Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Cosmic being Cal-Horra created the Beyonders but they rebelled against him, stole his power and imprisoned him as the Lost One. Now he's free and wants his power back. Most of the Beyonders have gone into hiding. Our best-known Beyonder fled to Earth where he tricked the Avengers into creating a planetary defence shield which has now imprisoned Cal-Horra on Earth with our heroes. But his fellow Beyonders are angry that he used 4 of their number to power the shield, and so they stripped him of his powers and stuck him on Earth.
This issue opens with the Lost One sitting on a makeshift throne of rubble contemplating the bodies of fallen heroes like Cyclops, Invisible Woman, Spider-Man and Thing. His minion Tiamok Rath drags the merely-human Beyonder to him. Horra wants to know how to dismantle the shield but his fallen foe claims that the other Beyonders took such knowledge from him. The LO examines him and declares that there *is* such a gap in his memory, but there are also signs of an earlier tampering.
Much time has elapsed since last issue and Cal-Horra has reduced New York to ruins and killed most of its heroes. This book's 6 Avengers are still alive and 4 of them (Captain Marvel, Iron Man (in an old armour that's all he has left), She-Hulk and Thor) are making their way through a tunnel to a golden sphere which is open and showing another version of our Beyonder sitting on his own throne. They inform Black Panther that they've found him and he confirms that things are ready at his end. This person claims to be the Beyonder but Tony Stark informs him that he's only a construct holding a single strand of memory - how to shut down the shield. As they tell him of the latest developments and try to persuade him to help them, Iron Man surreptitiously attaches a mechanism to the golden globe.
Then the Lost One arrives with Tiamok and the real Beyonder. He senses that the device will detonate if he uses his power here, destroying the memory he seeks. Cal asks if they intend to fight (Tiamok's up for it) or maybe they'll exchange banter. Carol Danvers restrains angry Shulk who accuses him of murdering thousands. The foe says many more than that but no more need die if they surrender the memory. Thor refuses to negotiate so Horra propels him up and out into the rubble of the City. Tiamok and the other Avengers follow. The Lost One says he's fought (and beaten) many heroes and he knows what makes them tick. They *will* abandon their principled stance to save people. Tiamok just wants to know where Captain America is. Cal assures her that the Captain will surely turn up with some last-ditch strategy that's doomed to fail.
On cue Steve Rogers does join the fray, coated with something black that makes the enemy feel his punches. Horra recognises the blood of Celestials who created *him*. CapA explains that the Celestials made sure that he would never be able to harm *them*. And this blood is taken from the dead Celestial who is their HQ called Avengers Mountain. CapM tells Shulk and Thor to go because she, CapA and IM can handle things here. The duo teleport away as Carol faces up to Tiamok, who calls her Princess. (They share grudges going back to All-Out Avengers #4.)
Meanwhile the 2 versions of Beyonder are left alone. The real deal says he foresaw his folk doing something like this to him so he left this memory here to use as a bargaining chip. And he persuades the memory fragment to return to him.
Up above Cal-Horra and Cap are duking it out while the cosmic being tries to persuade the human to stop protecting the Beyonders because they don't deserve it. Then Jennifer Walters and Thor return also coated in Celestial blood. The Thunder God declares that they are fighting to avenge the fallen thousands. But the Beyonder emerges to tell them to stop fighting. He can give Cal-Horra what he wants. Iron Man tries to restrain him but Beyonder declares that he can't stand living as a human (he tried it before in the 2nd Secret Wars event) - he wants to become 1 with the Cosmos again. His foe promises him that and the Beyonder opens his mind to him. Horra reads the memory and deactivates the shield. And he consumes the 4 Beyonders who powered it. He now turns to the Beyonder again and refuses to give him back the power that was stolen from *himself* anyway. Instead he grants him his wish by dissipating him all across the universe.
The Black Panther leaps on him, also coated in the Celestial blood. His object is to delay the foe while satellites built with Celestial tech reach orbit and aim Celestial weapons at him, enough to obliterate him. Horra points out that this would also destroy them and NY, but She-Hulk says they're willing to sacrifice a city to save the world. He can't detect such satellites and thinks they're bluffing. Cap points out that possibly Celestial tech is undetectable to him. They want him to restore the city and its murdered inhabitants, and then they'll let him leave.
Cal-Horra does what they want and we see New York restored and full of live people (including the 4 heroes mentioned at the beginning). As he prepares to head off to hunt more Beyonders he tells the surrounding populace that they should be proud of their heroes. He bids farewell to Tiamok, a Princess of her people, freeing her to go her own way with the power he gave her. She says goodbye to Captain Marvel, and they call each other Princess, as she flies off. The Avengers also split up. And we hear Beyonder's voice everywhere begging anyone to hear him and tell him who he is.