Avengers #415

Kang's Quest I

Kang is standing in the Avengers dining room. Again Iron Man asks him to explain himself and Kang responds that he has come in peace; peace towards the Avengers at least. He needs help destroying all the inferior alternate Kangs running around ruining his good name. The Avengers are, to put it mildly, skeptical of his motives. Finally Thor has had enough. "Why shouldst I not rip out thy lying tongue, villain?" Kang sighs. "Clearly I won't be able to convince you of my goodwill. Perhaps there is someone else who can." Saying this, Kang steps aside and who should appear in a ball of thunder than Odin himself.

Thor is understandably confused while most of the other Avengers react simply with awe; Odin's power is palpable. Odin then speaks on behalf of Kang and a long, telling speech it is. Odin explains how Kang came to his attention: sitting on the Asgardian throne one fateful day in the late 1800's, Odin was surprised to receive an urgent summons from the Grand Vizier. Hurrying to discover what could be of such importance that the Vizier would have the temerity to summon the All-Father, Odin is further surprised to see, revealed by the Vizier's spell, his son Thor in battle with an oddly garbed stranger. Odin is understandably confused, for since Loki had absconded with the Golden apples a few years earlier and attempted to hide with them on Midgard, Odin had banned travel to Midgard until things calmed down. Further he knew his son to be tarrying in a far corner of Asgard. Using his Odin-power, Odin quickly ascertained that this was his son come from another time. Intrigued, Odin watched the battle which culminated with Thor killing Kang...or seemed to. In fact Odin reached out and snatched Kang away at the last moment and used his Odin power to fool Thor into believing Kang dead (The battle happened in Avengers #143 -- Smilin' Scott).

"Why?" Thor asks. Odin responds slowly...at the time, Thor had yet to learn his responsibilities (Odin hints he still is lacking in this area) and had yet to learn humility; frankly Odin did not trust Thor's judgment and wished to see for himself why Thor would execute a mortal in defiance of Odin's then-current stricture against interference with Earth. Whisking Kang to Asgard, Odin quickly decided that while Thor may have had good reason to execute Kang he had no authority to do so; instead Odin decided to imprison Kang until such a time as Odin had determined what recourse to take. Therefore he cast a mighty spell and froze Kang between moments in time until further notice.

Here is where Kang takes over, telling his part of the story. Unknown to Odin, certain devices, machines and even mystical spells were woven into Kang's armor which kept Kang, alone among the stars, unable to create alternate duplicates of himself. Kang had foreseen the possibility of alternate Kang's attempting to take over his reality; foreseen it because he had quickly decided to do much the same. Therefore he had set up a preemptive strike in the days just before he became Kang and built into his suit failsafes that would negate the time flow around him in such a way as to make it impossible for alternate clones to be formed. Odin's magical imprisonment, however, had shut off this aspect of the suit at the moment of his abduction, immediately causing an several alternate worlds to form: one where Odin didn't interfere and Kang was killed as well as one where Odin didn't interfere but Kang survived. This was the seed of all the alternates now clogging the spaceways. Finally the events of the Crossing -- Iron Man's death and, more, the death of Gilgamesh the Forgotten One, had spurred Odin to action. He awoke Kang and questioned him; realizing immediately the mistake he had made, Odin decided it was his duty to help destroy all the fake Kangs. this obligation was now complete with his vouching for Kang's intentions.

With this Odin takes his leave and zaps off back to Asgard, leaving the Avengers stunned in his wake. They are unsure what exactly to do -- Thor, while displeased with his father's interference, thinks that it is their duty to destroy all these other Kangs since they unwittingly played a part in the Kangs' existence. Wasp and the Scarlet Witch both disagree; it's Kang's problem, not theirs. Iron Man, meanwhile, is torn, since this touches directly on his supposed death which he is unable to remember due to the memory-loss caused by the return from HR. The Avengers finally decide they can't decide and split up to discuss things for awhile. Thor offers to keep watch over Kang who willingly complies, and the Avengers break up to talk things over. Wasp and the Witch head off to talk, Cap, Hawkeye and Iron Man sequester themselves in the war room to hash out details, while the two Hanks head to the lab to see what they can figure out about Wonder Man's new, less powered form. Wonder Man is about to join them when the Vision interrupts; he wants to speak to Simon in private.

The two head down to the training room. Vision closes the door behind him and quietly says "I loved you like a brother and you stabbed me in the back." Simon, still off center from his second death, is confused but the Vision, now showing visible signs of anger, makes everything perfectly clear. "I needed you. I was hurt, dying, I needed your brain patterns to stabilize things. I could have been saved and you -- you let me die! You let me die so you could steal my wife, my place in the Avengers, my life! My own brother!" Vision is seriously pissed off; Simon took his life and now he wants it back.

Simon, bludgeoned by the accusations, can hardly get a word in to defend himself; but when the Vision starts talking about Wanda Simon begins to get his own dander up. "She was a woman, Vision, a living human woman. She needed you when your children died and you gave her nothing! Well, I gave her what she needed. I was there while you just watched. You had no heart..."

"You ripped it out!"

"She never loved you, she only loved the parts of me she saw in you and you know it. That's why you're angry, not because I took Wanda but because you know it was me she wanted to have all along!"

Enraged the Vision attacks and the two begin duking it out. The Vision is too enraged to think of using his phasing or his solar beam while Simon is too drained and de-powered to take Vision down. Slowly, though, the now superior strength and toughness of the Vision begin to take their toll. Exhausted and unsteady from his recent resurrection, Simon slowly gives ground until the Vision finally beats him down...

...and the door flies open. The Witch and Wasp have come down to give an update on what the others have decided about Kang. The Witch is stunned to see the wreckage and Vision standing angrily over the wounded Simon and demands to know what is going on. Simon feebly answers that they had argued about her and she tells them both off "I am not a prize to be won." She stomps off but is secretly pleased in a way about the emotion Vision was showing...could he really be the Vision of old, her husband?

Finally the group gathers again around Kang to reveal their decision. It wasn't an easy decision to come to, says Cap, but they've decided to help Kang take out the others. Kang has given them some details; it seems he had constructed a massive weapon against the possibility of this or a similar occurrence; but during his imprisonment in Asgard the device had been destroyed and due to it's anti-time nature, Kang cannot time-travel to a time before it was destroyed. However, it is possible that an alternate world with a Kang may have a copy of the weapon; they could kill two birds with one stone. "How do we get to this other Kang's world, though?" Pym wonders. Kang has an answer though...and soon enough the team is assembled in the basement where a door, unopened in months, now waits. Grasping the handle in what seems to be an eerily familiar manner, Iron Man pulls the door open to reveal...continued next issue.

Avengers #416

Kang's Quest II: Crossed Out

The Mighty Avengers stand Assembled before the gate to the world of the Crossing Kang: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wasp, Hank Pym (in his Dr. Pym mode this time -- with so many heavy hitters, he figures Giant-Man would be a bit superfluous), Beast and Wonder Man. With them is Kang himself, master of time. Iron Man carefully approaches the door and opens it, revealling a shimmering portal. Before any of them enter, Iron Man expresses concern about the entire team going, as some emergency is bound to pop up if they all go through and leave New York unattended. PLus, if they go through and are trapped there will be nobody in support to come rescue them. Cap agrees and quickly designates Vision, Beast and Hank Pym to stay behind as a rearguard. Vision, however, objects strongly as he wants to stay with the Scarlet Witch. After a brief discussion Hawkeye agrees to stay behind with Vision and the Scarlet Witch while Beast and Pym go through with the others.Having so decided, Thor is the first to head through and the others follow...

...to find the portal was a bit of a trap; the Avengers find themselves split up, alone inside a vast futuristic city and surrounded by hordes of startled citizens who acknowledge Kang as their ruler. The Avengers each seperately begin heading for the obvious main citadel, but are quickly deterred by masses of soldiers armed with futuristic weapons. Some of the Avengers are victorious quicker than the others, and, following the signs of battle go to join their fellow. Soon the groups all manage to find each other and the Avengers are reunited -- but the battle has cost them precious time. Crossing-Kang's men (Newt, Mantis, the Twins) have gathered to stop them. A massive battle ensues. Things seem even until suddenly, Iron Man switches sides!

The traitrous Iron Man begins turning things towards the Crossing teams favor but the surprises aren't over with. Kang blasts Iron Man with a strange disruptor he pulls from a pocket and the armor completely shorts out and Iron Man crashes to the ground. Somehow Kang has gained complete specs on Iron Man's suit and devised a neutralizer. With Iron Man removed from the fight the battle swings the other direction. Finally Kang kills the Crossing-Kang (much to Cap's dismay) and the others are captured. Wonder Man briefly comments that he's glad Wanda isn't there to see there alternate sons.

Cap helps Iron Man fix his suit and as he does, Iron Man relates to the amazed group that he has regained his memory of the time during the Crossing. Tony reveals the truth: in the aftermath of the Gatherer's battle Ute fixed all of New York but accidentally (?) pulled an Avengers mansion in from another reality -- the Crossing-Kang reality. INvestigating the door one day, Iron Man was stunned when it popped open at his command. Before he could decide whether to go through it or summon the other, though, he was pulled through by Kang. He was then subjected to torture and various mental powers, but no matter what he tried, Kang was unable to break Tony. Crossing-Kang would have killed him if not for the intervention of Mantis who said he was worth more alive. Crossing-Kang agreed and instead imprisoned Tony...

...which is where Kang again takes over the story. With the real Iron Man missing from the Avengers world, the Crossing-Kang had a plan -- a plan so convoluted and time-oriented, nobody but Kang could have understood it. The jist is this: the Crossing-Kang world is, in fact, the same reality the Avengers created when they travelled to the past and snatched Teen Tony to the future to stop the Crossing-Kang. Teen Tony took his place in the Avengers world as Iron Man...until Onslaught. Sucked into Onslaught, Teen Tony was bounced back into his own true reality, rejected by the Onslaught energy because his chronal pattern was different; the Onslaught was so powerful it switched the two Tony's. The Avengers Tony appeared, confused, mere moments before Onslaught exploded for good, while back on the Crossing-Earth, the Teen Tony appeared in Kang's citidel...but ten years in the past, at the very moment the Avengers had originally stolen him from the Crossing-Earth. Kang quickly took over his succeptible mind and sent him back to live out his fated life...but with a difference. Following Kang's instructions, Teen Tony used his fortune to build the Iron Man armor and joined the Crossing-Universe's Avengers. He remained with the team long enough to betray them to Kang, leading to their destruction. Kang allowed the unsuspecting Iron man to continue his heroic life as a pawn until the sudden, surprising appearance of the Avengers Iron Man...at which point Kang captured the Avengers Iron Man and replaced him with his Crossing-alternate, who ironically would go on by his own younger self (in effect) during the Crossing. (whew)

Having finally revealled the awful secrets of the Crossing, Kang finishes his tale by pointing out that he got the specs from Iron Man's armor by accessing his alternate's files, and that these same specs allowed the Crossing-Kang to take over Iron Man's suit. It wasn't Iron Man who switched sides during their battle, but the suit itself. Tony is understandably upset at the thought of his suit being compromised, but there's nothing he can do about it now. The team then heads off to find the neutralizer they hope is hidden in the Crossing-Kang's citidel. Kang tells them he is getting some odd reading, readings that could be eminating from the Chrono-Neutralizer. Following the signal, the team enters Kang's citadel and quickly locates the throne room. The signal is incredibly strong, but there is no sign of why. Kang postulates that perhaps the neutralizer is out of synch with time and uses his time powers to try and locate it, but suddenly he collapses with an agonizing wail. Suddenly a voice rings out:

"Fool, you didn't stop to think that your precious signal may have been a trap? You call yourself the master of time, but you are a mindless lackey. Gaze upon the the true master of time..."

...a group of figures materializes in mid room and the Avengers are astonished and horrified to see younger versions of themselves and the Fantastic Four, all wearing matching red costumes, along with...

"I, the Scarlet Centurion!"

Avengers #417

Kang's Quest III: Scarlet Night

Our story starts within the Avengers Mansion. Hawkeye is bored to tears on monitor duty. He accepted the idea of staying behind because he knew that with the others gone there would be plenty of action for him on Earth; besides, he sort of wanted to get back into a leadership role and this would be the perfect time. Unfortunately, nothing is going on anywhere at all. Bored, Hawkeye is reading a magazine and bemoaning his fate when suddenly a claxon goes off. Unconcerned, Hawkeye finishes his article, then sets the magazine aside to see what the problem is. What he sees on his monitor screen causes him to gape in astonishment...and perhaps a hint of fear...? But whatever it is, we'll have to wait to find out because events on the Crossing-Earth demand our attention.

Specifically, the Scarlet Centurion and his horde of Avengers and Fantastic Four have arrived. Cap immediately recognizes the situation; they are from an Earth where the Avengers were unable to defeat their younger selves to save the Earth and instead the Scarlet Centurion took over, enslaving the remaining heroes to be his personal strike force (it originally took place in Avengers Special #2 -- Centurion Scott). Now the Centurion has travelled the dimensions in search of the same prize as Kang -- the Chrono-Neutralizer.

"Step aside, fools. I have destroyed more Avengers teams than you can know and I wont hesitate to destroy once more. Surrender." Cap quickly rebuffs him. "Mister, you know that's not going to happen. Let's do it." The battle is on! Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Dr. Pym, Wonder Man, Beast, Wasp and Kang (who has recovered enough to regain his feet) against the Scarlet Centurion, Cap, Iron Man, Giant Man, Wasp, Hulk, Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch and the Invisible Girl. Thor and Hulk quickly face off, as Thor know none of the others would stand a chance against Hulk, while those with counterparts face their counters. Wonder Man quickly attacks the Thing and Beast gets entangled with the Human Torch...madness abounds.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Vision and the Scarlet Witch are sharing a private meal and talking things over. Wanda is glad that the Vision has regained his emotions, but isn't sure they can recapture what they had before. The Vision concurs and suggests maybe they can try to find a relationship based on the way the are now, not on the past. Suddenly, though, the Scarlet Witch becomes dizzy and grabs her head.

"What is it Wanda?"

"..something...is coming...it's so strong! Help me..." She collapses.

"Wanda!" Vision jumps out of his seat and rushes to her side at the same moment Hawkeye charges into the room.

"Vision, Witch, we've got an emergency...oh. I guess you knew that." But, we'll find out about that next issue.

Meanwhile, the battle for control of time rages on. Despite the superior numbers of the Centurion's troops, they are starting to lose the advantage; the Avengers have so much more experience and teamwork, but most of all they have their free will. The Centurion's troops are a step behind. So, in fact, is the Centurion. Recovering from the initial jolt, Kang now has Centurion on the ropes. The two of them duke it out, futuristic technologies clashing. Finally, though, Kang gets the upper hand and clocks Centurion, who goes down hard. Kang momentarily assesses the battle around him, then abandons it. "I can end this all if I find the Chrono-Neutralizer" he thinks and begins an intensive search for it with all his suit's abilities.

The Avengers are clearly winning now. Thor and Hulk are still battling, but Dr. Pym KO's Hulk; sneaking behind him he shrinks himself to the microscopic level and begins wading among the Hulk's atoms. Finally finding the gamma-particles that have bonded to the Hulk's atmoic structure, Pym shrinks the gamma-particles. Pushing his power to the utmost, Pym begins a chain reaction of shrinking Gamma-particles and in moments the Hulk is gone forever, reverted to Bruce Banner. Pym wearily reverts to human size, but his job is well finished as, with Thor freed up to help the others. the tide quickly turns against the Centurion.

But the Centurion isn't out of tricks just yet. "Fools...I am the master of time. I have cowed a dozen dozen worlds. Meet your end!" So saying, Centurion opens a portal and a moment later the Squadron Supreme come rushing through. "You are doomed!" The Avengers face unbeatable odds...but Kang has something else in store. He's found the Chrono-Neutralizer; with a wave of his arm it slowly fades into place from where it had been hidden between moments in the time stream. The Centruion has been on alert for this and dives towards Kang, intercepting him before he can claim it. While the Avengers battle on against hopeless odds, Kang and the Centurion wrestle for the device and the fate of a million worlds hangs in the balance!

Avengers #418

Kang's Quest IV: Kang Supreme

DOUBLE-SIZED EXTRAVAGANZA!

Kang and the Centurion continue to wrestle over the Chrono-Neutralizer while the Avengers face their toughest odds ever: the combined might of the Avengers, Fantastic Four and Squadron Supreme...plus some surprises. The Squadron's ranks include the Avengers' own Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision and Goliath (Clint). There's no time to explain what's happening, though Cap does realize they must be from a reality where the four of them were trapped forever (after the events of Avengers #86 -- Chrono-Neutralized Scott). It seems hopeless for our heroes, but one last hope remains: the Avengers' arch enemy Kang.

Kang and Ceturion battle tooth a nail for control of the Chrono-Neutralizer, but they seem too evenly matched. One by one the Avengers fall behind Kang, until only Thor remains; then he is taken out and still Kang and Centurion are deadlocked. Kang realizes that in mere moments the horde of Centurion's slaves will overwhelm him and in a last ditch effort he activates the destruct mechanism on his suit. Using his incredible mastery of time, however, a billionth of a second after the suit explodes, Kang activates his back-up force field and pushes the explosion outwards from himself; then all hell breaks loose. The explosion rips through the room, incinerating the Centurion who is too close to react in time and levelling several other heroes who had been rushing to aid Centurion. All the others are knocked to the ground by the blast. Alone, in the center, a haggard Kang remains, alive but barely. Feebly he drags himself towards the Chrono-Neutralizer (unharmed) while Hyperion and Iron Man race to finish him. Just as their killing blows are about to strike, Kang grabs the Neutralizer and activates it.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Hawkeye and Vision have taken Witch to the infirmary. While Vision and Dr. Kincaid see to Wanda, Hawkeye quickly gets the communications up and running and patches through a call to Quicksilver in Wundagore. "Have you seen the reports from Baltimore?"

"I'm afraid I rarely watch US television these days, as I have a great deal of business here in Wundagore.

"Well, let me show you." Hawkeye patches through a picture of Baltimore; rubble and smashed buildings lie everywhere and in the foreground can be seen an injured Valkyrie being carted off on a stretcher; then the feed is cut. "Whatever caused this has also affected Wanda, she just collapsed..."

"I'll be there." Quicksilver cuts the line and Hawkeye thinks "I think I better call in a few more reserves..."

Back to Crossing-Earth! Kang has activated te Chrono-Neutralizer. Suddenly a huge burst of power rushes through him and he brushes off Hyperion and Iron Man like flies. "It's working!" All around the multi verse we see Kangs, Immortus', Rama Tuts and Scarlet Centurions suddenly, inthe midst of whatever battle or conflict or ruling session their in, cry out and then fade into nothing. This is repeated a million milion times...and all their power comes rushing through the Chrono-Neutralizer into Kang. It's the culmination of a plan so brilliant only Kang could have come up with it and dared to pull it off; he allowed his doppelgagnger failsafe to fail so he could create duplicates; duplicates to feed him. And it has worked. All the duplicate Kangs in the multi-verse, in one moment, cease to exist and their power is shunted directly into Kang.

"I AM A GOD!" The horrified mass of heroes standing about him watch as Kang fills with near omnipotent power. The death of the Centurion released his slaves from his mind control and Cap quickly shouts out "We've got to take him down!" The assembled horde rushes Kang.

"At last...at last, Avengers, you die!" Kang begins laying about him, clobbering those closest to him; the alternate Hyperion and alternate Iron Man are the first to die, but not the last. The Squadron Supreme is closest and reach Kang first but their attack is crushed in moments along with their bodies.

"We've got to come up with a plan! Cap!" Iron Man shouts as the Avengers prepare to rush Kang. Kang, meanwhile, demolishes the alternate FF and begins laying into the alternate Avengers. "We can't just let thos ebrave souls die." Cap says. "We've got to assist them, whatever happens! Avengers Assemble!" Kang looks at them with glee. "Finally, all these imposters are gone and it is just I and you, Kang and the Avengers, as it always was meant to be. This day will be recorded in history, my honored foes. I will build a monument to you in the stars, for you have given me the ultimate challenge. Now...die!" Kang lashes out...

...and his blast abruptly stops mere inches from the Avengers. "What?!" Suddenly a voice booms out. "Kang! I spoke for thine honor and thou hast disgraced my word. Now face me if you dare." Standing in a flash of fire is Odin, thirty feet tall. With an angry growl Kang grows to match size and the two being duking it out while the Avengers can only watch and try to come up with a way to help.

Kang and Odin go toe to toe, but while Odin has the Odin power, Kang has the combined might of a billion masters of time; slowly Kang begins to beat Odin back. Odin is dazed and on the ropes when Iron Man suddenly comes up with a plan.

"Wonder Man, Thor, I have an idea. Kang is too powerful for Odin alone, but there is a way...if we can combine his ower with the power you two contain, it may be enough to defeat Kang."

"How do you suggest we combine our powers?" Wonder Man asks.

"Here's the plan..." Iron Man quickly lays things out and Thor relays their intentions to Odin, who nods briefly as he surges to a desperate counter attack. The two Hanks immediately get to work; Pym grows a pile of techno-devices he had along and he and McCoy begin cannibilizing them. Strapping the makeshift device to Wonder Man, they hook him directly up Iron Man's armor. Finally, at a silent signal, Thor and Odin both channel their combined might through Mjolnir and fire it into Iron Man, who has reconfigured his suit to accept a power input. "This suit is designed as the greatest power converter on Earth..." (for instance, they channeled an entire nuclear generator through it once). Wonder Man's ionic power plus the combined cosmic power of Thor and Odin all rush into Iron Man at once. Kang, quickly turning his attention to Iron Man, lunges at him but it's too late. Striking with enough force to destroy a sun, Iron Man unleashes a hellish blast into Kang, who screams. He starts discorporating, grows hazy and with a final cry vanishes...forever? Exhausted, the Avengers survey the carnage around them and slowly begin gathering the dead...

Avengers #419

Some Say We'll See Armageddon Soon