Secret Invasion redone

FanboyimusPrime

Well-Known Member
#1
In the lab of Brainchild Tony Stark, the Invincible Iron Man tried to figure out how he had gotten ton this point.

ôHow could this happen? How did the Skrulls manage to catch everyone off guard?ö Tony Stark thought while looking through BrainchildÆs base for anything useful. The battle that Deadpool had with the Savage Land Mutates had done heavy damage to it.

Iron Man hoped that Rhodey would be able to deal with whatever the Skrulls were up to. They were always up to something. Usually conquering or blowing things up.

Suddenly a table covered in all sorts of devices appeared in the room. Stark found the note attached to it.

ôThought you could use this.-Cableö

ôGreat I got Skrulls, and now the wild card of the X-family gets involved.ö Tony muttered.

To be honest Tony never liked Cable at all. He was thankful they were in completely different circles of the world and in the super hero community.

ôHeÆs an enigmaö Stark thought ôAnd keeps changing his MO every so often, making nearly impossible to predict. Though gun trotting warrior, or psychic messiah, leader of X-Force or a member of the X-Menàhe always makes a mark and is up to something.ö

It was near instinctive for Stark to understand the equipment. It was partly due to Extremis, which the Skrull virus didnÆt destroy, and the fact this equipment was based off his own designs.

ôThese are upgrades to the device Reed and I made to expose that imposter Captain America should work on the current batch of Skrulls.ö Tony thought as he went to work. Tony remembered how a stranded Skrull turned Captain America into an even bigger super star so he could take Steve's form and use that status to cause everyone to think anything 'different' was really a Skrull in disguise and have America rip itself to shreds.

Whatever CableÆs reasons for giving out this technology it was quite possible that it would save the world from the Skrulls. Tony knew that their taking over the world was not in CableÆs plans.

It was one of the few things Tony was sure of involving Cable. And he noted that not even Cannonball, Domino or Cyclops could honestly understand what Cable's plans were all the time.

ôEnough thinking about enigmatic mutants.ö Tony thought ôI got bigger problems.ö
-
In the Savage Land a star ship had crashed and it was filled with metahumans, living and some considered dead wearing older versions of their costumes. Their story was that they were the real articles and had managed to escape from the Skrulls.

With their minds filled with paranoia and having encountered Skrulls that could hide themselves as humans so well that not even people with a sense of smell like Wolverine and Daredevil could tell them from the original article the two teams of Avengers dealt with the matter in usual super hero fashion.

Beat the crap out them all and sort out who is what later.

Flying overhead Sentry, who claimed to have the power of a million exploding suns confronted the Vision that came out of the star ship. The Vision didn't want to discuss why he was the real Vision with the Guardian of Good.

ôIÆm Void and it is all your fault.ö Vision said as his body shifted to look more like the Void.

Sentry recoiled in fear and self loathing. Void/Vision found this amusing, and extremely easy. He wondered why KÆlurt never used his powers this way on Sentry. It wasnÆt a challenge at all.

The incredibly powerful super heroÆs mind was as malleable as Skrullian flesh. It was frankly amusing to play with.

Then suddenly Void/Vision was slammed in the back of the head and his eye contact with Sentry was shattered. The false Vision was then blasted into the ground with an energy blast.

ôI donÆt know who you are, but you arenÆt the Vision or Void.ö Ms. Marvel snarled.

Suddenly Ms. Marvel was hit with a blast of ice from ôVoidö. Vision looked enraged at having been knocked out of the sky and his fun interrupted.

ôNo I am notö Vision said and suddenly shifted ôI am Paibok the Power Skrull! And while he might love you, I hate every one of your kind!ö

ôFinally something simple to deal with.ö Luke Cage said as he slugged Paibok in the jaw. The force of the blow knocked the super powered Skrull back a few steps.

Paibok armored up like the X-Man Colossus. Luke CageÆs eyes widened as PaibokÆs punch sent the former Power Man flying. Luke Cage was driven through several trees before stopping. Even for someone with skin as hard as steel it was painful.

ôYeah someone we know is the enemy for the first time in this messö Ronin said as he fired off some arrows he got from the fallen imposter Hawkeye. As odd as that was, Clint felt like he was coming home again with a bow in hand and arrows flying at the bad guys.

ôHawkeye blind him with a flashbang arrow, Ms. Marvel blast him while heÆs blinded.ö Wasp ordered.

ôOn it.ö Ronin said as he cocked his bow.

ôHey IÆm the team leader.ö Luke Cage said as he got up.

Wasp gave Luke Cage a withering glare. The steel tough skinned super hero flinched even though Wasp was only a few inches tall. Janet had a slight smile showing the former Hero for Hire that here was more to being a leader then saying you were.

Hawkeye fired his flashbang arrow. Paibok seemed amused that anyone thought mere arrows could hurt him. Then there was a massive flash of light and a loud bang. The Power Skrull covered his eyes.

Ms. Marvel let loose an energy blast at the stunned Skrull. Paibok fired electric blasts at random. Suddenly a red and white shield slammed into PaibokÆs knees. He was knocked off his feet.

Wasp began to hope against hope that Captain America really was alive and had exited that starship. The world needed the real Captain America more then ever. She had no idea what to make of the current Captain America, supposedly Bucky. The original Bucky who had been found by the Soviets, made into a cyborg and kept on ice until they needed him for an assignment.

Janet then felt strange at how willing to accept such a story she was. And for it to be something she felt was plausible. Yet she'd lived through a lot weirder like when she was turned into a wasp-like being during a crisis that turned out to a lord of time trying to keep them on Earth and busy before Onslaught showed up.

ôFoolish Knave!ö Thor yelled as he drove Paibok into the ground with his uru hammer. It sounded like a blacksmith hammering on a piece of metal every time Thor struck the Power Skrull.

ôClint I.ö Mockingbird said as Hawkeye bore through her with an enraged look on his face. He knew this couldnÆt be Bobbi. Bobbi was killed way before this Skrull invasion started. Yet she was the one person that hadnÆt come back. Hell even he had come back two or three times now. BobbiÆs soul was in Hell and the Skrulls werenÆt going to take her soul for this Invasion. This imposter couldnÆt be her!

ôWhat do you want?ö Hawkeye snapped at Mockingbird. She gave him the same angry expression Bobbi would give him when he did something stupid. That made Clint even more pissed off at the Skrulls for what they had done.

ôIÆm here to help and hurt that heàhe was a fake.ö Mockingbird said. She was surprised when that Hawkeye was killed by a dinosaur and he was a Skrull.

Clint was about to give an angry and sarcastic comment when Captain America held up a hand.

ôWe can discuss whatever problems we have after the fight.ö Captain America said a calm and firm tone. He didnÆt have to speak up to get his command across.

Suddenly Thor was sent flying with a massive blast of ice. The Norse God of Thunder looked enraged at that.

ôYou dare stand against me?ö Paibok said ôThen you will die as well.ö

Suddenly Paibok was hit in the face with webbing. The webbing grew cold and brittle and shattered.

ôLike you werenÆt going to kill us anyway?ö Spider-Man joked ôPlease itÆs always ækillÆ or æiceÆ or ædestroyÆ with you guys.ö

ôAvengers Assemble!ö Captain America yelled out as the group rushed at Paibok.

Wasp blasted Paibok inside his ears. With Paibok distracted by the pain, Thor, and Luke Cage hammered on him with their fists. Spider-Man used his strength and agility to hit the Power Skrull where Luke and Thor werenÆt. With PaibokÆs attention on them and his earache, Ms. Marvel flew behind The Power Skrull and blasted his unguarded back.

Paibok howled in pain. He let out a massive burst of electricity to drive off Thor and Luke Cage. Captain AmericaÆs shield hit PaibokÆs jaw so hard even in its armed state there was a loud crack.

As soon as Captain AmericaÆs shield was out of the wound, Mockingbird hit the same spot with her battle stave. PaibokÆs bloodlust reached even more incredible heights as this ad hoc group was making him look like an embarrassment.

The team broke off their assault. Paibok charged for the archer. Hawkeye fired an arrow that didnÆt hit the Power Skrull. Paibok thought for a moment it was in fear that the archer missed.

It was then Paibok lost his footing as it was slippery grease arrow that Hawkeye fired. Paibok was once again introduced to the ground. The grease froze sold and Paibok staggered to his feet.

Suddenly a yellow blur flew at Paibok. Sentry drove his fist into PaibokÆs armored gut, and the sound of metal being crushed filled the air.

ôIÆve had it with people messing with my head.ö Sentry snarled. Golden energy crackled around the enraged hero.

His next punch sent Paibok flying through the air and through a mountain of ice outside the Savage Land.

ôWowö Spiderman said ôHeÆs super pissed.ö

ôThere's some hope for him yet.ö Ares said holding up the severed head of ôPower Manö. Luke Cage gave Ares a dirty look but the Greek God of War didn't care.

ôYou know it really isn't looking like any of the people on that star ship are who they say they are.ö Ronin commented.

ôI am Captain America.ö Steve Rogers said ôI was captured years ago and only now have we managed to escape.ö

ôI say we just kill them all and get this over with.ö Ares commented.

ôI don't care what you think.ö Ronin snapped getting into Ares face ôWe're the Avengers and I don't know if that means anything to you but that means we don't go around slaughtering people!ö

ôYou have guts Clint Barton.ö Ares noted ôAnd no common sense. No wonder my brother considers you one of his friends.ö

ôYou two done yet?!ö Wolverine yelled as he fought off a raptor. A huge pack of them and other dinosaurs were coming. They were attracted by the smell of meat and blood the dead Skrulls were giving off.

Ares loaded his guns and opened fire the raptors. The gleeful expression on his face didn't sit well with Wasp or Captain America. Janet wondered what the hell Tony was thinking considering Ares to be an Avenger. Especially since he'd tried to kill them several times in the past.

Sentry smashed the skull of a T-Rex. A fire had been awakened inside of the gold clad hero. He was tired of having his mind messed with and being the weakest link in the Avengers when he should be the strongest.

Thor caused gale force winds and lightning to deal with the various dinosaurs coming at them.

ôShow off.ö Ares thought.
-
As Tony worked on his armor he heard the sounds of battle outside. There was an ominous crack not long before Spider-Woman entered the base.

ôTony.ö Spider-Woman said ôYou are a Skrull.ö

"I'm a Skrull?" Iron Man asked sounded more confused and annoyed then anything.

ôYes you are.ö Spider-Woman said after shifting her body to a Skrullian form ôOne of our finest generals.ö

ôExplain the whole mess that destroyed Force Works to when Onslaught attacked and the return of the heroes.ö Tony said ôReally IÆd love to hear how that fits with your plan.ö

ôIà.ö The Skrull Queen hesitated. Even she didnÆt know what the hell was going on when she read about that series of events. Of all the things she ever expected him to do asking about that mess was never even on the list.

ôSee being a Skrull would make that easy to explain.ö Tony said ôA pat answer to deal with a total mess. But life is messy.ö

ôYou should be quaking in fear.ö Spider-Woman snarled ôA complete wreck!ö

Tony rolled his eyes at her. This was her master plan to deal with him personally? How pathetic did she think he was? He knew he had been the butt of many jokes since the Civil War mess but honestly.

ôYeah some Skrull Queen taking nonsense should hurt me after all the other things that have happened to me.ö Tony said sarcastically.

Phoenix and Beast walked into Brain ChildÆs lab. The two stood behind the Skrull Queen. A malevolent sneer was on the face of the Skrull Queen. Tony nearly rolled his eyes. The Skrulls seemed to love the X-MenÆs forms and powers. The War Skrulls, the fact that one of them had been pretending to be Wolverine before ironically being slain by the real Wolverine.

ôYou are out numbered Stark.ö The Skrull Queen said ôAnd He loves you.ö

Suddenly Iron Man let loose a barrage of repulsor fire and blew PheonixÆs head off. He didnÆt want anything even a quarter as powerful as that running out. Yet it seemed soàeasy.

ôYou really couldnÆt make a decent Primal Force of the Universe copy could you?ö Iron Man noted as he pulled down his faceplate.

The Skrull Queen had a ôdeer in headlightsö expression on her face at this turn of events. Iron Man decked her with a single punch. She dropped to the ground with all the grace of a sack of bricks.

Faster then the Skrull Beast could see, Iron Man turned and sent him flying out a hole in a wall and into a tree. There was a loud crack heard and a scream of pain.

Recalling what happened earlier Iron Man flew out and found Echo bandaging her left arm. She looked tense as she stared at Iron Man.

Tony lifted his faceplate. He knew Echo wonÆt be able to understand him other wise.

ôI had to deal with Spiderwomanàor whoever she really is.ö Tony said ôI donÆt have any way on hand to prove I am a Skrull or not.ö

ôThatÆs more then she gave me.ö Echo said.

ôWe know have a means to deal with these Skrulls.ö Iron Man said ôAnd did Daredevil ever tell you about the X-Men?ö

ôNo he didn't.ö Echo replied.

ôWell one of them is a time traveler and he wanted to help me for some reason. Remember when everyone on Earth turned pink for a little while? Well he's the one who gave me some technology.ö

ôThere are days I wonder if I should have told Ma...Daredevil to leave me alone or if I should have never become an Avenger.ö Echo said ôGiven the outlandish events that far from what I am used to dealing with.ö

ôAnd I didn't even tell you the backstory of that X-Man.ö Iron Man commented ôTrust me that whole incident on turning everyone pink is tame compared to that.ö

ôI really don't want to know.ö Echo replied.

Tony put down his faceplate and chuckled.

The two heroes entered Brainchild's laboratory and Tony finished up his device. Echo did her best to bandage and make a splint for her broken arm. The former assassin looked at the Skrull Queen and wondered how long she had been among the Avengers.

Echo kicked the Skrull Queen in the head as the alien tried to get up. The shape shifter slammed into the ground.

ôWe need to find the others.ö Iron Man said ôNow we can find out who is a Skrull and who isn't.ö
Iron Man then picked up what looked like a pair of Skrullian hand cuffs and put them on the Skrull Queen.

The two heroes then followed the sounds of battle to find the Avengers.

Iron Man turned on his device and all the Skrulls reverted to their natural forms. The only people left unchanged were Wolverine, Wasp, Ares, Wonder Man, Sentry, Ms. Marvel, Echo, Ronin and Iron Man.

Formerly disguised Skrulls had various reactions. Some looked completely shocked, others screamed they were the real deal and this was a trick, and some looked annoyed, and others showed exactly how many powers they really had.

ôCaptain Americaö snapped and charged at the Avengers. Ares gutted the Skrull with his claymore and then beheaded the faux hero. The God of War then eyed the shield of the fallen imposter.

ôClint I...ö the Skrull Mockingbird said.

ôI knew it.ö Ronin snapped looking at the imposter Mockingbird ôMy wife is dead.ö

Suddenly the Skrull Thor spun his hammer. In a flash the Skrull Jewel, Skrull Mockingbird and the faux Thor all vanished.

Iron Man pressed a button on his device and all the Skrulls changed shape. Now they were all cows.

ôDonÆt you think this a bit much?ö Clint Barton asked as he watched a Skrull eat some grass.

ôIt worked well enough for Reed.ö Iron Man said ôTheyÆre docile, and wonÆt be hurting anyone. WhatÆs wrong with it?ö

A T-Rex walked by and ate the Skrull Queen in a single bite.

ôThatÆs whyö Ronin said.

ôHey I didnÆt kill them.ö Iron Man said with his hands up and palms open.

ôWe need to find a way out of here.ö Wasp stated.

ôSure let's go find a super villain base and hotwire a jet.ö Clint commented ôGiven nearly everyone has a base down here we're sure to find something.ö

At the first base the Avengers explored they found something completely surprising. It was the Quintjet the New Warriors hijacked and managed to lose. It only took Iron Man a minute to purge it of any traces of the Skrull computer virus.

ôNow it doesn't matter what side you were on in Civil War.ö Wasp said ôRight now we are the Avengers. And we have a world to save.ö

ôYeah Avengers Assemble!ö Clint said ôNow let's go kick some Skrulls off Earth.ö
 
#2
Ruth Aldine was a mutant. Due to having the X-Factor gene she gained super powers. Her mutant powers included being able to see the future. Her codename as a member of the X-Men was Blindfold.

Now she had a headache. Something was causing the future to change. Her best guess was Cable given he'd given her some splitting headaches in the past when he completely changed the future with his actions. There was also this feeling of a being destiny bended to out in space. A being called Adam Warlock.

Suddenly Blindfold saw a gathering of heroes, and oddly the only X-Men team there was hers. And she then saw Skrulls invading the Earth with heroes around the world fighting them.

Blindfold shook her head. Her team had been assembled by the cyborg bigot Donald Piece disguised as Cyclops. He had them hunt Sunspot, Cannonball, Magma and Moonstar by doping them into thinking they were a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

They uncovered Piece's lies and beat him but at a great cost. Their team member Wolf Cub was dead and Ruth could feel that Dust wasn't doing too well.

ôWe aren't ready for this.ö Blindfold said seemingly to empty air.

ôReady for what?ö Rockslide asked.

ôThe Skrulls are coming.ö Blindfold stated.

ôThe Skrulls?ö Ink asked ôDon't you need to fight the Skrulls and the Hulk to be considered a super hero?ö

ôLook.ö Rockslide said ôI thought the same way with the Hulk and he beat us and every other X-Men team around. Even the Juggernaut as well. He only left after finding out the Professor's life sucked so bad that killing him won't matter.ö

ôWhy?ö Ink asked.

ôBecause over there used to be a graveyard of all the dead.ö Rockslide snapped ôIt wasn't Sentinels, or Magneto, or even the Marauders that killed them. It was a bunch of bigots with rocket launchers killing them as they were leaving on buses.ö

ôAnd we need to dig two more graves.ö Blindfold said.

ôTwo? But Nick was the only one to die.ö Rockslide said sounding confused.

ôOf course what would Skrulls do in this dump?ö Ink asked.

Sunspot flew down next to the young X-Men.

ôNothing.ö Sunspot said ôHowever I'm sure they're in New York City causing trouble. And I can always call for a ride.ö

ôJust as long as we don't get a ticket for double parking a jet.ö Ink commented.
-

New York City was in a state of disaster. It had only barely recovered from the rampage of the Hulk and his allies, a fight with Ultron, and a horde of symbote covered dinosaurs. Now a fleet of Skrulls was attacking the city. With an army of Super Skrulls at the vanguard to crush the city that was home to the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

Yet they were not the only heroes in the city. Though for the New Warriors people were divided on if they were heroes, or villains, or just law breakers.

ôBlackwing take out that Sinister Six Skrull.ö Night Thrasher ordered as he hit an Iron Man armored Skrull in the face with an electric staff. It was petty but it felt good to Donyell. He then kicked a Skrull with the powers of Firestar, Iceman, and Spiderman in the gut.

ôGot it.ö Blackwing said as he blasted the Skrull, who turned into sand and the blast went through him. Then a massive burst of fire hit the Super Skrull and started to turn the sand into glass. The Skrull roared in agony as she did that.

The man formerly called Bandit leaped on top of a turned over SUV and missile drop kicked a Skrull dressed in a mix of Electra, Shadowcat and Psylocke's costumes. The ninja Skrull flipped off the ground to her feet.

The Skrull then turned invisible and Night Thrasher wondered why the ninja Skrull had the powers of the Invisible Woman as well.

ôBehind you!ö Phaser yelled. Night Thrasher didn't do give any indication he heard Phaser other then to roundhouse kick the Skrull ninja in the face. The Skrull looked only to be annoyed at the attack.

Phaser and Skybolt blasted the ninja Skrull. They appeared to be knocking her back but then the Skrull slammed them using her force field.

ôHe loves you.ö she said.

ôI doubt that.ö Ripcord said as she webbed up the face of the Skrull and then axe kicked her in the face. The ninja Skrull stumbled before Wondra punched it into a wall as hard as she could. The Skrull slumped to the ground and stayed there.

Night Thrasher brought down his electro staff on a Skrull with a gem on his open chested shirt. The Skrull blocked it with his own quarter staff. He then fired an energy blast from his eyes at Night Thrasher. The blast sent Night Thrasher flying.

Renascence grabbed the Skrull with her tentacles and pumped it full of electricity. The Skrull sizzled and went limp. Night Thrasher got up and glared at Sofia for a moment before backhanding a Skull.

ôYou're welcome.ö Sofia muttered.

In the air Tempest was being chased by flying Super Skrulls. She couldn't get them off her tail as she fired heat and ice bursts at them. Blackwing flew into their formation and punched one to the ground. A purple armored Skrull was about to with a massive fist of water but Tempest froze it solid. Blackwing took down the Frightful Four Skrull with an energy blast.

ôThanks honey.ö Blackwing said to his wife Tempest. However Tempest was too busy to respond to her husband as she battled an orange fur covered Skrull with massive shoulder pads and wearing a pair of goggles.

Decibel helped Tempest by hitting the Super Skrull with a sonic attack. The Skrull clutched his ears which left him open to Tempest hitting him with a fire ball. Skybolt hit the burning Skrull with an energy blast and the Skrull fell out of the sky.

Phaser fired a blast from his chest and shattered the Sinister Six Super Skrull as it tried to change itself back to sand. Decibel then made some noise. His screams sent Skrulls flying around. Wondra ran in punched the distracted Skrulls around.

ôYou know Night Thrasher when I was a member of the X-Men we had to deal with a group of Skrulls with our powers.ö Wondra said, ôCalled themselves War Skrulls.ö

ôAs interesting as your trip down memory lane is.ö Skybolt commented as he blasted a New Fantastic Four Super Skrull with lethal force ôDoes it really matter right now?!ö

Wondra made a face to Skybolt behind her mask. While she was expressing her annoyance, a massive hand hit Wondra and sent her flying back.

ôHe loves you.ö A Skrull with the powers of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants said.

Before the Skrull could strike her again, a force field was projected over Jubilation Lee. Wondra and the Skrull were both surprised. In this confusion Phaser blasted the Brotherhood Skrull and knocked it out.

ôSo you guys are the New Warriors now?ö Aegis asked.

ôWho is this guy?ö Ripcord asked.

ôMy name is Aegis and Night Thrasher here has to be scraping the bottom of the barrel.ö Aegis commented as he used the force from the Brotherhood Super Skrull's punch to send several Skrull warriors to the ground. Aegis smiled as he'd been working on controlling the abilities his magical breastplate gave him.

ôWell the other New Warriors are dead or became minions of Stark.ö Night Thrasher snapped.

Then a giant Super Skrull tried to smash them all with his bus sized fist. However his aim was thrown off by webbing in the eye and the giant tripped over the wreckage of a car. Skybolt and Phaser blasted the giant while Renascence wrapped one of her tentacles around one of the giant's legs and pulled.

There was a thunderous crash as the giant hit the pavement.

ôHey guys.ö Spider-Man said ôAt least this beats defacing Avengers Tower. Seriously you guys going to order 100 pizzas and charge them to Iron Man next?ö

ôAnd you've done better?ö Wondra asked.

ôWhat are you talking about?ö Spider-Man said ôI quit the Avengers when I hung up my mask for the last few months.ö

A fresh wave of Super Skrulls shelved that discussion.

Suddenly a green and white blur ran through the ranks of the Skrulls and sent them flying. To the surprise of the Skrulls the Hulk leaped in and yelled ôHulk Smash!ö

Then various trick arrows hit the Skrulls.

And then came the battle cry of ôAvengers Assemble!ö

Yet it wasn't the Mighty Avengers that showed up. It was the Young Avengers. The Hulk suddenly changed into Hulkling and grew claws. Teddy slashed a Freedom Force Super Skrull.

The multiarmed Skrull punched Hulkling in the face and used psychic webbing to cover Wiccan's mouth.

ôGuess that means they don't care you're a Skrull.ö Patriot commented as he rained throwing stars at the Skrulls.

ôGuess not.ö Hulkling admitted as he punched a Skrull in the face.

Hawkeye ordered ôLess talking and more fighting.ö

She fired an explosive arrow at a Skrull in mix of the Avengers West Coast team's costume. The Skrull is then punched in the face repeatedly by Speed. It falls the ground.

Vision blasted a Dark Force Skrull with a solar energy blast. Stature punched down a giant sized Masters of Evil Super Skrull.

ôShouldn't the Initiative be here already?ö Hulkling asked.

ôThey might be under attack.ö Vision commented as he turned diamond hard and a Skrull broke his hand on Vision's chest.

ôTypical.ö Spider-Man said ôWhen you need the help they're always busy.ö

ôWell at least we're here.ö Wondra commented.

ôThough the Avengers and Fantastic Four better be doing something.ö Patriot said ôGiven that's what they do.ö

ôLike that's a comfort.ö Night Thrasher commented as he kicked a Skrull in the gut.

ôJust as long as it isn't that nut Osborn.ö Phaser said ôAs bad as Stark is that guy is even worse.ö
-
Norman Osborn was eating it up. He had lead the Thunderbolts to protect Washington DC. With the shitstorm that was going to hit Tony Stark he could easily increase his power base. Now to lead the heroes against the aliens in New York City and he might even get Stark's job. And even if he didn't get that, he'd be seen as a hero to the world. Being seen as a hero of that level would open doors for him.

Norman's visions of power came crashing down when Sentry punched a Skrull ship out of the sky. The Guardian of Good looked like he had something to prove. He smashed through the Skrull ships over Washington like they were made of cardboard.

A Quintjet landed and the Avengers walked out of it. The press instantly turned their attention from Norman to Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

ôAvengers take them down!ö Iron Man ordered.

While Ms. Marvel supposedly was leader of the team, she knew that sometimes you just had to let Iron Man run things. And after the recent attack by the Skrulls that blew up the minihelicarrier and the mess her personal life had become Carol wasn't really sure she wanted to lead the Avengers right now. And it wasn't like this roster of Avengers lacked in people who had lead the team.

Norman clenched his teeth as he watched the Avengers go to town on the invading Skrulls. Wolverine wasn't holding back and was a meat grinder against the Skrull forces. The instant any Skrull said ôHe loves youö to Ms. Marvel she grit her teeth and punched them as hard as she could.

Ray guns literally exploded in the hands of the Skrull forces. Tony doubted even with Extremis he could make Skrull starships fatally crash en mass but their personal weapons were another matter entirely. With his Extremis increased speed and reaction time he was able to shoot them with his repulsors.

Ares picked up the weapons of the fallen Skrulls and fired on them. To make things interesting he also used the shield he got off a Skrull copy of Captain America. When the shield cracked bones and skulls it was music to Ares ears.

Wasp gave Ares an annoyed look for a moment before punching a Skrull in the face. Given she was able to bend a steel bar at her current size, the Skrull went down with a splitting headache. She then blasted with all the powers of the various Spider Women.

The blow got the attention of the Spider Women Skrull which was a bad thing for her given Wolverine gutted the Skrull and cut it's head off.

Ronin ôaccidentallyö used a sonic arrow on a group of Skrulls close to Venom. He'd heard that Mac killed someone before joining the Thunderbolts because it would look good for his book deal. He also wondered when Scorpion went from being a super villain to a psycho killer.

Venom screamed in pain. Before the Skrulls could gang up on him, Ms. Marvel attacks. She looks at Mac and shakes her head in disgust. The man before her is nothing like the man she fought once what felt like a long time ago.

Clint kept an eye out for Moonstone. He wondered what Karla was doing with this group of killers and nuts. And why the hell anyone thought Norman 'I throw women off bridges' Osborn could be trusted with any sort of position of power.
Wonder Man punched a Lethal Legion Super Skrull as hard as he could. The Skrull tried to block the blow with his scythe but it shattered and Wonder Man's fist hit him in the gut.

The Skrulls soon found themselves removed from Washington DC by the Thunderbolts and the Avengers. As a last ditch measure the Skrulls unleashed something the Avengers didn't expect them to have.

His name was Titannus. He was a Skrull that had become more or less as unstoppable as the Incredible Hulk on a bad day. He let out a mindless howl and charged at the heroes. Ms. Marvel and Wolverine looked scared.

ôNot him again.ö Wolverine said.

ôAgain?ö Clint asked.

ôTrust me Ronin you should be glad you never fought him before.ö Ms. Marvel said.

ôHow bad can it be?ö Venom snarled ôJust because you couldn't defeat him.ö

ôI'm sure I can kill it.ö Bullseye said in a cocky tone.

"Guys! We are in real trouble! Both times I've faced him, he trounced both teams!ö Ms. Marvel said frantically. That worried Wonder Man since he didn't think anything could spook Carol as bad as Titannus was.

ôThunderbolts take down that Skrull.ö Norman ordered ôLet's show them who the real heroes are!ö

Songbird and Radioactive Man had a bad feeling about this. That they were to be put into a meat grinder just to balm the Green Goblin's bruised ego.

Bullseye was the first to fall to Titannus. While the assassin had adamanium laced bones, the rest of his body was not as protected. While he had managed to get a knife into Titannus's eye the mindless goliath grabbed him with one meaty hand and slammed Bullseye into the ground. The force of the blow caused the ground to shake. If the master assassin wasn't dead he'd wish he was.

Titannus charged at the Thunderbolts and passed right through Moonstone. Karla was starting to devise how to get Clint to her side as she could see the writing on the wall. The Thunderbolts in one way or another were through after this fight.

Swordsman was next to fall. Titannus picks up the Strucker twin and uses him as a club to beat Venom with. There is a sickening crack as the Swordman's armored body slams into Venom's torso. Venom in a rage tries to eat Titannus's arm. However the Skrull grabs Venom's tongue and rips it off.

Titannus then rips off Venom's jaw and then punches straight through Venom's head. Titannus then started hammering on Venom.

Sentry had enough and punched Titannus hard enough to knock the Skrull back.

ôEnough.ö Sentry said in a stern and firm tone.
Ares slammed his shield into Titannus's face. He then stabbed the Skull with an adamantium knife. The super humanly strong Skrull back handed Ares and the God of War was bleeding from the mouth. Yet he had a feral smile on his face.

Penance hit Titannus with a burst of pure kinetic force. The Skrull was knocked back a few steps. Radioactive Man uses his powers to heat up the knife in Titannus and they heard the Skrull's flesh sizzle. Radioactive Man then punched Titannus in the face.

Ms. Marvel grabbed a downed power line for a boast of energy. Carol saw Wasp make a nonverbal gesture for her and Wonder Man to rush the Skrull while she blasted his inner ear. The two super strong Avengers rushed Titannus and didn't let up on hitting him. Songbird joined in their attack hitting Titannus in the knees with sonic energy.

Wasp flew into Titannus's inner ear and let loose with her wasp's stings at full power. The Skrull clutched his ear and howled in pain. Wasp was able to get out when Ares stabbed the Skrull with an adamantine claymore. Wasp turned and blasted Titannus in the eye before getting out the range of the Skrull's arms.

Norman then rushed Titannus with guns blazing and laughing like a maniac. Karla then regretted not giving Norman his meds. If only because if there was enough left of Norman to check for them it'd come up negative and they'd ask questions. Questions she'd rather not be asked.

Titannus ripped Norman in half like he was nothing and stomped on the halves. Before the Avengers or Thunderbolts could respond six gold flashes hit Titannus like the hammer of Thor. Sentry joined in with them and Titannus found himself being knocked around as they didn't let up in their assault.

Iron Man got an idea. He hit Titannus with a huge burst of electricity and stopped the heart of the giant. He crashed to the ground and they found out what the six blurs were. The now six members of the Nova Corps. One of them bound Titannus with adamantium bonds before restarting the warrior's heart.

ôThat's all it took?ö Nova said. Rich Rider was there to fight Titannus both times and didn't expect high voltage to be what stopped the unstoppable Skrull.

The press swarmed Iron Man. Yet Tony Stark was a pro at this so he was able to answer their questions, or deflect them. And knew when to say ôno commentö.

After the press conference the dead and injured Thunderbolts were taken back to Thunderbolt Mountain. To the Avengers surprise Andrea Strucker was among them.

ôRobbie.ö Rich said ôYou're still wearing that costume?ö

ôI've been getting better.ö Penance replied ôThough I'm not ready to be Speedball again. I can't be the fun guy I was.ö

ôRobbie can I be frank with you?ö Rich said ôI've been through three intergalactic wars. The first was between the Skrulls and the Nova Corps, the second was against Annihilus and his forces, and the last was against Ultron and the Phalanx. And I have some advice for you.ö

ôTo stop moping?ö Penance asked.

ôNo.ö Nova replied ôTo stop looking like you're emo and into well...what do you think the black leather with hooks says?ö

ôSquirrel Girl told me the same thing more or less.ö Penance admitted ôAnd the Stamford Incident was because Nitro was using MGH and not because of me.ö

ôSounds like she still cares about you.ö Nova said.

ôI guess so.ö Penance said ôAnd I completely blew her off ranting about how I needed my angst.ö

ôRobbie you are getting professional help right?ö The Human Rocket asked.

ôYeah Doc Samson.ö the former Speedball replied.

ôGood.ö Rich said.

It was next to the Zeus Tony Stark found Songbird.

ôSongbird.ö Iron Man said ôI believe it is time for you to join the Avengers. Though it was probably a good thing you turned down membership last time.ö

That Songbird avoided the whole mess of Wanda going insane and destroying the team was dodging a huge bullet. That Captain Britain ,now called Lionheart, survived that mess intact was a huge miracle.

ôBut what about the Thunderbolts and Osborn?ö Songbird asked.

ôI've been rethinking things.ö Iron Man said ôOne is the use of well...half the Thunderbolts team and Osborn himself. Though he's dead that doesn't matter. ô

ôLet's just hope he stays dead.ö Songbird said. Both knew that many times that seemed to be more surprising then anything in their line of work for someone to actually stay dead.

ôIt also doesn't help there are rumors of Osborn donning his Green Goblin costume before this mess.ö Tony commented.

ôAnd the fact the Mandarin had done what he did?ö Songbird asked.

ôThe whole registration thing was supposed to fix things.ö Tony Stark said ôThe Mandarin used it in his schemes, it didn't help Tigra at all, it seems to be causing as many problems as it solves.ö

ôHey Shellhead.ö Nova said ôAnyone ever tell you about how a street gang found out the secret identities of the team? They cut off one of my brother's fingers and sent it to me. They killed Rage's grandmother and shot Firestar's dad. Seriously why didn't anyone mention that for being against registration?ö

Behind his mask Tony Stark made a face. That definitely would have helped to tone down Registration a bit even if it was a government database and not to be public knowledge.
ôWe can work on fixing registration after this crisis.ö Iron Man said ôRight now we need to get back to New York City and regroup.ö

ôI'll tell you when we get there if I want to be an Avenger or not.ö Songbird said.
-
In the middle of the chaos no one noticed the Baxter Building return from the Negative Zone.

ôNothing like home sweet....home?ö the Thing said as he looked out the window. Building were on fire and Ben could imagine super heroes out there fighting the Skrulls.

ôBen.ö Johnny Storm said.

ôYeah Matchstick.ö Ben Grimm said.

ôBreak out the snack foods.ö Johnny said ôI think we're going to have one of those super hero get togethers.ö

ôCan't we have Stark hold it like he always does?ö Thing asked.

ôBen I think Avengers Tower is on fire.ö Johnny said.

ôLet's just hope everyone likes that trail mix Strecho has.ö Ben joked hoping to lighten the mood.
 

FanboyimusPrime

Well-Known Member
#3
The jet the Young X-Men were riding in crashed into Central Park. Sunfire groaned. While being High Imperial of the Hellfire Club made losing a jet look like loosing some pocket change, he knew they were neck deep in Skrulls.

ôMagma set up some traps.ö Cannonball ordered ôRoberto I need you and Ink to get airborne and scout around our position.ö

ôI can help.ö they heard someone say. It was a woman they didn't know about and wearing the same yellow and blue X-Men uniform as the others.

ôWho is she?ö Rockslide asked.

ôI am Cipher.ö Cipher said.

The four former New Mutants stiffened at her use of a codename of their late friend. Sure code names got reused and taken by others but Doug seemed special that no one else used his. Having a mystery woman use it didn't sit well with them.

Blindfold was surprised her friend made herself visible. For he would be after her...yet at the moment the Skrulls were a bigger threat. She had seen they would be able to find Cipher and attack her. At least that is what the hazy vision Blindfold had. Since Cable's getting involved everything was changing. For better or worse was what Blindfold wasn't sure of.

ôI think we need to crack open a window.ö Ink said as he punched the side of the crashed jet. Rockslide and Sunspot then started to rip through the jet as well. The jet was designed to be able to take repulsor fire from a tank and keep on going.

It didn't take long for them to be freed from the downed jet. Ink and Sunspot took off and looked around. Sunspot took a moment to show Ink where some of the local meta human related buildings and land marks were.

ôHere's where Avengers Mansion is.ö Sunspot said pointing out the ruins ôAnd over there is the New York Hellfire Club building.ö

ôSo the Hellfire Club's New York place is only a few blocks from Avengers mansion?ö Ink said shocked.

ôI know.ö Sunspot said ôSurprises me too.ö

Then several Skrulls flew at the pair. Ink raised his hand and made several of the aliens feel sick. The Skrulls started vomiting and lost control of their flights. Several in green even slammed into each other in midair.

Then a Skrull cross of Venom and Vulture flew at Ink. The Skrull licked his lips and looked like he wanted to take a bite out of the Mutate hero. However a solar energy blast from Sunspot knocked the hungry Skrull out of the air.

ôCome on.ö Sunspot said ôWe got to help Sam and the others.ö

Ink wondered if the team really would want his help. None of them liked him at all, and helping Donald Pierce kidnap several of them for money didn't help matters. Eric then wondered if there would even be a world where he could spend that cash.

Down on the ground Graymalkin stayed in the shadows and shade as he fought Skrulls. Jonas wondered how his team could be so blase to fighting aliens from other worlds. He wasn't aware the sheer amount of aliens the X-teams had fought over the years. The Z'Nox, the Shi'ar, the Kree, the Skrulls, the Brood, and more.

Jonas dodged the attacks of a Skrull with daggers for hands. Then suddenly a fast moving blue and brown figure leaped out of a tree and kicked the Skrull in the face. A shield suddenly appeared over the person's arm and they slammed it into the face of a very wide and flat Skrull.

Rockslide picked up the stunned Skrull and crushed it into a ball. He then threw it at a Skrull with the powers of the Original X-Men.

ôWho are you?ö Rockslide asked.

ôI'm Bucky.ö Bucky said ôThough I'm not from this earth.ö

ôShe isn't a Skrull.ö Blindfold said.

ôYou sure?ö Ink said.

ôWhich of us can see the future?ö Ruth commented as she got out of the way of an energy blast. Rockslide punched the Super Skrull that attacked Blindfold. It was covered in technology items. Techno's techno pack, the Living Laser's gauntlets, Stiltman's stilts and Mysterio's fish bowel looking helmet.

Rockslide punched through one of the Stilts and sent the Skrull crashing to the ground.

The ground then shook under the Skrulls. Magma concentrated and the Earth started to swallow up the alien invaders.

ôOk...ö Bucky said ôWho are you guys anyway?ö

ôWe're the X-Men.ö Ink said.

ôI...never heard of you guys.ö Bucky said.

ôSeriously?ö Rockslide said ôWe only have 50 teams.ö

ôHe's joking.ö Cipher said ôThough it usually is seven or eight at a time.ö

ôWith Wolverine on half of them.ö Ink said ôNot sure when he sleeps.ö

ôWolverine doesn't sleep.ö Rockslide said as he punched a Skrull ôHe merely waits.ö

Dust sandblasted the invading Skrulls and suddenly felt a deep and burning pain. Like she was once again on fire. She was forced to reform to her human form but was right in front of a Skrull in Iron Man armor. It smiled maliciously at her and was about to blow her head off with a triangular shield hit it in the back of the head.

ôIs there a shield throwing convention that was being held that we wouldn't told about?ö Moonstar asked.

ôNot that I know of.ö Bucky said as she powered up her energy shield.

Cannonball gave Sunspot, Moonstar and Magma nonverbal commands to be careful about the heroes that showed up. They might be real or they might be Skrulls. Sam was going to give them the benefit of the doubt , after all in New York City you couldn't rob a bank or swipe a purse without someone in long johns showing up, and alien invasions got everyone to get together.

Ink hit the Skrulls with a psi blast. Several dropped to the ground, and the other heroes knocked them out. Yet for every Skrull they took down, it seemed like five took their place.

Battlestar hit an Invaders Skrull with his shield. It looked more annoyed then hurt.

Then a red, white, and blue whirlwind appeared to be hitting the Super Skrulls. Bucky had an awe inspired expression. It was him. She had wanted to meet him since she had ended up on this Earth. It was Captain America.

James Barnes looked shocked as he saw the female Bucky fight an odd Super Skull. He had a blue cloak, a tiara on it's forehead, no shirt, a white skull on his chest, Black Widow's bracelets on his arms, and a pair of red pants.

She clearly had been trained by the best as she dodged a knife hand thrust from the Super Skrull and punched him in the gut. She then knocked it off it's feet with a sweep kick.

Captain America then shot a Skrull coming up behind her in the face. The alien dropped to the ground dead.

ôWhoa.ö Rockslide said as he was dealing with a Gamma Corps Skrull.

ôAct surprised later.ö Cannonball ordered ôWe got Skrulls to deal with now!ö

ôWe need to get to the Baxter Building.ö Captain America said.
-
The Avengers and remains of the Thunderbolts watched as the Nova Corps cleaned the Skrulls out of their way. The Robbie was surprised to see how much Nova had changed. He then remembered even before he became a New Warrior his friend had fought in a war against the Skrulls.

Then and there Robbie Baldwin admitted as bad as he had it, his friend Rich had been through worse. Suddenly the barbs and spikes on the Penance costume vanished and it looked like he was wearing black spandex instead of red and black leather.

ôIt's awhile since I've managed to change my costume my force of will.ö Penance admitted as he saw the stunned expressions on everyone's faces.
ôWell at least it's better then your last one.ö Ronin quipped.

ôYou're one to talk.ö Wonder Man said.

ôHey which of us wore a green costume?öClint replied ôYou looked like Christmas Man in red and green.ö

Wasp smiled. It had been a long time since the team was relaxed enough for this sort of gentle ribbing. She then recalled it had been since Clint was gone that the team became unable to do that.

Tony Stark worked on adding his Skrull detector to his armor. Extremis made it easy to add it to his armor. Stark just hoped Lyja was sitting out this conflict. He really didn't want to have the Avengers beat the crap out of her given that would make Johnny Storm whine. And that was one of the most annoying things on Earth.

ôYou think Hank is alright?ö Janet asked sounding concerned.

ôI won't be surprised if he was in the middle of it.ö Tony replied.

ôI just can't believe Spider-Woman was a Skrull.ö Wasp said.

ôWhat I can't believe is how she fooled Wolverine.ö Iron Man commented ôHe's the one that knew Jessica Drew. The rest of us might have helped her once or twice and seen her at some of those cosmic events but that was it.ö

ôNot like it matters.ö Ares said ôNow that she was eaten by a T-Rex.ö

ôYou people will never let that go will you?ö Tony said in mock annoyance.

ôI'm sure Ben will love to hear that.ö Clint said with a smile ôLike that story were a tank shot the Hulk in the groin.ö

ôThat is not funny.ö Janet muttered.

Then they heard Ms. Marvel gasp. They came to the front of the quintjet and saw Avengers Towers was in flames. The Skrulls were in the process of trying to break off Sentry's Watchtower that was attached the Avenger's base.

ôAnd I just got the place fixed from when the Hulk smashed it.ö Iron Man grumbled as Sentry and the Nova Corps attacked the Skrulls.

ôSo Baxter Building?ö Wonder Man asked.

ôI just hope my apartment is ok.ö Carol said. The Skrulls seemed to enjoy destroying everything she lived in.

ôGlad you have your priorities straight.ö Moonstone commented. Mrs. Marvel glared at Moonstone.

ôKarla.ö Clint said.
ôAre we sure he's not a Skrull?ö Karla asked looking at Ronin.

ôCompletely sure.ö Iron Man said.

ôAnd you never make mistakes.ö Moonstone said sarcastically.

ôClint is there a reason you believed in this woman beyond thinking she's attractive?ö Tony asked.

ôI still ask myself that question.ö Songbird said.

ôThe biggest clear spot is...Avengers Mansion.ö Wolverine said from the co-pilot chair.

Everyone who had been a long time Avenger winced at that. It was a sight filled with ghosts and pain. And Clint Barton wondered if someone made fun of his death. He wouldn't put it past Deadpool to make a wise crack or two about it.

As the Avengers landed around the ruins of Avengers Mansion they saw Yellowjacket, She-Thing, Mimic, and Paladin. Iron Man got suspicious as their costumes looked way to fresh for the madness that NYC was. In fact they looked like they'd gotten their costumes pressed and just put them on.

Iron Man was the first one out of the quintjet and asked ôSo where is everyone else?ö

ôBusy.ö Yellowjacket said ôthe Skrulls are attacking every major city and even struck Camp Hammond.ö

ôSo what are you doing here instead of leading them?ö Wasp said sounding annoyed as she flew out of the quintjet.

ôAt least he wasn't found with Tigra this time.ö Moonstone commented.

Criti Noll looked at Wasp with annoyance. The exwife of Hank Pym had turned down his experiments on her or was busy with super hero matters. Without them the Skrulls couldn't turn her into a living bomb.

ôWe need to test you.ö Iron Man said. And in a flash the three ôheroesö were shown to be the Skrulls they were.

ôThis isn't possible.ö the Super Skrull with the powers of She-Thing, She-Hulk, Crystal, Medusa and Invisible Woman said.

ôYes it is.ö Wolverine said as he cut into her with his claws. Ms. Marvel punched the Paladin Skrull through the ruins of the Mansion. Wonder Man flew after that Skrull.

Echo kicked the Mimic Skrull in the face. The Super Skrull with X-Men powers turned one of his arms into ice and tried to punch Echo in the face. However a blast of radiation slammed into him. The next thing the Skrull knew was a hammer made of sonic energy dropping on his head and sending him face first into the ground.

The Paladin Skrull found himself being hammered with kinetic energy. Criti Noll snarled. He needed real warriors for this. Those three were pathetic.

ôAny last words?ö Ares said with a cruel smile ôBesides your screams of pain of course.ö

ôAnd where is Hank?ö Wasp said in a commanding tone.

ôYou have no idea how pathetic Pym isö Criti Noll said ôIt's easy for me to....ahhh!ö

The arrogant Super Skrull sizzled a bit from an electric arrow that hit him in the chest. Moonstone made a note to not bad mouth Pym in earshot of Clint. Karla then remembered when Pym had fallen the most that Hawkeye still believed him and helped him prove his innocence of a murder that Egghead framed him for.

ôPym is a close and personal friend of mine.ö Clint Barton said ôYou taking his life ticks me off!ö

ôPym and his size changing powers are childÆs play to my people.ö the faux Yellowjacket proclaimed. Ionic energy crackled as the Skrull took on costume traits of the Vision, Black Panther, Wonder Man, Quicksilver, Arache, Hercules and Wolverine.

ôJeez.ö Clint said ôDo all you new Super Skrulls have to such patchwork and ugly costumes? I mean come on you can get powers from nearly everyone but canÆt design a decent costume.ö

ôThatÆs rich coming a guy using some womanÆs old costume.ö Wolverine commented. Echo gave Logan an annoyed look since she let Clint use that costume after he helped rescue her.

ôYeah well IÆm changing back to my old costume and codename after we beat this smuckÆs can.ö Hawkeye said.

ôIt doesnÆt matter since youÆll be dead!ö Skrulljacket bellowed.

ôRighttt.ö Clint said ôYou have any idea how people have said that?ö

Skrulljacket came at Hawkeye with the speed of Quicksilver. However Sentry was faster and the Skrull walked into SentryÆs fist. While Skrulljacket was knocked back by Iron Man who had hit him with his pulsars.

The Skrullian invader let out a massive howl of pain and he was then hit with a massive wave of kinetic force by Penance. Then Radioactive Man hit Criti Noll with a right cross. Wolverine took advantage of the Skrull seeing stars and slashed Skrulljacket with his claws.

Fast as lightning Skrulljacket turned his body diamond hard and punched Wolverine in the face. There was a thunderous crack as SkrulljacketÆs hand broke hitting WolverineÆs admantium laced skull. Though Wolverine was still sent flying into the ruins of Avengers Mansion.

Sentry let loose a massive burst light right in Criti Noll's face. Then Criti Noll felt he was being hit with energy blasts from all sides. The Skrull screamed in pain.

Then Criti Noll knew what being shot with a Desert Eagle felt like. Ares really liked that gun. The Greek God of War then slammed the shield he had gotten off a fake Captain America into the faux Yellowjacket's head.

A loud crack filled the air. Ares then fired his gun again to make sure Criti Noll was dead. Wasp and Clint looked at Iron Man and wondered why he let Ares on the team. Ms. Marvel understood it was to have the sort of power of Thor and Wolverine's attitude. Of course Carol doubted that Clint would have ever let Wolverine on the team. To be honest he was one of the few who helped out the West Coast team that weren't given reserve membership. Even Darkhawk got that for helping them once.

Wolverine slashed the Fantastic Four Super Skrull in her face. Then Clint hit the Skrull with a freeze arrow. Ice instantly formed over her and Ares punched the frozen Skrull and shattered her. Wasp didn't look happy about that.

Echo didn't like this. She was fighting for her life against super powered shape shifting aliens with a broken arm. It didn't help for her to move really quickly to avoid an optic blast from the X-Men Super Skrull. Still Echo managed to grab one of the Skrull's wings and yanked on it hard.

Moonstone stuck the X-Men Super Skrull in the back of the head with a hammer punch. The Skrull turned and got a photon blast to the face for his troubles.

Clint fired an electric arrow at the Paladin Super Skrull that was now made up of water. He sizzled and changed back to the normal Skrullian form. Wonder Man punched the Skrull as hard as he could and sent him flying through the air.

The Skrull was sent flying back to the ground as Nova returned.

ôWe need to get moving now!ö Rich Rider said in a commanding tone that surprised everyone.

ôYou heard him.ö Wasp said.

Ms. Marvel and all the other fliers took off for the Baxter Building with the ground bound heroes not too far behind them. Ms. Marvel looked back for a moment and saw why Nova wanted them to get moving.

The Skrulls sent a whole battalion to the destroy the remains of Avengers mansion.

ôWe need to get rid of the Skrull fleet that's in orbit.ö Nova said ôWorldmind said he had a plan to help deal with that but didn't tell me what it was.ö

The heroes soon arrived at the Baxter Building and found they weren't the only ones there.

There was a team of X-Men, the Young Avengers, and to Iron Man's annoyance the New Warriors. Then Tony noticed Bucky from Counter Earth was there as well for some reason. Tony felt they were scrapping the bottom of the barrel if the Young Allies had showed up but at the moment they needed all the help they could get.

ôWhere are the rest of the Young Allies?ö Iron Man asked Bucky. At the moment they needed all the help they could get and find out if the Skrulls had invaded Counter Earth.

ôThe who?ö Bucky asked.

ôYour allies on Counter Earth.ö Iron Man replied.

ôIs that what you call my Earth?ö Bucky asked sounding extremely confused.

ôIt is since Doctor Doom moved it from another dimension to the other side of the Sun.ö

ôWhat?ö Bucky said ôI don't remember any of that. I remember ending up here after a battle with Onslaught a few weeks ago.ö

ôGreat.ö Tony muttered ôYet another alternate reality.ö

ôIt's just like any other Tuesday around here.ö the Thing said.

ôWell at least she isn't another Summers family member.ö Ink joked.

ôLike we need his help.ö Night Thrasher snapped ôIt's Stark's fault we're in this mess!ö

ôOh IÆm so evil.ö Iron Man said with sarcasm flooding his words ôI only wanted to keep Gyrich or anyone else from getting the job. You know the ones that would make you wish it was me running it.ö

Iron Man then got into Night ThrasherÆs face. He actually saw himself flinch. The New Warriors were seeing a side to their leader they never expected to see.

ôNot like you have a clean record Night Thrasher or should I say Bandit?ö Iron Man said.

ôHeÆs not Night Thrasher?ö Jubilee asked shocked.

ôHeÆs definitely not Dwayne.ö Nova said adding his two cents.

ôGreat I was following a guy that used to date GambitÆs ex-wife.ö Jubilee said with a straight face. Compared to some of the more insane things of the Summers clan or the X-Men had faced in general that was simple.

ôI was trying to do what needed to be done.ö Night Thrasher said.

ôYou were just trying to balm your wounded egoö Iron Man said ôAnd being nothing more then a pest to what I was doing. ô

ôSo when I was busy in space fighting off Annihulus and then Ultron and the Phalanx you were using junk and getting a bunch of depowered mutants Bandit?ö Nova commented. Ms. Marvel got a bad feeling when Nova mentioned Ultron.

ôWell we fought the Zodiac and Machine Smith.ö Tempest said.

ôI wouldnÆt admit to that Zodiac fight.ö Clint said with a wince. That showed exactly how poor the teamwork of the ôNew Warriorsö was. He trained the Great Lakes Avengers better then the team had been by that point.

ôYou should go be with them Ink.ö Rockslide said ôI mean theyÆre all a bunch of fakes and losers like you.ö

ôRockslide.ö Cannonball said in a commanding tone.

ôWhat their leader is a completely untrustworthy liar.ö Rockslide said ôInk would feel right at home.ö

ôShouldnÆt you all feel right at home given your æleaderÆ turned out to be Donald Pierce?ö Blackwing noted.

ôDonÆt remind me.ö Rockslide snapped ôAnd who told you that?ö

ôDidnÆt the Avengers send Ultron into space?ö Decibel asked.

ôYeah they did.ö Cannonball said.

ôWHAT?!ö Nova yelled ôWhat the hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea what Ultron nearly did to Kree space?!ö Nova said. His hands glowed as he stared Iron Man in the eye.

ôAnd this is after they set the Hulk into space.ö Hawkeye said.

ôOuter Space is not your trash can.ö Nova snapped at Iron Man ôQuit using it as a dumping ground for things you donÆt like.ö

ôYeah they got the Negative Zone for that.ö Moonstone said.

ôYouÆre not helping.ö Iron Man said.

ôSee that sort of stuff is what Starks thinks he can do because he's better then everyone.ö Night Thrasher snapped.

ôWe intended for the Hulk to end up on a peaceful planet.ö Tony said ôIt'd at least be a vacation for Bruce given he probably could fix the ship eventually. Something went wrong and we all know how that went. And don't throw stones at me Bandit. You're not perfect.ö

"What's the Hulk going to do on a paradise planet with no people on it?" Rockslide asked ôHe'd get bored.ö

ôWell he always wanted people to leave him alone.ö Sunspot commented.

ôWell it didn't turn out well.ö Night Thrasher snarled.

ôCan it kid.ö Wolverine said ôWe got bigger things to worry about then your little ego.ö

ôRight we got a fleet of Skrulls over head.ö Iron Man said ôAnyone have any idea why this time?ö

ôWell someone told me it was for religious reasons.ö Hulkling said. He surprised everyone by speaking up at this gathering.

ôSo youÆre telling all of this destruction and death is because of a group of religious fanatics?ö Iron Man said.

ôYeahö Hulkling said.

ôThings like this make me glad IÆm an atheistö Iron Man muttered.

ôDoes Thor know that?ö Rockslide quipped.

ôI'm sure he does.ö Dani Moonstar said ôAnd it isn't funny Santo.ö

Bucky was glad they weren't all turning to him for leadership. While Steve would know what to do, James had no idea. He was the new Captain America and while he felt confident in being Captain America, he wasn't ready to lead the Avengers. Plus the fact the Avengers team right now had enough members that had lead the team before on it that he wouldn't need to.

ôHey Bucky.ö Clint said ôI always thought you'd make a great Avenger.ö

Captain America smiled at that.

ôSo what is the plan?ö Wiccan asked.

ôIt depends of Logan can get help from another of his teams.ö Tony said ôSeriously Logan I'm the head of SHIELD and you think wearing a black and grey version of you usual costume disguises your identity at all?ö

ôI told Slim it was a stupid idea.ö Logan grumbled.

ôIn any case is the rest of X-Force available?ö Ms. Marvel asked.

ôProbably since we didn't use Stark Tech.ö Wolverine said.

ôIf Logan can get X-Force here then we get them to help us deal with the Skrull fleet in orbit.ö Iron Man said ôI have something in space that can help us.ö

ôExcuse me.ö Cannonball said ôThere's an X-Force unit and I wasn't asked to be part of it?ö

ôThey didn't ask any of us but James to join it.ö Sunspot said ôAnd oddly they got Rahne to be part of it.ö

ôHas Cyclops gone crazy?ö Cannonball asked ôI mean does everyone forget when Pete Wisdom took several of us under his wing or that Rahne is the only New Mutant that wasn't trained by Cable?ö

ôReally?ö Rockslide said ôNo one ever says anything about X-Force and Pete Wisdom.ö

ôWell to be honest it was a very strange period of time for us.ö Cannonball admitted.

ôI only learned about some of that when I became head of SHIELD.ö Iron Man said ôYou ran into some very stuff even I found strange. You were even thought dead until you attacked the X-Statix.ö

ôOur legacy was not to be used for that.ö Cannonball said.

ôStill can't believe you all lost.ö Ink said.

ôThe Professor wanted us to go easy on them.ö Cannonball replied ôThat they would help with human/mutant relations and having terrorists beat the shit out of them in public wouldn't help.ö

ôThat sure didn't work.ö Moonstar grumbled.

ôIdiots like that were an endorsement for Registration.ö Iron Man said ôBut enough on various versions of X-Force.ö

ôYeah we have a world to save.ö Clint Barton commented.

For a moment Logan wondered what the Punisher was up to in this war. This sort of conflict only meant that Frank would have to break out the heavy artillery. Though Wolverine was sure that he could tell what Punisher had done afterwards.
-
The Hood charged into the warehouse he and his gang were using. It used to be an AIM base before the Young Avengers took them down. Parker Robbins wondered how the hell the Avengers or other heroes were to save the world when he easily beat the Avengers.

They made Tigra an Avenger and his gang easily beat and humbled her. Parker Robbins grinned as he remembered that. It was the first part in making himself a big name in the criminal underworld. And after fighting the Avengers he knew how to beat the capes.

There was nothing that could get in his way. He could defeat all the heroes, he had an army of super villains at his command, and he magical powers.

Then a window shattered and a burning backpack was thrown through the hole. The sprinklers came on and what came out wasn't water. The Hood screamed as he burned. The water line had been replaced with the gas line and the two bit thug saw that his dieing and burning gang was made up entirely of Skrulls.

Watching from a distance Frank Castle almost smiled. This time the villains weren't going to survive with just third degree burns and upset stomachs. The Punisher pushed a button and set off the explosives he'd set up around the warehouse. If the Skrulls and the Hood weren't dead then Frank wasn't sure if had anything on hand that could kill them.
-
After X-Force arrived the assembled heroes got a huge surprise as a huge force of Nova Centurions showed up. The Nova Corps surprised the hell out of the invading Skrulls and were able to rout the alien forces. One of the Novas landed on the roof of the Baxter Building next to several of the heroes.

ôHey bro like my new look?ö the Nova Centurion asked Rich Rider.

Nova's jaw dropped as he saw his brother in a Nova Corps uniform.

ôRobbie?!ö Rich said ôWhat the blue blazes are you thinking?!ö
ôTrying to save the day like you.ö Robbie said.

Rich then grabbed his brother by the front of his uniform and said ôYou think this is like super hero comics Robbie? Are you insane?! We're about to go into a fight with the Skrulls and you want to know what newbie heroes like you are? They're worm food and don't even know it!ö

Rich knew what the Skrulls could do. He'd fought a war with them as part of the Nova Corps. It was something he never wanted his brother exposed to. Why had Worldmind recruited Robbie for this?

ôIf I survive this.ö Rich said to the other heroes ôI'm rebooting Worldmind with my foot.ö

ôHe's right.ö Rockslide said to Robbie Rider ôOne of my friends got killed just before this. We barely had time to bury him before this mess.ö

ôYou guys.ö Rich said to the New Warriors, Bucky, Ink, and Aegis ôYou keep my brother safe.ö

ôI'm not a babysitter Nova.ö Night Trasher said. He then found himself being held over the side of the Baxter Building by the throat.

ôFrom I've heard Bandit you aren't worthy of wearing that suit and you're a crappy leader of the New Warriors. I heard Shellhead here once pulled rank and said as a founding member he could take charge. Well I'm the only founding New Warrior here and I'm telling them to make sure my brother survives this mess. Got a problem with that?!ö

ôWell I'm here.ö Penance said taking off his helmet ôAnd I back Rich on this.ö

ôDoes that make him Kid Nova then?ö Ink asked.

ôWe can work out code names after this over.ö Iron Man said ôAnd we need all the help we can get Nova.ö

Nova tossed onto the ground like he was a sack of bricks.

ôRight let's get to work.ö Rich Rider said.
 

FanboyimusPrime

Well-Known Member
#4
A hidden group of heroes watched the gathering of heroes in New York City. They had currently been attacking the Skrulls in the west coast of the United States but it felt like they weren't doing enough. They that were putting a small bandage on a massive gunshot wound.

ôThink we should show up for that shindig?ö a talking gorilla asked.

ôWe're supposed to be dead Ken.ö a young oriental man said.

ôWell we could just say we got better Jimmy.ö Ken Hale said ôThe X-Men have been using that for years.ö

ôYears I don't remember.ö Jimmy Woo admitted.

ôPlus Spider-Man knows of us.ö Gorilla Man commented.

ôThe one in blue and gold.ö a regal blonde woman said ôHe used to be a suitor of my daughter I believe.ö

ôYeah and sounds like while things went crazy on Earth, in outer space everything went completely insane.ö Ken said ôAnd the Avengers caused at one of those events by dumping Ultron in outer space.ö

ôAnd the fools and idiots of New York City nearly killed a later suitor of hers.ö Namora commented ôThe one that tries to honor Jim Hammond.ö

ôWe better track down Jim Hammond's remains.ö Jimmy Woo said ôWord is that someone is after them. And might even gain information on the V Battalion.ö

ôDo they even know of us?ö a head turning red head asked.

ôNot that I know of Venus.ö Jimmy said.

ôMy cousin turned down being a part of that group for a reason.ö Namora said.

ôShould have remembered that when he worked with Stark and his secret group.ö Ken commented ôJust hope we don't mess up as badly.ö

ôIt is something to avoid.ö a man in a full body suit and wearing a clear sphere over his face.

ôI hope we can do so Robert.ö Namora said.

ôSure was a pain to find out why the Hulk and the Gamma Corps wanted them dead.ö Ken muttered.

A silver robot saw Wolverine at the gathering of heroes and it's right fist clenched. Oh yes the Living Robot remembered Logan. And the machine member of the team wanted to repay being blown up by the long time X-Man.

ôHey how are they supposed to get into outer space?ö Ken asked.

ôEver wonder how they got the Flying Dragon space stations into orbit?ö Jimmy asked.
-
Reed Richards appeared to be in horrific pain. His body stretched like taffy and the Skrulls tormenting. That the whole invasion was his fault. Yet Mr. Fantastic knew this to not be true. This was merely the latest and most planned invasion of the Skrulls so far.

Doctor Strange confided to Reed that there had been a whole generation of heroes lost as they fought off a Skrull battle fleet. He and the Watcher had seen their fall. Reed wondered if there were heroes of that lost generation left.

Reed felt T'Challa was right. The Illuminati as Stark had referred to them was a bad idea. They arrogantly tried to force the Skrulls to stay away from the Earth only to give them tools for their plans of conquest. Their current plan was one they had in place before Galactus ate their throne world which made the War Skrulls the X-Men encountered and Paibok the Power Skrull merely prototypes of the Super Skrull armies currently attacking the Earth.

And the less said about what happened with the Hulk the better.

Reed was sure this was the mess with the Skrulls that the future Fantastic Four they had encountered talked about. Given how it didn't seem to be anything major to them Reed was sure the heroes would win in the end. That however didn't make him cocky. After all he or Sue or any of his friends could die and end up resurrected years later.

He was driven from his muses by Agent Brand who was trying to fight off a horde of Skrulls. Suddenly a shadowy figure appeared and sent the Skrulls flying around the room.

ôWho are you?ö Agent Brand asked. She had no idea who or what this person was.

ôDusk.ö Dusk said.

ôThe heroes must have gathered.ö Brand commented ôGiven every time there's a major event everyone comes out of the wood work.ö

ôLast I had seen of her involved the Contest of Champions the Badoon and Brood did.ö Mr. Fantastic said.

ôThat was....a while ago.ö Brand said ôBut a Skrull invasion always has brought everyone together.ö

ôWho sent you?ö Reed asked Dusk.

ôFury.ö Dusk said and soon the trio were gone from the Skrull ship. Unknown to them the holy book of the Skrulls burst into flames as their ôgodö really a Skrullian Eternal got a massive spine driven through him.
-

Iron Man looked over the assembled space ships in the Baxter Building. There was a Skrull ship called the Stealth Hawk that the Fantastic Four had taken years ago, an entirely new space ship Reed had created, and a half completed Quintjet Reed had gotten his hands on and had improved. Tony wondered if Reed let him make more of updated Quintjet. It looked pretty like a solid update of the jet and Stark knew he'd be having more time for the Avengers.
He was Director of SHIELD and barely holding onto it. With this mess and his technology being messed up he was sure he'd be fired. Of course given how thin of ice he had been on he knew that it'd just take one major or even minor incident for that to happen.

Tony then remembered he'd used SHIELD funds to help rebuild Stark Tower. Though given the building was likely gutted by fire and Skrulls it probably was for the best that SHIELD could have it. Which left him wondering what to use for a base for the Avengers.

ôYou want to know how many people you killed?ö Nova asked sounding furious ôSeriously what the hell where you thinking dumping Ultron in space?ö

ôWell at the time he was using my armor while I was in to look like a nude version of Janet.ö Tony said ôWe figured Ultron had lost his mind and would end up another piece of space debris. We had no idea he'd team up with the Phalanx.ö

ôAnd this is after your last attempt to dump your problems in space backfired.ö Nova said ôI know in that case you intended for the Hulk to find a peaceful planet but seriously it took both Warlocks and a lot of help to stop Ultron.ö

Tony wondered if Adam Warlock and the technoanarcy Warlock had ever met before that. He doubted it but that didn't mean it was impossible.

ôOf course maybe if you stopped doing stupid shit you'd have a better idea of what is going on in outer space.ö Nova said ôLike a batshit insane Summers brother ruling the Shi'ar Empire. I know that guy is going to be trouble.ö

ôAre you done?ö Tony asked ôLook I'm not perfect nor do I pretend to be. We had no idea Ultron would be able to recover and become an even bigger threat so quickly.ö

ôAnd I'm sure the Kree will think you tried to kill them all when they find out you and the Avengers send Ultron into space.ö Rich Rider said ôI mean they're still pissed over you guys tried to kill the Supreme Intelligence.ö

Tony knew saying ôA time traveler made me do itö won't get him out of that mess. And he didn't have that excuse for what they did with Ultron. Though frankly Tony had thought it was Alkhema trying to ruin Ultron's reputation. The simple or copied plans and female appearance made sense that way.

ôYet you brought up my playing being a founding member to get my way so you could as well.ö Tony noted.

ôI worry about my brother.ö Rich said ôI think he's insane to want to be a super hero. I mean we both know this job it's as glamorous or as cool as they make it out to be in comic books.ö

ôTell me.ö Tony asked ôHave you seen Captain Marvel in space recently?ö

ôHe's dead.ö Rich said ôI saw his daughter Phyla in the last crisis but Mar-Vell seems to be one of the few staying dead.ö

ôA Skrull has taken his appearance and powers.ö Tony said ôHe was last seen attacking the Thunderbolts but backed out. He also seems to think he is Captain Marvel.ö

ôAfter meeting the Thunderbolts I can't blame him for fighting them. They crippled, maimed and fought people whose only crime was helping people Tony. What the hell is anyone thinking where you have murderers and nutcases as public heroes while those that want to help are being attacked?ö

ôI thought I had them under control.ö Tony said ôBut recent events have made me think I had less control over things then I imagined.ö

ôYeah I know how that feels.ö Rich said ôAt this point I won't be surprised if Worldmind tried to get Firelord and Airwalker to rejoin the Corps.ö

ôAre you two done?ö Logan said as he walked out from behind the Stealth Hawk.

ôYeah.ö Nova said ôThough not sure how we're going to attack the Skrulls with just three ships.ö

ôWell your team up partner Emma Frost has made a few ships for us.ö Logan said.

ôTeam up?ö Nova asked. Then he got the reference.

ôAnd she didn't turn your brains to jello for that crack?ö Tony commented.

ôProfessor's stuff beats hers any day.ö Logan said.

ôSo now we have to find the ships, get into space and beat down some Skrulls.ö Nova said ôAnd hope Worldmind's 'hey you want super powers? Just come here' legion of Nova Corps members don't get themselves killed.ö

ôGood luck with that.ö Tony said ôThough one thing bothers me. There isn't any sign of the Hulk. The usual one or the red one.ö

ôA red Hulk?ö Nova asked ôI heard from Vance he used to be grey but didn't know they were getting new colors.ö

ôHe's a pain in the ass.ö Tony said as he recalled the Red Hulk mess.
-

Noh-Var stared at the Red Hulk and Fastforward and felt he had hit rock bottom. The three had encountered each other in the middle of the assault by the Skrulls. Noh-Var had been driven from the Cube by them and as Kree put him just behind Earth's metahumans. Noh shook his head. In his dimension the Skrulls had been dealt with a long time ago.

Now he was in the middle of the American Southwest fighting for his life. Noh-Var and Rulk didn't trust each other but the help to deal with the Super Skrulls was needed. Noh thought Fastforward was one of those save the day nice guy heroes and he hated those. But he needed the help to stay alive no matter how much it galled him.

Noh-Var was driven from his musings by an X-Factor Super Skrull. It was super fast, and every punch that managed hit it made it bigger and more of it. The Skrull was getting bigger and bigger and laughed at Noh-Var. That pissed the extra dimensional Kree off more then anything else.

ôAnd you claimed in a year you would makes this the new Kree Empire.öthe Skrull taunted ôYou're no warrior. You're just a worthless whelp that uses cities to write profanity!ö

Noh-Var managed to spit on him when he was gloating. Marvel Boy smirked and watched the Skrull assault his comrades. This was why the Skrulls were so easy beaten in his dimension. All kinds of powers and they were still easy to manipulate.

Red Hulk smirked as he traded blows with an ionic Super Skrull. Rulk slammed the Skrull into the ground. Energy crackled around the ionic Skrull as he managed to get back up.

ôI'm not only stronger but I'm smarter then you.ö Red Hulk said as he grabbed the Ionic Skrull by the legs and used him as club to hit the other Skrulls with. A Great Lakes Avengers Skull was smashed by Red Hulk. Rulk snorted and wondered what else the Skrulls scrapped off at the bottom of the metahuman barrel. Maybe they had a Slingers Super Skrull or a Runaways Super Skrull.

Red Hulk then felt a little dizzy and felt a surge of anger as he remembered how the stupid Hulk managed to defeat him. It wasn't even one of the smarter Hulk personas that did it. It was the 'Hulk Smash' completely stupid version that did it. And that was what pissed him off the most.

Yet Red Hulk had a plan to make sure the Hulk wouldn't ever bother him again. It was something the Leader and Modok didn't have for him when he first fought the Hulk. They had finally gotten their hands on the nanotech Tony Stark had used to depower Jennifer Walters and improve on it. With it he'd claim to drain Banner of his gamma radiation and throw everyone off the trail of what he did.

And hope no one would wonder why he didn't do that the first time he battled the Hulk. It was the only part of that tactic that Red Hulk hoped they won't question. He then punched the head off Infinity Watch Super Skrull. The Skrull's head crashed into an Iron Man Skrull's chest.

ôDid you have to do that?ö Fastforward asked as he looked and sounded completely revolted.

ôYes I did.ö Red Hulk retorted.

Fastforward suddenly slammed into the ground as a female Skrull with the powers of the many loves of Cyclops forcefully routed around in his mind. She knew something was hidden in there and began to shatter the blocks hiding Fastforward's memories from her.

Then she screamed as the barriers suddenly shattered. Fastforward's head filled with memories and he wondered why he called himself Buried Alien. It was close to his real name but it was really far off. His name was Barry Allen.

ôThanks.ö the Flash said before punching the telepathic Skull repeatedly at high speeds. He then created tornadoes by moving his hands really fast. The Skrulls all got a bad feeling that this unknown hero knew what he was doing.

Noh-Varr and Red Hulk had no idea what happened but they were left in the dust as Barry Allen kicked Skrull ass.

As soon as the Flash was gone from the sight of the pair they saw the last thing they expected to see.

Deadpool riding in an antigravity bike made to look like a flying goat with a saddle and handle bars. Red Hulk had the intention of hiring Deadpool if he needed a mercenary for his plans, but had no idea why he was here.

Noh-Varr had no idea what in the name of the Supreme Intelligence this creature was. However he could tell it was dangerous and heavily armed with the primitive weapons of Earth. Which were a bigger problem to him then he liked given he lacked all his weapons and Plex.

ôHey guys the author wants you both dead.ö Deadpool said ôNothing personal guys but he thinks you Rulk here sucks and Noh-Varr is nowhere near as interesting as Bendis finds him.ö

Red Hulk was on his guard. He had no idea what Deadpool was babbling about but he knew that he couldn't underestimate Deadpool's skills as an assassin.

Deadpool leaped off the flying goat and opened fire on Noh-Varr with a pair of Desert Eagles. Marvel Boy dodged the carbonadium bullets. The Red Hulk grabbed Deadpool.

ôI've killed the Abomination.ö Red Hulk proclaimed.

ôHe's been dead before.ö Deadpool noted ôAnd please starting off killing an established villain to look bad ass just means in 10 years you'll be a joke. Look at Trevor Fitzroy, the Neo and all the other 90s X-foes but me!ö

ôJust shut up.ö Red Hulk snarled as he started to crush Deadpool. Wade pulled out a knife and stabbed Red Hulk in the arm with in.

ôAhhh.ö Red Hulk yelled as he felt a burning sensation spread from the knife wound.

ôYou got a weakness to bladed weapons.ö Deadpool said ôSo I dipped my swords and knives in various snake venoms. They only bit me in the butt a few times but hey I got a healing factor and seeing Elvis turn into Captain Marvel Jr. and fight Donkey Kong was fun.ö

Red Hulk would have retorted but his vision was blurring and getting dizzy. He was also starting to feel numb and cold. He could taste bile in the back of his throat as well.

ôIt can't end like this!ö Rulk yelled as he started to turn back to his normal form.

ôOh so that's who you are.ö Deadpool said ôBye.ö

He blew Red Hulk's brains out with one bullet from his Desert Eagle. If the poisons won't kill Red Hulk fast enough, his guns would. And it was a pity he couldn't think in yellow text boxes but it was text and the author didn't want to screw around with changing the color of the text.

Noh-Varr was running to get as far away from Deadpool as possible. He entered the white zone and was focused completely to put as much distance between him and the Merc with a Mouth as possible. If Noh-Varr had the higher thought available at the moment he'd wish he had all his weapons.

He then felt a bullet from a sniper rifle fly through the air. He barely managed to dodge the bullet. From the size of the shell and the explosion when it the desert ground Noh was sure it'd have blown him in half. The Kree from an alternate reality felt worried as he dodged another bullet.

It was then the land mines Wade set up started to go off. As insane as Deadpool was he knew that the best way to deal with speedsters was to herd them into a mine field and blow their legs off.

Noh-Varr howled in pain as one of his legs was completely trashed by a land mine. If he had time he'd probably be able to heal his leg but that was the one thing he didn't have.

ôDon't worry Noh.ö Wade said ôWith a little luck you'll be resurrected in about five years. I mean I doubt if Kitty Pride will stay that long.ö

Wade then used a Mono-filiment wire to cut Noh-Varr's head off.
-
ôSo when did we go from a covert fighting team to a taxi service?ö X-23 asked.

X-Force got called by Wolverine to pick up a pair of Blackbirds that Emma Frost and Cyclops had hidden in the Massachusetts Academy. It was odd given the mission didn't involve any covert action or bloodshed.

Wolfsbane found it a great change of pace for the team. Especially compared to the nightmare their first mission was for her.

ôBecause I still have the codes to get down here and no one else was available.ö James Proudstar said ôAnd that Iron Man figured out who Logan was by his costume.ö

ôGreat so SHIELD knows who we are.ö Wolfsbane muttered.

ôThey are not the only one.ö they heard behind them. Only Warpath knew who it was.

X-23 extended her claws and attacked. The white clad man dodged her attacks and hit her with the flat of his swords. X-23 was about to gut him when Warpath got between them.

ôShatterstar, X-23 enough.ö James said ôWe're both on the same side.ö

ôI do wonder why you were the only X-Force member to be asked.ö Shatterstar said ôWhile the rest of us were left out.ö

ôI'm sure Cyclops will get asked that a lot.ö John admitted. It was very odd to him for so many former X-Force members to not even be asked to be part of the team. Cable and in some cases Pete Wisdom had also trained the others in black ops.

They knew what they were doing for this kind of missions. Of course Wolverine in a grey and black version of his costume didn't help their covertness. Other then to help give whoever was tracking them a huge headache trying to figure out where Wolverine was at any time.

ôWell 'Star.ö James said ôI'm not sure how you found us but you're welcome to help us.ö

ôYou sure he's not a Skrull?ö Rahne asked.

ôWhy would any Skrull take Shatterstar's form and not kill us all?ö Warpath asked ôEspecially now.ö
Shatterstar then showed them a Skrull head wearing his original headgear. The pained expression on the Skrull's face made it clear that Shatterstar made the death extremely painful.

ôI found him and killed him.ö

ôWell that's one way deal with a Skrull.öWarpath said.

X-Force kept a close eye on Shatterstar as they started up the Blackbirds. They had no way to prove Shatterstar was the real deal beyond killing him and even they considered that too extreme to do. All they could do is hope he was the real deal and watch him like a hawk.

Shatterstar didn't mind their caution at all.

X-23 kept an especially close eye on Shatterstar as the Blackbird they were in made it's way for New York.
-
Barry Allen looked at himself in a mirror for a moment. He'd shaved his beard and was now dressed in his Flash costume. He also felt like himself for the first time in a long time. He also felt a bit disturbed at how Sentry was a warped reflection of Superman.

The man clearly needed help and Barry wasn't sure why Doctor Leonard Samson wasn't helping him. He sounded like just what Sentry needed to help deal with his issues. On his world they won't have let such a ticking time bomb be a hero without helping him. The League or Titans would have made sure of it.

Shaking himself from his thoughts he ran back to where his allies where and found them dead. Though they appeared to be killed by human weapons instead of alien ones. He did the only thing he could. He quickly dug the pair graves and used rocks for simple tombstones.

After finishing that task Barry started running. There was nothing more he could do for those two, but he could help others. He raced for New York City. He knew that this was were the most powerful heroic teams gathered. His friend Makkari had told him a bit about the Avengers and Fantastic Four when they traveled together.

In his minds eye he could imagine seeing Titans Tower. That made him feel sad knowing what his death would do to Wally. He knew the young man was worthy of being the Flash and regretted not being able to tell him that before ending up in this universe.

The Fastest Man Alive raced through New York City and knocked around the Skrulls attacking people. The Skrulls were confused as they had listed pretty much every meta human by this point. A new speedster was setting back their plans. What other heroes could have slipped through the cracks?

And then several very slow moving speedsters came at the Flash. Barry wondered how they expected to beat him on quickness. They were nowhere near his league on that. Suddenly the ground under him melted. Barry skidded to a halt into a turned over delivery truck. Maple syrup covered him.

A Squadron Sinister Super Skrull, an Invaders Super Skrull, a Cap's Kooky Quartet Super Skrull and a Thunderbolts Super Skrull ran at their top speeds of 75 to 145 miles per hour at him. Flash was surprised when one of the Skrulls fired arrows at him. He quickly dodged the exploding arrows and punched the World War Hulk Skull that was trying to sneak up behind him.

A caped figure attacked the Cap's Kooky Quartet Skrull. Flash only saw him out of the corner of his eye as the Thunderbolts Skrull hit with an ionicly enhanced punch. Barry was sent flying by the punch but quickly recovered and hit the Skrull in the face at high speed.

Then there was the sound of a sword cutting into a flesh and screaming in an alien tongue. Barry looked and saw a woman in an interesting costume. It looked like she had a metal bra as part of her uniform. Green blood dripped off her sword and the World War Hulk Skrull was clutching his chest.

Barry then got a good look at the other person helping him. He wore a blue and gold costume with a red cape. For some reason he reminded the Flash of Batman. The unknown hero kicked the World War Hulk Skrull in the face. The force of the blow knocked the wounded Skrull back several steps.

The Invaders Skrull threw a shield at Barry and he raised an eyebrow. The shield also passed harmlessly through him. Then the Flash beat on the Skrull while running in circles around the alien at high speeds.

The Flash then helped out the blue and gold hero against the WWH Skrull. He hammered the knees on the super strong Skrull. Soon the Skrull fell over and hit the ground with a loud thud. Flash then hit as fast as he could in the face.

ôI'm the Flash.ö Flash said to introduce himself.

ôI'm Nighthawk and she's Valkyrie.ö Nighthawk said firing a laser at the Cap's Kooky Quartet Skrull. The Skrull barely managed to avoid being shot.

ôYou remind me of someone I used to know.ö Flash said ôGrim and driven guy.ö

ôUmmm...thanks?ö Nighthawk said as he dodged an ice blast from the Thunderbolt Super Skrull.

ôThink you're a captain of cold don't you?ö Flash commented.

Valkyrie stabbed the Thunderbolts Super Skrull with Dragonfang. The blade went through the the Skrull and he coughed up blood.

ôLess talk, more action.ö Valkyrie said.

ôI find the banter helps get them off guard.ö Flash said as he dodged the Squadron Sinister Super Skrull.

The heroes then had a massive shadow loom over them. Nighthawk and Valkyrie gasped as they saw a massive Skrull in the garb of Galactus. Flash had a feeling whoever this guy was supposed to have the powers of wasn't good.

Energy crackled around the Galactus Skrull. Then Atlas punched the massive warrior. Nighthawk looked relieved to see Erik. The former Thunderbolt hit Galactus again in the gut as hard as he could. He laughed. Erik and the others had a bad feeling this guy could use the Power Cosmic.

The Galactus Skrull blasted Atlas and sent him flying into an office building. Glass went flying everywhere. Barry moved really fast to make a tornado to keep all the shards of glass from falling on them.

The Skrull then tried to stomp Nighthawk and Valkyrie flat. Before his foot could come down on them, an uru hammer went through the Skrull. Thunder and lightning were heard and seen as the hammer returned to the hands of its owner. Suddenly a massive bolt of lightning struck the giant Skrull. Then came another and another until the Skrull was dead.

The Mighty Thor had returned to NYC and he was pissed. What the Skrulls feared had come to pass. They wanted Thor and the Asgardians to be kept busy and out of this. The Valkyrie that was in New York was a footnote to them.

Watching from a distance was a Skrull born to the name of Khn'nr but now was in all ways that counted to him Captain Mar-Vell. Next to him was the hero Crusader. They were both Skrulls who considered Earth to be their home now and wished to protect those that lived there. Also standing with them was Xavin, a Super Skrull in training.

ôThe end game begins.öCaptain Marvel said ôOne way or another those heroes will decide the fate of this world.ö

Xavin hoped they could free the Runaways. The Skrulls had managed to capture them after coming back to the present. She only got out by feigning loyalty before Crusader and Captain Marvel saved her from a super powered firing squad.

Still deep down Xavin knew that Earth's Heroes would do their best. She just hoped when the three of them came to their aid that they won't be killed.

-
In the Raft there was one solitary figure. This Super Skrull was able to copy of anyone and he even made his fellow Skrulls extremely scared. He looked out of the cell he was in and toward the Baxter Building and smiled.

He and the others that the others feared were going to have fun.
 
#5
The prisoners on the Skrull ships could feel and nearly smell the sense of fear in their captors. It brought joy to them as they knew the Skrulls had once again over extended themselves or did something stupid to turn the tide against them. And now the Skrulls seemed to fear those they had captured for their long term plans. The only problem was when to strike before the Skrulls tried to have everyone killed.

Suddenly the lights went out for a moment and guards watching them got scared. The prisoners couldn't understand what they were saying, but that they scared out of their minds was universal from the tones of their voices.

Hank Pym struggled to get himself free. He then realized that they were able to keep him from changing size but his specially treated equipment still would be able to. He hid it even in ways that the Skrulls won't be able to find them. Even in the compromising position he was captured in.

Hank just hoped no one would ask him where he put all of it. It was kind of embarrassing to be honest. And he was sure that Deadpool had hidden things in that place before. Then again Deadpool had done a lot of things shouldn't surprise people.

There was a surge and the electronics in Pym's shackles burned out. Pym appeared to vanish for a moment and when he enlarged again he was dressed in a variant of his original Giant Man costume. He had wanted to take up this identity after Janet left him once again. Not that he blamed her for leaving him. Their relationship had been destroyed by him and nothing could ever fix it to even close to what it had been before. Why they thought that possible confused Pym now. As did the brief relationship between Janet and Clint.

With nothing else to do but think for months, he'd finally figured that out. And pondered asking Tigra out. He wasn't sure if she'd say yes, but it at least was a start on getting back into the dating scene. Not that he considered Greer to be easy, but she was a woman he knew how to keep entertained and happy on a date. And in this case their previous experience together wasn't a weight around his neck.

He frankly wondered why he took up the Yellowjacket identity again. Whatever happiness it had once was now been tainted by many things he was ashamed of. Hank supposed it was feeling he'd put that ghost to rest when he'd merged together the two halves he'd become.

Giant Man found it curious he was the only one to have any after effects to Kulan Gath's magic in Costa Verde.

'Perhaps a scientific look into magic would be in order after this,' Hank Pym mused to himself. While magic didn't flow the rules of science there was the chance to use the scientific approach to figure out magic's own rules.

Pym then went through a crack in the worn brass wall of his cell and blasted the pair of guards with his improved stingers in his gloves. They were knocked back by the power of weapons and the guards clearly weren't trained soldiers as they fired wildly.

Nor where they were told about Bishop's energy absorbing powers as he hit several times by bolts in his purposely crude cell that was metal bars and a bed so he couldn't use that energy to attack them. The X-Man from the future smiled grimly and hit one of the Skrullian guards in the face with an energy blast.

Giant Man grew to ten feet tall and slammed the heads of the guards together. The pair fell to the ground. Hank shook his head. Take away the advantage of stealth and surprise and this group of Skrulls was nothing more then a joke. A very bad joke at that. One he didn't find funny at all.

ôWow, entertainment for the day,ö Sharon Venture remarked sarcastically. ôMaybe we'll see a magic show too.ö

Susan Richards looked shocked at her former team mates reaction. As did the other heroes. They didn't expect to hear that level of pessimism out of her.

ôWell pardon me for not trust him one bit,ö She-Thing snarled as she hovered mid air in a light blue dome. ôAnd this is just another game to mess with me!ö

This Sharon Venture looked like the one mutated by Doctor Doom for failing her, not her original appearance as Susan Richard had seen her have since the time Sharon stayed with Wyatt Wingfoot and his tribe. It made Invisible Woman wonder if she'd been replaced then or the Skrulls were behind on their information.

What made Susan feel worse was she never even asked Sharon how her appearance had changed back then, or why her disposition had become a lot sunnier despite her appearance only going back to her original She-Thing form.

ôI agree with Sharon,ö Mockingbird spoke up. Bishop looked at Mockingbird for a moment.
ôHow did you survive Bobbi?öGiant Man asked her in a soft voice.

ôThe one that died was a Skrull,ö Mockingbird snarled. ôShe stole my life from me!ö

Hank Pym surprised the Skrull Mockingbird by blasting her with a stinger and putting high voltage through her body and causing her to revert to her natural form. It was a trick the Living Lightning had discovered by accident in that whole mess with the Shi'ar and the Kree. It was still the one way to check that the Skrulls didn't have a counter for.

ôHow?ö she moaned in pain.

ôBecause Bobbi Morse is dead,ö Pym stated flatly with an undertone of pain in his voice. ôAnd I can't understand why you think we can be made to think otherwise.ö

ôSo we're the Defenders or something?ö Luke Cage asked while shaking his head.

ôNo...now we're Avengers,ö Hank Pym said firmly. It just felt right for Giant Man to use that title.

Luke Cage looked at their group. It was him, She-Thing, Black Widow, Bishop, Invisible Woman, Brother Voodoo and Spider-Woman. And of course Hank 'I franchise super hero names' Pym himself.

ôBishop you and Sharon take point,ö Hank commanded firmly. Invisible Woman watched Giant Man or whatever he was called now closely. She also kept a close eye on She-Thing.

Black Widow hadn't said anything but she took one of the laser blasters of the downed guards. It wasn't her bracelets but it would have to do for now.

The gleaming silver interior reminded Pym of the interior of Avengers Mansion after it had been rebuilt, and before it had been turned back into the old brownstone in the final confortation with the Gatherers.
Then suddenly a wall exploded and they were face to face with Songbird, Nighthawk, Atlas, Penance, Moonstone, and Radioactive Man. The "Avengers" then looked at the Punisher symbol on the face War Machine. The Thunderbolts looked over the freed heroes with a critical eye. They looked like the originals but that didn't mean much. Karla also pondered the unrelated thought of how Johnny Storm's ex-wife couldn't know his favorite movie.

'No wonder the relationship between the two can never work out,' Karla thought with a great deal of amusement.

ôDidn't Bishop go crazy or something?ö Atlas asked Radioactive Man. Doctor Chen shrugged.

ôKeeping track of the various members of all the X-groups is enough to drive someone mad,ö Nighthawk mused.

The Punisher wondered why he let them team him up with the bunch. Though he had to admit the ones he'd shoot in the head were already dead.

ôWe don't have time for this,ö Songbird sighed. Why couldn't Clint have stayed with them instead of going back to the Avengers?

ôIf you're really the heroes and not fakes can we please avoid another hero vs. hero brawl?ö Moonstone remarked in an arrogant tone. ôWe don't really have time for one of those macho pissing contests.ö

ôWell that sounds like Moonstone,ö Pym mused as he scanned them with an improved version of the Skrull reverter that he had made based off Tony and Reed's design. They came up clean but he wasn't entirely sure. It was an untested device after all. Shocking them like he did the faux Mockingbird would start a super hero vs. super hero brawl. Especially if that was Frank Castle with them.

That matter was then made clear when the Skrulls on the ship attacked both groups. The Skrulls didn't try to kill their agents during an invasion. Then there was a horrific scream as a Gen X Super Skrull attacked them.

A spell from Brother Voodoo sent the Skrull flying backward. She crashed into a Super Skrull with a copy of Thor's hammer, Iron Man's armor, Falcon's wings, Wolverine's gloves and boots, the Hulk's massive size.

ôThat doesn't look good,ö Luke Cage muttered as the Skrull barely looked barely even fazed. She-Thing hoped to have better luck as she punched the Squadie Super Skrull in the face.

Sharon's hay maker knocked the Skrull back a few steps and he let out a dark chuckle. Then started spinning his arm with his hammer. Knowing what he was going to do, She-Thing picked up the knocked down Gen X Skrull and used her as a baseball bat to hit the other Skrull with.

It hurt a lot more then this time to both Skrulls. Giant Man went ant sized and flew into the Super Hero Squad Skrull's ear and the Skrull screamed in pain as he blasted the inner ear. Pym then found he had to dodge parts of the ear shape shifting into razor sharp spikes.

Invisible Woman surprised the Skrulls by using martial arts to take them down. She judo threw an X-Factor Skrull into an Avengers West Coast one. The only hero there not surprised by that was Luke Cage.

ôDanny always said you were one of his best students,ö the former hero for hire grinned as he decked a Skrull with the powers of his old foes.

ôDoes everyone know martial arts?ö Atlas asked as he slammed a Super Skrull with the powers of Cerebro's X-Men into the ground.

ôCaptain America teaches the Avengers,ö Penance remarked as he kinentically slammed a platoon of Skrulls out of their way. ôVance told me about it once.ö

"I really never had the patience for it," Nighthawk admitted as he dodged a blow from a Hyperion and Whizzer powered Skrull.

The Punisher answered by blowing holes in Skrulls with his suit's palm repulsors and a shoulder mounted minigun.

Bishop shook his head and grabbed the arm of a Skrull soldier and twisted in. The Skrull screamed in pain and Bishop headbutted her to take her out. Then several Skrulls hit him with laser blasts.

ôClearly they did not read up on your powers,ö Giant Man noted as it seemed whoever build the cell to hold the member of the X-Men didn't tell the rank and file. It was a haphazard level of training the Skrull armed forces lacked.

Pym was proven right as Bishop unleash the absorbed energy in one massive burst at the Skrulls. It knocked everyone they were fighting off their feet. Frank Castle unloaded on those shape-shifters and blood started to splatter.

Radioactive Man gave them cover fire with blasts of radiation. He wasn't sure what the long term effects would be and frankly at the moment could care less what it'd do to Skrullian bodies. They desired to take over the world in a massive preplanned invasion and they got what they deserved.

ôWe need to get to the power core of this ship,ö Songbird ordered.

ôTo shut down the power or take control of the FTL drive and send them back home?ö Pym asked as he slammed several Excalibur Skrulls into the ground.

ôEither,ö Atlas admitted as he flung a New Fantastic Four Skrull into a group of Skrull troops. ôThough Abe and Techno picked a lousy time to be no shows for the big world in danger event.ö

"Less talking, more world saving," She-Thing nearly growled as she flung a Super Skrull in a Rhino costume with Doctor Octopus's tentacles and the Scorpion's stinger into a Skrull with massive shoulder pads and a red leather jacket.

They then were attacked by several Super Skrulls in Bartoc's costume. Bishop remembered how quickly Gambit had beaten the original. It only his refined skills from being a member of the XSE that kept him from getting all the ribs on the left side of chest from being broken as these three Skrulls also had the powers of Spider-Man.

"I don't like this," Brother Voodoo remarked as his hands glowed with mystical energy.

"No, really?" Luke Cage remarked as he grabbed the leg of one of the Savante using Skrulls and twisted it hard. The cries of pain made it clean even for a a race as fluid as the Skrulls that there were some directions that bending weren't possible for their bodies.

The Avengers were still watched closely by the Thunderbolts. Though Moonstone figured they were very likely on the level with them.

'Like Swordman's sister was...' Karla mused to herself. The fact she was what she said she was surprised Moonstone. Though given she died in Washington DC Swordsman should have asked for a warranty.

Jessica Drew then hit a Fantastic Force Super Skrull in the face with a bioblast.

"So what are you looking for?" Pym inquired wondering what they hoping to accomplish.

"The bridge and the power source," Radioactive Man replied. "We need to deal with this for good."

"That we can all agree on," She-Thing put gruffly as she felt some semblance of hope for the first time in a very long time. It was an almost foreign feeling to Sharon Venture.

"You take engineering," Invisible Woman told them in an charge tone. "We'll take the bridge."

Pym gave Susan a slightly bitter expression and he thought he was the one charge of this. Moonstone found this power struggle to be amusing.

"Yes let's do that," Songbird agreed. At the moment she was winging it and hoping the other teams were doing their parts. There was too much at stake for them to fail. The world was literally depending on them.

V-V-V

The hanger to the Warship, Dorrick's Revenge, was punched through literally by the being they knew as the Sentry. The Guardian of Good had as much reaction to their laser fire as if it was a light drizzle of rain on a hot summer day. He expanded the hole for his team mates.

A modified Quintjet flew into the massive hanger bay and the Skrulls fought harder to keep their enemies out. The Avengers were only behind the Fantastic Four as their most hated Earth metahuman team. The fact they hadn't turned an emperor's cousin in a grazing animal was what kept them from being at the top of the list.

ôAvengers Assemble!ö Ronin yelled as the door was opened and fired off several arrows at the Skrull guards. A net arrow trapped a Taskmaster Skrull and another arrow covered a Champions Super Skrull in ice.

Then a red blur passed Clint Barton and at speeds the Skrulls still were shocked at, the Flash did his best to disarm the Skrulls and knock them out. Working with Sentry felt so right, and so completely utterly wrong at the same time. Bob definitely was not Clark by any means. Maybe with some help the man could be the stalwart of justice Superman is, but that was not going to be soon. There was sense of darkness under the surface of Sentry that worried the Fastest Man Alive.

ôMan where has this guy been?ö Clint asked appearing to be talking to himself. Only the most sharp eyed Skrulls could see the Winsome Wasp flying around his head.
ôHe said he lost his memory and ended up wondering around,ö Wasp remarked as she flew around Ronin. ôAnd that the Flash we encountered used to be his sidekick. Why he couldn't move as fast as Barry can is unknown.ö

ôMaybe he ended up hogging the Speed Force,ö Wonder Man suggested as he dodged a punch from a Hellions Super Skrull. ôWhatever that is exactly.ö

The ionic hero was surprised when Barry stopped dead in his tracks in front of them shocked. They knew people from his dimension? How was that possible? When did this happen? Could they take him home? What shape was home in given the battle with the Antimonitor was raging across so many worlds.

ôYou...you've all met Wally?ö he asked quietly. ôAnd he was the Flash?ö

ôTalk about it later,ö Ares groaned. This sort of sentimentality made him desire to vomit blood. ôWe have work to do. And I do want to get to see my son sooner then later.ö

"You have a son?!" Ronin gasped. Ares gave the archer a dark look for a moment, pondering if splitting the man's skull would be worth the moment's entertainment.

Several Skrulls coming out of the shadows with their battle cry of ôHe loves youö highlighted Ares' point. Wonder Man punched a Marvel Knights Super Skrull in the face and she was sent flying into her allies.

A Young Avengers Skrull swooped in and fired on Ronin. The experienced Avenger rolled and fired off an electric arrow at the same time. He seemed amused until a massive Giantman II Super Skrull fell over onto him and they both crashed to the ground. Then the pair were hit with arrows that caused ice to form over their bodies.

Then a patriotic circular shield flew through the air and slammed into the Super Skrulls coming at them.

Captain America then dropped behind some cover and fired his gun. The acrid smell of gunsmoke filled the air.

ôIs that a Luger?ö Ares asked shaking his head. ôJames Barnes you do know what a Desert Eagle is right?ö

The current Sentinel of Liberty gave the Greek God of War an annoyed glare. Ares was not impressed and took pleasure in driving a claymore through the guts of a New Avengers Skrull. He noticed they left the Sentry out. Either due to him usually being off to whine so often or because of the fact the Guardian of Good was already batshit crazy and they didn't want to see if their copy would go insane and try to kill them all.

ôOr even an uzi. Those also work quite well,ö Ares added as he dodged a fireball from a Human Torch Skrull. It was really poorly thrown as well.

Ares then pulled out an uzi he had strapped to his leg to prove his point. The hollow point rounds cut through unaltered or unarmored Skrullian flesh with ease. Then an Excalibur Super Skrull came out of the ground and with Colossus's organic steel form crushed the firearm.

Ares laughed and stabbed the Skrull in throat with his adamantium knife. The Skrull's shocked expression as he gasped amused him. He dearmored and tried to pull the knife out. Ares dropped his crushed gun and punched the Skrull in the face with his now free hand. He then slammed the battered Skrull into a wall and then cut through where the lungs were down through the heart.

The Flash looked at Ares like he was completely and utterly out of his mind. He'd fought villains less disturbing then Ares. And he was fairly sure if Diana ever met him that she'd shove one of the Greek God's guns somewhere very uncomfortable and in the most painful way she could.

'This Ares is different than my worlds. And still thinks he's a god of war,' Barry thought to himself as he battled a Skrull with powers like his and Superman's. Yet the costume looked wrong to the Fastest Man Alive. The Squadron Supreme Super Skrull fired him laser vision Barry, but found that his target was gone.

Barry went through the floor and went up behind the Skrull and hit him in the back of the skull. The emerald alien warrior turned and managed to grab the Scarlet Speedster's fist when he tried to hit the Squadron Supreme Skrull again. Then suddenly Dragonfang came out of the Skrull's guts. Barry winced as the alien screamed in pain and neon green blood flowed from the wound.

ôLooks like uncle Hades was onto something re-empowering her,ö Ares remarked as he cut a Fantastic Force Skrull in half head to crotch with a massive battle axe. It was something that Barry made a note to look up. He figured he'd be looking at a lot of records to understand what they were talking about so causally.

A Sinister Six Skrull was about to attack Wonder Man when Captain America's shield slammed into his guts. Simon Williams punched the Skrull and it turned to sand. A mocking expression formed on the Skrull's face.

ôFists second only to Thor's hammer can't stop sand,ö the Super Skrull proclaimed with a savage smirk. Then it found sand wasn't a good form around the Scarlet Speedster. Flash ran around the Skrull and the silicon form of the alien slammed into the ceiling of the hanger bay.

"Thanks," Wonder Man called out to the Flash.

It was then that a red Abomination with an electric arm nailed Wonder Man with his electric arm. Said Skrull Sentry grabbed by the throat and flung at the other Skrulls and managed to knock over a Thing/Hulk/Juggernaut Super Skrull.

ôWe're definitely going to need to work on our teamwork after this,ö Ronin and Wasp said nearly in unison. They then looked at each other.

ôLooks like great minds think a like,ö Janet said in a playful tone.

ôWhen you've been leader as long as either us have been it comes natural,ö Clint commented before punching a Bartoc Skrull in the face. The savate using Skrull was knocked to the ground.

ôJeez even Bartoc doesn't have a glass jaw like that,ö Clint remarked as he shook his head. ôIt takes more then one punch to the face for him to go down.ö

The next thing Clint saw was a Skrull he had no idea what it was. He was wearing a mostly green and purple costume with oversized gloves, a silver mask, a Revolutionary War hat, and had a pair of brown wings on his back.

ôNow that's something I didn't imagine I'd see,ö Captain America admitted as he caught his shield. He then blocked a punch from that Super Skrull with his shield.

ôSo what is he?ö Simon Williams asked as he grabbed the arms of the Skrull in a vice-like grip.

ôTeam called the Crusaders,ö Bucky remarked as he bashed the Skrull in question in the face with his shield.

ôThey were dupes of the Nazis given machine based powers. After that mess was sort out most of them retired after they lost their powers. However one of them became Captain America. The second one if I remember correctly.ö

Suddenly the Skrull shrank down to six inches tall and hit Wonder Man in the leg. Simon nearly fell over from then force of the blow. And suddenly he reappeared at full size and Ronin fired an arrow. The knock out gas arrow flew through him and nearly hit Ares before Flash grabbed it and threw it at an X-Force Skrull and they got a large breath of the gas.

ôWhat the?ö Clint asked confused. Was it an illusion? Intangiblity? Hologram? Magic?

That really annoyed Hawkeye. He needed a handbook to tell whose powers these Skrulls had. While Flash reminded of the Freedom Fighters by the powers the Skrull had. It was almost disturbingly similar to the powers they had. He didn't like that at all. All these twisted fun-house mirror copies of his friends and he wasn't sure what Hercules was like on this world.

'With how things are going he's probably one of the Avengers,' Barry mused. And left him wondering if the Diana counterpart in this universe was a villain.

The Avenging Archer then fired off a Sonic arrow in the general direction of the hologram and or whatever and it vanished. The real Skrull was clutching their ears a few feet away. The Flash ran in and pelted the Super Skrull with blows. The Fastest Man Alive knocked the Skrull down with one final rabbit punch at mach one.

"Ok let's get going," Wasp called out. "We need to take this ship out before Thor and the other heavy hitters start their attack."

Barry took off to scout ahead inside the ship. Skrulls came out of the shadows to jump him, and Barry stopped and started to spin. The crimson tornado wasn't as good as something Red Tornado could make but it sent the Skrulls flying around the inside of the craft.

The Flash almost took a moment to check the pulses of some of the aliens, but wasn't sure if he could check them like he would a human.

One of them rose to use their Carrion Death touch on the Flash but their hands were sliced off by the Dragonfang.

Barry wondered briefly if such violence was because it was an alien and if this would be where the comics of his reality Tanaka Rei had were going to go. It drove home to Barry that he had to stay on the Avengers and lead by example. As a role model and from his memory the whole Registration issue and before that the mess around Captain America and Iron Man's handling of these Young Avengers, he'd definitely have his work cut out for him. He then remembered from talking with Hal about how Green Arrow had let down his sidekick. Issues weren't as black and white as he liked to remember them being.

The Flash then shook his head and ran forward, as there was time to think about when he wasn't in danger. And to never say what he thought to Ares face. He had a feeling preaching anything that didn't involve violence to that Greek God of War would not go well at all.

Wonder Man whistled as he saw the Flash's speed. Then he found himself in front of...himself. The Skrull then became massive, his costume an eyesore and he carried the weird weapon of Century known as the Parallax.
Electric arrows had hit the Skrull and were messing up his ionic body.

"I swear that trick never gets old," Ronin remarked loudly.

Simon Williams had to smile slightly at that. That was the Clint Barton he remembered.

Ares purposely kicked the fallen ionic Skrull as he went past him. The alien shapeshifter took off like a football and made a sicken crunch as he collided with the fall wall.

Wasp shook her head. Ares almost made her long for the days when Hercules didn't think she should be leader, and Namor was on the team. Almost.

Captain America wondered how Steve put up with this and stayed sane. It was a complete mystery to him. This unique and diverse group seemed to have as much attitude in nearly each member as Namor.

A barrage of pulse bolts was unloaded on the Avengers, and a stretching Iron Man armor clad Skrull yelled "He loves you!"

"Shut up," Ms. Marvel yelled as she absorbed the energy and with a glowing fist hit the Skrull.

The alien stretched out at that and found out they wanted him to do that as he became a sail as the Flash made hand tornadoes and sent him flying through the air like kite in high winds.

The former Winter Soldier picked up a Skrull blaster and opened fire. Crimson bursts of energy knocked down several Skrulls.

"Now that's a better weapon for a warrior," Ares remarked with a savage grin on his face.

Clint Barton turned to Ms. Marvel. "Seriously who thought adding him to the team was a good idea?"
"Iron Man," Carol replied.

"That explains that," Clint muttered before taking down a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Super Skrull. "And where is Herc anyway? You'd think he'd be here kicking ass with us."

"No idea," Wasp admitted as she flew by Ronin. "But I know he's doing his part somewhere. Call it a feeling."
With a savage smile on his face Ares spoke up. "Of course he is. Though I'm sure I could do it better than he could, but I'm a god of war and he's a half drunk bull wrecking everything in his way."

Valkyrie gave Ares a look before charging ahead.

Janet definitely hoped Ares was going to one of those people that had one time on the active roster and then just showed up at the major gatherings for the team. She then shook her head.

"Ronin take Flash, Valkyrie, Captain America, Wonder Man to the command center, I'll take the others to the engine room."

"You know where that is Carol?" Clint asked.

The former Starjammer nodded. "The most heavily defended part of the ship."

"Figures," the former Hawkeye grumbled, though his eyes lit up with excitement.

"Just kick their ass Clint."

V-V-V

Over the Earth a giant version of War Machine opened fire on the Skrull fleet. Inside Suzi Endo watched Rhodey's vital signs. During this she discovered that his body was starting to reject his cybernetic implants. If he didn't have them removed soon after the battle or his mind moved into a cloned body, he would die. Or possibly regaining the Warware armor she remembered him wearing when she met him. That of course being lost in...at this point she wasn't sure where that was lost in now. Maybe Rhodey would remember.

The satellite turned battle armor then shook as the Skrulls let loose on it.

Thor held up his enchanted uru hammer and solar wind bent to the Norse God's command. The charged particles slammed into one of the Skrull ships. It distracted the crew long enough for several dozen Novas to use their gravemetic powers as one to crush the ship flat.

Then the Norse God of Thunder hurled his hammer and it pierced through a massive warship. An Iron Man Skrull thought Thor was easy pickings without his hammer and blasted Thor in the face full power.

If anything it annoyed Thor and with his powerful hand grabbed the Skrull by the arm and snapped it like it was a rotted twig. His hammer returned to his hand and the Odinson slammed his hammer into the chest of the Skrull. Then a massive electrical surge struck the foolish Skrull and he let out a scream that wasn't heard but everyone around them could feel.

ôBlue Blazes,ö Rich Rider muttered as he saw that. Where was this sort of help when he needed it?

Then a golden hammer flew past him and slammed into Gladiator Super Skrull. There was a loud crunch in Robbie's mind as the Stormbringer hit the alien warrior in the face. It looked like it was extremely painful.

ôFriend Beta Ray Bill,ö Thor gasped in shock. He had said that he would return to the stars to get answers.

ôI realized that it would be cowardly to leave you and humanity while there was work to be done,ö Beta Ray Bill stated sounding disgusted with himself. ôAnd these Skrulls will pay dearly for what they did to me!ö

If Beta Ray Bill was honest their experiments on him were even more horrifically painful then the processes that made him into the cyborg warrior that he was today. And that which had empowered him had left everyone else physically crippled. He then raised his hammer.

It was then the pair of warriors saw another Galactus Super Skrull with a pair of Fire-Lord Super Skrulls. Thor was not impressed.

ôForward my friend,ö Thor yelled with his hammer glowing with energy.

It was not a good sign for the Skrulls as Storm Bringer glowed with the same mystical energies and the alien warrior unleashed his rage. The helmet of one of the Galactus Super Skrulls shattered when Stormbringer struck it. The Korbinite warrior then shattered the jaw of a Firelord Super Skrull with his fists. He could imagine the crunch it would have given.

Then a man in a high tech space suit appeared in the battle. The Skrulls ignored him until he blasted an All New All Different X-Men Super Skrull and then snapped the neck of the in armor form alien with ease.

Thor caught sight of the face of the man. It took him a moment to recall him, as the Avengers and X-Men had him on file. And together had battled him in the first public appearance of the man...and only barely won. His real name was Bennet Du Paris, but called himself Exodus, and looked enraged.

"Here me aliens," Exodus called out. "My race does not need you and your pathetic filth taking over. And I know you will treat Homo Superior no better then the flatscans."

"Who invited him?" War Machine remarked as he still remembered Exodus kicking his ass in Genosha years ago.

Then a beam of light started beating the crap out of Super Skrulls. Pulsar had to fight to call out attack names, as she was dealing with her Nextwave baggage.

Seeing Thor again made the former Captain Marvel smile slightly.

"Forward my friends and allies!" the Norse God of Thunder called out. "It is time to show these invaders what happens to those that try to conquer Midgard!"

With that he threw his hammer and sent a Shi'ar Imperial Guard Skrull through a Skrull battleruiser.

Then a massive silver looking metallic dragon appeared. The space station was very eel-like in appearance and fired a massive energy beam at the Skrullian fleet.

"Looks like everyone is showing up for this," Rhodey remarked before feeling like a knife had been shoved into his side and his left side flared with pain.

A Squadron Supreme Skrull punched the stopped giant War Machine and sent him flying through space.
Rhodey's legs twitched and he felt cold. The armored hero fought through the pain and punched the Skrull into a cruiser.

"I just hope the others are doing better," War Machine wheezed.

V-V-V

"You shouldn't be be part of this Sam," Wolverine stated as X-Force stealthy moved through the Skrull ship.
Cannonball sighed. "James has everyone completely forgotten when Peter Wisdom brought us under his wing for six months? Or Cable made us X-Force this sort of thing? Really it is beginning to get on my nerves."

Warpath shrugged, "I blame it on your easy going attitude and not talking about. Why 'Star doesn't get invited to these sort of things is what boggles my mind."

"Agreed," Shatterstar remarked as he moved with the stealth of a snake. "It annoys me to no end."

He then stabbed a Nightcrawler Skrull that had been in the shadows with his sword. Green blood flowed as he'd stabbed it in the heart. He then hit the Skrull in the jaw with a bone snapping kick.

Sunspot turned to Wolfsbane, "And you want to get that hardened?"

"I didn't want any of them to get involved with this," Logan growled harshly.

Suddenly they were all knocked around by a massive shockwave of energy.

"He loves you," black clad female skrull with a dagger shape cut out of his costume on her chest.

"Berto how you doing on solar power?" Cannonball asked. Sunspot smirked.

"Full power Sam," the solar powered mutant said confidently.

"You and James charge her, Tabitha keep him off guard, Danni you introduce her to that photon shield and Thing exoskeleton you got, Magma give her a nasty hotfoot, and 'Star...go nuts," Cannonball commanded firmly.

"What will you be doing?" Moonstar asked, with her voice coming out of what appeared to be the Thing's mouth being weird. Even for a group as jaded to the oddities of super heroics as X-Force was.

"Keeping Wolverine from trying to gut me for stealing his team back to where it belongs," Sam said with a slight smile.

"You with me," Shatterstar stated to X-23 before leaping into the fray. The pair worked as a well oiled machine and the Super Skrull barely was able to avoid them. She saw them as the most dangerous to her life and then realized she was wrong as a massive emerald hand grabbed her by the throat and slammed her to the ground hard.

"I think this is the first time we've ever worked together Wolverine," the Hulk admitted.

"Infinity Gauntlet mess," Logan commented gruffly. That was one downside of regaining all his memories. He remembered what Thanos had done to him with that power, and the complete and utter terror he and the others felt when the Mad Titan had effectively unlimited and absolute power. And Wolverine hated to be reminded of that sort of fear.

The Hulk was about to say something when a five Super Skrulls with his powers plus the Thing and the Juggernaut slammed into him. The Professor growled and sent them all flying through the air.

"Even with those additions I am the strongest one there is," the emerald goliath remarked proudly.

"That's nice," Logan commented. "Less talk, more world saving."

V-V-V

In the bowels of the Love of Kly'bn Donyell Taylor was frustated. His plans to save his brother, the original Night Thrasher, were getting derailed by this invasion. He honestly didn't care if the rest of the team didn't respect him at all as that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. All that mattered was saving Dwayne from his fate was all that mattered.

Even if it was merely going to create an alternate timeline. Even just doing that was worth it to Bandit.

With a fluid grace Night Thrasher dodged a Super Skrull with the powers of Captain America, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thor, and had a boar's head for a hat for some reason. He had no idea what that was referring to.

Jubilee slammed a Deadpool Skrull against a wall hard and gave Night Thrasher a look of disgust. Ink had by accident, or so he told her, learned Bandit's goals. He gave the team equipment scavenged from Avenger's Mansion to be his running dogs and never even gave an inclination he had a worthwhile goal when he was absent or sneaking around behind their backs.

'If he just came clean with us on trying to save his brother's life we won't have any problems,' the former X-Man thought to herself as she kept an eye on the other problem, which was the trio of Skrulls helping them. She shook her head as it seemed that the Skrulls couldn't get a Captain Marvel that didn't become individualistic for some reason.

Crusader didn't even need to be looking in the direction of the New Warriors, but knew they really didn't trust him. Rightfully so given the invasion, but had this weird feeling that things could have been a lot worse. He shook his head as a had this feeling he'd done this before.

This sensation of having done this before didn't sit well with him as it implied he was laying dieing with his piece of the Cosmic Cube what gave him another chance. He didn't want to think about how he could have been mortally wounded.

He was shaken from his musing by Dust screaming and falling to the ground.

"Is she ok?" 'Kid' Nova asked. Instantly he got dirty looks from the Young X-Men.

"No she isn't," Rockslide snapped harshly. "Now do something useful!"

Suddenly the Skrulls started running away from the New Warriors, Skrull trio, and Young X-Men. One didn't need cosmic awareness to know this couldn't be a good thing. They heard a hiss and suddenly air was being dumped into space.

"Blue Blazes," Robbie Richards called out. Even he was surprised he didn't use something stronger.

"Your parents really strict on swearing?" Ink joked to keep calm.

"Make jokes later," Night Thrasher growled.

Wondra however went through a wall and frantically tried to restore the air or open the doors.

"The second blue button on that panel," Captain Marvel called out, and Jubilee hit it hard.

Air refilled the section they were in and the doors reopened when pressure was restored. There was a look of relief on the face of Kid Nova.

Dust still looked weak and was having trouble standing. Other than Bandit, the New Warriors looked uneasy at what had happened to her.

Xavin flew forward ablaze. "My friends are this way!"

To their surprise Night Thrasher didn't say anything as he followed the Super Skrull. Bucky was right behind them. The sounds of fighting were heard in the distance after they got deeper into the ship.

"So you got any idea where they are?" Rockslide asked Ruth and Captain Marvel.

Blindfold nodded. "In the medical labs."

Cipher walked through the walls to find it, and hoping the Runaways were still alive at this point. Or at least in a shape that they'd want to be still alive. Suddenly there was an explosion in front of her and got to see Captain Marvel fighting a Winter Guard Skrull.

"You should have just asked me for directions," he remarked.

"Sorry...used to working more or less alone," she admitted softly.

Skrulls were knocked past them as the heroes raided the medical lab. There was a smell of blood and antiseptic in the air that was unsettling. Any attempt at humor died on Ink's tongue.

Xavin turned rocky and smashed aside anyone as she looked for her wife. Worry filled the shape shifter's heart that her friends were already in pieces. "Where? Where are they?!"

She then grabbed a random doctor. "Answer me! Where are the Runaways!"

He pointed at a group of pods and got dropped to the ground. Night Thrasher quickly knocked him out before he could blast Xavin in the back.

"You sure that's them?" Phaser asked. Xavin gave him a look.

"It is a valid question!"

Crusader hoped for a Skrull detector and one appeared in his hand and he walked up to the still in pod Runaways. Seconds passed tensely as he made sure they were who they appeared to be. If they weren't it would crush Xavin's spirit.

"Are they really them?" Xavin asked softly. Crusader simply nodded.

Suddenly an alarm sounded. The medical staff panicked and ran away from the heroes.

"Yes, that is not a good thing," Blindfold told her allies.

"That's the self destruct sequence," Xavin told them. "We need to get out of here. Now."

The pods were put into antigravity transport mode and the heroes made a break for it. Around them the SHIELD space helicarrier was blowing up Skrull ships.

"He loves you!" echoed and Super Skrull Multiple Men swarmed them to delay them.

Suddenly Dust turned to sand to tore through them. "All of you go! I'll hold them off!"

"Not you too Sooraya!" Rockslide yelled. Xavin stretched around the rock man and pulled him along.

The rest of the Skrulls on the ship were less fanatical and were taking escape pods and shuttles to get away. A Skrull stealth ship decloaked inside the cargo bay.

"Next stop Earth!" the Thing called out as the door opened. The heroes were quiet as they rushed into the ship.

The Thing noticed they were missing a hero as they flew out of the self destructing cruiser.

"It was her time," Ruth told Ben softly.

"Kid...you sure?" the Thing asked her. Ruth gave a small nod.

"Why?" Rockslide said sadly. "Why did she have to die?"

Dust's death caused Bandit wonder if messing with time might not a be a good idea. He turned away from the others and tears came down his face as he began to truly mourn his brother.

V-V-V

Across the planet, and in space the Skrulls found themselves losing. Like the favor of their gods had been taken from them. Those whose faith was not as strong ran and tried to go underground. Better to live on the Earth for a while than be dead.

Afterwards, in a rebuilt Avengers Mansion, Iron Man met with Giant Man.

"I really made a mess of this didn't I Hank?" Tony asked as he looked out a window.

"From what I gathered you did the warm and fuzzy version of registration," Pym admitted. "Though I think the whole thing was a complete mess. And a Thor clone Tony?"

"He's really an Anti-Sentry weapon," Tony sighed. "I like Bob, but his power and lack of sanity..."

Giant-Man nodded. "You should have told Thor that part."

"Things were strained and then he was dead before we could really fix everything between us," Iron Man told Hank.

"That's still less strange then what has happened to me," Giant-Man remarked as he'd what happened with Tigra and his impostor.

"In any case I heard you wanted to set up your own team of Avengers," Tony said to change the subject.

"Seeing as how the two Avengers teams in New York are reunited, I believe a new West Coast team would be a good idea. Especially after finding out the Pride was real and there is a power vacuum in LA now."

Tony nodded at that. "That's not really a terrible idea. Plus the Order's powers aren't exactly infinite."

"Even with me as the leader?"

"Trust me Hank at this point I think Janet is the only one of us that isn't in a glass house when it comes to questionable command decisions."

"Any word on who will be the next leader of SHIELD?" Pym inquired.

"No idea," Tony admitted. "Not that I'm surprised I got the boot."

"Though Hercules being the one to kick the crap out of a Skrullian Eternal..." Pym mused out loud.

"If we knew about that I'm sure someone would have taunted the Skrullian Queen on that," Iron Man joked. Pym cracked a smile.

"Yeah, I can see Clint doing that."

The door then opened. Wasp entered the room in a white and blue costume.

"You two done?" she asked. "Come on, we have a press conference to hold."

Tony put down the faceplate. "Can't keep the public waiting."

As they left the room, Pym felt a feeling of hope. Like a brighter age was to begin for them.
 

zeebee1

Well-Known Member
#6
I saw a suspicious lack of Optimus Prime. Are you an impostor? Maybe you're a Skrull.
 
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