In
a filthy apartment in Greenwich Village, Devil-Slayer/Eric Payne continues his
attempts to rescue Ira “Sunshine” Gross from his drug addiction; he has done
what he could to repair the damage drugs have done to Ira’s brain but Ira must
work to defeat his physical dependence on heroin. There is a knock at the door;
Payne answers it to find a demon handing him an envelope. He opens it to find a
picture of his wife Cory Payne a prisoner, leading to a brief recap of his
background: bloodthirsty Vietnam vet lost his wife due to their political
differences, became an alcoholic, then a mob hitman, assigned to murder a
reporter, he placed a bomb in the man’s car and ended up killing his wife and
kid—that reporter was Ian Fate, who has become a master of the occult and it is
he who has kidnaped Cory. Devil-Slayer leaves Ira behind as the teleports
away….
Daimon
Hellstrom, Son of Satan, is put through an ordeal in the Arizona desert to burn
the last of his humanity out of him, as ordered by his father Satan….
The
Beast is visiting Doctor Strange to discuss a problem when they are interrupted
by Wong announcing the visit of Sunshine who tells them Devil-Slayer is in
trouble, showing them the letter he received. Strange determines to go to his
rescue with Beast volunteering to join him, also suggesting Wonder Man for the
team, who is immediately contacted—and scared by the sudden appearance of
Strange in his astral form….
In
a basement, Devil-Slayer faces his enemy Ian Fate, who stands in a pentagram,
backed by a pack of green demons. Cory hangs in the air, surrounded by mystic
knives aimed at her body. Fate, who has become adept in the magical arts, aims
to take revenge against DS. The hero leaps into the fray and defeats all of the
demons—but the knives pierce Cory’s body, killing her. Fate then reveals that
Cory’s death was an illusion: the real Cory is trapped inside a dome on a
mystic island, surrounded by sinister creatures and watching the dome slowly
crack, soon letting the monsters get to her. Fate vanishes but almost
immediately, Dr. Strange and company appear, bringing hope….
Elsewhere,
Kyle Richmond is celebrating his courtroom victory with his friends, Patsy
Walker, Val, and Gargoyle, nurse Luann Bloom, plus his lawyers, Matt Murdock
and Milton Rosenblum when a group of Central Information Bureau agents, burst
in to arrest Kyle on orders from August Masters. Matt can tell they are lying
but has no opportunity to change into Daredevil. Valkyrie, Hellcat, and
Gargoyle stand up to the bad guys who respond by firing gas pistols which send
everyone to sleep….
Dr.
Strange uses his mystic knowledge to locate the dimension where Cory is held
and suggests it is too dangerous for the others to breach; Devil-Slayer insists
on going to rescue his wife. Beast proposes they all just go together…and so
they do, teleported by DS’s cloak. They materialize in the air, with Strange
plucking Devil-Slayer from the sky and Beast using his acrobatic ability to get
under Wonder Man and catch him. They are greeted by Ian Fate who unleashes a
horde of demons on them; DS, Beast, and Wondy take on the demons while Strange
faces off with Fate in a battle of magic. Strange traps Fate in a coffin-like
magic box. The dome containing Cory shatters, DS heads to her, and while he
fights a demon, another stabs Cory with Devil-Slayer’s sword. But a spell
dissolves and it is revealed that the dead person is not Cory Payne but Ira “Sunshine”
Gross. Ian Fate confesses that he couldn’t bring himself to harm an innocent
woman but he still sought revenge so he substituted Sunshine whom Eric Payne
cared for. Payne goes to kill Fate but he is stopped by Wonder Man who reminds
him that everything Fate has done is because Eric Payne murdered his wife and
child. So Payne is also responsible for Fate’s villainy and Sunshine’s death.
DS gathers up Sunshine’s body and teleports away, leaving the others to
brood—and Beast to ask if they can finally get to the problem he has come to
Dr. Strange about….