Synopsis / Summary / Plot
The Beyonder came to the Avengers for help against a mega-foe the Lost One who was hunting him down. He provided them with a shield to keep him away from Earth. But then he let the bad guy in and then reactivated the shield even stronger to keep the Lost One trapped on Earth with the Avengers.
Now the Avengers (Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, She-Hulk and Thor) have copies of themselves they call the Bootleg Avengers. Apparently they are neighbours of the alien Sel Sennan who temporarily gave everybody in New York powers (in #2). And more apparently after the Avengers failed Earth by 'letting' the dangerous Lost One be trapped here they persuaded Sally, as they know her, to give *them* the Avengers' powers so they could do a better job of protecting the planet. And even more apparently Beyonder has added to the fun by twisting reality so that they believe they've already beaten the real team once.
They now face just CapA and IM who try to convince them that's only in their memories. Bootleg Cap responds by trying to attack the real deal, and coming off
badly. Meanwhile 'BP' and 'Thor' bicker. The black pseudo-BP says he
wanted to be Thor, but the white guy says it would have been an appropriation of Wakandan culture for himself to be BP. BP retorts that *he*'s not Wakandan either and it's racist to make him BP just because he's black.
Then the other 4 Avengers arrive. Pseudo-CapM fan-girl enthuses over Carol Danvers. Pseudo-IM claims to be a genius inventor like Tony Stark, and even more so now that Sennan has boosted his brain, but his armour doesn't match up to Tony's. Pseudo-Thor claims that Mjolnir now rightly belongs to him, so Thor offers to let him take it. The 2 She-Hulks trade blows. BP and CapA keep trying to convince their opposite numbers of the truth. CapA shows his 'foe' that Sel Sennan hasn't given him Steve Rogers' years of experience. Pseudo-BP admits that his heart's not in it. But he also drops the bombshell that Sally also gave neighbour Ricardo the power of Beyonder.
That guy now materialises calling himself Yonder. But then admits to Jen Walters, who has downed the other She-Hulk, that Sennan could only manage a fraction of the real thing. The Captains Marvel never did come to blows and now Carol warns Yonder that the Lost One may have sensed him now that he's taken physical form, but the cocky youth thinks he can hold him off long enough to persuade him that he's not the 1 he wants. Pseudo-Thor is still trying to lift the magic hammer while the Asgardian advises Yonder to flee. Bootleg CapA boasts that his team will stand with their friend.
Then the Lost One turns up, and we learn from the real Beyonder's ubiquitous voiceover that his name is Cal-Horra, a fierce warrior, a beautiful god and a cunning foe. Yonder tries to talk to him but LO lifts him off the ground with 1 hand round his throat. But our Beyonder can tell that *he* can tell immediately that this is a weak fake, and discards him immediately. CapM and Thor make a joint attack and get a few punches in but their enemy can't be bothered to respond. (The Bootleg Avengers disappear from the issue from this point.)
BP, who somehow now knows Cal-Horra's name, reminds him, and us, of his own history - created by the Celestials he in turn created the Beyonders who stole his power and banished him beyond the omniverse. Now he's here for revenge and to get his power back. CapM and Shulk persuade him that they and humanity aren't his enemy. CH removes his helmet to reveal a face which the Beyonder voiceover says is now far from beautiful and with eyes that flash madness and fury. He's glad the Lost One is trapped down there and hasn't even noticed him hovering outside the shield in space.
Then Cal-Horra does notice him and teleports to just inside the shield to face him, demanding his power back. Beyonder admits that what happened to him was a great injustice, but the young member of his race protests that he's innocent because he wasn't even born then. But the Lost One says our Beyonder still has a portion of his power and he wants it all.
But just then more Beyonders arrive. (They don't look like our Beyonder because he modelled himself on humans, the 1st beings he saw back in the 1st Secret Wars or maybe Fantastic Four #20.) They're here to pass judgement on our Beyonder. Apparently the 4 crystals that power the shield (that Beyonder arranged for the Avengers to find in All-Out Avengers #4) are other Beyonders that he has imprisoned. On the 1 hand they thank him for saving them all from Cal-Horra. But on the other hand he has condemned 4 of his brethren to a living death. So they strip him of his power and cast him down to Earth.