New Avengers #6

Issue Details

Synopsis

BREAKOUT! PART 6 As Spider-Woman orders the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to stand down and the Black Widow orders them to fire, Iron Man’s armor begins to charge for a magnetic field and informs him that the files about the Raft incident had finished being analyzed. Of course, it wasn’t the best time to review them. As a lower agent refuses to fire on Captain America, the Widow shoots him in the head and begins firing at the Avengers, and the rest of the agents follow suit.  As Cap yells for no casualties, mainly for Wolverine’s sake, Spider-Woman flies him towards the Window. Claws stretched outward, they would have killed the her if not for Cap’s shield slamming into the back of his neck. Even at low power, Iron Man activates a polar magnetic field which causes all metallic objects to float towards him, including keys, guns, and Wolverine. Seeing they were unarmed and very much outmatched, the agents flee the scene.   S.H.I.E.L.D. says that they have no presence in the Savage Land and the Black Widow, a freelance S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, is not supposed to be in the Savage Land. Considering she and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents just tried to kill them in the Savage Land, Spider-Woman asked her whose orders she was following and what they were doing in the Savage Land. The Widow kept her mouth shut. Spider-Woman goes on to inform her that she has a license to kill and demanded a name. The Widow responds, “I work for the same people you work for.” Before they could interrogate her further, Sauron’s corpse jumps up and breathes fire on the Widow.   Iron Man and Cage are able to knock Sauron out and he transforms back into Lykos. He apparently absorbed some of Wolverine’s healing factor when he transformed; that kept him alive. They decide to hunt down the rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and get a ride back to civilization when Iron Man detects strange readings in the distance. Those readings are the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents doing what they came to the Savage Land to do; enslave the native inhabitants and force them to mine Vibranium.   The Avengers charge into battle as multiple energy blasts fall from the sky, decimating the entire installation. Only Iron Man’s repulsor field saved them from utter destruction. The source of the blasts; the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Agent Hill, the S.H.I.E.L.D. director, claimed that their own investigation into the Raft breakout led them to the Savage Land and that the destruction of the mining installation “was the appropriate response.” As for who was behind it all, they merely said the investigation was ongoing. She says the helicarrier would fly them back to New York and thanks them on behalf of the Weapon X director for retrieving Sauron. But, “For the record, we did ask you to stand down. You ignored us.”   When they are alone, Iron Man tells the team that there’s another problem. The S.H.I.E.L.D. files given to them about the Raft had been tampered with, so he compared them with the files from the old Avengers database. Over a dozen of the prisoners had been declared legally dead, yet still imprisoned. This meant that S.H.I.E.L.D. was not only stockpiling super-weapons, they were stockpiling super-villains. Whoever is behind it knows the Avengers are onto them, but the Avengers don’t know who they are. Even if they do nothing, the real bad guys know they know something. Cap offers anyone the option of backing out of the Avengers now, if they feel they can’t handle it. Tony then offers a spot to Wolverine, which makes Cap want a private word.   In a hidden location, the Black Widow lies in a hospital bed. She is horribly scarred by Sauron’s attack. Her employer offers her a chance to reap vengeance on the Avengers for what they had done to her, and she agrees.