What Lurks Below?

The members of the Enclave, fugitives from the law, are attempting to leave New York City aboard a private plane at JFK Airport hoping to keep a low profile and not be arrested. However, the authorities are onto them. A task force led by FBI agent Derek Freeman spring a dragnet on the rogue scientist. The Enclave attempt to make a daring getaway, however end up crashing their plane into Jamaica Bay while avoiding an oncoming airliner. Before the police can go into the water and capture the wanted scientists the water is rocked by a powerful energy pulse.

Meanwhile, at Avengers Mansion, Captain America, informs Raymond Sikorski, their NSA handler, that they have just accepted the Sub-Mariner into their team. Sikorski can hardly believe the team is making such a move, particularly since the government is re-evaluating the group’s security clearance.[1] While Cap points out that Namor fought alongside the Allies during World War II, the Wasp says that the NSA has no say on who they bring onto the team while their security clearance is in limbo. Listening in on the conversation, the Black Knight cannot help but marvel at how the Wasp conducts herself and wonders if she’d be interested in going out to dinner with him sometime.

Elsewhere in the mansion, Hercules and Captain Marvel give the Sub-Mariner a tour of the mansion. When Namor gets a look at Hercules's room, the prince of Atlantis is impressed with the decor and decides to claim it for his own quarters. This leads to an argument between Namor and Hercules, prompting Captain Marvel to leave the two men to sort things out on their own. Venturing out into the city, Captain Marvel finds herself wondering if she should reveal her secret identity to her teammates. However, the addition of the Sub-Mariner to the team leaves her wondering if she can fully trust everyone with her real name. Her thoughts are interrupted when she notices the energy pulse from Jamaica Bay and decides to go and investigate.

Arriving on the scene she meets with Agent Freeman who fills her in on the situation. He goes on to explain that while they recovered the Enclave members whatever they were carrying was lost in the water and that he had sent down a team of divers to recover it.[2] When they are suddenly forced back up to the surface, Monica decides to investigate herself. Changing into her energy form she goes down deep into the water and finds some strange cocoon on the floor of the bay. However, when she attempts to approach it a telepathic voice tells her to keep away and forces her to revert back to her human form. Needing air, Monica is forced to return to the surface and narrowly avoids droining.

As the Avengers are called out onto the scene, they are unaware that they are being spied upon by their old foe, the Melter and his minion Keegan. Intending to use his new melting device to destroy the Avengers headquarters the Melter begins preparing for the attack. When he opens his locker and discovers Keegan tied up inside. Realizing he has been talking to an impostor, the Melter turns around to face the intruder, who shoots him dead. Crushing the Melter’s new weapon under his bootheel the man posing as Keegan pronounces that justice has been served before departing.[3]

Captain America, Black Knight, Wasp, Hercules and Sub-Mariner arrive at the scene at Jamaica Bay and Captain Marvel provides them with a sketch of what she saw under the water. What she draws reminds Captain America of the cocoons that Adam Warlock and his mate Her would use to protect themselves. This leaves the Avengers to believe that the Enclave may have created another artificial being.[4] Seeing this as a threat, Namor brashly dives into the water only to find himself forced back like everyone else who has attempted to get close to the cocoon. Once back on the surface, the Wasp chastises Namor, reminding him that the Avengers work as a team.

Captain Marvel then sent to question Professor Shinski in the hopes of learning more about the mysterious cocoon in the bay. Meanwhile, the other Avengers attempt to approach the cocoon as a team but it resists their approach by forcing them back with telekenisis. When Monica finally gets Shinksi to talk, he has no idea what the cocoon is saying the Enclave were only trying to smuggle newly created materials that were rendered harmless upon contact with the waters of Jamaica Bay.

While back below the bay, the Avengers continue to struggle against the cocoon. However, the intelligence inside begins to weaken and eventually cannot fend them off anymore. Realizing that the cocoon is communicating with them telepathically, the Wasp tries to convince the entity inside that they are trying to help. It allows them to get closer and they realize the “cocoon” is actually silt and debris that has settled on a strange stasis capsule. Bringing the capsule back to Avengers Mansion, all they can figure out is that the capsule is some kind of life support system. Checking with NASA and various intelligence agencies turn up no further answers and the Avengers are ultimately called back to Jamaica Bay to assist with the clean-up operation and have to leave the mystery for later.

After the Avengers leave, the cylinder briefly becomes opaque, revealing the body of Jean Grey inside. She sends out a telepathic call out to Scott Summers before lapsing into unconsciousness again.[5]

This story is continued in Fantastic Four #286....

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Wasp, Black Knight, Hercules, Captain Marvel, Sub-Mariner), Enclave (Maris Morlak, Wladyslav Shinski, Carlo Zota), Jean Grey (unidentified), Melter, Scourge (unidentified), Derek Freeman,

Continuity Notes

1. The Avengers landed in hot water after the Vision briefly usurped control of the world’s computers, leading to the government to reconsider their security clearance. This happened in Avengers #255.

2. Monica mentions how she was present when the Avengers previously captured the Enclave. That was in Avengers Annual #12 during a failed alliance with Maximus the Mad.

3. This killer is later identified as one of the assassins posing as the Scourge of the Underworld. US Agent #4 explains that these vigilantes were founded by Thomas Halloway, the wartime hero known as the Angel. The Melter is just one of many villains murdered by the Scourge. See Iron Man #194, Thing #24 & 33, Secret Wars II #2, Thor #358, Marvel Age Annual #1, Captain America #’s 311, 318-320, West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #3, Fantastic Four #289, Marvel Fanfare #29, Amazing Spider-Man #276 & 278.

4. Adam Warlock and Her’s creations were documented in Fantastic Four #66-67 and Incredible Hulk Annual #6 respectively.

5. Jean Grey’s body has been recovering at the bottom of Jamaica Bay after piloting a space shuttle back to Earth during a cosmic storm. She was saved by the Phoenix Force, who took her place for a time until its seeming demise. Nobody was aware of the switch. Here, Captain America states that he contacted NASA and they have no knowledge of any sort of activity that could explain the capsule being found in Jamaica Bay. This is because Professor X used his telepathic powers to erase people’s knowledge of the space shuttle crash so the X-Men would not take the blame for it. See X-Men #98-100 and Classic X-Men #8.

Topical References

• The commercial airliner that the Enclave almost crash into is identified as a Boeing 474. This should be considered a topical reference. While 474s are still being used at the time of this writing (September 2021) fleets used for commercial passengers have started being retired out beginning in 2014.