This issue follows on from the middle of
AVENGERS #26On board their spaceship Beast remembers back to the end of the
X-Men's 1st encounter with the Phoenix, when it took over
Jean Grey and turned her into
Dark Phoenix. Jean committed suicide to stop it. But before that Beast had used a mnemonic scrambler on her. And that had also enabled him to gain data which Captain Britain is now using to construct a Phoenix cage.
Even if it doesn't hold the Phoenix for long, it will extract more data and transmit it to
Tony Stark on Earth.
Thor and Valkyrie enter the room. The cage is finished, so Thor persuades Captain Britain to join them in getting drunk - his way of preparing for battle.
On a
Kree omniwave space station a band of Kree prepare to use a piece of the M'Kraan Crystal, which allows access to the White Hot Room - home to the Phoenix. They intend to draw the Phoenix Force to them. And their plan also involves the Nega-Bands of
Captain Marvel.
Meanwhile the Phoenix Force destroys another world, the home of the Dre'lnn. Once they conquered other worlds. Then they fell into civil war. And out of it they emerged as long-term ambassadors for peace. Now all of that is over.
Ms Marvel, Protector, Vision and War Machine have detected the event, and the team can now go to face the Phoenix. The plan is for Thor to engage the enemy, while War Machine sneaks up with the cage device.
However the Phoenix Force is too powerful, and blasts both heroes. Vision and Valkyrie swoop in to retrieve the damaged War Machine and Thor respectively. Captain Britain takes the Phoenix cage, hoping that his magic-based power will succeed where War Machine's tech failed. But he fares no better.
Then the Kree in their space station throw the switch on their M'Kraan/omniwave lash-up, and the Phoenix flies away from the
Avengers. The Kree seem to have the body of the original Captain Marvel, wearing the Nega-Bands, attached to their machinery. They perform religious chants. The Phoenix arrives and destroys the station.
All this is watched remotely from the Kree capital Hala by a Minister who seems to have the populace in thrall. He announces that the Phoenix is coming to Hala. They should rejoice because the hour of ascension is upon them.
The Avengers too are heading for Hala for medical recuperation. Beast asks Protector to contact his fellow Kree. But
Noh-Varr points out he's from an alternate timeline and so won't be recognised. But his knowledge of the planet allows him to find a safe haven for their ship.
Beast consults Vision about their fallen comrades. Thor the god will recover from his horrendous injuries, but Jim Rhodes is out of it. Brian Braddock is OK, but Beast chides him for foolishly risking the cage. Hank McCoy tells the Captain that the reason someone as powerful as him is rarely called on during the big battles is that he tends to leap before he looks.
Protector and Ms Marvel are chatting on the roof of the spaceship. Noh-Varr says that he's been called here to Hala, and Ms Marvel admits that she's felt it too. They both agree that they're here to help the ascension. And nothing must be allowed to stop the Phoenix.
And Captain Marvel turns up to ask them to help kill the other Avengers.
Give that special marvelite a timely gift