SUPERNOVA

Part IX: Cavalry

By Ryan Krupienski and Dino Pollard

The Quinjet

Departing from Avengers Mansion in the heart of New York, one of the many Quinjets owned by the Avengers streaks towards Los Angeles, California. The Wasp, currently serving as field leader of this squad of Avengers, sits at the controls of the Quinjet with the Black Panther sitting beside her. The Falcon and She-Hulk are seated behind them. After the brief exchange they had earlier at the mission briefing, the Wasp and the Black Panther, in particular, are silent around each other. Both Falcon and She-Hulk notice the tension between the two Avengers, but say nothing.

Behind them, Ant-Man sits in a chair with his helmet sitting on his lap. He holds a cellular phone to his ear and speaks to his daughter, Cassie, through it.

“That’s right, honey,” he says in the phone. “We’re going to Los Angeles. They want me to save Captain America. I’ll call you when I get back, okay? Okay, I love you, Cassie. Be good.”

He disconnects the cell phone and places it in a small storage compartment nearby. He sits back in his chair and sighs.

“Personal calls before a mission?” notes the Jack of Hearts from his seat. “Shouldn’t that be against protocol? Telling people where you’re going and everything – what if someone’s listening in on the call?”

Ant-Man silently curses himself. He and Jack of Hearts have not exactly gotten along since he came to the Avengers. Jack seems to think the only reason Scott Lang has a place on the team is because he’s Hank Pym’s successor to the Ant-Man mantle – and he resents Scott for that.

“Look, I was just on the phone with my daughter, okay?” says Ant-Man. “I call her before every mission, because I never know if I’ll be coming back alive. Besides, all I told her was that we’re going to LA. Considering what’s going on there, I don’t think the Masters are gonna be surprised to see us.”

“Oh,” says Jack. He looks away from Ant-Man and mutters something that sounds like ‘sorry’ under his breath. But Scott cannot be sure if that’s actually what he said or not. Instead, he just dismisses the entire conversation and pulls his Ant-Man helmet on. Better to focus on the task at hand; he can worry about his little feud with Jack of Hearts at another time.

In the back of the Quinjet, the Scarlet Witch sits at a small console and watches news reports on the monitor. It is a press conference in Switzerland, as Cassandra Nova Xavier speaks to delegates of the United Nations on the issue of Magneto. Among the other things he has been in his life, Wanda Maximoff is ashamed to admit that he is also her father.

“Magneto is building weapons of mass destruction, of this I am certain. I have recorded irregular bursts of electro-magnetic energy in the area of Genosha, and I believe these are due to Magneto running some smaller-scale tests on his machine. Again, every bit of data, which spans over several weeks, is included in the reports.”

She sighs deeply at these words, and glances over her shoulder to see the Vision standing behind her. She crosses her arms and seems to sink slightly into her chair. The Vision takes notice of this.

“Is something troubling you, Wanda?” he asks.

“These reports,” replies the Scarlet Witch. “We just… ugh, when will my father stop? What will it take to finally put an end to his pointless feud with humanity?”

The Vision offers no response, because he has none to give. Or rather, no response that he feels would be acceptable for his ex-wife to hear. Instead, he remains quiet and the two watch the rest of the press conference in silence.

The Falcon glances over his shoulder and notices the exchange between Vision and Scarlet Witch. He turns back to the front and looks at She-Hulk.

“Really makes me wonder about some of this,” he says. “I mean… this whole thing with Cassandra Nova. Then the Masters of Evil attack LA, and now, we’ve got Magneto building weapons of mass destruction. Anyone think we seem to be just a bit unlucky lately?”

“There’s definitely something strange about the whole situation,” says the Black Panther. “However, we have no way of knowing for sure exactly who is behind all of this – if the events are even connected at all.”

“I suppose you already have some theories of your own, right?” says the Wasp with a hint of sarcasm.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” replies the Black Panther. “None that I would like to share at this time, however. Not before I have more information.”

“I know Cap and Natasha spoke with Cyclops after Wolverine’s funeral,” says the Falcon. “But they’ve both been pretty tight-lipped about what went on there.”

“I can understand Natasha keeping things to herself, being a former spy probably makes you more than a bit paranoid,” says She-Hulk. “But for Cap to not say anything means that he’s obviously got good reason to stay quiet.”

“Call me crazy, but I don’t believe one word this Nova woman says,” notes Falcon.

“That makes two of us then,” says the Black Panther. “Xavier is not the type of person to use these kinds of manipulation tactics – especially for such a long period of time.”

“How do you know that for sure, though?” asks the Jack of Hearts. “I mean, that could’ve been his plan from the beginning.”

“Then how do you explain Onslaught?” asks the Black Panther.

“What do you mean?” asks Ant-Man.

“What the public does not know is that Xavier was responsible for Onslaught,” replies the Black Panther. “When we separated Xavier from Onslaught, Xavier had lost his psionic powers. If he no longer had access to his powers, why would he still be able to preserve the illusion that he was a man?”

“I dunno… maybe he lied about it,” says the Jack of Hearts.

“No,” says the Black Panther. “There are far too many questions Nova must answer before I can believe what she says to be anything but a lie.”

Los Angeles

“I don’t get it,” says Warbird. “How would your armor help us get out of here if our powers haven’t even worked? I’ve been trying to generate energy blasts ever since I woke up, but nothing’s coming.”

“Maybe because there’s some sort of power inhibitor,” replies Tony Stark from his cell. “Way I see it, a power inhibitor won’t neutralize technology. They probably thought my armor was out of commission after the Armadillo did a number on it.”

“That explains why my…”

With his helmet on, Tony’s Iron Man armor begins transferring data, projecting it into the retina of his eye. The words ‘SYSTEM ONLINE’ flash across a few times, and he smiles.

“They didn’t count on the nanomachines,” he says.

“Your armor’s online?” asks Giant-Man from the next cell.

“Not completely,” replies Iron Man. “But I’ve got most of the basic systems ready – repulsors and sensors are online. Enough to get us out of here.”

Iron Man extends his arm and with his open palm facing the door of his cell, he charges up, channeling his armor’s power into a repulsor blast that blows the door open.

“Give me a minute to get the rest of you out,” he says. He steps outside of the cell, but before he can aim at the cells of his teammates, he feels his armor grow heavier. He turns his head to the side and he sees Graviton floating over to him, smiling.

“Now who let you out?” asks Graviton. “We can’t have that.”

With a thought, Graviton increases the pressure around Iron Man’s body. With most of his systems still offline, Tony has no way to defend against the attack. He feels a familiar pain in his chest and realizes with horror that his life support systems aren’t fully online yet.

“Stop it!” exclaims Warbird from her cell. “He’s having a heart attack, for crying out loud! Let him go!”

“But where is the fun in that?” asks Graviton.

The Quinjet

“We’ve just entered LA airspace,” says the Wasp. “I’m trying to find a suitable landing below.”

From the monitors inside the Quinjet, the team can see the destruction wrought on the city by the Masters of Evil. All of them are wondering how many people survived the destruction of the city. But the Wasp tries to avoid thinking about that, and instead, she concentrates on the matter at hand.

“Shit…” mutters Jack of Hearts.

“What?” asks Ant-Man. “What’s wrong?”

“I gotta get out…” replies Jack of Hearts. “I’m feeling another release coming on…”

He moves to the Quinjet’s hatch, but before he can open it, the energy is released from his body.

From the ground, the Masters of Evil watch as the Quinjet begins to fall from the sky. Avalanche looks at the falling jet with a smile.

“Well, that was easy,” he says. “We didn’t even have to lift a finger, the heroes took themselves out.”

“Don’t be so sure,” says Whirlwind. “These guys have come back from deaths that were a lot more convincing than this.”

“Yeah, Whirlwind’s right,” says the Constrictor. “We gotta be sure before we report any deaths.”

“So what are we waiting for?” asks the Living Laser. He flies towards the area the Quinjet seems to be falling towards, and the rest of the Masters follow them.

As the Quinjet falls from the sky, the Avengers all manage to escape the jet. Ant-Man quickly shrinks down and using his helmet, summons an insect for him to land on and use to ride to safety. The Wasp also shrinks down in order to use her wings. The Vision takes a hold of the Scarlet Witch and Jack of Hearts, while the Falcon grabs the Black Panther. She-Hulk simply lands on the ground without aid or damage to herself. The other Avengers quickly join her on the ground.

“Everyone okay?” asks the Wasp.

“Yeah,” replies Ant-Man. “Someone mind telling me how we are still alive?”

“We had a small probability that the explosion would throw us from the Quinjet relatively unharmed,” says the Scarlet Witch. “I just attempted to increase that probability. If not for Vision phasing me at the last second, I would have taken the brunt of it.”

“Yeah… sorry about that,” says the Jack of Hearts. “I probably should’ve stayed back in the Zero Room.”

“There’s no time to worry about that now,” says the Black Panther.

“Jack, you and Scott took the brunt of the explosion, are you guys okay?” asks the Wasp.

“I’m fine, just a little tired,” replies the Jack of Hearts. “But I’m ready to take on the Masters.”

“Scott?” asks Wasp.

“Don’t worry about me, just a little bruised,” replies Ant-Man.

“Everyone get ready,” says the Falcon. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

The Avengers prepare themselves for battle as the Masters of Evil begin to close in on them.

Location Undisclosed

“This footage you are watching was just shot live in the skies of Los Angeles, where several criminals have wrought damage upon the city. What you are seeing is a Quinjet belonging to the Avengers after it appears to have been shot down by some unknown force. The Avengers appear to have escaped the craft, as we caught a few on camera flying from the downed plane. What casualties, if any, have yet to be confirmed at this time.”

Six young men and women stand around the monitor and watch the news of the Avengers’ involvement in Los Angeles. They sit in a small safehouse established for them. Samuel Guthrie, called Cannonball, turns off the monitor and faces the rest of his ‘team’ – Sunspot, Rictor, Meltdown, Siryn, and Proudstar.

“I’m guessing this isn’t good,” says Meltdown.

“No, Tabitha,” says Cannonball. “It’s not good at all.”

“So what’s the plan?” asks Sunspot.

“I know y’ may not all like me right now, but there’s a reason Cable an’ Cyclops wanted us t’ maintain low profiles,” says Cannonball. “Basically, we’re th’ cavalry.”

“And that makes you are leader, right Guthrie?” asks Rictor.

“Whether y’ like it or not, yeah,” replies Cannonball.

“There’s no point in sittin’ around an’ bickerin’ about it,” says Siryn.

“Terry’s right,” says Proudstar. “Cable and Cyclops wanted Sam in charge, and I say we all follow his lead based on that, if nothing else.”

“Thanks f’r the vote o’ confidence, Jimmy,” says Cannonball. “Right now, the Avengers need X-Force’s help. Y’all with me?”

Mutters of agreement come from the rest of the team, all save for Rictor, who remains silent for a few moments.

“Y’ with us?” asks Cannonball.

Rictor looks up at Cannonball and smiles.

“When do we leave?” he asks.

“Right now,” replies Cannonball with a similar grin.

CONTINUED IN UNCANNY X-MEN #40!