World Trust, Part 3: Friends & Enemies

Trapped in another dimension, Yellowjacket and the Wasp have been taken prisoner by the new Scorpio.[1] Backed by the Brotherhood of the Ankh and armed with the Zodiac Key, he has been transporting cities all over Earth to this dimension. As he tortures Yellowjacket, he poses the scientist with theological questions. Observing all of this is one titanic figure with jet black skin. Scorpio explains that he has been given the key to destiny and that the next millennium will belong to him.

Back on Earth, in light of the current crisis, the United Nations have given the Avengers world leader status to help govern the world. To this end, the team has dispatched its members across the globe to deal with those who wish to take advantage of the destabilization caused by the sudden disappearance of various major cities around the globe.

As Avengers are dealing with dictators across the globe, Jack of Hearts watches events unfold on the monitor screens at Avengers Mansion. With four minutes on his timer left, Jack is visited by Iron Man who tells him it’s time. Tony takes Jack down to a chamber in the basement of the mansion and seals him inside. As a set of devices in the ceiling kick in, Jack sits down on a bench in the middle of the bare room.[2]

Upstairs, She-Hulk and Warbird have come to check on the Scarlet Witch who has been ill for the past few days. When entering the room they find Wanda floating over her bed with tarot cards circling around her. Something has transformed her skin half black and half white. Speaking in a voice not her own, the Witch demands to know where order is and when Carol doesn’t provide an answer, Wanda begins breathing fire at her. Evading this attack, Warbird gives Wanda a nerve pinch in the neck, knocking her out. Once unconscious, the Scarlet Witch reverts back to normal, leaving her two friends to wonder what exactly happened to her.

At dawn, a team meeting is called to discuss the current developments around the globe. In attendance are Iron Man, the Vision, Black Panther, Warbird, She-Hulk, the Falcon, the Sub-Mariner, and Ant-Man. Namor is furious that more hasn’t been done to protect the world’s oceans which are being slowly drained by the dimensional voids that have appeared around the globe. When Ant-Man asks where Jack of Hearts is, Tony Stark will only say that Jack is busy. They are soon joined by Captain America and Henry Gyrich, who has just recently convinced the team to let him be their government liaison once more.[3] Cap gives everyone an update on the Scarlet Witch, who is in stable condition. However, this is not good enough for the Vision who decides to go upstairs and be by her side. After years of distancing himself from his former wife, Captain America is glad to see that the Vision is finally showing that he cares.[4]

When Cap asks Iron Man for a status report on the dimensional voids, Tony is interrupted by the Black Panther. T’Challa says he provided the data to an ally of his who has already figured things out. This upsets Tony, particularly when the Panther opens a com channel and they learn that he was giving the information to Doctor Doom.[5] While Doom is an enemy to the Avengers, he has agreed to lend his assistance because his own nation of Latveria has been swallowed up in these voids. Doom has determined that these voids come from the thirteenth dimension and could only have been created by the powerful Zodiac Key. Since the only one known to him was destroyed while in SHIELD custody, Doctor Doom theorizes that someone has constructed a new Key, this one forged in the thirteenth dimension.[6]

With Doom’s explanation over, Iron Man angrily punches out the monitor screen and begins reaming T’Challa for trusting Doom with their data. Captain America steps between things and breaks it up, and tells the Panther that from now on there are no secrets between teammates. This upsets Warbird, who reminds everyone that T’Challa first joined the Avengers in order to spy on them,[7] and takes offense that he isn’t being reprimanded when she’s been kicked off the team for less serious offenses.[8] Captain America pulls rank again and reiterates that T’Challa not keep any secrets left. That’s when Ant-Man can finally interject with an important question: If the Zodiac is a key, what does it unlock exactly?

That’s when the Vision comes downstairs with the Scarlet Witch. She tells them that the Zodiac Key unlocks the universal balance between order and chaos. She explains that her sudden illness and strange behavior stems from the connection she has to chaos magic through her hex powers. Someone has used the Zodiac Key on the In-Betweener, a cosmic entity that is the embodiment of the balance between order and chaos, and split him into his two component aspects. Now separated, Order is wandering the Earth while Chaos remains in the thirteenth dimension. Wanda believes that if they can reunite the In-Betweener then everything will be restored to normal. However, they have to hurry because soon the barriers between dimensions will become irreparably damaged.

The Avengers quickly track down Order, who is hanging out near a saw mill in Rocky Gap, Virginia. Wanda tries to convince him to come with them and be reunited his with his other half. However, Wanda’s hex powers cause him pain and orders them away. With the wave of a hand, the natural order around the Avengers suddenly goes haywire. While the other Avengers are either knocked out or have their gravity negated, the Sub-Mariner withstands this opening salvo. He then charges at Order and attacks him, but is the cosmic entity is too powerful. When Order vows never to go back, he is almost struck by a bolt of lightning. This has come from Thor, the god of thunder, who has just arrived on the scene!

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Vision, Wonder Man, Warbird, Falcon, Photon, She-Hulk, Firestar, Justice, Triathlon, Jack of Hearts, Ant-Man) Brotherhood of the Ankh, Scorpio, In-Betweener, Doctor Doom, Sub-Mariner, Henry Gyrich, Redwing

Continuity Notes

1. The identity of this Scorpio, time of this writing in February, 2023, remains unrevealed. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #14 confirms that this Scorpio is unique and unrelated to any past individuals who took up the identity.

2. It’s later explained that Jack needs to be locked in this room because he is losing control of his powers. As we’ll learn in Avengers (vol. 3) #61, this room was constructed to drain off Jack’s excess energies before his body goes critical mass and explodes. He has to spend hours of time alone in this room.

3. Henry Gyrich was an infamous government liaison to the Avengers. His tenure lasted from Avengers #165 to 231. He convinced the team to take him back on in Avengers (vol. 3) #57.

4. This is reference to the long and complicated relationship between the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. I’m kind of tired of writing about it, so we’ll just do the basics: They got married in Giant-Size Avengers #4, they separated in Avengers #312, and Vision declared it over in Avengers (vol. 3) #4. Get it? Got it? Good.

5. The Black Panther formed an alliance with Doctor Doom for diplomatic reasons back in Black Panther (vol. 3) #26-29.

6. First appearing in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #1, the Zodiac Key’s connections to the thirteenth dimension, aka the Ankh Dimension, were first explored in Daredevil #73 and Iron Man #35. However, there is more than one Zodiac Key in existence. The one that Doctor Doom is referring to was captured by SHIELD and crumbled to dust following the events of Iron Fist (vol. 3) #3. Another Key has been in the protective custody of Elektra since Elektra (vol. 3) #1-5.

7. In Black Panther (vol. 3) #8 it was revealed that, when he first joined the team back in Avengers #52, T’Challa was initially spying on the team to learn if they were a threat to Wakanda’s independence.

8. Warbird is referring to the time when she was court-martialed over her growing drinking problem and insubordination in Avengers (vol. 3) #6. Technically, Carol wasn’t kicked off the team because she pulled the old “you can’t fire me, I quit!” routine. She was admitted back on the team in issue #27 after she got sober and started attending Alcoholics Anonymous.

Topical References

• As this story was published in 2002, Scorpio refers to “the millennium” as the calendar millennium as the 20th century recently gave way to the 21st in the year 2000. However, this meaning should be considered topical. Modern readers should interpret Scorpio as referring to the “next millennium” as a more general accounting of time rather than based on a calendar, because he’d have a long way to wait for 2100 AD.

• Wonder Man is depicted as being in North Korea apprehending Kim Jong-il, former ruler of that nation. This should be considered a topical reference as Kim died in 2011.