Red Zone, Part 3

While investigating the Red Zone — a massive red cloud made of a flesh-eating bio-weapon — a team of Avengers — consisting of Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, Vision, She-Hulk, Jack of Hearts, and Ant-Man — have discovered that it came from a hidden underground bunker. Once inside, Captain America is disappointed to discover that this bunk belongs to the United States government and not some terrorist organization.

While Captain America isn’t naive to not think of something like this, he doesn’t blame the soldiers, as they were just following orders. Cap, however, wants to find out who gave those orders as that’s the person he wants to nail for this.

As they look around, they discover bullet holes in the walls and realize that someone had attacked this facility. Ant-Man goes to a nearby computer terminal and is at least able to learn that the bioweapon is called Project: Bloodwash. When the Vision tries probing the machine, he can’t glean any more information as the data has been scrambled.[1] Ant-Man believes he can hack into the computers given enough time. Cap then leaves Jack of Hearts behind to guard Scott in case the attackers are still alive and hiding somewhere. With that out of the way, he, the Scarlet Witch, Vision, and She-Hulk press on deeper into the bunker to see what else they can discover.

By this time, the Red Zone has nearly reached Custer National Park, where the military has set up a camp to treat those already infected by the bio-weapon. This has forced an evacuation of the premises. As the military make the difficult decision to leave behind those that can’t be saved, Warbird demands a reporter and his news crew get out ofthere before it is too late.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Dell Rusk and Avengers liaison Henry Gyrich are on their way back to the Pentagon. Rusk is unhappy about the Avengers involvement as the public will view the heroes as being in charge and it will cause them to lose faith in the US government. Dell wants to avoid that as much as possible and pressures Gyrich to play ball on this. For Dell Rusk, politics mean more than saving lives. As they arrive on the roof of the Pentagon, Gyrich looks up into the sky before going inside. There he sees the Falcon’s pet bird Redwing circling in the sky.[2]

At Stark Enterprises, Tony Stark has been overseeing an investigation in the bio-weapon in order to find a way to neutralize it and help those infected by it. His team of scientists are blown away when they get enzyme data from Wakanda that is years ahead of anything created in the United States. That’s when Tony receives a call from Ant-Man in the field. He has managed to hack into the computer and is transferring all the information regarding Project: Bloodwash to Stark’s database. As the data is being transferred, Tony uses this opportunity to remind Jack of Hearts that he has only 3 more hours before he has to return to the Zero Room. Jack is well aware of this and is furious that Stark is nagging at him like he was a child.[3] Once the transfer is complete, Tony learns that Bloodwash was designed to be used against non-white combatants. However, attempts to make a race specific bio-weapon have proven impossible since there are very little genetic differences between races. Worse, according to the files, there is no known cure.

That’s when Scott’s connection cuts out. That’s when the Black Panther appears out of nowhere and tells Tony that they need to get out and work together to stop the virus. As Tony agrees to this, the skylights above them are shattered. Black ops soldiers then toss down taser grenades and knock out gas to incapacitate everyone on site. As the soldiers enter the room, the commanding officer tells the Avengers that they are under arrest for acts of treason against the United States.

Unaware of what happened, Lang tries to re-establish connection. As he does, Jack of Hearts says that all of this is making him feel mentally sick. He questions why he left outer space to come back to Earth.[4] Scott says that everyone has a reason for being an Avenger, for him it is making the world safe for his daughter, Cassie. When he asks Jack what he’s fighting for, he admits that he’s still trying to think of one.

The rest of the team have gotten deeper into the complex. When asked how he’s doing, Captain America admits that he isn’t shocked by all of this, but he is very disappointed in his government. The Vision, meanwhile, is scanning the room and taking photographs as evidence when they find out who to prosecute. That’s when they come upon a massive emergency doors that had been shut when the bio-weapon was released. When She-Hulk pries it open they are suprised to see an Advance Idea Mechanic’s team on the other side. They have survived this long thanks to their hermetically sealed battle armor. Seeing the Avengers, the AIM trooper panic and open fire.

While the others manage to get out of the way, She-Hulk’s bio-suit is shot to ribbons. As they pull back, the Vision increases his density to block the bullets. That’s when one of the AIM troopers tosses a grenade at the android. All this succeeds in doing is damaging the terrorist’s protective gear. Bloodwash gets to work instantly upon exposure. As one of the surviving soldiers reaches out to the Vision for help, the android emotionlessly tells him that he is beyond help and walks away.

Cap and the others manage to get back to the control room where She-Hulk is handed off to Jack of Hearts, as he can fly her out of the Red Zone. Jack does as ordered by along the way She-Hulk begins to struggle, ordering him to let her go. When he tries to figure out what’s wrong with her he is surprised when She-Hulk begins reverting back into her human form. The moment she does, she begins visibly showing signs of exposure to Bloodwash.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Vision, Warbird, She-Hulk, Jack of Hearts, Ant-Man), Red Skull, AIM, Henry Gyrich, Redwing

Continuity Notes

1. When the Vision uses his phasing powers here, it causes his internal components to become visible. This is a glitch in his powers caused during his fight the the Gremlin in Avengers Icons: The Vision #1-4. This will remain the status quo until Vizh is destroyed in Avengers #500. When he is finally repaired in Avengers (vol. 4) #19, this issue will be corrected.

2. Dell Rusk has been strong-arming Gyrich into leaking Avengers data to Rusk since Avengers (vol. 3) #61. Since issue #64, he and the Falcon have made arrangements to play along with Rusk’s requests in order to find out who he is and what his agenda is. Rusk will be exposed as the Red Skull in issue #68.

3. Since Avengers (vol. 3) #58, Jack of Hearts needs to be placed in a specially prepared Zero Room to drain off his access energies, otherwise he will reach critical mass and explode. We learned this in issue #61, and that it is getting worse. It’s later reveal that his sudden instability is due to the fact that his body is absorbing gamma radiation from his teammate the She-Hulk something that won’t be uncovered until issue #67. So no, the Jack of Hearts situation isn’t really resolved. It’ll solve itself when Jack is seemingly killed when his body explodes in Avengers (vol. 3) #76.

4. Jack left Earth in Jack of Hearts #4. Other than a brief visit between Quasar #19-29, he did not return until after the events of Maximum Security #1-3 and Avengers (vol. 3) #36.