Avengers: The Initiative #9
Killed in Action, Part 2: First Casualties
Now
The Initiative has been attacked by KIA, a deranged clone of Michael Van Patrick, a former cadet who was killed in a training accident.[1] Armed with the Tactagon weapon, he hunts down and seemingly kills Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), while the Initiative head tries running for his life.[2] KIA next comes upon the Taskmaster who wonders how he got into this mess….
Earlier
Taskmaster had just been signed on as the newest drill sergeant for the Initiative.[3] His first task is to break in the new trainees which include Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady), Crusader (Aubrey Thompson), Diamondback (Rachel Leighton), Dragon Lord (Tako Shamara), Geiger (Delilah Dearborn), Melee, Proton (aka Geldoff), and Red 9 (Wallace Jackson). Due to his photographic reflexes and considerable skills, Taskmaster orders them all to attack him at once. The only one who doesn’t comply is the Crusader, who waits until everyone is defeated to either concede or take advantage of a weakness that presents itself. While Taskmaster commends him on his tactics, the real reason is because Crusader doesn’t want to reveal the true scope of the reality altering powers of his Freedom Ring as well as avoiding being knocked out as it would cause him to revert back to his true form and reveal himself to be a Skrull.[4] Nobody wins the fight, and Taskmaster explains that the drubbing they got was to gauge their abilities so there is no repeat of last time. When O’Grady asks what he means, the Taskmaster assures him that he doesn’t want to know.
Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Cloud 9 (Abby Boylen) is meeting with her fellow teammate Trauma (Terrance Ward) for therapy.[5] She wants to process the trauma that she has experienced ever since she was forced to take her first life on a mission. Trauma uses his fear powers to take the form of the Hydra agent that she eliminated in order to protect the President of the United States.[6] Abby expresses remorse for taking his life as she knows that this man had a family and apologizes for having no choice but to end his life. As she breaks down and apologizes, Trauma reverts back to normal and comforts her. Observing this are the Beast (Hank McCoy)[7] and Dani Moonstar who were brought in to help Trauma learn to control his powers. Seeing him use his powers in a therapeutic way convinces the pair of them that their work is done.
They are then interrupted by Thor Girl (Tarene) who has come down to seek guidance from Trauma as well. Seeing Moonstar, Tarene bows down before her in honor of the fact that she was once a member of the Valkyrie. However, Dani has lost those powers ever since the fall of Asgard and no longer has them. That’s when Beast asks Tarene about her own powers, which did not seem to have been affected by that cataclysm.[8] Thor Girl admits that she doesn’t know, and that she came down to see Trauma because she saw him assume the form of Thor. Beast and Dani clearly see that the young woman is smitten by Terrance and decide to leave her to it. As they head back to the Blackbird, they wonder why Gyrich wanted them to leave right away. Dani is at least pleased that she didn’t turn Trauma into the weapon Henry was hoping for. She also admits that she doesn’t exactly like how these kids are being trained, and presumes Gyrich will find a new weapon sooner or later.
In Yellowjacket’s lab, Braon Von Blitzschlag has just finished creating a new clone of Michael Van Patrick. However, when trying to get the clone to come up with a new name, it refuses to be addressed by anything but Michael Van Patrick.[9] However, he has been conditioned to follow orders and complies when Blitzschlag orders him to pick another name. That’s when Yellowjacket arrives with the Tactigon, an alien weapon of great power. The new clone has been implanted with all the knowledge they have on the weapon and its use when it was owned by Armory.[10]
Once he puts on the weapon and it bonds with him, the clone suddenly sees images of the real Michael’s death. He savagely knocks back both the Baron and Yellowjacket and rushes to a nearby mainframe. There, the Tactigon connects with the computer and downloads all the data surrounding the incident and confirms that the real Michael Van Patrick is listed as Killed in Action, or KIA. When Hank and Blitzschlag try to reason with him, he attacks both and then destroys all the other clones in production, repeating the phrase “killed in action” over and over. Once his initial rampage is over, he carves the letters K, I, and A into his bare chest.
Not far away, Taskmaster has the raw recruits running a battle simulation. He orders the team to defend Dragon Lord from the attack drones until he has enough time to use his magic cauldron to summon a dragon. That’s when the clone of Michael — now calling himself KIA — smashes into the room. He recognizes it as the place where he died and prepares to attack. Not understanding the threat they face, the new trainees charge into battle as Dragon Lord continues his spell.
The sound of the fight reaches the infirmary, prompting Thor Girl to take command of the situation. She sends Cloud 9 to get help while she and Trauma head off to face whatever danger lies ahead. While Terrance isn’t sure what he can do, Thor Girl believes he should be able to match whatever enemy they face. Meanwhile, Gyrich becomes aware that something is going on, but when they try to access the security systems they have been locked out with every screen showing nothing but the letters KIA. When the SHIELD agents on sight suggest they call in the Avengers, Gyrich refuses to call them as he wants to handle the situation in house.
By this time, Taskmaster has come down to check on his recruits. He finds that they have all been defeated.[11] The only one left standing is Crusader who is in shock after KIA ripped off his hand. KIA, meanwhile, is looking for everyone who was involved in the death of MVP, and briefly exits the room to seemingly take out Yellowjacket.[12] He then interrogates Taskmaster, who confirms if he is not one of KIA’s targets. Dropping his weapons he offers no resistance and is spared. Relieved that he narrowly avoided death, Taskmaster then helps Crusader look for his missing hand.
In the hallway, KIA runs into Trauma and Thor Girl. When he recognizes Terrance as one of his targets he tries to blast him, but Tarene steps in the way. After Terrance confirms that Thor Girl is still alive he turns to face his foe. His fear powers transform him into what the Tactigon fears and becomes some kind of alien robot. However, he doesn’t last long as he is fatally stabbed through the chest causing him to revert back to normal. KIA announces Trauma killed in action and heads off to find his other targets.[13]
KIA then heads down to the infirmary where he is looking for the comatose Gauntlet (Joe Green). However, when he checks Joe’s bed he finds it empty. This is because Green is under some kind of trance. He heads down to the armory where he collects an alien sword off and yells out a battle cry in an alien language.
Recurring Characters
Initiative staff: “Yellowjacket”, Henry Gyrich, Gauntlet, Baron Von Blitzschlag, Taskmaster
Trainees: Ant-Man, Cloud 9, Crusader, Diamondback, Dragon Lord, Geiger, Melee, Proton, Red 9, “Thor Girl”, Trauma
KIA, SHIELD, Beast, Dani Moonstar
Continuity Notes
Michael Van Patrick died in Avengers: The Initiative #1. His death was covered up so that Baron Von Blitzschlag could clone him due to his physical perfection. The first of these clones were the Scarlet Spiders, whom we first saw in issue 3, but their true nature wasn’t revealed until issue #7.
This is not the real Hank Pym, but a Skrull spy that took his place as will be explained in Mighty Avengers #15. Although seemingly killed here, he will turn up alive and well in issue #12. It’s later explained that this (and other brushes with death in this series) were accomplished because the Super-Skrull that took Pym’s place could utilize other superhuman abilities, as seen in Avengers: The Initiative #14.
Taskmaster was recruited last issue. This is because the original drill instructor, Gauntlet, was beat into a coma in Avengers: The Initiative #6.
For more on Crusader’s origins as well as the creation of the Freedom Ring, check out Marvel Team-Up (vol. 3) #20-25. Of all the Skrulls hiding out in this story, he’s the only one who isn’t trying to conquer Earth.
Trauma has been hospitalized after he was injured facing the Hulk in Avengers: The Initiative #5.
Hydra tried to kill the President back in issue #2.
The Beast here appears in a feline form, which was the result of a secondary mutation that started in New X-Men #114. He will maintain this appearance until All-New X-Men #5.
Lots of Asgardian backstory going on here so allow me to break it all down for you and explain everything that is mentioned here:
Dani had been made into on of the Valkyrie in New Mutants Special #1/Uncanny X-Men Annual #9.
Meanwhile, Tarene took to masquerading as Thor Girl in Thor (vol. 2) #33 after witnessing the heroics of Thor. The real Tarene is actually an alien of great power destined to become the Designate, an entity that will usher in the next evolution of all life in the universe, as explained in Thor (vol. 2) #24-25. She later used these powers to transformer her into something close to an Asgardian, but her power was not derived from there.
As for Asgard, it had recently underwent the a Ragnarok Cycle that saw its destruction and the death of all the Asgardians, as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #80-85. Here, Best mentions that Thor and Asgard have recently returned. This occurred in Thor (vol. 3) #1.
Dani’s Valkyrie powers will later be restored in Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1.
The issue of the source of Tarene’s powers is a moot point, as this is actually a Skrull impostor that took her place sometime prior to Avengers: The Initiative #1. This will be revealed in issue #18 of this series.
Here, Blitzschlag mentions that they already have a clone going by Michael Van Patrick. It was sent to live with the Van Patrick family as part of the cover-up surrounding his death, as seen in Avengers: The Initiative #4.
Armory was an initiative washout who accidentally killed the real MVP. She had her Tactigon confiscated. See Avengers: The Initiative #1 (again).
Here we see the bloody remains of Dragon Lord. He’ll be confirmed as deceased in Avengers: The Initiative #12.
We saw this moment from the perspective of Yellowjacket last issue.
Although Trauma is seemingly killed here, he will pop back to life during his own funeral in issue #12. The reason he survived this fatal stabbing is because he is the offspring of Nightmare, as will be revealed in Avengers: The Initiative Special #1.