Crossbones, who has remained in the shadows while dogging the parties to the Bloodstone Hunt (over the previous six issues), now has the unconscious Diamondback in his clutches. After everyone else has left the volcano area, he carries her to a fishing village where he seizes a boat and rows away. Diamond awakens in the boat and learns that they are going to Madripoor….
Captain America has arrived back at Avengers Island, wondering what became of Diamond back but having no cause to be concerned. He is puzzled to find he can’t get her out of his mind..…
Several days later in Madripoor, Crossbones arrives with his prisoner at a bordello where he is quite well-known. He ties her legs to a bed but when he uncuffs her hands, she pokes him in the eye and snatches up his crossbow. Crossbones distracts her by calling her Ratsel, a name from her past, and Diamond fires but her foe is not seriously wounded. The brute hurls the arrow back so that it lodges in the wall above her head and tells her she is bait in a trap for Captain America….
Crossbones contacts Cap with a message to meet him at the Brass Monkey Saloon in Madripoor if he wants to see Diamondback alive again. Cap is flown to the island by John Jameson and searches for the bar….
At the brothel after Crossbones has left for his meeting with Cap, Diamond appeals to a prostitute for help but Madam Xiona gags her, intending to force her to join the staff after the brutish bad guy is done with her. Alone, after some exertion, Diamond is able to reach the arrow in the wall over the bed and uses it to pick the lock on the handcuffs. She overpowers Madam Xiona and heads into the hall where she escapes the armed "girls" and knocks the burly Mister Phun down the stairs, escaping into the night….
At the Brass Monkey, Cap meets a stranger who leads him into the night where he meets Crossbones. The mystery man leads Cap on a chase which ends on a sampan where Cap puts his foot into an animal trap; Crossbones turns to face him with his crossbow at the ready….