Somewhere in the Milky Way...

The magnficent vessel sailed majestically through space, to dock with the tiny shuttlecraft which had disembarked from it so many months ago. Within the simple hull of that tiny vessel lay the fruits of years of ambitions and sacrifice-- and now the dreams of an alien empire might now come true.

General Sneek greeted the shuttle's pilot as he entered the mothership.

"The device is in tow?" the general asked.

"It is." the pilot confirmed.

"Then, on behalf of the Sneeper Empire, I salute you." The general shook the pilot's hand.

"Thank you, sir. My mission was not without cost, but I believe you will find the device does all that you may wish."

"Yes, yes, I'm certain it shall. Soon, the Sneepers shall be the most powerful race in the galaxy!" the general proclaimed. The pilot did not dispute him, for he could sense the truth in those words.

"Entering Sol System in one half hour."

The general waved the technician on. "Can you guarantee the device's success?"

Dr. Sneer had been toiling over the device ever since it had been lain at his feet, and there was still so much he did not understand about its functions. However, he did not allow this unconfidence to be sensed by his superior. "Yes sir. Once we enter the Sol system, I will be able to target our adversaries."

"Excellent, excellent." the general mused. "All of this would never have been possible, had it not been for military intelligence!" Dr. Sneer huffed at those words. "Had it not been for those brave Sneeper spies who infiltrated earth years ago, we would not stand where we are now."

"Have the files been decrypted?" Dr. Sneer asked.

"Only the surface, I'm afraid." the general admitted. "But it doesn't matter. The key to conquering the earth-- the one reason the Kree, the Skrulls, and the Rigellians have failed-- is the superhuman threat. And of the superhumans, the Avengers are truly the most dangerous."

Dr. Sneer nodded. He had heard stories of the mighty Avengers, and glimpsed some of their might during the Intergalactic Council's abortive attempt to fester their homeworld with criminals.

"This file," the general pointed to a monitor, "lists every being who has ever served as an Avenger. It is from here that we shall select our targets."

"Yes sir." Dr. Sneer replied. "But how to know which of them to acquire?"

The general smiled at this, for he always appreciated an opportunity to show off his superior intellect. "A Skrull mercenary once told me who the key Avengers are: Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man. They group themselves into teams of 7. Take those 3, and any other 4 you wish. Only the first 3 truly matter."

Dr. Sneer made a note of this. "I'd like to get this operation over with soon."

General Sneek laughed. "Don't fret so, doctor. The Shi'ar have no idea we've appropriated their prototype time machine. We may even return it to them-- after we've conquered the earth!"

The vessel was soon within the Sol System.

General Sneek watched the apparatus hum with energy. Soon the forms of seven humans would be in their clutches, and they could at long last proceed with their plans of conquest. The file which intelligence agents had obtained years ago when the Avengers were temporarily disbanded may prove itself even more valuable, should they someday unlock what other secrets it might entail.

The seven bodies materialized on the time machine platform, unconscious. Immediately, the force field was activated.

Dr. Sneer wiped his brow. "They'll revive in less than a half hour. Make your preparations."

General Sneek smiled. "Already done. Send them to the detention area."

With the public murders of these 7 Avengers of the past, not only would the Sneepers eliminate the heroes from the present, but inspire legions of Sneepers everywhere to take up arms in the coming invasion of earth. Yes, the plan was coming along beautifully.

Ant-Man shook his head groggily, and wondered he was. Glancing around, he found that he was lying beside a massive red white & blue figure.

"Captain America!" he cried.

But of course, Captain America couldn't hear him-- he was too small, and lacked his cybernetic helmet to amplify his voice. If only he could regain his normal size! But without access to his Pym Particles, that was impossible.

"RIBBIT!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the enormous bellow from behind-- then turned to see it was a massive bullfrog. "Oh-- hello there, fellow. Uh, why don't you go catch some flies?"

The frog seemed to eye him curiously. Hank Pym had long had an empathy with animals, and sensed that he could make use of the frog to assist him in his own predicament. Speaking slowly, and calmly, he mounted the frog's back, and had it leap upon Captain America's chest to awaken him.

The sudden contact awoke Captain America, who rubbed his face. There was something unusual about him, but Pym couldn't quite make it out from where he sat. The star-spangled Avenger gazed wearily upon his chest, then spied the bullfrog. Before he could brush it, he noticed something red and white on its back. He scooped the frog into his hand, and brought it nearer to him.

"Hank? Is that you?"

"Not so loud, Cap! I'm dying here!"

"Sorry. Where are we."

"Some kind of high-tech prison from the look of it. The last I remember--"

Suddenly another figure groaned itself to consciousness. Captain America was startled to see it was the Whizzer-- the one-time speedster hero of World War 2 who had been made an honorary Avenger. But he had died years ago...

"Captain America?" the elderly man queried.

"Bob? Is that you?" Captain America asked.

"I guess I must be." the Whizzer wiped his brow, then gazed at his costume. "Are we in some kind of battle?"

"A prison, from the look of it." Captain America replied. He reminded himself not to upset the Whizzer, recalling that he had a poor heart condition.

The Whizzer's eyes narrowed. "Say, you aren't Captain America!"

"No, I am-- I was going undercover on behalf of a friend, and this woman named Sersi--" he started to explain, but was interrupted by the awakening of another person. To his amazement, the man wore a cowboy hat, and carried twin six-guns. It was the Two-Gun Kid!

"Oh, my...who...the Avengers?" the Two-Gun Kid exclaimed, dazed.

"Hm. Given this cowboy's presence, I believe we're involved in some sort of time travel plot." Ant-Man declared, but no one heard him.

The Two-Gun Kid looked Captain America over suspiciously. "Who are you? Captain America junior?"

In fact, Captain America wasn't the large, athletic man he normally was-- due to a spell cast by Sersi, he now had the appearance of a 15 year old teenager-- with no remarkable abilities.

Captain America stood up, still holding the frog and Ant-Man, and turned to the Two-Gun Kid. "This has all the earmarks of time travel. Perhaps Kang is involved?"

"Kang?" a voice queried. They turned to face a young man with a fearful look on his face. "Kang? Again?"

The Two-Gun Kid whipped out a six-gun. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Tony-- Tony Stark." the young man replied. He recognized one of the other heroes. "Captain America? Since when are you so young?"

"I might ask the same thing, Tony." Captain America remarked. "But those gauntlets on your fists-- you didn't have the Iron Man armor when you were a teenager."

"Aw hell, you must be from different realities or something." the young Stark remarked. "Or maybe from another time."

The seventh figure in the room then awoke. She was an elderly woman, dressed in a housecoat.

"Who are you?" the Whizzer asked.

"Moira Brandon." she answered. "You-- you must be some of those Avengers."

The assembled heroes gazed about at one another, then looked back at Moira.

"I guess so." Captain America decided. "Though I'll confess I'm at a loss to explain our predicament." he looked down at the frog in his hand. "Maybe you should change size, Hank."

"I would if I could." Pym answered.

"We must be prisoners of enemies of the Avengers." the Whizzer decided.

"Why would one of your enemies capture ME?" Moira wondered. "I'm no Avenger."

"Actually," Captain America responded, "you were technically inducted as an honoree by Hawkeye."

"But why the 6 of us?" the Two-Gun Kid asked. "I didn't spend much time in your era, Cap, but why would some villain want to capture a cowpoke, a tiny man, two fogies and a couple of kids?"

"Kids?" Stark remarked indignantly.

"And a frog." Pym added, although no one heard him.

At that moment, a door opened on the other side of the force field, and a small green alien walked over to face them.

"Greetings, Avengers! I thought that before your execution, you might wish to see the face of your enemy-- General Sneek, of the Sneeper Empire!"

"Sneepers?" the Whizzer asked.

"Never heard of them." answered Stark.

"Neither have I." Captain America admitted.

"Oh, the galaxy will soon tremble at our might!" General Sneek promised. "For the deaths of the Avengers will signal the enslavement of the human race!" For a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of his laughter.

"This guy's a loon." Stark said at last. "Let's get him!" he fired a repulsor beam at the force field, but it failed to penetrate.

"Resign yourselves to your fate, Avengers! In a few moments, the floor will raise you through the ceiling, to our great arena. There, an entire legion of the finest Sneeper troops will blast your bodies into charred wrecks! Your hour of reckoning is at hand!"

"I'm not an Avenger!" Moira Brandon cried. "You're making a terrible mistake!"

"Uh...I'm barely an Avenger myself." the Two-Gun remarked.

"Same here." added the Whizzer.

"And what's up with this frog?" Ant-Man asked, although he knew there would be no response.

"Farewell, Avengers! It is my wish that you die valiantly!" General Sneek departed the room grinning.

The 6 figures (and frog) were silent for a moment. Then Captain America spoke: "We don't have much time for planning, but let me tell you this much-- I don't intend to keel over and die at the hands of the, uh, Sneepers! I plan to fight with my last breath!"

Stark, the Whizzer, Ant-Man and Two-Gun Kid added their voices of assent: "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"

"Okay, Stark and Two-Gun-- protect me and Moira until I can get in close. Whizzer-- they'll be armed with rifles, no doubt-- trying to disarm them before they can fire."

"Got it Cap." the Whizzer agreed.

Captain America set the bullfrog on the floor. "Good luck, Ant-Man! I expect you'll be the hardest to hit, at least."

"Just as long as you don't step on me." Ant-Man said to himself.

The floor was already rising up into the ceiling...

Before General Sneek could even give the order to fire, the Avengers launched forward with their battle cry: "AVENGERS-- ATTACK!"

Whizzer did as he was asked, and sped forward to disarm the Sneepers in the front lines. He found this more difficult than he had expected, as he had forgotten that Sneepers stood much shorter than humans did.

But the young Iron Man and Two-Gun Kid had already begun to shoot their way through the lines, and Sneepers began to fall from all sides.

"Close combat! Close combat!" General Sneek bellowed over the din.

They rushed in, only to meet a fierce teenager with all the fighting skills of Captain America (if not the coordination to make them work as effectively).

But they pressed in at all sides, more than he could manage, and soon one had grabbed each of his limbs. He struggled against them, but he could not break their hold. One stepped forward with a bladed weapon in his hand, and prepared to plunge it into the Avenger, when suddenly, an energy burst knocked him to the ground! With this distraction, Captain America was able to slip free, and overpower the other 4. He turned to see who had aided him, and was surprised to see Moira Brandon bearing a Sneeper rifle in her hands.

"Avengers Assemble!" she cried.

General Sneek, poised above the arena, had severely underestimated these Avengers. Clearly, even any 7 Avengers at random were more than a match for their forces. He should have chosen weaker members, or foregone the honorable combat. Still, he kept the live broadcast feed running, for fear of how Sneepers galaxy-wide might react if they ceased their transmission.

The Two-Gun Kid had emptied both guns, but couldn't afford to stop and reload, so he took to beating the Sneepers in hand-to-hand combat. He was proving himself the most versitile of the Avengers gathered, although the Whizzer had defeated the most, spinning wildly through their ranks. Suddenly, he saw the Whizzer fall!

"Whizz! What's wrong?" the Two-Gun Kid cried.

But the Whizzer did not respond, and slumped to the floor.

"His heart!" Captain America cried. "Moira, get over there!"

Moira Brandon ran to the Whizzer, while Iron Man blasted back the Sneepers who tried to press in on the fallen speedster.

"I-I think he's having a heart attack!" Moira called out.

Captain America tried to think of what to do, but with his might so decreased by Sersi's spell, it was not a luxury he could afford-- two Sneepers jumped him, and he fell to the throng.

"Cap!" Iron Man blasted into their ranks, searching desperately for him.

Now the tide was turning. Perhaps Sneek's plan would work after all. He smiled broadly at the tumult before him.

Suddenly, something struck him in the stomach, and he fell to the ground with a thud, the wind knocked out of him! On his stomach lay a massive bullfrog, with the astonishing Ant-Man astride. The frog leapt to the floor next to his head.

"Call off your men," Ant-Man warned, "or I go drilling for oil." he produced a nail, wielded in his hand like a sword, and pointed at Sneek's eye.

Iron Man was struck from behind, distracted by Captain America's dilemma, and the Sneepers began to produce their weaponry, when suddenly, a voice sounded over the chaos:

"Lay down your arms men! This battle is over!"

Reluctantly, the Sneepers obeyed their general.

"Send the Avengers to me, now!" Sneek proclaimed.

The Sneepers parted, opening a pathway through to the general's podium.

Iron Man took the Whizzer in his arms, and the Two-Gun Kid propped up a bruised Captain America, and the five heroes set off to the podium, with Moira guarding their rear.

"We have clearly made an error." General Sneek declared. "I have, uh, reconsidered our position, and believe that you Avengers should be sent back to your own time. And further-- further, we will abandon our dreams of conquest towards the earth." Unseen by his men, Ant-Man lay perched upon the general's shoulder, threatening him with his nail.

"But what about the Whizzer?" Moira asked.

"He'll be fine, just fine." the general assured her. "When he returns to his own time, he will be just as he was before. So you see, there is no harm, no foul. As far as we-- and you, technically-- are concerned, none of this ever happened."

"That's fine, real fine." Ant-Man applauded him.

The 6 people (and frog) were placed upon the time platform as Dr. Sneer operated the controls. Ant-Man followed his progress carefully to ensure he was making the correct computations.

"He's done like they said." he informed the others, after the frog carried him to the platform.

"Farewell, Avengers." the humiliated general remarked. "Farewell-- forever! Execute directive 005, NOW!"

Before any Avenger could react, Dr. Sneer pressed a different series of buttons than he had been expected to; the Avengers shimmered out of view.

"Are they dead?" General Sneek asked.

"If they aren't now, they will be...someday. We may have failed to kill the Avengers, but there are other powers in this universe who will be glad to finish our job. I believe the opponent we selected should do the job perfectly."

"Long live the Sneeper Empire." General Sneek proclaimed.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Not certain that I will continue this story, but hey, you never know...

MH