Synopsis / Summary / Plot
In the opening 1-page flashback the unnamed captive dwarf is still forging a weapon for his unnamed sinister master.
On Telferina the Guardians of the Galaxy (Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Gamora, Groot, Nova (Richard Ryder), Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord) are still battling the big living trees that Gardener unleashed on that world. Well actually Gardener's madness was cured by Groot last issue and most of the trees seem to have left with him. And little Groot was restored to his full tree size by the grateful Elder of the Universe (who also radically extended Groot's vocabulary). However there's still 1 tree on the rampage named Scar, and he's *enormous*.
Groot leaps to the attack but Scar swallows him. However the meal disagrees with Scar and he vomits up a stream of ... flowers. The big tree collapses dead and Groot emerges victorious from the flower bath.
But there's no rest for the Guardians as now they'll have to respond to Drax's call for help defending the Power Stone. Gamora is miffed that Peter Quill never told her that he knew where the Power Stone is when he knows she's looking for the Infinity Stones. Star-Lord counters that *she* really only wants the Soul Gem, and that the Power Stone is too big to move - like a small hill. Still bickering they set of in the starship Milano, heading for ...
... Xitaung where Drax and Eve Bakian and her Nova Corps squad are holding off the Fraternity of Raptors and the Chitauri (who are also helpfully fighting each other over possession of the Power Stone). Plus pregnant Eve is desperately holding off giving birth. And then Galactus arrives.
But his comments alert us that this isn't the real Devourer of Worlds (and anyway Big G has now changed his ways and is known as the Lifebringer). The huge alien falls from the sky and breaks into pieces. And out of the disintegrating head bursts Rocket with multiple big guns a-blazing.
The Chitauri warlord Warbringer is standing atop his Leviathan flagship when the other GotG'ers 'sneak up' on him in the Milano. Except he turns round and gives them a blast from his war-axe which breaks the ship in 2. Nova enclose himself and Gamora in a force bubble, and tiny Ant-Man clings to Gamora's ear. When they reach the ground Nova sends the other 2 towards the Power Stone which Scott thinks he can shrink. Richard himself has scores to settle.
The Raptor warrior Talonar is in 1-on-1 combat with Warbringer. Nova attacks Warbringer shouting "Murderer". (Rich Ryder's personal animosity here may stem from things Sam Alexander (Nova) may have told him after rescuing him from the Cancerverse in the 2017 Nova series. Things from the previous 2 Nova series like trying to bomb Earth with asteroids and being involved in Sam's father's (probable) death.) But then Talonar blasts Nova to the ground.
However the Raptor then ceases hostilities and asks if Nova is Richard Rider. He removes his own helmet to reveal Rich's younger brother Robbie Rider. Both of them exclaim that they thought the other was dead. Richard explains that since he escaped the Cancerverse he's been looking for Robbie, who complains that after the Cancerverse incident the Nova Force had gone and he was stranded on a desolate planet. (Later the Raptors found him and brainwashed him. His actual title is Talon-R.) But Warbringer breaks up this 'brotherly' reunion by attacking them both.
Nova Commander Scott Adsit presumably got here with reinforcements since last issue. But he's glad to see Gamora and Ant-Man join the fight. And they're glad to see Groot and Star-Lord survived the destruction of the Milano. Drax is glad to see Groot grown up. Ant-Man leaps onto the Power Stone and tries to shrink it, but it doesn't work. And Eve gives birth to a girl.
Gamora tries to give her 'comforting' words. She says her parents died soon after she was born, and she was brought up by Thanos. It would have been better if she never lived. She gives Eve a sword and tells her not to let the baby be taken alive. Eve says she doesn't plan on either of them dying.
As we scan the battlefield we get a voiceover from Adam Warlock which says that the universe will end in a war over the Infinity Stones and they're all going to die. But on the plus side he might be able to prevent it. In a direct continuation of a scene from Infinity Countdown Prime he breaks out of the Pyramid where Kang/Rama Tut hid him in suspended animation in Ancient Egypt (in IC: Adam Warlock), as a way of sneaking up on his evil side Magus in the present day. And K/RT told him where to find Magus and the Soul Gem on the planet Saiph. In return Kang wants the Time Stone, to keep safe from those who seek to unite the Infinity Stones but also to solidify his grip as Master of Time.
But when Adam gets to Saiph he finds it occupied by Ultron-infected aliens. (We saw in IC Prime that Ultron killed Magus and took the Soul Gem.) The aliens attack him intending to infect him, but a burst of energy destroys them all. The head of 1 alien directs him to the capital city Ultron has made his own. On the way he passes fields of space-rockets filled with Ultron virus.
But when Warlock gets there he finds Ultron busy converting Silver Surfer.