Avengers: E-Book

James A. Moore

• Herausgeber: Titan Books
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

While the Avengers are in space opposing a massive alien threat, Thanos and the Black Order launch an attack against the Earth. The Avengers journey to deep space to unite the Kree, the Shi'ar, the Skrulls, and countless other intergalactic races against the Builders—technologically advanced aliens with an armada large enough to destroy the known galaxy. While the heroes are absent, Thanos the Mad Titan sets his sights on Earth, sending the Black Order to launch the assault. It falls to the other heroes of Earth—the Inhumans, the Black Panther, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Doctor Strange, the X-Men, and more—to defend Attilan, Wakanda, Atlantis, and the rest of the planet. To defeat Thanos, the defending forces will need to employ a new weapon—one that may be as deadly as the invading force.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Cover

Novels of the Marvel Universe by Titan Books

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Author’s Note

Act One: First Strike

Prelude

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Act Two: Gauntlets

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Act Three: Empires

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Act Four: Choices and Repercussions

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Act Five: Beachhead Earth

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Acknowledgments

About the Author

A NOVEL OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

INFINITY

NOVELS OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE BY TITAN BOOKS

Ant-Man: Natural Enemy by Jason Starr

Avengers: Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Dan Abnett

Avengers: Infinity by James A. Moore

Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther? by Jesse J. Holland

Captain Marvel: Liberation Run by Tess Sharpe

Civil War by Stuart Moore

Deadpool: Paws by Stefan Petrucha

Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt by Neil Kleid

Thanos: Death Sentence by Stuart Moore

Venom: Lethal Protector by James R. Tuck

X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga by Stuart Moore

X-Men: Days of Future Past by Alex Irvine

ALSO FROM TITAN BOOKS

Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover by David Liss

The Art of Iron Man (10th Anniversary Edition) by John Rhett Thomas

The Marvel Vault by Matthew K. Manning, Peter Sanderson, and Roy Thomas

Obsessed with Marvel by Peter Sanderson and Marc Sumerak

MARVEL’S AVENGERS: INFINITY Print edition ISBN: 9781789091625

E-book edition ISBN: 9781789091632

Published by Titan Books A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd 144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UPwww.titanbooks.com

First edition: April 2019 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FOR MARVEL PUBLISHING Jeff Youngquist, VP Production Special Projects Caitlin O’Connell, Assistant Editor, Special Projects Sven Larsen, Director, Licensed Publishing David Gabriel, SVP Sales & Marketing, Publishing C.B. Cebulski, Editor in Chief Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer Dan Buckley, President, Marvel Entertainment

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

© 2019 MARVEL

Visit our website:www.titanbooks.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

This novel is dedicated to Tessa Moore, my beloved, and to the memory of Heidi Ann Saffel

Author’s Note

The source material for this story was vast and complex, yet our mission was to produce a single cohesive novel. As a result some things needed to change, while others had to be rearranged. This is in no way meant to reflect on the efforts of the talented people who wrote the original comics. We hope the end result is uniquely entertaining, and does justice to their work.

ACT ONE

FIRST STRIKE

PRELUDE

IN THE beginning there was the universe.

How it came to exist was a mystery that might never be solved—at least, not in its entirety. For the majority of the inhabitants, it was enough simply to accept its existence and the infinite number of parts that made up all that was known, and all that remained enigma.

Unknown to most, however, a key influence in the development of the universe had crisscrossed the cosmos for unknown eons, shaping worlds, creating and eliminating life, controlling the structures of space and time in ways that seemed incomprehensible. The Builders had always been there, seeding and molding entire civilizations in the name of the entity they knew as “the Mother.”

The sum of the universe, personified.

Even after they ceased to revere the Mother, the different species that constituted the Builders continued to impact the ebb and flow of the universe, operating in this reality and in all realities. They moved through the Multiverse as a driving force— ageless, eternal, and unconcerned with the consequences.

Until that changed.

The vast elements of the Multiverse warned the Builders that all of their realities were in danger of failing, of collapsing, of dying.

This could not be allowed…

CHAPTER ONE

SELF REPAIR

MOST OF the world did not see the objects as they approached. Only the most advanced cameras and telescopes caught sight of the seven projectiles as they streaked down from the heavens.

High above Earth, the space station known as the Peak peered down toward the planet and outward into the cosmos. Acting as a base for the multinational Sentient World Observation and Response Department, its sole purpose was to address extraterrestrial threats to global security. S.W.O.R.D. saw the beams, and immediately issued an alert.

Too late.

* * *

“WHAT ARE we dealing with?”

“It’s difficult to tell, sir,” Nathanial Byrd replied. When the president just glared up at him, the secretary of defense continued. “Wherever an object strikes, power goes out instantly, along with communications—including computer systems. It’s like an electromagnetic pulse, and the majority of the power grids go out each time it occurs. Each blackout only lasts eight seconds, as far as we can measure, but system reboots take time.”

In some cases a reboot only took a matter of minutes, Byrd knew, but in others the software that had to reload took longer and longer with each pulse as fail-safes and protocols went into overdrive, attempting and failing to regain and restore vital information.

“From what S.W.O.R.D. has reported,” he continued, “the power outages are occurring across the globe, clearly visible from orbit. The damage is minimized where there are defenses set up to deal with electromagnetic assault, but a lot of locations have been crippled entirely.”

The president sat back, but didn’t reply.

Disruptions to the power grids were bad enough, but they were only the tip of the iceberg. Aircraft in flight suffered those same failures. Controls went dark. Radar systems fluttered and failed. Some of the planes managed to land safely, but far too many did not. In a very short time, the body count began to rise.

The Avengers and other superhumans across the planet did what they could. Not all were successful.

The crisis rocked through urban and suburban areas alike. Electronics failed. Backup generators attempted to function, but in some cases they remained dormant as a result of complex computers designed to make them more efficient. Those were compromised again and again.

Information that was buffered and saved became corrupted after repeated attempts to restart and restore that data. Fail-safe systems designed to protect the populace—and indeed, the very world—from critical situations faltered and died.

The most sophisticated technologies managed to pull through the worst situations, because they were designed with catastrophic failure in mind. “This year’s model,” as it were, had all the bells and whistles.

The designs from a few years earlier, however, were lacking.

* * *

THE NUCLEAR plant in Ulchin County, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, began having issues only an hour into the interstellar assault on the planet.

At first the technicians and workforce at the plant tried to handle the matter themselves. They were trained for just such situations. When they realized they required outside help, they made the appropriate calls. Further attempts were made to resolve the crisis by following all the appropriate protocols.

Without success.

Dr. Kim Jae-Yin oversaw the running of the Ulchin Nuclear Plant. He sent the majority of the workers away as soon as he safely could, and decided to call in a favor from an old friend. Ignoring the rising radiation levels, and despite the rising tide of ice that tried to freeze his stomach and his heart, Jae-Yin remained calm and efficient. He did not want to die. He suspected, however, that it was already too late for him to have any say in the matter.

Dr. Bruce Banner was an old college friend. They’d debated many times over games of chess or the occasional beer. They had never agreed, but it was an amiable sort of conflict.

When he finally reached Dr. Banner, it was through a S.H.I.E.L.D. communications center—perhaps the only reason his struggling communications got through. Foregoing any pleasantries, Kim begged his acquaintance to use his influence and send the Avengers to the area in an effort to save as many lives as possible. Bruce promised to do what he could. The connection ended.

Dr. Kim Jae-Yin then began to make peace with death.

* * *

AT FIRST it was only the monuments.

Chhatarpur District, India, wasn’t a vastly populated area, and that proved to be for the best. The signal that struck near the Khajuraho Monuments did not care whether people were in the way.

The signal did not feel.

It simply did what it was meant to do.

It changed the world.

There was an extensive collection of temples around Chhatarpur, including the Khajuraho temples dating back a thousand years and more. None were spared. The ground around them was saturated with alien radiations that began their work immediately upon impact, altering not only the landscape, but also all life in the area.

The temples stood near the town of Khajuraho, boasting a population of over twenty thousand people. The ancient structures and the land around them were quickly overwhelmed by huge, twisted, vine-like growths and a dark viscous substance beneath which every living being disappeared.

A strange mist fell over the land, resembling a starry snowfall— and with it came utter silence.

Then the ground began to move, writhe, as new human-like forms rose up and freed themselves from the dark substance. These humanoid forms were muscular giants, naked and genderless, with dark-blue skin and standing twenty feet in height. Each monolithic being had a grotesque, cube-shaped head with four expressionless faces, one pointing in each direction.

Rising from the alien muck, moving without any noticeable form of communication between them, the creatures set about building a large circular structure. Each individual carried huge stones that seemed too heavy to lift. These they assembled with uncanny precision. When complete, the structure’s configuration evoked the symmetries of the Nazca lines of southern Peru as seen from high above.

Their task complete, the blue figures formed a living ring around the construct. As one they reached out, placing their hands against its outer wall. For the first time an expression appeared on their many faces—an expression of pain… or anger.

* * *

DR. BRUCE Banner peered at the screen, studying the feed sent to him by the S.W.O.R.D. telescopes located aboard the orbiting Peak. It revealed what was occurring in India, and elsewhere across the globe.

As terrifying as the images were, he couldn’t help but be excited. This was what he lived for. The mysteries of the world made him feel vital and alive.

Yet excitement wasn’t always the best idea where he was involved. There were very few people who could argue with the merits of keeping Bruce Banner calm. When aroused, his anger tended to result in catastrophic property damage.

However, in times of crisis like this one, he didn’t exactly have a choice. Steve Rogers—Captain America—was counting on him for answers. Banner was an Avenger, after all.

The more he studied the digital feeds, however, the more excitement gave way to horror…

* * *

IN PERTH, Australia, the effects of the impact were similar to what had occurred in the Chhatarpur District. The land and buildings in the city were violently transformed, the ground giving way as massive plants pushed their way out of the fertile soil and up through concrete and asphalt alike. Heavy cloud cover stretched overhead, lightning arcing through the sky.

The vines moved with deliberate design, covering structures, roads, and bridges, and quickly developing a network of organic cables that in turn rose in rapidly growing towers. Along all of those alien structures, heavy pods bloomed like cancerous growths. Swelling quickly to maturation, these bulbous eggs spewed forth cyclopean, beetle-like crustaceans that moved with efficiency as they scurried along the alien vines.

As each reached its destination and faced upward toward space, the creature’s head opened, flaps peeling back to reveal a glowing eye. Beams of unknown energy joined the lightning above.

* * *

ABOARD THE Peak, technicians worked tirelessly to locate the source of the assault coming from the stars. Scanners swept the heavens, yet found the answer surprisingly close to home.

The source was none other than the red planet, Mars.

The strike zones in Japan, India, and Australia were followed by impacts in the Savage Land beneath Antarctica; in Split, Croatia; in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; and in Holjanmyaa, Norway. In each location the changes to the atmosphere and environment were immediate and violent. Millions of people were altered, the land transformed beyond recognition.

Time was running out.

Most terrestrial space agencies didn’t even have launch capabilities. Those that did—including NASA, the CNSA of China, Russia’s RFSA, and even the privately owned organizations—didn’t possess the technology or equipment needed to mount a mission from the third planet in the solar system to the fourth without taking more time for preparation and travel than was feasible.

The good news for everyone involved was that the Avengers had other methods of arranging transport.

CHAPTER TWO

LIFE ON MARS

“WE ARENOT HERE TO RECREATE, EX NIHILO,” the Aleph asserted. “WE ARE HERE TO PURGE.”

Like the others of his species, Ex Nihilo considered himself a Gardener. His purpose was simple: find life and either help it become what it should become, or pull it like a weed from the garden. In the beginning he’d preferred to pull weeds, but as time passed he started wondering about what could be, what should be—and so he became determined to change things.

That did not sit well with his companions.

The Aleph was taller than he was, and made entirely of metallic alloys that defied analysis. Though not completely indestructible, it was close. There had been a time, in ages past, when both Ex Nihilo and his sister, Abyss, had been seeds carried by the robotic form. Still, it was not their father—more like an equal.

The three of them stared impassively at the massive organic cannon that fired pulses at the Earth, trying—thus far without any success—to re-form the planet that lay 34 million miles away at its closest. Ex Nihilo wanted to reshape the garden of Earth. His sister remained aloof regarding her preferences, and the Aleph disagreed and continued to argue its case.

“THE EARTH IS CORRUPTED,” it said. “OUR DUTY IS TO RAZE THIS WORLD.”

“Nonsense!” Ex Nihilo shook his head, the great horns scraping the air as he did so. “We have a rare opportunity, Aleph. We can reshape the world, help it correct itself and become something greater than it is now—as great as it was meant to be when it was first seeded and shaped.”

“DECLARATIVE: OUR OBJECTIVE IS TIME-SENSITIVE,” the Aleph persisted. “THE EARTH IS A DANGER AND MUST BE ELIMINATED.”

“Perhaps, but first I prefer to see the correction. They are living creatures with great potential. The world is rich and fertile, and deserves a chance to first be nurtured and directed.” He turned to gaze at the dot of life in the sky. “My signals will give the Earth that chance.”

“DECLARATIVE: WORLD-RAZING. OUR OBJECTIVE IS TIME-SENSITIVE.”

Ex Nihilo shook his head, moderately annoyed that the robot would not listen to him. It was sentient. It could think and reason as well as any organic creature. Still, it remained intractable in its solution to their problem.

“I prefer to create life, to guide it.” He waved his arms, trying without words to express his frustration. “I am weary of destroying anything that might have the potential to be a threat. What of the potential to be something better, rather than something worse? What of the possibilities for redemption and growth? We’re Gardeners, not destroyers. Gardens need to be tended, weeds pulled, yes—but not every life is a weed.”

Ex Nihilo gestured, and a form manifested in the air beside him. It was a human form; though mature, it was pulled into a fetal position.

“Observe, even as we speak I am completing the creation of one of their kind—a human without any of the flaws inherent in the species. He will be our new Adam. He will be the first of a perfect race that can replace the flawed.”

His sister spoke softly.

“They’ve sent some of theirs,” she announced. “They send their best fighters to stop us.”

“APES,” Aleph responded. “THEY SEND APES.”

Ex Nihilo nodded. “Perhaps, but they are apes with which we can reason.”

* * *

“WANT TO explain to me how it is we have green vegetation on Mars?”

Captain America frowned as he looked at the heavy forest in which they had landed. The ship settled gently, yet a palpable tension gripped everyone on board. Thor and the Black Widow nodded silently. Hawkeye just glared.

“Why wouldn’t it be there?” Iron Man shook his head. His red-and-gold armor glinted in the dim lighting of the ship’s cabin. “The first bombs that hit Earth completely changed the biospheres of the impact zones. Whoever we’re dealing with, they’ve altered billions of years of evolution in minutes. That’s very nearly godlike.”

Thor snorted in contempt. Iron Man ignored him and turned to address another passenger aboard the quincruiser, a modified Avengers quinjet. With this craft, they could even reach faster- than-light speeds.

“Bruce, you’re better at this sort of thing than I am. Anything you can suggest? How could someone produce a forest out of nowhere?”

Banner scanned the area. Ever since the Curiosity and InSight landings, mankind viewed Mars as a desert landscape—always red, flat or with rolling hills, and dotted with rocks. Where they stood now, it was thick with vegetation—jungle-like with trees and twisted vines and dense undergrowth.

“Tony, two of the first bombs hit Perth and Regina. Those alone affected over two million people.” His voice began to change, growing deeper. His body morphed, as well, growing in size at an alarming rate—even as his skin went from a pale peach hue to a shade of green as deep as the darkest emerald.

“I think we’re done talking,” he growled.

The Hulk left the ship through the rear port. He was walking when he exited, and then broke into a run. Tony Stark sighed inside his armor and moved after the green goliath.

Three figures stood not far away. The first was a woman, dressed mostly in black, with long, thick black hair that seemed made of living shadows. Next was a humanoid male, with golden skin and an Omega sign painted across his chest. He had no hair, but two mismatched horns perched on the sides of his head. His eyes were solid blue, with no pupils, and a third one sat in the middle of his forehead directly above his nose. Off to one side a humanoid figure floated in the air, unmoving.

Even as the Hulk charged, the golden-skinned man smiled warmly.

“Visitors!” he exclaimed. “And not the boring kind.”

Some people just aren’t very bright, Stark mused.

Before the Hulk could reach the smiling horned man, however, the woman made a gesture. A thick dome of black shadows appeared in his path. Carried by his own momentum, the Hulk vanished inside.

“Well, damn,” Stark muttered. “That’s not a good sign.” Quickly running through a set of protocols, he prepared to launch an assault. Abruptly he felt a tugging, and a warning alarm sounded inside his armor.

“Armor integrity compromised. Systems failing. Power levels at twenty percent… thirteen percent… six percent…”

“What the hell?”

The tugging continued as the plant life around him wormed its way into his armor.

“Powering dow—”

All systems ground to a halt.

“Come to me, metal man!” The voice came from the golden figure, who was still smiling as he gestured. “Thank the Goddess in all her splendor… I am dying for some entertainment.”

The plants responded to him, hauling around Tony and his inactive ninety-five pounds of inert armor like it was nothing at all. Before he could respond, the plants began stripping away the metal shielding. It shouldn’t have been that easy. There were redundancies in place, yet it was like peeling an orange.

“You have an exoskeleton!” the golden man exclaimed. “Only three percent of races possess exoskeletons. You are a rare find indeed!” He sounded so cheerful as the armor continued to peel back. “Let’s see what you look like after we speed up your evolu—” Abruptly he screamed in pain, his teeth clenching past bared lips as explosions erupted from his back. All traces of cheer dissolved as he turned to face his attackers.

“Step away from the man with all the money,” Black Widow said tersely.

Hawkeye finished with, “Please.”

Regaining his balance, the golden man crackled with energy.

“You dare violence?” he said. “Violence for the sake of violence? When I offer so much to your people and your planet?” Such was the energy that his skin was obscured in the glare of power that surrounded him. “This is the thanks you offer, for all I would gift you?”

The energies around him coalesced and flared outward into a blast that struck where the two Avengers stood, shredding the trees and plants alike. Stark couldn’t tell whether they were alive or dead.

To his relief, as the flash and debris of the attack diminished, the Black Widow and Hawkeye emerged from cover to either side. Beyond them there was motion as the woman with the shadows in her hair slid into the sphere of darkness that surrounded the Hulk. An instant later the green goliath burst out of the shadow sphere and shot straight toward Thor, one massive fist forward.

The golden man struck a second time. This time the impact caught both of his targets, sending them rolling across the ground and trying their best to absorb the force of the assault. When they skidded to a stop, they lay there, unmoving. Stark hoped they were only unconscious.

The Asgardian had just long enough to be surprised before the Hulk’s massive fist made contact with his head and sent him sprawling backward. He hit a tree and knocked it down, bounced off a second tree, and then crashed into the dense foliage. His assailant went after him, roaring like an animal. As Thor slowly but surely rose to his feet, the Hulk crashed into him again, roaring his fury for all to hear.

As he did, the woman in black emerged from the dome, which faded away.

The golden man started to turn from his defeated foes when a disc-shaped shield cut through the air and smashed into his face. It ricocheted off and into the back of the shadow woman’s head, knocking her to the ground.

Still gripped by the vines and unable to move, Stark noticed the third figure standing impassively not far away. Distance made a trick of the thing. At first he thought the newcomer was the same size as the golden man—largish, but roughly the height of a human.

No. It was much larger.

Reaching Captain America in four strides, it seemed to grow as it moved closer. The shield was flying back toward Cap’s waiting hand when the robot moved and intercepted it, catching the object before it could reach its owner. As it stepped up next to the star-spangled Avenger, the thing stood at least twelve feet tall.

It looked like a grown man addressing a third-grader.

“YIELD?” The thing looked down and asked once.

“No.” Captain America spoke just as softly.

Its free hand was a blur, moving too fast to follow, as the alien pounded a fist into his opponent’s face. Something in its movements convinced Stark it was entirely mechanical.

“YIELD,” it said.

“No.”

Cap tried to block the next blow, but the robot was merciless, unyielding, and fast. He slammed the Avenger’s head into the ground with the second blow, and then a third, a fourth. He was ready to strike again when the golden man stopped it.

“Enough, Aleph. We have no need to kill him. We will send him back home with a message. We will let the Earth know that resistance is a futile waste of time. They will adapt to the changes we make, or they will die.”

Sounds of carnage indicated Thor and the Hulk were continuing their fight somewhere out of sight. Through it all, Tony Stark strained to turn his head to see what was occurring. He tried to incite his armor to work, tried to break free of the vines that held him and his armor alike, and through it all he failed miserably.

Without warning, all was silent.

The Hulk and Thor, both unconscious, were gripped in the vines and brought toward him, wrapped in greenery. The same was done with the Widow and Hawkeye—all except Captain America. When the vines lifted his badly battered form, it was moved into their ship, followed by the golden man.

Moments later the alien left the vessel and nodded his satisfaction. The hatch shut with a metallic click, and the vessel launched into the atmosphere of Mars, receding until it was little more than a bright glow.

And then it was gone.

The golden man smiled.

“You see?” he said, his cheerful demeanor returning. “We choose not to harm you. We want only what is best for your Earth. We want to make you better.” He smiled at Tony as he approached. “We will reshape your planet as it should be.”

The woman was up and standing now, alongside the towering robot.

What now? Stark thought, his mind racing. Well, where tech failed, maybe communication will work. If it doesn’t… He couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought.

“So what happens now…” he began. “I’m sorry, Goldie, what’s your name?”

Goldie smiled. “I am Ex Nihilo. This is my sister, Abyss”—he gestured—“and this is Aleph. We are here to change your world, to save it from itself.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve seen how that works,” Stark replied. “It’s not that we don’t appreciate your concern, but no thanks. We’ll pass.”

Goldie laughed and spoke to him as if he might be addled.

“We are not here to ask if you want our help,” he said. “We are here to change you before the Builders decide to change you.” His expression went serious. “They will not be as kind, or as forgiving.”

“What do you mean?” Stark responded, and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Your world has two choices,” Ex Nihilo said. “Adapt or perish. We are here to help you adapt. Your people will not survive, but what comes after them will be much better for the effort, and your world will continue on. If we fail in this, your world will die. The Builders will see to that.”

Tony smiled grimly. “Okay, work with me here and assume I’ve never heard of these ‘Builders.’ What are we dealing with?”

“At the dawn of everything, there were the Builders. They were the first race, the oldest living things in the cosmos.” Goldie smiled again and looked warmly at Tony. It made his skin crawl. “They were a perfect people, and for a while they worshipped the Goddess, the Mother maker herself. The universe.”

He stepped back and gestured. “Eventually they grew beyond this way of life. They abandoned the old ways of reverence for a new path of, well… of relevance. As expansion and evolution occurred, the Builders created aggressive systems to direct, control, and shape the very structure of space and time. The first of these systems were the Gardeners.” He pointed toward the robot. “Alephs sent out into the wild to purge species unfit and unsuitable for the Builders’ new universe.

“This is our Aleph,” he continued. “For countless millions of years, it razed world after world, destroying all it deemed unfit for progress, until finally it found a world with potential. One worthy of keeping. One worthy of evolution. Then the Gardener released the seeds it had kept inside of itself for all that time.”

Goldie looked around, seeming to forget Stark was even there, and spoke with a subtle awe in his voice.

“No two seeds are the same. The Builders, in all of their wisdom, knew that creation is chaos and embraced this inconstant constant. This Aleph—our Aleph—yielded my sister and myself. From that day until now, whenever we encounter a world that is living or has the potential for life, we either offer it change or we end the life that exists. Here we are, ready to offer your planet the chance to transcend all that it is, and offer it far greater potential than currently exists. Aleph says we should destroy your world. I disagree, and so we approach with evolution in mind.”

“And whatever happened to the idea of free choice?” Stark demanded. “What say do we have? It is our planet, after all.”

“There is no free choice here,” Ex Nihilo said, again as if to a simpleton. It was beginning to get on Stark’s nerves. “Your world will evolve, or it will be destroyed.”

Stark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long argument, but talk was all he had to work with.

CHAPTER THREE

A GATHERING OF FORCES

STEVE ROGERS woke in Avengers Tower in Manhattan. That was where the ship had originated, and where it had returned. It took twenty minutes to bring him up to date on what had transpired. The rest of the away team had not returned.

He had been sent back as a warning.

Cap was urged to remain in bed, to allow his body to recuperate from the vicious beating he’d received. He listened to the medical staff, then responded in the only way he could. There were calls that had to be made, and he made them. Then he took a brief shower, and suited up.

His face ached where he had not yet fully healed. Thanks to the Super-Soldier Serum, he was faster at recovering from injuries than most people, but still he was only human.

As he prepared for the return mission, those he had contacted answered his call. There were more of them this time—they would not be caught ill-prepared again. Some of those who arrived were mutants, others had been altered in ways that couldn’t easily be explained. They were humans and superhumans alike, and they answered the summons because it was more than just a call to arms.

It was a call from Captain America.

* * *

“SO THE signal originated from Mars?”

Cannonball frowned and peered at the display in front of him. He had been off-planet before, yet the very prospect remained both exhilarating and frightening at the same time. Hailing from Kentucky, Sam Guthrie been raised among coal miners and had expected to live his life with them. Then his mutant powers had manifested. The world since then had never been quite what he’d been raised in, but it had always been… interesting.

“Well, it didn’t come from Planet X.”

Guthrie pressed his lips together to avoid making a comment. He admired Spider-Man. He had seen footage, watched videos, heard stories from any number of people who had worked with the man, but he didn’t much like him. He was too sarcastic. He lacked manners.

The guy standing next to him was an Aborigine—an indigenous Australian. His name was Eden, though they called him Manifold. A teleporter. Never in a million years would Guthrie have expected to meet someone like him.

“We are going to Mars,” the man said. Manifold’s accent was different than what Sam might have expected, but he couldn’t have said just how. Really, sometimes the world just seemed incredibly large, even after all he’d seen.