Empyre: Avengers (2020 series) #1

OK, as of Empyre #2 the Cotati have been revealed to be the villains of the piece because they intend to wipe out all non-plants in the Universe, starting with Earth. Meanwhile the Kree/Skrull Alliance are the lesser villains intent on stopping the Cotati by exterminating *them*. And now it's Battleground Earth with our population caught in the middle.

Some Avengers (Black Panther, Captain America and holographic Iron Man) have convened with some allies (Black Knight, Dr Voodoo, Scarlet Witch and holographic Vision) and some Agents Of Wakanda (Ka-Zar and Okoye with holographic Mockingbird) in the Garden briefing area in the Wakandan helicarrier. Tony Stark reports that he's working on an anti-Cotati weapon. Director Okoye reports that her Agents and the Avengers are working together to minimise the fallout of the war.

Vision is actually with Agent (and X-Person) Dr Nemesis flying to Central Park to meet Luke Cage to investigate a mass of 'roots' choking the Reservoir. Nemesis diagnoses the stuff as a fungus. Vision phases through the vegetation, detects a common 'heartbeat' and discovers a being at the centre of it all connected to the roots. (But that's all we'll see of this scenario this issue.)

Mockingbird is driving a fast car in the Mexican desert. Her passenger is Wonder Man, and they're racing Quicksilver towards a village which is the site of a battle. Pietro Maximoff gets there 1st and saves a young boy while punching both sides. But 2 Cotati wizards stop him with some large spores and then he's hit by a spear in the shoulder. Bobbi Morse slams the car into some Cotati, and then Simon Williams' ionic strength and her guns non-lethally take some more down. The Kree/Skrull troops rally and the Cotati are defeated.

Quicksilver pulls the spear out and the Avengers see the soldiers killing downed Cotati. They try to stop them but the aliens turn on *them* with electro-zappers. Bobbi and Pietro fall but Wonder Man's ionic body doesn't feel it. However the pacifist hero just disarms them rather than hitting them. And in return the soldiers just threaten semi-conscious Mockingbird with swords unless he lets them finish their job.

Back on the helicarrier the non-holographic heroes study a holographic globe displaying data from the Wakandan satellite system enhanced by the magic of Dr Strange and Odin. As T'Challa explains that it's hard to distinguish Cotati from terrestrial plant-life but they have mapped major incursions, Captain America has a side-word to welcome Black Knight who has recently been hunting Giants and Elves left over from War Of The Realms (in the Punisher Kill Krew mini-series).

Suddenly the globe shows a flare-up in the Antarctic Savage Land. They try to contact Ka-Zar's wife Shanna Plunder (and their son Matt) but can't get through. Voodoo teleports Ka-Zar and his Smilodon Zabu there along with Black Knight and Scarlet Witch (leaving just Panther and Okoye behind). They are immediately attacked from all sides by Cotati. Dr Voodoo deflects their mages' flung spores, and the usual teamwork is winning the day when Man-Thing erupts from the ground and scatters our team. And accompanying him is Shanna, now with green skin and definitely working with the Cotati.