Avengers (1st series) #675

Texas, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, a large truck is parked up at a gas station, where inside a repairs workshop, three men are playing cards around a folding table. 'Well. I got nothing' one of them remarks. 'I check, I guess...' the handsome man in the suit announces. 'There it is. Those sad, sad eyes. Like we're gonna fall for that again' a large man in a leather vest declares. 'Fool you once, huh? Fine, I'll raise you instead' the handsome man tells him. 'One vintage ferrari' he suggests, referring to the red ferarri that is suspended on some poles in the workshop. 'Hold on now, Hoss. You only jes' bought that car' the skinny man with the ponytail exclaims. 'Hell, we only jes' stole it -' he adds when a third, short man wearing a large hat enters and asks the other two men what they are doing. 'Playing cards with Mr Santos, boss -' the large man points out. 'You idiots! This isn't a client – it's a damn super hero! It's the Living Lightning!' the short man exclaims, raising his gun and pointing it at Miguel Santos.

'Just my luck. I go undercover – to get enough for the courts to convict these Vin Diesel wannabes – and I end up running into a fan. I should be flattered. Maybe I'll give him an autograph' Miguel thinks to himself as he lowers his shades and announces that his name is just “Lightning” these days. He quickly switches to a full-energy form and easily deflects the bullets that are shot at him, explaining that he was getting confused with the Living Laser. 'You know how it is, right?' he asks the criminals. 'Oh, I know who you are. Used to be on the Rangers, right? With the rest of the c-list!' the boss remarks, before asking 'What's the matter, hero? Not good enough for the real Avengers?' he laughs. Lightning narrows his eyes, 'No autographs, then' he snaps, before releasing a powerful electrical surge, which fries the criminals.

'Wow. He got you mad, huh?' a detective asks as the boss sits on the ground, cuffed, his hair standing on end, his clothes singed from the attack. 'Haw?' the boss utters. FBI agents stand nearby and Miguel thinks to himself that he shouldn't have let the boss get to him, and even though he isn't a full-on Avenger these days, he is still a super hero, still a role model. 'Maybe' Miguel replies, adjusting his suit jacket, and realizing that maybe that is why it still bothers him – because he was an Avenger, and that means something. 'So why didn't I do more with it?' Miguel asks himself, while the detective tells Miguel not to let it get to him, and points out that he helped catch these idiots. 'Not Doc Doom, sure, but not nothing...' Miguel turns to the detective and thinks that he is a good friend, before joking that he thinks Doc Doom is an Avenger now, before asking the detective if he wants to get dinner after this.

'Just dinner?' the detective asks, putting his hand on Miguel's shoulder. Miguel wonders if he is more than a friend, before asking if his poker face is bad. 'It's the...' the detective begins. '... worst...' he concludes as both men suddenly see something shocking: 'What...what is that...?' Miguel gasps, realizing that just when things were getting interesting – here comes the end of the world – just his luck!

Meanwhile, in New York City:
'What the hell -?' Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon exclaims as he soars between high rises with his bird, Redwing, flying nearby, and several other birds hovering around, as a bright orange-yellow glow bursts across the city in spectacular display. Falcon tells himself not to panic, and that it is not a good look for the leader of the Avengers to be seen panic. 'Hey! Watch where you're – driving!' Falcon exclaims as a red car is tossed into the air. Hhe flies to the the side to avoid being struck by the car, before instructing Redwing to clear the area. Civilians look on in horror, some start to take photos on their phone. 'Go limp! I've got you!' Falcon tells the driver f the car as he pulls him clear before the car can crash back to the ground. Redwing swoops down to the civilian taking a photo, and frightens him so that he moves – just in time before the car crashes to the ground. Falcon tells the driver that he would give him a speech about eyes on the road, but that he gets a pass this time. Falcon then wonders what is going on.

Hank McCoy a.k.a. The Beast is at a computer console monitoring the new situation. 'Oh my stars and garters....' he gasps, while the Vision communicates with him, and announces that reports are coming in faster than they can keep up with, and communications networks across the country are failing. News reports indicate disasters that are starting to take place across the world – floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes. The Vision states that GPS and satellite imaging is offline, and there are high-pressure systems like the world has never seen before. Elsewhere in New York, Miles Morales the young Spider-Man clutches his head as his spider-sense goes haywire. A massive earthquake strikes the Eastern Seaboard, and a state of emergency is declared.

Dr. Strange's inner sanctum is tossed about, while in Jersey, Kamala Khan the young Ms Marvel watches as the sky erupts. The Vision reports that all eyes are on the sky, and wonders if this is a new alien invasion. He learns that commercial and private aircraft are being grounded worldwide, and that emergency services are overwhelmed with calls. As he flies across New York City, monitoring all incoming news about this strange eruption in the sky, the Vision contacts the Alpha Flight Space Station, requesting an urgent status report, he asks what they see from their vantage point.

But Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel stares out into an empty space – blackness and stars before her – but no Earth. Inside the AFSS, her crew see what she sees, and Sasquatch tells her that it is gone – no Earth, no moon. Puck then asks Captain Marvel what the plan is, and the shocked Captain Marvel instructs the crew to launch probes and implement long-range scanning. She tells Puck to get Brand to contact other spacefaring races. 'Something's stolen our planet – and I want to know what!'

The Vision discovers that his message failed to get through, unable to locate Alpha Flight Space Station. T'Challa a.k.a. Black Panther is monitoring the situation from Wakanda, and images of the Beast and Vision appear on monitors. 'My God, if the satellites are gone, then Carol and Alpha Flight are -' the Beast begins. 'Unaccounted for' the Vision states. T'Challa points out that whether Carol and Alpha Flight are trapped outside the energy field or not, they have got to concentrate on what is happening on the ground, and the Vision agrees. T'Challa offers to reassure world leaders that the Avengers are addressing the situation as soon as possible. Examining a projection of the globe, the Beast reports that Roberto and the US Avengers are already in Europe, so he will check in with them. He then tells T'Challa that going by the energy readings, he doesn't think the Earth has been trapped – he thinks their planet has been moved!

The Vision informs the Beast and Black Panther that he is en route to his own team in New York City, before he loses the signal. 'Out! Hurry! Hurry!' the Falcon shouts at some civilians, warning them that the buildings aren't safe anymore, they need to find what other shelter they can. The Vision lands nearby, and communicates with Thor, he reports that communications networks are breaking down, he asks her if she is receiving, and whether Hercules is still with her.

Blocks away, Jane Foster a.k.a. Thor is in the midst of fleeing civilians and tells the Vision that she assumes Hercules is here, but she is too busy to check. 'Mjolnir can summon lightning... today, we will find out whether or not it can catch it!' Thor declares as lightning strikes Mjolnir. 'Gods, what now...?' Hercules wonders, carrying several civilians, when suddenly, a statue of Atlas holding up the Earth starts to come apart. 'Go! Stay in the open! Move away from the buildings!' Hercules calls out to the civilians. The globe drops from the statue of Atlas and begins to roll across the ground. The civilians panic, but Hercules tells them not to, and runs towards the globe, declaring that he has been through this before, and that anything Atlas can do – he can do better! Hercules then stops the massive globe from rolling away, and holds it overhead in a fine display of his extraordinary strength.

A few streets away, Edwin Jarvis and Nadia van Dyne a.k.a. Wasp are returning home from grocery shopping when the ground under them is torn open and throws them into the air. 'Jarvis!' Nadia calls out, while Jarvis tells her to stay close. Nadia then shrinks down into insect size and Jarvis tells her to help who she can, as restocking the Mansion's pantry is hardly a priority. 'Ahead of you!' Nadia calls back, as she flies over to some civilians, introducing herself to them she asks them not to tell her friend, the Avengers' butler, that she is as scared as them. 'In situations like these, I'm supposed to put on my game face – not my resting terror face! So shhhh! Thanks!' Nadia exclaims. At that moment, some rubble falls towards a young boy. Jarvis sees this, 'Oh, no...son, move!' he shouts as he runs over and pushes the boy to safety – and instead the rubble collapses on top of him. 'Is something in the sky? Did the planet move?' Jarvis, you've seen a lot. What do you -' Nadia begins, before seeing Jarvis' hand sticking out of the rubble. 'JARVIS!' she screams as she flies over to him.

Civilians are panicking in San Diego, too, but the Avengers' Unity Squad is on hand. Synapse a.k.a. Emily Guerrero is using her powers to try and keep them calm, but she tells Jericho Drumm a.k.a. Doctor Voodoo that there is just too many. Doctor Voodoo tells Synapse to just do what she can and warns her not to push herself too hard, as she is still recovering from her injuries. He then asks rogue what the status is on the tidal wave. 'It's big' Rogue replies as she hovers over the massive tidal wave that looms before the beach. Janet van Dyne a.k.a. the original Wasp, Johnny Storm the Human Torch and Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch fly alongside her. Jan asks Johnny if he can vaporize the water, and flying forward, Johnny reports that he can try, and as Rogue flies down to the wave and picks up a boat with some civilians on it, she tells Johnny to 'Let 'er rip!' The Human Torch then fires a surge of flame into the wave, thankfully, he manages to disperse the wave, but the strain on his powers sends him falling back through the air.

The Wasp flies down and grabs Johnny by his foot before he plummets into the water below, but struggles to hold onto him. 'Aw geez... these wings were not made for two!' the Wasp exclaims. Rogue tells the Unity Squad that they are doing nice work, but points out there is more where that came from. 'Let me see what I can do' Wanda suggests as she begins to cast a hex. 'Anyone got Namor on speed dial?' Rogue jokes.

In New Mexico, Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye and Red Wolf come across a small town that has been destroyed. 'My God, Red Wolf. It looks like a war zone...' Hawkeye begins. Red Wolf tells Clint that they hav to find survivors before any more buildings collapse. As they enter one of the badly damaged buildings, they hear a muffled cry. 'Hawkeye! Over here!' Red Wolf cries out as he moves through the rubble. Clint tells him to be careful, and Red Wolf replies 'Of course' before they come across a woman trapped under the floor. 'Please -' she utters. Red Wolf instructs her to remain calm, and assures her that they will rescue her. 'On three...' Clint suggests. Red Wolf then begins the count, and as he reaches “three” he pulls up the floorboards, and Clint frees the woman, lifting her up, he then sees some wires which are still charged with electricity. 'Watch out!' Hawkeye calls out as he fires an arrow at the wires, creating an explosion that knocks the three of them backwards.

Red Wolf asks Hawkeye what that was, and Clint explains that it was an EMP arrow, it shuts down electricity. 'And my flashlight as well' Red Wolf remarks. 'Yeah' Clint replies, before they help the woman out of the ruined building, and Clint tells Red Wolf that every time he thinks he is ready to give up his trick arrows, they make a surprising comeback. 'May we all be so lucky...' Red Wolf tells him.

Meanwhile, at Mount Vesuvius, 'Ah only just got back from outer space...' Sam Guthrie a.k.a. Cannonball calls out as he blasts around the top of the volcano which is starting to erupt. Roberto DaCosta a.k.a. Citizen V tells his friend that he will survive, and to keep an eye in the sky on that lava flow. He adds that before they lost the signal, the Beast said that he didn't know exactly where Earth had been relocated to. Roberto stands near his teammates as lava drops down around them all. 'Maybe it's the Negative Zone! Or the Microverse! Or even the Macroverse! That one's newer!' Doreen Green a.k.a. Squirrel Girl suggests. As Aikku Jokinen a.k.a. Enigma blasts some lava, General Robert L Maverick a.k.a. Red Hulk does the same with a weapon he is carrying. Sitting next to some scientific contraption, Dr. Toni Ho formerly Iron Patriot tells Squirrel Girl 'Neat' and suggests that they concentrate on the volcano that is about to flood Naples with deadly lava – at least for now. 'We can work out where we are once -' Toni begins, when suddenly, some lava drops towards her, and she doesn't see it. 'Toni! I know you want to be a hero without the big metal suit – but maybe you can be more hero still, even -if you are not a squishy pancake!' Enigma exclaims as she flies down and grabs her lover, pulling her into the air and to safety. 'Eep! Sorry, hon' Toni replies, as Enigma's faceplate retracts so that Toni can see how upset she is.

Enigma sets Toni back on the ground and looking at the strange contraption, Toni reports that the terrain is mapped and projectors have been calibrated. 'Here we go – one handy force-field plug!' Toni exclaims as a force-field appears around the exploding volcano. Proud of herself, Toni declares that Mount Vesuvius is capped – at least for now. Roberto tells his team that they did nice work, before remarking that he is worried about the rest of the world, as without satellites, it is a lot harder to know what is going on. 'Uh, Roberto? If there aren't any satellites – what's that?' Squirrel Girl asks as she points into the air where a flaming object is careening towards the ground. 'Some kind of shooting star, maybe?' Red Hulk suggests. Toni tells him that she isn't sure, as she doesn't think there is anything left out there to fall into the atmosphere. 'Plus, it's not so much falling as...' Roberto begins. 'Steering' Cannonball points out. 'So who's behind the wheel?' one of the others asks.

In Rome, the flaming mystery object finally comes to a stop – crashing into the Colosseum. There is then a loud hissing noise, as smoke billows out of the Colosseum. 

In Washington DC, Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America stands among the remains of the Washington Monument as he communicates with the Black Panther, who reports that things are every bit as bad in Wakanda. He adds that they are trying to work out what happened, but with the global information network interrupted, it is difficult to maintain even his personal communication link. Cap replies that “cosmic” is not really his wheelhouse, and that whatever has happened to Earth, all he can do is try to contain the damage. 'Hang on while I deal with -' Cap begins as he throws his shield towards a falling column, shattering it, he prevents it from collapsing on two civilians. But as Cap's shield starts to return to him, both he and the shield suddenly turn to stone.

In Queens, New York, Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man has been turned to stone, too, and in Wakanda, the same has happened to the Black Panther. Champions members Nova, Hulk, Viv Vision and the time-displaced Cyclops were making their way through the Arizona desert when they too, had been turned to stone. In Central Park, New York, X-Men members Storm, Kitty Pryde, Old Man Logan, Colossus and Prestige turn to stone inside their Blackbird jet, while back at Mount Vesuvius, Enigma and Squirrel Girl suddenly turn to stone, too. 'What in the dad-blamed heck is -' Red Hulk begins. '- happening? Vision, we need you!' the Falcon calls out as he flies towards Vision back in New York, but he, too, has turned to stone. At the same time in San Diego, the Wasp turns to stone, but the Human Torch catches her. 'Wasp? Janet? What's happened to you? Weird, even your wings have stopped moving' the Torch remarks.

The remaining Avengers soon receive a message over their communicators, calling in all active and reserve Avengers with a priority one message. 'Wherever you are, if you're receiving this – you are hereby called to assemble! Falcon, the young Wasp, Thor, Hercules, Scarlet Witch, Human Torch, Rogue, Synapse, Doctor Voodoo, Citizen V, Cannonball, Red Hulk, Iron Patriot and Lightning all hear the call, although when Lightning's Avengers card started buzzing he barely recognized it, as it has been years since he was on the team. He figures that if they are calling him now, then they are calling in everybody – which means it's as bad as it can get, right?

Shortly, at Avengers Mansion, 'This is all of us? Everyone who isn't on pause?' Rogue asks as she stands before the assembled heroes. 'And some who are' Hercules points out as he carries the frozen Vision on his shoulders. 'Oh, no' the Scarlet Witch gasps as she sees her ex-husband. Simon Williams a.k.a. Wonder Man and the Beast frown, while Red Hulk and Cannonball stand near Roberto, who reports that Enigma and Squirrel Girl are safe, that AIM can monitor them and any other frozen heroes they find, too. 'Or villains. Apparently they're frozen as well' Toni remarks. Thor drops down from above, while Lightning shakes Falcon's hand and asks if it is just costumed types, no civilians being affected. 'Not so far... Lightning, right?' Falcon replies.

Human Torch, Doctor Voodoo and Synapse are standing together, when suddenly: ‘Wait, has anybody seen -' one of them begins. 'JARVIS!' Nadia shouts as she approaches the others – and Lightning thinks that this is worse – much worse.

'He was helping someone – there was an accident. I did not see it – something fell on him! He... he is badly hurt! At the hospital they say he might – might not -' Nadia begins, before covering her face with her hands. 'No' Wonder Man utters, while Rogue announces that they will do everything they can for him, but that right now, that means doing everything they can for the world – they cannot prioritize one life over seven billion. 'Jarvis would understand' Rogue adds. 'He... would understand?' After everything he's done – you'd let him die? He is not your priority?' Nadia asks, crying. She turns away from the Wasp and exclaims that she understands very well, before taking off. 'Wasp – wait -' Rogue calls out, but gets no response, so the Beast bounds after her, suggesting that with his medical training, he is sure Nadia will let him tag along, if she is headed back to the hospital.

Lightning realizes that he has spent years remembering the Avengers as the perfect team, he forgets that they are people, too – people who have been through a lot lately. 'Glad you haven't lost your sterling leadership skills, Rogue...' Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver snarks as he arrives on scene. Rogue tells him not to push her, to which he asks 'Or what? You'll fire me again? Why did you even include me on the alert anyway?' Lightning realizes that sometimes, people don't do so well without a little hope, and suddenly, a voice calls: 'She didn't. I did. Sorry I'm late, everyone'. The Avengers look up to a glow, and smile.

'Eyes of Krios – can it be?' Hercules asks. 'I – I don't believe it! After all these years!' Quicksilver exclaims, while Wanda declares 'I always knew it. When we really needed you... you'd be back'. 'Always' a woman with white shoulder-length hair replies. 'After all, you know what we say. “Once an Avenger...” as she hovers in front of the statue of the founding Avengers – Captain America! Thor! Iron Man! Hulk! Giant-Man! Wasp! And... Voyager?