Secret Defenders, The (1993 series) #23

Deathlok (Michael Collins) arrives in the small town of Starksboro, Maine, on a rainy night and he approaches a sinister mansion. He is met by Dagger then Dr. Druid with Cadaver and Sepulchre; they enter the house which is called Wyldwind. He tells them about Slorioth, a demon bound by a cabal of sorcerers 15000 yearS ago who is now about to escape. Fortifying his prison requires three who are pure in spirit, Deathlok, Dagger and…Drax, who comes crashing through the skylight, ready for action….

Interlude: At Dr. Druid’s Boston Sanctum, Joshua Pryce and Al, as members of the Cognoscenti, plan to use the confluence of magicks in the house for their own purposes though Al has reservations….

Dr. Druid takes his Secret Defenders out into an empty glen. As they watch, a huge metal door appears out of nowhere. Dagger tries twisting some knobs but nothing happens so Drax rips the door out of his frame and he, Dagger, and Deathlok enter a mystical world (inspired by M.C. Escher) where they encounter Dagger’s former partner Cloak who seems hostile, then Drax and Deathlok are attacked by their doubles….

Interlude II: Joshua chants a spell from Dr. Strange while Al is certain he will screw up again. The chant continues….

The Drax doppelganger is angry that someday he will turn into the idiot Drax is now and Deathlok 2 fires on the original while Cloak feeds on Dagger’s energy blasts, hungering for more. Deathlok 2’s weapons multiply and he fills the air with projectiles that the Draxes dodge while Deathlok jumps in front of Dagger and is gravely injured, which upsets Dagger so much that she explodes in a flash of light….

Interlude III: The chant opens a mystic portal and three shadowy figures emerge (see the last page)….

Dagger, Drax, and Deathlok are unharmed, Dr. Druid explaining that their virtues triumphed over the negative aspects of their psyches. The sealanter has been undone so Druid uses the statue of the Bride of Slorioth to open the Gates of Perdition which emerge from the ground in a huge eruption revealing a stairway leading down. Druid takes a step but he is halted by the real Defenders: Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Silver Surfer….