"Hawkeye! Wanda! You're on Gorrin! The rest of us will take Gruff!" Captain America shouted over the ruckus of walls caving under the fist of the large, blue, brute named Gruff.

The Avengers were alive and well...

"Piece of cake, Cap!" Hawkeye replied as he prepared an arrow intended for the tall, slender alien named Gorrin. "And as long as I'm teamed with Witchy, I get the icing too!"

...on one world.

"You underestimate us," Gorrin replied in his slithering voice. "We can be more than we seem."

A world new to the fabled heroes of Earth, yet strangely familiar to them--so much so that they do not suspect this world is not their own.

"This day, archer," Gorrin continued, "you'll not have your cake," his body began to shift into the form of a tarantula, measuring over nine feet tall on all eight legs, "and eat it too!"

And what of the Avengers on the "real" planet Earth?

"Cap, it was a good idea to gang up on the big one," Iron Man said as he fired a repulsor at Gruff, striking him, though hardly thwarting him, "but, well, this guy isn't the big one anymore."

They are on this Earth, with the "dead" Avengers.

"I see your point, Iron Man," Cap replied as his shield latched onto his arm after tossing it at Gruff. "Split teams, now, Avengers! Hank! Jan! You and I will join Hawkeye and Wanda!"

If this is the case, then why have they not assembled here?

"You'll need more help than this, Avengers!" The spider-like Gorrin seethed. "You'll need an army of Avengers to stop us from destroying you and returning to the one, true Earth, and conquering it as well!"

Ah, but they have--

"Make way, Avengers--"

--for the last time...?

"--the Avengers are here!" Hercules shouted as he stormed through the hall of the Avengers Mansion, trailed by Black Widow and a soaring Binary.

"Who are these people, Binary?" Ant-Man asked. He knew Binary from her mysterious appearance earlier that day, but the others were completely unfamiliar to him.

"Some...associates...of mine."

Gorrin snickered as his long, furry spider-legs dug into the ground in an attempt to crush each of the Avengers. "I asked for an army, and I am met with a disgrace."

"You'll be the only disgrace today, legs!" Binary shouted as she flew toward Gorrin's center, firing blasts of white hole energy that only stung the alien beast--she cursed her fading powers.* (*see #141--Sam)

"The only thing more joyous than seeing my fallen comrades again," Hercules declared as he launched an assault on one of Gorrin's massive legs, "is fighting alongside them in splendid battle!"

And so the battle was joined once again, as two groups of Avengers--some thought dead, some alive--some storied, some hidden--some proud, some troubled--met the shape-shifting alien threat head on.

"Are we supposed to know who these three are?" Iron Man asked aloud of Black Widow, Hercules, and Binary.

"Aside from Binary, they're complete strangers," Ant-Man replied, "but it would seem THEY know US."

"It doesn't matter," Captain America interjected. "They're here to help, and frankly, help is just what the doctor ordered."

Captain America's shield managed to slice through one of Gorrin's legs, while the Scarlet Witch placed a delicate hex on two more, rendering them immobile.

"We've got to stop them quickly!" Cap warned. "If this Gorrin is able to shape-shift, then I'd bet that Gruff can, too, and I don't want to find out what else either of them can become!"

A grappling hook arrow from Hawkeye tangled three legs together, hobbling the spider-like alien, and stranding him in the center of the hallway, while his remaining free legs struggled futiley.

"He's going to shift to something else, Cap," Black Widow said. Her soft-yet-commanding voice nearly startled him, as if he should have recognized it. "We need to trap them both."

"Whoever she is, she's right!" Ant-Man said as he leaped from Gruff's shoulder to Cap's. "The rec room! It's held Thor in training sessions--it can definitely hold these two, at least for a little while!"

"Then come on, Avengers!" Cap shouted. "Let's play bait!" On his lead, each of the Avengers charged through the hall, a good twenty feet ahead Gruff and Gorrin, who had managed to shift out of his spider form and into that of an enormous bat, with a wingspan that exceeded the limits of the mansion's walls, which crumbled with every flap of his wings.

And among the swarm of running Avengers, Wanda said to the Black Widow, "You act like you know your way around the mansion--like you know where you're going."

The Widow shot a determined stare back at the Scarlet Witch. "I always know where I'm going."

The entire team came to a stop outside of the massive indoor recreational area of the mansion.

"We'll need someone strong and fast to lure them directly into the rec room," Cap announced. "Thor, I'd choose you, but I want you out here and not trapped in there in case they manage to escape."

"I'll go, Cap," Binary volunteered, almost giddily.

Ant-Man was about to speak up, to point out that after speaking with Binary several times since her mysterious arrival at the mansion,* he considered her a bit too loose--a wild card, and resting the fate of the mansion and possibly the team on her shoulders would not be prudent. (*see last issue--Sam)

Cap, on the other hand, sensed that she had the makings of an Avengers, and was well worthy of the task. As always, his senses were faster, and thus he spoke first.

"Go on, miss. As soon as they enter the rec room, Vision will shut the doors, so you'll have to move out fast."

Binary glided into the rec room while the other Avengers scattered as to attract Gorrin and Gruff's attention solely on her.

Once she detected them approaching the room, she called out, "Hey, ugly and uglier! In here!"

Gruff--being as animalistic as he was intelligent, and thus intensely curious--immediately stormed into the rec room and began swinging at the hovering Binary.

"No! You fool!" the bat-like Gorrin exclaimed, trailing Gruff into the rec room on the air under his large, leathery wings. "Can't you see it's--?!"

As Binary flew between Gruff's legs and out of the room, she mockingly finished with, "--a trap!" Upon arriving back in the hallway, she found Vision manipulating the control panel on the wall and shutting the doors to the rec room.

"There--" Cap said, coming down to the stairwell from where he had been hiding. "--it's done."

"Not quite, Cap," Black Widow said. Cap admired her sleek body as she leaped down from the second story of the mansion, landing flawlessly. "There is an armada of Communist soldiers outside--"

"--Communists?!" Iron Man said, puzzled by the reference.

"They're preparing to storm the mansion."

Cap nodded, rather surprised at himself for trusting this stranger. "Thor, take a team outside, then, and protect the mansion. Lord knows it's been through enough in the past few weeks as it is.* I'm going keep a team here to defend against Gorrin and Gruff, if they escape." (*see pretty much all of AVENGERS vol. 2--Sam)

"Aye, Captain!" Thor said as he, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Wasp, Iron Man, and Binary rushed to the perimeter of the mansion. "Avengers assemble!"

Hercules gazed longingly at Thor's army of warriors and said to Black Widow, "It has been too long since my ears have been blessed with that fabled call."

"Who's left to assemble, Herc? It's just you, me, and Binary, now."

"Aye, and the rest of the Avengers thought lost to the monstrous Onslaught," Hercules replied. "Do not give up on the name Avengers, Natasha, for the TRUE Avengers are alive, and THEY have not given up."

"The Thunderbolts are alive, too, Herc," Black Widow replied scornfully as she began to walk away from the discussion, as she was prone to do these past few months, "and they're not giving up either--only they're in OUR dimension, and they could strike at any time."

Hercules looked at her fading form in astonishment--after seeing the Avengers alive and well in this dimension--after fighting side by side with them, even--her focus remained with the dismantling of Baron Zemo's Thunderbolts.

In her rage against the injustice of the Masters of Evil, had she forgotten the glory of the Avengers?

HE could not. If he forgot anything in his legendary existence, he would not forget the Avengers.

***

Outside the mansion:

Thus far, this dogfight had been relatively uneventful. Patrolling the mansion in his stolen Soviet fighter jet, Cable had encountered two armored men soaring over the mansion, launching an airborne attack on the townhouse. Shortly thereafter, he had managed to intercept their transmissions between both men using the instruments in the jet, and he determined that they were Crimson Dynamo and the Titanium Man--of course, he already suspected it, after stealing important secrets from Communist General Ivan Kreiger's mind only hours earlier*--secrets that pertained to the Communist invasion of the Avengers Mansion. (*see last issue--Sam)

After firing a disruptive tally of bullets at the two armored Soviets, they had fired back at him with their repulsor rays. However, as of that moment, neither side had been hit.

Cable commended whoever had constructed the men's armor, for not only was its firepower as strong as the jet's, but they were as fast as the jet. And since there were two of them, that left the lonesome Cable to play the underdog.

Nothing new to him.

"Identify yourself, and tell us how you came into possession of that fighter," Crimson Dynamo demanded through the communication link up between the two parties.

"I'm Cable--your base is destroyed*--your cause is lost." (*see last issue--Sam)

With that, he fired another score of artillery, this time focussing solely on the Crimson Dynamo. Those rounds that did not miss struck Dynamo in the chest. Smoke poured out of his chestplate, but he was still functional.

Nearly as functional as Titanium Man, who took the opportunity to strike the jet with his massive fists. Cable rocked around in the cockpit as the fighter veered from its course.

"Oath! They've got the advantage! They can fire recklessly, but I have to make sure none of my attacks hit the mansion in the crossfire. And if I concentrate on both of them at once, I'm left with a weak assault--if I only focus on one, the other one has a field day with me." He glanced at his radar to see that both armored behemoths had flown under him in order to meet him head on. "I need to act swiftly--somehow take them both out at the same time, with something powerful...." A moment's thought, and then, "I've got it!"

By then, Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man had both joined together, charging up for another assault while waiting for Cable's jet to get closer to them.

Cable fired a small rocket, separating both men as they blasted separate ways to escape the projectile. He then glanced at both of the wings from the cockpit, smiled, nodded, and gave the jet a sudden boost of acceleration.

Before Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man could fly out of the way, they were each hit by the wings. Several compartments on Crimson Dynamo's back exploded upon impact, while Titanium Man's armor sparked against the steel wing. They were both kept helpless between each wing and the force of the air that met the soaring jet.

Cable peered down and saw the expected Communist army of several dozens approaching the mansion, but he flew further and further over the city, increasing speed as to keep the armored attackers helpless against the wings, until he reached the Atlantic. He then decreased altitude until he was only twenty feet over the water, and then gave up speed instantly, causing Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man to flitter into the water before they could power their boot jets.

"Bah! How dare he!" Titanium Man cried as his covered head shot up out of the water, his eyes focussed on the jet circling over him and Crimson Dynamo.

"Do you give up, gentlemen? You're sitting ducks--almost literally."

"We do...." Crimson Dynamo replied.

"What?!" Titanium Man exclaimed. "But--"

"The Black Widow has control over the mansion from the inside," Dynamo answered. "Between her and the Communists, they'll manage without us."

"Ah, yes, the Communists," Cable noted to himself. "Farewell, gentlemen!"

The jet soared off back toward the shore.

Titanium Man cursed under his breath. "She'd better not fail."

***

Back inside the mansion:

Pa-KOOM! Pa-KOOOM!! Pa-KOOOOM!!!

"My word," Scarlet Witch gasped. "Gorrin and Gruff are about to tear the rec room apart."

"They've got to be stopped before they can escape," Cap observed.

"But there are only the five of us, Captain," Vision said, pointing out himself, Cap, Scarlet Witch, and the two that called themselves Black Widow and Hercules. "The entire team could not stop them only moments ago. How are we alone to do it?"

Just as soon as the Vision's monotone voice ceased, the lights in the mansion followed suit, and the Avengers were bathed in utter darkness.

"What the--?"

"Things just went from bad to worse, folks," Cap needlessly announced. "Vision, can you--"

"Of course, Captain," the multi-colored synthezoid replied as he illuminated the room with a faint red glow from his eyes.

"What about the back-up generators?" Scarlet Witch said. "Shouldn't they have kicked in about now?

"Apparently they, too, have been damaged," Vision replied. "I suspect foul play--the Communist threat outside is almost certainly to blame."

"This may be the chance we need, actually, Captain," Black Widow pointed out over the din of the commotion inside the rec room--the aliens' contained rampage only grew stronger when the lights mysteriously shut off.

"You're right. With the power out, those doors will be harder to open--but at the same time, we can surprise attack Gorrin and Gruff. If we get a few good blows in, we can take the advantage." The other Avengers nodded to Cap's satisfaction. "Vision, if you alter your density just enough, you could unseal the doors for the rest of us to charge in, correct?"

"Certainly."

"Aye, and with Hercules' help!" the Greek man-mountain proclaimed.

"Then let's do this, folks," Cap said as Vision and Hercules slowly began forcing the large, sealed doors open. With a few grunts of exertion on both mens' parts, the doors slid open wide enough for Hercules to charge through.

"The rest of you, in, quickly," Vision rushed. "Run through me."

The Avengers did so, storming through the androids low-density body and into the rec room, meeting Gruff and the still-bat-like Gorrin head on.

"You thought to surprise us, Avengers?" Gorrin asked as he soared overhead. "I STILL have the advantage, for in my bat form, I have the heightened vision of the creature, which means I can see you, and you can hardly see me!"

"Yeah, but you don't have OUR Vision, furry!" Scarlet Witch warned the giant bat.

On her mark, Vision glided up to Gorrin and struck him with a blow from a diamond-hard fist, forcing him into the wall.

"I'll commend you on that," Gorrin said. "But it was no coup de grace."

"Indeed. I was not yet finished," Vision said, approaching Gorrin's rising bat-body and slipping a low density fist into his chest. "You, on the other hand, are." The fist hardened, and Gorrin's lungs nearly ruptured. His body helplessly morphed into his original, humanoid form before he slumped into unconsciousness.

"That just leaves the big guy," Cap said, charging for Gruff, and receiving a fist to the chest in return.

"Why hasn't this one changed shape?" Black Widow asked.

"He's dangerous enough as it is," Scarlet Witch replied. "My hex power will hardly affect a being as erratic as him, but maybe..."

While the Scarlet Witch contemplated her next act, the rest of the Avengers fell left and right by Gruff's attacks. Though he could see as little as anyone else, his giant, flailing limbs did plenty of damage, even in the dark.

"Vision, try that trick you just did on Gorrin," Cap said, spitting blood all the while.

"I've tried, Captain, to no avail. Gruff is to fast, and too strong."

"And way too dumb!" Scarlet Witch said as swirling balls of energy ignited from her fists. Seconds later, the lights flashed on.

The sudden illumination blinded and startled Gruff, and he held his hand over his eyes for protection--just long enough for Hercules to batter him with a barrage of fists and elbows, knocking the alien beast to the ground, unconscious.

"Good work, Wanda," Cap smiled. "Now if we can--"

The lights shut off again, to everyone's disappointment, and to Wanda's confusion.

"This can't be," she said. "I'm controlling the generators right now, with my--ugh!"

"Wanda!" Cap called out into the dark, attracting Vision's attention, and his magenta eye lights. In a split second, the lights caught the dark form of a person leaping from Wanda's fallen body.

"Heads up, gang! We've got another attacker!"

THUMP!

Hercules felt a pulse of electromagnetic energy course through his body. "Who dares?!" He turned to see a face most familiar--most disturbing. "Na--Natasha? How--?"

THUMP!!

"Hercules!" Black Widow cried, running to the sound of the attack. As she kneeled over Hercules' limp body, she looked up into the cold darkness...and into the cold darkness.

Meanwhile, "Cap, this is Iron Man," came the message on Captain America's ID card. "We're going to need your help out here, if you're not busy. As if things weren't bad enough, A.I.M. just showed up."

"Actually," Cap replied, "we've got a situation here--"

"No," Black Widow said, still staring into the face of Wanda's and Hercules' attacker, who strangely stared back, apparently running some sort of plan through her head--a plan Natasha knew would not be advantageous to herself, and yet, "I'll stay and fight...her."

"I can't let you do that, Black Widow," Cap said. "Not alone. You're--"

"--you've trusted me before, Cap. Maybe you shouldn't have, but you did. Trust me again--please."

Cap thought in the sweeping silence for a moment, and then solemnly looked into his ID card. "We're on our way, Iron Man..."

As he and Vision ran for the battle outside the mansion, leaving Black Widow in the rec room to face the mysterious attacker, Vision asked, "Why do I have a feeling we won't be seeing her again?"

***

Meanwhile, on the grounds of the mansion:

The Avengers were beginning to feel underappreciated, and very confused.

After all, once the swarm of A.I.M. troops arrived on their sky cycles, packing large laser rifles and other such inventive artillery, the mass of Soviet Communists--with their mere machine guns and a few tanks--were little more than sport for A.I.M. Before A.I.M. arrived, the Avengers were intent on defending the mansion from the Communists--now that they had help, from the suspect terrorist group known as A.I.M. no less, they were certain they did not have the full story.

"I don't suppose these beekeepers would stop killing the Soviets long enough to tell us WHY they're on OUR side for once, would they?" Binary asked as she lit a tank cannon barrel with a burst of white hole energy.

"Probably not, but I can," Cable said, leaping into action with a rifle comparable to those A.I.M. sported.

"We'd be interested in hearing it too, my friend," Captain America announced as he arrived with Vision in tow, remembering Cable from an earlier bout with A.I.M.* (see CAPTAIN AMERICA vol. 2 #6--Sam)

"From what I could ascertain from scanning the Communist leaders' mind earlier," Cable began as he leveled a cadre of Soviets with a sweeping blast of his rifle's energy, "the Soviets and A.I.M. have been trying to acquire the same thing for some time now. A few hours ago, A.I.M. came into possession of a sample of that item at a research facility in the city.* The Soviets, on the other hand, mean to acquire that same item here at the Mansion in their quest to revive the USSR" (*see last issue (aha! THAT'S what those A.I.M. troops were doing on that rooftop when they were fighting Natasha)--Sam)

"And what exactly IS this item?" Wasp asked.

Just as her words left her mouth, one A.I.M. troop began to grow to an inhuman size in a matter of moments.

"Whoa!" Iron Man gasped, soaring clear of the giant troop. "According to my readings, he's measuring in at over thirty feet tall!"

"There's the answer to your question, Wasp," Cable said. "Doctor Pym's growth serum."

Henry Pym--currently fighting as Ant-Man on one of the Soviet tanks--looked up in his miniature form and, despite the carnage around him, smiled at his achievement.

He was not the only one in awe. For too few seconds, the battle between the opposing sides came to a halt, and the once-raging participants took time to admire the lone Goliath, who himself was rather astonished at his current condition.

Of course, the peace could not last long...

"Soldiers, they have the formula! Attack that one! Do not let him destroy the mansion and impede on the Widow's task!" one Communist solder ordered, pointing skyward at the massive A.I.M. troop.

Their bullets tore through his outfit, but his skin was impenetrable. Nonetheless, the attack obviously frustrated him, for he began to act out rather violently, crushing anyone and anything beneath his mammoth boots. It would not be long before the mansion fell victim to his rampage.

Ant-Man had expected this, however, and knew just what to do. As combatants slowly switched sides, he powered his boot jets and flew into a pouch on the A.I.M. giant's pants--roaming around in a small test tube at the bottom of the seemingly infinite pocket, he found just what he needed.

Meanwhile, the Avengers were growing even more confused.

"Cap, who's our priority?" Hawkeye asked, preparing an arrow with no mark in mind. "First the Commies wanted in the mansion, and A.I.M. was helping us stop them. Now, A.I.M. wants to destroy the mansion, and the Reds are helping us stop THEM!"

"Aye, bowman!" Thor called down from the sky. "'Tis our duty to deny any who would do harm to the Avengers, or their abode!"

"That's right," Cap agreed. "So take them both down and we'll sort it out later."

"I'm liking you more and more each day, Cap!" Hawkeye launched his arrow, adjusting it in such a way as to let it catch the breeze and pick off one Soviet and one A.I.M. terrorist.

Binary's white hole power was fading faster and faster, and normally that would have frustrated her. But this day, at this moment, she found it hard to grow irritated by much of anything. She was fighting with the Avengers again, after all, and, "...this is so great!" Her troubles seemed to go away at this instant--if only she could find a way to keep them away for good.

"Of course, this means we're outnumbered by twice as much, now," Iron Man said, protecting the unsuspecting Hawkeye from a terrorist's laser attack. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Of course not, Shellhead," Wasp chided sarcastically. "But you do have a good point--we could definitely use some major help!"

Hank Pym gave her just what she wanted--didn't he always?

As quickly as the A.I.M. troop before him, Pym grew to extraordinary heights, matching the A.I.M. giant's stature.

"Look at Ant-Man!" Iron Man exclaimed.

"Ant-Man nothing," Hawkeye replied, in awe of his gigantic teammate. "More like 'Giant-Man'!"

***

In the mansion:

"I assume you would be my counterpart in this dimension," Natasha noted, still staring into the eyes of the dark, brooding agent standing over her.

The slight gleam on this new Black Widow's leather outfit did not shift; her dark hair did not rustle; her stone face made no expression. And the look in her black-mask-covered eyes, it remained the same--it told Natasha that this agent had a mission, and Natasha was in the way of completing that mission, thus, she must be dealt with...

...Natasha knew that look well--too well, she would soon realize.

With this new, mutual understanding, Natasha stood, and the two women took fighting stances.

The fact that the rec room--the entire mansion, in fact--was nearly pitch black with a lack of electricity would seem to give neither woman an advantage--however, the Black Widow was determined, and fearless, while Natasha found herself increasingly afraid of the dark.

The Black Widow made the first move, swinging her energy baton--the same baton that sent Wanda and Hercules into unconsciousness--at Natasha. Natasha flipped backward to avoid the baton--two hits had put Hercules down for the count--one would perhaps kills Natasha.

Natasha answered back with a Widow's sting from her wrist gauntlet, but the Black Widow spun beside the bursts of electrostatic energy.

She then pulled a black disc from her utility belt and flung it at Natasha. Two of the multiple prongs on the disc clung onto her leg, sending hundreds of volts of electrostatic energy through her body--apparently this was this Black Widow's own version of the Widow's Bite.

With Natasha kneeling on the ground, her leg numb, the Black Widow took the opportunity to lunge at her, striking her with the long, thick heel of one of her thigh-high boots. Natasha was forced closer to the cold metal ground, and was taken quite by surprise when the other boot met her face, giving her whiplash as her head shot back, and her body flipped backward, landing with a CLANG! on the ground.

Natasha hazily heard the hiss of Black Widow's energy baton powering up as her deadly boots clicked on the ground, louder and louder, and she knew she had to fight back--she had to escape the baton's wrath--she had to get through this--she had to get back to her own dimension--she had to...to stop the Masters of Evil--

--but how? For once...for once...in these recent months, she had no one to help her fight!...

***

Outside:

Pym struck the A.I.M. giant with a fist the size of a boulder, and with as much force. The A.I.M. troop staggered back, away from the mansion.

The battle between the two titanic behemoths scattered both A.I.M. and the Communists, leaving the Avengers' task of defeating both organizations a bit easier.

"Hank?! How come you never did this before?" Wasp asked her lover between his receiving and dishing out attacks.

"I...I never knew the formula...would work. And, frankly, I...haven't...had much time to...experiment with it!"

"Not even on those quiet nights, when you and I were alone?" Wasp grinned. Hank had to return the smile.

"Things are turning our way now, with a Goliath on our side," Iron Man observed.

"If you only knew how weird this was for me, seeing this 'discovery'," Binary chuckled as she scared a handful of Soviets out of their tank.

"What do you mean?" Iron Man asked.

"Ah, you'd never believe me."

In desperation to end the battle between him and the A.I.M. giant, Pym snatched the battered, just-emptied tank from the ground and struck the troop in the face with it, knocking him unconscious.

"Timber!" he cried as the A.I.M. giant fell to the ground, sending those beneath him running for cover.

CRASH!

Dust and debris lifted into the air, and the ground quaked under the giant's fall. Then, as all settled, both the Communists and A.I.M. cautiously gathered around the body for the sheer curiosity of the oversized man. And then, they looked at the equally oversized giant still standing, and Pym looked back, giving them each an intimidating stare that brought silence and fear all around.

And then, "BOO!"

With that, each soldier ran in cowardice away from Avengers' Mansion--and the Avengers could not help but laugh.

"Do we HAVE to go back to our own dimension?" Binary indiscreetly asked Cable.

He nodded. "I know how you feel. Even I feel a lot more comfortable here than in our world."

"Why'd they ever leave in the first place," Binary asked herself as she carefully soaked in the lingering image of her once-thought-dead teammates enjoying their glory as they had so often before.

***

In the mansion:

The boots clicked louder. The baton's energy hummed vibrantly--menacingly. The Black Widow stared into Natasha's eyes--she meant to kill Natasha.

And Natasha herself, in this moment of judgement and dread, had a clear, untainted observation--perhaps the first one she had been blessed with since she had discovered that the Masters of Evil were truly the Thunderbolts those long months ago: looking at this Black Widow, she was frightened to see herself. Indeed, this was all her own doing. Just as Hercules and the others had told her time and again, she had let her overzealous determination to bring Zemo to justice cloud the world around her, causing her to drag herself down, and the Avengers with her. To her, her mission had become more important than those loyal to her.

She should have seen it all along: those that remained by her side the longest met the cruelest fate. Klaw, who had no place with the team, always intended to betray the Avengers--and he escaped the ordeal virtually unscathed. Who could say what had become of Quasar after Zemo's assault on the team. Jim Rhodes nearly lost his tanker, and his life, in an effort to house the Avengers*. Binary had stayed with the team despite her grievances, and over time, had become a disenchanted alcoholic. And Hercules...loyal Hercules had kept his word to her, and now he lay in a pool of his own blood, perhaps dead at the hands of the Black Widow... (*see #5-6--Sam)

...all for Natasha's mission. There had to be a better way to hand out justice to the Thunderbolts while DOING justice to her own allies and friends.

She would find that way, she vowed, but first she had to survive this day--she had to defeat the Black Widow.

The energy baton came crashing down toward her, and Natasha swiftly kicked it out of the Black Widow's grasp and across the darkened room. She forced herself onto her feet and spun into a kick. The Black Widow ducked the kick and answered with a fist into Natasha's stomach, and another against her cheek.

Natasha fought back with a swipe that met the Black Widow's eye, humbling her for but a moment--a moment too long. Natasha continued with her assault, striking harder and faster, pummeling the Black Widow for what must have been nearly a full minute.

However, the Black Widow regained her bearings and replied with a palm then an elbow that instantly broke Natasha's nose. As blood crept down Natasha's lip, the Black Widow took hold of her arm and forced her over her shoulder. Natasha landed on her back, looking straight up into those eyes again--the Black Widow's eyes.

Before either woman could act again, the lights in the rec room began to flicker and fade on and off. Natasha assumed that the Avengers were attempting to restore power to the mansion. While the wavering lights caught Natasha's attention, they were hardly a distraction to the Black Widow.

However, the strobe affect did work to Natasha's advantage: from the ground-- the Black Widow kneeling over her, preparing a deathblow--Natasha forced her left arm up. The altered, slower image that the flickering lights created played games with the Black Widow's heightened reflexes, and she was unable to intercept Natasha's lunging arm before Natasha's wrist gauntlet forced itself into the Black Widow's chest.

Even still, knowing the end was near, the Black Widow still gave no expression--Natasha was sure that even at that moment, the Black Widow's thoughts were on her mission--she could be so certain because she had known those same thoughts only recently.

PZZZAP!!!

The Black Widow shot back and to the ground, her chest smoking with the after effects of Natasha's Widow's Bite. The electrostatic jolt, at such close range, must have fried the Black Widow's cold heart, Natasha thought.

As she wearily stepped through the flickering rec room, away from the smoking body and toward Hercules' unconscious, bleeding form, Natasha was pleased that this trial was over, and that, once again, she could return to her crusade against Zemo and the Masters of Evil--but this time, for a different reason--this time, her mission was not solely on her mind--this time, her main agenda was redemption.

***

Minutes later:

The lights had remained on across the mansion for a minute or two when the Avengers stepped into the rec room.

"You're alright," Cap sighed in relief as he viewed the Black Widow kneeling over Hercules, and then scanned the room, noticing the limp bodies of Gorrin, Gruff, and the mysterious, other Black Widow.

"Herc and Wanda aren't," Natasha responded. "We need to get them help. He's--"

Cap nodded. "--Hank, we have people down in here. They to be in pretty bad condition."

Henry Pym, now at his normal height, but still in his Ant-Man costume, rushed toward Hercules' body. "Iron Man, Thor, help me get this big into the infirmary, and I'll treat him from there. Vision, follow us in with Wanda."

The Golden Avenger and the Son of Odin hurried to Pym's side and lifted the sleeping, Greek wonder into their arms gently, respectfully. Natasha shook as she watched her teammate--her friend--carried out of the rec room in the poor state in which he was. Binary and Cable solemnly came to Natasha's side.

"He's in good hands," Cap soothed, resting a gloved hand on the Widow's shoulder. "And when he wakes up, it will be as an honorary Avenger--along with the three of you."

Natasha and Binary let down their earnest faces for a moment to glance at each other in amusement, trying to keep from bursting out in laughter, for Hercules had already been made an Avenger long ago. Cable, on the other hand, beamed with pride--even he had to respect the title he had just been given.

"Cap! Captain America!" a voice called out. Cap turned to see an average-sized blonde woman enter the rec room. "Agent Barbara Morse, S.H.I.E.L.D. Retrieval Ops. Colonel Fury is busy rustling up the Communists and A.I.M. troops that you scared away earlier, and he requested a report from you."

"I see," Cap replied. "Hawkeye!" he called, noticing the archer across the room. "Maybe you could give Agent Morse here the report she's asked for?"

When Hawkeye gazed upon Morse, he had to appreciate all the trust Cap was putting in him. "I'll give her a report, and a whole lot more, if she'll let me," he said slyly, giving Morse a devilish grin.

"Ooh, a charmer," Morse replied as the two stepped out of the rec room.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Cap turned back to the three newly-appointed Avengers, "I'm going to survey the damage done to the mansion THIS time. Thank you." With that he left, leaving three admirers in his wake.

"I can activate my transdimensional equipment whenever you're ready, Widow," Cable informed her. "We have to go back home eventually."

"I soooo don't want to leave this dimension," Binary admitted. "Fighting with the Avengers, just being around the team again, I feel like...like I'm living again."

"I've got a reason for you to go back, Carol," Natasha replied.

"Oh? And what's that?" Binary asked curtly, still holding a grudge against the Widow for all she had done in the past few months.

"The Avengers," Natasha answered.

Binary vowed that she would not be conned by the Widow into joining her maniacal campaign against Zemo--that she was through with HER Avengers. But the slight tinge of a smile on Natasha's face, and the new, kinder look in her eyes told Carol that, perhaps finally, things were changing for the better.

***

Meanwhile, back in the original dimension:

Bethany Hallsworth--once the Avenger named Limbo--stood in her Aunt Lucille's quaint, Manhattan apartment living room, dressed head to tow in her flowing, crimson costume.

"I never meant to bother you with my troubles, Aunt Lucille," Beth said to the frail, grey-topped woman sitting in a worn olive chair in the middle of the room, gazing at her niece intently.

"It is no bother at all, my dear," Lucille eased in her soft, British accent. "Your misfortune is quite consuming--you've had everything taken away from you: the innocence of your childhood, your occupation as an officer of the law, your belief in a world of marvels, and most recently, a man that you loved.* For this, you can blame yourself, or you can blame the one man you know in your heart is responsible for your pain of late--" (*Wendell Vaughn, a.k.a. Quasar--Sam)

"--Zemo..." Beth said with contempt in her voice.

Lucille nodded. "Zemo..."

"I want to. That's why I joined the Black Widow's band of Avengers. But after Wendell flew off without explanation, I haven't been able to fight. Even when Natasha summoned each of the Avengers a few days ago, I was unable to join the rest of the team."

"These Avengers, they will help you?"

"It's their goal to bring down the Masters of Evil--they're the ONLY people who can help me."

"When I was young--not quite your age," Lucille began to explain, "I used my teleportation powers to escape the war against Hitler and his armies, and later to fight in that very same war. And when my husband--your Uncle Stuart, God rest his soul--was murdered during the war, my thirst for revenge intensified. Along the way, I found a band of men I could trust--men who called themselves The Invaders, and for a brief time I fought alongside them during the war. But, whether I was alone, or aided by fellow vigilantes, I never gave in to the pain--despite all that was lost, the Crimson Cowl never lost her lust for vengeance."

"I understand, now," Beth said. Slowly, she pulled a wavy, red cloak over her long, raven hair, wrapping her face in shadow. "In the face of evil and injustice everywhere, the Crimson Cowl must fight again; despite all that I've lost, I'll never lose my lust for vengeance..."

***

Next issue: A call to arms, as the Black Widow prepares to do battle with the Thunderbolts--with the Avengers, or alone!