This white light soon flashed again, but this time in the center of…
THE BEYONDER'S THRONE ROOM
…and as it dimmed down, the massive platform was now filled with all the costumed heroes of Earth, albeit all disoriented due to the lingering aftereffects of the glow during the transfer. One of these said heroes was Peter, who, strangely enough, was dressed in his Spider-Man costume, from the mask on his head to the spandex suit that hugged his body, the gloves on his hands, and the boots on his feet. After a few seconds, the dazed Peter shook his head to regain focus. "Oh man," Peter muttered groggily as he placed his hand over his eyes, only to be puzzled when he felt his plastic eye lens and the stretch fabric that made up his mask. With confusion, Peter pulled his hand away, and as his vision cleared, he was shocked to see the red, web-pattern glove he intended to discard over his hand. "What?!" With eyes wide open behind his lenses, the bewildered Peter looked at both hands and, just to be sure, grabbed both of his wrists and confirmed that he was wearing his web shooters underneath his gloves as well.
After taking a moment to feel the utility belt underneath the waistline of his pants, Peter frantically looked around his surroundings and suddenly found a banister that was shiny enough to show his reflection, to which he saw himself in his costume. "Ooookay," thought the dumbfounded Peter as he touched his mask in disbelief. "I clearly remember promising myself never to wear this suit again! And before getting confronted by my very irate landlord, I was on my way to chuck this into the Hudson River!" Peter then turned away from the banister and returned to looking around his new surroundings, feeling both astounded but mostly more flabbergasted. "And I certainly wasn't planning on coming to this large, spotless, but still ominous room! Can this day get any freakier?!" While lost in his thoughts, Peter was quickly brought out of them when he turned to his left and received another shock when he saw the Avengers were also present. A team that, despite recent events, he still looked up to but also knew that, much like everyone else in New York, he wasn't on the best of terms with.
Meanwhile, the Avengers themselves were trying to shake off the dizziness from the mysterious glow. Chief among them was Tony, who strangely was without his armor and instead wore a full black jumpsuit that showed his thin but still physically fit frame. He was revealed to be a man with light-colored skin, black hair with two points sticking out in front, a matching black goatee, and brown eyes. He appeared to be middled aged, specifically in his mid-forties, and the diamond-shaped device with blinking red lights on the sides known as the Ironheart was attached to the cloth near the chest. In the past, Tony had a circular glowing device known as the Arc Reactor was located inside his chest, keeping shrapnel from entering his heart. But thankfully, medical science finally came around just a month prior, and he had the device and shrapnel surgically removed. And in its place was the blinking device known as the Ironheart, which stored the nanites that created his Mark L armor but was currently in 'sleep mode' due to the mysterious transfer to this unknown room.
Aside from the Avengers who fought the Zodiac inside their compound, there were also their teammates who fought outside of it. The first was that of a tall, broad-shouldered, muscular man with fair skin, blue eyes, and long blonde hair. His attire consisted of a winged helmet on his head, black body armor with black knee-high boots, silver chain-mail sleeves and leggings, and four silver circles on the chest. He wore a red cape over his back, and completing the look was a large belt around his waist. He was a man thought only thought to be part of Norse Mythology, but it wasn't until he was banished from his father, Odin, in a lesson of humility that the world came to know Thor, the Norse God of Thunder and Lightning and one of the founding member of the Avengers. He engaged in many battles for Earth, whether on his own adventures or with his teammates, with the aid of his enchanted warhammer, Mjolnir, which he held in his right hand.
The second was that of a fairly tall, light-skinned woman named Carol Danvers, who was in her mid-twenties with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a slender but athletic figure. She wore a costume with a black mask over her eyes, a red scarf, long black gloves covering her arms, long black boots that reached up to her thighs, and a skintight red and black suit covering her torso and had a star symbol on the chest. In this suit, she used the powers she gained from exposure to cosmic energy flowing around a secret Kree agent named Mar-Vell that she operated under the name Ms. Marvel.
The third member had the unusual appearance of being a man with red skin and a jewel on his forehead, and he wore a green jumpsuit with yellow gloves, boots, a large belt, and a cape with a collar that covered both sides of his face. But most telling of all was that this man's skin was not actual skin, but rather a substance with the same density as human flesh, and it was over an Adamantium, mechanical skeleton underneath. All of which showed that this was no man but an android created by another genocidal robot named Ultron to destroy humanity. The only name that Ultron called the android was his 'vision for the future,' but once he saw how flawed his master's views were, the android rebelled against Ultron and joined the Avengers. And since then, 'Vision' has been a loyal member ever since.
And the fourth member was a man wearing armor with a similar design to Tony's previous Iron Man suits, but it was bulkier, had a dark grey and silver color scheme, and contained both a rocket launcher and a Gatling gun mounted on his shoulders. This suit dubbed the 'War Machine,' was worn by Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, Tony's best friend, and bodyguard, a job that Tony never made easy since he decided to go out and save the world. Literally.
The fifth and final person who fought alongside the Avengers outside the Zodiac's compound was not a member of the team but served as an ally, given the circumstances. He was a thin, light-skinned middle-aged man with black hair greying on the sides and a matching goatee. His attire included a blue robe with a golden sash tied around his waist, black pants with matching boots, and yellow gloves. On his back was a large red collared cap with golden edges, and on his collar was a circular medallion with an eye symbol. In a previous life, this man named Doctor Stephen Strange was once a brilliant but arrogant neurosurgeon until a fateful car crash injured his hands, destroying his career. And after seeking and receiving training from a sorcerer known only as the Ancient One, he now preserved and protected all life on Earth as the planet's Sorcerer Supreme.
Carol was the first to regain her full consciousness, but as soon as her vision became clear, she was shocked to see that it was in a mysterious large room instead of high above the Zodiac's compound, where she and her teammates were fighting the terrorist group's forces. Naturally confused, Carol looked around her new surroundings, and while she was relieved to see Tony and the other teammates she fought alongside, she turned to her right and was immediately surprised at the faces she saw.
Namely, some heroes were part of the Code White and New Avengers, groups of costumed heroes called to either provide support for cosmic threats or replace the Avengers themselves should they be killed in action.
The first five people of Code White contained excellent skills and abilities but were not heroes per se. Three of them were agents of SHIELD, while the other two served as allies in both factions. The first of these agents was a tall, thin, stunningly beautiful woman in her mid-thirties with green eyes and long, flowing red hair with bangs covering most of her forehead. She wore a black jumpsuit with matching black gloves and boots, two gold bracelets around her wrists, and around her waist was a belt made of gold oval-like shapes and the buckle having the red hourglass symbol, one that betting that of the Black Widow, the codename of agent Natasha Romanov, who for the longest time served as a double agent that helped bring down the terrorist organization known as Hydra.
The second was another female SHIELD agent and one of the organization's most loyal. She was a woman around the same age as Natasha, with tanned skin, blue eyes, and shoulder-length black hair. This woman also wore a black jumpsuit but with gold, technically advanced shoulder pads, gauntlets, belts, and temples on the sides of her face that went down from her temples to the bottom of her jaw. Such technical accessories were needed for Daisy Johnson, codenamed Quake, for her ability to emit and control vibrational energy to manipulate vibrating substances such as Earth, matter, sound, and other living beings.
The third member was a physically fit masked African American man in his late twenties to early thirties named Sam Wilson, who was dressed in a red jumpsuit with a white belt and mask, albeit with a golden beak symbol above the brow. The mask's bird-like design and its wings that enable him to fly, which were currently not present, were modeled after the bird he named himself after, the Falcon, and thus used this suit to help keep the streets of Harlem safe. At one point, however, he was captured and brainwashed by the former Secretary of Defense, Dell Rusk, which was the disguise of the Hydra war criminal, the Red Skull, to attack and destroy the Avengers. Since the Skull's defeat, Sam was freed of his brainwashing and has assisted the team, namely Steve Rogers, on many occasions. One of which was the fight against Galactus.
Interestingly, Sam was not the only one brainwashed by the Red Skull, as two more individuals were brought into the madman's thrall and were also present with the heroes in the Beyonder's throne room! The first was a muscular man with fair skin, unusually long green hair, and eyes. He wore a red shirt, metallic wristbands, a belt, black spandex pants, and white boots. Earlier in his life, Dr. Leonard Samson was once a scientist stationed at the super-prison called The Cube to help treat and cure inmates mutated by Gamma radiation. However, upon an explosion that caused a break out of the prison, Leonard was exposed to the radiation he tried to cure and thus mutated his body to what it is now, granting him incredible strength. Because of his newfound might and his distinguishable green locks, the SHIELD agents with which he now worked gave him the name Doc Samson.
The other victim of Red Skull's brainwashing was an athletic pale-skinned, blue-eyed man with wild brown hair and, despite appearing to be in his early to mid-twenties, was much older. Aside from a black domino mask over his eyes, he wore a black bodysuit with only one sleeve covering his right arm, brown World War II-styled boots, a utility belt, leg holsters, and a brown strap slung over his left shoulder. His most prominent and powerful feature was his cybernetic left arm, replacing the one he lost in an explosion that occurred on a mission in World War II. Namely, on a rocket ship piloted by the Red Skull over the Antarctic, and on that day, the masked partner of Steve 'Captain America' named Bucky tried to help his mentor capture the Red Skull, only for the HYDRA agent to eject from his jet and set it to explode. An event to which, as far as every student in school was concerned, was that of Captain America and Bucky sacrificed themselves to stop the Red Skull. But in actuality, Steve was frozen, the Skull had escaped, and 'Bucky' had survived and became the Skull's assassin known as the Winter Soldier, who, aside from enduring brainwashing, was kept alive through a combination of his body being enhanced by various experiments and being placed in suspended animation in between missions, which explained his youthful appearance. But now, he was free of the Skull's control and on a personal quest to atone for everything he had done in the past.
Other members that made up Code White were four individuals dressed in blue jumpsuits with black boots, gloves, and belts with circular symbols of the number four on their chests. These individuals were known worldwide as the Fantastic Four, a group that, despite having superpowers, was more like explorers rather than superheroes. Their exploration caused them to enter a space mission that caused them to encounter the gamma rays that granted them their abilities in the first place. The leader of this group was Reed Richards, a fair-skinned man with a physical build, brown hair with greying sides, and brown eyes. Because of his ability to stretch and manipulate his body at will and his incredible intellect that almost rivals Tony's, the media had given him the name Mr. Fantastic.
The second member was that of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman with fair skin and a voluptuous figure named Susan Storm, wife of Reed Richards and often the one who had to bring him back to reality whenever he was too focused on his science experiments. Aside from being the emotional anchor for her husband, she also helped the team by being both the figurehead and protection by her ability to create psionic force fields and turn herself and those she touches invisible, hence her media name, the Invisible Woman.
The third was that of Susan's younger brother, Johnny Storm, a young man with an athletic build and skin tone similar to his sisters, as well sharing her blonde hair and blue eyes. Though he was a loyal and caring member, Johnny was also known for being a hothead, figuratively and literally, due to his ability to control and cover his entire body in flames, living up to his widely known name, the Human Torch.
And the fourth and final member was a large, orange, blue-eyed humanoid with a rock-like body, four fingers on each hand, and four toes on each foot. He wore blue trunks, complete with a black with a four-belt buckle. This creature was, in actuality, a man named Benjamin Jacob Grimm, a long-time friend of Reed Richards and, thanks to being mutated by the cosmic rays, served as the team's rowdy powerhouse, the Thing.
Interestingly, Ben is not only part of the Fantastic Four but of the New Avengers as well. Though the team consisted of Ben, Peter, and Rhodey, the other half comprised three super-powered men who were somewhat private investigators who used their abilities to help those who paid for their services, hence their moniker, the Heroes for Hire. The leader of this faction was a bald, very muscular African American man in his mid-thirties dressed in a sleeveless, light-brown hoodie that showed his massive arms and a black shirt underneath. He wore blue jeans held up by a chain-linked belt and black boots. At one point, this man, born Carl Lucas, went by the name Power Man, which he detested. As such, he legally changed his name to one more favorable, Luke Cage.
The second member of Heroes for Hire was a light-skinned man who wore a green shirt that exposed his chest and had a winged dragon tattoo and matching green pants. The outfit was completed with a yellow sash around his waist, Chinese-styled shoes, a pointed collar, and a bandana-like mask covering his head's upper half. This was Daniel 'Danny' Rand, heir to the Rand Corporation and a man who spent most of his life growing up and enduring grueling martial arts training in the mystical city of K'un L'un. And, once he defeated a fire-breathing dragon known Shou-Lao the Undying, he earned the title of 'Iron Fist.'
The third and final member of the Heroes for Hire was a fair-skinned man who wore a red bodysuit with black gloves, boots, and a circular symbol on the chest connected to three lines, two that ran down his shoulders and the third that ran down to his waistline. He also wore a silver belt and a large, almost dome-shaped helmet with two antennae and a mouthpiece, which allowed him to communicate with insects. This suit was originally worn by a scientist named Henry 'Hank' Pym, who used it to conduct experiments, and, if necessary, save the world as Ant-Man. However, the scientist had since given up the name and suit, and the one man who wore both on this day was a man by the name of Scott Lang, a former burglar who stole the suit to save his daughter, Cassie, and now used it to both make amends for his crimes and be a father his child could be proud of.
Interestingly, there was one hero who, much like Ben Grimm, was a member of both the Avengers and another superhero team. That hero was the Wolverine himself, Logan, and with him was his second team and family, the X-Men, all just as disoriented as the Avengers. The members that took part in the battle in Egypt were there, yet miraculously, Ororo's stab wound was now healed without even a scar!
Also present were two of the X-Men who were in Egypt but did not take part in the fight against Apocalypse and his Horsemen. The first was a thin man with an almost demonic appearance, namely that he had dark blue fur, black fur, glowing yellow eyes, a demonic prehensible tail, and three fingers on each hand and two fingers on each foot. His uniform consisted of a red upper body with shoulder pads and an 'X' symbol on the chest, black sleeves on his arms and legs, and white gloves and boots. Despite his looks, this German-born mutant named Kurt Wagner was the most light-hearted of the team and operated under the codename Nightcrawler.
The second was that of a light-skinned man who appeared to be in his early twenties with an average appearance, black hair, and a matching goatee. He also wore a blue and gold uniform like most of his teammates, with one noticeable difference being a robotic right leg and goggles above his brow. Only a little was known about this man who possessed genius-level intelligence and an incredible intuition at inventing mechanical devices, hence his codename Forge.
The three final members of the X-Men in the Beyonder's Throne were picked up not in Egypt but back in the Xavier Institute, where they were ordered to remain. The first was Anne Marie D'Ancanto, or as she was often known as, Rogue. A tall, attractive, pale-skinned woman in her twenties, with green eyes and brown hair with white streaks in a bun and wearing a uniform consisting of a yellow and green bodysuit, a brown jacket with its sleeves rolled up, and yellow gloves and boots.
The second was that of a tall, heavily muscular light-skinned man in his mid-twenties with buzzed black hair, dressed in a red and yellow jumpsuit with no sleeves that showed his powerful arms with red steel gauntlets on his wrists. The phrase 'gentle giant' often described Piotr Resputan, the quiet but well-meaning man from Siberia, Russia, who now used his strength and gift to turn his body into organic steel to fight alongside the X-Men as Colossus. Admittedly, however, he first declined the invitation to rejoin the team once it reformed and chose to stay with his family. But due to circumstances concerning his sister, Illyana, he and his parents thought it would've been wise to take her to the United States where she could seek help, and thus rejoined the team that had become his second family.
And the third and final member was a light-skinned, thin with shoulder-length brown hand and brown eyes, with a blue and gold jumpsuit consisting of a gold upper body with shoulder pads, a belt with a red X buckle, blue sleeves for her arms, and legs and gold gloves and boots. She had long since proved herself a vital member by using her gift of intangibility to either phase through walls or protect others from harm. As such, this once quiet girl named Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde was given the codename Shadowcat.
Suffice it to say, the sight of all these heroes in this strange place left Peter completely dumbfounded and utterly speechless. "Reeeealy need to work on that 'tempting fate' habit, Parker."