Sub-Mariner, in the mental grip of The Red Ghost, lunges toward Hawkeye and Valkrie with murder in his maddened eyes. A brief but brutal tussle ensues during which Hawkeye manages to knock out the Red Ghost before Hawkeye, in turn, is knocked out by Namor. Hawkeye awakens to find himself and Valkrie bound and powerless on a mechanical slab in the Red Ghost's lab. The villain, in standard fashion, rants about his ability to utilize cosmic ray bombardments to impose his will upon others. He reveals his latest plan: to impose his will upon undersea life, which he deems "more tractable" to his will. To this end, Red Ghost reveals that he established an alliance with Namor's arch-foe Attuma.
Meanwhile, Dr. Strange summons all available Defenders to his sanctum to witness his attempt at freeing the Black Knight from the curse that turned him to stone. Strange is worried when only the Silver Surfer and the Hulk respond to his summons. Surfer assures Dr. Strange not to worry about Namor and Valkrie. "They lead their own lives," the Surfer says. Back in the Red Ghost's lab, Attuma has joined him. They both watch as Namor, Valkrie and Hawkeye are subjected to cosmic ray bombardments, making them susceptible to the Red Ghost's will. Back in Dr. Strange's mansion, Hulk reveals that he knows where "Fish-Man and Sword-Girl" are, but he sees no reason to share this info with Doctor Strange. He turns to leave, but the Surfer grapples with him, distracting him long enough for Dr. Strange to calm him with some kind of spell. When asked again of the whereabouts of his comrades, Hulk explains that the other Defenders were taken prisoner. Doctor Strange puts the Hulk to sleep then he and the Surfer head out to rescue their friends.
Strange and the Surfer arrive in the midst of a violent battle taking place in Atlantis. The captured heroes are fighting alongside Attuma's troops in an effort to overthrow the undersea kingdom. As Dr. Strange attempts to contact Valkrie, he senses another personality, that of the insane Barbara Norris, the Valkrie's original personality. Strange finally discovers that the Red Ghost is behind all the chaos, and his actions are made possible by the bombardment of cosmic rays hitting the planet. Working together, Doc Strange and the Surfer cause a barrier to form around the earth blocking the path of any cosmic radiation. Without the presence of cosmic rays, Red Ghost suddenly finds himself powerless and unable to transform into mist. He is easily defeated by Hawkeye who, along with the other heroes, has regained his free will. Angered by what he was forced to do, the Sub-Mariner tears into Attuma savagely and conclusively, saving his kingdom and regaining his leadership. With their work done, the heroes depart.
The next part follows on from a Prologue in
AVENGERS (1963) #115Chapter one of the AVENGERS/DEFENDERS clash begins as the Defenders regroup back in Dr. Strange's mansion where he attempts to reach out to the Black Knight's spirit, which fled to some other dark realm when his body was turned to stone. Strange sends out a mystical bolt containing a communication that reaches the Black Knight's spirit. Calm and hopeful that he will now be rescued, the Knight's spirit sends a reply via the same mystical bolt, a bolt that is intercepted by Loki, Prince of evil. Loki, stricken with blindness after his last conflict with the Mighty Thor, sits stranded in the dark dimension with the dread Dormammu, Dr. Strange's arch-foe. The two fiendish foes alter the mystical communication before it reaches Dr. Strange. When the heroes hear the communication, it instructs them to seek out a mystical device called the Evil Eye if they want to save the Black Knight.
The story continues in
AVENGERS (1963) #116
Give that special marvelite a timely gift