Avengers Spotlight 56
To Gain The Quantum Bands
Featuring Quasar
By Gregg Epstein

Powerless, without his quantum bands, Quasar walks throughout the streets of NYC, wondering how the past events of the last few hours could have possibily taken place. For years since the beginning of his career, AIM has tried to wrest the quantum bands from his wrists and now they have suceeded. Not that they were the only ones who have tried. Now they had MODOK on their side.

The plan was easy; to find AIM and regain his quantum bands. Yeh, right. Easy.

With his quantum bands, he could easily have tried to change into his civilain clothes and quantum leaped to his apartment near Four Freedoms Plaza. Yeh, right, like that is going to be an easy task tonight.

He ducked into an alley. He approached a dumpster and lifted the top open. He saw some filthy, dirty clothes and changed into Wendell Vaughn. He also saw an old duffel bag full of junk. He poured the junk out into the dumpster and put his costume in it, folded neatly.

Then, he stuck his hand out and hailed a cab. He convinced the cab driver to take him home even though he had no money.

"They did what?!?"

Wendell Vaughn was in his apartment and he had opened the compartment where Epoch was living. He had just told Epoch what had happened to his quantum bands. She was less than pleased.

"I'm sorry, Epoch. I was hit from behind. MODOK was there. They must have hit me with a ray gun in the head. Then,I was asleep for a time. And the next thing I knew I tried to fly and it just wasn't happening. I looked at my wrists. And they were gone."

"I still don't understand how they were able to wrest the bands from your wrists. I thought they were a permament part of your body, like an extension of it. They must have altered your body chemistry or something."

"That doesn't matter now. What does matter is getting them back. How am I supposed to fight MODOK and AIM without my bands? I can't go in there powerless."

'Actually, you can. I can give you a power boost like one of those nutrition bars, to give you energy enough to barely survive an attack by them and regain what is rightfully yours."

Modok sat in the corner of the vasts cientific institute, looking at his AIM agents experiment on the quantum bands that were procured from Quasar's wrists. He was proud of his achievemewnt.

"How goes the progress of duplicating those bands?" MODFOK asked his agents.

One of the agents turned to face their master and leader. "It does not go well. This is from alien technology. It would be hard to duplicate every last inch of its makeup. We can duplicate some of its properties. But not all."

"What else?"

"Well, based on our research, it seems that if not the chosen one wears the bands they will disintergrate the wearer."

"An interesting complication. How can we overcome that?"

"They will only disintergrate the wearer of the original bands but we can fix that with the copy."

"Proceed as planned."

'How will we deal with that Quasar if he tries to regain his bands?"

"No problem. Quasar is powerless without his quantum bands. If he comes any where near here, you have the order to terminate him and liquidate him post haste."

"What if he gets the Avengers or other heroes that we have encountered before to get the quantum bands for him?"

"He would be a fool to do that. The regaining of the quantum bands is his job alone and if he tries he would be doomed to failure because he is a normal human being now and he would be lucky if we kill him first before he enters our hideout."

"I think we are done with the duplication of the quantum bands." the agent says.

"Put them on. If you die, then you were not good enough to be on the side of AIM. Do it now."

"Yes, MODOK." The AIM agent puts on the quantum bands and finds himself glowing with pseudo-cosmic energy. He wills himself to fly around the area and he does so. He feels the power surging within him. He feels powerful, like energy and power incarnate.

"Good, good. That should be enough. I am duly satisfied. That should be enough to deal with Quasar when he comes here."

Suddenly there was a knock on their front entrance door. Modok instructed one of the lowly agents to answer it. Agent 39 walked over to it and opened the door slowly, saying, "What do you want?"

"Why, just my quantum bands," Quasar said as he forced his way in and started to pummel the agent with his fists.

"Hey, we got company, MODOK!!" The agent 39 said before Quasar knocked him unconscious with one final blow.

MODOK turned to the source of the attack. "Ah. Quasar. So you have returned to get what is rightfully yours. Don't think that it is going to be easy for you."

'That is where you are foolishly mistaken. I will get my bands back and I am going to send you and your beehive agents to the Vault."

"Agents, attack him! Stop him! He is just one man and he has no weapons on him."

"No, that is where you are mistaken because I came with company."

Suddenly, Epoch appeared. She was a large cosmic being and she usually never interfered with Quasar's battles but to regain the quantum bands, that was a different matter entirely.

"Ooohhh, I'm so scared!!!" MODOK mocked Epoch and Quasar.

"You should be," Epoch said kindly. "Because those quantum bands are going to be Quasar's one way or the other."

Suddenly, Epoch shot a cosmic ray at the agent flying above, halted him in his tracks, and took off his bands and gave them to their rightful owner.

"Quasar, I believe this is your call," Epoch said.

"I think a nice stay in the Vault should do nicely for them," Quasar answered.

As Epoch disappeared, transported back to Quasar's apartment, Quasar fired twin bolts of cosmic energy at MODOK and the agents of AIM and teleported them to the Vault.

The end. Gregg Epstein 9/27/02