One of the villains was very old, and withered, in an almost reptilian way. He wore a lab coat, which was as wrinkled and withered as he was. The other was an incredibly beautiful woman, who looked as young as the other looked old. Her blonde hair reflected the eldritch light of the portal. Her outfit was a seductive shade of green and showed off her feminine qualities well.

"Why are we watching this? I'm already quite familiar with the history of the Avengers League, and their recent battles. In fact, I know more about them than anyone else!"

"Hush." Her voice had a hypnotic effect, even over the scarred, wrinkled man. "Look thee at how negatively they interact. The heroes are so busy bickering that they forget to battle their foe!"

"Yes, now that you've pointed it out, I can see it. This bickering has been characteristic of them lately."

"Such a powerful team...nearly no superhuman threat can stand against them, even one armed with magic such as myself."

"More than once they have ruined my plans for immortality...but I will eventually concoct the plan that will bring about their destruction...I am nearly immortal, after all.."

"Why wouldst thou wait so long for thy revenge?" the woman chuckled. "I have far less patience. Look thou, Professor...they are vulnerable in only one place: their emotions."

The woman held a glimmering necklace in her hand. "And this simple trinket, this necklace will do it, with a little magic to boost its powers."

"Do you like my new necklace, Hank?" the Wasp said, flitting about her husband's face on gossamer wings.

"Yes, it's great," he responded, without looking at her.

She fired a small sting-blast at his hand, which he barely dodged. "Hank! Look at me! Why don't you ever look at me? All you want to do is tinker with your machines..."

Her voice trailed off amidst sobs as she flitted away.

Hank thought this was odd. Their relationship had been strained and had been strong over the years, but Jan had never been this moody. 'Oh well,' he thought. A shrinking pulse cannon was a lot easier to figure out than a beautiful woman, most of the time.

Amazing Man wore a green and yellow costume, while Power Girl wore a white costume with a cape fastened by golden clasps. Both were young, powerful, and less skilled at combat than Captain America.

"Okay, you two. You've got great powers, but you're both a little green as far as combat skill goes. We need to work on your reaction time, and your dodging skills."

"I don't need to dodge," Power Girl replied. "I'm invulnerable, remember?"

"Someday, young lady," Cap lectured, "someone's going to shoot something at you that you're going to want to dodge. Nobody's invulnerable to everything...you just remember that."

"Yes, sir..." Power Girl said under her breath.

"Let's go, Cap!" Amazing Man said, touching the wall and turning himself into concrete. "Hit me with your best shot!"

The Wasp cleared her throat. "Training the new recruits?" she said, increasing her size to almost normal.

"Yes," Power Girl responded. Her blue eyes widened. "What a beautiful necklace!" she exclaimed, and the Wasp vainly showed it off.

"Of course you would say something like that!" the Wasp retorted, her tone suddenly turning cold. "You're always after everything I have...including my husband!"

Captain America had to admit to himself that Power Girl was attractive, in an Amazonian sort of way. He had noticed that she seemed attracted to Hank Pym's confident intelligence. But this was no reason for the Wasp to behave so irrationally.

"Calm down, Wasp! What is the matter with you?" he asked.

"Nothing, Cap...nothing..." The Wasp flitted away once more, having sown the seeds of discord again.

Power Girl was furious. "Of all the nerve...her thinking that I'm trying to steal her husband out from under her...she makes it so hard to be part of this team.."

"I'm not into bad feelings myself, Power Girl," Amazing Man responded. "Seems like there's a little bit too much of them around here lately."

"Well, I think the necklace is lovely!" she said to her reflection.

"Of course you do! It's just that Hank is boring!" her reflection said back.

"Who's that?" Jan asked. She looked all around the bathroom to try to find the speaker.

"It's me!" A beautiful, but evil-looking mirror image of Jan appeared in the mirror. "I can help you. You're so much better than all of them...you could even lead the Avengers League...you need to find yourself a real man, not some boring bookworm!"

"Well, Hank can be a little dull sometimes...What am I doing talking to the mirror?"

At that moment, the mirror image disappeared. Jan opened the bathroom door, took one last look in the mirror to verify that the strange reflection had disappeared, and then walked down the hallway.

"I must admit this is quite masterful," the Professor commented, stroking his chin.

"Thou hast seen nothing yet, Professor! Watch how their infighting escalates!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jan."

"That's okay, handsome." Jan seductively caressed his steely arms.

Tony was amazed that Jan was acting this way. She was a little flirty sometimes, but she had too much class to be this bold.

"Okay, Jan. I'll watch where I'm going next time." He noticed her new necklace. "That's pretty, Jan. Where did you get it?"

"Oh, just something I found in one of those exclusive jewelry stores I shop at. Why are you in such a hurry, Iron Man? The meeting isn't for a half an hour! Maybe we can stay and talk for a little while."

She walked him into a sitting room, where both of them sat down on a couch. Jan stared hungrily at Iron Man.

At that moment, Hank Pym walked in, wanting to try to make things better with Jan. He saw her sitting there, entranced by the sight of Iron Man, and he felt a jealousy he rarely had time for.

"Jan!"

"Oh, Hank. I didn't notice you! I was too busy speaking with Iron Man here. He was complimenting me on my necklace."

"You stay away from my wife, there, you tin-plated jerk!"

Iron Man got up slowly from the couch. He didn't want to fight with Hank. "I'm sorry, Hank, but I wasn't doing anything like..."

Hank Pym used his size-changing powers to grow to twelve-foot-tall height. He then took his giant fist and swung it at Iron Man, who just barely dodged the blow. Hank's fist ended up making a huge hole in the wall.

"Geez, Hank!" Iron Man called out. "Calm down before you hurt yourself!"

The Wasp was not helping things.

"You show him, Hank! I love it when two men fight over me!"

Martian Manhunter used a blast of his Martian vision to separate the combatants.

"What is going on here? Wasp, why are you making these two men fight over you?"

Upon sensing the Martian Manhunter's presence, the necklace felt an enormous need to separate itself from the Wasp and attach itself to J'Onn J'Onzz.

The Wasp seemed to teeter on her feet.

"I don't know, J'Onn....but I feel so weak...I can barely stand..."

J'Onn rushed to her side, and the moment he held her up, the necklace shaped itself into a pendant, and attached itself to his neck.

J'Onn writhed in mental agony as his fierce Martian mind struggled to keep control of his body. Eventually, the pendant won.

"Get away from me, you soulless, materialistic woman! You're not half as worthy of me as Power Girl is!"

"Ummm...OK, J'Onn..." Iron Man replied as Hank Pym decided to stop smashing at him with two-ton fists.

J'Onn blasted a hole in the wall, and then set off to go find Power Girl.

The Wasp was noticeably weak without the necklace, and could only talk at the level of a whisper.

"Get the necklace off him......"

"I must say that this is a superior plan, Amora...you have truly made the underlying divisiveness in the Avengers League's minds into a weapon against them!"

"Yes, Professor Ivo, and now that I control over their most powerful member..."

"You will allow J'Onn J'Onzz to die, along with the rest of the heroes, won't you?"

The Enchantress seethed at Professor Ivo's superior tone. "I will do as I like with the Avengers League, thou varlet! Perhaps thou wouldst prefer that I turn you into a lizard! Thou lookest like a lizard with that wrinkled skin of thine..."

Ivo backed down. He knew that he was outmatched, at least in raw power. "As you wish, Enchantress. Let's see what has developed amongst the Leaguers..."

"I have stayed with you humans for years, putting up with your prying eyes and your embarrassing questions. None of you have made me feel at home on this planet...none of you have given me the love that I lost when I left Mars!!"

Power Girl had just entered the room. "Oh, J'Onn...!"

Captain America approached J'Onn slowly, with his shield at the ready in case the mad Martian attacked. "Is that how you really feel, J'Onn?"

"It's the pendant!" Martian Manhunter yelled. "It has a mind, and it's controlling me..."

"Can you make contact with it, J'Onn?"

"Yes...but I can't break its hold over me..."

"We're your friends, J'Onn! Come back to us, and we'll have our team meeting...you can tell us more about how you feel...you can tell me more about how you feel..."

"I have had enough of your token kindness!!" J'Onn yelled. The pendant had control of him.

"I don't care what's controlling him," Amazing Man said disgustedly. "I am getting tired of the way you guys fight amongst yourselves, even when you aren't controlled by evil necklaces or something. I quit!"

With that, he threw his Avengers League badge down on the floor and walked out.

The shock of this was enough to make J'Onn regain his consciousness and tear off the necklace.

"Destroy the pendant! Quick!" Power Girl shouted.

But the pendant disappeared before the Avengers League members could smash it.

"That I did," the Enchantress responded. "It has served its purpose."

Amora looked at two chained, muscular Asgardian warriors whom she kept as thralls. She cradled the necklace in her hand.

"Since thou hast done thy work so well, Malice, thou shalt receive thy reward."

A beautiful, young, blonde Asgardian maiden was led forward. With every step, she struggled against her captors, but they inexorably led her forward.

"A new vessel for thy tainted soul," Amora stated.

The moment the necklace was placed on the poor girl's neck, she screamed. But she soon calmed down, and a look of sensuous radiance came over her features.

"Thank you. This will do perfectly!"

Malice walked away, in possession of a beautiful young lady, to work her whims upon whoever might be unlucky enough to encounter her.

"I still don't understand..." Ivo murmured.

"'Tis the first time an evil genius such as thee hast ever said such," the Enchantress commented mockingly. "Malice was the wedge that finally drove the Avengers League apart...'twas only a matter of time...Look thou again..."

With her magical powers, she opened up a portal whereupon the Avengers League could be seen...

"Are you all right, J'Onn?" Hank asked.

"Yes, Hank." He was sweating, and could barely stand.

Power Girl's face was a mixture of shock and recognition. "I don't know, after what I've seen today, whether I can stay with you people...especially knowing how the Wasp feels about me..."

The Wasp gave Power Girl an apologetic look. "That necklace!" she exclaimed. "I wish I had gotten it off me sooner!"

"It's all right, Jan," Hank said. "I think that thing fed into a lot that was already inside of you. I think we need some time together, dearest...maybe we can go down to the Caribbean and just spend some time together in the sand and sun..."

They put their badges on the meeting table of the Avengers League meeting room.

"I don't know if I want to stick around anymore, either," Iron Man said. "Tony Stark has a lot of work for me to do, and I think we need to reevaluate whether we want to be a team anymore, before we get back together."

He put his badge on the meeting table and walked out.

Power Girl put an arm on J'Onn's shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to tell me how you feel about me, J'Onn. But I'll stay in touch, just in case you want to talk some more...but I can't be in the Avengers League anymore."

She looked longingly at J'Onn, then put her badge down and left.

A tear rolled down his cheek. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his own membership card. The world seemed to slow down as it fell to the ground. The sound seemed very intensified as J'Onn watched it hit the ground.

Tears still coming down his face, J'Onn regained his composure, and walked out of the room. As he walked out, Captain America came up to him, returning from the other end of the mansion.

"J'Onn," he asked, "why is everyone leaving? Wait, are you crying?"

J'Onn wiped his eyes and pointed to the floor of the room he just left, and then continued walking out. Captain America walked in and saw the pile of membership cards and badges himself. Slowly, he himself sunk to the ground.

He could feel the world spinning that day. He felt that the American dream had left him. Captain America had lost the spirit.

He put his own shield down on top of the badges and began crying.