Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Kang has conquered the World but there are still pockets of resistance. We see a small group of survivors of an attacked rebel camp in Northern Montana fleeing towards what was the Canadian border before Kang unified the World under his rule. But they are found by some futuristic jet fighters. However a small 'building' erupts out of the ground and shoots the planes down. (We recognise it as an example of the Master Of The World's fortifications.)
In Central Siberia Kang and his son Marcus/Scarlet Centurion watch their troops overwhelm some more rebels. But then they get news that their main prison complex has been invaded by Avengers. We see Wonder Man (who escaped last issue from another prison) and Thor alongside Quicksilver, Warbird and Yellowjacket (who were last seen in the Master's complex in Northern Canada). They rescue Wasp from her cosmi-stocks (while apparently others are freeing other heroes). She doesn't *want* to be rescued because of the retaliation Kang will unleash. But YJ says it'll be alright and Thor's hammer opens a portal to ...
... the Master's base which they say is still shielded against Kang's sensors (but that didn't stop Marcus monitoring Warbird there in #48). They meet up with Black Knight, Stingray and Tony Stark. Tony has cracked the Master's technology with help from Henry Pym, Dane Whitman and Walter Newell. It got through the forcefield of Kang's probe in Boston (#46) so they're hoping it will help them get through to his orbiting Damocles Base. They've also reactivated the defensive ringwalls he set up around North American cities and can create more. Wasp points out that they didn't stop the attack on Washington DC (#49), but Stark says that the ringwall was running on automatic then after the Master was killed (#48). Janet Van Dyne is still worried about the toll Kang will take if they fail to defeat him completely. But then the President shows up and says they have to take the chance. So Jan goes off to call in some other allies.
She also wonders whether Captain America and his group are dead in space. But from #50 we know that they have commandeered the Triple-Evil's enormous dark pyramid currently parked behind the Moon. As well as Jack Of Hearts and Photon from his original team (minus Scarlet Witch who's been in 1 of Kang's prison camps (as seen last issue)) there are Living Lightning and Quasar from the Deep Space Monitoring Station, and Firestar, Justice and Vision who came with Triathlon and Jonathan Tremont of the Triune Understanding to defeat the Triple-Evil. Tremont turned out to be a megalomaniac, but Triathlon joined with 3-D Man and his brother Hal Chandler to complete the job.
They were trapped in the pyramid for weeks but now that they've learned that Kang conquered the Earth in their absence the want to get back in the fray. The combined being of Delroy Garrett and Hal & Chuck Chandler are trying to use their new power to control the pyramid. They get its stealth shields back and slowly get it moving.
In Canada the Avengers psych themselves up for action. YJ watches his ex-wife (and current lover) Jan persuading the Commander of the Russian forces (whatever's left of them?) to join the fight. Tony Stark switches from scientist mode and dons his Iron Man armour. Stingray chats with another part-time Avenger Silverclaw. Black Knight finds Warbird wondering if killing the MOTW to get control of his tech had been the right move. If he'd still been alive maybe the people of Washington wouldn't have died, so that's on her. Possibly-immortal Firebird confronts definitely-immortal Thor again over his intention, when this is all over, of abandoning his connection to the mortal world and returning to Asgard. She angrily repeats that their brief lives still matter.
Kang and Scarlet Centurion are in their land base on the US's eastern shore. Kang sends out his holographic image to declare his retribution for the Avengers' attack - Atlanta and Denver will be destroyed. (And if Washington is anything to go by the defensive walls will stop the citizens escaping.) But then 1 of the Master's defensive rings springs up around Kang's base and starts shooting his troops.
And all over the World there are other attacks. Deviants rise up from sunken Lemuria to fight Kang's forces in Japan. Namorita leads Atlanteans to liberate France. And in Russia the Presence and Starlight have been let out of the Khystym Forbidden Zone to turn the warriors from the future into contagious green radioactive slaves (remember them from #42-44?).
Marcus reports to Kang that all the existing ringwalls are active again, plus many new ones. And the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and Canada's Alpha Flight are in action. The father and son take a shuttle to Damocles Base to strike back from there. On the way Kang muses that he never expected the MOTW to ally himself with the Avengers, and they shouldn't have been able to defeat him and take his technology for themselves so he doesn't understand what's happening. Marcus feigns ignorance. (He's hardly going to confess that in #48 he helped Carol Danvers (who he's smitten with) and her team to get past the Master's defences.)
In MOTW's base Wasp organises the Avengers. BK, Stingray and YJ will stay here controlling the Master's tech that they'll need to break the Damocles forcefield. Firebird, IM, Thor and WM will be in space ready to attack when the forcefield goes down. Quicksilver and Silverclaw are to reinforce Hercules somewhere, but we don't find out where because just then Damocles' main weapon strikes at them. Holo-Kang explains that he may not be able to detect the Master's base directly but he can backtrack the command they're sending to the ringwalls and triangulate their position. Now he's carpet-blasting the whole area.
IM and YJ leap to the base's guns which are already trained on Damocles. But Kang's rays scrag them before they can fire. BK says they can use the semi-organic tech to 'grow' some more weapons. Wasp just authorises everyone to try whatever they can. Firebird, IM, Thor, Warbird and WM fly up to try attacking Damocles anyway. BK, Stingray and YJ get to work on generating the weapons. But holo-Kang now says that his bombardment has destroyed their 'invisibility' shield so he now knows exactly where they are.
He's about to fire a city-killer at them when Damocles Base his itself rocked by a blow. Outside the huge black pyramid has arrived, on the same scale as Damocles' sword-shape. Triathlon prepares to fire again. In the Base Kang dons his weaponised holo-projection suit and sends out his giant holographic figure (seen in #48-49) and draws more power to make it even bigger than sword or pyramid. But Captain America was expecting this and he's got Triathlon to do something similar. So now mega-sized holographic Cap faces his foe toe-to-toe.