Savage Avengers (2022 series) #2

Last issue Conan in the present day was destroying a cult of Set who were trying to bring their god to Earth when 1 of Avenger Prime's Deathloks from the future came to kill him for being a temporal anomaly. A bunch of superheroes joined in and they were all transported back to Conan's Hyborian Age, but split up. At the end of last issue we saw Conan, Dagger and Anti-Venom appear together.

It transpires that they've landed in the middle of a revolt against the Zingarans by Rabiran miners. We now see our trio battling Zingaran troops because Dagger talked them into helping the underdogs. But they are quickly captured.

Cloak and Elektra (now subbing for Daredevil) have materialised in a Zingaran gladiator arena. Taking them to be a sorceress and a demon the Zingarans unleash their fiercest opponent. Cloak is unable to teleport them to safety (due to temporal interference) so they have to face Devil Dinosaur. Elektra doesn't want to kill these days so she tangles the beast's legs with a sai on a rope, bringing it down. However it breaks free and Cloak *can* use his other ability to swallow the giant creature in the dark dimension within his cloak. The crowd aren't happy about the lack of bloodshed.

Meanwhile the Deathlok has found himself at the bottom of the sea and walked ashore where he's accosted by thieves. He disposes of 2 of them and demands that the 3rd lead him to some weapons. He takes over a blacksmith's forge but isn't interested in a sword. Instead he uses the store of knowledge in his database to create himself a big futuristic gun.

Black Knight and Weapon H land in a tavern full of mercenaries, and a brawl ensues. Clayton Cortez still has his adamantium claws but the Deathlok has drained his gamma-ability to Hulk out. So Dane Whitman leads a retreat by jumping out of a window, and they end up falling from the top of a tower. And Weapon H saves them by turning into a Red Hulk with wings and clawed feet. He doesn't how it happened but he just tried changing his gamma frequency. (Maybe he's got more than just Hulk and Wolverine in his genetic mix. Maybe Red Harpy too?)

Conan and Dagger are in a dungeon. She provides some light and they see Anti-Venom chained to a wall with the bottom half of his legs missing. Flash Thompson explains he actually lost them years ago in Iraq. But he also says that his Venom symbiote has been messed up by the time-jump. Dagger's daggers drain life-force so she figures that energy must go somewhere. She tries something new and syphons life-force *into* Anti-Venom and the symbiote revives and starts regrowing his legs.

Then Cloak manages to teleport himself and Elektra to his partner Dagger's side, but he collapses from the effort. Then the Deathlok smashes through a wall into the cell seeking the Cimmerian. Elektra whirls a dungeon chain at him and gets him in a chokehold while swordless Conan starts punching. and Anti-V joins in with Venom-generated axe-blades. DL blasts them all away and then approaches C&D with a blade-arm. But a thrown shield blocks his aim, announcing the arrival of the Knight and Weapon H. The fight begins anew until Cloak's cloak suddenly releases Devil Dinosaur because Tyrone Johnson couldn't hold it back any longer.

In the ensuing chaos and rubble the heroes escape down a manhole and we next see them in a boat rowed by Weapon H (back in his usual Grey Hulk form). Conan has taken time to get his sword back and behind them Devil D is keeping the Zingarans busy. Elektra says she has a plan to get them home.

But we switch our attention Set cultists of the Hyborian Age who also have a plan for the rebirth of their deity. A prophecy says that it requires the blood of twice-returned men. Now that they know that Conan is back (from the future a 2nd time) he'll fit the bill. But to seal the deal they resurrect skull-headed Thulsa Doom from Kull's Atlantean Age, who agrees to use his and Conan's blood to usher in the new age of Set.