avengers league issue 26

Thanos smiled. Months ago, he had gone to the last planet where the legendary Cosmic Cube had been rumored to be. He didn't find the cube in the ancient, deserted city but he did manage to utilize a heat-image-inducer to re-enact the events in the city for the previous few years. When reviewing the re-enactment, he saw the Thangarian ship land on the planet in pursuit of escaped fugitives. While there, the Thanagarian agent Kator Hol found a small globe of energy, which unexpectedly merged with him. After Thanos studied the records of the deserted city, he found that the energy globe was a recording device meant to activate if the city was destroyed. That energy globe was the last existing record of the last days of the ancient city and the location of the Cosmic Cube. It had encoded itself into Kator Hol's brain, although the Thanagarian himself wasn't aware of this. Only in Kator Hol's brain could Thanos find the location of the Cosmic Cube.

After a long hunt, Thanos had captured the Thanagarian and hooked him up to the mind cyclone, stealing his thoughts. Now, Thanos studied that data, smiling a sinister smile. The Cosmic Cube had been sent to the Planet Earth. Therefore, Earth was Thanos' destination, and Heaven help anyone who got in his way. Earth: The Hall of Justice, in the USA, interim headquarters of the team formerly know as the Avengers League.

Captain America watched as Hank Pym and the team of technicians worked to reactivate and upgrade the Hall of Justice. The grand installation had not been used much in recent years, especially with the recent acquisition of the moon Watchtower, and Cap wanted to make sure that it was it prime working condition if it was to serve as the headquarters for his now-unnamed team.

Alan Scott, Cap's friend and former teammate, back when Alan had been known as the Sentinel, was present as well. The wealthy Scott owned the Hall of Justice. After the team lost the use of the Watchtower, Cap asked Alan if they could use the Hall again. Alan was only too glad to agree. He had kept the Hall vacant for just such a situation.

"Things seem to be proceeding quite well," Alan said. "The place should be up and running in no time."

Cap nodded in satisfaction, watching the army of technicians sent by Tony Stark working like ants. Stark had a good crew. "I'm very happy with their progress. Thanks again for letting us use the Hall, Alan."

"No need to thank me," Alan said. "It's my pleasure. I'm just sorry that things went so badly with your government bosses. I'm appalled. That sort of thing never happened when the JSA worked with the government."

"It's a new world, Alan," Cap said. "And speaking of which, I need to come up with a new name for the team. We can't call ourselves the Avengers League any more."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Alan said. "Being one of the founders of the League, and it's first leader, I feel like I'm losing an old friend."

"The team isn't gone," Cap countered. "It's just going through some changes."

"Say, how's that new member of yours working out?" Alan asked. "What was her name again?" Firebird was ducking and dodging lasers, as well as multiple flying projectiles. Some she destroyed with her flame, others she managed to avoid. Just barely.

Wonder Woman watched closely, evaluating Firebird's progress. Since the training room had been reactivated, Cap had ordered Firebird to undergo a rigorous training regimen, under the watchful eye of the Amazon Princess.

A laser struck Firebird's leg, stunning her. This allowed a projectile orb to ram her. She fell to the floor, dazed and senseless.

"Deactivate training sequence," Wonder Woman ordered.

The computer stopped its assault. Wonder Woman kneeled down next to Firebird. "Are you all right?" the Amazon asked.

Firebird rubbed the spot where the projectile had hit her. "I'll live," she said, "but I'm embarrassed."

"Why?"

"Because I've run this course twelve times, and I still haven't been able to go the whole two minutes without being hit." Firebird said.

"The course is meant to be difficult," Princess Diana said. "If it was easy to master, it wouldn't be a very useful training method. But don't feel bad. You're doing well. You're lasting longer each time. Soon, you'll be able to make it past the two-minute mark. Just give it time."

"Thanks for the encouragement," Firebird said. "If you don't mind my asking, how long did it take you before you could run this course perfectly?"

"Well, actually," Wonder Woman said. "I did it the first time."

"That figures." Thanos' ship:

Thanos checked on his Thanagarian captive, Kator Hol. The formidable law-enforcement agent hadn't gone anywhere. He just lay prone on the cell floor, half his mind having been yanked violently from him by the Mind Cyclone. He was going nowhere.

And Thanos was impatient about his own progress. He was still days away from the Earth, and the object that he was obsessed with. He began to wonder if Kator Hol had gotten a message to Earth, to the Avengers League. If so, they could be preparing a defense for him at this very moment. If he were met with unexpected resistance upon arriving at the Earth, then getting the Cube would become much more difficult. That would not do! The Avengers League had to be distracted. Thanos had to divert their attention. And he knew just the man for the job!

Years ago, on one of his previous battles with the original Avengers League on Earth, Thanos had created an ultimate warrior, someone capable of dealing with the Avengers League. The situation at the time necessitated that Thanos withdraw from Earth before his secret weapon was ready to go. But Thanos decided to leave this special assassin on the Moon, in suspended animation, in case he needed to return to Earth and battle the League again. It was time to activate the ultimate soldier!

Thanos hit the control button that sent the remote signal to wake up his super warrior. Buried under a pile of moon rocks, near the Sea of Tranquillity, was a metallic container. The computer in the container received the remote command from Thanos and activated itself. It de-activated the cryo-freeze, and became the resuscitation process to wake up its powerful occupant. Soon, the alien warrior woke up. He opened the metal container and stepped out. He was unaffected by the lack of atmosphere on the Moon.

The warrior was an android. But he was no ordinary droid. He had been painstaking altered and remade by Thanos. He was now an adapting droid. A Super Adaptoid!

He looked at the green globe known as Earth. The Super Adaptoid had his orders. He headed to Earth to do some damage! The woman known as Mantis felt a chill. She was always very empathic, and when her instincts told her something was wrong, she was invariably correct. Something was very, very wrong! She wondered if the day she had been preparing for was coming.

Had someone finally come to claim the Cosmic Cube? If so, the world was in grave danger. Perhaps the whole universe! The Super Adaptoid landed, quite randomly, in Bismarck, North Dakota. People immediately backed away from him, realizing that trouble had arrived.

"Where is the group called the Avengers League?" he asked, emotionlessly.

No one answered, they just fled. Well, that was fine with him. He didn't need information from these pathetic creatures. All he had to do was create chaos. If these Avengers Leaguers were truly the defenders of this planet, they would soon arrive to stop him. All he had to do was wait . . . and destroy things!

The police and the local FBI field office sent people to try and stop the android, but they had no luck. The Super Adaptoid was far too powerful. It would take someone extraordinary to deal with him. Augustus Freeman watched the battle on TV. He was a successful Lawyer, at least at present. He'd had many vocations in his time. Augustus Freeman was older than he looked. In fact, he was 163 years old.

In 1839, an alien pod crash landed in North Dakota. The alien being inside adapted his genetic structure to the environment, with help from the pod's replicater unit. He now looked like an African American human, but was actually much more. The alien child was found by a female slave named Miriam Freeman. She named the baby Augustus.

Augustus proved to have a very long lifespan. And he grew to develop great power. Yet all Augustus really wanted was to go home. But he couldn't breath in space and parts of his pod were badly damaged. Earth technology is not compatible with the pod. Not yet. So Augustus Freeman waits out the years, waiting for the day that Earth technology will be compatible with his advanced pod and he can leave this planet.

In the intervening years, Augustus tried to remain neutral and not interfere in the development of this alien culture. But over the years, a bond has developed between himself and the indigenous population of Earth. He's grown to like these humans. And so he has—against his better judgment—performed many benevolent acts on the part of humans in distress. But always in secret. Every feat was done covertly. Very few people have ever seen him use his powers.

He seemed to no longer have that luxury. This creature was powerful and dangerous! He'll surely kill many more people. People from Augustus' home town. People he knew. Could he just sit by and allow that to happen. Would that be any more morally wrong than interfering in the planet's development?

No. He couldn't be a spectator any longer. Hell had come to his backyard and he could no longer play the innocent bystander. It was time to step out of the dark and into the sunlight. It was time to make a spectacular appearance.

Augustus Freeman opened a closet, and then opened the secret door behind it. Therein hung a costume. A white costume with a cape. Augustus had made this costume in accordance with the computer diagrams that he found in the pod. This was apparently a formal dress outfit where he came from. Augustus had made it out of material he found in the ship. He planned to wear it on the day that he could go home. Now, it seemed he would wear it sooner. He needed a durable outfit like this one to go into battle. And he needed a costume to distract people from figuring out who he really was. He would dress like a super hero. Captain America said goodbye to Alan Scott and continued to oversee Hank and the technicians. He was still mulling over possible new names for the team. Perhaps they could call themselves the new JSA.

Just then, J'Onn J'Onzz, the Martian Manhunter stepped into the room. "Captain, you'd better come and look at this."

Cap stepped into the room where J'Onn and Captain Marvel had been watching TV. A special report had broken in. The media was covering the scene in North Dakota.

"It appears to be a mechanoid of some type." J'Onn said.

"And a powerful one," Cap said. "He may not be alone, either. Send out the signal! Call the team!" The Super Adaptoid was still wrecking everything in sight, and the casualties were growing. He didn't intend to stop until the Avengers League showed up to stop him.

Suddenly, a shadow caught his attention. This shadow could only come from someone hovering in the air above him. Logic told him that this was an Earth super being.

The Super Adaptoid looked up at the hovering being. "Which Avengers League member are you?"

The muscular man in white levitated, arms folded. "My name is Icon. I'm not a member of the Avengers League. I'm just a Good Samaritan."

"If you are not a member of the Avengers League, then you are not worth my attention," the Super Adaptoid said. "You may flee for your life. I will not pursue you."

"Thank you for the generous offer," Icon said, "but I'm afraid I must decline. You must stop your wanton destruction or I will be forced to stop you!"

"You cannot," the Adaptoid said. "Nothing you do can stop me. I will let nothing stop the plans of my master, Thanos. He will rule the universe, even is he has to destroy this whole planet."

Icon didn't waste any more time. He dived down and struck the Adaptoid with a small portion of his incredible strength. He assumed that it would be enough. He was wrong.

The Adaptoid staggered back a few steps. Suddenly, a cape identical to Icon's appeared on the Super Adaptoid's back. Then the android responded to the attack, with strength equal to Icon's. But the Adaptoid held nothing back. He knocked Icon across the street. The stunned Icon crashed into a parked car. Before he could get his thoughts focused, the Adaptoid was upon him, using Icon's own power of flight. The Adaptoid struck again, knocking Icon into the ground.

The Super Adaptoid assumed that he had disposed of Icon and turned his back. It was an error in judgment. Icon burst out of the ground underneath the Adaptoid. He punched the android, knocking him fifty yards. Icon flew towards the Adaptoid, but the android had recovered.

The two of them locked up, going toe-to-toe, with exactly equal power. This stalemate continued until the cavalry arrived.

"Avenger League Assemble!" The authoritative voice of Captain America shouted, before remembering that the team had dropped that name.

The Super Adaptoid heard the name "Avengers League" and snapped to attention. They were here! The beings he was built to destroy were finally here! The Adaptoid caught Icon with a solid blow to the jaw and knocked him away, giving the Adaptoid a few moments to size up his new foes.

The Adaptoid recognized Captain America, Martian Manhunter, Thor, Flash, Wonder Woman, Wasp, Giant-Man, and Iron Man. He didn't know Captain Marvel, Vision, or Firebird, but that didn't matter. Whatever their power, he would adapt to it and destroy them.

Thor threw his hammer at the Adaptoid. Using Icon's invulnerability, the Adaptoid survived the impact. Immediately, a hammer appeared in his hand. He now had the power of Thor and Icon combined.

Captain Marvel flew at the Adaptoid with the speed of Mercury. He rammed the creature, but it was now twice as strong as Marvel, and so the bow hardly phased him. A lightning symbol, identical to Marvel's, appeared on his chest. He now added Captain Marvel's might to his already prodigious power. And his speed as well. With a sudden, amazingly quick movement, the Adaptoid struck at Captain Marvel, knocking him to the ground. Thor tried to strike again, but the Adaptoid easily evaded the attack and battered Thor with multiple punches. J'Onn tried to pull Thor clear but the Adaptoid was on him too quickly. J'Onn turned intangible to escape the Adaptoid's attack. The adaptoid adapted to his power and hit J'Onn with an equally intangible fist.

Giant-Man watched the battle, and began to figure out what was happening. He realized that the mechanoid could adapt to any super power. He was about to warn his fellow team-members, but the Flash moved too fast.

Flash tried to vibrate through the Adaptoid, shattering him, but the Adaptoid merely gained the power of super-speed. Little wings appeared on his head, like on the Flash's mask. Now, with the combine powers of intangibility, invisibility and super-speed, it was virtually impossible to launch as successful attack against the Adaptoid. And when an attack did manage to find it's mark, the Adaptoid was so powerful at this point that he just shrugged it off. The Super Adaptoid seemed to be unstoppable as he picked off one team member after another.

As the Vision was being battered by their foe, Giant-Man got J'Onn's attention and explained to him the nature of the enemy's power. The Martian telepathically informed the rest of the team.

"So that's it," Cap said. "We've got troubles!"

Iron Man moved nearer to Cap, Giant-Man and J'Onn. "Maybe not," he said, examining the damage that the Adaptoid had done to his armor. It wasn't too bad and he was still functional. "I have an idea!"

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman was temporarily holding her own against the Adaptoid. She knew that even she couldn't keep the powerful mechanoid at bay for long, but she wanted to give the others as much time as possible to come up with something.

Iron Man set his armor's communications systems to pick up any and all information in the air, no matter what the source. Henry Pym used his size-altering powers to shrink down a transmitting bug. "Remember, J'Onn. Do it just as I move in on him."

"I will," Martian Manhunter said.

Iron Man rocket at the Super Adaptoid just as Wonder Woman fell to him. The Adaptoid saw the armored Leaguer coming toward him and prepared to meet his attack. Instead of locking up, however, Iron Man ejected the tiny bug at the adaptoid. The creature didn't see it coming and so didn't evade it. After it connected with the adaptoid, Iron Man began transmitting on all frequencies. Every bit of data Iron Man could pick up, from radio to the Internet, was beamed into the Adaptoid's brain. At the same moment, J'Onn used his telepathy to open the Adaptoid's mind to the multitudes of thoughts around.

The Adaptoid, who had spent years on the silent moon, was suddenly bombarded by more information that any one person or machine could possibly take in. The android was overwhelmed by the sudden input. His system's froze. The android stood, immobile. He needed to reboot. As a result, his new powers cut out on him.

High above, the Vision had floated weightless to a height of two miles. Then he increased his molecular density to it's heaviest. He dropped like a meteor. And his computer brain had calculated the trajectory of his descent perfectly.

Vision crashed down on top of the Super Adaptoid with a force that shook half the city.

After the smoke cleared, the Avengers League moved in to see if there was any more to be feared from the Adaptoid. There wasn't. The mechanoid was in pieces.

"Glad to see the last of him," Wasp said. "That was not fun."

Icon looked at the crater created by the Vision's impact. "You people don't mess around, do you?"

"You did well against him alone," Cap said.

"Aye," Thor said. "Thou art surely a warrior born."

"I suppose I was, in a way," Icon said. "Listen, do any of you know who Thanos is?"

"Thanos!" J'Onn asked. "Is he behind this?"

"The robot guy said that his master's name was Thanos and that he was trying to rule the universe," Icon explained.

"He usually is," Flash added.

"And that he would destroy the Earth to get what he wants," Icon added.

"Not good," Captain Marvel commented.

"No, not at all," Icon said.

"I don't know you," Iron Man said. "Are you new?"

Icon smiled. "Not really."

"We haven't seen you around," Wasp said. "What do they call you?"

"Icon."

"Cool name," Flash said.

"Can we count on your help against Thanos?" Cap asked.

Icon debated. He didn't want to make a habit of running around in a costume, but the cat was out of the bag and it wasn't likely that he'd be able to get it back in again. Maybe fate had other plans for him. Either way, this ‘Thanos' sounded like a threat that needed to be dealt with.

"I'm in," Icon said.

"Great," Wasp said, looking at his huge muscles.

"Can we get back to the world-being-destroyed thing?" Firebird asked. "Does this Thanos really have the power to destroy the world?"

"He does," J'Onn said. "And we must be ready for him."

The media, in the meantime, was picking up this entire conversation and transmitting it. Over the next twenty-four hours, events moved quickly. The team's conversation aired. Panic began to spread at the idea of Thanos coming to destroy the world. This was exacerbated by the previous announcement by the US Government that the Avengers League was no longer sanctioned to act on their behalf and had no security clearance. Who, people wondered, could defend the planet if not the Avengers League?

Countries all over the world, not only the US, felt the fear. Why is the United States government tying the hands of the Avengers League at a time like this? Members of the United Nations got together to discuss this problem. Icon was in the Hall of Justice. He and some of the newer members were being briefed on Thanos and his history with the Avengers League. Cap was talking to J'Onn.

"What about calling the team the new Justice Society?" Cap asked.

"I like the term Justice," J'Onn said. "But maybe we should maintain our own legacy rather than becoming an extension of another group. Maybe Justice League?"

"How about the Justice League of Avengers?" Cap asked. "We can call ourselves the JLA."

"I like it," J'Onn said. "Let's check with the others. By the way, what do you think about asking Icon to join?"

"I've been thinking the same thing," Cap said. "There's something about him I like. A rare nobility. He should be with us."

Just then, someone came to the door of the Hall of Justice. She was brought in and introduced to Cap and J'Onn.

"Hello," she said. "My name is Agent Wanda Mason."

"I've heard of you," Cap said. "You're grandmother was the Blonde Phantom, wasn't she?"

"Yeah."

"A good woman," Cap said. "A good ally. I liked her. You work for the FBI, don't you?"

"Usually," she said. "Right now, I'm temporarily working with the UN. I've been sent here with an offer for you." The UN, in New York:

The team stood before the UN advisory committee. " . . . and due to the feeling of unease caused by the threat of the return of Thanos, we've come to a decision designed to help calm the population," the Secretary General said. "The United States' loss is our gain."

"You want us to work for you?" Cap asked.

"Exactly," the Secretary General said. "We can finance you. You'll have security clearance for every nation in the UN charter. You've always been the unofficial protectors of the Earth. Now, we're making it official."

Cap looked around at the team, all of whom were present, except Batman. Cap asked Icon to come in his stead. Icon wasn't sure about it at first, but was finally convinced to come. Cap's expression indicated that he wanted the Team's input on the offer. It was clearly unanimous. They all liked the idea.

"On behalf of my team, I accept your offer," Cap said.

"Excellent," the Secretary General said. "As of tomorrow, it will be official. The Avengers League works for the United Nations."

"One correction," Cap said. "We've changed our name. We're now the Justice League of Avengers. And we don't just work for the UN. We work for the world!"