The world of the Avengers is rocked to its foundation in this cross-over event, leaving the Earth's Mightiest Heroes broken and changing their lives forever. Edit
Overview
When Wasp began a romantic relationship with Hawkeye, she would constantly talk to Scarlet Witch about it. While lounging around the swimming pool Wasp (who was tipsy off of a few drinks at this point) began to talk about her relationship with Hawkeye, and the prospect of having children as a super-hero. Wasp slipped, mentioning that Wanda believed she could have two, revealing to Wanda that she once had children that were hidden to her by her teacher. This triggered something deep inside Wanda’s mind.
Wanda sought out Agatha Harkness to figure out what had happened to her. After confirming that she had two children at one point and that she had hidden them from her, Wanda became enraged. Wanda had not actually ever had children. She had wanted to have children so bad that her power allowed her to make herself have them. It was Agatha Harkness that discovered that these children were not real, and were actually willed into being. Agatha erased the children as well as Wanda's recollection of them. The manifestation of Wanda's rage would be subtle at first, attacking the rest of the Avengers instinctively (almost subconsciously), picking them apart one at a time.
Ant Man
While several of the Avengers were lounging at the Avengers Mansion talking and eating an alarm went off. The visual showed the recently deceased Jack Of Hearts walking through the torn down mansion gates. It is not fully known wether Wanda had re-animated the corpse of Jack of Hearts, if this was some sort of artificial construct or illusion, or any other suitable explanation of how Jack had returned from the dead, however the rotting corpse of Jack still approached the mansion grounds. Scott Lang rushed out to his former friend, attempting to communicate with him. Jack of Hearts turned to Scott and simply said "I'm Sorry" before exploding, destroying the portion of the mansion currently occupied by the Avengers and Jarvis, as well as killing the current Ant Man. The other Avengers weren't able to get outside quickly enough to save their teammate, and could only puzzle over what had occurred.
Iron Man
Iron Man stood with his Iron Man armor on in front of the United Nations. Speaking on behalf of the Avengers and the United States, Stark began to sweat profusely and was overcome with feelings of drunkenness. This came as a shock to Stark who was, at the time, clean, but because of the sudden onset of drunkenness was not in control of his actions. Pointing an accusing finger at the Latveria delegate, Tony Started to shout and rant about how he should just kill him. An astonished Hank Pym and Scarlet Witch were unable to quiet their friend and teammate. When Stark raised an open palm to the delegate and began powering up his repulser ray Black Panther stood up in the audience in defense of the Latverian politician. Regaining some small amount of control over himself, Stark stormed off the stage. While Pym attempted to smooth things over with the audience, a teary-eyed Iron Man stood above the room watching. Wanda tried to figure out what was wrong with him and he admitted to her that it felt as though he were drunk again, but insisted that he was still sober. As Pym located the pair Wanda received an Avengers code white distress signal identifying that the Avenger's Mansion itself was in trouble. Flying out to the mansion Stark received a call from the Chief of Staff telling Stark that he was being forced into resigning from his government position.
The Vision
After the distress call went out the humanoid android Vision was spotted piloting an Avengers Quinjet towards the mansion. Captain America, the Falcon, and a team of SHIELD agents had already arrived on the scene. The Vision was coming in too fast, and the jet slammed into the already battered mansion. Apparently unharmed by the crash, the Vision stepped out of the wreckage towards the Avengers. The Vision stepped towards the group with a message indicating that he understood why they were all under siege, but hadn't the time to explain why or by whom and could do nothing to stop it. The features of an apologetic Vision began to distort as he expressed shame over what he had to do and could not control. Several large, silver orbs were ejected from the Vision's mouth which landed in front of the heroes. Each orb shifted and materialized into a copy of the Avengers long-time enemy Ultron. These Ultron robots began to attack the Avengers, and Captain America gave the call to assemble.
She Hulk
The team continued to attack the Ultron robots and She-Hulk became more and more enraged as the battle progressed. With tears streaming down her face she began to grow larger and more enraged. As the last Ultron robots were destroyed She-Hulk grabbed the damaged body of the Vision off of the ground and began shouting at him about what had happened. Cap and the others tried to get her to calm down, but the rage fully took over her. She ripped the Vision's body down the middle and cast the pieces aside. Unable to control her Hulk-like rage She-Hulk then began attacking her startled friends and team-mates who tried to calm her down. Iron Man finally arrived above the scene of the battle. Flying in at full speed Stark delivered a blow to She-Hulk which rendered her unconscious. Hank Pym arrived shortly behind, towering over the wreckage. He scooped up the unconscious tiny body of his long time love the Wasp who was in the hands of the Falcon, and rushed her to the hospital.
In the wake of the destruction Captain America sought minor medical attention to fix a dislocated shoulder. Kelsey Leigh (Lionheart) was in critical condition. Jennifer Walters was taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and put into stasis pending investigation. Scott Lang was dead, and his remains were in a S.H.I.E.L.D. morgue. The Vision's remains were boxed up and sent to Stark Enterprises for storage and investigation. Now in a coma, Wasp was in critical condition. Still in her tiny form, the doctors were unable to do much for her and Hank Pym stood crying over her tiny body.
The remaining Avengers met in the courtyard. It was obvious that they were under attack, but it occurred so suddenly and the damage was so intense that they were all left trying to piece together exactly what had happened. As Tony began to share with the others what had occurred a now-costumed Hank Pym rushed out to address what had happened earlier. Pym accused Stark of drunkenness. Stark pleaded his case, but because of past lapses the others weren't all entirely convinced of his sobriety. Angered and hurt that his teammates wouldn't believe him, Iron Man left the scene.
Hawkeye
The Avengers took their Quinjet back to the Mansion to find a group of all nearby avengers past and present who had heard about what had happened, close friends in the superhero community, as well as Nick Fury. With the large group now interrupting a S.H.I.E.L.D. investigation, Fury ordered the group to disperse when a Kree warship appeared from behind the clouds overhead. Dozens of smaller Kree attack ships began to pour out of the larger craft and attack the heroes below. Fury called for the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier to analyze the attack, but they were unable to find any trace of the attack fleet's existence.
Captain America was able to take down one of the Kree warriors who only told them that they would be wiped off the map for their betrayal. More Kree infantry began to materialize around the startled heroes. Hawkeye stepped up and began quickly taking down the attacking aliens around him. He was hammered in the back by the fire of several gunman at once, stunning and injuring him. Looking around at the faces of his friends, Hawkeye was determined not to go out in this manner. He rushed one of the Kree and grabbed hold of him, activating his jetpack and sending the two of them skyward. The others could only standby helplessly as Hawkeye spiraled into the intake of the largest Kree ship, causing it to explode. The remaining Kree troops around the ground dematerialized as quickly as they had first come, and the smaller attack ships fled the scene. Some of the angry Avengers wanted to follow, but the ominous astral form of Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme appeared in front of them warning that he arrived as quickly as he could and that that the source of the assault on the Avengers is magic based.
Doctor Strange
Standing before the Avengers Doctor Strange's form apologized to the Avengers for not arriving sooner. Much of Strange's duties as protector of the realm include meditation, and where his mind was when the attacks began he could not "see" what was happening until it was too late. He told the group that only a being of great magical power could have caused what was happening to them and asked if they had encountered anyone who could have been capable of creating this sort of chaos. The group explained to Doctor Strange what had happened to the children.
Strange had not known any of this and believed the children which he had delivered to still be around. Many of the Avengers could not believe that even with the turmoil surrounding her life that Wanda could have caused any of what had happened. Strange wove a harrowing tale for the group, explaining that unlike most mystics Wanda did not earn her power through meditation and spirituality, but instead was simply given them by virtue of her being a mutant. He did not believe her Hexes were powerful enough to create such devastation, and the others told him about the "Chaos Magic" (as Wanda called it) that the Scarlet Witch now possessed which allowed her to control probability and even reality itself. He explained to the group that there was no such Chaos Magic, and explained his position on their friend.
Strange declared Wanda to be insane, driven to insanity by the extreme power of her reality altering abilities. He was aghast that she had been allowed to live her life without checks and balances, saying anyone who had such a powerful control over probability would have a lose grasp on reality. He scolded the Avengers for not consulting with him about Wanda’s past. He told the Avengers that he would be able to help them locate Wanda, but because of her condition they may not like what they found.
Wanda Maximoff
The Avengers located Wanda having dinner with magical constructs of Wonder Man, the Vision, Agatha Harkness, and the children that she had created before, now around the age of ten. Captain America first entered to address Wanda, but her "children" became defensive, rushing to their mother for aid. Behind Captain America appeared a group of Nazis as well as the Red Skull. They attacked Cap, sending him flying out the front window. The other avengers began to close in on the building as Wanda flew out over the grounds warning them to leave her children alone. As the Avengers attempted to apprehend her, enemies of each individual materialized and began to attack.
Strange confronted Wanda. Her power was great, but was no match for the power and training of the Sorcerer Supreme. He was able to hold off all of the constructs she threw at him, and consulted the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto to show her the truth. A stunned Scarlett Witch fell down to the earth and landed in Captain America's arms. All of her creations faded away.
Magneto was in Genosha with Professor X and the mutants that made up Excalibur trying to rebuild after the most recent destruction of the small nation. Upon hearing about the destruction caused by his daughter, Magneto summoned his magnetic energy and created a wormhole to travel to Wanda's aid. Appearing before the startled Avengers Magneto took his daughter away, and flew back to Genosha. He sealed them within his home in hopes of protecting her from the outside world. With Xavier's help he hoped to repair her shattered mind and nurse her back to health.
Crossover Details
Characters Involved
Agatha Harkness, Beast, Black Knight, Black Panther, Black Widow, Crystal, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Dum Dum Dugan, Falcon, Hank Pym (YellowJacket), Hercules, Hulk (as a manifestation of the Scarlet Witch's power), Human Torch, Iron Man, Iron Fist, Invisible Woman, Jack Of Hearts, Magneto, Jarvis, Jocasta, Justice, Lionheart, Moon Knight, Mr. Fantastic, Ms. Marvel, Nick Fury, Photon, Rogue (as a manifestation of the Scarlet Witch's power), Scarlet Witch, Scott Lang (Ant-Man), Namor, Quicksilver (most likely a manifestation of the Scarlet Witch's power), Red Skull (as a manifestation of the Scarlet Witch's power), Sentry, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Thing, Tigra, Ultron (most likely a manifestation of the Scarlet Witch's power), Vision, Wasp, Wolverine (as a manifestation of the Scarlet Witch's power), Wonder Man
Casualties
Suggested Reading
Avengers #500-503 (Primary Story)
Avengers Finale
Related/Supporting Readings
Related Story-Archs
House of M - After the destruction of the Avengers, Wanda was coerced by her brother Quicksilver into manipulating reality to create a world where mutants ruled the earth and humankind was hated by the mutant majority. The Avengers Disassembled event is considered by Marvel to be the first part of a trilogy event, with the House of M being the second part.
Civil War - The third part of the trilogy event started out and continued by the House of M, the Civil war was largely influenced by the events of both other story-lines.
Influenced by the Avengers Disassembled
The House of M prepared for and generated several other story-archs including:
Associated Issues
Edit
(SPOILER WARNING)
It starts off as a beautiful day at Avengers Mansion. The Avengers are eating a meal and talking. Hawkeye and Ant-Man are discussing their number one "can't have", when the alarm suddenly goes off. A check of the monitor reveals that the intruder is former Avenger Jack of Hearts who had just died recently. Ant-Man goes out to investigate. He confronts Jack's shambling corpse and asks him how he's still alive. Jack of Hearts can only mutter an apology as he and Avengers Mansion suddenly explode. Jarvis and the Avengers who had remained inside manage to crawl out from the rubble. They search for Ant-Man, but he was not so fortunate. Scott Lang is dead.
Meanwhile, Tony Stark- the US Secretary of Defense- is giving a speech to the UN. He starts to stammer and sweat. He becomes very aggressive and insults the Latverian ambassador. Yellowjacket and T'Challa try to stop him, but he becomes even more aggressive and nearly fires at the ambassador from Latveria. He finally leaves the podium, and begins to regain some semblance of normalcy. The Scarlet Witch comes up to him and asks him what happened. He tells her that he thinks he's drunk, but he swears that he hasn't had anything to drink. Suddenly, they get a Code White from Avengers Mansion.
Back at what's left of a mansion, Captain America berates a young soldier for speaking down to Jarvis. Jarvis attempts to explain what happened, when they see an Avengers Quinjet in the sky. They notice that it's coming in pretty fast, and Cap manages to see Vision in the cockpit. Before anyone can react, the Quinjet crashes into the disaster area. The Vision exits the smoldering crash and makes cryptic remarks about the team has failed and that they're about to be punished. He apologizes and opens his mouth wide. Several metallic spheres come shooting from his gaping cavity; Captain America shouts for everyone to fall back. Each sphere morphs into a killer Ultron android.
The Avengers battle the killer robots while they try to figure out why all of this is happening. As they manage to defeat the Ultrons, She-Hulk begins to go berserk. She picks up the Vision's lifeless husk and threatens it violently. Captain America tells her to calm down, but she only gets angrier. Finally in a double page spread of circuits and gore, she rips what was left of the Vision in half. Wasp flies up to her and tries to talk sense into her, but She-Hulk slaps her down. She starts attacking Captain America and knocks him to the ground. As Hawkeye calls for a Hulkbuster crew, She-Hulk picks up an armored vehicle and prepares to throw it at Cap's battered body.
Somewhere, two mysterious people are discussing the recent events. One of them asks if it's over, but the other says that the Avengers have much to answer for. The first voice wants to kill them and be done with it, but the second says that would have no meaning. And then the voice repeats that it's not over.
(SPOILER WARNING)
Tony Stark is flying over Manhattan in his Iron Man armor. The president's chief of staff is informing him that due to his violent outburst at the UN(see prev. issue) he will be forced to resign as secretary of defense. Tony asks to speak to the president directly, but is denied. He tells the chief of staff that he as to go. There's an emergency at Avengers Mansion.
Meanwhile, at the devastated Mansion, She-Hulk has lost control for some reason and smashes Captain America with an armored vehicle. The other Avengers try to calm her down; to no avail. She runs around smashing and throwing vehicles until Iron Man arrives and is able to knock her out. Hawkeye tells the Armored Avenger that Cap is trapped under a truck, and Iron Man uses his armor's magnetic powers to lift the vehicle. Thankfully, Captain America managed to cover himself with his shield and is only mildly injured. Falcon runs up holding the battered Wasp informing Cap that he's taking her to the hospital. Yellowjacket grows to giant-size and grabs Falcon and Jan in his hand. He tells Sam that he'll have them at the hospital in a second.
Captain America also goes to Beth-Israel Hospital to get his arm put back in it's socket. He asks the doctor about the condition of his teammates. A series of panels informs us that Captain Britain is in critical condition, She-Hulk is in custody, Ant-Man's body is in the morgue, and what's left of the Vision has been sent back to Stark Enterprises.
The Wasp is also in critical condition and her unconscious body is being visited by her former husband, Yellowjacket. She's still Wasp-size making it hard for the doctors to work on her. Pym desperately encourages her to wake up. He tells her that no matter what good he does, he'll always be remembered as the man who created Ultron. He tearfully tells her that this isn't how he wanted his life to be.
While Yellowjacket remains by Janet's bedside, a group of Avengers have gathered outside the hospital to discuss everything that's happened to them. Hawkeye tells the group that he thinks they're having an extremely bad day. He then proceeds to tell them that he thinks they had it coming and lists examples of the Avengers being short-sighted. Tony is about to tell the others about what happened at the UN, when Yellowjacket comes rushing out. He angrily wants to know if Tony told the others about he did. Captain America asks Iron Man what he did, but before he can answer Pym butts in and tells them all the Tony was drunk and threatened to kill the Latverian ambassador. Stark tells them that he wasn't drunk, and with everything else that's happened thinks this might be some form of attack. Yellowjacket refuses to believe him, so Tony asks the other for support. Captain America and the Falcon tell him that they believe he's telling the truth, but Hawkeye(who's father was an alcoholic) is somewhat doubtful. Angered at being doubted, Iron Man sarcastically thanks them for their support and flies away.
The group's Avenger's alarms go off indicating something is happening at the mansion. Yellowjacket stays behind to be with the Wasp, while the others take the Quinjet. They're forced to land in the park next door because the mansion is now considered a crime scene. As they depart the jet, they see that an army of former and reserve Avengers have gathered to help during the crisis.
(SPOILER WARNING)
Captain America asks the assembled heroes why they have gathered. Black Panther tells him that they were all Avengers once; when the alarm sounded, they answered it. Nick Fury informs the heroes that they're contaminating a crime scene, and tries to get them to move to the park next door. Ms. Marvel asks Cap if it's true that Scott Lang is dead. He solemnly confirms her question, and then comforts her. The meeting is interrupted by Nick Fury cursing. Dum Dum Dugan opens his communicator to reveal that the UN is disavowing their relationship with the Avengers. Hawkeye is angry, but Captain America is more pragmatic. Fury again tries to get the heroes to disperse... until he notices a Kree warcraft in the sky.
Fury radios his helicarrier for intel, but they tell him that their instruments aren't picking up anything. Meanwhile, the sky is filling with Kree ships that begin firing upon the crowd. Fury tells his men to look out their windows, and they finally see what's going on.
Meanwhile, the heroes are on the defensive. Hercules manages to rip a Kree out of his ship, but the alien blasts him and runs off. Spider-Man trips him with his webs, and the Kree runs right into Captain America's shield. Cap asks the alien why they're attacking now of all times. The alien warrior rambles on about the Supreme Intelligence foretold this day; of how the Avengers would pay for their betrayal. Captain America asks how they were betrayed, but before he gets an answer a whole Kree militia beams down and starts blasting. Nick Fury screams that things aren't right: the Kree have the technology to level New York from space; they're no reason for a ground assault. Hawkeye, who had gone to get more arrows, makes his last stand. He rushes forward and manages to take out several of the alien soldiers, but then his quiver is blasted and his arrows set on fire. Out of weapons, and with no other options, Hawkeye grabs a nearby Kree and activates his jetpack. He and the alien fly into the giant Kree warship, causing it to explode.
Captain America and the Avengers are aghast at Hawkeye's sacrifice, but only for a second. With a cry of "Avengers Assemble", he leads his superhero army against the alien invaders... who promptly beam back into their ships and fly away. As the assembled heroes try to make sense of what just happened, Doctor Strange appears as an astral projection. He apologizes for not getting there sooner, and tells them that "the magicks are being abused". Cap seems puzzled, but then a sad recognition passes across his face.
(SPOILER WARNING)
THEN: Wanda Maximoff and Janet van Dyne are lounging by the pool at Avengers Mansion. Jan tells Wanda that she had a pregnancy scare, but fortunately she wasn't pregnant. She remarks that Avengers shouldn't have kids, and makes an off-handed comment about Wanda thinking she could have two of them. Wanda asks her what she meant. Jan realizes what she's done and leaves in a hurry. Wanda looks suspicious and closes her eyes.
NOW: Doctor Strange introduces himself to the gathered Avengers and tells them that they are in great danger from a magical threat. He asks them if they know anyone who could have caused that much chaos.
THEN: Wanda visits Agatha Harkness and asks her why people think that she had two kids. Agatha's hand starts to tremble and she tries to explain, but Wanda gets even more upset and asks where her children are.
NOW: Ms. Marvel angrily exclaims that Wanda couldn't be behind their "bad day". The Avengers debate the situation amongst themselves; Firestar mentions the problems with Wanda's kids. Dr. Strange asks what happened to them. Beast explains that Wanda wanted children so bad, that she conjured two up. Agatha Harkness realized what they were and erased them from existence. Dr. Strange wonders why the Avengers didn't come to him when this happened. He tells the assembled heroes that magic powers ordinarily take great amounts of training to wield and control, but since Wanda is a mutant she was given her powers without having earned them. Ms. Marvel asks if the chaos magic can be reversed and their comrades be revived. Dr. Strange is confused, and the Avengers have to tell him about Wanda's recent chaos magic upgrades. Dr. Strange solemnly tells the group that there is no such thing as chaos magic.
Strange tells them to forget that Wanda is a friend, and then describes facets of Wanda's history. Interspersed between the panels of Strange explaining are panels of various times when the Scarlet Witch lost control or acted evil. Finally, there is a double page spread featuring panels of various sizes depicting Wanda in various states. Strange asks if anything he's described NOT sound like Wanda Maximoff.
The Avengers are still divided on whether Wanda could be behind their troubles. Iron Man decides there's only one way to find out and asks Dr. Strange to help them find her. Dr. Strange agrees but warns them about what they'll see when they find her.
The scene changes and we see Wanda serving dinner to her family. Her two children are there, along with Wonder Man, the Vision, and Agatha Harkness. Everything is black, white, and gray, with red being the only color. Captain America enters the room and tells Wanda to let him help. Wanda's two boys become upset and go to their mother for comfort. Cap tries telling her that her family isn't real, when suddenly he's in front of a Nazi firing squad led by the Red Skull. He blocks their shots with his shield, but is knocked out through a window. The Scarlet Witch appears to the crowd gathered below, and Ms. Marvel angrily confronts her. Wanda creates a version of Rogue to fight Ms. Marvel, and then proceeds to create the heroes enemies to fight them. Her children cheer. Dr. Strange has had enough and yells at her to stop. She tells him that they can't take her children away again and creates a Dormammu to fight Strange. He ignores the demon, and uses the Eye of Agamotto to show her the truth. Wanda falls from the sky; unconscious.
Col. Fury and his men and enter the house and find the decaying corpse of Agatha Harkness. Meanwhile, the heroes are trying to decide what to do with Wanda. Her father Magneto appears overhead and demands that they give him his daughter. He takes her, and sadly tells her that he failed her. He flies away with her in his arms. The Avengers say their goodbyes and silently fly off in separate directions.
THEN: In a bittersweet ending, we see a three page reprint of Avengers 16, showing Wanda and Quicksilver joining the team.
-
NiteFly
465 points -
Blue_Shield
55 points -
crohnos
10 points -
Gambler
6 points -
Holacik
3 points -
Marvelboy888
2 points -
Markio
1 points -
Mr. Wilson
1 points
-
Gambler
48,979 posts -
Methos
37,813 posts -
pixelized
28,832 posts -
King Saturn
24,224 posts -
Darkchild
22,956 posts -
Eternal Chaos
18,888 posts -
Vance Astro
17,744 posts -
Kiara_Sullivan
17,485 posts -
Nighthunter
17,335 posts -
Final Arrow
17,061 posts
