Where There's Smoke (Avengers Unleashed)

Where There's Smoke is the 16th episode of the Season 1 in Avengers Unleashed.

Featured Characters

 * Avengers
 * Captain America / Steve Rogers
 * Iron Man / Tony Stark
 * F.R.I.D.A.Y.
 * Spider-Man / Peter Parker
 * Jocasta
 * Thor
 * Hulk / Bruce Banner
 * Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff
 * Hawkeye / Clint Barton
 * Captain Marvel / Carol Danvers
 * Black Panther / T'Challa
 * Phoenix Princess / Mary Jane Watson
 * Black Cat / Felicia Hardy
 * White Swan / Gwen Stacy
 * Wasp / Janet Van Dyne
 * Goliath / Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym (first appearance as Goliath)
 * Falcon / Sam Wilson
 * Redwing
 * Ant-Man / Scott Lang

Supporting Characters

 * Phoenix Corps
 * Air-Force / Sharon Carter
 * Firestar / Liz Allan (first appearance as Firestar; joins team)
 * New Warriors
 * White Tiger / Ava Ayala
 * Iron Fist / Danny Rand
 * Power Man / Luke Cage (first appearance)
 * Mecha Hulk / Amadeus Cho
 * Scarlet Spider / Kevin Watson (first appearance; joins team)
 * Blue Eagle / Sally Avril
 * Agent Venom / Flash Thompson (first appearance)
 * Avengers Academy
 * American Son / Max Olson
 * Midgard Valkyrie / Tarene Olson
 * Kid Arachnid / Miles Morales (mentioned only)
 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Phil Coulson

Villains

 * Firelord (first appearance)
 * Scorcher / Steven Hudak
 * Molten Man / John Allerdyce
 * Fire Demons of Muspelheim
 * Ultimate Green Goblin / Norman Osborn (single appearance; dies)

Other Characters

 * Surtur (mentioned only)
 * Galactus (mentioned only)

Premise
Spider-Man is assigned to watch over and train Mary Jane's younger brother Kevin (who had donned the mantle of Scarlet Spider) while Mary Jane trains Liz Allan, who had developed new powers after being infused with a formula composed of samples of the Super-Soldier serum combined with Scorcher's pyrokinetic capsules, to become the new heroine Firestar. At the same time, the Avengers and the New Warriors work to stop cosmic-powered alien Firelord, who had managed to obtain a prototype of the Mind Stone to manipulate the minds of Fire-based villains (Scorcher, Molten Man, the Fire Demons of Muspelheim and a Green Goblin from another dimension) and plans to have Earth consumed by fire and smoke.

Plot
The episode starts with Spider-Man training Mary Jane's younger brother Kevin Watson, who developed spider-powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider experimented on by Spencer Smythe one day before Miles Morales and Anya Corazon were bitten, in becoming Scarlet Spider. The duo then go on a crime-fighting spree on which they end up battling Molten Man and Scorcher, who had broken through a Hammer Industries facility to obtain one of the Super-Adaptoid's power cores. They defeat Molten Man and Scorcher, who turn out to have been mind-controlled by another unknown villain. Just then, one of the Super Soldier capsules from Scorcher's armors falls off and explodes next to Liz Allan, who was watching the situation from the outside.

As the two Spider-Men check on her, Liz finds herself still alive, but infused by the chemicals. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider take her to the Avengers Facility before Scorcher and Molten Man recover from their bruises unaware of what happened. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure watches the event from space while carrying a Cosmic staff. Meanwhile, Hank Pym is practicing the use of his old Goliath suit until Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider arrive with the unconscious Liz, who then wakes up to discover she developed Fire-based powers. While Mary Jane and Air-Force / Sharon Carter train Liz, Spider-Man is informed of a mysterious force which is attempting to brainwash Fire-powered metahumans. While they are clueless to figure out what it is, the headquarters is soon invaded by pack of Fire Demons of Muspelheim, which the heroes (joined in the fight by the New Warriors) soon fight back again. After defeating the Demons, Thor is made to believe the ancient Fire Demon Surtur is behind this attack until Mary Jane reads one of the Demons' mind and learns that the mastermind is another alien of Cosmic Power. Through one of the Demons, the mastermind is revealed to be Firelord, one of the former heralds of the World Devourer Galactus. Firelord eventually offers to "spare the Earth" if the Avengers surrender Liz Allan to him.

The Avengers naturally refuse as they know even if they did what he demands, Firelord would not honor the deal. The alien gives them one hour to reconsider. Despite pleased with the Avengers' support, Liz still offers to surrender. But Spider-Man denies this by claiming they will not quit without fighting. While debating about a plan, Spider-Man reveals to the Avengers he recorded his and Scarlet's fight against Scorcher and Molten Man and the recordings reveal that the two villains were both a affected by mind-control radiation (which is the same which affected the Fire Demons), making the other heroes deduce Firelord is using an unknown mind-control device on the fire-powered metahumans. While the Avengers prepare for battle, Liz dons a special suit (from the Stark Industries resources Peter bought ) which provides her immunity to both fire and mind control. The Avengers take Liz to the Alaskan S.H.I.E.L.D. Base, where Phil Coulson presents a Tesseract-powered device which will send Firelord to as far away as possible from Earth. Just then, they are ambushed again by Firelord, who arrives with the brainwashed Fire Demons to take Liz in. Using a small prototype of the Tesseract he owns by himself, Firelord conjures a portal which summons an alternate version of the Green Goblin... one who is said to have succeeded in destroying Spider-Man in his universe.

While the Avengers are kept occupied by his spawns, Firelord attempts to brainwash and abduct Liz for his plans to have Earth consumed by fire and smoke. But thanks to the anti-mind-control functions of her suit and her own unbreakable willpower, Liz fights back and they engage in a fierce fight which ends with Liz stripping Firelord off his mind control staff and his portal protector. As Liz and Firelord continue fighting, Scarlet Spider takes the portal protector and uses it to send the alternate Goblin to outer space, where he ends up freezing to death. Liz keeps Firelord distracted long enough for Spider-Man to finish the codifications on Coulson's device and use it to teleport him to Jotunheim, where the Frost Giants attack and freeze Firelord to death, and the Fire Demons are teleported via Bifrost back to Muspelheim with no memories of the event. Back in New York, Kevin joins the New Warriors and Liz (now dubbed Firestar) joins the Phoenix Corps while vowing to carry on the lessons they learned, much to Peter and Mary Jane's pleasure.

Voice Cast

 * Scott Porter as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
 * Ashley Johnson as Phoenix Princess / Mary Jane Watson
 * Robbie Daymond as Scarlet Spider / Kevin Watson
 * Natalie Lander as Firestar / Liz Allan
 * Roger Craig Smith as Captain America / Steve Rogers
 * Lacey Chabert as Air-Force / Sharon Carter
 * Mick Wingert as Iron Man / Tony Stark
 * Jennifer Hale as Captain Marvel / Carol Danvers, F.R.I.D.A.Y.
 * Mae Whitman as White Swan / Gwen Stacy
 * Travis Willingham as Thor
 * Fred Tatasciore as Hulk / Bruce Banner
 * Laura Bailey as Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff
 * Tara Strong as Midgard Valkyrie / Tarene Olson, Jocasta
 * E.G. Daily as American Son / Max Olson
 * Caitlyn Taylor Love as White Tiger / Ava Ayala
 * James C. Mathis III as Black Panther / T'Challa
 * Ashly Burch as Black Cat / Felicia Hardy
 * Troy Baker as Hawkeye / Clint Barton
 * Colleen Villard as Wasp / Janet Van Dyne
 * Bumper Robinson as Falcon / Sam Wilson
 * Crispin Freeman as Ant-Man / Scott Lang
 * Wally Wingert as Goliath / Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym
 * Greg Cipes as Iron Fist / Danny Rand
 * Khary Payton as Power Man / Luke Cage
 * Eric Bauza as Mecha Hulk / Amadeus Cho
 * Kari Wahlgren as Blue Eagle / Sally Avril
 * Will Friedle as Agent Venom / Flash Thompson
 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Steven Blum as Firelord
 * Trevor Devall as Molten Man / John Allerdyce
 * David Kaye as Scorcher / Steven Hudak
 * Rick D. Wasserman as Ultimate Green Goblin / Norman Osborn