Captain America slowly regains consciousness, with his vision slowly fading in. The faces of Viper and the an unknown new foe [ *Unknown to Cap...but we know him as the new Supreme Serpent! - Retro-informing Dave ]come into focus. Viper is clad in her usual green jumpsuit, although her hair is longer than she has been keeping it recently, and she is carrying a rather large, Kirby-esque weapon. Cap is secured to an angled examination table, his wrists and ankles held securely by thick, metal manacles. He glances to his left - Free Spirit is on an identical table next to him, but has yet to regain consciousness. Cap quickly remembers (mostly for the benefit of new readers) the events which have brought them to this point - Diamondback's crash near the Avengers Mansion, her story about Viper's neurotoxin, Cap's battle with Cottonmouth and Bushmaster while Diamondback and Free Spirit fought part of the Serpent Society (apparently under the control of Viper), their investigation of MicroNet and their betrayal at the hands of Cyril Fence.
Cap also wonders what kind of game Diamondback is playing - their rescue at the hands of Sidewinder and her subsequent defection has him mystified. After all, Sidewinder is supposed to be in the Vault - although he wryly acknowledges that keeping Sidewinder contained against his will is like finally ending the threat of the Red Skull; its possible in theory...
His ruminations are broken by a gloating laugh by Viper.
"Please, Captain. Struggle against your bonds!" she laughs cruelly, walking over to his tableside, and tapping some of the ash from her cigarette-holder onto his star-spangled chest. "I want to feel helpless, frustrated, enraged...", she paused long enough to apply the glowing tip of her cigarette to Cap's cheek. Cap held himself in check against the pain, not allowing her the satisfaction of watching him react. A tendril of smoke from his burned flesh rises, and she leans forward to inhale it.
Disgusted at this spectacle, the Supreme Serpent closes his fist in the air, and commands "Enough, Viper. Leave him alone and be silent!" Cap watches as Viper's eyes flare in rage, and he is suprised to watch her comply, stepping back from his table in silence.
"I see you've changed your costume again, Voorhees" Cap commented. "'King Cobra' not pretentious enough?"
"Let us say rather that it failed to express my rulership - the Supreme Serpent shall reign not only over the Serpent Society, but over the entire world!" proclaimed Voorhees. "And I shall keep you alive long enough to witness my victory, Captain. As you finally acknowledge my primacy, perhaps I shall be moved by pity to squeeze the life out of you!"
"You'll never succeed, Voorhees. You've always been a failure as a petty crook - what makes you think that you'll have any better success as a would-be dictator?" asserted Cap. I need more information, he thought. Voorhees' weak point is his pride - if I prick it, maybe he'll tell me something useful.
"Ahhh, but my dear Captain. I have something now that I never had before!" crowed the Supreme Serpent.
"A foolproof plan?" sneered Cap.
"Better still! Corporate sponsorship!"
Meanwhile, a blue Subaru rental car approaches the Seattle offices of MicroNet. It stops at the gate long enough for Rachel to present her corporate ID to the security guard at the gate, who waves her through, commenting "Welcome to MicroNet, Ms. Sealy. You want building 5, around to the left side of the campus". Rachel smiles, and thanks the guard. As the car pulls away, she comments to her passengers "Tasky, your forgery unit does good work".
Taskmaster smiled. "Of course they do - our goal is to delight our customers. But it helps when you are just altering a real ID card - thank Ms. Sealy for me when next you see her" [ *Tanya Sealy is the real name of Black Mamba, who helped Diamondback earlier in the storyline - Flashback-ing Dave ]
Rachel and her two companions parked their vehicle and walked into the reception area of Building Five. Walking up to the receptionist at the desk, Rachel began "Good afternoon. We have an appointment with Mr. Voor...." Before she could finish, the receptionists eyes popped forward, revealing a pair of gun-ports - the receptionist was a robot! Ducking to the ground as a stream of bullets passed over her head, she yelled a warning to her compatriots just as side-doors on either end of the lobby opened, filling with Sons of the Serpent soldiers.
Meanwhile....
On the docks of Seattle, a figure clad in a trenchcoat and hat enters a seedy-looking bar. The patrons are typical of any port city in the world...longshoreman, merchant sailors, and other maritime types as well as those who would prey on them - gamblers, drug sellers, and prostitutes. Beer and other alchoholic beverages are being freely distributed. The trenchcoat-clad stranger steps up the bar, catches the eye of the barkeep, and mumbles to him in a cheesy French accent "I have been summoned by Mastair Francois. Where might I find heem?"
The barkeep looks doubtfully at him, but mumbles "Upstairs. Second door on the left." The stranger turns away towards the staircase, missing seeing the barkeep press a recessed button. The stranger climbs the stairs, and is not suprised to see two disreputable figures lounging about in front of his destination. He approaches them, and speaks. "I have an appointment to speak with Mastair Francois. Please inform heem"
"Beat it. Da boss isn't taking visitors today, Frenchie." scoffs one of the guards, pulling a handgun from beneath his jacket.
"He aint French, not with an accent that bad. He must be from Quebec" mocks the other, brandishing a wicked looking knife.
"Zut allors! You have impugned my honair, and you shall pay" declared the stranger, shedding his coat while leaping forward. One of his feet smashed the nose of the first guard. His head snapped backwards, impacting heavily against the wall. While still in the air, the stranger's other foot blocked the knife thrust of the second guard. Landing lightly, he spun and struck like lighting, snap-kicking the remaining guard in the crotch, in the stomach, and in the temple. He was unconscious before he struck the ground. "I shall let you live, so that you may learn from your mistake. For that is the way of honair...the way of Batroc Ze Leapair!"
"Mon Deus! Francois, what is the meaning of this rude reception?" Batroc asked as he entered the office.
"Just a test, mon ami" responded the man behind the desk. "You know how ze boss likes us to make sure of the skills of those he hires. But," he glanced at his watch, "you are late! We expected you yesterday!"
"Blame the airlines. Do you know how long it takes people in our fighting uniforms to pass through security? They 'ave no sense of decorum! I don't even have any outstanding warrants!" answered batroc, outraged.
"Why not wear normal clothes?"
"Let normal people wear normal clothes - I will not hide like a craven, for that is not ze way of honair..."
"...the way of Batroc Ze Leapair" chimed in Francois, in chorus. "Yes, I know. But sometime...I swear, you do things just to make things more complicated. *sigh* Oh well. Your instructions from Mssr. le Taskmaster is to meet him at the main MicroNet campus."
"Mssr. le Taskmaster is training corporate security now?"
"MicroNet is owned by Justin Hammer"
"Ahh. That explains much. Very well. Call me a taxi. I shall speed to the side of he who pays me, for that is the way of ..." Batroc continued, returning to the bar downstairs to wait for the taxi. Francois closed his door,and picked up his telephone to summon the taxi, muttering under his breath "Idiot!".
The Supreme Serpent continued his rant.
"Corporate Sponsorship! The resources of the Brand Corporation and Justin Hammer behind me, with all of their technology, the money to recruit and outfit my serpentine minions! They gave me these control disks, stolen from Basil Sandhurst, to control more...troublesome...". He motioned to indicate Viper. "...and tempermental employees. Like those Ultimatum fools you defeated in Washington [ *Cap #455 and #456 - Archivist Dave ], the first step in my plans to destablize and control. The technology and facilities to devise the neurotoxins in Los Angeles. And the ability to control Seattle!"
"What do you mean? How can you control Seattle? What makes you think that the United States won't send you packing with your tail between your legs?" asked Cap scornfully, trying to goad him yet further.
"Ha! At my command, a signal will go out across the Internet...which will activate the MicroNet Sleeper, a program integral to the MN-Viewscreen 95 and MicroNetwork computer operating systems...which will lock those computers, preventing their use. And you may not know this, you star-spangled fool, but over the last five years MicroNet has been very careful to underbid or donate their operating systems and software to federal, state, and local agencies which deal with emergency response, with radio dispatching, with all of the civilian and military authority command-and-control infrastructure. They will be frozen, and my minions will rise from MicroNet offices all around the city, where they've been assembling and training. Before anyone can react, we will control this city!" ranted Voorhees.
"And we are ready for reaction - we will utterly destroy this city and its population before we give it up! Seattle is one of the largest ports in the nation - we will render it unusable before we give it back. We will destroy everything, and level the city, crippling the nation's economy, crippling its morale with the death-toll. And worst of all," he concluded gloatingly, "is that we will escape, to do it all again in a different city, until they capitulate!"
"The American government, the American people, will NEVER capitulate!" preached Cap. "Deep in the heart and soul of every American is a deep-rooted love of liberty, of freedom, and they would rather die free men than live life slaves under your rule."
"If enough of them die, the rest will go along. Study the history of the world, Captain! People are sheep - they go where they are lead"
"Not Americans, Voorhees. Study our history - when oppressed, we fight. When we fight to preserve our freedom, we win."
"You are deluded, Captain....but I expect nothing less from you. It will make watching you witness my victory that much greater" scoffed Voorhees. As he turned away from Cap, his personal communicator buzzed an alert. "Leighton? Kill her, and anyone with her!" he commanded. Turning back to Cap, he exclaimed "That bitch Leighton is here, undoubtedly to rescue you or to foul my plans. But it won't do you any good!" He stepped over to the console, and pressed a series of buttons. "The take-over of Seattle begins....now!"
Meanwhile...Batroc has just gotten out of a taxi in front of the MicroNet campus. He closes the door, and the cab speeds off. He turns towards the buildings just as they open, hordes of Sons Of The Serpent soldiers, their support vehicles, their tactical aircraft, and mobile artillery spill out onto the road, heading towards him.
"Zut allors!" declares Batroc, as the horde descends....
Next Issue - "Seattle Siege"