The EXiles in "Three Big Galoots"

[Mokole]

The EXiles (Blink, Morph, Sabretooth, Iron Fist, Longshot, Moondragon) arrive to find a small town that has been flattened by... something. It appears the destruction is very recent and quite random, although why is hard to tell. As they move through town they find little standing and lots of dead bodies - people, animals, trees. Blink and Sabretooth ponder what's happened, Morph jokes, Moondragon says she sees evidence of more damage heading north. They follow the debris and son run into a squad of soldiers. The soldiers quickly aim at the EXiles but an order to hold their fire keeps everyone alive. A short, bald, old man walks forward, he's not dressed in military clothes. It's Eugene Judd! He orders more soldiers to the area and orders the EXiles to hold their ground. Blink stuns the soldiers and Judd by saying they mean no one any harm....

Blink - What's happened here? Who did this?
Judd - So some of you can talk. Tell me, what happened to make you like this?
Morph - Like what? Tall?
Judd - Freaks.
Blink - I beg your pardon?
Judd - You aren't like your friends but that doesn't mean you aren't trouble.

Judd calls in a helicopter and other transport

Judd - I've got another group of them here, small ones by comparison. No, these ones seem tame, but just about as ugly in their own way. Three of them look quite human, in fact, and all are actually wearing clothes. They are under cover and do not pose a threat, we need evac to HQ as soon as possible.
Blink - Maybe introductions will help. I'm Clarice Ferguson but you can call me Blink. My mates are Morph, Victor Creed, Moondragon, Iron Fist, and Longshot. We are the EXiles and we're here to help, if we can.
Judd - OK, Blink, you're doing a good job of confusing me, eh? What's an EXile?
Blink - We're interuniverse travellers who try to right wrongs.
Judd - OK, that didn't help.
Blink - We're a group of, well, mostly mutants brought together to travel to different universes and fix things before they go to wrong.
Judd - As a helicopter arrives So what's a mutant and what do you mean by "different universes"?
Morph - Changing into a newscaster Mutant, a human with genes that grant him or her special looks and/or powers. Different universes, as in not this universe but other ones.

The soldiers move in tighter on Morph but Judd intercedes

Judd - Not too close, we don't want them to get any advantage!
Judd - OK, I want to break you up into groups. The big guy and the green girl can go in that truck. The tough guy and three fingers go in the next truck that comes. Blink, you and the marshmallow come wth me.

He motions for four of the soldiers to go with him to the helicopter

Sargeant, hold the fort here and go with the last pair, no fewer than six guards per truck. Got it?
Mitchell - Yes, sir.

Off go Judd, Blink, Morph and four soldiers, guns still pointed at the mutants' heads. Judd sits opposite Blink and Morph as they take off

Judd - OK, so tell me the truth eh, what happened at that lab to cause all this?
Blink - What do you mean? What lab?
Judd - groans The lab that created you, the one you destroyed before you demolished that town and its inhabitants.
Blink - We did no such thing! I told we we're interuniverse travellers and we arrived only minutes before we saw you. We have no idea why we're here so maybe you can fill us in about what's been going on.
Judd - You say you have no ties to that lab and that you zipped here from another universe? I'd have an easier time believing that the Moon is made of green cheese.
Morph - So you really don't know what we are or that other universes exist?
Judd - Both of those questions things guys like Langkowski and Thorne get paid to answer.

They travel in confused silence to the edge of Ottawa, where they see a large building partially demolished. Blink and Morph see the stunned looks of the soldiers as they view the carnage. Once they land...

Judd - What happened? Did they escape?
Soldier - You must be Mr. Judd. No, but one woke up and fell from his chopper, then started taking apart the place. We almost ran out of gas before he fell over again.
Judd - Who's in charge here, then? I've got two more freaks with me and four more on the way.
Soldier - You best see Dr. Langkowski, I think. Not many of the higher ups are left.
Judd - Motions to Blink and Morph to follow, as everyone stares We'd better get you inside and out of sight before something else goes wrong. No TV cameras, thank heavens for small miracles.

Inside, they see just how bad things are. The building to their left is barely together, with sky showing in several areas. So they go right and meet Dr. Langkowski

Langkowski - So you're Judd. Sorry to meet you under these circumstances. What have you brought now?
Judd - They were in the area of the disaster, generally coming from the lab. They say they're 'mutants from another universe...'
Morph - Universes.
Judd - Universes, who came here, I don't know how, to help us, and they don't know how that's supposed to work, either. You need to figure out what they are, eh?
Langkowski - If this were six hours ago I'd be the happiest man on Earth seeing these two anomalies. I'll see what I can do. Keep them under guard.
Judd - Where are your cohorts, Thorne and the rest?
Langkowski - Motions left Thorne, Haddock, Huxley, all were over there, but the makeshift morgue is outside now.

Judd nods solemnly

Blink - How can we prove to you that we mean you no harm and that we're here to help?
Langkowski - I'll see what I've got to test them with, Judd. Keep them under wraps. By the way, I'm sorry at your loss but I guess we're all lucky you were there.
Judd - Thanks, we've all suffered our fair share today.

Langkowski hurries out

Morph - So you have no idea what a mutant is, or any other kind of paranormal?
Judd - I've met mutants before but they had six fingers or no legs, nothing like you two. And I don't believe in ghosts or witches or other paranormals.

Langkowski returns with a bulky device with a monitor and 'dish'. He points it at Blink, then Morph, then Judd

Langkowski - Well, it seems they could be telling the truth. This device measures atomic motion. Everything around here but them shares the same motion, and they don't even share the same motion.
Judd - Could what made them like this explain that?
Langkowski - Our three monster men, the wall, you, all have the same spin, there's a good chance they either had their atoms drastically altered or they are from another universe.
Judd - You already pointed that thing at the other three?
Langkowski - The only way we can evaluate them is passively, we can't risk waking them up, we don't have anything left to stop them again.
Blink - Monster men? What are they?
Judd - Breathes heavy OK, I'll be an idiot and humour you. Six hours ago my home, that town that you came through, was obliterated by three monsters, I don't know what else to call them. They were huge and ugly, strong, fast, and they smashed everything that moved. When the army arrived bullets bounced off the monsters and they kept on killing. Shells, grenades, they never slowed down. I took charge of a group and had them contact Department H here, to get whatever gas supplies they had out there. If weapons didn't work, maybe gas would. It took a while but they all dropped. They killed over 300 people in less than two hours, including the specialists H here sent. I'd guess another 100 or so died here. Maybe another 500 casualties who aren't dead, yet.
Blink - What did these 'monsters' look like?
Judd - One looked like he was made out of stone, grey, maybe 3 meters tall, I'd guess from his footprints he must've weighed in around 200 kilograms. The second one was dark bown and hairy, something like a sasquatch if you know that legend, a lot wider than the rock one. The third was bigger, blue, smooth, looked like a cross between a man and a shark if you ask me. And they had a mad on for everything.
Blink - They came out of a lab? Whose?
Langkowski - Everyone for miles around hear the blast, then before anyone can get to the border and see what happened these monsters attack. Their trail lead back to the lab but our people didn't cross into the U.S. to have a good look, they said it was demolished and partially sunk.

A beep sounds. Langkowski motions for Judd to leave with him

Langkowski - Stay here, we have work to do. The others you, uh, came with will be here soon so sit tight and don't cause any trouble. Understand?
Blink - We'll wait but undersatnd that we won't stick around if we're not going to be treated decently.

Judd and Langkowski go upstairs, where Director Heather Hudson and Chief James Hudson are watching monitors, very grim, one monitor is fixed on the mutants.

Heather - Nice to meet you, Mr. Judd. I hope you're not here to spy for SHIELD?
Judd - To be honest, I'm surprised you know that I ever worked for SHIELD, or that it exists.
Heather - You didn't answer my question.
Judd - I retired years ago and I have nothing to give them. My town was in trouble, the army was in trouble, so I stepped in to help. Now you're in trouble and I'm not about to make things worse. How did you know I was a SHIELD agent?
Heather - You know there were rumours for years that some clandestine organization was around manipulating events to keep the world 'safer'. They did a pretty good job of staying out of sight, until Stark took over.
Judd - Astonished You know about him too?? I'm impressed!
Heather - We got conclusive evidence 10 years ago that SHIELD existed but until Anthony Stark became Director we had no idea what SHIELD was about. He doesn't walk siliently.
Judd - And the Crimson Dynamo affair could've been handled more discretely, eh?
Heather - We knew pretty quickly that the Russians had an armoured suit program and that it was destroyed and all designs confiscated. Black Air had a man close to the action and they owed us a favour.
James - How come SHIELD didn't get the Americans in?
Judd - I doubt even Stark or Reed Richards had a contingency for this ever happening. Bombs, poisons, terrorists sure, but this? They probably were scrambling just to get plans together in case the army up here failed.
Heather - Are they SHIELDs, then?
Judd - Well, I knew that genetics lab existed when I worked there but it did designer drugs, SHIELD never crossed paths with it in any way. But I have no idea what, if any, involvement Stark or Richards could've had with it lately.
Langkowski - I doubt even the vaunted Reed Richards could've done this. He's likely got SHIELD scientists running a thousand different experiments for him but this, aliens or turning men into monsters, I can't see even him conceiving of this.
Judd - So you aren't sure if this is an experiement gone wrong, an alien invasion, or an accident?
Langkowski - Not in the slightest. And having these new arrivals here just muddies it up more. I can't risk doing any tests on the monsters because they are too likely to wake up.
Heather - And we can't allow that. What do you make of the new arrivals? Are they playing any part in this?
Judd - My instincts say yes but how, I don't know. But your man here says they could be telling the truth.
Langkowski - There is evidence that they are not made from the stuff our universe is. Given enough time and tests I could tell you if they are telling the truth or not, but I doubt I'll get the chance.
Heather - Why not? You know, we even hacked into a SHIELD satellite to try and contact them but they aren't listening. I don't think they can move the monsters safely.
Judd - SHIELD is coming anyway, they will never talk to you. Now that you have the monsters secured they'll instigate one of their recall scenarios, get your army to 'help' move the monsters to SHIELD labs where Richards can study them. And if they have any clue that you have six more mystery people on board, they'll likely move them all, then clean you out. I'm sorry to say it, but Department H is finished and most of you will not live to see the morning, even if SHIELD doesn't wake the monsters.
James - Why?
Judd - You know too much. They have to contain this incident, just like the Crimson Dynamo one. Winterguard was wiped out, so will you. They may take some of you prisoner but unless Richards has some sort of memory eraser they'll have no choice but to continue the slaughter. Stark probably already has his people coordinating the spin as we speak. And those super suits of yours just make matters worse.
James - wincing Those are my Guardian suits, electro-magnetic power source, hovering, even an electroblast.
Judd - I saw. Impressive but they still died, and SHIELD will confiscate anything and everything.
James - We have three Guardians left. I invented them to protect Department H from attack, I guess that's over now.
Heather - I see all six have arrived. breathes heavy So what now? How long do we have?
Judd - SHIELD will already have things in motion, they'll try and move the monsters tonight.

Langkowski leaves. THe EXiles share notes. Next Issue: What the EXiles think, what Langkowski thinks, and the arrival of SHIELD. Can the EXiles help? What does Langkowski want? Will SHIELD fix things? Stay tuned

[Mokole]

Part Two:
The EXiles find themselves on an Earth with no mutants, no paranormals of any kind. Until today. Three monsters have decimated a small town and part of the Canadian Army, until Department H and an ex-SHIELD agent stepped in to subdue the beasts. Now everyone ponders their next move and what will happen next....

Blink - Good to see everyone is still in one piece.
Longshot - No thanks to Creed. He was lucky they never shot him, with that attitude.
Morph - I can see it now! Man shot in head in truck! Six soldiers dead, truck and man missing!
Blink - Knock it off, Morph. Team, we seem to have found the problem. A lab on the Canadian-U.S. border created something they call 'monster men' and they got loose, killing as they moved. Nobody here seems to have a clue what these men are, or even if they are men. Everybody here is on edge.
Creed - I'd say everyone is going to a funeral. They all looked like they were just given last rites when we came in.
Moondragon - True, I expected more activity, more urgency given what we saw, but it's like nobody cares.
Blink - I think they're stunned. This world has never seen anything like us except in fairy tales or movies, if there even. And those monsters are supposed to be worse looking than us. And all those deaths... I don't think massive death is common on this world.
Moondragon - One of the men in our truck got over his fear and talked to us. Last major war here ended in 1948, when the atom bomb got dropped. Outside of natural distasters they haven't seen death like this since. Seems fuses get lit but always get put out.
Blink - Every country here seems to have a secret government society to keep things safe. I gather that the atom bomb shocked them all so much that they all had the same idea, set up a covert operation so that secrets like that don't explode again.

In walks Langkowski

Langkowski - We need to talk.
Blink - We can help, if you need us.
Langkowski - That remains to be seen. My superiors don't believe you but I think you are telling us the truth. You don't know about the lab or the monster men, you are what you say you are. If so, then maybe you can help.
Blink - How? What do you have in mind?
Langkowski - SHIELD is coming, they're going to try and move the monster men and... and that'll be the death of most of the people you've met today.
Iron Fist - Why? Are you that certain that they'll fail?
Langkowski - No, Reed Richards could know more than we do about these creatures. But SHIELD can't allow anyone with direct knowledge of the monsters' existence walk around free. They'll kill the ones they don't need and arrest the rest of us. They have to protect the knowledge of the monsters, even the fact that they exist.
Blink - Do you think SHIELD created these 'monsters'?
Langkowski - I really have no idea. Sighs I'm just not in a position to do anything right now. Too many questions and I can't research the answers.
Blink - Can we see these monster men? Maybe we will recognize something about them. We've seen our share of 'monsters'.
Langkowski - I doubt... no, I'll take one of you. Tattoo guy, might as well be you. At least you won't interfere with the soldiers just by walking around. Put on my labcoat first and take off that mask, though.

Meanwhile, at SHIELD, Director Stark is viewing several monitors when Reed Richards enters

Stark - I suppose you've seen the worst.
Richards - Yes. How long before we pick up those things so I can study them?
Stark - We have things organized to have them here at 1940. Will you be ready by then? All containment procedures enhanced?
Richards - Already done. Pauses So who exactly are these things?
Stark - I was hoping you could tell me.
Richards - I haven't been near that lab or its people since I was brought into SHIELD. I have no idea what they did to cause this mess. Do you?
Stark - SHIELD has never had any reason to even investigate Apollon Labs, let alone work with them. They were creating designer drugs with genetic testing, same as always. We found nothing to suggest otherwise.
Richards - So then its clear, they came from the lab?
Stark - One way or another.
Richards - What do you mean?
Stark - I'm hoping you'll find out. Our preliminary investigation shows that these creatures came from that lab, they started out in the basement and moved up. So they are lab originals.
Richards - But if they exist by accident or design...
Stark - Well?
Richards - I can't see how anyone could've planned on making things like that, just like that, without testing, planning, there's just no way they could hide that, not with the materials and testing they needed.
Stark - But if this was an accident, how did it happen? How could these monsters possibly exist?
Richards - I have only a basic theory. Maybe they were working with pathogenics and infusing altered mitochondria into them. If they weren't careful they could've gotten infected. Maybe the explosion that destroyed their base lab had an impact which provided the energy for both the infection and the ignition of the genetic profiles. But what could have caused such an explosion there?
Stark - You'll have to find out. The Canadians had a pretty tough time dealing with them, they lost a lot of people. They even brought out some super suits, likely electromagnetic in design, but they were useless.
Richards - Super suits? Like the Crimson Dynamo?
Stark - Nothing like it. Small, more of a skinsuit with tech embedded, no real weapons or flight capabilities. But we have to take note, it took a lot to bring those monsters down. I'm sending in some Iron Men as backup. Just in case things get beyond the Canadians again before we get those things across the border.
Richards - Iron Men? Are you sure you want to risk exposing them in broad daylight?
Stark - We have to 'fumigate' he area anyway. We've already directed the Canadian army to keep the media and civilians away. The other army group they have left are to bring the monsters to us. They'll meet with an accident before they get here, when our people will take over. Quietly, of course.
Richards - This is the one time I really wish my mind-wipe technology had proven successful. How many people must be killed and captured?
Stark - I've got 238 to kill, 34 to bring in. That much is controlled over. Getting those monsters here safely is not.
Richards - What about news getting out?
Stark - We've got the spin already moving, a disaster caused by a covert Canadian branch called Department H. Inquiries galore to muddy things up and lay pointless blame. I love democracies.
Richards - So now we wait?
Stark - You can go to the lab tomorrow. Now we wait.

The Hudsons are angry with Langkowski for taking Iron Fist out of security but they can't bother with that now. They are plugging Judd for all the info they can to try and save lives from SHIELD. Meanwhile, Langkowski and Iron Fist head to the monsters...

Langkowski - How did you come to this planet?
Iron Fist - We have a machine that allows us to move from universe to universe as needed. Normally we know why we're going to a universe but not this time.
Langkowski - What was different this time?
Iron Fist - We were told that an anomaly had shown up in this universe but what or why was a mystery. So here we are.

They come to a room with one window. Langkowski motions to him to look in but don't go in. Iron Fist looks in and sees threw huge beings lying on the floor, covered in blankets and little else in the room. No monitors, no doctors or nurses, no guards.

Iron Fist - The closest things I've ever seen to those are Bruce Banner and Ben Brimm, but they don't look like that.
Langkowski - I know a Ben Grimm.
Iron Fist - The Grimm I knew had his genes altered by cosmic radiation. Turned into a big, orange rock guy, but still intelligent. Banner was irradiated by gamma particles and turned into something we called the Hulk. His unique genetics kept him from being killed. But honestly, those three creatures don't look like the Hulk.
Langkowkski - So you can't tell me more about them?
Iron Fist - Sorry. Why is there nobody around?
Langkowski - Since the blue one was sedated we've been worried about any of them regaining consciousness, so the atmosphere in there is meant to keep those beasts asleep. I have it set to moderate their life signs, which we are evaluating through quite passive means.
Iron Fist - So I take it that the air in their is not good for humans?
Langkowski - the gas ratios are meant to slow their breathing and metabolism, but we have to pump in so much oxygen that it's not safe anymore.
Iron Fist - So what happens next?
Langkowski - SHIELD will manipulate troops to get those monsters to their labs, then they'll clean up this mess, no witnesses.
Iron Fist - That sounds awfully dictatorial.
Langkowski - Maybe to you. But SHIELD and all the other covert agencies like us have kept the peace by containing secrets. Now that's all over. SHIELD will never be able to cull all of the people who "know too much", media has already gotten images of this tragedy. Those other covert agencies, like Black Air and Level 8 Down, will try and figure out what happened here, try and recreate some of the events and try to control things to create super soldiers, not monsters. SHIELD will have a leg up on everyone in deciphering the genetics behind this, they'll have the test subjects, dead or alive. The genie's out of the bottle, anyone with any kind of genetics degree is going to try and create their wn monsters now. Even SHIELD won't be able to avoid temptation. Our world will never be the same.

Meanwhile, the Husdsons have been monitoring the media and army movements with Judd. They know what SHIELD is planning and are simply hoping that nothing else goes wrong. The Hudsons know they'll never go home again.

Blink - So what did you see, Iron Fist?
Iron Fist - Just what he described. I can't say I've seen their like before. They're not alternate versions of the Hulk, Thing, or Abomination. But the doctor has a plan.
Langkowski - Why don't you transport all three monsters to another universe? You could solve most of our problems in a minute. Just take them away so SHIELD finds nothing, we can say they disintegrated! After that it's just s matter of creating enough misinformation to keep everyone from the truth of what these monsters are.
Blink - What are they?
Langkowski - I believe they must be accidental mutants, like your Thing and Hulk. Pathogenics mixed with gamma rays or cosmic rays, maybe DNA manipulation that escaped, but something hard to reproduce, I'm betting.
Blink - I'm not sure we can help you.
Langkowski - For heaven's sake, why not!?!
Blink - We've dealt with the Hulk before and the energy he puts ut prevents him from being moved normally. If these monsters put out any energy like that, we may not be able to pull them out. And there's the matter of not allowing them into our home base. It's not always possible to control things there, either.
Morph - And simply plucking them out may not solve your problems in the long run. If people know these are mutated humans it will leave Pandora's box open.

Heather has been listening and comes down to the secure room

Heather - All right, if you can't help us then leave. Go home. Don't give SHIELD a look at you. Go now and let us be.
Blink - We should. We don't have the power to stop those monsters and we may not be able to move them. We can't change what they did or the knowledge of them. I'm sorry, but you seem to be on your own.
Longshot - Why don't we transport all of the SHIELD people who could use this information?
Heather - And what about Black Air, or Project: WideAwake, or any other organixation with the capability to recreate monsters like these? Can you find and move all of them? Is that a good thing too?
Morph - I take it you don't share the doctor's fears.
Heather - I don't. I don't want SHIELD to do what they're about to do but what choice do I have. The world won't come to an end because of this. Many people will die but maybe we were just due for this disaster.
Moondragon - So you are going to let SHIELD walk all over you, killing innocents along the way?
Longshot - And with no guarantee that those monsters won't escape and head into that city beside us?
Heather - I'm confident that the monsters will awaken and kill lots of people. SHIELD will likely bring in their Iron Men to fix things but that won't work. James agrees with Langkowski, SHIELD will mess things up. It took a lot more gas and more kinds of gas to stop that blue thing when it woke up here than when Judd dropped it the first time. They may be adapting. Will a missile pierce those hides? A bomb? I'm not sure SHIELD will be any more prepared than we were.

Heather watches as the EXiles group together to leap. Suddenly Creed backs out

Creed - I'm staying, for the time being.
Blink - What?
Creed - Maybe I can help. These guys can give me a proper uniform, I'll blend in a lot better than you might think. With my abilities I'll be alright and SHIELD will be none the wiser. In the meantime you can look for another option. Go. I know what I'm doing. I'll see you in a few hours. Just don't forget where you left me.
Morph - Bread crumbs! I knew I forgot something! Anybody got a pen, I'll write down the address.

We end as the EXiles leave, Langkowski takes Creed out to be fitted for a uniform. Army units start coming in from the south, along with two transport helicopters. Another huge transport lags behind. We see inside, the Iron Men wait.

Next up: the finale. Is this Earth doomed? Will Sabretooth just make matters worse? Can the EXiles find a way to fix this mess without making things worse. Carnage ensues!

[Mokole]

The finale. The EXiles have reurned home, without Sabretooth. Department H is ready to hand over the monsters to SHIELD. Everyone at Department H believes tonight will be a dark day for all....

Blink - I hate leaving them like that.
Morph - But what could we do? Even as a group it never sounded like we could take out those things, let alone keep SHIELD at bay. There world changed the moment those monsters got loose.
Iron Fist - I'd still like to know how they were created. If it was intentional then nothing can stop their world from going into a superhuman arms race.
Longshot - I doubt they meant to create them. As smart as Langkowski is even he had no idea where they came from, and the destruction we saw indicated that the creatures were in destroyer mode right away, so no testing.

Heather Hudson walks over.

Hudson - Why'd you leave Creed behind?
Blink - He thinks he can make a difference. If those monsters get loose like everyone expects, maybe he can do something to save a few lives.
Hudson - I can't see how that will help. If what you say about their SHIELD is right then they'll cleanse any survivors anyway. So this Langkowski says they have no mind-wipe or brainwashing techniques, SHIELD only kills?
Blink - No mindwiping, and brainwashing would take too long, create too many holes to fill, get questions asked that SHIELD doesn't want asked.
Moondragon - We should still try to help without making things worse. It would be nice if that world gave other options for the monsters.

Back on Earth, the Canadian troops (unknowingly acting under SHIELD orders and carrying SHIELD agents) has cleared away the media and opened a route for the transports to get to the building. Little do they know that if they follow orders, they die.

Soldier - Copy that. The transports can go straight in, through the left area. Wait and copy back.
Langkowski - They're here. I expect the SHIELD personnel will have blended in, wearing regular issue. The scientists will all be SHIELD's.
Creed - Think that Richards or Stark will be in attendance?
Judd - Stark, never, too risky. He has sent the orders and expects perfect execution. Richards is probably jumping out of his skin but Stark will keep him locked inside. They'll watch on their interlinks.

The personnel go in to get the monsters. They hesitate before entering the room, making sure all security personnel are in place. No Iron Men or Guardians are in view

Creed - Do you think they know you scattered the Guardians out into the boonies?
James - No, but they'll figure it out.

A soldier approaches and asks that the Hudsons, Judd, and Langkowski follow her into Department H, to make sure Deprtment H personnel stay out of the way.

Langkowski - They won't be any problem. Our people want them gone as bad as you want them.

The soldier gives him a sharp look.

Heather - Don't be coy. We know you're SHIELD, we know what SHIELD has planned, and we don't like it. Don't look at Judd, SHIELD isn't much of a secret anymore.

Before they get to the room a roar is heard, then another. The body of one scientist goes flying through the wall, screams are heard. Suddenly the rock monster is out, charging at the first person he sees and smashing as he goes. The blue monster follows, crashing out the left. The hairy monster is still behid, killing anyone left in the room.

Heather - Move in, don't back up! Fire at will and don't let up!
James - Hit them with anything you've got, don't hold back!
Langkowski - My lord, they're shrugging off shell shots!
Creed - Evreyone out, get them out where the big ordinace can get at them!

The monsters don't hold back. They are as fast as Langkowski said and appear at least as strong as the Thing. Creed rushes everyone out as the building satrts to cave in. The monsters keep coming, even as shells of higher calibres are launched. Missiles follow, to no avail.

Heather - All those people, gone so fast!
James - SHIELD isn't even slowing them down. That last barrage just got their attention.

Both transports are mashed in seconds

Creed - I haven't seen carnage like this in a long time. Never awnted to in the first place.
Judd - Keep moving away, there's nothing we can do now. The army and SHIELD are getting creamed.
Heather - Another helicop... no, it's not! Flying people! It's the Iron Men!

Twelve Iron Men streak in to defend the dwindling forces, firing cannons and repulser rays. That gets the monsters' attention. They attack the Iron Men and show off their jumpoing ability, which is impressive. The Iron Men start falling like flies. Pieces of building and machines rain down.

Judd - Look out!
James - Heather!!!

A piece of machinery thrown by the rock monster crushes Heather and hits Judd and James too. Creed picks himself up.

Creed - No point in just being a target. I'm going in.
Langkowski - James! James! Can you hear me?
James - Wal... Walter. Uh. Hu, hu. Get the Guardians. Get the... them.
Langkowski - Why? They wouldn't stand a chance against those monsters, either. They killed 5 Guardians already.
James - No,....no. I know you can beat those monsters, somehow. Send them after SHIELD, Stark, Richards. Don't let them kill all of us. Tho... Those men and wo... famil,,...

Langkowski holds him as he dies. Judd is dead, Heather, in fact he can see few moving bodies anywhere. He is surprised to see Creed take a wallop and still get up.

Langkowski - Creed! get out of there!
Creed - Too tough. I couldn't really hurt them, they just shrugged me off. Time to move, Doc, before you get squashed too.
Langkowski - Stark's Iron Men, they're almost all gone. Everyone is all gone. Creed, those things are going to head into town and I've got nothing to do, nothing that will change their course. Millions will die.
Creed - Those things can't run forever, can they?
Langkowski - For a long time. They will run out of gas eventually but I don't know if that will make them vulnerable. Look, even the gas doesn't phase them anymore. I count only five moving bodies left. Four.

Suddenly a crack is heard. A flying saucer appears in the sky and descends above the monsters. Out comes a cannon which shoots at a ray at the monsters. One by one they collapse. All is quiet as the ship lands. Langkowski watches in stunned silence as two small, dark alien sexist, looking very odd. Creed recognizes them though. They are both Goblyn! One Goblyn motions at the ship and two robots come out. They go collect the monsters and take them back to the ship. One Goblyn goes to the closest soldier.

Goblyn - zzzzt We are sorry zzzt that zttzzz our prisoners escaped zzzztztztz. We will zz z ztz take them back to prison. We zzzztz claimed the ship they stole from the zzztz lab they landed on zzztz, we will cause you no more trouble z zzzzzzzttzzzzz.

Goblyn re-enters the ship. It slowly takes off then seems to disappear with another crack.

Langkowski - Aliens? They were aliens?
Creed - Obviously. I reconized the little blue ones, on their planet they rule, other aliens follow. Your monsters must've been followers who wanted to be rulers.
Langkowski - Where are they from, how far?
Creed - I've only seen them once and it wasn't on Earth. There was a universe we went to that put us light years from Earth. These aliens are from about 1000 light years away. But don't tell anyone, it'll just make things worse.
Langkowski - If those things were aliens... then no one need worry about trying to recreate them! Even Richards won't try and duplicate an alien he has no idea of. Space travel....
Creed - You know, on most Earths they've at least been to the Moon by now. You should work on that.
Lagkowski - Better than a super man arms race.
Creed - Even you will not try and make your own alien?
Langkowski - With such spaceflight calling? Why waste the time? Even knowing mutants exist, I have no doubt I can focus on space travel!
Creed - And what about the Guardians?
Langkowski - My people will need peotection from SHIELD, just in case. Besides, it's Jimmy's legacy.

Longshot appears and motions to Creed. They find a secluded spot and leave.

Creed - Pretty smart. 'No, they're not mutates, they're aliens, and if you want to learn about aliens build a spaceship, can't build aliens in a lab1'
Blink - Morph's idea.

Creed sees the 'aliens'. Four Goblyns, two Madison Jeffries ( athird person was the ship, one with similar powers to Madison but not him). He is introduced as Bart Jeffries

Creed - What kind of energy beam was that?
Blink - Ever met Leech? We had three handy who could do the job.
Longshot - Will this close Pandora's Box?
Morph - Only with sticky tack.
Blink - If we gave them the space bug, great, at least that shouldn't lead to war right away.
Creed - I wonder how SHIELD will deal with being exposed. They pushed the media back but with all those dead soldiers and after that ship appeared, they'll get an eyeful of those Iron Men and SHIELD communicators lying around.
Blink - Well done team. This is one Earth we'll have to keep an eye one, but we gave them a chance to let peace reign once more.

The end. The EXiles head off on more aventures, meating their share of Alpha Flights along the way. We see Langkowski as an older man, standing beside Richards on a ship as they watch the first person walk on Mars. And no SHIELD insignias in sight.