Calvin Rankin leaned against a world globe in the den of the Xavier mansion. Directly across from him stood Bobby Drake and Hank McCoy. Bobby had his arms folded across his chest while Hank crouched on a chair.

"So Cal..." Bobby started.

"Uhm, yeah?"

"This is pretty uncomfortable, isn't it?"

The three all laughed. They had been teammates years ago during the first few years of the X-Men. Calvin left the team for several reasons after only a few months. Years later he turned on his former friends by joining the Brotherhood.

"So... what's happening for each of you?" Calvin asked.

"Well," Beast said. "We're reopening the school in Massachucetts. We've been moving things back and forth for a little while."

"Good, good..."

"Looks like you lost your wings," Iceman observed.

"Nope, they're kind like your buddy Angel's now," Calvin replied. "Retractable metal wings. Dunno why, guess something changed me." He rolled his eyes in boredom and looked at his watch wondering how long Hawkeye and She-Hulk would take.

Hawkeye and She-Hulk sat in the X-Mansion's med center. She-Hulk had shifted into her human form and wore a sports bra and trunks while Hawkeye wore a tank top and a pair of sweat pants with the Xavier Institute logo stamped on them. She sat on one of the examination tables while Hawkeye sat backwards in a wheeled office chair. The helmeted man called Xorn sat crosslegged on one of the analysis tables. His hands rested on his knees and his head was bowed. The man had been deep in meditation for a few minutes in preparation for removing the alien eggs* growing within the two heroes. Clint smiled reassuringly at Jen. Xorn had told her that she would be the first to have the egg removed from her chest. She was nervous.

*- See last issue.

Xorn raised his head and the eyes of the helmet began to glow. Jen assumed that meant he reopened his eyes. Xavier had told them that Xorn's brain was actually a small star. Whether that had anything to do with his curative abilities was unknown, but his powers enabled him to heal nearly any disease. Xavier asked him to take the four recently returned heroes to his office after he removed the eggs.

Xorn unfolded his legs and set his feet on the ground. He stood and walked over to She-Hulk. Jennifer shifted uncomfortably.

"Do not fear," the X-Man said. "I shall try to make this painless. I must ask that you lay down on the table." She followed his instructions and closed her eyes. He reached out and touched her chest directly between her collarbones. A blue glow eminated from Xorn's hand. Jennifer instantly began to feel movement within her body. She felt the egg move towards the surface of her body, slowly towards Xorn's hand. It felt like a small rock. Suddenly sharp pain coursed through her body. Jen screamed. Hawkeye jumped to his feet and rushed to her side. She gritted her teeth. Hawkeye saw beads of perspiration forming on Xorn's hand.

"Fear not," Xorn whispered. "I nearly have it." Clint could hear the strain in his voice. This was difficult for the healer. Jen screamed again as Xorn removed his hand from her chest. Her flesh began to shift and open to allow a small black object to pass through. It was about the size of a rubber "superball," and crackled with energy. The egg passed completely through Jen's chest and Xorn quickly pressed his hand back against the hole, sealing it off and mending the bone and organs beneath the skin. He then took the egg and held it in his hand.

"Fascinating," he said. The egg floated above his hand about half of an inch. The white aura grew brighter, then the egg collapsed on itself, creating a bright flash of light. The egg was gone. Xorn turned back to his patient. Clint had taken her hand with his right hand and rubbing it with his left. She looked up at him with a grin. Her entire body was wet with perspiration.

"Damn that hurt," she said softly. "You know, if that was anywhere near giving birth, I'm never having sex again."

Clint laughed.

Hours later, the four heroes stood in Xavier's office. Each of the four had experienced the same when the egg was removed. Each had collapsed after its removal just like She-Hulk's. Xavier gave them time to rest afterwards. Scarlet Spider had climbed partway up one wall. She-Hulk sat in an armchair, her legs crossed. Hawkeye leaned against Xavier's desk. Mimic sat in a second armchair.

"I hear the removal was more difficult than expected," Xavier said, trying to break the ice.

"Difficult is an understatement," Ben said. "It was like passing half a dozen kidney stones at once through my nipple." Xavier laughed at the comparison. He rolled his wheelchair back and rested his elbows on the armrests of his chair. He steepled his fingers and rested them against his lips.

"My friends," he said, "when Dr. Richards called me, he asked me to scan your minds and try to find some memory of what happened while you were gone. To do so, I will link each of our minds to enhance the images."

"So we're having a seance?" Hawkeye joked. "Want us to stand in a circle and hold hands?"

Xavier chuckled. "No Hawkeye. Actually, it's as simple as this."

Suddenly the five were not in Xavier's office. They were standing in a large barren plain. The sky was filled with stars. They each looked around in awe of where they stood.

"The astral plane," Mimic whispered.

"Indeed," Xavier said. They all turned and saw him standing with his arms folded. Each of them were taken aback for a moment. Charles smiled. "I'm not really standing. This is just my astral form. I'm able to do anything, be anything be anywhere in this form. My physical hanidcaps don't exist here." He held his hand out. "Now shall we get to work?"

Two bright spots flew through the dark expanse near the planet Saturn. From Earth, most astronomers would guess that these two spots were small comets or some sort of flaming space debris. From nearby, observers woul note that these two spots were actually humanoid. They were the Kree/ Eternal hybrid heroes Genis and Phyla Vell. Genis followed the tradition of his father Mar-Vell and called himself Captain Marvel, while his sister used the name Lady Marvel. Both bore a pair of Kree Nega-Bands, granting them a degree of super-strength, flight, and energy manipulation. In addition they both had a sense of cosmic awareness, a pre-cognitive sense. They both wore red and blue uniforms similar to their father's and both had white hair- Genis short and Phyla shoulder length.

The two raced towards their adopted homeworld, Earth. As they neared the planet, Genis frowned.

"There's something wrong," he declared. "There's something wrong!" He sped up as his cosmic awareness suddenly kicked in. The Earth in ruins. People dying. Massive flooding across the globe. Earthquakes. The sun closer to Earth than ever before. And a mass of dark forms all over the planet.

Phyla grabbed Genis's shoulder. "What's wrong Gen?"

"It's the end of the world."

The Fantasticar settled to the ground. Ben Grimm bounded from the car. He pointed to the hangar directly ahead of him. The abandoned airfield they were in was the source of a strange energy signature Reed Richards had detected that morning after a tremor shook the Baxter Building.

"Is that it Stretcho?" he called.

"That appears to be the source of the-"

"All I needed t' know!" Ben raced towards the hangar. Reed shook his head. He looked at Johnny.

"Yeah, I'll follow him," Johnny said. "FLAME ON!" The Human Torch flew into the air and followed the Thing. Ben reached the door of the hangar and cocked his fist back.

"Knock, knock," he said. He punched the door and it shattered into splinters. A humming sound filled the air. Ben and Johnny cautiously walked in. Johnny's flames illuminated the large space. A strange alien device stood in the middle of the hangar.

"Go get Stretcho," Ben said. "I'm gonna take a look at that gizmo." Johnny nodded and turned towards his sister and brother-in-law. He flew towards them as Ben ran into hangar.

"Ben found someth-"

*THWOOM*

The Thing flew out of the roof of the hangar. Something had hit him. Reed quickly stretched his body into a net to catch Ben. He hit Mr. Fantastic's midsection. He dropped Ben to the ground. Thing shook his head and looked at Reed.

"That hurt."

"Ben, what was that?"

"Th' S...." He slipped into unconsciousness.

Johnny turned and began to fly towards the hangar. Reed looked at Sue.

"Stop him" he said. "If whatever that is could take Ben down...!"

Sue reached her hand out. "He's stopped." Johnny ran into Sue's forcefield. Johnny turned towards his teammates. Before he could say something, a blast of energy struck him and he fell to the ground. A dark figure flew into the sky. It turned and stared at the remaining two members of the Fantastic Four.

"Oh crap," Sue muttered.

Clint looked around the astral plane. Images of their lives flashed around them. Spider-Man fighting the female Doc Ock. She-Hulk meeting Santa Claus. Mimic fighting alongside the original X-Men. Clint fighting the Taskmaster. Scarlet Spider fighting alongside Spider-Man. She-Hulk and Hawkeye with the Avengers. Mimic with Mystique and the Brotherhood. Hawkeye and Mockingbird...

Clint turned away.

"Quite a walk down memory lane," Xavier said.

"Why the old home movies?" Scarlet Spider asked.

"Just preparing your minds to get deeper," he replied. "Kind of like oiling the lock before..." The scene suddenly changed. "Turning the key."

The nearest description Hawkeye could come up with was Hell. They stood in the middle of a large open space. The sky was a blur of color, mostly reds and yellows, with about every other mixed in. Black alien insects ran back and forth. Pain-filled screams filled the air. The five heroes looked around. Rows of people were chained to pillars which stood separate from each other. The aliens would climb up people's bodies, bite them and scurry away.

"God in heaven," Hawkeye muttered. Xavier covered his mouth in shock. Suddenly, they were standing in front of Hawkeye. Clint's clothing was in shreds, and his body was bruised and battered. His eyes were shut and he was leaning his head against the pillar. He opened his eyes slowly. A pitch black humanoid stood in front of him.

"Hello human," the alien said, putting the emphasis on the first syllable of human.

"Go to Hell," Clint muttered.

"Ah, Hell," the alien said. "The human myth of the underworld. An interesting concept."

"Are you done with us yet?" Clint said. "Or will the Coutai continue doing this to us the rest of our lives?" The alien seemed to smile.

"Oh human," it said. "We have a purpose for you. You are what your race calls a hero. Thus you're trusted. Who better to take over a world?"

Hawkeye's lip curled angrily. "You bastard! It won't happen!"

"It already has. Even now, on your homeworld, one of the Coutai is masquerading as one of your champions. And he will recreate your world to one suitable for our hunger..."

The scene faded away into Xavier's office.

"I remember now," She-Hulk said.

"The Coutai..." Ben added. "They're energy siphons. Beings of pure energy."

"Who are they impersonating?" Xavier quiried.

"I know," Mimic said. The others turned to him. "It's the Sentry."

Xavier's voice suddenly filled their minds.

Somebody contact the Avengers!

In The Awakening #3: The assorted heroes band together to face the Sentry!