Surprised in her dressing room at a strip club, Asp lets loose with a pair of venom-bolts at Captain America. After a scuffle, Cap manages to subdue her and gets to the point of his visit: where is Diamondback? Asp hasn’t seen her so Cap leaves a message for her to call him. On the way out, he asks why she degrades herself by stripping; she responds angrily that she finds it a fulfilling art.
Diamondback, meanwhile is visiting the Tinkerer to pick up her newly designed throwing diamonds. Leaving, she calls Avengers Mansion to leave a message for Cap to meet her at a certain corner. Not far from that corner though, the Skeleton Crew (Crossbones, Mother Night, the Voice, and Machinesmith in the body of the Sleeper) are gathered in a utilities truck, planning to invade the Hellfire Club building in search of the missing Red Skull. They make their way into the sewers—with the Sleeper body having to smash a much larger hole to gain entry and head to the Club’s underground entrance. Machinesmith opens the door remotely, bringing them face to face with a team of guards. The Voice freezes them with a command and Machinesmith taps into the security system and determines that the Red Skull is not on the premises.
Meanwhile on the surface, Diamondback has heard the noise made by Machinesmith when he smashed the street, and suspecting Crossbones' involvement, she descends into the sewer. As she watches from hiding, the Skeleton Crew is brought to a halt by Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. She chokes the Voice with his own boombox and drains his lifeforce to empower herself, leading to a furious battle. Meanwhile, Captain America has found the hole and arrives in time to walk into the battle between the Crew and the Club guards. Mother Night takes the opportunity to turn her allies invisible and they escape, leaving Cap and Diamond to take on the Hellfire guards alone. Selene, wary of an Avenger so close to the Club’s secret entrance, brings the ceiling down on the two heroes….
For the special marvelite in you
Story #2Out of His Skull
Writer:
Mark Gruenwald.Penciler:
Mark Bagley. Inker:
Don Hudson. Colorist:
Mark Gruenwald.
Synopsis
Trapped in the silent darkness of the abandoned fallout shelter, the
Red Skull starts going mad. He sees a succession of figures from his past:
his disappointed father, a contemptuous
Adolf Hitler, his embittered daughter
Synthia, and a snide
Arnim Zola. Each has the same suggestion for the Skull: suicide. Finally, the villain sees the form of his nemesis
Captain America. The illusion of Cap reminds him that he doesn’t want the Skull dead but brought to justice, exhorting him not to give up. This drives the Red Skull into a rage and he vows to survive by sheer force of will, feeding on hatred.