Attack of Cosmic Skull

The **Attack of Cosmic Skull** (also known as the **War of the Cabal**) was a big battle from Marvel's *Avengers Assemble*. It deals with the Avengers fighting against a team of villains called the Cabal. Until later, it deals with the Avengers trying to stop Red Skull who has taken the Tesseract to become Cosmic Skull. The first battle takes place throughout Season 1 but the second battle takes place in the two-part Season 1 finale, "Exodus" and "The Final Showdown."

## History

### Background

It all started when HYDRA entered a partnership with A.I.M. through their leaders Red Skull and M.O.D.O.K. Together they equipped HYDRA Soldiers with A.I.M. weaponry, teleported Captain America to a secret base in Antarctica, and tried to have Red Skull switch bodies with Captain America because Red Skull was dying from his imperfect Super Soldier Serum. However, Iron Man reunited the Avengers which consisted of himself, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the newest recruit, Falcon. Together the Avengers were all able to save Captain America and switched both his and Red Skull's bodies back. But after that, Red Skull had M.O.D.O.K. take both Iron Man's armor and Arc Reactor and gave them both to Red Skull to keep him alive which turned him into Iron Skull then both he and M.O.D.O.K. teleported away. The Avengers were able to save Iron Man by getting him back to Avengers Mansion, jumpstarting his heart, helping him get into the new MK 50 armor, and giving him a new Arc Reactor. But then Red Skull and M.O.D.O.K. tried attacking the Avengers by using microbots to make them fight each other after they breathed them in but Iron Man saved them all using a concentrated E.M.P. After that, Red Skull and M.O.D.O.K. tried to destroy New York City by blowing up Avengers Mansion with its reactor but the Avengers stopped it while Avengers Mansion was destroyed instead in the process. So the Avengers set up a new headquarters called Avengers Tower but as for Red Skull, he decided to form his own team to fight and destroy the Avengers called the Cabal.

### War of the Cabal Battle

After he sends out his invitations, Red Skull is able to form the Cabal with himself, M.O.D.O.K., Attuma, Dracula, and later the Super-Adaptoid in a submarine lair. He also sends an invitation to Doctor Doom but he refuses the offer while S.H.I.E.L.D. manages to intercept an invitation and sends it to the Avengers who decide to stop the Cabal. The Cabal often clashes with the Avengers in their plots to destroy them but the Avengers always stop them and prevail in the end. Like Dracula trying to drain Captain America's Super Soldier blood, Justin Hammer trying to destroy the Avengers using the Super-Adaptoid as a way to gain membership to the Cabal, trying to get Molecule Man's wand, Attuma trying to sink New York City, and the Blood Brothers infecting the Avengers with a gamma virus. One night, the Avengers try to infiltrate the Cabal by having Iron Man and Captain disguise themselves as Grim Reaper and Crossbones to join them. However, the Cabal eventually finds out about them but they manage to stop the Cabal from getting Neptune's Trident by destroying it. But then Red Skull and M.O.D.O.K. hack into Iron Man's software and get access to previous video footage of their previous fights with the Avengers to find out how to beat them. Which results in the Cabal attacking Washington D.C. and Red Skull letting himself get captured by the Avengers and being brought aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Tri-Carrier. Then the rest of the Cabal attacks the Avengers to get control of the Tri-Carrier but it was all a ruse for the Cabal to get their newest member who was imprisoned on it, Hyperion. Later, the Cabal tries to force Doctor Doom to join them by trying to destroy him due to Red Skull taking Doctor Doom's refusal to join as an act of war but the Avengers protect him until Doctor Doom betrays them to get access to both Iron Man's software and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s computers. But the Avengers were aware of his plan and tricked Doctor Doom into getting a trojan horse program that wiped out his power grid back at Latveria. The Cabal then goes after a powerful cosmic artifact known as the Tesseract which would give them great power so they try distracting the Avengers by fighting them off and having Hyperion injure Hulk so they can find the Tesseract by using a bug they placed on Iron Man's computer while the Avengers were locating the Tesseract when it appeared in Death Valley. Both the Cabal and Avengers head to Death Valley and fight each other for the Tesseract but the Cabal is able to beat the Avengers down by teleporting themselves to different opponents but Iron Man was expecting it and is able to beat Red Skull. However, in the end, Red Skull is able to get the Tesseract because he also used the bug on Iron Man's computer to switch the Avengers' coordinates to find the Tesseract with false ones after the Cabal found out the real coordinates to it. With the Tesseract, Red Skull becomes super powerful and the Cabal defeats the Avengers but then the Tesseract soon becomes unstable so the Cabal is forced to retreat so they can contain and stabilize it. But not before Red Skull sends out two cosmic missiles from his armor to destroy both Las Vegas and Los Angeles which the Avengers had to stop which allows the Cabal to get away with the Tesseract while Red Skull is also able to shield the Tesseract so the Avengers can't find it.

But one day, the Avengers are able to locate Cabal members, M.O.D.O.K., Attuma, and Hyperion in the Antarctic after using the Tesseract to go there where they try to get some Iridium from the secret base. The Avengers confront them and fight them off with the Cabal summoning some Atlantean Soldiers using the Tesseract who attack using Tesseract-powered weapons. But in the process, Falcon gets severely hurt after getting caught in the crossfire of a fight between Hulk and Hyperion which allows the Cabal to escape with the Iridium. The Avengers are able to get Falcon back to Avengers Tower and get him some medical help but his injuries force Iron Man to step down as leader of the Avengers out of guilt and he leaves Captain America in charge. But then A.I.M. and the Super-Adaptoid steal some proto weapons from Justin Hammer for the Cabal so the Avengers try to stop them after Justin Hammer calls them for help after hacking J.A.R.V.I.S. While Iron Man helps the Avengers out by working from the sidelines at Avengers Tower trying to find Red Skull and discover what he is planning. After the Avengers fight off and defeat A.I.M. but the Super-Adaptoid gets powered up by Tesseract energy and uses it to make a robot out of Hammer's proto weapons to attack the Avengers but the Avengers beat it until the Super-Adaptoid and A.I.M escape with the proto weapons. Eventually, Iron Man is able to find Red Skull's location and reports it to the Avengers then when they arrive at the location in the Arizona desert on the Avenjet, they discover that Red Skull is planning to use the Tesseract to power up a big weapon to conquer Earth which shoots the Avengers down. After escaping to safety, the Avengers try to stop Red Skull and his weapon by fighting off the Cabal and their army of Atlantean Soldiers, Vampires, and A.I.M. Soldiers. During which, Captain America tries to convince Iron Man to come and help them out but he sends in Falcon instead who has recovered from his injuries and given a new upgraded armor while Iron Man tries to figure out what Red Skull needs the Iridium for if he just wants to conquer places with an army. Iron Man also calls in S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect any nearby cities from the Cabal's possible attacks but Falcon convinces Iron Man to come back to the fight as leader after he leaves to help the Avengers. When Falcon arrives just as the weapon is powering up with the Tesseract, he tells the Avengers not to destroy it because Iron Man has a plan. When Red Skull activates the weapon, it uses the Tesseract to open portals to other worlds across the Universe for the Cabal's army to conquer instead of just Earth. With Dracula and the Vampires going to a realm of complete darkness, Attuma and the Atlanteans going to a plant made entirely of vast oceans, Hyperion going to an advanced civilization, and M.O.D.O.K., the Super-Adaptoid, and A.I.M. going to Asgard. The Avengers are able to stop the Cabal from entering the portals and defeat their armies but when M.O.D.O.K. tries to use the weapon to attack the Avengers it goes out of control until Red Skull stops it. Iron Man then arrives with all of his suits of armor to fight off the Cabal and reveals to the other members that the portals were actually meant to destroy them and their armies when they passed through which was what Red Skull needed the Iridium for. Red Skull admits to this as he was planning to rule the Universe alone but then Iron Man grabs Red Skull, puts him against the weapon where the Tesseract is, and uses a repulsor blast on the Tesseract which destroys the weapon and strips Red Skull of his armor. But then Red Skull places the Tesseract into his Arc Reactor which reforms his armor and transforms him into Cosmic Skull.

### Attack of Cosmic Skull Battle

With Red Skull powered up by the Tesseract and becoming Cosmic Skull, he teleports away and goes to conquer the whole Universe starting with Earth. However, without the Tesseract the area where the weapon is begins to fall apart and collapse which puts both the Avengers and the Cabal in danger. During which, Iron Man tries to convince the Cabal to help them so M.O.D.O.K. teleports them all to Avengers Tower. Iron Man tries to convince both the Avengers and the Cabal to work together to stop Cosmic Skull but they all refuse to. So the Avengers and the Cabal fight each other all over Avengers Tower until Iron Man hooks himself up to the tower and uses it as giant armor to defeat the Cabal and the Avengers contain them in the holding cells, except for M.O.D.O.K. who gets teleported away with Black Widow. But then Cosmic Skull arrives in New York City and uses his cosmic powers to attack multiple countries around the Earth at once through multiple portals with an army of HYDRA Robots created from his cosmic power. So the Avengers split up and fight off Cosmic Skull and his robot army in the countries he's attacking with help from the Militaries of the World with Captain America in Sydney, Australia, Hawkeye in Rio, Brazil, Hulk in Cairo, Egypt, Falcon in Hong Kong, China, Thor in Stockholm, Germany, and Iron Man in New York City who also tries to find both Black Widow and M.O.D.O.K. But then Red Skull appears and orders the Nations of the World to surrender to him or be destroyed then he attacks the Avengers and the Militaries of the World one by one. Cosmic Skull soon starts to become insane as the power of the Tesseract continues to overwhelm him so Iron Man tries to reason with him but Cosmic Skull refuses to listen. Then he defeats the Avengers by using the power of the Tesseract to attack them with their greatest fears, brings them all together in New York, and sends Hulk to attack the others after increasing his rage which makes him grow bigger. Iron Man then tries to make a new armor while at the same time tries to convince the Cabal to help them defeat Cosmic Skull again by letting them go. The Cabal then arrives and helps the Avengers fight off Cosmic Skull after being successfully convinced by Iron Man. During which, Thor and Captain America are able to get Hulk back to his senses and normal size then the Avengers all fight off Cosmic Skull but he later escapes through one of his portals. Black Widow then returns on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Tri-Carrier to help fight off Cosmic Skull and his army after dealing with M.O.D.O.K. and reveals that she also has a plan to disrupt Cosmic Skull's portals by reconfiguring Hawkeye's disruptor arrows. Every time Cosmic Skull tries to open a portal, Hawkeye shoots a disruptor arrow into it which causes it to close up. Both the Avengers and the Cabal are able to hold down Cosmic Skull until he breaks free but with help from M.O.D.O.K., Iron Man regains the armor Cosmic Skull took from him and takes away the Tesseract which causes Cosmic Skull to lose his cosmic power and become Red Skull again. Which was all part of Iron Man and M.O.D.O.K.'s plan to stop him by having both the Avengers and the Cabal distract Cosmic Skull. But Red Skull gets back the Tesseract and tries to use it to destroy both the Avengers and the Cabal using his portals but Thor defeats Red Skull with Mjolnir which causes Red Skull to get sucked into one of the portals along with the Tesseract.

### Aftermath

With Red Skull gone, the Earth is saved and M.O.D.O.K. becomes the new leader of the Cabal who later all teleport away. However, Red Skull gives the Tesseract to his new master, Thanos which would lead to the Invasion of Thanos. Eventually, the Cabal would break up but a new one would later be formed by Loki which would lead to the Frozen Invasion and Hyperion would return with his old team the Squadron Supreme which would lead to the War of the Squadron Supreme.

## War of the Cabal Belligerents

### Avengers

* Iron Man
* Captain America
* Thor
* Hulk
* Hawkeye
* Black Widow
* Falcon

### Cabal

* Red Skull/Iron Skull
* M.O.D.O.K.
* Attuma
* Dracula
* Super-Adaptoid
* Hyperion
* Atlantean Soldiers
* Vampires
* A.I.M. Soldiers
* Proto Weapon Robot

### Other

* Doctor Doom
* Justin Hammer
* Nick Fury
* S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents

## Attack of Cosmic Skull Belligerents

### Avengers

* Iron Man
* Captain America
* Thor
* Hulk
* Hawkeye
* Black Widow
* Falcon
* Cabal
	+ M.O.D.O.K.
	+ Attuma
	+ Dracula
	+ Hyperion

* S.H.I.E.L.D.
	+ Nick Fury
	+ Maria Hill
	+ S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents

* Militaries of the World

## Navigation

*Disney*: Operation W.A.R. • Robot Riot • Kree-Skrull War • Graviton's Attack • Gamma World • Kang's Invasion • War for the Cosmic Cube • Loki's War • Skrull Invasion • Assault on 42 • Invasion of Galactus • Asgardian-Symbiote Attack • Skirmish on the Tri-Carrier • Battle of the Web Warriors • Attack of the Synthezoids • Contest of Champions • Attack on the Triskelion • War of Carnage • Doctor Octopus' Last Attack • Mystery Shack Zombie Attack • Weirdmageddon Rebellion • **Attack of Cosmic Skull** • War of the Squadron Supreme • Invasion of Thanos • Ultron Revolution • Frozen Invasion • Secret Wars • Kree Invasion • Battle of Sarrish • Battle of Christophsis • Malevolence Campaign • Battle of Quell • Defense of Maridun • Battle of Orto Plutonia • Liberation of Ryloth • Skirmish on Felucia • Attack of the Zillo Beast • Second Battle of Geonosis • Battle of Saleucami • Skirmish aboard the Coronet • Attack on Kamino • Battle on Wasskah • Civil War of Mon Cala • Skirmish on Naboo • Battle of Umbara • Attack on Dathomir • Liberation of Onderon • Invasion of Scipio • Battle of Anaxes • Siege of Mandalore • Siege of Lasan • Attack on Phoenix Squadron • Assault on Seelos • Assault on Garel • Battle of Atollon • Liberation of Lothal • Asgard War • Symbiote War • Attack of Magus • Conquest of Serpent • Saporian War • Battle of Old Corona • Battle of Corona • Goblin War • Symbiote Invasion • Robot Revolution • Wakanda-Atlantis War • Battle of Jakku • Battle of Castilon • Battle of the Barabesh System • Toad Tower Heron Attack • Hunter vs. Alastair Feud • Newtopian Barbari-Ant Invasion • Toad Rebellion • Amphibia Revolution
*Nickelodeon*: Attack on the Shredder • Triceraton-Federation War • Attack on TCRI • Battle of the Battle Nexus • Triceraton Invasion of 2003 • Final Shredder Battle • Battle of the Five Dragons • Kraang-Triceraton War • Rat Wars • First Kraang Invasion • Second Kraang Invasion • Battle for New York • Triceraton Invasion of 2012 • War for Dimension X • Super Shredder Attacks • Invasion of the Netherworld • Invasion of Dregg • Monster Invasion • Carmageddon
*Movies*: Battle for Pride Rock • Lion War • War of the Brotherhood • Fight of the Stone Generals • Battle of the Red Death • Ogre Revolution • Battle of Gongmen City • War of the Brothers • Battle of Bricksburg • War of the Dragons • Battle of Panda Village • Battle of Gotham City • Garmadon's War • Battle of Ninjago • Brother-Sister War • Dragon Hunter Battle • Northuldra War • The Mitchells vs. The Machines Battle