The surviving citizens of Spaulding, Georgia are still clearing their heads after a devastating and unexpected attack by the alien Brood. A small crowd gathers and notes a strange glow coming from the nearby McCord military base. They wonder what could be happening as the silent glow of energy grows brighter. Before they realize what is happening the globe of energy expands explosively until it engulfs them.
High above the catastrophe unfolding in Georgia, Ms. Marvel soars high into the atmosphere in pursuit of Cru who has just seized a Cavorite Crystal from McCord. As she draws closer to the bizarre alien, she admits to herself that she has no idea what she’s doing and hopes that she comes up with an idea to stop this extraterrestrial menace soon.
All around her, Cavorite Crystals fly into space. Ms. Marvel notes that it’s fortunate that the crystals didn’t simply explode when charged up but instead launched themselves into space. As she reaches Cru, he turns and punches her. Realizing that she is just about out of oxygen, Carol flies back down into the atmosphere to take a deep breath.
Nearing Earth, she notes that the entire town of Spaulding has been destroyed and only a crater remains where the military base once stood. In her shock at this sight, Ms. Marvel does not notice the approach of Cru who zooms down from behind her and slices her with a blade he’s manifested on his forearm with his malleable form.
Ms. Marvel flees as she feels the onset of shock. She turns and sees that Cru has reformed his blaster which is now powered by the Cavorite Crystal. She realizes that she needs to end this fight quickly and turns to attack Cru head-on. Her right arm was cut deep by Cru so she attacks with her left. The punch sends Cru hurtling out of Earth’s atmosphere. She takes a deep breath this time before following.
As Carol bolts after Cru, he turns and fires a Cavorite-powered blast at her. She absorbs the brunt of the blast and keeps going. She takes another shot square in the chest as she gets even closer. She thinks to herself that the Brood’s plan to destroy Cru wasn’t half-bad. Using Cavorite to destroy Cru in an energy blast was brilliant; sacrificing Earth in the process was the major glitch for Ms. Marvel.
She charges up her fist as she approaches Cru and drives it into his blaster-arm where the Cavorite Crystal is stored. She blasts it with energy causing it to explode dramatically. The blast seems to melt Cru’s malleable body and sends Ms. Marvel hurtling towards Earth. She lands forcefully and maintains consciousness just long enough to register that her planned seemed to work.
Hours later, the news of what happened to the town of Spaulding is being broadcast nationwide. The Fantastic Four travel to Georgia to investigate and Reed Richards gives a brief television statement that connects the catastrophe to the unique energies of the Cavorite Crystal.
During their investigation of the area surrounding the blast crater, they discover Carol’s unconscious form and the Thing recognizes her immediately. They send the Human Torch for medical help for Carol and notice strange blue goo on her arm. As Mr. Fantastic examines it, it seems to animate much like the malleable form of Cru. In space, other tiny globules of this matter begin to move towards each other and merge as they touch. This suggests that it is only a matter of time before Cru manages to reconstitute his unique form.
Shortly thereafter, Carol Danvers returns to her Manhattan home. She is greeted by a throng of news reporters eager to hear her version of what happened in Georgia. She brushes past them, eager to soak in a hot bath and rest after her ordeal. She worries about her injured arm, especially since even Reed Richards couldn’t discern exactly what the strange blue material was.
As she enters her apartment, Carol is shocked to be greeted by her publicist, Sarah Day and a full news crew from the Super Powers show, ready to conduct an in-depth interview!
