31st Century
	#73

In a far possible future of the MV1 universe, several heroes of varying races stand together to combat injustices of any kind! They are the Guardians of the Galaxy - Vance Astrovik, Aleta, Charlie-27, Martinex, Starhawk, Nikki, Yondu, Talon, and Hollywood!

"Crime and Punishment, part 3"

Births, Deaths, and Marriages: The Sequel

by Adrian Watts

The Nan'tai Medical Offices, on the planet Nan'tai

"I cannot allow that to happen," said Talon, looking at Doom. "While I would sacrifice anything to save my son, Simon's life is not mine to give away." He looked pleadingly at Simon, hoping the ionic hero would offer up his life. He knew it was a mean, selfish hope to entertain, but he truly cared for his son.

"Face it, Williams, you're old." Doom said. "Your life won't continue for much longer anyway. Give up, and let someone benefit from your death, since it is inevitable anyway."

"Shut up, Doom." Hollywood said. "You're far older than I. I'm trying to think of another source of ionic energy... one that can help the boy better than I." He pondered for a moment, ignoring both Talon and Doom. "What about Zemo's ionic energy machine, the one that gave me more powers?"

"Not enough time." said the doctor from Nan'tai. "The boy would die before you made it back to Earth."

"Then I have to do it." Hollywood said. "Go for it, doctor." And underneath his faceplate, Kristoff Vernard, Doctor Doom, licked his lips gleefully. Finally, the ionic Avenger that had plagued his "father", Victor von Doom, would be eliminated!

Elsewhere on Nan'tai....

The other Guardians of the Galaxy - Aleta, Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Nikki, Martinex, Yondu and Rancor - looked out across the planet they had just been fighting on, searching for the Falcon, a clone of the 20th Century hero known as the US Agent.

"I hate it when that happens," Charlie said. "Damn super powered people." Nikki laughed.

"Calm down, Chuck. We'll find him." The Guardians split up, and began a search of the barren planet. Ten minutes later, Aleta called them all together.

"He is gone," she said.

"And how do you know?" Charlie asked, regretting the words the moment they left his mouth.

"She's the one-who-knows," Vance said. "Idiot."

"THAT'S IT!" Charlie yelled. "I have had it up to here with you, Vance. You have a problem with my leadership? Fine! You can be the leader again!" Charlie stomped off, angry. Nikki glared at Vance, and went off after Charlie. Martinex followed her a moment later, and so did Yondu, leaving Vance, Aleta, and Rancor alone.

"Heh. No wonder Doom thought you'd be easy to control. You all hate each other. Hah." Rancor said, and then she bounded off after the others. Aleta walked over to Vance, and laid a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

"Leave me alone. Go play with "Kristoff"." he sneered at her. "Clearly he's your new man."

"That's true, Vance, but I still care for you. My love for Kris is different. It was borne of necessity, not true love. With his help, the Guardians can be far more effective than they could before." Aleta said. "Trust me. If it came down to it, I would choose you."

"Why don't I believe that?" Vance asked.

"Okay, smart guy." Aleta said. "If I've really betrayed you, why haven't I told the others about my fears your costume is controlling you?" she said, and realised she shouldn't have. No-one else seemed to have noticed Vance's sentient suit, but she had, more  than once. She  was going to  wait, and maybe get Doom to check it out later. But now...

"Don't make me laugh." Vance looked at Aleta. "This suit is just that. A suit." He began to walk off toward the others. "And if you say anything else, you won't live to regret it."

"VANCE! ALETA!" Nikki's voice interrupted before Aleta could respond, and the two Guardians were forced to rush to their comrades. They rose over a hill, and found themselves face to face with - 

"Punishers!" Aleta gasped. There were thousands of them, all over a huge field. It looked hopeless. 

"Vance! Get Hollywood! Now!" Charlie's voice rose above the beginning battle, and this time Vance didn't argue. He ran off to where he saw Doom and Hollywood going, and watched as Aleta joined the battle.

The Medical Offices....

"Williams, convert yourself into your ionic mode." the doctor said.

"I can't anymore," Simon replied. "Haven't been able to do that for ages."

"That is fine." the doctor said. "I can change you." He moved to a  control panel and twisted a dial, and flicked a switch. And suddenly, Simon Williams burst into the ionic form he had as Wonder Man. Yet he found he had no control over it. He seemed to be trapped within an ionic field, that limited his movement, effectively paralysing him. 

"Now, doctor!" Doom roared, just as Vance Astro ran in. They saw Simon's ionic form thin into a fine dust and seep through the skin of Talon's son. A sharp jerk indicated that Simon had entered the boy's heart - and slightly, ever so slightly - the boy's feral appearance lessened.

"It worked!" cried the doctor. 

"What do you mean, it worked?!?" Talon shrieked. "My son has not changed at all!" He grabbed his son and slammed a fist into Doom, knocking the wind out of him. "You betrayed me, Doom, and Hollywood. If I so much as see you again, you will die!" He pushed past Vance and ran outside. Vance followed, but didn't manage to catch up until they reached the battlefield.

"Talon! Stop!" Vance yelled. "You can't take your son in there! He'll be killed!"

"I must reach Rancor." Talon said. 

"Wait until after the battle." Vance said.

"Fine..." Talon replied. 

Vance joined the battle, after explaining what he had seen to the other Guardians. Not that they had time to let it sink in; the Punishers were grossly overpowering them. Until Doom arrived. With two large blaster rifles, he began firing at the Punishers, scattering them. And as the Guardians and Doom continued to battle against the Punishers, they smiled as their ship rose from the ground where they had left it. It turned to the battle and fired a barrage of blasts at the Punishers, scattering them enough that they all fled. The Guardians waited for their ship to land, but it never happened. With Talon at the helm, he turned the ship around and sped off in the opposite direction.

"Well I'll be an X-Man's great-great-great-great-great granddaughter." Rancor said. "The little guy has some guts, stealing your ship like that."

"Yes," replied Doom. "But now we must return to Earth. With your ally, Talon, gone, we have no reason to remain here."

"Yes we do!" Charlie shouted. "We need to know what's happened to Hollywood."

Doom sighed and pressed the button on his hip, shocking Charlie violently. "I said we are leaving, Jovian. And as you are no doubt feeling again, my word is LAW! We are leaving!" Doom pressed another button on his hip, and  seemingly out of nowhere, a new ship appeared, growing larger by the  second. "Pym  particles." Doom explained. The Guardians and Doom boarded the craft and headed for Earth.

Aboard the  Deathmonger III, the Punishers main spacecraft...

Deathwing watched Doom's attack on his Punishers with great displeasure. The Punishers were the greatest military units ever, serving the mighty Terran Empire. They had scoured forty centuries, and had cleansed them all, filtering out all the undesirables so that in some timeline, somewhere, the Terran Empire would be perfect for it's ruler. Tony Stark had outfitted them with the best weaponry, armour, and ships ever, and yet they still lost.

"Pathetic!" Deathwing cried. "Nearly two hundred Punishers, taken down by one man, Victor von Doom! Lord Stark had said that he was a mighty foe, but he never suggested anything like this!" He looked out at the space around him. "But no matter. Doom is one of the three targets we have left in this timeline, and by funnelling the rest of our fleet to Earth, we shall destroy him. Over five hundred thousand Punishers, plus the mightiest spacecraft in any time? Even the mighty Doom shall fall."

"Do not count your chickens before they've hatched." said Stark as he made his way onto the Deathmonger's bridge by way of an android exoskeleton. "Doom has more power than what he has displayed here. Plus, with the added might of the Guardians, he will be a mighty foe."

"Yes, but I have never lost a battle," Deathwing remarked. "Even your friend, Captain America, fell before my might."

Doom's Castle, Earth

The Guardians got off Doom's ship, and were forced, by way of electrocution, into dungeons Doom had specifically prepared for them. He wanted to be alone with Aleta. He met her in her room, and once again undressed in her presence. Last time, she had been.... unwilling to fulfil his sexual requests. This time, though, he sensed a change in her attitude, which was reflected when she, too, took off her costume.

They embraced on her bed, and began to kiss. Yet it was not long before Rancor knocked on the door. "Lord Doom," she said. "I need to speak with you." 

Doom stood, and with a wave of his hand summoned his armour fragments toward him, and they stuck to his body, once again giving him his fearsome visage. He left the room, telling Aleta to wait for him. He met with Rancor.

"How dare you disturb me in my private chambers?!?" Doom yelled, his voice once again obstructed by his faceplate. 

"You asked me to alert you when Stark initiated contact." Rancor replied.

"Fine." Doom replied. "Bring him online." Doom waited as a viewscreen opposite him showed the deformed face of Tony Stark, flanked by the Punishers' leader, Deathwing. 

"Greetings, Kristoff." Stark said. "Is all going well with your end of the plan?"

"Yes," replied Doom. "You made a good decision, bringing me here from the 20th Century. I have managed to sow discord among the  Guardians of the Galaxy. Earth is free for cleansing by the Terran Empire." 

Tony Stark smirked. He knew that his ploy was quite different. He had brought Kristoff Vernard into the 31st Century for two reasons. He could certainly take control of the Guardians and weaken their defenses; but he also wanted to make sure he was right where he wanted him to be killed himself. Of course, Kristoff knew nothing of Stark's plans to kill him.

"Good," Stark replied. "We are coming now."

Great, Doom thought. Stark has pushed my hand forward. The only way I can save Earth now is to strengthen my bond with the Guardians. Only when they trust me will they believe Stark wishes to destroy Earth. And to think that fool believed I would aid him in the Empire's quest!

"Farewell, Stark." Doom said, ending the communication. He turned and returned to his chamber, where Aleta awaited him. Once again, he removed his armour and returned to her arms. But this time, his motives were different. He lay next to her, and turned to face her.

"Aleta," he asked. "will you marry me?"

Doom's Dungeons

"We have to get out of here!" Charlie yelled. "Doom has Aleta up there, and I don't believe for a second that she truly trusts him. She's got something up her sleeve."

"She does." said a voice belonging to none of the Guardians. They whirled around, and came face to face with the new Falcon. "Sorry for running out on you on Nan'tai, Guardians, but  urgent matters needed my attention."

"More urgent than helping us?" Nikki asked.

"Far more urgent." 

"Well, spit it out. What's going on?" Charlie asked, and the Falcon nodded.

"I will tell you  from the beginning. The Punishers you battled on Nan'tai were not the Punishers you've encountered before. As Martinex said, they were synthetic humans, much like the android Avenger known as the Vision, who you all met as Mainframe during your adventures in an alternate timeline*.

[ * - the Guardians, except for Yondu and Martinex, were in another timeline from GotG #30-66 - Adrian ]

"That is, except their leaders. Tony Stark and a human from the 43rd Century named Deathwing."

"Tony Stark?" Vance asked. "As in Iron Man, the Avenger?"

"The very same," the Falcon replied. "In the 43rd Century, a 'Terran Empire' was formed, led by none other than Victor von Doom. A rebel group calling themselves the Avengers, however, opposed him. But these Avengers weren't as mighty as their  20th Century counterparts - they were merely clones of Captain America, Iron Man, the Wasp, Ant-Man, Thor, the Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye. Tony Stark turned traitor when Doom approached him about a position of power, and used his knowledge of the Vision's workings to create a small army that destroyed the  clones.

"Doom was impressed, and together with Stark, they created millions of the androids. However, instead of the ability to alter their mass, which the Vision had, these androids could alter their appearance. Doom ordered Stark to lead them on a jihad through all timelines, eliminating any who would ever oppose his rule, so that a timeline would eventually form where his Empire was perfect. The androids, as they went to each timeline, modified their appearance to suit their targets. To you, they appeared as the Punishers; to the 21st Century hero named Killraven they appeared as the very Martians he was battling; to the Kree who would one day oppose  Doom, they appeared as Shi'ar warriors. Now Stark is after Kristoff Vernard, for in the far future, Vernard will slay Doom, unless he is killed beforehand."

"But surely Doom knows that changing the past only spawns a new timeline for the change," Martinex said. "It cannot directly alter the future."

"Yes," the Falcon said. "But by altering every other timeline, he will eventually create a spinoff timeline that is exactly the way he wants it, and then he'll simply.... move in."

The  Guardians thought about this for a moment. "As much as I hate to admit it," Charlie said. "We need to warn Doom. Falcon, can you get us out of here?" 

"Easily. But I cannot interfere anymore than that." He pointed a hand at one wall and blasted it apart. "Other matters need my attention. Farewell, Guardians, and good luck." The Falcon turned and disappeared.

"That is sooooo not the US Agent." Vance said. "The US Agent that was around was a complete son of a b---"

"Vance!" Charlie yelled. "Come on." The Guardians set off for Doom's chamber.

Doom's Chamber

"Marry you?" Aleta asked. How could she marry Doom? He was evil! But somehow... she knew it was the right thing. And she was the one-who-knows, so it had to be right. She nodded at the man in acceptance of his offer.

"Good." Doom said. "We will be married immediately." Kristoff waited while Aleta dressed, and then he took her hand and they began to leave. But just as they reached the door, the Guardians burst in.

"Doom!" Charlie yelled. "You're in danger - the Punishers! They're going to kill you!"

"What?" Doom asked. "Out of my way, Jovian."

"No!" Charlie said. "We were visited by an ally in the 43rd Century, who told us all about the Terran Empire and Stark's plans. You'll be killed!"

"He told you all about it, did he?" Doom said. "And did he also tell you my plans? Did he tell you that I am only even here to protect this world from the Terran Empire's evil?!?"

"What?" Charlie asked. "He--"

"Silence. Clearly you have been misled." Doom sighed. Now was his chance. He could explain his true plans to the Guardians, and then he wouldn't need to marry Aleta. "I have been trying to control you for this very moment - Stark and the Punishers are on their way now. Stark brought me here from the 20th Century in the hope that I would destroy you and prepare this world for his arrival. But he was wrong. I only cared about it's survival, even if that meant marrying Aleta here to get you to help me."

Aleta smiled. "I told you he can be trusted." she said.

"You could have just told us!" Vance yelled. "Instead of sending us on half baked quests and dangerous journeys."

"No! I needed Mjolnir to bring back Thor to help us. It was the only way."

"Oh. what a touching conversation." came a voice from above the group. "May we kill you now?" It was Deathwing and Stark.

"Stark!" Doom yelled. "Guardians, we must eliminate him, now!" The Guardians got ready to attack. 

"Ah-ah." Stark said, pointing at a control box in his hand. "We have over a million spacecraft in orbit here, and if you so much as touch either of us, your world will be destroyed, instead of just conquered. Deathwing, get them!"

43rd Century, Guardian Force's Training Facility

"Yes, Spartan. You, my Guardian Force, are ready.*" Michael Korvac said.

[ Remember the Guardian Force from GotG #71? - Adrian ]

"The battle for Earth is about to begin. We must go now!" Korvac pressed a button on a control panel, and a portal opened before him. He and his Guardian Force went through, and the portal closed.

The Punishers' subterranean base on Pluto, the Dungeons

Killraven turned to his fellow captives.

"We must break free!" he said.

"How?" replied a Kree who was also captive. "This fortress is the mightiest prison of all time."

"I've seen worse." Killraven said. "I'm sure that if we try, we can break free. I've got a plan..." He began to share his plan with the other captives, while deep in the Deathmonger III another captive was thinking a plan of his own....

The Beyonder screamed as two Punishers fired laser blasts at him. Yet it was not a true scream. In fact, he was not even a true captive.

These Punishers think they have me at their mercy, he thought. Little do they know it is I who control them! He could barely stop himself from laughing.

NEXT ISSUE: The Guardians of the Galaxy, Doom, and Rancor battle the Punishers on Earth, while the futuristic Guardian Force comes to aid them in destroying their spacefleet! Killraven and the Guardians meet for the first time, and we see the fate of M'Shulla Scott's son in 2025! All this and more in Crime and Punishment pt 4: Battlefield: Earth!

Letters to the Stars

Still no  letters, so yet another long rant. You'll notice the release dates for GotG #'s 71-75 are all extremely close - usually no more than a week apart. Don't let that fool you, though, because as I'm writing this I'm putting the finishing touches to #75. That's right. I began writing the Crime and Punishment story arc before Jason Snyder actually gave me approval to write the series, and so I've just been fleshing it out - hence the quick release dates. But please, you can send a letter to 'Letters to the Stars' just by clicking on this link: Send Letter!