A giant walks among us
Peter Parker is alone in his apartment when a breaking news bulletin caught his attention:
An excited newswoman says, "This just in...police eyewitnesses report that two giants are causing massive destruction and mayhem in Richmond Park, in Queens. Sources state that one of them is the super villain Atlas, formerly known as Goliath, while his opponent appears to be some kind of robot.
"Details are sketchy at the moment. A VNN news van with our top reporters should be arriving on the scene shortly. We hope to present live footage of the event.
"Repeating our top story...two giants are battling in Richmond Park, Queens. Police are struggling to control the situation, but are blockading all entrances to the area. All effort to contact the Avengers have failed. We will return with more after these commercial messages…"
Peter Parker stood up and ran to his closet where his Spider-Man suit hung.
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Richmond Park was a neighborhood of extravagant mansions and millionaire country club. However, it was now a site of destruction. Thick black plumes of noxious smoke rose from the ashes of burning cars and homes. The flashing lights and sirens of police cars, ambulance, and fire trucks were everywhere. Authorities scrambled to evacuate the area.
The immense forms of two titans were locked in mortal kombat amongst the fire and smoke. One of them man, the other a machine assembled in the likeness of. Their battle took place on the lawn of Hammerhead's massive estate.
A Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native, Erik Jotsen was a mercenary who had gained superhuman strength by being exposed to Ionic rays at the urging of The Enchantress and HYDRA's Baron Zemo. These were the same rays reported to have given Wonder Man his powers. After his first partnership eventually dissolved, Etik Jotsen began his career as a supervillain anew. He first went by Power-Man, but was disgraced by Luke Cage who defeated him in combat and forced him to retire the name. He then was subjected to a dose of Pym Particles and recieved the ability to control and fluctuate his own stature. He served several villains associations, including the Lethal Legion, as Goliath before he discovered that name had also already been claimed. Finally deciding upon the name Atlas, he became desperate for work and to create a stunning image of himself began work under the employ of the Maggia Crime Families to personally protect Hammerhead.
Atlas' opponent was a truly frightening spectacle of robotics.
Atlas opponent was a Colossal Deathlok. In an alternate reality, Luther Manning was a colonel in the army who suffered a critical injury from a concussion mine. Manning's superior, Major Simon Ryker, salvaged his body for use in Project: Alpha-Mech, a covert military operation designed to create cyborg super-soldiers. Manning's brain, nervous system, and still-living tissue were implanted into a synthetic body in an operation performed by Major Ryker's brother, Harlin Ryker. Manning awoke in a cybernetic body that was partially his own, and partially controlled by a mini-computer in his cranium. He was given the codename Deathlok. Later, Deathlok became displaced in time, when The Fixer and Mentallo gained temporary control over the being. Unknown to the rest of the world, The Fixer had made a detailed blueprint of Deathlok's systems, while they held him in their possession. Using the computerized template, they had constructed the Deathlok Simulacrum, a metal machine with no organic parts. That robot had been programmed to act as their enforcer and as the puppet-master for the Faces of Fear. Pleased with their own success, they adapted the design to massive proportions and created the Colossal Deathlok. Akin to the Simulacrum, The Colossal Deathlok was an unthinking machine that was piloted by The Fixer, Mentallo, and Fu Manchu from a bullet-proof glass encased cockpit, positioned in the robots head.
"It's about damn time some of you heroe dudes showed up," The towering villain Atlas jeered as he noticed the Heroes For Hire gathering in attendance. "I could sure use a hand!"
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Rallying to Atlas' side to defeat the colossal Deathlok, the Heroes For Hire were bombarded with blasts of Repulsor rays from the palms ofthe robot. Atlas, matching the robot in size was proving an even match before the Deathlok temporarily seized him in a Bola-like net of Eldritch Energy dispersed from its chest. The brutal fight continued on, with the Colossal Deathlok being partially dismantled by a well-aimed chi-charged punch from Iron Fist who had been launched into the air by the hurling arms of Luke Cage.
As the defeated robot's mechanical body began to fold, the self-contained escape pod cockpit ejected from the cranium of the Deathlok, Fu Manchu piloting himself and his allies away from the battle. Watching the escape pod jettison across the park, Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, and Misty Knight pursued the fleeing villains. Unfortunately for them, their escape pod had been badly damaged in the fight with Atlas, and its systems failed causing it to crash land in a lightly wooded area.
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Only a little shaken up, Fu Manchu and his accomplices climbed from the wreck to face the heroes. In his right hand, the Celestial One held the detonator of the Spirit Bombs, which looked something like a futuristic TV remote. The stolen tome, 'A Madman's Mutterings', was cradled in the crook of his left arm. "You are too late,"Says Fu Manchu, "I have planted five spirit bombs around the city. When i press this button, they will all detonate. The bombs will rip open a portal to the Nether Realm. As the five gates grow, they will merge into one tremendous opening to another Dimension! The mystical energies of the Nether Realm shall consume the Earth!"
"We've disarmed the Spirit Bombs you've placed around the city. Your weapon of mass destruction has been destroyed. You stand, a beaten man, before your own son. This is over, Father. Please, surrender." Shang-Chi pleaded.
Fu Manchu refused to listen to reason, and used one long-nailed finger to press the button on his detonator…
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After eliminating the Colossal Deathlok, the majority of the Heroes For Hire in attendance believed the battle to be over. "I got a reputation to uphold," Atlas bellowed as he then swung his massive fist in an attempt to smash Daredevil. "I can't let it be said Atlas needs the help of you, little squirts!"
Luckily, this was when a suited Spider-Man swung into the fray on a strand of his proprietary webbing. Kicking Atlas square in the chest with both feet, and sending the giant on to his butt and crushing Hammerhead's Maserati sports car.
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Just before the battle between Atlas and the Deathlok had begun, Fu Manchu had personally and successfully hid the 5th and final Spirit Bomb in a fountain near Hammerhead's mansion. During the confusion of the fight, the heroes for Hire had no chance of locating the bomb. When Fu Manchu detonated the bomb a techno-magical doorway was ripped open, and the vile interdimensional entity known only as Vortex emerged from within the Nether Realm.
Vortex was a fragment of the essence of the Nether Realm, a world holding captive the souls of some of the most evil beings in history throughout the Universe. This energy creature was an extension of the will of the rulers of the Nether Realm, and was under their direct control. Vortex was given the form of a whirling black-smoke hurricane protruding tentacles of pure mystical energy. It swirled up 100 feet from the opening.
Vortex immediately grasped the ankle of Fu Manchu in one of its hundreds of slimy tentacles. Struggling futilely too break free, the Celestial one dropped the book and the detonator. Fu Manchu could not escape, and was being pulled into the black portal. A booming voice rang out like a clarion call, piercing the minds of all who heard it "Fu Manchu, you deceiver! As Bartholomew Jacobs can attest, none can evade my grasp! I return you to your place of eternal torment!"
As the portal continued to grow, Vortex attempted to capture others nearby. Moon Knight was ensnared and followed Fu Manchu through the portal.
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After passing through the black portal, Moon Knight's mind was assaulted by a jumble of past memories and fragmented dreams. Confused, he lost consciousness.
He awoke to find himself standing in a circle of comfortable blue light, which protected him from the sinister world around him.
The sky above was bright red, the color of flame. Black lightning arced through the fiery atmosphere. As far as his eye could see, familiar massive towers of black stone rose from the burning, rocky ground. Suddenly, he was shaken to the ground by a tremendous explosion. The very sky ripped asunder. Swirling gouts of flame roared up the monoliths, as the agonized howls of the tormented became deafening. Though he could not see them, Moon Knight sensed the presence of beings of immense power. They were very close.
A familiar deep voice boomed above the din of shrieking spirits, "Your very soul is in jeopardy, Marc Spector. You have not destroyed the arcane book, as i have asked, and for thia failure your soul shall suffer eternal torment in this place! Reap the consequences of your inadequacies, human!"
However, Moon Knight saw the opening of the interdimensional doorway that led to his own dimension. Making no mistake in timing, and running for the portal, Moon Knight was able to abscond and propel himself back into the material plane. As he narrowly dodged the grasping tentacles, he reached into a pocket on his utility belt and withdrew Cameron Seavers disarming device.
Leaping through the portal, he turned and lobbed the small device directly into the eye of the portal. The device activated, and Moon Knight watched as the interdimensional doorway dissipated into nothingness in the air. Sealing Fu Manchu, Vortex and his lords away from our world. He lay there, catching his breath, as he noticed he had landed o to the discarded tome.