At the Champions
headquarters, Hercules is suddenly attacked by the defense machinery with the
computer calling him an intruder; he fights back as only Hercules can. In
another room, Bobby Drake, concerned with not being taken seriously by the rest
of the team, is trying on a new costume he has devised. A chunk of machinery
crashes by and through a window, plummeting toward pedestrians below; as
Iceman, Bobby coats the falling machine with ice, creating a pylon that arrests
its descent. He then investigates and discovers Herc battling steel tentacles….
At the docks in
Santa Monica Bay, Ivan Petrovich is departing for Russia to reconnect with his
son, the new Crimson Dynamo. Black Widow, Darkstar, and Johnny Blaze are there
to see him off with varying levels of sentiment. (We are also informed that
Ivan’s real reason for leaving involves Nick Fury—and once on the ship he is
confronted by a man with a gun.) Meanwhile, a terrified man clutching a
briefcase disembarks from the ship and runs along the pier, pursued by a
purple-caped figure. Packing crates burst open, freeing giant mechanical bees
on the man; Johnny turns into Ghost Rider from the sense of danger and the
Champions swing into action and battle the bees….
Back at
headquarters, Herc and Iceman are battling the building itself; when they have
destroyed one piece of equipment, another one activates to attack them. Iceman
hurries to the control room to shut down the system but he is attacked by the
bodiless Rampage armor while Herc is confronted with a bulky android….
At the docks, the
Champs are fighting the bees and the frightened man is confronted by Swarm, a
purple-cloaked man who is composed of bees; he sics the bees on the man who is
swiftly stung to death. Then the bees, live and mechanical, depart. Natasha,
Laynia, and GR find the man’s body and learn from his ID that he was an INTERPOL
agent. Natasha contacts headquarters for Iceman to bring the sky-car but there
is no answer…
…as Iceman is
fighting for his life against the Rampage armor; he tricks the armor into
punching the generator controls, destroying the armor and shutting off the
electricity to the offices. The huge android attacking Hercules falls over as
the rooms are turned dark. Some investigation leads Bobby to conclude it was
due to faulty building materials. Natasha, Johnny, and Laynia arrive and Nat is
angry that Bobby and Herc missed an urgent call. The Angel crashes through the
window and tells his teammates to look at the skies: they are blackened with a
massive swarm of bees….
Characters:
Champions, Hercules, Black Widow, Iceman, Angel, Ghost Rider, Darkstar, Ivan
Petrovich, Swarm,