ALL GOD'S CHILDREN 24

Ascension / Abandonment

Part II: Reign of Doom

the Twenty-Fourth Tale

written by Mark Bousquet

THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES

MIDGARD STANDARD DATE 18 NOVEMBER 2001

In a rather prominent place in Nate Grey's mind, he was well aware that what he was doing here in this swamp was very, very wrong. He told himself repeatedly that he had to stop doing this, but he knew he wouldn’t. He thought of that as progress. When this whole affair started, he wouldn't have been able to admit that what he should do and what he would do were two completely different things entirely.

Because he really should stop.

But.

His hands roamed the increasingly familiar territory of Elektra's back; her mind lay naked before him as their lips danced and their bodies rolled across the damp Earth.

Okay, he thought, she's clearly a resurrected slave of Mephisto's in some scheme to kill Daredevil and I, being a hero, should probably put a stop to her right now.

But.

Nobody had ever spoke to him the way Elektra did, or made him feel the way Elektra did, or, well, did the things to him that Elektra did. He was supposed to give all this up just to save some blind hero? This? She started whispering words in his ear that embarrassed him in any scenario other than the one he was currently in. He had tried to get Threnody to say words like this to him, and she agreed to, but they sounded all wrong coming from her and he hadn't allowed her to see him since.

God, Elektra was amazing, his body screamed to his brain. Central Park, the Parthenon, a seedy motel in Hong Kong, the Savage Land, here in the Everglades … she could be anywhere in the world and she would call to him; like a heroin addict, when the call came, he'd go running.

Nate didn't think anything in the world could reach him when Elektra had his full attention, but he was wrong. He heard - or felt - a shuffling coming towards him. He pulled his head away from perfection and saw the Man-Thing standing there. He was annoyed, of course, that the Man-Thing would come shuffling into it's mucky existence to watch him and Elektra, but then he noticed the Man-Thing's head and eyes were pointed skyward.

"Something you'd rather look at than me?" Elektra demanded from him as she got his attention back by violently rolling them over, putting X-Man's back to the cold Earth.

Nate took the familiar position in stride, enjoying it, but as his eyes looked up, he could see what the Man-Thing was looking at.

"Holy-!" he exclaimed, sitting up. "Look!"

Elektra was not pleased - Nate Grey was important to her master's plans - but she figured that anything that could get his attention away from her must be worth, at the very least, a glance. She arched her neck back to look skyward and knew in an instant that whatever plans Mephisto had were going to have to wait.

For the second time in the calendar year, spaceships entered Earth's atmosphere.

This time, however, she guessed they were not coming in peace. They were Shi'ar warships and their cannons were already firing. And, Elektra saw, they carried a new logo upon their side signifying their new Emperor.

Emperor Doom.

FROM THE STREAMED CONSCIOUSNESS JOURNALS OF ATU SUMMERS, the WITNESS

RECORDED: 18 NOVEMBER 2001

Holy shit.

I know, I know, the swearing thing. Sorry, mom, I really am.

But wow.

Wow.

Being born in the present, then raised in the future, then sent back to live in the present is a trip, okay? We all knew that. But this …

Let me make this absolutely clear to anyone who might ever read or watch what I, Atu Summers, the Witness, Son of Uatu the Watcher and Rachel Summers the Phoenix might record in these journals of mine …

The history books do not overestimate Dr. Doom.

I know, you guys in the future will think I'm lying, that I'm buying all the First Age Propaganda, right?

No way.

I'm here and I can assure you that whatever propaganda we're getting about this Age doesn't include Victor Von Doom.

I just saw Reed Richards throw a punch at Captain America.

No kidding.

Thanks to Uatu dying* and mom telling everyone who I was and what my powers were and how I'm the Witness and all that, I get to hang with the superheroes. Pretty amazing. Hanging out with legends definitely does not suck. I don't need to do it, of course - with my powers I can see just about anything from anywhere, but I might as well have a front row seat. Mom's not thrilled with me being this close, but she knows I can use the protection now and then.

* Last Issue: A/A, Part I: The Millenium Encounter

Thor is holding Captain America back and the Invisible Woman has put up a barrier to keep her husband's elastic body in check. Tense does not begin to describe the situation here at Pier 4. The Avengers want to take the fight to Doom immediately, the Fantastic Four want to reason with him and keep him away from Earth and the X-Men are worried about all the people on the ground getting hurt.

I say nothing, of course. All that non-interference stuff. My dad had a problem with staying uninvolved, but I don't. I think it's because I'm a scrawny fifteen year old raised by a mom who preached non-violence (when she wasn't off eating galaxies as the Phoenix, at least), but I've come to realize the truth in the situation.

I'm a wimp.

It's not the violent part of violence I have a problem with, it's the fact that every time I get in a fight I get my butt handed back to me in about sixty-two pieces.

"Defeating Doom will throw the Shi'ar Empire into chaos!" Reed yelled across the table at Captain America. "There will be death and destruction throughout the Shi'ar Empire; billions of lives will be lost or enslaved in the wake of Doom's defeat! Can you imagine the fighting and bloodshed that will wash across the universe as other empires try and claim a piece of the Shi'ar Empire for their own? Do you think Lilandra will step right back in like nothing's changed? Do you think conditions under her rule were any better than under Doom's?"

"Look outside the window, Reed!" Captain America yelled back. "Look outside and see the chaos outside your doors just at the sight of all those Shi'ar warships clouding the skyline! You want to negotiate while Earth burns? Get Doom to get those ships out of here and we can talk all he wants! You tell me he's no worse than Lilandra? Lilandra hasn't ever launched a full-force invasion of Earth!"

I mean, really, what can be better than watching Mr. Fantastic and Captain America get ready to throw down with each other?

And Doom hasn't even made an appearance, yet. His Shi'ar ships arrived, they blew up a few military installations and since then they've hovered in place and made a planet wait

MIDGARD - THE CATHEDRAL

2200 / DECEMBER

"There are some that would argue that Doom's invasion of Earth is more important to the Abandonment than the Centric Sceptre's scheme, but I don't believe it," Tricolour remarked to Angelica as they sat at the Saviors meeting table inside the Cathedral. Angelica had been brought to the Saviors headquarters by Spider, for the purpose of learning Earth's side of the history of what on Asgard they called the Ascension and on Earth they called the Abandonment - the story of Earth's heroes leaving Earth behind for the stars. "The Shi'ar would have tried to conquer Earth at some point, probably as soon as Lilandra was replaced."

"And just as Doom failed, so would they, Tricolour," came a deep, Russian voice from the doorway, "but the damage would have been much, much less."

Angelica and Tricolour turned to the door to see a ten foot long black bear lumber into the room, Spider at his side. Spider spoke, "Angelica, meet Sibearia. Sibearia, meet Angelica."

"How do you do?" Sibearia asked kindly, walking towards Angelica and sticking out a paw.

"I'm fine, thank you," Angelica replied, shaking the large paw, noticing Tricolour's easy smile towards the bear.

"Sibearia, what are we to do with you?" Tricolour asked. "Always a believer in the might and glory of the First Agers. Nostalgia, phhpt!"

Sibearia smiled and stood to his full length, easily dwarfing all those in the room, "Was I not birthed from the mind of a First Ager, Tricolour?"

Tricolour shook her head, smiling, "Just because some mad Russian scientist discovers the High Evolutionary's notes does not mean you are a First Age descendant."

"Believe what you will, Tricolour." Sibearia turned his attention to Angelica, dropping his front legs back down to the floor so his head was closer to Angelica's level, "Spider tells me you are the daughter of the Green Gobliness? Is this true?"

"It is," Angelica nodded.

Sibearia looked hard at the young woman, "There will be dark days and hard tests ahead for you. I pray you are up to those tasks."

Angelica nodded, but did not vocalize a response.

FROM THE STREAMED CONSCIOUSNESS JOURNALS OF ATU SUMMERS, the WITNESS

RECORDED: 18 NOVEMBER 2001

This is why the world ends,

Not in conflict,

But in indecision.

And I thought poetry would never pay off …

As the tensions between the FF, the Avengers and the X-Men continue to heat up, Dr. Doom has decided he's had enough.

While the assembled heroes here at Pier 4 look to the video monitors, I look out the window in the direction of Berlin. A Shi'ar warship that had been hovering over the city moves slowly, rotating it's cannons to point downward. On the television, SCN announcers are screaming like babies and the heroes simply watch without saying anything. The feeling of tension in the room has been replaced by one of reservation. The ball, as the saying goes in this era, is in Doom's court and the rest of us have to wait and watch and let him decide what it is he wants to do.

And then Doom appears in the sky. His face, that horrible, nightmarish metal face mask appears in the sky like the face of God. It is everywhere - not just in New York so the heroes can see, or Berlin so the people there can see, but everywhere. My mind aches from the sight. For one such as I, gifted with the ability to see just about anything, anywhere, the constancy of this one image burns my brain in agony.

And then he speaks.

"You will bow before Doom when you realize I have already won."

Monitors across the world are suddenly filled with a live shot on-the-ground in Berlin. People are looking up at the ship and screaming; it is a scene that's being played out in every major city in the world, the panicking people desperate for someone to save them.

Not today.

In Berlin, the Shi'ar warship fires a hot blast of concentrated plasma into the center of the city.

BA-BOOM!

Explosion. Fire. Death. Chaos. The Four Horsemen of a Fire Bombing.

BA-BOOM!

It goes on like this for three straight minutes. Doom is dropping plasma bombs on Berlin and when he's finished, the city is gone. Completely and utterly destroyed.

That's really all that needs to be done. Captain America looks like he could hurl his shield directly to the heavens and slay Doom wherever the man stands. "Avengers," he says, his voice steady and seething with anger. "This ends now."

"Just a minute, Steve," Reed Richards says, his elastic arm stretching towards the Avengers chairman.

FZZZZOWW!

Mr. Fantastic's body is enveloped in writhing energy and he convulses like he's having an epileptic seizure; he falls, unconscious, to the ground. The energy reforms to the human body of Lady Merveille, the formerly named Photon and Captain Marvel and, at one time, a chairman of the Avengers, herself.

The Thing instantly lunges forward, but he is met by Thor's hammer and quickly finds himself imbedded in a far wall. The other two members of the Fantastic Four - She-Hulk and Cannonball - hang back, unsure of where their loyalties really lie.

"Stop!" Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman shouts, placing an invisible barrier between the two teams. She turns to Captain America, "Stop him. Stop him now."

FIVE HOURS LATER

I offer the heroes all that I can in their quest to defeat Dr. Doom. They, of course, have asked me to tell them where Doom is located, but I have to admit to them that I can not see him. I find this a little disconcerting, but my mother explained to me that there would be those who could, on occasion, make themselves invisible to my special sight.

I know that by the most recent count of the history of the Multiverse, Doom wins this battle and conquers Earth in half the timelines so this outcome is by no means assured. I tell them that Dr. Doom has brought 1, 743 Shi'ar warships of various sizes and shapes to Earth for this assault. I don't need to actually count all the ships - once I see them, I just know how many there are.

I can see the Avengers battling several Shi'ar warships across the globe and the X-Men battling on the ground with the other heroes. Sue Storm sits here, with me, tending to her husbands injuries. I am not a doctor, but it looks to me like his injuries are more about his state of mind and less about his physical well-being.

I try to watch everything, but it's hard not to watch the Avengers heavyweights slug it out with Doom's warships. Thor, Lady Merveille, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Vision, Ms. Marvel, Namor, War Machine, Quasar … watching them I almost believe Doom can be defeated. They attack warship after warship, sometimes in teams, sometimes alone. The real battle will be fought when the silent assault teams actually locate and face off against Doom.

THREE DAYS LATER

The battle continues. No one has found Dr. Doom, yet. People are tired. The heroes have begun to treat this like warfare, battling in shifts against the Shi'ar forces. Many of the lower villains have joined ranks with the heroes to battle against Doom. Still, in the three days the fighting has gone on, Doom hasn't attacked any city other than Berlin.

We all now know, though some will not admit it, that Doom is prepared to simply wait until we can fight no more and surrender because there is no other option.

The skies have darkened as the burning Shi'ar warships spew their fuel into the air. Dark clouds reflect the mood of the planet below.

Ideas are bandied between heroes and tried out, only to fail. Everyone keeps waiting for Captain America or Reed Richards to come up with the "Plan" that will bring victory. Richards and America, having shaken hands and made up two days ago, continually let everyone down. Doom has apparently thought of everything.

It says something about the being called Kang the Conqueror that when he shows up, everyone stops and listens to what he has to say - though their hands never leave their weapons and their bodies never relax.

"I can defeat Dr. Doom," he says, his voice as strong and confident as most of the heroes assembled here.

"Why should we believe you?" Hank Pym asks angrily.

"Please, Henry," Kang laughs, "you have no other choice!"

"Why would you want to see Doom defeated?" the Wasp asks.

Kang answers in a voice so calm and controlled that he must be completely serious, "Because I can do it and you can not. I want the world to know that Kang saved them when the Avengers could not. It might not be the victory over you that I so dearly crave, but it shall suffice for now."

I watch him and watch the Avengers assembled here - Captain America, Dr. Pym, the Wasp, Hawkeye, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Thor - react to him, their faces not defeated, but certainly tired, their uniforms ripped, their bodies bloodied and I hear the voice of Kang booming around the inside of my skull, his eerie calm sending chills up and down my spine and I suddenly realize why my mother preached the importance of the sanctity of the timestream to me.

"It is curious why you would want to help defeat Dr. Doom," Reed Richards says calmly, "when there are those that theorize that you are, in fact, a descendant of Doom himself."

Kang turns to Richards and his eyes flash beneath his mask with pure hatred. I braced for Richards' imminent death, but Kang does not attack. "Theories are meaningless. The truth is all that matters."

"And the truth is what, Conqueror?" Thor asks.

Kang pauses for just a split second before turning to leave, "When you require my assistance, Avengers, you need only ask."

No one spoke as Kang left.

ONE WEEK LATER

Dr. Doom is now being called Emperor Doom in all the media. What started out as a nervous joke, a headline in the Daily Bugle calling him "Emperor" Doom, has now become a grave concern - the quotation marks around Emperor are gone. He is now Emperor Doom in almost every media representation.

Only when the heroes go on television to be interviewed is still called Dr. Doom; everyone else is hedging their bets.

The sky is dark almost all the time now. Only holes in the billowing dark mass allow for sunlight to come through naturally. The psychological impact of this on the populace is astounding; it was bad enough when they could see the Shi'ar warships overhead, but now they can only imagine that they're there, or wonder how many there are. The media, of course, is full of reports of the movement of these ships, complete with secret footage and electronic tracking maps that purport to show the ships moving, assembling here or there, but we know that the ships have moved very little.

That doesn't sell as many newspapers and keep the populace glued to the television set, though.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Still, no Doom.

It's the little things that show how worried everyone is, like the fact that all of the heroes call him "Doom" now instead of "Dr. Doom," which hasn’t been heard by anyone in three or four days. The Thing called him "Dr. Doom" this morning and it sounded wrong.

Times are changing and not for the better.

The warships remain in orbit, as do the heavy smoke clouds and tensions are now rising from the people against the heroes: Why aren’t the heroes doing anything? Why isn't Emperor Doom gone? Why are they asking for the governments of the world to take their nuclear weapons off red alert if they're not going to defeat Emperor Doom? Are they on the Emperor's side? Do they want Earth to lose?

Nonsense, of course, but never underestimate the imaginations of a scared populace to create even more dire scenarios than reality presents them with.

"You did what?"

I turn to see Tony Stark, in full Iron Man armor, save for the helmet, getting an earful from Lady Merveille.

"I sent War Machine to scout for the Imperial Guard," Stark answers, calm, but tired, as everyone is.

"His armor wasn't fully repaired!" Merveille gets in Stark's face.

"Who is at full-strength right now, Rambeau?" Stark replies, not backing down. "Everyone's hurt and tired and-"

"Look!"

All eyes turn to the television set, where an SCN reporter named Trish Tilby has just broken in with, well, breaking news:

"This is Trish Tilby reporting live from the Xavier Institute here in Westchester County, New York! Minutes ago, this school …" Trish's voice cracks, but she carries on as professionally as she can, "this school was attacked by the Imperial Guard! Behind me, you can see the Imperial Guard tearing apart this school for the … for the gifted youth." Trish frowns. "Members of the X-Men have … appeared on the scene and- oh hell!" Trish's face contorts and it looks like she has reached some kind of decision. "The Imperial Guard is the protection force for the leader of the Shi'ar! With Dr. Doom now controlling the Shi'ar Emperor, the Imperial Guard fight under his control! They have come here because," Trish took a deep breath, "the Xavier Institute is the secret headquarters of the outlaw mutant superhero group, the X-Men! God, if any heroes out there can hear me, send help! Sendkkkrrrrrkkkk!!!"

The live feed is cut.

"Atu!" Merveille yells at me, "Report, now!"

I took a deep breath, dreading what was to come, wishing I could be inside Jim Rhodes' head right now …

XAVIER INSTITUTE

2 DECEMBER 2001

Of the capabilities in the War Machine armor that were finding a way to keep working, the scanner was among them. Jim Rhodes heard the report from Trish Tilby and before she had asked for help, he was on his way. He was, in fact, the reason the live feed was disrupted, though that wasn't his intent. He'd sent a mixture of scrambled radio waves at the Imperial Guard, hoping to disrupt whatever communication they were using.

Scanning the scene with the armor's identification systems, he saw that there were only three X-Men - Maggott, Marrow and Dazzler - present at the Mansion and they were doing their best to hold off the Imperial Guard.

They were not having very much success.

Jim waited, holding back for a second, assessing the situation. The Imperial Guard were not interested in killing the X-Men, that was perfectly clear. What they were interested in, apparently, was the complete destruction of Charles Xavier's estate.

"Why?" Jim thought. "What's the-"

Gladiator emerged from the rubble holding a contraption in his arms that could be only one device, Cerebro.

He didn't know why Doom would want Cerebro, but he also didn't care.

The thrusters on the armor went as full-bore as they could and War Machine streaked across the estate grounds to slam directly into Gladiator's back. "Ooof!" Gladiator was knocked momentarily off-balance, long enough for Cerebro to fall out of his hands and head for the ground. Without turning to see who had attacked him, he descended like a shot.

"Not happening," Rhodey thought, firing pulse cannons at Gladiator's back. His grey armor threw up sparks and the pulse blasts fizzled. The armor spoke to him in a monotone, military clip, "Power at 70% and dropping. Advise immediate rep-"

"Deactivate internal audio," Jim spoke sharply. "I am not going to listen to the obvious."

Jim reached to the shoulder-mounted cannon on his shoulder and readjusted the sight lines. He aimed, but Gladiator was gone. "Damn," he swore, turning to look for Gladiator. "Come on, where could a purple guy with a mohawk hide out here?"

"Who's hiding?"

Gladiator slammed into War Machine, sending the Iron Man-derived armor sprawling through the sky. As the internal balancing devices kicked into gear, Jim turned his sights back to Gladiator just in time for another punch to send him to the ground. He slammed into the Earth and felt his left leg snap. The armor was failing.

Sensing Gladiator rather than seeing him, Jim thrust upwards at an angle and heard the leader of the Imperial Guard slam into the Earth behind him. He shot into the sky at a rate slower than expected. He guessed the armor was now down to 50% as he turned to see Gladiator already streaking up towards him.

"One chance," he murmured. "Reroute all power to ionic cannon. Override all safety blockades, code Rhodey-Alpha-Six-Tango. Maximum intensity, short burst."

Jim waited for the clicking, short-fusing armor to complete his directive. Gladiator was at less than ten feet when War Machine extended his arms outward, as if on a crucifix, and fired his ion cannon directly into Gladiator's onrushing face. The cannon blasted for five seconds. Blinking through the sweat that covered his face and stung his eyes, Jim saw Gladiator's immobile body imbedded into the ground. "Thank god," he breathed before dropping like a dead weight to the earth.

He fell unconscious at impact and didn't know how long he was out when he finally opened his eyes. He looked up to see the sun streaking down at him and a person standing over him. "You're an Avenger? You don't look so tough."

Jim couldn’t move, but he didn’t know what was paralyzed, his body or the armor. "Charming nnnnghhh attitude. You must be … Marrow, right? Break nnnghh off some of … them <cough cough> bones of yours and … crack this armor for me."

"I'll try not to hurt you," the voice chided, but Jim could detect the faintest trace of relief in the young woman's voice. Marrow cracked off a large bone that was protruding from her back and turned to look down at War Machine when her face suddenly went blank, then scowled into a fit of rage, "Ready for more?"

Jim, lying prone on his back and unable to move, saw Marrow jump over his head and away from him, then heard a loud slap and a crash. Straining, but unable, to move, Jim could only wait, looking up through two thin eye-holes. His breathing reverberated harshly through the armor's interior. Agonizing seconds went by until he saw someone new move into view.

"Gladiator."

"War Machine."

"How can you … urrggh … work for … Doom?"

Gladiator looked down with a sad look upon his face, "Does it matter?"

As Gladiator pounded violently down onto the War Machine armor over the next several minutes, tears ran down his face. 'You have no idea,' he thought to the dying War Machine, 'what Emperor Doom is capable of making any man, woman and child do for him.' The head of the Imperial Guard did not want to kill War Machine, but as his large hands ripped open the cracked armor, he knew he had no choice. As he snapped the neck of Jim Rhodes, he imagined that it was his new Emperor's neck in an attempt to ease the pain of his act.

It didn't.

FROM THE STREAMED CONSCIOUSNESS JOURNALS OF ATU SUMMERS, the WITNESS

RECORDED: 16 MARCH 2002

In the weeks and months following War Machine's death, things went from bad to worse. It's the middle of March now and Doom has still not shown his face for a second time to the people of Earth. No one knows what to do. Every plan that has been attempted has failed miserably and without Doom putting himself at risk, we have no hope of defeating him.

The world is in a resigned stupor as the mental torture has seemingly broken the will of the planet. The heroes have lost almost all respect from the people of this planet and anarchy rules the streets. The assembled heroes have stopped trying to attack the Shi'ar warships and concentrated entirely on attempting to keep the peace in the streets.

I watch Tony Stark with much interest, resisting the urge to put a bullet in his brain. The Reign of Doom has made me no braver, I'm afraid.

It has made some of the younger heroes braver, though. Many of the heroes that are barely older than I am are now completely disregarding the advice and leadership of the established groups. The First Age heroes have become the establishment and as the days pass, the younger generations are rebelling against them more and more.

None of it changes the fact that Doom's shadow covers everything and nothing anyone on Earth does makes any bit of difference.

Wait, what's that? What's going on in Latveria?

MIDGARD - THE CATHEDRAL

2200 / DECEMBER

"Things couldn't have been that bad," Angelica remarked to Tricolour, Sibearia and Spider. "The Reign of Doom lasted, what, 4 months? That's hardly any time at all."

Sibearia shook his head, "Untrue, little one. Four months, from all eye-witness accounts that have survived from the Reign, especially those of the Witness, was more than enough time to change the psyche of the entire planet."

"The older heroes now had a chink in their armor," Tricolour continued, "that did not exist prior to the Reign of Doom. People looked at them now as not only flawed and human, but average, ordinary. There were those who always felt that way, of course, but the average citizen took comfort in knowing that the Avengers and Fantastic Four were out there, fighting for them, making sure nothing too horrible ever happened. They were a security blanket that suddenly had a very large hole in it."

"So the heroes were hated on Earth before they ever left for the Ascension?" Angelica asked, careful to refer to the event by the Asgardian referent and not the Earthly one.

"Not hated, but not worshipped, either," Sibearia explained, "though, of course, at this point, we can not be absolutely certain of the mood of the people. What we can say for certain is that the Reign of Doom primed the engine for the ultimate feeling of betrayal the people of Earth felt when their heroes left, for good, for the stars."

Angelica set her face, "This changes nothing, of course. The Ascension is no less heroic in this light."

No one said anything and Angelica didn't know if it was because they didn't want to argue, or they just had nothing to say.

PIER 4

MIDGARD STANDARD YEAR 16 MARCH 2002

The assembled heroes - Captain America, Hawkeye, Lady Merveille, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Cyclops, Rogue, Daredevil and the Witness - watched the SCN television broadcast with much interest.

On the screen was a reporter whose name none of them would remember. Behind the aging man was Latveria, lit up like a star was being born. Though they could not see the two combatants, they could read the energy signatures off of Reed's machine and know for certainty who it was that was fighting behind the dome that covered the small city.

Emperor Doom and Kang the Conqueror.

No one spoke during the three hour battle, except to try and interpret the data that Reed's machines poured out. By the time the fight was over, over 100 heroes and villains had gathered at Pier 4 to watch the battle and wait for the outcome.

Atu Summers stood by himself, off to the side, his young face white and pale.

And then, suddenly, it was over. The light show stopped. Within five minutes the Shi'ar warships were gone from Earth's atmosphere.

One figure came striding out of Latveria, straight for the SCN camera.

It was Kang and in his arms he carried the limp, torn-armored body of Dr. Doom. Kang spoke to the world.

"It is over. Go back to your meaningless lives."

ASCENSION / ABANDONMENT to be continued …

Theories are meaningless. The truth is all that matters.

Y G G D R A S I L

send letters c/o biscuit022@go.com

NEXT ISSUE: AGC 25: ASCENSION / ABANDONMENT, Part Three: Villainy Spreads Its Wings

-- Mark Bousquet …

9 January 2001