Marvel's Avengers Assemble

Hmm!

There's my ride.

Sure beats curbside pickup.

- Indeed, Ms. Marvel. - Ooh! Thanks, Vision.

- What flavor? - Strawberry, banana,

- and kale. - Ugh!

My spectrometer shows it is very high in nutrients.

It's good for you.

Mmm! I am in full stress mode.

Being an Avenger's pressure enough,

but now I've got a presentation due, midterms to cram for...

"Midterms"? Ah.

I am not familiar with them, but researching this concept,

they appear to be a customary element of your education system.

Fascinating.

I wish I could assimilate stuff like you do.

That'd be so cool. Hmm. Maybe you could help.

I mean, homework would go a bajillion times faster.

Like, what's the cosine of a 30-degree angle?

If I gave you that answer, it would defeat the purpose

of your analog instruction method.

Research indicates these lessons are best learned the hard way.

No shortcuts.

Intruder detected at the mansion.

Homework can wait. It's Avenger time!

Who do you think we're dealing with? Hydra? Ultron? Thanos?

Remember your lessons, Ms. Marvel.

Speculation could result in underestimating one's foe.

Intruder, halt!

Taskmaster? Awesome!

I mean, you are so busted!

Hey, Taskmaster, thanks for dropping by.

Next time, try knocking first.

Or is that the one move you haven't copied?

Nice move.

Patent's pending, so don't even think about stealing that one.

Mic drop!

This isn't Mike. This is the Taskmaster.

No, "mic," as in "microphone"?

It's like, you know, an expression you say right after you've crushed it.

My vocal hardware was not designed to be extracted or crushed.

Never mind.

You missed the housewarming. So, what gives, Taskmaster?

According to the Avengers' files,

you prefer well-calculated risks with favorable odds.

A solo assault on Avengers' home turf is highly uncharacteristic behavior.

Sometimes it pays to be unpredictable.

Besides, I'm not here for a fight.

I'm here to warn you.

With Red Skull and the Leader off the table,

and the Avengers missing, there's a power vacuum,

so when MODOK offered me a job, I took it.

But MODOK's methods are too extreme.

He's planning to wipe the entire planet clean

and repopulate Earth with his clones.

Okay, I'm sufficiently creeped out.

Let's go stomp MODOK.

Not so fast, Wasp.

Taskmaster could handle MODOK himself.

Why ask us?

World saving is Avengers' work.

Sticking my neck out for others would be bad for business.

There's gotta be something in it for you.

That's when the whole "honor between thieves" thing always breaks down.

From what I've been told. And from personal experience.

When MODOK hired me, I thought I'd get wealth and power.

Ruling a planet filled with egotistical bloated heads was not what I had in mind.

Yup, that's fair. What do you think, Black Panther?

The best assurance that you are not sending us into a trap is to bring you with us.

Aw, great.

Nothing like being saddled with a B-team.

Hey, don't knock it till you try it.

Reboots are so in right now.

This base is deep in the jungle.

Hope everyone packed their bug spray.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not cool, Captain Marvel. Not cool.

Sorry, Wasp. Meant no offense.

None taken. All good.

How am I supposed to defend myself with cuffs on?

I am certain you will find a way.

But be warned, those restraints are equipped with a location tracker.

You need to factor the sum of the cube.

- The answer should be 616. - Oh, right. Thanks.

Ms. Marvel, the quickest route isn't necessarily the best.

No shortcuts. I know.

What's wrong with shortcuts?

In a fight, every second counts.

Working hard isn't always the smartest solution.

And my photographic reflexes are the ultimate shortcut.

Yes, but copying others' moves could be considered cheating.

Cheating? All I do is take advantage of my resources.

Look around. If everyone pooled their knowledge,

she'd be done with her work by now.

Hmm?

Look. By the temple.

Looks like they're on the move.

You have said MODOK was launching the attack from here.

He was. There must have been a change of plan.

You should strike now before he gets away.

Not so fast. I'm picking up several sensors

installed around the temple complex.

- Motion detectors. - Yes. We should use caution

not to alert MODOK to our...

What?

Taskmaster?

Ohh! I'm surprised even you would stoop so low

as to join forces with the Avengers.

You didn't leave me much choice, MODOK.

Allow me to return the favor.

Avengers, bear witness to the wrath of my NODOKs:

Network Operated Drones Optimized for...

Well, you'll find out.

This calls for a gentle touch.

Just kidding. I'm gonna break 'em.

This is bigger than we anticipated! There are too many!

Aw, man! These guys just keep coming.

Avengers, spread out!

They are learning our moves.

These NODOKs are adapting to your attacks

because I designed their battle program.

Great. Now you tell us.

Uh-oh.

Get these cuffs off me. I know them.

I'm the only one who can counter their moves.

Trusting Taskmaster is an irregular course of action, Ms. Marvel.

- Are you sure about this? - I know, I know. He's a villain.

I mean, he has a skull for a face.

But look! He's kind of amazing.

And he's gotten us this far.

I found a shortcut.

- Where's MODOK going? - Avengers protocol dictates

that we relay our position and await backup.

- I will open a secure channel to... - There's no time.

Taskmaster's right. This is our only chance.

Come on, Vision!

This is highly irregular.

Phasing through the door. Nice shortcut.

What? No. No, that was not a... I never...

This is precisely what I feared.

Taskmaster has led us into a trap.

Easy. Don't blow a circuit.

Is he always this uptight?

Uh...

I'm detecting a rather large energy signature below us.

Relax, Vision. Maybe take a chill...

Whoa! On second thought, what the heck's going on down there?

Now, there's something you don't see every day.

I believe we were premature in our assessment of this headquarters.

It appears we are inside some sort of orbital launch vehicle.

- In English? - You mean, like a spaceship?

Precisely. All incoming and outgoing signals are jammed.

I'm unable to establish a comm-link with the Avengers.

Leaving the atmosphere on a school night is so not cool.

No one on Earth knows we're here.

Following Taskmaster's shortcut got us into this mess.

Like I said, in a fight you've gotta think fast, improvise.

And it worked, didn't it?

MODOK's got a moon base?

If we hadn't stowed aboard, MODOK would've gotten away.

Where's Ms. Marvel?

I saw her last with Vision and... Taskmaster.

No signal from Ms. Marvel, Vision, or Taskmaster.

If they were on that ship, they could be anywhere by now.

The moon!

One small step for the Avengers,

one embiggened step for Ms. Marvel.

Whoa.

Wait up! I'm here. I'm here.

Scans indicate that the power conduits

all terminate in one location.

It must be MODOK's command center.