[Assistant]
Endless Wartime
Slorenia, nestled between Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq, a country at war. According to SHIELD, the unsteady regime’s council, the Tabissara, formed a mercenary force (now also referred to as Tabissara) to attempt to take Slorenia back from the democratically elected government. Given Slorenia’s position, military aid from America was soon forthcoming.
Battling US drones, a female Tabissara soldier, Ara, swears she hates Americans so much. Another soldier, Sahv, asks her where Oksoy is, only to be informed he is dead. Drone strikes, why can’t they show their faces on the street? Because they would shoot them, he points out. Drones only cost money. And Americans have plenty of that. They have to move. Ara refuses. She wants to cost the Americans more money. He tells her they need to regroup behind the old press buildings where they hold the reporters.
An American soldier carrying something is shot. Ara asks Sahv to give her covering fire. She takes away the body’s mortar and shoots down what she believes to be a drone. Something far bigger lands nearby, struck down. Get the reporters, Ara orders.
(meanwhile)It says Stark on the front but everybody in New York knows it as Avengers Tower. Steve Rogers aka Captain America, who is currently living here, is doing push-ups. Part of him still feels as though he lives in a foreign land called the future. The city doesn’t look or smell right.
He goes to the kitchen where the Avengers’ butler Jarvis is already brewing coffee. He can do it himself, Steve begins. Jarvis tells him here his life gets a little easier because it surely is not easy outside. He asks Cap to indulge him. Also he still has… issues with the operation of the cafeteria. Steve thanks him. He looks forward to having the same conversation tomorrow, Jarvis remarks wryly. He’s an Irish boy from the Lower East Side, Cap point out. He’s never going to be comfortable with a butler. Jarvis knows, but every now and then Cap slips and lets him help him and that’s a great source of satisfaction to him.
Cap calls the team via comm. and tells them to sound off on their way in. He muses he learned how to do that but not how to operate a coffeemaker.
Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel is already flying on her way in. Hakweye aka Clint Barton announces via comm. he might be late. Cap reminds him they have one meeting a week, so get here! He might be lost, Clint adds. Cap doesn’t believe him. He also might be in a dumpster. That Cap does believe. There was a girl and some people who hit him. Tell it to the chaplain, Cap orders, and get here! “You are old!” Hawkeye complains.
Captain Marvel has landed. Jarvis greets her as Colonel Danvers, but Carol reminds him in the uniform she is Captain Marvel. Yes, but her Air Force rank is Colonel, he insists. Carol smiles and her helmet removes itself from her face.
Cap teases she’s a colonel in the Chair force. It doesn’t count as a real rank. Carol retorts that Army stands for Air Force Rejected me Yesterday. Jarvis wisely keeps his opinion to himself.
Cap asks how Carol is and if she did the new round of medical tests. She tells him he sounds like her dad but assures him she is a genetically stable fusion of human pilot and an alien soldier race from the Great Magellan Cloud. Which some days feels even stupider than it sounds.
Tony Stark chimes in via comm., telling Steve to tell Jarvis to make sure he uses the single estate coffee from Guatemala. And the Starkia. What the hell is Starkia? Cap asks. Genetically tweaked Stevia sweetener, but Stevia is a dumb name. Stevia is a dumb name, Steve repeats to Carol, who asks him if he ever thinks about killing Tony Stark. He’s not a killer, he informs her mildly, he just thinks about stomping him a bunch when nobody else is around.
Natasha Romanova aka the Black Widow and Logan aka Wolverine come in.
Still en route, Iron Man muses aloud that Captain America wants to stomp on him. Well, in Cap’s defense, he has met him, his assistant Pepper Potts drolly points out via comm. She adds the phones have lit up. Has he done something today? Why does she say it like that? Why does she treat him like a brain damaged criminal? Tony complains. She scoffs it’s like he’s been handing her the ammunition to use. He’s been good, he finally announces. Pepper explains a lot of correspondents want to talk to him today. Tony isn’t interested.
He lands on the roof of the Tower and the armor is stripped off. He tells Pepper he has to sit with his awesome and awesomely boring quote friends unquote for a while.
Entering, he asks if anyone has checked the dumpsters for Clint yet. Funny he should ask that, Steve remarks. Ah shaddap, Clint mutters as he enters, looking the worse for wear. Natasha immediately mothers him, asking who was his date last night. Did she bring a treshing machine? Don’t act like his mom, he protests. They both know why she couldn’t possibly be his mom, she replies wryly. He certainly never acted like she was.
Cap tells them to be quiet as the news report about the Tabissara’s unusual victory against Americans in Slorenia is shown. They shot down a drone with an unfamiliar design. Cap reads the word “Hereward” on the drone. Can’t be, he mutters. The report continues that Hereward, a military contractor based on the Norwegian island Skrekklandet, issued the following statement. Skrekklandet, Steve repeats and remembers…
Flashback to 1944:Several American fighter planes with Cap aboard one of them. The pilot, Lightfoote, tells him Cap is the highest ranking officer aboard. After some back and forth, the soldiers reveal that they are all rather young. Seargent Herne asks what they can expect on their approach to Skrekkladnet. Cap asks if they know about the Wunderwaffe. The Germans are building something ugly. It’s like they’ve got a hotline to hell and just order from the devil’s stores.
One of the soldiers wonders why the Germans would have a station on Skrekklandet. It’s miles from anywhere, save Finland. Cap explains the things they build are dangerous and they want privacy. So they go low. They drop him. He gives the word. They release bombs. Easy.
Herne asks why not just blast the whole place anyway. Heinrich Zemo might be down there, Cap explains, and he’d like a word with him.
Suddenly, a blast from another plane hits the other two planes, downing them. Cap grabs his weaponry and a rope and jumps. In mid-leap, he throws his shield at the attacking plane. The rope attaches to it. He climbs up to the cockpit and tosses some live grenades into it.
The American plane maneuvers into a position for him to throw his shield back and swing back. There is a flash of blinding energy and the facility is gone. As is the other plane.
Present:Skrekklandet, Captain America repeats thoughtfully. He asks Tony to do some computer research for him. The others look at Cap expectantly. What does he need? Stark sighs. Cap asks him to put up the last five minutes of this on the channel.
They look at one scene of the Tabissara having shot down an unmanned American drone. It has military US markings, as well as the name of the British company Hereward, a military contractor based on Skrekklandet.
Cap explains there was a Wunderwaffe stationed there in 1944. It exploded and fell into the ice. Just the shape of this thing stinks of the things he was fighting then, of the war and the legacy devices the Red Skull uses.
Carol tries to get intel from the Airforce and Natasha uses her SHIELD connections to try and do the same.
How well do they know Slorenia? Wolverine demands. Stark replies he was involved in the removal of the Tabissara. Good job there, Logan mocks, adding going in there is gonna be tricky. He accuses Cap of wanting to go in there and get one of those things. He warns Cap that Slorenia is a burning cesspool. Cap forgets he’s ex-army too and a good bit older than him and sneakier.
Cap replies he respects Logan but don’t tell him they are alike. Not a killer? Logan mocks. Cap was in World War II. Don’t tell him he never killed anyone.
Cap suggests those things might be time bombs. If that stuff still works, they should sell it to Apple, Hawkeye suggests. He’s got a phone three years old that’s about as connected as a rock today. Does he have a suit here? he asks Jarvis who tells him he did eventually manage to clean the vomit off. Why? Because if he knows that look on Captain Geritol’s face, they are suiting up and going somewhere he couldn’t find on a map, to do something really stupid, Hawkeye sighs.
As he walks off, Tony muses he just realized he is the only non-soldier in the room. Right, he’s just an ex-arms manufacturer in a metal death suit, Carol mocks. Totally different.
She informs Cap that the Air Force isn’t flying those things. Sounds like a line, he replies. No, if they were, she’d have just been told to shut up, Carol replies. These are autonomous devices that don’t need a pilot. They are about as smart as a mean dog. You point them at a target and they kill. And they are being used in countries by the company that made them. They don’t have soldiers in Slorenia; they outsource the entire action. They hired a corporation to fight a war for them, Cap summarizes in disbelief. Not just a building company, Natasha adds. SHIELD’s got the company structure. Name a country with an active fascist base. These Hereward people have offices there. Also? If they succeed crushing the Tabissara, they get a big chunk of Slorenia.
Carol carefully points out this is foreign policy. No, Steve announces. It’s another piece of his past. A past that still seems more real to him than any of this, coming back and trying to kill him. He was there. He was on his way to attack and the place exploded, self-destructed. He doesn’t know how, but they knew he was coming. And now here he is and now suddenly here they are too! He wants one of these things. To look at. Today.
One of which things? Thor asks as he makes his entrance. They are going hunting, Cap replies. Excellent, the Thunder God announces. What do they hunt?
While Cap tries to call up the video, Thor muses he should get his chariot. It is drawn by two mighty goats called Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder. After a successful hunt, he slaughters and eats them and the next morning… he trails off as he sees the images… they come back to life.
Here’s how things work:There is a great tree called Yggdrasil and the nine worlds hang from its branches. At the base of the world tree is a creature called Nidhogg, a vile and terrible thing trapped under the roots, chewing at the roots. Yggdrasil is a living thing that grows. That means that sometimes there’s deadwood. One day, Nidhogg bit into a weakened root. The thing crazed with freedom swarmed up Yggdrasil looking for egress and something to take out its rage on.
There are nine realms. The fifth is Midgard. Young and foolish, Thor went to Midgard alone to confront Nidhogg. He found it spawning in the ice. His pride had placed him in an impossible battle. Their worst enemy squatting out its young in Midgard snow. Thor attacked Nidhogg, which tried to protect its eggs. Lost in a berserker rage, Thor attacked again and again. It was the beginning of his fall. His father learning of this and decided Thor needed to learn humility and took him back as he killed it with a blast of energy.
He knows he killed it. Looking at the news, Thor muses these things, if you take away the trappings of a Midgard smithy, could be its spawn.
Tony wonders aloud what would happen if you threw the eggs of a magic dragon and a Nazi superweapon down the ice it and sealed it for seventy years. They are looking at the result of, right? “Norse Nazi maggot robots of death.”
Thor grimly announces that he must hunt. Cap tells him to wait. No, Thor snaps. He waited long to become a man in the eyes of his family and people. To have this thrown back in his face now? No, he hunts.
Not alone, Cap insists. That’s the point of them, right? If it wasn’t for them, Tony’d be dead. Without them, Thor wouldn’t have had any family for years. Without all of them, he’d still be in the ice somewhere off the coast of Greenland. Without them, Carol would have nobody to fly with. The Avengers brought her in from the cold, he tells Natasha.
Where’s Hawkguy’s outfit? Wolverine mumbles. He needs something to throw up in. Cap reminds him that the Avengers taught him to stand for something. Whatever he believes, Logan replies, walking away. Turning to Hawkeye, Cap remarks he is a hopeless case, but the exception has to prove the rule. Sometimes they all need to be reminded. By him because he has nothing else. They do this together.
Carol figures the Quinjet will need three hours five minutes at best speed to Slorenia. Clint wants to pilot. She is not flying with someone who learned to fly in a circus, Carol retorts.
As they change into costumes, Logan suggests they drop the Hulk on them. Black Widow muses that Bruce is doing well at SHIELD. Covered in Prozac patches, mind you…
Captain America hears them through the wall, talking about their normal world of drugs absorbed through skin and planes flying at 1600 miles an hour. He doesn’t know why he is doing this, really. Except that he has a need to confirm operational intelligence on the ground. Except that he heard the slight weak quaver in Stark’s voice when he said he’d been involved in the destabilization of Slorenia. Except that he saw the humiliation in Thor’s eyes. He realizes they were there at the same time. And didn’t know. A man in a robot suit he sometimes wants to strangle. A man who may not be a man at all, who he often genuinely fears. These are what Steve Rogers has instead of friends here in the future. And this is what he does for them.
He puts on his helmet and tells them to move. They are burning daylight.
On the plane, Natasha asks Cap why he is doing this. He explains he wants one of these things to examine and present. Present to who? Natasha insists. He’s not a cop. Technically he’s not even a soldier. He could however have gone to SHIELD. He retorts this isn’t SHIELD’s business. It’s theirs. And he’s pretty sure they got TV news on the helicarrier. They are going to know these things are in the field and since Natasha called them they are going to be on their way. SHIELD doesn’t care. He’ll find someone who does.
If he says so. Though she wonder why they aren’t going straight to Skrettlandet. He wants the thing itself first, Cap explains, to get an idea of what they are facing. And with the thing itself maybe he can force them to stop. Maybe he won’t have to attack them. Maybe he can have a day when he’s not at war. How does this plane go so fast anyway?
Because of Starkium, Tony who joins them announces. Technically it’s element 128. It should have a long chemical name, but screw it, he invented it, so Starkium. He invented a new element, Cap repeats. Sort of. His dad did a lot of the initial tinkering.
Tony sits down opposite to Cap. He was a strange one, his dad. He did a lot. Worked on the Manhattan Project. Started the business. In a lot of ways, he was smarter than Tony. Drank a lot. Shouted a lot. At him. Told him he needed iron in his spine. He did a lot. But somehow he never really did a thing. Guns. Robots. He reacts to his ghost badly.
How does he mean? Cap asks. Well, here they are, off to Slorenia. He went there with a few friends a few years back. Decided to free it. Kick out the Tabissara, turn the country over to the people. And look. He sees the ghost of the old man never interested in anything but money, bourbon and the inside of his head and he says he’s going out there. In the world. Doing good things. And here they are. Slorenia is an urban combat theater terrorized by Nazi icedragons and Tony has a reactor in his chest that keeps him alive. He has to keep trying because of the ghost. And he makes things worse and he tries harder. An endless road of good intentions and hell. He gets up. But the thing in his chest? Runs on Starkium, too, so there’s that, right?
Carol announces they are reaching Slorenian airspace. Cap asks if any of those things are in the air. Two in Tblunka emanating from a launch base in the north, Carol informs him. Would he like to go hunting? he asks Thor. He would, Thor announces. Cap asks him to get him one of those things. Thor replies he would have hunting partners. The Captain Marvel and, sadly, Stark. He is standing right here! Tony protests.
Soon the three are airborne. Iron Man warns of two defense west. Thor asks him for smoke to cover their actions. He asks Cap to strike with the ship and tells Stark he will be his dog. He’d complain about being called a dog, Stark remarks… but he has the hammer, Thor finishes.
The two Tabissara soldiers watch Captain Marvel in the air as she attacks one of those things. Thor strikes the second one with his hammer and it falls down. Where is his dog? Thor demands. Iron Man emits cables to drag the thing up with Captain Marvel’s help.
Something is wrong, Black Widow decides as they land the Quinjet. Cap tells her he wants her and Logan on the ground. Find someone to talk to. Does Clint know how to make a ground radar sweep happen? He says he can fly the plane, but…
Soon outside, Logan and Natasha stop a screaming man wearing a jacket with a Hereward logo. They just went insane, he bursts out. The ice harriers. They just dived through the ground. He needs a phone. How many? Natasha asks. Two, she is told. He babbles on. She cuts him off. They need to know how to stop or kill these things. He needs a phone, he insists. The consignment of S2 units landed in the United States an hour ago.
A giant creature emerges from the hole. Hawkeye fires blast arrows at it which explode after a set time. It works. He mocks Cap, wondering why he keeps pissing and moaning about this. Wolverine warns the man said there is more than one model. He thinks they got an extra problem.
Peering down, he announces he thinks the second one is spawning down there. He ain’t going down there. Black Widow asks the Hereford man for their fuel stores. She needs to burn babies while he goes to have a long chat with Captain America.
Cap later explains the things are fitted with a limiter that stopped them firing their weapons on base. The bad news is the updated S2s don’t have those limiters. The worse news is those models grow their munition internally. The worst news is the ice harriers S2s are on American soil. They are being stashed at a SHIELD ordnance depot. Coyle decoy field in New Jersey. Ninety miles from Manhattan.
Stark announces that he took a look inside one of these things and doesn’t understand yet a lot of what he saw. They don’t need to land, refuel or rearm. That’s why the new versions don’t have the limiters. These are endless war machines.
Clint sighs he needs more coffee. Why would anyone put these things into America? Why would SHIELD? And SHIELD would know where they come from. This isn’t “Oh no, we accidentally bought a shipment of Nazi space monster babies.”
Natasha reveals she is officially being stonewalled. Nobody at SHIELD will talk to her. And yes, she told people the Ice Harriers here went insane. Not even an acknowledgement that she was being heard. She has friends form over the border moving in to take care of the Hereward people. They’ll be fine, she adds when Cap asks about the other thing. They wasted all this time here, he sighs, when the damned things were right at home.
Tony points out that they aren’t detectives. He needs to give them a full rundown of his scans. They don’t all have giant hammers or the luxury of lucky shots. It was not a lucky shot, Thor replies insulted. They need to understand how to kill these things fast, Tony clarifies.
Have they decided on a full frontal assault on a SHIELD base? Carol asks. Did she miss a step here? Wolverine suggests they could just wait till the things go nuts, crap out a million baby monster eggs and eat everyone on the base. Or hang around until they fly up to New York and start digging. Carol retorts she didn’t say they shouldn’t do it, just that they should think about it. If the Avengers go straight in, SHIELD will fire at them. And they will fire while the Avengers are still in the air. His fast healing would be challenged by a five thousand foot drop or a missile up his ass.
SHIELD ain’t giving them a choice, Logan shrugs unimpressed. And that’s the point, Cap adds. Possibly, Natsaha muses. Possibly they need to ask why a device tested in a war theater and deemed safe enough went crazy today.
Prattle! Thor scoffs. And the Quinjet is too slow! He steps out into the air and flies ahead. Cap orders Tony after him. Tony explains he has him clocked at Mach 32. He has no chance and neither does anyone else here.
Carol asks if they have another Quinjet at the tower. Thor is fast but on a bad line. She can draw them a better line but they might need another Quinjet after. She warns them to strap down. When she said “line,” she may have meant transatmospheric curve.
Thor reaches the base in New Jersey. He knows the creature sensed him and went crazy because of his presence. He hunts alone because he is too ashamed to do otherwise.
The creatures react to him. Damn me! he swears and hits them with lightening. However, this time they survive and surround him, battling him.
The Quinjet arrives. Captain Marvel and Iron Man jump out.
Inside, Hawkeye complains that the pilot jumped out and he still does not get to fly the plane. Natasha orders him not to whine.
Outside, Iron Man tries nanotech to explode one creature but fails.
Inside the jet, Clint tells Natasha she’ll need a bigger gun to come hunting. She’s flying a Quinjet, she replies. It is a bigger gun.
Logan, Clint and Cap leave the plane. Cap asks where Carol is. Air Force to the rescue, she jokes as she covers one of the beasts that is about to attack Cap.
Cap tells Wolverine they can’t let one of them escape. They are a hundred miles from Manhattan. So he needs him to kill something, because Cap is the only saint of World War II, Logan retorts. Wolverine tears it apart with his claws.
Carol has caught Iron Man who can barely move. However, he can fire his blaster at two of the things, with Carol propping up his arms.
On the ground, Cap, Hawkeye and an exhausted Thor find they have the company of some pissed off and armed SHIELD agents. Cap tells Hawkeye to amuse them and Thor to get back to the Quinjet. They know him, Thor replies. Him probably too, Cap realizes. They hunt, Thor insists and calls Mjolnir to his side.
When one of the creatures is about to attack, Cap throws his shield at him which becomes embedded. He suggests Thor get it back. After they gather up Wolverine, they fly back to Avengers Tower.
Cap admits maybe the thing did smell Thor but they are going to have artificial intelligence in there. Maybe some combination of ancestral memory and threat mapping. Maybe when one of them learns something they all learn it, Tony suggests. Which would be interesting because none of them would ever be safe from the creatures again. By interesting he means, they are all going to die.
Wolverine muses maybe the Nazis were building something to kill Cap and his World War Two pals. What if all that needed to happen was Cap and Thor never going near them? Maybe they were coded for Cap and the flesh parts remembered Thor. What if it was all about the two of them all along?
Stark points out it was still the 40ies. He bets they couldn’t differentiate between Cap and another super soldier program result like Wolverine. Or any of them. Except for Hawkeye, because he’s a circus act. And the only people who want to kill circus acts are people who have been to the circus.
So they are looking at intelligent drones that try to kill anyone a bit different and try to make more of themselves. That’s gonna go great in New York City, Carol predicts. When are they gonna tell SHIELD about this?
Natasha figures they already know. She works there part of the time and she doesn’t trust them that much. Maybe if she were SHIELD and stashing these things a hundred miles away, she’d be sending a message about people like them living in New York. A message she thinks? Cap asks.
Several SHIELD vessels hover in the air above them. Suddenly, a small man is thrown out of one onto the roof. Are they trying to make him angry? he protests. Stupid question. Forget it, Robert Bruce Banner chuckles and greets his sometime teammates.
The Avengers are wary. Cap asks him how he is feeling. Here’s the thing, Bruce explains. Back at the SHIELD lab, they check his blood twice daily for Hulk cells. And the other guy is due an appearance pretty much any time now. Which is why he got lifted out of his lab and dropped here like a bomb.
Thor bristles at the perceived threat. Banner snaps that is the sort of thing he doesn’t need right now because the other guy will show up and shove it down his neck. Can they do the next bit like adults maybe? Cap agrees and reminds him they are all friends here.
Bruce continues there is a whole speech he is supposed to recite and they’ve got some sort of super microphone on him. They are supposed to forget today ever happened. They are not supposed to investigate, hassle or otherwise tamper with America’s partners in outsourced peace. They get that the Avengers are all upset about Nazis and the like. They’d like to remind them that Wernher von Braun was a Nazi and the US still let him put them on the Moon.
He’s also supposed to remind them that Tony was a weapons designer and Bruce himself built a gamma bomb which he thinks is supposed to mean he is worse than the Nazis.
He is supposed to say this: that the Avengers bring more trouble to New York City than they solve and them not being here isn’t always good for Manhattan either. They can’t work on the basis that the Avengers will always be here to save the city or clean up their own messes. So… these drones. SHIELD’s New York City defense system.
Tony scoffs those things go nuts at a moment’s notice. If they bring up his weaponeer past they can at listen to his expertise. Bruce reminds him he is just the messenger. They want them to either stand down or pick a fight. They know what the other guy is like. As sane as he can be, it’s the last guy that pissed him off that gets it in the neck.
So that’s the deal? Cap summarizes. They walk away or Bruce stands in front of them till the bomb goes up? Something like that, Bruce agrees and asks how bad these things are. They can’t be controlled, Cap replies. This whole thing is about massacre prevention. Bruce asks how they intend to deal with this. Cap explains they intend to go where they are manufactured and shut them down.
Cap is a bit annoyed when Bruce opens his shirt. Bruce explains he went to the bathroom before they took him away. Stuck a bunch of clonidine patches on. For relieving hypertension. He’s good for another couple of hours. Didn’t like the idea of being used as a bomb. Think they can get to where they are going before he goes off?
The Avengers get ready. Wolverine tells the Widow this is nuts. They are getting into something that would resolve itself once SHIELD’s drones kill a buncha people. Natasha sarcastically agrees. They should all try to be like him. Much better to be dumb animals. Nothing expected of them, right?
In another room: Well that’s an interesting story, Bruce remarks. Dragons and Nazis. Oh my. Is he sure he wants to do this? Cap asks. He likes it when his little episodes count for something, Bruce replies. He’s not stupid. He knows they are using him as a bomb too. But this day he chooses where he gets dropped.
They leave and Hawkeye sighs happily as he flies the plane. Cap reveals the plan to the others which is him and Thor heading right in and telling their foes they are destroying the factory, giving them a way out.
Carol and Natasha consider this demented and tactically appalling. Cap replies they have to give them a chance and they have to settle this. They would also like to know what transpired after they left, Thor adds. Carol protests angrily and Natasha points out they have Bruce Banner at the verge of an episode and he’s being talked at by Tony.
In the cockpit, Tony suggests a technological solution to Bruce’s problem like an implant. He thinks cutting into him is going to go well? Bruce asks. Some kind of regulation device that controls the Hulk cells, Tony adds. He could even control it. He wants to put a Hulk app into him? Bruce asks. The Stark-Hulk-o-matic, Tony muses.
Bruce suggests if he changes color that means he likes the idea and Tony should remain sitting next to him. They are all going to die! Natasha spells out.
Soon, they have reached Skrettlandet. The complex on the island starts to change. Someone else want to fly the plane? Clint asks hopefully as they are fired at. Carol orders Tony back and announces they are going to give Thor enough coverage for him to get himself and Cap down there. When Cap protests, Carol tells him he is outranked.
Carol and Iron Man fly outside. Doesn’t she always tell people she is a Captain when she-- he begins. Carol tells him she could shoot him right now and would get a medal. So how are they doing this? he asks. The same way as always. With lots of explosions.
Aboard the plane, Bruce warns he needs to get down sooner rather than later. Wolverine tells Cap to go. He’ll take care of him. One way or another. Natasha takes over the plane since Clint is working too slowly for her taste.
Carol and Iron Man attack the gun towers and Thor flies himself and Cap inside the complex. There, they see two shapes waiting behind an automatic door. Seems simple, Cap remarks. Thor suggest sometimes hunters are still to draw their prey out. As the door opens, they keep their weapons ready. Inside, they are greeted by two identically dressed young people who introduce themselves as Alex Herne and Debra Lightfoot, the grandchildren of the soldiers Cap knew. Debra explains they went into business together after World War II. First their parents and then they continued the company.
Outside, Captain Marvel and Iron Man are fighting for their lives.
Alex explains their grandfathers knew two things: There was a treasure in the Skrekkladdet pit and war was never going away. They enjoyed the war. They loved it. Cap protests they were good men. Good men don’t enjoy war. All kinds of men and women enjoy war, Debra replies. They also understand war as a profit engine.
Thor slams the table with Mjolnir and orders them to take them to their forges, that he may make the Nidhogg extinct! They don’t get it, Alex continues. What their grandfathers saw here showed them there would never be not war. The world is stranger than they can imagine, Debra explains, and it will always be at war. And the story handed down two generations is that Captain America taught them that. An island that breeds munitions and evolves to the point where it now produces aerial drones? They owe it all to him.
Not too far away, Bruce Banner painfully changes into the Hulk.
They were born here, Alex continues. They are woven into Skrekklandet and Skrekklandet is woven into the world. The faces of the two young people tear off, revealing a technorganic horror, even as weapons grow from the walls. They remember them both. Their real causes. Their real parents. More of the creatures burst from the walls and surround Cap and Thor.
That moment, the Hulk bursts in and tears into the creatures. After having finished them all, he informs his fellow Avengers they are stupid. Hulk is smartest one of all. He turns to the door when suddenly the creatures regroup.
Outside, Iron Man complains he’s fallen and can’t get up. Firing at the creatures, Captain Marvel tells him nothing new there. Just keep firing. He thinks he’s peed his suit. Nothing new there. Keep firing.
Help comes courtesy of an explosive arrow as Hawkeye, Black Widow and Wolverine join them after having put the Quinjet on hover and jumping out.
Logan points the paralyzed and protesting Iron Man toward the creatures, asking him to take thermal and motion takes of the building. He’s got Cap and Thor and Bruce and a lot of electromechanical activity. Two other near-human signals on a basement level. No workers or staff. Nothing here except – more creatures burst from the ground and surround them.
Shooting at them, Natasha mercilessly asks Tony if he is going to fight. Or is he going to lie there, thinking of a new food substitute to patent? Cascade failure, he replies. He couldn’t stand up in this thing right now if they paid him. Who said anything about standing up? she scoffs. God, you people! What people? he asks. They are all the same, she replies. Thor’s still waiting for his daddy to hug him. Steve’s still waiting for World War Two to end and Tony still acts like he‘s nothing but a man in a can. Fight! she orders. That moment, her leg is strafed. She’s got two, she tells a concerned Tony and resumes firing. Stop whining and get to work! she orders. He tries to find out what these things are.
Not far away, Hulk tears into the creatures. Thor is concerned that they are merely reacting. They are fighting the smoke, not the fire, he tells Cap. What they are looking for must be underground.
The crater they overflew! Cap shouts at the Hulk, who incredulously asks if he is to smash a crater now. Oh for— Cap begins to swear. Ha, Hulk chuckles, they are all stupid. He takes off. Make a hole! Cap orders Thor. The thunder god complies.
Outside, the others are surrounded. Sounds like Thor lost his temper, Natasha observes. He can very angrily mop up their remains with his hammer in thirty seconds, Hawkeye predicts. Still lying on the ground, Iron Man tells them to give him a little space. He needs to make the drones light up. Suddenly, the creatures’ eyes begin to glow and they drop.
Tony explains the raw material are 1944 technology. They still programmed and commanded stuff by radio. He’s saying he turned them off? Hawkeye asks. He used to build weapons, Tony reminds him. Finding a way to turn them off is literally the second thing you do.
They look at the building and something detonates inside. They want to check that out? Natasha suggests. Carol offers to carry her. Natasha offers to hit her.
The Hulk jumps into the crater and destroys the giant creature in there.
Thor and Cap descend to find Wolverine, who tells them he did what they should have been doing. He used Stark to find out who else was in here. He found ‘em prepping an escape vessel. He made ‘em tell him who they were. Then he killed them. Then he stood over them to make sure they were dead. Look at how he looks at him, he sneers at Cap. He is not a “good soldier,” right? He turns to Thor and tells him not to even talk to him. Logan ain’t noble enough. But he knows how to hunt. You make sure of your kill so it can’t get up and bite you. Same way you end a war. He turns away. All he did was the things neither of them did. So they look at him any way they like!
Captain Marvel flies down to look for the Hulk. She finds the dead techno organic monstrosity and finally Bruce Banner crouching there. Sorry, he informs her, the other guy took off. He killed it. But Bruce felt him realize something in its last moments. It didn’t want to be alive anymore anyway. It was something that got turned into a weapon. Whatever else it had been once. Maybe Thor’s evil dragon. But the other guy looked at it in its last few seconds and saw something that had been made into a bomb that just kept going off.
He buries his face in his hands. He’s got to hand it to them. They finally made something that cured him of a Hulk episode. They made him sick. He asks her to get him out of here or kill him. He can’t believe he did that. Propping him up, Carol points out Bruce didn’t do that. The Hulk did that, it wasn’t him. Tears in his eyes, he asks if she doesn’t get it after all those years: It’s always him!
The Avengers leave and Cap muses that the future is a foreign country. All the things he loved are buried in a century past, and all the things he hated never died. It had occurred to him, more than once, that World War Two was some tarry quicksand that never stopped trying to drag him under the ground where he belonged.
Thor stayed behind. He said he needed to conclude things and make amends. He wore that particular expression that meant that once again he was returning to that mythic home of his, and once again not as the conquering hero of his dreams.
Captain America looks down on the island and sees Thor standing there, surrounded by a wild display of lightning that tears the island apart.
Hakweye sits down opposite Cap and asks where Bruce is. Throwing up, Cap replies. He remembers their names. Bob Herne and Johnny Lightfoot. He thought they were brave men. Maybe they were just in love with war. Maybe ware drove them crazy. He’s seen that happen. He’s glad it’s finally over.
“Over,” Clint echoes. Okay, ice harriers didn’t get deployed over New York City, so they didn’t get the chance to go nuts and New York didn’t get destroyed. No more Ice Harriers means they won’t be deployed in places like Slorenia anymore. So they’ll go back to the old kind of drones which are dumb machines but manage to kill as many people. And SHIELD will figure out some other way to discretely murder the Avengers in case they get all uppity one day.
He ignores Steve’s attempt to interrupt. And every lunatic with a lab in the western world will be trying to fill the weapons gap they just made. It never ends Steve. Only old people think things end.
They won, didn’t they? Cap asks. He still doesn’t get it, does he? Clint scoffs. They avenge the dead. Sometimes that means Cap. He died in World War Two, remember? And then he came back. When Cap talks all that crap about them being there for each other, never for a minute does he think they are Avengers because of him. They don’t get to win the war. But he died and came back and that lets them believe they can at least win some of the battles.
He gets up. Who knows? Maybe that’ll be enough. Also, Steve is old. And Steve smiles slightly.


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Untitled
Rocket Raccoon is naked, strapped to a table, several cables and tubes connected to his body. He wakes and feels as if he is being born again – it hurt like Hell. Perhaps this is Hell? Two strange robots hover over him, one of them using a laser, which cuts into Rocket's chest. The pain is an old song, played from memory, and played loud. A symphony of deja vu with a chorus of razors. Rocket screams as the robots stare at him with their dead eyes and keep cutting into him. It is worse this time. This time, he knows what they want – they want something that could take their place, do the job they were bored with. They want to mutate a therapy animal into a warden for a cosmic asylum, into a Ranger. “Ranger Rocket”. He had blocked this out, tried to forget, but this was who he was, under the sarcasm and snarls. This open wound. Even during the happy times, it festered inside – what was done to him, what he would do back – if he ever had the chance again.
Suddenly, Rocket reaches up, grabs the laser that the robot is using against him and spins it around, directing its 5,000 degree power back at the robot, severing it and the other one. Rocket breaks free of the cables connected to his body and leaps off the table, taking the laser with him, he runs though the lab, with one of the robots functioning enough to fly after him. 'Subject behavior is not logical – we are making subject better -' the robot claims. 'Yeah? Nice job, Tin Man' Rocket mutters, before spinning around and blasting the robot with the laser once again, and announcing that he feels better already.
Even so, something isn't right. Little details shift and change around Rocket, like memories. As he wonders where the other animals are, a green costume materializes. He thinks of Lylla and Wal, Blackjack and Uncle Pyko, his friends. When had he lost them?' Rocket decides that if he could find even one face from those days, maybe he could make sense of this. He should be careful what he wishes for. 'Oh, flark' Rocket mutters as he enters another room and finds Bruce Banner a.k.a. Hulk holding Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye up by his neck. Rocket knows the Hulk from the day – from the day before the day. Gentle and green as a meadow, a guy with a temper, sure, but he would never hurt a soul. 'Rocket' the Hulk remarks as he turns and sees Rocket, whose green costume suddenly shifts to his modern yellow costume, as he realizes that this is not the Hulk he knew. 'Here to watch?' the Hulk smirks, while Rocket decides that this is no meadow – it's the lake of fire.
Rocket points the laser weapon towards the Hulk and tells him to put Hawkeye down 'I'm asking nice here' Rocket adds. The Hulk narrows his eyes at Rocket, then lets Clint go. Clint rubs his neck, while the Hulk boasts that he doesn't even need to touch Hawkeye – all he needs is time. Hulk looks down at Hawkeye and tells him that the hearing loss is the least of it – that he is old, older by the day. 'How many years before your aim goes?' Hulk asks 'How long before you're in a real hospital? With that new Hawkeye – you know, the one who's better than you already – signing the papers to switch you off?' Hulk asks, leering at Hawkeye, crouching down and looking him straight in the eyes. 'Know where I'll be then? When they bury you? Still alive. Still strong. Still immortal -' Hulk begins, before Hawkeye turns away from him and looks around at the hospital surroundings. 'Wait a sec. This...isn't a real hospital?' Clint asks. The Hulk laughs and tells him to count his fingers.  'They're all back, right? Cause none of this is “rea,” not in the way you think, anyway' Hulk explains, before telling the others to get ready. 'He's making his move...' Hulk announces, as reality around them begins to shift. 'Who?' Hawkeye enquires, as his costume materializes, replacing his hospital gown, while strange patterns and shapes take the place of the hospital.
In his gut, Rocket already knows who is behind this, as he is no stranger to bad dreams. 'That's right, Hulk! All of you are lost – marooned in my realm! To suffer forever – tortured eternally at the hands of your greatest foe – NIGHTMARE!' the powerful villain grins as he appears before the Hulk, Hawkeye and Rocket, green energy glowing around him as he rides his demonic steed, Dreamstalker! This looks bad, but Rocket figured there was still some angle, something he wasn't seeing yet – something that made it worse.
Elsewhere: '- NOW!' Hercules shouts as he falls through a portal along with the android Vision, Wanda Maximoff the Scarlet Witch and Monica Rambeau a.k.a. Spectrum. Several strange column are in the space where the heroic Avengers find themselves, and Spectrum announces that wherever Voyager sent them, the coast is clear, so they should all form on her. 'Let's try not to draw attention to ourselves until we -' Spectrum begins, while Wanda moans she falls through the portal. The Vision calls out to her, while Hercules clenches a fist and shouts 'Damn you, Voyager!' 'Or not' Monica remarks quietly, before asking Wanda if she is okay. Wanda informs Monica that she is blind, that everything went dark after Nyx struck her eyes. The Vision tells his ex-wife to take his arm and that he will help her. I will not have vengeance taken from me!' Hercules shouts as he slams his fist into a wall. 'What's that noise?' the confused Wanda asks. The Vision tells her that Hercules is mourning, while Spectrum calls out to Hercules and reminds him that they need him focused.
The Vision starts to tell the other Avengers that they must get their bearings and figure out where Voyager has sent them. Suddnenly, his voice begins to break, and he holds a word down, repeating it. 'Viz?' Spectrum asks. The Vision reverts to normal as he explains that was a minor variance, that he is rerouting neural pathways to compensate. 'Your systems are deteriorating' Spectrum points out. The Vision agrees and assures Spectrum that they will persevere. Hercules tells the others to stop chatting and motions to a light that has appeared up ahead. The Avengers walk towards the light, and Herc, Monica and the Vision go wide-eyed at what they see. 'Okay. I've been in Galactus' house. This is more impressive' Monica utters, while Hercules realizes that they are in Omnipotence City. A strange space station floats amidst an asteroid belt in deep space, a powerful light glowing from the space station. Monica looks at Hercules 'What is that?' she asks him. “The most peerless piece of Earth, I think, that e'er the sun shone bright on” the Vision quotes. Hercules tells the others that this place's beauty matters not, and that they must press on.
Shielding her eyes, Monica realizes that the sun still shines here, to which Hercules remarks that the light of knowledge shall not fade until the cosmos closes in upon itself. Suddenly, Wanda tells everyone to wait, that there is something else, something glowing out there. 'There's all kinds of things glowing, Wanda' Monica replies, while the Vision asks Wanda if she can be more specific. Wanda explains that it is a shape burning with dark energy, somewhere up ahead – and it is the only thing she can see. 'That can't be a coincidence' Monica remarks, switching to an energy form, she offers to scout ahead and see what that is. But Hercules tells Monica not to, explaining that it is all too easy to lose onesself here, that this place is myth – not science. He adds that there are no coincidences or random events, only fate, so that energy must be what Voyager sent them to find. 'So find it we shall... and then I will visit my unfettered wrath upon Nyx and her foul children' Hercules announces.
Meantime, Rocket knows that something is off here, as he, Hawkeye and the Hulk stand before Nightmare and Dreamstalker, whose tail and mane glow with green energy. Nightmare warns the Hulk, Hawkeye and Rocket that all they have gone through was a mere taste, a simmering soupcon of the horror he can visit upon them. Nightmare informs the heroes that they will assist him in his goals, do his bidding, or he will make them suffer a never-ending nightmare! Rocket has good hearing, and thinks that this guy doesn't sound like an all-powerful dream king – not quite – more like a salesman – so what is he trying to sell? Rocket raises his paw and announces that he has a question: 'If you're so powerful, how come you need our help?' he asks. 'And how come I could break outta my dream and into his? What was that about?' Rocket asks, motioning to the Hulk. The Hulk frowns and agrees that Rocket has a point. 'I – I planned that! Obviously' Nightmare claims, before warning the Hulk to get back. Nightmare casts some energy at the Hulk, and wonders why he can't make the green behemoth afraid. 'Maybe Banner's already having a nightmare – maybe I'm it!' the Hulk shouts as he lunges at Nightmare.
'No! Wait! Wait!' Nightmare calls out, as he drops to his knees, forlorn, he frowns and asks the Hulk to hang on, that before this gets out of hand, he wants them to behold him as he truly is – weakened and evidently even more powerless than he thought! 'Figured as much' the Hulk frowns, before instructing Nightmare to start talking and to make it good. Nightmare makes it, good, revealing to the others that long ago he had done a favor for Zeus, that Zeus had some kind of power crystal - “The Night That Might Yet Be”. Zeus wanted it hidden where nobody would ever look, as his enemy was hidden behind the “light of dreams”, whatever that was. And, in return, Zeus and his people would stay off Nightmare's turf.
And so, for thousands of years, that's how it was– Nightmare kept Zeus' MacGuffin in his fortress, out of harm's way – and the Greek gods never bothered him again – until one of them did. The Crystal that Nightmare guarded sat in a case near Nightmare's throne, while outside his fortress, Hypnos, the God of Sleep and son of the Queen of the Night used an army of slumbering soldiers to invade Nightmare's fortress, using a battering ram to bring the fortress walls down. And because these soldiers were asleep, that meant they were immune to Nightmare's power, and thus robbing him of the dreams that sustained him.
'So you ran?' Rocket asks. Nightmare replies that he is still there – and here, that the fortress is a metaphor, like everything in dreams – but even so, its walls will crumble, and when they do, Hypnos will have his bauble – and everything else of his, as he is too weak to stop him. 'But not too weak to torture us' Hawkeye points out, suggesting that Nightmare could have asked them for help. Nightmare scowls and declares 'No. I do not – I will not beg'. He asks Hawkeye if he understands the humiliation of this – to need aid from a sworn enemy, from any mere mortals. 'This – this is my Nightmare!' he utters. Hawkeye remarks that they can't let Hypnos get his hands on whatever it is he is trying to get his hands on, so they will help. 'Hey! Speak for yourself, Captain Pointy Sticks' Rocket mutters, motioning up at Nightmare, who has stood up and returns to Dreamstalker's side, Rocket reminds the others that this tall glass of Flark milk just got done torturing them. 'Now he wants my services?' Rocket asks, before pointing at Nightmare and offering him two words: 'Pay me'.
'Hey, that's not how the Avengers operate -' Hawkeye starts to say, before the Hulk pushes him aside, and states that he had a run-in with the real Avengers – and Hawkeye wasn't there, because they don't want him. 'So shut up. The adults are talking' Huk adds as he walks over to Nightmare and informs him that Rocket is right – if he wants their help, it will cost. Nightmare responds by telling the Hulk that is ridiculous, as his power is all but gone, he is a shadow of himself. 'What can I possibly offer you?' he asks. 'What do I even have left?' to which the Hulk smirks, which makes Rocket uneasy. Rocket had known Hulk when Hulk was stupid, but now, out of all of them, Hulk was the only one who knew just where he was – and where he wanted to be.
Meantime, back at Omnipotence City, Spectrum leads the way, while Hercules follows her, and behind them the Vision assists Wanda, who tells the others 'This way. I can see it...' Vision tells Wanda to be careful, while Spectrum asks Hercules if he has been here before. Hercules informs her that he has, and that this place is the center of Infinity, the nexus of the gods. Herc explains that Omnipotence City is a realm of divine fellowship and governance where immortals from all corners of reality come to debate, to ally and to mourn. Hercules adds that in its parliament of pantheons, laws that affect billions are enacted within the genesis bazar, gods barter the destinies of entire galaxies. They enter some sort of library, as Hercules tells his friends that fate has granted them an immense honor – as no mortal has ever set foot inside Omnipotence City.
Suddenly, a bald man with a long white beard appears above the Avengers, 'How. Dare. You' he exclaims, as Hercules glances up and informs the other Avengers that if it were up to the Lord High Librarian, no mortal ever would. He quietly tells the other Avengers to start looking, while Hercules turns to the old man, 'Good sir. We've no time to waste. I bring with me -' he begins, to which the Lord High Librarian interrupts him 'I'm familiar with your... lessers, Hercules' and remarks that they are inside the Halls of the All-Knowing, so there are no surprises here. Hercules tells the old man that if he is the keeper of all knowledge, then he knows that this intrusion is not an act of malice. Hercules then tells the old man that, apparently, his father entrusted him with the safekeeping of a fragment of power. He asks where it is now. The old man turns away from Hercules and points out that all-knowing and all-telling are too different things. He claims that he realized Nyx was to come for The Night That Was, and reveals that he has hidden it well – but that is all they need to know.
Hercules asks the Lord High Librarian if he thinks he can stop Nyx from taking it, as she massacres gods. 'There are hundreds upon hundreds of immortals who can help us! Summon them!' Hercules pleads, while the Vision phases through a nearby bookcase. The Lord High Librarian reminds Hercules that gods war among themselves all the time, but the parliament does not involve itself in such internal matters. Hercules calls the old man a fool and tells him that this isn't merely an Olympian problem, as Nyx threatens all reality. 'Be that as it may, my hands are tied' the old man responds, while the Vision, Spectrum and Wanda hover above them, the Vision states that the shard is well hidden. He asks the others how you conceal something inside a room where everything is known. Wanda holds her fingertips to her head, and replies 'You don't let go of it', and reveals that she can see the “fragment” and quickly alerts Hercules to the fact that it is around the Lord High Librarian's neck, hidden under his beard.
At that moment: 'Is it now. Thank you ever so much' a voice calls out as a portal opens and from it emerges Dolos and Apate, two of Nyx's children. 'We'll take it from here' Apate exclaims, while Wanda utters 'Oh, no... no, no, no', and the shocked Spectrum exclaims that Nyx didn't blind Wanda, she turned her into her eyes! Hercules tells the others that Apate and Dolos are the Gods of Deceit and Trickery, that they will try to separate them. 'Protect the Librarian' he adds, while Spectrum tells Hercules to run defense, while she runs offense – but as she darts around the library, she soon discovers that the twins are missing. 'Where did they go?' she asks. The Librarian warns Spectrum to take care, as the fog of Dolos that spreads around them corrupts anyone that it touches, and they cannot easily penetrate its cover. 'And of Apate? What's her speciality?' Wanda asks, turning to the other twin. 'Lies' the Librarian responds, as Apate hurls two daggers towards the Avengers. 'Her daggers cut through flesh – through reason – through sanity' the Librarian explains, before looking on in shock, as the daggers pass by Wanda and the Vision – and strike Hercules in his back
Hercules narrows his eyes which glow green, and he turns, announcing that he can finally think clearly, he declares that the Avengers have failed to save Olympus, that they bear the responsibility, and so the last Son of Olympus must balance the scales – by killing them all!


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Untitled
Flashback:
In the beginning, there was darkness. A silent dream. And in such stillness, she was born. Nyx. Before the light. The emptiness was pure. Its potential was endless – but it would not last. The light began to grow, it was harsh and unyielding. The light was Zeus – God of the Sky and Lightning and son of the galactic Titans. He was loud and bright and could not stand to be alone with Nyx. And thus came Olympus, and with it, many Olympians – like Athena, Hermes and Hephaistos. The gods were abundant and they carved up the darkness to make their kingdom glitter and their stories shine – stories of heroism and stories of heartbreak. And while the people of this kingdom worshipped Zeus and the gods, Nyx decided that this was a petty pageantry to while away the centuries, while she clung to the shadows, away from the festivities.
Nyx watched as the gods had children, she saw how it made them happy – and wondered if she could ever feel such joy. So, she dreamt of darkness once more, the stillness of slumber, and her firstborn arrived three nights hence. She called him Hypnos, the God of Sleep. As time passed, Hypnos tried to find his place in the light but, like his mother, he found its countenance a poor fit for his desires. Nyx would watch as her son would be trained by Ares in sword combat. Her son was loyal and stoic, he would gather an army of sleepers to guard the night from enemies – and to watch over her dreams.
Hypnos grew into a warrior, as he led his army of sleep towards Nightmare's fortress, deep within Nightmare's realm. He planned to take the fortress in his mother's name. 'Dreamless – fall back! Imaginators forward! Siege machines – ready!' Hypnos called out. But, as the mortals knew sleep, so they knew dreams of their own, as several of them moving a catapult towards the fortress wondered if they were in a movie, while another feared that they were late to class. 'For Nyx! And for her vengeance! Fire!' Hypnos called out, as the civilians launched catapults forward, as visions lit by the spark of imagination, propelled into reality, the boulders from the catapult crashed into Nightmare's fortress.
And on Earth, the age of fire began, humankind's own light – lit at their command. Night and dark were banished to the outer side with all the unknowns humanity feared. Several prehistoric cavepeople gathered in a cave, as one of them admitted they were afraid of the night, as the Tiger God hunts. 'No night or tiger in here. Hearken to teller now. Teller has tellings...' one of them uttered, and, as before, with the light came the stories – mortal magicians using their magic words to dispel the night's terrors. This continued into a more civilized time period, as a muscular man asked an old man to tell of the Night-Witch and of the God-King who ended her darkness. 'Would you now more, my chief' the story teller replied, before beginning his tale “Once upon a time”, as in other times, people attempted to cage the night's mysteries, as an old man hailed the children of Zeus, asking them to grand lovely song and celebrate the holy race of the deathless gods.
Lines were drawn, good and evil were defined – their words and symbols shaped Zeus and his children – ever more, ever growing – into heroes. So what did that make Nyx and her children? With each new legion of followers the Olympians pulled into their bright halls, Nyx felt her rage grow. They never wanted her among them, as they feared the power of darkness. She argued with Hera, and later, Nyx's twins came thusly – Apate and Dolos – Deceit and Trickery. They were echoes of Nyx's frustrations, and they would never believe the lies of Olympus. Dolos, the boy, would play tricks on Dionysus, while Apate would torment Artemis. Conflict became inevitable – and Nyx's children were bred for it... as weapons of war!
Present:
Omnipotence City, 'Hercules, wait! The twins are corrupting your mind! We must not -' the android Avenger known as the Vision calls out, too late, as Hercules, possessed by Apate, slams his fist into the Vision's face. 'Vision!' Wanda Maximoff the Scarlet Witch, currently blinded, calls out to her ex-husband, before asking Monica Rambeau a.k.a. Spectrum what is happening. In an energy form Spectrum hovers behind Wanda and tells her that it is nothing good, adding that it sounds like Vision's systems are glitching again, and she can’t cut through this fog. Spectrum then wonders where the Lord High Librarian is, unaware that he is very close, Apate holding him by the neck as she points a dagger at his face, 'Not a word' she utters. Hercules continues his assault against the Vision, slamming him up against a bookcase, he exclaims that it if wasn't for the mortals' whining and mewling, always begging for his help, he would have been on Olympus, and would have saved his family. Vision tries to tell Hercules that they are his family, but as his systems begin to fail, his words stutter.
Suddenly, in her electromagnetic form, Spectrum darts through the fog and tells Wanda to find the Librarian, while she tries to snap Hercules out of the spell. 'Oh? You're certainly welcome to try' Dolos utters as he appears seemingly from nowhere and blows a powder in Spectrum's face. 'After all – he'll be after you next' Dolos points out as Spectrum turns and sees five Hercules moving towards her. Dolos goes over to Apate and tells her that this group is not much of a challenge. 'Humans. What did you expect?' Apate replies before telling her brother to hold the Librarian while she begins to carve. Suddenly, through the darkness, Wanda sees the twins. 'Let him be' she declares, firing a hex blast towards the twins, knocking them back and freeing the Librarian from theirv grasp. 'Surprise. Since we're all linked to your mother's power, you aren't hidden to me' Wanda tells the twins, before calling out to Spectrum, informing her that she has the twins, she asks her if she can shock Hercules out of it. 'Now that there's only one of him, sure' Spectrum responds as she finds the right strobe frequency, and releases it against the now lone Hercules, knocking him back.
'My mind... what have I done? Forgive me, my frie-' Hercules begins, rubbing his head, before hev falls silent, as the Vision and Spectrum follow his gaze, they look up and see the Queen of Night herself, Nyx, standing over them, with her child Oizys lurking behind her, her strange form wrapped around the cosmic Avenger known as Voyager, who struggles to break free. 'There you are' Nyx utters.
Flashback:
And then, at last, they fought. Darkness against light. Nyx's truth against the lies of the Olympians. Apate fought Artemis, while Dolos challenged Hermes, and Hypnos fought Athena, their swords clashing. Poseidon created a massive wave that swept over Hypnos' sleeping army, as Nyx and Zeus confronted each other. The Olympians, squabblers and meddlers for eternity, somehow managed to find common ground in their hatred of Nyx. The night was crushed under their heels, as Hypnos, Apate and Dolos were defeated by Athena, Artemis and Hermes, and Poseidon held Nyx to the ground, his trident poised at her neck. But defeat was just the beginning of their torment, as Zeus strode towards Nyx, he plunged his fist into her soul, his word driving into her brain like a searing brand: “The night is no longer yours” he declared. “I shall break it thrice and cast the shards beyond your reach. Never again shall you possess them”. He pulled Nyx's dark soul from her body and broke it into three. The Night That Was. The Night That Is. The Night That Yet May Be. Her soul was laid bare and taken from her – her name forbidden and forgotten.
And then came the tomb, shackled and chained, Apate, Dolos and Hypnos were thrown from a cliff into the darkness below. Nyx clung to the edge of the cliff, chains pulling her down, while Zeus stood over her. ‘The darkness you craved is now your prison. As long as the sun shines upon the Earth, for you there shall be no road home' Zeus told Nyx as she fell from the cliff, into the darkness, landing among her chained children. The silence and stillness was now a pit of howling despair – no more dreams, only nightmares. And from those nightmares, Nyx's fourth and most  powerful child was birthed – Oizys – the Misery. Oizys was Nyx's hatred manifested. These reflections of Nyx's dark existence bound with her, trapped for all time – lost in their sorrow, they had only each other, as Oizys wrapped around her chained mother and siblings. Nyx knew that most would have prayed for Madness to release them – she prayed for Revenge.
And, where go gods and cosmic beings, nothing is impossible. For a brief time, the Earth was stolen from its favored spot beneath the sun's illumination, and thus, the spell of imprisonment was broken – and Nyx and her children were set free. Free to regain all that was taken – and so much more, as she struck down and destroyed Zeus himself. The Olympians, the mortals, the universe itself – after an eternity of mistreatment, they have all been spoiled. Nyx's only hope now is a return to the silence, an end to the light – which she will make limitless. Empty. Pure. In the beginning, there shall be darkness again.
Present:
'No threat. No threat at all' Nyx utters as she traps the Scarlet Witch and Hercules in bonds of darkness. She walks over to the Librarian who is held by Apate and Dolos. Spectrum and Vision are nearby, also trapped in bonds of darkness. 'When the story of this moment is written in your books, Librarian, make sure it says this:' Nyx begins, before plunging her hand into the Lord High Librarian's chest, causing him to scream as her hand reaches through him, and pulls from it one of the shards of her soul. 'The Queen of Night found The Night That Was... and she barely broke a sweat' Nyx smiles.
Inside Nightmare's realm, Hypnos turns and calls out 'I hear you, mother. You have The Night That Was...and soon I will have The Night That May Yet Be' Hypnos smirks as his sleeping army make progress on Nightmare's fortress, breaking through its walls. 'Do you hear me, Nightmare? Come out! Face your better!' Hypnos calls out, raising his sword. 'Your castle is fallen! And your night will be mine -' Hypnos boasts, when suddenly, he is interrupted by someone who calls out 'Not yet'. Hypnos turns slowly, 'What?' he asks, narrowing his eyes. 'See, that's my castle now. And the night...the night is my time!' calls out the Immortal Hulk, who holds a large sword, while riding on the steed called Dreamstalker, as Hawkeye and Rocket stand positioned nearby, their weapons at the ready, as Nightmare himself hovers with them, smirking....


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New York City, where Hercules stands on a busy street. Everyone has stories to tell – stories of heroism, and of heartbreak. And right now, Hercules remembers battling alongside other Gods of Olympus against the Amphisbaena. 'Now there was a threat like no other...' he recalls. The creature was titanic in stature, the two-headed serpent born of Medusa's brow could swallow swarms of mortal villagers whole – and it did – until the Gods of Olympus descended to vanquish the beast in hard-fought battle. Hercules remembers Hermes, the most fleet of foot and always the first to strike, and Artemis, whose arrows were unerring and deadly, and Poseidon, whose trident crashed like a tidal wave. There was Athena, a warrior woman like no other, and, of course, Zeus, Lord of the Sky and Thunder, and King of the Gods. None could stand against them – not even the mighty Amphisbaena.
Hercules' memories continue, recalling how their revelry was as epic as their victory, nestled in the bosom of the courtyard of Olympus, their chalices kept brimmed by Dionysus himself as they celebrated for days. In fact, they could scarcely tear themselves away – and why would they? The majesty of Olympus, the grandeur, the beauty, there is no place else so marvelous, so wondrous and resplendent in all of existence than the cradle of the immortals. 'It simply beggars the imagination' Hercules remarks. 'That's great, Mr Hercules. I can't wait to tell my kids. But, see, here's the thing... we're kinda in the middle of a situation here' a surly police officer tells the handsome Hercules as they and a SWAT team stand outside a Hardware Tool & Toys store. 'Yes, yes, of course. Allow me to assist you' Hercules responds.
'Ho, good man. You must be the ranking leader of this garrison!' Hercules calls out as he approaches an officer who carries a large gun, positioned near the entrance to the store. Hercules asks the officer what he can tell him about the foe in yonder tool fortress. 'There's some kinda freaky monster in there. Probably one of those alien types' the officer scowls. 'Is there anything you can tell me of the creature?' Hercules enquires. The officer informs him that no one got a good look at it, all they heard was creepy laughter, and then a bunch of lasers shot the store up. 'Hey! What're you doing?' the officer shouts as Hercules passes the police cordon and approaches the store. 'Vanquishing evil. Where I stride, legends are born!' Hercules smiles.
Hercules leaps through a window and examines his surroundings, 'Hmmm -' he begins, before a blue light shines at him, 'Organic threat detected -' a computerized voice states, before an explosion knocks Hercules backwards, along with some hardware supplies. 'Trickery shall not save you, beast!' Herc calls out as he reaches for his axe, then rushes forward, 'You face a warrior of skill so great the bards have run dry their quills while recording my d-' Hercules begins, dodging energy blasts, he cuts his sentence short when he discovers the alien trouble maker up ahead. 'Back off, beard-o! Come any closer and I'll pop plasma in your piehole!' Rocket Raccoon exclaims, blasting more energy beams towards Hercules while also using a flame thrower. 'Are you some kind of militarized dog?' Hercules asks. “Dog?” Rocket quotes. 'I'll show you a dog, you mo-' Rocket begins, before Hercules knocks him back as Rocket opens fire, 'Careful now!' Hercules tells him as the energy strikes the ceiling. There is a loud creaking noise, 'Look what you did...' Rocket utters, 'Uh-oh' Herc utters, as the hardware store collapses inwards on top of them, sending a dust cloud racing towards the police officer outside.
Suddenly, Hercules bursts from the rubble, 'Fear not, the Lion of Olympus remains unharmed!' he boasts, while holding up Rocket by the scruff of his neck. 'Lemme go, muscle-brain. I wasn't doing nuthin' ta no one!' Rocket snaps. 'You attacked the citizens of this fair city' Hercules points out. Rocket explains that he tried to shop at that store and they refused to serve him, they just started screaming and freaking out. 'So 'twas a misunderstanding?' Herc enquires. 'One hundred percent!' Rocket claims. 'Who are you?' Hercules enquires, and Rocket introduces himself. 'And what is that?' Hercules asks, referring to a small ball that Rocket is holding. 'This? This is nuthin' Rocket responds. The officer in charge of this operation tells Hercules that he did a nice job, and asks him to put the dog down so they can take it from here. 'I am not a dog!' Rocket protests. Hercules tells the constabulary to hold, as he believes there has been a mistake. 'Take that dog $#%& back of I'll shove this gravi-nade up your stinkin' -' Rocket begins, interrupted when they are plunged into darkness. 'Eh?' Hercules utters, looking up. 'Who turned out the lights?' Rocket asks.
This is a story of darkness... and how to hold it back.
Moments earlier, in Los Angeles, California, inside Smith's Diner, two longtime friends, Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye and Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. Scarlet Witch are catching up. 'And how's your man Jericho?' Hawkeye asks, referring to Wanda's partner, Doctor Voodoo. 'Who told you about us?' Wanda responds. 'Jarvis! My Avengers gossip mole!' Clint tells her. 'He is not' Wanda replies. 'Lemme tell ya, Wanda. Two cups of PG Tips and his mouth can't stop...' Clint jokes. Wanda smiles and informs Clint that she and Jericho are fine, which is why she is on the West Coast – they are looking for a condo. 'Living together?' Hawkeye asks. 'So, it's getting serious...'he begins, to which Wanda informs him that it is nice, and that she wants to see how it feels to share living space, see whether it unbalances the equilibrium between them. “Seeking equilibrium in a shared living space. Voodoo powers a big plus” Hawkeye jokes. 'Such a mocking tone, Clint...' Wanda frowns, folding her arms.
Clint tells his friend that he is happy for her, seriously, and that he wants to see more of her and the good doctor. Clint informs Wanda that he is helping Kate Bishop and her crew run a new West Coast Avengers team, 'I'm sure you've seen our social media blitz' he adds. Wanda informs Clint that Quicksilver is trying to become an Instagram star, so she is avoiding social media these days. 'Point is, you and Jericho should join us. I need a couple of veterans in the mix to show these kids how it's done' Clint remarks. Wanda thanks Clint, but declines the offer, explaining that she has had her fair share of team drama for now. As a concession, she hands him a present – a box. 'Oh?' Clint asks. Wanda informs him that when they were boxing up supplies from Avengers Mansion, she came across some of his things. Clint goes through the box, 'Smoke arrow, putty arrow... classic!' he smiles, before coming across a book called “Stars and stripes, an unathorized Captain America biography”. 'Oh yeah! That was from when Cap and I hated each other's guts and I was looking for dirt to use against him...' Clint explains, before discovering in the box, a vial of Pym Particles from his time as Goliath. 'That sure takes me back' Clint smiles.
'Super-soldiers, geniuses, gods and mutants...I felt like the low man on Earth's mightiest totem pole' Clint recalls. 'We all have our moments of doubt' Wanda agrees. 'Yeah...' Clint replies, before a waitress asks them if there is anything else or whether they want the bill. Wanda doesn't want anything, but Clint asks for more coffee – no milk, no sugar. 'Dark as dark can be' he tells the waitress, when suddenly, the sunlight vanishes. 'Uh... that wasn't me...' Hawkeye utters, as he and Wanda look concerned.
'I want to hide from the darkness... to watch from afar...to let the story play itself out... but the Avengers taught me better than that' someone, somewhere, thinks to themselves.
In Washington DC, the sun shines down over the Washington Monument as the Vision and Monica Rambeau a.k.a. Spectrum hover over some water. 'A perfect day' the Vision states as a camera hovers in front of him, monitoring his actions. 'We got lucky, all right. No clouds means one less thing to correct for in these tests...' Monica replies. 'Not quite what I mean, Spectrum' the Vision remarks. Monica tells the Vision to call her Monica, reminding him that they have known each other long enough. The camera displays a holo-monitor which depicts Adam Brashear the Blue Marvel. 'How are the readings on your end, hon?' Monica asks. 'Good news and bad news, I'm afraid' Adam replies.
The Blue Marvel is at Kadesh Base, in the Mariana Trench, along with Dr Toni Ho. Adam tells Monica and the Vision that he will let Dr Ho take them through it, as she is the robotics specialist. Toni thanks Blue Marvel as she explains that whatever is happening with the Vision, the reason his systems are degrading like they are – is because he is dying. Toni adds that they were hoping it was a problem with his energy intake, and if it was, they would have a diagnosis – but according to the readings, he is absorbing the sun's rays as well as he ever did, so it is not his diet. She admits that they aren't sure what it is – except that it started after the Hulk's attack. 'Damn. Not such a perfect day after all -' Monica begins, but the Vision interrupts her, telling her that, on the contrary, he does not think of this ongoing process of deterioration as his death, but as the end of his life. He flies upwards as he remarks that to live, to truly be human, he must accept that life has an end. He adds that his systems are failing, and he will soon pass away – and yet he has this moment.
'I am alive. I live and am alive' the Vision declares, clenching his fists, asking if that is not perfect, even though it ends? Some birds fly around him as Monica flies upwards to join him, she pauses, before asking 'Iambic pentameter?' The Vision reveals that he dabbles, as his son enjoyed Shakespeare. “Of all the wonders that I have yet heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear... seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come” the Vision quotes Julius Caesar. Monica reminds the Vision that her body is made of energy, in whatever form she wants that to be – and therefore she isn't sure how to take that quote. Monica adds that energy can't be destroyed, so she doesn't think she can die. 'Am I less alive? Less human?' Monica asks as she switches to an energy form and touches the Vision's face. The Vision tells Monica that he couldn't say, and that he can only answer for himself.
'Ahem. Speaking of Monica's abilities...' Blue Marvel smiles, while Monica begins radiating around the Vision, touching his chest, she explains that by changing into electricity, she should be able to work through the Vision's systems, check for any faults that aren't obvious from the outside. Dr Ho announces that like the Blue Marvel said, there is good news here, and now they know Vision can take in all the energy he needs to fight this thing and it won't make it worse – so as long as the sun doesn't suddenly vanish. As if on cue, Toni and Adam look horrified as the screen displaying back to them goes black, as Monica's energy form enters the Vision, and darkness suddenly appears around him. 'Me and my big mouth' Toni mutters.
Elsewhere: 'They taught me to face evil head-on, to fight together... against what cannot be fought alone...' the mysterious being thinks to themselves.
Somewhere in New Mexico, Bruce Banner lumbers down a deserted road as the sun appears in a haze behind him. He hums a tune, then starts singing: “I'd like to pretend that my father was wrong...but you don't want to lie... not to the...” he suddenly, stops singing, and looks up as he realizes that he has been plunged into darkness. 'I'm still there' he utters. 'I never left! God – merciful God. Help me – I'm in Hell! I'm still in Hell! I'm still in-' Bruce exclaims as he suddenly begins to transform, his skin turns green, his muscles bulge, as he transforms into the Immortal Hulk. The Hulk roars, before asking 'So what else is new, Banner?'
'I assembled them once before...' someone thinks to themselves, before a voice calls out: 'Hulk?' and the Hulk turns to see the blue-skinned alien Va Nee Gast, better known as Voyager, moving through a portal towards him. '...now I must do it again. Starting with the strongest' Voyager tells herself, before remarking to the Hulk that he may not remember her, but she is the daughter of the Grandmaster. 'And you...you are needed' Voyager announces. The Hulk tells Voyager that he remembers her, and asks her if she made the night fall, or if the elders did it. Voyager reports that she didn't, but that she saw what did – and knew they would need heroes. 'What did this... it's the most frightening creature I've ever seen' Voyager exclaims. 'Almost' she adds quietly as she looks at the Hulk. 'You silver-tongued devil' the Hulk smirks, while Voyager  thinks to herself that strength alone cannot win – nor will numbers, as the enemy will see an army coming – against what she saw, they need strategy and power. Thankfully, Voyager knows Avengers who embody both.
The Vision gazes around the darkness, before turning to Toni who appears on the holo-monitor before him. The Vision reviews his visual memory of the last few moments, and reports that the sun did not set – night simply fell. He adds that any sudden rotation of the Earth would have led to severe structural damage. Toni declares that this isn't a standard day/night cycle, informing him that it is still night here in the Pacific Ocean, and in Moscow, Berlin, London, Beijing, New York – everywhere on the planet at once. 'How is that possible?' Toni utters. Examining some readings on a screen, the Blue Marvel reports that it gets worse, explaining that this facility has near-instant communication with various alien words, and whatever it is, it is not limited to Earth.
Indeed, the Skrull homeworld is plunged into darkness, and one Skrull suspects that this is a Kree trick, while a blue-skinned alien race are fearful that all five suns have gone. 'It's the end!' someone utters, while the Chitauri, too, find themselves plunged into darkness, and hiss at the nothingness around them.
Blue Marvel reports that there is a Shi'ar plasma-harvesting station in the heart of their local sun – and night just fell there as well. 'Madness' he remarks as the Vision flies through the city, while civilians below him run in panic. The Vision tells Monica, whose electrical form is still coursing through him, that she, of all of them, perhaps has the most experience with the inexplicable, to which Monica admits that she has seen a lot, but this, it feels different – darker somehow. 'Maybe it's time – to assemble -' Monica starts, when suddenly, a portal opens before the Vision, and Voyager and the Hulk emerge from it. 'Vision – Spectrum – you are needed' Voyager announces, while Blue Marvel tries to contact Monica, asking her if she is still there. He then asks the Vision to respond, before realizing that the communication stream is out. Toni looks at a monitor and point out that the Vision and Spectrum can take care of themselves and right now, she is worried about those who can't. The Blue Marvel agrees and points out that universal nightfull means universal panic, and that lives are in danger everywhere – literally. 'We're going to be busy...'
Back in Los Angeles, Clint holds up a flare and tells everyone in the diner not to panic, that he is pretty sure this is a routine sun outage. 'And your friendly neighborhood Avengers are on the case' Clint starts to tell the diner patrons that there is no reason to be scared, 'Yeh? What about that, dude?' one of them asks, pointing to the portal that suddenly appears. 'Oh. That' the Vision mutters. Voyager, the Hulk and Vision appear, and Voyager looks the Scarlet Witch, telling her that she is needed. 'You can defy reality itself with your magic – if we're to fight this endless night, we'll need your abilities' Voyager explains. Wanda casts a simple spell and her costume materializes, 'There's really no choice, is there?' Wanda asks. 'Guess not. Avengers assemble, right?' Hawkeye smiles, adding 'Soeaking of West Coast Avengers, I can make some calls -' but the Hulk interrupts him, and tells him to get lost, as this is serious. 'We don't need the arrow guy' the Hulk declares. 'What?' Hawkeye exclaims.
'Hulk, if this is about me shooting you – me and Bruce settled that -' Hawkeye begins, to which the Hulk replies 'Did you. Banner comes to you to help kill me – kill us – and instead of sending him to a shrink...you go along with it. 'You put an arrow in our head. And now you think it's settled' the Hulk frowns, he puts a large hand around Hawkeye's shoulders, grinning, he suggests to Clint that he tag along and make himself...useful. 'Just don't find yourself alone with me. Ever' the Hulk warns him. 'Y-yeah? Or what?' Hawkeye asks nervously. 'Or I'll settle it' the Hulk announces. As Voyager extends her portal around the other Avengers, she wonders if contacting the Hulk was a mistake, for if he turns on them, she isn't sure anyone here has the strength to stop him – however, there is one who might – perhaps. She was hoping to build their forces further before she spoke to him, but decides that now is as good a time as any.
'Portal at 8 o'clock!' Rocket exclaims. 'Voyager!' Hercules gasps as he sees Voyager and the others. 'Hercules, you are needed!' Voyager announces. The police officers see the Hulk and order everyone to step away with their hands up. Hercules turns back to the officers and instructs the officer in charge to stand down. 'Do you not see that this is an assembly of heroes?' he asks. 'Only thing these goons understand is a superior firepower' Rocket mutters, before saying hello to the Hulk. Voyager walks over to Hercules and explains to him that they don't have time to negotiate with the local law enforcement. Hercules tells Voyager that he understands, and asks for a moment. 'Rocket' the Hulk replies. 'Long time, huh?' Rocket points out. 'The Hulk blew up a whole town in Iowa -' the officer begins. 'That's how they're selling that?' the Hulk frowns, while Hercules suggests that this posturing serves no one, and announces that he and his friends are about to embark on a quest.
'You can't just up and leave after the destruction you've caused!' the officer protests, while Rocket whistles as he looks at the gravi-nade he is still holding. Hercules tells the officer that amends will be made, but not right now, and suggests he contact Tony Staark who will make sure that this is properly dealt with. Rocket looks up at the Vision, 'Well, hello there, metal man' he remarks. 'Can I help you?' the Vision frowns. 'Stand still for a sec, okay? I just wanna get a small piece of -' Rocket begins as he leaps towards the Vision, who becomes intangible, stating that he has not components that he can spare. 'Excuse my lack of density, but I am monitoring a significant potential threat' the Vision explains as the surprised Rocket passes through the android Avenger.
The Hulk asks what the Vision is staring at, while Voyager reports that every moment they wait the situation worsens. 'Come with us now' she asks Hercues. 'Of course! A hero summoned always answers the call!' Hercules responds, before asking where they are going. Hanging her head, Voyager reveals that they are going to Hercules' home – to Mount Olympus, as there has been an attack. 'Olympus!?' Hercules shouts, surprised. 'Take me there, woman! Do it now!' Hercules declares. Voyager tells him that she will, but that they need more allies. 'Nay! You said every moment brings more calamity. Open the damned portal!' Hercules booms. 'Very well' Voyager concedes, as she extends her portal around Hercules, Wanda, Hawkeye, the Hulk and the Vision. 'You crazy kids have fun, 'cause I'm out!' Rocket calls back to the heroes as he starts to leap away – only for the Hulk to reach out and grab him by the scruff of his neck, pulling him into the portal. 'Hey! No fair -' Rocket begins.
Voyager then warns Hercules to brace himself, as her portal re-opens on Mount Olympus. The horrified Hercules looks around at his home which stands in ruins, fires blaze and skeletons cover the ground. Hawkeye and the Hulk stand ready for an attack, while Vision and Wanda examine the surroundings. Voyager hangs her head, even Rocket is left speechless. Hawkeye comes across the body of Dionysus, while Wanda and Voyager discover the body of Zeus himself, and Rocket looks up at Hermes, whose body has been shoved through a tall spike. 'My gods...' the wide-eyed Hercules utters, before dropping to his knees. Voyager saw darkness. The air smells of burning flesh and smoldering metal – it tastes of impossibility – someone has slain the immortals. Voyager knows that in ages past, they were worshipped, and now, they will be mourned. Before anyone could stop it, the gods of Olympus were slain.
Hercules picks up an arrow and clenches it within his fist. He hangs his head and closes his eyes, while the Vision puts a hand on his shoulder and tells him that he has his condolences. 'We will find whoever did this to your people -' the Vision begins, before Hercules spins around and stares at Voyager: 'You. What happened here? You must have seen! How did you know to bring us?' Hercules asks. 'I -' Voyager begins, before a weak voice calls out to Hercules, calling him brother. As Hercules turns to a body that lays crushed beneath a column. Voyager recalls how she had grown accustomed to watching the drama unfold from her place upon the far shore – but now, she is seeing this first hand. 'Sister Athena!' Hercules calls out as he rushes over to the goddess, while urging Wanda and the Vision to bring aid.
Hercules crouches at Athena's side and tells her that it will be all right, that they will save her. 'You are too late... the light... she took the light from us...' Athena utters. 'WHO? WHO DID THIS?' Hercules asks with a raised voice. 'The Queen...the Queen of Night...' Athena gasps. 'You mean -' Hercules starts, but Athena interrupts him, telling him not to say her name – that you can never say her name. Taking Athena's hand, Hercules declares that this is his fault, that he should have been here, defending his home. 'There you are, always trying to claim both Olympus and Earth...brother born of a god and mortal... you were never truly one of us' Athena utters. 'That's not true!' Hercules exclaims. 'Some called us being of myth...but true myths have... a final chapter. The day that your legend reaches its end as well... only then will you finally be...be home' Athena tells Hercules with her dying breath.
'And then she is gone' Voyager realizes, and her heart breaks with Hercules, as he holds the body of his sister. Hulk, Vision, Hawkeye, Wanda, Rocket and Voyager watch Hercules, before Hawkeye asks about this “Queen of Night”. 'In the ancient Greek myths, the Goddess of Night was a woman named Nyx, yes?' Wanda remarks. Then, before Voyager can raise the alarm, something stirs in the night air, while Hercules announces that if his father's stories of her are true, then she may well possess enough power to have done this. Hercules wonders if that is the case, then where is she now. He starts to ask Voyager what knowledge she possesses that she can pass on, when suddenly, a look of horror falls across Voyager's face, as she realizes that the darkness has come to claim them. Hercules looks in the direction of Voyager's gaze, 'NO!' he gasps, as Voyager realizes there is no escape, and Hawkeye, the Vision and Rocket look up in shock Nyx has arrived – and her hand has phased through the Scarlet Witch's head as the Queen of Night utters 'Your sister was right, Son of Zeus. She should not have said my name'.