Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Kara Killgrave (Persuasion) is promoting her new line of perfume Enticement on a talk show. Eegro accompanies her. She relates how she was initially ashamed to have inherited the purple skin and persuasive power from her villainous father Purple Man. But then she realised she couldn't hide who she was and decided to redeem her family name. Eegro says he offered to wear a skimpy outfit too to promote the goods but the company declined his offer. The host says that Eegro dolls and toys are selling like hotcakes, and Kara tells the audience that all proceeds go to fund the Thunderbolts. Eegro gets a laugh when he interprets that as paying for the damage their leader's mistakes cause.
We look in on that leader Hawkeye listening to the program which continues with Eegro saying that the team had a rocky start but now they've learned to trust each other in the field. And we discover Clint Barton's naked ex-wife Bobbi Morse trying to entice him into not responding to an emergency call. (Both of these things should tip us off that we're in Clint's dream.) But he answers the call.
Next we see Melter and Whirlwind holding some innocent bystanders hostage for a million dollars. Hawkeye turns up with Gutsen Glory, Power Man and Spectrum. But Hawk is wearing his original outfit including the mask PR Helen Astrantia forbade him to wear last issue. Spectrum is in *her* original Captain Marvel duds. PM (Victor Alvarez) has on PM (Luke Cage)'s original costume. And GG looks more like Cable of the X-Men. Hawkeye's explosive arrow knocks down Melter. Monica Rambeau frees the hostages as Victor distracts Whirlwind until America Chavez star-teleports in and judo throws him. To complete the confusion she, who sometimes goes by Miss America or Ms America, is dressed like the WWII Miss America (Madeline Joyce). Melter has recovered but surrenders to GG's big gun and Hawkeye's arrow.
The actual Luke Cage, these days Mayor of New York, congratulates Clint and Monica on the team's current winning streak. The duo, now in their proper TBolts uniforms, praise each other. But then Monica and Luke turn on Clint and suggest that these days he's a walking disaster. However Helen and legal rep Harris Hutchley tell him to stop worrying and get on with the job. Cue a montage of battles with the team in their odd costumes again, including Persuasion with a teen look reminiscent of her Alpha Flight days. Eegro just looks like himself.
Hawkeye now holds a press conference. The press begin by asking questions which bolster his ego, except for 1 about him secretly wanting to run the West Coast Avengers not the 'Bolts. Then his old girlfriend Black Widow flummoxes him by asking about the damage he caused while disguised as Ronin (in New Avengers vol 1), and whether he deserves all his 2nd chances after all the times he's screwed things up. Clint opines that he's just been lucky, even coming back from the dead once (after Scarlet Witch killed him at the end of Avengers vol 3). Bobbi (in costume this time) asks if that's the Barton luck or the Barton curse? Helen interrupts again to tell him to stop worrying about consequences because they have a new emergency.
A large disc-shaped spaceship hovers over NY and drops Terminus to the ground. The huge alien robot starts killing the team until only Hawkeye is still standing.
Then we look in on reality where last issue saw America collapse in a subway train. Victor as Power Man is giving her artificial respiration when the paramedics arrive. They ask why the superhero didn't fly her to hospital. He only has time to tell them he can't fly before he too collapses. Helen is having no luck contacting any of the team and has gone to Hawkeye's apartment (for which she has a key because the place came with the job). She enters and finds Clint hovering in midair over his bed with his back arched in a spasm and a blue glow in his eyes.