Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Last issue the Squadron Supreme attacked the Avengers while they were on a rescue mission claiming that they were fakes. Now the Squadron are on TV news repeating the allegation that the real Avengers died (in Onslaught: Marvel Universe) and those who claim to have returned (in Heroes Reborn: The Return) are imposters. And this even applies to those who didn't disappear in the Onslaught event (Firestar, Justice and Warbird). The Squad will testify on this to Congress. The holographic Vision points out that their death and return *was* suspicious, and on top of the Skrulls unmasked (in Captain America #5-7) and the Thunderbolts being exposed as supervillains (in their #11-12) the public is understandably wary.
Hawkeye angrily breaks the TV and suggests they go and *make* the Squadron confess who put them up to this. Captain America suggests a more reasoned approach. Clint Barton is tired of Steve Rogers disrespecting him, considering he used to lead the West Coast Avengers. Cap suggests they discuss it in private.
Scarlet Witch has left the men to their squabbling and goes to think about Vision, Wonder Man and the fact that her powers seem to be changing. She finds Warbird fixing herself a shot of whisky. Wanda Maximoff settles for ice-cream and admitting that she hates seeing the synthezoid Vision so robotic, and misses the caring version who used to be her husband. And she comments when Carol Danvers pours herself a 2nd drink.
In the combat simulation room Clint squares up for a fight, but Steve talks to him instead. He points out that as an ex-leader Barton knows that there's only room for 1 leader at a time. So if he wants the job Rogers will step aside. This takes the wind out of Hawkeye's sails. They shake hands, and Cap asks Hawk to assemble the others in the quinjet bay.
Soon Hawkeye's flying them all to Project PEGASUS (which the Squadron use as a base). En route Cap asks Warbird why she didn't use her Binary powers last issue when he told her to. Danvers reacts defensively saying *she* knows which of her powers is the right 1 for a job. Iron Man cautions Steve not to press the point now. He thinks he knows what's going on and he'll have a word with Carol later.
They land the quinjet in upstate New York and meet the Project's Administrator Kappelhoff and its Head Of Security Blue Shield. They are wary of allowing the team free access with the questions hanging over them. Warbird recognises someone she met as Ms Marvel on Henry Gyrich's staff when he was the Avengers' Government liaison, and she establishes her bona fides with him. Kappelhoff lets them in.
Blue Shield takes them on a tour of the place. He reminds them that they research alternate energy sources here, but they've given up studying superhumans. However Dr Rivera has set up a database of known supers. Cap asks him to list all criminals with the ability to influence minds. We see the 1st few but Rivera says there are more, and Cap thinks it's too many to check within the 48 hours the Government gave them (last issue) to clear themselves. So he tries a different tack ...
... the team are allowed to search the Squadron's quarters. We see Iron Man in Whizzer's room looking at a drawing of Stanley Stewart's family, because he had no photos when he and the rest of the team were cut off from their parallel Earth. Warbird finds porn mags in Dr Spectrum's place. Then they all get called back because the Squadron Supreme have returned and they're justly unhappy about this invasion of privacy. They accuse the Avengers of trying to plant false evidence against *them*.
Cap gets Scarlet Witch to summon up Wonder Man like she did last issue. It happens even more easily than last time, and Simon Williams is raring to go again. But Wanda still thinks Simon is dead and she's somehow enslaving his soul.
The inevitable fight begins with Thor throwing his hammer at Hyperion, but on the return loop Dr Spectrum traps it in a prismatic forcefield. Shape dodges Hawkeye's arrows by opening holes in his body to let them through, while Haywire sneaks up and trips Clint with his tanglewire. Power Princess blocks Warbird's blasts with her shield and punches her out. Iron Man uses his targeting computer to aim his repulsor rays at Whizzer but still can't tag him. Moonglow faces off with Scarlet Witch again, but Wanda ignores her magic and only uses her hex to fend off her opponents mystic force. Wonder Man keeps hammering at Spectrum's personal force shield hoping that will weaken his hold on Thor's hammer, while Hype batters the weakened Thunder God.
Cap is dodging Skylark's sonic blasts when he notices that Warbird is losing ground to Power Princess because she's still avoiding using her Binary powers. So he uses his triangular shield to angle Skylark's next attack to hit Zarda on the rebound. Carol hotly claims she didn't need any help, but Cap says they're a team so *she* should now pass the help on. So Warbird casually deals with *his* opponent Skylark.
Shape has Hawkeye wrapped up in his silly-putty body until Clint manages to pull out a flare arrow to shock his foe into letting go. Whizzer is having difficulty eluding Iron Man in the winding corridors of the building until he dodges and Shellhead slams into a wall. Meanwhile Wonder Man thinks of a new tactic. He picks up the whole force bubble enclosing DrS and throws him at Hyperion. *That* causes Spectrum to free Mjolnir which returns to its master's hand. (I guess the fight so far has lasted less than a minute or Thor would have reverted to his current civilian id Jake Olsen.)
There's still a standoff between Scarlet Witch and Moonglow, and both of them know Moonglow should have won by now. But Wanda's hex power has somehow been absorbing the magic her foe has been throwing at her. And through it she has detected something wrong with Moonglow and the rest of the Squadron. She expands her hex to cover the whole Squad and 'fixes' the problem. And the Squadron Supreme come to their senses.
But then Blue Shield KO's the Witch from behind, and Administrator Kappelhoff starts to order the Squad to kill the Avengers. However an arrow from Hawkeye rips an image inducer from Kappelhoff's chest revealing the Corruptor, 1 of the mind-controllers on Dr Rivera's list. And Warbird reveals how a tech-scanner she happened to have detected the inducer and she tipped the nod to the archer.
Later Moonglow probes Corruptor's mind. She learns that he was working for someone, but a post-hypnotic block prevents him from revealing who. Hyperion promises to clear the Avengers in Congress. But he's still bitter that the Squad are trapped on Marvel-Earth and have to live at the Project. Riled Cap responds by reminding him this is the 4th time his team has been mind-controlled. (Hawkeye mentioned the 3 previous times last issue.) Warbird is feeling cocky after her part in the win, but Cap still wants to know if there's some reason she's not using her Binary power. Carol's mood immediately shifts and she angrily accuses him of trying to get her off the team. And flies off in a huff.
Finally we see Imus Champion getting a report on the failure of his scheme. He vows revenge on the Avengers.