New Avengers (1st series) #8

The famous superhero known as the Sentry finds himself under attack by the Super-Skrull and a cadre of other normal Skrull warriors. The Super-Skrull tells the Sentry that he was sent by the Skrull Empire to take this planet and no one will stand in his way. As the Sentry dodges a blast of fire, he recalls that the Super-Skrull has the powers of the Fantastic Four. Is this creature even too much for him to handle?

Sometime earlier, the Sentry flies around and wonders what he should get his wife for her birthday. She says she doesn’t want anything, but he knows he needs to get something. He passes by the mighty Thor and says hello. He admires Thor for his carefree nature, and then flies over an adoring crowd who all call out his name. Suddenly, the Sentry hears gunshots and witnesses bystanders fleeing from a bank. Sentry flies down to the people and tells them that there is no need to panic. He then questions who is behind the disturbance.

At that moment, the Void, dressed in his trench coat and hat, runs out with his goons, but is annoyed to see the Sentry. Sentry is appalled and realizes that the rumors of Void working with the Kingpin must be true. Has he no shame? Void tells his goons to kill the Sentry and the goons all start to fire upon him. The Sentry, however, is impervious to the bullets and picks up a car. Before he can throw it, though, he and the Void alike are both witness to a shadow behalf them. The Void looks up and asks if that is a spaceship. The Sentry looks up in horror and then…

Robert Reynolds turns the next page of his comic book, titled, The Sentry. Reynolds, with his unkempt hair funning down over his face, stares down at the classic comics in his hands as he sits in a dirty cave. Before him are Captain America and Iron Man, as well as a whole group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Also present is Reynolds’ wife and The Sentry author, Paul Jenkins. Captain America finally breaks the silence and tells Robert that these books are the only things they could find in the world that referenced the Sentry. This information is just a comic book. This man by him is the writer. Paul Jenkins, still in some sort of shock, adds that he no longer writes the book. This is all insane!

Cap tells Robert that they brought Jenkins to show him what they all see as the Sentry. They need to connect the dots, because they have seen his powers.

Captain America then calls Robert’s attention back to his distraught wife. They all know who Bob Reynolds is. However, they do no know who the Sentry is. They are confused and want to help him. Will he let them help? Reynolds begins to cry softly as he looks down at a comic book cover of his marriage to his wife.

One Week Ago, S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier:
Wolverine and Tony Stark, in his Iron Man armor sans helmet, discuss the future. Wolverine, however, doesn’t see Tony’s plan working. Tony questions Wolverine as to why, which astounds Wolverine. He then asks Tony if he really means why he doesn’t join the Avengers. The answer is that he has things going on in his life. Like what, asks Tony. The X-Men, replies Wolverine. Tony admits that Logan never looked like the school teaching type. Wolverine explains that he made promises to Xavier that he is not going to break. Besides, he has had some tough times lately and isn’t a good bet.

Tony realizes that Wolverine is referring to the Hydra fiasco. Wolverine is a little disappointed that Tony heard, but Iron Man explains that he was there for some of it. Wolverine was kidnapped and… Suddenly, Wolverine interrupts him and tells him that he doesn’t want to relive it. Iron Man continues anyway and recalls how Wolverine attacked a lot of their peers. Angry, Wolverine shoots Tony a dirty glance and asks him if he heard what he just said.

Tony reasons with Wolverine that it was against his will. He saw the report. Perhaps being an Avenger would clear his name a bit. Wolverine tells Tony that he doesn’t have a good name to clear up. He hasn’t had a good name in a while. Iron Man motions to the other Avengers walking around the Helicarrier waiting for them and assures Wolverine that nothing helps an image better than hanging out with Captain America. Tony explains that being an Avenger helped him through some dark times. Like what, asks Logan.

Iron Man explains that he has fallen further than most people could. It doesn’t matter though. His point is that being an Avenger put things in perspective. It kept him sane. Wolverine looks back at Spider-Woman, Spider-Man and Luke Cage, and comments that Tony has put together an odd bunch. Tony tells Logan that he isn’t expecting much. He just wants to be able to call Wolverine when he needs him.

When Wolverine asks, “Why me,” Tony explains that his isn’t happening all of a sudden. He knew the Avengers were missing something for a while. They need Wolverine. He is being as frank as possible, especially after how the team crashed and burned last year. Wolverine shoots Tony a look and asks him if he is referring to the Scarlet Witch. Yeah, says Tony, quietly. Logan asks him if he blames himself for that. Tony responds that that question is neither here or there. However, he can’t help but think that perhaps if the team was different back then things would be different. They would be less naïve. They’d know where Thor is. Good people would still be alive. Wanda would have had a chance. Is Wolverine following him?

Wolverine gives Tony a look. Giving up, Tony puts his offer in different terms. He is a rich man. What does Wolverine want that he doesn’t have? Wolverine smiles and asks if he is being bribed. Trading, says Tony with a grin.

Present, Long Island:
Wolverine finds himself thrown down a residential street and through a few trashcans, before finally coming to a messy stop in someone’s lawn. He gets up in front of a window and sees a mother and two children staring in awe. The mother quickly shuts the drapes. Wolverine, with a dirty diaper hanging off his head, bitterly decides that he hasn’t made a good decision in fourteen years.

A few houses down, Spider-Woman stands alone before the mighty Wrecker of the Wrecking Crew. The Wrecker, who refers to her as Spider-Babe, asks if the Quinjet has keys or must he kidnap her and make her fly him out. Then what, the bold Spider-Woman asks, referring Dirk by his name. Confused, Wrecker asks if they are pals or something. She can’t call him by his name. Spider-Woman, condescendingly, asks Wrecker how far in life he has gotten with the power of a god. Annoyed further, Wrecker tells her that he just beat up her entire team and she hasn’t put up much of a fight. As Wrecker prepares to swing his crowbar at her, Spider-Woman tells him that she just wants to help him. He calls her stupid, but she reiterates her intent.

Back in Arizona, Lindy Reynolds comes over to her disheveled husband and tells him that she thought he left her. She didn’t know where or why he left. She thought he was killed. He has been gone for weeks. Does he recognize her? Does he know that she is his wife? Lindy takes the comic out of Robert’s hand, but he is unresponsive. Worried, Lindy continues to cry and asks her husband if he can hear her. The Sentry finally speaks up and tells his wife that of course he knows who she is. However, he saw her die. He saw it!

I’m not, replies Lindy. The Sentry, however, is skeptical and asks how he should know. Everyone in the room is taken aback by this comment. Lindy is confused, but Robert becomes angry and tells her that he saw her lie in a pool of her own blood with her eyes missing. Black blood was pouring out of her. He saw it! He saw him kill her! The Sentry then irradiates with golden energy and in a flash of amazing light… he is gone.

Iron Man asks if everyone is all right. Cap informs him that Jenkins has fainted. Director Hill contacts the Helicarrier to alert them of their situation. Meanwhile, Lindy clutches herself and sits on the ground crying. Will someone please explain to her what has happened to her husband?

At that moment in his house, Robert Reynolds, clean shaven and with normal cut hair, wakes up in his bed in a black t-shirt and his boxers. He gets out of bed and makes breakfast before sitting on his couch next to his dog and watching TV. He looks at his lying dog and admits that it must be nice. The TV turns on and the first channel is of a morning new talk show, whose announcer tells her audience that in their show today they will teach parents how to convince their children that they are not mutants.

Back in Long Island, Spider-Woman tells the Wrecker that the power of a god is impressive and is what men would kill for. He is a lucky man. What she is saying is that he should look at his life. Is that what he really wants? Does he want to run scared? Does he want to rot in a little whole in the middle of the ocean until the authorities can figure out what to do with him? All that power and this… this is all he got? She heard rumors that he was sent to the Rafter after he got his butt handed to him by a bunch of mutant teenagers in Los Angeles. Is this true?

The Wrecker, touched, lowers his crowbar and tells Spider-Woman that it didn’t go down exactly like that. Spider-Woman then asks Wrecker what he really wants. Has anyone ever asked that of him? Has he ever stopped to think about it before? Sure, says the Wrecker as he scratches the back of his head. However, sometimes that is just how life works. Forget that, replies Spider-Woman. What does he want out of life? Truly touched, Wrecker tells her that it is nice to be asked. Spider-Woman smiles and puts her hand on Wrecker’s arm. She is glad to hear that, because it is time. Time for what, asks Dirk? This, replies Jessica angrily, and she adds that she sincerely hopes it hurts.

Wolverine then leaps over the Quinjet and slashes his claws straight down Wrecker’s back, causing him to scream in pain. He drops his crowbar, but Spider-Woman catches it. Wrecker screams at Wolverine, but the mutant slashes open Wrecker’s shoulder. Spider-Woman then smashes his crowbar on his head. She tosses the crowbar to the newly returned Luke Cage, who bats away the Wrecker like a baseball. The man goes flying into a spider-web set up between two lamp poles, courtesy of Spider-Man. “Well,” says Spider-Man, “We almost did that right.”

As the team regroups and residents come out to see the heroes, Wolverine tells Spider-Woman to spill the beans. What did she do to the Wrecker? Jessica replies that she just talked to him to stall him. Wolverine doesn’t believe her and tells her to fess up. He can feel something coming off of her. Caught, Jessica tells her teammates not to freak out, but she releases a pheromone when she is nervous and well… anything around her kind of feels attacked towards her. It’s just a chemical thing.

Spider-Woman lowers her head in embarrassment.

You release a pheromone, says the shocked Spider-Man. Slightly annoyed, Wolverine asks her if she knows how dizzy he was getting around her. That explains it, says Cage. He thought he was going nuts. Wolverine tells Jessica that she should have said something. She can’t just go around physically attracting men like that with pheromones. I mean, I love my wife, says Spider-Man.

Suddenly, a holographic image of Iron Man appears before them and tells them to assemble. They need them to stop what they are doing and fly over to Hartford, Connecticut. Spider-Man asks about the Wrecker, but Iron Man informs them that S.H.I.E.L.D. Cleanup Crew will land soon.

True enough, S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives and the Avengers file into the Quinjet. Wolverine still mutters about the pheromones, and then asks Cage if he is thinking of keeping the crowbar. Thinking about it, replies Cage. Spider-Man tells his female counterpart that he loves the Cleanup Crew. He usually leaves a note behind for them and hopes for the best. Spider-Woman, however, wonders what is in Connecticut.

Back at the Reynolds home, in Hartford, Connecticut, Robert falls asleep watching television. Suddenly, the image of a beautiful blond woman appears on the screen, telling him to wake up. Robert is shocked awake by the voice. Emma tells him that he must listen to her. No one is trying to hurt him. They only want to help him before he hurts himself. He is in a very dangerous place right now. Her name is Emma Frost.

Robert tells Emma that he knows who she is. What is she doing on his television? Emma tells him that she is not on television. It is her psychic projection. This is all in his head. She was just trying to make things as easy for him as possible. Make what easy, asks Robert. Emma tells Robert that it is time to go outside. Robert goes to his front door, curious, and opens it. He is in awe when he steps outside.

On his front lawn are the Avengers, Fantastic Four, the administration of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Namor, the Inhumans and Dr. Strange. Behind them in the air is the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, with many S.H.I.E.L.D. troops flying down.

Reynolds collapses to the ground and asks them what they have done. He is coming now. He tried to stop it but they wouldn’t let him. This is what he was waiting for. Mr. Fantastic and Captain America look at Robert confused, and Reed asks him what he is talking about. Who is he talking about? Unbeknownst to any of the heroes though, much black fluid energy zips through the air like tentacles.

Robert holds his head and tells them that the Void is coming. He is here now. There is nothing any of them can do to stop it.