Valkyrie
has been flying around the city with a Vibranium detector but she can find no
sign of the Defenders’ quarry, the Mandrill. She and Aragorn alight on a
rooftop to watch the sunrise and ponder her place in the heroic team….
Kyle
“Nighthawk” Richmond and his lawyer, Milton Rosenblum, are talking over Kyle’s
case (Rosenblum proposes a plea bargain, Kyle wants to hold out for innocence)
when they are visited by Hellcat and Black Panther. BP asks for Kyle’s help via
his extensive business connections to track down a stolen device. BP produces
and demonstrates a circular device which when activated neutralizes all sound
in a given area, resulting in absolute silence; a secondary effect of the device
is to generate energy, enough to end the energy crisis and drive several major
corporations out of business. Kyle starts making phone calls….
Meanwhile,
at the embassy of a Russian satellite nation, Deputy Ambassador Klevshin shows
a visitor, Rangert, the sound absorber and offers to sell it for $100,000.
Rangert tests it by shooting Klevshin and escaping from the building in total
silence. But he exits the building, only to be struck and killed by a bus as he
couldn’t hear the horn. A cab driver picks up the sound absorber and wonders if
he can pawn it. Meanwhile, Black Panther and Hellcat are nearby in an air-car,
having tracked the signal made by the device which is now switched off. They
look around and conclude that it’s no coincidence that the device was near a
Soviet satellite embassy….
Back
at the Sanctum Sanctorum, Valkyrie tries to lift Bruce Banner out of his
depression over being controlled by the Hulk. She suggests a movie but Bruce is
afraid that something onscreen could trigger his transformation. Val proposes
SNOW WHITE; Doctor Strange enters and advises Bruce to take her suggestion….
At
his estate in Central America, Mandrill is informed that his henchman Klevshin
is dead, a victim of his own greed. He again vows revenge against his enemies,
the female Defenders….
Cabbie
Artie Gumm returns to his apartment, upset about his noisy neighbors. He
fiddles with the sound absorber and suddenly everything goes silent. He lies
down for a nap, a lit cigarette in his hand. Hellcat and Black Panther arrive,
having traced the device’s signal, to discover the building is on fire. Artie
Gumm, his clothes ablaze, heads for the stairs and collapses, the sound
absorber rolling down the stairs and picked up by a small child. The two heroes
evacuate the building, Hellcat stringing her cords to the ground so people can
slide down to safety. Meanwhile, the mother fleeing her abusive husband heads
to her Mom’s house, where she sees the device her kid has picked up and
experiments with it, discovering its power. In the silence she decides to leave
her husband for good. She keeps turning the device on and off, allowing the
heroes to track her. Aboard the subway, she switches the sound absorber on
again to quiet some noisy musicians. In the silence, a mentally ill old man finally
hears the voices in his head clearly and acts up, knocking to sound absorber
from the woman’s hand and it is picked up by a homeless lady who enjoys the
silence, unaware that a riot has broken out, led by people panicked by the
sudden silence….
At
the movie theater, everything suddenly goes quiet as the homeless lady has
passed by. Val assumes her warrior form, the crowd panics, triggering Bruce’s
transformation into Hulk. In the chaos, the lady loses the absorber which falls
through a grating. Hellcat and Panther arrive and BP attacks Hulk, creating a sonic
overload on the device. HC turns off the one BP had and the sudden influx of
energy burns out the missing one. Having caused even more panic, Hulk jumps
away. Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman, who were passing by, calm the crowds,
Sue with a force field and Reed directing traffic from up high. Patsy, Val, and
T’Challa are annoyed that the FF have intervened in business the Defenders
already had under control and they head off to a bar for some drinks, planning
to hunt for Hulk later….