Thor #381
Ye Olde Shelle Game!
This story continues from Mephisto Vs. #4…
The Delaware River
The Frost Giants have arrived too late to witness the battle between Jormungand the Midgard Serpent and Thor. They can find no trace of their enemy, but quickly spot a mystical circle of fire in the middle of the battleground and go in for a closer look.
Their leader, Grundroth, fearlessly leads his men into the flames. On the other side they briefly witness an image of Thor fighting the demon Mephisto. This quickly vanishes and they see the bodies of both the east and west coast Avengers laying lifelessly around Thor’s apparently empty battle armor.
However, upon closer inspection they discover that Thor’s body has been shattered into a fleshy mass inside the armor due to a curse put on him by Hela.[1] Tying a scrap of cloth around the helmet, the Frost Giants then joyfully pummel the thunder god’s ruined body.
Suddenly, the area is swept with an supernatural chill, prompting the gathered news crews to flee. The Frost Giants also sense that something is about to happen and quickly hide. Moments later, the Avengers wake up and — no longer remembering why they were there — ignore Thor’s presence and leave. Left alone with their enemy, the Frost Giants continue to pummel Thor unaware that they are being observed by the astral form of Loki. This is all going according to his plan and he lays out a sheet of melted slag and tricks one of the giants to approach it with the image of an attractive female. When the giant steps on the metal, it suddenly flashes with energy and reforms into the shape of the Destroyer armor.[2] Brought to life, the Destroyer armor then begins laying waste to the Frost Giants.
Asgard
The entire kingdom has fallen ill leaving only Mick, Kevin and Kurse still standing as they are not gods. Seeking help from Balder, the two boys discover he is sick as well. They are given a vial from the Well of Life by Odin’s pet ravens, Hugin and Munin.[3] The boys make Balder drink the water and he begins to fight off the infection. They are soon joined by both Volstagg and Hildy, who have apparently managed to fight off the illness that has incapacitated everyone else.[4] Still unable to walk, Balder has Kurse carry him to the top of Hlidskjaf so he can look across the Nine Worlds and see who or what was responsible for making everyone sick.
What he sees instead is that Utgard-Loki is back in Jotunheim and has learned that the Asgardians have all fallen ill. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity for revenge, Utgard-Loki rallies his fellow Frost Giants so they can storm Asgard.[5]
The Delaware River
Soon only Grundroth is the only Frost Giant left standing. The Frost Giant is able to prolong his life by using Thor’s body to shield him from the energy blasts unleashed by the Destroyer. However, the sentient armor works around this by splitting its next energy beam around Thor’s body and striking Grundroth on either side. Having got his final revenge against the Frost Giants, Loki is satisfied with leaving the Destroyer at the foot of Thor’s ruined body.[6]
After Loki’s departure something unexpected happens: The Destroyer armor becomes sentient because it has become aware of the fact that Thor’s body cannot be destroyed. Realizing that the thunder god is the ideal host to power it, the Destroyer disintegrates the body of the Frost Giant whose soul has been powering it. It then tries to take Thor’s life force into itself, however this is no easy task as Thor’s spirit fights back against the Destroyer’s astral form.
Thor overpowers the Destroyer in combat to the point where the construct tries to flee. However, Thor grabs it and forces his life force to merge with it. However, this time Thor is in full control. After fusing the wings of his helmet, his cape, and belt to the Destroyer, Thor picks up Mjolnir and teleports away.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Destroyer, Loki, Avengers (Captain America, Black Knight, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Doctor Druid), Avengers West Coast (Hawkeye, Iron Man, Mockingbird, Wonder Man), Balder, Kurse, Volstagg, Hildy, Grundroth, Kartak, Snorti, Utgard-Loki, Mephisto, Chuck Cherkle, Kevin Mortensen, Mick Mortensen, Hugin, Munin
Continuity Notes
Hela cursed Thor with brittle bones that will never heal back in Thor #373. This curse will remain in effect until next issue.
The Destroyer armor was melted into slag during a battle between Odin and the Celestials in Thor #300.
A footnote here reminds readers that this water was obtained by Balder in Thor #376. He used this water to resurrect Hugin who was killed by Surtur back in issue #342.
How Volstagg and Hildy shake off the illness is unexplained. I would presume that they were able to fight it off because they were recently made ill by being in close proximity to a machine that was siphoning off energies from the Twilight Sword back in Thor #373-374.
Mention is made of how the illness in Asgard is similar to the one that ravaged Nornheim and how Utgard-Loki was defeated by Balder. This all happened in Balder the Brave #1-4.
The Frost Giants betrayed Loki after he used the power of Iceman to restore their diminished strength in Thor #377-378.
