And Death Be Thy Foe!

In the domain of the Ice Giants, some guards go down to the dungeon to check on the imprisoned Enchantress. Instead, they find her guards — Mroht and Pyllar — bound up and the prisoners escaped.[1] Amora has managed to escape back to Earth. She has returned to her apartment to find the place has been deserted for quite some time. This leaves her wondering what could have happened to Thor.[2]

Meanwhile, Marcus Stone — head of the NYPD’s Code: Blue team — has called Eric Velez in to the local hospital where the Wrecker is undergoing emergency surgery after being found beaten within an inch of his life.[3] Stone called Ericka because when Dirk was brought in he kept on mumbling about a big tree hidden underground. To Velez this sounds like Yggdrasil, the World Ash tree of Asgardian myth, first mentioned to her by Red Norvell when he told his wild story about the Lost Gods of Asgard, just before his death.[4] Velez is still investigating these missing god as she has a personal stake in matters, prompting Stone to warn her not to take it too personally.[5]

By this time, the Enchantress has gone to the New York Public Library where she uses one of the computers to access the internet and find out what happened to her beloved. There, to her horror, she learns about Onslaught’s attack on the city and how many of its heroes — Thor included — apparently perished in the battle.[6] The fact that she couldn’t be there to save the god of thunder cuts deep and to the heart and she breaks down in tears.

Later that day, Ericka returns to her apartment to see that Barry Landers and Tso Zhung have returned from their trip to Los Angeles to recruit the people on Wad’s list of alleged Lost Gods. The new comers include photographer Freddie Moyer and Ulik the Rock Troll. While she was gone, Howie Barker showed them the trunk full of Asgardian artifacts that trigger special abilities to the right user. Barry discovers a pair of gloves which allow him to channel light, while Freddie takes a sword that increases his natural fighting ability. The only one who doesn’t seem to have an artifact paired to him is Tso Zhung. By this time, the Enchantress fears that the Ice Giants might come looking for her and casts a spell to take her to the nearest Asgardians. This causes her to teleport into the middle of Ericka’s apartment. While the Lost Gods are defensive, Ulik recognizes Amora and welcomes her. Things are frosty between the sorceress and Erika as everything is explained to her. Adding to the mix is Donald Velez — Ericka’s brother — who has returned from a gig to find her apartment filled with strangers.

Meanwhile, at a Staten Island antique shop, Pietro Vizarri and Freda Barker are questioning a homeless drunk named Wad. Some years ago, Wad left a trunk full of Asgardian artifacts in their care and they want to know why. Wad insists that he is Odin, the All-Father of Asgard and that they are gods themselves and they must accept that Asgard was their once and future home.[7][8]

Back at Ericka’s apartment, the Enchantress has finished telling the Lost Gods about Price and his insane scheme to trick Yggdrasil into thinking Ragnarok had already happened, the catalyst for their current predicament. Everyone agrees to head down to the underground bunker to try and find answers. Still unable to find an artifact that is keyed to him, Zhung settles on carrying a mace, while Don takes a liking to a pair of goggles.[9] Since some of them don’t have weapons, Ericka begins handing out guns from her surprisingly large collection so nobody is going in unarmed. That’s when Barry points out that there is one last name on Red Norvell’s list of possible gods, a man named Tyrone Hammer. Ericka decides that they have a more important task ahead of them and they can try recruiting Hammer once they are finished investigating Yggdrasil.

At that same moment, Wad is revealing a startling revelation to Freda and Pietro. He tells them that Price did not have the know how to create the WorldEngine on his own and that he had help from somebody else. When they ask who that was, Wad admits that it was himself.[10]

Later, the Lost Gods have entered the tunnels to the WorldEngine bunker. Along the way, Ericka and the Enchantress — who have taken a huge disliking with one another — bicker the entire way.[11] Soon they arrive at the bunker where they see the men in black who have been hunting them hard at work tearing down the WorldEngine. Tso Zhung’s greed and desire to obtain this advanced technology to sell at a profit gets vocally upset seeing it being taken apart, giving away their position. However, this time the Lost Gods can hold their own thanks to their enchanted weapons and equipment, Ericka’s guns, and the Enchantress’ magic. The battle brings out the leader of the men in black, who reveals himself to be Seth, the Egyptian god of death. He is surprised to see the Asgardians in mortal forms and suspects that Odin had somehow meddled in his WorldEngine plans.

Still, seeing that the Asgardians are now stuck in mortal form with no memory of the past is amusing to him and he looks forward to ending all their lives. Ericka Velez refuses to let this happen and opens fire on the death god.

Recurring Characters

Ericka Velez, Barry Landers, Howie Barker, Freddie Moyer, Tso Zhung, Donald Velez, Wad, Freda Barker, Pietro Vizarri, the Enchantress, Ulik, Marcus Stone, Seth, Mroht, Pyllar

Continuity Notes

1. The Enchantress had been a prisoner of the Ice Giants since Thor #501. She escaped captivity last issue.

2. As Amora will learn later this issue, the world believes that Thor is dead after he, his fellow Avengers, and the Fantastic Four seemingly sacrificed their lives to stop Onslaught in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. In reality, they were transported to a pocket dimension where they are living reimagined lives. They will be returned in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.

3. The Wrecker received this beating from Seth last issue.

4. What Dirk discovered was the bunker where the WorldEngine was secreted away. It was a device used to trick Yggdrasil into thinking that Ragnarok had already come to pass, as seen in Thor #491-494. Journey into Mystery #511 goes further to say that Odin took advantage of this to hide his fellow immortals on Earth in mortal identities and no memories of their past. Red Norvell was charged with finding the missing Asgardians in Thor #501, but he was killed in action in Journey into Mystery #503 because he sucks. Don’t worry though, he’ll be resurrected in issue #508.

5. Kind of hard not to when Ericka is one of those Lost Gods. Journey into Mystery #512 reveals that she is Sif in mortal form.

6. The article that Amora is reading features a picture of Spider-Man (Ben Reilly) fighting a Sentinel. The wall-crawler didn’t play a major role in the Onslaught crisis, but he did fight some of the mutant hunting robots. See Amazing Spider-Man #415 and Spider-Man #72.

7. Barry and Tso went off to LA to find other Lost Gods in issues #504-505, the same issues where Ericka and Howie uncovered the trunk of Asgardian weapons. Issue #509 reveals that Zhung is actually Loki, while issue #512 reveals that Barry, Howie, Freddie, Don, Freda, and Pietro are Balder, Hermod, Fandral, Heimdall, Frigga, and the Grand Vizier respectively.

8. As detailed in issue #511, Odin took advantage of the false Ragnarok to send his people to Earth in mortal guises in order to protect them from death. Odin himself ended up being sent back decades into the past where he became a homeless drunk named Wad. See Thor #497-498 for the skinny on that.

9. Zhung taking the mace is a red herring with the intention of tricking readers into thinking he’s actually Hogun. He’s not. In issue #508 we’ll be introduced to a guy named Tyrone Hammer, a football coach. Issue #512 reveals that he is Hogun.

10. This is not totally accurate but we can cut Odin some slack since he’s pretty plastered here. Price was actually helped by Seth, the Egyptian god of death as we’ll learn later this issue. Issue #511 clarifies by stating that Odin didn’t have a direct hand in the WorldEngine, he merely took advantage of its existence to pull off his gambit of hiding his people on Earth.

11. Here it is mentioned that Amora had a relationship with Thor before his alleged demise. The two hooked up after Amora saved him from the deadly effects of the WorldEngine in Thor #492. Ericka’s natural dislike for Amora is due to the fact that — as Sif — she has had a present day on-again-off-again relationship with Thor that dates back to Thor #136. Thor’s duty to protecting the Earth often caused their relationship to experience length pauses. In fact, just prior to Thor hooking up with Amora, Sif had left him in Thor #489 because she couldn’t fit in on Earth.

Topical References

• This is a bottle of Pepsi in Amora’s fridge. Later in this story, Ulik takes a liking to Twinkies and Ring-Dings. All references to these products should be considered topical since they are real world products.

• Ericka Velez is depicted as having a CRT television in her apartment. This should be considered topical as this technology is now obsolete.