On
a quiet night in Greenwich Village, Doctor Strange has dozed off though even
Wong feels the night is too quiet. Suddenly the Eye of Agamotto awakens him,
warning of an attack. A flashily-dressed, beaked figure, an Agent of Fortune,
bursts in and starts a fight with Strange. The intruder seems immune to
Strange’s magical attacks; he knocks out Strange, seizes the Eye of Agamotto,
and vanishes with it….
Valkyrie
and Bruce Banner visit her friend Ledge, who was beaten up by Lunatick in issue
#56, in the hospital. Dollar Bill stops by and invites Val and Bruce to an
evening at the Felix Club. At the club, Val has an odd feeling about a couple
seated nearby; they are Eric (Devil-Slayer) Payne and Vera Gemini; he was
trained by the Cult of the Harvesters of Eyes then turned against them and now
she wants him back. He resents having been manipulated by the cult and vows he
will not stop until the cult is destroyed. When Vera reveals that the Cult now
has the Eye of Agamotto, Eric unwittingly drops his magical disguise and stands
revealed as Devil-Slayer; Valkyrie draws her sword and, thinking him the
villain, attacks him. DS, assuming Val is one of Vera’s agents, draws a poleax
out of his cloak and fights back. It is only Vera’s parting words as she
teleports away that lead Val to think she made a mistake. By then, the
excitement has caused Bruce to transform into the Hulk. Hulk bashes
Devil-Slayer around for a bit until DS uses his Shadow Cloak to send Hulk to
another dimension. The police arrive and zero in on Devil-Slayer but he seizes
Val and takes them both elsewhere….
Looking
for Nick Fury about that job offer, Jack Norriss breaks into Avengers Mansion
and is nabbed by one of the traps. Captain America, Iron Man, Beast, and
Scarlet Witch investigate and the embarrassed Jack says he is looking for Nick
Fury….
In
the jungles of Mexico, two archaeologists, Sharon and Marc, come upon a huge
temple; they are enveloped in a mysterious glow and vanish. It is the temple of
the Cult and the Agent of Fortune has arrived announcing his success in
obtaining the Eye for the coming Xenogenesis. Marc and Sharon are sacrificed to
their gods in the Chamber of Rebirth. Dr. Strange is spying on them remotely
and recognizes the Cult that worships the demons who long ago ruled the Earth,
until the Ancient One banished them with the Eye of Agamotto. And now the Cult
has stolen the Eye and will use it in Xenogenesis, the rebirth of the demon
race….