Super-powered criminals are being apprehended by a mysterious group of heroes. Someone is defacing Superhuman Registration posters. Someone is raising eyebrows all around town -- from City Hall to Tony Stark’s war chamber. And the only clue to their identity? Two spray-painted letters: N.W. Who are these mysterious young upstarts that have dared to fight the powers-that-be? And what do they want from a de-powered mutant named Sofia? Are the New Warriors truly back from the dead? Or has something new risen from the ashes of Stamford?
The Grey Gargoyle is on the run.
Two teammates communicate electronically with one member with a bird's eye view and the other ready to make his/her move on the ground level.
Wondra moves in on her prey and pounces on the criminal in a dark alley way. In a puff of purple smoke Wondra emerges towering over a now shrunken Grey Gargoyle, warning him to tell all his friends that, "this is only the beginning".
Elsewhere, Sofia Mantega roams freely in the clouds with the feathered wings of angel. As she moves past the sun she notices an ominous eye watching her from afar. Taken aback she sees the face of the Scarlet Witch, the woman who robbed the powers of 90% of the mutant population on the day now infamously known as M-Day. Sofia prepares to attack when Wanda's eyes glow with energy and fries Sofia, destroying her wings and forcing her to plummet to the ground.
Sofia awakens to an audience of curious eyes on a subway train. The traumatic event was only a nightmare yet the reality of her lost powers remains. Sofia leaves the subway and walks through New York City, taking time to notice an Uncle Sam-like poster of Iron Man promoting the Superhuman Registration Act. She looks angrily at the picture and walks away. She later meets with an old, homeless man named Sammy whom she had been visiting nearly every day. She offers him to come down to her diner to get some food.
*Sammy: "You're my guardian angel, you know that?."*
Sammy reveals that someone had given him some money to deliver a cell phone to Sofia. On the cell phone is an ominous message for Sofia to continue her path while he taps into her MP3 player. The man just talks and hardly lets Sofia get a word in. He knows that she is a depowered mutant and that while she has tried to move on with her life, she is still very lost. He abruptly ends the conversation, greatly aggravating Sofia.
Nearby, Detective Givens and Detective Sykes find a miniature Grey Gargoyle taped to a lamp post. The two detectives, who work for the super-powered division of the NYPD in association with S.H.I.E.L.D., find a note attached to the tiny villain that reads "NW".
The detectives try to figure out theories as to how the Grey Gargoyle was captured, but they come up with nothing. Givens begins to move away the scraps of garbage on the ground to uncover a graffiti message on the pavement that says, "the New Warriors were here".
In a diner not too far away, Tony Stark's voice can be heard from a small television screen. Several customers have their eyes glued to the screen as Stark discusses a dangerous new group of vigilantes. Two men debate Tony Stark's methods for safety as Sofia walks in for work.
Sofia's boss proclaims she's late and that she's not taking the job seriously. She sasses her boss in front of the other workers and somehow her charm keeps her in her job.
One of her other co-workers, a rather large woman named Tina, tells her that her "boyfriend" Barry is sitting at another table waiting for her. The man had been visiting the diner for the past month and Tina suspects that he probably has an innocent crush on her.
Sofia approaches him to take his order and the two flirt and set up a date for later that night.
Later that night in Sofia's apartment as she readies for her date, a message pops up on her computer screen. The man continues to try to recruit Sofia into their cause and Sofia figures out that whoever they are they must be affiliated with the new vigilante group that are currently being hunted by the Initiative. The man tells her to break her date, but Sofia angrily protests as she had finally gotten her life back on track after losing her powers. However, the man knows that its still not what she wants. He knows that she wants something more.
Elsewhere Captain America villain Anaconda is found tied up to a lamp post by Detective Sykes and Givens. Anaconda seems to be wrapped in Spider-Man's webbing, but the true nature of her capture doesn't seem to be all that it seems.
Later that night Sofia waits to meet the man from the New Warriors. Instead, she sees Barry despite canceling their date. He asks her to come with her, but upon realizing he has something to do with the messages she slaps him across his face and prepares to leave.
Barry reveals to Sofia that they had actually known each other all along, dating back to their time with the Xavier Institute. He tells Sofia that Barry is actually short for "Barnell Bohusk", also known as the former mutant Beak. The two embrace and try to catch up on old times, but Barry insists on explaining what the New Warriors are about. He opens a portal and the two teleport to a large, metal building. The teleportation leaves Sofia rather woozy, but before she can regain her composure she is greeted by a man long thought dead--Night Thrasher!
Homagecover to Uncanny X-men vol.1 issue 141
Log in to comment