An adventure of cosmic proportions comes knocking on the door of Avengers Mansion! A mysterious man, marked by alien sigils, wanted by the galaxy's ultimate defensive task force! Whatever will our heroes do? Is the key to unlocking this mystery the man himself? Join us, true believers, in watching the Avengers unravel the truth behind-
Chapter 30: Michael Korvac
It was a calm and quiet night in New York, its denizens bustling about as they took in a pleasantly warm evening. In Central Park, joggers, walkers and cyclists enjoyed the warm yellow street lights surrounding a fountain with a mighty angelic statue atop it. All in all, everything seemed normal and tranquil.
Until it wasn't…
A golden glow appeared in thin air, taking a spherical shape as it descended to the paved parkway and promptly buried itself within layers of concrete and stonework with explosive force. Those milling about took flight in terror, only a pair of roaming policemen left to investigate as the glow died down. They hurried to the crater left behind, peering through clouds of smoke and dusty debris for the source only to gasp in shock as they laid eyes on something astonishing.
A blonde-haired man, buck-naked, on his hands and knees at the bottom of the crater. Squinting through the hair around him, the policemen noted strange tattoos etched across his back. He stirred and the men hesitantly reached for their holstered weapons. He looked up, blue eyes wide, revealing thin and gaunt features. "H-Help me… please… s-someone…" he weakly begged. "They're coming… They're… They're c-coming for me…"
"Who's coming for you?" One of the officers asked. The man said nothing, extending a gangly arm and bony finger up, past the city skyline, towards the sky… pointing at the stars…
Elsewhere…
"Aren't you supposed to be watching out for supervillains? Isn't that what 'monitor duty' is?" Miss Marvel inquired knowingly. Her hologram within the Avengers sublevel meeting room replicated every aspect of her person brilliantly, to a point where Wasp felt like she was speaking with Carol in person and not on a super-futuristic phone call.
"I told JARVIS to let me know if anything blows up." The winsome heroine sighed, slumping in her chair looking depressed and despondent. "I just can't believe that Hank and I are falling apart. I mean… I'm me!" She stated for the third time, bemoaning her current situation with her boyfriend... possibly soon-to-be ex-boyfriend the way things were going. "How can this be happening?" She asked aloud in a pained voice. She didn't want to believe it. Hank and her had known each other for a very long time and had been a couple for at least half that time. To think that all those years would amount to nothing genuinely concerned her.
"Because you're so completely different?" Carol proffered. She'd known Janet for a long time and had a particularly insightful inside scoop on her relationship with Hank thanks to copious amounts of 'girl talk'. While the phrase 'opposites attract' certainly seemed applicable, it was the Major's belief that there may be too much opposition for an attraction to form. "What, did something new happen?"
"He's just so… so frustrating!" Janet growled, her fists smacking the tabletop every time she thought about Hank's annoying passivity and lacklustre ability to emote the way she would prefer. "But I was really mean to him the last time we talked, which I feel… kinda bad about." She added, hints of regret and remorse filling her voice.
"I know." Carol said comfortingly. "But, Jan… if Hank really cared, he wouldn't have left." She added, hoping her friend would finally take a hint. Jan slumped against the table, chin resting against her crossed arms as the reality weighed heavily upon her.
"You think?" She asked, unconsciously pulling her best sad-face.
"Let me put it this way; if science were a woman, he just left you for her." Carol elaborated, prompting a quiet whimper from Janet as she buried her head in her arms. Knowing her moods, Carol knew Janet would need some sort of 'bright side' to this situation lest she fall further into despondency. "Jan, maybe… maybe things are just done between you and Hank."
"They can't be!" Janet replied, pained and hurt by the notion.
"I know it hurts. But you've both tried and things just aren't working out." Carol continued. "Maybe you should try seeing someone else. You know, just to test the waters, see if you feel better without Hank." She suggested. Janet hummed and hawed over the idea, not really liking it.
"Like who?" She replied, sounding both disheartened and disinterested.
"Well… how about Connor? He's a nice guy, not totally obsessed with scientific pursuits, and, well… every time I see his personality on display, I think of you." Carol suggested. At the mention of her fellow Avenger and friend, Janet froze. Dating someone else on the team? On the one hand it seemed crazy, really crazy… too crazy for her.
On the other hand, Connor was a nice guy, kinda good-looking, was hardly obsessed with science like Hank was, outgoing like she was…
But then again, she would be dating her friend! How could she even do that?
Janet was suddenly reminded of the time Susan Storm questioned the possibility of her and Connor getting together and how flustered she'd become at the idea. Why did he keep popping up all the time? More importantly, why did mentioning him make her feel like this? All confused like her brain had melted like butter in the sun.
She suddenly realized she was blushing fiercely.
Before she was forced to devise an explanation, a distant chime filled the room and drew her attention to a low-level alert from JARVIS. The front door sensors had tripped and security footage revealed three people standing outside. "I-I've gotta run. S-Someone's at the… *ahem* at the door." She stuttered out, clearing her throat to try and regain her composure. "Hopefully someone that's better at cheering me up than you are." She added in retort as she left. The hologram of Carol shook her head while a knowing smile crept onto her face.
Ascending to the upper levels, Wasp strolled through the halls and did her best to focus on the task at hand. She wasn't hurrying to answer the door, just making sure she looked prim and proper as the winsome Wasp before she encountered anyone. As she passed by the common area, she heard familiar voices.
"How do you…? Oh yes, I remember."
"WHAT, since when-?!"
Janet paused at the sounds, quietly padding over to the entry and peering in on Clint Barton, T'Challa and Connor Peterson as they were engrossed in a heated Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike match, with Connor's Akuma going up against T'Challa's Ken. She remained hidden, not announcing her presence, her eyes flickering between the pixel-y characters on the screen and the two men playing. Her blue hues eventually settled on the focused and dedicated Connor as his thumbs flew rapidly across his controller. Carols' words lingered on her mind.
He's a nice guy, not totally obsessed with scientific pursuits, and, well… every time I see his personality on display, I think of you.
Janet felt her face go flush again, biting her lower lip as she forcefully peeled her eyes from Connor to the door. She needed to focus.
The men went oblivious to her appearance, Clint keenly watching T'Challa play a masterful Ken round with Connor alternatively button-mashing his parry and block options to try and get Akuma stop Ken's shoryuken uppercut.
"NononononoNO! Aw, come on!" Connor groaned as he threw up his hands and lost his third match in a row. "I thought you didn't know how to play?!"
"I did not. But I am learning as I go, thank you for introducing me to the likes of Ken and Ryu as well as for your earlier tutelage." T'Challa responded politely.
"My mistake…" Connor mumbled, rubbing his face.
"Getting sloppy 'gamer'? Or are you headed towards an early retirement?" Clint teased. "If a veteran Akuma player loses to a newbie Ken player, that's, like, really bad news for you." Connor rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up while you can. Ten bucks says your Gill loses to him too." He shot back. Mullng over the challenge, Clint was never one to back down from an opportunity to prove himself.
"I'll take that bet. Here, let me-" He agreed, reaching for the controller.
"Nah not yet, I gotta try my other on him." Connor quickly interjected, jerking the controller away from him as he chose SELECT NEW FIGHTER from the menu. Clint scoffed.
"You couldn't beat him with Akuma. What good is Chun Li gonna do?" He asked derisively.
"For starters, her Lightning Legs are nigh unblockable so I'm banking on those in addition to her poke game." Connor answered. "If Akuma's brute force won't cut it, maybe I need more strategy."
"One can dream." Clint remarked as the character menu popped up, revealing nineteen playable fighters.
"Such a rich variety of characters. Imagine if they were real." T'Challa mused as he selected Ryu while Connor chose Chun Li.
"I can't imagine what it'd be like to fight a Street Fighter character." The technopath said.
Janet meanwhile had opened the door and was met with a curious sight; two police officers and a man between them, bare-chested with a blanket draped over his shoulders. She quirked a brow. "Is this is a drop-off?" She softly asked. "Because he doesn't exactly look like a supervillain."
"We found him in a crater in Central Park, talking crazy." One of the officers explained, drawing a few loops around his head with a finger. "He thinks he's been abducted by aliens." Turning the man around, the pair removed his blanket to reveal the strangest set of markings on his back. Janet blinked in surprise. She couldn't tell if they were tattoos or scars or something else entirely. But the fact that aliens were mentioned struck a chord with her. The Avengers seemed to be dealing with a great many otherworldly threats lately and there was a chance this man's store had some validity.
"Have you contacted SWORD?" She asked. The officers threw her a confused look.
"What's that?" Janet mentally face-palmed. Of course they wouldn't know about an elite organization dedicated to confronting alien threats. The average person barely knew what SHIELD was apart from name only. SWORD was so new she'd be surprising if any random joe off the street knew what it was.
The man in questioned turned around, his eyes meeting her for the first time. Janet sized him up, he didn't look healthy. But the way his eyes remained bright and wide, clearly something was going on his mind.
"C-Corrina?" He suddenly stammered, eyes locked on Janet. The heroine was thoroughly confused. "Corrina, we're not safe here." He urged.
"I-uh, um…" Janet stumbled over her words, not sure what to say or how to reply.
"They keep coming after me, you can't be here!" The man cried, both officers quickly taking him by the arms to deny any sudden outbursts. "I-I can't-"
"Uh, sir? My name is Janet." She quickly cut in. The light of recognition died in his eyes. "Are you okay?" He seemed to backpeddle, going back to the root of his circumstances.
"Please… you have to protect me…" He pleaded. Deciding that there was something incredibly complex afoot, Wasp knew that this was a situation that demanded more than a cursory glance.
"The Avengers will take it from here." She told the police, taking the man by the arm and gently guiding him into the mansion. "Do you have a name?" She asked quietly as the officers bid them goodnight.
"M-Michael Korvac." The man replied. Janet nodded in understanding, at least his coherence was intact.
"Okay, Michael. Just follow me and I'll make sure you get all the help and protection you need." Janet promised. Taking Michael to the elevator that led to the sublevel base, Janet paused to quickly put out a call. This was going to require a second set of eyes that could be hands-on when it came to dealing with Michael. "I called a friend of mine, Jane. She's going to come make sure you're okay." She explained to Michael as they stepped into the elevator and Janet pressed the down switch. Power thrummed and lights began to glow as they descended, flickering blue indicators suggesting how deep they were truly travelling. "So, what, uh… what happened?" Janet queried of the stricken man, who seemed to appear thinner and more sickly the longer she looked at him.
He had a dead stare about him, blinking vacantly as the sweeping blue lights of the elevator rolled over him. "Michael?" Janet queried, wondering if he had zoned out. She watched him carefully, noting how his pupils dilated and his breathing became shallow. Something about the lights, the way his eyes were locked on to them, flickering and dancing before him. All of a sudden, he backed in the corner and screamed in fright. "Michael!" Janet exclaimed.
"They took me!" He cried out. "They took me… into their ship!" Janet shrank down, bracing for the worst. "Corrina…" Michael gasped, turning on the elevator wall and pounding out as he screamed again.
"Michael! Stop it! You're going to hurt yourself!" Wasp ordered, fearing for his safety. But trapped in a wild frenzy, Michael wouldn't have it.
"Get away!" He shouted, swatting at her.
"Michael! No!" Acting reflexively, her instincts kicking in, Wasp fired a two-handed biosting that struck Michael in the chest, knocking him out as the electrical energy overloaded his senses. "Sorry!" Wasp apologized as Michael slumped over and fell limp on the floor of the elevator with a groan. Panting as the adrenaline rush died down, Wasp genuinely felt in over her head. This was more than her alone on monitor duty could handle. She needed her team.
She needed the Avengers.
Later…
Michael Korvac was strapped to an observation table, still relatively out of it as he groaned and moaned in his induced slumber. "No… stop… stay away…" Fortunately, Jane Foster was on hand to oversee his care, hooking Michael up to multiple heartrate sensors and brain activity monitors. Up above in the wings, Wasp stood by with Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Panther and Cybernaut on standby, the four having answered her call.
"I'm pretty sure I've seen this movie before." The archer callously remarked. Wasp loosed a huff of disgust and promptly socked him on the arm. "Ow! What'd you hit me for? You're the one who zapped him into unconsciousness." Hawkeye yelped, rubbing his bicep.
"Call it her way of saying your bedside manner needs improvement." Cybernaut remarked.
"And I'm supposed to buy that this guy got abducted by aliens and experimented on? Come on." Hawkeye snorted.
"You didn't see the look in his eyes." Wasp stated, sounding dead serious. "He's scared." Her gaze returned to the room below, emphasizing with the man's unfortunate situation. "He's been going in and out of consciousness. Jane and I have been able to piece a lot of it together. He escaped from an alien ship, but more aliens are chasing him. We think Michael is trying to get back to someone called 'Corrina'. She could be his girlfriend or his wife, who knows how long he's been gone?" She relayed to the men.
"Obviously Earth is of interest to several alien races," Black Panther observed, "but Mister Korvac's tale has problems." He added. "How could a normal man escape from an advanced alien race, much less return to Earth?" The others had to agree with his point of view, even if Wasp didn't want to. Tony looked to the quietest member her.
"What's your take, Connor?" He inquired as the shaded hero leaned against the glass panel overseeing Michael's chamber.
"The police said he just appeared in the Park, right? Maybe he used some sort of teleportation equipment to get back here." The technopath suggested. "And if he did, then the question is if that kind of technology is good for a long range trip… or if his abductors are in our solar system right now."
"Well, when he wakes up, we'll ask him." Wasp determined.
"When he wakes up, he's gonna flip out." Hawkeye interjected. "You realize you put Mister Abductee here in a med lab and strapped him to a table to get examined? Good thinking." He explained in a sarcastic tone, revealing he too could think about the ramifications of actions. Wasp paled as all the details added up perfectly.
"Oh… good point." She relented.
"Well, crazy or not, there's a crater in Central Park. He didn't make that up." Tony continued. "Hawkeye, Panther, go check it out. Cybernaut, you stay here with me and Jane and-"
"I'm going to find Corrina!" Wasp interrupted as she shrank down and took flight.
"Uh, not exactly what I was going to say." Tony muttered.
"She's probably been looking for him this whole time. We can use some facial recognition thingamajig and see if anyone put out a missing persons alert on him." Wasp explained, bubbling over with eagerness for her plan. "Because if anyone did, it was probably her!" She took off, making for the exit.
"Wasp," Cybernaut's vice stopped her in her tracks, the heroine whirling around in midair to see the technopath approaching her, "I recently updated the search program in the meeting room's table projector to do that sort of facial recognition thing, just type in his name and it'll scan every police database in the country. Pretty sure it's spelt K-O-R-V-A-C. Or, maybe with a 'K'. Try a few different spelling combinations." Janet smiled.
"Thanks, Connor." She whispered genuinely before darting off.
"Okay, then…" Tony scratched his head, never happy when his leading authority was usurped.
"When she's determined, she's determined." Cybernaut remarked as Panther and Hawkeye took their leave. "What do you want me to do, Tony?"
"I want you here to analyze the readings once we've finished giving Michael a once-over. I need you to tell me exactly what the scanners find, maybe we can make some sense of his whole abduction story." Tony explained, glancing at the equipment hooked up to Michael.
"See if there's any evidence of alien environments on his person, got it." Connor surmised.
Some time later, at Central Park…
"I still don't buy it." Hawkeye said aloud. Together with Black Panther, he stood at the edge of the crater in Central Park which had been cordoned off with police tape. It was big in both circumference and depth, clearly suggesting at least part of this unfolding 'Michael Korvac story' was true. "Maybe the guy did get taken by little green men."
"Or blue." Panther added, referring to the known skintone of the Kree. Down on one knee, he used a radiograph to take area samples of the terrain and atmosphere around the crater.
"Stop it." Hawkeye griped. "What I'm saying is, there's something off about this guy." He surmised. Panther stood, satisfied with his readings.
"Perhaps after weeks or even months of experimentation by alien creatures, anyone would be 'off'." He suggested and Hawkeye rolled his eyes.
"Now you're just being difficult to mess with me."
"To mess with you, yes, you are right." The Wakandan agreed. "Keep in mind there is a difference between this and me being difficult to beat in a video game." T'Challa added knowingly, referring to Clint's total defeat in a winner-take-all round in which Gill was soundly beaten by Ryu.
"I hate you." The archer muttered. The two walked off into the night, thinking their efforts would only contribute to this mystery instead of solving it. Every fact they uncovered seemed to only bring about more questions than answers. The matter of Michael Korvac would not be easily solved…
But as they left the Park, a blindly glow flashed underneath one of the many walkways. In the shadows, five unknown figures appeared of varying builds and heights. Emerging into the night light, a yellow-faced man with blonde hair and a glowing gold gemstone in his forehead squinted as he studied the area. His clothes were trim and stately, a flowing blue trench coat over a red-black bodysuit. "Korvac," he growled, "was here…"
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the state…
An empty diner was just about closed for the night, only the staff left behind to clean up and prepare for tomorrow while the last patrons had finished hours ago. A lone brunette waitress, in a pretty blue dress and stark white apron, cleaned up dishes from deserted tables. Her final job of the workday. The last thing she was expecting was the chime from the entrance as the door swung open.
"Hello?" A voice called out. The waitress turned with a tray full of dirty dishes, totally expecting to tell a late-comer that they were closed and to come back tomorrow. Instead, she gasped in surprise as the Avenger Wasp hovered before her. "Excuse me… are you Corrina?" Wasp asked, glancing at her name tag.
"I-I, uh, yes. I'm Corrina." The brunette slowly affirmed, her green eyes denoting such bewilderment. "H-How-?" Wasp waited no time breaking the news.
"We've found Michael Korvac."
Corrina responded by dropping her tray, dishware shattering into millions of shards.
Back at the Mansion…
"Well, he's right about aliens. Those readings are not of this world, Tony." Cybernaut remarked. Together in the kitchen, three Avengers met while Michael Korvac, who had been discharged by Jane Foster, sat by himself at a table where a generous plate of food had been offered him. Fully suited-up, Tony explored the readouts of Michael taken by their scanning equipment while Connor enjoyed a soda. Hulk was also in the kitchen, messily snacking on a couple of jumbo-sized turkey legs.
"Yeah… He seems okay, physically. The scars on his back are rough, though there's no internal damage. He's malnurished and dehydrated," Tony mused, using a generator within his palm-mounted repulsor to generate a hologram of Michael's medical readout, "but then… that's where the readings come in. Strangest thing ever. He's emitting some sort of energy, something I've never seen before." He described.
"It's like an ambient aura around him, the scanners picked it up in a heartbeat." Connor added.
"And they never could identify exactly what it is, right?"
"No. It's on a wavelength that doesn't match any elements common to Earth, that's all they could deduce." Hulk grunted, shooting the two a look.
"Eh, sorry," Tony apologized, "I guess this is a bit over your head." Hulk took one look at the readings and rumbled,
"It's a form of cosmic radiation." Tony and Connor paused, stunned by Hulk's sudden yet insightful comment.
"What?" Tony looked at the readout again. "It's not… oh." He trailed off, realizing Hulk's assessment was perfect.
"Now that's something I never considered." Connor mused, leaning in for a closer look. At that moment, Hawkeye and Black Panther arrived with their findings from the Central Park crater.
"There was residual cosmic radiation at the site." Panther announced.
"Uh, yeah… We've found the same thing on Korvac." Tony quickly concurred.
"Well, two for two, looks like we're on the right track of… whatever this is." Cybernaut mused.
"Yeah, no kidding." Tony agreed with a brief exhale of tiredness. "I've already contacted Miss Marvel, she's the SWORD liaison. They're supposed to be in charge of all this alien stuff." He explained to the other two.
"Where's Cap?" Hawkeye wondered.
"I dunno. He requested some time off." Tony answered with a shrug. "Went to look up old World War Two buddies or something." Black Panther's ID card suddenly chirped and he made to answer. Wasp was on the other end.
"Guys, I'm five minutes out. Meet me in the foyer and bring Michael." She stated simply before cutting the feed.
"Sounds like she found Corrina." Cybernaut realized, the name prompting Michael to jerk his head around at the name.
"Corrina…" He breathed.
The men did as requested and escorted Michael to the foyer, the mystery man now flanked by five Avengers as he stood patiently before the main door. The left side opened slowly, Wasp holding it open to allow Corrina to enter. She gasped at the sight before her.
"M-Michael?" She stammered.
"Corrina…?" Michael gasped, dozens of memories from a distant life flooding his mind. At once the two ran for each other, embracing in the middle of the foyer as Corrina lept into Michael's arms. "I-I did it! I got back to you!" He cried. It was a touching reunion, causing several of the heroes to smile at the sight.
"Michael… you've been gone almost two years! I-I thought you left, I… I thought you weren't coming back." Corrina sobbed as she hugged him tightly. Connor performed some quick mental math. He had joined the team a year ago and the Avengers had been founded roughly half a year before that, meaning Michael had been abducted long before the concept of aliens was made real when they battled Kree Sentry 459.
"Two years…" Michael breathed, shocked by the passage of time.
"Michael, what happened to you?" Corrina asked, a hand coming to rest against his gaunt cheek. The man leaned into her touch, desperate for it after so many years.
"I'll never let us be apart again, Corrina." He vowed. "I will never let them hurt me again. Any of them."
"Who?" Corrina asked, still very confounded by this situation.
All of a sudden, the foyer began to glow behind Wasp, the heroine whirling around as the other Avengers tensed. With it came the shadowy outlines of five figures, and when the glow receded, the Avengers had company.
All five wore matching colours of blue, black and red, with matching insignias of a golden flaming shield somewhere on their bodies. Three of them look very humanoid. One was a man with yellow skin and a glowing gemstone nestled in his forehead. Another was a cloaked pale-skinned woman with a glistened gold tattoo across the right side of her face that was illuminated as brightly as her pure white eye. The other was suited from top to bottom, bipedal in appearance but of an unknown species. His face concealed behind a full-metal mask and helmet, a pair of beady golden eyes peered back at the team. The final two were most curious and bewildering to say the least. One looked like a sentient bipedal tree… and the other, a raccoon.
"Tony…?" Wasp trailed off, awaiting orders.
"Avengers, protect Korvac." Iron Man commanded, helmet snapping into place as the team assumed a defensive formation. Wasp shrank down, her fists shrouded in bio-electric energy. Panther scurried to the ground, claws out and Vibranium thrumming in his suit. Hawkeye fitted an arrow and drew his bow taut, taking aim as Iron Man moved beside him and charged his respulsors while Hulk balled his meaty hands into meatier fists. Cybernaut took flight, priming both his pneumatic gauntlets and shield generator while using his magnets to spin his irons in a vortex around his hands, just waiting for an opportunity to strike. "Still think Korvac's making all this up?" The armored Avenger commented to the archer.
"I'm on the fence." Hawkeye cheekily retorted. The other team seemed to ready themselves as well, tensing and preparing to strike, the tattooed woman revealing her power as said symbol glowed brightly on her face and a sword of alien design, constructed from pure energy, erupted from her fist.
"Michael Korvac, tiik'l au'chuba'a bahnah'un a ch'ms ou'chu borvas. Iihil chu h'oram mur chu p'has." The man in the mechanical helmet ordered in a very alien language, drawing one of two pistols from his belt and taking aim at the group.
"No… no!" Michael cried out, hugging Corrina close to him. "Please, you have to help me." He begged the heroes. Wasp was itching to act first.
"Tony…"
"There's a tree and a raccoon scowling at us, man. Are we firing?" Hawkeye called out.
"A ragtag band like this has to be bounty hunters after someone's runaway experiment." Cybernaut reasoned from above.
"Everyone just wait, don't attack just yet." Iron Man replied. "They're intelligent, maybe we can-" Suddenly, the metal-faced man twitched, his hand reaching for the side of his head. Wasp took it as a display of aggressive behavior.
"No!" She dove in, riddling him with biostings as the raccoon and the tree moved to act.
"Wasp-!" Iron Man cried in dismay.
"Welp! That concludes negotiations!" Cybernaut remarked as Hawkeye loosed an explosive arrow that caused splinters to rain from the tree's arm. The other Avengers swiftly moved in on the intruding team, Cybernaut sending a hailstorm of iron to disrupt the tattooed woman before he summoned them to reforge his irons into a staff and joined Black Panther against the yellow-faced man. With his hands aglow, he brandished a staff of his own, ducking and dodging around Panther's fleet-footed efforts before raising his weapon to combat Cybernaut's overhead smash.
Iron Man unleashed a volley of repulsor-ray fire as he charged the cloaked woman, who used her powers to generate a golden shield wrought from the same energy as her sword.
Hulk advanced on the raccoon, towering over the creature who hissed and chittered as any antagonizing creature would. Hulk bellowed, thinking that would be enough to scare the little thing off… instead, the raccoon did something completely unprecedented.
Rising up on its hind legs, it drew a pair of grips from the back of its belt, which promptly morphed into a pair of automatic hand-cannons. Thoroughly surprised, Hulk was immediately peppered by a volley of raid-fire energy blasts, and the jade giant grabbed a nearby table to use as a shield and a projectile of his own. The raccoon dodged effortlessly, but the walking tree took notice and advanced on him.
Wasp continued buzzed around the metal-faced man, who drew his second pistol and fired wild, sizzling electrical bolts whenever he could as Wasp stung him repeatedly. Hawkeye quickly joined in as a single arrow knocked one pistol out of his hands, shifting the odds in favor of the Avengers. He retaliated by shifting the setting of his pistol, shooting bolts of flame at the pair as the battle raged on.
"Wasp! Get Korvac and the girl out of here!" Iron Man ordered as he tackled the cloaked woman. Suddenly flexing incredible speed and strength, she grabbed Tony and flew him skyward, the pair crashing through the rooftop skylight. "AUGH!"
"Iron Man!" Cybernaut cried out in alarm.
"Go help him! I'll handle this." Panther tasked and Cybernaut moved with a nod, taking flight and pursuing Tony up through the shattered skylight. As he left, Wasp moved to the cowering Corrina and Michael.
"We have to go. Back there, to the stairs. Go!" She ordered, unleashing a barrage of biostings to clear their path. The couple did as asked, retreating through the mansion as Wasp covered them, the teams positing off as the battle ranged across the mansion grounds.
In the skies above, Iron Man dipped and dove as streaks of golden energy pursued him, allowing his scanners to get a sample of what kind of opponent he was dealing with.
"I… Wow, is that quantum energy? Okay, I'm impressed." He remarked aloud as Cybernaut joined his side.
"Quantum energy?" The technopath repeated. "No earth-based tech can incorporate that kind of power."
"It's experimental at the very least." Iron Man countered. "To be useable like this-"
"Vi'ina nek'geht gen dow'ti, ve'heruza v'vace!" The woman retorted, fashioning another energy sword. The night air sweeping away the hood of her cloak, short-cut white hair was revealed as she brandished her weapon and prepared for combat.
"Yeah, I'm guessing you didn't just surrender." Iron Man dryly determined. He and Cybernaut increased their elevation just in time to avoid a swing of her blade. "I said I was impressed, but we've got shields too, lady. Your sword's not gonna do much." Tony taunted. The woman appeared to consider his words for a brief moment before she allowed another burst of energy to flare from the cuffs around her hands. From the sword, multiple branches of energy formed, each one ending with a unique weapon of very alien design while bearing some semblance to Earthen weapons. Morningstars, daggers, hammers, staffs, all of which bore down ominously on the pair of Avengers. "Okay, those might do something." Tony conceded grimly.
"For the record, this was your fault." Cybernaut remarked, gripping his batons tightly.
Within the mansion, Black Panther continued to duel the yellow-faced man in a one-on-one battle of skill and technique as their battle moved them into the library. Forging a Vibranium bo-staff to counter the one wielded by his opponent, the two waged their combat as the masterful prowess of Wakandan martial arts challenged very potent and equally masterful alien ones.
But even as they fought physically, another fight was unfolding.
"You are in my mind." T'Challa growled, feeling a foreign presence invade his thoughts as the jewel in the man's forehead glowed brightly. His willpower tested and honed through decades of trial and training, Black Panther bypassed the mental assault and landed a lunge-kick that plowed into the alien and sent the intruder slamming into the opposite wall.
Rising to his feet, the man unleashed an energy bolt from said jewel, Black Panther ducking low and racing ahead, leaping forward to deliver a powerful shoulder-check. But in a burst of brilliant light, the man warped away and T'Challa drove his shoulder into the wall instead.
He could smash rocks with ease, turn mountainsides to gravel with a single punch. Concrete and asphalt shattered under his feet with every step. And, yes, even alien tree-like material was not immune to the brute power of the incredible Hulk.
Tearing off one of the sentient tree's arms with his bare hands, Hulk loosed a bellow as he punched the other arm and reduced it to splinters. The raccoon scaled the living tree, raining fire down from its shoulder as his wooden friend slowly began to regrow his arms. Hulk had had enough of the duo, and brought his hands together to generate a massive thunderclap. The shockwave shattered the tree like so much fine glass and sent the raccoon tumbling through the air with a shriek. Hulk advanced with heavy, thunderous footsteps, looming over the downed creature as he reared back his fist, prepared to smash the little thing.
"Better look behind you, mate!" He suddenly shouted with a animalistic grin. Hulk froze, bewildered for a moment by the simply sight of a talking raccoon. A shadow loomed over him and Hulk turned, finding the tree regrown to full bipedal form from the mere splinters it had once been. "Want to formally introduce you, yeah?" The raccoon remarked with a smirk before scampering off. The tree reared back on of its massive fists.
"I am Groot!" It bellowed, grabbing Hulk from behind before promptly slamming him into the floor with a ridiculous amount of force.
With Michael nearly dragging Corrina behind him, Wasp flew overhead to ensure they were moving in the right direction. "Head for the hangars! Left!" She called out as they reached an intersection. "No, the other left!" She cried out when they made a wrong turn, driven primarily by adrenaline and fear.
All of a sudden, the ceiling above caved in and a familiar green sight came crashing into the middle of the floor. "Hulk?!" Wasp moved to investigate his body, wondering what was going on up above that could've moved the big guy.
"Behind you!" He bellowed, finding his voice. Wasp quickly moved as a blitz of blaster fire rained down from the hole cutting through numerous sublevels. The raccoon was back and not giving up anytime soon.
Hawkeye had led the metal-faced man on a chase into the kitchen, the violet archer quickly vaulting the central island and taking cover as multiple electricity-based rounds whizzed around him, rattling pots and pans hanging overhead. He paused as the gunfire dwindled, waiting and listening for a telltale sign of where his opponent was.
Then, glancing up, he found his sign.
The reflective surface of a pan soon revealed the exact position of his enemy, creeping closer to the island as he primed both his weapons. With a smirk, Hawkeye took aim and ricocheted an arrow off the distant oven, off the roof and down onto the floor before the man. Stuck in place, the arrowhead shot out a series of taser wires, one of which caught the intruder on the foot and pumped him full of electricity.
Hawkeye made his presence known as the man hit the ground, stunned for a moment but just long enough for Hawkeye to plant a boot on his chest and aim a tightly-drawn arrow at his face… which, surprisingly, was no longer made of metal.
Evidently the helmet had been knocked off moments before, revealing very human features including blue eyes and a full head of short brown hair. "You look pretty human for an evil alien." The Avenger commented. "Who are you? And what do you want with Korvac?" He demanded. Surprisingly, the human responded immediately and in English no less.
"I'm called Star-Lord," he stated in a deep, commanding voice, "and you have to listen to me. You have no idea who Michael Korvac is…"
Having realized that the weapon constructs were as weak as holograms, Iron Man made a few adjustments to the harmonic frequency resonators within his repulsors and quickly began evaporating weapons left and right. Cybernaut ran interference, using the magnets in his hands to reverse the polarity in the metal soles of his boots and grant him very agile flight abilities. The woman would swing and miss, leaving her weapons exposed for Tony to dispatch with quick bolts from his repulsors. Priming one of his micro-missiles, Iron Man unleashed an on sight of explosive ordinance, obliterating the rest of the woman's weapon constructs. "Impossible!" She gasped. Forging her trusty sword, she lunged for Iron Man and swung, aiming to cleave him in two. But Iron Man responded in kind, blasting her with his unibeam and splitting the sword in two while knocking her out in the process. The heat of battle died down and enough clarity arrived for him to ask a pressing question,
"Wait, was that English?"
"We won't know if she turns into road-pizza!" Cybernaut shouted as he made a beeline for the falling woman. Sending his irons on head, he manipulated their positioning and sturdiness to carefully catch the woman on an improvised 'solid' surface, ensuring she was not splattered on the pavement below…
Arriving in the Quinjet hangar, Wasp urged the couple towards one of the hi-tech jets. Korvac moved as fast as humanly possible, so much so Corrina was having trouble keeping up. "Michael, stop! You're hurting me!" She cried, pained by his intense grip on her wrist.
"No, I need more time… I have to have more time." He muttered. "I can't let them take me!" They were almost to the Quinjet, just another turn and up the approach ramp to the landing pad.
But their path was suddenly barred when the yellow-faced man appeared before them in a flash of light.
"I cannot let you do that." He stated firmly, approaching them. He was halted by Wasp, the heroine peppering him with biostings.
"Go. Go!" She cried, urging the couple to escape around the other way. But then the raccoon dropped down from above, blasters out as he cornered the three.
"Jan, wait!" Whirling around, Wasp was genuinely surprised to see Hawkeye enter the hangar with Star-Lord in tow. "You have to listen to what this guy's got to say." He urged. Suddenly, the water around the hangar exit broke as Iron Man breached the surface with the cloaked woman over his shoulder. Cybernaut arrived beside him, water dripping off the oval-shaped shield surrounding his body.
"Looks like we showed up in the nick of time." He remarked, irons flashing into his hands as Iron Man raised his free arm, repulsor shared.
"Hawkeye, what are you doing?" He demanded.
"Just listen to him." The archer pleaded, leaving room for Star-Lord to speak his piece.
"Korvac, he's a wanted fugitive. He's insane." Star-Lord boldly stated. "He's wiped out thousands of sentient lives." The words were shocking to hear to say the least. Almost as shocking as the moment Hulk came crashing down from on high with the head of the bipedal tree in one hand. He scooped up the raccoon in the other, the animal thrashing vainly in his grip.
"I am Groot! I. Am. Groot!" The head complained.
"I can't believe this. I won't!" Janet retorted. "Michael is the victim here. He was abducted, experimented on. He-" Stopping as a glow began to emanated from the man in question, Wasp turned to see Michael thrumming with power, his entire body glowing with alien energy. "M-Michael?" Her query was answered by a sharp scream from the man, waves of pulsating energy rippling off his form in growing intensity, shocking everyone present. But as the glow about him intensified, some began to act.
"Wasp!" Cybernaut exclaimed frightfully, diving in to shield her from what he could tell would be a monumental burst of energy. Star-Lord drew his pistol, Hulk and Hawkeye backed away, Iron Man redirected his repulsor just in case. And the yellow-faced man furrowed his brow, concentrating as the jewel in his forehead glowed like gold in the midday sun.
A blinding flash of light followed, consuming everything in the area.
Corrina was the only one to wake in the aftermath, bodies of heroes and the alien team lay strewn about her all in a state of unconsciousness. Through her tears and sniffles, she looked up to see her beloved Michael still aglow with alien power. "I'm never going to let them hurt me again…" he growled through gritted teeth.
Dropping from the sky like a crimson bolt from above, Miss Marvel rocketed towards Avengers Mansion. The shattered hole in the spotlight quickly caught her attention and she dove down through it and arrived in a very dishevelled foyer. Holes in walls, piles of debris, broken furniture strewn about, and a massive hole leading down to the depths of the manor was a real giveaway as to what had transpired. "Well that's not good." She remarked.
Suddenly, the ground trembled, the entire mansion shaking as a deafening boom echoed from below. Such was the force that Miss Marvel's indestructible body trembled from the aftershocks. Clearly the team could use her assistance.
Racing below using the stairs, she arrived in the hangar and stumbled upon and striking scene. Both the Avengers and a team of aliens sharing identical uniforms lay unconscious on the floor of the walkway. "No…" she gasped, quickly flying over to the forms of Cybernaut and Wasp, laying close to one another. "Jan. Jan!" She begged, picking up her limp form with one hand. The pint-sized heroine failed to move, her coma deep and unshakable. Connor also remained still where he lay. "Wake up! Please!" Carol begged to no avail.
Soft sobbing drew her attention to another end of the hangar. In a distant corner, a woman in a jacket and blue dressed cowered, shielding herself from something… or someone, behind Carol.
Whirling around as she caught a glow out of the corner of her eye, Miss Marvel wasted no time unleashing an energy beam at the floating figure of a man. The concussive force of her photonic blast threw him back through the air until he froze in place and tanked the remained of her beam. It wrapped around his glowing body, enveloping him as he powered through its effects. Miss Marvel had yet to meet someone so capable of withstanding her energy, so she chose the direct approach and rushed him with a cry.
Blasting him with bolt after bolt of energy, the heroine flew circles around Michael Korvac as he tracked her every mood, taking everything she threw at him with ease. Her energy integrated with his own, allowing the merging cosmic energies to build up into a powerful backlog that he eventually released with a scream. A shockwave of cosmic power knocked Miss Marvel out of the air while simultaneously shattering every single glass pane lining the hangar roof. The unconscious Carol spiralled out of control, slamming into the side of a Quinjet and knocking it off its stand and into the water below.
Corrina looked up in horrified fright as Korvac swooped down and hovered before her in the air, Miss Marvel's unconscious body under one arm. Then he reached for her, his intentions very plain…
Meanwhile…
Wasp came to quietly, her blue eyes blinking open as she came face to face with infinite white. Taking flight, she fluttered in the middle of nothingness, searching for some semblance of the reality she knew. "Cybernaut? Iron Man? Hawkeye?" She called out, seeking her friends. A deep groan from behind her prompted Janet to spin around. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the white nothingness had been replaced with the familiar walls of the mansion's laboratory. Before her, Hulk and the yellow-faced alien lay on the ground before her. "Hulk!" She zipped over in a hurry as the gamma giant rose up, rubbing his head.
"I've… been here…" He muttered, looking around. Wasp did too, realizing that the confines of the lab were replaced with a rocky desert. How had they arrived here? What prompted this?
"This is not Wakanda." Another familiar voice declared.
"Nor is it the mansion." Another added. Wasp and Hulk turned, finding Iron Man, Black Panther, Cybernaut and Hawkeye gathering together in the midst of a verdant jungle.
"T'Challa. Connor." She flew over, breathing a sigh of relief as her team assembled again. "Where are we? What's happening?" She asked as she grew to full height again. Another blink and, all of a sudden, the team was in Tony's office at Stark Tower.
"What the heck is going on here?" Hawkeye questioned.
"What's going on here is that you ape-people need to knock this off." The accented voice of the raccoon caused the team to whirl around, finding him perched on Tony's desk above the unconscious yellow man.
"Ape? I'll show you ape, trash panda!" Cybernaut threatened. Suddenly, the rest of the uniformed aliens appeared, Star-Lord, 'Groot', and the woman. Her tattoo and eyes had ceased glowing, revealing almost-human features and crystal blue irises.
"Quasar, do something about this." Star-Lord tasked. The woman responded, kneeling next to the unconscious yellow-skinned man flat on the floor.
"Adam… hear me…" She whispered, gently touching the jewel imbedded in his forehead. At once, the scene changed yet again, this time a flowery, pristine meadow full of trees and rolling green hills. The Avengers were confused.
"Okay, enough! I want answers." Iron Man demanded, confronting the alien team. "Who are you people? Who is Michael Korvac?"
"And where are we?" Wasp echoed. "And why can you weird aliens speak English now?"
"Have you been studying us? Geez, I'm starting to hate this trend." Cybernaut huffed, crossing his arms.
"We are speaking mind to mind through the power of Adam Warlock's soul gem." 'Quasar' answered, further befuddling the team. Noting their distinctly confused expressions, Star-Lord rubbed his temples.
"Okay… that probably didn't help explain things." He muttered. "Look, my name is Peter Quill. I'm the leader of the Guardians." He said, finally introducing himself.
"He's the Star-Lord. Respect 'im!" The raccoon snarled, jabbing a clawed finger at the Avengers.
"Rocket…" Star-Lord sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Sometimes this team of his acted without a sense they weren't in their own little world. "We're an intergalactic peacekeeping force. We work together to keep the known galaxy stable." He explained.
"Guardians of the Galaxy." Iron Man mused. "Hm, sort of like 'space Avengers'."
"This is Quasar." Star-Lord introduced, gesturing to the woman. "Mister Personality here is Rocket Raccoon." The raccoon smiled, proud of himself. "The big tree is Groot."
"I am Groot." The tree said, an arm over his chest and bowing slightly.
"Is… that all he says?" Wasp wondered.
"Third time I've heard it." Hulk rumbled.
"Oh he's got a full vocabulary." Rocket remarked. "But the way we hear it, it sounds like he's limited to three words: 'I' and 'am' and 'Groot'."
"Any time there's an imbalance detected, thanks to Adam Warlock here, we intervene and deal with the situation, whatever it may be." Star-Lord continued. "And in this case, it's Korvac. He's a threat bigger than anything we've ever seen."
"From what we have discovered, it appears he was a Kree test subject that escaped." Quasar added.
"We're… familiar with the Kree." Tony confessed. The Guardians understood form his tone their understanding was not founded on pleasant encounters.
"Whatever the Kree did, it changed him." Quasar said. "A latent genetic potential within humanity perhaps." She theorized. Connor's eyes narrowed, automatically thinking about mutants and others like himself. "I'd never seen anything like it. The Kree ship was destroyed."
"By the time we caught wind of it all, Korvac somehow had ended up on a space station… he destroyed it, too, along with a chunk of the planet's surface below." Star-Lord continued.
"Sounds like Carol, but on steroids." The technopath muttered.
"A Rigellian Recorder caught an image of Korvac in space, just hovering in the debris… laughing. Then he disappeared." Star-Lord concluded. "We've been tracking his energy signature across the galaxy, finally to here, Earth." Suddenly, Adam Warlock opened his scarlet eyes.
"I can feel him." He stated. Using his powers, he righted himself via levitation, looking most unnatural in the process. "Korvac's power grows, as does his madness. He would've destroyed us all had I not pulled us into the soul gem."
"Can we beat him?" Iron Man asked, lifting his faceplate.
"Not physically." Adam answered.
"Our plan was to keep him occupied long enough to let Warlock pull him in here, into the soul gem." Star-Lord elaborated. "You may have noticed that it didn't work out so well." The teams looked around, seeing only themselves. It was Clint who hit on the obvious, more worrisome problem.
"So, wait, if we're in here… where's Korvac?" He asked aloud.
Back in Central Park…
A golden orb appeared near a bridge spanning a creek, near the fountain where Michael Korvac first appeared, quickly depositing a pair of individuals into the park's perimeter. Corrina staggered as she found herself suddenly standing on the bridge, while Miss Marvel was carelessly launched to the ground, her body skittering across turf and stone walkway as she came to with a grunt.
Korvac made himself known, looming over Miss Marvel as the heroine picked herself up. Rolling out of the way as twin beams of cosmic energy struck the ground where she once laid, Air Force training kicked in as Miss Marvel gathered her senses and struck back. Her own energy beams countered Korvac's the two locked in a deadly clash. But Korvac had power to spare and then some, channeling explosive particles into his beam that detonated in a small mushroom cloud that sent Miss Marvel sprawling across the ground.
"You're one of them, aren't you?" He growled, alighting on the ground as pulses of energy rippled with every footstep. "The Kree…" He lifted his arms, hands aglow with deadly energy surges, "you've come to take me, but I won't let you!" He bellowed, prepared to vaporize her.
All of a sudden, a repulsor blast struck Michael in the back, revealing his vulnerability as it carried him across the grassy field and his power faded, revealing his human form. Portals of energy flickered around him, folding space and time with a hum as the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers arrived in the park. Iron Man flew in to join them as they surrounded Korvac. "No… that's not possible." He gasped.
"Michael, please, we can help you." Wasp begged him, flying closer as Korvac stood. "But you have to stop this."
"No no no no no. What they did to me, I won't let that happen again, not to anyone!" He cried as the heroes closed in on him. "And now I can stop them. I can feel the power inside me!" His body began to glow as power flooded every inch of his being, his skin luminescent with golden power.
"Panther!" Cybernaut called out, forming a staff out of his irons as his friend forged a Vibranium staff that glowed violet. Together they swung at Korvac from behind, taking him out at the legs.
"Now!" Iron Man shouted, unleashing a blitz of repulsor rounds as Quasar attacked with her own energy beam while Star-Lord opened fire with his element guns, peppering Korvac with electrified rounds. A recovered Miss Marvel quickly joined in, adding her own photonic blasts to the mix as the team collectively assaulted Michael.
Korvac conjured an energy shield around himself, buying himself some space from his attackers. Rocket Raccoon opened fire with his twin blasters while Hawkeye loosed one arrow after another, Wasp generating a flurry of biostings as Black Panther and Cybernaut unleashed Vibranium daggers and a barrage of irons respectively. But Michael remained unharmed and he took control of his abilities, charging up his power and unleashing it with a shout as he bowled over the heroes with a concentrated blast of cosmic power.
Hulk and Groot made their move, the gamma giant obliterated Korvac's shield with one punch before he was blown away by an energy beam. Groot never even got a chance as Korvac turned on him and generated a power wave that blew him to splinters. Iron Man suddenly dove in from behind and tackled him, trapping him in a headlock.
"Korvac! We can protect you from the Kree if you just stop fighting us!" He shouted.
"You lie!" Michael bellowed. Hulk pounced on him, grabbing his arms to keep him from attacking.
"Warlock! Now!" Iron Man cried, and Adam moved into place, the soul gem glowing brightly as he flexed its mind powers.
"No… NO!" Korvac roared, unleashing a blinding blast of energy that wiped out both teams. Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy lay subdued all around him. The only one who was still standing was Corrina…
Sobbing uncontrollably, lost for words and pained beyond description, she backed away as Michael came for her. "Corrina?" He whispered.
"Please, Michael, stop." She begged him. "You're scaring me." Michael was aghast.
"Scared? Of me…? No, Corrina, I'm going to protect you." He whispered, moving closer to her as she cowered before him. "I'm doing all of this for you! To make the monsters go away." He cried. Holding her sobs fr a moment, Corrina looked to him with sad eyes and whispered,
"You're the only monster here, Michael."
Michael was horrified. Loosing a pained gasp as tears spilled down his energized face, he stumbled back and away from his lovely Corrina. His soul consumed by grief and pain, Korvac's pwoer flared as he seemingly relinquished the final shred of sanity holding him together. His pants evaporated, his entire essences reduced to a bipedal energy form as the heroes rose up behind him. "No! Stop him!" Adam Warlock urged and both teams pounced as another flash of white light enveloped the scene.
When it died down, Michael Korvac was gone, an irradiated crater left behind where he had once been standing.
Corrina broke down, falling to her knees and sobbing in earnest. Wasp and Miss Marvel flew over, the pint-size heroine growing to full size as she put her arms around the despondent woman. They comforted her together as Adam Warlock approached, his soul gem glowing softly.
"Warlock… what happened?" Wasp quietly wondered.
"He sensed the woman's fear of him, her doubt in him. And despite all his power, all he truly wanted was to be with her." He revealed.
"Where is Korvac?" Iron Man asked. Warlock paused, frowning as he concentrated his energy.
"I… cannot sense him on this plane of existence." He said at length. Iron Man turned to Star-Lord.
"If this is the kind of thing the Guardians deal with, then we should talk." Star-Lord could tell where he was going with this and begged to differ.
"Yeah… I don't think so." He countered, denying his request while lifting his mechanized mask back into place. "There are things out there in the universe you're better off not knowing about." Cybernaut would've begged to differ, seeing as many threats from the stars were making their way to Earth to cause problems. Then again, if things like the Kree were the least of the Guardians worries, he didn't want to know what actually worried them. They even seemed calm and collected about Michael Korvac, a man with enough destructive power to carve holes in planets. Star-Lord was right; whatever made them lose their cool, made the Guardians of the Galaxy worry, he did not want to know about.
"If you say so, chief." He relented at length.
Later, back at the mansion…
Retiring to the relatively-untouched kitchen, Janet and Carol recounted the night's events over a late-night drink. "So all Korvac really wanted was to get back to Corrina. He just wanted to keep her safe and make sure they could live free of the 'monsters' that plagued him for two years." The blonde mused, her domino mask removed.
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Janet agreed.
"Wow." Carol leaned back in her seat, digesting all the elements of this tangled story. "All for love." She surmised.
"Yeah. I can't even imagine that. A guy going so far and doing… well, all the wrong things for the right reason." Janet said aloud. Carol quirked a brow.
"You mean… Hank's never done anything extraneous for you?" She queried. Her words caught Janet off-guard.
"I, u-uh, erm…" The brunette stammered, struggling to respond. After a moment of being unable to find the words, she switched tactics. "Carol…" she groaned, "that's not fair." The blonde exhaled.
"Jan…" she trailed off, "you're right, I'm sorry. But, hear me out, okay? Shouldn't a guy who's supposed to be your boyfriend be so head over heels for you that he would… I dunno, put his life on the line for you?" She asked. Janet sat upright.
"Hank has his own ways! He never does big things but he does things!" She hurriedly protested. Carol nodded willing to renege on her words if the opposite could be proven true.
"Okay, like what?" She asked. Janet scrunched up her brow, trying to remember. Carol waited. Seconds turned to minutes, the clock in the kitchen continuing to tick down as silence ensued. In that time, Carol finished her drink. "Alright." She said, breaking the silence. "Tell you what, you think it over and let me know when something comes to mind." She offered, rising from her seat and patting Janet on the shoulder as she made to leave. The brunette grimaced, taking a particular dislike to the way Carol was putting her on the spot. But her reflected anger dissipated the longer she sat alone in the kitchen. She wracked her mind, recalling every decent memory she shared with Hank. Maybe in the first few phases, in the early weeks after her father's death, he would go out of his way to take her out to dinner, bring her flowers, checked in on how she was doing. But as far as remembering planet-moving, mind-blowingly massive displays of affection went, she was faced with a depressing reality…
She couldn't.