Unknown Space.
In a garden, galaxies away from the planet earth, the right arm of the Shi'ar empire stands ready.
It is the Shi'ar imperial throneworld, an artificial planet created to serve as a capital for the universe's most powerful empire. It is a technological marvel, serving its purpose perfectly, and containing, more or less, all the amenities of a real planet, including, as the garden evidences, natural beauty.
He is Gladiator, and he is oblivious. Gladiator is the Praetor of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, a group of Super-powered beings that act as personal shock troops for the Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire, Lilandra. They are the perfect soldiers; the most feared group in the Universe, in large part because their Praetor demands of them nothing less.
Staring into a patch of roses, his hands locked behind his back, Gladiator is perfection himself. He is six and a half feet tall, an even seven if one includes a large blue Mohawk, and almost six hundred pounds of solid muscle, with yet more strength in him than even that would allow.
Gladiator considers himself to be the most powerful being in the known Universe. Few would argue with him. He is a warrior. A soldier. He is the will of the Majestrix made manifest, the might of the Shi'ar empire given form. And he is not content to admire roses.
He does not have to be. The holographic form of the Majestrix appears before him, and he is attentive. She speaks. Her will is made clear. Then the projection disappears, and like that, the right arm is flexed.
Content, Gladiator rockets into the emptiness of non-galactic space. He does not smile.
Chicago. A Drive-in Movie Theater.
Alone in a newly purchased Honda CR-V, Jake Olsen has his feet up, watching The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly for perhaps the third time on the cheaply built Drive-In Screen.
It was still a good movie. The action was fairly mundane compared to things that Jake (as Thor, especially) had seen and done, but the plot had some resemblance to the sagas he had enjoyed as a youth, and he did enjoy Clint Eastwood.
So he watched with vague interest as Lee Van Cleef's character shot first a plains family and then an old man, and even laughed a little as Clint's 'Man with No Name' brought an irate fugitive in and collected the bounty.
And that was about as much of the movie as he saw, before his attention was ripped away by the sound of sirens.
He was instantly alert. He saw a pair of squad cars fly by behind the theater, and then two more, one after the other.
He knew he shouldn't care. He should enjoy the movie. This is his free time, and the Chicago police were more than capable of handling themselves. What's more, there was a good chance whatever they were responding too was some sort of false alarm. Mayhap some three year old had dialed 911. Except… four cars?
Four cars. Jake Olsen quietly got out of his car and found an alley.
Four Miles Away.
Minutes later, officers Brown and Anderson of the Chicago Police Department arrive at a public park. It's empty. Right behind them, another car pulls up. Four officers emerge from their respective vehicles, all with weapons drawn.
The field remains empty. The policemen maintain a terse silence.
Behind them, Sergeant Ogden pulls up, riding solo. He emerges wary, but with his weapon holstered. No threat is visible. The un-briefed officers look all across the dark field of the park, tense. Sergeant Ogden looks to the sky, listening for the arrival of more officers behind him.
And he sees in the air all the cavalry he will ever need.
The God Thor descends with the ease and confidence of a king sitting down on his throne. He settles down right next to Ogden, recognizing the man's rank.
"What is the problem, officer?"
The other four officers had moved next to the pair. They were slightly curious themselves, having inspected the field to their satisfaction and found it empty.
"We've got something unknown coming in from space that's fixing to land right here."
Another car pulled up. Thor was slightly under-whelmed. "That requires six police-men?"
"In this, case, yes. This thing popped out of a wormhole just outside the galaxy about a day ago. The government didn't even pick it up - Reed Richards did."
One of the other officers spoke up. "What's a wormhole?"
Thor was familiar with the term, and, judging from the looks on their faces, so were a few of the policemen, but they let the Sergeant answer. "I'm not even really sure. Basically a black hole that opens up at some other black-hole light-years away."
Officer Brown spoke up. "Bullshit. I got my degree in physics. Light can't even make it out of that kind of gravity pull."
"No Bullshit. This thing did."
Thor didn't say anything, but he furrowed his brow. He had known men to survive Black Holes before - he had heard of the Silver Surfer and the Herald Red Shift once doing battle in such a thing.
Sergeant Ogden continued. "It gets worse. This thing is relatively small… could be smaller than you, Thor. But it's got much more mass than that would suggest. If this thing hits earth at those speeds, with that kind of mass, and a relatively small point of impact, we are in serious shit."
Thor was still somewhat confused. "What, then, are you supposed to do to stop it?"
No one had an answer. "Hell if I know. Orders came to be here. Damage control, I guess."
Thor could not help but sigh. "Go home, men of the law. I shall do what I can."
And then no one said anything else.
There was a loud boom in the air above them as the object they were all expecting broke through the ozone and then the sound barrier as it headed towards the ground at many times sound-speed. It was too high up for the boom to do any real damage, but it was heard, and within seconds the object, a blur of purple and red un-like any comet or meteor Thor had ever seen, was barely a half-mile in the air above them - seconds away.
Given time, there were many things Thor could have done. He could have set a portal too some harmless location or another right where the object would land. He might have summoned storms to batter about the object in the sky. As it was, he had no time. So he fell onto instinct.
He squared his shoulders and hurled Mjolnir, as hard as he could, directly at the object.
The thing sped up more than he was accounting for as it neared the ground, and so his aim was slightly off. Instead of impacting the thing head on, Mjolnir merely grazed the bulk of it.
Still, at the speed the thing was going, the hit was catastrophic.
The noise alone kicked up dust on the ground below them, and shattered windows for blocks. A few of the policemen dropped too a knee, and one was completely knocked out.
The object was knocked violently off course, and spiraled hundreds of yards away. Mjolnir was unusually slow in returning to Thor's hands.
No crash was heard. The remaining officers took heart in that. Thor did not. He knew what was coming - he had recognized enough as the object was coming down.
Seconds later, his suspicions were confirmed. Not even bruised, but definitely angry, Gladiator flew into view, his hands on his hips. Gladiator, the Praetor of the Imperial Guard. Gladiator who had once treated the Fantastic Four like children. Gladiator who had fought Thor nearly to a standstill before.
Officer Brown pulled out his pistol and unloaded at the stationary target.
"Stay your Hand!" Thor shouted, desperate. The officer, mercifully, listened. Annoyance flickered across Gladiator's countenance as two bullets bounced off his chest, and then one more off of his forehead.
The silence hung for a second, and Gladiator spoke. "Thor!" He raised his finger and pointed like Uncle Sam in a World War II recruitment poster.
Thor did not miss a beat. "I am here."
"We must have words."
Thor had known Gladiator as an ally in the past, but there was little doubt what the Praetor meant in this case.
Thor silently considered the amount of damage done to their surroundings in just one exchange. Against an opponent with whom he was so evenly matched, Thor doubted he could expect to safeguard bystanders and still prove victorious.
So he took the last avenue available too him. "Not here."
Then he spun Mjolnir in a wide arc, and a portal opened in the air. Thor stepped through, and scowling, Gladiator followed him.
The portal closed.
Seconds later, without a word between them, the policemen piled back into their cars and drove away.
The Surface of the Planet Jupiter.
Thor took a step, and almost buckled over. He had stepped onto the surface of the planet Jupiter, and the gravity was nearly twice that of on earth. Adding to the duress was an incredible amount of heat, radiating from the surface of the planet. It would have been enough to scald Thor's Feet and ankles had he not been wearing boots.
It was, of course, nothing a man of Thor's strength could not handle. He, however, had been ready for it. His challenger would have no concept of the battlefield before he entered it. Predictably, he stumbled and then fell to one knee upon passing through the portal.
Not missing a beat, and knowing his opponent wouldn't, Thor spiked gladiator in the back of the head with Mjolnir, and the Mohawk-ed alien hit the ground, hard. He was quick enough to roll over, but then Thor placed a foot on his chest, pinning him down, and laid a vicious blow with Mjolnir upon his cheek.
He would not let up, drawing back Mjolnir for another strike. If he struck hard enough here, he could end the fight now.
But in a second, the advantage was lost. Burning Energy shot out of his opponent's eyes and struck Thor first in the wrist, stalling his blow, and then with deadly accuracy at his Adam's apple. Thor was forced to step back to protect his own neck. He silently cursed as his opponent was erect in the blink of an eye - Gladiator's eye blasts were potentially devastating, but easy to forget in the midst of battle.
The two stood ready for a fraction of a second, and then Gladiator rushed forward with otherworldly speed and threw a hook at Thor's temple. The Storm God had seen the move in Gladiator's eyes, and the alien's fist collided instead with the side of Mjolnir.
It had to hurt, but Gladiator gave no sign of it, throwing his other fist straightforward into the area Mjolnir had vacated. His timing was off, and Thor was able to side step, and caught a hold of his opponents arm.
He was quick to press the advantage, bending Gladiator's arm behind his back and shoving down on his shoulder, trying to pin his opponent to the ground again.
The maneuver was executed beautifully, and would have worked, but Gladiator had means of moving independent of his limbs. He launched himself into the air, with Thor on his back.
The Storm God could have backed away and started his own flight, as indeed Gladiator had been hoping, but instead he maintained his grip and shoved with all his might on Gladiator's elbow, hoping to break the limb and provide himself a decisive advantage.
He heard a satisfying crack sound, but had no time to celebrate as Gladiator inverted himself and then poured on speed, spiking them both deep into Jupiter's surface. Both collided with all manner of debris, but Gladiator still pushed forward. The going actually got easier as the pair moved closer to Jupiter's gaseous core, but the heat at greater depths was indescribable.
On the surface, it had been intense, but bearable, now it would not be ignored, and finally the Prateor was forced to come to a stop. Thor relinquished his hold on Gladiator's now hopelessly mangled arm, hoping to jet for the surface, but Gladiator was too fast, wrapping his one good arm securely about Thor's neck and holding them in place.
It was as painful for Gladiator as it was for Thor, but both knew that if it came to a battle of attrition, the alien would likely emerge the victor.
So Thor got desperate.
He thrust the heel of his fist upward with all the force he could muster, directly into the bridge of Gladiator's nose. He had hoped to push it backwards and possibly into the alien's brain, but the angle was wrong, and instead the nose ripped away from the skin above Gladiator's lips, staying attached but squirting out a massive amount of blood and revealing dense bone beneath it.
The blood instantly turned to steam, temporarily blinding Gladiator, and Thor had his opportunity. He pulled out of the headlock with a sudden surge of strength, and flew forward, Gladiator hot on his heels.
The two broke the surface, and stood yards away from each other, regrouping but ready to pounce.
Neither combatant was in anything resembling good shape. Thor was covered with small welts and random burn marks from his journey towards Jupiter's core, and had a quickly developing large bruise around his neck and collarbone.
Gladiator had less of such marks on his skin, but his left arm hung limp and useless at his side, and his face was drenched in blood. His nose, now hardly more than a bloody rag of flesh and cartilage.
Silently, glaring, the two warriors sized each other up.
Thor was confident he was stronger than the man facing him, especially now that one of his opponent's arms had been rendered useless. He was however, forced to admit that Gladiator was more durable - he had held up much better in the depths of Jupiter than Thor had. The alien was also quicker with his hands and footwork than anyone of his strength that Thor had ever encountered - he would have made Balder the Brave look slow. However, the big difference, as the God of Thunder saw it, was that Thor was a far more skilled fighter, as the battle had borne out, and Thor had managed to do fairly impressive damage to his enemy so far. He gritted his teeth and waited for the conflict to resume.
Gladiator, however, while mayhap not on Thor's level, was no slouch tactically. And Thor had left a glaring opening, as the two stared at each other.
Gladiator let his heat vision fly into the Storm God's eyes, and Thor almost fell over from the pain of it.
He was able to shut his eyelids and regain some sort of stance momentarily, but for a second the Storm-God's pupils had been subjected to the intense heat of Gladiator's rays, and he was blinded.
At the moment, he dare not even open his eyes, not wanting to give Gladiator another opening.
Gladiator, however, had moved in close, and with his good hand struck Thor on the chin with all his strength - it was not hard.
Thor felt the crack of his jaw breaking, but paid it no mind, instead using the blow to determine where his adversary was, and swinging Mjolnir in that direction. Gladiator, however, was far too fast to be struck so easily by a blind man. He sidestepped the blow and brought a hard knee into Thor's midsection, his limp arm flopping as he rose slightly from the ground.
Thor groaned - the spot had been burnt earlier, and was sensitive - as he again swung Mjolnir, this time low, hoping to take Gladiator's legs out from under him. But Gladiator dodged again, and this time brought an elbow crashing down on the back of the Storm God's skull as he swept his foot at Thor's ankles.
Somehow, Thor anticipated the strike at his legs and landed a solid shot on Gladiator's midsection - nothing devastating, but it held the Praetor up for a second and allowed Thor to know his enemy's location. He pressed his advantage quickly, pouncing.
Gladiator was able to take a step backwards, but Thor's shoulders still collided with his thighs, and both went crashing down. But it was a favorable position for someone as quick as Gladiator, who did a quick sit up and shoved the storm god's head down into Jupiter's hot surface, squeezing for all he was worth with his one good hand.
The pain on Thor was incredible. Jupiter's surface seared his face, and Gladiator's grip on his head was sure. He struggled mightily, but his neck was simply not strong enough to buy the Thunder God reprieve. He swung frantically, knowing that if he could not break his hold the battle was over, and Thor had very likely met his end.
His blows could find no purchase, however, and he was fading swiftly. As a last-ditch effort, he reached out through Mjolnir, hoping to in some way harness the storms of this planet.
And he felt it.
It was energy like nothing he had ever seen before. It was wild, malleable power with ridiculous intensity. It was the largest storm in a galaxy.
An astronomer might have identified it as Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a storm that had existed for centuries on Jupiter and was larger in diameter than the planet earth itself.
Thor, however, was no astronomer, and knew it only as the largest storm he had ever encountered in all the nine worlds, a storm that dwarfed even the Godstorm in it's size and ferocity.
It was mighty, but it answered Mjolnir's call, it responded to the Thunderer's command. In a move that would take experts years to logically explain, the Great Red Spot began to shift in latitude for the same time in centuries.
It was not slow. Within minutes, Thor felt a strong wind lapping at his back, and seconds later raindrops fell on his skin, and Gladiator's grip on his neck disappeared.
As they moved closer to the heart of the storm, resisting became unthinkable, even for beings of such storied strength and determination. Both combatants were tossed about by winds of startling force, and battered with raindrops hard enough to pierce the skin of a normal man.
For Gladiator it was another trial to be endured, but for Thor it was natural. He was in his element, taking strength from every gust of wind, every raindrop soothing his skin and burned flesh. He even dared to open his eyes, and allowed the water to wash away the protective crust that had formed above his eyes, finding his vision restored.
He saw Gladiator battered about half a mile away from him, clearly not enjoying the storm's rough treatment. Sensing a victory, he encouraged the storm with Mjolnir, and after minutes he sensed that the fight had been won - he bid the storm to go back to its natural location.
As it did so, Gladiator fell to the ground, apparently unconscious. His arm was now hanging from his shoulder by a thread, and the winds had done unspeakable damage too the areas left bare by the injury to his nose.
The alien had been cut in several places and the blood was blown all over him.
Silently, Thor descended to heal his opponent as best he could. The Praetor had put up enough of a fight to earn the Storm-God's respect.
Then he saw something that convinced him to halt his descent - two Shi'ar gun-ships, hovering outside of Jupiter's atmosphere. Mayhap Thor's battle had not yet ended. He flew higher, up into low orbit, and then realized that the ships were only an escort for a much larger ship behind them.
Thor narrowed his eyes, and set off to receive answers.
On the Command Deck of a Shi'ar Capital Ship.
There were roughly thirty people on the main deck of the Shi'ar Ship Skybolt - Fifteen crewmen, The Imperial Majestrix Lilandra, Four of the Majestrix's attendants, and a ten-man honor guard. Two of these, Electron and Smasher, were meta-powered and members of the Shi'ar imperial guard.
All eyes were trained on the figure hovering outside the deck's viewing window. He was worn down and had obviously been through a battle, but that only served to make him more awesome in stature. He held a large War Hammer against his chest, at ready, and looked directly at the Majestrix with furious purpose.
The threat was implicit - if he broke the hull of the ship, which none doubted he could, he would kill all inside. Lilandra's guard, excellent soldiers all, had formed around the two Imperial Guardsmen in their midst, both of whom were protectively in front of the Majestrix and attempting to stare down the God facing them.
Finally the Majestrix spoke. "Open an airlock and let him in."
The evolutionary throwback Electron whipped around, ready to say something, but his companion Smasher had a hand on his shoulder.
"Open an airlock and let him in," the more experienced guardsmen echoed.
And it was done. Less than a minute later, Thor of the Thunders swaggered onto the deck, and immediately 8 rifles were pointed at him, and Smasher and Electron formed a wall directly in front of Lilandra. If the Thunder-God noticed, he gave no sign.
"Majestrix, what is the meaning of this?"
Lilandra answered quickly, apologetically. "I will get to the bottom of that as soon as I can. The Praetor acted independently of my command, and it is quite frankly good to see that he did no lasting harm. I apologize on behalf of my empire."
Every un-briefed crewman was visibly shocked, and the two Guards-men scowled too hear their Praetor referred too in such a fashion. But none said anything.
Save for Thor. "I do not accept that."
Lilandra balked for a second, and Electron answered for her. "You would call the Majestrix a liar?"
"Aye."
With that, large, impressive bolts of electricity arced forward from Electron - and seconds from hitting Thor arced harmlessly into Mjolnir's head. In a normal situation someone seeking to harm him with thunder would have amused Thor, but in this instance he was simply annoyed.
Lightning bolts of re-doubled intensity shot from Mjolnir and struck Electron, who convulsed for a second and then fell unconscious. Smasher had begun to charge as the assault was taking place, thinking Thor distracted, but he found that wasn't the case.
Smasher dipped a shoulder and thought to wrestle Thor to the ground, but the storm God simply reached out, caught the man's head in his palm mid-stride, and swung him into a nearby wall.
He was gentle with them out of respect for their commander.
"To fight one such as Gladiator is to know him. I will not believe he made war on me without reason."
"I swear on my life I gave no order to attack you or Earth. Gladiator has been known to act with Zeal on occasion -"
One of Lilandra's aides had swallowed almost audibly. "Honored Majestrix, that would not be a very safe oath to swear."
Lilandra whipped around. "What?"
Thor put a hand up to silence the Majestrix. "Allow him to continue."
Many of those on the deck had visible reactions to someone dictating to their Majestrix, but Thor was a God, he would defer to no one. And Lilandra raised no protest; so all eyes were trained on the aide who had spoken up, who was no beginning to sweat. "Let me… show you."
He politely removed one of the crewmen from their seat and situated himself at a communications interface, and from there he accessed the main computers on the Throne-world and then the video records of one of its Gardens.
Thor did not have the background to notice any of this, but Lilandra did, and she was baffled, then even more so when a recording of Gladiator alone near a patch of flowers was displayed on the screen.
Her expression changed little as she silently watched herself appear on the screen and inform Gladiator that she had stumbled upon a plot wherein the being called Thor of Earth and his Asgardian Brethren were planning to overthrow his planet's lawful government. She then ordered him to annihilate Thor by way of humanitarian aid.
The aide looked up at her as if to apologize, but Thor cut him off. "Explain."
In answer, Lilandra quietly gestured the aide out of the seat and sat down at the console herself. Her avian fingers danced deftly across the console, and another image was pulled up - she was lying in bed, treating herself to an afternoon nap. A guard stood at the foot of the bed turned dutifully away, but at ready.
The time on both images read exactly the same.
It was a shock to those in the rest of the room, but to Thor it was enlightening. It was Bad News, but enlightening. "I begin to understand what has occurred."
Lilandra was quick to answer. "I do not."
"And you should not trouble yourself over it. This is a problem I have experience with. Art thou capable of retrieving Gladiator?"
"Yes."
"Then our business here is concluded. Goodbye."
"Wait! You must -"
But the order was not heeded, and the Thunder God stepped into one of Mjolnir's portals and was gone.
A Castle inside the Golden Realm, but far from the City of Asgard.
The land was bleak and colorless where Thor appeared next, and the castle that stood before him was black and daunting.
Thor was undaunted. His face was as grim as the atmosphere around him, and he began to walk slowly forward with a terrible purpose.
At the main gate of the Castle proper, two man-sized frog creatures stood at either side. They crossed their halberds across the door, denying the storm-god entrance.
Without breaking his stride, Thor summoned a furious wind that sent both creatures flying, and he kicked the locked doors open. He had little respect for the master of this keep. Doorkeepers would not detain him.
Once inside, he was confronted by a cadre of wolf-men, who were disposed of easily, again without breaking his stride. He knew this place well - he ascended two staircases and kicked through another door before finally coming to a stop in front of the man he sought.
In front of him, on a large and ornate throne, wearing a large horned crown, and with the devil's smile on his lips, sat the God of Tricksters, the lord of lies. Thor's own half-brother.
"Loki."
"Why, a guest! My dear brother, nonetheless! I am positively insulted you didn't let me know you were planning to stop by. Still, let it never be said that Loki is anything less than a gracious host. Would you like some wine?"
With that, Loki made a few gestures and a chalice was in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other. He moved to pour a glass, but the bottle was suddenly caught by a gust of wind and yanked out of Loki's hand, splashing all over the room's back wall. The spill cleaned itself momentarily.
Loki returned his gaze to Thor, and did his best to show only annoyance, but failed, and the large amount of hate within his small frame was readily apparent. "Was that really necessary?"
Thor was not in the mood for small talk. "Gladiator."
Loki grinned for a fraction of a second, and then cupped his chin and looked thoughtful. He "hmmm"-ed, obnoxiously loud. Then his face brightened and he removed his hand, displaying a broad smile. "Oh! So that one came to fruition, did it? It was a long shot, but I must confess I was rather proud of it, especially -"
He fell silent as Thor began to take big steps forward. Loki sprang to his feet. For all his flippancy, he knew it was wise to be at ready when his half-brother had that expression on his face.
Thor came to a halt inches away from Loki. The Thunder God towered over his brother in stature, but neither gave an inch. "And what is it that's gotten you so upset, brother? You seem to be in fine shape."
Loki went on to give Thor a friendly slap on the shoulder.
And that was all it took, the physical contact was the straw that broke the camel's back. Losing control for a second, Thor's hand snaked out and caught the Trickster God by the throat, hefting him up into the air and then backwards, throwing Loki's slight form back into the throne, knocking over chair and God alike.
Loki rolled, grimacing. He had little stomach for pain.
So he was not happy when Thor's boot came to rest on his chest, and began to exert pressure. "I take offense when cowards set brave men against one another."
For a moment it looked as if Loki would try to shove Thor's leg off with his hands, but he was smart enough to realize the futility of such an action. The pressure on his chest grew greater and greater, and he couldn't breathe, Thor's face above him shadowed but still fiery.
With that, Loki's normal façade disappeared, his jovial face caved away, and he let slip for a second what was really inside him, as his face became covered with an intense hate rarely seen in all the nine worlds. Every muscle convulsed in an effort to fight against his half-brother, against existence, against everything. His eyes rolled back in his head and he tapped mentally into the store of magic that existed here, at the seat of his own power.
Something hit Thor in the chest like a cruise missile, and the Thunder God was thrown backwards and flipped, he collided with one of the room's walls, and was on his feet almost instantly, in a defensive stance.
Across the room, Loki was somewhat slower to his feet, but when he stood he raised his hands as if to cast another spell, and stood, panting.
The half-brothers held each other's gaze for what seemed like minutes. Thor had re-gained his grim countenance, but Loki still radiated hate, unabated.
Finally, the trickster spoke. "Get out of my house. And never come here again."
Pointedly, Thor held Loki's gaze for another few seconds, and then he relaxed his stance.
He turned, and walked slowly out of the dark and daunting castle. He didn't look back.
The End...
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