Exiles: Endless (Marvel;Re)/Issue 1

This is the first issue of the Marvel;Re ongoing series, Exiles: Endless, part of the Web of Shadows story arc. It is succeeded by Exiles: Endless #2 and preceded by Exiles: New World #13.

Synopsis
The Multiverse is a large place with enormous problems. The cosmic conquerors, mystical dominators, and deluded villains living within the Multiverse tend to abuse their privileges of freedom by attacking other universes not of their own. When these ravagers disrupt the cosmic balance, causing Multiversal disasters, the Exiles are called upon to fix the damage done to realities. Some of them survives, some of them doesn't. Either way, these heroes are summoned to deal with the worst the Multiverse can offer, no matter how it's done.

Our rag-tag band of heroes have nuked the Avengers, saved an Earth from getting blown up by a mad scientist, and defeated an imposter elder Hulk, preventing him from amassing a Multiversal army of Hulks to conquer existence. For whatever losses they've sustained, they must be ready for what comes next...

The Panoptichron
The Crystal Palace. Undoubtedly the most majestic place in the Multiverse. This multi-dimensional structure was erected countless of years ago by the peerless architects known as the Timebreakers as an observatory of realities. Built within the gleaming network of universes known as the M'Kraan Crystal, the Panoptichron would be utilized as a staging ground for a group of reality hoppers known as the Exiles. They were given the duty of repairing the many disturbances that happened in many universes, and they did so with effectiveness. Yes, there were moral complications and mind-bending problems, but their very concept would inspire a certain new security force for the Multiverse in the future. Founded by the Living Tribunal to safeguard realities with the power of unity, the Exiles are tasked to defend the Multiverse with all their strength, guided by the Timebrokers in their quests.

Survival is not ensured for these Exiles. Some day, they'd return with their entire roster intact. Some day, they'd return losing some of their greatest heroes. They get replacements, but bonding over new recruits isn't always an easy task. Especially if they're not the friendliest of folks. The Exiles are a family, however, no matter how reluctant each member is. Their new recruits are reasonable, at the very least, and today, the team is about to give a pleasant surprise to one of its members.

Meet Earth-62412's Ghost Rider. By the time he was thirteen years old, his family was killed by Iron Man drones controlled by Obadiah Stane. By fourteen, he had fought alongside the New Fantastic Four to bring down the remnants of Stane International. By fourteen and eleven months, he had fought alongside the Exiles as the Spirit of Vengeance against innumerable odds. He's been nearly killed several times, but for him, there is no reason to shut down his optimism. He may be naive, but he's just happy to be there, playing a role that's beneficial for everyone involved. Besides, he's quite content with having the Exiles as his company.

Walking through the shining halls of the Panoptichron, the Ghost Rider looks around while he's wandering, wondering where everyone has gone to.


 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Gee, where is everyone? I thought it's mission time already."

The youngster with a blazing skull rubs his hands in anxiety while continuing his walk. He comes across a wooden door with the name Rojhaz inscribed to it. He decides to knock on the door to see if the Exiles' field leader is in there, hoping to question him about the whereabouts of his teammates.


 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "(Knocks the door) Hello? Captain Rojhaz? Are you there? I'm honestly scared by the absence of everyone here. I hope you're in there, somewhere."

The knock and statement are unanswered.


 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "(Sighs) I can't stand being alone, y' know."

Ghost Rider continues his walk and comes across another door, now inscribed with the name Justicer Bull. The representative of the Captain Britain Corps and a rather hard-headed veteran, Justicer Bull's not exactly a motherly figure for the Rider, but she's likely to be the type of person to inform him of everyone's locations.


 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "(Knocks) Hello? Uh, Mrs. Bull? No, wait, ma'am Bull, I mean, I'm sorry! Okay, let's do that again... (sighs) Ma'am Bull, are you inside? I wish to speak with you."

The result remains the same.


 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Oh, come on. I don't want to be the last one standing."

Again, he walks through the hallways and unknowable corners of the Crystal Palace, caring not if he finds himself walking upside down or into places his teammates have yet to discover. He comes across another door, but one that looks distinct from his teammates' quarters and the other doors that he has come across. He thinks to himself for a little while, arguing inside himself if he should open the door or not. Long story short: he opens it. But first, he has knock. Politeness, indeed.


 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Eh, what could go wrong? (Knocks) Hello? Is anybody there?"

Nobody answers.


 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Maybe I shouldn't be here at all. I mean, I don't even know what door this leads to. Eh, Mrs. Kang said that every door here is safe. She might be a villain, but I trust her. Wish me luck, Zarathos."

He lays his hand on to the handle and opens it, shocked at the fact that this door is unlocked. Looking inside, he sees a bunch of pathways and hallways alike, not too different from the one he saw. The lighting's a bit dimmer, but that's not a problem if one has a flaming skull for a head. Lighting up his head, he makes his way into the door, making sure he closes it properly first before going out into the Panoptichron's more 'uncharted' territories.

Once again walking upside down and normally, the Ghost Rider travels with a small frown on his face due to his failure to meet any of his friends. While walking upside down, the Ghost Rider spots a number of people seemingly arguing; he doesn't know. It sounds as if they're screaming at each other or what, but that matters not. He doesn't know these people, but hey, kindness works as always, right?

Old Man Logan stares into his leader's eyes before storming off with a small curse to think over everything that has transpired for the last few hours. After he's gone from the scene, Blink confides with the team's new recruit, Mangaverse Thor. Weapon X turns their entire attention towards the Ghost Rider, who's standing upside down. He is briefly taken aback by the awkwardness, but makes his intention clear early on that he's not hostile. After gathering his courage, Ghost Rider proceeds to speak up. The Exiles counterpart goes silent for a while until Blink speaks to the young person. And with that, Ghost Rider returns to the Exiles' part of the Panoptichron by trailing back his path. After he is gone, Weapon X converses. Ghost Rider returns to his initial entry point and decides to head to the Panoptichron's control room. His gut feeling tells him that there is someone there, and him being a Ghost Rider with supernatural sense means that what he's feeling is true. As he reaches the central command / control room, which also acts as a living room of sorts, he encounters a familiar face. The Doctor Strange of Earth-41101. The Sorcerer Supreme, reading a tome while sitting on a sofa with a leg folded, takes a glance at his teammate and smiles. After surprising him by calling his real name, which he has never shared with his teammates, Strange surprises him again by disappearing into thin air along with the book, revealing that he's just an astral projection. Confused but left without any other choice but to listen to Strange's advise, Ghost Rider heads to his room. He immediately sees something off when he sees the name inscribed on his door as Juan instead of Ghost Rider. When he approaches the door, he also feels a large coalescence of energies. Though naive, his senses do not fool him as he knows that the energies are those of his teammates'. Namely Nova, Strange. However, he also 'smells' energy signatures consistent to something... cosmic, but separate from Nova's. No response comes through. Juan wastes no time in barging through the door, shutting it immediately after without realizing that his whole room has gone dark. Despite his fiery skull, he is unsettled by the darkness as he remembers not of shutting off the lamps in his room. He doesn't let cowardice influence him, on the other hand, and steels himself while increasing the blaze of his fires to illuminate the room. Unfortunately, his flames are still unable to fully brighten up the room. Fear begins to seep in his heart the moment he is unable to sense the energy signatures from earlier. A response comes in from the void when a candle suddenly lights up, seemingly placed on top of a table. His words are answered by a plethora of other candles lighting up all around him, forming a circle that surrounds him. The candles begin to float and approach him, prompting him to turn around and see the anomaly while being utterly confused. Fourteen candles surround him as he progressively becomes more disturbed. After looking around in panic for a while, he stops his movement as he sees an unmistakable figure in a trench coat walking towards him with a candle upon his hand.
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "Look, we can't just bring back the It! The Timebroker said he could only replace the dead, not resurrect them!"
 * Old Man Logan: "Bullshit! He could just re-recruit him from his reality in the past! He's still alive, then!"
 * Yu Komori / Manga Spider-Man: "Does that guarantee that he won't die all the same?"
 * Mojoverse Cike: "The Japanese dude is correct! If you haven't noticed, we've got ourselves a better replacement! See?"
 * Mangaverse Thor: "I suggest you watch your tongue, child. I am no one's better, and I will not fight in vain. I do not know who this 'It' is, but I see that he is a fighter of both bravery and boldness, yes?"
 * Old Man Logan: "More bolder and *#&@(-* braver than any of you little *&^%$!"
 * Manga Spider-Man: "You're in a state of stress, Logan-san, but you must think to yourself. If he does indeed return, will you be all the more happier to see him die again?"
 * Old Man Logan: "I didn't even see his death!"
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "Logan, just calm down! I'm not going to pull my words, old man, and I'm sure every one of us have been shaken by the deaths of our loved ones. We all appreciate It's sacrifice, and we'll honor him by letting him rest in peace. For now, his position has been filled by Thor, and there's no denying that he's got some large shoes to fit in. Knowing that, do you want to weep again for our friend or make him proud by fighting as hard as you can?"
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "(Sigh) Welcome to Weapon X, Thor. Has the Timebroker told you everything?"
 * Mangaverse Thor: "He has, Lady Blink. I'll be honest with you: I did not expect you to be so stern. However, I see now that the Timebroker has broken my prior misconception. You are an ideal leader, after all."
 * Mojoverse Cike: "First arrival and you're already courtin' the 'lady'?"
 * Manga Spider-Man: "Can you distinguish the difference between having a crush and being polite?"
 * Mojoverse Cike: "You both use nice words to entice other people into liking you."
 * Mangaverse Thor: "Rest assured, I am not here seeking romance."
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "Yeah... anyways, good to have you here, Thor. We'll take you around for a tour, if you don't mind."
 * Mangaverse Thor: "Ah, that's alright, Lady Blink. I can see myself around."
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "Cool! Just make sure you're not surprised to find yourself walking upside down in this place, alright?"
 * Mojoverse Cike: "Like that guy?"
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Uh, hello, everyone. I'm Ghost Rider, I'm from Earth-62412 and a member of the Exiles. I was wondering if any of you knew where my teammates are. Oh, and... I come in peace!"
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "Hi, Ghost Rider! It's nice to meet you. You know, you're the first Exiles we've ever met, which is super-fortunate. Unfortunately, we're... not really the Exiles. We're Weapon X. We're supposed to be your extra hand, since you folks can't handle everything all by yourself."
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Wow, that's amazing! So, you guys are like, another Exiles?"
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "Yeah, you can say that. By the way, speaking of your teammates, I have to apologize to you, Rider. We haven't seen them anywhere around here. Sorry."
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Oh, I see... well, that's OK. At least I know we're not alone. Thanks for your help, violet lady! Hope we can meet each other some time in the future. Now, I must depart. Good bye!"
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "Good bye!"
 * Mojoverse Cike: "I didn't know Ghost Riders sound puny!"
 * Mangaverse Thor: "You are lucky he wasn't a bloodthirsty monster without mercy, Cike. You have no idea what a true Ghost Rider is. Not that he was a false Rider."
 * Manga Spider-Man: "How did he get here, anyway?"
 * Age of Apocalypse Blink: "I don't know, Yu, but I guess that we all should keep an eye out for future visitors. We'll never know when they come around again."
 * Marvel Knights Doctor Strange: "Good day, Ghost Rider. How are you doing?"
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Doc! Man, you don't know how glad I am to see you! Do you know where everyone is?"
 * Marvel Knights Doctor Strange: "On the contrary, I can feel the relief within your heart the moment you saw the tip of my mustache, my friend. (Sniggers, then briefly pauses before speaking) I don't know where everyone is."
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "What? But how? You have the Eye of Agamotto, right? You can use it to find where everyone is! Gee, Doc, please, I don't like being alone..."
 * Marvel Knights Doctor Strange: "Really? Now I wonder how you sleep in your quarters."
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "I sleep by turning back to my human form. Just, argh, you know the context of my words, right?"
 * Marvel Knights Doctor Strange: "Hmm, perhaps. Maybe yes, maybe not. Either way, I think you should return to your room. You'd find more luck there than walking around this infinite labyrinth."
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "(Sighs) You know something, don't you?"
 * Marvel Knights Doctor Strange: "Maybe yes... maybe no. See you later, Señor Juan."
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Oh, boy, what is happening?! Are they playing tricks on me?"
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Oh, God... (knocks on the door) You know I can sense you all inside, right?"
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Look, if you wanna play, I'll play, alright? I'm coming in..."
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Uh, guys? I... I'm not a coward! I... I just don't like surprises!"
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Huh, what the...?"

His face lit up by the candle he bears, Frank Castle stares right into his eyes while struggling to keep his dignity and grimness, anticipating what is to be done next. Frank breathes in heavily before proceeding to utter a set of words no one could ever expect of a Punisher to say. In a chaotic fanfare of the Happy Birthday song, the room lights up to reveal the entire team singing the same song (except Greenskyn, who just can't get the right notes or lyrics). Even Timebrokers Kang and Uatu are participating in the festivity, the latter telekinetically lifting four candles. Even more surprising is the presence of the spirits of Exiles past, Captain Universe and War Machine, the Thor, each bearing a candle with their own hands.
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Frank? Frank, what's going on? Why are you grimacing?"
 * Punisher MAX: "(Sighs) Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you... happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to... oh *@&!(#, you..."

The Ghost Rider is stunned by this act. He didn't expect his birthday being celebrated, let alone be known by the Exiles. Besides, the Panoptichron is outside of time (at least it's in the M'Kraan Crystal network); there's no telling what 'time' it is at the moment. Nevertheless, the young hero is so touched by this he turns himself to his human form and sobs. Seeing this, Rojhaz signals the team to stop singing and approaches him, patting the kid's back and comforting him. Juan embraces the Leader of the Exiles while tears are still streaming down his eyes. He regains his composure moments later, wiping his tears and turning himself back to Ghost Rider. Hearing the source of such statement, Ghost Rider turns around to see both Thor War Machine and Captain Universe Spider-Man, the latter unmasked, in their spirit forms: a product of a trick Strange did some times before. The Rider didn't expect Strange pulling the same trick for this very occasion. Brimming with excitement, Ghost Rider rushes up to them and tries to hug them both, but forgets that they are spirits. After giving a nod, Rider returns to his human form and proceeds to blow off every single candle borne by his teammates and two superiors.
 * Rojhaz: "It's alright, kid. This one's for you."
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "You guys don't have to do this! I'm not special! I'm just like you guys!"
 * Ultimate Kang: "Oh, yeah, not every one of us have a flaming skull for a head, kiddo. (Chuckles) 'Sides, I allowed this to happen to cool everyone down after what happened before in Green Hell."
 * Justicer Bull: "Trust us, Juan. This one's for all of of us. We really need to blow off some steam."
 * Guardians 3000 Nova: "Juan. Heh. You know, I may not speak for everyone, but I think we all were surprised to see how your real face looks like."
 * Captain Universe Spider-Man: "Hey, Rhodey and I never got to see his face 'fore we were blown to kingdom come!"
 * Thor Corps War Machine: "Whoa, whoa, kid, we're still tied to Lady Death's realm! Chill!"
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "Oh, I'm sorry! I just didn't expect you guys to be here."
 * Captain Universe Spider-Man: "Well, now you know we're here. Happy birthday kid. Speaking of birthdays, you wanna blow off the candles?"
 * Armor Wars Ghost Rider: "(Pauses for a bit) You know, when I was plucked off from my world, I didn't think of getting a new family, even if it's one that's not guaranteed to survive."
 * Greenskyn Smashtroll: "Not guaranteed to survive? Laddie, you better start appreciatin' the fact that you're still alive and standin' with yer bloody pants on!"
 * Punisher MAX: "Family? Hmph. We'll see about that once one of us gets a 7.62 through the skull."
 * Marvel Knights Doctor Strange: "Or an incineration spell cast by a wayward demon, that is."
 * Guardians 3000 Nova: "Whoa, have you forgotten who's having a birthday today?"
 * Marvel Knights Doctor Strange: "Mr. Juan over here is neither a demon nor a wayward boy, Ms. Rider."
 * Rojhaz: "Whoever we are, remember that we are Exiles, people. We're the..."
 * Greenskyn Smashtroll: "Yeah, yeah, da Multivurs' bloody shield an' sandwich an' ketchup or somethin'."
 * Mangaverse Uatu: "Oh, look how our little family is coming together..."
 * Punisher MAX: "Geez, shut the *#(@ up, Uatu."
 * Justicer Bull: "Hey, Grey's got a point. Big Man wants a cohesive team that's basically family so the Multiverse can be saved by some sortie that doesn't argue with one another like politicians."
 * Guardians 3000 Nova: "That's a nice shade you got, Bull."
 * Justicer Bull: "(Punches Nova's shoulder lightly and slightly laughs) You can never be satisfied with bureaucracy."

TBA