Homecoming: Chapter 2
"Short Changed" by Jorge Martinez
Three men walk down a street in Greenwich Village, New York. They are far from ordinary. Very different from each other and yet very similar. All have the cosmic stuff flowing through their veins.
STARFOX: I believe this is the place. I have only been here once before and it was a weird experience even by my standards.
GILGAMESH: Aye, this is the home of the current Sorcerer Supreme. I knew his teacher well. Infact, ....
FIRELORD: Gilgamesh, I know you but a few days but I have heard enough ancient tales from your lips in the city you call Rome. You were correct Eros. It was a pretty city but Xandar had much better...
GILGAMESH: And I also tire of stories of "beautiful" Xandar...
STARFOX: Gilgamesh, be careful. At least, you still have Earth to call home. Xandar was destroyed.
FIRELORD: Tread carefully Forgotten One....
STARFOX: Here, this is the place. I told you we wouldn't have to bother the Avengers for an postal code.
GILGAMESH: Aye, I sense the magicks at work here.
FIRELORD: What? I just see a building. Nothing special about it.
STARFOX: Despite your usual warped view that is what your are supposed to see. But to the trained eye there is more.
Gilgamesh proceeds to knock on the door but it opens by itself with no one visible.
GILGAMESH: Eh? What is this....
FIRELORD: This is the part where we enter.
Firelord enters first and the two eternals follow. They do not enter a foyer but Dr. Strange's inner sanctum itself.
DR. STRANGE: Enter, we have much to discuss.
STARFOX: (to self) How many times have I heard my father Mentor say that in the same exact tone?
NEW ORLEANS
Monica Rambeau sets on a beach enjoying the sun. She has decided to aid her friends in a epic adventure that will span the cosmos. But she would like some relaxation before she goes.
PHOTON: (to self) Man, I'm going to miss this. The smell of the surf, the roar of the waves, the sand. Huh? Something is blocking my sun...
She opens her eyes and screams quickly converting herself to energy form.
PHOTON: Oh my god....
Before her is what Monica would consider a vision.
MENTOR: No, not God. I am Mentor father of Eros.
PHOTON: Yes, but you were killed.
MENTOR: Yes, I was. My body is dead but my spirit lives on.
PHOTON: I....see. What are you here for.
MENTOR: I am glad on your recent decision of aiding my son. But, I came to give you advice.
PHOTON: And what would that be?
MENTOR: You are a natural born leader. Eros is not. You might have the urge to let him lead while you take a back seat during your mission. Do not.
PHOTON: Ah, I see you have been reading my mind. Eros is vulnerable. I was hurt to see him lose leadership of the Eternals to his cousin Thena.
MENTOR: For that very reason is why you must strive to lead. He must learn from you. His will to lead will be strong. You must be strong as well.
PHOTON: I doubt there is anything he can learn from me. But if you say so. Are you going to keep giving me advice?
MENTOR: No. I will give advice to my son from now on as I see fit. But just think of me as...what you would call a guardian angel. Good bye.
He disappears.
PHOTON: Great. I have cosmic beings watching my every move. And Mentor practically guaranteed there is going to be friction between Eros and I. Who said being an Avenger was easy.
MANHATTAN
Sersi and Dane Whitman the Black Knight return from a late lunch. They enter the building in which they live in making their way to their apartment.
BLACK KNIGHT: Sersi, I can't help BUT feel paranoid. I don't know who to trust?
SERSI: Who is there not to trust. All are comrades are trustworthy.
BLACK KNIGHT: Not all. I trust Monica, Eros, and Hercules but the others....
SERSI: The Forgotten One and Firelord?
BLACK KNIGHT: Firelord, I'm not too sure about. He seems fine but he is so powerful it down right scary!
SERSI: Please, Dane. Compared to all of us you are merely a mortal beyond your league.
BLACK KNIGHT: Monica is mortal also.
SERSI: You honestly believe that? She may eclipse all of us in power.
BLACK KNIGHT: I guess your right. Never thought of it that way. You really make a guy feel welcomed.
SERSI: Dane if I wanted to run around with gods you wouldn't have fathered my child. How about the Forgotten One?
BLACK KNIGHT: Gilgamesh? What about him?
SERSI: The Avengers are the only one's that call him that. He is the Forgotten One.
BLACK KNIGHT: Yeah, but wasn't he the real Gilgamesh?
SERSI: No! He has been called by many names but he hardly invented those characters. He has been known as Hercules as well...
BLACK KNIGHT: I get your point. And no I don't trust him. In fact, I don't believe he has switched sides at all. He was so determined to kill our unborn child and the next moment he changes his mind?
SERSI: I've known him for centuries. He is a good man. I would like to trust him. But you are right.
BLACK KNIGHT: He has also been hanging out in Limbo. Probably, knows the future already. Maybe he is just playing his part for what is to come. I don't like that. And his outfit. Dressed in that all black trench coat or robe thing he wears. He looks like a priest...or an executioner.
SERSI: Yes. I'm glad he isn't wearing that mask when he called himself Paragon. It terrified me. You haven't mentioned me yet.
BLACK KNIGHT: Huh?
SERSI: You didn't mention me among those you trust or distrust.
Sersi grabs the keys to open the door the apartment.
BLACK KNIGHT: Maybe, I should go in first.
SERSI: Dane, stop it! You are paranoid! I am an Eternal we don't die so easy. Anyway, Ann our housekeeper is here today. She should be almost finished. She was quite happy to hear about my pregnancy. No more parties she thinks....
Sersi opens the door and walks into her lavish Manhattan apartment.
SERSI: That smell? Dane! Someone is here...someone deranged! Their thoughts...so dark!
BLACK KNIGHT: Stand back.
Dane takes out his photon sword. A hi-tech weapon he uses as a substitute for his Ebony Blade. Sersi points to the bedroom. Dane slowly enters. He sees activity in the bathroom. He gets closer and sees a horrible sight. Ann the housekeeper lays dead on the floor in a bloody mess. On the bathroom mirror the words Mr. Clean are spelled in blood. Then there is a man. He is washing his teeth. Dressed in a in a black and white costume.
BLACK KNIGHT: (to self) Who is that?
Dane attacks from behind. Not caring about giving a warning or striking a cowardly blow. They can take his knight hood away for all he cares. The man ducks and kicks Dane in the chin sending him against the wall. He and the killer are face to face in the cramp bathroom.
BLACK KNIGHT: Bullseye? The assassin?
BULLSEYE: Yes and no. You see...I took this body because I heard it was very efficient. But he is mildly insane. A psychopath. I cannot control him as easily as I would like. See this mess with the maid...I would NEVER do such a thing. He, he, hehehehe....excuse me. He laughs at everything.
Dane sees purple energy flow out of the villains eye's like a mist. Someone has indeed possessed Bullseye. He recognizes the assassin from the Avengers file after Captain America ran into him. He seems to be foaming from the mouth but it is just the tooth paste. Dane gets angry and seizes the opportunity while the maniac talks. He thrusts the photonic blade into him. It should stun his nervous system. It does not. Bullseye bends over in pain and laughs.
BULLSEYE: Your a bad boy.
He shoves the toothbrush deep in Dane's gut. Then elbows him in the back of the head. Dane falls.
BULLSEYE: Sersi? Oh, goddess of love. Please don't turn me into a pig. I am already one. Forgive me for my banter. This mind is warped as you can see. He was born to kill. A genetic killing machine. Just like me. But he has so much more fun. Get his hands dirty.
SERSI: STOP IT!
She blasts him with an optic blast that sends him through the wall and into the bedroom again.
BULLSEYE: That would normally burn this mortal's flesh of his skin. But I am doing a good job of holding it together right now.
Bullseye flips a playing card at Sersi that reaches her throat. She is bleeding.
SERSI: UH! What? How? That was a card...
She barely sees the knife that follows but is able to blast it out of the air.
BULLSEYE: Damn, this man. I have much better weapons. But he won't let me use him. You should be dead by now. He wants you to bleed. We cannot bleed an Eternal to death....
Sersi tries to transmutate him into something. Anything. But it does not work. He merely fell from the attack. He rises and reaches into...his chest. He sticks his hand in the black of his costume as if it were water. He pulls out a black scythe.
BULLSEYE: Oh, this is much better.
SERSI: Deathurge!
BULLSEYE: Why yes!
He throws the black scythe at Sersi. A sword flies before Sersi taking the brunt of the attack and absorbing the scythe. It is the Ebony Blade and the Black Knight is wielding it.
BULLSEYE: Where did you get that from? You didn't have it before.
BLACK KNIGHT: It's a little trick I have....
BULLSEYE: Well, it's time to die...
SERSI: Yes...it is.
Sersi unleashes another optic blast at Bullseye. This time his body does not go through the wall. There is smoke. Dane cannot see what happened. When everything clears he sees Sersi standing over ...
SERSI: He's dead.
As Dane carefully approaches to see the body.
BLACK KNIGHT: I doubt it. This guy cannot be killed. He has adamantium bones and if he does die I hear he has some ninja trick where he is born agai....
Dane is speechless. He sees nothing but a metallic skeleton on the floor.
BLACK KNIGHT: You...burnt his flesh off? Or did you...
SERSI: No, I burnt it off. I already took care of the smell don't worry. Now lets fix that gash in your stomach. It that a toothbrush?
BLACK KNIGHT: Damn it! Damn, everything! Is this how we are going to have to live! Like killing dogs!
SERSI: Aye...
THE HOME OF DR. STRANGE
Dr. Strange sits in trance like position in mid air. He floats in front of Starfox, Gilgamesh, and Firelord.
DR. STRANGE: Eros, this is not going to be an easy battle. In fact, it's going to turn into a war.
STARFOX: Strange, if we attack Thanos now and....
DR. STRANGE: I guarantee you this will not be over for possibly a century. You will have to fight many years as will your children. If you do not believe me I ask Anu.
STARFOX: Anu?
GILGAMESH: He means me. An ancient name farther back then even Gilgamesh. The doctor wants to show us his expertise. Strange I knew your predecessor's predecessor. Let's leave the past alone. What he speaks is true Eros. This will be a lifelong adventure and the odds of victory are slim.
FIRELORD: You know much more than you lead us to believe, "Forgotten One!" You were an aid of Immortus and know of the future. You know how this all ends don't you? You are like a snake in our midst. Acting a role....
STARFOX: Pyreus enough. I also stand weary of Gilgamesh's role in all of this. But if I thought it would be a danger I would not have him join us.
FIRELORD: Where I come from we kill traitors not embrace them.
GILGAMESH: Where you come from does not exist any longer. Neither do your barbaric ways...
FIRELORD: Barbaric? You are older than the dirt on this world and you dare call me barbaric....
STARFOX: Enough! You embarrass me in the presence of an ally who has welcomed us into his home.
FIRELORD: You are right, Eros. Forgive me.
GILGAMESH: You know of forgiveness?
STARFOX: Dr. Strange. Thank you for your assistance.
DR.STRANGE: Wait. There is more. Even I could not tell the future. At least, not the far future. But these events have been written for centuries. There is going to be a shift of powers within the universe. Some would call it spring cleaning.
STARFOX: Spring cleaning?
DR. STRANGE: Yes, out with the old....and no one knows what the new is going to be.
STARFOX: I ...understand.
DR. STRANGE: And Eros. You must beware of Warlock. He acts for the greater good but you will not agree with him. I understand why and what he has done but it does not bode well. Remember, life is a series of ups and downs. The middle path is the ideal. This is the path Warlock has always taken. But the ideal is never attainable. Remember my words son of Mentor. Eros, Anu, Pyreus, I bid you farewell.
Back on the streets of Greenwich Village.
STARFOX: Farewell...we are on the street again.
GILGAMESH: He tired of us disputing in his home. I do not like this current sorcerer supreme. For all his words of wisdom he has barely any experience in the position.
STARFOX: Let's return to the Avengers mansion. But let us walk. I have much to think and would appreciate the time.
MOUNT OLYMPUS
Hercules is climbing the great mountain with his new daughter Dania on his back.
DANIA: But father. I can fly us both up there.
HERCULES: Nay. It has been too long since the son of Zeus takes this way home. Furthermore, as much as I would like to parade my new daughter displaying all her beauty and power it would be too humbling for the Lion of Olympus to arrive being carried by a small girl.
DANIA: Oh. Well how long is this going to take. We have been at it for almost an hour.
HERCULES: Ah, young Dania. We are immortal we do not care for time.
DANIA: Well, I haven't lived that long yet. Things still move pretty fast...or slow.
HERCULES: (to self) She seemed so innocent and child like on Titan. Where didst she grow this silver tongue. She hath only spent but a few hours with the She Hulk. Hardly, enough time to learn the ways of the shrews.
HERCULES: Dania, if we hurry I might take a misstep and we shall fall. We wilt not be hurt badly but then we must start all over again. The slow and sure way is always the bes......DANIA!!!
Dania grabs Hercules by shirt and carries him into the air.
DANIA: I am sorry father but I am used to flying around not walking. And this climbing is making me tired!
HERCULES: Thou dost not tire! Thou is an Eternal! When I was talking to the noble Captain America what didst that jaded woman tell thee?! What didst the She Hulk say to thee?!
DANIA: She said not pay to close attention to you because you like too talk to much. And if think you are wrong to state my opinion.
HERCULES: Aye, thou didst that already.
DANIA: Yes, but she said if you still wouldn't listen to pull your hair and take you where I wanted.
HERCULES: Really? Well, I should thank father Zeus thou only grabbed me by my shirt instead of my locks.
DANIA: I would not do that father. I would never want to hurt you...
HERCULES: (to self) Ah, the demonic jade giantess hath failed. The lass is still an innocent...
They reach Mt. Olympus and Dania lands.
HERCULES: (whispers) Put me down, lass!
DANIA: Oh sorry. Wow! This isn't a mountain top. How can a city this large fit on this mountain.
HERCULES: Nay, we art in another world, another reality entirely. This is Olympus.
DANIA: I have heard of Olympia but never Olympus.
HERCULES: This is where my...our family lives. Olympia is the home of your other family the Eternals. But that is actually on a mountain top and not as grand as Olympus itself. Eh? Where art the Olympians. Where art the guards? Come, follow me.
They walk all through Olympus and cannot find anyone.
HERCULES: This is most strange. With the recent events concerning Thanos I doth worry. I must call the Avengers....
DANIA: Father, who is that?
A man stands in the distance looking at them.
HERCULES: I know not. Let us proceed.
As they get closer Hercules recognizes his friend.
HERCULES: Prometheus! Good friend what transpires here?
PROMETHEUS: There hath been war Hercules. A war that thou must become part of.
HERCULES: A war? Is somebody challenging my father? Ares must be involved.
PROMETHEUS: Aye, he is. But no one challenges mighty Zeus. For your father is as good as dead.
HERCULES: What?!
PROMETHEUS: There are many sides to this war. Thou must call thy friends the Avengers. For they are the only allies thou shall find on Olympus!
NEXT ISSUE: The Cosmic Avengers head for Olympus to fight in a very important battle. The Black Knight, Sersi, Photon, Firelord, Starfox, and Gilgamesh become key figures with Hercules in this war!!!