Free The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker by Otto Binder Page B

too much at stake here. Now, let’s go. There’s nothing suspicious on this island, so it’s on to the next one.”
    Guiding his gaily colored mount upward, the Ant-Man headed for a nearby island, with the Wasp pacing him. A prevailing breeze increased their speed and blew them swiftly across the intervening waters.
    They circled over the small atoll, finding it barren of any human habitation or any man-made structure.
    “We drew a blank here,” said the Ant-Man. “On to the next island…and the next….”
    They lost count of the tropical isles they visited, some inhabited by natives, some thriving with modem industry, but none of them harboring the slightest sign of an alien machine at work.
    They had no survival kits along, for they could not have reduced those to tiny size. But they drank of flower nectars, sweet and satisfying. And when tired, they slept for a short time snugly in tulip-like blossoms, cushioned with soft pollen. All the Avengers had trained themselves to do without sleep for longer stretches of time than other people could endure.
    Feeding his butterfly mount at a lily-like “drinking trough,” the Ant-Man felt discouraged. “Are we on a wild-goose chase trying to locate our alien friend?”
    Flying over the next island, they looked down into a crater. “Many of these islands are volcanic in origin,” he pointed out. “Very few are live volcanoes, however. This one is deader than a doornail….”
    BLAMMMM!
    At that moment, with a deafening blast, the supposedly dead volcano split open and erupted flame and smoke.
    “Quick!” gasped the Ant-Man. “Fly higher.”
    Gaining altitude, they escaped the molten lava discharge that now scorched through the air and showered the surrounding waters with fiery sparks.
    The Ant-Man jerked his winged steed around as another blast sounded to the north. “Another volcano erupting,” he said, and then stared incredulously. One after another, a string of volcanic islands stretching into the distance blew their tops.
    “Great heavens!” cried the Wasp. “It’s as if a string of firecrackers were being set off.”
    “Right,” yelled back the Ant-Man above the thunderous din. “And set off by…Karzz, the Conqueror!”
    “What?”
    “The other three dooms, he said, would involve water, air, and fire. Well, if this isn’t ‘fire’ I’ll eat it.” He snapped his fingers. “Idiots, that’s what we are. The clue was right in front of our noses all the time. Wasp, where does the name Vulcan come from?”
    “Why, the ancient legend in Greek mythology of an underground god…Ah, I get what you’re driving at. Karzz and his Vulcan Machine must be down below!”
    “Right,” said Ant-Man again. “And that first volcanic island that erupted may mark where he’s operating. Let’s go. We’ve got to take a chance and run through the fiery hail of the eruption, down to the island itself.”
    As they flew downward, great globs of molten lava sailed by, along with a blast of heated air.
    “We’ll be cooked alive by the time we get there,” gasped the Wasp, her skin red from heat. “Maybe we haven’t got a chance.”
    “Keep going!” snapped the Ant-Man. “Our small size is our salvation. It’s like insects flitting through a hail of shells and bullets, with little chance of a direct hit.” And so, somewhat the worse for wear, they gained the sanctuary of the island’s jungle, at a spot where no forest fire had yet started, and where no rivers of molten lava had flowed.
    “Down there,” pointed the Ant-Man, “is a cave. It all adds up that Karzz is here, underground. In we go….”
    They were thankful for the dim coolness of the cave; and the outside thunders of the volcanic barrage were muted as they went in deeper. When the outside sounds were nearly inaudible, the Wasp stopped to hover in the air with a hand to her ear…. The Ant-Man heard it too.
    Ahead of them sounded a deep low rumble. “It sounds like a machine all right, a big