Empire State Building
34th Street and 5th Avenue
Manhattan, New York

Ororo Munroe hovered amidst the dark clouds surrounding the sky above Manhattan. Her eyes were vacant and white, the winds keeping her aloft and whipping her cloak around her body. The electricity that coursed through her made her hairs stand on end.

Most of the civilians had evacuated the roof, leaving just Storm and her two teammates—the Vision and Songbird—alone against the four supervillains. She recognized two of them from the Avengers files as Hyperion and Doctor Spectrum. The other two were unknown, but she surmised that given the first two, the one in black leather with large, owl-like yellow eyes was either a new Nighthawk and the one in yellow had to be analogous to the Whizzer.

Using her powers of weather manipulation, Storm caused the temperature to drop. As Songbird and the Vision took to the air themselves, Storm began to coat the roof of the observation deck in a thick coat of ice. She hovered closer to the building, directing her lightning at the Blur—the man who served as a stand-in for the Whizzer.

Hyperion ignored the weather witch and instead flew straight for the Vision. The synthezoid flew back, the solar gem on his forehead unleashing a burst of energy at the alien warrior. Hyperion struggled against it, before turning on his eyebeams, locking them on the Vision’s blast.

“You think you’re powerful enough to take on me, robot?” He chuckled as he poured on more energy. The Vision remained stoic as he tried to keep up with Hyperion. But the energy the alien was capable of generating was incredible. Instead of fighting against it, the Vision went intangible and the energy harmlessly passed through his body.

He dove towards Hyperion, whose energy blasts posed no threat to him and reached his hand inside the villain’s chest. Much to his surprise, the Vision found that he couldn’t pass through Hyperion’s body at all.

“This is unexpected…”

“Density shifting doesn’t work on someone like me, android!” Hyperion delivered a powerful punch that the Vision felt even while intangible and knocked him back.

The Vision steadied himself and shifted his density to its hardest state. He barreled towards Hyperion, putting all his strength into a blow that knocked the villain back. Hyperion recovered quickly and the pair began exchanging blows with each other. While in close quarters, Hyperion grinned slyly and unleashed a powerful burst of atomic energy from his eyes, one which caught the Vision by surprise and sent him crashing into the observation deck, flying past Songbird and Doctor Spectrum.

Songbird generated a sonic construct of a shield as Spectrum’s sword construct came crashing down on it. Songbird struggled against it, then transformed the shield into a ram that slammed against Doctor Spectrum’s body. Songbird’s sonic wings carried her after Doctor Spectrum, one of the wings enlarging and moving beneath the villainess to catch her.

Doctor Spectrum lay motionless in the wing as Songbird gently raised her back towards the observation deck. Then she jumped from the wing and extended her hand. A bubble closed up around Songbird, one that was soundproof and rendered her powers useless. Doctor Spectrum hovered closer to the latest Avenger and although Songbird couldn’t see it, the Squadron Sinister’s leader had a wide smile beneath her mask.

“Nice try, bitch. But you’ve got a long way to go before you can play in the big leagues.”

Spectrum looked down towards the observation deck, where the Blur was evading Storm’s lightning bursts and trying hard to fight against her winds. The ice made the roof even trickier to maneuver on.

The Blur vibrated his feet against the slick surface, generating enough heat and force to break through the ice. He looked up at Storm with a grin. “How about when this is over, you let the Blur take you out on the town, baby?”

“I think not,” said Storm, kicking up the force of her winds. The Blur braced himself as the winds began to slam against him. He struggled to stretch out his arms and then began to spin them at super-speed. The result was a counter-force to Storm’s winds, the two facing off against each other.

But what Storm failed to notice was that the Blur was just a distraction. She didn’t see Nighthawk swinging from the Empire State Building’s antennae and propelling himself into her. Nighthawk landed on Storm’s back and wrapped his arms under her shoulders and clasped his hands behind her neck. She struggled against him and in the process lost control over the winds, causing both of them to fall towards the ground.

THE SQUADRON SINISTER STRIKES!

Part II

By Curtis Fernlund and Dino Pollard

Avengers Island

SHIELD Agent Maria Hill, liaison to the Avengers, stood some distance away watching as Tony Stark gave the mayor of New York and his staff a tour of the island. If not for the sunglasses she wore, the anger in her eyes would be on perfect display. She hated the way Stark had treated her as if she were second-rate. He’d never dare do anything like that with Fury—SHIELD’s grizzled director even accompanied the Avengers on a few missions as if he were an active member.

She felt a vibration from the smartphone attached to her belt. She brought it to her ear. “Hill.”

The person on the other end of the line relayed the story. “It’s happening right now?” she asked. The caller confirmed. “I’ll get right on it,” she said and then hung up.

Hill sprinted towards the mayoral tour group just as Stark was describing some of the planned additions to the island, including what areas would be on display for tourists.

“Agent Hill,” said Tony with a forced smile. He turned to the mayor. “This is our SHIELD liaison. You’ll have to forgive her behavior, she hasn’t quite been housebroken yet.”

The mayor and his staff chuckled and Tony flashed an affable smile. It took all Hill’s willpower to stop her from dislocating the arrogant prick’s jaw. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr. Stark, but there’s a situation.”

Tony’s smile faded and he was all business. “What kind of situation?”

“An SPB attack,” said Hill, SPB meaning “super-powered being.”

Tony looked at the mayor and offered a handshake. “You’ll have to excuse me, sir. No rest for the wicked, I’m afraid.”

“Not at all, thank you for your time, Mr. Stark,” said the mayor.

Tony turned away from the group with Hill keeping pace by his side. “What do we know about it?” he asked.

“The Vision sent out a signal and eyes in the sky just confirmed,” said Hill. “They’re on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.”

“How many?”

“Four in total. Positive idents on two.” Hill handed her smartphone to Tony to show her the information she had.

“Hyperion and Doc Spectrum,” said Tony. He scanned through the images of the other two.

“We know they’re active in this dimension, so stands to reason that we’re dealing with the Squadron Supreme,” said Hill. “Must’ve gone rogue from Pegasus.”

“Sinister.”

“Excuse me?”

The pair entered the main operational facility of the Island, moving through the corridor to the armory. It was a large, round room with a platform leading to a column in the center. Lining the walls were various armors Tony had worn over his long career as Iron Man.

At Tony’s gesture, a holographic keyboard appeared. He entered in a few commands and the computer showed him a hologram of the armor he selected. He confirmed it was the correct one and took off his jacket then loosened his tie. Tony carelessly tossed them both at Hill.

“The Squadron Supreme are from an alternate universe.” He pulled out the tails of his shirt and started to unbutton it. “The Squadron Sinister, on the other hand, are this universe’s version of the Squadron Supreme.”

“What’s the difference?” asked Hill.

“One wants to save the world, the other wants to destroy it.” Tony tossed his shirt at Hill and it landed over her head. “I’ll let you guess which one’s which.”

Hill pulled the shirt off her head as Tony removed his shoes, socks and pants. Beneath his clothes, he wore a black bodysuit lined with circuitry.

“Avengers files say that the Squadron Supreme has fought against you in the past,” she said. “How do you know this is the Squadron Sinister?”

“First, that image your satellites captured? Shows a female Doctor Spectrum. The Spectrum with Supreme is male.” The column in the center of the room expanded into several components which rose up around Tony. Slowly, the automated procedure began, sliding the components of the armor onto his body. “Second, the membership lines up with the Squadron Sinister’s traditional one.”

“Two are unconfirmed.”

“Traditional membership is Hyperion, Spectrum, Nighthawk and the Whizzer. This world’s Nighthawk and the Whizzer are otherwise occupied.” The armor locked down onto his body and all that was left was the helmet, which had the faceplate raised. “These two seem like replacements for them. This doesn’t take a rocket scientist, Hill.”

“Want me to meet you there in a Quinjet?” asked Hill.

“Actually, I’d like you to keep the mayor and his staff company until I return.” The faceplate closed down and the lights that composed the eye slits of the armor as well as the arc reactor in the chest plate began to glow a bright blue.

“And what should I tell them?”

“I’m sure you can find a dirty limerick or something on that smartphone.”

Iron Man looked up and once the skylight for the armory opened, he engaged his thrusters and rocketed into the air.

New York Harbor

Once he felt the buzzing of his communicard, Clint Barton paused his hovercraft as it raced across the bay to Avengers Island. He reached in his pocket and removed it, checking the coordinates.

“Duty calls,” he said, putting the card away. He kept his Hawkeye gear locked in the storage compartment of the small one-man craft, so he wouldn’t have to go all the way back to the Island first. But before he turned the hovercraft around, he heard a sonic boom. Looking up, Clint watched as a streak of blue energy arched from the Island towards Manhattan.

“And Shellhead’s already en route, so looks like I’m gonna be late to the party.”

Hawkeye spun the craft around and opened the throttle, speeding back across the bay and leaving twin walls of water shooting up in his wake.

Avengers Island

Josiah X had been enjoying The Adventures of Robin Hood, which Kurt Wagner insisted to be the first film in their planned Errol Flynn marathon. Except, of course, for Kurt’s continued quoting of lines throughout the entire movie. It was almost a bit of a relief when Josiah felt the buzz of the communicard. Both he and Kurt checked their cards simultaneously and Kurt frowned as he switched off the television.

“There’s a message from Tony as well,” said Josiah. “He’s en route, told us to get a Quinjet and meet the others at the Empire State Building.”

“Why is there always a mission when I’m watching a movie?” asked Kurt.

“We’ll finish later,” said Josiah and then added with a smirk, “without your commentary.”

“Killjoy.”

The pair ran from the recreation room towards the hangar bay and the ready room, where they could change into their costumes before boarding the Quinjet.

Hospital For Special Surgery
535 East 70th Street

“…if you’re just joining us, this is live footage from the Empire State Building captured by our choppers. As you can see, three of the Avengers are engaged in battle with four supervillains. Two of which have been confirmed as Hyperion and Doctor Spectrum. The other two remain unidentified.”

Carol Danvers sighed and was tempted to change the channel on her hospital television. The powers that made her Ms. Marvel had been sapped away when she tried to stop a nuclear warhead launched by Ultron. Her wounds had healed, but the loss of powers would take a bit longer to recover from.

Which meant Carol was forced to witness the Squadron Sinister’s attack as just another bystander. It was difficult, watching her friends fight for her life and knowing she could offer no aid. But unfortunately for Carol, it wasn’t the first time she had to live with that experience.

“Give ‘em hell, guys.”

Empire State Building

Storm and Nighthawk plummeted towards the ground, his arms still wrapped around her from behind. She tried effortlessly to generate an updraft to slow their descent, but it wasn’t enough. Storm tried to at least use her powers of lightning on Nighthawk to get him off, but his suit was well-insulated, providing complete protection from the electricity.

“If you don’t release me, then we’ll both die!”

“Then we die,” said Nighthawk in an even tone. There wasn’t a hint of concern in his voice. He seemed to care nothing for the fate of anyone, not even himself. A completely nihilistic outlook.

“Not today.”

The strangely-metallic voice caused Storm to smile as both she and Nighthawk were stopped from their descent by Iron Man. Nighthawk didn’t appreciate the rescue as much as she did, however. He twisted free from Storm and sprang off Iron Man’s chest plate.

“Are you insane?” asked Iron Man.

Nighthawk was back in free fall, but a yellow and black streak ran down the side of the Empire State Building past Storm and Iron Man. It was the Blur and once he arrived on the street, he used his powers to generate a cushion of air that allowed Nighthawk to gently descend down.

As Iron Man and Storm ascended, up above Hyperion crashed into the Vision on the observation deck. Hyperion wrapped one hand around the Vision’s neck and pummeled his face with the other. All the while laughing as he did.

“I won’t stop until your synthetic remains are decorating this building!”

The incessant hammering caused a loop in the Vision’s programming. The systems were being rattled to the point that they couldn’t direct enough power to any sort of countermeasure. Phasing was already out of the question as the Vision discovered the hard way. But even his solar blasts were unresponsive.

“Hyperion, it’s time to go,” said Doctor Spectrum. She opened the soundproof bubble, forcefully dropping Songbird onto the roof. The former Thunderbolt struggled to get to her feet.

Hyperion ignored the voice of his leader, continuing to wail on the vision. Doctor Spectrum sighed and generated a forcefield around the Vision. Hyperion turned in anger, his eyes flashing with atomic power.

“What are you doing, you bitch? Do you want to be next?”

“I said it’s time to go. Iron Man’s arrived, which means the other Avengers won’t be far behind,” said Doctor Spectrum. “We’ve already achieved our objectives, the Blur and Nighthawk are already heading back. We should join them.”

“You go, there’s still one thing I have to do.” Hyperion flew towards the antenna and gripped it in his powerful hands. He tore it free from its housing as effortlessly as one would pluck a weed. He looked towards Iron Man, still carrying Storm, as they came towards him. Hyperion coiled his arm and hurled the antenna towards the pair.

“Sorry blue eyes, ride’s over!” said Iron Man as he released Storm. She fell at first but quickly generated winds to keep her aloft.

Iron Man braced himself as the antenna flew towards him. Using his suit’s electromagnets, he caused the antenna’s momentum to slow to an almost complete stop and then grabbed it from the air. Hyperion smiled one last time before vanishing into the horizon at superhuman speeds.

Iron Man returned to the observation deck where Songbird had recovered and was checking on the Vision. Storm’s winds lowered her down to the side of the Avengers’ leader. The Quinjet appeared above the clouds, slowly lowering down to the observation deck.

“They’ve escaped,” said Storm.

Songbird joined them, with the Vision leaning on her for support.

“You okay, Vision?” asked Iron Man.

The Vision nodded. “You won’t have to rebuild me any time soon, Anthony.”

“I’m glad to hear that, buddy.”

“That bitch said something about their objectives being achieved,” said Songbird. “What objectives was she talking about, knocking out UHF broadcasts in the area?”

“I’m not sure,” said Iron Man. His armor notified him of an incoming transmission from the Quinjet, courtesy of Nightcrawler.

“Did we miss the action?”

“For now, but you’ll get your chance—we haven’t seen the last of these guys,” said Iron Man.

Aron smirked as he watched the Iron-Man’s frustration, speaking to the chattel and trying to explain the failure of the Avengers to subdue their foes.  He found it comical that the monkeys got so worked up over mundane existence.  As though anything they did mattered in the end.

One day they would all be dead, and if Aron could speed that day along and amuse himself in the process, all the better.  True, he could simply expedite the planet’s natural decay; cause drought worldwide or tamper with the geological stability, but where was the entertainment in that?  Far better to let the lemmings commit suicide of their own accord.

A sparkle of scarlet and the Rogue Watcher shifted his gaze.  Spectrum was demanding an audience.  The monkey’s arrogance was grating at times, but if he was to see the game to conclusion he would have to abide and play the grand mentor for her.  Obviously she could not possibly know how many other things needed his constant attention.

His was a grim lot at times, but the proposed and expected end more than justified the means.  He smiled as he stood and faded into a reality once again…

Amora smiled as she watched the Avengers flee back to the ‘relative’ safety of their island stronghold. She felt that they had taken on more than they were capable of. Stark was hardly the guiding force that Rogers was, and there were too many variables in their mix of a roster for him to ever gain full control.

Good, she thought. Let them worry over trivialities while she fortified her position.

The Enchantress hefted the thick, leather artist’s satchel as she moved through the crowd seeking to be away from the milling sheep and their inane prattle. Her mind wandered as she thought back on the battle, licking her lips as she envisioned Hyperion. He would make a perfect executioner, a willing recipient of the Blood Axe that she carried; strong, resilient, determined and one-minded.

A pity he was engaged. And most likely the Avengers would beat him and his comrades in the end. They had a nasty habit of winning.

Amora sniffed contemptuously, shifting the weight of her burden to her other hand as she made her way through the lingering crowd and into the city’s streets. It was a city of millions, and somewhere therein she would find her Executioner…

New Jersey

Aron appeared in the abandoned warehouse the Squadron Sinister were using as their present base of operations. Doctor Spectrum stood waiting for him, her mask held in her hand. The Blur was slumped in a chair and Hyperion stood nearby with a scowl on his face, arms crossed. Nighthawk sat crouched in the rafters above, his body concealed entirely in shadows except for the glowing yellow lenses of his mask.

“The first step of our plan is complete,” said Spectrum. “Did you see?”

“I am a Watcher,” said Aron. “Remember your goal—vengeance on the Avengers. First, we humiliate and degrade them, to the point they cannot function. When they’ve reached their lowest, they’ll gladly accept destruction as a relief from this existence. Then the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and all the others who pose any challenge to us. Until you are the dominant rulers of this world.”

Hyperion huffed. “Why are we wasting time? We should simply wipe out all the talking monkeys.”

“Watch it, brother. I’m one of those ‘talking monkeys,’” said the Blur through gritted teeth. “I didn’t sign up for genocide, I just wanna live the good life.”

“You will,” said Spectrum. “We all will, once we’ve taken this planet for our own.”

“And what about you?” Hyperion looked up at the silent Nighthawk. “What are your goals?”

“My own,” said Nighthawk.

“Glad we had that chat…” muttered the Blur.

Aron watched the four engage in their pithy banter. Such limited vision, such petty dreams. They had potential, but they required his direction. “Enough. Now listen and I will explain the next phase in our plan…”

Avengers Island
War Room

The Avengers gathered around the large, round table with the team’s insignia engraved on the surface. Nightcrawler sat perched on the back of his chair in a crouched position.

“I can’t believe we arrived after the Squadron left,” he said.

“Hey, I didn’t get there until you were already talkin’ to the cops,” said Hawkeye, twirling an arrow in his hand. “That’s two for two I’ve been stuck in the middle of the bay.”

“I’m working on something for that,” said Tony. He sat in his seat, with the Iron Man helmet resting on the table’s surface. “I have Dearborn’s original specs on feasible teleportation. I want to see if I can set up teleportation booths around the city.”

“Yeah, big ol’ red ones just like Doctor Who,” said Hawkeye.

“Shut up.”

Hawkeye chuckled. “Why not just build some transporter pads like Star Trek? Maybe we can get Jarvis to start speakin’ in a Scottish accent.”

“Who were they anyway?” asked Songbird.

“Vision, you wanna do the honors?” asked Tony.

“Certainly,” said the Vision. His connection to the systems on Avengers Island brought up a holographic image over the table. It featured four individuals, one who was very familiar. Another was a male version of Doctor Spectrum. The other two were unknown to Melissa.

“They identified themselves as the Squadron Sinister. They were initially a group of villains assembled by the Grandmaster and their ranks included Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum, Nighthawk and the Whizzer,” said the Vision. Nighthawk vanished from the display. “Nighthawk reformed and is currently a member of the Defenders.” The Whizzer’s hologram transformed into a man wearing a black, red and yellow bodysuit. “The Whizzer changed his identity to Speed Demon and, according to Hawkeye, was last seen in the employ of Hydra.”

The images of Speed Demon and Nighthawk vanished completely, replaced by the two newcomers. “The man in black appears to be a new Nighthawk. And that would make the speedster a replacement for the Whizzer.”

“He referred to himself as the Blur,” said Storm.

The Vision nodded. “Thank you, I will update the files to reflect that.”

“What about Spectrum?” asked Songbird. “This one was a woman.”

The hologram of Doctor Spectrum changed to the latest incarnation. “Yes. Alice Nugent was once a lab assistant to Henry Pym. The Power Prism which grants abilities to the bearer was believed to be rendered inert and in the care of Doctor Pym. Nugent somehow reawakened the Prism and became the latest Doctor Spectrum.”

“Still doesn’t tell us what they want,” said Captain America.

“Quite right. This version of Hyperion comes from the Microverse, the sole survivor of his world. He blames humanity for its destruction and desires the same. Spectrum seems to be simply power hungry. And we cannot be sure about the motivations of Blur and this new Nighthawk,” said the Vision. “Whatever their ultimate goal, it bodes ill for the Earth and humanity.”

Silence fell over the War Room for a brief moment. Hawkeye was the one to finally break it.

“Well, duh.”

In the dead of night, the Squadron Sinister descended upon the site of Ground Zero. Doctor Spectrum stepped forward, holding a cambium rod in her hand. Aron instructed her to drive it into the heart of the city. Once done, the denizens of Manhattan would know much anguish—disease, despondence, lethargy, hopelessness, eventually death.

And it would spread.

She knelt down and raised the rod up. But then she hesitated. Hyperion stood behind her and rolled his eyes.

“What are you waiting for, woman?”

“The Blur was right, we don’t want genocide,” she said. “Our goal is domination, not extermination.”

Hyperion snatched the rod from her and in a fluid motion, jammed it into the ground. “Fuck ‘em.”

The Squadron Sinister stepped away as the ground became stained with black. The darkness continued to spread, moving rapidly across the entire city. A killing corruption spreading ever outwards.

And beneath his leather mask, Nighthawk smiled.

“This is going to be fun.”

To be continued