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Issue #9 May 2006	“Avengers in Asgard” Part 2 Written By Derrick Ferguson

The many vaulted chambers and halls of Gladsheim was a wonderful example of the barbaric splendor and majestically beautiful artistry that The Asgardians were capable of.  Every nuance of the architecture, the choices of color and the style of carvings bespoke of a people of great purpose, strength and intelligence.
And the two warriors who stalked through the darkened halls of Gladsheim were also men of purpose, strength and intelligence.  Some would call any who dared to seek to challenge The Enchanters mad beyond measure.  However, these two men were far from mad and if there were any two in the now subjugated land of Asgard who had a chance of defeating The Enchanters, even with the nigh omnipotent power of The Odin Ring added to theirs, it was Captain America, The Living Legend of World War II and The Mighty Thor, God of Thunder.

            Captain America paused, crouched down and whispered to his companion, "We're still going the right way, Thor?"

            "Aye, Captain."  The Thunder God whispered back with equal quietness and once again Captain America had to marvel at the control Thor had over his voice.  Thor's normal speaking voice was enough to make the walls of Avengers Mansion vibrate but when he wished to he could speak in a whisper that you had to strain to hear.  Thor was bare of his helmet, crimson cloak and most importantly, Mjolnir.  And Captain America had been divested of his world famous shield.  It was their guess that The Enchanters had taken them as trophies and they wanted them back.

            But more importantly, if there were any chance that The Avengers would defeat The Enchanters and free Asgard from them then The Odin Ring would have to be taken from them.  And the chances were very high that The Enchanters would die before they gave up such power.  Which meant that Captain America and Thor would have to take extreme measures during this particular mission.  Very extreme measures.

            Captain America looked up at his old friend.  "You know why I suggested just the two of us take on The Enchanters, right?"

            "Aye.  We two have stood on battlefields uncounted with the blood of our enemies upon our hands.  We know what it is to kill when there is no other recourse.  The others are warriors whose courage cannot be disputed.  But they have not known the type of battle we have known.  They would hesitate at a crucial moment and they would be slain in an eye blink."  Thor rested his big hand on Captain America's shoulder.  "Thy wisdom and thy reasoning, as always, was sound, Steven."

            "Not really, big fella.The Wasp, Goliath and Bruce Banner have just as much of a chance of getting killed trying to free The Gods of Asgard as we do taking on The Enchanters."

            Thor grinned.  "Nay, my friend!  Thou demonstrated the wisdom of Odin himself when thou sent my brother Loki to accompany them!  After the indignities Loki has suffered during his captivity, I truly pity any guards that The Enchanters have placed to guard my fellow immortals!  Thou and I knew better than anyone else what a truly wrathful Loki is capable of!"

            "Got that right." Captain America adjusted his crimson gauntlets, pulling them more firmly onto his hands.  "Guess it's time for us to do some Avenging.  You think that spell of protection Loki put on me will really work?"

            "It will give thee limited protection only, Captain.  But Loki assured me it would protect thee long enough for thou to reach thy objective."

            "It's our only chance, Thor.  The Enchanters took us all down earlier and now it's just the two of us.  But we can pull it off if we stick to the plan.  Our speed and the element of surprise will win the day for us."

            "Then let us go confront The Enchanters and put thy plan to the test, Captain.  Verily, I-" The Thunder God took a couple of steps, then stopped, frowning.

            "Something wrong, Thor?"

            "Didst thou ever have the feeling that there be someone speaking about thee behind thy back?"

            Captain America grinned and slapped Thor on his broad back.  "Sometimes I never know what you're saying, Thor..let's go."

            The two Avengers continued along the darkened corridor that was fully as wide as an eight-lane highway on Earth.  The floor under their feet shimmered slightly as if crushed diamonds had been mixed into the gold designs.  Captain America had been worried about the lack of guards but Thor had said that he wasn't the least surprised.  Knowing the towering egos of The Enchanters as well as he did, the three brothers were so secure in their not inconsiderable power that they believed they needed no guards.  And Loki had told them any The Enchanters had not imprisoned in the lowest depths of Gladsheim had been driven from The Golden City itself which accounted for the eerie silence and lack of inhabitants in Gladsheim. 

            They came to a great pair of golden double doors and behind them were the living quarters of The Enchanters themselves.  Thor placed his huge hands against the double doors and looked over one brawny shoulder.  "Art thou ready, Captain?"

            Captain America cracked his knuckles.  "Let's do this."

            With a surge of massive muscles, Thor pushed open the doors as if they were made of cardboard and as one, he and Captain America charged into the chamber.  A shrill, high-pitched, womanish voice screeched; "Beware!  Beware!  Foul cowardice and black treachery!  Murder in the night!  Beware!  Beware!"

            One of The Living Talismans was floating in mid-air just beyond the threshold of the double doors.  It was obviously there as a sentry to prevent against just exactly what had happened.  With a great swing of his arm, Thor slapped the screeching Talisman out of the air and it sped across the huge chamber to smash to powder against the far wall.  "Damnation!  I continually destroy the cursed things and they continue to acquire more!"  Thor grumbled.

            Captain America was already racing ahead through a curtained doorway.  Thor followed, ripping the heavy curtain aside and he was right behind The Star-Spangled Avenger as they burst into a communal bedchamber.  The Enchanters were lounging on huge silken couches, divested of their armor.  On one wall of the room were hung incomplete suits of armor, shields, spears, swords, maces as well as Captain America's shield and Thor's hammer.  Obviously this was some kind of trophy wall where The Enchanters displayed the spoils of their battles.

            One of The Enchanters leapt to his feet, garbed in nothing but a leather loincloth.  With a wave of one hand, he brought the wall torches into blazing life, brightly illuminating the chamber. "What madness be this?  The Odinson and his mortal dog come like the basest of thieves in the night, thinking to catch The Enchanters unaware?  Enrakt! Brona!  Stir thyselves and lay hold of Thor!  Keep him from Mjolnir at all costs while I don The Odin Ring once more!"

            Forsung leaped over his couch, heading for a silver pedestal upon which The Odin Ring rested on a small crimson pillow.  His brothers would be able to keep Thor from reaching Mjolnir and the mortal was no threat at all.  Indeed, Enrakt and Brona had sprung from their couches and leaped upon Thor with a brutal viciousness, pounding on The Thunder God with all four fists.  Augmented by the power of their Living Talismans there was a very good chance they could pound Thor to death in a matter of minutes.  The sounds of their fists striking Thor's flesh was sickening to hear and Thor could not get his footing.  He hoped that Captain America's plan would work because he did not know how long he could take such a furiously vicious beating.  Indeed, the floor under him was beginning to crack and crumble from the force of the blows.

            Forsung reached for The Odin Ring.  Once he placed the ring on his finger, he would have more than enough power to destroy them once and for-

            -Forsung howled as something exploded against the left side of his head, blinding him.  His world was swimming in a red haze as once against something struck him on the right side of his head with such force that he thought his brain would explode.  Trembling as if he had palsy, his nerveless body collapsed to the floor.  He rolled over on his back and looked up at the impossible.

            Captain America stood triumphantly over Forsung, Mjolnir held in both hands. 

            "Impossible!"  Forsung shrieked.  "No mere mortal can wield sacred Mjolnir!"

            Captain America's voice thundered as if he were a god of Asgard himself.  "By Odin's own word, any who are worthy, immortal or mortal may lift Mjolnir!"  Captain America lifted the great gray war hammer and brought it down on Forsung's left knee.  The snapping of bones was drowned out by Forsung's screams.  "And wield it!"

            "Jeez.this place looks like hell.."  Goliath muttered as he wiped his lips with the back of a silver gloved hand.  Indeed, the caverns they were walking through glowed an ominous crimson.  Foul smelling vapors hissed upwards from cracks in the ruggedly uneven cavern floor.  Strange winged creatures with the eyes of starving wolves and speaking in cracked, ragged voices flew overhead, near the ceiling far above their heads.  There was enough room for Goliath, who had grown to a size of ten feet tall.  He learned years ago that ten feet was the optimal height for combat.  Not to short and not to tall and it provided him with enough mass and strength to deal with just about anything that might come up.  Goliath looked up at the ceiling and judged that if they did run into any trouble he had another ten feet's worth of wiggle room.

            Bruce Banner was bringing up the rear.  Goliath had tried to talk to him but Bruce had given him a look that plainly said he wanted to be alone.  Loki was in the lead, dressed in rags but walking as proudly as if he were Lord of The Nine Worlds.  His eyes were bandaged but he was walking as surely as if he were sighted.

            "How can you be sure we're going the right way, Loki?"  Goliath demanded.  "We've been following you for an hour now and it seems like we should have reached wherever we're going."

            Loki paused and turned his head to look at Goliath, who had the sudden, eerie feeling that Loki actually could see him.  As if he sensed the giant's thoughts, Loki laughed softly.  "I assure thee, mortal, that while my eyes may be blind, Loki's mystical senses see clearly with a sight beyond sight!  I lead us true to our destination."

            "There's a whole lot of nothing but more of these caverns up ahead, Loki!"  The Wasp exclaimed.  She had been flying ahead to reconnoiter and now she rejoined them.  "What game are you playing at, now?"

            "No game, O beauteous one!  These caverns take us but a bit out of our way.  By traversing these caverns we avoid the creatures I have heard The Enchanters claim they have on watch to prevent any rescuer from freeing my brother gods.  You must trust me in this!"

            "Trust The God of Lies?  I'd rather trust a cobra placed down the back of my best cocktail dress while I'm in it!"

            Loki sighed in exasperation.  "When we arrive at the dungeons where the gods of Asgard are being held it will take much of my power to shatter the bonds those foul curs have placed upon them!  I cannot expend precious mystical energy in useless battle 'gainst their guardian creatures!  And I would not have thee winded when I am in a helpless state!"

            "What do you mean by that?"  Goliath demanded.

            The Wasp flew over to the side of Goliath's head so he could hear her better as she said; "He means that he'll be so weak and spent that he won't be able to defend himself from The Asgardians who will be mad enough to tear Loki limb from limb.  We'll have to keep him safe until we can convince The Asgardians Loki's okay."

            "Can we do that?"

            The Wasp nodded.  "I know Balder and Sif well.  They'll listen to me.  And the others will listen to them."

            "If you say so, Jan.  Look, can we take a break for a minute?  I'd like to talk to you.  At normal height."

            Loki sucked his teeth in exasperation; "We have no time for idle chatter!"

            The Wasp ignored him.  "Take five, everybody."  She descended to the cavern floor, increasing her size as she did so, her wings retracting through slits in her costume into her back as Goliath shrank.  Within less than a minute they had resumed their normal heights.  Loki muttered something and turned his back to them, unwrapping the makeshift bandages from around his eyes while Bruce sat down with his back against a stalagmite, his arms on his knees, his face a pale mask of depressed exhaustion.

            Goliath unsealed his helmet and removed it from his head.  He wiped sweat from his face and smiled at The Wasp.  "We may be going into battle soon and there's no telling how it'll end up.  But I wanted to have a chance to apologize about this-" he gestured at the costume he wore.  It was just like the one the deceased Hank Pym had worn during his Goliath incarnation but instead of red and blue, this one was black and silver.  "I honestly didn't think about the effect it would have on you and that was thoughtless of me.  You have my most sincere apologies."

            "Oh, Bill.."  The Wasp rested a hand on Bill Foster's broad chest.  "There's nothing to apologize for.  If anybody has the right to wear a variation on one of Hank's costumes, it's you and Scott Lang.  Hank was so proud of the both of you as scientists and as Avengers.  So many times he expressed to me how responsibly you and Scott have used his work."  She smiled weakly.  "It's just that.things have happened so fast recently and I suppose I've welcomed that.it's helped me not deal with the reality of Hank's death the way I should have.  I should have taken some time off, taken the opportunity to deal with Hank's death properly."

            Bill placed a hand over the smaller one that still rested on his chest.  "Hank Pym was the finest, most generous, most brilliant man I've ever known and he deserves to be remembered that way.  When Tony called me and asked me to come help I dropped everything and came.  Because that's what Hank would have done.  I was proud to call him my friend.   That's why I chose to wear this costume.  As a tribute to him and what his life symbolized.  There was a time when I called myself 'Black Goliath' because I mistakenly thought I needed to do so to have my own identity.  Well, age brings wisdom, my grandfather used to say and I guess he was right because I've grown to realize that I can honor the memory of Hank Pym,have my own identity and put my own mark on the Goliath name without placing any qualifier in front of it."

            The Wasp wrapped her arms around Goliath and hugged him tightly for a few seconds before letting him go and stepping back, wiping her eyes.  "Okay.  Time to get back to business.  But thank you, Bill.for everything."

            Bill replaced his helmet on his head, refastening the magnetic latches while looking at Bruce.  "Is he going to be okay?"

            The Wasp chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully.  "I really don't know.  It may have been a mistake to bring him here."

            "Maybe you'd better have a word with him before we go on.  Make sure he won't flip out on us."  Goliath raised his voice as he turned toward The God of Mischief.  "Hey, Loki!"

            Loki turned and Goliath shuddered.  Loki's eyes had been ripped from his head most brutally and the sockets were red, raw pits in his head.  The eyes would grow back and in fact Goliath could see milky buds growing out of the mangled flesh that he guessed were the new eyes.  Still and all, he'd rather that Loki but the bandages back on.  Loki smiled as if again he was reading Goliath's thoughts and he started to wrap the bandages back around his head.

            The ground erupted under Loki's feet, throwing him high into the air, raging and cursing.  Goliath immediately shot up to ten feet, reaching out to catch Loki with the skill of a major league baseball player.  Shards of rock flew through the dank, moist air as a burst of vapor exploded from the hole in the cavern floor.  The Wasp had thrown herself forward, knocking Bruce Banner down.  "What was that?"  Bruce gasped, dazed and confused.  "A gas explosion?"

            Goliath placed Loki on his feet.  "Give me a minute while I switch to infra-red and I-" but Goliath didn't even have a minute.  An impossibly muscled, bulky form charged from the dense vapor cloud and swung an arm that looked as thick as a roof beam, knocking the ten foot tall Goliath aside as if he were a small boy.  The figure snatched up a chunk of rock and flung it Loki, smashing The Trickster God full in the chest.  Loki went down with a horrendous retching sound in his throat.  His face purpled as he fought to draw in air.

            His assailant gave him no time to recover as he charge in and his fist came up and down, brutally bashing Loki full in the face.  The assailant stood over the unconscious Loki, head thrown back in triumph, his laugher filling the cavern.  The attacker was nearly as wide as he was tall.  His leathery orange-brown hide was covered with coarse dark fur.  He was humanoid, apish, and his face was nearly obscured by a wild tangle of hair and beard that barely left room for his eyes and mouth to be exposed.  Judging by his extraordinary muscular development and the ease with which he had knocked Goliath aside and how quickly he had battered Loki into submission, The Wasp knew the creature, whatever he was had them all outclassed in the strength department. 

            Which meant that they were in a LOT of trouble.

            Trying to buy time, The Wasp shouted; "Wait!  We're not your enemies!  We've come here to free The Asgardians and bring down The Enchanters!"

            The creature laughed again, his booming mirth echoing and re-echoing through the caverns.  "No friend am I of the hated gods of Asgard or The Enchanters!  But thou shalt not free The Asgardians!  Already my people make ready to assault The Enchanters and slay them!  And once we have done so, Asgard shall at last belong to ULIK and The Rock Trolls!"

            Forsung screamed again as Captain America brought Mjolnir down on his right knee.  Blood gushed from the leg as splinters of bone poked through the outraged flesh.  "Brothers!  One of thee must seize The Odin Ring!  Destroy this misbegotten-" Forsung's plea ended in another howl of anguish as Mjolnir again came down, this time on his right elbow, obliterating it in a explosion of pulped flesh and bone.

            Brona ceased his pounding of Thor and raised his hand.  There was a burst of golden light and in an instant Brona had teleported himself across the chamber, searching for The Odin Ring which had been knocked off the silver pedestal during the battle between Captain America and Forsung.

            Thor came up off the cracked floor, his face covered in a mask of blood, his eyes burning with berserker fury as he savagely smashed into Enrakt with a double-handed blow.  Enrakt fell backwards, snarling and cursing as Thor followed up his attack with repeated punches that doubled the youngest of The Enchanters over and Thor delivered an uppercut that threw Enrakt backwards to crash into a wall.  He slid to the marbled floor, dazed but not unconscious.

            Brona reached down and came up with The Odin Ring in one triumphant hand.  "Hah!  The day belongs to The Enchanters!  And now that I have The Odin Ring I shall don it and-"

            Something sizzled through the air and cleanly sliced off the hand holding The Odin Ring.  Brona stood open mouthed in astonishment as crimson geysered from the stump where his hand had been.  The object that had sliced his hand off continued on to lodge into a wall where it rested, embedded in the stone.

            It was Captain America's shield.  Flung by Thor who stood tall and proud, throwing arm still outstretched, a grim smile on his battered, bruised face.  "Thou speakest far too much, Brona.  If thou needs to act, then act."

            Brona collapsed in a dead faint.  Forsung was also unconscious, passed out from blood loss and shock.  Captain America tossed Mjolnir across the room to his teammate who caught it easily in one hand.  "My thanks, Captain.  Thou wielded Mjolnir as though born to it."

            "You didn't do so bad with my shield yourself, Thor.  Where'd you learn how to throw like that?"

            Thor walked across the room to where the shield was embedded in the wall and with one surge of strength yanked it free.  He looked down at the shield in contemplative wonderment.  "I have observed thee times without counting, Captain.  It was not wasted observance."  Thor turned the shield over to Captain America.  "A wondrous weapon, indeed, my friend.  It shows not a mark or scratch on it.  Maybe Loki's spell extended to it as well for it to have so cleanly cut through Brona's flesh and not be damaged by striking the wall."

            Captain America settled his shield on his arm.  "We're almost through here?"

            Thor bent down to pick up The Odin Ring and tuck it into his golden belt.  "Aye.  We must needs collect Enrakt and-" Thor whirled around as the room was filled with a burst of golden light.  Enrakt stood in a corona of mystical energy, garbed in his crimson and gold armor, sky blue cape flapping around him as if it were trying to take wing and attack the two Avengers on it's own.

            "Collect Enrakt?  I think not, dogs!"  The Living Talisman on Enrakt's chest was grinning in malicious glee as Enrakt pointed a hand pulsing with emerald energy at the two Avengers.   "Oh, how I would dearly love to strip the filthy flesh from thy diseased bones for what thou hast done to my brother Brona this black day, Thunder God."  Enrakt glared at Captain America.  "And as for thee.thou hast earned the hatred of Enrakt The Enchanter for the indignity you visited upon Forsung and I will have my vengeance.  Think not that The Thunder God will protect thee from my wrath!"

            Thor's voice was a grim as thunderclouds as he said, "Captain America needs not my protection, O Enchanter.  Seek thy vengeance on him whenever and however thou wish.  But I would strongly advise thee to set the affairs of thy house in order beforehand."

            "Enough talk!" Captain America snapped.  "You want to finish this, Enrakt?  Then come on and let's get it done!"

            Enrakt's lips twisted in a cruel smile.  "Nay.  There be yet a way for The Enchanters to taste victory this day.  If my brothers and I cannot rule Asgard, then none shall!"  And Enrakt vanished in a blaze of light as Thor's hammer and Captain America's shield sped through the space where Enrakt had stood.

            Captain America caught his shield with one hand as he asked; "What did Enrakt mean by that, Thor?  Where has he gone?"

            Thor caught Mjolnir and turned to leave the chamber.  "We must hurry, Captain!  If what I fear is true we have but a few minutes to prevent the end of all that there is!"

            Thor started running down the corridor and Captain America easily kept pace.  "What is it? Where has Enrakt gone?  What is he going to do?"

            "If I am right, Enrakt has transported himself to the chamber where the fabled ODIN SWORD is kept!  And if The Odin Sword is ever completely drawn from it's scabbard The Universe itself ends!"

            Goliath roared as he plowed into Ulik with a power that startled The Rock Troll.  "You want a fight, monkey man?"  Goliath snarled, his roundhouse blow knocking Ulik backwards a good two hundred feet to smash a stalactite into rubble.  "Then you got a fight!  With ME!"

            Ulik got to his feet, shaking stone shards from his shoulders, bands of corded muscle rippling, and a grin of sheer joy on his ugly features.  "A worthy blow, giant!  Thou knowest the art of battle!"

            "I know the art of Brooklyn style ass-whoopin', monkey man!  B'live it!"  Goliath charged Ulik, who dropped to one side as a fist as large as Ulik himself whooshed through the space where he had been.  With a skill and agility that Goliath wouldn't have thought such an ungainly, bulky being capable of, Ulik seized Goliath's left leg and twisted, flipping Goliath up and over into a corkscrew spin.  Goliath crashed to the ground, the air knocked out of him.  Ulik leaped on Goliath's chest and seized his throat in one hand, lifting his other hand in a fist, intending to bring it down right in Goliath's face.

            A great gray hand tangled in the mass of hair of Ulik's head and lifted him straight up in the air and brought him down into the ground, smashing him five feet into the solid rock. 

            Ulik roared and ripped free of the mighty grip that had him, tearing loose his hair and part of his scalp.  "Who dares lay hold of Ulik-" The Rock Troll saw what stood before him and for the first time during the one-sided battle paused in wonderment.  "Geirrouder's Breath!  What wizardry be this?"

            The Incredible Hulk grinned with teeth wide as shingle roofs, one hand shaking Ulik's hair free.  "You want a real ass-kickin' then you come git yer schoolin' from the teacher, ugly."

            Ulik roared with glee and charged at The Hulk and they stood toe to toe, blasting awesome punches into each other's bodies and faces, blows that would have instantly killed any lesser being. 

            Goliath had rolled clear and he half-ran, half staggered to where the still unconscious Loki lay and scooped him up, holding him under one arm.  The Wasp had shrunk down to one inch and she flew around Goliath's head.  "We've got to help The Hulk, Bill!"

            "No!  The Hulk's the only one who has a chance of surviving more than three rounds with that monster!  We've got to get Loki to where the gods are imprisoned so he can free them!  Then we can come back and help him!  We've got to finish our mission if any of us want to survive this and see Earth again!"

            The Wasp hesitated, watching the battle.  The Hulk leapfrogged forward, his wide, bare feet taking Ulik full in the chest with stunning force, knocking him on his back and The Hulk delightedly dropped a knee right in Ulik's chest, driving him into the ground.  Goliath was right, she knew.  And then, as clearly as if he was right next to her, she heard the voice of her dead husband, Henry Pym: "Bill's right, darling!  The mission comes first!  The mission ALWAYS comes first!"

            The Wasp turned in mid-air and flew ahead to lead the way.  "Come on, then, dammit!" 

            Goliath threw a last look at the battling titans.  "Wax that ass, big guy," he muttered and followed his teammate.

            The Hulk and Ulik paused, circling each other warily.  They had taken each other's measure and now that the preliminaries were over, the battle would be truly in earnest.  The hissing of vapors escaping through fissures in the crimson floor of the cavern echoed the bellows like breathing of The Hulk and the harsh exhalations of Ulik that sounded like canvas tearing.

            "To the death, then!" Ulik roared and charged.  The Hulk said not a word.  The insane red rage in his eyes spoke for him.  He charged.

            And the very foundations of Asgard shook.

IF.Goliath and The Wasp can trust their treacherous ally Loki to free The Gods of Asgard.

IF.The Hulk can survive his epic struggle with Ulik.

Then Altered Visions will have an AVENGERS #11.  But you'll have to come back for AVENGERS #10 first to see how it all ends in "Avengers In Asgard: The Conclusion"!

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