wouldn't matter. The Avengers had largely beaten the SVU members they had encountered.
"You can't win… someone will stop you…" Doctor Strange vowed, knowing it wasn't much, but it was the best he could manage.
"I know you've suspected my presence and my actions," Dormammu answered with a chuckle, "Though I suspected you to still be dealing with Baron Mordo…"
Doctor Strange only watched slowly as Dormammu continued walking toward Manhattan and the river that separated the Bronx from Manhattan. He then glanced back to Dormammu, who actually looked amused by something.
"But yet even in the Dark Dimension I could feel a strange magic spreading around your world and growing in power, as if in anticipation of my arrival," Dormammu continued, "So I must commend you on your efforts to try and stop me… but you've failed as you didn't have your magic ready and now I will go to where that magic's power is centered and then I will take it as my own."
This only left Doctor Strange even more puzzled. He had suspected that there was something odd, as he had felt the Hood receiving his hood from Dormammu, but all he had felt was the crossing of the dimensional barrier between Earth and the Dark Dimension. However, that did not mean that had created some magic that was growing in power and encircling the globe to act as a shield from what he had sensed. Dormammu at his full strength was stronger than Doctor Strange could ever hope to be and anything that Doctor Strange could have done in preparation would only work if Dormammu's means of crossing the barrier left him weak. And while many of the other beings that were threats from the Dark Dimension were powerful, they were not on par with Dormammu. Something might very well be protecting the Earth, but Doctor Strange knew that he didn't create it.
"How do you know I haven't laid a trap for you?" Doctor Strange questioned, "If you've sensed me raising this shield… how do you know it's not a trap… something that will draw you in and contain you?"
"Because that's not how you operate," Dormammu answered, "and even if it was… it isn't ready yet."
Dormammu then looked straight to Doctor Strange and narrowed his eyes. Almost immediately, the golden orb began to tighten around Doctor Strange began to tighten around him. He was soon pushed to his knees as it got tighter around him.
"Am I right?" Dormammu questioned, "Or have you changed your modus operendi?"
Unable to hold off the force field around him, Doctor Strange caved, "Yes… yes… it's not ready yet."
"And so your bluff fails," Dormammu gave a confident smile and continued on.
Dormammu did not increase the size of the orb and left Doctor Strange in a very uncomfortable position and continued heading south. He finally made it until he was block from the river that he would need to cross on his way toward the source of the power he sensed. He took a couple of steps when he felt a blast of energy hit him in the back of head. It wasn't powerful enough to really hurt him. It felt more like a small pinprick, and Dormammu could quickly tell that the attack was with a biological energy, not arcane.
"Who dares…?!" Dormammu began as he stopped and turned to face what had hit him.
All it availed Dormammu was a large venom blast hitting him squarely in the face. Again it barely hurt, but caught by surprise, he squeezed his eyes shut as Spiderwoman arrived on the scene and moved to the orb to try and get Doctor Strange out of it.
"Don't worry Doc, I'll get you out of there in a second," Spiderwoman promised
She began to build up a charge for another venom blast when Dormammu recovered from her attacks and noticed her presence.
"Look out!" Doctor Strange yelled to her.
Spiderwoman turned to see the fire around Dormammu's head grow in size and see that the giant demon was looking directly at her, and he did not look happy. With a great growl, the fire around Dormammu grew greater and larger and Spiderwoman was forced to move away just avoid being cooked by the heat. She then directed her venom blast into Dormammu's face as he then reached to try and grab her. She only barely managed to fly out of his reach.
"That was incredibly stupid, woman," Dormammu said in a low and threatening voice.
"That was an attempt at distraction," Spiderwoman answered.
"For what?" Dormammu shot back, "You hold no magic whatsoever and your little blasts cannot harm me."
"For this!" came another voice from behind him.
Dormammu glanced back to be hit in the ear by what looked like a manhole cover. It hurt a little and made him focus more on who had attacked him now. He looked to see Spider-Man with two great strands of webbing on a couple of light poles and had another manhole cover in the middle of it, like it was a giant slingshot. He also looked to see Captain America, Wolverine, Ronin, and Luke Cage coming up quickly to join him. The only Avenger who appeared to be missing was Iron Fist.
"And what is this?" Dormammu asked, placing one hand on his hip and sounding almost amused by the sight.
Spider-Man only let the manhole cover go and his improvised slingshot sent the manhole cover flying. This time Dormammu dodged it and dodged it easier.
"It would appear, arachnid that you have not gotten any smarter since our last encounter," Dormammu commented, "Fitting though that you're again trying to save Doctor Strange… though your efforts are futile."
"You've fought him before?" Luke Cage asked in a surprised voice.
"No," Spider-Man answered, "Let's just say he'd made an attempt with an army of mindless ones and hoped we'd fight them in a way that he could manipulate from his end. Doctor Strange was the one who fought him. I only got in the way… It's a long story and if we survive this, I'll tell you later."
Luke Cage shrugged and watched Cap step forward.
"I don't know what your plan for Earth is… beyond conquest… but you must know that we won't just stand by and let you conquer us!" Cap stated clearly.
"And how will you stop me?" Dormammu questioned.
Cap responded by throwing his shield at Dormammu aiming for the inside of the giant's knees. Dormammu dodged it, but unseen to him, the shield bounced off a building and went up. By this time, Iron Fist had arrived and moved close enough to leap into the air. He caught the shield and readied it with the same chi focus he used to achieve the 'iron fist.' He landed on Dormammu's back and then climbed up and rushed toward the demon's head. Dormammu glanced back only to see Iron Fist slam Cap's shield into his cheek. Iron Fist felt the heat, but thanks to his training and manipulating his chi, he was able to just avoid being cooked by the flames. And in fact, he swore he could hear a bone in Dormammu's face crack as he landed the blow.
After landing the blow, Iron Fist made the leap all the way down to land gracefully next to Cap. He then handed the shield back to the star spangled Avenger.
"Through teamwork," Cap said firmly.
Dormammu only boiled over in a rage, "GNATS! INSECTS! YOU DARE STRIKE ME?!"
He had humored these lesser beings when they had a prospect of amusing him or allowing him to toy with them, but that blow had put an end to that. And the fire around him erupted everywhere, engulfing buildings and surrounding the Avengers in them. The flames then created what would serve as a small scale battle arena where Dormammu hoped to make Doctor Strange watch the complete destruction of his allies.
Kronas Office, Queens, New York City
Ms. Marvel watched on in horror and surprise as the Sentry screamed in pain as the cosmically created machine drained him of his powers. She didn't think the Sentry had what it took to be an Avenger, but she had expected him to make some sort of mental mistake. That he would either go nuts or do something stupid. But then, it also appeared that they had underestimated Lukin's ability to either anticipate what would happen or at least respond with the cosmic cube's powers. As she looked on, she heard a small groan and looked over to see Wasp beginning to regain consciousness.
"Ung… what happened?" Wasp as she slowly got herself up to a sitting position, though she still had to keep her legs under her, "I remember trying to get the cube from Lukin and then… then… it was like I had to defend 'my nest' from attackers…"
"He turned you into a giant wasp and had you attack us," Ms. Marvel answered the other 'classic' Avenger, "and it hasn't gotten any better."
Wasp then raised an eyebrow and then looked at the metal prison she and Ms. Marvel and then the energy bars around them. While she was certain she could shrink down and escape the metal cage, but the energy cage looked like they were close enough that at her smaller size that she couldn't escape. She briefly considered growing to her giant size, but then realized that she'd probably crush and kill Ms. Marvel before the bars would break.
"Can you reach the energy bars?" Wasp asked, "Absorb their power and then hurl it at them?"
"No," Ms. Marvel gave a grown, "and our cage is presently the least of our worries."
Wasp raised an eyebrow, but Ms. Marvel only pointed. She looked out beyond their prison to see Lukin sitting calmly in what looked like some sort of 'Star Trek captain's chair' and holding the Cosmic Cube in one hand. Behind him on the roof of his building was a large satellite dish that seemed to glow with the same shade of blue that the cube was glowing. That however, wasn't what scared Wasp the most. What scared her was the sight of the Sentry in some sort of strange machine that was holding him in a position that he looked like a capital letter 'x' and was making him scream with pain.
"What is he doing to him?" Wasp gasped.
"I'm pretty sure he's draining the Sentry of his powers," Ms. Marvel answered, "and if he can do that… what else can he do?"
Lukin, meanwhile, kept his focus on the depowering of the Sentry. The hero was among the most powerful on Earth and it was unlikely that he could kill man. But, he could strip the Sentry of his powers and add them to the powers he had with the cube. That would finally allow him to gain some justice for all the suffering that he had seen and endured.
"Lukin! Stop this! You're killing him!" Wasp screamed from where he had the other two Avengers imprisoned.
"If he dies, it is his own fault for siding with a system that lets murders and tyrants like the Red Skull walk free," Lukin answered.
Wasp never answered as a more mechanical voice answered him.
"You know full well that the situation was far more complicated than you've mentioned," came Iron Man's voice.
Lukin turned to see Iron Man landing on the roof near him with Arachne, Black Widow, Wonder Man, and Hercules.
"One does not make deals with evil, Iron Man," Lukin answered, "One fights it. And you and your team made the wrong choice!"
He then fired a blast of energy from the cube, hoping to destroy Iron Man in one shot. The others around him dodged away and Iron Man lifted up into the air. Iron Man then fired his repulsor rays at the chair that Lukin was seated in. Lukin only raised the roof up to absorb Iron Man's attack.
"In a perfect world, you'd be absolutely right," Iron Man answered, "but the world is all too imperfect. If it were, the Nazis would have never existed and the wrongs you're seeking to avenge would never be an issue."
"But with the cube I can make the world perfect," Lukin gave a smile, "I'll remove you as the Skull's tools and I'll incarcerate him on his island, never able to leave it! And the world will thank me for it!"
The section of the roof that Lukin had raised as a shield soon turned into a metal pterosaur by the cube's powers and prepared to fly up at Iron Man. It made a few short wing beats when two strands of webbing caught its wings and then pulled back to the ground. Lukin turned to see Arachne holding those weblines. Black Widow then vaulted over Spider-Man's partner and blew the construct apart with shots from a rifle she had liberated from one of his security personnel. This actually surprised him as his powers should have been greater than that.
"What the?" Lukin wondered when his cube started to flicker.
He then turned around to see that Wonder Man and Hercules had both made it to the satellite dish that was amplifying the cube's powers. Hercules had actually removed part of the satellite dish's outer covering and Wonder Man had disconnected several wires.
"Get away from there!" Lukin demanded and pointed the cube at them.
The piece of the satellite dish's exterior suddenly gained weight. Hercules struggled to hold it up, but after a few moments the piece he was holding was too heavy for him to stand and he was pushed to the ground by it. It didn't kill him, but Hercules was unable to push it off of him. At the same time, the wires that Wondor Man had pulled had also came to life with a blue glow and soon wrapped around him like they were snakes.
"You've all bitten off more than you can chew," Lukin growled, "you hide behind things being complicated and then do nothing good… I will…"
Lukin was unable to finish as a repuslor ray hit him in the back and sent him flying. The blast knocked the cosmic cube out of his hand. He gave a frightened cry as it flew through the air, only to be caught by a strand of webbing and was soon yanked away. When he looked up, he saw Arachne holding the cube. He was somewhat puzzled when the red haired heroine didn't crush it. Instead, Arachne seemed to be looking toward the Sentry, Ms. Marvel, and Wasp.
"Just think about releasing them from their prisons," Iron Man instructed, "that's how the cube works."
"Right," Arachne nodded.
Lukin watched as the devices draining the Sentry of his powers vanished and the other captured Red Team members were released. Black Widow caught the Sentry and Ms. Marvel and Wasp made a beeline for Lukin. To Lukin's greater surprise, Iron Man stopped them.
"We can't hurt him," Iron Man stated.
"He turned me into an insect!" Wasp protested, "An INSECT!"
"He nearly killed the Sentry!" Ms. Marvel added, "Him and that cube need to go!"
"Eventually," Iron Man nodded, "but that moment is not now."
This only puzzled Lukin further. In a matter of minutes he'd been outmaneuvered and lost the weapon that allowed him to be in the position to win the fight to begin with. He expected to be brutally punished for not fitting into idea of America where only the rich mattered. And yet Iron Man… Tony Stark… was blocking that. Eventually Iron Man turned around to face Lukin who slowly managed to get back to his feet.
"Okay… you've beaten me," Lukin grumbled, "that still does not make you right."
"I'm sure," Iron Man said slowly, "You still think you're in the right by doing what you've done?"
Lukin only glared back defiantly.
"Look," Iron Man continued, "We know you had it rough and you're wanting to correct things that you see as wrong… on some level you could even say that we're all on the same side…"
"I do not follow evil," Lukin shot back.
"From your point of view, you don't," Black Widow answered, "but you're quite willing to put a lot of people through hell to achieve what you see as 'good.' Remember… I KNOW what you and the KGB had done with the Winter Soldier."
"You want to prove you're good, don't you?" Iron Man asked, "instead of fighting us… why not use the cube against someone who really is evil!"
"That's what I have done," Lukin shot back, "My cube and my company will imprison the Red Skull on his island and he'll never threaten anyone!"
"But he's not attacking right now," Iron Man answered, "and the force that is attacking is just as powerful as the Red Skull."
"Huh?" Wasp, Ms. Marvel, and Sentry asked practically all at the same time.
Iron Man only raised a hand and pointed to the chair that Lukin had been seated in. He then channeled the images from his communications link with Cap to project the image there for all to see. It showed Dormammu carrying off Doctor Strange and flames seeming to follow him.
"What are…?" Lukin began
"That is Dormammu carrying off Doctor Strange," Iron Man answered, "He's a tyrant from another dimension and is surely here for conquest."
"Iron Man…" Ms. Marvel said slowly, "How did you…?"
Iron Man inwardly sighed as her voice carried a great deal of confusion in it. He then began to slowly explain the overall situation.
"Back during the issues directly related to the Registration Act, I responded to a bank robbery in which a strange man in a hood and Madame Masque robbed the back and did serious damage in doing so," Iron Man said slowly, "The attack also carried the residue of 'otherworldly energy' about it. The criminal who did it apparently made a deal with Dormammu and is called the Hood."
"And he's brought this Dormammu here?" the Sentry asked.
"Yes," Iron Man nodded, "Cap's team has been trying to catch the Hood and I think they did beat him… but not before he could summon Dormammu."
"And what does all this have to do with me?" Lukin demanded.
"A bit of a plea bargain," Iron Man answered, "You can't win. Even if you still had the cube we'd still beat you… but Dormammu's powers in magic are greater than Doctor Strange's and defeating him, while possible would potentially destroy the city in the process."
"So you need the cube to fight this demon?" Lukin questioned with some of his defiance returning.
"Yes," Iron Man said slowly, "and if you agree… I work with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s lawyers to get the charges for the attacks on US businesses reduced and you will get the chance to make the
'argument' that you were trying to do good… or you can insist on fighting us, we'll take the Cube and you'll be arrested for fighting an undeclared war against the United States… and that's if Dormammu doesn't kill you in his attempt at conquest."
Lukin looked among the Avengers. Wonder Man had pulled himself out of the wires and had helped get Hercules free. Their faces looked calm and determined, though it didn't look like Hercules entirely trusted him. The Sentry, Ms. Marvel, and Wasp looked firm and at least antagonistic, if not outright hostile. Black Widow looked firm and suspicious while Arachne's face was a bit tougher to read. All that Lukin could see were her lips, but since they weren't in a smile or any sort of 'seductive' posture that would be expected from a super model, he expected the new heroine to be suspicious of him as well. Iron Man was completely unreadable as all Lukin see on his 'face' was his own reflection on the golden armored face mask of Iron Man's helmet.
"Very well," Lukin said slowly, and doing little to hide the defeat in his voice, "I will help you…"
"Okay then," Iron Man then nodded.
Lukin glanced to see Arachne step forward with the cube in her hands. As she got closer he reached out for it again, and as soon as his fingers could feel the energy radiating off of the cube, Black Widow spoke up in a word of warning.
"And if you betray us in any way, you will seriously regret doing so," Black Widow said firmly.
"We'll deal with that after the devil's demise," Lukin retorted and took the cube back into his hands, "Now stand close. The satellite dishes will amplify my cube's powers to help keep the Red Skull contained… so I'm sure getting us all there should be easy."
The Red Team Avengers gave short glances and finally moved closer to him as a ball of electric blue energy surrounded all of them. After only a moment, the rooftop at the Kronas building in Queens was empty.
The Bronx, With Dormammu
Moving toward the Harlem River and ultimately to the power that he sensed was now completely forgotten as Avengers: Blue Team had succeeded in making far too much of a nuisance of itself. They couldn't truly hurt him seriously, but they were proving difficult to catch, and their teamwork managed to allow them to land blows that Dormammu did have to admit hurt him at least a little.
The worst of them was Spider-Man. He bounced around the buildings, easily crossing the street and smothering flames, both on Dormammu's body and on the outside of buildings with his webbing. With that, Dormammu made his main effort to try and capture the web slinging superhero. But every attempt seemed to end in failure. It was as if Spider-Man could sense his attacks.
"AAARRRRGGGH!" Dormammu gave a frustrated growl as he slammed a fist down trying to catch Spider-Man as he leaped between buildings.
Spider-Man responded by curling into a ball while still in midair and the blow missed him, though only just barely. As the giant fist went past him, Spider-Man uncurled himself and fired a massive amount of webbing down to hold Dormammu's hand down. It wouldn't last long, but it was just enough for Ronin and Wolverine to charge and slash at the exposed hand. Wolverine took off a thumb and Ronin's sword took off a pinky finger. Dormammu gave some roar of pain as he then backed off, ripping his hand free and pulling some of the webbing with him.
"Well… that hurt him…" Spider-Man said slowly.
"Not enough," Ronin said as they watched Dormammu regenerate the severed fingers.
"Nuts," Spider-Man said slowly as Dormammu sent a massive blast of fire down on them.
Spider-Man and Ronin managed to leap away, but the blast caught Wolverine directly. Both Avengers cringed as they heard a great scream of pain escape Wolverine's lungs as the flames pushed him down. The flames only stopped coming when Dormammu's arm was pushed to a side by Cap's shield. With that, Luke Cage ran into the fire and managed to grab Wolverine and carried him out. Luke emerged with his shirt burned off and his pants in tatters, but his impenetrable skin managed to withstand the flames. Wolverine, however, didn't look as good.
"We gotta think of a new strategy, Cap," Luke Cage said urgently, "he's gonna squash us eventually if we keep going like this. Wolverine is out of it until he can heal… and that looks like he'll be out for several hours…"
"And my venom blasts are at the low end of their ability to cause any damage," Spiderwoman said as she came in for a landing, "I'm barely tickling him now, and the orb he's got around Doctor Strange hasn't been damaged in any way."
Cap only gave a sigh. Things weren't going well, but he hoped that Iron Man would respond and would bring Red Team to their aid. Dormammu had to be after something and if he was allowed to get to it, things would be bad.
"Luke, can you get Logan to a spot where he can heal safely?" Cap asked.
"Yeah," Luke nodded.
"I'll cover you," Iron Fist volunteered.
"And then there were four," Spider-Man said slowly as Luke Cage left with Wolverine and Iron Fist.
"We've got to hold out until Tony can get here with Red Team," Cap answered, "We can't let him get to wherever he's going."
"I'm going to crush you!" Dormammu spoke in a triumphant voice and raised a foot above them while wrapping it in fire.
Spider-Man fired a webline out and grabbed Cap by an arm and swung up and away. Spiderwoman dove forward and practically tackled Ronin and then flew up. Dormammu's foot ultimately missed crushing them, though only just barely, and the two sets of heroes ended up on the rooftops of buildings that were on opposite sides of the street with Dormammu between them.
"Doctor Strange is key to this," Cap said, "He can at least engage Dormammu in a way that can hurt him."
"Any idea on how to get him out of that orb?" Spider-Man asked, "Because in the couple of times I got close enough to punch it, all I got was a bad shock."
"Dormammu must be focused on keeping it up," Cap answered, "Can you distract him?"
"Sure, but how are you going to get up to the Doc?" Spider-Man asked back.
"When I give the signal, shoot me a line," Cap answered, "Now go!"
Spider-Man was soon off again and moved to actually swing around Dormammu. As he did so, he shot various weblines at the giant demon's legs, hoping to ensnare them. This met with some success, though not as much as Spider-Man would have helped.
"Worthless bugs!" Dormammu roared as his fires burned through some of Spider-Man's webbing, but as the arachnid themed hero fired more weblines, it didn't entirely free himself, "I'll burn you all!"
Dormammu turned to try and grab Spider-Man as he swung around only to catch several throwing stars hitting him in the hand. It didn't hurt him any more than a normal person would be hurt by a paper cut, but it was enough to get him to pull his hand back.
"If we were worthless, you wouldn't be tripping all over yourself trying to catch us!" Spiderwoman commented as she flew up and hit Dormammu in the face with a series of venom blasts.
Again, the attack didn't do him any real harm, but it was enough to force Dormammu to squeeze his eyes shut. This was what Cap was waiting for.
"Now, Spider-Man! Slingshot me to Doctor Strange!" Cap called.
Spider-Man headed Cap's call and swung back around and then fired a webline down toward Cap. Cap caught the line and leaped into the air. Once he felt Cap's weight pulling on the end of the line, Spider-Man pulled in the other direction. The result was very much like a slingshot, in the sense that the elasticity of Spider-Man's webbing hurled Captain America into the air. Using every bit of combat skill that he had, Cap rolled through the air and readied his shield. He eventually landed on top of the golden orb that was Doctor Strange's prison. As soon as he made contact, Cap felt a powerful shocking sensation, like being hit by a Taser line.
"We'll have you out shortly!" Cap said to Doctor Strange, "Don't worry!"
Inside the orb, Doctor Strange watched as Cap then raised his shield up and then brought the edge down on the orb. Even from the inside, he could see the energy flocking to that area like electricity, and he could see Cap gritting his teeth to hold back any scream of pain from the shocks he was taking. But even with his determination, Cap wouldn't be able to break through on his own. With the orb's energies focused on repelling Cap's attack, Doctor Strange readied his own attack from the inside of the orb, generating two daggers of his own magical energies and thrust them up on the other side of the orb where Cap's shield was. Again the orb reacted and Doctor Strange could also feel energy reverberating through him, but weakened by Cap's attack on one side, an opening rapidly formed and Doctor Strange took advantage of it to fly through and lifting Cap up with him as he escaped the orb.
"Well done, Captain," Doctor Strange spoke, "I had not thought you would be able to get Dormammu to back off from his goals and then keep him distracted for so long."
"We got a long way to go to stop him," Cap answered, "Is there any way you can send him back?"
"If we can get him BACK to the bar where the Hood summoned him, yes," Doctor Strange answered, "but that is where the problem is. We will need to at least render him unconscious first as I doubt he will go willingly."
As they reached the rooftop, Doctor Strange heard the confirmation of what he feared. Dormammu had recovered from Spider-Man's webs, Spiderwoman's venom blasts, and Ronin's throwing stars.
"Indeed, Doctor Strange," Dormammu rumbled, "You've all done far more than I'd expected from such weak mortals, but it is nowhere near enough to stop me! I will destroy you all and then I will collect the energies that Doctor Strange tried to raise to stop me."
"Huh?" Cap asked as he found himself looking between Doctor Strange and Dormammu.
Doctor Strange didn't answer, but as Cap looked up toward Dormammu he saw the sky above the demon's head begin to crackle with electric blue light.
The Bronx, The Bar
Madame Masque returned to the bar to find it a complete and utter wreck. The building was destroyed for all intents and purposes and members of the SVU that had been left to fight the Avengers were all unconscious. She also saw the Hood wrapped up in Spider-Man's webbing. But, as bad as it looked, it wasn't a complete loss. The Avengers weren't there, and the take from the bank robbery was still there.
"They're not here," Madame Masque said slowly and then heard some explosions in the near distance.
She looked up to see a great figure covered in fire standing a few blocks away, though she could only see the head above the buildings. Higher in the sky, beams of electric blue light was crackling through the air.
"And that's where the Avengers are," Madame Masque thought, "the Hood summoned something that they've had to fight on their own and letting us escape."
Madame Masque then pulled out a cellphone that she kept in her belt. She dialed a number and waited for the answer. Eventually she got an answer.
"Hello?" came the voice of Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, also known as the Spot, from the other end of the line.
"It's me," Madame Masque answered, "Get down here, Spot. The Avengers raided us as the last groups got their takes from the robbery in Newark."
"The Avengers?" Ohnn asked nervously.
"Yeah," Madame Masque answered, "The Hood called in something to fight them for us, but it took A LOT out of him. Get here so we can begin getting the rest of the Union and the takes OUT before the Avengers return."
Madame Masque then hung up and waited quietly. Barely a minute later, a black portal appeared and the Spot emerged from it. He looked around and then gulped.
"Wow," Spot said slowly.
"Forget awe," Madame Masque answered, "we need to get the Hood, the others, and their takes OUT!"
"Right," Spot answered, "Easily done. Where are we to go?"
"John's apartment," Madame Masque answered.
"Here we go, then," Spot replied.
Black portals then opened underneath the unconscious SVU members and the Hood, as well as underneath their takes. Then one opened underneath Madame Masque and the Spot. They all then dropped down into them and left the scene.
A few moments later, Luke Cage and Iron Fist arrived at the scene with the wounded Wolverine. The Canadian X-Man/Avenger was recovering, but he'd still need time to recover.
"Okay, I think we're at a spot that's safe enough," Iron Fist commented.
"Best to get him into the area where we originally come from before raiding the bar," Luke Cage answered, "Don't want one of the Hood's buddies to come and grab us while Wolverine's out cold."
Iron Fist nodded, "I'll help, let me get a head of you and we'll pass him along."
The two went about their work and tried avoid getting Wolverine to a safe place and didn't notice that the Hood and the other SVU members were no longer in the ruins of the bar where the fight had started.
The Bronx, With Dormammu
Dormammu was about to strike at Cap, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange when he suddenly sensed something above him. It was the same energy that he had sensed Doctor Strange spreading. Somehow it was coming to him, which was somewhat surprising. Strange had cast no spell to summon it, and given the level of Strange's powers, to make it 'self-thinking' would weaken any potential strength it would have against him. He had no time to figure that all out and only looked up to see blue electricity crackling in the sky above him.
Then with a great flash, Dormammu was forced to take a step back and was partially blinded. On the rooftops, Avengers: Blue Team was also blinded. When Cap could see again he saw Iron Man flying down toward him with Hercules hanging from his arms. The rest of Avengers: Red Team was with them, but that wasn't the biggest surprise. The biggest surprise was Lukin's presence with them. Ms. Marvel carried Lukin with one hand and Black Widow with the other.
"Lukin…?" Cap spoke, puzzled by the man's presence, "What are you…?"
"Doing here?" Lukin asked and then looked at Dormammu, "For the moment assisting in dealing with a great demon."
"It's a long story, but if what you said about Dormammu being at full strength is true, we'll need the cube's powers and that means Lukin."
"I hope you know what you're doing," Cap said slowly to Iron Man.
"Captain, you must know that I'm not about to let some monster like that take over the planet," Lukin answered, "Everything I've done has been done for a point of justice and fairness as I see it. Some demon from hell fits into the same list of enemies that I would place the Red Skull with."
Cap only scowled, as a lot of what Lukin had done didn't fit his idea of justice, but he decided to let it go. Dormammu was by far the bigger threat. And he was now aware of the arrival of the other team of Avengers.
"So, the energy wasn't Doctor Strange's work…" Dormammu mused, "But it is no matter… it is powerful and I will have it."
The group then looked up to see Dormammu send down a massive blast of fire down toward them all. Lukin raised his hand, and projected a great blue shield of energy that absorbed the blast, though Cap also noticed that Lukin was pushed back an inch or two.
"General… can you use the cube's powers to contain or at least engage him?" Doctor Strange questioned, "His powers are great… greater than even mine in magic."
"With the cube and my satellites amplifying its powers, I can do anything," Lukin boasted.
"Rendering him unconscious and returning him to a bar that he destroyed when first appeared should suffice," Doctor Strange told him, "from there we can send him back."
"And what if the cube isn't quiet powerful enough to do that easily?" Arachne wondered from where she stood, half scooting toward Spider-Man, "Suppose it's strong enough to kill this guy, but not strong enough to restrain him…"
"I'd prefer to hope for a solution where we don't come to that," Doctor Strange answered.
"I can hold him off!" Lukin said confidently and then pointed the cube toward the river.
The Avengers of both teams watched as water rose up into the air and took on the form of various Russian attack helicopter designs.
"What will you be doing?" Lukin then questioned.
"Readying the spell needed to send him back to where he came from," Doctor Strange answered and then vanished in a flash of purple light.
Dormammu, meanwhile, looked over the battlefield that was rapidly growing larger. He had essentially beaten Blue Team, and was now faced with Avengers: Red Team and Lukin. However, he still felt more powerful than all of them and wasn't about to let either team beat him. His first target would be Lukin. He would defeat the man and take the cube from him. Combined with his magic, he would then be unstoppable.
"It doesn't matter what your plans are," Dormammu gave a wicked smile and the fires around him burned brighter.
To Be Continued…
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Late 20th Century Proverb, though it is also said to be an old Arab proverb