Synopsis
Last issue the unbeliever heroes approached Goddess' Paradise Omega planet as part of Thanos' overall plan. But Thor wrecked their 2 quinjets and the heroes are now descending to the planet in pairs in escape pods. And Goddess' spokes-priestess Moondragon (of the Infinity Watch) has deployed the believers in pairs to meet them. Drax the Destroyer (also of the Infinity Watch) and Hulk (with a jetpack) accosted Thor in space. Drax is still fighting the Thunder God but Hulk's jetpack was damaged and he's now falling towards the planet, and running out of air. Thanos asked 1 escape pod to stay in the sky to keep him appraised of events. Forge and Nomad report that they are in position.
Mr Fantastic and Vision are the 1st to land, and they are immediately attacked by Dr Strange and Windshear (of Alpha Flight). Windshear tackles Vision who easily avoids him by going immaterial then downs him with his solar beam. Meanwhile Strange has kept MrF at bay with mystic blasts which allows him to then defeat the android with a blast from behind. But Reed Richards' arm is longer than the mage anticipated and he can still knock him out of the sky. However his punch didn't have much force at that distance so DrS is able to defeat *him* too. He reports back to Moondragon that he'd had to sacrifice pawn Windshear as expected.
In Goddess' cathedral Multiple Man's multiple bodies are keeping track of everything and reporting to Moondragon.
Next up is Beast and Iceman vs believers Captain America and Scarlet Witch. After some too-and-fro Beast sucker-punches Wanda while Cap downs Iceman with feet encased in a blast of his own ice. Then Steve Rogers and Henry McCoy duke it out until Cap is about to decapitate his foe with his shield. But then recovered Bobby Drake conks him with an ice-club.
Inside her Cosmic Egg at the heart of the planet Goddess reaches out across the Galaxy with her mind converting alien races to her Crusade. With her is Silhouette with Pip the Troll (another Infinity Watch-er) trussed up and gagged. She was Goddess' secret weapon who prevented Pip from taking control of the Egg (in Warlock & The Infinity Watch #20).
Maxam (a friend of the Watch) and Rogue are walking along bickering when Maxam finds himself trapped in 1 of Invisible Woman's force fields, and Rogue is pummelled unconscious by sneak-attacking Hercules (and a tree). They weren't expecting Maxam and don't know who he is. The mystery newbie (since WIW#16) increases his mass and size until the force-bubble pops, taking out its creator. So the 2 strongmen trade blows until Maxam picks Herc up and throws him away to an ocean. An interlude with Moondragon and Multiple Man lets us know that Max is somehow not registering on their scanners, but MD recognises the move he previously used on Drax (in WIW#17).
Iron Man and Speedball have made it to within sight of Goddess' Cathedral. Archangel and Black Knight attack Robbie Baldwin but IM repulsor-blasts them from behind - he'd been using SB as bait.
In Warlock Chronicles #4 in Soul World Adam Warlock tried to persuade his bad side Magus to join him against his good side Goddess. He failed but realised he didn't need him. Now he mentally calls for Thanos to bring him out. The Titan is currently wearing Adam's Soul Gem within which Soul World lies, and he's looking after Adam's body onboard his Dreadnaught-666 spacecraft. As per their plan he sends Warlock's soul somewhere else.
We briefly view the result of a 3 vs 2 battle where Sasquatch and U.S. Agent have defeated unbelievers Nova and She-Hulk with the loss of Wolfsbane. Then Firestar and Strong Guy are attacked by Puck (of Alpha Flight) and Spider-Man respectively. Puck KO's Firestar but with her last moments of consciousness she blasts him too. Guido and Spidey slug it out until the big guy wins and continues on alone.
Then we glimpse Storm and Wonder Man who have defeated Havok and Spider-Woman but lost ally Moon Knight (who appeared in the middle of the fight at the end of Marc Spector: MK #57). Moondragon mentally contacts them and sends the after Maxam. Meanwhile unbelievers Darkhawk and Human Torch are heading in from the ocean, flying over swimming Hercules en route, when they meet Sleepwalker in midair. A beam from his eyes draws tendrils of seaweed up from the water which drag the heroes down. Moondragon sends him to his next target.
Up in the Dreadnaught Thanos has used telemetry from Forge and Nomad to locate Goddess and most of the surface combatants. But he's worried that he can't find believer Gamora (another Watchie and also his adopted daughter). He muses about it to himself, or to the comatose Professor X by his side. But we know where Gamora is because she stops Cyclops and Rage at the door to the Cathedral. She takes out Rage with a nerve chop, and Quicksilver zooms in to down Cyke with a furious rain of blows. And Aurora and Shaman defeat fellow Alphan Northstar along with Polaris, so Moonie sends them after Iron Man and Strong Guy.
Another Alphan Guardian is with Wolverine when Logan alerts her that she's about to be attacked. She turns and blasts Daredevil. Wolvie dodges as Living Lightning dives at him in lightning form and smashes into a rock. They hear a noise and head over towards where Dr Strange and Shaman have found Strong Guy and the Sorcerer has him in a mystic bubble. Meanwhile Night Thrasher and Thing are trying to figure out which way the Cathedral lies when Gamora takes out NT and is joined by Sasquatch to defeat Thing. Thanos has at last located Gamora and prepares to fire on the planet.
Guardian and Wolverine have found Shaman but now he's with Wonder Man (and DrS and Guido have gone). Simon Williams' ionic punch deals with Guardian while Logan's kick takes down Shaman. Then WM beats on Wolvie until Maxam turns up and KO's him with 1 hit on the head. Elsewhere Storm de-ices Bobby Drake and US Agent's shield smashes the distracted Beast. Ororo has to stop him from mercilessly beating the fallen foe. Iron Man and Speedball find the fallen bodies of Mr Fantastic, Vision and Windshear but are attacked by Aurora, Quicksilver and Storm. SB falls immediately and the 3 gradually subdue IM.
Meanwhile Goddess has united all the souls she has contacted across the Galaxy and intends to use this combined power to break the limits self-imposed on the Cosmic Cubes that make up the Cosmic Egg. (This is as predicted by Mephisto to Adam Warlock and Thanos in Warlock Chronicles #3.) But now Thanos fires Dreadnaught-666's enormous gun at Paradise Omega. The blast punches through the planet to hit the Cosmic Egg at its centre. But the Titan detects that it has been deflected by a force field. His masterstroke has come to nought and he hurriedly teleports out of the huge spaceship with Prof X before a retaliatory blow destroys it.
All this time we've seen Hulk plummeting towards the planet. Forge and Nomad in their observation pod detect an incoming body and bail out before their pod is smashed by Hulk. Meanwhile Gamora and Sasquatch have found Maxam and Wolverine. The 2 warriors clash while the 2 strong beings face off. But they're interrupted by Hulk and a piece of pod wall landing on Sasquatch. Logan uses the distraction to gut Gamora. Maxam wonders why Hulk is naked (clothes burned off in atmospheric re-entry). US Agent leaps out of nowhere to down Wolvie with his shield, but Maxam throws him against a tree.
Thanos and Prof X have teleported inside the hollow centre of the planet which holds the Cosmic Egg. Silhouette and Pip have at least been rendered unconscious by the Dreadnaught blast but the Egg and Goddess are unaffected. Goddess is intent on her Galactic task and doesn't notice them. The Titan figures that the Egg will resist physical attack, but this is why he brought Prof X along. Even though in a coma Thanos can use Charles Xavier's mental power, channelled through Warlock's Soul Gem that he wears on his brow, to launch a mental assault on their foe.
We see Sleepwalker approach Maxam. But instead of attacking him the policeman from the Dream Dimension communes with Goddess. As do Moondragon and the Multiple Men. And also many folk in New York, as witnessed by Luke Cage. We see the same happening in Japan, on the battlegrounds of Paradise Omega and on a planet of Skrulls. Thanos' ploy is too late. Goddess unleashes the full power of the combined minds and the Cosmic Egg. And the Sun goes nova. As do stars all over the Galaxy.