Story #2Collect and Proceed
Writer:
Bob Harras.Penciler:
Steve Epting. Inker:
Tom Palmer. Colorist:
Christie Scheele. Letterer:
John Costanza.
Synopsis
Black Panther, Quasar, Beast, Hank Pym are aboard the ruins of the Collector’s ship, searching for a means of reviving that unconscious Elder to see what they can learn about the Brethren, who are at that minute conquering Earth. A search of the computer tells Beast that Collector once wore the Soul Gem, imbuing him with a vitality shield, which he has since lost. He calls up a schematic of the Soul Gem’s energy pattern which Quasar would be able to duplicate. Quasar does his thing and the energy in the room grows intense, stunning Quasar but reviving the Collector. But he is out of his mind and begins fighting them; Beast suddenly vanishes and the Collector passes out. Beast reappears, explaining that Hank Pym miniaturized him and Beast pressed on the Collector’s carotid artery to subdue him….
When he recovers, the Collector tries to recall the data on the Brethren but he is a bit scatterbrained and the Brethren were the first people to escape his museum. Then he remembers so Hank Pym is able to shrink Collector, Black Panther, Quasar, and Beast to enter the miniaturized eco-system recently inhabited by the Brethren. It’s only when they have reached their destination that the Collector realizes he has made a mistake: this isn’t the Brethren’s eco-cell but the one for Bruruthianparamecium rex, a tentacled amoeba-like creature that attacks their ship….