Max groaned, pain still rippling through him as he lay in the snow. All around, emerald shards rained down from the shattered shield he had raised over the valley to protect it from the blast. The valley, thankfully, was intact, and when he turned his head he saw the Far Peaks in the distance once coated in millenia of snow, now showed black stone. The ice had been boiled away. The air itself still shimmered with the heat of the orbital blast.
"Jade…" Max rasped.
"Yes, Max," her voice answered in his mind, calm, steady, almost soothing.
"That… gravity attack. Was that Kree tech? Some kind of weapon?"
There was a pause, then Jade spoke with a grim tone. "No. From the readings, it wasn't technological at all. It came from a biological source."
"Fuck…" Max muttered, pushing himself onto his elbows, his ring glowing faintly as he pulled strength back into his limbs.
Jade continued, clinical as ever: "The entity generates gravity wells. The strike that forced you down was the equivalent of the gravitational pull of a neutron star. It should have turned the ground beneath you into molten glass, yet it did not. My analysis suggests it was tightly focused on you alone."
Max staggered to his feet, brushing off snow and grit. "I thought the ring could handle any gravitational conditions hell, we even neared a black hole once… But that final wave… I felt like I was swatted from the sky."
"You could have stabilized if the waves were consistent," Jade said softly. "The increase was too sudden for you to even register. If not for the orbital cannon strike, you would have stabilized to the increase in gravity and could have continued the chase."
Max looked up, eyes narrowing. "That ship with the cannon still in orbit?"
"No," Jade replied. "They've already retreated to the moon."
His gaze shifted back toward Agamotto's sanctuary, perched against the cliff face. Then his heart skipped a beat.
Tasi.
He flew toward the sanctuary, panic clawing at his gut until he saw it: the great mammoth massive and shaggy calmly grazing on frosted shrubs as if nothing in the world had changed. Relief flooded him, and he landed hard beside the beautiful creature.
"Thank God," Max muttered, placing both hands against the mammoth's fur, the warmth beneath its coat grounding him. "Glad you're all right, Tasi. Don't know how Ghost would've taken it if you—"
The mammoth trumpeted, swinging its trunk and nearly bowling Max over.
Max laughed, burying his face against the giant's fur. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. You're tougher than I thought."
Right—the Kree. Max's eyes locked on the pale curve of the moon gleaming in the evening sky.
"They took Starbrand there…" he muttered under his breath.
"Max," Jade's voice cut in. "Odin and Firehair are approaching."
Max turned west. Two bright streaks carved through the dusk one silvery, wreathed in lightning; the other a comet of fire and red-gold flame.
He didn't waste time. Raising his ring, he crafted emerald constructs and sent them streaking across the mountains to gather the others and bring them here.
Odin landed first, Mjolnir spinning to a halt, his red cape snapping behind him. He strode forward, face flushed with both worry and battle-readiness.
"Grænlaðr! What happened? Are you well?" Odin bellowed, nearly running to him.
Firehair descended more softly, though her aura of flame shimmered with unease. Her glowing eyes searched Max, concern in every step.
"I'm fine," Max said, voice steady but his expression was grim. "But we've got a huge problem."
=====
They all stood gathered near Tasi, its steady presence a strange comfort after the battles they'd fought only moments ago. Ghost, Nur, Azzuri, and Fan Fei had returned from their battles defending the cities. The Kree's diversion had cost many lives, but thanks to them the great cities had not fallen, and more lives were saved.
"I doubt the Kree can remove the Starbrand," Fan Fei said with certainty.
Ghost tilted his flaming skull toward her. "And how can you be so sure?" His voice carried like embers rolling through gravel.
"I can answer that," came another voice. All heads turned upward as Agamotto descended from the sky; above him hovered the construct Max had sent to call him back.
"Finally, you're here," Max said.
"I lingered to heal the wounded," Agamotto explained.
"That's fine, Motto," Max said. "But tell me straight, can they strip the Starbrand out of him?"
Agamotto's eyes hardened, his words sharp. "No. I am certain they cannot."
"It matters little," Firehair said, her voice edged with fury. "We should leave now. The Kree are to be burned from this world, never to return. What they've done to innocents is cruelty beyond forgiveness."
Azzuri nodded grimly. "Yes. Those creatures we fought, they were once human. What did these Kree do to them, to take their humanity and turn them into those monsters?"
"Do you think they carried the X-gene? Like me?" Nur asked.
Max shook his head firmly. "No, Nur. These weren't mutants. They were something else Kree experiments. They took humans and twisted them into weapons." He spat the last word, jaw tight. "They turned them into… Inhumans."
Fan Fei nodded thoughtfully. "Inhumans, yes that is how I would describe them as well."
Max exhaled, rubbing his temples. "Before we go after them, we need to make sure we can communicate properly. Throwing ourselves into battle the way we just did… that was sloppy."
Azzuri inclined his head. "Agreed. Coordination without communication is folly."
It was Agamotto who came up with a solution. "I can help with that. If you will allow me, I can weave a spell that links our minds. We will hear one another's thoughts as clearly as spoken words." His eyes moved across the group, seeking consent.
Nur frowned. "You would crawl into my head?" His tone was sharp, suspicious. Ghost tightened his grip on his chain, equally hesitant. Even Azzuri, who had just agreed, looked uncertain.
But one by one, they gave their assent—first Firehair with a firm nod, then Fan Fei. Odin laughed and said, "Aye, let the wizard poke about if it helps us fight better." Finally, even Nur, Azzuri, and Ghost relented, though not without mistrust lingering in their eyes.
Agamotto smiled faintly. "This will only take a minute." He drew sigils in the air, mandalas swirling golden and intricate. One by one, glowing symbols settled onto their foreheads, pulsing briefly before vanishing.
"Lantern," Agamotto said, turning to Max. "You will serve as the anchor. The spell will flow through you. Think of yourself as… the Master of this connection."
So basically, I'm the group chat admin, Max thought.
He focused, sending out a thought. Hellooooooo.
Haha, Grænlaðr, I can hear you, Odin's voice rang in his head.
Good thing I have experience with voices in my head, said Firehair.
The others tried it out, and Max felt like they were having a group chat in their heads.
Firehair's voice cut through the link. We should leave now.
Max looked around. They were all staring at him waiting for his word, his approval. The realization sank in: they saw him as the leader.
The realization added a bit of pressure. He understood why they would look to him; he had brought them together as a team after all.
He raised his chin. "Alright, then. Let's go. We—"
"By Vishanti!" Agamotto's cry tore the moment apart. His expression went pale, horror flashing across his features. Without another word, he rushed into his home.
"What is it?" Max demanded, already moving after him. The others followed quickly.
Agamotto burst back out moments later, his hands trembling. "It's gone."
"What's gone?" everyone blurted at the same time.
Jinx, Max thought with a mental smirk, though the gravity of the situation immediately cut through his humor.
"The power source," Agamotto said, panic edging his voice. "The one we recovered from the Savage Land. They took it."
Max felt his anger rise but forced calm into his voice. "Don't worry we'll get it back."
Agamotto shook his head. "You don't understand. That artifact can wipe out entire worlds if unleashed. Worse, it seeks a wielder. If the Kree discover what it is…" His eyes burned with worry. "…it could be catastrophic."
Well, shit, Max thought, and he didn't waste another second. He raised his hand, emerald light flaring. A massive construct ship formed around them. Seats molded beneath them as they took their places.
"Then let's go," Max said as he slid into the front seat. The others arranged themselves in the rows behind him; the ship's design was the same as his and Odin's Shi'ar ship.
The construct roared upward, cutting through the night sky. In less than a minute, the Earth was behind them, and soon the barren gray surface of the Moon stretched beneath.
=======
Max steered the emerald construct ship toward the wide scar of the Luthor Crater as it would be called in the future, his eyes narrowing as he recalled a bit of Marvel trivia he'd read.
The Kree should be there, Max thought.
"Where would they be, Lantern?" Azzuri asked.
Max raised a hand and pointed as the crater came into view. The ship glided lower, revealing a strange glimmer of green and blue nestled within the otherwise gray landscape. "See that patch down there? That little oasis of color in the gray? That's where. It's one of the only breathable places on the Moon, a pocket of life on a dead rock. Perfect spot to build a base."
Ghost looked at Max with confusion. "You're saying you can't breathe on the Moon? There's no air? I thought—"
Max chuckled, shaking his head. "No, Ghost. Only Earth's got breathable air in this system. The Moon is a bone-dry vacuum, no atmosphere at all… except here."
Azzuri narrowed his eyes. "Then why only this place?"
Max shrugged. "Could've been altered by visiting aliens long before… or maybe it's because of the Watcher. He made his home here."
At that, Odin's eyes widened in shock. "A Watcher? Here on Midgard's moon?"
Agamotto's expression grew grave as he nodded. "Yes. I have glimpsed him once, from afar. A being of incomprehensible knowledge, bound by oath to silence and observation. His kind does not meddle, but he sees all."
"The Phoenix knows of him as well," Firehair said quietly.
"There are legends from K'un-Lun of such beings," said Fan Fei.
Nur scowled. His voice rumbled low, suspicious. "And this Watcher… will he be trouble for us?"
Max shook his head firmly. "No. That's the thing about Watchers. They live up to the name. They only watch. Doesn't matter what happens, good or bad they won't step in."
"Go get 'em," Max said as he shifted the construct around her seat, forming a translucent bubble of emerald light. It peeled open letting her slip free into the void without risking decompression for the others.
Firehair burst from the ship like a star igniting. Her form blazed brighter and brighter until the shape of a vast, flaming bird stretched its wings across the darkness. She dove straight into the oncoming fighters. Her flames tore through them like paper; dozens were incinerated in moments.
Then she arrowed upward straight at the flagship.
"By the goddess," Azzuri whispered as the sight filled the viewport.
With a cry that shook through the void, Firehair plunged into the flagship's hull. Phoenix fire exploded outward, brighter than any sun. Metal and stone ripped apart, consumed in celestial flame. In seconds, the great ship was reduced to a drifting carcass of molten debris.
Inside, Max and the Avengers erupted into cheers.
Fuck yeah, Max thought. Damn, the Phoenix is crazy.
As the wreckage drifted away, Firehair turned in the void, her aura dimming slightly. She raised a single hand and pointed downward.
Max followed her gesture and saw it: at the far edge of the blue area away from the green gardens and the citadel where the Watcher lived stood a large structure built into a hill.
Max guided the ship down toward Luthor Crater, the blue area of the Moon. Firehair descended in a blaze beside them, her feet touching down on the ash-gray dust. Max let the emerald ship shimmer away, landing them all on the surface.
He smirked to himself. He had been here before, after his adventures in Egypt. By landing on the Moon then, he'd beaten Neil Armstrong by about six thousand years.
Not bad for an archaeologist.
Wait. The Kree could have brought Inhumans here. Wouldn't that make them the first people on the Moon? Max thought.
Nah… can they be considered human anymore? They're Inhumans now, after all…
Jade's dry voice cut across his thoughts. "Now you're just moving the goalposts, Max."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, then turned to the group.
"There will be more Inhumans inside, along with a lot of Kree. One of the Inhumans we're about to face is extremely powerful," Max explained, his tone sharp and serious. "His power is gravity manipulation. He hit me with the force of a neutron star enough to reduce an average human to nothing. Literally nothing."
He looked to each of them in turn. "Agamotto, Fan Fei, Azzuri, Nur you four are the most vulnerable against him. Strength, chi, sorcery I don't think your bodies can withstand the force he'll throw at you. Odin, Firehair, Ghost, and me? We can take as much as we need and survive. So here's the plan."
Emerald light flared around his hands, and pieces of armor assembled over them. The constructs wrapped around Agamotto, Fan Fei, Azzuri, and Nur suits designed for their survival. They were pressure suits designs he'd asked Jade to pull from the many alien databases they'd collected and she had found the best to replicate.
"You'll be able to fight inside them," Max continued, "but if a large enough force hits, they'll lock down and protect you."
Agamotto murmured words of power, layering golden glyphs across the armor. "There. More reinforcements, and a counterspell. It increases the Lantern's protection."
Max gave a curt nod. "Good. One more thing: there could be innocents inside that base. Kree Families. Children. So we shouldn't cause much collateral damage. We go in, kill combatants only, get Starbrand back—"
He was cut off by a thunderous grinding sound.
The great metal doors of the Kree base cracked open. Green-blue light poured into the crater as squads of Kree soldiers marched out.
At their front came nine figures—Inhumans. Four women and five men, each bearing strange mutations.
Odin narrowed his gaze, lips curling into a grin. "By Ymir's beard… look at the size of that one."
At the center of the group lumbered a giant, easily over nine feet tall. His shadow stretched long across the gray dust, his body built like a titan. The Inhumans and Kree continued their march toward them, with no intent of stopping.
The Avengers formed a line, Max at the center.
Ahead of them, one of the Inhumans a woman raised her arms, pulling chunks of moon rock into orbit around her. Another opened her mouth in a scream so sharp it shattered stone, propelling her forward in a sonic leap toward the Avengers.
Odin leaned closer, lightning flashing along Mjolnir's head. "Say the word, my friend."
Firehair floated in the air beside him, her body half-wreathed in golden fire, her eyes burning like two suns. Azzuri bared his claws. Fan Fei settled into a perfect stance, hands glowing with golden chi. Agamotto's hands blossomed with golden mandalas, spells forming behind him like a halo. Nur grew taller, his form swelling until he matched the size of the giant, the emerald armor Max had made growing with him. Ghost snapped his flaming bone-chain to life and bellowed a scream that shook the crater.
"By your lead, Lantern," Firehair said from his side.
Max rose above them, emerald aura blazing brighter.
I am really about to say it.
"Avengers…" His voice echoed across the crater and also through their minds through the spell-link Agamotto had placed on them. He raised his fist, his eyes shining green.
"ASSEMBLE!"
Their battle cries rose as one as they charged.
The two forces colliding in the middle of the crater.
Max went straight for the earth-bending Inhuman. She threw a large rock at him, but Max punched through it and hit her in the stomach. The force of the blow hurled her skyward, straight into the black void. She didn't even have time to scream before the vacuum tore her apart. Max froze for a moment.
Holy shit. I really should've held back…
Max looked down and saw the Avengers carving through the enemy with terrifying efficiency.
Odin and Nur met the giant Inhuman, their combined strength too much for the brute. Nur grew even taller, grappling him, while Odin slammed Mjolnir into his chest. Together they brought him crashing down. Firehair became a living inferno, sweeping her arms wide and engulfing two enemies in cosmic fire. Their screams echoed through the crater before they disintegrated into ash.
Ghost's chain wrapped around a woman with a metallic body. She snarled and tried to pull free, but his flames of vengeance burned through her armor. With a guttural roar, he hauled her down, just as Agamotto unleashed a glyph of binding that shattered her into fragments of molten steel.
Fan Fei and Azzuri worked as one. The woman with the sonic scream launched herself high, mouth open in a killing shriek. Fan Fei moved like water, redirecting her momentum with a chi strike, while Azzuri leaped, claws flashing, and slashed her throat mid-scream. She collapsed in silence.
In seconds, it was over. The crater was littered with lifeless bodies.
Damn, Max thought as he landed, scanning the field. The Kree soldiers who had been standing behind the Inhumans had already fled back inside, terror painted on their faces after witnessing how easily their champions had been annihilated.
The Avengers regrouped with Max.
Odin looked almost disappointed. "That was… easy. I expected a proper battle."
The others murmured in agreement, their blood still hot from battle but with no real sense of challenge.
Nur puffed his chest out proudly, still towering over them. "If that was all, then I don't know why you worried so much, Max."
Max, however, shook his head. "No, no… it's not over. We haven't seen the dangerous one yet."
Agamotto, eyes narrowing, gestured toward the bodies. "Perhaps he was among those we felled."
Azzuri nodded, claws still slick with Inhuman blood. "Yes. Perhaps you overestimated this one, Lantern."
But Max's voice hardened. "No. It can't be this easy."
Just as the words left his mouth, Jade's urgent tone rang in his mind. "Max, large gravitational disturbance incoming!"
The Moon itself seemed to groan as an invisible wave slammed into them. All eight Avengers were thrown back, their bodies skidding across the lunar ground, dust plumes rising in every direction.
Max forced himself upright, emerald light blazing as he steadied the others. Out of the haze, a massive armored figure emerged, flying forward. The suit was bulky and angular, its presence oppressive. Around it, shards of moon rock whirled in orbit like a miniature planetary system.
"Yeah," Max muttered, jaw tightening. "That guy."
Odin sneered. "He doesn't look so tough." He hurled Mjolnir with all his strength. The hammer streaked forward, lightning trailing in its wake. The armored figure raised one hand, twisted his wrist, and casually deflected Mjolnir away. Odin's eyes went wide as he snapped his hand out to call it back.
Jade's voice cut in, sharp. "Max, the gravitational force he just used was higher than the level that knocked you down earlier."
"That's just great," Max growled.
The armored Inhuman raised both hands and unleashed another wave of crushing force. The ground split. Nur, Fan Fei, Agamotto, and Azzuri were slammed down instantly, pinned into the ground, their bodies immobilized. Only the suits Max had made and Agamotto's enchantments kept them from being crushed to a pulp.
Max, Firehair, Odin, and Ghost Rider stood firm, their power flaring against the tide. Max began to stabilize against the pressure; he could see Firehair was as well, but Odin and Ghost Rider were struggling.
"We have to kill him before he destroys the Moon," Firehair said, as Max noticed the ground beneath them shaking.
"Let's go," Max said, and the four of them surged forward, bearing down on the armored titan as the true fight began.