Appearing in "Sold Out!"
Featured Characters:
- Heroes for Hire (Disbands)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Pirates
- Lionmane (Lo Chien)
- Sai
- Unnamed pirates
- Cat
Other Characters:
- Mrs Arbogast
- Namor
- Stark-Fujikawa (Mentioned)
- Mr Honeywell
Locations:
- China
- South China Sea
- Beijing (Mentioned)
- United States of America
- Symkaria (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "Sold Out!"
Iron Fist and Shang-Chi are dodging the sharks, but Danny has no choice but to kill a shark with his Iron Fist to distract the others. Once they surface they meet up with Colleen and Jessica Drew who are on a makeshift raft. A submarine appears, knocking the Heroes into the water. Lionmane and his crew come out and he orders the murder of the crew, with the exception of Shang-Chi, Danny, Colleen and Jessica.
At Oracle, Hammond is anzious that the away team hasn't checked in when Mrs Arbogast informs him Namor has arrived. Jim is happy to see his old friend but Namor quickly dispels that by informing him that he's sold Oracle Inc. Jim is enraged, certain he had done a good job running the company. Namor explains that he no longer believe Oracle is living up to its original goal of environmental concerns and that it never will. Hammond is further engraged, concerned for his employees. Namor assures him that he will see to their needs as best he can and that "if they are good people, they should be able to find other jobs and quickly." The fate of the employees now rests in the hands of the new owners.
Back aboard the submarine... The Heroes have been captured and are restrained. Danny plans to wait until they reach Lionmane's base before he acts. Shang-Chi notices the guard speaks only Chinese which, in Danny's mind, confirms their suspicions as to Lionmane's true identity. Danny thinks they have an ace up their sleeve in the form of the missing cat. Shang-Chi thinks otherwise. The guard punches Shang for talking and Danny offers to use the Iron Fist to free them but Shang urges caution and patience.
The hours pass and the Heroes are soon at the pirates' dock. Danny comments that few governments could afford such a lair, which convinces him that it is a government base and Lionmane is actually the Chinese General Lo Chien. Lo Chien removes his helmet revealing his true identity. He then reveals his ally in the form of Shen Kuei, the Cat. Danny's shocked by this betrayal and Shang-Chi merely disappointed. Lo Chien has an offer to discuss with the Heroes and retires to his study. Above, Wolverine watches.
In Chien's study, Chien has dismissed all the guard save for Sai and Cat so that they may have better privacy. Lo Chien explains that he believes the communist government will soon fall and the country will break into warlord-ships. He intends to be the most powerful of those warlords, eventually ruling all of China. He's been using piracy to gather captial to finance his plans. And he extends an offer to the Heroes, return to the West, and tell the goverments what he has told them and that he will someday rule China and whomever is a friend now will be treated as a friend later. He even underwrites it with the idea that the governments will "thank them" for their efforts. As for Madripoor, Lo Chien's only true motivation is to gain further wealth as well as believeing Madripoor deserved to be destroyed for being a haven to cutthroats and criminals. The Chinese government is fully unaware of his true goals and turns a blind eye to his activities. Chien asks if the Heroes will serve.
Danny will have no part of it and summons the Iron Fist, freeing himself and then frees his friends. Chien is not worried as the Heroes are still trapped in his base. But an alarm sounds, signalling an attack and He races to discover what is happening, ordering Sai and Cat to finish the Heroes off. Several guards enter and the combatants are chosen, Sai will face Colleen with Colleen's own swords, Shang-Chi and Jessica Drew will handle the incoming guards and Iron Fist will once again face off with Cat.
Lo Chien has survey the situation to find people attacking his base. Wolverine explains that they are "the upright and angry citizens of Madripoor" and that together, they're going to shut down Lo Chien's operations.
Iron Fist is winning over Cat, not distracted by the battles of others. Colleen is having little trouble with Sai who is not used to using swords.
Wolverine has discovered the secret of Lionmane; he's a mutant with nigh-invulnerable skin that his claws cannot penetrate. As well, he seems to have enhanced strength and is a skilled combatant. Wolverine is worried.
Iron Fist takes out Cat with a kick to the head and Colleen has Sai under control, urging Danny to find Lo Chien.
Lo Chien has Wolverine in a vice grip, holding him off the ground by the throat, planning to rip it out. Danny knocks Lionmane out and Wolverine appreciates the hand ...in his own way.
48 hours later at Oracle Inc's headquarters in New York, Danny, Luke, Scott, Thena, Jim and Jennifer are all gathered together to meet Mr Honeywell, the representative from Oracle's new owners, Stark-Fujikawa. S-F sees the advantages of Heroes For Hire but believes some changes are necessary. For example, he believes ex-cons project the wrong image so Luke and Scott are out. Also, S-F will now pick all the missions. Jim speaks up, quitting, betting almost everyone else will go with him. And he's right. Jennifer warns S-F that they had better get proper severance packages and that she'll make sure they pay out. The team leaves, but will remain friends with the hope that one day they will come together again.
Notes
- The boardroom battle between Hammond and Namor; which included igniting a few sparks from the original Human Torch
Trivia
- The Narrator, previously fired by Jennifer Walters, returns.
- The last issue of the series.
- The Team disbands in this issue due to Namor suspending the funding.