Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Tuesday, 14 Apr 1992 10:14:03 CDT
From: <U16244@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics
Subject: Ultron's Last Stand Part II

When last we left off, a swathe of carnage had torn its way through the
Avengers assembled in the form of the Grim Reaper, augmented by Ultron's
technology.

The dead so far, in order of sense of loss: Henry Pym, innocent bystander,
USAgent, and a tie for Hercules and Henry Gyrich. (Hercules died because his
life force was sucked dry and dissipated in battle with Thor and Wonder Man,
and because of the Reaper turning a good deal of Herc's own energy back into
obliterating his corpse down to the last charred cinder of an atom.  This
motherfucker is NOT coming back.  Same with John Walker who's been decapitated
and left with his skull stuck on a stick.  And, Grim Reaper yet lives, but
now, he's a floating sack of shattered tissues, organs and bones.  Inside, he's
jelly, but HE STILL THINKS!!!!)

Fantastic Four: Paibok Time
Ultron enlists the aid of Paibok, the Power Skrull to continue in the awesome
carnage and slaughter that he is wreaking upon his opponents, summoning the
one creature who has as much of a vendetta against the Fantastic Four as any,
but without the brains of a lemming and thus, highly manipulable.  Paibok
attacks Four Freedoms Plaza, augmented a la the Reaper to also be surrounded
by the adamantium skin, plus all his regular powers boosted (but not too high).
Paibok comes crashing in on the residential levels and in one massive collision
almost kills Johnny and Ben (who manages to shield him from being crushed by
a girder).  At this point, Johnny, Ben and Alicia were trying to cope with
the hell Paibok has put their lives through.  Alicia is killed instantly.
Reed and Sue manage to grab Ben and Johnny and get them the hell out of the
building (along with Franklin), making their way to the Avengers Mansion
where they put out a call to the Avengers.  However, before the Avengers
can arrive, Paibok tears a massive chunk out of the Avengers mansion, just
in time for Ben and Johnny to recover up to snuff.

Silver Surfer: To Ride the Skies No More.
Surfer comes charging down out of the heavens, goaded on in a running
space battle with a crab-like alien robot.  As the Surfer dispatches the
monster, he comes crashing to Earth, deeply injured by the robot, in time to
see his four best friends in the Universe being attacked by yet another
psychopath with awesome powers.  The Surfer sucker shots Paibok and leaps
into combat with him.  Paibok, however, is at the peak of his powers,
thrusting his fist into the gaping wound in the Surfer and ripping out
his heart.  Surfer collapses to his knees, stunned, his Power Cosmic, the
only thing keeping him alive, pouring out in gouts of glowing blood.
Ben and Johnny try to pull the Surfer away, getting doused in his blood,
but it's too late for Norrin.  He dies, disintegrating.  Paibok sneers,
cocky that he killed THE herald of Galactus and turns on Johnny and Ben,
who are glowing, looking stronger, nastier than they ever have before.
Ben grabs Paibok around the waist with both hands and squeezes, almost
ripping Paibok in half, Johnny grabbing the alive and kicking upper torso
and head of Paibok.  He takes the Power Skrull up into the atmosphere and
unleashes his Nova effect with more energy than he's ever released before.
Paibok is reduced to his component atoms.  Johnny and Ben collapse exhausted,
the power cosmic of the surfer drifting away from them, the Surfer's mission
now done.

THOR: The Return of Beta Ray Thor
Ultron, gloating over the suffering he has caused, turns his attention to
the rest of the Marvel Universe.  He sends an android simulcurum of Dark
Phoenix to attack Beta Ray Bill and Sif.  Eric Masterton warps to his
assistance.  As he arrives, he notices that this Dark Phoenix android
has a similar fighting style to the Grim Reaper when he was augmented.
Guessing correctly that someone's either augmenting or making robot
duplicates of their old enemies, Eric is not surprised when the old
Thor shows up.  Sif cleaves the false Thor head to toe with her sword
after Eric and Bill obliterate the Phoenix android.  Sif tells Eric
that he's worthy of Thor's mantle, and that Thor also had a plan in mind
when he went to hell. (More details later.)

THE POWER OF BETA RAY BILL #1: The Legion of Ultrons.
As Bill, Eric, and Sif return to Earth, they see the carnage in New York
City from the rampage of the Power Skrull.  The Fantastic Four is in
mourning for Alicia Masters and Norrin Radd (Silver Surfer), and the rest
of the Avengers are looking at the damage the Power Skrull has caused.
Suddenly, and entire squad (eight) of Ultrons, composed of secondary
adamantium tear into the three teams.  Bill takes military command of
the situation and leads the counter assault.  Ben, Bill, Eric and Simon
all manage to squash their foes single handedly while the rest of the
teams gang fight the other Ultrons.  Cap then decides that Ultron is
the one responsible for all this and tells the Avengers to go after
Ultron.  Iron Man spazzes out.  "No shit Sherlock.  What gave you this
monster clue?  The Ultron Appreciation Society meeting?  If you'd
get that winged head out of your pompous ass, you'd realize that we didn't
need these kinds of clues.  Fuck off you stupid boyscout."
Then, distress calls from Washington DC (X-Factor) and the New York
Boondocks (X-Men) ring out.  Fantastic Four, Bill and Eric go to
DC while the Avengers back the X-Men.

X-Factor: Three Stryfes, You're Out!
(Sorry Peter.  But we need to borrow X-Factor for this tale.)
Stryfe and the MLF stage an open assualt on X-Factor HQ.  Since most of
the team have real lives and are off doing their own thing, only Rhane
and Madrox are present.  Stryfe shows his true muscle as he totally
destroys one of Jamie's dupes.  Val sends out the call and the Fantastic
Four come running, as well as the rest of X-Factor.  The MLF is subdued in
normal fashion (ie: busted in the chops or stunned by some other means).
However, out of the woodwork comes two more Stryfes (gosh, who couldn't
figure this out by the title?), all of whom are just as tough as the
secondary adamantium Ultrons.  No matter, Sue and Polaris play make a
wish with one of them, Johnny and Havok take out another, and Reed,
Ben and Guido take out the last, all the while, Guido's making cracks
about him wishing he'd have had the same powers as Reed.  Reed winks
and tells him that so does the Wizard.  The real cause for the Frightful
Four is a case of elasticity envy.

X-Men: Cable Installation
Cable summons the Blue team into action against the MLF after they have
supposedly kidnapped the rest of X-Force.  Xavier, still feeling a debt to
his old students, but not to Cable, authorizes Cyclops to go in and rescue
them.  Suddenly, Cable turns on Blue team and takes them all out.  Other
Cables show up, and soon all of the Blue Team, and the rest of X-Force are
hooked up to a power drain device.  At this point, Cable receives a message.
(Also seen at the end of X-Factor, almost exactly duplicating the Judas
message in Uncanny X-Men).  Cable smirks and gloats as the message cuts out.

Uncanny X-Men: By Collossus Betrayed?
Collossus is summoned out for the evening, even though the X-men are supposed
to be on standby by a winsome, wraitlike image that giggles, calls him, and
leads Peter on a merry chase.  Thinking it Shadowcat, he is caught off guard
when it turns out to be a floating globe of ball lightning holographed to
be disguised as Kitty.  Colossus returns in armored form, and Xavier
wonders what's going on.  He starts a mindscan, when Colossus glares at him
and blasts him with an encephalo beam.  Off in the distant woods, the Avengers
have just finished trashing a dozen X-Androids and are hot en route to the
main building when they pick up Collossus, about to be loaded into a stassis
container.  Rescuing him, they move on to the X-Mansion where the false
Collossus is busy trashing the other X-Men on sight, using energy weapons
based on Ultron's own designs.  Collossus turns, threatening to kill Jean
if they try to make another move.

X-Force: What a Tangled Cable We Weave.
Sam awakens as he is put on an assembly line to be put through the augmentation
process of Ultron.  Summoning up all his willpower, he ignites his blasting
field and breaks free of his bonds.  Cannonball notices his other allies are
also making their way towards the augmentation device, noticing Cable standing
side-by-side with Ultron.  With a cackle, Ultron orders Cable to murder
Cannonball for his interference.  Sam plows through the augmentation machine
and utterly destroys it.  Cable's attempts to tag Cannonball miss as Sam
runs himself along the line of captive mutants.  Cable's weaponry frees the
other X-Men and mutants, and all of them attack Ultron and Cable.  As they
smash the Ultron, they realize that it isn't the real thing. (Wolverine:
"Fer a guy wit' adamantium skin, he cuts pretty easy.")  Assorted Cables and
Ultrons hop up out of the woodwork, but the X-Men fight them off.  They
receive word over a mini-Cerebro that X-Factor and the Fantastic Four are
on their way to the X-Mansion, and that Jean Grey is being held hostage.
Scott almost blows his cool, but then notices that X-Force's computer is
operating.  Beast checks out the systems and realizes that a ballistic
missile is aimed at the X-Mansion.  Ultron intends to vaporize the Avengers,
the Fantastic Four, X-Factor, and most of the X-Men en masse.  Hank and
Scott go to work on the computer, trying to reprogram it.  The FF and XF
arrive at the X-Mansion.  The launching sequence is put into motion, but
Sam grabs Wolverine and takes off after the rocket.  The two invulnerable
forms plow through the rocket at full speed, tearing it in half.  Rogue
flies up with all her speed, catching the warhead before it hits the
ground and passes it back down to Warpath, who whips that puppy into
orbit.

Iron Man: Ultron's Last Stand.
As soon as X-Factor arrives, the false Collossus is shut down by Polaris'
powers.  Confused as to how easy the Ultron construct was deactivated,
they get a call from the X-Men Blue team at X-Force base and learn that it
was all a setup.  Iron Man asks for volunteers for the assault on Ultron's
base of operations, which has been traced down to Stane International (thanks
to all the chunks of androids and robots which demonstrated Stane tech).
Bishop is the most eager to go into the fray, especially now that he's
learned the true secret of the X-Judas.  Tony decides that if they're gonna
tackle Ultron, they need ALL the muscle they can get.  Not only are
the Avengers en masse, the Fantastic Four, X-Men and X-Factor present,
as well as Beta Ray Bill, but he also decides to grant Rhodey another
suit of armor (the classic Golden Armor) and together, the entire army of
heroes goes after Ultron.  Turns out that Stane International has become
a playground for about a couple score of sub-Ultrons, lead by the
geniune McCoy.  As the rest of the teams plow their way through the
sub-Ultrons, a corridor is opened up for Cap, Eric, Tony, Bill and Rhodey.
Ultron fights them until only Tony and Ultron are still conscious.  Tony
grabs Ultron and "kisses" him, firing a computer probe into Ultron's
brain.  Contact!  Tony starts pumping in a self destruct program for
the artificial intelligence program that runs Ultron.  No more mister
nice guy.  The virus starts to destroy Ultron's mind, but not before
Ultron crushes Tony like a grape.  Rhodey rushes to free his friend,
but it's all over except the dying.  Tony requests that Rhodey take charge
of Stark International Holdings and the mantle of Iron Man.  The Stark
company is self sufficient, and the people in the program are good folks,
so Rhodey only has to be the executor of the company. (As it is, Rhodey
has been attending night school and taking business and electronics
classes.)  Tony dies just as Cap revives.  Cap wanders off in a daze as
the others pour in.

Captain America: The End of an Era.
Cap gets on a major drunk (it's only one bottle, but then, Steve always
was a milk and cookies guy).  His friends have dropped off like flies:
Tony, Hank, Herc, Walker...  all off to join other old friends like Bucky,
Mar-Vel, Toro, Union Jack.  Rhodey and Eric come in (in civilian guise) and
start berating him about his behaviour.  He's one of the last of the original
Avengers (Wasp is off on her own, watching over Dane, who also had whiplash,
but it was frightening for a moment since they disgnosed it as a spinal
injury).  If he quits now, there's going to be no one to be the heart of the
Avengers.  Even the Vision isn't the being he used to be.  Rhodey also
blasts Cap with the memory of what had happened to Tony, how when he gave
up to drinking, a whole lot of other people suffered.  Cap waves them off.
As he's tormented by the memories of his friends, one memory is more real,
that of Tony himself.  He comes in and pushes Cap back onto the bed, tossing
the bottle aside. "You simpering idiot.  Do you know what the hell this will
do to you?  Me?  My life was shit, despite the money and the armor.  I had
women ripping out my heart, friends jumping all over me 'cuz I didn't spend
enough time with them when I was supposed to be saving the world.  You, you
have it all made.  You've got a load of people who respect you, look up
to you.  So what if a few of your friends died?  Does that mean you have
to go too?  I'm pretty sure right now that if Thor were here, he'd be
saying the exact same thing.  Trouble is, his soul's locked up in hell.
You're the only one left to carry the ball Cap.  Don't let us down.  Don't."
Cap wakes up, covered in cold sweat.  The bottle is smashed against the wall,
and he doesn't know whether he was acting out the delusion or not.  Either
way, he staggers into the hall where Rhodey and Eric, now in full costume,
are waiting.
Rhodey: "I suppose you're going for another bottle."
Cap: "No.  I'm going to get my shield."
Eric: "Oh?  And what're you going to do with it?"
Cap: "What have I been doing with it for the past few decades?  Now would
you two move?"
Eric: "You mean you're not going to stay on this bender?"
Cap: "Are you two youngsters going to move, or do I have to schedule your
training for another time?"
Rhodey: "Training?"
Cap: "Well, the both of you are rookies compared to Stark and Blake.  Might
as well teach you all I know about their moves to let you stand a chance
against their old competition.  Now come on."
Cap pushes past them, walking down the hall.  Rhodey and Eric high-five.

Consequences of the story:
X-Judas crap has been cleared up.
X-Force is without Cable.  As such, they are no longer criminals since they
had merely acted under the orders of Ultron.
Fantastic Four is even more screwed up emotionally.  Ben and Johnny are both
in mourning.  They will eventually recover, become closer friends, and find
someone else to share their lives with.  They come out of this as equal
men and brothers.
Avengers East and West no longer prejudiced against each other.  Gyrich is out
of their hair permanently.  The major assholes on the team are gone.  New
blood in the form of Eric and Rhodey on the EC team.  Simon, now having
resolved his problem with his brother, confesses his true feelings for
Scarlet Witch.  She accepts and formally divorces Vision.  Vision is
not effected because he's just a freakin' android, and as such, goes about
his business.
Iron Man is now and forever James Rhodes.  He forges his own destiny, and he
also is starting out from scratch learning the ropes of Stark's company.
Thor is now Eric Masterton.  It turns out the real Thor is getting ready to
rip Mephisto's realm apart as soon as he summons up enough strength.  When he
does, he summons Beta Ray and Eric to Hell, and together the three of them
bring down the house.  The Silver Surfer's Soul pops up here and changes the
entire realm from one of hatred and corruption to one of purity and goodness.
Beta Ray Bill gets his own book, and he and Sif use the new Surfer Realm
as a home base and a major source of angst so that knowon has angsiety problems
as their mission is to banish angst to the Surfur realm.  Natch, Sif and Bill
are immune to the Surfur's effects.

Doug.

One more, I Hercules, have carried the day with my awesome might!  I, oh,
hello little girl.  You come to admire the Prince of Power?
Shuh.  Wanna marble?
Why thank you for yon trinket little one.  I shall carry it in my loin pouch
all >BOOM!< (in Mickey voice) my days and nights.  Now if I can find a surgeon
to reattatch a few things, I will leave you for now.
ACE STRIKES AGAIN