The
Defenders discover, with a shock, that they have been teleported into outer
space. Cloud appears to them as a constellation, assuring them that they are
within her, breathing air she provides. She is home and yes, she is a nebula.
She was able to compress herself down to human size for her mission—and she
points out that in one sector of space, the stars are vanishing, leaving
inhabited planets to freeze. And then spaceships arrive and beam the Defenders
aboard to meet the brown aliens. An alien is made nervous by Valkyrie’s sword
and shoots at her, triggering a brawl that only ends when Seraph fills their
foes’ minds with ecstasy. The aliens show their guests film of what transpired
on their planet when the sun went out: the world grew too cold to inhabit so
selected aliens were able to depart in their spaceships. At this point, Beast
thinks to ask Cloud why she chose Earth and how the aliens just happened to be
there. Cloud introduces them to her friend, a small spiky planetoid, whom Cloud
sought in panic at the vanishing of the stars; the planetoid is Kubik who had
once been the Cosmic Cube and told Cloud about Captain America and other heroes
of Earth so he enabled her to travel to that planet. Kubik also called for help
but could only reach Overmind, who was soon lost in the void. Hank asks Kubik
why he can’t fix this all himself, seeing he’s the Cosmic Cube? Kubik claims
something is draining his power. Kubik belatedly provides them with
bio-cybernetic devices that allow them to understand the language of the brown
aliens. The Defenders agree to do what they can to solve this cosmic problem
and Kubik joins them, taking the form of Captain America….
The
Defenders (plus “Kap”) board a small pursuit craft crewed by the brown aliens
and enter the void where they encounter a huge face-like structure in the sky calling
itself the Star-Thief, which insists that the universe exists to make her happy
and she has been extinguishing the stars that she calls stupid little lights.
Gargoyle attacks with bio-mystical blasts but Star-Thief merely turns them into
clown faces and disappears. Then they note their ship has been shrunk to fit
into the palm of Iceman’s hand. Kap does have the power to restore that and they
reboard the ship. The heroes and the aliens puzzle out where to find the
Star-Thief; they deduce from the fact that she isn’t wiping out entire galaxies
that she must inhabit a planet inside a dust cloud that prevents her from
seeing many stars. They visit the most likely candidate where they are
surrounded by ships. They are shot down but Cloud creates an atmosphere
allowing them to board one of the enemy craft. The Defenders and the brown
aliens battle the green aliens and capture their ship but the green captain
sets the ship to self-destruct and it explodes, Kap’s giant shield carrying
them safely to the surface of the planet. The Star-Thief appears and tries to
destroy them but doesn’t have the power and she vanishes. The heroes follow the
energy pattern to a palace where they fight their way in, dashing through the
building until they come upon…a sick child. Her mother explains that the
Princess is in a coma due to an injury to her eyes. Cloud enables the blinded
Angel to communicate with her. She fights him, insisting that the stars are her
enemies but the group of heroes and brown aliens convinces her that in the
light there is love. A pouch magically appears, containing the stars that have
been stolen; Kap takes the pouch, promising to return the stars to their
locations. Kap and Cloud say their goodbyes, the latter offering a special
farewell to Bobby, and Kubik sends them back to Earth, asking them to say Hi to
the real Captain America for him….
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