Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Last issue Century saw that the Scatter's transmat chamber was set to invade Earth and he estimates that they will be here in 72 hours. His memories are patchy but Force Works were told last issue that the aliens follow where Century goes, and he is willing to accept that his unplanned arrival here in #1 has led them here.
Tony Stark introduces his newest invention the Chaos Computer which needs Scarlet Witch to help it function perfectly. It has been designed to monitor world data and predict crises so the team can get there before they happen. It's pretty good at its job on its own, but if Wanda Maximoff adds her probability power then it could achieve perfect predictions. We leave her trying unsuccessfully to determine where the Scatter will strike (because she can't stop thinking about Wonder Man's death in #1).
U.S. Agent spends the time waiting by practising fighting with his new photon shield in the Vroom Room. Spider-Woman watches him and says the psychic feedback she got from using her psi-webs on the aliens last issue gave her a terrifying glimpse into their minds. The AI P.L.A.T.O. shows Century to his assigned quarters but they are interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Rigellian Recorder RE-404 who is cloaked from PLATO's senses. It is fascinated by Century. But then they all rush to hear that Wanda has pinpointed the Scatter landing site as Houston.
As their hex-ship approaches the city they detect an abnormal weather vortex with an electrostatic focus in the downtown centre. And as they come in to land they meet folks fleeing from that area, where they find the advance guard of Scatter setting up equipment to generate the space-time rift the invasion force will come through. They battle the aliens until Spider-Woman overcomes her revulsion to bind the foe together in a psi-web so that Iron Man can blast them all in 1 go. But Century discovers the rift generator is sheathed in a forcefield even his spacetime-ripping staff Parallax can't pierce.
The generator emits a beam which rips a hole in the sky at the centre of the weather system. And large rocks start to fall through it. Iron Man detects that the Scatter are breaking up the planet that they had finished with last issue and are funnelling it through the hole. And conveniently as usual Century remembers that's what they do. He says they'll need to go back to that world and stop it there.
Scarlet Witch tells Century to use Parallax to take her there. Iron Man wants to come with but Wanda pulls rank (Tony made her team leader) and tells US Agent to accompany them. Century whirls his staff and they're away. IM and Spi are left to deal with the falling rocks. And Stark says he has a plan.
As Century brings the other 2 to their destination they see the planet being sucked in pieces into the wormhole. He then takes them to the Scatter base where they must reach the power core. The area is filled with pods (like the ones which delivered some Scatter to Earth last issue) which Century says contain the Scatter Elite in stasis waiting for transit. He warns Witch and Agent not to wake them, but the pods open anyway. Agent stays behind to hold them off while his companions try to disrupt the flow of energy - try and fail.
Back in Houston Julia Carpenter has spun the biggest psi-web she's ever done, and it's holding all the debris to come through the wormhole so far. Each time an area of webbing is about to fail she patches it with more psi-stuff. But she knows eventually it's bound to break.
Back on the Scatter planet Wanda asks Century how the aliens control where the wormhole goes to. And again Century plucks more info out of his head. Their navigation system is programmed to follow a route that he has forged with Parallax. So she tells him to get Parallax to plan another route, and she'll hex the control system to follow *that*. And he does and she does and it works. The whole planet disappears down a hole to nowhere.
On Earth Tony and Julia see their end of the wormhole implode. And the other 3 arrive home via Parallax so Scarlet Witch can explain what they did. I don't know what happened to the psi-web full of rocks, but they talk about cleaning up and imprisoning any Scatter remaining on Earth.
Meanwhile in FW HQ the Chaos Computer predicts a crisis in the Baltic State of Slorenia. But Recorder cancels the alert.