Story #2The Bloodstone Hunt
Writer:
Mark Gruenwald. Penciler:
Kieron Dwyer. Inker:
Al Milgrom. Colorist:
Gregory Wright.
Synopsis
Late night at the
American Museum of Natural History, a trio of sinister figures moves through the shadows, stealing a large coffin-shaped box. They are caught by a guard who shines to flashlight on…
Batroc the Leaper,
Machete, and
Zaran. They drop the guard with thrown knives but Batroc insists on leaving him alive as the signature of his crime. They load the crate on a truck and head off, unaware that
Diamondback is riding atop the vehicle. They deliver the crate to their employer,
Baron Zemo, and open it to reveal a skeleton with a gem in the center of the sternum. Zemo’s associate, psychic detective
Tristram Macawber, confirms it is the skeleton of
Ulysses Bloodstone, immortal monster-hunter. The hero was killed in battle against a creature made from the Bloodstone that had been keeping him alive. Zemo hires Batroc and company to search for the missing fragments of the gem. Zaran catches Diamondback, who was listening at the window, and the two fight in the alley; eventually the villain overcomes his foe and she is taken captive. Zemo removes the section of the ribcage with the embedded Bloodstone and Macawber finds he can use it as a diving rod to locate the five missing fragments. As the villains head off on their quest, Diamondback and the rest of the skeleton are nailed into the crate and it is dropped into a deep pit….