Avengers West Coast #52
Fragments of a Greater Darkness
When the Scarlet Witch’s children — Billy and Tommy — were kidnapped by Master Pandemonium, the Avengers West Coast have traveled to the netherworld to rescue them. However, when they find their foe, the Scarlet Witch is horrified to discover that her children have been forcibly merged with Pandemonium, becoming his lost arms. The evil sorcerer recounts how he was saved from a fatal car accident by Mephisto, who then split his soul into five fragments.[1] Although he searched for quite some time, he finally discovered two of the missing fragments are Billy and Tommy.
To stop the Avengers from taking the kids away from him, Master Pandemonium unleashes the horde of demons that are contained in his body. As they fight, the Vision tries to defend himself by becoming intangible. However, one of the monsters can do so as well and twists his head al the way around. Although the Vision will be able to repair himself, one of his strongest teammates is down, prompting Wonder Man to attack Pandemonium directly. However, one of the twins pops out of the sorcerer’s empty sleeve and takes on demonic characteristics and starts biting Simon’s face.
Back on Earth, the Human Torch comes back from searching Avengers Compound for any left over demons. Before heading back to the Scarlet Witch’s bungalow, he spots a strange cat run past him. Unaware that this is Tigra, he assumes that this is what cats look like in this era and goes back to check on Ann Raymond and Agatha Harkness.[2][3] The whole time he was gone, Agatha has been in a trance. While they wait for the old witch to snap out of it, the Torch recounts Master Pandemonium’s origins as they were told to him by the other Avengers. That’s when Harkness snaps out of it and tells them that the key to all of this are Wanda’s children. She explains that the children are far from ordinary and that it was Wanda’s powers that created them and that they only exist as she thinks about them. However, she warns them that there is something more to them if Doctor Strange — Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme — couldn’t sense anything wrong with them when he delivered the babies.[4][5] She now has a solution, and assures the Torch that the Avengers are fine for now as she sent Ebony, her feline familiar to watch over them.
Back in the nether realm, the Avengers West Coast have all been restrained by the demons. Master Pandemonium is about to torture the Scarlet Witch when Hank Pym points out that Billy and Tommy were born before he made his deal with Mephisto.
As it turns out, the Lord of Lies has been observing this situation from his own domain. He is amused that Pym was able to figure that out, and recalls how — prior to his deal with Martin Preston — his own soul had been shattered by Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four.[6] Although he quickly reformed himself, fragments of his soul were missing. Rather than expend his own energies to reform his soul he tricked Preston into gathering them for him instead.
Master Pandemonium refuses to listen to Pym’s explanations, calling them lies. That’s when the Human Torch appears in this realm with the final two fragments of his “soul”. Greedily taking them from the Torch, the pentagram on his chest vanishes leavings a single hole. Suddenly, Master Pandemonium — along with Billy and Thomas — are sucked into the hole and vanish. That’s when Mephisto appears before them and reveals his duplicity in what went down.[7] Before he can attack the Avengers, Ebony comes out of hiding and transforms into a monstrous form. That’s when Agatha Harkness telepathically contacts Wanda and tells her to open her mind. Channeling her power through the Scarlet Witch, Harkness is able to banish Mephisto and return the Avengers to Earth.
That’s when Agatha Harkness tells them all that she has cast a spell to make Wanda forget about her children. Wonder Man is horrified that she would do this, however the witch explains that the twins never really existed and that making Wanda forget about them is the most humane thing to do, given these tragic circumstances.[8] The Avengers are not happy with this but have no choice. Agatha then instructs them to get Wanda to bed for rest from her ordeal.
Meanwhile, in the undersea kingdom of Lemuria, the Deviant priest named Ghaur tells Llyra that it is time to gather the seven brides of Set…[9]
Recurring Characters
Avengers West Coast (Iron Man, Wasp, Hank Pym, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man, Human Torch, US Agent), Master Pandemonium, Mephisto, Agatha Harkness, Ann Raymond, Billy Maximoff, Tommy Maximoff, Ebony
Continuity Notes
Master Pandemonium’s origins were detailed in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #9, 15 and last issue.
Tigra has been de-evolving to a more feral state since West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42. Hank Pym was forced to shrink her down to size so she couldn’t hurt herself or others in Avengers West Coast #49. She will eventually be cured of this condition in Avengers Spotlight #38.
The Human Torch is adjusting after being in a deactivated state from Fantastic Four Annual #4 until Avengers West Coast #50.
The Scarlet Witch used her magic to make herself pregnant back in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3 and gave birth to them in issue #12 of that series. The children have been mysteriously vanishing whenever she wasn’t thinking about them, starting in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42.
Here, the Scarlet Witch is referred to as a mutant. However, this is not true. It’s later revealed in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 that she was experimented upon by the High Evolutionary while she was still a baby. To cover up his work he made it so future genetic tests would register as a mutant.
Franklin Richards used his power to destroy Mephisto in Fantastic Four #277.
This is not the end of Master Pandemonium, or the Maximoff twins. Master P. will turn up again in Scarlet Witch #1-4. Meanwhile, Billy and Tommy’s untimely demise here wouldn’t be to last. They were apparently resurrected as Billy Kapland and Tommy Shepard. This will be confirmed Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #6, although the logistics are ill defined as of this writing (March, 2022). This is due to the fact that Billy and Tommy are depicted as teenagers when they appear in Young Avengers #1 and 10. Based on the Sliding Timescale, that would be impossible if they were reincarnated after their original forms were destroyed. The only logical explanation is that their spirits were cast backward in time.
Wanda would indeed forget about her children, until the Wasp accidentally mentions them causing the Scarlet Witch to go on a rampage that shook the very foundation of the Avengers. See Avengers #500-503.
This is leading in to the Atlantis Attacks even which took place in Silver Surfer Annual #2, Iron Man Annual #10, Uncanny X-Men Annual #13, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23, Punisher Annual #2, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #9, Daredevil Annual #5, Avengers Annual #18, New Mutants Annual #5, X-Factor Annual #4, Web of Spider-Man Annual #5, Avengers West Coast Annual #4, Thor Annual #14 and Fantastic Four Annual #22.
