Reluctantly working for Van Lunt, the Avengers demolish an old building on his newly purchased property, land on which the city had wanted to build a playground. Bystanders and police alike are puzzled and agitated by the spectacle, but Van Lunt arrives with proof it is all legal and his long-suffering assistant Wilkins pays the Avengers. While Black Panther takes time out to teach high school in his new secret identity as Luke Charles, Kronus and his Split-Second Squad plot to lure the Avengers into a deathtrap. When the Avengers enter a tunnel beneath the East River to repair it on Van Lunt’s behalf, Kronos blows it up; Quicksilver, however, had expected trouble, so he and his fellow Avengers had escaped the blast in their waiting submarine. Believing the Avengers dead, Kronos and the Squad try to rob a bank’s secret gold shipment, but the Avengers thwart the robbery and capture the criminals. Kronos is unmasked as Wilkins, who had planned to frame Van Lunt for his crimes, wearing a padded suit as Kronos that made him resemble the much larger Van Lunt. The Avengers disdainfully refuse the last of their payment from Van Lunt, warning him he will pay for his own misdeeds someday.
Black Panther’s uncle N’Baza sends him to study at the best schools in Europe (1) and America (2). Almost a decade ago, corrupt tycoon Cornelius Van Lunt bankrupts Wilkins and buys up his assets (3). The Split-Second Squad narrowly escapes Goliath in a helicopter (p). Later Black Panther foils the Squad’s bank robbery, but they escape (4). Quicksilver and Vision foil the Squad’s waterfront operation, but the Squad escapes in a jet-propelled boat. Cornelius Van Lunt attempts a hostile takeover of Stark Industries, leaving Stark so cash-strapped that he seeks the back rent technically owed on Avengers Mansion, though he will need the money only for a few weeks until the takeover is thwarted. The Avengers agree to raise the money, and Jarvis volunteers to go without salary for the duration. Black Panther informs his teammates he has taken a new civilian job in America as a teacher. Elsewhere, Kronus and his minions, the Split-Second Squad, review films of their recent robberies, all foiled by the Avengers, and plot revenge. The next morning, the Avengers advertise themselves as being for hire. Van Lunt soon reveals that his Stark takeover was a ruse designed to bring the Avengers into his employ; he offers to stop the takeover and pay the Avengers handsomely if they act as his personal construction crew for a week. The Avengers reluctantly agree (p). The Avengers escape Kronos’ tunnel bomb in their submarine (d).
