Synopsis
Grandmaster and Challenger have stolen the Earth to use as a gameboard. They have put most of the Earth's superbeings into stasis apart from a large group of Avengers to function as obstacles on the board to be overcome by 2 teams of aliens, each chosen by 1 of the players. Challenger has the tried and tested Black Order. Grandmaster has assembled a seemingly random group that he has named the Lethal Legion.
The object of the game is for the aliens to battle past the Avengers to reach elemental Pyramoids placed on Earth. For the 1st round Grandmaster put the earth Pyramoid in Rome and Challenger put fire in Peru. Black Dwarf of the Black Order won the earth Pyramoid, but the Avenger Human Torch gained the fire Pyramoid. And both appeared to be disintegrated when they touched the targets. But we know that they were merely removed from play and are held in stasis. However Lightning has just raced from Peru to Rome to let team leader Rogue know that her lover Johnny Storm is 'dead'.
As she struggles to recover from the blow Voyager teleports in to tell them that Toni Ho (ex Iron Patriot) has detected 2 more Pyramoids in New Mexico and the Antarctic. Roberto Da Costa (Citizen V/Sunspot) wants them all back at Avengers Auxiliary HQ. But angry Rogue wants to take the fight to the foe immediately. And Lightning, Hercules and Thor (Jane Foster) support her.
Back at HQ Roberto and Toni have contacted Falcon, leader of the team in Peru. Toni says 1 Pyramoid is at Los Alamos whipping up a superstorm for its protection, and the 1 in the Antarctic is producing freak icy conditions. (Last issue we saw Challenger choose the Pyramoid of air, and Grandmaster was left with that of water.)
Falcon turns to his remaining 3 team members but Red Hulk suddenly reverts to (still-red) Gen'l Maverick. Hydra messed up his power (during Secret Empire) and now he doesn't get the full hour of power, and also in his human form he has heart problems. Synapse and Wonder Man help him as Sam Wilson contacts Voyager to ask her to port Maverick to the base. But she replies that she's only got enough energy left to get Rogue's team to the Antarctic.
Roberto Da Costa says he's sent a quinjet to them for transport. But he can solve Maverick's problem and the manpower shortage at the same time quicker than that. The General is replaced by Roberto along with Doctor Voodoo and Scarlet Witch. Dr V used magic to exchange their places. And their ranks have been swelled even more because Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) is with them. It seems that when Torch was killed she was de-'frozen' to make up the numbers. (As earlier Quicksilver was temporarily frozen when Vision was briefly restored.)
The quinjet arrives to take them to New Mexico. Wonder Man elects to fly under his own steam because he wants to make a detour ...
... which takes him to the Lenox Hill hospital in Manhattan where Beast and Wasp (Nadia Pym) are looking after comatose Edwin Jarvis. After Simon Williams gets a reunion hug from his old pal Hank McCoy he brings them up-to-date with events including the 'death' of Torch. Beast wants to go out and help but WM says the Avengers want him and Nadia to keep trying to save Jarvis.
Wasp mentions their latest theory that the butler may be suffering from an accumulation of alien energies, toxins and radiation that he's absorbed from his long association with the team. And she has a brainwave that suggests Wonder Man might be able to help with part of that. The science fiction handwaving that follows goes something like this:- Radiation causes atoms to eject electrons becoming positive ions. Simon's body consists of ionic energy that he controls. Thus he can absorb radiation. (I'm ignoring the bit which claims that magnetism is caused by the attraction of positive and negative ions - irrelevant and wrong.)
So Hank asks Simon to sense the electromagnetic radiation in the air. And then sense it in Jarvis and draw it out. But WM eventually says there's no radiation in Jarvis. And that their whole theory must be wrong. (But surely he's only disproven/cast doubt on the radiation part.)
Now we turn to the Antarctic for the obligatory battle scene. The Black Order (minus Black Dwarf lost in the earlier round) are struggling through the deep cold and a snowstorm which surround the water Pyramoid. Voyager brings Rogue's team to the site. Thor slams Ebony Maw with Mjolnir and then moves on to Supergiant, Lightning zaps Proxima Midnight and Hercules tackles (literally) Black Swan. Meanwhile Rogue starts to take her anger out on Corvus Glaive. As Voyager takes on Ebony Maw while Herc and Thor tag team Black Swan, Rogue brutally beats her opponent and then punches through his chest.
Proxima Midnight sees her husband die and is about to throw her spear that never misses at Rogue when hurled Mjolnir knocks her sideways. Swan wants to retreat but Midnight is filled with bloodlust. The Avengers celebrate victory. They've forgotten about Supergiant who plans to take control of Thor's mind and use her to kill her allies. But then Ferene of the Lethal Legion appears and disposes of her. She figures *she* can now attain the prize for *her* team.
And in the ruins of the Mount the voice from last issue speaking in green claims to be trapped with someone else - someone unstoppable and unkillable. (And as last issue we can guess it's Bruce Banner and the Hulk.)
The cover sports a 'Where is Wolverine' button and in a separate epilogue we see him in Peru, frozen in stasis like most superbeings.