[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/7rzp20d.jpg?1[/img][/center][right][sup]Madripoor[/sup][/right][hr]The Quinjet swooped down towards Madripoor, then skyscrapers that made up the city state rising like a concrete jungle in front of them. The city state had grown rapidly in the past decade, owning to the expansion of legal gambling and luxurious vacation resorts that dotted its crystal clear beaches. It was known across the world as a decadent den of vice and pleasure, a new Las Vegas without the kitsch. But the true face of Madripoor was one of black market deals, illegal arms, and human trafficking. The glitz and the glamor was just a pretty mask over a leprous face.

"Atom, where are you?" Cap asked as he made his way to the back of the Quinjet. There, already being lifted off the wall by a mechanical arm, was his motorcylce. He straddled the seat, and turned on the super quiet, ARC reactor engine Tony had installed for him. Even Steve had to admit that Stark was damn useful when he wasn't being a pain in the ass.

"We just dropped down near street level," he responded quickly. "Went over the beaches and then into the maze of buildings. Going to fast to see a sign. I'll activate my suit's tracker."

"Copy, we're coming to get you," Steve said before turning to Falsworth. "You take over piloting. The Quinjet won't  look good flying through a city. Once Sam drops me off on the main road by the beach, you take over. Sam, you'll be our eyes in the sky inside the city. Union Jack, take her up and make sure nothing gets away through the air. Everyone understand?"

There was a nod, and Sam reported, "Cap, we're coming in. Get ready."

Wordlessly, Rogers steeled himself for what was about to happen. He had done it plenty of times in the war and since being thawed out by SHIELD, but it still never failed to give him a thrill. The ramp of the jet opened behind him, and Sam gave him a hand signal. He allowed the bike to roll backwards, and for a few moments he was freefalling towards the asphalt below. Once he judged the distance and his speed, he revved the bike's engine, watching the wheel spin uselessly like a cartoon character who had just run off a cliff and looked down. Before long, however, the wheels hit the ground, and he took off after only a momentary squeal of rubber on road.

The bike was fast, faster than any he had ever ridden before. At first he had been nervous about it. Stark had poked fun at his reticence to embrace the technological leaps the human race had made in his absence, and that was what finally broke Steve's reluctance. Rogers wasn't sure if he and Stark were friends, exactly. More like brothers who pushed each others' buttons in order to get the best out of one another. But they often did just that, so Cap didn't think about it too much.

Weaving in and out of traffic felt like second nature at this point. With the bike's speed and Steve's impeccable reaction time, there was nothing traffic could do to get in his way. As the blurs of people passed through his peripheral vision, some gaped while some scowled at the Avenger as he made his way towards the Atom's beacon. It was moving away from him, but he was going to catch up. It was already losing ground to him.

"Eyes in the sky, coming through," Falcon's voice announced in the comms. Steve stole a glance up, catching a glimpse of the graceful wings of the backpack of Sam's apparatus. It was a miracle of engineering, really. A high velocity jet pack mixed with flexible, aerodynamic metal wings allowed him to soar through the air like a bird. He was whisper quiet, and perfect for inserting himself behind enemy lines.

"Looks like the beacon has stopped," Sam called down to Steve.

The heads up display built into Cap's cowl showed the same thing. The beacon had come to rest in a building two blocks from here. He punched the bike towards the location, and skidding into an alleyway next to the building. The wharehouse looked deserted, which made sense. But looks could be deceiving.

"I'm heading in, Sam, you come in through the roof," Steve laid out the plan. "We have to figure there will be some of those androids in there. We get Ryan, we get that tech, and we get out of there."

Without waiting for Falcon's affirmative, he knew Sam knew what he was doing, Steve slammed his shield through a window and lept through the shattered glass. But what he found inside surprised him. The place was completely empty save for a jar sitting in the middle of the wharehouse's floor. 

Cap approached the jar slowly, but as he got closer realized what was inside. He unscrewed the cap, and suddenly the Atom appeared in front of him. Choi fell to his knees and started gasping for breath. Sam landed on the concrete floor, and Steve motioned for him to give Ryan some air.

"They were ready for me," he shook his head. "Had some weird magnet. Pulled me into the jar and vacuumed sealed it. Happened so fast my suit didn't have the time to compensate and pressurize itself. A could more minutes in there and I would have been toast."

Cap cursed under his breath. He didn't know how, but AIM had been one step ahead of them lately. To the point where he was starting to wonder whether or not there was a mole in SHIELD he had to worry about. 

"I don't know where they took the crate," Choi shook his head.

"Fury's gonna be pissed," Sam grumbled.

"Fury's always pissed," Steve sighed. "But we need to track down where AIM's taken this tech. Come on. The quicker we get back, the quicker we can get this figured out."
[right][sup]AIM Headquarters. Location Unknown[/sup][/right][hr]
Professors Ivo and TO Morrow flittered like worker bees over the mechanical bodies that lay in front of them. The breakthroughs the two had made working for AIM were about to set the world a blaze. Already their prototype android models were out securing a piece that would allow the more advanced models, the ones that would finally allow AIM to bring the world to its knees, to live and work as designed.

Behind the two scientists, they felt a presence loom. They turned to find that gargantuan cranium of MODOK, formerly the scientist George Tarlton, floating over them.

"Good news, my friends," the deformed head smiled grotesquely, "we have what we need. It is time for Project Red to take its next step."