For all the world he sounded like Victor Frankenstein.
“Something—” Ex Nihilo was cut off by a blast of energy that came down from above and knocked him into the ground. He hit hard enough to leave a fourteen-foot trench in the dirt.
Tony couldn’t help but smile.
“APES,” the Aleph said, then Captain America drove his shield into the robot’s face and broke part of it. From far above two shapes looked down. One was a female form in black and white. He knew her from the files. Smasher. She was a relative newcomer with a serious power boost from alien tech.
Next to her was Hyperion, who was—as far as they could figure—one of the most powerful beings currently on the Earth. Well, on Mars now. He hovered in the air, his body floating effortlessly, his cape billowing in a wind Tony couldn’t feel. His uniform was black and gold, and he watched as Goldie tried to get up. Without warning, Hyperion shot eye-beams that struck Ex Nihilo hard enough to make him scream.
That made Tony chuckle more than it should have.
Then Abyss woke the Hulk.
“Kill him.” She pointed at Hyperion. Freed from the vines the Hulk launched himself into the air like a green missile, swinging a fist bigger than Hyperion’s head and connecting with his face.
Hyperion hit the ground hard, but was back up and soaring toward the Hulk at a speed almost impossible to catch with the naked eye. When he hit his target, the impact was enough to shake the air around them and send his enemy flying back a few hundred yards.
The fight was on. The group Cap had selected appeared out of thin air, and again Tony smiled, secure in what the outcome had to be.
Ex Nihilo gestured, and the landscape exploded into activity, birthing wolf-like creatures that rapidly matured and attacked the Avengers with feral ferocity. The lupine things were six feet at the shoulder, and came out of the ground with an attitude that made Wolverine seem like a Cub Scout by comparison.
Without hesitation, Captain America dove into the thick of combat, moving with deliberation toward the robot Aleph. With his attention diverted, Carol Danvers—Captain Marvel—called out instructions, directing the Avengers in their counter-assault. They followed those commands without hesitation.
One by one she hauled the wolflings into the air and threw them away from the center of the fray. The entire time she focused on the three sentient creatures that to all appearances had instigated an attack on Earth.
Stark could only watch the chaotic melee from his vantage point, wrapped to the side of a very large tree that had been formed for the sole purpose of holding the Avengers captive. The vines were powerful enough to restrain even Thor, whose hammer rested only a few feet from him on the ground.
The vines were tough.
Adamantium was tougher.
While many of the new group fought the wolf-things, Wolverine moved through the fight, easily dodging opponents and making a beeline for the tree. Then he began cutting the vines that held Thor in place. Metallic claws carved away the vines easily, and within moments Thor fell to the ground, remaining there a moment, recovering from his captivity. Stark noted his expression, and a ripple of anticipation shivered through him.
The God of Thunder did not look amused.
There was a flash of red and blue as Spider-Man moved across the field of battle, his webs covering wolfling after wolfling, pinning them in place. Roberto da Costa, now in his ebon Sunspot form, lashed out, and the things obligingly broke on his fists. Hyperion continued his assault on the Hulk, moving at superhuman speed and forcing the gamma-spawned brute back again and again, seldom letting himself get hit.
The Hulk raged, but was unable to get the upper hand. Tony prayed the man didn’t get cocky. The green goliath had caught more than one person off-guard with a sudden fast move, as Stark knew from personal experience.
Spider-Woman launched into the air and targeted wolflings with her bio-electric “venom” blasts. Smasher tracked the creatures and shot them from the air, incapacitating them. Cannonball blasted through at full speed and crashed into the giant robot fighting Captain America, his indestructible form staggering the thing.
Suddenly the vines holding Stark went loose around him, and he found Wolverine slicing through them with deadly precision. The mutant said not a single word, but a low rumble came from the man’s chest—and then he was gone, back in the thick of combat.
Another rumble, this time from a different direction.
Thor stood now, holding the hammer he called Mjolnir up into the air. Above him clouds formed in an instant, blackening the sky over an impossible forest that never should have existed on Mars.
Hyperion paused in the air. The Hulk was below him, on the ground and tensing to leap up and renew his assault. Aleph and Captain America were momentarily separated. The siblings Abyss and Ex Nihilo stood close to each other, poised to attack.
The lightning that came down was selective.
First it speared Ex Nihilo, then tore through Abyss and danced across the surface of the Aleph, leaving black burn marks across his metallic form. The thunder born of the lightning was explosive, and so was the roar that came from the Hulk as Hyperion unleashed a haymaker across the brute’s face.
An instant later the Hulk crashed to the ground, sending out shockwaves in all directions. His skin smoked as if he’d been struck by the very lightning that assaulted the others, and despite the ringing in his ears Tony heard Abyss speak.
“I’ve lost him.”
She fell gracelessly to the ground.
Then the Hulk disappeared. He shrank down into the form of an unconscious Bruce Banner—a transformation that never ceased to fascinate Tony.
As the ripples and debris settled, new motion attracted his attention. Half a football field distant, Captain Universe hovered in the air and looked down at the new “Adam” Ex Nihilo had created. She spoke, and it was in the same gibberish language he’d heard from the Gardeners—and from Adam himself.
Closer still, the Aleph rose to his feet. Dammit, Stark raged inwardly, I should be out there helping them. Once again he tried to reboot his systems, but nothing worked. He was forced to remain an observer, watching for anything that might grant them an advantage.
“Not again.” Captain America faced the thing and shook his head. “Not this time,” he said. “Yield.”
“NO.”
The Aleph started forward—when it was struck from one side. If there was a weapon, Stark didn’t see it, yet Shang-Chi drove his fist through the robot’s knee as if he were punching through balsa wood. The Aleph let out a squawk and fell forward, catching itself on its hands.
Immediately the damage done to the thing—by both Cap’s shield and Shang-Chi’s fist—began to repair itself. Stark was unable to look away, trying to understand exactly how the repairs were initiated.
With a bellow of rage, Ex Nihilo rejoined the fray, his demeanor completely altered now that his little pipe dream was falling apart. His third eye opened wide, and a blast of energy shot toward Captain America. His shield—a unique alloy combining Vibranium and Adamantium in a way that had never been duplicated—took the blast. It was as close to indestructible as anything could be, and it absorbed impacts that should have destroyed the bearer with ease. Cap stood his ground and barely grunted.
The Aleph clambered back up, fully repaired.
It also grew larger.
Captain Universe turned away from Adam and rose into the air.
They knew very little about Captain Universe, Stark thought to himself. “She” wasn’t a person, per se, but a power that made use of people. The current host for the power was a woman who had few memories of her past—perhaps none. At times the force acted on the side of humanity, yet there were long periods when Captain Universe was nowhere to be seen. There was little they could do to influence its decisions, but for the moment the woman hosting that power chose to aid them.
In the next instant every living creature in the combat zone was bathed in a pure white lig
ht that was nearly blinding in its intensity. Ex Nihilo and Abyss looked into that light and immediately prostrated themselves on the ground.
What the hell?
They remained there, cringing.
“Please. Equilibrium.” Captain Universe spoke, and the siblings listened. “You recognize me in this form? You know who I am?”
“Legend,” Ex Nihilo said. “You are the Mother.”
“Goddess,” Abyss added. “You are the universe itself.”
“ERROR,” the Aleph countered. “DEITY NEGATIVE.”
Captain Universe shook her head. “No. Deity positive. My children—your Builders—are adrift. They flail. They and you have become insufficient. The cycle is broken. The systems are broken.”
Then Captain Universe’s voice changed. It became uncertain and took on, for lack of a better term, a more human tone.
“When I was a girl, my momma always made me pie. Is there pie?” She shook her head as if to clear it, and the uncertainty departed. “Destroy no more worlds that possess life. Transform no more inhabited planets.” Her words were infused with a powerful presence that was far beyond human.
“Mother, are you certain?” Abyss asked. “It’s who we are.”
Ex Nihilo… smiled.
“It is who we were, Abyss,” he said, animation creeping back into his tone. “This is change, the very stuff of life. Now we fly into the unknown, as we should.” He turned his head toward the metallic man who had carried him as a seed and birthed him into the world. “What say you, Aleph?”
The towering robotic form looked at Captain Universe, then down to Ex Nihilo and Abyss. After a long moment, it looked back to Captain Universe where she floated in the air.
“DECLARATIVE: NO.”
Oh, crap…
The mechanical form changed. It grew even larger as sections of its exterior armor moved and revealed a series of assault cannons hidden underneath. Tony gaped. He didn’t want to consider the raw firepower.
“THIS ALEPH HAD DETERMINED THAT THE HUMAN WORLD MUST BE DESTROYED. THIS ALEPH MUST PERFORM ITS DUTIES.”
Captain Universe rose higher into the air until she stared into the face of the massive machine, now towering some twenty feet tall.
“There are seemingly infinite mysteries within my expanse, machine,” she said. “This is not one of them.” She shook her head as she spoke. “What good is any system built by children—even my own—if the children refuse to mature?”
The Aleph looked at her, weapons continuing to crawl free from its interior. The damned thing had more extras than a Swiss army knife, but Captain Universe didn’t seem to care much.
“Stand down,” she said. “The end is not what you think it’s going to be.”
Suddenly Tony’s attention was grabbed by a familiar voice. “Back away.” Not far off, Black Widow was gesturing. “We need to back away.” Though he still wore his powerless armor, he felt the fine hairs on his body rising. He nodded his agreement and retreated.
Ex Nihilo shook his head. “Aleph, please…”
“DECLARATIVE: I CANNOT OBEY.” At that, the mechanical cut loose with several cannons, all firing simultaneously. The powerful barrage burned the air and completely engulfed Captain Universe. The assault lasted for three full seconds before it stopped.
From the center of the carnage, Captain Universe moved forward. Her finger touched the Aleph…
…and it ceased to be. Its entire gargantuan structure, all the amazing machine was, vibrated into dust in an instant. Even as the flecks of debris drifted to the ground, so too did Captain Universe.
Cap was close by, and Tony leaned in. “When we get back,” he said, “remind me to put ‘get pies’ on Jarvis’ to-do list.”
Cap nodded, and said not a word.
* * *
THE COMBINED Avengers away parties gathered together. What few wolf-creatures remained now disappeared, their purpose removed. Left untended, Ex Nihilo’s “new Adam” had died, never truly having lived.
Captain America, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel conferred, then joined the rest. Within short order the decisions were made. Ex Nihilo and Abyss would depart with the Avengers. Captain Universe would destroy the cannon with which they had sought to transform the Earth. Stark suspected that, had it just been the Avengers who made the proposal, the fight would still be raging. But Captain Universe spoke with the authority of a god or a grandmother.
He wasn’t sure which was more powerful.
CHAPTER FIVE
BUGS
“IT’S NEVER easy, is it?”
Back on the Peak, Bruce Banner spoke mostly to himself. His hands moved constantly, encountering new textures, the constant input balancing the tempest that existed in his mind. It was a method he’d tried over the years to calm himself when he found that he was becoming too excited. He thought he could have written a master thesis on how to meditate, to remain focused.
The nuclear physicist’s narrow shoulders held burdens that would have terrified Atlas. He had saved the world, yet destroyed entire towns. His allies trusted Bruce Banner, but not so much the Hulk. So for the most part Banner had to remain calm, centered.
“It’s Perth, Cap,” he said. “The Perth site is where all of this is focused. Whatever these damned pulses are supposed to do, it’s all with the goal of making Perth the epicenter.”
“What do you mean ‘epicenter,’ Bruce?” Captain America replied. “Epicenter of what?”
Steve Rogers had been employing military strategies and fighting to make the world a better place since before most of the Avengers had been born. A veteran of World War II, he spent years in a state of suspended animation, literally frozen. He was one of the best when it came to deploying his forces. That said, the Avengers were spread thin.
“Each site has experienced the pulses, the power outages,” Banner replied. “Like the Ulchin Nuclear Plant. If we didn’t have a team on the ground there, we might be facing a catastrophic meltdown. But the greatest concentration is coming from one site. Perth.” He rubbed the back of his neck, adjusted his glasses. “There’s something unique happening there. Whatever the nature of this assault, that’s where you need to be.”
Cap nodded. “Stay on it, Bruce. Keep us apprised of anything new.” His voice was steady. “You’re doing an amazing job, and I need you here and calm, got me?”
“I hear you.”
* * *
“‘COME WITH us,’ the men in brightly colored clothing said. ‘We will show you the wonders of the universe, and have great adventures,’” Eden Fesi said. “Didn’t you just convince me to leave Australia, Captain? And now you want me to go back?”
Manifold was an Australian with the ability to warp space. For many teleporters, the ability to shift from one place to another was exhausting. Worse was the notion of moving others in the same fashion—it could be the stuff of nightmares.
Fesi wasn’t like other teleporters. He had yet to find a limit to his ability to move himself and his companions over vast distances. It was as easy for him as breathing. As talents go, it was the sort that made Captain America glad to have him as an Avenger.
“Afraid so,” Cap replied. “We need to get to Perth now.” He stepped closer, accompanied by a handful of others. Wolverine, a fighter with bones coated in nearly indestructible Adamantium, and claws covered in the same incredible metal. His ability to heal from almost any injury had saved him countless times. Like Eden, he was a mutant, considered by many to be the next stage of human evolution.
Cannonball and Sunspot, new recruits to the Avengers, were also mutants. Sam Guthrie could fly at incredible speeds and generated a force barrier around himself while he was in flight. Sunspot—Roberto da Costa—was a human solar battery who could convert his stored energies into raw physical power.
Spider-Man, however, was not a mutant. He’d been in the super-hero business for years, and had a reputation for beating the odds. The remaining member of the away team was a martial artist with incredible sk
ills and a family pedigree that would have terrified most people. Shang-Chi was quiet, enigmatic and deadly.
“Keep alert once we land,” Cap said. “There’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to communicate with the Hub, so we might be on our own.”
“Pretty sure—” Cannonball began.
Manifold lifted his spear—a modern take on a traditional aboriginal weapon. The tip glowed, and the glow surrounded the entire group. In less time than it took to take a breath…
…they were in Perth.
“—we’ll survive it,” Cannonball finished. Then his eyes went wide.
The capital of Western Australia, known as the “City of Lights,” was a hellscape. Vast organic structures rose to terrifying heights above the streets. These alien structures were connected, woven together over buildings, bridges, and roads alike.
Everywhere the Avengers looked, cyclopean creatures crawled over everything. Looking like gargantuan pill bugs, they possessed hard, layered carapaces, too many legs, and antennae waving above wicked-looking mandibles. The smallest of the creatures was more than four feet in length, but some looked closer to the size of a school bus. They were everywhere, swarming over buildings and climbing the vast vines and constructs that were growing from the ground, stretching into the skies above Perth.
The sight rendered the newcomers speechless. Even Spider-Man, ever ready with a quip, just crouched on a pile of rubble, peering this way and that. Cap hoped he would hold it together.
“Where are the people?” Sunspot looked around, frowning.
“They might not be here anymore,” Cap replied.
“What do you mean?”
Spider-Man answered, his voice shaky. “Nothing comes out of nothing. I mean, there has to be a source for all the physical material being grown here.”
Roberto da Costa looked around, his eyes round with horror, and shifted, letting his innate powers come to the surface. His body remained the same shape, but a thick caul of black energy crawled over his skin and sputtered around him in a Kirlian dance. The reaction was purely instinctive: He was better defended against attacks while allowing the solar radiation to shield his body.
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