In
Tunnelworld, Aeroika leads the disguised Doctor Strange, Hulk, and Sub-Mariner
to a peaceful glade where they are protected by the Nya (benevolent spirits).
There they can drop their disguises and sleep. Through the DreamSleep, Aeroika
fills their heads with all necessary exposition: In the citadel called Ogeon,
the dictator Ytitnedion rules over the Vulture People; he has created and enslaved
races who long for freedom, including Aeroika’s own, given wings but unable to
fly. The previous visit by the Defenders (issues #71-73) fit the first sign of
the Prophecy so Aeroika was smuggled out of Ogeon to meet them on their return.
The guide then scans the three visitors’ minds and learns Namor is a monarch
and warrior who fought against an enemy (the Nazis) that would enslave his
people; Dr. Strange is a wizard but more powerful than most; the Hulk? He has
transformed back into Bruce Banner, confusing Aeroika….
In
the Colorado town, the three heroines, Valkyrie, Wasp, and Hellcat, battle the
women warriors of the Fem-Force but then the men of the Mutant Force arrive and
the battle goes against the good guys and they are captured and locked up. They
can’t understand why their friends Dian Wilkins, Ruth Hart, and Amber Grant
have turned against them; elsewhere, Yellowjacket is a prisoner, drugged so he
is unable to change size….
That
night, the captive heroines are taken to a house where a party is in progress,
with the cadre of attractive women fawning over the weird guys of the Mutant
Force. Val tries to escape but she is halted by the arrival of the Big Bad,
Mandrill, whose power is the use of pheromones to make women fall in love with
him; he enslaved and employed the Fem-Force to seize the gold from the army
base to further his grand plot to take over the United States. Mandrill now
uses his power against the Defenders and Val and Hellcat fall under his spell
but not Wasp who is kept in a jar held by Dian Wilkins. Mandrill puts Valkyrie
in charge of his army which some of the Mutant Force guys resent but they grow
quiet for now….
Late
that night, Dian takes the jar with Wasp and sneaks out to the Avengers Quinjet
and takes off, unaware she has been spotted by Peeper of the Mutant Force. Wasp
resumes her normal size and we learn she wasn’t affected by the villain’s
pheromones because Dian held her hand over the air holes in the jar lid; Jan speculates
that Dian wasn’t affected because she has not yet reached puberty. Wasp tries
to contact the Avengers and Fantastic Four but receives no answer so she calls
Kyle Richmond to ask for help. Kyle, forbidden by a court injunction from
becoming Nighthawk, agrees to help for that very reason; he calls his tech team
to ready his new weapons package for a test run, suits up, and heads out….
Mandrill
doesn’t understand how his power failed to work on Wasp and Dian so he decides
to move up the next part of his plan. He gives the order to his army to attack
the Air Force base immediately and so his forces head out, led by Valkyrie….