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Untitled
(Avengers Mansion)Matt Murdock, better known as the super hero Daredevil, returns to the mansion past a crowd of angry protestors complaining about the Avengers. He wonders why they would protest the people who are actually trying to help. Are there not there enough people they can find who aren’t doing anything and maybe protest them? He enters the mansion and bumps into Squirrel Girl, who is carrying Luke and Jessica’s baby.She immediately becomes flustered when she clocks him and brushes her hair back flirtatiously. He asks where everyone is. She informs him that they’re on a mission. He wonders why no one called him, but she feels he needs to speak to Mister Cage about that. She’s just the nanny. Her scent and the contents of Danielle’s nappy offend his heightened senses. She tells him that she never got to thank him properly for saving them that time with the Nazis and Red Skull.
Matt hears her heart pounding as she speaks. She’s clearly excited. She tells him that he saved her life, but he replies that she would have done the same for him. She stares at him in awe and he nervously asks if she knows when they’ll be back. “Do you have a girlfriend?” she asks outright. Matt leans back. “Uh-oh,” he thinks. He asks how old she is, but she replies that she’s old enough to appreciate him saving her life. Matt points at Danielle and tells her that the baby really needs changing. She looks down and runs off, leaving Matt to think… ‘Squirrel Girl?’
(meanwhile over at Stark Resilient satellite laboratories, Paramus, New Jersey)The place is a mess. Buildings have been decimated and flames flicker all around as the heroes pick themselves up. Iron Man’s power cells recharge themselves as Luke helps Jessica up, asking if she’s okay. She tells him she’s fine. She’s just going over in her head all the good things about being an Avenger. She’ll let him know when she comes up with one. Mockingbird calls down from the ship and informs Iron Man that they lost its trail. It was just too damn fast. She then sees the mess and asks Tony what happened. As Dr. Strange uses a spell to clean himself up and Spider-Man removes a quickly-cast protective web that he hid under, Tony tells her that Ultimo self-destructed. They’re not dealing with chimps here.Spider-Man says he doesn’t mind getting his tuchy kicked so much as not knowing why. Actually, he adds, he does mind. Tony replies that they came for him. Ultimo came for him and was literally trying to grab the armor off his body when they showed up. Luckily, it threw the robot off its game. He tosses his helmet to the ground in anger. Luke helps up Wolverine and says that because they didn’t get the armor, they called an audible and grabbed a blood sample from Wolverine instead. Logan grunts that he’s gonna need some time to heal.
Ms. Marvel asks what Wolverine’s blood gets anyone. Tony reckons they could reverse-engineer it and his healing factor alone on the open bio-weapons market could pay big money. Tony asks, rhetorically, how far they would advance as a technological species if they didn’t have to deal with lunatics like this every ten minutes. Spider-Man asks if he should grab a broom but Tony wants to get back to Avengers Mansion so he can figure out where A.I.M. are and what they’re up to. Strange asks if he’s sure A.I.M. is responsible. Tony replies, “Absolutely.”
(H.A.M.M.E.R. headquarters, yesterday)Viper is chatting with Gorgon as they watch Norman Osborn giving the new recruits a pep talk. She asks him what he’s thinking. He replies that if he told her he wouldn’t seem so mysterious. However, he’s wondering what drives Norman Osborn. Viper reckons it’s the same thing that drives them. They know the world should be different. They know their place in the world is being withheld from them. So, they fight the tides. She asks if he’s wondering if Norman is a narcissist with multiple personalities or if he has multiple personalities and one of them is a narcissist. Gorgon says he wonders the same about her. Viper admits she is a narcissist, but she’s a self-aware narcissist. She adds that death couldn’t kill Gorgon and that makes him a narcissist’s dream.He informs Viper that Osborn wants him to dress as Wolverine and join his fanciful Avengers. Viper reckons he should do that. Gorgon says he finds it humiliating, but she replies by asking if it’s more humiliating that his own men knew that Wolverine beat him. He responds by grabbing her roughly by the throat and slamming her against the wall. “Don’t kill the messenger,” she warns. She tells him that he should follow Osborn.
When Gorgon asks what if he fails, Viper replies that he will fail. He always does. The Avengers and Spider-Man don’t defeat Osborn. Osborn defeats Osborn. The madness that makes him so successful and that drives men to follow him is also the madness that defeats him. Gorgon asks, in that case, what she’s doing there. Viper informs him that she’s waiting for him to fail. Then when he does, all this is theirs. “But then…?” he asks. She puts her arms around his neck and tells him they will blow up that bridge when they come to it.
He once again grabs her by the throat and stares at her. She glares back at him and says that if he wanted to scare her he should have gotten to her years ago. He lets her go and walks away. As he does so, Viper whispers to herself that she will watch him burn.
(now)The Avengers ship heads back to the mansion. Spider-Man points out that they haven’t been on their game since Osborn escaped from prison. Captain America said to leave it to him and as far as they know he is doing everything he can. But, it’s his fault that Osborn’s out and they all know it. He asks since when do any of them individually, let alone as a group, allow what just happened today to happen? He admits that he’s angry. Osborn’s out and it’s his fault. “Our fault,” replies Cage. Spider-Man replies that he likes to take as much blame whenever he can. He shouldn’t take that away from him. It’s his only joy.The Avengers leave the ship. Iron Fist asks if there’s any chance that Osborn is on some beach in Brazil wearing an afro wig and answering to the name Carlos Gillespie? Luke reckons there’s not a chance in hell. Ms. Marvel wonders if there’s any connection with what just happened at Stark’s to Osborn. Spidey replies that this is the point: they just don’t know. Mockingbird figures they should stop everything they’re doing, find him and shut him down. Wolverine reminds her that Rogers said he’d take care of it, but Spidey adds that he also said that this team of Avengers could do whatever it wants.
Luke realizes that Jessica didn’t leave the ship with the rest of them and he heads back inside. He finds her sitting in her seat looking worried and asks her if she’s okay. She informs Luke that Osborn said he was going to kill their baby, five seconds before he disappeared. “He said that? He said those exact words?” asks Luke. She never told him that. Jessica reckons she must have blocked it out. He places an assuring hand on her shoulder and says Osborn ain’t getting anywhere near her. “What do you want me to do?” he asks. Jessica replies that she honestly doesn’t know.
(meanwhile)Gorgon has put on his Wolverine costume and joined the others who are with Osborn again. Barney Barton says he speaks for everyone (he believes) when he says they appreciate him getting them back on their feet, but did he really just throw them together to be another take on his Avengers fetish? Osborn replies that the world needs protection, leadership and with that comes the need to be protected by them. Gorgon asks if it’s going to work. It didn’t last time. When Osborn replies that it did, Barney then asks, in that case, why was he in jail?Chiming in, June Covingham adds that most of their predecessors are dead. Osborn tells her she’s right. She can see her point of view but reckons that, for a long time, longer than she would have guessed, it did work, beautifully. But yes, he admits, crazy is crazy and it got as far as it could. But they are more powerful, more dynamic and more in touch with their inner power than any of the previous Avengers, including Captain America and his denial Avengers. Plus, they have a Hulk. “Skaar,” replies Skaar. “Skaar,” Osborn replies correcting himself.He asks Barney if he’s a better marksman than his brother, Clint Barton. “On every level,” he replies. He turns to Gorgon and asks if he is a finer warrior than Wolverine. Gorgon warns him not to dishonor him with that question. He turns back to Skaar and is about to ask about his father, but Skaar tells him not to talk about his father. Osborn tells them that, if they follow that thought pattern, each of them right to this moment, they are all deftly superior. And, he adds, just so they know, they have something they never had before. Superia asks what that might be. “A man on the inside,” he replies as they climb aboard their ship.
(Avengers Mansion)Victoria Hand returns to the mansion to find the Avengers sitting around eating. She complains that one of the protestors threw an egg at her. Dr. Strange finds all this rather disheartening, so Wolverine asks him to wave his magic twanger and make them go away. Strange begins to explain how his magic works but Wolverine quickly regrets talking to him. Spider-Man asks ‘Miss Hand’ where she’s been as they haven’t seen her in a while. “Call me Victoria,” she replies. “What should I call you?” Spider-Man replies, “Suspicious.” Victoria says she loves coming there. Always a ray of sunshine.Danny wishes to go outside and talk to the protestors but Luke says no. Everyone’s got phones and cameras and they’re just looking for him to say or do something wrong. Danny assures him that he’s a peaceful man, but Luke asks him to sit down. He reckons they can protest all they want. It’s the way they want the world to be anyhow, right? “People protesting us?” asks Danny. “No. A world where they can,” Luke replies.
Spidey asks Victoria how her lunch with Osborn went. Victoria flips out and tells him to stop it or she’ll walk out. She doesn’t work for him. She works for them! She then corrects herself, saying she works for Captain America and she answers to him! She adds that if they must know she was in a meeting with Maria Hill and Sharon Carter about how best to put together a plan to follow Luke Cage’s preemptive… Her phone rings and she asks them to hold on. She then tells them that she hopes they are fed and rested. They’ve got a thing in Miami. “Go!”
The Avengers head to their ship and take off. As it rises above the protesting crowds. Spidey calls out saying they’re going to save the world. Does anyone want anything bringing on the way back? The ship then rockets away leaving Victoria to contact her mystery caller. She informs them that she’s sending them some immediately valuable coordinates so she can buy them a head start. Elsewhere, Squirrel Girl calls in on Jessica, who has decided not to join the others. She assures her that she can take care of the baby, but Jessica, almost lost in her worried thoughts, tells her she’s got it.
The Avengers’ ship arrives at the coordinates but all they find is a farmer, his boy and a horse. There’s definitely no sign of trouble. Mockingbird thinks Hand sent them the wrong coordinates and she contact her for the correct ones. Daredevil asks who Victoria Hand is. “Cap approved,” replies Wolverine. The ship disappears and reappears at the correct location. What they see below is yet another scene of devastation.
Norman Osborn and his Avengers stand before a small crowd. Several Atlantean creatures lie dead amidst the ruins. Osborn assures everyone that the drama is over. It seems this Atlantean attack was nothing but an isolated incident and it was an honor to handle this for them. They can consider them their Avengers. Someone asks a question, and Osborn replies that they are not affiliated with Commander Rogers and his team. In fact, he adds, he’s sure Rogers will have an issue with what they have done. He adds that no one has cornered the market on how to make the world better. He turns around and looks up at the Avengers ship. “Well, speak of the devils,” he grins.


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Untitled
(Avengers Mansion)Protestors remain outside the mansion, whilst inside Jessica Cage sits with her baby daughter. She is lost in her thoughts as Squirrel Girl appears and says she’s okay to leave. She will take care of her baby. Jessica says it’s fine but then asks her to do her one last favor. Then, she’s off the hook. “Ma’am?” she asks.
(Miami)The Avengers’ ship hovers over Norman Osborn. Luke Cage shouts down to him that he’s under arrest. Osborn calls him a silly man. He doesn’t have the authority. He’s not a police officer or a sanctioned Avenger. He’s an ex-con! Steve Rogers’ charity case. He has no authority over him or anyone else. Luke leaps from the ship and cries, “Avengers. Whup his ass!” Spidey asks if that’s the catchphrase now.
They all exit the ship and confront Osborn’s team of Dark Avengers. Osborn just stands there and lets his charges do his dirty work. Cage tells him he threatened his kid. He threatened his family. Does he think that wouldn’t get back to him? He strikes with his right fist, but Norman simply holds his hand up and stops it dead. Cage is shocked and Spidey quips that he knows his Osborns pretty well and he doesn’t do that. Osborn tells him he’ll never be able to thank him for all that he’s given him. He then throws Luke away with ease.
Daredevil asks how he did that. Wolverine calls Mockingbird and asks her, if she can hear him, to go get Cage. They can’t win this without him. As he speaks he is punched by Skaar which wrecks his face. Gorgon leaps over and damns him. He wanted the mutant. Skaar asks who gives a @#$# what he wants. Gorgon stands over Wolverine with his claw extended and tells him that he is so desperate to wipe him from the face of the Earth that he’ll even take his life in this terrible state. Fortunately, Spider-Man webs up his arms and licks him in the face, asking where they get their knockoff costumes. He’s having a hell of a time getting hold of them.
Osborn asks Ms. Marvel (Superia) to drown the Avengers’ ship. Superia replies that she’s got her hands full with Daredevil, which she wouldn’t really think she would. Iron Fist focuses his force and slams Skaar, which sends him flying. Spider-Man faces Ai Apaec and sighs. First Spider Island and now this guy. He asks Ai if he has a spider-sense. “What is spid…” he replies just before being crushed by Skaar, who flies into him. “Ain’t I a stinker?” says Spidey.
People watch the fight from afar, each recording every motion on their phones. One asks what they’re fighting about and wonders whether Norman Osborn’s a bad guy. The others don’t seem any clearer on this subject.
Meanwhile, Dr. Strange faces June Covington. He tells her that he can’t imagine what Osborn’s compulsion to dress his friends like true heroes could be. Can she explain it to him? He wraps her in mystical bands of Cyttorak and she tells him that she likes this funky magic of his. She loves a man that takes charge. She would have loved to keep him around. She emits a green gas from her mouth and asks him to taste her poison. It’s her kiss of death; her gift to him. Strange reels as he inhales the toxin and Covington begins to strangle him. She wishes this was a more serene environment so she could sit back and watch his skin bubble and flail from his body.
She is blindsided by one of Daredevil’s Billy clubs which smacks her in the cheek. He asks Spider-Man to get Strange to safety, and his senses then pick up on three arrows headed his way. He quickly moves aside and two of the arrows his Gorgon in the torso. The third bounces harmlessly off one of Skaar’s fingers. “Damn you Barton,” growls Gorgon. Barton just knows he’s gonna hear about that.
Spidey roundhouse kicks Covington and tells her he always liked the way the Scarlet Witch looked. She’s got him there. But, he adds as he webs up her face, she’s going to have to do something about her breath if she wants to go out with him. He asks Dr. Strange if he’s okay. What did she do to him? Strange struggles to reply that he’s paralyzed so Spidey informs him that he’ll get him to higher ground. Strange asks him not to leave the fight, but Spidey replies that he can’t leave him there. He turns and looks upwards and sees their ship coming down, courtesy of Superia. “Incoming,” he calls. Everyone falls back, including Osborn’s team as the ship crashes to Earth. It’s carnage as the ship grinds to a halt amongst some buildings. Mockingbird, fortunately, is safe but Superia smiles. “Next?” she says as she brushes the dust off her gloves.
Iron Fist and Daredevil both try and help civilians but they are met in Iron Fist’s case with a slap to the face from a woman whose clothes are ripped to shreds. A guy tells them it’s their fault. There was no fight here until they showed up. Why do they always do this? Spidey reckons they’d be used to being blamed for stuff like this by now. Strange feels that they were somehow set up here. Victoria Hand sent them to the wrong location which gave Osborn a head start. Spidey reckons Osborn knew this would make Cage go ballistic. Speaking of Cage, he sees Superia flying towards the two men and punches her into the ground.
Luke Cage confronts Skaar and tells him that all he wants is Osborn. If he’s got to go through him then he will. Skaar replies that he does, and he won’t! As he charges Skaar, everyone looks up to the skies and witness a weird happening. Millions of gallons of water circles them. It then sweeps towards the groups and divides the two teams. Superia asks if they should do something, but Osborn tells her they should wait. His instincts are correct as they water disappears just as quickly as it appeared. Barton asks what the hell just happened. “Doctor Strange,” replies Osborn. They’ve been tricked. Strange has given the Avengers the opportunity to retreat. Superia reckons this is fantastic. It’s a win. Osborn says it isn’t…not just yet. He smiles. “Nice trick Doctor Strange. You like tricks. I’ve got one for you.”
The Avengers appear on a rooftop elsewhere and Luke thanks Strange for saving them back there. Strange replies that he needs a minute. That was all he has in him for the moment. They lay him down to recover from the Toxie Doxie’s toxins and Cage admits that they were outmanned and out-powered. Daredevil replies that they were set up to fail. Mockingbird is surprised, but Strange agrees. Daredevil then looks round. “Guys… we’re not done.” They see Ragnarok descend to the rooftop with his hammer raised. “Oh, great,” sighs Spider-Man. “They have a Thor!”


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Untitled
A crowd is gathered outside Avengers Mansion. Inside the gates, all is quiet. The people are restless and demand to know what’s going on. They want Captain America to be held accountable for his participation in a world gone completely mad. A woman with a megaphone explains that her apartment was destroyed when a Nazi robot crashed into it. She wants to know why. Who is going to put her life back the way it was? Another man offers his two cents. He knows that the Avengers think they’re here to protect them, but he wonders if they actually cause more chaos than they save them from. Another guy says he wants accountability. He wants every hero to get out of the city. He wants to go to work without having to worry about one of them blowing up his car.
The door to the mansion opens and out steps Power Woman. She is carrying her daughter and is flanked by her nanny, Squirrel Girl. They walk through the gates and into the crowd with a polite excuse me. Mistaking Squirrel Girl for Starfox, they wonder who Jessica is and if she’s one of them. She replies that she is ‘one of them’ and she was pretty angry too before her baby came along. Misplaced anger? She gets that too and that’s what this is. She understands that they are angry and that the world is a mess, but are they really angry with Captain America? Focusing their anger on a bunch of guys who would fight to the death for any one of them isn’t the right thing to do.
As she speaks, some lowlife throws a bottle which hits her on the top of the head. A melee ensues as Jessica clutches Danielle and runs. Spider-Woman shoves someone out of the way and other members of the crowd attack each other. Squirrel Girl then calls on her furry friends to protect them and dozens of squirrels emerge from the woods to slow down their pursuers. She knows she’ll get into trouble for that. “Not from me you won’t,” replies Jessica.
(meanwhile)The rest of the New Avengers face off against Ragnarok, a powerful clone of Thor. Daredevil exclaims that the wind is sending his radar out of whack. Ragnarok stands before them, his fake Mjolnir crackling with energy. He prepares to use a lightning strike against the Avengers so Wolverine launches himself at him. The strike, however, still hits home, scattering the team as the top of the building they are on explodes. Wolverine manages to thrust his claws deep into Ragnarok’s chest. As the Avengers fall, Spider-Man uses his webbing to save those who can’t fly, especially Dr. Strange who is out cold. Ragnarok smashes Wolverine in the face and cries out as Wolverine then follows it by raking Ragnarok’s arm. Enraged, Ragnarok zaps Logan with another electric charge.
Spider-Man catches Luke Cage in a web and Luke asks him to throw him back up there. “Up to the crazy Thor thing?” he asks, incredulously. Luke tells him to go and Spidey obliges. Meanwhile, Wolverine is grimly determined to stick with the fight, even though he knows he is hopelessly outmatched. He holds on until Luke appears and smashes Ragnarok in a two-fisted assault straight through the wall and into the battered building. Spidey catches Wolverine as he falls and sees how bad he looks, but has to let go due to the heat coming from his body. Luke follows Ragnarok inside and grabs him by his cloak. He wants him to tell Osborn something for him, at which point he then delivers a crushing right hook. Unfortunately, Ragnarok is a clone of Thor and he responds in kind, smashing Luke through the window.
Ragnarok flies at Spider-Man but he manages to use his flexibility to avoid contact. Daredevil catches Luke and Spidey catches both of them in a web. Spidey wonders who would win between Spider-Man and a fake Thor. Before he can find out, he figures out a new plan. He spins a web and grabs a confused Iron Fist who is still on the ground. He flicks him skywards and shouts, “Fist him!” Danny hates it when people say that but, as he ascends, he channels his chi into his left fist and connects with Ragnarok’s face.
Watching from a distance, Norman Osborn and his motley crew see the energy glow coming from the battle. Trickshot wishes to finish the job, but Norman tells him they’re done. Gorgon is surprised but Norman wants to clean up the pier and make sure the civilians that need help get help. Trickshot asks him what he’s talking about. They can finish the job! Norman asks Skaar to explain why they can’t murder them. The big guy states that, if they defeat the Avengers in battle after they attacked them in public, it’s a fair score. But, if they hunt and kill them, they will look like monsters and the Avengers will be made martyrs. “See,” adds Norman. “Smart.”
He says that fifty people there recorded the Avengers showing up and beating on them for helping the world. That’s enough for today. Trickshot readies an arrow and says he wants a kill, but Norman grabs his arm and asks him to settle down. Trickshot is surprised how strong he is. Norman tells him he made a promise to him. If he holds to his order they will make out beautifully. Do they understand each other? Before Barney replies, Superia sees the Avengers minicarrier starting up.
Bobbi tells the Avengers that they’re getting out of there and Spidey, for one, agrees with her. Daredevil can’t believe they got played by Osborn. He set them up. Matt realizes that Osborn has made the Avengers appear to have beaten on him for being heroic. The team climbs into the minicarrier and it takes off. It turns towards Osborn and approaches him and his squad. Osborn asks the Dark Avengers to get ready but, when the ship is overhead, Ragnarok’s limp body is tossed to the ground as the ship teleports away. Osborn simply smiles.
The team returns to Avengers Mansion and find the crowd outside. Spidey wishes to call Captain America and figure out their next step, but Cage reckons they need a word with Victoria Hand. As they close in on their home, they see a large group of armed government agents below. Their commander orders them to step out of their vehicle. They are all to be detained for questioning. “Avengers Mansion is being seized by the Federal Government.”


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The New Avengers vs. Authority
The Avengers have arrived back at the mansion only to find government troops there to place them under arrest. Their leader asks the team to stand down, as they are to be detained for questioning. The Avengers respond with a barrage of questions, all from a position of disbelief. Camera crews film them and a crowd of anti-Avengers protesters look on with interest. The leader informs them that serious allegations have been made. “Put your hands in the air and…”
Luke Cage is furious and wades through them to try and get to his wife and baby. Iron Fist tries to pull him back but there’s no stopping him. As he moves forward, one of the soldiers aims his weapon at him. Luke asks what he’s going to do with it. Shoot him for trying to walk into his house? The soldier shoots him point blank with some kind of energy pulse and Luke is hurled backwards, coming to a rough halt when he hits the concrete. He picks himself up, winded from the weapon’s effect.
(elsewhere)As a reporter advises people not to go to the Central Park area, the Dark Avengers watch events unfold on television. Barney Barton and June Covington find the situation highly amusing but Skaar is more stoical. Arms folded, he asks if this is Osborn’s doing. Barton says yes. Ai Aipec asks how he knows. Barton replies that he’s been paying attention. Osborn’s working every angle at once. It’s freakin’ music! “We’ll see,” replies Skaar. “We will when we’re living in Avengers mansion, Hulk Boy,” replies Barton. Skaar grabs him by the throat and asks him what he called him. Barton apologizes and Skaar reminds him of his name… Skaar, son of Hulk. Barton repeats it, just to assure him that he heard. Superia asks the pair of them to put ‘em back in their pants. Something’s happening on screen.
Back at the mansion, the Avengers vanish from sight. They reappear at Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. Luke Cage asks what happened and why are they there. Strange replies that he took the liberty of getting them out of a no-win situation. Spider-Man for one thanks him. Strange adds that he transported them back there so they can figure out just how Osborn played them so expertly as well as the media, placing them in the situation they’re in now. However, they’re not safe there either. They’ll figure out to check his home pretty soon.
Wolverine doesn’t like any of this and Luke says he needs to get back there for his wife and kid. Wong informs Luke that she left. She took his baby and the squirrel nanny and walked out the front door. She asked him to give Luke a box. Spidey asks what it is. “Her phone,” replies Mockingbird. Danny doesn’t like the sound of that. Luke asks if she didn’t say anything. Wong says they don’t have that kind of relationship. He assumes she was doing what was best for the baby. Danny replies that she was. Luke broods for a moment and then heads for the door. He stalks out of the house in a determined fashion.
On television, the White House press secretary is fielding questions from reporters. One asks if the president will be commenting on the Norman Osborn accusations and the situation at Avengers Mansion. She replies that the President, along with the F.B.I., has asked Captain America and the Avengers to report to local authorities for questioning in regard to the accusations that Osborn has made in public. They are also monitoring the investigation of the Avengers’ quinjet crash in Long Island Sound. As this is an ongoing investigation, however, the White House will have no further comment at this time.
(Victoria Hand’s apartment)Victoria Hand is packing her bags as quickly as humanly possible. As she reaches the door and opens it, she finds herself face to face with Wolverine. His claws are bared and he asks her if she knows what he hates more than anything in the world? “Hitting a dame.” Victoria puts her hands up in a defensive manner and says that’s good because she’s not a big fan of that. Out of nowhere, Mockingbird appears and smashes her in the face. “Thankfully, I have no such issues,” she snarls. Victoria hit’s the floor and tells Bobbi that she can’t believe she punched her. Bobbi can’t believe she can’t believe it!
Wolverine bends down and tells her she’s been playing a dangerous game. Turns out she’s been feeding Osborn after all. They know it. She knows it. So, they can cut the crap and get down to it. Victoria asks how they even found her. Wolverine replies that he has crazy mutant senses and hunted her down like the dog that she is. Danny adds that he doesn’t mean that in a sexist way. He means that she is a backstabbing weasel. She replies that they have no idea what they’re talking about, but Daredevil says, “Toss her.” a moment later and Victoria is defenestrated. She falls, horrified, several stories towards the sidewalk, screaming in terror before crashing into a cab roof.
Luckily for her, the experience was just one of Doctor Strange’s illusions. Mockingbird asks her if she wants them to do that to her again. “You want us to do it for real?” asks Wolverine. Mockingbird adds that they have nothing to lose on account of Victoriaand her guy. Wolverine wants her to take them to him.
Victoria asks if that’s what they think. She doesn’t answer to Osborn. Bobbi asks her to cut the crap. No one’s buying this. Daredevil, however, asks her to hold on. He knows that Victoria is telling the truth. Wolverine tells her that the human lie-detector says she might be telling the truth. He asks who she answers to, and she’d best make it a good one. The devil knows if she’s lying.
(meanwhile, at H.A.M.M.E.R. headquarters)Gorgon is removing his Wolverine costume when Madame Hydra walks in on him. He asks where Osborn is, but she tells him that he saw him last. “He tends to disappear,” replies Gorgon. He asks if her mission was successful. She says that it was, and him? Gorgon admits that he has no idea what their mission was. She informs him that it was to disgrace the Avengers. It was mission accomplished according to the media. And, if they’re reporting it, it must have been spectacular.
She asks if his new teammates are any good. “Not particularly,” he replies. She tells him that they won’t need them much longer. They have the secrets of the entire super-powered community and the scientific knowledge to do something with them. They will create their own using their own men. She asks him to follow her. With Gorgon’s Hand, her Hydra and the science of A.I.M, it’s almost time to cut the cord to Osborn. The Avengers are down, the New Avengers are on the run in disgrace and she’s got that something that everybody wants…
They enter a room and Gorgon finds Captain America sitting there, slouched over with his hands tied behind his back. Gorgon bares his mechanical claws and rushes towards him, wishing to put his head on a pike. Madame Hydra says no. They need his head on his body a little longer. She reminds him that he’s a war criminal and he will be tried and fried by the system he has spent his life protecting. And she is going to watch and laugh until she cries. Then, and only then, does he get to have his fun. He can play soccer with his head for all she cares.
(Victoria’s apartment)Things have calmed down and the Avengers are seated in the kitchen willing to listen to what their liaison has to say. Victoria tells them that all she keeps asking herself is… how did she think this was going to go? She thinks this is the best way it could have gone. Wolverine asks who she answers to. Victoria is reluctant to answer, but Mockingbird says, “You’re working for Captain America, aren’t you.” Victoria looks into her eyes and Daredevil says bingo.
Victoria replies that it’s not the assignment. Spidey then suggests she works for Osborn. Daredevil says she is but it seems she‘s doing it for Cap. “Triple agent?” Iron Fist wonders. Spidey thinks not. Why would Cap pull her out of a house full of people that don’t trust her and then have her calling Osborn and helping him? Victoria explains that it was her cover. Them not trusting her made Osborn trust her more. Spidey can’t believe this.
Victoria continues to explain that originally Osborn reached out to her and she told Cap. Cap told her to follow through and wait for his signal. Spidey ask, in that case, why was she packing and running. Victoria replies that it’s because Cap was supposed to tell her what to do next, but now she can’t get him on the phone. She can’t find him anywhere and Osborn is out there. Spidey asks if she’s definitely telling the truth. Both Logan and Daredevil reply yes. “Unless,” adds Spidey, “she’s one of those ninjas who can control their heartbeat and…” Iron Fist interjects and says he’s not buying it. His fist glows as he calls Victoria a traitor. He swings his fist towards her face and she closes her eyes, fearing the worst. His fist stops an inch from her skin. With no contact, Victoria opens a wary eye and sees that his fist looks normal again. Daredevil says she’s definitely not controlling her heartbeat. Wolverine is pleased that at least, now they know.
Ms. Marvel reckons they should cut her some slack now. She’s been out there and she knows what she did. Mockingbird agrees that it was the hardest thing to do. Victoria asks where Captain America is. They need a plan. Bobbi says that Osborn is tearing it up. They need to move now. Does she understand? She can call Osborn and tell him she wants to come in. Victoria takes the phone and calls Osborn. He tells her that she was supposed to wait for her call. Her unheard reply makes sense to him and he says he’ll have someone pick her up. It’s better if they come for her. She can trust him. He knows what he’s doing. Hovering above a factory, he looks down at a scene of devastation beneath him.
(H.A.M.M.E.R. headquarters)Osborn has called Superia and she’s rallied the Dark Avengers. He has given her an address in midtown Manhattan where he says they will find the New Avengers. It sounds like they’re putting the finishing touch on them. “Just like that?” replies Skaar. Gorgon asks where Osborn is. Superia tells him that the government wants the New Avengers. If they bring them down, they’re heroes and, all of a sudden, they’re the Avengers.
Ai Aipec asks what the difference is between the New Avengers and the Avengers. Superia says not much. One has a Captain America and one doesn’t. “We have Captain America, actually,” replies Gorgon. “What?” exclaims Skaar. Gorgon informs him that Hydra has him, in the basement right there. Skaar reckons that news is his cue. He swings his massive right arm and smashes everyone off the ground. “Avengers Assemble!” he cries.


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The New Avengers vs. Skaar, Son of Hulk
(the Savage Land, one month ago)Norman Osborn, sporting a bullet-proof vest, arrives in the Savage Land with three bodyguards. Skaar stands over a fallen dinosaur and watches them approach. Osborn tells him that he has a proposal for him. He’s putting a team together to keep the world safe. He’s offering Skaar a way back to civilization; a purpose. Skaar asks why him. Osborn asks why not. He is a Hulk, a warrior. He is magnificent. Skaar says he’ll think about it, but Osborn asks him to think about it on the way back. Skaar replies that he will think about it and asks him to come back tomorrow.
As soon as Osborn and his crew are back aboard their ship, Skaar grabs his cellphone and calls the Avengers, asking to speak to Captain America. After a little effort, he manages to get put through to him on the secure line. He informs Cap that he just had a visit from Norman Osborn. He was surprised about that and wonders what Cap needs him to do with this. He can name anything.
(H.A.M.M.E.R. Headquarters, now)Skaar is in attack mode and tearing through the Dark Avengers. As they are scattered, they call Skaar a traitor and ask why he’s doing this. Trickshot says he didn’t see this coming but Skaar says sure he did. Barton fires a couple of arrows at him but Skaar catches them in his massive fist.
Superia zaps him in the face, but he simply replies that the two of them could have been something… if she knows what he means. The Toxie Doxie breathes poisons at him and asks, sarcastically, what they’re going to do when her poisons get a hold of him. Skaar evades another few arrows and grabs hold of her before hurling her at Superia, knocking them both to the ground. Gorgon and Ai-Aipec attack Skaar but he is simply too large and powerful for them. He grabs Trickshot by each ankle and uses him as a baseball bat, smashing Gorgon and Ai Aipec before picking Gorgon up and throwing him at their ship, which explodes.
Skaar dashes inside and encounters two A.I.M. operatives. One of them enquires as to what happened and asks if everyone’s okay. Skaar asks the guy where Captain America is. He pauses a moment and, for this, he is punched by Skaar. “Captain America,” he says to the second. Luckily, he isn’t stupid and asks Skaar to follow him. Moments later, they enter Cap’s cell and Skaar knocks the guard unconscious. He removes Cap’s shackles and informs him that he’s taken the initiative to blow his own cover so they have to go. Cap struggles to speak but manages to explain that they need to get hold of Victoria Hand. She’s out in the open and in danger. They also need the New Avengers.
Not far away, the Dark Avengers pick themselves up. They hate the fact that they’ve been screwed and Ai Aipec particularly is annoyed that they didn’t sign up for this. He forgoes his Spider-Man identity and reverts to his natural form, saying this isn’t what Osborn sold them. This will not go unpunished. Superia tells them that they need to stick together, but then she looks up. “Oh, come on,” she gasps as she sees the New Avengers gathered before them. The Thing asks them to guess what time it is. “It’s Clobbering Time!” He leaps down into the room through a gap where the roof used to be which causes a shockwave. Dr. Strange uses the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to entwine the Toxie Doxie and he then slams her into Gorgon, taking them both out. He then turns with more than a touch of dramatic flair and says, “Next!”
Spider-Man and Daredevil double team Ai-Aipec with Daredevil striking with his fists and Spidey using banter and webbing to slow their opponent down. Ai-Aipec, however, is no slouch and he manages to smack Daredevil down and grab Spidey by the throat. Ms. Marvel confronts her nemesis Superia, who informs her that she must know there’s no way she’s getting out of there alive. Carol punches her in the face and asks her to shush. Mockingbird uses her agility to keep clear of Trickshot’s arrows but he swears to God to his sister-in-law that this will all be worth it if he gets to send one arrow through her @$*% skull. She turns towards him and runs. He fires a couple of arrows at her but she holds her staff out and deflects them both. Barney is clearly shocked. “Wait. You don’t do that!” he cries as she leaps at him and delivers a punishing kick to his villainous chin.
Elsewhere, a group of A.I.M. soldiers approach but Ben Grimm claps his hand and forces them all back with the shockwave. Gorgon orders Iron Fist to surrender. “Okay,” he replies. Gorgon doesn’t appreciate his dry humor and the pair of them begin to fight. They lunge and parry, block and counter until Iron Fist finally asks Gorgon not to look behind him. “Oh, please…” he replies. A moment later, he finds Daredevil’s foot in his face. Danny thanks him and Matt replies that it was his pleasure on every conceivable level. Behind them, Spider-Man is struggling against Ai-Aipec but Captain America’s shield comes to his rescue as it connects with Ai-Aipec’s face.
Cap then congratulates his team. Spidey says he doesn’t mean to alarm him but he has a hairy Hulk behind him. Cap asks Skaar to meet the New Avengers and for them to meet Skaar. “Do we have to?” quips Ben. Cap explains that, if it wasn’t for Skaar, things would have gone a whole lot differently today. Matt asks where Osborn is. Cap tells him the Avengers are on it. They’re going to meet them now. They still have their hands full. As Spidey webs up Ai-Aipec, Mockingbird sighs that this never ends. Cap looks up at their ship and salutes, telling Victoria Hand, if she’s up there, well done. Victoria sees the salute and reciprocates. Ms. Marvel delivers a few finishing blows to Superia’s jaw and asks what they’re going to do with these &$^&*. Cap replies that they’ll go to prison; a pretty bad prison. Skaar asks for a hammer and five minutes, but Cap ignores him and asks where Luke Cage is.
(New York City)Luke arrives at Alias Investigations and puts his head against the glass to see if he can hear anyone. There is only silence so he pulls off the door handle and enters the office. He finds no one there but he does find a photograph of Jessica in her Jewel costume, flanked by Iron Fist and himself. He picks it up and touches her image.


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Untitled
(S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier)The Avengers are gathered aboard the Helicarrier. While they wait, Mockingbird asks Spider-Man what that was all about with Spider-Island. Before he can answer properly, Iron Man asks them to be quiet. He is more concerned with the matter at hand. He looks at images of Captain America and Cyclops, who are speaking on the beach below. Wolverine and the Black Widow are by his side. Natasha asks him not to worry. Cap will be able to talk some sense into Cyclops. Wolverine disagrees, but Iron Man asks them to have faith. Logan asks what planet he’s living on. Stark says that he knows Logan and Scott have had their falling out, but he has hope. Logan replies that Scott has Hope. That’s why they’re even in this mess.
As they chat, they see Scott blast Captain America with his optic beam. “Damn,” exclaims Natasha. Captain America looks up at the Helicarrier’s cameras and says, “Avengers assemble!” Red Hulk tells his colleagues that they heard the man. “Move move move!” As everyone leaps from the Helicarrier, high above Utopia, Red Hulk tells them to fight smart. Fight the fights they can win, don’t think of their opponents as friends or X-Men but think of saving the world. They must put their opponent down because they will do likewise. If they are not successful the world will not exist tomorrow. “Be successful!”
(Avengers Mansion, yesterday)The team is seated around the dinner table. Someone asks Victoria Hand what they are going to do about the protestors outside. She asks them not to engage them. Cap’s orders. Spider-Man says he has a question. Did he hear right that Wolverine runs a school now? Logan swigs from a beer bottle and replies, “Yup.” Spidey is amazed. A school. With children. What rational person on this or any other planet would let children anywhere near him? Logan pauses a moment, knowing Spider-Man is winding him up and then tells him he liked his old costume better. Spidey says that actually hurt.
Ms. Marvel asks if anyone’s heard from Jessica Jones or Luke Cage yet. No one has, and Dr. Strange admits that he’s rather worried about them. Wolverine reckons they’ll be fine, but Mockingbird doesn’t think it’s like either of them not to call or something. Iron Fist stands up and says he’s going to talk to the protestors. Spidey reminds him that Captain America said to leave them alone, but Danny replies that he knows how to talk to people. He knows these people. Spidey asks Bobbi if Iron Fist isn’t a filthy rich billionaire. She replies that he’s the kind who thinks he knows how to talk to protestors. Danny reminds them that billionaires are people, too.
As he steps outside, he spots Luke Cage standing there with the protestors. A camera crew films him and a reporter aims her microphone in his direction. He tells the reporters that if she’s live on air he will talk to her. He turns to the camera and says he just needs to talk for a second. He asks Jessica, if she can hear him, to come home. He’s been up two days looking everywhere for her. “Please come home.” A blond-haired reporter asks about Norman Osborn, but Luke turns and warns him to get his microphone out of his face. He’s trying to talk. Besides, the fool is in jail. He asks if they don’t get it. He turns back to the camera and says that Osborn was playing them. That’s what he does. He gets under your skin and tells you this thing that you are most afraid of. He tells his audience that no one in this house is looking to do anything bad to them. He’s right there. Flesh and blood, just like them. Who do they think the Avengers are?
He points out a guy in the crowd holding a sign and asks if he really thinks he’s gonna do something to hurt him. He hasn’t got anything to do with him. He tells the crowd that nothing’s going to get better if they hang around there. They should go home, fix their own house and if everybody gets their own house in order, then all of a sudden it’s a pretty decent place to live. All of a sudden they ain’t so mad at everybody else. They should stop blaming everyone else and stop blaming them. He is there because he made a situation that sent his wife and child away from him as far as they could get. He closes his eyes and holds his forehead, admitting that he didn’t even know he wanted a wife and kid, and now that’s all he wants. If someone tells him what to do, he’ll do it. He’ll make it right. He asks Jessica, if she can hear him, to come home and let him know they’re okay.
As he speaks, he notices Jessica approaching him. Squirrel Girl is by her side, carrying Danielle. She asks him what the hell he’s doing. Luke thanks goodness they’re okay. He holds her hands and asks where she’s been. Jessica asks if they can go inside. Luke asks about the baby and she assures him that she’s fine. They head inside, and Danny asks everyone for coming. The protestors, having listened to Luke’s heartfelt comments, stand silent, not knowing quite what to do next.
Inside, they head to their room and Jessica asks Doreen if she can go say hi to everyone and get something to eat. Once alone, Luke cuddles Danielle. Jessica tells him that she’ll start. She tells him she had to go. Luke replies that he thought she was dead. She apologizes, but Norman Osborn had threatened her and nothing was more important than getting her to safety. Luke tells her he thought he’d got to her. Are they doing this together or not? Jessica looks up and says that nothing is more important than the baby. Luke tells her he knows, but she replies that he knows that he thinks he does. He asks what that means.
Jessica tells him that she feels that, going by his actions and actions alone, the Avengers are more important to him. Being Luke Cage is more important to him. She asks what they are doing at Avengers Mansion with a baby. Can he really tell her with a straight face that this place is as safe as any other place in the city? Really? What part of it makes him feel safe? The protestors? The Nazi robots? The homicidal maniac with the indestructible retractable claws? She feels their lives are different now and the baby changes everything. Every time he or she leaves the house, it’s not like they’re just going to work. They’re not going to 9 to 5 jobs. They’re going to war. When people go to war, she adds, by definition, no matter who they are or where, there’s a chance they’re never coming back. Luke replies that people die crossing the street every day, but she says that people die fighting various colored Hulks every day, too. Which does he think there is a higher probability of happening to them?
Luke remains silent, listening to each word she chooses. She tells Luke that she loves him. She hated doing what she just did and hates every word coming out of her mouth. Luke asks what she wants him to do. She tells him that the baby cannot live there. It makes her a target every day and she can’t live without the baby. Luke bows his head and replies that he can’t live without the baby either, or her. “So… you’re leaving?” he asks. “I have to,” she replies. “Come with.” Luke hugs Danielle all the more.
As Iron Man returns to the mansion, Luke tells Jessica that other people get to have their careers and families, but she says they are not other people. She feels they are kidding themselves. She didn’t ever think she’d be married… or have a baby. There wasn’t even a hint of a clue she’d do any of this. Now, they get homicidal maniacs threatening to get them and they can’t do it. Luke says he can’t believe she just up and left, but Jessica replies that she freaked. “So… you’re leaving the Avengers?” he asks. Jessica tells him that she has to. Luke asks where that leaves him. Jessica tells him that she wants him to have everything he wants in life. Everything. But, what does he want? Iron Fist appears at the door and informs them that Captain America is downstairs and he’s calling a big meeting. He wants everyone. Something important is going down.
(soon)Over twenty Avengers are gathered to see what Cap has to say, including Wolverine, Vision, She-Hulk and Captain Britain. Cap tells them that he wishes he had better news and a better reason to be at the mansion, and everything he is about to say is of course at the highest level of top-secret information. He is counting on their discretion. He doesn’t want anyone speaking to the press. Ben Grimm asks what the rub is. “Who knows what the Phoenix Force is?” he replies. Storm gasps and immediately turns to leave. T’Challa calls after her but Cap asks him to let her go. She knows where she has to be. Storm exit’s the building and takes to the air without looking back.
Cap continues to explain that the Phoenix Force is coming to Earth. “As we speak,” adds Iron Man. Cap says they believe its target is a young girl on the mutant island of Utopia. Jessica has no idea what the Phoenix Force is, so Iron Man creates a holographic display above his gauntlet and informs her that, in layman’s terms, it is a cosmic force of destruction that lays waste to everything in its path. Jessica’s frowns and sighs that she knew he was going to say that. Doctor Strange asks what the plan is.
Cap explains that Tony Stark and a hand-selected specialty brain trust will be working to figure out how to intercept or contain the force. Thor will be leading a crew into space to try and intercept, whilst the rest of them will be heading to Utopia right now to extract the girl off the island and off the planet. Ms. Marvel warns him that Cyclops isn’t going to like it and Ben adds that he isn’t sure he does. Spider-Woman asks why. Cap replies that there are mutants who may view the Phoenix as something of good fortune. He’s not willing to take the chance to find out if they’re right. He is hoping that reason and logic will prevail. Carol says she doesn’t think he understands Cyclops’ relationship with the girl and the Phoenix thing. Cap replies that he does. “He’s going to eyebeam you off his front lawn,” she warns. Cap assures her that he’s aware that might happen.
Wolverine is with Carol. He’s certain that Scott’s reaction will be just that. Cap assures him that he will try everything in his power not to let that happen. But, in case it does, he’s going to need the rest of them to suit up and get ready. “Hulk?” he says. Red Hulk clenches his fists and tells them to be ready for a full-scale mutant attack and be pleasantly surprised if one doesn’t happen. He knows that for some of them this might mean fighting friends and people they admire, but they’re talking about stopping the end of days. Everything they’ve been fighting for will be all for naught unless they do this thing. “Ragnarok on Earth,” adds Thor. “Exactly,” says Red Hulk.
Cap turns to Luke, Jessica, Spider-Man and Giant-Man and says that they are not enlisted and he can’t make any of them do this, but he needs them. He needs them to fight the fight all the way to the end. The world needs them. He turns to the rest and says Avengers assemble.” Luke looks at Jessica. She lifts up Danielle to his face and Luke kisses her on the forehead before Jessica turns and leaves the mansion.
(later)The Avengers leap from the Helicarrier towards Cyclops and his Utopian stronghold. Luke leads the charge and he is not a happy man.


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Untitled
(Yu-Ti’s dream)In a remote farmhouse, a redheaded girl looks out into the distance to an approaching orange glow. As it becomes brighter, she turns and says Yu-Ti’s name, wondering if he knows what it could be. Yu-Ti stands beside her and together they witness the arrival of the Phoenix Force, which tears through the land with massive, destructive ferocity. The girl stands before the flaming bird, unafraid and takes a preparatory stand. From her outstretched palm, a flaming dragon emerges and does battle with the Phoenix. The girl turns and is revealed to be wearing the green and white Iron Fist costume.
(K’un Lun)Yu-Ti awakens from his slumber and sits up in bed. He’s had this dream before but each and every time it becomes more vivid. He visits a woman and tells her about the dream, about a bird of fire and a girl with crimson hair. A dragon versus the bird. The girl becomes the dragon and she knows his name. She stands with the thunderer. They’re all going to die.
He dresses and breaks tradition by taking a walk through the village, thinking about the dream and what it actually means. He hears the villager’s whispers of disbelief and knows that they worry that something might be wrong. He would assure them that everything is fine, but he isn’t sure he can do that in all honestly. Some stare at him and some look away out of respect. All he can think about is the bird of fire and the girl with crimson hair. He tries to clear his head and get some kind of message from the city which will show him the meaning of the prophecy dream. Maybe it can reveal who she is.
He visits Lei Kung who is training a group of men in combat, running through positions such as the walking crane, the lotus standing and the panther rises. He notices Yu-Ti and informs the group of his arrival. They bow down in respect and Lei Kung asks if everything is all right. He replies that it is and asks Lei to continue his practice. Lei asks if he can help in any way. Yu-Ti tells him that he is looking for a girl with crimson hair; bright red like fresh spilled blood. “Here in the city?” asks Lei Kung. Yu-Ti asks if there is such a girl. Lei doesn’t recall one, but Yu-Ti says that Lei is among the people more than he is. He was hopeful that maybe he had seen someone like this. Lei says he hasn’t since his time on the Earthly plane but that was a long time ago. Should he start a group quest to find the girl. Yu-Ti turns and walks away. “Not yet,” he says.
He makes his way to a beautiful tranquil garden where he sits down, crosses his legs and meditates. Seated before the scrying vessel of Bo-Ling, he comes humbled and ignorant of all that he needs. He comes for the knowledge that he needs to possess. He asks it to show him the bird of fire and where it will come from. Soon, a sphere of water emerges from the pool and hovers before him. He looks inside it and is shown what he requires. “It comes from the cosmos. It is real. A force…” he ponders. The water drops back into the pool and he begs the pool to show him a little more, but no more is forthcoming. Who is the girl? Where is she? The pool remains still.
That night, he dreams the same dream and in the morning he once again leaves the sanctuary of the temple. Lei Kung asks why he’s left the temple again but Yu-Ti simply responds by telling him he does not need attending to. Not today. Lei Kung replies that it’s his job to protect and serve him and he humbly requests that he take his guards with him as with protocol. Yu-Ti turns and says he has his permission to go back to the temple and continue…
He breaks off mid-sentence when he spots someone a short distance away. He sees a young girl with a sliver of red hair showing beneath her hat. He approaches her and asks her name. Another woman informs him that she doesn’t speak. “She cannot or does not?” asks Yu-Ti. The woman asks what difference it makes. Yu-Ti asks her to get the girl to remove her headdress. She asks why, but then looks up to see who she is speaking to. She is shocked and apologizes profusely. He asks her to stand and to never apologize for protecting her young. He asks kindly for her to remove the girl’s headdress. This time she does so and her red hair falls around her face. Yu-Ti asks her to look at him, but she does so with a wary scowl.
He asks her if she knows who he is. The woman reminds him that she doesn’t speak. Yu-Ti asks if she is deaf as well. “No, master,” the woman replies. She doesn’t answer so Yu-Ti cuts corners and asks the older woman what her name is. “Fongji,” she replies. Yu-Ti knows full well that this means bird of fire. He asks the woman why the girl’s hair is like this and her complexion is as it is. The woman closes her eyes but does not reply. He mentions that she was part of the last pilgrimage to Earth and found companionship. She asks what this is about. Yu-Ti informs her that the girl will be going back to the temple with him. The woman asks why. He explains that she has duties and training. Lei Kung will help her gather her things right away, but he adds that she and her family will be allowed to visit. Someone will come and claim them at appropriate times. Lei Kung asks Yu-Ti who the girl is. He replies that she is to be the next Iron Fist. She will need to be trained and he will see to that. He is surprised and remarks that they haven’t had an Iron Fist for seventy-five years. “We haven’t needed one,” replies Yu-Ti as he turns and walks away.
(K’un Lun, today)Lei Kung is seated in front of a large tome and he scratches his head. He asks Yu-Ti why he wasn’t ever told about this. Yu-Ti replies that the guardians of K’un Lun before them declared that the secrets of the Phoenix were to be kept until the time of its return. That time is now. The heavy burden of these secrets has been his and his alone. He asks Lei Kung to keep reading as he needs to know everything. He needs to tell the Iron Fist what he has to do and, if he fails, the Earth will fall. And if the Earth falls, they cease to be. Lei Kung looks at the colorfully painted pages, looking at an image of an Iron Fist preparing to do battle with a Phoenix-like deity.


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Untitled
(Temple of the Dragon of K’un Lun, many years ago)Yu-Ti has taken the redheaded girl back to the temple to begin her training. She stands before Yu-Ti and Lei Kung whilst the other trainees kneel down, their heads bowed. Lei Kung asks her why she does not speak, but she simply looks back at him with her piercing green eyes. “Attack me,” says Yu-Ti. Again, she doesn’t respond, so Yu-Ti says she will not speak so therefore she should act. If she’s angry, then she should be angry. He gives her permission, just this once. The girls stands there looking at him and Yu-Ti taunts her into action, calling her a half-breed runt, ruined by her whore of a mother before she ever took a breath. “She bedded a stranger from the western world then sold you to me for dinner.”
The insults work and the girl lunges at him. Yu-Ti simply moves sideways to evade her and watches her land face first in the ground. The other students laugh but Lei Kung silences them and asks someone to escort ‘this mop’ out of the temple. The girl reaches for the dagger held in his boot and stands, kicking him in the chin before he can react. She lunges at Yu-Ti but once again he moves sideways gracefully. She tries again but he grabs her wrist, forcing her to drop the weapon. He tells her that she is not an animal. She is a noble warrior. She will learn to fight like a warrior and to control her emotions. She will learn to express other parts of herself. It’s up to her whether she does it with a broken hand or not. The girl relaxes and Yu-Ti lets go. He tells Lei Kung that he has his work cut out for him. “May the dragon lord guide your spirit.” He walks away, asking him to hurry as she is the new Iron Fist.
(later)Chan and two companions escort the great Leonardo da Vinci to the immortal city of K’un Lun. Upon his arrival, he is clearly impressed. Inside the compound, Lei Kung is training the girl. She leaps at him athletically, but he tells her it isn’t fast enough. She must go again. Leonardo and Yu-Ti watch from the temple. Leonardo asks her name. “Fonji,” replies Yu-Ti, explaining that they are training her. Leonardo asks to speak with her, but Yu-Ti informs him that she doesn’t speak. He asks if she is a mute, but Yu-Ti admits that he doesn’t know. Lei Kung asks her to get to her feet and get into the tiger claw position. She looks up at her fearsome tutor and kicks out at him. He blocks her attack with his arm. She raises her fist but he reminds her that he said to assume the tiger claw position. She kicks him, and he asks her to show him the position and stop wasting his time. He puts her on her back as Yu-Ti asks Leonardo if he’s hungry after his journey. He pulls out a device and replies that he’d like to watch this and then he’d like to sit with her. He will need some of her blood and urine.
Lei Kung continues to push the girl and she once again ends up face first in the dirt. He repeats that she needs to be faster but, when she looks up, he sees her eyes glowing red. With little thought, she screams and blasts him, sending him tumbling across the compound floor. Leonardo asks if that’s ever happened before. Yu-Ti says it hasn’t. Chan asks what it is. “A warning,” says Leonardo. Yu-Ti says he doesn’t believe so. He believes it may have been a ‘tremor.’ The girl looks up and then faints as her body smolders. Leonardo feels her pulse to make sure she’s okay and tells them to never doubt a prophecy. Leonardo asks what the rest of the men are doing there. Yu-Ti informs him that they are training. Leonardo says that he needs them. Yu-Ti asks to do what. “Build,” replies Leonardo.
(soon)A gigantic machine has been built in the compound. Sitting on a circular platform is a long barrel, perhaps seventy feet long. Leonardo informs Yu-Ti that it would be in their best interests to try and locate the firebird before it lands on them. Maybe they can track it and plot its course. His machine will hopefully give them more than a few moments notice of the great bird’s arrival. There is no doubt in his mind that it is coming to Earth and that they are about to witness a cosmic event. He finds it very exciting, if not for the chance that extinction may be at hand. But, he adds, he feels the master’s prophecy is correct. He thinks that if the girl readies herself, they are about to be visited… not destroyed. It would be a momentous occasion to understand how the creature came to be and what its cosmic connection to their planet might be.
Yu-Ti takes the girl to the scrying pool and tells her that all that is required is that she sit, empty her mind and the water will tell them whether she is worthy. The girl looks into the pool at her reflection, sits back and empties her mind. Before long a sphere of water rises from the pool and they both look into it. An image of space comes into view and then the Phoenix Force fills the picture. The girl’s eyes open wide in shock as she sees the dragon rise to meet the Phoenix. “It is time,” says Yu-Ti.
Yu-Ti, Lei Kung and Leonardo go with the girl to a valley where Yu-Ti tells the girl to go and to be bold. As she walks away towards a cave, Leonardo asks what’s happening. Yu-Ti informs him that this is the ritual of the Iron Fist. She is about to meet the dragon Shao Lao. She will battle the dragon and, if successful, she will be bequeathed the power of the dragon fire; the weapon of the immortal Iron Fist. “And if she doesn’t?” asks Leonardo. “Then maybe you will give it a try,” replies Yu-Ti. “I’m sorry?” asks Leonardo, surprised. Lei Kung tells him that his master is joking. He would die before he even made it inside. He is confident that the girl will come through. It has been foretold. Leonardo thinks about this situation for a moment before asking if there actually is a real dragon in there. Yu-Ti asks if he means as opposed to make believe one.
(two days later)Leonardo and Lei Kung are asleep when Yu-Ti announces that it is done. He stands before the entrance to the cave and watches the girl emerge. Without a word, she smiles and holds out her glowing hand. Her three colleagues are impressed. “Thank you master,” she says. “Thank you.”


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(K’un Lun, years and years ago)As the Phoenix Force moves towards Earth, Fongji, Yu-Ti and Leonardo DaVinci wonder what to do. Yu-Ti tells Fongji that she will engage this bird of fire but Fongji doesn’t know what that means. Yu-Ti adds that she is the chosen Dragon Lord… the Iron Fist. This is her moment. She turns to him and asks what she did in his dream. He replies that he had two prophecies. In one, she engaged the bird and took the gift of its power to become a being of purity. She became the Phoenix. In the other, she was corrupted by it. She used its power to destroy him, the Thunderer and the entire city of K’un Lun. She replies that he never told her there were two paths, but he tells her that there are always two paths.
Fongji admits that she is scared. Yu-Ti replies that he is too, but she must focus. She turns to Leonardo just in case he has anything to add, but he simply suggests that she listen to her master. Without really understanding what she is doing, she takes her stance and concentrates hard. As the Phoenix Force approaches, she creates fiery dragon which quickly grows in size and rises quickly to engage the Phoenix. DaVinci and Yu-Ti look on in amazement as the two entities battle. Fongji concentrates, controlling her dragon as the skies light up with energy. Moments later, the skies go dark and DaVinci asks what’s happened. Now, standing before them is Fongji, only she is wearing green pants and a white top emblazoned with a golden phoenix. “I believe it is done,” she states.
Yu-Ti asks how she feels. Fongji replies that she is transformed. DaVinci tells her that ‘transformed’ is exactly what she looks like. Yu-Ti asks if she has any wisdom to share. She tells him that the Phoenix speaks inside her. Yu-Ti asks what it says and does it have a message for them. Fongji replies that she’s not sure she understands it. It thinks of her as just a vessel, but she isn’t. She is in control. Yes? Leonardo asks what it wants her to do. Fongji informs him that it tells of the cosmos and of other worlds and peoples. It’s not just them. There are people everywhere and so many other creatures. If only he could see what she sees. Yu-Ti says he would give anything to see that. Leonardo asks why her. Why did the Phoenix come to Earth and what does it want?
Fongji suddenly stops speaking and her eyes roll back in their sockets. Yu-Ti asks her if she is to stay or leave. She pauses before trying to answer. She rises from the ground and struggles to contain the massive energies within her body. DaVinci asks what she is feeling. Sparks fly around her eyes as she replies that she has control. She informs them that she must leave. This world isn’t ready. When DaVinci asks for what, Fongji bows to Yu-Ti and thanks him for everything. DaVinci tells her he wishes she would stay as there is much to study. Yu-Ti asks her if she will return, but she simply replies that there are two paths. She then turns and flies away into the night sky leaving the two men with plenty to think about.
(present)Hope is in K’un Lun with Daniel Rand; the Iron Fist, who has been telling her about the connection between the Iron Fist and the Phoenix. Hope asks what happened to the girl. Danny informs her that what he’s told her is everything he knows. Hope asks if she died. Danny can only presume that at some point she did. What he’s telling her happened hundreds of years ago. Hope then asks why she is there. Danny tells her that it’s because she is safe in K’un Lun. More importantly, she can train there. Hope stands up. “Train to become The Phoenix?!” she asks. “That’s all I have done, apparently, my entire life.” She trains and she trains and now the Phoenix is here. And now, she adds, the Phoenix is on Earth and she is stuck in K’un Lun. She’s not even sure what she’s supposed to do when she gets there. Everyone else on the planet is fighting her fight for her. Danny reminds her that it’s not her fight, but Hope asks whose fight is it, then.
Yu-Ti then appears and replies that if she knew that she would be ready. The question is not whose fight it is, the question is why? Danny introduces her to Yu-Ti. Hope is slightly confused. Didn’t that story happen hundreds of years ago? Yu-Ti replies that it’s a ceremonial title. Hope isn’t impressed. She wants to know why she is here in K’un Lun if the Phoenix is on Earth. Yu-Ti replies that the book of the Iron Fist said the girl who became the Iron Fist that merged with the Phoenix was mute. How he envies the master Yu-Ti who had her instead of Hope. Hope grimaces at the insult but then thinks for a moment. “I’m supposed to be Iron Fist now?” she asks. Danny replies that she can’t be as there can be only one and he’s it. However, Yu-Ti says maybe. “Maybe?” replies Danny. Yu-Ti wishes to find out. He asks Hope to follow him and to try not to talk… at all.
He takes her to the Scrying Vessel of Bo-Ling and they each take a seat at either side of the small circular pool. He asks her to sit, empty her mind and allow the water to tell them what they wish to know. She asks how that works, exactly. He tells her that all will be revealed. She looks into the pool and sees a small ripple extending outwards. Yu-Ti again asks her to empty her mind, but Hope stares back at him and ask if, what… is the thing going to tell her future?
Calmly, he asks her to settle herself, but she barrages him with questions, asking if it will tell her how it ends and whether she will become the Phoenix? Can she stop all this crazy and is she an Iron Fist? Can he make her one? Yu-Ti stares back at her but doesn’t answer. Hope gets the message and closes her eyes, attempting to empty her mind. All goes well and a small sphere of water soon rises from the pool. Hope opens a sneaky eye and takes a look, but the water splashes down again. Yu-Ti looks across at her and she apologizes, closing her eyes once again.
Moments later, the sphere rises again and hovers between them at eye level. Now they both open their eyes and see an image forming within the bubble. Hope soon recognizes it as the Phoenix Force. “No,” she gasps. A second image then appears, that of a spider. “Stop it,” she asks. The bubble drops into the water and Yu-Ti states that he found it interesting. Hope states that it’s true. She is the Phoenix. Yu-Ti asks if that is what she took away from that. Hope is a little confused and asks what he took away from it. He informs her that she needs to be trained by the spider. “Say what now?” she replies.
(later)“Say what now?” asks Spider-Man. Yu-Ti asks her to train Hope and teach her everything he knows. He asks if it isn’t he who is the Kung Fu master of all Kung Fu masters. Shouldn’t he be doing that? Yu-Ti tells him it is now his turn. Spider-Man asks if she hasn’t already been trained by Cyclops and Wolverine. And Cable, adds Hope. Yu-Ti replies yes, but now it is his turn. Spider-Man asks if they couldn’t have done that back in New York. Yu-Ti points out that he could, but he wouldn’t have known to do it. Spidey tells him that Wolverine actually is a teacher (much to the shock of all mankind), and Danny here knows all this stuff. “I wonder if you are to teach her self-loathing,” replies Yu-Ti as he walks away. Spidey quips that self-loathing is what he has his doctorate in. Danny reckons they should get to it, but Hope asks what they are all on? Danny tells them they’ll be at the portal.
Once he has departed, Hope points to Spidey’s costume and tells him she isn’t dressing like that. Spidey is pleased about that because there are already, like, eight spider-ladies. Spidey isn’t sure how to begin, but Hope snaps at him, asking him to figure it out while she is figuring out what exactly she has been put on Earth to do, how she ended up in a magical Kung Fu city where no one teaches anyone Kung Fu and what she is supposed to do when the cosmic powers of a big firebird dump themselves right on her head!
She adds that right now she’s pretty sure the world is going to explode and everyone’s going to blame her for it. She didn’t ask for any of this. Not one damn bit of it. Spidey replies that with great power comes great responsibility. Hope stands, hands on hips, and asks what she’s supposed to do with that. He replies that it’s something his uncle used to say. It was before he got bitten by the spider that gave him his spider powers and everyone started blaming him for everything that ever happened to New York City. The thing is, when he said it, he didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. He didn’t figure it out until it was too late; until some idiot with a gun shot and killed his uncle. An idiot who he could have pretty much definitely stopped if hadn’t been so busy worrying about himself and instead, really listening to the words his uncle was saying. With great power comes great responsibility, he repeats, adding that ever since that day he’s been trying to live a life that resembles what those words mean. “And I can tell you they mean everything.”
He offers Hope some advice. He tells her that you can live every day of your life trying to think of something more profound or more ‘on the nose,’ but for people like them who suddenly find themselves looking out at a crazy world and not knowing what the hell they’re supposed to be doing in it, he can tell her that just remembering that with great power comes great responsibility can completely define you. He turns and walks away, but she runs after him and asks him to wait. She asks if he said anything else. He keeps walking so she continues to chase him. “Should I get a new costume?” she asks. “Maybe I should,” she whispers to herself.


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(Utopia, island home to the X-Men; the X-brig, lowest level of Utopia)in a large empty cell all alone is Spider-Woman who cuts a forlorn figure following her capture. As she sits, head bowed, a plate of food is shoved under the cell doors. Jessica doesn’t even look up, so Phoebe, one of the Stepford Cuckoos, asks her if she isn’t going to eat it. Jessica replies that she’s drugging it to keep their powers dampened. Phoebe corrects her, in that it’s her keeping their minds from accessing her powers. Jessica asks her what she dreamed of doing when she was a little girl. Phoebe thinks for a moment but doesn’t respond. Instead, she leaves the brig.
Elsewhere, Warpath brings some food to Luke Cage’s cell. As he arrives, he asks Luke to wake up. Out of the darkness, Luke quickly reaches out and tries to grab Warpath, who drops the tray in surprise. Warpath thanks him for that. Luke asks if he can have some food that he didn’t drop on the floor. James replies that he should have thought before he Hulked out on him. Luke asks him to cut him some slack. Can he borrow his phone or get some scores. Can he find out who the Knicks are playing? He slumps against the cell door and asks if James can tell his daughter he loves her.
Somewhere else in the brig, Magma takes food to Hawkeye. His cell has solid doors so she informs him that his food has arrived. “No silverware?” he asks. She reminds him that they say he can turn anything into a weapon. So, no utensils. No nothing. “Not a spoon?” he asks. Magma asks him to use his fingers. Hawkeye takes the food but then curses, exclaiming that there is glass in the potatoes. Magma replies that there isn’t, but Hawkeye insists there is. He’s sliced his finger straight down. Magma peers inside and tells him, with a modicum of uncertainly, that it’s not true. Hawkeye asks if he can have a band-aid or some gauze. Isn’t there a healing mutant out there? As she looks inside, the silver tray comes flying out at high speed, hitting her in the throat. She coughs and Hawkeye reaches out, grabs her arm and pulls it through the gap.
Magma screams as Hawkeye tells her that if she opens the door she can have it back. It’s her call because he has literally nothing else to lose. As Phoebe and Warpath come rushing to her assistance, she tells them that he won’t let go. He’s breaking her arm. Warpath manages to remove Clint’s hand from Magma’s arm and he shoves Hawkeye hard, hurling him backwards into his cell. Phoebe tells Magma that she’ll take her to the infirmary. Magma snarls to Hawkeye that she hopes he starves. Hawkeye sits down and replies that, unless one of them has the mutant power to create an In ‘N Out Burger, then they can all go to hell. He could really go for an In ‘N Out Burger.
Later, Phoebe returns to Spider-Woman’s cell, bringing her a bowl of warm water with which to wash herself. Jessica thanks her. She’s never smelled this bad in her life. She removes her top and begins washing, asking Phoebe what’s going on in the real world out there. She informs Jessica that they just captured Thor. “And they brought him here?” she asks. Phoebe admits that she hasn’t seen him, but the gossip is such. Jessica reckons that if they have Thor then it’s pretty much it for ‘us humans,’ If the Phoenix Five can take down Thor, what hope do the rest of them have?
Phoebe asks her to wait and see. Scott Summers has a vision for them all. Jessica dries herself off, telling Phoebe that she knows that she thinks she does, and Scott thinks he does, but it’s not going to work. Phoebe replies that the whole world will be free. It will be as it is supposed to be. The whole world will be as beautiful as Utopia. “Unless you’re down here, with us,” replies Jessica. Phoebe says she will see, once the fighting is over. Jessica asks if she can have another favor. Could she have a paper and a pen, just a couple of pieces? She just wants to make out a will and to write her mom. Emma Frost said she would be executing her. She knows she lost and that’s the cost, but she wants to tell her mom she loves her and she wants to get her affairs in order.
Phoebe walks away to get them and soon returns. Jessica walks toward her to take them from her, but instead she quickly grabs Phoebe’s arm and pulls her hard towards the cell door. She takes the pen and holds it to Phoebe’s throat, warning her that if she screams she will kill her. She then orders her to open the door. Phoebe replies, scared, that she was nice to her. “Nice to me?” replies Jessica. I’m in jail, you @$&*%! Open the door and I’ll let you live.” Phoebe has little option than to swipe her access card, opening the cell door. Spider-Woman steps out and thanks her. She was nice. Phoebe asks how far she thinks she will get. Jessica punches her lights out, replying that she won’t get far with her blocking her powers. As she walks away, her powers return.
As she makes her way down a long corridor, she comes across Warpath. As he wonders what she’s doing there, she doesn’t hesitate to leap into the air and venom blast him. Warpath retaliates by punching at her, but she uses her agility to leap backwards, making him punch the wall instead. She kicks him in the face and venom blasts him a second time, on this occasion putting him down for the count.
She then makes her way to a cell and says hello. As she stands there, the door opens from the inside and, although Hawkeye sees her, he doesn’t believe it’s really Jessica. He tells her that he lived through the Kree/Skrull War and the Skrull invasion. It’ll take a lot more than a mutant with a killer rack to fool him. He kicks out at her but she moves sideways and tells him that she knows how he got that thing on his butt. Does he want her to say it out loud? Clint chills out, believing that she is the real deal. Jessica says she wants points for rescuing him. Clint replies that he was just about to rescue her. They banter about who had the toughest escape whilst running towards the cell where Luke Cage is being held.
When they arrive they say hi but Luke asks if they have a key. “Nice to see you too,” replies Hawkeye. Jessica asks how long it’s going to take. “I got it,” replies Hawkeye. Jessica is a little more impatient. She blasts the lock which breaks open, allowing Luke to walk out. “I loosened it,” quips Hawkeye. As they start running, Luke reminds them that they still have a long way to go before they get off the island. Spider-Woman informs him that Thor is there. If they can get him they can get off the island. They discover Velocidad in one of the corridors but Luke takes him out from behind before he can send an alarm. They then make their way to an exit but once outside they find themselves face-to-face with Colossus, Psylocke, Gambit, Havok and Polaris. “Don’t,” warns Colossus, but Luke reacts instinctively, charging at him and taking the fight to him.
Colossus tells him he is insane, but Luke asks if ‘you mutants’ ever get tired of not thinking for yourselves. Hawkeye makes a run for it, but Jessica says they can’t leave Luke. “The man said go!” replies Hawkeye. As Luke punches Colossus as hard as he possibly can, slowly getting the better of him, the two Avengers dash across a bridge with the X-Men in pursuit. Unfortunately, when they reach the other side, they find Emma Frost and Cyclops in their path. “Barton,” says Scott, reaching for his visor. Clint drops to the floor and manages to kick Scott, unbalancing him. His blast connects with Emma Frost instead and Spider-Woman follows that up with a venom blast of her own. Luke punches Cyclops and the three Avengers leap into a small craft parked at the end of the jetty. As they jump, unfortunately for them, the simulation ends.
(reality)Luke Cage, Jessica Drew and Clint Barton awake to find themselves in clear capsules, with wires leading from their limbs to the top of the capsules. “But… but we… we escaped,” gasps Jessica. Standing before them, monitoring their status is Danger. She informs them that they are imprisoned under the authority of Scott Summers. Jessica tries to get her head around it, but Danger tells her that she never left her cell. Barton growls that he’s gonna sell Danger for parts. Jessica asks why she’s doing this. Danger informs her that this is her punishment. She is to live in her virtual realities until such time as permanent accommodation for her is completed. Luke says she can’t make them believe, but Danger replies that she provides the environment they desire to escape, but that escape never comes.
Jessica asks her to stop it. Can’t she just let them sit in jail? Danger tells her she should have thought about that before she attacked the mutant race. “Program is restarting.” Clint screams as Danger enacts the virtual reality once again.
(Utopia, island home to the X-Men; the X-brig, lowest level of Utopia. Virtual Reality)Sitting in a large empty cell all alone is Spider-Woman who cuts a forlorn figure following her capture. As she sits, head bowed, a plate of food is shoved under the cell doors. Jessica doesn’t even look up, so Phoebe, one of the Stepford Cuckoos, asks her if she isn’t going to eat it.


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(Battle of Anzio, January 22, 1944)The Red Skull and his Nazi soldiers face the might of the Invaders; Captain America, the Sub-Mariner, Bucky and the first Human Torch. He barks orders to his troops to kill the costumed allied interlopers. They must not leave the beach alive! Cap rushes towards a mechanical creation with long metal tentacles and asks his comrades to cover him. If they take out the machine’s brain, the Red Skull will have nothing left but a big hunk of junk to sell at his prison camp flea market. Jim Hammond is a little slow on the uptake, not quite understanding Cap’s joke.
Red Skull warns his troops not to be distracted by their circus and to kill them all. Their rewards will be many. Cap is knocked down by a swinging tentacle and the Red Skull moves towards him, pistol at the ready. However, he is distracted as he sees his mechanical creation get lifted skywards by the Sub-Mariner, who then smashes it into the ground, taking out the entire battalion. He then helps Cap to his feet. “Nice save,” he tells Namor. “Of course, Captain,” he replies. “We’re brothers.”
(Funtime, Inc. A Stark Enterprises subsidiary, now)Cap sits alone until the first guest arrives. Iron Man tells him that this was a ballsy move as they don’t arrange these meetings anymore. Cap replies that Tony should never have called them in the first place. Tony asks if he’s going to start with this again. “Secret meetings to decide the fate of the world?” asks Cap, incredulously. Tony points out that he just organized a secret meeting to decide the fate of the world, so he should get off his high horse. He sits down beside Cap and pauses a moment before telling him that Namor won’t come. Cap reckons he will, so they agree to disagree. Tony asks Cap if he knew that one day Namor was going to join up with Cyclops and use a cosmic force of destruction to make the world over in his image. Because, he adds, he did.
Dr. Strange then teleports in and says hello. He asks them to tell him that there’s a hidden agenda to the meeting. Tony replies that there’s a hidden agenda to every meeting. But, as far as he can tell, this one is as advertised. This is about Cap and Namor. Dr. Strange states that Namor will not come, but Tony replies that Cap believes he will. “They used to fight together in World War Two don’t you know,” he quips. He reckons Cap think if he can just look him in the eye and give him the old ‘Invaders band of brothers secret handshake and chest bump’ he can get Namor to back off and maybe get Cyclops to sober up and end all of this. Strange replies that it’s worth a try. Cap thanks him for the comment, but Strange then adds that unfortunately, he’s not coming.
“He might,” replies Charles Xavier as he enters the room. “Nothing would surprise me anymore.” Iron Man asks him what he did with those kids. Xavier is surprised by his initial line of questioning, so Tony tells him that all he knows is that they go to his school and they all turn nuts. Xavier replies that it isn’t fair, so Tony apologizes and says it was a joke. A bad joke. Xavier points at him angrily and tells him he wasn’t joking. He can read his mind. He thinks that this is partly his fault! Maybe it is, he admits, but Scott Summers is a grown man and he is his own man. This is the opposite of what he taught him.
Tony asks why he doesn’t go talk to him, but Charles tells him that he has. Tony asks why he doesn’t switch off his brain and let them get back to the Doctor Doom’s of this world. Charles snaps back, asking why he doesn’t use one of the Infinity Gems on him. He has one. They all do. Cap states the Infinity Gems are not on the table. Charles points out that they are. Each of them is thinking about it. Why don’t they use the gems to make the Phoenix disappear before anyone else gets hurt? Cap reckons that if they cross that line then they’re pretty much done for as a species.
Mr. Fantastic then enters the room as Charles takes a seat. “Doctor Richards,” says Dr. Strange. “Doctor Strange,” he replies. Tony says he loves it when they call each other doctor. He has three doctorates and they don’t see him… “Doctor Stark,” says Mr. Fantastic. He points out, just so they are clear, that they don’t touch the Infinity Gems. They do not use one uncontrollable cosmic force to fight another. Cap replies that no one is even hinting at it. Reed asks if everyone knows theirs is safe. Tony replies that his is in the safe deposit box in a Wells Fargo franchise in Portland Oregon. He’s not kidding. Reed asks if they’ve heard from Namor. Tony says no, and they won’t. “He might,” adds Dr. Strange. Reed admits that he’s surprised he ever got together with them in the first place.
Tony asks Charles what Scott Summers said when he spoke with him. He’s not making fun. He just wonders if there is anything they can work with. Charles replies that he has spent the entirety of his life teaching mutants to love and protect everything and everyone, because beyond it being the right thing to do, it was the only way mutants would ever be seen as equals. Scott Summers was his first student and the one he was most proud of. So, every minute this Phoenix makes him watch the people he truly loves use and abuse each other in the name of everything he despises… He finds himself unable to complete the sentence due to the emotional intensity of what he’s saying.
Tony apologizes to him and Reed assures him that no one is blaming him. Charles replies that they all are. He can see it in their minds. Dr. Strange reminds him that he’s not supposed to, but Charles stands and tells him that he is, and they do blame him. He’s dedicated his life to these children and it’s all gone to hell! He is having a hard time not seeing that his entire life was in vain. He damns them all for blaming him. He snarls that he is prepared to end this. He is prepared to stop Scott Summers, no matter what the cost. But, he is his son, and he keeps waiting for him to snap out of it and remember what he’s been taught. Instead, he concludes as he heads for the exit, he gets a room full of them, with all their demons, blaming him…
Once he has gone, Reed says that he understands him. If this was one of his family, it would kill him. Cap asks where he is with all of this. Reed replies that he’s playing catch-up. A little torn. There’s an argument, he states, that says Cyclops is fixing the world. The math speaks for itself. “What?” exclaims Cap. Reed knows it sounds crazy but he asks them to hear him out. Between them, this isn’t like Galactus or an alien invasion. This isn’t someone trying to ruin them. They are allies and they are fixing things. The only ones getting hurt are themselves because they keep poking them with sticks. Will it go the other way? he wonders. Will they lose control? Maybe, but one might say that’s tomorrow’s problem.
“Because they are possessed by a cosmic destructive force that they cannot control,” states Captain America. Tony Stark asks if he of all people doesn’t understand this. Reed reckons that all he’s saying it it’s already happened. He’s still researching this, the numbers, the crime, fatalities, and he’s just saying there’s more than one way to look at this.
He looks at both Cap and Iron Man and points out that considering they brought the world to war over differing ideals, he’s surprised they’re having a hard time seeing that there might be more than one way to look at all of this. He asks them to ask themselves, honestly, are they worried about the Phoenix because they think he’ll lose control of it, or are they worried that with the Phoenix under control, the world is going to be a better place with no place for them in it?
As they ponder what Reed is saying, he reminds them that if the Phoenix is tamed, then it’s because of them. Tony created the device that broke it apart, right? It’s like the accident that created penicillin. They might have done more right with an accident than most people will ever do on purpose. If things settle down and this is the world now, they should take pride in that. “And if he doesn’t?” asks Cap. Reed says in that case, he has a point. Tony asks if he’s ready to see the world change this much, this fast, this unnaturally. Does he honestly think this is okay? Reed replies that he’s not even sure what is natural anymore. He doesn’t think he ever knew. But yes, he is ready for humanity to take the next step. He’s been ready a while. “Captain, doctors,” he says as he leaves the room. Cap, Iron Man and Dr. Strange are left sitting around the table.
Dr. Strange stands and says he doesn’t think Namor is coming and he has work to do. He tells Cap that he will await his orders and then he teleports away. Iron Man then stands and pulls on his gauntlets. “Let’s go” he says. Cap replies no. He will wait. Tony assures him that Namor isn’t coming but Cap replies that this thing with Scott Summers… Richards was talking numbers. He too has numbers in his head and he knows that they can’t win. No matter what angle you look at it from, the X-Men are going to take them down. One way or another they win and the Avengers lose. Namor is their only chance. “Maybe,” replies Stark. “Definitely, says Cap.
Tony asks him to leave with him, but Cap remains seated. Tony admits that he feels bad about Xavier. Cap reckons he got some stuff off his chest. He thinks Tony should be nicer to people and not be so aggressive. They’ve talked about this. Tony puts his helmet on and tells Cap that he only does that when he’s tired, hungry or frustrated… or any combination of the three. He tells Cap he’ll see him at the clubhouse and departs leaving Cap all alone.
Cap sits there a while staring at his shield. Before long, a reflection appears in it and Cap turns to see Namor standing there. “I knew you’d come,” says Cap. Namor replies that he’s happy to see this wasn’t a trap. Cap assures him that he would never do that to him. Namor stands, arms folded, and tells Cap that if he’s there to talk sense to him, that could be worse. Cap replies that Namor is an Avenger, and he needs help. Namor reminds him that before he was an Avenger he was a mutant… and a king. Cap warns him that he needs to end this. It is going to end badly. Namor replies that he knows Cap believes this, but is that it? Cap says he is asking his brother in arms, his fellow soldier, an Invader and Avenger… to stop.
Namor replies that things are changing; changing for the better. This is the way of the future. Cap resists change and it makes him wonder what he’s been fighting for all these years. Cap informs him that he’s been fighting against people who put themselves before others and who think they are the superior race. It looks like he’s still doing it. There is a moment’s pause. Cap reaches for his shield and Namor tells him he should have had a trap ready. Cap reminds him that he said he would never do that. They are brothers. Namor says he knows and that is why he came alone. That’s why he hasn’t betrayed the trust of this group. That is why he hasn’t destroyed Cap with the blink of an eye and that is why he isn’t taking him prisoner. That is why he lives. “Who knew we would one day be fond of those horrible days of war,” he adds before exiting, leaving Captain America alone once again.