Ashes

Hawkeye has received a tip that the Stone Perfs, the notorious street gang, is meeting at a rock quarry. He goes there with his wife, Mockingbird, in order to take the gang down. Little does he know that this is a trap that has been set up by Lotus Newmark, a real estate magnate that has been secretly using the gang for her criminal enterprises.

The moment they attack the gang from their sky-cycle, Hawkeye and Mockingbird are almost knocked out of the sky by an arriving helicopter. Two men inside then drop a bunch of napalm explosives on the gang. Horrified by this wholesale murder, Mockingbird leaps into the chopper and begins attacking the killers. This causes the pilot to lose control of the craft. With the chopper going down, Mockingbird leaps back onto the sky-cycle moments before it crashes killing everyone on board. Although the gang war is now over, the two heroes have little to be happy about given the loss of lives.

After the two Avengers leave, a man named Fernando Torres — a former Stone Perf and Lotus Newmark’s new right hand man — emerges from his hiding place and spray paints the circle-t calling card of the Terminizer, a vigilante that has also been hunting down his fellow gang members. After finishing the job, Fernando looks down into the quarry and is instantly sickened by the sight of the incinerated gang members.

Later that evening, Hawkeye and Mockingbird have returned to Avengers Compound. After such a traumatizing night, Clint decides that he needs to have a drink to calm his nerves before going to bed. Bobbi has a sip herself and the two try to figure out who was responsible for murdering all the Stone Perfs. Their first inclination is that this was the work of the Terminizer, but they dismiss it since the killer operates alone and hasn’t used such heavy duty ordinance during his other killings. Which leaves the question, if the Terminizer didn’t murder the rest of the gang, who did?

Meanwhile, Fernando Torres reports back to Lotus Newmark and she is pleased that he followed her orders to the letter. Despite the fact that he was disturbed by what went down in the quarry she lives up to her promise of sex for a job well done.

The following morning, Clint is out on the Avengers private beach trying to make sense of what happened the night before. He is joined by Bobbi, who tells him that he is wasting his time trying to find some greater meaning for what happened. Although the death of the Stone Perfs was horrific and tragic, she suggests that he focus on the one good thing that came out of it all: That the gang will no longer be terrorizing people in the streets.

While at Lotus Newmark’s real estate office, her lawyer Auggie Slater has been given orders to show Fernando the hush-hush new business that Lotus is undertaking. Taking him to a secret factory, Fernando learns that Lotus is hard at work developing a synthetic drug to replace the cocaine that is flown in from Columbia. Torres is surprised to be shown all this, and Auggie explains that Lotus fully trusts him now and wants Fernando to be part of this new enterprise.

At the La Reina hospital, Monica Gutierrez has recovered from her gunshot wounds and is being released. Hawkeye pays the family a visit and tell them that they won’t have to worry about the Stone Perfs anymore. He then follows through on his promise to give Antia’s son Luis a ride home on his sky-cycle. On their way out, Hawkeye tells Luis about what really happened to the Stone Perfs. Luis is shocked by the news and asks if Clint thinks the Terminizer was responsible. Hawkeye isn’t sure but that doesn’t mean that the Terminizer doesn’t have a lot to answer for and vows to take the vigilante down. This admission comes as a shock to Luis.[1]

Recurring Characters

Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Lotus Newmark, Auggie Slater, Luis Guiterrez

Continuity Notes

1. When Hawkeye was shot by members of the Stone Perfs in Avengers Spotlight #30, Luis called for an ambulance, saving Hawkeye’s life. In retaliation the Stone Perfs did a drive-by of his house in the following issue. It’s later revealed in issue #36 that Luis is secretly the Terminizer.

The Xenophobic Man, Part Four: The Ends and the Means

The US Agent has been sent to Texas to stop a serial killer who has been murdering undocumented immigrants crossing the border into America. The trail has led him to the Salvation Project, a organization that operations out of a local church who help the undocumented set up new lives in America. Here, the Xenophobic Man has claimed more victims and now holds the local priest and an asylum seeker hostage. When he threatens to shoot them, the US Agent warns the killer that if he does, there will be nothing to stop the hero from killing the Xenophobic Man soon after.

The killer, believing that what he is doing is for the good of his country, shoots at a nearby cross hanging in the church, causing it to topple on the US Agent. As the Agent dives in to catch the cross he collapses under its weight. It also kicks up a bunch of dust, causing the killer to panic and shoot wildly in an effort of hitting his opponent. The US Agent quickly ambushes the Xenophobic Man and knocks away his gun. The killer then pulls a knife, but the Agent quickly incapacitates him.

The hero is about to kill the murderer then and there when the priest begs him to help get the cross off one of his victims as she will bleed out from gunshot wounds unless they get her safely to a hospital. US Agent reluctantly agrees to help, allowing the Xenophobic Man to recover his gun and get the drop on them. However, before he can pull the trigger, Captain Hitchuck of the Border Patrol arrives and shoots the perp — one of his own men gone bad — in the head, killing him instantly.

Although they they have put an end to the killings, the priest questions what will happen to his charges tomorrow when the Border Patrol goes back to upholding immigration law.

Recurring Characters

US Agent, Xenophobic Man

Topical References

• This story refers to the Mexicans trying to cross over into the United States as “Illegal Immigrants” or “Illegal Aliens”, these are dated terms and their use should be considered topical. The current term being used now is “Undocumented Immigrant”, an effort to destigmatize people coming to America to find a better way of life.

• The Xenophobic Man is clearly depicted here wearing a Harley Davidson Motorcycle jacket and a Dallas Cowboy’s football helmet. These should be considered topical as these are real world businesses.