Back to GatefoldIssue #20 by Travis Hiltz
June 2017 |
"What If...the Founding Avengers Were Different?"
The coming of the Avengers!
The first in a star-studded series of book-length super epics featuring some of Earth’s greatest super-heroes!
Loki, god of evil, is a prisoner on the dreaded Island of Silence, plotting awesome revenge against his mighty enemy, Thor, god of thunder!
In the midst of the fog-shrouded swamp, perched upon a black stump, Loki sits, chin on fist, elbow on knee. He does not see the soulless, bleak landscape that is his prison, but rather his intense gaze goes beyond into other realms.
“It is because of that accursed brother of mine, that I have been imprisoned here,” He rages, through gritted teeth. “But though my body may be imprisoned, my mind and my magics will allow me to roam beyond the boundaries of Asgard.”
Loki’s mind looked beyond the kingdom of the Norse gods, peering across realms until it rested upon the small blue-green globe that was the current home, of Doctor Donald Blake, the human form of the god of thunder.
The god of mischief watched with barely contained disgust as the young blonde doctor tended to several children.
“Bah!” Loki grumbled. “It would be a hollow victory to defeat my brother while he resides in this weak, mortal shell. Only by besting Thor will my revenge be complete!”
Loki’s frown deepened in thought.
“It will require a mighty menace to draw out the god of thunder from that frail form.”
He turned his gaze away from the young doctor’s office, magically scanning the Earth for the menace his plan of vengeance would require. After long hours of supernatural observation, he found his eyes drawn to a spot in the deserts of the western United States. Squinting his green eyes, Loki peers deeper, going beneath the ground, until he spies…
“What is this? A figure, still and buried beneath the dirt, yet full of power, a power barely contained!”
The figure was that of a blonde man, clad in a red bodysuit with yellow cuffs and belt.
The Norse god had spotted no ordinary man, but rather he’d found the dormant body of the android super-hero, the original Human Torch!
The World War Two hero and founding member of the Invaders had been placed in a lead capsule, in the early 1950’s when his powers began to flare out of control, following exposure to an early atomic bomb test.
He had chosen to deactivate himself, rather then be a threat to his friends and country.
“This artificial mortal is the perfect device for my revenge!” Loki chortled to himself. “Though there is no evil in him, people will fear his awesome power, as does he, because he believes he will lose control! Now, it only needs to wake this little toy of science and find a target to point him at…ah!”
Loki’s mystical gaze scanned the surrounding desert, spotting a railroad trestle over a canyon and an approaching train.
Loki’s fingers twitched and no longer was he merely looking across the realms, but channeling his powerful magics through that gaze, pouring them into the heart of the android super-hero.
Moments of effort were rewarded, as the Human Torch’s eyes popped open and his body burst into bright flame.
A geyser of fire erupted from the earth and the Torch burst out of his lead tomb and into the sunlight.
He was nearly to the stratosphere before full awareness kicked in. Shock of his awakening and then the realization that he was blazing like a comet knocked him back to sanity. With a force of effort the Torch, flew back down, while struggling to control his flames.
Which was when Loki struck again.
It took but a small effort for the trickster god to project the illusion of a bomb planted upon the trestle bridge, just as the train was approaching.
Believing the train full of people to be in danger and that he only had seconds to act, The Torch swooped down under the bridge, only to have his hands pass through the “bomb”, the heat from his flames causing several of the metal support beams to warp and buckle.
The engineer and his assistant hung out the side windows, wide-eyed with panic.
“Charlie, stop the train!”
“Impossible! We’re going way too fast!”
From his other worldly prison, Loki watched with malaveant glee.
“Hah! Just as I planned!” He gloated, rubbing his hands together. “When the train crashes, the Human Torch will be blamed! He’ll become one of the most wanted men on the earthly sphere. Thor is sure to join in the hunt, little knowing it is exactly what I…what…? What is he doing!”?
The Torch briefly reverted to his normal, human-looking form. In that moment, he studied the damage he had gone, and some part of his confused mind noted that the bomb had vanished. He again became a raging blaze, only this time he was focused and had a plan.
Concentrating the fire into his hands the Human Torch pushed against the damaged metal beams, moving them back into place and re-shaping the steel.
He briefly poked his flaming head up between the railroad tines, judging how much time he had left, adding to the shock and panic of the engineers.
Back in Asgard, Loki struggled to keep his body still, but his thin mouth was a tight line and he near trembled in frustration.
“The fool!” He sputtered, between gritted teeth. “What good will this do him? The train is nearly upon him!”
The Torch doused his flame and braced the trestle with his body, hoping his android form would be strong enough to allow the bridge to support the passing train.
His body trembled with the effort, as the train raced across the bridge.
No sooner had the last car cleared the bridge, than the metal supports and the Human Torch collapsed from the effort.
“All safe…!”The Torch breathed. “ Can’t hold…any…longer…!”
Loki’s astral form floated above the limp form of the android.
“He saved the train!” Loki chortled. “But only I know that! The humans will hunt him down and soon, Thor will be unable to avoid being drawn into my scheme!”
The train raced away from the damaged bridge, stopping at the nearest station to check for damage, as well as alerting the authorities to the menace.
Passengers and train crew swarmed about, either in panic to get as far away as possible, in case the flaming monster returned or to get help.
One figure quickly made his way through the crowd, dodging the other passengers with acrobatic grace and ease.
He stood an unimpressive three foot six inches tall, was bald with a black beard and dressed in jeans, work-shirt and denim jacket.
Dodging a family, leaping onto a bench and running its length he quickly reached a phone booth and dialed.
“Operator?” He said. “Get me New York, eh? I need the number for the Baxter Building. Yeah, it’s an emergency! Somebody needs to tell the Fantastic Four one of their members is tearing up the countryside!”
Unknown to the caller, his frantic actions had been noticed. A red haired woman, in a purple overcoat stood near the phone booth, her lovely features thoughtful and calculating.
Loki focused his mystical senses scanning the crowd and eventually zeroing in on the diminutive Canadian.
“The Fantastic Four will ruin everything! It is Thor I want! No one else will do!”
Calling on his powers he used them to divert the phone signal to a different wavelength, funneling them away from the frequency used by the Fantastic Four and searching for ones that will grab the attention of his brother or his mortal alter ego.
In the quiet study of Doctor Donald Blake, he is between appointments and enjoying the lull by catching up on some paperwork with the radio playing.
Suddenly, the quiet jazz erupted into static and as it cleared a voice broke through.
“Milton Judd…Trying…reach… Fantastic Four! Human Torch must be found! South-Hek station…bridge…attacked…!”
“Hmmm,” Blake said, looking up from his paper work. “That’s the railway line in the South West. If it concerns the Human Torch running amok it must be serious.”
Getting up from his desk, he picked up his gnarled wooden cane and struck it against the floor of his office. His slim form was bathed in unearthly light, there was the sound of distant thunder and when the light faded the young physician was replaced by the heroic form of…
“Thor, god of thunder shall attend to this menace!”
Unknown to Loki, his diverted message has also been heard by others, who thought it was intended for them.
Among them was Hamilton Slade, professor of archeology at a South-western university, but also, unsuspected by his students or fellow faculty, of being that supernatural defender of the west, the Ghost Rider.
Clad in a white ensemble consisting of a bodysuit, boots, gloves, gun belt, face-covering mask, short cape and cowboy hat, Slade stood for a moment allowing the spirits of his lawmen ancestors to inhabit his body and to then summon his ghostly steed, Phantom.
His cape swirling around him, Ghost Rider mounted and both horse and rider passed through the wall of his office and on their way to investigate the nearby threat!
Back in New York, another pair of ears have intercepted the garbled, urgent broadcast…the ears of Stephen Strange, noted surgeon and, unknown to most of the world, the master of the mystical arts, Doctor Strange!
Loki’s use of magic to disrupt the telephone signal had created an odd amalgam of both, which intruded on Dr. Strange’s meditation like a car alarm going off in the middle of a lullaby.
“What in the world…?” He muttered, rubbing at his right temple. “The Human Torch…? The traces of otherworldly magic seem to imply, if he is running amok, it is not by his own choosing…”
With a gesture, he summoned his blue mystical cloak from its hook and he was on his way.
“Should probably let Wong know, I may be late for dinner.” He muttered, as he flew over the city.
Meanwhile, a sense of gloom fills the air of the railway station phone booth.
“Still no word on reaching the FF?” Judd grumbled. “What they got more important things to…hello…um…who am I talking to…? Mister Fantastic!”
“Yes, we just received your message, Mister…Judd, was it?” The voice on the other end of the line said. “The phone lines were scrambled, and your original message went to our answering service. I’m not sure what’s going on out there, but the Human Torch is with us and has been for the last several days. We’re currently in the middle of a case, but by my calculations, your message should have been picked up by others who may be able to help you. If not, have the authorities contact us and…no, Ben, over there! Sue, help him steady that…I’m sorry, I need to go.”
The dwarf glared at the phone for several moments.
“Looks like I struck out.” He muttered, hanging up. “What’d he mean? Who else could show up to help?”
There was a knock on the phone booth door.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m done…be right…hey!”
Standing outside the booth was the towering figure of the Norse god of thunder.
“Why so surprised?” Thor asked. “Did you not send for me?”
“Well, I…uh…?” Judd stammered.
“He seems easily rendered speechless,” the red headed woman said, shrugging out of her overcoat, revealing a purple bodysuit, boots and long gloves. The cowl covered most of her face, but had a hole in the back from which a massive red ponytail cascaded down to her ankles.
“Would appear the gang’s all here,” Ghost Rider said, dismounting.
“We heard you needed help,” Doctor Strange said, glancing at the other new arrivals. “It certainly looks as though you’re going to get it.”
“Well, this is more than I’d hoped for,” Judd muttered.
As the unusual members of the gathering took each other in and tried to make sense of the situation, back in Asgard, Loki watched events, displeased.
“Bah!” He fumed. “This complicates things. I only wanted to lure Thor out here. I have no interest in those others!”
He shifted his mystical gaze from the train station, out into the desert, where the Human Torch was making his way away from civilization.
“If I create an image of the Human Torch and make it run past Thor’s field of vision…?” The god of mischief mused.
Back at the train station, Thor, not one much for talk, found his attention drifting.
“Tis odd,” He muttered, absently. “I thought I saw…”
He stepped down from the platform and across the empty tracks.
Several of the others notice him leaving, but were too involved in introductions and coordinating their efforts in the search for the Torch.
“No need to disturb the others,” The god of thunder said, as he watched the flaming figure fly away. “No matter how fast or far he can fly I can always follow…!”
He spun his hammer, and flung it forcefully, holding onto the leather, unbreakable thong and flew in pursuit.
“Strange, he moves as though unaware of my presence…as though unaware of anything!”
As the distance between god and monster shortened, the Torch ceased, landed and turned, reaching for a nearby boulder.
“No! He sees me! He intends to use it as a weapon!” Thor said, landing. “My hammer will stop him!”
Thor flung mojnir with enough force to shatter steel. Thor watched stunned as the hammer passed through the Human Torch.
“Impossible!” Thor exclaimed, puzzled as the flaming figure then faded away. “Was the Human Torch here at all…? Was it a mirage…or a…mental image! Loki! His wizardry could be behind this!”
His hammer returned to his hand and the Norse god glared in thought at the empty space recently occupied by the Torch.
“Loki…! Thou evil one, I know not what your plan is, but I have warned you not to meddle in earthly affairs! You dare defy me!”
Using the power of his mystic hammer, the god of thunder transported himself from the mid-west desert to the fabled rainbow bridge of Asgard!
On the isle of silence, Loki smiled wickedly.
“I have succeeded!” He chortled. “Return to Asgard, my brother and when you reach the isle of silence, it is I who will emerge the victor!”
Back on Earth, the wheels set in motion by the god of mischief cannot be stopped. The Human Torch is still at large and our amazing saga has barely begun!
Ghost Rider looked around.
“Where’s Thor gone?’ He asked. “Guess it’s up to us three to find the Torch and learn the truth.”
“Well, if he really is on a rampage, then look out, eh?” Judd said, not commenting that he seemed to have been regulated to sidekick. “He looked more powerful then I think people suspect! But, what if he’s innocent…?”
Meanwhile, where is the Human Torch?
Hunted and bewildered, the android hero managed to take refuge with a down on its luck traveling circus as he wonders how he has come to be back in the world and what to do next.
In the center ring, his red costume covered by a baggy, yellow clown costume complete with big shoes and a pointy hat, the Torch was juggling basketball-sized fireballs.
“There he is, ladies and gentlemen!” The ringmaster exclaimed. “Inferno, the master of flames! The marvel of the age!”
Other circus performers, huddled at the edge of the massive tent, watching their newest addition handling dangerous constructs of fire like their were children’s toys, with equal measure of awe and jealousy.
“Finding that freak was the greatest thing to ever happen to this show!” An older lion tamer breathed. “We’re sold out for the rest of the week!”
“Hard to believe he’s only a man,” A clown added. “Nobody should be able to do what he can do!”
“Wow!” a lady acrobat exclaimed. “Look at him now!”
Inferno had entered the lion cage and created hoops of fire and had the lions leaping through them.
“As long as they go on thinking, I’m some kind of freak,” He thought “ I’ll be safe. I’ll have time to figure out what to do next.”
Unnoticed by the golden age hero, a most unusual member of the audience watches the act.
Doctor Strange’s astral form floated about the tent, stroking his ghostly chin in thought.
“At last! It could be the Torch!”
The master of the mystical arts, rested his fingers against his temples, passing the message back to the others. He then had to find some way to distract and contain the flaming performer in order to give time for the other heroes to join him.
Within the center ring, the disguised android was using a swirling column of flame to lift a circus wagon off the ground.
“Must find some way to contain him…?” The mystic hero muttered, thoughtfully. His brow furrowed as he gestured and focused his mystic energies at the ground beneath the disguised Human Torch’s feet. Within minutes, the Torch plummeted beneath the ground and found himself wedged in the stony crevice.
“Whaa…!” He grunted. “Can’t be…uh…an accident…someone must be…on to me…! Gotta…get…out…!”
He pushed against the walls of the hole, frustration, anger and anxiety mixing and he suddenly burst into flames and shot out of the hole in the ground, like a bullet from a gun.
He hovered in the air, his clown costumed burned away, as Ghost Rider and Medusa joined Doctor Strange under the big top.
The audience seemed restless, unsure if this was part of the show or not. Half the audience was anxious, the other half impressed at the things show folk can do these days.
While the three heroes circled round the flaming android’s location, hoping to contain him, Judd scrambled to the announcers booth, beneath the bleachers.
“I’ll use the microphone to make him hear me,” he muttered. “Maybe I can reason with him…?”
The Torch landed, his flames fading, except for balls of fire around his fists.
“Wait!” Judd’s voice rang through the tent. “We know who you are and just want to talk! If you’re innocent we can help! You could use a friend, eh?”
“Go away!” The Torch shouted. “I don’t need to speak with anyone and I’ll find my own friends!”
“If you don’t stop,” Judd continued, sounding tougher and surer of himself then he felt. “Then we’ll have to stop you!”
“Then you’re a idiot!” The Torch snapped. “Nothing can stop me!”
While they debated, the ghostly sorcerer gestured and a large steel cylinder floated across the tent and dropped down over the angry android, trapping him.
The audience clapped and cheered.
Judd scrambled to join his teammates. The trapeze nets that hung above the ring caught his attention.
The Torch flexed his arms and flared to nova intensity, melting the steel, burning it away like it was paper.
Ghost Rider charged forward, holding the reins in one gloved hand, a white six-gun in the other. His white horse reared, driving the Torch to step back.
Medusa’s hair shot out, wrapping around one of the Torch’s fists. She gritted her teeth and winced as her mutated hair smothered his flame.
Judd came running across the performance ring.
“Stop it!” He shouted.
The Human Torch twirled his free hand, creating a mini-tornado of fire at the packed dirt floor. It raised a cloud of dust and a blast of air that sent Judd and Ghost Rider tumbling backwards.
“The trapeze nets…!” The diminutive adventurer gasped, as he staggered about. He struggled to his feet and lunged at the android, hoping to buy the ghostly cowboy time to act.
He somersaulted past the angry android, doing hand springs and tumbles, working to distract the Torch, to keep his attention.
It worked a bit too well, and Judd felt a burning hot hand grab the back of his shirt.
Ghost Rider’s horse bolted past the Torch, raising his gun hand he fired two shots, both pierced the ropes holding the trapeze nets.
They fell on the Human Torch, knocking him to his knees and causing him to let go of Judd, who dove away just in time to escape.
“Thanks for the rescue!” He said, getting to his feet.
Ghost Rider tipped his hat and then rode around the Torch, hoping the net would hold him.
Medusa struggled to pull her hair free, frowned at the singed ends and then joined the others.
“We’ve got him,” Medusa muttered. “Now what?”
As they are pondering their next move, the Torch burst into flame and then through the net. With a mighty surge of power, he hurled himself upwards: neither the netting nor the canvas of the tent roof was any match for his fire.
“He’s getting away!” Medusa exclaimed, unnecessarily.
Once free of the tent, the Torch soared away, leaving the heroes to deal with getting the crowd free from the remains of the tent.
Ghost Rider and his horse, Phantom, phased through the wall of the tent.
“There is no place on Earth where I cannot follow you!” He intoned, chasing after the android.
The fiery fugitive swooped upwards and then with a burst of speed, did a blazing arc and in a moment the hunter has become the hunted as the Torch comes down behind the startled Ghost Rider.
He collided with the supernatural cowboy, catching him off guard and knocking him from his horse.
“Wait…Torch!” Ghost Rider said, as he struggled to get up. “We want to help! You can’t remain a fugitive forever!”
The Torch grunted in distrustful anger as he flew off without looking back.
Meanwhile, what of mighty Thor?
At the moment, he is in the grand audience chamber of the imperial palace of fabled Asgard…
“Noble Odin,” He said, going down to one knee. “Grant thy son permission to visit Loki on the isle of silence, that I may learn if he is responsible for deviltry upon Midgard.”
“I do grant thee permission,” Odin intoned from his throne. “But, mark these words…though you be the son of my heart, Loki too is my son and I will not interfere in what transpires between you.”
“I understand, father.” Thor nodded, rising.
So, alone, the thunder god set out across the sea of mist, aware that the enemy he seeks is also a god, perhaps the most devious and dangerous of them all.
“Loki must be aware I am coming,” Thor muttered, as he rowed his longboat towards the shore of his brother’s prison. “He will have set traps, but I dare not turn back!”
Without any warning, the skeletal trees on the shore reared up, branches and roots grasping for the god of thunder.
Tangle roots!” He exclaimed. “Dread scourge planted here to deal with unwary intruders!”
Thor realized he would be overwhelmed in seconds and that his only hope was his enchanted hammer.
Twirling mojinor faster than the most powerful earthly propeller, Thor fought his way through the sinister sentinels. Bursting through, Thor spots the gigantic volcano at the center of the isle just as it erupted with the roar of a thousand thunderclaps!
“More of Loki’s doing, I wager! Only he would have knowledge of magics that could bring the mountain back to flaming life!”
Knowing he had not only the waves of lava to fear, but the smoke belching from the volcano was capable of sapping even the strength of the gods themselves.
Thor dove into the murky water, holding his breath, as he made his way along the shoreline, staying underwater.
Loki came out to the shore, gloating as he surveyed the empty sea.
“His craft is empty,” He wondered. “Have I defeated him so soon?”
Then as if in answer, a gigantic waterspout shoots into the air.
“No!” A voice shouted from within the column of water. “The battle has yet to begin!”
Thor burst from the waterspout, hurling his hammer at his evil brother.
With the speed of thought, Loki freezes the very molecules of air, creating an icy barrier, just strong enough to deflect Thor’s hammer.
“Ha!” Loki chortled. “I am too fast for you, brother!”
“You were expecting me, Loki,” Thor shouted, as his hammer returned, magically to his hand. “That means you have committed some foul deed, knowing I would come to avenge it!”
With a swing of his arm, Thor shattered the wall of ice, and confronted his brother.
“Nothing can save you from me now, evil one!”
“Stop, accursed favorite of Odin!” Loki snapped. “Do you fail to remember for whom this isle prison is named? The Silent ones! Trolls that live below! Natural enemies of the gods of Asgard!”
As he spoke a pair of long-fingered hands broke through the grey soil and grabbed at the god of thunder’s ankles.
“You have been away from Asgard too long,” Loki sneered, as he watched his brother grapple with the sinewy troll. “You have forgotten that here you are only one among a multitude of immortals! I have promised the trolls if they obeyed me, I would deliver the mightiest of gods to slave in their mines forever!”
Thor had been pulled into the dirt, waist deep.
“Not yet evil one!” Thor raged, stru7ggling to stay above ground. “Not while I have one free hand to hold mine hammer!”
Striking the ground with his hammer, Thor summoned a blast of lightening that blinded the trolls and sent them tumbling back beneath the ground.
“Now that I have sent your allies back to the stygian depths from whence he came, it is time for you to taste vengeance!” Thor shouted, leaping free of the ground and swinging his enchanted hammer at his evil brother.
Rather than striking, the hammer passed right through the trickster god.
“Stop!” Loki jeered. “ You have not defeated me yet!”
“How is this, that my hammer passes through you?”
“Not through me, fool!” Loki exclaimed, appearing behind his brother. “Through an image of me! Remember, I can match any god, trick for trick!”
Loki cackled at his brother’s frustration, as a dozen more Lokis suddenly appeared.
“It will take more than tricks to save you!” Thor shouted, twirling his hammer. “Although I cannot tell which is the real Loki, my hammer will solve the problem for me!”
He spun his hammer, creating a blast of gale-force wind. When it struck the illusions they flickered and blurred. The actual god of evil was sent tumbling across the dusty ground.
“Blast you Thor!” Loki raged, as he rolled to a halt and spat out dirt. “You still won’t get me! I’ll plunge beneath the soil to the realm of the Silent Trolls before you can seize me!”
Thor nodded, only half listening to his brother’s rant as he knelt down on one knee upon the ground and laid his hammer down. He moved it back and forth, seeking out the magnetic currents that flowed beneath the surface and stoking them, allowing his hammer to absorb their strong flow.
“What…?” Loki muttered, struggling to his feet. “What are you trying to do? No, I’ll…noo….!”
The god of mischief suddenly flew across the distance that separated him and his brother and found himself stuck against to the god of thunder’s hammer.
“Wait….! Stop! What are you doing! Where are you taking me!”
“With noble Odin’s permission, I shall bring you to Midgard!” Thor announced, standing up, holding his hammer above his head so that Loki’s feet did not touch the ground. “Once there you will find others waiting for you…”
Back on Earth, the Human Torch soars, blazing through the sky in his effort to escape Ghost Rider. He flew past an airplane.
“Captain!” The co-pilot exclaimed. “Do you see what I see?”
“It’s a comet…?” The pilot replied, anxiously.
“Attention flight 738!” The radio blared. “Keep alert for the Human Torch in your area!”
“Sufferin cats!” The co-pilot muttered.
“He…he just whizzed past us!” The Captain said, grabbing the radio. He then gave them the coordinates.
Finally on the ground, inside a huge factory the Human Torch flew in one of the huge bay doors and raced past the workstations, hoping to shake off Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange.
“They are still after me!” He scowled. “Can’t lose them!”
“Attention!” A voice came over the loudspeaker. “Clear out all of you! Take cover, eh!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!” one of the workers announced as he spotted the fiery hero and ran off.
The Torch touched down on one of the huge conveyor belts, looking around in puzzlement, seeking the source of the annoyingly familiar voice.
Suddenly a massive tire came rolling down the belt at the android. He easily dodged it, only to be pelted with the half dozen smaller tires that came immediately after.
“You’re wasting your time, cowboy!” The Torch snapped, giving up dodging and merely putting out his hands and melting the tires with blasts of flame. “I’m sick of running! Now it’s my turn to attack!”
With his hands enveloped in flame he grabbed a metal bar from a large nearby machine, melting the metal around it and pulling it free.
He then hurled the bar like a javelin.
Ghost Rider pulled the reins sharply, causing he and his horse to dodge. The makeshift spear caught his cape, the force of it yanking him from the saddle.
His ghostly horse, Phantom, continued to charge the angry Torch, while the Ghost Rider struggled to free himself once the metal pole had pinned him to a pillar.
Tendrils of inhuman red hair snaked out and pulled the metal free.
Medusa then twirled the bar and hurled it back at the Human Torch.
“We’ve tried to reason with you,” She exclaimed.” But now we’ll play it your way!”
The Torch flared, so while he melted the metal bar, it’s momentum still caused him to stumble backwards, his back hitting the concrete wall.
He glanced around him, realizing the heroes had him cornered!
Ghost Rider remounted Phantom and then he, Medusa and Doctor Strange cautiously approached the android.
“You think you can trap me?!” The Torch snapped.
Suddenly, flame burst from his back so hot that it melted the mortar. The Torch shoved back and the wall crumbled and he tumbled out and into the large storage lot behind the factory.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” Medusa muttered.
“Need room to fight,” The Torch mumbled, getting to his feet and brushing crumbs of concrete and dirt off his costume.
Doctor Strange floated above the android.
“Torch, we want to help,” The sorcerer supreme said sternly. “But, maybe the authorities are right and you are too dangerous to run around free!”
“Then come closer!” The Torch snapped, his fists ablaze. “I’m through being hounded!”
Suddenly, a thunderbolt sounded from the clear sky and Thor and his wicked brother, appeared.
“Stop!” The god of thunder announced. “You have no reason to fight!”
“It’s Thor…!” Judd announced, catching up to the others.
“Who’s that with him?” The Torch said, suspiciously.
Thor landed and holding his brother by the scruff of his neck held him out to the others.
“This is Loki!” Thor explained. “It was he that caused the Torch to be blamed for the train. All that has occurred was part of a scheme to lure me into his trap!”
“Looks like the only one he trapped was himself,” Ghost Rider said, raising his gun to point it at Loki.
“He got me into this jam?” The Torch scowled. “Let me have him, Thor!”
There was a sudden flash of light, causing all the surrounding heroes, even Thor, to wince and stagger back.
“Back!” Loki exclaimed, pulsing with a deadly crimson energy. “Back you mortal dolts! None may lay a hand on Loki! I have powers you have never dreamed of!”
“Hey!” The Torch exclaimed, holding up a hand to shield his eyes. “That glow…what’s happening?”
“He’s made himself radioactive!” Medusa warned, her hair whipping out and pulling Judd and Doctor Strange back.
“I will give you ten seconds to flee!” Loki cackled. “Then Thor and I will resume our battle. If you remain you are doomed, mortals!”
But, even as Loki rants, Doctor Strange is scanning his surroundings, and his fingers begin to form mystical signs, focusing his magical energy. He caught Thor’s attention and pointedly directed his gaze at the ground at the god of mischief’s feet.
Thor nodded, smiled grimly and brought his enchanted hammer down, striking the ground. The resulting mini-earthquake sent his brother off balance and he tumbled backwards, into the open door of a large metal container.
Doctor Strange raised his arms, and with a final gesture caused the tank’s door to slam shut and lock.
“Hey!” Judd shouted. “We did it!”
“That’s it.” Doctor Strange said, brushing off his gloved hands. “Transforming himself into radioactivity, I guessed Loki could be trapped in that lead storage tank!”
“So, he’s locked up with the rest of the radioactive waste…?” Medusa smirked.
“Loki will not be able to stay in his radioactive state,” Thor nodded. “And when he returns to normal, I shall return him to Asgard where he belongs!”
“Wait,” Doctor Strange said. “Before we go our separate ways, I have something to say. Each of us contributed to thwart Loki’s plan in our own way. If we were to continue to combine forces…”
“Work as a team…?” Ghost Rider pondered then shrugged. “Why not?”
“I’m for it, I suppose.” Medusa added, thoughtfully.
“There is much good we could do!” Thor nodded.
“I’m sick of being hunted,” The Human Torch said, his arms crossed. “ And I’m not entirely sure what happened to me. I’d rather work with you then be against you. So, like it or not, I’m joining the…what are we going to call ourselves?”
“It should be something dramatic,” Medusa suggested. ‘Like…the Avengers…or maybe the Def…?”
“Or nothing!” Judd interrupted. “That’s it! The Avengers!”
And there came a day…a day unlike any other when Earth’s mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat.
On that day the Avengers were born- to fight the foes that no single super hero could withstand!
Heed the call- Avengers Assemble!
Author’s note:
Obviously, this one is for Stan and Jack. Whenever I would talk with my friends about ‘What if…?’, my ideas hardly ever focused on events, so much as messing with team line-ups. This one has been floating around my brain for years. It’s been through a dozen changes before I got to these guys. It was fun lifting big chunks of Stan exposition and dialogue and adapting it to different speakers, as well as trying to get my new stuff to merge with his without seeming too clunky. Close as I’ll ever get to collaborating with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Drop me a note if you enjoyed it and maybe I’ll do my version of the ‘Old order changeth!’ or ‘Giant-sized X-men’.
The first in a star-studded series of book-length super epics featuring some of Earth’s greatest super-heroes!
Loki, god of evil, is a prisoner on the dreaded Island of Silence, plotting awesome revenge against his mighty enemy, Thor, god of thunder!
In the midst of the fog-shrouded swamp, perched upon a black stump, Loki sits, chin on fist, elbow on knee. He does not see the soulless, bleak landscape that is his prison, but rather his intense gaze goes beyond into other realms.
“It is because of that accursed brother of mine, that I have been imprisoned here,” He rages, through gritted teeth. “But though my body may be imprisoned, my mind and my magics will allow me to roam beyond the boundaries of Asgard.”
Loki’s mind looked beyond the kingdom of the Norse gods, peering across realms until it rested upon the small blue-green globe that was the current home, of Doctor Donald Blake, the human form of the god of thunder.
The god of mischief watched with barely contained disgust as the young blonde doctor tended to several children.
“Bah!” Loki grumbled. “It would be a hollow victory to defeat my brother while he resides in this weak, mortal shell. Only by besting Thor will my revenge be complete!”
Loki’s frown deepened in thought.
“It will require a mighty menace to draw out the god of thunder from that frail form.”
He turned his gaze away from the young doctor’s office, magically scanning the Earth for the menace his plan of vengeance would require. After long hours of supernatural observation, he found his eyes drawn to a spot in the deserts of the western United States. Squinting his green eyes, Loki peers deeper, going beneath the ground, until he spies…
“What is this? A figure, still and buried beneath the dirt, yet full of power, a power barely contained!”
The figure was that of a blonde man, clad in a red bodysuit with yellow cuffs and belt.
The Norse god had spotted no ordinary man, but rather he’d found the dormant body of the android super-hero, the original Human Torch!
The World War Two hero and founding member of the Invaders had been placed in a lead capsule, in the early 1950’s when his powers began to flare out of control, following exposure to an early atomic bomb test.
He had chosen to deactivate himself, rather then be a threat to his friends and country.
“This artificial mortal is the perfect device for my revenge!” Loki chortled to himself. “Though there is no evil in him, people will fear his awesome power, as does he, because he believes he will lose control! Now, it only needs to wake this little toy of science and find a target to point him at…ah!”
Loki’s mystical gaze scanned the surrounding desert, spotting a railroad trestle over a canyon and an approaching train.
Loki’s fingers twitched and no longer was he merely looking across the realms, but channeling his powerful magics through that gaze, pouring them into the heart of the android super-hero.
Moments of effort were rewarded, as the Human Torch’s eyes popped open and his body burst into bright flame.
A geyser of fire erupted from the earth and the Torch burst out of his lead tomb and into the sunlight.
He was nearly to the stratosphere before full awareness kicked in. Shock of his awakening and then the realization that he was blazing like a comet knocked him back to sanity. With a force of effort the Torch, flew back down, while struggling to control his flames.
Which was when Loki struck again.
It took but a small effort for the trickster god to project the illusion of a bomb planted upon the trestle bridge, just as the train was approaching.
Believing the train full of people to be in danger and that he only had seconds to act, The Torch swooped down under the bridge, only to have his hands pass through the “bomb”, the heat from his flames causing several of the metal support beams to warp and buckle.
The engineer and his assistant hung out the side windows, wide-eyed with panic.
“Charlie, stop the train!”
“Impossible! We’re going way too fast!”
From his other worldly prison, Loki watched with malaveant glee.
“Hah! Just as I planned!” He gloated, rubbing his hands together. “When the train crashes, the Human Torch will be blamed! He’ll become one of the most wanted men on the earthly sphere. Thor is sure to join in the hunt, little knowing it is exactly what I…what…? What is he doing!”?
The Torch briefly reverted to his normal, human-looking form. In that moment, he studied the damage he had gone, and some part of his confused mind noted that the bomb had vanished. He again became a raging blaze, only this time he was focused and had a plan.
Concentrating the fire into his hands the Human Torch pushed against the damaged metal beams, moving them back into place and re-shaping the steel.
He briefly poked his flaming head up between the railroad tines, judging how much time he had left, adding to the shock and panic of the engineers.
Back in Asgard, Loki struggled to keep his body still, but his thin mouth was a tight line and he near trembled in frustration.
“The fool!” He sputtered, between gritted teeth. “What good will this do him? The train is nearly upon him!”
The Torch doused his flame and braced the trestle with his body, hoping his android form would be strong enough to allow the bridge to support the passing train.
His body trembled with the effort, as the train raced across the bridge.
No sooner had the last car cleared the bridge, than the metal supports and the Human Torch collapsed from the effort.
“All safe…!”The Torch breathed. “ Can’t hold…any…longer…!”
Loki’s astral form floated above the limp form of the android.
“He saved the train!” Loki chortled. “But only I know that! The humans will hunt him down and soon, Thor will be unable to avoid being drawn into my scheme!”
The train raced away from the damaged bridge, stopping at the nearest station to check for damage, as well as alerting the authorities to the menace.
Passengers and train crew swarmed about, either in panic to get as far away as possible, in case the flaming monster returned or to get help.
One figure quickly made his way through the crowd, dodging the other passengers with acrobatic grace and ease.
He stood an unimpressive three foot six inches tall, was bald with a black beard and dressed in jeans, work-shirt and denim jacket.
Dodging a family, leaping onto a bench and running its length he quickly reached a phone booth and dialed.
“Operator?” He said. “Get me New York, eh? I need the number for the Baxter Building. Yeah, it’s an emergency! Somebody needs to tell the Fantastic Four one of their members is tearing up the countryside!”
Unknown to the caller, his frantic actions had been noticed. A red haired woman, in a purple overcoat stood near the phone booth, her lovely features thoughtful and calculating.
Loki focused his mystical senses scanning the crowd and eventually zeroing in on the diminutive Canadian.
“The Fantastic Four will ruin everything! It is Thor I want! No one else will do!”
Calling on his powers he used them to divert the phone signal to a different wavelength, funneling them away from the frequency used by the Fantastic Four and searching for ones that will grab the attention of his brother or his mortal alter ego.
In the quiet study of Doctor Donald Blake, he is between appointments and enjoying the lull by catching up on some paperwork with the radio playing.
Suddenly, the quiet jazz erupted into static and as it cleared a voice broke through.
“Milton Judd…Trying…reach… Fantastic Four! Human Torch must be found! South-Hek station…bridge…attacked…!”
“Hmmm,” Blake said, looking up from his paper work. “That’s the railway line in the South West. If it concerns the Human Torch running amok it must be serious.”
Getting up from his desk, he picked up his gnarled wooden cane and struck it against the floor of his office. His slim form was bathed in unearthly light, there was the sound of distant thunder and when the light faded the young physician was replaced by the heroic form of…
“Thor, god of thunder shall attend to this menace!”
Unknown to Loki, his diverted message has also been heard by others, who thought it was intended for them.
Among them was Hamilton Slade, professor of archeology at a South-western university, but also, unsuspected by his students or fellow faculty, of being that supernatural defender of the west, the Ghost Rider.
Clad in a white ensemble consisting of a bodysuit, boots, gloves, gun belt, face-covering mask, short cape and cowboy hat, Slade stood for a moment allowing the spirits of his lawmen ancestors to inhabit his body and to then summon his ghostly steed, Phantom.
His cape swirling around him, Ghost Rider mounted and both horse and rider passed through the wall of his office and on their way to investigate the nearby threat!
Back in New York, another pair of ears have intercepted the garbled, urgent broadcast…the ears of Stephen Strange, noted surgeon and, unknown to most of the world, the master of the mystical arts, Doctor Strange!
Loki’s use of magic to disrupt the telephone signal had created an odd amalgam of both, which intruded on Dr. Strange’s meditation like a car alarm going off in the middle of a lullaby.
“What in the world…?” He muttered, rubbing at his right temple. “The Human Torch…? The traces of otherworldly magic seem to imply, if he is running amok, it is not by his own choosing…”
With a gesture, he summoned his blue mystical cloak from its hook and he was on his way.
“Should probably let Wong know, I may be late for dinner.” He muttered, as he flew over the city.
Meanwhile, a sense of gloom fills the air of the railway station phone booth.
“Still no word on reaching the FF?” Judd grumbled. “What they got more important things to…hello…um…who am I talking to…? Mister Fantastic!”
“Yes, we just received your message, Mister…Judd, was it?” The voice on the other end of the line said. “The phone lines were scrambled, and your original message went to our answering service. I’m not sure what’s going on out there, but the Human Torch is with us and has been for the last several days. We’re currently in the middle of a case, but by my calculations, your message should have been picked up by others who may be able to help you. If not, have the authorities contact us and…no, Ben, over there! Sue, help him steady that…I’m sorry, I need to go.”
The dwarf glared at the phone for several moments.
“Looks like I struck out.” He muttered, hanging up. “What’d he mean? Who else could show up to help?”
There was a knock on the phone booth door.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m done…be right…hey!”
Standing outside the booth was the towering figure of the Norse god of thunder.
“Why so surprised?” Thor asked. “Did you not send for me?”
“Well, I…uh…?” Judd stammered.
“He seems easily rendered speechless,” the red headed woman said, shrugging out of her overcoat, revealing a purple bodysuit, boots and long gloves. The cowl covered most of her face, but had a hole in the back from which a massive red ponytail cascaded down to her ankles.
“Would appear the gang’s all here,” Ghost Rider said, dismounting.
“We heard you needed help,” Doctor Strange said, glancing at the other new arrivals. “It certainly looks as though you’re going to get it.”
“Well, this is more than I’d hoped for,” Judd muttered.
As the unusual members of the gathering took each other in and tried to make sense of the situation, back in Asgard, Loki watched events, displeased.
“Bah!” He fumed. “This complicates things. I only wanted to lure Thor out here. I have no interest in those others!”
He shifted his mystical gaze from the train station, out into the desert, where the Human Torch was making his way away from civilization.
“If I create an image of the Human Torch and make it run past Thor’s field of vision…?” The god of mischief mused.
Back at the train station, Thor, not one much for talk, found his attention drifting.
“Tis odd,” He muttered, absently. “I thought I saw…”
He stepped down from the platform and across the empty tracks.
Several of the others notice him leaving, but were too involved in introductions and coordinating their efforts in the search for the Torch.
“No need to disturb the others,” The god of thunder said, as he watched the flaming figure fly away. “No matter how fast or far he can fly I can always follow…!”
He spun his hammer, and flung it forcefully, holding onto the leather, unbreakable thong and flew in pursuit.
“Strange, he moves as though unaware of my presence…as though unaware of anything!”
As the distance between god and monster shortened, the Torch ceased, landed and turned, reaching for a nearby boulder.
“No! He sees me! He intends to use it as a weapon!” Thor said, landing. “My hammer will stop him!”
Thor flung mojnir with enough force to shatter steel. Thor watched stunned as the hammer passed through the Human Torch.
“Impossible!” Thor exclaimed, puzzled as the flaming figure then faded away. “Was the Human Torch here at all…? Was it a mirage…or a…mental image! Loki! His wizardry could be behind this!”
His hammer returned to his hand and the Norse god glared in thought at the empty space recently occupied by the Torch.
“Loki…! Thou evil one, I know not what your plan is, but I have warned you not to meddle in earthly affairs! You dare defy me!”
Using the power of his mystic hammer, the god of thunder transported himself from the mid-west desert to the fabled rainbow bridge of Asgard!
On the isle of silence, Loki smiled wickedly.
“I have succeeded!” He chortled. “Return to Asgard, my brother and when you reach the isle of silence, it is I who will emerge the victor!”
Back on Earth, the wheels set in motion by the god of mischief cannot be stopped. The Human Torch is still at large and our amazing saga has barely begun!
Ghost Rider looked around.
“Where’s Thor gone?’ He asked. “Guess it’s up to us three to find the Torch and learn the truth.”
“Well, if he really is on a rampage, then look out, eh?” Judd said, not commenting that he seemed to have been regulated to sidekick. “He looked more powerful then I think people suspect! But, what if he’s innocent…?”
Meanwhile, where is the Human Torch?
Hunted and bewildered, the android hero managed to take refuge with a down on its luck traveling circus as he wonders how he has come to be back in the world and what to do next.
In the center ring, his red costume covered by a baggy, yellow clown costume complete with big shoes and a pointy hat, the Torch was juggling basketball-sized fireballs.
“There he is, ladies and gentlemen!” The ringmaster exclaimed. “Inferno, the master of flames! The marvel of the age!”
Other circus performers, huddled at the edge of the massive tent, watching their newest addition handling dangerous constructs of fire like their were children’s toys, with equal measure of awe and jealousy.
“Finding that freak was the greatest thing to ever happen to this show!” An older lion tamer breathed. “We’re sold out for the rest of the week!”
“Hard to believe he’s only a man,” A clown added. “Nobody should be able to do what he can do!”
“Wow!” a lady acrobat exclaimed. “Look at him now!”
Inferno had entered the lion cage and created hoops of fire and had the lions leaping through them.
“As long as they go on thinking, I’m some kind of freak,” He thought “ I’ll be safe. I’ll have time to figure out what to do next.”
Unnoticed by the golden age hero, a most unusual member of the audience watches the act.
Doctor Strange’s astral form floated about the tent, stroking his ghostly chin in thought.
“At last! It could be the Torch!”
The master of the mystical arts, rested his fingers against his temples, passing the message back to the others. He then had to find some way to distract and contain the flaming performer in order to give time for the other heroes to join him.
Within the center ring, the disguised android was using a swirling column of flame to lift a circus wagon off the ground.
“Must find some way to contain him…?” The mystic hero muttered, thoughtfully. His brow furrowed as he gestured and focused his mystic energies at the ground beneath the disguised Human Torch’s feet. Within minutes, the Torch plummeted beneath the ground and found himself wedged in the stony crevice.
“Whaa…!” He grunted. “Can’t be…uh…an accident…someone must be…on to me…! Gotta…get…out…!”
He pushed against the walls of the hole, frustration, anger and anxiety mixing and he suddenly burst into flames and shot out of the hole in the ground, like a bullet from a gun.
He hovered in the air, his clown costumed burned away, as Ghost Rider and Medusa joined Doctor Strange under the big top.
The audience seemed restless, unsure if this was part of the show or not. Half the audience was anxious, the other half impressed at the things show folk can do these days.
While the three heroes circled round the flaming android’s location, hoping to contain him, Judd scrambled to the announcers booth, beneath the bleachers.
“I’ll use the microphone to make him hear me,” he muttered. “Maybe I can reason with him…?”
The Torch landed, his flames fading, except for balls of fire around his fists.
“Wait!” Judd’s voice rang through the tent. “We know who you are and just want to talk! If you’re innocent we can help! You could use a friend, eh?”
“Go away!” The Torch shouted. “I don’t need to speak with anyone and I’ll find my own friends!”
“If you don’t stop,” Judd continued, sounding tougher and surer of himself then he felt. “Then we’ll have to stop you!”
“Then you’re a idiot!” The Torch snapped. “Nothing can stop me!”
While they debated, the ghostly sorcerer gestured and a large steel cylinder floated across the tent and dropped down over the angry android, trapping him.
The audience clapped and cheered.
Judd scrambled to join his teammates. The trapeze nets that hung above the ring caught his attention.
The Torch flexed his arms and flared to nova intensity, melting the steel, burning it away like it was paper.
Ghost Rider charged forward, holding the reins in one gloved hand, a white six-gun in the other. His white horse reared, driving the Torch to step back.
Medusa’s hair shot out, wrapping around one of the Torch’s fists. She gritted her teeth and winced as her mutated hair smothered his flame.
Judd came running across the performance ring.
“Stop it!” He shouted.
The Human Torch twirled his free hand, creating a mini-tornado of fire at the packed dirt floor. It raised a cloud of dust and a blast of air that sent Judd and Ghost Rider tumbling backwards.
“The trapeze nets…!” The diminutive adventurer gasped, as he staggered about. He struggled to his feet and lunged at the android, hoping to buy the ghostly cowboy time to act.
He somersaulted past the angry android, doing hand springs and tumbles, working to distract the Torch, to keep his attention.
It worked a bit too well, and Judd felt a burning hot hand grab the back of his shirt.
Ghost Rider’s horse bolted past the Torch, raising his gun hand he fired two shots, both pierced the ropes holding the trapeze nets.
They fell on the Human Torch, knocking him to his knees and causing him to let go of Judd, who dove away just in time to escape.
“Thanks for the rescue!” He said, getting to his feet.
Ghost Rider tipped his hat and then rode around the Torch, hoping the net would hold him.
Medusa struggled to pull her hair free, frowned at the singed ends and then joined the others.
“We’ve got him,” Medusa muttered. “Now what?”
As they are pondering their next move, the Torch burst into flame and then through the net. With a mighty surge of power, he hurled himself upwards: neither the netting nor the canvas of the tent roof was any match for his fire.
“He’s getting away!” Medusa exclaimed, unnecessarily.
Once free of the tent, the Torch soared away, leaving the heroes to deal with getting the crowd free from the remains of the tent.
Ghost Rider and his horse, Phantom, phased through the wall of the tent.
“There is no place on Earth where I cannot follow you!” He intoned, chasing after the android.
The fiery fugitive swooped upwards and then with a burst of speed, did a blazing arc and in a moment the hunter has become the hunted as the Torch comes down behind the startled Ghost Rider.
He collided with the supernatural cowboy, catching him off guard and knocking him from his horse.
“Wait…Torch!” Ghost Rider said, as he struggled to get up. “We want to help! You can’t remain a fugitive forever!”
The Torch grunted in distrustful anger as he flew off without looking back.
Meanwhile, what of mighty Thor?
At the moment, he is in the grand audience chamber of the imperial palace of fabled Asgard…
“Noble Odin,” He said, going down to one knee. “Grant thy son permission to visit Loki on the isle of silence, that I may learn if he is responsible for deviltry upon Midgard.”
“I do grant thee permission,” Odin intoned from his throne. “But, mark these words…though you be the son of my heart, Loki too is my son and I will not interfere in what transpires between you.”
“I understand, father.” Thor nodded, rising.
So, alone, the thunder god set out across the sea of mist, aware that the enemy he seeks is also a god, perhaps the most devious and dangerous of them all.
“Loki must be aware I am coming,” Thor muttered, as he rowed his longboat towards the shore of his brother’s prison. “He will have set traps, but I dare not turn back!”
Without any warning, the skeletal trees on the shore reared up, branches and roots grasping for the god of thunder.
Tangle roots!” He exclaimed. “Dread scourge planted here to deal with unwary intruders!”
Thor realized he would be overwhelmed in seconds and that his only hope was his enchanted hammer.
Twirling mojinor faster than the most powerful earthly propeller, Thor fought his way through the sinister sentinels. Bursting through, Thor spots the gigantic volcano at the center of the isle just as it erupted with the roar of a thousand thunderclaps!
“More of Loki’s doing, I wager! Only he would have knowledge of magics that could bring the mountain back to flaming life!”
Knowing he had not only the waves of lava to fear, but the smoke belching from the volcano was capable of sapping even the strength of the gods themselves.
Thor dove into the murky water, holding his breath, as he made his way along the shoreline, staying underwater.
Loki came out to the shore, gloating as he surveyed the empty sea.
“His craft is empty,” He wondered. “Have I defeated him so soon?”
Then as if in answer, a gigantic waterspout shoots into the air.
“No!” A voice shouted from within the column of water. “The battle has yet to begin!”
Thor burst from the waterspout, hurling his hammer at his evil brother.
With the speed of thought, Loki freezes the very molecules of air, creating an icy barrier, just strong enough to deflect Thor’s hammer.
“Ha!” Loki chortled. “I am too fast for you, brother!”
“You were expecting me, Loki,” Thor shouted, as his hammer returned, magically to his hand. “That means you have committed some foul deed, knowing I would come to avenge it!”
With a swing of his arm, Thor shattered the wall of ice, and confronted his brother.
“Nothing can save you from me now, evil one!”
“Stop, accursed favorite of Odin!” Loki snapped. “Do you fail to remember for whom this isle prison is named? The Silent ones! Trolls that live below! Natural enemies of the gods of Asgard!”
As he spoke a pair of long-fingered hands broke through the grey soil and grabbed at the god of thunder’s ankles.
“You have been away from Asgard too long,” Loki sneered, as he watched his brother grapple with the sinewy troll. “You have forgotten that here you are only one among a multitude of immortals! I have promised the trolls if they obeyed me, I would deliver the mightiest of gods to slave in their mines forever!”
Thor had been pulled into the dirt, waist deep.
“Not yet evil one!” Thor raged, stru7ggling to stay above ground. “Not while I have one free hand to hold mine hammer!”
Striking the ground with his hammer, Thor summoned a blast of lightening that blinded the trolls and sent them tumbling back beneath the ground.
“Now that I have sent your allies back to the stygian depths from whence he came, it is time for you to taste vengeance!” Thor shouted, leaping free of the ground and swinging his enchanted hammer at his evil brother.
Rather than striking, the hammer passed right through the trickster god.
“Stop!” Loki jeered. “ You have not defeated me yet!”
“How is this, that my hammer passes through you?”
“Not through me, fool!” Loki exclaimed, appearing behind his brother. “Through an image of me! Remember, I can match any god, trick for trick!”
Loki cackled at his brother’s frustration, as a dozen more Lokis suddenly appeared.
“It will take more than tricks to save you!” Thor shouted, twirling his hammer. “Although I cannot tell which is the real Loki, my hammer will solve the problem for me!”
He spun his hammer, creating a blast of gale-force wind. When it struck the illusions they flickered and blurred. The actual god of evil was sent tumbling across the dusty ground.
“Blast you Thor!” Loki raged, as he rolled to a halt and spat out dirt. “You still won’t get me! I’ll plunge beneath the soil to the realm of the Silent Trolls before you can seize me!”
Thor nodded, only half listening to his brother’s rant as he knelt down on one knee upon the ground and laid his hammer down. He moved it back and forth, seeking out the magnetic currents that flowed beneath the surface and stoking them, allowing his hammer to absorb their strong flow.
“What…?” Loki muttered, struggling to his feet. “What are you trying to do? No, I’ll…noo….!”
The god of mischief suddenly flew across the distance that separated him and his brother and found himself stuck against to the god of thunder’s hammer.
“Wait….! Stop! What are you doing! Where are you taking me!”
“With noble Odin’s permission, I shall bring you to Midgard!” Thor announced, standing up, holding his hammer above his head so that Loki’s feet did not touch the ground. “Once there you will find others waiting for you…”
Back on Earth, the Human Torch soars, blazing through the sky in his effort to escape Ghost Rider. He flew past an airplane.
“Captain!” The co-pilot exclaimed. “Do you see what I see?”
“It’s a comet…?” The pilot replied, anxiously.
“Attention flight 738!” The radio blared. “Keep alert for the Human Torch in your area!”
“Sufferin cats!” The co-pilot muttered.
“He…he just whizzed past us!” The Captain said, grabbing the radio. He then gave them the coordinates.
Finally on the ground, inside a huge factory the Human Torch flew in one of the huge bay doors and raced past the workstations, hoping to shake off Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange.
“They are still after me!” He scowled. “Can’t lose them!”
“Attention!” A voice came over the loudspeaker. “Clear out all of you! Take cover, eh!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!” one of the workers announced as he spotted the fiery hero and ran off.
The Torch touched down on one of the huge conveyor belts, looking around in puzzlement, seeking the source of the annoyingly familiar voice.
Suddenly a massive tire came rolling down the belt at the android. He easily dodged it, only to be pelted with the half dozen smaller tires that came immediately after.
“You’re wasting your time, cowboy!” The Torch snapped, giving up dodging and merely putting out his hands and melting the tires with blasts of flame. “I’m sick of running! Now it’s my turn to attack!”
With his hands enveloped in flame he grabbed a metal bar from a large nearby machine, melting the metal around it and pulling it free.
He then hurled the bar like a javelin.
Ghost Rider pulled the reins sharply, causing he and his horse to dodge. The makeshift spear caught his cape, the force of it yanking him from the saddle.
His ghostly horse, Phantom, continued to charge the angry Torch, while the Ghost Rider struggled to free himself once the metal pole had pinned him to a pillar.
Tendrils of inhuman red hair snaked out and pulled the metal free.
Medusa then twirled the bar and hurled it back at the Human Torch.
“We’ve tried to reason with you,” She exclaimed.” But now we’ll play it your way!”
The Torch flared, so while he melted the metal bar, it’s momentum still caused him to stumble backwards, his back hitting the concrete wall.
He glanced around him, realizing the heroes had him cornered!
Ghost Rider remounted Phantom and then he, Medusa and Doctor Strange cautiously approached the android.
“You think you can trap me?!” The Torch snapped.
Suddenly, flame burst from his back so hot that it melted the mortar. The Torch shoved back and the wall crumbled and he tumbled out and into the large storage lot behind the factory.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” Medusa muttered.
“Need room to fight,” The Torch mumbled, getting to his feet and brushing crumbs of concrete and dirt off his costume.
Doctor Strange floated above the android.
“Torch, we want to help,” The sorcerer supreme said sternly. “But, maybe the authorities are right and you are too dangerous to run around free!”
“Then come closer!” The Torch snapped, his fists ablaze. “I’m through being hounded!”
Suddenly, a thunderbolt sounded from the clear sky and Thor and his wicked brother, appeared.
“Stop!” The god of thunder announced. “You have no reason to fight!”
“It’s Thor…!” Judd announced, catching up to the others.
“Who’s that with him?” The Torch said, suspiciously.
Thor landed and holding his brother by the scruff of his neck held him out to the others.
“This is Loki!” Thor explained. “It was he that caused the Torch to be blamed for the train. All that has occurred was part of a scheme to lure me into his trap!”
“Looks like the only one he trapped was himself,” Ghost Rider said, raising his gun to point it at Loki.
“He got me into this jam?” The Torch scowled. “Let me have him, Thor!”
There was a sudden flash of light, causing all the surrounding heroes, even Thor, to wince and stagger back.
“Back!” Loki exclaimed, pulsing with a deadly crimson energy. “Back you mortal dolts! None may lay a hand on Loki! I have powers you have never dreamed of!”
“Hey!” The Torch exclaimed, holding up a hand to shield his eyes. “That glow…what’s happening?”
“He’s made himself radioactive!” Medusa warned, her hair whipping out and pulling Judd and Doctor Strange back.
“I will give you ten seconds to flee!” Loki cackled. “Then Thor and I will resume our battle. If you remain you are doomed, mortals!”
But, even as Loki rants, Doctor Strange is scanning his surroundings, and his fingers begin to form mystical signs, focusing his magical energy. He caught Thor’s attention and pointedly directed his gaze at the ground at the god of mischief’s feet.
Thor nodded, smiled grimly and brought his enchanted hammer down, striking the ground. The resulting mini-earthquake sent his brother off balance and he tumbled backwards, into the open door of a large metal container.
Doctor Strange raised his arms, and with a final gesture caused the tank’s door to slam shut and lock.
“Hey!” Judd shouted. “We did it!”
“That’s it.” Doctor Strange said, brushing off his gloved hands. “Transforming himself into radioactivity, I guessed Loki could be trapped in that lead storage tank!”
“So, he’s locked up with the rest of the radioactive waste…?” Medusa smirked.
“Loki will not be able to stay in his radioactive state,” Thor nodded. “And when he returns to normal, I shall return him to Asgard where he belongs!”
“Wait,” Doctor Strange said. “Before we go our separate ways, I have something to say. Each of us contributed to thwart Loki’s plan in our own way. If we were to continue to combine forces…”
“Work as a team…?” Ghost Rider pondered then shrugged. “Why not?”
“I’m for it, I suppose.” Medusa added, thoughtfully.
“There is much good we could do!” Thor nodded.
“I’m sick of being hunted,” The Human Torch said, his arms crossed. “ And I’m not entirely sure what happened to me. I’d rather work with you then be against you. So, like it or not, I’m joining the…what are we going to call ourselves?”
“It should be something dramatic,” Medusa suggested. ‘Like…the Avengers…or maybe the Def…?”
“Or nothing!” Judd interrupted. “That’s it! The Avengers!”
And there came a day…a day unlike any other when Earth’s mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat.
On that day the Avengers were born- to fight the foes that no single super hero could withstand!
Heed the call- Avengers Assemble!
Author’s note:
Obviously, this one is for Stan and Jack. Whenever I would talk with my friends about ‘What if…?’, my ideas hardly ever focused on events, so much as messing with team line-ups. This one has been floating around my brain for years. It’s been through a dozen changes before I got to these guys. It was fun lifting big chunks of Stan exposition and dialogue and adapting it to different speakers, as well as trying to get my new stuff to merge with his without seeming too clunky. Close as I’ll ever get to collaborating with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Drop me a note if you enjoyed it and maybe I’ll do my version of the ‘Old order changeth!’ or ‘Giant-sized X-men’.