Crazy Eight

The female assassin named Crazy Eight is on death row and getting her last meal. She rejects it and asks for a pizza instead and demands that Doc Samson be present when she is executed. The guard looking after her tells Crazy Eight that a crowd of people have come to celebrate her impending death. Among those gathered is Beth Hartwell, the daughter of the late Senator Ray Hatwell, Crazy Eight's last victims.

Meanwhile, outside a bar in Reno, Nevada, Doc Samson, Rick Jones, Betty Banner, and Marlo Chandler are recovering after the Hulk was kidnapped by the Pantheon. Rick is still bleeding from a bullet wound but refuses to go to the hospital. Still, regardless of the circumstances, Betty Banner lashes out at Doc Samson, furious because the man that Doc Samson "cured" is not the Bruce Banner that moves her. Betty eventually gets fed up and tells Doc Samson to stop meddling in her life. She then drags Rick off to a hospital.

Soon Doc Samson and the Ringmaster are confronted by Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. After the Ringmaster is sent back to prison, Fury takes Samson in his helicopter where he demands to know why he got the Ringmaster out of jail. Samson explains that he used the criminal to help cure the mind of the Hulk but he was recently captured by the Pantheon. When Samson asks Fury who the Pantheon is, Fury tells him that is classified. He then explains that he is bringing Samson at the state penitentiary to witness Crazy Eight's execution.

Samson recalls how the District Attorney hired him to analyze Crazy Eight after she was a series of murders including the death of a US Senator. She was later captured and brought to jail by Wonder Man. When he interviewed her in prison she first tried to seduce him, then gave him a series of contradictory stories to explain her psychotic behavior. Finally, she talks about how angry she was that the police and press got her symbol wrong when they confused the symbol for infinity as a "crazy eight". Ultimately, in court, Doc Samson testified that Crazy Eight was full cognizant of the difference between right and wrong and would never be repentant of her actions. It was because of this testimony Crazy Eight was found guilty and sentenced to death.

When Doc Samson visits Crazy Eight on death row, they have a moment alone so she can talk. Crazy Eight still doesn't give him a straight answer about why she murdered the Senator. When Doc Samson goes to the execution room he finds that only Beth Hartwell sitting in the chairs. Suddenly there is a commotion in the other room. Ther Crazy Eight has had second thoughts about her impending execution and is trying to make an escape. Doc Samson subdues her and forces Crazy Eight into the electric chair. When they strap her into the electric chair, Samson quietly tells her that he is sorry. He then watches as she gets executed. After Crazy Eight is confirmed to be dead, Beth Hartwell begins to cry, saying it should have been her in the electric chair. She shows him a photo of her and Crazy Eight when they were teenagers. Doc Samson puts together that Beth was in an abusive relationship. Because of her husband's position of power, there was nothing she could do. She hired Crazy Eight to murder her husband to stop the cycle of abuse.

Heartbroken by this, Doc Samson rushes out of the prison and headlong into the people celebrating Crazy Eight's execution. When one of the revelers asks if Crazy Eight squealed when she died. Samson loses his temper and almost attacks the man. He stops himself and tells him that she didn't. Grabbing his mug of beer, Doc Samson uses it to draw the symbol for infinity and walks away.

Recurring Characters

Doc Samson, Betty Ross, Rick Jones, Marlo Chandler, Ringmaster, Nick Fury, Wonder Man (flashback)

Continuity Notes

• Doc Samson offers his condolences about the apparent death of Clay Quartermain. Clay was seemingly killed in action in Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #1. However, Quartermain was healed by the Deltites and became a prisoner of Hydra, he is later rescued by Nick Fury. This was all explained in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 3) # 45.