AUTHOR'S NOTE: JUST A QUICK HEADS-UP, I HAD TO MAKE A TINY ADJUSTMENT TO CHAPTER 2. NAMELY, WHO TONY CALLS WHEN HE DELIVERS THE NEWS THAT HE DEFEATED SCORPIO. HOPEFULLY, THIS TINY DETAIL WON'T CONFUSE ANYONE. OTHER THAN THAT, LET'S GET ON WITH THE SHOW!

Usually, Carol would be happy to see the rest of her fellow heroes, especially since she was close friends with most of them. But instead, she just stood there, utterly perplexed in this strange circumstance that she and her fellow heroes were in. "And the craziness continues," Carol muttered in pure disbelief, as she remembered just a few moments ago when she and her teammates dealt with another bizarre, almost apocalyptic situation back on…

ZODIAC ISLAND

…or, to be more accurate, outside the complex and in the sky where a large aerial battle that was just as fierce as the battle that took place inside of it. Partly because of the green, winged, almost reptilian-like humanoids that came flying out of what appeared to be twenty or so glowing portals that Jacob made via the Zodiac Key. The crazed leader had planned to create more but was stopped when Steve and the other half of the team made their move and started to fight him and the rest of the Zodiac members inside the compound, leaving Carol and the other half of the Avengers to deal with creatures trying to make their way into this world. And it was here that the levitating Carol showed why she was both respected and feared as Ms. Marvel, in that after she ducked sideways to the left to avoid a claw slash from one of the screeching 'dragon-men,' she channeled her energy into both of her fists, causing them to glow a golden color. Once she felt that she had the charge that was needed, Carol pointed both glowing fists to the right and fired a golden beam of energy, making a direct hit on the dragon man that tried to take her head off with its claws and shot it out of the sky.

Even after getting that enemy out of the way, Carol knew too well not to let her guard down. And through the corner of her left eye, she spotted another screeching dragon man coming her way and shot another beam from her left fist to take that one down before it could reach her. Carol then looked around for more dragon men to shoot down to try and keep the fighting near the island. As Carol looked forward, however, she saw something coming her way that caused her eyes to grow wide. This time, it wasn't a winged monster from another dimension but a red beam of energy speeding toward her like a comet. As such, Carol quickly held up both fists and fired a beam of her own that successfully hit the red beam head-on and thus began to push it back.

As for where the red beam came from, it was from out of the hands of a levitating man dressed in clothing with the left half of his body colored black and the other in white.

This was yet another member of the Zodiac, one that Jacob had given the title of Gemini and one assigned to lead the dragon men on an invasion to conquer the planet's nations. As Gemini increased the intensity of his beam to bring down Carol, he felt mixed feelings. Mainly because the process not only enhanced his body and granted him his powers but also affected his mind, splitting his psyche into two. One half was colder and more logical, which was represented by the white half, while the black half was more aggressive. "Clearly, you and your friends are just like any other undeserving heathen who wants to interfere in our plans to remake Earth into a much better place," Gemini said in a cold, almost emotionless tone with the white portion of his costume flickering as he spoke. "Luckily, with Aries being the strongest out of us, he should be able to handle Thor, and I clearly and more of a match for you!" At that moment, Gemini's calm and cold demeanor vanished, and his bloodthirsty black half soon took over. "SO, EAT PLASMA BEFORE GOING TO HELL, YOU DUMB COW!" With that blood-curdling scream, Gemini increased the power of his blast, making it push down and almost overpower Carol's blast as it came down towards her.

Though she appeared to struggle, Carol felt blasts much stronger than the one Gemini was firing and thus felt his beams wouldn't qualify as a tickle. As such, Carol lured the Zodiac member into a false sense of security to perform an attack to would quickly get him out of the way so she can go and assist her teammates in this crisis, as well as give this guy a nice serving of humble pie, as his comments did get under her skin. "Whatever you say," Carol said in both annoyance and defiance as she stopped emitting energy and allowed Gemini's blast to come down and hit her upper body, momentarily sending her flying back. However, it wasn't long before Carol cleared her mind, relaxed her muscles, and focused mentally on the center of her body. This, in turn, caused the energy within Gemini's blast to be absorbed into her skin and cause her entire body to glow into a reddish-orange color and make her feel even stronger, which allowed her to come to a complete stop.

It wasn't until Gemini felt he was shooting an immovable wall that he stopped firing his blast and noticed the now-glowing Carol levitating across from him. The sight of this woman imbued with so much energy that she appeared to be a being of pure fire sparked enough interest within Gemini that his calmer side took over. "Intriguing. Apart from firing energy, you can absorb it as well. This will make things-."

Suddenly, the enhanced Carol cuts off Gemini's contemplation by holding up only her left hand and shooting a single, more prominent, almost fiery-like beam of energy at the unhinged Zodiac member.

Seeing such a flaming mass of energy speeding toward him shocked Gemini enough for his wild side to return, but this time seemed horrified. "OH, SON OF A-!" It wasn't long before the blast hit Gemini head-on, sending him plowing through many dragon men and falling into the sea below. With this inverted member of the Zodiac taken care of, Carol focused her newfound energy on more dragon men and used her blasts to peck them off individually. However, she unknowingly had three dragon men approaching her from behind her to gang up and rip her apart limb from limb.

But before they could even put one of their claws on Carol, three glowing red shards, each shaped like pointed feathers and all making a screeching sound, came down from high above and struck each of the dragon men's chest, exploding on impact and sending them falling into the ocean.

Naturally, these noises startled Carol, and as she looked up to see where the feathers came from, and saw the Falcon himself, Sam Wilson, who stayed airborne thanks to the red, holographic hard-light wings attached to his arms. A grateful Carol gave Sam both a smile and an appreciative nod, and after he gave her one of his own, the two Avengers flew off to find and fight off more dragon men and keep this chaos contained.

Meanwhile, another Avenger was having issues of his own with another Zodiac member. Namely, the Vision was using both hands to hold the right foot of a slim male clad in yellow body armor with green gauntlets and boots, with the built-in rockets in the left boot keeping him in the air. His helmet was also painted yellow and equipped with long red horns and a green faceplate shaped like a goat's face with red eye lenses. This was the uniform of the Zodiac member christened with the title of Capricorn and chosen to help lead the dragon men on the organization's conquest. And after using his thumb to desperately press a hidden button in the palm of his left gauntlet to shut off the rockets in his left boot, all so he could perform a round-kick to take off Vision's head and make him release his other foot.

Luckily for Vision, however, he easily anticipated this and willingly released Capricorn's foot so he could float back to avoid the kick. The android watched as Capricorn saved himself from falling by pressing both buttons in his gauntlets to activate his boot jets and make him hover again. "It would be wise for you to surrender," said Vision in a robotic tone, but one that was polite yet stern.

"Surrender?!" Capricorn asked, sounding offended. "To an ACTUAL metal puppet that serves even worse puppets like the Avengers and SHIELD?! People who work and protect the corrupt governments that destroy this planet day by day?!"

This retort stirred one of the most prominent emotions he developed since joining the Avengers: Confusion. "I do not understand. Is the destruction of the Earth not what you and your compatriots are trying to accomplish?"

"Only so the Zodiac can make a newer, better world!" Capricorn shot back with anger and fanatic passion in his voice, as he was a firm follower of Jacob's propaganda speeches. "Which is why I won't let some walking, talking toaster like you get in the way of it!" Suddenly, the now battle-crazed Capricorn double-clicked both hidden buttons in his gauntlets, causing his rocket boots to supercharge and have him speed toward Vision like a space shuttle being launched. He then pointed his massive horns at Vision, intending to ram them into the android at such speeds he'll tear him in two.

However, Vision could counter this by displaying the most unusual but effective ability his creator, Ultron, built into him. Namely, his ability to alter the density within his own body, such as in this case, he made his mass so weightless he appeared semi-transparent, almost like that of a ghost. And much like a ghost, it allowed the charging Capricorn to phase right through his body and hit two dragon men instead, sending them down hard to the water below. Once he solidified his body, Vision turned around and began to charge the jewel on his forehead with red energy, and as Capricorn himself turned to face Vision to attack again, he a single beam which hit the Zodiac member in the chest, sending him crashing into three more dragon men, which resulted in all of them falling to the island below.

Meanwhile, another Avenger was engaging another Zodiac member but appeared to be struggling. In that, it was Thor, and he was on the receiving end of having two golden horns rammed into his chest. Horns that belonged to the brown, goat-designed mask of Aries, the older, bigger brother of Capricorn, who donned blue body armor with red gauntlets, boots, and belts. Much like his sibling, Aries contained rocket boots which he used to help ram his horns into the Thunder God's chest and drive him down towards what appeared to be a battleship hovering in the air via four turbines built onto the sides.

This was the Helicarrier, SHIELD's flying headquarters, that transported the organization to wherever they were needed. From inside this flying base, the agents fought off the dragon men by operating the built-in cannons. On the deck, many agents, all men and women of different nationalities and skin colors, all wearing black body suits with knee-high black boots and white gloves, took the fight to the winged invaders by either firing their mounted torrents or laser rifles. Fighting alongside the agents on deck were certain three individuals who defended the Helicarrier in their own unique ways.

The first person was Daisy, who emitted vibration waves in the air that shook up any approaching dragon men and drove them off. The second was Rhodey, who, thanks to his War Machine armor, shot down one dragon man after the next, be it the repulsor blasts from his gauntlets, the missiles from his rocket launcher, and the bullets from his minigun. And the third was Stephen Strange, with the tips of his ring and middle fingers in his palms and his thumbs, index, and pinkie fingers pointing outward, something required to perform the spell known as Bolts of Bathlakk, which allowed the Sorcerer Supreme to fire electrical bolts from out of his hands and send every dragon man that he shot down into the sea below.

Things on the Helicarrier were already hectic enough. But things were soon made worse when Aries slammed Thor's spine first to the deck, with the impact strong enough to make the Helicarrier itself shake. This, in turn, caused many of the agents to lose their balance and momentarily fall. While some managed to barely get up and go back to fighting, others were not so lucky, as many of them were attacked by dragon men, whether by being on the receiving end of their claws or being grabbed and lifted off the deck and into the air.

Now in complete control of the fight, Aries sat up from the fallen Thor and kept him pinned down by placing his right knee on his chest. He then used his left hand to grab the Thunder God by the throat and his free hand to deliver stiff hooks to the face. "Gotta say, I'm a little disappointed," Aries said with dissatisfaction in his voice after landing another hard blow to Thor's face. "I was hoping that the 'All Might Thor' would put up a better fight!"

Suddenly, Thor recovered quickly enough to catch Arie's fist with his right hand, with a sarcastic remark concerning his fighting abilities agitating him enough to revitalize him. "Silence, foul villain!" Thor shot back, still choking despite using his left hand to loosen Arie's grip.

Upon hearing Thor's angry retort, Arie could only let out a smug chuckle. "Awww, what's wrong, Gandolf? Does the truth hurt?"

"Nay…I am trying…to concentrate."

Naturally, this response left Aries utterly confused, so much so that they stopped attacking Thor and looked at him dumbfounded. He was only brought out of his bewilderment when he heard an unusual humming sound. Curious, Aries looked up to see where it was causing it, and what he saw caused his eyes to grow wide.

The source of the humming was that of Mjolnir, which was now flying straight toward Aries as if it had a mind of its own. Earlier in the fight, Thor the weapon at Aries, only for the Zodiac member to move out of the way and tackle him. But now, by Thor's mental command, it sped toward the shocked Aries like a missile and smashed into his masked face with so much force, it lifted him off Thor, launched him into the air, and landed hard on the deck so hard, it made a large crack.

This allowed Thor to sit up, then hold up and point his right hand to summon Mjolnir to return to him. Once he felt the hammer returned to his hand, Thor noticed through the corner of his right eye the sight of Stephen and the rest of his comrades on their feet and three dragon men flying down to attack them.

Upon seeing his friends in trouble, Thor wasted no time getting back up, raised Mjolnir over his head, and channeled his willpower to give it on mental command, one which caused dark clouds to form above the Helicarrier and thunder to rumble loud enough for the whole world to hear. Moments later, a lightning bolt shot out of one of the clouds and struck Mjolnir. But instead of electrocuting Thor, it empowered him as it streaked across his body, and his eyes glowed brilliant white, showing that he wasn't called the God of Thunder for nothing. And he further proved this by pointing his hammer forward and, through sheer concentration, channeled the electricity through his arms and then into Mjolnir, where it exited out of the hammer in the form of another lightning bolt.

It didn't take long for the bolt to hit and shock the dragon man about to grab Stephen. As electricity surged through its body, the dragon man unknowingly grabbed two of his fellow reptile humanoids, which in turn caused the God's power to surge and electrocute their bodies as well. Just as Thor ceased firing the bolt, the smoldering dragon men fell to the deck floor, leaving Stephen and others confused but alive.

Even after saving his comrades, the battle-hardened Thor knew he couldn't rest easy, a fact he was reminded of when he heard an angry roar coming from Aries. This prompted him to spin around and see that a seething Aries was now back on his feet and loudly snorted before charging toward the Thunder God with his horns facing forward.

Thor was finished being on the receiving end of another charge attack, and with Mjolnir still firmly in his right hand, he waited for the Zodiac member to come close, then threw a rising hammer strike in an underhand motion while jumping up, nailing Arie's in the face and sending him up on his feet and high into the sky.

While in the air, Thor once again held up Mjolnir and commanded another bolt of lightning to strike and charge it. "FOR MIDGARD!" Thor cried out as he rammed his electrically enhanced hammer into Aries' horned head, making a thunderous crack upon making contact. This display of god-like power resulted in Aries being sent down to Zodiac Island at high speeds and landed on the island so hard it created a loud, echoing bang and dust debris the size of a mushroom cloud.

Aside from Thor's handling of Aries, something else happened that was a sign of victory for the Avengers and SHIELD. In that, the portals that brought the dragon men Earth soon vanished.

A sight that Daisy saw and something that filled this long-hardened veteran agent with elation. "The portals are gone!"

For Stephen, this was the best news he'd heard all night, all things considered. "Oh good, that means Stark didn't screw up in getting the key from Fury's brother," he said in a tone that was pleased but still annoyed that it took Tony and his team so long to accomplish their part in stopping Jacob. As he stood up, the Sorcerer Supreme noticed the dragon men still in the air and, upon hearing one of them screeching while diving down toward him from the right side, Stephen instinctively pointed his hand to the attacking dragon man's direction and shot it down with a mystic bolt without even turning around to look. "But we still have the matter of our 'unwanted guests,'" Stephen then looked around and spotted something on the deck floor that caught his interest. Something that can help him deal with the dragon men and put this fight to an end.

It was that of a dragon man lying unconscious on the deck floor just a few feet from the Sorcerer with its mouth open and drool dripping from the tongue.

This unnerving sight was enough to remind Stephen of a particular spell that could get rid of these winged monsters but required a piece of one of them for it to work. As such, he ran over, used his right index finger to dab the slumbering dragon man's tongue, and used his tip to scoop a piece of its saliva. An action that was obviously disgusting to many, but thanks to years of being a surgeon, Stephen wasn't too bothered by it.

Rhodey, on the other hand, was both confused and repulsed upon seeing what Stephen did as he, along with Daisy, went back to firing at the remaining dragon men still attacking. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Just keep those winged lizards off me!" Stephen shot back as he placed the saliva in the palm of his left hand and clapped them together as part of the spell. He then focused all his essence into his hands, causing them to glow in a golden light. Then, with his fingers held in the spellcasting 'hand sign,' Stephen pointed his hands forward and created a vast golden energy circle in the center of the deck known as the Door of Watoomb.

Thanks to the saliva he collected, the energy from the portal detected all the remaining dragon men in the sky and suddenly sucked them all into itself like a black hole. After twenty seconds, the door finally absorbed all the dragon men, which allowed Stephen to stop focusing and lower his hands, causing the door to close and bring this battle to an end.

This incredible show of magic left everyone present completely stunned. From the Avengers and SHIELD on the deck to the agents inside of it, more specifically, the control bridge, where the crew watched Stephen perform the spell via the large monitor.

Out of all the agents on the bridge, only one kept his reserve. Mainly because, due to his many years on the job, he's seen stranger things. He was a bald African American man with a goatee and an eye patch over his left eye and wearing a grey trench coat over his SHIELD uniform. He also appeared like a man in his late thirties and early forties and had an impressive build. Still, much like Steve Rogers, he was much older than he appeared due to undergoing the 'infinity formula' treatment that slowed his aging. And out of all the government officials, Nick Fury, the reinstated director of SHIELD, was one of the very few that the Avengers could trust. Usually anyway.

And with this battle now won, Nick breathed in and sighed out through his nose, glad that the magical hijinks were over and he could order his men to bring in Jacob, a man he denounced long ago as his brother and his gang. "All right, people!" Nick called out loudly. "Now that the flying lizards are taken care of let's get down to the island and round up Scorpio and his men!"

All of the agents on the bridge did not need to be told twice, as they were just as willing to end this mess as their director. However, one agent, a brown-haired, light-skinned man, looked at his monitor with wide-open eyes. Through the satellite feed, he spotted six pyramids flying from Egypt and the sight of the giant form of the mutant known as Apocalypse. "Uh…Director Fury!"

Outside on the deck, The Avengers and the remaining agents were all trying to collect themselves when they suddenly heard Nick's voice on the intercom. "All agents, back to your stations ASAP!" Nick yelled. "And whichever one of you heroes is in contact with Stark, tell him we're not done yet! We now have to deal with damn flying pyramids coming from Egypt!"

Carol, along with Sam, Vision, and Thor, had just touched down on the deck when Nick made that announcement and was completely perplexed. "Are you kidding me?!" The dumbfounded Carol asked as she couldn't believe she and her teammates had to jump from one catastrophe to another.

Rhodey, who was just surprised about this as Carol was, let out an exasperated sigh. "My thoughts exactly!" Rhodey replied sharply, then suddenly received a com-link call from Tony, saying that they defeated Jacob and to send Stephen to them and pick up the key. Before anything else, Rhodey breathed in through the nose and out his mouth to settle his nerves and calm down enough to deliver the bad news. "Yeah, sure, but Tony, we got another problem. Fury says we now have to deal with flying pyramids." Rhodey rolled his eyes when he heard Tony's bewildered response to his report, but soon after, his mood changed from annoyed to worried when he heard Tony say something in shock and confusion. "Tony? Tony, what's going on?"

Naturally, Carol was concerned about Rhodey's change in tone, but her eyes soon grew as large as softballs when she saw Rhodey suddenly get covered in white light. Her shock only increased when that same light soon covered the rest of her teammates and, finally, herself! Before the surprised Carol could even ask if this was one of Stephen's spells, the white glow that consumed her and her friends suddenly emitted a brilliant white flash, and within seconds, they were gone. Transported off the Helicarrier, all the way to…

THE BEYONDER'S THRONE ROOM

…and though still a bit shaken, Carol had remembered to keep a calm head due to hears of military training, but still felt a bit uneasy, mainly because in the instances when she and her fellow Avengers were transported to new mysterious surroundings, nothing ever good came out of it.

All of the Avengers felt the same uneasiness, but it wasn't until they heard the voice of the groggy but recovered Steve Rogers. "Is everyone all right?"

The one to answer Steve was Rhodey, who lifted his faceplate to reveal an African American in his mid-forties and blinked his eyes to try and fix his blurry vision. "More or less." Once his sight cleared and he got a good view of his new surroundings, Rhodey's concern returned with a vengeance and prompted him to talk to the one man who was both crazy and intelligent enough that he might know what was going on. "Tony, I'm really hoping this is some teleportation room you and Richards cooked up!"

Tony heard his friend's troubled words and answered him while looking around the room, surprised but simultaneously curious. "Sorry, Rhodey, 'fraid our hands are clean on this one." As Tony looked around, he noticed Stephen on the left, who looked just as interested in this room and looked at him with suspicion. "But are we to assume that we were all brought here through 'magical means?'"

"If you're implying that I had anything to do with this, Stark, then you'll be disappointed to know I was not," Stephen replied coldly but still focused on the room. "But there's something familiar about this place."

The Sorcerer's response stirred concern and annoyance within the Avengers. But none more than Jan, who rolled her eyes as she groaned loudly. "I swear, if this is Loki or some other magical god, I'm going to be!" Suddenly, as the irritated Jan turned to the right, she saw something that stunned her completely. "…ticked," Jan finished in disbelief, as that 'something' she saw was actually 'someone.' She then went on to say the name of this person who she had not seen for quite some time and was beginning to think she would never see again. "Hank?!"

Hearing Jan's baffled words confused the Avengers enough to make them turn in her direction. They were just as shocked as her when they saw her staring at Dr. Henry 'Hank' Pym, a slender but fit man who was a world-renowned scientist and the original Ant-Man before he willingly gave it to Scott and took on the guise of Yellowjacket. Making this identity was a black mask with yellow antennae covering his head, except his nose and mouth, revealing his light skin. His upper body was covered with a black shirt over a yellow undershirt, a yellow wasp symbol on his chest, and two long shoulder pads that reached the top of his head. His lower body had black underwear over yellow leggings, with black gloves and boots completing the look.

Hank was just as confused as the heroes gathered, but mostly because he was not wearing this costume when transported to the throne room. But instead, he wore a white jumpsuit and was staying in Ravenscroft Asylum for committing an act against a villain that was so aggressive; it cost him not just his freedom and credibility but the respect and love from his peers, friends, and loved ones, especially the one woman who, even before the Avengers, was his partner and eventually fell in love with but regretfully never told her. And upon hearing her say his name, he turned to face her, and his eyes immediately lit up. "Jan?" Hank asked softly, but in disbelief and, despite everything that happened between them, still possessed a small ounce of genuine happiness at the sight of her.

Even Steve, a man whose seen many odd things in his career, was stunned by what was transpiring. From fighting the Zodiac to being transported to this mysterious place and finally spotting a former teammate who clearly was not well, and worst of all, not in a place where they could receive and not harm anyone. But another surprise was in store for the Super Soldier, for as he looked around for possible clues as to how they got to the throne room and who brought them here, Steve was shocked when he spotted a man he fought alongside. Not just in the Avengers, but all the way back in World War II, but did not age due to his mutant ability slowing his aging process, as well as heal from any grievous wound, something which Steve had long since thought was sheer luck. Now, this man was present with his own team, known as the X-Men, and in the yellow costume he wore during the battle against Galactus. And though he knew this man's animalistic codename, Steve had long known this brave but brutal brawler by one name. "Logan?"