Synopsis
In the Canoga Park Zoo in Los Angeles a blue gemstone meteorite scorches a patch of grass near a monkey cage. A monkey reaches out and grabs it, eats it and is convulsed by a shock. His playthings include a bunch of blocks with letters on, and when an attendant arrives with a bucket of bananas he's surprised to see that the monkey has spelled out "Im really tired of bananas". It makes the newspapers and gets people talking ...
... including at the coffee machine in the shadowy government agency Aladdin where Eden Blake works. She takes her coffee back to her office and calls home to check with young daughter Evie what movie she and her brother Gus want to see. But Evie just wants to go see the monkey that can spell. Later Eden turns down drinks with the crowd and heads home.
Her inner monologue (scattered through the issue) brings us up to date with her situation. She's really the male knight/wizard Lukasz. He and Eden used to share her body and its magic potential as Mantra, and strangely fell in love. But the events surrounding Godwheel changed that. Lukasz created a body for himself and moved out, but his enemy male knight/wizard Thanasi moved in before Eden could take control of her body, and became Necromantra. Later Thanasi was driven out and now exists as a separate female Necromantra (but it's more complicated than that). But in the process Eden died and Lukasz took over her body again to look after her kids.
'Eden' and the 2 kids do go to the Zoo to see the amazing Bobo. Evie knows her mother is Mantra, and even that Eden's dead and the man Lucasz is in her body, but Gus doesn't, and Eden has to keep stopping her from blurting it out.
Meanwhile Marvel's Loki, stuck in the Ultraverse since Godwheel #3, has detected that Bobo has the Mind Gem. Marvel's Infinity Gems have also found there way here and he's already acquired the Time Gem (Hardcase #23). But he also now senses power in Eden Blake. He decides to send a pawn to harvest this Gem and chooses the simpleminded Primevil, a discarded skin of the hero Prime who was animated by Necromantra in the Godwheel series.
It's arrival in the Zoo causes panic, and Lucasz recognises it from Godwheel. She tells the kids to run back to the car. Gus wants to stay to see what happens but Evie drags him with her and says their mom's got to stay to do important stuff. She intones her mantra "Change, growth, power" to transform to Mantra. Primevil had a crush on this body when it was Necromantra so she figures he'll do what she says. She's right but Loki mentally takes over and makes him punch her through a wall of the lion enclosure, freeing some lions.
The kids haven't in fact run far and watch from behind a wastebin as Primevil pushes wide the bars of the monkeyhouse, steps through and grabs Bobo. Loki makes him reluctantly kill the chimp and take the Gem from inside it and flies off with it. But the kids are menaced by a lion until Mantra encloses it in a forcefield and moves it away. Then she reverts to Eden and Gus is confused even as she tells him that the Ultraheroine flew away. They go home.
Loki and Primevil are in mental contact. PE complains that Loki made him hurt Mantra but the Norse God just tells him to shut up and bring him the Gem. However his pawn likes the pretty Gem almost as much as he likes the pretty lady so he decides to keep it. He puts it on his brow and also gets a shock.
At home Eden puts the kids to bed. Evie asks if Bobo's gone to heaven. If she'd known what was going to happen she'd have asked him to tell mommy she loves her. Lucasz assures her that Eden knows. Gus tries to hide the fact that he's scared Primevil will come after them. She assures him that won't happen.
But when she returns to the living room she finds now-intelligent Primevil waiting for her. She changes to Mantra but he says he doesn't want to fight but suggests they go outside so as not to disturb the children. They fly away together. PE apologises for attacking her earlier but he was under another's control. But now he's gained intelligence he's free, and his crush on her has blossomed to true love. She says he's inherited Prime's memories including Kevin Green's crush on her and where she lives. He protests that Kevin is just a boy in a man's body, but he's a man with a man's feelings as he plucks some roses from a bush. And he prefers now to be called Byron not Primevil.
Then Loki locates them and appears as a giant head floating in the sky demanding the Mind Gem. Mantra protects herself from his blast and PE just shrugs it off before flying to the attack. Loki causes a stone hand to rise from the ground to crush him, and Mantra manifests the Sword Of Fangs to hack at the hand. Byron breaks free and is glad to see she cares for his welfare. Loki opens the ground beneath their feet and closes it up to swallow them. Mantra escapes by going phantasmal but PE just forces his way out. They decide that Loki must die (but she has a cunning plan).
Loki himself is in the Godyacht spaceship hovering next to the Gods' home Vahdala above the disc-planet Godwheel. He asks the ship's AI to provide him with a powerful and ironic weapon. Meanwhile Mantra uses her powers to trace his mystic emanations and creates a portal for her and Byron to step through which takes them to Vahdala. Lukasz isn't happy to be back here but Byron is because this is where Mantra gave him life. He ignores her reminding him that *that* was Necromantra/Thanasi. Byron comments that *she* hasn't yet reciprocated his declaration of love. He hopes that it's not his appearance that puts her off, because he believes she's not that shallow. She temporises by saying this isn't the time to discuss such things.
Then Loki leans in from a portal to hit her with a golden hammer crackling with energy. She parries with her sword and breaks the other weapon, but he hits her with a sorcerous blast. Then Primevil grabs him and starts to absorb his power, but it's too much for him. Mantra throws her sword to knock the Gem off Byron's brow. Loki takes it and thanks her but she says she did it to save Byron's life, but not his mind. PE has forgotten everything but in anguish *knows* that he has forgotten something important.