Synopsis / Summary / Plot
The 30th Century boy who will grow up to be Kang the Conqueror fled to the 21st Century to avoid his fate. He hoped to get the Avengers to help him but found Avengers Mansion in ruins from the Avengers Disassembled event and the team itself disbanded. The synthezoid Vision was destroyed in that event but had left behind a list of super-powered teens who could replace the main team if necessary. The boy morphed his Kang armour into Iron Man shape and took the name Iron Lad. He recruited Billy Kaplan, Teddy Altman and Eli Bradley off the list and they became Asgardian, Hulkling and Patriot. The 4 young versions of Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America became the Young Avengers. (But Billy is really a magic-user and Teddy is a shapeshifter who just chooses to imitate Hulk.) They were joined by size-changing Cassie Lang, daughter of Ant-Man who also died in Disassembled, and Kate Bishop who has borrowed Hawkeye's bow and arrows, Mockingbird's battle staves and Swordsman's sword from the Mansion.
Cap, IM and Jessica Jones tried to stop the YA taking on this dangerous life. But Kang came back to get his younger self, and the timeline started going haywire. After much too-ing and fro-ing Kang killed the older 3 and young Kang killed old Kang last issue.
Iron Lad (armourless due to recent events) says now Kang the Conqueror will never exist and the timesteam will re-adjust. Dead Cap, IM and Jess disappear (but then they were changed versions of the amended reality). But ruined Avengers Mansion is now whole. And with horror they find gravestones for most Avengers. The team are stunned and don't know what to do. But Eli Bradley says Iron Lad *has* to go back to the 30th Century and *has* to become Kang in order to restore the 'real' timeline.
However Cassie Lang has been studying the graves and can't find 1 for her father. So in this reality he might be alive. But Billy Kaplan points out that on the other hand Scott Lang might not have met her mother and so *she* might not exist. She might fade from the timestream as it soldifies in its new form. Also the teens on Vision's list all supposedly had some Avengers connection, so they could all vanish. Cassie begs for 1 hour to find Scott and IL supports her (probably because they shared 2 kisses last issue). But Patriot says they can't afford it.
Eli has Iron Lad's armour which has reverted to its Kang form, and they know it could take him back home. IL refuses to go *yet*. Patriot says he'll reactivate the Vision program in the armour and Vizh will *send* him back. Billy will cast a spell to make IL forget all about this time trip. And hopefully the 'real' timeline will return, the Avengers will be alive and Jessica Jones will return to being pregnant.
Billy starts to mantra-chant "I want Iron Lad to forget". Young Kang hits him to stop him, and he fades away. Enraged Teddy becomes even more Hulk-y and demands IL bring him back. Eli gets between them and says it's the timestream doing this. And Hulkling fades away too. But IL *does* blame himself. Weeping Cassie comforts him but says he *has* to go back, and he finally agrees.
He gives the armour to Eli. This whole thing started when Kang meddled in his own past and gave young Kang the armour. If he's to grow into Kang properly he can't take it back with him. And he *will* forget what happened here (even without Asgardian's spell). He invokes the Vision program in the armour, which takes the Iron Lad form again, and tells him to open the necessary time portal. He also tells him to look after the others.
Before going he apologises for causing this mess by coming to this time. But Eli thanks him for creating the Young Avengers, and says Billy and Teddy will be back when he's gone. Iron Lad also apologises in advance for his future self forgetting them. But Cassie promises to remind him, and they share a last kiss. Then with a last farewell he's gone.
But when the portal fades the 3 YA'ers still have their costumes, including damage incurred. However the Mansion is back to the correct level of ruin, and the Avengers' graves have gone. Then Asgardian and Hulkling reappear, and Cap, IM and Jess are their old selves. The world has been reinstated to the point before old Kang turned up, but other things that happened since young Kang arrived still happened. However they all still remember what happened post-old Kang, presumably because they were at the centre of the reality-changes (an excuse that's been used before).
Steve Rogers still wants them to give up being the Young Avengers. Asgardian *could* cast a spell to make the Avengers forget about them, but instead they sit down to talk. Cap says they've proved their merit tonight, but he and Iron Man still forbid them from donning the uniforms again. IM says they *could* train them, but only with their parents' consent. The various teens know that wouldn't fly.
So the YA agree to disband. Cap tells them to leave their borrowed weapons behind (bow, arrows, battle staves, sword and Cap's triangular shield). He also confiscates Patriot's throwing stars.
As they leave Kate tries to persuade them to train *themselves* in secret. But Hulkling doesn't want to cross Captain America, and they all know what would happen if their parents found out. Billy gives the others a ride home on a platform of light he conjures up, except Eli who opts to take the subway. But before they part Kate gives him the throwing star she picked up in the Cathedral in #1.
Weeks later Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang call the 3 boys together and repeat the idea of getting the team back together. The girls says they have a surprise for them. On the way Cassie reveals she's adopted the codename Stature. Kate persuades Billy to drop the Asgardian name and use Wiccan to reflect his magic powers. Teddy retains Hulkling as a combination of Hulk and changeling (because he can change into other forms). No one mentions rebranding Patriot. But Kate herself turns down all suggestions of a name for herself:- Hawkeye, Weapon-Woman, Taskmistress and Hawkingbird (Eli's idea from #4).
Their destination is an abandoned Bishop Publishing warehouse. Kate says they can use some of her dad's money to do it up as a lair (he's got so much he'll never notice). Cap made them promise never to wear the uniforms again, so she's used her fashion connections to get them new ones. They put them on and the team is reborn.
Kate and Patriot have replacement weapons. Wiccan basically loses the Thor-wings on his headband. Stature gains a domino-mask, and Patriot has 1 in place of his complete head-covering. And Kate actually now *has* a costume.