PREVIOUSLY IN THE MIGHTY THOR...
"The Majeston has requested your presence, Odinson. Do not cower like a dog!" The Hammer Bearer raised his weapon, preparing to strike, but the blow was knocked askew as another hammer -- this one forged of uru metal -- slammed into it.
The Hammer Bearer turned in confusion, receiving a powerful blow that knocked him through the wall and onto the city streets. The Mighty Thor nodded once at Don Blake and then moved in pursuit of his foe.
Blake watched in shock, the wall behind which his memories lurked shifting.
"That's... impossible. You can't be Thor. I'm Thor.” he whispered.
Thor was already outside, facing his opponent, who was slowly rising up from the ground. "I'm here, you sick bastard," Thor bellowed. "And I'm going to kick your ass!" |
MARVEL REBORN PRESENTS...
The Mighty Thor
#4
C. William Russette
and
Doug Bookey
“So you’re the hammer bearer, huh? I’m not impressed,” Thor said landing on the street.
The hammer bearer stared at Thor and tilted his head like a confused animal.
“You do not speak like your brethren, Odinson.” His red eyes shrank to slits. “No matter.”
A bolt of energy fired from the hammer bearer’s left fist. Thor had not seen the villain move and took the blast in the abdomen. The mortal with the power of a god crashed backwards into the wall of the building that housed Dr. Donald Blake’s Mercy Clinic for the destitute.
Whoever this new Thor is he doesn't have any clue what he's doing or up against. Why did Odin give him the hammer?
Blake rolled his eyes and winced as he turned. His arm was broken in a confrontation with the hammer bearer before this Thor had arrived. He wanted to splint it but there was no time.
How was it possible that Thor was even out there? Blake was certain that not only was he Thor, the god of thunder, but he always had been. Blake dropped to one knee. His left arm screamed in agony with every breath. Blake raised his cane over his head and struck the wooden floor with it.
“Ow, damn it!”
The impact had done nothing more than hurt his wrist. Blake got up, feeling stupid, and raced for the stairs.
=====
"That's the last time that happens." Thor snarled and threw his hammer.
The hammer bearer stood his ground and watched the weapon approach. When it came within range he raised his barbed war hammer and batted it back to the thrower. Thor grimaced and caught the returning weapon though the effort almost dislocated his shoulder.
"Good! Fight hard, Odinson! Make this last! The more that gather to watch you fall, the more that will know and fear the name of Perrikus!" From the hammer bearer's left hand shot a blast of green energy.
Thor raised Mjolnir and blocked the lethal energy. He turned to the crowd that was gathering. He forgot all about them. He had been so angry and embarrassed about getting struck down while securing the safety of the population just flew from his mind. Firing energy around was madness.
Thor charged. He brought his enchanted hammer down only to be met by Perrikus's own. The hammer bearer seemed to expect this and with a scythe that appeared from no where tore open Thor's upper leg.
The thunder god screamed and staggered back.
"Get back! All of you are in terrible danger," a blonde, limping man said racing from the damaged building.
The people were drawing dangerously close to the battling gods. Thor noted the crippled man that he felt he should know but did not. The feeling was almost deja vu. Who the heck is he?
Perrikus did not allow Thor to dwell long on this thought but attacked anew.
The dark, towering figure pulled back his massive arm and brought down his fist on the god of thunder's jaw forcing his head to snap to the right. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth.
"Tell me, ugly, is that all you’ve got? Takes more than that to keep me out of the action," Thor bellowed.
Thor smashed his hammer forward knocking back Perrikus. The mighty hammer bearer wheezed as the air left his lungs. The rage that grew within each combatant was at its breaking point. Perrikus got to his feet and launched himself at Thor. The two mighty warriors locked up, each swinging their hammers wildly. Thor began to buckle from the strain on his injured leg. Shifting his weight slightly he was able to throw Perrikus out of range giving him just enough space to catch his breath.
"Hammer Bearer, this goes no further," Thor boomed.
"Bah! Such empty boasts-"
Perrikus the Hammer Bearer could say no more as Thor brought the hammer down on the street with savage force. Cars and pedestrians alike were thrown into the air. Lampposts and fire hydrants were knocked free of their housings. Perrikus, though he tried to remain standing, could not and stumbled.
"Twice do I strike the hammer on the ground," Thor said and beat the hilt of his hammer on the ground.
The thunder pounded the sky and a bolt of lightning seared down in a jagged arc devastating Perrikus who had not the footing to avoid it. The Hammer Bearer howled in rage and agony then disappeared in a blast of red and purple energy.
Thor smirked.
"Madman!"
Thor turned to view the speaker. It was the crippled man.
"Idiot! Have you lost your mind?"
"What is your problem? I just beat the bad guy," Thor said.
The cripple hobbled over to Thor. He met the thunder god's eyes without fear or thanks.
"Look around you! See what you've done?"
Thor did look and his heart dropped as though made of lead. Dozens of humans: men, woman and children were picking themselves up. A great many holding injuries suffered from their fall. Some buildings, not too sturdy to begin with, had long forking cracks in them from the pavement up. The property damage was severe. Had anyone been seriously hurt?
"What have I done?" Thor said to himself.
In that instance Thor turned back towards the hobbled man, the look of sadness and remorse filled his eyes and he launched himself into air with great haste.
=====
"Damnable fool," Blake muttered to himself. "This is why playing god should be left to those who know something about it."
He hobbled towards a man with a large laceration on his forehead. "Here let me take a look at that," Blake said. "I'm a doctor, I can help you, and once we get that stopped you can help me check on the rest of the injured until the medical personnel can get here. If they can get here."
The crowd began to gather away from the waters spray and the heat of the fires making the treatments of their wounds easier to deal with.
The sound of sirens drew nearer. A number of the injured were beyond Blake’s ability without proper supplies. The EMTs could not arrive fast enough. Blake heard something that struck him deeply. He looked around for the source. Perched atop an off-kilter street lamp were two black birds. Too small for crows, he thought, they must be ravens. Strange to see them in the city and just sitting there. He wondered if they were looking at him as they appeared to be.
"You said you're a doctor? Sir?"
Blake looked at the middle aged, well dressed black woman addressing him.
"That's right."
"I think my mother is having a heart attack," she said.
"Show me." Blake rose awkwardly to his feet.
He looked back for the ravens but they were gone.
=====
Hannah had waited for Jake to get home for hours. Dinner was now cold. It was only spaghetti and garlic bread but Jake ate enough to make himself sick when it was on the table. He knew they had a dinner date. Amanda was looking forward to it. Things had been going well between her often absent boyfrien and her daughter until he pulled this crap.
No, don't think that way, Hannah chided herself. She knew that Jake was also secretly walking around as the Norse god of thunder, Thor, and had taken on much of the hero's responsibilities. She would have had less difficulty lying to her daughter about where Jake was if one, he had told her that he was on hammer-time or two, they hadn't watched the news footage of Thor-Jake fighting the largest, most vicious hulk of a man Hannah had ever seen. He looked like he was getting the better of Thor when the feed died. The anchorman said something about the camera getting smashed with flying debris. By the time the feed was back on, the battle was over and Thor was gone.
Jake did not answer his phone and he wasn't at work. So where was he?
=====
The night air was cool and the breeze wisped through his sandy blonde hair. His thoughts were immersed in the battle earlier in the day. How could he have he done better? Was he really cut out to handle these powers? Perrikus had shown him that he could be beaten and that cut deeply to his being.
The smell of lavender and vanilla filled his nostrils, he turned his head. "Hannah, I know that perfume anywhere."
"Where have you been, I've been calling and calling. We saw it on the news, but it lost the feed, it went dark and I didn't know where you were," she fired off rapidly.
They walked towards each other and embraced in a tight hug, "Shh I'm ok, the powers give me enough invulnerability as long as I am in the Thor form." Jake assured her.
She hugged him even tighter, softly crying onto his shoulder. She released him and gazed into his green eyes.
"I..I.. I just don't get it, I thought it was over. You were getting so beat." She broke down sobbing.
Thor exhaled.
"What was that?" She wiped away the tears. Her eyes no longer filled with worry but a mixture of fear and possibly anger.
"What?" Thor said. His brow furrowed. A slight sneer teased his mouth.
"Am I irritating you with my worry? I thought you might be seriously hurt."
"I'm not."
"I know but-"
"Look, I need to think. I didn't come here to get the third degree from you."
"The third-"
The thunder cracked through the night sky that a moment before was clear of clouds.
Neither spoke.
Jake's cell phone bleeped.
Thor answered it with his eyes locked on Hannah. She looked like she beheld a stranger and not Jake in the guise of Thor at all. Hadn't she been totally turned on by him wearing the muscles the other night? What the hell was her problem anyway?
"Yes?" Thor said into his phone. After a beat he hung up the phone. "I have to go."
"Can't it wait? We're kind of in the middle of something here."
"This is bigger. Our fight can wait."
Thor stared at her for a moment, waiting, daring her to say something smart.
Hannah said nothing. Thor took to the sky.
She watched the storm clouds follow him until he was out of sight.
=====
Agent 34 sat on the edge of the building waiting for her charge to make an appearance. After the show Thor put on he had some explaining to do. She was already annoyed and the fact that Olsen was later than he should have been did not help.
"I swear, when Olsen gets here I'm going to tear him a new one. What in the hell does he think he is doing going toe to toe with that guy in the middle of a public area?" she mumbled to herself.
"I was saving lives if you must know," the majestic figure said as he glided down to the rooftop.
"Listen Goldilocks, I am your handler here. That damage you and your scary doppelganger caused is going to cost a lot to fix never mind the people injured. Speaking of which who the hell was that other guy?" The words lashed from her tongue in a scolding manner.
The large form of Thor sunk back as Agent 34 yelled at him. She wasn't afraid of him and he knew it.
"34, hold on now. Without me Perrikus would have done a lot more damage than that. He was after that man without me he would have kille-"
"-Oh no, I do not want to hear this. You are SHIELD and you need to act like it." Her voice softened a bit as she began again. "Jake, you are Thor but Thor is not you. You have these gifts and you have to use them responsibly. Take the threat away from civilians."
She looked up at his golden locks and broad shoulders.
"Look, I'm getting it from all sides here. I need to know what in the hell is going on before I get eighty-sixed."
The wind began to pick up. Agent 34 arched a brow as the humidity increased around them. It was dark on this portion of the rooftop, only the lights of the streets below provided illumination and could account for some of the menace she saw taking form on Thor's face. Was he beginning to redden?
"Olson, try and calm down. I-"
"Y'know what, agent? We covered this before. I know I mentioned it. I do not work for SHIELD right now! Do you remember when I said that?"
The crack of thunder was so loud that not only did agent 34 feel the concussion wave but had to covered her ears.
"Olson! You have to-"
"I am getting damn tired of being told what a screw up I am!"
Lightning forked through the sky.
"Do you have any idea, any clue, what it is to try and command the power of a god!"
Again the boom and again Agent 34 winced. He's going to lose it and kill me, Agent 34 thought.
"Stand down, Olson!" she shouted.
Jake stopped in mid sentence.
"Understand this, you work for me! You are a damn trainee of SHIELD and you will follow orders or I will bring down my hammer. And believe me, son, it is bigger than yours! You will get a grip on this power, this ego and this rage- yesterday! Am I clear?"
The winds began to die but the scowl did not disappear from Thor's face.
"Dismissed, Olson!"
Jake looked like he was going to say something then took to the sky and disappeared into the night.
Agent 34 exhaled a shuddering breath. She tried to count back from ten but could not keep herself from shaking terribly. It would take her thirty minutes before regaining her composure.
What is happening to you, Olson, she thought.
=====
Dr. Don Blake sat on the edge of his chair wiping sweat from his brow. Even with one arm free he was able to help out the other wounded that were the result of the battle between Thor and the other hammer bearer.
"Dr. Blake?" a female voice asked.
"Yes? Sorry I was lost in thought." He smiled, "What is it that you need?"
"They said that you can go if you want. We have things under control and with your arm and all that ha happened it would be best for you to go home and get some rest." Her expression turned to a small smile as her eyes met his.
"I think that I will head out. My adrenaline is coming down and my arm is starting to throb. Please tell Dr. Eckhart that I will see him at the clinic on Monday." He picked up his bag.
The cool wind air felt good as it ruffled his hair. His mind raced over the events of the day. Perrikus and Thor. It was Thor that concerned him the most. Thor was dead. But there he was just as he remembered. Tall, powerful, strong, Blake remembered what that felt like and with now a broken arm he longed for that again. He had been gone for so long. Now that he had returned so had Thor. What did it all mean?
As Blake reached the outside of his wrecked building, he could see the remnants of life scattered around the ground and what used to be his one room apartment. Things looked familiar but it was also like viewing them for the first time.
"Why can't I remember!" He yelled to the sky. His anger was met by the most curious sight. Perched on top of the tallest slab of devastated concrete of his building stood two of the largest ravens he had ever seen.
Was it possible? Were these the same ravens? He recalled seeing them earlier that evening for certain. It would be hard not to recall seeing two ravens of such remarkable size in New York. Some itch in the back of his memory told him that he had seen these exact birds prior to the strange events of the last twenty-four hours too.
"You aren't just a couple of blackbirds are you?" Blake asked the birds.
"Ask us not questions to which you know the answers, mortal," one raven said though it's beak did not move.
"Time is short even by your span, Blake. We are here to help you only," the second bird said.
"The work must be done by you, for you or fail all will. That is a certainty," the ravens said in unison.
Blake paused, his mouth slightly open. The ravens can speak, he thought. I should be amazed yet there is something normal about these birds acting this way. Blake looked around the ruined street. He was completely alone. That was strange. More so than the talking birds. There was something in the air, a heady thickness that wasn't there before but he recalled from the last time these ravens appeared.
"You are doing this," Blake said.
One of the raven's cawed loud enough to make Blake jump. He stared into the green eye of the vocal bird that was aimed at him.
"You are called Munin," Blake announced.
The green eyed raven flapped his wings.
"That would make you Hugin."
The second raven turned a blue eye on Blake and cawed.
"You belong to the All-father! Where is Odin? Why did he give the hammer to that man? He has no experience and is endangering people. Thor should be protecting the people. Or he did before he died."
The ravens said nothing.
"You won't answer me. I have to do the leg work, huh?"
Hugin cawed.
"Why would Odin give the hammer of his son, the mightiest weapon in Asgard, to someone that has no idea what he's doing? That's stupid, Odin wouldn't do something like that. He’s all wise and all seeing. Which is why you two are here isn't it?"
Hugin dipped his beak.
"Odin sees what is going on. Why send you two? Why not a messenger or come himself?"
Silence.
"For something this important an Asgardian would come... if one was available- or able?"
Munin flapped his wings.
"Something has happened in the golden realm hasn't it? Something is preventing the gods from leaving and they need Thor. You know there's something wrong with this Thor I've met. You know so Odin knows. So why does he have Mjolnir if he is unworthy..."
Blake stopped. The thoughts were coming too fast. His mind couldn't keep track of them all. Memories were flooding back like a windstorm powered them. It was almost more than his mortal mind could manage.
"He would never be given Mjolnir by Odin because he is unworthy. Odin didn't give him the hammer did he?"
Hugin dipped his beak twice.
Blake thought.
"The hammer was destroyed with the true Thor, right?"
The ravens stood as statues.
"The hammer, Mjolnir, is still on earth? Is that what you're saying?"
Both ravens turned eyes on Dr. Donald Blake.
"Holy crap."
Both ravens cawed.
"Asgard is in serious trouble, there's a Thor in town Odin did not sanction but cannot change and the hammer of Thor is just laying around waiting to be picked up..."
When Blake looked back up to the raven's perch he found it empty.
====
The sky around the huge man was agitated and lightning crackled all around him. Thor stood on the edge of the building looking out onto the horizon deep in thought. He pondered the earlier events, what happened and the anger he so easily found. He thought of Hannah and the words he said to her, and as he did his formed changed from the majestic God of Thunder to the form of a much smaller man, less menacing and imposing.
"Hannah," Jake Olsen said. They were first words he had said as himself in a long time. He reached into his pocket pulled out his cell phone.
No new messages. I suppose I deserve that, he thought. I don’t even understand why I got so upset before. I am an idiot.
He flipped open the phone and scrolled down to his girlfriend's name and hit dial. It rang repeatedly. "Great, I suppose that she’s avoiding me now."
The phone clicked.
"I do not want to talk to you, Jake Olsen. After how you treated me on the roof I doubt you'll be seeing me for awhile," Hannah said out of the speaker.
"Hannah, I just wanted to say I'm sor-" He was cut off by the beep of an ended call.
Nice once Jakey, now you have to save the world and your relationship.
He put his phone back into his pocket and headed down the rusted fire escape towards his apartment. As he crawled through his window his thoughts drifted back to his fight with Perrikus, the raw power he felt coursing through veins the overwhelming feeling to fight. He just kept going back to that feeling in his mind and he fought the urge to change back to his more powerful form.
Was this going to be how it was with the Thor-form? Anger and rage and power? Maybe he should do some more reading. There had to be some truth to the myths concerning Thor. Maybe he could find something useful. Where did Thor come from anyway?
Asgard.
The SHIELD file said that. He had only glanced at the files though he told Agent 34 otherwise. There was so little time anymore. Between Thor, SHIELD, Hannah and his job where was Jake supposed to fit in?
Hunger and exhaustion weighed equally within him. He had to be at work in six hours. There would be time for food after some sleep. He didn't want to endanger lives on both jobs.
=====
"No, man. I am totally serious. It's a piece of his trident. Someone shot it with Al Capone’s breathing gun," tech Cook said and pushed up his glasses.
"That is a myth. Everything you just said is all hearsay. His losing the trident, the existence of the breathing gun, next yer gonna tell me someone shot Hellstrom in the leg," tech Clayton replied.
Tech Cook sighed and reached for his double frapachino. It had been a long day in acquisitions at Shield's Magical Items and Cursed Paraphernalia field office in Manhattan. One of Diablo's old labs was accidentally uncovered when ten foot long carnivorous silk worms erupted out of the pavement and started eating joggers and their pets at five am that morning. The situation had been contained but there was an entire alchemy lab to be gone through and cataloged. Now the new tech-turd wanted proof of what Cook had claimed.
New guys think they know everything.
"I'd show you but we got these trials to put the eye and fingers through, man. You have to wait. My shift is almost over so it'll likely be tomorrow. Sorry," Cook said.
"Fifty bucks says yer full of crap," Clayton said with a 'screw you, wimp' expression.
"These are supposed to belong to Loki? Norse god of lies and fire?"
"Like he's missing body parts. He's Loki for Frig's sake. A hundred bucks."
On the counter top, a place not nearly as clean as SHIELD regulations required, sat two gray, SHIELD insignia-stamped, cardboard boxes. Standard regulations stated that all new arrivals must be taken immediately from shipping containers and placed in an inhibitor bath until trial’s completion.
Cook withdrew a box cutter from his lab coat pocket and effortlessly sliced open a box then replaced the cutter. He noted the styrofoam that covered the box's contents. Cook stared at it. He knew what he should do. Carefully, he removed the sheets of padding and slid them into the vacuum-recycler. A burst of suction and the waste disappeared.
"A hundred bucks, dude," Clayton interjected.
Cook sighed. If they were busted it wouldn't be so bad. He hadn't been written up in six months so he could handle another without getting into any kind of serious trouble.
"Dude," Clayton said.
More out of habit, or nervous energy, Cook reached into the gray box and withdrew the transparent zip-locked baggy that contained, what appeared to be, a human eyeball.
"What?" Cook said.
"Don't you read? The bright orange warning on the box? Don't review contents without-"
His eyes fell upon the orb for a fraction of a heartbeat and it was enough. Clayton also fell ensnared. The eye, perhaps once a bright, emerald green, Cook thought, seemed to come alive from within the baggy. That was impossible, Cook thought. It's scientifically-
**Cease thy prattle, mortal. Time is short and my power ebbs even now. You will do as I command for the fate of the Nine Worlds may well reside in your simple and addle-minded abilities.**
"Command me," the techs said in unison to the eye.
**Too easily was another of my pieces obtained and destroyed. I would avoid that in the future. First, remove the dull blade from thy pocket. With it you will pluck out thine eye. Then, pass the cutter to your partner.**
TO BE CONTINUED...
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AUTHOR’S NOTES
It’s always a challenge to pick up a tale, gather the threads and see what it is you can do to tie things off. It was certainly a challenge in this case. A fun one but no walk in the park.
Fortunately Doug and I see eye to eye on the way this tale might unfold and we’re having a blast writing it.
Until next time,
C. William Russette