Story begins in San Francisco with
an old man being carried off by a scary monster that jumps out of a tree….
Then Dr. Druid, Cadaver, and
Shadowoman arrive home at Druid’s Sanctum in Boston, straight from their
previous adventure in Houston (the previous two issues). Druid is mad at Doctor
Strange for putting a curse on him that forces Druid to get involved in
Defenders-type adventures against his will. Cadaver tells him that he wants to
return to Seattle to assure his father and his friends that he’s okay—though
Jillian points out that he’s dead and nothing good can come of it. Druid hushes
her and teleports Cody back to his hometown, noting to Jillian that he will be
back. So Jillian demands to know about her mysterious life and powers. Druid
kisses her and then transports her back into the Bride of Slorioth. And then
Druid has a painful vision of death, life, recreation in San Francisco. Cursing
Dr. Strange, Druid knows he can’t retrieve Cadaver or Shadowoman so he
teleports to San Francisco, planning to recruit local allies. As he leaves, we
see into the Bride of Slorioth and hear someone greeting Jillian on her
arrival….
Interlude: The hitchhiker asks the
truckers to let him off near Columbus, Ohio, and he asks them to join him for
coffee. They decline and are then involved in a fiery crash….
In San Francisco, Julia Carpenter
and her daughter Rachel are driving down a street when Dr. Druid materializes
in front of their car to summon Spider-Woman. After he explains that he is an
Avenger and that they can repair their tarnished reputations with the main
Avengers, she agrees to accompany him. Druid hypnotizes a passer-by into
delivering Rachel to her family and the two heroes depart….
In Seattle, Cody’s pal Frank is
laboring under pressure of not knowing what happened to Cody and being
suspected of foul play. Cadaver appears before him and Frank is terrified, not
believing this monster is Cody and fleeing in panic….
Dr. Druid divines that their way
leads them down into the sewers but as they head there, they are interrupted by
Venom. Venom issues veiled threats and sinister warnings but Druid just
hypnotizes him into thinking he and Spider-Woman are merely late-night
pedestrians. Venom is satisfied and departs. In the sewer, the two heroes are
attacked by a gruesome multi-headed and multi-armed monster. SW casts a psi-web
but the creature tears through it. Druid turns invisible, leaving SW to dodge
the monster, thinking she has been abandoned. The monster overpowers SW,
forcing Druid to take action…and it captures him too….
Rachel calls her Uncle Jack, who
turns out to be U.S. Agent and he promises to find her and make the bad guys
pay….
In Seattle, Cadaver returns home
to tell his father he is back but the old man has a heart attack at the sight
of a corpse pushing his way into the house. Cody calls 911 and decides that
there was no coming back from where he was….
Druid and Spider-Woman awaken to
find themselves woven into a huge pyramid of living organisms. They are greeted
by the verbose Slaymaker, dressed like an Elizabethan artist, who informs them
they are now a part of his great work, the Panentropic Engine….