"You play a dangerous game, Father. To risk our champion..."

"I have risked him twice before, Daughter, and twice he has not failed me. Now comes the moment of truth." She nodded at her Father as he moved the pieces on the board. "I never considered that a rematch would be called for."

"Humanity is like that," she said ruefully, as she took her position.

"Not this time," he snapped and she recoiled. "This game will be played by myself and myself alone."

"But how? Why?" He gave her a thin smile, which she could have mistaken for cruel if she did not know him.

"Because I can."


Hellios Prime traded blows with Hellios Alpha, fighting for more than the fate of Europe, but the fate of himself as well. His brothers in the Greek super soldier programme had gone mad and they had decided to take over the European Union in some insane effort to sever ties with America and their global political ambitions. 

Or something like that.

What troubled Hellios most was that the original Hellios had been mentally unstable because of the serum they super soldiers had been given and he had hoped it was an aberration, but it looked more like it was an actual side effect, a side effect to which he had not yet succumbed. The thought that he might lose his mind like they had done concerned him more than anything else, more than the fate of Europe, or even the fate of the people in the room. He wasn't fighting for them; he was fighting for himself.

"We are legion," said Alpha as they traded blows, but Prime said nothing. He gritted his teeth and fought back, but more and more power in to each blow, and Alpha matched it. This was a true clash of the titans, and as each was as powerful and as invulnerable as the other it just came down to which of them could take the most punishment. They had both been through the trails, proving their worth to claim the honour of being one of Greece's foremost warriors, a hero that was a match for any of the other heroes on the planet.

After the events with the Death's Head Commandos the Greek Government knew they needed something and now they were paying for rushing things through.

"Join us," said Alpha. "It's your destiny."

"The hell it is," said Prime, speaking his first words and Alpha smiled, knowing he'd hit a nerve. Prime put both fists together and smashed Alpha in the face, putting as much anger and hatred in to the blow as he could and Alpha staggered. "I am Prime and when I'm done with you, I'll take the rest of you down."

"Let's see," said Alpha, wiping away a speck of blood from his lip and the two of them went to work on each other again.


Forge looked across the room at the monitor on the back wall. To the audience it looked as if he using an autocue for his statement, but in reality he was using a pair of high tech contact lenses that allowed him to magnify his visual range. The downside was it gave him a headache, but he wanted to make sure he knew what was happening in Europe at all times, even when giving a statement to the press.

The X-Force contingent in the UK had asked him to do this, and the rest of their team was being checked out in the infirmary after the SHIELD Response Team had gone in and got them out. Shadowcat was, as yet, unaware of what had happened to Brian, but he'd have to tell her sooner or later. However that was not what was going on here. He was here for one reason alone.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I'll be keeping this brief due to the conflict in Europe. Early this morning I was informed that a SHIELD mission to discover the identity of the first director of the original SHIELD. This has been a race against time to find this information as the terrorist organisation Hydra has also been after the name for their own ends. 

"This is the last secret remaining after the Deltite Affair some years ago, and the identity was kept secret to protect his family, however they have agreed to have his name released. The man was John Watkins, the son of John Watkins who was the original Citizen V during World War 2. Mr Watkins was assassinated by Hydra many years ago, though his identity was never revealed to anyone. Mr Watkins ashes were scattered in his hometown in the United Kingdom, though he has a marker in Arlington. A full press pack is being issued at the moment, and any further queries can be directed through the SHIELD press office. Thank you." 

Forge stood up and took his leave of them as 'question' was shouted, but Forge had done what he'd needed to do. He needed to get back to his desk and monitor the situation. He'd not felt this helpless in a long time.


Stephen Strange wandered over to the Empire State Building, which had been struck by lightning a short while ago, but it was the kind of lightning that stoked his senses. There was something not right and it was up to him as Sorcerer Supreme to investigate, especially as the Empire State Building was a nexus point for mystical energy, and had been ever since the demon invasion of New York during the Inferno event.

To everyone else he looked like a normal man just out for a walk, but the Master of the Mystic Arts was alert and an expert at appearing nondescript and as he approached the landmark building he could feel the pressure building in his head and he knew that something was more wrong than he had considered.

There was a presence here, a feeling of evil that was familiar to him.  The people saw him merely tying his shoes, but he was in fact touching the ground and feeling the ley lines beneath the ground, tracking the sources of mystical alignment. With his senses it would only take but a moment and he touched a consciousness, a mind that had been waiting for him.

"Welcome, Strange. I wondered when you would put it an appearance."

"I know you," Strange said, but then his words died in his mind as the face of evil overwhelmed him, and he had seen more than his fair share in his time, so threw off the fear and met his foe with defiance. "You do not have this power."

"You do not know the powers that I possess," his enemy said. "The amulet is destroyed and I am finally free, my powers restored and the coming prepared for. The end of the world as you know it will soon be here."

"I will fight you," said Strange.

"Once, perhaps, but my powers have grown exponentially and now it would take two Sorcerer Supreme's to best me."

"False bravado..." Strange said. "I am Sorcerer Supreme. I am..."

"Forget." The simple command washed over his mystic defences and Strange looked up at the Empire State Building. There was a reason he was here, but what was it? His brow furrowed as he tried to sense any mystical energies at work, but there was nothing.

"How... strange," he said to himself and began walking back to his Sanctum Sanctorum.

In his office at the United Nations, the Secretary General gave a low chuckle. Everything was ready, and the time was coming.


GW Bridge looked at the man beside him, and though he wasn't a doctor he didn't need a degree to see that he was dying. Brian Braddock had once been a hero, a valiant one as well, but now he was just a normal man, the powers that had once been his were long gone and even though he had known that he had jumped in to the fray.

He was no match for Hellios and he had been badly injured and though the medical unit given to him by Honey Lemon was in place, there was only so much it could do, and they were running out of time. Using HERMES to get him out there was too risky with his injuries and this battle was not quite going the way they had hoped. 

Yes, they had taken down one of the Hellios soldiers, and Darkstar was doing her best to contain two others, but the rest were not doing so well. Other than their Hellios anyway and that fight looked to be going towards a standstill. They could feel the shockwaves being generated from each blow and Bridge had to wonder how much punishment they could actually take. The first Hellios had been able to withstand quite a lot.

Plus he was also diverting his attention between Braddock and Armory and he had to admit it was quite a strain to do both, but he would endure it. Hellios Omicron was still not finding a way to breach the adamantium shell of the unit but it's strikes were shaking up the inside of the unit and doing some minor systems damage, and Bridge knew it was only a matter of time before the impacts dislodged something vital and the thing stopped working. He wondered if he should speak with Forge when they got back about working in a way of adding vibranium in to the mix, something that had often been tried but never successfully repeated since the creation of Captain America's shield. However that was later.

He looked at the other members of the team and he could see that USAgent was in trouble. His energy shield had started to destabilise and it was going to be minutes if not seconds before it collapsed and he was at the mercy of Epsilon.

"SAVITAR!" he called, using the voice amplifier built in to the Armory controls to get Neal's attention. "Agent!" It was only two words, but it was enough for Savitar to turn his attack on Gamma to a two pronged assault on Gamma and Epsilon, giving Walker time to get his breath back, but Bridge knew they were running out of time. Hellios was too powerful and they had no weaknesses that they could use. They needed reinforcements and quickly.


Union Jack was thinking exactly the same thing, that Hellios was too powerful, too fast and that there was no way he could cope with all of the man's powers at once. He was thinking and thinking quickly, wondering what he was going to do because the body armour Brian had given him was doing well enough, but it was making him anything like Captain Britain. He wasn't built to absorb the energies that Brian's physiology was, nor was the suit calibrated for him even if it was. Plus as he understood it there wasn't a great deal of energy around since the destruction of the lighthouse nexus point.

He pushed the thoughts of Brian out of his mind, thinking of his friend and mentor hurt as he was would be a distraction he didn't need. Percival Rockford was just a man who had a talent of inventing things and had worked for MI-6. The usual attacks he had been trained in didn't work because Hellios was invulnerable so he couldn't immobilise him as he'd been trained. There had to be something, a weak point in the man's body a spot that could be seen, something that... Something clicked. 

His eyes. 

The energy blasts that came from his eyes, which meant... Rock smiled. He had an idea, but it was going to be close and he was pretty sure this would only work the once but he figured what the hell? If it failed he was dead anyway and instead of beating a retreat he stood his ground, working on the battle suit, seeing if he could get the force-field to work at all. He'd been tinkering with it since the first mission and while it gave him a certain amount of protection, it wasn't what it should have been.

"So you have had enough, little man?" Omega said, triumph in his voice.

"Yeah, I've had enough of this," said Union Jack, smiling behind his mask. "Bring it on..." Omega's hands glowed with solar energy and he fired a blast of power at him and Rock hoped he had his calculations right. The blast struck him, throwing him back but that was because of the impact on the force-field which ricocheted the blast back at Omega, hitting him in the eyes. Omega cried out as his powers struck him. This was not a feedback effect, this was an assault on himself with his own powers.

Rock smiled as Omega fell to his knees his hands over his eyes. His eyes were in effect miniature fusion reactors, and while his hands were the same, his eyes let light in so he could see, meaning that they were exposed. So adding the energy of one reactor to another overloaded in and burnt it out. Or that was the theory and it seemed to have worked. The downside was that the battle suit was shorted. He could feel the electricity surging through the suit and he knew it was ruined. Brian would be able to help him fix it and he stole a glance at the fallen hero only to see someone enter with Honey Lemon, someone he hadn't expected.

"Meggan," he said and suddenly he had hope that this could be the turning point of the battle. 


"This isn't good. They're putting up a good battle, but they're hopelessly outmatched."

"I know. Look at Brian... Can use this equipment to  zoom in on him? I want to see him,"

"Do you really need to? I mean what good will it do?"

"I guess you're right. I just need to do something. In fact, I'm going in. Bridge and I may have had our difference in the past, but... they need my help."

"Yes, but after everything that's happened, the last thing we need is you in eyes of the media."

"Sometimes doing the smart thing isn't doing the right thing. If it was, none of us would be here."

"I understand. What should I tell N... Okay, if he asks, I'll think of something..."


"Hauptmann!" cried Sabra as she watched the German hero go flying across the room, and he slowly rose to his feet, but it was too slowly and Pi was on him again, having gained the upper hand in the battle and the German was flagging. His uniform was torn his body was bruised but he kicked out, but Pi simply laughed and Hauptman cried out as the man's hands grew hotter and hotter, leaving hand shaped burns on him and he knew that the Greek was taking his time. 

Sabra pushed herself forwards, having taken Beta down again with another nerve shot, using her Mossad training to it's utmost and she knew she had to be fast to save her colleague but she wasn't fast enough. The brace she wore to help her back was slowing her down and the stench of cooking flesh entered the air and Hauptmann cried out. 

"NO!" shouted Sabra, just as Meggan and Honey Lemon entered and Meggan grabbed Hellios, her form shifting to match the man's bulk and power and Pi dropped his target as a new one had gained his attention. He turned to see who dared and his eyes opened wide when he saw it was a woman, allowing Meggan to hit him with a punch that sent him through the wall and out of the building.

"Damn," said USAgent as he looked on. He'd not seen that coming, but he could see that Gamma had gotten away from Savitar and was going after the lady. Agent grimaced as he pulled the pad from his gauntlet. His energy shield didn't have much left on it and he set it to overload and ignoring the pain as he held it he threw the energy shield at the Hellios. "Catch asshole!" he shouted and Gamma turned as the shield was about to strike him and caught it.

"Nice try," he said and then the shield exploded in his face and Gamma fell to the floor, stunned.

"Very," said Union Jack, patting Walker on the back. However with Alpha and Prime still going at each other there were still three super soldiers left. Rock did a quick head count and he didn't like what he saw. Hauptmann was down, he was out of power, Walker had used the last of his tricks and Darkstar was having enough trouble keeping Iota and Kappa down, as they were struggling against her hold and it was taking much of her concentration to keep them out of the fight. That left Savitar, Sabra, Meggan and Armory, while Honey Lemon did what she could for Hauptmann and Bridge looked over Braddock.

"How in trouble are we?" asked USAgent, his usual bravado replaced with tiredness as his injuries at the hands of Dr Doom were not yet fully faded and this was just a little too much right now.

"I don't know," said Rock. "It depends how quickly the other Hellios' recover." He was thinking to how much their Hellios had taken, how his powers had faded, but he had used everything he had left to keep on going and it had eventually burnt him out. Of course the Commando's had firstly taken him out with telepathic assaults as well as physical ones and they taken a lot of his blood for testing and that had played a significant part in his death. These soldiers were not that cursed.

"SABRA!" called USAgent as he watched Beta fire an energy blast at her. She turned and moved, not realising he had recovered as quickly as she had hoped and it glanced off her arm, throwing her balance and she fell from the sky and hit the floor, where Omicron was waiting as Epsilon attacked Savitar, turning his attention away from Armory. Savitar tried to get away from Epsilon but energy blast met energy blast.

"Armory's not responding!" shouted Bridge, the horror echoing in his voice, and Meggan started to move towards where Sabra lay, trying to recover from the fall, but her legs didn't work and she knew that the brace was damaged, but before Meggan could get anywhere as Pi re-entered.

"Round two, bitch," he said and Union Jack started to run, because all of them remembered the last time Sabra had been beaten, while they'd been able to do nothing, but he knew he wasn't going to be in time and just as Omicron brought his foot down on Sabra' head she was gone in a puff of smoke as brimstone filled the air.

"Was that a bamf?" Rock said as Omicron looked at the floor.

"Ja," said a voice and he turned to see a dark furred man standing there, Sabra in his hands. "I was in the neighbourhood..."

"Nightcrawler," said Union Jack. "You're Nightcrawler." Kurt Wagner smiled then shoved Union Jack out of the way as he vanished in his own inimitable style as Omicron fired a blast of heat at them. "Thanks," he said, to wherever his saviour had ended up and he could see the former X-Man teleporting and punching as fast as he could, keeping Omicron off guard. He wasn't doing much damage but he was keeping him distracted while Bridge tried to get Armory to give him a hand.

"Maybe we can win this yet," Rock muttered and went to get Sabra out of the way, but his hopes were dashed from a cry of triumph from Alpha, hovering ni the air with Prime lifted over his head and then he slammed him to the floor, leaving a crater and the shockwave threw everyone from their feet, hero and Hellios alike.

"It's time to send the world a message they'll never forget!"

Then solar fire seared from his fists.