(Front cover. We see the new Avengers fighting against the Sentinels. Crusader II throws her hammer at one of them, Torrent electrocutes another, Mustang fires an arrow at a third, Bravado casts a magic spell at a fourth, and Firefly shoots fire at a fifth. In all there are about 10 sentinels around them, and the sentinels are fighting back. One of them shoots a laser, which hits Crusader II�s shield.)

Mustang: There are too many of them!
Crusader: We�ve got to keep fighting... for the sake of everyone!

(Inside front cover. We see the blurbs for Crusader, Bravado, Torrent, Mustang, and Firefly. Below that, we see these blurbs:)

Harold Trask: The son of Bolivar Trask, Harold has taken it upon himself to continue his father�s work to make the machines which will bring down the mutant "problem" once and for all.

Kim Fury: The daughter of Nick Fury and Kate Neville, Kim is now the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. - which has dedicated itself to stopping the Sentinels, and as a consequence, has gone underground.

(Page 1, panel 1. We see the New Avengers going down a subway tunnel, which is dark. Firefly provides the light by which they see.)
Cap (N1): It�s been 24 hours since they were first formed.
Cap (N2): And now they are in the fight of their lives.
Cap (N3): The New Avengers are trying to get to their headquarters.
Firefly: I think we�re approaching a station.
Crusader: Be ready for anything.

(Panel 2. They pass by a side-tunnel.)
Bravado: It�s like our parents said it was... but somehow different.

(Panel 3. Suddenly a pair of hands reaches out and grabs Torrent, covering her mouth.)

Torrent: UMPH!

(Panel 4. The rest of the team stops, and turns.)

Bravado: Kendall? Where are you?
Crusader: Something�s wrong, Balder.

(Page 2, panel 1. They go into the side-tunnel.)

Crusader: Get ready for a battle.

(Panel 2. They come to a S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost, where several people point weapons at them.)

Crusader: Where is she!?

(Panel 3. Enter Kim Fury. She is tall, thin, wearing a ragged olive drab outfit, and her hair is a mess. She has dirty smears on her body.)

Kim: Well, more mutants to join our cause... S.H.I.E.L.D. can use some new recruits.
Bravado: S.H.I.E.L.D.? I�ve heard of you.... You�re supposed to be the ones who protect the weak in times of trouble.

(Panel 4. Kim stares Bravado in the eye.)

Kim: Yes. We are dedicated to stopping the sentinel menace. Are you with me?
Bravado: Yes. So long as one of us is not free, all of us are not free.

(Panel 5. Crusader intervenes.)

Crusader: Look, we�ve been on another planet all our lives - why don�t you fill us in on what happened.
Kim: All right...

(Page 3, panel 1. Flashback to about 20 years ago. We see Senator Robert Kelly working in his office.)

Cap (Kim (K)1): It was about 20 years ago.
Cap (K2): Back then there was a very rabid anti-mutant Senator named Joseph Kelly.
Cap (N3): And he was going to announce his candidacy for president.

(Panel 2. Enter Kelly�s secretary, a beautiful blonde woman. She holds some papers for him to sign.)

Cap (K1): One evening, a mutant known as Mystique slipped into his office.
Kelly: That will be all, thank you.
Mystique: No it won�t, Senator.

(Panel 3. Senator Kelly sees Mystique (now in her true form) pointing a laser at him.)
Kelly: What the--!? Guards!!
Mystique: I already delt with them, Kelly. Now, I�m going to deal with you.

(Panel 4. We see Kelly�s dead body fall to the ground.)

Cap (N1): And so Mystique shot him.
Cap (N2): The reaction was swift, immediate, and direct: Destroy every mutant on the earth was the call.

(Panel 5. We see an angry mob outside the White House with protest signs that are anti-mutant in nature. They read things like "Die mutie scum" and "Kill the killers" and one with the word mutant with the universal no symbol over it.)

Cap (K1): At first, everyone welcomed Project: Wideawake, except the mutants.
Cap (K2): Then the trouble began.

(Panel 6. We see hundreds of Sentinels flying in the air.)

Cap (K1): My father was the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. then, you may have heard of Nick Fury.
Cap (K2): He realized that these new Sentinels would be more than trouble for everyone.

(Page 4, panel 1. Go over to see G. W. Bridge, Kate Neville, Tim Dugan, Contessa Fontaine, and Alex Pierce standing on the bridge of the S.H.I.E.L.D. hellicarrier.)

Bridge: Jeez Louise! Look at them all!
Kate: That�s not the worst of it, George.

(Panel 2. Bridge turns to Kate)

G.W.: What is it now?
Kate: They�re attacking normal human beings because they have the chance to bear mutant children. These sentinels are spraying innocent people with a sterilization chemical!

(Panel 3. Bridge grits his teeth at everyone.)

G.W.: Damn that Trask!! He�s gone too far now!! We�ve got to stop him... no matter what the cost!!

(Panel 4. Kate turns to Alex.)

Kate: Contact all known superheroes that will fight for our side... I know it�s a short list, but we�re going to need all the help we can get.

(Page 5, panel 1. Go back to the present.)

Kim: Shortly thereafter over 500 sentinels attacked... our side didn�t stand a chance... we were massacred like cattle. Now only regular human beings without the potential to produce mutant offspring in 3 generations can show their faces topside. And a few others, like me, cannot go up there either.
Bravado: Od�s blood! There must be something we can do!
Voice (from off panel): At the moment, we cannot find any weaknesses in the enemy�s armor.

(Panel 2. They turn to see an older Lotus there, now about 40. She wears a dirty uniform of hers.)

Lotus: We�ve tried everything to resist the sentinels... The new Rho class can even resist my powers. Believe me, if there was a way to stop them, we would have found it.

(Panel 3. Crusader smiles.)

Crusader: Never say die.
Lotus: Ah, I was that way long ago... before I lost my husband... before two of my children were butchered in front of me. But I hope the return of the children of some of the superheroes will gather some sympathy to our side.
Kim: Children of heroes?

(Panel 4. Lotus faces Kim.)

Lotus: Look at the blonde... she�s holding Captain America�s shield and Thor�s hammer... I doubt that either one would give either weapon to someone who hadn�t earned it.
Kim (1): That�s Thor�s hammer? That�s Captain America�s shield? Lotus, are you sure?
Kim (2): Where did you get them from?

(Panel 5. Crusader approaches Kim.)

Crusader: I am the daughter of Captain America, Bravado here is the son of Thor, Mustang is the son of Hawkeye, Torrent is the daughter of Storm, and Firefly is the son of the Human Torch.
Lotus: We could really use the originals now.

(Panel 6. They gather around Lotus.)

Crusader: We�re a team, Lotus. We�ll get them good.
Lotus: I once had a well-trained team... that is, before 8 of the 11 were massacred. ..
Kim: We�ve got to keep hope alive, Lecita. No matter what, we�re the only hope mankind has for survival.

(Page 6, panel 1. Lotus smiles.)

Lotus: Well, let�s see what this team can do.

(Panel 2. We see the New Avengers in a room with Lotus, Justice, Bander, Captain Ultra, and the Invisible Woman. All are in their uniforms and look worn out and ragged.)
Lotus: Send in these new Avengers.

(Panel 3. Enter the New Avengers. )
Firefly: We�re ready for you.
Lotus: Good. Let�s start with something basic.

(Panel 4. Lotus discharges a white light from her forehead, hitting the Cruasder.)

Crusader: UHN!
Bravado: Sara!

(Panel 5. Lotus stops the light as the Cruasader smiles.)

Crusader: Wow...
Lotus: She�s her father�s daughter all right...
Bravado: What have you done to her!?

(Page 7, panel 1. Lotus faces Bravado.)

Lotus: I have infused her with divine energies. If she was against us, she would have felt pain and anguish. However, since she is feeling bliss, she has potential for greatness.

(Panel 2. Cut back to the Beyonder�s planet. We see Captain America in his home, looking for his shield.)

Captain: Carol, my shield is gone again.

(Panel 3. Enter Rogue.)

Rogue: We�ve got worse problems. Sara�s vanished!
Captain (turns): Sara? Gone?

(Panel 4. Go outside to see the She-Hulk and Hawkeye looking around the place.)
She-Hulk: CJ! Where are you!?

(Panel 5. She-Hulk and Hawkeye run into the Human Torch and the Wasp, who are flying.)

Torch: Jennifer, have you seen Matthew?
She-Hulk: No, we�ve been looking for C.J.

(Page 8, panel 1. Enter the Hulk.)

Hulk: We�ve got problems, everyone... someone has activated the teleporter!
All but Hulk: WHAT!?

(Panel 2. Enter Captain America and Rogue.)

Captain: What was this about the teleporter?
Hulk (turns): Captain, someone has activated the teleporter.
Wasp: They must have taken Matthew!

(Panel 3. Captain America is pragmatic.)

Captain: O.k., They took the kids, they teleported off the planet. Who would do such a thing?

(Panel 4. They look at each other.)

She-Hulk: Well, whoever did it, they could be anywhere in the universe now.

(Page 9, panel 1. Go back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters on Earth. We see the heroes breaking for the day.)

Cap (N1): Several weeks later.
Cap (N2): They have planned their final assault on the citadel of the Sentinels.
Cap (N3): That will be tomorrow.
Kim: Rest, everyone. We�re going to need our strength for tomorrow.

(Panel 2. They go off in separate directions.)

Mustang: Finally, a real battle to prove our worth.

(Panel 3. Lotus notices Bravado, and pulls him aside.)

Lotus: What�s wrong here?
Bravado: What do you mean?

(Panel 4. Lotus stares into Bravado�s face.)

Lotus: You�re upset because Crusader picked up your father�s hammer while you didn�t.
Bravado: I wanted the hammer, that�s true... but it has chosen her.

(Panel 5. Lotus smiles slightly.)

Lotus: To pick it up, all you have to do is prove yourself worthy in battle.
Bravado: That�s all? I just prove myself worthy in battle?

(Panel 6. Lotus leads Bravado by the hand.)

Lotus: It�s not as easy as it looks, Bravado.
Bravado: But there�s more to this than I can say.

(Panel 7. Lotus stops, and faces Bravado.)

Lotus: Oh?
Bravado: I... love her. I don�t know how she�d react if I suddenly took the hammer away from her.

(Panel 8. Lotus smiles.)

Lotus: The hammer is your heritage, Bravado... not hers. It�s your destiny to wield it.

(Page 10, panel 1. Go back to the Beyonder�s planet. We see the Marvel heroes and villains here, gathered together.)

Cap (N1): Later, back at the beyonder�s planet.
Cap (N2): And the heroes have gathered.
Captain: Everyone�s been accounted for. Therefore, we can only conclude the kids must have done it themselves.
Torch: So how do we get them back?

(Panel 2. Captain America turns to the Human Torch.)

Captain: That I do not know, Johnny.
Absorbing Man: We may have to presume they are dead.

(Panel 3. She-Hulk faces Absorbing Man.)
She-Hulk (angered): That�s my son you�re talking about!!

Captain: Jennifer, calm down. I have lost my daughter too. There must be a way to get to them.

(Panel 4. Spider-Man speaks.) Spider-Man: What about the teleporter? Hulk: A key componet of the teleporter is the use of Thor�s hammer, which Sara had.

(Page 11, panel 1. Go to the headquarters of the Sentinels. We see Harold Trask and Ahab standing at the feet of Ultra Mold. This large robot produces Sentinels as they talk.)

Cap (N1): Meet the men who are out for a dream.
Cap (N2): A dream of a world without mutants.
Cap (N3): And for this dream, they have turned the world into a nightmare.
Ahab: Sector 39 reports a 12% decrease in mutant activity.
Trask: It should be down to zero.

(Panel 2. They continue to talk.)

Ahab: We�ll get all the mutants, Trask... it�s just a matter of time.
Trask: We have to fight, we have to persevere, we have to win... because the world is counting on it.

(Panel 3. Go back to Bravado and Crusader. We see them together on a street where there are wrecked buildings.)

Cap (N): And back with Crusader and Bravado....
Crusader: It�s hard to believe that this was the place where my father grew up.
Bravado: Our parents spoke of Earth as a magical place, where they could call home.... I wonder what they would say if they could see it now?

(Panel 4. They come to a large crater where the Avengers mansion used to be.) Crusader: Well, according to what we�ve been told, this was the place. Bravado: Avengers headquarters... what a waste. We�ll have to rebuild it when this Sentinel menace has ended.

(Page 12, panel 1. They hear something from off panel.)

Sentinel (From off panel): Surrender mutants.
Bravado: Trouble! Come on!

(Panel 2. They rush over to see Jolt being attacked by two Sentinels.)

Jolt: What did we ever do to you?

Bravado: As my father would say, unhand that maiden, thou vile villains!!

(Panel 3. Bravado rushes a Sentinel as the sentinels face Crusader and Bravado.)

Sentinel: Attention: Two unidentified mutants have been sighted! Scanning mutants for powers and abilties.

(Panel 4. Bravado rams one of the Sentinels, sending it into a pile of rubble.)

Bravado: Scan this, you overgrown tin can!!

(Panel 5. Crusader strikes the other Sentinel with her shield, throwing the shield.)

SFX: CLANG!!

(Page 13, panel 1. Bravado casts a spell on the sentinel, causing it to short-circuit.)

Bravado: You shouldn�t be hurting other people!
SFX: CRACKLE!!

(Panel 2. Crusader knocks the other Sentinel down by hitting it with mjolnir.)

SFX: WHAM!!

Crusader: Take that!!

(Panel 3. Crusader and Bravado face Jolt.)

Crusader: Are you all right?
Jolt: I.... I am. Thank you for saving me.
Bravado: Come with us, we could use someone like you.

(Panel 4. Jolt faces Bravado.)

Jolt: My leg is broken, I cannot move.
Bravado: Then I�ll heal it.

(Panel 5. Bravado casts a spell on Jolt�s leg, which heals in panel 6.)

Jolt: UHN!!

(Page 14, panel 1. Jolt stands.)

Jolt: I... I can walk again!

Cruasder: Come on, we�ve got to get out of here before hundereds of Sentinels show up.

(Panel 2. They go underground.)

Crusader: By the way, I�m Crusader, this is Bravado. And you are...?

(Panel 3. They hear a voice from off panel.)
Voice: Jolt!!
Jolt (turns): Lotus?

(Panel 4. We see Lotus and Jolt give each other a friendly hug.)

Lotus: Oh, thank God you�re alive.... I was so afraid you had died...
Jolt: I took a wrong turn and ended up in a big mess, Lecita.

(Page 20, panel 1. Suddenly Thor�s hammer comes from nowhere and strikes Howard Trask, knocking him away from the fallen Cruasder.)

Voice (From off panel): As my father would say, I say thee nay!

(Panel 2. Harold and Cruasder turn to see Bravado reaching out for Mjolnir, which is returning to him.)

Bravado: I have proved myself worthy of weilding the hammer of my father... and you, Howard Trask, are through!
Trask: Never!!
Crusader: Bravado!

(Panel 3. Trask fires his machine gun at Bravado, who swings the hammer around to make a shield, on which the bullets bounce.)

Trask: Those are adamantium III bullets! Nothing can deflect them!
Bravado: It takes a strong will and a true heart to be the victor.... neither of which you have.
SFX: Rar-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!

(Panel 4. Bravado approaches Trask, who has run out of bullets.)

SFX: Click. Click.
Trask: Uh-oh.

(Panel 5. Bravado disarms Trask.)

Bravado: I�m sorely tempted to deal out justice by myself... you�ve ruined the planet, attempted genocide, and wasted precious resources for some quixotic dream of a world without mutants... Yet if I were to kill you, I would be no better than you.

(Page 21, panel 1. Bravado wraps a steel beam around Trask.)

Bravado: Harold Trask, you are going to face justice.
Trask: HA!! I am the law here, mutant!! You cannot possibly stop my army of Sentinels!
Crusader: He doesn�t have to. We�re already reprogramming the Ultra Mold of yours.

(Panel 2. enter Mustang and Torrent. Mustang carries Captain Ultra�s dead body.)

Mustang: We managed to stop Ultra Mold... but in reprogramming it, Captain Ultra has died.
Bravado: No....

(Panel 3. Bravado approaches Lotus, Mustang and Torrent.)

Bravado: By the Gods of Asguard! Let the cry of his death ring out.... and I pray that it will be the last one in a world that is intollerant of mutants.

(Panel 4. The crater that was Avengers Mansion. We see the New Avengers there, along with Kim Fury. They look the place over.)

Cap (N1): Several days later.
Cap (N2): Trask will be put on trial for his crimes against humanity.
Cap (N3): But now, the New Avengers have a different task.
Cap (N4): Rebuild a shattered world.
Kim: It�s been agreed. Harold will be tried in a court in Geneva. As for the rest of the world, we can now begin to rebuild for the first time ever.

(Page 22, panel 1. Kim faces the Crusader.)

Kim: I wish you the best of luck rebuilding this place. I also wish you�d reconsider my offer of joining S.H.I.E.L.D.
Crusader: We�re good friends, Kim. Should you ever need us, feel free to call.

(Panel 2. We see the spaceship of Apocalypse enter, and hover over the scene.)

Kim: I think I�m going to need your help on this one.
Lotus: Oh no...

(Panel 3. Enter the four horsemen of Apocalypse from the ship, all leaving distruction in their wake.)

Voice (from the ship): I AM THE APOCALYPSE!!! Bow down before me, or die!!!

(Panel 4. Focus on Firefly�s face.)

Firefly: Man, I knew this whole thing was a bad idea.

--To be Continued??--