Author's Note: Hey everyone! I just wanted to extend an apology for leaving you all hanging after the last chapter. Things have been pretty crazy, not only in our country but in my own personal life, and I want to take the time to make sure these chapters are as good as they can be for you guys. I will be working on posting with a little more frequency in the upcoming months. That being said, we are entering the final showdown phase of the book, so would you rather I post as I have been, one chapter at a time, or wait for about a year or so to finish writing the book and then post each chapter about every week? Let me know in the comments, I love and appreciate each and every one of you! Thanks for reading, true believers!
Chapter 34: A Disenchanting Visit
Splinter ran through the canopy of the jungle in the Savage Land. Brightly-colored tropical birds and prehistoric animals scattered out of his way as he moved, leaping from tree to tree and swinging from branches with ease.
So much had changed in the past year. Before, his four sons had been his only worry. Now he had a war to fight, and responsibilities to an entire galaxy—and his family. He wasn't sure which burden had weighed more heavily on him.
When he and his friends had first arrived to this strange new land, the wounds of betrayal and of the personal loss of Leonardo and Donatello he had suffered were still raw. At that time, Splinter had desired only solitude . . . or, though he hated to admit it to himself, to lash back at Shredder, Doom, Loki, HYDRA, and their minions.
Now with a satchel full of exotic fruit he had just picked from the forest's bounty, he reached the entrance to the secret S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker. He jumped from the tree onto the rocks adjacent to the waterfall, scrambling up them until he swung silently into the base through a narrow crevasse in the rock's surface.
He made his way through the bunker's tunnels, passing various heroes. Some he recognized, many he did not. All these new faces, and their numbers had been growing steadily over the past almost fifteen years now. Soon they would be ready to fight back, or so he hoped.
On his way to the canteen to drop of his haul of fruit, he passed by Slash, who was leaving the eating area with a water bottle in his hand. The giant mutant snapping turtle waved at Splinter as he passed. "Oh. Hey, Splinter," he said.
"Hello, Slash," Splinter said warmly.
Slash smiled awkwardly and continued walking, not making any more eye contact with the rat. Splinter knew Slash still felt bad for severely wounding him while the turtle had been mind-controlled by Shredder. Splinter had already forgiven him time and time over, but he feared Slash would never be able to forgive himself completely.
Entering the kitchen, he left the sack of fruit on the table, next to April. She was working the kitchen tonight, along with Casey and one of the other heroes. Her name was Shuri, and she had come to the island with the other Wakandans. Splinter didn't know her personally.
"Hey, Master Splinter," April said as she saw him enter. "What did you bring?"
Splinter emptied the bag of fruits out over one of the kitchen's countertops. "Some fruits and berries, freshly collected from the forest's bounty," he said. Under Fury's orders, they were only allowed out of the bunker into the jungle one at a time, and for thirty minutes at a time, with two hours in between each venture. Although Splinter enjoyed the fresh air and sunlight that the outside had to offer, he didn't like to leave without returning with some food from the Village of the United Tribes, or fruit from the forest, to contribute to the heroes' existence here in the bunker.
Shuri moved over to the counter, rummaging through Splinter's catch. "These are good," she said, picking up one of the fruits. It looked almost like a mango, but with small rubbery spikes sticking out of its surface. "They will make for an excellent fruit salad to accompany the meal." She bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Master Yoshi."
Splinter returned his bow. "The pleasure is mine, Princess Shuri," he said.
Shuri wrinkled her nose. "I don't like those titles. Too formal. Just Shuri is fine."
"Agreed," Splinter chuckled, "if you will indulge me by calling me Splinter."
Shuri smiled.
"Woah!" Casey said as a flame leapt into the air from the gas-powered stove burner. "Stupid machines." He was trying to get a pot of water boiled to cook the dehydrated pizza dinner with. The bunker had a huge supply of powdered dinners that they had been living off of for the past half year.
That night, after dinner, an emergency meeting was called. The heroes all made their way into the large lecture hall in the bunker, mumbling and muttering among themselves, wondering what the meeting could be about.
But when Nick Fury strode to the front of the room, tall and commanding, arms folded behind his back, the room grew silent. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time," he said, and immediately they all sat up. "I know it's been tough living down here in the underground, living off of freeze-dried foods and only getting to see the sun once or twice a month if you're lucky. But our numbers have been growing. I'm sure you've had plenty of opportunities to meet new people, make new friends, build bonds, all that jazz. Put it all to good use, because we're going to need everyone on board with what we're about to do."
He turned to the screen. "T.A.D.A.S.H.I., play back the intercepted broadcast."
"Yes, Director," the AI said, and a recording of Captain America's speech began playing on the screen. The heroes watched as Cap spoke for about thirty seconds, inspiring them all to take a stand against oppression and tyranny. Then news articles and video clips from various US news networks began playing, showing American citizens rising up against their oppressors. Clips of news anchors' voices played over the footage.
"Hundreds of uprisings erupt across America as the grip of the HDYRA regime crumbles . . ."
"The chain of command of HYDRA's forces has collapsed suddenly as the Council of HYDRA has disappeared . . ."
"HYDRA forces are being scattered across the country . . ."
Nick Fury paused the video on an image of one of the resistance fighters painting the word "RISE" in red neon graffiti on the side of a building. "Cap and his team took down the Council of HYDRA and declared their uprising to the rest of the United States almost a week ago," Fury said. "We haven't heard or seen from any of them since, but it's my understanding that they are still alive and well and making it very difficult for the HYDRA regime to pacify the states."
Splinter wasn't sure who started the applause, but soon the entire room was filled with the sound of excited heroes and mutants clapping and cheering for Cap. Fury let it go on for a moment before raising his hand. The room grew quiet once again.
"The States are still encased in a communication bubble blocking any transmission with the rest of the outside world," Fury said. "T.A.D.A.S.H.I. here was only able to get these clips through backdoor programming." He eyed Shuri as he said this, silently acknowledging her computing prowess, and she smiled back at him. "As far as the rest of the world knows," continued Fury, "America is still fully under HYDRA's thumb. But that's all about to change."
The image on the screen changed to show a large asteroid drifting in Earth's orbit. Jutting out of the asteroid was an immense space station, secured to the asteroid by four long metal structures that made the space station look like an octopus with tentacles. "Any communication between the United States and the outside world is currently being blocked, and we've traced the signal to this heavily defended flying fortress in orbit," said Fury. "We'll strike two targets at the same time. An assault team will launch, headed for Magneto's space station. Their mission is to breach the station and take control of its orbital communication blockers and shut them down. That attack will make it possible for the rest of us to start evacuating. I've been hanging on to a piece of Confederacy tech that will make evac much easier. We'll teleport out in groups of ten to twelve to a secure location within Wakanda's borders."
Fury turned to Hawkeye. "Agent Barton, you're going to be leading the attack on Magneto's space station. As many heroes as the Quinjet can carry."
Hawkeye nodded. "How long do I have?"
"Twenty-one hours," Fury said. "Then the space team launches, and we start getting our boys out of here. You'll link up with Cap and his team once the blockers are down, and then meet us at the Wakandan rendezvous site."
Fury looked back out into the crowd at the faces of all the rest of the heroes. "That's all. You're dismissed until further notice." They began filing out of the room as Hawkeye walked up towards the front. Climbing on stage, he turned with Fury to look at the projector screen.
"What am I looking at here?" Hawkeye asked.
"T'Challa's got eyes and ears in Wakanda," said Fury. "Intel says Loki is based in the Capital City, with the Dark Elves running the show throughout the rest of the continent. Frost Giants are active in the northern half of Asia, Siberia, and the Arctic Circle. Amora's freaks control the southern half of Asia. But Amora herself is apparently still on Asteroid M."
"Is the intel reliable?" asked Hawkeye.
"Intel is never reliable," Fury said. "But it's the best we've got for now.
"I'm gonna need Strange, then," said Hawkeye. "He's our power piece, but having a wizard in our pocket would be real helpful if it turns out she's up there."
"Strange can hold his own," Fury said. "He's been through more than enough wizard's duels."
"Thank you, Colonel," said Doctor Strange, having approached the two of them.
"What do we know about Amora?" asked Fury.
"She is an Asgardian sorceress, the most powerful from their world. The focus of her powers has been the enhancement of her natural beauty and allure so that any man is overwhelmed with desire for her."
"I want Wolverine, then," Hawkeye continued. "And those Heroes for Hire duo. Cage and the kid with the glowing hands. And Spider-Man."
"Spider-Man?" Fury eyed Hawkeye dubiously. "You really think having some hormonal teenager in spandex is going to be in your best interest?"
But Hawkeye stood firm. "I've seen the kid fight. I've fought him, in Germany, at the airport. He's got moves. And he's fast. I want him."
"Start letting your boys know," Fury said. "And good luck."
Kraven left nothing behind when he walked from the Village of the United Tribes.
Casually, carelessly, he strolled along the jungle path, scoring the soft dirt with the tip of his spear, enjoying the sizzle of disintegrating wood and thatch huts as he had savored the smoke of charred native flesh.
It was an old trick: waiting until all the native braves had gone hunting to attack and slaughter the families left behind.
Karai had told him nothing, even to the point of death. So he'd killed her. Other leads had proven useless; the police captain, Stacy, who had been hiding with the turtles in the sewers, knew even less than her. Over these many years, he'd searched and searched, and finally learned the truth. The turtles had fled to the Savage Land. They were hiding here, in this great wilderness, somewhere. The natives, so far, had been unable to tell him anything he'd needed to know. And they hadn't been hiding the turtles, either.
If he could find Ka-Zar, the Savage Land's ruler, then he would know for certain. This massacre of the native people would serve as bait in his trap.
All that was left to do was wait for Ka-Zar to spring the trap.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker was a flurry of activity as heroes grabbed their gear, hugged their new-found friends, and prepared themselves to move out. Tensions were high, but so was anticipation. Each of them was ready for a shot back at Loki and his army.
"Maybe some of you want to suit up," Fury said, punching in the code to a locked door. "Grab whatever you need."
The door slid open to reveal a vast underground storage chamber armed to the teeth with weapons. Rows of rifles of all shapes and sizes, some firing bullets and some firing beams of energy, lined the walls. In the center of the room were various super-hero artifacts that Fury had been hoarding here in his private armory. A pair of gauntlets identical to Black Widow's. A series of compound bows and crossbows. Vulture's mechanical wingsuit.
The heroes filed into the room and started grabbing equipment. Tony headed straight for an Iron Man suit propped up on a stand at the far end of the storage unit. This suit was much different from any of Tony's previous suits. This one was made up almost entirely of hexagonal plates, and was mostly red in color, save for some gold on the upper thighs, triceps, and palm and finger areas, and of course the visor. The armor's helmet looked almost like a knight's helmet from the Dark Ages: curved downward into a point at the chin, with no mouth area, and two narrow horizontal blue slits for eye holes.
"Oh, the Model Prime," Tony sighed. He slapped the back of his palm to his mouth and let out a half-sob, half-laugh as tears of joy filled his eyes. Finally he clapped his hands together and told Fury, "I'm so happy to see it I'm not even going to yell at you for stealing it in the first place."
"I didn't steal it," Fury said. "A S.H.I.E.L.D. clean-up team picked it up off the shore of Coney Island after Toomes attacked your jet, and we took the suit into our custody. Tell Happy to be more careful next Moving Day."
"Oh, right," Tony said, only half-listening. A huge grin covered his face from ear to ear as he began checking the suit's systems. "And—yes! It isn't connected to anybody's servers or communications systems. Oh, Mark Prime, I love you." He gave the suit a hug.
Meanwhile, Mikey was eyeing a large battle axe hanging on the wall. The weapon had a five-foot handle and a two-foot blade on the end, and was a glossy black in color, almost like obsidian. "Whoah, that's so awesome," Mikey breathed. "Whose was this?"
"Skurge," said Wolverine. "Goddess of Death's personal executioner." He picked the axe off the wall and tossed it to Mikey, who staggered from the unexpected weight. "Merry Christmas."
Mikey's eyes went wide. "Sweet mother of pepperoni," he gasped in awe. "Raph is going to love this thing!"
Shuri was busy strapping on a pair of web-shooting tech devices to her wrists. Peter, noticing this, approached and tapped her on the shoulder. "Uh, excuse me," he said. "My web-shooters?"
Shuri didn't even look at him as she continued adjusting the devices on her wrist. "You're the only one who can have web-shooters?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Once the heroes had taken all they were going to take from the storage room, they re-assembled in the common room in the groups they had been assigned to. They would be using the teleportation device once every five minutes, as the device needed a cooldown. But the mass energy signature the device emitted couldn't be cloaked, so they would only have about thirty minutes—six groups—to get all the heroes out of the bunker before they were discovered. If they were lucky.
As they loaded up, Fury got a notification that someone was trying to get into the bunker through the cave. He went to investigate, keeping a hand on his Smith & Wesson M&P sidearm just in case. The screen showed Ka-Zar standing in front of the vault door, and after scanning him to confirm his identity Fury opened the door to let the native inside.
"Ka-Zar, what is it?" he asked. The man looked troubled. His brow was furrowed and his jaw clenched, and his fists hung in balls at his sides.
"Someone is on the island," Ka-Zar said, striding quickly into the bunker as Fury followed him. "Already seven tribes have been struck by him. He waits until the friendly braves all go hunting, and then attacks and slaughters the families left behind. Only one of my braves have lived to tell of him, a man dressed in animal skins who calmly walked through the smoke and fire to finish his village off, one by one. The injured never had a chance."
"Any idea who it might be?" asked Ant-Man.
"Those are advanced guerilla tactics," Punisher said. "That's the sort of stuff I did in Iraq and Afghanistan. Destabilizing a region, make them lose morale before you go in for the kill. Whoever this is, he's pro."
"The 'animal fur suit' part doesn't match anybody on my list," said Fury. "But we can't risk giving away our position now. Not when we're so close."
Ka-Zar whirled on Fury. "Have the sacrifices of my people and I to your cause meant nothing to you?" he spat.
"I understand your concern, Ka-Zar, but in case you haven't noticed, the world's ended," said Fury. "We're fighting for something bigger than ourselves here. We all have to make sacrifices, or we all lose."
"Director?" asked April. The two men turned to face her. "Casey and I, and Michelangelo, and Master Splinter—we're in the last group to leave, because Raphael is going to be the last one out of here due to his injuries. We could stay and help. You know, keep an eye out for this mystery man."
"You are not to leave the bunker under any circumstances," Fury said. "Do I make myself clear?"
April's shoulders slumped. "Yes, sir," she sighed defeatedly.
"Aw man," Casey said, throwing up his hands in frustration. "This stinks!"
Fury turned to Ka-Zar. "Have your people take hiding. This man wants something from us, and we aren't going to give it to him. I want you here in the bunker. You've got the comm."
Ka-Zar nodded. "I will have my people to set up a camp and keep a perimeter around here." He leaned in close to Fury's face. "But never call on me again," he added, with the hint of a threat in his voice, before turning and striding out of the cave.
Fury didn't flinch. Once Ka-Zar had left, he turned back to Mikey and the others. "You'll be the last line of defense if anyone comes around here. As soon as the last group leaves, burn this place and head out."
Mikey and his friends nodded.
In the hangar, Tony booted up the device. "Fury, what the heck is this thing, and where did you get it?" he asked. "It's got some of the strangest coding language I've ever seen."
"It's called a phase harmonic teleportation device," Fury said. "We call it a jump drive. It's alien hardware. HYDRA had it stashed away in their prep academy. Not sure what they were using it for."
"Welp, jump drive activated," Tony said, as the machine began beeping. A holographic image of the globe appeared over the top of the machine, with their destination indicated by a bright orange dot. Tony took a step back, and the Model Prime's helmet visor closed over his face. "Energy flux indicated. Here we go."
The first group to leave would be Nick Fury, Iron Man, Sue Storm, Cyclops, the Thing, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, Blade, Ant-Man, and the Wasp. The heroes met in the hangar, gathering around the Jump Drive. "If we don't make it …" Ant-Man said, and his voice betrayed the emotion and fear they all felt.
"We'll make it," said Sue Storm, placing a hand on Ant-Man's arm reassuringly. Then the machine began humming, and there was a brilliant flash of light as the group disappeared. Mr. Fantastic and Hank Pym checked the jump drive, as a timer appeared where the image of the globe had been. The timer began counting down from five, as the cooldown period began.
Mr. Fantastic opened a secure comm line with the Quinjet in space. "Barton, ground mission successful. The first teleports are away. Begin your attack."
"Roger," Hawkeye said, reaching up and flicking switches in the Quinjet's cockpit. "Vectoring to target."
The Quinjet they were in had been specifically designed for space travel. Its cold navy blue exterior made it much harder to see against the backdrop of space, and the orange-tinted cockpit windows had been polarized to fend off the dangerous effects of solar radiation on the passengers inside. The interior held the rest of Hawkeye's team: Doctor Strange, Wolverine, Power Man, Iron Fist, and Spider-Man. None of them really spoke. They just sat in tense silence as the Quinjet approached Asteroid M.
"You should have visual on the station," Mr. Fantastic said over the radio.
They all looked out the cockpit viewscreen, where the enormous octopus-looking space station loomed in front of them. It was surrounded by a series of HYDRA-constructed satellites, that were keeping communication bubbles powered over each of the continents except Antarctica to prevent any transmissions being sent. "It's big," said Hawkeye. "Reed, there's a whole ring of satellites and they're all powered up."
"My group is getting ready to jump," Reed said. "Beast will be taking over on the comm. Get in there and get it done."
"Roger," Hawkeye said. "Going in." He glanced back at the passengers. "How are our entry options looking, Doc?"
Doctor Strange grimaced. "The Enchantress's power covers the entire space station," he said. "It's an old and powerful spell. I will not be able to use magic to get inside. And once inside my power will be reduced to the most basic of enchantments."
"Well, it's a good thing we've got a Plan B," Hawkeye said, opening a channel with the group team in the Savage Land. "Beast, be advised. We've made it to the station."
Down below, the mutant Beast operated the radio while keeping a wary eye on the jump drive's status. "Make it fast, Hawkeye," he said. "We're running out of time down here."
The Quinjet banked, keeping the sun at its back as it flew towards one of closed hangars on the main level of the space station. No one really knew what to expect, but the space station was sure to be loaded with bad guy and booby traps. They'd be wise to proceed with extreme caution.
Hawkeye engaged the Quinjet's missiles and gatling guns, which fired at the hangar's blast shield doors. After a few seconds of sustained fire, they had blown a hole big enough for them to fly through. The Quinjet flew through the hole in the doors of the hangar, and a particle shield activated behind them once they were inside.
They all exited the Quinjet, weapons at the ready. It was a surprise they hadn't been overrun by rock trolls already, just blowing their way inside.
"How you holding up, Strange?" Iron Fist asked, noticing the Sorcerer Supreme's apparent discomfort.
Strange stood up, pressing a hand to his temple. "The Enchantress's spell clouds the sight of Agamotto through my orb," he said. "I have no idea where in this blasted fortress she is."
Spider-Man ran over to a wall socket and pulled a Spider-Bot off of his belt. It was a small red and blue robotic spider that Shuri had cooked up for him during their time in the bunker in the Savage Land. She'd told him before about all the bot's capabilities: a surveillance device, water submersible, could scale most surfaces, activate or deactivate tech, even facial recognition software had been installed. Right now though, he just needed to use it to find the Enchantress.
"Karen, tap into the station's cameras," he told the interface built into his spider suit. "We need eyes on the Enchantress."
"Peter, the Enchantress is located in the command bridge, at the top of Asteroid M's spire," the language interface replied.
"We've got her," Peter told the others as the Spider-Bot reattached itself to him. "She's at the top of the space station."
"I sense a trap," Iron Fist mused.
"Naturally," Wolverine said.
"Next move?" Power Man asked, and they all looked over at Hawkeye.
Hawkeye grinned. "Spring the trap."
The Enchantress watched on the large floor-to-ceiling screen on the bridge of Asteroid M as the blue-scanned images of the heroes in the hangar headed deeper into the space station, on their way to her, no doubt. What were they thinking, sending a group of men to try and deal with her? This was going to be too easy. She smiled, her fingers sparking with green magic energy. "You fools dare to face the Enchantress?" she mused, half to herself. "Such a pity."
She turned to her army of rock trolls standing before her. They were as tall as the average human, with a stony-gray complexion. Some bore swords, some axes, some twin axes, and some shields, but each was armed. She cast a spell over the ones in the room, and they snapped to attention as their eyes lit up with a green fire. "Give our guests a warm reception to our humble abode," she said, laughing evilly as the trolls marched out of the bridge and into a turbolift to take them down to the heroes.
A buzzing sound came over the ship's communicator. She pressed the "Accept" key, and the metallic mask of Doctor Doom appeared on the screen before her.
"Amora," he said. "My scanners indicate that Asteroid M has been breached by a small force of heroes. This is troublesome. I thought none remained organized enough to oppose us. Deal with them."
"There is no cause for alarm, Doom," Amora said dismissively. "Loki trusted me enough to let me guard the only gateway between this world and others. My mystical energy shields the Earth from any outsiders. The moment these heroes left the atmosphere they were doomed. As long as I stand, they will never be able to return to their planet. And so they will die, here, in space."
"Take care, Amora, that your overconfidence does not prove to be a fatal weakness in our plan," said Doom. "Your power is not infinite."
Amora let out a mocking laugh. "A mortal man who picks up a few parlor tricks in magic would lecture me on power?" She laughed some more, noting Doom's eyes blaze with anger. "HYDRA's satellites are still fully operational. You have nothing to fear."
Before Doom could say anything else, she ended the transmission, smiling to herself. These foolish mortals had no idea who they were dealing with. Did they really think themselves superior to Asgardians in intelligence and wit? They knew nothing. They knew nothing of her true intent.
She would have this world, and all of its mortal men, under her rule. And Loki would rule with her—or lie beneath her.
"What the hell are these things?" Iron Fist asked, as he vaulted over one of the stone trolls in the hallway to deliver a spinning kick to another. The beast only slightly flinched before turning back and growling at him. "They've got as tough skin as you, Cage!"
"That's a dollar in the swear jar, Danny," said Power Man. "And these things can't hold a candle to me." He demonstrated by putting his fist through one of the rock troll's heads, demolishing it.
Hawkeye hung back, firing his explosive arrows only when necessary. The tight corridors and the trolls' tough skin made it difficult for his blade to be useful. "Keep pushing them back!" he shouted. "We've got to make it to the elevators!"
Wolverine hacked and slashed his way through the rows of rock trolls, snarling as his adamantium claws deflected their iron blades and swiped across their skin. With a wild yell, he buried his claws in the base of one of the troll's necks and ripped, pulling in opposite directions and ripping the creature in half from the shoulder all the way down to its waist. He threw aside the mangled corpse and turned to the others, wiping some of the troll's blood off of his face. "Ahh, yeah," he sighed. "It's good to be back."
The heroes piled into the elevator and it began to slowly rise. After a few moments, a large jolt rattled the box, and they all fell to the floor. Two other rock trolls had jumped down the elevator shaft and landed on top of their elevator, and were now hacking at the cables keeping the elevator in the shaft. There was another jolt, as the elevator began to slip back down the shaft the way it had come.
"Hold on!" Spider-Man shouted as the heroes began to panic. He leaped up through the elevator hatch on the ceiling and into the shaft, firing two streams of web at the elevator car and attaching it to the sides of the shaft. He then let fly with his web-shooters, pinning the two rock trolls to the top of the elevator car with pounds of webbing.
But the damage had already been done. The elevator car strained against its restraints, pulling the webbing tight and snapping several strands. "Out! Everybody! Now!" Spider-Man called as he fired another line of web in through the open hatch to the car below. The heroes grabbed on to the white line as the car fell away beneath them, taking the two rock trolls with it as it plummeted down through the elevator shaft into an abyss of darkness. Doctor Strange flew past them, heading up to the top of the shaft to search for more rock trolls.
"Hold on! Hold on!" Spider-Man shouted, straining as he clung to a web line attached to the side of the elevator shaft in one hand, and the line the other heroes were holding onto to keep from falling down after the elevator shaft. Below them, they heard a loud crash and the shrieking of collapsing metal as the elevator car landed on the bottom of the shaft.
Spider-Man wouldn't be able to hold on forever. "Okay, everyone, I'm going to let go of the wall!" he called down.
All the other heroes looked up in shock. "What? Are you crazy?!"
"I saw this in a movie once, and it worked!" Spider-Man said. "One!"
"He wouldn't!" said Power Man.
"Two!"
Hawkeye looked at Power Man, catching the hero's eye. "He would," he said grimly.
"Three!" On "three," Spider-Man let go of his rope and angled his body downward, firing a series of small web cartridges at the wall of the shaft below them. As the cartridges hit, they exploded out to the sides, coating the shaft in a layer of thick, non-sticky web. The heroes fell into this net and landed with a bounce, as if they were on a trampoline.
They shakily got to their feet as Doctor Strange returned from above. "The good news is, we are only three stories from the top," he said. "Normally I'd be able to open the door with some magic, but—"
"No worries, Doc," Spider-Man said. "I got it." He fired a series of non-sticky web strands at the roof of the shaft, creating rappel lines for the other heroes to climb up. He himself climbed up the side of the shaft to the elevator doors and pulled them open using his super strength.
His spider-sense went off as he saw the Enchantress standing before him, with a large group of rock trolls behind him. "Ooh, how very clever!" she cooed mockingly, as if talking to a child. "I'm almost slightly impressed! Let's see how you handle a little magic, shall we?"
Spider-Man back-flipped into the elevator shaft as a blast of green magical energy flew over his head, singing his suit with how close it had come to hitting him. "Watch out!" he shouted as the energy bolt hit the shaft behind him and exploded.
The heroes climbed out of the elevator shaft and threw themselves at the rock trolls. The Enchantress had drawn back to the main command bridge area, which they would have to fight their way to reach. In the doorway ahead of them, they watched as her hands began glowing with a green aura of energy. "Móðir miskunnarinnar!" she shouted, as the trolls pressed their attack. "Bring them here! Blood and bones!"
Doctor Doom had called her again over the station's communication systems. "Are you mad, Amora?" he shouted at her over the video screen. "Just destroy them! I told you before these Avengers had to fall. Too much lies at stake here!"
The Enchantress sighed with exasperation. "Doom, enough!" she roared. "The Avengers had to be involved, Doom! What good is triumph with no one to triumph over? What good is victory without risk? If all you can do is worry and fret, and tell me I should slink about like some cowering dog, then let your tongue be silent!"
She promptly unleashed a blast of energy from her hands, destroying the station's communication arrays beyond repair.
Meanwhile, the heroes were fighting valiantly against the endless stream of rock trolls that charged them.
Doctor Strange summoned his Tao Mandalas, and two fiery orange circles of mysticism appeared in his hands. He wasn't able to use very many spells thanks to the Enchantress's power over this dominion, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve. "Previsatanuta milisanuti!" he shouted, as he conjured a wave of golden light that cleared the hallway of rock trolls, blowing them down the hall and into the walls.
The heroes ran into the command center, surrounding the Enchantress. "Miss Amora!" Hawkeye shouted. "We're here to ask you to go back where you came from or face us head-on!"
Enchantress sized up her opposition. The one speaking to her, Hawkeye, was but a common archer, a trick shot artist. He would pose little threat. The one with claws was nothing, a beast of the field, with the smell to match. Strange, though … Strange was something else entirely. Relatively, the heroes were all like flies to her, but he was the fly that could bite.
She threw her head back and laughed, with a kind of soft, musical laugh. "I've battled Avengers before, noble archer."
"Not like us, you haven't," Wolverine growled. "Surrender or leave."
"Or what?" Enchantress asked, smirking. Her head went back and she sighed blissfully as her hands lit up with a sparking green energy. At the same time, the trolls around her began to moan and collapse to the ground.
"What's happening?" Spider-Man asked.
"She is absorbing their life-force to use as her own," said Doctor Strange.
The heroes began to notice that the room held a very sweet and drowsy smell. And with every passing second, the smell grew stronger, and made it harder to think. There was also a kind of musical sound filling their ears—a steady, monotonous thrumming that they didn't notice after a few moments. But the less they noticed it, the more it got into their brain and their blood. This also made it hard to think.
But Doctor Strange was still fighting hard against the Enchantress's magic. "Or you will be defeated, Amora," he said, struggling a little to get his breath. "There is someone in this world with the power to defeat you, and believe me, I am going to!"
He muttered the Spell of Disruption, as he harnessed the energy around him into two fiery whips which he flung at the Enchantress. She, in turn, created a shimmering green shield in front of her to absorb the whips' energy. "Bold claims from a magician," she laughed. "But you are not a true magician, Strange. You are merely a pretender. An actor. And actors never leave their mark on history."
"Evidently you've never heard of Ronald Reagan," Strange quipped. "Or John Wilkes Booth."
"You forgot Schwarzenegger," Spider-Man added. He could feel enchantment getting hold of him every moment. But the fact that he could still feel it showed that it had not yet fully worked. "Get too de chappah!" he added in his best Terminator impression, even as his eyes began to close as this enchantment took over his body.
Enchantress laughed, and the heroes thought, in the sliver of consciousness they still had, that they had never heard a lovelier laugh in all of time. "You may be able to tinge your Eldritch whips with my magicks," she said, "but not enough to hurt me! I've got fourteen centuries of experience, of training, of practice! You've had a few half-forgotten lessons in some minor tricks. You think you can match my abilities with that?"
Strange concentrated, bearing down with all his will. Enchantress noticed the effort. "Not enough, pretender!" she cried triumphantly. "Not nearly enough! I'll admit, you're doing far better than I'd have expected, but this Earth, and your friends, stay mine!"
And in his heart, Strange knew that Enchantress spoke the truth. He couldn't beat her—not head to head like this, when the tables were so stacked against him. Nonetheless, he forged onward, but found himself slackening.
Then Enchantress began to cry, in her strange but musical ancient tongue: "Ekkert er alger vis. En ristill er mögulegur." With horror Strange realized she had started emitting her own magical blast, whose force was now pushing directly against his.
He called to mind the only spell he could think of to keep him strong. "Da pacem domine in diebus nostris," he muttered, over and over. "Da pacem domine in diebus nostris."
"Ekkert er alger vis!" Enchantress chanted, as her power grew by the second. "En ristill er mögulegur."
"Da pacem domine in diebus nostris!" Strange shouted, gritting his teeth and furrowing his brow, funneling not only his magical power, but his own will, his own strength, into his attack. But still, it was not enough.
Enchantress's eyes glittered with victory, as she muttered a final word. "Moog-tay-oom."
With that, Strange's Spell of Disruption was broken, and his magical energies crumbled before Enchantress's blast of power. "GYYAARRGGHH!" he screamed as his body was caught in the blast, and he fell to the ground.
The attack on Strange had a very rousing effect. The other heroes all breathed again and looked at Doctor Strange's remains like people newly awakened. "Son of a—" gasped Wolverine.
"What did you do to him?" Spider-Man cried.
The Enchantress ignored him, grinning wickedly at Strange's smoldering body as an acrid green smoke rose from it. " "Fools!" she cried, as the heroes took fighting stances once more. "Did you forget with whom you're dealing?" She summoned a green energy wall cutting her and Doctor Strange off from the rest of the heroes, even as more rock trolls entered the room growling and snarling.
"Okay, Beast, I don't know if you saw that but the doctor is … gone," Hawkeye said, using his earpiece to radio back to the group still at the Savage Land.
"What's your situation?" Beast's voice filled his ears as the heroes threw themselves at the rock trolls.
"Bad." Hawkeye set an explosive arrow to his string and fired into one of the trolls' faces. "We are up against an army. Mystic in nature. Creatures."
"Mystic?" Beast sounded confused. "Did you say mystic?"
"Strange is down and we are well past overwhelmed!" Hawkeye shouted.
"Strange is down?!"
Enchantress, fueled with confidence at the defeat of Doctor Strange, turned her eyes on the rest of the heroes. They would serve as her loyal slaves, once they were under her control. And the trolls would keep them occupied enough that she could take them on one by one. She turned her attention first on Power Man, plowing his way through a group of her trolls. Out of all the men here, he was the most attractive, and probably the most dangerous. "Come here, magnificent one," she called, her voice as beautiful as a thousand bells.
Power Man glanced at her as she approached him. "Fighting ladies? Not my thing," he grunted, flinging a rock troll over his head at her. She braced herself and caught the troll, tossing it aside like a ragdoll.
"There are other ways to be physical," she cooed, drawing steadily towards him and adding a sway to her walk.
Power Man did a double take. "Woman, I'm a vigilante, not a gigolo," he said. The Enchantress's eyes had a powerful effect on him, draining the strength from his body even as he stood. He blinked, trying hard to focus as he backed away from her. "Keep your distance, lady!" he growled, taking a fighting stance as the Enchantress continued confident stride toward him.
"But why?" Enchantress said, batting her eyelashes. "I am but a helpless female, and you are the mighty Power Man, are you not?"
Power Man couldn't back up anymore; he'd run into the wall. He pressed his back against the wall, trying to avoid her gaze. "Don't force me to hit you," he said, his voice shaking. "I mean, I don't want to have to …"
"Look at me, my handsome commoner," she said, pirouetting so her back was to him. She continued backing up, pressing her rear against his crotch as she held him in place against the wall. "Am I not, at once, every woman you have ever desired?"
"I … I …" Power Man stammered. His head hung low, his cheeks flushed, and he fought to keep his eyes open. Enchantress's magic had depleted his strength.
Enchantress reached up, placing a soft hand along the top of his head and dragging it slowly down the side of his face. "Stare into my eyes!" she told him. "Love me … love me …"
Power Man felt as if huge weights had been laid on his lips, on his shoulders, in his muscles. Every effort to move seemed to take all the good out of him. His eyes rolled back as he leaned forward, his weight pressing into the Enchantress. She moved, and his unconscious form fell to the floor. She snickered. "Mortal cretin!"
"What have you done to Power Man?" Wolverine snarled.
Enchantress smiled, spreading her arms wide. "For the moment, he is merely asleep. Doubtless dreaming dreams of me! But, alas, he can never truly have me, for I am yours, my handsome Logan! Am I not beautiful? Come to me …" She took a step forward alluringly.
But Wolverine wasn't having it. He stood his ground, his claws snapping out of his fists. "Never had a thing for succubi, sweetheart," he said.
Enchantress's eyes blazed in green fury as she fired two blasts of energy from her hands. The blast carried Wolverine across the room and into the wall, where he fell to the floor.
"Your will is very strong," she said, walking towards Wolverine. "Very well, we shall do this the hard way."
Hawkeye, spotting Wolverine's danger, fired one of his scatter arrows at the Enchantress. As the arrow left his bowstring, it fragmented into several smaller arrows, which all struck the Enchantress's forcefield. Annoyed by this affront, Enchantress turned her attention on Hawkeye.
As Wolverine struggled to get up, he heard a voice inside his head. "Get up, Wolverine!" He looked up to see Doctor Strange hovering in the air over him.
"What the hell?" Wolverine asked, climbing to his feet and shaking his head. "You some kind of ghost?"
"Not yet," Strange's form said. "This is my astral projection, which escaped the corporeal form currently lying crisp and burnt all over the floor."
Wolverine shook his head. It wasn't the weirdest thing he'd ever seen, not by a long shot.
Without waiting for Wolverine to reply, Strange said, "I will provide what help I can in my current form." Even as he spoke those words, he muttered the Evanodor Compatriot Boost spell to allow the heroes to temporarily break the shackles of their human minds and gain perfect control of their body. They would have almost unlimited stamina until the spell was ceased, and it would remove the negative effects of whatever draining magic Enchantress was using.
"What do we do?" Hawkeye shouted up at Strange, taking cover behind a troll as Enchantress fired a bolt of energy at him.
"If what I've read about the Enchantress is true, the power for her spells is derived from Asgardian sources," said Strange's astral form. "She must have some form of relic here on the station. I will find it."
His astral form flew past the rest of them through the open hallway door and disappeared, phasing through a wall and out of sight. "Uh, the doc just left!" Iron Fist called, vaporizing another rock troll.
"He knows what he's doing," said Hawkeye. Launching an explosive arrow at a troll from his bow, he muttered under his breath, "Please know what you're doing."
Suddenly, without warning, a multicolored shaft of light shot forth from space. The flash caused everyone on the command bridge to stop and flinch, shielding their eyes from the surprise intensity. The light beam struck the space station further above them, in another room outside of their view. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the light was gone.
Enchantress looked around her, detecting two new presences on board the space station. Someone had used the Bifrost to reach the space station. But who? Not Asgardians; she would have known. "What manner of games are you playing, Strange?" she muttered, as her form began to shimmer and she teleported to Asteroid M's sleeping area, which she had turned into her private quarters. That was where the Bifrost had landed.
The heroes finished mopping up the trolls that remained. "Where'd she go?" Wolverine snarled.
"One of the bunk areas," said Spider-Man. "That's a level above us. Let's go!"
"What about them?" asked Iron Fist, jerking a finger at the unconscious Power Man and Doctor Strange.
"I got them," said Hawkeye. "You boys go stop the Enchantress."
Leo opened his eyes, clenching his gut muscles to try and calm his roiling stomach. The teleportation had made him nauseous. Next to him, Donnie was faring no better. The purple turtle gagged and clapped a hand to his mouth. "Oh, I don't think I'll ever get used to that feeling," he said.
They both stood up, looking at their surroundings. "Where are we?" Leo asked. They were in a very large room with a high ceiling, a spacious bed, and several fancy articles of furniture. The bed had a headboard and frame of gold, and green cushions and bedspread. The furniture was all made of gold, various tables and chairs. One of the tables had a flagon of some kind of alcohol on it.
He could see Earth below them through the giant glass window across from the bed. He never thought he'd see it again. From space, it was really a sight to behold.
"My guess is some kind of space station," said Donnie. "Not Kraang by design, but highly advanced."
Leo gestured at the group of grey-skinned trolls running towards them from the hallway. "And they don't look like Kraang."
"Nope," Donnie said, twirling his bo staff over his head.
Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and a flash of green light behind them. Both of them whirled, weapons drawn, to see a lady in a long, fluttering dress of dazzling green. She gestured casually, and the doors to her quarters slammed shut. As soon as she appeared, the sweet scents of spices filled their nostrils, and soft haunting melodies played in their heads.
"Good day, travelers," she said, in a voice as sweet as the sweetest bird's song. "And what, pray tell, are you doing in my quarters?"
"Who are you?" Donnie asked. The turtle brothers stood in rapt awe, dumbstruck by the sight of this woman of unparalleled sensuous beauty.
"Leonardo! Donatello! Take care!" Suddenly Doctor Strange's astral form floated into the room from the ceiling. "She is a witch of the most dangerous sort!"
Enchantress rolled her eyes. "Oh, bother you, Stephen Strange," she said. "I should have smote you where you stood, when I had the chance. You may be safe from me in astral form, but return to this dimension and you shall dearly pay for your unseemly affront."
The door behind them was suddenly kicked open, as Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Iron Fist ran in to face her. "Give it up, bub!" Wolverine said. "We've got you five to one."
"My green outfit, your green magic," said Iron Fist. "We're a match made in heaven."
Enchantress laughed. "By the gods, no."
Iron Fist shrugged. "Your loss, sweetheart."
"What about you, turtle?" Enchantress asked, moving seductively towards Leo. "Ever lie with an Asgardian?"
Leo shivered as she spoke to him. "Not … something …" he gasped, struggling for breath. "… on … my bucket … list." Everything felt heavy and hopeless, and all he could focus on were Enchantress's lips, soft and plump, slightly pursed, moving towards him. He tried to concentrate on something, anything: his brothers, Splinter, April, the lair, his new friends, the Foot Clan, Karai, Lady Sif. But they seemed dim and far away. He couldn't remember their names. And he realized he was being enchanted, because now the magic was in its full strength.
"What pathetic fool rejects me?" the Enchantress cooed softly, taking Leo's head into her hands.
Doctor Strange realized he had to do something, and fast. If the Enchantress kissed Leo, he would be under her complete control. "I sense an immense power coming from that vase on the table," he said loudly, to get her attention. "Is that—"
Enchantress looked away from a starstruck Leo. "A Golden Apple of Idunn?" Using her magic, she levitated the Apple from its vase. It shone, casting a light of its own throughout the room, making them all terribly thirsty and hungry and longing to taste the apple. "Behold it in all of its glory," the Enchantress cried, "for it is a true relic of Asgard. A source of power so strong no mere mortal possib—"
"Right, I thought so," Strange said abruptly, cutting her off. "Iron Fist, now!"
Iron Fist shut his eyes, fighting hard against the Enchantress's magic. He channeled the chi of Shou-Lao and focused it into his right hand and wrist, causing them to glow a golden color. Leaping for the Apple, he brought his fist down against it, smashing it into the table and vase. The vase shattered under his blow, and the Apple exploded in a mass of fruity pulp as the table beneath it crumbled.
Immediately, the sweet heavy smell grew very much less, and their heads cleared. "What have you done?" the Enchantress called in a terrible voice, shoving Leonardo away from her. "You dare to touch my Apple? I'll turn the blood to fire in your veins!"
She aimed a blast of magical energy at Iron Fist, whose reflexes let him leap over the shot just in time. Focused on Iron Fist, she was distracted, and failed to see Wolverine darting forward to take a vicious swipe at her. His adamantium claws sliced deep into the flesh of her face. She screamed as she staggered backwards, throwing a hand to her injured face, now dripping with blood. "My face—!" she gasped. "My face!" Through the fingers of her hand, she glared at Wolverine, and if looks could kill, the mutant would have died on the spot. "Curse you, vermin!" the Enchantress snarled, hurling a blast of mystic power into Wolverine that paralyzed him where he stood. He struggled violently to move, but to no avail.
Enchantress looked down at her hand, covered in her own blood. She could only imagine the damage Wolverine had done to her face. Restoring her beauty would cost her dearly in pain and sorcerous power. But this affront would cost him dearly, as well. She reached out, and using an ancient spell started ripping away Wolverine's energy and life to fuel her own power, watching with evil glee as the mutant shook violently and roared as she stole his very life from him. Wolverine's skin grew taut across his face, his mouth opened impossibly wide in a dying scream. His nose disappeared, and his eyes rolled in their sockets as the skin surrounding them slipped away. Blood trickled from his eyes and poured from his ears, which were now barely more than holes in his head. The skin of his body began to tear as the silver adamantium of his skeleton, stained by blood, came into view.
The heroes watched on in horror. Wolverine was no longer recognizable, just a corpse with fleshy liquid and boiling blood running down it. Enchantress released him from her magical grip, and his remains collapsed to the floor. She pressed a hand to her face. She could still feel the claw marks where the beast had disfigured her, but only as scar lines. For now, this would suffice, until she was safe and back in Asgard.
"'Tis done," she spat at Wolverine's corpse. "May the dust of your rotting corpse curse the ground it touches. And may the vile energies of your life-force prove to be enough." She looked up at the others. "Only a fool continues to battle after the prize has been forfeit. Asgard awaits!" There was a blinding flash of light and a puff of green smoke, and once it had cleared, the Enchantress was gone.
The heroes circled around Wolverine's corpse. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick again," Donnie said, throwing a hand to his mouth once more.
"That's disgusting," said Iron Fist.
"I think he can come back," Spider-Man said, but he didn't sound so sure. "He's got some kind of regenerating healing power. He lost his leg an ambush way, way back in New York, but it grew back in three days." His head popped up suddenly. "New York!"
He turned to Leo and Donnie, who grinned at him. "Guys! Oh my god, it's so good to see you!" He ran forward and stopped awkwardly, uncertain of whether to give a hug or a high five.
"Good to see you too, Spider-Man," said Leo, catching Spider-Man's hand in a high three before pulling him in for a quick hug.
"We've been on quite the adventure," said Donnie. "But, it's good to be back."
"It's good to have you back," said Spider-Man. "Boy, everybody at home is going to be shocked."
"They're all still okay?" Leo asked. "We thought we were too late. Loki's army had almost a month's head-start on us."
"A month?" Spider-Man's jaw dropped under his mask. "Oh, wait, it's because of that wonky time difference in space stuff. No, dude, it's been, like ..." He did some quick math in his head. " Fifteen years since Loki showed up."
The turtles' jaws dropped. "Wow, we've been gone that long?" Donnie asked.
"Yeah," said Spider-Man.
"How are things?" asked Leo.
Spider-Man swallowed. "Not good. But hey, we've got a plan to take our world back! So, I guess you guys came back at just the perfect time." He turned, as if noticing the others for the first time. "Oh! Uh, let me introduce you to the rest of the team. That's Iron Fist, he's cool, he knows kung fu and his fists glow. And, uh, that's Doctor Strange."
"My astral projection, anyway," Strange's floating form said. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. I've been helping your family since this crisis began."
"Well, thank you," said Leo. "It's much appreciated."
"Um … I don't mean to sound rude, but—" Donnie gestured around at the others "—is this, is this all of us?"
"Oh, no!" Spider-Man said quickly. "No, no, no, no, no. There's way more of us back on Earth. Which, actually, we should probably get going."
"Sounds good to me," said Iron Fist. "Although," he added, looking pointedly at Wolverine's already-regenerating remains, "we should probably get a body bag for him."
It took less time than they thought to meet up with Hawkeye and Power Man and load Wolverine into a body bag from the Quinjet. Doctor Strange returned to his body, gravely wounded but fine as long as he got rest and some recovery.
Kraven the Hunter sat nestled down in three-foot-tall grass, on a ridge overlooking the pool at the base of the waterfall and the surrounding foliage. For three days, he had tracked Ka-Zar, from dawn to sunset, and had seen nothing. But at last, the Savage Land chieftain had led him here, and had not returned from wherever he had gone. None could escape Kraven. He was like a bloodhound. He had spent considerable time in Vietnam during and shortly after the war, learning all he could from Viet Cong trackers. The Viet Cong really were excellent trackers, so good they could follow a trail that was two days old.
By the time he had reached this position, a night ago, it had still been twilight, almost dark. The surrounding jungle was quiet, and still was, allowing him to think and prepare himself accordingly for the mission. Operating alone, outside of a classified S.H.I.E.L.D. location, he could ill-afford to make a single mistake. Nevertheless, he remained confident, certain that his years of military training and as a skilled hunter, and his knowledge of the terrain, would give him an advantage over his targets.
The grassy spot he was in was thirty yards below the crest of the ridge at the eastern end overlooking the waterfall pool, and it was as close as he dared get. Who knew what kind of security measures the bunker had built in to it? Not to mention Savage Land natives were searching up to three hundred yards outside the bunker. He had an excellent view of the bunker's entry points, plus a quick and silent escape route back through the high grass, over the ridge and down to a large marsh a hundred yards from the hill, where he could silently continue his diversion tactics and, hopefully, reach his pickup point. He had forty-eight hours left to complete his mission, and bring the turtles' corpses to Shredder.
Of particular importance, as an expert sniper, Kraven was satisfied with the reliability of his weapon. It was his personal .300 WinMag, a bolt-action, precision sniper weapon that had served him well throughout his years of hunting. With proper maintenance, it functioned flawlessly. Jamming occurred seldom, if ever. For about the fifth time he checked the windage on his special designed sniper rifle. He was using a 173-grain soft point bullet that would be lethal on most all North America game animals and three-fourths of the big game in Africa. He had to have the windage precise to ensure the 540-yard shot to the rock ledge was dead-on target. At this distance, Ka-Zar was a target the size of his fist.
He laid flat on the ground in a prone firing position. Ka-Zar sat on a rock ledge about five yards away from the waterfall, staring out in Kraven's direction but with no idea that the man was there. Making sure he still had a good view through the grass, he eased the rifle to his shoulder, pulled the stock in tight, and peeped into the scope, picking his spot—a side exit from the bunker behind the waterfall. This should not be too difficult a shot. Death would be swift.
Kraven had already found the savage's shoulder blade and centered the cross hairs near the man's heart when movement appeared through the scope. A young red-headed girl in normal clothing appeared from behind the waterfall, the same spot Ka-Zar had come from. April O'Neil. That was the name Shredder had given him. Kraven's scope centered on April's left shoulder as she quickly climbed the rocks to reach Ka-Zar's position.
April sat down next to the native leader, who acknowledged her presence with a grunt. "Hey, Ka-Zar," she said. "Needed some fresh air, huh?"
"I needed to clear my head," Ka-Zar said. "This recent turn of events, it disturbs me."
"I know how you feel," said April.
"Do you?" Ka-Zar asked, turning to look at her. "Do you know what it is like to have all under your protection, under your leadership, perish because of your negligence?"
Taken aback by Ka-Zar's harsh tone, April said nothing. Ka-Zar backed off, facing the jungle once more. "I apologize, I did not mean to snap."
"It's okay," April said. "Really. I … I know you're under a lot of stress. And I'm sorry for Director Fury. I bet he didn't help much."
Ka-Zar said nothing. After a short pause he said, "I made a promise to protect my people. I thought … I thought if I could stop civilization from coming here, if I could help heroes in need, that those I supported would do what was right. They did, I suppose, do what was 'right'. What was right for them." He flung his hands out in exasperation. "Were we not meant to live in peace, then? Is that it? Are we born to argue? To fight? So many voices, each demanding something else. It has been hard at times, but never harder than today. To see all I worked for demolished, discarded, forgotten."
"You know," April said slowly, "this place has become something of great significance to me, in the short time I've been here. A community to serve as an example of what our world could become. But the larger and stronger it grows, the more fragile and difficult to defend it becomes." She placed a hand on Ka-Zar's arm, noticing how muscular the man was. "I hope you understand that," she continued. "Your unwavering tenacity and honesty have given you way, way more responsibility than any one man should bear. But you, if anyone, are capable. And you give me hope, for what we have to face back home, when this is all over."
Ka-Zar eyed April. "Thank you for your kind words, April," he said. "I shall remember them."
April smiled awkwardly at Ka-Zar, when suddenly the man's head perked up, staring at the jungle across the clearing from them. "Get down!" he shouted, tackling April over the ledge as the sound of a gunshot filled her ears. She screamed as they fell down, down towards the pool below, hitting the water with a splash.
Kraven cursed under his breath. A last-minute adjustment to the windage had delayed his shot, and given the savage chieftain a whiff of his scent. The shot meant for April's head had instead pierced between Ka-Zar's fourth and fifth ribs on the left-hand side, just outside the armpit.
They had fallen into the water. Kraven adjusted the scope on his rifle, aiming for the surface for when one of them broke it to catch their breath. Behind him, he heard a loud "Hi-yah!" from above him, but couldn't turn around in time. He felt a foot in the back as he was kicked down the grassy hill, rolling a short distance and landing hard. His rifle was gone, and there was no time to find it. His enemy was upon him.
He yanked his K-BAR knife from its scabbard just below his right knee and turned to face his attacker. Needless to say, he was surprised to see who it was. "You," he said. "I thought your wounds from our encounter killed you."
"Not a chance," Karai said, her green serpentine eyes narrowing. "I'm made of stronger stuff than you think. And I won't let you hurt me, or anyone, ever again." With a yell, her arms turned into long white and purple snakes, that she whipped at Kraven with startling speed. He tried to deflect them, but he couldn't keep it up for long. Here, on unfamiliar turf, without traps or adequate preparation, Karai had the upper hand.
She outmaneuvered him, wrapping her arms around his torso and pulling him in close. He shouted in excruciating pain as her fangs sank into his neck, even as both snake arms bit into each of his biceps. She unfurled the snake arms, flinging him away from her and onto the ground. The poison was very fast-acting; the bite sites were already starting to tingle and burn, as if he had been touched by acid.
The numbness overwhelmed him and he dropped to his knees. Disoriented, wheezing, he collapsed onto his side, his cheek pressed to the wet ground, his breath coming in thin whistles as Karai walked confidently towards him. He tried to scurry away, feeling for his knife or his rifle blindly in the grass. He started to feel detached from himself, and very relaxed.
"My venom is highly toxic," said Karai. "It seeps through the skin in seconds. It's like a narcotic. It makes you feel dreamy, with no sense of pain. So, unfortunately, anything I do to you now you won't feel. The numbness is one of the effects. Some go faster than others. First, weakness. Then, paralysis. Then, blackout."
Kraven looked at the blood running down his arms from her bites, with an odd, detached feeling. He could feel the pain, but it was quickly fading. Karai had won, but he didn't care anymore. The strongest survived, and the weaker perished. That was nature's way. "Have to admit," he groaned, "didn't see this one coming." It was getting hard to see her through his rapidly closing eyelids; they were getting heavier by the second.
The numbness overwhelmed him, and a final thought that entered his mind before he lost consciousness forever was that, for the first time in his life, he was afraid. He was afraid of what awaited him on the other side. And he was only barely aware of his own voice, which sounded a million miles away, saying softly, "So ... this is what it feels like to be afraid. Not ... my ... style ..."
Karai looked down contemptuously at Kraven's twitching, convulsing body. The venom had done its work. He would be dead in minutes. She wished she could have made him hurt, made him bleed, as payback for the way he tortured her before. But she couldn't take the risk of letting him live. He was too dangerous to be kept alive.
She ran down the hill towards the pool at the base of the waterfall. April was struggling to pull a very muscular blond man out of the water. She looked up at her approach, stunned to see her old adversary turned friend. "Karai?" she asked. "But—how—?"
"Later," Karai said, taking hold of Ka-Zar's other arm. "Let's help him first."
Ka-Zar groaned as they pulled him from the river. He had been shot near his left armpit, and copious blood flow had already started, the dark sheen staining the water and the ground around him. He tried waving them off feebly. "I … I will live …"
"Let's get him inside," said April.
They both carried Ka-Zar back into the bunker, staggering slightly under his weight. "Guys!" April called out, and the few heroes who still remained came running.
"What happened?" asked Casey, moving to Ka-Zar's side.
"I think we found the guy who's been burning all the villages," April said grimly.
"He won't be bothering us anymore," said Karai.
Mikey's eyes widened. "Yo, no way!" he said. "What's up, Karai? Good to see you, sis!"
She smiled. "Good to see you too, Michelangelo. There will be time for reunions later. We have to help him." She gestured at Ka-Zar.
Beast bent over the man, still writhing and moaning softly. "His left lung is collapsed," he said grimly. "Pulped in a fraction of a second, no doubt by the bullet wound. He will live, but only if we act fast."
Since the Night Nurse was gone, Beast volunteered to stay behind to make sure Ka-Zar would be okay. But he insisted that the others evac using the jump drive. Metalhead, Raph, Mikey, Casey, Splinter, and Karai now gathered in front of the jump drive. Metalhead strode forward, holding up his hand for a high three from Karai. Evidently his memory banks still held enough data to remember her.
"Dig the new look, Metalhead," said Karai.
Raph hobbled forward on crutches that Night Nurse had given him to help him be more mobile. The operation to remove the infection from his leg had gone without a hitch several weeks ago. It was almost healed, but the crutches helped. Night Nurse had made him promise to use the crutches whenever he went anywhere, and not to go anywhere or use his leg unless it was absolutely necessary.
He extended a closed fist, fist-bumping Karai. "Glad you survived this apocalypse," he said.
"Still manage to get yourself scraped up everywhere you go, I see," Karai said, pointing at Raph's bandaged leg.
Raph shrugged. "This? Nothing. I'll be up and at it like new before you know."
Splinter gave Karai a long hug, and Karai returned it. "It is good to see you again, Miwa," he said softly.
"And you too, Splinter," said Karai.
"Boy, do you have a lot of catching up to do," Mikey said.
"Indeed," Splinter said.
"Sorry, but catching up will have to wait," said Beast, looking up from the computer monitor at the heroes. "Jump drive is primed and ready. You guys ready to go?"
They looked around at each other, family members they had thought lost but now found. A slow grin spread across April's face as she said, "We're ready, Doctor."
A few miles south of the Savage Land, the bleak and desolate expanse of snow and ice that was the Antarctic landscape was ravaged by a hurricane that had hit the coast, a hurricane whose fury would surely tear a man limb from limb in an instant. What was normally mile after mile of trackless waste was now a blizzard with a force greater than most human minds could fathom. The storm's epicenter lay over one of the many volcanoes that lined the continental rim. Most were extinct. This one was not.
Inside the crater, below the lava pool at the bottom, lay a ceramic steel dome set in the floor of a secondary fissure. This dome emitted a constant magnetic force to keep the molten lava above it at bay, and served as the main entry point for Magneto's Antarctic subterranean base. Buried a mile beneath the ice cap, it covered an area of five square miles, drawing its power directly from the Earth's core. The complex was totally self-sufficient and virtually impregnable, a masterpiece of automated technology that would do Tony Stark or Reed Richards proud.
Magneto, however, knew all that. At the moment, he had more pressing concerns. He made his way through the labyrinthine corridors of his fortress, taking an elevator down to the lowest levels of the complex. He was escorted by two of his acolytes, but when the elevator reached the floor he raised a hand, indicating they should wait. They nodded, and one of them handed him a flashlight.
Magneto walked through the ice-walled corridor to a large vault door in the floor. A movement of his hand, and the wheel on the vault door spun, unlocking the door. Another movement, and the door swung open.
Aiming the powerful flashlight down into the hole, Magneto was pleased to see the emaciated form of Red Skull scurrying back from the light, holding his hand to his face to cover from the intense beam. The Skull was extremely thin, his bones visible beneath his skin and barely concealed by the rags of his once-fine suit that clung to his frame like a sheet over a chair.
This fallout shelter had been the Skull's home for these past two years, ever since Magneto had beaten him in Shredder's fortress and kidnapped him. He had placed the Skull in solitary confinement; the escape hatch he stood above was the one hatch in or out of the shelter; with the ladder removed and the room stripped bare, there was no way for the Skull to reach it. Down here there was no light, no food, no amenities, and no companionship. Just water and air.
Magneto floated down into the shelter, glancing at the pile of gallon water jugs next to the wall. He made it a point to leave ten gallons of water with the Skull every forty or so days, and feed him three meals in one day every two months. That was the living hell in which the Skull had lived these past two years.
"Ah," Magneto said in perfect German, as the Skull lowered his hand from his own face. "Good evening, Herr Schmidt—or do you prefer to be called Red Skull? Do not bother trying to attack me, my good man, as you did last time. Remember, my person is magnetically shielded."
Red Skull chuckled, a low, guttural noise that ended in a wheezing cough. "You think I have to strike at you directly to hurt you, monster?" he spat back at Magneto in German. "My very existence offends you."
"Very true," Magneto replied. "My mother and I were victims of Nazi oppression. Of concentration camps. Of brutality. I swore to avenge them. Though as far as I can determine, you had nothing to do personally with their deaths, you willingly served the most barbaric despot of this century and committed countless atrocities to advance your twisted regime. Yet you dare to call me 'monster'."
Red Skull shook his head. "We are much alike, you and I, Magneto. Both of us wish to see our master race inherit the earth. You call my Fuhrer barbaric? Am I mistaken, or have you yourself not killed hundreds of men? Re-directing an entire armada's worth of missiles back at the ships that launched them?" He lurched weakly towards Magneto as he spoke. "To help realize your minority group's destiny, would you balk at the imprisonment of inferiors? The extermination of the unfit?" He let out another laugh. "Come, come, Erik. Do not expect me to be impressed by your sanctimonious posturings of moral superiority."
"Oh, they are not posturings," said Magneto. "I should have killed you in Shredder's fortress and been done with it. But that would reduce me to the level of a common killer. Make me no better than you. And I am better than you. Nazi. I want you to sit down here and think of the horrors you have perpetrated. I want you to suffer as you've made others suffer. I want you to wish I had killed you. And so, once again, I take my leave of you, Skull."
As Magneto levitated out of the hole again, the light he took with him began to fade, and the ever-enveloping darkness that the Skull lived in had returned by the time the vault door had slammed shut and locked. Magneto was gone again. And when would he return? The Skull had no idea.
Time had lost its meaning for Johann Schmidt. So had light, and sound. The only thing that was real to him was the impenetrable darkness surrounding him and the hunger gnawing at him from within. He had given up trying to guess how long he had been locked in this room. Down here in the dark, there was no way to know. He had given up trying to leap for the trapdoor in the ceiling through which he was brought into this dismal place by Magneto. It was out of reach. And he had given up screaming, pacing, and beating his fists against the concrete walls. He had even given up drinking the water his captors left for him.
Deprived of light and sound, his mind searched for something to fill the void. Searching, ever searching, and sometimes finding. It would always begin with noises. An incessant ringing, like a phone, or scraping noises, as if someone was right overhead. And finally, noises. And the Skull's eyes would pop open and someone would be in the room with him.
He could always swear he heard someone call his name, his real name. The name only a handful of men living today knew. And the voice was always familiar. Sometimes it would be his father, scorning him for being an abomination of a son. Sometimes it would be his Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, cursing the Skull's betrayal and for twisting the Nazi dream to his own selfish purposes. Sometimes it would be loyal Arnim Zola, pushing him towards suicide and promising to upload him into artificial intelligence so he could live on forever. Sometimes it would be his own daughter, Sinthea, who he had never had a chance to see grow, spitting pure hatred at him for abandoning her and giving her to others to raise, simply for being a woman.
Whoever it was, they would always emerge from the darkness, visible even though down here there was no light. And they would always leave, no matter how much the Skull begged, and melt into the blackness from which they emerged. And after they came, then it would be Captain America's turn.
Steve Rogers himself, in uniform, standing before a broken and beaten Red Skull. Saying the same thing every time, in that disgustingly American accent. "You may have a hard time accepting this, but despite your crimes against humanity, I don't want to see you dead. I want you to live so I can catch you and bring you to justice. This is not justice. This is vengeance."
And the Skull would always scream and curse at Rogers, hating him for caring, hating him for being more good than he, the Skull, was evil. But Rogers always won. The voices and the images would fade, retreating into the depths of the Red Skull's brain.
He sat in the darkness, waiting to see which apparition his mind would form to keep him company today. His hatred gave him strength, nourishment, and the will to live.
He would survive somehow, by sheer force of will if necessary. And his hatred would be made even stronger by the darkness.