31st Century
	#75 Super-Sized Issue

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 5"

"Unlikely Alliances" or "Tale of Two Timelines"

by Adrian Watts

What has come before...

The Guardians of the Galaxy found that Kristoff Vernard, claiming to be Victor von Doom, had won over one of their female members, Aleta. With information gained from her, he learned how to control the Guardians. He sent them off to rescue their friend Talon, a quest which resulted in Hollywood's death! When they returned to Earth, though, the Punishers had attacked the planet, and were ready to destroy it. The Guardians readied themselves to defend the planet, and Guardian Force, the 43rd Century's version of the Guardians, came to help in the battle.

On Earth

The Beyonder rose over Earth's horizon, a gigantic grin on his face, viewable through the cloud of fleeing Punishers. He had orchestrated this whole war... the entire Terran Empire of the 43rd century, and their plights, would never have existed or occurred until he wished it. He hated humans, for what they had done to him. Ten thousand years into the future, a human travelled to his dimension and captured him, turning him and his power into an unwilling slave. He had vowed he would destroy all humans. And now he would get his chance.

Earth's only hope, the Guardians of the Galaxy, had nearly fallen under the onslaught of the futuristic synthezoids known as the Punishers. And since the Beyonder was mighty enough to have controlled the Punishers, surely he could destroy the Guardians of the Galaxy and take Earth.

He smiled as he looked down over the planet below him. Latveria, home and kingdom of the powerful Doctor Doom, had been a raging battlefield until a moment ago, when the 21st century human Killraven had killed the 43rd century clone of Tony Stark, who had been keeping the Punishers under his, and the Beyonder's, control. Now they all just stared up at his looming figure, terror on their synthetic faces. He scanned the ground for the Guardians, and eventually he found them, huddled in a  cave, piling into odd battle armour.

Down in the cave, Charlie-27 finally managed to climb into his armour. 

"What the -- ?" he said as he finally got a chance to look up. "What the hell is he doing here?" He pointed at the Beyonder.

"Ah," said the Falcon, the 43rd century clone of thhe US Agent. "Um... I haven't a freaking clue."

"It doesn't matter," said Aleta. "We must defeat him! NOW!" The Guardians of the Galaxy hit switches on their battle armour, launching them through a torrent of fleeing Punishers, straight toward the Beyonder. And remarkably, he allowed them to reach him. Aleta spoke loudly as they approached. "Beyonder... why are you doing this?"

"Because, my dear Starhawk," he said. "I CAN."

Doom's Castle

Until ten seconds ago, this had been the center of a grave battle for Earth's future, and the noble protector of the universe, Firelord, had been valiantly protecting it from the Punisher Deathwing. But all of a sudden, Firelord noticed a change in Deathwing's behaviour. He moved sluggishly, and seemed disoriented. As if he was being... controlled. Suddenly, Deathwing raised a hand in a surrendering gesture.

"Firelord! Stop!" he yelled. "Please... this was not my doing. I was under the Beyonder's control!" 

"Really?" Firelord asked. "With a name like Deathwing, I find it hard to believe it is the Beyonder's fault that you and your Punishers did what you have done."

"True, we most likely would have done it all anyway. But in this instance, it was the Beyonder who caused us to perform these acts. Quickly, my friend - if we work together, we may be able to defeat the Beyonder." he looked around for a moment. "Where are the other Guardians?"

Firelord pointed at a cave in the distance. "In a cave, hiding from you." Firelord said. "Follow me."

Aboard the Deathmonger III

Guardian Force, along with the 21st century hero Killraven, watched from the ship's viewports as the Beyonder lifted Charlie-27 by the neck and threw him away, hurtling toward Earth like an insect.

"We have to help!" Blitz said.

"Yes, we do." Korvac replied. "Spartan, get to the controls. Psy-knight, back him up. Blitz, take weapons." With the benefit of psychic reinforcement provided by Psy-knight, Spartan felt his already superb piloting skills grow immensely. He knew, that with his friend's help, he could make this ship do anything. He grabbed controls, pulling at levers and pressing buttons, and soon the ship began to move. It inched toward the Beyonder, it's laser cannons turning to face the behemoth. And when the time was right, Blitz fingered a button on the control panel of the craft, firing the ship's tremendous arsenal of missiles and lasers at the Beyonder. But the huge enemy didn't even feel it.

"What....?" Blitz asked. "That's not possible."

"Yes, it most certainly is." Korvac said. "Listen, I just received a communique from Deathwing. He wants us to attach as tractor beam to that other ship out there and bring it close."

"Will do, sir." Spartan said, and it was started. Spartan pressed a brightly glowing green button, turning on the ship's tractor beam. He scanned the outer area, until he came across the other space craft. It was the Guardians' ship. He locked onto it, and began to draw the ship closer. As it approached, he asked Korvac what their next move was.

"We go to Earth," Korvac replied.

"And we pray." Whistler said.

Earth, a cave far removed from the battle

Deathwing went to each of the unconscious Guardians - Nikki, Rancor, Vance Astro, and Yondu - using a secret technique taught to him in the future, a technique that allowed you to heal wounds you have inflicted on others, although it drained one's energy to do so. The Guardians rose, one by one, slightly disoriented. Until they saw Deathwing.

"You!" Rancor yelled, leaping into the air, her claws reaching for Deathwing's face. But Deathwing wasn't worried. He was the greatest warrior ever. With a wave of one arm, he swiped her away.

"Stop!" he said. "I was under the Beyonder's control before. And now I'm here to help."

"Help?" Yondu asked. "How?"

"It is simple. I noticed, during my Punishers attack on Earth, that your ally Doom had ion cannons spread across this land mass. They exist, no?" Deathwing asked, and was answered by a nod from Yondu.* "Well, that is the key. On board the Deathmonger, we held the Beyonder captive within an ionic sphere. We required great energy to do it - which was supplied by Tony Stark - and when your human friend killed him - "

[ As we sure in #72-73 - Adrian ]

"Human friend?" Nikki asked. "We haven't sent anyone to your ship!"

"Never mind,"  Deathwing continued. "When Stark was killed, the energy stopped being supplied, and that allowed the Beyonder to break free. If we can get a large enough source of ionic energy, these cannons should be able to form a neat energy matrix capable of keeping the Beyonder here until we can find another solution."

"Well, we don't have any source of ionic energy, thanks to that S.O.B Doom." Vance said.

"What happened?" Deathwing asked. Yondu stepped forward to answer, knowing that Vance would give a rather... jaded view of things. They all knew now that Doom was only acting to help them. 

"Doctor Doom tricked our friend Hollywood - the ionic warrior once named Wonder Man - into sacrificing his life to save that of our friend, Talon. All of his ionic energy, the matter that constituted his very being, was poured into the heart of Talon's son, killing Hollywood, and having no seeming beneficial effect on the boy." Yondu said.

"But surely you have another source of ionic energy on this world?" Deathwing asked.

"No. We don't." Vance said.

"Then we'll have  to find the boy who has the ionic man in his heart. Your ship has been returned. We may be  able to backtrack it's course." Deathwing offered.

"Good idea." Nikki said.  "But where's the ship?"

"Right here." Korvac said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Michael Korvac, and these men and women behind  me are my team, Guardian Force."

"And I'm Killraven." Killraven said.

"Korvac?!?" Nikki said. "But we... I.... we saw you die!*"

[ Yes, they did, during their time in the 20th century with the Avengers, in Avengers #172-185, or there abouts - Adrian ]

"Well.... that is complicated. When this is over, I shall be sure to take the time to explain it all to you, my dear Mercurian." Korvac said. "Deathwing, as per your request, we have brought the two ships here. Ready to go?"

"Yes." replied Deathwing. "The Guardians and I will take their ship, and try to find the feline boy with the ionic energy inside of him. You follow us in the Deathmonger."

Korvac nodded, and everyone went to their respective ships.

Earth;s stratosphere

The battle with the Beyonder still raged. Charlie-27, continuing the attack with the gun's outfitted to his Goliath suit, stopped abruptly. The Beyonder had lifted him up by the neck, and hurled him down toward Earth. The Falcon raced after him, ready to stop his descent.

"Stop it, Beyonder!" yelled Firelord as he arrived on the battlefield. "The Guardians of the Galaxy and the Punishers have found your weak spot. Flee now, while you still can!"

The Beyonder chuckled. "They have not, Firelord. Of that you may be certain." He lifted a hand, and struck Firelord on the left of his body. But with an anguished cry, he pulled his hand back. "What did you do?!?"

"Simple, Beyonder," Firelord said. "I burned your hand."

"Way to go, Firelord! Keep it up and we may just take him down!" Martinex cheered Firelord on.

"Ah," the Beyonder laughed. "I thought you knew my weakness?"

"We do," Firelord said. "But I am still confident that while my fire may not harm you too much, it will buy our friends the time they need to stop you."

Suddenly, rising behind the Beyonder, a familiar ship rose high. It was the Icarus, the spacecraft belonging to the Galactic Guardians. After most of the Guardians travelled to an alternate timeline to thwart the advance of the alien Badoon, the Galactic Guardians went their own way, disavowing allegiance to Martinex, their one-time leader, who was ready to travel back in time.

"What are THEY doing here?" Martinex cried in shock.

"I called them," Firelord said. "I was a longtime member of their team." As the Guardians watched, the Galactic Guardians - Replica, Phoenix, and Mainframe - left the Icarus, and joined the battle against the Beyonder. And when they came, Martinex smiled. They didn't seem to hate him anymore. Maybe they'd take him back...

Aboard the Guardians' spacecraft

"Hey, how nice of Talon to send it back." Nikki said sarcastically. "He's the first criminal I've ever seen do it." 

"Don't be so hard on him, Nikki." Rancor said. "Doom lied to him. He just wanted to get as far away from here as he could." And besides, if my love for him is nearly as much as his love for his son, he would want to keep his mutant of a child somewhere where it would be safe... a haven somewhere, she thought privately. "WAIT! That's it! Vance, set the course for Haven II!"

"What?" Vance asked. "Why? Your mutant buddies wanna trounce us?"

"No, silly." Nikki said, catching on to Rancor's idea. "Haven was designed to keep the mutants safe and away from the Martians and the Badoon. He probably went there to care for and hide his son."

"You're right," Yondu said. "The auto-pilot's recorder traces back to Haven. Let's go."

"Aye-aye," Vance said, sending the ship on it's journey.

On board the Deathmonger III, Killraven used this long journey as a chance to find out what the heck was going on. He walked over to where Korvac sat talking to Deathwing, and asked for the chance to speak to him himself.

"Deathwing!" he said. "What the heck is going on? Where am I?"

"Oh, it's you." Deathwing said. "Killraven, right? Well, it's simple. My boss decided you weren't great for our history, and decided to take you to our prison on Pluto. Right now, ypu're hovering around Earth in your future."

"The future? So by the looks of it, we win against the Martians?"

"Uh, look. I've got to go. Important business. Good luck!" Deathwing closed the connection.

The two ships continued through space, and finally, with a cheer from everyone, they saw Haven II. Haven, in this reality, was quite different to the one seen by the Guardians in the alternate reality in which they had spent many of the last few years. This Haven had become a sprawling metropolis, a perfect home for the mutants that hid there, away from the rest of the universe.

"Wow," Rancor said. "Looks like home's grown up."

The two ships descended into the planet's atmosphere, and finally landed, with Talon waiting nearby. As the Guardians got off their ship, Talon leaped at Vance, and grabbed him roughly by the collar.

"What the HELL are you doing here?!?" he yelled.

"Looking for you," Yondu said, separating them. "We need your son."

"My son?" Talon turned away. "I think you've done enough to him."

"Listen, Talon, we know why  Doom did what he did." Rancor said, and then hesitated. She was just about to lie. "Talon, Doom thought your son would be a good place to conceal Hollywood until he was needed. And now, that time is here." She would remember this for a long time, not knowing if she had lied to win the battle or to comfort Talon. She did like him, after all, although she'd never admit it to anyone.

Talon sighed. "Fine." he said. "You can have Hollywood back. But how do you plan to get him out."

"Uhhhh...." Rancor said. "How are we going to get him out...?"

"No." Talon said. "I know what you're thinking, and you won't take my son just to figure it out later."

"But Talon," Nikki said. "It's for the fate of Earth. At one time, you Inhumans cared about Earth."

"Yes," Talon replied. "Before you humans enslaved us, after the Martians and Badoon left."

Killraven smiled to himself from nearby. The  Martians left!! 

Nikki had no answer to Talon's comment. It was true, all of it. And just as she was ready to give up, Rancor stepped forward.

"Please....?" she  said. And Talon sunk. That voice... that body.... he had come to love her in another timeline, spawning the creation of the child he now sought to protect. He knew, deep down, that even across dimension's, a mother's love - even an alternate mother's love - would do anything to protect her child.

"Fine." Talon said. "We will come with you."

"NO!" came a voice from behind them. "Rancor shall not leave this place." Rancor spun around.

"Bhaddo?" she said. "But --" 

"But nothing!" Korvac said. "Guardians, Deathwing, get aboard your craft! Guardian Force will hold back these mutants!"

The Guardians piled aboard their craft and set a course back to Earth.

Earth's Stratosphere

"Beyonder! Please stop! Do what you want to us... but leave Earth alone!" Charlie said, when it became apparent that the combined attacks of half the Guardians and Guardian Force would not be enough to stop the madman's onslaught. 

"Now why would I agree to a deal like that when I can have both?" chuckled the Beyonder, and with a wave of his hand he sent Charlie spinning off toward space.

"NO!" Aleta yelled, catching Charlie with a solid light barrier. "No, Beyonder. That is enough!" She raised her hands, and with a look of complete concentration on her face, she surrounded the Beyonder with a sphere of solid light. "Quickly, guys! I don't know how long I can hold him!"

Luckily, at that moment, Guardians space craft returned. 

"Fear not, Guardians!" Deathwing called. "we have what we need to stop the Beyonder!" During the journey home, Martinex had rigged up a small pack, that allowed Talon's child to act as a battery, draining his ionic energy into the ion cannons across Earth's surface. 

"Go, everyone! Prepare the ion cannons! I can hold him back for now!" he yelled, leaving the ship and heading toward the Beyonder. The ship then descended into Earth's atmosphere, leaving a Guardian at each cannon. Within minutes, modifications had been made to each one to allow them to be used to keep the Beyonder captive within the ionic matrix Deathwing had described

When Martinex saw that all was ready, he flicked a switch aboard the craft, which began to draw all the ionic energy out of Talon's son. It began to fill the batteries of the ion cannons, which expelled the energy in a pattern that formed a neat grid across the Earth's surface. The result was a net - one that could not be touched by anything without it being fried into more than a million pieces.

But the effect drained Talon's son of all the ionic energy - Hollywood - that was stored within his body. He returned to normal. Rancor picked the boy up, smiling, glad to see his form was that of a normal inhuman again. And she looked into his tiny eyes. And she saw... she saw... her own...?

"Good news, Talon," Martinex said. "Looks like that outburst cleared him of whatever was afflicting him."

"It has? Then it seems I must.... thank you, Doom." Talon said reluctantly.

"It was nothing, my friend. But now, what do we do with him?" Doom asked, pointing at the Beyonder. 

"I don't know about that," said Killraven, standing nearby. "But I wouldn't mind being returned home. And..." he paused for a moment. "I wouldn't mind having you 'Guardians' come with me. We have a bit of a problem back home." 

"We would be more than willing to help." Yondu said. "After all, were it not for you, we may have been forced to end the lives of the Punishers, innocent though they were."

"Well, I can send you back in time," Deathwing said. "The time warping capabilities on the Deathmonger shouldn't have been affected when the Beyonder broke out. Or..." he rummaged inside a concealed pocket in his armour for a moment. "You can use this." He laid out his hand, and inside was a small device that looked somewhat like a 20th century cell phone. "That is a portable time machine, basically. You can use it to set the date which you wish to travel to, and when you press the main button, you'll open a small portal to that time." Martinex nodded, and took the object from Deathwing.

"Well, are we going or not, Guardians?" he asked. He set the time given to him by Killraven - June 2025 - and pressed the huge, red button that dominated the device. Suddenly, a bright blue hole, similar to what Guardian Force came through earlier - appeared before them. The Guardians of the Galaxy - Doom, Martinex, Yondu, Nikki, Vance, Aleta, and Charlie - stepped though, with Killraven, and they suddenly found themselves in a very different place. And once they had left, the Beyonder laughed a hoarse laugh and vanished himself.

"Uh oh..." Rancor said.

"What?" Talon asked.

"The big bad Beyonder's gone bye-bye." she said.

Avengers Mansion, New York, 2025

"Dying? What do you mean my son is dying?!?" M'Shulla yelled at T'Chalu. "What is wrong with him?!?"

"I... I do not know, M'Shulla." she said. "But I do know that if he does not receive medical aid within a day he will perish." M'Shulla shook his head. This could not be happening. He had just lost his lover. He could not lose his son as well. And at that moment, a blue hole appeared between them, and out stepped several strange looking beings, along with M'Shulla's friend, Killraven.

"Killraven!" he cried. "Where have you been?"

"A very long story, my friend. But I may have something that will help us." Killraven replied, and nodded toward Doom. "These are the Guardians of the Galaxy, and they have agreed to help us in our battle against the Martians."

"Did he say 'Guardians'?" T'Chalu asked. "That sounds just like what that dead guy said."

"That's right," Maxx said, standing nearby. "That Avenger, Pym, I think his name was, said something about Guardians."

Charlie, the Guardians leader, shrugged. "Why would he want us?"

Maxx shrugged as well. "No idea."

M'Shulla sighed. "Thank you, Guardians. But I have a major concern. My son... he's dying. Can you help him?"

The Guardians stood still, and Martinex spoke. "Your son... is dying?"

"That's what I said." M'Shulla replied.

"We share your pain," Yondu said. "our friend Talon's son was dying very recently. But we doubt the cure to his illness will help you."

"Actually..." Martinex began, after quickly looking at Andre Scott, M'Shulla's son. "It's quite the opposite. He's got the same thing."

M'Shulla got very excited, very quickly. "What is the cure? Tell me!"

Martinex shook his head. "Trust me. You do not have it."

"Tell me!" M'Shulla said again.

"A very, very large source of ionic energy." Martinex said.

"Ionic... energy? I --" M'Shulla began, before being cut off by Maxx.

"No," said Maxx. "We don't."

"Then I'm afraid your son shall die," Martinex said. 

"No!" Doom said. "No! We can use that time device to travel to a time where Williams will be alive... where we can repeat the procedure!"

"Yeah!" Nikki said. "20th century, here we come!"

Martinex got ready to respond, but before he could open his mouth a tremendous blast ripped apart what was left of Avengers Mansion. And there stood the Beyonder, glaring down at the Guardians.

"Hahaha!" he said. "Without your friends here to help, you shall all perish!"

"Beyonder...?" Aleta asked. "How did you escape?"

"That need not concern you, Bringer of Light," the Beyonder said. "For you shall die soon enough, as I already stated." He reached out with an immense fist, grabbing Aleta by the neck and slowly bending it.

"NO!" cried Doom and Vance in unison, taking to the air and flying into the battle. The Beyonder dropped Aleta, freeing his hand for the oncoming battle. And when they were within range, he reached out to grab them, also. He squeezed their bodies, puncturing skin so that blood began to drip out, and soon they began to suffocate.

"Noooo.... NO!" cried Aleta. "Leave them alone!" She flew straight at the Beyonder. "I love them! And so long as I live, you shall not harm them! This I KNOW!" She stopped, a mere three inches from the Beyonder, and stretched out in midair. And suddenly, with a loud rush like that of air being sucked into a vacuum, the light around her began to be absorbed  by her. She grew  in size, and an immensely bright light began to shine around her. "Beyonder..." she said. "You wished to kill us? No. That would most certainly be a crime. And for that, you must be punished!" 

She flew directly toward the Beyonder, the light she absorbed allowing her to travel faster than even the speed of light. And as she hit him, she released all that she had absorbed. And at the heart of it, the most powerful energy of all, love, guided the light straight into the Beyonder's heart. And in a flash brighter than the Earth  had ever seen - bright enough for all present to need to turn away - the Beyonder and Aleta vanished off the face of this Earth.

"What....? No! It can't be..." Doom said. "She gave her life for us." He stood there as a tear began to trickle down his cheek. Vance, on the other hand, showed no emotion at all.

"A foolish action, for a fool like you." he snorted. "So what're we doing about  the kid?"

Martinex shook himself up. "Yes... yes. We can grieve for Aleta later. This needs our immediate attention. The twentieth century seems to be our best bet. Let's go, Guardians."

"Wait," Charlie said. "We promised Killraven we'd help here. If we must go, we can at least leave them the Goliath battlesuits."

"Yes," Doom said, and began to climb out of his armour, as did Charlie. "Okay. Let's go."

"No-one has asked my opionion," M'Shulla said. "But yes, it seems that is the only way." He leaned down and kissed his son on the forehead. "But I must remain here, to keep up the battle against  the Martians."

Doom nodded. "We will take good care of him. He'll be safe."

"Then let's do it," Martinex said. He typed in the approprate data to the time machine, and a minute later the blue hole had reappeared. They each stepped through, this time accompanied by Andre Frost. They came out the other side. 

"It's 2001*," Doom said. "Yes, Williams is alive. We'll go find him." Doom and the Guardians began to set off, all but Martinex. Nikki turned to face him.

[ * -- that's Year 4, MV1 time! - Adrian ]

"What's wrong, Marty?" she asked. Martinex tapped the side of the time machine, and sparks began to erupt from it. 

"The time machine..." he said. "it's stopped working."

"Uh oh...." Nikki said.

NEXT ISSUE: A new format! A new villain! A new member! And the Guardians remain trapped in the twentieth century. And the one question I have is: 'Where the heck are Thor and Sif?'  All is explained next ish, in Guardians of the Galaxy #76: A Wasp's Venom!

And feel free to send any letters here.

Letters to the Stars

Hope you all enjoyed the Crime and Punishment storyline. Well, starting next issue, we'll have an all-new special graphical format, and there'll be a deadline - a new Guardians adventure every three weeks, on the dot (unless you're really good and I do more than that :)). Well, some questions will have been raised this issue, I'm sure, and you should feel free to ask them by sending an email to: ajwatts@iprimus.com.au Otherwise, enjoy, and I look forward to seeing you seen with the brand new adventures of the Guardians of the Galaxy. 

- Adrian Watts

May 16th, 2001