Hellcat
watches the Wakandan Embassy from the roof across the street, observing
anti-war protestors and the Embassy guards at odds while awaiting the return of
their King T’Challa so she can report on the villainous Mandrill. She sees a
small air-car landing in the backyard and assumes this is the King; she skips
over the rooftops and encounters an overzealous security man pointing a gun at
her; she tries to talk her way out of it by claiming to be an Avenger and when
that doesn’t work, she kicks him and shoots out a claw-line, swinging down to
the Embassy and through a (closed) window. Hellcat apologizes to the startled
Black Panther for the damage while mentioning Mandrill. T’Challa tells the SWAT
team that it was merely an overenthusiastic admirer….
Kyle Richmond and his lawyer Milton Rosenblum are reviewing his finances and finding
no evidence of corruption. The protests at the Wakandan Embassy are on the news
and Kyle sees Hellcat’s offbeat entry. This leads to an explanation of the
nuclear incident at Kiber Island. Kyle, frustrated that a court order prevents
him from becoming Nighthawk and joining the Defenders, turns off the TV and
goes back to his financial records….
As
Hulk swims across the Atlantic Ocean, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, pursues in
a navy craft, seeking an opportunity to demonstrate that he is Hulk’s friend.
He calls out and offers Hulk a ride to wherever he wants to go. Hulk,
exhausted, takes him up on it, mentioning Dr. Strange’s house. He turns back
into Bruce Banner and Subby flies him to Bleeker Street. They enter the house
and Namor is surprised to see the Black Panther there, consulting with the
Defenders (Valkyrie, Hellcat, and Clea). Doctor Strange enters and Namor is
convinced Strange is taking Black Panther’s side against him so he storms out,
despite Strange’s denials. Bruce lies down for a nap and the others go back to
what they were doing. BP believes that Mandrill is the prime customer for the
smuggled Wakandan tech so they are searching for him. They uncover and decipher
a coded document that turns out to be a schedule of smugglers’ shipments,
indicating one that very night….
Black
Panther accompanies the Defenders to the rendezvous at a farm in Frenchtown,
New Jersey. A cargo plane lands and several of Mandrill’s Fem-Force disembark.
The heroes launch their attack, Clea conjuring flashing lights to disorient the
bad guys while Val disables the plane’s rudder and slices off the wings with a few
strokes of her sword. Black Panther enters the plane to examine the cargo and
discovers it is all scrap metal—a trap! He is seized by steel tentacles which
lock and a device paralyzes his frontal lobe. The plane then rises into the air
and takes off. Hellcat leaps aboard and tries to free BP but Mandrill appears
on a viewscreen, warning her that the electronic lock contains a bomb that will
go off if tampered with. Meanwhile, Valkyrie and Clea are pursuing on Aragorn
and Val tries to leap aboard the quickly moving craft but misses and plummets;
the winged horse catches her so Clea sends a psychic call for help to Dr.
Stange back in New York. The plane starts descending toward a propane storage
facility to create a massive explosion. Strange and Hulk arrive and Big Green
punches the plane into the river. Strange dives and mystically shows Hellcat
how to open the elaborate lock. Strange, Hellcat, and T’Challa swim for their
lives as the plane explodes….
The
heroes gather on the shore while miles away, Mandrill throws a fit and vows to
destroy the Defenders….