It began at 10 PM over Los Angeles. The lights far above seemed to be explosions or fireworks of some kind. They seemed almost nonstop. A continuous light show that both frightened and awed the Los Angeles citizenry . Phone calls were made immediately, and almost continuously to first the Police, and then higher up the ladder of authority. Within minutes, f-16's were launched and sent to investigate, but they could not get high enough to see what was actually causing the phenomenon. Running out of usable atmosphere to fly their planes, the pilots returned to the Earth, as perplexed as they were upon undertaking this mission.

Then finally a call was put through to the West Coast Avengers compound, when all other options were lost. Only one Avenger was on the premises at the moment, and he decided that since no harm was befalling anyone at the moment due to the mysterious light show, he would check it out himself. And thus, Wonder Man began one of the strangest nights of his life...

His father was the greatest of Heroes, saving the entire universe from subjugation time and time again! Now he must continue that tradition , his powers are the same, but his outlook is different. He wields the mighty Nega bands and has the Celestial insight of Cosmic Awareness. The universe is his inheritance, for he is its Protector as he struggles to find his place amidst the Heavens, his buds call him Genis, but he's known and feared by his enemies as....

The Sensational Captain Marvel !

Captain Marvel #96

Barriers

By Ralph L Angelo Jr.

22,000 miles above the Earth, A man hurls himself at hyper light speeds at an invisible barrier that continually rebuffs him, as anger grows exponentially within his breast! Captain Marvel is beyond furious!

"Who do they think they are?" He howls. As he rams the invisible barrier before him constantly and tirelessly. His fists cause explosions of light as he hammers the invisible field with all of his considerable might. But, it is all to no avail.

Genis-Vell stops and stares at space before him, so close, but now out of his reach. "How could they do this to me? I saved the whole damned universe several times. Who do they think they are?" He quietly rages.

The past weeks have not been kind to Captain Marvel. After an already legendary battle against Thanos that lasted the better part of a year, and sought to change the entire face of the Universe with its ramifications, Captain Marvel was sucked into hell, where it was revealed his longtime girlfriend was actually the daughter of Mephisto. He was entrapped, and seemingly lost, until Mephisto's own greed caused his undoing, as the evil one sought not only Genis' soul, but the Silver Surfers as well. Captain Marvel and the Silver Surfer defeated Mephisto, but there were casualties. Angie/Mephista was trapped in hellish amber like a fly, seemingly for a thousand years to come.

And then things got worse... Captain Marvel was attacked by the Inbetweener , and deprived the stars, as well as his being stripped of his cosmic awareness. That happened mere hours ago, as Captain Marvel awoke to find himself seemingly without his greatest power !

Now he hurls himself at the barrier separating him from the stars, set up by the Cosmic Unity, a group of cosmic entities who are ethereal, Godlike and cosmic .

"This barrier's not going to stop me from getting to you creeps, nothing will!" He shouts in a frenzy, as he backs up a thousand miles, and hurls himself at the unseen barrier yet again!

Far below, the night sky is split into dazzling sparks as Captain Marvel is rebuffed yet again!

"I've seen enough." Thinks Simon Williams, as he lifts off of the Avengers west compound, and streaks space wards , towards the sparks. "Time to see what's going on here."

As Wonder Man rockets upwards, a seeming fireball passes him going the other way, burning up in the atmosphere on its way to a fiery plummet to the Earth.

Wonder Man changes direction and follows the unknown object, as it plummets into the desert, explosively!

Ka-BOOMM!

Wonder Man lands next to the smoking crater formed by the landing , and he strides forth into the smoking, swirling haze.

"This heat won't harm me, or my Ionic body. But I have to find out what this is, if it's a person or not." Wonder Man speaks aloud, as he strides forward.

Suddenly the miasma clears before him, and a figure is clearly seen buried and unconscious in the midst of the smoke and haze and furrowed sand.

"Captain Marvel!" Wonder Man exclaims

Titan, planet of wonders. Planet in ruins...

A man flies above the wreckage, as another man below calls out to him . A man we know as...

"Starfox!"

Eros lands in front of his father, the mighty Mentor of Titan.

"Hello Father."

"Is the damage as extensive as we imagined, my son?"

"Worse, father."

"This being who did this, this 'Inbetweener' was searching for Genis. We have to contact Earth, the Avengers or Fantastic Four and warn them."

"All our communication equipment is down, Father, save for the short range gear. I fear we may have to travel to Earth to warn him, and at this moment, I also fear it may be to late already."

"Go, my son. Take Drax with you. Take the "Rapier Wit" and fly there as quickly as possible. I honestly do not know what we can even do against this Inbetweener that we did not try already here, but do what you can to help Genis."

"What about Elysius?" Eros asks

"I will tend to her, my son. She is extremely worried, as can be expected."

"I will leave immediately , Father. Drax was over at the south field , looking after the internal oxygen stabilizers with a crew of technicians."

"Good, go my son, and Godspeed."

Eros nods and flies towards the space port, seeking the Rapier Wit, and then the Destroyer himself. But his mind is on his adoptive nephew, his friend, Genis-Vell, otherwise known as...

"Captain Marvel! Are you alright? My God! You must've fell from the edge of space!" Wonder Man coaxes the young hero upwards , as Genis glows momentarily, mending his body with great stores of solar energy.

"I-I'm okay Wonder-Man. A little beat up, but otherwise healed enough to be okay. I have to get back up there." He stands immediately, but he wobbles slightly on unsteady legs.

"Whoa there hotshot. Take it easy. Who did this to you? What baddie? Lets get a team of Avengers up there and take this guy out, whoever he is."

Genis stares at Wonder Man a moment before speaking. "It wasn't any villain up there, Wonder man. I was hurling myself against a barrier that's been erected to hold me here."

"A barrier? By whom? Who did this?"

"I did it to myself. That's who to blame. I should never have trusted her, and I should have let Thanos take over the universe. Saving it and everyone in it wasn't appreciated. I should've just ran off to some remote portion of it with Angie and never looked back. Maybe if he would've changed things, this would've never happened to her..."

Wonder Man grabs him roughly by the shoulders and spins him around. "What are you jabbering about, man? Speak up! I have no idea what you're going on about."

Genis pushes him away with a solid shove.

"Get outta here, Wonder Man. I didn't ask for you to be here, or for your help. I have to get back up there and destroy that barrier, get back into space, and then I have to pay a visit to this 'Cosmic Unity'. Payback's gonna suck for them."

Wonder Man grabs his arm, "Think about this, Captain. This is not good. These beings trapped you here with a thought. What can you do against them? Use your head. You're going to need time to think this through."

Genis yanks his arm out of Wonder Mans grip.

"Get away from me , Wonder Man. That's your last warning. I don't need your help. Angies gone, stolen from me forever. Plus, she used me, tricked me, and if I hadn't broken down her walls of evil, I'd still be her whipping boy."

"Look kid, I don't understand half of what you're talking about, but I know firsthand how tough relationships can be. Believe me, maybe your being stuck here is a good thing. It can give you some time to think things out."

Wonder Man places his hand on Genis' shoulder.

"Come back to the compound with me, I'll get you set up with a room where you can relax and calm down. Take as much time as you need. We're all friends here."

Captain Marvel stares at Wonder Mans hand angrily. "You're not my friend, you're not my buddy. Hell, I never even met you till now. And I've wasted enough time with you here."

Genis back hands Wonder Man with is right hand, smashing him through the air mightily!

KRAK!

Wonder Man lands in a heap in the sand, almost instantly he's back on his feet. "Alright you pompous little punk, I've had enough of your whining. You want to fight? Fine. Lets do it. I've got enough anger of my own that I can wipe out as I drag you through the desert."

He flies at Genis, tackling him and carrying them both a half mile through the sand .

Ta-KOOM!

Bra-KOW!

Genis kicks free! "This is going to be no picnic for you, old man. You think you're so tough? Let's find out what you've got."

The two men hurl themselves at each other, colliding with a rumble that registers as a minor Earthquake some miles distant!

Cha-Koom!

Both men get to their feet, after being hurled away by the power of their collision!

"Not bad. Punk." Wonder Man chides, "But not good enough to even scratch me."

"Good grandpa. I didn't want to finish you off so fast."

Captain Marvel slams Wonder Man with a roundhouse right, and Wonder Man is sent flying.

Thoom!

Wonder Man spins, and streaks into Captain Marvel, delivering a devastating left rising punch, that lifts Genis off his feet like a rocket, sending him skywards!

Pa-KOW!

"You're not getting away that easily, kid." Wonder man growls as he flies after the tumbling hero.

"Who says I'm getting away?" Genis shouts as he loops around, and blasts Wonder Man with Photonic energy!

Za-KOW!

"Unnghh!" Grunts the Ionic Avenger, as he's tossed backwards over the desert, only to have Captain Marvel close in quickly.

"Time to say good night, Wonder gramps!"

Genis heaves his fist back, as it sparkles with energy, he unleashes a powerful punch at Wonder Mans head, but Wonder Man ducks beneath it, delivering a blow that would stun the Hulk to Captain Marvels mid section!

Bra-KOW!

"Arrggh!" Genis exhales painfully, as he struggles to remain conscious!

Bleary eyed, the young universal protector knees Wonder Man in the face, under the chin, snapping his head back powerfully.

THOOM!

Wonder man breaks off, and circles around in a flying arc. "This kid is powerful! Those blows actually hurt, so I can't hold back. Even if he is misguided at the moment, he's still a hero. But that doesn't mean I have to like him, or take any of his garbage."

Simon Williams streaks in , a left round house rocketing towards Genis-Vells skull!

"Not so fast, Wonder-Bread." Genis quips, as he deflects the blow with his left forearm , spinning Wonder Man around , exposing his side , where Genis kicks him mightily!

Pa-KOOOM!

"Ooofff!" exhales Wonder Man in pain, as Captain Marvel again attacks like a wild animal, a left hook to Wonder Mans face drops the big hero back a step, while both men continue to float a half mile above the desert floor!

Then Wonder Man retaliates, kicking Captain Marvel in the groin, lifting him upwards at almost escape velocity!

His eyes crossed in pain, Genis almost blacks out as he fights to remain cognizant. "He's going to be closing in, I have to use my cosmic awareness and find out what I can do to finish him off."

He thinks through the pain filled haze.

Genis concentrates, but nothing happens. No familiar tingle as he becomes one with the universe, nothing. Not a thing. At that point, Wonder Man connects again!

Kra-thoom!

His left round house knocks Captain Marvel towards the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Ca-RASH!

For the second time this night, Captain Marvel slams into the desert floor. Only this time he's almost immediately on his feet, glowing as he absorbs all the stellar energy he can!

"Now I'm really PO'd. Avenger. To bad for you ."

"You haven't shown me anything yet, brat. I'm still here, and still wide awake. Do your worst, then I'll beat you senseless. Or at least more senseless then you already are."

Enraged, Genis heaves himself at Wonder Man in a streak of photon particles! Half way there, he fires photon beams from both hands ! Engulfing the Ionic hero!

Sha-THOOM!

Then he collides with him, both men accelerating into each other at incredible speeds!

Ba-ROOM!

Like rag dolls, both heroes drop to the desert floor, landing in a heap of muscle and spandex.

Minutes pass , as slowly, both get to their knees almost simultaneously. Simon Williams is the first to speak.

"Had...enough? If...not, I'm...sure I...can provide...more for...you."

"No... thanks, grandpa...That'll be fine for...me. But if...you want to...continue... I'm game."

"Good....Bring it... on" wheezes Wonder Man, as both men sink into the soft sand, exhausted.

An hour later, at an outdoor malt shop in LA, both men drink Ice Cream soda's and talk.

"...So I was with Wanda for a while, even after I came back from the 'dead', but she decided to leave me anyway. She went on some journey of discovery or something, and I was totally destroyed by it. I was a wreck for months. I really loved that lady, and still do inside. But I guess it wasn't meant to be. So I moved on, at least on some level." Wonder Man explains between sips.

"Yeah, well Angie was the first 'real' relationship I had. Everything else was small little things that lasted a few nights or weeks, and meant really nothing. But her, she was different. I don't know if she hexed me or something to make me feel that way. But I do know it was real. At least as real as I've ever felt." Genis answers as he sits stirring his malted with a straw.

"They'll be others, don't doubt that. There's always someone else coming. Whether or not its the right one, who knows? I thought Wanda was, but I was wrong."

Genis stands as he finishes the last of his malted. "Yeah, I hear you Wonder man. Thanks for the malted...and everything else."

Wonder Man extends his hand "Call me Simon, and no sweat on the malted, or the talk."

"And you can call me Genis. Right now I have some thinking to do, and it looks like I have plenty of time to do it in. Take it easy big man."

Captain Marvel waves as he takes to the sky, disappearing in a flash of photons over head in the starlit LA skyline, as nearby, a mysterious onlooker, hat pulled low over his eyes, taps his watch and speaks softly into it, staring at the Universal Protectors fading photon trail...

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Next: The Hulk!

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