Synopsis / Summary / Plot
The splash page for this issue is just a lamp stand. More on that later.
Last issue the Champions offered places on the team to Falcon (Joaquin Torres), Ironheart, Patriot (Shaun Lucas) and Red Locust. (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur seem to have declined.) In #15 Vision created a synthezoid Viv Vision 2.0 to replace the original Viv Vision who was turned human and then 'died' in Avengers #674. Except human Viv reappeared very much alive.
In the Vision family's Georgetown home Viv is phone-chatting with Nova (Sam Alexander) saying that Viv 2.0 is out to replace her in their father's affections. Sam says that's just being a sister. Vision built 2.0 as a copy of the original, and *she's* not evil. But Viv says Vision's been ill lately, and maybe that made him make mistakes. Viv asks Sam if some of the Champs could come visit, but he says they're too busy with their membership drive. And we see that 'he' is really Viv 2.0 faking the call.
Meanwhile the Champions are finding their HQ rather crowded with the new mob added to young Cyclops, Hulk (Amadeus Cho), Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Nova and Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (so it's a good job Devil Dinosaur didn't join). Kamala is worried about Viv, but Sam says she called him yesterday to say she was having fun with her new sister. (It was obviously Viv 2.0 again.) Last issue they couldn't decide whether human Viv or Viv 2.0 should be in the team. Amadeus has come round to the idea that they should have *both* and suggests they go to Georgetown now to tell them.
We see that Viv 2.0 has the HQ bugged and doesn't want that at all. So she gives them a diversion by using her built-in Internet connection to hijack several New York subway trains. Joaquin gets an alert about it and the enlarged team speed to the rescue. Then she confronts her sister while daddy is away.
'Daddy' is in Wasp (Nadia Pym)'s lab where she's investigating why he's been sneezing lately. She laughs as she tells him he's been infected by a computer virus. His system has dealt with it but it happened to affect his nasal sensors, simulating the human response of sneezing. Vizh says he'll give Viv 2.0 a copy of his latest firewalls. Nadia wonders if Viv could have caught the virus off him while he was creating her. (And we did see *her* sneezing too last issue.) With her weaker firewalls it could have done more damage.
The Champions have split up to stop the runaway trains. Hulk and Ironheart math-chat to work out the right amount of force to apply to stop their train without hurting the passengers. Patriot and Spidey rescue passengers from a crashed train. Cyclops uses his force eye-beam to stop another while Falcon seems to fly uselessly alongside. Ms Marvel stretches to stop another train while Red Locust helps people out of it. We then see Ironheart flying with Nova reporting that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have kept all other trains out of the way.
Back in Georgetown Viv 2.0 is stalking Viv like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but with a solar beam instead of an axe (which she doesn't need because she can phase through doors). Viv tries to persuade 2.0 that something's gone wrong with her programming. But 2.0 says (correctly) that Vision "only ever planned for 1 daughter". Now-human Viv is flawed, and her existence pains their father. Viv tries to press the synthezoids' sleep button, but 2.0 breaks some of her fingers. But Viv uses her other hand to send a red alert message to her team...
... who are just tidying up their problem. Cyclops gets the message. Ms Marvel tells Nova to take her and Spider-Man to Georgetown.
Viv tries to convince 2.0 that she doesn't want to kill, but 2.0 reminds her that their 'mother' Virginia killed Grim Reaper (and Victor Mancha) (in the Vision family's mini-series). But the synthezoid presumably recalls that Vision didn't approve of this (and Virginia committed suicide). She fears this means daddy will reject *her*, but in that case *he* is flawed too and must be eliminated for his own good.
Viv leads her mad sister on a chase through the rooms of the house. Viv 2.0 goes insubstantial to pass through each door. And Viv stabs a lamp stand (I told you we'd get back to that) through her phasing body. Just as the Champions trio arrive to witness the murder.