Kyle Snapp ignored the pain in his arm. Spider-Woman had tried to talk him into staying in the A-Next complex. He was recovering after a gunshot wound, but it honestly wasn't severe. He'd felt worse pain. It had taken Redwing almost an hour to convince her that they needed him. The more flyers they had, the better their chances of finding Michael Johnson.
While he and Binary flew recon in the area around the ruined Cox Arena on San Diego State campus, site of Michael's outburst, * Scorpion, Spider-Woman and Mockingbird were questioning survivors of the accident. The others were waiting patiently in a hotel. A few of the survivors were dug out right next to where Michael had manifested his powers. Those were the ones they hoped to gain information from.
* (Last issue- Tony)
Redwing circled around the arena. It was built directly into the hillside, and he could see that the young man wouldn't have far to go to find cover. Kyle lowered himself and landed on the rooftop, away from the damage. He wondered if the arena was at full capacity the evening everything happened. To his knowledge there were about a dozen fatalities and all the surrounding hospitals in the area were still treating those injured.
"Damn Kyle," he muttered, looking around. "What are you in the middle of, man?" He crouched down and looked across the area. He was a typical Detroit kid until he came home one day and there were the Feds in his living room. He never dreamed that he'd been gifted with the natural ability to fly.
He pulled his comm. card from his pocket as he crossed the rooftop to the damaged portion of the building. The government enhancements had improved his vision greatly, and he scanned the ground for any small clues others may have missed.
"Binary, this is Redwing," Kyle said into the card. "Have you found anything?"
"Nothing," replied Kate Bishop. "I'd hoped to see an energy trail of some sort. Unfortunately, I'm seeing too much of a trail. Whatever energy destroyed that arena... the area's saturated with it."
"I'm at the arena now," Redwing said. He peered down at the grass. Although it was subtle he noticed something. "Kate, come join me. At the risk of sounding like Velma, I think I might have found a clue."
Scorpion rubbed her eyes and wished for a cappuccino. The only people in the hospital that had any information didn't have a clue. They heard shouting, saw security rush towards something, then the bright flash of energy that brought the stadium down on top of them. She had one person left to question in the hospital.
She rapped on the door lightly and stepped in. She heard the hissing of oxygen and the beeping of a heart monitor.
"Miss Robinson?" she asked. "Marianne? Are you still awake?" There was a mumble from the bed.
"Yeah," said the blonde girl. "I think so." Carmilla walked up to the bed and smiled at her.
"Sounds like you are to me," she said. "My name is Carmilla Black and I'm a federal agent." That sentence seemed so odd to say. "I'm investigating what happened at the arena. The explosion. I understand you were nearby?"
"You seem young for a 'federal agent,'" Marianne quipped. Scorpion laughed.
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," she said. "Did you see anything that night?"
"You're looking for Michael aren't you?" she asked. "He did this, didn't he?"
"You know Michael Johnson?" Carmilla replied. "Was he a friend of yours?" Marianne nodded.
"He was my boyfriend," she said. "Well, he still is. He got into a fight defending me, and all of the sudden, this... light bursts from his body." Marianne looked up at Carmilla. "Have you ever been afraid of losing someone you loved?"
Carmilla nodded. She turned and found a chair, picked it up, set it by the bed, then sat down. In her memory, the scene of her high school prom played out vividly. She and her date- her boyfriend Ryan- were named prom royalty. Suddenly he grew pale and collapsed, vomiting. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he began convulsing. He died en route to the hospital. That was the night that Carmilla first learned about her stinger- her left arm secreting poisons and toxins that could prove fatal to most people.
"I've lost someone I loved," she stated simply, relating the story to Marianne. "This stinger was a 'gift' from a terrorist organization called AIM who experimented on me when I was an infant. They were trying to create an assassin. It worked. They killed him, whether they intended to or not." Carmilla looked Marianne in the eye.
"Do you know where Michael may have gone?" she asked. "We may still be able to save him."
"There is one possibility," Marianne replied. "There's one spot nearby that we both love. It's where we went on our first date, and where we first... uh..."
"It's okay," Scorpion said, setting her hand softly on Marianne's arm. "I understand. Where is it?"
Michael lay naked on the ground, curled in the fetal position. The grass around him had begun to wither and die from the cosmic radiation streaming from his body. Tears streamed down his face. He didn't mean to do what he did. He didn't mean to kill the bully or the security guards. Something just happened in the arena. Something that terrified him.
"It is your destiny." Michael looked up and saw a glowing humanoid above him.
"What are you?" he asked.
"I am your father, Michael," he said. "My name is Michael also. Michael Korvac." He motioned for his son to stand. "I knew this day would come. You are the child of gods son. I was endowed with the Power Cosmic and your mother was a cosmic being in her own right. I knew you would be our better, and as such created this temporal loop, intending to instruct you in your true heritage."
"What is that?" Michael asked.
"As I said, you are the son of gods. As such, you are a god. And you will recreate this world in your image!"
"Scorching," Redwing said, crouching in the grass. "It's subtle, but there." He motioned to Binary to join him. Kate bent over and looked closely at the grass. Kyle pointed at the ground.
"Here," he said. "And here. Footprints."
"I see it," she replied. "The energy is slightly more concentrated over them too." She turned and smiled. "Good eye man. You've found a trail." Kyle shrugged.
"It's a gift I guess." Kyle stood and pulled his comm. from his pocket. Before he could turn it on to alert his teammates of their finding, they heard the sound of a hammer cocking on a pistol.
"Stop right there," the police officer said. "Just put your hands up and turn around. Slowly." Redwing and Binary followed the officer's command, standing up and turning to face him. He was a young officer, probably a fresh addition to the force. He was blond and thin. Kyle and Kate glanced at each other.
"You freaks are in on it with this kid who blew up the arena," he stammered. "You're like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or something!" Kate took a step forward, lowering her hands.
"No officer," she said calmly. "We're agents of the Department of Defense. Our... project was monitoring the youth who did this and sent us to investigate." She held her hands out palms up, hoping to ease his anxiety.
"Federal agents don't wear clothes like those," the officer said, his stance not wavering. "You're mutant freaks."
"We prefer the term genetically challenged," Redwing said. Binary snapped her head towards him and scowled.
"Now is not the time to grow a sense of humor," she growled. Kyle shrugged. She turned back to the policeman. "Officer, please. You're impeding a federal investigation. We're superhuman operatives meant to deal with this sort of thing. Please let us do our job." Kate took a deliberate step towards him. "We're just here to help." She took another step.
"Stop!" he exclaimed and accidentally pulled the trigger as he jumped back slightly. Kate and Kyle both jumped into the sky, narrowly avoiding the bullet's trajectory. Binary blasted him with a low voltage electrical surge, knocking him out.
"Well," Redwing said as he hovered over the grass, "that went well."
Hulkling eyed Thunderstrike as the two sat in the hotel room the DoD had rented for them. Billy was slowly nodding off. It had been some time since they'd heard from the rest of the team. Hulkling wasn't tired though. He was angry. He didn't quite understand why. Well, he did.
"Billy," he grunted. Thunderstrike jolted awake, then looked at him.
"How long was I out?" he asked. "Did Jess call?"
"Only a minute and nope," Teddy replied. He folded his arms and leaned back in the his chair. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you." Billy furrowed his brow.
"What?"
"Bobbi," Teddy replied. "You hurt her, I'll kill you." Before Billy could respond, his communicator began buzzing loudly.
"Boys, this is Scorpion," Carmilla's voice said.
"Hey, it's Thunderstrike," Billy replied as he grabbed the comm. He glanced at Hulkling. "What's up?"
"We're leaving the hospital right now," she said. "We've gotten a good lead, and so have Binary and Redwing. I have a feeling they're both going to lead us to the same place."
"We're on our way." Thunderstrike stood, grabbed his staff, and then looked back at Teddy.
"I won't hurt her," he said. "But you be careful too. Jealousy could destroy your friendship with her." He turned and left the room, leaving Hulkling to ponder his statement for a moment before he followed.
Redwing and Binary flew close to the ground, following the footprints left by Michael. They were leading them in the general direction that Scorpion had said her lead directed her.
"I've got that feeling," Binary said, looking at Redwing. "That bad one you get in the pit of your stomach."
"Yeah, that something very bad is about to happen, right?" Redwing said. "I've had that feeling for about ten min-"
Suddenly the sky erupted into lights in front of them. Static charged the air, raising the hair on Binary's body. At the center of the nexus of light was a humanoid figure. Kate set her jaw and looked at Redwing.
"Tell the others to hurry," she said. "And let them know I'm engaging Korvac Junior." She paused before flying into the energy field. "Put emphasis on the hurry part."
"Good luck," he said. "Don't die."
"That should be our battle cry," Binary said with a smirk. "Don't die!" She turned and rocketed towards Michael.
She began absorbing the energy in the air. Ever since she'd discovered her powers, she had learned that different forms of energy had different... flavors. Electricity was like shredded wheat, bland and ordinary. The ionic energy she'd absorbed from Iona a few weeks ago was like chocolate, sweet and satisfying. This energy that Michael Johnson was giving off was unlike anything else she'd "tasted."
It was intoxicating and addictive.
"Michael!" she called. The young man at the center of the energy turned and looked at her. Despite the energy crackling from them, his eyes were... hollow. Lifeless.
"Michael," she repeated. "My name is Kate. I'm part of a team of superheroes. We're called A-Next. We're here because we're worried about you." She stopped in front of him and hovered, holding her hands in a non-threatening manner at her side. "We want to help you. The accident wasn't your fault." She stopped and waited for him to respond.
Redwing watched from his vantage point a couple hundred yards away. Tension built up in his gut. Something was very wrong with him.
"That's not engaging the kid," he muttered. "Be careful Kate."
Kate suddenly became very nervous. He was taking a long time to respond. It suddenly dawned on her. He wasn't just an innocent.
"Yes it was," Michael finally said. He blasted her, sending Kate flying through the air. She stopped herself, then turned back to him.
"Don't say I didn't try!" she screamed. She rocketed back at him, charging herself with the ambient energy he was giving off. She hit him hard, fists first. She drove Michael back, slamming into the nearby hillside he'd first ascended from. He sneered and kicked her off him. He flew back into the air and Binary followed.
She charged her fists, summoning the energy she'd been collecting from the last few minutes. They sparked as she continued to charge herself. She threw her fists in front of her and blasted him in the small of the back. He faltered, then turned to her.
"You will not prevent me from fulfilling my destiny!" He sneered, threw his fists in front of himself and blasted Binary. She absorbed as much as she could, but was still pushed back by the sheer concussive force. She stopped herself and grit her teeth.
"Well, at least you've read the super villain cliché handbook!" She then blasted him again, praying the rest of the team would arrive soon.
Spider-Woman watched the battle between Michael and Binary as the other members of A-Next joined her. The volume of energy he was putting off... Her team wasn't equipped for this kind of fight. One of her two charges that had a chance against their foe had already engaged him, and she was struggling.
"So what are we going to do boss-lady?" Mockingbird asked. Jessica turned back to her team and frowned.
"We pray." She looked back into the sky. "We can't do this one alone."
"Yeah," Thunderstrike said, raising himself into the sky as he summoned wind around him. "But we can at least slow him down!"
Billy Kaplan flew into the sky, sparking static electricity. Time to put himself to the test.
Agent Jordan Willoughby watched the breaking news feed from the A-Next offices. Johnson was putting out energy levels beyond what they'd projected. He only prayed that Binary was his equal.
"How bad is it?" Director Reid asked from behind him. Jordan turned and looked back at him then back at the screen.
"Very," he replied. "The readings we're getting..." He sighed. "Imagine an omega-level mutant gaining the Power Cosmic. Then going ape-shit nuts."
"That's very bad," Reid replied. Jordan bit his tongue to prevent a sarcastic remark. "What sort of damage projections are we looking at?"
Jordan pursed his lips, looked down at several printouts he'd received, then back at Reid. He considered how best to articulate what he was thinking.
"Considering the power levels his father demonstrated," he said, "and the fact that Korvac nearly slaughtered the Avengers. We're looking at a potential extinction level event."
"Do we have any chance?"
"Sir, we have two." He pointed at the screen. "Their names are Kate Bishop and Billy Kaplan."
In Project A-Next #7: Can Thunderstrike and Binary defeat Michael before he manifests the full powers of Korvac?! We certainly hope so!