Thor returns to Hydrobase to yell “Avengers assemble!”
merely to announce that he is back from outer space. The assembled Avengers (She-Hulk,
Captain Marvel (M. Rambeau), Sub-Mariner, Black Knight, Doctor Druid, Marrina,
Stingray) are there but he does not recognize Steve Rogers in the new guise
of The Captain. Cap demonstrates his identity by dodging the ricocheting Mjolnir
and then recruits Thor in helping clean up the mess left by their battle with
the Super-Adaptoid (AVENGERS #290), while incidentally making Captain Marvel
feel her inadequacy as the leader of the team. Then everyone moves on to their
regular lives while Thor and Cap have a talk….
Meanwhile, Asgard is being subjected to sneak attacks by the
forces of Seth the Serpent-God and once again, the Warriors Three bring an
enemy retreat. The ruler Balder presides over honors to the dead while
wondering where Thor is….
Seth, meanwhile, is rejoicing in the success of his hit-and-run
tactics, while assembling an enormous army for the final invasion of Asgard.
Seth then summons his huge minion Grog and dispatches him to Earth to destroy Thor,
the last detail before the invasion….
The Captain relates to Thor the circumstances of his being
stripped of the Captain America title and the Thunder God is outraged; Cap also
reveals that there has been a falling-out between him and Tony Stark (see IRON
MAN #228). Thor is so confused about all this that he is in a prickly mood when
Grog the God-Crusher and the rest of Seth’s minions, including a giant assault
craft, attack via a portal. Thor and Cap take on the enemy forces in a sight
that stuns newly arriving Black Knight: two mighty heroes fighting side by side
against an overwhelming host. Thor is separated from Mjolnir and held down
while Grog attacks him with a power lance; Cap throws himself on the hammer and
is covered in enemy attackers—but he throws them all off with the power of
Mjolnir. He hurls the hammer to its owner and calls down a hurricane that blows
the enemy away while smashing Grog into the ground so hard that he drills a
hole through the island into the ocean. Seth’s forces flee through the portal
while Thor plugs the giant leak with the enemy assault craft and uses lighting
to seal it in place. Grog is imprisoned for transportation to the Vault while
Cap and Thor share a moment between two guys worthy enough to lift Mjolnir….
Epilogue: Seth is royally peeved by this turn of events….