Avengers (vol. 3) #26
… Under Cover of Night!
At Empire State University, Maria de Guadalupe Santiago and her dorm roommate watch the latest news about the Avengers ongoing troubles.[1] The latest controversy happened when Thor attacked members of the media prompting Captain America to quit shortly thereafter.[2] Maria believes in the Avengers cause, but her roommate — a Triune Understanding follower — points out their shit track record recently,[3] and how the former Avenger Quicksilver, is part of the “mutant conspiracy”.[4] Their argument is interrupted when another student stops by with an important note for Maria.
Meanwhile, at a federal building, Carol Danvers — aka Warbird — and her lawyer Foggy Nelson meet with a federal judge. Carol is taking ownership for fighting Iron Man while drunk, which led to a mid-air collision with a commercial airliner. Although the plane was saved before it could crash, the fact remains that Carol was drunk at the time and the accident only happened due to her poor judgement.[5] Carol is deeply apologetic for what happened and tells the court that she has recently joined up with Alcoholics Anonymous, and is willing to pay whatever restitution the courts deem necessary, be they monetary or serving time. Before the judge can make a decision, she gets a note delivered that’s addressed to Carol. After looking it over, the judge hands it over to Danvers, saying that for the time being they will be deferring a ruling, but advise her not to leave town.
At that same moment, Scott Lang is picking up his daughter from school. They have an evening planned together and Cassie is very excited to spent time with her dad. There he finds a note like the others tucked under the windshield wiper of his car. It’s from Captain America, asking him to meet atop the Brooklyn Bridge at midnight. This is great for Scott as he won’t have to cancel his plans with his daughter.
At midnight, the trio — Silverclaw, Warbird, and Ant-Man — all arrive at the Brooklyn Bridge where they are joined by Captain America. Cap tells them that he has called them all together for a secret mission. He tells them that his resignation from the Avengers was a cover so he could coordinate this secret operation. The three heroes were all chosen due to their suitability in espionage. He makes a particular point of recounting the time that Ant-Man helped the Avengers rescue the Wasp from Taskmaster a few years back.[6] Before they can leave, they are joined by Captain Marvel. He explains that he had come because his Cosmic Awareness warned him that something was going down. Before Genis can explain further, Rick Jones telepathically tells him to zip it, reminding Genis how his awareness has bee acting on the fritz lately, and he doesn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Cap.[7]
While in Hawaii, Jonathan Tremont — leader of the Triune Understanding — is finishing a speech to his followers in the region. Returning to his private plane, Tremont is happy to no longer have to hide his true nature and appear as an ordinary human being. Once aboard the plane he gloats over how many people worship him,
Back in Manhattan, Captain America takes his ad hoc team of Avengers to the New York headquarters of the Triune Understanding. He tells the team that the religious order has been responsible for the team’s negative press recently and he has recruited this group together to break in and find evidence that proves it. On the roof, Ant-Man uses his size changing powers to slip inside, unlock the roof access, and shut down the alarm systems. Silverclaw is uneasy about breaking into private property, but Warbird assures her that this is all part of counter-intelligence work. Cap then leads them to a room with a massive machine with a glowing pyramid atop it. He tells the others that this is a will-suppressor that the Triunes are using to influence people and that they are going to destroy it.
While aboard his private jet, Jonathan Tremont is in meditation, causing his body to float above his seat as it is encased in a pyramid of energy. It’s through this pyramid that he contacts Michaelson, the man in charge of the Triune’s public relations. He tells Jonathan that the news cycle is shifting away on Triunes’ apparent persecution by the Avengers. Jonathan assures him not to worry about it, as he put events into motion that will assure that their organization continues to generate public sympathies.
At the Triune Building, the ad hoc team of Avengers are surprised that Cap wants them to destroy the will-suppressor, as it is the evidence they need to prove the Triunes are up to something. Between Genis-Vell’s Cosmic Awareness, Silverclaw’s reluctance to break and enter, and “Cap” somehow knowing about Warbird’s time in espionage, they all conclude that this isn’t the real Captain America but an impostor. “Cap” commends them on figuring it out and orders his minions — the Split-Second Squad — to attack. Shutting off an image inducer, “Captain America” reveals that he is actually the Taskmaster in disguise.
The battle between the heroes, Taskmaster, and the Split-Second Squad finally sets off the alarms in the building. When Triathlon contacts Tremont about it, John tells Triathlon to go there and that he’ll meet with him shortly. He then summons Lord Templar and tells him that he needs his speed.
At the scene of the battle, the Split-Second Squad is quickly taken down. The Taskmaster, however, proves a more difficult opponent since his photographic reflexes allows him to evade all the attacks thrown at him. That’s when Captain Marvel comes up with an idea to counteract these abilities. Charging at Taskmaster, Genis-Vell clashes his Nega-Bands together at the last moment, switching places with Rick Jones. This throws off the Taskmaster’s photographic reflexes, allowing Rick to knock him out with a single kick. Asking the others to keep the truth out his double-identity a secret for now, Rick swaps back with Captain Marvel.
That’s when the team is ambushed by Lord Templar who unleashes a burst of light so powerful they all black out. When Warbird and the others wake up, it’s in a crater where the Triune Understanding headquarters used to be. Worse, the area is surrounded by cops, members of the media, as well as Jonathan Tremont and Triathlon. Tremont twists around the situation, suggesting that these Avengers intentionally destroyed the Triune building out of prejudice. However, he tells the gathered media that he will not be pressing charges to prove to the publi that prejudice and hostility has no place in the Triune Understanding.
Watching this from the crater, Warbird realizes that they just got played and wonders how much damage they cause to the Avengers reputation.
Recurring Characters
Ad-Hoc Avengers (“Captain America”, Warbird, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Silverclaw), Jonathan Tremont, Lord Templar, Triathlon, Cassie Lang, Foggy Nelson
Continuity Notes
These protests have evolved from the Triune Understanding’s smear campaign against the Avengers since Avengers (vol. 3) #13. The protests are a new wrinkle after the Avengers got in a fight at the Triune Understanding’s headquarters in Avengers (vol. 3) #15, leading to uncomfortable questions from the press in issue #19. The protests out front the mansion began issue #23. The reason the Triunes have it against the Avengers is because their leader, Jonathan Tremont, believes the Avengers are responsible for a coming doomsday prophecy. This is actually the Triple-Evil as we’ll learn in Avengers (vol. 3) #50.
Thor attacked the press last issue, leading to Cap’s resignation. Cap won’t remain off the team for very long as he’ll be back in Avengers (vol. 3) #36-37.
The Avengers have been having a hard time capturing their foes. Failing to capture the Grim Reaper (issues #10-11), Alkhema (issues #19-22) and most recently the Exemplars (issues #24-25).
The “mutant conspiracy” she is speaking of is that the United Nations gave Magneto control of the nation of Genosha, as seen in Magneto Rex #1-3. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are both referred to as mutants in this story, this is proven to be false in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5. In truth, they were experimented on by the High Evolutionary as babies. To hide his work he made it so genetic testing would have them register as mutants.
Carol had developed a drinking problem which started in Avengers (vol. 3) #4. This was to cope with losing her Binary powers. Her drunken behavior led to her rage quitting the team in Avengers (vol. 3) #6. Since then, Iron Man has been trying to get her to go sober, leading to their fight in Iron Man (vol. 3) #24.
The Ant-Man/Taskmaster story that Cap is recounting was told in Avengers #195-196. Also mentioned is Carol Danver’s prior career in espionage, this was previously depicted in Wolverine #-1 and Before the Fantastic Four: Ben Grimm & Logan #1-3.
Rick Jones and Genis-Vell have been bonded together since Avengers Forever #12. Rick is mentioning the events of Captain Marvel (vol. 4) #0 in which Genis attacked a creature that did not appear to be there. The problem wasn’t his Cosmic Awareness but that the monster was invisible to everyone but Genis, as we'll find out in Captain Marvel (vol. 4) #1.
Topical References
Carol states that she has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous long enough to earn her 30 day chip. This does not gel with the Sliding Timescale, which compresses time on a 4:1 ratio. Iron Man (vol. 3) #24 and Avengers (vol. 3) #26 were published 3 months apart. Based on the time compression, around 3 weeks would have passed between stories, bringing Carol around 10 days shy of getting her 30 day chip. That said, the next coin down would be the 24 hour sobriety coin. Not as impressive, but it’s an effort right?
Scott is taking his daughter Cassie to Chuck E. Cheese, a chain of entertainment/pizza restaurant geared toward children. Its reference here should be considered topical as this is a real world business.
