Party Games!

The Avengers — Captain America, Quasar, Sersi, and the Vision — have just returned from their most recent mission.[1] After checking in with Michael O’Brien — part of the team’s support crew — Sersi decides to throw a party at her penthouse apartment and invites the entire team and the support crew to join the festivities. As the team heads off to get ready, nobody notices that Michael has planted a spy device. Little does anybody know that the Avengers Crew has been brainwashed by Mother Night and her companions Minister Blood and the Machinesmith. They are planning on having the crew betray the Avengers as part of a birthday gift to their master, the Red Skull.

Back inside the mansion, Sersi is going over the plan for the party, but completely leaves the Vision out of the discussion, leaving the synthezoid to to wonder if she believes he has no place at the party and decides to go looking for answers. As Cap and Quasar prepare to leave the mansion, Quasar reveals that he runs a security consultant firm in his civilian identity and offers his services to make sure the new Avenges Headquarters has a top of the line security system.[2] Observing this from his spy station, the Machinesmith doesn’t like the sound of an outside security firm sweeping for their spy devices. He decides to check on the other Avengers and finds himself pining over the Vision the synethzoid visits with the crew’s resident inventor, Fabian Stankowicz. The Vision has noticed that Fabian spends most of his time in the lab and learns that Stankowicz doesn’t have much of a life outside of working for the Avengers. This is fine for the inventor because this is all the life he needs. The Vision deduces that he needs to find a niche, as Fabian has, in order to have a sense of purpose.[3]

On his way out of Fabian’s lab, the Vision finds the bug that has been planted there. Following the signal to the Machinesmith’s mobile spy operation the two get into a struggle. The Machinesmith attempts to download his consciousness into the Vision’s mainframe, but this fails. However, when the Vision tries to use his phasing powers to incapacitate his foe, the electrical jolt knocks the two of them out. Moments later, Mother Night and Minister Blood return to the scene and begin to panic over what to do. That’s when the Machinesmith’s digitized consciousness appears on the computer screen and tells them to dispose of the Vision and his own physical body. Downloading his mind into another robot body, the Machinesmith helps his allies dump the Vision and his old body into the East River.

The following morning Quasar — in his civilian identity of Wendell Vaughn — arrives at Avengers Mansion with his business partner Ken Tanaka to go over the new security plans. Much to the dismay of Mother Night and the others, Vaughn activates an anti-eavesdropping device that shuts down all their spy devices. However, this minor setback doesn’t detour the Machinesmith who suggests that they strike at the Avengers at Sersi’s party that evening.

Hours later, Sersi’s party is in full swing at her SoHo condo. As the Avengers and their allies enjoy the festivities, Mother Night and her cohorts have infiltrated the kitchen and taken the place of the hired wait staff, obscuring their true identities with Mother Night’s hypnotic powers. When Captain America arrives with his date, Rachel Leighton, she and Sersi get catty with one another since they are both romantically interested in Steve Rogers. While everyone is pre-occupied, Mother Night approaches each member of the Avengers Crew and orders them to go to the kitchen. There, Minister Blood gives them all guns to and orders them to kill their enemies. Once the crew returns to the party they see all the patrons as their greatest fears.[4]

However, when the crew members pull their guns and start trying to shoot the patrons, the Avengers jump into action and quickly disarm their friends. While they are doing this, the Vision — having recovered from his injuries — has tracked Mother Night and her allies to Sersi’s condo and subdues them with his phasing powers. With the caper exposed and the villains defeated, Captain America has Sersi use her mental power to undo the crew’s brainwashing. Sersi is happy to get the party going again because she hates party poopers.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Quasar, Sersi, Vision), Michael O’Brien, Peggy Carter, Edwin Jarvis, Fabian Stankwicz, Minister Blood, Mother Night, Machinesmith, Ken Tanaka, Kayla Ballentine, She-Hulk, Diamondback, Wyatt Wingfoot, Glory Garsen, Gabe Jones, Louise Mason

Continuity Notes

1. This was to liberate the nuclear submarine Waterwind from the Peace Corps terrorist organization. It didn’t go so well. See Avengers #319-324. This is also the same run of issues where Mother Night brainwashed the Avengers Support Crew.

2. Quasar started his own security firm back in Quasar #3. Cap wonders if Quasar is offering his services because he feels guilty for being unable to prevent the team’s previous headquarters — Hydrobase — from sinking in Avengers #311.

3. Mention is made of how the Vision used to be married and how he was recently reprogrammed. The Vision married the Scarlet Witch back in Giant-Size Avengers #4, and technically speaking is still married to Wanda at the time of this story. More recently, the Vision was disassembled by an organization called Vigilance. After he was put back together, his emotional connections to everything were erased. See West Coast Avenges (vol. 2) #42-45.

4. Mother Night is forcing the Avengers Crew to see their darkest nightmares:

   • Jarvis is haunted by the Crimson Cowl, a criminal identity he was forced to adopt when he was brainwashed into betraying the Avengers by the robot Ultron. See Avengers #54-55 and 280.

   • Michael O’Brien is haunted by the memory of his brother Kevin. Kevin worked for Tony Stark starting in Iron Man #31. Building a suit of armor for himself in issue #43, it drove Kevin mad and he died battling Iron Man in Iron Man #46.

   • Peggy Carter is haunted by the memory of her relative, Sharon. At the time of this story, everyone believes that Sharon had died after being brainwashed by National Force and was forced to commit suicide by self immolation in Captain America #237. In reality, she faked her death in order to go into deep cover on a mission for SHIELD, as revealed in Captain America #446.

   • John Jameson is haunted by the Man-Wolf. John became this feral creature after recovering the mysterious Moon-Stone while on a manned space flight to the Moon back in Amazing Spider-Man #124. At the time of this story, John had been cured of this curse in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #3.

   • Fabian Stankowicz is haunted by his criminal past. After winning the lottery, Fabian used his newfound fortune to build suits of armor to try and defeat superheroes in battle, particularly the Avengers as seen in Avengers #217, 221, 239 as well as Marvel Two-In-One #96. Captain America convinced Fabian to reform and join the Avengers Support Crew in Captain America #352.

Topical References

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as these buildings were destroyed on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced by the Freedom Tower.