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MARVEL 2000 PRESENTS...
"FORCES OF DESTINY"
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Where: Avengers Mansion
"I would have thought you would be happier to see me up and around," Black Panther said as he stood next to Wanda Maximoff in the Avengers' living room. The two formerly comatose heroes had awaken and found themselves observing a very angry group of Avengers making their way into the living room with the exception of Quicksilver. Pietro's impatience forced him to push ahead of his teammates. There was nothing that he could keep him from his sister, but upon embracing her he felt something different about her. Power resonated from her now and even her posture was full of a new confidence he had never seen in Wanda. It was odd for Quicksilver to see his sister like that, but Jean had warned him that his sister might be different.
So he sat down on the nearest couch to Wanda and waited for the arrival of his fellow Avengers. Captain America walked in with an accusatory finger and said, "Panther we have some stuff to talk about!"
T'Challa's stare narrowed as he replied, "Yes we do, but I would strongly suggest you lower your voice. I am not one of your insubordinates."
She-Hulk rolled her eyes from behind Cap and said, "Let's cut the royal BS here T'Challa. You went behind all of our backs and created a team of Avengers without so much as giving us a second thought. What would inspire you to do such a thing?"
Binary snickered. "Royalty. They think we should all just follow their lead."
"Watch yourself woman. I am also not some piece of gutter trash you can refer to however you please."
Binary's fist balled up and if Jen and Cap weren't in front of her she would have barreled the Wakandan king straight through the fireplace and out of the Mansion. That pompous prick had the nerve to throw out his thinly veiled insults like she was too stupid to pick up on them. More and more she was hoping that things would get out of control and she would have the opportunity to manhandle T'Challa. Still, part of her was curious to hear Panther's explanation for his actions. Sure, she knew that the two of them didn't along, but Nicole had been under the impression that Captain America and Black Panther were good friends. Why would the "All-Mighty King" feel the need to go behind Captain America's back?
::Designate: Black Panther. Were we not trustworthy enough to know of your plans?::
Black Panther folded his arms across his chest. "That's not it at all X-51. I simply knew it had to be this way and no other way. There was no way the United States government was going to allow a branch of the Avengers to form in Africa. To be frank, I knew Captain America wouldn't either. Unfortunately, that reluctance was not my concern. Africa has long been crying out for the same presence that the Avengers and Fantastic Four offer to North America. I can no longer sit by and watch the genocide plaguing the continent."
"So basically you want your own little gang of policemen for the continent?" Binary snapped.
Ignoring her comment Black Panther turned to Rogers. "I apologize for deceiving you, but I had to. America's not willing to let a team of Avengers rise up in Africa. By me deceiving you it also absolves you from involvement with the formation of the team."
"Don't try to turn this around! You weren't thinking about protecting me at all. This is your own ego at work T'Challa! Nothing more!" Captain America bitterly exclaimed. He knew just how intelligent of a man T'Challa was and just how skilled he was orally. While he may be able to make himself look like the victim, there was no way Captain America was going to let that cloud the facts. Black Panther had created an entire team behind all of their backs. The fact he was Chairman at the time didn't matter a lick. Major decisions like that needed to be brought before the entire organization.
“Unlike you, I refuse to wear blinders to the world around me. We’ve improved many things, but just as many things are getting worse everyday. Can you honestly tell me that you don’t see it? Have you become that wholly blind?”
Pietro finally threw in a comment. “I understand where you’re coming from. I lead the X-Men for a long time and I’ve seen the worse of this world’s oppression first hand. That doesn’t mean going behind the backs of those you call friends to alleviate the problem.”
“Fine condemn me, but my team knew nothing of the deception. They will not be disbanded!” Black Panther declared firmly.
Captain America moved a little closer and said with gritted teeth. “That’s not for you to decide.”
“Come and try to disband them then. Bring whoever you want because I will blow every last one of you out of the sky without hesitation. Dare violate my country’s sovereignty and you will see a war the likes of which,” Panther stopped himself and took a deep breath. “In my absence my lawyers have been drawing a treaty with Genosha in the event that you or any other superpowered team enters Wakanda in an attempt to shut down Avengers Africa.”
“You WHAT?!!” Pietro exclaimed. The reaction was similar to everyone else in the room, except for Wanda. She was still standing next to Panther with a cool smile.
Black Panther did not let the reaction of his friend affect him. He was cold as the Arctic. “I do mean to keep this team alive and I will do so by any means necessary. This is the last I will say on the subject.”
“This isn’t over-"
“Yes it is,” Scarlet Witch interjected. “I need to talk to all of you. There’s so much stuff going on right now my head is spinning.”
“Take it easy then sis. No need to rush into things,” Pietro said laughing at the fact he just told someone not to rush.
Quoi looked at Wanda and his mouth gaped open. “You’ve learned!”
“Yes I did learn. I think it’d be better if I went ahead and explained the situation to everyone.”
The Celestial Messiah nodded his head. “Yes, that would probably be best.”
It was only a moment ago that the mood of the room had been intense anger, but now that had turned to a strong curiosity. Wanda had been acting strangely for months, especially in terms of her powers. Finally, getting an explanation for it all was something that Pietro especially had been waiting for. Everyone formed a half circle around Wanda as she began her tale.
“As you all know my powers began to grow in strength after the Scarlet Centurion unlocked them. I was never quite sure how exactly how he had done it until the examination of my mind by Jean Grey. That was when the floodgates opened.”
“Who told you about that?” Quicksilver exclaimed.
“No one Pietro,” Wanda said tenderly. “I just remember her being in my mind and it really resolved a great deal”
Pietro couldn’t explain, but he now somehow felt guilty for allowing Grey into his sister’s psyche. Paying no attention to her brother’s guilt, she continued with her explanation. “The Scarlet Centurion was able to free my powers because of the M’Kraan Crystal. When I was with The Twelve there was a time when we were all in sync with the crystal. During that brief time the M’Kraan tapped into my subconscious and plated the seed for my greatest desire. It was a billion to one chance, but I d deal in breaking probabilities.”
“So Centurion made that seed blossom essentially?” Cap asked.
Wanda nodded. “Even though the seed was blossomed I still couldn’t control it as some of you saw through my various outbursts. Then came my encounter with Centurious, which put me into a comatose state. During that time my mind warred to make sense of my abilities. Jean Grey helped to make my conscious mind aware of my subconscious war. So I was able to finally get full control of my abilities. Believe me; I see things in ways I never have before.”
“As the Celestial Messiah, I am glad to see you’ve come into your powers quite nicely.”
The Scarlet Witch warmly smiled. “Thank you Sequoia. It pleases me a great deal to have a handle on my powers.”
“So do we all. I know you have been working to get control of your powers for years. You deserve some stability,” Captain America said as he moved across the room and gave Wanda a hug. Stepping back he grabbed a strand of her black hair. “Thought I must admit it’ll take some time getting use to your new hair.”
She-Hulk smirked. “I have a curling iron upstairs is you feel like adding some bounce back to the locks.”
“I appreciate the suggestion, but I think I’ll go ahead and try this lout out for a while,” Wanda replied.
Abruptly, Sequoia collapsed to his knees and started clutching at his chest. Captain America went to his side and lifted him to his feet. “Son, are you alright? What happened?”
Quoi shook his head as if fighting off a migraine. “A very powerful precognition flash. I have a great deal of energy built up in me right now. Sometimes that can result in random bursts of power. Fortunately, we should all be grateful for this burst.”
“What do you mean fortunate?” Binary asked.
Sequoia looked grimly at his teammates. “We have a problem which may very well require calling on everyone who has bore the name Avenger.”
Binary sighed. “And damn was that hot tub calling my name.”
“Well, looks like the two of us found some action quick,” Wanda said nudging Black Panther with a wink.
“Just how are we going to get that many guys together?” Binary asked.
The Celestial Messiah straightened into a firm posture. “Leave that to me.”
Where: Wakandan Air Space
The green goliath sped towards the ground at terminal velocity. He wasn’t in the slightest bit worried about the impact. He had survived a nuclear war and came out on top of the world. Crushing a puny African country that had illusions of grandeur would be nothing for him. This world would break under his heel as easily as his own time had. Thor? Nothing. Silver Surfer? A pest. Magneto? A mere toy. All of them would be his to crush and fold like paper. Then once he was done with them he would turn on Thanatos and his allies. All would fall to him and The Destiny Force would be his to wield.
This gleeful thought filled him as he came closer and closer to Wakanda’s capital. The air rushed through Maestro’s gray hair and as the Wakandan city became clear a grin spread across his face. He could only imagine the fearful reactions of the feeble people as they paid witness to his arrival. Thanatos had promised him a good time and he must admit that so far Jones had lived up to his word. Being shot from an orbital cannon had started the enjoyment and crushing this city would finish it. He would grant Thanatos the favor of a quick death. A swift snap of the neck would be enough.
With only a hundred and fifty yards till impact, Maestro was blasted in his side by flat beam of blue energy. The blast registered like a fly landing on a bun to Maestro. With angry eyes, he flicked his head in the direction of the annoyance. The beam had come from a tubular jet-black plane and had long wings armed to the teeth. As the vehicle approached Maestro, a field of electricity surrounded it. Four other plans were following Maestro’s attacker.
Still falling, Maestro twisted his body around and roared at the plane squadron. “Pathetic humans! You all shall fear me before this day comes to its end!”
All of the planes began to fire on the green behemoth, but their attacks were in vain. Maestro would not so easily be destroyed. So the Wakanda pilots could only watch as the monster slammed into the capital city like a meteor. The impact was enough to send their flight patters into disarray.
Smoke plumed from the impact site and the leader of the squadron feared the worse. Picking up a radio transmitter he said, “Evacuate the capital city immediately. Hostile has arrived. Evacuate immediately. Assistance of Avengers Africa required. Code Red! Begin to evacuate city.”
Evil had entered Wakanda and the pilot could only hope his country was ready to face it down.
Where: Some Remote Facility
Zeneo Technologies had hid Kamee for nearly a year, ever since his encounter with the Fantastic Four. He often times wished he could be like his one time ally, Binary, and fight alongside The Avengers. So far fate had not been so kind to him. The peaceful meditation master looked more akin to a starving protestor than a dangerous warrior, but he was guarded by at least 50 men a day. His grayish skin and emaciated body wasn’t what earned him his entourage. Kamee was possessed of the ability to push anything to the epitome of itself. He could focus on a particular area for improvement and make it as strong as it possibly could be.
Zeneo Tech. Had put his abilities to use in many experiments. He had pushed metals to the limits of their molecular malleability making it so that you could bend titanium as easy as cardboard. Animal immune systems had been boosted to fight off all disease. Viruses were pushed to their limits and sicked on the said animals in an attempt to find a flaw with Kamee’s power. No flaw was found. The virus just became locked in constant struggle with the immune system.
Then there was the matter of Kamee having absolutely no say in his fate. He was a genetically engineered creature and no one in the world gave a damn. The people he saw as teammates began to break away and he suddenly found himself very alone. Alone and exploited. He had no idea what Zeneo Tech’s ultimate plan for him was.
All he knew was that he was trapped in a four by four cell and fed slop three times a day. Meditation was the only thing that kept Kamee from teetering over into insanity. So he was often in a meditative state anywhere from ten to twelve hours a day. Today he was in his seventh hour when a large explosion ripped him from it.
Where: Avengers Mansion
“I’m of the right mind to walk up there and slap whoever that Quoi guy is right in the face,” Monica Rambeau, also known as Photon, said to an eager audience in Black Knight.
“Agreed. I do not appreciate being ripped from my home and brought here. In full uniform to boot,” Dane replied.
“Cap and T’Challa are up there with him. I’m sure there’s a good reason for all of this,” Pym said trying to be the voice of reason among the chatty group of summoned Avengers. He didn’t exactly like being pulled from restoration efforts in San Francisco, but he’d wait this out.
“PEOPLE! Let’s calm down and get together here. The situation is very serious and we don’t have a whole lot of time,” Captain America said from the podium where he was between Sequoia and Black Panther.
“Care to tell us why we’ve all been plucked here and just who’s responsible for it?” Iron Man asked.
Quoi looked in Iron Man’s direction. “That would be me. I summoned you all here because of the threat I sensed in my mind. Believe me, I understand that this is short notice, but we haven’t the time to be polite. This world’s fate may depend on it.”
“So give us some idea of what we’re up against here,” Wasp said.
Quoi nodded. “Of course. 30 minutes ago the nation of Wakanda was attacked by what we believe to an alternate version of The Hulk who calls himself The Maestro.”
“You called all of us here for a Hulk?! No disrespect to the guy, but I don’t think you needed every yahoo who’s ever been an Avenger to handle it,” US Agent exclaimed.
“There’s more,” Quoi interjected. “Much more. This attack is one in a three-prong assault that we must conduct. The Maestro is just one of many in an alliance that stands poised to kill all humanity. He is joined by Thanatos, Red Skull, Abyss, Mieko Ko, Belladonna, Emperor, Thanos, and all of their various allies. They intend on making themselves gods and will stop at nothing to achieve this goal.”
“My stars and garters!”
“Okay you’ve got my attention now,” Iron Man admitted. “With a grouping like that there must be more behind than a simple attack on Wakanda.”
“There is,” Black Panther said not liking the implication his country was unimportant. “A superhuman was also kidnapped from a Zeneo Technologies facility. His name was Kamee and-
“Shit!” Binary exclaimed. “If they have him then they can boost all of their powers up to the max level and then they’d practically be gods anyway!”
“Except he’s being used for a different purpose in this case. Thanatos and his allies have built a tower in Greenland upon which they’re going to strap Kamee and use his “epitomizing” abilities to push every human to access the Destiny Force within themselves. Then that same machine will suck back all that power and divide amongst Thanatos and his allies,” Quoi explained.
“And what’s the third part of this attack?” Falcon asked.
“They’re launching an attack against this Mansion. They think to catch us by surprise,” Quoi replied.
“Fortunately, we’ve got Quoi here. And we know their plan. So here’s the plan. We’ve already divided everyone into three teams that will tackle these various problems. Pull up the screen if you would please, T’Challa,” Captain America said.
The ruler of Wakanda nodded and pressed a few buttons on a monitor behind him. A screen slide down from the roof and displayed who would be going where.
Sundragon, Beast, Wonder Man, Karnak, Andromeda and Warbird.
GREENLAND
THE MANSION
Captain America looked out amongst the group. “You have your assignments. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!”
Where: Above Earth
Abyss stepped back from the large black circle that was painted on the floor. In the center of it were random battling stick figures to give the appearance of war waging within it. On the other side of the painting was Belladona and Mieko Ko, current leader of HYDRA.
“You sure this will work?” Belladona asked.
“Of course it will. I have prepared heavily for this spell. Everything is in order,” Abyss replied.
Mieko Ko huffed. “It had better be. Summoning that volatile a creature is dangerous business Abyss.”
Pupiless white eyes burned holes into Mieko Ko. “The Fallen One is a brutal, cosmic butcher with an unlimited supply of power. I am fully aware of what I am bringing here, but we need a weapon against Maestro.”
“Who’s 99% likely to turn traitor once we accomplish our goals,” Thanatos said as he entered into the room.
“Fine,” Belladonna said crossing her arms across her chest. “We finish this and head to Earth. Thanos is bound to be arriving at Avengers Mansion soon.”
“No telling what kind of welcoming committee he’s getting there,” Mieko Ko added.
Abyss nodded. “Nothing he can’t handle. Now let the ceremony begin.”
And the circle began to glow white.
Where: Avengers Mansion
Hawkeye had assembled the team outside and had the flyers form a perimeter around the mansion. Black Knight was standing next to him and said, “So any clue why we got stuck here to fight against Thanos? I have a sword and you have arrows. I’d much prefer to be cutting down some HYDRA than taking on a evil-grinning Hulk.”
“We’re both good leaders regardless of our powers and we’re going to need coordination against a threat like Thanos. Last time he was down this way we had to have The Shi’ar bail us out. I don’t think we’re going to get that this time.”
Black Knight shook his head. “Craziness. Well, I guess we better brace ourselves. How do you want to position the ground people?”
“We got mostly flyers so I don’t think our positions are going to make a huge difference. I just have Crystal ready to throw off some flight paths with her wind abilities.”
Dane nodded. “Understood.”
Suddenly a telepathic intrusion came into all minds on the battlefield. << This is Sequoia. Thanos and his allies aren’t going to fly in. They’re teleporting on the ground now! >>
Black Knight and Hawkeye looked at each other with surprise and were knocked to the ground by a large boom. They both rolled with the impact and were able to maintain their footing. Looking straight ahead they saw a large orange vortex, Thanos stepped out of with his allies in tow. A massive green and purple robot and a white-skinned woman wearing black and gray armor with a helmet akin to what an ancient Egyptian royal would wear flanked him.
Thanos stepped through the portal and took a deep breath. “I assume you Avengers must have been warned. It’s hardly important. Big Barda, finish off those two would you. Imperiex, find the Celestial Messiah and destroy him.”
Big Barda appeared absolutely emotionless as she marched toward the two Avengers. She pointed her rod at them and fired. A green field of energy blocked the blast. The source of it was a very angry Eternal. “Wench, you will not lay a finger on them!”
Black Knight looked up at his ex and said, “Thank you.”
Thanos smiled at the thankful Avenger and looked at the carnage ensuing around the mansion. Barda’s mate, Mr. Miracle, was locked in aerial combat with X-51. Imperiex had his massive hands around Quoi’s throat and Metron was beating back the powers of Moondragon.
“Smile on this,” Hawkeye said as he fired an arrow at the Mad Titan. Thanos saw the weapon coming his way and couldn’t help but to laugh. He reached out and snatched the arrow from the air inches before it hit his face. Light exploded from the arrow and blinded Thanos. He yelled out. “Fool!”
Before he could regain his sight, Crystal used her abilities to lock Thanos in a cocoon of fire. The grass sizzled around the bubble, but the Inhuman only increased the heat. Hawkeye called out to her, “Be careful. We still want our house in one piece.”
Firebird flew above Hawkeye and said, “Do you want him out of the picture or not?”
With that question she began to pour her own power into the sphere of flame that Crystal had concocted. Black Knight observed a glowing green presence in the sphere and immeadiately yelled to Crystal, “Back up! Get away!”
His warning came too late as the green energy exploded outward. Crystal was sent flying through the air and landed on the ground with a smack. Her body was smoking. Firebird had been flung like a toy into the nearest lamppost and she was rendered unconscious. Hawkeye had landed head first after he was thrown back and he too was knocked out cold. Black Knight was the only one to maintain consciousness even though his body was not responding to him.
A smoldering, completely naked Thanos walked over to Black Knight and lifted him up by the throat. “I should rip your puny head off right now and spare my soldiers the trouble of dispatching you.”
“Your concern needs to be with me, Titan!”
Thanos looked up to see who had shouted the warning and smiled at the sudden arrival of an old foe. “Adam Warlock. How lovely for you to show up.”
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