Chapter 38: Avengers Assemble! Part 3
Loki and Doom walked side by side through the halls of the Citadel, as Doom made his way to the lower levels of the palace. The maglev train docked directly under the palace, and he would use the train to reach Shuri's laboratories on the edge of the city. Doctor Octopus walked behind them, stalking the floors on his tentacles about five feet back.
"The heroes are going to move heaven and earth to recover this pitiful city," Loki said. "The odds are against us. We can't match them in a pitched battle."
"Stop fussing like an old woman," Doom responded evenly. "The ritual will take some time. I leave it to you to buy me that time."
"Buying time is expensive," Loki said back. "We will all but exhaust our forces."
"I don't care about cost," Doom said, stepping foot into the maglev train car with Doctor Octopus right behind him. "You do your part, Asgardian, and I'll do mine."
Loki's lips pressed together as his illusion shimmered and faded in a quick greenish-golden flash. His eyes opened, and he was back on the bridge of Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead. Shredder stood at the rail the ship's deck, watching the armies below run towards each other, but turned as Loki walked towards him.
"Rahzar and the Foot are ready and awaiting action," he said.
"They must remain in the city with Doom's robots," Loki replied. "We will position the Ship of the Dead on the other side of the city, and draw the heroes through it to us. We must keep them focused on us until the ritual has run its course." He turned to Malekith, standing a few feet away. "Establish a perimeter, and get the Harrows in attack formation. We'll carve a path right through their ranks and surround them."
Things were heating up on the ground below. The two armies were charging each other, firing their weapons and shouting. Under T'Challa's direction, the Border Tribe warriors—each one equipped with a vibranium-weave cloak that had a built-in energy shield—had formed a line at the front of the charge, and activated their shield cloaks. The projectiles and energy blasts from the incoming enemy troops were absorbed by the Border Tribe's shields. As the alien army advanced, the Border Tribe warriors in the shield line all turned to face their left, creating large gaps in the shield wall which allowed the war rhinos and their riders to charge through into the ranks of aliens, tossing them aside with their horns.
But the alien army had invaded Wakanda once, and was prepared for their attack. The ranks in the alien army split, creating large pockets of space that the war rhinos were funneled into. These pockets quickly turned into gauntlets that the war rhinos had to run, surrounded by hostile aliens who slashed and stabbed at them with spears and swords. Many war rhinos and their riders were killed by these deadly tactics, and the alien army did not slow in its charge.
The remains of the Dora Milaje troops joined the shield wall, lining up between the soldiers and bracing their spears to create a line of spear points that the aliens were now running full speed towards. They all braced for impact as the army drew nearer, shouting encouragement among each other to stand firm and hold the line. Suddenly Hulk, the Thing, and Colossus came dashing forward and leaped high into the air. Vaulting over the heads of the Border Tribe line of defense, they were struck by many incoming energy blasts, but their thick extra-durable skin absorbed all of the attacks.
"It's clobberin' time!" the Thing shouted, but his cry was only barely audible over Hulk's mighty roar. As they landed, they struck the ground with both fists, unleashing a shockwave as a swath of Loki's army was blown away. The other heroes had been right behind them, and the fastest of them had leaped over the line with them, landing right after they did. Black Panther, Captain America, and the Winter Soldier were the first to hit the ground, followed by Vision, Iron Man, and War Machine flying overhead, with Spider-Man hanging on to Vision by a strand of webbing and trailing through the air behind him.
The two flying heroes let loose with their weapons in a strafing run over Loki's army. Vision unleashed a powerful stream of energy from the Mind Stone embedded in his forehead that carved a line through the aliens from above. Likewise, War Machine's dual-barreled shoulder cannon shredded through Loki's forces as Iron Man fired nanite missiles from pouches in the Mark Prime's shoulder areas. Spider-Man released his web and fell through the air, hitting the ground right next to Captain America and Black Panther.
As the first wave of heroes did their work, blunting the enemy charge and softening up the advancing aliens, the Border Tribe released their shield wall as the Dora Milaje counter-charged with their spears, goring the aliens at the front of the charge and pushing them back. The Border Tribesmen came in behind them, sickle-swords swinging, and the rest of the heroes weren't too far behind. It was a chaotic entanglement of bodies and death. The most impressive sight by far was Devil Dinosaur, who stomped through the ranks of the alien army, crushing rock trolls and Frost Giants underfoot, snapping and biting at Dark Elves and pausing every now and again to let out a bellowing roar, as Moon Boy sat on his back yelling in exhilaration.
At Loki's direction, the Frost Giants sent out their Frost Beasts, the massive ice monsters native to their realm of Jotunheim. Four of the Frost Beasts approached the battlefield from the right side, wading through the ranks of heroes on their four muscular legs, their spiked tails goring Wakandan soldiers as their icy roars chilled the hearts of every hero on the field.
Seeing this new threat, the Merchant Tribe warriors lined up on a small hillside and aimed their vibranium-powered energy bows at the masses of aliens below them. There was an almost melodic twanging noise as dozens of brightly-blue-glowing vibranium plasma arrows were leased from their strings, arcing up and over the fighting heroes into the ranks of aliens, bringing down one of the Frost Beasts and scores of other alien enemies. This gave the war rhinos and war hippos the space they needed to charge, and the riders ran their beasts over the bodies of the fallen aliens and smashing into their ranks, tossing them into the air with their horns and trampling them underfoot.
"Man, I'm going to need a case of Red Bull after this is over!" Casey said, flinging a hockey puck at a Dark Elf with such speed that it went through the creature's neck, killing it. "And then I want to sleep for a month!"
"That's going on the assumption that you live long enough," Spider-Man chimed in, swinging down on a web strand to kick a rock troll in the back of the head.
"Just keep hammering them!" Captain America shouted, running past both of the teenagers. "We can't let these guys win."
Falcon flew overhead, providing overwatch for Captain America as he ran through the battlefield by raining down bullets from his twin SMGs into any Frost Giants or Dark Elves that got too close. "I don't know how long we can keep this up," he grunted. "I hope you've got a good plan cooked up, Cap."
"Same plan as always, Sam," Cap yelled up at him, flinging his shield into a Frost Giant. "Hit them hard and never let up! We push our way into the city and get the people to safety before we worry about Loki."
Back on the Ship of the Dead, Loki was busy using his battle meditation magic to control the movements of his army. At his direction, the rock trolls began targeting what was left of the Wakandan hippo and rhino riders, throwing themselves at the beasts and either crushing them under their weight or tearing them to pieces with bare hands. But even so, the heroes were putting up more of an initial fight than he had at first thought. But they couldn't fight on two fronts. Not successfully. He directed a portion of his forces, about a fifth of his fighting force, to rendezvous in the city with the Footbots and begin targeting civilians. That should goad the heroes into making a foolish move.
Storm flew over the battlefield, using her combined powers of lightning and wind to keep the enemy forces disrupted. She noticed a group of aliens splitting off from the rear of the army and marching back into the city, and landed on the battlefield beside Wolverine. "They're falling back to the city!" she shouted at him, her eyes pure white as she maintained control over the weather.
Wolverine pulled his claws out from the skull of a Frost Giant and looked in the distance to see what she had said. Storm was right.
Nearby, Black Panther had overheard Storm's alert and realized instantly what Loki was doing. "He will kill everyone," he muttered to himself. "M'Baku!"
M'Baku smashed his knobkerrie into the head of a Dark Elf, shattering its skull. "My king!" he called out.
"Withdraw your forces!" Black Panther said. "Press on to the city! I will rally the rest of our warriors and follow you."
"Your Highness, with due respect." Mister Fantastic stretched out his arms and spun them in a circle, forcing the aliens away from the three of them and clubbing anyone who got too close. "Loki is trying to draw us into the city and have us surrounded. It's a trap."
"I will not sit idly by and watch as my people are slaughtered, Doctor," Black Panther snapped. He ran a short distance to a small hill and yelled out over the battlefield. "Wakanda!" he shouted. "All of you! With me! To the city, now!"
He turned and sprinted off down the hill in the direction of M'Baku and the Jabariland warriors, who were busy charging through the alien ranks towards the Golden City. Since T'Challa was their king, the other Wakandans had no choice but to follow.
"He's going to get himself killed!" Leo realized, watching T'Challa lead the charge.
"Not on our watch," Slash growled. "Mutanimals! This way!" He ran after the Wakandans, with the rest of the Mutanimals following him. Doctor Rockwell used his telepathic powers to pick up Slash in the air, and the mutant snapping turtle withdrew into his shell. Spinning him so fast that he became a blur, Doctor Rockwell hurled Slash into the aliens before them, where his massive size and spiked shell knocked them down like ninepins.
"They'll be trapped," Ant-Man said. "There's no way in or out of the city, all the entry points are too guarded. We had to shrink just to escape."
"Then we make a way," Hank Pym said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a key chain with a small model tank attached to it. He tossed it on the ground in front of him. "Stand back, everybody," he shouted, pulling a Pym Particle Disk from his belt and throwing it at the keychain.
The model tank expanded rapidly until it was a life-size tank sitting on the ground in front of them. Casey turned, and his jaw dropped. "Woah!" he yelled. "Is that a tank, yo?"
"It's a T-34 Soviet battle tank, from my days in S.H.I.E.L.D.," Hank said, climbing up the side of the tank into the open hatch. "I figure having a tank in my pocket might come in handy." Standing in the open hatch on the top of the tank, he looked down at Casey. "You know, driving this thing is more of a two-person job."
"Oh, wicked!" Casey said. He wasted no time in climbing into the gunner's seat of the tank as Hank Pym took the driver's seat. They closed the hatch and the tank roared to life, rolling off across the battlefield, piledriving anyone who got in its path and crushing them under its treads. Any alien clinging to the hull of the tank could hear Casey inside, screaming joyously: "Goongala!"
The remaining heroes stayed where they were, focusing on beating back the alien hordes at any cost.
By the time Hank Pym and Casey reached the city gates, the battle had already turned against their favor. The Wakandans had so far been unable to breach the massive gates, and several of the war rhinos who had attempted to charge the gates and break them lay dead in front of it. With Dark Elves on the walls firing down, and Frost Giants and rock trolls on the ground, things were bleaker than ever.
T'Challa stood at the center of a circle of Dora Milaje, their spear points keeping back a vicious circle of aliens from closing in on them. Numerous members of the Jabari, Border, River, and Merchant tribes lay dead on the ground.
So the sight of Hank Pym's battle tank cresting the hill behind them filled the Wakandans with a new spirit, and they pushed back hard against the aliens, driving them back to the gate. The Dark Elves on the walls spotted the tank, and manned the two anti-aircraft cannons that sat on top of the gate, aiming them at this newcomer. Doctor Rockwell saw the danger, and used his telepathic powers to aim the laser cannons at each other before having them fire. Both cannons exploded in a burst of blue light and black smoke.
Meanwhile, Pigeon Pete had taken to divebombing the Elves on the top of wall, trying to keep their attention away from the Wakandans below and focused instead on him. He was joined by Ant-Man and Wasp, who had flow up to the wall and de-shrunk to lend him some aid.
Inside the tank, Casey loaded a shell into the chamber of the main gun and angled the tank's turret to aim at the city gates. Spike stood at the gates, trying in vain to use his mace and raw strength to break the doors open. Turning, he spotted the tank aiming at him, and wisely ran out of the way.
Casey dropped down out of the seat, covering his ears. Hank Pym gritted his teeth and fired, and the shell burst out of the tank with a loud boom, striking the city gates with an explosion. As the smoke and dust cleared, they were cheered to see the gates had been damaged, but not completely destroyed.
"We can break it," Hank Pym realized. Turning his head towards Casey, he yelled, "Get another shell in there!"
Outside, the Wakandan forces and the Mighty Mutanimals rallied around the tank, keeping the aliens away long enough for it to blow two more shells into the doors, at which point it ran out of shells and Hank rammed the gates at full force, bursting through them in a shower of concrete and metal to the other side. The Wakandans mopped up the aliens outside the city and joined Hank's tank inside.
The city was a nightmarish sight. Aliens and Footbots flooded the streets, groups splitting off from each other to cover more ground. An elder Wakandan trying to flee was caught by a Frost Giant who hit him in the chest with a club. He fell, writhing, to the ground. A woman stopped to try and help, and a Footbot ran her through with its katana. She fell over the paralyzed man.
The alien forces rumbled through the streets, one after another, striking down any pedestrian in their way and trampling the bodies. Fires burned high into the sky as screams filled the air.
Rage and helplessness made T'Challa shake. Never had he felt so helpless. Cries rolled up from the streets, from the buildings, as entire families were killed. Anyone who was too slow was struck down. Children, elders, women, men.
T'Challa led the Wakandans into the streets, and the aliens were caught completely off guard as they were met with a wave of furious Wakandan warriors, every man among them armed. T'Challa and his forces pushed their attack, taking advantage of the surprise for as long as they could. Their efforts disrupted and routed the attackers long enough for the screaming fleeing civilians to get away as the Wakandan forces spread out, forming a defensive perimeter through the city's marketplace.
They fought hard, but the enemy's ferocity was unmatched. More and more Wakandan soldiers began to fall to alien weapons and Footbot katanas. The Footbots swarmed Hank Pym's tank, using their melee weapons to damage the tank's wheels and detread it, snapping the metal treads and rendering it useless. Inside, Hank and Casey jolted in their seats as the tank's right tread came out and off of the wheels.
The Footbots climbed up the side of the tank towards the hatch, trying to force it open to reach the passengers inside. They were so focused on getting to their targets, they failed to notice Muckman leaping down from a building on top of the tank with a wild yell. He landed on top of one of the Footbots, crushing its head beneath the sewer manhole cover attached to his foot. Rearing his head back, he let loose with a stream of toxic bile, heaving barf all over the tank and the Footbots standing or climbing on it. The Footbots fell off, spasming and emitting sparks as their systems malfunctioned from the bile, like bugs that had just been sprayed with insecticide.
Muckman knocked on the tank's hatch, and Casey opened it to see the garbage mutant standing over him extending a hand. "Let's get outta here!" he shouted, pulling the teenager and Hank Pym out of the tank as they fell back towards the rest of the Wakandans.
Okoye was hit by a blast from a Dark Elf rifle holding the line with her Dora Milaje sisters. She screamed and hit the ground. Hearing her scream, Black Panther turned and saw her lying on the street. "Okoye!" he shouted, tearing out the throat of a Frost Giant with his claws before running to her side. "General!"
She sat up weakly. Her vibranium armor had protected her from being instantly killed by the blast, but she was still wounded. T'Challa slung her arm over his shoulder, carrying her up the street away from the battle. "Fall back!" he shouted to his forces. Enough of them had died. The market had been overrun. Their only hope was to withdraw to the palace and make a final stand there. And so they retreated, stepping over the bodies of dead Wakandan soldiers and civilians that filled the streets with Footbots in hot pursuit behind them.
Shredder stood in his menacing suit of armor on the deck of Naglfar, watching the chaos unfold in the Golden City below. Fires erupted in every city zone. Black smoke billowed into the air, mixing with the screams of terrified Wakandan civilians. It was an exhilarating feeling.
"They cannot hold the city," he said. "And the heroes outside are nearly spent." On the battlefield outside the city, the heroes had started suffering without the Wakandan forces backing them up. At this point, it was merely a battle of attrition; their numerical advantage was proving more decisive than the superior skills of the heroes. The alien army had surrounded the heroes' forces and closing in from all sides. "Now I make my move."
"Let these lands run with blood," Loki said, a wicked smile growing on his lips as he watched Shredder leave. "Go. Slaughter them all."
Now came the heroes' end. It was time to prepare for the final assault. And to think, they hadn't even needed Doom or his magic or his robots.
Outside the city, the heroes were struggling to regain the advantage over the alien hordes. They had heart, but they were just too outmatched by numbers. More and more fell wounded or dead to the Wakandan grasslands, and the aliens just kept on coming. Devil Dinosaur, their heaviest hitter, went in for a bite at one of the Frost Beats, clamping his teeth down around the beast's neck and dragging it through the battlefield, squashing a group of panicked aliens. The Frost Beast roared in pain and shook Devil Dinosaur off.
"Get him, Devil!" Moon Boy shouted from the animal's back.
"Booyakashaaaa!" Mikey shouted, riding on the dinosaur behind Moon Boy.
Devil Dinosaur tried going in for another attack, but his mouth wasn't wide enough to get a grip on the beast's stocky body. This missed shot proved to be a mistake, as it gave the Frost Beast the angle it needed to turn around and bite down into Devil Dinosaur's neck and drag him to the ground, knocking Moon Boy off the creature's back.
Moon Boy looked up in time to see Devil Dinosaur roar in pain as the Frost Beast sunk its two-pronged tail spikes into his friend's side, goring him. "No!" Moon Boy shouted. "Devil!" In a furious rage he leaped for the nearest Dark Elf, clawing a path through the enemies to his friend. He almost met his demise as three rock trolls surrounded him, but a well-timed ninja smoke bomb from Mikey took both of them right to Devil Dinosaur's side.
Before the Frost Beast could go in for the kill, Iron Man flew overhead in a strafing run, launching a burst of missiles into the creature's hide. The Frost Beast roared angrily and turned away from Devil, chasing after Iron Man instead.
Moon Boy ran to his friend. "Devil, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.
The dinosaur let out a grunt as he struggled to get to his feet. Moon Boy climbed back onto his back and patted his side. "Let's go, boy," he said.
Cap, meanwhile, was starting to realize they were losing. They needed breathing room and a chance to regroup. "Fall back!" he shouted. "Fall back to the jungle! Fall back!" The heroes pulled back, grabbing their wounded and carrying them back to the edge of the jungle where they'd first emerged. Loki kept his forces from pursuing them; he needed time to collect and regroup as well. The heroes' assault had been devastating, and only the magic of his battle meditation had kept them on top.
Meanwhile, the heroes loaded the wounded into the Bus, quickly turning the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane into a medical field station. Many Wakandans and Savage Land natives had been killed. Scarlet Witch had a nasty gash on her side, and the Punisher had taken a rock troll club to the skull.
Lance Hunter helped put Quake's arm back in place, which had been dislocated during the fight. Quake tensed, screaming through clenched teeth as her arm popped back into its socket.
"Take five, Johnson," said Nick Fury as he walked past, helping Black Widow sanitize wounds and pass out bandages.
"With all due respect, Director," Quake said, struggling to her feet. "I can do this."
Mikey held Renet's hand as Beast stitched closed a deep cut on her left thigh. Renet squeezed Mikey's hand hard, tears leaking through her tightly shut eyelids as her leg was awash with searing pain.
"Hang in there, Renet!" Mikey said, distress written all over his face at seeing her in this pain. "You're doing great!"
"Agh!" Renet cried, gritting her teeth as Beast slipped the needle back into her skin. "Mikey—it hurts—"
"Almost done, child," said Beast. "I apologize for the lack of anesthetic."
Cap watched them, a sinking feeling in his stomach. The alien army was rallying and would march on them at any second. They could try retreating even further back into the jungle, but none of them were familiar with the terrain. Plus, the flying heroes wouldn't be able to use their powers in the tree cover. They'd have to make a last stand here.
He turned towards the sore and battle-weary heroes outside, those who weren't too badly injured or tending to the injured. "I know you've all informally made me the leader because of my experience," he said. "But honestly, I have no right to ask this of any of you." He pointed out over the battlefield. "Those aliens are laying waste to a city with our friends, a whole lot of good men and women, trapped inside. We're giving them hell, but they're giving it right back. We have to push through and take back the city." His gaze drifted between each of them as they all met his gaze with a grim determination. "Will you follow me one last time?" he asked.
No one said a word. They all stood, grabbing their weapons in a silent gesture of affirmation. Cap smiled mirthlessly in thanks as Coulson approached him with a small metal case. Coulson opened it to reveal rows of small black wireless earbuds.
"Standard issue communicators, Captain," the agent said. "This'll help keep us a little more coordinated on the battlefield."
Cap took one, sliding it into his ear before turning and walking back out onto the battlefield. Coulson walked up and down the ranks, giving each of them an earbud as they joined Cap on the plains. The aliens were probably about a hundred yards away now, a formidable line of ferocious-looking creatures. Six snarling Frost Beasts stood in front of the alien line, the vanguard for the attack. They didn't advance, instead just staring down the heroes in an intimidating fashion.
But Cap wasn't intimidated. The odds had never stopped him from giving his all. And in his peripheral vision he could see heroes, his allies, his friends, making the same stand with him. They all lined up, a wall of human and mutant flesh that the aliens would have to fight tooth and nail to get through.
Inside the hangar bay of the Bus, Tony worked on repairing the battle damage his armor had sustained in the fight. Because the Model Prime's surface was divided into individual tiles, repairing damaged areas was easy, as the scales simply realigned themselves. Donnie, though, was having a much tougher time patching up Metalhead. The rebuilt robot didn't have this advanced technology, so he had to essentially weld scrap metal parts over the most vulnerable areas and sauter the other spots closed.
He still had time to eye Tony's suit enviously. "That's one sleek-looking suit, Tony," he commented. "Like the Lamborghini of Iron Men suits."
"It might look a Lambo, but it's supposed to be a Swiss army knife," Tony said. "The body's made up of hexagonal scales that can separate and reconfigure into any form and color."
"How does that work?" Donnie asked.
"Nanotech principles of molecular recognition," Tony said. "Basically—"
"—the molecule bonds that make up the individual nanites recognize each other and bond to each other in similar patterns, which allows the nanites to be manipulated to form all kinds of weapons and tools," Donnie said, half to himself. "Kind of like how magnets always find a positive and negative charge, regardless of their contained forms!" He looked up to see Tony staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.
"You know, you would be the first person I've ever explained that to who understood," Tony said, a hint of admiration in his voice, before turning back to the suit. "It essentially merged all my different armor modes into one. It can change shape and color scheme based on mission stats …" He paused as he focused on finishing up his repairs. "… and it's not attached to my biology in that way that freaks just about everyone out."
Raph walked down the ramp to see Captain America at the front of the line of heroes standing in defense. "Gotta give it to the captain, he's got guts," he said, groaning in pain. "But it must be nice to have a healing factor like that. Not all of us are so lucky."
"Watch it, Raph," Tony said, as he stepped back into the Model Prime armor. The suit took shape around him before its scales smoothed themselves out along his body's countours and assumed a lean, body glove-like appearance. "I own sarcasm and didn't give you permission to use it."
Raph smirked. "Cute."
"Get used to it, pal," said Tony, as the armor's faceplate slid back into place over his face. "Armor?"
"All systems operational," T.A.D.A.S.H.I. said.
"Double check," Iron Man said.
"You are go for flight," the AI confirmed. Iron Man lit up his repulsors and shot into the air, flying out of the Bus and over towards the line of superheroes, taking up place alongside Cap. Raph and Leo joined Splinter, Karai, Shinigami, and April there. The aliens had begun a slow, deliberate, and determined march towards the heroes. No one in the line moved, flinched, or had any second thoughts as the aliens closed the distance. Soon, a hundred yards became seventy, then fifty.
Then the unthinkable happened. Wolverine's head perked up as if he was listening to something. "Anybody else hearing Bonnie Tyler?" he asked.
At first nobody knew what he was talking about. But then, faintly, in the distant, they could hear the sound of music. It was, indeed, Bonnie Tyler's classic hit, "Holding Out For A Hero". And it was being played by the Milano, which was diving down through the skies towards the battle, coming in for a landing. As they all looked up, the sky split with a streak of rainbow, as the Bifrost opened up in the field in front of the heroes. They all shielded their eyes from the intense light and heat, and when it cleared they could see about a hundred of Asgard's finest Einherjar warriors, led by none other than—
"Thor!" Leo shouted. "Thor, is that really you?"
"It is good to see you both again, my friends," said Thor, smiling. His body crackled with lightning as he whirled Mjolnir in his hand.
The rest of the heroes stood in shocked silence at Thor's appearance. Everyone's mind was racing, but Donnie was the first to speak.
"But wait," the purple turtle said. "I thought there was an intergalactic off-limits order on the Earth."
"There was," Thor said. "There still is. But the Earth is hiding a fugitive. An Asgardian fugitive." He pointed at the Ship of the Dead hovering over the city in front of them.
"Loki?" asked Leo.
"Yes." Thor was grinning now. "And because he is a fugitive of Asgard, he remains Asgard's problem to deal with. And, since I am the new king of Asgard, that makes him my problem."
"And the intergalactic treaty appears to allow for the formation of a posse to recover any fugitives, should they be exceptionally dangerous," said Lady Sif, walking up beside Thor. "So we brought some help." She gestured in the sky, where they could see more ships far above them in the atmosphere. Ravagers ships. Salamandrian cruisers and fighters.
"I don't believe it!" Donnie laughed.
"Believe it," said Star-Lord, walking up with the other Guardians of the Galaxy. They had parked the Milano behind the line of superheroes, next to the Bus on the edge of the jungle. "Besides, as Rocket would not stop reminding me for the entire trip here, Thor still owes us for the last job."
Another streak of light flew through the atmosphere faster than any ship or meteorite. It was a lone figure. The figure landed in front of them, a woman in a red and blue outfit with long blonde hair. No one knew who she was.
No one, that is, except Nick Fury, who broke into a wide grin. "Hey, Colonel," he said. "You still flying around space?"
"Little bit," said Captain Marvel, smiling at the sight of her old friend. "You still playing superspy?"
"Little bit," Fury said. "How's Rambeau?"
"She's good," Captain Marvel shot back. "How's your eye?"
Fury laughed. "You going to stand here and insult me, or you wanna lend a hand?" As she took her place among the other heroes, Fury gave a side-eye glance towards Captain America. "Do the honors, Rogers."
Cap grinned. "Alright, let's do this one more time." He looked down at the alien army, which had stopped its advance and lost morale at the sight of the heroes' unexpected reinforcements. "Avengers, assemble!"
A wild yell arose from the ranks of the heroes as Cap took off, sprinting full speed towards the oncoming aliens as the others followed him. They ran in an arrow-like formation, with Cap at the head, so he would reach the enemy lines first. The aliens charged as well, keeping their linear formation and letting the Frost Beasts lead. With almost perfect timing, a squadron of Ravager ships flew overhead in a strafing run, cutting down four of the giant Frost Beasts with laserfire. As the animals collapsed to the ground, the two armies crashed into each other once more. Only this time, the heroes' fighting spirit had been rejuvenated when their backup had arrived. They maintained their arrow formation, stretching the length of the battlefield to prevent the aliens from encircling them as they had before. The skies above were filled with dogfights as Ravager and Salamandrian ships engaged the Dark Elves' Harrow fighters. This rally had been just what they needed, and they regained the fighting edge that they'd had at the start of the fight.
Iron Man landed, blasting away at the alien invaders, and soon found himself back-to-back with Thor. "Hey, Thor," he said. "We missed you, buddy. How's Asgard?"
"It's destroyed," Thor said bluntly, launching a rock troll into the air with his hammer.
"Oh," Iron Man said lamely. Yikes. Shouldn't have asked.
"And my father died," added Thor.
"Well, how's the girl?" Iron Man asked. Thor had been dating some Earth girl, last he'd checked. What was her name? Julia, or Jenny, or something?
"Jane. She dumped me," Thor said. "But I still have my hammer! Fairest Mjolnir." He brought his hammer down on the head of a Frost Giant, clubbing the alien to the ground.
"Way to find the silver lining, buddy," said Iron Man, as the scales on his suit shaped themselves into a pair of high-powered arm cannons that blasted a pair of Dark Elves off the face of the earth. "Besides, I don't have the greatest reputation with the ladies either."
"Only based on your life choices," Rhodey's voice said from inside his helmet.
Tony squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "You know, Rhodey, a good wingman would lie to me every now and then."
In the skies above, War Machine flew over the battlefield, raining down missiles and bullets from his suit. "A friend wouldn't," he shot back, smiling inside his helmet. The suit's sensors picked up movement below, and he zoomed in to spot Hulk going toe-to-toe with a Frost Beast. "Look like Hulk's cleaning up the big guys for us," he remarked.
Hulk had climbed up the side of the Frost Beast and now stood on the creature's back, roaring and pounding into it from above with his fists. The beast, confused and enraged, turned this way and that, trying to shake Hulk from its back. In its maddened fury, it charged headfirst into the aliens, its feet turning them to paste and its tail tossing them into the air.
It was a small victory. But they still had a long way to go.
T'Challa led his Wakandan forces to the palace and were greeted with a surprising but very welcome sight. Wakandan Royal Guardsmen were posted on the streets and rooftops of the buildings for a block surrounding the palace in every direction. They directed the fleeing civilians inside, and upon seeing the heroes raised their weapons cautiously, but lowered them at the sight of T'Challa, Nakia, Okoye, and Shuri leading the charge down the street.
Jakarra, the captain of the Royal Guard, approached the heroes. "My king," he said, bowing his head low and trying to avoid Shuri's glare. "Forgive me for my betrayal."
"Jakarra," T'Challa said. "It is good to have you on our side again." He clapped a hand to the man's shoulder, prompting him to straighten up.
"The Royal Guardsmen have always been loyal to Wakanda," said Jakarra. "We allied with the Masters of Evil to protect our people, but when they began slaughtering them—" His jaw clenched in unspoken fury. "That was the final straw. We killed everyone within the Citadel and barricaded the palace to be a place of refuge for the citizens. I hope this may excuse my traitorous behavior, my king. I am not worthy to even grovel at your feet."
"There will be time for talk of punishment later," said T'Challa. "Right now I need every man fighting. Only the wounded and the women and children may stay inside the Citadel."
"Make that wounded and children," said Nakia, as T'Challa turned to face her. "Wakandan women do not hide from a fight. We stand with our men, in life and in death."
"Arm yourselves!" Shuri shouted to the others.
The crowd of civilians who had drawn close turned and streamed into the Citadel, as Royal Guardsmen began tossing them bladed melee weapons from the armory. Donnie's remote attack on the armory had rendered the energy weapons and rifles useless, but they still had their blades. Swords, spears, bows, axes—some of them even began to grab work tools, like sledgehammers.
It took about ten minutes before they had gathered outside the citadel. Their numbers had nearly tripled with addition of the Wakandan civilians. T'Challa had never felt so proud staring out at the sea of faces staring back at him. These were his people. This was Wakanda. They refused to let themselves be conquered. They refused to submit.
"Any man or woman who wants to give their last, follow me!" he shouted, as the Black Panther mask configured around his face.
"To the king!" M'Baku shouted, raising his knobkerrie to the skies. "To the king!"
As shouts went up from the crowd, W'Kabi raised his horn to his lips and blew a deep, resonant bellow. The sound went before their charge, an ominous announcement of the ferocity to come that reached the aliens before any Wakandan steel did. They met their invaders in the streets, hacking, slashing, stabbing with a raw intensity that had almost never been seen before. The fight became a vicious street brawl, locked into tight corners of one-on-one fights. The Wakandans, whether trained warrior or average citizen, fought like cornered animals, with nothing left to lose.
Loki knew he had to do something to regain the initiative. Now that his brother was here, and an army at his bequest, they stood little chance. Now it was time for his power pieces to come into play. He first sent a signal to the Shredder, in the city below, to activate Doctor Doom's new V-Series Doombots. Once that was done, he closed his eyes and sent a telepathic call to Jormungand, the World Serpent.
In the lake behind the Golden City, underneath almost a mile of water, the beast known as the World Serpent slept.
No longer.
As Loki's stimulating call woke him, his enormous reptilian eyes snapped open, eyes made for staring through the dark depths of the oceans. Shaking off the exhaustion of slumber, he rose through the water, his head rearing itself up out from the surface of the giant pool and into the air with an appalling roar.
Thor was here.
And there was nowhere left for him to run.
This was the hour of Jormungand.
Leo had pulled his katanas out of the corpse of a Frost Giant when he heard the roar. It was a terrifying, bloodcurdling roar, a monstrous shriek that made the earth shake. He looked up and froze to see an enormous that was surging upwards into the skies from behind the city. It was a mixture of emerald and evergreen, with purple blotches along the head. Its head was shaped like a horse's, but without the ears, and with a gaping mouth filled with double rows of sharp, fishlike teeth. It came up on what he thought was a huge neck, but as more and more of it emerged, he realized this was its body and not its neck. The folds of the snake's gigantic tail could be seen far away, rising at intervals from the surface of the water, and now its head was towering up higher than the royal palace.
The creature roared again, and all on the battlefield froze in mid-swing, mid-attack, mid-flight, watching the creature shriek. The roar grew louder and more high-pitched in intensity, before petering out to allow the creature to speak in a voice that vibrated their bones. "And now, little ones, turn and stare into the face of death!"
"Holy Toledo," Donnie gasped.
"Holy chalupa!" Mikey squeaked.
"What the heck is that?" Raph asked.
Leo noticed that Thor was the only one among them who was staring at the creature without any expression of shock or awe on his face. His face read nothing but a grim determination. "You know that thing, Thor?" he asked.
"Aye, Leonardo," Thor said ominously. "That is Jormungand. The great Midgard Serpent. Banished to Earth by my father. The prophecies speak of our battle, a great battle signalling the beginning of the end of Ragnarok."
"Ragnarok?" asked Donnie. "But I thought we already went through that when Surtur took over Asgard!"
"Nay, Donatello," said Sif, walking up towards them in the middle of the battle. "Ragnarok is an event that affects all the nine realms. Asgard's end ran its course. Now we shall see the end of Midgard. Unless Thor can defeat that monster."
"Well, we might as well loosen it up for him a little," said Quill over the radio. "Ravager Squadron, on me!"
They looked up to see Ravager ships veer off from the dogfights and dive down towards Jormungand, their laser cannons blasting away in strafing runs. The laser fire glanced off Jormungand's thick hide, and as the ships passed overhead and came back around again, he threw his serpentine head back and laughed.
"Show me your love, Midgardians!" Jormungand bellowed. "Shower me in your fire! Waste thy mortal power on my magics! And when your powers have spoken their last, when Midgard is a ruin of corpses, when I encircle Midgard and crack it like an egg—then ask yourself why you even bothered! HAAA HAHAHA HAA!"
As the ships divebombed again, Jormungand let fly with a stream of reddish-black liquid venom from the back of his throat. The poisonous bile struck two of the Ravager ships, which immediately burst into flames and plummeted out of the sky.
"Woah!" the turtles shouted.
Thor grimaced. "The venom of the World Serpent is fatal. Even to the gods." He turned to Sif. "I cannot stand idly by while more die to an enemy only I am destined to kill."
"That thing looks pretty serious," said April. "I'm not wild about the odds."
Thor looked at her and smiled reassuringly. "Only a fool has no fear, young sorceress," he said. "And I am no fool." He whipped his hammer around, taking off into the air and flying off towards the World Serpent.
The turtles watched him go, staring until Iron Man's voice coming from their earpiece brought them back to the fight. "Heads up!" he said as he flew over their heads, his focus on the small flying shapes that had just taken off from the Wakandan Medical Center. "We've got incoming. Fifty bogies on a tight intercept course."
The Human Torch flew past him at an even faster speed, zooming ahead at almost Mach 2 speed towards the incoming objects. "I got this," he said, as he left the battlefield behind and focused on the cloud of grey, metallic, eighteen-foot-tall robots coming towards him. They were a shining silver, save for the short green spikes going down their arms and legs, their green hands and feet, and reinforced green armor plating that made them appear as if they were wearing unitards. Each one had a green metal faceplace, with red electronic lenses.
He let loose with a powerful wave of fire from his hands as he flew on, striking one of the V-Series Doombots in the torso. The flame sent the robot flying backwards, but didn't appear to damage it, as it recovered quickly in midair and then flew back towards her, as the others flew past her towards the battlefield.
The Human Torch frowned. His flames were half-nova heat and this thing was just shrugging it off. Now it was the Doombot's turn to attack, firing a rapid-fire series of green laser bolts from its hand repulsors. Human Torch spun in the air, dodging the laserfire and returning with his own heat blast.
"These things are shrugging off near-nova blasts," Human Torch shouted, watching his fire stream just reflect off the V-Series Doombot's armored surface. "This isn't the way vibranium is supposed to react. What has Doom done to this stuff?"
The Doombot flew in close and grabbed the Human Torch out of the sky by his neck, holding him tightly, almost painfully, while it aimed its other hand repulsor directly at the Human Torch's face. "Oh crap!" Human Torch gagged, trying frantically to break free from the robot's grip. He raised his body temperature to 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt iron, but the robot didn't let go. He fired another sphere of flame directly into the Doombot's face, but nothing. As the robot prepared to fire, he braced himself, hoping for a quick and painless death.
He was saved by a blast of cosmic energy that came from behind him that struck the V-Series Doombot almost exactly between the eyes. It should have been strong enough to pulverize concrete, but it did nothing except knock the Doombot's head back on its neck and send it flying away into the air as it let go of the Human Torch. The Human Torch began falling, only to be caught by Captain Marvel far before he hit the ground. It was her who had shot the cosmic energy that had saved his life. "You all right, hotshot?" she asked.
The Human Torch shook his head grimly, rubbing his sore neck where the Doombot had choked him. "I don't think any of us are!" he said ominously.
The other heroes were beginning to come to the same conclusion. Here on the ground, the appearance of the V-Series Doombots were turning the tide of battle. Scarlet Witch was trying to keep back a pair of the robots with her psionic forcefields, her eyes glowing the same bright red as the energy barrier in front of her. The Doombots were beating down against the barrier, and it was taking all of her mental focus to keep the forcefields intact and prevent them from reaching her. She couldn't hold them back much longer; these things were Hulk-class in strength.
The Doombots kept up the barrage, pounding against the forcefield with their massive fists. "Aggghhh!" Scarlet Witch cried. "I can feel it in my head. Each blow is like thunder. I can't—" She screamed in agony, falling to the ground with her hands against the sides of her head as the Doombots broke her concentration and shattered through her forcefield. She lay on the ground writhing as the robots advanced on her.
But Vision was there, releasing a powerful blast from the Mind Stone in his forehead that pushed one of the Doombots back. The other reared back its fist to strike him, but Vision blocked the blow and instead threw the robot over his shoulder, using its own momentum to take it down. As it lay on the ground Vision lifted his foot and stomped down with all the force he could, pulverizing the V-Series Doombot's head. Sparks coursed over its armor plating as it jerked and spasmed until finally its power shut off and it lay still.
It was the first indication that these new V-Series Doombots could even be hurt, let alone killed, and Vision was caught off guard long enough for the other Doombot to catch him in a backhanded slap that sent him flying. Colossus was in the middle of fist-fighting a Frost Giant when he saw Vision falling towards him. He punched the Frost Giant hard, sending it sprawling back, before turning and catching Vision with both hands before he hit the ground. "I got you!" he shouted, setting the android on the ground before turning back to finish off the Frost Giant.
Doctor Octopus was nearly beside himself with glee watching the V-Series Doombots engage in combat against the heroes outside. Each Doombot had a built-in camera, which allowed him to watch the feed from here within Shuri's laboratory. "Your new generation of Doombots are performing beautifully," he said. "They've killed a hundred Wakandan warriors and they have the heroes outside the city scrambling to regroup."
"I don't give a damn if the V-Series Doombots kill them all or not," Doom snapped, sitting on a miniature throne in the middle of the lab and watching the battle. "Just monitor the telemetry from the bots. They are tied to a self-learning neural net. Anything they learn here will make the next generation that much more combat-effective. This is all big picture, Octavius. The heroes outside are trying to win a battle. I'm waging war."
As he spoke, he reached up and took hold of a helmet that was suspended from the ceiling by a collection of wires. The throne he sat on wasn't just an ego-booster; it was part of a rather impressive machine that, if their tests on vibranium were anything to go by, would give him near-infinite powers. Part of a plan that had taken decades to come up with, to make foolproof, until he was ready to make his move.
It was no accident, no random chance, as to who made up his cabal, who the members of the Masters of Evil were. Everyone had had their part to play. All pawns on a chessboard, and Doom was only playing against himself. It had been almost ridiculously easy to recruit the Masters of Evil into his plan. Each had had something to give him. HYDRA and the Foot Clan: manpower. Doctor Octopus: a brilliant mechanical mind, one also conveniently easy to manipulate. Magneto: knowledge of the X-Men; more specifically, knowledge of their Cerebro device, and the tools to recreate it with a few modifications for Doom's purpose. Loki: a capable general to lead their "invasion" of Earth.
An invasion that had allowed Doom to melt into the shadows while ruling over his own slice of the planet. And his slice had undoubtedly thrived the most. The people living in Doomlandia had never known anything but prosperity and easy living once Doom had taken control of Europe. And his private participation in the invasion had made it appear as though Loki was their true figurehead, and Doom was merely an ally, a passive participant. When the time came, he could foreswear his former allegiances after appearing to finally discover the true extent of the Masters of Evil's crimes against civilization. Each of his "allies" would be crushed, stripped of all they possessed, and their lands and their wealth would be given into the hands of the only beings who could be trusted with them.
A new world government.
A government clean, pure, direct: none of the messy scramble for the favor of ignorant rabble and subhuman creatures that made up the current situation that Doom so despised. The government he would serve would be authority personified.
Doom's authority.
And he would serve as only he could. As he was born to. He would smash the hero alliances to create them anew: not shackled by the corrupt, narcissistic, shabby little beings who called themselves politicians, but free to bring true authority and true peace to a galaxy that so badly needed both.
This had been his star of destiny for lo, these many years.
Doom pulled back the hood of his cloak to reveal his shiny metal dome. "Is it ready, Doctor?" he asked, holding the Cerebro-like helmet in his hands. In the way that the original Cerebro was able to amplify telepathic ability across the world, this one was much more powerful, and could affect the Earth itself. Although Magneto's betrayal had thrown him for a bit of a loop, the mutant had still proven useful in his own way.
"Yes," Doc Ock said, using his tentacles to stalk the laboratory as he fiddled with the control panel for the machine. "The Earth's ley lines are being warped to connect you to every fragment of vibranium on Earth." He quickly activated the lab's protective shield bubble around himself to watch the procedure occur.
"Excellent," said Doom, putting the helmet on over his head. "One last thing remains and then the doorway opens to my destiny."
There was a loud noise, like a lightning strike, as the machine lit up with energy. The helmet, and Doom's head, was engulfed by a blinding flash of green light as tendrils of lime-colored electricity spread over his body, stretching out to the machine's containment pillars. The noise was deafeningly loud, almost masking Doom's own screams as his body was filled with unspeakable power.
This went on for almost two minutes before the machine switched off, and Doom went limp in the harness. His helmet fell off of his head and rolled down the podium to the ground. His body was still crackling with neon green energy.
"Did it work?" asked Doc Ock, coming out of the room closer to Doom when he was sure it was safe to do so.
"Oh, yes," Doom said, looking at his own hands and the energy leaping back and forth between his fingers. "The vibranium. I can feel it. Every atom of it. Everywhere. Each fragment, like a cell in my body. I have held the Cosmic Cube in my hand, but nothing compares to this. When vibranium crashed to Wakanda in that ancient meteor, it seeded the earth with trace particles. Those particles are everywhere. Which means I am everywhere. The Earth itself has become my weapon. My fist. The world is mine!"
He threw his head back, savoring his newfound powers for a few silent moments before turning to look at Doctor Octopus with a terrifying gaze. The gaze, Doc Ock thought to himself, of a man who knows exactly what he is capable of. "Doctor Doom is dead," Doom said slowly. "Victor von Doom has been reborn, restored and transformed by the reality-altering power of the life force itself. And by you, Octavius."
Doc Ock was still a bit unsure of all of this. "Victor, the power to alter reality is, by its very nature, unstable—"
"And I swear to you, I shall not abuse it," Doom said. "I shall make ours a planet free of poverty, disease, and war. There will be no need for the violent conquest that we have forced upon this world. I will peaceably govern all."
In contradiction to his words, his hands began to glow a dark green energy, and his voice became decidedly more sinister as he added, "And there will be nothing I cannot accomplish."