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Untitled
Logan a.k.a. Wolverine has arrived back at his apartment, along with his new companion, an enigmatic tall man wearing a suit and a bandana. The apartment has been ransacked, and a grinning man wearing a tuxedo and a very tall hat sits in the corner of the room.
Logan lunges towards the grinning man, claws outstretched, he attacks him - and slices his face off in three parts. The man drops to the ground, but when Logan turns away, he stands up, re-formed. ‘Feel better?’ he asks Logan, who turns back to the grinning man, hovering in the air, and demands to know where Sung Li is. ‘Your girlfriend has been kidnapped. She is held in a dark place, surrounded by magic. She needs your help’ the grinning man explains. ‘Who are you?’ Logan demands, but the grinning man states that he is not important, but is here on behalf of someone who wishes to help him. When Logan asks who that is, the grinning man replies ‘The Librarian’.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ the tall man asks as he walks over, and Logan remarks that he thinks he knows what the grinning man is talking about. Logan explains that it is an ancient myth about an old man in a library, that he has all the knowledge of the world stored up, but he is short of hired help, so anyone that goes in become a slave and has to maintain the library until they die. Logan adds that Sung told it to him, that she said it was a story from the Feudal days of China, told to keep the peasants from getting too interested in reading - same as in Europe before the printing press.
‘The Librarian is quite real, Mr Logan. If you wish to see Miss Sung again… there are things you must allow yourself to believe’ the grinning man warns, as reality around Logan and his companion begins to warp, and they are sucked through some sort of portal.
Wolverine and the tall man land in an old room, lined with books, floor to ceiling. People wearing brown monk-like clothes sit at tables, reading. Various pots and other artifacts are placed about throughout the room. Logan looks around, and goes over to one of the people sitting at the tables. He touches them on their shoulder, and they turn to him - but from beneath their hood, Logan sees that their face is blank. ‘Stop doing that’ a voice orders. Logan and the tall man turn to see someone wearing a colorful robe sitting on a cushion that hovers in the air, with a piece of glass hovering in front of them, a vase and some books on the glass. ‘Don’t bother my assistants. They have work to do’ the person hidden by the long hood of the robe declares. ‘Where are we?’ the tall man asks as he and Logan approach the stranger.
The person hovering in the air announces that they are the Librarian, and explains that circumstances dictate that they become allies and that is fortunate for them. ‘But do not overestimate your value. Now, if you can keep your hands to yourselves, I will tell you a story…’ the Librarian states, waving their hand over the vase, and begins the story: ‘5,000 years ago, the world’s most advanced civilization covered half of China. They were scientists, scholars, warriors and magicians…’
narration
The martial arts that the ancient civilization created built the foundations on which all since have been built. They tapped supernatural forces, and learned to bend them to their wills. They were the masters of their minds and bodies. As an army, they had no equal, and they conquered the peoples of surroundings lands.
Present:
Wolverine moves closer to the Librarian, and sniffs the mysterious person, as they continue the story, staring that the ancient civilization’s dynasty spanned centuries, and in time, the moment was ripe for them to march across the globe. They smack Logan away with their hand, and Logan responds by growling at them.
narration
‘Where was I…’ the Librarian muses, before announcing that the ancient civilization would march across the globe and enslave the barbarian world. But, that was not to be, as there came a natural disaster of such magnitude, that nothing since compares. The ground tore apart and fires spread. The Librarian states that in a desperate attempt to save her people, the high priestess cast a spell to remove the spirits from their bodies, and suspend them in an urn. Their time on the Earth was at an end - but one day, these millions of spirits would be drawn from the urn, and they would once again rule the Earth.
Present:
‘This is that day’ the Librarian announces, revealing to Logan that Sung Li is the direct descendant of that high priestess, and she has the magical power bestowed on one child in one hundred generations. ‘Are you listening you hairy little man? She has the power to bring these ancient people back to life’. the Librarian snarls.
narration
The Librarian reveals more of the story, explaining that after the disaster, there were a few who survived, they roamed the Earth and lived like dogs, biding their time. Then, two hundred years ago, the stragglers converged on San Francisco, waiting patiently for the girl to be born and grow into maturity. In the past weeks, the Librarian’s sources have reported strange occurrences, even for Chinatown - family members forgetting the names of their kin, normal people have become fluent in dead languages overnight. In China, the ancient urn was stolen from its resting place, and the kidnapped girl is another piece of the puzzle, the tool that will be used to draw the spirits from the urn. Millions of spirits lay dormant in the urn, but when they come out, they will need bodies - every person from Marin County will be possessed - and they will be an unstoppable army.
Present:
Wolverine lights a match by striking it against an old bottle. ‘All right, let’s say I’m believing this. Is there a point yer trying to make?’ Logan asks as he lights his cigar. The Librarian holds up a small charm and explains that the physical forces that guard the urn are too powerful for them to overcome. ‘I want you to take this talisman and place it on the urn. It will be destroyed and free us of any further threat’ the Librarian claims. ‘I could care less, bub. I only want to find Sung’ Logan replies. ‘Listen, you savage! She will be a slave for the rest of her life if these events are not stopped in time!’ the Librarian exclaims from beneath their hood. They toss the charm towards Logan and instruct him to go to the market at the end of Grant Street, as it happens at dawn. Logan catches the talisman, and instantly he and his tall friend are shunted backwards through another portal.
They land back in Wolverine’s apartment, ‘Ohhh… I think I’m gonna throw up…’ the tall man mutters, clutching his head. Addressing his companion as “Navy”, Logan tells him that he doesn’t have to stick around if he doesn’t want. ‘Lord knows you’ve done enough’ he adds, before opening a trap door in the living room. Logan starts pulling out various weapons - guns, rifles, swords, knives, grenades and many others. The tall man smiles and replies that he has come this far, so he might as well see it through, and after removing his trench coat, arms himself with many of the weapons. ‘Ya like guns, do ya?’ Logan asks, cigar in his mouth. ‘Yeah. Why?’ the tall man smiles.
Soon, Wolverine and his friend run down a filthy alleyway, and arrive at a busy market place. Logan suggests they split up, and tells his companion to take the far side. ‘Holler if you find anything’ he adds as they start walking down separate aisles in the busy market. As the tall man walks behind a stall with chickens and various other birds in cages, the men at the stall see him, and quickly reach for their guns. The tall man hears the commotion, and quickly drops to the ground, though bullets strike others in the market. The tall man rolls over, and reaches for one of his weapons, he starts firing back at his attackers, blowing their brains out, or shooting them through the chest. There are screams, and the tall man sees a trail of blood leading towards an open door.
He follows the blood and goes through the door, stepping down a flight of stairs, he comes to an underground corridor, lined with pipes overhead, and dead ninjas scattered about on the ground with arrows and knives sticking out of their bodies. The tall man sees Logan at the end of the corridor, shoving his claws into one of the ninjas, blood flows out of him and he drops to the ground. Suddenly, as the tall man approaches Logan, he finds the bloodied claws shoved to his own face. ‘Whoa… careful there, buddy. Those things looks sharp’ the tall man smiles. Logan pulls away and announces that he has picked up Sung’s scent, and he thinks she is down below them. But he decides that there is no way that it is this easy, so he will circle around and meet his companion down there. ‘You’re the boss’ the tall man replies as they walk onto a catwalk over some sort of warehouse, where boxes and crates are packed up.
Logan carries along down the catwalk for a short distance, before dropping down onto the crates. He gets onto the ground, and makes his way behind some crates, where workers are going about their business, moving some of them. He readies his claws, then sees four men in white robes carry someone into the room on a platform where they sit, head covered by a large hat. Logan lunges forward and takes out two of the men, causing the others to be unable to hold up the platform, and they person they are carrying falls to the ground. Still covered by the large hat, they reach out for Logan, ‘Please…’ they utter, while the servants gather their swords, and someone starts firing at the servants, but also hits Logan, striking him in the arm.
Logan turns, to see his new friend standing against a wall, one of his guns smoldering, ‘Fish in a barrel’ the tall man smirks. ‘You hit me too, bub! I thought you were supposed to be some kinda expert’ Logan snarls. They move closer to each other, and the tall man replies ‘Nobody’s perfect, boss’, before Logan rakes his claws across the tall man’s chest. Blood pours out of the wounds, and suddenly, the tall man drops to the ground, as his form switches to that of an elderly man. Logan stares at the impostor, who starts to cast forth some sort of energy, but Logan goes over to him and shoves his claws through the man’s chest. The magician drops off, and his motionless body hit’s the ground.
Logan enters a chamber, and finds people digging at the ground, in front of a large dome, where an urn has been placed. His tall friend enters, and starts firing at the men, who reveal their swords. Logan enters the fray with his claws. ‘Hey! Did you find her?’ the tall man calls out. ‘No! And it’s almost dawn! We’re running out of time!’ Wolverine replies. The ninjas swarm towards them, building up mass of bodies. ‘Uh…hmm’ the tall man remarks as he finds himself standing on a mountain of ninjas. He is pulled down, while Wolverine lunges forward, and grabs the ninja who is pulling down the tall man. Suddenly, a barrage of arrows are fired into the crowd by another ground of ninjas. Wolverine uses the distraction to make his way to the urn, pushing past more people wearing large hats.
Wolverine looks at the urn, and pulls the talisman from behind his belt buckle. ‘Well, here goes nothing’ he remarks as he holds the talisman out to the urn, when suddenly, the urn starts shaking, and then energy pours from it, emanating throughout the chamber, smoldering across the bodies of both groups of ninjas. The urn breaks, and Logan looks at it. The tall man looks around, then turns to the second group of ninjas armed with the arrows and tells them that he doesn’t know who they are, but they saved him. ‘What d’ya say we all go get a beer, I know a place that opens at 6 AM…’ he remarks, but the ninjas suddenly vanish. The chamber is still a blur with the energies, and Logan shields his eyes when someone calls out to him. A woman walks forward, ‘Is that you?’ she asks.
It is Sung, and Wolverine embraces her, smiling. Sung asks if they can go home, and soon, walking down a street, the tall man walks a few paces ahead of Logan, who is holding onto Sung, and asks ‘So, was this a typical day for you?’ to which Logan replies ‘Yeah. Pretty much’. As they approach Sung’s apartment, the tall man gets into his car and announces that he is going home to sleep for about a week. ‘What about you?’ he asks Logan, who reports that they are going to visit Sung’s mother in the hospital, as she got cut pretty bad. Logan adds that Sung seems to be taking this thing pretty well, considering she must have had a pretty rough time. ‘Yeah, I guess…maybe she can shed some light…’ the tall man suggests. Wolverine replies that he doubts it, and points out that Sung was caught off guard by all this as much as anybody, and adds that if she is this “High Priestess”, he doesn’t think she even knows it. The two men shake hands, ‘Thanks. For everything. You ever need anything…’ Logan tells his new friend. ‘Yeah… you too’ the tall man replies, before smiling and telling Logan that he will be seeing him.
Logan goes into Sung’s apartment, still a mess from the earlier attack. ‘Hey babe! You ready to go to the hospital?’ Logan calls out to Sung, who is in her bedroom, and looking in the closet, she notices a colourful robe. Logan walks up behind her, ‘Ohhh!’ Sung exclaims, spinning around as she closes the closet, she tells Logan that he scared her. Logan doesn’t respond. ‘What?’ Sung smiles. ‘It was you, under the hood - in the library’ Logan frowns. ‘What? No! I…’ her voice trails off. ‘You used me from the start…why? How could you do that to me?’ Logan asks. Crying, Sung tells Logan that he doesn’t understand, and that in the wrong hands, the urn could have changed the balance of power on the entire planet. ‘You don’t realize what’s at stake’ she adds. Sung goes over to Logan and grabs his hands, as Logan asks her if now it is all over, if she is the same person she always was.
‘Yes! Logan, I love you! I had to do what I did - I had a responsibility! Surely you can see that’ Sun tells Logan. ‘Please…’ she touches his face, but Logan grabs her and pushes her away. ‘No. I don’t think so’ he replies, pointing out that Sung could have asked, but instead she betrayed his trust, and his love. Sung wipes her tears away, and drops to the ground as Logan turns from her. ‘I don’t know what you made up and what was real. Was any of it?’ he asks. Sung pulls Logan’s hand towards her face, but he moves away and leaves her on the floor. ‘It was all real…’ Sung calls out, but Wolverine leaves her apartment. Soon, he is on his motorcycle, driving away.


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Panic Beneath the Earth!
Outside the home of Doctor Strange it is raining, but inside his sanctum sanctorum, the leader of the Defenders is just finishing up his personally-guided tour of his mansion for the newest Defender, Nighthawk. Valkyrie pulls him aside and comments on his new costume which is much more striking than his previous garments which were destroyed in the Defenders battle with Nebulon and the Squadron Sinister. Nighthawk reveals to Strange and Valkyrie that he has also fitted his new attire with a jet-back which, he indicates, will replace his hawk-plane. Valkyrie then surprises the new Defender when she announces that he will make a superb replacement for her. Nighthawk stands shocked but Strange is nonplussed. The magician explains to Nighthawk that the Valkyrie actually tendered her resignation some time ago (see Defenders #12) but he had hoped she had changed her mind.
Valkyrie relates to Nighthawk that she owes a debt to a girl named Barbara, the girl whose body she now inhabits as a result of the Enchantress's sorcery. She explains that she cannot rest until she repays that debt by discovering who Barbara truly was. She goes on further to indicate that she also has a problem with her winged horse Aragorn who is in need of a place to rest. Nighthawk replies that while he may not be able to help her with the woman Barbara's identity he can help her with finding appropriate lodgings for her horse. He goes to the phone and as he dials he reminds Val that underneath the mask he is Kyle Richmond, boy tycoon! He calls Pennysworth and instructs his servant to purchase a private riding academy. Val is taken aback at her good fortune and Nighthawk's generosity but as she expresses her gratitude to the Defender, they turn to notice that Doctor Strange seems to be talking to some unseen person.
Indeed, Strange admits he is speaking to someone but then he realizes that perhaps only his mystically trained eyes can detect the presence. Doctor Strange then uses his chest amulet to expose the psychic image for the other Defenders to see. Floating in the air before Nighthawk and Valkyrie appears a man in a wheelchair who indicates that he is Professor X. After asking for forgiveness at his intrusion, Professor X explains that those he normally uses for such urgent matters are away on a secret mission from which he cannot summon them back. He explains that he is in need of the Defenders to stand at his side in their stead to face a menace so awesome that it threatens the world! Dr. Strange replies on behalf of the Defenders and indicates that they would be honored to aid the head of the X-Men. Professor X thanks the team and asks them to join him immediately in New Mexico at the Carlsbad Caverns. Then, with a glimmering of white light, the mental image of the man called Professor X is gone. Nighthawk, happy to begin his new career as a Defender, indicates to Strange that they had better leave at once. But, Strange explains that before they embark on this new adventure they had best summon some raw power which he fears they are going to require in this endeavor.
And, at that moment, the raw power to which Doctor Strange refers, the incredible Hulk, is lumbering heavily through a deep wooded glade, enjoying a brief respite from the senseless violence that seems to dog his every step. But, unfortunately for the Hulk, peace is a frightfully fleeting thing as suddenly, appearing in the sky over the Hulk is the astral projection of Doctor Strange. The magician's psychic image tells the green behemoth that the Defenders are in need of his awesome strength. The Hulk, always happy to show that he is the strongest one there is, happily follows the ghostly head of Doctor Strange as it leads him to New Mexico. Meanwhile, back outside Strange's sanctum sanctorum the three Defenders head off to join their teammate at the Carlsbad Caverns.
A short time later, Nighthawk, Valkyrie and Strange arrive at their destination and are greeted by the wheelchair bound Professor X. The team members are congratulated for their hasty arrival and Xavier is eager to begin the task at hand but Strange explains that they are awaiting the arrival of a fourth Defender. No sooner does Doctor Strange say this when, as if on cue, the Incredible Hulk arrives with a resounding thud. With the team now complete, the rather bizarre quintet enters the stygian darkness of the Carlsbad Caverns guided by a light issued from Doctor Strange's mystic amulet. Suddenly, the unnatural light reveals a massive orange skinned creature which looks like a cross between an ogre and a cyclops. Shambling out from the shadows, the monster's gaping mouth drips foaming saliva and its single azure eye glows wildly with hunger. The beast, four times the size of a man, towers over the Hulk who warns the creature to be gone or else be smashed! But, the cyclopean horror seemingly ignores the emerald behemoth's warning, and as the Hulk leaps with a mighty blow to its huge head, he is easily swatted away by the monster's massive hand. Valkyrie rushes to the Hulk's defense but she finds her enchanted blade, Dragonfang is ineffectual against the orange giant and she is scooped up in the creature's right hand. Nighthawk then leaps to aid his comrades but he too is quickly ensnared by the deceivingly fast left hand of the cyclops. Doctor Strange then blasts the creature with his bolts of bedevilment but is shocked to discover that his powers have no effect on the monster either.
Suddenly, Professor X yells at Strange to restrain himself and warns him that he is going about the attack the wrong way. Doctor Strange turns on Xavier and explains that if he does not act soon his teammates will be doomed. However, this falls on deaf ears and Strange watches as Professor X puts his head down and concentrates on the mad cyclops. Strange watches in amazement as the orange beast dissolves like smoke in the wind and then quickly fades away. The Defenders stand around Xavier in awe as they realize the monster was but an illusion. Xavier is then about to explain the origin of the illusion when suddenly the group is hit by a blast of sizzling energy. And, as the Defenders slump unconscious to the dirt floor of the cavern, the sound of maniacal laughter echoes in their ears. Watching from the edge of the cavern, Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants gloat at their easy triumph!
Untold moments later, the Defenders regain consciousness but find themselves trapped in glowing magnetic field. Magneto explains that in the past, superheroes like those before him have thwarted his efforts at placing mutants at the forefront of international affairs. Magneto then indicates a massive glass container which conceals the vague shape of a humanoid within. The magnetic mutant goes on to explain that when the sleeper within the glass enclosure awakens, mutants will rule the Earth! Strange asks Magneto how he came to be here as he had last heard that the mighty Magneto was captured by the Avengers.
(flashback)
Magneto goes on to explain how his current situation came to pass after he was defeated by a mighty blow by the Vision. Unsure of what to do with him, Thor suggested that they encase the villain in a bubble of raw energy and leave him at the center of the Earth where the magnetic lines of force which surround the planet were in such perfect balance that they served to nullify his powers completely. He remained imprisoned there for months until the passing of the comet Kohoutek shifted the Earth's magnetic forces almost imperceptibly. But, still the shift was enough for Magneto to exert his forces and shatter the energy globe. He then made his way surface ward propelled by his magnetic power. Eventually he reached what he thought was the surface but, was in fact a long lost cavern. A cavern which housed the ruptured remnants of an ancient civilization! He found machines of alien concept and design and he found libraries filled with alien books written in an unknown language. For a long time Magneto stayed in the cavern deciphering the language and then studying the books. At last, he discovered a secret so spectacular that he could no longer bear to keep it himself. He returned to the surface world and sought out the only beings he deemed worthy of sharing the secret. The untouchable Unus, the malevolent Mastermind and the unbeatable Blob...all mutants like himself...and all evil. He also restored the lovely Lorelei, a mutant he himself created and had grown quite fond of.
(present)
Professor X asks Magneto what was the secret he discovered in that cavern and what is that sleeper behind him. With a grandiose gesture, Magneto exclaims that using the long-forgotten knowledge of the Ancients he is growing a mutant...the Ultimate Mutant! Having explained his motives, Magneto departs to attend to other tasks which require his attention. With the Defenders left alone, trapped in the magnetic prison, Professor X reaches out to the team telepathically. The professor's plan is simple: since mental energy is essentially electrical in nature, a controlled concentration of such energy could conceivably disrupt the magnetic force field that binds them. Thus, at Professor X's psychic command, the Defenders (with the exception of the Hulk who doesn’t quite understand what is going on) concentrate on a single thought...a thought channeled and focused through the mind of Professor Charles Xavier the most powerful mind on the face of the Earth. Suddenly, there is a harsh crackle of disrupted energy as the magnetic field is broken and the Defenders find themselves free!
Magneto hears the noise of the Defenders' prison break and summons his brother mutants to destroy the team. Without hesitation, the Evil Mutants rush to answer their master's command. Strange warns the mutants to stand aside or suffer the consequences but the Blob is quick to answer back that they have no fear of a scrawny bunch of rubes! This enrages the Hulk who slams into the Blob but discovers that he made no effect as the Blob can absorb the impact of anything. A quick backhand then sends the Hulk sprawling. A few feet away, Valkyrie strikes at Unus the Untouchable with her enchanted blade but she finds her blow to be ineffectual as well. Unus then launches himself at the Valkyrie. Meanwhile, Mastermind attacks Doctor Strange by conjuring up a massive green skinned monster. However, Strange uses the Flames of the Faltine to dispose of the magical beast. But, to the mystic mage's abject amazement, a second hideous monster appears! While Doctor Strange battles the conjured monsters of Mastermind, Nighthawk and Professor X face off against Lorelei. The silver haired woman parts her rose-petal lips and begins to sing a siren song which has the singular effect on any male unfortunate enough to hear it to stop the pair cold in their tracks!
The Hulk continues to pound at the Blob with no effect. The Blob boasts that there is not anything which can hurt him once he has rooted himself down. So, surprisingly, the Hulk decides to "un-root" the Blob by smashing the ground beneath him. Then, with a powerful right hook, the Hulk plows the fat mutant in the belly with the desired effect of taking the Blob out of the fight. Meanwhile, Doctor Strange begins to grow exhausted from the ceaseless battle with conjured monsters so he decides to turn the tables on Mastermind and conjures up five illusions of himself! Mastermind, confused by the multiple images of the magical Defender, is unable to focus his powers and as he hesitates, Doctor Strange blasts him with a mystic bolt, sending the evil mutant into unconsciousness. Nearby, Professor X struggling to resist the siren song of Lorelei, reaches behind the frozen Nighthawk and enables the jet-pack of the Defender which cause Nighthawk to be thrust forward, directly into the singing mutant, ending her song. And, only a few feet away, Valkyrie realizes that Unus must lower his force field to contact her so when he grabs her wrist, she applies a little leverage and flips the untouchable mutant in the air directly into the waiting fist of the Hulk *KWOOM!!*. The dust finally settles and the Defenders stand alone, victorious!
But Magneto meanwhile, has activated the final procedures of his alien machinery, beginning a process which once initiated cannot be reversed! The glassine chamber starts to glow from within and then begins to tremble and shudder. Finally, with a burst of almost-solar brilliance, the capsule erupts into fragments...revealing a creature who Magneto exclaims will make him the master of the world!


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Membership Madness! –Dollar Bill’s Documentary Disaster - Part 1
Richmond Riding Academy
Hulk finds his friends outside by the stables playing Frisbee. Hellcat has the yellow Frisbee in hand and via some crazy acrobatics launches it into the air telling Nighthawk to go get it. Nighty activates his jetpack at full blast and launches from the ground. He snags the Frisbee, telling Hellcat nothing can slip by him.
Kyle tosses it downward to Hulk who catches it easily. Nighthawk tells him to throw it to Val. With a comprehending grin, the green giant does as told, but with a lot of power and speed behind it. Val can’t get a bead on it and is nailed in the gut. The force of the throw knocks her legs out from under her and she falls to the ground.
Hellcat tells Hulk he went a bit overboard. Hulk says Frisbee is stupid, but is sorry for hitting Sword-Girl so hard. Before Val can reply Dollar Bill comes racing out of the house. He tells everyone to get inside so they won’t miss his Defenders documentary. He explains they’re all going to be on television.
Hellcat asks what he’s talking about. Bill says he wanted it to be a surprise. Nighthawk sarcastically agrees it’s a surprise and points out the Defenders are supposed to be a secret. He tells Bill he blew it and then jams a finger in his face with talk of suing him. Bill doesn’t seem taken aback. He tells Nighthawk he’s going to be a star, that he was expecting his thanks. Nighthawk yells, “Thanks a heap, creep!”
Hellcat on the other hand is excited to see the show. She tells Hulk to get a move on. Nighthawk says it figures a former fashion model would love the publicity. Val tells their pseudo-leader to calm down. She points out there’s nothing they can do about it now and reminds him Bill had the best of intentions. Val takes both men by the shoulder and leads them toward the house. Val tells Dollar Bill never to do anything like that again without their permission. Bill agrees. Nighthawk warns him the documentary better be good.
Moments later, the Defenders are plopped down on the couch in front of the television set. They make small talk waiting for the show to start. Hulk thinks the picture box is stupid and plans on smashing it if the show is bad. As if on cue, the documentary begins. Dollar Bill’s voiceover introduces the country to the Defenders roster while showing film clips from their recent battles trying to prevent the rebirth of the demon race.
The film then moves to their team-up with Spider-Man and their battle with Lunatik. Dollar Bill’s camera catches Lunatik’s escape, showing how he hid underneath the statue. Nighthawk can’t believe he didn’t think of looking there. Even worse, he believes everyone’s going to think they’re bozos for screwing that up. Hulk doesn’t really care, though, because the show is dumb.
The documentary continues with footage of Dollar Bill on the Riding Academy grounds. He tells the camera that the Defenders aren’t a team like the Avengers, that the Defenders are a non-team. He explains there’s no charter, no rules and that anyone with powers can declare themselves a Defender and automatically be a member.
The address to the Richmond Riding Academy is posted on the screen. Dollar Bill invites anyone interested to stop by and sign up. He finishes his film with promises to bring more exclusive film exploits of ”Dollar Bill’s Defenders”.
Nighthawk flips his lid. He gets into Dollar Bill’s face and accuses him of making them the laughing stock of the whole world. Dollar Bill, for the first time in his Defender’s life, is a bit flustered. Hellcat and Valkyrie tell Nighthawk to calm down. Nighthawk asks Val how she can be so calm when one of her friends ruined the Defenders. Val tells him he’s overreacting and that they’ll overcome this. Nighthawk insists everyone will want to be a Defender now. He shakes his fists and asks if anyone else realizes what the documentary has done.
Soviet Union
Sergei, in his hoverchair, flies over what looks like a desolate wasteland. His fears have been realized, his experiment has come back to haunt him. His flight takes him over a long pathway of obliterated vehicles of all sorts. His thoughts turn to how it began and how the government tried to hide it, secure in the idea nothing bad would happen. Now Sergei’s sin against humanity has come back to bite him.
Richmond Riding Academy
The following morning, the doorbell to the house rings repeatedly. Nighthawk storms down the hallway yelling to whoever is on the other side to cut down the racket. Kyle walks right by Dollar Bill and questions how the guy who’s responsible for all the chaos can somehow sleep through the racket.
Kyle grabs the doorknob, anxious to see what neo-superhero has decided to come calling. Much to his surprise when he opens the door there’s not one, but over a dozen well-known heroes hanging out on his porch.
Hercules is the first one to identify himself, followed immediately after by Marvel Man and Nova. The sight of all the heroes doesn’t help Nighthawk’s temperament. He goes back inside, grabs Bill by the collar and drags him outside. He then kicks Dollar Bill in the keister and tells him to hit the road.
Falcon, who’s sitting atop the porch overhang, tells Nighthawk to ease up on the guy. Nighthawk doesn’t like taking guff from a stranger and so grabs Falcon’s ankle and tries pulling him off the roof. Instead, Falcon takes to the air with Nighthawk still hanging on.
Nighthawk lets go and lets his jetpack take over. Falcon tells him to cool off, reminding him they’re on the same team. Nighthawk shakes his fist at him and says he gives the orders and he wants Falcon to clear out. Falcon accuses Nighthawk of having a serious attitude problem.
Inside the house, Hellcat, Valkyrie and Hulk are awake and peering outside the window. Hellcat is excited to see all the superhero hunks. Hulk wants to know if he can smash the funny-dressed humans. Val tells him no, that they are their guests.  And on that note, Val tells Hellcat to get some coffee together. Hellcat tells her she’s not messing with that coffee pot again. Instead, Patsy grabs her shadow cloak and heads outside to show it off. Val leaves to start the coffee and asks Hulk for his assistance.
Outside, Hellcat visits with a trio of handsome heroes, Paladin, Torpedo (who expresses his regrets he’s married) and Captain Ultra.
Nearby, Nova spots a group of horses grazing out by the fences. He points them out to Marvel Man and with a big smile says he’s going to go play cowboy. He cries out the last one there will be a rotten egg and takes off. Marvel Man yells foul at Nova’s head start. White Tiger joins the race as well as Prowler.
While elsewhere, a small band of would-be Defenders get together for an important decision. Black Goliath brings up the point they’re going to need a real leader who can handle all the superhero hotshots. Jack of Hearts nominates Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel seconds it. Captain Marvel declines the offer. When Havok asks why, Captain Marvel points out they have an Avenger and former chief of the Champions with them. He nominates Hercules. Stingray and Tagak agree. Ms. Marvel asks for a vote. Everyone raises his or her hands with a reverberant, “Aye!” Hercules is pleased and accepts the responsibility forthwith.
Back in the grazing area, Nova wins the race, but the bewildered horse bucks him off. Marvel Man also nearly falls, while Prowler and White Tiger mount their steeds just fine. All the horses are finally settled when Falcon and Nighthawk continue their chase right above. This spooks the horses again and the four riders decide to ride off after the two fools.
While at the house, Val and Hulk emerge with the coffee. They pass out cups to those nearby. One of them is Stingray who fears Hulk might remember him from when they last met. The heroes all take a sip and find it very bitter. Son of Satan and crew pour the remaining “devil’s brew” on the ground.
Val gives the last coffee to Hercules, unaware of the other heroes’ reaction. Hercules proposes a toast to the new Defenders. When he takes a drink he gags. He pours his out as well. Val walks away steamed.
Elsewhere on the estate a plot is being hatched. Torpedo calls a small group of heroes aside to discuss the capture of the Hulk, who he believes is a menace. Black Goliath, Havok, Iron Fist and Tagak are in agreement.
Still elsewhere, Captain Ultra and Jack of Hearts fight for Hellcat’s attentions. Things begin to get real heated so Hellcat tells them to chill out. This causes Captain Ultra to think she’s leading them on. He knocks her to the ground and continues his intense verbal exchange with Jack of Hearts. They almost come to blows, but Falcon and Nighthawk fly overhead followed by four heroes on horseback. Jack of Hearts and Captain Ultra are knocked aside by the stampede.
And up ahead, Hulk has wandered off to seek solace from all the commotion. As he sits down on a large rock the conspiring heroes from earlier, with the additions of Polaris and Stingray, ambush him. Hulk drops his coffee in stunned surprise and prepares to do some smashing.


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Call my Land K’Un-Lun
The boundary trench, a near bottomless defile marking the northern edge of the ancient realm of Atlantis. And in a cave nestled into the wall of that trench, Namorita informs her cousin, Namor, that the charges are all in place. Namor, with his back to her, tells her he is… ready.
Namorita notes that he hesitates and asks him if he’s reconsidering. Namor replies that the law they obey this day was set down by their ancestors. It is not for him to debate their wisdom. Namorita asks that it’s still hard, isn’t it? These clones of his late wife, Lady Dorma… She knows they have no minds, no souls, but if what he said about a person maybe developing a soul is true… Namor tells her no, they must not consider that thought. It was their multi-great grandfather who ordered all clones be destroyed hundreds of years ago. Brutal though that judgment may have been, he fears in Atlantean society there is no room for lenience.
Just then, an Atlantean arrives on the scene and informs Namor they are ready. Swimming out of the cave, Namor says then let it be done and let it be done quickly. With that, the cave explodes, destroying all of the Dorma clones inside.
Dark are the thoughts of the small band of onlookers who now make their way back to the gleaming towers of fabled Atlantis. And grim is the news which awaits them. Vashti informs Namor that while he attended to the cave, the activated clones were put to a painless death. Namor asks about Vyrra, what of the one who was the author of this tragedy? Vashti informs him that he is dead. His tired, old body finally surrendered its feeble grip on life. They found him in his cell, not two hours gone. He had managed before dying to scribble a short letter reiterating his last wish to be laid to rest in Atlantis.
Namor exclaims no, take the corpse to boundary trench. Let him end his days as food for the blind bottom feeders of that dark abyss. When Namorita asks if he really thinks that’s…, Namor tells her silence. He shall not be questioned at this point, not even by her, who is blood of his blood. As he takes off, he tells them to let all be done as he has ordered it to be done. He has… other matters to attend.
Once Namor has left, Vashti asks Namorita if something is troubling her. Namorita tells him that maybe she’s been too long among humans. She forgot how hard can be they ways of Atlantis. And how utterly heartless can be her royal cousin.
Heartless? Let us follow the man the world knows as Sub-Mariner as he makes his way to the quarters set aside for him in the great palace of Atlantis. There to seal the door behind him that no eyes may witness what follows. The gleaming crystal cylinders on the table in the middle of the room contain the mortal remains of Prince Namor’s most beloved wife, Dorma, her body destroyed by the scientist Vyrra in his quest for viable cell tissue from which a clone might be created.
Covering the flask with an ancient royal burial shroud, Namor swims alone into the dark waters of the Antarctic night arriving, hours later, at this lonely, sacred place – the tomb of the Lady Dorma. The great stone which seals the cenotaph weighs more than twenty men could move. Namor pushes it aside as easily as opening a door. Inside, the waters of this temperate, northern realm are still and cold as if the sea gods themselves know and understand the grim business which brings the avenging son to this place and seek to mirror the freezing pain they sense in his heart. Gently the sea prince lays the crystalline containers in the open coffin as we turn our intruding eyes away from his time of consummate grief…
…to look to a place a thousand miles away as night brings an unsuspected and unwelcome visitor to this venerable old house. Silent as a stalking beast the stranger moves through the autumn dry foliage. No branch snaps at his passing, no leaf so much as rustles. He reaches the house without incident, confident his skill and training has allowed him to pass undetected. He could not be more wrong.
Inside the residence, Samuel Smithers pours himself a drink and tells Sssesthugar that everything is proceeding exactly according to the master plan. He has nothing to worry about. Sssesthugar, a member of the H’ylthri race, says he always worries when humans are involved. The duplicity of his species knows no bounds. They…
Just then, Sssesthugar asks what that is. Looking out the window, Smithers sees a figure. Realizing that he has been spotted, the stranger begins to run off. As he does, he wonders how. He didn’t trip any alarms approaching the house, he’s sure of it. Flight is not a natural response for the small intruder. It galls him to run away from the house. But the curiosity which brings him here was born of the intuition something unearthly was happening in this house. He was right!
Just as the stranger goes to leap over the wall, he is stopped when a vine wraps first around his ankle and then the rest of his body. Walking out into the courtyard, Smithers tells his little friends very good, they have caught their eavesdropper. From inside the house, Sssesthugar orders Smithers to destroy him. Smithers sarcastically says really? He was the one who preached caution. Holding a stick up to stranger’s face, Smithers asks him who he is, how did he happen to be there. The stranger, Wolverine, answers funny, he knew when he arrived, but now it seems like he just can’t remember.
Smacking him across the face, Smithers tells Wolverine not to get cute with him. He may think he’s the toughest thing on two legs, but they have ways of loosening even the most reticent tongue. Wolverine says fine, he’s got just as much time to waste as him. He’s not telling him anything. But, even as he speaks these words, the mutant known as Wolverine feels a small, cold spot form, deep in his breast, a chilling realization that, for the first time in his memory, he may have been outmatched. The next few days blur into an endless ribbon of agony for the captured X-Man…
…but our attention must turn away, across the Hudson River to the gleaming towers of New York. And one such tower in particular – the erstwhile headquarters of the Rand Meachum Corporation. Which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Oracle Incorporated. And in the boardroom on the fortieth floor, Lady Jacqueline Crichton tells Joy Meachum that she sees no reason for further debate. The takeover may have been hostile, but it is what you Americans call a “done deal.” Joy angrily asks if that is the way the game is played in England. Your property is stolen out from under you, and you just roll over and play dead? She begins to understand then how Britain lost her empire.
Storming off, she tells her to hear her and hear her good. Her father built this company; Crichton has control of it now, but that is a condition she intends to see changed. Count on it!
Once Joy departs, Crichton asks Kevin Plunder who was standing nearby the entire time if he has anything to add. Kevin tells her that he does not. Unless it is to say that he has no idea what’s going on around there. It’s as if a piece of his life has been punched out. He remembers being at home in the Savage Land and then he remembers being in New York, a couple of days ago. Everything else is a total blank.
Crichton tells him that it is an anticipated after effect of Skrull hypnotism. For the past several weeks, he was an unwitting slave of the Super Skrull as was Joy Meachum. She seems to have responded somewhat differently to her liberation, however. Kevin remarks that he still finds it hard to believe his mind could have been so easily taken from him.
From behind, a female voice asks him why? As minds go, his isn’t exactly up there with Homer, unless it’s Homer Simpson. Turning around, Kevin sees that the voice belongs to Shanna and passionately embraces her. As he does, a now blushing Crichton tells them that she’ll just leave them to their privacy. She has an important call to make, anyway.
On a video-chat with Namor, Crichton informs him that everything seems to be running smoothly. She’s recalled the Rand Meachum crews working in the Savage Land and halted the project the Skrull started. Namor tells her excellent and adds that it is unfortunate, however, that Joy Meachum should choose to take such a negative stance. The resources of Rand Meachum Inc. should add considerably to Oracle.
Crichton agrees. She’s a canny businesswoman, despite her youth. They could use her on their side. Speaking of their side, how’s Namorita doing? Looking in after his cousin, Namor tells Jacqueline that she is recovering. The healing process will be long and hard but his physicians inform him she will make a complete recovery. Now, if she’ll excuse him, he has someone waiting to see him.
Entering the waiting room of his office, Namor offers his condolences to Phoebe Marrs on the death of her brother, Desmond. It saddened him to learn that whatever madness lately consumed him had now cost him his life. Phoebe thanks Namor and proceeds to tell him that is only indirectly what she’s there to see him about. She needs his help desperately. Her brother Desmond got into the trouble that led to his suicide due to the decimation of Marrs Corps resources by Stark Enterprises.
She did not discover until today just how bad the situation had become. She’s broke. Marrs Corps is nothing but a name, now. All their holdings have been bought out and dismantled. They tried to take over Stark. Instead, Stark has crushed her company, her life. Namor replies that would go far to explain why Desmond behaved as he did in the last days of his life – stealing the resources of his company, attacking Caleb Alexander. The pressure must have driven him mad. Turning her head away, Phoebe says that it was never a particularly long trip to begin with, as she’d be the first to admit. But her brother’s state of mind is not the issue here, except to the extent that it brought her to her present situation.
She proceeds to tell Namor that she needs her help. Dropping to her knees, Phoebe tells Namor that she is begging for her help. Shocked, Namor helps her to her feet and tells her that such undignified behavior is unnecessary. Of course he will do whatever he can do to help. He says to her to come. He will have his people examine her books. They will learn what can be done. Smiling, Phoebe tells Namor “thank you, my Prince.” The next twenty-four hours are of little interest to us, readers, as they take Namor into the least glamorous regions of high finance.
Let us look now to the afternoon of the following day, as Lady Jacqueline Crichton has visitors. In her office, Crichton tells Misty Knight that is quite a story and asks if she has anything beyond her emotional conviction to support it. Misty tells her she does not but it’s no less true for that. Danny Rand is alive, she’s sure of it. Colleen Wing adds that she believes Misty, for what that’s worth.
Stepping into the office, Namor states that is worth quite a bit, if Miss Wing’s reputation is deserved. Namor adds that when Jackie informed him they had contacted her and asked for this meeting he had his security people run a full check on “Night-Wing Restorations.” What he learned surprised him, especially given that not two weeks ago Miss Knight was battling against him, in the Savage Land. Misty answers that she believed the Super Skrull to truly be the man she once loved. And he could not have convinced her he was Danny if she had not had access to a Danny who was alive after the time of his supposed death. Now, she wants his help finding him.
Shortly, Misty, Colleen and Namor walk the streets of Greenwich Village. Colleen remarks that this hardly seems like the place to start a search for Iron Fist. Walking up to a house on the corner, Namor says it might not seem so to her but if everything she has told him of Danny Rand’s life is true, they can do no better than beginning with a visit to this house. Misty says she doesn’t get it. She must have walked down this street fifty times, and she’s never noticed this house before. Namor replies doubtless because she had no need of its owner. Once Wong opens the door, Namor greets him and asks if his master is in residence. Wong tells him that it’s been too long and that the master is in his study. He shall inform him he is there.
Entering the atrium, Dr. Strange tells Namor that it is really good to see him and then asks who the charming ladies are with him. Namor tells Colleen Wing and Misty Knight to meet Dr. Stephen Strange. Colleen excitedly asks Doctor Strange? The Doctor Strange, the magician? Strange replies there are some who call him such. Turning to Namor, he asks his old friend what brings him to his home. Namor tells him a search. One he felt certain could be achieved by one with his talents.
Walking down the hall, Strange remarks that he knows K’Un-Lun well. When Namor asks if Strange can transport them there, Misty asks why. Danny was killed on Earth. Namor informs her that is true but according to what she has told him; Danny’s behavior was markedly changed when he returned from his ancestral home. It would seem to him, then, that a good place to begin a search for a living Iron Fist would be there. In the meantime, does she have the specimen he asked her to bring for Stephen’s examination?
Pulling out a plastic bag with a plant spore inside, Misty says yes. It was no easy task getting it away from the city medical examiner, let her tell them. Taking a look at it, Strange says fascinating and he takes it from her to make a closer study. As Strange begins to examine it, he tells Namor that it is of plant matter certainly. Dead for precisely the length of time since their friend was believed killed. And, yes, there can be no doubt. This organism is extra dimensional, not of this Earth. After Namor asks if he can hazard a guess as to its origins, its species, Strange states that its origins can only be the very place he wishes to visit. For this was once an H’ylthri, and they are found only on the planet where lies the lost city of K’Un-Lun.
Misty exclaims yes. Danny often spoke of the H’ylthri. They’re some kind of intelligent vegetable species that was native to K’Un-Lun before human settlement. In fact, it was Danny’s first encounter with the H’ylthri that led to his disenchantment with the society he’d grown up in. He realized the people of K’Un-Lun were guilty of savage and brutal aggression against the peaceful plant people.
Strange asks peaceful? Did Daniel Rand truly believe the H’ylthri to be peaceful? When Namor asks if Danny was wrong in this, Strange replies that he would not be prepared to say without actually having encountered them. But anyone who has ever owned a garden would be quick to tell them the image of plants as peaceful and benevolent is false. The plant kingdom is one of the most savage and territorial on Earth. He would advise against any assumption that intelligence would make it otherwise. Namor says aye. Humanity’s advanced intellect has made them no less barbaric than their simian cousins. But, they can save the philosophical debate for another time. How soon can he work the spell that will transport them to K’Un-Lun? Waving his hand, Strange replies that is a most trifling spell. In fact, they are already there.
With that, Colleen, Misty, and Namor find themselves in K’Un-Lun. Misty remarks that she never thought she’d see the day she’d… But there’s something wrong there. Colleen adds that she might say that. She’d have thought they’d have rebuilt by now but the destruction is the work of a dragon called Chian Tang. Misty remarks ruins, as far as the eye can see. The city has been devastated.
Namor asks Colleen that she knew about this? Colleen answers that he could say that. She was with Danny when he returned to K’Un-Lun for the first time. Misty didn’t come then. She and Danny were… sort of on the outs at the time. Misty adds to the extent that she was actually getting involved with another man – Tyrone King, someone who also wandered back into their lives in the past few days.
Starting to make his way through the ruins, Namor ponders that for a moment and tells the girls to follow him. The natural lay of the land is such that it rises in this direction. Perhaps from the high ground they can make a better assessment of the situation. Misty adds that it’s so quiet. Is… do they suppose it’s possible that… Namor asks “everyone is dead?” It begins to appear to look that way. The leader of this city was a man called Yu-Ti, right? Misty says yes. He was Danny’s uncle. But he wasn’t exactly on the up and up, from some of the hints Danny let drop. Danny’s greatest friend and ally was his teacher. A man called Lei Kung, the Thunderer. From what Danny used to say, he was a real straight shooter. Maybe the only one in the burg. Namor proceeds to state then it is him they should seek out, if he yet lives.
Out of nowhere, Lei Kung, covered in vines, kicks Namor in the head and informs them that he lives but they need not seek him, for the Thunderer has found them.


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[Assistant]
Green War!
Greenwich Village, New York. A house (the Sanctum Sanctorum) which few in this vast city have ever seen yet which all could find, instinctively, had they need of its owner – the man called Doctor Strange. Turning to Wong, Strange tells him they are coming and to get ready. One among them is near death.
Just then, Namor, holding Iron Fist, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight spill into Strange’s house. As they do, Namor tells him thank the gods he heard their call. But, quick now, close the dimensional portal behind them before… Observing vines coming out of the portal, Strange exclaims “by the hoary hosts of Hoggoth.” Using his magical powers, Strange repels the vines and proceeds to close up the portal.
Turning around, Strange asks Namor about his companions. Colleen answers that they’re okay except… Strange looks over, sees Iron Fist lying on the ground, and asks what the matter with him is. Namor tells him much. It would seem that for the past several months, all the time that Iron Fist was believed to be dead, he was in fact being held a helpless captive of the H’ylthri, the intelligent plant people of his home world, K’Un-Lun. Kneeling down, Strange looks over Iron Fist and remarks this is not good. His life signs are at a dangerously low ebb. They must act quickly, if they are to save him. Draping herself over Danny’s body, Misty begs Strange to do whatever he can. Don’t let him die, please don’t let him die. She can’t bear to lose him again.
Later, Strange tells Namor that he’s done what he can. Iron Fist’s condition is stable. But as to whether or not he will ever completely recover… That prognosis is beyond his skills to make, either as an erstwhile surgeon, or as the Sorcerer Supreme. When Misty asks if she can see him, Strange tells her yes. In fact, he believes that would be appropriate, since he sensed it was his undying love for her which served to bolster his spirit and keep him alive during his long captivity. Smiling ear to ear, Misty says his… love… Putting her hand on her shoulder, Colleen asks her could she ever doubt it. She was the first woman Danny ever really loved. They should have seen the falling out they had as a sign that something was less than kosher. When someone like Danny falls in love, it’s forever.
Once the ladies go to check on Danny’s condition, Strange asks Namor about K’Un-Lun and what the situation is there. Namor answers not good. Iron Fist’s escape from the H’ylthri damaged them enough that they were able to free those few humans which still survived. They elected to remain on that world, to rebuild their city under the leadership of Iron Fist’s old teacher, Lei Kung, the Thunderer. Nevertheless, as he saw, the H’ylthri were still strong enough to mount an attack. It was that assault they fled, on the insistence of Lei Kung, that they might bring Iron Fist to him, for proper care. It would seem his prowess is known even on that distant world.
Strange states that the balance struck between the human and H’ylthri populations of K’Un-Lun has ever been a thing most fragile. The H’ylthri had gained dominance of that world long before the human settlers came. Namor replies astonishing, he has seen much in his long life, but a world ruled by intelligent plants… Plants determined to destroy what they see as a human infestation… When Strange says that is something which could yet happen there, Namor asks what? Strange tells him they have already seen that agents of the H’ylthri have been abroad on Earth. It was such a one which impersonated Iron Fist and wound up dying in his place. Namor asks if he means to say there may still be H’ylthri on Earth. Strange states that he would not discount the possibility. He had said they seemed weakened on their own world and that they spoke of the damage done by the humans. Would it not be logical, given that they know of Earth, a world already rich in plant life, that they might seek to establish a beachhead on this planet?
At his base of operations, Samuel Smithers is holding court with his henchmen William, Benjamin and Weed. William proceeds to tell Samuel Smithers that he doesn’t know about this. Smithers asks him what it is this time. William replies t’be honest, this whole deal gives him the creeps. That walkin’ vegetable an’ the hairy guy…
Smithers cuts him off and asks what about the rest of them? Benjamin, his dear little Weed? Do they share Williams’ desires? Weed says a little bit. Benjamin adds like William said, this is all kinda creepy. Smithers asks “creepy?” Is it “creepy” that he has promised each of them a kingdom? Is it “creepy” to think that the world order is about to change. That peace will come at last to this tired old planet? Weed asks really? Him an’ the vegetable guy are really going to be able to do all that? Smithers replies all that and more, all that and more. Smithers then tells William and Benjamin to go check the perimeter again. Weed and he have… things to discuss…
Exiting the room, Benjamin asks William see? Now he’s got his guard up, and him an’ that walkin’ salad bar… Appearing from around the corner, Sssesthugar asks Mr. Potts if there was something he wished to say to him. Stammering, Benjamin says no, he, they… Grabbing Benjamin by the neck, Sssesthugar tells him don’t lie to me mammal. He forgets, he is not burdened with emotion as he is. Thus, he cannot manipulate his thinking with falsehoods. Inside Smithers’ office, Weed sits up with a start when she hears Benjamin’s scream. She proceeds to ask Smithers what that was. Smithers rubs her shoulder and tells her nothing she needs to worry about. Let us simply say she now has less competition when it comes to the division of the world…
Back inside Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, Strange tells Namor what his studies revealed in his absence. There are at least three places on Earth where K’Un-Lun makes contact with their world. One is in the mountains of Tibet. It was through this portal that Daniel Rand’s father first came to Earth and the young Rand himself returned to K’Un-Lun in the years before he became Iron Fist. The second is a vestigial opening, some years old now. As nearly as he can determine, it was used to transmit an unknown form of energy from K’Un-Lun to Earth. He has not yet learned the precise nature or purpose of the energy.
The third is the most intriguing of all, for it appears to shift across the surface of the world. It is focused in New Jersey now. Namor remarks less than an hour’s travel from there. Is this the beachhead of which he spoke? Strange answers that he would not be prepared to say, without further consideration. And there must be further consideration for, if the H’ylthri have invaded Earth, as they fear their arrival may well have sounded the death knell of all the creatures of the animal kingdom, humanity included.
Meanwhile, uptown, in the office of Rafael Scarfe, of the New York police… Tyrone King stands in front of Scarfe’s desk and tells him as he can see, it is vital to his purpose that no one yet discover the dual nature of “Tyrone King.” Scarfe asks why he has told him all this if he intends to wipe his brain clean anyway. King tells him an indulgence, Captain. He has labored long and hard on the complexities of his scheme. It pleases him to tell someone what he has accomplished. To see his eyes grow wide with wonder. Even if that wonder must, perforce, be a fleeting thing.
Scarfe tells King that he knows he can’t get away with this, doesn’t he? The same ego that compelled him to tell him his little tale drove him to pepper his plans with clues. He just couldn’t resist thumbing his nose at them poor, stupid mortals. Looking down at Pam lying on the floor, King says true. As his pretty young assistant learned, even his chosen name is a clue to his true identity. “Tyrone,” meaning “King” or “Master.” And “King” itself being but the English transliteration of his title. But now, the time for discussion is at last behind them. When all is done and finished, if he survives, he may permit him to remember once again all he has told him. If it amuses him to do so… With that, King, an Afro-American, transforms his hand into that of a Caucasians with long nails and erases Scarfe’s memory by jamming his hand into his head.
A short while later, on the Jersey side of the Hudson River… A taxi-cab driver drops Namor off in front of an estate and asks him if he’s sure this is the place he wants. As far as he knows, ain’t nobody lived in this dump for years. Exiting the cab, Namor tells him nevertheless, this is his intended destination. When the driver asks if he wants him to wait, Namor tells him that won’t be necessary. Once the taxi pulls off, Namor states that this is definitely the location of the third interface. Yet, as the cabby observed, it appears completely derelict. As he leaps over the wall and enters the compound Namor asks or does it? True, the grounds are unkempt and overgrown but this foliage does not seem as distressed as one would expect, had it gone years unattended. Plus, this growth is most unseasonal. Every tree for miles around is winter bare, yet here, inside the perimeter of this estate life and growth continue as if oblivious to the changing seasons.
Before Namor can ponder that thought for any longer, he is attacked by Wolverine. As Wolverine leaps onto Namor, he is a sudden blur of shadow and fury. He strikes as does a creature of the wild – without hesitation, without mercy. But the erstwhile Prince of fabled Atlantis is not one to fall prey to any attack, no matter how unexpected. With that, Namor punches Wolverine and knocks him backwards.
Within the span of a heartbeat, the adversaries have taken the measure, each of the other. Strengths have been assessed, weaknesses noted. Namor’s strength is far greater than his attacker’s but the other, for his part, has speed and what would seem unbridled savagery. Still, Prince Namor is not himself without a streak of utter ruthlessness. And it has not been that many years since a fearful world dubbed him the savage Sub-Mariner. As the two battle, each gives as good as he takes. After Namor rips a tree from the ground and hits Wolverine with it, a voice yells at them to stop.
Turning around, Namor sees a man perched on top of a vine wearing a trench coat, a hat and a bandanna covering his nose and mouth. The man proceeds to call them fools and murderers and to cease the senseless conflict now. After Namor asks who..., the man asks him that he doesn’t recognize him. He’s crushed. He would have thought, after their last encounter he would always remember… Namor exclaims the Plantman! Of course; he should have sensed his hand in this from the very beginning. And now he is in league with the H’ylthri?
Plantman replies not only now. Without knowing it, he has been an agent of the plant people of K’Un-Lun since the inception of his career. But he would not know the salient details of his genesis as chief apostle of the plant kingdom. He began as nothing more than a simple gardener. He worked for meager wages, always at the beck and call of foolish humans who thought plants nothing more than sources of food and pretty decoration.
After catching him using one of his inventions, one of his bosses yelled at him. He proceeded to tell him he had it with him. He’s supposed to be cutting the lawn, not messing around with that stupid “invention” of his. Smithers shot back that his invention is not stupid. All his studies prove that plants have an intelligence all their own. An intelligence on a different order from that of humans. With his device, he knows he’ll soon increase that intelligence until he can communicate with them. The boss told him that does it and then ordered him to take his fool gadget and get out of here. He’s fired!
After leaving the Evans nursery, he returned to the moldering estate he’d long ago inherited. But he never stopped working on his device, never stopped hoping. One night, as the heavens raged above him, he tried his latest modification. To his amazement, neither he nor his device seemed to have been injured by the bolt from the sky. In fact, when he tested the device again the plant moved, acting to obey his thoughts. Thus empowered, he embarked on his career as the Plantman, ultimately carrying his campaign of conquest back to his native England where Namor chose to set himself as an impediment to his plans.
Namor says this much he knows but how did he come to involve himself with the alien H’ylthri. Plantman asks isn’t that obvious? That was no random bolt of lightning which struck his first, primitive device. The H’ylthri were seeking a means to attack the world from which their greatest enemies originated. They’d created a small portal between their dimensional and their own. And his first device, crude though it was...
Sssesthugar enters on the scene and finishes Smithers’ thought for him. His first device had emitted an energy frequency which drew their attention. They saw in Samuel Smithers the perfect ally by which to establish their first roots upon this world. After Smithers chides him for interrupting his moment, Sssesthugar grabs hold of him and tells him he has been of use but that time is past. He has been in communication with the home world. He has learned the one called Iron Fist has escaped and that somehow, the one he calls Sub-Mariner is involved.
Namor states indeed he was. And he was not alone. There are powerful forces even now mustering against him. Sssesthugar replies that he is aware of this. And it is for that reason that their carefully wrought timetable of conquest must now be accelerated. As they enslaved the creature he so bravely battled, they will now enslave Namor. And, by week’s end, they will have likewise enslaved all the humans within a thousand mile radius. Once that is accomplished, there is nothing which has any hope of standing in the way of their complete domination of this planet. With that, Sssesthugar begins to wrap his vines around Namor’s body.


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Finale!
She is driven by a force she does not even begin to understand – the sure and certain knowledge that her world famous cousin, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, is in deadly danger.
She is Namorita, herself a princess of fabled Atlantis. Not the least of which being the tiny, mutant wings which sprout from her trim ankles and grants her the ability to slip the bonds of gravity as easily as another woman might slip off a pair of shoes. The exact means by which these tiny winglets achieve this enviable feat has defied analysis by the best minds alive today. For our purposes, it is enough to know that the wings do work and work well enough to carry Namorita’s little form high over the rolling hills of northeastern New Jersey, following a phantom guide, a subtle and elusive sensation as frustrating as it is frightening.
She cannot fix properly upon the source of her discomfiture. She cannot separate it from the other thoughts and feelings which daily fill her mind. There is nothing more than the subtlest pressure against her mind as if a spectral hand were reaching through the osseous wall of her skull to nudge her thoughts in the direction of her famous cousin, and to fill those thoughts with fear for his safety. Below her now the landscape of New Jersey undergoes a subtle change. Spring has not yet brought its gentle breezes to this part of the world.
Even though the impervious skin that is the mark of her Atlantean heritage, Namorita feels the chill of winter still in the air. Yet, below her the countryside is suddenly a verdant tapestry, a green and growing canvas spreading out as far as her high vantage can oversee. The apparent reason for the inconsistency is not long in revealing itself. Just then, Namorita sees a house covered with growth; as if something inside was stimulating the plant life.
With a low pass over the enshrouded estate, Namorita has all the confirmation she needs – two members of the H’ylthri race. She remarks that she’s never seen one in the flesh but from the description she got from Misty Knight, those things can’t be anything else. So Namor’s worst fears are true. The plant people of K’Un-Lun have mounted an all-out invasion of Earth. At that moment, vines extend into the sky and engulf Namorita before she has a chance to react, pulling her down to the ground.
Not far away, as Namorita summons the full might of her Atlantean strength to battle her inhuman attackers, her imperial cousin continues his own struggle against the unearthly menace of the H’ylthri of K’Un-Lun. As he does so, Sssesthugar tells Namor to relent. His strength of will is great indeed. But against their power, there is no human mind which has a hope of prevailing. Struggling, Namor tells him so he says but he has already seen his words to be a hollow sham. The man called Iron Fist resisted his power for many months, even to the point of escaping his snare long after another would have died. Would he know say a Prince of Atlantis has any less resolve?
Sssesthugar answers he would not. He then asks Namor if he has forgotten the warrior he battled less than an hour ago. The mutant known as Wolverine was not without his own strengths. Still, they broke his spirit, and they will break his. Namor replies that he would be less certain of himself, were he him. It is true he has bound the X-Man’s body to his will but Namor’s pride is not so great that he believes he could have defeated Wolverine if he was any more than his puppet. He’ll wager his indomitable will remains unbroken, and for so long as it does, he remains a time bomb, ticking off the moments until his ultimate undoing.
Elsewhere, at the Manhattan offices of Nightwing Restorations, a subtle sobriquet designed to incorporate the names of its two owners – Colleen Wing and Misty Knight. They are two women who are about to receive an unexpected visitor. Just then, Misty notices that Captain Rafael Scarfe has stumbled into their office. Rushing over towards him, she asks him what happened to him, he looks like death. Scarfe tells her not to talk, just listen. He doesn’t know how much time he has to get this out. Hurts even to think about it. Tyrone King came to his office this morning, but he’s not really what he seems. He’s...
When he grabs hold of his head and screams in pain, Colleen tells him to take it easy and not to push it. Scarfe tells her no. Don’t try to stop him. He’s got to get this out. While he still has any of it left in his head. It’s all so crazy. Not sure he even believes half of it himself. He then tells Misty that Tyrone King is really Master Kahn. Surprised, Misty says that’s not possible. Colleen remarks that it is. It even makes sense, in its own crazy way. She then asks Scarfe to tell them everything he knows. Scarfe tells them that most of it they know.
Kahn wanted to destroy Iron Fist. He’d tried before and failed so he cooked up scheme so complex. And he started with the Super Skrull. Somehow, Kahn learned of Super Skrull’s battle with the Canadian super-hero, Sasquatch. He learned that the Skrull was trapped in the radiation belts around Earth, dying of some kind of super leukemia. He managed to pull the Skrull down from orbit, make him a proposition. Kahn would cure the Skrull with his magic if the Skrull would help him destroy Iron Fist. Of course, Skrull agreed. Kahn used his mystic powers to transform him into a child.
Misty asks what and asks if he means that Bobby Wright was really the Super Skrull. But that can’t be. Iron Fist did a mind meld with the kid. He would’ve been able to tell. Scarfe replies sure, if the Skrull knew it himself. But that was all part of Kahn’s plan. See, Kahn created a whole identity for the Skrull. One the Skrull believed himself, one that would push all of Iron Fist’s buttons. He wanted Iron Fist to connect with the kid, to take on almost a fatherly role. That way Iron Fist would be off his guard and the whole bit with “Bobby” becoming “Captain Hero,” well that was just one more layer Kahn concocted to keep Iron Fist from seeing the real truth. Then, just so he could keep an eye on things, Kahn created a couple of identities for himself. One as “Bobby’s” so-called guardian and one, as a twelve year N.Y.P.D. veteran by the name of Tyrone King.
Turning away, Misty says that’s the hardest part to swallow. She was involved with Tyrone King, after Iron Fist and her split up. Putting his hand on her shoulder, Scarfe tells her sure, and “King” engineered all that. Colleen adds that she can believe that easily enough. She knows the kind of mind games Kahn likes to play. Remember what he did to her. When they first went up against Kahn when he kidnapped her, held her captive for months while Angar the Screamer used his mind-bending powers to turn her head inside out, to turn her against Iron Fist. She’s never completely recovered from that ordeal or from the mind meld the Iron Fist felt compelled to use to snap her out of Kahn’s control. Yeah, everything Rafe’s said so far fits right in with what they know of the way Kahn works.
Misty says there must be more though. Scarfe replies there is. Kahn thought he had all the angles covered, but there was one important detail he knew nothing about then. And that was that the Iron Fist who came back to Earth after his last visit to K’Un-Lun was actually a duplicate, grown by the H’ylthri plant people. You see, the H’ylthri created a duplicate that actually believed itself to be Iron Fist just as the Super Skrull actually believed himself to be “Bobby Wright.” So, Iron Fist acted pretty much the way Master Kahn expected him to act. Right up to the moment Bobby, in his “Captain Hero” mode, murdered him.
Misty says that explains the H’ylthri remains they found inside the coffin. Scarfe tells her she’s got it. They’ve all been walking through a scenario Master Kahn created. He even double-crossed the Super Skrull, so that the moment he accomplished his mission and killed Iron Fist he was zapped backed into the Van Allen belts. To anyone who saw it happen, it looked like “Bobby” had been finally consumed by his runaway power.
Colleen asks Scarfe how he knows all this. Scarfe tells her that Kahn told him. He wanted to brag and boast. He wanted someone to know about his clever little plan, even though it failed. He planned to erase his memory, anyway. But somehow that didn’t take. Misty explains that he’s overreached himself just like before. Kahn doesn’t know or doesn’t believe his own limitations. He needed Angar to mess up Colleen’s head. But he tried to mess up his, Scarfe’s, on his own.
When Colleen asks her what her point is, Misty tells her that Kahn’s goofed up again. He’s tried more than once to kill Iron Fist, and each time he’s failed. But he must be planning to try again. They’ve got to get back to Doctor Strange. They’ve got to warn him Kahn may try to strike at Iron Fist. Colleen asks there’s not much of a chance of that, is there. Kahn may be a pretty hot sorcerer but he’s nowhere near Strange’s class. No, she’d be willing to bet, if he’s going to try anything now, his target will be somewhere else.
Continuing to struggle defiantly against the vines that are keeping her captive, Namorita determines that it’s no use. For every one of the tentacles she rips away, six more spring up to take their...
Just then, Namorita is shot free by a nearby man. When Namorita asks him who he is, the man introduces himself as Smithers, Sam Smithers. He’s called Plant Man. Namorita says Plant Man? Sure, Namor told him all about him. She then asks him if he’s all mixed up in this. Smithers says he was and begins coughing. After Namorita asks if he’s hurt, Smithers tells her double-crossed. Sssesthugar helped him establish his beachhead on Earth then he turned on him, tried to kill him. Namorita says that it doesn’t sound to her like he deserved a whole lot better. Not if he helped these aliens invade Earth, seems like his loyalties are pretty mixed up. Smithers answers maybe. He always put his faith in the plant world, better than humans. They never lied to him, never tried to cheat him until now. Handing Namorita his weapon he tells her to take his plant control device. Before he collapses to the ground, he tells her to rescue the Sub-Mariner and kill the H’ylthri.
Meanwhile, one of Sssesthugar’s followers tells him that they are ready to commence the next phase. The leading edge of their forestation has reached the shore. They can now proceed across the human’s bridges to the major infestation point. Namor states by which he means New York City. He will find his invasion plan ends rather abruptly there. When the Avengers...
Sssesthugar responds that the Avengers will do nothing. Before they begin their advance into the city, they will release a vast cloud of reproductive pollen. Those grains, so small as to be invisible to human eyes, will infiltrate every nook and cranny. No living thing will be able to avoid inhaling the microscopic dust. Once inside the warm, moist channels of a human body, the pollen will trigger bio-chemical changes. Within thirty minutes all the humans will be dead. Within a matter of days the rest of their mammal breed will follow.
Flying in, Namorita states that’s a good plan. Too bad for him, he’ll never get to see it implemented. Just then, she fires her weapon at Sssesthugar. When she sees that it has no effect, Sssesthugar tells her of course it didn’t. It was the H’ylthri who gave the power to control plant life to Samuel Smithers. Do they really believe they would give him a weapon he might someday use on them? As the H’ylthri overlord seizes the Atlantean princess, a single stray blast from the Plant Man’s weapon scores a line of death across the tentacles that bind Wolverine. Once it does, he is free.
Popping his claws, Wolverine savagely attacks the H’ylthri. Faster than human eyes can follow, the gleaming adamantium claws slash through the vegetable fibers of Sssesthugar’s massive form. Other H’ylthri who race to their ruler’s aid meet a similar fate as Wolverine unleashes the fury and frustration of his long days of captivity. But his moment of vengeance is to be short-lived when Master Kahn arrives and orders Wolverine to stop. Ceasing his attack, Wolverine asks who? Kahn tells him who he is is of no consequence as he is of no consequence to him. When Namorita exclaims that Wolverine’s vanishing, Kahn says yes, teleported back whence he came.
Freeing himself from the vines, Namor tells the stranger that his sudden arrival is poorly timed, if it was his intent to ally himself with the H’ylthri invaders. Kahn tells him no Prince Namor. The H’ylthri creatures are as much his enemies as they are his. Behold, as he demonstrates the truth of his words. It takes less than a minute, but it is a minute that will dwell in the memories of Namor and Namorita for the rest of their lives. The arcane power of the mysterious stranger tears through the H’ylthri horde and the air grows thick with the death screams of the plant people. In the stillness that follows, the surviving Atlanteans struggle to contain the waves of nausea which threaten to overwhelm them.
Namor proceeds to ask Kahn if that was necessary. If he possesses the power to transport Wolverine back to wherever he came from, could he not have sent the H’ylthri back to K’Un-Lun? Kahn asks, “to face a similar fate?” Did he not learn in his visit to that alien world that the human population has so poisoned the planet it can no longer support the H’ylthri? That was the very reason for their invasion of Earth.
Namorita asks Kahn who he is. Why has he suddenly appeared to help them? Kahn informs her that he is not there to help. He does not wish to live in a world ruled by the H’ylthri, but that does not make them allies. In fact, Prince Namor, his alliance with Iron Fist has made him his enemy. With that, Kahn jams his fingers into Namor’s head and binds Namorita with the crimson bands of Cytorrak.
Unable to free herself, Namorita asks Kahn what he is doing to Namor. Kahn tells her that he is punishing him, punishing him for his crime of interference. He had not succeeded in killing the son of K’Un-Lun, as was his fondest wish. But in the hands of the H’ylthri he would have suffered a slow and terrible fate in many ways worse than death. He, Namor, saved him from that and for that crime, he sets upon him a penalty he knows to hold a special terror for him. Stripped of his memory, his very identity, he sends him far, far away from this place; to wander without hope of rescue for the rest of his long and miserable life.
Sending Namorita away, Kahn tells her that he has no quarrel with her. He deems it sufficient punishment for her part in this, that she shall know her noble cousin is lost to her until the very end of time.


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Hunting Ground
Three months ago, in the Ross Sea in the Antarctic Ocean, the Japanese catcher vessel, Sierra, has been sailing the icy waters for the past several months. It’s mission – the wholesale slaughter of Minke whales under the guise of “scientific research.”
The captain of the vessel barks orders to harpoon the Minke calf but the tides are turned when the hunter suddenly becomes the prey when the captain gets a spear chucked into his chest. Just then, a number of Atlantean warriors board the ship. As they do, they tell the surface dwellers that they have invaded their home for the last time, prepare to die!
The battle is fierce but mercifully swift. The makeshift weapons of the sailors are no match for the strength and precision with which the water-breathing barbarians wield their coral-edged swords. The sailors can only beg for mercy as the leader of the barbaric horde arrives and shows them none. Standing over the slaughtered sailors, Attuma tells his faithful troops well done. The surface-dwellers have exploited their hunting grounds long enough. No longer shall they lay silent when they endanger the food supply of their people. So swears Attuma! In the distance, a lone Minke calf escapes the carnage, leaving behind a dead mother as it heads north.
In the present, in Gloucester Beach in Massachusetts, where the regal figure of Namor ponders a decision that may well have far-reaching consequences for the land and sea that are both his to call home. Sitting on a nearby rock, Walter Newell tells Namor that they can reconstruct Dorcas’s domed research station to create an undersea environment in which humans and Atlanteans can coexist. It would just require a joint effort from both races and (quietly) funding from his company Oracle, Inc.
Namor informs Walter that he knows not the state of affairs with Oracle sine he left it in the care of his cousin, Nita. He also cautions any joint venture between their races since they always seem to be at odds. Walter says his point exactly. By working together with him acting as ambassador, they can begin to erase old prejudices and establish harmony. Imagine how the research facility could enlighten the surface world as to the importance of its last and greatest resource – the sea. When Namor asks who would live in such a place, Walter replies himself for one as well as his wife, Di…
Before Walter can finish his sentence, Walter’s wife, Diane runs towards them and tells them that the harbor patrol has just notified her that a whale has beached itself. With a concerned look on his face, Namor tells Walter that he must borrow one of his submersibles to hasten his journey to Boston Harbor.
In Boston Harbor, as the beached whale lies on the sand, the onlookers stare in awe and concern. Once the Sub-Mariner arrives on the scene, the law enforcement says thank god. They’ve been trying to push it back into the water, but it doesn’t want to go. Maybe he can command it to… Landing on the beach, Namor tells him that he cannot command these majestic creatures as he can other life in the sea. But he can communicate with it. Ripping off his shirt, Namor exclaims that the cetacean has expired. But its dying thoughts portrayed disturbing images in the Antarctic, near the site of old Atlantis. There is much surface dwellers do not know about these gentle giants. But if they are in danger, the avenging son will heed their call.
In the Antarctic, a Japanese ship attempts to harpoon a whale but misses. When it does, the captain tells his mysterious friend in the cabin that the current market price for whale meat will make this harvest most profitable. Just then, a spear flies in, narrowly missing him. The captain gives the call that they are under attack. Seeing a number of blue-skinned men climbing into the vessel, the captain states that they must be the beings responsible for destroying so many of their vessels in recent months. But this time, they will not find them unprepared.
With that, a number of ninjas emerge and attack the oncoming Atlanteans. One of the Atlanteans asks what madness? Sword-bearing warriors appearing as if from nowhere… Once he is killed, another says that it’s impossible. The timid minnows now fight like frenzied sharks. They are undone! Taking out four ninjas himself, Attuma calls his followers spineless jellyfish and to hold their ground. Attuma does not surrender so easily. To vanquish these air-breathing slugs they need only to slay their captain. With that, Attuma tosses his sword at the captain.
At the last second, Namor blocks the sword with his wrist guard and tells Attuma “not today, barbarian.” No more shall die while he yet lives. As Namor leaps down towards Attuma, Attuma calls him a half-breed and tells him that this affair does not concern him. Grabbing Attuma by the throat, Namor tells him that everything at sea concerns him, especially this close to his old home. Fighting back, Attuma calls Namor pink-skin and says it is his home now and he is not welcome. He then gives the order to his faithful horde to dispose of him.
While Attuma’s followers descend upon their foe, Namor asks Attuma if it has been so long since they clashed that he has forgotten the legendary might of the one true Sub-Mariner? Yelling out “Imperius Rex,” Namor tosses the warriors away as if they were ragdolls. Backhanding Attuma, Namor tells him that he disgusts him. He violates their most sacred laws by slaughtering the giant whales that have been their companions since time immemorial. Attuma asks Namor if he’s blind. Pointing over to the captain of the vessel, he states that these barracudas are overfishing their food supply. Women and children are starving in that city they are trying to re-colonize.
Angrily grabbing the Captain by the collar, Namor asks him if it’s true. Is he disregarding the international whaling committee’s moratorium on commercial whaling? The captain stammers n-no. They may still harvest limited numbers for research. Gritting his teeth, Namor angrily asks the Captain that he dares call such senseless slaughter “research?” Maybe he should conduct some “research” on… Before he can move any further, Namor is blasted in the back with a solar flare. Removing his disguise, Sunfire tells Namor that he suggests he conduct himself with better manners or his next solar flare will be the last thing he ever feels. Because his attire has changed since last they met, allow him to introduce himself. He knows him as Sunfire!
At the amusement pier at Seaside Heights, New Jersey, within a tent marked “sideshow performers”… As Triton works out, Karnak says to him that he does not understand why he persists in this activity. Triton replies that of all people he should know that since they returned to Earth they must acclimate themselves to its higher gravity. Gorgon remarks that they must be over fifty tons of resistance on that hydraulic press. Triton proceeds to tell him that he would do well to being an exercise program too. Remember how easily they Inhumans fall prey to Earth’s pollutants. Gorgon responds that the only pollutants he’s gonna fall prey to are amber-colored liquids with suds floating on top. Slapping Karnak on the back, he asks him right? Karnak tells him o-of course.
As Gorgon and Karnak depart the tent, Gorgon tells his fin-headed friend that if he cares to join them, they’ll be in the bar tent. They’ll be the ones surrounded by a harem of beautiful women. Even as his teammates depart, the figure (Triton) remains silent, lost in a state of unrelenting obsession.
Meanwhile, in the Ross Sea, Sunfire stands over Namor and tells him to stay down. He adds that when the Japanese government asked him to protect its whaling fleet from suspecting pirates, he was more than happy to oblige. But squashing the hybrid who was largely responsible for the defeat of their ancestors nearly fifty years ago is an unexpected bonus. One of Attuma’s followers stands behind Sunfire and tells him keep gloating pompous air-sack. It will give him time to strike. Just then, he does and slashes Sunfire across the back.
Turning around, Sunfire says to him that he would dare strike him from behind, one who can generate a psionic field that absorbs any blow his armor can’t. He then asks if his blue skin will do the same for his plasma burst. Before Sunfire can strike, Namor tackles Sunfire and tells him that he will not find out today.
As they fall into the sea below, Attuma’s follower exclaims Neptune’s Trident! Namor’s lunge carried them both into the sea. Attuma asks him if he realizes that victory is now within his grasp? The follower answers o-of course. Making his way over to him, Attuma asks him what possessed him to aid the surface-loving half-breed. The follower answers that h-he was helping them. Lifting him up by his neck with a jerk, Attuma tells him that he has no need for his kind of help just as he has no further need for him. With that, Attuma tosses him away with great ease.
Attuma remarks that perhaps he can yet influence the outcome of this affair. Looking over the edge of the vessel, Attuma asks what madness? The very sea is boiling like molten lava… Emerging from the sea, locked in battle, Namor asks Sunfire if he’s insane. Generating such extreme heat could melt surrounding glaciers causing havoc untold worldwide. Sunfire tells him not to lecture him. That was merely a sample of his true ability. Namor remarks that he has met two Human Torches in battle. He will not allow a cheap imitation to defeat him.
Maneuvering behind Namor, Sunfire asks him what is the power of a matchstick to that of a sun. Even now as he struggles against his ion field, the intense heat absorbs his precious strength-giving moisture. Struggling, Namor weakly says he’s de-hydrating… must… reach… water… must… break…
At that moment, Attuma grabs one of the harpoon guns and aims it skywards. As he does, he states that the flying air-breather underestimates Namor’s power. Thus, it shall be Attuma who rids them of this uninvited arbitrator so that they may resume their battle without further interference. Once Attuma fires the harpoon, Namor is able to free himself from Sunfire’s grasp. While he falls to the sea below, the harpoon strikes him. Seeing what has transpired, Sunfire calls Attuma a barbarian dog and asks him what he has done. He sullied an honorable victory with the vilest form of trickery imaginable, shooting a disabled opponent in the back. Now suffer the consequences of Sunfire’s wrath! With that, Sunfire shoots Attuma in the chest with one of his solar blasts.
Soaring in the sky above the ship, Sunfire mentions that his solar flare carried Attuma overboard and his army followed. Does that mean this affair is over? Just then, Sunfire notices that the ship is rising from the churning sea, scattering its crew into the icy waters. This is not possible. In the water, underneath the ship, Attuma states that it is indeed possible for one who is powerful enough to have taken on the Sub-Mariner and won, just as this battle is now won.
At that moment, Attuma tosses the ship into the air and tells Sunfire to catch. As he makes the attempt to get out of the way, Sunfire exclaims no. There are still people aboard the… Once the ship strikes Sunfire, Namor explodes from the sea and tells Sunfire to fear not for his countrymen, the scourge of the seven seas shall not allow any harm to befall them. Catching the ship in mid-air, Namor states that, although he loathes their ideals and practices, ignorance is no reason to condemn a man to an icy grave. Flying down towards the sea, Sunfire asks Namor – alive? Namor replies aye, though the healing waters of the Antarctic took much time to counter the injuries he sustained from him and Attuma.
Peering out of the water, Attuma laughs and remarks that those two will never save the entire crew before Father Neptune claims their worthless souls. He then tells his faithful troops mission accomplished, time to go home. Once they depart, Sunfire informs Namor that their rescue efforts proceed much too slowly. Some of the men are already succumbing to hypothermia.
Leaping into the water, Namor curses Attuma and his belligerence but the avenging son will not submit so easily. Watching Namor leaning up against a whale, Sunfire asks him what he’s doing. Namor informs him that he has the ability to request the aid of the majestic beast. He then tells to Sunfire to pray to whatever god he worships that its ego is not as big as those he’s witnessed today. Shortly, the whale begins to swim around, collecting the stranded sailors from the vessel.
The rescue efforts continue until Sunfire picks up the last one, whom Namor identifies as such. The sea did not claim a single life, he states. Inside, the captain says h-he has been a foolish old man. When he gazed into the great beast’s eye, he realized that he has dedicated his life to slaughtering an intelligent species in the name of profit. Sunfire tells him that is untrue. He has merely supplied their expanding population with the means to nourish itself. Survival of the fittest…
Overhearing him, Namor tells Sunfire that for one with such strong nationalistic pride, he displays a poor knowledge of his country’s history. During the turbulent days which followed World War II, many of his country’s children were fed whale meat because it was a cheap source of protein. It has since become a delicacy, catered only to the rich. But his people know that whales have more value alive than dead. Perhaps if they learn more about them, they may learn more about… each other.
On Gloucester Beach, in Massachusetts, Walter Newell is playing a friendly game of football with his wife Diane when Namor arrives. He apologizes for the intrusion, but there is no time to waste in their mission to unite their two peoples. Walter asks if he means…? Namor says yes, let them rebuild Hydrobase.
That night, at the Seaside Amusement Pier, Gorgon asks Triton if he is sure this is what he wants. Triton tells him and the other Inhumans present yes. Far too long has he swum in the small dank, lifeless underground streams of the Moon. Now, he needs time to explore the seas, to explore himself. Medusa tells him that he’s an Inhuman, a member of the Royal Family. Please don’t leave them. Looking down towards the water, Triton asks the “Royal Family?” They are freaks in a sideshow and whereas they may be able to disguise themselves to dwell among humankind, where Triton swims, he swims alone. With that, Triton leaps into the sea, leaving the other Inhumans behind.