Avengers West Coast MAX Vol 1 1


 * Publication Date: January 2014


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Appearances
Clinton Barton (Earth 199916) Nicholas Fury (Earth 199916) Henry Peter Gyrich (Earth 199916) Jorge Latham (Earth 199916)
 * Heroes:

'Four' (Earth 199916) Red Skull (Earth 199916)
 * Villains:

SHIELD Helicarrier Bar With No Name New York City
 * Locations:

Synopsis
Clint Barton (Hawkeye), who is now partially blind after a battle with his own brother which ended with Natasha Romanov betraying him and Barbara Morse dying, is now under the employ of SHIELD (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate), the secret black ops government agency which safe guards America from it's floating HQ, the Helicarrier.

After contemplating suicide because he has lost everyone and thing he loves, including maybe his archery ability, Clint instead decides to join the munitions company CTE (Cross Technological Enterprises), which he helped liberate from illegal activities under the now-dead William Cross. After getting permission from Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD, Clint leaves for Russia, the HQ of CTE.

Meanwhile, the Vigilante The Scourge of the Underworld (who has a large skull tattoo over his face, and has also lost his love, Priscilla Lyons, to an enemy) prepares in his base in the abandoned bar The Bar With No Name in New York at night.

In Russia, Clint arrives at CTE via a SHIELD helicopter, which is allowed to travel in any air space at any speed, but finds that CTE has been bought by billionaire Albert Malik. Then, Clint is called back to America by Nick Fury.

In New York, The Scourge of the Underworld dons his gray trenchcoat and cowboy-like hat and his .50 caliber mini-machine gun and goes to the streets of New York. Eventually, he comes across a small gang war (which reminds him of the recent battle between the now defunct Scourge organization and the mysterious Secret Empire). The Scourge opens fire on them, killing them all with relative ease. But, one of them seems to have survived, and he wears his gang colors in the form of a bandanna on his face. The Scourge rips the bandanna off, revealing the gangster's face to be covered in red face paint. The man claims to be an agent of the 'Red Skull' (no relation to the infamous Nazi agent during WWII) who wants to recruit The Scourge to the Skull's cause, offering him the chance to destroy the Secret Empire. The Scourge eventually agrees, and the red-faced man tells him to get a plane to Russia before taking a gun and shooting himself in the head. The Scourge sets off for Russia.