The Moonwraith, Three Sixes, and a Beast
Issue: #30
Cover date: 1983-04-01
Store date: 1983-01-04
Other issues:
Moon Knight mounts a rescue mission against the satanic cult that is holding Jack Russell hostage.
The Werewolf attacks Moon Knight, who orders Marlene Alraune to the basement for protection. The battle carries the two through a window to the Grant estate grounds. The Werewolf throws his foe against a tree, then runs for the city. Some time later, Moon Knight catches up with him on a rooftop, and the battle is joined anew. The man-beast lunges at Moon Knight, and their momentum carries them over the edge, into the alleyway below.
Both are unconscious and lay there till dawn, when Jack Russell, human again, and Moon Knight are captured by Schuyler Belial and his fellow satanists. Hours later, Belial, calling himself Morning Star, holds a gathering where he prepares to display his long-promised beast from hell. Russell and Moon Knight are chained up on the dais behind him, but many of the cultists present still doubt him. He promises proof when the moon rises and they will sacrifice a werewolf. Belial orders two of his lackeys to move the prisoners into a cage until sunset, but Moon Knight comes to, knocks out the pair, and contacts Frenchie over his cowl microphone. Soon, he and Russell are aboard and heading for Grant Mansion. Belial's men soon follow, homing on the signal from the chip implanted under Russell's scalp.
At the mansion, Dr. Lawson removes the chip, and Steven Grant places it in a cabinet in his billiard room. Lawson leaves, and Grant changes into his uniform, ordering Marlene to take Jack to the taxi in the garage, and await his signal to drive away.
The cultists break into the mansion and, following the signal, reach the billiard room, where Moon Knight ambushes them, as he gives Marlene the word to go. She drives to a pre-arranged rendezvous at Gena's Diner. Marlene then hypnotizes Jack to augment his control over the beast, and to place the suggestion that he is not to harm Moon Knight. Meanwhile, pretending to be one of the satanists, Frenchie calls Belial to notify him the Werewolf has been recaptured and is en route to his New York skyscraper headquarters.
Dusk falls, and Moon Knight, disguised as a cultist, delivers Russell, who is placed upon an altar on the rooftop. As Belial readies to make the sacrifice, Moon Knight uses one of the cult's stun weapons to shoot the knife out of Belial's hand. The Werewolf then breaks free and dives into the satanists. Working as a team, Moon Knight and the Werewolf overwhelm the cultists, and the lycanthrope hurls Belial off the building to his death. They make quick work of the rest. As Frenchie arrives in the helicopter, Moon Knight allows the Werewolf to run off.