QUICKSILVER: Page 4 of 10

BIOGRAPHY - Page 4

With his difficulty finding a place among Inhuman society, Quicksilver volunteered for the royal militia and rose to become a commander in the ranks. His efforts to fit in took him away from Crystal for extended periods of time while the militia was on maneuvers, though he tried to see Crystal and Luna as often as possible. During one such visit, Pietro also learned of his sister’s impending pregnancy, and even congratulated her and the Vision on their happiness.

Quicksilver and Crystal attended Thanksgiving at Wanda and Vision's home in Leonia, New Jersey. Pietro didn’t know that his sister had also invited Magneto, who in the meantime had changed his ways and was trying to redeem himself. Quicksilver was not as forgiving as Wanda, and he had a minor argument with her about Magneto’s presence. However, later that evening, he and Magneto reached an understanding when they fought off an attack by the Terrible Toad-King together with the Vision, and promised each other not to tell Wanda about it, as they didn’t want to upset her during her pregnancy. [Vision & Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #5-6]

Unfortunately, the Thanksgiving celebration also proved to be the beginning of the end for Pietro's marriage. Crystal had grown resentful for being left alone so often because of his militia duties. She began to have an affair with Norman Webster, a neighbor of Wanda and Vision, to whom she had been introduced during the party. However, this necessitated her taking greater and greater dosages of the anti-pollutant potion all Inhumans must use while among humanity and she eventually overdosed, falling into a coma. Pietro was worried about his wife, but her condition didn’t change for an entire month. When she finally began to wake up, Crystal accidentally revealed her affair to Pietro in her delirious mumblings. He was furious and attempted to avenge his dishonor on Norman Webster. He even commanded his loyal militia to capture the adulterer for him. When his soldiers saw the Royal Family was protecting Webster, however, they denied his orders. This only infuriated Quicksilver further, magnifying his feelings as an outsider among the Inhumans, never good enough for them. He even felt betrayed by Wanda, when she counseled him to rise above his feelings and work things out with his wife. After he and Crystal exchanged some harsh words, Pietro abandoned the moon in his despair. [Vision & Scarlet Witch (2nd series) #7-10]

Pietro felt abandoned by everyone he cared for in his life, and these feelings turned into an irrational hatred for his former friends and colleagues. Quicksilver chose to testify under oath against the Avengers, falsifying numerous claims against them to the federal government, which led to both the East and West Coast rosters being arrested and held captive in the Vault pending a full trial on the allegations. Even after the Avengers escaped, Quicksilver led the Zodiac cartel in direct combat against his former team. He only stopped when the Vision confronted him with images of his newborn nephews, Thomas and William. Unable to transfer his hatred onto two innocent children, Pietro quit the battle rather than face the limits of his own fury. [Avengers Annual #15, West Coast Avengers Annual #1]

His descent into madness continued, however, and Quicksilver actually started to blame the Human Torch for letting him fall in love with Crystal. He kidnapped the Torch's new bride, Alicia Masters , planning to abandon her to die in New York's South Bronx. The Fantastic Four managed to capture him, and kept him prisoner in Four Freedoms Plaza until the Inhumans could come and take him into custody. Doctor Doom's young protege, Kristoff Vernard, was also imprisoned by the FF at the time and offered to join forces with Pietro. Quicksilver declined, calling him an obnoxious child, and so was left in his cell when Kristoff made his own escape. Not much later, the Inhumans arrived to take Quicksilver back to Attilan for mental treatment, just as his estranged wife, Crystal, agreed to rejoin the Fantastic Four. [Fantastic Four (1st series) #304-306]

Pietro's mind began to degenerate even further and, making use of Lockjaw’s teleportation power, he returned to Earth and kidnapped Franklin Richards. X-Factor witnessed the incident and fought Quicksilver, only to be teleport back to the moon with him. Pietro easily evaded his pursuers but, together with the Inhumans, X-Factor were able to track him down again. They found him in a secret laboratory with Maximus, who wanted to use Franklin as a power source for his latest inventions. It turned out that Maximus had been manipulating Quicksilver for months - the mad Inhuman had apparently learned to project his madness into others with his psionic powers, and was at least partially responsible for both Pietro and Crystal's behavior over the preceding months, even as far back as Pietro's attempt to subject Luna to the Terrigen Mists. Having broken Pietro down to the point where he was little more than a mindless slave, Maximus was ultimately defeated and his mind-warping machinery destroyed. Holding Franklin in his arms, Pietro was reminded of his own daughter and he swore to himself that he would make things right. [X-Factor Annual #2]

The effects of the manipulations still lingered, though, as Pietro soon decided to assume his father's place and become the undisputed king of mutants. He traveled to Hungary where he hooked up with a communist organization attempting to develop their own superhuman agents. To help the Hungarians in their efforts to unlock superhuman potential (and gain revenge on his supposed betrayers), Pietro lured Wanda, Vision, and the West Coast Avengers to Hungary with a series of forged notes so that they could be experimented on. The Avengers managed to escape, briefly, only to be shot down when fleeing over Latveria's borders. Quicksilver went as an ambassador for Hungary to negotiate for the Avengers' return, only to find Kristoff sitting on the throne instead of Doctor Doom. Remembering his earlier insult, Kristoff attempted to kill Pietro with his own hands, but the Avengers broke free just in time to prevent the murder. They followed Quicksilver back to Hungary, where he was defeated by a woman with artificial psychic powers, who placed a mental block in his head to prevent him from running. [West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #33-36] This block also broke down the last bit of Maximus' influence, and Pietro came to realize how he had been acting.

Robbed of his speed, Pietro returned to the Inhumans and asked for forgiveness. Because Inhuman tradition valued the sanctity of the family over all else, Pietro and Crystal were never divorced and, upon acknowledging Pietro's insanity was not his own, Black Bolt and Medusa traveled to Earth and decreed that Crystal return to her husband's side. She initially refused to even step foot in Attilan but, after hearing it was under attack by the High Evolutionary's forces, Crystal and the Fantastic Four could hardly ignore her people's help. Pietro fought valiantly to defend the Inhumans both before and after the FF arrived, and was hailed as a hero by his adoptive people. Still, Crystal only agreed to stay with the Inhumans and Quicksilver after Black Bolt pleaded with her in private to accept his wishes, in part because her own actions with the Fantastic Four were deeply upsetting the Human Torch's new marriage to Alicia Masters. At least Luna was happy to see her parents back together again.

Not much later, the mental block wore off, and Pietro was able to access his super-speed again. Despite him not having been responsible for many of the actions he committed while he was mentally influenced, Quicksilver sure remembered that time and even held a grudge against Kristoff Vernard. Thinking the enemy of his enemy to be his friend, Pietro secretly got in contact with Dr. Doom, who had been exiled from Latveria. Quicksilver tipped him off to the Fantastic Four’s upcoming plans so that he might get an advantage in his constant rivalry with Kristoff. [Fantastic Four Annual #21]

Before long, Pietro and Crystal were at each other’s throats again, when her sister Medusa became pregnant and the Inhumans‘ genetic council declared that she would have to abort the baby, as they couldn’t allow for Black Bolt’s deadly powers to be passed on. Naturally, Crystal sided with her sister, whereas Quicksilver considered Medusa selfish because her actions compromised her husband's rule. Although he was king of the Inhumans, Black Bolt could not set himself above the law and had to accept the council’s decision. Accompanied by Crystal and most other members of the Royal Family, Medusa fled to Earth to have her baby there. Pietro remained with Black Bolt in Attilan, and angrily demanded Black Bolt do something about the situation, before realizing that it was not within his rights to talk to the Inhumans‘ monarch like that. For the next few months, Pietro could do nothing but take care of Luna, while awaiting his wife’s return. Indeed, after Medusa gave birth, the Royal family came back; however by then Quicksilver was no longer sure if he and Crystal could work things out between them. [Marvel Graphic Novel #39]