Captain America is dropping into the
maw of a giant flaming pumpkin—but it's just a hallucination
caused by Jack O'Lantern as he and Blackwing fight the hero in the
basement of the vanished Skull House. The two baddies decide to kill Cap as the
Red Skull watches on a monitor with Viper. The Skull summons Mother
Night and orders her to recruit these two villains for the Skeleton
Crew. She dashes off and tells Cutthroat to suit up for a mission....
Cap tries to defend himself as best he
can while fighting off the effects of the hallucinatory gas.
Suddenly, a force field surrounds the house. The two baddies decide
to make themselves scarce. Back in his senses, Cap discovers a vent
leading to catacombs beneath Skull House, likely the same route the
baddies took....
Back at Avengers Mansion, John Jameson
berates himself for making a pass at Rachel....
Back in his recreation room, the Red
Skull gives Viper a look at what he does for fun: he enters a device
called the Wheel of Sorrow where he subjects himself to increasing
levels of electrical current to build his strength. Skull asks Viper
to control the voltage he will endure; she turns it up all the
way....
Cap catches up to Jack O'Lantern and
Blackwing in the sewer. He easily takes them down and contacts Thor
to come meet him. As he hauls is prisoners back to the manse, Scourge
of the Underworld appears and shoots the unconscious bad guys. Cap
pursues and hurls one of Jack's gas bombs and he discovers that
Scourge was an illusion conjured up by Mother Night, who now believes
herself to be under attack by a seven-headed serpent, all bearing the
face of Viper. Cap takes her into custody and heads back to Skull
House where Thor awaits. Jack and Wing have gotten away but Cap
considers it a victory because with Mother Night discovered alive he
can be certain the the Red Skull is too...
Epilogue: Crossbones binds Diamondback
in an abandoned subway station where he wants all the info she can
furnish on Captain America....
2. “Snake-Off” 2.5
Writer: Mark Gruenwald. Pencils: Larry
Alexander. Inker: Dan Panosian. Colors: Marie Javins.
Synopsis: At Serpent Society
headquarters, Sersi questions the B.A.D. Girls as to why they have
broken into the building. They explain their mission and Sersi, eager
to get back to her party, lets them go—though they have to ask her
to power up the Serpent Saucer for them. The trio gets dressed again,
and they take the Saucer to the next logical person to know the
whereabouts of Snapdragon: Superia.