Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Patsy Walker is having a strange dream in which she's marrying Tony Stark. The knife breaks when she's trying to cut the wedding cake so Tony suggests she use her claws. She slashes it open with a demonic hand to reveal entrails inside.
She wakes up on a plane and barfs into the air sickness bag. Her seat companion recognises her and reveals a crush on her since the days of her teen comics. He suggests a date when they get to San Francisco but she slaps him because she can read his thoughts.
She's greeted at the airport by old friend/rival Hedy Wolfe who as usual keeps putting her down. Hedy drives Patsy to her destination. On the way she asks Patsy about her current life but actually spends all the time bragging about her own success. They arrive at a large old house that Patsy has inherited from her mother, the McConnell Manor - but mom Dorothy always said it had burned down.
Hedy continues to spout about her wealthy connections as they wander around until Patsy reveals again that she's telepathic and knows that it's all a lie - Hedy's lost her lover and job. Patsy admits that she and Tony have parted at the moment because she turned down his marriage proposal (Iron Man #20) - because her previous 2 husbands were evil/demonic men. Hedy reminds her that she herself married the demon Belial (Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat #17). And now she reveals her secret plan - she's homeless so she can stay here and help Patsy renovate the place. Patsy agrees and Hedy says she's already brought her stuff over.
That evening Patsy hears a growling in the attic. Investigating she finds boxes of stuff including her old stuffed rabbit toy Buttons. She takes it to bed with her and wakes up late the next morning to find Hedy's room covered in blood. She calls Tony and he prepares to jet there as Iron Man. Then Buttons speaks to her and says "Your claws." and "You have to hurry, Patsy. You're going to be late." And she falls asleep ...
... and the next thing she knows she's at an elegant party in a refurbished Manor where she sees all her dead relatives. And her dead mother is the hostess. Even her dead 1st husband Buzz Baxter is here too. She asks her mom to help her find Hedy and then they can all leave. But then Buzz turns into a werewolf-like version of his Mad Dog supervillain id and Patsy realises she's in Hell.
Meanwhile Iron Man arrives to find Patsy asleep and the toy rabbit tells him "You can't wake her up. She's where she belongs now." Only Patsy has the power to save herself, but Tony asks how he can help. The bunny tells him to take 1 metal glove off and take his hand. And Iron Man falls asleep too.
Hellcat fights Buzz but gets blasted by hellfire for her efforts. But then he shows her Hedy unharmed. She was brought here by Blood Scourges who tend to leave a mess. And then Blackheart (Mephisto's son) reveals himself as the demon behind all this. He says he has the whole McConnell clan down here (encased in his very being) and he reminds her that her dying mother promised Patsy's soul to hell but Patsy refused to go (Defenders #94-95). But he promises to free them all if *she* will come willingly. Patsy refuses to be a prisoner of Hell again, but Blackheart says she wouldn't be a prisoner but a valued captain in Mephisto's army, using the power that her previous time in Hell gave her.
At this point Iron Man turns up but the demon just starts to melt his armour. Hellcat attacks but is easily rebuffed. But she hears the stuffed rabbit say "Patsy. Use your claws." Hedy even joins the fray by hitting Blackheart with her chair. Patsy feels the the power of Hell in her as she grows talons. Which she uses to rip open the demon's chest and extract the souls 'encased' within. And it's all over.
Patsy and Tony wake up and Hedy rushes in from her own room. Hedy decides that she *doesn't* want to stay here. Patsy wants to look into the house more and Tony warns her to be careful before flying off. Dorothy Walker's ghost says she and the rest of her clan are free from hell. All that's left now is for Patsy to confront Buttons and accuse him of being her 2nd ex-husband Daimon Hellstrom, Son Of Satan. He admits it and says that Mephisto and Blackheart are making a play for control of the netherworld, and they forced him into exile with massively reduced powers. So he used her as a pawn in the fight. Patsy of course objects to that but he suggests an alliance. Her response is to kick the bunny into the distance.