Synopsis / Summary / Plot
The New Warriors—Speedball, Namorita, Night Thrasher, and Microbe—are planning a raid on a villains’ hideout in Stamford, Connecticut for an episode of their reality TV show. Though the bad guys—Cobalt Man, Coldheart, Speedfreek, and Nitro—are out of their league, they go for the ratings (“best episode of the entire second season”). The C-list heroes easily overcome three of their foes but Nitro sets off an explosion that destroys the entire neighborhood, including a school, killing hundreds, mostly children. Later, as various heroes are cleaning up the disaster site and searching for survivors, some predict a backlash against heroes. At a memorial service for the dead, Miriam Sharpe, mother of one of the victims, confronts Tony Stark and accuses him of complicity in the incident by his funding of the Avengers, another unregulated team of vigilante heroes. Sometime later, outside a New York nightclub, Johnny Storm is attacked and beaten by a hostile mob. Several heroes gather at the Baxter Building to discuss the government’s proposal that they be regulated, debating issues such as secret identities, accountability, and federal controls. Meanwhile, on the SHIELD helicarrier, Captain America is meeting with Maria Hill, acting commander of SHIELD. Cap tells her that the government’s proposal will set the heroes at war with one another; her concern is that Cap lead the Avengers against any heroes who refuse to comply with registration. Cap refuses, and on Hill’s orders, SHIELD agents fire tranquilizer shells at the recalcitrant hero. Cap easily takes out an entire room full of agents and crashes through the window, hitching a ride to safety atop a passing jet (!). At the Baxter Building, the Watcher suddenly appears, signaling a moment of enormous upheaval. As the Superhuman Registration Act is in Congress, the President and his advisors worry about Captain America becoming a figurehead for other rebellious heroes. Iron Man assures the President that the registered heroes will deal with Captain America.