Empyre #5 (2020)

Brief Synopsis Wiccan explains to Captain Marvel and the Human Torch how he and Hulkling arranged a hasty wedding before Teddy had to leave to space to join the Alliance. This symbolic bond to Teddy allows Billy to cast a spell to teleport himself, Carol and Johnny to him. In the shore of Lake Victoria, the Cotati Hulk is plummeting The Thing, but he manages to keep going. In Wakanda, Black Panther is overwhelmed by Cotati soldiers, and one manages to open a portal for Quoi and the Swordsman. In the process, the Swordsman stabs and seemingly kills T'Challa. In the meantime, Wiccan, Carol and Johnny teleport to the command deck of the Alliance flagship to confront the impostor Hulkling, Empress R'Klll, having also liberated the real Teddy from imprisonment, although he is wearing an Inhibitor Mask. R'Klll has triggered the Pyre, which will detonate the Sun in ten minutes. Quoi also plants the Death Blossom seed in the Vibranium-enriched soil of Wakanda, and it will flower in around the same time. As Mister Fantastic is suited up in an armor provided by Tony Stark, both he and Tony prepare to attend to the two crises. Detailed Synopsis In his apartment in New York, Wiccan explains how Hulkling had an hour before heading to space to join the Alliance and they had already used half of it. While cuddling in bed, Billy contemplated marrying once it was over, but Teddy asked him why wait. Next thing, Billy and Teddy step out of a portal in a chapel in Las Vegas, wearing suits. When Billy asks, Teddy tells him he learned of it during their time in A.I.M. to always have a ridiculous scheme ready. They are approached by two officiants, who inform them the paperwork will be ready. Teddy tells Billy to videocall his parents and to call their team, the Young Avengers. When Billy warns Teddy that they won't make it, Teddy reminds him that half of their friends are speedsters and teleporters, and that they love them. Billy and Teddy then kiss with his friends having arrived. Teddy asks Billy if they want to head home with the eleven minutes they have left, and Billy gushes at his now-husband. Back at Teddy's apartment in the present, he explains to Captain Marvel and the Human Torch that he is now symbolically bonded to Teddy, and that magic is metaphor, so symbol and reality are the same thing. Wiccan tells the two heroes that as long as Teddy is alive, he can feel him and find him. The objects in the apartment begin to float as Wiccan charges with energy. Carol notices that his magic seems more focused than usual. Billy points out that the Kree/Skrull alliance has put them through the wringer, having tried to split them on day one. Billy then takes himself, Carol and Johnny away in a flash of light. In the shore of Lake Victoria, the Cotati Hulk is plummeting The Thing, gloating that she is a different Hulk, one with a purpose and the mission to kill him. Mantis and the Invisible Woman observe from above on a force-field. Mantis tells Sue to use force-field to block the Hulk's blows. Sue reveals she is already doing at, but the Hulk simply punches through them. Mantis tells her to put a force-field inside her brain, but Sue explains it has been equally ineffective. The Hulk stands on top of The Thing, and prepares to deliver a final blow and she tells him to give up. Ben manages to blow the attack and send the Hulk flying away with a punch, pointing out that he doesn't give up. As he stands up, badly hurt and bleeding, The Thing tells the Hulk about Jo-Venn Masters-Grimm and N'Kalla Masters-Grimm, expressing that he can't get their image out of his head and that he is fighting for them despite them being strangers. He says that all he needs to do is not die, and puts up his two firsts, calling himself the Immortal Thing. WIthin the Wakandan Techno-Jungle, Shuri warns Black Panther that the odds against the Cotati swarming Wakanda are against his favor, since they can use magic to grow new troops from seeds and cuttings. When T'Challa asks about their own reinforcements, Shuri tells him that he she has air support headed his way. Black Panther continues using the Star-Sword to fight the Cotati in the foothills of the Great Mound. Shuri recalls how all forces combating the Cotati are spread out across five continents, and that Reed Richards and Tony Stark are working on disrupting the Cotati's power over plant life. T'Challa interjects that in the meantime, the Cotati's main forces advance toward the Great Mound for its Vibranium-enriched soil, and that it's up to him to stop them. The Cotati soldiers hound T'Challa as he continues slicing his way through them. The Ukhozi Squadron contacts T'Challa to tell him they are inbound and they ask whom to target. Black Panther tells them to shoot where the enemy is congregated, therefore to target him. T'Challa dodges the barrage of fire, allowing it to hit the Cotati. A Cotati mage calls Black Panther's endurance a display of weakness, declaring that the Cotati don't need to survive, and are willing to die for their messiah, Quoi. Black Panther is overwhelmed by Cotati, and the elder sacrifices himself to sprout a portal gateway. T'Challa attempts to use the Star-Sword to disrupt the portal, preparing himself for the arrival of an army, and he is suddenly stabbed in the chest by the Swordsman. The Swordsman kicks T'Challa out of the way, and bows to Quoi's arrival, who is holding a seed for a Death Blossom. On the command deck of the Alliance flagship, Captain Glory informs "Hulkling," in reality Empress R'Klll, about the gateway activity in Wakanda. A portal manifests on the ground, and Wiccan steps out of it. "Hulkling" warns him to leave, but Billy defies that he is Teddy. He then teleports the real Teddy Altman to the deck, alongside Captain Marvel and the Human Torch. Teddy is wearing an Inhibitor Mask, and Wiccan explains his magic brought him to Teddy, who was locked in the ship's brig. Super-Skrull is shocked at the revelation, lamenting that he has failed Teddy again. Captain Glory insists that it's a trick. Wiccan asks Teddy if he knows the identity of the impostor, and he explains that before being ambushed, they looked like Tanalth. Meanwhile, the Human Torch tries to use his finger as a welding torch to break Teddy free. Captain Marvel formally accuses "Hulkling," and warns him against attempting to detonate the Pyre. "Hulkling" goads that he has already done it, and uses an ancient law of Hala to demand a trial by combat against Carol, growing fangs, wings and claws as he lunges forward alongside his royal court. Back in Wakanda, the Swordsman is surprised to see that T'Challa has no pulse and lays dead. Quoi asks him how are the rest of their forces doing, and Swordsman tells him they're faring superbly. The Cotati Hulk continues fighting The Thing, and lashes at him for not dying. Quoi assumes that the humans will be easily cowed now that their leader, Black Panther, is gone. As he plants the seed in the ground, Quoi relishes that his troops are holding their enemy at bay. In the Savage Land, Ka-Zar and the Man-Thing are engaging the Cotati. The Death Blossom seed begins to take root, and Quoi professes that he will become a god once it flowers, a god whose divine wrath will be all-consuming. In the Avengers Mountain, Reed Richards warns Tony that satellite data indicates the Death Blossom will flower in ten minutes. As he is clad in Tony's new suit, Reed also tells him that solar readings indicate the Sun will explode in the next tine. Stark encourages Reed to get going on saving the world twice over in nine minutes.