The year was 2007 and the Avengers were confronting the most powerful Masters of Evil they had ever faced. Dr. Midas had assembled Lizard, Sabretooth, the Four Winds, Marrow, and Jamie Braddock to the group. Baron Zemo had gathered Black Dragon, Omega Red, Eugenix, and Hangman. Finally, Proctor had twisted the minds of Tarene, Storm, She-Hulk, and Swordsman to make them additions to the group. The battle was a large and bloody one.

Captain America slammed his shield into Creed’s face and sent the feral mutant rolling across the lawn of Avenger’s Mansion. Swordsman tried to sneak up behind the Captain while he was conducting this attack. Steve saw him coming from a mile away. Before Jarvert even had a chance to slash at Captain America a shield slammed into his face.

“Sorry Philip. I have to play for keeps here,” Captain America apologized as he prepared to engage in the next battle in this proverbial war. Everywhere he looked he saw chaos and destruction. The Mansion was hollowed out and burning. He could only pray that Jarvis had found a way out to safety.

“Steve I can’t find Vance! Help me find Vance!” Firestar demanded fearfully as she landed next to Captain America. Angelica was nearly in tears and that was a condition rarely seen from Firestar.

“Where was he last? I’ll look for him,” Steve replied in his always confident and reassuring voice.

Angelica calmed down a bit, “Last I saw him he was fighting Lizard, but then I got distracted by Black Dragon. Now I can’t find him.”

“You need to worry about yourself and not your lover boy,” Marrow grinned as she began to chew on one of her bones.

The battle ended terribly. The Avengers had their victory, but their numbers had been torn asunder. It was at that point when Ultron and his bride launched a massive attack on Europe. The continent was devastated and burned for weeks. A newly formed Defenders team was the only thing that stopped Ultron, but the damage had been done.

Over the next five years the only high point for Earth’s heroes was the wedding of Colossus and Shadowcat. It was a highly celebrated event, but happiness could only last so long. Not even a year passed before tragedy struck again.

A despotian Jean Grey came from another dimension with her five generals (Karma, Moon Knight, Sandman, Iron Man, and Wasp) and conquered the already wounded world. The heroes formed a resistance and split off into small cells to fight their new threat.

The most troublesome cell to Grey was Pyro, Moonstar, Wolfsbane, and Nightcrawler. The four heroes became beacons of hope and as such the alternate Iron Man cut them down. Avalanche assembled a team to take down Iron, but they failed in the attempt. He would have lost his life if not for Dazzler.

3 years passed with no significant progress made against Grey and her army.

This is what the Exiles came into…

“Something tells me this isn’t home sweet home,” Captain Avalon, newest member of the Exiles, joked. Sara Grey had seen her fair share of other worlds and being with the Exiles really wasn’t as distressing to her as it was to some of the other members. Being a bearer of Otherworld’s power was a calling that extended across the multiverse.

Blink took a good whiff of the burning gasoline and smog, “Feels just like home to me.”

“So what’s the mission here B?” Faith asked as she walked up beside Clarice and took a survey of the area. Not a single skyscraper was standing and the only noticeable figure was a large dingy white sky needle pointing to the heavens. Faith had seen that sky needle on her own world and she would assume that they were in the same location now.

Pointing upwards she said, “I know that building. I’m guessing we’re in Toronto.”

“You getting anything on the Tallus yet?” Stepstone asked.

Blink looked down and her device started to glow, “Yea I am. Seems we gotta find Captain America’s son and free him from captivity.”

A laugh came from above the group. All of the Exiles looked up and saw three people materialize out of the sky. One of the people was clearly Susan Richards though her hair was cut short and she was a bit more muscular. Floating in the air next to her was a cybernetic being surrounded in pink energy. At the front of the group was a dazzling redhead surrounded by fire.

As they landed on the ground the fiery woman explained herself, “Captain America died in the fight against The Masters of Evil so he never got the chance to have any kids.”

“And unless I’m mistaken the ones of you I can recognize are already dead as well,” the cybernetic man added.

“So I guess you all have some explaining to do,” Invisible Woman finished.

Faith rolled her eyes, “I am so not doing it this time!”

Stepstone threw up her hands, “Me neither!”

Anakin laughed, “It’s my turn anyway so I’ll do it.”

So the usual explanation was given and Anakin babbled on a little bit for flair and to throw off those they were doing the explaining to. The Exiles never really knew what kind of situation they were walking into and so they had to take any moment they could to take the natives out of their element.

After Anakin finished his long-winded tale Firestar said, “Well, that still doesn’t change the fact that your machine is wrong. Captain America died long before he had kids.”

“It might not necessarily mean his blood son. Was there someone that Captain America thought of as a son?” Belladona asked.

Firestar looked to the cyborg standing next to her and then back to the Exiles, “He thought of my husband as a son. He saved Justice from Black Dragon at the cost of his life.”

“Obviously I didn’t walk away without my scars,” Justice replied dryly.

“Is there anyone else? It’s quite obvious that you’re not in captivity,” Anakin said as he suddenly felt a rush of sadness from Firestar and her spouse. He hesitated a moment, but then asked, “Or am I wrong?”

Invisible Woman tapped her black earpiece and said anxiously, “Guys we’re going to need to pick this up later. Shadowcat has just informed me that Sandman is moving this way with some of his troops. I think his sensors picked up on the energy surge caused by your arrival like we did.”

“Then let’s move. I’m not too shabby when it comes to fast transportation,” Blink said.

“So your base is the old subway systems of New York?” Faith asked, as she looked around, “Almost kinda gothic. Bet Willow would love it here.”

“That and the old Morlock tunnels. The guys made a good stand against Grey, but Iron Man had their way with them,” Justice explained.

“So Iron Man isn’t one of the good guys here?” Stepstone asked as they continued to descend into the darkness of the subway. Rats scurried at all of their feet, but none of them seemed to mind. The Exiles had seen their share of hellish worlds.

Justice laughed, “It’s a long story, but we do have a long walk ahead of us. I suppose I can get around to telling you some of the tale.”

Anakin smiled, “Only fair that you get to torture us with a long story after the punishment we put you through.”

“Before I do that I just gotta ask do you even know who Darth Vader is?”

Anakin nodded, “I’ve been informed. I’m guessing my world is a series of movies here as well.”

“A series of movies my husband is obsessed with,” Firestar said.

“And with good reason. So did you ever meet Boba Fett?”

“No I only met his father, Jango. We worked together in stopping a renegade droid terrorist group from blowing up a vital mining operation. Quite the professional,” Anakin answered.

“How does it feel being a symbol of nerdom?” Faith asked jokingly.

Captain Avalon laughed, “No worse than you honey. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is quite the hit on my world.”

Faith rolled her eyes, “Why it wasn’t called Faith the Vampire Slayer is beyond me.”

“Guys if you don’t mind I’d like to hear Justice’s story,” Blink interrupted.

“Yes of course. Got caught up there for a moment,” Justice replied as he began his tale of death and war.

As Justice talked the Exiles absorbed every detail of his tale all except for Captain Avalon. She hadn’t revealed it to her teammates just yet, but she possessed telepathic abilities. None as great as her sister, but they were strong enough. So she had known Justice’s tale long before he began to orally narrate it and she knew how Justice was in captivity. Anakin had sensed something was wrong, but she knew the exact reason. The Exiles were headed towards a tough decision and Sara could only pray that they would have the strength to follow through.

Her base of operations was known as The Black Veil. Only those who were her generals dared to come into her abode without making any sort of appointment. Mistress Grey was a woman of great wrath and terrible power to execute it. You only crossed her if you had a suicidal streak. Entering the base was a relatively easy task and all you really needed was an avian to board the floating fortress. Grey didn’t fear anyone on this world and for that reason she kept her base an open one.

Fortunately, William Baker was one of those generals and he didn’t need to fear his death at the hands of Grey. He had recently looked about Toronto to discover the source of a large energy spike, but he was unable to uncover anything useful. Nonetheless, he needed to report the spike to his leader and she liked her generals to report to her directly. It wasn’t a request that Sandman had any hard time granting. He owed his life to Grey and he would gladly lay down his life for her. He had been a washed up business man looking for a way out when Grey came to him and gave him a new lease on life.

This current track of conquest made him feel more alive than he had ever felt before. Being with Mistress Grey had given him purpose.

So it was that he did not enter into her main chambers with fear.

“Ahh my dear Sandman I hope you bring me good tidings,” Mistress Grey said as she tended to her tiny garden of roses in the corner of her chamber next to her silver throne.

“I would call them more strange tidings Mistress,” Sandman replied.

Grey stopped her garden tending and looked up at Baker with a twisted smile, “Go on.”

“So are there any parts of the world that are free from Grey’s grasp?” Captain Avalon asked loathed to think of her sister as a despot, but it was what it was. She couldn’t control the multiverse and it was a sure possibility an evil version of herself existed somewhere. None of the Exiles knew who she was under the mask though and for now she would keep it that way.

“Believe it or not Antarctica is the only free place left for mankind. This world’s Tony Stark collaborated with Bruce Banner, Hank Pym, Bill Foster, and Samuel Merrick to build an extremely fortified continent that Grey has yet to break through,” Justice answered.

“My husband might have been in that list of names if he wasn’t assassinated by Moon Knight three days before his ship left for the icy land,” Sue added without a tinge of sadness. She had long ago stopped grieving for her husband. Now she was only determined to free the world for her son.

“So have most people been evacuated there?” Belladona asked.

“Unfortunately, no. There are so many moles amongst the human population that nearly every shuttle gets destroyed long before it reaches Antarctica. The continent might be safe, but getting there unharmed is damn near impossible,” Firestar answered.

“If time permits I may be able to help with that,” Blink said not trying to make any promises. She didn’t want to provide false hope. For all she knew the Exiles could be on a whole different playing field from Firestar and the others.

Captain Avalon sensed the uncertainty in Blink and the rest of the Exiles. It was a common feeling that they all shared. She knew that feeling of uncertainty would soon turn to dread for some as it was revealed what they really had to do.

I hope they’re prepared for it.

NEXT ISSUE: How is Justice in captivity and just what will the Exiles have to do to help him?