ANOMALY GEM

Classification: Extradimensional artifact

Creator: seemingly the Contemplator; (or maybe K'un-Lun magic)

User/Possessors: Iron Fist (Daniel Rand), Lei Kung the Thunderer
holders of parts of the Anomaly: Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, Cool Million, Dr. Faro, Doug Hsu, Brother Kon-Shi, Mechanic, Skeleton Ki, Steel Serpent (Davos), some unnamed Hydra agents

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents I#125/4 (April, 1993)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: The Anomaly Gem held the souls of all previous Iron Fists.
A single fragment had unknown powers. It hummed and emitted a bright light with unknown effects.
Two fragments combined were able to open a portal to the dimension of the Contemplator to summon him to Earth.

History:

(Iron Fist II#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Anomaly Gem -- which was kept in Lei Kung the Thunderer's K'un-Lun sanctum and contained the spirits of all those who had ever held the power of the Iron Fist, including the Steel Serpent (Davos) -- was shattered during a H'ylthri invasion. Two of its fragments were lost.

(Iron Fist II#1 (fb) - BTS) - With his physical death, Davos' spirit was cast into a realm accessed via the Anomaly Gem alongside the spirits of the dead Iron Fists of the past. After years trapped there, Davos had been driven nearly mad. However, from the past Iron Fists Davos had also learned secrets of the K'un-Lun fighting technique--and several other things--far beyond his previous skills. Davos somehow enlisted the Elder of the Universe known as the Contemplator to manipulate Daniel Rand-K'ai to gather the fragments of the Anomaly Gem, which would release Davos so that they could again face each other to determine which of them more deserved to hold the power of the Iron Fist.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#132/4 (fb) - BTS) - The lost fragments were sent to Earth by the Contemplator. One Anomaly came into the possession of Baron Strucker.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#125/4 (fb) - BTS) - A fragment felled an Oracle weather satellite and then dropped to Earth. Dr. Faro and other scientists at Rand-Meachum Inc. studied it for some time. It defied x-rays, spectroscopy and carbon-dating. They couldn't even find out if it really was an alien artifact or what the intermittent hum was that was emitted by it.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#125/4) - Dr. Faro talked to other scientists about the gem fragment. When asked about the hum from it, he said he assumed that it was a message or signal to something on the outside. He wasn't concerned about it because during all the time they had studied it, nothing thus far had answered it. The fragment was kept under lock in the New Yorker facility of Rand-Meachum Inc. and it was guarded by Martina Tereshkova and her guards. The thief Skeleton Ki was able to penetrate the facility and tried to steal the fragment. He succeeded to get it out of the complex in his cape. Outside he encountered agents of Hydra tried to take the fragment with them, but Iron Fist intervened and was able to get it back from them. The fragment was now in the hands of Iron Fist.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#126/4) - Iron Fist didn't let the fragment out of his grasp for a second while he interrogated Skeleton Ki about it. When A.I.M. freed Skeleton Ki, Iron Fist tied the fragment to his sash, and managed to both stay alive and retain possession of the fragment. Later Iron Fist told Misty Knight about his fears concerning a traitor in the company and left with the fragment.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#127/4 - BTS) - Iron Fist brought the fragment to his old friend Peregrin Took and told him that Hydra and A.I.M. were after the it. Took couldn't tell him anything more about the fragment, so Iron Fist left with it.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#128/4 - BTS) - As he continued his investigations, Iron Fist carried the fragment around with him, hidden out of sight.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#129/4) - Iron Fist showed the fragment to the Mechanic. The Mechanic found out that it resisted any chemical analysis and even his electron microscope wasn't able to reveal anything about it. He was clueless what the gem was. Iron Fist told him that Hydra and A.I.M. were after the fragment and that he didn't trust anyone with it. While Iron Fist was still talking to the Mechanic, Cool Million attacked and captured the hero. Taking his prisoner and the Anomaly fragment, which he laid on the passenger seat of his vehicle, the villain fled the scene. However Iron Fist, along with another captive, Lillian, managed to free himself and knocked Cool Million out - the car they were in went into autopilot, and delivered them all to Hydra. An agent of Hydra took the fragment down into their secret base and handed it to Baron Strucker, while Iron Fist and Lillian were taken prisoner once more.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#130/4 - BTS) - The Anomaly fragment was in the hands of Baron Strucker who wanted to use it as a power source. He brought it to the second fragment that was already in his possession. Iron Fist and his friends (Lillian and her brother Doug), having escaped, found Strucker and the fused fragments. Iron Fist wanted his fragment back, but Strucker showed him that he had two of them and didn't want to break up the set.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#131/4) - The fragments reacted to each other and an energy feedback threw back everyone in the room. The artifacts began to levitate and Strucker and Iron Fist saw a face appear. Strucker realized that the fragments produced a portal to another dimension. Iron Fist grabbed both fragments and ran away with them, Lillian and Doug. Doug used one of the fragments to break the light beam lock which opened the door of the secret headquarters, then he and Iron Fist carried one fragment each to the outside. There the gems once again began to rise into the air out of their hands and produced a blinding light.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#132/4) - The humming and glowing Anomalies opened a portal to another dimension with a deafening sound and the Contemplator appeared. He explained to Iron Fist that he sent the Anomalies to Earth. He wanted to subvert the organisations of Hydra and Rand-Meachum Inc., but he failed in the former. The Contemplator enlightened Iron Fist with his powers and the hero changed into…a new and far cooler attire (I really don’t know what the change of attire had to do with enlightening Iron Fist, but it was part of the show) and fused the fragments into the Anomaly Gem (still incomplete, but nobody knew it at this moment). He gave it to Iron Fist and explained to him how he could use the fused Anomaly Gem.

(Spider-Man Unlimited I#13 - BTS) - Iron Fist used the Anomaly Gem to summon the Contemplator.