In
Warlock Chronicles #7 Adam Warlock and the
Infinity Watch along with
Dr Strange and
Silver Surfer were on their way to
Asgard to tell
Odin that his son has gone violently mad.
Sif and
Beta Ray Bill didn't want that to happen because they feared that the
All-Father would diagnose
Thor with
Warrior Madness and have to banish him from Asgard forever. So they tricked a horde of
Trolls into attacking them, and defeating and capturing them all.
Now they are chained up in Troll King
Geirrodur's Castle
Grimlock and kept asleep by
Valkisack Vines provided by a
Troll Witch, ready to be sacrificed to
Borgeddon. However the witch detects Trollish blood in
Pip of the Watch. He's not an
Asgardian Rock Troll but he deserves the right to trial by combat before being killed. Geirrodur isn't happy but concedes that the witch has always steered him right before. So they remove Pip's garland of flowers and he wakes up.
They explain Pip's situation to him. He knows he could just use his
Space Gem to teleport away but that would mean leaving his comrades behind so he decides to play along for a while. Geirrodur takes him to the Cathedral of Borgeddon who is the Troll's god. It's a huge deep hole in ground, and when the King drops a rock down it a very large 3-eyed reptilian monster slithers up. Then Pip is taken back to the combat area.
He's presented with 4 fearsome armoured Trolls to choose from as an opponent. He knows he has no chance against any of them so asks if he can nominate a stand-in to fight *for* him, and the witch admits that the rules allow it. But Geirrodur adds that in that situation *he* gets to choose the Troll champion.
Pip picks
Gamora (the most dangerous woman in the Galaxy) but the Troll King says it would dishonourable to face a 'mere' female. Pip counters that Gamora isn't mere anything, but Geirrodur insists he must choose a male who won't be allowed to use any special talents or weapons. Pip rules out
Moondragon (another female), Dr Strange (no use without his magic), Surfer (ditto without his Power Cosmic),
Drax (in case the Troll opponent has any brains) and
Maxam (too much of an unknown), so he picks Warlock.
When Adam awakes Pip explains the situation to *him*, while Geirrodur holds a sword to the still ensorcelled Moondragon's throat to assure Warlock's compliance. Pip has to admit that if Adam wins the fight then he and rest will still be killed. Only Pip stands to go free. And the King introduces his choice of fighter, even bigger than the other 4 Trolls. It is
Olik the Widow Maker, older brother of the better-known
Ulik. Warlock checks that the rules mean he can't use his
Soul Gem or
Karmic Staff. Geirrodur confirms that if he does Moondragon will die immediately and everyone else including Pip will be thrown to Borgeddon.
Adam kicks Olik in the teeth and discards his cloak. Then he dodges Olik's counterattack lunge, knees the Troll in the jaw and smashes down on his head - all the while taunting him. But Olik finally gets a blow in that floors our hero and he dives to flatten him. However Adam rolls out of the way and the Troll lands face-1st on the ground. Warlock kicks him again but Olik picks him up and throws him at a wall. The crowd goes wild, and no-one notices Pip slipping away.
The contest continues with Adam enraging his opponent so that he makes stupid mistakes, enabling Warlock to evade most blows and get his own in. But eventually the larger and stronger Troll gets ahold of him and seemingly pummels him to submission. However Adam then stops feigning defeat and claims he'd been rolling with the punches to give Pip time to deal with the dungeon guards. And then he downs Olik with a
Karmic Blast.
Geirrodur calls foul and orders the Troll who is currently holding the sword to Moondragon's throat to kill her. But Pip teleports in above the guy and brains him with a mace. The Troll King grabs Pip and starts to throttle him but then the rest of our heroes burst in from the dungeon and lay about the audience. Drax grabs Pip and Maxam grabs the still-unconscious
Moonie. Dr Strange is carrying Gamora (who also seems still asleep) and they all fly off to Asgard.
Story continued in
THOR #470.
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