She remembers dying.

It wasn't painful, nor was it particular slow. Her life didn't flash before her eyes, but there was an intense white light before she faded into oblivion. The moments before her death were a bit of a haze, but she remembered a big fight, and seeing utter terror on the face of the man she loved the most*.

[ * - in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #75 ]

The next thing she knew, she was here - a barren world, devoid of life, with the stench of brimstone permeating the air. The hard, rocky ground was scorching hot beneath her feet, forcing her to utilise her power of flight to keep from burning off the soles of her feet.

This must be Hell, she thought. Not surprising that I'd end up here - but I was always positive that Stakar would get here first...

She drifted along on the slight breeze that blew across the land, surveying everything in sight. She drifted for hours before she felt a stabbing pain in her chest and dropped, hitting the ground hard. She didn't get back up.

Her name is Aleta Vaughn, and she remembers dying... twice.

 

Warworld

Twenty-five years ago, the planet that had come to be known as Warworld was the site of one of the most cataclysmic battles ever in the multiverse when dozens of Earth's superhuman heroes and villains, spirited away by the extra-dimensional entity known as the Beyonder, were forced to do battle in order to get home.

The battle raged for several weeks, culminating the world-devourer Galactus constructing his matter transmutation device seemingly for the purpose of devouring the planet and thus putting an end to the fighting, winning safe passage home and his greatest wish - and end to his all-consuming hunger.

The heroes of the world, led by Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, launched an assault against Galactus that resulted in the destruction of his device. The Beyonder, enthralled, arrived in person to survey the outcome of the battle - which was Galactus' goal all along. With Richards' help, Galactus channeled all of his cosmic energy into a blast directed at the Beyonder. The Beyonder disappeared in a bright flash and Galactus, his energy spent, faded from existence.

With the Beyonder gone, the heroes lost their most viable way home. Reed Richards was succumbing to radiation poisoning from the battle between Galactus and the Beyonder, and the only other scientists on the planet with a hope of finding a solution to the problem were too consumed with perpetuating their war to focus on anything else.

After a further five years of fighting in which many heroes and villains needlessly died, the two warring factions agreed to set aside their differences and resolved to live out their lives on the Warworld. In the twenty years that followed, various superhuman couplings resulted in a number of children, most of which possessed startling powers of their own.

And even super-children need to go to school.

At Reed Richards Memorial High School, class was in session - not that Matthew Henry Storm had noticed.

Man, if Kendall Monroe keeps looking at me like that, he thought, looking up from the book that he was supposed to be reading, I'm liable to - oh man, she's staring...

Across the room, the mutant girl Kendall Monroe - the daughter of Storm and Wolverine of the X-Men - stared blissfully in Matthew's direction. She'd been doing that a lot lately, and Matthew couldn't yet decide whether he liked it.

He turned away, peering out of a window embedded in the wall beside him. As he watched, the window began to become opaque, but before he could comment on it he disappeared in a bright flash of blue light.

 

The Xavier Institute, Salem Center, Westchester

The Morlocks and X-Men assembled in the Westchester mansion that served as the X-Men's home were shocked as they listened to Professor Xavier speak. The aliens that they feared were about to strike against Earth, and the Sentinels that had been hounding for the last few weeks were one and the same?

"This threat concerns us all," the Professor addressed the assembled mutants. "We are facing not just any Earth built robots, but an entire, and deadly, alien race focused solely on conquest. We are facing... the Phalanx!*"

[ * - see MV1's X-Men #70-71 ]

"This new twist has thrown me off guard," Xavier announced. "I am not - we are not - ready to take on the Phalanx. I must revise our plans. Please, all of you, retire to your quarters. I will transmit all data that we have on the Phalanx to the personal computer terminals in your rooms. I suggest you study the information carefully." He paused for a moment, and then spoke again.

"For those of you that cannot read, the computers have speakers attached. Thank you." Xavier nodded to the crowd and moved away from the podium as the assembled mutants retired to their rooms. He headed for the control room, followed by Joseph.

"Magnus, my friend," Xavier said as they entered the control room, "thank you for all your help."

"It is an honour, Professor," Joseph replied.

"I am sending the rest of the X-Men out to 'collect' some more mutants. I would like you to stay here with me."

"As you wish."

"You see, there are three mutants that will be a great help in our battle against the Phalanx: the teleporter Gateway, Magneto's former Acolyte Scanner, and Madison Jeffries of Alpha Flight. Gateway's power can get us where we need to go as quickly as possible, Scanner's ability to disrupt electro-magnetic fields and skill as a scout will serve us well when it comes to both reconnaisance and battle, and Madison Jeffries' power to transmute metal is instrumental to my plans.

"To defeat the Phalanx, we must destroy the core. When the Phalanx last attempted an invasion, Cameron Hodge was tricked by Steven Lang into destroying the core*. When this was successful in driving the aliens away, we had Forge create a virus that, when injected into the core, immediately destroys it," Xavier explained. "However, before being destroyed in their last encounter with us, the Phalanx sent a beam off into space. Presumably that is what summoned the current force.

[ * - see Cable #16 ]

"We are too attack en masse. Gateway will teleport us to Spain, where the Phalanx force is currently assembled, Scanner will find the core, and Madison Jeffries will transmute the core, allowing you to inject the virus, Joseph."

"Uh, okay..." Joseph said. He was beginning to feel nauseous. It wasn't anything the Professor was saying, it was something else. Something inside him... in his stomach...

"Please brief the other X-Men."

"Okay, sir, but what about.... ARRRRRGH!" Joseph convulsed, clutching his stomach in great pain. As the time-travelling security enforcer Bishop ran into the control room to investigate the scream, the roof parted with a sound of bending metal. The three mutants looked up and saw floating above them none other than... Magneto!

"W-what...?" Charles stammered.

"How...?" Bishop asked.

"Do not fear me. I am here to help you," Magneto assured them as he majestically descended to the ground.

"But if you're Magneto, then who..." Xavier turned to where Joseph was standing, but the man was gone. In his place was a tiny baby, and for a moment, Xavier thought he saw a minute flash of blue light.

 

Elsewhere

Aleta got back onto her feet, nursing her right arm. She'd hit the ground hard, and while she was fairly sure nothing was broken, she felt a damp patch on the left flank of her uniform that she believed was rather bloody.

The ground no longer burned her feet. In fact, it was quite cool where she was now. Cold, even. She considered taking to the air again when she heard an unusually soothing voice emanate seemingly from nowhere.

"Wait, Ms. Vaughn. You will be joined presently."

The soothing tone of the voice calmed her nerves and she waited, as patiently as she could, to be 'joined'. A few moments later, six separate flashes of blue light lit up the horizon. The lights came hurtling towards her, but stopped a few feet away before resolving into the images of six people.

One was a man with long white hair and a hard face; another, a young, shy-looking girl with brown hair; an eight-foot tall green giant with biceps larger than Aleta's head; a dashing and charismatic blonde man; a plain-looking young boy; and last of all was a pale man with a thin scar running down the right side of his face.

As Aleta looked the new arrivals up and down, she noticed the pale man's scar vanish very quickly. It has appeared so briefly, in fact, that Aleta doubted that any of the others had seen it.

All six of them looked bewildered as they surveyed their surroundings and one-by-one turned to look at Aleta. They were waiting for an explanation, something that she did not have.

"I don't know about everyone else," the formerly pale man, whose skin was now the most well-tanned that Aleta had ever seen, began, "but I'm confused. Care to explain what's going on, little Miss Blondie?"

As Aleta began to form a reply, she noticed that the green giant seemed to be getting a little restless. His leg was twitching, and he was eyeing her strangely.

"I'm as in the dark as the rest of you," she finally replied. "The last thing I remember is - "

"I stopped listening five minutes ago, Blondie," the man said. "Anyone else have any idea what's going on? And what's wrong with the Hulk? When did he develop the appropriately sloped brow and ridged forehead that all big galumphing giants should have?"

"NOT HULK!" the green giant roared. "SAVAGE!"

"What's a Hulk?" the blonde man asked. "And who, exactly, are all of you?"

"The Hulk is just a story parents tell their kids to scare them into doing what they're told. That's why no-one's ever seen him," the young boy remarked.

"NOT HULK! SAVAGE!" the giant repeated. He was getting angry.

Oh, no, Aleta thought. This better not be what I think it is... not again...

"It is precisely what you think it is, Aleta Vaughn. Perhaps you should explain it to everybody else."

Aleta prepared to address the group, but was interrupted by the white-haired man before she could say a word.

"The laws of physics are askew here. This planet has no magnetic field," he said calmly. "We are far from my native Earth."

"Magnetic field...?" the shy girl asked. "I thought you was him! You're Magneto!"

"So I'm told."

"You killed my mother! You slaughtered Rogue in cold blood!"

The man looked surprised. "I have never killed anyone. Especially not Rogue. In fact, I was speaking to her less than a week ago."

"LIAR!"

The girl lunged for the white haired man, and struck a hard blow to his chin. She was going to swing her fist again when Aleta intervened with a solid light barrier between them.

"This has nothing to do with you, woman!" the girl screamed. With a touch, Aleta's barrier disappeared, and enough feedback passed through her body to knock her to the ground.

"Ah-ha! Cat fight!" the formerly pale man exclaimed in delight. Beside him, the blonde man and young boy were smirking. "Just like home!"

"STOP!" Aleta said, climbing to her feet. "I know what's happened here. I don't know why, and by the Hawk God I certainly don't know how, but you all need to stop and listen!"

"WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO YOU?" the green giant roared. "SAVAGE NEVER LISTEN TO NOBODY!" He reared back, preparing to charge at Aleta. The giant's sudden attack shocked the white-haired man and his assailant enough that their altercation ended, but Aleta discovered that she could do nothing to defend herself. Her powers were gone.

"Whoa there, big boy!" the pale man said. He brushed his hand across the giant's forearm, and with a whisper it calmed down and sat, cross-legged, before Aleta.

"Ah, thanks..." Aleta said.

"Don't mention it. You can repay me later, if you know what I mean," the man said with a wink.

"No, I don't," Aleta said. "Now listen, all of you. I'm not absolutely certain, but judging from my own sudden appearance here and the bewildered looks you all had on your faces when you arrived, none of us came here of our own volition. I've been trying to raise my companions using my communications badge," she pointed to a red, white and blue star pinned to her costume, "but they are not replying, and they can detect the signal from anywhere in the known universe. We've been kidnapped, and if I'm right, we've been brought to another universe."

"Kid-napped?!?" the pale man cried. "But my girls...!"

"You have daughters?" Aleta asked.

"No, I have sex slaves, but I love them as if they're my daughters. No, wait... that's just sick..." He let his voice drift off, and kept muttering to himself.

"Oh, shut up," the blonde man said. "How do we know we can believe you, miss...?"

"Call me Aleta, and to answer your question, I don't know. If my fiance was here, I'd just have him scan my thoughts and relay them to each of you, but he's not here."

"Well ah think you're lying!" the shy girl said. "You were here before us, and we were drawn to you. Ah think you brought us here!"

"Hey, perhaps I can help," the pale man said. "The name's Ph-Eros. As you saw with Hulky here, I have the power to make people do what I want with only a touch and a whisper. I can make Allie-girl there tell the truth."

"How do we know the two of you are not working together?" the white-haired man asked.

"I can prove it," Ph-Eros said, "by making anyone who doubts me do something."

"Very well," the man said. "Prove it."

Ph-Eros walked over to where the man stood and gently touched his hand. He leaned forward and quietly whispered into the man's ear before stepping right back.

"To dream, the impossible dream," the man sang, "to fight, the unbeatable foe..."

"Ah trust you," the shy girl said. "Name's Scamp, by the way."

"Anybody else doubt me?" Ph-Eros asked. No-one answered affirmatively. "Good." He stepped past the Hulk's calm form and touched Aleta's only exposed skin - her face. He quickly whispered something into her ear, and then stepped back. "She's good to go."

"I am now taking control of your body, Aleta."

No! Aleta thought, whoever you are, you can speak through me.

"That is exactly what I plan to do, now that you have earned their trust."

"As I said before, my name is Aleta," Aleta began. "Like you all, I have been plucked from my universe and brought here. And now I have been told why. We, I am told, are the wisest beings in our respective time periods. We have been brought here by forces unknown to experience all that we can and, eventually, return to our homes to lead our people into new ages of enlightenment."

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Were you bound by Ph-Eros' power?

"..."

Well?

"Well, Aleta, while you're still bound by my power, I have another question. Will you have wild, passionate sex with me tonight?" Ph-Eros asked.

"Not a chance."

"Awwww...."

"Do we have a choice in this?" Joseph asked.

"None that I can see. But perhaps if we can find something that we all have in common, we may be able to find a way home. What was the last thing you all did before coming here?" Aleta asked.

"I was in class," the young boy said, "and got sucked through a window. My name's Firefly."

"My name is Daywalker," the blond man said. "I was watching television when the screen developed a silver sheen and literally drew me in."

"I was, uh, playing with my friends," Ph-Eros said, "when I got sucked into my own mirror."

Aleta nodded as each person explained their situation.

"I was speaking with Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men when I was attacked by Magneto. I then arrived here," Joseph explained.

He was attacked by Magneto? Scamp thought. Does that mean he isn't the monster that killed my mom?

"Scamp? What about you?" Aleta asked.

"Me?" Scamp asked. "Ah'd rather not say, if it's okay with y'all..."

"I can't really see any - " Aleta began.

"What about the Hulk?" Ph-Eros asked. "I have ways of making him talk..."

He approached the green giant a third time and grabbed it's thick shoulder. He whispered into it's ear for several minutes before stepping back and watching, with everyone else, as the monster's body receded into the form of a thin old man. A naked, thin old man.

"Ewwww!" Ph-Eros cried. "Wrinkly d - "

"Ph-Eros!" Aleta snapped.

"Sorry, mom."

"Sir?" Aleta asked. "Are you well?"

"No. I am most certainly not," the old man said. Without so much as a glance at the other assembled beings, he levitated a few feet off the ground. "My name is Doctor Stephen Strange. I am a scientist. I am also a sorceror. I was brought here as a result of peering into a crystal ball that I was using to divine the cure to the curse that turns me into the brutish but appropriately monikered 'Doc Savage'.

"Even while in the form of the beast, once calmed by Ph-Eros I was using the considerable magickal talents at my disposal to find a mystical means by which to return home. They are all blocked. We are at the disposal of whomever brought us here until they deign to return us to our homes."

He finally turned to face Ph-Eros and said, "Thank you for returning me to my true form, but I am afraid that it is a temporary measure at best. Within the hour I will once more revert to the form of the malevolent Doc Savage, and this time I fear even your power will prove insufficient to help me."

"Perhaps we can all help eachother," Firefly said. "We're supposed to be the 'wisest beings in our respective universes', right? I'm sure we can find a way to help the Doc."

"Thank you, my friend, but I know from experience that we should not take the words of the cosmic entities that cause events such as these at face value," he said. "Even if they speak through a friendly face," he added, staring straight at Aleta.

"What happens now?" Joseph asked.

"We are supposed to experience things, right? Well, I have dibs on experiencing Scamp!" Ph-Eros said.

"Ph-Eros, I swear to God, if you don't shut the frak up I will let you experience my - " Daywalker began before he and his six new compatriots all disappeared in a flash of blue light...

---

NEXT ISSUE: Earth: 8162!