We learn that
Chaos and
Order have told Warlock that his erstwhile ally Thanos is dangerously evil and he was born to oppose him.
Warlock heads for Earth and
Avengers Mansion. Inside we find
Beast,
Captain America,
Iron Man,
Scarlet Witch,
Thor and
Vision. Iron Man (of all people) has a presentiment of danger, confirmed by the arrival of
Captain Marvel and
Moondragon. Moondragon senses the death of a distant star. And Warlock pops up, whom only Thor recognises (as
Him).
Warlock tells them the star was killed by Thanos. He reminds them and the reader of the villain's history. Born on
Titan he allied himself with his love
Death and raised an army to destroy his birthplace. Then he led this army on an orgy of destruction until he acquired the
Cosmic Cube and made himself a god. But he was defeated by the
Avengers, Captain Marvel and Moondragon.
We learn now that Thanos' inert body was retrieved by his spaceship. But Death abandoned him because of his failure. So he set out to find a way to win her back, and he learned of the
6 Soul Gems which combined would give him the power he needed.
He stole 1 Gem from the
Stranger, and found another abandoned by the
Gardener on the Moon. The other 3 also came into his grasp. But he feared Warlock's Soul Gem because it had the ability to steal souls. So he allied himself with Warlock against the
Magus and meanwhile slowly siphoned off enough of that Gem's power for his needs.
Now he has combined this power with the other 5 Gems to create a super-Gem. But Gamora, who had escaped a clash with
Drax the Destroyer, returned to Thanos' ship
Sanctuary and discovered what he was up to. Thanos killed her, which brings us to the beginning of this issue.
Warlock tells the Avengers that Thanos intends to blow up every star in the universe as an offering to his love Death. (He learned most of the above when he absorbed Gamora's soul.)
Meanwhile on Sanctuary Warlock's pal
Pip the Troll pops in for a visit. And Thanos wipes his mind clean.
Back on Earth the Avengers get a call from the
Starcore satellite to warn them that a huge space armada is approaching Earth. Warlock flies off, and the others follow in Moondragon's spaceship.
Iron Man and Thor leave the ship to smash a way through to Thanos' flagship where the following team hope to destroy his star-killer. Once on that ship Captain Marvel blasts a way in, and the Avengers are soon up to their necks in aliens. But Marvel has the nagging feeling their progress is too easy.
Eventually
CM breaks through a door which he thinks will lead to the centre of the ship. Inside he finds Warlock, and the vacant-eyed Pip. Adam takes his friend's soul into his Gem. And learns that Thanos and his star-killer are actually in a duplicate Sanctuary spaceship on the other side of the Sun.
Marvel and Warlock quickly fly there, and CM smashes Thanos' ray-projector, knocking himself out in the process. Warlock is left alone to face the master villain. But Thanos easily bests him.
Thanos leaves the beaten body on the floor, and takes his giant Gem to find another ray-projector. But on the way he is confronted by Iron Man and Thor. As Thor and Thanos face off, the Golden Avenger destroys the Gem. His plan foiled, Thanos warps himself away.
As
Mar-Vell regains consciousness he sees a strange scene - a scene we have seen before in
Warlock #11. Warlock comes from the past and absorbs his dying self into the Soul Gem, to prevent him becoming the evil Magus.
As the 3 survivors head back to help mop up the rest of the alien fleet, we see Adam greeted by Gamora and Pip in the paradise inside the Soul Gem. And all the other folk absorbed by the Gem are there too, no longer his enemies.
This story is continued in
MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE ANNUAL #2.
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