Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Last issue the new team that reporter Kat Farrell dubbed the Young Avengers made a bit of a mess dealing with 5 gunmen holding a large wedding party hostage in St Patrick's Cathedral. Now rich father-of-the-bride Derek Bishop is trying to bully a hospital nurse into looking at his other daughter Kate who 'helped' the YA, with 1 of Patriot's throwing stars, and who some consider the real hero of the hour. Kate is actually feeling fine so she leaves him to it and goes outside ...
... where she's accosted by another teen Cassie Lang, daughter of Ant-Man (Scott Lang) who was killed during Avengers Disassembled. Cassie wants to know where the YA went. Kate Bishop indicates a general direction which Cassie figures includes the ruined Avengers Mansion (see Avengers Disassembled again). Kate asks if *she* is a Young Avenger, but Cassie says not yet. And Kate decides to tag along with her when she heads off.
At the end of last issue Captain America, Iron Man and Jessica Jones found YAer Iron Lad in the abandoned Mansion. And he unmasked as a youth from the 30th Century named Kang. Now he claims to be the person who is supposed to grow up to be Kang The Conqueror. And to prove it he causes his neuro-kinetic armour to switch from Iron Man-ish to Kang-like. But he also claims not to *want* to become the Conqueror, and he tells them his origin ...
... where he's being beaten up by a gang of other boys from his school led by Morgan. Their 'reason' this time is the 'doll' that he has, which he calls a Stimuloid. (Long-time readers will remember Stimuloids used by the Conqueror, otherwise known as Growing Men - androids that grew larger as they were attacked.) This 1 our boy triggers to give Morgan an electric shock. Our 'Kang' grabs his Stimuloid and runs, but the gang is on him again.
But then they freeze, complaining that they can't move, as the actual Kang The Conqueror arrives. He offers to punish Morgan for years of abuse, and then reveals himself as the grown-up version of our lad. He lends the boy his helmet to show him the future that lies between them:-
The youth will find the plans for an old time-machine (Fantastic Four #19).
He will go back to Ancient Egypt and become a Pharaoh (FF#19 again).
The return journey will go wrong, leaving him in a barbaric 40th Century. But he will become Kang The Conqueror and rule them (Avengers #8).
The boy also sees many battles against the Avengers. Kang always loses, but he always comes back. (We see Av#8 again, Av Annual #21 (end of the Citizen Kang Annuals event) and Avengers (1998) #54 (end of the Kang Dynasty arc).)
Kang tells him that Morgan will now slit his throat, putting him in hospital for a year. But instead the boy can use the helmet to kill Morgan - it will respond to his thoughts. But instead the lad uses it to attack Kang and then flee through time to find the Avengers for help.
But when he arrived the Avengers had disbanded. He couldn't get near Tony Stark or the others. But he used Kang's helmet to break into Stark Industries where he found the remains of the Vision (ripped apart by She-Hulk during Avengers Disassembled).
And there we have to leave the origin story for this issue ...
... and join Asgardian and Hulkling who obviously are *not* going home to get some sleep ready for school tomorrow, as they claimed last issue. Asgardian is getting the hang of using his power to carry heavy Hulkling while flying, and Hulkling is happy about that. They don't think they're ready to face Kang The Conqueror, and Asgardian worries about Patriot quitting. Hulkling thinks surely Patriot wouldn't go solo ...
... and then they see him attacking a car containing 2 gunmen. Patriot gets shot in the chest but he can take it. Asgardian zaps the car and then Hulkling picks it up and shakes the villains out. Patriot threatens the man who shot him while the other 1 slashes Hulkling's arm with a knife. The Hulk-guy bleeds but then heals immediately.
The 2 villains are now unconscious. Patriot explains they were dealing Mutant Growth Hormone in Central Park. MGH is a drug which gives people temporary superpowers. They don't know what to do with the dealers now they've caught them. They can't take them to the cops because they themselves are wanted for damaging the cathedral last issue. So they just leave them tied up. And surly Patriot is not the type to thank his comrades for their help.
Meanwhile Cassie and Kate have reached the gate of Avengers Mansion. Cassie hopes to get them in because she knows the security code from when she used to live here 1 weekend a month with her dad before her mom got sole custody. But that doesn't work, so Kate (still in her bridesmaid dress) climbs over the gate and helps Cassie over. They pass the blast hole where the exploding Jack Of Hearts killed her father. It affects Cassie but she's still determined to go in and get her dad's Ant-Man stuff.
But before they can proceed they are confronted by Asgardian, Hulkling and Patriot. Patriot tells the 2 'trespassing kids' to leave. Kate bridles at 'kids' and says Cassie is Ant-Man's daughter so *she* has a right to be here. Kate and Patriot pick up their feud where they left off.
But then Kate says she and 'Ant-Girl' want to join the 'Young Avengers'. Hulkling says they haven't decided on a team name yet. Asgardian asks if they have powers. Cassie says she will when she gets her dad's gear. But she has to admit to not quite being 15. Patriot tries to block her way until she judo-flips him. (Her mom let her learn self-defence because being Ant-Man's daughter made her vulnerable.) Then she gets very angry ...
... and grows to giant-size.