Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

Thor dropped out of the sky and shot lightning at a tank. I turned into Feedback, absorbed some of that, and fired energy beams at a bunch of Chitauri soldiers.

Creel ripped a tank in half, tossed part of it to the Hulk, and joined him in smashing his way through the battlefield.

A Gamma-Hydra dropped out of the sky and into a jeep, blood soaking his fingers before Pietro and La Vent ran in and saved the others. Poundcakes, wearing her usual sweatpants and top, laid into that Gamma-Hydra.

I turned into Astrodactyl and rejoined those in the sky. Deathlok and I flew over the battlefield, firing missiles and starbolts from the sky, Deathlok’s face filled with rage as he fought.

When an Uber-Tank the size of two city buses began unleashing hell, I shifted my form into Upgrade and pressed my body into it. For about a minute, I rolled around as a Upgrade-Uber-Tank, firing green bolts of energy, before a concentrated set of attacks from other tanks destroyed my new toy.

In Snare-Oh form, I slipped past the gaps of a Quinjet and wrapped up the pilot and co-pilot in my bandages, taking the controls to force it to crash into a jeep. I came out of the flaming Quinjet in Diamondhead form, made a sword, and sliced my way through the battlefield.

I turned into Goop to use his acid on the ground before a group of Centipede soldiers, halting them long enough for a Russian tank to come in. The thing had clearly been made by the Crimson Dynamo, because it was pretty much covered in electricity. Two long prongs were coming out of the turret on top, shaped like sideways Tesla coils, lightning coming off of them to flow over the metal. On seeing it, I sprayed the Centipede and normal Hydra soldiers in fluid. The Tesla tanks driver seemed to get what I was doing, because he fired bolts of lightning at the group of soldiers, the fluid I sprayed acting as a conductor to cook the whole group.

Then a Quinjet dropped down next to me, a Gamma-Hydra exploding from it to smash into the tank. I turned into Diamondhead, grabbed the green monster, and tossed her back, the Russian tank shooting it full of electricity before I stabbed it in the heart with a crystal sword.

At one point, I dropped behind friendly lines and shifted into human form, gasping in exhaustion.

“This is… insane.”

I know, this is just a dumb summary. But the war was getting worse and worse. I was saving whoever I could, stopping every soldier I could, but everytime I did something that I thought would end the battle, Hydra just wouldn’t stop. Galina, Tony, Rhodey, Sam, and Deathlok were still in the skies fighting. The sounds of monsters in the woods filled the air.

I took a deep breath. Then I twisted the Omnitrix dial, turned into Fasttrack, and ran back into hell.

------

Maria Hill/Director of BRIDGE

“Okay, you’re clear down towards the right side,” Natasha said as she coordinated with a special asset. “Director, we’ve got-”

“I see it,” Maria cut her off. “Buckler, Lo Chien, I’m sending a STRIKE team to help you guys near there, can you let them know to support our troops-”

“On it, on it,” Buckler barked.

It had been like that for a while. The chaos of battle had become almost elegant. Strucker was directing his troops well. He didn’t have unending resources. What he had was planning and coordination. He would allow normal troops to drift into a location before wiping them out with a superhuman asset, only to reveal he had only been doing it to get one of their own superhumans away from a key position. They were still making progress though.

“Ma’am!” one tech spun in his chair, staring up at her.

“Hold on,” Maria held up a finger, staring at a screen. “Bucky, Bobbi, there’s a commander gathering his troops East of you. I want him gone, now.”

With that order said, Maria looked at the tech. “What is it?”

He looked like he was about to shit his pants. It was almost funny, right up until the words that came out of his pale and sweaty lips.

“Strucker is calling.”

The room froze. Everyone in the room turned to look at him and Maria.

Maria didn’t flinch. “Send it to me, now.”

“Yes, Director!” he squeaked, turning to his screen.

“What the fuck does that piece of shit want!?” Buckler barked, walking over to Maria.

“To gloat, surrender, rage?” Maria suggested.

“How did he even know how to call you?” Lo Chien asked, frowning.

“Because we have Jarvis and X keeping an old SHIELD frequency open so he could,” Fury said. “It’s not connected to the rest of the ship in any way. It’s the tech equivalent of two cans with string attaching them together.”

“You wanted him to call?” Greshkov sounded intrigued.

“It was something we anticipated,” Hand said.

Maria ignored them all. Her focus was on the holographic screen that floated before her. It showed static for a moment. Then he appeared.

Wolfgang von Strucker was standing before a brick wall. He cocked his head down so that his eyes met Maria’s. “Ah. Hill. So you really were promoted.”

“Surprised?” Maria asked.

“Not really. It was always going to be you, Coulson, or Romanov. Fury has a habit of playing favorites.”

“Giant softie, that’s me,” Fury said in the background.

Strucker smirked.

“What is the purpose of your call?” Maria crossed her arms and smirked. “If you want to surrender, I have to tell you, the United Nations have upgraded your status to ‘kill at all costs’. You should be proud. You may be the first person most of the world unanimously decided had to die.”

“Oh, I doubt I’m so special as all that,” Strucker said calmly. “And I was never planning to surrender. No, I wanted to ask you something. If you did succeed in killing me… do you think that kills my ideals?”

“Ideals?” Buckler said, rage in his voice. “You have killed, butchered, innocent men and women-!”

“And I would do it again,” Strucker said without remorse. “But I would do it for my ideals. Because we don’t live in a world where kindness is a strength. We live in a world of monsters. You call them heroes, but that is because we have been lucky. After all, for every Captain America, there is a Red Skull.”

“Wasn’t Red Skull one of you?” Maria noted.

“An idiot,” Strucker chuckled. “He was obsessed with power for the sake of it. But I am looking for something else. Humanity is becoming something great, Hill. Children are being born with fantastic abilities. A man who is irradiated no longer dies, but instead becomes a god. Aliens have come down from the sky to do battle, or to leave their toys for rogue elements to get their hands on. This world is becoming one of monsters. It needs a guiding hand. Someone to keep those elements under control for the benefit of mankind.”

“Is this where we talk about the people you’ve murdered in the name of being a ‘guiding hand’?”

“Like the Graveyard Survivors?” Strucker raised an eyebrow. “I see you aren’t so disgusted that you have avoided using them in battle. And I don’t see the Wendigo in your number. Have you imprisoned him, as we once did?”

“I’m not going to grace that with an answer,” Maria turned around to shut off the communication link.

“What about your allies?” Strucker asked pointedly. “America, using AIM technology to gain an upper hand by making advanced weapons and superhumans to kill their enemies,” Buckler scowled. “Russia, building an organization specifically to rival the Avengers, to even kill them,” Greshkov didn’t flinch. “Or China, currently in the midst of-”

“Enough,” Lo Chien spat loudly.

“Hydra may win. We may lose. But the world will become the one we fought for. One ruled by one people, with an army of monsters spearheading them. We could have stopped the chaos that would lead to that, made it a clean transition. But now? You come to kill me. But behind you are three representatives among many of the people who will replace me.”

Maria smirked. “Is that all you wanted to do? Try and tear us apart?”

“Only to warn you. That this war doesn’t end with me. We live in an age of miracles. And those miracles will be fought over, bought and sold, as weapons in wars beyond our spoke. Even if you win. That will happen… Of course, that is if you win. Depending on how well you can withstand the ordinance.”

Maria spun to look at Strucker, but the holo-screen shut off. One of the techs shouted, jumping to his feet. “Director, we have multiple contacts-!”

The Enterprise shook like it had been grabbed by a giant. Maria staggered, but forced herself to stay standing.

High above, their attackers began to come down from the clouds.

------

20 Minutes Earlier

Reed Richards/Owner of Baxter Incorporated

Reed Richards didn’t hate many people.

But Tony Stark may have been one of them.

He hadn’t hated the man at first. In fact, like many young scientists, he’d admired him. Tony Stark may have started out as a weapons developer, but even back then he’d made incredible advancements to humanity's understanding of the universe. But when he became Iron Man and put his vast knowledge and wealth entirely into helping mankind, those advancements had exploded. It may take a while, but many of Reed’s models of the future showed that whatever the next few decades would look like, Stark’s technology would be a huge part of that.

So Reed had retreated from society. He may have known Stark would be at the head of the pack, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others who could help advance humanity. Reed wanted to help people. To make the Earth a better place. But in order to do that, he knew the answers weren’t on the planet.

They were in the stars.

Reed had worked for months, then years, creating the perfect engine. An engine that could break the speed of light, take people across the galaxy in mere seconds. With something like that, they could access the resources of the universe. Get rare minerals from asteroids, create colonies on other planets. The new frontier, the dream of humanity to travel the stars, was right above them.

Then, New York was attacked by aliens. And Reed’s heart sang.

Aliens had appeared on Earth. Travel in the stars was possible. But they had come through a portal… and suddenly, Reed’s mind opened to the possibilities.

But then. When he’d finally come close to a breakthrough, Tony had made an announcement.

His own space program. Aided by alien technology.

Reed had heard of Jury Rigg and Upgrade. While BRIDGE had hid as much information as they could on Dial’s aliens, scientists talked. Reed had known about the miraculous creations Jury Rigg could make, that Upgrade could increase the effectiveness of anything he attached himself by a noticeable percentage.

And now, Tony Stark was combining his own intellect with those two aliens powers and all the money in the world to create the ultimate spaceship.

How was Reed supposed to compete!? He was smart, yes. But he didn’t have the money, the name, the prestige, or the help of literal aliens.

So he put everything he had into getting his engine ready first.

Thank god for his family.

Ben Grimm was going to his pilot. But his best friend was also his constant support and ally. No one had his back like the big brown haired, blue eye, former football player and Air Force pilot. Thank god for Ben Grimm.

Johnny Storm had been a surprising ally. The teenager was… well, a slacker. Reed had been skeptical of having the young man on the project. And then Johnny had taken one look at the engine designs, grabbed a set of wrenches and gone to work. Reed quickly learned that for all his skill with science and Ben’s skill as a pilot, Johnny had them beat in terms of engineering. He tried to push the young man to get a degree, but Johnny was a slacker at heart. Just a slacker who could somehow improve the efficiency of an advanced space engine by twelve percent with nothing but a wrench.

Then… Sue. She had been incredible. She worked alongside him, her mind and his joined in concert. While he could design the ship, she focused on the biological side, developing new ways to provide food, oxygen, water, and sanitation. Reed could get them there. But Sue would get them there alive. Together, their patents could make them millions.

But they couldn’t simply sell the things they’d made. They needed to be first. To make a name. Reed wanted to help the world. But they all felt that hunger to be more than just some names on a patent.

Tony Stark put that all at risk. Ernest Pecker, the millionaire who had been financing their project in Central City, California, was about to pull back his funding.

“I’m sorry, Reediekins,” he would say, knowing Reed hated that name. “But yer a has-been, baby! No, worse. A never-was! I figure I’ll try and produce a movie or something, get some money that way.”

That had been the last straw.

Reed had taken Sue, Ben, and Johnny, entered their ship in the early morning, and taken off towards the stars. With his advancements, it was easy to lift up past the atmosphere without being noticed. He'd heard about some sort of battle the Avengers were having. It was why they’d gone now, while Tony Stark was distracted. When his back was turned, they’d make history.

And now, here they were. In outer space… Oh shit.

“Oh my god,” Sue said behind him. She floated up next to him, staring out the window.

“Hell of a sight, ain’t it?” Ben told her with a grin. “That pretty blue marble.”

“I think you’re understating it a bit,” Reed whispered.

Earth. It was just… blue didn’t cover it. The way the light shone off the water below. It was like a sapphire glittering in the stars. The clouds glowed with their own inner light. The green and brown of the land were so beautiful.

“Oh Reed,” Sue, beautiful wonderful Sue, rubbed at his cheeks, smiling. He felt the wetness before she mentioned it. “You’re crying?”

“I-I am?” he chuckled weakly, cheeks burning. “I… I didn’t-”

“Relax, you big dummy,” Sue kissed his cheek. When she pulled back, she was crying too. “I feel the same way.”

“It’s how everyone feels,” Ben sighed. “That there is a sight. Just a tiny blue ball in space, purty as a picture. Makes a man feel humbl-”

A camera flash came from behind them. The three turned around to get another camera flash.

Johnny was grinning at his phone, his hands up in a peace sign. He turned around and fiddled with it, then noticed the others looking at him. Still grinning, he lifted his phone and took another photo. “For the ‘gram!”

“...”

He frowned. “What! You know how many guys my age get to go to space! I’m about to get so many numbers when I get back there!”

“Oh Johnny…” Sue sighed sadly, rubbing her forehead.

Ben and Reed shared a look of exasperation… up until Ben sort of smiled in a self-deprecating way. “I mean, he’s kind of right.”

Sue smacked his arm, but Ben seemed unfazed, while Johnny laughed. Reed joined in, then turned back to the window. “Okay. Ben, take us out. Let’s see what this can really do.”

“Strap in, ya idiot,” Ben grumbled to Johnny. “This thing is about to have some G’s.”

“If everything goes well,” Reed mumbled.

“It will,” Sue said confidently.

Reed tried not to show how much that meant to him. Based on the heat on his cheeks, he had failed. He focused on his work, flipping several different switches. Deep inside the ship, various systems heated up. The spaceship shifted from conventional engines to his prototype. He winced nervously.

“You okay, egghead?” Ben asked kindly.

“Y-Yeah, just… Always thought I’d be on the ground when this went off, even after all the training we did,” he mumbled. Then again, all astronauts were scientists on some level. Ben himself had a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. “Okay. Ben, our target is just past the orbit of the Moon. We just need to be able to cross that distance in six hours. If we can do that… Well. We’ll have revolutionized space travel.”

“Six hours!?” Johnny asked incredulously.

Reed smiled proudly. “I know, it seems short-”

“It seems long! That’ll take forever!”

“Johnny, that’s cutting down the fastest previously projected time in half,” Sue scolded.

“...Still a long time,” Johnny sighed.

“...Should I…” Ben asked hesitantly.

“Yes, please,” Reed sighed.

Ben flicked a switch. Then he slowly began pushing the ship forward.

“Okay… The engine should be using the same G’s it’s creating to power its own forward movement. If it works, we should be feeling only a small portion of G’s against our own bodies,” Reed winced. He really was less eloquent under stress. That wasn’t how his engine really worked. At best, that was a half-explanation. Luckily, no one mocked him for it.

For a tense moment, they felt the ship move forward. Reed felt his chest tighten. They moved outward. Then, for a surprising moment, the amount of G’s pressing down on them lightened. Reed blinked, looking at his instruments. His eyes widened.

“Reed,” Ben whispered, shocked.

“J-Just keep going,” Reed whispered back.

They were going fast. Very fast. Insanely fast.

“Oh my god,” Sue said, hushed.

“Holy shit!” Ben shouted, staring at their instruments.

“What’s going on?” Johnny asked.

“We’re going so much faster than I thought possible!” Reed said excitedly.

Johnny stared outside at the curtain of stars, unmoving to the naked eye. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Three minutes,” Reed felt something like religious rapture fill him. “At this rate, we’ll be able to get to the moon and back in three minutes. We haven’t just made records. We changed the world-”

A hole opened in space. And a building came shooting out.

“FUCK!” Ben twisted the controls widely, pulling them to the side. “What the hell!?”

Reed stared as more holes opened in space. Shaped like hexagons, the wormholes, for what else could they be, opened in the middle of space like honeycombs, lightning cracking on the lines between them. “Incredible.”

Ships were coming out of the wormholes. They were enormous. The one in front may as well have been a castle. But they weren’t what Reed was focused on. Instead, he was staring at the holes in space. Reed felt awe fill him. Wormholes. Safe and stable wormholes. Magnificen-

The ship wheeled around, Reed yelping as he was knocked off balance. “Ben? What are you doing?”

“Heading back to Earth to warn everyone!” Ben shouted.

That was when Reed’s scientific curiosity was replaced by common sense. Spaceships, on a trajectory to Earth. These ships were clearly war vessels. If they were getting attacked.

“Reed!” Sue shouted, bringing his attention to her. “These levels of cosmic radiation, the shielding isn’t meant to withstand so much of it!” she said, turning a tablet to show the screen.

“What!?” Reed took the tablet and his heart sank. “The wormholes. There must have been a cosmic storm on the other side, or maybe it’s just coming from those ships-”

“Uh… guys,” Johnny pointed outside. “I think they see us.”

They looked outside. A warship was turning in their direction.

Reed didn’t hesitate. “Ben, punch it!”

“Ragh!” Ben twisted the shuttle around and shot it towards Earth. But it was too late. A single missile fired at them, smashing into their side. Sue screamed. Ben roared, and Johnny let out a sound like he was being tortured. The sound of the radiation warning screamed around them. The smell of smoke and rubber filled the air, then an odd sound like stones grinding on stones.

They shot towards Earth, their vessel heavily damaged and trailing smoke. Reed felt his throat become raw as he screamed. He imagined he could see a rainbow of lights around them. They smashed into the atmosphere. Reed could hear the parachutes pop, somehow, even through the din around them. Then he blacked out.

------

But as the shuttle crashed, no one in the rest of the world paid attention. Because the Confederacy's Fleet had arrived. And they would rain hell on their enemies.