One of the team's earliest missions had them facing the The Juggernaut, a villain who has singlehandedly handed entire teams of more powerful and experienced heroes their collective asses. The New Warriors actually manage to survive just long enough for The Mighty Thor to arrive and save them. This may not sound like much, but in context, it's quite an impressive feat.
The entire battle against Juggernaut is one for Juggy himself. No matter what anyone throws at him, he can take it. When Night Thrasher uses his most lethal weapons, Juggernaut retorts they don't even register on him. When Firestar blasts him with her heat rays until his armor is glowing white hot, he doesn't even feel it. Nova and Namorita sandwich him between two train cargo carriages, and he literally shrugs them aside. Thor blasts him with a lightning bolt, and is visibly gobsmacked when Juggernaut sneeringly informs him that it "tickled". Then Thor conjures up a mystic blast, and Juggernaut actually manages to push back against it. It's only the ground giving way under Juggernaut's feet under Thor's mystic blast that allows the group to finally defeat him; Nova and Namorita bury him in steel girders, which Firestar melts into a cocoon around him, giving Thor enough time to teleport Juggernaut to some alien world. That's the only reason they all get out of the fight with their skins intact.
The New Warriors' rematch with Terrax in issues #16 and #17 has quite a few moments:
Night Thrasher getting close enough to Terrax to plant a plastique explosive on him. A very brave move considering how much more powerful Terrax was compared to their first battle with him and the fact that Night Thrasher is The Team Normal.
Terrax knocks Speedball into a water main pipe. Speedball bounces around inside the pipe, building up kinetic energy, and then flies out of the pipe to deliver a powerful blow to Terrax. This is when the Herald of Galactus starts taking the New Warriors seriously.
Nova realizes that the New Warriors cannot truly defeat Terrax on their own and calls in the Fantastic Four, who have had dealings with Galactus Heralds. Given how arrogant and brash Nova can be, this shows a great deal of humility and common sense on his part.
The New Warriors don't forget the civilians caught in the crossfire during this battle either. Special mention goes to Marvel Boy saving a pregnant woman and getting her to the hospital. The woman is so grateful that she names her son Vance after him.
Terrax is incredible. Not only does he take everything the Warriors throw at him and returns it tenfold, he also proves immune to the weapons Reed Richards specifically created to deal with him. It isn't until the Silver Surfer arrives that Terrax is defeated. This fight is a good reason why the Heralds of Galactus are not to be underestimated.
Vance refusing to be sprung from jail. Vance grew up in an abusive home, with his mother and himself being smacked around by his father due to Vance's being a mutant (and as it would be revealed, Vance's dad's frustration at repressing his own homosexuality). After having his arm broken in the aforementioned battle with Terrax and being tortured by Gideon, Vance comes home to have his father start whaling on him. Vance telekinetically blasts his dad through a wall, resulting in his death. He turns himself in and while he is acquitted of murder, he is convicted of manslaughter. Firestar convinces Namorita and Nova to spring him from the convoy taking him to jail, but Vance steadfastly refuses their aid. He tells his teammates that he had been fairly tried and convicted and would serve his sentence, saying that just because he had the power to free himself, didn't give him the right. Incorruptible Pure Pureness, thy name is Vance Astrovik.
New Warriors Annual #2:
Speedball is trapped in a machine that is draining his power and feeding it to the Sphinx. Speedball gains control of the energy flow and uses it to break out.
Firestar going berserk on Sphinx's men.
Firestar: You wanted to see some power? You got it! Your equipment's fried! Communications scrambled! Utilities down! Would you like to see what I can do to human flesh?
Later on Firestar actually manages to hurt the Sphinx who has just absorbed energy from killing his own men.
Silhouette convincing the other villains the Sphinx has hired to turn on him by pointing out he will try to steal their energy as well.
Speedball defeats Sphinx by once again absorbing energy from him until the kinetic powers the villain absorbed are totally drained.
In issue #35, Nova, Mickey and Mike are attacked by the villain team Air Force while training. Mike is wearing the Turbo suit but lacks fighting experience, leaving Nova to do most of the heavy lifting during the fight and he unfortunately gets overwhelmed rather quickly. Mickey comes up with a plan that involves dousing the villains with water and electrocuting them with some nearby cables, winning the day without superpowers or even her super suit.
Issue #42:
Vance has been released from prison and is met with a crowd of anti-mutant protesters. When one of them throws a stillborn mutant fetus at Vance's feet, he snaps and gives them a "Reason You Suck" Speech for their bigotry. Even Night Thrasher admits it is best to let Vance have his moment rather than turn the other cheek.
Vance later on has a confrontation with the Friends of Humanity who are protesting outside his mother's house. Even though he and has mother's relationship has taken a hit due to recent events, Vance still defends her from bigots.
This exchange between Vance and a member of the Friends of Humanity.
FOH protester: Mutants are genetic Nazis, born and bred to believe they are superior to human beings!
Vance: Ma'am, being half-Jewish, I'm very insulted by that remark. But as your bottles and rocks bounce off my telekinetic shield, don't you start wondering that maybe, just maybe — we are better? You don't see us protesting your right to exist, do you?
The "Time and Time Again" arc:
Night Thrasher #11 and #12:
Dwayne is sent back to Alabama during the era of US slavery where he saves a runaway slave from a lynching and defeats his would be killers. Rather impressive when you consider he is doing this without the connection to the computer at the base.
Silhouette is sent back into Cambodia's past where she meets her her evil grandmother Tai as a child. Tai tries to convince Silhouette to spare her, reasoning that killing her could erase Silhouette from the timeline as well. Silhouette, not knowing what will happen but still wanting to spare the world Tai's evil, kills Tai by throwing her into the Well of All things.
Namorita puts an end to a war between two Atlantean tribes, the Skar-Ka and the Attumacht, by showing them they need each other's respective specialties.
Issue #49 ends with the Sphinx's terrified reaction to Nova being brought back.
Issue #50 itself is one epic moment for the New Warriors as they battle the Sphinx.
Nova acquits himself quite well against his long time nemesis and even manages to earn the villain's respect to some degree.
Speedball of all characters proves vital in returning the other New Warriors. The secondary New Warriors team brings him back first so they can use his kinetic/time powers to snatch the other Warriors from the different times they were sent to.
In the end, the Sphinx is defeated when he looks into the heroes' souls and sees how empty his life is to theirs.
Issue #52:
Speedball shows how much he's grown in using his powers by tapping into the kinetic movement of Asylum's own Darkforce material and blowing it apart.
Asylum protests that he didn't mean to kill Darius Clements and cites the times he's used the Darkforce on people without killing them. To prove it, Night Thrasher offers to let Asylum use his powers on him, despite Namorita warning him of the effects.
Vance verbally schooling Cap and Iron Man, which also serves as a not so subtle Take That! at the way superhero teams are marketed, as well as the insistence the New Warriors couldn't be relaunched again due to Stamford.
Iron Man: What made you think this (reforming The New Warriors) was a good idea?
Speedball: The part where we saved the world?
Iron Man: The New Warriors are a tarnished brand.
Justice: Did you just call us a "brand"?
Captain America: You and Speedball are welcome at the tower, Justice, as Avengers. You know this. But we can't ignore what happened at Stamford, Vance. There's never been a tragedy like that before and a lot of people still blame the New Warriors for it. I think it'd be better if your team was folded into the Avengers.
Justice: Where you can watch us, is that it? Bottom line: After everything we've done before and after Stamford.. you still don't trust us.
Captain America: Vance...
Justice: No. You're right, Stamford will always be part of our past.Just like the Civil War that followed is on the two of you. The reason that Mount Wundagore is in New York is because the New Warriors that you distrust so much stopped The High Evolutionary from killing millions of people. I was the only Avenger there.. and as of today (throws Avengers ID Card on the table) I'm no longer an Avenger. I'm a Warrior, just like Night Thrasher, Namorita, Nova and all the warriors who've given their lives trying to do something good. Just like Speedball. You can keep the card.
