Avengers Academy (2010 series) #35

The Avengers Academy is closed due to the Avengers Vs X-Men event. But last issue Jeremy Briggs (Alchemist) invited some of the students to his Company's HQ because he had invented a 'cure' for superpowers in an aerosol he called Clean Slate, which Hazmat and Mettle wanted to take. The others (Finesse, Lightspeed, Reptil, Striker, White Tiger and X-23) went along to oversee the process with varying levels of scepticism. They were also met by the robot Jocasta and Veil who had quit the Academy earlier to join Briggs. Maddy Berry revealed that she had already been cured of her power that was slowly making her evaporate away. Jenny Takeda and Ken Mack took the cure and are now baseline human. White Tiger asked Jeremy if he could help her control the magic talismans that were the source of her powers, so he handed them over to a magic-using assistant to study.

Then Briggs announced his real plan to release Clean Slate into the air all over the world to depower most superhumans (gods, magic-users, tech-users and those like Hawkeye with extreme human skills wouldn't be affected). He had an antidote which he'd administer to any who proved worthy of it. Jocasta wasn't happy to hear this plan so Briggs caused her consciousness to transfer to 1 of her other bodies in his China office. But 5 of the other students (except Striker) didn't like it either and objected, but Briggs then revealed that they'd all been breathing in Clean Slate so they were now powerless. It then turned out that 3 of his staff were 'reformed' members of the Young Masters Of Evil (Big Zero, Coat Of Arms and Enchantress) who now attacked the 5. Reptil's amulet still let him turn dinosaur until Enchantress ripped it off his chest. Finesse used a shuriken to cause an explosion that opened up a big hole for her 5 to fall through, but the fall didn't look good for them.

Down in the Briggs Building sub-basement Lightspeed (Julie Power) has awoken to find Reptil (Humberto Lopez) unconscious and hurt. Finesse (Jeanne Foucault) helps White Tiger (Ava Ayala) recover, telling Julie that she calculated the explosion to happen in such a way that falling support beams would shield them from most debris. Although she can't now automatically learn new stuff she still has the knowledge and skills she already assimilated. Then they both help X-23 (Laura Kinney) up, who'd got her claws extended before her powers faded. Without her healing ability their adamantium coating is poisoning her, but extended minimises the damage (and makes them useful in a fight). They hear a very loud noise which Finesses figures is Big Zero digging for them.

She's right and Amity Hunter tells Coat Of Arms (Lisa Molinari) over comms that she's not happy about it, and she intends to kill at least 1 of them, especially the Mexican (Lopez). Lisa reminds her that Briggs thinks she's a *reformed* racist, and anyway he doesn't want them dead so she'd better make it look like an accident. Molinari herself is in her mystic study investigating Reptil's fossilised amulet and White Tiger's talisman necklace. There's obviously no love lost between these 2.

As giant-size BZ moves a concrete beam X-23's claws stab out at her ankle and Finesse somersaults on the beam to kick her in the face while the others including Reptil escape. BZ backhands Jeanne but Laura now severs an achilles tendon. The villain can still stand until athletic Finesse leaps to knee her in the jaw and she falls over to be buried in rubble. The team regroup but Laura needs support to continue. 'Berto thinks they need to get away but Julie thinks that's what Briggs will expect and be looking out for. She reminds them that Jeremy said he has an antidote which he used to restore the Young Masters' powers when they'd 'earned' them. Now they need to find that antidote, get their powers back and stop his mad scheme.

In the Penthouse Suite Jenny and Ken are enjoying their 1st time together as normal humans. Jeremy says he'll leave them to it for a couple of hours but he needs them ready for after Clean Slate is released. He'll need them to help convince other Avengers that this was the right thing. Jenny is worried about their friends but he assures her that they'll get medical attention when they're found. He leaves and they kiss. But neither of them can stop worrying even though they're deliriously happy.

Briggs returns to Enchantress, Striker and Veil. He's worried that Jocasta will find a way out of confinement in the China office to warn the Avengers, so they have to stick to the timetable and release Clean Slate tonight. But Sylvie is caught up in the fact that she's learned that Striker's done commercials and he says he'll introduce her to his agent. Brandon himself thinks he needs his powers back to help face the Avengers that *don't* lose their powers, but Jeremy reminds him that he must *earn* the privilege. Maddy worries that he'll want her to take *her* power back, the power that would eventually kill her. But he tells her that the antidote to Clean Slate is *permanent*. If she took it she could never be cured again, and he wouldn't do that to her. He leaves these 3 to work on prepared press statements that they're going to tape.

Sylvie does so but 1st Brandon and Maddy try to convince themselves that they think Jeremy's plan is a good thing. She reminds him of all the people that died in the war against the Serpent (in the Fear Itself event). He reminds her that the Serpent was Asgardian and Clean Slate wouldn't have worked on him or most of his army. She counters that some like Thor, Iron Man and Hawkeye would still have been around. And he agrees that Jeremy will give powers back to true heroes.

Maddy turns away to study *her* script and leaves Brandon with Sylvie who wants him to help her rehearse - she's been taking acting classes. But he's more interested in the 'getting powers back' thing.  She says he couldn't take her powers away because they're magic. Lisa's magic is in her Coat Of Arms so he just took that away from her. But he did remove Amity's growing power and return it, and she saw how he did that. But she hopes he doesn't want her to help him go against Jeremy's wishes. (Budding actor) Brandon then tells her a sob story about how he dreamed of being special but everyone doubted him and he started to believe them. But then he got his powers and his dream came true. But all the time he was waiting for someone to take back his powers and say they were never meant for him. And now it's happened. None-too-bright Sylvie is deeply affected because she says that's *her* life too!

Our 5 heroes are making their way towards where White Tiger senses her amulets with Finesse using her (seemingly endless supply of) shurikens to disconnect cameras. Ava says they've reached the right place but Lightspeed and Jeanne continue ahead to take out more cameras to disguise their intention. X-23 just slumps against a wall but Reptil asks Ava if *she*'s OK. She says that her brother Hector who wore the Tiger Amulets before her talked about them as a drug you got withdrawal symptoms from, and now she feels he was right. She also says that she tells herself she's doing this in his memory even though she *knows* he wouldn't want her too. And now she's wondering if she only keeps going because she *has* to? Humberto is of the opinion that it doesn't matter *why* you do something as long as you *do* it. He thinks he's been spending too much time talking about what he's going to do but not actually achieving *anything*. But they stop this introspection and turn to Laura who's actually dying. But she tells them that Jeremy Briggs is using people as guinea pigs in his experiments. That was done to her in her childhood and she *refuses* to die before she stops him!

Then the other 2 return and they all bust down the door to Coat Of Arms' lab. But Lisa's ready for them because their amulets told her they were coming. She says that the artefacts were feeling underappreciated with them and want to stay with *her*. So now she faces them with the amulets in 2 of her 6 hands and weapons in the others.

Meanwhile Sylvie has decided to help Brandon. She tells him that Jeremy keeps 100s of vials of the antidote locked in a vault with multiple locks that only he can open, and it's shielded against teleporters, phasers and magik. But she casts a spell that goes back in time to when he opened it for Big Zero and takes 1 vial out of all of them that he won't notice. She gives it to him but makes him promise not to use his powers unless it's an emergency. As he drinks a dose(?) she reminds of how powerful a sorcerer she is and what she could do to him if he's 'naughty'. He hugs her and thanks her, and says she *had* been worried that he'd zap her when he got his power back. He assures he wouldn't *do* that, and jokes that she'd have been ready for his attack anyway. She laughs and agrees. And *then* he tweaks the electricity in her brain to make her dizzy and sick.

Then he turns to Maddy and tells her he's going to find the others and then they're going to take Briggs down. He offers her a swig of the antidote but she recoils in horror (because her powers are a death warrant). At that point Briggs joins them and turns Striker's electricity power against him by upping the conductive salt content in his sweat so that he zaps himself. He said this was a test to see who'd be loyal. Brandon has failed but he takes Maddy's refusal as loyalty. He keeps up Brandon's agony but Striker increases his power output so Briggs gets hit too. Jeremy calls out to Sylvie for aid but she's still being sick.

But Maddy has picked up the fallen vial and run to the lovers in the penthouse to tell them what's happening and they've got to save Striker. (I presume she also tells them what she learned earlier from Briggs that the antidote is *permanent*, which of course makes everything a much bigger deal.) She says there's enough left in the vial for 2 people. She's going to take 1 dose (even though it will kill her) but she'll need help to face Jeremy so she's asking 1 of them to join her. Angry Jenny shouts about how long the couple have longed to be normal, but Maddy says Brandon was screaming and his face was cooking like bacon. And she knows Jeremy is going to kill the others too. Ken decides to take a dose because it's their friends they're talking about. Jenny begs him not to because they haven't had enough time together. Ken says they got to kiss and that memory will have to be enough for him because he can't let their friends die. They share another kiss and then he drinks. He starts to hand the vial back to Maddy but Jenny takes it. She says she's more powerful than Maddy, and reminds her how Briggs defeated her by turning her into water. And she's not going to let  her friends die, or Ken. He asks her not to do this just for him because he couldn't live with that knowledge. She says she couldn't live without *him*, and she drinks.

Ken hasn't yet 'regained' his skull-headed red metal body but Jenny immediately starts glowing green as her radiation and toxicity return. She quickly leaves them to take the danger away and asks them to go find her Hazmat suit. But in the meantime she stalks off to find Jeremy Briggs.