SHIELD Fifty State Initiative - Avengers, Earths mightiest heroes

Clouds had collected in the New York City sky. Night had fallen, but the moonlight brought a degree of illumination in addition to the light pollution. The stars were never very visible here anyway, such was the nature of urban progress in the 21 st century.

He stood in an alleyway, watching the imposing figure of Avengers Tower . He shook his head at the testament to the advancement of the 21st century and Tony Stark's massive ego. Tony was a good man, but he had never been happy with something without it being the biggest and the best. Now, Tony was the top cop in the world, head of SHIELD and the Fifty State Initiative in addition to juggling his time as Iron Man.

This was his first stop, the logical place to begin. He could have gone directly to his end destination, but he knew he wouldn't be able to just walk in and do what he needed. He couldn't deal with the back office politics and red tape. The trivialities of human procedure meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

"To work, then," said the man as he began to walk across the street towards the foyer of Avengers Tower . Even in this early hour of the night, sounds were muted and traffic was almost non-existent. New York might be the city that never sleeped, but in this part it was at least dozing.

His walking stick made a rythymic beat as he moved, in time to his limping gait.

Overhead, thunder rolled....and lightning scarred the sky.

A storm was coming.

The Initiative Proudly Presents

Avengers

'THE RETURN - PART 1 OF 6'

A CROSSOVER WITH SECRET AVENGERS !

WRITTEN BY MIKE HINTZE

PLOT BY D. GOLIGHTLY AND MIKE HINTZE

SHIELD HELICARRIER, OVER WASHINGTON , D.C.

"How is he?"

Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, stood watching through a window into a medical bay. Inside were several armored SHIELD agents, their attention firmly driven on the comatose man on the bed: Victor Von Doom. Beside the bed were several doctors and nurses, all checking monitor readings and other telemetry on their patient. Beside Tony stood Dr. Keith Kincaid, former physician to the Avengers and now SHIELD's Chief Medical Officer.

"It's a miracle he's still alive," said Dr. Kincaid. He removed his glasses and rubbed between his eyes. He had been awake over 24 hours. "His armor was what saved him from the brunt of it, but it still should have killed him. I can only guess he has augmented his lifesigns with some other means, perhaps magic. I can't explain how else he is still breathing."

"I hate magic," said Tony. His helmet's faceplate was flipped up, revealing a stubbly face that was not often seen on a man of his social ranking. "That's the only explanation for how he took out Bob so handily."

"About Mr. Reynolds," said Kincaid, "I received the Psi-Ops report on him about an hour ago. I haven't had time to review it."

"Hold on a sec," said Tony. He closed his eyes and his lids seemed to flutter. "I got it. Reviewing it now."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing you do that," said Kincaid. "My Blackberry is enough for me."

"It's quite a rush, processing information like this," said Tony. "I wish I could adequately describe it for you."

"I'll take your word on it," said Kincaid.

"Looks like Psi-Ops can't detect anything wrong with Bob," said Tony as he mentally reviewed the information. "Their surface psi-scans show no abnormality. Even the interviews show him as baseline normal."

"Well," said Kincaid, "Isn't a good thing?"

"No," said Tony. "Before yesterday, Bob was a textbook schizophrenic. All tests pointed to that diagnosis. He gets attacked by Doom and now he's cured? That worries me more than I can imagine."

Avengers Tower , Training Facility A-1

"Boom."

Hobie Brown, aka the Prowler, aimed his wrist gauntlets at the target down the range from him. Hybrid pneumatic/repulsor technology activated, firing vibranium lances sheathed in polarized energy. An instant later, the target was impaled before it detonated.

"Damn, man," aid Kasper Cole, aka White Tiger. "You're a regular black Iron Man now."

"I think War Machine got there first," said Prowler. "But yeah, this is pretty cool." He brought his gauntlets back up to a resting position. As he did so, the firing mechanisms retracted and folded into his armored suit. "This is a far cry from what I could cobble together in my basement back in the day."

"I wonder how Doom is doing," said Kasper. "I know he's supposed to be this badass, but Bob took him down like nobody's business."

"There's something up with Bob," said Prowler. "I don't know what it is...but that man hasn't got all his marbles together. He freaks me out, man. I don't know what Stark sees in him, but he's not all there."

"I'll tell you something else," said Kasper, "Since our fight with Doom....Bob's scent is different."

"What, he has B.O.?" joked Hobie.

"No," said Kasper. "I mean its totally changed. It's like he's a whole different person."

"Okay," said Prowler, "Now that's just creepy."

"Can I help you, sir?"

The man stopped his walk across the massive foyer of Avengers Tower and turned to face the security guard. He was much more than a security guard, however. He was a fully armed SHIELD agent.

"Actually, yes," said the man. "I'd like to speak with Tony Stark."

"And you would be?" asked the agent.

"An old friend," said the man.

"Can I see some identifcation, sir?" asked the agent.

"I'll just show myself up," said the man.

The man wasn't there anymore....he was just gone.

"What the hell?" said the agent. He looked around for the man, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The agent looked over at the express elevator to the penthouse. It had been stopped on the main floor....but now was rising upwards.

"Dammit," said the agent. He slapped the communicator on his chest. "All units, unauthorized access has been detected on Penthouse elevator. I repeat, Code Red enroute to the penthouse!"

Agents swarmed the stairwell as they ascended the building. On the penthouse floor, other agents had already assembled before the main elevator door, pulse rifles and vibranium tasers ready to take out the intruder.

"Why isn't the elevator shut down?" asked an agent on the penthouse floor.

"It won't respond," said another. "It just won't stop ascending...all power to it has been shut off."

"So...what's powering it?" asked the first agent.

"I don't know," said the second agent.

The elevator continued its rise. It slowed and finally stopped on the penthouse level. The door slid open.

The car was empty.

"What the hell?" said an agent as he brought his rifle to bear. "Cover me." He walked slowly towards the car and did a horizontal and vertical sweep. He dropped the rifle and took a step back. "No one's in here."

An instant later electricity arced from the elevator car and branched out, making contact with all the agents in the penthouse foyer. They all dropped to the ground, unconscious. In the car, where a moment ago no one could be seen, a man wearing a wide brimmed hat and using a walking stick stepped out.

"Sorry, guys," he said. "But you wouldn't understand."

The Watchtower, atop Avengers Tower , headquarters of the Sentry

He paced back and forth in the massive central chamber of his home, the technological and dimensional construct that had been known to the world years before as a symbol of hope before all knowledge of the Sentry's existence had been erased. All the good, all the work the Sentry had done for years had been erased by his greatest enemy, the General....and he had used the Sentry's own power to do it. Now though, the Sentry was standing more erect and confident than he had in ages. He had recovered from the lingering after effects of Doom's magical/temporal attack. He had come to a conclusion in his own mind and now he was feeling better than he had since his banishment. SHIELD's Psi-Ops had conducted a post-mission assessment with him and everything had come out fine....no, more than fine.

"Cloc?" he asked as he walked about the Watchtower.

No response.

"Cloc," said the Sentry, "Respond." Still no answer. The Watchtower's artificial intelligence, created by Reed Richards, had always been at his side. "Lindy?" asked the Sentry. Even his wife was silent and nowhere to be seen since his return.

"Where the hell is everyone?" asked the Sentry.

His enhanced senses detected an alert from down in Avengers Tower . He knew that Iron Man was away yet, but Cole and Brown were down below. Still, he felt like relieving some steam.

An instant later, he had disappeared in a faint burst of light.

"You should come with me," said Starfox. "You have a place on Titan...Elysius would love to see you." He and Captain Marvel were sitting atop the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

"If I am really lost in time,"said Captain Marvel, "I will end up returned back to complete my life....to die of cancer. I can't give Elysius momentary hope just to have it snatched away. Tony said he would help me figure all this out."

"No offense to Tony Stark," said Starfox, "But he can't hold a candle to the technology and resources on Titan."

"Maybe," said Mar-Vell, "It's ironic...but I think I just need some time."

Starfox reached out and clasped his friend's shoulder. "Take as much as you need," he said.

"Thanks, Eros," said Mar-Vell. "I'll be in touch." He streaked away in a trail of twinkling light.

"And I'll be watching," said Starfox. "But I don't quite feel like leaving just yet. It might be time for this old Avenger to come out of retirement."

" Jericho ," said Iron Man, "I want to thank you again for what you did with Doom and the team. You really came through for us."

"It was my pleasure," said Jericho Drumm, aka Brother Voodoo. He looked around the hangar bay of the Helicarrier. "This is...a nice place you have here."

"It gets the job done," said Iron Man, "Much like you. Truth be told, I need a magical component on my team. Dr. Strange isn't an option as long as he is backing those illegal Avengers. You can fill a much needed void on the real Avengers."

"I'm needed in New Orleans ," said Brother Voodoo. "I have been continuing to work with the rebuilding efforts from Katrina."

"Consider those efforts fully funded....by me," said Iron Man. "I'll assign a SHIELD unit to oversee it. They will manage it as you see fit."

"In exchange for my enrollment in the Avengers," said Voodoo.

"No," said Stark, "If you choose to walk away, that's fine. My commitment for funding and resources still stands."

Drumm looked Stark in the eye, considering. "All right then," he said. "You've got yourself an Avenger, Mr. Stark."

"Mr. Stark was my father," said Iron Man. "Call me Tony."

The man walked into the inner penthouse of Avengers Tower , but it was empty. He was inside Tony Stark's personal apartments, but no one was to be seen. He had hoped to see Tony....but now, he had to think of another option.

"I don't know who you are," said the Sentry from behind him, "But you picked the wrong place to mess with."

He turned to face the Sentry. "I....I remember you. Robert Reynolds. Hero to the world...or at least, used to be. Of course, you're not really you anymore, are you?"

"Drop to the ground," said the Sentry as his eyes shifted to obsidian black. "Or resist." Her smiled. "Please resist.”

“You're not going to win,” said the man. He raised his walking stick into the air. “I won't let you.” He slammed the stick down to the ground and disappeared in a flash of electric light.

“Better than you have tried,” said the Sentry as his eyes faded from black to normal.

White Tiger and Prowler ran into the room. “What the hell happened?”

“I don't know,” said Sentry. “I got here and the agents were unconscious.”

“Let's fan out,” said White Tiger. “He may still be around here.” The two men left the apartment running.

The Sentry smiled. He would meet the mysterious man again....and it would be the last time.

He reappeared in a haze of faint electric light on the grounds of the destroyed Avengers Mansion . His breathing was laboured. He had expended a large portion of the power he had to escape. He struggled to catch his breath. As he hunched over, he saw his left hand. It was beginning to fade and become transparent, but then regained its former solidity.

Time was running out. Tony Stark wasn't an option anymore.

It was time to pay a visit to Steve Rogers.

Next: ‘The Return' continues.....in Secret Avengers #7!

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