Two teams of young heroes squared off against each other on GeneTech’s premises. On one side were the New Warriors, consisting of Patriot, Speedball, Gravity, Ricochet, Spider-Woman, Rage and Joystick. On the other was a group of heroes who previously held the New Warriors label—Night Thrasher, Justice, Firestar, Namorita, Nova, Turbo and Darkhawk.

“Stand down,” said Night Thrasher. “We don’t want to hurt any of you.”

“Sorry Thrash, no can do,” said Speedball.

“Something’s not right here, Thrash,” said Nova. “No way Robbie would take sides against us.”

“I know,” said Night Thrasher. “Speedball, listen—you’re under some sort of control. We can—”

Gravity slammed his fist to the ground, sending shockwaves towards the former Warriors, knocking them off balance. “Blah, blah, blah. That’s your problem, Taylor—you talk too much!”

“Don’t worry, kid—we’re done trying to reason with you!” said Nova. Living up to his title of the Human Rocket, he streaked from his spot, barreling right into Gravity.

“Nova already has Gravity. Justice, you take Speedball. Firestar, stay on Spider-Woman. Turbo, you have Joystick. Darkhawk, I’m leaving Ricochet up to you. Namorita, stay on Rage,” said Night Thrasher. “As far as Patriot, leave him to me.”

It felt good for Dwayne Taylor to be back inside the Night Thrasher armor. It felt good to be fighting side by side with his old teammates, even under the current circumstances. He had forgotten how much he missed this life.

“Let’s show these kids what it means to be a New Warrior,” he said.

PATRIOT GAMES

Part IV: Old Warriors

By Dino Pollard

Vance Astrovik hovered in the air before Speedball, a telekinetic field surrounding him and keeping him afloat. They were both founding members of the New Warriors, back when Vance called himself Marvel Boy. Since then, Vance became Justice and went on to become an Avenger. Speedball, on the other hand, always remained loyal to the Warriors.

“Robbie, don’t do this, we’ve been friends for years,” said Justice. “You don’t want to fight me.”

“I’ve got a job to do, Vance. Unlike you, I’ve always been a Warrior,” said Speedball. “I wasn’t just hanging around waiting for Captain America’s phone call.”

“It’s not like that at all!” said Justice.

“Whatever,” said Speedball. He propelled himself towards Justice, which Vance easily dodged. Speedball struck one of the walls and bounced back to the ground, then up to the ceiling. With each bounce, he built up more and more momentum, the kinetic energy building around him in the form of multi-colored bubbles.

Justice knew Speedball was invulnerable in this state, and his best chance was to simply contain his old friend. He reached out with his telekinetic abilities, slowing Speedball’s momentum, holding him in stasis.

“I really don’t want to hurt you, Robbie—but I will if I have to,” said Justice. “You can only use your powers if you’re bouncing and if I won’t let you do that, you’re helpless.”

“Obviously, you haven’t been paying attention lately,” said Speedball. “Y’see Vance, I don’t gotta bounce to build up kinetic energy—I can control it on my own now.”

Justice started to feel a great strain on his mind. Speedball became surrounded by his kinetic bubbles, and they were bouncing around inside the force field Justice held him captive in. The pressure kept building and building and Justice tried his hardest to exert more control over the field. But the more he tried, the more Speedball resisted and built up his kinetic assault. Justice faltered for just a moment, and it came both as a relief and a burden.

With the force field down, Speedball fell to the ground. He wasted no time, instantly bouncing towards Justice. As he flew towards him, kinetic bubbles flew from his body, striking Justice just before Speedball’s fist connected with his jaw.

Ricochet’s danger sense went into overdrive as he dodged attacks from Darkhawk. As Ricochet bounded away, he withdrew several of his discs and hurled them at the armored hero. Darkhawk was able to deflect them with relative ease thanks to his grappling hook.

“Hey, you’re actually pretty fast for some dude in a clunky suit of armor,” said Ricochet. “Surprised you’re able to move around so quick.”

“I’m full of surprises,” said Darkhawk.

“What’s your story, anyway? One of those lame heroes who never made it to the majors?” asked Ricochet.

“Hey, I fought with the Avengers. What’s your claim to fame, buddy?” asked Darkhawk.

“I’ve still got my youth, give it time,” said Ricochet. He leapt towards a wall, avoiding an energy blast from Darkhawk. The second his feet touched the wall, Ricochet bent his knees and sprung forward. He twisted, bringing his feet forward and connected them with Darkhawk’s helmet.

Once he landed, Ricochet nearly fell. “Damn, that hurt…”

“What do you expect?” asked Darkhawk. “Newsflash, rookie—metal’s hard. Especially alien metal.”

“Gee, who woulda thunk it?” asked Ricochet. He held discs in each hand. Had Darkhawk’s helmet permitted it, he would be smiling at the moment.

“Didn’t you learn the last time you tried those things?” he asked.

“Nope,” said Ricochet. He ran towards Darkhawk, but as he approached, instead of jumping, Ricochet hit the ground and slid between Darkhawk’s legs. He flipped up, sprung into the air, and threw the discs. The second they struck, they exploded.

Ricochet landed in a crouched and looked back at his opponent. He smiled beneath his mask. “Oh yeah, Ricochet one, Darkhawk zero!”

Once the smoke cleared, Ricochet’s eyes widened as he saw Darkhawk standing there, virtually unharmed.

“Oh shit…”

Just as Darkhawk had difficulty landing a blow on Ricochet, Firestar found herself with a similar difficulty as she went after Spider-Woman. Young Mattie Franklin’s spider sense kept her a step ahead of Firestar’s microwave blasts.

“You call yourself Spider-Woman?” asked Firestar. “Spider-Girl is more like it. How old are you anyway, twelve?”

“Why does everyone always say that?” asked Spider-Woman.

“You’re out of your league, kiddo—cut t his out before you get hurt,” said Firestar.

“No thanks, I’m doing fine,” said Spider-Woman. She extended her fingers and psionic webbing flew from the tips. Firestar tried to counter it with her microwave blasts, but the webbing wasn’t material. She quickly found herself trapped within the web of the Spider-Woman.

Mattie landed on the web, and four large spider legs protruded from her back. Her hands also began to crackle with energy, the patented venom blasts she gained from her mentor, Jessica Drew.

“Yeah, maybe I am young, but guess what?” said Spider-Woman. “I’ve been trained by the first Spider-Woman. Which means I’m better at this game than… probably you. After all, who trained you anyway? Night Thrasher?”

“Actually… not quite,” said Firestar. She managed to pull one hand free and fired a low-grade microwave blast that struck Spider-Woman in the chest. With her concentration broken, the psionic web vanished and Firestar hovered over her opponent. “I was trained by Emma Frost, and trust me, she’s a much bigger bitch than you are.”

Namorita leapt over Rage, narrowly avoiding one of his superpowered blows. She brought her leg down hard on his head, flipped and landed. She charged forward and delivered an uppercut to his jaw.

As an Atlantean and the cousin of Namor, Namorita possessed the same great strength as the Avenger. The blow seemed to shock Rage as well, but he recovered and charged towards her again. Namorita braced herself and stopped his fist with her hands, then turned her back to him, grabbed his forearm, and flipped him onto the ground.

“Don’t do this, Elvin. Please,” she pleaded.

“No choice, Nita,” said Rage. He jumped back to his feet and prepared himself for his next strike.

“Why are you doing this?” asked Namorita.

“I told you, I don’t have a choice,” said Rage. “By the way, it’s good to see you again.”

“Yeah, you too,” said Namorita. The wings on her feet began to flap, hefting her into the air. She rose quickly, with uncanny speed, then took a swan dive towards him. She was in freefall, but Rage waited. He braced himself so that when Namorita struck him, he was ready. Rage grabbed her arms and began to spin, building momentum before he released her and she crashed through a wall.

Rage went towards her to check on his former teammate. She lay unconscious and he felt a tinge of regret. But he had no choice, he did what he had to do.

Joystick combined her energy batons into a staff and swung it at Turbo. The former Warrior was able to counter most of the strikes thanks to her armor. She took aim and the turbines on her armor began to generate massive gusts of wind. Joystick began to be carried by the winds, but she slammed her staff into the ground, digging it in and giving herself some leverage.

As she held on, she released one hand and an energy baton formed in it. Joystick hurled it forward and Turbo wasn’t able to stop it before it struck her in the chest. Her concentration was momentarily broken and Joystick charged forward.

With an energy baton in each hand, she proceeded to beat down on Turbo. Mickey kept her cool, trying to block each blow as it came. As she did so, she was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake by accepting Night Thrasher’s invitation.

“Some Warrior you are, or should I say were,” said Joystick. “Can’t even hold your own against a newbie, huh?”

Joystick slammed her batons together and generated a concussive blast that knocked Turbo from her feet.

Turbo’s leg turbines kicked into high gear and she rocketed forward at incredible speeds. Her fist connected with Joystick’s face. Turbo countered with another blow and followed it up with a massive wind blast from her arm turbines.

“You ready to give up yet?” asked Turbo.

Joystick looked up at her opponent and lowered her head in defeat. Turbo approached her, but the moment she got too close, Joystick’s gauntlet fired off an energy baton that knocked Turbo back. Joystick was on her again, battering her senseless.

“Did I mention that I used to be a villain?” asked Joystick. “So in other words, I fight dirty.”

Gravity and Nova broke through the roof of GeneTech, rocketing into the sky. They traded blows on the entire trek up, neither of them able to get any sort of a head over the other.

“Dude, I know this may be a weird time and all, but once this is over, do you think I could get an autograph?” asked Gravity.

“What?” asked Nova.

“Big fan,” said Gravity. “By the way, congrats on the Avengers.”

“Oh thanks man,” said Nova. He placed his palm against Gravity’s chest and unleashed an energy blast that separated the pair. They both flew back towards each other and their blows connected simultaneously, again separating them once more.

The two plummeted and Gravity reached out with his powers and increased the gravitational pull on Nova. The Human Rocket tried to fight against it, but the force was too great and he found himself falling far too fast.

Gravity came back towards him, using his powers to increase his own strength as he battered Nova. “I should tell you, I went toe to toe with the Thing,” he said. “I’m kind of a big deal, man.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Nova. “That’s impressive, I fought with the Thing a few times. Give me a call once you tangle with Terrax.”

“Actually, he’s next on my list,” said Gravity. “Oh and by the way, y’know how it’s getting harder and harder for you to fly? That’s my doing. They don’t call me Gravity for nothing.”

Nova knew Gravity was right and he struck the ground hard, leaving a massive crater. Gravity hovered down to meet him, a smug grin present on his face. “See man, I tried to warn you. I told you, I’m kind of a big deal.”

He came close and Nova suddenly sprung up and wrapped his hand around Gravity’s throat. “Yeah, well I’m a reserve Avenger and a member of the Xandarian Nova Corps. So if anyone’s a big deal around here, kid? Guess what, it’s all about me!”

Nova hurled Gravity away with all his strength and then rocketed after him, firing several concussive blasts in the wake and knocking Gravity unconscious.

Patriot and Night Thrasher exchanged blows one after the other. Patriot had the edge in powers, but Night Thrasher’s armor and skill leveled the playing field quite a bit. Patriot withdrew several throwing stars and threw them towards him. Night Thrasher deflected each of them with his truncheon batons.

“Look around you, Taylor—it’s over,” said Patriot. “Your team is on the ropes. Looks like I’ve proven myself the better leader by assembling a stronger team.”

“You really think it’s that simple, don’t you?” asked Night Thrasher.

“Couldn’t be simpler,” said Patriot.

“And you didn’t even consider the back-up plan,” said Night Thrasher.

“Back-up plan?” asked Patriot.

“See Patriot, that’s the problem with you,” said Night Thrasher. “You’re only thinking about the brawn. You haven’t even considered the brains. This here? My team against yours? That was just the distraction from my real plan.”

Patriot’s rage boiled over and he charged towards Night Thrasher in a frenzy. Night Thrasher maintained his cool, however. He countered each blow, for him it was almost as if the entire fight moved in slow motion. Night Thrasher’s gauntlet emitted a blast of tear gas, disorienting the Patriot.

He moved in again, battering Patriot with his truncheon sticks. “If you want to be an effective leader, you have to consider all the angles. That’s why I’m better at this than you.”

Elsewhere in the GeneTech facility, a lithe figure materialized in the shadows. She was dressed in a skintight costume and she moved around on a pair of metal crutches attached to her forearms.

“And what do we have here?” asked one of two guards who spotted her. “Someone sent a cripple to break in?”

“Cripple, huh?” asked the young woman. Her features were a mixture of African and Asian. “So much for tolerance.”

She used her crutches to propel herself into the air, flying over the heads of the two guards, who looked on in surprise. Once she landed, she balanced herself on one of the crutches, using the other to strike one of them with the electric taser on the end. He fell unconscious. The second guard lifted his gun, but before he could fire off a shot, the young woman struck him with her other crutch, injecting his body with a powerful sedative.

She moved towards a computer console and placed a module on it. That’s when she spoke into the earpiece she wore.

“You read me, Hornet?” she asked.

{Loud and clear, Silhouette.}

“Good,” she said. “I’ve attached the satellite module. Are you in?”

Eddie McDonough spoke to Silhouette Chord from the Crash Pad. From there, thanks to the satellite transmitter, he was able to easily get into GeneTech’s computer system.

{Yeah, I’m in. Looks like GeneTech’s been using some sort of implant on the Warriors to get them to follow orders. Some sort of test.}

“How do we disable them?” asked Silhouette.

{I can probably get the process started, but it’ll take some time. We might need a diversion since Thrash’s team isn’t doing so well.}

Silhouette looked around the room she was in. There were a series of stasis tubes that held the members of Psionex captive. She smiled. “I think I have just the thing.”

NEXT: The New Warriors, both past and present, unite with Psionex to put GenTech out of business!