Quicksilver #10
Live Kree or Die Part 2: Blue Moon
This story continues from Captain America (vol. 3) #8…
Then[1]
Maximus the Mad had regained his mental powers and was once again trying to take over New Attilan.[2][3] While Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and the Inhuman royal family were busy fighting Maximus, they were unaware that others were intruding upon Attilan. They are members of the Kree Lunatic Legion, having come to Earth to get revenge against the human race for their part in the destruction of the Kree empire.[4] To this end, they manage to steal a canister of Terrigen Mists which they intend to use to transform humanity into Kree.
Now
Quicksilver is returning a Quinjet to Avengers Mansion after borrowing it to rescue the High Evolutionary in the Savage Land.[5] Pietro is greeted by his sister the Scarlet Witch who finds his arrival timely as the Avengers are in the middle of a crisis. She tells him how the Kree Lunatic Legion has returned to Earth. They had already clashed with Iron Man and Warbird and stole a new power generator. Warbird and Captain America later discovered that it was being used to power a device that transformed humans into Kree using stolen Terrigen Mists.[6] The Kree then captured Warbird and fled to the moon. As Hawkeye prepares their space worthy Quinjet for a rescue mission, Wanda asks Pietro to join them.[7] Quicksilver agrees to accompany them but has a faster method of getting them to the moon. By giving off a unique whistle, Pietro summons Lockjaw, the Inhumans teleporting job who can get them to the moon in a matter of seconds.
Meanwhile, at the High Evolutionary’s Haven sanctuary in upstate New York, the High Evolutionary orders Sir Ram to contact Delphis on Polemachus to tell him he is needed back on Earth.[8] This is because the High Evolutionary needs assistance in stabilizing his evolution, something that is becoming harder to do now that Isotope E is not as effective anymore. He also wants to liberate the Citadel of Science, which has been occupied by the Acolytes since Exodus and his followers drove him out. Deciding that Quicksilver has proven to be a failure as a leader for the Knights. He decides to make the White Tiger his replacement as leader of the team. With the Tiger working for Oracle Inc.’s Heroes for Hire, he orders Bova to get in touch with her right away.[9]
As this is going down, Lockjaw teleports Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye to a chamber under the Blue Area of the Moon.[10] There, they are shocked to discover that the Kree Supreme Intelligence is still alive. Believed executed during Operation: Galactic Storm, the Intelligence informs the three Avengers that it transmitted its mind from its old body. It had been secretly hiding out in the sewers beneath New York City until the Lunatic Legion recovered it and brought it to the moon.[11] He explains that the Lunatic Legion are plotting to use the Terrigen Mists to transform every human on Earth into a Kree. They have had trouble figuring out how to do this properly, but they have figured out how to succeed by examining Warbird and her human/Kree hybrid DNA. They are now building an Omni-Wave Projector to bathe the plant in Terrigen Mists.[12] When Quicksilver asks what the Intelligence hopes to gain by telling them all this, the artificial intelligence says its motivations are not of their concern, particularly since he just gave them the key to saving the Earth.
Using his super-speed to search the facility and find where they are keeping Carol Danvers, aka Warbird. He rescues her from a lab but because she is currently hung over and going through alcohol withdrawal, he tells her to stay on the sidelines.[13] However, Pietro unknowingly left her near a supply of Kree liquor which she chugs down. This gets rid of the shakes enough to change into her Warbird persona.
Meanwhile, Quicksilver and the others are attacking the Lunatic Legion in an attempt to destroy their Omni-Wave Projector. To give them an added edge in battle, Wanda uses her hex powers to summon the energy for of Wonder Man to help them out.[14] Lockjaw manages to steal back the canister of Terrigen Mists and the team is about to destroy the power source,[15] when Warbird arrives drunk off her ass. When Kree soldiers show up to stop them, she unleashes blasts of energy wildly, injuring Lockjaw in the process. She then blows up the power core without thinking. The resulting explosion punches a hole in the bunker, exposing them to the vacuum of space. Using her hex powers to slow the force of the vacuum, Quicksilver uses debris as stepping stones to race up to and catch the unconscious Warbird. Returning to the others, Pietro orderes Lockjaw to teleport them back to Earth.
Once back on Earth, Wanda treats Lockjaw’s wounded paw and Pietro wonders how he is going to explain the injury to the Inhumans. When he scolds Warbird for being reckless, she can’t understand what the big deal is since they stopped the Kree and that’s all that matters.
However, Carol Danvers is absolutely incorrect, as the Lunatic Legion were able to stop the decompression of their moon bunker. After assessing the damage their leader, Galen Kor says that with the power core destroyed they will proceed as planned, saying the human race will either live Kree, or die!
… This story concludes in Avengers (vol. 3) #7.
Recurring Characters
Quicksilver, Avengers (Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man), Warbird, Lunatic Legion (Galen Kor, Talla Ron, Dylon Cir) Supreme Intelligence, High Evolutionary, Knights of Wundagore (Sir Ram, Lord Anon, Lord Tyger, Lord Gator, Lady Ursula, Lady Vermin), Bova, Lockjaw
Continuity Notes
This flashback takes place during the events of Quicksilver #4-6.
Here, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are referred to as mutants. Years later they discover that this is not the case. They were actually experimented upon as children by the High Evolutionary. In order to cover up his work he made it so the pair registered as mutants. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.
Attilan is referred to as “New Attilan” here. This is in reference to the fact that the kingdom had been recently returned to Earth. See, Earth pollution forced the Inhumans to relocate their hidden city to the Blue Area of the Moon in Fantastic Four #240. However, it was returned to Earth recently due to the machinations of Morgan le Fay during the Atlantis Rising event. See Namor the Sub-Mariner #60-62, Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising #1-2, Fantastic Force #8-9, Fantastic Four #401-402, and Warlock and the Infinity Watch #41-42. It now resides on an island that was once the site of ancient Atlantis. It will remain here until it is transported back to the Himalayan Mountains in Inhumans (vol. 2) #12.
Namely, the Avengers involvement in Operation: Galactic Storm, which took place in Captain America #398-400, Avengers West Coast #80-82, Quasar #32-34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7-9, Avengers #345-347, Iron Man #278-279, and Thor #445-446. The Kree have already tried to get revenge against Earth for what happened on three different occasions: Avengers #364-365, 378-379 (by the Lunatic Legion) as well as Force Works #1, and 13-14 (by the Starstealth).
After the Citadel of Science was invaded by Exodus and his Acolytes in Quicksilver #1, the High Evolutionary fled to the Savage Land. He was just rescued from the Acolytes by Quicksilver and the Knights of Wundagore in Quicksilver #8-9. The Evolutionary went into hiding because his evolution has been out of whack.
The Lunatic Legion’s plot so far has been seen in Iron Man (vol. 3) #7 and Captain America (vol. 3) #8.
Hawkeye says that working together with Wanda and Pietro would be like old times. He is referring to how they were the first new recruits when the Avengers underwent their first roster change. This happened in Avengers #16. The trio fought alongside one another on and off over the years ever since.
Sir Delphis went to Polemachus to help Arkon and his people prevent the destruction of their world. See Quicksilver #2-3.
White Tiger was created specifically to track down and destroy the Man-Beast. Since her creation she has been a member of the Heroes for Hire. See Heroes for Hire #1, 12, and 15 for the dope on all of that.
The narration here states that the Blue Area once had an atmosphere but that is no longer the case. Per Avengers #133-134, this atmosphere was created by the Skrulls millenea ago to test the Kree and the Cotati to determine which species would be inducted into the Skrull empire. When the Cotati won, the Kree slaughtered them and the Skrull envoy kicking off the Kree/Skrull War. The Blue Area was long abandoned. It became home to the Inhumans when their city was moved there but its atmosphere was destroyed when Morgan le Fay brought Attilan to Earth (as mentioned in note #2). The atmosphere will later be restored when the Inhumans resettle there following Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #54.
For his part in the unleashing of a nega-bomb in Kree space, a group of Avengers decided to execute the Supreme Intelligence in Avengers #347. It cheated death by transmitting its mind to a passing ship. It hid out in New York’s sewers in Imperial Guard #1-3.
At the time of this story, everyone believes that Carol Danvers became a human/Kree hybrid after she and the original Captain Marvel were caught in a Psyche-Magnitron explosion together in Captain Marvel #18. In reality, her mother is secretly a member of the Kree race, as revealed in Life of Captain Marvel (vol. 2) #2 and she’s been a hybrid her entire life. The Psyche-Magnitron only awoken her dormant Kree genetics.
Warbird’s drinking problem and loss of powers have been known since Avengers (vol. 3) #4. Prior to this point, Carol had cosmic powers that she gained in Uncanny X-Men #163-164. She kept this loss a secret from the team, resulting in her disobeying Cap’s orders during their fight with the Squadron Supreme in issue #5. Despite being kicked off the Avengers and being a total drunk she has continued trying to be a superhero with disasters results. She’ll come to her senses and start attending Alcoholics Anonymous to clean up her act, beginning in Avengers (vol. 3) #26.
At the time of this story, everyone believed that Wonder Man had been killed in Force Works #1. In reality, his spirit has been caught between life and death and Wanda has been able to summon it since Avengers (vol. 3) #2. This will remain the status quo until Wonder Man is fully restored to life in Avengers (vol. 3) #10-11.
Hawkeye jokes that Quicksilver’s cockiness in battle must be because he has his wife back. Wanda then reminds him that Crystal recently left Pietro:
Quicksilver believed he lost his wife when she sacrificed her life with the other Avengers in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. However, they were actually transported to a pocket dimension where they lived reimagined versions of their lives. They were soon found and returned to their proper reality in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. Crystal and Quicksilver were reunited in Quicksilver #3.
However, this happy reunion soon went sour. See, their marriage had long since been an unhappy one and prior to Crystal’s “death” she was conflicted between the love of her husband and that of Dane Whitman, aka the Black Knight. When the Knight came to win her over in Quicksilver #7, Crystal didn’t like being fought over like some prize and walked out on both of them. The love triangle between the two is a lot of TL;DR, but if you’re curious, see the notes in Quicksilver #7.