Reconstructed by parties unknown, the robot Jocasta frees herself and places an emergency call to the Avengers before being subdued by her captors. Since the Avengers roster is currently nil, their headquarters computer summons the reserve members, which results in a unique gathering including the Captain, the Falcon, Hercules, the Beast, the supposedly deceased Hulk, and the female Yellowjacket, the latter forced to report by an alarm in her stolen helmet. Tracing Jocasta's call to a Long Island laboratory complex, the makeshift band discovers the followers of the High Evolutionary, who plan to explode a Genetic Bomb which will catapult the human race instantly through a million years of evolution. Their search next takes them to Lemuria, which is under attack by Atlantean forces. Halting the battle, they deduce that the two sides were brought together by a ruse in hopes of sterilizing both races, and the Atlanteans and Lemurians join forces to seek out their common foe. The heroes locate a gigantic mobile base en route to the volcano Krakatoa, whose explosion will fire the Genetic Bomb's contents into the high atmosphere. Invading the craft, the Avengers foment a revolution by revealing to the High Evolutionary's men that their leaders are actually the evolved animals called New-Men. They then locate their foe's Genesis Chamber and confront him directly, but he easily disables Jocasta, then teleports the Hulk back to the New Mexican desert. While the others occupy their foe's attention, the Beast uses the genetic accelerator on Hercules, transforming him into the High Evolutionary's equal. The two titans clash, and the High Evolutionary ultimately discorporates, but Hercules continues to evolve until he too vanishes, his fate unknown. As the other Avengers beat a hasty retreat in their quinjet, Jocasta sets off the base's matter/antimatter drive, destroying both it and the Genetic Bomb.

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