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Quote1 The delicate balance of cosmic order must be restored, Boomerang! ... Events erred on the side of order, so Sagittarius and I are creating co-equal chaos -- Quote2
Libra

Appearing in "D-Day!"

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Synopsis for "D-Day!"

The story begins where the previous issue ended. The NYPD intends to arrest a team of the Defenders for a Day which is led by Hercules, and a team of the villainous Defenders which is led by Sagittarius. Both Sagittarius and Hercules protest the decision, and each accuses the other team of being impostors and thieves. The unnamed leader of the police officers is enraged with the situation and seems tired of listening to them.

Hellcat intervenes and explains that she and Hercules are former members of the Avengers. She tries to use her Avengers' I.D. as evidence, but she finds out that she had forgotten to take the I.D. with her. Hercules has his own I.D. with him and offers it to the police for examination. The police officer can not tell the difference between a real and forged I.D.. He still doubts Hercules' claim that he is a hero. Sagittarius expects that the truth will surface eventually. He instructs Plantman to prepare to escape, and to pass the word to the other villains. Soon Plantman uses a giant plant to escape, while the Beetle and Whirlwind fly away. The rest of the villains escape on foot.

Hercules commands his team to chase the villains. The police is helpless to stop them. The enraged leader of the police shouts that the Defenders will still pay for all the damages they caused. The fleeing villains enter Grand Central Station and accidentally frighten civilians, while simply trying to escape. Beetle and Whirlwind briefly converse about their doubts that Sagittarius knows what he is doing. Batroc takes the lead in trying to escape through the subway. The heroes also enter the Station, following the White Tiger who seemingly knows the area.

The White Tiger manages to grab the fleeing Batroc and starts grappling with him. The two rival teams of Defenders begin to fight. Hercules punches the Blob. His punches have no effect on the Blob, who mocks Hercules for being a "pantywaist". The White Tiger continues to fight Batroc, while Iron Fist takes down the Looter. Whirlwind fights Captain Ultra. David finds his opponent's colorful costume to be an eyesore. The Beetle expects the defeat of his team, but then notices an approaching subway train.

The Beetle takes control of the train and gets rid of the driver. The rest of the villains quickly enter the train to escape. Electro prepares to use his electricity to increase the speed of the train. The Black Goliath grabs hold of the last railroad car and uses his super-strength to try to prevent the train from departing. He only causes the last car to get dislodged from the rest of the train. The train leaves and the villains escape. The heroes are ready to give up on the chase, but Captain Ultra offers to use his scanner vision to follow the train.

Captain Ultra flies above ground and is able to see beneath the ground, tracking the movements of the train. He shouts instructions to the other Defenders, who try to follow him on foot. He is the only one in this team who can fly. A tired Hellcat suggests that they should retrieve her Hellcatmobile.

The scene shifts to the Empire State University. Dollar Bill happily greets his friend Ledge and Professor Harrison Turk. Ledge had been hospitalized for quite a while. Ledge has just been released from the hospital, but he is still bandaged and uses two crutches to walk. Dollar Bill gives him a few pats on the back, but they cause him pain. Harrison Turk changes the topic to Dollar Bill's avant-garde documentary on the Defenders. He wants to know what the team thought of it. Dollar Bill claims that the documentary is ancient history for him, and that he is more interested in future triumphs. Harrison Turk has a proposal for him. The scene ends before Turk explains his idea.

The scene shifts to the Wall Street. A group of Defenders for a Day, led by Nighthawk, locates a young boy stealing the handbag of a middle-aged woman. They intervene and stop the thief. The team complains about Nighthawk wasting their time and only leading them to apprehend unruly children. They have yet to locate any super-villain. An irate Nighthawk tries to act as their boss and belittles the team. In reaction, Marvel Man, Nova, Polaris, Son of Satan, and Tagak quit the team and leave. Nighthawk is the only remaining Defender in the group. The frustrated Nighthawk learns that the middle-aged woman is the thief's mother. The boy was only trying to steal his allowance. The thief walks away, leaving Nighthawk empty-handed.

Nighthawk soon learns that another group of villainous Defenders have taken control of the New York Stock Exchange. He decides to go rescue the Stock Exchange single-handedly. He keeps in mind that his wealth as Kyle Richmond depends on the survival of this financial institution. The group of villains is led by Libra. The leader tries to explain what motivates him. He cares about the delicate balance of cosmic justice and strives to restore it. He feels that the Defenders tipped the scales in favor of order. So he and his partner Sagittarius are trying to create chaos to balance the scales again. That is why they created the villainous Defenders. Boomerang has trouble understanding Libra's way of thinking. While Toad adoringly expresses his admiration for the idea.

The Shocker has his own idea of how to become wealthy. He threatens a stockbroker called Trip, to convince him to invest on the stock market as his representative. A few successful transactions later, the Shocker gets one million dollars deposited to his Swiss bank account. He graciously allows Trip to survive the experience. Trip is still shaken, and realizes that his own son will not believe his story.

At the floor below, Nighthawk breaks a window and emerges into the Stock Exchange. He quickly punches Joe the Gorilla and causes the villain to drop on his own ally, Cap'n Skragg. Nighthawk hopes that by acting swiftly, he can convince the villains that there are other Defenders with him. A single blast from the Melter knocks out Nighthawk. The Melter comments that Nighthawk has "plenty of spunk", but no brains. He advises the hero to stay home at the next opportunity. Libra decides that his team has to evacuate the Stock Exchange, before the arrival of other heroic Defenders. The Melter asks his leader what to do with the unconscious Nighthawk. Libra decides to leave Nighthawk where he fell, claiming that the hero is finished. Following their departure, a dazed Nighthawk returns to consciousness. He resolves to locate the other Defenders and get them to help him stop the villains. The problem is that he has no idea about the location of his fellow Defenders.

The scene returns to the train with the other villainous Defenders. Hercules stands on the tracks in front of the train, determined to stop it. A single attack with his bare hands partly destroys the train and prevents it from moving any further. The villains are unable to escape, and Beetle decides to rally the troops. He tells them that there can be only one team to survive, either his own or the heroic Defenders. There will be no holds barred in this battle. Electro and the Looter declare that they will fight by the Beetle's side. The Porcupine volunteers to face Hercules in combat, and threatens to kill him. The battle begins.

Hercules easily defeats the Porcupine, while Iron Fist kicks the Looter's head. The White Tiger punches the Beetle, while Havok guards the White Tiger from any rear attacks. Nearby, the Blob ambushes Hellcat from behind. Blob has his hands holding her neck in a strangle hold, and starts choking her. Her fellow Defenders are too preoccupied with their own fights to take notice and help her. Hellcat's air supply is soon running out and she realizes that she is dying. Suddenly her eyes turn white, and the subconscious barriers in her mind explode. Her still developing psychic powers lash out blindly, and blast every hero and villain in her vicinity. As she is finally able to breathe again, she finds herself surrounded by the unconscious bodies of her friends and foes. She is the last woman standing. She is surprised at what she just did, and ponders that Moondragon never warned her that she would be able to perform anything like this. She adds that Moondragon never warned her about the migraine that would be the result of using her powers. As she clutches onto a nearby support beam to stay on her feet, the scene ends.

The scene shifts to Nighthawk. He has located Valkyrie's group of Defenders, and informed them of what happened to him and his group. Valkyrie leads the group in search of Libra's villains. Meanwhile, the villains are trying to steal the Staten Island ferry. They plan to use it as an escape vehicle. Joe the Gorilla, Pecos, and the Shocker are tasked with driving away the civilians from the ferry. Valkyrie's Defenders arrive to confront the villains. Libra comments that he had expected that the television special would attract plenty of aid for the Defenders on the side of Order. He created his own Defenders as a counter-balancing force of Chaos. With this goal achieved, he sees no reason to fight. Libra escapes and leaves his team behind. Toad jumps in the water, while also trying to escape.

The battle between the rival teams of Defenders takes place on board the ferry. Joe the Gorilla manages to ambush Valkyrie, and holds her neck in a strangle hold. The other combatants fail to notice and help her. While struggling for air, Valkyrie starts hallucinating that Joe is a Rock Trolls from Asgard. In her vision, she is surrounded by weapon-wielding Rock Trolls. She is overcome from warrior madness and uses her Asgardian strength to break Joe's grip. She then lifts him and throws him away, sending him flying away at great speed. He can only scream.

As the Falcon fights with the Leap-Frog, the insane Valkyrie attacks them both. She defeats them and sends them flying away, while Leap-Frog fails to understand why is she attacking her own allies. Valkyrie proceeds to attack every hero and villain on the ferry, and sends them all flying away. The Prowler announces that he wants to quit the team. While flying towards the Statue of Liberty, Boomerang contemplates that Valkyrie is a "sick" woman.

Valkyrie soon stands victorious in the ferry, while swearing that she is following Hela's orders. Nighthawk joins her on the ferry and congratulates her of getting rid of all these rookie Defenders. Valkyrie turns around and views him as a Troll assassin. She grabs Nighthawk, lifts him up from the ground, and prepares to execute him with her sword. Nighthawk tries to remind Val that he is her friend and fellow Defender. She does not believe him at first, but then realizes that she is about to kill one of her friends. The warrior madness goes away and Valkyrie is horrified. She believes that she became what she most despises in life, a berserker who revels in bloodlust. Nighthawk, tries to calm her down.

At this point, Falcon and Jack of Hearts emerge from the waters and climb back on the ferry. Falcon is shocked at what happened to him, but Jack is merely disappointed with the Defenders. He announces his intention to resign from the team. An angry Nighthawk tells Jack that someone has to be dedicated to belong to this team. Falcon corrects him, claiming that someone has to be crazy to belong to this team. Nighthawk turns his attention back to Valkyrie, who seems to be grieving. Nighthawk promises to help her, and to provide her with the best doctors that money can buy. She claims that there is as ongoing conflict between her Asgardian persona and the mortal body which she inhabits, that of Barbara Norriss. She doubts that doctors can understand that. The scene ends.

The scene shifts to the Soviet Union, in a Soviet Research Institute. Two scientists are meeting with General Kharkov, reporting to him about the condition of the Red Guardian. They have failed to help her return to her normal state. She has been permanently turned into a radioactive being. They recommend keeping her quarantined, in order to protect normal humans from her. The general points that the Guardian is growing restless and that they are unable to hold her against her will. The General then receives a written report that the Presence was located in the Forbidden Area. He has apparently awakened the Giant Amoeba. The scientists fear that this means that all mankind is doomed. The story ends.

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