A Deal With Darkoth

Mephisto, the lord of lies, is still furious over his last defeat at the hands of Thor.[1] However, the demon still intends to be the victor and begins observing his foe to find a weakness to exploit.

Thor’s mortal identity, Doctor Donald Blake, is currently delivering some bad news to one of his patients, Branda Barclay. He tells her that unfortunately she cannot get pregnant. He assures her that there are other options and tells her to consider the various options available to her. Brenda believes that it’s probably for the better since she is currently unemployed. When Don hears that she is a trained administrative assistant, he hires her on the spot since he he as been looking for someone to help him around the office.

Witnessing all of this, Mephisto suddenly gets some inspiration. He summons the soul of Darkoth, whom he dragged down into his domain at the moment of his death.[1] He orders Darkoth to attack Thor, offering him the chance to have his soul transferred into the body of Don Blake so that Darkoth — aka Desmond Pitt — can be reunited with his son who has been living in an orphanage since both his parents have died. Darkoth doesn’t feel right about stealing another man’s life but agrees because he desperately wants to be with his son again.

With that, Darkoth is sent to Chicago where he attempts to attack Don Blake as he sleeps in his bed. However, the psudo-demon can’t bring himself to do it. When Mephisto tries to force him to do it, the commotion awakens Blake who quickly changes into Thor. Realizing that he is up against the god of thunder, Darkoth flees the apartment and seeks cover in a forest reserve outside the city. There he wonders if he is doomed to his fate. Mephisto once again attacks his hapless minion, corrupting his soul just as Thor arrives on the scene.

Consumed with evil, Darkoth tries to attack Thor with a mental blast from his firehorns. The thunder god shrugs off this attack. Seeing that Darkoth is being manipulated by occuption, Thor channels lightning through Mjolnir and into Darkoth in order to cleanse his spirit. When Darkoth explains that he has been manipulated by Mephisto and wishes to return to the afterlife, Thor agrees to help. Using his magics to sever Mephisto’s connection to Darkoth, the Asgardian defends Darkoth’s body from demons sent to reclaim Darkoth’s body. Seeing that Thor will not surrender Pitt’s body, Mephisto relents allowing Thor to send Desmond off to his proper reward.

The following day, Don Blake arrives at his office and meets Brenda’s husband. They tell him that they have decided to adopt a child. This is good news to Don who knows just the boy who is looking for a home. Blake then connects the Barclay’s with Desmond Pitt’s son, finally giving the boy a good home to live in.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Darkoth, Mephisto, Brenda Barclay

Continuity Notes

1. Here, Mephisto recounts Darkoth’s origins and subsequent battles with the Fantastic Four, leading to his ultimate death. See Fantastic Four #143-144 and 193-194.

Topical References

• In this story, Don Blake and Brenda Barclay talk about “test tube babies” like it is some kind of fantastical bit of science fiction. Artificial insemination and fertile egg transplants are now actually quite common place and as such, this bit of dialogue should be considered topical since it is very out dated.

• Brenda Barclay refers to herself as a secretary. This is another dated term and is thus topical.

The Golden Apples of Immortality

Believing that Odin has been unfaithful to his wife, Loki has allied himself with Tyr and an army of Asgard’s enemies to get revenge. To this end, they have kidnapped Idunn, the goddess put in charge of the golden apples that sustain the Asgardian’s immortality. Taking her supply, Loki and Tyr stash the majority of the apples in a hollow within the world ash Yggdrasil. They then feed the rest of Jormungand — the Midgard Serpent — so that it will guard the rest of the supply.

News of Idunn’s capture reaches Asgard and with his people cut off from eternal life, Odin realizes that he and his people will have to fight together in order to win them back. He orders the Warriors Three to gather everyone and Odin tells them that if they do not fight, they will all soon grow old.

Meanwhile, outside the gates of Asgard, Loki and Tyr ready their forces. When Loki spots Jolena standing on the sidelines he asks her what she is doing there. She reveals that Odin had seen her the day before to tell him that despite his love for her he is forever devoted to his wife Frigga. Loki, who formed this scheme in response to Odin’s alleged infidelity, begins to have second thought. Meanwhile, Tyr gloats to Odin that they have Idunn as their prisoner and that it will only be a matter of time before the people of Asgard wither away and die.

Recurring Characters

Loki, Tyr, Idunn, Jormungand, Odin, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Jolena, Balder