Another laser beam attack is followed by
Living Laser materialising in front of her. Laser boasts revenge for his defeat in
#79 (although
Wanda didn't have much to with that). But the Witch is more concerned with the fact that he supposedly died after that in
Captain Marvel #35. Except
LL says that was an android.
Laser grabs the Crown and prepares to kill the Witch. But she's saved by the arrival of some of Brand's armed troops. Laser chooses the better part of valour and disappears in a glow of energy.
An hour earlier the other Avengers arrived home in their
quinjet from New Orleans (last issue). They sneak in the back entrance to
Avengers Mansion to avoid the crowd and press still waiting to learn what the arrival of a zuvembie
Wonder Man meant in
#151.
Wondy is comatose again after his brief spate of activity last issue. But
Vision says his heartbeat has been gradually getting stronger.
Jarvis tells them they have a visitor,
Bob Frank the
Golden Age Whizzer (in costume), who wants to see Vision. Whizzer is wondering if Wanda, his daughter, can forgive him when the android walks in through the wall. Vision complains that his wife has been worried. They haven't heard from Daddy Frank in the months since the wedding of his son
Quicksilver (
#127 and
Fantastic Four #150).
As Vision explains that Scarlet Witch isn't with the team at the moment, a beam of light hits Bob's eye. And suddenly Whizzer is attacking him. The aged speedster takes on
Beast,
Captain America and
Iron Man too, all the while shouting names such as
Isbisa. He manages to defeat them all because they don't want to hurt him, until he's taken down by
Wasp and
Yellowjacket in his ears. But when they take Whizzer to the lab to examine him they find the place wrecked and Wonder Man gone.
Simon Williams has staggered out of a side entrance to the Mansion, but some of the crowd still spot him and chase him. Still not in his right mind he lashes out at them. But that activity seems to speed up his recovery, and he moves off more purposefully.
This brings us up-to-date, and we rejoin Scarlet Witch at Brand Corp. When the soldiers attacked they recognised Wanda and assumed this was a return visit by the Avengers. Now they intend to capture her for
Hugh Jones and
Col Baxter (see
#149 and previous). The Witch has no intention of going quietly and downs them all with a hex/spell. But 1 guy gets in a lucky shot which wounds her in the arm. And she flies off to warn her team about Living Laser and the Serpent Crown.
Meanwhile Wonder Man seems drawn to a particular alley. And his recovery has progressed to where he's talking normally (but to himself). Then Laser appears wearing the Crown. He explains that it was he who caused Whizzer to hallucinate old enemies instead of Avengers, to give Simon the chance to escape. His new laser-power allowed him to mentally lure
WM to this meeting, while he went to find the Crown. Now the Crown gives him even more control, and he sends Wonder Man to kill the Avengers.
This story concludes in
ANNUAL #6.
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