New Avengers (2nd series) #3

Victoria Hand is alone in her car and parked at the side of the road. She pauses a moment and then says the word no over and over again. She then gets out of the car, flails around for a while in frustration and then gets back inside. "Captain America!" she snarls. He said to her that there wasn't a thought in her head that he agreed with, but he thought she was a patriot. "So go be an Avenger," he said. Be an Avenger, thinks Victoria. Like it's a good thing. Why don't they just call it what it is? Instead of going to jail, she has to go take from Luke Cage and Wolverine for the rest of her life. She grips the steering wheel tightly. "That's what it is!"

She pauses a moment before screaming at the top of her voice, attracting the attention of a guy climbing into a cab thirty yards away. She tries to calm herself down and says fine. Fine. She'll show them what the world is supposed to be. As she speaks to herself, she looks up and sees the skies ripping apart. Onlookers are shocked at the glowing orange light that comes through the clouds.

(elsewhere)
Iron Fist finds himself in a featureless environment. Everything is white and he can't even see the ground he's standing on. He looks around but sees no one. He says hello, but all he hears are two voices, and neither of them is addressing him directly. "What is he?" asks the first. Their companion informs them that he is called the Iron Fist. He was one of the mortals aligned with both Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo. The first asks why he is there. The second explains that he used his body as a vessel to travel. He had the Eye of Agamotto. He brought him there to bring the Eye. It's in his hand. It was a struggle but he got him there. His body should have melted into nothing but slag and ash when it came. The first doesn't understand, but he believes he must be a protected form.

Iron Fist tells whoever it is that if he's dead and this is it, he's going to be so angry. The first asks how he is there. Danny replies that it feels like a trick question, being as he doesn't know where he is and who they are.

(back in New York City)
Watching strange demons emerge from the fissure above them, Hellstrom explains that their dimension is torn. It was weakened and now it is torn. Spidey remarks that he's not a fan of sky lighting on fire and opening up and demons from hell dropping out of it. And he's definitely not a fan of both things happening at once. Logan asks the ‘magic guys' what they have. Jessica asks where the tear came from and Luke wonders where Danny is. "What do we do?" asks Mockingbird. The Avengers feel a little out of their comfort zone.

The sorcerers consider what they might be. Brother Voodoo thinks they are Wolfsblood from the Dark Dimension, but Strange believes otherwise. Ms. Marvel asks if she can punch one before people start getting eaten. "You need permission?" asks Mockingbird. Carol takes to the air and asks Spidey to take the street. Luke asks Strange what the plan is. He tells Voodoo and Hellstrom that he wants to go away with them to Jericho's Sanctum to find a solution. Jessica can't believe they're leaving and Bobbi asks if they're leaving them there to deal with the demon horde from hell. Hellstrom assures her that they are probably not from hell. He would recognize those. These are much worse.

Jessica tells Luke that she has to get to the baby. He advises her to take her to her mom's in New Jersey. Jessica promises to be back as soon as she can. Wolverine and Mockingbird both nervously joke as to whether she needs a nanny. Anything's better than being there. Spidey swings around as Ms. Marvel and the Thing discuss the Ghostbusters movie. They fight demons as they go, trying to protect the innocent civilians caught up in this nightmare. Spidey wonders if they should open a dialogue between themselves and the demons to see if they can't come to some peaceful accord. Ben smashes one and replies that it's not his style. Wolverine slashes at more demons and Luke says that it's his first day as an Avenger, kind of, and look at the mess they're in.

The Thing gets grabbed by several demons but that only serves to anger him. He throws them away in every direction with the phrase, "Playtime's over!" Spidey asks what's wrong with Clobbering Time. If there was ever a time he would designate as a time to clobber… it would be this time. Ben replies that if he's gonna become an Avenger, he's gonna have to come up with a new Avenger-friendly catchphrase… no? It's the all-new-him. Spidey grapples with more demons and tells Ben that he didn't come all this way in life to finally be in the Avengers with him, only to have him pull something like this. Ben says he can grow as a person and try new things, but Spidey reckons you have to give people what they want. Does he see him skimping out on the nervous patter that covers up the fact that he's wet himself because it looks like they've been replaced as the dominant species on the planet? No. Ben should learn from example, he feels.

(Avengers Mansion)
Jessica arrives back at the mansion but immediately sees a hole open up above her and a horde of demons descend. She becomes embroiled in a fist fight against the similarly-sized demons. As she grabs one around the neck she remarks that it's been a while since she's done the super hero thing and, to be honest, she wasn't that good at it then. As she is grabbed by several pairs of clawed hands, Victoria Hand emerges from inside and asks her if she can fly. "If you can fly, girl," she cries, "Fly!" Jessica shoots skywards as Victoria aims her massive gun at the demons. She fires and the weapon makes short work of the invaders.

Jessica returns and Victoria asks what the hell all this is about. Jessica admits that she has no idea. Victoria asks then what she needs her to do, at which point Jessica dashes inside and asks her to go help the others. She needs to get her baby. She thanks Victoria and says it was pretty decent of her to help out. Victoria sees a demon trying to get back in its feet and fires once again. "You kids settle down!" Moments later, Luke sees Jessica flying past with Danielle in her arms. Free to concentrate on the task at hand, Luke smashes a demon, asking if any of these punks speaks anything remotely close to English. Meanwhile, as Mockingbird uses her agility to evade a grabbing hand, Wolverine notes that this isn't getting any better. He hopes the magic boys know what they're doing.

(meanwhile)
Doctor Strange teleports the trio of sorcerers to Jericho's Sanctum Sanctorum in New Orleans. Hellstrom asks what the hell they're going to do. Strange replies that they have to find out what dimension is attacking them. Voodoo adds that they need a copy of Tytrek's dimension guide. Hellstrom asks Strange who might be strong enough to possess him but Strange admits he's not as strong a mystic as he used to be. "Bull," grins Hellstrom. "You're Doctor Strange." He knows that he doesn't get possessed by some D-Level demon from some @$&*%$ dimension. And he sure as hell doesn't either. This is a big deal. This is a heavy hitter using some strong magics to pull some big moves.

Brother Voodoo says he's right and Hellstrom replies, "Damn right, I'm right." Voodoo lowers his head and says he's failed completely as Sorcerer Supreme. Hellstrom gets in his face and asks him to cry in his soup on his own time. Voodoo replies that they took his brother, they took Iron Fist. Can he imagine two nobler men to have been felled by his failure? Hellstrom didn't know about Daniel, so he gets off Voodoo's case and asks Strange who is powerful enough and motivated enough to try a play like this. Strange admits that he doesn't know.

(elsewhere)
Iron Fist, maintaining a defensive posture, asks his unseen captor one last time who he is. He replies that they recognize the emblem on his uniform. It's the molten heart of the dragon Shou-Lao. He is a true mystic warrior. Danny asks him what he wants. A cookie? The second voice asks what that means. The first says that it means of all the mortals he could have taken possession of to be taken there, he picked one who is protected by the sacred arts. "How was to know?" the second replies.

The first asks Danny to hand over the Eye of Agamotto and he will respect him and his teachings and let him walk away from this. Danny replies that he's finding himself under the impression that if he could take it from him he would. But… he can't, can he? The first one replies that a deal could be struck. Danny turns and walks away. That's what he thought. He tells the demon to send him home before he rips him to oblivion.

They ask Danny how he would do that. "Two words," he replies. "Doctor and Strange, so you better..." The stranger cuts him off mid-sentence and replies that those are the wrong two words. They use magic to attack Iron Fist who turns and shouts at his foe. He tells him to show himself and show some honor. A figure emerges from the whiteness and tells Danny that he brought up the name of Stephen Strange and he talks about honor? This is why his kind no longer gets to rule their own dimension: ignorance and weakness. Does he think there is anything Doctor Strange knows that he does not? Danny is shocked as the figure becomes clear. It's the Ancient One and he says the answer is no, because everything Strange knows he taught him. "He is my greatest failure," he adds. "And it is because of him your time is done."