Champions (2016 series) #13

Continued from AVENGERS #672.

The Avengers and Champions got together to stop a large meteor from striking the Earth with devastating force. It appeared to come through a hole in space where Counter-Earth was supposed to be. They succeeded through teamwork in safely landing the large rock in Lexington Kentucky. But then it started to vibrate, and several of the largest buildings in the world started shaking themselves to pieces. While the rest of the teams dashed off to deal with this development Hercules (Avenger) and Hulk (Amadeus Cho) (Champion) were left to investigate the meteor. Which split open and a huge minotaur stepped out.

The 2 H's quickly defeat the monster, who says he was sent by his maker the High Evolutionary.

Teen Cyclops, teen Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (both Champions) and Vision (Avenger) have gone to the Burj Kalifa in Dubai. It's very early morning so the commercial top floors are empty. Cyke and Spidey enter the top of the hotel floors. SM catches falling people with his webbing while Scott Summers blasts falling debris. Then they guide people to safety down stairways. Meanwhile Vision goes superdense while using his flight power to keep him in the air, and keeps the central supports steady.

The building stops shaking and Vizh collapses in a daze, calling out for his daughter Viv (of the Champions). There was friction between the synthezoids lately. Scott offers counselling but Vision wants to keep it in the family. Miles sarcastically suggests he starts treating Viv like family then.

Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) (Champion) has gone with the older Spider-Man (who we know is Peter Parker) and Thor (secretly Jane Foster) (Avengers) to South Korea's Lotte World Tower. As they each in their own ways rescue various falling citizens, Spidey assures sceptical MsM (and us) that this problem really was caused by Counter-Earth on the far side of the Sun. But he doesn't know why its ruler the High Evolutionary, genetic creator of intelligent humanoid animals, would want to destroy tall buildings on Earth.

(But it was Hulk and Wasp who claimed Counter-Earth was impossible last issue not Kamala. And indeed a satellite showed nothing there, before the meteor appeared. So the connection so far is tenuous but maybe H&H have told them about H-E's minotaur.)

Anyway Ms Marvel has a suggestion for Thor. In Av#672 her hammer Mjolnir detected the vibration from the meteor. Maybe it can produce a counter-vibration to stop the building shaking. Thor slams Mjolnir to the ground and the Tower is saved. Science-guy Spidey compliments Kamala on her intelligence, which flusters the teen.

Shanghai Tower gets Nova (Sam Alexander) (Champion) and Wasp (Nadia Pym) (equally teen but an Avenger). When they get there they discover that people have evacuated the building but the heroes can't touch them. Science-femme Wasp surmises that the vibrations have phased the crowd out of sync with the solid world, as Vision and Viv do to pass through walls. Human rocket Nova pushes against the building to stabilize it while Nadia tells him how much to push.

Falcon (Avenger) and Viv Vision (Champion) take the One World Trade Center in New York. Sam Wilson suggests Viv use the same tactic as Vision. But she accesses the building's blueprints online and says there are no central supports she can work with. The sound produced by the oscillating building starts to shatter windows. Viv melts shards with her solar beam but doesn't know where her next target should be. Falcon calls in a flock of birds and sees through their eyes to guide her. But we have to leave them there.

Back in Lexington the minotaur is up and fighting again. Hercules keeps him busy while Amadeus Cho enters the hi-tech meteor to find the machinery that is causing the vibrations. But the bull-man follows him in to stop him, until Hulk punches him out again.

The 5 heroes from Seoul and Shanghai have arrived to help keep him down. Cyclops' group have gone to help in Manhattan. Thor goes into the meteor to aid Hulk and between them they smash the machine Cho has identified. But Spidey (PP) senses that something's still wrong. The minotaur tells them they're too late - the planet has been prepared for Ascension.

In NY Vision and Viv meet, and Viszh tells his daughter there is a reason he's been so over-protective of her lately. There is something she must know about her future. But before he can go on Viv and Falcon start to fade away.

The minotaur claims that the vibrating buildings have caused a shift in Earth's vibratory patterns. Sam and Viv are affected 1st because they've spent the longest time near an affected building.

And the pair find themselves in a jungle with animal-men.

To be continued in AVENGERS #673.



This issue's 3-page Primer has Ms Marvel describing the formation of the Champions. She introduces us to her new Inhuman self, Sam Alexander of the Nova Corps and the teen Spider-Man. She says they were a team (but doesn't say they split from the Avengers after Civil War II). They recruited Amadeus Cho and Viv Vision. And later the teen version of X-Man Cyclops who had been brought forward through time (along with the rest of the original 5 teen X-Men). It ends with a team pin-up page.