Avengers: Masters of Vengeance
#3. Counter Force
Mt Sinai Hospital, NY
Cap had a much different reception on this visit to the hospital. With the towering muscle god Thor at his side many more people seemed to take notice, even those that would have been glued to their phones. Their expression said everything without a word spoke, a number of people just stared in open awe or even admiration of the great muscled deity that walked among them, others, including the two uniformed police officers that happened to be in the waiting area, looked angry, their eyes narrowed and their lips tightened. One of them, a shorter blonde cop, whispered something into their radio as he continued to glare at Thor, his hand automatically headed toward his gun. The pair of police officers advanced on the two brightly dressed Avengers.
"Stay right there!" the taller black cop barked at them, raising his hand in a stopping gesture.
Thor gave an annoyed grunt but stopped in his tracks, the last thing they wanted was an altercation with the police in the lobby of a hospital. Cap stopped side by side with him, a sigh escaped his lips. Hadn't they suffered through enough recently without having to be hassled by the police on top of it all?
"Thor Odinson, you are wanted for questioning in regards to the Avengers Mansion incident," the officer rattled off before they even stopped walking.
"Respectfully, Officer, he wasn't in this dimension at the time of the incident, he knows even less about it than you do," Cap stepped forward. Both cops backed up, hands gripping their pistols.
"I ask that you wait to detain me until I have seen my friends in their recovery room," Thor boomed loudly so that everyone in the lobby could hear. It worked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the officers who also seemed to suddenly realize they were at the center of everyone's attention.
"You are wanted for questioning, no one is above the law, not even people who claim to be gods," the shorter blonde cop reiterated.
"Sir," Cap intoned, making sure his voice was even and free from emotion. "Is there a warrant out for his arrest? Even if there is, I would like to remind you that as a ruling prince of Asgard AND as an active Avenger he has diplomatic immunity."
"We've got Thor right in front of us, requesting backup at Mount Sinai Hospital Downtown," the blonde officer blurted into his radio.
Thor sighed and shifted his weight, both police officers unholstered their weapons and started shouting. Thor looked over at Cap, annoyance plain on his face. The cops continued shouting, the blonde going red in the face. They were screaming for Thor to lie down and put his hands behind his back. He did not comply. Meanwhile, their radio began to blare but they were too busy shouting to hear it.
"Officers!" Cap shouted in a voice he rarely used except when he was in command of soldiers.
The policemen paused for just a moment. It was long enough. "Stand down, officers, straight from the mayor you are not to detain Thor!"
The officers stopped and huffed and grunted for a moment but they didn't take their steely eyes from the god of thunder. Eventually, they took a more relaxed stance but still were glaring.
"You might think just because you have the politicians fooled that you've fooled the rest of us," the black officer said.
"Never could trust a guy who claimed to be a god," the blonde one said. "There's only one God!" He gave Thor a death stare before they stalked away, heading toward the sliding glass door exits.
"I think I may have once sounded like them," Cap admitted sheepishly. "If I did, then sorry, Thor.
"Nay, ignorance was never thine vice," Thor dismissed with a quick glance after his uniformed antagonists before following Cap past security.
Through the labyrinthine halls of white they went, following their guide in teal-tinted clothes. Meanwhile, Thor's mind raced with possibilities. Did they think him a traitor or did they know it hadn't been him? Cap had assured him they knew it hadn't been him but he had to see his teammates face to face. Thor had been betrayed far too many times, often by his own brother, to do that to his teammates. He was so lost in his memories of betrayal that he bumped into Cap who had stopped in front of him. A nurse opened a large wooden door and motioned them into the recovery room.
"Hail, Avengers," Thor pronounced, probably a little too loudly. Natasha winced at the sound but still smiled.
"Hail, Thor," she grinned up at him. Janet turned a barely opened eye to him and gave the faintest of smiles. Hank stayed quiet, his back to his teammates. Jarvis silently raised a hand in greeting. Clint was out.
"I hope I am not intruding on your much-needed rest but I had to come see my injured teammates."
"It's good to see you, Thor," Widow still sounded tired. "The real you."
"Ah, so you all know it wasn't me," Thor tried to sound casual but the relief was plain in his voice. His shoulders unstiffened ever so slightly.
"He may have looked like you but he wasn't you. He looked a little more grizzled, rougher, and more scarred." Jan silently nodded her head in agreement as did a barely awake Jarvis.
"Yes, well, I would pay a mighty fortune to meet him on the battlefield to show him who the real Thor is." As he said this his hammer, still grasped firmly in his right hand, sparked and a sudden breeze picked up.
"Thor," Cap gently placed a gloved hand on his friend's brawny shoulder. "Maybe we should let them rest."
Thor looked around at the papers being disturbed by the wind and the concerned look in the nurse's eyes. "Aye. Let's go find this imposter. Fare thee well my friends, I will be back on the morrow." Jarvis, Jan, and Natasha waved hands in farewell, Hank managed a quick look at his friends as they walked away. Clint had slept through the whole exchange.
The Next Day - Mt Sinai Hospital, NY
"I'm still not certain that we should be releasing you," a doctor in white with glasses on the edge of his nose stared down at Natasha who was sitting up and stared grumpily back at the medical professional. "The time needed for convalescence after such a traumatic injury should be weeks at least!"
"I told you, doctor, that I am not just a regular human. Would you believe that I am over seventy years old?"
"Frankly, in the world we live in nowadays, I would," the doctor sighed. "Still it is impossible to tell what kind of condition your body is truly in."
"What's this I hear about you leaving the hospital early?" Cap said the instant he strode into the room.
"I'm being released," Natasha stated simply. Cap turned to the doctor.
"It's true, her test results all came back positive and her lung capacity and reflexes are at normal human levels."
"They should be above normal human levels," Cap argued.
"Despite you heroes having been around for quite some time now, medical science is still limited on your kind. I have to treat her like I would any other human that comes through our doors."
"I don't like it," Cap stated. No one said a thing.
"If she's so eager to jump back into the line of fire then let her," Hank grumped from his bed. Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Hello again, my friends!" Thor came walking in on the silence, breaking it.
"Have we made any progress?" Natasha asked, avoiding the subject. "What have you learned?"
"Nothing," Thor grumbled.
"I am not sure if I already told you this but Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic, and Bruce Banner are all hard at work on the mansion grounds building a portal. Wherever these imposters came from it was via a portal. The geniuses were able to trace the energy signal through dimensions and believe they have found their home dimension," Cao summed up succinctly.
"When will they be done?"
As if on cue Cap's Avengers ID card, which also served as a communicator, started beeping. He fished it out of one of the many leather pouches hanging around his waist. "This is Rogers."
"We are seconds away from finishing the portal, Captain," Reed's voice was stiff and almost impatient. "You should come back to the mansion as soon as possible so I can show you how to operate it before I get back to the Baxter Building."
"Acknowledged."
"I want in," Natasha instantly.
"I don't think so," Cap began.
"I am one of the ones who was hospitalized by these imposters, I should have first shot at them," she interrupted before he could continue.
"You're too close to this, and you heard the doctor you are only up to normal human standards."
"That's because he doesn't know how to test for superhuman standards as if there was one. I know my own body and I say I can take it."
"Nat, I know you aren't used to being taken off guard like that and I understand why you want the first crack at them but even you can't have healed that fast from getting struck by lightning."
"I'm going to go or you are going to regret it," Widow said, her voice low and calm, he must have struck a nerve. The nurse shivered in fear.
Cap stood there, his eyes glittering, neither said a word for almost a full minute. "Who am I kidding? I could never stop you."
"Then let's go," Widow said impatiently.
"You might be able to take Doctor Pym here with you, his tests came back almost as good" the doctor admitted reluctantly.
"Well, I know my body and I am not ready to go out there yet," Hank interjected hastily. "Besides, Jan and the rest need somebody to stay behind in our own dimension, you know, just in case."
"Real subtle, Hank," Natasha said under her breath.
Cap simply nodded, "Alright then."
Jan and Clint gave each other a knowing look and shook their heads. Jarvis stayed silent.
Avengers Mansion, Avengers Island
There were still crowds of workers cleaning up and repairing the carefully cultivated grounds of the Avengers' mansion. They all paused when Cap drove up in his blue sports car, a gift from Tony, and Thor and Black Widow got out of the car with him. Several of the workers smiled, it had been reported Black Widow had been hospitalized, and they were among the first to know she was out of the hospital. A perk of working on Avengers Island, even if it was just as a gardener or handyman, also the pay was great because the background checks were so stringent and the possibility of danger was relatively high. Cap nodded at a few of them as the trio made their way into a small steel-reinforced enclosure that had been set up on the mansion grounds.
That is where Mister Fantastic, Doctor Strange (Wong had long since departed back to the Sanctum Sanctorum), and Bruce Banner were currently gathered around a hastily built round device, a portal. A portal that would hopefully lead to wherever those that had attacked the Avengers had come from. Bruce was staring at the side of the device, a finger not far from a large blue button. His eyes were glazed over and his face was slack, lost far into thought.
"Perhaps you should wait for the Avengers to arrive," Strange interrupted whatever thoughts had been swirling in the gamma-irradiated scientist's mind.
"Of course." Bruce immediately lowered his finger, looking at it as if wondering what it had been doing there.
With a small hiss, the only door in or out opened behind them and the trio of Avengers stepped through.
"Good, you're here," Mister Fantastic said quickly, apparently he was in a rush to get back to his family. "As we replicated the energies and built the portal to whatever mysterious origin point that it has pinpointed we discovered part of the energies that are being passed between the portal is digital information. Whenever a portal is opened digital signals are literally sucked into the portal and interpreted by some device that is keyed into this specific signature at the origin source."
"Meaning?" Thor was no dummy but English was far from his first language and his mastery of the more modern forms of English was tenuous at best.
"That as soon as a portal is opened not only will your mysterious enemies be alerted but they will also be able to study all of the communications, internet feeds, cell phone signals, and other wireless devices that are in your vicinity, including your Avengers identity cards." Banner interpreted for his former teammate.
"It is quite unlike any portal I have ever seen, I fear I don't fully understand its capabilities," Mister Fantastic added. "Be very wary, Avengers, great minds of many studies have all been pooled together to create such a device that lurks on the other side. You are up against an enemy with great strength but also, much more dangerously, with great intelligence as well."
Bruce looked up at Thor. "I understood enough, Banner."
"With all of that in mind," Strange interrupted. "I was able to enchant the portal well enough to make sure you did not teleport directly to the source as you would likely be right in the middle of the lion's den. I also believe I have been able to magically scramble some of the informational signals being sent back, though I can't guarantee its effectiveness or how long the effect will last."
"Well then it sounds like time is a factor and we should be hustling," Cap said. "Where's Dum Dum or that other Shield agent? I am sure Fury would want to know that we are preparing to go to the other dimension."
"Evidently Fury called them away on some other mission. Do you want to wait to open the portal until they return?" Banner asked, almost hopeful.
Cap shook his head, "Avengers, go get prepped and meet back here in fifteen minutes. Banner, are you coming?"
"No, Strange and Richards have to go as well, they have their own problems to deal with, I will stay behind and operate the portal since I am the only one that knows how. Also, I will close it if anything other than you three start to come through."
"Good." Cap nodded in agreement. "Strange, Richards, we can't thank you enough for helping us in our time of need."
"Good luck, Captain, and don't let this become a bigger problem than it already is, I don't want to be a part of a dimensional incursion."
"Of course."
"Yes, goodbye," Reed Richards said simply then stretched away towards his Fantasti-Car that was waiting for him on the grounds, cordoned off by the minimal police presence that remained investigating.
Strange simply vanished with a few sparks.
"That's fourteen minutes now, people," Cap reminded them and headed off to his charred room.
"I have all that I need to take on this imposter," Thor stated and crossed his arms and did not move.
"I think I can stash a few more weapons and devices into my pockets," Natasha said with a grin. She stalked off to her own room.
"I'm not even going and I feel nervous," Banner admitted to Thor.
"That is why I always find it better to face my enemies head-on," Thor said simply.
"Yeah, sure," Bruce muttered. An awkward silence followed.
12 Minutes Later . . .
By the time Natasha walked into the enclosure, two minutes before she was due, Cap and Thor were already there, as was Banner. Cap had a knife and a couple of stun grenades strapped to his belt that had not been there before, whatever else he might have added to his arsenal wasn't apparently visible. Thor had not moved from his spot, his eyes far away but they glittered angrily.
"Shouldn't you be wearing civilian clothes so you aren't noticed?" Banner asked nervously.
"Do you know what civilian clothes look like wherever it is we are going?" Natasha asked snarkily.
"I suppose not."
"Better to be well-armed," Thor agreed.
"That's why I leave the fighting to you guys," Banner tried to joke weakly.
"Ha! We don't need the Hulk, I will handle these imposters!"
Something in Banner squirmed angrily. Idiots thought they didn't need the Hulk but Hulk is the strongest one there is. Banner bludgeoned the thought back down out of his mind. He really couldn't afford to lose his mind now. Especially not now that the Avengers finally recognized him for his mind rather than his big green dumb muscles.
"Are we all ready?" Cap asked. Natasha simply nodded.
"Let's go," Thor said grimly.
"Banner, open up the portal."
Universe ?
The streets of this New York were cracked and broken, many a weed grew up in the cracks of the asphalt and pavement choking out an existence in this cruel world. The buildings were smudged with dirt and smog, windows were cracked and broken staring down with dark blank eyes. The sky was more of a gray than a blue and only a few grubby thin clouds streaked across the bleak horizon. A pitiful breeze tried to stir some life into the depressing scene but it too choked and died. No birds chirped to brighten the scene, and the only tree nearby clung to a few drab leaves, there may have been the skittering of some rats though it could have also been the sound of hard dried dead leaves grating against the broken road.
Suddenly a light flashed. A new breeze stirred, this one much stronger, and sparks of orange, yellow, and red appeared as if from nowhere, then an arc of scarlet electricity danced across the air. A pinprick of light appeared in the middle of the street and the wind intensified, more arcs of electricity appeared, then with a whump one would feel more than hear, if anyone had been around to witness it, reverberated through the atmosphere and with it arrived a large swirling circle of lights and glowing smoke appeared.
The portal had opened. Cap leaped through into the grimy quiet streets, his shield held defensively in front of him, his head glancing every which way as if on a swivel. Thor was next, swirling his hammer Mjolnir, ready, nay, eager for a fight. Widow brought up the rear, two guns drawn, her sharp green eyes glaring at their surroundings.
"Okay," Cap held the earpiece under his helmet. "We're through and there are no witnesses we can see, make the portal as small as possible."
The light show that had formed a circle at least two meters wide suddenly shrunk to the small pinprick it had been a moment ago. The wind died down and only the occasional spark leaked from the tiny portal.
"Don't forget that the protections on the portal may end at any time, keep an eye out for any unwanted guests." Cap must have been satisfied with the answer he got from Banner on the other side as he nodded.
"Let's get out of sight," Widow whispered urgently to her companions.
Cap nodded again and they quickly ducked into a nearby building whose entrance had long ago been boarded up but some of the boards had since fallen. Despite being able to break easily through the wooden barricade the three champions of justice squeezed through the small opening offered to them so as not to leave an obvious trail. Inside the building was dark and dingy, dust covered nearly everything and hung lazily in the air, assaulting their nostrils and eyes small beams of light filtered through dirty broken windows illuminating the long abandoned wreckage of what had once been a sleek modern lobby.
"Let's fan out and make sure that we are alone," Cap ordered. He motioned to Widow and directed her to a dark corner of the open area, Thor he directed him to a set of wide stairs leading upward. He himself headed down another set of stairs, these leading down into pitch darkness.
Widow holstered one of her pistols and replaced it with a small flashlight with an incredibly bright beam. She took in her surroundings through the beam of the flashlight in wide sweeping arcs. Upturned chairs and desks were everywhere, pots that had once held living plants now had nothing but dried stumps in them. The dust was even thicker over here, the air stale. Something made her stop.
She shined her light into a particularly dark corner of the lobby. There was a pile of refuse there, it looked like blankets and perhaps some old clothes but she could swear she could see it moving, just slightly.
"Go away," a voice suddenly issued from the pile of rubbish. "I have a knife, don't come any closer."
Widow trained her gun on the pile. "I've found someone." She hissed into her earpiece, and immediately she could hear her teammates rushing to her aide.
A grubby man with more sores on his face than teeth in his mouth tossed the blanket off himself and snarled. "I told you to go away!"
"I'm not here to hurt you," Natasha reassured the man.
"Well maybe I'm here to hurt you," the man started then suddenly stopped and paled as Cap and Thor approached quickly.
"Hold on," Widow called back to her comrades.
"All hail the Iron American Empire!" the man suddenly screeched at the top of his lungs. "All hail!"
This stopped the heroes in their tracks.
"I am so sorry, if I had known it was you I would never have spoken to you like that!" the man blubbered loudly. Tears already streamed down his face. "Please! I didn't know. I would have never said that to one of you! Please! Spare me!"
The three looked at each other in confusion for just a moment, then realization dawned as they looked at each other in uniform. The man continued to blubber and plead for his life in frantic tones.
"Oh Great Ones, please!" the man cried loudly prostrating himself before them as his sobs shook his whole body.
"Shut up." Widow hissed.
The man instantly ceased his loud bawling but she could see sobs still wracked his body. She felt bad but wasn't sure what to do in this situation. She didn't want to draw any attention to themselves. What if other vagrant types were nearby and wanted to see what the fuss was about? Next thing you know everyone would know of their arrival.
"We will spare you, vagrant," Thor said in a harder voice than he normally used when speaking with midgardians. "If you will answer our questions but otherwise remain perfectly silent."
The man nodded eagerly, having enough sense to keep his mouth shut, not looking at any of them directly. Tears still streamed in dirty rivulets down his face and neck and he clasped his hands together in a begging motion.
The three Avengers looked at each other. What now?
Widow crouched down to near the man's eye level. She seemed to be the one the man was least afraid of. He still would not look at her, his head shaking, hell his whole body was trembling in fear.
"How many more like you are there here?" Widow asked in a cold tone. She did not want to undo the man's false assumptions about them.
"Please," the man choked out. "None that I know of, I used to live in an outcast colony but even there I was not welcome. Perhaps it was because I was so loyal to the Iron American Empire, but I swear I am alone."
"Where is this outcast colony?" Widow demanded.
"Please, I swear they are not rebels, they are mostly women and children and men who are invalids. They are not rebels. Please."
"Tell me."
"Please."
"If I have to repeat myself one more time," Widow's voice began to turn angry. Despite all of her training and experience, she felt dirty for treating the man this way, forcing him to give up a secret that he thinks will cost people their lives.
"Please, it is on the edge of Iron City, just five blocks to the East. Please, they are not rebels, just poor people."
"Perhaps, since you have been so helpful and honest, we will have mercy on them," Widow stood, staring down coldly at the man, as she imagined her counterpart in this world might do. "But if we find out you have lied or omitted anything . . ." she let his own imagination do its work for her.
"No, I swear it! I would never lie, not to you," the man began to cry again.
"Then don't tell anyone you saw us here," Cap said, trying as hard as he could to sound cold and unfeeling. The homeless man simply nodded.
The three turned and left, not looking back, the guilt was written across all their faces, though Thor still seemed distant and angry. The man began to sob loudly once he thought they were out of earshot.
They weren't.
The three searched for a bit before finding an unused old metal door at the back of the building that opened into an alleyway. It had once probably been filled with refuse and scavenging animals but now the garbage that had long ago been abandoned there had become desiccated and mostly blown away. There was nothing left to scavenge. They made their way through quiet back alleys and anywhere they thought they could stay out of sight, heading East, it was their only clue.
Eventually, more vagrants started appearing, little bundled lumps of blankets and trash that had little use. They were hiding in corners and behind dumpsters. They must be heading in the right direction. Eventually, Widow found three abandoned ratty blankets that they tossed over themselves to hide their garish superhero costumes, despite the smell of stale human piss and perhaps worse.
"I do not want to hide I want to face this imposter head-on," Thor had balked when she had initially offered him the blanket.
"Thor, we are up against an entire world," Cap said sternly. "You might be able to survive such a conflict but we wouldn't."
Thor was silent a moment before finally sticking his hand out to take the stained blanket from Widow. They passed by several homeless encampments and were able to avoid notice as far as they could tell. These people's eyes were glassy and their bodies were starved and thin. They weren't aware of much outside what was directly in front of them.
They knew when they reached Iron City, a large metal wall had been erected with barbed electrical wires on top, Thor had told them because he could feel the electricity running down the wire, enough, he said, to kill a mortal. At every major street, there was a metal gate, all of them closed and each had a pair of guards in dark blue armor with a white star inside a bloody red "V", all of them armed to the teeth. Each armored guard was also equipped with a jetpack.
"How are we going to get inside?" Widow asked.
Thor sighed.
"Without attracting attention," Cap reminded the Asgardian.
Thor clenched his teeth over and over again. The imposter Thor was likely here, or would at least show up if he knew our Thor had come for him. Still, if he brought the might of this Asgard with him there was no way his mortal companions could survive, even mortals as mighty as Captain America and Black Widow.
"Perhaps if we found a secretive place with a small hole in the wall I would be able to widen it without too much noise," Thor suggested.
"Let's split up," Cap said. "Nat and I will go around the guard post and head North while you head South. Just remember Thor," Cap began.
"I know," Thor interrupted. "We must not draw attention to ourselves. All of this sneaking about like a thief does not sit well with me."
"I know," Cap said. "If you could just keep us, mortals, in mind."
Thor nodded and marched off down the wall. Widow and Cap went down another block to circumnavigate the guard post without attracting attention.
"Widow," Cap began hesitantly as they snuck through an alleyway. "I am sorry that I tried to stop you from coming on this mission, you are more fit for this mission than Thor or myself, it's just that I worry you are pushing yourself too hard after just coming out of the hospital."
"No, Steve," Widow said after a second's pause. "I should be the one to apologize. When you are used to having no one care for you, no one that cares if you live or die, then care can suddenly feel like patronization. I know you better than that. It is hard to learn to let someone care about you."
"I never thought of it that way," Cap said as he ducked behind a pile of rubble and looked out to make sure no one could see him if he approached the wall.
"I have found it." Thor suddenly buzzed in their ears. "I have found a place we can get into the city."
"We're on our way."
Less than five minutes later the trio squeezed through a small hole in the metal wall, it had only groaned slightly as Thor had eased it open from a small two-inch hole to nearly a meter. Thankfully it led into another quiet alley.
Cap was just thinking about how quiet this mission had been when they heard the screams. They rushed as quietly as they could toward the sound. It was definitely a woman screaming. They rounded a corner to see two guards, in the same uniforms they had seen on the other side of the wall, cornering a terrified-looking woman in worn-out clothes. To her chest, she held a cowering puppy.
"Please!" she shouted out. "Somebody help!"
There were other people there but they were all trotting in the opposite direction, not one was sticking around.
"Listen, lady," one of the guards said, stretching out his arms to grab a hold of her. "We just want to take you to a little party we're having later. Don't struggle."
"Halt!" Thor suddenly barked.
The two guards stopped what they were doing and looked at the Avengers. "It's the Thunder God!" one said in complete shock.
"Look again," the other said impatiently. "That isn't the Thunder God, it's just some imposter."
"I am NOT the imposter!" Thor thrust forward his hammer. A bolt of electricity surged forward and hit the guard that was further from their intended victim.
"Be careful, Thor!" Widow cried out. At this point their blankets had all fallen off, revealing their colorful costumes beneath.
"They're all imposters!" the remaining guard said. He thrust off with his jetpack and began shouting into the mic in his helmet. "I need backup! Imposters of the Masters of Vengeance have attacked a member of the V-Battalion! They seem powerful, I need as many units as possible-" He stopped at that word because Thor had flown up and grabbed him by the collar of his armor.
"Who are you?" the man choked out as they continued streaking into the sky. He reached for his gun on his belt but Thor easily batted it aside, it tumbled down the air into the city and disappeared into the haze beneath them.
"I am the REAL Thor!" the Asgardian snarled before releasing the man into the void below.
The man screamed as he struggled to get himself righted, the jetpack was spinning him dizzyingly around in plummeting spirals. Thor watched. The man finally righted himself far below. Thor spotted at least twenty more armored soldiers flying up toward him with their jetpacks. He grinned and lightning covered the head of Mjolnir. "If I can't have the imposter I will have his soldiers!" He rocketed toward the battalion of flying soldiers.
Down on the ground, Widow was trying to help the woman recover her feet but the victim simply screamed more while staring wildly at Cap who tried to calm the situation by keeping his distance. Eventually, the woman scrambled back onto her feet of her own power and fled with the yipping dog tucked under one arm.
"Uh oh," Widow said quietly, looking over Cap's shoulder. The super soldier glanced behind just as a group of the V-Battalion came blasting toward them. Thunder rumbled above them and rare, moisture-filled clouds began to form. Looking up they saw that Thor was already engaged in his own battle. "Dammit, Thor."
"Kill the imposters!" a cry rang up among the flying soldiers advancing on them.
"I'm getting tired of that word," Cap braced himself behind his shield as bright blue laser fire erupted from the soldiers' guns. Widow ducked for cover behind some rubble. Slag from melted rocks and metal flew around her just as she found cover.
Above them, Thor laughed as he threw lightning bolt after lightning bolt through the ranks of his new enemies. However he was hit by a laser on his forearm and it actually burned, not like a simple burn one would get with a quick touch of heat, no this burned through his tough Asgardian hide and melted the small amount of fate beneath the skin. Thor grimaced just as more lasers slammed into him. Thankfully his armor took the brunt of the burning blasts with merely little black singe marks to indicate where he had been hit. Another laser burned his face, right below his eye.
He was going to have to take these enemies seriously.
He lightly touched the burn on his face and winced. He snarled and raised Mjolnir before him, twirling the mighty hammer he caused hurricane-force winds to gather in front of him and then he unleashed them with a thrust of his hammer. A cluster of soldiers was scattered into the wind, plummeting toward the Earth. Twenty more took their place with their high-powered lasers blasting.
Cap charged toward the soldiers with his shield braced in front of him like a battering ram, the blue-clad villains simply flew up into the air, out of his reach. More were gathering. Cap chucked his shield with all his might, it flew up and knocked a jetpack clean off of one soldier, bounced off of him, and hit another one nearby, knocking his laser rifle from his hand, then crashing into the helmet of another. Meanwhile, Cap was totally exposed as his shield did its work, he somersaulted and flipped about with all of the agility the super soldier serum and years of practice could muster.
Widow has been knocking flying soldiers from the sky with pinpoint accuracy shots from her pistols and for a moment they were none the wiser but in a matter of seconds they had spotted her. Several flew right toward her, drawing shields they had strapped to their backs. The shields were a dark navy blue with the same symbol as they wore on their chests, a white star set in a crimson "V". They were almost a mockery of Cap's own. They didn't seem to be indestructible as one lay broken about ten feet in front of Cap but they were bulletproof as her bullets, specialized hollow points, simply pinged noisily off them with nothing more than a few sparks. They were just high enough above the super spy to expose her in full view. They rained down laser fire on the redhead.
Widow ran, just like Cap she had been enhanced during her time as a servant of her country, the infinity formula, it wasn't quite the super soldier formula but it enhanced her agility strength, and speed as well. She dodged just in time as a laser singed her hair, the smell was awful. Tiny craters opened all around her as rocks dirt and debris filled the air under the V-Battalion's assault on her. She was seriously outgunned.
Thor roared more in frustration than pain as another laser hit his neck. More and more flying soldiers were coming. He dove toward the Earth using Mjolnir to rapidly change his trajectory and keep from getting hit again, he could feel the impact as several shots connected with his armor. In all of his frustration and anger, Thor wasn't thinking properly. Normally he was a better strategist than this, but all he could think about was the vile imposter and his annoying little minions.
His hand sizzled as another laser hit is and he nearly dropped Mjolnir. A whole fleet of jetpack-wearing soldiers had gathered above him and were taking shots, like shooting fish in a barrel Thor believe he had heard it called. Below him, the lasers that missed slammed into buildings and walls sending chunks of concrete and burning slag into the streets of the city. The already oppressed people screamed and ran in all directions not sure where to go to avoid this sudden assault.
Thor had to stop them somehow, but how? There were simply too many of them for him to fight effectively against. With a flick of his wrist he began to slow his descent, even as he did so he projected a massive of bolt of lightning into the midst of his attackers. Eight charred bodies plummeted to their deaths but another forty or more remained.
"Come and face me yourself you imposter!" Thor shouted angrily into the wind. Nothing happened. The soldiers kept coming.
Cap blocked one blast and sent it slamming back at his attacker but another blast slipped through and burned his side. Cap's uniform was the best that World War II America could make at the time, but that was eighty years old and while T'Challa and Stark had both helped bolster the suit's protective capabilities there was nothing either of them could add without slowing Cap down in bulky armor or in T'Challa's case he couldn't provide vibranium without angering his people. So the laser burned.
Cap winced as he moved to protect himself from another blast. The wound was worse than he had initially thought. Cap was driven to a standstill as a volley of laser blasts erupted against his shield. He snatched a sonic grenade from his belt, wincing again, and launched it up into the air, higher than any normal man could throw. The sound-based blast flung several soldiers spinning back through the air. Many more still swarmed around him. Cap wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. He glanced over at Widow, he could see several burn marks on her as well and she was holding her side, some blood leaking through her fingers. Thor landed with a boom. Steve was about to feel relief when he saw the fifty-odd soldiers zooming down after his teammate and stopped his sigh of relief dead in its tracks. Things were not looking good and in this world, they didn't have any super-powered friends to back them up. They were cornered in another dimension without any backup.
"Banner, are you sure you won't rethink helping out the team on this side?" He heard Widow panting over his earpiece. There was no response. What had happened? Bruce was supposed to be on the other side, waiting to let them back through the portal at a moment's notice. Where was he?
"Down with America!" a sudden voice rang out. Cap wasn't sure if he was glad to hear that phrase or not.
The wind whipped up around him, swirling a tight circle until it formed a massive whirlwind that somehow he was only minimally affected by. The whirlwind slammed into the cluster of flying soldiers above him and scattered them in every direction.
"Down with the Iron Master!" Another voice rang out. Heavy automatic laser fire lit up the soldiers above Widow, knocking them about, and several falling. Suddenly the well-coordinated troops were disorganized and confused.
Cap looked over at Thor who was whirling Mjolnir and causing a massive windshield that kept the soldiers and their laser fire at bay occasional lightning strikes slamming into a few at a time. Thor must be off his game to let himself get boxed in like that. With a whoosh a glimmering figure flew up into the midst of the flying soldiers and let loose a great spherical wave of electric green energy. All of the soldier's jetpacks quit working simultaneously and they dropped into the wind that Thor was creating and flew in all directions.
Even the soldiers that had the upper hand with Cap retreated, soldiers scattered on foot and in the air. "Quickly before they regroup!" a voice shouted out. Cap looked over to see a man in a ski mask and a long black trench coat wave at them, an automatic high-powered laser gun was strung over his shoulder. From Thor's direction flew a steel humanoid figure that reminded Cap eerily of Ultron and from the other direction flew a man in scarlet armor, most of his body enveloped in a personal whirlwind.
The weary and burned Avengers glanced warily at each other but Widow shrugged and inclined her head in their saviors' direction.
"Come on!" the masked one shouted urgently.
Cap nodded and the three ran in their direction, the Avengers followed the three strangers into a shuttered-up building light barely filtering in so they couldn't get a good look at each other. The android, or whatever it was, had glowing green eyes that projected an eerie light over his comrades that seemed to illuminate very little and obscure much.
There was a flash of light and a young boy no more than eleven or twelve stood before them a mischievous grin on his face framed with shoulder-length black hair. He looked somehow familiar to Cap as well, and not in a good way. It was a strange effect, they could see the young boy with perfect clarity despite there being no apparent light source but he also seemed to emit no light of his own though it looked like he was standing in the middle of a summer's day.
"What trickery is this?" Thor demanded suddenly.
"Loki's trickery," the boy grinned widely. There was a flash of light and for a brief instance Cap could swear he saw the Red Skull in the eerie green glow of the android. Then they were all gone.
Soldiers poured into the lobby after them, smashing through the wooden boards that stood in their way. "Where'd they go?" one of the leaders called out. There was of course no answer. They searched the place thoroughly and came up with nothing.
The Vault
The Vault was even more unpleasant on the inside than it appeared to be on the outside. Constantly chilly and damp, just like an old medieval castle, the Warden enjoyed that it was so miserable there, he and his guards could go home for a reprieve, but the prisoners could not. It was the small things that made the warden happy. Things like a billionaire playboy getting brought low like common folk.
Speaking of which Tony Stark was in his cell that very moment wishing for a computer, some pen and paper, anything he could use to put his thoughts onto a surface. He was used to keeping his mind busy at all hours of the day or night, being able to grab a device, and began engineering with the latest and best tech. Obviously, there was nothing like that for him here at the Vault.
Being a prison populated by people with superpowers or super intellects there were far more restrictions on what you could have in your cell, at the moment, for Tony, that meant a change of prison-issued clothes and bland food in styrofoam containers. Except all that was left of his plain white bread slice, unseasoned scrambled eggs and a blob of applesauce were a few crumbs and a couple of brown smears.
That had been nearly twenty-four hours ago.
Tony's stomach made the strangest growling and squeaking noises that he hadn't heard since that fateful time in the cave with Yinsen. Still, he was doing figures in his head and trying to apply his knowledge to his current situation but it felt a bit like Einstein trying to be good at being a boy scout because he understood science. He might get a lot of merit badges but he'd never be a survival expert. Tony might know how to engineer all sorts of advanced weaponry and engineering devices but what could he do with so little at his disposal and a mind that wasn't used to thinking on legal problems?
It had to have been a shapeshifter, perhaps one of those super-spies like Chameleon or even a Skrull. Now, how to prove it? Even though he was sure Pepper and Happy were hard at work along with his lawyers he didn't get out of the cave by relying on others to do it for him, that kind of thinking had cost him precious time in there. If he had worn the suit he could have tracked it and it could have shown that he was the occupant at the time of the shootings, but he hadn't worn his suit to work that day. Surely they had already checked the traffic cams, were all of them on the fritz that day or what? He couldn't do anything from here, he had to find some way to get in contact with the outside world. Some way that, as far as he knew, no supervillain had ever thought of.
"Chow's on!" called the rough voice of a low-level prison that had been selected to deliver food. Tony got to his feet excitedly, so what if it was bland low-quality food, he needed fuel to keep his brain sharp and his body in shape.
The man held another styrofoam plate up it contained a bologna sandwich, one piece of cheap meat between two slices of stale white bread, and as a side a smattering of pork and beans (hold the pork) straight from the can. The once-a-day meal of champions. "Send it on in, chef!"
"Not for this one," a metallic-tinged voice commanded. "He's gonna wait until tomorrow, special diet." Stepping into view was one of the green-armored Guardsmen, staring down at the little smudge of a man delivering the food.
"You know I designed those armors for you people," Stark couldn't help himself. "A single meal a day in return shouldn't be too much to ask."
"Huh," another Guardsman stepped into view. "He thinks we owe him sumthin'. Ain't it cute?"
"When I get out of here you people are gonna lose those armors."
"Well," the second Guardsman started to reach Tony's sandwich. "I think he owes us sumthin'!"
"Guardsmen!" A strict voice called out suddenly. The two snapped to attention and the prison delivering food burst into a sweat. "What exactly is going on around here?" The new arrival stared at the first Guardsman. "05?"
"We were just escorting Prison 0523 here as he made his rounds."
The new Guardsman, obviously in charge of these two, shook his head and turned to the other Guardsman, "06?"
"It wasn't nuthin' O'Brien, we were just making sure billionaire playboy over here remembered who was in charge."
Tony's brain tingled at the mention of the leader's name.
"Delarosa, Tyler, finish delivering food with 0523, but I don't want to see this kind of behavior ever again." The two nodded at O'Brien and continued on their way. "Delarosa, I wanna see you in my office as soon as you are done."
"Yes, sir," Delarosa said tersely.
"O'Brien, as in Kevin O'Brien?" Tony asked once the others were out of earshot. "Is that you?"
"Is that who, Prisoner 8526?"
"You used to work for me, you started out heading up the lab at Lakani but eventually joined my personal research team and Stark HQ, didn't you? You left while I was gone and I never found out why***NOTE***. Tell me it's you, Kevin."
"You got me pegged."
"Kevin, you gotta believe me I would never murder those women. I have to get out of here and discover who is framing me and why and I need your help to do it."
"I left for a lot of reasons, Stark, none of them good," Kevin said after a moment of tense silence. "You won't be getting any help from me." The Guardsman placed the plate he had evidently confiscated through the slot in the door and left without another word. Tony's shoulders slumped but he still went and retrieved his food and began to eat.
***NOTE***: This is not the case in the mainline continuity of the comics aka Earth 616, he did start on the island and he did come work for Stark at his HQ but when presented with the Guardsman armor the first time when he put it on (it was experimental) it messed up his head and the succeeding chain of events eventually resulted in his death. All that happened long before Stark perfected the armor and sold off 41 units to the Vault. Still, he was the first so I just had to include him.
Avengers Mansion, Avengers Island
Night had fallen and a bit of a chill had seeped into the air, despite it being late spring. A cool breeze was drifting in off the ocean and contributing to the cooling effect. That was partially why they had built the enclosure, to protect it from the elements, not that anything needed protecting from a chilly breeze. Bruce's thoughts were everywhere tonight. Bruce was still in the enclosure nervously awaiting word from his teammates that had gone through the portal. For a while everything had gone smoothly but then things went south real quick just when it sounded like everything had gotten better their radios had gone completely silent.
He had already paced for several minutes and found that it didn't help to calm his worried mind in the slightest. He had to actually do something. But what? He refused to turn into that green behemoth, especially anywhere near the portal where it might get smashed. He had no idea what was on the other side and what could scrawny little Bruce do even if he did go rushing into the other dimension. For all he knew the strange dimensional energies might make him turn into the brainless Hulk the second he passed through and then he wouldn't be any good to anyone. His stomach rumbled. Now that was something he could do. Eat. He hustled out of the enclosure and right toward the front doors.
He should never leave the enclosure alone but what were the chances that something would happen right now after hours of no activity?
He made his way to the kitchen, he was still familiar with the place, despite having spent less time as an Avenger than anyone else currently on the team. He passed by where SHIELD had set up more cameras and monitors around the premises right in their front lobby in case anything suspicious, like an opening portal, might happen out of normal view.
He stopped and looked back again at a particular monitor. Someone dressed in black and metal from head to toe just walked through the supposedly locked front gate like they owned the place.
"The portal!" Bruce breathed. He turned and ran back to the enclosure, slamming the door behind himself and locking it. He breathed hard, sweat already breaking out on his forehead and neck, he had to calm down. He put a pair of fingers to his throat to feel his pulse. This wasn't good.
Suddenly the tiny little pinprick of light that was the portal expanded rapidly to bigger than it had been when used by the Avengers. Bruce spun around and saw a man with a black mask covering his lower face, gleaming brown eyes, and shoulder-length brown hair. Before Bruce could even react the man kicked him square in the chest right through the portal.
Bruce tumbled across the broken asphalt on the other side of the portal. His eyes flashed green but he fought it back. His skin prickled but he breathed in deep. He willed his heart to slow. He needed his brains right now. He charged toward the portal just as it vanished completely.
Bruce Banner was stranded in a dimension where the Avengers are villains. His eyes flashed green again, but he kept doing his breathing exercises. Focus. Up above him little shadows flitted through the sky, the bright spot of a jetpack on all of them. Suddenly they changed course coming right toward the scientist. Bruce was too busy slowing his racing heart to even notice.
Next in Avengers #4 Avengers vs the Masters of Vengeance: Who are the Masters of Vengeance and what twisted them into this frightful form? We catch up with the Avengers who have been teleported far away from the heavily armed V-Battalion but who are these new people, friends or foes? Whatever happened to Bruce Banner and who was that who assaulted him in the enclosure? Some of these questions will be answered.
Author's Note: This issue was originally supposed to be titled "Origins of the Masters of Vengeance" but the issue already ran far longer than I had originally planned so all of that got edited out of this issue and will be included in the next.