Journey into Mystery 27

A Marvel Tale Told in the Mighty Marvel Manner!

Every Hand Against Her!

Loki had plans; even his plans had plans nestled within them. His most recent one involved getting back into Odin's good graces. The task wasn't as impossible as he feared. He didn't have to do anything particularly hard. All he had to do was disgrace both Thor and Balder for good measure.

He opened a portal to Midgard and strolled through the small burg of Attica towards the prison complex. It was simple to alter his Asgardian finery into a business suit. The highest quality of course, should anyone bother to examine the labels. Entering the prison wasn't hard, nor was it difficult getting access to two particular prisoners. "Misters Zabo and Vorhees?"

Zabo raised an eyebrow. "Who are you? Our public defender called us both hopeless."

"Aye and by mortal laws thou are truly doomed."

Vorhees, formerly known as the Cobra, hissed. "You talk funny. How do we know you aren't working with that Thor broad?"

Loki sighed and leaned forward. "If I was aligned with those fools, do you think I would have wasted my incredibly valuable time talking to you?" he leaned back and snapped his fingers. Just then a guard entered the room.

The man's eyes were clouded. "The warden has received the paperwork necessary for your release. Please report to the following departments for your merry go round." Both inmates glanced at Loki carefully.

After a few hours, both the former Mr. Hyde and Cobra strolled out of the prison. "Not sure how you did that, but we're grateful."

Loki adjusted his tie. "As you should be. A few tricks and persuasion and those mortals believed everything I told them. Now, let us be off." With a snap of his fingers, Loki appeared inside a small apartment. He wasn't impressed by the sight.

Zabo, on the other hand, was. "My lab!" he rushed to the corner of the room and pulled up some floorboards. "I knew those fools wouldn't find it!" he held up a small vial of liquid.

"That is the source of your power?" Loki's esteem of the man, already cool, turned downright frigid. "Bah, I assumed my brother would have foes of great power. Perhaps I can lure the Enchantress and her dim dogs boy instead."

Zabo grinned as he rolled up his sleeve. "Oh, it is more than just power. Once I'm Mister Hyde again, I'll rip those pretty blond locks right from that godling's head!"

"Wait!" Vorhees protested. "Aren't we missing someone?"

Zabo stopped before he injected himself. "Who?"

"Didn't you have that snake charmer?"

"Princess Python?" Zabo laughed. "I hardly had her and she was utterly useless. I lost touch with her after her last arrest."

Loki held up his hand. "Wait, perhaps we are too hasty." Inwardly his thoughts were different. "The more fools I have, the more chaos I can unleash upon the city." To the pair, he dismissively waved his hand. "I shall seek out your third comrade. Meanwhile, unleash hell upon this mortal world." He vanished in a flash of smoke.

When it finally cleared, the Cobra looked at Zabo. "Odd fellow, but he got us out of the clink. Want to take up his offer?"

Zabo jabbed the needle into his forearm. His breathing grew ragged. "Oh, yes!"

Princess Python, better known as Zelda DuBois, put her python back in its cage. She had escaped from prison a few weeks earlier and had taken to hiding out in one of the lower rent neighborhoods. Aside from her snakes, she didn't have anyone, not that she minded.

So when someone knocked on her door she was startled. She drew a small .22 from her drawer and went to the deadbolted door. "What?"

"Princess Python?"

She opened the door slightly. She only saw a man in an expensive suit. Too fancy for a cop. "What do you want?"

"Your partners in crime are having a reunion and I thought it a grand idea to have the entire team together."

"You mean Hyde and Cobra? Forget it. Those jokers let me rot."

The man smiled. Suddenly the pistol in her hand seemed very small. "True, but you are a vital part in my plan, thus I fear you are going to have a role to play regardless of your feelings."

Hyde and Cobra walked, in full uniform, towards Dr. Blake's clinic. "Say, how come we didn't rat Blake out?"

Hyde clamped a meaty paw on his shoulder. "Because if anyone is going to ruin Donald Blake or kill Lady Thor it is going to be…" he paused, "us. Why let someone else have the glory?"

"Fair enough." The Cobra opened the door and wished he hadn't. Instead of the sickly thin doctor of his college days, the Cobra stared down a massive tower of blond muscle. "Aw nuts."

Thor glared at him. "You!" He struck his wrists together. His suit was gone, replaced by the familiar armor of Asgard. "Thou dare show thy form here?" Thor unhooked Mjolnir from his belt.

"Hyde!" the Cobra darted back into the street. Hyde was leaning against a parked car, crumpling the frame. He took in the sight of Thor with some surprise.

"Finally started taking some vitamins, eh Donny?"

"Hyde!" Thor snarled. "Thou dare appear here?"

"Yes, I dare." Hyde cracked his knuckles as the Cobra darted around the corner.

Jane finished her paperwork when she heard the commotion outside. Glancing out the window revealed the Cobra sneaking down the alley towards the back door. "Oh, no you don't!"

She grabbed her walking stick and struck it against the floor. When the light faded, Thunderstrike stood in her place. She readied her hammer as the Cobra opened the door. "Aw nuts!"

She tossed her hammer. It struck the Cobra dead center, sending him crashing to the pavement. "What is thy plan miscreant?"

The Cobra struggled to move the hammer pinning him to the ground. "Go to hell!"
-

Princess Python glared down at the scene of Thunderstrike and the Cobra fighting. The stranger had transported her to the roof. She held up the small vial he had given her. "I get revenge and everything I want, and all I have to do is cause a ruckus?" She downed the contents.

A strange tingling went over her, similar to when Hyde gave her that shot but different. She felt…meaner.

She looked at the fight below, a good three stories. She grinned and jumped as her muscles started to swell under her simple dress.

The fight out front was going about the same. Hyde was doing most of the physical work, easily trading blows back and forth with Thor. They barely moved a few feet from the office front door, but the blows were echoing down the street. The wrecked cars around them formed a crude ring as they traded blows.

"Not using your toy this time?" Hyde grinned, blood flowing freely from his split lip.

"I need no weapon to deal with the likes of you!" Thor boasted. Despite his words, Thor was hurting. If he been mortal he had no doubt he would have been dead.

Loki watched silently above the fighting. "Perfect!" He wove a simple spell and entered the throne room of Asgard. "Father, I have returned!"

Dozens of spears pointed at him. Odin, king of the gods, sat on his throne. "Aye, and against my wishes. What dost thou want trickster?"

"Father, I am wounded to the quick! I have come from Midgard, at great peril to my life I should add, to show what your son and daughter are doing."

"The word of a liar is worth nothing." Odin glowered at him.

"What about the word of Heimdall? His eyes see nothing but the truth." Loki bowed.

Odin paused his retort. "Fetch Heimdall." He thundered.

Heimdall marched before Odin and bowed. "What dost thou wish of me milord?"

"Heimdall, with thy eyes, gaze upon Midgard. How fares my son Thor?"

Heimdall turned towards the Earth and stared. He shook his head at length. "Even now thy son is engaged in battle."

Odin turned to Loki. "Thor is ever ready for battle. How is this news of any import?"

"Ah, but if thou looked harder good Heimdall, thou would see not simply a battle, but a pitched battle in the midst of a mortal city. Is this the action of a humble man father?"

Odin glanced at Heimdall, who slowly nodded and confirmed Loki's words. Odin sighed. "Nay, I shall not condemn my son without proof. Balder!"

The god of light strolled forward. "My sword is ever at your service Father."

"Then travel to Midgard, see how thy brother and his wife battle. Are they just?"

Balder nodded and made his way to Bifrost. Loki smiled and followed, inwardly seething. "So, my other brother wishes to befoul my plots, eh?"

The two gods landed on a roof overlooking the fights. "Stay here Loki and say nothing."

Loki smiled and stepped back. Behind Balder's back, he moved his fingers in a certain way. Unseen by the god light, Mr. Hyde and the Cobra both were hit with a simple spell. The spell, sometimes used by less than honorable warriors, would be give a slight boost of strength. From Asgardian standards, the boost was so weak and lasted so short it was barely worth the effort.

From a human perspective, however, the results were a bit different. Hyde found his power not only restored but he felt powerful enough to shatter diamonds. With a roar he rushed forward and struck Thor with an uppercut that knocked him right through an office building.

The Cobra slithered under Thunderstrike's hammer and leaped behind her, wrapped his arms and legs around her torso. Princess Python, meanwhile, found herself shrinking back to normal. "What?"

The fight, with Mr. Hyde lumbering back to the fight between Thunderstrike and Cobra, his grin wide and foul. Princess Python was quickly smacked aside as Hyde focused on the struggling pair. "Hey!"

"Quiet! If you couldn't cut it, you're not worth the juice! Beat it before I beat you!" Hyde spat.

Princess Python was about fire back when an armored figured landed in the street with a drawn sword. "Enough!"

Loki stood back and watched as Balder leaped off the roof and landed in the street. "Hmm, this could complicate things." He glanced down at Hyde and Cobra. "Yet I still have two pawns in play. Perhaps a promotion is in order?"

He weaved a spell. It would last less than the first one, but for a few seconds the two human criminals would be greater than any foe Thor had ever fought. Princess Python stumbled away from the fight, ignored by all.

Hyde drew back his fist and threw a punch at the two hammers. It struck and for a second, Hyde knew the power of a god. The spells then ended and his fist crumbled and the uru enchanted hammers blew him through several storefronts.

The Cobra looked at the fight and promptly put his hands up and his head down. As Thunderstrike bound his arms, Hyde staggered towards them, his arm handing limply at his side. "Not…over!" he spat a mouthful of teeth through busted lips.

"Zounds man, how can thy stand?" Balder marveled.

Hyde spat a profanity and punched a hole through the street, pulling out a gas line. He grinned as the gas ignited and the flames enveloped him. Thor and Thunderstrike saw the action and easily spun the gas and fire away with their hammers. Balder, nestled between them, lifted his head and looked sadly at the devastation. "Look!"

To their horror, they saw Princess Python laying in the street, a large piece of metal sticking out of her side. Thor and Thunderstrike were at her side at once. "She's lost too much blood!" Thunderstrike eyed the jagged bit of metal. If she removed it the mortal woman might bleed out faster.

Thor carefully looked Python over. "Mortal, can thou hear me?"

Python's eyes were unfocused. Thor bent down. "I need thou to breathe, empty thy lungs." He looked around. "The nearest house of healing is some blocks. Would she survive such a move?"

Balder stepped forward. "Brother, sister, a moment! There in Asgard lies such aid as to cure the mortal, I'm sure of it!"

"Aye, but thou would never return in time!" Thunderstrike placed her hands over the wound to slow the blood.

"Wait, Balder speaks the truth! Quick, clash our hammers together! That will create a small time vortex to slow her wounds while Balder quests for the medicine."

Thunderstrike reluctantly removed her hands and picked up her hammer. The pair nodded and slammed their hammers together over Python. The air around her shimmered and Python's hand stayed outstretched.

Thor shot a look at Balder. "Thou will have thy time, but be warned. Even we can not hold this forever."

"I will fly to Asgard. Keep her still and we might yet save her!" Balder vanished in a multi-colored flash as he stepped into the rainbow bridge.

Loki glanced down at the scene. "Not what I expected, and I see in his haste my dear other brother forgot to mention me. Perhaps I can still turn this to my advantage." He started to weave a spell, slightly altering the scene. "When Odin sees what tragedy his dear son has unleashed, the thunder god will be finished!"

Based on "Every Hand Against Him!" which was first published in Journey Into Mystery I#110 (November 1964) with credits to Stan Lee (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), Chic Stone (inks), and Art Simek (letters)

Next time, "The Power of the Thunder God!"

A million thanks to Darci for the proofreading and suggestions

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