In the wake of
their defeat by the Huntsman (last issue), Black Widow, Angel, and Iceman have
taken refuge at a beachfront cabin. Bobby is really broken up about it,
brooding over his failures with the X-Men as well as the recent adventure.
Johnny Blaze rides up with good news: he knows how to get to Olympus. The
others scoff but Johnny points out that the ice mountain Iceman made to block a
portal is still there—and the portal to Olympus beneath….
Meanwhile in
Olympus, Zeus is angry over being tricked by Pluto into marrying his son
Hercules to Hippolyta; Dionysius tries (and fails) to comfort him. Nearby,
Pluto takes delight in his scheme to invade Olympus; Ares and Hippolyta laugh
along.
Hercules goes to
confront his father but the mutates mock Herc, reminding him that the wedding
is his father’s decree; Herc curses his dad for a coward and leaves. Elsewhere,
the Huntsman, bored with wedding talk, discovers the ice mountain just as the
heroes break through, the ice weakened by Ghost Rider’s hellfire. The heroes
beat up the mutates….
As the principals
gather in the throne room and Hercules and Venus await their fates, Huntsman
enters with news of the arrival of the Champions. Angel follows, seizes hold of
one end of Huntsman’s staff and flips him into a wall, knocking him cold. Pluto
demands the interlopers be tossed out, Hercules punches Ares’ lights out, Venus
uses her love power to turn Hippolyta’s sword into a plowshare and then bops
her over the head with it. Pluto stops the Champions in tehri tracks, being
much more powerful than any of them—but Ghost Rider knows someone more
powerful: he tells Zeus that Pluto has been lying to him, intending to destroy
Olympus with his new dead gods association. Zeus banishes Pluto from Olympus. Zeus
asks Herc and Venus what punishment should be bestowed on the bad guys and
Venus asks forgiveness, arguing their own evil is punishment enough. Herc and
his dad make up and Dad lets him joins his friends as they return to Earth.