CHAPTER FIVE

BUGS

“IT’S NEVER easy, is it?”

Back on the Peak, Bruce Banner spoke mostly to himself. His hands moved constantly, encountering new textures, the constant input balancing the tempest that existed in his mind. It was a method he’d tried over the years to calm himself when he found that he was becoming too excited. He thought he could have written a master thesis on how to meditate, to remain focused.

The nuclear physicist’s narrow shoulders held burdens that would have terrified Atlas. He had saved the world, yet destroyed entire towns. His allies trusted Bruce Banner, but not so much the Hulk. So for the most part Banner had to remain calm, centered.

“It’s Perth, Cap,” he said. “The Perth site is where all of this is focused. Whatever these damned pulses are supposed to do, it’s all with the goal of making Perth the epicenter.”

“What do you mean ‘epicenter,’ Bruce?” Captain America replied. “Epicenter of what?”

Steve Rogers had been employing military strategies and fighting to make the world a better place since before most of the Avengers had been born. A veteran of World War II, he spent years in a state of suspended animation, literally frozen. He was one of the best when it came to deploying his forces. That said, the Avengers were spread thin.

“Each site has experienced the pulses, the power outages,” Banner replied. “Like the Ulchin Nuclear Plant. If we didn’t have a team on the ground there, we might be facing a catastrophic meltdown. But the greatest concentration is coming from one site. Perth.” He rubbed the back of his neck, adjusted his glasses. “There’s something unique happening there. Whatever the nature of this assault, that’s where you need to be.”

Cap nodded. “Stay on it, Bruce. Keep us apprised of anything new.” His voice was steady. “You’re doing an amazing job, and I need you here and calm, got me?”

“I hear you.”

* * *

“‘COME WITH us,’ the men in brightly colored clothing said. ‘We will show you the wonders of the universe, and have great adventures,’” Eden Fesi said. “Didn’t you just convince me to leave Australia, Captain? And now you want me to go back?”

Manifold was an Australian with the ability to warp space. For many teleporters, the ability to shift from one place to another was exhausting. Worse was the notion of moving others in the same fashion—it could be the stuff of nightmares.

Fesi wasn’t like other teleporters. He had yet to find a limit to his ability to move himself and his companions over vast distances. It was as easy for him as breathing. As talents go, it was the sort that made Captain America glad to have him as an Avenger.

“Afraid so,” Cap replied. “We need to get to Perth now.” He stepped closer, accompanied by a handful of others. Wolverine, a fighter with bones coated in nearly indestructible Adamantium, and claws covered in the same incredible metal. His ability to heal from almost any injury had saved him countless times. Like Eden, he was a mutant, considered by many to be the next stage of human evolution.

Cannonball and Sunspot, new recruits to the Avengers, were also mutants. Sam Guthrie could fly at incredible speeds and generated a force barrier around himself while he was in flight. Sunspot—Roberto da Costa—was a human solar battery who could convert his stored energies into raw physical power.

Spider-Man, however, was not a mutant. He’d been in the super-hero business for years, and had a reputation for beating the odds. The remaining member of the away team was a martial artist with incredible skills and a family pedigree that would have terrified most people. Shang-Chi was quiet, enigmatic and deadly.

“Keep alert once we land,” Cap said. “There’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to communicate with the Hub, so we might be on our own.”

“Pretty sure—” Cannonball began.

Manifold lifted his spear—a modern take on a traditional aboriginal weapon. The tip glowed, and the glow surrounded the entire group. In less time than it took to take a breath…

…they were in Perth.

“—we’ll survive it,” Cannonball finished. Then his eyes went wide.

The capital of Western Australia, known as the “City of Lights,” was a hellscape. Vast organic structures rose to terrifying heights above the streets. These alien structures were connected, woven together over buildings, bridges, and roads alike.

Everywhere the Avengers looked, cyclopean creatures crawled over everything. Looking like gargantuan pill bugs, they possessed hard, layered carapaces, too many legs, and antennae waving above wicked-looking mandibles. The smallest of the creatures was more than four feet in length, but some looked closer to the size of a school bus. They were everywhere, swarming over buildings and climbing the vast vines and constructs that were growing from the ground, stretching into the skies above Perth.

The sight rendered the newcomers speechless. Even Spider-Man, ever ready with a quip, just crouched on a pile of rubble, peering this way and that. Cap hoped he would hold it together.

“Where are the people?” Sunspot looked around, frowning.

“They might not be here anymore,” Cap replied.

“What do you mean?”

Spider-Man answered, his voice shaky. “Nothing comes out of nothing. I mean, there has to be a source for all the physical material being grown here.”

Roberto da Costa looked around, his eyes round with horror, and shifted, letting his innate powers come to the surface. His body remained the same shape, but a thick caul of black energy crawled over his skin and sputtered around him in a Kirlian dance. The reaction was purely instinctive: He was better defended against attacks while allowing the solar radiation to shield his body.

“You mean the people are the bugs?”

“Maybe.” Spider-Man shook his head. “But they might also be in the plant stuff growing everywhere.”

“We don’t have all the information we need,” Cap said, his voice remarkably calm. He needed to put a lid on it before panic set in. “We just know that there are no people here. That means we proceed with caution—and if anything attacks, defend yourself with appropriate force.”

That was when the bugs noticed them.

The things had been crawling this way and that, seemingly oblivious to the newcomers. Then one of the creatures turned their way. As if on cue others noticed them as well, perhaps directed by the first. Several of the creatures that were higher off the ground and moving along vines abruptly dropped down, spreading wings that rose from beneath their carapaces. They descended in a swarm.

Cannonball launched himself toward them, flying along a blast of concussive force that surrounded his body. He collided with the closest of the insects and knocked it aside. The creature fell to the ground with a sickening crunch and lay unmoving.

There were plenty more.

The rest of the nightmarish things were upon them, attacking in a fury. It was just a matter of moments before the area erupted into full-blown combat. One of the things landed on Wolverine, its many legs grasping. Adamantium cut through organic armor with ease, coming free with a trail of green ichor and ropy innards.

Another landed on him, then a third, mandibles cutting away a part of his thigh before he could pull back. Wolverine let out a growl of pure rage and attacked even more viciously, tearing through the creature even as the wound in his bleeding thigh began to shrink. By the time he had dispatched the third assailant, the cut had sealed, the scar already fading.

Sunspot moved to intercept another of the things before it could land on his feral teammate, tossing it to the ground hard enough to shatter the body and crack the asphalt beneath it. Still his eyes were wild and his breathing came out in loud gasps. The next one that attacked moved straight for him and met the same fate. The bugs seemed to realize that, like Wolverine, he was a serious threat, and they came in even faster.

A familiar voice sounded in their ears. “Cap, whatever you’re doing down there, it got the attention of the things in India—they must have some sort of telepathic connection.” Bruce Banner’s words came in loud and clear despite the communications issues most of the world was experiencing. No telling how long that would last, though. Their tech was only so good. “They’re moving away from their work and gathering together. You might have a problem coming your way.”

Manifold gestured, and a dozen of the bugs disappeared. Knowing Eden, it would be nowhere on Earth. Hopefully the things couldn’t survive the vacuum of space.

“No sign of anything yet,” Cap replied, “but thanks for the warning.”

“They’re gone,” Banner replied. “No warning, just vanished.”

There was an explosion of displaced air, and the creatures appeared. Blue giants with cubed heads and multiple faces—all of which looked angry. Surveillance footage had made it seem as if they were roughly twenty feet in height.

They were bigger.

“Thanks for the warning, Bruce,” Cap said. “They just showed themselves.”

The giants came in hard and fast. A massive foot came barreling down, landing with an impact that shook the ground, cracked pavement, and scattered Avengers as if they were dolls. More of the gargantuans followed suit—there seemed to be a half-dozen of them.

“Are you kidding me?” Wolverine’s voice was low and loud, and he dodged out of the way as one of the things tried to stomp him into the ground.

“See? This is what I’ve been living with my entire life. Bugs trying to eat me and guys trying to squish me.” Spider-Man’s voice was sarcastic, and he seemed to have regained his cavalier cheerfulness. Wolverine ignored him as he swung his claws at the nearest blue leg.

From the midst of the melee, Captain America assessed the situation.

As he did, Spider-Man’s webs blocked a behemoth that was reaching for the Super-Soldier. The thick strands of synthetic webbing stopped the arm in mid-motion, and the web-slinger hauled back with enough force to stagger the giant. Cannonball saw the opportunity and took it. He struck at the leaning giant and knocked it back. It crashed to the ground, taking part of the closest building with it.

An instant later the bugs swarmed in again, moving between the giants, crashing against the heroes, engulfing them with their sheer numbers. Sunspot bellowed as several of the things crawled over him, pressing down. A moment later they sailed backward, knocked aside by his desperate attempt to defend himself.

“This is getting worse, not better,” Manifold called out. He nodded his head and sent three of the giants away, destination unknown to anyone but himself. “There are more of the bugs showing up every second.”

“They’re multiplying,” Captain America said. “At the current rate, we’re going to drown in them soon. We need help.” He spun and threw his shield. It cut through the air and shattered a face of the closest giant, then arced back to his waiting hand.

“Captain, I don’t know if you’re going to have time to bring in reinforcements before it is too late.” Even as Shang-Chi spoke a giant struck out at him, trying to swat him away. The master of the martial arts carried a perfectly balanced bō staff, and he lashed out with it, ruining the towering attacker’s knee. Spinning, he planted the staff in the head of one of the van-sized bugs.

Cap nodded, and scanned the area to find one person in particular. “Manifold, I need you to go get the team from Ulchin.”

Fesi frowned.

“They’re dealing with a nuclear reactor.”

“They’ve had enough time to address it,” Cap replied, adding silently, I hope. “Right now, Perth is the priority.”

“A wise course, Captain,” Shang-Chi offered, “but do we have the—”

Before he could finish, Manifold was gone.

* * *

IT WAS the beginning of a biological disaster of epic scale. The Ulchin County Nuclear Power Plant was dead. Whatever defenses it had were gone, the radioactive waste it produced was going to kill everything for miles around, and there seemed to be nothing they could do about it.

Thor was the God of Thunder. He had walked the planet at varying times over centuries, and battled creatures of myth and legend—more often than not leaving his enemies beaten into submission.

This, however, was something he could not fix. Hyperion stood by his side and looked equally frustrated. Hawkeye, Captain Universe, and the Black Widow stood with him as well, though he doubted any of them could hope to repair the death coming from those reactors.

Rage played across Thor’s features.

“We’re too late.” Natasha Romanoff was a trained assassin, a spy and infiltrator who had found herself in the employ of more than one nation on any number of high-risk assignments. That time was long past, but the gravity of their current situation was all too familiar.

“Stage-seven reactor meltdown,” she continued. “There won’t be any survivors. We should—”

“Enough!” The thunder god peered at the reactor as if it were a living enemy. “This should not be happening. The lightning and thunder are mine to command, and I can do nothing to stop this.”

Like Natasha, Hawkeye was a mortal. He stood currently with two men who really were godlike in their abilities, and with a woman who had powers that might even dwarf theirs. He wasn’t worried about being their equals: He was worried about all of them surviving. The radiation levels would be rising soon, and there wasn’t a damned thing they could do about it.

“Let it go, Thor,” Hawkeye replied. “We lost this one.” The archer stood close by, and the Black Widow could tell that he was just as frustrated as Thor. He just had a grip on his emotions.

“We can’t win every fight.” The voice held a soft, sing-song quality. “Grandma said that to me a long time ago.” It wasn’t the voice that chilled Natasha, however—it was the power that rested beneath it. The speaker wasn’t a large woman, she did not carry herself as if she had great purpose, but she held power on a level that had seldom been seen in the universe.

Indeed, that was her name. Captain Universe.

The ramifications were mind-boggling. The universe itself was an Avenger. Her host, Tamara Devoux, nearly died in an automobile crash, only to be chosen by the mysterious “Enigma Force.” The mission to Mars has been her first outing with the team, and without her it might have ended in failure.

“Captain Universe?” Hyperion said, shooting her a curious look.

“Grandma always said that everyone gets sick, sooner or later.” The outfit she wore was white from her toes to her ribcage, and then the ebony of deep space spotted with interconnected circles of white. Only her head was bare, allowing for a full display of tight curls. As she spoke, that too was covered in blackness, and her eyes shone with an indecipherable glow. She gestured, fingers dancing in the air like those of a concert conductor.

As if answering a silent call, the raw energies spilling from the reactors coalesced into a loose sphere of dancing green. She gestured again, and they were lifted from the earth, moving higher and higher.

“You did it.” Even Hyperion, who possessed Thor-level strength, looked on with awe. “You stopped the reaction.”

Captain Universe nodded. “We’ll all be together again someday, Grandma and Grandpa and all the children.” With a flourish she sent the radiation out of their sight, beyond the atmosphere. They didn’t know where it went, and Captain Universe didn’t say. It was tempting to be terrified by the tone of the woman’s voice, by her disconnected words and the sheer power she displayed.

If ever we needed to stop her, Natasha thought, could we do so? Would any of us stand a chance? She didn’t say the words aloud, however, and with some effort she discarded even the thought. Someone with that level of power might be able to read minds.

Hawkeye seemed as if he were about to say something, and the Black Widow silenced him with a look. This wasn’t the time for an emotional outburst.

Thor opened his mouth to speak.

Manifold appeared from nowhere.

“We need you. Now.”

Before any of them could respond, his energy glow surrounded them. An instant later they were elsewhere.

“—time to… Oh… never mind.” The speaker was Shang-Chi. He stood in the midst of mayhem and violence. They were surrounded by enormous bugs and walking blue giants with four faces.

One of the giants drove Wolverine into the ground with enough force to send the vibrations through the soles of Natasha’s boots. The Canadian growled deep in his throat and thrust his metallic claws through the thing’s forearm. To her surprise the giant broke, pieces chipping off like stone.

They’re not alive!

Quickly scanning the scene, she took stock. Spider-Man had covered several of the large beetle-like bugs in webbing, and they struggled to peel it away from their bodies. Captain America used the edge of his nearly indestructible shield to break the stone hide of one of the giants.

There was a shout. Thor’s hammer went sailing past Cap and struck the giant dead center, knocking it back into one of its companions. Both of them fell to the ground, but were quick to rise again.

Another gargantuan figure reached out to grab Sunspot. Roberto wasn’t a large man—he was on the thin side and only a little taller than Wolverine. Still, he shattered the arm of one of the giants as it reached out to grab at him. Cannonball plowed a line of carnage through several of the insects, moving like a bullet through their forms.

Hyperion caught one of the giants and hurled it away, sending the stone man soaring until it was out of sight. He threw another one toward the growing alien structure that actively dwarfed the human parts of the city, rising several hundred feet into the air. It looked as if it were working at becoming something else. Near the top the organic structure was separating, not unlike the opening blossom of an enormous exotic flower.

Or a claw.

The hurtling stone giant punched through one of the cables leading up to that blossom, and the strands snapped away from one another. Immediately bugs moved to rebuild the thing, crawling over the form and each other to make the necessary repairs.

One of the bugs noticed Natasha and skittered her way. She pointed her wrist blaster and delivered a “Widow’s Bite.” The explosion reduced the disgusting creature to wet ruins across the ground.

The bugs completed their repairs, and high above the giant tower let loose a pulse of energy that lit the skies and bleached the entire area white. Natasha reacted quickly enough to shut her eyes. Even so, the flash left a residual blotch against the insides of her eyelids.

“Of course,” she said.

“Thor! This thing is an antenna,” Captain America shouted to his teammate. The thunder god was occupied with shattering the four-faced head of a giant.

“Captain?”

“Lightning rod.”

Nothing more was needed—the two of them had worked together for years. Thor just smiled and dispatched his foe with a single devastating blow. Then he gestured, and the lightning listened. The skies erupted, sending spears of electrical discharge through the entire structure, leaving deep burn marks in the vines and bursting the bug-things that walked across the extraterrestrial strands. The air shook with a dozen peals of thunder, and again the Widow shut her eyes.

Even so, she had to deal with blue afterimages long after the structure was destroyed. Most of the bugs died in the barrage; the few that hadn’t kicked and struggled, upended by the force of the storm. A couple of the giants were still standing, but Hyperion punched his way through one of them while Cannonball hit the last one like a torpedo.

* * *

“CAPTAIN? ARE you there?” It was Bruce.

“I hear you, Dr. Banner… go ahead.”

“I think we might have something—buy us a couple more minutes.”

Their enemies defeated, the Avengers assembled among the rubble. There were cuts and bruises, but no casualties.

“No need,” Captain America responded, fixing his shield to his gauntlet. “I think we’re done here.”

Hawkeye looked his way. “So that’s it?”

“No.” The answer came from above.

The ebon-and-white figure floated down toward the gathered group, looking more like a ballerina than a super hero.

“It never ends until it has to end,” Captain Universe said, “and then too late to begin. Now is a time for beginnings, and so we have to start—and the start is what happens before our very ends.” She landed gently on the rubble, touching down without a sound.