Avengers #395
Time’s End
The Crossing continues from Iron Man #325…
Iron Man has gone rogue and betrayed the Avengers. In order to match his genius, the team went back in time and recruited a teenaged Tony Stark to help them defeat his adult self.[1] Unfortunately, in the ensuing battle the adult Tony Stark seriously wounded the younger Stark.[2] With teen Tony dying, Crystal rushes to his side and tries to use her elemental powers to keep him alive until they can get him medical attention. The Vision steps in and uses his phasing powers to merge with teen Tony in order to have his artificial organs work for the boy’s damaged heart.
Meanwhile, the other Avengers — the Black Widow, Captain America, Thor, Giant-Man, the Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Hercules — are clashing with Kang’s army of Anachronauts inside Tony Stark’s arctic bunker. Captain America finds and battles Mantis and wishes they didn’t have to fight. Mantis on the other hand takes glee that she and her family — sons Tobias and Malachi — are finally getting revenge against her former allies. Meanwhile, Mantis’ husband Kang succeeds in activating his temporal transposer that will open a portal that will allow his armies to cross over from Chronopolis and conquer this era once and for all.[3]
As the battle rages on, the Vision merges with young Tony Stark. The teenager is trying to make sense of what is going on and can’t understand how his future self could be twisted into something so evil. However, the adult Tony Stark is starting to regain his sanity and realizes that he must atone for all the blood that is now on his hands. Entering Kang’s citadel, he fights through the guards and rescued the Cotati Swordsman from captivity.[4]
Back at the scene of the battle, the Vision notices that Captain America is struggling in his fight against Mantis and leaves young Tony to lend a hand. Unfortunately, Mantis leaps out of the away and the android accidentally uses his phasing powers against his comrade. As Tobias and Malachi are defeated, the Avengers begin turning their attentions toward Kang. However, the time master has protected himself in a massive humanoid shaped energy field to fight off his foes. When things start looking their bleakest, the adult Iron Man arrives with the Cotati Swordsman. The Cotati uses his power to revive the fallen Avengers before turning on Mantis. Unfortunately, in a one-on-one battle the alien plant is instantly killed by his former lover. Before dying, the Cotati tells them that their only salvation is to focus on destroying the temporal transposer. However, when the group attacks it all at once they can’t even dent it.
The adult Iron Man figures out a way to destroy the device and asks the Avengers to trust him one last time to do the right thing. Although Hawkeye is suspicious, something in Tony’s eyes convinces Giant-Man that Stark will do the right thing. Needing to reflect the energies of the transposer back at itself, Tony flies right into its energy beam. This causes the temporal energies to bounce off his armor and destroy the device. However, Tony Stark is fatally injured in the attempt. With their plan in shambles, Kang and Mantis and their armies retreat into the time stream, vowing to get revenge.
The Avengers then gather around the dying Tony Stark who apologizes for betraying them all. As his final act of contrition, he tells them to do what they can save his younger self and hands them a schematic before dying.[5][6] That’s when Tuc suddenly appears to return young Luna to her parents. When Crystal and Quicksilver ask who he is, he tells them that they already know and assures them that their actions today have changed the future before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Moments later, the Scarlet Witch arrives in her hex-ship and tells the team that they have much to discuss.[7]
… This story concludes in Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man (young & old), Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Hercules, Vision, Black Widow, Crystal), “Kang the Conqueror”, “Mantis”, Century, Masque “Swordsman”, “Tuc”, Luna Maximoff, Arachronauts (“Tobias”, “Malachi”), Scarlet Witch
Continuity Notes
The Avengers went back in time in Avengers: Timeslide #1 and recruited young Tony. Their time in the past created a diverged reality. Marvel Legacy: The 1990s Handbook #1 classifies this world as Reality-96020.
The two Iron Men fought each other in Iron Man #325, with the adult Tony injuring the heart of his younger self.
Everything is not as it seems, as the entire Crossing event is all part of an elaborate ruse orchestrated by Kang’s future self, Immortus, as part of a long running scheme to manipulate the destiny of the Avengers. In fact, Immortus is posing as his younger self here, while his “family” (Mantis, Tobias, Malachi), Tuc, and the Cotati Swordsman are all Space Phantoms brainwashed into thinking they are who they appear to be. This is all explained in Avengers Forever #8.
The “Cotati” (another Space Phantom) was “captured” by “Kang” and his “family” back in Avengers #392. This entire farce, by the way, is taking cues from the Celestial Madonna incident where Mantis was chosen to become the Madonna and mate with a Cotati to create a new messiah. That much better story was chronicled in Avengers #129-135 and Giant-Size Avengers #2-4.
This schematic will be a design for an artificial heart to save young Tony’s life as seen in Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1.
Although Tony Stark dies here, he won’t remain dead for very long. When the Avengers sacrificed themselves in Onslaught: Marvel Universe, Franklin Richards would transport them and the Fantastic Four to an pocket dimension where they would relive new versions of their lives. As seen in Heroes Reborn #½ we see an adult Tony Stark again even though it was his teenaged self that sacrificed himself to Onslaught. Tony remains an adult when he returns to the Prime Marvel Universe in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. An explanation is provided in Avengers Annual 2001 which explains that when Franklin transported everyone to his pocket dimension he set things “right” transforming the heroes into forms that he remembered best. In the case of Tony Stark, his dead body and his teen self were merged together to create a new version of adult Tony Stark. Confusing enough for you?
What Wanda wants to discuss is Iron Man/Tony Stark’s legacy and go over his last will. The Avengers are too busy dealing with teen Tony in Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1, so Wanda plays Tony’s final will with Force Works leading to the group’s dissolution in Force Works #21-22. Wanda will then go on to rejoin the Avengers next issue.
The Crossing Reading Order
Avengers #390, Iron Man #319, Avengers: The Crossing #1, Force Works #16, Iron Man #320, Avengers #391, Iron Man #321, Force Works #17, Avengers #392, War Machine #20, Iron Man #322, Force Works #18, War Machine #21, Iron Man #323, Avengers #393, Force Works #19, War Machine #22, Iron Man #324, Force Works #20, War Machine #23, Avengers #394, Avengers: Timeslide #1, Iron Man #325, Avengers #395, Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1