Champions #27

Diamondback lies in the arms of Captain America. The other Avengers surround them. The Champions have just broken through the walls of Avengers Mansion. The Champions have been mind controlled by Nefaria and his evil disciples.

"What's the meaning of this?" Captain America asks.

"We're here to kill you!" Ant-Man says.

"Avengers Assemble!!" Captain America shouts the classic battle cry.

The battle has begun.

On a building outside the mansion.

"This is agent Shelton reporting in."

A voice speaks from the communicator in Shelton Pone's hand. "Affirmative. What dost thou see?" The voice is most definitely that of Ares, the newest leader of A.I.M.

"The Avengers and Champions just started to fight. It looks like Nefaria and his buds were able to gain control of the Champions."

"This is not good. Thou shalt keep us abreast of all happenings. If Nefaria has control of them, it will be difficult for me to gain my revenge on Hercules."

"Yes sir. I shall try to get as much info as I can. Shelton out."

Back to the battle. You didn't think we would stay away from this for too long, didja?

Captain America is fighting Batroc as would be expected. The Vision has the unenviable task of facing Cerberus, the guardian of Hades. Yellow Jacket must fight his friend and confidant Ant-Man. Meanwhile Ms. Marvel is duking it out with the Black Widow. Namor has drawn the short straw and must battle Hercules. Dr. Amazing is carrying Diamondback out of harm's way.

The Vision phases through Cerberus in an attempt to knock him out of the fight. While the dog is hurt, the Vision seems to get the worst of it. "The mystical energies within this beast are disruptive to my intangible form." Cerberus leaps at the Vision. Vision knows he can't let this three headed hound from Hell pass through him so he turns as hard as diamond and Cerberus hits his heads on the Visions chest. While the blow hurts the Vision it does more damage to the dog.

Ant-Man commands his ants to attack Yellow Jacket. Hank Pym (Yellow Jacket) shrinks down and takes to the air. He is trying to avoid hurting the ants since he knows they are but pawns in this fight. The swarm of flying ants is densest right around Ant-Man. "Scott! Why are you doing this? Can't you see I'm your friend? Stop this madness!"

"Pym, all you've ever done is look down at me. You'll forever see the criminal I once was. You treat me like a charity case. For that you shall pay!" Scott Lang (Ant-Man) dives his ant army at Yellow Jacket.

Ms. Marvel is unsure of how to approach this battle. These people attacking her are her friends. Before she could make a decision for herself, Black Widow had fired her Widow's Bites at her. Thus she knew who she was going to fight. Even with her heightened strength and abilities she is having trouble with the Black Widow. The Black Widow has been trained by some of the best fighters in the world and has had longer than most in this room to hone those skills. Ms. Marvel is good, but not as skilled as the Widow. Of course enhanced strength and speed even up the odds. Natasha (Black Widow) continues to keep herself out of Carol's (Ms. Marvel) reach so that she can use her Widow's Bites while Ms. Marvel is unable to reach her.

Hercules and Namor are slugging it out in the middle of the room.

"Thou art no match for the Lion of Mount Olympus. I have beaten Thor and thou art not Thor!" Hercules throws a punch at Namor but misses as Namor flies into the air. Namor then turns in the air and flies right into Hercules.

"Imperious Rex!!" Namor yells his famous battle cry (And who doesn't love that battle cry - Battle Cry Baloo)

Quasar is fighting a defensive battle against Firebird. He continues to use his energy constructs to stop her attacks hoping he can find a chance to siphon her energy. Firebird however has been lowering the temperature in the air around Quasar without him knowing it. Ice starts to form in the air around Quasar.

Captain America meanwhile is fighting a battle he has fought many times. "Batroc, you're mind controlled! Snap out of it!" Cap dodges a kick from Batroc. Cap notices that all of the Champions are slightly slowed in their actions except for Batroc. But Captain America knows there is something wrong with Batroc since he hasn't said much during the fight. "Snap out of it man!"

Nefaria and his disciples, Speed Demon, Mentallo, Super Adaptoid, Ben Grimm (The alternate reality lizard guy), Dr. Spectrum, Nomad and Spiral are watching the battle by remote camera.

"While the Avengers are delayed we must start our plan. Even if the Champions are unable to kill the Avengers, at least we should be able to get what we need done during the battle." Nefaria says. The others kneel to Nefaria and then hastily start their tasks.

Captain America throws his shield but misses Batroc.

Batroc smiles. "You missed me. Ze return of your shield won't strike me either." Batroc aims a kick for Cap's head but Cap blocks it.

"I wasn't aiming for you Batroc. Quasar look at the air around you!"

The shield strikes Firebird causing her to lose her concentration. Quasar notices that the air around him had become ice. He was almost encased in it. However, with Firebird distracted by Cap's shield he attempts to drain Firebird's energy. Only he can't find it. This doesn't make sense. "How can you shoot flame and not store it?"

"I control heat energy so I cause the air around me to become flame I don't technically shoot it from my hands." Firebird says as she creates a huge monster of fire and sends it at Quasar. Quasar makes himself an energy sword and slashes at the beast.

Ms. Marvel has noticed the delayed responses of the Widow and attempts to take advantage of them. She shrugs off the Widow's Bites and does a mad charge at the Black Widow. The Black Widow hesitates and that was all Carol needed to land her punch. Unfortunately the blow was only a glancing one.

Yellow Jacket is not doing too well with Ant-Man. Try as he might he can't get close to Scott Lang. While he is faster than the ants around him, he doesn't wish to hurt them but he can't get through them to get to Ant-Man. Ant-Man has no problem with the ants getting injured and thus continues to send them at Yellow Jacket. Yellow Jacket turns in the wrong direction and notices a wall of ants before him. He flies right into them. He has ants all over him. At this size he won't last long. Pym grows to normal size and tries to brush the ants off. Unfortunately for him, he is now a bigger target for the ants. While trying to get the ants off of him, Hank Pym is leveled by a punch from a growing Ant-Man. "How do you like being the victim of your own trick Pym?"

The Vision is still Diamond hard and trying to beat Cerberus. The three headed dog has taken Vision's best blows and is starting to cause some damage to the Vision. He is not sure how much more he can take, but he can't turn intangible due to the mystical nature of this creature. Two of the heads bite his legs while the third head bites his left arm. The Vision quickly grabs the head biting his arm and throws the beast into the wall. While Cerberus is in the air, Vision shoots an energy beam from his forehead. Cerberus is stunned.

Hercules and Namor are still trading blows. Namor is starting to tire. On land he is weaker than Hercules. His flying ability has helped but he can't keep up this pace forever and it looks like Hercules can. A powerful spray of water hits Namor. Namor looks to see who has helped him. "Thank you Jarvis!" Jarvis is standing there in the outside doorway with a fire hose. Namor uses his newly found strength to press his attack on Hercules. Hercules is staggered by Namor's blows.

"This is going to be a giant mess." Jarvis knew Namor needed the water, but he isn't happy about adding to this mess. A mess he will have to clean up.

Dr. Amazing comes back into the room. "This fight still rages on and neither side has an advantage."

"Amazing!" Cap shouts. "Use your abilities to cancel out their mind control."

Dr. Amazing uses his psychic abilities to destroy the mental commands in the minds of the Champions. The fight is over.

"Everyone ok?" Cap asks.

"We're fine thanks to you and your fast thinking Cap. Thanks for the save and sorry for the damage." Black Widow says.

"Not a problem Natasha. It happens to the best of us. Who did this to you?"

Natasha tells the story of how Diamondback led the team to Nefaria's hideout. She then tells him about the fight they lost and how Nefaria had them mind controlled. She is disgusted with how things got this out of hand. Maybe she wasn't made to be a leader of a team. Maybe she should go back to the spy game full time and give up the charade of being a hero. When this is all over, she will have a very tough decision to make.

"Cap, Rachel may have been mind controlled too. We should use the device you guys used on me when I had my... problems to see if she was affected by outside influences." Hank Pym says.

"If she is willing to undergo the test Hank, I say we do it." Captain America says.

An hour later. Rachel's has undergone the tests to see if she was mind controlled.

"Rachel, the tests indicate that you were under a mild form of coercion. It seems that Mentallo affected certain aspects of your brain to get you to do what he wanted." Hank Pym says. Scott Lang nods that the results support those conclusions.

"I still want to apologize to everyone. He used my own insecurities to get me to set the Champions up."

"Rachel, you thought someone needed help and that was why you brought us to New York. We were setup by Nefaria and Mentallo not you." Firebird says while holding Rachel.

"What insecurities?" Cap asks.

Everyone stares at Cap in disbelief.

"Personal problems are the least of our problems right now. We can discuss this later." Natasha says. She can't believe that Cap would be so blind to Rachel's love for him. Everything that has happened so far is because she wants to prove herself to him. Natasha can understand where Rachel is coming from so it is very hard to hold it against her.

In another room.

"At least thou hadst the chance to test thy might against me." Hercules says while eating a triple decker sandwich. "Thou art strong and noble. I hope that we get to do battle once more on better terms."

"I don't understand your need for combat but I would love to train with one so skilled in combat." Namor replies.

Captain America and Batroc walk out to the kitchen. "Batroc, why were you the only one who didn't seem to have their actions forced? It seemed like you didn't mind this fight."

"Mon ami. I live to fight you. Why would zey have to control me for zat. I didn't like ze part about being forced to come here, but fighting against you eez alwayz fun, non?" Batroc smiles.

A few minutes later. Both teams have assembled in the living room of the Mansion.

Cap starts to speak. "We're going to split up into teams and ruin Nefaria's plans. Here are the teams we will use..."

Next Issue: Well first you should read Part 4 of Cult of Personality in Avengers #434 and then come back here for part 5. This is when things really start to get rolling.