Have Brain, Will Travel!

High above Earth orbit, Quasar deals with some threatening meteors by having some fun. Using his Quantum Bands to create a baseball bat out of energy, he smashes the meteors with glee. This is observed by his father, Gilbert Vaughn, and Eon the cosmic being who has charged Wendell to be his guardian of the universe. Gilbert is unimpressed with his son’s showboating, but Quasar is quick to point out that it’s helping him with using creative visualization to create constructs with his wrist bands. Gilbert and Eon were originally brought up to investigate the source a mysterious “cosmic hiccup”.[1] As they are now returning to Earth, Gilbert asks if Eon ever associated with the parents of the previous guardians. Eon admits that this is the first time he had done so, and now that he has experienced it wishes he had done it sooner. Overhearing this, Quasar once again feels a pang of jealousy that his father and Eon are getting along so well. He decides to push this aside for the time being since he has a security demonstration to put on for his prospective clients this afternoon and needs to get his head in the game.

Meanwhile, on the island of Boca Caliente, an International Weapons Expedition is being held by Advanced Idea Mechanics.[2] AIM has decided to shift their focus from world conquest, they instead are now offering their services to other criminal organizations.[3] When Madame Masque[4] inquires what happened to MODOK, AIM representative Alessandro Brannex explains that the cyborg outlived his usefulness and had to be retired, amusing King Cobra, whose Serpent Squad was hired to assassinate him.[5] He then unveils MODOK’s replacement, a female version they call the Mobile Organism Designed for Aggressive Maneuvers, or MODAM for short. Crossbones is disinterested and only wants to hear if AIM has created a new Cosmic Cube. Brannex unfortunately tells him that the Cube was a once-in-a-lifetime creation that cannot be replicated.[6]

After the presentation, two individuals named Doctor Minerva and Mister Atlas approach Brannax and offer a large sum of cash for the acquisition of Quasar’s Quantum Bands. These are objects that AIM has gone after and failed to obtain in the past.[7] The organization’s board of directors, who have determined that the buyers are aliens, decide to accept the contract even if their credentials are not well established as a successful mission would boost their profile to prospective clients.

At that moment, back in New York, Wendell Vaughn is giving his pitch for a new security system to the board members of IDIC, the first client of his brand new company.[8] Shintaro Kuramoto is impressed with Wendell’s presentation and agrees to hire Vaughn Security Consultants to upgrade the company’s security systems. On his way out, Wendell gives the thumbs up to Ken Tanaka, an IDIC employee that he knew from his SHIELD days. He then returns to his office at the Four Freedoms Plaza to tell his secretary, Kayla Ballentine the good news. When she excitedly jumps into his arms, they both become embarrassed by the outward display of affection and compose themselves. Kayla chastizes herself for acting too eager but her fears of putting off her boss are alleviated when he suggests they go out for dinner to celebrate.

That evening, AIM sends a ship to Liberty Island where MODAM is unleashed so she can hunt down and capture Quasar and steal his Quantum Bands. Her presence sets off the alarms built in Wendell’s wrist bands and he tells Kayla that he will meet her and Ken at the restaurant later as some unexpected business has come up. Changing into Quasar, Vaughn races to Liberty Island — the source of the danger — and finds a bomb planted in the Statue of Liberty. However, this is a trap as the bomb is set up to magnetically retrain his bands. This leaves Quasar open to attack from MODAM. Although his wrists are restrained, he is able to use his will power to fire projectiles at his attacker. However, he is stunned by a mental bolt, allowing MODAM to get close enough to attempt to cut off Quasar’s wrists. Luckily, he is able to command his bands to fire beams of energy that sever her mechanical arms. Finally breaking free, Quasar is able to overpower MODAM and incapacitate her. With the cyborg defeated, he then contains her in an energy sphere and hauls her off to the Vault prison.

Observing this defeat, the heads of AIM are furious over MODAM’s defeat. Although they will now have to return the money to the aliens who hired them, they vow that no matter what, they will obtain Quasar’s Quantum Bands.

Later that evening, Wendell arrives at Pedro’s Mexican Cuisine to meet up with Kayla and Ken to celebrate their first client. Its here, that Ken expresses an interest in working with Vaughn Security Consultants since his career at IDIC has stagnated. Wendell and Kayla are more than happy to have him aboard and welcome him to the team.

Recurring Characters

Quasar, AIM (Alessandro Brannex, MODAM), Gilbert Vaughn, Eon, Kayla Ballentine, Ken Tanaka, Shintaro Kuramoto, King Cobra, Crossbones, Madame Masque, Hydra, Secret Empire

Continuity Notes

1. This “cosmic hiccup” was caused by Nebula, who was attempting to gain ultimate power and almost wiped out the universe by doing so, briefly causing all existence to wink out for a few instances. See Avengers #314-318. Quasar was absent because he was in hyperspace at the time, as seen in Quasar #7.

2. AIM conquered Boca Caliente in Iron Man #207-208, although seemingly liberated in issues #215-216, AIM came right back and were seen in control again in Captain America #387.

3. A number of (I’m assuming) replicas of previous AIM innovations are on display for prospective buyers. These items include:

   • Synthoids: Androids that could alter their composition by exposing themselves to chemicals. The first version of these androids was built in Tales of Suspense #78.

   • The Cosmic Cube: Which AIM first created in Tales of Suspense #79.

   • The Super-Adaptoid: A shape-shifting and power mimicing android first created to kill Captain America in Tales of Suspense #82.

   • Lastly, there is MODOK whom AIM created back in Tales of Suspense #94.

4. This is not the real Madame Masque, but a bio-duplicate of her that operates as her proxy in the outside world. This will all be explained in Avengers (vol. 3) #32.

5. MODOK was out of control, forcing a schism in AIM that started in Ms. Marvel #7 through Incredible Hulk #289. However, the two factions reunified and hired the Serpent Squad to eliminate MODOK in Captain America #313. Although he was seemingly killed, MODOK will later be resurrected in Avengers #386-388/Captain America #440-441.

6. Indeed, AIM’s Cosmic Cube eventually became self-aware and transformed into the entity known as Kubic back in Captain America Annual #7. While AIM claims here that they cannot recreate the Cosmic Cube, they eventually figure it out and make a new one in Avengers #386.

7. AIM tried and failed to steal the Quantum Bands while they were in the possession of SHIELD, as seen in Quasar #1.

8. Here, Wendell apologizes for “getting sick” during his last pitch meeting. This was an excuse to deal with the threat of Terminus in Quasar #7.

Topical References

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as they were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.