Author's Note: Aaaaaah, this show takes me back. Talk about the good ol' days! And as tribute to the finest Avengers animated series Marvel has ever produced, I'm going to try and do what Disney chose not to do: give the show a few more seasons of content.
Without further ado, enjoy this little love letter of a story. A tribute to the amazing universe gifted to us in the form of EMH.
A new name, a new face! A brand new individual strides into the Marvel universe! What's he like? What's his name? Keep reading, true believers, and be there to study his-
Chapter 1: Character Witness Part 1
A thunderous explosion blew out the wall, raining debris across the floor and filling the room with smoke. In moments, a crew of four individuals hurried into the area, spreading out across the room.
"You sure it's here?" A woman inquired.
"Positive. Just keep looking, it's here somewhere." A man responded, rooting through the various crates sitting within the storage room. "Make it quick. They probably know we're here already." Together they searched each box, ripping open lids and tearing apart locks in a desperate effort to track down their designed prize. But as the seconds turned to minutes of fruitless searching, tensions started to run high.
"It's not here, dammit!" Another man cursed as he hurled the wrong crate across the room. "Hammer must've moved it!"
"Don't be an idiot, he'd never move it! This is the one place he could keep something like that, where else could he put it?" His partner snapped in retort.
"Well, obviously a place that's a lot harder to break into than this." A new snythesized voice announced. Whirling around, the intruding foursome were met by a man in red and gold standing in the entrance they had created, covered from head to toe in a suit of electromechanical armor… the most advanced and one-of-a-kind piece of technology on the planet. Blue energy surged from the ARC reactor in his chest to the twin repulsors in his palms facing the four would-be thieves. "While I'm no fan of Justin Hammer, breaking and entering is still a crime." The light from his weaponry illuminated the group, revealing two men and two women all clad in varying armored outfits.
"Stay out of our way, Iron Man!" A man in black and blue commanded. The armored Avenger promptly ignored him.
"See, SHIELD just had a massive breakout and I'm sure they wouldn't say no to having you guys back behind bars."
"We're not going anywhere! Not until we've had our revenge!" A woman in violet stated, raising her hand and unleashing a fireball that zipped through the air and struck Iron Man in the shoulder.
"He can't take us all." The man in blue growled. "Striker, find it while we hold him off." He ordered the other man, who was clad in green. The other three converged on Iron Man.
"Striker, eh? While I'd love to get the rest of your names, I'll just read them on your rap sheets." Tony remarked, taking flight and unleashing a volley of repulsor rays. In response, the three scattered, the other woman in dark blue fired off a bolt of yellow lightning from her hands as her violet-clad partner fired off more bolts of flame. Iron Man triggered his unibeam, the two women darting off in separate directions to avoid getting his by the explosive energy beam.
Their male compatriot made a fist with his hand, thrusting his arm skyward as a chunk of concrete beneath Iron Man slammed into his body, pinning him to the ceiling before a piece of the very ceiling drove him back into the ground. The man in blue approached the pinned Avenger, flexing a free hand to summon several chunks of destroyed wall.
"Name's Cobalt. This is Shox and Flare." He introduced. "And fighting us alone is the last mistake you'll ever make." His growled threat was intended to be intimidating but, instead, Tony just started laughing.
"Did I say I came alone?" He asked, looking up at his three foes. While he might've been the first on site, he was not the only one to respond. "Avengers Assemble!"
The rallying cry was perfectly timed as several heroes poured in through the open hole in the wall, starting with a pair of micro-sized heroes: Ant-Man and the Wasp. Clad in red and riding a flying ant, Hank Pym leaped from his mount and landed a powerful blow to Cobalt's cheek that pitched the villain to the ground while Wasp unleashed a volley of her bio-electric 'stings' that peppered Flare and Shox.
Behind them, Captain America and Thor charged into the room, the Star-Spangled-Man immediately rushing after the green-clad Striker with his shield raised while the crown prince of Asgard charged Shox with his hammer at the ready, bursts of blue lightning meeting her yellow ribbons as they collided. Captain America and Striker collided as the villain's proton-powered fists slammed into the indestructible shield of the first Avenger.
As Iron Man blasted free of the rubble, combat erupted around the room as the Avengers clashed with the foursome of villains. Bursts of power sizzled this way and that, while fists and bodies collided in heavy smackdowns as only super humans could unleash.
"These villains are far more lacklustre than I envisioned." Thor mused aloud, thoroughly unimpressed. "Their powers are rather… simplistic."
"Even so… they pack a punch!" Iron Man grunted as his repulsor beams clashed with a bolt of lightning from Shox, the two trapped in a stalemate as their power continued to swell.
"Fear not, Iron Man! Such matters can be resolved hastily." Thor remarked, flying straight ahead, he swung his mighty hammer, Mjolnir, and clobbered Shox with a devastating blow that sent her careening through the air with a cry. She slammed into a series of crates, many of them crumpling around her and falling apart from the impact. As she slumped to the floor, she shook her head in a daze, her senses rattled.
But then a glow caught her eye and her gaze was captured by a small silver cylinder, glowing blue with an unknown energy.
"That's it…!" She gasped, scrambling forward and plucking the object from the remains of its crate. Picking herself up with renewed vigour, she called out to her teammates. "I got it! Let's go!" Her cry fo success was answered by Flare and Striker, the two quickly breaking off from the Avengers they were fighting as Shox used her powers to carve a hole into the wall behind her. Striker turned back, seeing Cobalt using his abilities to erect a concrete barrier to keep the Avengers from following them.
"Moran! Let's go!" He hollered, recognizing too little too late his slip-up. Whirling around, Cobalt jogged over.
"Dammit Striker!" He swore under his breath. "We have code names for a reason, remember?!" He snapped.
"To hell with the codenames! We gotta go!" Striker urged, stepping through to the other side, as the sounds of Iron Man's repulsors and Thor's hammer blows rained down on the opposite side of the barrier.
"How're we gonna keep them off our tracks?" Flare wondered as the last of them stepped through. Cobalt turned and lifted his hands.
"Leave that to me." Flexing his powers, the remnants of the wall scattered at their feet began to reform and rise, filling in spaces within the opening until the wall had sealed itself perfectly, leaving no evidence it had ever been cut down.
By the time the Avengers had broken through, their foes were nowhere to be seen.
"Wait… where'd they go?" Wasp wondered as she scanned the room.
"It's like they just… disappeared." Ant-Man concurred.
"That can't be," Iron Man muttered in disbelief, "JARVIS, run a full spectrum scan of the area." He ordered his personal AI, which was a part of his armor. Doing as told, JARVIS swept the entire warehouse complex and it's perimeter with the armor's built-in sensors, turning up no leads and completing a negative report.
"No signs of any of them, sir." Tony sighed.
"Where could they have gone? There has to something…"
"We're dealing with unknowns here, Tony." Cap said. "We should be careful and consider all the angles." As he finished, Ant-Man grew back to his normal size.
"Maybe that one with electrical powers is shielding them with some sort of… bio-electric frequency field that makes them appear invisible on scanners." He hypothesized.
"Could be." Tony agreed. "Cap, Thor, head outside and see if you can pickup any leads." The two nodded and moved to do so while Iron Man stayed behind and performed a sensory recall of the area.
"What about us, Tony?" Wasp inquired as she also returned to her normal size.
"I thought I heard those thugs conversing on the other side of the wall." He replied. "JARVIS, playback audio recordings from the last ninety seconds of the fight."
"At once, sir." Tapping into his armor's natural receptor suite, JARVIS played back all available audio and broadcasted his findings through the suit's speaker systems. Above the noise of Iron Man and Thor pounding away at the concrete, a pair of faint voices could be picked out.
"Moran! Let's go!"
"Dammit Striker! We have code names for a reason, remember?!"
"Did he just call him, 'Moran'?" Janet wondered. "I'm not mistaking that for 'moron' am I?"
"By the sounds of it, that was Striker and Cobalt." Hank mused, stroking his chin. "That's a big step in identifying these four."
"Certainly worth a shot." Tony agreed. "JARVIS, run a scan for any individuals named 'Moran' that match his physical build and have a potential connection to Justin Hammer." Once again, JARVIS complied and used his connection to the internet to run a search with Tony's suggested parameters. Within seconds, he had a result, displayed on Tony's HUD.
"Search results turn up three possible findings, sir, the most likely of which is former Hammer Industries employee Doctor Mark Moran." He revealed, pulling up a complete profile of the former Chief Engineer.
"Huh. Simple Hammer employee… nothing too out of the ordinary…" Tony mused, scrolling through his profile. Mark Moran appeared fairly normal, nothing identifiable within his past in working for Hammer Industries… until he discovered something at the very bottom. "Hang on… he disappeared from all company records after an accident about five months ago."
"Five months?" Hank repeated, bewildered. "And he just turns up now?"
"Yeah, something seems fishy," Tony agreed, "JARVIS, run a date correlation scan, see if there's any events that coincide with Doctor Moran's disappearance." His AI did so, turning up a singular event. "Got it! The electro-fusion generator failure. That made headlines, you could see ionized blue clouds for miles around."
"I remember that… So, wait, Hammer just fired this guy after that lab accident?" Wasp asked, feeling put off by the coldness of such a move.
"Maybe not just him," Tony mused, a fresh search revealing more information, "says here he worked with a team of five others who were involved in that accident."
"Did they all just drop off the map?" Hank questioned.
"All but one." Tony answered. "Connor Peterson, the mechanical engineer. Hammer blamed his negligence for the accident."
"Poor guy. Probably got berated publically." Wasp mused.
"If I know Hammer, he'd like to make an example." Tony agreed. "Unlike the other five, who just disappeared, Connor is still a registered former employee."
"If we just encountered Moran and three others…" Hank trailed off, leaving his words to hang as Tony pieced them together.
"We could be looking at the wrong kind of reunion." He realized. "We've got no currently leads except for Connor. All that's left in his company file is an address."
"I'll go follow that up. You guys finish up here then try to track down the gang again." Wasp volunteered, shrinking down and taking flight as her wings sprouted from her back.
"I'll send the information to your Avenger ID card." Tony promised as she took off. He then turned back to Hank, retracting his faceplate to reveal his face. "We need to help Cap and Thor track them down."
"Maybe contact T'Challa back at the mansion and see if he can dredge up anything." Hank continued. "What did they want here, anyway?" He wondered, looking around the space.
"This is one of Hammer Industries' warehouses for experimental materials. Hammer likes to keep multiple holding locations for his tech instead of storing them in a single space like I do." Tony described. "Whatever those four wanted, they got. And knowing the stuff Hammer tends to mess with, they're likely up to something dangerous."
"Meaning we've got to find them before the timer on the bomb counts down." Ant-Man realized, shaking down to size and summoning a flying ant as he and Iron Man left the warehouse, the newest contenders in a race against time.
Later that day, elsewhere…
Cobalt led the way into the abandoned laboratory, which didn't look too terribly abandoned with all the active equipment lying around. Filing in after him came Flare, Shox, and Striker. The moment Striker closed the door behind them, Cobalt tore off his mask to reveal the dishevelled appearance of Mark Moran. His hair had grown far longer and a scruffy beard had grown across his jaw and chin, a far cry from the clean-cut distinguished man he used to be.
"Of all the dumb things to say, Derrick!" He snapped. "You just had to use my real name, in front of the Avengers no less!" Striker in turn pulled off his helmet, revealing the face of Derrick Sullivan, his hazel eyes aglow with hidden power.
"Hey! You're not my boss! And they're just stupid codenames anyway. The Avengers aren't SHIELD; they'll need more than a name to learn about us." He retorted.
"I take it there were some… complications?" A third voice inquired from a shadowy part of the lab. Flare quickly stepped forward, tugging down her mask to reveal the face of Haley Harding.
"The Avengers showed up. Took us for a bit of a ride, but not before we snagged this and left." She replied, holding out the energy capsule they had stolen.
"I see…" From within a shadows, a figure emerged, stepping into the open to reveal Roland Reeves. He looked unchanged, no different since the day of the accident… save for the full-body bracer harness wrapped around his torso. He lifted the capsule from Haley's hands. "Thank you, my dear." He said kindly, turning the tool over in his hands and a gleam of excitement flickered in his eyes. "Yes… this is it."
"Great. Too little too late," Mark muttered, "bone-for-brains over here thought it was a good idea to use my real name while the Avengers were around." He said crossly, jabbing his thumb in the direction of Derrick. "They're probably on their way here now!"
"Calm yourself, Mark." Roland offered simply. "Even if they do find this place, we will be long gone. The last piece for our plan is complete." Holding up the vial of energy, it's colours began to shift, filtering through a rainbow of shades as he continued. "Fusion energy may have destroyed our lives, but it gave us new ones in return. And we will show Justin Hammer that we are no pets of his, that our souls are not for sale and our bodies are not for his tests. He. Will. Pay."
"But the Avengers are on to us." Flare interjected. "What if they learn our past, our history?"
"If they find Connor, he could ruin everything!" Mark growled.
"You worry too much, Mark." Roland gently chided with a light chuckle. "We are too far ahead of them all to worry about such things. We move quickly and efficiently, and all our worries will be behind us."
"And what if they track down Peterson?" Mark questioned.
"Who cares? He does not know enough to damage us." Roland replied. "And even if he does, he's a useless ally to them. No one can stop us now…"
The address Tony gave her took Wasp to a rundown part of the city, known for high local crime and low-income housing. Vaguely familiar with the unsavoury neighbourhood, her first notion was to find out whatever she could about this Connor Peterson and then leave. Provided that address was accurate and that the man in question had not at all up and left after his termination from Hammer Industries.
Quickly finding the flat number, she flew to the door and grew to her normal size, planning on being polite… at least to an extent, if necessary. Her yellow-gloved hand reached for the door and she knocked three times. "Hello? Mister Peterson?" She called out, hoping for an answer. Hearing nothing, Wasp tried the door handle on a whim… watching in surprise as it twisted and gave way, the door slowly opening to her prodding. "Okaaaaaay, not creepy at all." She muttered a little unnerved.
Yet she was an Avenger. Getting jump-scared by some mad scientist was surely not the worst thing she'd ever encountered. She was strong enough to handle this.
Taking a breath, Janet pushed inside, calling out again, "Hello? Connor Peterson? Are you here?"
"In the kitchen." A man's voice replied simply. Low in tone and passive in nature, Janet did not sense any imminent danger and followed the voice. The flat was small and very interconnected, the kitchen just a few steps away from the living area and front walkway. So it did not take Janet very long to find a small dining table and chair where a man in a hoodie was seated. He turned his gaze up to meet her, brown eyes meeting blue in a moment of connection. His demeanor was meek and timid, and Janet felt safe around him. She smiled a little. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar…
"I'm Wasp, with the Avengers. I hope you don't mind." She greeted.
"No no, of course not." Connor answered. "Haven't had a visitor in months. Please, sit." He offered, gesturing to the chair across from him. Jan accepted, impressed by his courteous nature. "So… what brings a famous Avenger to my little abode?" He quietly asked.
"I wanted to ask about your former colleagues. Doctor Mark Moran and the others at Hammer Industries." Janet explained. "We've… come across some new information about them and were hoping you could provide some details." At the mention of his past, Connor exhaled in a quiet but weary tone.
"I suppose you want to know about the accident too." He mused. Janet nodded slowly.
"Well, we are kinda in the dark. Seems like Justin Hammer really wanted to keep company affairs under lock and key."
"It was primarily dealt with internally." Connor affirmed. "Been months since then… I've tried not to think about it." Wasp's expression fell.
"I'm sorry. If it's too painful for you, we don't have to-"
"No, i-it's fine." Connor quickly interjected. "Besides, it's… hard for me to forget." It was then that he removed his hands from the insides of his sleeves, revealing something that shocked Janet and made her audibly gasp.
Both of Connor's hands had asymmetrical metal patches scattered across the surface of his skin. From what she could tell, they reached as far back as his wrist but possibly even further.
"What happened?" She asked, both curious and concerned for his wellbeing.
"I was wearing a pair of magnetic manipulator harnesses. Designed to move objects without touching them. When the reactor blew, they were both fused to my skeletal system." Connor explained. "At least, that's how the doctors worded it." Janet paused and simply stared at the shiny metal spots on his hands, flexing and moving in time with his simple actions.
"Does it… hurt?" She wondered, tentatively reaching for his hands. Connor shrugged.
"Sometimes." He murmured. "Not nearly as painful as the ordeal that followed." As he made his remark, Connor's head tilted to one side and Janet spied silver lines of geometric cyberware framing the underside of his ear in a 'Y' shape.
"If it's too much to talk about, you don't have to." Janet softly offered. Connor regarded her briefly before taking a breath.
"I was the one closest to the generator, meaning I took the brunt of the fusion energy wave that followed. That also meant it was easy to blame me for everything going wrong. So the company did just that; the moment I was discharged from the hospital I was handed my final paycheque, a long list of legal dos and don'ts, and a personal letter from Justin Hammer saying I'd never work for the tech industry ever again." He finished and Janet took a moment to process everything.
"So… ever since then you've just been living here? Surviving off… what, pizza pops and bottled water?" She wondered, trying to bring a little brevity after the tragic tale. Connor huffed a laugh.
"I wish." He remarked. "Did you happen to bring any water?" He queried with a slight smile. Janet giggled and he did too.
"What about your colleagues? The others that were with you?" She queried.
"There were five of them: Roland Reeves, Haley Harding, Mark Moran, Derrick Sullivan, and Shauna Bell." Connor described. "Last time I saw them, they were all still out cold when I left the hospital." Noting her thoughtful expression, he tilted his head. "Why?" Exhaling, Janet paused to pick her words carefully.
"Connor… there's no easy way to say this, but the Avengers just tried to apprehend four supervillains breaking into one of Hammer's warehouses. Two men and two women. And… one of them called the one of the men 'Moran'." She explained. "We did some digging… and you were our closest lead to figuring them out." If he was surprised, he didn't show it. Connor leaned back in his chair, his expression passive and contemplative.
"I can tell you right now, Miss Wasp, I don't know what happened to them. I haven't heard from any of them nor seen them since that day." He answered.
"And I believe you," Janet quickly told him, "but we're hoping that maybe you can help us fill in the blanks. You worked with them, Connor. You know them better than any of us do. If they are in fact supervillains, stealing things, we need to know what for and why." While a part of him wrestled with the prospect of having to reopen an old wound, Connor found himself captivated by Wasp.
This woman, so brightly coloured, cheery and full of life, loving what she did, was offering him what he could only describe as a second chance. His life, dull and dim after that terrible accident, had new life breathed into it by her sudden appearance. Wasp was giving him a chance, something no one else had.
"Okay, I'll… I'll come along as a consultant, I guess." He finally answered. "I'm not much of a hero, but if what I can say helps, I'll do what I can." Jan smiled broadly.
"You won't regret it. You're doing the right thing, Connor." She replied, patting his hand. Her touch alone felt nice and Connor couldn't resist smiling himself.
"So, uh, what's first?" He wondered, standing up along with her.
"I'll get in touch with the others." Jan explained, pulling out her telecom ID card. "We'll bring you back to the mansion and you can tell us what you know." Sliding the card into an active state, she called up Iron Man. "Tony, I found Connor, and he's got some things you need to hear." She quickly announced.
"That's gonna have to wait, Jan. There's trouble at Hammer Industries, I'll let you guess who's causing it." Iron Man responded.
"The same four again?"
"Plus one. There's five this time and whatever they're doing is triggering massive energy readings and destabilizing the surrounding area. We're gonna need everyone for this, New York is in big trouble if we can't stop them!"