Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
A Thunderstorm of the Heart!
Storm grabs Star Lord and flies upward with him, out of range of the madman with the knives.
She does not attack, however, because the purple-eyed one seems to know the guy--and she's seen unaccountable rage against friends before, recently.
She says aloud, "There is a red stone that makes people go into unexpected rages against everyone. Thanos had it. I believe he gave it to the Red Skull.
"It may be what is affecting your friend. If he is your friend."
"What, a powerstone? Like this one," says Star-Lord, and pulls a glowing purple egg-shaped jewel from his back pocket.
"Hey, Drax! Save it for Thanos, man. And knock off the sauerkraut talk."
A purple haze beams across Drax, who relaxes and smiles.
And then passes out.
"Yeah, he's not too in touch with his softer side," Star-Lord explains.
Storm, however, can barely hear him for the heartbeat thundering in her ears. For Star-Lord's use of the purple gem has not only washed away Drax' wrath, but pulled away the veils concealing just how adorable and awesome Star-Lord really is!
Yes, it's a mind attack. Yes, it's Telepathic Defense 102: Non-Hostile Interference. But it still FEELS so strong!
Star-Lord helps by smiling conceitedly.
"Anything else I can help you with ... baby?" he says.
That snaps Storm RIGHT out of it. She should be grateful. But maybe isn't.
She does not attack, however, because the purple-eyed one seems to know the guy--and she's seen unaccountable rage against friends before, recently.
She says aloud, "There is a red stone that makes people go into unexpected rages against everyone. Thanos had it. I believe he gave it to the Red Skull.
"It may be what is affecting your friend. If he is your friend."
"What, a powerstone? Like this one," says Star-Lord, and pulls a glowing purple egg-shaped jewel from his back pocket.
"Hey, Drax! Save it for Thanos, man. And knock off the sauerkraut talk."
A purple haze beams across Drax, who relaxes and smiles.
And then passes out.
"Yeah, he's not too in touch with his softer side," Star-Lord explains.
Storm, however, can barely hear him for the heartbeat thundering in her ears. For Star-Lord's use of the purple gem has not only washed away Drax' wrath, but pulled away the veils concealing just how adorable and awesome Star-Lord really is!
Yes, it's a mind attack. Yes, it's Telepathic Defense 102: Non-Hostile Interference. But it still FEELS so strong!
Star-Lord helps by smiling conceitedly.
"Anything else I can help you with ... baby?" he says.
That snaps Storm RIGHT out of it. She should be grateful. But maybe isn't.
Red vs. Scarlet
Scarlet Witch looks a bit worried in the direction of Storm, Star-Lord and crazy Teutonic Drax. But Storm is one of the most experienced members of the X-Men. And Star-Lord is just a young man like her brother. Albeit one with gorgeous purple eyes (if she saw that).
"I suppose we should seek out the source. It won't do any good to calm the green man if he or others will simply be reinfected."
She adjusts her gloves, whips her hair over her bare shoulders and rides a wave of crimson to the observatory. Quickly.
Mar-Vell glides along a golden path of sparkling effervescence, like the wake of a Roman candle.
They get there at about the same time. And naturally, the villain shoots the man first.
SHA-KWOOM! A red ray smashes out and into Mar-Vell, blowing him backward in a flash of flame and a shower of crimson sparks. A tower across the square shudders as Mar-Vell is punched into, and through, its adamantine structure.
A man with a hideously shrunken face like a red skull
(SPOILER ALERT)
steps out into the smoldering hole he just punched in the observatory.
He is, as everyone on Earth knows, the Red Skull, arch-enemy of Captain America and widely believed killed in World War Two!
"Not as observant as it should have been," he sneers. "This planet has no defenses worthy of the name, and I have been here for ten minutes. But what can one expect of the genetic trash of the universe, their pathetic attempts at eugenic self-improvement notwithstanding?"
He sees the Scarlet Witch.
"Your facial bone structure suggests Roma blood," he says cruelly, "but your eyes are Slavic. Either way, whatever science you may command, it will avail you nothing against the cleansing fire of the Furor Teutonicus. It would prove nothing to provoke you to hurl yourself to destruction at my hands. Thus, I leave it to these bald parodies of humanity whom you have, for some reason sufficient to a mind of the Eastern subhuman strain, chosen to protect."
The red gem in his hand pulses like an evil heartbeat, and all the Kree in their superhero leotards pause, turn in unison, and charge screaming at the Scarlet Witch!
"I suppose we should seek out the source. It won't do any good to calm the green man if he or others will simply be reinfected."
She adjusts her gloves, whips her hair over her bare shoulders and rides a wave of crimson to the observatory. Quickly.
Mar-Vell glides along a golden path of sparkling effervescence, like the wake of a Roman candle.
They get there at about the same time. And naturally, the villain shoots the man first.
SHA-KWOOM! A red ray smashes out and into Mar-Vell, blowing him backward in a flash of flame and a shower of crimson sparks. A tower across the square shudders as Mar-Vell is punched into, and through, its adamantine structure.
A man with a hideously shrunken face like a red skull
(SPOILER ALERT)
steps out into the smoldering hole he just punched in the observatory.
He is, as everyone on Earth knows, the Red Skull, arch-enemy of Captain America and widely believed killed in World War Two!
"Not as observant as it should have been," he sneers. "This planet has no defenses worthy of the name, and I have been here for ten minutes. But what can one expect of the genetic trash of the universe, their pathetic attempts at eugenic self-improvement notwithstanding?"
He sees the Scarlet Witch.
"Your facial bone structure suggests Roma blood," he says cruelly, "but your eyes are Slavic. Either way, whatever science you may command, it will avail you nothing against the cleansing fire of the Furor Teutonicus. It would prove nothing to provoke you to hurl yourself to destruction at my hands. Thus, I leave it to these bald parodies of humanity whom you have, for some reason sufficient to a mind of the Eastern subhuman strain, chosen to protect."
The red gem in his hand pulses like an evil heartbeat, and all the Kree in their superhero leotards pause, turn in unison, and charge screaming at the Scarlet Witch!
The Invisible Girl Saves the Universe
Sue Storm makes two woman's boot shaped forcefields and presses them subtle into the dust thrown up by the battle-rubble off to Dr Doom's left. She will dislodge a small pebble that way by moving one of the force fields.
Poor Man! She knows his burnt face torments him, as well as the knowledge that he is at least twenty IQ points lower on the standard scale than Reed Richards.
Sue will tippy toe up next to Doom, holding her breath. She puts a force field skin tight around her body in case some Doom-y weapon goes off, but she leaves a wee hole open she can put a finger through
She protrudes a delicate finger to Dr. Doom's wrist and touches the will gem on the bracelet.
Then, with every ounce of willpower she possesses, she wills the will gem no longer to serve or heed Dr. Doom, but to serve and obey only Reed Richards, the best man in the multiverse! He has the most adorable brown eyes! Also, he was the first man on the Moon, beating Neil Armstrong and Richard Seaton!
She wills the will stone to change the laws of nature so that the will stone will only react to the will of Reed Richards, even if he is across the universe! She does not try to puzzle out how the laws of nature change to produce this outcome, she merely wills it.
She wills that the willstone make Reed, no matter where he is in time and space, aware of the awesome power bestowed on him, and of the danger the infinity gems, in the wrong hands, would pose!
Because deep within her feminine heart, she knows that if Reed assumes the power of this stone, he will use it wisely and well, defeat Doom, and be free to MARRY HER!! So she wills and wills until her willer is sore, with all the focus and fury of a girl comic book character unwilling to end up an old maid!
She calls upon the utmost depths of her soul as fiercely as Clarissa MacDougall rescuing her true love the Gray Lensman from the Hellhole of Space!
The will-gem turns the laws of reality, abridging some and overwriting others! It hearkens to obey the least whim of Reed Richards, He Who Has Been Chosen.
By Sue Storm.
Right now, Reed is willing the defeat and subjugation (but not humiliation, for he is chivalrous) of Iron Man, Captain America, and the X-Men, who are engaged in an epic brawl caused by the Red Stone of Rage. Unfortunately, Reed is able to overcome its effects for limited periods, and this particular moment is not among those periods.
SHZZZAK!
Green energy bonds seize Reed's enemies, yanking Cap's shield and Iron Man's armor away from them and harmlessly discharging all the mutants' stored reserves of X-energy. Then Reed wonders ... and lo, Captain America's shield and Iron Man's armor merge into a mechanical suit of atomic armor made of impenetrable vibranium, and painted red, white and blue!
"That's interesting," thinks Reed. "I had but to think it .. and it happened!"
He checks his clothing for symbols.
"I havent' become Captain Universe," he concludes. "I wonder how this happened? I know ... I have to WILL myself to know the answer, and ...."
"Susan," says the mental voice of Victor Von Doom, "do you really think your mad, inexplicable love for Richards can overcome the iron will that the torments and trials of Doom have forged in flames of fury? Richards' passion is ever the servant of his intellect, where my clearly superior brilliance is but the chariot for the accomplishment of the drives of my pure and dominating Will?"
He thinks of it with a capital W.
"Now, let us settle once and for all a question I had not had occasion to pose before. Whose will is greater: Susan Storm's or Victor von Doom's?"
And he holds up the green stone so he is looking through its green depths directly into her eyes. He can't see her eyes, she's invisible, but still, somehow, he KNOWS where they are.
"Your will is my will, Susan. You serve me. You WISH to serve me. I can give you what Richards never could -- passion! Drive! A title and a castle, as Queen of Latveria! But I will not ... unless you submit."
Poor Man! She knows his burnt face torments him, as well as the knowledge that he is at least twenty IQ points lower on the standard scale than Reed Richards.
Sue will tippy toe up next to Doom, holding her breath. She puts a force field skin tight around her body in case some Doom-y weapon goes off, but she leaves a wee hole open she can put a finger through
She protrudes a delicate finger to Dr. Doom's wrist and touches the will gem on the bracelet.
Then, with every ounce of willpower she possesses, she wills the will gem no longer to serve or heed Dr. Doom, but to serve and obey only Reed Richards, the best man in the multiverse! He has the most adorable brown eyes! Also, he was the first man on the Moon, beating Neil Armstrong and Richard Seaton!
She wills the will stone to change the laws of nature so that the will stone will only react to the will of Reed Richards, even if he is across the universe! She does not try to puzzle out how the laws of nature change to produce this outcome, she merely wills it.
She wills that the willstone make Reed, no matter where he is in time and space, aware of the awesome power bestowed on him, and of the danger the infinity gems, in the wrong hands, would pose!
Because deep within her feminine heart, she knows that if Reed assumes the power of this stone, he will use it wisely and well, defeat Doom, and be free to MARRY HER!! So she wills and wills until her willer is sore, with all the focus and fury of a girl comic book character unwilling to end up an old maid!
She calls upon the utmost depths of her soul as fiercely as Clarissa MacDougall rescuing her true love the Gray Lensman from the Hellhole of Space!
The will-gem turns the laws of reality, abridging some and overwriting others! It hearkens to obey the least whim of Reed Richards, He Who Has Been Chosen.
By Sue Storm.
Right now, Reed is willing the defeat and subjugation (but not humiliation, for he is chivalrous) of Iron Man, Captain America, and the X-Men, who are engaged in an epic brawl caused by the Red Stone of Rage. Unfortunately, Reed is able to overcome its effects for limited periods, and this particular moment is not among those periods.
SHZZZAK!
Green energy bonds seize Reed's enemies, yanking Cap's shield and Iron Man's armor away from them and harmlessly discharging all the mutants' stored reserves of X-energy. Then Reed wonders ... and lo, Captain America's shield and Iron Man's armor merge into a mechanical suit of atomic armor made of impenetrable vibranium, and painted red, white and blue!
"That's interesting," thinks Reed. "I had but to think it .. and it happened!"
He checks his clothing for symbols.
"I havent' become Captain Universe," he concludes. "I wonder how this happened? I know ... I have to WILL myself to know the answer, and ...."
"Susan," says the mental voice of Victor Von Doom, "do you really think your mad, inexplicable love for Richards can overcome the iron will that the torments and trials of Doom have forged in flames of fury? Richards' passion is ever the servant of his intellect, where my clearly superior brilliance is but the chariot for the accomplishment of the drives of my pure and dominating Will?"
He thinks of it with a capital W.
"Now, let us settle once and for all a question I had not had occasion to pose before. Whose will is greater: Susan Storm's or Victor von Doom's?"
And he holds up the green stone so he is looking through its green depths directly into her eyes. He can't see her eyes, she's invisible, but still, somehow, he KNOWS where they are.
"Your will is my will, Susan. You serve me. You WISH to serve me. I can give you what Richards never could -- passion! Drive! A title and a castle, as Queen of Latveria! But I will not ... unless you submit."
Ant vs. Titan
Ant-Man is still holding the Vision. He shrinks himself down to ant-size and shrinks the Vision down even smaller and puts him in his pocket. He will bring a flying ant out from his belt and swell it up to giant-sized.
He flies toward Thanos, dodging all beams, lasers, and blasts, and throws a shrinky disk at the space gem.
It's very hard to hit Ant-Man. Moondragon, Battle Beast, and Xxan Xaar do not succeed. Moondragon even misses his MIND, which is apparently also kinda small and dodgy.
He flies toward Thanos, dodging all beams, lasers, and blasts, and throws a shrinky disk at the space gem.
It's very hard to hit Ant-Man. Moondragon, Battle Beast, and Xxan Xaar do not succeed. Moondragon even misses his MIND, which is apparently also kinda small and dodgy.
The flying ant is tackled by Battle Beast, who slams it with his hammer and sword. The flying ant flies up in the air with Battle Beast while biting, stinging, and whipping him with its wings sixty times a second. You know what else goes around sixty time a second? Fan blades, that's what!
The last shrinking disk Ant-Man has whirls toward the Space Gem and glitters, redly. It continues to glitter, whirling, as the distance to the gem continually increases, so although it covers a greater and greater proportion of the space remaining, it never quite gets there.
Then Thanos rotates his fist, upon which the blue Space Gem sits, and the shrinking disk goes sailing out over the edge of Mordemond into the intergalactic night.
"No," Thanos decides in a rumbling bass descant. "I will not kill you first. You are difficult to kill."
The yellow gem on the Vision's brow suddenly falls, as all things bend so that Thanos is below them!
The yellow gem falls right toward Thanos' outstretched palm ... but so does the nearly weightless Ant-Man.
And then he is struck with a wave of overwhelming despair, as he realizes the infinite insanity of the quantum void is STILL THERE, waiting between each molecule, coiled within each atom! The quantum void is inside Ant-Man RIGHT THIS SECOND! Soon it may be too late to escape!
But how can Ant-Man escape from .... HIMSELF?
Where Walks the Spider-Skrull!
Using his spider-senses and spider-reflexes, Spidey dodges the webline shot at him from Super-skrull. The Super-Skrull has had these powers for a few days, whereas Spider-Man ... listen, bud. He's got radioactive blood!
Spidey then webs the Super-Skrull. The Skrull turns invisible, but the danger radiating from him pings Spidey's spider-sense at a distinguishable angle, so the invisibility gambit does not help.
"I have all your powers, Earthspider!" boasts the Skrull. "I know not what name your collection of champions boasts -- I saw an X-Man (although female, she is not called an X-Woman), three Avengers, a member of the FOUL ACCURSED SPIT NASTY ACK ARGH URRCCCH Fantastic Four, and ... you, the Spider-Man."
"So I have the strength to tear out of this webbing, in the same manner as ... that is ... the member of your ad-hoc team who possesses super-strength. Which every team has. Some have several."
And he tugs, tugs, tugs on the webbing, which not only doesn't break, but sticks to his hands.
"Aargh! I possess the strength of Spider-Man! How can it be that Spider-Man cannot tear his own webbing?"
Spidey flips from a standing position and kicks the Skrull in the head with both feet.
"Arachnid fool! I have the resilience and invulnerability of the Scarlet Witch, the unbreakable skin of Ant-Man, the stamina and independent fortitude of the Invisible Girl ... the very endurance of Storm, Mutant Mistress of the Elements! I cannot be harmed by such puny acrobatic attacks as you can offer ... though I am greived by personal problems, including the dire medical state of my senior-progenitor Anndme, the potential discovery of my dissembling to my candidate life-partner M'arr Eejn, the wrath of my unsuspected employer J-mission, and my inability to stand up to the bullying of Flashtar, the Super-Skrull who has all the powers of the Fantastic Four and is far more popular than I! Ah, but if only everyone knew that I was the Super-Skrull! Then ... but what am I saying? If my true identity were known, Anndme would be vulnerable to my enemies, and J-mission would assign his strife-bots to my destruction! Oh, if only fate had not decreed that I would become the Super-Skrull ..."
WHAM!
And the toughness of the Invisible Girl, Storm, Ant-Man and the Scarlet Witch doesn't keep him from being knocked flying, senseless, by Spider-Man's flying feet!
Spider-Man is now alone on the melted metal slope. The Skrull overseers driving the red insect-men to greater efforts on the purple glass mines pause, afraid to approach Spider-Man when he just clobbered a Super-Skrull. Albeit a tormented one.
Spidey then webs the Super-Skrull. The Skrull turns invisible, but the danger radiating from him pings Spidey's spider-sense at a distinguishable angle, so the invisibility gambit does not help.
"I have all your powers, Earthspider!" boasts the Skrull. "I know not what name your collection of champions boasts -- I saw an X-Man (although female, she is not called an X-Woman), three Avengers, a member of the FOUL ACCURSED SPIT NASTY ACK ARGH URRCCCH Fantastic Four, and ... you, the Spider-Man."
"So I have the strength to tear out of this webbing, in the same manner as ... that is ... the member of your ad-hoc team who possesses super-strength. Which every team has. Some have several."
And he tugs, tugs, tugs on the webbing, which not only doesn't break, but sticks to his hands.
"Aargh! I possess the strength of Spider-Man! How can it be that Spider-Man cannot tear his own webbing?"
Spidey flips from a standing position and kicks the Skrull in the head with both feet.
"Arachnid fool! I have the resilience and invulnerability of the Scarlet Witch, the unbreakable skin of Ant-Man, the stamina and independent fortitude of the Invisible Girl ... the very endurance of Storm, Mutant Mistress of the Elements! I cannot be harmed by such puny acrobatic attacks as you can offer ... though I am greived by personal problems, including the dire medical state of my senior-progenitor Anndme, the potential discovery of my dissembling to my candidate life-partner M'arr Eejn, the wrath of my unsuspected employer J-mission, and my inability to stand up to the bullying of Flashtar, the Super-Skrull who has all the powers of the Fantastic Four and is far more popular than I! Ah, but if only everyone knew that I was the Super-Skrull! Then ... but what am I saying? If my true identity were known, Anndme would be vulnerable to my enemies, and J-mission would assign his strife-bots to my destruction! Oh, if only fate had not decreed that I would become the Super-Skrull ..."
WHAM!
And the toughness of the Invisible Girl, Storm, Ant-Man and the Scarlet Witch doesn't keep him from being knocked flying, senseless, by Spider-Man's flying feet!
Spider-Man is now alone on the melted metal slope. The Skrull overseers driving the red insect-men to greater efforts on the purple glass mines pause, afraid to approach Spider-Man when he just clobbered a Super-Skrull. Albeit a tormented one.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Purple Path 5: Purple War!
(Just before the explosion) Storm, while flattered, puts her hands on her hips and gives the young man her best motherly smile.
"Son, aren't you a little young for me?" (I realize she's probably not that much older than he is, but he seems young to her. ;-) )
When the commotion starts, Storm uses air currents to A) Keep anything from hitting them and B) help as much as possible of the falling things have a soft landing.
She also looks around for more info about the source of the disturbance.
The noise appears to be caused by lots of Kree fighting each other with a really remarkable assortment of weapons for civilian workers.
Scarlet Witch tries to clear the rage from Drax's and Mar-vell's minds (hopefully it's similar to what she experienced before). "It may be the red stone of rage--which Thanos gave to The Red Skull!"
It is easy to wipe the rage from Captain Mar-Vell, but Drax is deeper into the screaming-wrath place. Drax crashes into the Genetic Archive, coming to a halt facing Storm and Star-Lord across the glass-littered atrium.
"Hey, Drax," says Star-Lord with relief. "Help us find that power-mist so we can get out of here. Sounds like the whole city's coming down!"
"Tod auf der Stellenherr!" roars Drax, and attacks Star-Lord with knives in each hand.
Star-Lord is too startled to defend himself.
(meanwhile)
Mar-Vell tells the Scarlet Witch:
"My cosmic awareness tells me Thanos' agent is sending enraged pawns to search out his goal. Drax, and I, were to be two of them. And his goal is ... there! Within the Genetic Archive itself!"
"But the agent himself is over there. In that double-domed observatory."
"Son, aren't you a little young for me?" (I realize she's probably not that much older than he is, but he seems young to her. ;-) )
When the commotion starts, Storm uses air currents to A) Keep anything from hitting them and B) help as much as possible of the falling things have a soft landing.
She also looks around for more info about the source of the disturbance.
The noise appears to be caused by lots of Kree fighting each other with a really remarkable assortment of weapons for civilian workers.
Scarlet Witch tries to clear the rage from Drax's and Mar-vell's minds (hopefully it's similar to what she experienced before). "It may be the red stone of rage--which Thanos gave to The Red Skull!"
It is easy to wipe the rage from Captain Mar-Vell, but Drax is deeper into the screaming-wrath place. Drax crashes into the Genetic Archive, coming to a halt facing Storm and Star-Lord across the glass-littered atrium.
"Hey, Drax," says Star-Lord with relief. "Help us find that power-mist so we can get out of here. Sounds like the whole city's coming down!"
"Tod auf der Stellenherr!" roars Drax, and attacks Star-Lord with knives in each hand.
Star-Lord is too startled to defend himself.
(meanwhile)
Mar-Vell tells the Scarlet Witch:
"My cosmic awareness tells me Thanos' agent is sending enraged pawns to search out his goal. Drax, and I, were to be two of them. And his goal is ... there! Within the Genetic Archive itself!"
"But the agent himself is over there. In that double-domed observatory."
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Orange Path 4: When Claps the Knell of DOOM!
Sue Storm says, "I am one of the founding members of the Fantastic Four, thunder god! I am unharmed and unlikely to be harmed! Something unseen is creeping up on your left! Smash it now!"
She puts a force bubble around herself.
Thor SMASH!
Or is that the other guy?
Thor whomps the invisible entity with his mystic hammer, Mjolnir. This causes an instant thunderstorm at the moment of impact, and knocks sprawling the green-cloaked intruder, who with the thunderous collapse of his force field is revealed as the Lord of Latveria, the master of lifelife robotics, and a dabbler in powers too dark and arcane for mortal man, the dreaded and infamous DOCTOR DOOM!
He wears a green jewel like a bracelet around his right wrist, with a translucent projection covering his knuckles.
"DOOM!" shouts Thor. "How comest thee to this planet, this peril, this Counter-Earth?"
"Using the power of the Will Stone, of course," says Doom. "I have but to will it, and it is done. As I now will you, alien invader from Asgard, to beyond the farthest star!"
Thor parries with Mjolnir, but it is Mjolnir which Doom is affecting with his power. Doom hurls the hammer in a spinning spiral, dragging Thor with it, until the sullen bonds of space and time are sundered, and Thor falls into a rainbow vortex, to a place beyond the heavens, where darkness holds sway from sky to sky!
"And to prevent your return," soliloquizes Doom, "I adjust the local structure of spacetime ... thus. All teleportation to this world now leads into the black hole at the origin of the universe."
"So now," he continues, "I am left with only the Fantastic Four to resist me. I heard your statement, Susan Storm, though you remain invisible to my subtlest sensors. You cannot possibly have the brutish Thing or the brash Human Torch with you, as they could never contain their wonted exclamations of dismay at my banishment of the Thunder God. But Reed Richards, my old ... rival ... he, I calculate, could well be present, and even now unfolding my plans from the aura of mystery I have used to conceal them."
"Well, Richards? Are you present? Or do I face merely the Invisible Girl?"
She puts a force bubble around herself.
Thor SMASH!
Or is that the other guy?
Thor whomps the invisible entity with his mystic hammer, Mjolnir. This causes an instant thunderstorm at the moment of impact, and knocks sprawling the green-cloaked intruder, who with the thunderous collapse of his force field is revealed as the Lord of Latveria, the master of lifelife robotics, and a dabbler in powers too dark and arcane for mortal man, the dreaded and infamous DOCTOR DOOM!
He wears a green jewel like a bracelet around his right wrist, with a translucent projection covering his knuckles.
"DOOM!" shouts Thor. "How comest thee to this planet, this peril, this Counter-Earth?"
"Using the power of the Will Stone, of course," says Doom. "I have but to will it, and it is done. As I now will you, alien invader from Asgard, to beyond the farthest star!"
Thor parries with Mjolnir, but it is Mjolnir which Doom is affecting with his power. Doom hurls the hammer in a spinning spiral, dragging Thor with it, until the sullen bonds of space and time are sundered, and Thor falls into a rainbow vortex, to a place beyond the heavens, where darkness holds sway from sky to sky!
"And to prevent your return," soliloquizes Doom, "I adjust the local structure of spacetime ... thus. All teleportation to this world now leads into the black hole at the origin of the universe."
"So now," he continues, "I am left with only the Fantastic Four to resist me. I heard your statement, Susan Storm, though you remain invisible to my subtlest sensors. You cannot possibly have the brutish Thing or the brash Human Torch with you, as they could never contain their wonted exclamations of dismay at my banishment of the Thunder God. But Reed Richards, my old ... rival ... he, I calculate, could well be present, and even now unfolding my plans from the aura of mystery I have used to conceal them."
"Well, Richards? Are you present? Or do I face merely the Invisible Girl?"
Yellow Path 3: The Court of Death's Knight
Ant-Man grabs for the Vision and Spidey as they disappear!
He doesn't get Spider-Man, but he does grab Vision. Both are spun around in four dimensions and deposited at Thanos' feet.
Ranged on either side of his high seat are various of Thanos' minions:
the bald woman MOONDRAGON, arching her eyebrows as though she has psychic powers. Most bald people do.
the bipedal white tiger BATTLE BEAST, brandishing a club and sword and flicking his white tail aggressively.
the hunched red armor-backed insect XXAN XXAR, armed with a series of complicated tube weapons, which can fit together to make even more weapons.
and the vegetable-man GORGAX, with masses of writhing snakelike broccoli hair.
Thanos grins. He seems to do that a lot.
"Moondragon," he says, "hold the Vision captive."
"I ... I cannot, my lord! His mind is too alien, too ... inhuman!"
"That is disheartening to hear," the Vision says, "but then, disheartenment is a human reaction. So perhaps all is not lost."
"No matter," says Thanos. "You Earth folk are forever exposing weaknesses in my servants. Gorgax, petrify him!"
With but a glance, Gorgax turns the Vision to stone! Except for the Mind-Gem, glittering golden on his brow.
Thanos nods and gets up ponderously from his chair.
"You I do not know," he says to Ant-Man. "But your people never have the good sense to stay out of the way. So I will kill you now, before taking the Mind-Gem."
And he prepares a bolt of sputtering blue energy, flowing from the Cube into his open hand!
(meanwhile)
The Super-Skrull whips out a pair of web-shooters and drags Spider-Man toward himself, while surrounding Spider-Man with alien wasp-creatures!
"The web-shooters are mechanical," he observes. "Breakable. Better, perhaps, if they were organic, perhaps cosmic-powered. But that is a matter for the Master Maker."
"Soon I will understand every mystery of your brain and body ... perhaps we will even be able to recreate you, exactly as you are now. But we will have to use different molecules. Yours will not be ... useable ... any more."
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Yellow Path 2: Avengers Assembled!
- They find him -- he's pretty obvious. He's on the battlements of the tower, behind the third knuckle, facing away from the heroes, hands clasped behind his back, grinning.
- SPIDER MAN
Spider Man turns to the Vision, and asks, "Can you use the Mind Gem? Or can anyone here use it, without hurting you?
"The Mind Gem should be used to locate Thanos, read his mind, and find out what is going on!" - VISION
- "I have never had success understanding what is in anyone else's mind ... except Ultron, of course, and that likely because we share a common origin. But I will try ..."
- ANT MAN
- The ants see Thanos turn around, smile, and raise a golden-gloved fist! The Blue Stone of Space Command twinkles on the third knuckle, but no other stones are present.
- "Hello, Vision!" he bellows. The heroes hear it even outside the fortress.
- "I see the Mind Stone has kindled a new individual ... but of course it has. Nor will it be complete, henceforth, without that mind it has been instrumental in forging. To remove it would damage it, render it inaccessible to my will, and of course would tear your personality asunder, leaving only habits and software."
- "So tell me, constructed man: do you fear death?"
- "I do not," the Vision replies.
- "Neither do I!" laughs Thanos. "Let's go see her together, shall we?"
- A blue distortion wraps around the Vision and he disappears. So does Thanos.
- Over the top of the tower climbs a startling figure. It is a Skrull, that much is obvious. But it's surroudned by a buzzing cloud of tiny flying Skrulls, like dragonflies. Clouds gather above it, flashing with building lightning. Its eyes flicker with crimson filaments of mystic flame. Part of it fades in and out of visibility.
- And perhaps worst of all, it's clinging to the tower sideways while it scuttles to the ground. In just the way that a spider can!
- "You two are already known to us," the Super-Skrull announces. "But there's always room for upgrades. Let's begin unspooling your DNA ..."
- And Spider-Man's spider sense goes off, as he feels an invisible clamp grab hold of his wrist, and invisible probes start to explore his flesh, seeking a way into his radioactive bloodstream!
Orange Path 3: Jaws of the Man-Beast!
Sue Storm places a hemispherical force field between the traffic and the upper jaw of the giant wolf face.
She says, "Thor! This must be the work of the Man-Wolf! He is the Loki of this world! Can you clobber or melt it? We need to find Adam Warlock and his Soul Gem!"
"To melt it would take too long for those peasants ... but clobber, aye! Mjolnir lives to smash and destroy!"
Thor's hammer smashes the upper jaw into two halves, which stop descending. Panicked citizens flee.
"And now, this Wolf of Loki shall face the God of Thunder unleashed!"
A huge mechanical wolf robot emerges from the wolf-fortress. Flamethrowers spit from its eyes and machine-gun bullets from its eight foreclaws. Thor spins his hammer, scattering bullets and fire everywhere, but Sue can protect herself with a force field.
With her long experience in invisible combat, Sue notes that the robot is angling to Thor's right. Since the hammer is in Thor's right hand, that's madness itself ... unless it doesn't want him to notice something invisible passing him on the left!
"Art thou unharmed, Susan Storm? I cannot shift to the attack lest the Man-Wolf's weapons harm thee!"
She says, "Thor! This must be the work of the Man-Wolf! He is the Loki of this world! Can you clobber or melt it? We need to find Adam Warlock and his Soul Gem!"
"To melt it would take too long for those peasants ... but clobber, aye! Mjolnir lives to smash and destroy!"
Thor's hammer smashes the upper jaw into two halves, which stop descending. Panicked citizens flee.
"And now, this Wolf of Loki shall face the God of Thunder unleashed!"
A huge mechanical wolf robot emerges from the wolf-fortress. Flamethrowers spit from its eyes and machine-gun bullets from its eight foreclaws. Thor spins his hammer, scattering bullets and fire everywhere, but Sue can protect herself with a force field.
With her long experience in invisible combat, Sue notes that the robot is angling to Thor's right. Since the hammer is in Thor's right hand, that's madness itself ... unless it doesn't want him to notice something invisible passing him on the left!
"Art thou unharmed, Susan Storm? I cannot shift to the attack lest the Man-Wolf's weapons harm thee!"
Monday, August 15, 2016
Purple Path 4: Purple Blazes!
Scarlet Witch is still between them. She is looking kindly at both of them but speaking to Mar-vell:
"A created Supreme Intelligence that itself created an afterlife? I doubt it. And I saw my brother long after his death when I was nearing my own. He had force enough to push me away from Thanos' jewel. Else I would be dead as well. Since there are universes and planes beyond the ones we normally experience, they could not have been created by your Supreme Intelligence--if it is even creative--for these structures must predate the created intelligence's own existence."
"It isn't supremely ancient or supremely creative, but it IS supremely INTELLIGENT. Among the Kree, at any rate."
And then two of the elegant crystal towers of the Kree EXPLODE!
They topple, burning, into the cleared streets. Swarms of Kree come charging out of the buildings, rushing to attack one another. Red Shirts are tackling Red Pants, who are kicking the Blue Pants of the Blue Pants. And the Green Shirts are just lashing out at everybody.
The Scarlet Witch, Drax, and Mar-Vell feel a wash of insensate rage pass over them.
So does Machine Man, who uses a spyware blocker to cancel it.
But Mar-Vell and Drax are steaming mad, and both turn with wrath upon the Genetic Archive building!
"The Archive!" shouts Mar-Vell!
"The Heartstone!" shouts Drax!
"Fur das Deutsches VOLK!" they chorus together!
They run toward the Archive, intent on knocking anyone they meet out of the way.
(meanwhile)
Storm sighs. Nicely done, but this guy is a piker compared to Professor X.
(Yes, after the fifth time the X-Men were duped by telepathy or illusion, Professor X made sure they all passed Defense Against Telepathy with flying colors!)
She says cheerfully. "What is our objective here?"
"I'm looking for the Terragen Mist, honey," says Star-Lord. "Need it to give the Nova Corps a leg up on ol' Purple-Face. The Kree don't want to play nice with the Xandarians, so it's up to the kid from Earth to get everyone pulling together."
"As to what our objective is, the two of us? I think it may be destiny that brought us together. Is that an Earth accent I hear?"
Storm doesn't think he's using the purple glow to undermine her free will ... he's relying on snappy patter and scruffy beard detritus. Which is either fair-minded of Star-Lord, or else he doesn't realize the purple power is assisting him.
And then, the entire Archive rocks like a ship at sea! Priceless irreplaceable genetic constructions fall from their niches and shatter on the floor. The experience is akin to an earthquake, or a nearby explosion.
But not a thunderstorm. She'd have noticed that.
"A created Supreme Intelligence that itself created an afterlife? I doubt it. And I saw my brother long after his death when I was nearing my own. He had force enough to push me away from Thanos' jewel. Else I would be dead as well. Since there are universes and planes beyond the ones we normally experience, they could not have been created by your Supreme Intelligence--if it is even creative--for these structures must predate the created intelligence's own existence."
"It isn't supremely ancient or supremely creative, but it IS supremely INTELLIGENT. Among the Kree, at any rate."
And then two of the elegant crystal towers of the Kree EXPLODE!
They topple, burning, into the cleared streets. Swarms of Kree come charging out of the buildings, rushing to attack one another. Red Shirts are tackling Red Pants, who are kicking the Blue Pants of the Blue Pants. And the Green Shirts are just lashing out at everybody.
The Scarlet Witch, Drax, and Mar-Vell feel a wash of insensate rage pass over them.
So does Machine Man, who uses a spyware blocker to cancel it.
But Mar-Vell and Drax are steaming mad, and both turn with wrath upon the Genetic Archive building!
"The Archive!" shouts Mar-Vell!
"The Heartstone!" shouts Drax!
"Fur das Deutsches VOLK!" they chorus together!
They run toward the Archive, intent on knocking anyone they meet out of the way.
(meanwhile)
Storm sighs. Nicely done, but this guy is a piker compared to Professor X.
(Yes, after the fifth time the X-Men were duped by telepathy or illusion, Professor X made sure they all passed Defense Against Telepathy with flying colors!)
She says cheerfully. "What is our objective here?"
"I'm looking for the Terragen Mist, honey," says Star-Lord. "Need it to give the Nova Corps a leg up on ol' Purple-Face. The Kree don't want to play nice with the Xandarians, so it's up to the kid from Earth to get everyone pulling together."
"As to what our objective is, the two of us? I think it may be destiny that brought us together. Is that an Earth accent I hear?"
Storm doesn't think he's using the purple glow to undermine her free will ... he's relying on snappy patter and scruffy beard detritus. Which is either fair-minded of Star-Lord, or else he doesn't realize the purple power is assisting him.
And then, the entire Archive rocks like a ship at sea! Priceless irreplaceable genetic constructions fall from their niches and shatter on the floor. The experience is akin to an earthquake, or a nearby explosion.
But not a thunderstorm. She'd have noticed that.
Purple Path 3: Purple Eyes
Scarlet Witch floats in front of Drax:
"As it happens all of us have the same notion. To eliminate Thanos. You should not waste your energies pummeling one another."
"As it happens all of us have the same notion. To eliminate Thanos. You should not waste your energies pummeling one another."
Drax halts,
unwilling to smash through the Scarlet Witch to get Mar-Vell.
"You, too, are Thanos' enemies?" Drax exclaims.
"But then, why prevent us from raiding the Genetic Archive of the Kree, in
which the key to defeating Thanos may be found?"
Mar-Vell isn't having any of that:
"If our Codex of Superpowers could defeat Thanos, don't you
think we would have done it by now?" Mar-Vell angrily says to Drax.
"He has ruined entire worlds in his mad quest. But no one can endure the
imprinting of all the inhuman abilities stored in the Archive. None -- save one
who is willing to lose his humanity in the process."
Mar-Vell looks sadly into the middle distance, the light of lost
stars shining in his eyes.
"I will lose my humanity in the process!" says Drax.
"Here is one who is willing! When can we start the imprinting?”
“You don’t understand what you’re asking …” Mar-Vell tries to say.
“Do it, or we will take your Archive and do it ourselves! And if
we have to go through you to get to the Archive, say your prayers, warrior of
the Kree!”
"We don't have prayers ... we're rational atheists obeying, but not worshipping, a Supreme Intelligence we created ourselves ..."
But Drax isn't listening.
"We don't have prayers ... we're rational atheists obeying, but not worshipping, a Supreme Intelligence we created ourselves ..."
But Drax isn't listening.
(meanwhile)
Storm will take this opportunity to follow Star-Lord. His
destination looks interesting.
Star-Lord skids to a halt in the lobby of a circular palace of
glowing green memory-nodules reaching impossibly far into the sky. Six Kree
warriors rush out, their energy guns raised.
“Whoa!” says Star-Lord. He flips head over heels, ducks behind a
pillar, leaps up to a balcony and runs along it before leaping off and landing
on his feet. In the process, he blows away all six guards.
“It’s okay,” he assures Storm. “Stun bolts. We can’t afford real
ammo …”
Storm finds his statement reassuring. Comforting, even. A purple
glow seems to flicker around Star-Lord, making him look like he has purple
eyes. A most unusual, even attractive color …
Orange Path 2: In The Arms of Thor
Sue blushes slightly, but reminds herself that evil Reed Richards of this world is not here, and Thor DOES look like Chris Hemsley....
"Well, of course," she says. "We are professional superheroes on a job! It is only reasonable that we use the best method of traveling... I mean, flinging a hammer and catching its unbreakable thong as a means of sudden acceleration ... perfectly safe ..."
She winds her shapely feminine arms about his brutal, manly neck, crushing her frail yet shapely body up against the harsh, masculine planes of his well-muscled yet virile masculine form. She pauses to take a deep breath or two, suprised at the hammering of her delicate yet warm and loving heart, while she tucks a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear.
"Ready!" She sighs.
(She is thinking: http://www.scifiwright.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/thor-kiss.jpg)
(Of course, being a girl, she is unaware that he is thinking about chariot racing or frost giant bashing, or something.)
Thor and Sue, then, soar arm in arm across the heavens of Counter-Earth, landing with an abrupt whoosh near the Golden Gate Bridge.
The south side of the bridge leads between massive metal jaws sculpted in the form of a wolf's hungry mouth. Flashes of flame and smoke erupt from the city beyond the sculpted portal. The golden wolf's eyes flash crimson, and with a groan of mechanical sorcery, the jaws begin to close -- on the bridge, and the cars upon it!
"Well, of course," she says. "We are professional superheroes on a job! It is only reasonable that we use the best method of traveling... I mean, flinging a hammer and catching its unbreakable thong as a means of sudden acceleration ... perfectly safe ..."
She winds her shapely feminine arms about his brutal, manly neck, crushing her frail yet shapely body up against the harsh, masculine planes of his well-muscled yet virile masculine form. She pauses to take a deep breath or two, suprised at the hammering of her delicate yet warm and loving heart, while she tucks a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear.
"Ready!" She sighs.
(She is thinking: http://www.scifiwright.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/thor-kiss.jpg)
(Of course, being a girl, she is unaware that he is thinking about chariot racing or frost giant bashing, or something.)
Thor and Sue, then, soar arm in arm across the heavens of Counter-Earth, landing with an abrupt whoosh near the Golden Gate Bridge.
The south side of the bridge leads between massive metal jaws sculpted in the form of a wolf's hungry mouth. Flashes of flame and smoke erupt from the city beyond the sculpted portal. The golden wolf's eyes flash crimson, and with a groan of mechanical sorcery, the jaws begin to close -- on the bridge, and the cars upon it!
Friday, August 12, 2016
Purple Path 2: Robbers of the Skyways!
The Scarlet Witch gestures at Star-Lord, allowing filaments of crawling red energy to infiltrate his mind.
Or at least, that's the plan. Instead, they are held at bay by a purple glow, like a wind blowing outward from Star-Lord and resisting the hex force.
"Oh, great," says Star-Lord. "Captain Marvel."
"That is Mar-VELL, Earthborn interloper!" says Captain Marvel, and throws a sparkling energy bolt at Star-Lord.
Star-Lord dodges with practiced ease. But he still would have been hit, had not the purple glow bent Mar-Vell's bolt away from him.
"Seek to stand between me and my revenge, and I will end you on the point of my knife," snarls Drax the Destroyer, the big green guy, "just as I will destroy Thanos if it is the last thing I do in life!"
"You and him? Great, you tussle," says Star-Lord, indicating Captain Mar-Vell and Drax. "I just got one little thing to get done, and we're outta here."
Drax leaps at Mar-Vell. Mar-Vell leaps at Drax.
Star-Lord leaps -- well, lopes -- toward the building housing the Genetic Archives, as Mar-Vell said.
Or at least, that's the plan. Instead, they are held at bay by a purple glow, like a wind blowing outward from Star-Lord and resisting the hex force.
"Oh, great," says Star-Lord. "Captain Marvel."
"That is Mar-VELL, Earthborn interloper!" says Captain Marvel, and throws a sparkling energy bolt at Star-Lord.
Star-Lord dodges with practiced ease. But he still would have been hit, had not the purple glow bent Mar-Vell's bolt away from him.
"Seek to stand between me and my revenge, and I will end you on the point of my knife," snarls Drax the Destroyer, the big green guy, "just as I will destroy Thanos if it is the last thing I do in life!"
"You and him? Great, you tussle," says Star-Lord, indicating Captain Mar-Vell and Drax. "I just got one little thing to get done, and we're outta here."
Drax leaps at Mar-Vell. Mar-Vell leaps at Drax.
Star-Lord leaps -- well, lopes -- toward the building housing the Genetic Archives, as Mar-Vell said.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
The Yellow Path
But what, you say, of our heroes who were swept up not by the purple or orange rays but by the yellow ray tending to the right?
They, being Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and the Vision, emerged on a wavy plain of undulating metal, like a once-molten continent cooled in the merciless void of space. Wisps of air cling to the lower surfaces, which fortunately is where the Earthmen have materialized.
To the left the plain of alloy abruptly stops, giving way to smooth grassy pastures dotted with house-sized patches of colorful clover. Bald men and women of exceptional beauty, marred only by the eye-hollows and worry-lines of desperate overwork, toil mechanically pulling weeds and planting writhing purple worm-like crops.
To the right, the plain drops sharply to jagged burnt-gray towers jutting like broken stumps from a cracked, seared street plan out of a madman's delirium. Aliens with multiple slash-like mouths and a huge bloom of tentacular hair, clad in stinking rags, haul on a red iron chain to pull down another of their war-ravaged tenements under the literal lash of five-chinned, pointed-eared, pea-green Skrulls!
Behind, the metallic meadow is abruptly overlapped by a towering cliff of purple glass, into which six-limbed, red-chitinned insect people, also in rags, labor to chip tunnels deep into the fragile face to extract pulsating black baubles, which they leave on the ground to be picked up by another Skrull! As the Rainbow Wind dies, a section of the cliff forms a crack, from some unwise blow of a hidden miner, and half the cliffside crazes into long, pointed fragments of broken glass, about to slide in a thunderfall of crystal upon the insect miners below!
And before the heroes, directly to their front as they emerge, is an insolent black fist of a fortress, crenelated with battlements like clenched knuckles, topped by spiky black death rays, overflown by multi-winged air-kites bristling with needle spines, and fashioned in the shape of a huge, brooding, sunken-eyed face -- the face of Thanos, the mad Titan and suitor of Death!
This, then, is MORDEMOND -- Thanos' capital world, assembled from the shards of shattered planets!
Or so the Vision recalls from reading the Avengers archives.
They, being Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and the Vision, emerged on a wavy plain of undulating metal, like a once-molten continent cooled in the merciless void of space. Wisps of air cling to the lower surfaces, which fortunately is where the Earthmen have materialized.
To the left the plain of alloy abruptly stops, giving way to smooth grassy pastures dotted with house-sized patches of colorful clover. Bald men and women of exceptional beauty, marred only by the eye-hollows and worry-lines of desperate overwork, toil mechanically pulling weeds and planting writhing purple worm-like crops.
To the right, the plain drops sharply to jagged burnt-gray towers jutting like broken stumps from a cracked, seared street plan out of a madman's delirium. Aliens with multiple slash-like mouths and a huge bloom of tentacular hair, clad in stinking rags, haul on a red iron chain to pull down another of their war-ravaged tenements under the literal lash of five-chinned, pointed-eared, pea-green Skrulls!
Behind, the metallic meadow is abruptly overlapped by a towering cliff of purple glass, into which six-limbed, red-chitinned insect people, also in rags, labor to chip tunnels deep into the fragile face to extract pulsating black baubles, which they leave on the ground to be picked up by another Skrull! As the Rainbow Wind dies, a section of the cliff forms a crack, from some unwise blow of a hidden miner, and half the cliffside crazes into long, pointed fragments of broken glass, about to slide in a thunderfall of crystal upon the insect miners below!
And before the heroes, directly to their front as they emerge, is an insolent black fist of a fortress, crenelated with battlements like clenched knuckles, topped by spiky black death rays, overflown by multi-winged air-kites bristling with needle spines, and fashioned in the shape of a huge, brooding, sunken-eyed face -- the face of Thanos, the mad Titan and suitor of Death!
This, then, is MORDEMOND -- Thanos' capital world, assembled from the shards of shattered planets!
Or so the Vision recalls from reading the Avengers archives.
The Orange Path
Meanwhile, an orange ray conducts Sue Storm and Thor straight ahead, around the Sun and down to a planet much like Earth!
Indeed, it has buildings, cars, trees, dogs, newspapers and smog. It seems like Earth in every detail, but Sue recognizes immediately that everyone is smoking dried herbs rather than tobacco. That makes this Counter-Earth, the duplicate on the other side of the Sun!
"Ho!" says Thor, because of course he does. "Let us inquire of yon constable whereat the miscreant Doom may be found."
Yon constable is already speaking into a big, bulky walkie-talkie, since Counter-Earth is a duplicate of Earth in the 1970s. But he's having to raise his voice, because passersby are exclaiming in alarm while copters and tanks rush to the shores of the Chicago River (this is Counter-Earth's Chicago), where a massive, bloated leathery monstrosity is heaving its batracian bulk onto the splintering docks!
"All units," says the television, speaking in the voice of an orange-skinned blond man with an orange jewel in his forehead. "Proceed to within six blocks of the riverfront, but do not engage! We dare not attract the monster's attention before we are ready to deal with it!"
"A monster!" exclaims Thor. He spins his hammer.
Indeed, it has buildings, cars, trees, dogs, newspapers and smog. It seems like Earth in every detail, but Sue recognizes immediately that everyone is smoking dried herbs rather than tobacco. That makes this Counter-Earth, the duplicate on the other side of the Sun!
"Ho!" says Thor, because of course he does. "Let us inquire of yon constable whereat the miscreant Doom may be found."
Yon constable is already speaking into a big, bulky walkie-talkie, since Counter-Earth is a duplicate of Earth in the 1970s. But he's having to raise his voice, because passersby are exclaiming in alarm while copters and tanks rush to the shores of the Chicago River (this is Counter-Earth's Chicago), where a massive, bloated leathery monstrosity is heaving its batracian bulk onto the splintering docks!
"All units," says the television, speaking in the voice of an orange-skinned blond man with an orange jewel in his forehead. "Proceed to within six blocks of the riverfront, but do not engage! We dare not attract the monster's attention before we are ready to deal with it!"
"A monster!" exclaims Thor. He spins his hammer.
The Purple Path
Thor's whirling rainbow vortex refracts into six separate colored rays, bent as they pass through the transparent blue cube held by Thanos' purple hand!
Yes, Ant-Man was absolutely right to worry that teleporting was a dangerous move when your enemy has control over space itself! And now the heroes are being bent into different directions.
A purple ray conducts some of the heroes to the left.
Storm, the Scarlet Witch, and Machine Man emerge from the prismatic spray in a sparkling clean city of chrome spires under a lemon yellow sky. Three suns blaze in the heavens, blurring all shadows to a vague dimness directly underneath everything.
Blue people hurry around, wearing color-coded superhero suits. People with red tops go into the red buildings, while people with red pants enter the buildings with red stripes around their bottoms.
The sky is full of moving objects, seemingly levitated without the use of vehicles. A vague, fuzzy shadow falls over the Earthlings as a massive space ship shaped like a steel-and-crystal icicle slowly tracks across the skyline. It takes a long time to pass.
But no one notices the three arrivals from Earth, because no one looks up. All keep their eyes focused on the aluminum sidewalk a pace in front of them, where moving symbols direct them to where they are meant to go.
Then a white-haired superhero with a blue top (bearing a sun symbol) and red pants flies up and drops right next to our heroes!
He touches the glossy black bracelet on his left hand, then nods.
"Earth speakers," he says by way of greeting. "Bon. Permettez-moi a vous aider de trouver votre destination. Je m'appelle Mar-Vell, et vous etes maintenant a la cite du Trois, au planete de Hala. Nous sommes a la capitale de l'empire du Kree."
Machine Man looks at both Storm and the Scarlet Witch.
"Nope, didn't catch any of that," he admits.
Yes, Ant-Man was absolutely right to worry that teleporting was a dangerous move when your enemy has control over space itself! And now the heroes are being bent into different directions.
A purple ray conducts some of the heroes to the left.
Storm, the Scarlet Witch, and Machine Man emerge from the prismatic spray in a sparkling clean city of chrome spires under a lemon yellow sky. Three suns blaze in the heavens, blurring all shadows to a vague dimness directly underneath everything.
Blue people hurry around, wearing color-coded superhero suits. People with red tops go into the red buildings, while people with red pants enter the buildings with red stripes around their bottoms.
The sky is full of moving objects, seemingly levitated without the use of vehicles. A vague, fuzzy shadow falls over the Earthlings as a massive space ship shaped like a steel-and-crystal icicle slowly tracks across the skyline. It takes a long time to pass.
But no one notices the three arrivals from Earth, because no one looks up. All keep their eyes focused on the aluminum sidewalk a pace in front of them, where moving symbols direct them to where they are meant to go.
Then a white-haired superhero with a blue top (bearing a sun symbol) and red pants flies up and drops right next to our heroes!
He touches the glossy black bracelet on his left hand, then nods.
"Earth speakers," he says by way of greeting. "Bon. Permettez-moi a vous aider de trouver votre destination. Je m'appelle Mar-Vell, et vous etes maintenant a la cite du Trois, au planete de Hala. Nous sommes a la capitale de l'empire du Kree."
Machine Man looks at both Storm and the Scarlet Witch.
"Nope, didn't catch any of that," he admits.
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Through Space and Space!
There are indeed a few enemies still about, but Storm can blow them into the arms of the vengeful Asgardians.
Wanda shrugs her shoulders expressively at Ant Man's question. "It vas not part of my briefing at Hydra. And I have not been with you very long."
To Sue Storm:
Ant-Man asks what's on the other side of the sun.
SCARLET WITCH
To Sue Storm:
"I did not know Dr. Richards was married. He should not have led you on so."
INVISIBLE GIRL
Sue says, "I know what is on the far side of the sun. The Counter-Earth made by the High Evolutionary, made invisible by a high tech screen."
She looks wistful. "The evil twin of Reed comes from there. He was called the Brute. He's not married."
THOR: "Then let us hasten thither --- THUS!"
Thor whirls his hammer so fast that space blends into a trippy rainbow blur.
"Jump! Jump through the wound I have shattered in the warp and woof of Space Itself!"
...
Machine Man buzzes, one hand clutching spastically at Spider-Man as if to eat him.
Sue says, "I know what is on the far side of the sun. The Counter-Earth made by the High Evolutionary, made invisible by a high tech screen."
She looks wistful. "The evil twin of Reed comes from there. He was called the Brute. He's not married."
THOR: "Then let us hasten thither --- THUS!"
Thor whirls his hammer so fast that space blends into a trippy rainbow blur.
"Jump! Jump through the wound I have shattered in the warp and woof of Space Itself!"
...
Machine Man buzzes, one hand clutching spastically at Spider-Man as if to eat him.
Monday, August 1, 2016
Under The All-Seeing Eye
SCARLET WITCH
Wanda breaks visual contact with Thanos.
Quickly.
"We need to move from our current locations--particularly you, Vish!" She takes him by the hand and whirls him to another spot some distance away. Hopefully the others follow.
"He is on his black throne on a world of ivory, in a sea of asteroids in the Andromeda galaxy."
"His red man is going to a world near a triple yellow star. Dr. Doom has gone into the Sun--and then out the other side--I can not see him further.
"He is smiling at us."
"We need to move from our current locations--particularly you, Vish!" She takes him by the hand and whirls him to another spot some distance away. Hopefully the others follow.
"He is on his black throne on a world of ivory, in a sea of asteroids in the Andromeda galaxy."
"His red man is going to a world near a triple yellow star. Dr. Doom has gone into the Sun--and then out the other side--I can not see him further.
"He is smiling at us."
ANT MAN
Ant Man, panting, recalls his ants, shrinks them, put them in his belt, shrinks himself down, goes to the party, and asks what is going on?
After hearing what Scarlet Witch said, Any Man says, "Wait, wait. What is the point of running if Thanos can now teleport? He'll just catch us anyway. Besides, we cannot teleport, or get away from him, or go anywhere else. So how are we going to A, stop him, and B, get away from him? Any ideas?"
STORM
Ant Man, panting, recalls his ants, shrinks them, put them in his belt, shrinks himself down, goes to the party, and asks what is going on?
After hearing what Scarlet Witch said, Any Man says, "Wait, wait. What is the point of running if Thanos can now teleport? He'll just catch us anyway. Besides, we cannot teleport, or get away from him, or go anywhere else. So how are we going to A, stop him, and B, get away from him? Any ideas?"
STORM
Storm uses her winds to help the ship go where
Giant Ant Man and Sue want it to go.
Storm compares the mighty speed of her hurricanic winds with the ability to travel between GALAXIES!!
She sighs.
She then dives and flies over Valhalla and the battlefield looking for rogue enemies.
Storm compares the mighty speed of her hurricanic winds with the ability to travel between GALAXIES!!
She sighs.
She then dives and flies over Valhalla and the battlefield looking for rogue enemies.
INVISIBLE GIRL
Invisible Girl lowers the ship gently to a landing, and walks over to it, makes a staircase out of force fields, walks up, and talks to Thor. She repeat to him what Scarlet Witch said, and asks "Thor, can you open an interdimensional gateway with your hammer to intercept Dr. Doom?"
Invisible Girl lowers the ship gently to a landing, and walks over to it, makes a staircase out of force fields, walks up, and talks to Thor. She repeat to him what Scarlet Witch said, and asks "Thor, can you open an interdimensional gateway with your hammer to intercept Dr. Doom?"
“Aye, saving only I know whither he is bound!”
She asks Baldur, "Is there anything that Valhalla magic or technology can do to block the eyesight of Thanos? He is smiling therefore apparently watching us from the Andromeda Galaxy."
She asks Baldur, "Is there anything that Valhalla magic or technology can do to block the eyesight of Thanos? He is smiling therefore apparently watching us from the Andromeda Galaxy."
“Heimdall the All-Seeing could set aside his
sword Daybreak, making all within the Eternal Realm as evanescent as smoke.”
Sue will ask Scarlet Witch the same two questions if she is within earshot. "Can you open a gateway to Dr. Doom? Who is the other man working for Thanos? Can you do or find anything to block his visions of us?"
Sue looks back and forth. "Where is Machine Man?"
Sue will ask Scarlet Witch the same two questions if she is within earshot. "Can you open a gateway to Dr. Doom? Who is the other man working for Thanos? Can you do or find anything to block his visions of us?"
Sue looks back and forth. "Where is Machine Man?"
Scarlet Witch says determinedly,
"If I had the blue stone, I believe I could do it. I think it will help to
not look at him. He noticed me. He could home in on me and therefore you as a
target. We are so far away that even moving this short distance may have
affected his aim. Unless, of course, he is cool about blowing up anything that
might be in the vicinity. As to his other compatriot, I did not recognize him,
but he was quite cadaverous. And a vile shade of crimson. Unlike Vish."
The Vision notes, “I am an average shade of
crimson.”
INVISIBLE GIRL
Sue will also turn invisible and step to one
side, just in case Thanos is looking at her, too.
SPIDER MAN
Spider-Man says to the group as he swings by, "What is stopping him from just finding the locations of the infinity gems and just teleporting there, or better yet, teleporting them to him?"
He grabs the Serpent Crown, sticks it to his back, and hunts for Machine Man.
Spider-Man says to the group as he swings by, "What is stopping him from just finding the locations of the infinity gems and just teleporting there, or better yet, teleporting them to him?"
He grabs the Serpent Crown, sticks it to his back, and hunts for Machine Man.
Machine Man totters out of the stack
of zombies, his arms hanging slack, his eye gone blank, emitting a steady
electronic drone.
VISION
"If someone already possesses the other three gems, collecting them would require overpowering their resistance. Three gems are no doubt stronger than one, if they can be brought into harmony. But I doubt Thanos could exert that much power over an interstellar distance. He would have, it seems to me, to go to the gems, defeat their wielders, and then take them."
"If someone already possesses the other three gems, collecting them would require overpowering their resistance. Three gems are no doubt stronger than one, if they can be brought into harmony. But I doubt Thanos could exert that much power over an interstellar distance. He would have, it seems to me, to go to the gems, defeat their wielders, and then take them."
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Ant Man sends his ants out to scout around and search for Thanos.