“That’s like the third AIM cache we’ve uncovered.” Darkhawk said. He looked at the struggling drone he still held captive. “And every single one of them guarded by these things-”

“Hunter-Killers. Hive-mind AI’s. Reaction time of hornets. Circuitry based on the biology of hornets too.” Iron-Man said, arms crossed, looking up at the drone. “Very precise.”

“You almost sound like you admire them.” Spider-Woman said, sitting on the roof of a burnt out Honda nearby. Tony looked at her.

“I appreciate the work that went into it. AIM has a...a sort of artistry to their devices, if you can believe it. They’re not mass-produced at all. Each of these drones is the work of a separate engineer, with different circuitry, relays and even co-axial engraving. A work of art, really.”

“So was the first Colt.” Moon Knight said. “Still killed people.”

“Spector-” Iron-Man turned.

“Boys. Please.” the Wasp said, looking back and forth between them. “Testosterone-flag-waving aside, what does this tell us?"

"That the damage Equinox unleashed almost a year ago hit the substructure of the city a lot more than we'd like to believe." A new voice intruded. Iron-Man turned and waved the owner of the voice closer.

"Brinks. Glad you could make it. Avengers, allow me to introduce Brinks Baxter, head of the California branch of Damage Control."

"Call me BB." Baxter said. He was a slim man with caramel colored skin and an easy, thin smile. He wore an ox-blood business suit with a dark tie. "And this is my assistant-" He gestured behind him, at a young woman clad in Levi's and a leather jacket. She was carrying several cameras and piece of seismic equipment strapped to her back. Her hair was a deep blue now, but Darkhawk recognized her all the same.

"Lena!"

"Lena Myers." BB said, quirking an eyebrow. He glanced at his assistant. "You owe me lunch."

"What?"

"You said he wouldn't remember you. Ergo, lunch."

"Damn. Excuse me. Chris!" Lena tossed a glare at her boss as she ran past and Darkhawk swept her up. Lena pushed away from him and slammed a fist into his chest.

"I thought you were dead!"

"What?"

"You haven't called me in a week!"

"Ow! Stop it!" Darkhawk put his hands up to defend himself as Lena continued to batter at him. "Busy! I was busy! Guys! Tell her!"

"Oh yeah, busy." Iron-Man said.

"Very busy." Spider-Woman added.

"Verily, by mine troth." Halifax said, leaning on his sword.

"Thank you. See?" Darkhawk gestured. Lena smirked and hit him again, then shook her hand to ease the soreness.

"Fine."

"Ah. Young love. Disgusting, really." BB looked at Iron-Man. "So, your boss is picking up the tab I hear."

"Mr. Stark wants to do everything he can to help the city get back on its feet."
"Him and everybody else. SpectorCorp. just put in a donation as well. And Richmond Industries.” BB said. “Makes me tingle all these rich playboys just handing me money.”

Iron-Man shot a look at Moon Knight who regarded him coolly. So that’s going to be the game, is it?, Tony thought. You are definitely getting on my nerves, Spector. He shook his head and turned his attention back to BB, who was rattling off statistics as easily as he breathed.

“Pretty much every hidden depot, arms cache or ‘super-villain hideout’-” he said, crooking his fingers to make air-quotes. “-was cracked like a walnut when this part of the city got shuffled. One of the reasons we’re having so much trouble with cleaning things up. Every defense system SHIELD, AIM or Hydra could install was activated and is now full-op, bore-on and cranky. There was a Sentinel fished out of the Bay last week!”

“You’re welcome.” Moon Knight said. BB opened his mouth, closed it.

“Then these things-”

“AIM HK’s.” Iron-Man supplied.

“Right. Whatever. Regardless, they’re a hazard to my people.”

“Which is why we’re here right?” Spider-Woman said, waving a hand. “Run interference?”

“Give the lady a cigar.” BB said. “You guys really want to help out, this is how it goes-you keep the watch dogs off of us, we fix the buildings, the substructure, everything. We’ve got it down to a science-”

Moon Knight drifted away from the group and pointed surreptitiously at Spider-Woman and the Wasp. They moved into an alleyway. “Interesting as this is...” Spector said quietly.

“I know. I talked to the crowd while the boys put on their show...no Ultron. But, they did catch a glimpse of several of our old friends from the other night-” the Wasp said, arms crossed. “Bison among them.”

“Perfect.” Moon Knight muttered. "No good deed unpunished, huhm?" He looked at Drew. “Well?”

“I scouted out the next few blocks. Got signs of definite bad-guy activity. Don’t know if it was the Society though.” She looked at Jan. “Or Ultron, come to that. But it’s there.”

“Wherever there’s trouble, Hank will be.” Jan said firmly. “He’s convinced this Ultron isn’t like the others. That it’s different. He wants it to be a hero.”

“He said that?”

“Yeah. But I didn’t listen. Not really. I hoped us getting out of things would convince him to put it off.” The Wasp shook her head. “Silly me.”

“So we-what?-wait for the screams and the laser blasts?” Spider-Woman said, leaning against the wall of the alley, arms crossed. Moon Knight nodded.

“Exactly.”

“Curious.” Halifax grunted. The Knight of Wundagore rested on his sword, green eyes narrowed as he watched the trio of Avengers converse. “Plots and plans within plans, it seems.”

“What?” Druid looked at him. He followed Halifax’s gaze. “Ah.”

“Unseemly to hold separate council from ones own comrades.”

“Private conversations are unheard of, then, in Wundagore?”

“No.” Halifax shifted. He sheathed his sword. “But we do not take pains to avoid letting others hear them.”

“Everyone has secrets, young Sir Knight. Even Avengers. Especially Avengers.” Druid said, looking away from the trio.

“Even you?” Darkhawk said, coming up behind them. “I mean-honestly-you seem to have a whole bucketful.” Druid closed his eyes and sighed.

“I am sorry Chris. It was-”

“No. No, you don’t get to apologize. I know what you did. I know why you did it. I know what would have happened if you hadn’t. That’s the only thing keeping me from telling the others-”

“Telling them what, Chris?” Druid said, softly.

“You sacrificed Hawkeye. You let that thing have him, just so-”

“I did no such thing boy. The only person I intended to sacrifice was myself-”

“Yeah. Funny how that worked out, hunh? Clint’s gone. And you’re human.” Darkhawk stepped closer. “I thought you were a good guy, Doc. I thought maybe you weren’t the same guy the rest of the team said you were. But I was wrong. And Hawkeye paid for it.” Darkhawk grabbed the front of Druid’s robe and jerked him forward. “But it isn’t going to happen again-”

“Release him.” Halifax rumbled. He placed a claw on Darkhawk’s shoulder and gently, easily, pushed him back. “Your anger is misplaced.”

“Back off, Shere Khan!” Darkhawk snapped, jerking free of Halifax’s grip. “Just-back off.” He turned and stalked away, hands clenched into fists. Druid and Halifax watched him go.

“Angry.” The Knight murmured. Druid nodded.

“And rightfully so, perhaps.”

---

Elsewhere. The Equinox Zone.

Ultron stood in the shadow of a listing warehouse, shining form hidden in a ratty trench coat and a fedora. Adamantium fingers clenched and its eyes blazed. “Father?” it said.

“I’m here.” Hank Pym’s voice came from somewhere. Tiny. Undetectable save by the sensors of Ultron. “What is it?”

“Internal memory agrees with your suppositions. I am detecting definite SHIELD-brand defensive systems. It is a depot.”

“Good. SHIELD had twelve in the Bay area. Nine have been hit. Picked clean. This is the next in line.”

“So we wait?” Ultron asked.

“So we wait.” Pym said. “How do you feel?”

“All systems are functioning within limits.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” Ultron said. “I was making a joke. Was it funny?”

“Not really.” Pym said. “But close.”

“Close only counts in regards to horseshoes and hand grenades.” Ultron said.

“Clichés now?”

“My repertoire grows.” Ultron said, a definite hint of satisfaction coloring its words. “Father, I am picking up several organics approaching. I-”

“Need to learn not to spy, whoever you are.”

A geyser of water smashed into Ultron even as it turned, blasting it out into the street. The robot rolled smoothly to its feet, shrugging out of its disguise, energy flaring from its eyes.

A man clad in a blue and green body suit stalked out of the alleyway, red hair hanging lankly around his shoulders. Globules of water danced around his fingers. A strange symbol burned with an unearthly light on his forehead.

“Subject: Aqueduct. Status: Deceased.” Ultron said. “Query, how are you still alive?”

“Hard work, healthy living.” Aqueduct snarled. Water exploded from around his hands, arcing towards Ultron. The robot took the blast, not moving an inch.
“Drown, you motherfu-”

“I do not breathe.” Ultron said, moving suddenly. It lunged through the water, steel fist cutting towards Aqueduct’s face. The super-villain staggered back and fell as the punch connected, knocking him nearly sideways. Ultron stepped forward as the water that dripped from it turned to steam.

“Neither do I.” A flurry of sand smashed into Ultron, sending it bouncing down the street. Quicksand stalked towards it, her forehead decorated with the same glowing sigil as Aqueduct’s. Her arms flowed together into a giant hammer made of sand and she raised it over Ultron’s head.

Ultron rolled aside as the hammer came down and fired twin beams of energy from its hands. Quicksand screamed as her body exploded, sand scattering everywhere. Before Ultron could do much more than stand, a hairy fist caught it in the back of the head and sent it staggering forward. Bison pounded on Ultron again, both fists striking the robot in the back and sending it reeling straight into a blow from Bloodshed.

Joystick bounded forward, staves striking Ultron in its optical circuits. The robot fired wildly as the group of super-villains closed in. Blinded, confused, Ultron stumbled with every blow. Even in the simulations it had never experienced anything like this. It longed to use lethal force, but the directives Father had given it prevented it from doing so.

Gigantic fists composed of sand formed around the robot a second later, trapping it momentarily. A broad shouldered man in a business suit stepped forward, removing a glove.

“Thank you, Quicksand. And as for you my, steel friend, I have always wondered whether or not my abilities would work on a machine. Lets us see, oui? The Grey Gargoyle said, leaning forward.

---

Colorado. Somewhere on a dusty stretch of road.

Shatterfist shook inside his restraints, body trembling with a chill that wasn’t caused by the AC. A few days earlier, he’d been turned over to the authorities by the Avengers West Coast. Now he was on his way to the Vault, a victim of the Three-Strikes Law, twelve hundred parking tickets and habitual bail-jumping.

“I think he’s sick.” A woman dressed in black, with skin the color of chalk said, looking at the third prisoner. The big man, ginger-haired and bullet-headed, grunted.

“Long as he doesn’t puke on me.”

“Uhrg...” Shatterfist moaned. The woman, known in certain circles as Shriek, leaned forward, sonic dampers clattering.

“Maybe he’s got an alien in him. I dated an alien once. Well, not an alien, more like a serial killer possessed by an alien, he had red hair too, I-”

“Jesus, lady, shut up!” The man called Powderkeg barked. Shriek stuck her tongue out at him.

“Both of you shut it.” The Guardsman sitting in the back with them said quietly. He squatted in front of Shatterfist and examined him without touching him. SOP. Some transportees faked sick to try a last minute escape. It rarely worked.

Shatterfist jerked forward, a strange symbol blazing on his forehead. He screamed silently, every muscle strained to the limit as he strained against some invisible force. The Guardsman shot backwards on instinct.

The transport van suddenly slewed sideways as something struck it. Hard. Two wheels left the road and with a groan the van landed on one side and skidded twenty-five feet. It came to a stop, hanging off the lip of a ditch.

The Guardsman gained his feet first, trying to reach the men in the driver’s compartment on his radio. Silence greeted him.

The doors to the back of the van were ripped free. The Guardsman reached for his weapon. A hand shot through the opening, green-clad fingers wrapping around his helmet and squeezing. The helmet crumpled and popped. The fingers opened and the Guardsman fell backwards, limp.

“Clear.” Puff-Adder grunted, stepping back. Sidewinder stepped into the open doorway and crouched on the step, looking at the three prisoners.

“Lady and gentlemen, this is a jail-break. Courtesy of the Serpent Society.”

---

Darkest Kush. Ancient Hyboria.

Hawkeye gazed down the length of the sword and grinned. “Is this where we compare sizes? Cause if it is, I got to give it to you. Loincloth and such.”

Conan glared at him fiercely for a few moments until his expression disintegrated into a howl of laughter. “Ha!” Conan sheathed his sword and stepped back. “A brave man this, eh woman?” he said, glancing at Princess Python.

“Foolhardy, even one might say.” She said, stroking the flat head of her serpent. Clint shook his head.

“Thanks, Z.”

“Calls ‘em like I sees ‘em Barton.”

“So, we friends now?” Hawkeye said, turning back to Conan. “I mean, we over the whole ‘misunderstanding-and-melee’ part of this?”

“Aye.” Conan pulled a leather satchel out of his belt. “The Vrmangi-”

“The who?”

“The corpse-eaters who hounded us across half of this benighted ruin.” Conan gestured with a scarred hand. “I borrowed one of their god-tokens.” He held up the satchel and unwrapped it with quick fingers.

The ruby was the size of a man’s fist and it radiated a warmth evident even to Hawkeye and Princess Python, standing several feet away. Hawkeye smirked. A faint sense of familiarity nagged at him as he watched Conan re-wrap the stone. He’d seen a similar stone somewhere else...hadn’t he?

“Borrowed?” he said, groping for the tangled threads of memory. He had seen it. Not a similar stone. That stone. Only...

“What good is wealth if it’s not spent?” Conan said, giving a shrug. “Besides which, it doesn’t even belong to those carrion-eating thieves. It was stolen from the house of a Kothian merchant named Nybastes a year ago. He paid me to find the thief and return the stone.”

“Did you?” Zelda said. “Find the thief, I mean?”

“No. But the Vrmangi did.” Conan grinned wolfishly. “Sucked his bones clean.”

“Pleasant.”

“The Ka-Stone!” Hawkeye shouted, pointing. Zelda and Conan looked at him. Hawkeye raised his hands up and laughed. “The Ka-Stone! The Ka-Stone!”

“What are you gibbering about?” Princess Python said, stamping her foot.

“That rock he stole-borrowed-whatever...that’s the Ka-Stone!”

“What is a Ka-Stone?” Conan said, eyes narrowed. Hawkeye stopped laughing. His face fell as things began to sink in. The Ka-Stone belonged to-

“No. Whoa. Hold up. How’d that-” he waved towards the bag on Conan’s belt. “-get here? Wherever here is? Where is here, by the way?”

“Kush.” Conan grunted. “Eastern coast.”

“Of?”
“Hyboria.”

“Where’s Hyboria?”

“When’s Hyboria, I think. I recognize some of those constellations.” Zelda pointed up at the night sky overhead, through the crumbled roof. “This is Earth.”

“What is this Ka-Stone? You know of it? I knew it smelled of sorcery.” Conan snarled, glaring at the bag as if it had personally offended him. “No gem stays this warm...”

“Man...” Hawkeye looked up at the sky and then back down at the others. “I hate time-travel.”

---

 

TO BE CONTINUED…

 

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Next issue: What’s this? Two issues without a big fight? We’ll rectify that right now...the Avengers vs. Ultron vs. a boatload of super-villains in a battle royal! The Serpent Society slithers in the background! Hawkeye and co. head for Koth! Be here in thirty for ’PRODIGALS’!

 

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