Road To Secret Wars Part 3

Now with dinosaurs.

For those who plan to read the new Secret Wars but managed to miss the preliminary work in the storyline, here’s part three of the summary.

SPOILERS below the cut.

Biobombs Investigated

Previously in Avengers, demigod Ex Nihlio had launched a series of biobombs towards Earth, each with the intention of making the Earth itself sentient.  While Star Brand freaked out and lobotomized the self-sentience portion in Split, Croatia, other masses still exist.  The Avengers move to check a couple of them out.

First was the evolution site in Regina, Canada, or maybe Jimmy’s house.  An Alpha Flight team had gone in and most were killed.  One survived to meet the Avengers, a woman Vindicator, but she was…changed, speaking directly to the ever-evolving lifeforms in there.  The Avengers left promising never to speak of what they saw in there again.

Next up was the self-sustenance mass in the Savage Land.  They found what looked like zebra-striped children running around there who didn’t need to eat, breathe, or sleep.  After saving them from the High Evolutionary, Hyperion decides to raise them as his own children.

The Illuminati Plan

Meeeee-ow!

After lucking out on a couple Incursions, the Illuminati are largely building things like orbital space stations and planet-destroying bombs, and keeping secrets.  T’Challa has no answer for what he’s been up to in the Necropolis for his sister, Suri, the current Queen of Wakanda.  Black Bolt is keeping secrets from Medusa…but not from his brother, Maximus the Mad, who’s helping him build…something.

Namor meanwhile approaches T’Challa with an offer.  Tensions are rising between Wakanda and Atlantis following Namor’s attack on Wakanda during the Avengers vs X-Men storyline.  Namor offers to sue for peace on favorable terms to Wakanda if T’Challa can talk his sister into not responding.  T’Challa agrees.

The plan doesn’t work.  Suri listens to other advisors go on about Wakandan strength, and shortly thereafter Wakandan commandos hit Atlantis hard.  Namor is…not happy about this.

Meanwhile, Iron Man is disturbed by a sight out in space.  Meeting the Watcher, the two find the Living Tribunal…well, not living anymore.

This is very, very bad.

That should not be underestimated.  The Living Tribunal is the most powerful of Marvel’s various cosmic beings.  He acts as a judge for an unseen creator, and is largely immune to, well, any sort of power.  This guy could ignore the Infinity Gauntlet.  Anything that could kill him is really, really bad news.

AIM 1, Avengers 0

Meanwhile, something causes all the biobomb masses to go online, so to speak.  The Communication node in Perth, Australia sends out a distress signal.  The Avengers hear of it and most of the team springs into action (Bruce Banner stays behind while some others are seeing to other emergencies).  Fighting off the giant bugs from Communication, and the cube-headed, multi faced giants from the Self-Repair node in Chhatarpur, India who teleport to Australia to help out,  the Avengers actually manage to take the things out without too much trouble, but just as the fight begins, Captain Universe leaves with Manifold to witness vast destruction in another part of the universe.  That would be the Builders.

But AIM had a bio mass under wraps.  This one was the self-defense mass, and the robotic thing there emerges initially under AIM’s control.  He escapes and goes to Perth where he effortlessly knocks out all the Avengers present.  AIM arrives and manages to subdue the robot and put it into the space of some dead universes, like where they found Hyperion.  After AIM gets some genetic material from the unconscious Avengers (Shang-Chi, Wolverine, Sunspot, Cannonball, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Captain America, Thor, Hyperion, Hawkeye), Manifold returns and rescues the team.

Manifold has a message from Captain Universe.  The Avengers need to “get bigger”.  The Builders are coming to Earth.  They’re destroying every civilization in their path.

Needing bodies, the Avengers recruit Ex Nihilio, his sister Abyss, Star Brand, and Nightmask.

Next week:  Infinity.  Thanos comes to Earth while the Avengers go off to space to fight the Builders.