Avengers: The Initiative

”Poisoned Chalice”

Osborn is on the phone with Taskmaster, informing him that he’s pleased with what he’s done to the Initiative. He then says that he’s coming in for an inspection at Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. before he decides if he can join his ”executives” group. On Taskmaster’s side, all the villains posing as heroes are having a party. Once he terminates the call, he tells everyone to clean up for Osborn’s arrival.

Back at Avengers Tower, the Hood expresses his dismay that Osborn is allowing Taskmaster to join their Cabal, citing his photographic reflexes as justification. Osborn defends that Taskmaster was quite capable of handling the Initiative, saving prison 42 and stopping Nightmare. He needs Taskmaster in the Cabal because he would be better coerced to do whatever they say when a war comes between Doctor Doom and Loki.

Back at Camp H.A.M.M.E.R., Taskmaster barges into Penance’s quarters, to inform him of Osborn’s impending arrival. He also suggests getting rid of his cat Niels; Penance snaps that if anything happens to his cat, then he’ll bring the entire base on down Taskmaster’s head.

Elsewhere, Constrictor confronts Diamondback over her being a double agent for the Avengers Resistance, and that she had been duping him the whole time. Diamondback swears that she genuinely has feelings for him after he saved that plane. However, Constrictor refuses to believe it, knowing that she goes for men like Captain America, not ex-cons like him. Taskmaster then barges in. When no one says anything, Constrictor breaks the silence and denies anything wrong. When Taskmaster informs them and leaves, Constrictor tells Diamondback that if he told Taskmaster about her true allegiance, he’d kill her. He says that he doesn’t care; they then kiss.

Meanwhile, the Avengers Resistance have made it to their new hideout. Unfortunately, Night Thrasher has to stay because Osborn knows who he is and would bring down the Taylor Foundation. Therefore, he offers to determine where the U-Foes are stashing their cash so they can expose the corruption in the Initiative. Moreover, he plans on finding any leverage against the villains.

Ultra Girl comes in on Tigra, trying to ask why she’s been going after villains in the Initiative. In response, she shows her a video of the Hood savagely beating her. Now, she wants to get back at them, by showing them that they are vulnerable, by making them scared and broken.

Ultra Girl accidentally bumps into Justice. The latter tells her his insecurities that any of them could’ve died. In short, they kiss.

Back at Camp H.A.M.M.E.R., Constrictor is summoned into Taskmaster’s office, where he tells him that he’s got a promotion. He confides in his fellow mercenary that he really feels that he’s moving up to the top.

When Osborn arrives, he checks things out, before admitting how impressed he is at the way Taskmaster has handled things. Therefore, he invites him to the Cabal. Unfortunately, he is wounded by a magic-laced plasma blast from Doctor Doom and sent to the hospital, where he admits that he doesn’t feel cut out for the Cabal. Osborn reacts by slicing his oxygen tank, causing all the air to leak out, reminding his pawn that it was because of him that he’s in this position. Now, he wants him for a bigger task: invading Asgard.

In other epilogues, Tigra ambushes Mandrill; Constrictor and Diamondback read a letter Taskmaster wrote; Justice and Ultra Girl sleep together; Night Thrasher discovers a shocking secret that leaves him baffled.

Avengers: The Initiative Vol 1 31

Part of the Siege event

“ Forget bridges. Osborn’s gonna throw me off Hoover Dam. “
—Taskmaster
Appearing in ”Poisoned Chalice”
Featured Characters:

H.A.M.M.E.R.
Initiative
Shadow Initiative
Constrictor (Frank Schlichting)
Penance (Robert Baldwin)
Women Warriors
Diamondback (Rachel Leighton)
Cabal
Iron Patriot (Norman Osborn)
Hood (Parker Robbins)
Taskmaster (Joins)
Loki
Dr. Doom (Victor von Doom) (Leaves)
Supporting Characters:

H.A.M.M.E.R.
Initiative
Shadow Initiative
Ringer (Keith Kraft)
Badd Axe (Leaves)
Johnny Logan (Mentioned)
Women Warriors
Black Mamba (Tanya Sealy)
Skein (Sybil Dvorak)
Hood’s Gang
Cutthroat (Daniel Leighton)
Man-Killer (Katerina van Horn)
Scorcher (Steven Hudak)
Brother Grimm (Percy Grimes)
Griffin (John Horton)
Mandrill (Jerome Beechman)
U-Foes (Mentioned)
Niels
Avengers Resistance
Night Thrasher (Donyell Taylor)
Ultragirl (Tsu-Zana)
Komodo (Melati Kusuma)
Tigra (Greer Nelson)
Justice (Vance Astrovik)
Antagonists:

Nightmare (Mentioned)

Feb 2024

Marvel Comics

759606060849

31

2010

27

1

United States

$2.99

Modern Age

English

Magazine

2018-07-02 22:18:48

Avengers The Initiative

Siege: The Cabal

~$0.99

2024-09-21

2018-07-02 22:18:48