Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #2

May 1, 2024 Nick Peron

Secret Invasion continues from Secret Invasion: Thor #1…

Months Ago

On the planet Tarnax VII, young Xavin is attending a religious sermon where the high priest is giving a speech that while the Skrull Empire is fractured there is hope that their people will be reunified under a common goal. Xavin is pulled away from this gathering by his drill instructor, Commander Chrell, as he is due for more training in his Super Skrull abilities. When Xavin asks if Chrell believes the prophecies that say Dorrek VII will unify their people,[1] Chrell tells him that he doesn’t believe in such fairy tales. In his opinion, the only thing that will unify their people is death. He also says that what is more important is Xavin’s training, because that is the only way they will be able to survive long enough to see if any of the prophesies are true.

Now

The planet Earth has been invaded by an army of Super Skrulls that follow the edicts of Veranke, a religious extremist who believes that conquering Earth is their destriny.[2] These zealots have targeted Dorrek VII, aka Teddy Altman, aka Hulkling of the Young Avengers. Believing that Teddy will reunite his people, Xavin rescued Ted from certain death and attempted to flee into the sewers to get him to safety. Unfortunately, they are followed by three Super Skrulls who have come to kill them both. Luckily, Xavin and Hulkling are rescued by Teddy’s boyfriend Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) and his twin brother Speed (Tommy Shepherd) who help Xavin defeat the three Super Skrulls. With the immediate battle over, Xavin tells Wiccan and Speed that they have to get out of the area before a back-up team arrives to finish the job. The twins are reluctant to believe Xavin and that’s when they notice that none of the other Runaways are with him.

This is because Xavin convinced fellow Runaways Nico Minoru and Victor Mancha to get the rest of the team — consisting of Karoline Dean, Molly Hayes, Klara PRast, and Chase Stein, who are unconscious — and flee the area in the Leapfrog. Unfortunately, they don’t get very far before their ship is attacked by some Super Skrulls as well. When one of the Skrulls smashes in through the windshield, it is ambushed by Old Lace, the Runaway’s pet dinosaur. However, this doesn’t help prevent the Leapfrog from crash landing. Nico and Victor are about to get trounced by one of their attackers when Chase and Molly climb out of the wreck and attack. Molly strikes the alien with enough force to send him flying through one of New York’s many skyscrapers. As the team regroups, Karolina wakes up and panics when she realizes that Xavin isn’t with them.

Meanwhile, Commander Chrell is monitoring the situation from his ship hovering over Times Square. He gets a report from his second-in-command, a warrior woman known as X’iv that Dorrek VIII somehow escaped them. Chrell orders her to track him down and kill him as well as anyone protecting him as well as any other Skrull that might have seen the would-be emperor.

At that time, Xavin and the others have entered the New York Subway system. As Teddy comes out of his stupor he wants to go back and help the other Young Avengers they left behind. However, Wiccan explains how the Skrull invaders are targeting him specifically and they need to get him to safety. Xavin then chastises Teddy, saying that had he taken the Skrull throne when their people came looking for him, they could have prevented this invasion from ever happening. Teddy refuses to have the blame placed on him and Xavin berates him so more. That’s when some thing rushes past the at great speed.

It is X’iv and when Wiccan tries to use an invisibility spell to hide them, she changes her vision so she can see in infrared. She then throws a sai at Teddy. Luckily, Speed is fast enough to catch the weapon out of the air just inches before it can stab his teammate in the heart. Realizing that they are in over their heads, the four youths retreat. X’iv then reports back to Commander Chrell, informing him that one of Dorrek’s protectors is none other than his former student, Prince Xavin. This pleases Chrell since it gives him a weakness to exploit and orders a full scan for alien energy sources in the immediate area.[3]

By this point, Karolina has just been told that Xavin stayed behind to fight the Skrull invaders. She is deeply upset that Nico and Victor complied with her beloved’s orders. As they argue over why they need to get out of the city, Klara looks at some TVs in a nearby shop window. They are showing footage of the other Young Avengers — Patriot (Eli Bradley), Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), and the Vision (Jonas) — fighting the Skrulls and not doing so well either. She recognizes the location as where they just were when the invasion began. They are horrified when they see the Vision injured on live television.[4] This convinces the others that they need to get out of the city after all.

However, before they can flee, they are confronted by X’iv and five other Super Skrulls who have come to kill them.

… Secret Invasion continues in Captain Britain and MI-13 #4.

Recurring Characters

Runaways (Karolina Dean, Molly Hayes, Victor Mancha, Nico Minoru, Klara Prast, Chase Stein, Xavin, Old Lace, Leapfrog), Young Avengers (Patriot, Hulkling, Wiccan, Hawkeye, Vision, Speed), Commander Chrell, X’iv

Continuity Notes

Dorrek VII, aka Teddy Altman, aka Hulkling of the Young Avengers, is the next in line for the Skrull royal throne due to the fact that he is the son of Princess Anelle. See Young Avengers #9-12 for the details on that. He is referred to as a half-breed here because his father is the Kree Captain Marvel.
This story takes place during the Secret Invasion event, which primarily is chronicled in Secret Invasion #1-8 as well as various crossover issues (see below). As seen last issue, one invasion team’s mission is to kill Teddy because his presence could cause Skrulls to betray the invasion leader, Veranke.
He is searching for Karolina’s energy wavelength. She is a member of the Majesdanian race and is betrothed to marry Xavin. See Runaways (vol. 2) #6-7.
What the Runaways are watching is the final battle that is happening in Central Park, as will be depicted in Secret Invasion #6-8. Molly explains to Klara what television here because she had just recently been pulled forward in time from the year 1907, as seen in Runaways (vol. 2) #27-30.

Topical References

The televisions in the shop window are depicted as CRT models. This should be considered a topical reference as this is now an obsolete technology.

Secret Invasion Reading Order