The Folds Gather

On the Lower East Side of Manhattan, an NYPD diving team has dredged up the petrified forms of homicide detectives Joe MacNamara and Tomas Delgado, who have been missing for some time.[1] Their colleague, Mara DeBois believes that her friends are dead and vows to bring whoever did it to justice. They are visited by a strange man wearing a trench coat, fedora, and sun glasses. He tells DeBois that he is a concerned citizen with psychic ability. He tells Mara that the person responsible for killing her partners is a woman with great power that lives at a mansion of heroes. He cannot reveal anymore and than that and leaves. This mystery man strolls past Avengers Headquarters and smiles when he sees a Quinjet take off from the building.

Aboard the ship are the Vision, Deathcry, Swordsman, and Magdalene. The Vision explains that as long term guests of the Avengers, the trio are to be shown how the group operates. To this end, one of the Avengers tracking stations off the coast of Scotland have gone down and they are being sent out to find out what went wrong and fix it.[2]

Inside the headquarters, Captain America, Black Knight, and Black Widow see the Vision off and wonder what could have knocked down their tracking station. They are then visited by Crystal and Quicksilver, the latter of whom is back on his feet after being injured during the battle with Exodus in Genosha.[3] While Captain America is glad to see Pietro back on his feet, the situation is tense for Quicksilver, Crystal, and the Black Knight, due to the conflicting emotions among the three.[4] Seeing this, the Widow reminds Dane that he has an appointment with Giant-Man to determine the scope of his Gann Josin link with Sersi.[5] Crystal and Pietro then go to Central Park with their daughter Luna. There, Quicksilver asks his wife if she still loves him or if she loves Dane Whitman. Crystal admits that she loves both men. This is a surprise to Pietro, quotes a friend of his in Washington by saying they are in quite the pretty pickle.[6] Little do they know that they are being spied upon from the air by Sersi. Seeing Crystal fills the Eternal with rage even though it is misplaced. She quenches it in an effort to prove to her friends and family that she is not going insane.[7] Little does Sersi know that is also being watched by the newest members of the Gatherers.

Back at Avengers Headquarters, Hank Pym is examining Dane Whitman’s mind in order they can better understand the Gann Josin mind link. Unfortunately, Dane bails on the test when he suddenly feels Sersi mentally calling for him. He finds her out on the pier and that there was nothing wrong, she had only felt lonely and wanted to see him. This entire ordeal of being mind linked with Sersi is starting to take its toll and he wants it to stop. Back at the mansion, Pym has finished examining the figures from his test on Dane. Calling the Black Widow and Hercules into the lab he shows them that Whitman’s brainwaves are slowly being changed to near identical match with that of Sersi. That’s when Jarvis comes running into the lab telling his charges that the police have come to ask them some questions.

At the pier, Sersi tries to justify the Gann Josin link, saying that she needs him now more than ever. That’s when they are ambushed by the new Gatherers — the robot Jocasta, the female Silver, gun toting Rik, the obsidian skinned Korg, and the reptilian Tarkas.[8] Although they have the element of surprise, the Gatherers fair poorly against the two Avengers. Seeing things working against them, Rik decides to cover his comrades escape by blasting the pier. In the aftermath of the battle, the Black Knight demands that Sersi come clean with him about the depths of the Gann Josin.

Meanwhile, the Gatherers return to their temporary hideout in Greenwich Village. There they meet with the man that tipped off the police earlier that evening. It turns out to be none other than Proctor, who warns them against acting against his will again. Regardless, everything is still going to according to plan.

By this time, the Black Knight and Sersi have returned to Avengers Headquarters. There, the rest of the team is meeting with Detective Mara DeBois, who tells Sersi that she is under arrest under suspicion of murder.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Giant-Man, Quicksilver, Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Black Widow, Sersi, Crystal), Swordsman, Magdalene, Deathcry, Gatherers (Proctor, Jocasta, Silver, Korg, Tarkas, Rik), Luna Maximoff, Edwin Jarvis, Mara DeBois, Tomas Delgado, Joe MacNamara

Continuity Notes

1. MacNamara and Delgado were petrified and dumped in the East River back in Avengers #363. They had been investigating a string of murders dating back to issue #357.

2. For more on the Vision’s mission with Deathcry, Swordsman, and Magdalene is covered in Avengers #378-379.

3. Quicksilver was injured during the Bloodties story arc. See Avengers #368-369, X-Men (vol. 2) #26, Avengers West Coast #101, and Uncanny X-Men #307.

4. This is a particularly tense scene since Quicksilver and Crystal have been married since Fantastic Four #150. After she cheated on him in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #6-12, their marriage had been on the rocks for quite some time. More recently, she became attracted to the Black Knight after joining the Avengers in Avengers #336, the pair having a romantic tryst in issue #361. At the time Crystal believed her marriage was doomed after a botched romantic getaway with Pietro in X-Factor #89.

5. The Black Knight was forced to become Sersi’s Gann Josin — or life mate — back in Avengers #361.

6. Quicksilver’s “friend from Washington” is in reference to his membership in X-Factor a team he was a part of from X-Factor #71 through 94. He’s probably referring to Strong Guy who has a knack for such turns of phrase.

7. As explained in Avengers #361, Sersi is believed to be suffering from an mental illness called the Mahd W’yry. It is believed she is suffering this after becoming a part of the Brethren’s Uni-Mind in Avengers #334-339. In reality, she is being gaslit by Proctor where will be explained in Avengers #374.

8. The Gatherers are former Avengers from other realities that are the sole survivors of their version of Earth. They have been gathered by Proctor unaware that he is merely using them to kill every Sersi in the multiverse as he was dumped by his own Sersi. This is all explained in Avengers #374. As of this writing only Proctor and Jocasta’s realities have been revealed. Proctor comes from Earth-374 and Jocasta from 943, as per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3.

Topical References

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