Avengers #266

Issue Details

Synopsis

"...And the War's Desolation!" This story continues from Secret Wars II #9... Following the final battle against he Beyonder, the Silver Surfer travels across the large hole blasted across the Rocky Mountains that reaches down to the Earth's core caused in the battle. As the Surfer travels along it, he realizes that the damage caused to the Earth will soon lead to the planet's eventual destruction. He is soon joined by Captain Marvel of the Avengers, who has come to ask the Surfer if he can help them try to repair the damage. The Surfer agrees and as they head back to the location where the final battle took place, Captain Marvel explains to the Surfer who the Beyonder is. She explains that months earlier the Beyonder captured an army of heroes and villains to Battleworld to take part in a Secret War to learn about this universe[1]. After the battle ended, the Beyonder had come to Earth to learn what it was to desire. After taking the form of Captain America[3], he began interacting with the people of Earth. However, the Avengers experiences with the Beyonder were always more trouble with help, and the Wasp's attempt to recruit the Beyonder into the Avengers was rejected. When the Beyonder failed at being a religious guru, he became violent and attempted to destroy the Earth, which the heroes thwarted. Captain Marvel explains that after most of the other heroes left or were sent home leaving the Avengers to clean up. It wasn't until then that the full scope of the damage done to the Earth was realized. As the Avengers went for cover during a massive earthquake, the Black Knight dislocated his shoulder and Namor almost perished when falling into the lava below before he was saved by Mr. Fantastic, who realizing the scope of the damage done to the Earth, returned with the Fantastic Four to help. With her story complete the two heroes near the camp and the Surfer faintly detects a familiar energy source. At a refugee site where the military is treating those injured in the battle, the Molecule Man is in a coma, which baffles doctors who cannot learn the source and begin asking too many questions, worrying his girlfriend Marsha Rosenberg. While at ground zero, Mr. Fantastic scans the location with a quickly constructed Geo-Stress Analyzer and is surprised to find that the time until the Earth's destruction has gone from 1 hour to 6. While this is welcome news, Reed is still unsure how to save the Earth. With no plans to save the Earth, Hercules -- frustrated that none of their combined powers can save the Earth -- loses his temper and blows steam by throwing a large rock. When the Surfer arrives with Captain Marvel, Reed Richards asks him if his Power Cosmic could be enough to save the Earth. The Surfer is unsure but is willing to give it a try in order to save his adopted world. Utilizing his full powers, the Surfer attempts to gather back the dissipated molecules of the Earth's crust but finds that the effort requires more power than even he has and collapses. When deciding what to do next, Captain America realizes that there might be someone who may have the power to save the Earth. He recalls how during the final battle against he Beyonder, the Molecule Man not only went up against the Beyonder alone, but also used his powers to save the heroes from the blast that damaged the Earth, and teleport all living things out of the blast zone and store them into sub-space until the damage could be repaired[6]. Realizing that the Molecule Man might be their salvation, they begin deciding how to find him. When the Surfer realizes that the Molecule Man's energies where what he detected earlier, he takes the Wasp and Captain Marvel with him to track Owen down. Meanwhile, the military doctors make Marsha too worried about Owen's safety. When Owen revives he uses a little of his powers to help them escape, turning the tent into a makeshift hot-air balloon that Marsha causes to raise using her Volcana powers. As they float away, they are confronted by a hologram of Captain Marvel. Panicking as she recalled Captain Marvel's attack on Owen during the previous Secret War Marsha attacks destroying the hologram. When Captain Marvel reports back to the Surfer and Wasp, the Surfer tells the women to return to base while he comes up with another way to get Volcana and the Molecule Man to come to them. Flying up into Earth's atmosphere, the Surfer uses his powers to manipulate the jet stream to carry Owen and Marsha to the heroes camp. When they arrive, Marsha attempts to defend Owen, however when she realizes she faces impossible odds she decides to listen to the heroes' appeal to get them to help. After some debate, Owen decides to help save the Earth, even if the exertion required may kill him or completely burn out his power -- his original idea to save only himself and Marsha being too big a price and too difficult to adapt to. However, he tells the heroes that he has been using his powers to try and repair the damage and has only succeeded in delaying the inevitable. The Surfer, however, offers to combine his powers to augment the Molecule Man's natural abilities. Owen agrees to do this and trusts in the Surfer not to take control of him or wipe out his powers after he is done. The two combine their powers and repair all the damage. In the aftermath, it appears that Owen has lost his powers. The heroes are grateful for the former Molecule Man's help and agree not to inform the government of his involvement and have the Surfer fly Owen and Marsha back to their home in Denver. There Marsha is surprised that their apartment had been repaired of all the damage caused to it. Owen explains that while he and the Surfer were repairing the damage done to the Earth, he also returned those placed in sub-space and repaired some of the other damage done by the Beyonder: Such as repairing the damage done to San Francisco and restoring the X-Mansion. To Marsha's surprise, she learns that the Surfer didn't force Owen to do anything, and that his powers weren't removed after all, that it was a ruse played on the heroes so that they would leave the couple to live anonymously. Owen thanks the Surfer for playing along with the ruse, to which the Surfer commends Owen for his bravery, and their ability to mutually trust each other. That if he were to fear the Molecule Man, then he would have been the one causing evil. With the couple happily reunited in their idealistic world, the Surfer bids them farewell and flies off into the night sky, envying them for the happiness they have together, hoping that one day all who live can find the same happiness.