WEST COAST AVENGERS 110

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! - And there came a day … Hawkeye! Wonder Man! Tigra! US Agent! Cannonball? Quicksilver? Falcon? These are the WEST COAST AVENGERS!!!

WEST COAST AVENGERS

# 110

MV1 - Northern Bear Productions

October, Year 3

Previously … Visitors came to the Compound in the forms of Falcon and Quicksilver. Falcon came to bare his grievances with US Agent over the arrest of Councilman Proctor on cocaine possession charges. Quicksilver came to find out what Hawkeye wanted when he called him earlier at the place where he and his wife Crystal had been staying: leading the Knights of Wundagore from a castle on the Hudson River. As tempers flared, the Compound was shaken when Beta Ray Bill fell from the sky and crashed onto the grounds. He whispered words to Hawkeye that made the Avenging Archer’s blood run cold. Meanwhile, on a distant world, a billion billion voices chant … DOOM! … DOOM! … DOOM! …

Imagine that you stand on Beta Ray Bill’s spaceship, Scuttlebutt, looking at a cosmic map of the far corner of the Shi’ar Empire. Twenty planets have been colored green.

Imagine that you were Hawkeye, Chairman of the Avengers west coast branch. Imagine that you dragged your growing and developing team half way across the cosmos to face your planet’s most deadly villain. Imagine that their lives are on the line because of you.

"Let’s do this, boss." The voice comes from behind you. It belongs to Wonder Man and you’re glad to see, at least temporarily, he’s not moping. You needn’t turn around to know that there are eyes upon you, waiting for your command.

Imagine that you’ve come all this way because the alien warrior with the power of Thor, Beta Ray Bill, crashed into your Compound, exhausted, lucky to escape with his life.

Imagine that he told you the missing Dr. Doom - not seen on your world since you, and others, returned from the Franklinverse, was, in fact, not lost at all. That he was out there, deep inside Shi’ar space.

Imagine that you're standing in the middle of space and only yesterday you were 140 years in the past playing cowboy, drinking sediment-filled beer and asking strange women to marry you.*

Imagine that you now had to turn around and give a speech to people who followed you. Imagine that you may be sending them to their deaths.

"Fancy speeches are Cap’s strength," you jest, but the words come out somber. "All I know is that Dr. Doom is running free out here and Beta Ray Bill thinks that if he conquers the next planet on his list, he could take control of the entire Shi’ar Empire. Doom’s from Earth. We’re from Earth. That makes this our mess to clean up. You’ve all got your orders. Any questions?"

"Right then," you say, hesitating for one last second, "away we go on our separate paths. Good luck all."

Imagine that you were transported to the surface of a planet not your own, while the others were sent to other planets.

Imagine that you stand on the soil of a distant world and it looks … just … like … Latveria!

You blink, but the image does not change. You see Latveria stuck in the middle of a desert. Winds howl by as sand kicks up into your eyes. You’re here to save someone that Bill has assured you is a necessity. You don’t care if it’s Woodgod you’ve come to save, you’ll take all the help you can get.

To your left stands Beta Ray Bill and he is not well. His costume is ripped to shreds, he walks with a limp and the preliminary exam he received back at Avengers Compound indicates that he probably has three shattered ribs. Yet, still, he endures. Still, he walks. Still, he fights.

Hawkeye pounded his fist onto the large computer inside the Compound that he was currently using to contact the East Coast Branch of the Avengers.

"I’m sorry, Master Hawkeye, but there’s no one here," Jarvis, the long time butler of the Avengers answered. "The team is still quite shaken from their recent voyage into space." *

* See recent issues of AVENGERS 429 for the Spaceknight Saga -- ROM Fanboy Mark …

"This is crap, Jarvis!" Hawkeye stormed. "We’ve got a major crisis going on here! Why aren’t people answering their communicards?"

"I do not know, Master Hawkeye," Jarvis frowned. "I can leave a message if you’d like."

"Sure," Hawkeye gritted through his clenched teeth. "Tell them if they don’t hear from us in a week, we’re probably all dead!"

Hawkeye slammed his fist hard onto the console, ending the transmission. No one was around - not the Fantastic Four, not the X-Men, not the Champions, not the other half of the Avengers and those who did answer weren’t going to be able to make it in time.

You stand by a window and gaze into space. It all seems so big to you, so above your power to do anything.

You catch a glimpse of your image in the reflection of the glass and you find yourself feeling more than a bit foolish. Here you are, in the middle of the Shi’ar Empire, about to try to overthrow Dr. Doom and you’re standing in a space ship wearing nothing more than a bikini. The fact that for once you’re ashamed of something like this worries you more than Dr. Doom, but you’ve always been a bit egocentric.

Imagine that you were Greer Nelson, the Avenger known as Tigra, and you felt completely and totally incapable of doing anything that will be required of you.

Imagine that Hawkeye had just given the order to send you to a planet, entrusting you with a mission to stop 1,000 Doom-Bots.

Good thing you’ve been paired with a recently returned Avenger who’s got more power than you’ve ever dreamed of.

But, you wonder, were you paired with her because you make a good team? Or because she’s the most powerful person here … and you’re the weakest?

Quicksilver, Wonder Man, Falcon, US Agent, Cannonball, Tigra, Beta Ray Bill, Jolt and Shape talked in hushed tones by the pool, waiting for Hawkeye to arrive. They said little, well aware of the grim task that was waiting for them on their trip to the stars.

None wanted to go, but they knew they must. Beta Ray Bill had fallen into their midst with a story that sent chills up and down their spines and they knew that it had just become Avengers business. All they required now was Hawkeye’s presence and they could go.

Quicksilver had called back east to tell Crystal. They had only recently decided that Avengers membership was something they wanted to do again. * Pietro knew his wife didn't really want to come back, that she enjoyed life on the Hudson River living with the Knights of Wundagore, but she had agreed to come just for him. He was bored with that lifestyle, as he'd tire of this one eventually, too. It just wasn't in his nature to be stationary for too long.

* That happened in MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION 48 - On sale now at the Avengers Branch - It's a Quiet Issue Mark …

He made a mental not to do something especially nice for Crys when he came back.

A bright light suddenly lit up the nighttime sky just above them, but before any could make a move to a defensive position, the former Avenger known as Captain Marvel II and now known as Photon stood in their midst.

"I take it this isn’t for one of Hawkeye’s barbecues," she said dryly, looking at the grim faces before her.

"The latest is we’re just about set to leave," came Hawkeye’s voice from the side as he walked up to her. "Glad you could join us, Photon," he managed to offer up an emotionless smile. "We could use your power."

Hawkeye nodded, started to turn around and caught himself. "Photon, I’m only asking for this one mission."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "I - I thought, from your message you wanted me to come back full-time - I - I’m sorry. Of course, I’ll help just for this mission."

Hawkeye smiled, again, but this time it was genuine. "You want to become an Avenger again?"

"I - Yes. I do," she admitted, though she wasn’t about to tell them why. It didn't matter, she told herself, but she didn't buy it. She had another reason for being here, one not done completely for selfless reasons.

Hawkeye clasped her on the back. "Welcome to the West Coast Avengers, Photon."

"Doesn’t the Charter require you to vote on this?" she asked, knowing full well it did. She had been an Avengers Chairman once. *

Hawkeye threw up his hands in disgust. This wasn’t the time for following procedure. This was the time for action. "Any objections?" Silence. "Didn’t think so. All those in favor?" All the hands present went up.

"I should tell you, however, that I’ve dropped the Photon name," she informed. "It never really sat right with me."

"Gone back to calling yourself Captain Marvel?" Tigra asked, smiling as she welcomed Monica to the team.

"No, I’m sure Mar-Vell’s boy is happier with the name than I was. It was never my chosen name, you know. The name ‘Captain Marvel’ was given to me by reporters. Truth is, I’ve never really considered my name to be a big deal. It’s the actions, not the name you go by. I’m happy letting people call me what they will."

"Good thing. ‘Cause when you did pick your name, you chose Photon … and that name sucks," Agent cracked. "You should probably let people pick your name for you."

"I have," Monica answered, put off by Agent’s tone. "I live in Louisiana and the locals in New Orleans have a name they call me. Between the Cajuns and the more anglicized locals they’ve given me a nickname that I might as well use. They call me Lady Merveille."

"Mer-VAY?" Cannonball asked. "That’s French for ‘marvel’, isn’t it?"

"It is," Monica smiled, shaking his hand and ignoring Agent’s upturned nose. "The French had taken to calling me just Merveille - guess they hated the Photon name, too - but the local socialites thought that was too, well, too French, I guess, so they added the Lady part. Good for the local flavor, they told me, to have a Lady around." She shrugged. "Whatever. You must be Cannonball, correct?"

"As pleasant as this is," Beta Ray Bill cut in, holding his side in pain, "we’ve got planets to liberate."

Imagine, for a second, that you were the long time Avenger known as Quicksilver.

You run across the surface of a planet that has been conquered by Dr. Doom, feeling a sadness for the people you pass, noting the blank look of defeat that is etched on their faces. Above you flies the Falcon.

You hate bullies like Dr. Doom. And Magneto. Ah, yes, the name that always sits on the edge of your mind. Magneto. Perhaps the most powerful mutant in the world who has used his power oftentimes to commit some of the most vile acts of atrocity you’ve ever seen.

Imagine that to you the world moved as if it was in slow motion. Your mutant power is one of acceleration and you live in a body that moves five times faster than the rest of an entire planet. Think you might feel cranky watching everything roll by you in slow motion? Think you might feel … a bit isolated from humanity?

That worries you because your father feels isolated from humanity, too. And you don’t ever want to be like your father, do you?

To your right, a family cries together, huddled over what looks to be the dead body of a teen-aged girl.

You become instantly filled with righteous anger - just like your father would, you note to yourself - at any who could cause such conditions to develop.

Something people do not give you credit for is the love you have for those close to you. You love passionately and completely … even though you have a difficult time expressing it openly. You would die for your wife and daughter, and your sister, too.

Imagine that your life ran by in slow motion and you carried all those burdens inside you.

Imagine, for a second, that you were the long time Avenger known as Quicksilver. Would you really want to be him all day long?

The "Commander" - it couldn't be soon enough before they stopped calling him that, he thought to himself - watched on as the skeleton crew that had been assembled here immediately set about putting the ship up on the large viewscreen in front of them.

"There's nothing in the files stolen from SHIELD, STRIKE, the Avengers, X-Men, Fant-"

"Damnit," the Commander snapped, "don't you have them integrated in with the alien files our mysterious benefactor provided us with?"

"N-no sir, but I'm checking them now," the young tech, recently removed from his employ at Star City answered, punching keys as quickly as possible.

"Why does everyone around here have to guess about everything?!? We're here to protect this planet everyone! Start doing your jobs!"

"It's the Scuttlebutt, sir. It's the ship of Beta Ray Bill, origin: the Burning Galaxy."

"That's better," the Commander nodded. "We shouldn't have anything to worry about then. Keep scanning it every so often. We don't want it to know we're here. Our cloaking device is better than anything on Earth, but I'm not sure if it's capable of staying hidden from the Scuttlebutt. Let's not risk it."

"Sir, flare up in the northern United States!" shouted a Japanese tech suddenly. "Preliminary scans indicate it's a mutant power … previously unrecognized … the heat it's putting off is unbearable … "

Another tech was already zooming in for a close-up, giving the Lighthouse crew a view of a burning factory in Iowa.

"Check the power against that of the Human Torches I and II, Pyro, Firebird, Firestar, Firelord and Pyron," the Commander ordered. "I want to know if it's similar to any known entity."

"I see you've been neglecting your research, Scanner Drayton," the Commander accused. "Pyron the Thermal Man first battled the Avengers." *

"Right," Hawkeye answered, resetting his focus. "Bill has informed me that his ship, the Scuttlebutt, has arrived in Earth orbit. We’ll take one of the modified Quinjets up to it and Scuttlebutt can take us where we need to go. The ship has teleporting powers, but I want a Quinjet inside it just to be safe. Before we leave, though, I need to ask something. Cannonball, Quicksilver, Falcon are you taking this trip as members of the team, or just to help out?"

"As an Avenger," Quicksilver answered quickly. "I’ve spoken at great length to Crystal about this and we’d like to come back to the team, though she prefers, because of our daughter Luna, to stay as a reserve." *

* The aforementioned MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION # 48 – Writing All Over the Place Mark …

Hawkeye nodded. "Glad to have you back. Two of the Kooky Quartet is my kinda team. Sam?"

"I can’t recommit to the team at this time as anything more than a reserve. I’m here long enough to clear my friend and that’s it. But I’m going with you. An Avenger would do no less."

Hawkeye smiled despite the situation. "Well, this team is rounding into shape nicely."

"I guess this means there’s no room for me," Jolt added sarcastically. "So I get to make the trip as a guest of some kind. Thanks."

"Now’s not the time, Jolt," Hawkeye added sharply. "And you’re not coming. No. Don’t start. You’re staying here, with Shape. Someone’s got to watch the monitors. The rest of us can handle this."

"What?" Hawkeye and the rest spun to look hard at US Agent, his admission even silencing Jolt. "What do you mean? This is an order, Agent!"

"I’ve got to stay here and continue to investigate the drug trade that Councilman Proctor is involved in. It’s bigger than we thought."

Falcon was about to say something, but Hawkeye raised a hand, stopping him. "Agent, this is an order. This is Avengers business. You’ve caused enough trouble pulling the team into that mess with the politician. I’m ordering you to come with us."

"Look, big shot," Agent leveled a finger at the Avengers Chairman, "give me one reason why we should head off into space and take on Dr. Doom? We’ve got plenty of problems around here to deal with. Let Doom fight with the Shi’ar. It beats him being on Earth, trying to take this planet over."

Hawkeye seethed. No way Agent would reject an order if this was Captain America giving it to him. It was the same old story, as far as Clint was concerned, no respect for the West Coast Avengers.

Imagine that you were Simon Williams, the long time Avenger known as Wonder Man.

You’ve been going through tough times these past few weeks as you try to cope with the fact that the woman you love, Wanda Maximoff the Scarlet Witch, sister of your teammate Quicksilver, doesn’t love you.

Imagine that you find yourself god knows how many light years from her, ready to enter into a war with Dr. Doom.

You lay face down in the mud, trying to be as still as you can. Somewhere to your right lies Cannonball. Doombots walk everywhere. This planet you find yourself on is a mess, the most recently conquered planet by Doom. Destruction is everywhere. There is more rubble than houses left standing.

Of course, there are more Wonder Mans on the planet than houses because Doom leveled every last standing structure.

Doom is building warships with this planet’s factories. You and Sam Guthrie have been entrusted to stop them from being made.

Imagine that despite all this, you smile. Despite the grimness, this is what Avengers do. And it feels oh so good to get your mind off Wanda for awhile and be an Avenger again, doesn’t it?

As Hawkeye stormed after Agent towards the main house, Sam Guthrie (Cannonball) and Greer Nelson (Tigra) stood together, talking in hushed tones. In little more than a day, they had grown comfortable with each other. It wasn’t surprising, Sam thought. Hawkeye hadn’t been around much, US Agent mostly acted like a big shot jerk and Wonder Man had all but locked himself in his room, pining over the Scarlet Witch.

Cannonball let out a deep breath. "Not nervous, no. But I am aware of what lay ahead." He stood silently for a moment, before realizing that Tigra probably hadn’t asked because she was worried about him. "You?" he asked her in return. "How are you feeling?"

Tigra wrapped her arms a little tighter around herself, shivering though she wasn’t cold. "Fine, I guess." Pause. "These big epics make me a little nervous," she admitted in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "Look at me, I’m a cat. I’ve no real superpowers but my agility."

"What do you mean? You’ve got heightened senses, too. And the tail, of course," Sam smiled at her.

Tigra smiled back, appreciative. "Yeah," she waved the tail around a bit, making sure to rub it across Cannonball's legs, "well, that does make me pretty special, I guess."

Lady Merveille looked around and shook her head. This wasn’t going to be easy, no matter who the foe they were to face, let alone Dr. Doom. Cannonball was new to the team and, as such, hadn’t worked with anyone yet. It’s one thing to know someone and like them, but you have to fight alongside them to get to know how they move in battle. Otherwise, people get hurt. Seriously hurt.

"Damnit!" Hawkeye stormed as he approached. "He won’t come! We’re calling everyone, needing all the people we can get and now members of our own team are refusing to go!" Hawkeye looked around and took stock of the people gathered in front of him. "Screw it. Let’s go. What have we got to lose?"

Against Dr. Doom? He’d take his chances. Against a Dr. Doom that had conquered twenty planets and crippled a guy that was almost an equal to Thor?

Councilman Michael Proctor sits in a cell alone and bangs his head against the wall. He had called his good friend Sam Wilson to come to LA to help him out of this jam the Avengers had put him in. Sam wasn't just a friend, he was the Falcon and a former Avenger. *

* See WEST COAST AVENGERS 108 and CAPTAIN AMERICA 483 - Middle of the Night Mark …

The Councilman was hoping that Sam could use some pull and get him out of here, but so far nothing had happened.

There was another part of the jail where Michael preferred to be - the area where prisoners were discharged after having their bail posted.

While the Councilman's bail was set at one million dollars, another in the jail had his bail set low enough to provide an easy freedom. His name was Slyde, a super-villain that the Avengers had sent to jail.*

Inexplicably to anyone who saw Slyde while he was incarcerated, he was allowed to remain in costume for the entire time he was in jail.

"Don't know why anyone would want to bail out someone like you, Slyde," the guard grumbled as he removed the handcuffs from Slyde's wrists. Handcuffs that Slyde could have slipped out of at any time thanks to his superslick grey costume if he had wanted to.

He didn't. The person who he had called with his one phone call had specifically told him to go along with whatever the cops and guards asked of him and that he'd be bailed out within five days. They didn't want it to look like they'd rush in and bail anyone out at the drop of a hat. They didn't want other criminals in their group unless they were committed to the movement for the movement's sake and not just to have someone to bail them out of jail.

Slyde looked at the guard as the man placed the handcuffs on the counter. "We all have friends," Slyde said solemnly. He turned to the woman who had bailed him out, "Brother, give the man a card. Perhaps he could use some direction in his life."

The attractive woman in her late forties already had a card out. She handed it to the guard and turned to walk away with Slyde.

The guard scratched his head as he looked at the plain white business card in his hand. It read,

The Avengers - Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Tigra, Cannonball, Falcon, Lady Merveille and Quicksilver - stood and listened to Beta Ray Bill. "Doom’s first conquered planet was a small sphere called Ak’yen’ja. He took it down single-handedly with equal parts manipulation and power.* From information provided by the Starjammers, Ak’yen’ja’s technology is barely equal to that of the United States in the 1930’s. Doom took over and the first thing he did was force the various peoples to build factories and machines. They built a spaceship, which Doom used to journey to the nearest planet.

* See FANTASTIC FOUR 433 for Doom’s first planetary conquest – In A Galaxy Far Far Away Mark …

"Which he then conquered. This planet was more technologically advanced, so Doom moved his base of operations there. He made a bigger ship. And on he went, conquering planets and turning their factories into war machines. He’s building an army of Doombots and a fleet of spaceships. He’s building laser guns, computers … he’s building nuclear bombs.

"Citizens are being enslaved and cultures are being eradicated. Every building he comes across, he destroys and in it’s place he forces people to build a new structure using Latverian architecture. Every planet has built or is building a Castle Doom so he can lead his troops from anywhere.

Beta Ray Bill paused. "Avengers, listen well to my words because what I am about to tell you is perhaps the most dangerous weapon Doom has on his side and, quite possibly, is the one weapon we can not defeat.

"To many of the people on these planets, he is not Doom the Conqueror. He is Doom the Liberator. The man who cast off the Shi’ar Empire from their worlds.

"The next planet in his path, Hollandinia, is the largest one he has yet to attempt to conquer. It’s the tenth most advanced planet in the entire Shi’ar Empire. It’s tenth only because it builds one thing and one thing only: Shi’ar War Cruisers. Everybody who lives on the planet either builds these crafts or is enrolled in a State Center, being trained for the Shi’ar military.

"Hollandinia’s State Center pulls in recruits from the middle systems. These aren’t the tight circle of planets fiercely loyal to the Shi’ar, nor the outer planets that barely feel the Shi’ar presence. No, these recruits are from the middle systems - the planets who pay the most taxes and see the fewest returns. The planets with citizens the least happy about the Empire they are forced to be a part of. Planets, in part, that Doom has already conquered.

"If Doom conquers this planet, he gains sixty, maybe sixty-five Shi’ar spacecrafts and a factory to produce them. But more … Doom gains a Shi’ar trained army.

"If he wins this planet, with his brilliant strategical mind, there is every chance that Doom can rise up and take control of the entire Shi’ar Empire. All of it. Do you want to live in a universe where Doom controls the largest intergalactic Empire?

"Every day at a pre-determined time, every loyal person on every planet inside Doom’s Empire gathers in town squares and chants the name DOOM over and over again.

The illusion of victory is an easy trap for those who seek to conquer. They plan for so long, anticipate so strongly, that when that slaved over plan is accomplished they often allow themselves to feel the rush of what they have so long sought.

Victor Von Doom has done many things in his lifetime and even he, as great a man as he is, has let himself grow comfortable in victories that were not yet truly won.

No longer. No, as Doom made his way across the Shi’ar Empire, conquering planet after planet, he realized that until you lifted your boot from the Earth and saw the crushed remains of your foe, you had not truly won.

Doom did not arrive on a planet, defeat it and then leave, content with the knowledge that he had beat the best that planet had to offer.

He now treated victories like he treated Latveria. Not something to be put on a shelf in a jar, or to be left lingering in the mind like a satisfying lover, but to be controlled.

Doom made sure that every planet on whose surface he set foot could not ever think of him as a bad memory because he’d never leave. Every planet that came under the heel of Doom was leveled to the ground and rebuilt like Latveria. Every nation that was rebuilt like Latveria held a Castle Doom. Every city inside that nation was ruled over by a Doombot.

Victor stood looking out at space from a viewing deck on board the Latveria VIII. He felt more alive than he had since he blew the Baxter Building into space. He wasn’t just winning random battles - he was devising plans and fulfilling them. He was creating, building things that even Reed Richards was not doing.

Ah, if only Richards could see him now. If only Richards could see the triumph of Doom.

Doom knew, out here in the middle of space, there wasn’t a soul alive who could conceive a plan that could stop him.

Beta Ray Bill finished his speech and stepped back. Hawkeye let the words sink in for a moment before stepping forward and addressing his team.

"Here’s what we’re going to do," Hawkeye commanded, filling his mind with visions of George C. Scott to help him stay strong, "Quicksilver and Falcon will journey to Ak’yen’ja. That’s the first planet Doom conquered. I want to know everything we can about what happened there. According to reports provided by the Starjammers, Doom wasn’t himself while there. He had some kind of amnesia following his return from the Franklinverse. I want to know everything."*

* Someone should tell Hawkeye to read FANTASTIC FOUR 421 to 425 for Doom’s first days back from the Franklinverse – Doctor Mark …

"You can’t be serious," Quicksilver cut in. "I did not return to the Avengers to play messenger boy in the midst of a cosmic war."

Hawkeye looked at Pietro hard - he thought the fiery speedster might not like this. "Pietro, we need to know all we can about Doom. You’re the most experienced Avenger here, and, as such, have the most knowledge about Doom. You’re-"

"Fine," Pietro brushed Hawkeye’s explanation aside with the wave of his hand. "It’s *your* team, Hawkeye. I will do as told. But do not expect me to be slowed down waiting for the Falcon to keep up with me."

"Just a minute!" Falcon snapped. Sam was trying to calm down from the incident with US Agent, but he just couldn’t.* Agent was a complete jerk, as far as Sam was concerned and what he did was inexcusable. Especially given the fact that while Sam had chosen to let his friend rot away in a Los Angeles county jail to travel all the way to the Shi’ar Galaxy to stop Doom, Agent had stayed behind to gather more evidence against Councilman Proctor.

"We’re not going to do this!" Hawkeye barked, silencing both Sam and Pietro. "Work together. You’re Avengers, damnit."

Hawkeye was answered in exactly the manner he wanted to be answered, with silence. But that didn’t stop the burn that raged inside Quicksilver. He felt that where he was going offered little or no chance to face off against Doom.

"Next," he continued, his voice on edge, "Wonder Man and Cannonball will go to the planet Mil’gromal. Doom’s building warships there. These are the ships that are making up the bulk of his fleet. I want production on these ships stopped."

"You got it," Wonder Man grinned despite himself, causing those that had been present at the Compound over the past few days to look at him quizzically. But there was something about all this that made him feel more alive than he had been in a long while. "Nothing I want more right now than to cut loose."

"How are we going to stop warships, Hawkeye?" Cannonball asked. "Is there a plan or is simply a "make a mess of things" mission?"

"I like the way you think," Hawkeye grinned back. "You and Simon are to go in and hammer everything you come across. Break everything you can and leave before they hand you a bill. I don’t think even Stark can afford to pay for Shi’ar warships."

"Lady Merveille. Tigra. On the planer Chambeezer is the principle Doombot factory. Like Simon and Cannonball, you’re job is to hit it hard and take out as many Doombots as you can. Intel reports that Bill has provided are sketchy at best, so we don’t know if Doom is making full-blown Doombots or lesser models that are being used mainly to intimidate by their presence. It’s possible Doom doesn’t want to risk his genius falling into hands that aren’t loyal to him, so the weaker Doombots are a possibility. But don’t count on it."

"The latest word," Beta Ray Bill interjected, "is that there’s 1,000 Doombots ready to be shipped out. Your first concern is eliminating the Doombots already completed."

"There’s no possibility that Doom has put live people inside those suits?" Monica Rambeau asked.

"Nothing we have indicates that he has done that," Bill answered, finding Monica’s gaze to be subtly powerful and commanding.

Off to the side, Tigra wondered just what she could hope to accomplish besides watching Lady Merveille in action. When it was just her, Clint, Jack and Simon on the team, she felt pretty good about herself. But now … Quicksilver, Lady Merveille, Cannonball … hanging out with the likes of Beta Ray Bill … Greer found herself wondering if Avengers membership on the West Coast was suddenly becoming a place where she would be little more than useless. She didn't like the large group at all, it was too likely that she wouldn't be the center of attention.

"You can, Tigra!" Hawkeye snapped. "There’s no other choice. Find a way to do it. The last thing we need right now is somebody whining about what they can’t do! You’re an Avenger. Act like it."

Hawkeye turned around to have a moment to himself. One last chance to look at the charts and go over the plan in his mind.

"Let’s do this, boss." The voice comes from behind him.. It belongs to Wonder Man and Hawkeye's glad to see, at least temporarily, that Simon isn't moping. Clint could feel the eyes of the Avengers on him, and he turned around slowly.

"Fancy speeches are Cap’s strength," he jested, but the words come out somber. "All I know is that Dr. Doom is running free out here and Beta Ray Bill thinks that if he conquers the next planet on his list, he could take control of the entire Shi’ar Empire. Doom’s from Earth. We’re from Earth. That makes this our mess to clean up. You’ve all got your orders. Any questions?"

"Right then," Hawkeye breathed, hesitating for one last second, "away we go on our separate paths. Good luck all."

Quicksilver and Falcon stood alongside a kindly woman, looking at a young man who would be King. His name was Tytan and he stood in the center of the desert, stripped naked, save for the chain strapped to his left ankle. He was a battered and broken man, but his punishment was not at an end. The citizens of Ak’yen’ja would forever hold him as guilty in their hearts for he was the first to side with Victor Von Doom.

"He’s chained to a gravestone," Falcon muttered, noting the name and inscription that was chiseled onto the limestone:

"A … a hero," Tytan answered. "Victor … killed her and then he … he took our planet."*

"Are you responsible for her death?" Pietro asked, barely able to hold the contempt from his voice. He had learned little from the people who had brought him and Sam to this place, but he had learned this.

"There are those who blame him for everything," came the soft, older voice of Ja’lana, leader of the Ba’na’ay, one of the six races that inhabit the planet Ak’yen’ja.

"You did and it is for that reason alone that you live," Ja’lana answered softly, though the ice in her tone was unmistakable. "Come, strangers, you will be given an audience with Chieftain Ioeya of the Eaau. He leads us now. At least," her voice dropped even lower, "he is who we all turn to for advice. Victor is our true leader."

"Is it necessary to torture him like this?" Falcon asked Ja’lana, eyeing a group of children who approached with sticks and insults.

"It is," she answered without turning. "But do not feel sorry for ‘King’ Tytan. He is only King because Victor killed his father."

"Tytan was Victor’s ally. He stood by and watched his father murdered, doing nothing to stop the atrocity." *

Quicksilver and Falcon eyed each other, then Tytan, then the approaching children and then each other once again. Before the children took another step they were removed of their sticks.

Wonder Man and Cannonball stood behind a decrepit building, hiding from the Doombot patrol guards. Since landing on Mil’gromal, they hadn’t said a word to each other - the sight before them was almost too much to bear.

The were looking at an entire society transformed against it’s will. On the surface, a cultural architecture style was being erased from existence and replaced with Latverian design and below the surface … by the downtrodden looks on the faces of the Mil’gromalans they had seen, it was much more than just the look of their building that was being subjugated.

Mil’gromalan architecture, from what they could tell, was beautiful - it contained the columns of Greek architecture, topped with what looked like Chinese rooftops. The entire setting was done in bright colors: reds, pinks, electric blues … Simon thought it must have looked like a giant neon sign from above before Doom had had it leveled.

Construction crews - the slave labor that Doom had forced his opposers into - were busy cleaning up the massive rubble and replacing it with building that would fit right in at Latveria.

For Simon Williams and Sam Guthrie, the sight was hard to look at. Back on Earth, Latveria was but a small country, but this …

"Is that what he’d do if he ever took over Earth?" Sam asked, thinking of his family back home in Kentucky.

"I don’t know," Simon answered quietly. "But if we weren’t already certain we were doing the right thing …" he let the words trail off as a young child wailed helplessly at a Doombot not thirty feet away. Simon had to grab hold of Sam’s arm to keep him from going to help. They couldn’t be discovered this early and the Doombot wasn't hurting the child. It was just standing there taking the brunt of the attack.

In the distance, they saw what they had come here for: a large series of factories, stretching as far as the eye could see into the horizon, doing nothing save turning out warships.

"Ah can’t believe US Agent stayed at home," Sam shook his head. "How could he?"

Simon looked at the young mutant seriously, choosing his words carefully before continuing. "Agent didn’t know what we’d find out here - not that he should have to come along, but still I’d like to think that if he could see this, he’d do whatever he could to get here and help out."

Jack Walker sat in the Communications Center of the Compound performing the most tedious of all tasks demanded of an Avenger: monitor duty.

He had his US Agent costume on, but his mask and gloves off. His feet were up and he passed the time by munching on a tuna-fish salad sub. Unlike most other Avengers, Jack probably took the most joy out of monitor duty. He liked being at the center of a crisis and being the one who made decisions in the heat of battle.

He wouldn’t mind being the guy making the decisions for this entire outfit, but he wasn’t looking to take Clint’s job.

God knows he’d have handled this Beta Ray Bill thing differently. What was Hawkeye thinking, sending an untested group of heroes out into the deep reaches of space to battle a maniac like Dr. Doom? What was he hoping to accomplish? Stop him and bring him back to lock away in the Vault?

Hawkeye let his emotions get the better of him - not that this would be the first or last time that would happen. He saw the battered Beta Ray Bill and heard the horror story about what Dr. Doom had been doing since he returned from that Onslaught/Franklin Richards world and thought about all those poor people being oppressed on those planets and took off like he was Clint Eastwood.

It didn’t make sense. They had plenty of problems here to deal with, not the least of which was the hodgepodge line-up that Clint had thrown together. In the span of about thirty seconds, he had added Cannonball, Quicksilver and Lady Photon or whatever she called herself to the team and it looked like Falcon was going to stick around, too.

Hawk had gotten stars in his eyes, just like he had apparently done way back during the early days of the WCA with the Thing. *

* Back during the first year or so of WEST COAST AVENGERS – Ever Lovin’ Blue Eyed Mark …

Clint saw the power and prestige of … Lady Merveille? What the hell kind of stupid name was that? - and Quicksilver and got all excited, thinking about the mission at hand and not the mission beyond that. Adding Merveille made no sense - they had Living Lightning on as a reserve member and his powers were similar to the ex-Photon.

Never mind, too, that adding Quicksilver meant that that hussy Crystal would be hanging around - with a kid, no less - which gave the team Living Lightning, Shape, Jolt and Crystal hanging around in the background for a rapidly growing team.

Agent smiled thinking of Jolt. That kid had a fire inside her that Agent liked to see. She’s was going to be all right, and not just because she’d be a pain in Hawkeye’s neck for as long as she was here.

"What the-?!?" Agent fell backwards, tipping his chair over. He had recovered before the chair hit the floor and rolled back onto his feet. "Lightning! What do you think you’re doing?!?"

"I got here as fast as I could, Agent," Miguel Santos said hurriedly. "I was in the middle of a test when Hawkeye’s emergency message came through. If I had left, I would’ve failed the course and I need it for-"

"For Hawkeye, it was," Agent shrugged. "Me, I wouldn’t have gone half way across the galaxy looking for trouble. Want half of my tuna sub?" he asked, offering Miguel his meal.

"Uh …" Miguel tried hard to register the two sides of the situation. Hawkeye put out the Call for all Avengers to assemble, yet here Agent sat eating dinner like nothing was wrong. What was going on? He needed help. "So … uh … where’s Jolt?"

The rhythmic stomping of metal boots on brick walkways was driving Tigra insane.

Lady Merveille said nothing for a moment, lost in watching what she counted as 250 Doombots marching in tight formation. "I wonder what would happen if one of the malfunctioned, somehow?"

"Huh?" Tigra asked. "Who knows? Who cares? I mean, we’ve got to destroy all of them, right? How are we supposed to do that? You can do it all by yourself. What am I supposed to do, sit here and lick myself?"

Monica eyed Tigra carefully as the furry woman kicked idly at the grass covered hill they stood on with her clawed feet. Tigra was part cat, which meant she didn’t think like any other human. There was a balancing act that went on inside her head between the human side and the feline side of her personality. She’d heard stories from the other Avengers back during her days as Chairman that Tigra had been … rather promiscuous with the male members of the team in the past, a product of her feline need for constant attention. It looked to Monica that something similar was going on now. It was as if she was a cat feeling put out by its owner buying a dog that it lavished all it’s attention on. With the new members of the team added to a group that had spent a long time together in the past, Monica thought it may be possible that Tigra was depressed at the lack of focus being given to her.

Monica thought that made sense. ‘Tigra’s been through many of these self-esteem crises. Perhaps this is why. She craves attention and when she doesn’t get it, she falls in on herself.’

"Tigra, Greer, we’re going to need you to complete this mission," Lady Merveille said quietly. "If those Doombots are anything like the Doombots back home, there’s a good chance that I won’t be able to do anything against them. They’re probably built with electrical surge protectors, so I can’t just go overload them. We’re going to have to use strategy and stealth to defeat these Doombots - raw power isn’t going to do us much good at all."

Tigra picked up her head and smiled politely. She figured Merveille was just saying this to be polite, but it felt good nonetheless. "Thanks, Pho- er, Merveille," she grinned politely. "Sorry."

"I don’t know," Merveille answered honestly, "but I do wish I knew where the other 750 Doombots were."

You stood looking around at a nightmare gone bad. The wind blowing sand into your eyes and ears barely registers, but you find yourself remembering what it was like to watch television in the days before cable. You’d sit with the other carney folks, watching some black and white twelve inch set you managed to scrape up from a junkyard somewhere, fooling with the antenna wires for hours just to be able to watch a little Cubs baseball without all that snow distorting the view.

But, except for the color, what you looked at now reminded you of those times.

Sand whipped by in front of you, circling back, dodging away from you, hurtling towards you, and standing in the background, like Wrigley Field trying to shine through the television snow, stood Latveria.

"Huh?" Hawkeye was knocked back. "Yeah, just had enough of sand and deserts is all. Can’t believe in the last few days I’ve been sent back in time* and now sent halfway across the universe and both times I end up in a desert." He shook his head, "Where do we have to go from here?"

"West about five blocks in where they keep the prisoners, according to the intel reports we picked up from the Starjammers!" Beta Ray Bill answered, shouting above the wind.

"I don’t think they’d pass along this info unless they were absolutely certain! They know how important it is to stop Doom!"

"Let’s get to it, then," Hawkeye answered, starting off west. They had to keep close together to hear each other talk. The houses they passed were all boarded up. "Coulda picked a better time!" Hawkeye shouted behind him at Beta Ray Bill.

"This was the best time!" Bill answered, shouting above the roar of the wind. "All this sand means everyone is inside so we shouldn’t be spotted! The Doombot patrol guards won’t come out in this - the sand messes up their internal gears!"

It looked like a ghost town to Hawkeye, but after five grueling minutes they had reached what was obviously the jail. It was the only building with bars on the windows. "Comforting," he mused, "to see that bars on windows is a universal concept."

"Gotcha!" Hawk shouted, reaching into his quiver of arrows, searching for the correct notch that would indicate the arrow he needed.

"I’ll handle this one!" Bill answered and ran across the street to the jail, Hawkeye on his heels.

Beta Ray Bill stood in front of the door, pausing for a second as he idly grabbed his side. ‘Guys gotta get medical attention,’ Clint mused.

"Get ready!" Bill shouted and then yanked open the front door. The open door sucked the howling winds through and Clint found himself jerked forward off-balance. He rolled with the wind, noting that there were five guards in the small room, landing on the floor and then rolling up to his feet, arrow already notched onto his bow.

Bola arrow took out the guard to the left before he was standing fully erect.

Putty arrow snagged the arm of the guard standing next to a weapon’s rack before his costume had resettled itself.

Net arrow ensnared the three guards furthest away from him before Bill had the door shut.

Hawkeye looked around to check out the room more closely. There was only one cell and it held only one prisoner.

Hawkeye shook his head. "Is that a white sea horse with hands standing upright or was I snorting more that sand outside in that storm?"

"Hawkeye," Beta Ray Bill explained, "let me introduce you to Lord Kofi Whitemane."

First off, why the double-sized issue? Basically, what it came down to is that I write faster than Lonni does and to keep the two series on similar publishing schedules, I figured I’d double this issue up.

Second. LADY MERVEILLE? Two people deserve some of the credit for this name. Lonni was the first to suggest something French, basing it off Monica’s heritage and her residence down in Louisiana, and Scott Harris was the one who informed me that Marvel in French was "Merveille". My contribution was adding the "Lady" out front. Monica deserves a "regal-ish" name I felt, something in the tradition of "Captain Marvel", so I stuck the "Lady" out front to add a little more oomph to the name. I could have gone with just Lady Marvel, but that was too similar to Captain Marvel - not too mention that it’s kinda plain. And check out Amazing Spider-Man Annual 16. The first name given to her by onlookers that the press picked up is actually Spanish, so the foreign language based name is keeping with her first adventure. Let me know what you think of the name change.

Third. The roster. As I said, there were folks that beezer was going to use that I wasn’t really sure of, so in the end, I traded Swordsman, Magdalene and Variable for Quicksilver, Crystal, Falcon, Bova and Lady Merveille. All things considered, I like what I have. I like the idea of a big roster, too - so long as no one ends up just being there with nothing going on.

And the roster isn’t completely set yet, either, but then again, I don’t think this roster ever will be completely set.

All right. Cannonball in the team is a brilliant move., Please make him an official member. I love the guy and it would be great to see two favorites, Wondy and Sam, in the same team.

Thanks, Hornet! As you can tell from this issue, you’ve gotten your wish, Sam Guthrie is officially an Avenger! And Sam and Wondy are even teaming up in this story-arc.

I finally got around to checking out Mark Bousquet’s premiere on the WCA, and I have to say I was pleasantly pleased. His first two issues were solid Superhero fare. I like the inclusion of Cannonball on the team very much, though I was hoping we could've seen the new kid in town, "Variable",stick around as well. But, I have no real complaints at all here. I like what I see so far, and feel the team is in good hands. The issues left us with some questions about what's going on here, but I think it's a good ride to be on at this point. I don't know what Marks going to do withg "Shape", but I have a feeling he'll be there for more then just comic relief. we have US Agent for that! But seriously, I have a feeling we'll be seeing Quicksilver turn up soon, as well as a few others, so this should be a good fun run.

Your feeling proved correct, Ralph! Quicksilver is officially a full-time Avenger again and Crystal and Luna (and Bova) are on the way. As for Variable, he isn’t gone completely from the MV1 scene and when he’s set to show up again, I’ll be sure to let folks know. I like the idea of a writer of AVENGERS adding a brand new character to the team, and rest assured I’ll be doing that at some point if I get a chance. Thanks for the kind words, Ralph!

Avengers West Coast #108 - We certainly get a few interesting subplots from Mark here - particularly the one involving US Agent. I suppose he was tipped off by the Commission... I'm really wondering if he's on his way out. I hope not, as I think he brings something interesting to any group dynamic. I'm very glad to see that the Falcon's coming aboard, at least temporarily (although I hope permanently). Mark's going to turn this into a very solid lineup, I suspect. But the sooner Wonder Man quits his moping, the better.

Also This Month: HAWKEYE # 14 by Lonni Holland! - The Old West Saga continues! Is Hawkeye getting married?!?

NEXT ISSUE: WEST COAST AVENGERS # 111 - WORLD WITHOUT continues ... The Avengers make their first play against Doom’s forces! Hawkeye and Beta Ray Bill set a trap for Doctor Doom! Why was rescuing Kofi so important? Doom discovers the Avengers meddling! An Avenger loses a hand! (But doesn’t gain a hook, don’t worry!) All this and a cast member leaves as Crystal, Luna and Bova arrive!