Shock. Confusion. Intrigue. These emotions filled the throne room when the Beyonder introduced Planet Athia as the place to conduct his 'experiment.' On the side of the villains, many were understandably stunned at the sight of the planet and the news that they were being sent to it. However, villains such as Victor Von Doom, the Red Skull, Baron Zemo, and others saw the Athians' technology as a golden opportunity to conquer the Earth and possibly other worlds.
As for the heroes, they were just as surprised, but many of them were disgusted at the fact that this Beyonder not only wanted them to fight their enemies but wanted to do so with the planet's population in the crossfire. A point that a livid Steve Rogers, a man who was all too familiar with war and how it almost always took the lives of civilians and soldiers, made quite evident as he angrily marched towards the white suit-wearing being. "You want us to fight on a planet full of innocent people?!"
The Beyonder turned with a look of indifference as he expected this reaction from the seasoned soldier. In fact, he expected it from all the heroes, as he saw their dedication to saving and preserving lives when he first observed them. "And it will be YOUR responsibility, as well as that of your fellow heroes, to save them from your enemies, Steve Rogers," the Beyonder replied coldly. "But if it makes you feel any better, the Athains aren't entirely helpless. At least when it comes to warfare."
Logan was the next to address the Beyonder, both annoyed with his cryptic demeanor and concerned for the Athains when he heard what the Beyonder had just said about them. "The hell do you mean by that?"
The Beyonder paused briefly as Carol's comment made him realize that he forgot to mention that detail, which caused him to chuckle. "Apologies, I'm getting ahead of myself," The Beyonder admitted, then once again waved his hand to change the image on the screen. This time, however, the picture changed to not where on the planet, but when. More specifically…
GOBLOK, EIGHT-TEEN YEARS PRIOR
…on this dry, volcanic wasteland, where no plant life is in sight, the sky blackened due to the smoke coming out of the top of the volcano known as Mount Goblock, a large battle between two Athian armies took place. One that took place underneath a giant transparent energy dome that circled the entire land and prevented one of the armies from escaping.
On one side was the army that represented the Allied Kingdoms, all wearing armor with various colors that represented their nations and gas masks with black eye visors to help them breathe normally and not inhale the poisonous fume that the air had transformed into thanks to the smoke of Mount Goblok. The army of Ava led the charge, consisting of two factions. The first was the Elite Guard, soldiers wearing gold helmets, chest plates, fingerless gauntlets, and boots, completed with white sleeves and leggings. Another key feature is that they all wore rings on the ring fingers of their right hands, each with the top having a small gold Athian Stone located on the top. The Elite soldiers all concentrated their willpower into their rings, which, in turn, produced a gold aura that flowed out of the stone and covered their bodies, allowing them to fly in the air. The second faction was the Troopers, who all wore white armor with gold sleeves and leggings and carried what appeared to be rifles with Avalon Crystals at the bottom of the chambers.
It was here that the airborne Elite Guard all held up their left hands at a ninety-degree angle and, with great mental focus, created small circles that had what looked like ancient mystic symbols inside of them. With synchronized timing, the Guardsmen all fired white energy beams from these symbols. In contrast, the Troopers on the ground fired energy blue beams from their rifles at the opposing army, which consisted of grey-skinned humanoids with fangs in their teeth and crimson-red eyes. They all dressed in clothing that consisted of red sleeveless shirts and loincloths, and for battle, they wore black gauntlets, steel-plated boots, chest plates resembling that of a demonic face, and helmets with pointed tops that covered everything but their pointed ears. As far as how they fought the Athians, they used their shields slung over on their left arms, which were also shaped in the head of the horned demon, to block the incoming laser blasts, then fought back by taking channeling their energy into the red stones located on the top of the black rings they wore on their fingers, which in the process caused their veins to glow bright red and their eyes and hair to bursts into the flame. Once they were 'fired up,' the grey-skinned humanoids channeled their fiery energy into the swords in their right hands, each with a twisted-looking blade, causing them to glow the same fiery red energy. Afterward, they pointed their blades at the Athians and fired blasts of their own.
"What you are seeing is the final battle of the Great Athian War, which took place eighteen of your Earth years ago," The Beyonder narrated. "It was here on this barren wasteland known as Goblok that the combined armies of the Allied Kingdoms faced off against the army of the Goblyn Empire..."
THE BEYONDER'S THRONEROOM
Out of all the heroes, both stunned and amazed at the battle being displayed before them, it was the Vision who appeared to be the most curious, mainly of the Elite Guard, for how they levitated in the air and fired beams of light out of their hands and at any Goblyn soldiers that leaped towards them. "Pardon me, Beyonder," Vison spoke up politely. "But I have observed some of these Athians are flying with a white energy aura around their bodies and discharging it from their hands, while others are on foot holding firearms. Is there a reason for this?"
"I was just getting to that machine," The Beyonder replied bluntly. "You see, years prior, the Athians lived a life similar to that of the Elves of your Earth. They used magic, or at least some of them did."
Naturally, this response sparked more confusion among the heroes and villains, but none more so than Stephan Strange when it concerned magic. "What do you mean some of them?" Stephen asked as he raised a curious raised eyebrow.
"Well, some Athains are born with genes that caused them to have high levels of kinetic energy within their bodies," The Beyonder explained. "However, the increased energy had been known to get unstable, and thus, they wore rings with small Athian Stones on the top to help stabilize their powers and channeled their power into them to use Athain magic to utilize other unique abilities. And because of their supernatural abilities, this portion of the Athian population is known as Alphas."
Hearing about this set of Athains sparked the interest of Kitty Pryde, who raised her hand to get the Beyonder's attention. "So, wait, are you saying the 'Alphas' are this planet's version of mutants?"
"You might say that," the Beyonder replied, sounding somewhat impressed by the young X-Girl's observation, as he expected someone older to respond. Moments later, he regained his composure to continue with his explanation. "Anyway, while some of the Alphas at that time viewed magic as a way to preserve and improve life, others saw it as a way to gain strength and, in time, developed a hunger for more power. As such, these Athians turned to dark magic, and while it gave them the increase in strength they desired, it also increased their aggression and changed the color of their skin and hair to give them a, shall we say, less than welcoming appearance. And thus, the Goblyn Empire was born…"
GOBLOK
…in the midst of the chaos of the battle, the two leaders of both armies faced off. The first was the leader of the Goblyn Empire, who was much taller and muscular than the Goblyns he ruled and wore armor similar to that of his troops, but instead was colored blood red, and his demon-faced chest plate had shoulder pads that resembled horns that pointed upward. His red helmet possessed a black face plate resembling a humanoid skull with pointed upper teeth and two three-inch horns above the eyes. In his right hand was a large, broadsword with a large, thick blade that looked powerful enough to chop down a large oak tree with one swipe and was burning in red hellfire, all thanks to the black ring that also had a horned demon head design, but with a glowing red stone located in the opened mouth.
"And led by that of Golvok, the Goblin-Emperor…"
In a battle-crazed fury, Golvok raised his fiery blade over his head and, with a roar, threw it downward to chop his enemy in half!
And that enemy was that of High King Airdan, who at the time was in his early thirties and, on this day, wore white armor with bright gold, gauntlets, boots, and a chest plate just like his Elite Guard soldiers, but with Ava's national symbol on the center of the chest, a white cape on his back and his gold helmet having three points resembling a crown and a white mouthpiece with gold eye lenses to help him see and breathe while leading his troops in this wasteland. Once he saw Golvok's blade coming his way, Airdan took the broadsword in his right hand, which had a white hilt and a gold blade, and demonstrated his ability as an Alpha by channeling his energy into his Athian Stone, which was now over the steel ring finger of his gauntlet. This energy made its way through the hilt and traveled up into the blade, causing it to glow in a brilliant golden light and emit a humming sound. And it was here that the High King protected himself by holding the blade horizontally over his head and successfully blocked Golvok's flaming sword, successfully preventing the Goblyn King from slicing his head in two.
"…and the younger brother of High King Airdan."
Hearing this caused a great shock for Thor in particular. "Brother?!"
"Yes, and you are right to think that their feud is similar to that of the one you have with your stepbrother, Loki, Thor Odinson," The Beyonder added. "Much like your surrogate sibling, his lust for power and dabbling in dark magic made him dangerous..."
Back in the battle, Golvok swiped his fiery blade to the left to deflect Airdan's slash and drive his brother's glowing blade to the left side. He then noticed Airdan pull his sword back and try to fight back by throwing an upward slash. He then noticed Airdan quickly draw his sword backward and try to attack again by throwing an upward slash, which Golvok spotted and leaned back to avoid narrowly. Upon seeing Airdan go for a backhanded slash. The Goblyn King held his blade up vertically to the right side to block the blade and fought back by turning and throwing a left side kick in Airdan's abdomen, all with enough force to make the High King drop his sword and reel backward.
Despite having the wind knocked out of him, Airdan barely managed to stop himself from falling on his back and staying on his feet. But as he looked forward, his eyes grew wide when he saw Golvok, now facing him, inhaling deeply and spitting out a ball of fire. All of this prompted the High King to channel his energy into his eye-shaped Athain stone ring, allowing it to release his white kinetic energy like water coming out of a hose and covering his entire body in an aura. Once the fireball hit Airdan's chest plate, the aura protected him from the demonic fire. Unfortunately, the impact was still strong enough to lift him off his feet, sending him flying and flipping backward into the air, his aura dispersing in the process. It didn't take long for Airdan to land hard face first into the ashy ground, which caused his mask to break apart.
From a short distance, three Elite Guardsmen saw their High King in trouble and flew forward to assist.
"As well as his men…"
Suddenly, three Goblyn soldiers saw the Guardsmen speeding towards Airdan and Golvok and thus leaped into the air, each letting out a feral roar as their fiery hair left behind streaks of fire as they intercepted the Guardsmen in the air. Though one Guardsman shot down one Goblyn soldier with a mystic blast, the remaining two Goblyn tackled the second and third Guardsmen down to the ground.
The Goblyn that now sat on top of the second Guardsman performed a finishing blow by raising his sword upward, then drove the blade down into the Athain's neck, the only spot not protected by his armor. All the fallen Guardsman could do was gurgle as he choked on his own blood and silently apologized to his wife and baby son for not being able to return to them, as the Goblyn channeled the flames through his blade and into the Athain's body, causing it to burst into fire from inside his armor, reducing his flesh and bones to ash that quickly flew out of the neckline as the helmet dropped. As for the Goblyn on top of the third and final Guardsman, he raised his blade above his head and was ready to finish his Athian enemy in the same way.
"And when it looked like victory was just within the Goblyn army's reach, the Allied Kingdoms were saved by the unlikeliest but brave group of heroes…"
Before theGoblyn could ram the tip of his blade into the struggling Guardsman, a single blue beam came from out of nowhere and hit the Gobyin's left hand, causing the grey-skinned soldier to scream in pain and drop the blade. As the Goblyn held his left wrist in agony, this allowed the Guardsman to channel his energy into his hands, and once they were beaming with white light, he fired two mystic blasts at the Goblyn's chest, sending him flying off his body and into the air. Now free, the Guardsman sat up and looked over his right shoulder out of curiosity to see who fired the shot that saved his life.
It turns out the beam came from the smoking barrel of a laser rifle fired by a Trooper who had just spotted the Guardsmen being pinned and took it upon himself to save a man who, despite being of higher rank, was still his comrade in arms. Upon seeing the Guardsman give him a nod of gratitude, the Trooper returned it by giving one of his own.
And this Trooper and the other Troopers on the battlefield were part of a specific class. A class whose name was stated by the Beyonder. "The Betas."
The next hero to speak up was Sue Storm, who seemed confused but also curious. "Betas?"
"A certain populace of Athians who were not born with a gene that granted them the kinetic energy level needed to utilize magic. Despite this, it did not deter many of them from joining the war to save their kingdoms and the entire planet from the bloodthirsty Goblyns."
As the Trooper ran over to the Guardsman to help him get up on his feet, he was alerted by a loud, rage-filled roar coming from the left, and as he turned to see where it was coming from, he was surprised to see a Goblyn charging towards him with shield and sword in hands. Naturally, the Trooper took aim at the charging Goblyn with his rifle, but before he could fire a shot, the Goblyn threw an inward right sword slash and sliced the rifle's barrel clean off. After taking away the Trooper's primary weapon, the Goblyn soldier spun around and rammed the shield on his left arm into his faceplate, taking the Trooper off his feet and landing back first on the ground. Now in control, the Goblyn looked down at the fallen Trooper with an evil smile, then raised his sword over his head, channeled more energy into the blade to make it burn brighter and hot enough to melt through steel, and swung the sword downward in an attempt to chop the Trooper in two.
"And aside from their courage and desire to rid their planet of the army consumed in dark magic, they also brought another asset which proved to tip the balance of the war into the Allied Kingdoms' favor..."
However, the Trooper managed to save himself by reaching into his holsters and pulling out what appeared to be two gold pistols with a white slide with a gold Athian Stone on top and two gold dagger-like blades at the bottom of the barrel. By pure instinct, the Trooper used his thumbs to press two buttons located at the back of the slide, which, in turn, caused the blades to spring forward and cover the barrel, almost like that of miniature bayonets. The Trooper then pressed hard on the buttons, which, in turn, caused the energy within the crystal to travel through the barrel and into the blades to glow in a golden light, then with the speed that came from both intense basic training and will to live, he held the blades up in an 'X' fashion and successfully blocked the Goblyn's fiery sword before it could even touch him.
"That being their gift in science and engineering."
As the Goblyn soldier yanked his sword back to attack again, he was shocked to see two gold energy beams heading straight toward him. He quickly held his shield right in front of him to block them.
Beams belonged to the Elite Guardsman, who managed to recover. He sat in a kneeling position, used both hands to attack the Goblyn, and repaid his debt to the Trooper who saved him.
As for the Trooper still on the ground, he briefly looked behind him to see the Guardsman firing the beams and couldn't help but let happiness overtake him. Both in the fact that he saved the life of a fellow soldier, and that soldier returned the favor by keeping him from getting sliced in two. The Trooper then looked straight ahead and noticed the struggling Goblyn's knees, and thus, the opening he needed to both take out the enemy and give his to the recovered Guardsman. Without wasting another second, the Trooper used his thumbs to double tap on the buttons on the back of his pistols, which caused the blades to retract back at the bottom of the gun and uncover the barrels. He then took aim, pulled the triggers, and fired two laser blasts which hit the Goblyn's kneecaps, causing the grey-skinned warrior to cry out in pain and inadvertently lower his shield, thus allowing the Guardsman's beams to hit him in the chest and send him flying backward into the air.
With Goblyn out of the way, the Guardsman stopped firing his mystic blast, got and ran over to the Trooper, and helped him back up on his feet. The two then gave each other nods of acknowledgment, all while smiling behind their facemasks. However, the moment of companionship was interrupted when they heard more roars coming their way, prompting them both to look forward and see ten more Goblyns coming their way. After being reminded that the fight was far from over, the Trooper turned his pistols at the incoming Goblyns and began firing more blasts. The Guardsman fought back as well, but seeing how he's already exhausted a lot of his own energy, he decided to conserve what power he had left and thus pulled out two pistols of his own, took aim, and joined his fellow Athian in firing blasts at their grey-skinned attackers.
Meanwhile, in the fight between the two kings, Golvok stood there chuckling at the sight of the falling Airdan, who by this time rolled onto his back in pain and had his mask fall off his helmet in the process, revealing two long blonde bangs that draped over his eyes and a pain-filled expression as he tried to will himself back up to finish the fight for not just his people, but for all the Athians on the planet. Golvok all an evil smile to spread across his lips and took sadistic pleasure in seeing the pain-ridden Airdan barely sit back up and cough loudly from inhaling the ashy fumes. Once the Goblyn Emperor saw the hacking, Airdan sat up straight; he stood ready to run in and decapitate him with his fiery blade, then show the severed head to his Goblyn army, as well as the Allied military to demoralize them as he won both the day and all the kingdoms. But just before he could charge forward, Golvok's attention was caught by a man's shouting voice.
"MY KING!" These were the concerned words of the Guardsman, who continued his advance after shooting down one Goblyn. He was now flying towards Golvok and firing a mystic blast out of his right hand to provide Aidan some aid.
Golvok noticed this attack, and with his sword still burning, he swung his blade to the right side and easily deflected the blast, causing it to dissipate. Afterward, Golvok channeled his will into his ring and, in the process, absorbed the hellish energy from the blade into the ring and inhaled through his nose as it moved up his arm. As he felt the energy move up his throat, creating a burning, tingling sensation that he had long grown used to, the Goblyn Emperor counter-attacked by flowing out a massive ball of fire towards the airborne Guardsman who, despite his aura, instinctively held his arms in an 'X' fashion.
Once the fireball hit, the impact was so strong that it caused the Guardsman to lose his concentration and his aura to vanish. He was sent flying backward and landing hard on the ground.
As for Airdan, he had heard the Guardsman's voice, and as he turned around, he was shocked to see Golvok shoot him down. The sight of any of his men, as well as any Athian under his rule, being hurt was one thing; the fumes in the air made it difficult for him to breathe and made his lungs feel like they were on fire. Despite this, the High King was determined to end this battle, and though he could conjurer up another aura, he had one other attack in mind to stop Golvok but needed every ounce of mystic energy to pull it off. As such, he decided to reserve his remaining energy and chose a much different tactic to charge towards Golvok. Namely, once he got his feet, Airdan jumped up and clamped his ankles together, activating mini jets under his boots and propelling him forward. As he sped towards Golvok's back, Airdan flew in low to focus on his brother's left leg, pulled his right fist back, and threw a hard right hook at the back of Golvok's knee, causing the unsuspecting Goblyn Emperor to fall flat on his back.
Despite being taken off guard, Golvok managed to roll on his back and back in a kneeling position. Once he was upright, Golvok's helmet flew off, revealing his true face to be even more skeletal and less humanoid in appearance, all his teeth sharpened to a point, his eyes blood red with thin pupils like that of a reptile, and his hair, which was once said by those who knew him to be long flowing brown, was now replaced with hellfire sense first dousing in dark magic to gain more power and build his army and empire. And what Golvok saw filled him with so much anger it caused the fire on his head to burn even brighter.
Namely, that of Airdan, now kneeling and with the pupils of his eyes glowing. The same golden energy covered his body, and his two bangs pointed upward. He had his ringed right hand touching the ground and his left hand holding his sword, with the blade glowing brighter than ever. But above all else, the High King looked at the monster that was once his brother with a steely-eyed expression, determined to end this battle once and for all.
Wanting this fight to be done with just as much, if not more, than his brother, Golvok absorbed more demonic energy from his right to be fully encased in flame and leaped towards his Airdan, winding his blade backward and roaring loud enough for all of Goblok to hear.
Airdan wasted no time acting as he hopped up again, and as he clamped his ankles together once again, he took hold of the sword with both hands. He wound the blade to the left side as he rocketed toward Golvok at top speed, all with tears of remorse streaming down his eyes as the troubled High King was forced to slay the monster he grew up with.
Two brothers, who at one time loved each other dearly until one's desire for power drove them apart and caused them to be leaders of opposing sides of a devastating war, sped towards each other with blades ready. Once they were close enough, and as they collided, a massive flash of light covered the entire land, leaving an echoing thunder that filled the air. For a while, the only sounds to be heard were steel colliding with steel, until finally, the final two sounds were that of something slicing through flesh and bone and a choking gasp. Eventually, the light died down, and Airdan and Golvok were shown still standing but in different stances.
Airdan stood in a poised but exhausted kneeling stance, his aura slowly flickering as he held his sword to the left after throwing one last slash attack.
As for Golvok, he had a look of pure shock as he stood in an upright stance, wholly motionless and gasping for air as a glowing white mark surrounded his neck. In the process, he stopped channeling his energy into his sword, which caused the flames on the blade to evaporate, and moments later, loosened his grip of on the handle and allowed his sword to drop on the ground. The white mark on the Golvok's neck was revealed to be a cut left by Airdan's mystically charged sword. Before his head could fall off, the white light spread throughout his entire body like roots until, finally, his body exploded, thus ending the life of the brutal Goblyn Emperor. His death took its toll on his army, who, just like the Athains in the Aliged army, stopped fighting due to the flash. But as the light subsided, all the Goblyns were shocked when they saw that they transformed back into regular Athians! Seeing that this was due to the death of their Emperor, all the Goblyns had no choice but to drop their shields, sieze burning their weapons, and hold up their hands in surrender.
Something which caused this Elite Guardsman to shout this in sheer happiness. "VICTORY! WE HAVE VICTORY!" These were the words that caused all of the collected armies of the Allied Kingdom to erupt in celebration.
Though his men cheered joy, tears of sadness continued to run down Airdan's cheeks as he muttered this to himself in sorrow. "You left me no choice, brother..."
THE BEYONDER'S THRONEROOM
…The villains looked at Airdan's sadness with clear indifference as they wanted to hurry up and get the Beyonder's game over with. On the other hand, the heroes looked on in sympathy, as many of them could relate to losing a loved one in whatever shape or form.
But it was Thor who truly empathized with the High King, as he too was reminded of the heartbreak the Thunder God felt whenever he fought his stepbrother Loki, who, despite his mad schemes to take the throne of Asgard, still loved profoundly and silently wished he repented. "This King Airdan's pain is all too familiar," Thor thought somberly, then shifted his gaze to the Beyonder at the bottom of the screen and narrowed his eyes in disgust. "And I shudder to think the pain that this cad Beyonder will have us inadvertently cause to his people."
With the screen showing the Athians cheering, the Beyonder turned his attention to the still astonished heroes and appeared to be satisfied that he quelled their concerns about the Athians, Steve Rogers especially. "As you can, there is little need for concern as far as the Athains' safety is concerned," the Beyonder stated calmly but still came off as condescending. "And who knows, maybe they might be able to assist you regarding this experiment."
Naturally, this answer didn't sit well with Steve, and upon hearing it, he looked away from the screen and directly at the Beyonder with a look of disgust. "That still doesn't excuse the fact that you're endangering the lives of innocent people by sending us down there to kill each other!"
Here, Carol Danvers, a former Air Force Pilot just as dedicated to defending and protecting lives as Steve, jumped in. "All to satisfy YOUR curiosity about Good and Evil!"
The Beyonder responded to the two veterans with a complacent shrug. "Well, as you earthlings say, 'potayto, potahto," the Beyonder retorted, then turned his attention back to the screen. "Anyway, after winning the war, many of Golvok's were sentenced to imprisonment. But because Golvok's army was so massive, not even prisons in all of Alandra could hold all the former Goblyn soldiers. And thus, they decided on a more different approach…"
MOUNT AVA, AFTER THE FINAL BATTLE
…on this fateful day on the mountaintop metropolis that was Ava City, there was a small gathering of the roof of a small circular building that stood on the lower east side of the city and faced outward at the land of Goblok, which was still underneath the energy dome to keep the rest of the now depowered soldiers of the Goblyn Empire imprisoned. Filing the left side of the roof were a few Guardsmen and a few royal advisors from every country on the continent. On the right was High King Airdan, out of his armor and in royal garbs, as well as the five other High Kings of the Alliged Kingdoms, all of whom wore robes and crowns of various colors that represented the countries they ruled.
The Kings were not alone in filling this section of the roof, for with them were the six queens of the Allied Kingdoms, all wearing multicolored robes like their husbands. All stared out to the land of Goblok behind the energy, both in disgust at the Goblyn army for all the destruction and suffering they had caused and more determined to complete the task they had united to accomplish.
"One that required the Kings and Queens of the Allied Kingdoms," The Beyonder pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone. "Who, like previous Queens before them, were the most powerful magic users on the planet."
Standing beside Airdan was a tall, light-skinned, slender woman of angelic beauty, with her eyes having gold pupils and long silver hair in a long braid that ran down to the back of her legs. She wore a white crown above her brow with a gold stone in the middle, two wings on the sides, and above her pointed ears. She also donned a shining dress underneath a white robe with gold trimmings around her oversized sleeves and the neck area. She also donned a gold necklace with a pendant containing her country's symbol.
"And the strongest of these women was that of Airdan's wife and co-ruler, High Queen Ava..."
THE BEYONDER'S THRONE ROOM
…Naturally, the villains weren't exactly impressed with the High Queen's name, seeing how the people of Ava had already given said name to a city and country. The Leader was the one to vocalize what they were all thinking, who let out a loud scoff and was irritated by not just the Athian's names on how their technology is; while impressive to the simple-minded, he could come up with something much better if given the time. "It is one thing for these beings to have such average technology, but to have their city and Queen share the same name, how pitifully redundant if not arrogant."
Naturally, the heroes didn't take too kindly to the Leader's condescending words, not to mention the hypocrisy in his words when he spoke about arrogance. For as they all knew, Hulk especially, whether the previous battles they've had with him, the big-headed scientist had long proved to be the poster boy of that word.
The Beyonder himself shared the heroes' feelings about the Leader's words but was more annoyed that he was once again rudely interrupted when talking about the planet. As such, he turned and looked at the mad genius with a narrowed brow. "Oh yes, whereas you are the personification of humility, 'Leader,'" the Beyonder said sarcastically, emphasizing the simple name the man once named Samuel Sterns gave himself when he first became infected with gamma radiation. "Or at least you should be, given the numerous times the Hulk has defeated you and other heroes that crossed your path." Understandably, this comment earned the Beyonder an angry scowl from the Leader, but the powerful cosmic being showed that he couldn't care less by turning back to the screen. "Now, regarding the Queens' name, it's traditional. All firstborn daughters of each royal family are named after the country they are to co-rule and protect one day. And it was out of the continent's protection that they performed this great act…!"
MOUNT AVA
…Burning with the desire to rid her people and all of Alandra of the army that brought great death and destruction to their world, Ava wasted no time conducting the beginning stages of the 'Spell of Separation.' First, she placed her left hand on her chest, then put her other hand, which she wore a ring with the same coloring and eye design as the one Airdan wore, over it. She then focused on the center of her body mentally. She thus brought out her inner energy, resulting in her eyes glowing gold and an aura of the same color flowing out of the ring and covering her completely.
Once the other queens saw Ava glowing, they soon followed suit in their roles for the spell by performing the same hand motions and producing their auras, albeit in different colors.
As part of her years of training in magic, Ava sensed the energy from her fellow Queens and thus proceeded with the rest of the spell. In that, she turned her hands forward so her palm faced the dome, then began to will the energy from her aura, causing it to flow from her body, down her arms, and into her palms, which resulted in a glowing, circular symbol to appear. Once it grew to the size of her body, she thrust her arms forward and pushed the symbol, which caused it to move with speeds similar to that of a missile shot out of a cannon until it inevitably hit the energy dome.
Airdan was just as familiar with this spell as his wife and fellow kings and knew that he had to play and hand in it as well for it to work correctly. This was why he wasted no time channeling his energy into his ring, conjured up a white aura, and placed his hand on Ava's shoulder. The High King continued to direct more of his ring, which passed through his hand and into Ava's body, resulting in both their auras joining and glowing brighter.
Once she felt her husband's presence, both literally and figuratively, Ava opened her arms outward with her palms pointing upward and allowed the energy to lift both her and Airdan off the roof floor into the air and pointed her palms downward to stop and levitated high above the city. The High Queen then proceeded with the final phase of the spell on her end by holding up her left hand with the palm facing the dome, creating a smaller circular symbol, then turning it eighteen degrees to the left like a knob, causing the giant symbol she made to grow larger until it took the front half of the dome.
It wasn't long before the other queens levitated up, with their kings also holding on to them. They then stopped just right underneath Airdan and Ava, then moved their arms in a circular motion, then placed their left hands over their ringed hands with their palms facing the dome, created small circular symbols of their then thrust their hands forward, which in turn, caused beams of multicolored energy to shoot out of these symbols and hit their intended target that was the dome, or more accurately, the larger symbol that Ava created. Upon making contact, the beams caused the symbol to cover the entire dome and change its color from brilliant white to radiating gold until the dome resembled a giant gold ball.
What followed next was the sound of solid rock breaking and the ground trembling, which came from the energies of the now golden dome separating the land of Goblok from Alandra itself! Thanks to the combined might of the continent's queens, the process took three to four minutes until finally, Goblok drifted away from the continent. Just as the separated land reached only a few miles out, the dome disappeared, and Goblok was now a large island with the former soldiers of the Goblyn army as its occupants.
"And it was out of the continent's protection that they used their combined powers to separate Goblok from Alandra forever and turn it into a prison planet for the former Goblyn soldiers who aided Golvok in his mad attempt at conquest." The Beyonder pointed out…
THE BEYONDER'S THRONEROOM
…as he changed the image on the screen to the map of Alandra, showing Goblok as the island that floated just above the continent. "And since then, the removal of the Goblok and the Goblyn King's army served as an annual celebration to the people of the Allied Kingdoms. But a day after one particular ceremony."
Tony's ears lit up upon hearing the word 'ceremony.' Whether it was before his armor or to this day, he was always on board for gatherings and could never resist being the life of the party. Unfortunately, in this case, it made him worry, as this ceremony was to take place on the same planet where he and his comrades were set to battle the villains, which meant innocent lives were about to be under 'heavy fire.' "Which is?" Tony said with dread, giving the Beyonder a concerned expression.
With another hand motion, the Beyonder once again changed the image to…
AVA CITY, PRESENT DAY
…where a large, cheering crowd was standing behind a marble barricade in front of a large, round, elevated platform located at the front entrance of the Royal Skyscraper, which had golden circles in the center of the platform and a pole with a gold box with a narrow barrel. Two large mechanical screens on their sides for the people audience, as well as those watching from the windows of nearby buildings. The reason for the crowd's jubilation was that two Elite Guardsmen escorted the country's four most influential people. The first two were the now middle-aged Airdan and Ava, both in their gold and white royal robes and crowns, walking to the podium's edge to smile at the cheering crowd. Joining the royal couple in greeting the crowd were two people to whom the High King and Queen cherished the most: their two daughters, who both had slender frames and wore simple gold dresses with matching shoes, elbow-high gloves, and tiaras above their brows.
The oldest of the High Princesses was a tall, blonde, twenty-five-year-old woman who bore a striking resemblance to her royal mother from her blue eyes, her light skin and white hair, which was also in a long braid, and two long blonde bangs that hung over the tiara. By royal law, she was named after the country that her family ruled. Though nervous about the struggles waiting for her after this day, High Princess Ava kept these feelings to herself for the sake of her people and masked these fears with a smile and a poised, dignified demeanor.
The second High Princess, whom her father named Marrion Jonas, was nineteen years old and stood a couple of inches shorter than her sister. She possessed jade green eyes and fair skin like her father, and while she too had white bangs, her hair was fiery red and in a ponytail hairstyle that stopped at the back of her waist. She, too, smiled for the crowd, but it was mostly to hide her aggravation and waiting for this event to be over. Not that she didn't resent being there with her family; she loved them all, respected their family's legacy, and was incredibly proud of her sister, for she knew that she was well suited for the position she was about to be given. It's just that Marrion felt that these royal appearances were dull, and she thought she could do more for her people and planet by taking a more 'active' approach. Something that her parents never cared too much about but was also something that High-Princess Ava supported, and thus Marrion looked forward to her sister keeping her promise that she would allow her to help the country 'her way' once this day was over and done with.
After addressing the crowd, the High Royal Family turned around to face an elderly woman with white hair and fading golden bangs in a white robe, which was the traditional garb of Watsa, the High Royal Family's grand mage. She, in turn, greeted them with a warm smile. Not only did she serve them loyally as their high mage, but she also loved the High Queen and her husband and two children as if they were part of her family. They were just as proud as High Princess Ava and her parents. "I just received word from my fellow mages in the rest of the city, Your Highness," Watsa told Airdan. "The rest of the royal families are ready to proceed."
Airdan responded by giving Watsa a nod of acknowledgment and a returning smile. "In that case," said the High King as he turned to his eldest daughter, beaming with pride at the firm, intelligent woman she had grown into and knowing beyond all doubt she was ready for this day. Let us not delay the title passing any further…"