ALL-WINNERS 2000 #1

"Plans Within Plans"

by Gordon Green

The woman stood beside the open grave as flashes of lightning illuminated the lonely, decimated mountainside. She was young and beautiful in spite of being rain soaked and covered with mud. Her reddish brown hair was slicked to her head and ran down her back in ringlets. A time yellowed gown like shroud stuck to her shapely body and her feet were bare.

She looked down into the dismal maw of the gaping grave. Rotted wooden remnants of her coffin lay splintered and wrecked. Beside the ruined pieces there was the pitiful remains of a tiny misshapen skeleton.

The woman lifted her face into the rainswept night as the Moon poked out from behind the dark storm clouds. Slowly at first she rose from the ground, spiraling into the blackness. The wind whipped around her and the rainwater began to bead off her as her body took on a golden glow. She soared into the electrically charged night. Bolt after bolt of sizzling lightning caressed her body. Her eyes took on the light of awareness and a bright smile suddenly split her beautiful face.

"Yes, Yes!" She shouted over the rumble of the resonating thunder! "Yes, I'm alive! Oh, It's…. Wonderful!" She looped and spiraled through the dark sky, raptured by the charged ions from the lightning bursts! She flew loops around the peak of the looming crags of the beetling mountain until she came to a lighted cabin and hovered there.

Slowly descending, she lightly touched down before the crude wooden door. Her tattered white gown was now dry, having been warmed by the emanations of her body. She knocked upon the door.

The door creaked open. From the interior, illuminated by flickers from the fireplace and thecandle in her hand, the face of a cow peered out. The face was that of a bovine, but the eyes held the glow of intelligence.

"Who…. ?" She started, " Lady Madeline! But… You can't be here! You're not here!  It's not possible, you've been gone and cold these many years!"

"Bova… I don't remember much, but I am here and alive!" The woman said. " I saw the body in the grave , Was that my child?

"It is truly you, Oh, my dear! There is much to tell you, but come, first come to the fire and warm yourself ! Over a hot cup of tea I shall reveal all I know!" Madame Bova led Madeline to the fire and sat her in a large cushioned chair. She wrapped a red woolen blanket about her shoulders.

"Lady Madeline, what do you remember?" Bova began, handing Maddy a large steaming cup. " There have been, many years gone by since last I looked upon you."

"Well," Madeline started, "I remember Bob and I coming to your cabin. I remember the hard labor and the birth of my baby…. And then…. DARKNESS , and the cold!" She shivered. "Nothing else until I awoke and crawled from the earth."

Madeline and Bova sat and looked at each other in silence. Madeline took a sip of her tea ."That was my baby in the grave, wasn't it? And where is Bob, is he still here? You said something about many years, but LOOK at me!" She stood and dropped the blanket. The shroud dropped to the floor. She stood naked before the flickering firelight.

"I was almost forty when I came here and now, I have the body of a twenty year old!"

She stood before a gilt mirror that stood over the fireplace and rubbed her face in her hands.

"Madeline, it's been some forty years you've laid in your grave! You should be in your seventies or eighties, but now….."

Madeline looked closely in the mirror. "I initially received my powers when I was just sixteen. I was locked in a chamber in a lighthouse when I was struck by lightning. I was in a coma for a week, that's nothing to being in one for forty years! Later Bob and I were exposed to radiation when we worked at an atomic weapons facility. " She flexed her arms and continued to peer at herself in the mirror. She stretched out the kinks of decades.

"My powers had begun to fade and the radiation was making me sick, and then the pregnancy…"

"I don't understand all these things." Bova said, "But I've learned a few things at the side of the High Evolutionary. You were not dead after all, you were sleeping until your mutated body could regenerate and heal itself. And heal it did, you look like a maid of twenty, and a comely one at that!"

Madeline dropped her eyes,"I guess Bob is either an old man or dead by now."

"I don't know lass, I don't hear much up here on the mountain. " Bova said. "But… your baby did not die. I placed another stillborn babe in your grave."

"Why did you do that?" Madeline asked.

"Your child was born with the appearance of deformity. I feared for his very life. To the peak of Wundagore I went and gave him to the charge of the High Evolutionary. I can tell you this; he has grown into a lovely lad, so kind and handsome to gaze upon too! He goes by the name of Janos, but now, rest yourself. You must be weary!"

"I've rested for the past forty years! I'm ready to see if I can find Bob !" Madeline said.

Madame Bova went over to a dusty lumber bin. She moved aside some cartons and pieces of firewood until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a large carpet bagged satchel and brought it to Madeline by the fireplace.

"This was yours." Bova said. " Your husband left it behind when he descended the mountain."

Madeline looked through the satchel. She pulled out of it a pair of red tights, a red dress and some other articles of clothing.

A short time later she once more stood in front of the mirror. She was dressed in the time-honored costume of MISS AMERICA, her red skullcap upon her head and her red-brown hair flowing down her back. She held up a pair of harlequin glasses in her hand.

"I don't think I need these any more." She chuckled and put them back in the satchel.

"What will you do first?" Bova asked.

"Well," Madeline began,"First I shall try to find Bob, then I can get some bearings, some emotional basis. My children don't know me, or know of me, so I'll see to them next. You know Janos, so perhaps you can prepare him for a meeting with his mother, let him know that I love him sight unseen, and that I'll be back to see him."

"As you desire Lady Madeline." Bova said. "I wish you well on your quest. I truly pray that you find what your heart requires."

Miss America stepped out into the night and rose into the sky. She accelerated swiftly until she faded from view.

Bova watched the figure of  Miss America blend into the blackness. She could not help but surpress a shiver. Why had Madeline returned now, at this time near the end of the Millenium and the start of the stellar convergence? True , she was endowed by unearthly powers. When she was a young woman , and first had received her gift she had lain in a deathlike coma for a week only to awaken with her great powers. What would a slumber of decades portend? Of course, the mystic blood of the Elder God Chthon permeated the clay of this haunted mountain Wundagore! What effect did that have on Madeline's resurrection?

Madame Bova turned and stepped into her cabin and closed the door. Above the storm had subsided. The Moon and stars once more banished the darkness.

The Mad Thinker leaned back in his chair and blew a smoke ring from his cigar into the air. His fingers flew over the bank of keyboards before him as the scenes displayed on the wall of monitors flickered and changed , until they stabilized on the vision of three young men lying side by side on a gleaming steel slab. Each one was clad in a different, distinct costume.

"Our subjects are beginning to stir, I think it would be best if we take them to the detention cells until we are ready." The Mad Thinker was apparently speaking to no one in particular.

A part of the lab wall began to move and flow, morphing into a humanoid form. What had looked like a wall of glass and chrome eventually was revealed to be an eight-foot tall automaton topped by an egg shaped head with the slight semblance of a human face.

"Of course Thinker, the flesh bags will be perfect pawns !" The huge robot flowed out of the wall and formed up beside the Thinkers chair. Upon the robots head was emblazoned the symbol for infinity within a stylized " U ".

"Take our new friends down to the detention level and chain them up !" the Thinker commanded.

" WHO DO YOU PRESUME TO BE TO COMMAND THE ULTIMATE ULTRON ? The robot growled.

" Who do I presume to be? You forget yourself dear boy; I'm your creator! I put you together from the cast off shell of Ultron Eight and made the improvements that make you the wonder that you are! If not for me you would still be a pile of discarded scrap instead of the Ultimate Ultron! " The Mad Thinker rose from his chair.

" You are quite adept at the art of using the labors of others, even your Amazing Android is stolen from the work of Reed Richards. "  The robot said. " I was originally the creation of Father Pym , NOT YOU ! "

" Oh no, not stolen Ultron, Adapted! I turn others theory into reality.  Even our trio out there are the result of years of research and experimentation. Each one, like Gods angels is a separate creation ….. But don't think I am ' commanding ' you my friend. We are partners in this endeavor . Our goals will soon be met , Mine to destroy the Fantastic Four and yours to eliminate the Avengers ! But first we must confine them in the cells I've prepared for them." He moved over to the bank of computer terminals and peered at the readouts. " They should be starting to receive the downloads by now. Their memories and personalities should be forming even as I speak.  I've implanted new ideas and concepts in their minds, leaving NOTHING to chance in my calculations! I've designed new costumes for them to go along with their new personalities. Except for the Whizzer that is. He will remain much as he was except for the repairs I've made. And, of course, I thank you for your aid in their creation, as your previous incarnation aided me in my labors with the Torch and the Vision !"

Ulti-Ultron rose to his full eight feet, " I shall do as you . . . . Suggest, but please keep in mind that we are . . . .partners! "

Two young men were chained hand and foot to opposite walls of the rough stone walled cell. A faint yellow light filtered in through the small grate on the door from the corridor outside, revealing the colorful costumes each was clad in. One was dressed from head to toe in a red, white and blue body suit , the other in a scarlet red body suit with yellow trim. Both were rousing from their unconsciousness.

" Whoa , my head!" The blue clad one said as he struggled to his feet. He pulled back the azure colored cowl that covered his head revealing his handsome features and his shock of brown hair.

His companion sat on the cold cell floor rubbing his face with his hands. He paused and peered closely at the face of the prisoner across from him.

" Buck, is that you?" The scarlet clad young man extended his right arm and a glowing ball of yellow flame appeared in his palm.

" Hey, Toro! Long time no see!" Bucky extended himself as far as he could to the end of his chains. The light from Toro's fireball illuminated the dark cell.  " My God, it's been . . . . .I don't know how long since I've seen you. You look older , but I'd know your stupid looking face anywhere! How've you been kiddo, and what the hell are we doing here dressed like this ?"

Bucky extended his arms and tried pulling on the chains. Toro tried willing the fireball to engulf the shackles on his wrist. It glowed white hot and sputtered out.

"Looks like these chains are flame proof. Buck, I don't know what we're doing here either. I… don't remember much, my mind is kinda fuzzy too. But hey, you look older than I remember too! But I can't recall . . . there's something about you and Cap that I can't quite remember."

"Well, " Bucky began, " last thing I remember was trying to defuse an experimental Allied drone Buzz Bomb. Cap was there too,and then . . . . I don't know. It's a complete blank!"

" I've got a feeling that a lot of time has gone by old pal. We're both obviously quite a bit older. You look like you're in your twenties, and…" Toro looked at his outstretched arms, "And I feel kinda different too!"

"Yeah, you look like you're in your twenties also, and that costume! It looks more like the Torches than your old black bating suit. You always looked like a pee wee Subbie. And this. . .this looks like a futuristic version of Cap's outfit!" Bucky pulled at the chains, straining, as every muscle pulled to tension. His muscles stretched and bulged almost to bursting.

"Wow, Buck, I don't remember you being built like that either. But it doesn't look like you're doing any good. Let me try !"

Toro shot a white-hot flame to the chain and ankle shackle holding Bucky captive. The flames fizzled out with the same finality, as they did on his own bonds. He tried using his fireballs on the hinges and lock on the cell door to similar failure.

"Looks like this cell is Toro proofed all around! I can get a flame started, but I can't generate enough heat to melt through our chains. You having any luck on yours Buck?"

" I feel strong enough, but these chains and shackles look like Adamantium and I can't budge 'em!"

"How did you know that? I don't remember even hearing of Adamantium, but I feel that you're right on the money. This is really weird Buck, I don't understand any of this!" Toro slumped to the cell floor despondently. He looked up at his companion questioningly.

"No, I don't understand it either. I feel a flood of feelings and thoughts all at once, a great jumble, as if it's all loading into my mind all at once!" Bucky joined Toro on the cold cell floor.

"I know one other thing Toro. I know that I really miss Cap. I can't help but wonder what he would do in our situation. I do feel that a lot of time has gone by, Look at us ! We're gol durned grown ups Toro! Have we been reborn into a new world and a new time ? Is the war over? What's going on?"

"Well Buck, I remember the War ending, and then another one popping up in Korea! I remember Pappy and I in the All Winners Squad. I remember something . . . I can't quite remember it all, but I remember something about you and Cap. I remember a big thing about Captain America being the representative of America and standing for everything about the good old U, S of A!"

"That's where you're wrong Toro. Cap doesn't represent 'America' . Cap represents the PROMISE of America, the hope of a free people for a better life, free of a dictator's oppression! That's what we fought for, not for how it was, but for how it could be, for how it should be! …. And that's what I'll always go on fighting for! I changed a lot during the War. I started out as a brash kid, just like you! I saw a lot of death and pain. I saw a lot of the evil that man could do to his fellow man! I'll never forget the camps Toro! NEVER! But just like Cap I can stand for something too! If it's true that I've found myself re-born in a new world, I'll stand for a rebirth of the spirit of America! I'll be just the American. Not a Captain or any other qualifier, just The American!  First I guess, we've got to figure out where we are, what's going on and how to get out of here!"

"Hey, sorry! Didn't mean to touch a nerve!" Toro turned his right arm into flame and manipulated a fireball into existence.

"Believe it or not I understand. I admit I'm a little . . . confused. . . too! I can feel a huge hole in my mind where some of my memories should be. The last thing I recall is following the Torch into an Atomic Bomb test. It's foggy, but I don't remember you being around, not for quite a while, but it's hazy, like I say. Anyway, good ol Pappy and I flew into ground zero and then. . . . nothing! And here am I dressed like this! And Look at us ! Goddammit Buck, we were fourteen years old and now we look like adults! And what's worse, I feel like an adult!"

"I know." Bucky said, "I feel the same hole in my past, yet I also know that I'm alive! I remember reading these Mars books by a guy named Burroughs when I was a little kid living on the Camp, and the main character , John Carter, would say ' I still live!' and then go off and kill a battalion of four armed green Martians! It's funny, but that's how Cap and I always felt. I still do, life conquers all!" Bucky pulled the blue hood over his head, stood up, testing once more his chains. " We'll figure it all out later, after we get out of here and find Cap and the Torch!"

"Hey, Anybody there!" A voice echoed down the empty corridor outside the cell.

Toro could just reach a place where he could see out the tiny grill on the cell door. Across the corridor and offset at an angle he could just make out the grill of another door, just like the one barring their way to freedom.

"Yeah, who's there?" Toro called out.

"Hey, Toro, is that you kid? It's Bob, Bob Frank.. . . Whizzer!"

Toro could just make out a face through the gloom. It sure did look like the Whizz Kid, he even had on the golden winged helmet.

"This is crazy! What the heck is going on? What are we doing here? Hey Whizz, what's the story?" Toro called down the hallway.

"I don't know kid, I just woke up. . . . The last thing I remember was fighting ISBISA in the Nursery, and . . My heart. . .and I was old and tired, and then. . . I was so cold. ."

There was silence in the corridor. It was a full minute before Bob Frank could speak again.

"And then . . .I . .Died. "He said. "The last thing I remember is that I died an old and tired bitter man. . . But now,  look at me !"

"I can't really see you from here Bob!" Toro laughed. "But take it from me, Bucky and I share your confusion!"

"Bucky is there with you? But that's not possible! Bucky disappeared back in the closing days of the War, same as Cap!"

"Caps gone?" Bucky asked.

"Well, he was, but then he came back. I mean he returned…. I don't know, I'm so confused!" Bob continued.

"He's right Buck! I remember now, there was a while there when you guys were MIA and we worked with a couple of pinch hitters. They were good guys, but. . . you and Cap had dissappeared.This is just nuts!"

Bob called out;"Captain America is leader of a group called the Avengers. I worked with them for a while. . . sometime before I died, and after I lost Madeline. They're a good group, worthy successors of the Squad!"

The Whizzer pulled himself to the end of his chains and looked through the grill.

"Look, we can go through all this later, first off, let's get out of here! See that contraption there by the door? It's a field-dampening device and it prevents me from using my super speed. It's like the slow down device that Future Man and Madame Death used on me in South America!"
(in All Winners #21 )

"Toro, if you could hit it with a few of your white hot fireballs, just maybe I could get loose and get you guys out ."

"My shackles seem to be lined with asbestos, but I can still flame on to a degree. Bucky here. . . Sorry. . . He wants to be called the American now. Anyway, his chains are flameproof too. How do we know that yours aren't too?" Toro questioned.

"We don't. Just that I'm not locked up with you. Odds are mine aren’t fireproof! Try it kid!"

Toro strained to the end of his chains and screwed up his face. He extended his right arm toward the window in the cell door and pointed his index finger.

"Got to do this just right, I can hardly see you through there and I can only see the edge of that device."

The Whizzer moved away from the door. "That should be enough, just try to melt through the housing and send a fireball into its innards!"

Toro's arm burst into flame once more as pulses of white-hot flame strobed up and down. Suddenly a white sphere, glowing like the arc of an acetylene torch leaped from his fingertips and streaked through the dark corridor. It flew through the window in the Whizzer's cell and struck the side of the field damper. It spun like a buzz saw through the wall of the device and then burst in a flash of molten metal on the inside.

Bob Frank stood; arms outstretched and began to shake. Looking at him in the dim light Toro could see his outline begin to turn to haze. A high pitched whine pierced the silence of the detention cells. Suddenly the Whizzer's cell door burst open, as did the door to the other cell holding Toro and Bucky. Seemingly simultaneously the shackles on the ends of the boy's chains seemed to glow and dropped off.

Toro and Bucky stood there free of their bonds as a yellow clad man appeared out of nowhere in front of them.

"Bob, Fantastic! But how. . .? Bucky asked.

"Easy, I just rubbed a loose piece of masonry over the metal until the friction wore through it. Took all of a tenth of a second to do all eight of your bonds. Mine were a piece of cake; I was able to just vibrate right through them. I seem to be a lot faster than I used to be too! You two. . . .You look older than I remember, but that's only to be expected."

"And you Bob!," Bucky started, " You actually look younger than I remember you! As a matter of fact, we all look to be about the same age!"

Bob looked at his bare hands and felt his face. It felt smooth and soft. Gone were the wrinkles and the leather of time.

"We can figure this all out later, " Toro said, "Right now we have to get out of this dungeon!"

"I tried to vibrate through the walls while you were talking, but there seems to be a barrier that prevents me. Also I tried to find a way out of this maze of passages. There's another field dampener  at the end of this corridor that I can't get by, but I think that the three of us can handle it." The Whizzer said. "I also found and destroyed a nitrogen gas generator that was flooding your cell!"

Toro burst into flame and rose a couple of feet off the floor. "My fire power seems to be back at full strength now!" He shot a chain effect of fireglobes down the dark hallway. "And I've decided, I'm older now , and if you can take a new name on Buck, so can I ! From now on, I'm going to be . . . PYROMAN! How's that? Pyroman and the Human Torch! I'll give him second billing for a change!"

"Just like the first time we met, you try to take over!" Bucky laughed.
( in Young Allies #1 )

"Yeah, sure, Pyroman it is , but lets get the heck out of here first! We'll talk about billing later!" Bucky said. "Besides, I don't think this is going to be as easy as you think!"

"Why do you say that?" Pyroman inquired.

A loud crash echoed down the corridor as a score of silver automatons burst through the far wall.

"Because of them!" The American yelled as he bounded down the corridor, pulling on his masked cowl at the same time. The Whizzer streaked down the corridor and smashed through the group of robots like a bowling ball through tenpins. Pyroman soared overhead, hurling fireballs at the fallen robots, melting their legs into piles of slag. The American pinwheeled down the hall, striking out with kicks and punches as he went. For every one of the robots they disabled two more appeared in the shattered opening to the catacombs. A huge chrome figure appeared in the midst of the smoke. This Ultimate Ultron was twelve feet tall and composed of Adamantium steel and Titanium. From his egg shaped head a ruby red beam shot out, bathing the Whizzer in its wash.

"Energy dampening ray again, only stronger this time, I can hardly move!" the speedster called to the American.

A huge metal claw grasped the American about the waist and lifted him off the floor. The Ultimate Ultron aimed a tubular device at Pyroman and began shooting out clouds of flame retardant foam. Pyroman dodged the first few blasts.

"YOU WILL DESIST> YOU BELONG TO ME> YOU ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE ULTIMATE ULTRON AND YOU WILL RETURN TO YOUR CELLS UNTIL I HAVE NEED OF YOU!"

The American struggled in the grip of the Ultron's claw. "Nuts to you, you silver plated piece of junk! Pyroman, burn out the legs of this piece of trash!"

"No, don't give it a chance to grab you, burn your way past it and get to the Avengers in New York. Get Cap and come back for us !" The Whizzer yelled.

The corridor was filling with Ultron robots, each one armed with a stasis ray and a foam gun, each one a carbon copy of the first one.
Pyroman spiraled through the crowded corridor, sending rings of white-hot flames scattering the robots.

"I can make it guys, Keep it together and I'll be back with the Cavalry!"  Pyroman turned and looked back at the pair. Whizzer and the American were being surrounded and over run by the horde of automatons. He sped through the maze of corridors. When confronted by an iron grate or an obstacle he blasted through in a splash of molten metal and masonry.

Blindly he slashed through the complex until suddenly he felt cool air surround him. He was blazing through the sky like a crimson comet over a darkened desert expanse. A full moon illuminated the desolate landscape revealing clumps of cactus and Joshua trees far below.

"I'll have to remember where the complex is. I guess New York must be east of here somewhere." Pyroman streaked to the east and disappeared into the moonlit sky.

The Mad Thinker turned to Ulti-Ultron, "Well my clockwork friend, The game is afoot!"

"That's a clever expression, Did you ' adapt ' that too ?" The Ulti-tron said.

"Why, no my Ultron friend," The Mad Thinker said.

"I stole it ! " He began to laugh madly

Mary sat on the cold park bench and threw the kernels of popcorn to the flock of pigeons at her feet.

"I don't know why I bother with you flying rats!" she laughed.

Even though the sun was shining brightly she wore a bright yellow raincoat and carried a rolled up gold colored umbrella. Her white hair was still streaked with bolts of golden yellow brilliance that caught the noonday rays of the Sun. To look at her, you would not have thought that she was seventy-five years old. Her eyes were still bright and flashing, dark green with flecks of gold dust that laughed with every glance.

She looked at her watch , and noting that it was almost one o'clock she rolled up the bag of popcorn and rose to her feet. The flock of adoring pigeons scattered in a flurry of avian agitation as Mary made her way to the exit from the park.

It was only a short walk to the gateway to Avengers Mansion. Mary walked to the gatehouse and rang the bell beside the viewscreen and waited for a reply

Nemo was going to one of his favorite places. It had only been a few cycles since he had left the spires of Atlantis behind on the command of his Lord Namor, and he was in need of a place to rest and think.

Looming before him the prow of the sunken ship rose from the ocean floor . He slipped into the broken hull and slid through the ruined corridors of the huge vessel . After many twists and turns he found himself in a large empty space. Stretching from the top of the space to the murky bottom was a grand ornate staircase, encrusted with barnacles and sea sediment, but still trimmed in brass and crystal, reflecting the opulence that it once had displayed. Orange stalactites plunged like daggers of rust into the heart of the vessel.

Nemo could sense the some of the richness of the surface dwellers reflected in the ornaments of this ship TITANIC. Some of the decorations even reminded him of the art of his homeplace. He floated over to the remains of an intricately carved brassbound chair, preserved by the cold Atlantic seawater and the low oxygen content at this great depth. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift with the deep-sea currents.

He missed his home in the Royal court of Atlantis. It had been his only home for as long as he could remember. He had been just a swaddling infant when his father brought him to the charge of the Royal Nursery. He was raised by the women of the Emperor's Harem along with their own children, all Princes and Princesses of the Realm Imperious. But they never let it be forgot that he was a hsu'bay, a hybrid, a mix breed mongrel. His father had been a hsu'bay as well, part Atlantean and part Human, only in his case he bore the further stigmata of the clone. At least his father knew his parentage, he had none! Not so in Nemo's case. He bore the same name as his father and was known in the Court as Nemo the Younger, but those who had fought beside him in the Lemurian Campaigns knew him as Nemo the Oceaneer, as he was a master of the oceans.

He had been brought to the court during Namors long absence, and so he was a young man when Namor had returned to take the crown. Unlike his father he did not bear the stigma of the clone and was at least tolerated by his Lord.

There were many things that visited the sins of the father upon the son , but the taboo of the clone was not one of them. It was so rare an occurrence and the offspring of a clone was something that had never happened. In fact, that the clone of a hybrid was not sterile was thought to be impossible.

Nemo the Younger was accepted as a Royal Cousin. He was, after all, genetically the son of the Sub-Mariner in actuality if not in title. It was unfortunate that these honors could not have been visited upon his father as well. But that is another story for another time. Nemo the Younger had had to earn the respect of his liege, and earn it he did, through hard work and his dedication to his lord.

He advanced rapidly in the service of the Realm Imperious to become the First Tribune of the Emperors Legions. In spite of his questionable parentage he found himself high in the line of succession to the Atlantean Throne!

As a youth young Nemo JR had been visited by his father and he had been thrilled by his tales of his adventures above the waves. Like his father he had been mocked by the other children of the nursery and called a "Subbie", a corruption of the Atlantean term. He could barely remember his father telling him stories about his mother. She had been a surface dweller who had stolen his father's heart.

Nemo did not remember his mother: he had been taken from her so many years ago that he could no longer see her face or hear her voice in his mind. He had never known her name. She was as dark a mystery to him as the deep dark caves of the ocean depths.

Ah, but that was so long ago, and his world had changed now. His Lord, Prince Namor had commanded him to go to the surface world as he had his father before him. He had no idea what he would find. Perhaps he could fill in some of the blanks in his earliest memories.

Suddenly , Nemo was snapped from his meditation by a bright light shining into his face! His eyes snapped open and there before him was a huge metallic robot waving its armored claws at him while its great shining eye beamed in his face, blinding him! It moved towards him menacingly!

Nemo had fought devices like this before. He had single handedly defeated the war androids of Attuma, the renegade Warlord of Lemuria when he had led his Legions against them!

Nemo shot out at the robot, engulfing himself in the hydraulic claws of the beast. He tore the arms from their mechanical sockets: streams of hydraulic fluid spilling from the ruined joints like black clots of blood! He tore the bright electric eye from the front of the device and ripped the wires apart that connected it! His great strength crushed the tubular body of the robot device. The automaton stopped moving. Nemo tore the cable from the rear of the robot and watched it slowly sink to the murky depths of the staircase.
Nemo was triumphant!

James Cameron tore the headphones from his head.

"God Damn it, the picture from the submersible camera just went black! Whets going on here?" He turned to his crew; "Time is money here people!"

The team of assistant Directors and the rest of the film crew on ' RETURN TO THE TITANIC'  scurried in all directions aboard the Russian ship the Keldish.

"Jim, I don't know how to tell you this, but. . . ." One of the crew said.

"Come on , spit it out man! We didn't have these problems the first time we filmed here! What's the story? I want answers NOW! " Jim yelled, not at all patient about the delay.

He spat out orders to the film crew.

""I want to see playback, now! Get the camera back on board, MOVE!"

"I've got playback now, Jim, look at this!" The Assistant Director called , gesturing at a video screen. On the flickering screen the figure of a man was vaguely visible. The man was clad in only a pair of briefs in depths that would crush any human diver. His face was only partially visible in the murky beam of the submersibles spotlight.

"Looks like that Sub-Mareener guy, the one that hangs with the Avengers, and he's ripping apart our submersible camera!" The Assistant said.

"I had my fill with these hero types when we filmed the Spiderman movie. Remember how the real Spiderman went ape when we cast DiCaprio in his part? He refused to do the stunts as we had contracted. Maybe this Sub-Mareen guy doesn't want us filming on HIS Titanic!"

James Cameron went over to the bank of ship to shore radios.
"Get on the horn pronto! I want the Avengers here to take care of one of theirs!"

TO BE CONTINUED

AUTHORS COMMENTS:

The pieces that will form the new Squad are starting to come together!
Next issue, a guest appearance of the Avengers and, for the first time ever, the one true secret origin of the Whizzer!
I hope you all are enjoying this modern age revival of the All Winners Squad. As a group they've always held a special place in my nostalgic heart! Traditionally, they should be held with the same awe and respect as the Justice Society, if only they had received the same opportunity of exposure. The potential was always there.
One thing we will examine in this series is relationships and identity. Keep in mind that all things may not be what they seem, or maybe they are, we shall see. Don't assume anything.

As revealed in this issue, our Prince Nemo the Oceaneer is the son of the Nemo the Mariner who appears in Bob's AVENGERS '58 stories. ( One of my all time favorites, don't miss it ! )

Our Toro's new identity of Pyroman is also a homage to a former Golden Age hero. Nedor's Pyroman however had no connection to fire in his powers or abilities; he was an electrically charged hero. If Marvel could "borrow" the name Daredevil from a defunct character and make a great hero out of him, Pyroman should be fair game. He did have one of the more distinctly "modern" costumes for the '40's and he was featured on some superb Alex Schomburg covers!

A couple of letters from #0

Hey there! Well, I read All Winners 2000 #1, and I really liked it. The resurrection of Miss America made perfect sense to me, as did the only way that Bucky Barnes could come back. I am surprised that you did not use the real Toro though... not only did he have the most easily escaped death in MU history, but he has actually been seen as alive in a few Marvel titles! Otherwise, it's perfect! Keep up the great work!
TJB

Well, Toro is currently appearing in Jeff Meltons great Human Torch series ( Check it out, it's great! ) But don't assume that just because our heroic trio is coming out of the Mad Thinker's lab that they are all clones. MT has been known to use whatever is available and I think you may be surprised.

Gordon:
I wanted to let you know that I've read All Winners 2000 #1 ( actually it was #0, this is #1, GG) , and am very interested in where you're going with this series. I always thought that Whizzer and Miss America , like so many of Timely's characters , got the shaft.
Jeff Melton

There is a new Squad forming, trust me , only this one will make perfect sense and be an interesting reflection of the original. A big part of this series is a " love story " of the Whizzer and Miss America, and an investigation of what makes the measure of a man.

I'd like to thank Bob for the chance to tell the new Squad's story, and thanks also to Jess, Jeff , Scott and T.J. for their help and support.

We have quite a ride ahead of us, miles to go and a lot of people to meet along the way.
Thanks for going on the ride!

Gord Green