J.L.Avengers #1

[Spider-Man Beyond]

J.L.Avengers #1

Written by Kyle Jones (Wonderphoenix)
Edited by Daniel Dyer (Spider-Man Beyond)

Prologue:

The Big Bang...

The old universe perishes in a catastrophic explosion and the new universe is born. From the old, a lone entity remains as he sees reality in ways he never could have imagined. He looks at himself… so changed… and feels a hunger unlike any he has ever felt before. Slowly, he looks around and watches the stars begin to form… and his hunger grows.

He feels the very fabric of existence begin to vibrate as time is created once again. Yet, something is different. He can tell. This is not what he expected. This change in him – in the very nature of his existence – so changed. How? Why? He does not understand.

Then he looks and sees the universe multiply and divide into an infinite number of universes. Each new universe beginning the same as the other, but over time diverging into a limitless number of possibilities. This is the dawn of creation of the multiverse.

He moves forward in one such universe and sees a single, solitary planet in the middle of the universe. Slowly he reaches out his hand as if to try to touch it and realizes that the scope of his being encompasses the entirety of the planet. This planet, he thought, there is an importance here. So, with this cosmic knowledge, he turns and moves forward once again.

This time, he sees a star shine brightly. Its flames grew constantly as they flicker higher and higher. Then, in a radiant flash so bright it was beyond comprehension, the star burns itself out. He turns to move again but sees the remains of the star begin to simmer… to smolder… to burn… until a giant bird of fire rises comprised of cosmic flame. Thus, the Phoenix Force is born.

He moved for what seemed like eons until he came across another planet and he looked down upon it. The very essence of the planet itself radiated a bright green. Before leaving, he studied the planet and his hunger grew.

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

1,000,000 years ago...

This is the stuff of legend as no mortal being knows what truly occurred this day. Some records say, one planet, which some legends called Urgrund, exploded and birthed two separate planets. One planet - the epitome of health and beauty where anything is possible and true happiness is commonplace. The other - harsh and unforgiving giving rise to base desires and pure evil.

From one… now two… destined for eternal combat.

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

100,000 years ago...

It would one day be given the name Earth but on this day it is nothing more than one of the planets. Unlike others, it only had one single moon that orbited it as it traveled along its own orbit around the sun. Hovered over the blue area of said moon was a golden circular ship. Inside were two beings whose sole purpose was to monitor and watch as history unfolds on the planet below.

They continue to watch and monitor even to this day.

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

10,000 years ago...

Robotic creatures revolt against their makers, causing widespread destruction on the planet at the center of the universe. Unbeknownst to the planet’s inhabitants, their planet was spared, eons ago, from the hunger of the entity because of what his awareness knew would happen this day.

One of them, a small blue being called Ganthet dressed in his purple robe, lights the first emerald flame from which a force… a corps… will grow.

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

1,000 years ago...

One hundred Viking warriors was all the ship’s captain had left after the other half of his crew became sick and died on the voyage. He wondered if he, himself, would last long enough to get his men back home. The sea had made them sick and he knew that it was only a matter of days before everyone would succumb to the disease. His resolve withered as he knew women and children eagerly awaited their return and wondered what would become of them during the winter months without his men to protect them.

He walked out onto the deck and looked up into the heavens. With one last prayer, he pleaded to Odin to provide release… to provide help… to provide salvation.

At first, nothing happened. Then, lightning flashed. Thunder clasped and the clouds began to gather and swirl faster and faster. Lightning flashed again so close that he was temporarily blinded. When his vision cleared, he looked up to see a man with long blonde hair floating above him, dressed in the garments of the finest warrior.

“I AM THOR!” he boomed. “WHAT NEED DO YOU HAVE OF THEE?”

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

500 years ago...

It was early morning when she walked out onto the beach, knelt down, and prayed to the goddesses. She pulled her blonde hair back and tied it in a knot. Then, she stood again, walked out to the ocean and, with a jug, took as much water as she could carry. She returned to the spot and poured out the water.

She repeated the task ten more times.

Finally, when finished, she knelt for a second time and prayed to the goddesses. With her hands she began to sculpt a figure from the soil that she had so carefully moistened. She gave the figure every care to ensure that each detail was perfection and that nothing was left undone. After several hours the figure was finally complete.

She gazed up again and prayed to the goddesses and, in a flash of radiance, they appeared to her. “Daughter,” one said, “you have done as we have instructed and you have served us faithfully. Your boon is at hand.” With enchanted ease, each spoke separately and imparted a different gift into the figure. When they finished with their gifts, they breathed life into the clay sculpture transforming it into a living child. Finally, after untold centuries of waiting, Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons was given the daughter she so desperately desired.

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

68 years ago...

The United States was just starting to come out of a financial hardship, a Great Depression, when a young boy, barely eighteen, entered the local army recruiting office. He walked into the room and approached the man in charge. “I want to join up,” he said. “I want to serve my country.”

The man looked at the young boy and knew immediately that this kid was not army material. Standing over six feet tall, the boy could be no more than 140 pounds… if that much. This kid would be too clumsy to ever be military material.

“Please,” the boy pleaded. “I just want to help my country.”

“I’m sorry, son,” the man replied. “I’m looking at you and know that I can’t put someone like you in the line of fire. We ain’t in a war right now. Maybe you come back in a few years when you have some meat on them bones of yours. For now, go home to your Momma and take care of your folks and your family.”

“I have no family, sir,” he begged. “Please, I will do anything.” The boy turned to leave and thought about asking again… demanding… that he be allowed to join. But, before he could do so, another man approached him.

“Do you really want to help your country son?” the other man asked.

“Yes, sir,” the boy replied. “That is why I’m here.”

“If you want to help your country, come with me.”

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

30 years ago...

The entity returned to the place where, millions of years ago, his hunger first grew. He looked down on the green hued planet and knew now that it was time to feed. A silver being flew in front of his gigantic face and informed him that it was time.

The figure, once known as Galan in the old universe, stood above the planet and began to feed. As he did, the planet’s surface began to quake and break apart. Billions died. Yet, before the planet exploded, one single rocket was launched and escaped notice by both the figure and his silver herald.

This rocket… headed to a distant planet… a planet called Earth.

End of Prologue

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Skrull Invasion of Earth
Part One – Without Warning

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live on in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address to Congress, Dec. 8, 1941
32nd president of US (1882 - 1945)

Washington D.C. – 1941
The White House

President Roosevelt sat in his wheelchair and looked out onto the lawn with despair in his heart. Reports of casualties continued to come in and decisions would have to be made and made soon. Entering this second Great War was something that he didn’t want to do and he had hoped that it would never come to this. Yet, inaction was no longer an alternative.

There was a knock at the door. “Enter,” the President commanded as he turned to see his current Secretary of War, a man named Henry Stimson, enter the Oval Office. Stimson carried a folder in one hand and an old suitcase in the other.

“Good morning, Mr. President,” Stimson said as President Roosevelt motioned for him to be seated.

“Good morning, Stimson,” Roosevelt replied. “I trust you brought everything.”

“Yes, Sir. Everything is in order. The War Department is ready to deliver this proposal to Congress whenever you give the word.” He handed the President the folder. Putting on his glasses, Roosevelt began looking over each page as Stimson continued to speak. “This war, as well you know, is unlike anything modern civilization has ever witnessed. What the Germans have started… Sir, I just don’t know if our armies can defeat them.”

Roosevelt looked up and closed the folder. “That is why, dear boy, you were asked to draft this document.” He reached down, picked up the suitcase, and opened it. Inside was a shield decorated in the star-spangled tradition. Roosevelt handed the shield to his aide and sat quietly for a moment.

“Mr. President,” Stimson inquired. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am fine,” President Roosevelt responded. “I know you have heard rumors of masked men… mystery men acting on their own to protect our streets.” He pointed at the shield. “You hold in your hand what I hope will one day become a symbol for freedom and justice.” He handed the folder back to Stimson. “And, with this document, this Justice Resolution, I will create a society of mystery men who will protect our shores and invade against those who seek to do us harm.”

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Present
Two days ago…

Forty-four ships, some war class but most passenger vessels, entered the Milky Way galaxy. Aboard the lead ship…

“Finally,” Kr’ylln, the First Prime of Emperor Sk’all, spoke in his native tongue to his shipmate. “We’ve finally… finally…reached our destination.” Kr’ylln stood no taller than five feet with dark green skin and red eyes. His hair was black and, around his chin, his skin wrinkled and folded – as if he had too much skin and not enough bone. He stood looking down at the hundreds of soldiers – his soldiers – as they lined up to receive weapons and ammunition. Pride swelled within him. “Emperor Sk’all declares this to be the finest of the army,” he boasted.

”You are right,” his shipmate and first mate, called N’Karm, replied. “Your pride is evident and is warranted.” N’Karm had not seen the glorious battles Kr’ylln found himself in over the years. For all intents, N’Karm was a child and Kr’ylln relished in the thought of teaching this youngling the ways of conquest.

“We are warriors, N’Karm,” he added. “Our race will forever be feared in this galaxy just as we once were in our own.” Kr’ylln stopped and hesitated for a moment as he recalled exactly what brought his people to this day. “We were a proud race… until HE came and destroyed it all.”

“But the Great Destroyer shall not find us here, my leader,” N’Karm paced back and forth. “My birth unit was taken when Throneworld died. For the glory of the empire, we must take and restore what was taken.”

Kr’ylln did not respond and only looked at the soldiers below. “What intelligence has been gathered on the primates of the planet?”

“They are a warring race,” N’Karm responded. “Of that, we can be sure. From our scout ship, we have determined various species ranging from aquatic, reptilian, to warm blooded creatures. What appears to be the dominant species is cannibalistic in nature but they are not consistent.”

“Explain yourself.”

“In one section, a warm blooded creature is used as food, while, on the other side of the planet, that same creature is worshiped and revered. I do not understand.”

Kr’ylln laughed. “Just make certain that, if we must infiltrate their society, we do not take the form of the mammals you mention. I will be revered and not eaten.”

N’Karm laughed as well. “Nonetheless, Kr’ylln, we are here and Emperor Sk’all has his sights set on this third planet from this systems’ star.” he said with excitement. “I can’t wait to get there and claim it in the magnificent name of Sk’all and for the glory of the Skrull Empire!”

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Today...

It was an ordinary day.

In some lands wars were waged. In some lands peace was upheld. This was as it has been for centuries. This was the way of mankind.

The invasion began without warning as ships descended from the sky.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower collapsed after its foundation was destroyed. In China, almost simultaneously, the Great Wall of China fell. In London, Big Ben was the first to go. In the United Sates, South Dakota to be exact, Mount Rushmore crumbled as explosion after explosion rocked the mountain.

Now, national conflicts were pointless. Peace no longer mattered. All over the world, regardless of country or creed, alien ships launched an utterly devastating attack.

The world was at war.

It was an ordinary day.

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

New York City
The United Nations

The Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea, sat in an underground bunker with other delegates from around the world, eagerly awaiting reports from their prospective countries. “We must get in touch with the US President,” he instructed. “It is essential.”

Ki-Moon did not have to say anything else because the others knew. They knew exactly why they needed the President and what he would have to do in the event that a tragedy such as this ever occurred. There were procedures and protocols in place that were now, for the first time, being activated. The only thing was… they had hoped this day would never come.

“President Ross is aboard Air Force One,” Tony Blair, former British Prime Minster responded. “They boarded it as soon as the ships began appearing in hopes that the cloaking mechanism provided by LutherCorp would protect him.”

“The Justice Resolution, and the dictates that accompany it, must be adopted once again,” Ki-Moon added, “if there is any hope for civilization as we know it to survive.”

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Air Force One…

President Peter Ross sat aboard the plane as aides frantically communicated with various world leaders and other agencies below. He knew he had to be protected. After all, he was the President of the United States. Still, he could not help but worry about the innocent people who were being killed below. Is Clark down there? he wondered. Will he be able to stop this?

Ross reached inside a briefcase, removed an old folder in his hand and shook his head in disbelief. He pictured his predecessor, FDR, holding this very same folder and contemplating the ramifications of war. Now, only two years into his first term, he was faced with the same decision but on a much grander scale. This wasn’t the Empire of Japan attacking the US along with the German Nazis. The entire world had been attacked and the burden fell on him to do something.

He knew that aliens existed. Hell, he had known that since he found out that his best childhood friend was an alien. But, as far as the general populace was concerned, aliens were a myth; however, this was an unknown alien enemy. For all evidence given, they were here to either destroy or conquer the entire planet.

The Justice Resolution had not been used since the close of the second Great War. No society this time… no invading… something different would be needed… something more… something… perhaps a league… yes, a league to avenge what had been done this day.

This was truly a world at war.

—

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Arctic Circle...

Dressed in blue with a red cap covering most of his body, Clark Kent stood in front of a large crystal, watching images of the devastation occur and knew that he had to do something. But, regardless of how extraordinary his abilities might be, he knew that he could not do this alone.

This wasn’t a job for Superman.

To be continued...