Shattered Vows!

In the Himalayan Mountains at the former location of the Inhuman’s city of Attilan, the few remaining Alpha Primitives struggle to keep warm.[1] Suddenly, there is a flash of light and the Kree operative known as Shatterstar suddenly appears in his energy form. Surprised to see Attilan gone, he turns to his scanner to relocate the Inhumans so he can complete his mission and bring them back to the Kree Empire.[2]

At that moment, at Avengers Mansion in New York, Quicksilver meets with his wife Crystal and asks if they can talk about the future of their marriage. She tells him that she was so young when they got married and so much has changed since then. Pietro counters this that change is inevitable and can be an enriching experience that could give their union new strength. He asks her to give things another chance.[3]

However, before Crystal can respond, they are attacked by Shatterstar, who announces he is now calling himself Arides. They prove to be no match for Arides’ energy powers and he knocks them both out. As he picks up Crystal, Arides picks up another Inhuman life sign in the immediate area and heads off with his prisoner to investigate. As Quicksilver recovers from the attack he vows to either rescue or avenge his wife.

Arides ends up crashing the SoHo headquarters of the newly formed Fantastic Force. There he finds team leader Psi-Lord and the Inhuman Devlor present and starts attacking them.[4] Just as before, Arides is able to knock out his opponents and absconds with both Crystal and Devlor. When Psi-Lord revives from the attack, the Avengers — Giant-Man, Quicksilver, Vision, Thunderstrike, and Deathcry — arrive having tracked Arides’ energy signature. They are about to come to blows when Psi-Lord convinces them that he is Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four.[5] They then agree to work together and help find their captured comrades.

Meanwhile, Arides has retreated to an abandoned Kree base that was once used by Colonel Yon-Rogg many years earlier.[6] There he creates an Omni-Wave Projector in order to try and establish contact with the Kree Empire for assistance. When he can’t establish contact, Crystal tries to explain that the Kree Empire is no more.[7] Unfortuantely, Arides refuses to listen and instead lashes out with his powers in an attempt to force them to tell him the “truth” he is looking for.[8] That’s when the Avengers and Psi-Lord arrive to rescue their friends. As Quicksilver rescues the captive Inhumans, the rest of the group try to convince Arides that the Kree Empire is no more. It’s only when Deathcry — a Shi’ar — confirms this that he starts to listen. It’s also determined the Arides isn’t exactly Kree anymore, but a being made of pure energy. Denying this, Arides removes the headband that was the original source of his powers and realizes the truth when — to his horror — his energy form begins to dissipate.

Quickly putting his headband back on, Arides is about to believe the truth after all, but leaves the planet in a beam of light heading to the Kree galaxy in order to find out for himself.[9] Crystal confirms that she is fine, but tells her husband not to blame Arides for his actions, pointing out that he is not that different from them, as he too lost track of the march of history and made himself a prisoner of his own past.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Giant-Man, Quicksilver, Vision, Thunderstrike, Crystal, Deathcry), Shatterstar, Devlor, Psi-Lord, Alpha Primitives

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, the Inhuman city of Attilan had not been in the Himalayan Mountains for years. It was relocated to the moon in Fantastic Four #240 so that the Inhumans could get away from man-made pollution that threatened their health.

2. Arides, aka Shatterstar, failed to capture the Inhumans back in Inhumans #3-5, when he was seemingly destroyed when his powers were reflected back at him by the Mirror of Eternity.

3. Quicksilver and Crystal got married in Fantastic Four #150. After a great deal of neglect, Crystal had an affair in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #6-12. Since then, she and Pietro have been trying to fix their marriage since Fantastic Four Annual #21. However, this was made more difficult when Crystal joined the Avengers in Avengers #336 and later had a romantic tryst with the Black Knight in issue #361. More recently, the Knight decided to go to another dimension with Sersi in Avengers #375, leaving Crystal to figure sort out her marriage alone.

4. Psi-Lord asks Devlor if Arides is the Seeker character that went after him earlier. They are not related. The incident with the Seeker occurred in Fantastic Force #3.

5. Franklin recalls being at Quicksilver’s wedding in Fantastic Four #150. At the time of this story, young Franklin Richards was taken away by his grandfather Nathan Richards and returned to the present day as a teenager in Fantastic Four #376. This will remain the status quo until the power of Hyperstorm restores Franklin to his proper age in Fantastic Four #413.

6. Yon-Rogg operated out of this outpost until his alleged death in Captain Marvel #18. However, Ol’ Yonny-Roggs survived and will turn up alive again in Avengers Assemble (vol. 2) #16-17.

7. The Kree Empire was decimated by a Nega-Bomb and absorbed into the Shi’ar Empire during Operation: Galactic Storm. See Captain America #398-400, Avengers West Coast #80-82, Quasar #32-34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7-9, Avengers #345-347, Iron Man #278-279, and Thor #445-446.

8. Crystal mentions how the rest of the Inhuman Royal Family had gone to Moon after receiving an urgent message. Black Bolt and his family have been in exile on Earth since Fantastic Four Unlimited #2. They went back to the Moon in Nova (vol. 2) #12-13. Their exile will end following the events of Fantastic Four #412.

9. As of this writing (May, 2022), Arides has yet to be seen again, so his present fate is unknown.