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The Kingdom of the Vampires
A classified location in Russia, where Dracula, strapped to a wheelchair, heavily restrained, cries as he wonders how he will be remembered after he is gone – a savior? A redeemer? An inspiring leader who united his people? He doesn't think so. He will only be remembered for the blood that was spilled in his name – enough blood for a thousand lifetimes, which is how long he feels that he has lived.
'That is all I know. Every dark secret of the last 500 years. On the coffins of my children, I swear' Dracula utters as the Red Widow stands several feet away from, the floor littered with the bodies of vampires, and thick with their blood. Two of the Red Widow's Winter Guard teammates, Vostok and Major Mikhail Ursus the bear called Ursa Major, stand at either side of Dracula, who asks to be taken away from this place, as he wishes to go somewhere – anywhere – with no more blood. The Red Widow informs him that Moscow accepts his proposal, and instructs Vostok to take him away. Vostok wheels Dracula away, while Ursa Major tells the Red Widow that he is not impressed. The Red Widow asks Ursa Major if he disapproves of her methods. 'Nah. Your methods are just fine, Red Widow, I mean, a bit clean for my tastes, but just fine' Ursa replies, explaining that it is Dracula – what a crushing disappointment the big bad lord of the bloocsuckers turned out to be.
As he is wheeled away Dracula thinks that this is far from the first time he has been stripped of his power, his crown, on occasion, he has even lost the head it sat upon. Dracula knows that there has always been a cycle to these things – new challengers arise and ultimately fall – and he would always re-emerge stronger for it. That cycle began in 1459, when a witch sank her fangs into his neck – and it ends here today, in a Russian basement – with whimpers and ruin.
Ursa Major tells the Red Widow that you hear all the scary stories about what a monster Dracula used to be. 'To see him reduced to such a blubbering, pathetic mess... I don't know. It makes you think' he adds. 'Even monsters get old, I guess' Ursa Major remarks as they watch Vosok lead Dracula away. 'And where does one put an old monster so they never look upon them again?' the Widow asks. 'You want me to eat him?' Ursa Major enquires, but the Widow informs him that Moscow wants Dracula alive – in case he should ever prove useful again. 'Well, I doubt that' Ursa sneers. The Red Widow remarks that the Count wishes to go somewhere quiet and peaceful, before asking Ursa to tell her what is the quietest place he can think of in their Motherland. 'Well... there’s one that comes right to mind' Ursa responds quickly.
Later, there is a dull glow of sunlight over a sparse Russian terrain. Trees with no leaves line a sold fence that is made even higher with rings of barbed wire attached to the top of the fence. Nuclear warning signs are attached to the fence. 'All right, get going' a voice calls out from a truck that stops at trhe fence. Soldiers standing guard open the gates, and one of them utters 'Welcome to your new home, Count. Don't let the looks of it fool you. It's exactly what you asked for'. Dracula reminds himself that he was born and murdered and reborn many times in his ancestral home of Transylvania – but that land was taken from him, one piece at a time. By conquerors and kings, and worst of all by real estate moguls. He knows that there is no going back to the old country – his castle has been put to the torch, and his people are all but annihilated – there is not place left for him now. Except for what he makes for himself. Here in the shadows. 'Nice and quiet!' one of the soldiers laughs as Dracula, free from his restraints, stumbles past the gate, and into the Chernobly Exclusion Zone in the Ukraine.
At the Sol-Iletsk Penal Colony No 9, within Russia, prisoners have been transformed into vampires and are escaping the large, sprawling prison. A voice, possibly the prison warden, can be heard over a distress call, announcing that the prison is on high-alert, that the prisoners are out of their cells and have been changed into vampires. He announces that they tore through the bars, and are tearing through everything – including the prison guards, as bulleets don't stop them – nothing stops them. A vampire leaps at one of the guards, while others simply make a run for it, and others emerge from part of the prison that explodes. 'We cannot hold the prison! Not without backup! Where are our country's greatest heroes?' the voice calls out. Suddenly, there is a powerful surge of lightning that knocks dozens of the vampires backwards. A voice from the sky calls out 'Listen to me! You boys can still wake up tomorrow, back in your cells. Or in the prison infirmary'. It's Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel, who adds 'Or you cannot take up at all. Choice is yours'. 'Come, ye suckers of blood! Come taste a mouthful of thunder!' The Mighty Thor adds as he and Captain Marvel speed towards the prison.
'Where is our Winter Guard?' the voice over the distress call asks – and at that moment, Ursa Major is struck in the face by the winged vampire beast known as the Carpathian. In the ruins of part of the prison, the Winter Guard have fallen. 'The Carpathian wants to know if he should eat the bear' the large dog with the flaming skull  head called Sarge remarks as he looms over the motionless Laynia Petrovna a.k.a. Darkstar. 'I don't give a damn about bears!' the Shadow Colonel snaps in response as he looks out over the destruction before him. The Boy-Thing clings to his shoulders, while Baroness Blood stands at his side, holding a crossbow. Nicola Krylenko a.k.a. Vanguard lays face down in the rubble, several arrows sticking out of his back. The silent Snowsnake stands over the unmoving Dimitri Bukharin a.k.a. Crimson Dynamo. The Carpathian bites into Ursa Major, while the Red Widow remains standing in the middle of the carnage.
'Now spiders on the other hand...' the Shadow Colonel begins, turning to the hooded figure, who asks him if he wants Dracula, and assures him that can be arranged – but she will need something in return. 'Your life isn't enough?' the Shadow Colonel asks. 'Stick to killing vampires. You're out of your league with me' the Red Widow replies. 'So you made a deal with the old king. What kind of deal would you offer the new one?' the Colonel enquires. 'Hey! Wouldn't you like to hear our proposal?' a voice calls out. 'It goes like this: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!' Blade, Vampire Hunter shouts as he rushes into the chamber, followed by T'Challa the Black Panther, Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America, Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man, and Jennifer Walters the She-Hulk, who is currently in a massive form, towering over the others.
Blade remembers that he has been a vampire since the womb, as his mother got bit. He was born drenched in her blood, and he has only gotten bloodier since – which must be why they call him Blade. But, he is an Avenger now, fighting alongside gods and Hulks and the Black Pope and a living history museum. 'As Chairman of the Avengers, I promise you, this vampire war ends today!' the Black Panther calls out as he leaps at Snowsnake, his glowing weapon striking her thin blade. 'Who cares about the war? I want the blood of Captain America!' Baroness Blood calls out as she fires an arrow at Captain America, who blocks it with his shield as he leaps at the vampire. 'You and every other Nazi, Baroness Blood. You can settle for my knuckles!' Cap responds.
As Iron Man blasts the Carpathian with several surges of energy, Blade thinks to himself that Avengers save the world, but that isn't really his thing. 'Hey, big ugly! You kinda look like Dracula! And I feel like hurting someone that looks like Dracula!' Iron Man jokes. Blade knows that he is the guy people call when vamps need stabbing and stalking – and vamps always need stabbing and stalking. However, he admits that it feels pretty good to be outta the shadows for a change. He may get called the Daywalker, but he thinks that he had forgotten how it felt to walk in the light. 'Get her, my lovelies! Blast the brute down to size!' the Rat Bomber calls out, as dozens of rats race towards the She-Hulk – and explode around her, knocking the giantess backwards. She-Hulk cannot maintain her balance, and suddenly, Sarge leaps at her and tells her that the rats are here to pick her bones clean – after he tears all the flesh off them. 'You dog who hurt Ghost Rider? We bring someone want to meet you' She-Hulk replies.
She-Hulk ducks as a large dog called Thori leaps at Sarge, biting into him while remarking 'Thunder master say you think you better murder dog than Thor? Thor! Make thunder now!' Blade slices the Shadow Colonel's machine gun in half, and tells him that it will be his head next. 'You're pathetic, you know that, Blade?' the Shadow Colonel responds. Blade wonders if he could be some kinda hero like Captain Cornhusker or the Metal Millionaire. 'You could have been a warrior in the new kingdom. But instead you'll just be another bloodstain on my boots!' Shadow Colonel declares as he fires a blast of energy from his eyes, that strike Blade, knocking him backwards. Blade decides that he could never be a hero, and continues to engage the Shadow Colonel, blocking his punch – but a sharp stake suddenly protrudes from the Shadow Colonel's armor, straight through Blade's hand. 'You're gonna need bigger boots' Blade declares, while thinking to himself that he wouldn't be any hero – he would just be the last monster left standing – which is okay, because being the last vampire on the face of the Earth would be a good damn problem to have. Blade then drops to a knee and slices low – cutting the Shadow Colonel's right leg off at his ankle. 'Y'know, I take that back about the boots. You won't need boots where you're going, suckhead!' Blade exclaims as he lunges towards the Shadow Colonel, who topples backwards.
In Chernobyl, specifically the Red Forest, where nuclear warning signs are placed throughout the forest of bare trees. A crow lands on one of the nuclear signs. Dracula thinks to himself that this land is sacred – irradiated and abandoned. He wonders if sending him here was the Russians' idea of a joke. But Dracula isn't laughing. If they thought this land would be his coffin, then they must have forgotten what vampires do with coffins. He then reaches out and grabs the crow by its neck, before he bares his deadly fangs.
The battle outside the prison continues. Thor slams his hammer into a dozen vampires, knocking them back, while Captain Marvel fires a blast of energy through the head of another vampire. Blade tells himself that the Avengers are many things – but vampire hunters they are not. He knows that the Panther is still talking about cures, about doing everything he can to save the vampires. At that moment, the Black Panther is on the ground, using his weapon to hold back Snowsnake, who stands over him. Black Panther tells her that after their last encounter, he analyzed the fabric of her garments, so he knows she is 300 years old and from the Nara Prefecture of Japan. He adds that he knows she served the Yagu Clan before she fell, and offers to restore her honor, informing her that he has been developing some possible cures for her condition. Snowsnake makes no response, before the Panther holds up his claws, which appear as needles, and he announces that he has brought all the possible cures with him.
Blade tells himself that there is only one sure way to save a vamp – all it takes is a good stake, a steady hand and a strong stomach. 'The Fourth Reich will -' Baroness Blood calls out, to which Captain America holds up another vampire as he interrupts her: 'Lady, take it from me. You're old news'. Blade thinks that all it takes is a man like him – only there aren't many other men like him. 'You daywalking bastard!' Shadow Colonel exclaims as he kicks Blade back with his severed leg. 'You have no right to draw my blood!' the Shadow Colonel snarls as he fires another blast from his eye, which Blade dodges. The Shadow Colonel moves forward and punches Blade in the face, boasting that he is a preborn vampire, stronger than Blade in every way. He claims that he was meant to feast on the humans of this world like the pigs and cattle they are. Boy-Thing goes wide-eyed as Blade recovers and raises a fist to the Shadow Colonel while shouting 'You know who else said that? Every damn vampire I ever turned into a pile of stinking ash!'
'You know the difference between those vampires and me? I've already won!' the Shadow Colonel retorts as he fires another powerful beam of energy at Blade, while Blade suddenly yanks the Boy-Thing from the Shadow Colonel's shoulders. The Colonel screams as Blade severs his right arm, 'Nah, the difference was they had two arms' Blade jokes, as the Colonel falls to the ground, calling out for the Boy-Thing. 'Is that what you call this little guy? Man, it really doesn't like -' Blade begins, before the Colonel grabs one of his legs, exclaiming that he only needs one arm to tear Blade's head off. He then overpowers Blade, slamming the Vampire Hunter to the ground, and sending the Boy-Thing flying into the air. The Colonel's severed hand reaches for Blade's sword, as the Colonel boasts that he is going to kill Blade with his own sword. 'Doesn't that seem fitting?' he asks, adding that Blade is not even worth his fangs.
'Yeah, about those fangs' a voice calls out – and a moment later, the Shadow Colonel is slammed backwards, the front of his mask broken off by the powerful punch of Robbie Reyes, Ghost Rider. Blade, with the Boy-Thing now attached to his shoulders, and the Black Panther move in around Ghost Rider, and the trio approach the fallen Shadow Colonel. 'Guess you'll be sucking blood through a straw from now on' Ghost Rider jokes. 'That's for making me fight my friends' he adds. Blade tells Robbie that wasn't bad, and adds that he wasn't sure he would come back. He then tells Robbie to move aside so he can finish this. The Shadow Colonel looks up at Blade, who now as two large stakes connected to his wrists thanks to the abilities of the Boy-Thing. But as Blade approaches the Shadow Colonel, the Panther tells him not to do it, as the Colonel is beaten. 'Not if he's still breathing' Blade replies. The Black Panther tells Blade that they will the Colonel in. 'Your way isn't how Avengers operate' he explains, to which Blade supposes that he is about to quit the Avengers. 'No, you're not. Because you want to believe in that cure just as much as -' the Black Panther begins, before Blade uses the stakes attached to his wrists to slice off the Shadow Colonel's head, spraying blood around them.
'Damn it, Eric' the Panther mutters. Blade tells T'Challa that he does believe he will find that cure someday – but that not everybody will deserve it, and certainly not the Shadow Colonel. 'Hell, not me, either' Blade adds. The Black Panther tells him that they will talk about what he deserves when they get back to Avengers Mountain. 'Who said I was going back to the -' Blade begins, when suddenly, She-Hulk roars, and declares that there are too many, and that she has to kill all the rats at once. The Panther looks over to where green energy is radiating around the She-Hulk. He tells her to stand down, as she is errupting with too much gamma energy. 'You're going to -' the Panther begins, too late, as a gamma explosion follows.
'Boy, and we thought the Russians hated us before. We just blew up a Hulk in their backyard' Iron Man remarks as he flies Captain America clear of the radius. Carol's voice can be heard over the intercom, announcing that she has Jennifer, that she is okay – just covered with rat bites and embarassed. Captain America reports that they have lost visual on the vampires, and asks if anyone has eyes on them. 'Are there any vampires left?' Cap asks. 'Would you like to answer him?' the Black Panther asks Blade. 'Yeah, Cap. There's at least one of us here. But the Legion got away again. Or, well, most of them did' Blade replies, as nearby, Thori the dog can be seen standing over the fallen Sarge. 'Thori! King of all dogs!!' the Asgardian dog howls.
Later, at Avengers Mountain, 'We shouldn't have trusted those Russians' Captain Marvel remarks as she, Black Panther and Captain America walk down a corridor lined with cells. Black Panther tells Captain Marvel that he does not trust the winter guard, not so long as the Red Widow is in charge, but points out that they had little choice, short of a full-scale battle with them. 'Which is definitely coming at some point' Carol suggests. Captain America reminds his teammates that the Russians still have Dracula somewhere in hiding, and now they have a prison full of vampires. 'I don't like it' he tells them, before asking how they know the war of the undead is truly finished. The trio stops at a cell, lined with laser bars, and the Black Panther tells his teammates that he believes their friend here could answer that – when he feels like talking. 'What I feel like... is tearing your faces off! Open this cage!' Sarge snarls.
Elsewhere within the Mountain, She-Hulk remarks to Thor that she has gto get better at controlling her new gamma powers – as she could have killed them all. 'Nay. I would have been just fine' Thor replies. “Killed us all” Robbie mutters. 'Join the club' he adds, as he walks nearby, although Thor and She-Hulk don't react to him. Robbie soon comes across Blade, carrying several bags of weapons, and with the Boy-Thing strapped across his shoulders. 'Figured you'd be headed out' Robbie remarks. Blade replies that whatever this Dracula business is, it isn't finished, that's for sure – so until then, he guesses that he is an Avenger. Somewhat nervously, Robbie tells Blade that this is good, and admits that he has thought a lot about what he said earlier – and he is right, he does have to get this Spirit of Vengeance under control. Robbie tells Blade that he was hoping he could help him perform an exorcism on his car. 'I'm already regretting sticking around' Blade replies as he walks alongside Robbie.
But, Johnny Blaze the Ghost rider sits in another realm and grins, telling Robbie that he will see him soon – see him when he comes home.
Snow falls across the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, where the decapitated body of the Shadow Colonel is slumped over in the snow, his head laying nearby. 'It was the Dhampir Blade who did this to him. But the Colonel did his part' Baroness Blood announces as she stands on a slope with the Rat Bomber, Snowsnake and the Carpathian. Baroness Blood adds that they believe the Shadow Colonel still deserves a place in the new kingdom. 'That is for me to judge. After all...he's my son' Dracula announces as he walks into view and picks up his son's decapitated head. The Shadow Colonel can still speak, and looks at Dracula: 'Father is this it? Is this the promised land I see? It's beautiful'. The Shadow Colonel utters. Dracula identifies his son as Xarus, and tells him that he did well. 'You did exactly as I wanted. We are free now. Free to rebuild, stronger than ever. Welcome home, my bloody disciples' Dracula declares as he throws his son's head over his shoulder, and extends his arms outwards as Baroness Blood, the Rat Bomber, Snowsnake and the Carpathian gather around him he exclaims 'Welcome to the Kingdom of the Vampires!'


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Untitled (part 1)
(New York, Autumn, 1959)For thirty years, from the market crash, the great depression, dust bowl disasters, the Second World War and now the nuclear brink, the U.S.A. and the world has withstood the onslaught of history. Now, the men and women who brought the world to the edge of chaos are back to finish the job.
Its early evening and it’s raining New York City. Inside the bright and breezy Stork Club, Nick Fury is giving a toast in front of his new recruits: Bloodstone, Kraven, Namora, Sabretooth, Silver Sable and Dominic Fortune. He says he’s served his country for two decades; in a war, a police action and a cold war. But, in all those years, he’s never been prouder than of the time he’s spent in their company. He raises his glass. “To the Avengers.” Everyone smiles and follows suit. “The Avengers!” They down their champagne and smash their glasses on the floor.
The thousand year Reich has returned to take its second shot, but not if Colonel Fury and his Avengers have anything to say in the matter.
Sabretooth leans over to Namora and tells her it’s been great working with her. She warns him to back off as he’s playing well out of his league. Kraven then appears and reminds him that it’s Princess Namora to him. Namora puts her hand against Kraven’s arm and says that as royalty she can handle this herself. Creed tells him the little Princess can make up her own mind about him. Kraven pulls out a pistol and shoots Creed in the face. “Some other time,” he grins. Dominic Fortune asks Namora to let things just take their natural course with those two but Namora replies that she can’t because, when Victor heals, she’d prefer a live boyfriend to a dead hero.
Fury asks what the plan is. Bloodstone informs him that he and Sable are heading directly to the Savage Land. Sable adds that Bloodstone’s got him interested in hunting for some serious big game. Fury smiles and says it sounds terrific, asking them to save him a woolly mammoth steak.
(Autumn in Hassenstadt, the capital of Latveria… New York it’s not)Her federal I.D. says she is Louise Mason, systems analyst, but on her real job she’s known as the Blonde Phantom. Her target, Obergruppenfuhrer Dieter Skul, has been one step ahead of international law them since they wiped the Reich off the map. Every intel source they had said he was long dead, so what the heck is he doing alive and well and living in Latveria? This is why she’s playing the honey trap in this Eastern European sinkhole. She has been assigned to identify and neutralize war criminals and uncover who or what was behind their sudden resurgence.
She is sneaking around his apartment in her underwear and comes across one of his small Nazi badges - a red skull on a yellow circle. He wakes up and confronts her, reminding her how much he values his privacy. She apologizes but says she didn’t want to wake him. He asks what it is she’s found. Fortunately, she’s grabbed a sexy negligee and replies she was looking for his favorite one, right? She tells him that the only thing she likes better than putting it on is him taking it off. She flashes him a beaming smile. Her work is done.
(Autumn in New York. Sometimes it’s just a drizzly mess)And it is this evening. Nick Fury leaves Bloodstone and Sable to it and heads off. He is walking past Phil’s Pizza place when a hooker asks him if he wants to step out. He doesn’t even look back at her but tells her that this is as out as it gets for him this evening. She should call it a night and go home. She replies that a girl’s gotta eat and, if she’s not working, she’s earning.
“Oh, come on,” he sighs as he turns to see her leaping towards him with a sword in her hand.Fury turns quickly, grabs a trash can and blocks her attack. She still manages to draw blood from his shoulder as the blade flashes past. He ducks the next swing and asks if this is personal or professional. He realizes he’s pissed off a lot of people in his time, on the job and just in day-to-day living, so really it could go either way. He reaches underneath her and lifts her onto his shoulder before slamming her down onto a police department bus stop sign with a pointed top. It plunges through her chest, killing her instantly. Fury takes a small yellow skull badge from her. “Definitely professional,” he realizes.
(Autumn in the African rainforest)The nearly silent serenity is punctuated by the cough of sleeping lions, and by the almost inaudible hum of modernity that powers the secret empire of Wakanda. A businessman named Mr. Sydenham is with two colleagues and is meeting with Miss N’Taka. He apologizes that they didn’t have the opportunity to meet with his highness, but they certainly respect his need for a spiritual retreat before his ordination as Emperor. N’Taka tells him they appreciate his understanding and they equally appreciate the opportunity to do business with the U.S. State Department.
“Not at all, Your Excellency,” he replies, adding that speaking for the United States in general and for state and defense in particular, he is profoundly grateful that the Empire of Wakanda has opted to share its genius with the free world in the name of international cooperation and peace. N’Taka smiles and asks him to just be certain to keep this transaction a closely guarded secret and the covert diplomatic relationship between their two nations will be mutually beneficial. He gives her his word on that.
As the three men depart in a helicopter, “Mr. Sydenham’s” colleagues asks if she bought it. “Hook, line and sinker,” he replies. He floats several yellow and red skull badges above is hand in a cocoon of energy and asks them not to forget he’s been selling refrigerators to Eskimos for years.
(the 96th Street Boat Basin, where the nautical set finds a home in the Big Apple)Namora and Kraven are on a small boat. Namora tells him he behaved like a common thug, but he says it was only because she was flirting with Creed. “Really, now?” she replies, adding that a member of the royal court of Atlantis barely acknowledges the existence of the dry. Flirting is out of the question. Of course, she’ll make an exception in his case if stops behaving like the hoi polloi. He tells her he loves it when she talks dirty to him.
Before they can kiss, their boat is rocked when a submarine begins to surface right next to them. Namora grabs Kraven (or Sergei as she prefers to call him) and takes him into the air. She is annoyed as she was just getting royally interested. He quips that it looked to him like she had him right where he wanted her. He begins blasting with a rifle at the submarine as someone emerges from inside. As soon as the guy appears, dressed in a green body suit with the red skull badge on his head, he notices that the boat is carrying a small arsenal. Kraven’s bullets hit the target and their boat explodes in a huge fireball, destroying the submarine with it. As they land, Kraven wonders who the hell these guys are. Namora replies that they’re dead, but the skull blazon makes them seem like Nazis to her.
(New York’s Idlewild Field)Dominic Fortune pilots his small plane away from the airfield with a pretty redhead by his side. It’s just a few minutes before they achieve a cruising altitude of 18,000 feet, he tells her. Then they can put it on autopilot and the bells will ringing just before they reach Chicago for the first leg to the west coast. She holds two champagne flutes and a bottle of bubbly, complimenting on how he thinks of everything. It’ll be the best of both worlds, he says. The intimacy of a sleeper on the Twentieth Century Limited, combined with the convenience of modern air transport.
As he speaks, he looks out the window and sees another small aircraft emblazoned with the skull insignia coming right at them and opening fire. His date asks him to do something. “Make it stop!” Fortune calmly hands her a parachute and tells her that they’re going to have to reschedule breakfast in the loop. He has some unfinished business to wrap up. The plane makes a second fly by, thumping bullets into Fortune’s craft. He tells her it’s time to go, but she asks him if he’s out of his mind. He asks her to remember to pull the thing that looks like a big eyehook and then opens the door, pushing her out.
She screams as he hits the lever to eject himself from the plane. “A terrible waste,” he sighs as his plane explodes.
(Autumn in New York, and the farther north you get, the dearier it gets)Sabretooth is trying to hitch a lift and is pleased to see a green truck pull up to offer him a ride. The driver says nobody should be stuck with his thumb out on a night like this. Creed asks how far he’s heading. The guy replies that he’s due in Toronto. Creed smiles. “You don’t say… same here.” As Creed turns to look out the window, the driver grins. “I don’t know, seems to me like you’re not goin’ to make it to the border.” His face changes and he is revealed to be a kind of werewolf.
Creed turns just in time to see the driver lunge at him. He hits the brakes and the pair of them go crashing through the windscreen. Once outside in the rain, Sabretooth uses his claws to slash the guy’s face, but he responds by doing likewise to Creed’s face. Creed manages to kick him away and leap back through the window into the driver’s seat. He takes off before the werewolf can recover.
(New York)After spending an hour with the NYPD following the attack on him and another hour spent talking to Fortune, Namora, Kraven and Victor comparing their respective evenings, Fury is a raw nerve and in no mood for surprises. He enters an apartment and is greeted by a besuited wielding a sword.
Fury removes his own weapon which was concealed inside his umbrella and prepares to fight. The man informs him that they are needed. “Needed my ass,” replies Fury as their swords clash. “I’ve served this country for nearly twenty years. One shot at him tonight isn’t enough? As he is disarmed, the man replies that Fury has it terribly wrong. He is a friend and needs to speak to him about the Avengers!


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Untitled (part 2)
(New York, 1959)Nick Fury has found a stranger waiting for him at his apartment. The man quickly introduces himself as Powell McTeague. He smiles nervously and says he thinks they are meant to be great friends.
Fury lowers the sword at his throat and asks him who sent him and why. McTeague replies that there’s no need to play John Wayne for him. Fury tells him John Wayne is a draft-dodging chicken-hawk who let other men do the real fighting while he stormed the beach at Malibu for Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox. “Perhaps Errol Flynn, then…” replies McTeague. Fury asks him not to get started on Flynn. He’s still waiting for an answer.
McTeague informs that General Hill sent him on the QT. He explains that the general would like Fury to make a strictly unofficial visit to an old colleague of his. Fury knows that by “unofficial” he means that, if he screws up, Uncle Sam has never heard of him. McTeague adds that this visit is to continue his secret war on the reemerging Nazis who are committed to shoving a Fourth Reich down their unwilling throats. Fury asks if, besides the obvious, McTeague has any idea what the Skull/8 thing is about. McTeague admits he hasn’t a clue, but he hopes this little jaunt of his might shed some light on the situation. Fury takes a letter from an envelope and reads it.
(Hassenstadt, the capital city of Latveria, soon after)The place is a tiny nation cloaked in mystery and trapped in poverty, ignorance and suspicion. It’s waiting, whether it knows it or not, for a powerful man to transform it overnight. Fury strides through the airport in his best suit and is delighted when he meets Erik Koenig, who tells him that his taste in clothes has improved. Fury says that the last time he saw Koenig he was blind drunk and threatening to climb the Eiffel Tower. “From the outside,” replies Koenig. The two men bounce off each other like they’d never been apart. Fury laughs at the fact that his climb was stopped by the gendarmes who took a poop on his party and hauled them off to Le ‘Oosegow. “Who said the krauts never let loose?” grins Fury. Koenig reminds him that Fury did, which is why he tried to climb Eiffel’s tower. “That and the eight Courvoisiers,” replies Fury.
They head off and meet up with the Blonde Phantom for drinks. Koenig informs Fury that he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1946 and was immediately vetted into the Foreign Service. Fury presumes he was hoping for maybe Rome or Paris, but instead they dumped him in Dracula’s weekend getaway. Koenig reckons Latveria has its charms, not the least of which is working with Miss Mason. Louise tells Fury she’s pleased to meet him. She’s been an admirer for years. Fury thinks that makes him sound like he oughta creak, but she adds that she’s a mother of two so they’ve both been around the block.
Fury asks what an all-American mom is doing in Latveria. Louise explains that Erik told her they’ve been fighting a clandestine war against the swarm of Nazis sweeping out of the shadows. Latveria seems to be a gateway for their comeback.
(flashback)She explains that she’s been “dating” Dieter Skul, a onetime oberstgruppenfuhrer who’s been hiding out in Hassenstadt. He’s been passing himself off as Dieter Leberkase, an itinerant Dutch “marital aids distributor” (bondage paraphernalia). He was always taking phone calls in private, despite whatever in flagrante delecto he was in with li’l old her. The last time, while they were engaged in a little semi-naked kinkiness, he caught her eavesdropping which forced her to leap out of his window and into the water. She went from liebchen to liability in one fell swoop. Skul is still out there, she adds, but as far as he knows she’s at the bottom of his moat. And… he’s not getting his underwear back.
Fury presumes that she and Erik think that Skul is the tip of a Nazi iceberg. Louise says it looks that way to her. Erik asks her to show him the medallions. She hands him one and Fury informs them that his team were all hit by rats wearing the symbol back in NYC. He asks if her boyfriend Skul is trying to grab some of the Red Skull’s glory. Erik thinks that would be obvious, but Louise says Skul is strictly small time. Fury reckons they’re going to have to dig a little deeper in Hassenstadt.
They head to the Wakandan Embassy and speak with a gentleman named K’Shanei. He explains that his emperor vanished from his retreat while the U.S. State Department officials were in Wakanda. He doesn’t know who is actually responsible. Fury tells him that he knows he isn’t into coincidences any more than he is. He served with one of his emperors versus Il Duce in Ethiopia. The Black Panther was no lightweight. K’Shanei agrees. But, part of the process by which a new king is deemed worthy of the Black Panther is a spiritual retreat. “No ransom note. No calls?” asks Fury. K’Shanei says no, but the silence is a message unto itself. Koenig asks if he might be overreacting, but K’shanei responds by paraphrasing Arthur Conan Doyle. “It’s the dog that doesn’t bark that tells the story.”
Fury asks him why he hasn’t lodged a formal complaint with the State Department. He replies that it’s because they have no formal relationship with the United States. Koenig adds that they’re in the process of very delicate negotiations in that regard. K’Shanei puts it simply. He isn’t accusing the United States of any complicity. Rather, adds Koenig, the Wakandan Council is convinced that the culprit used the covert State Department visit as a diversion. K’Shanei says that they believe the fascist renaissance he and his fellows have been fighting is responsible for the abduction. Fury realizes that Wakanda has just secretly signed on to finance the Avengers. It’s time for him to call home and round up the posse.
(Washington D. C.)Dum Dum Dugan drives General Hill and two agents to a safe house and parks up. Dugan asks him to stand back and let the agents do their job, but Hill follows them to the door and replies that he doesn’t need a babysitter. One of the agents kicks the door through and they enter. Inside, they find no one. It looks like the Nazis have someone on the inside who tipped them off. The agents continue into the building. One of them smells something funny, and his colleague’s mouth drops as he sees what’s in the next room. General Hill is brushed aside and he tumbles down the brownstone’s steps, landing with a thump.
He composes himself and enters with Dugan. The room is covered in blood and excrement. It’s a pitiful sight. They leave for the car. He tells Dugan that they’ve been betrayed. Dugan replies that it’s not the first time and certainly won’t be the last. Unseen by all, Geoffrey Syndeham, the man who posed as a State Department official in Wakanda, slinks away into the growing darkness.
(meanwhile)Nick Fury and the blonde Phantom head through the streets of Hassenstadt. They both know that they will be nailed if they get caught there. Erik would have to pretend he’s never even heard of them. Louise mentions that their job is to clean out the rats nest without getting any attention from the police. Fury adds that, according to her boyfriend Skul’s files, whoever is bivouacked there is, and he quotes, “The poignant legacy of Herr Des Todes.” They smash into a building and Louise reckons they should rain on a little Nazi poignancy. “Herr Des Todes my keister,” replies Fury. “That’s kraut for Lord of Death… and these guys are the Hollow Men.”
They both start shooting at a group of people in the room. Louise reckons they look like garden variety zombies to her, and the last she heard they are already dead. Fury asks her to stay cool. Bullets may not stop them permanently, but it’ll sure as hell slow them down long enough for them to come up with a plan. Bullets hit home but some of them go astray. Louise asks if the Lord of Death is a fifth rate fifth columnist in New York. Fury says yes. He ran his operation in his old neighborhood of Yancy Street. He personally was with the Howlers fighting their way north through Italy when Captain America took him and his Hollow Men down. The way his kid brother told it, the blast rattled windows in Winchester.
Stray bullets hit the gas pipes behind the lurching Hollow Men and the whole place explodes. Fury grabs the Blonde Phantom and throws them to the floor to escape injury and Fury reckons that could have gone better. They hear sirens approaching. “So much for keeping a low profile,” sighs Louise. Fury says that on the upside, those old-fashioned sirens give them plenty of time to split the scene. When they get there the first thing they’ll find is the Skul’s papers. Louise takes a look at them and asks where they came from. Fury admits that they’re as phony as a three dollar bill. Erik’s got a local guy who fakes exit visas for Latverians looking to blow town. Guy does great work if you ask him. As they exit the scene, Louise asks where he was when she was single and still looking for trouble.
(the South Pacific)A large ship moves through the moonlit waters. On board, apart from a team of soldiers are Baron Blood and Brain Drain; veterans of Hitler’s super-powered secret army. The two men have become friends since the collapse of the Reich and wait for the inevitable day of reckoning. Baron Blood leaps across the deck and tells his colleague that he can call him mad, but he smells the presence of magic. Celtic sorcery and Kabbalistic witchcraft. Brain Drain leans against the side of the ship looking across the ocean. He replies that he can’t smell a thing, but his eyes work perfectly. There is definitely something queer afoot. He believes they are about to be boarded.
Right on cue, a wave erupts from the surface carrying four passengers. Controlled by Namora, she brings Kraven, Sabretooth and Dominic Fortune along for the ride. The wave hits the ship and the four Avengers board. Kraven complains that one minute McTeague is using Fury’s credit line to fit them out in clothing, and the next they’re being dumped in the drink halfway between Australia and Madripoor. Creed blames the Englishman and Fortune agrees. Namora tells them that, as soon as they stop whining, they have fascists to fight.
Sabretooth leaps on Baron Blood, who calls him a “Yankee freak.” Creed informs him that he’s Canadian as Namora takes on Brain Drain. “Mongrel slut,” he calls her. “That’s your highness to you, peasant,” she replies. Kraven and Fortune open fire on the soldiers. As he blasts away, Kraven asks what the smell is. Fortune asks him to keep it to himself but he threw up when they hit. Fortune then turns and notices a colony of bats approaching fast.
Namora’s dominion over the lower orders stops at the shoreline. Kraven is more comfortable killing four-legged predators while Dominic Fortune has always favored the two-legged variety. Sabretooth, on the other hand, will kill anyone and anything. Baron Blood and Brain Drain stand back and let the creatures soften up the Avengers for them. Unfortunately, as they look on they see Creed savagely tear the bats apart, Fortune shoot them from the sky, Namora punch the living daylights out of them and Kraven slice and dice them with his knife.
The Avengers look up and see a flash of bright yellow light and a silhouette standing in front of it. “Like I said,” groans Creed, “It was the Englishman.” McTeague corrects him, saying he is Welsh on his dad’s side and Litvak on his mum’s. Now that’s all settled, what say they send those misguided monsters to a well-deserved hell and be done with it!


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Untitled (part 3)
Brain Drain and Baron Blood are on board a boat in the South Pacific and faced with the Avengers. Sabretooth points out that they have a robot and a vampire to deal with. They’re not talking armor piercing ammo or silver bullets here. Namora agrees and reckons it’s up to the more enhanced Avengers to deal with them. She immediately attacks Baron Blood whilst Sabretooth goes for Brain Drain, punching him hard in the gut. Despite the early promise, this is all undone when they are thrown apart by a ball of mystical flame that engulfs them all. The two villains mysteriously vanish.
“So much for the enhanced Avengers,” sighs Dominic Fortune. Kraven, disgruntled, adds that if it had been them, no one would have burst into flames. Powell explains that it’s not that simple. Namora and Sabretooth had nothing to do with the disappearance of the two Nazis. He believes the scorched skull symbol on the ground where they disappeared tells him that they have not been executed, but rescued. Creed asks who could have done that. Powell informs them that General Hill invited him to this soiree because he possesses occult gifts.
Kraven asks him to get to the point and Namora asks where those gifts of his were when they were disappearing in columns of fire. Powell tells them that he is convinced that they face a menace far more threatening than a horde of leftover ubermenschen. Whoever pulled them from their clutches has plans other than prosecution for those war criminals.
(Washington D.C.)Senator Sanford is hosting a get together between himself, General Hill and Geoffrey Sydenham. Hill is testy and Sanford asks Hill to relax. No one’s trying to tell him how to do his job. Hill replies that he could have fooled him. He’s just double-checked the figures and it sure as hell looks to him like his budget’s been cut by nearly half. Sanford tells him it’s all about the results business but Hill isn’t interested. “And,” Hill continues, “This Sydenswipe crony of yours…”
Sydenham steps in and corrects him, adding that it seems to him that if Hill could maintain his security, perhaps the senator would be inclined to be a little more generous. Hill asks if he’s talking about his compromised safe house. Sydenham replies that he knows he is. The safety, security, the very future of this nation depends on the effectiveness of its intelligence services. Hill tells him it was a hell of a speech, coming from a treasonous hypocrite like him. Sanford tries to calm it down a little, and Sydenham asks him not to worry. He’s been accused of that sort of thing before so often it just rolls off his back. The truth is, he is a patriot!
“Really?” asks a skeptical Hill. Sydenham explains that their war was with the Japanese. He did everything he could to convince Chancellor Hitler not to declare war alongside Hirohito but he never listened. In a perfect world, their two nations should have been allies from the first. Hill can’t believe what the guy’s saying but Sydenham asks Hill to imagine if their two great nations had put aside their petty disagreements. Together they could have rid the world of the scourge of Bolshevism and rescued humanity from the sword of doom which threatens their existence. Hill replies that he’s there to tell him… “You are genuinely certifiable.”
(the South Pacific)It’s getting dark and Kraven and Fortune take forty winks whilst Namora and Sabretooth take first watch. So, says Creed, with the good mannered Avengers out of the picture, it’s about time Powell MacTeague came clean with what’s going on here. Namora apologizes for her colleague’s crudity, but she does find herself in agreement with him. Powell admits there’s precious little to tell. They’ve all encountered the skull symbol recently. Namora asks him to get on with it. Either he starts explaining what’s really going on or she’ll personally rip his face off. “And she’ll do it nice and slow,” adds Creed. “’cause the princess here is that kinda dame.”
Powell tells them that he’s only just started piecing things together himself, but he’s come to believe that there are others working laterally alongside the Avengers. These are dark elements whose agenda may appear to parallel their own, but whose ends have very little in common with those of the Avengers. It seems likely that the skull symbol is not some Third Reich nonsense, but rather the blazon for this unknown foe.
(Hassenstadt, the capital of Latveria)The stars are out and both Fury and the Blonde Phantom are at an airfield on the edge of the capital. As they approach the planes, Louise whispers to Fury that she took some madcap chances with her life before she met him but he’s dragged her into Crazytown now. Fury replies that she’s flattering him. She should remember that he’s read her resume. He asks if she’s ready. Louise then emerges into the open wearing her slinky red dress but, strangely, still sporting her face mask.
Two guards look at her and one crudely suggests that he’ll hold her down. The other replies that he took firsts with the last one. Louise asks if either of the brutes know where she can find a manicurist. She seems to have a broken nail. A moment later, Fury batters one of them from behind with the barrel of his pistol and the Blonde Phantom punches the second in the throat. Both are incapacitated. “One more time,” jokes Louise. “Why can’t we just fly commercial?” Fury says he’s trying to maintain a low profile so the less anybody knows about what’s what, who’s where and why, the better. She asks if stealing a fighter jet is keeping a low profile. Fury reckons he does, in Latveria. These people are so shut down, he explains, that they’ll never admit this, let alone acknowledge it even happened. She can trust him on this.
(meanwhile)Geoffrey Sydenham is with Senator Sanford in an apartment. Sydenham reiterates that Sanford and his colleagues in the Congress and Senate must be made to understand that they are at war. They are at war with an enemy so insidious that it threatens the very existence of the human spirit. Sanford replies that the same could be said of the Germans, but Sydenham says he believes the Germans were and are a cultured people. The Russians, on the other hand, are subhuman… mongrel barbarians scraped from the gutter and taught to walk on two legs by their Bolsheviki masters. It is a war then, he continues, with a subhuman foe, a war where they must make friends of enemies in the name of the common good. It is a war they must win if they are to survive the race.
Sydenham’s finger glows red and a flame emerges from the tip. He touches the pentagram on the floor and it lights it up. Images begin to appear in the smoke and Sanford asks what the hell is going on. Sydenham replies that it’s funny he should mention hell. While he languished in prison on a trumped up charge of espionage and sedition, he was visited by a mysterious stranger. He explained that the path to victory lay not in the annihilation of one’s enemy, but in recruiting that enemy in your greater struggles. He also taught him how to harness the dark gifts. Before them, Baron Blood and Brain Drain appear from nowhere, shackled in mystical chains on the floor.
Blood asks where he is and Brain Drain asks who they are. “In good time,” replies Sydenham. They both have work to do to earn the freedom he’s granted them. Sanford asks him who this stranger was. Sydenham tells him it’s no one he’s ever heard of… a fellow who called himself Dormammu.
Back in the South Pacific, Powell MacTeague, Kraven and Dominic Fortune take a walk. Fortune tells MacTeague that Victor and Namora told him that they’re dealing with someone or something worse than a bunch of pissed off, angry and ready-to-kill Nazis. MacTeague tell him they’re right. He believes that they share far too much of their adversaries’ ideology for his comfort. Kraven asks if that really means they’re competing with Nazis to bring down Nazis. Fortune agrees that it doesn’t really make sense. MacTeague asks them to indulge him. He explains that he is convinced that whoever snatched the Baron and Brain Drain from their grasp saw them not as a blight on humanity, but as useful allies, or weapons.
(Wakanda)Nick Fury meets with Minister K’Tela, who asks if he expects to be welcomed with open arms after he stole an airplane from one of the very few nations with which Wakanda has an open relationship. Fury grins and replies that he expects better than a tongue lashing from a one-eyed, bald-headed, loud-mouthed witch, adding “If that’s what passes for diplomacy in Wakanda…” K’Tela cuts him off and tells him that she’s no diplomat, but she does have an ear to the back channels of diplomacy.
Fury tells her he’s listening. K’Tela informs him that his intelligence is correct. Skul passed through Wakanda leaving a veiled threat to their still absent Prince-Emperor. Fury asks how serious a threat it was. “Serious enough to let him travel unmolested,” she replies. “And, serious enough to use their satellite surveillance system to keep an eye on him during his journey.” Fury says he’d love to know just what a satellite surveillance system is, and K’Tela tells him maybe someday he’ll find out. Meanwhile, she hands him a package which contains everything he needs to be able to track Skul and his fellows. Fury thanks her, and assures her that they’ll do everything they can to get her young emperor home safe.
The Blonde Phantom then introduces Nick Fury to the young Howard Stark. Fury shakes his hand and tells him he’s heard good things about him. Stark replies that he’s heard interesting things about Fury. He explains that Miss Mason has told him that he is on the trail of the runaway Nazi. His contacts in K’Tela’s office tell him he has left Wakanda and he’s guessing his whereabouts are in the pouch she gave Fury. Fury asks him if he’s going somewhere with this. Stark informs him that he is presently on a below-the-radar fact finding mission for the White House. But, that doesn’t mean he can’t find the time and means to give a veteran a helping hand when it comes to getting his tough job done.
(later)Fury and the Blonde Phantom are on board a luxurious speed boat and Fury tells her he reckons Stark had serious eyes for her. Louise laughs it off, saying she’s old enough to be his… older sister. Fury asks if she really believes his ‘helping out a veteran’ line. Lending them the floating erector set they’re in was all a ploy to impress her. Louise says it worked a charm. Can he think of a better way to sneak into Madripoor? It was he, after all, who stole a fighter plane to sneak in to Wakanda. Is he sure Skul is in Madripoor? Fury tells her that K’Tela’s intel says that’s where he ran. Louise then stops him as he speaks and informs him that they have company.
A larger boat approaches and Louise wonders if they’re pirates. Fury asks her to put that in the ‘maybe’ column for now. He knew things were going way too smoothly. Gunshots ring out and Fury asks Louise if her new boyfriend gave her the keys to some secret gun cabinet. He then asks if she trusts Stark. Louise replies that if he means does she think he’d sacrifice a million dollar hydrofoil to get them attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean, then no, and if he does then he’s an idiot. Fury grins and replies that he gets that a lot.
They use their own pistols to respond to the gunfire. Fury wonders who could have sold them out if it wasn’t K’Tela or Howard Stark, because he has a feeling these ain’t damn pirates! Their assailants turn out to be four female Nazi’s dressed in black and each sporting a glowing skull badge around their neck. They are Axis Annie, Fraulein Fatale, Madame Mauser and Penny Panzer.
They are veterans of Hitler’s elite einsatzgruppen who have spent the last fourteen years working on their tans, their abs and their attitudes in Sao Paolo. They were ready to respond to the summons to reignite their unholy war. Now fully tanned, rested, ready and fully equipped with Brazilians, the ubermadschen are back in the name of international havoc. Each carrying a sword, they leap at Fury and the Blonde Phantom who reckons they’re screwed - outnumbered and outgunned. Fury shoots, but reckons that even though they’re outgunned, she can call him a cockeyed optimist but something tells him they’re not going to be outnumbered for long.
Arriving on the scene, the rest of the Avengers - Sabretooth, Fortune, Namora and Kraven, leap onto the boat to take on the assailants. It doesn’t take long for them to overpower the four women and have Powell MacTeague use his own mystical chains to tie them up. Powell shakes Fury’s hand and tells him it’s lovely to see him again. Fury guesses it was he who got the Avengers to him in the nick of time. But, to quote one of his favorite Cubans, “You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.”


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Untitled (part 4)
(1959, the southwestern shore of Madripoor)The Avengers have captured some Nazi sleeper agents. Three of them sit chained up on the beach, whilst the fourth, Axis Annie, is held by the throat at the mercy of Sabretooth. Namora assures Nick Fury that Creed is fine. They have an understanding. She listens to his sociopathic nonsense and he doesn’t kill indiscriminately. Fury doesn’t wish to take that chance so he steps in and asks Victor to back off. Creed complains that it’s just fine when Fury needs some dirty work done. Then it’s all ‘Hey! Great to see you Victor ol’ pal.’ But, the minute he wants to just kill somebody it’s ‘Ooh, ooh, bad Sabretooth!’
Fury asks Axis Annie to tell him about the medallion. Are they talking Red Skull or what? With blood dripping from her nose, she replies that, if he keeps Sabretooth away from her, she’ll tell him everything. She explains that the medallion appeared in her apartment in Sao Paulo as if from nowhere. She heard the same from Penny and the others so they then regrouped. “Just like that?” replies Fury. This thing shows up and they’re ready to go to the mat for National Socialism all over again? Annie replies that they heard the others had received medallions. She thinks it was Penny who said it was like something from that Amie board game… a get out of jail free card, maybe. Fury grins and turns to Victor. “Okay Victor. Now you can kill them.”
(Washington D.C.)General Hill is at a restaurant with Senator Sandford and Geoffrey Sydenham. Sydenham still believes he can persuade the general to join him, but Hill is adamant that Sydenham is untrustworthy. He doesn’t like a thing about him. Sydenham tells him it’s a pity he doesn’t, because working with him is going to be far more effective than working on his own. While he and his so-called agents operate against toothless enemies, ignoring the very real red threat, he, with the assistance of brave and forward-thinking men like the senator…
Hill cuts him off in his prime and asks if he bored his way into a charge of treason. Sandford warns Hill that that’s enough, but Sydenham tells him to shut up. Hill tells Sydenham that he might want to take some of his own advice. Sydenham admits that he does go on a bit, but it’s all about the love he has of this country. He informs Hill that there are things about which he knows nothing. It would behoove him to join his team. Hill stands up and heads for the door. He turns as he leaves and tells Sydenham to shove it.
(Madripoor)Madripoor’s capital city shares its sovereign nation’s name but, in truth, the city of Madripoor is two very different worlds: Lowtown, where the majority of her citizens dwell in unimaginable, hellish poverty and Hightown, where the elite masters of this tiny island nation rule a kleptocracy with the iron hand of fear.
Namora gives Dominic Fortune a lift into town and Fortune informs her that he met her cousin back in 1942 when he was sub-busting on the Murmansk run. Namora replies that Namor’s disappearance from Atlantis is a deeply tragic mystery for her people. Needless to say, she misses him terribly and she would prefer never to speak of this again. She asks him if their location is where he wants to be. Fortune replies that Madripoor may be a criminal enterprise disguised as a country but, despite that, or maybe because of it, official Madripoor keeps impeccable records of everything and everyone in town. So, Namora says, once they get inside the filing cabinet, they’ll be able to find their quarry. She teases him a little by noting that he seems unusually comfortable being alone on someone else’s property at night. He replies that if she’s asking whether he has experience as a thief… he would have to take the fifth.
She asks if he’s certain that what they are after is in this cabinet. Without question, he replies. He asks her to bring the lamp a little closer so he can pick the lock. Namora does better than that. She pulls out the drawer, snapping the lock with ease. Fortune thought they were going to have the element of surprise, but Namora says it’s not as if they’re going to spend time analyzing what they find. They find what they need to know and go directly to where these self-deluded supermen are laying low.
(soon)With the information they were after, the team heads to a large complex surrounded by woodland. Namora does an aerial reconnaissance and Fury asks what they’ve got. She informs him that there are four walls with limited access. He calls Victor, who informs him that he can see maybe a dozen guards with automatic weapons. Fury then calls Kraven who tells him that they have guard dogs but they smell strange. Fortune informs the team that according to their files, the dogs have been used for experimental surgery. Great, thinks Fury. Frankenstein guard dogs. He asks McTeague for his thoughts. When McTeague simply whistles, Fury asks him if that’s it. He whistles a happy tune? He tells Fury that it should be enough.
Inside the compound, the dogs with their glowing red eyes and cybernetic enhancements, respond to the whistle and turn on their masters. It’s a bloodbath. Robotically enhanced dogs bred for combat have no mercy. Inside, a man in a strange wheelchair shouts to two of his guards to get down there and shut the damned dogs up. They’re drowning out act two of Parsifal. A moment later and both Holhein and Bubenheimer come flying past him, having been taken out by Sabretooth. He charges at the man and says, “They call you Innsbruck the Planner, right? They call me Sabretooth and I gotta tell ya, I really hate opera.” As he charges, Innsbruck calls him a peasant and a freak. Not only that, but he’s rather a stupid freak as well. Sabretooth lunges at him but Innsbruck’s wheelchair raises from the ground and several extendable calipers appear, grab Sabretooth and defenestrate him.
Meanwhile, Fortune, Namora and Kraven, using a machine gun, take out the remaining dogs and Fortune points out that he got Victor. Namora asks him not to worry. They both know he’ll get over it.
(Falls Church, Virginia)This small town which is just across the Potomac River from Washington D.C., has been a bedroom community for federal apparatchiks for over a century. When the Pentagon opened for business, every sleepy small town in a fifty mile radius was occupied by an invading army of intelligence, military and administrative personnel. And, like every small town that welcomed federal dollars, local real estate values quadrupled as the local landlords robbed the invading army blind.
General Hill is asleep in hid bed when an assassin materializes out of thin air. He points his gun at Hill but is immediately shot in the head by Gorilla Man, who appears at the window. General Hill stands up quickly but Gorilla Man asks him to relax. They’ve got his back. “We?” he asks. Gorilla Man informs him that McTeague warned Colonel Fury, who told Namora, who called Agent Woo, who called him. Hill says he’s grateful. Gorilla Man asks who this guy is, to which Hill reckons it beats the hell outta him. Gorilla Man asks if he has a lot of people who want to see him dead. Hill says he always figured they were judged by those who hate them as well as love them. He kneels beside the body and finds something odd. On the basis of rigor mortis, Gorilla Man didn’t kill him. The guy has been dead for days.
(Madripoor)Fury and McTeague charge into the building. Now that they’ve got a few moments whilst they kill some guards, Fury asks him to bring him up to speed on what’s really going on. McTeague replies that it’s not like he had any or all the answers when he joined their little dustup. But, the events of the past several days both there and in Washington makes it appear that while it may appear they are waging a war against a single foe, the reality is that it is a conflict on two fronts. They are being compromised by elements of what would appear to be their own side, so to speak. Fury asks how McTeague fits into all this.
McTeague then provides him with some background. He explains that he came by his gifts quite naturally. His Welsh father was an Elvish Denyri, his Jewish mother a dark sister of the Kaballah. He is a double agent, apparently serving two masters - the United Kingdom and Israel’s Mossad. However, he is actually working solely for the survival of mankind in a war against the encroaching darkness. In 1945, he continues, Hitler’s ubermenschen and ubedmadschen faded into the shadows to await the glorious day when they would be summoned to save the world from democracy and from mongrel mutts like them. However, neither the fascists nor themselves ever had an inkling that the summons, when it came, would originate not with some fanatical national socialist cell kept alive by Hitler worship, but from elements of the United States intelligence services. Simply put, whereas he and Fury regard these monsters as scum to be eradicated, their true enemies see them as weapons to be wielded in the name of the United States of America.
Fury realizes that’s what Axis Annie meant by a get out of jail free card. McTeague adds that he believes this skull disk represents a covert mission of U.S. intelligence.
As they enter a room after taking out all the guards, Fury tells McTeague that he might have a shot at testing his theory. They see Innsbruck the Planner in his wheelchair but now trapped within the mangled metal, courtesy of Namora. She tells them it’s nice to see them. What kept them? Sabretooth laughs and tells them they missed a terrific show thanks to the Blonde Phantom and Namora. Louise explains that, thanks to Victor shredding the phone lines, their friend here couldn’t tell anybody about their surprise visit. But, she adds, something tells her that he really wants to talk to someone other than Namora.
(meanwhile)Flying over Wakanda, an aircraft carries Dieter Skul and Count Von Blitzkrieg. Skul joined the Nazi Party the same day that the stock market crashed in New York City. Hitler is his martyred God and Nazism his persecuted faith. He never thought the day would come when he’d be waging war in the name of what he’d long regarded as the most decadent of democracies.
Von Blitzkrieg tells Skul that this is all for the good. Skul asks him if he’s convinced of this. Von Blitzkrieg replies that he is. They serve a former enemy against a common foe. Skul says he wishes he shared his conviction, but he supposes one must take the work one is given. Von Blitzkrieg doesn’t understand, but Skul says he was just thinking out loud about the irony of serving the Amies. Von Blitzkrieg replies that they both know these aren’t the same Yankees they fought in the Ardennes. “Quite so,” replies Skul. “Are you ready?” Von Blitzkrieg believes he is more than ready. He is eager to begin. Skul reckons in that case, it’s time for him to live up to his name.
Von Blitzkrieg heads underneath the plane and straps himself to a couple of chains. Thanks to his newly found benefactors, his lightning-based gifts have been ramped up to a new level, enabling him to launch a directly aimed electromagnetic pulse… a wave of energy that plunges the secret Wakandan Empire into darkness. The plane lands and Skul asks Fritz Krone to leave a unit of his robots to protect the area. The rest of them can follow him.
General Skul’s masters have assured him that with their princeling held hostage, pillaging Wakanda of its absurdly advanced technology will be child’s play, particularly since the so-called Avengers are preoccupied chasing their tails in Madripoor and Latveria.
Unfortunately, Dieter Skul is in for a nasty surprise. As he charges down a city center street, the Blonde Phantom tells him it’s been ages but, once his old pal Innsbruck started talking, she knew they were due for a reunion. Fury adds that he had to ask her to bring the rest of them along so ‘us veterans’ could get together and hash out some war stories.


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Untitled (part 5)
(Wakanda, the High Ministry of Technology, 1959)
Nick Fury’s Avengers team, along with the mystical Powell McTeague, face Dieter Skul’s Nazis in combat. As well as some of Fritz Kron’s robots, they are Kron and Skul themselves, Doctorangutan, Count Von Blitzkrieg, Leopard Woman and Vunderknight. They are all one-time ubermenschen in the service of the Third Reich.
Sabretooth has been around a long time, but this doesn’t stop him charging at Leopard Woman on instinct, only to be slashed in the throat by her sharpened gloves. He falls and she makes the fatal mistake of turning her back on him. He grabs her by the ankle. “You call that a first date?” he gurgles. He thought they’d come to mean something to one another. He swings her around and smashes her face open against the wall.
Legend has it that Fritz Krone’s robots were introduced too late to aid the Nazi war machine. In truth, however, it was Hitler who completely misunderstood the value of these drone soldiers, choosing instead to sacrifice an entire generation of children in what seemed to be a desperate attempt to save his criminal regime. It was a generational suicide pact dictate by a madman.
To take the robots out of the fight, Powell McTeague teleports right next to Fritz Kron and smacks him on the temple with his umbrella, smashing his controlling equipment and knocking him out.
As the Blonde Phantom uses her fighting skills to gleefully take out Dieter Skul, Count Von Blitzkrieg grabs Namora. He has a thing about women. He rather likes them, but not in a good way. Vunderknight on the other hand isn’t at all fond of women. As Blitzkrieg electrocutes her, Vunderknight steps in and grabs her by the hair, but, they get in each other’s way and Namora gets the better of them. “Ubermenschen my royal butt!” she snarls. The hirsute Doctorangutan, one-time companion of Hermann Goering, grabs Kraven by the throat but Kraven uses a kind of taser on him, shoving it into his assailant’s mouth and pressing the on switch. He falls to the ground and Kraven prepares to follow up only for Namora to grab him and tell him that’s enough for now.
With the villain’s minimal resistance at a swift end, Dominic Fortune blasts the Nazis plane and destroys it. He tells McTeague that he needs to conserve his strength as they have work to do and they need to do it fast. McTeague asks if he can assume he isn’t concerned about his abilities to make their next move? Fury says yeah, and McTeague assures him that his energies may not be limitless, but they will persevere and they will triumph.
(Washington D. C.)
Senator Sanford Harte is with Geoffrey Sydenham who is wearing a long black and red cloak. He tells Sydenham that he’s not entirely comfortable with this but he replies that, like it or not, he’s become a cog in the great engine of history. And when that history is written, Harte will be a hero - a man who helped save the United States in its desperate hour of need. A visionary who dared to challenge the future by conjoining modern technology and ancient magicks in the name of civilization. Harte replies that he’s supported him from word one, but this is getting a little creepy. He hears a noise and asks what the hell it was. Sydenham grins and informs him that it’s the beginning of the end… the end of creeping nihilism, of international Bolshevism and of cosmopolitan despair and the beginning of Icon’s salvation of civilization.
A portal appears in the middle of the room. Harte says Sydenham promised this would be easy and that by making allies of these Nazis would save the world. Sydenham replies that he promised him a new world. He never said anything about easy. He calls him a pathetic coward and so Harte turns, telling him he didn’t sign on to fight his war. “That’s right Harte, run,” sneers Sydenham. He turns to the portal and is shocked to see Nick Fury and his Avengers appear. Fury tells him he was hoping to see Skul, Blitzkrieg and the rest of his Nazi pals coming in for a victory dance. Well, no such luck. Sydenham reckons he must be Nick Fury. It seems that Hill’s faith in him was justified, for a little while at least.
Fury looks across the room and sees some of Sydenham’s cronies: Geist, Baron Blood, Brain Drain, the Spider Queen and the Hollow Men. “Yeah,” replies Fury, “Hill said you talked too damned much. The Spider-Queen is a celebrated film actress and a latecomer to National Socialism with a commitment based more on expediency than politics. Her secret affairs with both Krupp and Speer gave her access to experimental technologies that she’s put to good use in her postwar career as a murderess for hire. She casts her spider web across the room which slashes the Avengers with its sharp tendrils.
Meanwhile, the Hollow Men attack Sabretooth and Namora under Sydenham’s control, but they fight them off and target Sydenham. Nick Fury sees McTeague about to use some of his magic but he advises him against it. The last thing they need is his magic wand. He wants his guys to have this fight. If they need his hocus pocus, he’s sure he’ll be there.
Brain Drain and Baron Blood have been down this road before, recovered from defeat by Sydenham and his otherworldly witchcraft. Brain Drain’s pistol is of little effect against Sabretooth. Namora takes Kraven and Fortune and throws them both into the air. Fortune shoots using liberated armor piercing Icon ordnance and one of the bullets smashes Brain Drain’s glass helmet. Creed takes down Baron Blood with a wooden shaft to the chest and then catches his two colleagues before they hit the ground. Meanwhile, the Blonde Phantom manages to reach the Spider-Queen and punch her out. Fury smiles and tells McTeague that he can now see what he was talking about.
McTeague decides it’s time to step up to the plate. He holds out his umbrella and casts a spell, trapping Geoffrey Sydenham in mystical chains. Sydenham calls him a treacherous bastard, but Fury says it sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. He’s been selling out his country for years. Sydenham replies that he’s been saving it from the likes of him, warning him that he can’t kill a dream whose time has come. Fury says maybe not, but he sure plans to cripple the living hell out of it.
(Washington D. C., Union Station, two weeks later)
Nick Fury meets his team again and thanks them for a job well done. They all seem happy to hear it, but what they really want is some confirmation from Fury. He obliges them, stating that the three that needed them have their full pardons courtesy of Uncle Sam. Namora and Kraven then head off, bound for Key West. Fortune, Creed and the Blonde Phantom head off for Chicago leaving Fury alone. As he walks off, Powell McTeague appears and reckons it’s difficult for him to give up one’s command. Fury asks if he’s following him, but McTeague replies that his supernatural gifts may not be the latest in witchcraft, but keeping tabs on him is a breeze.
McTeague explains that although his sanctioned team of operatives are scattered, their work continues. Fury asks what he’s talking about. As far as he can tell they’ve done what they set out to do… wreck an ubermenschen upsurge and make certain their friends in high places don’t find a cozy new home for any Nazis that slipped through the cracks.
(meanwhile)
General Hill tells Senator Harte that he has a lot to answer for. “Everyone makes mistakes,” he replies. Hill asks if he calls dragging your country to the brink of destruction a mistake! Harte is adamant he did nothing wrong, whilst claiming Hill ran a rogue operation in direct violation of orders from all three branches of the federal government. In order to avoid any further scandal, his subcommittee has opted to prosecute neither Hill nor undersecretary Sydenham. Fury, overhearing their conversation, can’t believe it. He gets away with treason?
McTeague presumes there’s more to this quid pro quo than meets the eye. He’s heard from their friend Koenig in Latveria. Besides sweeping these Nazi miscreants aside into the dustbin of history, it would also seem the U.S. State Department has managed to rescue Prince T’Chaka of Wakanda. This, he adds, gives the west a serious leg up when it comes to Wakandan technology.
(La Guardia Field, New York, later)
Nick Fury and Powell McTeague meet with General Hill. Hill knows that Fury and Minister K’Tela hit it off in Wakanda, so he needs him to establish a channel between them and the scientific community. Fury understands. The less Uncle Sam knows about what they’re getting from their new Wakandan friends the better.
(meanwhile, in Greenwich Village)
The village has been a haven for outsiders and malcontents for over a century. No street in the deceptively quaint part of Lower Manhattan has a nastier reputation for sedition that MacDougal Alley. It’s a narrow thoroughfare between sagging tenements that’s been the home of anarchists, bomb throwers and radicals since the birth of the republic. Of course, those days are long gone and with them the troublemakers who gave the neighborhood its gamy reputation. They were replaced by advertising men, young executives and Midwestern girls looking for a little danger in their lives. But, every now and then someone, namely Geoffrey Sydenham, moves into MacDougal Alley who justifies the street’s dangerous reputation. New secrets are born to join the old, because evil never dies… it slumbers.


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Permanent Record
(Harry S. Truman High School, three months ago)Red-headed Madeleine Berry is at school, waiting to speak to good-looking fellow pupil Brad, who is chatting to some friends by the lockers. Brad is in a band, lives in Springwood Estates and has a full ride to any college he wants. He’s also gorgeous. Guys like him don’t go for flat-chested girls like her who live in double-wide trailers and who wear clothes from the church thrift shop. She thinks it says that in the Origin of Species. But, Brad had been texting her all week and saying the sweetest things… saying he’d wanted to talk to her all year but was too nervous. Him? Too nervous to talk to her? Well, Oprah always says you have to go after your dreams, so Maddy does.
She walks nervously over to Brad and tells him she’d love to go to homecoming with him. Brad looks at her. “I’m sorry… Do I know you?” he asks. All of a sudden, Maddy understands. She looks over to Julianne Navarro and her friends who all smile back at her. Everyone knew Julianne and Brad were hooking up. She just didn’t realize how serious they were. Serious enough he’d let her use his phone. Maddy wants to disappear and fade away into nothing. Weirdly, as she thinks about it, she does so as everyone looks on in horror.
(Maddy’s home, that night)Maddy is talking to her guest. She explains that it was a minute or so before she turned normal and then she was naked, which would have been even worse, except that there was no one around as they’d all run off screaming. Her guest finds it very impressive. She turned into a fully gaseous state and back. At will. On the very first manifestation of her powers. He thinks Maddy is a very special lady. He asks if she realizes that. She has an amazing gift and it’s one he would like to help her master. He wishes to help her become a hero like Ms. Marvel. What does she think of that?
Maddy can’t believe it. She loves Ms. Marvel. She’s her avatar on Twitter. She asks him if he’s sure. Ever since it happened, she’s been trying to do it again just to prove that she wasn’t crazy and has been unsuccessful. What if she can’t ever do it again? Norman Osborn asks her not to worry about that. He has a way of getting what he wants.
(Hank Pym’s lab, three months later)Maddy is hooked up to a machine being controlled by founding Avenger, Hank Pym. She tells him that Osborn was right. It took a long time but he got her to do it again, even changing into different types of gas. Hank asks how he did that, but Maddy, recalling the horrible experiments, replies that she doesn’t want to talk about it. Hank understands. He can guess Osborn’s methods. He asks how she’s been feeling since. Maddy asks how he thinks she felt. She’s felt stupid and gullible. Apparently, everyone knew Norman Osborn was some psycho super-villain who’d tricked the government into making him Director of National Security. Everyone but her.
Hank disagrees. He reckons Osborn had most of the world fooled. It took all the Avengers to expose him for what he really was. It will always trouble him that it took as long as it did because he hurt far too many. But, he actually meant how does she feel physically. Any pain, numbness, weakness? Maddy says she’s fine. She doesn’t even need her glasses now. Hank says that’s to be expected. When a superhuman ability manifests itself, there’s often a general augmentation of physiology that accompanies it. She then asks him to wait a minute. “Is something wrong with me?” she asks. Hank doesn’t reply directly, but says he’d like to bring in Tigra to talk with her as well. Maddy asks him to tell her, but Hank replies that he’s not very good at this. Maddy tells him she’s sick of people lying to her. Can he just tell her now?
Hank reluctantly explains that by forcing her body to undergo such a significant physical transformation, repeatedly and before it was ready, Norman Osborn damaged her basic molecular structure. Her body therefore is slowly losing cohesion. Very slowly. He thinks she has years, perhaps decades to correct it. And they will. Maddy asks what he means, ‘losing cohesion.’ He tells her that if they can’t figure out a way to prevent it, and he has every confidence they will, there will be a point where she will discorporate. “I’m… I’m… dying?” she asks.
Justice and Tigra arrive just in time to see Maddy turn and leave. Justice decides to follow and calls her by her new name, Veil. She asks if he can talk to her for a minute. Maddy sits down and asks if everyone knew about this; everyone but her? Vance admits that Hank had shared his concerns with them, but they weren’t confirmed until now. He tells her he knows this is hard and he can’t imagine what she’s feeling. But, a friend of his went through something similar.
He asks if she knows who Firestar is. “Your ex-fiancée?” replies Maddy. Vance informs her that her powers were killing her. Hank saved her life, twice. If anyone can help her, he can. What he’s trying to say is that this may be a huge challenge, but she can’t look at is as a death sentence. She can’t let it keep her from living her best life. If anything, she should let this inspire her to get the most out of every day. Maddy listens, but can only think how Justice is like Doctor Phil in Robert Pattinson’s body. He asks her to come meet someone.Justice takes Maddy to an observation room. Inside, they see Tigra helping Hazmat (Jennifer Takeda) with her costume. Vance explains that Jennifer can project radiation, toxic waste and a variety of deadly substances. She had a good life - loving family, long-term boyfriend, college-bound. Then, Osborn basically kidnapped her and jump-started her powers against her will. Hank just found out why her parents have been so sick lately, why her dog died and why her boyfriend‘s in hospital. Jennifer finishes off her costume with a helmet making her entirely sealed off from the outside. Justice adds that she’s poisonous. Exposure to her sweat, her saliva, even her breath over time can be lethal. She has to wear the containment suit around others for the rest of her life.
Vance reckons she could use someone to talk to, someone who understands what she’s going through. Tigra brings Hazmat through to meet them and Maddy makes an attempt to speak to her. Her introduction is met with a terse, “Get bent,” from Hazmat. As she walks away, Vance wonders if maybe she just needs some time alone.
As they head through the building, Vance apologizes for that. The point he was clumsily trying to make is that she isn’t alone. All the students have challenges; ones he wouldn’t wish on anybody. What Norman Osborn did to them - drafting kids and molding them in his image… he’ll rot in hell for that. But, he adds, she also has opportunities no one else has. They are all there because, of all the superhumans Osborn found, they are the best. She could change the world. She could make history. “And you’ll find a way to save me? You promise?” she asks. Vance tries to say he can’t promise that, but Maddy closes her eyes and says please. “I… I promise,” replies Vance and the pair hug.
(the next day)Madeleine looks at her reflection. She is wearing her new costume which is predominantly a tight-fitting black number with facemask. She reckons she looks hideous. Does it have to mash down what little boobs she has and hug her hips? She looks like the Mummy’s prom date. She can only think what Justice will think when he sees her in this outfit. But, they made it for her so she guesses it would be rude to complain. She should just suck everything in and walk out there like she belongs.
She opens a door and finds two of her new companions engaging in battle practice. Reptil flies overhead, shooting at a big red guy named Mettle with a flame thrower. Mettle looks across and sees Maddy and his eyes light up. “Hey, now that’s a costume!” Maddy screams and her body turns into gas. Her costume, which is one long strip wound around her, unveils like a rhythmic gymnast’s ribbon. Reptil asks what happened. Are they under attack from H.A.M.M.E.R.? Mettle replies that it’s him. She hasn’t seen him before.
Veil quickly pulls herself together, literally, and apologizes to Mettle. “Tigra, uh…” she says, nervously. “Warned you about me?” asks Mettle. Maddy tells herself not to make this worse and not top the time she tried to shake hands with a paralyzed kid. She tells him she’s sorry she screamed. She just put on her new costume and guesses she wasn’t looking where she was going. At least it turns to mist with the rest of her. The first time her powers kicked in, she ended up naked.She berates herself for blurting that piece of information out. Reptil informs her that they are unstable molecules. All their suits are made of them. Mister Fantastic invented them so he wouldn’t get massive plumber’s crack when he stretched. He explains that his suit adjusts to his dinosaur parts. He introduces himself as Humberto Lopez. Reptil. Avenger of tomorrow. He hopes Maddy will back him for team leader. He thinks they vote like on Survivor. Mettle adds that Reptil has already had Initiative training. He’s gonna put them all to shame in the sparring session. Reptil adds that there’s no pressure. If she wants to try out for it, that’s cool.
Humberto calls himself a tool for not asking her name. She introduces herself as Maddy Berry and shakes their hands. She asks them to call her Veil and assures Reptil that the job’s all his. She’s not an ‘Avengers assemble’ kinda girl. She tells herself not to flinch when she holds Mettle’s hand. He asks her who they’re fighting. A voice form behind makes Mettle emit a “Gah!” and Striker tells him he screams more than his ten year-old sister on Christmas morning. Mettle replies that he snuck up on him on purpose. Striker says it’s not like Doctor Doom would ever show up without announcing himself.
Reptil makes the introductions. Maddy has never met Striker or the beautiful Finesse, but she has made Hazmat’s acquaintance. Striker tells Maddy that he thought he had the best costume but he has to give the nod to her. It wouldn’t work on just anybody but she manages to pull it off. Finesse warns her not to let his courtship displays unnerve her. It’s typical behavior for an alpha-male entering a new territory. She reckons Striker is insecure and is trying to assert dominance. Striker asks if talking like a Discovery Channel narrator wins her a lot of friends because he finds it extremely annoying. Finesse throws her billy club at the wall. It rebounds off another two surfaces before finding Mettle’s solid skull. The club lands back in her hand, despite her back being turned.
Finesse replies that she finds her talents and physical attractiveness bring her adequate attention. Whether any are true friends, she’s not equipped to say. Mind you, she doesn’t actually care. She believes she is there to get better and none of the others are helping. She wants to master another fighting style before the training session. As she wanders off, Striker says to the others that she’s a freak - like Rain Man meets Ninja Assassin. Mettle smiles, because there’s a lot of librarian-slash-gymnast going on there. Hazmat asks why he cares. Can he even feel it when someone touches him? Mettle replies that he’s not gonna be like that forever. Doctor Pym’s going to help him get back to normal. Hazmat says she was told that too. She’s holding her breath.
Veil asks Striker if he said they are to spar with an ex-New Warrior and if so, is it Justice? Striker can’t believe it. Not her too. Do all the girls have a crush on him? Veil tries to explain herself but Striker adds that he said Warriors… plural. He guesses there’s more than one on staff but he’s not sure who. As he speaks, they are interrupted by Speedball who almost calls himself Penance by mistake. He explains that he and Justice will be leading the sparring session and he just wanted to introduce himself before the punching starts. He adds that Doctor Pym wanted to say a few words before they start so they should all head to the Atrium.
As Robbie leads them away, they whisper amongst themselves. Striker is surprised that a guy who killed half of the city of Stamford is supposed to be teaching them, but Finesse reminds him that it was the guy he was fighting who did that. Mettle, however, reckons he’s perfect. He asks them to look at themselves. Big monster guy, the human electric chair, poison gas girl, assassin chick, T-Rex boy and Chernobyl in Abercrombie & Fitch. One wrong move and any one of them could be a murderer. He doesn’t know about them, but he’ll be taking real good notes.
(soon)Everyone is assembled in the Atrium and Hank is there to greet them. Standing beside a statue of some of the main Avengers, he tells them that the future starts today and so does theirs. He explains that he helped found the Avengers and he’s seen some of their best and worst moments. They’re coming out of a dark period. They fought amongst themselves and let Norman Osborn use the dissension to seize control. However, that is now over and he doesn’t think he’s exaggerating when he says that they are entering a new Golden Age. They are a part of that. Osborn, he continues, sought out dozens of young superhumans and of them all, those standing before him are the elite. They show the potential to become the heroes of tomorrow. Avengers Academy exists to show them how.
He gives them a rundown of the teachers. Tigra is a veteran of the Avengers east and west coast, as well as the Initiative and the police. No one is more qualified to teach them all facets of law enforcement. Justice and Speedball founded the New Warriors when they were the same age as them. They’ve been down this road and will help them replicate their success and avoid their mistakes. Quicksilver, he adds, is one of their most senior Avengers. Just as Osborn tried to shape them in his image, Magneto did the same thing to Pietro. But, like Quicksilver, they refused and he joined the Avengers, training under Captain America. He’ll pass this training on to them. “Starting right now.”
The training session begins, with Speedball and Justice joining some robots in battle against the new recruits. Veil almost instantly discorporates and Justice reminds her that even though she is untouchable she should be mindful of where her team mates are. Her costume temporarily unsights Mettle, who swings blindly. Striker calls for enough of this rookie crap. He learned more from Osborn on his first day. He wants the spotlight, the cameras. He’s ready for field work. “yeah, shoveling,” replies Speedball as he evades Striker’s electric blast.
Watching from the observation booth are Hank Pym and Tigra. Hank asks how Penance is doing. Tigra says he’s fine but reminds him he wants to go back to them calling him Speedball. Hank apologizes. He keeps doing that. It’s probably because he doesn’t act much like the Speedball he remembers. He’s not sure he’s comfortable with how rough he’s being with Robbie. He knows Justice vouched for him, but does she really think he should be teaching kids? Tigra asks if any of them should. They’re the black sheep of the Avengers. They all have issues. Justice killed his father! Hank replies that it was accidental and in self-defense because the man was abusing him and his mother. Justice served his time and has proven himself. Tigra replies that in that case, he should give Speedball that chance. She adds that he’s trusting Quicksilver, and he changes sides more often than a tennis player.
“She’s right you know,” comes a voice from the shadows. Quicksilver says his father taught him to be a terrorist, not a hero With Magneto active again, he is keen to disassociate himself from him. But, he adds, speaking objectively, he would have picked Captain America or Thor over any of them, and that includes Hank Pym. He knows that Tigra doesn’t wish to be reminded of a few bad decisions, but certain people seem unable to let these things go. Hank corrects him. He says he wants to be reminded. He had a nervous breakdown, attacked his wife and friends and he reminds himself of this every day. They’ve forgiven him and moved on. He intends to do that too, not by forgetting what he did but by learning from it and helping others achieve their full potential. He thinks Tigra is right. Speedball deserves the same opportunity.
They look inside the training room and see Speedball congratulating the team before turning up the difficulty setting. Hank continues to say that, as for Cap, Thor, Iron Man and the others, they will be a part of this. Everyone’s agreed to serve as guest instructors and he intends to call on them. But, as full-time staff, there is no one better suited than them. The children’s circumstances are… unique. Pietro agrees with that point, which leads him to say he thinks it’s a bad idea to lie to them. Hank replies that studies show that, if you tell young people something negative about themselves, they’ll internalize it. Remind them often enough and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. One might argue that Pietro is living proof of that. He doesn’t like keeping the truth from them but he doesn’t see any other option.
Inside the training room, Hazmat responds to the increased difficulty by removing her gloves and blasting one of the robots. Speedball asks what the hell is wrong with her. That was a radiation blast. They said nothing dangerous. She replies that her name is Hazmat as in Hazardous Materials. That’s what she does! Robbie reminds her that there are non-lethal options. Until she has total control over her powers, that’s all she should use. Does she want to kill someone? he asks. Does she want to go in to take down some psycho and accidentally incinerate a bus full of kids? Does she want to wake up every night hearing screams and smelling burnt pork? Justice steps in and asks Robbie to calm down. He has this. He should take a break. Hazmat turns her back and asks him to pop a pill.
Robbie wanders to the observation booth where Quicksilver, Tigra and Hank are. Pietro sees him coming and says he thinks they should ask Mister Baldwin if he thinks deceiving the cadets is a good idea. After all, he’s not much older than them. Tigra asks Pietro to leave him alone. Speedball grabs Pietro and barks at him that they have to lie to them. “If they ever find out the truth about themselves…”
In the training room, Finesse is evading one of the robots but also staring intently through the window, following the conversation.
Later that night, she gathers the others together and informs them about what she heard. Those words were the last she managed to glean before Speedball turned his back on her. He was talking about some big secret that they’re keeping from them. Mettle asks if she’s a lip reader. Finesse replies that, since she was five, she’s been a polymath. She acquires skills and knowledge at an accelerated rate. She graduated M.I.T. at fourteen and was in training for the Olympics when Osborn found her. She doesn’t make mistakes and knows what she saw.Striker reckons they must keep files on them… permanent records. Everyone’s away tonight except for Pym and he’s locked in his lab making sweet love to test tubes. They can hack into the system. Reptil quips that it seems MacGyver joined up and he missed it. He reminds Striker that this is the Avengers and they have security. Who there knows advanced computer programming and counter-espionage? Finesse raises her hand, matter-of-factly.
(soon)Veil provides the cover and gets them into locked rooms whilst Striker shorts out security devices and make the cameras go fuzzy. Finesse does pretty much everything else. Veil feels that it might be wrong as the teachers have been so nice to them, but there was a nagging in the back of her mind; the thing she didn’t listen to when she thought Brad was sending her texts. It’s the thing that says in the real world Prince Charming doesn’t rescue Cinderella. He hooks up with the wicked stepsisters and drives off in a Jaguar. That you’ll never find out those jerks who raised you aren’t really your parents and never get taken away to a school for witches and wizards. It’s the voice that tells you all the stuff you worried people thought of you isn’t what they think about you at all. What they really think about you is much worse.
The trio later report back their findings to the group. Striker explains that they’ve been telling them that of all the young superhumans Osborn tracked down, they are the best. The ones with the greatest potential to be heroes. Well, it’s a lie. They’re not the most powerful or the smartest and they’re not the most highly trained. They’re the ones Osborn tortured the worst… the ones whose psych tests set off alarms. The ones who could take out a city block. They’re not there, he adds, because they think they have what it takes to be the next Captain America. They are there because they’re worried they’ll be the next Red Skull!
“They’re afraid of us,” adds Striker.
“They should be,” replies Finesse.
Veil feels she should have known. She should have known what they really thought about her.