The Winnebago travels down the highway at a steady pace with the other traffic. Its occupants, six individuals acting as representatives of the Sentinels of Liberty Hotline. Each was recruited for his/her talents and abilities and loyalty to Captain America.
Their destination was know only to their driver, the director of the SoL Hotline in Captain America's stead, Jack Flag. He had been very tight-lipped since picking up the last of the people he had picked to answer calls to the Hotline. Jack flashes back to how this whole idea came to be.
Jack and his staff had noticed an increase in the number of calls to the Hotline since the Heroes returned from the Onslaught and authority of the Hotline was rightfully returned to Captain America.
Jack had approached Cap with the idea of enlisting help and having a roving team of representatives assist in investigating and answering calls from across the country. Cap had more than appreciated Jack's insentive and applauded his idea.
So, with limited access to the Avengers' computer files, Jack, his assistant Holly Riddley, and her son, Ram Riddley (an old member of Cap's Stars and Stripes Hotline), began looking for suitable candidates for what jokingly became known as TEAM AMERICA.
Jack and Captain America had agreed on several aspects of the team, especially if they would be representatives of the Hotline and thereby, associated with an American legend like Captain America. They had agreed that if at all possible, they should maintain a somewhat patriotic theme, largely due to Henry Peter Gyrich's takeover of the Hotline after the Onslaught and during Operation: Zero Tolerance.
Jack had been unable to get in touch with his friend, Cathy Webster (Free Spirit), and according to Cap, USAgent was working with the West Coast Avengers. Battlestar was a member of Silver Sable's Wild Pack. And Jack's stomach rumbled at the thought of putting on his costume again, especially dyeing his hair red, white, and blue again.
Holly and Ram had come across a reference by the Thing about a young
man in Arizona who had helped out the Thing, Ka-Zar, and Wyatt Wingfoot
against Klaw. This young man, Jason Strongbow, had taken the name
American Eagle
and had returned to his Naveho reservation.
Jack's mind flashes to the day when he accompanied Cap to Arizona to ask jason to be a part of the team. Jason had stood there, awe-struck at Cap, as the sun glistened off of his red, white, and blue shield. Jason had asked if he could have some time to think about the offer, but as Cap and Jack boarded the Avengers' Quinjet back to New York, they saw Jason in his own red, white, and blue costume, complete with full headdress, running to the catch them. His face said it all; Team America had its first official member.
Jack's mind flashes back to the present as the lights from the traffic coming in the opposite direction broke his concentration of the events of the past few months.
RULE #18 - When you can't concentrate on the road, pull over and rest.
If memory served correctly, there was a rest area up ahead. The others were asleep and Jack needed some rest himself. The events leading up to this trip had been exhausting for everyone involved in the Hotline.
As he dozes, he dreams of the day that Team America's funding questions were answered.
"Jack, Mr. Meeks from Liberty Bank & Trust is on Line 2."
"Thanks, Holly." Pushing the flashing button, and dreading the coming conversation, "Jack Flagg here."
"Mr. Flag, Gary Meeks from Liberty Bank & Trust. This is simply a courtesy call to remind you that the recent deposit into the Hotline's account will not clear for ten working days. After ten days....'
"Excuse me, Mr. Meeks, what deposit are talking about? You know as well as I do that we've just been managing to pay our bills and payroll since we regained control of the Hotline."
"Mr. Flagg, a deposit of $1,000,000 was transferred to the Hotline's account late yesterday afternoon."
"How....Who..?"
Mr. Flag, I will be glad to forward you all the details we have on this transfer."
"Huh, oh yeah, that would be great. Thanks."
Jack dreams of the limited investigation that Holly and Ram, the Hotline's computer expert, were able to run on the transfer, but whoever had transferred the funds had covered their tracks.
"Jack. Jack, I hate to wake you up."
Jack woke to the sight of the Priscilla Lyons, also known as Vagabond. Priscilla had met Captain America through his sometimes partner, Nomad. Priscilla had worked with Cap, Falcon, Nomad, Demolition Man, and USAgent and fought against Black Racer of the Serpent Society, as well as the Power Broker Curtiss Jackson, Scourge, and Ulysses X, Lugman. What had amazed Captain America and Jack was that Priscilla as Vagabond, had fought along side these heroes without the benefit of any superhuman powers or abilities.
Oddly enough, however, Jack had not contacted Priscilla. She had contacted the Hotline.
"Jack, I'm really sorry to wake you up, but why don't you go back to the sleeping quarters. I'll drive for a while. With the on-board computer tracking and guidance system, I can still make our destination by the morning."
"Thanks, Cil. Who's on comm duty? "
"Mike was on when I came by, surfing the net."
"Okay, if you run into trouble, call him or buzz me."
RULE #5 - Accept assistance from friends when in need.
Jack walked back to the communication center of the team's rolling base. Just as Cil had said, Jack found Michael Keene on the state of the art computer array, but he wasn't surfing the net; he was using one of the virtual training simulators.
They had found Michael's name in the Avengers' files, from a brief log by Captain America. Michael Keene had taken the name of the Tumbler (pretty lame if you had asked Jack). Michael had taken the name and costume of Tumbler in memory of his brother John, the original Tumbler, who had been killed in an elaborate set-up to frame Captain America (see CA #175).
After his initial run=in with Cap (see CA #291), Michael had retired the costume. However, when he learned that Captain America was MIA after the Onslaught, Michael had donned the costume again. After he learned that Cap and the other heroes had not died, Michael called the Hotline and offered his assistance in whatever way possible.
Jack had taken him up on his offer.
RULE #7 - Be willing to offer all you have to give.
Rather than disturbing Mike's session, Jack retired to his private quarters, passing the rooms of the other members of Team America.
Georgianna Castleberry had been an operator at the Hotline for a few months. When news of Team America began to spread around the office, Georgianna was visibly shaken. However, she volunteered to serve as a member of the Team's initial support crew. She would accompany the Team on missions and help them become familiar with all of the many systems and equipment that was a part of the fabulous Winnebago their mysterious benefactor had delivered a few days after the mysterious donation was put in the Hotline's account. While Jack trusted her, there was something he could not put his finger on about Georgianna, however.
Another one of Cap's referrals was Roberto Velasquez. Roberto had been an up and coming prize fighter, until he made the mistake of having his strength enhanced by Dr. Malus, which caused Roberto to inadvertently kill a man in the ring (It all happened in CA Annual # 12). Roberto became the Battling Bantam and when he wasn't fighting crime, had been helping to keep kids off the streets and out of gangs. Roberto signed onto the team on a trial basis.
The final member of the team was one Jack had reluctantly agreed to, the gaudily-clad Captain Ultra. In his civilian identity of Griffin Gogol, CU had about as much success as he did in his costumed identity. Grif had gladly accepted Jack's request and was quick to tell anyone who would listen his adventures with the Defenders, with Thor, with Doc Samson, and how he was almost a member of the Frightful Four.
Jack reached his quarters and slid into bed to finish the nap he had started earlier. As soon as his head hit the pillow, his mind raced to the image of the assembled team. American Eagle. Vagabond. Tumbler. Bantam. Captain Ultra.
American Eagle was the only one whose costume and identity were patriotic. Vagabond was close, but the other three were a long way from being remotely patriotic. He turned and saw his costume hanging right where Holly had left it hanging.
"The Team might need you in battle. That's why," Holly had answered when Jack questioned why she was loading his costume along with the rest of the supplies and equipment.
Jack's stomach rolled with the thought as he drifted off to sleep.
BUZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZ....Jack, we're here."
RULE #1 - Get the team ready to go on their own....QUICKLY!"
NEXT ISSUE: Some of the members of Team America receive a makeover....Jack ponders his role with the Team ....Holly and Ram investigate the Team's mysterious benefactor.....The Team prepares for their first assignment as they battle a group with ties to Jack Flag. Make Mine MV1!!
NOTES FROM MICHAEL: Well, they say the third time is the charm. I've been working on the premiere issue of TEAM AMERICA for a couple of weeks now. There are two previous stories that I wrote as the introduction to the team. However, not being satisfied with either, I began a third, incorporating elements of the other two.
My original team didn't differ much from who was introduced. Some of them will be hanging around. Some won't. Other heroes will appear in future issues, with the final roster being set...well, who knows when it will be set.
Why Team America you might ask? Well, I've
been feeling rather nostalgic lately and purchased the whole run of the
original series, which ran for 12 issues in the early 80's. While
Team America was not a huge seller, they did cross paths with Captain America,
Iron Man and Stark International, the original Ghost Rider, and even the
New Mutants. They also counted among
their members the Thing and Sharon Ventura (Ms.
Marvel II) for a very brief period.
Expect to see the original team later on, although they are now known as the Thunderiders.
My ultimate goal with the team is to re-introduce some of those second-string and even third-string heroes, those one-shot wonders, and write them in a way that will make them interesting and readable.
So the story begins, as the MV1 meets Road Rules.
Send comments, suggestions, and feedback to mstewart@cennet.mc.peachnet.edu.