General Robert "Red Hulk" Maverick's body continues to batter Toni "Iron Patriot" Ho's bulky robot armor. He yells at her to hurry up and stop him already, suggesting she put a force field over his head to asphyxiate him. Ho demands to know why he's attacking her and also giving her tactical advice, and simultaneously struggles to get her crumbling suit to work. Maverick explains that he can't control himself because his body is being manipulated by HYDRA, and then Ho finally gets one of her weapons online. She blasts Maverick and knocks him back, but he easily gets back up and comments only that the attack was a 'good start.'
Doreen "Squirrel Girl" Green and Aikku "Enigma" Jokinen battle HYDRA agents and try to help Ho, but both are attacked and feel pain even though their powers should render them immune to the enemy guns. Now trapped in a headlock by Maverick, Ho muses that the HDYRA soldiers must have weapons that resonate at Jokinen's unique frequency, which can't be possible unless HYDRA somehow gained access to her lab notes. The only people with access are Ho herself, Ho's boss Roberto "Citizen V" Da Costa, and the person in charge of SHIELD, Steve Rogers. At that moment, Rogers lands in a jet with several members of the HYDRA High Command and recommends everyone quickly surrender.
Ho, relieved that at least Da Costa didn't betray them but unable to escape from Maverick's grip, tries to figure out what to do. She ultimately orders Jokinen to grab Green, then explains that she's hacking Jokinen's system. Jokinen demands an explanation but then vanishes in a blast of energy along with Green. Maverick demands to know if Ho just killed them but quickly realizes that Ho only made it look like they'd died while really just teleporting them away. Maverick thus goes on a lengthy melodramatic rant about how evil Ho was to 'kill' them so as to convince HYDRA that Green and Jokinen are truly dead, and Ho admonishes him not to oversell it as soldiers surround her crippled armor.
In orbit, some Scavengers are searching for scales from dead Chitauri dragons when they find Sam "Cannonball" Guthrie's body. Guthrie is alive, and a Scavenger named Zu'ub decides to sell him into slavery.
Green and Jokinen appear in the sky over Paris and begin to fall before Jokinen catches Green. Jokinen notes that she can't teleport and doesn't know how they got there, but Green explains that Jokinen's armor can phase through things, so when Ho hacked her armor she must have triggered the armor to phase for just long enough that the Earth moved through them. They didn't go anywhere; they just stayed still in an absolute reference frame while the Earth and everything else moved. Jokinen lands and gripes that she knows how her powers work and doesn't need Green to explain them, then yells as she realizes that Ho sent them away to protect them while HYDRA captured her and Maverick.
Ho and Maverick ask what happened to Da Costa, but the HYDRA agents just decide to gag Maverick after they finish securing the remaining AIM staff. Back in Paris, Jokinen notes that she can't phase while the Earth rotates through them again; Ho knows how to use that function of Jokinen's armor but Jokinen herself does not. That means Green and Jokinen are stuck in Paris, and Jokinen frets that they won't get to help fight HYDRA, but Green notes several armed members of a European HYDRA splinter faction approaching. The HYDRA agents say that Green and Jokinen are illegally out after curfew and are therefore under arrest, but Green and Jokinen fight instead.
Jokinen renders herself invulnerable to conventional weapons and then beats up the leader of the HYDRA team. The militants then attack Jokinen with a truck-mounted sound cannon, which hurts her despite her invulnerability, but Green grabs the truck and overturns it to destroy the cannon while shouting in French that she is Squirrel Girl. One of the agents mocks her and says that reinforcements will kill them. Green says she can't translate the agent's French that fast, but figures it out when she sees a HYDRA jet rapidly approaching. The pilot declares he will kill them both, and while Jokinen thinks she can just make herself invulnerable and destroy the jet, Green notes that the pilot is speaking English and so likely knows who they are. At the same time, the jet attacks with energy weapons that hurt Jokinen despite her defenses, proving he's in contact with the American HYDRA forces who got that information from Ho's notes.
Before the pilot can kill Jokinen, though, Ares appears out of nowhere and jumps onto the jet. He mocks the pilot, saying the pilot chose strength over love and so shouldn't be surprised to have summoned Ares. He then destroys the plane. Below them, Green says she thought Ares was dead. (He was killed off in Siege, and though he was subsequently resurrected in Contest of Champions (2015), Green wasn't aware of the latter incident). Jokinen asks who 'that man' is in reference to Ares as several more heroes appear behind them: Jeannine "Guillotine" Sauvage, Nigel "Outlaw" Higgins, Brian "Captain Britian" Braddock, Alain "Le Peregrine" Racine, and Faiza "Excalibur" Hussain. Sauvage says that the newcomer is not a man but is 'war,' then adds that they need to get Green and Jokinen off the street to keep them away from the ubiquitous HYDRA.
Back in America, HYDRA agents have removed Ho from her armor and lead her and Maverick into detention cells. One of the agents says that Green and Jokinen have been spotted in Paris and will be dealt with shortly; in the meantime, Ho and Maverick will be taught how to be good HYDRA agents. The agent tries to reassure Ho by saying their facility is a lot nicer than many others; the prisoners have television, clothes, and unlimited food. He continues by noting that the goal is to keep the prisoners comfortable while they grow to accept the reality that HYDRA won the war and nothing can be done about that. He then leads Ho into a cell with Da Costa, whose skin is now obsidian-black, and notes that once Da Costa dies Ho will have the cell all to herself.
Tropes
- Fascists' Bed Time: The HYDRA agents seem to have imposed one in Paris, although it's not clear if they actually have governmental authority.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Cannonball survived the battle in space, although many (including Da Costa) thought he was dead.
