Avengers, The (1963 series) #373

Crystal and Quicksilver with their baby Luna are walking down a crowded street in an awkward silence when they notice a commotion ahead. They hurry along and discover that Avengers Mansion has been destroyed. Crystal dashes into the rubble and finds Black Knight and asks who attacked the Avengers. He replies, “Sersi!” Dane cries that he must help her and dashes off. Then Hercules and Giant-Man raise the rubble and Captain America and Black Widow help their guests Detective Marta Dubois and Detective Clancy to safety. Natasha is very angry and Crys asks what happened….

Detective Marta Dubois and Detective Clancy had tried to place Sersi under arrest for the murders of the two police officers. Sersi erupted in a rage when she felt her teammates thought her capable of murder and she exploded through the roof….

Now the Avengers aren’t sure what to make of these charges as Sersi had been acting strangely, suspected of mental illness by her people the Eternals. Natasha urges Detective DuBois to let the Avengers handle her but DuBois has a grudge and wants the police to catch her. The Avengers set out to find Sersi before the police do and they are joined by Crystal, leaving the baby with Pietro….

Dane finds Sersi atop the Brooklyn Bridge, feeling everyone is against her and she killed no one. Dane reminds her of Anskar and she screams that he deserved to die, her anger burning in Dane’s head. She knows her false friends the Avengers are coming and that she and Dane will face them together….

Jarvis and Marilla return from a trip to find the Mansion in ruins. Quicksilver is there to tell them what happened and Jarvis mentions Sersi’s recurring dreams of an evil man. Pietro is interested….

At the Gatherers’ hideout, a golden alternate Jocasta approaches Proctor to asks why he stopped the attack on Sersi. He explains that she needs patience and that he promised she would meet with this reality’s version of her long-lost husband. She reluctantly acquiesces and he promises they will make their move that day. Proctor brings the captive Watcher Ute out of the shadows, having learned of alternate dimensions from him Proctor forced Ute to bring him across those dimensions to kill all of their Sersis for having betrayed him and now he has found the Sersi who was template for all the others. He has managed to drive her mad and turn her friends against her and now he is ready to destroy her and the Earth she inhabits and then he will be free. Ute sheds a tear….

The Avengers arrive at the Brooklyn Bridge and the two renegades prepare to fight. Giant-Man recognizes a shared psychosis through the Gann Josin and tries to talk but Sersi clobbers him. When Hercules steps forward, she carries him into the sky and slams him to the surface of the bridge. Natasha tries to talk Black Knight out of attacking Captain America so Dane hits her. Sersi pushes Dane behind her and unleashes a single blast that knocks out all of the Avengers except for Crystal. Crys pleads with Dane to fight her influence, instead using the mind-meld to calm her down. Sersi blasts her then says that if they consider her a killer she will prove them right and prepares to slaughter them. Dane jerks her arm up just as she unleashes a deadly blast. Dane’s eyes are clear and Sersi realizes their mental bond has been broken. Believing that even her Gann Josin is now her enemy she calls up a tsunami to overwhelm the bridge where the unconscious Avengers lie….

When she surveys the ruined bridge, Sersi regrets what she has done but Proctor approaches to tell her he once knew someone like her and invites her to come with him….