Avengers, The (1963 series) #382

The explosion of Bova’s cabin has killed the New Men but Crystal has created a bubble which saved herself, Quicksilver, Bova, and the High Evolutionary. High E’s servants who were farther from the explosion come running only to be killed by Exodus’ monster Rakkus who had been disguised as Bova’s friend Fydor. Pietro and Crystal fight the monster while Bova tries to comprehend what happened to her compassionate caregiver. High E sums up the creature’s powers, that he is capable of recoding his DNA, then orders the New Men to protect Bova while he joins the two Avengers in fighting Rakkus….

At Avengers Mansion, Black Widow comes upon an exhausted Captain America asleep in a chair. She is concerned over his health but as she gazes on him, she begins to see him as a very attractive man. She reaches out to touch him but Jarvis enters, startling her. They leave quietly, Natasha worried about her thoughts….

At Le Circe, the famed uptown restaurant, Hercules dines with Taylor Madison, overjoyed and perplexed that she has finally accepted his attentions despite her illness. She excuses herself to go to the restroom and she encounters Ares, who recognizes her as his stepmother Hera in disguise and demands to know what she is doing, violating Zeus’ order to visit the human world. Hera reminds him of their wager to see which of them can cause the most pain and sorrow to Hercules. She explains that she intends to use Taylor Madison, Herc’s predestined soulmate, to destroy his life. Then she sends Ares back to Olympus….

When Rakkus is temporarily down, Bova begs it to return her friend Fydor back to her. Rakkus has now morphed into a giant and he lifts her in the air to kill her so High E blasts a hole in Rakkus’ chest. Pietro saves Bova from a hard fall while the monster morphs back into Fydor who warns her that the monster was only recalled by his master and this isn’t over. And then he dies….

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Story #2

The Door: Synchronicity

Writer: Ben Raab.
Penciler: Jeff Matsuda.
Inker: Klaus Janson.
Colorist: Chris Eliopoulos.
Letterer: Kevin Tinsley.

Synopsis

A duplicate of Avengers Mansion has appeared from nowhere with a power flux leaving the place in darkness. Black Widow is dispatched to explore it, crawling into the basement via elevator cable in the dark, communicating with Hank Pym via radio. As she comes to discover how similar this place is to theirs, Hank tries to open the place’s encrypted files but is denied. Natasha discovers a holding cell which has no counterpart in her reality. Hank theorizes the existence of a chronal displacement field—a mini-wormhole—draining the energy of the building to sustain itself. Strange readings lead Natasha to call Hank and Vision down to see what’s there. Readings show a dense chunk of displaced time behind a wall. Vision sticks his hand in and it results in an explosion. Behind the wall is a massive vault—but what’s inside? Captain America calls, asking Vision and Giant-Man to meet him at the Quinjet, so they must leave the mystery for another day….