Journey into Mystery 23
A Mighty Tale Told in the Mighty Marvel Manner!
The Thunder Goddess Strikes Back!
Lady Thor, trapped in the hydraulic press, strained against the incredible forces pressing down on her. "If I call to Mjolnir, this press might crush me!"
With only seconds to spare, Lady Thor put all of her strength into the press, tearing it free from its casing. In that split second, she made a choice. She grabbed the ruined press and at super human speed grated it against her fingernails. Exhaling, she blew the metal particles directly into Hyde's face.
"You blasted-" he cursed as he tried to wipe his eyes clear. Lady Thor ducked behind the cloud as her hammer transformed into a stick inside the metal box. In a flash she changed back to Jane Foster. With Hyde and the Cobra distracted, she darted down an access tunnel and fled with the crowd.
"I have to come up with something, and fast!"
The Cobra checked the trap. "Hyde, look at this!"
"What?" Hyde wiped the last of the metal cloud from his eyes.
Cobra opened the box and pulled out a gnarled walking cane. "When I tapped that cane to the ground, it changed into the hammer and Lady Thor appeared on the scene…Cobra, I think we found the key!" Hearing sirens, he mentioned towards the exit. "Away, and we'll have something so devious Satan himself would cringe!"
Jane rushed back to the office. "Hyde and Cobra know where I work and I'm sure they have the cane by now. Have to check on Don first, then I'll worry about the small stuff."
Hailing a cab, she rushed back to Don's office. The door was still open. Hurrying inside, she saw Don collapsed against the wall. "Don!"
She didn't even remember crossing the room. She was at his side in an instant. "Pulse is weak, skin clammy…" She forced open his eyelid and saw an unfocused orb looking past her. "He needs medical attention!"
She scrambled to the phone and called the nearest hospital. She heard the welcome sirens of an ambulance when she heard footsteps. "I'm sorry, we're closed…" her words died in her throat as the Human Cobra stared her down.
"You got that right." He chuckled. "Hyde has your cane, but I think we might need some more insurance." His eyes darted to Don's prone form.
"No! Please, take me, but he's sick. Dr. Blake needs medical care!"
"I know a doc." He easily pushed her aside and slung Don over his shoulder. "Meet us in the Bowery within the hour. No tricks and he's dead, understand?" He darted out the door before she could stand up.
Jane arrived at the small row of buildings. She considered calling the Avengers, but she wasn't sure if they'd believe her as Lady Thor. A few police officers were parked outside. "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to stay off the street." One of the officers walked over to her.
"Why? What's wrong?" Her stomach grew several knots.
"Hostage situation, some neighbors saw a weirdo dragging a doctor." The officer turned back and went to his squad car.
"Well, I guess that proves I'm in the right place." Jane slipped around the side. Darting into a neighboring building she dashed up the rickety steps to the roof. She saw Hyde and Cobra in their small apartment.
"Fool!" Hyde raged. "I ask you to do one simple thing and you bring the police right to our door step?"
"We have the doc and the stick. Will you calm down?" Cobra picked the stick up. "Let's give them some demands and slip away tonight."
"I doubt Blake will last that long." Hyde poked the skinny doctor with an over-sized finger. "Feverish and pale, plus that breathing of his sounds like he's deflating."
"Well, don't you have anything to give him?" Cobra idly tapped the cane against his palm.
"You mean my formula? In Blake?" Hyde cackled. "As much as I would love to see that, no. His heart would probably explode right out of his chest."
Hyde went to the window and leaned out. "We need a doctor here. No tricks or the hostage dies!"
Jane stood up. "Wait! I can help!"
"What the blue blazes is going on O'Grady?" The older officer looked up through his binoculars.
"Beats me Majowski. Looks like a nurse is crawling across a plank to the weirdos. Think DeWolf ordered that?"
Majowski lowered his binoculars. "Who knows. Way this city's going I wouldn't be shocked."
"So, Ms. Foster, we meet again." Hyde grinned. "I trust you have nothing to do with our uninvited guests outside?"
"No, now let me look at Don." She didn't notice she used his first name, but Hyde did.
"Right this way."
Don's condition hadn't changed for the better. His skin was clammy and paler than when she last saw him. "He needs to be in a hospital."
"Hmm…no. Can't afford to lose our best bargaining chip." Hyde smirked.
"If he dies, you'll have nothing!"
"No, we'll still have you dearie."
"Right, now shut up and do as we say!" Cobra blurted out. Hyde backhanded him without even looking around.
Cobra stumbled backwards. On instinct he put his arms up, driving the gnarled cane into the wall. The single tap echoed throughout the apartment. The air stood still as ozone seemed to fill the entire space.
Hyde, his hair standing on end, spun around as he saw Cobra drop a hammer out of the window. "What did you do?"
Jane shuddered. Her muscles spasmed all at once. Ducking around the corner, she slipped into the apartment's dingy bathroom and slammed the door as her frame outgrew her clothes. Lighting cackled and roasted the tiny room as her uniform appeared around her. A deafening thunderclap blew the door into splinters.
"Hyde!" She roared.
Hyde turned his attention back towards the noise. The Cobra noticed Lady Thor first and quietly climbed out of the window. Hyde followed, although that was mostly due to Lady Thor throwing him. Hyde landed hard in the street.
"Wait, you appeared at Blake's clinic, you show up here…" the wheels started to turn. "I know your secret!" Hyde shouted seconds before Lady Thor landed some distance away. "Afraid of a fair fight?" Hyde spat.
"No." Lady Thor held out her hand. Mjolnir rocketed to her, slamming into Hyde's back at nearly subsonic speed. Hyde screamed and limply fell as Lady Thor hooked the hammer to her belt. She said nothing else as she leaped onto his chest and started raining blow after blow on Hyde. Blood pounded in her ears as she ignored the police's cries to stop.
Only when Hyde's face was unrecognizable did she look up. An ambulance was on the scene and Don was being loaded into the back of it. Her hands were numb and drenched in gore. Shakily she stood up and limped towards the ambulance. "Wait, where are you taking him?"
"Country general, he's pretty bad off." The orderly hurried the prone form of the man she loved into the ambulance. She spun around as Hyde weekly tried to crawl away.
Putting her hammer squarely on his chest, she glared at Hyde's blackened eyes. "Listen well fiend. If that man Blake dies, I'll see to you are personally dragged to Hel's realm!"
"Enough!" A voice like thunder split the sky. Reading her hammer, Lady Thor spun around as Odin and Balder appeared in a flash of rainbow light. Two figures stood behind them, a woman clad in flowing black robes and a younger man clad in blue and red. He carried a burning torch, but she noticed that the flame wasn't moving.
"Odin? You come to battle me now?"
"Nay, hold thy hand thunderer." Odin wasn't armed. "Nott and Dagr have frozen time itself so that we may save the mortal form of my son."
Lady Thor looked at the ambulance. She knew Don stood little chance, even with a top-notch team working. "Can thou save him?"
"I have the finest healers in all the nine realms. Please, let me take my son home."
"Very well". She lowered the hammer. Nott and Dagr, along with Balder, removed Don's prone form from the back of the ambulance.
She watched silently as they disappeared in a flash of light. "Will he be healed?"
Odin sighed. "That is beyond even my power." He looked at her with his one eye. "Jane Foster, you have proven yourself worthy to wield Mjolnir, but that hammer wasn't yours."
"You would take it from me?" Lady Thor tightened her grip. Odin shook his head.
"Nay. You've also shown to be apt at wielding, but Mjolnir is Thor's hammer and must remain so. I have had my smiths forging a new hammer."
Lady Thor blinked. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying Jane Foster, is that thou art the most worthy mortal and as such should be allowed to dwell among the immortals of Asgard."
She gasped. "What?"
Odin nodded. "A rare gift, but thou have proven to me thou would be a fine and worthy addition to the Realm Eternal."
"Wait, if I'm to be made a god, what of Don?"
"Thor's time as the mortal Don Blake is over." Odin sounded more confused. "I believed thou understood? Thor was cast down as a mortal to teach him humility, but I left him here when I saw how much good you accomplished with his hammer, but now? If Don Blake dies then the world shall be without Thor, and I can't allow that. And the mortal Don Blake will pass, the fates have so decreed."
"Then I'll fight the fates themselves!" Lady Thor shot back.
Odin shook his head. "I won't battle you, but please, his memories shall remain. The shell of Don Blake was never meant to remain, and in truth I believed he would have returned to Asgard before now."
Lady Thor looked at Mjolnir. "Lose Don or Thor?" She stared at Odin. "Nay, 'tis not my decision."
Odin looked at her. "'Twas your love for him that made him reject his godhood, and now you refuse to decide?"
"Why can't he be both?"
Odin chuckled, although there was little mirth in it. "Donald Blake and Thor are the same. To force one to give up for the other would only lead to madness. Nay, a choice must be made now."
Lady Thor slammed Mjolnir against the ground. When the dust settled, Jane Foster handed the cane over to Odin. "I can't choose for him. If Don wishes to remain as a mortal, that's his choice."
Odin took the stick. "You mortals continue to surprise me. Come, we shall travel to the golden realm together. My son's fate is in the hands of the healers and the Norns now."
The end
Based on "the Thunder God Strikes Back!" which was first published in Journey into Mystery I#106 (July 1964) with credits to Stan Lee (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), Chic Stone (inks), and Art Simek (letters).
Be here next time for "When the Grey Gargoyle Strike!" As for this particular tale, it will be continued in the first issue of Giant Size Journey into Mystery!
And be sure to check out these upcoming yarns
The Avengers#9-Enter: Kang!
Amazing Fantasy#14-the Four Storms!
Giant Size Journey into Mystery#1-Wedding of the Century!
Sensational Comics#23-Enter…the Chameleon!
Tales to Astonish#22-On the Trail of the Human Top!