A
celebration is held in Asgard after Thor’s defeat of the renegade Don Blake (last
issue) and all are feeling merry, except for Thor himself. As Volstagg recounts
the story of the final battle, he refers to the alternate Earth as a “fairy tale;”
Thor bitterly objects, saying that no one can imagine the suffering he went
through there. He apologizes and excuses himself. Returning to his room, Thor
tries to lift Mjolnir and it is a struggle. The hammer then jumps against his
chest, knocking him down and pinning him to the floor. Loki stops by and Thor
must appeal to him to lift Mjolnir, which Loki does, easily. Thor then goes to
Midgard….
On
Earth, the Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, She-Hulk,
Captain Marvel, Blade, Ghost Rider) are battling a horde of alien
cyber-monsters. Thor arrives and wishes to speak to Cap, not noticing that the
Avengers are rather busy. Cap points this out so Thor calls down a lightning
strike, frying the monsters instantly. Iron Man tries to put a friendly hand on
Thor’s shoulder but the Thunder God discourages it with a small bolt of
lightning. Cap objects to this and Mjolnir fires at him with Cap’s shield
protecting him. Thor explains that he is losing control over Mjolnir and needs
to talk to Cap….
At
Avengers Mountain, Thor explains to Cap that, as an immortal, his time sense is
much different from that of mortals: all of his actions go by as seconds, with
momentous events from a human standpoint being quickly forgotten. And he feels
he knows why Mjolnir no longer obeys him: Odin created it to be wielded by a
warrior and as King, Thor is no longer a warrior and thus no longer wielder of
the hammer. And he walks out, leaving Mjolnir behind….