Vance Astro, under the influence of the 31st century's Venom symbiote, launched an attack on the Latveria of the 20th century, hoping to prevent Kristoff Vernard from surviving in the 31st century! Kristoff battled Vance, and Vance Astro fled, taking the infant Andre Scott with him! In the 31st century, the Galactic Guardians were joined by the Falcon, the 43rd century's version of the USAgent, and they learned that Galactus, Ultron, and Alkhema are on their way! Finally, Whistler, the Centaurian member of Guardian Force, has formed an alliance with Wolverine and Blackwing, to save the other members of Guardian Force from certain doom at  the hands of the mutant Shaddo, new  ruler of the  planet  known as Haven II! And  now, let us begin, for an  epic  adventure of this magnitude will wait for no man! (Unless of course you're Galactus... but then you've got the  'Surfer to wait for you... get it? Huh? Never mind.)

[ * - You got it, that's  Yondu's homeworld! - Adrian ]

Centauri IV, fourth planet from the star Beta Centauri, and home to thousands of the blue skinned, red-maned people known as the Centaurians. It is their prime world, the world from which all other Centaurian colonies are spawned. And is the one place in the sector capable of producing the rare Yaka metal.

But on this day, none of that is on  the  minds of it's people. For as we speak, three Centaurians are already dealing with matters most grave, their  bows and whistle controlled Yaka arrows aimed high. 

"Quickly, my friends!" yelled the male Mendu Gratik. "We have but moments to mobilise our world's defenses before his arrival. And I fear our Yaka arrows  will be less than effective."

"If not for that foolish Yondu, this day would not be upon us!" called another male Centaurian.

"Our goal is  not to lay blame, my brother. Our goal is to defend our world from the wrath of Anthos!" Mendu said. And they would prove to be his last words. For as soon as they had left his lips, he, his friends, and indeed his entire world was stopped dead  in tracks, stuck between moments. And in the shortest of spaces, in less time than it took for a Centaurian's heart to beat, Anthos struck. He raised his yellow, jewel-encrusted gauntlet, and used it's awesome might to level buildings. Purple fire struck from his other, bare hand, laying waste to a dozen dozen Centaurians. And whether it was seconds, hours, days, months,  or even years later, none could say. All the Centaurians knew was  that when they once again had control of their world, it was grossly changed.

"By Anthos!" Mendu cried, seeing his two comrades  slain before him. "What has transpired?" And Mendu heard in his mind a voice that carried across the entire surface of the planet, entering the minds of the old, the young, the  lame, everyone. It was the voice of Anthos, and it was  not a  pleased one.

"People of Centauri!" he said. "I am most displeased. Today, from within my own palace, someone dared to test my power. Two of my six sacred gems - and my gauntlet - were taken from my home. Right now, the other worlds over which I rule are feeling a fate the same as yours, at the hands of my servants - Death, Walker, and Terrax. I warn you now, however, that the stolen gems are those of Soul and Power, and if not correctly wielded, they may spell the doom of their wearer! If they are not returned, you will once again feel my power. You have two days to comply before I destroy this world completely."

Without another word, Anthos left the world of Centauri IV, with Mendu sobbing and trembling at the devastation that had befallen his world. 

"Fear not, Mendu Gratik," a voice said from the darkness. "We will help you."

"Who are you?" Mendu said. "I cannot see you."

"You will eventually see us, Mendu Gratik. But not today. My name is Adam Warlock, and my friends White Raven and Drax form the Infinity Watch. We will return when Anthos does, of that you may be sure. He  will not destroy your world, Mendu. Feel safe in that knowledge."

With a flare that illuminated an entire hemisphere of the planet, Adam Warlock vanished.

"Your offer does interest me, Ultron." Galactus said. "But I still hold you badly in my thoughts for the injuries you inflicted on my foot."

[ * - During the original Secret Wars series. Gee, Galactus has a long memory.... - Adrian ]

"It was well deserved, fleshling." Ultron remarked. "Now answer - will you join our group, devourer?"

Alkhema, the only other being in the nebula, smiled a mechanical smile. She had never imagined the day where her creator and lover, Ultron, would seek help from a being of flesh. She let her mind roll back, recalling the data that corresponded  to the recollection of the events that had led up to the present moment. 

When the Martians returned to Earth in the year 2001, Ultron and Alkhema had been set upon by Martian tripods. They had proven incredibly easy to destroy, yet they knew that the Martians would most certainly lay waste to the human population. At first, Ultron considered destroying both the humans and the Martians himself, but then Alkhema had come across a new idea.

They could go to Mars, and kill the Martians there. And they set off for their new battlefield, leaving the Martians on Earth to harvest and destroy the human population. Ultron had not known at the time - and still did not know - that the only reason he made such a retrospectively foolish decision was because Alkhema had managed  to alter his cerebral programming, so that he would accomodate her and allow her to flee the Earth. She hated to admit it, but she was scared of the Martians. When Ultron had first created her, he had taught her that her sole purpose in existance was to destroy all non-mechanical life, to ensure that none could evolve into a being that surpassed their power. This had instilled a sense of paranoia within Alkhema, and caused her to be greatly afraid when  the Martians, tremendously advanced, invaded the Earth. She wanted Ultron to go straight to their homeworld, and eliminate them at the source.

And they did go  to Mars, but were shocked by what transpired there. The  Martians captured them, and  used  a large supply of  adamantium kept beneath the  planet's surface to create an  adamantium army - and  army they  used  for gladiatorial combat, based on the designs of Ultron and Alkhema! They were pitted in battle time and time again, and the two always won. And finally, they  were accepted as the bodyguards to the head  of the Martian invasion. And then they killed him. It had taken 75 years, but finally, Alkhema's fear was destroyed, and she became every bit as evil and lethal as Ultron because of it. And  finally, the Martians on Earth returned home, as  per the orders of their  new master.  Ultron  and Alkhema went back  to Earth,  only to find the planet ravaged and of use to no-one. They set out  for the stars, searching  for their own source of adamantium for use  in creating mates.

They had finally found one. The moon Banyl, in the Ba system, orbited the planet Ba-Banis. The moon was constructed entirely of adamantium, which, thanks  to Ultron's internal molecular reorganiser,  could be used  to  create more  adamantium beings. But the amount of adamantium  was simply too much to be  utilised altogether. They needed someone capable of  breaking it  apart, and storing it.

They thought  of Galactus. The Devourer of Worlds had  not been seen for nigh on a millennium, due to injuries  sustained at  the hands of the Silver  Surfer. But Ultron had finally found him, weak and dying of hunger, and proposed his  plan.

"I will aid  you, Ultron," Galactus said. "But in return,  I demand  a  new  herald, one capable of besting even the  noble Silver Surfer!"

"And you shall have one, devourer," Ultron said. He pointed an adamantium finger at Alkhema. "Her."

"Your proposal is acceptable, Ultron. And  thus, I  use the last of the  power cosmic in my possession to  alter her, to change her very being." Galactus stared deeply at Alkhema, and her adamantium body began to glow. Her shape changed, becoming  more round and  soft, rather than the pointed, hard  form she  had once  had. Two huge "energy wings" appeared on her back, and finally, in her hand, appeared an adamantium spear. "I shall call you Primus." 

Alkhema nodded, accepting her new role. But then she turned on Ultron. "How dare you  offer me, as though I am  your  possession, Ultron? I now surpass even your  might. You  would do well not to anger me."

"Silence, Primus!" Galactus boomed. "You may surpass Ultron's might, but not my own. Attack him, and I shall destroy you." Ultron  smiled, an odd, metallic expression that was  more fearsome than  warm. He feared that he may come to... like this fleshling.

"He's taken Andre?" Nikki gasped. "But Vance is mad! He  could do anything  to the  boy!"

"True." Martinex said. "But there is something that concerns me even more. Kristoff, where did you get the Infinity Gauntlet?"

Kristoff sighed. "I knew I would have to reveal it sometime. As you know, I was brought into the 31st century by the  clone of  Tony  Stark in order to  eliminate you  and  prevent  you from interfering  with the  Punishers invasion  of Earth. Well, I  wasn't the only Kristoff  Vernard brought in. There were four others, and together, over a period of several years, we scoured the galaxy, with the Punisher  army, raiding worlds and  taking  it's technology.

"The  last world we raided  just happened to be the home of Thanos. He's calling himself something else now, though. But anyway, in his hand there  was a  yellow glove, with six gems on it. I  figured it was the Infinity Gauntlet, and after seeing what Thanos did with  it to the  heroes of this  century, I thought it would be a good weapon. I took it, and the  only two gems I thought worth having  -  power and soul.

"But I  also have  lots of other stuff, too.  Like the shuttle you just saw. Everything but the kitchen sink, taken  from  a thousand thousand worlds."

"A time machine?" Charlie asked.

"Well, consider  that as having been poured down the  kitchen sink which I left behind." Kristoff answered.

"Why did you hide them from us?" Nikki asked. "You can trust us. After you helped fight the Beyonder, we figure you're okay now. Aside from the adopted son of a megalomaniac part."

"Well, that's the problem," Kristoff said. "I still work for Doom."

"Whaaaaaaaaat?" Charlie asked. "You... you..." Charlie raised a fist in anger, ready to bring it down on Kristoff. But the young man hit a switch on his hip, causing Charlie to writhe in electrocution-induced agony. 

"Remember that I still have control over you all." Kristoff said. "Now, I only  work for Doom now  to prevent Vance from doing what he  is attempting now. When we stop Vance, that's the end of the contract with my "father.""

"It better be..." Charlie said, now recovered. "Or not even these control devices will stop me from kicking your ass. Have you got a way to find Vance?"

"Now I do, yes. I  had left Andre aboard the shuttle deliberately. I had placed a homing device on him, thinking Vance might kidnap him and use him to make his escape. Looks like he  did." Kristoff looked at  a small sensor that grew in his hand thanks to Pym particles. "And they're..... they're in orbit!"

"What?!?" Charlie cried. "But... how could Vance get there?"

"I don't know, Charlie, but he is there. And so is Andre. Everyone, aboard the shuttle. We'll intercept them." Kristoff said, and was promptly  obeyed.

Logan extended his claws as he followed Whistler onto the rooftop of the building that Blackwing had turned into the base of the Haven II Rebellion. He wanted to be ready for any assault. It wasn't just hit mutant longevity that had allowed him to survive since the 19th century. His instincts and battle skill helped tremendously. And now here he was, ready to take back a planet, to return it to it's rightful ruler, the only remaining relative of it's previous ruler Rancor.

But soon, he realised he wouldn't have to fight at all. Well, he wouldn't have to fight the mutant dictator Shaddo at all. For above him, two figures streaked across the sky. Logan, much to his chagrin, realised he recognised them both. "Terrax and Death." he whispered. The two must have recognised him, because it was he that they approached. Terrax landed first, moving straight over to Logan, and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Wolverine," he sneered. "Where  is Rancor?"

"Earth, bub." Wolverine grinned as he reached out with a hand and  severed Terrax's right arm with his  adamantium claws. "So get off."

Terrax drew his scythe with his remaining hand. "Mutant, you will pay for this sacrilege when my master heres of it. Now... why has Rancor left?"

"Why do you care? I ain't gonna help ya kill her." Logan said. 

"We shall not kill her. We are here on behalf of Anthos. He believes she may have taken his gauntlet." Terrax said. 

"Why do you  call him Anthos, 'rax? You know his true name."  Wolverine said.

"But these mutants do not." Terrax responded. "And you would do well not to tell them." Terrax turned to death. "Unleash the Nebulon."

"Wha - ?" Wolverine began, but was silenced as Death withdrew a glowing purple orb from her robes. She twisted it, and suddenly an explosion rocked the city. "What the hell?" Wolverine grabbed hold of a nearby pylon and swung away, just as the building he had been on collapsed. He was relieved to see  Blackwing flying  off, holding Whistler in his arms.

"Go stop Shaddo!" he yelled to Blackwing. "I'll take care of these two." Wolverine swung back toward Death, and  leaping off the pylon and somersaulting into the air, he managed to kick her in the back, forcing her to drop her purple orb.  It rolled off the side  of the building, and into the street below. Wolverine swung at her with a clawed hand, but was stopped by a blow to the neck by Terrax, knocking him unconscious.

"The audacity of lesser beings..."  Death  muttered. And  then she and Terrax simply waited. Suddenly, what they had  awaited occurred. BOOM! An explosion caused by the nebulon rocked the area, and the purple  light it emanated allowed them to locate the lost artifact. They crossed the streets, eventually making it to the battlefield where Guardian Force  had been fighting Shaddo and his army. But now, the battle was ended, the Nebulon's explosion destroying Shaddo's mutant army. 

Terrax and Death swung into the battlefield, ready to attack either side. But as they began their attacks, rubble began to fall from above, and looking up they saw Blackwing and Whistler destroying the upper levels of a nearby building. The rubble caused everyone, especially Guardian Force, to  scatter to avoid being hit. It  was chaos. 

"Sir, is this chaotic enough for you?" Whistler shouted down. 

"Perfect." Korvac, Guardian Force's leader, replied.

"Good, then destroy  those three!" Whistler shouted, indicating Shaddo, Terrax, and Death. Korvac obliged. He felt the power of Lord Chaos and Master Order flow into him, and then, by combining their power, he struck out at the  three villains. They were hurled back, far, far away from the source of the chaos, to a place  where order reigned. Wolverine swung into the battle shortly after, followed by Whistler and Blackwing  landing on the ground.

"Well..." Korvac said. "Guess we can go back to Earth now, and help stop the Beyonder." He looked at Wolverine for a moment. "Hey... you're that Logan guy, huh?"

Wolverine nodded. "'That's my name, bub. Don't wear it out."

"That Guardian of the Galaxy Rancor said she was looking for you." Korvac said. "We're about to go  to Earth. Wanna come with?"

"Er, sure." Wolverine said, and got aboard the Deathmonger III with Guardian Force.

The Deathmonger III  entered Earth's orbit, heading toward the Latverian city of  Doomstadt. It's pilot, the man named Spartan, was a little startled to see that the  Beyonder was no longer  on the planet.  He landed the ship near Castle Doom, and allowed it's passengers to disembark. They were greeted by the Galactic Guardians, and a person from Guardian Force's own future time period, the Falcon.

"Hey, everyone." Blitz said, the first to get off. "Where's the big, bad Beyonder?"

"He disappeared, Blitz." Mainframe replied. 

Korvac gulped. "Ah. So, um, I guess we better go take our punishments." The other members of Guardian Force looked  down at their feet. 

"No," Psy-knight said. "I'm sick of the Terran Empire. I'm not going, especially if the Emperor wants to punish us for not being able to take out a guy like the Beyonder. I'd like to see him try."

"Yeah." Spartan said. "I'm staying too."

"I think  we all  will." Blitz  said, with a nod of agreement from  Whistler.

Korvac smiled. "Here we  stay then." he said.

"Good," Mainframe said. "Because we  will need all the assistance we can  obtain. Galactus, Ultron, and Alkhema are in  the area, and we fear they are about to attack."

Korvac nodded. "We'll help, won't we, G-Force?" 

"Yeah!" they replied in unison.

"Yeah, yeah," Wolverine said. "Where's Rancor?"

"Over  there, Logan." Mainframe said, pointing off to  a  small dwelling off by the castle wall.

"You know my  name? And you look familiar... You're... the Vision!" Logan said, surprised.

"Yes." Mainframe replied. "And you are the X-Man codenamed Wolverine. The relevance of this conversation is beyond me." 

Logan glared at the synthezoid and made his way over to the hut where Rancor was supposed to be. He entered, and was shocked to see Rancor with Talon.... in bed together.

"Uh, hi..." Rancor said. "May we help you?"

Kristoff Vernard's shuttle launched itself at incredible speed into Earth's orbit. It was capable of moving far faster than Vance Astro was, and it wasn't long until they found him, aboard another spacecraft, heading for a space station orbiting the Earth. Kristoff punched up a communication frequency shared by the other craft.

"This is Kristoff Vernard of the Guardians of the Galaxy,"  he said. "And one of our members seems to be aboard your ship. His name is Vance Astro."

"Well, howdy Guardians," came the reply. "But there isn't a Vance aboard this ship. Got a Venom, though."

"That'll be him." Kristoff said. "Can we meet you?"

"Sure." came the reply. "Dock over on the SilverStar space station." Kristoff proceeded to do so, landing the shuttle in a hangar aboard the space station. The other shuttle promptly landed, and out came a man with a very big gun, with Vance in tow, his hands shackled.

"This your Vance?" the man asked.

"Yes." Kristoff replied. "Can we take him?"

"Not so fast, Guardian." the man replied. "I was  hired to bring in Venom. This is him. You'll need to take it up with my boss. Dalton, get down here!" the man called. "Name's Paradox, by the way. I'm a member of the Super Soldiers." Kristoff nodded, not really caring. He just wanted Vance.

A bald man in a light grey uniform entered the room, and approached Kristoff. "Name's Dalton," he  said. "I hear you want Venom?"

"Yes." Charlie-27 interrupted. "But you see, he isn't Venom. He's - "

"Silence, Charlie." Kristoff cut him off. "We are the Guardians of the Galaxy, Dalton. From the 31st century. This Venom is the Venom of the 31st century, not the one you're after. The man inside is our leader, Major Vance Astro."

"Really," Dalton said. "Perhaps we can work out a deal. You can take this Vance guy, I keep the symbiote. Deal?"

Kristoff turned to the other Guardians, giving them a questioning gaze. Everyone ignored him. Great, he thought, I knew they'd stop trusting me. "Deal," he said.

Paradox led Vance away, to a  holding cell elsewhere in the space station. "We'll figure out how to remove the symbiote later." Dalton said. "But now, it looks like you can all use some rest."

Late that night, when everyone was asleep, Vance Astro smashed down the door to his holding cell. He could have done it at any tiime, he knew, but he wanted them to think he couldn't, so they wouldn't be watching while he attempted his new plan.

He crept along the corridors of the space station, surprised no alarms were sounding. Eventually, he managed to reach the station's control room, but he noticed after a quick glance that the station had no weapons systems. Still, this did not matter. He'd just crash the entire station into Doomstadt! He began to power up the station's engines and set a course when the alarms finally did sound. Electrical energy ripped through the control panel, blocking his access, and electrocuting him. The energy was great enough to make him slump to the ground, unconscious. Dalton and Paradox entered, and carried  the limp form to the medical bay.

The next morning, the Guardians of the Galaxy entered the space station's medical bay, to find that Vance Astro had recovered from his injuries from the previous night. They also noticed that the symbiote was gone - and that his skin hadn't completely aged as well! He was healthy again.

"Vance!" Nikki cried, running to her friend and giving him a big hug. "You're okay!"

Charlie slapped him on the back. "Good to have you back."

Vance nodded, accepting his friends' praise. And their reaction made it so hard for him to say what he had to say, that he nearly backed out. "Guys..." he said. "I'm not staying with you."

"What? Why not?" Nikki  asked.

"It's simple, Nik." Vance said. "When I fought Kristoff in Latveria, the Venom symbiote told me that he was only making me do things I wanted to do but didn't have  the courage to  carry out. He was right. And now I've realised that at the moment, especially since Aleta died, I don't seem to be handling things too well. And, well, I don't want to hurt you guys.

"So  I got talking to Dalton here last night. Seems the Super Soldiers' leader, some guy  named Hauer, mysteriously disappeared a few days ago*. Their bosses heard about what I did when I trained  with Cap and the Avengers awhile back, and they've offered me a place on the team until Hauer returns."

[ * - He's gone off to the DARK GUARD LIMITED SERIES, by Bob Gansler at the Vigilante Branch! - Adrian ]

"So... you're staying in this timeline?" Nikki asked.

"Yes. And by the way, Paradox found Andre Scott. The kid's safe, and Dalton has told me that the Super Soldiers should be able to take care of him." Vance said.

"And your friend Yellowjacket has been admitted into a hospital in New York. She's paralysed and cannot be moved at the moment, but she's welcome to join the team when she does recover." Dalton said.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Nikki said, hugging Vance  once again.

"Yes. Farewell, my friend." Yondu said. But Charlie and Martinex remained silent, not even acknowledging Vance's decision.

"Vance," Charlie said. "We'll be  on  Earth until we  can  find a way to return to the 31st century. You're welcome to come back to us if you change your mind."

"I won't." Vance said. But Charlie didn't respond. He and Martinex simply boarded  Vernard's shuttle, and waited while an emotional Nikki and  Yondu boarded. 

"Oh, wait!" Vance  called. "I nearly forgot! Here's the helmet we trapped Loki in when we  were on K'Rann*." He handed the helmet to Yondu, then stepped back as the Centaurian boarded the ship and the engines powered up.

[ * - In GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #66 - Adrian ]

"Bye." Vance whispered as the Guardians' shuttle rocketed to Earth.