Hulk is walking through a forest, knocking down trees so he
doesn’t feel crowded when a mystery figure in a red cloak and mask fires a
meto-probe to capture his mind. But Hulk just has a headache and chases his
tormentor and smashes the device. Ripping off the hood reveals Nightshade who
apologizes and asks Hulk’s help in recovering a package that was stolen from
her. Hulk agrees….
On the Manhattan docks, a crook named Alfred Savin watches a
man deposit a briefcase full of blackmail money in a trash can. Savin recovers
it then finds himself facing Iron Fist who advises him not to go ahead with his
plan, namely keeping the film with compromising pictures of a young actress.
Savin draws his gun and fires repeatedly at Iron Fist, who dodges every bullet.
The crook panics and tosses the film to Iron Fist before running away. But then
he runs into Fist’s partner, Luke Cage, Power Man. He shoots Cage but there is
no effect—beyond tearing his new shirt. Cage tosses Savin away and he and Fist
take the money and film and return to their office. Spider-Man was watching
from above but decides Cage and Fist have things under control and he swings
off….
The next day at the office of Heroes for Hire, Power Man and
Iron Fist listen to some prospective clients as their office manager Jennie
Royce advises. Brock Jones of Delmar Insurance and Joy Meachum of Rand-Meachum
outline the job. Rand-Meachum has developed a unique computer circuit that
needs to be delivered to their Chicago lab; word of the device has leaked so a
dozen other operatives will act as decoys, with Cage and Fist carrying the real
package to its destination—for triple their usual fee….
And so Power Man and Iron Fist find themselves on a
disguised freight car on a train taking a circuitous route via Tennessee to
Chicago. It’s a quiet trip—until suddenly the train is derailed and the Hulk
smashes his way in, seizes the package and departs. Cage ties to stop him but
Hulk just swats him. Fist is trapped in the wreckage and must use his signature
move to break out and when he reaches his partner, Hulk is long gone. Hulk
delivers the package to Nightshade, glad he could help the nice lady….
At a train station in Tennessee, Power Man and Iron Fist are
meeting with agents of the Delmar Insurance firm: Maggie Jones, Eddie Harris,
and Aaron Stack. Aaron, secretly Machine Man, is curious to learn how the Hulk
was involved so he hacks into the phone lines and fakes a call for Eddie from
his bookie, telling him he won a fortune on a sports bet. Eddie heads back to
New York to collect his winnings, leaving Aaron in charge…which angers Maggie
who feels slighted. And so Aaron arrives as Machine Man, persuading Power Man
and Iron Fist that they should team up to find Hulk. So MM flies out following
the gamma trail left by Hulk while Luke and IF follow in a borrowed jeep,
unaware that Maggie Jones has stowed away in the back. MM tracks the emission
to a remote house; he crashes into find Bruce Banner. Cage and Fist enter and
MM tells them Bruce was sedated. Then Maggie bursts in, accusing Bruce of
having masterminded the crime and refusing to believe that he has no control
over Hulk’s actions. She slaps him to make him confess but that only triggers
his transformation into the Hulk. Maggie panics and Machine Man seizes her and
deposits her outside for safety. Hulk hurls MM and Cage through the roof so
Iron Fist tries to take him down with his namesake move—but it only annoys
Hulk. Luke enters and tells Hulk to hit him instead of Iron Fist—which confuses
Hulk long enough for Cage and Machine Man to calm him down; they convince Hulk
he was tricked and he gives them the name Nightshade….
Meanwhile, Nightshade has taken a room at a motel and hooked
the new circuit up to her PC and goes to work, now able to bypass any security
systems. In just a few minutes she has transferred 46.5 million dollars into
her own account. But then the angry Hulk tears the wall down, followed by Power
Man and Iron Fist. She flees out the back and runs into Machine Man so she
faints. And then an examination of the PC reveals she was about to order the US
and USSR to launch nuclear strikes at one another…but they are just in time for
Machine Man to cancel the orders. Cage destroys the circuit and then they
discover Nightshade was faking and took off while they were distracted. As she
drives off, Hulk leaps through the air and lands on her hood, sending her
flying into a nearby stream where the police pick her up….
Back in New York, Jennie Royce scolds Luke and Danny for
flubbing such an easy job but the guys aren’t upset….
At the Delmar offices, Eddie Harris has been lambasted for
leaving the scene of an investigation, his bookie denies having called him, and
Maggie Jones arrives to further rebuke Aaron and Eddie for abandoning her. And
Pamela Quinn tells Aaron the most surprising part: Rand-Meachum is not filing a
claim over the destroyed circuit, thanks to the intervention of Daniel Rand
with Joy Meachum….
Characters: Hulk, Power Man, Iron Fist, Nightshade,
Spider-Man, Jennie Royce, Joy Meachum, Brock Jones, Maggie Jones, Eddie Harris,
Pamela Quinn