In
A.I.M. headquarters’ lab, a giant android is attacking Hawkeye and Black Widow
with electric bolts from its hands. Hawkeye tangles it up in a cable arrow so
it melts the cable then shoots flames at the heroes. Having been programmed
with Widow’s physical ability it instinctively knows the best way to fight
against them. As the two continue to duel with the Attackoid, A.I.M. troops
gather outside the lab, preparing to attack but Mockingbird leaps out of the
darkness and takes them on with her battle staves. In the lab, Hawkeye shoots
an explosive arrow into the Attackoid’s open mouth then from behind Widow pulls
its jaws shut with a strong cable. The bomb detonates, blowing the monster’s
head off. The Scientist flees and the two Avengers follow him, with Hawkeye
wondering where all of the unconscious baddies outside came from. The Scientist
takes off in a rocket sled as the two manage to cling to the side before it takes
off, leaving the unseen Mockingbird behind. The Scientist radios his superiors,
the Imperial Council of Seven who are watching by security camera and are aware
of the two Avengers clinging to the sled. They dispatch their Enforcer Fourteen
to protect Project Brain Drain and he is overjoyed at being chosen to prove his
worth to A.I.M. The sled comes to a halt and Hawkeye and Black Widow jump out
to seize the Scientist but Enforcer Fourteen arrives with an army of soldiers.
Hawkeye tries to bluff his way out but he recognizes the Enforcer’s voice; the
baddie unmasks to reveal…Hank Pym….
“Ronin
on Empty” 4/5
Writer:
Fabian Nicieza. Pencils: Tom Morgan. Inks: Mark McKenna. Colors: Paul Becton.
Letters: Michael Higgins.
Synopsis: At an electronics trade show in the Pontiac
(Michigan) Silverdome, a man is trapped in the jaws of the giant robot known as
the Red Ronin. Janet Van Dyne, there to represent her company, turns into the
Wasp and flies to the rescue. But there is no need, it was only Stane International
rep Karaguchi Inoyawa
demonstrating the safety of their latest project. Wasp reminds him how the
Avengers fought to defeat Red Ronin; Inoyawa reveals that the robot has been
reprogrammed for peaceful purposes and asks Janet for a date which she
declines, finding Inoyawa brash and obnoxious. She returns to her exhibit as a
man named Joe Kilman, bitter at having been fired by Stane, uses his secret
software to take control of Red Ronin and have it knock over a huge tower;
Janet again wasps into action and she is able to hook a supporting cable to the
tower so that it falls away from the occupied area. The giant robot then moves
backwards and through the stadium wall into the parking lot, wrecking cars,
including Janet’s own Jaguar. Wasp and Inoyawa recognize the unconscious Kilman
a deduce he has taken over Red Ronin. The robot is locked in assembly mode,
meaning it will search for its missing parts until it finds them. Wasp enters
the Ronin, evades internal defense mechanisms, and is able to shut it down by
following Inoyawa’s radioed instructions. The Stane boss hits on her again and
again she deflects it with a wisecrack.