- "All of you know the truth. You can't escape the void."
- ―Void to the Thunderbolts[src]
The Attack on Manhattan was the rise of Void, a dark persona which existed within Bob Reynolds, as he began consuming souls into his emptiness across the island of Manhattan.
Background[]
Four of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine's mercenaries are sent to kill each other
Bob Reynolds signed up to be a part of Project Sentry with O.X.E. He was injected with a serum that gave him enhanced abilities, but was believed dead and hidden in a vault where Valentina Allegra de Fontaine buried all the information regarding Project Sentry. De Fontaine sent Yelena Belova, John Walker, Ava Starr, and Antonia Dreykov to the vault, each assigned to kill another of the group. During the ensuing fight, Dreykov was killed while Reynolds was woken up from the stasis he was put into when he was hidden. Reynolds' presence ended the fight, as they were trapped inside together by de Fontaine. Working together, the survivors, including Reynolds, managed to escape the vault, although Reynolds was subsequently captured.
The Thunderbolts confront Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
While Bucky Barnes captured Belova, Walker, Starr, and Alexei Shostakov, de Fontaine greeted Reynolds and was friendly to him. She convinced Reynolds to work with her as the superhero "Sentry," although aware of a darker persona which could force people to relive traumatic experiences which Reynolds claimed he could control. Barnes took Belova, Walker, Starr, and Shostakov to the Watchtower, where they confronted de Fontaine. Sentry attacked the team, who were going by the name Thunderbolts, and easily defeated them. However, the realization of his power caused Reynolds to believe he did not need to answer to de Fontaine or any human.[1]
Attack[]
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To be added[1]
Aftermath[]
The Thunderbolts help Bob Reynolds confront his trauma
Yelena Belova found herself reliving her first test by the Red Room, but managed to escape through a wall in the vision into another test by the Red Room. Belova protected her younger self from hearing her fellow trainees get whipped for not being as fast Belova, then jumped through a mirror and found herself as an adult drinking in the bathroom alone. This allowed Belova to find Bob Reynolds and help him confront his own dark past. The rest of the Thunderbolts joined Reynolds and Belova and helped him reach what Reynolds described as the scariest room in the void, the facility where Reynolds became Sentry. Void was in the facility while he continued consuming New York in the real world. Reynolds began beating on Void until he was embraced by the Thunderbolts and reminded that he was not alone. This allowed Reynolds to release his inner darkness, ending Void's consumption of souls and restoring New York.
Reynolds retained no memories of the events and no access to his powers. The Thunderbolts prepared to confront Valentina Allegra de Fontaine for her treatment of them and Reynolds, but de Fontaine tricked them into participating in a press conference in which she announced the team to be the New Avengers. Belova decided to take advantage of the moment to take control over de Fontaine, and the team began operating out of the Watchtower together despite Sam Wilson wanting to copyright the name Avengers for the team he was forming.[1]