Synopsis
Avengers, The (1963 series) #349 synopsis by
T Vernon
Rating:
Black Knight takes Hercules and Crystal out for a late night spin in the Avengers’ new skycar. But suddenly, Dane loses control and the car starts zooming around aimlessly and picking up speed. Dane tries to put the ship down on a closed section of the highway while Crystal calls up a headwind to slow them down. As the ship scrapes along the ground, Herc digs his hands into the ground, dragging the ship to a halt. Dane is concerned as the ship was designed by T’Challa and nothing from Wakanda is ever faulty. He concludes the ship was sabotaged. Crys is concerned at the damage to Herc’s hands but he assures her he will be healed by morning….
And we see they are being watched in the Pool of Revelation in Olympus by Ares and Hera. After all these millennia, Ares is still angry and resentful toward his half-brother. Hera proposes a contest to see which of them can bring the most pain and sorrow to Herakles….
Two days later, Dane is studying the skycar wreckage, searching for a cause of the disaster. Wakanda’s techs and Michael O’Brien had both run detailed checks on it before anyone flew it. Dane has discovered a couple of bits that were tampered with, confirming sabotage and he is trying to connect it to the Swordsman and Magdalene. He plans to compare the energy signatures to those picked up in Melissa Darrow’s ruined apartment. Then Hercules, Crystal and Thor stop by to announce they will be visiting a children’s hospice. Crystal invites Dane but he is too wrapped up in the mystery of the skycar and Vision who fears his appearance may be too frightening for the children….
At the children’s hospital, the kids are having a lot of fun with Herc and Thor as Crystal chats with volunteer Taylor Madison. Taylor notes that the usually withdrawn Bradley is thrilled to meet Thor, though he is confused by the beard. An invisible Hera and Ares arrive and the God of War possesses Thor and then hits Herc in the back of the head with Mjolnir. Crystal tells Taylor to get all the kids out of there and she approaches Thor who backhands her, knocking her several yards away. Hercules recovers and tries to reason with his friend who hits him again. Herc checks Crys and finds she is merely stunned…Thor hurls a chunk of the building at him….
Not far away, Taylor discovers that Bradley is missing, having gone back for his teddy bear so she goes back after the boy….
Thor exults as Hercules lies buried under rubble but the Prince of Power claws his way out and realizes that Thor is calling him “Herakles” and he knows who he is really fighting. But “Thor” seizes the advantage and hammers Herc mercilessly, asking him if he would rather die than harm his friend. So Thor threatens to kill Bradley and Taylor to see what Herc will do. What he does is seize Thor’s wrist and make him strike Mjolnir on the ground while calling on Crystal to add her elemental powers to Thor’s. And so a huge lightning bolt crashes down, hitting the antagonists, and separating Thor and Ares. Hera appears and praises Herc for figuring out the trick with the lightning. Herc is outraged that they would endanger innocents merely out of jealousy. Hera brushes him off and departs with Ares. Crystal ministers to the shaken Thor while Herc apologizes to Taylor for the mess….
Back in Olympus, Ares is disappointed that Hercules did not try to kill him in anger but he is surprised Hera added nothing to the battle. She watches Hercules with Taylor and spins a subtler plan….
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Taylor Madison.