SECOND COMING

Part I

By Wesley Overhults

Earth-32

Carmilla Black studied the HYDRA facility with cold, clinical eyes.  Since escaping from prison after her latest stint there, the Scorpion had one thing and one thing only on her mind.  She knew who her mother was, knew her all too well in fact, but she didn’t know who her father was.  For years it hadn’t bothered her, or perhaps she chose not to believe that it bothered her.  Still though, the questions nagged at her.  While in prison, Carmilla had encountered a myriad of people whose lives were defined by their relationships or lack of relationships with their fathers.  It unnerved her on a deeper level than anything else ever had.  It was this annoyance and frustration that led her to her current mission.  She had spent all her time trying to track down information about her father and her search had led her here.

Scorpion approached the facility with caution, using the cover of darkness to aid her movements.  She concealed herself in one of the bushes that littered the grounds outside the facility.  She held her breath and waited, unwrapping the bandages she used to cover her left arm, the arm that was her stinger arm.  The guard never knew what hit him.  All it took was one single touch, one brief moment of skin-to-skin contact, and he went down in a quivering and convulsing heap.  Carmilla would’ve been slightly more lenient to anyone else, but these men and women worked for HYDRA and she never showed them any mercy.

Scorpion moved on, keeping to the shadows.  She pulled out a few vials of poison from the pockets on her belt and downed them in smooth, easy motions.  The two guards at the facility’s door would end up feeling the effects of those poisons after a few quick stings from Scorpion.  In only a few minutes, she had entered the facility with no one the wiser.  Things were going far smoother than she expected.  Now would come the test, though.  Whereas outside she could use the shadows for cover, there was no such safety inside.  The electronic eyes of security cameras were everywhere and the second they noticed her, she would be swarmed with HYDRA agents.

Carmilla moved quickly and quietly, staying low to the floor as she walked down the hallway.  She pressed herself against the wall and noted the guards patrolling dangerously close to her.  She didn’t pay attention to their mindless chatter, preferring instead to focus on the mission at hand.  She waited until the guards turned their backs to her and moved on.  Carmilla turned the corner and took a run at the hapless guards.  She slid across the floor and clipped one of the guards in the legs.  The man fell backwards and that was just what Scorpion wanted, because it brought him down to her level.  The fingers of her left hand grasped at the man’s exposed lower face and that was all she needed to deliver a lethal dose of poison into his system.  Carmilla grabbed the dead man’s gun and fired at the other guard, pumping two shots into his chest and taking him down before he could fire a single shot at her.  She needed to get a better hiding spot, though.  Her actions weren’t going to go unnoticed.  Carmilla looked around and spotted an air vent on the ceiling above her.  That was obviously the way to go.

Scorpion followed the air duct to the end of the hall where there was another grate she could easily pry off.  Luckily, the duct was big enough for her to comfortably maneuver through.  It only took a few minutes of skulking for her to find the room that she was looking for.  A very forceful kick sent the grating to the floor and Scorpion entered the room with a giant computer terminal inside it.  That computer system was the key to Scorpion’s mission.  Carmilla fired up the computer terminal and began rooting through HYDRA’s files.  She clicked on the folder that contained the private files of Monica Rappaccini, the Scientist Supreme—her own mother.  That meant Carmilla knew exactly what her mother’s password would be.  She got it right on the first try and found what she was looking for.

“No,” she whispered to herself as she realized the truth about her parentage.  “Him?”

“You have my tenacity, Thasanee,” noted Monica Rappaccini, leveling the gun at her own daughter’s head even as she used Scorpion’s birth name.  “I wanted to tell you the truth, but you took it upon yourself to seek other employment opportunities.”

“Hello to you, too,” said Scorpion, turning swiftly and clasping her right hand around the gun to move it away from her.  She sent her left hand straight towards her mother’s unprotected face.

The Scientist Supreme broke her daughter’s grip and moved backwards before Scorpion’s lethal fingers could touch her skin.  She squeezed off a shot from the laser pistol but Carmilla was already in the air.  She had a name and that was all she needed.  Now it was time to get out of the hornets’ nest before she was swarmed.  The laser discharge sounded the alarm and red warning lights began to flash.  Scorpion instinctively dodged the shots she knew her mother would fire at her.  She made it out of the computer room and dove through the first open door she could find.  The hapless scientist on the other side received a fatal sting for his trouble.

“I assume you think you’ll be able to make it out of this facility alive, Thasanee,” came Monica Rappaccini’s voice over the building’s speaker system.  “I have all of my agents scouring this place for you, my dear daughter.”

“Not very nice of you, Mother,” noted Scorpion as she tried to figure out what the purpose of the room was.

The door had a heavy amount of security on it, security that Carmilla swiftly employed to lock out the HYDRA goons that were no doubt amassing in the hallway.  She saw what looked like lab stations, the tables cluttered with microscopes and other various tools of that particular trade.  There was an open doorway in the laboratory and Scorpion was anxious to see what was there.  The bigger room looked like a massive vault, but Scorpion didn’t think this was where HYDRA kept its money.  She pulled out one of the drawers and studied the contents.  It was disease specimens.  This laboratory was where HYDRA made some of its biological weapons and she had stumbled into the vault where they were kept.  Carmilla grinned like a child on Christmas morning.

“I want that door down!” shouted Rappaccini from the other side of the bolted door.  “She cannot be allowed to stay in there!”

Scorpion knew she didn’t have much time.  She began downing as many of the lethal toxins that she could, knowing that none of them would hurt her in the slightest.  There was one specimen that was particularly guarded.  Even inside the drawer, it was kept in a metal canister.  Carmilla could only assume that this meant it was more important and deadlier than the other specimens she had ingested.  Luckily enough, Scorpion had the answer.  In addition to various poisons, she also kept a wide assortment of lethal chemicals in the compartments on her belt including some very potent acids.  Carmilla used the acids she had available to crack open the canister.  A vial of amber-colored liquid greeted her.  She didn’t know what exactly it was supposed to do but it didn’t matter.  There wasn’t a toxin alive that could do her any sort of harm.

“I assume this will anger you, Mother,” she muttered to herself.  “All the more reason why I should rob you of whatever this is.”

Scorpion downed the whole contents of the vial and then looked around for an escape route.  Once again, the air ducts would serve as her means of transportation.  By the time Monica Rappaccini got into the bio-vault, Scorpion was almost out of the facility entirely.  The Scientist Supreme studied the damage her wayward daughter had done to the facility.  What started as a simple mission to find her father had turned into a very lucrative venture for Scorpion.  Unfortunately, she had pushed things too far.

“She ingested the contents of the canister,” realized Rappaccini in horror.  “I want every available HYDRA agent out in the field looking for my daughter.  The longer she’s allowed to run loose in the city, the greater the danger she poses to all of us.  That serum has turned her into a walking viral weapon and she’s going to infect everyone unless we stop her.”

The Next Morning
New York City

The wind kicked up as grains of sand swirled together, appearing out of nowhere.  The twisting wisps of sand turned themselves into the six members of the Exiles before they sucked themselves back into the Tallus that Sandman wore around his wrist.  William Baker studied the Tallus and noted that it wasn’t a gauntlet anymore.  Now it was a simple wristwatch with six blue lights on its outer rim.  He realized that while four of the lights were on, two of them didn’t work.  Their battle with Jules had corrected their own personal timelines but Baker knew they had at least two teammates who were new to this lifestyle.

“What in hell is this?” asked a voice, his words garbled by his thick accent that Sandman placed as either Russian or Eastern European.  “This is not mission I signed on for.”

“None of us did,” said Sandman as he looked at the man in the cybernetic body armor.  “My name is William Baker.  You might know me as Sandman.  You’re part of a new team now, with a new mission.  We’re called the Exiles, in case you were wondering.  You see, there are beings called Timebrokers who police the space-time continuum.  They do this by recruiting teams of agents, people who have become what they call ‘unhinged from time’.  You’re one of those people.  Your name?”

“Whiplash,” replied Ivan Vanko as his metallic coils slithered from the bionic housings on his wrists.  “You will return me to my home, Mr. Baker, or I’m afraid things will get rather…messy.”

“I’m afraid you’re out of luck there,” said Sandman.  “We’ve been threatened by people a lot more powerful than you.  I know the situation sucks but some of us are pros at this.  If you live long enough, you’ll get the hang of it too.”

“If we live long enough?”

The question came from the other new member of the Exiles, the voice having a melodic, lyrical quality.  Sandman knew his reality’s version of Melissa Gold, the woman who many called Songbird.  In his own reality, Sandman knew Songbird as the leader of the Thunderbolts, a group of reformed villains that he had once been briefly associated with.  As with all the other original Exiles, though, Sandman knew that they couldn’t use their previous notions when confronted with these new versions of their friends and colleagues.

“We’ve only had one teammate die but even that’s one too many,” admitted Sandman.  “Melissa Gold?  Songbird?”

“Right on both counts, William,” confirmed Songbird.  “You seem to be the leader of this group so I’m going to warn you right now that I’m the one used to calling the shots.”

“I’m open to sharing,” said Sandman, a smirk gracing his lips.  “This thing only talks to me though and it’s the thing that gives us our mission objectives.”  He gestured to the Tallus on his wrist and listened for their mission.

“You’ll get used to it,” assured Wasp.  “I’m Wasp, that’s Goblin, and that’s…”

“Bruiser,” spoke up Molly Hayes.  “When do we get to beat people up?  I really like that part.”

“I am perhaps liking this child,” decided Whiplash.  “What is mission, Baker?”

“Apparently we’re stuck in a summer rerun,” realized Sandman.  “This reality is the first one that we visited as Exiles.  Back then, we were supposed to help Peter Parker, but it turned out there were two Peter Parkers here.  It’s a long story.”

“Skip to what our mission is this time,” suggested Songbird.

“There’s a girl named Scorpion in this reality,” said Sandman.  “We fought her when she was a member of the Sinister Six but now we’re here to help her find her biological father.”

“We risk our lives for foolish child?” questioned Whiplash.

“Kids aren’t the only ones who are ‘foolish’,” warned Bruiser.

“We need to get our bearings and then figure out where to find Scorpion,” decided Sandman, taking charge of the group just as always.

“You want some aerial recon?” asked Wasp, anticipating her leader’s plan.

“We need to do some research first,” cut in Songbird.  “What good is doing aerial recon when we don’t even know if she’s in the city or not?  Hell, we don’t even know what city we’re in.”

“We’re in New York,” confirmed Goblin, having lifted himself up off the ground while his teammates were squabbling.  “If this is the same reality as before then we have friends here.  We need to look up Pete or even Tony Stark and see if this reality’s superhero community has any information on Scorpion.”

Sandman and Songbird looked to one another.  Will Baker never really asked to be leader of the Exiles.  That title was thrust upon him by fate and terrible luck but he liked to think he had been doing a decent job of it so far.  Still, it wouldn’t be so bad to have a helping hand in that regard.  Melissa Gold had a good head on her shoulders.  The two of them quite literally came from different worlds but they had very similar career paths.  Both of them were former criminals who had turned towards the light and were members of the Avengers in their home realities.  Sandman knew that it was better to have Songbird as an ally than an enemy if the team was going to function correctly.  He silently nodded to her and she did the same to him in return, an unspoken agreement between two individuals with iron wills and headstrong personalities.

“Sounds like a plan,” decided Sandman.  “Exiles, let’s move.  You’re going to figure out that the quicker we get things over with, the less crazy things tend to get.”

Stark Industries Corporate Headquarters

“I do not feel comfortable in this place,” stated Whiplash as the Exiles were escorted through the halls of the corporate headquarters for Stark Industries.

The senior members of the Exiles were at the head of the pack while Vanko and Molly brought up the rear.  Ivan looked at the fifteen-year-old child that was now his new teammate.  He couldn’t say he was especially pleased with this turn of events.  For years, Whiplash had worked sometimes as a hero but mostly a mercenary.  He had a nice stint as a member of Silver Sable’s bounty-hunting group known as the Wild Pack, but ever since immigrating to America from his native Russia, he had decided to go solo.  It wasn’t a career that afforded many personal attachments to others and Ivan tended to like it that way.  Working with teammates could be…complicated.

“How come?” asked Bruiser.

“My father was a great inventor,” explained Whiplash.  “This man Tony Stark, his father worked with my father.  Their ways parted.”

“Adults are like that,” said Bruiser.  “Friends are, too.”

“You’re catching him at a rare moment,” admitted Pepper Potts as she opened the door to Tony Stark’s palatial office.  “He’s actually deemed it necessary to come into the office today.”

“Pepper, hold my calls, as always,” said the man behind the Iron Man mask as he stepped out from behind his desk to greet the Exiles.

“Already held,” promised Pepper before leaving Tony to his meeting and closing the door behind the Exiles.

“Good to see you again,” noted Sandman as he shook Tony’s hand.  “I know we might look a little different since the last time you saw us.”

“Sorry about the little scuffle with my security,” apologized Tony.  “These days, you can’t be too careful and you guys aren’t exactly the most trustworthy bunch.”

“We were hoping that you could give us some information on someone,” said Sandman.  “We’re looking for a girl called Scorpion.  She was a member of the Sinister Six when we fought them last time, but our mission now is to help her.  We were hoping that you could point us in the right direction.”

“I’ll check the mansion’s database and see what we have on her,” decided Tony, booting up his office computer and turning on the holographic screen so the Exiles could watch him work.

Whiplash rolled his eyes at Stark’s rather impressive technological display.  He understood that perhaps things were different in this world but he and Tony Stark were not friends.  Their fathers had once been colleagues but that was before Howard Stark became the successful businessman he was and Ivan’s father went face-down in the gutter.  It was because of his father’s brilliance that the Soviet military came to Ivan and drafted him into their ranks to use as a test subject for their own super soldier program.

“That’s her, if I remember right,” said Sandman as he noticed Carmilla Black’s face on the list of files.

Stark nodded and put his hand over the holographic file, clicking on it to call up all the data they had on the young assassin.  From what the Avengers had been able to deduce, Scorpion was the product of HYDRA, specifically the Scientist Supreme.  Details were sketchy at best where her origin was concerned but these days she mostly operated as a freelance assassin and soldier-for-hire.

“Exactly what are you supposed to help her with?” inquired Stark.

“We’re supposed to find her father,” spoke up Songbird.  “Something tells me that’s not going to be possible.  All we know is that she had strong ties to HYDRA but that doesn’t tell us anything.  There’s no record of her birth, who her real parents are, or even if she has real parents.”

“Not a lot for us to go on,” admitted Sandman sadly.  “What about her recent activity?”

“She hasn’t been heard from since she broke out of prison,” answered Stark before noticing something on his computer screen.  “Hang on, I’ve got a call.”

“We’ve got a big problem, Stark,” stated Nick Fury, his image appearing on the holographic computer screen.  “Word has it that one of HYDRA’s bio-weapons facilities was broken into last night.”

“What did they lose?” asked Stark.

“We can’t find out, but whatever it is, it isn’t good,” warned Fury.  “We managed to get some security footage thanks to our undercover people.  Take a look at it.”

“That’s Scorpion,” realized Sandman once he saw the security footage.  “You think she took off with some kind of bio-weapon?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” answered Stark.  “You guys say your mission is to help Scorpion find her dad?  Looks like she’ll have to do it from prison, then.”

“Word has it that she’s still in the city,” confirmed Fury.  “I don’t know what people you’ve got with you in that room, Stark, but you get everyone you can to hunt her down.  We’re going to try to find out what we can about whatever it was she stole.  We’ll give you a sit rep when we know more information.”

“Understood,” agreed Stark before ending the video call and turning to the Exiles.  “She’s somewhere in the city and we don’t know what kind of clock we’re running on.  I’m putting the Avengers on full alert and you’re welcome to join them in the hunt.”

“We’d be happy to work with them on…” began Songbird but she couldn’t finish her sentence.

“We’ll conduct our own search,” cut in Sandman.  “Don’t worry, we’ll be in touch the whole time.  Let’s go, Exiles.  We’ve got our work to do.”

Songbird glared at Sandman but said nothing even though she was visibly annoyed.  To his credit, Sandman didn’t even bother flinching under the power of his new teammate’s death-stare.  This was his team and he wasn’t going to let some new member pull rank on him even when she may technically have the better game plan.

“I’ll book some rooms for you at a nice hotel,” offered Stark.  “Something tells me this is going to take awhile.  You’re free to check in on Ben, too.  He and MJ are shacking up at the mansion.”

“We’ll probably have to ask him some questions, make sure Scarlet Spider doesn’t try to blindside us again,” decided Sandman.  “We’ve already fought him a second time during our travels.  I’m not hoping for a third.”

Forest Hills, Queens

“Jesus, you guys again?”

Ben Reilly, or perhaps Peter Parker these days, opened the window and let Goblin come into the house that once belonged to his Aunt May and his Uncle Ben.  At one time, Ben would usually correct himself and tell himself that they weren’t really his aunt and uncle but now with Peter having become the Scarlet Spider and gone off the deep end, Ben considered himself the “real” Peter Parker, even if he chose to keep his adopted name.

“We’re not exactly here for you this time,” promised Goblin.  “Stark told us you and your wife were staying at the mansion but we couldn’t find you there.  I figured this was the best place to look.”

“Yeah, I just wanted to come here and put some stuff in storage,” said Ben while running a hand through his bleach-blond hair and looking at what was once his old room.  “The house is going up on the market soon so I wanted to raid it one last time for anything I thought was worth keeping.  What’s up?”

“We’re looking for Scorpion,” said Goblin.  “Any theories on where she might be?”

“I haven’t fought the new one so much,” admitted Ben.  “I honestly think that time I ran into her with you guys was my first encounter.  She keeps herself pretty off the radar.  I’m afraid I won’t be much help.”

“Have you heard anything out of Scarlet Spider lately?” inquired Goblin.

“He disappeared from prison a few days ago but he hasn’t popped up again,” confirmed Ben.  “I’m betting you guys had something to do with that but I won’t ask.  Honestly, I’m hoping I never get the chance to see him again.”

“How’s your web-slinging going lately?” asked Goblin.

“Just getting back into the groove of things, mostly,” said Ben.  “I’m never going to get used to you showing up, Harry.  Any chance of this being the last time?”

“No promises,” warned Goblin.  “Take care of yourself, Ben.  The Avengers are mobilizing to find Scorpion because she ingested something she wasn’t supposed to and now she’s a danger to everyone around her.  If someone doesn’t find her soon then we may have a biological disaster on our hands.”

“I’ll get the spandex on and help then,” decided Ben.  “Not like there’s much for me here anymore.”

“Yeah, sometimes home doesn’t give you as much comfort as you thought it would,” agreed Goblin bitterly.

The Hilton New York

“Stark has good taste,” noted Whiplash as Sandman handed out their keycards for their hotel rooms.  “This building is quite magnificent.”

“We shouldn’t get used to it,” advised Sandman.  “Once Osborn gets back after his chat, then we’re going to plan our next move.”

The rest of the Exiles nodded.  Sandman looked to Wasp, mostly because she was the only original member who was present at the moment.  Kate couldn’t exactly place what it was but she saw something in her leader’s eyes that wasn’t there before.  The battle with Jules had taken its toll on all of them in different ways.  Kate was only now getting readjusted to being in her own body instead of being a semi-unwelcomed guest in Pixie’s.  She remembered what happened to Sandman though.  He had been blown apart and had to reconstruct himself with sand from the Axis.  That had to have some lingering effects on his body but he didn’t seem to show any.

“Exactly how are you used to running this team?” inquired Songbird, following Sandman to his room as the Exiles split up to get settled in before Goblin arrived.  “I don’t know how you do things on your world but we could’ve used the Avengers’ help.  This is their world and they have way more resources than we do.”

“You’re new and this is your first mission so you don’t know what some of us have been through,” retorted Sandman.  “Trust me, the less we get involved in the business of the worlds we visit, then the better we are.  All we need to do is complete the mission and move on.”

“How long have you been doing this?” questioned Songbird even as they both entered Sandman’s room.

“Since the beginning,” answered Sandman.  “You can’t keep real time when you’re doing all this but before we came here again, we were allowed to go home for a day.  We were told that we had all been gone for roughly two years.”

For perhaps the first time in a long while, Melissa Gold was stunned.  Two years?  Could she really be expected to do this job for that long without so much as one word spoken to the people back home that she cared about?  What kind of life was this?

“I’m sorry,” she apologized.  “I won’t get used to doing things this way though.  Quick and dirty isn’t my style anymore.  I’d like for us to start taking our time with things.”

“With all due respect, I’m the leader of this team,” reminded Sandman.  “I know you’re used to doing things your way and I am too.  I think we’re going to have to reach some sort of compromise for the good of the team.”

“Agreed,” responded Songbird as she extended her hand.  “I’ll try to be less overbearing if you try to slow down and think things through more.”

“Works for me,” agreed Sandman as he shook her hand.

“Harry’s back,” informed Wasp.  “You wanna have the team meeting in here?”

“Yeah, bring ‘em in,” decided Sandman before turning to his new co-leader.  “That okay with you?”

“No problem with me,” agreed Songbird.

“Alright everyone, let’s hear what Osborn has to say,” said Sandman as soon as the other Exiles came into the room.

“Ben didn’t say very much,” admitted Goblin.  “He doesn’t have any real experience with this new Scorpion so he couldn’t really say where she might’ve gone.  He mentioned that the Scarlet Spider disappeared from prison a few days ago, something some of us already know.  The Council said that all of those Revengers were returned to their home realities, so it’s a safe bet that Scarlet Spider is still out there somewhere.  Ben’s joining the Avengers with the search.  That’s about all I got.”

“I never liked Scarlet Spider,” confirmed Bruiser.  “His jokes weren’t that funny most of the time.  He seemed to really enjoy beating up on you, Harry.  I think he’ll find us before we find him.”

“The less we see of him, the better,” stated Sandman.  “Alright, we don’t know where Scorpion is but we know where all this started.  I think it’s time we took a look at that HYDRA base she broke into.  She wanted something in there and I think we should find out what that something was.”

Somewhere in Manhattan

Something was wrong with her.  Carmilla Black could feel the difference in her body.  She was…she was sick?  No, that couldn’t be right.  It was impossible for her to get sick.  Her enhanced lymphatic system kept her in perfect health at all times.  Yet she could feel the queasiness in her stomach and she was sweating like crazy.  For the first time in her life, Carmilla was actually scared.  No, she was terrified.

“Wrong,” she muttered wearily to herself as she braced herself against the wall of a building and felt the contents of her stomach threaten to escape from her mouth.  “What’s wrong with me?”

A rather un-ladylike noise accompanied her question as she threw up violently.  Her body felt like it was on fire and she sank to the concrete, narrowly avoiding the pool of her own vomit.  Her breath came fast and she forced the bile rising in her throat back down into her stomach.  She took a few more very deep breaths and collected herself, feeling her lymphatic system do its job and correct the flaws in her body.  Carmilla wiped the sweat from her brow and felt her fever subside for the moment.  She didn’t know what was going on with her body but it wasn’t going to stop her from her quest.  She knew who her father was and she was going to find him if it was the last thing she ever did.  Unfortunately for her, she didn’t know that with a viral weapon coursing through her bloodstream, finding her father might very well be the last thing that Carmilla Black ever did before dying.

Next Issue: The race against time continues as the Exiles come face-to-face with the Scientist Supreme while the Scorpion comes face-to-face with her biological father.