Titans of Justice Unlimited #77 - "Submission & Control"
Written by: Scotty2Hotty
Editing & Maxi-Micros by: Power Guy


Earth-Marvel…

Thor walked through the halls of the West Coast Avengers headquarters. Recently the Uncanny Avengers had decided to split their membership into 2 separate teams in an effort to better protect the United States. Several of the team had relocated to the east coast and reopened Tony Stark’s old mansion while others had moved out west. Thor stopped for a moment and stared at a painting of himself, Ant-Man, Wasp, Iron Man, and the Hulk. He recalled the day so many years ago when the Avengers first formed.

“It seems eons ago, but like yesterday at once.” The Thunder God mused. Thor was immortal and still dedicated to helping mankind. He had remained an Avenger through the teams' various incarnations and he, along with Wolverine, mentored the younger heroes as well as acting as advisors.





“Don’t be late for the meeting, Goldilocks!” came a jovial voice.





“Cheetah, greetings to you this wonderful morning.” Thor said to his teammate. “You certainly inherited your mother’s love of life. Tigra is always so happy, so full of love.”

“What’s not to love?” the Cheetah smiled, back-flipping down the hall into the meeting room.

Assembled were The Spider, Diva, Sunstar, Banshee, Ms. Hulk, Widow Maker, Iron Man, and Mr. Marvel. Mr. Marvel was there to oversee the transfer of some of the Avengers’ various trophies and souvenirs to the west coast headquarters.

“As acting chairperson this month, I call this meeting to order.” Ms. Hulk said with authority, her deep voice booming. The daughter of Bruce and Betty Banner began instructing the others of their tasks for the day. There was a certain sadness about Ms. Hulk that none of her teammates could quite place.





“I cannot believe we’re having to work on the trophy room so early in the morning.” Diva huffed. The daughter of Dazzler and Longshot huffed. “I had such a wild night, so much more fun than this….”





“You should take your responsibilities as an Avenger more seriously!” chided Sunstar. Being the son of Sunfire and Firestar, Bobby Yoshida was very laid back like his mother, until angered. Then his father’s side definitely emerged.





“Whatever.” Diva said, checking her phone for text messages.

“What say you and I tackle these boxes?” The Spider said to Diva, putting his arm around her.





“What say I rip one of your arms off and beat you with it?” Diva smirked, walking away.

“Aw, no love for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?” the son of Spider Man and Mary Jane Parker laughed. “I’m not going to take this sitting down!”

“But you are sitting down?” Iron Man replied. Theo Stark was the son of Tony and Pepper Potts and not the brightest young man. Despite being an Olympic swimming record holder, his intellect didn’t quite match his athleticism.





“Come on everyone. Let’s all pitch in and we’ll have the trophy room looking great.” Banshee smiled, her voice was warm with an Irish accent.





“Banshee’s right. With our team splitting up, we need to make sure this headquarters is a home for everyone. A place the Avengers can be proud of and remind us why we do what we do.” Mr. Marvel smiled.

“Here, here!” Thor agreed as the team went about their day.

***

Wakanda…

Thundercat swiped his access card to the underground facility that held one of the Avengers greatest enemies. Ultron had been deactivated after several battles with the team. The Avengers decided to hold him in Wakanda as it was a remote country. Thundercat and his parents, Black Panter and Storm, all agreed to maintain the facility and monitor Ultron.

“Quiet as always, thankfully.” Thundercat said to himself. Ultron had been disassembled, many of his components locked away separately. Henry Pym’ s schematics and plans were housed here as well in the hopes that one day his research could be used for good. Thundercat didn’t frighten easily, but the sight of the deactivated robot caused him to shudder sometimes. As he filled out a log report, Thundercat didn’t notice a starfish crawling across the floor. He continued filling out his report as he heard several squishy sounds from behind. He whipped around to see an army of starfish crawling towards him. Before he could react, one attached itself to his face.





Thundercat struggled to remove the starfish, but within seconds was motionless. Beneath his mask, his eyes were wide and didn’t blink.

“Excellent work my minions.” Came a telepathic voice. “Now, Thundercat…..retrieve the plans and reactivate the one I have searched for.

Like a zombie, Thundercat quietly obtained all the schematics and plans to reactivate Ultron.

“Do not worry, I’ll guide your hand.” Echoed the voice of Starro the Conquorer.





Hours later, Ultron had been reassembled, standing tall and ominous.

“You did well, Thundercat. Now, bring the powerful one back to the world of the living.”

Thundercat walked stiffly towards Ultron. He placed a metal component pack into the contruct’s power source.

A voice rang out, “Ultron system rebooting. Rebooting. System recovery. Recovery. Downloading files. Updating. Updating. Updating 000011100011000110001111111.”

As Ultron came back online, the army of starfish retreated outside. Thundercat stood still.

Ultron began to move. His mechanical head twisted as he took in his surroundings.

“The Avengers. They did this to me. How much time has passed?” he screamed as he lifted Thundercat into the air, energy pouring from his mouth. “Answer me, Black Panther!!!”





Ultron had mistaken Thundercat for his father. “And what is this on your face? Some sort of aquatic creature? Bah, I’ll deal with you later!” he said, tossing Thundercat into a table.

“Ultron. Come outside. All will be explained.” Starro’s mental voice commanded.

“Ultron demands an explanation! NOW!!!!” he screamed, his metal feet slamming into the floor. He walked outside and noticed he was in a jungle. A river was flowing nearby.

“This way.” Came the voice.

Ultron stood at the bank of the river. A gigantic starfish levitated from the water and stood erect.

“And what manner of creature are you?” Ultron demanded.

“I am your liberator.”

“Don’t expect any thanks--I don't respect the living--wether it is animal or human.” Ultron said, power and electricity pouring from his fists.

“Listen to me. I know of your troubles with this world’s so called heroes. I have a proposition for you.”

Something told Ultron to listen. “Go ahead.”

“I come from an alternate dimension. A world much like this one—a world plagued with so-called heroes. There have been several dimensional disturbances as of late and I was able to access this world. I have been waiting, watching…..learning. Your world’s heroes are more susceptible to mental control than the ones from my dimension. I surmise this is due to the effects of the Phoenix entity and others who possess mental powers on your world. The heroes of the earth I primarily deal with are more likely to be defeated due to sheer force. I would like to control this world, and send you back to mine. I can easily control the heroes of this world and you can easily kill the ones of mine. Once we have secured both earths, we shall swap. You will hold domain over the world that was always just out of your grasp and I will have a world of mindless underlings to do with as I see fit.”

“And just why should I trust you?”

“I commanded your captor to reassemble you. I know how powerful you are. I know you could hurt me. Our partnership shall benefit us both. You can even reshape that other earth in your image. Kill the most powerful, leave the weaker ones alive. I really don’t care. Do we have an arrangement?”

By then, Thundercat had wandered over towards them.

“He’s really under you control?” Ultron said, turning around. The entire village had starfish attached to their faces.

“The entire nation of Wakanda is under my control.” Starro replied.

“Send me to your world. The screams of the dying will be like music to my audio sensors!” Ultron replied.

***

West Coast Uncanny Avengers Headquarters…

“Now, you see that wasn’t so bad.” The Spider said to Diva. “Great teamwork and we’re done!”

“I usually pay people to do this sort of thing for me.” Diva sniffed.

“That’s enough, Diva.” Ms. Hulk said. “We all did good work here today. It’s already feeling like home.”

“Home? But I don’t live here. My home’s----“ Iron Man started.

“Theo, keep it to yourself.” Came Tony Stark’s voice in his son’s ear. Tony worried about his son, especially since he decided to become Iron Man. Tony allowed him the opportunity to become an Avenger, but only if he maintained contact with him via a built in communicator.

“Sorry Dad. Sometimes I don’t think, but when I do think it’s really hard and I get a headache.” Theo whispered.

“Hey dumb-dumb, how about ditching that iron get up and hit the bars with me tonight.” Diva said. “I prefer what’s underneath all that armor.”

“Ok.”

Diva and Iron Man walked away.

“Man, you’d think Stark’s kid would be a genius.” Widow Maker said. Widow Maker’s parents were Hawkeye and Black Widow, the result of an affair. He was friends with the Stark family, mainly because of his mother’s past with Tony and was well aware of Theo’s…….lack of intelligence. In fact, Josh Barton and Theo Stark were good friends.





“Yeah, well it appears God over compensated Theo with looks, money, and an athletic physique but skimped on the brains.” The Cheetah laughed, balancing on one hand atop a trophy case. “Luckily for me, I got it all, hahahahaha!”

Just then the alert sounded. Magneto’s face appeared on the screen.





“Magneto, you look panicked. What is it Avenger?” Thor said.

“Trouble…big trouble….I wouldn’t believe it unless I had seen it myself….a giant…starfish….”

The monitor fizzled out and came back.

Everyone gasped as Magneto’s face came back into view. A starfish covered his face.

“What manner of devilment is this!?” Thor shouted.

“Over here. Look.” Sunfire said, turning on the tv.

The reporter on the news began, “We’re coming to you live from downtown New York where what appears to be an invasion of starfish has taken over. The Uncanny Avengers are on the scene, but several of them appear to be under control of this….entity. We have footage that may be uncomfortable to watch. The news cut to footage of Freedom Falcon and Espirita, her falcon.

“Red Hammer! Stop, it’s me!!” Freedom Falcon screamed as Red Hammer came at her, a starfish covering his face.





Wonder Man was unconscious on the ground as a starfish made its way to him and attached itself to his face. He slowly stood and flew at Freedom Falcon. Espirita squawked as a starfish covered her face.





Wonder Man punched Freedom Falcon from the sky and Red Hammer caught her, slamming her into the ground. A starfish attached to her face as well.

“We serve Starro. Do not resist.” Wonder Man and Freedom Falcon said in unision. Red Hammer said the same, only in Russian.

The news cut back to the reporter. “Over there, get this on camera! It’s Frost, Spider Girl, and Wolverine!”

“Any luck Frost?” Spider Girl asked, blasting at a starfish.





“No….whatever this is…it’s bigger than me….so much psychic power…..” Frost said, trying to figure out what was going on.





“Hurry up Frost! We can’t keep this up forever!” Wolverine said, his claws slashing away at the starfish. “Spider Girl!!! Look out!!!!”





Before she could react, a starfish landed on Spider Girl’s face. She immediately hit Frost with a venom blast, knocking him to the ground. Seconds later he was under Starro’s control.

“Sh*t!!” Wolverine said, still fighting. He noticed all the New Yorkers on the street had starfish on their faces. He could not get any of his teammates on his communicator. He tried to get a message to the west coast, but all he heard was static. He kept fighting even though he could feel several starfish climbing his legs. His teammates shuffled towards him.

“Do not resist, Wolverine. Give in. Submit.” They said in unison.

“Never!” Wolverine screamed, claws slashing starfish left and right. Bloody chunks fell to the ground as Wolverine fought valiantly. Soon, one of the starfish made its way to the back of his head and extended its arms across his face.

“No------“ Wolverine gasped as he fell under Starro’s control.

The camera panned back to the reporter. She now had a starfish attached to her face. She spoke, “ Your earth is under my control. Starro requires you submit.” The screen then turned to static and snow.

“What the heck was that?” The Spider asked, his Spider-sense tingling.

“To arms, Avengers!” Thor demanded.

“Guys, look outside! It suddenly got darker….like the middle of the night.” Banshee said rushing to the windows.

“What’s up with those starfish??…so gross!” Diva said.

“Now’s not the time for one your fits, Diva.” Ms. Hulk scolded, walking towards the window.

“I…I don’t believe it…..” The Cheetah gasped.

The sun had been blacked out by a giant starfish. Millions of tiny starfish fell from the sky attacking the citizens of Los Angeles. The power went out and screams made their way through the walls of the Avengers headquarters.

Thor spun his hammer and crashed through the window. “Have at thee, foul monster!!!”

“Thor, wait!!!” Ms. Hulk screamed.

Thor blasted through a blizzard of starfish and made his way to Starro.

A mental voice rang through his head. “You remind me of the Kryptonian. Yes, you will do.”

Before Thor could respond, Starro smacked him from the sky with one of his arms sending him crashing to the street below. Thor was overcome by the starfish. A starfish bigger than the others attached itself to his face. He looked upward to his teammates and spun his hammer.

“It got Thor! We’re screwed!!!” Diva screamed, light and energy emitting from her body.

“If it got Thor and the others…what hope do we have!?” The Spider said.

“We need help! I can’t get S.H.I.E.L.D---can’t reach anyone!” Widowmaker said, throwing his communicator against the wall in frustration.

“Wait! I have an idea.” Mr. Marvel said, realizing how dire their situation was. He ran to the trophy case and grabbed the amulet Sargona had given him in case of emergencies. “This amulet-- not sure how it ended up being transported with the other stuff but thank God it did. The other earth with the Titans of Justice..... We have to go, have to get help!”

“We just can’t leave our earth to that…thing!” Banshee cried.

“I think we’re the only ones left! All lines of communication are down—all technology is off—it’s our only chance!” Sunstar said, looking at Mr. Marvel.

“Let’s go.” Ms. Hulk ordered, urgency in her voice.

Just then the wall crumbled. Thor stood, veins bulging and accompanied by a legion of starfish all crawling towards the Avengers. “SUBMIT!”

“It’s now or never!” Mr. Marvel said. “Grab hands….” He said, closing his eyes and thinking of Sargona, Power Guy, and the other heroes in the alternate dimension.

“SUBMIT!!!” Thor screamed, throwing his hammer at his teammates as they vanished from sight.


TO BE CONTINUED!