“SHUT UP,” Sama announced as she slid into the gathering, and despite everything, everyone else clamped up, realizing instantly who was now in charge. “Strange!” she pointed.

“An in-dimension transit Portal to an extremely distant location was opened right here, but I can’t detect anything more than that with the Interdiction up, and all traces are dissipating under the Veil’s pressure,” he responded despite himself at a tone of command that gods would obey.

“Three! Two! One!” she counted down, and dimensional pressure around us evaporated. “Try it now! Enhance it for Dr. Richards!”

“Ah!” Circles of mystical Seals spun all around him, and something blossomed in midair in front of him.

“Sama, the Shi’ar vessel just cleared anchorage and is making way at full power towards a Warp point!” Comet called out as she flashed up.

Sama’s head turned around and up, and everyone went absolutely silent as killing pressure filled the air.

You had to have really good reflexes to actually see her draw and sheathe her Sword. There was only a DING echoing in the air for a moment signifying anything had happened. If you had really, really good eyes, then way, way up in the sky, you could see a little star get born.

Comet paused for a moment. “Said Shi’ar ship has mysteriously been cut in half and has lost all power. Primus is on his way out to see if any of the survivors want to be rescued or tossed into the sun with their ship,” she reported calmly, only a little wide-eyed.

Yeah, well, seeing a starship get cut in two from Terra ground to the sky two hundred thousand miles away or something was probably a first time for her, too.

Dr. Richards had mostly ignored it. “We have a coordinate lock on the far side, but we don’t have the power to open the Portal here,” he said quickly, looking at his readings. “These coordinates...” he did the math in his head, while behind him the Starjammers and the rest of the ground-pounders were hurrying up by various means, generally versions of intensely-studied lightfoot or dimensional movement via psionic energies... or just bounding around and swinging from parked spaceships, if you were the Spiders, although Jessica and Nova were quick to give them rides.

“Another galaxy. Somewhere in Shi’ar space, I’m guessing.” He shook his head once. “I’m sorry, I’m not familiar enough with that galaxy to say any more.”

“Give me the numbers. Lantern?” Sama replied smoothly. Dr. Richards rattled them off immediately.

“The Heart of Ruby Darkness Nebula,” Sama relayed back in seconds.

Curses arose as the Starjammers jumped off various Disks, obviously knowing what the place was. “The only thing of interest there is the world of the M’Kraan Crystal!” Corsair swore. “That madman is messing with the fate of the universe!”

Lilandra stepped forward from where she’d been riding on the back of Professor Xavier’s speeding hoverchair. “My brother D’Ken has long been obsessed with tapping the power of the M’Kraan Crystal for his insane purposes. He probably intends to sacrifice the Phoenix Avatar to it to make it possible!”

“Then we’re going to stop him,” Sama stated, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Prince Thor, can your Hammer re-establish this transfer Portal for us?” she asked the Asgardian God of Thunder calmly.

“Verily!” he replied instantly, striding forwards with confidence at the magnified circle and thread still surviving in mid-air. “The Hammer of Thor will command yon Portal, open it, and give us passage to the stars!” he declared, as if there was no way it could NOT happen that way.

“Whoever is going to rescue the Phoenix and stop the Emperor of the Shi’ar, line up!” Sama ordered, making no move herself. “If I go through that Portal, I’ll tear it to shreds. Get ready!”

“Avengers, form up!” the Patriot called, instantly pulling them and the soldierly types to him, including several other Shielders who’d pitched in without hesitation.

“Baxter buddies, on me!” I instantly followed suit, pointing as I slid into place. As I did, I pulled out my actual Fists and slapped them on. They hummed crackling to life.

“Herc, Fury, Comet,” Sama pointed, while Mr. Hill stepped right up next to me as if he belonged there, and Sandman stood next to Ben Grimm silently.

Thor tapped his Hammer down, and a beam of power plunged into the circle, spreading it wide and pulsing with mystical power. Leave it to Mjolnir to easily duplicate a galaxy-spanning teleportal...

“It’s open and connected!” Strange confirmed immediately.

I took two steps, and leapt up through the Portal after Jean Grey.

If I remembered correctly, this was the event that had culminated in the Phoenix eating a star. Bloody bastards...

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Just like some other people!

If you're not reading this on Royal Road, you're helping pay a thief. Please read it in its original home, it's still free! You get the foreword and afterword, author comments, and comments from people with questions! I have not given permission for this story to be posted ANYWHERE ELSE.

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It was a very short swirly trip, all things considered. Magic matched up air pressure and kinetics, and I was out the far side first, knowing everyone else was just behind me as I deployed my Hexar Shields via Vier, looking around to take in the situation.

Startled Shi’ar soldiers were gaping at the Portal that had re-opened inside the standing ring, clearly not expecting more visitors, and definitely not Terran attackers.

It took them a moment to realize I wasn’t more Imperial Guards, especially as the others came through, and I had my Shields up in front of those with the fastest reflexes as I let loose with Bites.

Hey, I could use all my voltage now, so gawdammit I was going to!

Machine-gun plasma bursts backed by solid air rams smashed through the ranks of the guards. By the time the Patriot came through right behind me, and the faster speedsters did the same, flying or otherwise, the local soldiers were already flying through the air, taken out of the fight as I sprayed them in all directions.

“Comet, Nova, Fury, keep the lights down and give me an aerial sitrep!” Patriot called out, advancing steadily as the heroes of Terra swarmed in behind him. “Avengers, cover forward right. Baxters, forward left! Four, flank left! X-crew, flank right! Tribals and non-affiliated, up front with the Shields and me!”

“Mentor, take over electromagnetic maintenance and communication between all parties here. See if Lilandra has the codes to their communication protocols. Feed everything to General Rogers, he can handle it,” I said into coms, moving left as Patriot advanced up the middle, him and the Shields taking the center for the random people who’d come in, while his nominal Avengers teammates covered the right.

Mentor acknowledged instantly and made it so. The Xandaran AI would have no problems handling such a minor task.

Vier was working fast as he disarmed the fallen Shi’ar of their firearms and energy swords, and held them up for anyone who wanted one. Quicksilver plucked up a couple of the latter, and of the former, and even speed-requisitioned a few holsters off them.

“Professor Xavier, you are in charge of real-time telepathic communication and coordination among our people. Focus on relaying information alone. Director Rantha, you are on offensive telepathic duty! Give us some mental eyes and ears, start playing with the heads of our enemies if you can, and keep us apprised of what you are doing!” General Rogers directed quickly.

Both telepaths acknowledged him, and I activated the psi-crystal in my coms that would allow me to send and receive telepathy without compromising my mental shields.

Views of the landscape in both electronic and telepathic form were dumped to everyone in literally seconds. Our speed fliers came back down.

“Patriot, advising Cyclops and Havok be assigned up front and to a Shield each. They are glass cannon artillerists of extreme power,” I advised, as the mental order came to head right down the road thataway towards the huge pink crystal in the distance, a whole lot of Shi’ar soldiers and colorful uniforms of Imperial Guards between us and it.

“Acknowledged!” The two promptly hustled up front, and the General and Peggy themselves took up positions by them to guard them from any sniping as we moved. Except for the opening loop, everyone was staying low and moving fast afoot, the seven Shields present forming a basically unbreakable vanguard, while the Juggernaut pounded right behind them, grinning as he readied himself to pound a road straight through everything.

Emplacements and vehicles ahead. General Rogers was giving orders at a breakneck pace as the formation shifted, and the first energy blasts started coming in. At my urging, Scott had been fully zapping his little brother as we ran, charging him up, while Comet had swooped down to bump my fist and get her own considerable amount of voltage for a charge-up.

Artillery-grade energy fire slammed into the glowing Shields in front, and did absolutely nothing. With a roar, even as the plasma rifle fire opened up, the brutes went surging to the attack with powerful leaps, while our own long-range firepower replied.

Two artillery emplacements were ripped right through instantly by Cyclops and Havok, and the former just walked his orange beam through three hovertanks and another gun emplacement to return the favor, a saber beam of sun-level heat melting right through anything without a force field protecting it.

Thor’s lightning came howling down from above with clinical precision, having arc of fire and control better than just tossing his Hammer. Force fields of hard air and magic splayed in front of the rest of us as the fast hitters slammed into the Shi’ar lines, and the rest of us raced to catch up.

“Thor! Hercules! On Gladiator!” Lilandra naturally knew all the Imperial Guards and their approximate power levels, and so the threats they represented, and Patriot was on top of the match-ups.

Eh?

“Nova! High in the sky and eyes to the west! I saw something there!” I fudged at the way the Red Eyes were half-turned west, and the Spiders all looked that way as well.

Our speedy Nova Corpsman was a thousand feet up in a second, looking left, helmet magnifying his sight.

“Brood wave incoming!” Corsair noticed instantly as Nova’s view was shared. “Is that Deathbird?!” he swore at the woman flying in the lead of them. “Kill them all!”

Their reproduction system of implanting eggs into creatures and transforming them into more Brood, potentially keeping any unique gifts, was transmitted to everyone. They were a hive species, completely amoral and ruthless, and one of the most despised races in the entire universe. Deathbird using them was a case of employing completely expendable mercenaries for her cause, and them hoping to get the chance to convert more special hosts to their own.

I was already into the Shi’ar soldiers and burning past them with plasma-force bursts of uncanny accuracy and speed. I still had the Wrecker Buff up, so I could toss around hover-tanks, and I was making my way towards a couple Imperial Guardsmen who seemed to be focused on me.

Smasher and Titan. I recognized them both from the Colosseum. One was the guy in red, white, and blue, the other’s skin made the bulky alien look like he was made of open space.

Whatever. I wasn’t held back by arena rules here. The voltage around me really began to pop as my Fists charged up.

“Nova, Disk Cyclops up high enough for him to see them all. Cyclops, Burn All The Brood Down,” I advised in an iron voice. Lilandra and the Starjammers had plenty of atrocities, disgust, and hate to heap upon the name of the Brood, one of the boogey-men races of the void, and Mentor and Comet also had anecdotes to relate on them.

There was literally no reason to let them live.