Avengers #378
Echoes of History
The Vision, Deathcry, Swordsman, and Magdalene are on a mission to the Isle of Crail to determine why one of the Avengers satellite relays has gone offline.[1] They land in the middle of a storm and when a disoriented Swordsman calls in their arrival to Avengers Mansion, he cannot get a connection and assumes that it is because of the storm.[2] As they inspect the relay station, Deathcry is shot by someone hiding in the bushes. When the Vision confronts the shooter he is surprised to see that it is James Campbell, a local who helped the team set up the station to begin with. He somehow knows that Deathcry is a member of the Shi’ar race and that is why he shot at her. However, before they can get answers out of Campbell suddenly dies.
Deathcry is only superficially injured and she too senses something off about the island. Searching the shoreline she finds an alien ship has crashed there. Instantly recognizing the vessel, she insists that she and the other Avengers retreat otherwise they will die here. That’s when someone tells her to have a little more faith. This newcomer is a Shi’ar warrior who still has wings. She recognizes him as the legendary T’kyll Alabar an admiral of the first imperial fleet.[3] Deathcry becomes even more afraid because if Alabar is still alive then a creature known only as the Mephistoid is also alive after twelve hundred years.
In the nearby village of Ailsa, the arrival of the Avengers and Deathcry quickly reaches a local named Ian who insists on entering the local pub to warn their master. This is the Mephistoid that Deathcry is so afraid of, a massive cat-like alien wearing golden body armor. After confirming that Ian also saw Alabar, the Mephistoid murders him for daring to come unannounced.
Back on the beach, the Avengers have stated a campfire to stay warm while Deathcry informs them of what she knows about both the Mephistoid and Alabar. She explains that over 12 hundred years ago, the Shi’ar were locked in an intergalactic war with the Mephistoids a race of cat-people that could control others with their powerful pheromones. Their leader was a powerful creature whose name was unpronounceable in the Shi’ar tongue so they merely referred to him as the Mephistoid. After a protracted war with countless casualties, it was T’kyll Alabar who was able to bring down and capture the Mephistoid, bringing an end to the conflict. He was hailed as a hero by his people.
This is where T’kyll picks up the tale, explaining that the Mephistoid’s planet was placed under mandatory quarantine so they could not use their natural pheromone powers against the empire. However, this left the Shi’ar in a precarious position in dealing with the Mephistoid. If they put the rebel leader to death, they would only succeed in making him a martyr to his people and restart the war. Instead, they decided to put the creature in suspended animation and exile him into space. In order to ensure that the Mephistoid could be stopped if he ever managed to escape his prison, T’kyll Alabar agreed to be placed in stasis along with his enemy. They remained in suspended animation for thousands of years until eventually, somehow, their ship crash landed on Earth and they were free.
Meanwhile, back in New York City, the rest of the Avengers — Giant-Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hercules, and Quicksilver — all try in vein to get in contact with their away team. This has been made all the more difficult after their ruined headquarters was replaced with an identical copy of the original Avengers Mansion following their battle with Proctor.[4] The Widow then pulls Cap aside to talk about her concerns with the team. Captain America looks to Crystal and Quicksilver and understands what she is talking about. The married couple are having problems of their own particularly following the departure of the Black Knight.[5] When Pietro asks Crystal if they can talk about their marriage, she tells him that she needs more time to process the loss of Dane Whitman. Hercules tries to console Quicksilver and offers to be a sympathetic ear, prompting Quicksilver to ask how he can win his wife back from a ghost.
Back in Scotland, the Avengers and T’kyll are ambushed by the Mephestoid and his army of slaves. With the team quickly being overpowered, T’kyll grabs Deathcry and flees to safety. She is deeply upset by this and calls Alabar a coward. However, he only did so out of necessity, telling the young warrior that his ship didn’t crash on Earth, someone brought it down and if they don’t find out who was responsible the Earth is doomed.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Giant-Man, Quicksilver, Hercules, Vision, Black Widow, Crystal), Swordsman, Magdalene, Deathcry, T’kyll Alabar, The Butcher
Continuity Notes
The four left on this mission back in Avengers #372.
It’s a mite bigger than that, the rest of the Avengers are in the middle of a battle with Proctor at the time of this story, as seen in Avengers #372-375.
T’kyll Alabar has wings because he is at an earlier evolutionary period as the present day Shi’ar. As explained in Official Handbook Deluxe Edition #7, the Shi’ar had wings but they were bred out via natural selection. Most modern Shi’ar do not have wings with few exceptions, such as Deathbird, who are considered evolutionary throwbacks.
This happened at the end of Avengers #375, a parting gift by Ute the Watcher. The original Avengers Mansion was the headquarters for the team starting in Avengers #2. In recent times, it was moved to Hydrobase in issue #278, then sunk into the Atlantic in issue #311. The new Avengers Headquarters was built at the site of the original mansion in issue #329. It was heavily damaged in issue #373, hence why it was replaced. It’s later revealed in Avengers: The Crossing #1 that this mansion came from another reality.
The situation between Crystal, Quicksilver, and the Black Knight is a complicated one that I am sick of writing about at this point, but this is a thankless job. The facts:
Crystal and Quicksilver got married years ago in Fantastic Four #150. However, when Pietro began neglecting his wife she got into an illicit affair in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #6-12. They have been working on their marriage since Fantastic Four Annual #21.
More recently, Crystal joined the Avengers in issue #336, from there she and the Black Knight fell in love with one another. After a disastrous romantic getaway with her husband in X-Factor #89, Crystal had a tryst with the Knight in Avengers #361.
Complicating matters further was Sersi’s romantic interest in Dane Whitman round this time. He was forced to become her Gann Josin in Avengers #361. Ultimately, following the death of Proctor in Avengers #375, both Dane and Sersi decided to find a new life for themselves in another dimension. This will be revealed to be the Ultraverse (aka Earth-93060 per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1) as seen in Ultraforce #8. They will remain there for a time, eventually returning to Earth-616 in Ultraforce Unlimited #2/Black Knight: Exodus #1.
