1944, Poland:
The Red Skull scornfully tosses a Russian prisoner to the ground, announcing he has served his purpose. A Russian scientist of some renown, he has been intimately involved with their secret eugenics program. Don’t bother denying it. These names… these families will never experience the light he has shown them. In addition, he will be the first to experience the extermination technology he will be using in camps currently being built all along the Ostfront. In that respect, he is truly a pioneer. The Skull leaves the man alone in his cell. Energy glows from the walls, engulfing the man who is disintegrated.
Some time ago:
Via text message, Ultimate Nullifier tells Miss America she has style and asks if she wants to hook up. He is not her type, she replies. Not what he meant but he digs the attitude. Let’s talk! he suggests.
Now:
Miss America Chavez has freed the teenage Inbetweener and now both are attacked by demonic creatures who can hurt even her. America drops the boy.
Ultimate Nullifier contacts her, asking what is going on. Hold that thought! she orders and flies after the Inbetweener.
Angel Salvadore announces she’s tapped into the weather sat feeds here. They’re going nuts. Those things are throwing off some mean frequencies.
America grabs the boy’s foot. Enough of this crap, she decides and busts loose. This is getting real old real fast, she complains. Ultimate Nullifier tells her, for Galactus’ sake, protect the package!
The monsters have had enough and disappear. She okay? Ultimate Nullifier asks. Hell yes, She’s always ok! America rejoins.
In McKeesport, Devlin DeAngelo is selling the Young Masters a clubhouse, formerly a HYDRA base. Executioner warns him not to call the place a clubhouse again. DeAngelo asks who the others are. Egghead, Radioactive Kid, Black Knight and Mako. Radioactive Kid boasts they will burn the world down. Black Knight thinks she could hack Avengers Tower from here. Executioner asks who pulls his strings. Same benefactor they got, he replies.
Elsewhere:
Miss America arrives back with the Inbetweener to find the others packing up. Tougher to hit a moving target, Ultimate Nullifier reminds her and welcomes the Inbetweener, who apologizes for not quite being himself yet. Ultimate Nullifier introduces himself, Miss America, Angel and Barnell. They are the Teen Brigade.
The Inbetweener sinks down exhausted. So much life. He can feel it all around him… But war chooses its soldiers, not the others way round. He names the war, they’ve probably influenced the outcome, Ultimate Nullifier boasts while muttering to America he hates it when somebody sits in his chair. America smirks.
Somebody wanted them to pull him out of that pit in Nevada. Mission accomplished. Now what? One cannot simply sit back and wait for things to stabilize, the boy rants. Apathy is a symptom of chaos. He’s not gonna find a lot of apathy around here, America scoffs. Not in theory anyway, Angel remarks as she carries some stuff. He could have gotten lucky and hooked up with the big guns like the Avengers or the FF. Instead, it’s this outfit.
Two boys take away the chair the boy is sitting on. Beak informs the others they have found a new nesting spot in a suburb of Chicago. Multiple routes have already been confirmed and uploaded. But considering their guest, maybe they should find a more remote area. Ultimate Nullifier decides they are fine. They have the fire power to fight off any kind of alien invasion. Angel and Beak get in the car. The Inbetweener asks that he thought they were heroes. More like behind the scenes assistance, America tells him. Most times the heroes don’t even know they are there. And you couldn’t pay her to join the Avengers!
Amen, sister, Angel mocks. Who needs respect? She and Barnell enter the car with Barnell having to leave the steering wheel and radio to her.
Ultimate Nullifier continues that it’s worth seeing beyond those rose-colored glasses, to really look and see how it all works. To see the strings. An entire world hanging upside down.
On Long Island, Kyle Richmond addresses the Defenders. They all know there are plenty of secrets floating around these days. Maybe the most dangerous are the ones forgotten. That doesn’t make them any less potent. Someone has been funneling classified SHIELD files out of ancillary datastreams. Various cloud networks and whatnots. Funneling them to where and who they don’t know. Yet. Naturally certain people are worried about stuff being out in the open.
And that’s where they come in? She-Hulk asks. Chasing stolen information? Weren’t they taking down Gargantus yesterday? Kyle replies the two aren’t that far apart.
Joaquin Pennyworth explains the information deals with certain black files even Norman Osborn kept hidden away when he was in charge. Things that exist, but can’t be explained. Kyle continues their contact doesn’t buy the idea that it’s simply enemy spy bickerings intel-
Krang interjects he hopes they don’t waste their time meddling in air breather politics. They practice nothing but an annoying brand of entropy. Joaquin suggests they find the leak.
Daimon Hellstrom reveals that there is something else which may require their attention. Something much more dangerous than these secrets they seem to be sweating over. Daimon smirks: his lineage leaves him open to certain… perceptions. He tends to see things in a, shall they say, quantum-dimensional manner. In English? She-Hulk asks, rolling her eyes.
Every dimension across the blood-soaked spectrum of reality, all at once. The known… and the unknown. Last night, he experienced a fever dream. He saw a blizzard of darkness piercing their physical plane. Evil… soulless and wretched and laser-focused. They are a virus and must be dealt with before their infection spreads.
Okay, Kyle decides, nobody does weird better than them. Pennyworth agrees, donning the Nighthawk helmet.
Elsewhere in a huge hall, a pleased Radioactive Kid looks at the guard he just killed with his touch while Black Knight looks something up on Hacknet, but finds nothing. The facility must be way classified, she decides. Maybe their fearless leader actually knows what he’s doing.
Flashback:
Executioner announces it’s not the way it used to be. There is no Masters of Evil for them to join. No Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The Circus of Crime is a joke. That’s why they exist – the next generation of evil bastards. And they are about to announce themselves to the world in a big bad way.
Does it involve murder? Mako asks hopefully. Executioner announces it does and asks if anyone knows the myth of the Fisher King. He knows the movie. Does that count? Egghead asks.
Present:
Gotta love that Egghead, Black Knight mutters. She’ll never know why he took that name. Then again, legacy is kind of a broad area. Radioactive Kid agrees. He doesn’t even know the original Radioactive Man. That guy was a turncoat anyway. Another example of the old guard dying off.
Elsewhere in the facility, surrounded by more dead guards, Executioner critically looks at the body they came for. He’s disappointed the rumors are true and he’s dead. Mako suggests they take the body. Executioner figures they still can take credit for the kill.
Egghead warns Mako not to eat it and adds Bullseye sleeps with the fishes. Executioner tells them to show some respect. Bullseye fought wars in the streets and he’ll bet he went out in a blaze of glory!
Outside, suddenly, the other two are caught in a smoke bomb. A wall explodes. Mako is shot. Children at play, Lady Bullseye scoffs. They have no rights to claim here.
Who is she calling children? Executioner shouts. She elegantly dodges their attacks, lands in front of Executioner and kicks him in the face. She dodges his blows, enraging him further. Ignoring his treats, she walks to the dais, addressing the corpse: Magnificent warrior. All the confusion, all the tragedy he put her through. Lady Bullseye forgives him. She sits astride him. He was great once. He shall be great again.
When Mako tries to attack her from behind, she decapitates him without even bothering to look. Coolly, she informs the others that the Kingpin didn’t send her. They are not on his radar but now they are on hers. They have no business here. This one is not a toy for their amusement. He is hers. She straddles him again. While Eggface wonders whether she is about to do what he thinks, Executioner leads him out.
Elsewhere:
The Inbetweener stands on a rooftop. Ultimate Nullifier joins him, telling him not to let the view fool him. Too much personal introspection gives you ulcers. He’s free, he’s safe, just go with it.
He thinks he is beginning to remember who he is, the boy replies. He is that which attracts both serenity and chaos. They fill those extreme spaces and all the spaces inbetween. There is some great destiny at work here. They have to understand what’s at stake. He can show them.
Elsewhere:
What are you looking at? Doctor Octopus snarls in his lair.
