Synopsis
Avengers Academy student Maddy Berry (Veil) is desperate to redeem herself after some unwise moves because her life depends on it. She needs head teacher Dr Pym (Giant-Man) to stop her gaseous power from eventually making her disperse away. Last issue we saw her decide to activate the portal that will hopefully bring Henry Pym's ex-wife Janet Van Dyne back from *her* dissipated state.
Now Giant-Man bursts into the room and finds the apparatus in action and a figure already starting to emerge. Maddy says she knows he was worried that Wasp would be damaged by the revival, but she also knows that *she* would take *any* chance to survive. Hank says he still had lots of tests to run but he can't stop the process now because it would cut her in half. As they see the figure fully form Henry gasps that it's *not* Jan but he vaguely recognises her.
Quicksilver has entered to see what's going on and quickly gives the naked woman a lab coat coat(?) to cover herself. She soon regains her senses and urges them to activate any cloaking technology they have because *he* will have sensed her arrival. GM assures her that the Infinite Avengers Mansion exists in the Underspace dimension where no-one can find them. But *he* does arrive in a large body glowing with energy and announces that he's Korvac and the woman is his wife Carina.
Pietro Maximoff recognises them from the epic Korvac Saga where he killed all the Avengers (but they got better). He adds that Captain America said he returned but got killed again (in Cap's 1997 series). Hank was *sure* the dispersed body he found in Underspace was Janet, but Carina explains that it was Jan's memories that he fed her which made her like that until Veil brought her back to physicality. Menawhile more students Finesse, Mettle, Reptil and Striker join them along with teacher Justice.
Michael says that before he gained cosmic power he was a man who loved his wife until they both self-destructed (Avengers #177). He survived but he never knew Carina had. But his gratitude to them to restoring her means he'll leave peacefully if they surrender her to him. Carina butts in to say that she doesn't *want* to go with him - she *chose* nonexistence over him. And he's obviously still being who wants total control of the universe. Korvac tells the Avengers to step away from his wife so he can take her somewhere to *discuss* things. But Veil, Giant-Man and Justice won't back down. So the foe fires a blast at them which is deflected by Justice's telekinesis. He claims that this weak bunch of Avengers has no hope against him but a voice declares that and Avengers never stands alone ...
... It's Thor and lots of other Avengers and New Avengers (Dr Strange, Hawkeye, Iron Fist, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Mockingbird, Ms Marvel, Protector, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Thing, Wolverine and their joint boss Commander Steve Rogers). The Thunder God's hurled Mjonir strikes the 'god'. While the newcomers scrap with Korvac, Giant-Man tells Carina and the students to get to the safe room. The final student Hazmat is with them now (it takes her a while to get her hazmat suit on) complaining that it was only a matter of time before some cosmic Avengers foe came here and extras like them will be the ones to die. The robot Jocasta greets them and tells them that her consciousness in the Infinite Mansion's computer system is rapidly shunting the safe room into different dimensions so Korvac can't get to them.
But Carina says that will only delay him. Veil asks her what this is all about and Carina agrees to tell them, at the same time creating a portal to show them the ongoing battle as background. Maddy is shocked that the woman had powers all along and did nothing to help. Carina casually uses that power to change the lab coat into a costume and explains that she's the daughter of the Elder Of The Universe known as the Collector. Hazmat asks her why she doesn't just leave with Korvac, but Carina says it wouldn't solve anything - and she tells them his history.
He lived in a future where Earth got conquered by aliens who tortured him as Norman Osborn did the students (she can see the past). He gained great power and came to Earth in this era. Collector sensed the danger and sent her to seduce Michael. (She agrees with Veil that this was an immoral thing for a father to do to his daughter, but he'd been all she knew.) She married Michael and naively fell in love with his passion to bring order to the universe. But later she realised that he hated the universe for his early life and really wanted total control of everything so nothing could hurt him again. In the end when he saw doubt in his love's eyes he committed suicide, and she followed him by committing suicide by superhero.
But like her father she's an Elder Of The Universe and can't die. She fled as energy to Underspace to recuperate, intending to resurrect him later. But Michael was also not dead. He hid his energy (from her as well as others) in bodies of his ancestors. So she stayed in Underspace, powered down, until Dr Pym found her scattered energy and thought it was *his* wife. When he transmitted Wasp's memories she learned of another woman who started off defined by her father and then defined and betrayed by her husband. But she rose above that to become a leader of the Avengers. This has inspired Carina to defeat her husband.
While this has been happening we've seen various things going on in the background. Korvac uses Iron Man as a remote club to knock others over, and then makes his armour disintegrate. Spidey is webbed up with his own webs, along with Mockingbird and teacher Tigra. Quicksilver's legs fail him. And Giant-Man is flattened by an even-gianter fist of energy.
Now Carina tells the students that her power isn't enough to defeat Korvac, and he knows it. But he's not omnipotent, his past defeats have weakened him. When last seen the Red Skull used anti-matter to scatter his atoms across the mutltiverse, and it's taken him time to gather himself together. Now she claims that the *students* can defeat him, which is why she stayed here with them.She shows them some alternate future timelines (Spider-Man 2066, Killraven & War Of The Worlds, Deathlok), and says she can access grown-up versions of the students. It would be unwise to actually bring their future selves here but she can 'borrow' their bodies while keeping the current chars minds. But only if they agree ... which they do.
Outside only Ms Marvel, Thor and teacher Speedball are still standing. They attack together, but Korvac blasts MsM and grasps Mjolnir to send his power through it to take out the Asgardian. Speedball is alone and Korvac offers to accept his surrender. But Robbie Baldwin refuses and emits a mighty blast which staggers the god. But it also renders SB unconscious. Michael says he can't afford to let any of them live so he lashes out in anger.
But then Carina leads some figures out of the shadows. She chides Michael for his desire for total control to stop anything arising to threaten him. She says she prefers to unleash all potentials. He says she must know she can't stop him, but she replies that *they* will. And we see the future versions of the students. (And Veil's voiceover says her worst fear has come true. No-one can save her except herself.)
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Carina Tivan (
Carina Korvac), Justice (
Vance Astrovik).