In Asgard, Odin proclaims a Tournament of Titans with the grand prize for each event a golden suit of armor. Runners are dispatched to light the Beacon of the Brave atop the Mount of Eternity to summon warriors from all over creation to the games. But the light is also visible in non-space, where Loki and the Absorbing Man have been floating helplessly since their exile by the All-Father in issue #123. Loki begins to lay plans for vengeance….
In Asgard, as Odin endlessly reminisces about past glories, Thor stands by dutifully until the pals, the Warriors Three, peek in the window and try to persuade him to join them in some pre-game carousing. Odin, sensing his son is distracted, wisely rrads th situation correctly and grants him leave. Thor and his cronies arrive at a tavern just as a brawl breaks out. They find themselves engaged with the huge and brutish Brok the Crusher, swordsman Tyr, and mace-wielding Galp of the Steel Arm. The three are brothers, called the Warriors of a Thousand Galaxies; a fourth brother, the dwarfish Drom the Spirit-Weaver, calls a halt to the melee and suggests the two teams oppose each other at the tourney. They pair off, Tyr choosing Fandral as his enemy, Galp Hogun, and Brok Thor. This leaves the huge Volstagg to face the tiny Drom—a decision he welcomes as he assumes the dwarf will be no challenge (you can see what’s coming). Meanwhile, from space Loki dispatches his thought-spirit to a ruined temple in Southeast Asia, there to animate the fearsome armor known as the Destroyer….
The first event in the Tournament of Champions is the Warriors’ Charge, wherein the two teams will face each other in a might melee with the aim of capturing the other team’s flag. Thor and the Warriors Three make an initial mighty showing but Drom weaves a spell which causes them to see their enemies multiplied on the field, distracting them so that Hogun, Fandral, and the pompous Volstagg are easily overcome. At the Rainbow Bridge, the Destroyer defeats Heimdall to enter Asgard…. Though the Warriors of a Thousand Galaxies have captured the flag, Thor invokes the rule of personal challenge to recover the pennant. The fighters pair off, leaving Volstagg to face Drom—who conjures up the illusion of a giant monster to terrify Volstagg. The portly hero pursues the Dwarfish mischief-maker but runs into the Destroyer—which he takes to be another illusion. The armor fires a blast of power that causes a crater to open in the ground and swallow the overweight Volstagg. As the Destroyer marches to slay Odin the assembled warriors rise up against it, only to be scattered by the powerful behemoth. The All-Father realizes that only Loki would dare to use his own weapon against him. Thor calls off the duel with their rivals and attacks the murderous machine, and the apocalyptic battle is too heavily weighted in favor of the indestructible weapon. As it is about the deliver the killing blast from its visor, an astral figure swoops out of the sky and lands at Odin’s side; it is Balder, dispatched by the All-Father to locate Loki’s physical body. That done, Odin sends a beam of forgetfulness to erase Loki’s memory, at which the Destroyer falls immobile once more. Odin announces ath all present shall share in the glory of this hour, so for one full day their armors will glow gold—and on the anniversary of this day for eternity. Meanwhile, Volstagg is still trapped in the crater, unable to extract his bulk….