Taking on the crime others won't touch, the New Warriors are the next generation of superhero excitement!
 
 

Night Thrasher	Dwayne Taylor was trained to be the ultimate weapon by a maniacal woman bent on conquering the world. Trained in fighting crime and backed by the resources of the Taylor Foundation, Dwayne is the founder and core of the Warriors.
Silhouette	A daughter of the dragon temple and former girlfriend of Night Thrasher, Silhouette had until recently been crippled, until a recent encounter with John Kowalski/Death has restored her full mobility and enhanced her shadow-melting powers as well.
Speedball	Robbie Baldwin, the clown of the group with kinetic abilities bestowed upon him by a scientific accident. He has recently discovered that his body was destroyed in the accident and replaced by the kinetic material, and has gained much better control over his powers.
Bengal	Duc No Tranh was kicked off the EVAC chopper into his burning village by an American soldier. He later emerged in America as the Bengal, an assassin bent on destroying that soldier, now a repentant priest. Thrasher and the Punisher stopped him, and the Bengal disappeared until very recently.
Sorceress	Melina is a daughter of the Dragon Temple, the same Temple that produced Warriors' foe Tai and ally Silhouette. Melina's birthright is the ability to channel the power of the well, shaping it through magical training for a variety of effects.
Proudstar	James Proudstar has been a Hellion and a member of X-Force, using his mutant powers of strength, speed, durability and enhanced senses. Realizing that his relationship with Siryn was going nowhere, James has left X-Force and come to New York seeking a new life.
Jolt	Experimented and given enhanced strength and agility, Hallie is a bouncing ball of energy. A former member of the Thunderbolts, the New Warriors and the Peace Corps rescued her from the Soldiers of Misfortune where she had been brainwashed into a shock trooper. Wanting to come home and jumpstart her life, Hallie has returned to New York and is the newest member of the New Warriors.

What Has Gone Before:
After a month of vacation down in Cancun, the Warriors have decided to stay in New York City. As the Warriors were scattered around the city on various errands, a kidnapping attempt by robotic Dreadnaughts on the son of a prominent superhuman expert is thwarted by the timely arrival of the Warriors, but the father is kidnapped on a separate attempt.

“Do I have your attention?”

“Yessir, Mr. Thrashman sir!” Jolt answered with a smirk and a spirited salute.

Night Thrasher ignored her as he began to punch keys on his laptop. He was standing in the front of a mahogany walled conference room. Black and white photos of New York lined the back and southern walls. The northern side was composed of large panes of windows overlooking the Manhattan skyline. A large oval shaped table took up most of the center of the room.

“Ok, today there were two kidnapping attempts in New York by superhuman forces. One of the attempts was on Dr. Pitor Vucemilovic. The other attempt was his son, Marco.” Night Thrasher clicked on a remote and the wall behind him opened up to a large monitor.

“The kidnapping attempt on Marco was stopped by us, by unfortunately the doctor was taken.” A picture of a middle aged white male appeared on the screen. He had a stern look on his face with sad brown eyes and black unkempt hair.

“Kinda looks like Cable crossed with Einstein,” chuckled Proudstar.

“Looks like my old math teacher,” Jolt responded. Proudstar and Jolt were sitting next to each other to Night Thrasher’s left.
“Shhh! Could you two clowns quiet down for a sec?” Speedball snapped at them.

“Fine, Mr. Sensitive. Don’t blame me for trying to liven up this meeting, Speedbump” Jolt responded raising her arms in the air.

“It is okay, Speedball. You two, enough with the quips until I am done.” Night Thrasher told at Jolt and Proudstar.

“No arguments from me, boss,” Proudstar, replied.

Night Thrasher clicked on his remote again, “Turns out that Dr. Vucemilovic is one of the scientists that founded the Russian superhuman program years ago. His projects included the Russian super soldier program, mutant cultivation initiative and power activation experiments. Although he experienced limited success, he eventually defected several years ago to the US to work for our government. After a long stint with them, he became a professor at NYU.”

“Wait a second, where did you get all this information? I hope you did not get it all from the Internet.” Sil asked. Murmurs of agreement came from the other Warriors.

“Some of it I got from the police, some I got from my informants and the rest I gathered from my sources as Dwayne Taylor.” Night Thrasher responded. “As to why Dr. Vucemilovic is so important, he is still one of the world’s experts in the field of superhuman powers, akin to Karl Malus. Third world countries, terrorist groups and a host of other organizations would pay dearly for him to work for them.”

“So who took him?” Proudstar asked.

Night Thrasher clicked the remote again. “These are the kidnappers. They are called Peristrike Force. They are a terrorist-for-hire outfit that splintered off the Russian army years ago. The only other time they have been reported working in America was an encounter they had with the old Darkhawk a couple of years ago, where they took over a high school.”

“Oh great. Rent a terrorist.” Proudstar sighed.

“Not really, Proudstar. Wait and listen. This is there leader, Psi Wolf, a psionic with bionic implants. His natural psionic powers are weak, but he uses bionic implants to increase his raw psionic power. He has limited telepathic ability, but his most dangerous power is his mind control. He is not a slouch in the combat department either with his bionic limbs.” Speedball shifted in his seat uncomfortably and looked down at the table when Night Thrasher mentioned the mind control ability.

“The skinny woman is Scattershot. She discharges bioelectric energy from her fingertips as an area effect. She is vulnerable from behind, so try to sneak up on her. The armored crimson dynamo wannabe is Siberion. He emits ice from his body and uses his armor to focus that power. I am guessing that if you crack the armor you can crack him. The beauty is Bella Volge, the strong woman of the group. She possesses a dark Thing-like hide and enhanced strength. From my estimates, I do not think she is as strong as you, Proudstar and she is definitely not as mobile as you. Use that against her.”

“Wow someone is slower than the Mr. Molasses here!” Jolt joked as she punched Proudstar in the shoulder.

“Ever since they left Russia, they have operated all over the world serving as mercenaries for whomever will pay them. They are quick, efficient and deadly. I do not want any of you underestimating them.” Night Thrasher pointed the remote at all of the Warriors.

“If they are so good, why send Dreadnaughts against the kid instead of the superhumans?” Proudstar asked.

“I am not sure. My best guess is that the doctor was too heavily guarded and that Psi Wolf wanted to use his best resources in making sure he go the doctor.”

“So what is the plan, Thrash?” Speedball asked.

“We are going to split up into three groups: Sil and Bengal are heading to the holding facility to interrogate the Peristrike Force members we captured this morning; Proudstar and Sorceress are guarding Marco with the FBI; and Jolt, Speedball and I are checking out the weapons dealer that sold Peristrike Force their Dreadnaughts. Hopefully they have not left the country with the professor and we can track them down. Any questions?”

“Yeah, these corporate offices are nice, but when is the new headquarters going to be ready? I feel like a little stupid wearing my costume in this yuppie heaven conference room.” Jolt quipped.

“The new headquarters are going to be ready soon, Jolt. The contractors are finishing up some last minute details and I have a final inspection scheduled for next week. These things take time. First, I have them building the state of the art superhero facility and two I have them building it pretty secretly. Any other questions, people?” All the Warriors shook their heads, rose and started to walk out.

“Speedball, could you wait a minute?” Night Thrasher asked as he closed the door leaving the two of them alone.

“Hello? Where am I? Is someone out there? I cannot see anything!”

“Do not worry, Dr. Vucemilovic, you are among countrymen.” A soft male voice responded in Russian.

“You speak Russian? What is the meaning of this? I have not worked for or been back to Russia for almost a decade now.”

Dr. Vucemilovic’s arms were tied snugly behind him on a chair and he struggled only briefly to learn the futility of breaking his bonds.

“Guilty conscience, Doctor?”

“No, but I do not know how kidnapping me helps you? I saw the monsters you sent to kidnap me, they are not even close to my creations.”

“Monsters? Bella Volge will not take too kindly to that, Doctor. She is very sensitive about her appearance, which is one of the reasons you are here and although my Peristrike Force are not your creation, they are still based on your work.”

“So what, why should I help you? I do not work on superhumans anymore. I give lectures and write papers. I let the younger guys work in the labs now.”

“Tsk tsk Doctor, a man of your talent should not lack ambition. Why don’t I take that blindfold off and we can talk some more?” Dr. Vucemilovic’s blindfold came off and he recoiled in shock to see his teenage son standing in front of him.
“Marco? What are you doing here son? Did they get you too?”

Marco Vucemilovic chuckled and said, “Poor doctor, I apologize for my flair of the melodramatic.” Marco features shifted quickly from a slim teenager into a tall, well built man with a crooked smile.

“Doppelganger!” Dr. Vucemilovic gasped.

“So you have seen my file in Russia. Good, so you know what I can do.” Doppelganger was dressed in a three button olive suit with a light green shirt and a checkered tie. His brown hair was in a crew cut with some tints of white.

“Let me explain why we would want to use your services.”

“We?” Dr. Vucemilovic asked. The room that he was in was empty, except for a desk and chair in the corner and the two seats that Doppelganger and he were sitting.

“I have some sponsors, co-investors, whatever you want to call them who are interested in the intellectual capital that you represent, Doctor. You and I are lived through the Cold War and you may not know this, but the world is on the dawn of a new one.” Doppelganger paused and took out a pack of cigarettes, walked behind Dr. Vucemilovic and untied his wrists. Dr. Vucemilovic rubbed his sore wrists gingerly.

“I apologize, my men can be savages sometimes. Cigarette?” Doppelganger offered.

“Thank you.” He took the cigarette with shaking hands, lit it and took inhaled deeply.

“Where was I, oh yes. We are to coin the cliché, embarking on a new dawn, the dawn of the superhuman cold war. Think of superhumans as the new nuclear bombs. Think about it what would happen if the Avengers put their minds to it, they could hypothetically take over the world and who could stop them?”

“But they would never do something like that?” Dr. Vucemilovic replied as he took another puff from his cigarette.

“I am not saying that they would, but they could. You do not always have to use power to actually be powerful, just the threat of what the Avengers could do makes world leaders sweat at night. Just a handful of them could wipe out any world capital. In the next 100 years, controlling and harnessing the superhuman population will determine the next global power. With your help, we want to be on the forefront of that revolution.”

“That is an interesting offer, but why kidnap me? Why not approach me or schedule a meeting?”

“We are not thugs, Doctor, but we are still dangerous people. We are working clandestinely to achieve our goals and a kidnapping attempt just makes us look like any mercenary for hire outfit sent by a third world nation. If it had failed, our tracks would have been covered. The kidnapping also served a second purpose.” Doppelganger lit up another cigarette and continued. “We wanted you to know that we are a powerful organization with the capability to execute our agenda.
Superheroes are a serious business and we do not take it lightly.”

“Let me hear more.”

“Reed Richards definitely has to be on the Fantastic Four!”

“Yeah but when he wasn't on the team the team did fine, Marco.”

“What are you talking about, when they had Doom Jr.? The team was useless, they couldn’t take a beat up legless Inhuman, much less any of their own foes.”

“What are you talking about?” Sorceress asked. Sorceress and Proudstar were seated on the black leather sofa of a large living room. Marco Vucemilovic was seating on a matching love seat in front of them.

“Marco here thinks he can put together the ultimate Fantastic Four team. We get to keep only one member of the original team and put in other superheroes to see who can form the best team.” Proudstar answered. FBI agents were scattered all over the house. There were a handful of agents stationed in the living room. Marco’s bodyguard, Evgeni, was talking on his cell phone watching the conversation between Marco and the superheroes.

“What about Johnny Flame? He is a cute boy,” Sorceress giggled.

“You mean Johnny Storm, Sorceress and he is a hot head. My team would start with Reed Richards as the leader then I would recruit the She Hulk, she has brawn, brains and experience. Hmm….” Marco corrected. He was dressed in dark blue jeans and a dark blue sweatshirt.”

“She Hulk? I was thinking the exact same thing, but for my leader I would pick the Thing. Reed Richards might be the brains of the group, but the Thing is the heart and soul of the Four.” Proudstar interrupted. Both Proudstar and Sorceress were wearing their costumes, for Proudstar tight black spandex-like pullover with matching black pants and a belt buckle adorned with feather images. Sorceress was clad in a elegant dress with a dragon pattern on it that accented her lithe figure.

“I am sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Marco could you follow me downstairs for a second?” Evgeni asked while shutting off his phone.

“Sure Evgeni. Proudstar we will continue this discussion later, but think about my next choice.” Marco rose to follow his bodyguard.

“Who?” Proudstar asked.

“Captain Marvel.” Marco answered with a wicked smile on his face. The smile stayed on his face as he followed Evgeni through the basement door.

“Damn that is a good one. I should have totally thought of that. I have even teamed up with that guy.” Proudstar lamented. “By the way did you notice how Speedball was acting last night?”

“What do you mean?”

“I have noticed lately, but Speedball has been acting a little stressed lately. I don’t know how to how to describe it, but he hasn’t been acting like his normal funny self lately.”

“I think you are right. I do not know what is wrong. I do not know him too well.”

“Hold that thought for a minute!” Proudstar raised his hand and moved his head around. “Everyone be careful, I hear something coming!” He shouted as he stood up and watch the roof come down on him.

"Didn't we have this talk a couple of weeks ago Tony? I specifically recall telling you that if you spent your time dealing toys and not weapons we would not have this conversation anymore.” Speedball lectured as he was crouched with his feet on the wall standing sideways.

“My arms are getting tired Speedbump, could you hurry it up!” Jolt shouted. She was standing on top of a large crane that was positioned near the factory wall holding Tony up by his legs.

“It is ok, Jolt I will catch him!” Night Thrasher replied with his arms stretched out. He stood about 100 feet below them among a sea of broken machinery and unconscious thugs.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk. What do you want to know?!” Tony screamed back with his arms flaying in the air.

“That’s good Tony. Drop him, Jolt.” Speedball commanded Jolt. She released his legs and Tony screamed all the way down. Speedball stuck out his arm, closed his eyes and clenched his fist and Tony stopped a foot before hitting Night Thrasher.

“Good control, Speedball, but I think Tony here might need a new pair of pants!” Night Thrasher turned his head and waved his hand in front of his helmet.

“That was pretty mean back there, Speedball. I did not think you had it in you.” Night Thrasher asked. The police were handcuffing Tony and his crew while Jolt was walking around with the other policemen helping with any of the heavy lifting they required confiscating the factory warehouse of illegal weapons.

“I don’t know, Thrash. It just felt like the best thing to do. Testing my powers on an weapons dealer seemed ok then.”
“Really that is not like you?” Night Thrasher gave Speedball a puzzled look.

“I know. Did I tell you that I visited Elvin yesterday before the whole Dreadnaught/NYU battle?”
“You did? How did that go? Was that your first time there?”

“Yep it was. It felt good to be there, but still sad. I know I was not in control of my body, but to stand there and read his gravestone…” Speedball looked at Night Thrasher, but turned away when he saw Night Thrasher’s face. Although he could not see his face and the eye patch he was responsible for, Speedball still flinched.

“Dwayne? If I ask you for something, will you not get mad?” Speedball asked with a wavering voice.

“Sure Robbie, just ask?”

“I think I need a break. A vacation. Just some time to get my head clear.”

“All the time you need, Robbie.”

“I am not sure yet, if I want to do it, but I think a road trip or something would be good. You aren’t mad, Dwayne?”

Night Thrasher shook his head and answered, “No I am not. It might sound like a cliché, but ever since I began talking to the psychiatrist, Linda from the Vault, I feel less angry and less stressed. Maybe you should take a road trip out there? You can even visit Angelica!”

“That would be nice. Let me think about it. I think that cop wants to talk to you.”

“We will talk about this later.” Night Thrasher then turned to talk to the policeman and left Speedball to his thoughts.

“Wake up, Charlie!”

“Huh?” Charlie woke up suddenly to see Detective Chen, standing in front of him. “What’s goin’ on?” Charlie asked.

“What’s going on?! Why are you guys all sleeping on the job? We have Russian terrorists in the pen here and you shmucks are nodding off!” Detective Chen shouted at the crew as the rest of them began to wake up.

“Chen I don’t know what happened. We were watching the prisoners and than it was dark and now you are waking us up.” Charlie quickly said.

“Ohmigod, Charlie, guys come over here!” shouted Angel, another crewmember, pointing at his screen. Detective Chen and the rest of the crew rushed to the screen.

“Crap, call an ambulance now! Send somebody in there now! The prisoner is down.”

Detective Chen stood in the hallway as the EMS workers carried the prisoner in the stretcher. The prisoner was quietly babbling but his eyes carried a crazed expression.

“The Dark Lady! In the shadows coming, taking me!” the prisoner shouted as he began to lash out.

“Strap him down now!” An EMS worker shouted as the workers clamped down on him hard.

“No let me go! She is coming back!” He spat at the workers, throwing them off and leaping from the stretcher.

Detective Chen took out his baton and charged at the prisoner. The prisoner growled at Hunt, staring at him with red eyes. Hunt feinted with the baton to the right, but quickly swung his fist into the left side of the prisoner’s chin. The prisoner’s eyes rolled to the back of the head and he fell down in a thud.

“Ow! Glass jaw I guess,” Detective Chen muttered as he shook his hand. “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?”

RING! RING!

“Night Thrasher.”

“It’s me Thrash, I’m with Bengal,” Sillouette responded.

“Did you talk to him?”

“Yeah. I got a location too, but I think we need to move fast. Sounds like they are pretty mobile.”

“Any backup locations or alternates?”

“Thrash, I ain’t a rookie at this. Don’t treat me like one. Check your email for the coordinates and all the other locations. Bengal and I will head out to the primary one first and check out the territory.”

“Sil, I was not trying to imply that”, Night Thrasher took a sigh before continuing, “Just be careful. Do not confront Peristrike Force, if you see them.”

“Fine. Anything else oh great leader.”

“Yes. Is he ok?”

“You mean the prisoner? Yeah, but he won’t be answering any questions for the police for a little while.”

“Sil! I hope…”

“Bye Thrash.” She quipped and turned off her cell phone.

“Sil? Sil?” Night Thrasher turned off his helmet phone with disgust. “Speedball, Jolt! We got to go.”

“Yeah, Speedbump, we’ll be riding in the Thrashmobile!” Jolt gave Speedball a quick high five and headed out the factory door.

“That hurt,” Proudstar, thought. “What the hell hit us? The Hulk?” Proudstar lifted his head up groggily. He felt hundreds of pounds of rubble on his back and he was a little sore from the collapse.

“Is Melina ok?” Proudstar looked down to find Melina unconscious beneath him. When the roof collapsed, Proudstar remembered jumping on top of Sorceress to protect her with his body. His ears perked up to voices outside. There were shouting commands that obviously were not English, but after all that time working with Cable, Proudstar recognized military commands when they were given. He started looking around his immediate area to see if he could check out his position. He slowly shifted his body trying to be careful and not let too much rubble shift.

More voices began shouting and he heard Marco out there shouting something in Russian. Proudstar saw a patch of light a foot away from him and he crawled slowly over to peek out the small hole that had formed in the rubble. He saw Marco shouting at Evgeni with Bella Volga, Scattershot and some Peristirke Force troops surrounding them. Evgeni smiled and his body shimmered slightly. Proudstar blinked and instead of Evgeni standing there, he saw Marco’s father, Dr. Vucemilovic. Marco jumped back in surprise and bumped into the rocky hide of Bella Volga. Dr. Vucemilovic started to laugh and the other Peristrike Force members joined him. Some of them were still laughing as they loaded up in their trucks and left Proudstar underneath the rubble of a house.

End of Part II

Next Issue: Peristrike Force vs. The Warriors! Speedball’s decision! A message from the writer and letters from the fans! Also previews on future storylines!