Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways #4 Synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Last issue ended with the Warden of the Cube prison about to do surgery on the restrained living bodies of Hulkling and Wiccan of the Young Avengers and Karolina Dean of the Runaways. This issue we find that on the 1 hand they're awake for the procedure, but on the other hand it's 'just' installing power dampeners. He's already dealt with Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) with an auditory implant which stops him hearing his spoken spells so they don't work (how did he know that would do the job?). Now he's working on a more invasive procedure for Hulkling (Teddy Altman) but his half-Skrull changeling ability means his innards keep shifting away from the knife (but he can't shift out of his restraints?). Karolina seems OK (but maybe the metal of her chains is nullifying her powers as some have been shown to do). He's left the Runaway Skrull Xavin lying on the floor with a broken neck.
Then an underling calls him to see Noh-Varr, the Kree youth he has under his control who he sent after the YA and Runaways in #2. Medics have been trying to get the broken off arm of the robot Vision out of the boy's chest but have discovered it's phase-shifted to merge with his body and his nanites are reacting against it. The Warden 'reminds' the unconscious Noh-Varr how when he was brought there he predicted he'd turn the Cube into the capital of a new Kree Empire. Well that hasn't happened. The Warden tells them to leave things as they are and see what happens, and he returns to his fun.
But outside the underground prison the other YAers and Runaways have come to attempt a rescue.
The Runaways' dinosaur Old Lace is psychically linked to Chase Stein and has picked up on his anger at Molly Hayes, the youngest Runaway, and Speed (Tommy Shepherd) of the YA for being off innocently having fun while the others were fighting Noh-Varr last issue, and OL is taking it out on Tommy. Molly says Chase used to be like her big brother but since his girlfriend Gert died he's been acting mean.
YA Stature (Cassie Lang) continues to look after the broken Runaway robot Victor Mancha. They seem to be developing a bond which which seems to disturb Vision (who has the memories of Iron Lad who had feelings for her). He tells Patriot (Eli Bradley) and Chase that the old Vision once took over the US Government's computer systems and he has the files on how to do it, so he could hack the Cube if he could get to its mainframe. Nico Minoru bites her finger to draw blood to unleash the Staff Of One from her body. She'll get Vision his access but she needs his built-in Thesaurus to provide her with alternate words she can use for old spells (to get round a restriction of the magic Staff).
The Warden takes his operating room off the internal comms so he can work in privacy. Billy is still chanting "I want him to go to sleep" but his spell still doesn't work because he can't hear it. The idealistic youth can't wish for something worse even as the villain takes the knife to his boyfriend Teddy.
In the Cube control room the YA and Runaways burst up through the floor courtesy of Nico's Prodigium Effodio spell. Vision explains it's Latin for Excavating Monster. As the others beat up the staff Vizh breaks into the mainframe, and a guard calls for Noh-Varr to be released.
In the operating room Teddy is unconscious but his shapeshifting body still keeps protecting itself. But the Warden just says that will prolong the time he can spend cutting the alien. And Billy's chant changes to "I want you to die". But then broken-necked Xavin rises and rips the restraints from his girlfriend Karolina. As he clicks his neck back into place and turns Super-Skrull he tells the Warden some of the events that have scarred his life. *He* has no compunction about killing.
In the control room the fighting teens are overwhelmed by a flood of guards. And then Noh-Varr joins in to attack Old Lace. Molly rushes to the dino's aid but the Kree throws them both in the air.
In the operating room the Warden tries to call for help but the room's off-grid. Karolina has freed the other 2 and Hulkling tries to stop Xavin from murdering the Warden. Wiccan says he only wished the guy dead in the heat of anger, and Karolina pleads with him. Xavin acquiesces, saying that Teddy can't be the saviour of the Skrulls that they say he is (as grandson of a previous Emperor). Vision is now in control of the site and guides them to the others.
Chase comforts Molly and says he'll be her big brother again as she falls asleep as usual after exerting her power. Meanwhile Noh-Varr is laying about the rest of the teens. He's about to crush the 2 of them with a big chunk of machinery when Vision phases around Chase giving him the armour to hit the Kree with. Then the other 4 arrive to join the fight. Stature has been guarding Victor and their exit hole, but now the robot feels well enough to help. Noh-Varr has just used Vision's arm embedded in his chest to take over the Vision armour and fire at the allies. But Victor gets close enough for his code to interfere with the Vision's. And when he touches Vision/Chase the arm in his chest causes Noh to black out.
Patriot wants them to leave now they've got their missing friends. But Vision detects that Noh-Varr's mind has been corrupted by (the Warden's) 'foreign code'. And as he retrieves his arm he 'fixes' the Kree.
When the Warden arrives with more guards he finds the Runaways and Young Avengers gone, and Noh-Varr alone amongst the unconscious staff. The Warden tries to order him about but the Kree is no longer under his control.
Our heroes congregate at the Runaways' Leapfrog and the YA's quinjet. Tommy tells Chase to look after Molly because she looks up to him. Victor thanks Cassie for looking after *him*, and Chase is suddenly smitten by her. Vision tells him that's psychic feedback from wearing the Iron Lad armour. Teddy thanks Xavin for saving them in the operating room. But Xavin thanks *him* for stopping him killing the Warden which would have lost him his girlfriend's love. So maybe Dorrek VIII *is* the saviour of the Skrulls. Eli invites the Runaways to come join the Resistance in New York but Nico says they'll return to LA and continue to try not to be dragged into adults' disagreements.
Later SHIELD Director Maria Hill tries to contact the Warden but the Cube doesn't respond. Noh-Varr is now in command and using the Warden as a footstool. He declares that this now *is* the capital of the new Kree Empire.