Valkyrie
and Vance Astro are teleported back to Earth where they find their comrades, Martinex,
Nighthawk, and Charlie-27, about to be executed by a Badoon firing squad. The
two heroes unleash their powers, defeat the Badoon, and free their associates.
Escaping, they run headlong into another band of Badoon but this time, Martinex
freezes them in their tracks…literally. As they lay plans for their next move,
they break the news to Val that Doctor Strange is dead…
…except
he isn’t, as his astral form heads for the planet where…
…Hulk
and Yondu are being forced to perform on the violent game show, “Super-Death
Sweepstakes.” The Emperor has a wife who has displeased him so he hands her
over to die with Hulk. The two are teleported to a frozen waste where they are
attacked by huge robotic ants….
Interlude:
Starhawk arrives home on domed homestead on an asteroid. He is greeted by his
three children who ask anxiously whether he is going to stay this time. He
consults his wife Aleta in Limbo, as they are bonded and only one can appear at
a time. But it is not the right time and Starhawk must continue his journey….
On
Earth, Defenders Valkyrie and Nighthawk, with Guardians of the Galaxy
Charlie-27, Vance Astro, and Martinex, assault the Badoon military HQ while on
the ice planet, Hulk, unable to bound away from the metal ants by a force
field, instead smashes them all to pieces, including the mountain. Teleported
back to the TV studio with the female victim, Hulk prepares to smash everyone
there but has and Yondu are teleported back to Earth to find themselves
fighting Badoon alongside their comrades….
Aboard
the starship Captain America, Jack Norriss comes out of hiding to find
Dr. Strange apparently dead—but he receives an even greater shock when Strange
returns to his body. Strange is going down to Earth and Jack insists on going
along to fight for his homeworld. Strange is skeptical but takes him along to
join the battle. The heroes defeat the Badoon leaders and free the humans from
the prison camps. Then Strange and Jack teleport all over the world, liberating
all of the prison camps so that the humans rise up against their alien
overlords. When they are done, Starhawk appears to them and informs them that
the Defenders (plus Jack) must return to their own time; Jack sees some
mystical quality in the hero and realizes that’s true, as does Dr. Strange.
With a final gesture, Strange casts a spell that causes all of the Badoon to
fall asleep. Strange then takes the Defenders home, complaining that the war
isn’t over but Strange can’t explain it to them. Neither can Jack Norriss….