Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Prologue: In Asgard Space at the time of the War of the Serpent, Odin addresses Valkyrie and tells her that her time as one of his shieldmaidens is almost over and she may go back to being simply Brunnhilde. When he alludes to his scheme to stop the Serpent by destroying Midgard, she announces that she will go to Earth to stand alongside the defenders. Odin attempts to convince her that Earth’s cause is lost by showing her the mangled corpse of Captain America (Bucky Barnes), slain by Sin wielding the Hammer of Skadi. She is not deterred….
Now, Sin and Crossbones are reconnoitering the headquarters of Project Pegasus, the location of the next hammer. As they watch, the Avengers’ Quinjet arrives. Her servants in the Department of Occult Armaments have already set up an occult device to occupy the Avengers while she kills Captain America. Again….
Inside, the heroes are greeted by the Project Director Gruenwald, who is still a bit confused by the message sent by Cap. As the lovers Hawkeye and Spider-Woman feel awkward around his ex-wife Mockingbird, Cap and Iron Man fill the Director in on the situation. Since the hammers are of magical origin, they have brought a couple of experts: Doctor Strange and the Son of Satan. Strange gets a warning just seconds ahead of time—then the building is overrun by demons summoned by the DOA…..
In Asgard in Oklahoma, Valkyrie arrives at a summons from the All-Mother Freyja. The Queen confirms that Odin has indeed sent Val on a suicide mission, one she can only continue to carry out by gathering and hiding the hammers—but it will cost her life….
At Pegasus, the Avengers battle the marauding demons who are followed by Sin leading the sadistic killers among her minions. While the battle becomes quite heated (and gruesome), Cap squares off against the anarchic Sin…. …while Crossbones makes his way further into the complex. He quickly finds the Hammer of Greithoth (previously wielded by the Absorbing Man) but the mission will not be so easy—it is guarded by Wolverine….