Evil Woman!

In an attempt to become more effective in a fight, Thunderstrike has asked Captain America to teach him martial arts. Although he is much stronger and is armed with an enchanted mace, Thunderstrike fares poorly against the Living Legend of World War II, thanks to Cap’s ability to use an enemy’s momentum against them in a fight. During the fight, Cap gets Thunderstrike’s dander up by critiquing his recent and disasterous solo outings.[1] Cap manages to separate Thunderstrike from his enchanted mace and experiencing a sudden fit of rage reaches for the Bloodaxe he is carrying on his back.[2] However, before he can use it to kill Captain America the 60 second enchantment on his mace kicks in and he reverts back to Eric Masterson. No longer having the strength to hold up the massive axe, he falls over instantly.

Ending the training session for the day, Eric recovers his mace — transforming back into Thunderstrike on contact — and collects the Bloodaxe before heading out for a job interview and a meet up with his ex-wife Marcy. As he leaves, he doesn’t notice that Captain America is incredibly winded and profusely sweating. Cap wonders what’s wrong with himself and fears that all the years of fighting are finally catching up with him.[3]

Meanwhile, at Marcy Steele’s new Salon Steel health club, maintenance staff are trying to unclog a hot tub that is filled with some kind of unidentified gunk.[4] A new employee named Pandara is pleased that they are occupied as nobody will see her slip into the executive hot tubs where VIPs can soak in privacy. There is a man inside who is instantly attracted to her and is game when she suggests they have a little fun together. Stripping off her clothes, Pandara jumps into the hot tub where she suddenly procures a golden box and shows it off to the man. She then opens it up and he is blasted with light that sloughs the skin right off his bones. The consummation of his life force reinvigorates Pandara who then gets dressed and heads back outside.

In the hall she bumps into her boss, Marcy Steele, who is showing around soap opera actress Mary Jane Watson. Watson is interested in getting a membership for herself and her partner, Peter Parker.[5] and is being given a guided tour. Seeing Mary Jane as a fresh victim, Pandara offers to show her the hot tubs while they wait.

Not far away, Spider-Man is swinging toward the health club and complaining to himself for running late. He thinks getting a spa membership is silly but is going through with it since it will give him and Mary Jane something to spend more time together. That’s when his spider-sense kicks in an the wall-crawler narrowly avoids getting struck by Thunderstrike as he speeds by. Spidey yells at the novice hero to watch where he’s going but Thunderstrike doesn’t hear him. After landing in a nearby alley and changing back to his civilian guise, Eric Masterson heads to Salon Steel. As he goes into the building, he is unaware that he is being observed from across the street by Marcy’s new husband, Bobby. Bobby Steele has avoided going home for days because he has developed a paranoid delusion that Masterson is trying to break up his marriage to Marcy and is keeping a close eye on things from the shadows. Seeing Masterson head into the health club confirms Bobby’s unfounded fears to his paranoid mind.[6]

While on a nearby rooftop, Peter Parker quickly changes out of his Spider-Man costume. He is too busy chastising himself for not snapping pictures of Thunderstrike for the Daily Bugle when his spider-sense briefly goes off. He dismisses it as he sees nothing, unaware that the being that has been following Thunderstrike these past few days has just landed on a nearby rooftop.[7]

Inside, Eric meets with his ex-wife and the two sit down to have a private meeting in her office. She explains that the reason why she has called him in is because she wants Eric to use his connection to the Avengers to convince Thunderstrike to become a spokesperson for the club. As she is asking for this favor, Peter Parker arrives and begins looking around for Mary Jane. Suddenly, his spider-sense begins going off like crazy, leading him to the executive hot tubs. Knocking the door down he interrupts Pandara before she can use her golden box to kill Mary Jane. With her scheme exposed, Pandara’s regular clothes suddenly change into a golden outfit. Sensing that Peter has super-human powers she opens the box and unleashes two demons named Ffeerrrr and Lltthhinnggg from within. Using his spider-agility, Peter is able to evade their attacks and lure them into the hall outside. There he scrambles around a corner hoping that he is moving too fast for anyone to get a good look at his face.

Hearing the commotion, Eric and Marcy head outside just in time to see the two demons. Eric tells Marcy to get to a phone and call 911 and tell them to send Code: Blue before running off to find a spot to secretly change into Thunderstrike. Marcy remembers Code: Blue from the time that Kevin was kidnapped and finds it odd that Eric would instinctively suggest calling them, or perhaps not so much.[8] Meanwhile, Peter Parker manages to slip up through an open ceiling panel long enough to change back into Spider-Man. As he resumes his fight with the two demons, Pandara tries to abscond with Mary Jane Watson. Unfortunately, Thunderstrike appears to bar her path. At first, Pandara is afraid that the hero is an ally of someone called Blackwulf.[9] When Eric says he doesn’t know what she is talking about, she uses her magical box to blast him with electricity, sending him crashing into another room with a massive in ground pool.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man has finished webbing up the two demons when Mary Jane finds him and tells him that Thunderstrike saved her but needs help. While outside, the mysterious entity that has been helping Masterson on his recent battles wonders why he hasn’t come out of the health spa yet and suspects trouble.

Back by the pool, Thunderstrike manages to knock Pandara’s box from her hands. However, she is far from harmless and he is caught off guard when she strikes him with enough force to knock his enchanted mace out of his hand. As the weapon lands in the pool and sinks to the bottom, Spider-Man arrives to try and lend a hand. Unfortunately, by this point, Pandara has recovered her box and has unleashed a horde of demons. The swarm the two heroes, with one of the creatures grabbing Thunderstrike by the throat. As he is being choked, Thunderstrike worries about getting his mace back before the 60 second enchantment kicks in making him a dead man instantly.

Recurring Characters

Thunderstrike, Spider-Man, Pandara, Mary Jane Watson, Stellaris, Marcy Steele, Bobby Steele, Captain America

Continuity Notes

1. Captain America specifically criticizes Thunderstrike’s dealing of a carjacking in Thunderstrike #1 and his recent battle with the Juggernaut in the following issue.

2. Thunderstrike confiscated Bloodaxe’s enchanted ax in issue #1. He has been carrying it around on occasion since then but the weapon’s enchantments have been effecting his temperament.

3. At the time of this story, Captain America is expediting the break down of the Super Soldier Serum that made him who he is, as we’ve seen in Captain America #425. He will continue to deteriorate until he is given a cure in Captain America #445.

4. This hot tub was reported as being clogged in Thunderstrike #1, you’ll find out why in a minute…

5. Mary Jane refers to Peter Parker as her husband in this story. The two were married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, years later, their marriage was erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the new timeline they never got married but are still engaged. One could even say they are a common-law couple.

6. Bobby’s erratic behavior is for a few reasons: He was apparently brutally mugged recently. His performance on the Smashers has also been flagging leading to him to start abusing steroids to try and enhance his game. See Thunderstrike #5 and 8. His strange behavior is being used here as a red herring to lead readers into believing he might be Bloodaxe. However, as we’ll learn in Thunderstrike #22, Bloodaxe is actually Jackie Lukas.

7. This mystery person has helped Thunderstrike during his fights with Bloodaxe in issue #1 and Juggernaut in issue #2. They are revealed to be Stellaris in Thunderstrike #6.

8. Marcy is referring to the time that Kevin was kidnapped by Loki as part of a ploy to lure Thor into a death trap in Thor #431-432. This happened during a period of time when Eric Masterson and Thor were merged together (circa Thor #408-459).

9. Pandara is part of a group of universal Deviants led by Tantalus that are engaged in a secret war against the baseline members of their races. You know the whole Deviant/Eternals/Normies thing that Kirby started in Eternals #1? Well that, but on a planetary scale. Blackwulf is part of a resistance trying to foil their plans. See Blackwulf #1-10.

Topical References

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as they were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. They have subsequently been replaced with the Freedom Tower.

• Peter Parker is wearing a sports jacket with the logo for The Late Show with David Letterman on the back. Letterman hosted The Late Show from 1993 to 2015. This should be considered a topical reference for that very reason.