Avengers (vol. 3) #80
Lionheart of Avalon, Part 4
Even though she is dead, Kelsey Lehigh is woken up by a voice calling out her name. When she wakes up she finds herself in front of Stonehenge.[1] Floating above it are the spirits of a man and a woman who welcome her. The man tells her that she is in a fragment of existence between life and death.[2] He also tells her that she has been chosen to become his champion and the embodiment of Great Britain herself. Kelsey is then directed to two objects before her: The Sword of Might or the Amulet of Right.
The beings introduce themselves as Brian Braddock, the previous Captain Britain, and his wife Meggan.[3] They confirm that Kelsey is dead but can be reborn again by choosing one of the enchanted objects. However, they caution her to choose wisely as the object she chooses will greatly alter her destiny. When Kelsey asks which artifact she should choose, they say that they cannot interfere with destiny and she must choose for herself. All Braddock will say is that while both will make her the new Captain Britain they have different fates for her. One will allow her to resume her life as it was before her death, while the other will make it so she can never see her family again.
With fifty-fifty odds, Kelsey considers the amulet and the sword for a moment. She decides to chose the sword as it seemed the most likely tool to help her get revenge against her killers. Upon pulling the sword from its stone sheath, Kelsey is transformed into the new Captain Britain. When she asks if she made the right choice, Braddock informs her that there were no wrong choices, just different paths. That said, because she chose the Sword of Might, she chose the path of violence and destruction. As a result, Kelsey is warned that she cannot reveal her true identity to her children or they will meet a horrible and violent deaths.[4] Kelsey is devastated by this and pleads with Braddock to let her choose differently. Unfortunately, the decision had been made and there is no going back. To punctuate this, both Braddock and Meggan vanish, leaving Lehigh alone to deal with the choice she made alone.
Back in the land of the living, the Wrecking Crew have broken out of the holding cells in Tony Stark’s British mansion. After beating Hawkeye to a pulp the villains head to the Quinjet in order to steal it and complete their escape. However, the Wrecker, Bulldozer, and Piledriver detect that something is different about their teammate Thunderball. The Wrecker tells the others that they’ll figure it out later as their main priority is getting out of there.
Inside the mansion, the Wasp has been quiet since her argument with Yellowjacket. Concerned for her well being, Tony Stark and the Scarlet Witch ask if she wants to talk about things. Jan explains that they fought over the time that Hank hit her after Clint brought it up agian, and this led to a larger fight over Hank’s mental health problems.[5] She is in the middle of assuring them that she is fine when she spots Hawkeye’s unconscious body outside and the Wrecking Crew. Shooting up in size to become Giant-Woman, Jan demands to know what the Crew did to him and charges at the Quinjet.
As the Wreckers try to figure out how to handle this situation, Thunderball assures them that he’ll get them out of there. When none of them can figure out how to fly the Quinjet, Thunderball surprises them all by being able to probe Hawkeye’s mind and steal the knowledge they need, a power he never had before. Unfortunately, Giant-Woman grabs the ship causing it to crash. Tony Stark (only able to get one of his jet boots on) and the Scarlet Witch quickly arrive on the scene. When facing the Wrecker, Piledriver, and Bulldozer, the Scarlet Witch is able to defeat them by using her hex powers to make them violently ill. Meanwhile, Giant-Woman is still trying to wrangle the Quinjet as its thrusters are still going. Tony flies onto the ship and begins trying to shut it down manually. However, he doesn’t succeed until after they crash into the nearby village.
While the two Avengers are disorientated, Thunderball attempts to make his escape on foot. However, the new Captain Britain suddenly appears before him. Kelsey stabs Thunderball through the chest, a fatal blow for anyone else. Suddenly, the sorceress known as Morgan le Fay appears and thanks Lehigh for her help. Thunderball is then swapped out by Morgan’s evil Black Knight, who had been possessing the Wrecking Crew member this whole time. As the Scarlet Witch arrives on the scene and tells them all to stop, Morgan le Fay teleports them all away.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Iron Man, Wasp/Giant-Woman, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch), Captain Britain (Lehigh), Captain Britain (Braddock), Meggan, Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Thunderball, Bulldozer, Piledriver), Morgan le Fay, Black Knight
Continuity Notes
Kelsey Lehigh sacrificed her life to save Captain America from Thunderball in Avengers (vol. 3) #78.
Brian Braddock states here that he didn’t know the truth of this location when he underwent this trial. When Brian was chosen to become Captain Britain Merlin and his daughter Roma put him through the same exact test, as seen in Captain Britain #1.
Brian and Meggan got married in Excalibur #125. Braddock then ascended to becoming the Omniversal Guardian, replacing Roma, in Excalibur (vol. 2) #1-4.
Later, in New Excalibur #24, it is revealed that Kelsey is being lied to here. Apparently, she was being primed for a secret mission for the British government. The threat of her children dying if they knew of her survival was to spare them the pain of losing their mother a second time should she fail in that mission.
Last issue, Clint brought up the time Yellowjacket hit the Wasp circa Avengers #213. This turned into an argument between Jan and Hank over his mental health issues. Hank has suffered a number of breakdowns in the past TL;DR see Avengers #59-60, 213-230, West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #16-21, and Avengers (vol. 3) #28-44 and Annual 2001.
