At the Sanctum
Sanctorum, Wong takes a phone call for Doctor Strange just as the Defenders
(Strange, Valkyrie,
Hellcat, Nighthawk, Son of Satan, Gargoyle, Devil-Slayer) teleport in from
their visit to Israel. Strange picks up the phone to find Captain America on
the other end. Cap tells Strange that the President had called the Avengers
(Iron Man, Wonder Man, Beast) to investigate something bizarre in Florida and
they have arrived in Citrusville, Florida, which has been turned into a chasm
in the shape of a six-fingered hand. Dr. Strange alerts the others, explaining
how the town sits next to the swamp which is the Nexus of Realities, which
could bode ill if the Six-Fingered Hand is messing around there. They makes
plans to leave at once but they are interrupted by Nighthawk, whose paralysis
had returned with the death of David Kessler (last issue). Kyle announces he is
leaving the non-team as his disability limits what he can do; he will miss his
friends and will always be there for them but he has hired a full-time nurse
and he moves out….
At
the ruined home of Patsy Walker in Montclair, New Jersey, some kids are playing
in the rubble and one discovers Patsy’s Shadow Cloak. It swallows him up and he
vanishes, only for a reptilian figure to rise in his place. The other kids run
away….
The Defenders suddenly
appear in Florida, surprising the Avengers. They discover the hand-shaped chasm
is rapidly expanding and Strange asks Cap to give them one hour to see what’s
going on before they take any action. The Defenders find the edge of the chasm
but Hellcat suddenly grows seductive, flirting with Daimon Hellstrom and
mocking him; she then comes to herself and cries, which Dr. Strange attributes
to the residue of the demon Avarrish in her (or maybe something worse, which he
keeps to himself). They then see a rent in the Nexus of Realities which
threatens to engulf all creation. They are then confronted by a giant
Man-Thing, possessed by the demon Unnthinnk; there is a battle with Demon Manny
striking down the stronger members of the non-team. Strange sends his astral
form into Man-Thing to confront the demon face-to-ace but Unnthinnk is able to
defeat him easily—until Ted Sallis, the human at the center of Man-Thing,
arrives and, powered by Strange, he defeats the demon. Strange offers Sallis
the opportunity to have his consciousness control the shambling monster but he
declines, preferring things getting worse. Strange emerges and the now normal
Man-Thing wanders off on his way….
Dr. Strange then
proposes they enter the rift in the Nexus to deal with the problem at the
source; Hellstrom warns that chaos could result but the heroes decide to take
that chance. They enter…
…and find themselves in
a strange world of impossible imagery. They also notice that Hellcat is
missing. A giant six-fingered hand appears, directing them to a certain
horrific dimension where they discover the demons of the Six-Fingered Hand in
their own realm. They are greeted by the chairman Maya who shows them several
familiar figures trapped inside mystic spheres: Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Clea, and the
Silver Surfer….