Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Before continuing from last issue we flashback many months to the Kremlin where the Presence (Sergei Krylov) and his companion Starlight (Tania Belinsky) secretly quantum-shifted in to see the body of his son Vanguard (Nikolai Krylenko, but his father here calls him Mikhail) lying in state as a hero of the Motherland. Sergei told Tania to return to the Forbidden Zone
where they are confined, while he became microscopic and explored
inside Vanguard's body. There he discovered a trace of the energy of his
son's superpower. He added most of his own energy to that, bringing
Nikolai back to life.
Sergei was trapped in the subatomic realm
for months, slowly regaining his strength. While there he studied how
life-energy permeates all matter, and made a great discovery. He
returned to full-size and Tania in the Forbidden Zone (Khystym) a
few days ago. He told her he knows how to save Mother Russia from
assimilation/pollution by the West. He can change the Russian people
into a new nuclear form of life, and it will be a form that he and Tania
can live among - no longer confined to the Forbidden Zone for fear of
poisoning others with radiation.
He created the radiation spike which attracted Russian scientists and then the Winter Guard, followed by the Avengers
(in the past few issues). He has converted scientists, soldiers and
Winter Guard heroes into their new green, glowing, transparent bodies,
and they're now attacking the Avengers. Black Knight, Captain America, Firebird, Quicksilver and Thor
are holding their own but they can't fight through to reach the
Presence, and the foe seem to absorb blasts from Firebird and Thor. Pietro Maximoff suggests there may be anti-radiation foam at the border station of the Zone, and dashes off to look. (Kang The Conqueror told other Avengers last issue that these beings infect others by touch, but nobody's told these Avengers that.)
Another
thing Kang did last issue was encourage the inhabitants of the Earth to
rise up and take parts of the globe in his name. Presumably in this
spirit Attuma has led the Atlanteans to invade Canada (or at least Prince Edward Island). They also have a giant ape-monster with them (Torg The Abominable Snow-King whose only other app was Sub-Mariner #55). Scarlet Witch has returned from her brief vacation with Simon Williams, and Wasp directs her and Jack Of Hearts (who must have rushed up from the Savage Land) to tackle the monster while she and Triathlon attack the Atlanteans. Henry Pym joins them, but he's switched from his Goliath costume to Yellowjacket. He confidentally hits Torg with bio-blasts
but the beast just slaps him away. Attuma himself is keeping out of the
fray. He's standing on his submarine with an Atlantean sorcerer named Serestus who controls Torg via a large red 'pearl'.
The Deviants have also heard Kang's message and have risen up from their underground lairs to invade a province of China. Vision and Warbird are leading a team to repel them:- Black Widow (recalled from searching for the Exemplars), She-Hulk (reservist taking a break from lawyering) and Silverclaw (recently returned to college from the Av: Celestial Quest limited series). They succeed in driving the Deviant army back underground. While Natasha Romanoff liaises with Chinese troops, Vision checks that Carol Danvers is OK after she recognised who is in the Scarlet Centurion armour last issue. (It hasn't yet been spelled out to readers *who* she thinks it is, but really long-time readers would know.)
In
Khystym Quicksilver has returned with cannisters of anti-radiation foam
which the Avengers spray on their radioactive foes, and it works. But
then the cannisters explode because Presence heats them up with
microwaves. He and Starlight (who contrary to the last page of last
issue has not been turned green) now confront the team. Presence
prepares to 'convert' the heroes but Starlight stops him - the plan was
only to convert Russians to the 'glorious' new state. But Sergei has now
concluded that the only safe option is to convert the whole world. And
his emissions burn off the Avengers' skin and rupture their hearts.
Back
in Canada Yellowjacket has spotted Attuma, Serestus and the glowing
sphere. He alerts Triathlon who bounds over to them and runs off with
the pearl. Immediately Torg regains confused self-control, and Jack Of
Hearts punches him into the bay from which he doesn't bother to return.
Without their monster backup the Atlanteans retreat, at least
temporarily.
Wasp takes the time out to officially invite JOH to be an Avenger (he only hung around after the Av: Infinity
limited series). She also asks Henry Pym why he turned up as
Yellowjacket rather than Goliath. His answer is evasive, but afterwards
he seems to be unwell (again). Then Stingray arrives answering a call from Jan who wants him to cut Attuma's supply lines to stop him resuming the invasion.
Up in his orbiting Damocles Base
Kang and Scarlet Centurion are monitoring these and other problems the
Avengers and their allies are dealing with, all presumably reactions to
Kang's offer last issue. (We see Black Panther fighting AIM in Wakanda, Wizard is doing something in Sao Paulo, and Thing and Spider-Man
are in action. Kang's son complains that this is not an honourable way
to fight, they should be attacking themselves with their own army from
the future. For the 1st time we hear Kang addressing him as Marcus
(the name that surprised Warbird used last issue). He tells Marcus that
the wise commander uses all the options at his disposal, and he will
continue to soften up the opposition before committing his troops. His
next move will be to invite human warriors to join his forces directly.
Humanity would unite against his own army, but their response will be
more incoherent against their own kind.
The team in China follow
the Deviants into their tunnels. But then the enemy cause a large
cave-in which delivers the Avengers into their midst.
Wasp's still coordinating everything from Canada, with help from their government liaison Duane Freeman in New York. She suggests sending Hercules to Sao Paulo but Duane tells her that Human Torch is already on his way (Wizard was initially *his* foe after all). But then Janet Van Dyne is called outside where Yellowjacket has collapsed. And then she sees that he's starting to fade away!
In Khystym Firebird finds she's survived Presence's radiation attack, and she remembers another time (West Coast Avengers Annual #2)
where she survived a fatal dose of poison. Then she runs into Thor
whose godly status has protected him too. But they are immediately
attacked by their 3 companions who have been changed to the green
glowing enemy.