Avengers

by James A. Moore

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ILLUMINATION

  AS EACH member of the Illuminati approached Attilan, it was with the greatest of stealth. The massive mothership of Thanos still hovered over the floating city.

  When they arrived, they each were met by a member of the Inhuman royal family and escorted to the chamber where Black Bolt could speak without fear of causing harm. Upon entering the spherical chamber, they found themselves standing in a desolate, rocky tableau with deep rifts and floating boulders. They each heard the odd distortions of sound, and understood. Their voices—when they spoke—were flat echoes of how they normally sounded.

  “What have you done, Black Bolt?” The Black Panther was direct and to the point. “Why have you summoned us here while the entire world is under siege?”

  “Patience, T’Challa,” Doctor Strange said. “There is always good reason when the Illuminati are summoned.” His words betrayed an unnatural fatigue, their host thought.

  “I think you already know,” Black Bolt replied. “All of you have dealt with Thanos by now.”

  “We’re still dealing with him,” Iron Man replied, raising the mask on his armor, “so make this quick, please. Reed and I have more work to do.”

  “Earlier this day Thanos had his emissary deliver a message.”

  “To all of the Inhumans?” Reed asked.

  “Or just to you?” Stark added.

  “To me,” Black Bolt replied. “The Mad Titan has demanded a tribute. I am to deliver him the heads of every Inhuman between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two.” He took the time to look at each of the Illuminati as he spoke, wanting them to grasp the gravity of his words. Then he held up a small, pointed device about nine inches long. “As I will be delivering my response to his request in person, I asked you here to give you this.”

  “What is it?” Reed Richards frowned as he accepted the object.

  “Records. The hidden archives of the Inhuman kings and queens. In there you will find what Thanos is looking for.”

  “But what you said about the tribute—” T’Challa began.

  “The tribute is a lie. A convenient one Thanos is telling to cover up the truth. Though it would kill off a good percentage of my people—something Thanos likely would enjoy—he doesn’t desire the death of every child of a certain age. He wants to ensure the death of a very specific Inhuman.”

  “Which one?” T’Challa asked.

  “The one Thanos has come to Earth to kill,” the Inhuman king said. “His son.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tony Stark responded. “What did you say?”

  “Thanos is looking for his son. He wants to kill him.” Black Bolt paused, gathering his thoughts, then continued. “Centuries ago there was a fracturing of the royal family. Matters of honor and destiny caused blood ties to be severed. Kings and a queen were torn apart. Lost tribes of Inhumans scattered themselves across the Earth, and some across the stars. We have long possessed the technology.

  “Some remained. In recent days we have been… seeking to unify our people.” He studied each member of his gathered Illuminati to make certain they understood. “Years ago, light years from this planet, the descendants of one of the tribes ran afoul of Thanos and his minions. Dark things occurred in dark places, and an Inhuman woman returned to the Earth. She carried the seed of Thanos, and she bore a child.

  “Now Thanos comes here to find that child, a child who since he was born has been concealed among the hidden tribes. I recently had an… encounter with one of Thanos’ creatures. It caught me unawares, stole the information from me. At that time I did not know the name of the child—only that he existed. I think that knowledge alone has driven Thanos here, in search of his offspring.”

  “That’s what’s on this?” Richards held the data spike in his hand. “The information we need? Where to find his son?”

  “That is the Terrigen Codex. Among the Inhumans it is known to contain all of the hidden knowledge of my house, Reed Richards. Please use it. Find the boy. Protect him.”

  “I understand,” Richards said.

  “You’re not coming with us?” Stark said.

  “No. I will remain, because Thanos will come here. He will demand knowledge that I still do not have. With the world as my witness, I will meet him and show him what it means to be an Inhuman.” He lowered his head. They had worked together many times, and now he asked a favor of them. “You should go now. We cannot give in to the likes of Thanos.”

  Namor flinched, he noticed. Curious.

  It was a negligible thing, but he saw it.

  Doctor Strange gestured. “From here the way is twisted, but navigable,” he said. “Gather around… we’re going.” Sparks like white lightning danced from his fingertips. There was a sudden intake of air, as if to fill a vacuum, and they were gone.

  “Flash, and off they go.” Maximus jumped down from his hiding place. He had been there all along. Black Bolt had known—and he suspected the others had, as well. “That was foolish, brother… foolish, and unlike you.”

  It was strange to have his brother accuse him of being foolish when Maximus himself often acted the part.

  “Don’t you trust me, Maximus?”

  “Not if you really gave the humans the Codex,” the madman replied as they left the sphere. “So many secrets. Why would you do something like that? Why would you trust any, well, most of them, really, with everything we know?”

  Black Bolt shook his head and held up another spike.

  “They have a copy. It is heavily edited. They have what they need to find the boy, nothing more.”

  “Oh, I like this plan,” Maximus said. “That’s wiser, I think. And what follows such devious actions? What next, brother?”

  This time Black Bolt did not reply. He just stood, peering at the device his brother had been building. The weapon.

  “Very good,” Maximus responded. “I’ll make ready the machine.”

  * * *

  THANOS LOOKED down upon Attilan and considered the fate of the city’s people. Corvus Glaive attended him.

  “This is a pageant, Corvus,” Thanos said. “This is a grand play, and the black king tests me. Has he yielded his tribute to me?”

  “No, Thanos. Only silence comes from the Inhuman city. I think they cower in their holes and wait for us to change our minds.”

  “Then they must not know how we treat the meek.” He turned away from the viewport. “Prepare my shuttle. Any further delays will be pointless.” He moved toward the doors. “It’s time I took what is mine.”

  “It will be done,” Glaive said, bowing low. “Also, the others have returned.”

  “And how do they fare?” Thanos asked. “More failure?”

  “In fact, Proxima Midnight brings good news.”

  “However…”

  “The Black Dwarf did not fail. He was beaten. By a human.”

  Thanos let that sink in. Proxima Midnight approached, followed by Supergiant and Black Dwarf. The latter wore an expression of barely contained fear.

  “We are missing one of the order,” Thanos said. “Where is the Ebony Maw?”

  “No one has seen or heard from him since you sent us to find the gem,” Supergiant answered. “I have tried calling out to him. He does not answer. Not with his comm, and not with his mind.”

  “We know where he went, Master,” Corvus said. “I could—”

  “No. Let him be. He is unorthodox, but always effective. Do not doubt the Maw when we are full up with another’s failure.” He turned to look at the Black Dwarf.

  “Forgiveness, Master.” The huge warrior dropped to his knees before Thanos and lowered his head in submission. His deep voice rumbled as he spoke. “I… There were unforeseen complications. Unexpected quality. It was impossible to—”

  Corvus spoke. “You embarrass yourself, brother. No one here wants to hear excuses.” He turned to Proxima Midnight. “Wife, tell Thanos what you learned on your mission.”

  She smiled. “There was no resistance in the p
lace the humans call Atlantis. Their prince, also of the secret brotherhood, kneeled before me and humbled himself on the condition that his people be spared. In exchange he offered the location of the gem, Master.”

  “Where?”

  “Wakanda.” She looked down at the kneeling giant. “Where the Black Dwarf met his betters and shamed us all.”

  Thanos nodded, and smiled. “Go. We will send all of the Black Order to see if this place can withstand the full might of Thanos. I will join you there when I have taken my tribute.”

  Black Dwarf began to rise. “Thank you, Master. I will reclaim all the honor I have lost. I will not fail you a second—”

  Thanos spun and drove his fist down onto the scaled head of his general, and felt great satisfaction as the behemoth smashed into the floor of the observation deck. The impact was great enough to ruin the metal beneath him.

  “No. Not you,” Thanos said. “I gave you a world to raze, and in return you gave me nothing.” Black Dwarf lay there, unmoving and barely conscious. “I have no need of broken things, child. You will leave this place, and you will not return until I call for you. Pray the suns and stars do not all die before that happens.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  ALLIANCES

  “HERE’S WHAT we have,” Reed Richards said to his fellow Illuminati. A holographic globe of the Earth appeared over the table in front of them. They sat in the tower known as the Spire of Val’Holuth, hidden in Wakanda far from Birnin Zana, the Golden City.

  “Like the Inhumans of Attilan, these hidden tribes have moved around a lot over the years. Most of them intermingling with humanity, even mating with humans.”

  “How could they?” Namor asked.

  “Until affected by the Terrigen Mist, they have no powers, and the vast majority could pass for human under the strictest possible genetic guidelines.

  “They also keep amazingly complete genetic records,” Richards continued. “With those we should be able to identify and locate Thanos’ child.” Several dots appeared on the glowing globe.

  “I’m counting six locations,” T’Challa observed. “The six of us… Convenience, or providence?”

  “Neither,” Iron Man said. “Still, I think it would be best for us to double up, two to a site, considering the threat level. I mean, we’re talking about the son of Thanos, here. Does anyone know what the spawn of a space tyrant looks like? We should proceed with caution.”

  “Proceed with caution?” Namor snorted. “Given the nature of this alliance, caution would dictate that we work apart from each other for the foreseeable future.” He crossed his arms and shot a side-eyed glance at the Panther.

  T’Challa said nothing, but stiffened visibly.

  “What’s going on here?” Richards said, looking from the Atlantean to the Wakandan and back.

  “Beyond the normal, tedious acrimony, of course,” the Beast added. The only answer was a stubborn silence.

  “Well, not to gloss over… whatever this is, but there’s something else we need to discuss,” Iron Man said. “There are worse things happening in the universe right now, and some of them are occurring right here on Earth. As in, we have Thanos trying to take over the world. So should we really be doing this? Should we be handling Inhuman business?” He leaned in. “I thought we agreed everything is secondary to the cause. Our private lives, our partners, our families… everything.”

  They all looked at him, but no one spoke.

  Then the Beast responded. “I didn’t agree to that,” he said. “No one here did. That’s you making rules, Anthony, and expecting us to follow them.” He gestured with a huge, blue-furred hand. “Do you honestly think I wouldn’t be running back to the Jean Grey School if I felt the need? We should help if we can. How could we not? Besides which, anything we can do to screw up Thanos’ plans is a plus in my book.”

  Reed nodded. “Hank’s right,” he said, bringing a hand up to his chin. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Before launching into business, I should have checked, asked how each of you is doing. Maybe it’s because my family is off-planet right now. I forget myself. It shouldn’t make a difference, but it probably does.

  “So,” he added, “is everyone all right?” He looked to his old friend. “T’Challa?”

  “Wakanda repelled the invasion,” the Panther answered. “The Golden City still stands. And you?”

  “Tony and I made it through okay,” Reed said. “New York fared better than most because it’s home to so many of us.” He turned toward Doctor Strange. “Stephen, you were there. Was—”

  Strange brushed away the thought.

  “I am fine. Perfectly fine.”

  “Hank?”

  “One of Thanos’ henchmen was some kind of omnipath. She came looking for something specific—I now assume it was the child. There was a fight and a lot of the X-Men were injured. However, she left as soon as she decided what they were looking for wasn’t there.

  “Lots of damage,” he continued. “We all survived, which is better than many can claim.”

  Reed frowned. “It’s not lost on me that most of the places where Thanos’ generals made themselves known were also places where we were present.” He focused on the last of their group.

  “Namor? How is Atlantis?”

  Namor looked down. “Destroyed,” he said. “Utterly.” Raising his head, he looked at each of the Illuminati and stared hardest, perhaps, at T’Challa. Then he gestured toward the globe. “So let’s help Black Bolt and find this bastard son, shall we? After all, we have a brother in need.”

  * * *

  “CAROL. WAKE up. They’re coming back.”

  Captain Marvel raised her head and opened her eyes. The first person she saw was Clint Barton. He was a welcome sight. They had known each other for years.

  Then she saw the Aleph—it looked like the others they’d fought: large, metallic, glowing eyes, with a face that seemed all chin and brow. There were two of them, and a Gardener. This one very obviously was female. Where Ex Nihilo sported two large, uneven horns, this creature possessed antlers that would have made a five-point buck envious.

  Carol’s hands were clamped together, and she was suspended from the ceiling. All of them were. As she woke, the Aleph checked Cannonball.

  “ASSESSING: MUTATE. HUMAN MALE. CONTAINED.”

  Then Sunspot.

  “ASSESSING: MUTATE. HUMAN MALE. CONTAINED.”

  The second Aleph checked Hawkeye.

  “ASSESSING: BASE TYPE. HUMAN MALE. CONTAINED.”

  Clint snorted. “Keep thinking that, pal.”

  The first Aleph moved forward while the golden-skinned female watched on. Like Ex Nihilo, she had the same omega mark on her chest and a third eye. It was open.

  The Aleph touched Carol and moved probes from its fingers around the edges of her face. “ASSESSING: HUMAN-KREE HYBRID FEMALE. ENHANCED.”

  The Gardener looked interested. “Really? A half-breed with enhancements.” She drew closer, towering over her captive. “The universe is such a chaotic and wonderful place. Tell me, child, what brought you to this?” Her voice carried an edge of arrogance that was very likely unconscious. It was no less annoying for that fact.

  Carol chose not to answer the question, but she remembered well enough. The ship got caught in an explosion and the lights went out. There was a fight. She thought the others were surely dead, because the ship cracked like an egg. She came out of the quincruiser like a rocket and took on five of the Alephs.

  She lost.

  The next thing she knew, she and the others were all here, wherever “here” was, and all of them were restrained. The cuffs didn’t look like much, but she hadn’t been able to break them, no matter how hard she tried.

  The Gardener looked down at her and smiled. It ran its hands over her, touched her as if to make certain she was real. The touch was intimate enough to make it creepy. With one hand, the creature grabbed her chin and forced her to look up into its green eyes.

  “What brin
gs you to this?”

  The same annoying question again.

  “Well, in the beginning there was nothing. Then there was everything.” Carol smiled. “The Good Lord saw fit to bring me into this world to kick the asses of those who need it most. So I’d get ready if I were you, ’cause this day or the next, it’s coming.”

  The Gardener looked pleased. “Hmrpt. She’ll do. Bring her.”

  One of the Alephs removed the cuffs from the strange line that connected them to the ceiling. Before Carol could get her balance, it began to drag her across the floor.

  This really sucks, she thought irritably.

  Clint started struggling, God love him. “Hey! No! Stop! Leave her alone… You can take me instead.” She’d told him more than once that his chivalrous nature would be the end of him. He was human and she was—well, she was something a bit more.

  The Gardener smiled at him.

  “Don’t worry,” it said. “We’ll be back for you soon enough.”

  * * *

  THE BEHEMOTH Ringworld. Massive did not begin to properly express the size of the place.

  In the center of the ring, there was a broken planet at least the size of Jupiter. From within the center of that ruptured world, a powerful light glowed. Perhaps it was a sun being born. Perhaps it was merely the planet’s core. In any event, the light from within cast a bright warmth over the whole of the ring built around it.

  While the planet itself could not be inhabited—it was too hot and desolate—the ring was covered with cities and outposts. Built by the Shi’ar who knew how long ago, it was as impressive a creation as Spider-Woman had ever seen.

  Currently more than one hundred million refugees from the Builders’ war were being cared for on the ring’s surface. Around it, beyond the atmosphere, hundreds of ships moved steadily, standing guard and gathering supplies.

  Jessica and Shang-Chi stood overlooking a courtyard that was teeming with activity. Badly overwhelmed medical personnel were vastly outnumbered by the wounded and dying. Nearby Eden was doing his best to calm an injured Skrull while another, smaller one stood not far away.

  “Here you go… hopefully this will make it a little better,” Eden said, and his patient remained silent.