NOTE: Part one of this story began in The Defenders #18. Go read that first, then come back here.

Avengers Island
New York Harbor
Manhattan

The Vision sat in a chair attached to the end of a mechanical arm, holographic controls surrounding him. The chair was positioned in front of a giant holographic globe. Standing below the Vision on the ground were Songbird and Ant-Man, while Hawkeye sat at a computer terminal nearby with Maria Hill standing behind him. As the globe slowly turned, different points of interest were highlighted, such as power signatures or last-known locations of various heroes and villains.

“You remember that time we used Doom’s Time Platform to go back to World War II with Steve?” Hawkeye asked the screen.

On the monitor, Janet Van Dyne, former Avenger and current leader of her own team of superheroines, gave a nod. “You mean that thing with Zemo’s giant pink robots?” She smirked at the memory.

“Well, fashion sense aside, you told us later you feel asleep at the switch.”

The Wasp gave a bit of a scowl. “I did, but we all agreed nothing came of it.”

“I’m not so sure. I’ve been having…I dunno, visions, I guess. Or flashbacks. We got back from Doom’s castle but no one knew us. At the mansion, the original Avengers were here.”

The Wasp narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about, Clint? I don’t remember that ever having happened.”

“Starting to think it did, we just don’t remember it,” said Hawkeye. “It was all a plot to take over reality by someone calling himself the Scarlet Centurion.”

“You mean Kang’s son?”

“Yeah! I mean, no. This was someone different.”

The Wasp paused to think on it, resting her hand on her chin. Then she snapped in recollection. “Didn’t the Squadron Supreme fight a Scarlet Centurion?”

Hawkeye nodded. “Right, so why would one of the Squadron’s baddies play the Grandmaster’s game in our backyard?”

The Wasp shrugged. “Grandmaster’s got high stakes. Maybe the Centurion’s universe is on the line?”

“So why not pick the Squadron? They’d have more at stake,” said Hawkeye. “I think there’s more goin’ on.”

The Wasp gave him a confused look that prompted Hawkeye to continue. He sighed. “I’ve had more visions. There was a mission when me and the Wackos went back to ancient Egypt, trapped in time. The Thing appeared, which didn’t happen. Not the Thing that was there with the FF, but another version and from some of the things he said I got the feeling he was from the future. He hinted that Bobbi was going to die. He killed Moon Knight and stole the Time Platform out from under us, stranding us there. He seemed an awful lot like the Grimm that’s running around the dark side these days.”

“Grimm’s been under some stress lately, he’s done things that—”

“Not just about the Thing, Jan. It’s the Centurion,” said Hawkeye. “Sure, Ben’s probably mixed up in it, but I just get the feeling that these memories are real and all this is connected. End of the day, I’m just some schmuck with trick arrows. A devilishly handsome schmuck, sure, but that’s not enough to figure this out. I need bigger brains than mine to get to the bottom of it.”

“Things are pretty hectic over here,” said the Wasp. “Best I can do is try to put some people on it.”

“Thanks, appreciate the help.”

“Anything for my favorite devilishly handsome schmuck. Wasp out.”

Hawkeye sat back in his seat as the screen went dark. From behind him, Maria Hill finally broke her silence. “None of this makes sense, Barton. You’re having flashbacks to events that never happened, but what’s that got to do with the Grandmaster?”

“No idea. But—”

“Fascinating.” The hollow, robotic voice of the Vision drew Hawkeye’s attention.

“You got something, Vizh?” He stood from his chair and approached the globe.

“On the contrary,” said the Vision. “The status board can find no trace of our missing teammates. Identicards, communicators, energy signatures, nothing. I’ve even cross-referenced with Stark Enterprises’ satellites and the X-Men’s Cerebra system, but no sign of either Iron Man’s armor nor Storm or Nightcrawler’s x-gene signatures.”

“What does all that mean?” asked Songbird.

“Means we’re basically blind,” said Ant-Man. “Someone doesn’t want us to find the others.”

Hawkeye crossed his arms and stared hard at the status board. “Tap into SHIELD files. NSA, too.”

“What do you think he’s been doing, Clint? The databases turned up nothing,” said Ant-Man.

“Not for our pals, but pull up everything flagged with Ben Grimm. Use Code Epsilon A-16-TOS57.”

“To what end?” asked the Vision.

“Just humor me, okay?”

The Vision nodded and processed Hawkeye’s request, entering the information on the holographic keyboard. A holographic display appeared in front of the Vision’s face, the screen scrolling at a rapid pace with information. Even with his computerized mind, the synthezoid found it difficult to keep up with the data. “Astounding.”

Hawkeye smirked. “Looks like I’m more than just a pretty face.”

Amora watched as the mechanical man complied with the archer’s wishes. She stood amongst them. The so-called Avengers, looking over the android’s shoulder as the data scrolled onscreen. Her eyes went wide as she saw the things that Grimm had done over the past few months. Hardly the actions of a hero of the Thing’s caliber.

More the acts of a desperate man.

Her Astral Form wavered as back in the Real World she sensed someone trying to contact her. Grudgingly she returned to her body seated at the desk in her office, in her Wall Street building. It took a moment to focus, but finally she spoke…

“Hawkeye seems to be on to something.” There was a lull and the Enchantress glanced at her Blood-Axe, Hyperion of the Squadron Sinister now in possession of the Executioner’s axe standing rigid in the corner of her office, her raincoat draped over his arm. She smiled.

“The archer is a fool,” a voice hissed over her computer. “Whatever he thinks he knows is no doubt wrong.” The cold and metallic modulated voice rumbled slightly. “Still, we must calculate his misgivings into contingency. I would eliminate the factor of ‘dumb luck’ before we proceed further.”

“I can easily eliminate the archer,” Amora cooed softly. “He’s nothing.”

“No…” the voice responded. “We do not need a martyr, and the Avengers would rally around his death. We DO need a scapegoat, however. Perhaps Barton could serve that purpose.”

Amora the Enchantress watched as her computer screen flickered, data filing in and out at ungodly speeds.

“Egghead…” the voice said with a chuckle. “So easy. Barton will no longer be a problem. Focus instead on gathering your assault team. I will want aggression soon. Distractions are needed.”

“Of course,” Amora responded. “I have several potentials lined up.”

“And I want blood. One of them must die in battle, publicly.”

“Of course. My Blood-Axe will see to that.”

“Excellent! See it through. I will contact you soon.”

“Of course.”

Amora cut the transmission and leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs. She pulled a cigarette from the humidor on her desk and sparked it to life, reveling in the flavor. She did not like being a cog in another’s schemes but for the moment she would have to deal with it.

Eventually though her plans would come to fruition, and the metallic voice that had invaded her computer weeks before would be silenced forever. She just had to be patient.

And plan…

GRANDSTANDING

Part II

By Curtis Fernlund and Dino Pollard

Latveria

Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Spider had been sent here to do battle. As part of their game, the Grandmaster and the Scarlet Centurion had pitted members of the Avengers against the Defenders. But in the midst of the fight between these two, an unexpected third party entered the fray.

Energy crackled around the iron fist of Latveria’s ruler. “Doom asked you a question. It would be wise to answer.”

Nightcrawler struggled to form words, but when he opened his mouth, he simply stuttered. This only served to anger Doom further and he unleashed an energy blast right at the mutant’s feet.

“Evidently the former X-Man has difficulty with speech.” Doom pointed at the Scarlet Spider. “You…spider-clone. And a pale shade at best. Explain your intrusion upon the sovereign soil of Latveria.”

The Scarlet Spider grunted beneath his mask. “Okay, y’know what? I’ve just about had it!” He fired a sphere of impact webbing that covered Doom’s faceplate. The Scarlet Spider shot out a webline and zipped towards the villain, delivering a kick to his chest that felt like slamming feet first into the side of a wall.

Doom raised his hand to his face and the energy generated by his gauntlet burned the webbing away. He turned the gauntlet to the Scarlet Spider, unleashing a direct blast to the web-slinger’s chest, burning a hole in the blue sweatshirt.

Nightcrawler teleported to the fallen hero, helping him sit up. The Scarlet Spider shook his head and looked down. “Damn, I only had one of those.”

Nightcrawler teleported to where he left his sword and drew it from the ground. Doctor Doom fired another energy blast, but Nightcrawler vanished before it could strike. He rematerialized behind Doom, bringing the sword down across the monarch’s back. The attack shredded Doom’s cape and tunic, but the blade just scraped harmlessly against the armor.

Doom spun and grabbed Nightcrawler by the throat. He squeezed, narrowing his eyes at the mutant. “Talk or die, the choice is yours.”

The Scarlet Spider sprung back into action, firing twin weblines at Doom’s back and yanking hard on them. His strength pulled Doom, still holding Nightcrawler, and flung the pair over the Scarlet Spider’s head into the brush.

“I have had enough of this disrespect.” Doom rose to his feet and his boot jets immediately pushed him into a hover above the pair. Both his hands glowed brightly and he brought his wrists together, a massive surge of energy fired from his gauntlets.

Doom lowered himself to the ground. “You rejected the path of least resistance. Therefore, I shall gain the knowledge I seek through less pleasant means.”

“That will not be necessary.”

The Grandmaster and the Scarlet Centurion appeared between Doom and the heroes. Doom looked at the two of them in surprise. He recognized the Grandmaster, one of the Elders of the Universe. But when his eyes fell upon the Centurion, he paused, as though he recalled something.

“Your interference in this competition has rendered the game null and void. Another will have to be played.”

Doom scoffed. “Your petty hobby is a waste of your time and power.”

“When one must face eternity, something must be done to alleviate the inevitable boredom.”

There was a slight ripple in the Centurion’s image. Doom silently activated his armor to perform a scan. A lesser person would have brushed it off as a trick of the eyes, but Doom knew he was above such things and possessed full awareness of his surroundings.

“The combatants shall be removed and you will be troubled no longer.” The Grandmaster gestured towards Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Spider. All four of them vanished from sight, leaving Doom standing alone.

He had encountered a being similar to the Centurion, when he encountered the Pharaoh Rama-Tut. A man who would one day become Kang the Conqueror. Doom raised his arm and bent it in front of his body. A holographic display appeared and he spoke.

“Unit Beta-7, activate the memory rejuvenator. Deep probe setting for extraction. Then activate Intelligence Team 3. I want to know the whereabouts of Benjamin Grimm.”

The eight captive Avengers and Defenders appeared on a vast field below a strange, starry sky. Above them loomed the towering figures of the Grandmaster and the Scarlet Centurion, who appeared as giants to them.

“The interference of an outside factor has made this stage of the game void. Other players shall be selected for the deciding round.”

“Just what the hell is going on here?” asked Iron Man. “You kidnap us, force us to fight each other, for what?”

Hellstorm raised his trident, the sharp ends pointed to the ground, and a blast of hellfire rocketed him up to the Grandmaster’s head.

“Daimon, no!” shouted Starlight.

“I shall show you what it means to mess with a Lord of Hell!” screamed Hellstorm, swinging his trident around and firing a massive burst of hellfire at the pair. Once the attack ceased, the Grandmaster and the Scarlet Centurion appeared unaffected. The Grandmaster made a simple gesture with his hand and Hellstorm was thrown to the ground.

“This is insanity!” cried Storm.

The Grandmaster waved his hand and any further protests were silenced. When the Avengers and Defenders tried to speak, no sound came forth. The Elder turned his attention to the Scarlet Centurion. “Choose your final champion that we might resolve this contest.”

All eyes turned to stare at the Centurion, but he remained motionless, as if he were in a daze. The Grandmaster furrowed his brow at the silence. “Choose.” His tone was a bit more demanding, but his eyes quickly became overcome with confusion. The image of the Scarlet Centurion began to break up, pixels dissolving and fading away until he was completely gone.

“Am I still crazy, or did that thing just disappear?” asked the Devil-Slayer.

“And apparently we can talk again,” said Captain America. “Grandmaster, what is the meaning of this? What game are you and the Centurion playing?”

A look of understanding came across the Grandmaster and he sighed. “Never in all my years… He stole the egg.”

Iron Man took flight, hovering up to the Grandmaster’s level. “What egg? Where did the Centurion go? Who was the Centurion? I’ve got a lot of questions that I need answered.”

“Your participation is no longer required.” The Grandmaster waved his hand and the contestants vanished from the field. He remained still for a few more moments, contemplating his next move. “I should inform the brethren. Time to move on.”

Avengers Island

The four missing Avengers appeared in front of the status board, much to the surprise of their fellow teammates. Hawkeye was the first to begin shooting off questions. “What the hell happened? You okay?”

“Something happened… I don’t know what,” said Iron Man. “But I don’t think the Centurion was who he appeared to be. I get the bad feeling this isn’t even close to being over.”

“The Grandmaster said something about an egg being stolen, what egg?” asked Captain America. “Does anyone know what he was referring to?”

“No clue, but whatever it is, it can’t be good,” said Iron Man.

“Where are the Defenders?” asked Nightcrawler.

“The Defenders were there, too?” asked Hawkeye.

Storm nodded. “Four of them. They were selected to battle us.”

“You mean Avengers from our world?” asked Hawkeye.

“What other Defenders would they be?” asked Hill.

“The way the Grandmaster works, he usually pits champions from different worlds against each other. Why’d he choose ones from the same one?” asked Hawkeye.

“I don’t know.” Iron Man’s armor whirred and the components that made up his helmet separated enough for him to remove it. “But the Grandmaster said if we won, he’d tell us the identity of the people who have been causing us trouble.”

“Control?” asked Captain America.

Tony nodded. “Could mean they’re plotting something and we need to be ready.”

“About that, we got some other things goin’ on,” said Hawkeye. “We gotta have a sit-down, Tony. About Ben Grimm and some really weird visions I’ve been having.”

And in a crystalline cavern tinged in shades of crimson and reflecting the images of thousands of worlds that might have been, Aron the Rogue Watcher ran his hand lovingly over the small, mundane, egg-shaped artifact.

The future was his once more…