The Thunderbolts crossover with Shadowland begins here! Luke Cage heads into Hell’s Kitchen to pull his old friend back from the brink of madness. And if swarming ninjas aren’t enough, he's become aware of other forces that will make his task even harder. Going against the Warden and the government itself, Cage sends the T-Bolts in to level the playing field. But without his direct guidance, will this squad of killers and criminals make the situation even worse? Find out in the book IGN.com calls "Impressive...not to be missed."
Near Shadowland, Luke Cage discusses the attempted intervention and subsequent battle that occurred at the end of Shadowland #2 during a phone conversation with his wife. After the conversation, Iron Fist appears and begins a discussion with Cage, but suddenly Cage grabs a garbage can and crushes Iron Fist, who was actually a Hand imposter using a spell to appear as Iron Fist. An old blues guitarist, Lacey Kimbro, then strikes up a conversation with Cage. Kimbro tells Cage that the Hand have taken his son, Darris, a policeman. Darris discovered the existence of members of the Hand that have been killed but are still living (the Underhand). Kimbro also says that Shadowland has an underground fortress where these beings live in a purgatory-like state. Darris and his partner found out about the beings and went to the underground fortress “to do their job” and they never came back.
At the Raft, Fixer and Songbird inform the Thunderbolts that Luke Cage isn’t in and they will have to eat with the general population. Walden John Walker expresses some displeasure at Cage’s absence. In the mess hall, female inmates are fascinated by Gunna, whom they call Troll. They tell Songbird that Gunna doesn’t understand English, but when they ask Songbird if the rumor that Gunna was a cannibal is true, she stops devouring her meal and says “aye”, surprising everyone. On the men’s side, an inmate antagonizes Crossbones thinking his nanites will prevent him from touching other inmates. During their meal, Crossbones grabs his hand, the back of which is discolored, presumably from the exposure to the terrigen crystals from last issue. On their way out of the mess hall, Juggernaut creates a distraction for Crossbones, who then shoves a plastic spork down the throat of the inmate who was irritating him.
The team then assembles and transports via Man-Thing to Hell’s Kitchen where they meet with Cage. He takes them to a sewer entrance and gives them their mission: find Darris Kimbro, and if there is an underground fortress, level it. Cage tells the team Fixer is the lead on the mission since Cage has other Shadowland-related business to attend to. The team, Fixer, and Songbird head through the sewers and are eventually attacked by Hand ninjas. During the battle, Fixer is stabbed through the stomach and Songbird is overtaken, leaving the team without handlers, which pleases Moonstone, who is ready to have some fun.
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