Synopsis / Summary / Plot
At the end of last issue we saw that Mad Thinker and Puppet Master have a plan to kill lots of heroes while they embroil them in a fight over some Superhero Registration Act prisoners being transported to jail. As part of this plan they gave information about the route of the transport trucks to the Yancy Street Gang.
Captain America, Cloak and Dagger, 'Daredevil' and Luke Cage of the Resistance know the date of the transfer, but not the time and route. They are planning how to cover the possibilities when some YSG members pop in to fill in the blanks. (How do the YSG know where the Resistance meet, when even SHIELD can't find out?)
In their lair Puppet Master is creating a mock-up of the area where they intend the conflict to take place, with models for the protagonists in his special clay. Thinker's Cerebral Enhancement System helmet should enable Philip Masters to control many more people at a time than usual via their 'voodoo' dolls.
Thing knows when the convoy is due. So when he hears that the YSG are staging a protest then he rushes out to keep them out of trouble.
Iron Man and Spider-Man are accompanying the convoy. (Spidey is crouched on the cab of a truck - exactly where PM's puppet placed him.) Peter Parker's Spider-Sense detects trouble ahead, which is the Resistance approaching through the sewers. So IM switches the convoy to a backup route, straight into the protesters. At this point the backup-backup route takes them down Yancy Street itself - exactly as Thinker had planned.
The YSG start pelting them from the rooftops. Tony Stark calls in backup:- Ms Marvel, She-Hulk, Tigra, Wasp and Yellowjacket. Puppet Master senses that Spider-Man is sensing his control, so the villainous duo decide to accelerate their plan. PM takes control of the pilot of an escorting helicopter, and fires missiles. The heroes seem to stop all the missiles, but the convoy still ends up crashed and on fire.
Thing is already on the scene. The Resistance heroes arrive. Luke Cage asks Ben Grimm to help them free the prisoners, while Iron Man tells him to stop them escaping. Thing hesitates.
Meanwhile Mouse, the YSGer that Puppet Master used to get the info to the gang, is obviously being controlled. He gets a bomb out of a rubbish bin and runs with it towards the convoy. Other YSGers tackle him, but the bomb rolls along the floor. Until Thing picks up an empty truck and uses it to smother the explosion. But 1 of the YSG members is dead. And Ben recognises Philip Masters' voice coming from Mouse.
All the prisoners have escaped, but the opposing hero groups are eager to continue fighting. But Ben shows them the dead kid, and shames them into stopping. Cap and IM still try to talk him into joining them (or in the SRA side's case, continue to support them - he's already registered). But Thing now declares his neutrality - he believes the Registration Act is wrong but he doesn't want to fight his government. So that leaves him 1 option - he's leaving the country.