The Onslaught War #2
Disclaimer: all character are property of their respective owners.
Spoilers: general spoilers for the Amalgam Comics line
Author Note: This was originally written in 2003, and as such based on the DC and Marvel universes as they existed at the time. Also, it's written as if it was a crossover event, with every chapter being a different issue from some time wildly different comics.
A.N. 2: revised by JediKnight, from TtH.
A.N. 3: for those unfamiliar with Amalgam Comics,
this page,
this one or this
other two provide the most general information about the setting. Also at the end of each chapter I'll do a little glossary of the new characters introduced in the chapter.
A.N. 4: If you were familiar with the original story, you probably notice a big deviation in this chapter. That deviation is pretty much intentional to remove completely the Outcast character and its Deus ex Machina powers from the story.
The Onslaught War #2
Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!
Written by Antonio Cabanas
All Over the World
From every hideout, bunker, and secret factory that Will Magnus had built over the years, more and more of his robotic monsters were pouring out. If they could feel something, one could say that they were eager to serve their new master. They converged in three locations, ready for the three objectives set down.
The fact that they were cannon fodder and distractions while Onslaught carried out other parts of his plans didn't cross their computerized minds, not that it would have mattered to them as they only lived, for a certain definition of living, to fulfill their programming. Not that Onslaught cared, one way or another.
Somewhere else
Despite the years since this world had been devastated, the skies were still tinted red. Only a single figure moved in the ruins, a black and white armor protecting him from the worsening climate of the dead world. The figure stopped and looked around, feeling that he wasn't alone for the first time since he had gone into his self imposed exile.
"Show yourself." the figure said.
Out of nowhere, a portal opened, revealing the appearance of Doctor StrangeFate.
"I'm impressed that your powers have grown so far that you managed to detect me, Monarch; or can I call you Jim Rhodes?"
The figure snorted, and turned to face the intruder, the actinic glow of a plasma bolt gathering in his right hand.
"Not grown, refined. Such as James Rhodes becoming the War Monarch." he said, the bolt growing larger, "And whoever you are, you aren't StrangeFate. I can feel the quantum field move around and through you, Celestial. But you aren't Thorion either."
"Very sharp, indeed. Monarch." Onslaught said, as he assumed his true shape, "I have come with a proposal for you."
JLA Satellite
In the JLA Satellite, Dark Claw was bored. He regularly monitored the channels with the JLA Europe, the JLA West Coast, the Challengers of the Fantastic, and even the Outrageous Spider-Boy, but to no avail. Other than the mysterious call from Wonder Woman, today seemed to be...
Then, the channel that he usually used to communicate with the JLA went active.
"Sparrow to Dark Claw. Sparrow to Dark Claw." the voice of Sparrow could be heard, crystal clear on the speakers.
"Dark Claw here." he answered, "What's happening, kid?"
"Don't call me that!" she said incensed, "Do you remember that apprentice of StrangeFate that helped us against that guy, Jack O'Lantern?"
"Yes, she called herself Strange, isn't it?" Dark Claw answered.
"I have her here, in the Barrow. According to her, StrangeFate has gone mad."
"What?" Claw said.
Haley Circus, near New Gotham
Blaze Allen and the former priest John Helstrom were working together, creating a magic circle, following instructions left over by Helstrom's former lover, the White Witch.
The ritual circle, now complete, was ready to open the way. Blaze Allen hoped that his contact knew what she was doing, given the possibilities that it could go wrong.
Just in time, it started to distort, as something was pulling from the other side, briefly creating a tunnel. He saw a man running at impossible speeds carrying a woman through the tunnel while another, indistinct figure, was maintaining the tunnel open from the other side until she collapsed, and the tunnel started to close.
Blaze and Helstrom started to chant, trying, desperately, to keep it open, but it was dicey until it finally closed with a mystical explosion.
JLA satellite
Not too long after the quinjet that had collected Ororo and Circe docked in the Satellite, they used an airlock to enter it. Focused on navigating the passages, they didn't notice that Circe was strangely calm, detached from the grim news that the group was bringing to the world's mightiest heroes.
In the conference room they found Dark Claw speaking with his aide, Sparrow and a girl clad in one of StrangeFate old costumes.
"Claw, could you tell your companions to go out? This is a JLA matter." said Canary, a bit miffed.
"Actually, Canary, this is also a JLA matter." Claw said, more grimly than usual for him, if that was possible, "I have summoned all the members of the JLA right now. The news that StrangeFate's pupil has brought is very dire."
Dr. Doomsday's castle, Latkovia.
At the same time that Dark Claw summoned the JLA, Dr. Doomsday was preparing a very different kind of summoning. The being that he had sensed earlier was easily the most powerful being whose powers were not of cosmic nature. He had sensed only magic, very powerful magic.
Using his scientific genius and his arcane skills, he was ready to call that being. He focused his mind into the spheres of the magical field, searching for the being that was causing so great disturbance.
Contact.
He had found the being. There was something... wrong in him, as if several entities were imperfectly amalgamated in one. He sensed a familiar magic, but with a twist of madness that wasn't there before. And then he glimpsed the plan of the being.
'No! I can't let him do that!'
He cut the contact. All his power and genius weren't enough. He needed help from the man that he hated more in the Universe.
Reed Richards.
Apokolips. Thanoseid's fortress
"Milord, a patrol was attacked in one of the outer sectors." one of the officers announced.
"I expect that you have a description..." Thanoseid said.
"Fortunately, one of our aerial spies was flying over the sector then and recorded the fight." the underling said, while producing an holographic projector from his belt.
After the minion fiddled with a few buttons, an holographic recording of a fight between the JLX, Diana Prince and a group of parademons was shown to the Dark Lord, who didn't react externally, his stony visage as stoic as ever, though his mind was already revising his schemes on how to take advantage of his ally latest move.
"The woman who was seemingly leading the attack has been identified as an earthling..." the mook started to say.
"I know who she is, slave. Diana Prince, and the rest of the group are other earthlings, a team of their 'heroes'." Thanoseid said, disdain evident in his voice, and after a quick decision on what of his schemes to follow, he continued, "I want the parademons to drive them to the frontier with New Asgard, but they have to avoid direct confrontation."
"Yes, master." he said before leaving the stance.
Thanoseid turned to the screen where a map of the hemisphere of Apokolips was displayed. If his scheme worked, he would be much closer to the conclusion of his objective of Universal conquest. But even that was only a means to an end...
His thoughts were interrupted by a raspy voice speaking from a dark corner of the room.
"You are engaging in a very dangerous game, dark one."
Thanoseid turned and a pale dark-haired being, dressed in black, stepped from the shadows.
"I have to do things this way, dream lord." Thanoseid said, his voice even, "You know the consequences of the plan of Onslaught as well as me."
The dream lord nodded, acknowledging the point.
"Have you spoken with your mistress?" he said.
"As always, your sister will be neutral in the conflict, as you well know."
X-Building, New York.
Niles Cable was supervising the training of the X-Patrol. This was the first time that they trained after Niles Dayspring, his younger self, has returned to the future, after being reinfected by the techno-organic virus of Ra's A'Pocalypse.
There, Niles Dayspring would be healed by Raveniya the Healer, and he will live his life, eventually becoming the leader of the Ashkani, and fighting against the despotic hordes of the tyrants of the future. Raveniya would die, and he, more experienced and bitter, would come to the past, becoming Niles Cable, finding Janet, and founding the X-Patrol.
"You're thinking about your younger self, aren't you, Niles?" asked Elasti-Girl.
"Yes, Jan. Sometimes I wanted to warn him about the hard times that are awaiting for him in the future." he said, his eyes not meeting hers.
"Still mourning Raveniya?" Jan said, going to the root of the problem almost immediately.
"Yes. Keep going after her death was the hardest thing that I had to do in my life. And when Paige had to sacrifice her spirit to stop Ra's A'Pocalypse plague, was almost as hard as the last time."
Jan didn't say anything, holding the hand of the grieving warrior of the future.
"Sorry to interrupt, people, but I have been monitoring the JLA channels. They have summoned ALL their members, active and reserve, even Spider-Boy and the JLX, to the Satellite." Beastling, who had been charged with the duty of nursing the communications room of the X-Building during the training, said.
"All of them?" Janet asked, disbelief evident in her voice.
"Keep us apprised of the situation, Hank. This isn't important... yet." Niles said, although his expression showed his worry, "Now that I think about it, add SHIELD and Cadmus channels to the ones you were monitoring. Janet, back to training?"
"Of course, big lug."
Apokolips. Thanoseid's chambers
.
"Diana Prince has recently regained her status as amazon princess, Odin. It's clear that the Eternal Olympics have sent her group either as spies, or to stir discontent between the populace of Apokolips." Thanoseid said to the screen.
"But, why send them to Apokolips? New Asgard would be a better option."
"Maybe they fear that we would join forces against them, Odin." Thanoseid said, with a thoughtful expression, " After all, they know that we can reach them faster than they can come to us."
Odin Highfather didn't answer immediately, obviously considering the Dark Titan proposal.
"It would be possible to use a Mother-Cube Box that way, Thanoseid, but after L'ok D'saad tried to free the Essence of Infinity of the master Mother-Cube all Boxes had been a tad… unreliable."
New York
Spider-Boy was crouching under a gargoyle placed on one of the New York skyscrapers, thinking about his life. Mary Jane Watson, the Insect Queen, was a livable companion, but after the fiasco of her wedding some time ago, he was hesitating to go further on their relationship. Then, against the setting sun he saw a lot of flying objects. He couldn't see what they really were, but it was clear that they were headed to New York. A lot of UFOs to the city with the biggest concentration of superheroes?.
'Those are bad news.' the arach-kid thought, 'Reed and Cadmus need to know about this."
S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
Colonel Bruce Wayne was hearing a report in his office aboard the helicarrier, which was flying over Metropolis.
" ...our experts aren't able to find the Quraci lab of metahuman research ..."
"Bruce!" Barbara Gordon, the SHIELD agent known as Huntress, interrupted, "There are a lot of flying objects heading toward here!"
JLA Satellite
Mr. Triple looked at the sensor's readout with approval.
"How is it going, Michael?" asked Red Vision.
"Very good, actually. The range of the enhanced..." his appraisal was interrupted by a claxon.
"That's the proximity alert." Mister Triple said, starting to check the sensors to see if he could identify the intruders. But he was interrupted by Super-Soldier doing it himself.
"Sentinels on an attack course!"
StrangeFate tower
Inside StrangeFate Sanctum Sanctorum, Onslaught was seeing that his plan was developing smoothly. Soon, his allies would break the last hope of peace between Olympia and New Asgard, and the Sentinels would keep the heroes too busy to interfere with the events until it would be too late.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Read Monarch Onslaught War Special, SHIELD #21, Flash #1, Amalgam Two-in-One Giant-Size #3, Young Avengers #15, Sensational Spider-Boy Giant Size #1, Astonishing X-Patrol #29, Tales of the New Asgods #5, Amalgam Heroes #19 and Amalgam Heroes Giant Size#2. And of course, Onslaught War #3.
Glossary
Will Magnus [Will Magnus/Bolivar Trask] Creator of the Sentinels, brother of Erik Magnus, Magneto
Sentinels: Meta-mutant Hunting robots
War Monarch [Monarch/War Machine]: Jim Rhodes, formerly the SHIELD-affiliated hero known as Atom Man[Captain Atom/Iron Man]. Often simply called Monarch
Blaze Allen [Barry Allen,Jason Blood/Johnny Blaze]: Circus stuntman damned to be the host to the demon Etrigan, becoming the Speed Demon [Flash, Demon/Ghost Rider]
John Hellstrom [John Constantine/Daimon Hellstrom]
JLA Satellite [JLA Satellite/Starcore Station]: former SHIELD space station now used by the JLA as HQ.
"Dream Lord" [Morpheus/Sleepwalker]
Mister Triple [Mister Terrific II/Triathlon]: Michael Garrett, the second man to hold the identity of Mister Triple. Polymath technological genius, he rebuilt the glasses from the original that give him three times the strength, agility and resistance of a normal man.