The wound was more shallow than Rebecca had thought, but Chase let her talk him into putting some antiseptic and gauze on it from the small medical kit in her backpack.

"You know, I'm still pissed at you for taking off like that," she said, taping the edges of the makeshift bandage.

"Yeah, for all the good it did. Lace made it clear she didn't want to be flown around anymore so we just ended up tramping around in circles most of the morning until we stumbled into your little standoff." Chase threw a withering glance at Lace. "Someone's evil lair search skills leave a lot to be desired."

The dinosaur looked down sheepishly and made a low muttering sound.

"Besides, I guess everybody else had the same idea about storming Arcade's hideout, only that motley crew of goofballs actually pulled it off somehow."

Rebecca shouldered her backpack. "Arcade said he didn't know how they did it."

"Makes two of us. Maybe they figured out how to turn off that trigger scent thing so Lady Wolverine stopped freaking out. Maybe they stopped fighting each other long enough to actually mount a non-half-assed attack." Case shrugged. "Maybe Arcade just hit the wrong button and left the door open by mistake."

"Well, we can ask them when we find them," Rebecca said.

"Okay, you're the boss, boss. Which way?"

Rebecca smiled. "Well, it's an island, right? Sooner or later, we gotta hit water."

Surprisingly, it was only after a half hour of hiking through the jungle that they felt the wind change and heard the low murmur of waves. They broke out onto the beach soon after and stood contemplating the vast, featureless expanse of ocean.

"Left, right or do we swim for the mainland?" said Chase.

Rebecca was shielding her eyes from the bright midday sun, scanning both directions up and down the beach. "Look!" She shouted. "I see someone! Hey! HEY!"

A brightly colored figure stood at the edge of the jungle, seemingly staring intently inland. At Rebecca's shouts, he turned toward them.

Rebecca gasped. "Oh my god! That's—"

"Yeah," said Chase grimly. "Captain friggin' America."

Rebecca blinked, hardly believing her jogged with athletic ease up the beach, and then he was standing in front of them, the actual, real-life Captain America. Before he could say anything, she blurted: "We're rescued? Are we rescued?"

"Soon, miss," Cap said. "A SHIELD transport is on its way to return you to the mainland."

"Oh great, SHIELD," Chase muttered.

"But wait," Rebecca said, "There are others—the other people Arcade took."

"Your friends are okay. They're gathered at a bay a few miles from here, waiting for the transport. There will be medical personnel to tend to any injuries as well as crisis counselors on hand. I'm sorry you've all had to endure such a traumatic experience on your own. It seems Arcade somehow came into possession of powers much greater than our files on him would indicate."

He sighed, and looked back to where the jungle met the beach. "Unfortunately, he was also able to escape the destruction of his underground base of operations. You haven't run across him, have you?"

Rebecca swallowed.

"No, we haven't," Chase said quickly. "Isn't that your job, catching super villain nutcases? How many times now has he escaped and pulled his amusement park crap? Maybe next time you'll make sure he stays locked up."

Captain America glanced at Old Lace and then back to Chase. "Don't I know you, son?"

"Yeah. I'm one of those kids from Cali whose parents ran a criminal empire for giants from another dimension. Remember how we took care of them for you and your Avenger buddies and saved the world and you thanked us by splitting us up and trying to stick us in foster homes?"

Rebecca looked nervously back and forth between the two of them. After several moments, Captain America nodded. "Right. The dinosaur was a dead giveaway."

Chase crossed his arms. "Yeah, well, I'm over eighteen now, so after you fly us back to the states you can just drop me off in LA. And don't even think about taking Lace away again."

"We can discuss the dinosaur…situation after we get you all back home."

Rebecca decided it would be a good time to change the subject. "But how did you find out we were here? How did you get in through the force field?"

"Get in? Young lady, yesterday I was at Stark tower reviewing mission directives. One instant I was standing in front of a bank of monitors and the next, I found myself in a desert on this island. Moments later, I was attacked by Arcade's defense systems. It took us most of last night and this morning to terminate those defenses, find Arcade's base and turn off the energy field around this place. It wasn't until then that we could contact the outside world. None of us have the faintest idea how we got in."

"Chase," Rebecca said, grabbing hold of his sleeve. She was grinning, feeling something she hadn't felt since before she found herself in Murderworld.

"Wait," Chase said evenly. "You keep saying we."

"Yes," Captain America nodded. "Myself, Wolverine, Tigra, Giant Man, Cloak and Dagger…"

"It was Nico!" Rebecca said gleefully. "It wasn't just Lace she teleported here!"

"Good job, chief…" Chase whispered. He looked at Rebecca and shook his head, laughing. "Holy crap…when that girl casts a spell, she doesn't screw around!"

"…and Spiderman. Someone said Beast is here, too," Captain America said.

Something streaked in from over the jungle, a crimson blur that dropped with a roar straight to the beach next to Captain America.

"Okay Cap," Iron Man said, "I think I finally got the remaining defense-bots neutralized. Are these the last of the hostages?"

He glanced from Chase and Rebecca, laughing and hugging each other, to Old Lace and back again. The helmet tilted slightly. He raised a gauntleted hand and pointed at Chase.

"Hey. Don't I know you, kid?"