Plaything of the Gods

This story continues from Thor (vol. 2) #8…

Aunt May has gone to a police officer for help finding her nephew, Peter Parker after he ran off to fill her prescription. [1] However, since there is a battle going on nearby, the officer insists that May follow him to safety before they go looking for Peter.

Not far away, Spider-Man and Thor are locked in battle with Tokkots a member of the Dark Gods. When Thor throws his hammer at their foe he suddenly splits in two. Spider-Man goes after Thor’s hammer as it speeds away but finds himself pulled along for the ride while Thor deals with a falling helicopter. Before Tokkots can fry Thor, Spider-Man grabs the side of a passing building and uses his web-line to swing the hammer back at their foe and wrapping them up. While the two Tokkots crash into the side a building, Thor is able to catch the chopper and land safely to the ground thanks to a cushion made of webbing compliments of Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, the police officer continues to try and get Aunt May to move but she is feeling weak. One of the passersby stop and introduces herself as Hannah Fairmont. She remembers seeing May at the hospital and that she is a patient of Doctor Kincaid and asks if there is anything she can do to help.[2] By this point, Spider-Man and Thor have gotten the chopper crew to safety when they are ambushed by the two Tokkots again. Their flame attack causes a circle of flame that traps Aunt May, Hannah, and the police officer. Seeing Aunt May in danger, Spider-Man leaps to her aid while Thor struggles to reach his hammer before the sixty-second enchantment forces him to change back into Jake Olson.[3]

Hearing his Aunt May call out to him, Peter remembers this is exactly why he retired as Spider-Man for the first place.[4] He quickly quashes his doubts when Tokkots begins paying attention to those trapped in the flames. While Spider-Man attacks one of the Takkots, the police officer fires his gun at the other. That’s when Thor arrives and strikes the Dark God down with a bolt of lightning. While Spider-Man wraps their foe up in webbing, Thor begins spinning his hammer to create a vortex to banish his foe somewhere in time and space. However, Tokkots grabs Spider-Man in order to prevent Thor from finishing the vortex. It’s at this time that J. Jonah Jameson has Glory Grant to try and get ahold of Peter Parker and his ringtone turns out to be painful to the Dark God.[5] Realizing that this is the monster’s weakness, Spider-Man pulls out his mobile device and shoves it in Tokkots face. Spider-Man then knocks out Tokkots with a single blow and then uses his mobile device to bring down the second. With the two Tokkots are quickly rounded up. However, before Thor can get some answers out of them the two beasts teleport away.

With the battle over, Spider-Man changes back to his civilian identity and rushes to Aunt May’s side, blaming himself for her current situation. That’s when Thor, in his mortal guise of Jake Olsen, comes to provide her first aid. Handing Jake Aunt May’s prescription, they are able to treat her. Soon an ambulance arrives to take May back to the hospital. While Peter is checking on his Aunt, Hannah is surprised to see Jake again and decides to suggest that they go out on a date to see if there is any spark left in their romance. After Aunt May is sent off with the ambulance, Peter thanks Jake for his help with Aunt May.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Thor, Tokkots, Aunt May, Hannah Fairmont, J. Jonah Jameson, Glory Grant

Continuity Notes

1. Aunt May states that Peter is married here. Peter married Mary Jane Watson in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As per Amazing Spider-Man #639, in the new timeline, Aunt May would say that Peter is engaged as opposed to being married.

2. Hannah’s is a receptionist at the hospital and would have seen May when she and Peter arrived there in Thor (vol. 2) #8.

3. During the source of Thor (vol. 2) #1-3, both Thor and Jake Olson are killed during a battle with the Destroyer. Marnot later resurrected Thor in the body of Jake Olsen, allowing Thor to live on and disguise himself as Olson. Thor will remain bonded to Jake Olson’s mortal form until Thor (vol. 2) #79.

4. Peter decided to retire as Spider-Man during the Final Chapter story arc. At the time of this story, Peter just recently came out of retirement as seen in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #2.

5. This story depicts Peter using a pager. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as pagers are an obsolete technology.