Message From Home

Out near the Earth’s sun a seldom space warp from the Shi’ar galaxy opens and from it comes an alien canister that sets course for the planet Earth.[1]

Moments later, on the planet’s surface, Deathcry has recovers the canister on a nearby rooftop only to be ambushed by an army of Mandroids. She has no idea why she is being attacked but begins defending herself. She is soon joined by her fellow Avengers — Hercules, Quicksilver, and Crystal — who help take down the Mandroids. This battle is observed from a nearby helicopter by NSA agent Henry Gyrich. He is pleased with what just went down because he finally has the Avengers where he wants them.

A half hour later, he meets with the group at Avengers Mansion. He explains that he has come to investigate Deathcry and assess how much of a threat she poses to the United States and the world at large. The Black Widow finds these accusations preposterous, saying that Deathcry is a refugee and poses no threat and questions his authority to lock her up. She also questions his authority in this matter since he has been assigned to Starcore.[2] Gyrich explains that this is a Starcore matter as the Shi’ar warp gate — which the government knows poses a threat to the sun — has been activated a number of times in the recent past, putting the planet at risk.[3] That’s when both Jarvis and Marilla come to Deathcry’s defense as well. The Black Widow also insists that Deathcry isn’t a threat and the warp gate would only have been used by Empress Lilandra only if absolutely necessary. Still, all of this news has caused at least Quicksilver to worry if Deathcry might be a danger to them all.

This deeply upsets the teenaged Shi’ar warrior and she races up to her room in tears. When Marilla goes up to try and calm her down, she comes back downstairs to tell them that Deathcry has run off. This is all just giving Gyrich justification for his concerns. When Hercules tries to defend Deathcry next, Henry reminds the Olympian of how the group recently had to deal with another threat from within, the Eternal known as Sersi.[4] Gyrich concludes his visit by warning the Avengers that it is his job to protect the public from super-humans like them and warns them to be on their best behavior as he’ll be watching them every step of the way.

When Gyrich leaves, the Black Widow orders the Avengers to begin searching for Deathcry. The only member who remains behind is Hercules, who commends Marilla for standing up for their mutual friend. He then goes up to Deathcry’s bedroom and waits for her eventual return. The two have a heart-to-heart talk and Deathcry admits that she is just a scared girl and that when she first met the Avengers, she put up a tough exterior to hide her true feelings. Hercules understands and reveals that he found what she came back for, a holodisk. Deciding to see what’s on it, Deathcry activates the device. She is surprised to see that it is a message from K’Rin, her old nursemaid. Unfortunately, the message is garbled and the only things Deathcry can make out something about her destiny. This ominious message deeply frightens her as she doesn’t want to bring harm to anyone. Hercules comforts Deathcry, assuring her that they’ll get to the bottom of this mystery.

Meanwhile, back in the Shi’ar galaxy, an imperial warship had just incapacitated K’Rin’s vessel, but not before she could launch her capsule into the warp gate. When this is relayed back to Empress Lilandra she prays that the message it contained never reaches Deathcry for the sake of not only the girl herself, but for everyone in the universe.[5]

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Quicksilver, Hercules, Black Widow, Crystal, Deathcry), Lilandra, Araki, Tempest, Henry Gyrich, Marilla, Edwin Jarvis

Continuity Notes

1. Here, it is stated that the Shi’ar warp gate must be used sparingly because it can adversely affect the Earth’s sun. This was discovered during and was the central reason why the Avengers got involved in 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, Thor #445-446.

2. Here, the Black Widow states that Gyrich was assigned to Starcore at the same time he was replaced as their government liaison Raymond Sikorski. This is not entirely accurate. Gyrich was the Avengers government liaison starting in Avengers #165. He was replaced by Sikorski in Avengers #243. However, Gyrich did not join Starcore at the time, he actually joined the government’s mutant security agency Project Wideawake in New Mutants #1. This issue is actually the first mention that Gyrich had any involvement in Starcore. Gyrich’s only past involvement involving a threat from space was when he was part of the US governments response to an invasion by the Dire Wraiths as seen in ROM #61-66.

3. Gyrich states that the warp gate has been used four times since Operation: Galactic Storm. This would have been when the Starjammer came to Earth in Avengers #350-351, when Deathcry was sent to Earth in Avengers #364-366, and when the Mephistoid was unleashed on Earth in Avengers #378-379, and the incident that happened this issue.

4. Sersi was being driven insane by Proctor, a crazed version of the Black Knight from another reality. This led to Sersi causing untold damage to New York City before Proctor was killed and her sanity restored. The damage was undone by Ute the Watcher. See Avengers #372-375.

5. What exactly K’rin is trying to tell Deathcry and what Lilandra fears is never fully explored. Although Deathcry heads back to the Shi’ar galaxy in Avengers #398, we never hear about any of this again.