With
the aid of lawyer Matt Murdock, Valkyrie is cleared of all charges and she goes
home with Nighthawk, Red Guardian, and Luke Cage. They are admitted by Wong,
and greeted by Clea, who has a present for Val. Jack Norriss follows Val to her
room where she is wearing the golden costume Clea has made for her; once again,
he demands that she return to being his wife; once again she reminds him that
she is not his wife, merely occupying her body….
Meanwhile,
Doctor Strange is meditating in Central Park and narrowly avoids being hit by a
baseball. He spies a politician addressing a crowd and, in a moment of levity,
causes the man’s pants to fall down, instantly regretting it. A newspaper shows
him some headlines to be wary of: cult leader Nebulon has been named UN
Ambassador and Ruby Thursday of the Headmen declares her candidacy for
President of the United States….
Hulk
is in the Midwest and sees a group of women protesting an alleged “snuff film”
outside a theater. Annoyed at the whole thing, Hulk smashes the front of the
theater. Then, puzzled by what he has done, he bounds off in confusion. Inside
the theater, one of the protestors has taken refuge in the ladies’ rest room
where she is confronted, and then shot, by the Elf with a Gun….
Back
at the Sanctum Sanctorum, a message on a rock is hurled through a window. The
note denounces the Defenders for harboring a Communist in their midst; Red
Guardian sees this as her problem so she insists on chasing down the vandals
alone. Jack Norriss becomes fed up with the Defenders; the world is going mad
and they can’t address any problems that can be solved without violence.
Nighthawk asks what it would take to get rid of him? Norriss demands $300,000
and NH phones the bank to make out a check for him. Jack walks out, telling
them he is going to join Ruby Thursday’s presidential campaign. Meanwhile, Red
Guardian has caught up to three hoodlums in an alley and beats them up while
explaining that individuals are hardly responsible for the actions of groups
they claim to represent. In the melee, one of the hoods accidentally shoots
another. An old lady looks out of the window and RG asks to use her phone to
call an ambulance. When RG gets to the apartment, the old lady pulls a gun and
proclaims herself part of the Committee for Free Immigration, whose family
members are trapped in the USSR by its immigration policies. The huge hooded
assassin explains how Red Guardian is going to be part of their plan to rescue their
loved ones. Red escapes and the assassin pursues, they fight, he turns out to
have mechanical hands covered by synthetic skin. She tricks him into diving at
her, steps aside and lets him crash through a garage door, knocking himself
out. She returns to the Sanctum where Dr. Strange is asking about Jack Norriss.
It gets awkward….