The Rise of the Hammer

Jordan Boone is sending an e-mail to his friend Henri to complain about his standing at Alchemax. Particularly since Tyler Stone is so focused on mentoring Miguel O'Hara, and that he has been forbidden from getting involved in the Valhalla Project. However, he manages to find out everything about the project anyway and is sending it to Henri in case things go bad. After he sends his e-mail, his office is intruded upon by a member of the Public Eye. The man calls Boone a trickster, before knocking him out and carrying him away.

Meanwhile, Downtown, Spider-Man is clashing with members of the Fenris, who have disobeyed his demands that they leave people alone. After the hero defeated them all, he is confronted by their leader a massive warrior who calls himself Bloodsword. The masked hero is not afraid of the warrior and easily grabs the blade of his sword when he attacks. Using his claws, Spider-Man rips the sword to shreds and knocks out Bloodsword out with a single blow. Spider-Man then warns the Fenris against terrorizing the people of Downtown again. With the battle over, Spider-Man is surrounded by people who worship him. He becomes very uncomfortable about this, especially when a woman asks him to heal her son's scared face. He tells her he will ask Thor for her and swings away to people cheering his and Thor's name. Atop Downtown, Miguel changes back into his street clothes and returns Uptown. However, he feels disgusted with returning to the opulence of the upper city. To punctuate this, he hears a child begging his mother to buy something for him. When she complains that her son's dirty hands make him a monster, Miguel asks her if she wants to know what a real kid looking like a monster is like. He quickly tells her never mind and walks off. Back downtown, at the Throwback's hideout, Kasey Nash is insisting that they are they need to help Spider-Man as they can take a foothold on Downtown. Hearing this, Gabriel O'Hara becomes jealous and tells Kasey to dump him for the masked hero and storms out of the room, much to the confusion of the others.[1]

While at Alchemax, Dada D'Angela tries to call Miguel only to get his holographic assistant Lyla again. The assistant, unfortunately, doesn't know when Miguel will be back. Tyler Stone tries to tell her that Miguel was killed when Alchemax was under siege from Thanatos.[2] Before he can finish, Miguel enters the room, much to the shock of Tyler Stone. When Miguel questions Lyla about not telling him when Dana called, the holographic assistant suggests that either Dana was lying or there is a bad sector in her memory and promises to run a full diagnostic.[3] That's when Tyler Stone reminds Miguel that they are scheduled to pay a visit to Valhalla. When Miguel accuses Stone of keeping him out of is lab so Jordan Boone can muck with his experiments some more. That's when Stone assures him that won't happen, telling Miguel that Boone is no longer working for Alchemax. At that moment, at Wellvale Home, Conchata O'Hara contemplates the return of Spider-Man, the so-called harbinger of Thor. Thinking about how the masked hero has appeared all over Downtown, she wonders if Downtown is also good enough a place for her to be.

Meanwhile, Miguel and Dana are taken to Valhalla. They are impressed that their mag-lev vehicle can travel to the floating system, learning about the mag-lev/antigraviton particle system called Bifrost. When Miguel explains to Dana the reference to Norse mythology, their guide asks O'Hara if he is a Thorite. He says he isn't but is the subject of Thorite worship. This is dismissed as a joke. They arrive just as Valhalla's main systems are being activated, making the floating city totally self-sufficient. Once the systems are activated, Valhalla suddenly begins to shake and there is an explosion. People begin to panic until someone calls out to them, calling them "mortals". Suddenly, they are visited by two men claiming to be Thor and Heimdall and appear to have the powers to match. The man claiming to be Thor, tells the gathered people that he has come to bring a golden age upon the people and will bring death to all the charlatans that claim to spread the word of Thor.[4]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Raff, Kasey Nash, Gabriel O’Hara, Dana D’Angelo, Jordan Boone, Tyler Stone, Thor, Heimdall, Bloodsword, Conchata O’Hara, Lyla

Continuity Notes

1. Gabriel is upset because he knows his brother is secretly Spider-Man, making this the second woman that Gabe has dated that has an infatuation with his brother as explained in Spider-Man 2099 #1-3.

2. Miguel appeared to be thrown to his death as seen in Spider-Man 2099 #12-13.

3. Layla has been developing feelings, causing her to fall in love with Miguel and become jealous of Dana since she had a system crash in Spider-Man 2099 #12.

4. This Thor claims that he used to be a "lame man", this is a reference to the real Thor. Much like his Earth-616 counterpart, the Thor of Earth-928 was once forced to live an existence as Doctor Donald Blake, a lame doctor. This was done as a lesson in humility. The Earth-616 version of these events is detailed in Thor #159.