Marvel Two-In-One#66(1980)

Continued from last issue... Following their failure to stop the Serpent Squad from stealing the Serpent Crown, the Thing and Stingray decide to go after the villains, sending Triton and Henry Croft back to the Baxter Building with a sample of the Terrigen Mist so that they may hope to cure the amphibians of Hydrobase. Flying back to New York in the Pogo Plane, Ben tries to radio Reed to get some help, however only Agatha Harkness is present to answer the call. Explaining to Ben the origins of the Serpent Crown, she offers to contact her former pupil, the Scarlet Witch to aid the Thing and Stingray in recapturing the Serpent Crown. Contacting the Scarlet Witch telepathically, the mutant sorceress uses the combination of her mutant hex powers and magical training to pinpoint the location of the Serpent Crown: Washington, D.C.. With this information at hand, Agatha sends the Scarlet Witch there and advises Ben and Stingray to meet the Witch in D.C. In Washington, Sidewinder turns the Serpent Crown over to Roxxon Oil owner Hugh Jones. Jones surprises Sidewinder by revealing that he already has a Serpent Crown, and explains that the one on his head is from another reality, and that the one that he had the Serpent Squad recover was native to this one. Sending Sidewinder away, Jones then prepares to merge the two crowns together. Elsewhere in the capital, Thing, Stingray and the Scarlet Witch meet up and begin tracking down the location of the Serpent Crown. Finding everyone in Washington frozen in some kind of trance, they track the Serpent Crown to the Capitol Building. There in the assembly hall, they find the Set possessed Jones, who has used the combined power of the Serpent crown to create duplicates of all who have worn the crown previously. As Ben and Stingray battle the Serpent Crown created simulacrums, the Scarlet Witch is locked in a mystic battle against Jones, when suddenly two snakeheads from the crown lash out and bit her, linking her directly with Set and battling the demon in the astral plane. As the simulacrums are destroyed, Ben notices what is happening and tries to pull the Serpent Crown off of Hugh Jones' head, in order to try and stop him the crown turns Thing back into his human form. When the Scarlet Witch loses her battle with Set she passes out, causing the psychic battle to end, and also creates enough distraction for Ben to pull the Serpent Crown off of Hugh Jones' head. Changing back into the Thing, Ben feels compelled to put the Serpent Crown on his head. However, because it cannot penetrate his rocky form, Ben quickly snaps out of its control and tosses it away. Gathering up the Serpent Crown and the unconscious Hugh Jones, the three heroes depart so that they may dispose of the Crown once and for all.