In a sub-basement of Avengers Mansion, the huge ball and
chain belonging to the Absorbing Man is trying to escape by bashing the walls.
Captain America and some staff members try to stop it but are not successful
and it makes its way into the sky. Cap deduces that the Absorbing Man will be seeking
revenge against Quasar or Thor….
Meanwhile, Eric Masterson is fired from his current job by
Mr. Kosinski for his being absent when needed. He is contacted by Cap, telling
him about the Absorbing Man a/k/a
Crusher Creel and his grudge against Thor. Eric changes to Thor and flies out,
brooding over whether he is responsible for his predecessor’s old enemies. He
then has an idea that maybe Mjolnir can track Creel down for him and it does,
flipping the hero around in the sky with his cape covering his head….
At a seedy bar, Titania is having a quiet drink and
dissuading an amorous patron by picking him up, bar stool and all when she
spies on the television Creel’s ball and chain flying through the air. She
reveals her costume and heads out into the street on a path of destruction to
let her lover Creel know she’s nearby….
The Absorbing Man materializes on a dock just as his ball
and chain arrives—and also as Thor arrives, plowing into the bad guy. Thor, his
cape covering his face, assumes he killed the dude but Creel lets him know he’s
okay by turning into concrete and clobbering him with the ball. Tying Thor up
in the chain, Creel discovers that this isn’t the usual Thor so no wonder he
was easy to defeat. He hammers Thor into the concrete pier and walks away laughing;
Thor hurls Mjolnir but Creel dips a foot into the river and is transformed into
water and the hammer passes harmlessly through him and he swims off laughing….
Thor changes back to Eric just in time to pick up his son
Kevin from school and he is comforted by the boy’s happiness to see him.
Meanwhile, the mystery man (later revealed to be Bobby Steele) watches but
chooses not to act while the boy is around….
Crusher Creel steals clothing from a store but is stopped by
a television news program showing several cars twisted into the shape of a
giant T; he recognizes it as a message from his beloved Titania. At home, Eric
sees the same show and wonders what it means. Heading out to search for the bad
guy, he runs into Jackie Lukus and dashes off without saying much….
Thor finds the Absorbing Man at the open air Delacorte
Theater in Central Park. He tells the villain that he is taking him in; Creel
hurls the ball at Thor who easily blocks it with Mjolnir. Bad move as the ball,
chain, and Creel are changed into Uru and he smacks Thor out of the park. Thor
returns and, knowing touching Creel would be a mistake, he calls down lightning
on him. Another bad move as Creel becomes living electricity. Thor tries to draw
all of the electric charge into Mjolnir and fires it into the sky. Thor is then
clobbered from behind by Titania, now arriving at her and Creel’s usual
rendezvous. He blindly strikes back and is shocked to find he has hit a woman. Creel
rushes to her side and they confess their love for each other. Thor watches and…lets
them go….
At home Eric is confused as to what he did or should have
done. Strange noises in the next room send him to look and he discovers
Hercules is sitting on his sofa and watching television….