Godzilla l Marvel Saga: Book 1: Worlds Collide

by HeatseekerX51

Reed Richards has done it. He's discovered an alternate universe, this one populated not by super-powered heroes and villains, but by god-like monsters. In an attempt to help them protect their world, Mr. Fantastic, along with other Marvel heroes unwittingly begin a conflict that will last for years. The lives of heroes and villains from both sides will never be the same.

21. Chapter 21: Finale-Only Prologue

NEW YORK CITY

21:52 hrs

The city's recovery in the wake of the monster attacks had been a steady process. Salvage and utility repair crews working around the clock, shelters established to distribute food and supplies to the needy. But that did not mean that predators of a purely human nature would be taking the night off. Times of crisis and chaos were often prime opportunities for the criminal element to enrich themselves.

Leaving the underground garage of the Citigroup Bank, the armored transport truck carrying millions of dollars in hard cash and precious metals was en route to a facility that wasn't stationed in such a heavily active area. Accompanied by an escort of two black SUVs, it was presumed to be well protected. With so many first responders and National Guard deployed, they had good reason to think that.

As the three-vehicle convoy took a sharp right turn off of Park Avenue, the headlights were taken up with a massive human shape stepping into their path at the last second. The lead SUV had no time to adjust, and collided head-on into the person's torso. But instead of plowing through the man and pulverizing everything on his insides, the vehicle came to a dead stop so hard the momentum lifted the rear axle off the ground. The suited guards inside were saved from smashing their skulls into the windshield only by the very limits of their seatbelts integrity.

"Sorry, am I in the way?" The sarcastically husky voice asked. "Let me give you a hand!"

Corpulent digits gripped around the sides of the front bumper, and the vehicle was hefted off the asphalt.

When the armored vehicle rounded the corner, the first thing the driver and his partner saw was the black SUV careening at them. The roof smashed into the cab of the transport, the driver reflexively tearing the wheel to the side in a hopeless attempt to avoid the collision. Both skidded to a chaotic halt with sparks flying and metal screaming.

Satisfied with his work, Fred Dukes, commonly known as Blob, strolled ponderously towards the wreckage. He wore an oversized pair of jeans, brown combat boots, and a faded green vest over a stained white shirt. His wide and pudgy face smirking under a dirty blonde Mohawk.

The trail vehicle twisted sideways as it braked, the guard's shock gluing them to their seats as they tried to comprehend what had happened.

"Hi-ya boys!"

Leaping onto the hood and looking at the men upside-down, Toad spat a wad of acidic spit that splattered across the window. A disgusting brownish-yellow, the fluid ate through the glass in seconds and dripped down. The men scrambled out of the vehicle, and as soon as they did, the driver found his head enwrapped in a tongue several feet long. Toad leaped backwards, driving both feet into the escaping passenger's chest to knock him down, and slammed the driver's head into the frame of the door. Both men fell to the ground unconscious as Toad recoiled his tongue and jumped off the vehicle.

Blob was already smashing the back doors of the transport open by the time Toad joined him, wearing a likewise street-worn pair of jeans, disintegrating sneakers, and a perforated olive green t-shirt. His unkempt brown hair peeking out from under a blue baseball cap possibly as old as he was, and a pair of wrap-around tinted goggles that protected his eyes.

"What a score!" He exclaimed. "Those Brotherhood snobs are gonna feel real stupid for giving us the boot."

"Yeah!" Prying the reinforced doors apart, Blob's stared greedily at the store of treasure just within arm's reach. "I'll make Quicksilver pay for that, 'leaner, meaner Brotherhood' crack!"

"Hey!"

Surprising them both, Blob and Toad turned to see a male figure leaning between the headlights of the rear vehicle, obscuring his identity.

"I'll give the Brotherhood credit for at least having fitness standards, even if they are a bunch of terrorists!"

A vein in Blob's forehead throbbed in partial response to the jab, but mostly due to high blood-pressure.

"Why you little-!" He grabbed a sack of gold bars from the truck, and hurled it at the solitary character. The bag's aim was true and sailed directly for their midsection with enough force to shatter the ribcage of any normal human. But the man ascended into the air in a nimbus of fire, and the sack embedded itself in the grill of the truck like a cannonball.

"We haven't met before, I'm Johnny Storm!" He taunted from his vantage.

"Holy cripes!" Toad shouted, pointing up to the hovering Torch. "It's the Fantastic Four!"

Johnny shrugged, "Actually it's just me. The other three are at home."

Blob and Toad traded confused expressions.

"Not that I'd need the rest of them to deal with you two."

The former Brotherhood members reacted with snarls. "Why don't you come down here and run your mouth pretty boy!" Blob barked, shaking his fist.

"Yeah!" Toad agreed.

"Are you sure you want me to do that?" Johnny asked with concerned sincerity. "You are aware that I am literally covered in fire, right?"

"You think we ain't dealt with freaks like you before?!" Blob reach back, ripped off one of the transport vehicle's rear doors, and hurled it like a Frisbee with a hearty grunt.

"Whoa!" Swerving to his left, Johnny easily dodged the make-shift projectile. "Did you just call me a freak?". Pointing his thumb to his chest. "Coming from a guy whose superpower is being a walking blocked artery!"

Toad sprung, making a wild lunge with arms outstretch to tackle the Torch. But the attack was a ruse, he shot his tongue out to the side of a building and slung himself away just as Johnny dropped to avoid the collision. Torch threw a fireball after him, but it missed its mark when Toad rebounded off a brick face. He leaped from that wall down to the trail vehicle, to where the armed security guards still lay.

The sound of metal tearing and screaming drew Johnny's attention back towards the girthy thug, the other door being prepared to be used as a lethal discus. Just as Blob managed to pry it free, Torch was there to bathe it in flame, within a second heating it to the point that Dukes was forced to drop it, and yelp over the searing pain in his hands.

"YAAAAAARG!"

"I tried to warn you guys." Johnny said, keeping his distance and watching Blob try to cool his hands down. "I'm just too hot for you."

A loud CRACK sound was matched by a spark on the metal frame of the transport vehicle. Both Blob and Johnny Storm instinctively ducked their heads.

Standing over one of the fallen security guards, Toad held the man's gun at arm's length, the weapon quivering slightly as he aimed it at Torch.

"Can you melt bullets fast enough? Eh? Smart-ass?"

Johnny froze for a moment, not knowing if he could defend from a gunshot, especially at this close a range. And for a few seconds he kept staring at Toad, wondering if the mutant really would pull the trigger, wondering if this was how he died; gunned down in the street by a couple of low-life rejects from a terrorist group.

Toad's finger began to squeeze the trigger. The first shot had been hasty, a hip shoot. This one he took the time to point at the superhero's heart, no missing this time.

A glob of webbing however put a startling end to the tension. The shot went off just as the web-line yanked it upwards, throwing the bullet off its mark and tearing the weapon out of Toad's hand.

Spider-Man swooped over the street, flinging the gun up against a streetlight where the webbing glued it. He, landing atop the cash transport became the focus of attention for the other three.

"Hey guys, hope I'm not interrupting anything. Johnny, interesting circle of friends you have."

Toad snarled. "We ain't friends! Ya' wall crawling loser!"

The jab caught both Spider-Man and Torch off guard, and they traded confused glances.

"Did he just…?" Spider-Man asked.

"I know." Johnny said, waving his hand in frustration. "Apparently bantering isn't part of the Brotherhood training program. Or maybe that's why they got the boot?"

"I'll show ya what I'm good at!" Blob kicked the vehicle, sending it skidding across the pavement. Spider-Man flipped himself away, and cast a pair of web lines that attached to Dukes' shoulders. He pulled on the tension and used it to propel himself forward to drive both feet into the mutant's face.

The result however, was that the legs folded against an immovable object as Blob's flesh absorbed the force of the impact. Dukes grabbed Spider-Man around the belly and brought him close for a bear hug, pinning the wall-crawler's arms against his sides.

"Not gonna work on me little man!"

"Ahh!" Parker cried, feeling his organs being crushed and his back steadily bending. He tried to wrestle himself free, but not even his strength could muscle through Blob's gelatinous hold.

Johnny meanwhile had turned his attention to Toad, and was keeping him on the move with a barrage of fireballs. Toad landed on the cover of a dumpster, and was leaping off again just as a spherical flame crashed into the very spot. He twisted in the air as he went, and shot a gob of his own venomous projectile.

A wash of fire was thrown up defensively, intercepting the acidic spit. The chemical reaction proved volatile, the two components mixing to create a noxious vapor. Johnny couldn't block the cloud as it surrounded him, but amidst a coughing fit, he intensified his flames to try and burn it away.

"Flame off!" Using his extendable tongue, Toad launched a manhole cover at Torch, the metal plate flipping until it smacked into the distracted Torch's midsection and struck him out of the air. The flames around his body died out as he fell.

"TOOFF!" Having the wind knocked out of him as he hit the pavement, Johnny clutched at his ribs and rolled onto his side. At first he looked up to see Spider-Man still in the devastating hold, then he glanced over his shoulder to watch his own opponent jump down from atop a car and approach.

"Yeah…" Toad growled, strutting up to circle around him. "Not so mouthy now are ya, huh? Rich boy got a taste of the streets now."

While it might be ungainly and grotesque to any observer, Toad knew perfectly well how dangerous his tongue really was, a weapon he could wield with precision.

The appendage shout out of his mouth quick as a flash, its intended target was to smash in Johnny's face. It wouldn't be the first time he'd killed a man with such a swift blow.

But those previous men had not been members of the Fantastic Four. Johnny twisted his head out of the bludgeonous muscle's path, and instead, wrapped his arms and legs around it and held on tightly. Toad instantly realized the mistake he'd made, his eyes widening in fear.

Johnny burst into flames, the chemicals that coated the tongue causing it to catch fire along its length. Toad made a terrifying screaming sound, flailing his appendage around in maddening pain to extinguish the fire. Torch let the tongue go, and as the mutant slapped it against the ground, he ran over and laid a right cross into his cheek so hard Johnny fell down with him.

Spider-Man felt the breath being pressed out of his lungs, the continued pressure making it nearly impossible for him to suck any new air in.

"Gotta get outta this quick! Come on Spidey, he's gotta have a weak spot somewhere!"

Throwing his head back to try and get a better look at his situation, the pudgy, nasty face of Blob sneered down at him.

"That's it! And… eww."

Twisting his arm around, Spidey managed to maneuver his arm against the fat tissue, and angle his wrist upwards. In rapid succession, he fired a series of webbing nets that suspended a few seconds before drifting back down. They covered Blob's head and stuck to his skin, obstructing his eyes, nostrils, and mouth to the point that he himself couldn't breathe.

"Hey!" The monster of a man muttered, his words muffled under the artificial adhesive. "Whadidthistuff?!"

His breathing became rapid and labored quickly, and Blob finally released Spider-Man to pry his fleshy fingers at the webbing while he stomped about.

Spider-Man dropped to the street, sucking in a breath of his own to expand his chest out to its normal size, the pain in his back and ribs making it no less an effort than what Dukes' was going through.

"Ohhh… I'm gonna be feel this for the next week."

Blob was pulling a handful of the webbing from his face when he lost his balance and began to tip over, directly onto Spider-man. Peter Parker was drenched by a warning from his spidey-senses, and he could literally feel a warp in gravity as the weighty shadow fell over him. Instead of running or slinging away however, he saw the opportunity presented.

Spider-Man reached up as the behemoth collapsed, and lifted his legs defensively. When Blob came down, his thighs were met by Peter's feet, creating a fulcrum atop which the top half of his body pivoted.

"Alley-oop!" Digging his hands into the mushy mutant shoulders, Spider-Man pulled on the stretchy flesh and straightened his legs, judo flipping the behemoth.

"Whaaaaaa!" Blob shrieked as he was pitched upside-down, flying several yards before crashing into the pavement with a body-impressing tremor.

"Muuuuuuhhh…." Embedded in his own outline in the street, Blob's belly was still rippling when Spider-Man started covering it in webbing to trap him in place.

"I've heard about people getting rid of weight fast." Dragging the unconscious Toad behind him by the wrist, Johnny Storm was still holding his ribs. "But that must be a new record."

"If you can give mondo over there some breathing room." Spidey thumbed towards Blob. "I'll shut his mouth."

"Even trade." Torch agreed, flicking his fingers to send a baseball sized flame at the webbing over Dukes' face, opening a proper airway for him. At the same time, Spider-Man shot a blot of web around Toad's mouth, and strung the ends around to the top of his head to tie them in a knot.

Grabbing Toad by the collar and beltline, Johnny flung him on top of his accomplice, where he too was webbed.

"You know something Spidey, feels kinda mundane fighting these C-grade villains again."

"Yeah but that's the good news." Stretching his back and working out a kink, Spider-Man groaned. "Hopefully now, things can go back to normal."

---

UNDISCLOSED SHIELD FACILITY

An alert that an unregistered SHIELD aircraft was heading for the facility roused the attendant staff to a state of readiness. The possibility that someone would come after them in their current vulnerability was very real, and anything that even smelled like a threat had to be treated with the utmost seriousness.

Maria Hill, who by all rights should be the acting head of this command post, was the first to peek out though the windows of the abandoned factory. Having closed a decade ago, SHIELD purchased the property in Yonkers, New York through a series of shell companies and installed their facility underneath the building. It was another node in the expansive nervous system that kept the intelligence agency operating in times of crisis.

But her better judgment had won out, and decided to bring Captain Rogers into the fold, allowing him to put his strategic and tactical expertise to good use while she maintained the day-to-day operations.

Right now, she wanted to see for herself just who in the hell was about to roll-up on their covert operations base. The ground floor had been populated by a number of rusted and non-functional machinery that they had wheeled in to keep-up appearances. Maria skulked from cover to cover, pistol in hand, keeping an eye on the eastern-facing windows where she could see the empty lot beyond. No doubt the best place to land the craft, and as many sold metal object she could place between herself and whoever came out of it, the better.

She glanced back to the stairwell opening, a slab of concrete that opened to expose the entryway to the lower floors. Other agents huddled at the top of the stairs, waiting for her signal to proceed. But she waved a hand towards them, telling them to stay put for now. Should their new guest turn out to be hostile, she'd want to keep their numbers concealed, and her reinforcements out of enemy sights.

She crouch-walked out from behind a wooden crate that held nothing but a column of bricks inside, and up to the wall where she carefully raised her eyes above the sill. Outside, she watched as the wind from the VTOL thrusters blew away the various bits of loose debris on the lot, leaves, sand, trash, until the craft itself lowered to the ground.

"A Quinjet…" She whispered to herself, surprised to see such a top-tier ship like that turn up, even if it was an older model. The landing gear unfolded and the craft came to ground easy, the hand of an experienced pilot she had no doubt. This could be either really good news, or really bad news, either way, she gripped the handle of her compact 9-mm a little tighter. As the loading ramp in the back unfolded, she adjusted her legs to make for a quick response if needed, whether it be to start shooting or start running.

Nick Fury, of all people, was the one who came strutting down the ramp like it was just another day on the job. He glanced around, studying his surroundings with his lone eye as he made his way towards the door to the factory.

"Stand down everyone!" Maria called out to her men, standing and putting her weapon back in its thigh holster. "Boss man's back!"

After the tell-tale series of electronic beeps of the passkey panel being accessed, the door opened, and Fury entered to see his right-hand woman waiting to receive him.

"I leave you guys alone for one day, Hill. One day, and the whole world goes to shit.". Despite his harsh tone, the smirk on his face belied his true intent, that he was happy to be back.

"Not total shit, Sir." She said, hands clasped behind her back to address a superior officer. She too wore a smile. "We have that coffee you like downstairs."

"Thank god!" Fury reached out and shook her hand, an unspoken gesture of his kudos. "I was worried I left the last of it on the Helicarrier."

"Come on!" He told her as he continued on towards the back of the room. "I need you to get me up to speed on things. We got a lot of work to do."

"Yes sir." She was just turning to follow him, when another figure came through the door.

"Agent Romanov!"

"Agent Hill." Natasha said, greeting her colleague with a polite nod as she walked up. "It's been a while."

"It took me a week to wash the stink of Madripoor out of my hair." Maria deadpanned.

The two women went side by side as they headed for the downstairs access. Black Window adjusted the bangs of her hair before clearing her throat. "Is Captain Rogers around? I understand he's been helping out the past few days."

"He was, but he's actually out on mission right now, supervising a transport. The remains of the Orga creature are being relocated to a more secure facility."

---

WESTCHESTER, CONNECTICUT

Kiryu stood a silent vigil, the remains of the Xavier Institute were still smoldering as the X-Men converged on the grounds. Cyclops, Kitty, and Nightcrawler stepped through what had once been their home. Now it was unrecognizable, a scarred terrain that belonged on some far distant alien world, not in the New England countryside. Fortunately their rescue pod had been able to bring them back to Connecticut, coasting at high altitude and propelled by Stark Repulsor Engines.

Kitty held her hands over her mouth, cheeks covered in tear-streaks. The mansion had been destroyed completely, the grounds a wasteland, and the countless crystal fragments strewn as far as the eye could see. She couldn't believe that everything she knew and loved about this place was gone, and she hadn't been here to try and protect it.

Being careful not to step on anything too sharp, Nightcrawler kept his sights on the ground. He came across a large pool of blood splattered over what used to be his favorite shaded spot under an old oak tree. He would retreat here at times to pray in quiet, meditate on his thoughts, or just take a nap in the boughs. Now the tree was smashed, crushed to splinters, and the ground was covered ankle-deep in crimson fluid. He reached inside the neck of his suit and pulled out the cross he had whittled from a branch that had broken off in a storm. It hung from a string made from the twine that held the letter which had accompanied him when his adopted parents found him. Now two tokens of places lost to him, and began to rub the cross between his fingers.

Cyclops had seen tragedy before. He knew what it was like to lose the things that make you feel safe, to feel helpless, to live in fear. But he also knew triumph. He'd lost his whole family, only to gain a new one. He'd cowered from bullies in school, now he fought mutant terrorists. He felt like his heart would never open again, only to experience a love more profound than he could explain.

This was another tragedy. A terrible act of savagery by a creature who probably couldn't care less about the tiny creatures that scurried around its toes, mutant or not. It was strange for him to walk through the same grounds where he had spent so many happy years and see it become something utterly extraterrestrial. While he was sad about it, while he was angry, he also knew that this was not a permanent state of things. Tomorrow, the work would begin to clear this place out for the process of rebuilding. He knew that because he would be the one doing it, even if he was the only one, and if it took him all year.

"What will we do Scott?" Kitty asked, the three of them coming together on the spot where the front doors to the mansion should be. They stood before a flattened mound of masonry and timber that commemorated the battle that took place.

"We'll rebuild, Kitty." Cyclops bent down and picked up the doorknocker from among the wreckage. It was twisted and bent, but it could be fixed with enough effort and will. "We'll make a new home, create new memories, and our lives will go on."

"The professor said he'd meet us here." Kurt disappeared and reappeared atop a broken crystal 20-feet tall, appointing himself lookout.

"Zhere!" He said, pointing a long finger to the distance.

It took a few moments, but the SHIELD aircraft eventually came into view for the others, its twin rotors returning the rest of their make-shift family home. When the helicopter touched down and the back door opened, Nightcrawler couldn't contain himself from teleporting over and seeing the others for himself.

"Professor!" In another series of brimstone-smelling puffs, he intercepted Charles Xavier as he rolled down the ramp, embracing him tightly.

"You're alright!"

"And so are you Kurt." Xavier returned the hug with a smile, patting his student on the back. "I'm so glad to see all of you make it back."

Kitty and Cyclops had caught up just as the others came off the craft, the two sides reuniting in a series of happy exchanges. Kitty and Dani Moonstar coming together in a tearful hug to cry into one another's shoulder. Bobby Drake and Kurt Wagner sharing their near-death experiences.

"There vas this huge alien robot that shot lasers out his face! And a huge magic moth!" Nightcrawler bragged.

"The space monster was fighting us in the real world, and the Professor in its mind at the same time!" Drake countered.

"Henry!" Cyclops said, extending a hand towards Beast. "You made it back! And you brought a new toy." He pointed in the direction of Kiryu.

"Just borrowing it." Beast corrected, shaking Summers' hand. "It has to go back, though I fear they may not be so forgiving about the manner in which I went about it. I shall have a lot of amends to make."

They broke off the handshake, but McCoy gave Scott a curious look.

"I understand you and the kids had quite a harrowing encounter."

"Harrowing…" Cyclops repeated, mulling the phrase. "You could say that."

He looked over the group, but frowned after a moment.

"Professor, where's Jean?"

Xavier and the rest who had been around to watch the Phoenix fly off got silent, the tension taking a sharp climb.

"What is it?" Scott demanded, his concern growing. "Did something happen to Jean?"

"Scott…" Charles began, exhaling as he put together how he wanted to explain this. "When the SpaceGodzilla was attacking, she-"

"She what?" Cyclops interrupted. "Professor, what happened to Jean?"

"Jean… is not currently in control of herself." Xavier put a hand to his temple, and connected with his protégé mind-to-mind, and showed him what had occurred.

In his mind's eye, Cyclops watched the love of his life be consumed in fire, rise into the sky, and incinerate the SpaceGodzilla to the bone before leaving.

---

ASGARD

"What did you think you were doing? Bringing her here?"

In Odin's throne hall, the All-Father glared down from his dais, down to his son who knelt before him. The hall itself was packed with onlookers, including the Warriors Three, Lady Sif, and Baldur.

"Mortal's do not belong in the Realm Eternal. She must return to Midgard."

Standing a few paces behind Thor, Storm clasped her hands in front of her in a submissive gesture, aware that she was not only in the audience of a king, but a literal king of the gods. Her head was bowed slightly, so as to not look upon Odin directly. The pain of her loss had come into a lull, one could only cry so much for so long. Though she still felt numb to the world around her. Thor had had to grab her by the shoulders and shake her back to sensibility once they arrived in this place.

"Father…" Standing to face the one-eyed master of the runes, Thor set his jaw and resolved to make a stand for his friend.

"I know it may not mean much here, but on Midgard, Storm is a queen of her people, a champion against the dark forces, and a mighty mistress of great power."

But Odin was not impressed. "Be that as she may, my son, the place of mortals great and humble, is on Midgard."

"I ask only that she be allowed to use the comforts of Asgard to recover from the great woe that has befallen her." Thor pursued nonetheless, "She has suffered greatly, moreso than I have ever witnessed a mortal withstand. She alone is the sole survivor of a creature that would match the dark power of Surtur himself. She is also the widow of a man I had sworn a blood oath to, and my honor demands that I do what I can for her in this time."

The audience murmured, gossiping about secret blood oaths and the taking in of a widowed wife. Lady Sif pursed her lips, wondering what this woman who might enjoy Thor's hospitality for a time was truly like.

"I ask not that she be granted residence here, or partake in Idunn's golden orchid of immortality. But I have already sworn to forsake Midgard for the concerns of the other realms, and my duties here. I beg that I be allowed to offer my friend a place to mend her wounds and muster her strength to contend with her loss."

Odin leaned back in his seat, considering his son's plea. It was an honest plea, he could tell, and while the notion of Thor being honor bound to help her was displeasing, it did support his case.

A pair of ravens, Hugin and Munin circling above began to cry out in their squawks. They spiraled down from the rafters, settling at last one on each of Odin's shoulders. Then they began to chitter and whisper things into his ears. They often told him of the many doings of the nine realms, right now they told him the story of a single person.

It was about a young girl, an orphan and a thief who became a leader of heroes, and became the queen of a great nation. They revealed to the All-Father the many great deeds she had done, the monsters and villains she had laid low. Then too did they speak to Odin of her powers, commanding the natural elements, that blizzard and hurricane did answer to her bidding, with hail and lightning under her thrall. The story they told was enough to give the king pause.

He rose from the throne, the ravens scattering to their roosts. As Odin made his way down the steps, all observers held their breath, quieting their side comments.

"My ravens tell me of your deeds. They tell me that many on Midgard consider you to be a storm goddess."

The All-Father passed by Thor and continued until he was an arms-reach from Ororo. She made a visible gesture of keeping her gaze on the floor, but Odin put a finger under her chin to lift her face, and he stared into her eyes.

"Show me why."

Out on the balcony that overlooked the city, Storm stepped out by herself. Normally she wore self-assurance and confidence like a fine dress, but with her mind still partially detached, she looked more the part of nervous virgin afraid of her first sexual encounter.

Odin and Thor stood back, waiting to see what she would do. The thunderer hoping that her command of the elements would be enough to impress his father.

Storm channeled her powers, eyes turning a brilliant white as she raised her arms to the sky. At once the expansive blue was invaded by the manifestation of grey clouds, the sound of rumbling within them as they roiled and congealed into a mass formation. More than a few of the onlookers let out a sharp gasp when she left her feet, ascending into the air as wind from every direction arrived as a harbinger to something greater.

And great her powers were shown to be, such that the All-Father was moved.

"I, Odin All-Father" The king spoke from his throne, Thor and Storm standing before him. "Do hereby grant you, Storm Queen of Midgard, leave to remain in the realm of Asgard. You may stay for one year, if you so choose, to recover from the great disaster that has befallen you.

"My son Thor, I do charge you with providing her the hospitality of your household, and seeing that her mortal needs are met."

At that mention, a stifled commotion went through the crowd. A mortal being granted permission to be a guest in Asgard was one thing. To have her be housed under the accommodations of the price was shocking to some, and scandalous to others.

"Such-" Odin declared, loudly enough to cut the chatter off instantly. "-is my decision."

"Thank you father!" Thor said with a grin, putting Mjolnir to the floor as he knelt. Storm too bowed her head, though any more visible sign of gratefulness could not be summoned.

When Odin's court had ended, Thor had brought her and a number of other friends and cohorts to his household for a feast, to celebrate their victory. His mead hall was filled with cheers and toasts, drink flowed into cups and splattered on the floor. But Storm would not partake in any of it. She resigned herself to the lavish quarters provided, sitting on the edge of her bed in silence. The shock of everything that had happened in so short a time

An initial knock at the door failed to break her trance, but she was jolted by a second one.

"Come in." She muttered almost too low to hear.

It was a female servant that opened the door, one of the maidens who kept the thunderer's house for him. The girl carried a gilded tray between her hands, an assortment of fruits and other foods stacked on it, accompanied by a chalice filled with a deep red drink. The girl herself was petite and pretty, with long dark hair and lively green eyes.

"The master of the house wishes for you to have something to eat." The girl said sweetly. "One should not be alone with such dark emotions without nourishment."

"Thank you." Was all Ororo said, gesturing towards the nightstand.

The girl quietly went about placing the tray on the table, and carefully put the chalice beside it. She turned without a word to leave the chamber, but making it a few steps from the door stopped and bit her lip.

"Forgive me for asking, Storm Queen." The girl said, making a show of being respectful as she approached. "But I have never been to Midgard before. What was your home like?"

"It was beautiful." Wakanda had not ceased to be on Storm's mind, the question merely provoking her thoughts to manifest into speech.

"A shining city in the heart of a green land, a prosperous, happy people, ruled by a wise and just king." She spoke without diverting from her forlorn stare.

"It must have been so lovely." Coming closer, the girl wrung her hands, gazing at Storm with growing fascination. "It's so terrible that those monsters took it away. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I had to watch Asgard be destroyed."

Ororo's hand tightened on the edge of the blankets, her knuckles turning white. The monsters brought their war to her world, and wiped Wakanda from it in the process. The more she thought about them snarling and biting at each other, the more a kernel of hatred for them began to grow.

"I can't imagine what it must have been like for you." The girl continued, coming so close she sat on the edge of the bed to Storm's left. "To watch everything you love crushed and burned away."

It occurred to Storm that the girl's questions were inappropriate, but for some reason she couldn't will herself to cut her off. She shook her head, trying to clear the haze but the thought of Godzilla standing in the rubble of Wakanda would not leave.

"I mean… if I had the power to seek vengeance against them." The girl leaned in close, whispering into her ear. "I would stop at nothing."

A surge of anger welled into Storm's breast, and a flash of red in her eyes preceded the queen letting out a feral scream, snatching the chalice of wine and pitching it against the wall.

"I apologize, Storm Queen." The girl said, getting up from the bed and backing towards the door. "I have overstepped myself, please do not tell Thor of my insolence."

"Get out…" Storm growled in a voice unheard from her before.

"Of course." Hurrying to get on the other side of the door, the servant girl left Storm standing where she was, fists and teeth clenched. She shut the doors behind her carefully.

She paused there a moment, staring down at the handle. Then a wicked smile crept across her face, and she started to chuckle to herself in a distinctly unfeminine tone. The green in her eyes shimmered.

---

THE OTHER SIDE

MID-ATLANTIC

Waiting on the water's surface, the carrier strike group of five vessels was the only assemblage of strength in the Atlantic ocean capable of carrying out their task. A dozen smaller motorboats mingled around their larger kin, not wanting to be caught up in the turmoil.

"It's coming up, Sir!" One lieutenant on the bridge of the aircraft carrier called out to his captain.

On the deck of the same ship, a team of SHIELD agents stood by for the first signs of breeching. Agent Clay Quatermain and his team had been rushed the hundreds of miles from New York the moment the cyborg was cast down from orbit.

The radio at his side squawked, the voice of the captain informing him to expect the object of their mission any second.

"Good copy." He replied tersely, a number of factors including lack of sleep, jetlag, exhaustion, and plain old aggravation grinding his patience down to a nub. Clay holstered the radio and crossed his arms. "Why do I always get stuck with these clean-ups jobs?"

"Because you're competent." One of his agents answered, a female with shoulder length red hair. "They can't exactly send a rookie to oversee this kind of thing."

Quatermain wobbled his head in consideration of the vote of confidence. "Still."

"There it is!" One of the sailors cried out, pointing to a splotch of water that was giving way to a shape below. A huge spike appeared first, the head of a massive crimson-colored sail that continued to rise. The network of Repulsor-tech turbines emerged next, each of them firing straight into the air and tethered to something much larger.

Slowly but surely, Gigan was hauled from the ocean depths, seawater pouring out from the various places where its armor had been broken in the explosion. Blades from his torso-saw were missing, its chest was a distorted mess of warped metal, and still-sparking severed wires.

"Is it not magnificent?"

Few things sent chills up Clay Quartermain's spine like the sound of that man's voice. It was even worse since they had been ordered to take the mad-scientist with them for the recovery, his new appendages unnerving in the extreme.

"It's something alright…"

Claws at the end of metal tentacles grabbed hold of the deck, propelling their master forward.

"A perfect melding of flesh and technology into one body".

The other agents turned, a few of them visibly repulsed by the sight of the man being carried along by the writhing limbs sprouting from the harness he wore around his chest.

"The masterwork of some far-advance alien race, the zenith of living weaponry."

Dr. Otto Octavius, his legs swinging uselessly in the air, moved forward on his four new extensions to stare at the breadth of the ancient Nebulan creature.

"A pinnacle."

"Yeah, I'm sure it musta been a real beauty." Clay quipped. "Too bad about the whole explosion to the face incident."

"Not to fear my dear agent!" Placing a hand on Quartermain's shoulder as he joined the others, Otto could not help but be enthralled by the sight. "If there is anyone with the superior intellect and scientific expertise to get our new friend back on his feet, then I am that very man."

"Quite a leap for a new pet project Octavius." Asked the red-haired agent. She stood with her hands behind her back, and fixed the doctor with a wry grin. "It's very ambitious."

"An undertaking worthy of my genius." He retorted, sparing her his own self-important expression. One of the metallic-arms curled up and clenched its pincers to emphasize his point. "One that will assure that SHIELD is never so unprepared or such a threat, its power will be bent to our command."

"Well, you've certainly got your work cut out for you." With a polite nod, she excused herself from the crowd and headed inside.

Otto swung himself back around to watch as the teams on the smaller boats attached another series of cables to Gigan that would allow the larger ships to tow it along.

"What a time to be alive, Quartermain! Such new wonders!"

But Clay was far less enthusiastic about refurbishing an alien cyborg into a SHIELD asset.

"Very interesting times."

Below deck, the female agent navigated her way through the ship's interior, passing by the crewmembers as if she had been aboard for months. Down into the lower decks she went, checking over her shoulder as she began to actively evade the sight of others. Stepping through a bulkhead, she took one more glance behind her before shutting the door.

Inside the dark space of humming computers and blinking lights, she walked casually towards the rear, a cautious hand on her sidearm.

She reacted in a flash to an arm reaching out behind her, catching the wrist and sliding a leg back in preparation for a fight.

"Took you long enough." She heard the familiar voice say.

Her posture relaxed and she released the grip on her pistol, smiling to greet her friend.

"You really shouldn't try to scare me like that, I could kill you next time."

"I don't believe that." Stepping forward into the various red, green, and white blinking lights of the electronics, the bulky man slid his hand over hers.

"You're too damn good to make such a sloppy mistake."

"You never know Brock." She told him. "Maybe one day you'll be my mark."

Brock Rumlow pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her in embrace. "Sounds like one hell of a last date". From behind his painted mask he stared at her with a burning lust.

She cooed, enjoying the moment. "The Gigan seems mostly intact, Octavius thinks he can get it operational again. I imagine it would take a few years, but then SHIELD would have the most advanced weapon system on the planet."

"And then there'd be no country, no government that could oppose it." Crossbones said. "Sounds like something Fury would love to have."

"Good thing he never will." She stretched her body upwards to kiss him, but he pulled away with a playful chuckle.

"You know the rules, Raven, I only wanna kiss your real face."

She gave him a faux pout, before her face shifted. A wave of motion swept up from her neck, flipping skin cells from beige to blue. Her red hair stayed, but the irises of her eyes became a chrome yellow with a ring of crimson on the outside edge.

"Happy?" Mystique asked.

Rumlow reached his hands down her back and took an ass cheek in either palm, grasping them with enough strength to almost lift her off her feet.

"Very."

Their lips locked, and for several seconds they engaged in a quasi-wrestling match of passion until they came apart for a breath of air.

"Hail HYDRA." Crossbones grunted lustfully.

Mystique smiled, cupping his face with both hands. "Hail HYDRA"

---

THE CUBE

One of the specially designed facilities used by SHIELD to contain above-average dangerous powered people, The Cube was the home the of radiologically powered criminals and monsters. Like its sibling off the coast of NYC, there was a new occupant today. In fact it was the very man who had conceived of and designed the Cube itself.

Bruce Banner lay in a bed with clean white sheets, sleeping comfortably. He opened his bleary eyes with a soft moan, feeling the unpleasant ache of bedsores in his back. Eventually his world came into focus, and he took in the room.

"Oh no…" Putting a hand to his forehead, he sat up in bed. "Ugh, what happened?"

"Bruce?" On the other side of the observation window, Betty Ross stood with her hands against the glass. A familiar position for her to see him in.

"Bruce, I'm here!"

"Betty?" Seeing her, he got up on shaky legs and made his way over to the window. He would usually be too modest to walk around in nothing but boxers, but that concern didn't even register.

"What happened? All I can remember is some strange monster breaking into the lab."

"You tried to stop it Bruce." She gave him a sympathetic smile. "You turned into the Hulk and tried to fight it off."

But he didn't quite understand. "What do you mean I tried? What happened to me?"

"I wasn't there, but it must have beat the Hulk because it got bigger. It took Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and my father's anti-Hulk unit to destroy it."

"And I got put in here as a precaution because I let the other guy out." The realization was disheartening, but he accepted the logic of it. "Exactly what I would have recommended, one outburst can increase the likelihood of another one going off."

"It killed a lot of agents, and Dr. Octavius was injured, he can't walk."

"Ohhh…" Banner pressed his palms to his temples, letting his head fall against the glass.

"Bruce, you tried." She tried to explain in a comforting voice. "No one will blame you for what happened."

"I will, Betty. I'm the one who failed to stop it."

Betty beat her fist on the glass. "Don't be ridiculous! It took more than just some smashing to kill that thing! You didn't understand what you were dealing with." Her tone and face calmed. "You did the best you could."

A minute passed before Brice let out a sigh. "So what happens now? What did Steve say?"

"Captain Rogers thinks it's best if you remain in here for a while, get you good and calm, back on your medication." She looked away for a moment, fixing her hair just to fidget with something. "They're talking about upping the dosage."

"Upping the dosage? Why?"

"When you Hulked-out, you burned right through whatever was in your system. Clearly it wasn't enough to suppress an episode."

"I see." Banner put his back to the glass, closed his eyes, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What ah… What did they do with the creature's remains? If there are any?"

Betty scrunched-up her face as she thought about the answer. "Well… The creature just kinda… dissolved, into a fine black powder after it died. Richards had some information on it collected from the other side, he said that it's genetic structure was unstable and-"

"-And a catastrophic disruption to its biological functions resulted in cellular degeneration at an accelerated rate." Bruce finished for her like he was reciting the dictionary.

"More or less." She agreed. "Right now they're storing it at The Raft, down where they keep the rest of the stuff they want to forget."

Bruce nodded slightly. "I get the feeling I'm not in much of a different situation."

"Oh perk up, Bruce!" The startlingly chipper voice came from down the hall, where two new guests were making their way over. Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne both wore optimistic smiles in their casual clothes, Wasp carrying a cake platter with both hands.

"I bet I almost died more times than you did."

Betty greeted the couple warmly, and even Banner lost the ability to maintain a frown.

"What brings you two kids down here?"

"I just got off the phone with Cap." Hank said, clearly happy about it. "And he says that after a little rest and relaxation, you're free to get back to work. Specifically he'd like you to take a look at some biological samples recovered from the monsters."

The news did serve to brighten Banner's mood, but a sudden thought occurred to him.

"Wait… Monsters? How many were there?"

"Oh, there were like six of 'em, and…" Janet began to say, like she was about to gossip. But the gravity of her friend's predicament cut the words off in her throat. "They um, they got beat. So to celebrate the world being saved from giant monsters, I made you a cake."

Janet held the platter up so Bruce could see the design. It was a simple two-layer flat cake, and painted in frosting on the top, was a cartoonish depiction of the Hulk, but with a blue face. Next to the depressed looking brute, was a text bubble saying: 'Don't be so blue, big guy'.

"In my defense, it sounded a lot funnier in my head." Glancing around, she uttered a curious grunt.

"So um… How exactly do I give this to you?"

---

THE OTHER SIDE

Southern Pacific

In the flooded subterranean caves off the coast of Antarctica, a pair of eyes opened in the darkness.

"Something is wrong… I cannot sense her."

Reaching out into the powers of the world that had spawned them, he searched for her, but could not find her.

"Where is she?" He cried out in growing confusion. "Where has she gone?!"

He had always been able to find her, no matter where he was he should be able to feel her presence. This new unwelcome sensation was like a void left in her absence, part of him gone missing.

"The humans!" He concluded, feeling a bitter hatred well within. "They've done something! They've taken her from me!"

The cavern of bone-chilling water roiled and shook with the sound of his roar, fissures reaching up the ice walls as the ground trembled. He was not often disturbed from his rest, but when he was, great wings of vengeance would sweep over the land.

Battra, the planet's wrathful avenging spirit and dark brother of Mothra emerged from his lair, consumed with fury. Still in his larval form, he was yet twice the size of his twin's prepubescent stage, a formidable opponent for anything that crossed his path. If he wasn't able to feel the presence of his other half, then both of their existences was in jeopardy. It could mean the death of both of them.

As he trudged from his sanctuary, eyes blazing and lungs bellowing, he vowed that he would find her. If he had to raze cities and destroy nations, he would find her.

"They poison the waters! They fill the skies with smog! And now they take her from me!"

The water boiled around him as he screamed.

---

NEW YORK CITY

A thunderstorm had begun to settle over the metropolis, the skies breaking as rain continued to wash everything in sight under the grey overcast.

It was times like this, looking out upon the sprawling streets, above the hustle and bustle of it all that He would think of the famous line from the film Taxi Driver, and hope that one day a rain really would come and wash all the scum away. Sitting in his chair in the penthouse of his skyscraper, fingers interlocked and resting on his prodigious belly, he often contemplated his role in the nexus of events that played out on the city blocks. It was almost like he was a god from classical mythology, meddling in the lives of mortals, bestowing gifts upon his chosen favorites, cursing those who offended him. All it took was a few words or a raised gesture to change a man's life for the better, or destroy him.

That was why they called him the Kingpin of crime.

But as he had come to learn recently, he was not a god, and there were some who were beyond even his reach. Wilson Fisk was looking down at the busy streets when one of them spoke in a cold monotone.

"Have there been any impediments to your operations?"

Fisk's eyes shifted upwards, seeing their translucent reflection in the window. Five of them stood on the opposite side of his desk, arms folded at a right angle behind their backs, each wearing the same silver-colored business suit, and some kind of strange visor that wrapped around their eyes. All he could tell about them personally was that they seemed to be of some east Asian extraction, and were all of slender build.

"No." He answered them. "Nothing of note. A few temporary disruptions, but easily remedied."

"That is good." Another of the figures said in an equally flat tone. "Delays in our plans now would be unfortunate for both of us. The appearance of Godzilla was very… disconcerting."

Their uniform manner of emotionless speech was probably what chilled Wilson the most. He would have nothing to do with them if not for the store of advanced technology he had been able to gain from them, in exchange for certain allowances on his part. It was these tools that kept him ahead of the competition.

"Tell your superiors at A.I.M. that Wilson Fisk's word is his bond, and that despite the events of late, your operations remain uninhibited."

"We will do just that." The tallest among them raised his hand, and made a gesture that resembled the 'okay' sign, but Fisk never believed that this was the intended meaning.

"The Controller, will be pleased."

---

THE BAXTER BUILDING

Standing in his workshop, Reed Richards was looking out over the same gloomy cityscape. On a stainless-steel table next to him, was a black metal box. Twenty inches long, nine inches high and deep, it sat with its hinged cover folded back. He would glance over at it every now and then, thinking if there was any reason to keep it. The monsters had been defeated and the recovery was underway. Simply no need to keep something like this laying around.

Susan Richards entered the room looking as if she had just been told the Fantastic Four were bankrupt.

"Reed honey, SHIELD is here."

He tilted his head down to the floor, a number of considerations on his mind. "Alright." Was all he had to say. He placed his hand on the case cover, taking one last glance at the object inside. He had tried to be faithful to the original design, but the hardest part had been reproducing the formula from scratch. Essentially observing what the end result was, and having to reverse engineer the components. It confounded him for a bit, but eventually he cracked the mystery.

Looking over the simple and elegant design, he wondered how such a small thing could be so devastatingly deadly. Two metal ends on a glass cylinder, contained within was the hollow sphere, and within that, the chemical compound that could wipe out millions with just a handful.

He shut the lid and secured the lock, then taking the case in hand, stowed it away in a safe hidden in the floor.

"No one can know about that." He told Susan as he walked out of the lab, she joining him. "No one Susan."

"I know Reed." Before closing the door behind her, her gaze lingered on the aquarium sitting on one of the other tables. Its water perfectly still.

Waiting for them at the front door, was Ben Grimm and a trio of agents in rain-soaked overcoats. The SHIELD men respectfully waited on the other side of the threshold, while the Thing made awkward small-talk. But thankfully for both sides, the arrival of the Richards meant that they could attend to their business.

"Mr. Richards-" One of the agents said, the three of them presenting their badges. "SHIELD would like to have a word with you."

"I figured." Stretching an arm out to grab his own raincoat from off its hook on the wall, Reed gave his wife a kiss goodbye. "See you later sweetheart."

"Bye." Susan let the kiss go and covered her mouth, anxiety forcing her to look away as her husband left.

Reed then turned to Thing. "Ben, make sure those packages get sent out will you?"

"You got it stretch." Was Grimm's grumbly promise as he patted his best friend on the back.

Mr. Fantastic stepped out into the elevator lobby, one of the agents putting a finger to his ear as the door shut. "We have Gumby, heading down to you now, over."

"Gumby? Really?" Reed asked.

"Believe me-" An agent began as they crowded into the elevator. "It's one of the nicer things you're being called."

---

WAKANDA

EARLIER

"Be at peace."

When the words were spoken, Godzilla felt a rush of energy wash over him like an ocean wave. It moved through his mind sweeping up old memories and emotions, carrying them away from the forefront of his consciousness and cleansing his psyche. Flashes of battle, feelings of pain and rage all faded to white as the power of the Phoenix quelled the beast. Godzilla stood for a few moments, too stunned by the clarity of his thoughts to move.

Jean Grey, possessed of the cosmic spirit, took in the devastation wrought by the war against King Ghidorah. Her face melted into one of profound sadness.

"Such destruction…" She raised her arms, brilliant orbs of light coalescing about her hands. "But from the ashes, new life will arise once more."

The lights burst in a blinding supernova, consuming everything around it, sweeping over the graveyard. As the wave passed, green life began to sprout from the barren ground, grasses, flowers, trees, everything that had been killed off by the presence of the planet killer. The green spread out across the plain, undoing the poisoning of the soil that would otherwise prevent anything from growing again.

"For all that has been lost, this land will thrive once more."

Godzilla grunted, blinking rapidly in confusion. Examining his surroundings, he let out a soft sound.

The Phoenix returned, coming to hover beside him. "Time to bring you home." She said tenderly.

Keeping a slow enough pace for him to follow, Phoenix led Godzilla across the land. Transfixed by the tiny burning human, he kept his eyes on her the whole time, never diverting from her guidance. Her eyes in turn never left his as she hovered through the air, knowing without looking where they headed.

"So much pain you endure, so much anger."

Beyond the mere means of verbal communication, both Phoenix and Godzilla could feel the other's emotions radiating from them. He uttered a long, drawn-out groan as he felt a profound sadness from the little burning woman.

"I understand your rage, I understand your fire."

He roared.

At last they came to the shore of the ocean, where she flew out over the water and beckoned for him to come.

"You do not belong here, you must go home now."

Phoenix floated over Godzilla's face, dulling the flames as she touched down and walked across the bridge of his nose, his penetrating gaze tracking her. She knelt down, and laid her forehead between his eyes, hands reaching up to either side. For a few moments the two forces of nature shared an intimate silence.

"Come-" She said, pulling away and moving to the side, gesturing towards the steady waves. "-there is the way."

With a brief roar, he entered the water, wading in until he was submerged at last beneath the waves. Phoenix waved her hands over the surface and smiled, casting a fiery bolt into the depths. A burst of light below flashed quickly before fading out. Looking after where the creature had disappeared, the Phoenix shed a tear.

One task was done, but another awaited.

---

THE RAFT- Superhuman Imprisonment Facility

Located off the coast of New York, The Raft was considered the Alcatraz for super villains. Several layers of high security holding cells and lockdown mechanisms that contained some of the deadliest characters SHIELD has managed to shove into a cage. Carved throughout the bedrock of the island, the facility was an ideal place to hide something away in a deep dark hole. A steady rain had begun to fall, a storm system moving up the coast that turned the day to night.

The shuttle boat coasted up to the dock where a dozen guards armed with guns that fired explosive projectiles waited to receive their new tenant. They stood in their rain ponchos, observing with stone faces the transport crew go about their task of unloading the large metal case strapped to the deck. Standing aside the soaked crewmen, was Steve Rogers watching for any sign of trouble.

It had been a long evening for him. The first matter was to assert jurisdiction over General Ross for the remains of the Orga monster, a cold war of words that resulted in a shouting match and a string of obscenities Rogers didn't even know existed. It had been trying to say the least. His concession had been that the remains would not be turned over to Reed Richards or anyone for scientific inquiry. Instead, they would be secured behind a gauntlet of security measures, fail-safes, and a horde of murderous super villains. Basically, if Ross couldn't have it, no one could.

That was all fine with Steve though, one less disaster on the loose or the plaything of idle hands. The dissolved remains, a strange black sand-like substance, was sucked-up and placed in a quartet of sealed metal cylinders that kept their contents under a cryogenic stasis. These cylinders were packed together in a lager, square unit, and welded shut.

Once the container was crane-lifted off the boat, and placed on the bed of a vehicle designed to move the type of heavily structured cells employed here, the procession of security escorted the remains to their destination. Captain America remained mostly silent along the route, talking only to the staff that sorted him through the custody paperwork and security stations. He was exhausted, the past few days had stressed him in a way that he had not anticipated. Normally he could go out and deal with the threats directly. Normally, the threats weren't gigantic monsters that could level buildings and withstand an army's worth of firepower.

What was more, was that he kept thinking about how seeing Godzilla at the Triskelion had reminded him of that night on the island so long ago. Something tugged at his mind, something that bothered him deeply to entertain. He wanted to dismiss the notion as impossible, but there was an unnerving feeling, something familiar about the gleam in Godzilla's eye.

The doors to the containment facility unsealed themselves with an audible hiss and the startling clang of engaging machinery. Down here, down in the bottom rung of The Raft, was where they had decided to stow the alien. The level was partitioned into different sections, each specialized for their occupants. Looking around, Rogers was innately suspicious.

"Are you sure this is the best place? Is it a good idea to have these things in the same neighborhood?" He said to a security staff standing next to him who was mowing through a clipboard of paperwork the man glanced up from his forms, appraised the logistics for himself, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Trust me Cap, in the highly unlikely event that a bad guy manages to get loose down here, and decided to cause a little trouble, a bucket of alien dust is gonna be the least of our concerns."

As the crew moved the metal block housing the cylinders through the doorway of its chamber on a cart, Captain America lingered on the classification markings on the one beside it, Orga's new neighbors.

"SYMBIOTE CONTAINMENT LAB"

---

TOKYO, JAPAN

The hundreds of aid workers and construction crewmen swarming over the site of Godzilla's battle with the superheroes from the other world were quite alarmed when the portal appeared over the water. A swirling polychrome curtain of light manifesting out of nothing, stretching until it reached a little over one hundred meters.

Iron Man was the first to come through, his relatively small figure a speck of red and gold armor camouflaged by the wall of color.

"Alright JARVIS, bring it through."

Kiryu stepped through the portal, its foot plunging into the water. Like an animal trainer, Iron Man led the mecha forward until the tip of its tail slipped back into its native universe.

"Good thing I made sure to charge the batteries before bringing it home."

"It would have been terribly rude otherwise, Sir." The AI agreed.

Flying over to where Kiryu held the wreckage of the White Heron in its hand, the portal sphere mounted on a stand sticking out of the cockpit, he took the device in his hands and cradled it in the crook of his arm.

"Time to go make amends."

Admiral Taizo Tachibana along with his cadre of JSDF officers stood on the edge of the helicopter pad. To describe their reaction to the theft of Kiryu as 'livid' would do the men little justice, especially for Taizo. For him there was a sense of betrayal, the beast-man had made himself out to be a colleague and friend, then stolen their greatest means of protection.

Devoid of the personal resentment but very much pissed in her own right, Major Akane Yashiro tightened her fist at her side. She was the one ultimately responsible for Kiryu, and was even called before the Prime Minister to explain the situation. Even for such a short time as it was gone, the security of Japan was threatened, something she did not consider lightly.

It was a good thing for Henry McCoy that he was not the one returning the machine, else the officers present were prepared to place him under arrest. But since there was no precedent for extra-dimensional extradition, they would have to settle for the more flamboyant one in the colorful armor.

With Kiryu gleaming in the background, Iron Man touched down on the helipad, facing the assembled personnel. His face plate opened, and he was greeted by the unusual sight of faces unhappy to see him.

"Yeah… I suppose we've got that coming."

"Mr. Stark!" Taizo barked. "I trust that you appreciate the severity of your friends crime.". The Admiral and the rest of the officers approached, he and the Major remained visibly stern, the rest became interested in the technology of the suit.

"Believe me Admiral, everybody who was a part of our group takes the matter very seriously." Tony knew he'd have to be uncharacteristically humble to pull this off, but it was an easy enough task considering he was telling the truth. "But none of us knew what his plan was when he decided to stay behind. Speaking for the rest of them, we are sorry for betraying the trust you placed in us."

Taizo pursed his lips gave a slight nod. "I don't suppose then, that you are prepared to hand McCoy over to us for prosecution? Not that I am certain we have the jurisdiction to try him."

"Don't take it personal." Stark apologized as he shook his head. "Though there are some conciliatory measures we are prepared to offer you."

"Such as?"

"For one, Henry McCoy will never step foot on this side ever again. He volunteered that condition. Second, that we should establish an authority to oversee any future crossings and resolve issues, should we decide to continue this… experiment."

The JSDF officers glanced among themselves, exchanging a series of stoically positive nods. Seeing the consensus of his cadre, Taizo accepted their approval.

"Provided the Prime Minister and the Security Council approve, we agree to the terms for the time being."

"And there was one more thing." Iron Man took a few steps closer, conjuring his famous Stark charm to make a deal. "While I was juicing up Kiryu, I took the opportunity to give his schematics the once over. And I would like to offer you my services to give your dragon in shining armor a few upgrades."

This time it was Major Yashiro who spoke out. She pushed her way past Tachibana to gawk incredulously at Tony. "You want access to modify Kiryu's systems?"

Putting his free hand up defensively, Tony had to suppress the urge to turn his engineering genius into a snark machine.

"Well, for one thing, I can guarantee that I'll take that steam engine you run it on now, and give him something that can actually last through the night. Let's just say, you won't have to worry about killing his batteries just trying to take one shot."

The officers seemed hesitant.

"Come on." Activating his dorsal and boot thrusters, Iron Man hovered in front of them. "Imagine this, but a hundred meters tall."

Taizo didn't discard his caution, rubbing his fingers across his mouth. He did however realize that for all of Kiryu's capabilities, his power source was a huge shortcoming that his entire battle strategy had to be built around, and had left it vulnerable on more than one occasion.

"What did you have in mind?"

---

UPPER-MIDWEST AMERICA

On a long stretch of road in the middle of the country, a convoy of four vehicles rolled down the highway. All of them heavily armored. Three of the vehicles were up-armored Humvees, with turret gunners sitting behind .50 caliber machine guns. The third one in the line however, looked more like a tractor-trailer modified for delivering goods into war zones. Providing aerial cover, an assault helicopter maintained a steady presence over them. Emblazoned on the sides of each, was the SHIELD logo.

The convoy was approaching a bridge that spanned the width of a river valley, a hundred foot drop to the ground below.

A mile up the road, two figures stood on the either side of the yellow lines. One man was of normal height, if on the very lean side. The other was a monster of man, towering at over 9-feet tall and built for one purpose.

"Hey Marko…" The smaller man asked, his arms folded over his chest. Quicksilver smirked. "Wanna race?"

Juggernaut was not amused, and he turned his head slightly to sneer at his companion, curling his lip back underneath the rounded helm.

"I thought not." The Maximoff twin said. "Remember, we're also here to send a message. Make a show of it."

Before the words had even traveled the distance from mouth to ear, Quicksilver was gone.

Thankfully spared an further irritation from someone he considered to be a mouthy brat, Juggernaut eye-balled his target, a series of black shapes on the horizon. When he judged that they would not be able to avoid him, he began to walk.

At first he moved at a casual pace, each step putting cracks in the sun-drenched asphalt. Then he began to jog, which accelerated into a run. And by the time the convoy was closing in, he was at a full sprint, head lowered.

"All units, all units!" The helicopter pilot called out to his partners on the road, his vantage allowing him to see the oncoming threat first. "The Brotherhood is here! I say again, the Brotherhood is here! Engage at will!"

The gunners all pulled back on the charging handles of their machine guns, loading the first rounds into the chambers. Gunfire erupted from the top of the lead vehicle, bullets that went through nearly anything tore up the pavement as the gunner honed in on the increasingly larger target. The rounds pinged and ricocheted off Juggernaut, not slowing him down, not averting his forward progression. Each footfall driving into the street like a jackhammer.

"It's the Juggernaut! It's F***ing Juggernaut!" The passenger in the lead truck screamed into the radio, the severity of their situation clear. Constricted to the two lanes, they could not divert their path nor execute a hasty Y-turn before collision. They had nowhere to run.

"Alpha 3! Throw your vehicle in reverse! Alpha 4, leap forward and get behind 2, we'll try to stall him!"

The brakes of the trailer truck were engulfed in smoke as they skidded to a halt, the Humvees behind it swerving to come around its left side and shoot past. It took a second, but the unwieldy trailer stared to reverse, the driver doing all he could to ensure he didn't jackknife the thing.

The second vehicle came up side-by-side with the first, taking up the other lane, both gunners unloading hundreds of rounds together. Juggernaut continued, picking up speed despite the hailstorm of fire hitting him.

"Your little toy guns can't stop me!" He bellowed.

"I'M THE JUGGERNAUT!"

Both Humvees collided into him at the same time, one on each shoulder. And both of them in unison were blasted aside as Juggernaut plowed through without breaking stride. The trucks went flying to either side, the corners of their bumpers crumpled in like they were made of fiberglass. Gunners and crewmen screamed as the trucks flipped onto their backs and broke through the guard rails.

When the third truck came on, instead of going through it, Juggernaut brought his fist down on the engine, the sudden stop forcing the back end to pitch over. Cain caught the vehicle in its motion, holding it above his head.

"HRRRAAA!" He hurled the upside-down truck back the way it had come, the gunner falling out of the hatch and onto the street. The Humvees crashed down behind the trailer-truck, creating a road block that wedged itself under the tail of the trailer.

"Outta my way." Juggernaut grunted, plucking the fallen gunner up by the collar of his body armor and tossing him over the side of the bridge.

"WHAAAA…..!"

Sparks flew as the driver of the trailer tried to push through the obstruction, but eventually the twisted hunk of steel proved too much, and forced it to a halt. The man gripped the steering wheel in terror, and he never saw the other figure approaching his door. A tap on the window alerted him to the grinning, fang-filled face of Sabertooth. Victor Creed dug his claws into the crevice between the door and the frame and tore them apart. With another tug he ripped the door open. The driver whipped out his handgun, pumping several shots into Sabertooth's chest.

Fast as a cat, Creed lashed out with his claws and swiped the gun away, cutting gashes into the hand that held it. The driver yelped and held his bleeding hand to his chest, sputtering in fear as Sabertooth climbed in the cab.

"What's a matter runt?" Creed growled. "Cat got your tongue?" With a bestial roar, a flurry of fang and claw turned the compartment into a bloodbath.

Juggernaut made his way around to the back of the trailer, uncaring for the slaughter taking place as he passed it by. He lifted the tail of the box and kicked the wreck out from underneath it, letting the back end drop afterwards. With a simple back of the hand, he smashed a crater into the doors, and tore them away like they were tin foil.

"Done playing with your food Vic?" Quicksilver asked, checking his fingernails as he leaned his shoulder against the vehicle.

Sabertooth climbed out of the cab, the front of his clothes spattered in blood, his mouth dripping.

"I missed breakfast." He muttered.

The three of them assembled at the rear of the trailer, Pietro Maximoff was eager to claim their prize.

"Alright!" He said, clapping his hands together. "Let's crack her open!"

A whoosh of helicopter blades came down low, it's mounted machine gun aimed to cut the three of them to ribbons.

Quicksilver let out a sigh of annoyance. "I got this." When the bullets came, a translucent wall of white motion put itself between the Brotherhood mutants and the helicopter. Every bullet that hit the wall disappeared, none of them reaching their target. Juggernaut and Sabertooth watched, the phenomena only taking a few seconds to play out. Suddenly the bullets started flying back, in just as rapid a barrage as they had come. The helicopter tried to pitch away, but the fuselage was totally unable to withstand the penetrative power and was shredded.

The bird, windshield obscured by crimson, flames and smoke pouring out from its engine, tilted to the right as it went towards the side of the bridge, banging its landing skids on the railing on the way.

Quicksilver, now holding a .50 caliber bullet in his fingers, flicked it away. "Hmm."

"Let's get this done." Creed grunted, eyeballing the skies. "They won't have reinforcements far behind."

Juggernaut finished his task, smashing through a secondary set of doors and discarding them. A silver blur ran inside the trailer, and came back out carrying a Plexiglas shield as tall as man.

"Hey… this'd be nice for sledding."

To the surprise of none, a fiery disk of light appeared among them on the street. Rising from it, came a young woman. She had a slender build, long blonde hair, and was dressed like a dancer at a heavy metal concert with studded leather pants, and a torn black crop-top. Spiked knee plates and gauntlets were not her most eye-catching features however. She also sported a long serpentine red tail with a barbed end, and a pair of scarlet horns growing from her forehead. Her legs below the knees bent backwards into cloven-hoofed satyr legs. In one hand, she bore a broadsword that glowed with a malevolent violet hue, and in the other, she carried an infamous helmet.

"Must you be so childish Pietro?" She asked coyly in her soft Russian accent. "What would your father say?"

"I don't know Illyana. Let's ask him."

Footsteps from inside the trailer drew all attention. The Brotherhood hadn't intercepted this convoy to rob it of money or special items. It was a jailbreak.

"My Brotherhood…" Dressed in a pastel green cotton outfit, a tall man with stark white hair came into the light. He was older but still cut an impressive physique. "You have come for me."

"Took us long enough." Quicksilver explained. "SHIELD got a few good kicks in the balls the other day, so they decided that they wanted to move you to a more secure location. That was when our mole on the inside contacted us, let us know what route your escort was going to take."

The older man reached out his hand, and the helmet the woman was holding left her, floating through the air until it slipped over his head, where it belonged.

"SHIELD will know what we've done shortly, if not already. What of Xavier and the X-Men?"

"I wouldn't worry about Xavier and his kids." With a red-stained grin, Victor Creed was almost giddy to report on the devastation in Westchester.

"Half that city got leveled, the mansion is gone, all he's got around him now are those runts he keeps there. He won't have the muscle to come after us any time soon."

The newly liberated turned his head towards the woman who appeared to be half-gargoyle. Even she wilted a bit under his gaze.

"And who is this, beautiful young lady in our company?"

"I am Darkchylde." she said, extending her hand palm-down for him to take.

He took it gently and bent his head, giving it a gentlemanly kiss. "Enchanted." He complimented.

She blushed. "Something like that."

"And you won't believe who's sister she is!" Quicksilver remarked.

"Speaking of sisters…" Turning again to the speedster. "What of Wanda?"

This served to break his cool demeanor, Pietro scowled. "That bastard Fury still has her doped-up somewhere. Not even our inside man has been able to get a clue where he's got her buried."

"Then we shall have to rectify that." It was now that the man looked over at Juggernaut, pleased to see an old ally. "Cain, you're looking as robust as ever."

"Not so bad yourself Erik. You keep in shape for an old man."

Darkchylde plunged her Soul Sword into the street, and from its epicenter spawned a new pool of ethereal flame.

"Time to go."

The five of them assembled next to her, walking onto fire that did not burn.

"We have much to get done if we are to reassert ourselves and make the Brotherhood of Mutants great again. With the help of old allies.." He glanced to Juggernaut and Sabertooth. "And new ones." Placing a hand on the shoulder of Illyana, he found the same burning resolve in his heart.

"The enemies of mutant kind will dread the name of Magneto once more."

The fire rose from the ground, swallowing them as it went until nothing was left and the fame puffed out.

---

LATER

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

The little green reptile in the terrarium skittered along the length of the tree branch, stopping at the upturned edge to bask in the light of the heat lamps.

"I bet it feels like that out here sometimes too little guy." Dr. Curt Connors gave the specimen a wry half-grin, tapping his finger on the glass. "Maybe I'd enjoy this humid oppression too if I were cold-blooded."

It was midday, and he was about to head out for lunch when he had stopped to play with his little lab assistant. He was putting a few notebooks into his bag when a knock at the door drew his attention to a woman coming his way.

"Sweetheart." He said lovingly, his wife Martha carrying a basket packed with food stuff. "You didn't mention anything about a lunch picnic."

"That's the point of a surprise dear." She kissed him on the cheek and set the basket on the table. "I figured you could use some mammalian company on your break."

He picked through the assortment of goods, some fruit, a bag of chips, water bottles, sandwiches.

"Tuna fish, my favorite." He held up the plastic wrapped entrée, admiring the special blend of fish, mayonnaise, and seasonings that she kept secret. He put his good arm around her waist and held her to him. "I have been thinking about one of these for days." Kissing her on the lips this time.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Martha reached into her purse and pulled out a relatively small, white rectangular package. "This came for you in the mail, UPS man dropped it off as I was leaving the house. It says it's from the Fantastic Four."

"Huh." Taking a scalpel from the dissection kit in a desk drawer, Curt cut the packing tape as she held the box. Inside was an even smaller white container, somewhat shaped like a butter dish, made out of some ceramic material.

"What could be in there?" Martha asked.

There was a folded note tucked next to the item. "Let's find out." He took the letter and read it, but the contents didn't do much to explain the situation.

"Curt, I saved a little bit for you, a parting gift from our uninvited guest. Hope it can help with your research. Signed, 'R.R.'." He paused before continuing. "P.S., Make sure to keep it shielded, it's still a bit radioactive."

"Radioactive?" His wife exclaimed. "Good god, why would he be sending you radiological material to help with your research?"

His interest was piqued, but he didn't want to be getting back into his work right at the moment.

"Haven't got a clue." He said, flipping the paper over to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "But I'll take a look at it tonight." Taking great care that the container was still secured, he put it back in the little box and placed it into the lockable storage freezer.

Later that night, after normal hours and the sun had gone down, the freezer reopened. Curt carried the pack to his primary examination station, this time wearing thick rubber gloves. Removing the ceramic container from the box, he carefully lifted the cover. He didn't quite understand what was inside. It looked like a jagged piece of darkened wood except that he could see it was some kind of densely packed flesh.

"What on earth?" He wondered, moving the arm of the magnifying glass over to get a better look. To his astonishment, the closer examination revealed something very familiar to him, it was virtually identical to the type of armored scutella one might find on a reptile, except he didn't recognize it because the proportion was gigantic.

He sat back in his chair for a moment, trying to comprehend what he was dealing with.

"Why does Reed think this can help me? Unless…"

Using forceps to turn the specimen over, he discovered a bit of pink flesh on the underside. Scraping some soft tissue onto a microscope plate, he put the sample under the lens. Finding the right focus, he saw that not only were the cells still active, but there was something else among them. A different type of cellular entity, interacting with the normal ones

"What the hell am I looking at?"

Out of habit, he reached over a began to message the end of his elbow, something he did whenever he found himself perplexed.

"What does his have to do with my research?"

Then in a moment it struck him, an awesome realization that caught the breath in his lungs. Dragging his fingers across the knotted sleeve where his right arm ended, he looked at his missing limb like he was seeing it for the first time.

"Jesus Christ… these are Godzilla cells… his regenerative capability… if I can-"

His hand shot over his mouth to cover it, the implications of what he could achieve dawning on him.

A beetle clinging to the glass of the terrarium was snatched off by the baby iguana, its tiny teeth biting through the exoskeleton with a crunch and spilling the guts.

---

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

The twilight darkness of the World Security Council's projection room was pierced by the light of the doorway opening. Several translucent and indistinctively detailed silhouettes turned towards the entrance, and to the man who strode into the room.

"You drop… A nuclear bomb on a sovereign nation…" Nick Fury was not in the mood for decorum, and instead addressed the council as if he were scolding an incompetent employee.

"And you don't think! That's gonna piss some people off."

"We were faced with a terrible situation." Came one of the women. "And we made a decision. A decision it turns out, that proved successful if horrifying in its application."

"That's one way to put it." Fury spat derisively. "A whole damn civilization wiped off the map, not one stone upon another. Very biblical."

"It was the best call we could make given the circumstances." This time it was the Southron man. "The superhero community was spread too thin, and you disappeared off the radar, for reasons I'm sure you're about to enlighten us with."

"Actually no, I'm not." The council members were stunned by his refusal, but he carried on. "I don't expect you to like it, but what I was up to has to remain secret. Believe me, another 10 Kaiju attacks tomorrow would be a walk in the damn park compared to what I'm trying to prevent."

"We will take your word for it." More conciliatory, and possessing a tone of regret, the Japanese woman let out a sigh before continuing. "In light of the very public showcasing of SHIELDS inability to prevent or mitigate the attacks, and the need for us to be seen as coming out of this tragedy taking effective measures to improve…"

There was a momentary pause, as if she were about to go all-in on the black-jack table. "We have decided to approve the funding for your new Helicarrier initiative, Project Insight."

The SHIELD director was almost surprised, not that he'd let it show in front of the council. "I thought you might. So I have my engineering team working on some improvements to the weapons systems. A few things to make sure we're never so outgunned as we were against the monsters."

"We hope that your vision proves successful, Director." To the point, the Russian woman sounded like she wanted to see Fury prove his doubters wrong. "We may be able to salvage some good from this after all."

"That's the idea." A stifled buzz caused Fury to dig his hand into a jacket pocket and pull out his phone. When he saw the message, a smirk briefly crossed his lips.

"By the way Nick-" The Texan asked. "How goes the recovery of the cyborg?"

"Funny you should ask."

FAR AWAY FROM CIVILIZATION

He moved shirtless through the jungle, barefoot over the land, and wild in his heart. Beside him, the hot breath of his companion in rhythmic grunts.

The great burning thing had crashed down into the jungle last night, and while most of the other denizens of the forest were staying far wide of it, he decided to brave the unknown and see for himself what had entered Pangaea.

Ka-Zar, Lord of the hidden jungle with his faithful beast Zabu the saber-toothed tiger raced under the green canopy towards the touchdown site, not knowing what kind of danger it might present.

Coming to the crest of a hill, he had to stop himself from sprinting right over the edge of a cliff. What surprised him, was that he knew this area well, and that this cliff had not been here before. Spread out before him was a scar across the landscape, gouged out he realized, by the impact of a gigantic creature.

He had never seen anything like it, nothing this size anyway. A moth larger than the great beasts that roamed this Savage Land lay on its back, legs curled in, the wing-tips scorched, and a gruesome wound in its thorax. Rivulets of a sickly green fluid leaked from both the gash and from the corners of its open mandibles.

Ka-Zar didn't understand what he was seeing, but there was something about it that made him feel very sad. Even Zabu started to whine, his paws fidgeting in distress.

Mothra could not move. The stab through her body aside the fall had broken most of everything else. And though she was in great pain, there was also a peace that settled over her as the same process that overcame all of her lineage came to her at last. For she knew that death was not the end, and that this life was only one link in a greater chain. There remained only one thing left for her to do, one final task that would consume the very last of her life-force.

Ka-zar recoiled when the thing loosed a long, pained wail, its head moving slowly back. He was about to make his way down for a closer inspection of the clearly dying creature, when a tremendous CRACK! froze him in place. He looked to see the abdomen of the mammoth moth break apart down the middle, sprays of the verdant ichor going up as the exoskeleton divided.

What emerged from the opening was not a gory mess of organs and bodily fluids, but instead something solid. At first he thought the creature might be molting, some bizarre fifth stage of life beyond what he had witnessed normal moths undergo. The sides of the abdomen contracted like muscles, and moved the mostly obscured object towards the end and out of the body cavity.

When it slid out and rolled onto the soil, Ka-zar saw that it was an egg, covered with pastel streaks of color and equally as gargantuan in proportion to its creator.

Her effort complete, the light in Mothra's multifaceted eyes went dim and her limbs curled in a bit tighter as she uttered a fading cry.

Ka-zar knew that he must spread word to his allies, from the Waidians, to the Aerians, and even the Sun People. Something like this must not be allowed to fall into the hands of those who would use it for their own tyrannical ends.

But while the egg might incite some future tension, the body of the fallen Mothra would not.

Starting from the tips of the wings, her body began to dissolve into particles of multicolored light. These orbs swirled into the sky where they united into a rotating disk directly above the egg, congealing to become a single entity. Her whole body, bit by bit was transformed in such a manner, each tiny illuminated speck floating off like an ember until it rejoined a greater whole. Last to go where her eyes, shimmering into a white mist that traveled to the center of the energy halo.

The white sparkling coursed throughout the formation and brought the churning to a halt. Spreading like a vein, the white created the symbol of the sun and cross over the breadth of the disk, absorbing the rest of the energy into its shape.

With a thunderous FA-THOOOM!, the cross slammed down onto the egg, igniting it with a brilliant glow that shone for a few moments before returning to its original state.

Ka-zar looked on with awe, comprehending only intuitively what he had just seen. He sat down on the slope next to his burly companion, running a hand through the fur to scratch at the space between the shoulders. Big changes were coming to the Savage Land.

---

WESTCHESTER

Darkness slowly gave way to light, her eyes opening as if she had been sleeping for days.

"Wake up Jean." She heard a familiar voice tell her. "You're alright."

"P-Professor?" The world around her came into focus, the smiling face of Charles Xavier beaming down at her. Jean awoke to find herself laying in her own bed. A surprising realization since she last remembered seeing the entire mansion destroyed.

"What happened? I thought-"

"It was you Jean." He told her, squeezing her hand in his. "You came back to us yesterday, and you were still the Phoenix. With a wave of your arm you rebuilt the mansion and restored the grounds. It was incredible."

Jean was taken aback, "What?"

"Let me show you." Putting one hand to his temple, he touched the other to hers, linking their minds. In the vision, she saw the other X-Men scouring through the rubble of the mansion, picking out items here and there as they found them. Then something happened, Jean felt a tremor go through his body as the psychic energy of the Phoenix preceded its arrival. Others cried out, pointing to a burning object on the horizon growing ever larger.

Then the memory shifted, suddenly she saw herself floating in the air above the wreckage, just looking down at them all. Cyclops was calling out to her but she ignored his pleas. In a single motion she moved her arm from left to right, casting another wave of light over everything.

When it was over, the mansion was restored to its pristine condition, and the numberless pieces of crystal shards had vanished. As Xavier and the others were captivated by the change, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the flame extinguish. Jean watched herself go unconscious and fall to the ground. In a series of smoky puffs, Nightcrawler snatched her out of mid-air and brought her to the ground safely. She lost sense of what was being said as her adoptive family all crowded around until Scott broke through to her. He took her up in his own arms and carried her inside.

Coming out of the flashback, Jean was speechless. She tried to get out of bed but the professor stopped her with a hand.

"Whatever this Phoenix entity is, Jean, it has evolved since last time, learned how to deal with human emotion. But it has left your body exhausted, and in need of nourishment and rest. You've been asleep for three days."

"Three days?" The idea refused to make sense to her, three days since the SpaceGodzilla attack just wiped from her mind. "Is everyone ok?"

"Everybody is doing just fine. Scott's team in China had quite an experience, and Henry might be indicted for inter-dimensional crimes, but other than that we're all safe and sound."

"Theee…. Other monsters, What about them?"

"They all met their end in turn." He was proud to say. "The malevolent ones are dead, but Mothra was fatally wounded as well. We don't know exactly what happened to it."

"And… Godzilla?"

"He was in Africa, until the Phoenix intervened with him and he disappeared without a trace."

Trying to remember what she had done while enthralled, the only image that came to her, was her cradling Xavier, feeling the pain coursing through his body. "I was so angry professor, so full of rage." Jean pulled her knees into her chest and hugged her arms around them. "The last thing I remember was feeling like I was about to explode."

"We'll go over it together when your better, but for now just get your strength back. I'll fetch you something to eat." Charles' chair hummed as it turned and pivoted towards the door, but he stopped midway.

"By the way, I've just informed the others that you're awake, so you might expect some visitors."

Jean gave him a tired smile. "Thank you professor.". The sound of his chair going down the hallway hadn't even faded when a thumping sound started to get closer. More than a few pairs of shoes rushing their way to the stairs and down the hall. Scott was the first one to appear in the doorway, and though they were hidden behind the visor, she could tell his eyes were lighting up at the sight of her.

He took a step into the room, and she reached out her arms to him. "Jean! You're-"

A cloud of charcoal-blue smoke appeared between them, and emerging from it Nightcrawler instantly completed the hug that Jean had started.

"Jean! You are alright! And not za scary fire lady anymore!"

"Godammit Kurt!" Cyclops barked.

---

INTO A DARK ROOM…

Came a wheeled platform, pushed along by a silent figure in a cloak. The room itself was lit by a series of tall flaming braziers, casting dancing shadows across the stone walls. Tapestries hung from the ceiling, their bifurcated ends reaching down through the shadows like daggers overhead.

"Over there."

In the center of the room ran a long crimson carpet, the source of it hidden in the recess of darkness and streaming down into the scope of the fire's light. Peering out from the pitch, a pair of eyes possessed of ferocious intensity.

The cloaked figure brought his load to the foot of the carpet, where it was well exposed for examination. Set atop a steel platform, was a 6-foot tall chrome cylinder with a black seam down the middle. Standing back, the deliverer put their arms to the side and remained motionless.

Rising from their seat, the master in the darkness methodically made his way down the few steps, each one ringing out with a metallic thunk.

The cylinder split itself in half with the sound of sucking air, a pale icy mist spilling out to reveal what precious contents it preserved.

Striding out from the shadows, Victor Von Doom glared at his prize. Smuggled out of America and secured passage under diplomatic immunity, he had seen what kind of power could be wielded with the control of the SpaceGodzilla crystals. Now that power would be his.

Folded back, the cylinder halves presented the man-sized shard of crystal to the ruler of Latveria, the massive mineral still glowing with stored power. He also noted a collection of red splotches on the side.

"Unit… prepare the genetics lab for sample analysis."

With glowing green eyes, the android doppelganger fixed its optical sensors upon its creator.

"Yes master." Acknowledging the order, the automaton turned with inhuman smoothness and walked out of the chamber with a mechanical gait.

"Power to defeat armies." Victor slowly reached out his hand to touch the surface of the crystal. "Power to traverse the stars. Power of the mind."

Small arcs of white energy struck out from the quartz, connecting to his armored fingertips.

"Such power…"

The number of arcs doubled, writhing and twisting as the connection grew stronger the closer the hand got.

"…belongs only…"

Just before the hand could actually touch the crystal, an energy surge caused the attraction to backfire and detonate in a flash. He recoiled from the reaction, staring down to examine his palm for a few moments, before tightening it into a fist.

"…in the hands of Doom."

Far below the perspective of the Lord of Latveria, within the drips of cosmic-kaiju blood. Where the crimson met the crystalline, matter and energy reacted to one another. The cells began to divide.

---

ASGARD

All was well in the Eternal Realm. Thor was returned to where he belonged, and Odin could now focus on restoring order to the branches of Yggdrasil. Tonight however, despite the conditions of his son's return, there was cause for a feast.

He had been told, years ago, about the monster that came during the time of the Odinsleep. This creature, all said, would surely have laid waste to Asgard had Thor and Loki not been successful in dispelling it back to its native world. And this same creature now, had aided Thor in slaying an even greater foe, one beyond either of their powers to defeat. Or perhaps, Odin wondered, had it been Thor who was the auxiliary ally, and true victory belonged to the beast.

But, such partitions and quibbles could be set aside for now, as the All-Father was intent on enjoying his evening.

"Another drink!" He bellowed, slamming his empty horn on the arm of his throne. Cheers went up throughout the hall, dozens of mugs and cups raised in solidarity with his demand for more.

A servant girl almost tripped over herself rushing to his side, a pitcher of the finest ale in all the nine realms in her hands to sate the king. She made sure to keep her head bowed as she poured, though not enough to let her long black strands get in the way. For his part Odin barely paid her any attention, more interested in the activities of the guests.

When the horn was filled to the brim, she excused herself and stepped away, disappearing from sight into the crowd.

Odin, still overseeing the merriment, brought the horn to his mouth and imbibed a good long swallow. Finished, he wiped a sleeve across his mouth and relaxed back into his seat.

He still had a proud smile on his face when the horn fell from his hands.

---

XAVIER INSTITUTE

"Of all the things to survive the destruction…" Setting down a flower pot on the countertop, Beast marveled at the rose that he had managed to salvage from the ruin shortly before the Phoenix restored the building. Just as before, the lips remained closed, the bud refusing to open.

"You really are a stubborn little thing aren't you?"

Thankfully his lab had been fully recreated as well, giving him a space to decompress and put aside the tension that had plagued him the last few days. He reached into a drawer beneath the counter, and pulled out a clipboard with several sheets pinned to it. Extracting a pen from under the clamp, he wrote down the date and status.

"…No… change."

The tell-tale BAMF of a teleportation in the room failed to startle him.

"Mail call big blue!" Nightcrawler said, holding out a small package.

"This soon?" Beast thought it was odd to receive mail so soon after the building being destroyed. "From who?"

Roughly the size of a video cassette tape, Kurt flipped the label to read. "The Fantastic Four."

"Huh…" Taking the package in hand, McCoy looked it over, shook it slightly from side to side, feeling something solid.

"I'm in the middle of a Mortal Kombat contest with Bobby and Kitty, but let me know if it's anything cool." Disappearing in a puff of sulfuric miasma, Nightcrawler was gone.

Beast waved his free hand in the air. "Yes, yes, go disembowel your teammates." He carried the parcel over to the counter, and sliding the rose a few inches to the left, set it down. The box itself was relatively unremarkable, white cardboard, taped shut at the opening. Using a claw to cut through the adhesive ribbon, he folded back the flap and discovered a letter laying atop a rectangular ceramic container.

"McCoy, by the time you read this, I will be in the custody of SHIELD to answer for what I started. Being the case, I didn't want them to search the lab and find anything too closely related to the monsters. So I'm entrusting this sample of Godzilla tissue to you and your expertise. Make whatever discoveries with it that you can, find something to atone for our folly.

-Reed."

Putting the note down he examined the container, and found the seam along the sides. Very carefully, he used the points of his claws to separate the cover from the base, and lift it away. Inside there was a sliver of tissue that reminded him somewhat of a slice of melon; a hard black layer of dermis attached to an inch of pinkish flesh. The sample was about three inches long, and only with his enhanced sense of smell could he detect the faint odor of meat.

"Not so invulnerable after all it seems. The combination of highly durable hide and regenerative abilities may do a lot to protect you, but they're not foolproof are they?"

Working over the microscope, Beast peered down at the cluster of activity going on in the Petri dish where he had placed a sliver of the Gojiran flesh.

"Remarkable." The cells he observed, behaved autonomously, even separated from the body they continued to heal at a phenomenal rate.

"Every layer of skin, every cell, every blood vessel, they're all intact…"

Manipulating the tools of the device, he prodded one of the cells with a sharp point, wounding it mortally. The cell deflated, its contents spilling out. Then astonishingly the process happened in reverse, the cell walls closing the wound as it expanded back to its original size.

Sitting up, the scientist in the mutant began to wonder. "To heal wounds on a creature that big must take a tremendous amount of energy. Energy that he possesses in abundance."

Rubbing a hand over his chin, his mind started to conjure different scenarios of how he could put these qualities to use.

He was reaching down, into the lowest drawer of the desk where he kept blank sheets of paper for his notes, when he happened to look up over the plain of the tabletop and freeze in place. Sitting on the opposite counter, was the rose that refused to open. He remained staring at it for several seconds as an idea took shape.

Later.

The tissue sample, no larger than a child's fingernail was dropped into the test tube of fluid specially formulated to break down the bonds between cells, hopefully long enough to prevent the regeneration from pulling them together. He slid the ampoule into a centrifuge and allowed the machine to do its work of sorting the layers of material. As that was occurring, he clipped a section from one of the rose's petals, and subjected it to a similar treatment.

When the two samples were finished, he used a syringe to put a droplet of each onto a microscope slide, and put it under the lens. Hoping the resistance of the cell walls would still be weakened, he prodded one of the rose cells until it collided into one of the Godzilla's, and watched as they merged. Wanting to make sure his theory would work, he spliced the cell in two, and waited for to be confirmed.

Within seconds the halves healed, successfully creating two of the same.

Again, the tip of a needle plunged into the test tube of Godzilla cells, this time extracting as much of it as he could. Hunched over the flower, he injected a portion of the fluid directly into the vascular cylinder of the stem to feed it through the absorption system. Then he emptied the rest into the top of the bud, letting it wash over the petals.

Putting the needle down he stared at the rose, waiting to see if there was some immediate response. After several seconds, nothing happened. Unable to maintain his focus through a yawn, he glanced at the wall clock to see that it was well into the wee hours of the morning.

"Oh my gracious…" He muttered, the pull of sleep exerting its power over him. "I've got classes in the morning and here I am trying to watch plants grow." Beast took his glasses off to rub the bridge of his nose, putting the spectacles down on the counter. His last act was to put the flowerpot in a spot where the morning sun would find it, on a shelf just below a window facing east.

Morning arrived right on time, but Hank McCoy was late to rise as the rest of the institute residents began their daily routine.

"Hank?" Jean Grey's red head popped into the doorway, searching for her friend. She could have used her telepathy to see where he was, but using mental abilities still brought on migraines she'd rather not suffer through.

"Are you in here?" Still wearing her faded blue sweatpants and long-sleeved pink bed shirt, she stepped into the room glancing back and forth for a sign of him.

"Hmm, he's not usually in bed this late."

She might have missed it completely, but as she turned to leave, there was something bright red in the corner of her sight that caught her attention.

"Oh look at that… his rose finally bloomed." On the shelf below the window, where the rising sun cast its warm rays, the stubborn rose petals had finally opened and blossomed into an idyllic floral display. Jean walked over to inspect it, leaning down to marvel at what seemed like something out of a story book; every petal was vibrant and healthy, perfectly flawless.

"No wonder it took so long to come out, it's so beautiful."

She slid her fingers around the stem to cup the corolla, very gently cradling it to bring it towards her nose. Taking in a long breath, the sweet scent of the flower incited her to smile.

"Oh!" She reflexively pulled her hand away, holding it up to see a dot of crimson on her ring finger. Looking past her hand, she noted the several thorns that lined the stem of the plant, and pursed her lips. "Every rose has its thorns."

A dribble of blood ran over the side of her fingertip, and disappeared between the tightly folded petals in the center of the flower.

---

BETWEEN WORLDS

Floating in the ethereal limbo, the firmament wherein the borders of realities were separated, a pair of entities drifted through the interspace, waiting. One was formed of a flame, the other from shadow, each with glowing red eyes.

"Soon what is lost…"

"Will be restored."

"The monsters…"

"And heroes…"

"Have set events in motion."

A pulsating rift appeared before them and spread open like a vulva, white light shining through from the other side.

Loki Laufeyson, master of mischief and usurper of thrones stood in the aperture, spear in hand and seeming happy to greet his allies once more.

"Come on in."

---

MONSTER ISLAND

In the waters off the northeast corner of Ogasawara, the largest of the Nullius Ager island chain known to the world affectingly as Monster Island, there appeared a boiling patch of surface.

Godzilla broke through the surface in a splash, taking in the familiar sight of his chosen homestead. Striding forward, he uttered a contented grunt as he felt the sand beneath his feet.

An old acquaintance called out to him from the shore, Anguirus loosed his long sorrowful wail to announce the return of this land's supreme alpha predator.

Miles away, Rodan emerged from his cavernous roost in the side of a volcano, peering out through the fumes of the lake of molten rock at his doorstep, out over the blue of the water between the sibling islands. He heard Anguirus' cry, and knowing what it heralded, issued his own booming shriek.

Appearing beside the foreleg of the angilasaur, was a tiny bipedal creature. Standing no taller than two meters, hunched forward in the adapted saurian manner, it possessed three rows of stubby jagged dorsal plates not too dissimilar from the kind the sprouted from Godzilla's back.

The juvenile Godzilla, features bearing the unmistakable softness of his age, tilted his head as he watched the one who was like him return. He dashed away from his guardian's side, scampering down the slope through the tropical bush and onto the beach. Reaching the sands just as his adult kin stepped ashore, Junior let out a series of excited barks as he danced around the ponderous feet.

The senior kaiju sparing him a glance, replied with his own grunts as he passed by.

Unable to keep up with such a stride, Junior instead ran towards the water, where he tumbled playfully into the waves. When he came back up he uttered a curious trill, watching the lumbering titan march casually into the jungle.

But then Godzilla paused for a moment, and slowly craned his neck to look back over his shoulder. As he gazed out over the blue horizon, something pricked at the back of his mind. Not the signal of any specific danger, but rather a feeling of something about to happen. He knew this was not the end of troubles with the other world, but that it was only the beginning.

THE SAGA CONTINUES

---

Author's Note: So there it is! WORLDS COLLIDE has come to an end, but the stories will continue. Thanks to everyone who gave the story a shot and raised the stats, I'm blown away that people from literally all over the world saw what I've created. I'll be posting the first drafts of WORLDS COLLIDE & Land of the Gods from 2010, so you can see how far things have come. Let me know what you thought of all the teasers below!

And it's only the beginning!

Now here, is where you guys are gonna help me out, to decide which story will kick-off the composite G|M Saga Book 2: AFTERMATH (name subject to change)

Will it be:

1) Captain America: The Island- In February 1944, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are hot on the trail of the HYDRA scientist Armin Zola. But his attempt to stop Zola's new machine causes an accident that transports them all to somewhere they did not expect, somewhere that does not want them there. Captain America and Bucky now must survive the savagery of a new threat, one that is much more cunning than it appears.

2) Spider-Man vs. The Lizard - In his attempt to restore his lost arm and discover a breakthrough in medicine, Dr. Curt Connors unleashes the beast within. It's up to Spider-Man to find a way to save the good doctor and New York City. But Norman Osborn has other plans.

3) Agent Gigan - After his defeat, the alien cyborg is resurrected to serve new masters in the Marvel universe. But who's hand will be on the controls? Will it be SHIELD, or will it be HYDRA? And with the world clamoring for stronger measures to keep them safe, Nick Fury's new Project Insight and a new legion of Sentinel androids promise to deliver. Much to the ire, of the master of magnetism.

4) Contamination- In the wake of ecological disasters, Reed Richards discovers the culprit to be yet another invader from the other side. It's a race against time to prevent the spread of the most toxic pollution before the danger can multiply. Get ready for Captain Planet's worst nightmare, as greater events are set in motion, and the heroes get a taste of smog.

5) X-Men: Twisted Beauty - They say that every rose has its thorns. This one has a little more than thorns. Henry McCoy's (aka Beast) pet project grows out of hand when his tampering with nature results in a new life form, a chimera of beauty, anger, and power. The X-Men must find a way to deal with their new strange and volatile guest, and do so before it brings the house down around them.

So there's your choices, let me know which one you want to see first. I'll be taking a few months off from writing this stuff to work on other projects, namely The Unforgiven, and spit out some chapters for the smaller projects. So between now and a then, I'll track your votes.

Until then,

~Crush 'em