A suicide bomber stands in a market in Pakistan and detonates
his explosive; a woman with a child standing nearby swallows the flames of the
blast, holds them for a moment then spits them back out, devastating the
marketplace. She is shocked by what she has done. A soldier knocks her out with
a rifle butt….
Around the world, four sinister figures receive the call
that a Descendant has been detected in Pakistan. They head out: The Adaptoids,
composed of The Ideal from Manhattan, The Origin from Egypt, The Urn from
Israel, The Swine from Mexico….
In London, Captain Britain is fighting Riot, an anarchist
who has gathered a large number of people and formed them into a human-shaped
biomass to power himself. With some encouragement from Queen Elizabeth II herself,
the Captain pulls him away from his unwilling servants and hauls him off to
Starlight Citadel in Otherworld. While there, Cap B meets his wife Meggan who
is upset that while Brian is needed there, he has accepted a call from the
Secret Avengers and is teleported to…
…The Lighthouse, the Secret Avengers’ brand-new secret space
station, which is secret because Hank Pym has miniaturized it. He is met by
Captain America who presents him to the others (Beast, Black Widow, Valkyrie,
Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady)) but there is some misunderstanding as Cap B thinks he
is to be the team leader. Hawkeye arrives to disabuse him of that notion and
the two men fall to bickering. They are interrupted by a report of the incident
in Pakistan. The team goes down to rescue the woman, Yalda and her son Parvez,
from their captors. But the opposing team of Adaptoids also arrives for her and
they battle. The Avengers come off much the worse, especially after Origin
gives birth to her Diminutives, miniature versions of the Avengers, to fight
for her. Hawkeye is able to kill the mini Captain Britain as the Adaptoids fly
off with Yalda and her son. And we learn Ant-Man has hitched a ride in Ideal’s
pants leg….
And in the Core, Father and the other Descendants (robots resembling
Doctor Doom, Vision, Jocasta, Sentinels, Deathlok plus Lady Deathstrike,
Max Fury, and Skullbuster) await their arrival….