Crimson Curse

Crimson Curse
The Crimson Curse.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	A-Next #4 (1999)
Created by	Tom DeFalco Brent Anderson
In-story information
Alter ego	Aerika Harkness
Team affiliations	A-Next Dream Team
Abilities	Magical element manipulation Flight

Crimson Curse (Aerika Harkness) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character appears in the MC2 universe and first appeared in A-Next vol. 1 #4 in 1999.

Daughter of Agatha Harkness, the sorceress who trained Scarlet Witch, young Aerika is a powerful witch herself. She is invited to join the Dream Team, a group of heroes who were going to become part of the new Avengers, A-Next. She dons a costume and an alias in honor of her "sister", the Scarlet Witch, and becomes the Crimson Curse. As the Crimson Curse, Aerika uses her magic to affect the elements of nature, and strives to maintain harmony between herself and the order of nature. This leads to her having a very level-headed and reserved personality. Her powers make her an invaluable ally against the many foes that they encounter.

But her biggest challenge is when she is sent to aid the original Avengers in a dark parallel reality. The Red Skull's heir Doctor Doom is going to use his Cosmic Cube to send his own evil Avengers into her reality. Crimson Curse cannot allow this and uses her powers over nature to counteract the supernatural energies of the cube. She succeeds, but the price is her life. Her sacrifice is a shock to her teammates, but they avenge her death by defeating Doom and his minions.

An elemental witch, Crimson Curse is linked to the "Natural Order" and uses her magical powers to manipulate the elements of nature. Her spells can create massive winds to blow enemies away (or carry her upwards so she can fly), create waterspouts and miniature tidal waves, summon roots and vines to entangle her foes, control fire and flames, and even counteract non-natural energies.