Another Story

A dank fog rolled over the blackened expanse that was once called New York City. Rick Jones pulled his leather jacket tighter around his body. Everything seemed colder in the shadow of the spire; all of New York was in the shadow of the spire. No one knew where it came from, only that when it appeared, the rest of the city died. Rick stepped out of the wind into a place called "The Bar with No Name."
"The Bar" had once catered solely to "supervillain" clientele. Now, there were no supervillains left. Since the bar was located underground, it wasn't wiped out in the mysterious cataclysm. "The Bar With No Name" was everyone's bar now. Rick took a seat in a corner of the bar and ordered a drink. A scrawny waitress with dull eyes took another drag off her half-smoked Marlboro Red and dropped a dirty glass of dirtier water in front of him.
As Rick quietly nursed his drink, his eyes scanned the room. In the dim lights, it took him several minutes to realize he recognized another face in the bar. Someone else recognized that face, too.
"Hey, you're him, ain't ya?" The voice belonged to a rippling mass of muscle with a jagged scar running down one side of his face. The man was flanked by five greasy-looking thugs. He spoke again. "Well, ain't ya?"
"Please just let me finish my beer in peace," moaned the man. Rick couldn't help but pity the man he'd once thought of as an enemy. The man with the scar drove his massive fist downward into the table, spilling beer and pretzels everywhere.
It's you, isn't it?" screamed the man with the scar. "You're the Wizard, aren't you?"
"I was the Wizard," came the feeble reply. "I was, before the Cataclysm. But now..."
"Now, New York's nothing but a pile of ash! Now we're all trapped here by that strange energy wall that blocks out the sun! That's a supervillain plot if ever I heard one!"
"Well I didn't do it!" wailed the Wizard. "Why would I-?"
"Why would anyone?" asked the man with the scar. His hand twisted around the Wizard's neck, and hauled the frail old man out of his seat, slamming him against the wall. One of the other punks pulled a knife from his coat, and handed it to their leader. "Maybe you did it, and maybe you didn't. But the way I see it, cutting you up a little can't hurt, right?" The Wizard whimpered, and RIck closed his eyes. The blade gleamed in the light.
"Let him go." Everyone in the bar turned to face the newcomer. The man was tall, with a lean, powerful build. His face was lined with two days of stubble, and his clothes clung to his body as though he'd worn them for several months on end. Still, there was a raw power about the man. This was a man who'd discovered his purpose in life, and pulled himself together from nothing.
"Let him go." There was no mistaking the command in the voice this time. Perhaps unconsciously, the man with the scar unclenched his hand. The Wizard dropped thickly to the floor. The man with the scar pointed the edge of his knife toward the Wizard's would-be rescuer. Their eyes met- coldly. And then the man charged. As the knife blade made its way toward the stranger's heart, the man ducked to one side. His hands were almost a blur as he scooped an empty beer bottle from the nearest table. With a racing backhand swing, the stranger smashed the bottle against the scarred man's face. The knife fell to the floor. It's wielder was just behind. Pandemonium broke loose.
The scarred man's stooges were the first to start trouble, breaking chairs and overturning tables around themselves. Soon, though, the whole bar broke out into a riotous brawl. Its patrons were all native New Yorkers. All of them had been trapped in the city by the strange event known only as the Cataclysm. The fight that broke out in the bar was a grand catharsis of broken bottles and swinging chairs.
Rick gritted his teeth and steeled his nerves, then leapt into the fray. He pushed up the sleeves on his brown leather jacket, revealing a pair of finally crafted golden armbands. Rick's body hummed with energy as beams of light and darkness flew from his hands, knocking opponents this way and that. As the furor of the battle intesified, Rick hurled tables and chairs at the bar's neareast patrons, steadily making his way toward the Wizard's unconscious form and the enigmatic man who so fiercely protected it. Soon, the two were guarding one another from harm, each keeping a watchful eye on his own back for good measure. Eventually, the battle subsided. Everyone left in the bar was dead, too wounded to continue fighting, or too afraid to continue the fight. Rick turned to his newfound ally.
"You fight a hell of a fight, son," the man drawled.
"I should say the same about you," replied Rick, holding out his hand. "My name is Rick. Rick Jones." The man's gaze turned steely for a moment, as he ran an apprasising stare down Rick's body. Finally, he took Rick's hand in his own.
"Bill," said the man. "Bill Schoefeld. But you can call me 'The Terrifying Mitch.'"
"The Terrifying Mitch?" Rick gasped. "Then- then you're the one I was here to find!" Rick's eyes darted around the room, acutely aware of too many men's stares. "Not here," Rick whispered. He pulled his sleeves back down around his wrist bands, and headed for the door. After a few moments, Bill followed.
When they were safely outside, Rick continued his explanation, "There's been talk. Rumors mostly, but these days that's all anyone's got. They say that there are thsoe who understand the Cataclysm. They even say maybe someone can fix it, make things like they used to be. They say maybe you're that man, and that's why I came to find you. Is it true?" Rick's eyes shone hopefully. "Could you be everything they say?" Bill paused for a moment, as if considering the question.
"It may be true," he said. "It may be true that someone can make it all right again. But I'm only part of that solution. If you're serious about wanting it all back..." He looked at Rick again, waiting for a reaction.
"Oh, I am!" Rick cried, eagerly. "I am serious! I'd- well, I'd give anything. Now that Bruce and Cap are dead. Now that Marlo's... well, she's as good as dead, anyway. I'll give anything to set it right." Bill nodded.
"All right then. There's someone you should meet."
Rick was blindfolded, and led through a series of side streets and back alleyways. After what seemed like about an hour's walk, the blindfold came off. Rick was standing in the middle of a converted bomb shelter, probably in the sub-sub-basement of a local building. Food packed one wall; weapons packed another. The shelter was filled with a veritable army of nondescript persons. As Rick scanned the crowd with his eyes, he would've sworn he saw the same man four or five times in the room.
"Behold," said Bill with a flourish, "The Army of the Night- mankind's last hope for survival."
"Who are all these people?" asked Rick.
"No one you would know," Bill replied with a wry grin. "And that's the whole point. The one thing no one here will do is tell you their name. We address one another by physical descriptions, nicknames, that sort of thing. But no one here has an identity."
"No identity?" stammered Rick. "But- but-?"
"Why?" asked Bill. "Because identity is our one greatest threat. I first built this theory as I examined the list of those already dead or vanished. You remember superheroes?" Rick nodded. "Gone. They're all gone. Supervillains, too. And then went the peacekeepers, the in-between guys, like the guys at S.H.I.E.L.D. Not all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, mind you- just the noteworthy ones. Then went personalities, like Trish Tilby off the TV. And that model chick, Mary Jane Watson-Parker. She and her famous husband, Pete- they're gone, too. I started thinking that maybe it was being noticeable that was getting us folks killed. And then I met someone who told me how right I was."
"But we saw the Wizard, at the bar!" Rick said, frustrated. "How was he-?"
"Not destroyed? Oh, but he was. His technology is all vanished, his intellect was reduced to "normal" standards- even his arrogance was toned way down. Sure, not quite everyone is dead, technically. But there aren't anymore noteworthy people. Not like you and I think of them."
"Then how come I know your name? How come you haven't been destroyed?"
"Well, that's like our special secret. There's someone here who can tell you more about that than I can. Come on."
Bill led Rick through a series of tunnels and doors, ending finally in a small war room deep beneath New York City. Inside, seven people sat in a half circle. Bill motioned for Rick to have a seat. Once Rick was down, Bill pointed to the man in the middle of the room.
He was an average man of average height and average build, with a thick blue cloak pulled around his body. The hood was drawn to cover his face.
"Who are you?" Rick asked.
"I cannot tell you my real name, of course," said the man somberly. "But you may call me 'the Storyteller.' This name is quite appropriate now, for I am about to reveal to you the nature of the Cataclysm- and how we may stop it." Rick leaned forward, intent on listening.
"It began with a wish," said the Storyteller. "Three young men from a world far from here. Three young men who shared a wish- the wish to live and learn in the world of their heroes. A world very much like this one, Rick Jones. A world that ours might once have been, and may yet be. Through a means I'm not yet prepared to reveal, those three young men found their wish granted, and together gained fantastic powers while righting the wrongs of their adopted universe. One of the young men, though, was not content with the power he received. One man found himself wanting more, and the rage an jealousy grew inside of him as his friends' powers increased, while his diminished.
"This young man developed a new wish- a wish for more power. And he, once more, had the opportunity to see this wish granted. You see, this third young man, through cosmic chance or divine circumstance, frequently came across great power- power enough to change the world. But, Fate knew that no one person could shoulder such a great burden for very long. So, as soon as this young man gained phenomenal power, he lost them again. Until the conclusion of one adventure, when with wit and trickery the young man gained a boon from the god I know you know well- Loki, the Trickster God, whose plans you upset so long ago- he wished for a way to keep the power that he knew would come to him. Loki was forced to agree, and this young man's power grew even more."
"The Enigma Force. The Cosmic Cube. The Norn Stones. The Phoenix Force. The Kree Omni-Wave Projector. All these powers and more made their way to this young man. And with each newfound power, the young man fell further and further into insanity."
"Eventually, he realized, someone would find a way to strip him of the power he possessed. His only choice was to rid the world of anyone and everyone who might try to stop him. That, Rick, is when the Cataclysm struck. That is when the buildings of New York were laid to waste, its heroes were destroyed, and the massive globe of energy which looms above our heads, blocking out the sun and keeping every one of us trapped within, first wavered into existence. That is when the Age of Heroes came to an end, Rick. Now begins the Age of Kyle!"
"This is all so amazing," Rick stammered. "But how- how do you know all this? Are you- are you one of the three friends?"
"No," said the Storyteller, pulling down his hood. "Don't be surprised that you do not recognize me. You've seen me before, I'm certain, but never while I looked like this, and I'm afraid I can't give you the name you would recognize. No, I am not one of those three friends. But I did meet one of them, the one with which I have perhaps the greatest connection, in a place out of time in a time that never actually existed. I learned then of the bond I share with all three of them, and all was made clear to me. Do you understand?"
"I think I'm starting to," Rick said. "But then what can we do about it? You said you have a plan?"
"We do have a plan," said the Storyteller. "There is one among us who can travel outside of New York." Rick's eyes opened wide.
"You know someone who can Travel? But I thought Kyle killed them all! Who? Who could this person be?" In answer, Rick felt the cold butt of a neatly polished handgun press against his temple.
"Don't think we'll ever tell you," Bill said, through gritted teeth. "Do you really think we're as foolish as all that? Sure, as a superhero sidekick, you weren't as famous as, say, the Avengers or the X-Men. But when people like J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle start disappearing, your name definitely ought to have been on the long list. Care to tell us what you're doing here? And walking? And carrying around two artifacts of power? I'd watch your answers real close, 'cause if I don't like them, I'll splatter your brain across the floor."
Rick fell to his knees, hunched over. As everyone in attendance watched, horrified, Rick gagged, choked, and vomited a sticky green mass onto the floor. Bill turned the gun away from Rick, pointing it at the heap of alien waste. Suddenly, the green puddle lunged off the floor and wrapped itself around Bill's face. Rick turned to face the rest of the rebels, his eyes glowing with orange fire. He spoke in a voice not his own.
"There's no stopping us now, fools! Ooze is all that remains of the Skrull who thought so foolishly to take the place of our Lord and Master, Kyle. What makes you think any of you will fare any better?" Rick laughed a ghastly, inhuman laugh, and brought his Nega-Bands together with a CLANG. There was a flash of brilliant light, and when their sight cleared, the rebels found themselves facing the Nega-Men, Kyle's elite team of enforcers.
Help for the rebels poured immediately down the tunnels, but though the rebels had the advantage in numbers, the power belonged entirely to the Nega-Men. Killing Time acted first, darting in and out among rebels, her katana blade flashing at lightning speed. Many were dead before they had time to register pain. Those who survived Killing Time's initial attack were immediately bludgeoned to death by the twin onslaught of the Brat's mammoth fists and Madame Talula's whirling brick. Any of the rebels fortunate enough to pull back as the battle began were quickly silenced by the bloody strands of barbed wire which appeared around their necks, conjured from nothing by Garrote's force of will alone. It was a bloodbath. And through the center of the carnage strode a man not only cloaked in, but seemingly composed of, inky blackness. The only points of color on the figure's body were his two white, pupilless eyes, and the twin bands of gold clasped around his wrists. He was the only thing left people feared as much as Kyle himself. He was the Negative Man.
With a mighty heave, Bill expelled the alien biomass from his body. "Nice try, Ooze," said Bill, obviously shaken. "But if there's anything my years as an alcoholic taught me, it's how to get things I don't want out of my body."
The Negative Man strode calmly to face the Storyteller. Neither man spoke for a long time. Finally, it was the Storyteller who broke the silence, his voice as calm as it had been moments earlier.
"You can't kill me, you know," he said. "Perhaps you could have, once, but that time is long since past."
"We'll see," said the Negative Man. Negative energy erupted from his body, rolling across the Storyteller in a cacophony of pain and fire. When the blast subsided, nothing remained of the Storyteller but a tattered blue cloak.
Two of the young rebel men sprang forward, each curling themselves around one of the Negative Man's arms. Before the Dark One could shrug the two off with his mighty strength, the two boys pushed his arms together with all their might. The Negative Man wailed in anger as the Nega-Bands resounded with a CLANG, and he and all the other Nega-Men vanished. The youngest of the rebels, a pretty, shy teenager who didn't dare remember her own name, slammed one of her worn-out old boots into the side of Rick Jones' head. The traitor fell to the floor, unconscious.
"The Storyteller is...gone," said Bill, after a moment. "The Nega-Men are gone, and I doubt they'll find their way back here immediately, but we don't dare wait for them to return. I'm afraid it's time to push our plan into high gear. We're going to have to attack the Spire."

* * *
Early the next morning, as dawn was breaking outside of Kyle's Wall of Energy, crowds gathered at the base of the Spire. Throngs of nameless, faceless individuals who nonetheless had marshaled the strength to defend their way of life armed themselves with rocks, bottles, signposts, and whatever else they could get their hands on, and marched straight up to the base of Kyle's stronghold.
From the highest window, the new Sovereign of New York stared down at the masses below, and laughed.
"Arrogant fools," boomed Kyle. "What hope do they have against me?" His eyes glowed with fire as he telepathically summoned the Negative Man to his side. "You've served me well since our arrival in this dimension, Charles," Kyle said. "Continue in that service. Destroy the rebels now, once and for all." The eerie black mass that had once been the Negative Man's head cocked slightly downward in a mock bow, and then, the Negative Man was gone. Kyle turned back to his place at the window, and simled grimly at the sight of the Negative Man and his Nega-Men marching out to meet the crowd. The chaos which followed was a glorious sight to Kyle's megalomania.
"I still don't feel right about this," hissed the young woman. She looked back at the crowd, trying to drown out the screams of anguish that rose from their mouths.
"None of us feel right about it," Bill cautioned. "But it was our only option. With all those brave, beautiful people distracting the Nega-Men, we might just have a chance to save our world." He pulled out the knife he'd won in yesterday's barroom brawl, and with measured force, drove the blade to the hilt into one of the spire's walls. From there, it was easy enough to carve out a small entrance for himself and his companions; the wall seemed no denser than cork. Bill pulled himself through. The two young men by his side followed, and the young woman brought up the rear. Bill noticed with regret that she turned one last gaze on the crowd. "I'm sorry," he said. She seemed to know what he meant.
The Spire itself was no miracle of modern architecture. A single spiral staircase led up to the upper floors, where the path diverged in two. "This is where we break," Bill said. "Whatever else happens, I wish you three the best of luck. Remember, you're the last hope for everything that's wonderful." The three young people nodded, then ran down the corridor to the right. Bill turned to his left, and walked slowly to the end of the hall.
As the three companions entered their final destination, each gasped at the sight they beheld. They were standing in the middle of an exquisite ballroom, with polished mahogany floors and four crystal chandeliers hanging from each corner. The opulence of the room alone was enough to astonish, but it was the contents of the room that the three friends found so amazing. The room was filled with piles and piles of toys.
Board games, teddy bears, action figures, video games, dolls, rocking horses, skateboards, and puppets carpeted the room. Even more amazing, some highly recognizable artifacts were strewn about the room with a casual indifference. In one corner, one of the Teletubbies was wearing the Serpent Crown. In another, the Cosmic Cube had been transformed into a simple (unsolved) puzzle box. And in the center of the room lay the man for whom those toys had been gathered.
"He does exist," whispered the lanky blond man.
"Everything the Storyteller said was true," breathed the taller, more muscular of the two men. "It's really him. It's the Scavenged One."
Bill pushed open the massive wooden door and stared into the face of hte man responsible for so much heartache.
"How satisfying," sneered Kyle, licking his lips. "It's nice having beings like the Negative Man around to do my dirty work, but sometimes it feels so good to do things for yourself!"
Bill reached behind his belt and pulled out a single bottle of whisky. He looked down at his weapon reflectively. "I gave up alcohol for good after the Cataclysm. I guess I owe you that much. Still, there's nothing quite so balanced and perfect as these bottles. Don't you agree?"
Kyle's eyes flashed, and energy from innumerable cosmic forces spun from his hands. The brute telekinetic strength was enough to liquefy diamond. That strength twined itself around Bill, weaving a cocoon of energy that should have kept him from moving at all.
Undaunted, Bill took a single step forward.
"It all makes sense," one of them said. "Kyle had the unlimited power to destroy anyone who could've been a threat, but he didn't have unlimited knowledge."
"Right," added another. "And even Kyle couldn't name everyone anyone had ever heard of in the entire universe!"
"Only the third friend, Joe, could do something like that," finished the last of them. "So Kyle stripped his friend's mind away, and took all that knowledge for himself."
The drooling, giggling body of the young man who had once been a superhero bounced up and down, as though happy to be finally understood. He slammed two toys together in the air as a form of applause. The three young people put their hands on the Scavenged One's shoulders.
"Joe," they said, together. "You're not just a drooling, babbling idiot! You're not just a child's mind in an adult's body! You're the only other person who can think the way Kyle's thinking now. You're the only one who can outsmart yourself! There's got to be a way to get out of here, Joe- there's got to be a way to put things right! If anyone can think of it, it's you!"
The pretty, shy young girl knelt in front of the Scavenged One. "Joe," she said," Listen to me. My name is Anna Ortize. I'm somebody, Joe. Do you understand? I'm a real live person, and I can make a difference."
"I'm Martin DeBella," said the muscular young man. "I have a name; I have power."
The last young man spoke up. "I'm Jason Jupiter," he said. "Believe in us, Joe. Believe we can set things right."
Behind the glassy stares and childlike smile, Anna, Martin, and Jason saw a glimmer of recognition. But then, the End of the World was upon them.
"Nice try, you fucking psychopath," said Bill, "But it looks like I'm immune to your power." Kyle roared in anger, and uprooted the bookshelf nearest Bill. The furniture flew at Bill at breakneck speed, and shattered as it crashed against his body. Bill didn't even flinch. "You can't do it, can you?" he taunted. "You can't defeat me- your mind won't let you. Maybe you think I'm too silly to be bothered with. Maybe some small part of you sees what evil you've done, and is letting me win to put an end to it all. But maybe, just maybe, you remember one time with the one foe you couldn't ever beat. Maybe part of you, deep down, is afraid, because you know I'm stronger than you are." Bill took his final step, putting himself in arm's length of Kyle. The whiskey bottle lashed out, striking Kyle in the side of the head. New York's Supreme Being fell to the floor, blood trickling down the side of his face. All of the pain, all of the frustration, and all of the rage inside Kyle boiled his power to newfound heights. A cosmically powered, stellarly charged telekinetic Phoenix of pure energy drove itself out of Kyle's body, through the floor of the Spire, and charged into the center of the Earth.
Bleeding and wounded people knew that they were about to die, but would die as heroes, even without their names.
The Negative Man looked to the top of the tower and knew that his Master had been defeated. He sank deeper into his own Negative Zone energies, wishing the icy coldness of space could replace the warmth of the heart he lost long ago.
The Terrifying Mitch hung his head in shame. The battle was won, but at a price too terrible to pay. He thought of his allies, his friends, and he hoped that their plan succeeded.
Anna, Martin, and Jason were gone.
Joe smiled triumphantly, and wiped the drool from his chin.
Kyle lay his head against the stone floor, closed his eyes, and softly whispered:
"Oh, damn."

Chapter Fifty: All Good Things...

Charles, Joe, and Kyle blinked. They were back together again, standing next to one another. But standing where? This was no place that any of them recognized. Or rather, it was too much like a place they all recognized. They were standing in the middle of a field best recognized by Joe, the front lawn of the IMAX Theater. The sign on the front of the building, though, clearly indicated that it was a Best Buy store, and through the glass doors at the front of the building, all three could see that it was filled with the bookshelves one most often sees in a library. In the distance, the campus of Wabash College blended with the Indiana Academy to create something wholly unique. Everywhere they turned, the young men saw distorted versions of their three lives, crammed together by a terrible force. Then, they realized that they were not alone. By Charles, Timeslip and Haywire stood, locked in combat positions, frozen perfectly still. Next to Kyle, Doppleganger stood equally frozen. And, by Joe, were the alternate Avengers: Goodwill, Dreamboat Annie, Electric Youth, the Rock, the Deaf Leopard.
“The Supercools,” Joe said, putting a name to what all three were thinking. “All of us, back together again. But why?”
“To die, of course,” laughed a cruel, familiar voice. The Supercools spun around, and found themselves face to face with their arch-nemeses, the Anticools.
“Thought you’d beaten us, huh?” asked No Powers Boy.
“Thought you’d never see us again?” taunted Mr. Negativity.
“You probably wouldn’t have,” boasted the Scavenger. “Until the Boss found us. Gave us back our powers. Made us stronger. Strong enough to destroy you.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” laughed Kyle. Celestial Power, Negative Zone energies, and CESU sparked around the three young men, bringing their costumed identities out to play.

“You’re dead,” the evil Scavenger cackled. His electric yo-yo spun out at Joe.
“No,” Joe calmly replied, as his Sunsword sliced the electric cord in two. He took a step forward. Undaunted, the Scavenger fired his Stinger at Joe’s chest. The shots bounced harmlessly off the Wonder Glove’s forcefield.
“No,” Joe said again. He took another step forward. The Scavenger hastily switched on Humbug’s sonic apparatus. Joe’s lucky charm began to glow. For a moment, there was no sound at all, but as his deafening attack glove began to spark and smoke, the Scavenger could clearly see Joe mouth the word, ‘No.’
The two Scavengers were standing right next to one another. The Scavenger drew his electrified sword, and ran it straight at Joe’s heart. It snapped in half, as one would expect a sword made of chocolate to do. Joe shook his head slowly from side to side. Then, with one swift backhand, he put the pathetic super-villain out of his misery.

“Die!” shouted No Powers Boy, leaping at his eponymous counterpart. Kyle’s eyes glowed bright with white fire, and two twin beams of plasma shot from them, catching No Powers Boy in mid-air, and blowing him back the way he came. The Asgardian youth landed in a heap.

“Care to taste your own deepest shames?” Mr. Negativity gloated. Charles shot him in the face.

“Well, that wasn’t too hard,” said Kyle.
“At exactly which point were they our greatest enemies?” Joe asked.
“Never,” Charles replied. “They just—AAARGH!” Charles fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Behind him stood the Wizard, holding a wicked-looking device that sprayed a beam of yellow energy. Clearly, this was the source of Charles’ discomfort. The Wizard glanced sadly down for a moment at the crumpled body of the Terrifying Mitch. Behind him, the Trapster, Hydro-Man, and the Super Adapotoid flexed their muscles.
“We made one slight substitution,” the Wizard confessed. “But otherwise, we’re here. Since you chose not to lose to your most diabolical villains, why not give the first group you ever faced as a team the chance to exact its revenge?” The Wizard released the trigger on his weapon. Charles lay still, twitching occasionally. “This little gadget is made from the same design as my first invention, the one you destroyed,” the Wizard gloated. “That excruciating pain? Is from level three.” He turned the dial up another notch, then another, then another. “Want to guess what level ten is going to do to you?” He pointed the gun at Charles.
“Chuck, look out!” Joe cried. He threw himself in front of the oncoming beam, counting on his CESU to transform the Wizard’s weapon into something far less deadly. It didn’t work. The beam shot straight into Joe’s body. Nothing happened. No Negative Zone energies needed disrupting in Joe’s body, Nega-Bands or not.
“Bah! Finish them!” the Wizard ordered his teammates. The Super-Adaptoid roared, flexing the muscles of the Hulk, boasting the Scavenger’s weapons, and glowing constantly with the brimming power of No Powers Boy. Kyle himself turned to face the Super-Adaptoid, striking out with a tremendous bolt of cosmic energy designed to permanently strip away the robot’s powers. Simultaneously, the Adaptoid launched a similar beam at No Powers Boy. When the smoke cleared, the fractured, twisted remains of the Super-Adaptoid lay in a smoldering heap. Kyle stood triumphantly over the wreckage for just one moment, then looked down to make sure his own body wasn’t so disfigured. That’s when he realized he was dressed in street clothes, no longer the No Powers Boy uniform. And that’s when he realized that he could no longer access the roaring inferno of cosmic energies that seemed to have vanished from his body. Kyle picked up his S.H.I.E.L.D. laser pistol, which had fallen to the ground. It seemed pitiful by comparison. He looked at the battle taking place in front of him. “Oh damn,” said Kyle.

Hydro-Man sprang to life, forming his body into a giant tidal wave, which threatened to slam across the Supercools. Joe nonchalantly aimed his ring at Hydro-Man, and sent a wave of crippling cold straight into the villain's heart. Within moments, Hydro-Man had been transformed into the world's largest ice sculpture. That was one villain defeated, but it cost the Scavenger his attention. The Trapster fired his paste gun at a low angle, and pinned the Scavenger to the ground by his Wonder Glove. The Scavenger squeezed the finger trigger, trying to use a Wonder Blast to shake the glue loose. It cracked- a little. He fired again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
"Don't waste them, you idiot!" the Wizard screamed. He was dogfighting in mid-air with Mr. Negativity. Charles was playing the attack rather conservatively, but with good reason; he knew that one shot from the Wizard's gun would destroy him utterly. "The Wonder Gloves were designed to function in pairs! With only one, there's only enough battery power to use one hundred shots!" The Scavenger fired again.
"Oh," he said. "I wish I'd have known that a little sooner." He reached his free hand over, and slid his hand out of the glove.
"Oh damn!" shouted Kyle, and everyone turned to see what the fuss was about. Kyle had climbed- God knows how- to the top of the Hydro-Man/ice figure, and was teetering there dangerously. He threw his weight forward, and the sculpture began to topple. "Ooooooh daaaaaamn!" Kyle fell from the edge of the sculpture as the whole structure came down- right on top of the Trapster. Hanging in mid-air, Kyle clutched desperately for the Wizard, and somehow managed to grab the villain by the waist. The Wizard dropped his gun in the grass as he and Kyle came crashing to the ground in front of the Scavenger. Mr. Negativity flew in, reluctant to attack with Kyle so nearby. The Wizard pointed his glove at the Scavenger, and all four combatants simultaneously realized that the glove's firing chamber had been mangled by the fall. Everyone jumped at the Wizard as he pulled a capsule from his belt and smeared its contents across the Scavenger's Wonder Glove. The Trapster's glue began to melt away. A tussle ensued, which ended with Mr. Negativity pinning the Scavenger pinning the Wizard, who was unsteadily pointing the trigger of the Wonder Glove at Kyle.
"One more move and I kill him," the Wizard snarled. The Scavenger wrestled his way free of Mr. Negativity, and stood up, posing triumphantly.
"The game's up, Wizard!" he shouted gleefully. "There are no more shots left in that Wonder Glove!"
"You don't think I'm going to fall for that old trick, do you?" the Wizard snarled.
"It's not a trick," the Scavenger insisted. "You already shot it once at the Human Torch. Then there were three shots at the Trapster, three at the Terrifying Mitch, three more at the Trapster, three more at the Terrifying Mitch, one at Chuck in the Fantastic Four's headquarters, one at Moondragon on Monster Island, one at the evil Mr. Negativity, another one at Charles during practice, two at the Red Skull's cuboid, one at the Dungeonmaster's dragon, three at the Doomsmen who attacked our apartment, two while fighting Graviton, four on the Skrull Throneworld, six at Oracle on the moon, one vs. M at the Massachusetts Academy, then ten at Synch at the same time, four at soldiers drawn from throughout time, one at Riptide, one at Viper in Madripoor, one shot at Spoilsport, one at Hindsight Lad during the Contest of Champions, two against Pretty Persuasions, seven at those fucking X-Babies, one at D-Man, one at the wall of the airport coming back from Atlanta, one at Beautiful, three against Boomerang, one at the Brothers Grimm's bomb, three at the Absorbing Man, three at the Wrecking Crew, three at Doom’s soldiers as we ran for cover, one at the embassy door, two at the Grey Gargoyle, three at the Raiders, one at the Red Ghost’s baboon, one at the Red Ghost’s orangutan, two at Klaw, and ten just now into the Trapster's paste!"
"That's not one hundred shots!" the Wizard insisted. Joe recounted.
"One plus three plus three plus three plus three plus one plus one plus one plus one plus two plus one plus three plus two plus four plus six plus one plus ten plus four plus one plus one plus one plus one plus two plus seven plus one plus one plus one plus three plus one plus three plus three plus three plus one plus two plus three plus one plus one plus two plus ten." Everyone did the math in his head.
"No," Charles corrected him. "You only shot one time fighting Graviton. That's one plus three plus three plus three plus three plus one plus one plus one plus one plus two plus one plus one plus three plus four plus six plus one plus ten plus four plus one plus one plus one plus one plus two plus seven plus one plus one plus one plus three plus one plus three plus three plus three plus one plus two plus three plus one plus one plus two plus ten."
"Even if you were right," Joe insisted, "That would be one plus three plus three plus three plus three plus one plus one plus one plus one plus two plus one plus three plus one plus four plus six plus one plus ten plus four plus one plus one plus one plus one plus two plus seven plus one plus one plus one plus three plus one plus three plus three plus three plus one plus two plus three plus one plus one plus two plus ten, not one plus three plus three plus three plus three plus one plus one plus one plus one plus two plus one plus one plus three plus four plus six plus one plus ten plus four plus one plus one plus one plus one plus two plus seven plus one plus one plus one plus three plus one plus three plus three plus three plus one plus two plus three plus one plus one plus two plus ten."
"Fine!" the Wizard shouted. "One plus two plus- shut up!" He turned back towards Kyle. Charles jumped in, catching the Wizard by the wrist, and moving his hand aside just in time to keep the Wonder Glove blast from incinerating Kyle. Kyle just glared at Joe. Joe started counting on his hands. "One plus three plus..." A loud rumble in the distance brought his attention back to the battle.

Joe strapped “his” Wonder Glove back on, then pulled the power pack from the Wizard’s other glove and set the two to recharging. “What now?” he mumbled.
“Us!” came the reply, as Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows teleported in on a spectral wave. “The master brought you here so we can finally have our vengeance!” Lollipops continued. And then, they leapt into battle.
Mr. Negativity flew into the air, determined to once more draw the energy from Sunshine’s solar-powered body. In mid-air, however, he was stopped short by the sudden appearance of tightly-constricting bands of rainbow energy. Charles pushed against the bands with all of his power, but their leverage was too strong; the bands held. He was forced to watch, helplessly, as Sunshine released a blistering hot bolt of energy at the Scavenger. Taken off guard and unable to dodge, Joe was only able to raise the Wonder Glove’s forcefield in time to absorb most of the energy. Stunned and still under fire, the Scavenger knew that his forcefield wouldn’t hold out forever, but he didn’t dare counterattack while he was still pinned down. Kyle aimed his laser pistol at Lollipops, and let out a few half-hearted shots, but the assassin was able to dodge them all-too-easily. With a flick of her wrist, she launched one of her lollistaves into Kyle’s hand, forcing him to drop the weapon. She sprinted forward, curled her fingers around Kyle’s face, and activated her psionic power. The pleasure centers of Kyle’s brain flared, sending him on an all-too powerful sugar high that left him unable to do anything but smile a lot and drool even more. Lollipops retrieve her weapon, and raised it high over Kyle’s head. Kyle saw the killing blow about to fall, and smiled at it.
“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t kill these young men. This isn’t Kyle, the mad god. This is just a pathetic young man, unable to hurt anyone or do anything. We thought we were here for vengeance, to save our world, but this isn’t right. Sunshine, Rainbows- release your attacks. Mr. Negativity flexed his arms as the bands constricting them vanished, and the Scavenger paused to catch his breath as the steam-room heat around him vanished. Suddenly, a gout of flame appeared in the middle of the clearing, and resolved itself into the shape of Mephisto, Lord of the Underworld.
“No!” Mephisto whined. “We had a deal. I led you right to them! You can have your vengeance! Destroy them, kill the Supercools here in my dimension, and with the power I gain from their three otherworldly souls, I will grant you whatever you desire!”
“Forget it, Mephisto!” yelled Sunshine. “We’re sorry we ever agreed to your plan, and we’ll fight you to free these guys if that’s what it’s going to take!”
“Oh, that’s what it’s going to take,” cackled Mephisto. “You three made a deal with a devil- do you think you’re getting out of my world intact?” He snapped his fingers, and in a burst of flame, Hydro-Man, the Trapster, and the Wizard stood restored and refreshed. The Wizard looked admiringly at the brand-new Wonder Gloves he’d been fitted with. With another wave of his hand, Mephisto restored the Super-Adaptoid, and with another, the Anticools. The Scavenger’s new sword gleamed with a wicked light. “Think the six of you can beat the seven of us?” the Trapster laughed.
“They’re not alone!” Suddenly, the curtain between dimensions parted, and from the Marvel Universe proper came Goodwill, Haywire, Timeslip, the Deaf Leopard, the Rock, Dreamboat Annie, Electric Youth, and Doppleganger. “It’s a Supercools reunion!” cheered Goodwill. “And you guys don’t have a prayer.” Mephisto’s eyebrow arched, and suddenly Charles screamed in pain. Mr. Negativity fell to the ground and fell to his knees as two thick, black, muscular arms suddenly burst from his chest. As everyone looked on in horror, a tall, powerful man of pure Negative Zone energy actually crawled and pulled his way out of Charles’ body. “At last,” he gasped. “A nexus. I’ve floated blindly through that goddamned zone for way too long.”
“No!” Lollipops shouted. “You can’t have survived. The Negative Man!”
“And company,” the Negative Man leered evilly. He blinked, and suddenly his agents- Killing Time, Garrote, the Brat, Madame Talula, and the Ooze appeared, as well, held safely in stasis by Rick Jones and his Nega-Bands.
“Kill them,” Mephisto said, “And their place in this world is yours.”
“Gladly,” cackled the Negative Man. He thrust both arms forward, and a wave of Negative Zone energies swept toward the group.
“Look out!” Charles cried. He threw himself forward, contorting his body and stretching it to the very limits of his form. Charles became a living wall against the wave of energy, which dissipated harmlessly when the two met. The Negative Man’s eyes grew wide in shock.
“A new trick,” he said breathlessly. And suddenly, the Nega-Bands appeared on his wrists. “No matter. The Negative Zone is mine to control, and your powers will be mine once I’ve absorbed you fully into the Zone.” The Negative Man lunged forward, and seized a hold of Chuck’s neck. Charles felt himself being pulled in the Nega-Bands, and into the Negative Man. He resisted with all his strength, desperately wrestling against the crushing power. Meanwhile, thirteen superheroes stared down thirteen supervillains. Mephisto conjured himself a throne and sat back to watch. “Let this be our final battle,” he intoned. And it was.

Les Ryker, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Doppleganger, and the man formerly known as the Skrull known as Elyk, was no stranger to shifting identities. Neither was his opponent. Bill Schofeld had been many things in his lifetime- husband, father, brother, son, Marine, Terrifying Mitch, the Scavenger, teammate, partner, and friend. Both men relished the combat before it even began. Both men had lived many lives, and never found the one that seemed to click. Neither was sure where he belonged, but both knew how to handle themselves in a fight. Battles were easy; living was hard. They prepared to battle.
Ryker’s S.H.I.E.L.D. training took over first. He dived into a low roll, firing several shots from his laser pistol towards the Scavenger. Humbug’s gloves took over, knocking the bolts aside with a wall of solidified sound. That was a new trick for all three men, a minor revision by Mephisto’s power. Still, the Scavenger was able to push past his surprise quickly enough to return fire with the Red Bee’s stinging electric blast. The bolt caught Ryker’s hand and easily scrapped his only weapon. Ryker backed away as the Scavenger ignited his electrified sword, and made several practice swings in mid-air. Ryker knew, though, that he couldn’t back away forever, and as the Scavenger brought his sword swinging down yet again, Ryker suddenly shifted his forearm to resemble a similar sword, simultaneously hardening his skin to resist the blade. The force of the electricity slammed through Ryker’s system as the two made contact, but the sudden parrying of the Scavenger’s blow gave Ryker a moment of surprise. He elaborated the muscles in his free arm, giving himself a stronger punch, which he brought squarely into the Scavenger’s jaw. Startled, the Scavenger fell to the ground, and dropped his sword. His hand reached for Humbug’s gauntlet, twisted the knob, and brought the sound of ten thousand chirping crickets roaring into being. He was too late. Ryker had already anticipated the attack, and sealed his ears with his shape-shifting powers. One last, good kick put the Scavenger out of the battle.

The moment the battle began, the Wizard took off into the air. It was, after all, a strategically advantageous position. Mostly, though, he wanted to compare his own craftsmanship with Mephisto’s magic. He was a little disappointed to find that the gloves Mephisto conjured worked as well as, if not better than, his own. The Wizard was so intent on his experiment that when he returned his attention to the battle at hand, he found himself in an altogether new environment. He hadn’t remembered a desert nearby, but the hot sun, the white sand, and the rocky cliffs were certainly proof enough. In a land of magic, anything was possible.
The battlefield was empty except for himself and a young girl. She barely seemed old enough to be a hero, but they were starting younger and younger these days. He swooped in for the kill. Suddenly, he was dazed, and in pain. Had he crashed into something? No, there was nothing in front of him but open sky. Right? He fired a Wonder Blast. The bolt seemed to fly off into the distance, but the Wizard’s keen eyes detected just a little bit of debris only a few feet ahead. So, then, the girl was an illusionist. Was the desert scene real at all? Only one way to find out. He shot a vortex beam (Mephisto even thought to include that!) at the ground, near where the young girl made herself out to be standing. Sure enough, the sand stayed put- it wasn’t caught in the swirling, rushing winds. But something was! He couldn’t be positive, but the Wizard swore he’d seen a wisp of hair float through the vortex, for only a second. Lost your concentration, honey? He fired to the immediate right of the vortex, and was rewarded by “reality,” as the desert scene faded away. Dreamboat Annie wavered for a moment, then fell to the ground, defeated.

“This really is quite an honor for me,” Goodwill said, ducking underneath a glob of adhesive fired from the Trapster’s paste-gun. “I mean, fighting the Trapster. You’re like the Supercools’ ultimate arch-nemesis or something.” She jumped above another shot, smiling. “Dad never really told me that whole story, but he certainly had a lot of respect for you.” She let the next shot vanish into the swirls of her cape. “It’s almost a shame, really, to have to do this to you.” She pulled a small metal egg from within her pocket dimension, and tossed it fluidly into the Trapster’s chest. The egg sprang open, spraying metal coils everywhere, which quickly tightened to hold the Trapster in place. With his arms and legs pressed into his body, the Trapster lost his balance, and fell to the ground, where the impact knocked him out.
“Hmm,” CJ said. “Maybe he gets a lot tougher.”

Mr. Negativity looked at Kyle. Kyle smiled a very big smile.
“You’re worthless,” Mr. Negativity said. Kyle smiled. “Look at your life- your friends have no respect for you. You don’t even have a real job. You don’t have any powers, you’re too inept to do anything to me physically. You can’t possibly defeat me. Goddamn, boy, what the hell’s the matter with you?” Kyle kept smiling. Mr. Negativity pushed himself further into Kyle’s mind, reaching out with his mental malaise, leeching still more happiness out of Kyle. Thanks to Lollipops’ earlier intervention, Kyle had lots of happiness to give. Mr. Negativity kept pulling, stretching his powers to the utmost. “You lost your only shot with Rina. You only had a shot because you weren’t even really you. You’ll never get home. You- urk.” Mr. Negativity fell over, his brain fried by Kyle’s excessive cheeriness. Suddenly, the spell broke. Kyle looked down at Mr. Negativity, then looked around, trying to figure out exactly where he was and what was going on. He looked back down at Mr. Negativity. “I rule,” he said.

Madame Talula laughed a hearty laugh as she swung her ball-and-chain above her head. “Sit still now, little one,” she cooed to Electric Youth. “Auntie Talula just wants to smack you once. That’s all it’s gonna take.” With the speed of a striking cobra, the ball suddenly whipped to the ground. Electric Youth jumped out of the way. Barely. The ball came back over Talula’s head, spinning again. “Just one,” she laughed.
“I don’t think so,” Electric Youth replied. Two sparks of electricity shot from his hands, catching Madame Talula in the chest and shoulder. She laughed ever harder. “Insulated costume. Doesn’t hurt.” Her fingers tightened around the cord, and the ball came down again. It was easier to dodge this time, but Electric Youth had a sneaking suspicion he knew why. Talula had tested him. He’d blasted her with everything he had, and it couldn’t hurt her. She was toying with him. He fired a few more times, if only to seem intimidating. The ball came down again. And again. Talula ran her fingers along the base of the chain, and suddenly Electric Youth knew how he could get to her. The ball came down again, and this time, Electric Youth came down right on top of it. He emptied his body’s power reserve into the ball, and electricity shot up the metal cable to Madame Talula’s bare hands. She shrieked in rage and moaned in ecstacy as the bolt fried her brain. Electric Youth breathed a sigh of relief; it had taken all the power he had, but he’d won.

The Deaf Leopard was a hero, technically, but he certainly wasn’t very heroic. When the battle began, he crossed the field halfway to take on Rick Jones. He’d assumed the guy without a costume would be the easiest to defeat. Rick wasn’t completely helpless, though. When the Negative Man reclaimed the Nega-Bands, Rick pulled free the battle cannon he often wore strapped to his back. As the Deaf Leopard pounced, Rick fired. Unfortunately for Rick, the Deaf Leopard was already too close. The shot went wide, and the Leopard landed hard against Rick’s leg. A follow-up slice of his claws managed to shred Rick’s jacket- and some of the flesh underneath. Desperately, Rick flailed his arms, and caught the Deaf Leopard in the side of the head with a pretty feeble punch. Rick threw his weight forward, and knocked the Deaf Leopard off balance, then snatched for his gun. He brought the barrel swinging around, and this time hit the Deaf Leopard much harder. Carlos went down in a heap, temporarily stunned. The Negative Man laughed cruelly, and through the psychic bond they shared, Rick Jones felt it. He felt the Negative Man’s mind press against his own, forcing him to act. He turned the gun around, pressed the edge of it to the Deaf Leopard’s forehead, and pulled the trigger. Inside, Rick cried as the Negative Man roared in delight.

The Rock’s hands flew to his throat. Blood poured from a dozen small cuts as the barbed wire pressed deeper into his throat. He couldn’t breathe. Immediately, instinctively, Dylan’s density tripled, quadrupled, pentupled, until the wire could no longer pierce his throat. It was no help. The blood was still there. He still couldn’t breathe. He tried to slip his fingers between the cord and his neck. It was no use. He saw a man with shaggy brown hair staring intently, and suddenly Dylan knew why he could no longer breathe. Spots danced in front of his eyes. The end was almost near. Suddenly, Dylan’s density plunged, as he pushed forward with both feet. The Rock took off like a shot, leaping for Garrote and the two collided, tumbling into a heap together. The cord didn’t move. Slowly, his density increased again. Garrote was pinned under the Rock’s weight. Dylan’s face turned blue as he pressed his knees into the villain’s chest. His density increased again, and the pressure against Garrote’s suddenly took his breath away, too. Dylan’s eyes sagged. Several of Garrote’s ribs cracked. The Rock’s density increased again. Something had to give, and finally, it did. Garrote began to gasp and wheeze impotently as his lungs burst under the Rock’s weight. Dylan sucked in a tremendous breath as the cord around his neck vanished. Garrote’s eyes bulged from his head and, as the Rock caught his own breath, the sadistic killer asphyxiated, knowing at last what all of his victims must have felt like.

Timeslip had already chosen the girl encased head-to-toe in leather as her target. Something about her seemed familiar, but Rina had no idea what until she activated her power. Instead of blurring the time around her, Rina’s consciousness fragmented, sharing space with herself throughout her own timeline, as well as that of Killing Time, her other-dimensional counterpart. Even as part of her wondered absently when exactly she left Harry’s apartment, another part of her was in that other dimension, facing Kyle’s rage. She’d rebuked him, cast him aside. In his omnipotent grace, he’d allowed her to live, but now this Rina had to remember for the first time having a tight leather costume seared into every part of body, encasing away her skin for the rest of her life. Kyle didn’t laugh as he did it; he didn’t cry. He told her, coldly, simply, that he never wanted to see her face again. He wouldn’t have to, after this. Rina screamed her counterpart’s agony, and screamed for the loss of her own stability. Finally, she landed back in the present as her thoughts once more became her own. Her body was not. The scary part was how familiar it all was, the feel of the leather/skin. She drew one of her katanas. Rina cast her eyes upon her own body, and saw Killing Time’s eyes staring back at her. She knew what she had to do. She knew what Killing Time wanted, had always wanted, but been unable to do. Rina pressed the end of the katana against her stomach- against Killing Time’s stomach. Killing Time’s eyes shone as Rina’s body smiled. Rina drove the blade home. There was a white-hot flash of searing pain. She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was back in her own body. Killing Time lay dead, apparently of a self-inflicted wound, on the ground in front of her. Rina curled herself into a ball and began to sob.

No Powers Boy was a native of the land of Asgard. He was used to the blistering heat of more than just one sun, and each more powerful than our own. He thought it would be, well, child’s play to defeat a man whose power was drawn from a more earthly sun. But somehow, Sunshine managed to hover just out of reach, and somehow managed to slide away from whatever rock, stick, or other projectile No Powers Boy managed to hurl his way. Sunshine’s blasts didn’t hurt much, but they did hurt, and No Powers Boy felt himself weakening with every passing minute. By the time Sunshine swooped in close for one all-out blast, No Powers Boy was already on his last leg. He felt the blistering heat of Sunshine’s attack, and his last thought before passing out was how cool the breeze felt as the attack ended.

Lollipops darted in and out of the Brat’s attacks, landing a shot here and a backhand there. The Brat, for his part, was much more used to open brawls, and his temper rose as the girl- the human girl!- danced merrily away from his every punch. Lollipops’ staves bounced across the Brat’s back, but even her strongest blows only managed to bruise his tough Asgardian skin. The two were stalemated. They drew back from one another as each caught their breath. Then, the two came at one another again. Back and forth they battled, one unable to strike and the other unable to wound. Each time they withdrew, then moved back into the duel with a renewed determination.
Finally, Lollipops realized that she couldn’t continue to pace the relentless dynamo she opposed. She attacked again, moving for the Brat’s head not with her fist, but with her open hand. The sugary-sweet psionic energy within her flowed into the Brat. It didn’t work. Maybe it was something not quite the same in his Asgardian brain. Maybe it was his youthful outlook, or maybe it was his blinding fury. Probably, though, it was that her power filled her opponent’s with joy, and nothing gave the Brat more pleasure than pounding on the weak. She may well have stopped him, if she’d been given a few more seconds. But the moment she let her guard down to activate her power, Lollipops felt the full force of the Brat’s punch driven into her body. She sailed through the air, finally crashing against a house that was a blend of three very different homes. Her body sagged, and then was still.

Rainbows shrieked as the Ooze’s green, dripping, only vaguely humanoid form shambled toward him. It was an act of pure terror, but then the adrenaline kicked in. He fired a beam of rainbow energy at his attacker, slicing the creature in half and dropping it to the ground. The Ooze’s parts shifted and squirmed, pulling themselves back together. Then the Skrull/Mutant hybrid shot from the ground toward Rainbows. Rainbows barely had enough time to teleport before the thing landed, and even then didn’t make it very far. He tried again, this time to encase the monster in bands of spectral energy. The thing dripped its way free of Rainbows’ prison. It jumped forward again, and this time Rainbows blocked with a wall of energy. The slime shot inhumanly fast around both sides of the wall, catching Rainbows off- guard. It slammed into both sides of Rainbows’ head, knocking him cold. That saved Rainbows’ life. His usual strangulation attack thwarted, the Ooze slid back into combat, searching for a new victim.

Hydro-Man just couldn’t stop laughing. Haywire had attacked the first person he saw, tangling the villain in a mass of steel-hard string. He hadn’t realized the Hydro-Man’s water form would have no problem sliding out of the entanglement. Harry dodged a few of Hydro-Man’s pressurized blasts, then tried different tack. He focused on creating a mass of string- a very absorbent mass of string- in the center of Hydro-Man’s body. It was no use. He saw Hydro-Man cringe, probably very uncomfortable, but Harry realized he didn’t have the ability to create as much wire as it would take to sop up all of Hydro-Man’s body. He scanned the skies, and tried again. He mentally wrapped a metal cable around a low-hanging power line, and sent the other end into Hydro-Man’s watery form. Hydro-Man howled in pain as his watery form dissipated. Harry took a moment to relax before he realized that the puddle right behind him was rising into a human shape.
“That...was a good shot,” Hydro-Man sighed. “But not... good enough.” He slammed his wet fists into Harry’s back, and Haywire went down for the count.

“This cannot possibly be a good thing,” the Scavenger said. He looked at the Super-Adaptoid, which had already replicated the powers of all the nearby combatants. Lollistaves, Paste-Guns, Solar Energy, Electric Energy, and All. He sighed once, and knew he had to try. He shot a ray of cold from the Mandarin’s ring. Sunshine’s energy dissolved it almost at once. The Scavenger tried a Wonder-Blast. It met with Asgardian skin, and had no effect. The Super-Adaptoid retaliated with a burst of superhuman speed, knocking Joe to the ground. As it advanced slowly toward the downed Scavenger, the Super-Adaptoid actually cracked its mammoth knuckles. Joe nearly laughed as the desperate, stupid thought came into his head that whomever programmed the killing machine must have had a sense of humor. His eyes widened.
It’s just a mindless robot, he reminded himself mentally. The Super-Adaptoid took another step forward. A soulless killing machine. The Super-Adaptoid raised itself to its full eight-foot stature above the Scavenger and prepared to deliver it’s final blow. Joe closed his eyes, and concentrated on keeping that one thought in his head. That’s all it is, he told himself. It’s complicated, and powerful, sure, but it’s still just a self-propelled, soulless, mindless, killing machine robot. It’s nothing more than a tool. A weapon. He opened his eyes to see the Super-Adaptoid’s fist, and then to watch it explode in a shower of sparks. The Super-Adaptoid’s eyes widened for just a moment, and then it shattered, raining each of its tiny parts across the field. And everywhere one of those parts landed, it formed itself into a perfect, glittering diamond. The Scavenger put his hands around Cestus, and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I could bring them all back. Like that.” Mephisto bragged. “This battle will never end.”
“They’re winning,” Colin said in return. “The good guys are beating the bad guys, and they always will. Joe, Chuck, and Kyle are unstoppable.”
“You know,” Mephisto said. “I truly think you’re right. There’s something about these guys I haven’t quite pegged, but I do believe they’d eventually fight their way out of here. Of course, they’re friends aren’t so lucky. One of them is dead already. How many do you think they could save, before they did make their way out? Would Dreamboat Annie survive? Would Rina?” He smiled diabolically.
“Why are you telling me this? Just do it, if you’re going to. Bring the villains back, and let them try again. The Supercools will find a way.”
“Maybe they’re counting on you to save the day,” Mephisto suggested. “Maybe they’re waiting for you to bargain their lives and souls to safety.”
“How?” asked Colin.
“Simple,” Mephisto said. “The battle proceeds. I won’t interfere. Whoever is left standing at the end will go free. In return, I only want one soul. One young, innocent soul, given over to me of his own free will. Your soul, Colin. Give it to me, and your friends will have a chance at victory. Keep it, be selfish, and watch them die. And then your soul will be mine anyway.”
“I- Okay! Okay, take it, just let them have a chance!” And Mephisto laughed.
“Human minds are so easy to manipulate. It’s tremendous fun to plant a thought, but it’s easier still to make one disappear. To strip their memories away. It will be like you never existed to them at all....”

“Wizard, down here!” called the Terrifying Mitch. He waved his arms frantically back and forth, signaling for his erstwhile teammate. The Wizard swooped in low to see what Bill wanted.
“Sucker!” taunted the Mitch as he brought his clasped hands crashing into the Wizard’s chin. He laughed again, and returned to his normal form. The Doppleganger moved in on the Wizard again, turning the villain’s helmet sideways before he could react. “You don’t remember me, do you , Wizard?” Agent Ryker’s face contorted again. “I looked like this then, Wizard. I looked like this when you took her from me!” His fists fell again and again, crashing into the Wizard’s body, long after the villain was unconscious.
“Doppleganger!” Electric Youth cried, pulling his teammate away from the Wizard. “That’s enough! You’ll kill him!”
“Good!” Ryker said, pushing Electric Youth aside. The young man fell to the ground, and landed right on top of the encroaching Ooze. Ryker had already turned away when the Ooze wrapped itself around Electric Youth’s head. Ben clutched at the slime, trying desperately to pull it away from his face. He gasped for air that wasn’t coming, and the Ooze slid further down his throat and into his lungs. I’ve got to have one more, he thought. Just one charge left in me! Ben reached deep down in to himself, straining for the energy he needed to blow the Ooze away. It wasn’t there. And then suddenly, Ben’s adrenaline sparked, and all of the latent electrical energy came pouring out. Ben’s body was vaporized instantly as the electrical synapses in his brain fired, casting bolts of lightning everywhere. When the electric field dissipated, Electric Youth and the Ooze were both gone.
Rick Jones grazed Doppleganger’s skull with a shot from his cannon. Doppleganger dropped to the ground, bleeding from a flesh wound. Rick shouldered his gun again and worked to correct that oversight. Goodwill saw him aim the shot, and knew she had to do something. As she reached for her cape, though, she suddenly felt her hands pass through the cape, rather than into it. As she looked down, she realized that she was fading away- fading back to her own time. “No, not now!” she screamed. “Not fucking now, it’s not fair!” She’d been sent from the future to destroy the only father she’d ever known- to write one of the Supercools out of existence. If she was disappearing now, it meant that she’d succeeded- that she’d set an irrevocable chain of events into motion. There’d be time for mourning later. Right now, she had to save Ryker’s life. She leapt, and her arms wrapped around Rick Jones’s body. The two vanished down the timestream, just as the Rock’s unconscious body came flying through the spot where they’d just been standing. The Brat turned to catch a face full of solar energy. Sunshine blasted the boy, then flew back into the air. The strategy had worked so well against No Powers Boy, there seemed no reason to believe that it wouldn’t handle his counterpart. Unfortunately, Sunshine didn’t count on the Brat being much more vicious than his twin. Instead of flinging rocks, the Brat uprooted an entire tree, and swung it baseball-style, with all his strength at Sunshine. Jason went sailing back, too stunned to regain control. He’d gotten pretty far into the air when his powers cut out entirely, and Jason Jupiter plummeted to the ground below. Joe, Hydro-Man, and Kyle heard the crack of Jason’s neck when he landed, and knew that there would be no more Sunshine.
“Who’s next?” cackled the Brat.
“You sick bastard!” roared Colin. “I hate you!” Flames smoldered in his eyes. “You don’t deserve to live! Die!” The flames burst from his hands, mouth, and eyes, and consumed the Brat, body and soul.
“Excellent,” cackled Mephisto.
And suddenly, the flames were doused, as Hydro-Man came roaring onto the scene, sweeping Joe away with his tide. Taken by surprise, Joe didn’t even have time to catch his breath, and he didn’t dare try his freezing trick again- not from inside. Joe would be dead in moments, and Kyle knew it, just as he knew he was his friends’ only hope. He scooped the Scavenger’s electrified sword off the ground, activated the switch on the handle, again tossed the weapon into Hydro-Man. The villain roared in pain again, and then suddenly burst open in a silent explosion of water and energy. Joe went sailing, crashing against the wall of the Best IMAX Library. Kyle was knocked backwards onto his back. Hydro-Man was brought, human again, to the ground. Kyle reached behind himself. Something was digging into the small of his back. When he realized what it was, he knew what he had to do.
Charles was still fighting the Negative Man, but he was slowly losing that battle. Already, his arms and legs were completely submerged within the Negative Man’s form. In a matter of moments, he’d be swallowed completely. Kyle and Joe saw what was about to happen, and knew that they couldn’t let their friend live as an evil villain. Joe saw what Kyle was holding, and shouted, “Do it, Kyle! It’s the only way!” Kyle hesitated. Charles saw what Joe intended through their psychic link. “No, Joe, NO!” he shouted. “Do it, Kyle!” Joe yelled. Kyle aimed the Wizard’s gun, and pulled the trigger.
And moments before the shot landed, Joe slammed the Nega-Bands together. CLANG! The beam of energy struck the Negative Man, who had only enough time to roar in pain before being stripped from reality altogether. Joe, for his part, was unharmed by the beam, but the fraction of a second he’d spent in the Negative Zone had taken its toll. His arms and legs were entirely charred; both hands were missing altogether. His chest was open, bare ribs and organs exposed. His stomach was spared a similar fate only because of the invulnerable nature of Cestus. Astoundingly, Joe was still conscious, if only for a moment.
“Yes!” cried Mephisto.
“No!” shouted Rina. Around the battlefield, Supercools were coming awake.
“He’s- he’s dead,” Rainbows said.
“No, he isn’t,” said a voice. From the shadows stepped a man dressed only in a long blue robe.
“Storyteller!” Lollipops exclaimed.
“Yes,” Storyteller said. “I hitched a ride with the Negative Man, but didn’t dare show my face until now. In fact, show my face is precisely what I intend to do.” He reached for the hood of his robe. “Joe Faust will not die today, and this is why.” He pulled the hood of his robe down, exposing his face.
“Oh!” cried Charles. “It’s you!”
"Yes," the Storyteller confessed. "I'm sure you're confused. I'm probably the last person whose other-dimensional counterpart you ever expected to meet."
"Except maybe Celine Dion," Kyle said. "Or Elvira, Mistress of the Dark."
"On Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows' world, I'm called the Storyteller, but you probably want to call me Terraform. Or Mold. Or Sam Philmore."
"What?" said Charles.
"This isn't even the Marvel Universe!" Kyle shouted, understanding. "It's that world where Joe is God, and he's somehow managed to pull us all into it with him!"
"So Joe can't die?" Charles asked.
"Oh, he can die," Mold said. "He's been hurt, right? He's subconsciously playing along with his own game. To live, he just needs to accept his Godhood and send the three of you home."
"Isn't that sort of cheating?" Kyle asked.
"Kyle, shut up!" Charles said.
"Yeah, really," Joe said. He stood up, miraculously healed. "I guess I should have figured it all out sooner, what with all the clues and all. It's been fun, guys, but I think it's time we go home." Charles hesitated for a moment. "Or," Joe said, cutting off his thought, "You can continue to live in a world where I'm God and I know it." Charles suddenly missed his home very much. "I'll send us back," Joe said, "And fix it so we can't ever come back- there's too much potential to screw too much up otherwise. But first, we're all leaving." He blinked, and the Supercools and villains were in Central Park, away from Mephisto's influence. "And I'm putting this stuff back." Cestus and the belt of strength vanished. Joe looked around one last time, then closed his eyes.


-Epilogue-

Greetings. I am Uatu, the Watcher. I have seen a great many fucked up things in my day, but I assure you, the story which preceded these notes take the cake. So far. The Story is over now, and long may it rest in peace. But what became of the characters you’ve undoubtedly grown to love and hate?

Talula Baird’s funeral was held two days later. When she’d died, she’d had no tenants, and it had taken some time for her body to be discovered. Talula’s sister came into town, mostly to reclaim the Bed & Breakfast. Even Talula’s mutant son was absent. He didn’t dare come to the funeral; he didn’t trust himself. Colin Weatherstaff was at the funeral, but he kept a nervous eye on the priest the whole time. When the service was over, he called the holy man aside.
“Would you like to talk about your grief, my son?” the priest asked.
“No,” Colin said. “I’d like to share a proposition with you.” His eyes looked like two burning embers.

“They’re gone again,” Rina said.
“Yes,” Harry said. “I think they’re really gone for good.”
“No, Harry, I’m sorry,” Rina said, shaking her head. “Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I haven’t even started to think about the guys yet. I’ve been through to much recently. I meant my powers. My powers are gone again. I don’t know if they’ll ever come back.” Harry reached out an arm, to comfort Rina. She brushed his hand away.
“I love you, Harry,” she said. “I probably always will. But it’s too much, too fast, for both of us. You have a wonderful life in Washington, and I wish you the best of luck with it. I’m staying here in New York. I have a lot to work through. And who knows? Maybe in a few years-?” This time, she didn’t move the hand he offered. He bent in, and kissed her.
“Goodbye Rina,” he said.
“’Bye, Milo,” she laughed.

“Mrs. Lee! What a rare pleasure! We haven’t seen you here in some time!” Ricki Lee stepped into the upper lobby of Dopple Industries, a division of the Roxxon Corporation.
“Yes,” she said, smiling at the doorman. “I took an extended vacation, and left my holdings in others’ names. But I think I’d like to reclaim them now.” She paused to look around, and if her eyes changed to a different color for a moment, the doorman surely didn’t notice. “Yes,” she said, nodding. “I think I could do a lot of good here.”

Rainbows, Lollipops, Dreamboat Annie, and the Rock stood over their friends’ graves. Ben Brixton, Jason Jupiter, and Carlos Martinez were buried in the same cemetery, their plots right next to one another. Dreamboat Annie brushed away a tear.
“They died saving the world,” she said. “And it wasn’t even their world. I just wish I could remember more of it! I want to remember why they died! Weren’t there others? Young men?”
“Honey, don’t hurt yourself,” Lollipops scolded gently. “It’s fading from our minds, too. They were our friends. We know they died for a good cause- that’s all that matters. That, and where we go from here.”
“We’ve got a couple million dollars in raw diamonds,” Rainbows said. “That should last us for a while.”
“Until the Super-Adaptoid wants them back, anyway,” laughed the Rock. “And there’s no question of where we go from here- we’re superheroes, aren’t we?” He put his hand out toward them.
“Yes,” Dreamboat Annie said. “We’re Supercools.” She placed his hand on his.
“Supercools,” Rainbows agreed, adding his hand to the stack.
“Fine,” Lollipops said, putting her hand into the ring, as well. “Supercools. At least until we can think of something better.”

Bill Schofeld had been sitting in this same room for almost two hours. The walls were all white, and there was only one door. No windows. He was sitting in one simple wooden chair; there was one just like it across the simple table that sat in the middle of the room. On the table were files- his own civilian and military records, photographs, news stories, criminal records for other superhumans, including his old partners, Dismay and Haffnur, as well as a few other villains he didn’t recognize. There were diagrams for some new sort of projectile weapons, and a few rough costume design sketches. None of it made a lot of sense to Bill, but he read through it all anyway. Finally, an aggressive-looking blonde woman came stalking through the door.
“Mr. Schofeld,” she said, without even taking a seat. “My name is Valerie Cooper. What I’m about to do may well be the biggest mistake of my career, but I have a lot of faith in you. If you screw this up for me, I will be forced to turn you over to my associate, Mr. Gyrich, and I can assure you, you don’t want that to happen.” She sat down in the chair.
“Mr. Schofeld, have you ever heard of a project called ‘Freedom Force’?”

Chapter Forty-Nine: Marvels

No Powers Boy & The Fantastic Four
The End of the World As We Know It: Part III-9

Publisher's Note: Unfortunately, Chapter 49 has been lost, and it's been so long since reading that I can't even start to fake how it went. I can tell you that in the end, Kyle outwits Dr. Doom, ends up gaining omnipotence through the power of the Celestials and reality is reset in a blaze of mist or something.

Chapter Forty-Eight: Acts of Vengeance

The Scavenger & The Avengers
The End of the World As We Know It: Part III-8

From an unassuming rooftop on the other side of the street, the Scavenger and the rest of the Avengers looked down at Doom’s Latverian Embassy. The crowds outside had mostly dispersed, leaving only a few die-hards to stare at the building. Joe wasn’t sure if it was fear or boredom that had sent the others away.
“He won’t be expecting us to come to him,” the Scavenger said. “So we’ve got the element of surprise. But we can’t just charge in there, guns blazing. None of us are really that experienced as superheroes to begin with, and we’ve got no idea how many supervillains Doom’s got working for him. But, we’ve got to be the ones to do it. We’ve got to shut down Dr. Doom’s plan before things spin too far out of control. What we need is a way to do a little recon before we jump into the battle.”
“I’ve got it!” the Rock said. “One of us could dress up like a pizza delivery boy, and we could deliver a pizza to the embassy. Then, when they tell us we’ve got the wrong address, we could ask to use the phone. They’ll have to let us inside, and we can count how many of them there are.”
“That is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard,” the Scavenger said. “CJ, do you have something in your cape that might help us?”
“I can check,” Goodwill said. She began poking through her Negative Zone pocket for a useful gadget.
“Sarah,” the Scavenger continued. “We might end up having to rely on your illusion powers. Get a good look at the Embassy and all its features, because you may just end up emulating it. “
“Got it,” Dreamboat Annie said.
“I still think my plan could work,” the Rock said.
“No,” said the Scavenger.
“Could we try it?” the Rock asked.
“No!” said the Scavenger.
“What if it’s the last plan we try out?”
“No.”
“Okay, what if it’s the first plan we try out?”
“No.”
“What if we get Deaf Leopard to do it?”
“NO!”

Volcana stayed in her human form as she swung the door to the Embassy open. Outside, a nervous-looking Hispanic kid was holding some kind of box. Volcana didn’t suspect a trap.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“Uh... pizza delivery?” the kid said. Volcana thought for a moment. “Hold on a sec,” she said. “Let me see if the Doc ordered a pizza.” She turned back into the embassy. Carlos sprang forward as soon as her attention shifted, transmuting his body in mid-air to the form of: the Deaf Leopard! Because she looked like she was probably a good tipper, Volcana was spared the brunt of the Deaf Leopard’s rage; instead of his claws, the young antihero pressed the flat of his hand hard into Volcana’s chin. Her combat reflexes dulled by years spent living in quiet suburbia with the infamous Molecule Man, Volcana didn’t have time to shift into her armored fire-form before the Deaf Leopard’s assault knocked her out, cold.
Suddenly, alarms blared from all corners of the Embassy. An emotionless, vaguely feminine mechanical voice reported conflict in the upper foyer, and ordered all superhumans on-site to the area. Within the superhuman form of the Deaf Leopard, Carlos missed the warning entirely. It was only the flash of movement he caught from the corner of his eye that gave him notice. Springing into the air at the last moment, the Deaf Leopard barely avoided being seared by Electro’s bolt of lightning. The bolt continued forward through the space where the Deaf Leopard had been, fortuitously striking a surprised Speed Demon, who had been coming around from behind. As Speed Demon’s muscles buckled, the Deaf Leopard twisted to avoid Oddball’s gas grenade and the spray of machine gun fire from Arsenal’s weapon. Feeling way too exposed in the center of the room, he leapt for the nearest doorway, ducking just in time underneath Whirlwind’s blades. A leg sweep sent the spinning villain flying into Oddball’s gas cloud, where he was instantly joined by one of Bombshell’s explosive blasts. The Deaf Leopard looked back into the roomful of villains- and froze in place.
“Sacre bleu!” came the chant from behind him. “You ‘ave bean- ‘ow do you say?- frozen by ze powair of ze incroyable Grey Gargoyle! Wat would you say for yourself now, if ze stone form I ‘ave convairted you to would let you speak?”
“He would say,” the Scavenger answered from the entryway as the door to the embassy was suddenly blown open by a Wonder-Blast, “That he was our point man, sent in to draw you all together in one place. And he would say it without that outrageous accent. Dreamboat Annie! Rock! Goodwill! Electric Youth! Hit ‘em! Avengers Assemble!”

Oddball pitched three more gas-spheres at the group, hoping to catch them all in the same place. Goodwill was there, and, with a sweep of her cape, drew the bombs into the folds of the Negative Zone. “Oh,” she said. “So that’s where I got those.” Her hand plunged after the balls into her cape, and withdrew a long metal pole, which she immediately used to bat away Bombshell’s attack. The explosive tore open a hole in the floor of the embassy. CJ separated the pole into its two component battle-staves, and hurled one back at Bombshell, catching the assassin in the arm. The other crashed into one of the balls Oddball still wore on his costume, sending the neuralizing shock he’d intended for his foes into the mad juggler himself. Oddball went down for the count.
With the force and gravity of his namesake, the Rock landed feet-first on the Grey Gargoyle’s chest. The stone villain was staggered momentarily, but managed to bring his right hand to bear against the hero’s leg. Dylan was frozen, stone-still, and landed against the body of his teammate.
Sparks flew as Electric Youth and Electro’s powers clashed overhead. Suddenly, Red Ghost and his Super-Apes burst from yet another part of the embassy. The super-strong gorilla charged for Electric Youth, but suddenly, the Scavenger was there, driving the monkey back with a wave of his Sunsword. He fired off a couple of shots in the Grey Gargoyle’s direction, but neither shot broke the villain’s stony hide. Aresenal ducked back into the parlor, grabbed a throw pillow from the couch, and tossed it at the Scavenger; it was a mine before it left the villain’s hand. It was a throw pillow when it crashed into the Scavenger, and he didn’t even notice; he was too busy holding back the boa constrictor that had been a monkey moments before. The Scavenger did notice, however, when a bolt of solidified sound, courtesy of the newly-appeared Klaw, knocked him back into the hole made by Bombshell’s explosion. The Vibranium charm Joe wore shielded him from most of the blast, but the fall had left him winded. Even worse, the Raiders, a trio of has-been armored thieves, came blasting their way from three corners of the room the Scavenger now found himself in. Things didn’t look good for the newest Avengers....
Then, with a crash, the adjoining walls of the Latverian embassy came crashing down. Electro collapsed as the wall behind him fell inward, and Electric Youth collapsed immediately afterward, momentarily drained. Silhouetted atop the rubble was the Warrior Prince of Asgard, Thor, and his stalwart companions, the Warriors Three! “Of course!” someone shouted in the confusion. “They’re from another dimension, too! They wouldn’t be affected!” The Grey Gargoyle, still on the outskirts of the battle, was the first to react. He leapt forward, and pressed his palm against Thor’s chest. “He’s gone crazy!” Fandrall the Dashing said in a surprisingly well-mimicked Brooklyn accent. “He’s attacking us now!” Piledriver’s fist came swining out of Fandrall’s body, knocking the Grey Gargoyle to the other side of the room. The Grey Gargoyle fell unconscious, the Wrecker’s stone body fell over, and Dreamboat Annie let her illusion fade. A pink fist of solid sound swept in behind her then, knocking Annie into the same corner (and same state of well-being) as the Grey Gargoyle.
Electric Youth scrambled to cross the room, doing his best to avoid the ever-widening pit in the middle of the room, as well as Arsenal’s flamethrower that had once been a lamp. Meanwhile, the Scavenger fired a few wide shots from his Wonder-Glove at the nearest Raider, only to suddenly discover that his Wonder-Glove was gone. Speed Demon waved the glove maliciously at Joe from the other side of the room. The Scavenger blinked, and his paste-vest joined the pile next to Speed Demon. The Raiders looked on, amused by the game Speed Demon was playing. Speed Demon raced forward again, and Joe’s hand shot to his pocket, stabbing the button on his CESU just before the villain arrived. The Scavenger’s remaining weapons vanished, but it wasn’t Speed Demon’s doing. Confused, the villain ran a quick lap back to where he’d been. Then, realizing his opponent was now helpless, he charged. Joe knew that Speed Demon was prepared for any one of his weapons- not that he could summon them back again in time anyway. But then, he also knew he had one weapon Speed Demon wasn’t expecting. Using all of his remaining Karma, praying to God, and thinking about how much he FUCKING HATES super-speedsters, Joe threw his CESU directly at the charging villain. The hard metal sphere struck Speed Demon right between the eyes, adding its velocity to his own. At that speed, the force of the collision was enough to break Speed Demon’s nose, not to mention take one more villain out of the fight. Joe was as surprised that maneuver worked as the Raiders were, and it took a split second for everyone to recover. The Raiders fired as Joe leapt for his CESU....

CJ reached into her cape for another weapon as she crossed the distance between herself and Bombshell. Deciding that the Ultimate Nullifier wasn’t worth activating, CJ settled for slamming the all-powerful weapon into the side of Bombshell’s head before carefully putting it back into her Negative Pocket. Electric Youth ducked under a bookcase repelled in his direction by the Red Ghost’s mutant orangutan, the rolled over one of Piledriver’s massive fists to land directly on top of Electro’s body. The villain’s electric energy poured through Electric Youth’s body, straight back into those fists of Piledriver’s. Unable to handle such a massive shock to the system, both Piledriver and Electric Youth joined the ranks of the defeated. Goodwill struggled with the buckle on Bombshell’s vest of explosives, when she saw Thunderball’s massive weapon crash through the floor next to her. That blow was the last the floor could handle, and with a shudder, the entire room gave way, dropping everyone into the lower level. Goodwill was caught halfway up by the remaining man in Raider armor, who then tossed her back into the fray. Rolling with the throw, Goodwill landed a solid boot against the side of Arsenal’s head. The force of her momentum knocked the villain unconscious, but Goodwill’s awkward landing left her vulnerable to any number of follow-up attacks. In the wake of their fall, Thunderball drew his weapon back in, only then noticing that Goodwill had twisted Bombshell’s explosive vest around the end of the ball- setting each one to time-delayed explosions. The blast fried Thunderball as the Raider used the hypersonics in his armor to stun the shapeshifted baboon. Then, pressing the button on his CESU once more, the Scavenger returned to his much more familiar costume, landing disco-skate-first on top of the Red Ghost’s orangutan, tossing in one Wonder Blast each to finish off the two smaller Super-Apes. Another high-frequency blast from Klaw sent the Scavenger skidding into a still-worn Goodwill as the two Wonder-Blasts he’d intended for Klaw mangled the ceiling instead. Klaw leveled his sonic projector at the pair, ready to finish the job. Before he could fire, though, Klaw’s projector was suddenly mangled by a fist of solid stone.
“Took... too... long...” the Rock tried to manage. “...drop... density... move.” Even without his sonic powers, though, Klaw was still no pushover. He swatted the rock Rock aside with a mighty backhand, and moved in to finish the job in person. Finally in a clear space, Bulldozer reveled in his ability to charge, taking aim at Goodwill, who was standing, apparently still dazed, in the center of the room. Beyond her, the Red Ghost’s monstrously powerful gorilla roared, ready for its own attack. So, when Bulldozer passed right through Goodwill, he went careening instead into the beast’s enormous flank. The gorilla (the Russian one) fell over as Goodwill, still too weak to stand, hastily retrieved her image inducer. “Dreamboat Annie, eat your heart out,” she managed to say.
“Nice try, dear, but I am not fooled,” the disembodied voice of the Red Ghost taunted as his very solid foot sent CJ into dreamland. Meanwhile, the Scavenger had already tackled Klaw, pushing the villain away from the Rock. As the two grappled, Bulldozer tried again with a charge at the Rock. Knowing that his stone body would never dodge in time, the Rock instead pushed his power to the limits, becoming as dense as he could imagine. Immovable object and unstoppable force collided, and in the aftermath, both Bulldozer and the Rock collapsed. After rolling with a handful of Klaw’s punches, Joe pulled the Vibranium charm from his neck, and jammed it with all his might into Klaw’s solid-sound body. Klaw screamed as his coherency was shaken apart by the charm. Joe, meanwhile, was pounded again and again with waves of solid sound. Across the room, the Red Ghost turned solid and visible as the shrill screams of Klaw’s disintegration proved to be too much for him. Seconds later, Klaw all but vanished, left only as an echo ringing through the walls of the Latverian Embassy. The Scavenger took note, confirmed that every single other combatant had been defeated, and then, himself, passed out.

Chapter Forty-Seven: From Here to Infinity

Mr. Negativity & The X-Men
The End of the World As We Know It: Part III-7

“You have got to be kidding me,” Rina said as she stared in disbelief at Mr. Negativity.
“I wouldn’t kid about something like this,” Charles replied. “You’ve discovered the Time Gem on this world, and that’s phenomenal news. But it also means we need to work quickly, because there are five more Infinity gems, and if one of them is here on this world, the rest of them must be, as well. If we have all six, we might be able to reset things to how they‘re supposed to be.”
“Five more?” Cain asked.
“Yes,” Spiral replied. “Representing Space, Power, Mind, Soul, and Reality.” She brushed away her companions’ odd looks with one of her six hands. “I’ve known of the Infinity gems for some time now. Don’t forget- I remember reality before the switch, too.”
“That’s just great,” Howard said while lighting a cigar, “But how are we supposed to figure out where these other things are?”
“Actually,” said Spiral, “With Rina’s assistance, we should be able to at least get started. The gems, while unique, still have similar energy signatures. With one on hand, I should be able to dance a teleportation spell to the nearest one.”
“Great!” Charles exclaimed. “With the way they work, after we get the second one, it should get easier and easier to find the others. Are you up for it?”
With a nod, Spiral began to work her arms in her mystical patterns. “It’s still rather taxing, but I should be rested up for one more.” She had just finished her sentence when a flash of light overtook the new X-Men. As eyes cleared up, the group looked around, finding themselves in a dense forest. Spiral slumped against one of the trees, exhausted.
“Beautiful,” Cain muttered. “It can’t be on display or anything, can it? Any idea on how close we are?”
Spiral took a deep breath. “I only know this is the near vicinity. It could be anywhere within a quarter mile or so.”
“Quarter mile?!” Howard squawked. “Obviously, that narrows it down.”
“Well, considering we had an entire planet’s worth of area to cover, that’s not too bad,” Harry tried to remain optimistic. “Rina, are you getting anything?”
“Let me try something.” Rina focused on the gem’s power, slowing down time to a crawl like it was second nature. To everyone else’s view, she blurred out of vision for a few seconds then was there again. “No good, if it’s here, it’s definitely not out in the open.”
“So what? We’re just going to search randomly for it? The chances of us finding it are astronomical,” Cain pointed out.
Charles couldn’t help but remember the movie Cube. “Two. Astronomical.” He chuckled to himself despite the situation. Suddenly, an idea came to mind. “Two.....” he said to himself. “I’d almost forgot about them.” Without another word, he took off into the air, flying above the treetops.
“What does he think he’s doing?” Howard voiced the thoughts of everyone else.
The luck dice from the Whizzer of Odds, Charles thought to himself. They’re indestructible. Which should mean... He focused his thoughts internally, calling upon the probability altering dice that were within his body. Suddenly, he spun around and fired a concentrated blast downward followed a few seconds later by another. Natural luck amplified by mystical dice combined in a way that would make Longshot jealous.
The first blast tore through the leaves and branches of a few trees until it hit the dead center of an old maple tree. Wood and foliage exploded in a blast that sent a small gem flying into the air. The gem arced upward uncertainly until the second Negative Zone blast changed its trajectory, bouncing it off two trees and directly into the lap of Spiral.
Looking down, Spiral lifted up the Space Gem and found all her energies refueled and charged more than ever before. She stood up as Charles was landing. The five members just stared at him as he shrugged. “It’s good to be the king,” he quipped.

The six X-Men appeared in front of a large lake in Georgia. With the Space Gem, Spiral could now both easily teleport as well as know their location with precise ease. “It’s in the lake?” Harry asked.
“Definitely. I can sense it laying on the bed,” Spiral said.
“Well, who’s going to go get it?” Cain didn’t so much as ask but direct the statement at Howard.
“Wah? Hey, now listen, just because I’m a duck doesn’t mean anything. I can’t swim. Why doesn’t the ‘no need to breathe’ guy go after it?”
Charles point over the group’s shoulders to the small group of Doomsmen who appeared on the horizon. “Because I’m probably more suited to fighting these guys than just taking a swim.”
“By Doom’s decree, what lies in that lake will belong to him!” Eight sets of battle armor boots flared launching them into the midst of the sextet.
With a snap of her fingers, Spiral teleported Howard over the spot in the lake where he needed to be. As he squawked and began to sink into the water, Spiral had already begun to turn her attention to those approaching.
Before the eight Doomsmen had landed, two of them had crashed into each other violently as each had one boot jet clogged by a massive tangle of wires. Two more had large holes punctured in their suits from twin blasts of ebony energy. The remaining four began opening fire. Unfortunately, one of them found himself teleported in front of his own blast. As he struggled to his feet, he faced the smiling face of a six-armed white haired women wielding swords.
Cain swung a powerful hand at the nearest trooper who just grinned as the body armor easily withstood the even Cain’s excellent punch. Cain gritted his teeth as the trooper began to fire a direct shot. Suddenly, the shot appeared to be halted in mid air. Quickly understanding the situation, Cain casually went to the opposite side of the Doomsman, undid the helmet, walked around, and threw a punch that knocked out his adversary.
However, while Rina and Spiral were preoccupied, the remaining two goons took their shots from behind, knocking them both down. Mr. Negativity and Haywire, with their attentions turned toward the lake which was beginning to glow a bright orange, didn’t notice two guns being turned upon Cain.
Suddenly, a bright flame shot out of the lake which seemed to take on the shape of... a duck? Howard’s newfound mental abilities quickly knocked out the Doomsmen as his voice resounded over the lake, “I am Psy-Duck!” Quickly drained from his first use, Howard began to fall back toward the lake, caught in mid-air by Mr. Negativity.
As everyone began to recover, Charles pointed out the scary obvious fact. “Doom obviously knows the Infinity Gems are around as well. That means we’re now on a big timetable. It should be easier for us, since we have the Space Gem, but Doom has the advantage of numbers. They can be several places at once.”
Spiral nodded. “Then let’s be off.”

“Oh damn,” Cain muttered as they appeared in a murky swampland, facing another dozen of Doom’s troops.
“I knew someone was bound to say it before this jaunt was over,” Charles shook his head. “Well, let’s do it.”
In a blur of motion, Rina sped forward into combat. However, faster than her time dilated speed was the speed of thought as Howard began launching mental attacks upon the troops. Unfortunately, these Doomsmen seemed to have slightly better blocks in their suits for just such protection. In actuality, the armor itself seemed to be adapting more and more from attacks somehow. Hyperpunches were being ignored, wires were being torn asunder quicker, and Negablasted holes were even repairing themselves.
Everyone was focused on pushing their powers more that once more, Cain was forgotten. Well, he wasn’t forgotten by everyone. A single Doomsman managed to sneak around and tackle Cain from behind. With a lurch forward, Cain felt hundreds of pounds of battle armor and human pushing his upper body into a sickeningly putrid area of swamp water.
His breath knocked out of him, Cain managed to keep his wits enough to not inhale the liquid into his lungs. He struggled futilely attempting to get air as his tormentor simply laughed a laugh that echoed through the waters in which Cain was drowning. Suddenly, Cain noticed something shimmer just slightly as the light above hit it just right.. Cain reached down into the swamp, grasping desperately, his fingertips just out of reach. Finally, with his last surge of adrenaline, Cain threw his body into the dive and got grasp of the Body Gem.
With ease, Cain threw a massive arm back and knocked the Doomsman away and unconscious. Pulling himself out of the water, Cain grinned as he approached the main fray and lasers began hitting and bouncing off of him. A few punches this way and that and the remaining villains lay prone on the ground.
“Cain!” Rina cried. “You’ve become some sort of unstoppable juggernaut!”
“That’s right,” Cain said. “That’s why I’m going to call myself the Unstoppable Mitch.”
“Oh Jesus,” Charles almost wept.
“What? You want I should reveal my real name?” Cain explained.
“Never mind, let’s just get the hell out of here.”

The X-Men appeared on a level playing field. Okay, it was a corn field, and honestly, it wasn’t very level either. In fact, the twelve foot tall robot making its way surely towards them carried itself with a manner that showed it was not playing.
“This is going to suck, isn’t it?” asked Harry.
“Yeah, probably,” Charles agreed.
“Come on, you sissies,” Cain bellowed, “You wait here, I’ll take care of it.” Massive leg muscles pumped as Cain charged straight toward the robot, an arm drawn back for a punch, until the ground in front of him suddenly shifted into a thick tar. Cain immediately began clawing around, finding himself sinking deeper the more he struggled.
Everyone suspected something was up, but instinct took the reigns as Rina and Spiral launched into combat. Howard was using the Mind Gem to both calm Cain down and give him the concentration to free himself. Charles turned toward Harry. “Go get the gem.”
“Are you nuts? What about the robot? I need to stay and help.”
“Listen, you don’t have a gem. You need one. Go find this one.”
“You don’t have one, either,” Haywire pointed out.
“Yes, but I have unlimited access to powerful destructive forces from an entire dimension. No offense, but which of us stands a better shot at this robot.”
“Hey, cheap shot!” Harry protested.
Howard gave enough attention to call out, “He’s right you know.”
Harry dug his toe into the ground, dejected. “Yeah, but still, cheap shot.”
“Listen, the robot was headed this direction before we appeared, so it’s probably behind us. Good luck.” With that, Charles turned back toward the robot and Harry took off the other direction.
Cain was just making his way out of the tar, but the others were fairing poorly. Rina was trapped inside a giant earth maze that shifted around every time she took a step. Meanwhile, Spiral was fighting her bout of vertigo. Every direction seemed to be up. Normally, the Space Gem would easily throw off any such feelings, but as it was soon very apparent to her, every direction really was up.
The Reality Gem, Charles began to realize. Doom must have found the Reality Gem and used it to power one of his toys. That’s the only thing that could do what this thing is doing. But how do we fight something with the power to alter reality? Damn, I wish I’d read up on Moira’s son more.
Any other thoughts he might have had were shut down as his perceptions fractured, and he experienced a hundred different realities which his life could have been. He saw himself in his home world working twenty different jobs, being in thirteen different colleges, losing friends and family, being killed three different ways, aligning himself with Sinister, and more. Even as fast as his normal thoughts were, it proved to be far beyond what the human mind was meant to experience, and Charles collapsed to the ground in his human form, unconscious.
Cain busted a hole open in the maze long enough for Rina to make an escape out. Meanwhile, Howard blocked off all of Spiral’s perceptions except for one view long enough for her to teleport away. They gathered around Charles, doing what they could to distract the robot until someone could come up with a plan. And where the hell was Haywire?

Harry’s sprint had slowed to a jog and led quickly to a walk. He began kicking clods of dirt as he went, hearing the battle far behind him. “You know,” he said to nobody particular, “If it weren’t for my powers, Chuck wouldn’t have learned how to fly....wait...no, I saved Rina, and Joe got him to fly. Well, we would have crashed in the...hold on, Kyle saved us during the crash. I kept him from getting shrunk by China Doll! You know, assuming her powers would have worked on his energy form...” Unbeknownst to him, he was in a great position. Charles wishing someone good luck was like the Pope blessing someone after they sneezed, or Mephisto cursing someone to hell. You know, it’s just that much more powerful. All Harry knew was that he stubbed his toe on a really hard clump of rock he was kicking. He looked down, picked it up, brushed off the dirt, an pocketed the Soul Gem.

Rina and Spiral did their best to keep the robot at bay, but it kept moving along shifting through worlds where time and space had no meaning. A quick psi-jolt from Howard brought Charles barely back to the world of the thinking. “Quick, Chuck,” Cain pressed, “How do we beat this guy?”
“It’s pretty simple,” Charles worked up a weak smile. “We can’t.”
“What?!?” the other four voiced.
“Yeah, we’re pretty much screwed over,” Charles just shrugged as the robot sprouted an array of weapons and artillery that the Punisher would envy.
“Geez, I know how you got the codename, now,” Howard lit what he figured would be his last cigar.
“I am programmed to destroy.” The robot ‘spoke’ its first words since entering into the battle.
“Great,” a voice chimed from behind. “All you need now is one programmed to make a mess and one to fart, and you’ve got a whole team.” Everyone turned around to see Harry standing there, beaming in a beautiful light.
The next sound to emanate from the robot was a small chuckle which slowly grew into a loud guffaw as the robot began to double over in laughter. Imbued with a soul, it was subject to its first bout of humor since its creation, and it drank it in. In fact, it was so enraptured with Harry’s quip that it didn’t even notice Chuck sneaking around behind it and quickly yanking the Reality Gem out from the mess of wires and circuitry.
As the robot powered down, Mr. Negativity shifted back to his human form and affixed the Reality Gem to his forehead. He turned back toward his teammates, a new power and authority in his voice. “Okay, team, let’s fix this world.”