The Avengers and the People’s Protectorate join forces against the Atlantean army, while the Peace Corpse terrorists try to flee the scene in their stolen nuclear submarine Waterwind. Damaged by Atlantean weapons fire, the Waterwind surfaces to seek repair facilities in St. John’s, Newfoundland, but not before Stingray has snuck aboard. Stingray starts to free the submarine’s imprisoned crew and manages to inform the Avengers of the sub’s position and status, partly because the Peace Corpse’s most militant member, Strokov, allowed Stingray to get past him since Strokov wanted to force a confrontation between the Peace Corpse and their enemies. The Avengers-Protectorate alliance finally forces the Atlanteans into retreat, then follows the Waterwind to St. John’s, where the Peace Corpse have captured Stingray and recaptured the British crew. Terrorist leader Prokvitch angrily berates Strokov for failing to contain the prisoners and questioning his leader. Surrounded by the Avengers, the Protectorate and the Canadian military, the Peace Corpse threaten to start killing hostages if they are not given immediate access to maritime facilities. Assuming this is a bluff, the heroes refuse to negotiate, so Prokvitch shoots Stingray in the head. As the shocked heroes debate what to do next, Canadian super-team Apha Flight shows up to claim jurisdiction over the Waterwind crisis now that it has moved into Canadian territory.