Incoming #1 (2019)

The mysterious Masked Raider stands in an apartment building, overlooking the corpse of a man who was strangled to death. He thinks that the man is connected to one of the many factions on Earth, such as H.A.M.M.E.R. or Orchis, but then he says that that is not how they work. Suddenly, he feels himself getting stronger and faster because the mask that he is wearing is detecting someone nearby with powers. He uses it to find Elektra and Matt Murdock training on another roof and says that Matt is just the man he needs. As Elektra comments on Matt’s training, he senses that the Raider is about to shoot them. The Raider fires off a warning shot, with Elektra seeing where he is and remarking that it is time for some real-world training. She dives into battle, and Matt hesitantly follows after her. Elektra confronts the Raider, who quickly makes short work of Elektra and knocks her out. Matt arrives and notices both the corpse and Elektra. He says that he will not fight the Raider because if the Raider can beat Elektra, then he can beat Matt. After letting the Raider gets away, Elektra wakes up and Matt tells her that they were right about them not committing the murder. When Elektra asks if he sounds like he wants to pick up solving a crime again, Matt denies it, saying that he is not Daredevil anymore, but calls someone else to solve the case: Jessica Jones. Jessica investigates the corpse and studies it thoroughly, remarking that the scene is really clean (which is odd for a locked room murder). She remarks that the strangled man’s ligature marks look different and that they are not rope marks but some kind of fabric. As she debates what could have caused such an odd death, especially because the case now involves super-heroes because of the incident with the Masked Raider, she discovers a portrait on the wall. Remarking that normal people do not have only photos of themselves, especially in a blank apartment, she takes the portrait and finds something on the back: the word “2Faced,” a number code, and the Hala Star at the end of the code. This clue leads her to ask Carol Danvers about the case, wondering if she is somehow connected to the murder. Carol takes Jessica down to her cave underneath her Harpswell house, and they discuss the case over a cup of coffee. When Jessica shows her the graffiti, Carol thinks that the reason she asked Jessica was because of her public problems with Star and the world finding out that she is part-Kree. Jessica says that it is not, and that it is mostly something that sprang to mind because of the Hala Star at the end of the code. Carol remarks that it does point to her, and says that the code is not any kind of code she’s seen. She decides to take the photo to the Avengers and hopes that they might be able to help. In Avengers Mountain, Carol tells T'Challa that this is bigger than just her and that he might know something. T’Challa says that Avengers Mountain could not even decipher the code, which makes this even more frightening. The duo heads towards T’Challa’s next appointment with the other Avengers (minus Tony Stark, who is MIA), and they meet with the Defenders of the Deep. Orka declares that this is their chance to spare their lives from the mighty fury of King Namor, but ends up making a joke about the meeting and leaves. Captain America remarks that they cannot let this escalate anymore or this will end with a war with Atlantis. T’Challa says that they need to focus on the problems they have right now. He says to Carol that he will have his Agents of Wakanda look into this, but also recommend using other resources that they have available. Carol decides to go to Kadesh Base and talk with Adam Brashear about the case. She was hoping she would see Monica Rambeau, but Adam replies that she is not here and that she is worried about her and her “secrets.” He quickly changes topics and introduces her to the other members of his new team, the Three Xs: Jimmy Woo and the Night Thrasher. He reveals that they are also looking into the corpse that the Masked Raider III found. They tell Carol that the code might be both computer and military because of the 2Faced graffiti. Carol wonders the same thing because of the recent A.I. news. Adam says that they better reach out to whoever they can. The Night Thrasher calls Richard Rider, who is recently recovering from his ordeal in space where he died and came back to life thanks to Annihilus, and currently fighting a massive freighter. He says that he needs to focus on space right now, and cannot help with Earth's problems. The Night Thrasher ends the call after promising that if Richard needs him, he is there. Jimmy Woo tries to contact Amadeus Cho to help him by asking around his new Agents of Atlas team. After being confronted by Silk at an Atlas bunker in Seoul because of his secrets, he decides to ask Shang-Chi and the Sword Master, who were located hanging out with Ares in Lowtown. When they could not help with the code, Woo starts to leave. Shang-Chi asks him to rejoin the team, but he declines and disappears, with both Lin and Shang remarking on his new "secrets." Woo discusses finding Amadeus with Aero and Wave in Pan, but both are hesitant because of Woo’s lack of help during the recent crises. Woo states that the Agents can handle anything that are thrown at them without him, but right now he needs their help to find Cho. Using her aerokinetic abilities, Aero located Amadeus. He is visiting his old Champions teammates at their mobile bunker. Riri and Viv remark that it is good to see him. Suddenly, Ms. Marvel arrives with something very important and announces that it is movie night. With the rest of the Champions arguing over what movie to watch, Kamala hears the news talking about Amadeus, his rampage in New York, and that he is not the first young hero to endanger the public. Snowguard remarks that the person on the screen is Senator Geoffrey Patrick from Indiana and that he has been on a whole public safety kick for a month with the Wasp, remarking that people like him. Riri asks them to change the channel, and Amka says that he sounds crazy. Ms. Marvel denies it and says that he is right about super-heroes putting people in danger and acting weird and that this might be a problem. Kamala asks Amadeus about Bruce Banner and Amadeus remarks that he has no idea what is going on with him. Dr. Leonard Samson is sitting down with Bruce in Shadow Base Site G, remarking that it is good to have him for a psychiatric session. “Banner” laughs at him, and says that he is not Bruce. Leonard learns that it is Joe Fixit, who comes out during the day when Bruce wants to hide. Leonard says that they are still doing the session, and Joe agrees to it. Leonard says that this is different from his normal behavior, but Joe denies it, saying that this is not his choice and that he should be a Hulk alter again. However, he cannot because it is the “Devil Hulk” personality that is in charge and he wants to end the world. Leonard remarks that this is different than what he thinks, because he thinks that Bruce is trying to save the world, but Banner says that there is no difference, because it is up to the humans to want to save themselves. Leonard remarks that he thinks Joe is Bruce’s inner teenager, but Joe says that he is Banner’s version of a grown-up. When Leonard mentions Bruce’s father, Brian, Joe says that he was not his father and that Mike Berengetti was. After Leonard says that Mike gave Bruce his leg-breaking job in Vegas, Banner remarks that he took the job in order to show the city some respect; it is Las Vegas after all. Johnny Blaze returns home to Las Vegas with a mission. He takes down some demons about to attack the Hotel Inferno, where Mephisto is incarcerated. After sending the demons to Hell, he is discovered by one of the Hotel’s staff: Wong. After asking what he is there for, Johnny says that he needs to stand aside, because he is here for Mephisto. On the planet Fallo, a Valravn cult is getting ready to make a sacrifice to their god. Suddenly, their church is attacked by a swarm of dragons and their leader: the Symbiote god, Knull. Knull levels the planet and encases it in a black substance before absorbing it. The entire interaction is felt by the son of Venom, Dylan Brock, who remarks that he feels like he is a million miles away to his father as a report plays on a store television nearby. At the Brooklyn Bridge, a semi-truck just smashed through the bridge’s wires. As people look on in horror, Spider-Man arrives to save the truck. He uses his webbing to try and lift the truck back onto the bridge, but the webbing breaks and is about to crush Miles. Suddenly, Peter Parker arrives onto the scene and helps Miles pull the semi back onto the bridge by letting the trailer fall into the water. An hour later, Peter and Miles are hanging out over a cup of hot chocolate. Peter remarks on Miles' growth, and after asking how he is doing, Miles tells him about his recent interactions, being a big brother, but he remarks on Senator Patrick’s recent crusade on young super-heroes. Peter says that it is similar to his past interactions with J. Jonah Jameson and tells him that he knows something about being a menace. He also remarks that he is grateful for his girlfriend and says that they need something in their super-hero lives to keep for themselves. Teddy Altman says on the phone that if people need him, he will help. The person on the other end says that he has one hour to say goodbye. The Hulkling tries to say that he needs more time, but the person on the other end says that he is lucky for this hour to talk to his friends. They can locate him, but the Hulkling ends the call because someone is breaking into his apartment. When he confronts the intruder, it is revealed to be Teddy’s fiancé, Billy. The two embrace and Billy says that he missed him and that he is happy to be here with him, but Teddy says that he has to go on a clandestine job within the hour. Billy asks what it is, but Teddy replies that it is space stuff. Billy wants to go with him, but Teddy says he has to stay because of Billy’s job (which Billy hates). Teddy says to enjoy the time they have, and at the end of the hour, he leaves. At Bar Sinister on Krakoa, Mister Sinister is watching Senator Patrick’s speech which changes to a report on the nation-state. He remarks that it is all just human nonsense, that he is preparing some new work and that he deserves a new “audience”, but there are new rules put in place to limit his work by Charles Xavier; however, he also remarks that he has space to work with what mutants he can use. After scanning who he has available, he says that he needs one more: Franklin Richards. Franklin tells his father that he finished the list of threats that he believes the Fantastic Four will need his help on. Sue calls him into another room because Valeria decided to remove H.E.R.B.I.E.'s inhibitor chip because she believes that he deserves to be free due to the recent robot revolution. Suddenly, Johnny tells Reed to shut down the Wi-Fi because Ben is about to post on their website about Johnny’s new soulmate. Reed decides that he has had enough and heads to the roof to get a break when the Blue Marvel shows up and asks for his assistance. He shows Reed the body and the code, which Reed has a theory on who the body is, but he needs to see the corpse to confirm it and leaves with Adam just as H.E.R.B.I.E. leaves as well. Over the Atlantic Ocean, a plane with Kiren Khanna is taken over by the plane’s A.I. and is about to crash into the ocean below. Suddenly, Kiren and the pilot are saved by Iron Man. The Blue Marvel arrives and asks Iron Man that he needs his assistance, but the Iron Man there is revealed to be Arno Stark and not Tony. He asks Arno about the code, and Arno says that it is not machine code. Adam leaves, and Arno reveals that it is a cipher hiding a three-word message. When the pilot asks why he did not tell Adam about the code, Arno says with a smirk that he did not ask. At the McCarthy Institute’s mortuary, Reed attempts to meet with Dr. Rudy Gillespie. The other mortician on the job says that he is being lazy because of Reed’s presence. Reed asks the other mortician, Dr. Jane Foster, if they have met before, and says that they have but not in her current capacity. She says she is curious to see what kind of autopsy he will do, and Reed reveals that he will not. He recognizes the body, and reveals that the man is not a human: he is a Kree warrior named Bel-Dann who they met during a conflict with the Phoenix Force along with the Skrull warrior Raksor. Reed reveals that the Hala Star was actually Bel’s and that he placed it somewhere so obvious that the heroes could find it. As he continues his analysis of the numbers and the code, he reveals that the numbers represent letters of the alphabet, which translates to “Beware the trees.” Jane asks Reed what it means. Reed says that he does not know, but he will find out. A disguised Raksor on the telephone says that he is done with his mission, and takes a bite of an apple. He goes to grab his spaceship, which is disguised as a water tower nearby. Suddenly, Reed arrives disguised as Bel-Dann, which gives away his disguise. Carol shows up and engages with Raksor with Reed. Raksor says that they are too late and that the asset is activated and asks where Bel-Dann is. Carol says that he is dead and that Raksor killed him, but Raksor denies it and says that they have been working together to create peace between the Kree and the Skrulls. Reed says that he was there as well, and says that no one wanted him dead more than Raksor. Raksor asks if they think it is that simple, but Jessica Jones arrives to take him down. Jessica says that he was disguised as the potted plant in his apartment, and the Blue Marvel arrives and says that Bel-Dann told the heroes about the code that was translated into English so that the heroes could find Raksor. Raksor says that the message was meant for him and asks what the code was. After revealing the code, Raksor says that he knows what it is and that the danger is real, before being killed by a tree sprouting from his head. The heroes investigate, and Reed tells them that one mystery is solved, but a dozen more are branching out and that this murder was only the beginning. At the border of the Skrull Empire, the Super-Skrull is adorning the Hulkling in royal robes and says that he is the hero of legends. The Hulkling says that this is killing him that they are allies because of the Super-Skrull’s involvement in his foster mother’s death. The Super-Skrull says that his life is Teddy’s, and Tanalth the Pursuer replies that the Kree Empire and the Kree Imperium are with him as well. As soon as he gets ready, Teddy approaches a congregation of both Kree warriors and Skrull warriors. Teddy introduces himself as Dorekk VIII and says that they are now one empire called the Alliance. He says that they all have one common enemy: Earth, and that they will journey there and begin the "final war."