Synopsis
Earth has been stolen by Grandmaster and an unrevealed opponent to provide a battleground for a contest between the alien Black Order on 1 side and a new alien Lethal Legion on the other. Most supercharacters have been 'frozen' leaving only a load of Avengers to provide 'obstacles' for the contestants.
In Peru Falcon leads a team consisting of Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Red Hulk (Gen'l Maverick), Synapse and Wonder Man. Teleporter Voyager is still with them after transporting them there. Torch gets fed up with Sam Wilson trying to plan a strategy (not as quickly as Reed Richards would have got the Fantastic Four into action) and just flies to the attack.
But his targets are already fighting each other - Black Order vs Lethal Legion (Corvus Glaive vs Drall, Ebony Maw vs Ferene, Proxima Midnight vs Captain Glory).
The other scene of action is Rome. The Blood Brothers, Mentacle and Metal Master of the Lethal Legion had defeated Rogue's team of Cannonball, Hercules, Lightning and Thor (Jane Foster) last issue when Quicksilver dashed to the rescue. But he suddenly froze like many others and was at the villains' mercy.
Now the other Avengers have recovered and come to *his* aid. Thor tries to wrest control of Mjolnir back from Metal Master. But he sends it against her instead. Cannonball rashly intercepts it and is sent reeling into Rogue. Mentacle mentally grabs Hercules' mind until Lightning hits her with electricity. But 1 of the Blood Brothers is about to crush Pietro Maximoff's skull ...
... when their true opponents Black Swan, Black Dwarf and Supergiant of the Black Order blast *them*. Molyn sends Thor's hammer against them but Black Swan's force field stops it, and Supergiant phases through him and disrupts his brain. Mentacle is still down so Black Dwarf just attacks Thor.
Cut to Grandmaster and his opponent verbally sparring. The other guy says his Black Order are an established fighting force who used to work for Thanos. While GM has just cobbled together a bunch of aliens who've never met. But En Dwi Gast claims to have used his knowledge of this universe to hand-pick his team.
Back in Peru Falcon recognises the Black Order members. He tells Synapse to try reading the mind of the mind-controller Ebony Maw. (Sounds to me exactly the wrong 1 to aim at.) She gets the name Lethal Legion and the names of the 3 members here. And that the 2 sides are vying for an alien object (she sees the pyramid shape). And apparently Sam Wilson stopped Torch's impetuous move because the combatants haven't spotted the Avengers yet. So they'll just observe their tactics.
Meanwhile Voyager has just popped across to see how the others are doing in Rome. Rogue tells her to take frozen Quicksilver back to base, and orders Cannonball to go with them because she thinks he's suffering from concussion.
In the Avengers' backup HQ (Avengers Mansion was destroyed (again) in #676) Scarlet Witch and Doctor Voodoo have revived Vision from his frozen state (last issue). But Wanda Maximoff is having to fight to keep him from slipping back. Valerie Vector arrives with her patients, and Jericho Drumm calls Toni Ho to get the medical bay ready. When Wanda sees her frozen brother Pietro her concentration wavers and Vision freezes again. But Quicksilver revives, and the Witch realises she must have caused him to freeze when she woke Vision.
In the Colosseum Supergiant has invaded Metal Master's mind and made him relive being exiled from his planet for being a conqueror. Mjolnir returns to Thor and she attacks a Blood Brother. Rogue has figured out that the aliens are fighting over a small pyramid hovering in the air surrounded by flying rocks, and intends her team to grab it off them all.
But Black Swan erects a force field around Black Dwarf so he can get through the rocks to win the prize. He reaches it, touches it ... and it explodes, apparently disintegrating him. A large number 1 appears in its place and Swan declares the Black Order have won the 1st point. (The symbol on the Pyramoid indicates it's the 1 chosen by Grandmaster last issue - signifying the element Earth. Which explains why it was protected by rocks.)
Black Swan and Supergiant teleport away. The Lethal Legion go after them. Thor wants to follow but Rogue stops her. She's seen what happens to someone who touches a pyramid. She's worried that the other team might try to do what she'd thought of, and try for the prize themselves. Lightning flashes off to warn them.
In Peru Corvus Glaive defeats Ferene and is about to kill her when Red Hulk stops him. Falcon has decided saving lives, even of enemies, is the Avengers' priority. Pacifist Wonder Man is happy to separate Drall and Proxima Midnight. Captain Glory downs Ebony Maw. Falcon flies after him, telling Synapse to mentally keep Maw from possessing anyone.
The Pyramoid here is the Fire element chosen by the opponent, and it's surrounded by a firestorm. So Torch figures he's the right 1 to go after it, pausing only to hurl flames to keep Drall and Midnight from following him. Proxima hurls her lance that never misses after him as Lightning arrives. Rulk has Glory in his grip when he sees what's going on and leaps towards the prize himself. Lightning tries to stop him but Torch gets there 1st. And screams as he touches the Pyramoid.