“Captain, we’re up here,” she called. Steve nodded and hurried up to join his teammates. The explosion that had destroyed Avengers Mansion had injured Steve’s shoulder, removing him from active duty, though that sort of thing hadn’t slowed Captain America much in the past. He walked up to the quintet standing around the kitchen table and they parted for him as he crouched next to Wanda Maximoff, looking at the small figure sitting on the table.
“Steve,” Janet Van Dyne whispered. “Thank heaven.”
“It’s good to see you too Jan,” he said. “You okay? Simon, Sam and Vision?”
“Yes, on all accounts,” she said.
“Good,” he said. “So what happened?”
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#4
OCT 10 |
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“Remote Controlled”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Clint Barton muttered as the android approached him, arms outstretched.
“No,” Samuel Stearns said. “No jokes, no kidding around. I’d have them kill you if you weren’t worth more to me alive.” The gamma-mutated man known to most as the Leader turned to them and smiled. “It doesn’t hurt. At least, it doesn’t any more, not now that I have the process refined. The first few people in that nasty Symkarian prison… well, it wasn’t pretty.”
“Remote controlled puppets,” Hank Pym said. “Cute. Really cute. How quickly does it drain your little remote?” Yellowjacket backed up slightly, his eyes locked on the advancing androids.
“Guys, there are people in there,” said Jessica Drew. Her enhanced senses picked up the faint heartbeats. “Real, live people.”
“The plot thickens!” Stearns laughed. “Of course it’s real, live people. Armored battle suits don’t operate themselves.” His eyes widened in glee. “Ooooh! I wonder how hard it would be to hi-jack Stark’s armor. Think I should try?”
“Guys, keep them busy,” Hank muttered. “I’m going for the remote.”
“What happens when he turns on tall, dark and beachy over there?” Clint asked, glaring at the Sandman.
“Let’s hope that the remote’s dead by then!” Hank hissed. He shrunk quickly, almost disappearing completely. Clint drew an arrow from his quiver and dodged as the first suit swung at his head, though the edge of its fist grazed his mask, tearing a chunk away. He twisted and fired the arrow at the head, and the arrowhead exploded and wrapped the helmet in sticky glue.
Jessica dropped beneath the reach of the suit that came at her. She had little to rely on in this fight. Her venom blasts would be of little use, and it was unlikely that her pheromones would be of any use. She slid under the suit and came up from behind him, grabbing the helmet and squeezed as best she could. She felt a satisfying pop. She had probably disabled the suit’s optics. She prayed that was a good thing.
Yellowjacket flew towards the Leader, closing the gap quickly. He was closest to his right ear and blasted it with a shock of bio-electrocity to send a message. The Leader yelped and nearly dropped the remote.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a pest, Pym?!” he exclaimed, swatting at him.
“Oh, like I’ve never heard that one before.”
The fact that things weren’t going so well would be a colossal understatement should anyone feel the need to mutter such a cliché phrase. Suits of armor clattered to the ground as two figures plowed through them and just about anything in the way. Suzy Sherman, better known as Ultra-Girl to most, shrugged off the blows from the man known as Battlestar as if they were nothing. At the moment he seemed to be doing the same to her blows though, and a crash sounded as they went through another castle wall and into the kitchen.
Screams sounded as the staff dodged out of the way of the two brawling powered individuals. Ultra-Girl found herself smashed into a table leading to the food all over her uniform. “I wanted to try some of this food, but this is ridiculous.”
Not a word had been heard from Battlestar yet…it was if the man couldn’t talk and fight at the same time. Not really shocking or off putting as there was something clearly wrong with the entire Wild Pack and their benefactor. Tony had assured them that Sable was on their side, yet here they found themselves battling the mercenary group anyway.
As thunderous crashes sounded from the kitchen, back in the main dining room Tony covered his face as Silver prepared to pull the trigger of her weapon. Already it had crippled the electronics within half of his armor, and there was no time to mount a defense. There wasn’t even a defense that he could formulate quickly enough at the moment. Just as the finger squeezed upon the trigger, something blue flashed past and sent the woman sprawling.
Beast bounced off the ground as he rolled to the side away from the attacking Man-Eater. “You’re quite welcome for such a magnificently designed rescue, oh fearless leader.”
“Thanks, Hank.” Tony struggled to stand as the blue furred Avenger and his opponent set off across the room again. Silver lay upon the floor and the weapon lay to the side. Struggling to his feet with half the circuitry within the legs and other body parts still out, Tony began staggering towards the direction where Silver had fallen. Except by the time he got there a problem made itself clear: Silver wasn’t there.
Impact sensors screamed as something slammed hard into the helmet and sent Tony sprawling once again. Alarms screamed as the rest of the circuitry within the suit flared and headed towards failure. Silver’s weapon was placed against the back of the skull as she stood triumphant over the great Avenger Iron Man.
“Our business is concluded, Mr. Stark.”
Pier A
“Are you serious?” Jan asked the small group in front of her. “Damn…I can’t believe it’s only been a week since the bombing. It was three months on our side.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Simon said as he stared at Kang. “You honestly want us to believe that you brought us here out of the kindness of your heart.”
“You have really not gotten any smarter, have you, Williams?” Kang said. “There is a purpose to why my enemy tried to defeat you four Avengers, and why he used the Leader to do it.”
“Enlighten us,” Falcon said.
“Sam,” Jan whispered.
“It’s a fair demand, Van Dyne,” Kang said, "but each of you are destined for greater things than you can imagine. Wilson, after Captain America’s eventual death, you train the heir to the mantle, a man destined to become one of history’s greatest figures. The Vision becomes one of the few constants among the Avengers, an immortal man and a vast treasure trove of knowledge. Williams, Van Dyne, each of your children…they are destined for great things.”
“So how about you take us back now?” Simon asked. “You are a time traveler and all. We can be back seconds after the bomb went off.”
“I wish it were that simple,” he said. “Given the combination my enemy used- the complex science of the Leader, paired with his own mastery of the arcane- it is nearly impossible to simply pierce the time barrier between that time and now.” He sighed. “I required the same combination to rescue you. Unfortunately, a simple combination of science and magic will not suffice to return you home.”
“Who was your magician?” Sam asked.
“It was I,” said the voice of a newcomer. The small team spun to see a gorgeous blonde woman standing nearby. She was dressed in green Asgardian robes, but they were tattered and soiled. Amora the Enchantress did her best to look regal in her state of disrepair.
“Amora,” he said. “I am glad to see you.”
“And I you,” she replied. “Come, Kang. The others await…”
Hawkeye dodged as one of the armored men swung at him. He slid under his opponent and fired an arrow into the armor’s abdomen. The arrowhead stuck and suddenly released a quickly expanding foam into the suit. It bubbled and expanded, immobilizing the armor. He grabbed an arrow with an electro-magnetic pulse device attached to the arrowhead and turned to Jessica.
“Spidey, down!” he called. Jessica hit the ground instinctively and Clint fired the arrow. It struck and a wave of energy enveloped the suit of armor. Jessica kicked upwards, striking the armor in the chest. It toppled to the ground, to the Leader’s surprise.
“Oh shit,” Stearns mumbled. “This isn’t quite going to plan.”
“And it shouldn’t,” Pym said. Hank blasted Leader at the base of his skull, who screamed and collapsed.
“Seriously,” Hawkeye said, “that was almost--" Sandman started to stir. The trio of Avengers looked at each other with wide eyes.
“Hawkeye, I’m going to kick you right in the testicles when we get out of this,” Jessica said as Sandman looked at them. His eyes started to narrow. Hawkeye backed away and grabbed an arrow from his quiver.
“You get a free shot,” he said. “I deserve it.”
“I really don’t want to do this,” Sandman said. “I really want to go straight. I’m not in control right now though. I’m sorry.” The Avengers only had a split second before the wall of sand engulfed them.
Blow after blow sent the walls shaking as Ultra-Girl and Battlestar stumbled through what had once been the kitchens, and food and pots and pans were sent flying skyward. Suzy ducked another punch as Battlestar lurched past. Using the moment to her advantage, the young hero shot out a leg and took the man out by the knees, sending her opponent crashing forward into a counter.
With a tremendous show of power, the counter and all things within or upon it were sent flying as Battlestar rose again and rushed Ultra-Girl. There was something within the man’s eyes now, more of a rage that had been unknown to the hero just moments before her compatriots had taken down the Leader, which wasn’t a really a good thing: those under the man’s thrall were made stronger and more berserk.
“That isn’t a way to treat a lady.” Black Knight stood, sword drawn, beside the two combatants. Far behind him in the other room lay the unconscious body of Amy Chen. The woman’s sword was at her side and crossbow in pieces all around. The sword battle had been intense, but Dane had won out in the end. Lucky for him it came before the increased rage had hit her as well.
Battlestar growled and tossed a slab of granite counter at the interloper. Dodging to the side, the dark crackling sword known as the Ebony Blade slid right through the granite and slammed into Battlestar’s back. It wasn’t a blow meant to hurt the man, as if it could with his enhanced strength and body. Instead it was used as a distraction.
Using the leverage and moment of surprise, a small pale fist shot out and slammed into the mercenary’s head and drove him backwards, and Battlestar flew back and sagged into a wall. Before the man could even try to move, Ultra-Girl was upon him; blow after blow came until the young woman stopped to take long deep breaths. Battlestar was down for the count.
The weapon was placed against the back of Tony’s skull as Silver prepared to pull the trigger. Just then a plate whistled through the air, smashing into the woman’s hand, which shattered and knocked the weapon away. Another plate flew through the air same as the first, followed by another. Each one slammed into the woman causing them to shatter upon impact. They quickly sent Sable staggering off balance and into the table.
Blue filled Tony’s vision as Hank leapt over the table and delivered a powerful kick to Man-Eater, who had just recovered to try and help Silver. Crashing came as a suit of armor crashed to the ground and the two animalistic men fought. Beast grabbed hold of the wall and flung himself up as Silver’s blast intended for the bouncing Avenger’s back slammed into Man-Eater. At the same time the fallen armor’s shield was hefted and flung right at the woman to take her down in just moments. “Two birds with one stone! Captain America eat your heart out!”
Bounding to Tony’s side, Hank offered a large grin. “That’s twice I’ve saved your tin plated posterior, oh great leader. I do believe reparations of some kind are in order.”
“Bite me, blue boy…I’ll buy to a steak when we get home.” Tony stared up at his teammate from the eye slits of the suit, which still was not responding. “Mind helping me out of this thing?”
The camp of the group some called the Avengers Resistance, others called the Avengers Immortal, sat in the remains of the Central Park Zoo. The group was unusual to say the least, a mixture of multiple people from scattered eras.
“Our enemy, at this point in history, has broken time,” Kang explained. “Eras are bleeding into each other, creating more chaos by the day. The only thing stemming total anarchy is me.”
“Your exposition is greatly appreciated,” Falcon said, “as is the shower and hot food. However, we need to know how you’re going to get us back home.”
“I have been in communication with X-51,” Vision said. “It seems that our rescue was facilitated by an unstable temporal window into our era. An important event that could not be altered.”
“That’s another thing that’s confusing me,” Jan said. “If there’s all this chaos in the time stream, how is it not effecting our native time?”
“In order to ensure several important events in history, Amora and I were able to lock out our enemy from the beginning of the twentieth century until shortly after the time you come from. A little over a year.”
“A year?” Simon asked.
“After the birth of two very important children,” the Enchantress said. “Yours, and another born to…a different pair of Avengers.”
“Hank and I?” Jan asked.
“I’m afraid not,” Kang said. “Your child is still several years away, relative to the time I rescued you. This child belongs to--“
“Kang, I’m sorry!” a young man exclaimed as he burst into the tent. The Avengers recognized the older Vance Astrovik instantly, although he wore the uniform of Captain Marvel and carried Captain America’s shield.
“What is it, Major?” Kang asked.
“It’s another rift,” he said. “They’ve found us. Two-Gun and Killraven have taken Devil Dinosaur to begin the battle, but…”
“Gather your Avengers and inform Mayday to gather hers,” Kang said.
“We’re on our way,” Enchantress said. She waved her arms and vanished. Kang looked at the Avengers.
“It’s the foot soldiers of our enemy,” he said. “They’re going to try to wipe us out.”
“Wait a damn second!” Sam growled. "You haven’t even told us his name and you are assuming that we’re going to fight with you!”
“I’m sorry,” Kang said, “but there is little time to explain. Immortus started the Temporal War in order to consolidate power. He intends to ascend and become a being even more powerful than he is now. We are trying to prevent Immortus’ rebirth as an infant god.”
Sandman carried Hawkeye and Spider-Woman into the hallway of the Symkarian prison and slammed them into the far wall. Yellowjacket dove through the sand as best he could and snatched the remote out of the Leader’s still hand. Stearns had installed a fail-safe to defend himself if he was knocked unconscious, and from the looks of it, Flint Marko wasn’t the only one affected. On the surveillance footage, the battle between the Avengers and the Wild Pack had intensified, and Hank’s teammates were barely hanging on.
“Oh, come on,” he said as he used his multi-tool to pry open the device. “Come on, come on, come on!!”
“PYM!” Hawkeye screamed. “Take your time! We’re really okay out here!” Clint and Jessica dodged in different directions as Sandman slammed his massive fist down between them. Hawkeye took several arrows out of his quiver and found two specialized arrowheads. Casting the others away, he dodged again, narrowly avoiding a sand-scythe. He stood back up and fired both arrows. They exploded as they hit Sandman, covering a small area in sticky glue.
Spider-Woman leapt behind him and blasted him over and over in the back of the head with her venom blasts.
“Come on, big ugly!” she exclaimed. “Fall down!”
“Hey, I resent that!” Sandman exclaimed as his head turned to face her. “I’m quite a lady-killer!”
“Yeah,” Hawkeye said, “literally.”
Sandman grimaced, and exploded into a massive blob of sand, sending both Avengers flying. Jessica hit her head against the wall and cried out. Stars began to dance in her vision and darkness started to close on her periphery. Sandman started to advance towards her, shaping one arm into a sledge hammer and the other into a spike mace.
“Hey, Sandy!” Hawkeye exclaimed. “Heads up!” Sandman spun, but it was too late. Hawkeye’s explosive arrow exploded near the ceiling, tripping the sprinklers. Water began to pour onto Sandman as he started to walk towards Hawkeye, but the water was slowing him down, until finally his muddy form was too much to hold together and he collapsed.
Hank pounded on the innards of the remote, ready to scream in frustration until he simply flew into the air.
“Screw it,” he said. He blasted the remote at full-power, causing the device to explode. He glanced at the screen and saw the Wild Pack simply stop. He smiled. “Hell yeah,” he grunted. “Mission accomplished.”
“My team would have finished yours had we not been under…control.” Arms crossed, Silver Sable pushed the words out and looked anywhere but at the unarmored Tony.
“I’m quite certain they would have, Sable. Either way, Sterns has been defeated and is in custody now; Hawkeye and Black Knight have him secured in the Quinjet. I thank you for letting us take him off your hands.”
“I would have preferred to make the toad suffer for taking control of our minds, but I show my gratitude of your timely intervention with him. Do not make me regret it, Stark.”
“Understood.” Glancing around at the destroyed room, Tony rubbed his neck for a moment. “And I’m sorry about the dining hall and kitchens. Fight got a bit out of control.”
“It is no matter; I had desired some renovations, so perhaps this will provide the opportune time for such changes. Good luck in your endeavors to avenge your teammates, Mr. Stark.” Sable turned and moved off and left the room before Tony could speak again.
“What a woman.”
The castle was left behind as Tony stepped up the ramp of the Quinjet. In the back, Stearns was sealed in a stasis tube while Clint and Dane sat nearby to keep an eye on the man. Better safe than sorry. Strapping into the co-pilot seat, Tony glanced over to Hank Pym as the man readied the jet for takeoff. “Well, I guess that’s it, Hank. I’d say this trip to Skymarkia was quite fruitful. If not…eventful.”
“We’re the Avengers; everywhere we go is eventful,” Beast remarked from behind the two men.
“Point taken. Hank, take us home.”
Flint Marko watched as the Quinjet flew into the distance. He sighed and rubbed his eyes; the Leader had embarrassed him and perhaps had even ruined what he had worked so hard for. All that time, possibly wasted. He took a cellular phone out of his pocket and dialed a number he had so far only looked at.
“Hello?” a voice said at the other end.
“Fury, it’s Flint Marko,” he said.
“Sandman?” Nick Fury asked incredulously. “I thought you were happy hunting Neo-Nazis out of Symkaria. I didn’t expect you to even return my call.”
“Is your offer still on the table?” he asked.
“It might be,” Fury said.
“I’m in,” he said, but not as team leader like you asked. I have just the man for that.”
“So,” Cap said as Jan paused. “Long story short, three months later, you find one of these time windows and break through back here?”
“Yeah,” Jan said. “A little more to it than that, but essentially...”
“Immortus,” Monica muttered. “Figures.”
“Yes, it does,” Steve said, “and from the sound of it, he’s eschewed science in favor of the supernatural, potentially making him more dangerous than any of our foes have ever been.”
“So what next?” Wanda asked.
“We sit and we wait for Tony’s team to get back,” he said. “From the sound of it, we have a year before Kang’s time lock wears out and we’re vulnerable to Immortus. For the next year, we prepare...and when Immortus invades, we pray we’re ready for him.”
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The End...
Next: In Avengers #5: The order changeth! Outgoing writer Tony Thornley and incoming writer Jamie Primas join forces to set up the course of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, as members leave, new members join, and one stalwart Avenger steps into a role he never dreamed he would accept again! Don’t miss it!
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