Mather, Cotton

Cotton Mather was born sometime in the 17th century. At some stage in his life he came into contact with the Dark Rider, a powerful magus that hailed from a pre-historic era. The Dark Rider allowed Mather to serve him and sent him to seek out those with the power of witchcraft and return them to him so that he could drain their powers. Mather started his mission in earnest and arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1691. By that stage people were already been publicly hanged for supposedly practicing witchcraft. Mather increased the people's fear in the off chance that he would find him a real witch to bring back to the Dark Rider. With the help of his master, Mather traveled to the future to the present day. He used his powers to project his voice and summon the Scarlet Witch to come to him. Unable to control her actions, the Scarlet Witch stole an Avengers Quinjet and followed the voice, much to the Vision's concern. She followed the voice all the way to Doctor Doom's castle in Latveria, which was believed to be abandoned at the time. However there was a light on in one of the rooms and when the Scarlet Witch entered she was attacked by Cotton Mather. Mather, somehow, overcame Wanda's hexsphere and knocked the Avenger unconscious. Unknown to Mather, Wanda's hexsphere had actually managed to curl it way westward to New York where it managed to find Spider-Man. It transported him to Latveria to the very spot where Wanda lay unconscious. Realizing the danger that she was in, Spider-Man attacked Mather but Mather fended off his attack by using the "purifying fire" that emerged from his wooden cross. He then used his cross to control the Scarlet Witch and used her to attack Spider-Man. Wanda summoned a hex-bolt to cause the ceiling to cave-in on Spider-Man, knocking him unconscious. Mather and Wanda then used Doctor Doom's time machine to transport themselves back to 1692. Hours passed before Spider-Man awoke again to find that the time machine had been used. He used the machine to follow Mather back to the 17th century only to find himself in Salem during the witch riots. He discovered Wanda in the town square, tied to a pole and waiting to be publicly executed. It was the timely intervention of the Vision, who had also followed his wife back to the past, that managed to save her. Unfortunately the town was now terrified of the heroes and their strange powers and attacked them. Although they managed to hold their own against the townspeople, the three heroes were greatly out-numbered and soon defeated. They were imprisoned along with the rest of the people accused of witchcraft. When Spider-Man awoke he was greeted by John Proctor and his family. Spider-Man gathered up enough strength to break free from his chains, released the Vision and break free from his prison cell. However the Scarlet Witch was badly injured during the battle with the townspeople. John Proctor refused to leave his cell as it would be considered an admission of his guilt if he were to flee. He stayed behind along with the rest of his family while the Scarlet Witch was nursed by his wife.

Setting out to find Mather and the time platform to return home, Spider-Man and the Vision were soon attracted by a light in the woods. This light emanated from the Dark Rider who had come to meet with Mather in the woods. The Vision, enraged by the damage that had been caused by Mather, attacked him but was attacked by the Dark Rider in return. During the battle Doctor Doom, attracted by the Dark Rider's power, showed up and allied himself with the heroes. However Mather had him confused with the Angel of Light, sent by the Lord himself to cleanse the world of evil. His allegiance switched from the Dark Rider to Doctor Doom but Doom merely hurled him away, thinking it was some ort of trick of the Dark Rider. A battle followed with the Dark Rider easily overcoming his adversaries blows and defeating them all.

Back in the present, Moondragon was deeply disturbed by dreams that had haunted her ever since the disappearance of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision. These dreams manifested themselves into voices that seemed to call out to her. She followed them around the Avenger’s Mansion only to come across Wanda’s hexsphere, the same one that was used to transport Spider-Man to Latveria. This time the sphere transported Moondragon to the past to the same time that her fellow Avenger’s and Spider-Man were trapped in. She arrived in the woods where she witnessed the Dark Rider absorbing the powers of the heroes and Doctor Doom. Despite his earlier betrayal, the Dark Rider gave Mather the soul-blade so that he could kill the heroes and transfer all of their powers to the Dark Rider. Just as he was about to do so, Moondragon intervened and hit the Dark Rider with a mind blast. During the battle, Spider-Man, Vision and the Scarlet Witch awoke to witness the struggle between the two opponents . They freed Doctor Doom from the prison that the Rider held him in and entered the battle. Through a team effort they managed to beat the Dark Rider and destroy him forever. Cotton Mather went mad after the sight he had witnessed and none of the townspeople believed him when he told them about the battle with the Dark Rider. Before returning to their own timeline, Spider-Man decided to return and help free John Proctor and his family. However it was too late as the battle distracted him long enough for the townspeople to hang them.