by Stuart Moore
Gamora joined them, staring into the glow. “Here we go again,” she whispered, so quietly Tony could barely hear it.
As the ship soared by overhead, Drax leaped off the wing.
Ann-ya howled again, louder than ever. The energy flared, threatening to burst free of her. “Um,” Rhodey said. “Is, uh, is that supposed to happen?”
Drax landed on the Hulk’s shoulders and brought down both fists on his head.
Tony sat up in alarm, but Doctor Voodoo was already on his feet, lunging forward with his Legba staff raised. The staff jabbed into Ann-ya’s form, and for a moment, unimaginable energies danced on its surface. Voodoo grimaced and held firm. The energies of Praeterus, the last remnants of the dead world, surged through the staff.
Then, all at once, the energy was gone.
The Hulk cried out and fell.
Ann-ya collapsed next to him.
The shopping center was suddenly, shockingly quiet. Smoke rose from the shattered garbage truck, the grocery store, from the sparking stumps of uprooted lampposts. Cops moved in cautiously, shining flashlights into corners, whispering baffled questions to each other.
Rocket, Groot, and the Kree workers gathered around Drax, staring at the fallen Hulk. Captain America, Natasha, and War Machine soon joined them. Quill brought the Guardians’ ship around to yet another shaky landing.
By the time he arrived, the Hulk was no more. Bruce Banner lay on the pavement, face down.
“Captain,” Drax said, “should we help your oddly pale friend?”
Cap and Natasha exchanged quick glances. “Thank you,” Cap said to Drax, and together they took hold of Banner’s arms.
A few feet away, Halla-ar knelt over the body of his grandmother. Ms Marvel stood with him, resting a hand casually on his back. Tony and Kir-ra watched, with Voodoo and Gamora behind them in the shadows.
“She’s gone,” Halla-ar said.
“She paid,” Kir-ra said, squeezing Tony’s hand. “She paid for what she did.”
“I’m sorry.” Tony turned to face her. “I’m sorry, Kir-ra. I didn’t know – didn’t understand what you’d been through.” He flashed a sympathetic smile at Gamora. “You too, I think.”
Gamora nodded and turned away.
Tony turned to Voodoo. “What did you… Uh, where did all the energy go?”
“To his realm. The devil who set all this in motion.” Voodoo held up his staff. “I hope it will keep him busy for a while.”
“I hope it hurts,” Gamora said quietly. Kir-ra gave her a quick, knowing glance.
Rhodey staggered up, wearing a civilian jumpsuit. He carried his armor’s smoking remains in both hands. “Tony,” he said. “Let’s never do this again, huh?”
Tony smiled.
As the first rays of dawn rose over the housing project, he cast a long gaze around at the assembled heroes. Some were of Earth, some hailed from far-off worlds; some practiced magic, while others, like himself, wielded the power of technology to perform miracles. Some had asked for their abilities, others had had strange powers thrust upon them. And still others – including Kir-ra, Halla-ar, and the terrestrial police – had no special powers at all.
But they’d all come together today, to stop a tragedy from repeating itself. To avenge the death of an innocent world.
Today they were all Avengers.
“Come on, people. It’s a new day.” He started off toward the Guardians’ ship, waving for the others to follow. “Let’s see if we can get this one right.”
•••
The Hood darted through the courtyard of the housing project, keeping to the shadows. The sun was just rising; floodlamps were winking off. With luck, he’d be gone before full light.
The plan had failed. Somehow the Avengers, with their assorted extraterrestrial allies, had managed to bring down the World-Breaker. Jericho Drumm had broken the Master’s hold on his brother, while that stupid Kree woman had snapped Tony Stark free of Daniel’s conditioning.
Even more disturbing, to the Hood, was the fact that he could no longer feel the Master’s presence. Did that mean the Master had no further need of him? Or had something gone catastrophically wrong in that other realm, beyond the dimensional veil?
No matter. The Master was near-omnipotent; he had conquered his own realm, and could draw on all its stored energy. That made him stronger than any entity in this dimension. He would be back, soon enough, and the Hood would once again–
“Well, well. Parker Robbins, right?”
He rounded a corner. Jennifer Walters, the She-Hulk, stood before him in a crisp burgundy business suit and sensible heels, carrying a briefcase in one hand.
“Easy, Robbins.” She smiled. “I just came to serve some papers.”
He eyed the briefcase. It was a nice case, he noted, made of real leather with jeweled clasps. The sort of briefcase a person with money would carry.
“Yeah?” he sneered, putting on his best tough-guy attitude.
“Yeah.” She cocked her head, still smirking. “But since we’re here…”
The last thing he saw was her emerald-green fist flying toward his face.
Chapter 55
The daycare room was almost bare. Most of the toys had been packed up and moved out of the Kree barracks, leaving only a couple of mats on the concrete floor. Gamora and Halla-ar circled the room, holding up wooden practice swords, each eyeing the other for an advantage.
“Be the aggressor,” Gamora said. “Don’t let your enemy think he’s better than you, even for a moment.”
“Like this?” Halla-ar launched himself across the room.
Gamora took a half step back, raised an eyebrow, and grabbed him out of the air. Using his own weight against him, she twisted him sideways and down, pressing the flat of her sword against his chest. His sword clattered away, and he landed on the mat, barely raising his arms in time to protect his head.
“Like that,” she agreed. “But it helps to have the skills, too.”
“I hope we’ll have lots of time to practice,” he said.
Gamora didn’t answer. She was staring at the corner of the room, where a single toy had been left behind: a familiar wind-up robot with a worn, painted smile. Its legs moved slowly, head bumping again and again against the wall.
A rumble of voices from outside. “I think the speech is starting,” Halla-ar said.
Gamora ignored him. She picked up the robot and examined it. Its stubby legs pumped in the air.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She wound the robot with a few rapid strokes and set it back down, facing the center of the room. It whirred and began to march, steady and firm on its feet.
“Learning to live with failure,” she whispered.
She couldn’t tell if he’d heard her. He eyed the door anxiously. “We should, uh, probably go join– “
“You’re going to have my back, right? That’s the idea?”
His eyes went wide. He nodded vigorously. She tossed the practice sword to him, and he snatched it easily out of the air.
“Again,” she said.
•••
“Gentlemen, ladies, and non-binary sentients! Earth people and Kree, Guardians, Destroyers, and oh, all right, my fellow Avengers too…”
Tony paused, standing on top of the table, surveying the crowd that had gathered in the dining area. Captain America and the Black Widow sat in folding chairs near the back – one arm each around Bruce Banner, who looked badly shaken. James Rhodes was with them, his armor newly repaired; at the word “Avengers” , he cocked his hand into a gun and mock-fired it at Tony.
“…I’d like to welcome you to the last-ever gathering in the so-called Stark Long Island Employee Services building.”
A cheer went up from the Kree, who formed most of the audience. My-ronn led the applause, raisin
g his fist. Drax watched his friend for a moment, frowning, then howled out a cheer that drowned out all the other voices.
“This structure was originally built to house munitions,” Tony continued. “As many of you know, I swore off that business some years ago. I can’t tell you how sad and angry it made me to learn that this facility had been repurposed, by rogue forces within my company, into something equally vile.”
Jennifer Walters sat alone, jotting notes on her phone. She looked up once, then returned to her work.
“I was negligent,” Tony acknowledged, “and many of you here paid the price. I’m sorry for that. I want you to know I’ve redoubled my efforts–”
“DOOO YOUR WORRRK!” Peter Quill yelled, cupping his hands like a megaphone. Next to him, in the front row, Rocket burst out laughing. Groot covered his eyes in embarrassment.
“That’s… Thank you, Quill. That’s what I’m trying to do. Just, uh, on an unrelated note, when are you going back to space again?”
“SOOOOOOON!”
Even Groot smiled at that one.
“Well, buddy, I can honestly say planet Earth will be a lot quieter in your absence. As for this facility… well, it’s seen better days.” He gestured up at the roof – or, rather, where the roof had been. “In a mere forty-eight hours – sooner, if the movers get finished – this old eyesore will be torn down. In its place, we’ll be building a brand-new modern facility that will truly provide Employee Support. This will include cutting-edge health services, true daycare with adequate staffing, and unlimited… cronuts? I’m reliably informed that those are the favorite Earth food of the Kree. Is that correct?”
“Yeah!” My-ronn yelled, shaking his fist again.
“Good. Yeah. As for your living accommodations: the movers have already packed up most of your gear. All of you, the Kree I mean, will be housed in Stark Manhattan hotels for the time being, or in the location of your choice.”
Murmurs of approval. Natasha smiled at him. Jennifer gave him a cautious nod. Groot said, “I am Groot,” which Tony chose to take as an expression of support.
“As for the costumed among us… I’d like to thank every one of you, Avenger and Guardian alike, who stood together with us last night. A special shout-out to our very newest Avenger, who not only went toe-to-toe with the World-Breaker Hulk, but did it in the most bone-chilling way conceivable: by imitating his horrific face…”
He searched the crowd and finally located Ms Marvel, sitting in a back corner with Kir-ra. They were whispering urgently, engaged in some intense conversation – not listening to his speech at all. He felt unreasonably annoyed.
He took a deep breath and moved on. “As for me, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my time. This place, this situation, was one of the worst. And, well… this is probably the theme of my life, but I just want to thank you all for giving me a second chance.” He paused. “For what it’s worth, I promise that the Kree will be treated fairly and equitably by Stark Enterprises from this day forward. And to that end…”
He glanced at the women again. Still talking.
“…I’ll be counting on my new Employee Liaison, Kir-ra of the Kree, to keep me honest.”
All eyes turned to Kir-ra. She stopped in mid-sentence, startled.
“Whah?” she said.
•••
After Tony finished his talk, the crowd went its own ways. Kamala stayed with Kir-ra. She was really starting to like the Kree woman.
“…really sprang that on me,” Kir-ra said. “What do I know about being a lee… liaze–”
“Liaison,” Kamala said. “Well, Tony likes to do things like that. But he usually knows what he’s talking about.”
“He’s very arrogant,” Kir-ra grumbled. “Oh, look out.”
They veered aside as a group of movers crossed the floor, pushing a hand truck covered with packed boxes. Other groups bustled around, stacking up folding chairs and breaking down the picnic-style tables that filled the dining room.
“I think there’s two kinds of rich people,” Kamala began, “on this planet, anyway. There’s the pampered, isolated ones that don’t have to listen to anyone else. And then there’s the pampered, isolated ones that don’t have to listen to anyone else, but sometimes they can be shamed. Tony’s definitely the second kind.”
“That’s… wow. That’s profound.” Kir-ra shot her a look. “How old are you again?”
They walked outside. Construction vehicles prowled around, removing bits of rubble. At this rate the area would be cleared ahead of schedule, and the rebuilding could begin.
They came to the Guardians’ ship, where Peter Quill was hauling a box of extremely used cassette tapes up the gangplank. He looked as happy as any man Kamala had ever seen. Drax followed, lugging a comically large suitcase with a big sticker on it that read EARTH. Groot emerged from the ship and stretched out his limbs to help them.
“So,” Rocket said, following Groot over to Drax. “You’re back on the team?”
“Yes,” Drax said.
“What about your new family? The purpose you found, the debt you owed to the people that saved your life?”
Drax shrugged. “I have done enough. Debt paid.”
“Drax?” Gamora walked up to join them, with Halla-ar just behind. “You believe you’ve fulfilled your purpose?”
“In this place, yes,” Drax said. “And you?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Nor I.” Halla-ar frowned. “We have not found the true killer of Praeterus. My grandmother was merely its pawn.”
“There’s somethin’ suspicious about that reward the Kree are offering,” Rocket said. “I think we ought to look into that.” He followed Groot and Drax into the ship.
Halla-ar stepped up onto the gangplank, then stopped. He turned to look back down at his sister.
“So you’ve decided?” Kir-ra asked.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m going with them.”
Kamala had known this was coming, but still, her heart sank a little. She realized she’d been hoping Halla-ar would change his mind, decide to stay on Earth. Was that stupid? she wondered.
“The gods have played tricks on us, brother.” Kir-ra stared off, a distant look in her eyes. “I always wanted to be a warrior. You were an artist. Now you’re going off to fight, maybe, and I’m going to be a lie… a lee-eyez–”
“Liaison,” Kamala said.
Kir-ra sighed. “But you must live your own life.”
“I hate you,” Halla-ar said.
“Hate you too,” Kir-ra said softly. Then she turned away and started to walk off.
“Hey!” Halla-ar called, running down onto the ground.
Kir-ra stopped and turned.
“I really do hate you,” he said, tears forming in his eyes. “I mean, a whole lot.”
She smiled. “I know.” Then she turned to Gamora and said “Take care of him. I mean it. Or that sword won’t save you next time.”
Gamora raised an eyebrow, nodding.
The ship began to rumble, shaking the ground. Kamala stumbled, grabbing at the gangplank railing for support. When she looked up, Kir-ra was gone.
Gamora started up the plank. “Peter’s warming up the engines,” she said, pausing inside the hatch. “Be quick.”
Then they were alone, just the two of them. Suddenly, Kamala couldn’t think of a thing to say to this boy, this stranger she’d grown so close to, so quickly.
“I’m sorry,” Halla-ar said, taking a step up the plank. “I have to do this.”
“Don’t apologize.” She stretched up to face him. “You did good, you know? You helped save… well, the Earth.”
“I had a good teacher. Speaking of which, I won’t miss that school.” They both laughed. “But I will miss you.”
“Oh! I almost forgot.” She reached into her pocket and pulled ou
t the talisman – the mystic eye they’d used to locate the planet-killer. “I still don’t know what this thing is. But it’s yours.”
“Keep it,” he said. “I’ve got a weird feeling you’re the one that’s gonna need it.”
She nodded, frowning.
“I think…” He paused, gathering his thoughts. “I think I can be both, you know? A warrior and an artist.”
She forced herself to smile. “I think you can be anything you want.”
“Will you tell my sister that? She might need to hear it.”
“Of course.”
“That reminds me…”
He reached into his pocket and handed her a crumpled sheet of paper. She took it, frowned, and unfolded it. It was the sketch of her as Ms Marvel, the one he’d drawn in the courtyard the night before.
She smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. “Thank you,” she said. She leaned up to give him a goodbye hug–
–just as Peter Quill appeared in the hatchway. “Time to go, spaceboy!”
The ship’s engines grew louder. Halla-ar gave Kamala a quick, apologetic smile. She touched his hand briefly, then sprinted down off the gangplank. When she reached a safe distance, she stopped and turned, suddenly eager for a last look at this boy. A strange sadness came over her, as if she were losing something she’d never really had to begin with.
“So you’re an artist!” Peter Quill wrapped his arm around Halla-ar’s shoulders, leading him inside. “I got creative urges too, you know. I always wanted to be a songwriter.”
“Yeah?” Halla-ar asked.
“Yeah. Hey, maybe we could work together! You know – you know how people love those greeting cards with songs in ’em? Like with dogs, and babies and bunnies and crap? Oh, that’s it. That is IT. You can draw the cards and I’ll write the songs! This is gonna be great…”
Kamala shook her head, stifling a laugh. Five minutes later, when the ship finally vanished into the sky, she was still smiling.
•••
