Synopsis
This issue we return to the situation in Madripoor, but this time the focus is on Falcon. Back in #3 Shang-Chi confronted the Gorgon who magically roused the giant dragon on whose head the island of Madripoor rested. Shang-Chi lost the fight and fell critically wounded from the flying dragon.
He had been sent here by Captain America and SHIELD with Black Widow, Falcon and Wolverine to investigate and defuse rioting in the streets. The other 3 don't know that the chaos is (presumably) a side-effect of Gorgon's magic. But they realise they can't do anything and Widow tells Cap she wants to abandon the mission. But 1st Falcon flies off to look for Shang-Chi, who'd sneaked off on his own.
All birds have fled the flying island, so Sam Wilson has to fly high and rely on his own eyes. He can't see his fellow Avenger, but he does spot a flying spy device. He follows it to a large hovering craft - like a giant ring supported by 6 huge vertical engines. There is a tower structure on 1 side, and Falcon flies in.
More flying devices meet him and scan him to confirm his identity. Then he is greeted by a Chinese guy in a business suit called Xian Zheng (although why he calls his suit Xian Zheng isn't revealed - very old-type joke) who welcomes Falcon to his ship The Circle.
It tuns out that this is the HQ of China's hitherto unrevealed answer to SHIELD called SPEAR. They have Shang-Chi in a hospital bed - they presumably rescued him from his fall. Zheng explains Gorgon's hand in all this (and the Hand's). And now Hand ninjas riding small dragons are attacking the craft.
When Thanos invaded Earth in Infinity the Avengers were away in space. China realised it needed its own defensive force, and Zheng now unveils SPEAR's own super-team called the Ascendants.
The team go out to deal with the attackers. Weather Witch hurls lightning. Saber and Vector are obviously mislabelled because Saber must be the totally masked guy with the light-sabres. Female Vector just hits hard. (Everybody seems to be able to fly, or at least do very agile leaps.) Devastator is an Iron Man equivalent. Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, does martial artsy stuff with his staff.
The Circle is here because the dragon is heading for Shanghai. Gorgon aims to rule China. Zheng says he'll extract Black Widow and Wolverine from Madripoor. But he wants Falcon to visibly work with the Ascendants, to show the world that the Chinese heroes are on their side.
In the SHIELD helicarrier Iliad Cap and Maria Hill are monitoring this and other situations (see other issues of this series). They see Falcon alongside the Ascendants.