Outlines of twelve hypothetical issues of Avengers after the Heroes Return

by Van Allen Plexico with Michael McClelland

[Editor's note: When I wrote these, I had no idea this site would take off in the way it has. In the near future I'll go back and expand each of these into full stories in the manner of the other MV1 series. Promise! --Van]

Avengers #403 through #406 now available as full issues.

407: "The Return of Wonder Man" Hank Pym and Beast succeed in gathering up as much of Wonder Man's dispersed energies as they can find. They return to the labs and try to recreate Simon's form. Meanwhile, a message arrives from Nova, very garbled, calling for aid. He is apparently under attack on, of all places, the Blue Area of the Moon! Hawkeye reluctantly volunteers to stay behind and hold down the fort, since Beast and Pym have been sequestered in the basement labs for days. But Wanda offers to stay instead, and Hawkeye gratefullly agrees. Iron Man, Cap, Vision, Panther, Wasp, and Hawkeye fly to the Moon to investigate. In the labs, Beast and Pym open the energy collector door, and a very dazed, disoriented, and amnesiac Simon Williams steps out.

408: "Fear, Fury, and the Fundamental Force!" Graviton has returned. He is power-mad, bent on revenge, and once again feels himself the superior of all the combined Avengers. He attacks their headquarters, but finds only the Scarlet Witch on duty. A battle ensues, with Wanda shocking the villain by holding her own. Her hexes repeatedly nullify his attacks, but she is unable to bring him down, either. Beast, Pym, and the revived (though totally disoriented) Wonder Man rush from the labs to help, only to find that Wanda has at last utterly defeated Graviton by herself! Her confidence is boosted tremendously, but she nearly faints when she turns and sees Simon standing there. Meanwhile, on the Moon, the Avengers land and discover Nova under attack by... the Super Adaptoid, back in big, green form, and having duplicated the powers of the New Warriors!

409: "Madness on the Moon" On the Blue Area of the Moon, the Avengers square off against the Super Adaptoid. The New Warriors, having been mostly defeated earlier, begin to recover. Battle rages, with the Adaptoid adding new powers to his collection. Back on Earth, Wonder Man behaves in completely robotic fashion, with little in the way of personality or memories. Wanda tries to make him remember who he is, etc, but she fails. Beast and Pym confer, and decide there's not much they can do about it. On the Moon, the battle continues. As the New Warriors join the fray, the Adaptoid decides the odds are turning against him, and rockets into space. The Avengers and Nova pursue, while the other New Warriors, still weak from their earlier battle, return to Earth.

410: "Old Friends...and Enemies!" The Super Adaptoid returns to Earth, eluding pursuit. The Avengers and Nova rendezvous outside the Mansion, and Cap and Iron Man express admiration for Nova's abilities, offering him membership, should he ever desire it. Nova is flattered, and says he'll consider it. Beast, Pym, Wanda, and Jarvis rush out and reveal the "new" Wonder Man, to everyone's surprise, especially the Vision's, who now fears that he has a rival for Wanda's affections just as he was starting to perhaps win her back. Simon is still hopelessly out of it, though. The Black Panther bids goodbye and departs, Jan going with him on his invitation to another diplomatic function. After a break and a meal, the Avengers realize that the Vision has vanished without a trace, and begin to look for him. Elsewhere, in a darkened laboratory, the Vision lies strapped to a table, comatose, having been abducted. A shadowy figure looms over him. At last we see, it is Leo, the new leader of the Zodiac. But at the last moment, Leo rips his mask away, to reveal his true identity: the fearsome visage of Ultron!

411: "Adamantium Love" Ultron cackles his plans to the now-revived but neutralized Vision. Ultron wants to know just what the Vision's current body can do, compared to the original one Ultron modified. Then--the Super Adaptoid walks in. Ultron greets the Adaptoid, who metamorphosizes into Jocasta. This Jocasta, Ultron declares, is directly under his mental control, so that there is no danger of her rebelling. He stole the technology from AIM to grant her the Adaptoid's powers, then dispatched Jocasta/Adaptoid to the Moon to investigate the technology in the Blue Area. The Vision warns Ultron that he is merely headed for his latest defeat, but Ultron ignores him. At the Mansion, the Avengers discover the Vision's location (if Ms. Marvel were still around, she'd use her seventh sense to find him). Iron Man, Cap, Hawkeye, and the Scarlet Witch rush to the hidden base, not knowing who they'll find, but sensing that if the culprit is powerful enough to abduct the Vision, he must be a considerable threat. Crashing through the doors and walls, they find themselves face to face with Ultron and the Super Adaptoid.

412: "Adamantium Rage" Ultron faces the Avengers. Wanda immediately attempts to affect his molecular rearranger, but the ploy fails, and Ultron laughs. "My technology is far different this time, Avengers. A pity you will not survive long enough to discover any new weaknesses!" He attacks. Battle begins between Ultron and Iron Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Captain America, plus a freed Vision. Meanwhile, Thor returns to the Mansion, only to be told by Jarvis that the Avengers have just reported back that they are facing Ultron. Thor takes off, followed by the two Hanks, Pym and McCoy, with the still very disoriented Wonder Man. Wondy picks up a spare jet belt before they rush to the scene of battle. At Ultron's base, the battle continues, with the new Jocasta/Adaptoid at Ultron's side. The two robotic villains are winning, and the Avengers are in trouble. Thor arrives, wreathed in lightning, squaring off with Ultron.

413: "Return of the Hero" Melee with everyone vs. Ultron. Thor, Iron Man, and Vision wail into him. Free-for-all for a while. Then Beast, Pym, and Wonder Man arrive. Ultron laughs at this--he's just having his way with them all and they can't really hurt him. Jocasta attacks Thor, fearing his ability to conceivably hurt Ultron. Thor defeats her in an epic battle. Ultron is furious and attacks mercilessly. Wondy wades in, but after a few shots from Ultron, realizes that he is unstable and could explode again at any moment. He mentally wrestles with this. At the climax, he rushes forward, seizes Ultron in an unbreakable arm-lock, and rockets them both into space, hoping his explosion will destroy Ultron as well. Iron Man and Thor follow, and they pull Wondy away from Ultron. Thor uses his hammer to siphon Wondy's excess energy so that he is stabilized, while Iron Man manages to disable Ultron's jets so that he is drifting helpless in space. The story ends with Wondy hurling Ultron far off into space, helpless. The three heroes return to Earth. The recent events have restored a great deal of Simon's memories and personality, and he's more himself again.