Avengers (1st series) #314

'What a mess!' Iron Man thinks to himself as he hovers over the ruins of Avengers Park. He tells himself that when Captain America reported to the West Coast headquarters that the Wingless Wizard and the Mandarin had attacked their temporary headquarters here at Avengers Park, they had no idea how extensive the damage was. Thor and the android known as the Vision can be seen lifting rubble into a large net, while Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America stands at a table talking to the foreman of the construction work as they look at some blueprints, while other construction workers go aout clearing debris. Captain America tells the foreman that the new structure is intended to occupy about fifty percent more surface area than the old Avengers Mansion. 'Yeah, with most of the new construction going on underground. That's gonna require blasting permits, Cap' the foreman replies. 'Not necessarily' Captain America remarks, before Iron Man drops down and asks if there is anything he can assist with.

Cap turns to Iron Man and informs him that he was explaining to Mr Withers that they won't need to do much in the way of blasting to construct the substructure of their new headquarters. 'Quite right' Iron Man agrees. Iron Man picks up one of the blueprints and tells Mr Withers that his employer, Tony Stark, was responsible for the original construction on this site, and that he briefed him on the structures, assuring Mr Withers  that he will find the new additions configure pretty closely to the forms they already have. Cap watches Iron Man and thinks to himself that it is interesting having Iron Man back as a full time Avenger, and that it raises questions – as the man who originally wore that armor is supposed to have been killed – but Cap had long ago come to the conclusion that it was Stark himself who wore the armor. His thoughts are interrupted when Thor, carrying the huge net full of debris over his shoulder, walks towards him and asks where  the debris should be taken.

Cap turns to Thor and informs him that they have arranged for their junk to be dumped in a government land fill in Jersey where it will be kept under guard until they can sort through it. Thor agrees that there may be much in this rangled mass that they would not wish to see in enemy hands. He spins his trusty hammer, Mjolnir, and instructs Cap to stand back, as he takes flight, boasting that the Son of Odin shall transport this bundle to Jersey's fabled shores. The amazed Mr Withers looks up at Thor, 'Wow! Y'know, I've read about Thor, even seen him onna TV...' his voice trails off, as Iron Man remarks that up close, Thor does kind of take your breath away. 'And you know something, Withers? You never get used to it' Iron Man adds. Cap hears this comment, and decides to himself that that is a curious statement, seeing that this is only the third or fourth time he has been around Thor – or so he would have them believe.

Iron Man motions to some underground section of the site and tells Withers that even after this location was abandoned as their official headqwarters and Avengers Mansion moved onto the floating Hydrobase on the harbor, they maintained all the original sub-basements, so he will find about two thirds of his work has been done for him. Withers tells Iron Man that Captain America was saying that most of  the plumbing and electrical wiring is still pretty much in place. Captain America tells Mr Withers that it sounds like he is all set, and that if he has any further questions, he is sure Iron Man can answer them. As Cap starts to walk away, Iron Man declares that Stark has brought him up to date, before asking Cap if he is leaving. Captain America explains that he has a small mission of his own to attend to, and walks over to where John Jameson is is tinkering with a small Quinjet. Cap asks John if he is ready, to which John reports that he is all set, and informs Cap that his private Quinjet has been repaired so well that he would never know it was wrecked a few days ago. 'Then let's go. You know where we're headed!' Cap replies as they take off in the small Quinjet.

'Sersi's apartment, as requested!' John Jameson announces as the small Quinjet descends above the terrace surrounding Sersi's Manhattan apartment. Cap leaps from the jet and instructs John to keep the Quinjet in hover mode, as the terrace isn't made to take the weight of the jet. He adds that he will be as fast as he can. Captain America enters Sersi's apartment, where the glamorous Eternal is wearing a long white dress and using her powers to decorate a large Christmas tree. 'Well, well! Now here's a delightful Christmas present!' Sersi exclaims, before asking Cap what it is that brings him here. 'Not that you ever need an excuse' the always forward Sersi adds. Captain America informs her that he is on business, before confessing to being surprised to see her in such a festive mood, as he had no idea the Eternals were so religious. 'We're not, at least not by your standards' Sersi replies, before reminding Cap that she has never been one to pass on a good reason for a party. She places her hands over Cap's shoulder, while materializing some mistletoe above them. 'To paraphrase an old song, it only takes two to party...' Sersi begins, but Cap removes Sersi's hands and asks her to be serious for a moment. He tells Sersi that she has been a great aid to him, and to the Avengers in the past several weeks, and he has come to realize what an invaluable ally she is – so he has a proposition for her: 'I want you to join the Avengers!'

At that moment, Thor continues to carry the debris through the air towards Jersey, deciding that this business which has vexed the Avengers lately troubles him still, recalling how his evil half-brother, Loki, recruited the most powerful of Midgard's villains in a scheme to destroy the Avengers, and even though his plan failed, he wonders how long it can be before his treacherous sibling tries something like this again. Suddenly, darkness flashes around Thor, and he shouts 'OD's BLOOD!' before he drops the net of debris, 'The world did turn itself inside out!' Thor exclaims, before turning his attention to the falling debris, which plummets straight towards a school, where he sees that the students and teachers below are wandering as if distracted, like the same flux which struck him also staggered them all. 'Flee, mortals! Flee! Seek shelter!' Thor booms down to them, but he realizes that it is no use, as the schoolyard is too small. 'When the ball shatters upon impact... it will hurl razor-sharp shrapnel in all directions!' Thor tells himself, guessing that none of them shall survive the whirling shards.

As he spins Mjolnir, Thor decides that, from this angle, if  he hurls his hammer after the sphere, he only runs the risk of driving it down even faster – when suddenly, as the mass of debris casts a shadow over the children and teachers below, something is fired at the mass, clinging to it, and flinging it up away from them. Thor drops down to the schoolyard and watches as the mass of junk disappears, 'Beard of my father!' he utters, remarking that this unanticipated intervention has afforded a chance to purchase hope out of chaos. Thor tells the children to stand back, before he hurls Mjolnir in the direction of the mass of debris. 'Oh, wow! You see what he's doing!?' one  of the kids calls out. 'He's throwing his hammer so it hits the ball of stuff!' another kid exclaims, before a third narrates as Thor jumps the fence, before running out into the parkk, getting clear of them and the schoolyard – the kids know that no matter where Thor throws his hammer, it always comes back to him! Indeed, as Thor reaches the park, Mjolnir slams into the ball of debris, and starts shunting it back towards Thor – who catches it with a mighty WHUD as onlookers in the park watch in amazement.

'Wow! Thor... that was something else!' one of the civilians calls out 'Verily? What was it then, I wonder?' Thor replies, before he pulls Mjolnir from the ball of debris, and sets the sphere down on the ground where it can do no further harm. Suddenly, Thor calls out 'Ho! Slinger of webs! The first son of Asgard doth summon thee! Show thyself!' As requested, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swings down, 'No sooner asked than accomplished, Goldilocks!' Spider-Man responds, before telling Thor he is glad that he guessed it was him who was riding to the rescue. 'Indeed' Thor replies, explaining that he did spy the silvery web as it affixed itself to the sphere.

Thor tells Spider-Man that it is good to see  him once again, before asking if he just experienced a strange inversion. 'Well, I'd say that's about as good a name for it as any, Thunder God' Spider-Man agrees, confirming that something made his ever-popular Spider-Sense get the whim-whams – something awful. Thor tells Spider-Man that his colorful phrasing denies the concern he senses in thee, and suggests that he come along with him, as there is much work to be done, and they must make haste. 'Come? Where?' Spider-Man asks. Thor takes flight and declares that they must return to Avengers Headquarters, and quickly. 'But...I'm not an Avenger...? Thor...?' Spider-Man calls back, but gets no response. Spider-Man supposes that he is going to have to go after Thor, if he ever wants to find out what transpired.

Back at Sersi's penthouse apartment:

'What happened, Captain?' Sersi asks as she sits up on the floor where she fell. 'For a moment there, it felt...' Sersi begins, while Cap gets to his feet, and remarks that it was as if his whole head had turned inside out. 'You felt it too, Sersi?' Cap asks, before he heads back out onto the terrace, realizing that this is bad if it affected a super-powered being like Sersi, then therre is no telling what it might have done to ordinary humans. Cap announces that her has got to get back to HQ, and find out how widespread that effect was. Sersi rushes after Cap, telling him to wait, and that this matter is of interest to her. As she steps out onto the terrace, Sersi uses her powers to transform her white dress into her classic green costume and informs Captain America that, for the moment, at least, she accepts his offer – she will join him in the Avengers.

Arriving at the small Quinjet, Cap sees that John Jameson is rubbing his head, and supposes that he has been hit pretty bad. Cap asks Sersi to help him move John into a rear seat. 'Cap...what...' John utters, while the Avengers move him. Cap takes the pilot's seat, while Sersi informs John that this is what they intend to find out, and asks him what it felt like to him. 'Awful' John replies, explaining that it was as if something had got inside him and turned every cell in his body upside down, adding that he hasn't felt anything like that since he was freed of the curse that used to transform him into the Man-Wolf. Cap tells John that he doesn't think this is anything like that, before instructing him to hang on, as he is taking them home – and he doesn't have any time to be gentle about it, before the Quinjet takes to the sky.

At the construction site, Iron Man and the Vision are helping the construction crew get back on their feet. 'What the heck was that?' one of them asks. The Vision states that there is inconclusive evidence, but possibly some kind of flux, an atomic inversion. 'That's as good an analysis as any, Vision...' Iron Man replies, while thinking to himself that he would hate to try to figure out what could cause such a thing, and notices that even the Vision is clearly staggered, and he is an android. For Iron Man, if it wasn't for the automatic servos in his armor, he doesn't think he would be strong enough to keep on his feet – whatever it was has left him weak as a newborn kitten! The Vision looks around and asks Iron man if he hears that – a soft lowing all around the park – the sound of thousands of human voices moaning – suggesting that this effect must have been widespread indeed. Iron Man notices Captain America's Quinjet arriving and tells the Vision that Cap might have some answers.

The Quinjet lands and Cap and Sersi emerge from it, with Cap asking Iron Man for a report, and whether the inversion effect hit here, too. Iron Man reports that it did, and reveals that it knocked all of them for quite a loop, even the Vision. 'Any thoughts on what it was?' Iron Man asks. Sersi follows Captain America as Cap states that he was with Sersi when the inversion hit, and that she seemed as badly put out by it as he was. 'That's bad. As an Eternal, she's in complete mental control of every atom of her body at all times. For her to be hit...' Iron Man begins, '... the effect must have been most powerful and insidious' Sersi declares, before telling her new teammates to hold while she scans the psychic ether, as there may be much she can discover.

Elsewhere, in a laboratory, a blonde woman in a lab coat steadies herself against a monitor, 'Harker...what...what was that? What did you do?' she asks the elderly Professor Harker, who is lying across another monitor. The Professor addresses the blonde woman as Nebula and tells her that it was an unexpected glitch, that his compressor was almost at maximum efficiency when... something happened – but he doesn't know what. 'Old fool! Your so-called compressor holds the key to vast power, and you tell me now there are things about it you cannot predict?' Nebula snaps, before picking up a communicator and radioing her mothership. 'Gunthar, do you read me?' Nebula calls out to her Rigellian assistant. 'Nebula to mothership!' she snaps again. 'Gunthar! Gunthar!' Nebula can be heard shouting over the communicator.

The alien Gunthar stirs, and sits up at the spaceship's control panel, 'Lady Nebula! What happened?' he responds, explaining tht his sub-space communicatons grid indicates a field effect equal to at least the span of the entire galaxy. 'WHAT?' the wide-eyed Nebula replies, declaring that this is more power than she ever dared dream. She instructs Gunthar to calibrate his scan and to report the exact extent and nature of the effect. Tapping away at the control panel, Gunthar reports that he has already done so, but that he cannot believe his readings. He informs Nebula that according to the automatic scanners, at the precise moment the Earthling Haker's compressor reached within .0000000000000001 percent of its maximum efficiency... the entire universe flashed out of existence!

Nebula looks over to the compressor machine, 'No!' she gasps. 'Can I really have stumbled unawares onto such a magnificent source of power? Can all my dreams be now so close to consummation?' she wonders. Her voice is heard over the communicator by her great-uncle, Starfox, who is hidden away on the mothership. 'It would certainly seem that way, grand-niece...' Starfox thinks to himself, recalling how he heard Nebula speak of somehow making herself as powerful as his late brother, Thanos, but he had no idea she could ever come so close to achieving her mad goal – or that he would be so hard pressed to conceive a way to stop her. 'But mistress, do not let your untrammeled joy in this cause you to forget our dire situation!' Gunthar suggests, pointing out that there seems to be no lasting effect of the inversion caused by the compressor, so it would appear to be safe to continue testing. 'But it is possible that he may be un-affected by this...and if he should come upon us while we are recovering...' Gunthar's voice trails off, while Starfox wonders who this “he” that Gunthar speaks of is. 'Who in the name of the Celestials is “he”!?' Starfox asks himself.

In the underground communications center within the Avengers HQ construction site, Cap, the Vision and Iron Man are speaking with their West Coast teammates via the communications monitor, while Sersi hovers in the room in a psychic trance. Dr Pym appears on screen, informing Cap and the others that they felt it all the way out there in California, and that whatever it was, there seems to have been no measurable time differential. 'In other words...the effect was felt with equal force in two areas nearly three thousand miles apart, and at exactly the same time' Cap declares, before turning to Sersi, who tells Captain America that she is away ahead of him, and reveals that she has completed a worldwide psychic scan, and that everyone on Earth experienced the effect at precisely the same moment they did.

The Vision finds this interesting, and reports that for that to be the case, the effect would have to have been something outside the four known forces governing the functions of their universe – in effect, something which canceled out those forces. 'Canceled as in...?' Jan van Dyne a.k.a. the Wasp starts to ask, while Dr Pym tells the Vision that that is impossible, for if the four forces binding their universe together were to be canceled, 'The universe would cease to exist' the Vision concludes, before suggesting that is precisely what seems to have happened. 'But...how can such a thing be? How can the universe simply blink out of existence?' Sersi asks. Dr Pym tells her that he would even hate to hazard a guess, but at the very least, he thinks it would seem like the only thing that could really pack enough power to achieve the effect would be another universe encroaching on their plane of existence.

'Another universe?' Cap asks, remarking that the Fantastic Four recently reported encountering the Beyonder again, or a being very much like him, but from another universe, parallel to their own – and that he seemed to possess enough power to do what Dr Pym suggests. 'Could this, in fact, be a prelude to another invasion, Hank?' Cap enquires. Wonder Man can be seen standing behind Dr Pym and the Wasp as Pym tells Cap not to even think it! He points out that there is no enough data to formulate a good theory. 'Unfortunately, as much as I even hate yo say it, the only way we'll have any chance of figuring out what that effect was...is if it happens again!' Pym declares.

At the laboratory, the blonde Nebula shouts 'Fools! Cowards! What are you stopping for?' as she waves a fist at several scientists in the lab. 'That was nearly it! That was the ultimate power I seek!' Nebula declares. 'But...the flux! That was a totally unanticipated effect!' one of the scientists explains. Professor Harker tells Nebula that he is right, and that his calculations indicated something like this might, happen, but that he held them back when he showed the plans for his compressor to Polydyne. 'We must proceed with caution!' the old professor pleads. 'What? You dare speak to the granddaughter of Thanos!?' Nebula exclaims, grabbing the old man by his shirt, a look of fury in her eyes as she tells him that she has crossed and recrossed the universe seeking a source of energy that would elevate her to the position of power and fear that Thanos once commanded. 'I shall not be frustrated now!' she snarls. 'What is the story on this  babe?' one of the scientists whispers to another. 'She wasn't part of the deal when the bigwigs signed the contracts with old Harker there' he adds. 'No, she wasn't' the other scientist replies, suggesting that by the way she is carrying on, she must have been behind Harker and his research all along – unless she is just totally crackers! 'Sometimes she sounds like she's from Mars or something!' the scientist adds.

On the spaceship, 'Hel-lo...' Starfox calls out as he steps out of the shadows and approaches Gunthar. 'Eros!' Gunthar gasps, addressing Starfox by his true name. 'The same!' Starfox utters, before asking Gunthar if his grand-niece has told him about her family, and whether she told him that he prefers the title Starfox, or the nature of hhis power. Gunthar moans before he collapses, under the influence of Starfox's power. Starfox looks at the control panel and tells himself that Gunthar will dream pleasant dreams for an hour or two, long enough for him to alert his erstwhile comrades in arms. Starfox speaks into a communicator, calling out for the Avengers, he tells them that this is an emergency priority signal. 'Come in, Avengers Mansion! This is Starfox calling the Avengers!' Starfox calls out to his former teammates. In the underground complex, Edwin Jarvis rushes into the communications room, 'Oh, my goodness! We haven't heard from Master Eros in months! Could this be something to do with this awful business?' Jarvis remarks, while on the mothership, an alien in armor, one of Nebula's minions, grabs Starfox from behind. 'Master Eros? Starfox?' Jarvis asks over the communicator, but gets no response, as the alien has dropped the unmoving Starfox to the floor.

Back in the underground complex at the Avengers HQ construction site, Cap, Sersi, the Vision and Iron Man enter the communications chamber, where Cap announces that they need to contact Quasar, since he is their resident expert on things of a cosmic nature. Jarvis informs Captain America that Eros was just attempting to contact them. 'Eros? Of the Eternals of Titan? What's wrong?' Sersi asks, inquiring about her cousin. Cap tells Sersi to take it easy, and that he knows her own race of Eternals is distantly related to the dwellers on that Saturnian moon, but points out that there may not be anything to get upset about here. But Jarvis tells Captain America that he fears Sersi has guessed right, and states that he monitored only a few words of Eros's transmission before it was abruptly cut off. Jarvis reports that the carrier beam stayed open long enough for him to guess Eros had not broken the connection, but rather something stopped him. Captain America looks at the monitor and notes that the automatic receiving systems tracked the carrier beam for as long as it was active, and tells the others that the computers should hold a pretty good fix on the direction the beam was coming from, and the distance to the point of origin. He determines that the analysis shows it was somewhere beyond the orbit of their moon.

Iron Man asks if it could be something to do with the business they are wondering about right now, and offers to interface with the computers and run the data through his own onboard systems. Cap frowns as he watches Iron Man connect to the computer, and wonders if Tony Stark could really have briefed a new man so thoroughly that he would have this second nature familiarity with all of the Avengers' equuipment? 'Got it! I know just where the signal source is' Iron Man announces as he disconnects from the computer, he heads out of the communications chamber, stating that he will go scope it out while the rest of them continue to investigate the flux effect. However, the ghostly Vision floats after Iron Man, offering to accompany him, as he believes they may discover that Starfox's signal and their other mystery are inextricably intertwined. As they speed up down the corridor, they don't notice Thor and Spider-Man arrive. 'Wow! They're in a tail—tearing hurry!' Spider-Man exclaims as he watches them go. 'Aye, webbed one' Thor agrees, commenting that the Avengers do not hasten so unless there is grave peril that doth summon them.

'So, thinkest thou – I mean, d'you think we oughtta go after them?' Spider-Man asks as he clings to the wall running along the corridor. 'Nay' Thor responds, reminding Spider-Man that they came hither to Avengers headquarters so that they might learn what doth transpire. As Thor walks into the communications chamber, which doubles as the central meeting hall, he suggests that they do most readily achieve that in here. 'Thor! And Spider-Man! I take it from your grim demeanor you were also affected by that -' Captain America begins to say, when suddenly, another flux occurs, striking everyone in the room. 'Od's blood!' Thor declares as he leans against a wall. 'What manner of evil can this be, that doth rob my immortal limbs of all their strength?' he asks. Captain America tells the Thunder God that they don't know, and that they were trying to find out – when suddenly, another flux occurs. A moment later, the heroes recover, 'Another one! But so much more closely spaced than...' Cap begins, before he is interrupted as another flux takes place, striking him, Thor, Sersi, Spider-Man and Jarvis once again.

When the flux ends, Captain America tells the others that their instruments can't seem to tell them anything. 'Sersi... I know it's a lot to ask...but you've got to use your powers to shield us from this blasted effect' Captain America tells the Eternal. 'Yes...I could do that, I suppose. As an Eternal, I control every atom of my body by sheer force of mind...' Sersi responds. She raises her hands and announces that by exerting her will, she can do the same for every particle composing this room and all its contents – including the people. 'But if that effect should strike us again while I am preparing...' Sersi's voice trails off, as the flux starts to occur, but Sersi appears to be able to keep it at bay. 'Whatever force this is, I shall not let it master me! I am Sersi! I am an Eternal born! I... WILL... NOT... FAIL!' Sersi shouts, as the flux takes place around the communications room, and Sersi collapses to the floor.

'Sersi!' Cap exclaims, rushing over to his teammate. 'She did it!' Spider-Man calls out, while Cap picks Sersi up and holds her in his arms. 'It...pleases me...to hear such concern in your voice, dear Captain' Sersi utters. 'Pleases me to lie within the curve of your strong arms...' Sersi adds. 'Sersi....' Cap begins, while Thor and Jarvis gather around. 'Er... excuse me for butting in on this tender scene, folks...but isn't that the screen that was showing the view outside a second ago?' Spider-Man interrupts, pointing at the monitor, which is now blank. 'WHAT THE HECK'S HAPPENED TO THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE?' Spider-Man shouts, while the communications chamber appears to float in a void of nothingness.