Thor
and the Absorbing Man battle in the New York streets with Creel being made of
Uru, having touched Thor’s hammer. The struggle goes back and forth until Creel
swings his ball and chain, nailing Thor in the back and knocking him cold. Exulting
in his victory, Creel goes on a rampage of destruction…
…as
Hercules looks on helplessly from Jane Foster’s hospital window. But Sif needs
him there for the Spell of Revival to save Jane’s life using the Runestaff
stolen from Kamo-Tharnn….
In
a small California town, Orrin (Odin under a spell of forgetfulness) and his
teenaged friend Judith arrive at the general store to pick up supplies for the
communal farm. A group of men, misunderstanding the relationship between the
old man and the young girl, pick a fight with Orrin. He beats the stuffings out
of them, surprised by the power he didn’t know he had….
Back
in New York, Thor recovers and immediately attacks the Absorbing Man while Sif
employs the Runestaff in the ritual to save Jane. Creel reveals how he survived
his last battle with Thor, when he was thrown into a river and nearly died; it
was only when he struck a rock that he was able to pull himself together. And
now Thor runs away, the villain in pursuit, heading into a department store to
the toy section. Creel snatches the hammer out of Thor’s hand, absorbing its
power. Creel punches Thor in the face---and his whole arm crumples: Thor had
substituted a cardboard toy replica of Mjolnir for the real thing. He punches
Creel’s lights out and has the police take him away in a big cardboard box,
with Detective Blumkenn showing gratitude. He returns to the hospital room to
find Jane alive and well but Sif missing—because Sif used the Runestaff to
transfer her own energy into Jane’s body and save her life….