Avengers (2012) #38

Pod arrives at the origin bomb site in Kobe, Japan, and remembers its own origin: another of Ex Nihilo’s bombs crashed in a snowy landscape and enveloped a young Finnish woman, Aikku Jokinen, who was walking nearby. The only thing left in the impact crater was a cocoon, which was quickly found and extracted by A.I.M. for further study at the group’s island base. Pod emerged from the cocoon and its programming told it to “protect the system”, so it flew to Australia and defeated the Avengers at the origin bomb site there. After the battle, Pod found itself confused and afraid, leaving it vulnerable to being recaptured by A.I.M., who used the Auger to send it into the space between universes. While in that limbo, Pod and Aikku learned coexistence and came to understand their full purpose: to serve as a planetary self-defense system. Eventually, Pod was pulled out of the no-space by A.I.M. and its new leader, Roberto Da Costa.

In the present, Bobby convenes a group in a mission room at his Avengers’ base in the Savage Land. They’re of course there to discuss the incursions and the efforts of the Illuminati and the Cabal to address the crisis. Bobby reveals that he’s learned the Illuminati’s plans - which include sending someone into the multiverse to uncover the original cause of the incursions, just like he has recently done - thanks to a man on the inside: Beast, who Bobby met with in Nation X two days earlier. Cyclops facilitated the meeting at Hank’s request, but warned Bobby that he has his own plans on how to deal with the incursions, and won’t sacrifice the wellbeing of mutants to get dragged into whatever Beast and Sunspot have in mind. Cyclops hints that his plan involves rewriting reality with a Phoenix Egg, but Beast arrives before he can say more. Scott leaves Bobby and Hank to talk. Hank says he’s at a crossroads and needs help.

Bobby tells his team that according to Beast, the Illuminati is planning to act against both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Cabal very soon. With all of their former allies on opposing sides, Bobby has realized that his Avengers’ mission needs to be uniting them all again, reminding them who they used to be. Manifold asks why they shouldn’t just let the Illuminati’s plans play out, and Bobby reveals he has inside information on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plans too. Black Widow and Spider-Woman have defected to Sunspot’s Avengers after a brief detour to try to rescue Tony Stark, who has been imprisoned for months by the Cabal in Necropolis (though they do not share this with the others). Black Widow shares that Steve Rogers has set a trap of his own for the Illuminati by creating multiple teams of Avengers, not just the one team that the Illuminati think they’re facing. And with that, Natasha asks Bobby what his plan is.

Bobby says he has finally learned the purpose of the four remaining sites created by Ex Nihilo’s origin bombs: self-defence, self-sustenance, evolution, and replication. Bobby has been gathering the products of the origin sites to help their cause. In addition to Pod, who is now firmly on their side, they also have the Children of the Sun (self-sustenance) and Validator (evolution) among their number. And most recently, after months of work, Shang-Chi learned how to communicate with the sentience at the center of the origin site in Kobe, and gained control over it. He used that control to self-replicate, and now they have an army of Shangs at their disposal.