Warlock and the Infinity Watch #23

In Warlock Chronicles #6 Eternity warned Adam Warlock about the danger that the mad Thor posed to the universe, so he got Pip The Troll to teleport them into space to where the Thunder God has beaten Silver Surfer unconscious and was about to administer the killing blow with his hammer Mjolnir. They have made Asgardian pause but now Adam sends the cowboy-suited Troll back to Monster Island to alert the rest of the Infinity Watch. But they shouldn't do anything until he calls for them. Pip wastes no time obeying.

Adam tries to reason with Thor who has lately been treating his friends and family as enemies. But above all he is worried about the Valkyrie that pours venom in the God's ear. A woman who only Thor can see because she is a figment of his insane imagination. However Warlock too can see her because of the Soul Gem on his brow. He tries to prove to Thor that she is an illusion by blasting her with his Gem. As expected it has no effect because she has no soul to be affected. Thor of course doesn't see this as proof of anything, but Valkyrie is worried so she sends her champion into battle. And she disappears from *our* view until near the end of the issue.

Adam has reason to fear the Thunder God because he was given a sound drubbing by him in his earliest incarnation as Him (Thor #165-166). But as Warlock he has more tricks up his sleeve. He can use his Karmic Staff to trip his foe up while blasting him with its energy. Thor recovers and hurls Mjolnir.

But Silver Surfer too has recovered and calls his cosmic surfboard to him to join in the battle by using the Power Cosmic to halt the hammer in its tracks. He has no love for Warlock who he rightly suspects of having his own agenda, but he's grateful for him stopping Thor from crushing his skull with Mjolnir and hopes the 2 of them can vanquish the God. They trade blows but Thor grabs Warlock's Staff and tries to snap it in half. However it turns to energy in his hands and then reassembles in the hand of its owner. The allies strike together but the God Of Thunder calls down lightning (in space!) to scatter them.

It's time for us to take a breather by visiting the other-dimensional castle of Count Abyss which floats suspended above nothing. There he takes leave of his consort Maya for 1 of his regular periods of solitude. She wonders as usual where he goes. We see him pass through a door and down a stone staircase to where he drops into a well and falls through the air below his castle until he lands in front of an enormous double door which parts to let him through. There he greets a huge bloated being he calls the Dreamer and asks for something. The Dreamer stuffs some greenery in its mouth and ingests it. A flask appears at the Count's feet and he accepts it as exactly what he needs to get Warlock's Soul Gem.

Back in the fray Thor is fighting Surfer when Warlock unleashes a Karmic Blast from his Soul Gem. The God isn't unaffected like Valkyrie but his strong Asgardian spirit enables him to shake it off. Adam realises that there's no way he and SS are going to win this battle. Thor calls down energy to power his blows and blasts Surfer from his board and once more prepares to brain him with his hammer. Warlock whacks him with his Staff but a hammer blow hurls him away to collapse defeated. Valkyrie rejoins Thor as he prepares to kill *this* foe. But the surfboard swoops in and knocks him down. Adam lifts the limp Surfer onto the board and it carries them both away.

Thor calls them both cowards and swears to hunt them down. Valkyrie tells him not to bother because they'll be back. Norrin Radd wakes to find that Adam is controlling his board. Warlock claims that it is an ability he obviously absorbed when they briefly communed (in Infinity Gauntlet #6). But now they have to try some other way to help Thor.