Synopsis / Summary / Plot
The rest of the West Coast Avengers have reluctantly left Mockingbird and U.S. Agent prisoners on the island of Demonica. But the pair have broken free. On the other hand it means they now face Dr Demonicus, Klaw, Zvezda Dennista and the Pacific Overlords (Cybertooth, Irezumi, Jawbreaker, Kuroko and Morgan Kain) alone.
Irezumi generates a tattoo of US Agent which freezes the hero. But Mockingbird pole vaults out of the way of Klaw's sonic blast so that it hits Irezumi, freeing John Walker. And she lands foot-first on Cybertooth's jaw. The Russian Morning Star chooses to attack USA again, and Jawbreaker tries to smash Mocky. But Demonicus controls his Overlords with menta-spores on their brows, which dulls their abilities so he misses. MB hits JB with 1 of her battlestaves, but invisible Kuroko knocks her down with *her* quarterstaff.
US Agent has escaped from Morning Star but run into the Demonican 'army' outside (actually criminals recruited from 3rd World jails). But he doesn't realise the rest of the population came from the same source until *they* attack him too. Morning Star catches up with him and the flying woman's blasts shepherd him to a location where she can land and speak privately to him. (She and Klaw don't have menta-spores to control them.) She suggest they team up against the insane Doctor.
Dr Demonicus is 'working' for an interdimensional demon Raksasa. His demonswarm is currently attacking the Hawaiian island Oahu where they chew into a fighter plane and then shred the ejecting pilot. Armoured Darkhawk and War Machine take to the air to fight some of them, and Goliath goes giant-size to attract others' attention from a pilot on the ground while Spider-Woman gets him to safety behind her psi-webs. Scarlet Witch tries her hex power on the demons but instead it shrinks Clint Barton to Ant-Man. He sneaks into Julia Carpenter's web-fortress where somehow Wanda Maximoff is ensconced too with all the military who were around. Spider-Woman creates a web tunnel to nearby bunker. And the demonswarm heads south to Honolulu.
Morning Star returns to the other Demonicans with USA's shield claiming she has killed him. Mockingbird is trussed up on the demon's altar and Demonicus prepares to summon Raksasa again before his demonswarm fade from this dimension. Morning Star pitches a whisper that she believes only the Master of Sound will be able to hear, trying to persuade Klaw to turn against Demonicus before he gives the world to the demon, but the not-dead Agent jumps in with a kick to Demonicus' head before she can succeed. So she has to use her blasts against the mind-controlled Pacific Overlords while John Walker starts to free Mocky.
Suddenly USA is struck from behind. But he guesses it's the invisible Kuroko and fells her with a sweep of his shield. Jawbreaker is next to attack him, and Cybertooth heads for Morning Star as Irezumi forms tattoos that render them immobile. But Klaw has made up his mind and brings Irezumi down with a sonic blast, freeing the Agent to punch Jawbreaker's lights out.
Mockingbird is still untying her bonds as Demonicus revives and invokes Raksasa who begins to emerge from the portal to his domain. Klaw fires at the demon but Kain uses his power to deflect the aim of Klaw's vibranium blaster. USA leaps on Klaw and forces the blast to hit the ground beneath them as Cybertooth keeps Mockingbird at bay. USA then clobbers Kain with his shield and Klaw is at last able to switch his blaster off. However the sustained sonic blast to the ground has destabilised the island itself.
But US Agent gets Morning Star to blast Jawbreaker and Klaw who are fighting. The blast separates them giving Walker a clear shot at Demonicus. His shield stops the villain in mid-invocation, and Raksasa is sucked back to his own side of the portal. And at the same moment the demonswarm attack each other, saving Honolulu.
Agent, Bird, Star and Klaw get the hostage crew and passengers back on to their airliner which takes off from the quaking island. The island's population escape in their nation's planes. The villain Klaw says he'll make his own way out - to get revenge on the Fantastic Four's Human Torch. They see him buried in a rockslide but he must survive because he makes that date in FF#377-379. Dr Demonicus and the Pacific Overlords are caught in the collapsing cavern. Kuroko has lost her menta-spore but she still won't leave her love Demonicus. The Avengers quinjet arrives from Hawaii. Morning Star declines a lift and flies off to Russia after kissing John Walker goodbye. The quinjet is the last to leave the island as it sinks back into the ocean.