The Mighty Avengers #22

EARTH'S MIGHTIEST PART 2 - THE WRITING ON THE WALL

In flashback, Quicksilver races to the Vatican to try to gain possession of the Darkhold before the sorcerer, Modred, gets there. He is too late, however, and Modred vanishes with the book before Pietro can stop him. Modred returns to Transia and kills all of the Knights of Wundagore, luring Pietro into the caverns called the Darque Hold. Quicksilver follows, but Modred captures him in order to provide Chthon with a vessel to possess.  In the present, the group of heroes gathered by Scarlet Witch - to be a new team of Avengers under Hank Pym’s leadership - demand to know what is going on. Tempers flare, and Hulk damages Jocasta before leaping away. Seeing the dysfunction from afar, Chthon - in Quicksilver’s body - is unworried about the threat they pose and races off at super speed, causing chaos and destruction across the world. Iron Man is tracking Chthon’s movements and notices the makings of a pattern as he touches down in Wundagore with a Stark booster rocket in tow.  Scarlet Witch, in her astral form, sees Stark arrive and draws the Hulk to his location. Hulk’s anger at Stark’s role in Hulk’s exile to Sakaar has still not subsided, and he brutally attacks Iron Man. Hulk heaves the Stark rocket over his head, but Iron Man raises his shields and ignites the leaking rocket fuel, causing a massive explosion. Chthon senses the disturbance and speeds back towards Wundagore.  Meanwhile, US Agent commandeers a local inn for the group to use as a base of operations. As Pym repairs Jocasta, the innkeeper tells Jarvis, Stature, and Vision that one of the Maximoff twins was recently seen entering the Darque Hold caverns. Pym tells Amadeus Cho to stay behind and monitor Jocasta’s recovery, and the rest of the team heads to the caves.  They enter the Darque Hold to find Modred and his captive, Bova, waiting. Modred summons creatures from the walls of the cave that close in on the makeshift Avengers. As Modred gloats, Bova receives a written message on the empty pages of the Darkhold telling her to “do it now!”. She tries to hit Modred from behind with the tome, but the sorcerer sees it coming. However, the attempt is enough of a distraction to allow a newly arrived Iron Man to knock Modred out with a repulsor blast. Stark then drops the unconscious body of a de-Hulked Bruce Banner on the cave floor.  Outside, Bova speaks directly to the Darkhold. The ritual to summon Chthon has trapped Quicksilver within the book. He tells Bova to bring him to the rest of the team so that they can find a way to get him out.