Otto "Superior Octopus" Octavius pilots a jet carrying the HYDRA Avengers, which include himself, Vision, Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff, Wade "Deadpool" Wilson, Tony "Taskmaster" Masters, Thor Odinson, and Eric "Black Ant" O'Grady. The demon Chthon, which is possessing Maximoff, forces her and Vision to kiss and hold each other in a back room while Octavius muses how the team has one too many people on it. Wilson annoys the other passengers as Octavius details the remainder of the team, noting that Odinson and Wilson are part of the Avengers out of loyalty to Steve "Captain America" Rogers, Masters and O'Grady will do anything for a paycheck, Vision has been hacked to serve Rogers, and Maximoff has been possessed by Chthon.
Maximoff and Vision enter the cockpit as Octavius sardonically notes the lust he senses between them. Chthon jokes that, as a demon who deals in souls, getting informed consent is obviously a big deal to him. Odinson says he thought Vision and Maximoff broke up long ago, but Vision says that the world has changed and he realized what he's been missing. Wilson continues to annoy Octavius until Octavius says that they've arrived at their destination. Wilson looks out the window, sees a small building on the peak of a snowy mountain, and asks why they're there. At that moment, though, a huge explosion destroys part of the facility.
Octavius exposits that the government has erected a planetary defense shield around Earth; this serves the purpose of protecting it from an alien invasion. The shield requires several generators on Earth but somebody has been blowing them up, including the one that was just damaged. The Avengers are at the site in order to apprehend the terrorists destroying the shields. Much of the facility is underground and was not destroyed in the explosion; as that is where the saboteurs likely are, Octavius dispatches the Avengers to search the remainder of the facility and find them. He assigns Masters and O'Grady to search in one direction, Vision and Wilson in a second, while he takes Maximoff and Odinson on a third. He also ensures that everybody (except for Wilson) has earpieces so they can communicate.
Masters and O'Grady quickly stumble into a xenomorph. O'Grady shrinks down and enters the monster's body before growing large again, but the monster does not rupture under the stress. Masters, however, is able to chop it to pieces with his sword. Vision and Wilson then find two more xenomorphs (with Wilson referencing Kramer vs. Kramer and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as they do), and Odinson, Maximoff, and Octavius are attacked by several more. Vision and Wilson flee their enemies as Maximoff calls for backup and as Masters and O'Grady are attacked by still more enemies.
Then one of the xenomorphs grabs Masters and begins to telepathically communicate with him. It explains that the xenomorphs came to Earth and secretly observed humans in order to determine if humans were ready to receive their gifts, but because of the shield, the xenomorphs can't leave. As such, the xenomorphs are trying to destroy the shield generators so they can escape Earth and return to their people, including their own loved ones. The xenomorph adds that, if Masters and his team help them, they will grant Masters vast power and an unquenchable resolve to perform heroic acts and do good deeds. Wilson arrives and Masters tells him that the xenomorph talked to him telepathically. However, when Wilson asks what the monster said, Masters lies that the xenomorph admitted its people are there to cleanse the planet and kill all humans. The Avengers regroup and slaughter all the xenomorphs.
After the battle, Odinson is upset since he killed sentient creatures. Octavius reassures him that what he did was necessary to save people, and that Rogers would approve. The team leaves, with Masters whining that he broke a sword, and with O'Grady noting that he lost a Pym particle container in the battle. Octavius finds and steals the Pym particle container, then goes to O'Grady and compliments the whole team on how well they fought together. He finishes by saying that, even if they don't like each other, they can still trust each other.
Tropes:
- I Did What I Had to Do: Octavius tries to convince Odinson that his actions were necessary to save people. (His actions were in fact necessary, since if the shield generators were destroyed then the Chitauri would be able to invade Earth and kill everyone, but Odinson didn't know that.)
