Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) has been trying to learn who has been posing as Captain Marvel (the late Mar-Vell) and attacking members of the Church of Hala. Intel from the Essential leads her to believe that this is the work of the mutant shapeshifter known as Mystique (Raven Darkholm). Tracking her to a home owned by one Gordon Marks, she confronts Marks at his Idaho farm house. Seconds after, Gordon sets off an massive explosive.

The bomb only stuns Carol for a moment and she quickly discovers that Gordon Marks is still alive as well. Not only that, but he is super strong, and can absorb her energy blasts. The two get into a brawl until Ms. Marvel tosses him into the side of a mountain. This causes a rockslide that traps Marks under tons of rock and only agrees to free him if he tells her where she can find Mystique. Marks admits that Raven helped him set up his base of operations and tells her that they communicate via a dead drop in San Francisco. After getting the exact location, Carol devices to leave Gordon trapped under the rocks after all.

Meanwhile, the Captain Marvel impostor who has been attacking branches of the Church of Hala has struck again, this time at a church in Seattle. After attacking the people there, this impostor gets upset over the fact that he cannot find Carol Danvers, who promised to meet him at one of the churches while he was in captivity. Snapping out of their mental break, “Mar-Vell” is horrified to see that they have killed everyone in the church and flees the scene.

In San Francisco, Mystique has the news on in her hotel room while she showers. She overhears a story about the explosion in Idaho, which HAMMER is covering up as some kind of drill. She knows that it has something to do with Gordon Marks and decides to head out and check the dead drop to see if there is a message there. She is then ambushed by Ms. Marvel, who demands to know why is using Captain Marvel to send her a message.[1] She is surprised that Carol is just finding out about this “Captain Marvel” thing now, since she set it in motion a long time ago.[2] That’s when police arrive on the scene to investigate a disturbance call. Mystique uses this opportunity to get away by shapeshifting into a police officer and accusing Carol of stealing her gun. Not wanting to the fight the cops and with Raven getting away, Carol retreats.

However, she puts her skills to work and is able to back track Mystiques movement from the dead drop back to the hotel she is staying at. There the front desk clerk tells her that a message was left for her up in Mystiques room. There she finds a newspaper clipping about the Seattle attack along with a card from Raven telling her that she’ll see her there.

Mystique is already there and is using a tracking device to find her “Captain Marvel”, musing at how much fun they are going to have together when she finally finds him.

Recurring Characters

Ms. Marvel, Mystique , “Captain Marvel”

Continuity Notes

1. Mystique states here that she met Gordon Marks back in World War I. This is not a topical reference. Due to the nature of her mutation, Mystique has lived for a very long time. X-Men (vol. 2) #174 dates her birth as being born in the 1890s.

2. Mystique goes on about how she hadn’t tried to kill Ms. Marvel for years. They have only fought on two occasions in the past in Ms. Marvel #16-18 and Avengers Annual #10. Since then, Mystique had shifted to being more of an antagonist with the X-Men.