Even in a Cold and Lonely Place

The Black Widow is meeting up with her old mentor Ivan Petrovitch. This has her thinking about how her life has changed over the years: From prima ballerina, to spy for both Russia and SHIELD.[1] Now, with the news that Ivan has to tell, the Widow finds herself very afraid.

When they meet, Ivan tells her that he has been watching a certain organization and their energy outputs and what they fear might be going on. He tells her to check out the location of the last energy spike, somewhere in the Canadian Northwest Territories. Natasha decides to go and check it out. Moments after she is gone, an assassin emerges from a nearby manhole and ambushes Ivan and takes him down.[2]

Meanwhile, Quicksilver, Crystal and Deathcry are trying to open the mysterious door found in the sub-basement of Avengers Mansion. As the young Shi’ar warrior complains about being bored, Crystal attempts to pry the door open. This causes flames to shoot out from underneath, catching Deathcry on fire. Quick thinking, Pietro and Crystal manage to put out the flames before Deathcry is seriously burned. They are then called upstairs to a meeting by the Black Widow. After they depart, something on the other side of the door begins tapping.[3]

An hour later, aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier, Director Nick Fury is informed about the strange energy signature. He expects that of all people, the Black Widow could determine what it means and this is of great concern to him. He quickly contacts his second-in-command, Dum Dum Dugan and tells him that the Avengers might be sticking their nose into their business and orders Dugan to get him the SC-13 file right away.

Meanwhile, the Avengers are en route to the Northwest Territories in their Quinjet. Quicksilver notices that Natasha has been pretty quiet the whole trip and asks what’s wrong. She tells him how she tried to reach Captain America and Giant-Man but they did not answer her summons and is concerned their absences might be linked.[4] In the back, Hercules is still mourning the loss of his beloved Taylor Madison, who he just learned was merely a mystical construct created by his father Zeus. With Taylor gone and Herc having been stripped of his immortality, he suddenly has no more will to live.[5] Crystal is deeply concerned for his well being and tells him not to give up and that the Avengers will be there to help him get through this tough time.

They are then contacted by Deathcry who is on monitor duty back at the mansion. She tells them that she has been unable to reach Ivan Petrovitch for the Black Widow. She also tells them that they got a call from Nick Fury who has ordered the team to return home right away. Black Widow ignores this and tells the young Shi’ar warrior that she’ll be in touch as they are just arriving at the site that Ivan informed her about. There they are surprised to see a massive crater in the ground and as they approach, the Quinjet suddenly shuts down and the Avengers brace for a crash landing. They survive relatively unscathed and soon, the team is scaling down the crater by rope, with Hercules acting as an anchor. Although he has been ordered to remain behind as back-up, he fears for his friends safety when the ropes suddenly go slack and leaps down after them. Surprisingly, Hercules survives the fall despite the fact that he is no longer immortal, but is scolded for panicking as everyone else is fine.

His pride wounded, Hercules dusts himself off and goes looking around what appears to be a science facility. The other Avengers follow and as they try to cross a cat-walk it is suddenly blasted to pieces. The Avengers manage to form a chain and grab onto a nearby ledge where they are confronted by the shooter, the Red Skull who reveals that he has Ivan Petrovitch as his prisoner.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Quicksilver, Hercules, Black Widow, Deathcry), Red Skull, Ivan Petrovitch, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan)

Continuity Notes

1. Ivan has looked after Natasha since she was a baby. However, some of the past she remembers her (particularly her time as a ballerina) are false memories implanted by the Red Room, as detailed in Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1-4. She did indeed defect from being a Russian spy to join SHIELD. See Avengers #30 and 38.

2. This mysterious organization is revealed to the Advance Idea Mechanics and that they are trying to recreate the Cosmic Cube, as seen in Avengers #386-388 and Captain America #440-441. AIM created the first Cosmic Cube in Tales of Suspense #79. However, the powerful device ended up out of their hands and gaining sentience and transforming into the entity known as Kubic in Captain America Annual #7.

3. The mysterious door was discovered in their headquarters in Avengers #382. It will be a gateway from which Immortus (posing as Kang the Conqueror) will launch an all out assault against the Avengers. See Avengers: The Crossing #1, Avengers #390-395, Force Works #16-20, Iron Man #320-325, War Machine #20-23, Avengers: Timeslide #1, Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1 and Avengers Forever #8.

4. They are. Giant-Man and Iron Man are working together to try and find a way to keep Captain America alive. See Iron Man #314 and Captain America #438. In Captain America #373 Cap was caught in a meth lab explosion that reacted dangerously with the Super Soldier Serum in his veins forcing him to eventually purge it from his body in issue #384. By issue #425 of that series, Cap’s health begins to go into decline. Cap will eventually be cured of this condition in issue #445 of Captain America.

5. Hercules fell in love with Taylor Madison at first sight in Avengers #349. Little did he know that this was part of a plot by his step-mother Hera to break his heart. Last issue it was revealed that Madison was a magical construct created by Zeus to catch Hera red handed. When Hercules lashed out against this, Zeus stripped him of his powers. Hercules will remain mortal until his powers are returned in Aries #1-5.

Topical References

• Deathcry mentions People Magazine. This is topical as it is a real world publication.