Synopsis
It's the Edo period in Japan and 2 hooded men are surprised by the Ghost Ronin, the Samurai Of Vengeance, who they were trying to follow. They turn out to be Captain America and Nighthawk, and he gives them 2 swords to help fight the enemies on motorbikes who attack them all. Nighthawk takes a sword but Cap relies on his trusty shield. However neither of them have much to do as GR dispatches most of the demons with *his* flaming blades. Our duo try to explain why they're here without giving too much away, but the Ronin *knows* that they are Avengers from the future defending past wielders of the 'legacy powers' from Mephisto. He pauses only to commend Nighthawk on the path he is following before disappearing.
Cap contacts Phoenix and Sub-Mariner who are arguing about the fact that the Phoenix Force chose *her* (during the Enter The Phoenix arc) rather than he who had borne it before (during the Avengers Vs X-Men event). They are interrupted by a Viking longboat full of berserkers. But before they can attack it the Ghost Ronin walks across the sea to split the boat in 2 with his swords. Before he disappears again he gets Namor to tell Maya Lopez that he will, if she wants, kill her if she ever goes dark. Echo returns the promise.
Next stop is Thor and Valkyrie hovering in the sky. Odin, currently residing within Mjolnir, tells his son that Jane Foster desires the hammer so Thor tosses it away. Val thinks he's still brooding about the Phoenix Force claiming to be his true mother (Enter The Phoenix again). Jane says that when she was inside the Phoenix Force some time earlier (Mighty Thor (2015) #19 when *she* was Thor and carried Mjolnir) she could tell that it had mixed feelings about him, which might fit with 1 of the avatars being his mother. The Thunder God changes the subject to ask what Mephisto tempted her with (in #56, and we know it was to have the hammer again). As usual the issues remain unresolved because Thor senses their foes.
The Samurai is attacked by demons cloaked in light-bending nanites, but he can sense their positions by their blood which he proceeds to shed. By the time the 6 Avengers plus Captain Marvel, Iron Man and Starbrand get there it's all over. The Ronin tells them that his swords know that they are trying to get back to the original Avengers 1 Million BC. Cap says every time they try they wind up in some other era. GR cryptically says "Follow the fire. For everything, oh Avengers, is on fire." And then stares at young (but not quite so young as originally) Starbrand to continue "You just have to be willing to let it burn."
Again with the interruptions as a pirate Mephisto rides past on a black horse with the Iron Inquisitor flying behind him. The Avengers head to their quinjet (with its misbehaving time circuits) to follow. Ghost Ronin and Nighthawk take time to say goodbye to each other.