And there was a day unlike any other, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes found themselves united against a common threat! On that day, the Avengers were born--to fight the foes no single superhero could withstand...

Avengers

Issue #3

"VENGEANCE"
Part I
by Shawn Goodspeed


Steve Rogers, a scrawny boy, volunteered to take an experimental serum to serve his country during World War II. The risk he took made him the pinnacle of human physical perfection. Wielding an unbreakable shield, Captain America became a living legend, and after being frozen for decades in suspended animation, was awakened by the Avengers. He is the ultimate soldier and an Avenger until the end.
Captain America

Wanda Maximoff posseses a mutant hex ability to control probability fields as well as knowledge of the arcane arts. The daughter of Magneto and twin sister to the X-Men's Quicksilver, Wanda has been a longtime Avenger for years. Now seperated from the Vision, Wanda is currently seeing Wonder Man.
Scarlet Witch

Millionaire industrialist and technical genius Tony Stark built an advanced suit of armor to keep his heart beating after shrapnel nearly took it from him. Free of that problem now, Stark continues to don it to fight for justice as Iron Man. The armor is constantly changing but always has numerous weapons and helpful machines.
Iron Man

A founding member of the Avengers, Hank Pym has the ability to either increase or decrease his size using specialized Pym Particles.
Giant-Man

A reformed criminal and longtime Avenger, Clint Barton posseses no superhuman powers, but his archery skills are unmatched. Armed with a variety of trick arrows, Hawkeye has also served as leader of the West Coast Avengers and the Thunderbolts.
Hawkeye

A former Avenger who apparently died in battle, Simon Williams is a being composed of ionic energy. He possesses incredible strength and flight while in his ionic form. Recently, he was resurrected by the Scarlet Witch and the two are currently pursuing a romantic relationship.
Wonder Man

A founding member of the New Warriors, Vance Astrovik was once known as Marvel Boy. With the mutant ability of telekinesis, it has been his lifelong dream to become an Avenger. Now, after accomplishing that dream, he finds that he may not be cut out for it.
Justice

A founding member of the New Warriors, Angelica Jones has the mutant ability to control microwave blasts. While somewhat reluctant to join the Avengers, she has found that she has a valuable place on the team.
Firestar

A synthezoid created by the villainous Ultron, the Vision has proved himself an Avenger time and time again. He possesses the abilities of flight, energy projection, and density control.
Vision

Captain America had called a meeting in the conference room. Everyone had arrived and Captain America dove right into voicing his concern.

"I have been doing some thinking lately and I want everyone to decide how this team is run. I've noticed that a couple of you are not too sure that you want to be here. If any of you feel that you don't belong or that you don't want to be an Avenger, let us know. There are eight spots on the team and there are a few people who would like to fill those spots. So if you are only staying because you don't want to abandon us or leave us short a member, then you don't have to worry. Now...."

"I don't mean to be rude by interrupting, Captain America, but I feel I need to say something," the Vision interrupted. "I am doing this team no service and I feel I am taking up a spot. I do not feel as though I am contributing anything to the Avengers and would like to be taken off the roster."

"Now wait a minute," Captain America replied. "I was afraid this would happen. I knew someone would feel unwanted, but that was not my intent for this meeting. Vision, if you truly want to remain an Avenger, then feel free to. As long as you want to stay here, we want you here."

Vision contemplated for a second.

Before he could respond, Dr. Pym spoke up. "Well, the Vision's condition is definitely improving. He should be able to battle within a few days. So I see no reason for him to be taken off the roster, unless, of course, he wants to be."

"I will give it a few days," the Vision said. "If I do not feel I should stay, I will not."

"Sounds fair," agreed Captain America.

"Wait a minute," Hawkeye quickly spoke up with a suspecting tone in his voice. "You said that there were a lot of people waiting to become an Avenger. But our deal was that I would be dropped as soon as you found a replacement.*"

[*See last ish for details--Jess]

"You were the one who came up with that idea. I never even agreed to it. You would be an asset to the team if you stayed, but if you don't want to, then don't."

Hawkeye thought for a second, then agreed to stay.

"Okay, anyone else...?" asked Captain America.

Wonder Man wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what exactly he wanted to say, so he chose to not say anything. Scarlet Witch sensed that something was wrong with him, but she remained quiet as well.

"Well, then, on to the next order of business. Jarvis, the floor's all yours," Captain America said as he sat down.

"Thank you sir," began Jarvis. "Someone has rudely left a mess in the recreation room every day this week. I have cleaned it up today for the last time. If I find it there again, I shall leave it there. That is all."

Jarvis sat back down as a few of the Avengers held back their laughter. Captain America continued on with the meeting, but mainly with issues of public relations.



About an hour later, Captain America dismissed everyone. As everyone left, Scarlet Witch stopped Wonder Man in the hall.

"Simon, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why would you think something's wrong?"

"You seem...I don't know, weird. Like something's on your mind. You aren't still thinking about...us? Are you?"

"No. It has nothing to do with you. Lets go sit down somewhere," Simon said as he brought Wanda to the living room. "I got a call this morning. Someone from my old building in San Francisco passed away. And the doctors believe it's my fault."

"How could it be your fault?" Wanda asked.

"Do you remember about eight or nine years ago when I caused some people in my building to get super powers?"

"No, but go on."

"Well, its a long story, but something happened and seven people got super powers. They formed a minor super hero team, but soon disbanded. None of them really liked each other too much. They all went their separate ways. Two of them came down with cancer and the doctors believe that it was caused by the same thing that caused them to get super powers. All seven of them lost their powers, but the effects on their bodies were still there. And one of the cancer victims died last night. His family is blaming me for his death. And, it is my fault. The other cancer victim will probably die soon too and that will be another death on my hands. I just...don't know what to do."

"Maybe you should visit the families of both victims," Wanda suggested. "Talk to them. Maybe them blaming you is just a way of them dealing with the death of a loved one."

"Maybe I will. The family of the one who died is here in New York, but the other family is in San Francisco. I'll go to the one here in New York first. Will you come with me?"

Scarlet Witch agreed and they got up and hugged each other, then walked out of the room. Neither of them knew that the Vision was listening to their whole conversation. He had been in the room before they entered and decided to listen.

Wonder Man walked to his room and made a call to the victim's family. They told him that if he wants, he could go see them immediately. Wonder Man got Scarlet Witch and they left the mansion.



In about fifteen minutes, they arrived at the family's house. A middle-aged woman welcomed them in. She introduced herself as Martha, her husband as Richard, and two other people as John and Samantha.

Wonder Man sensed the tension in the room. "I came by to apologize for what happened a few years ago and to..."

"Apologize?!" Richard exclaimed with a mocking tone. "Is apologizing going to bring my son back?! I don't think so. So don't waste your time. I only allowed you to come thinking that maybe one of your super-powered-freak-friends had a way to bring my son back!" He quickly stood up, slamming his coffee mug onto the table.

"I'm afraid that's impossible, sir. I'm sorry for..." Wonder Man began.

"There he goes with his apologizing again!" John yelled. "Why don't you just leave? I don't know why my mother even thought about letting you come here."

Wonder Man sighed and hung his head. As he got up, he thought to himself. I should have known it would end like this. I killed their son. Why should they even want to see me? He walked towards the door, but Scarlet Witch had something else in mind.

"He came here out of the goodness of his heart to apologize for something that wasn't even his fault!!" Scarlet Witch said, making no gesture to leave. "You should show him some respect, or at least accept his apology."

"It was more his fault than it was my son's! He didn't deserve to die. If anyone does, it's the 'great' Wonder Man!" Richard exclaimed in a mocking voice.

"That's horrible! You..." Scarlet Witch began.

"That's enough Wanda," Wonder Man interrupted. "We should just go."

"That's right!" Richard exclaimed. "Get out of my house!"

Scarlet Witch shook her head, following Wonder Man out. Just before Wonder Man was about to fly off, Martha yelled out to him.

"I'm really sorry for how my family treated you two. I know it's not your fault my son died, and so do they, but they just don't know how to deal with the loss yet. Please understand and forgive them?"

"I understand, but I don't think they have anything to be forgiven for," Wonder Man responded.

"Bless you. I must get back inside now. Thank you for coming."

Wonder Man nodded and smiled. Martha rushed back into her house. Wonder Man grabbed onto Scarlet Witch. As he touched her, all of his guilt and other negative emotions suddenly disappeared. He remained to hide his emotions and flew back towards Avengers Mansion. When they entered, they were greated by Captain America and Tony Stark.

"How'd it go?" Captain America asked.

"Not too bad," Wonder Man said as he walked past them toward his room.

"The mother understood, but the others still blamed Simon," Wanda explained. "They barely let him talk. The mother apologized for their behavior, but I think Simon is still a little shook up."



A day passed and Wonder Man was still down and feeling guilty. Scarlet Witch was on her way to talk to him when the alarm went off. The alarm gave very little preparation time. A robot smashed through the front door. This robot was a special robot and one that was very familiar to the Avengers. Justice and Firestar were the first to get there and were stunned by what they saw. The Vision was the next to arrive and he went right into battle. Justice and Firestar decided they should as well. Captain America soon arrived.

"My...God! ULTRON!!" Captain America said with great surprise as he joined his fellow Avengers in battle.

"Haha! Did you miss me?"

Ultron fired shots wildly around the room. Captain America shielded himself, as did Justice along with Firestar. Vision stayed in his translucent form, so he didn't have to worry about the blasts. Iron Man fired at Ultron's back from outside. The blasts stunned him for a second, but soon continued on with his rampage. Iron Man would have kept firing, but he was picking up weird readings and began to read into them more. Meanwhile, Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye came on the scene.

"Cap, Hank said that he is getting prepared for battle. He knew he would be needed when he found out who's here," Hawkeye said as he set up his bow and arrows.

Hawkeye raised a bow and aimed. Captain America and Wonder Man got into a fighting stance while Scarlet Witch began to summon hexes. Justice hovered in the air, prepared to put up a shield. Firestar also remained hovering, also prepared. Iron Man remained outside, trying to figure out the readings Ultron was giving off. Vision was now nowhere to be seen. They all stayed a safe distance from each other, making sure one hit would not take them all out. They remained still, waiting for Ultron to attack.

"Ah, I see that you want me to attack first. Good. Cause I wouldn't want to start without my Papa present!" Ultron exclaimed.

Ultron began to charge his power. Captain America decided that waiting would be futile and maybe dangerous. He whipped his shield toward Ultron and charged. The other Avengers got the idea and began attacking. Wonder Man charged at Ultron from a different direction than Cap. Ultron laughed and released a large electric ball from his hands. It hovered above him, then dropped, surrounding him. Captain America and Wonder Man quickly halted, knowing it would be suicidal to continue their attack. Scarlet Witch concentrated and created a hex that would attack Ultron's internal molecular rearranger. With this, Ultron froze, but the electric ball remained in place. All of the Avengers watched with curiosity.

Suddenly, Ultron sent a quick blast at Wonder Man, sending him crashing into a wall. Scarlet Witch hurried over to him. She then began summoning hexes to wear down the electricity so the others could attack. Hawkeye began firing different types of arrows at Ultron, most of them just bouncing off the electric field, but some got through to Ultron, but those few did little harm. Iron Man and Firestar began shooting at Ultron, one on each side of him. Firestar's shots barely had an effect, while Iron Man's seemed to bounce right off him. Captain America and Justice remained unable to attack. Ultron aimed one hand at Firestar and one at Iron Man. He released a large magnetic beam from each. Ultron continued to watch the electric ball wear out, knowing that Scarlet Witch was also getting weak. Iron Man sent out a force field that protected him from the magnetic beam, while Firestar was protected by Justice. Ultron sent seven bolts towards Justice and one towards Firestar. Justice only had enough time to save one of them, so of course, he threw up a shield in front of Firestar, protecting her from the bolt. The seven bolts shot at him wrapped around him and chain him to the wall.

"Vance!!! NO!" Firestar exclaimed as she rushed over to him.

Firestar tried to get him free, but was unsuccessful.

"I'll be fine Angel," Justice said. "Just help the others."

Vision suddenly phased through the ceiling, landing behind Ultron, unnoticed by the crazed robot. Just as Ultron was about to fire at Captain America, Vision phased his arm through Ultron's body.

"Fool! I anticipated you doing that!" Ultron exclaimed with laughter.

Ultron and Vision started to glow. Vision collapsed to his knees, withdrawing his attack. He kneeled there, holding his head.

"What the hell happened to him?!" Hawkeye shouted.

Ultron laughed and fired at Captain America. Captain America rolled out of the way. Wonder Man saw that Scarlet Witch was getting weak, as did Ultron. Ultron fired a blast towards her and knocked her to the ground. Wonder Man gathered all his energy and charged at Ultron, going through what was left of the electricity. Wonder Man grabbed onto Ultron and forced him out of the mansion. Ultron was fighting back, but Wonder Man felt nothing. His great strength seemed to overpower Ultron. The other Avengers were somewhat amazed. Wonder Man smashed Ultron up against the outside wall. Wonder Man stood there, his eyes turning black. Ultron got up and grabbed Wonder Man. He began to electrocute Wonder Man. The electricity had an effect, but Wonder Man was ignoring the pain and pounded on Ultron. Justice continued to struggle free with the help of Firestar. Vision remained on the floor. The other Avengers rushed outside. They all saw that Wonder Man was becoming someone different, as if someone else was controlling him and he was feeding off of a power source outside his body. Suddenly, Giant-Man ran over to the Avengers.

"Sorry I took so long; I couldn't find my equipment. But I see Simon is dealing with Ultron himself."

"We must stop him!" Scarlet Witch shouted with a worried voice. "He's becoming out of control!"

Scarlet Witch used a hex to pull Wonder Man off of Ultron. Ultron was seriously damaged. Captain America threw his shield at Ultron's head. It bounced right off. Iron Man began firing his repulser blasts. Ultron's defenses were low now and his reactions were slow. Giant-Man helped restrain Wonder Man. Hawkeye, Captain America, and Iron Man continued their attacks. Soon Ultron flew up above them all. He fired one last shot at Vision, then flew away. Vision was knocked into the sofa. Wonder Man got free and chased after Ultron.

"SIMON! NO! COME BACK! SIMON!" Scarlet Witch yelled.

Giant-Man returned to normal size and ran over to Vision. Iron Man was holding Scarlet Witch, as she cried. Captain America rushed over to check on the Vision as well. Hawkeye helped Firestar get Justice free.

"I knew it was too early for him to go into battle. I need to get him back to my lab," Giant-Man said as he picked up Vision and carried him back to the lab.

Captain America walked over to Firestar.

"I understand that you care for him and you wanted him to be safe, but he could have waited. We needed you out there."

"Aw, give her a break Cap," Hawkeye said, coming to Firestar's defense. "She did what she thought was right. And besides, we have other things to worry about. Like Wonder Man. If he's in one of his weird moods again, we're all in trouble."

"Iron Man, Firestar, Justice. You three search the area and find Wonder Man and Ultron," Captain America ordered. "Hawkeye and I will each take a Quinjet and do the same. Whoever finds him, don't approach until you have backup. Just follow."

"What about me?" Scarlet Witch asked.

"I thought you might want to stay here with the Vision," Cap said.

"I'm coming with you and Hawkeye."

Justice, Firestar, and Iron Man took off, while Scarlet Witch, Captain America, and Hawkeye rushed to the Quinjets. They got in and took off. Justice was hoping he was not the one to find Wonder Man, and he wasn't. But neither were any of the other Avengers who took off. Wonder Man was found laying on the kitchen floor of the mansion with a hole in the ceiling by Jarvis. He contacted the others and when everyone returned, they stood there, looking at Wonder Man. Scarlet Witch kneeled down and touched his face. She took her other hand and held his. With this, Wonder Man began to wake up. He looked at her and smiled. She knew it was the man they all knew and not the wild monster that they had just seen.

"Justice, can you bring him to his bed to rest?" Scarlet Witch requested.

Justice nodded and telekinetically floated Wonder Man to his bed. Scarlet Witch took a seat outside his room, waiting. Captain America told everyone else to sit down around the kitchen table.

"Iron Man informed me of something while we were looking for Ultron and Wonder Man," Captain America said as he sat down.

Iron Man stood up. "This was not Ultron. When I first saw him, I got weird readings, but I didn't know how to translate them. Then I saw Scarlet Witch's attack on his internal molecular rearranger have no effect on him. While on the search, I finally decoded the readings. They merely said that Ultron's body was made out of titanium, not adamantium. Something messed with my systems and made it hard to decode the readings. Whoever made this fake Ultron knew how to defeat us. They just didn't count on Wonder Man freaking out. If the true Ultron was behind this attack, then he had help from someone....."

A silence filled the kitchen. Giant-Man decided he should check on Vision. So he got up and headed to the lab. The other Avengers were a little surprised that he left so abruptly. When he got there, he found that the Vision was not there. All he found was another hole in the wall.



NEXT ISSUE: Part 2 of Vengeance! A traitor? Nah...it couldn't be...could it? DONT MISS IT!