Loki arrives in Hel, invited by his daughter Hela, Goddess of Death, to witness her final victory over her enemy Thor. The Thunder God, his soul inhabiting the magical armor called the Destroyer, arrives at the entrance to Hel and confronts Garm, the Hel-Hound guardian. With a blast, Thor knocks the monstrous beast unconscious then tunnels through the mountains, cutting a shortcut to the bridge Gjallerbru; his appearance scares off Modgud the bridge’s keeper. Hela dispatches skeletal riders to battle the invader but he easily defeats them, challenging Hela—and Loki thinks all this is very funny….
Back in Asgard, Balder and Volstagg have learned of Utgard-Loki’s plans to invade Asgard and set about creating a defense for the helpless citizens who are still unconscious from Loki’s magic spell. Kurse is set to guard the children while Balder heads out to confront the giants alone. He tries to bluff them into thinking he still has his powers but Utgard-Loki calls the bluff and the giants attack. Balder leads the giants away from the palace and the kids—Hildy, Mick, Kevin—join in, toppling barrels on the attackers, with Kurse rescuing them when the giants get too close. Volstagg joins in and a giant seizes him—then drops him on his toe; the pained giant topples a huge building onto his comrades and Volstagg looks like a hero.
The Destroyer demands that Hela lift her curse or he will destroy her kingdom, she unleashes her liches but again they are no match for the empowered armored warrior. Hela fears rightly that the Destroyer’s will to kill has overcome the noble Thor so she fires a blast that will kill Thor’s body on Earth—but Thor is faster and he sends a power bolt that sheaths Thor’s corpse in a block of impenetrable crystal. Skurge the Executioner, who died to save Thor in issue #362, appeals to the invader to relent but the Destroyer clobbers him. As the Destroyer prepares to turn his disintegrator beam on Hela she manages to break the crystal protecting Thor’s body, but her foe stops her from touching it and takes her by the throat. Hela begs Loki to intervene but he only mocks her. Hela breaks away, seizes Thor’s corpse and returns him to life—at which the Destroyer laughs and she realizes that Thor was in control all the time, manipulating the Goddess of Death into this action. Loki shows Thor what is happening in Asgard at that minute and departs; Thor restores his spirit to his body and seals the Destroyer in a block of crystal. He then begs forgiveness of the Executioner for the blow he struck and they part as friends. Hela reveals that Loki is the one who sent the plague on Asgard (at the end of issue #376) and at Thor’s demand she lifts the curse from him then sends him home. Because of his heroism in standing up to the Destroyer, Hela releases Skurge to Valhalla, the afterlife for the honorable dead.
Thor arrives in Asgard and drives off the giants. Capturing Utgard-Loki he and Balder agree to allow the giant king to escape if he promises to use his magic to find a curse for the plague upon Asgard. The hero is welcomed by Volstagg and the children and Volstagg blesses Kurse with a new name: Valgoth….
Thor visits Loki in his castle; the God of Mischief denies all knowledge of wrong-doing and Thor admits that so he decides to leave his brother with a memento of his visit to Hel—a broken arm, as a reminder to never mistake Thor’s forbearance for weakness. Thor then departs to continue his heroic mission!