Kang and his Legion of the Unliving continue to hunt the Avengers and Mantis in the Labyrinths of Limbo. Mantis tries to comfort a badly injured Vision. Midnight interrupts, determined to defeat Mantis in combat and now willing to kill her as Kang’s control over him ebbs. Mantis soundly defeats Midnight, but a curious Frankenstein’s Monster carries the fallen Vision away while Mantis is distracted. Hawkeye sees the monster carting off Vision and considers attacking to avenge his seemingly deceased comrade, but realizes this will do no good and continues to search the maze for allies. As Kang’s control over his Legion grows less absolute, the egomaniacal Baron Zemo starts to challenge Kang, who threatens to send Zemo back in time to his death if he does not obey. Elsewhere in the maze, Thor finds an apparently deceased Iron Man and vows revenge. Back on Earth, the authorities inform the Avengers’ butler Jarvis that Libra has escaped. When Jarvis tries to consult Scarlet Witch in her state of mystical seclusion, her strangely altered voice warns him away from her door. Back in Limbo, the Human Torch grows increasingly reluctant to obey Kang. Wonder Man tries to strangle the fallen Vision, but the Frankenstein Monster stops him. As Wonder Man storms off to find Kang, the Torch helps the Monster tend to the injured android and makes a shocking discovery: Vision’s android body seems to be the Torch’s body rebuilt into a new form. Unwilling to see this other version of himself die, Torch convinces the Monster to help him save Vision. Thor finds and attacks Kang, but Wonder Man comes to Kang’s defense, holding off Thor. In Immortus’ throne room above the labyrinth, Hawkeye finds Kang’s captives Immortus and Rama-Tut, freeing them despite opposition from Baron Zemo, whom a vengeful Immortus reduces to protoplasmic ooze. The Monster, the Torch and a somewhat recovered Vision soon join Thor in confronting Kang, but Wonder Man attacks Vision. In the end, Vision beats Wonder Man into submission, and Kang flees into the timestream to escape Thor’s wrath. Vision tells a confused Thor of discovering he is a rebuilt Human Torch, and Immortus transports the Avengers, Mantis and the Legion to his throne room. Immortus then resurrects Iron Man and Ghost, heals the Vision, restores Zemo to human form at Hawkeye’s request, and sends the Legion back to their proper time periods. Having thwarted Kang, Rama-Tut departs, after which Immortus confesses that he is another alternate incarnation of Kang, and offers to help the Vision explore his past life as the Human Torch.
The newly activated android Human Torch is encased in cement by his creator Phineas Horton, and later trapped in a swimming pool by mobster Tony Sardo and his lieutenant Red (MC #1, ’39). The Masters of Evil and Wonder Man plot against the Avengers (Av #9, ’64). Ghost battles Silver Surfer (SS #9, ’69). Midnight battles Shang-Chi (SME #16, ’74). Ghost battles and gravely injures Vision, and Mantis rushes to assist (Av #132, ’75). Libra escapes prison.
After years of clues, Vision is revealed to be a reconstructed Human Torch, while Immortus, like Rama-Tut, is revealed to be another alternate timeline incarnation of Kang. Immortus apparently sends the Human Torch back to his proper time like the rest of the Legion immediately following this issue, since this incarnation of the Torch is absent from the rest of the storyline. Future stories will reveal that Immortus had ulterior motives for helping the Avengers–more specifically, he was trying to bolster Vision’s sense of self as part of a plan to encourage the Vision/ Scarlet Witch romance, since Immortus was trying to prevent the Scarlet Witch from bearing children and he believed that a romance with Vision would guarantee the Witch remained childless.
