.Avengers Compound
September 3, 20:23 EDT
The Secret Warriors had gathered as Black Widow was giving them their mission brief.
"We have detected an immense power surge from Latveria," she said, which would mean a holo map of Latveria. "Spectral analysis revealed elements non-terrestrial in origin. Find out what happened at that site and what land there."
She then showed an image of a man wearing a metal mask and a green rope. "Latveria is an isolated European country ruled by Victor Von Doom, more commonly known as Doctor Doom and is not a member of the Avengers UN Charter. All communications are subjected to interception, so maintain radio silence at all times."
She then brought out a holo map of the neighbouring country next to Latveria. "You will land at neighbouring Slokovia near the Latveria border. Two clicks on the hot zone."
"Should we be concerned if Doctor Doom is in the hot zone himself?" Spider-Man asked.
Torch scoffed. "Please, like he likes to get his hands dirty. He would just send some of his underlings to investigate."
"That is the likely scenario," Black Widow agreed. "Regardless, be careful. We do not wish to start an international incident."
Slokovia
September 3, 23:37 CET
The Secret Warriors had just reached the edge of the Slokovia, and A-Bomb were unloading their scanning equipment.
"It's all clear," said Patriot.
Spider-Man nodded. "Patriot, you take Crystal and Hawkeye, make your way to the site, but stay low and then make your way back."
"Why don't we use your Spidey frequency?" Torch asked.
"Doom once communed with me using my own frequency; we can't discount that he might be monitoring it as well," said Spider-Man.
"No point taking risks, especially considering we're only to observe," Patriot nodded.
"In the meantime, the rest of us will get the scanning equipment operational," said Spider-Man. "Once we find out more, then we can make a plan."
With that agreed, Patriot led his group towards the site. They carefully climbed a rocky hill and found that the Latverians had already set up a campsite. A number of androids guarded the area, and they had to be Doom's Doombots.
"The Latverians have control of the site," said Hawkeye.
"No surprise there," said Patriot.
"So, if I sound ignorant, but who exactly is this Doctor Doom?" Crystal asked.
Patriot kept easily forgetting that Crystal had no memories before she was rescued.
"Doom is a brilliant scientist," said Patriot. "He is arguably the smartest man on the planet, next to Dr Richards. In fact, the two of them used to be colleagues and work together. However, he has an enormous ego and refuses to be second best to anyone. He actually sabotaged the shuttle that the Fantastic Four were on when they were investigating that cosmic wave, taking down its shields."
"Ironically, that's what gave the Fantastic Four their powers, and the overload pretty much burned his whole body with three-degree burns," said Hawkeye. "He blames Mister Fantastic for the entire thing. Then he dominated this tiny little country and became its sole ruler."
Crystal looked at them, astonished. "He was able to do that alone?"
Patriot nodded. "He crushed any kind of position and made himself king. Though to his credit, despite being a tyrant, he really does care about his people and would do anything to protect them."
"Doesn't stop it from trying to expand his borders," said Hawkeye. "The man would want nothing more than to dominate the entire planet."
"So if we find anything but particularly dangerous in that tent…" said Crystal, gesturing the tent with her head.
"It's probably best that it doesn't fall into the hands of Doctor Doom, yes," Patriot agreed. "That said, we have to be careful."
"Maybe we should go back to the others and see what they found," said Hawkeye.
They made their way back to the campsite and saw that the others had got everything set up with scanning equipment.
"Did you find the hotspot?" Spider-Man asked.
"Yes, along with a faction of Latverians and a cluster of Doombots," said Patriot.
"We don't wanna tackle those things head-on," said Torch. "Those things are tougher than they look."
"Did you guys find anything?" Crystal asked.
"Well, the site is laced with zeta beam radiation," said Spider-Man. "And the scanners detect non-terrestrial trace elements within the tent."
"So we're talking about aliens here?" Hawkeye asked.
"Or at least their technology," said Spider-Man. "But we will be able to know more unless we get into that tent."
"We can hardly walk up to the front door and knock," said A-Bomb.
"I suggest that we use one of my spider-bots to find out what's going on in the tent," Spider-Man suggested.
"I agree, the more we know, the better," said Patriot.
Spider-Man sent out one of his spider bots and began making its way to the campsite. It kept low to the grass as it bypassed the Doombots. Spider-Man had to stop the bot from walking every now and then to avoid getting detected by the Doombots.
He eventually got into the tent and then began to climb up it until it had a bird's eye view was going on inside. From what they could say, they saw a bunch of scientists running experiments on some sphere.
"It looks like they are running some sort of experiment," said Crystal as they looked at the screen.
"I'm guessing that sphere is what we detected," said Spider-Man.
They watched as it spun around in its container as they charged with electricity, and it sounded like it was shrieking in pain.
"Is it me, or is it calling out in pain," said Hawkeye.
"But it's a machine," said A-Bomb.
"As is Vision," said Patriot.
"But Vision is an android."
"You have to look past its appearance, but I would definitely save the life," said Spider-Man.
"You think it's some sort of artificial intelligence?" Crystal asked.
"And no doubt an advanced," said Spider-Man. "My spider bot has scanned its casing, but whatever it is made out of matches nothing on the periodic table. Though with its extraterrestrial, that's not surprising."
"So you're saying that it's an alien artificial intelligence," said Hawkeye.
"If Doom is messing with it, that's not good," said Torch.
Patriot then looked at one of the men in the tent. "Can you zoom in on that man?"
Spider-Man changed the angle of the spider bot and zoomed in on the man Patriot pointed at. He was a bold African man in a fine suit, wearing a turban and holding a cane in his hand.
"You recognise him?" Crystal asked.
"Cap had me recognise every single villain in the database," said Patriot. "His name is Amahl Farouk, though he goes by the name of Shadow King, and he's a powerful telepath. I hear the X-Men have encountered him a few times."
"He's working for Doom?" said Torch surprised. "Doom rarely works with anyone; he tricks people into doing his bidding, but that's about it."
"I have to be cautious with Shadow King," said Spider-Man.
"You think he knows we're he?" Hawkeye asked.
"I don't know," Spider-Man grimaced.
Suddenly, a hologram of Doom appeared before the men in the tent.
"Report?" he said.
"Lord Doom, what we have found is beyond comprehension," said a scientist looking rather timid. "This sphere is made of unknown materials, but that's not the most interesting thing. From our readings, we believe that this thing is by all tense and purposes alive."
"Are you certain?" Doom asked.
"We have passed several electrical currents, making each one stronger than the next, and it is responding to them."
"Is it organic?"
"I have tried to make telepathic contact, but I am unable," said Shadow King. "I think it's safe to say that this sphere is indeed a machine."
"But a living machine," said the scientist quickly.
"Then crack it open," Doom commanded.
"My Lord?" said the scientist, staring.
"Do not make Doom repeat myself?" Doom glared.
"I apologise, Lord Doom, but I am not certain that we will be able to open it up," said the scientist, quickly bowing as low as he could. "And I should point out that if this machine is indeed alive, it would be the same as murdering it."
"Alive or not, it is still a machine, and we can learn more from it by dissecting it," said Doom.
"As you command Lord Doom," said the scientist.
Doom's hologram then ground then vanished.
"We can't let them do this," said Crystal.
"But if we cross the border, we become the invaders, and Black Widow was clear that she did not want us to start a diplomatic incident," said Patriot.
"So we should let Doom do whatever he wants?" said Torch.
"After he's allowed to do whatever he wants in his country," said A-Bomb.
"Even if we ignore the ethical dilemma, do we really want Doom to have access to that Sphere?" Hawkeye asked.
"She's right; Doom is dangerous enough with the technology he already has," Torch nodded. "Who knows what he would do if he added alien technology to his arsenal."
Patriot then looked at Spider-Man. "Spider-Man, what do you think we should do?"
"Our mission was originally to determine what caused the non-terrestrial signal we detected, so we have accomplished that mission," said Spider-Man.
Torch looked at him, appalled. "So we're going to walk the other way? I would have for you all people would—"
Spider-Man held his hand up. "Let me finish. However, the mission parameters have changed now. Doom has in his possession a living machine of unknown origin, which is about to cut up. I doubt any of the Avengers would allow Doom to get away with this."
"So you're saying that we should liberate this sphere?" Patriot asked.
Spider-Man nodded. "We have to be extremely careful. It's not just the Doombots we have to worry about, but Shadow King as well. I once heard that he went toe to toe with Professor X, and he is the most powerful telepath on the planet."
"So we taken down before we do anything else," said Hawkeye.
"My spider bot hasn't been detected, so taking him down won't be too difficult, but we have to move in fast once he's down. The last thing we want is Doom appearing from out of nowhere."
Patriot nodded. "I agree."
The scientists in the tent were about to start to open the sphere up, and they brought in a range of tools.
"You're certain that you'll be able to open it up?" Shadow King asked.
"These tools were fashioned by Lord Doom himself. I'm certain they can do the job," said the scientist confidently. He then turned towards the sphere. "That said, this will be the first time trying to crack open an unknown evening metal."
While they were getting prepared, they were unaware that the Secret Warriors were positioning themselves to storm the tent.
"Everyone in position?" Spider-Man asked using his spider frequency.
"In position," said Patriot.
"Ready whenever you are," said Torch.
"Just say the word," said A-Bomb.
"I'm good to go," said Crystal.
"Let's do this," said Hawkeye.
Spider-Man then positioned his spider bot directly behind Shadow King. "Move out in three… two… one…"
He then pressed a button on his remote control and found an electric tether at Shadow King electrocuted him. He cried out in pain as he collapsed to the ground, surprising the scientists.
"What happened?"
At the exact same time, the Secret War moved in quickly, engaging the Doombots. A-Bomb rolled into a ball and smashed through one of them, and Crystal fired a bolt of electricity, short-circuiting another. Hawkeye positioned herself at the hill and began firing explosive arrows while Torch flew through the air, throwing down firewalls.
Spider-Man and Patriot quickly moved in, rushing into the tent and knocking out the scientists.
"All clear," said Patriot.
"Let's free this thing before Doom realises he's lost contact," said Spider-Man as he made his way to the sphere.
The moment he approached, the sphere began to panic, spinning around wildly in its cage.
"Don't worry, we don't mean you any harm," Spider-Man assured it. He then began to access the controls. "Just need to figure out how to undo the locks."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that," said a voice.
They quickly spun around and saw Shadow King getting to his feet, but he didn't look happy at all.
"I thought you took him down," said Patriot, quickly raising his shield.
"I thought that I did," said Spider-Man stunned.
"You nearly did," Shadow King glared. "Sadly for you, after my confrontation with Xavier, I can barely feel anything around me. Our mental battle damaged my psyche, doling my sense of touch."
Spider-Man knew they were in trouble and quickly raised his web shooters; he was just about to fire when suddenly everything around them wrapped around them.
When it became clear, everything was rather topsy-turvy. He found himself in an environment that was a mix of New York City, his school, the Avengers Compound, places where they had been on missions, and other places he didn't recognise.
He realised he wasn't alone as the rest of the Secret Warriors appeared before him.
"What happened?" Torch asked.
"And where are we?" Crystal asked.
"Shadow King apparently is tougher to take down than we thought," said Spider-Man. "We now seem to be trapped in some sort of mindscape made out of a collection of our memories."
"Is that good or bad?" Hawkeye asked.
"I'm guessing bad," said Patriot.
"So, how do we get out of this mess?" A-Bomb asked.
"I think we have to take down the guy who put us here," said Spider-Man.
"But he could be anywhere in this mess?" Torch pointed out.
"We won't know we just the standing here," said Patriot and began to walk forward. "We need to force him to reveal himself."
"At least we still have our weapons," said Hawkeye, noting that she was still wielding her bow and quiver. "Guess we have some control over this place, like the type of weapons we're able to use."
Torch held out his hand and conjured up some flames. "Along with our powers."
"At least we can defend ourselves," said Crystal optimistically.
"I am all for beating down a bad guy, but how do we know or not walking into a trap?" A-Bomb asked.
"We don't, but whatever choice do we have?" Patriot asked.
With that agreed they began to wonder about the mindscape, but enormously, they didn't know if they were going in a straight line or not.
"I can't make heads or tails of this place," said Torch.
"It is a combination of our minds," said Spider-Man as they kept on walking, "it's bound not to make any sense."
"He's right. You're talking about six different sets of memories," said Patriot. "Seven if you include Shadow King."
"Why do you think he's working with Doom in the first place?" Crystal asked.
"Maybe he has need of a telepath," said Hawkeye.
"He never needed one before," said Torch.
"It would be the first time that we've encountered some strange supervillain team-ups," said Spider-Man. "Taskmaster and the Serpent Society working with one another. The Enchantress and Mysterio."
"He's right," Patriot agreed. "Something is definitely going on."
"Maybe we can get a few answers out of Shadow King once we find him," said A-Bomb.
"Let me make the finding part easy for you," said a booming voice.
Then suddenly appearing before him was a giant demon-like creature, which they had to assume was Shadow King.
"So, finally, decide to show yourself," said Torch.
"While I do enjoy watching you scurrying around helplessly, I am on a busy schedule," said Shadow King. "I'm actually surprised that you young heroes would dare challenge a telepath without bringing one for yourselves."
"You may be a telepath, but you're nowhere near the same league as Professor X," said Spider-Man.
"True, but I am more than strong enough to deal with you young heroes," he smiled fiendishly. "I also still owe you from that nasty little shock of yours."
He swung his massive claw straight down at them, and the young heroes quickly jumped out of the way.
"If we bring him down, we might be able to free ourselves," said Spider-Man.
"On it!" said Torch and ignited himself.
He then flew up into the air and began tossing fireballs straight into the face of Shadow King. However, he merely took in a deep breath and exhaled, blowing the flames out and sending him flying. Hawkeye drew out her bow and began firing several explosive arrows, but they didn't even tickle him.
"A-Bomb wrecking ball special!" Spider-Man yelled.
"You got it!" said A-Bomb, rolling himself into a ball.
Spider-Man then fired his wedding, which attached itself to A-Bomb and began spinning him around. He then released him, sending him flying straight at Shadow King, hitting him in the chest and knocking him back slightly.
"Our futile effort," he roared, glaring down at them.
Patriot raised his shield and ran over to Spider-Man. "None of our attacks seem to be working."
"We have to keep trying until we can figure out a way out of this," said Spider-Man.
"A lot easier said than done," said Patriot.
Shadow King then raised his fist and looked as if he was about to slam down on top of them when he suddenly groaned in pain.
"What's happening?" he groaned.
"What just happened?" Crystal asked.
"I don't know," Spider-Man frowned.
Back in the material world, Shadow King and the rest of the Secret Warriors just stood there as their minds were fighting in the astral plane. By this point, the scientists and the guards who served alongside the Doombots had managed to begin consciousness.
"What is going on? Who are these people?" said a soldier in their native tongue.
"I recognise some of them as heroes from the United States," said a scientist.
"But why are they standing still?"
"I believe that Shadow King has trapped them within the astral plane and is doing a mental battle with them as we speak. None of them appear to have a telepath with that, which means their chances of victory are very slim."
"If we kill them here, that would increase our odds even further."
"I believe before we make any decision, we should speak with Lord Doom about this development. He might wish to question them and torture them himself, especially the Human Torch."
One of the soldiers then looked in front of Spider-Man. "We can at least unmask the web-slinger and find out who he is."
"I very much doubt you would recognise him. Don't forget he lives halfway across the world; odds are he's a nobody."
"There's only one way to find out," said the soldier, beginning to remove his mask.
The sphere suddenly began to react and spin wildly in its cage.
"Something is wrong with the sphere?" said the scientist, quickly rushing to the console. "It's moving even faster than before; I don't think the containment grid will be able to hold it."
Sure enough, the sphere managed to break free from its cage and begin to roll across the ground. The soldiers immediately began firing at it, but the bullets just bounced off its shell and responded by ramming into them. It rolled straight into Shadow King, knocking his body towards a shelf.
"What have you done to me?" Shadow King demanded the young heroes.
"He's winded now maybe our best chance," said A-Bomb.
"You are the man; pour it on!" Spider-Man yelled.
Spider-Man quickly fired his web-shooters and began swinging around Shadow King, tying his legs together. Shadow King now looked as if he was about to lose his balance, and the rest of the Secret Warriors immediately acted. A-Bomb rolled into a ball and jumped straight towards him; Torch began firing fireballs, Crystal unleashed a powerful surge of electricity, Hawkeye fired off explosive arrows, and Patriot tossed his shield.
The combined strike was enough to cause Shadow King to topple over, and the moment he did, the entire astral plane began to shatter.
Spider-Man suddenly found himself back in his body, and Patriot was coming around as well. That's when they noticed that the sphere was doing battle with the Latverian soldiers. It only stopped when it saw Spider-Man move and began beeping.
"Uh, thanks," Spider-Man blinked.
"Guess it was able to get out on its own," said Patriot.
A soldier then aimed his rifle at them, but Spider-Man sensed this and quickly spun around, hitting him with some webbing.
"We can figure out what happened later; we need to get out of here now," said Spider-Man.
"And the sphere?" Patriot asked.
"I guess we take it with us," said Spider-Man, looking at the sphere, "if it wants to come with us, that is."
The sphere then began beeping enthusiastically.
"I'll take that as a yes."
They quickly rejoined the others, made their way to the Quinjet with the sphere, and took off.
Avengers Compound
September 4, 09:57 EDT
The Secret Warriors immediately gave the report to Black Widow, who looked at the sphere.
"And you decided bringing an unknown alien object to the base was the best idea?" she said questionably.
"If it wasn't for the sphere, we would still be trapped in the astral plane and no doubt in Doctor Doom's dungeon if we were lucky," said Peter.
"The appearance of the Shadow King was indeed an unpleasant surprise," Black Widow admitted. "I, how reverse, do insist that both Tony and Vision examine the sphere to make sure that it's not dangerous."
The sphere then began beeping in a worried tone.
"Don't worry, they're not going to torture you, just a few stands at most," Peter assured it.
"It seems to have grown quite attached to Pete," Johnny noted.
"Well, Peter was the first person that reached out to it," Crystal pointed out. "Personally, I think it's quite adorable."
"I suppose it is cute in a way," Kate admitted.
Shadow King, meanwhile, was in an unknown location speaking to the Cabel.
"I'm afraid the young heroes managed to escape with the sphere," he said regretfully.
"That hardly matters," said C-2. "What matters is the successful test of our partner's delivery system."
Then, an image of the sphere being transported from out of nowhere appeared on the screen.
"More tech will come," C-2 continued. "Tech that will put the sphere to shame."
The Avengers UN charter was established shortly after the Avengers were formed. Within the chart, it is recognised that the Avengers are a peacekeeping force that only answers to the UN Security Council.
The Avengers can only enter into countries that have signed the charter. Countries like Latveria and Russia have not signed the charter. Additionally, the United Nations provides an annual allowance for the Avengers and other staff members—companies like Stark Enterprises finance the Avengers through foundations.
The day-to-day operations of the Avengers are organised by them. Additionally, they elect a chairperson every year to read the Avengers, and a chairperson can only have two-year terms. All members of the Avengers must also be over 18 years old and have at least one skill to be considered for membership.
