In the final moments of the defeat
of the Serpent, Maddie “Veil” is sitting alone in her room as TV news reports
announce the death of Thor. Justice and Reptil knock at her door to see if
she’s all right; she phases through the door to tell them she’s fine and to go
away. They leave, satisfied that she will be okay….
Giant-Man and Tigra arrive in
Broxton, Oklahoma, in response to Hawkeye’s call for help but it’s all over.
Hawkeye says he thought they had dimensional doors. Well, they don’t anymore
because Infinite Mansion has been destroyed and Avengers Academy is not doing
well….
At Avengers Mansion, as the heroes
talk over recent events, Maddie calls a certain number to ask if his offer is
still open. She is surprised by Hazmat who talks about missing her old life.
But Maddie doesn’t miss her miserable childhood but being an Avenger seems to
be worse and she is disenchanted with her former heroes. Jenn reminds her of
her poor prospects for the future, made by the deteriorating effects of her
powers. But she does have somewhere she can go….
Speedball returns and the heroes,
including Quicksilver, Finesse, Mettle, Striker, gather around him to congratulate
him on being the hero who saved the day by posting viral videos to encourage
everyone to help others. He brushes that off but reveals that he will no longer
be hiding away from the world, in short, he’s leaving Avengers Academy.
Giant-Man tries to talk him out of it but Justice reminds him of how Speedball
was after the Stamford disaster and now he has finally accepted it and is ready
to move on. So Hank thanks Robbie who mentions a report of some baddies on the
loose and suggests one last ride….
The next day, Speedball talks about
quitting with Veil as they join the others against the villains Icemaster,
Aftershock, and Ember. Suddenly, Icemaster starts to melt, his water shorting
out Ember while Aftershock’s clothing turns into sleep gas and knocks her out.
The hero is Jeremy Briggs a/k/a Alchemist who receives a hostile reception from
the students. He is there to answer Veil’s query: the offer is still open….
Everyone has an opinion, mostly
negative about Briggs and shares it with Maddie; Hank Pym apologizes for not
finding a cure for her condition which will kill her in about ten years. She
notes he did his beast and while everyone thinks Jeremy Briggs is a sociopath,
he has a solid record of using his money to help people in need and she wants
to try something different….
Justice flies in Maddie’s window to
ask her why she is quitting. She explains how an ideal (the Avengers) is broken
by reality and one just grows to hate it. Vance can’t quite understand: he had
always idolized Captain America and being on the Avengers was wonderful but he
admits he might quit too….
The next night, Speedball and
Justice are about to say their goodbyes when the learn the both have a dream of
riding around the country and they decide to go together. Maddie is sneaking
out when she is intercepted by Brandon (Striker). They are best friends so he
declines to give her advice just to note they can still hang out together. She
hugs him….
Hank Pym and Tigra talk over the
situation. He feels as though they have failed; she wants to rebuild the
Infinite Mansion and start over. He recognizes that they made a mistake by
shielding their students from the real world so he suggests a different
location for the new Avengers Academy….
Maddie shows up at work for Jeremy
Briggs and she asks what they do. He responds, “Anything we want….”
Hank and Greer show up at the
Compound, former HQ of the West Coast Avengers and he confesses his love for
her. Quicksilver interrupts them kissing with some comic banter and then
Jocasta arrives with the new class of students….