In
the deepest part of a ruined fortress, evil wizard Shafik Wazzam has trapped
Gargoyle (Isaac Christians) whom he considers a demon, confining him by a
pentagram, intending to use him to drive the false faiths from his land. And
Isaac is forced to submit….
At
the Defenders Aerie, Sassafras awakens Cloud who was having a nightmare.
Moondragon hears her and enters but Cloud orders her to go away but MD gives
her the mildest of mental beams to help her sleep. Then Moondragon zaps the
dog, chasing it from the room….
In
the castle, Isaac appeals to the wizard, claiming to have no magic powers but
Wazzam demands gold and to Isaac’s surprise, he is able to change a stone
pillar into a huge rod of gold. The wizard absorbs Isaac into the pentagram orb
and takes him to the battlements where the soldiers of the Mujahideen are
commandeering the castle for their base. The wizard fakes subservience until
his time comes. The fortress is attacked by Soviet helicopters and the soldiers
take cover but Wazzam merely lies down, clutching the orb, and his hand becomes
a giant astral thing, seizing and crushing the copters. The Mujahideen rejoice
in their victory but Wazzam traces a pentagram in fire around them and forces
an objecting Gargoyle to take on a giant spirit form and destroy the soldiers
trapped by the pentagram. And Isaac is forced to laugh at the destruction as
Wazzam does….
In
her dreams, Cloud is with Moondragon but she says it is wrong for her to be
with the older woman…and moments later, Moondragon is awoken from her
meditations by a naked young man, surprising and confusing her. The man claims
to be Cloud and Moondragon scans his mind to find out it is true. The rest of
the team come running and are shocked to find a naked man in Moondragon’s room,
especially one who claims to be Cloud….
In
Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, Shafik Wazzam bursts into the office of a Russian
General and lectures him on reality and morality while kneading the man’s head
like clay, leaving him melted across a table. He then tells the two witnesses
to talk of this as he teleports them back to Moscow. Gargoyle, trapped in the
pentagram stone, denounces Wazzam for his evil deeds but must shut up when the
wizard threatens him. Isaac suggests Wazzam go to America to seize its riches.
So Wazzam has Isaac teleport him into the middle of New York City but
immediately detects the presence of Doctor Strange and knows Isaac has lured
him there to be killed by the Sorcerer Supreme. So Wazzam spies a tourist ad
for the Rocky Mountains and orders Isaac to take him there…
…where
the Defenders in the Aerie are trying to understand what happened to Cloud, as
he explains that he had to be male to fall in love with Moondragon. Then,
Moondragon detects Gargoyle’s presence, leading the team to take a jet North to
Colorado. On the way, Bobby is still confused by the change in Cloud’s gender
while Val gently reminds him that he was hunted for not being “regular” or
“average,” noting that many of the Defenders have changed appearance. They
arrive near Isaac’s location and land in a field. They come upon a huge chasm
and cross it but discover the other side looks much different with strange
trees on the landscape. They encounter Shafik Wazzam and tell him they are
looking for their missing comrade. Wazzam concludes they are also demons and causes
the trees to entangle the Defenders in their boughs. Val cuts them all free
with Dragonfang and confronts the wizard who summons his demon to protect
him…and a giant astral version of a very angry Gargoyle appears before them….
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