Synopsis
| - Continued from last issue...
Thor has fond the broken, but still living body, of the Angel -- his wings harpooned into the walls of the Morlock Tunnels. Before Thor can free him, Angel's attackers the Marauders known as Blockbuster, Harpoon and Vertigo return to try and kill Thor. Despite their mutant abilities, Thor is able to ward them off by summoning lightning from Mjolnir. With his foemen fled, Thor frees the Angel. Regaining consciousness, he asks Thor if Artie Maddicks got to safety. Thor doesn't know, and Angel doesn't think so because he can't seem to get anything right. Angel tells Thor to leave him to die, but Thor will not comply. When the structural integrity of the tunnel begins to falter, Thor carries Angel away as the tunnel collapses.
In distant Asgard, Balder is travelling through the endless desert, following the path being led by Munin. When he senses the one he seeks in the area he calls out to them, and they appear to him as a giant sand serpent. When Balder doesn't flinch when the creature pretends to strike, it shows it's true form: One of the Sisters of Fate. She knows exactly what he has come for, water from the Well of Life and she gladly gives it to him but tells him to use it wisely as it is a gift that can only be given once. Taking the vial of water, Balder explains that when Munin went down into the realm of Muspelheim with his brother Huginn went with him, but the bird came back alone. Pulling out the single feather given to him by Munin at th beginning of their quest, Balder pours the water on it causing Huginn to be resurrected. With the two birds reunited, Balder turns to thank the sister of fate, but finds that she is gone. With their quest over, Balder orders the birds to return with him to the city of Asgard.
Back in the Morlock tunnels, the Marauders have just about completed their mission to slaughter the Morlocks. As Harpoon tells Sabretooth about their encounter with Thor, they both mock their teams strong man, Blockbuster, for being great for dealing with puny Morlock but pathetic against someone like Thor. This irks Blockbuster and he decides to wander off deeper into the sewers to seek out a rematch with Thor to show them just how strong he really is. Thor and Angel are not far away and they soon come across young Artie Maddicks. Thor convinces the boy to come with him back to the surface when they are suddenly attacked from above by Blockbuster. When Blockbuster lands on Thor's arm, the Thunder God is painfully shocked when his arm actually breaks under the pressure. This gives Blockbuster the upper hand and he begins pounding on Thor. When Angel comes around again he jumps Blockbuster from behind, however this leaves him open to have his wings injured even more. When Blockbuster doesn't relent in his efforts to kill Angel, Thor has but no choice but to slay the Marauder by striking him directly in the face with Mjolnir. With the fight over, Artie uses his powers to show Thor an image of Cyclops and Marvel Girl. Thor gets Artie's meaning that he is seeking out these people, Thor can't help but find them familiar but can't place it.
While back on Asgard, Mick and and Kev are still trying to cope with the fact that their mother is dead and they are comforted by Volstagg. He takes the two boys downstairs where they meet Volstaggs wife Hildegund and his children, Alaric, Rolfe, Gudrun and Fosi who are all excited to meet mortals from Midgard. The instant acceptance turns out to be exactly what the boys need to begin to cope with the loss of their mother.
In the sewers on Earth, Thor, Angel and Artie come across Cyclops and Marvel Girl. When Thor turns Angel over to them, the winged mutant tells them that he's not worth it, but they refuse to believe it. Thor finally recognizes them as members of the original X-Men he fought alongside with against Lucifer many years earlier. When they notice that Thor's arm is broken, Cyclops uses his optic blast to make Thor a make-shift sling. With Thor seen after, the members of X-Factor tell Thor that there is a lot of bad news about them on the surface and that it's not true, Thor understands and sends them on their way, telling them that he is going to give the dead Morlock's a vikings funeral in the sake of dignity. After X-Factor have departed, Thor muses about how his arm could have possibly be broken. Hela then appears and tells Thor that she has gotten her revenge for her previous defeat at his hands. She explains to him that she cursed him so that his bones are brittle but will never heal if broken and that he will never die with that she disappears in a gale of laughter.
Furious, Thor slams down his hammer calling a massive amount of lightning that travels throughout the Morlock tunnels incinerating the dead Morlock's left behind to rot by the Marauders. With all the bodies burned away to ash, Thor stands silently in the darkness and wonders what fate has in store for him next.
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