Initiative 2028
Scourge
It was hard to determine the first sighting. Supervillains, even b-list or c-list villains, made enemies, so them killing each other wasn't that unusual. The first confirmed sighting was at a arraignment hearing for the OX.
OX was standing with his lawyer, the bulky, superhumanly strong man in chains as he listened to his lawyer drone on. He had killed ten men on his last escape, but he was pretty sure he could apply to be a Thunderbolt. That might get him off the lifer list, and maybe even get him a chance to break out.
Still contemplating his future OX was startled when the window blew in on the far wall. The man in white burst in, levelling a oddly built, custom rifle, then punched armor piercing bullets right through OX, killing him almost instantly.
"Justice is served!" he declared as the masked man dropped a gas bomb, filling the room with smoke as he escaped.
The second strike was later that day, across the country in LA. A mutant supervillain named Euphoria was being moved from local jail to a federal prison. She had the ability to stimulate people's pleasure centers f the brain. Her primary use of it was to bliss out a target, then murder them.
The sexy blond tried to wiggle her ass at a armored guard. "Hey, honey, take this damper off me, we'll have a GREAT time,"
"Yeah, no," he said dryly, "I saw the bodies of the last people you gave a great time to."
"Oh, poo," she pouted cutely, Euphoria trying to play up her helpless damsel looks. If she could get just one of these idiots to get the dampers off her, she could bliss them all out and escape. And possibly cut the throat of the bitch turning her down.
The sniper bullet fired almost silently, but Euphoria's head exploding into red mist really got attention. There was shock and panic, but a CSI team quickly figured out where the shot came from. Investigators found a professionally set up sniper's next, and a note.
'Justice is served' it said simply.
The Thunderbolts Initiative was run by the federal government as a official program to rehabilitate supercriminals, based out of the advanced prison the Cube. They used hard cases to take on missions for the government, and didn't care too much about possible casualties. Civil rights groups and advocate for prisoners screamed about it, but no one was willing to push to shut it down.
The explosive device was shipped in with the laundry, of all things. It detonated beneath the facility, and went up with a near-nuclear explosive force. Casualties were near total, though a unusually convenient 'emergency' out in the parking area got most of the staff out before the explosion.
Investigation the next morning found graffiti painted on one of the surviving walls. 'Justice is Served,' it declared boldly.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The SHIELD Hellicarrier hovered above New York City, concealed by a layer of artificial cloud bank. The main Carrier of SHIELD was almost always mobile, cruising above North America and even going to Europe and the former Russian states as needed. They kept moving for two reasons: to keep an eye on international hotspots, and to present less of a target.
'I'm sure terrorists would love to shoot down a Hellicarrier,' Maria Hill mused as she headed into the command deck, 'It would make someones reputation.'
"Commander on deck!" a officer yelled.
"At ease," Maria growled as she strode by, heading towards the office in the back where her guest was waiting.
Maria Hill and Carmilla Black had a... awkward working relationship. In theory, Maria Hill was the head of SHIELD. But SHIELD relied almost exclusively on the United States both for funding, soldiers and technology, and Carmilla had the ear of the President. In fact, the young woman was the defacto liaison between SHIELD and the Oval Office. Which meant that for a junior agent, Carmilla had a lot of power.
"Commander," Carmilla stood, saluting with just a short delay to signify she didn't completely respect the other woman.
"Agent Black," Maria responded, deliberately not using her special 'liaison' title and snipping right back at her.
Carmilla pressed her lips together, but let the jibe pass. "Have you gotten the latest update on the terrorist attacks?" she asked instead.
Maria calmly went around to her desk, sitting down before answering and letting the girl know she was not in charge. "Yes, I have," she answered, "in fact, we at SHIELD think we know who we're dealing with."
Carmilla looked interested, "Already? It's barely been a day."
Maria smiled coldly, wondering if Black had even tried a search on her own. A simple data trawl was all it had taken. "I'll pass a full report on to the President, but would you like me to summarize?" she asked coolly.
"Please do," Carmilla pulled out a seat without asking and sat opposite from Maria.
Maria ignored that slight, but added it to her mental list of things to punish the girl for. "The phrase 'Justice is Served' was used as a calling card by a organization of vigilantes calling themselves Scourge of the Underworld."
Carmilla clearly wanted to claim she knew about them, but couldn't quite manage the lie. "Who were they?" she had to ask.
"According to Captain America," Maria said, "they were a covert society of victims of crime. They donned matching masks and costumes, and set out to execute convicted costumed criminals who had successfully escaped punishment for their crimes."
Maria continued, "Cap successfully tracked down the founder of the Scourges, a man who claimed to be the World War Two hero the Angel, and shut them down. Supposedly."
"Oh?" Carmilla asked patiently.
"Cap had his doubts about the man being his WW2 war buddy," Maria said, "and apparently factions of the Scourge organization lived on. The Red Skull financed one group to kill targets he wanted eliminated."
"So someone has revived the Scourges as a terrorist organization," Carmilla noted flatly.
"I'd argue about them being terrorists," Maria said dryly.
"They launched coordinated attacks on federal offices," Carmilla said flatly, "the president considers that terrorist activity."
Maria nodded slightly. Not agreeing, necessarily, but conceding the point. "There's one other thing about all of this that concerns me," she added.
Carmilla saw the look on her face and asked, "I'm not going to like hearing this, am I?"
Maria smiled wryly, "When Cap fought the Scourge, they mostly just gunned down targets and fled. These Scourge are using military tactics and, if the Cube attack is any indication, they have military ordinance too."
"Oh crap," Carmilla sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Reading the news and seeing the reports from SHIELD Daken Akihiro got a nasty feeling about these Scourge agents. The tactics, the methods... it all felt kind of familiar to him. He had a good idea who might be behind this, even running the group. And Daken was pretty sure these guys would be targeting HIM eventually too.
Now, Daken could have just told SHIELD, but there was something personal between them. Besides, he didn't exactly disapprove of what the Scourge group was doing So instead he told his boss in the Defenders he was taking a week's leave, then set out to be as visible as possible in and around New York City.
It took about two days for someone to hit him, and his attacker was pretty smart. A rocket powered grenade blasted Daken into a dead end alley, away from civilians. The white clad agent then rushed in with acid, dousing Daken in it in a attempt to finish the wounded man off.
Once upon a time, that might have killed him, but Daken's healing factor had only improved with age. He let the kid get close, playing possum, then grabbed him, disarming the kid with rapid blows, sending weapons flying while not hurting him. Much.
"Oh god," the man whimpered and wet himself.
Daken made a face, even as his body stitched itself back together. Being gut-shot hurt, damn it! He hauled the kid to his feet as he growled, "Tell your boss I want to see him."
"Why should I...?" the man managed.
"Just pass the message along," Daken ordered, then just walked away.
Daken then spent the next two days following a standard route around the city, stopping in at certain shops and eateries regularly. It made his shoulder blades itch to make himself a target, but he also knew he would be contacted by the Scourges. Probably. Assuming he was right about the leader. If he was wrong, he'd end up a smear on the sidewalk.
The tea house was in a mostly Asian part of the city, and thankfully hadn't fallen to the otaku and staffed by cute, giggling maids. Instead it was a serene, almost sombre place, where tea was served formally and drank quietly.
Daken cradled a cut, drinking, then put it down as the grey haired man entered. He was a old man, with the sense of long years and a lot of miles walked, but he still moved like a fighter, and he had managed to retain a fair bit of muscle. He moved to the open space beside Daken and eased himself to his knees, wincing a bit.
"Did you have to pick a tea house?" Frank Castle, once known as the Punisher, asked crossly, even as a server came up.
"I did go to the Opera and a restaurant," Daken shrugged, "you had options."
Frank grunted. "How did you know it was me, running the Scourges?" he asked as they were served more tea.
"Gut instinct and how they've been running ops," Daken admitted, "it's not obvious, and I dunno if SHIELD have twigged to it. No civilian casualties, minimal property damage and careful targeting. All just like how you did the Punisher gig."
Frank nodded slightly. Sipping a bit of tea he asked, "You wanted to see me. Why?"
"I'm sort of tangled up in this Defenders gig," Daken said calmly, "if your people want me, try to take any shots at me away from them." He shrugged, "Other than that, do what you have to do."
Frank gave him a odd look. "No saying you've reformed?" he mused.
Daken shrugged slightly, "We both know I've done things you don't get forgiven for."
Frank finished his tea and got up. "I'll keep it in mind," he said. Quietly he added, "Thanks for sparing the kid who went after you. You didn't have to do that."
Daken watched him go, then puffed out a breath. Even at nearly a hundred years old... Castle still scared the hell out of him.
To be continued...
Notes: The Scourge of the Underworld is in fact a canon Marvel character. Or group, if you wanna look at it that way. They were a method one writer of Captain America used to get rid of a bunch of C-list villains. I liked the idea, so I dusted it off...
