Interrupting Masque and Hawkeye’s sparring session, Black Widow shows Hawkeye the remains of an Avengers intruder tracking system. Hawkeye dismisses the Widow’s suspicions that Masque destroyed it. Deathcry and Hercules depart aboard her spacecraft for the Moon to rescue K’rin. While making Wanda dinner, Pietro is reminded by Crystal that he was to put Luna to bed, but the conversation degenerates into an argument when Crystal mentions Tuc. Left alone in the kitchen, metallic tendrils subdue Crystal and drag her away. Wanda and Thor return from flying Moonraker and Swordsman to a rustic retreat once owned by Tony Stark, and Thor finds Wasp infuriated after finding and removing a device that Giant-Man planted in her skull. After Wasp leaves, tendrils render Thor unconscious and intangible. Hawkeye and the Widow see Thor float down through the floor, and the Widow again suspects Masque. Approaching the Moon, Deathcry’s craft is shot down and crashes on the lunar surface. Shi’ar elite guards capture Deathcry and an unconscious Hercules, and play Deathcry Lilandra’s message. Controlled by the creature to which the tendrils belong, the Vision fells Wanda and Pietro with solar blasts, then collapses.
Lilandra records a holographic message telling Deathcry of K’rin’s imprisonment and warning her against attempting rescue.
The cover depicts the Wasp being attacked by Benedict’s tendrils although she is one of the few Avengers to be spared in the story. Though Hercules doesn’t outright resign, he effectively leaves the Avengers in this issue, which marks the end of his final tenure as an Avenger to date. Benedict and Za’ken’s names are both revealed next issue, and the device Hank implanted in Jan is identified as a subcutaneous transceiver.
