In the Core, Human Torch attacks Deathlok Miss America; she
does not fight back but instead worships him as the messiah. She patches into
his brain and shows him the history of the Descendants: The Cold War Weapon
Plus UK program was codenamed: Descendant, tasked with creating an army of
androids. Three scientists, codenamed Father, Mother, and Brother, using a combination
of science and magic, created twenty Descendants, known as the High-Breeds. After
a dispute, Brother quit, taking the magic secrets with him; Mother released the
High-Breeds into the general population to live unaware of what they were;
Father tried creating more but all were flawed in some way. Then he created the
four Adaptoids to hunt down and return the High-Breeds. But the Human Torch was
the first among them and Father fears him as he knows the Descendants will
recognize him as their true leader. Torch goes off to confront Father….
Uptown, Urn, Ideal, and Swine of the Adaptoids are pursuing
Valkyrie; she lures them to the teleportation center and tricks Swine into
being zapped back to Pakistan where he is immediately assaulted by the waiting
Venom….
Black Widow, protecting the boy Parvez, is intercepted by
Origin who produces miniature versions of the Widow to fight their namesake….
Torch and Captain Britain head for Father’s palace only to
find it guarded by a gigantic version of Master Mold. It zaps Brian while
appealing to Torch to accept his role as their god….
In battle, Venom and Swine stumble into the teleporter and
are transported back to the Core where Venom saves Valkyrie’s life and….
Ant-Man rescues Beast and Hawkeye as Black Widow is overcome
by her miniatures. But when Origin tries to take the boy he roasts her with a
sudden explosion of power. Torch plugs into Master Mold’s brain and gives it
the order to self-destruct in five minutes—which Hawkeye points out would have
been a better idea once they knew the way out. Hawkeye/Beast/Cap
B/Torch/Ant-Man link up with Widow/Val/Venom/Parvez and head for the teleportation
center. They make it just as the giant detonates—but Torch is ripped apart by
Swine at the last minute….
But in the Core we learn that the revived Yalda has absorbed
the blast and all the Descendants are safe….
At the Lighthouse, Hank Pym tries to keep Torch alive in
stasis. Ant-Man tells everyone that the Core has been destroyed and that they
need to keep the existence of the Descendants a secret. Hank plans to work on a
method to trace the remaining High-Breeds in the world. Hawkeye praises Eric
for his actions—and then we discover that “Ant-Man” is an LMD, replacing the
dead Eric O’Grady and in contact with Father….