Back to GatefoldIssue #69 by Steve Crosby
April 2016 |
"Matters of Extradition"
A beam of light streaked outside the casino in Monte Carlo, but it was a human woman who stepped into the lobby. She was Monica Rambeau, who went by the name Photon due to her power to transform into energy. Though out of costume, she maintained a confident bearing that was not out of place in the opulent den of gambling.
Minutes later, Monica caught sight of whom she was looking for, sitting at a slot machine. Wanda Maximoff was inserting coins and pulling the lever in a manner that most would mistake for robotic. Monica saw that she was being nonchalant, uncaring of the actual outcome.
The bored expression on Wanda’s face changed when Monica sat down beside her. “Hunh, I was wondering when the team would look me up. I was glad to see you rejoined, Monica.”
“Well, it’s hard to say no to Captain America,” said Monica as she inserted bills into her own machine. She noted the coins dropping out for Wanda. “You look to be about breaking even.”
“My over-under has been around five dollars since I arrived a few hours ago,” said Wanda. “I’m sure security would notice, if they were paying attention. But right now they have bigger problems.”
“How much have they lost?” Monica asked as she’d just won big.
Wanda shrugged. “If I had to guess from all the celebration I’ve heard, maybe a few hundred thousand. They’ll get it back shortly after I leave though. The house always ends up winning.”
A smile crossed Wanda’s face as she said, “Unless everybody suddenly decided to stop gambling. That would make a bad day for any casino.”
That elicited a surprised look for Monica. “You could really do that?”
“I don’t know, but this has been an interesting test.” Wanda scooped coins from the machine into her empty bucket and proceeded to insert them back in. “I used to think my powers were all about affecting objects on a molecular level. A gun melts, a tree bursts into flames, a machine overloads. But I’ve noticed that a lot of luck is people making decisions. The right choice at the right time, or the wrong choice at the wrong time.”
“But there’s no way to know that until the decision’s been made,” said Monica. Then she remembered something she’d read in the Avengers’ files. “Kang…and Immortus have shown interest in you before.”
That made Wanda chuckle. “I know, it’s weird referring to them as two different people. And yes, Immortus once even told me that my power reaches into the past, retroactively changing things for an outcome in the present. I didn’t think any of it at the time, mostly because I was going through a mental breakdown. Or maybe I’ve never gone out of it. That’s why you’re here, right?”
“We recently encountered Centurious,” Monica said. “He was in some limbo realm of the afterlife, and he claims you sent him there.”
“And of course you believe whatever a villain says.” Wanda won big, coins spilling out of her machine and onto the floor. “I’d been looking for him since, and yes I found him, after the Avengers broke up that Coalition. We fought, he tried to escape, I threw a hex and he disappeared.”
Monica leaned back from her machine, out of credit. “Well, he’s in custody now. And Warbird will be glad to know-’
“That I’m not crazy?”
“That you’re all right. The only news we’d heard was from a villain.”
Wanda sighed. “All you had to do was ask my brother. I saw Pietro not too long ago. We had a good talk, caught up on things.” Wanda fixed her gaze on Monica. “When were you going to tell me my ex-husband was alive?”
“Once I established you weren’t crazy,” Monica said, unflinching from Wanda gaze. “I’m not sure of all the details, but Captain America managed to confine Vision to a disk. Until the courts decide what to do with him, he’s in Avengers custody.”
“The government made their decision years ago,” Wanda said with a bitter voice. “Vision isn’t a person, only a collection of parts to be strewn about. Foreign terrorists have more rights.”
After what Monica saw the Vision do in Wakanda, she lost all sympathy for the former Avenger. “We are doing everything we can to balance fair treatment with security. When the time comes, Vision will be able to speak in his defense, and so will anyone who wants to speak for him.”
“Or against him. I haven’t decided which.” From her pocket, Wanda removed her Avengers Identicard. Every effort made to contact her through it had failed. Wanda waved her hand over it and gestured her fingers. “There, so you can let me know when it is time. Until then, I’d rather be kept out of Avengers business.”
“It was good to see you again, Wanda.” Monica vanished in a beam of light. Nobody else in the casino had paid any attention to the two women playing slots, so intent were they on their own gambling. And on her way out, Photon traveled through the casino’s surveillance systems and erased all footage of herself.
Wanda gathered her winnings, she had every cent she’d walked in with and half again. As she walked through the lobby to exit the casino, Wanda tipped the bucket. Coins spilled out after her, each one landing face up.
“Hopefully we’ll see each other soon,” Wanda whispered to herself.
# # # # #
“Mr. Newell, sir.” Robbie Baldwin stood up from his desk. “Please, sit down. What can do for you?”
“Thank you, Mr. Baldwin.” While the true identity of Stingray was generally public information, Speedball’s real name was unknown to most of his teammates. For all Stingray knew, he was meeting with the Avengers’ case-manager from Damage Control. “I’m not sure how much you know about my and my wife’s history, particularly her brother.”
“Yes, the villain Tiger Shark. I would imagine that makes for an awkward Thanksgiving.”
“For the past few weeks I’ve been trying to find him, with little success. I was wondering if Damage Control had records of incidents where the culprit wasn’t identified, but could be him?”
“Most do start out of that way,” Robbie said. “We actually have a whole department dedicated to seeking restitution for damages incurred decades, even centuries ago, once it’s learned who was responsible. The moment Kang is born, he will be in debt for the rest of his life.”
As the computer booted up, Robbie chuckled. “Once, the Fantastic Four stepped out of their time machine to find us waiting with a bill for the damage they’d just caused seventy years ago. Okay, we have a program that searches incidents by a number of factors. For Tiger Shark, I’m looking for anything that required up to a certain level of strength, which is a list several thousand entries long.”
Robbie continued typing. “I can narrow the list to anything near water, and signs of animal traits such as claw marks. It is still a long list, but you would want anything within the last…”
“The past month would be a good start,” Walter said.
The commands were entered and the screen filled with data, then went blank and filled with more data, and so on two more times. “Shoot, I always do this,” Robbie said. “Okay, I’ll adjust the search parameters using ‘and’ instead of ‘or’. And there we go, not even a screen’s worth, but still over a dozen.”
Glancing through the incidents, Robbie frowned. “This one looks weird, an incident in one town reported by the next town over.” He selected it for more info. “Pretty vague, a noise complaint from across the water. But this one town in Rhode Island, there hasn’t been a peep from them in a while, almost six months.”
“Is that so unusual?” Stingray asked.
“There’s always something, even if it’s just a misunderstanding or hoax.” Robbie wrote the name of the town on a notepad. “I’m not saying it’s Tiger Shark, but this certainly bears investigating. I just need to run this upstairs and we’ll keep looking.”
“No, it’s fine.” Stingray reached out his hand toward the paper. “I could do with a swim up the coast.”
# # # # #
Binary walked into the Med-Lab of Avengers Mansion. She couldn’t help but feel uneasy at the sight of Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, remembering the times she’d fought his alter ego, the Hulk. Also in the Med-Lab was Warbird, hooked up to an elaborate machine.
“What did you want to see me about?” Binary asked the Avengers Chairperson.
Warbird fell away from the machine and glanced toward Banner, who was studying readings on a monitor. “We’ve put this off too long…Binary. You have the exact same powers I do, at levels I was once able to achieve.”
“Yeah, I was experimented on by Diablo and Zeneo Technologies,” Binary said. “When he called me Binary, I had no idea you had the name first. With all the ‘not talking’ we’ve done on the subject, I always assumed you were an earlier experiment by Zeneo Technologies.”
“That might have been preferable,” said Warbird. “I first became Ms. Marvel when Kree technology rewrote my DNA. When my powers were taken, I hanged around with the X-Men, and was abducted along with them by different aliens; the Brood. Their studies on my DNA changed it further, allowing me to draw power from stellar objects.”
“It’s a process that’s almost impossible to duplicate,” Doctor Banner said to Binary. “Involving accidents and different alien technologies. But somehow Diablo, the master of a very different field of science, was able to give you these powers.”
“So you want to pick me apart and find out what makes me tick?” asked Binary, giving the stink-eye to the machine.
“Only some base readings that I can compare to Warbird’s,” said Doctor Banner.
“For years I never tried to understand my powers and where they came from,” said Warbird. “When that understanding would have helped most, it was too late, and I lost the stars forever. This is a chance for you to avoid my mistakes, Nicole.”
After a long moment of thought, Binary nodded. “Okay, but let’s make this quick. I scheduled for a reporter to come interview me here at the mansion.”
# # # # #
A mysterious figure was perched on a rooftop across the street from Avengers Mansion. The motorists and pedestrians below could not see him, precisely because it was broad daylight. Such was the nature of this man’s costume that it reflected light so that he blended into the surroundings.
Because this figure was unseen, there was no one to marvel at his spectacular leap across the street. This feat was unassisted by the costume, a product of skill and training. His leap just barely reached the mansion’s high wall, the top of which he touched enough to springboard onto the grounds. So light was his touch that the mansion’s sensors registered the intrusion as a bird.
Of course, the mansion had many other security measures. But between skill, the costumes features and a knowledge that could only be acquired by an Avenger, they were all evaded. In minutes he was inside the mansion, navigating its air vents.
“The fools,” he chuckled to himself. “To think, after so many years they never sealed this obvious hole in their defenses.”
As the intruder crept between the first and second floors of Avengers Mansion, a burst of light drew his attention to a vent. Carefully he moved forward, and observed Photon in the library. She must have flown through a window as a beam of light and returned to human form upon entering the mansion.
Photon was moving toward the elevator when the doorbell rang. “No security alert,” Photon said to herself. “Whoever it is must have an appointment.”
She spoke as though it was so easy to get an appointment in Avengers Mansion. As though just such a thing weren’t being sought for weeks, stymied at every step by lawyers.
The mansion wouldn’t have an intruder otherwise, the mystery guest in the vent observed as Photon placed a mask over her face.
# # # # #
Whatever Stingray may have expected when he checked in at the police station of a Rhode Island fishing town, it wasn’t to be attacked. Only a few words had left his mouth when the two officers opened fired. If not for his armor, Stingray would have been much more than surprised. It was that surprise that made him take evasive action, diving behind a desk.
More shots rang out, sending echoes across the room and disrupting Stingray’s sonar. He’d already determined there were only a few people in the building, all there in the main room with him. Nobody in the cells, but that wasn’t odd, serious crimes wouldn’t be so common. But shots would be heard, and if everybody in this town was acting the same…Stingray had to act fast.
Shots hit the wood, but didn’t penetrate when Stingray hefted the old desk. He slammed it against the officer, an elder who likely wouldn’t take an electric burst well. Once Stingray knocked him down, a light tap with his foot knocked him out. A bullet bounced off his shoulder, so Stingray broke a leg off the desk and threw it at the shooter. It struck him in the knees, and he went down without a cry.
Spreading his arms, Stingray glided at the third man. More shots were fired, but they did no harm. Stingray crashed against the man fist first, and like that he was victorious.
“Big bad Avenger,” Stingray muttered to himself. “Beating down small-town cops, likely victims of mind control.” But if the rest of the town was like this, it wouldn’t stay so easy. He needed to find the source.
The doors to the station burst open as two people were hurled inside. They landed in a heap, and Stingray rushed out to see what was going on. Outside, a score of townspeople were gathered in the street, clamoring at a brightly colored man bouncing among the cars and buildings.
“Speedball?!” Stingray couldn't understand what his teammate was doing here. “Are the other Avengers around?”
“No, I came out here on my own.” Speedball leaped from a car to the street and bounced up, scattering several people amid a flurry of multi-colored balls. “I, uh, grew up in the area. My mother called, gossiping about weirdness in a nearby town. I was walking around out of costume when those shots rang out and people went nuts.”
There was some truth to what he said, and Speedball didn’t like giving away too much about himself. But Stingray didn’t seem the sort to investigate a teammate’s identity. A young man tried to grab at Speedball’s leg, but he twisted out of the way. “Could you help me out here? Crowds are trouble if they pin me down.”
“Of course.” From what Stingray understood, Speedball’s powers depended on him being in motion. Held down by a mob, he’d be powerless. “Get clear!”
Gliding over the crowd, Stingray released an electrical charge. It dispersed throughout the crowd, jumping from one to the other. He kept it light, not wanting to seriously hurt anyone. Once the people were dazed, he and Speedball could deal with them in a controlled manner.
Once most of the crowd were down, Speedball landed next to the one of the conscious men and started asking questions. Free of the mind-control, he had no memory of the recent events. The last thing he remembered was a strange visitor coming to town, a hairy creature dressed like old European nobility, complete with a high-collared cape.
“That sounds like the Mandrill,” Speedball told Stingray. “I’ve read that electricity can negate the effects of his pheromones, though I thought they only worked on women.”
“Villains upgrade themselves all the times.” Stingray accessed his armor’s scanners. “I’m able to track creatures through the oceans by following subtle chemical changes. Using similar methods, I can identify his pheromones. Let’s go!.”
“Avengers Assemble!” yelled Speedball as he leapt in pace with the gliding Stingray. At his teammate’s sidelong glance he said, “I’ve waited for an opportunity to say that.”
# # # # #
“For years you’ve rarely operated outside New Orleans. Why is that?”
Before Photon could answer the question, Binary walked into the room. Quickly she stood up, relieved. “Well, it looks like your interview’s here. Binary, is Warbird in the mansion?”
“Yeah, I just left her downstairs,” Binary said. She was a little perplexed to have walked in on Photon speaking with the reporter that had come to interview her. Regaining her composure, Binary stepped forward with her hand outstretched. “Hi, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’m sorry about the wait.”
Photon started to leave but, in taking Binary’s hand, the reporter had stepped in front of it. “I apologize, but this is such a wonderful opportunity with the two of you here. Binary, how does it feel to work alongside the first black woman to be an Avenger, let alone lead them?”
“To to be honest, I’ve…” Binary flushed with embarrassment. “I never really thought about it. My entire time here I haven’t been treated any differently, certainly not in any way about my race. I don’t know if it was any different for you…Photon.”
“Not at all,” Photon said. “I’ve heard people try to make an issue of numbers, but when you consider how many black super-heroes there actually are…”
“Yeah.” Binary gave a smile and turned to the reporter. “Besides the two of us, how many female black heroes can you name?”
“Well, there’s Storm of the X-Men.” The confidence faded, as she struggled for just one more name. “Um, there was someone with the New Warriors.”
“Silhouette,” they both said, and Photon quickly added, “And now if you’ll excuse me, I have business with our chairperson.”
Transforming into neutrinos to fly straight through the floor at the speed of light was the quickest end Photon to make of her part in the interview. It was one of the many things she’d been uncomfortable with during her previous time with the Avengers. Worse, it was clear that Binary thought she’d been intruding, and if the reporter picked up on that it would certainly be mentioned.
All of this went through Photon’s mind in the instant before she appeared before Warbird and Bruce Banner in the Med-Lab. Warbird was in the process of being scanned.
“I take it this is what kept Binary from her interview so long?” Photon asked.
Warbird nodded as she stepped away from the machines. “Her powers and appearance can’t be a coincidence, but Bruce insists the process that turned me into Binary can’t be duplicated.”
“From what I read in her file, Diablo played a part in her origin,” Photon said. “Alchemy is considered the science of the impossible.”
“And believe me, I’d love to throttle some answers out of him,” Warbird said. “But so far we don’t have any leads on his whereabouts. How did your meeting with Scarlet Witch go?”
“Excuse me,” Doctor Banner said. He was studying the readouts from the scanners. “Photon, when you arrived, the machines picked up on your energy signature. There was a slight drain in your energy.”
Photon frowned. Now that it was brought to her attention, she felt it. “You’re right. It’s very minuscule, part of the reason I didn’t notice it. But when I traveled through the mansion something leached away my energy.”
Power built up in Warbird’s fists as her emotions rose. “I’m tired of attacks coming from inside the mansion. Bruce, can you determine what this is and where it’s coming from?”
“I’m running a scan of the mansion’s systems now.” Doctor Banner scanned his eyes over the monitor readings. “And if I was expecting results from that, I’d be disappointed. But in one section, the process took a split second longer, the result of a slight power drain. It’s just outside the Assembly Room. That’s where Vision is held!”
Photon somehow moved faster than she had earlier. She was instantly in the Avengers’ meeting room as pure, blinding light. Anything inside would be immediately visible and, if human, blinded while she determined a further course of action. But unfortunately, Photon didn’t see anybody inside the room. Knowing better, she shifted before forms of energy, scanning the area in a variety of spectrums.
“Come out come out wherever you-arrghh!” The point of a knife appeared through the chest of Photon’s energy form, and she screamed in agony. Not since the time she’d interacted with Thor’s magical lightning had she ever felt pain while in energy form.
Forced to return to human form, Photon collapsed against the meeting table, semi-conscious. The knife was gone, and she realized it’d been some kind of energy. She could also see, out of the corner of her eye, the shadow of someone standing over her.
“I had a feeling that, if anybody caught on to me, it’d be you,” said a gruff voice with a faint accent that Photon was on the edge of recognizing. “If that didn’t disable you, you’d be smart and lie still while I finish what I came for.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Photon kicked out a leg, aiming for the attacker’s groin. He caught the clumsy attack, and she immediately pulled her leg back. He was pulled forward while she twisted her upper body up and raised a hand. Before he could do anything, Photon’s palm collided with his chest.
And nothing happened.
Actually, a great deal happened. As Photon had hoped, losing her energy form didn’t diminish the concussive strike she was capable of in human form. The explosive force occurred, rattling the table and chairs inside the room. But so far as her attacker was concerned, nothing had happened.
That was when Photon realized what had been draining the energy, and where her attacker’s accent was from, an instant before a punch knocked her down for the count.
Vibranium from Wakanda.
# # # # #
The French doors burst in a spray of wood, glass and multi-colored balls as Speedball bounced into the mayor’s mansion. Gliding behind him was Stingray, electricity cascading off his body. Sparks danced among the men and women, stopping many in their tracks and dropping a few to their knees. Far in the back, hopping about in anger, was the Mandrill.
“Stop them! I want those meddlers dead!”
Bouncing past the crowd, Speedball made a beeline for the hirsute villain. “Oh, you wish. Last I heard, the Meddlers were out west. No, beastie, you’re fighting the Avengers!”
Speedball had intended to crash into Mandrill fist first but the villain leapt to meet him. Displaying great agility, Mandrill wrapped his arms around Speedball and, when they fell together, landed nimbly on his feet. Held aloft, Speedball couldn’t bring his kinetic powers to bear, and he was helpless in the Mandrill’s grip.
“What Avengers? I only see a joke, and a minor ally to one I’d actually consider a threat.” Not content with squeezing the life out of Speedball, Mandrill opened his mouth wide, intending to sink his fangs into the young hero.
“My apologies.” Stingray released a charge of electricity. All the hairs on Mandrill’s body went upright and he screamed in pain. Speedball also couldn’t help but scream. But Stingray wasn’t done, as he glided feet-first into the Mandrill’s face. “How are you, Speedball?”
“Thankful for the insulated costume.”
“Could you make sure everyone’s all right and contact the authorities? I have a few questions for this man.”
“Gladly.” Speedball bounded away.
Mandrill struggled to his feet. “Go away. Leave me to my fun.”
“Sorry, my suit’s sealed. No pheromones get through.” Stingray advanced on Mandrill, deflected a punch and dealt one of his own. “But from what I’ve read, yours shouldn’t work on me anyway. How have you expanded your power?”
“He was so helpful. One little concoction, and my chemicals changed in just the right way. All he wanted was my help collecting a few subjects.”
“Does that include Tiger Shark?” Stingray lifted Mandrill off his feet and slammed him against the wall. “I know he was here.”
“Yes,” Mandrill said. “Did you know I was born this way? He wasn’t interested in that, in little tweaks. The radical changes, that’s what he wanted to learn about.”
“Who is it? Who were you dealing with?” Stingray pulled a hand back, and sparks danced among the fingers.
At that Mandrill laughed. “So much emotion over a beast. The tactics aren’t necessary. I owe no loyalty to Diablo.”
# # # # #
Photon opened her eyes to see Warbird and Binary standing over her. “He got away.” It wasn’t a question.
“With the drive containing Vision, so we have that to look forward to,” said Binary. “So I guess you aren’t all that.”
“Any idea who it was?” Warbird asked.
“A Wakandan,” Photon waved away the offer of assistance and rose to her feet. “Given what Vision did to his country, I don’t see Black Panther rebuilding him. How could he know Vision was alive and in our custody?”
“Captain America insisted on following due process.” Warbird led her two teammates to out of the Assembly Room. “Vision was in our custody pending trial, all interested parties were contacted, there’s even a lawyer acting on his behalf. A big chunk of the pre-trail motions have involved extraditing Vision to Wakanda.”
“He also made a fuss about Hulk,” said Binary. “But that stopped once we forwarded proof Maestro’s been purged from his system. In this case he got tired of waiting.”
“They may already be out of the country,” said Photon. “Once my powers are back I’ll zoom to the Wakandan Embassy and find out what I can.”
“Absolutely not,” said Warbird. “We’re in the right here, but a counter-attack jeopardizes our stand. We need to report this, get an order from a judge, and be ready for Black Panther’s response.”
The doors opened, and Warbird was the first out. “I’ll contact…Stu?”
Standing in the gallery was Stu Conrad, government liaison to the Avengers. Standing next to him was a woman Warbird knew as Bernadette Rosenthal. In her hand was the drive.
“Warbird, Binary, Photon,” Bernie said. “You’re three of the most powerful Avengers on the roster. Yet somehow you failed to prevent one man from walking out of here with this dangerous piece of technology.”
“We had detected and identified him, and were on our way to get that back,” Warbird said at the same time that Photon stated, “He was prepared.”
Stu let out a sigh. “When T’Challa’s people approached me about this test, and trusted that you would ably demonstrate how secure this mansion is. That was my mistake. This latest breach hurts us in challenging Wakanda’s petition.”
Warbird stepped forward. “The first thing we have to do is confirm that drive contains Vision.”
“Be my guest.” Bernie tossed the drive to Warbird. “Black Panther was making a point when he sent his agent here. Vision is too dangerous to risk getting out, and it can’t be securely confined. Even now he’s convincing a judge to expedite an extradition hearing.”
“He really thinks that Wakanda can secure that drive better than Avengers Mansion?” Binary asked.
“He’s not interested in security,” said Bernie. “After Vision joined the Avengers, special legislation was passed to grant him personhood and the standard protections of human rights. But that wouldn’t apply in Wakanda. Black Panther wants that drive in his country so he can erase it and kill Vision.”
Next Issue: Before the fate of the Vision can be decided, the Avengers must confront Diablo for family…and answers!
Minutes later, Monica caught sight of whom she was looking for, sitting at a slot machine. Wanda Maximoff was inserting coins and pulling the lever in a manner that most would mistake for robotic. Monica saw that she was being nonchalant, uncaring of the actual outcome.
The bored expression on Wanda’s face changed when Monica sat down beside her. “Hunh, I was wondering when the team would look me up. I was glad to see you rejoined, Monica.”
“Well, it’s hard to say no to Captain America,” said Monica as she inserted bills into her own machine. She noted the coins dropping out for Wanda. “You look to be about breaking even.”
“My over-under has been around five dollars since I arrived a few hours ago,” said Wanda. “I’m sure security would notice, if they were paying attention. But right now they have bigger problems.”
“How much have they lost?” Monica asked as she’d just won big.
Wanda shrugged. “If I had to guess from all the celebration I’ve heard, maybe a few hundred thousand. They’ll get it back shortly after I leave though. The house always ends up winning.”
A smile crossed Wanda’s face as she said, “Unless everybody suddenly decided to stop gambling. That would make a bad day for any casino.”
That elicited a surprised look for Monica. “You could really do that?”
“I don’t know, but this has been an interesting test.” Wanda scooped coins from the machine into her empty bucket and proceeded to insert them back in. “I used to think my powers were all about affecting objects on a molecular level. A gun melts, a tree bursts into flames, a machine overloads. But I’ve noticed that a lot of luck is people making decisions. The right choice at the right time, or the wrong choice at the wrong time.”
“But there’s no way to know that until the decision’s been made,” said Monica. Then she remembered something she’d read in the Avengers’ files. “Kang…and Immortus have shown interest in you before.”
That made Wanda chuckle. “I know, it’s weird referring to them as two different people. And yes, Immortus once even told me that my power reaches into the past, retroactively changing things for an outcome in the present. I didn’t think any of it at the time, mostly because I was going through a mental breakdown. Or maybe I’ve never gone out of it. That’s why you’re here, right?”
“We recently encountered Centurious,” Monica said. “He was in some limbo realm of the afterlife, and he claims you sent him there.”
“And of course you believe whatever a villain says.” Wanda won big, coins spilling out of her machine and onto the floor. “I’d been looking for him since, and yes I found him, after the Avengers broke up that Coalition. We fought, he tried to escape, I threw a hex and he disappeared.”
Monica leaned back from her machine, out of credit. “Well, he’s in custody now. And Warbird will be glad to know-’
“That I’m not crazy?”
“That you’re all right. The only news we’d heard was from a villain.”
Wanda sighed. “All you had to do was ask my brother. I saw Pietro not too long ago. We had a good talk, caught up on things.” Wanda fixed her gaze on Monica. “When were you going to tell me my ex-husband was alive?”
“Once I established you weren’t crazy,” Monica said, unflinching from Wanda gaze. “I’m not sure of all the details, but Captain America managed to confine Vision to a disk. Until the courts decide what to do with him, he’s in Avengers custody.”
“The government made their decision years ago,” Wanda said with a bitter voice. “Vision isn’t a person, only a collection of parts to be strewn about. Foreign terrorists have more rights.”
After what Monica saw the Vision do in Wakanda, she lost all sympathy for the former Avenger. “We are doing everything we can to balance fair treatment with security. When the time comes, Vision will be able to speak in his defense, and so will anyone who wants to speak for him.”
“Or against him. I haven’t decided which.” From her pocket, Wanda removed her Avengers Identicard. Every effort made to contact her through it had failed. Wanda waved her hand over it and gestured her fingers. “There, so you can let me know when it is time. Until then, I’d rather be kept out of Avengers business.”
“It was good to see you again, Wanda.” Monica vanished in a beam of light. Nobody else in the casino had paid any attention to the two women playing slots, so intent were they on their own gambling. And on her way out, Photon traveled through the casino’s surveillance systems and erased all footage of herself.
Wanda gathered her winnings, she had every cent she’d walked in with and half again. As she walked through the lobby to exit the casino, Wanda tipped the bucket. Coins spilled out after her, each one landing face up.
“Hopefully we’ll see each other soon,” Wanda whispered to herself.
# # # # #
“Mr. Newell, sir.” Robbie Baldwin stood up from his desk. “Please, sit down. What can do for you?”
“Thank you, Mr. Baldwin.” While the true identity of Stingray was generally public information, Speedball’s real name was unknown to most of his teammates. For all Stingray knew, he was meeting with the Avengers’ case-manager from Damage Control. “I’m not sure how much you know about my and my wife’s history, particularly her brother.”
“Yes, the villain Tiger Shark. I would imagine that makes for an awkward Thanksgiving.”
“For the past few weeks I’ve been trying to find him, with little success. I was wondering if Damage Control had records of incidents where the culprit wasn’t identified, but could be him?”
“Most do start out of that way,” Robbie said. “We actually have a whole department dedicated to seeking restitution for damages incurred decades, even centuries ago, once it’s learned who was responsible. The moment Kang is born, he will be in debt for the rest of his life.”
As the computer booted up, Robbie chuckled. “Once, the Fantastic Four stepped out of their time machine to find us waiting with a bill for the damage they’d just caused seventy years ago. Okay, we have a program that searches incidents by a number of factors. For Tiger Shark, I’m looking for anything that required up to a certain level of strength, which is a list several thousand entries long.”
Robbie continued typing. “I can narrow the list to anything near water, and signs of animal traits such as claw marks. It is still a long list, but you would want anything within the last…”
“The past month would be a good start,” Walter said.
The commands were entered and the screen filled with data, then went blank and filled with more data, and so on two more times. “Shoot, I always do this,” Robbie said. “Okay, I’ll adjust the search parameters using ‘and’ instead of ‘or’. And there we go, not even a screen’s worth, but still over a dozen.”
Glancing through the incidents, Robbie frowned. “This one looks weird, an incident in one town reported by the next town over.” He selected it for more info. “Pretty vague, a noise complaint from across the water. But this one town in Rhode Island, there hasn’t been a peep from them in a while, almost six months.”
“Is that so unusual?” Stingray asked.
“There’s always something, even if it’s just a misunderstanding or hoax.” Robbie wrote the name of the town on a notepad. “I’m not saying it’s Tiger Shark, but this certainly bears investigating. I just need to run this upstairs and we’ll keep looking.”
“No, it’s fine.” Stingray reached out his hand toward the paper. “I could do with a swim up the coast.”
# # # # #
Binary walked into the Med-Lab of Avengers Mansion. She couldn’t help but feel uneasy at the sight of Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, remembering the times she’d fought his alter ego, the Hulk. Also in the Med-Lab was Warbird, hooked up to an elaborate machine.
“What did you want to see me about?” Binary asked the Avengers Chairperson.
Warbird fell away from the machine and glanced toward Banner, who was studying readings on a monitor. “We’ve put this off too long…Binary. You have the exact same powers I do, at levels I was once able to achieve.”
“Yeah, I was experimented on by Diablo and Zeneo Technologies,” Binary said. “When he called me Binary, I had no idea you had the name first. With all the ‘not talking’ we’ve done on the subject, I always assumed you were an earlier experiment by Zeneo Technologies.”
“That might have been preferable,” said Warbird. “I first became Ms. Marvel when Kree technology rewrote my DNA. When my powers were taken, I hanged around with the X-Men, and was abducted along with them by different aliens; the Brood. Their studies on my DNA changed it further, allowing me to draw power from stellar objects.”
“It’s a process that’s almost impossible to duplicate,” Doctor Banner said to Binary. “Involving accidents and different alien technologies. But somehow Diablo, the master of a very different field of science, was able to give you these powers.”
“So you want to pick me apart and find out what makes me tick?” asked Binary, giving the stink-eye to the machine.
“Only some base readings that I can compare to Warbird’s,” said Doctor Banner.
“For years I never tried to understand my powers and where they came from,” said Warbird. “When that understanding would have helped most, it was too late, and I lost the stars forever. This is a chance for you to avoid my mistakes, Nicole.”
After a long moment of thought, Binary nodded. “Okay, but let’s make this quick. I scheduled for a reporter to come interview me here at the mansion.”
# # # # #
A mysterious figure was perched on a rooftop across the street from Avengers Mansion. The motorists and pedestrians below could not see him, precisely because it was broad daylight. Such was the nature of this man’s costume that it reflected light so that he blended into the surroundings.
Because this figure was unseen, there was no one to marvel at his spectacular leap across the street. This feat was unassisted by the costume, a product of skill and training. His leap just barely reached the mansion’s high wall, the top of which he touched enough to springboard onto the grounds. So light was his touch that the mansion’s sensors registered the intrusion as a bird.
Of course, the mansion had many other security measures. But between skill, the costumes features and a knowledge that could only be acquired by an Avenger, they were all evaded. In minutes he was inside the mansion, navigating its air vents.
“The fools,” he chuckled to himself. “To think, after so many years they never sealed this obvious hole in their defenses.”
As the intruder crept between the first and second floors of Avengers Mansion, a burst of light drew his attention to a vent. Carefully he moved forward, and observed Photon in the library. She must have flown through a window as a beam of light and returned to human form upon entering the mansion.
Photon was moving toward the elevator when the doorbell rang. “No security alert,” Photon said to herself. “Whoever it is must have an appointment.”
She spoke as though it was so easy to get an appointment in Avengers Mansion. As though just such a thing weren’t being sought for weeks, stymied at every step by lawyers.
The mansion wouldn’t have an intruder otherwise, the mystery guest in the vent observed as Photon placed a mask over her face.
# # # # #
Whatever Stingray may have expected when he checked in at the police station of a Rhode Island fishing town, it wasn’t to be attacked. Only a few words had left his mouth when the two officers opened fired. If not for his armor, Stingray would have been much more than surprised. It was that surprise that made him take evasive action, diving behind a desk.
More shots rang out, sending echoes across the room and disrupting Stingray’s sonar. He’d already determined there were only a few people in the building, all there in the main room with him. Nobody in the cells, but that wasn’t odd, serious crimes wouldn’t be so common. But shots would be heard, and if everybody in this town was acting the same…Stingray had to act fast.
Shots hit the wood, but didn’t penetrate when Stingray hefted the old desk. He slammed it against the officer, an elder who likely wouldn’t take an electric burst well. Once Stingray knocked him down, a light tap with his foot knocked him out. A bullet bounced off his shoulder, so Stingray broke a leg off the desk and threw it at the shooter. It struck him in the knees, and he went down without a cry.
Spreading his arms, Stingray glided at the third man. More shots were fired, but they did no harm. Stingray crashed against the man fist first, and like that he was victorious.
“Big bad Avenger,” Stingray muttered to himself. “Beating down small-town cops, likely victims of mind control.” But if the rest of the town was like this, it wouldn’t stay so easy. He needed to find the source.
The doors to the station burst open as two people were hurled inside. They landed in a heap, and Stingray rushed out to see what was going on. Outside, a score of townspeople were gathered in the street, clamoring at a brightly colored man bouncing among the cars and buildings.
“Speedball?!” Stingray couldn't understand what his teammate was doing here. “Are the other Avengers around?”
“No, I came out here on my own.” Speedball leaped from a car to the street and bounced up, scattering several people amid a flurry of multi-colored balls. “I, uh, grew up in the area. My mother called, gossiping about weirdness in a nearby town. I was walking around out of costume when those shots rang out and people went nuts.”
There was some truth to what he said, and Speedball didn’t like giving away too much about himself. But Stingray didn’t seem the sort to investigate a teammate’s identity. A young man tried to grab at Speedball’s leg, but he twisted out of the way. “Could you help me out here? Crowds are trouble if they pin me down.”
“Of course.” From what Stingray understood, Speedball’s powers depended on him being in motion. Held down by a mob, he’d be powerless. “Get clear!”
Gliding over the crowd, Stingray released an electrical charge. It dispersed throughout the crowd, jumping from one to the other. He kept it light, not wanting to seriously hurt anyone. Once the people were dazed, he and Speedball could deal with them in a controlled manner.
Once most of the crowd were down, Speedball landed next to the one of the conscious men and started asking questions. Free of the mind-control, he had no memory of the recent events. The last thing he remembered was a strange visitor coming to town, a hairy creature dressed like old European nobility, complete with a high-collared cape.
“That sounds like the Mandrill,” Speedball told Stingray. “I’ve read that electricity can negate the effects of his pheromones, though I thought they only worked on women.”
“Villains upgrade themselves all the times.” Stingray accessed his armor’s scanners. “I’m able to track creatures through the oceans by following subtle chemical changes. Using similar methods, I can identify his pheromones. Let’s go!.”
“Avengers Assemble!” yelled Speedball as he leapt in pace with the gliding Stingray. At his teammate’s sidelong glance he said, “I’ve waited for an opportunity to say that.”
# # # # #
“For years you’ve rarely operated outside New Orleans. Why is that?”
Before Photon could answer the question, Binary walked into the room. Quickly she stood up, relieved. “Well, it looks like your interview’s here. Binary, is Warbird in the mansion?”
“Yeah, I just left her downstairs,” Binary said. She was a little perplexed to have walked in on Photon speaking with the reporter that had come to interview her. Regaining her composure, Binary stepped forward with her hand outstretched. “Hi, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’m sorry about the wait.”
Photon started to leave but, in taking Binary’s hand, the reporter had stepped in front of it. “I apologize, but this is such a wonderful opportunity with the two of you here. Binary, how does it feel to work alongside the first black woman to be an Avenger, let alone lead them?”
“To to be honest, I’ve…” Binary flushed with embarrassment. “I never really thought about it. My entire time here I haven’t been treated any differently, certainly not in any way about my race. I don’t know if it was any different for you…Photon.”
“Not at all,” Photon said. “I’ve heard people try to make an issue of numbers, but when you consider how many black super-heroes there actually are…”
“Yeah.” Binary gave a smile and turned to the reporter. “Besides the two of us, how many female black heroes can you name?”
“Well, there’s Storm of the X-Men.” The confidence faded, as she struggled for just one more name. “Um, there was someone with the New Warriors.”
“Silhouette,” they both said, and Photon quickly added, “And now if you’ll excuse me, I have business with our chairperson.”
Transforming into neutrinos to fly straight through the floor at the speed of light was the quickest end Photon to make of her part in the interview. It was one of the many things she’d been uncomfortable with during her previous time with the Avengers. Worse, it was clear that Binary thought she’d been intruding, and if the reporter picked up on that it would certainly be mentioned.
All of this went through Photon’s mind in the instant before she appeared before Warbird and Bruce Banner in the Med-Lab. Warbird was in the process of being scanned.
“I take it this is what kept Binary from her interview so long?” Photon asked.
Warbird nodded as she stepped away from the machines. “Her powers and appearance can’t be a coincidence, but Bruce insists the process that turned me into Binary can’t be duplicated.”
“From what I read in her file, Diablo played a part in her origin,” Photon said. “Alchemy is considered the science of the impossible.”
“And believe me, I’d love to throttle some answers out of him,” Warbird said. “But so far we don’t have any leads on his whereabouts. How did your meeting with Scarlet Witch go?”
“Excuse me,” Doctor Banner said. He was studying the readouts from the scanners. “Photon, when you arrived, the machines picked up on your energy signature. There was a slight drain in your energy.”
Photon frowned. Now that it was brought to her attention, she felt it. “You’re right. It’s very minuscule, part of the reason I didn’t notice it. But when I traveled through the mansion something leached away my energy.”
Power built up in Warbird’s fists as her emotions rose. “I’m tired of attacks coming from inside the mansion. Bruce, can you determine what this is and where it’s coming from?”
“I’m running a scan of the mansion’s systems now.” Doctor Banner scanned his eyes over the monitor readings. “And if I was expecting results from that, I’d be disappointed. But in one section, the process took a split second longer, the result of a slight power drain. It’s just outside the Assembly Room. That’s where Vision is held!”
Photon somehow moved faster than she had earlier. She was instantly in the Avengers’ meeting room as pure, blinding light. Anything inside would be immediately visible and, if human, blinded while she determined a further course of action. But unfortunately, Photon didn’t see anybody inside the room. Knowing better, she shifted before forms of energy, scanning the area in a variety of spectrums.
“Come out come out wherever you-arrghh!” The point of a knife appeared through the chest of Photon’s energy form, and she screamed in agony. Not since the time she’d interacted with Thor’s magical lightning had she ever felt pain while in energy form.
Forced to return to human form, Photon collapsed against the meeting table, semi-conscious. The knife was gone, and she realized it’d been some kind of energy. She could also see, out of the corner of her eye, the shadow of someone standing over her.
“I had a feeling that, if anybody caught on to me, it’d be you,” said a gruff voice with a faint accent that Photon was on the edge of recognizing. “If that didn’t disable you, you’d be smart and lie still while I finish what I came for.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Photon kicked out a leg, aiming for the attacker’s groin. He caught the clumsy attack, and she immediately pulled her leg back. He was pulled forward while she twisted her upper body up and raised a hand. Before he could do anything, Photon’s palm collided with his chest.
And nothing happened.
Actually, a great deal happened. As Photon had hoped, losing her energy form didn’t diminish the concussive strike she was capable of in human form. The explosive force occurred, rattling the table and chairs inside the room. But so far as her attacker was concerned, nothing had happened.
That was when Photon realized what had been draining the energy, and where her attacker’s accent was from, an instant before a punch knocked her down for the count.
Vibranium from Wakanda.
# # # # #
The French doors burst in a spray of wood, glass and multi-colored balls as Speedball bounced into the mayor’s mansion. Gliding behind him was Stingray, electricity cascading off his body. Sparks danced among the men and women, stopping many in their tracks and dropping a few to their knees. Far in the back, hopping about in anger, was the Mandrill.
“Stop them! I want those meddlers dead!”
Bouncing past the crowd, Speedball made a beeline for the hirsute villain. “Oh, you wish. Last I heard, the Meddlers were out west. No, beastie, you’re fighting the Avengers!”
Speedball had intended to crash into Mandrill fist first but the villain leapt to meet him. Displaying great agility, Mandrill wrapped his arms around Speedball and, when they fell together, landed nimbly on his feet. Held aloft, Speedball couldn’t bring his kinetic powers to bear, and he was helpless in the Mandrill’s grip.
“What Avengers? I only see a joke, and a minor ally to one I’d actually consider a threat.” Not content with squeezing the life out of Speedball, Mandrill opened his mouth wide, intending to sink his fangs into the young hero.
“My apologies.” Stingray released a charge of electricity. All the hairs on Mandrill’s body went upright and he screamed in pain. Speedball also couldn’t help but scream. But Stingray wasn’t done, as he glided feet-first into the Mandrill’s face. “How are you, Speedball?”
“Thankful for the insulated costume.”
“Could you make sure everyone’s all right and contact the authorities? I have a few questions for this man.”
“Gladly.” Speedball bounded away.
Mandrill struggled to his feet. “Go away. Leave me to my fun.”
“Sorry, my suit’s sealed. No pheromones get through.” Stingray advanced on Mandrill, deflected a punch and dealt one of his own. “But from what I’ve read, yours shouldn’t work on me anyway. How have you expanded your power?”
“He was so helpful. One little concoction, and my chemicals changed in just the right way. All he wanted was my help collecting a few subjects.”
“Does that include Tiger Shark?” Stingray lifted Mandrill off his feet and slammed him against the wall. “I know he was here.”
“Yes,” Mandrill said. “Did you know I was born this way? He wasn’t interested in that, in little tweaks. The radical changes, that’s what he wanted to learn about.”
“Who is it? Who were you dealing with?” Stingray pulled a hand back, and sparks danced among the fingers.
At that Mandrill laughed. “So much emotion over a beast. The tactics aren’t necessary. I owe no loyalty to Diablo.”
# # # # #
Photon opened her eyes to see Warbird and Binary standing over her. “He got away.” It wasn’t a question.
“With the drive containing Vision, so we have that to look forward to,” said Binary. “So I guess you aren’t all that.”
“Any idea who it was?” Warbird asked.
“A Wakandan,” Photon waved away the offer of assistance and rose to her feet. “Given what Vision did to his country, I don’t see Black Panther rebuilding him. How could he know Vision was alive and in our custody?”
“Captain America insisted on following due process.” Warbird led her two teammates to out of the Assembly Room. “Vision was in our custody pending trial, all interested parties were contacted, there’s even a lawyer acting on his behalf. A big chunk of the pre-trail motions have involved extraditing Vision to Wakanda.”
“He also made a fuss about Hulk,” said Binary. “But that stopped once we forwarded proof Maestro’s been purged from his system. In this case he got tired of waiting.”
“They may already be out of the country,” said Photon. “Once my powers are back I’ll zoom to the Wakandan Embassy and find out what I can.”
“Absolutely not,” said Warbird. “We’re in the right here, but a counter-attack jeopardizes our stand. We need to report this, get an order from a judge, and be ready for Black Panther’s response.”
The doors opened, and Warbird was the first out. “I’ll contact…Stu?”
Standing in the gallery was Stu Conrad, government liaison to the Avengers. Standing next to him was a woman Warbird knew as Bernadette Rosenthal. In her hand was the drive.
“Warbird, Binary, Photon,” Bernie said. “You’re three of the most powerful Avengers on the roster. Yet somehow you failed to prevent one man from walking out of here with this dangerous piece of technology.”
“We had detected and identified him, and were on our way to get that back,” Warbird said at the same time that Photon stated, “He was prepared.”
Stu let out a sigh. “When T’Challa’s people approached me about this test, and trusted that you would ably demonstrate how secure this mansion is. That was my mistake. This latest breach hurts us in challenging Wakanda’s petition.”
Warbird stepped forward. “The first thing we have to do is confirm that drive contains Vision.”
“Be my guest.” Bernie tossed the drive to Warbird. “Black Panther was making a point when he sent his agent here. Vision is too dangerous to risk getting out, and it can’t be securely confined. Even now he’s convincing a judge to expedite an extradition hearing.”
“He really thinks that Wakanda can secure that drive better than Avengers Mansion?” Binary asked.
“He’s not interested in security,” said Bernie. “After Vision joined the Avengers, special legislation was passed to grant him personhood and the standard protections of human rights. But that wouldn’t apply in Wakanda. Black Panther wants that drive in his country so he can erase it and kill Vision.”
Next Issue: Before the fate of the Vision can be decided, the Avengers must confront Diablo for family…and answers!