Avengers #364
Call Her — Deathcry!
Near the Earth’s sun a long abended warp gate from the Shi’ar galaxy opens briefly and a single ship emerges. Once the gate closes, the ship sets course for the planet Earth.[1] To hovers over Avengers Headquarters in New York but the scanners detect that the team is elsewhere and so it changes course to the Himalayan Plateau in Tibet.
There, the Avengers had just escaped the destruction of the Gatherers headquarters. The group now finds themselves pushing through the brutally cold weather in an effort to return to civilization. With them is Magdalene, a former member of the Gatherers, who quit after learning that their leader planned on killing her lover, the Swordsman.[2] The situation looks bleak as the Avengers Quinjet was destroyed in the explosion and Magdalene being stripped of her teleportation ability.
However, before everyone can give into despair, the alien ship that has been searching for them suddenly lands in front of them. From inside emerges the Shi’ar warrior named Deathcry. She explains that she has been sent to Earth on behalf of the Shi’ar Empress Lilandra to help the team in their time of strife. However, no sooner has Deathcry finished explaining who she is are the Avengers ambushed by three Kree Sentry robots.
Meanwhile, at a farm in Upstate New York, a pair of deer hunters decide to cross through a nearby farmhouse. The prospect of getting some good deer is too enticing to heed the warnings about the strange happenings in the area. As they cross the property line a drone pops out of the tall grass and kills one of the hunter. His stunned companion is then confronted by three Kree soldiers — Galen Kor, Dylon Cir, and Kona Lor — who executed him on the spot so their presence a secret. Galen Kor assures his troops that they won’t be around for much longer as they will soon destroy the Earth and the Avengers along with it.
Back in Tibet, the Avengers scramble to defend themselves from the attacking Sentries. With the aid of Deathcry and Magdalene, they manage to destroy the first wave of robots, but an entire army of them are still coming their way. Vastly outgunned and out numbered, a plan is quickly formulated to escape this situation. While the other Avengers pile into Deathcry’s ship, Crystal scrambles up an incline and uses her elemental powers on the mountains. This causes a massive avalanche that buries the Sentry robots just as the Avengers take off. With their attackers buried under tons of ice and snow, the Avengers manage to get to safety.
Once they are safe, the group lands the ship so they can figure out their next move. Their plans are interrupted by a holographic projection of Galen Kor, who warns the Avengers that this is not the end of it. He personally blames the Avengers for allowing the Nega Bomb to go off in the Kree galaxy and vows that within the next two days, all life on Earth will be extinguished.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Black Widow, Sersi, Crystal), Magdalene, Deathcry, Kree Sentries, Lunatic Legion (Dylon Cir, Kona Lor, Galen Kor, Sig-Rass)
Continuity Notes
Here, it is stated that use of the warp gate will cause instability in the Earth’s sun. This was the catalyst that got the Avengers involved in the recent Kree/Shi’ar War. See Captain America #398-400, Avengers West Coast #80-82, Quasar #32-34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7-9, Avengers #345-347, Iron Man #278-279, and Thor #445-446.
The Gatherers are a group formed by Proctor that consists of Avengers from other realities that are the last survivors of their dying universes. Proctor has pitted them against the Avengers as part of Proctor’s scheme to kill every version of Sersi in the multiverse because his version of her dumped him one time. For all the details see Avengers #343-344, 355-356, 360, 362-363, and 372-375.
Unbidden Memories
Jarvis is on his way out of Avengers Headquarters and runs into Sersi, who is meditating in the courtyard. Seeing that she is troubled, the butler asks Sersi if there is anything he can do to help. The Eternal woman explains that she has been struggling with her sanity of late, although she is being flip with Jarvis, she decides to accept his offer of help.[1]
She tells him how she has been plagued by a nightmare recently and uses her powers to create a projection of this dream. In it, she is kissing a strange man and what started off as a pleasant dream suddenly turns into a nightmare. This is because a dark and menacing figure interrupts Sersi and her lover and kills the man right before her eyes. However, the vision of this attacker is rather indistinct.
Jarvis encourages Sersi to focus her mind and try to figure out who this mysterious attacker is. She eventually succeeds in doing so and they see that the actor is Proctor, the leader of the Gatherers. Unfortunately, since neither Jarvis nor Sersi have met the man, they don’t recognize who he is or the threat he poses to the Avengers. Seeing how distressed Sersi is by the image, Jarvis tells her to send it away and offers to make her a warm cup of milk inside. As they go back into Avengers Headquarters, Jarvis tells Sersi that his mother often said dreams can never hurt you and assures her that his mother was never wrong.
Recurring Characters
Sersi, Edwin Jarvis, Proctor (flashback)
Continuity Notes
Sersi has been struggling with her sanity for quite a while. At the time of this story, she believes that merging with the Brethren’s Uni-Mind had stricken her with an Eternal illness called the Mahd W’yry as per Avengers #334-339 and 361. This is actually not the case as….
The man who is murdered in Sersi’s dream was a dude she met while bar hopping back in Avengers #357. Sersi has been the prime suspect in his death since last issue. This story reveals that Proctor was actually responsible. It’s later revealed in Avengers #374 that he is the one who is the cause of all Sersi’s recent troubles.
