Synopsis
Avengers, The (1963 series) #146 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Captain America is in hospital lying near death from an unknown cause. Beast and Scarlet Witch are in Avengers Mansion taking time off from their vigil while Hawkeye, Iron Man, Thor and Vision guard the invalid. They have been joined by Wasp and Yellowjacket and Cap's crime-fighting partner Falcon.
They understand that Dr Don Blake is looking after Cap. Falcon's been unsuccessfully failing to discover who poisoned him. Beast hasn't been able to find a cure, while Reed Richards and Bill Foster are also working on it.
They don't know that Steve Rogers has been poisoned by the Assassin, the 1st stage in a plot to kill all the Avengers. Some of the Assassin's alien-looking underlings are watching the Mansion, ready to attack these targets as soon as the main group at the hospital have been eliminated.
Cap is being operated on by Dr Donald Blake while Iron Man and Thor stand guard. The operation is to implant anti-radiation capsules supplied by Reed Richards. Tony Stark's thoughts clue us in as to how both of Thor's identities can be present at the same time. This Thor is a Life Model Decoy, to help discourage villainous attacks but also to defuse growing suspicion of the connected between doctor and Thunder God.
Hawkeye and Vision are also around. Hawkeye and Iron Man accept coffee from a nurse. But the coffee is drugged, and the pair can do little to help Vision against a horde of attacking 'aliens'. Shellhead is finished off with gas.
Meanwhile more 'aliens' attack Thor, expecting just to lure him into the hospital's generator room where electricity can be used to subdue him. But to their surprise the LMD collapses under their gunfire, and appears dead. Dr Blake has to continue with the operation.
Vision is the only Avenger to continue the fight. He's currently in his diamond-hard form when the Assassin sneaks in behind him and attaches a device that freezes him solid, unable to move or change density. The Assassin explains that the drug in Hawkeye and Iron Man will soon kill them with a heart attack. If they aren't 1st destroyed by the explosion that the device on his back will create within Vision.
The plan is working faultlessly. But then 1 of the 'alien' minions reports that they've actually killed Thor. Assassin can't believe this, and soon detects that Thor is only a robot. But the villain has also deduced that Thor and Blake are the same person, so sets out to shoot the doctor.
But then the 3 'dead' Avengers intervene. Hawkeye explains that his weak stomach vomited up the poison before it could reach his heart. Iron Man claims the same thing (not wanting to admit that he's Tony Stark whose artificial heart isn't susceptible to poison). And when they recovered they were able to give Vision a kickstart.
The Assassin gets the drop on Hawkeye and holds him hostage to keep the other 2 at bay. Until Don Blake comes through the door from the operating theatre, knocking the villain over. Vision destroys the Assassin's ray gun, and Iron Man blasts away the concealing hood, revealing a woman beneath the baggy costume. It's the nurse who served them coffee.
The Assassin pulls out a smoke grenade and makes her escape. Her radio is damaged so she can't contact her team. But she runs into some of her 'aliens'. However they don't recognise her without her hood, and kill her. The Avengers then mop up the gang.
Dr Blake says Mr Fantastic's cure for Captain America was a success.
In an epilogue we discover that the man who hired the Assassin last issue was in fact her father, who had trained his daughter Maria in her trade. His son Angelo confronts him over it. Daddy says he is only following orders, before shooting Angelo and then himself.