Enemies:
Loki Laufeyson - The Asgardian God of Lies and Mischief, he's Thor's foster brother and his most sworn enemy, always wanting to prove that he's the better. As well as possessing superhuman physical traits, but not as powerful as Thor's, Loki's also a powerful sorcerer; wielding vast magical energy manipulation abilities that enable him to accomplish almost anything. He also wields a regenerative healing factor, powerful extrasensory abilities and possesses highly-developed shape-shifting capabilities.
The Hulk AKA Bruce Banner - Possesses near-limitless physical strength depending directly on his emotional state, particularly his anger, he also possesses vast superhuman durability, healing and endurance. He can also leap vast distances and has displayed sufficient superhuman speed to match even Thor.
Issue 1
Sitting by himself on a lonesome rock situated in the middle of the dreaded Isle of Silence, located north of Asgard, home of the Asgardians or otherwise known as the Norse Gods, the God of Mischief himself was busily plotting awesome revenge against the mightiest of his enemies, the Thunder God known to all as Thor!
He suddenly stood up, his hands up in the air in exasperation, the plotting was starting to exhaust his genius-level intellect, "Ugh! It is because of that blasted Thor that I am exiled here, ordered to remain here by Odin himself!" The mere utter of both names made his blood boil as the God of Mischief continued to plot on how he was going to get his revenge on the Thunder God.
He managed to think of a way in a matter of mere seconds. With the power of thought projection, Loki sent his disembodied self past the Rainbow Bridge that led down to Midgard (what the Asgardians called Earth) in search of a way to lure Thor back to Asgard where they could once do battle, and he would be rid of the Thunder God forever.
New York City, New York
As his thoughts continued to descend into the human world known as Earth, Loki immediately found Thor but in his human guise as Dr. Donald Blake. In a small medical practice, a few blocks away from Central Park, Dr. Donald Blake was attending to one of his regulars in his examining room, a small boy of eight-years, Bobby Jensen was his name.
"Okay Bobby, now I want you to open your mouth as wide as you can and say "Ah" for me please," Donald instructed, and as soon as Bobby did as he was asked, Donald could see what the problem was straight the way.
"Just as I thought Bobby, you have a small bout of tonsillitis. Nothing a little "magic" medicine can't heal. Jane, could you prescribe some penicillin for little Bobby here please." He asked his nurse, a beautiful brunette with her shoulder-length hair tied into a ponytail and garbed in her dark-navy dress uniform.
"Of course, Dr. Blake. Mrs. Jensen, if you could follow me into reception, I shall prescribe you the needed medicine," Jane replied, opening the door and leaning against it with her body so Mrs. Jensen and her son could walk by.
Leaving him alone in the room Dr. Blake, grabbing his cane which was leant against the table, hobbled his way out of the room and into his office next door, taking his seat behind his desk. Unbeknownst to him, Loki was watching his every move with his thought projection but not liking what he was seeing.
"Huh! This simply just won't do at all! I can't defeat Thor in his human guise! It would be a hollow victory on my part. No, I must find a way to make the noble doctor transform into the mighty Thor but the question is, how?" Loki spoke telepathically, Dr. Blake unable to hear him as he continued to work on his paperwork that lay piled up on his desk.
Thanks to his genius-level intellect he came up with the plan as quickly as godly possible, his thought projection leaving the scene of Dr. Blake's office to super-naturally scan the entire planet until he found what he was looking for.
After what seemed to him like an eternity, the God of Mischief eventually came across the menace he'd been searching for.
Somewhere in New Mexico, covering the area of rose-coloured desert in fantastic, powerful leaps, a figure of gigantic proportions, with arms and legs as big as tree-trunks, green skin and garbed in a pair of ripped pale-blue jeans was unaware that it was being watched by the God of Mischief himself.
"Yes! I have finally found the menace worthy of grabbing Thor's undivided attention. The Incredible Hulk, a being of such incalculable strength and who is feared by mankind because of it! He shall be the perfect pawn in my plan!" Loki schemed, watching as the Hulk continued on his trek across the deserts, seeming to be in a world of his own.
Soon enough the Hulk was approaching a railroad trestle which was built over a small crevice in the earth, the crevice being around a mile long, as a train could be heard faintly in the distance.
"That's perfect! Now for the next phase in my plan." With no moment to lose, Loki projected a mental image of a group of men who appeared to be strapping several bombs to the metal beams of the trestle in an attempt to blow it up and crash the train.
The Hulk, having no idea that they were actually an illusion dreamt up by the God of Mischief, bounded down from above in an endeavour to stop them from taking innocent lives. However as soon as he neared the bombers, they simply disappeared into thin air and the Hulk realized too late that he couldn't stop himself. Misjudging the force of his dive, the green colossus hurtled onto the trestle, shattering some of the tracks in the process.
As the distant train vastly drew nearer, one of the drivers poked his head out of the side and noticed the dilemma up ahead.
"Charlie! Charlie, stop the train! Something's smashed the trestle up ahead! We're gonna crash!" The driver yelled over the noise of the engine but Charlie, the other driver, could barely hear him.
"Impossible! We're going to fast! We won't be able to stop in time!"
"Oh, this is too brilliant! My plan's working accordingly! Once the train crashes, the Hulk will be blamed for it and will become one of the most wanted men on the planet! Then Dr. Blake will have to change into Thor to help in his capture, little knowing that it was I who dreamt up such a scheme! What? What is the Hulk doing?" Loki asked himself astonishingly, watching with widened eyes as the green-skinned hero lifted a massive boulder with his tremendous strength.
With the boulder lifted overhead, the Hulk sauntered over to the wrecked trestle and placed it right underneath it. Afterward, jumping on top of it, Hulk used it as support for himself as he peeked through the gap to observe the approaching train.
"Look! That head sticking out through the tracks!" The driver informed Charlie, who in turn, looked through the small window in front of him, "It's the Hulk, Frank! He's trying to kill us! I - I can't stop in time!"
With literally no time to waste Hulk, using his superhuman strength, twisted the metal beams into a makeshift track before supporting it with his back, just in time for the train to pass over him safely. Straining underneath the unbelievable weight of the train, Hulk willed himself to hold on just a little longer until the train had safely passed. When it did the Hulk let go of the beams and jumped out of the way in time before the entire trestle collapsed.
As the Hulk leaped into the air on his way again, Loki, back at the Isle of Silence, laughed menacingly as everything was happening according to plan, "He may have saved the train but the humans will think that he tried to slay them! The hunt will be on soon…and Thor will be summoned, all thanks to Loki, the master schemer!" His menacing laughter disturbing the quietness of the island.
The Next Day, Someplace in New Mexico
As soon as the newspapers were delivered to every newsstand, newsagent, people's homes etc, there was an immediate uproar about the front page story about the Incredible Hulk and his "attempt" to kill innocent lives by smashing a railroad trestle in order to crash the train. One of the people reading the newspaper was Rick Jones, who was a close friend of the Hulk's and of course his alter-ego's, Dr. Bruce Banner, who read it in complete incomprehension, "I can't believe it! The Hulk would never do such a thing…or, or would he?" He asked himself as he packed the paper into his backpack and climbed onto his motorbike, shaking the thought away as he put on his helmet, "If the Hulk is innocent, he needs help and fast but if he's guilty, and I hope to God he isn't, it'll take more than the army to take him down! I'm going to have to find someone with equal super-powers like the Fantastic Four!" He replied in realization, knowing full well that if it was help he needed, they would give it with no questions asked.
From the front of his backpack Rick unzipped the large pocket and fished out his cell-phone, using it to call one Johnny Storm, a very good friend of his and member of the Fantastic Four, known to the world as The Human Torch! It rung several times before delivering the message: "Hi, Johnny here! As you well know I'm not able to pick up at this point. Probably saving the world from some evil genius so please, leave a message, and I'll try to get back to you. Bye." Once the message had finished and the beep occurred for Rick to say what he needed to say, he did so quickly to get as much information on the current situation as possible before the next beep. As soon as finished, he put his phone back in his backpack and revved his motorbike, back wheel spinning on the spot before he accelerated with a loud roar into the direction of a certain cave in the desert where the Hulk sometimes resided to get away from the world who call him a "monster"…
Through his all-seeing eyes Loki was fuming with anger, "No! I cannot have others after the Hulk. It must only be Thor!" Utilizing his great mental powers, Loki manipulated the EM Spectrum, changing and diverting the message to reach Dr. Blake's phone instead of the Human Torch's.
"There. I have done it. Now I must observe in hopes that my "interruption" has put my plan back on track."
New York City, New York
Back at the medical practice where Dr. Blake currently worked, the doctor himself was back in his office, sorting out the mysterious mound of paperwork that seemed to pile up by the day when his cell-phone started to vibrate. The sudden noise causing Don to jump in his chair, the papers he was working on falling to the floor in a scattered mess.
"Oh for the love of," he snapped, no-one in the room at that moment to question his frustration, as he reached out for the phone and noticed that it was a text message from Rick Jones.
Strange. It seems I've received a message from Rick Jones. If I can remember correctly, he's associated with the physicist Dr. Bruce Banner, who was involved in an experiment, funded by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, to revive a WWII supersoldier project but the goal of it was to make humans immune to gamma radiation. From what the newspapers and the broadcasts reported, the experiment failed, causing an explosion but Dr. Banner emerged completely unharmed. I wonder what it could be about? Don contemplated, touching the needed buttons to read Rick's message.
"Hulk seems to be on the rampage somewhere in New Mexico. Need all the help I can get to bring him down before any civilians get hurt," it read, Don putting it away as soon as he'd read it.
"That's strange. That doesn't sound like the Rick Jones I know. But still, if what he says is true and Hulk is on the rampage, then he's going to need more than just my help," Don told himself aloud, reaching out for his walking cane that was leant up against the side of his desk.
Because for Don to acquire such "higher" help, he must grasp his cane and strike it against the floor once, which will cast off his mortal guise and transform him into the mighty Thor, God of Thunder.
Doing so the fantastic transformation commenced, surrounding Don in a shroud of bright, white light, before dissipating and revealing Thor in his place…garbed in his standard Asgardian attire, complete with flowing red cape and winged helmet. In his hand he gripped his might Uru hammer, Mjolnir by its leather thong and immediately commenced in swinging it over his head. In seconds crackles of blue lightning flashed from the hammer as Thor continued to swing it before its energies opened up a gateway that swallowed him up just as fast as it was formed.
Seconds later Donald's nurse, Jane Foster, entered his office with some papers held tightly against her bosom, "Dr. Blake, I was wondering if you'd --," she stopped as soon as she saw that she was all alone in the room. "Dr. Blake?" She tucked a strand of brown hair that was dangling in front of her face behind her ear, huffing in sudden annoyance, "Oh, where has he got to this time?"
Elsewhere in a small laboratory in New York City
"Come on Janet, we haven't got all day!" called Henry "Hank" Pym, who was known to the world as Ant-Man. He was already garbed in his superhero costume, consisting of a full-body, spandex suit that was coloured dark crimson except for his gloves and boots, which were dark blue. The dark blue also coloured around his waist like a belt, right up his chest whilst forming a circle in the middle, and finishing around the collarbone area.
On his head, he wore a silver helmet shaped like his moniker, complete with antennae that stuck out on the top of it and pincers that formed around his mouth. This was his Cybernetic Helmet, which enabled him to speak telepathically to insects, mostly ants…obviously.
"Alright Hank, you don't need to worry! I'm here," Janet's sweet voice occurred from the doorway as she appeared alongside Hank, who was stocking up on their serums that enabled them both the ability to shrink to that of an insect and back again. In Janet's case, through his knowledge of biochemistry, Hank had also managed to give her the ability to grow insect-like wings whenever she minimized, enabling her to fly and also fire bio-electric blasts from her hands strong enough to cut through steel.
When he had stocked the capsules safely in his utility belt, Hank turned to the woman he was madly in love with, who also returned his feelings, and took a good look at her. Janet Van Dyne AKA The Wasp was currently wearing her newest costume and, thanks to her knowledge of fashion designing, it looked fantastic on her slender figure. The ensemble consisted of a sleeve-less, leather crop-top as well as a pair of leather leggings to match. She wore finger-less gloves that both had a 'W' in the centre and a pair of black platform boots with yellow-coloured wedged soles and heels. She looked amazing and Hank couldn't help but stare at the way it hugged her hips and showed off her perfect abdominals.
"Eyes up here Hank," Janet replied softly, finding him positively drooling at her but finding it no way offensive. She knew exactly what effect she had on him and loved to play along with it for all that it was worth.
"Oh, yeah, sorry Janet. You caught me a little off guard there. Is that a new costume?" Hank asked, scratching the back of his head as he tried to remember if he'd seen it before.
"It's a modification of the one before. Times are changing if you didn't already know Hank and my old one was so 1980s I thought I could do with a little change myself." Janet stated earnestly, a palm on Hank's cheek as he bent himself forward and captured her lips with his own.
Pulling back Hank smiled down at his lover, "And you couldn't be more right, my love." He then backed away, turning to make his way over to the ant farm he had on the counter next to one of the large windows. Pulling off the lid just a tiny bit Hank used his cybernetic helmet to mentally call upon two of the flying ants that resided within.
Then taking both their pills Hank and Janet decrease in size to become Ant Man and The Wasp. Climbing onto the top of the flying ants, Ant Man then commanded them to ascend into the air and in the direction of New Mexico where Rick Jones said the Hulk was residing.
"Hank, I don't want to question your supreme intelligence but wouldn't it be more efficient if I could use my own wings to fly?" Wasp questioned, a little behind Hank as they flew over the rooftops of New York City, too small to be noticed.
"Why waste your own energy Janet when you can have these guys do all the work for you and Rick's text message said that the Hulk's somewhere in New Mexico, which is a thousand miles from here. You're gonna need all your strength if you want to go up against someone like the Hulk, darling," Ant Man called back, telepathically commanding the ants to fly faster than they ever flown before.
"I suppose you're right, hon. You always are," Wasp said, the last part mostly to herself.
Stark Industries, Flushings, Queens
"Will that be everything, Mr. Stark?" A beatific voice replied on the intercom, it belonging to a certain secretary of one Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, who goes by the name "Pepper", real name Virginia Potts. She may have only started a few weeks ago but in just a few days from signing up, she had managed to memorize and organize everything she needed for the job, making Tony feel like she'd been working here for years rather than weeks.
Sitting behind his desk in his comfy leather chair, in his office, Tony Stark was enjoying his lunch break when Pepper had called in to check his schedule for this week. However, seeing as Tony was also secretly Iron Man, it was a simple case of "cancelling here, and moving there".
"Yes, Pepper. That'll be all," he answered back into the intercom, his forefinger pressing the talk button, "Oh, and Pepper, please call me Tony. You make me sound older than I really am whenever you say, "Mr. Stark"." He heard her chucking on her side.
"Alright Mr -- I mean Tony. I'm going to leave you to the rest of your lunch break and then we need to talk about your meeting in Munich tomorrow."
"What would I ever do without you?"
"Not a lot of anything I should imagine," she joked, practically seeing the handsome smile forming on Tony's face as he said his goodbye.
Lounging back in his chair, he was just about to put the radio on when his top-of-the-range cell-phone jerked into life and nearly threw him off it. Once he had composed himself Tony opened the text and began to read it, his eyebrows creasing as he realized that it was sent from Rick Jones. If Tony knew right, Rick was more accustomed to Bruce Banner, let alone Tony Stark. So why would he seek his help? Did he somehow know that Tony Stark is Iron Man? No, don't be ridiculous Tony, he laughed at himself, How in blazes would someone like Rick found out such a secret. He'd have to have read his mind to acquire such information. And he only knew two persons who wielded such an ability**.
Quickly throwing that notion to the back of his mind Tony set to work acquiring his latest Iron Man suit from the secret compartment hidden on the wall on the opposite side of the room. Right next to his Plasma TV and HD-DVD player. As the compartment opened up, Tony took this moment to undress until he was in his underwear. There was nothing more staggering than being in a metal suit and sweating like a pig on a scorching summer's day like today. Stepping into the red and gold suit, it automatically sealed itself tight and initiated itself online.
"Initiate manual control," Tony spoke to the suit, which did as he asked and was now able to control the suit by himself. As Tony made his way over to the balcony outside, his feet clunking loudly along the floor, he made sure everything was clear for take-off before instigating his jet boots and flying off into the sky, en route to New Mexico.
Back somewhere in the New Mexico desert
Rick Jones had travelled his way down the lonely highway that was built across the vast desert before suddenly turning off and heading toward the location of Bruce Banner's secret lab. He'd parked his motorbike at the bottom of the sandy hill where the cave entrance to the lab resided at its zenith. It had been half an hour, since he'd sent that text message to Johnny and still he hadn't received an answer back. Suddenly a gust of wind blew past him and he was nearly sent flying onto his hands and knees if it weren't for the fact that he was hanging onto his motorbike for dear life.
Once the wind died down enough for him to stand his ground, Rick looked up to see someone he least expected. Using the winds to stay levitated in the air, Thor, with his strong arms crossed over his heaving chest, Mjolnir fisted in one hand. He looked powerful in his form, bolts of lightning crackling around his body as though it was his aura, a true God of Lightning in any mortal's eyes. Definitely, in Rick's as he held his arm over his eyes to protect them from the intense luminosity of the lightning.
The God of Thunder eventually descends to the ground, landing softly on his feet, his arms still crossed over his chest.
"I believe thee hath summoned for me, young Rick Jones," Thor simply replied but it sounded more like he was bellowing the way his voice was amplified because of his godly prowess. The god then noticed that Rick looked rather surprised to see him, "Why so surprised? Did thee not send for me?"
At that precise moment in time, as though fate had intervened somehow, the sound of jet boots flying overhead caught their attention and they both turned to see the red-and-gold armour of Iron Man flying through the air, landing just short of them.
"Hello, Rick. Thor. Seems that I'm not the only one who received your message." Iron Man's synthetic voice replied, obviously to mask whoever it was who was wearing the suit.
Rick looked at the blond-locked hulk who was the Thunder God, then back at the red-and-golden wonder, "I hate to put a downer on you two, but my message for help wasn't for you. I sent it to the Fantastic Four, but since then, I haven't heard a word yet."
The superheroes looked at each other, both feeling just a little awkward that they'd both been summoned but were not needed. Just to complicate things further, two new voices were heard, somewhere behind the two heroes, seeming to get louder as they spoke.
"We've also received your message about needing help and it looks to me that you're about to get it!" A small male's voice sounded somewhere above the two legendary heroes and Rick, who were all looking around to spot where it was coming from.
Suddenly, as though from out of the air itself, two costumed characters started to grow until they'd reached their normal heights, the others recognizing them instantaneously as Ant Man and the beautiful Wasp!
Rick was left literally flabbergasted. First Thor, the God of Thunder, arrived, then Iron Man appeared shortly afterward and now Ant Man and Wasp! They were more than he could've ever hope for in helping him find and reason with the Incredible Hulk. In spite of this, Rick and the superheroes hadn't a clue in what they were about to get into as a pair of leering eyes observed this fantastic scene…
"No! This is not what I had planned! I only wanted to find a way to lure Thor back here! I have no interest in these other heroes!" Loki exclaimed, rage colouring his neck and face in an angry red, fists clenched tightly at his side. He stood up from the rock he was sitting on and pondered quickly in how to entice the Thunder God to Asgard and, thanks to his impressive intellect, thought of the perfect lure.
Using his all-seeing eyes to peer back down at the gathering of the heroes, Loki noticed that the young teenaged boy, the one they called Rick Jones, was leading them up a small dune toward a small cave at the top which supposedly led to one of Hulk's hideouts, whenever he wanted to get away from those he meant him harm.
Luckily, for the God of Mischief Thor was the last to ascend the dune and speedily conjured up a mental illusion of the Hulk bounding his way through the valley via his superhuman leaps. However, the illusion only affected Thor so only he could hear the tremors as Hulk rocked the ground with every leap.
Strange, I thought I just heard the Hulk just now, Thor wondered, turning around to make sure he wasn't just hallucinating. His eyes instantly spotted the green behemoth as he bounded right across the way, not even stopping to wonder why strangers were about to enter one of his sacred sanctums.
I shan't disturb the others! If I can take him down quickly and quietly, I'll shall hath the job over and done with. Settled on that idea, Thor swung his mighty Uru hammer, Mjolnir, and once it had gathered enough force he hurled it into the air, whilst holding onto its leather thong, enabling him to fly after the Hulk.
'Tis also strange that he moves as though he hath not seen me…as though he's unaware of anything! But Thor managed to stop and descend back to the ground once he saw Hulk stopping to lift up a nearby boulder that was just as big as he was.
"I shall strike thee down before thee hath a chance to strike!" Thor's voice thundered as he threw Mjolnir at the Hulk but was aghast to find that it went straight through him, as though he'd made himself intangible. Thor knew that the Hulk had many abilities to his name but intangibility wasn't one of them. Once Thor's hammer returned to his hand, the image of Hulk disappeared into thin air, leaving the Thunder God alone to ponder.
"'Twas only an illusion, a mental trick I've seen someone perform before." Thor then looked skyward, where Asgard resided beyond the heavens, "Loki. Only he is capable of such wizardry. I should hath suspected as much."
The Thunder God then proceeded into ascending into the sky once again to return to the mystical realm of Asgard to confront the one he heavily suspected of pulling such an alluring illusion.
"Ha ah! It seems that I have succeeded in luring the Thunder God back to Asgard, but when he reaches the Isle of Silence, he shall soon find out that it will be me to emerge the victor!…For this time, I am ready for the coming of Thor!" Loki subsequently laughed manically, it echoing throughout the lonesome isle before returning to deathly silence as he waited.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, the other heroes had followed Rick down into the small cave to find that it housed a small bed, a table and two chairs. Several candles could be seen on top of the table, apparently not been lit for quite some time. Not what you'd call a humble abode. Predictably the Hulk wasn't inside as Rick and the heroes were disappointed to find out but knew even so.
"Well, he isn't here. Oh, where could he be? I'm worried sick about him!" Rick replied with concern, sitting himself on the side of the bed and putting his head into his palms.
"Don't worry Rick…I'm positive that myself, Ant-Man and the Wasp will find the Hulk and learn the truth." Iron Man comforted the teenager, patting him gently on the back.
The Wasp, who'd grown back to her normal size like Ant-Man to make it easier for them to talk, crossed her arms, a smile on her face that seemed to light up the reasonably dark and dank grotto, "Cheer up, Rick. I'm sure Hulk's not that hard to find. I mean, how hard can it be to find a green-skinned behemoth with a short temper and a tendency to show it off with a full-on rampage?"
Ant-Man turned to his beautiful, brunette, his thinking cap on as he spoke, "Surprisingly hard, if you can imagine. By now, I reckon he's laying low, keeping himself away from towns and cities unless he wants to get himself caught which I highly doubt."
Wasp placed a hand on her hip, "So? What's your plan in finding him? If he's really on a rampage, we have to stop him as soon as possible before he actually starts harming civilians but if, for some reason, he's innocent, maybe he might have some info on the real culprit and we can use that to prove his innocence."
Her boyfriend nodded. So did Iron Man, "You couldn't be more right, Wasp. Now, if I just scan the local vicinity, maybe I can get a fix on where he might be hiding or where he's going," he replied, tapping the buttons on one of his gloves as he did. As the others looked on, they noticed that once he'd finished, Iron Man's eyes shone bright yellow, notifying everyone that he was now in "Scanning Mode".
As Ant-Man and Wasp took a seat at the table to wait for Iron Man's scanning to complete, Rick looked around and noticed that one of them was missing, "Hey, where's Thor? I thought he was right behind us?"
The two heroes looked around and saw that the teen was right, the Thunder God was no-where to be seen. The Wasp smiled, huffed, then waved off the worry, "Don't worry about big, strong and blond, Rick. Thor has a penchant for disappearing when no-one's looking. He'll be back before you know it."
Just then their attention was averted back to Iron Man, who'd finished his scanning and was heading for the entrance, "Come on guys. I've got a lock on the Hulk. It seems like he's on the move again, heading towards an abandoned military base about 15 miles due east."
"Rick, stay here. We don't want you getting involved, you might get hurt," the Wasp replied, concern obvious as she followed Ant-Man and Iron Man out of the cave. Rick answered her with a sigh, "Alright."
Once outside, the two lovers shrunk down to insect size and followed after Iron Man, Wasp via her wings and Ant-Man via an ant he'd called for aid telepathically, thanks to his cybernetic helmet.
15 Miles Due East
Whilst the newly gathered heroes were on pursuit of the green behemoth, the Hulk was taking refuge in an old, abandoned military base that probably hadn't seen the light of day since the early '60s. As he treaded his way through the empty building, his feet crushing the very ground beneath him, he felt a great deal of tranquillity overload his mind, and suddenly felt strange.
Within an instant the Hulk reverted back to his human form in a flash of green light, one Dr. Bruce Banner, who looked around and was puzzled by his current whereabouts.
"Wha-what? Where…am I?" Bruce asked himself, placing a hand on his head as a headache was coming along, "My head…can't stop banging," and then he collapsed in a heap, unconscious to the world.
As they approached Hulk's position after flying over constant desert and mountainous regions, the three heroes descend, Ant-Man and the Wasp returning to normal size once they touched ground. Iron Man's eyes flashed yellow again, scanning the vicinity for the green giant but came out empty-handed.
"Strange? The Hulk's reading seems to have just…vanished but I'm still picking up someone in the abandoned military base. Guess we'll have to check it out. He or she might have some info on the whereabouts of the Hulk." Iron Man deduced, pointing in the direction of the base, just noticeable in the distance, located at the bottom of a small canyon.
"The sooner we do, the sooner we can finish this and I can have a shower. I'm sweating buckets in this heat," Wasp moaned as she followed the two heroes in its direction…
What felt like hours was only a few minutes as Bruce Banner awoke from unconscious, moaning at the headache that was pounding inside his head, "Ooh, what…what happened?" His eyes inspected the area before noticing that he was in fact half-naked and his trousers were torn to shreds.
"Oh…oh no! Not again, not again with the Hulk!" Bruce exclaimed, taking deep breaths so as not to excite himself and turn back into the Hulk. "What has he done now? Destroyed this military base?"
His questioning himself was interrupted by what sounded like rockets jetting across the sky. He clambered to his feet, with the help of a nearby collapsed wall, and faced in the direction of where the sounds were coming from.
He was just in time to see a red-and-gold armoured man touch down while two others increase their size to their normal height. The man was wearing a dark crimson costume with a silver helmet on his head while the woman was wearing all black except for several patterns which were coloured yellow. Bruce did notice that she had wings but they disappeared once she'd reached her height.
"That must be Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp," Bruce told himself, keeping himself well hidden in the shadows, "But what are they doing here? Are they after the Hulk? If so, I dread to think what he's done to attract their attention."
Back outside Iron Man took a few steps forward, "They're here somewhere. Just give me a minute to scan the area, and we'll know exactly where." His eyes once again glow and within a matter of seconds found who they were looking for, "Please, come out. We mean you no harm whatsoever. We're just here to ask you some questions that you might be able to answer." He called out with his hands out in front of him in a peaceful gesture. Ant-Man and Wasp stayed where they were, both not really sure who to expect if it wasn't the Hulk.
Bruce leant up against the wall, heart pounding fast once again but trying to calm it with deep, soothing breaths, but it didn't seem to be working, "No! No, please God don't change. They're just here to help."
Those were the only words Bruce heard before the Hulk's rage overtook him; transforming him back into the green behemoth of destruction. A creature so full of rage and with unimaginable strength. Once the transformation had finished, the Hulk let out a tremendous roar, causing the very building, and canyon, to shake violently.
Ant-Man and the Wasp steadied their feet so as not to fall over, "Sounds like we've found the Hulk, darling," Wasp uttered as she immediately shrunk to insect size, her translucent wings fluttering at a million times a second.
Iron Man jetted back to join the duo via his rocket boots, "And he's sounds awful mad. I guess reasoning with him's out of the question," he replied, the palms of his hands glowing with cerulean light, readying himself for anything.
The ground then started to tremble with the Hulk's every step, making the other heroes feel like as though the Earth was going to open up and swallow them whole. When he stepped into the light for the trio to see, they were amazed by the sheer size of him. They'd read reports, seen glimpses of him on the news reports but were always out of focus, not defining how tall he was. Now it made them all feel extremely small, especially Ant-Man and Wasp, who was already in her shrunken size.
"HULK JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!" He roared, large green hands tensed into fists, eyes wide with fury at the colourful interlopers.
Ant-Man took a step forward, in an attempt to try and calm the green giant down, "Please, Hulk. We mean you no harm," he replied while gesturing at himself and then Iron Man and Wasp, "We just want to talk. Figure out what's going on with you." His voice was calm, non-threatening but it didn't seem to have pacified Hulk's rage.
Nonetheless, the green behemoth didn't seem to realize that, as Ant-Man continued to talk with him, underneath where Hulk's standing, he was telepathically commanding a legion of ants to burrow the ground so as to weaken it and cause a cave in, trapping the towering brute.
"HULK NOT WANT TALK! HULK WILL SMASH YOU ALL IF YOU DON'T LEAVE NOW!"
"Well, can't say that we didn't try," Ant-Man sighed, hands on his hips as just at that moment, the ground beneath the Hulk collapsed and he fell into the tight crevice, created by Ant-Man's ants. "That should hold him." Ant-Man uttered but was disrupted by the sound of a tremor?
Suddenly, the ground collapsed from underneath them. Iron Man hovered in the air via his jet-boots while Ant-Man shrunk to insect size and mentally commanded two flying ants to his aid. The trio of heroes glanced at the source of the tremor and found that it was the Hulk, using his immense strength, to escape from the confined space he'd been put in by Ant-Man's ants' tunnelling.
The Hulk landed on the ground, fists tightly clenched, causing another shake, and roaring his anger at the three heroes who were now trying his patience.
Promptly Iron Man calls out an order, "Everyone in the offensive! If we can somehow overpower or disorientate him, we may have a chance at finding his disadvantage!"
With that said, the two others nodded their heads in agreement before Wasp flew, wings flickering fast, towards the almighty Hulk, swiftly dodging his punches with aerial dexterity. When she was close to the Hulk's head, Wasp started firing off several of her "wasp's stings" from her hands, the electrical force bursts hitting the green giant on several places on his face, including his eyes.
This caused Hulk's vision to go blurry and leaving him temporarily blind, swiping at nothing but air. This gave Iron Man time to gain momentum and use his own armour's super-strength against the Hulk, spearing the green behemoth through one of many collapsed brick walls. He advanced through a few more, actually causing what was left of the roof in one of the rooms to collapse, before Hulk grabbed Iron Man by the shoulders and stopped him in his tracks.
Iron Man's strength couldn't compare to that of Hulk's as he fought with every ounce of it in order to keep the Hulk contained but he proved too much, overpowering him and punching him back through a clear set of walls, before becoming embedded in the wall of the canyon.
The thundering footsteps were back, stepping out of the hole Iron Man had created when Hulk had punched him through it, and let out an almighty roar, "NO ONE CAN STOP HULK!"
Meanwhile, in the grand chamber of the Imperial Palace in Asgard, Thor was kneeling in the presence of his father, Odin, King of the Norse Gods, who stood impressively in front of his throne with Gungnir, his three-pronged spear made of Uru, in both hands.
"Noble Odin, Lord of the Gods!" Thor started, his powerful voice seeming to resonate around the great room, "Grant thy son permission to visit Loki in the Isle of Silence, so that I may learn if he is truly responsible for some deviltry back on Midgard!"
The Almighty All-Father stared at his son with piercing eyes for what felt like an eternity to Thor until he received his answer, "I shall grant thee permission, my beloved son, but hark to these words; Though you be the son of my heart…Loki too is my son! I cannot interfere with what transpires between the two of you!"
Thor nodded in agreement, standing to his feet, "I understand, father." He then bared a second to bow before turning on his heels and leaving the room, with his Father's eyes watching him as he left, his mind wondering what Loki had in store for Thor this time…
And so, the Thunder God set sail across the Sea of Mist, fully aware that the enemy he seeks is also a legendary God…and the most sinister, if not the most dangerous of all. Loki must know that I am coming, Thor thought as he paddled across the lonely sea, Knowing him he'd have set traps for me but alas, I must not turn back…no matter what the risk!
Once he'd reached the shores of the Isle of Silence, Thor stepped off the boat and strolled onward to find Loki. However, he only managed to take a couple of steps when suddenly great, thick roots erupted from underneath the very ground. The roots were quick, almost overwhelming the Thunder God in an intent to squeeze the very life out of him when Thor started to swing his almighty hammer over his head.
The faster he swung, the quicker it was to chop down the roots until they were no longer a threat, "Loki will hath to do better than that to hinder me!" Thor replied, his palm clenching Mjolnir ever so tightly as he continued onward on his search for the God of Mischief.
He didn't need to look far because Loki was standing with his head held high, hands on his hips, at the edge of the forest with an evil grin on his face, "So you have finally made it to my humble home, my dear brother! However, I'm deeply sorry to say that this is also where you'll stay for eternity, as a rotting corpse!" Loki bellowed, his voice seeming to resonate across the small isle.
Thor pointed his Uru hammer at Loki, which was tightly clenched in his palm, "You were expecting me, Loki! Which means you have committed some foul deed, knowing that I'd come to avenge it!" Thor's voice bellowed just as loudly as Loki's, taking a few steps towards him before Loki outstretched a hand, which emanated a pink glow, Thor suddenly finding himself unable to move, "Stop, accursed brother! Has it slipped your mind the name of this isle…and the ones for whom it was named?"
Abruptly, a mighty hand with thin, long fingers and sharp claws grabbed the Thunder God by his ankle, immobilizing him on the spot as it crawled itself out from the very ground. Seeing as the creature had Thor in its tight grip, Loki ceased his hold on him and watched as the horrifically disfigured beast then held Thor in a robust bear-hug.
"He, like the others beneath the very ground, are the Silent Ones! The natural enemies of the Gods…the Trolls!"
The pink-skinned 8-foot Troll proceeded in crushing the life out of Thor, who had only mere seconds to think of a way out before his fate was sealed in doom. With Mjolnir still in his grasp, Thor looked up into the sky and summoned a powerful strike of lightning to electrify himself as well as the Troll, knowing full well that the attack would not harm him.
The horrid creature howled out in pain as the strike caused it to let go of Thor and stumble back a few steps, trying to find its balance. With not a moment to lose Thor held Mjolnir with both hands and, whilst electrifying it, holds it back before swinging it with all his strength forward, it connecting with the Troll's irregular chin.
With the help of his superhuman strength, Thor had "batted" the Troll backward into the air, its screaming gradually fading as it vanished into the distance, leaving Loki once again alone with the Thunder God.
"Now that the Troll hath been dealt with, it is time for thee to taste the awesome vengeance of Thor!" He exclaimed, swinging the Uru hammer overhead before hurling it fast at the unsuspected God of Mischief.
However Loki, with the speed of thought, erected a impenetrable force-field that successfully deflects the mighty hammer, which flew back into the hand of Thor, "You haven't defeated me yet, Thor!" Loki replied, letting out a smarmy laugh as the force-field disappeared into thin air.
"I have only just began, Loki!" Thor then sprinted forward, Mjolnir held overhead once again, as he was intent in striking Loki like he'd done only moments ago with the Troll. Nevertheless, as soon as Thor swung the hammer at Loki's torso, it travelled right through it, as though it was intangible.
"Agh! Another illusion! I am getting rather tired of your tiresome tricks, Loki!" Thor announced, only to turn around and find several other Loki's standing before him, one obviously being the real God while the others were all his irksome illusions.
"It'll take more than that to save thee from me, Loki! Although I possess no ability to sense which illusion is the real one, my hammer shall solve that problem for me!" Thor subsequently started to spin Mjolnir out in front of him, instead of overhead, like a giant propeller, until all of the illusions had dissipated except for the real Loki, who stood with his arms crossed, only slightly impressed by the Thunder God's effort.
"My turn." Loki, God of Evil, grinned devilishly, emitting a powerful blast of red, concussive energy from his hands, only for Thor to soar into the air in the nick of time before he could be struck by it. He then whirled the hammer overhead and tossed it in Loki's direction, only for Loki to deflect it with another force-field.
Catching the hammer in his hand, Thor knelt straight the way and lingered Mjolnir above the ground, it starting to hum as it soaked up the magnetic currents that gave life to the Trolls below. Once it had absorbed enough magnetic energy, Thor stood to his feet and extended his arm, allowing Mjolnir to magnetically pull Loki toward him.
"What?! What are you doing? NOO!" Loki cried out, not able to evade Mjolnir's powerful magnetic pull. He stuck to it like flies to flypaper as Thor triumphantly lifted him into the air in a winning gesture.
"I hath thee now, Loki, and thee hath much to atone for!"
"Wait! Stop! Where are you taking me? What are you going to do?" Loki asked frantically, struggling to pry himself off of Mjolnir but finding that it was no use.
"With our father Odin's permission, I shall bring thee to Midgard! There, thee will find others who are waiting for thee…others almost as powerful as I!" Thor stated, prying Loki off Mjolnir and holding him tightly with one arm, he proceeded in swinging the hammer overhead until a blustering vortex consumed the both of them and teleported them back to Earth…
Meanwhile, back on Earth, the trio of heroes weren't faring too well with their fight with the incredibly strong Hulk. Wasp was just about to charge at the Hulk and bombard him with another batch of bio-electric blasts when he claps his large hands together, catching her in his "thunder-clap", propelling the Wasp backwards into one of the collapsible brick walls. She plummeted to the floor soon afterward, unconscious.
"Wasp!" Ant-Man cried out, flying out to her via his flying ants. Landing next to her unconscious body, Ant-Man jumped off the insects and ran to her, kneeling by her side. He then pulled her into his arms and coaxed her gently from her unconsciousness, the back of his hand stroking her cheek, "Come on Janet, my love. Wake up. He didn't hit you that hard," he whispered softly, fighting back the tears as he looked upon the love of his life.
Slowly Janet's eyes started to blink slowly, eventually opening to see her boyfriend's eyes looking into hers, "Hank? What happened --," then a sudden rush of pain hit the back of her head, "Ooh, don't answer that, sweetie. I think I already know."
"Are you alright to move, my love?" Hank asked with concern, cupping his girlfriend into his arms, bridal-style.
Janet rubbed the back of her head, as though it might relieve some of the pain that was throbbing there, "I'm fine, darling, really I am." To show him that she was, Janet fluttered out of his arms and into the air, ready to get back in the game, "See…now let's go. Iron Man needs us."
And need them Iron Man did as he flew around Hulk to avoid being crushed in those massive arms. Once he had good distance between himself and the Hulk, Iron Man discharged several "pulse bolts"; concussive force blasts that pick up kinetic energy along the way, so that they hit their target harder the further they are away from them.
It did exactly what it said on the tin. As soon as they struck the Hulk, it launched him across the canyon, feeling to him like he'd just been hit by several anti-tank missiles, before he smashed into the rocky wall like Iron Man had done moments ago.
He'd had enough of this. Enough of people and heroes hunting him down, hounding him, for just being who he is. He couldn't help the fact that he wields so much strength that it caused destruction everywhere he went.
So, as he climbed out from the hole he'd just created, Hulk was not holding back. He was going to take down these "hunters" even if he brought the entire canyon on top of them. However, he was stopped in his tracks by a blond man with a red cape, with someone wrapped around his arm as he landed in between the Hulk and the heroes.
"Halt! Thee hath no reason to fight!" The blond man called out, as he placed the man, who Hulk and the heroes could see wore a dark green and yellow costume with a pair of long horns protruding from his yellow cowl, on the ground, a hand on his shoulder to hold him in place. "This, everyone, is Loki, God of Evil, and he was the mastermind behind this entire ordeal! It was he who planned the train wreck, and it was he who arranged for the Hulk to be blamed…so I could reveal myself in order to trap me!" Thor explained Loki's dastardly plan to them all, as they gathered around the defeated Norse God.
"Loki? You got Hulk into mess? THEN HULK SMASH!" Hulk bellowed, ready to punch Loki into the next state but before he could even move, Loki extended his arms out in front of him before discharging a beam of magical energy that halted him on the spot, "Halt, foolish mortal! No-one may lay a hand on Loki!
With one hand aimed at Hulk, the other zapped at the other heroes, only managing to hold Thor and Iron Man, Ant-Man and Wasp already in their shrunken forms and now flying around the God of Evil. While Wasp was blasting him with her 'wasp's stings', Ant-Man was telepathically commanding his ants and other flying insects in the vicinity to fly around Loki's head, causing him to lose his concentration as he tried desperately to wave them away.
"Uh! Uh! Get them away! Get these pests away from me!"
"Let Hulk help!" The green behemoth replied, charging forward and punching Loki square in the chest, hurling him into the demolished military base. Thanks to Loki's enhanced durability, Hulk's punch didn't harm him but caused him to lose consciousness.
With Loki subdued, the heroes turn to each other to congratulate on a mission well done before returning to their homes to rest after a gruelling day and Thor taking Loki back to where he belonged.
"Wait! Before we separate, Wasp and I have something that we'd like to say!" cried Ant-Man, who'd returned to his normal size like the Wasp, before she took over from him, "Each of us have different powers, different strengths, right? Well, if we were to combine our forces, we could become almost unbeatable, am I right?" Wasp asked to them all whilst using Ant-Man's shoulder as an armrest.
The other three heroes looked at each other, contemplating on their idea, Iron Man suddenly answering enthusiastically, "Have us working as a team? Why not? I'm certainly in!"
"I agree," proclaimed Thor, "There is much good we can do!"
Nonetheless, Hulk wasn't as in enthusiastic as the others were about this idea, "Hulk not like bug lady's idea. Hulk works better alone!" And with that short statement said, Hulk bent his knees and leapt into the air, disappearing from their sight in just one jump.
"Hulk may be a problem for us in the near future but we can all worry about it when the time comes. So, Wasp, what are we calling ourselves?" Iron Man enquired, all turning to the plucky heroine for their answer.
"Well, I was thinking that it's got to be colourful…and dramatic like…The Avengers?" Her questioning brow was soon answered by the sound of cheers and smiles, "That's it, Wasp!" Ant-Man beamed, "We'll be called The Avengers!" He then stretched out his hand, waiting for the others to place theirs on top of his, the Wasp doing so in a matter of seconds.
Iron Man placed his on top of hers as he responded, "We'll fight together or separately, if need be!"
Afterward Thor stepped forward and place his on top of Iron Man's, completing the ensemble that was the Avengers, "We shall never be beaten! For we are…"
They all joined in and shouted together, "THE AVENGERS!"
And thus is born one of the greatest super-hero teams of all time! Each blessed with sufficient powers, The Avengers will bring truth and justice to those who dare to oppose it and them!
The End of Issue 1
