The End… and Beginning!

The Collector has been killed by some powerful threat to the universe before he could reveal its identity to the Avengers. Iron Man quickly gets his team to remain calm, and he and Yellowjacket try to check the Collector’s computers for anything that might tell them who their foe is. Unfortunately, the enemy thought ahead and wiped out the Collector’s database as well.

Searching the facility for clues, Iron Man also finds a time machine and discovers that the Collector had been using it to pull Thor out of time and bring him in to assist the Avengers in battle when he was needed. The Collector then put Thor — who was in the middle of a search for his father, Odin — back to his proper place with no memory of being pulled out of time.[1] After Iron Man finishes his explanation, the Two-Gun Kid asks if the machine can be used to send him back to his native time in 1873. After his experience with the collector, the gunslinger has had his fill of the future and wants to go back home.[2] After saying goodbye to Hawkeye, Two-Gun is then sent back to his proper place in time. By this time the Vision has found a teleportation device that will return them to Earth. However, the device isn’t exact and the various Avengers find themselves teleported to different parts of the city: Wonder Man appears in the middle of a busy Manhattan street where a bus crashes into him. While the Scarlet Witch appears high above the city, but is saved by Captain Marvel. Hawkeye also finds himself in need of rescue when he appears on a flagpole.

Meanwhile, in Forest Hills, Michael has finished his daily swim and goes up to the bedroom of his home to check on his wife, Carina, who is still mourning the loss of her father, the Collector. Even though she should hate Michael for slaying her father she still loves him with all her being. The two then get down to raw dogging and the act of fucking cause them to merge souls so that all of their secrets can be known. For Michael, he learns how Carina was the daughter of the Collector who foretold Michael’s coming (but probably not inside his daughter!) and the threat he posed to the universe. Knowing that Michael would take a mate, the Collector sent his daughter to fill that role and to betray Michael when his guard was down.

Carina learns the origins of Michael. She learns that he was once Michael Korvac, who was transformed into a cyborg by the Badoon an alien race that had conquered most of the universe in the 31st Century.[3] Following his recent defeat at the hands of Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy, he escaped through time.[4] Not only did he find himself in the Avengers era, he was also aboard the world-ship of Galactus, the devourer of worlds. Connecting to the ship’s computers, Korvac attempted to absorb all the knowledge from the computers.The information was so vast and infinite it had awoken something in Michael’s mind, making him a god. In his first display of power, he transformed himself into the form he now wears, sloughing off his hideous cybernetic body. From there, he went about his quest to remake the universe.

By this time, the Avengers have all reunited at Avengers Mansion where they try to unravel the mystery of the Collector’s killer. They are visited by Ms. Marvel, whose seventh sense alerted her to the act that the Avengers need her help. Iron Man welcomes her, hoping that the combination of Tony Stark’s equipment along with the mental powers of Moondragon, Captain Marvel, and Ms. Marvel, they might be able to find out who their enemy in. Jacosta also offers to use her own sensors to try and find their foe. This receives criticisms from Quicksilver who is still no happy with the fact that his sister married the Vision, an android.[4] However, when Iron Man finally goes down to the communications room, he finds Jarvis cleaning up after the NSA’s Henry Gyrich had all the equipment pulled since the Avengers lost their security clearence.

Iron Man then puts in a call to the Guardians of the Galaxy, who are still watching over this era’s Vance Astrovik. He asks for Starhawk to use his cosmic awareness to help them find their foe. Starhawk agrees and flies toward Avengers Mansion unaware that Michael Korvac is watching his every move. Michael assures Carina that after making Starhawk blind to him he should not uncover his location but if the Avengers somehow learn his true identity he will kill them all.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, the Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hercules, Black Panther, the Vision, Black Widow, Moondragon, Jacosta), Two-Gun Kid, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Krovac, Carina Walters, Guardians of the Galaxy (Charlie-27, Martinex, Starhawk), Edwin Jarvis

Continuity Notes

1. There is a lot going on here. Thor took a leave of absence from the Avengers in Avengers #151 to embark on the Odin Quest in Thor #255-266. He was plucked out of time to help the Avengers in their battles against Graviton, Count Nefaria, and Ultron. See Avengers #162, 165, and 170.

2. The Two-Gun Kid asked to see the future after the Avengers helped him repel an invasion of his time by Kang the Conqueror. See Avengers #141-143.

3. At this point, the Guardian’s future was considered the future of the Earth-616 universe. However, following the events of Marvel Two-In-One #69, there was a divergence. The Guardian’s timeline is now identified as Reality-691 per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 #1.

4. Korvac’s battle against Thor happened in Thor Annual #6.

5. Quicksilver has denounced Wanda’s romance with the Vision since Avengers #110. Wanda and Vision got married in Giant-Size Avengers #4.

Topical References

• The present-day is referred to as being in the 20th Century in this story. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale which has pushed the modern age of the Marvel Universe forward so that it does not begin until after the start of the 21st Century.