Nova was looking nervously at the spinning red flashers on either side of the massive door that led to Sub-Basement Level Two. “Cap, are you sure we shouldn’t go inside and investigate? I mean, flashing red lights mean danger all over the world. Maybe Tony’s got an anti-matter reactor or something in there that’s ready to blow up?”
Captain America shook his head calmly. “I’ve been in touch with Tony and he’s advised me that the flashing lights are just to alert us that The Vision is ready to emerge from the regenerative tank he’s been in all these weeks. But under no circumstances are we to go in Sub-Basement Level Two until he gets here. Which should be in about-“Captain America glanced at a nearby wall chronometer. “-oh, ten minutes or so.”
“I thought he was in Washington for the day?”
“He is. But in a Quinjet going at top speed he can be back here in 30 minutes.”
“Really? That’s not bad.”
“In the vernacular of your generation: it doesn’t suck.”
Nova’s helmeted head whipped around sharply to see that Captain America’s face was as solid and impassive as the faces of Mount Rushmore. Nova had thought The Star Spangled Avenger was making a joke but now he wasn’t sure. He turned back to look at the door and Captain America allowed himself to smile at the younger man’s back.
The elevator door opened and from it emerged The Wasp and Goliath, both in full costume and ready for anything. Goliath nodded at Nova and turned to Captain America. “Not sure why we had to show up in full costume and battle ready, Steve. Tony doesn’t think The Vision is dangerous, does he? If he does maybe he shouldn’t let him out.”
“Of course he’s not dangerous!” The Wasp snapped, shooting back up to her normal 5’ 4” height. She was garbed in a baby blue and white costume with flared shoulders, a high collar and a stylized ‘W’ on her abdomen. “This is The Vision we’re talking about! He’s been a friend and teammate for years and I won’t have that kind of talk.”
“Jan’s right, Bill. Tony just wanted us suited up to assist The Vision in accessing his memory core. Tony did his best but he’s still not sure of how much of The Vision’s primary personality matrix and memory core he was able to reconstruct. He figures that us being in our costumes will enable him to connect to us that much quicker.”
“That’s something I’ve been wondering about for some time now, Steve. I just never seem to get the chance to ask Tony about it.” The Wasp’s lovely face was crinkled in puzzled confusion. “Originally Simon Williams’ brain engrams were used as the template for The Vision’s personality and imprinted into his synthetic brain. But Simon’s since then refused to allow that to be done again every time The Vision has been destroyed and recreated. So whose brain patterns did Tony use this time?”
Captain America shrugged. “I’m no scientist, Jan. I merely assumed that Tony was able to reconstruct The Vision’s personality. I never really thought about questioning it. I trust Tony to do his best.”
“Jan’s got a valid point, though.” Goliath said. “Even though over time Simon’s personality will reassert itself. Once brain engrams are imprinted onto a synthetic brain there’s really no way to un-imprint them, so to speak. You’d have to get down to the molecular level to completely destroy every single atom of the engrams in order to truly erase every trace of Simon’s personality.”
“So I don’t see what the problem is,” Nova chimed in. “Sooner or later The Vision will be back to his old self, right?”
“That’s what we’re all hoping, Nova.” The elevator door had opened again while they were talking and Tony Stark emerged from the elevator followed by Andromeda who had a decidedly unpleasant scowl on her face. Tony stopped in front of Captain America and cocked his head at the Atlantean warrior. “Didn’t I tell you to keep her out of the CSR?”
“No, you asked me to keep her out of the Combat Simulation Room.” And now Captain America was definitely smiling. “In turn, I asked Andromeda to do so. She informed me that if she couldn’t practice in the CSR then she would have to spar with Nova and myself. Neither one of us felt like going ten rounds with an Atlantean amazon as we had other things to do.”
Tony snorted and walked over to the door of Sub-Basement Level Two. “Y’know, just because I’ve got billions doesn’t mean you guys can trash equipment anytime you feel like it. She’s already run through the quarterly refit and repair budget for the CSR in three damn days!”
“Oh, go break open a piggy bank and stop your whining,” The Wasp snapped. “Open the door and let’s go see The Vision!”
Tony pressed his palm against the ID scanner and once his palm print was verified, the door ponderously swung open. “I suppose I should warn you right now that I took the liberty of changing his appearance slightly. And there’s something else I should tell you-“
But The Avengers were already pushing past Tony into the cavernous technological wonderland that was Sub-Basement Level Two. It wasn’t hard to find the chamber where the restorative tank was located and it was Goliath who opened the door. And The Vision stepped out.
It was apparent that he was now more muscular. In his previous incarnations The Vision had been rather slender as his super strength didn’t depend on his muscle mass. But this Vision looked as if he’d been working out. His chest and arms were bigger, rippling with plainly defined and chiseled muscle. His stomach boasted a perfectly cut six pack.
Gone were his boots, outer trunks, gloves and belt. From his abdomen down he was all a solid gold. His arms and torso were a gleaming red rather than green with the only concession to design being that the red ended in a V-shaped cut just above his hips. The Vision had never had hair but had always had a skullcap of green that came to a widow’s peak between and above his severe eyebrows that ended in the teardrop of his Solar Gem. This skullcap, along with his green cloak and collar were perhaps a concession to his former appearance.
Captain America looked at Tony with outright amusement. “Red and gold, Tony?”
“Hey, I figured that since I was the one who did all the work the least he could do is wear my colors. But there’s something I need to tell you guys-“
But The Wasp had already rushed over to The Vision. “It’s so good to see you again, Vision! I can’t tell you how worried we’ve all been about you!”
The Vision slightly turned his head to look down at The Wasp. His eyes were forever shadowed in deep-set sockets but The Wasp could swear she saw a flicker of recognition in them. The Vision lifted his head and scanned the faces of the anxious Avengers. He slowly lifted a hand to Captain America in silent salute and The Living Legend nodded back in greeting.
But it was to The Wasp’s face that his somber gaze returned and his lips opened and he spoke:
“Jan? Are you…are you well?”
The Wasp recoiled in shock. The Vision’s voice had always been eerily hollow but over time as he had developed emotions his voice had adopted some of the qualities of the resonate actor’s voice possessed by Simon Williams. But the quality of this voice was not that of Simon Williams. The Wasp knew this voice. Knew it better than anybody else in the room.
She whirled around, her eyes filled with hurt and outrage, “Tony Stark! You didn’t…you couldn’t have done what I think you’ve done!”
Tony strode forward, leaning heavily on his cane. “Jan, if you’d just let me explain-“
“You son of a bitch!”
Captain America reached out and caught The Wasp’s wrist just two inches before her punch would probably have broken Tony’s jaw. “Jan, have you gone crazy? What’s gotten into you?”
“I’m not crazy but Tony damn sure is!” The Wasp tore her arm free from Captain America’s grip. “Steve, swear to me you weren’t a party to this!”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Captain America’s perplexed look went from Tony to The Wasp and back again. “Is somebody going to explain to me just what the hell is going on here?”
The Wasp whirled back to The Vision. “Say something to Steve! Go on!”
But it was Goliath that The Vision was looking at rather oddly, his head tipped to the side in a mannerism that Captain America realized with sudden horror that he had seen many times. A man he had known for many years and considered one of his closest friends had tipped his head to the side in just that way when he was contemplating a problem.
The Vision spoke again; “Bill…Bill Foster? That is you...is it not?”
Goliath stepped back, as if he’d been shoved in the chest. “Holy Jesus. It can’t be!”
“But it is,” The Wasp roared, flinging out her arm to point at The Vision. “That’s the voice of HANK PYM! Tony has somehow put HANK’S engrams into The Vision’s brain
“Might be nice if the resident genius here came up with a way for us to get outta this one,” Hawkeye said through tightly clenched teeth. It sounded as if he Brood Warrior Drone was right in front of his face and The Avenging Archer could have sworn it felt as if the alien was breathing right in his face.
“I’ve already got a plan,” The Beast replied. “I can see it just as plain as day. What I need you to do is fire when I tell you to.”
“Hank, I can’t see!”
“That doesn’t matter. Just trust me and be ready.”
Suddenly The Beast broke off and the ears of Hawkeye and Killeroo were filled with a horrible yowling and thrashing. The Beast was grunting and snarling while the Brood Warrior was giving voice to a horrid, keening battle cry. Hawkeye felt Killeroo move slightly and snapped; “Stay where you are, kid! That’s an order!”
“But Hawk, we gotta help Hank!”
“He knows what he’s doin’, kid! Don’t get in his way!”
The sounds of battle were growing in volume and intensity and Hawkeye was nowhere near as confident as he sounded. He still couldn’t see anything and he could only hope that-
“Hawkeye! SHOOT! SHOOT NOW!”
Hawkeye released the arrow, praying that it wouldn’t hit his teammate and kill him. It hit something as he could hear the meaty sound of its impact into solid flesh. Something was rolling around on the floor. Something large. Hawkeye prayed it wasn’t The Beast. He reached around and removed a flare arrow from his quiver and slammed the head against the floor. The room was instantly lit up like daylight.
The Warrior Drone was frantically rolling around and around on the floor, thrashing like a serpent. Hawkeye’s shaft had gone through its lower and upper jaw to transfix them shut. The Beast was hanging by his feet from pipes running along the ceiling.
“Excellent shot, my friend. Now would you care to finish it off?”
“I got a better idea! You stop showing off, get back to that control panel and get us some lights! This flare is only going to last another sixty seconds or so and when it goes out we’ll be right back in the same fix!”
“That’s an idea so brilliant I should have thought of it,” The Beast grumbled as he flipped with ease to the designated control console. Hawkeye came closer with the flare as The Beast worked rapidly.
“That thingie rammed them there barbs into this gehooka pretty good,” Killeroo said, keeping one eye on the Warrior Drone. “You sure you can get this thing runnin’?”
“Positive. Once you’ve been in this business long enough you’ll realize that the bad guys build multiple backups into their secret bases. Take Magneto for instance. You’ve never seen so many multiple backups on so many systems. Why, just on Asteroid M-“
“HENRY!” snarled an exasperated Hawkeye.
“Apologies, fearless leader. Ah. Here we go!” The Beast flipped a switch and the base came alive with beautiful, bountiful light, including the room they were in. And just in time. The Warrior Drone had finally ripped the arrow free from its jaws and with a hiss of pure bloodlust and hatred, sprang right at the three men.
“Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight.” Captain America was standing between an absolutely furious Wasp and a pissed off Tony Stark. He’d much rather have been standing between The Super-Adaptoid and a Sleeper. But he was just as mystified as the others as to what was going on. “Jan, you claim that Tony has somehow put Hank’s mind in The Vision’s body?”
“Yes! I don’t know how he did it but that’s Hank’s voice!”
Captain America looked at Tony. “You want to explain?”
Tony Stark took a deep breath and walked over to where The Vision silently stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t place Hank Pym’s mind in The Vision’s body. There’s no way to do that. At least no way for me to do that. I was able to repair and reconstruct every other damage done to The Vision’s systems but I had no brain engrams to imprint on his synthetic brain. But I had the next best thing.”
“Go on. We’re listening.”
“About six or seven years ago Hank and I worked together to construct a device we call a Cognitionanoid Chemodigitizer Receiver. Both Hank and I had always been concerned about the wealth of scientific knowledge that we both possess would be forever lost if we got killed. So we worked together on this device and we both have been using it.”
“But what exactly does it do?”
“To break it down to the simplest possible terms: it makes backup copies of your brain. It’s far more complicated than that of course but unless you’ve got six hours for me to give you the long version-“
“Never mind. So what you’re saying is that-“
“The Receiver holds the accumulated knowledge and memories of Henry Pym but only for the last five years. That’s when we started using the machine. When it came time to use brain engrams to imprint on The Vision’s synthetic brain I realized that the data stored in The Receiver was just as good. So I used it.”
Captain America turned to Goliath. “Bill, do you buy any of this? Is what Tony says true?”
Goliath nodded. “In fact, I remember years ago back when I was his assistant Hank and I discussed a device exactly like the one Tony’s talking about. Yeah, it’s possible. More than possible. And if any two men could build such a gizmo it would be Tony Stark and Hank Pym.” Goliath turned his multi-faceted crimson lenses to regard the still silent Vision. “And I heard the same voice Jan did and she’s right. The Vision’s voice always sounded as if it were coming from the bottom of a grave but there’s something different about it. I think it’s because Hank’s in there now.”
“I want to know what gives you the right to play God?” The Wasp raged. “Damn you, Tony! Hank was your FRIEND!”
“And it’s precisely because he was my friend that I did it!” Tony raged right back. “Understand something: this is never going to be Hank Pym. Hank is DEAD. But his knowledge…his vast scientific knowledge and experience as an Avenger will live on in his own creation. Trust me on this, Jan…Hank and I talked about this many times and THIS is what he would have wanted.”
“Since it’s such a goddamn wonderful idea then why didn’t you download YOUR ‘vast scientific knowledge and experience as an Avenger’ into The Vision’s brain?” The Wasp demanded.
Captain America was actually surprised to see Tony Stark looked shocked for one of the few times in his memory. It was rare that Tony was caught off guard but it appeared as if The Wasp had hit him with a blast far more powerful than her bio-electrical one.
“I…I’m not sure what you mean, Jan…”
“Sure you do! You just said that you and Hank have both been using that machine the past five years right? Right? Then you’ve got five years stored up in there same as Hank. So why didn’t you download your backups into The Vision instead of Hank’s?”
Captain America, Goliath, Nova and Andromeda all turned their eyes on Tony’s flushed face, silently asking the same question The Wasp just asked.
Hawkeye broke left while Killeroo went right. The Beast went straight up and the Warrior Drone skidded to a stop, its forked tail whipping about wildly. Green blood was pouring freely from the wound in its mouth. It seemed unable to make up its mind if it wanted to go after Hawkeye or Killeroo.
Hawkeye was sliding on his back away from the creature, two arrows in his mouth and one in his bow. He sent it zinging into the Warrior Drone’s head and the explosive arrow went off with a WHOOMP!
The Warrior Drone was knocked backwards, tumbling over and over through the air. It landed on its feet, dazed but not dead.
“Damn!” Hawkeye already had another arrow in his bow. “What the hell is that thing made outta?”
“It’s got an armored carapace! You’ll have to use a more powerful explosive arrow!” The Beast called down.
“Can’t! I uncork the really big boomers and I may bring down this place on our heads!”
“It’s worth it! We can’t risk it getting out of here!”
Killeroo charged into the battle, eager to prove himself. He seized the Warrior Drone by the tail and with one mighty yank lifted the creature completed off the ground and slammed it into a bank of machinery. Fat yellow sparks exploded from the machine as its forward legs scrabbled to get a firm hold on the young Inhuman. But Killeroo was having none of it. A huge grin was on his furry snout as he again lifted the Warrior Drone and smashed it with brutal force against the nearest wall. The carapace split in several places, green blood spurting out.
The Beast dropped from the ceiling to land on the alien’s neck right behind the head and his huge hand went out to grasp the upper and lower jaw. He rode the Warrior Drone as it furiously bucked, trying to dislodge its unwanted rider. The screaming coming from the misshapen throat of the Warrior Drone was making Hawkeye’s head throb like an infected tooth.
“Hank! Get clear! I can’t get a shot!”
The Beast did not reply. His mouth was open in an animalistic snarl of hatred as he wrapped his legs around the Warrior Drone’s neck and the huge biceps of his arms swelled as he pushed the top jaw one way and the bottom jaw the other.
The cracking of the jawbones was hideously loud as they splintered and finally broke.
The Warrior Drone crashed over on its side, all its limbs twitching. The barbed tail flailed around so frantically that Killeroo was forced to let go. He bounded backwards, well clear of the dagger sharp barbs. The Beast used his free leg to shove the Warrior Drone’s head off his other leg and he rolled clear.
He loped over to where his comrades stood watching the dying alien.
“Jeez,” Hawkeye said feelingly. “And you mean to tell me The X-Men took on a whole planet a’ them things?”
“I do,” The Beast replied, smoothing down his fur.
“My respect fer The X-Men just went up a couple a’ notches, I c’n tell you that,” Killeroo said. “What do we do with it?”
“Take it back with us, of course.” The Beast said. “As a scientist I cannot pass up such an opportunity. And we still have to learn how it got to Earth and what A.I.M. planned to do with-“
“LOOK OUT!” Killeroo bellowed.
Hawkeye and The Beast whirled around to see the Warrior Drone leaping at them, broken jaws wobbling almost comically. But there was nothing comical about the still deadly limbs and teeth of the living killing machine as it rushed them.
“I’m not used to being interrogated by my friends.” Tony said. “Steve, are you just going to stand there or are you going to take charge of your team?”
“Jan asked you a valid question, Tony.” Captain America pushed back his cowl to reveal the open, honest face of Steve Rogers. “And since she was the man’s wife for a lot of years I think she’s got a right to an answer.”
“Maybe I’m wrong but I thought you people would be happy. Especially you, Jan.”
“Tony…I…” The Wasp was fighting to hold back the flood of tears that wanted to burst forth. “Tony…Hank died and we had his funeral. He was at peace. I was at peace. What you’ve done…how do you expect me to look at The Vision knowing that you’ve perverted Hank’s work and turned him into a zombie?”
“Aren’t you being just a tad overdramatic, Jan?” Tony said arrogantly.
This time Steve didn’t grab her wrist and the punch The Wasp delivered to Tony’s jaw laid him out flat on the floor.
Nova started forward but Goliath stretched out an arm to block his way. “Stay where you are, son. Those three have been friends longer than you’ve been alive. They have to work this out. Not us.”
The Wasp stood over Tony, pointing a trembling finger at him and now the tears were pouring freely down her cheeks. “I want you to get your miserable ass up, get back in that lab and undo this now.”
Tony got to his feet, using his cane for support. “What, do you think this is like programming a DVR? It can’t be undone. Unless you’re willing to destroy The Vision. Go ahead, blast away! I won’t stop you!”
The Wasp lifted her shaking finger to point at The Vision and slowly her hand tightened into a fist. An aura of bio-electric energy crackled around the fist.
“This is nuts!” Nova snapped. “We gotta do something!”
“Stand down, mister. That’s an order.” Steve Rogers said quietly.
The lab was silent, save for the quiet crackling of bio-electric energy. Then The Vision spoke:
“Jan?”
The Wasp’s arm dropped and with a sob she turned and ran from the lab. The Vision started to go after her but Goliath himself stepped forward. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now, Vision. You and me need to have a good long talk.” Goliath looked at Steve. “I gotta have a few hours alone with him, Steve. Try and evaluate exactly how much’a Hank Pym is in there.”
“Agreed.” Steve turned to Tony. “And speaking of talks, you and I are going to have ourselves one right now in your office, Tony. And don’t think it’s going to be a pleasant one. You’ve really crossed the line this time.”
Goliath and The Vision went one way while Steve and Tony went another leaving a perplexed Nova and a seemingly bored Andromeda. Nova looked at Andromeda in total confusion. “So what do we do?”
Andromeda shrugged. “I don’t know about you but I’m going back to the CSR and smash something.”
Monica Rambeau was just beginning to doze off. The sundeck of Stark Tower was her favorite place to take an afternoon nap. She certainly could use the rest. The past couple of days dealing with The Sentry and The Void had been grueling ones. And as she had learned from past experience, you had to seize every quiet moment you could and relish it. No telling when-
-the insistent bleeping of her Avengers communicard prevented her from dropping deeper into a wonderful sleep. She groaned and sat up straight in the lounge chair and picked up her communicard from the nearby glass topped table. She activated it, saying; “This had better be good!”
“Monica, its Jan.”
“Jan!” Monica sat up even straighter. “What’s crackin’, girl? I haven’t heard from you in a month of Sundays!”
“Monica…I…it’s about Hank…or The Vision…I’m not sure…”
Monica’s eyes narrowed in alarm. “Jan? Honey? What’s wrong? What’s happened? What’s this about Hank?”
“I need a favor, Monica. A big one.”
“Name it.”
“I’ve got to get away from here but I don’t want to quit The Avengers. Right now my work with the team is the glue holding me together. But I can’t stay here. I just can’t. I’ll explain when I get out there. I can be ready to Quinjet out there in an hour. Think you guys can use another member?”
“You come on straight out here, honey. You’ve got a home with The West Coast Avengers for as long as you want.”
“My WORD!”
Jarvis could hardly believe his eyes. Killeroo and The Beast were lugging what looked like a giant insect on their backs while Hawkeye raised the security door of the loading dock located at the rear of the mansion.
Hawkeye threw a jaunty wave at the butler. “Hiya, Jarv! What’s shakin’?”
“Master Hawkeye, what is that hideous thing?”
“That, my good Jarvis is a prime example of a Brood Warrior Drone.”
Killeroo and The Beast dumped the dead thing on the concrete floor and Killeroo massaged his aching lower back. “Right bloody heavy example,” he muttered. “I’m fer a hot bath.”
“You did real good today, kid!” Hawkeye gave the young Inhuman a thumbs up. “You got talent for this work.”
Killeroo’s ears stood straight up in the air with pride. “Y’really think so, Hawk?”
“If there’s one thing I know, its talent. And you got plenty of it. Go get washed up and changed and I’ll take you to one of my favorite waterin’ holes fer some brewskis.”
The Beast scratched his chin. “Your flippant attitude belies your true feelings, Hawkeye.”
“Tell me about it. I thought we were all goners when that thing got back up and jumped at us. I thought you said it was dead!”
“Well, it did die, didn’t it?”
“After scaring the hell outta me it did. If it hadn’t dropped dead right in front of us I don’t know what we would have done. You gonna dissect this thingie?”
“Absolutely, I-“The Beast broke off as Captain America came through the door and joined them on the loading dock.
“I just passed Killeroo. Looks like you boys had quite the adventure.”
“Adventure isn’t the word, Steve.” Hawkeye pushed back his cowl. “We miss anything while we were gone?”
“The Vision’s back and The Wasp’s gone.”
“Gone?” The Beast frowned. “Gone where? Why? What happened?”
“She packed her bags, asked for the loan of a Quinjet and she’s gone to join the west coast team. She left about a half hour ago.”
“I don’t understand, Steve. Just what the hell happened?”
Captain America spun on a red-booted heel and walked away, throwing over his shoulder; “Go ask Tony Stark. He’ll be more than glad to tell you.”
NEXT ISSUE: The assemblers barely have time to catch their breath before a new threat strikes! The undersea barbarian hordes of Attuma invade New York! Ms. Marvel returns! The brand new Vision goes into action for the first time! All this and more in Part One of “ATTUMA KNOWS BEST!”
No, seriously. That’s the title. Honest. We wouldn’t lie to you about something like that.