The tale opens with the Tony Stark AI
trying to blow out the candle on a birthday cake. He can''t so he
shoots it with a repulsor ray, which really wasn''t the solution
either....
Supreme Hydra Steve Rogers announces to
the world that the US will be going to war with its two enemies,
Wakanda and New Tian, casting them both as aggressors and his
response as justice....
Kraken, Hive, and Viper lead the
invasion of New Tian; their secret ruler Emma Frost agrees to
negotiate a ceasefire with Steve Rogers, turning over their Cosmic
Cube fragment as a gesture of goodwill—but they will never
surrender....
Black Panther, leading the defenses of
Wakanda against the Hydra invaders, is shocked when his soldiers
refuse to obey his orders. It turns out that Dr Faustus has exerted
his mind control powers over them, leading them to surrender while
Baron Zemo seizes the Panther as prisoner....
In the Nevada desert, Captain America
Sam Wilson rallies the surviving members of the Underground leading
them in an assault on the prison camp for Inhumans at New Attilan.
When they arrive they find the prisoners are already rising up
against the guards, thanks to a new inmate: Barf. Brian McAllister
(as he prefers to be called) has the ability to vomit anything he can
visualize—in this case, the guards'' keys. Tony Stark has an idea
and asks Brian if he can disgorge a working fragment of the Cosmic
Cube—and Brian can. Later, after Tony has tested it—by “wishing”
for a birthday cake and being given one by a refugee child—he
reveals that a fragment of the Cube has limited power in itself,
realizing that Steve Rogers survived his encounter with Spider-Man
(in SECRET EMPIRE #7) by the same means. He and Sam start making
plans to use it to obtain more fragments—and take the fight to
Hydra''s doorstep....
In Atlantis, Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner is frustrated
that he is looked on as a coward by his people for giving up his
fragment of the Cosmic Cube to prevent war with Hydra. His mysterious
aide is revealed to be Bucky Barnes---who also has a plan....