And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born-- to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then-- for now, the Avengers Assemble!
THE MIGHTY AVENGERS!
Avengers #404:
by Van Allen Plexico
The battle with the Zodiac raged on. The Avengers now found themselves confronted with dozens of garishly-clad villains, each possessing either personal weapon powers or carrying fiendish devices.
"This is ridiculous," She-Hulk growled. "Who are these guys?" As she said it, she landed a particularly solid blow to the Pisces she was fighting. His head flew off, sparks spraying everywhere. "YOWCH! A-ha! Robots!"
"Of course!" Cap glanced back over his shoulder, seeing the Pisces robot collapsing in flames. "They've used robots before. I should've known."
"Are they all robots?" Hawkeye wondered aloud.
"In sooth, I think not," Hercules replied. "For the fellow whose ribs I just broke seemed most genuinely pained."
"So some of them are genuine..." Cap pondered as he continued to slug it out with the bad guys, deflecting numerous energy beams away with his shield while smashing his fist into face after face. "Iron Man-- can you detect which are robots?"
"Now that you mention it, Cap--" Iron Man used infrared and other scanning technology to isolate which of the Zodiac members were artificial. "--yeah, got them. They seem to be the ones using weapons instead of having personal powers."
"Hercules, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk--" Cap motioned forward. "--you don't have to hold back with them. Let 'em have it!"
Regrouping, the Avengers launched into a more systematic assault, the stronger members tearing mercilessly into the mechanical foes while Black Panther, Beast, and Cap concentrated on the human foes. Within a few minutes, the Zodiac hordes were reduced to fewer than a dozen actual human villains, and several were quickly subdued. The remaining ones sought to flee. Iron Man and Ms. Marvel rocketed after them, returning moments later with three captured prisoners. "Two got away, I'm afraid, Cap," Iron Man reported.
"They went into a building and just vanished," Ms. Marvel explained. "It was filled with shoppers-- we'd have had to rip it apart to find them."
Cap nodded. Meanwhile, the police had arrived. Gathering up the captives, the Avengers turned them over to the cops and then returned to the mansion.
*****
"Who knew they were back?" Cancer complained loudly.
"Yeah! And pretty much every one of them!" Virgo shook her head. "Ridiculous!"
Leo nodded slowly. "It was a freak occurrance. Should not have happened. Next time, we will be successful."
Cancer gawked at the maned Leo. "Next time? Are you kidding?"
"Yeah, Leo," Capricorn agreed, "We lost most of our robots, and didn't gain a thing!"
Leo smiled, his broad feline teeth gleaming. "Ah, but next time, we will be prepared."
While the other three eyed one another uneasily, Leo leaned back in his chair, hands folded together, curiously at ease. On the screen before him flickered the image of Avengers Mansion. "Soon," he whispered. "Very soon..."
*****
"I know you want to go after them, Cap," Wanda was saying, "but some of us need a little time off. We only just got back to this dimension, you know--"
"--And it took a lot out of us," Jan agreed. "My hair, for instance. I haven't had a chance to style it since--"
Hawkeye cut her off. "It's not like we have a lot of leads, anyhow," he noted. "They could be anywhere. Face it, Cap, we're probably going to have to wait until they strike again."
Reluctantly, Cap nodded.
"I'm starved," Jan chimed in. "Anyone else want to go grab a bite? I know a nice little place down the street..."
A few minutes later, Jan, Clint, and Wanda were clad in civilian clothes and set out from the mansion for to go for a walk and get some food. Behind them, the Vision watched Wanda walking away, but said nothing, his eyes simply following her until she and the others passed through the gate and vanished from view.
"If you'll excuse me, too, Captain," Beast said, "I want to go back to the lab and help the other Hank with our project."
"Sure, Beast. Go ahead." Cap resignedly dropped into an armchair, sighing tiredly.
"We won the fight, Cap," Iron Man noted softly. "Don't beat yourself up because a couple of those losers got away."
"It's not just that, Iron Man, it's..." He smiled flatly. "Nevermind. I'm fine."
Iron Man waited a moment, then nodded silently and strode toward his own quarters.
*****
"It feels nice to be back, huh?" Clint said as they walked along the Manhattan sidewalk.
"That was all just so weird," Jan replied. "An alternate dimension-- how could it have happened? What great cosmic entity could possibly have thought that was a good idea?"
"It did save our lives, Jan," Wanda pointed out. "We probably wouldn't be here today if not for that."
"I guess..." She bit her lip. "But still... I mean, I remember the fight with Onslaught, and then I sort of remember something like a dream, where things were the same, but not the same..."
Hawkeye frowned suddenly. "Hey, weren't you a bug?"
Jan crinkled her nose. "What?"
"A bug-- you were a--" His voice trailed off as Jan and Wanda stared at him quizzically.
"Okay, forget it. Bad idea, anyhow."
On they walked.
*****
Back at the mansion, the Vision still stood at the front window, his tiny flickering eyes moving to take in the front wall, the gate, the lawn-- but not really seeing any of it. His mind raced at lightspeed over the conflicting signals he seemed to be dealing with. His thoughts never strayed far from Wanda, however. His wife-- his former wife-- given up when his emotions had been taken away. Now, he was himself again-- or was he? He still wasn't sure. And his feelings for her-- were they truly back again? If so, were they appropriate? Even if they were there again, as genuine as ever, should he go to Wanda with them? Did she deserve to be put through that again? Hadn't she suffered over him enough for one lifetime? More than enough?
But then again, could he not go to her? Could he live with himself if he did not?
Hands clenched tightly behind his back, the thoughts raced over and over through his mind. No matter how many times he analyzed the data, however, the answers came no closer.
*****
In the sub-basement labs of the mansion, Hank McCoy and Henry Pym continued their feverish work.
"Don't give up yet, Hank," Beast told him. "I'm sure it's possible. And I'm sure we can figure it out."
Pym wiped sweat from his brow and gritted his teeth. "The energies are out there-- no doubt about that, though I have no idea how they've held together this long." He looked up from his instruments. "The question is, how long till they dissipate? And if they do, will there be any more chances to bring him back?"
"We can't worry about what we can't control," Beast replied. "We just have to be careful, thorough--" he grinned, "--and fast!"
*****
Cap watched Ms. Marvel leaving with Genis-Vell,* then stood by the door, waiting.
[*Check out CAPTAIN MARVEL #63 to see what they're up to -- Mar-Van]
Moments later, the Fantasticar descended from the sky and landed nearby. Cap
opened the door, and into the mansion walked Reed Richards and the other members of the Fantastic Four.
"Thanks for agreeing to see us, Captain," Reed said, shaking hands with Cap. "I know you're busy, but I have some concerns worth discussing, I believe."
"No problem, Reed. Let's have a seat."
The Thing was standing in the doorway, looking back up at the sky. Jarvis approached carefully, wanting to close the door.
"Hey, Jarv-- Am I seein' things, or wuzzat Ms. Marvel?"
"Indeed it was, sir."
"Huh. I didn't know she wuz back." He ran a craggy hand over his chin. "Dang it, that broad won all my mad money at the last poker game. I gotta get her an invite to the next one."
"I'll... um... be sure that she gets the message, Mr. Grimm."
While Johnny Storm browsed the mansion's photos and antiques, Reed, Sue, and Cap seated themselves on the sofa and in an armchair. "What's on your mind?" Cap asked.
Reed's face was deadly serious. "The Thunderbolts," he replied softly.
*****
A shadowy lair, somewhere else:
A viewscreen revealed the front facade of Avengers Mansion. Eyes moved across it, examining it in minute detail. Then the image changed, moving inside. The eyes continued to watch as Captain America talked with the Fantastic Four.
"Leo, I--"
Leo jerked his head up from the screen. "Not now, you fool! I am busy!"
"....Sorry..." Cancer retreated, closing the door behind him.
"Fools," Leo said quietly to himself. "Soon their usefulness to me will be ended. Soon there will be only one." The image on the viewscreen changed again, as metal fingers carefully moved over the controls...
**********
NEXT ISSUE: A visit to Four Freedoms Plaza! And you know what THAT means...!
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All characters copyrighted by and trademarks of Marvel Comics.
Storyline copyright 1998 by Van Allen Plexico.
"Surveillance"
with Michael McClelland