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 #405:
"Lest Old Acquaintance..."

by Van Allen Plexico

Captain America stood before the fireplace with his back to the others, his shield slung over his shoulders and his hands clasped behind his back. He waited, lost in thought, until Iron Man approached him, speaking softly.

"Um, Cap-- I think we're all here. All that are available, anyway."

Cap nodded, cleared his throat, and addressed the crowd. "Okay, people. I know that, what with that Zodiac business,*we never had the opportunity to set our regular membership."

[*Last issue, of course! --Van]

The others filling the room-- Iron Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and Wasp-- nodded.

Cap continued. "And given the current circumstances, I think it would be best for now to simply keep the current group in place, as the provisional lineup, until we get the chance to make things official. Agreed?"

The others all nodded.

"So, why'd you call us all back to the Mansion, Cap?" Hawkeye asked. "Just to tell us that?"

"No, Hawkeye." Cap frowned. "I spoke with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four a few days ago. His team was engaged in an extended mission,* but he wanted to alert us to his suspicions about this "Thunderbolts" group that's appeared in our absence."

[* See recent issues of the FF's own fabulous mag! --Van]

"Ahh, he's just sore 'cause the City gave them his house," Hawkeye scoffed. "I mean, this is New York! New heroes pop up every day! You ask me, we oughtta be grateful they aren't all grim 'n gritty, toting machine guns an' the like!"

Wanda and Jan gave Clint an annoyed look, but said nothing.

Cap ignored him and continued on. "In any case, I've spent the last few days investigating their backgrounds, but, oddly enough, I could find nothing in any of the SHIELD or Avengers databases about them. Nothing at all."

Within his helmet, Iron Man frowned. "Surely there had to be something, Cap...?"

"Not a thing. It's as if they're blanks-- as if they fell out of the sky."

Wanda touched a scarlet-gloved finger to her lips. "Or they used to be someone else."

The Vision nodded. "Indeed."

Ms. Marvel shrugged. "So, let's go ask them, huh?"

Cap nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

"Nothing like the direct approach." Hawkeye cracked his knuckles and headed for the door. "They don't look so tough, anyway. If they turn out to be bad apples, we can take 'em easy."

Jan whapped him on the head. "Clint! For all we know, they are what they say they are. And I think that would be great-- more heroes would mean we and the FF don't have to do all the work anymore."

Clint grunted but didn't argue.

Cap took Ms. Marvel aside as the others moved towards the door. "Carol, I know you've been through a lot lately-- I mean, I know you were medically cleared to join the group again, after you got back from helping Genis-Vell,* but that was before your tussles with the Stilt-Man and Super-Skrull--" **

[*In CAPTAIN MARVEL #63-69, and **in MS. MARVEL #24 and #25 --Van]

"I'm fine, Cap. Really." She ran a black-gloved hand surrepititiously over his chest. "But I do appreciate the concern. Very much."

Cap blinked as she turned and strode through the doorway with the others.

As they filed out into the courtyard, a recovering Cap looked back over the group. "Say-- what happened to the Beast?"

Jan shrugged. "I think the two Hanks said they were going on a trip. Knowing them, probably to somewhere really boring."

*****

The spaceworthy Avengers quinjet soared high above the Earth, orbiting at much greater than geostationary speed. Strange mechanical arms protruded from the nose of the craft, sweeping back and forth as the vehicle rocketed along.

In the cockpit, the Beast and Hank Pym sat at the controls, Beast piloting while Pym operated the robot arms. Neither looked as if he had slept in quite a while.

"How's it look, Hank?" Beast asked tiredly.

Pym yawned. "Not so good, Beast. The energies are here, I think, but they're just not concentrated enough for our devices to be able to do much good."

Beast frowned but said nothing.

Pym shook his head. "If only there were some way to get the energies to coalesce together, so we could sweep them up. At this rate, it would take months-- years!-- to even begin to collect it all."

Beast stretched, then thumped his fists against the cabin roof. "Hey, Wondy!" He yelled. "Get your butt together! Can't you see we're trying to pick you up?"

"Yeah, I'm sure THAT'll work really wel--" Pym's voice trailed off as the console in front of him PINGGed. "Huh?"

Beast squinted over. "What was that?"

"An unusually thick area of ionic energy." He glanced at Beast, eyes wide. "You think--?"

Beast gave him a look. "Uh, yeah, right. I'm a scientist, Pym, despite my... hirsute appearance. I don't believe that just.... just yelling at Wondy would be enough to... to..."

Pym nodded. "Of course, of course. Just a coincidence."

They both sat motionless, quiet for a long moment. Then, at the same instant, both yelled, "HEY, WONDY!!!"

PINGGG!!!

*****

The Avengers stood before the front entrance to Four Freedoms Plaza, the old home of the FF, now with the Thunderbolts lighnting logo emblazoned on all four faces of its upper floors. Cap turned back to the others. "No one's answering. I suppose they're away on a mission, or--"

"--Or else they don't want to talk to us," Hawkeye interrupted. "I don't like it one bit, I tell ya. They oughtta have a receptionist, or an answering machine, or--"

"Clint Barton!" Jan had her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "You be nice! What have the Thunderbolts ever done to you?"

Iron Man ignited his boot jets and soared into the sky, using his various sensors and scanners to search for signs of life inside. Ms. Marvel lofted up beside him, hoping to get an indication of some sort from her seventh sense.

"Thunderbolts, shmunderbolts," Hawkeye retorted. "Who do these Johnny-come-latelies think they are, anyway?"

Suddenly Ms. Marvel swooped down, landing amidst the group. "My seventh sense-- I think they're coming!"

At that moment, from across the intersection, three figures lofted into view. Two were clearly females: one was a shapely woman in a gold metallic costume, the other seemingly supported herself by glowing pink wings of pure energy. The third flying figure, apparently male, appeared to be almost a living fighter jet. Behind them came an odd flying device-- almost a flying wing. Upon it stood a huge, musclebound man in red and gold; a teenage girl in a multicolored costume; a skinny man wearing a red headband and covered in mechanical devices; and at the forefront, a tall, imposing, caped and masked figure in patriotic red, white, and blue, holding a sword out before him.

"Who do we think we are, Hawkeye?" the sword-carrying figure asked, his voice booming out in commanding fashion. "Why, we are the THUNDERBOLTS, of course!"