Cloak & Dagger #5 (V2)

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The issue opens up with Cloak and Dagger fighting drug smuggling patrons in a pool hall. The fight goes on for quite awhile, until it appears that there’s no one left for Cloak and Dagger to question, until they spot the bartender. He draws a gun on Dagger, so Cloak pulls him into the shadows of his cloak, where he’s confronted by waves of his worse fear; including being in a graveyard full of people he had personally murdered or had a hand in killing, all suddenly rising from the grave and coming after him. He tries to fight them, but there’s no way to kill what’s already dead. When Cloak releases him from the shadows, he is still violently shaken by what he’s seen, but does confess that there’s a plot to kill Detective O’Reilly, who has been snooping around and trying to find out who is smuggling the drugs in. He explains that they purposely leaked information where the shipment is going to be; but the truth is, there’s no shipment there – only an ambush so that they can kill her.

Inside the warehouse, at that moment, O’Reilly searches several crates, with several other officers; but as hinted, several of the officers are on the take, including one named Falcone, who triggers a trap that snares them in a glass, gas chamber. Chemical gas begins to pour into the chamber as Falcone and the other officers on the take leave. O’Reilly tries to shoot and break the glass, but it’s bullet proof, and all that’s left for her to do is die as she inhales the unknown chemicals. Cloak and Dagger see her lying on the floor and Cloak teleports in, while Dagger stays inside the shadows of his cloak. Cloak wraps his robes around O’Reilly and pulls her into the darkness, where Dagger immediately uses her light knives to heal or restore O’Reilly, but it’s too late. Cloak and Dagger depart, leaving O’Reilly’s body there; and moments later, O’Reilly’s hair turns green and her emerald eyes open searing with anger and hatred.

Cloak and Dagger find the corrupt officers just outside and attack; as they do, a green mist forms around the officers and they turn to see O’Reilly, her skin pale white, her hair, clothes and eyes all dyed green by the chemicals she inhaled. O’Reilly explains that she was dead; or as close to death as one can be, but Dagger’s light daggers made it so she was reborn as this new name – Mayhem. Dagger tries to stop Mayhem from committing murder, but finds her light daggers simply stop before striking Mayhem – unable to get past her mist. Falcone grabs Dagger and puts a gun to her as Cloak tries to talk Mayhem down.

Falcone and another officer escape in individual cop cars; Cloak pulls one of the cop cars with the other officer into the shadows of his cloak, then releases it to crash into several storage crate. Cloak then goes after Falcone and gets close enough for Dagger to jump out of the car. This gives O’Reilly as Mayhem a chance, and she jumps on the hood of the moving car and smashes the window and demands to know where the drug shipment is; he confesses it’s in the religious icons; then she slits his throat and allows his car to crash over the pier and into the water, where he watches – paralyzed by Mayhem’s touch – as the water floods through the shattered window, and there’s nothing he can do but breathe in the water and die, just as he had left O’Reilly to breathe in the chemicals and die.

Dagger argues with Mayhem; but Mayhem points out that Cloak and Dagger killed a man named Simon Marshall (see Spectacular Spider-Man #64) who had injected them with the drugs. She asks if they will help her put an end to the corruption, and while Dagger disagrees, Cloak wholeheartedly agrees.