Synopsis
Last issue the Champions exposed Roxxon's latest plan and got Kamala's Law repealed. But they aren't quite home and dry yet because disgruntled Roxxon employee André Sims has sent his Chaperone robots against them.
Ironheart, Ms. Marvel, Nova, Spider-Man and Viv Vision are flying round New York celebrating when they see the 3 robots launching from the Roxxon HQ. The Chaperones say they're going to save the teen heroes from the danger they put themselves in. And they fire a foam which hardens around Nova and Spidey until Ironheart frees them. Then they use other non-lethal, but still dangerous, weapons against our gang. They also use the foam to stop teen bystanders from 'dangerously' running away. So the Champs go proactive to try to take the robots down.
Meanwhile Roxxon boss Miriam Blakemoore uses her authority to get in to André's control room without the armed guards who want to accompany her. Sims is wearing a helmet which allows him to control the Chaperones, and he reminds Ms Blakemoore that it would be risky to remove it from him by force. She's just going to have to watch as he proves how good his invention is. He says that he's got round the failsafe that was supposed to stop the Chaperones attacking heroes directly because the robots think that's the best way to stop the teens getting into even more dangerous situations. And their algorithm is making their attacks very effective. But Blakemoore reminds him that some teens are less predictable than others, and the system seems to pick out Ironheart and Viv as such.
The Champs are helping civilians escape when Viv notices that the Chaperones keep missing her and Riri with their shots. She reminds them that the robots were trained by studying teen behaviour via the Roxx On app. Kamala, Sam and Miles all used the app while they went undercover as Roxxon interns, but Riri and Viv have never used it. The robots don't know the others' secret IDs but they have learned to deal with teens who act similarly to ones they've seen. Which doesn't include the synthezoid and the armoured girl. So Spidey attracts the robots' attention by spouting loads of teen idioms while the others finish the evacuation. And then the team go on the attack.
Sims tells Blakemoore that his personal control would compensate for the algorithm's problem if only she'd shut up and let him get on with it. He rants that he hates teenagers as much as she does. Miriam replies that it was nothing personal, just business. The anti-teen-hero campaign was a way to influence people, just as she set up the current situation by deliberately not revoking his security clearance before firing him last issue. So that she can save the day and Roxxon's public image by now stopping his rampage by electrocuting him with a power cable.
Outside the Chaperones freeze. And a TV News reporter runs up to ask Ms Marvel about the Champs working with Ms Blakemoore to shut down the robots. Kamala doesn't know how to answer, so Viv says "No comment" and they fly off. Miriam is on the News saying she takes full responsibility for having hired Sims to rehabilitate him (after his activities in the Ironheart 2020 mini-series).
The Champs hear about that at Viv's house where they're helping her groom her synthezoid dog Sparky. MsM can't understand how they did everything right and still Roxxon comes up smelling of roses. Nova's response is basically 'that's life'. Roxxon have been doing bad stuff for years and the Avengers have never been able to take them down. Meanwhile Sparky has been racing around causing mayhem, and Viv thinks they're all overstimulating him. So they agree to all head home. But before they go Kamala takes a celebratory selfie of them all.
The issue ends with an epilogue with Miriam visiting André in prison. It seems they've made a deal. He goes along with their story and Roxxon doesn't dismantle his Chaperones, and he remains their remote controller. And we see that half of the control helmet is now bonded to his face.