In the pink sky appeared a tiny dot. As the seconds passed, the dot quickly grew larger, becoming a horse of the purest white imaginable. From the animal's sides grew huge wings, feathered like those of a bird, and beating rapidly as it flew through the thin air. And it was not alone. Sat astride its back was a large, muscular man, his face handsome and powerful with its short beard, wearing only sandals and a loincloth, with a sword hanging from his side. Swooping to the ground, the horse's hooves landed on the red-brown soil, and its rider called out "Ho, Mars! Hercules, son of Zeus, is here!" The demigod gave the horse an affectionate stroke and said "Faithful Pegasus, you have delivered me safely to this red planet. Now let us see what sights await us!"
As Pegasus began trotting leisurly across the rocky Martian landscape, Hercules thought back to the recent past: For thousands of years, since leaving behind his mortal life, he had dwelled in Olympus with Zeus, his father, seldom venturing beyond those god-built halls. Eternal life in the divine realm could be wonderful, he could not deny, but too much of one thing was never good, and so one day Hercules beseeched his father to be allowed to seek brief adventure further than he had ever yet gone, in a place of which even the gods knew little...the planet which mortals named Mars. Old Zeus had grumbled a little at first, as he often did, but soon gave in to the pleas of his offspring, even permitting Hercules to borrow the steed Pegasus for the trip. The other gods and goddesses of Zeus' court had gathered to watch him ride off into the heavens. Olympus and the Earth had shrunk behind him as he galloped through space, and the red-orange disc of Mars had loomed in his path.
That life existed on this world, Hercules knew, though of precisely what nature and of what quantity, that was less certain. And as he rode along and scanned the plains and distant mountains, he saw not the slightest sign of anything living. Do not be disheartened, the demigod told himself. Many regions of distant Earth can also appear utterly lifeless at first, and you have as yet arrived on this world. Have patience that something of interest will come your way. Pegasus could rise into the air and cover twice as much territory in half the time, but Hercules preferred to remain on the ground. He was unsure precisely how far he had come when he suddenly reigned the horse to a halt and, dismounting and walking forward several feet, found himself looking over a precipice into the depths of a staggeringly huge canyon, its floor lost hundreds of feet below. "What mysteries lie down there?" Hercules wondered aloud.
He was jerked abruptly out of his contemplation of the crevasse by an ominous rumbling sound from behind him, and Pegasus' uneasy nicker. Swinging round, Hercules saw nothing approaching on the ground, nor any storm clouds in the pink sky. But as he walked forward, he detected a growing vibration in the ground beneath his sandalled feet, and a moment later the earth in front of him burst open and vomitted out, along with half a dozen large rocks, the figure of a man. Pegasus neighed in fright, but stood his ground, as the figure landed hard. "By Medusa's stoney gaze," Hercules exclaimed, recognizing the figure with his long and blonde hair, and heavy hammer which he grasped by its leather-wrapped handle. "Thor! Zeus' thunder, what brings you here?"
Uttering a weary groan, followed by a cough, Thor, son of Odin of Asgard, climbed to his feet and, still clutching the uru hammer Mjolnir in his hand, blinked a few times and said "Hercules? Is...is that you? What do you here?"
The prince of Olympus had opened his mouth to reply, when both he and Thor noticed something: The rumbling from below ground that had presaged Thor's appearance was still going on...Something else was rising up from the unknown depths in Thor's wake. Then the two gods and winged steed were thrown back as the ground exploded open again and, bellowing hideously, a gargantuan thing out of nightmare writhed in the air, like a hybrid of slug, octopus and bat. No eyes did it seem to possess, yet both knew it saw them, for it screeched out in a voice which hurt the soul "More alien gods intruding where they do not belong! B'l'g'guul, arch-demon of violation, will feast on you all!"
"You know something, Thor?" Hercules said as he glanced at the thunder god. "Let us save our stories until after we've dealt with this ugly bastard!"
"You just read my thoughts," Thor growled excitedly.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
"The life on this world is fading," Thor said later as he and Hercules sat atop the carcass of the demon they had slain together. "My father, Odin, tells me this sphere once teemed with life as richly as our Midgard. But that was long ago. Even its gods have perished...though some demons, such as this, yet remain. I was exploring the planet's caverns when I came across its lair."
Hercules laughed and brought his fist down on the dead creature. "But this demon will roam no more, thanks to us!" The prince of Olympus jumped down from the corpse and stood before the prince of Asgard, grinning. "Come, thunder god, there is time yet before we must return to our homes, and more to discover here! What say you?" Thor sat and eyed him, and then slowly, grinned back.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
"Hey, Thor! Herc! Come here, you gotta see this!" It was at these words, spoken by Janet van Dyne - known to her comrades in the Avengers as the wondrous Wasp - that Hercules and Thor sprinted into the room in Avengers headquarters where a television monitor was showing footage transmitted to Earth by NASA's latest robot explorer on Mars. The picture showed a great outcropping of rock on which were carved what appeared to be gigantic letters.
The newsreader was speaking: "No one is certain yet, but experts believe the writing may be hundreds of years old, and even stranger, is written in a combination of ancient Greek and old Norse. Roughly translated, it reads 'Hercules and Thor were here.'"
Turning round to face the two godlings, Janet crossed her arms over her chest, and said "You guys have anything to say?" Thor and Hercules looked at one another, and both roared with laughter.