Disclaimer: I have no creative rights over the characters and places you can identify in this story and have no way profited from this work.
25/08/2013
One thing I forgot to include in the after notes of the last chapter.
My having Thor 'kill' the Witch-king was not done lightly. I had to weigh up how Eowyn would stand up against a much more powerful Witch-king. However, my own interpretation of the Witch-king's canonical demise was probably a greater factor.
I share the view held by some that the fatal blow against the Witch-king in canon was actually Merry's. Eowyn was only able to slay the Witch-king after Merry had crippled him in both the book and film versions. In the book, Merry used a Dagger of Westernesse that Bombadil retrieved from the Barrow Downs. This Dagger had the power to unravel the Witch-king's spirit so making him vulnerable to harm. I admit a purist debate could be had over a Noldor Dagger having the same effect as a Westernesse one.
In other words, I've always believed the Witch-king's canonical demise was more the result of a team effort rather than a specific individual. Reflected in this crossover by the Riders Three fulfilling Glorfindel's prophecy.
ssj3gohan007: In some ways, I perceive the denizens of Marvel's Asgard reflect Arthur C Clarke's observation that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Scottjunkie: Glorfindel would make a very worthy addition to the ranks of the Avengers in my view.
Thanathos: Unlike you, I'm completely ignorant when it comes to elephant physiology ;)
transformice907: Congratulations on the result!
Nianque: I do plan for Thor to give Graegwind a meaningful farewell in a later chapter.
Chapter 38 – Reinforcement
Harlond was the port and docks of Minas Tirith. It was used by river traffic from the southern regions of Gondor. It was located one league south of the White City. The Hosts of Mordor seized its stone buildings, warehouses and wharves a couple of days before they assaulted Minas Tirith. Harlond was planned to be where the Corsairs of Umbar would dock before joining the battle the day after it commenced.
Some two thousand orcs now stood guard over Harlond. They were growing increasingly angry and nervous that the Corsairs still hadn't arrived. Angry, that they had been given guard duty while the rest of their brethren killed the enemy. Nervous, because they had observed the results from a number of Thor's devastating attacks throughout the morning.
The commanding officer of this detachment was an orc-captain named 'Guritz'. Guritz had a large scar across his pale olive face that split his nose in two. He wore a helmet with a human skull impaled on a spike and the only weapon he was seen wielding was a two-handed scythe. Gothmog had sent Guritz to oversee the Corsairs once they arrived at Harlond.
Guritz and the rest of the detachment finally took sight of the Corsair ships at mid-morning. The ships steadily progressed north up the Anduin towards Harlond. None of the Orcs were told how many Corsair ships they were to expect. They assumed the Corsair fleet was comprised of no more than the ten ships that were approaching them. The Orcs were seething nonetheless by the Corsairs' tardy arrival.
"Late as usual, pirate scum!" Guritz berated loudly towards the Corsairs. "There's knife-work here that needs doing."
The ships began decreasing speed in preparation to dock. The ship in the van eventually came to a full stop close to where Guritz was standing. The Orcs could see no sign of movement on board the ship. The mutual contempt Sauron's nominal allies held for each other manifested once again.
"Come on, ya sea rats!" a frustrated Guritz urged the Corsairs. "Get off your ships!"
Guritz and all the other Orcs were more than surprised by what disembarked from the ship instead of Corsairs. A Man, an Elf and a Dwarf leapt over its deck and landed on the dock. The Orcs were initially taken aback that the Free Peoples seemed to have captured the Corsair ships. Especially as it appeared the capturing force just comprised of the three individuals facing them. Nonetheless, the Orcs eagerly began following Guritz to dispose of the trio. The mystery of the missing Corsairs could be solved after. They didn't know this mystery would be solved much sooner than that.
Aragorn glared at the Orcs facing him while striding purposely towards them with Anduril at the ready. Aragorn was a man of many talents including being a mariner of no small skill. Some sixty years earlier under the alias of 'Thorongil', he led a surprise attack by the Gondorian navy on Umbar. Large numbers of Corsair ships were destroyed while still tied to their docks with the Gondorians suffering minimal losses in return. Aragorn appreciated the historical irony as he and the force he commanded journeyed north up the Anduin. Thorongil was now leading a Corsair fleet in order to launch a surprise attack aimed at saving Minas Tirith. Legolas and Gimli were to his left and had drawn their bow and battle-axe respectively.
"Well, I see Odinson's left plenty for the three of us," Gimli remarked to Legolas, anticipating that the next round of their competition was about to commence.
Legolas calmly observed, "It's not Thor who threatens to end our competition before it starts, Gimli."
Aragorn released a loud cry before he, Legolas and Gimli charged at the Orcs. The five thousand Oathbreakers intangibly poured through the hulls of the ships they had been hiding in. From one of the rearmost ships, Hulk leapt towards the orcs with a mighty roar.
Guritz and the other orcs were initially paralysed in terror before routing from the scene. They didn't know which enemy they wanted to flee from the most. Aragorn cut through their ranks with Anduril while Legolas and Gimli enthusiastically began counting their kills. The Oathbreakers drained their life energies by quickly rolling over them like a deadly cloud of green vapour. Guritz was the first orc the King of the Oathbreakers killed.
Those orcs furthest away from the dock were scattered and flattened when Hulk landed among them. The Other Guy didn't bother to stop and engage them though – they would fall to the Oathbreakers quickly enough. He just kept sprinting north, treading on any orc in his path. Hulk leapt towards Pelennor Fields from just within the bounds of Harlond.
As Hulk expected, the force occupying Harlond was quickly eradicated. Aragorn had the time to glimpse at Hulk vaulting north before commanding Legolas, Gimli and the Oathbreakers to head in the same direction. The Ranger wore a faint smile as he charged to engage the Hosts of Mordor. It was from him imagining an alternate history where Thorongil assaulted Umbar by land. Specifically, reaching reached Umbar upon on the back of a leaping Hulk.
An Attack Troll relentlessly pounded its hammer into the gate to the third level of Minas Tirith. This troll was among a group that cleared the rubble on the main road caused by the Nine's last bombardment of the second level. The gate to the third level had been subject to assault since dawn. Much to the Troll's frustration and that of other Mordor forces within Minas Tirith, the gate still wasn't budging. There wasn't the space for more than one troll to assault the gate at any one time. The Orc officers in charge of the assault were puzzled as to the reason why. Even a company of men couldn't have barred the gate for any great length of time from even one Attack Troll. This assessment in itself was correct. But no group of men was currently barring the gate.
Rogers helped secure the gate soon after witnessing the Rohirrim's arrival. He quickly began piling unused trebuchet shots directly behind the gate to prevent it from being breached. Rogers reinforced it with building rubble and wreckage from destroyed trebuchets. Surviving defenders felt relatively secure from the barrier Captain America had created. Their major source of discomfort presently was the Nazgul circulating overhead. The Nine's aura and screeches still caused unease among these Gondorians even after Gandalf's return from the Houses of Healing.
When they weren't checking how the gate was holding up, Boromir and Rogers took to observing the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Their observation post was a destroyed trebuchet placement facing east. Boromir also focused on the battle so as keep his mind off Faramir – now the only one of his immediate family still alive. Gandalf had told him, Rogers and Pippin that Faramir's grip on life was tenuous, largely due to the Witch-king's Black Breath.
Both attacker and defender in Minas Tirith heard Thor's first gravity wave blast and all shuddered at the sound. Rogers and Boromir also observed the subsequent such blasts Thor directed at the enemy. However, the pair was puzzled why there was no sign of the Other Guy. Gandalf partly answered this mystery at the time.
"You recall me telling Aragorn his arrival to Minas Tirith was by a different road? That road wasn't the one taken by Rohirrim. Bruce, Legolas and Gimli will be sharing in Aragorn's journey here along the Paths of the Dead."
The Wizard then left the pair to steady some defenders made nervous by the Nazgul. But Gandalf himself had unnerved the two Captains with the name of the route being traversed by Aragorn's company.
Rogers and Boromir shared a look before the former quietly remarked, "That's supposed to make us feel better?!"
Pippin thought that without Boromir and Rogers present, even he would've struggled to be optimistic about the situation. Certainly no other defender could throw heavy stones like Captain America could. Without the two Captains, Pippin thought he would probably be coming to terms with being the first hobbit killed in battle for an age.
Pippin was sure that Thor would look after Merry. But the Took couldn't help but be concerned about Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Banner. His concern was more driven by friendship than their value on the battlefield. Pippin was even concerned about Hulk in this manner. It was sad many of Earth's people couldn't grasp that Hulk needed friends as much as they did.
These ruminations made Pippin want to discuss them with someone. He decided not to interrupt Boromir and Rogers. Both of them were intently observing the battle that was taking place outside the city. Pippin instead sat next to Gandalf who was resting on a landing at the top of a short flight of stairs. Pippin's concerns, as well as his about Faramir's welfare, led the pair to have a short but meaningful private conversation on matters literal life and death. The pair finished their conversation just before Hulk's roar of arrival at Harlond echoed within the bounds of Minas Tirith. All thoughts on the hereafter instantly left Pippin.
The Took shot up and excitedly proclaimed, "He's here!"
The Gondorians in Pippin's vicinity were puzzled why such a fearsome noise didn't scare him as it did them. They were even more curious how Pippin seemed to have some sort of personal relationship with whatever made the noise. Pippin was ignorant of the strange looks he was receiving as he ran to Rogers and Boromir's post. Gandalf followed in his wake, trying not to chuckle at the defenders' reactions to Pippin's behaviour. Rogers noticed Pippin's arrival and hoisted him up to have a better look at proceedings on Pelennor Fields. Pippin witnessed Hulk leap from Harlond into the Battle of Pelennor Fields in a single bound.
Hulk landed in the rear of the Hosts of Mordor advancing under pain of death from the Witch-king. These forces instantly had a good incentive to start sprinting towards the encircled Rohirrim. They quickly discovered that more than one Avenger could make the earth shake beneath them. Hulk slammed both his fists into the ground causing an earth tremor in the immediate vicinity. Orcs fell over and panicked in their desperation to get away from a monster the likes of which they had never seen. Hulk began tossing away any Orc that came within his grasp. Those commanding the White City's defence knew their ordeal would soon be over.
"I said you'd redefine 'strong' once you saw the Other Guy in full flight," Rogers proudly mentioned to Boromir.
Boromir simply responded with a grin. Something in Harlond drew his attention away from Hulk's rampage. And it wasn't the advancing Oathbreakers. Boromir pointed his finger in Harlond's direction.
"Look!" he told the other Fellowship members.
Sauron had chosen to attack Minas Tirith for symbolic as much as practical reasons. Aragorn decided to give symbolic meaning to his own attack in return. Disembarking from the commandeered Corsair ships was a force of Gondorian infantry and archers. From their banners, Boromir identified these soldiers were from Pelargir. These reinforcements had orders to commence disembarking only after the Fellowship and the Oathbreakers had cleansed Harlond of its occupiers.
Aragorn planned for the captured Corsair ships to transport more than the Oathbreakers. He also wanted to bring as many reinforcements as possible from Gondor's southern fiefdoms also. After the Corsair's defeat, Pelargir's authorities granted Aragorn command of the city's garrison. Aragorn decided to take five hundred of them for the journey to Minas Tirith. Heralds were also dispatched throughout Southern Gondor advising of the Corsairs' defeat and that Minas Tirith was in desperate need of aid.
The Pelargir reinforcements would make no difference to the course of the battle. Indeed, Aragorn had ordered them to remain in Harlond to secure it. But their arrival would demonstrate to the Dark Lord his plan to keep Gondor divided had failed. Nearly all of Gondor's forces would be concentrated at Minas Tirith after the next few days.
More importantly, this was the result Gondor heeding the summons of the Heir of Isildur.
Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and the Oathbreakers engaged the main body of the enemy just as a group of Attack Trolls regretted trying to take on Hulk.
Hulk killed many individual trolls after puncturing their head and chest armour with a single punch. Others he grabbed and effortlessly threw back into the enemy's ranks. A couple of trolls managed to hit Hulk with their war hammers before he quickly killed them in return. Not that the hammers posed any threat to him. In recent years, he'd walked away unscathed after being attacked by more powerful weapons than used by the trolls. All semblance of order within the Hosts of Mordor finally broke when the Oathbreakers joined Hulk in their destruction. The Witch-king's final destruction at the hands of the Riders Three occurred about the same time.
Sauron had been witnessing the battle from afar at Barad-dur. His plan for Hulk this battle was no longer possible given the Lord of the Nazgul had been felled. The Dark Lord developed a spell from what he'd learned of Banner and Hulk. Once the Witch-king cast it on him, Hulk would be trapped where he stood inside a narrow magical barrier. The barrier was impenetrable and could only be lowered at Sauron's will. Hulk would undoubtedly try and break through the barrier. But the barrier's sorcery allowed it to feed off Hulk's anger. If Hulk became angrier to get stronger, the barrier's strength would increase in return. Hulk would be detained in a frustrating prison of his own making for perhaps centuries. Even better, Banner's worse fear would be realised – his personality completely consumed by a trapped Hulk's ever increasing rage.
Without even a trace of remorse for his greatest servant, Sauron decided to cut his losses at this point. He telepathically commanded the remaining eight Nazgul to return to Mordor. All his other forces were abandoned to fend for themselves.
The defenders of Minas Tirith cheered when they saw the Nazgul circling above the White City break suddenly towards Mordor. It had been an age since any Ringwraith had fled from a battlefield! The Hosts of Mordor within Minas Tirith witnessed the Nazgul's departure with exactly opposite feelings to the defenders. They began to flee the city but not one made it past the Great Gate.
A sizeable detachment of Oathbreakers had poured into Minas Tirith and began eradicating the besieging forces within. It was like green-coloured river had rapidly caught the besiegers before dragging them under its surface. Many defenders took in the sight of the Oathbreakers in awed silence. The Fellowship in Minas Tirith were among them. Rogers eventually broke it.
"Unless you say otherwise, Gandalf, I'll assume enemy of my enemy is my friend," Captain America remarked about the Oathbreakers. He the pointed his chin at the barricade before asking Boromir, "You want me to start clearing the gate before the Other Guy does?"
Rogers had no doubt Hulk could break down the third level's gate and the pile of trebuchet stones behind it with a single punch. Even with the besiegers destroyed, Boromir still dreaded what he would find on the other side. He simply gave Rogers's question a short nod of consent.
Still in Rogers's arms, Pippin anxiously urged, "Please don't!"
"It's alright, Pippin," Gandalf quickly assured him. "The Men of the Mountains are here to help us."
"And I don't think Steve's barricade could stop any ghost," Boromir dryly added.
"Oh, I'm not worried about that," Pippin clarified before a smile spread across his face as hope filled his heart again. "It's just I want to give the Other Guy every opportunity to say 'Hulk Smash' again!"
Hulk was of course oblivious to Pippin's wish. But his actions soon would leave just as great an impression on the Took as well as every other surviving member of the Free Peoples' forces.
The surviving mumakil and their Haradrim riders were among those Mordor forces abandoned by Sauron. A number of mumakil already had swarms of Oathbreakers over them draining their life energies. Aragorn noticed that Legolas and Hulk were each in the path of a stampeding mumakil.
"Legolas! Hulk!" Aragorn cried out in loud warning.
Both moved to engage their respective Mumakil. Banner abhorred when animals were the victims of senseless human violence. When on the run in India, he came very close to releasing the Other Guy when treating an injured spectator at a bear baiting. But the conscious part of him had to agree with Aragorn in this case. Especially as Hulk's mumakil threatened to tread on a number of Rohirrim.
Legolas began an epic solo effort, climbing up his mumakil's side by the arrows embedded in its legs and body. He used his bow with great skill in taking down the Haradrim mounted on the beast. The Prince of Mirkwood used one of his long knives to cut through one of the ropes that held the Haradrim platform on the mumak's back. The platform fell to the ground landing in the midst of some Oathbreakers. Those Haradrim not killed by the fall were victims of the Oathbreaker's spectral touch within moments.
The method that Hulk defeated his mumakil required no leaping or climbing on his part. Hulk simply charged at the Mumakil head on. The Mumakil came to a sudden halt when it felt its trunk caught in Hulk's impossibly powerful grip. Stunned, it roared in pain as its feet lifted off the ground. Hulk kept grasping the Mumakil's trunk as he began spinning around on the spot. The beast's Haradrim riders spilled out of its platform, sharing the same fate as those that fell from Legolas's. Hulk finally released the Mumakil and sent it flying eastwards over great distance. The Mumakil died on impact when it hit the ground.
A mounted Gamling and Eothain stood next to Eomer. The three of them were stilled, utterly absorbed in Hulk's display of strength. The Hosts of Mordor lost all appetite for engaging the Rohirrim after Hulk and the Oathbreakers arrived on Pelennor Fields.
"If only Theoden-King could've witnessed this 'Hulk'," Gamling thought aloud as he continued gazing at the Other Guy.
The Rohirrim believed it was near certain that Theoden had been killed by the Witch-king's attack. Being caught in the middle of the battle, Eomer and many other riders didn't witness the events between Dernhelm cutting off the fell-beast's head and the Witch-king being consumed by Thor's god-like blast. Eomer was at least assured that Theoden's body wouldn't be defiled with the God of Thunder guarding it.
"What are your orders, milord?" Eothain asked Eomer, saying his honorific with a greater solemnity than normal.
Eomer realised he was now King of Rohan in all but name. This meant nothing to him presently though. He was only king because his uncle was now dead. A herald would have to be quickly dispatched to Edoras to give this news to the royal court. Eomer felt guilty he wouldn't be there to support Eowyn upon hearing their beloved uncle had fallen. The First Marshal gave a tired sigh. The best way he could currently honour Theoden right was saving the lives of any surviving Rohirrim.
"Tell all riders to not risk further death." Eomer finally answered before wryly adding, "Tell them to simply watch legend unfold before them."
Legolas eventually brought down his mumak by shooting a pair of arrows simultaneously into the base at the back of its skull. As the mumak tumbled forwards in death, Legolas effortlessly slid down the length of its trunk before landing on the ground without even a wobble. Gimli stood a couple of yards in front of him. Hulk bounded up to the pair. The Dwarf had witnessed how Legolas and Hulk had defeated their respective mumakil. He sensed an opportunity to get back at some playful teasing of Legolas's.
"That still only counts as one," Gimli gruffly remarked about Legolas' kill in relation to their competition. A smile then split Gimli's face as he then added, "And Hulk's was more impressive!"
Legolas only had time to salute Gimli's wit with a slight nod and smirk. The howls of the Gundabad wargs suddenly echoed across the battlefield. Hulk instantly reacted to meet this new threat.
Upon seeing how Hulk intended to deal with the Gundabad mercenaries, Legolas dryly remarked to Gimli, "It would seem Master Hulk doesn't feel he's impressed us enough, Gimli."
Eowyn's eyes were closed and she was shallow of breath. Merry was horrified to see some of veins around Eowyn's neck turning black in colour. He didn't know Eowyn's suffering was the result the Witch-king's Black Breath. Even if he did, the oncoming mercenaries meant Eowyn was now more likely to die in the jaws of a warg.
A large passing shadow from overhead suddenly caused Thor and Merry to look skywards. What they saw caused the pair of them to smile in relief and wonder.
"Hulk!" Merry gasped in awe at seeing the Avenger and what he carried.
After noticing the advancing Gundabad mercenaries, Hulk leapt towards the Great Gate. Hulk - by his standards at least – carefully lifted Grond before holding it aloft from underneath its charred frame. He continued holding it as he leapt towards the oncoming warg-riders. The apex of his leap was directly over where the Riders Three were currently located. From this height, Hulk threw Grond down towards the mercenaries.
Grond's frame broke up on impact. The giant iron wolf showed no mercy to its flesh-and-blood cousins, crushing many of them as it rolled through their ranks. The mercenaries were well and truly in disarray by the time Hulk landed among them. Two unridden wargs bared their fangs and instinctively attacked Hulk. They tried biting into his legs. The wargs whimpered in pain after their fangs broke on Hulk's impervious exterior. Hulk grabbed each of them by the scruff of the neck before breaking it. He tossed aside the pair's corpses so he could pick up one of Grond's sixty-foot post that had been loosened on impact. Hulk began using it like a club to sweep aside any orcs and wargs within reach.
Thor had been taking this in when a familiar voice shouted to him from behind.
"Even you won't kill many of the enemy by just standing about, Odinson!" Gimli called out in greeting.
Both Gimli and Legolas ran up to Thor. They had spotted him when their eyes followed Hulk's flight path. The pair continued to count the orcs they each killed while making a path to their fellow competitor. The Asgardian put his finger to his lips to indicate the pair should keep their voices down. Legolas and Gimli followed Thor's gaze to where Theoden's body lay as well and where Eowyn was clinging to life. Merry was trying to keep her warm by covering her chest with a blanket from the dead Snowmane. The sight of this caused any bonhomie felt by Legolas and Gimli to instantly dissipate. Thor stepped towards the pair and gave each of them a comforting hand on the shoulder.
"Legolas, Gimli, of course I am glad to see you again," Thor quietly assured them. "You can consider me eliminated from this round of our competition on one condition." Thor quickly pointed his chin in the direction of Theoden, Eowyn and Merry. "You protect our friends in my absence."
After Legolas and Gimli gave a nod of assent to this, the former asked the Avenger "Where will you be, Thor?"
Mjolnir suddenly released an ominous hum. It was symbolic of the power that Thor felt surging within him.
"I've a score of my own to settle," Thor answered with a dark gleam in his eye.
Thor began twirling Mjolnir as he ran towards the Gundabad mercenaries. Legolas and Gimli assumed he was going to engage these warg-riders like the ones he did on the road to Helm's Deep. The Fellowship's Elf and Dwarf weren't the only ones who would receive a nasty shock.
A thousand of the mercenaries finally managed to distance themselves away from Hulk. They re-commenced charging only to halt shortly after upon seeing the Oathbreakers. The mercenaries should have equally feared the red-cloaked man running towards them.
Feeling sufficient momentum and power, Thor leapt towards the mercenaries landing just short of them. Thor slammed Mjolnir to the ground on follow through. At this, a huge lightning bolt descended from the sky and vaporised countless numbers of the mercenaries facing Thor. Those that survived this attack soon found themselves scattered by the surging ground wave that followed. Thor had memories of Jotunheim as he watched the ground wave rip through Gundabad ranks. But the most impressive outcome from Thor's attack wasn't on the ground.
The energy from the lightning bolt dispersed itself through Sauron's fume in the sky above. In the blink of an eye, the fume rolled all the way back to Mordor. Rays of sunlight shone down on Minas Tirith and its surrounds for the first time in days. Sauron was still reeling from Aragorn's arrival on the battlefield when this happened. Now Thor had given emphatic notice about his growing power. The only place now where Sauron's fumes could completely negate Mjolnir's abilities of weather control was the very heart of Mordor. The Dark Lord nervously reflected even this location's negating effect was on borrowed time.
Hulk simply noted Thor's display of power before resuming to wreaking his own destruction on the mercenaries. He threw the post from Grond into their confused ranks before resuming to kill them with his bare hands. Thor had followed up his lightning attack by swotting clear any orc or warg that crossed his path. Before too long, he was in shouting distance of Hulk.
"With me, Hulk!" Thor called out to him.
Hulk reached Thor in a single bound. Thor then used Mjolnir to direct a hurricane-force wind against the all the surviving Gundabad forces. These forces now found themselves being violently tossed eastwards. Wargs and orcs bumped along the ground having to contend with dust and any other debris that the wind caught in its path. The debris included discarded weapons dropped by fallen comrades. Airborne spears and blades that couldn't be evaded impaled a a number of mercenaries and their mounts.
Thor and Hulk rapidly followed just behind the hapless mercenaries. The former kept pointing Mjolnir at the mercenaries to ensure the summoned wind stayed focused on them. Thor heard Eomer's earlier command to drive the Hosts of Mordor into the river. Within minutes, the wind he'd summoned unceremoniously dumped the mercenaries in the middle of the Anduin. Orcs and wargs desperately tread water in spot a few miles north of Osgiliath. Some orcs were already drowning given the weight of their armour.
Thor stood next to Hulk's right on the western bank of the Anduin. The pair took a moment to dispassionately watch the Gundabad forces flaying helplessly before them.
For you, Graegwind! Thor thought before pointing Mjolnir skywards at an angle.
A series of lightning bolts flashed and struck the surface of the Anduin where the Gundabad forces were. A few seconds after the attack was over, hundreds of electrocuted orc and warg corpses began floating south along the Anduin's current.
Mordor forces occupying Osgiliath had observed this attack. The whole detachment soon began fleeing back to Minas Morgul. They felt justified in fleeing given the Nine had just flown over them back towards Mordor. Particularly as the Nine were now the 'Eight' after the apparent loss of their leader. The detachment didn't even bother to destroy the bridges they constructed to deny their use to the Free Peoples.
A momentary pause came between Thor and Hulk with their decimation of the mercenaries now complete. Thor privately remembered an incident from a previous battle the pair had fought in. Without warning, Thor gave Hulk's right shoulder a powerful rapid punch. The punch caught Hulk off-guard causing him to quickly tumble sideways to the ground.
A seething Hulk locked eyes with Thor who plainly told him, "Score settled."
The angry scold on Hulk's face turned into an understanding grin.
This chapter was a bit shorter than the previous two. Then again, the Battle of Pelennor Fields was always going to over pretty quickly once Hulk and the Oathbreakers entered it.
I suspect I'm in a heretical minority. But I believe in the movie version of the battle, the early heroism of the Free Peoples wasn't diminished by the arrival of the Oathbreakers. My belief goes back to my theory of character vs audience knowledge. Even Aragorn wasn't entirely sure he could survive the Paths of the Dead let alone bring the Oathbreakers to Minas Tirith. The first the Free Peoples knew of Aragorn's success was arguably when the commandeered Corsair ships docked at Harlond.
There's also the consideration that the Mordor force besieging Minas Tirith in the film was much larger than the one in the book. The reinforcements Aragorn led in the book wouldn't have been able to defeat the Mordor forces in the film IMHO.
Like the Morgul Blade and Thor, readers can form their own opinions if what Sauron planned for Hulk would've worked. There at least appears to be common acceptance in literature about Hulk's longevity.
The next chapter will be later next month due to work and personal commitments. Hopefully readers can take some solace that at least this chapter doesn't end on a cliffhanger.
[RD: It'll be interesting to see if Thor squares the Other Guy's subway punch in Ragnarok.]