Sam "Cannonball" Guthrie is on a spaceship heading towards Earth. He asks the pilot to let him off in space, saying he can fly down to Earth without the spaceship, but the pilot is skeptical since he knows humans usually can't fly in space on their own. As Guthrie insists that he'll be fine he looks distracted, and when the pilot asks if he's alright he says that he's sad over what he's leaving behind to return to Earth. The pilot comforts him him as they shift out of warp space and enter Earth's orbit, but they arrive directly in the middle of a battle between Earth heroes and the Chitauri, and Guthrie insists on being let out right away so he can fight with the heroes. The pilot tries to stop him, but Guthrie insists, asking only that the pilot find his girlfriend in Shi'ar space, Izzy "Smasher" Kane, and tell her that Earth needs help and also that he still loves her. He then activates his spacesuit and flies into battle.
The SHIELD helicarrier Douglass, which is the mobile headquarters of the U. S. Avengers, hovers near the White House as the crisis unfolds. Aboard the ship is Roberto "Citizen V" Da Costa, the leader of the U. S. Avengers, as well as the rest of his team. Da Costa complains that they haven't been given orders or authorization to help fight yet, and a subordinate named Larry tells him they're ready to fight as soon as Steve Rogers authorizes it. Larry also notes that Scavengers have arrived in the space battle and are quietly collecting Chitauri corpses to sell on the black market. He then receives a communication from Guthrie and notifies Da Costa, who is surprised since Guthrie is supposed to be on leave. He takes the communication just as Guthrie sees Quasar get eaten by a Chitauri monster shaped like a dragon. Guthrie charges it to see if he can save her, but as he describes the monster to Da Costa, Da Costa recognizes it and yells that it can also self-destruct. He screams for Guthrie to get away but is too late; the monster explodes and Da Costa loses Guthrie's signal.
Da Costa demands to be put into contact with Carol Danvers immediately. When he gets Danvers on the line he demands an update, and Danvers tells him that the situation is falling apart. Da Costa tells her that Guthrie may have been hurt or killed in the explosion, and Danvers is horrified. She tells him that nobody on her team can see Guthrie, meaning he likely died in the explosion. She then disconnects so she can get back to the battle.
Resolved to act, Da Costa tells Larry to set up a team to go into space. Larry urges him to focus on the massive supervillain army attacking New York City, a situation which is also quickly worsening thanks to Nuke exploding in Times Square. Guthrie decides to split his forces, sending some to space and others to New York City. He also notes that General Robert "Red Hulk" Maverick used his powers recently and hasn't recharged them yet, so Toni Ho (the current Iron Patriot) should give him a spare set of armor. Before any of this can happen, though, Rogers finally contacts him and tells him to keep his team where they are in case one of their many enemies attacks Washington D. C. next. Da Costa is reluctant but Rogers explains that he's been granted total authority over America's military and superhero teams under the SHIELD Act, and he's invoking that authority to order the U. S. Avengers to stay where they are.
Elsewhere on the helicarrier, Maverick is eager to get fighting, but Ho tells him he can't use his powers for at least five more hours. She asks a subordinate servicing her armor to make her shoulder gun stronger so that it can punch through tanks. Aikku "Enigma" Jokinen, however, demands to know why Ho wants potentially lethal firepower. They argue over whether Ho is becoming too violent and cavalier about killing people, and Ho eventually screams that she just wants the bigger gun to use on robot tanks and on supervillains who can survive being hit with it. She cries out that she's not a killer like Tony Stark and then bursts into tears, startling Jokinen.
Maverick's attention is diverted from the fight by a subordinate, who says the science team just finished making a nanite-infused serum which he says will enable him to use his Red Hulk powers immediately. He asks what the catch is, and Larry says it has no drawbacks at all. Maverick thus consents to the new injection.
Larry informs Da Costa that the planetary shield has been raised. Da Costa contacts Danvers and gets an update, but while the situation has stabilized, she reports there are still no signs of Guthrie (or Quasar). Da Costa ends the communication before she can finish her message. Larry then tells Da Costa there's another urgent message, but while Da Costa wants a few moments to just grieve over the death of his best friend, Larry insists he take it right away. Da Costa finally assents, hoping that it's Rogers, but instead it's Doctor Faustus trying to hypnotize all of SHIELD.
Da Costa, fortunately, has psychic defenses implanted in his mind by Charles Xavier which activate as soon as Faustus's message begins. He's able to both fight off the attack and tell the other U. S. Avengers (Maverick, Ho, Jokinen, and Doreen "Squirrel Girl" Green) to do the same. They do, with Maverick even triggering his Red Hulk state. However, Larry then gets a message reading simply 'do it' and pulls a gun on Da Costa. He tells Da Costa that he's not brainwashed and he even used to look up to Da Costa before Da Costa "joined the establishment". He tells Da Costa to hail HYDRA, then fires.
Larry contacts Rogers and says that Da Costa is down and most of Da Costa's forces on his helicarrier are focusing entirely on their mental defenses. Rogers is pleased, as this means they won't be able to resist being physically captured. The other U. S. Avengers themselves are deploying to Washington D. C. in response to Iron Man sending a message calling all available heroes to defend it from HYDRA warships. They go into battle, but then a HYDRA mole on Da Costa's team triggers the nanites in Maverick's body. His body suddenly swivels and attacks Ho, and he is powerless to stop it.
Tropes:
- The Mole: Da Costa has several on his staff.
